DEAD AMERICA - THE NORTHWEST INVASION
BOOK 6
SEATTLE - PART 4
BY DEREK SLATON
© 2020
CHAPTER ONE
Day Zero +24
“What do you think, Jinx?” Private Davila asked, leaning on the railing overlooking the main cargo hold. “This the day we’re finally getting off this boat?”
Corporal Eddie ‘Jinx’ Jenkins tongued his cheek. “That’s the rumor going around,” he replied. “Of course we’re heard similar rumors for the last two weeks.” He tilted his head, voice rising in pitch as he mocked, “Oh, we’re getting off in Portland. Oh, we’re headed for Hawaii. Oh look, it’s Fantasy Island, I can’t wait to party with that midget dude.”
“Tattoo,” Davila offered.
Jinx raised an eyebrow. “Tattoo?”
“Yeah, that was the dude’s name, Tattoo,” the Private explained. “He would always yell Da plane, da plane! How do you not know that?”
Jinx rolled his eyes. “How do I not know the name of a specific character from a seventies tv series?” He put a hand to his chest in mock offense. “I don’t know, could be because I had a life before the end of the world. Better question is, how do you know the character name? What next, you going to rattle off the crew of the Love Boat?”
“Well, there was Captain Stubing, Doctor Bricker, Isaac the Bartender,” Davila replied, counting off on his fingers.
The Corporal chuckled, shaking his head. “Buddy, I’m going to tell you something that someone should have told you years ago,” he said, clapping his friend on the shoulder. “You really need to get out more.”
“Nah, it’s not like that, man,” Davila replied, sharing the laugh. “I spent summers with my grandmother and she loved those old seventies shows. Had stacks of VHS tapes and would watch them over and over again. Even still had the commercials on them. I was so heartbroken as a kid when I found out I couldn’t get New Coke.”
Jinx grinned. “From what I understand, you dodged a bullet there.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” the Private agreed.
The loudspeaker in the cargo hold flicked on with a light squeal and fumbling mic noises before a booming voice echoed in the room. “Attention, all team leaders, please report to the briefing room,” it said. “Repeat, all team leaders please report to the briefing room.”
“Well, looks like the rumors were true,” Jinx said, stretching his arms above his head.
Davila grinned. “Make sure you get us a good assignment,” he said, pointing a finger at his Corporal. “None of this guarding a gas station nonsense. We’ve traveled this far and we’re ready to light these things up.”
“You know it.” Jinx winked at him and they exchanged a fist bump. “Get the squad together at our usual table in the mess hall and I’ll brief you when I’m done.” He headed off towards the briefing room, glancing down at the floor below to see a few dozen men doing the same thing.
This is going to be a packed room, he thought. Guess everybody is chomping at the bit to get off of this boat.
Jinx worked his way down the narrow hallways of the ship, glancing in every room he passed to see them overcrowded with people and gear. When they’d left port nearly a month ago, there wasn’t much time to load things like normal, which meant vital goods like guns, ammo, and food had been thrown anywhere and everywhere they could.
The USS Anchorage, a San Antonio class transport ship was state-of-the art, designed to carry all manner of man and machinery into battle. It was complete with a helicopter landing pad on the surface and a battery of weaponry that would put most other nation’s Navy ships to shame.
Today, however, in the midst of the zombie apocalypse, the ship was vastly different. Instead of cargo holds filled with tanks and vehicles, it housed nearly a thousand soldiers on makeshift bedding. This effectively doubled the intended capacity for the ship, putting a strain on everything from the mess hall to simple things like plumbing.
The close quarters and constant deployment at sea had begun to take its toll on the soldiers, with numerous fisticuffs breaking out over the previous week. The stress of not knowing when they would get off made it even worse, coupled with the worries that what they would be facing was too much for them to bear.
Jinx, however, was not one of those soldiers. He was known for a wild streak and had gotten his nickname from his luck that bordered on the supernatural with how many times he’d escaped death in the field. He was itching to get off of this damn boat and dive headfirst into action.
He reached the briefing room, and it was already beginning to get crowded. About forty soldiers had squeezed into a room where twenty would have normally fit comfortably. Jinx looked behind him and spotted a handful of soldiers still working their way down the hallway.
“Yo man, let me slip by you real quick,” he murmured, and when one of the men in the back turned towards him, he used the opening to slide in and work his way to the front of the room. He found a corner on the front row and knelt down beside the side door.
A few moments later, the door opened and Captain Odom entered the room. He was an older man, easily in his late forties, with rapidly graying hair. The men all stood at attention in his presence, but he waved them off.
“Everybody get settled, there’s a lot to go over,” he declared.
Another soldier entered through the door, carrying a large printed satellite image tacked to a cork board. He set it up beside the Captain so that the room could see. It was focused on a bay just off the ocean.
