by Gary Hickman
Abarra’s eyes grew wide as he saw other infected running down the hallway behind the security guard. His attention was so focused on the guard and the infected coming down the hallway, he didn’t react to the scream behind him before it was too late.
The skinny woman jumped on his back and took a huge bite out of the left side of his face. He screamed as she came away with most of his cheek and the side of his mouth. Flashes of black spots appeared in front of his eyes as he looked down and noticed the woman was gone from the floor.
“That fucking bitch didn’t die,” he thought to himself. She leaned in for another bite and tore away one of his eyes this time. He bellowed curses at her and then lost his strength to hold the door closed.
Webb appeared on the upper stairs of the first-floor stairwell, looking down at Abarra as the infected girl bit and tore away his eye. He yelled with rage, brought up his M4 and took out the woman on Abarra’s back. Then plugged the security guard in the face as a couple more infected busted through.
Webb started down the remaining stairs, but Abarra yelled, “Get the fuck out of here! Now! Webb looked up at him and caught Abarra’s eye. Webb knew there was nothing he could do now.
“Fuck!”, Webb yelled. He raised his rifle to end Abarra’s suffering when more infected poured into the stairwell and dog piled on top of him, blocking Webb’s shot. It didn’t feel right, but Webb knew he needed to get out of there and there was nothing he could do now, anyway. He fired a couple three-round bursts and took off up the stairs. He made it to the fourth floor and burst out of the maintenance door on the roof.
In all the carnage happening to Abarra, Webb didn’t hear the Blackhawk hovering just off the roof with Dr. Costa on board. Kennedy was entering the helicopter as Webb sprinted and jumped in through the side door.
“Go, go, go!” Webb yelled and the pilot lifted off of the CDC building’s roof. The pilot hovered over the insurance building to pick up the sniper element. As Neville and Shin loaded into the Blackhawk, the door on the roof of the CDC building burst open and dozens of infected came streaming out. The infected saw the helicopter, the prey on board, and charged toward them like a crazy mob.
The distance was too great between the buildings and the infected started dropping off over the side with their arms still outreached for Webb and his team.
Shin made his way in and the bird ascended. Webb glanced back to the CDC building just in time to see Abarra standing on the roof staring at him. Staring, just staring, head moving side to side, click, click, click, click, click, click….
CHAPTER 15
Doug looked at Priest while he talked to Webb, having previously asked where they were going or what they were doing now. Priest contacted Overlord for a set rep and to relay info to Webb. Shaw was in the back with Allison and Doc. Doc kept talking to Allison about all the stuff they had done and didn’t shut up log enough to take a breath. Shaw was getting annoyed because Doc was taking up time, he wanted to get to know Allison better.
“Doc, come up for air. You chatter on more than a damn chipmunk on speed. Give the woman a break, already.” Doc looked over at Shaw with a confused look, because Shaw rarely said a lot. Doc clammed up and turned to look out the window, and Allison discretely reached over and gave Shaw’s hand a squeeze in thankfulness.
Shaw didn’t know how Allison felt about him since they just met and the world was crumbling around them, but he told himself he would find out. “I mean hell, she had blonde hair, blue eyes and a pin up figure,” he thought to himself.
Shaw liked that fact that she seemed to possess a strength and intelligence that exuded a certain confidence which attracted him. He used to deal with bimbos, but had changed and would not deal with a woman if she was in that category. He definitely wanted to find out more about Allison, he just didn’t know if they would have the time to do that. Unsure about what would happen, Shaw wondered if Allison and Doug would go their separate way soon.
Shaw was kind of quiet, usually saying things when they needed said. He and Priest had become best friends, even though Priest was older than Shaw by about 10 years. They would go fishing, hunting, attend football games and just hang around each other. Neither of them had been married yet. Shaw was close a few years ago, but his fiancé decided she couldn’t deal with his military life and his constant deployment. Shaw and Priest had talked about it, and Shaw confided in him he may have been willing to leave the military if she would have been agreeable to discuss it. Shaw had related it pissed him off, because she just made her mind up and closed the door on their relationship. Priest told him it was a blessing in disguise and if she wasn’t willing to talk about something as important as that, then it spelled doom for any other struggle in life they would come across.
Thinking about Allison and maybe re-entering the world of dating brought up the past and his last relationship. Shaw sighed, closed his eyes and decided he would let it go for now and he drifted off to sleep in a matter of minutes. One lesson about being a Special Operations Rapid Deployment Unit was that you ate when you could, drank water when you could, and got sleep when you could. Try to wait for that perfect scheduled down time never came during a mission. “Get it, while you got it,” the saying was.
The chopper hit some turbulence and swayed in the air, but that wasn’t what stirred Shaw in his sleep. The touch on his hand caused him to part his eyes slightly to see Allison had grabbed his hand and was holding it. Her hand was soft and small in his, but they were freezing cold. He didn’t know if she reached over for comfort, safety, warmth or just human contact. He didn’t know, nor did he care, because he enjoyed it, accepted it and would not put any more meaning into it than it was.
Allison glanced over and saw a smile just at the corners of Shaw’s mouth. She let a smile form on her mouth.
