Taco made the bottom of the stairwell, which opened into a small alcove. To the left another set of stairs wound down to the second floor, and directly ahead was the hallway for the third floor. He slowly peeked around the corner to the west and saw an empty hall. Then looking east, two men stood outside the two apartment doors. He quietly relayed the information to Rico and Flash.
Rico directed Flash to the right of the doorway and drew his knife. He put his hand on the knob and looked to Flash, who gave him a nod. With speed born of years of practice, Rico flung the door wide and shot across the hall to plunge his knife up through the chin, and into the brain of the guard. Following on Rico's heels, Flash came through the door and jammed his knife through the temple of the stunned man who was frozen by Rico's vicious attack. Rico wiped the blade of his knife off on the dead man’s shirt and sheathed it. Bringing his M4 up to the ready position, he moved to the next apartment.
Rico slid silently into the apartment across from where the women were being held, Flash following closely. Moving slowly, he was nearly surprised by a man standing in the kitchen. Luckily, he had his back to Rico, who moved in and clamped his hand over the man's mouth as he drew his knife across his throat. Holding tight as the man’s legs crumpled beneath him, Rico eased the body down. Working his way through to the bedrooms, he found another twenty women naked and battered in the two rooms. He quickly got them ready to move and had them follow him out of the bedrooms.
“Both eastside apartments clear, Cap. Approximately forty hostages ready to move on your go,” Rico said into his mike.
“Roger that. Moving to the second floor. Stand by,” Derek answered. “Static, move to the second floor and give me a sitrep,” Derek said to the man beside him.
A few seconds later Static gave the all clear for floor two. Derek instructed Static to continue on to the first floor.
“Taco, cover westside until the hostages make the stairs. Rico, Flash, once captives are in the stairwell hold position at third-floor stairwell. Taco, Bull, Suave, and Calf … once they are clear sweep the remaining apartments,” Derek said into the mike while moving down the steps to the second floor.
“Cap, first floor all quiet,” Static said over the net.
“Rico, send the first group.”
“Roger that, Cap,” Rico said as he led the first group of women towards the stairs.
Rico directed the women down the stairs where Derek then directed them to the first floor. Flash then brought his group and Derek stopped them in the stairwell near the second-floor hallway.
“Taco, Suave, Bull, Calf … hostages clear. Make it happen,” Derek said.
◆◆◆
Taco, getting the signal, moved to the east down the hall, Suave following close behind. Bull and Calf proceeded to the other apartment on the west end of the hall. Bull and Calf took the apartment to the right and Taco and Suave the left. Slowly, they opened the doors virtually simultaneously. Like ghosts, the four men disappeared into their respective apartments.
Bull and Calf entered stealthily into the apartment. To their left was a small deserted kitchen. They continued about five feet and the entryway opened into a living room. There were two couches, both with men sleeping on them. Creeping up, Bull and Calf took position. Like a synchronized swim team, both men covered their target’s mouth while driving their knives into the sleeping men's ears. Without delay, they headed down the hall to the bedrooms. The apartments were all two bedrooms and had identical layouts. Slowly, they opened the first door and found an empty bathroom. Farther down the hall, they entered the bedroom to the left. A number of cots were set up and four men were sleeping a sleep from which they would never wake. In the second bedroom, the final two occupants of the apartment were quickly and efficiently dispatched.
Taco peered into the living room of the apartment. A large bed was the only furniture in the room. There was a man asleep on the bed. The thing that had Taco's blood boiling, was the woman who had her hands bound to the bottom of the bed. Like many of the other women, she was nude. She was on her knees at the foot of the bed with just her upper body lying across the mattress. Somehow, likely exhaustion, she had fallen asleep. The woman's back and legs had huge bloody welts all over, with darker bruises below, which suggested this had not been the first time she had been beaten. Giving Suave a hand signal to hold position, Taco dashed to the bed, intent on dispatching the sleeping captor and freeing the woman. He was halfway across the room when suddenly loud voices came from the back of the apartment.
