by Gary Hickman
The girl with the long black hair, named Mia, seemed like just couldn’t stand there and the human exchange of comfort and assurance. She ran up to Priest and stood there looking at him with tears in her eye.
Priest was a hard man who had killed countless people, but those people had made their choice to do evil and he was just the one to bring forth the day of reckoning. Yes, that was who he was, but in these moments, he realized he was someone else. Someone who he didn’t truly know, but someone he didn’t mind sharing with others in these types of situations. He fought to hold back tears as he saw Mia standing there with obvious pain and fear on her face. He reached for her and she grabbed onto him like he was her last breath of oxygen. Almost like her entire existence depended on her ability to hold on to him. It was too much for him, and tears began flowing down his cheeks and into his beard.
Tug was also in tears, knowing what these girls went through. Kim, who was standing next to him, reached out and grabbed Tug’s hand with both of hers. He accepted the gesture. Hell, he welcomed it. Dana was holding onto Allison with Shaw close to them. Except for crying and some sniffling, it was dead quiet. Mia pulled back and Priest asked if she was ok. She nodded.
Priest turned to Allison. “Could you please get them settled in the truck?”
“Come on girls, let’s get you settled in.”
As soon as they left, Priest turned around and now his blue eyes turned stone cold as he walked back to Randy. “You know, it’s bad enough people must deal with all this fucked up shit as the world looks like it’s ending. Then we have you mother fuckers causing terror and violating any innocence these poor girls have left. Shit, that these young women will have to deal with for the rest of their fucking life.”
“I can’t take things back and really who gives a shit. They will die; you will die, we’re all going to die. Just kill me already.”
“Whoa, getting a brief rush of courage suddenly, are we? Ok Randy, you’re right. I should give you exactly what you deserve.” Priest pulled his combat knife and squatted down to face Randy. He reached out his knife towards Randy’s throat as he braced himself for the killing blow. Lightning quick, Priest moved the knife from his throat to his face to cut out one of Randy’s eyes. Randy screamed and wailed like a banshee.
Priest let him squirm around for a bit before slapping him in the face, “Focus Randy, focus on me!” Randy lifted his head to look at Priest. He was sobbing with blood running down his cheeks.
“You know Randy, you seem a little scared and in pain. I want you to think about how those girls over there felt when you and your piece of shit buddies raped and terrorized them.” Randy just screamed and cursed Priest and the girls.
“Good bye, Randy,” Priest said just before he cut out his other eye.
Priest stand up and yelled over the screams, “Guess what, you fuck? I won’t kill you and you will exist for a little while lying in your own disgusting filth, not being able to move and not being able to see. Whether it’s dehydration, hunger, exposure, being ravaged by animals or shredded apart by the infected, you will die eventually and you won’t see it coming. You won’t even know what it is. The only thing you will know is that death is coming. We are the Light Reapers, so reap the whirlwind, you fucking piece of shit.”
Priest walks away, but stops to turn around back to Randy. Priest smiles and then stomps on Randy’s other wrist. He lets out another scream between his sobs as Priest walks back to the truck and gets in. They drive off, leaving Randy screaming and wailing on the ground.
CHAPTER 20
“God help us all,” Webb mutters as he feels dizzy and his legs get wobbly. He puts his palms on his knees and doubles over. Neville wasn’t faring much better witnessing the scene revealing itself before them. The two were standing on the edge of the parade grounds, which was up as an evacuee shelter.
They erected twenty to thirty large tents on the grounds along with various pallets of MRE’s and bottled water. First aid and Red Cross stations were scattered among the tents set up to house evacuees.
The scene looked like a well-organized support facility except for all the dead bodies littering the ground. Hundreds of bodies were lying in various states of death. The white tents were a background of contrast for the ominous red blood splattered throughout the camp.
Actual puddles were forming because of the significant amount of blood spilled during the massacre that seemed to have taken place here. Piles of bowels, intestines and every other internal organ were lying next to the bodies that once contained them. So many people had died with looks of terror on their face, with eyes still open and mouths agape.
The flies had already made themselves at home with the feast laid out across the landscape. Crows, buzzards, and every other scavenger had found their way here to gorge on the bounty. These two men, who had seen the battlefield many times, were now seeing civilians massacred and ravaged.
Women bloodied, children disemboweled, old people with their throats torn out. Brass was laying all over the ground as thousands of spent shell casings cluttered the landscape as far as the eye could see.
They overran soldiers who were here to defend these people. Military vehicles to transport to the civilians and those made to provide security just sat abandoned. Some vehicles had bodies of soldiers still contained in them.
“Jesus Christ,” Neville whispered. “Looks like the infected took this place down quick.”
“Yeah, probably had people coming in here who were already infected,” Webb responded. “Question is… where are all the infected now?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t want to be standing here when they come back.” Neville quipped.
“That makes two of us.” Webb replied as the two men spun and sprinted back to the truck. Everyone piled in based on the urgency of Neville and Webb making their way back to the vehicle.