After a while, Priest briefed everyone on the info from Webb’s group and let them know that they were to find a stage area and wait for further instructions.
“Doug, are you familiar with the Dearborn area?”
“No, Sir. Indiana is my base of operations.”
“Ok, then we need to be on the lookout for a safe place to set down and remain on standby.”
“Ok, gotcha Sarge.”
Doc speaks up, “Make sure it’s somewhere safe.” Doug and Priest look at each other and roll their eyes.
They entered the outskirts of Dearborn 20 minutes later and immediately began looking for a suitable spot to land.
“How about a parking garage,” Doc uttered.
Priest shook his head, “Negative, too many points of entry to cover. We need a roof top with only one access point to secure.” They flew around for two minutes when Shaw noticed something.
“Hey, I think that might be a hospital right there. I see a helicopter pad on that roof at our two o’clock.” Doug rotated around to see it.
“What do you think Sarge?”
“Hmm, what scares me is that the hospital would be the first place they would take the infected. I bet that whole hospital is full of infected.”
“Yep, probably so,” Shaw answered.
Abruptly, Webb came over Priest’s comms. “Father, this is Spider. Do you copy?”
“Copy. Go ahead, Spider.”
“We are bugging out; the site is hot.”
“Copy that.”
“Father, one more thing?” Webb’s voice took a serious tone.
“Yeah, Spider?”
“I don’t know how to say this, but we lost two of our boys.”
“Shit!!!” Priest was silent for a moment, “Who?”
“We lost Bolin…” Webb paused “and we lost Bacardi.”
Priest’s face went flush. He was su
ddenly out of his mind, out of his body and trying to hold on to reality. “Bacardi?” he repeated.
“Yeah, brother, Bacardi,” Webb replied solemnly.
“Can’t be,” Priest thought. Suddenly he came rushing back to himself like falling off a cliff to a dead stop. Once he was back in the present, anger engulfed him. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” he screamed while slamming his fists into the door pillar, denting it. This caused everyone to jump, and the helicopter swerved as it startled Doug.
“Holy shit, what the hell, Sarge?” Doc yelled.
“Shut the fuck up, Doc,” Shaw spat. He reached up with a gentle hand on Priest’s shoulder. “What’s up Sarge?” Shaw said in a peaceful tone.
Priest looked down. He had tears in his eyes. “We…. We lost Abarra.” Doc took in a deep breath but held it.
Shaw just muttered, “Mother fucker.”
“They lost Bolin too.”
“I’m so sorry,” came a small voice from the back. Priest reached back and gave Allison a reassuring pat on the knee.
“Thank you, but it’s not your fault.”
“But it is. If you guys wouldn’t have had to stay back and rescue us, then you would have been there to save him.” She broke down sobbing.
“She’s right, I am so sorry. I feel horrible,” Doug added.
“Look, we are Special Ops and everything we do is dangerous. We know we may not come back from any mission. It’s the way it is. We don’t deal with what if’s and maybes? We’ll deal with what is, so don’t think you had anything to do with it,” Shaw chided.
Priest nodded, “He’s right. We don’t deal with what ifs in our business. What ifs drive you crazy and leave nothing but an empty shell? We accept it and will get over it,” Priest added. He turned back around to the front. “Spider, this is Father. Do you copy?”
“Copy.”
“What’s our next move?”
“I believe we need to take what we have back to HQ, assess where we are and what we can do with the data we have. Regrouping to plan next steps is the best alternative right now.”
“Copy that. Hold on.” Priest turns and addresses Doug and Allison, “What do you guys want to do? Marshall Law wasn’t declared so I can’t make you come with us and we have no jurisdiction over you so, so we can’t tell you what to do. If you want my honest opinion, I believe you are much safer with us, but where you go from here is your decision.”
After a few minutes of silence tick by, Doug speaks up, “Hmm, I haven’t really thought that far ahead. I was accepting my fate because I thought I would die. Allison, what are your thoughts?”
“Well, from what I have been hearing, all communications are out because I even tried my cellphone and nothing. I guess our news station is no longer broadcasting, so there goes my job and career. It looks to me like going with Sergeant Priest and his men is our best bet.”
“What about your boyfriend, Tom?” Doug asked with a slight grin on his face.
“Huh, what? Tom? Fuck Tom! He was an asshole.” Everyone in the helicopter turned to Allison with shocked expressions. “Well, he was, and he treated me like shit.”
“Do you hear the nastiness coming out of her mouth?” Doc chided.
“I do and it ruins my image of you, Miss Reeves,” Priest jokes as a smile came across his face.
“Yep, safest choice… you all will be better off sticking with us… it’s safer that way,” Shaw added, stuttering. Priest struggled to hold back a snicker.
“What, safer? Are you serious? You two have been getting cozy over there and…” Doc started to say.
Shaw cut Doc off by reaching over, grabbing his plate carrier and pulling him around Allison until their faces were an inch apart. “Let me tell you something, Hoss. You are this close to me snapping you in two and having the halves facing in opposite directions.” Allison reached and patted Shaw on his arm and he let Doc go and leaned back in his seat.