“Hurry up, dipshit. If you keep dragging ass Donte is going to string us up by our balls,” someone shouted.
Taco got to the bed and slapped his left hand over the sleeping man’s mouth and nose, while driving his K-bar into his ear canal. He then immediately began cutting the bindings on the woman’s hands. She jerked awake, fear filling her eyes.
“It’s okay, we are here to get you out,” Taco said, pushing her down behind the bed for cover.
"Cap, things are going to get noisy very soon," Taco said into his mike.
"Copy. Rico, Flash, get ready for hostiles. Bull, sitrep,” Derek said next.
“All tangos down, no friendlies. Moving for the stairwell.”
“Bull, you and Calf come to my position on floor two. I am moving to lower level to send the first group of women out,” Derek said, telling the women gathered behind him to stay put until someone told them to move.
Taco took a shooting position at the foot of the bed and aimed his suppressed M4 towards the hallway leading to the bedrooms. The first man to enter the living room was surprised with two rounds center mass. Suave, following Taco’s lead, acquired the second man in his sights and dispatched him. There was a deafening boom as someone popped out of the back bedroom with a shotgun and peppered the wall next to Suave. In short order, a second gunman began sending return fire towards the living room as well.
“When I tell you, we run for the door. Do you understand?” Taco said, taking the woman by the arm.
“Yes, I understand,” she said, fear evident in her shaky voice.
With a few quick hand signals, Taco let Suave know they were going to make a break for the door. Suave fired several short bursts down the hallway as Taco pulled the woman to her feet and ran, dragging her across the apartment.
◆◆◆
Just as Bull and Calf arrived at the second-floor hallway, a shotgun blast resonated throughout the building. Soon additional fire began echoing in the corridor above. The group of women, who, to their credit, had followed directions and remained in place waiting instructions, began crying and whimpering.
Doors down the second-floor corridor to the east and west began opening. Sporadic gunfire came from both ends of the hall.
Taco, with an arm around the woman, was practically carrying her out of the apartment and to the stairwell. He and Suave hugged the left side of the corridor, leaving Rico and Flash a clear line of fire on the apartment they had just left. They didn't slow as Rico’s M4 opened up on the pursuers.
Handing the woman off to Rico and Flash, Taco took up station at the door and dropped the two remaining tangos on the third floor.
“Start sending them,” Derek said to Static. He moved across the hall and opened the front door of the apartment complex. Derek instructed the first ten women in line to go, and they bolted out the front door.
“Wade, friendlies on the way, stay sharp,” Derek said.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
All Things Fall Apart
Our strategy was as good as it could be with what we knew. We had thought of everything possible we could have as far as dealing with the Lords and Masters. What we did not think about was the dead. Yes, we assumed if it turned into a pitched battle that it would draw the infected. What we didn't think about was just plain ol’ rotten luck. Eisenhower said, “The plan is useless, but planning is essential.” An even better quote would be from Colin Powell who said, "No battle plan survives the first encounter with the enemy
." In our case, I think both of these quotes are relevant. We started out with everything going our way, but it quickly turned into a cluster fuck. There was nothing we could do about it other than fight tooth and nail and pray for the best.
Wade Marshall
◆◆◆
With the signal to go, Wade fired up the flatbed and followed the GMV and Tommy’s SUV. Justin's SUV and the other Stryker followed him. The fact they were in trouble was evident the moment they turned onto National Avenue. They had spent the day planning for all the possibilities for dealing with the hostiles in the apartment complex. A strategy to get the hostages out was in place. Escape routes had been mapped out. Preparations pertaining to the infected being drawn to the location if they had to trade gunfire with the Lords and Masters accounted for. What they hadn't factored in was just plain bad luck.
