by Gary Hickman
“Yes, I understand, Mr. Baker.”
“Good, good. You have 30 minutes, and that is all I’m giving you. I would offer you the same opportunity as I gave Mr. Priest, which was to join us. I say “would”, because I understand your answer would probably be the same as Mr. Priest’s, so there isn’t any reason to delve into futility. 30 minutes, Captain Webb. 30 minutes!”
Webb turned to the team. “We have two issues to address. Stopping the infected and rescuing Priest.”
“I’m going after Priest!” Shaw growled.
“Hold on, Shaw. If we lose this facility, then we are all screwed. We have to be smart about this. Neville, what are the odds that when we roll out, these assholes will be watching?”
“I would say pretty high.”
“Ok, I believe we didn’t send everyone out last time we dealt with these locals, so they don’t know how many we have here.”
Shaw looked at Webb, “What are you thinking, Cap?”
“I tell this guy that the infected are too close, and we have to fight them, just to make it out alive. While we send out a team to engage the infected, we send another small team out the backside of the facility to find Priest. Shaw, I am going to need you on the assault team against the infected. Your firepower and ordinance expertise.” Shaw let out a big troubling sigh, but nodded in agreement. Ok, here are the teams: Shaw, Izzy, Lia and Allison are with me. Doc and Neville will make their way through the town and try to locate Priest. Make the assessment on whether or not you can extract him. Do not engage without talking to me first. Since they have one of our comm rigs, take one of these, and we will be able to communicate without being monitored.” Webb handed Doc and Neville a couple of two-way radios they had found at the dealership.
“Questions?”
While the team were making their last-minute checks, Thomas Baker’s voice came over the comms.
“Times up, Captain Webb! What say you?”
“Look, Mr. Baker, that throng of infected you so graciously lead to our doorstep is practically here. If we don’t engage this threat now, not only are we are not even making it out of here alive, you will not have any facility left to move into. That, Sir, is completely unacceptable. We also have scientists in here who cannot exit the facility until we deal with the infected. Once we deal with the infected, we will vacate the facility and head to the next closest CDC facility.”
“That will not work, Captain Webb.”
“It’s going to have to work. You led those fuckers right to us, and the only way out is that access road. We do not have enough time to pack up and evacuate this facility without running headfirst into the infected. If that is the case, then we stay where we are and we blow the facility with us in it. That is a much better outcome than being eaten alive. We have enough C4 here to do it. At that point, we both lose.”
“Come now, Captain Webb. I believe I can recognize a bluff when I hear one.”
“Hmm, ok. If you think we won’t do it, then tell me where Priest’s head is right now? I bet you he has reserved himself to die. He is willing to drift off into darkness, right? So, will we do it if you try to remove our only chance for survival. As soldiers, we have reserved ourselves to die. As far as the scientists here? Well, they don’t have a choice. We will deal with them mercifully and then blow the fuck out of this place.”
“Well, my goodness, Captain Webb. You paint a dismal picture, don’t you? You are really tugging on my heartstrings.”
Brody motioned toward Thomas and let go of the comms button.
“What?!,” he said, annoyed.
“Thomas, I think they mean it. That Priest fella in there is tough, but I think he is ready to die and doesn’t seem to mind doing so.”
“So, what do you suggest, Mr. Brody?”
“Let them go out and fight the infected. We will wait for them to leave and be ready for anyone that makes it back. If anyone does makes it back, then we will kill them easily. The scientists won’t blow that place and will be ready to give it up.”
“Mr. Brody, where have you been for the last few weeks? We have tried to get into that facility and “those scientists” who you seem to think are so meek have denied us every time. What makes you think they won’t continue to repel us?”
“Thomas, they knew people were coming to help them. They knew these soldiers were going to be arriving and helping them defend this place. No one else is coming, and they will have no help. They had the initial soldiers who were assigned here and then knew about these guys. It’s over for them.”
“Mr. Brody, you have given this some thought, I see. I do like the picture you paint. They go out and fight the infected. Their health, ammo, supplies and spirit are depleted. We will wait like vultures and pick clean what is left of their little group. Which means, they eliminate the horde for us, we remove whoever is left and get the facility. I’d say that is a win-win for us. This may well be the only option we have to come out on the other side of this with everything we need.”
“Captain Webb?”
“Go ahead.”
“I have thought over what you said and there is some truth in what you say. We will allow you to exit the facility to engage the crazies coming your way. Once that is complete, we will resume our discussion to negotiate how you will vacate our facility. Oh, we’ll hang on to Mr. Priest if you don’t mind. He is in no condition to go out there and fight. He can barely stand.” Webb didn’t respond to that.
“Go ahead, Captain Webb. Do your best against your adversaries, and we will be there to mop up the mess. We will be watching you, Captain Webb. Have a nice day and good luck.”
“Mr. Baker, make no mistake about it. We want Priest back alive. If anything happens to him, every ounce of our knowledge, every round of ammunition we possess and every breath in our body will be used to remove you and the shitheads that follow you off the face of this planet. That is the only outcome I can personally guarantee,” Webb said stoically.