“What’s happening up there?” Dr. Costa asked.
“You don’t want to know.” Neville reversed the truck and spit dirt and gravel as he made their way out of there. “Captain, should we try to see if HQ still exists?”
“Yeah, that’s our only move, Sargent. After that, I have no idea.”
The atmosphere in the truck was draped in stunned silence. Those that had witnessed the scene couldn’t believe what they just saw.
“How could it go so bad in such a brief time? How were the troops overrun so quickly? What does this mean for the rest of the world?” Shin pondered this as he attempted to meditate and bring his blood pressure level down.
Webb just stared out the windshield in disbelief, trying to deal with his dry mouth and scratchy throat. He sat there staring and blinking shell shocked as he was unconsciously shaking his head.
“You okay, Captain?” Neville was glancing over at him.
“Hell, no I’m not… but I will be.”
“Copy that. Feeling the same.”
After a couple more turns, they started down Range Road, which would take them back home, back to HQ, which was the only home they had known for three years. Once they are home, they could renew their spirit, their strength, their sanity. They can resupply, figure this whole crazy thing out and what is still real in the world and what is fantasy. They have blurred those lines over the past weeks and now Webb didn’t know if he could distinguish between the two.
They came up on the main road that led to their unit HQ, and the overwhelming smell assaulted their noses long before they laid eyes on their HQ building. The powerful stench of decay, rot, cordite, sweat and fear all amassed into something living on its own. It all manifested into an environment of despondency and desolation. The demeanor inside the truck completely changed and the tension and anxiety were palpable. They exchanged looks betwe
en the team and as they proceeded closer, their breath caught in their throats.
The picture in front of them was one of barbarians assaulting the ramparts as those behind the walls were trying to repel the assailing horde. The two things missing to complete the scene were a drawbridge and a moat.
Surrounding the HQ garrison were convex containers stacked one on top of another, creating a barrier wall. There were rows of concertina wire along the ground about 10 feet in front of the barrier and mounted on top of the barrier at the front facing corner. Infected were strung up in the wire at the foot of the container wall, still wriggling and trying to reach for the uninfected.
They lined soldiers along the top of the barrier shooting into the multitude of infected trying to breech the fortifications. Countless bodies littered the ground for hundreds of yards in every direction. By the looks of the fortifications, this fight for the compound has been taking place for quite a while.
Acrid smoke ascended into the air from countless fires raging all around the HQ. Fires were burning from roasting bodies, destroyed vehicles and scorched earth. All the fires produced a nauseating and toxic haze that seemed to float around looking for lungs to pollute like it had a mind of its own. Countless infected could be seen attempting to gain access to the compound like a frenzied mob. Their deep-rooted instincts driving them into an agitated state of wanting to spread the virus and just kill what was in front of them.
The question that kept gnawing at Webb was how were they going to get through this substantial horde without getting bitten, ripped apart, or shot. They needed to gain access to the compound, and the logistics were not as simple as they should be. Webb looks at his team. “Ok, options?”
Neville and Shin thought for a minute. “Captain, do you think any of the other units are in the same situation?”
“Probably not. It looks like all or at least most of the infected have made their way here. I am not sure if any of the other units are intact, but I doubt it.”
Shin looked at him, “Maybe we could acquire an armored Humvee with .50 cal turret, blast through to clear a path, or possibly even lure some away so we can get through their makeshift gate.”
Webb looked at the gate and the compound and then to Neville. Neville nodded his head. “Out fucking standing, Shin. Let’s move on that.”
Neville slowly backed the truck up and then turned it around. They had been stationed at this post for a few years, so they knew quite a few of the other units and possibly where to find the vehicle they were looking for.
The 358th Rakassans were a combat unit a mile or so from their HQ. They drove up slowly, even though the entire area looked abandoned. All the buildings looked desolate, not revealing any signs of life. The team made their way to the motor pool to scout out some vehicles. To their surprise, the motor pool was practically full.
“Should we roll with one or two vehicles?” Neville asked.
“Two would definitely swing the scales in our favor, so Dr. Costa would either have to man a weapon or drive one vehicle,” Webb stated. They all turned to Dr. Costa.
“What, I can do either. I have driven the Rubicon and Telluride courses in my Jeep Wrangler so driving wouldn’t be a problem. Bring it on.” The team’s eyes went wide, and they looked at each other.
“Oookay, Dr. Costa, you are with me. Neville and Shin, you are in the other,” Webb directed.
Dr. Costa looked at the rest of the guys, “We really need to get rid of this Dr. Costa, shit. My name is Isabelle, but my friends call me Izzy.”
“Check the vehicles and make sure you have ammo and are ready to go.” The team accessed the armory to gain ammunition and ready the M24’s mounted on the Humvees. They then assembled around Webb’s Humvee with a map spread out on the hood.