“Some of you have no doubt heard the rumors that our assault on Seattle began yesterday,” Odom began, “and I can confirm those rumors are true. Multiple strike forces attacking numerous points on the north and eastern parts of the target launched operations just before dawn yesterday. They have been fighting throughout the day and have been making some progress against the enemy. Now, while the rest of our ships have been moving to the north to assist in the assault on downtown, we have been held back for a special mission.”
He looked around at the cork board and found a thin pointer nestled in the bottom tray. He held it up and began pointing to different spots on the map as he spoke.
“This is North Bay, roughly fifty miles west of Olympia,” he continued, “which is our ultimate target. For those of you unfamiliar with the layout of the Seattle Metro area, Olympia is to the southwest, and is the last pocket of major civilization. Our mission is to land and push forward towards Olympia to create another front for the enemy to fight us on. It’s our job to distract as many as we can so that the ground forces can march in from the east.”
He snapped the pointer against the area just to the north and east of the bay. “Before we can do that, however,” he continued, “we have to pacify the town of Aberdeen. As you can see, the bulk of the town is situated between three rivers, the main one running along the southern border, and two smaller ones to the east and west. Our landing point is going to be to the harbor on the northwest of town, less than a quarter mile from a non-insignificant population area to the west of the river.”
A hand shot up in the middle of the room, and the Captain sighed, reluctantly pointing to it.
“Sir, we have no landing craft on board,” the soldier called. “How are we going to get ashore?”
Odom clucked his tongue. “I’m getting to that soldier,” he said impatiently. “We have orders from the top of the food chain to beach the ship on shore so we can rappel down the side.”
The stunned silence in the room was so pregnant, it was
as if the soldiers weren’t even breathing.
“Believe me when I say that I share every thought currently running through your heads,” the Captain said firmly. “I even went so far as to share some of them with the General, who politely informed me that the enemy didn’t have a Navy, so the mission is more important than the survival of our ship.”
Murmurs broke out amongst the soldiers, some of them nodding, few still wide-eyed.
“Moving on,” Odom said loudly, commanding attention once again. “Upon landing, we will be forced to rappel down the side of the ship. Thanks to the great resource purge, we will only have four lines coming down from the deck, so it’s going to be a long process to get people to the shore. And with the noise we’re going to be making, we’re going to have quite the crowd before we’re ready. This area had around twenty thousand people, so we are expecting a stiff resistance. To protect us from being overrun, I need three teams to volunteer for diversion duty.” He paused, raising his chin. “I’m asking for volunteers because the likelihood of survival is… low.”
Jinx’s hand shot up into the air before anybody else, and Odom raised an eyebrow at him.
“Oh hell, is that Jinx?” somebody called from the back. “Gonna be a wild ride if it is!”
Laughter rippled through the men, but Odom didn’t react, simply scanned the room for more volunteers. A few moments later, two more hands reluctantly went up, and the Captain nodded.
“Okay, that’s our three,” he declared. “Need you to stay behind, the rest of you get your teams together and see my assistant on the way out for your landing assignments.”
The soldiers began to filter out, varying noise levels of chatter as they went. Corporal Spence and Sergeant Dickerson approached the front of the room.
“Yeah, I thought that was you,” Dickerson said with a lopsided grin as he stepped up next to Jinx.
Odom cocked his head. “You two know each other, Sergeant?”
“Oh yes sir,” Dickerson replied. “Corporal Jinx and I go back a ways. Had a few misadventures in the sandbox.”
The Captain raised his chin. “Is this going to be a problem?”
“Oh, not at all, Captain,” the Sergeant assured him, raising his palms. “The Corporal and I get along real well. In fact, I’m kind of relieved to know he’s on this suicide mission.”
Odom clucked his tongue. “Oh yeah?” he asked. “And why’s that?”
“Because the only way he could be any luckier is if he shoved a rabbit’s foot in places best left to the imagination,” Dickerson replied.
The Captain gaped at the soldiers, shaking his head. “Luck?” he asked. “You’re excited to have him along because he’s lucky?” He blinked and then turned to Jinx. “So you’re lucky, huh?”
“In a single tour, my team and I walked away from four IEDs, a dozen ambushes, and a whole host of other situations that have since been erased thanks to the hard work of bourbon destroying those brain cells,” the Corporal declared proudly.
Odom clucked his tongue again. “Lucky indeed,” he replied dryly. “Let’s hope that keeps up.” He motioned for the trio to cluster around the map.
He removed the top sheet to reveal a tighter shot of the city of Aberdeen. He used the pointer to motion to the area on the west side of the bridge.