There was no response.
CHAPTER 42
They geared both Teams up in no time. Webb and his team took both Jeeps and drove down the access road. They activated the perimeter traps behind them as they went.
A figure in the woods watched as both Jeeps exited the facility. The figure-maintained surveillance on the Jeeps from a distance.
“Yes, both Jeeps exited the facility. We are staying with them to make sure they eliminate those infected. Good thing too, because I am tired of losing men trying to filter out this infected mob.”
“I know you are Mr. Brody. You have my word; we will not lose one more brother to this.”
“Thank you, Mr. Baker.”
“You are welcome. We will keep Mr. Priest company; however, I am moving him to Site B. The town could easily become a war zone depending on how the infected mass travels. Once you have completed your surveillance, meet us there.”
“Understood, Mr. Baker.”
Doc and Neville made their way through the fence at the back of the facility, which was surrounded by a thick forest. They re-wired the fence and took off through the woods. Traversing the outskirts of town, they kept to the tree line. Doc and Neville recon’ed houses from the tree line, only coming out if they spied a potential mode of transportation. They came across a few cars, but passed them up.
After a half-dozen houses, they came across a house with tan brick and brown trim which had its garage door open. Parked inside was exactly what they were looking for. A black Toyota Prius sat there waiting for them. Neville went into the empty house and found a set of keys, probably the backup set. They got in and Doc turned the key and the engine came on.
“Sweet,” Doc whispered. The hybrid car
was just what they needed. As long as they stayed under 45 mph, the electric motor powered the car quietly which would allow Doc and Neville to approach their potential target unnoticed. They continued to stay on the outskirts of town, taking all less traveled roads. Seeing exactly what they were looking for, the two soldiers pulled off the road and behind the building they had scoped out.
The building was one of the tallest in the town and would give them an adequate view of the town. As they traveled up to the top floor, they set booby traps to warn them of any enemies making their way up the stairs. They set up an observation point and looked for any signs of Priest.
Meanwhile, a mile out from the facility, Shaw started to set up claymores, white phosphorus grenades with trip wires and remote C4 mounds with jars of shrapnel. They equipped each mound with ten jars full of nails, screws and any other scraps of metal the team could find. If the infected got through that, then the team planned to mow down the rest with small arms fire.
Thomas and four of his men opened the door to a dark room. The room had once been a small office, but now all the furniture and carpet had been removed. Laying in one of the far corners was a figure that resembled a man lying in a bloody heap. He was dressed in only pants, no shoes, no shirt. There were fresh cuts all over his body that were crusting up. Priest was lying on his side; his eyes closed, his beard was soaked with blood and his nose didn’t sit straight on his face. Bruising along each side of his ribs had showed. The blood pooling right underneath the skin was turning a sickly shade of purple. The men with Thomas looked uneasy at the sight, and it was apparent that Thomas was not comfortable with the view either.
“Damn, Brody may have gone a little overboard on this,” Thomas said almost at a whisper. “Well, we need to move him, so ahead.”
The men moved into the room and two of them grabbed him underneath his arms to lift him up. He was so slick with blood that the men couldn’t get a good enough grip to lift him. The men slung their rifles over their backs and each grabbed an arm or leg. They lifted him off the ground with his head dangling down. He didn’t stir; he didn’t cry out in pain; he didn’t react at all.
“Wait,” Thomas commanded. He reached over and placed his fingers on Priest’s neck. “Ok, take him away. He is still alive…..barely.” They exited the building and headed for one pickup.
From an observation point on the top floor of a building across the road.
“Shit, we got movement,” Neville said to Doc.
Neville zoomed in, “Holy fuck! They are carrying Priest out to one truck. They really fucked him up and you can barely make out its him. He looks dead.”
Doc came over with his binos and his mouth hung open. “Jesus, Mother Mary and Joseph. Look at all that blood. We stay with him no matter what.”
“Fuckin-a-right we will!” Neville said in a loud whisper.
“Those fuckers are going to pay for this one way or another! Come on!” Doc exclaimed.
Thomas’s men loaded Priest into the back of one pickup and drove off, heading north. Doc and Neville were already in their Prius and following at a safe distance.
The Team had fallen back from the field of death they just constructed. Never the patient one, Shaw was getting agitated. With Priest out there in whatever state, Shaw was chomping at the bit. He liked to take the fight to the enemy, not the other way around.
Webb had his binos out and could see the infected coming their way, but not making good time. They were milling around, seeming to locate their have lost prey.
“Looks like they don’t know which way to go. Allison, Lia, hit those horns. Let them know we are here.”
Allison and Lia started laying on the Jeep horns. The infected’s heads looked up, snarled, and then came running towards the team. Webb observed all this in his binos.
“Oh shit, that caught their attention. They’re coming now. They are thinned out, but it still looks like several hundred and they are coming this way in a hurry.”
They positioned Lia in a wood line to the north of the highway. They had found the deer stand in the woods and thought it would be a perfect sniper point.