Allison took his hand and put it on her lap between her two hands. She gave Doc a look that said, “I just saved your life, so back if off some.” Doc raised his eyebrows and then looked out the window.
“Spider, this is Father.”
“Copy Father.”
“The two civilians are coming with us to HQ.”
“Sarge, I will need to get fuel soon, Doug said
Priest nodded at him, “Spider, how are you set for fuel? We are low and will need to make a pit stop.”
“Copy that. We are low as well. Stand by for refuel location coordinates.”
They planned two fuel stops because the aircraft wouldn’t make the 467 miles back to Fort Campbell. Webb chose Toledo, Ohio, and Louisville, Kentucky for the two fuel stops.
The shock of Myles and Abarra’s deaths were weighing heavily on the team. Some of them had been together for three or more years. They could measure the life of a soldier in dog years to represent the bond that brothers make in an account of time that others may take ten years or more to achieve. That they had been a team for at least three years, some longer, was a testament to the connection of his brotherhood.
Priest’s group turned around based on the orders from Captain Webb. They had made the preparations to change course to Toledo Express Air Guard Station Airport. They would make it there sooner than Webb’s team, so he and Webb discussed the mission and tactical protocols as far as providing security while fueling.
After a considerable amount of flight time, Doug glanced down at his GPS and made a face like he smelled something bad. Priest looked over and saw the confusion. “Hey Doug, what’s up?”
“Not sure, but I think something is wrong with my navigation controls, specifically my GPS. I’ve flown this area many times and we should come up on Toledo Airport right about now, but I see nothing resembling an airport. The GPS says it’s 5 miles northwest from our target location, but I’m looking at what looks like Marble Lake, which means we are way off course.”
Priest asked, “Doug, can we monitor Webb and Eagle One?”
“Negative. We can communicate with them, but not track them. This bird can only monitor aircraft in its general vicinity. They are too far for us to track.”
“All right. Spider, this is Father. Do you copy?”
“Go ahead, Father.”
“What are your coordinates? We are having trouble with our navigation equipment and our GPS has us off course.”
Webb relayed his coordinates and his trajectory flight path. “Shit,” Priest said to Doug. “We are approximately eighty miles off course.”
“What, that can’t be.” Doug checked his instruments again and according to them; he was right on course.
“Spider, our GPS has us eighty miles off course. Be advised, we may have to set down in an unfriendly area to refuel.”
“Damn, Father. I don’t like it, but we don’t have enough fuel to come to where you are.”
“Understood. We will refuel and meet you in Louisville.”
“Copy that. Keep your damn head on a swivel and get to Louisville ASAP, Spider out.”
Priest turned to Doug, “Where do you think we are?”
“Well, based on the horizon and the land, I would say close to Coldwater, Indiana somewhere.”
“Are you aware of any close airports or refuel points?”
Doug acknowledged and remembered a small airfield he had come across a few times.
Twenty minutes later they sighted the airport. They circled the area looking for any infected, so they buzzed it three or four times with no movement. After the final flyover, Doug located the fuel tanks.
“They’re over at the maintenance
building right there.” Doug was pointing to a tan painted building sitting to the right of three small hangers, which probably housed two or three single engine airplanes. Across from the hangers were two buildings that housed support vehicles for the airport. Most of the pavement on the flight line wasn’t in the best of shape, and there were cracks throughout with various weeds growing out of them. Most of the buildings had seen better days suffering from peeling paint, rusted pipes and faded signs.
“Guess we will have to take a chance and see what we find.”
Shaw quipped, “Famous last words.”
“Ok boys, you know the drill. Doc, Shaw and myself will provide security. Doug stays in the bird and Allison pumps.”
“Wait, what?” Shaw stutters. “Why is Allison going out to pump fuel?”
Priest looks at Allison, “Can you fly a helicopter?”
“Ah….no, I can’t.”
“Ok, there is your answer. Doug is the only way any of us have a way out of here. If it makes you feel any better, Shaw, you can cover that side. Her safety is strictly in your hands. Feel better?” Shaw just looked at him and Priest gave him an enormous ass smile.
Doc started giggling. Shaw leaned over to face Doc, but Allison patted his arm.
“It’s ok, I got this. You can cover my ass, but just don’t stare at it too long.” Shaw blushed, which made Doc laugh even louder. Allison slapped Doc hard on the shoulder.
“Ow” he howled.
“Cut it out or I will let Shaw do whatever he wants.” Shaw then leaned forward past Allison, looked at Doc with a shit-eating grin, and cracked his knuckles. Doc stopped laughing and turned to look out his window.
“Ok, heads up,” Priest barked. Doc and Shaw immediately went into business mode, which was one thing Priest liked most about the two. Doug navigated the helicopter down and rotated to get the fuel port next to the tanks. Doug kept the engine running as the team jumped out. Shaw took the copilot side with Allison, which was the side with the fuel port. Doc took the pilot side and Priest took the nose and Overwatch. With the noise of the rotors, it was hard to hear, so Priest used his squad comms. “Shaw, report.”