“Here’s the OP. Izzy, you and I will take the lead. We will roll right up to the larger mass in front of the gate, fire on the infected, and attempt to draw them away. Neville and Shin, you come in from the west side and flank the horde. Hopefully, we will catch them in a crossfire and thin out a significant amount of that damn herd. Do not let yourself get trapped or bogged down by the mass of numbers. Stay on the fringes of the crowd, keep your distance and pick off as many as you can. We will assess later on into the OP. Questions?”
Dr. Costa had traded in her skirt and blouse for ACV’s. She was fit, which Webb had no problem noticing. She had knuckle reinforced gloves and looked like she was ready to kick some serious ass. Webb gave her a thumbs up and she smiled at him as they all loaded up and moved out toward the HQ building.
CHAPTER 21
The infected were constantly jumping against the barrier, trying to grab at the soldiers. Their ammo was running low, so the order had gone out to only fire on any immediate threat. Other than that, the soldiers were to just observe and report any issues. Their morale was lower than the remaining ammo, and desperation was setting in.
In the early morning darkness, the soldiers on top of the barrier heard automatic fire in the distance. The recognizable sound of an M24 was heard coming out of the morning gloom, followed by a Humvee unloading .50 caliber rounds into the mass of horror raging at the gate.
The red tracers looked like flaming arrows as they slammed into the agitated crowd. Appendages were torn off; bodies were shredded and blood spewed everywhere like water out of a garden hose.
Izzy drove straight at the large accumulation of infected while Webb rained .50 cal projectile death on the horde. A barrage of rounds didn’t stop and ripped through multiple bodies, removing larger and larger chunks of flesh and tissue as it traveled unmercifully through the throng of infected.
The infected switched their attention and turned and advance toward the approaching Humvee. The horde moved closer, so Izzy turned and drove parallel with the crowd, while Webb sent burst after burst of lead into them. Toward the end of the HQ compound, Izzy turned left and drove at a 90-degree angle from the line of infected. They followed her and Webb just as the Team had planned.
Neville and Shin’s Humvee appeared out of the dimness to the west and came toward the barrier wall. Trying to peel off the back of the group, Neville opened up with his M24 and began decimating the crowd of infected.
Shin had to keep moving as not to lose momentum due to the amount of bodies, viscera and blood that had accumulated in front of HQ and mixed with the mud. The ground was so slick the four-wheel drive spun the Humvee’s tires and the vehicle was fish tailing. Rooster tails of blood and mud shot out from the tires, which reminded Neville of times back in Louisiana when he and his friends went mud bogging down in the bayou.
The crossfire between the two vehicles was eliminating scores of the infected as Webb and Neville continued firing. As the chaos was mounting to an incredible level, a truck horn blasted in the distance and headlights illuminating came from the east at a top rate of speed.
“Maybe this is another team coming to help eliminate these fucks?” Webb shouted in his squad comms. “Izzy, take us toward that truck so see can see who we are dealing with.”
“Copy that,” she replied.
As part of her uniform, the team made sure they gave her a squad comm rig so Webb could communicate with her. Izzy steered in the truck’s direction, which was still a couple hundred yards away. The truck seemed to notice the Humvee and changed its direction to meet up with them. “Shin, continue with what you’re doing and take out as many as you can. We’ll meet up with this truck and report back.”
“Copy, Captain.”
Izzy and Webb continued on their course toward the truck as it continued to blast its horn. As the two vehicles came closer to one another, Webb saw people hanging off the side of the truck. The erratic way the truck was being driven reminded him of the police car they encounte
red earlier driven by the infected. “Izzy, pull off and head back toward HQ. Something tells me this truck isn’t friendly.”
“Copy.” Izzy pulled a hard “U” and took off back the way they came. The truck still heading toward them was an US Army-5 ton, which was a good size hunk of steel and horsepower bearing down on them.
Webb could see clearly now that the truck filled with infected. A dozen were hanging off the side, screaming and brandishing homemade weapons from table legs to car parts. They had patterns draw on their bodies with blood and displayed multiple wounds. It was a sight of nightmares with the truck screaming towards them and the frenzied infected hanging off of it.
Webb turned the .50 cal toward the truck and squeezed the paddles to fire, but clicked after firing several rounds. “Fuck,” he yelled. “Reloading… Izzy, get them off our ass.”
“Hold on to your pelotas.” Izzy steered the Humvee toward a line of trees off to their left. The pine trees were space apart and used for accenting a property line. She blasted through two of the trees that was such a tight squeeze, she clipped the outside mirrors.
“Jesus Christ, Izzy.”
“I got this, I got this.” The truck, being too large to fit, swerved to the left so it could go around the line of trees.
Webb was having a hard time get the .50 cal reloaded, but Izzy was doing a fine job creating distance between them and the 5-ton. This came at a price of jerking Webb from left to right, back to front and almost launching Webb right out of the turret. A close explosion to his right jolted thoughts from his mind.