Shaw, being the first line of defense, was positioned behind a berm they built along with his M48 on the southern side of the highway. He had all the claymore triggers, C4 detonators, and a planned out contingency if the LZ got too hot.
Webb was on command point and Izzy and Allison were ready to drive the Jeeps out of there so they were not lost. Webb, Izzy and Allison were equipped with M4’s and grenades.
Webb trained his bino’s on the advancing host of infected and was the one who would call out the firing and shock positions. Shock positions (the locations they had placed the explosives) were staggered in a way to provide maximum damage. Since the infected didn’t react the same as regular human troops, it was slightly easier to set up the fields of impact to take out as many infected as they could before the team ever fired a round. The fast runners of the infected were a about 25 yards ahead of the main pack.
Webb keyed his comms, “Ok, Shaw. Get ready to engage.”
“Ready to rock, Cap.”
Webb keyed Lia. “Take out those runners. I’m waiting for the bulk of the crowd to enter the blast zone.”
“Got it, Cap,” Lia replied.
“Shock A, hit it!” Webb shouted.
Click, click, click, Shaw activated the claymore trigger. Baboom! The first string exploded, sending thousands of ball bearings into the pack of infected. Bodies shredded, bones shattered and viscera scattered. With some infected already suffering decay, the devastation was indescribable. Those who were freshly turned the landscape crimson. There were a few of the runners who were already ahead of the blast zone.
Webb saw them coming out of the smoke, “Lia, you have…”
Bang! Bang! Bang! “Yeah, I got them,” she said with a giggle.
“Nice,” he said. “Ok, ready, Shock B, go!”
Shaw activates the next set of triggers with the same effect. Things were looking manageable, Webb thought. As soon as that thought entered his head, he saw something coming over the horizon that he couldn’t make out. There were flashes of bright orange.
“Lia, can you make out what those flashes of orange are that I keep seeing? Way behind the mass of infected.” A moment of silence went by.
“Shit! It looks like three county maintenance trucks. Judging from how they are being driven, I would guess it’s infected behind the steering wheels.”
“Damn, they are fucking unpredictable,” Webb expressed. “Ok, guess we have another factor to plan for.”
Lia continued, “Ah, Captain. That’s not all. Those maintenance vehicles are dump trucks and are filled with infected. I’d say another 30 per truck.”
“Fuckin A. Shaw, heads up. We got 3 dump trucks filled with more infected coming behind the mass on foot!”
“Shit Captain, they are getting smarter.” Shaw barked.
Izzy spoke up, “They appear to be evolving. Advancing their thought patterns, being able to think and process. At least elementary cognitive functions. Possibly a basic memory recall of muscle memory behaviors.”
“Well ain’t that a fuckin peach!” Shaw spat.
Webb was still monitoring the battlefield, “The first two blast zones worked fairly well. Not only did the blasts take out quite a few of the infected, it also slowed the mass down considerably with all the bodies on the ground they now have to negotiate. Tripping over bodies, slipping and sliding on blood and internal organs, they can’t keep their footing.”
Shaw took a minute to pull his binos and survey the field. “Yeah, we took out about a third, but those trucks coming are going to be a pain to deal with. Hopeful
ly, those C4 mounds will give us the edge.”
“Copy that,” Webb replied. The next wave of infected had made their way toward the half-way point of the field. The first of the trucks was coming up behind them at a high rate of speed. It wasn’t even trying to maneuver around the infected who were on foot. The crazy bastards were driving right over them, trying to get to Webb and company.
Lia was attempting to dial in a shot on the driver, but with the uneven terrain and the irrational head tilting back and forth, it was nearly impossible.
“I can’t dial in the driver, Captain. They are bouncing around in there like a couple of kangaroos,” Lia communicated.
“Ok, Shaw. It’s up to you. See if you can take them out.”
“I’ll give it a go,” Shaw replied. He had one hand holding up his binos to his eyes and the other hand on the detonator. He watched as the truck got near the first C4 mound and he depressed the trigger. BABOOM!!! The C4 detonated with a huge spray of dirt and cloud of smoke. The projectiles could be seen penetrating bodies and embedding into the truck. A couple of tires popped from the nails, but didn’t slow the truck too much. Dozens of infected on either side of the truck went down, but the truck kept coming.
The last explosion caused the following two trucks to steer wide on the left and right to avoid the explosions. Shaw saw the course correction and cursed. “Yeah, these infected aren’t acting like the others.”
The front truck was already committed to its course and couldn’t change. The other two changed their paths to go around the explosive mounds.
Shaw called on Webb, “Switching to the M48 to take these trucks out. I need you to man these detonators.”
“On my way,” Webb replied. He ran over just as Shaw opened up with the M48. He concentrated on the lead truck, trying to put it out of commission. The .50 cal rounds rained all over the truck, taking out chunks of metal and infected. The driver and passenger were eliminated, and the truck lost direction. It drove directly over one of the C4 mounds and Webb pulled the trigger on the detonator. Whoom! The force of the explosion lifted the driver’s side of the truck off the ground and it tipped over on its side. The fuel tank was also hit with shrapnel and was punctured. Fuel was leaking out all over the ground.