A mere few hundred yards past the apartment was a group of the infected. The street was filled from one side to the other. They were packed in like subway platforms in the big cities. They turned as one, alerted by the vehicles when they fired the engines to move to their designated positions outside the complex. The group had not thought of the scenario of having a mass of undead on them from the moment they were in position. Wade keyed his walkie, unaware that Bones was simultaneously giving Derek a similar update.
"Derek, we have a whole herd of infected practically on top of us out here. We are going to have to open up on them to keep the vehicles clear."
"Stand by, Wade. Bones, sitrep. How long before you have to open up on the rotters?" Derek said into his helmet mike.
"Couple of minutes at best, Cap. We have a sizable mob only half a block away and Cowboy has more approaching from the rear," Bones replied.
"Wade, we are going to start hustling out hostages. It is about to get messy. Keep behind cover and get them loaded on the truck as fast as possible. We have contact in here as well," Derek shouted.
Wade, directing the others to stay low and cover the building, motioned for Jessie to follow him to the rear of the flatbed just as the front doors burst open and Static stepped out guiding ten women to run to the truck. Wade and Jessie popped up from behind cover and called for the women to come to them. Quickly, they helped the women aboard and told them to stay low.
A few moments later, another group of women exited the building. The noise of a pitched battle was evident from inside the structure. The dead were closing fast as well, and soon the Ma Deuces added to the cacophony as Cowboy and Bones opened up on the infected. The third group of women all hesitated when the noise of the big guns erupted.
Suddenly, shots began hitting around the startled group of women and Wade saw a woman in the back of the group fall to the ground. With the exception of two, they ran flat out for the truck. Wade looked back to the fallen survivor and saw a young blonde girl struggling to pull her to her feet.
Movement in his peripheral vision drew his eye as he saw Jarred running full speed towards the women. Wade felt like he had just run chest first into an I-Beam. He could not breathe as he watched his son charge through a hail of gunfire coming from the second-floor windows.
Wade realized the girl trying to get the older woman on her feet looked like a younger version of Lauren. Jarred, undoubtedly realizing this a bit quicker, had risked life and limb to save Lauren's family. Glass and bits of vinyl siding rained down on Jarred and the struggling women. The Strykers swung the big 50 caliber around and raked the second floor with a steady stream of death. Jarred picked up the woman who had been shot and ran for the SUV. Wade finally drew breath again as Jarred got back behind the cover of the vehicle.
The gunfire had been silenced on the second floor for the moment, but now the dead were practically on top of the GMV as they paused to reload. Once loaded, Cowboy mowed down infected like a harvester taking down rows of corn.
Tommy and Justin came to his aid clearing the dead that had gotten inside the effective range of the big gun. Bones, taking the cue from Cowboy, sent a deadly barrage at the opposite side of the second floor to ensure nothing else came from that direction. More women exited the apartment and the truck was quickly filling up. The windows on the bottom floor exploded as bursts of gunfire erupted from multiple locations. Several of the fleeing friendlies staggered as bright red blossoms burst on their bodies as bullets riddled their flesh. Wade sent rounds back in retaliation. One of the women on the truck peeked over the side and then, ignoring the gunfire, stood and screamed when she saw the women fall. Wade cringed as a bullet ripped through her forehead, throwing her body backwards into the bed of the truck.
Wade heard screams from the other survivors and Jessie telling everyone to stay down, but in the maelstrom of battle it all seemed far away. More of the hostages came running into the chaos that was the front yard. Another fell as gunfire again came from one of the windows on the lower level. Static ran from the cover of the entryway and fired bursts from his M4, buying time for the women to get to the safety of the vehicles.
Wade witnessed Static take a hit and fall to the ground. Just then, Derek and the rest of his team exited out the front door and fired along all the windows on the lower level. The Stryker teams raked both sides of the lower level with the big guns. Taco, releasing his weapon to dangle by its tactical sling, lifted Static under his arms and pulled him towards the truck. Wade ran out and grabbed his other side and they powered him into the back of the flatbed. Taco shouted to Wade to saddle up and signaled the others to move out.
Derek and his team made it to the GMVs while laying down suppression fire on the building. Wade jumped in the cab of the flatbed. He jammed the shifter into low gear and punched the gas, rolling around Tommy’s and Justin's SUVs. With a Stryker leading the way, the Ma Deuce clearing a path through the dead, Wade stayed on its bumper.
The dead were mostly down, only a couple dozen remained standing, but the street was littered with the bodies of the twice dead. Wade didn't slow as he rolled over both prone and standing bodies. Another large gathering moved their way, so he took the first side street that was semi-clear. Tommy and Justin, following closely behind, had a much rougher ride as the smaller vehicles rolled over what was left of the infected. Derek's team fell in behind the fleeing vehicles while continuing a steady barrage of fire, keeping the hostiles pinned down.
Wade didn't slow once he cleared the thickest crowds of infected. He was still hammer down when Derek's voice came across the all-but-forgotten walkie-talkie.
"Wade, the first open area you can find let’s pull over and check the wounded. I don't think we’ll have to worry about pursuit. They will have their hands full with the rotters.”
Wade was at the edge of town when he pulled into an almost deserted shopping plaza. Once all the vehicles had gathered, Derek's team filed out and set up a perimeter to handle any of the infected that may wander their way. Cowboy and Bones immediately set to work tending to the wounded. Static was lucky as the wound in his leg had gone through without hitting the main arteries. Lauren's mom also had a serious but not life-threatening wound on her leg. There was no help for the woman in the back of the truck who had been hit in the head. Several minor wounds were tended to on the other women before Bones declared everyone was out of danger until they could return to the farm.
◆◆◆
The return to the farm was bittersweet. Derek's wife and family along with those of his team had arrived at the farm. It was only the second time Wade had ever seen Derek shed tears. The first had been when they lost William. As soon as Derek stepped out of the GMV, his wife Marsha ran to him. Scooping her off her feet and into his arms, tears of relief dripped freely down his face. Then, Derek's brother was there grabbing him in a tight hug. They had losses along the way and some of them were dear to the men in Derek's squad.
Wade and the group had managed to bring thirty-two of the forty-one hostages freed from the Lords and Masters. Lauren ran to the truck when it arrived. She looked crestfallen when she did not spot her mother and sister amon
g the survivors.
“Lauren, over here,” Jarred called her over and opened the door of the SUV.
“Mom! Thank God you’re all right. I didn’t know if I would ever see you again,” Lauren said, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Megan, get in here,” Lauren added, pulling her sister into their embrace.
They stood crying and embracing for several long minutes.
“Mom, you’re hurt.” Lauren pulled back from her mother.
“It could have been far worse if it wasn’t for that young man over there. I had fallen and there were bullets flying all around us and suddenly he was there picking me up and got us to safety,” she said, pointing to Jarred.
Lauren then turned from her family and walked over to Jarred. She grabbed his shoulders and planted a lip-lock on him.
“I can’t ever repay you for bringing my family back to me safe,” she said, smiling at Jarred.
Jarred, who had turned as red as a shiny new firetruck, shrugged it off as no big deal to the smiles of many gathered there.
Despite losing nine of the hostages, Wade couldn't consider this anything but a win. These women would recover from the trauma of their captivity. They would be free and have a chance at life. Wade wished he could have given all the hostages that chance. Considering how things had went downhill so quickly, he was grateful the losses hadn't been higher.
With the captives and Derek's people from North Carolina arriving, the farm had over 400 survivors banded together. Luckily, Tommy and many of the others had been working tirelessly and already had two bunk houses completed and were over half finished with the third. There was still so much to do to build something that could withstand the dead, but that was for tomorrow.
The day was far from over as the women they had rescued all needed at least some minor medical attention. All of them showed signs of being beaten, and most had been sexually assaulted as well. Wade's temper boiled as he walked through gazing at the women who had been treated like animals.
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