“Once you’re on the ground, you need to push forward across this area,” he said. “It’s ten blocks of mostly residential housing leading up to the bridge. Once you’re across is when the real fun begins.” He motioned to the north. “This area to the north is a shopping center that should provide cover to draw the enemy up there.” Odom pointed to a specific spot in the south by a river. “Same thing with this spot in the south. I need a team to go to each one, set up a diversion, and hold the enemy’s attention while we get a foothold.”
“Sir, my team can take the southern target,” Spence piped up.
Dickerson nodded. “My team will take the northern target.”
The Captain turned to Jinx. “Then that leaves you with the big job.” He pointed to a shopping center on the far east of town, practically on its own little island with two bridges leading across to it. “Corporal, your team will have three primary goals. The first is to get to the target and draw as many of those things as you can. The second is to escape via the river within a stone’s throw of the building, circle back, and block off the bridges with whatever you can find. And the third is to cause as much havoc on the way there as you can. Set up traps, set things on fire, whatever you need to do to distract the enemy and eliminate them.”
Jinx nodded. “My team and I can handle that, sir,” he said, and then raised a finger. “But I do have a question.”
“Go for it,” Odom said.
“If we’re blocking off the bridge on the east side of town to trap these things,” the Corporal began, “then why don’t we just block off the bridge into Aberdeen and call it a day?”
The Captain took a deep breath. “We considered that,” he admitted, “but with the amount of enemy forces in town, the higher ups felt like we could end up in a surge situation. If the barricade failed, our landing zone would be overrun and there would be little we could do about it.”
“That works for me,” Jinx replied with a nod. “Like a lot of the soldiers on this ship, my team and I are ready to get into the action. Lot more fun rampaging through the streets than babysitting a barricade.”
Odom raised his chin. “Well, Corporal, you and your team have free rein to do whatever you deem necessary,” he declared. “This isn’t a strategic target, so once we clear it, it’s unlikely anybody is going to be back here for quite some time.”
“Burn the city to the ground, got it,” Jinx replied with a playful smirk.
The soldiers chuckled, and Odom shook his head.
“Not sure I would go that far,” he replied with a playful shrug. “But if it comes to it, then it comes to it. Now, go brief your teams and get ready to move. We’re grounding this ship in thirty, and your teams are the first over.”
“Yes, sir,” the soldiers replied in unison as the Captain headed out of the room.
Dickerson smacked Jinx on the shoulder. “You ready to get after it?”
“Just another walk in the park,” the Corporal replied with a smirk.
“What channel are you going to be on?” the Sergeant asked.
Jinx winked at him. “Lucky number thirteen, as always.”
“Same as it ever was,” Dickerson replied, chuckling and shaking his head. “You give me a call if you need a hand.”
The Corporal nodded. “Likewise,” he said, and then turned to Spence. “Same goes for you. We’re running headlong into the shit, we got each other and not much else for a while.”
“See you two topside in thirty,” Spence replied with a firm nod, and the three men exited the room, splitting off to seek out their respective teams.
CHAPTER TWO
Jinx entered the mess hall, which was crowded as usual. Soldiers were everywhere, trying to get whatever bits of food and drink they could before it ran out. Rationing had been going strong since they’d set food on the ship, but even with that food was beginning to run out.
“Yo Jinx, over here!” Davila called, waving his hand in the air.
The Corporal approached the table, giving a nod to the shorter latino soldier. “Hope you are getting your rations in, because we’re about to go raise some hell,” he declared.
“Do tell, Corporal!” Private Stein drawled, leaning his broad shoulders forward.
Jinx took a seat. “Oh, just the normal shit, storm the beach head and distract the enemy so the bulk of the force can get a foothold,” he said.
Private Burch’s eyes widened. “Beach head?” he asked. “What are we doing? Swimming to shore?”
The Corporal shook his head with a devious smile. “Nope,” he replied. “We’re crashing the ship right onto shore.”
Private Jarvis furrowed her brow. “Have I been in a coma?” she asked, po
inting her fork at him. “Because I totally missed when they promoted you to Captain.”
Jinx barked a laugh. “Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t my idea.” He put up his hands in surrender. “I mean, let’s be honest, if it was, there would be more explosions.”
“This is true,” Jarvis agreed.
“So, is that all we’re doing is running around, blowing shit up?” Private Rollins asked, the fluorescent lights shining off of his dark, bald head.
“You say that like there’s anything else to do in life,” Burch quipped.
Rollins shrugged. “I mean, I can work with it, but it would be nice to have a solid objective,” he admitted.
“Don’t worry, we got one,” Jinx assured them. “Long story short is that we have to get to the other side of town, pull a whole mess of zombies across some bridges, and then block them off. Nothing we haven’t done before.”
Jarvis shook her head. “Again, coma,” she said. “When in the hell did we lure zombies somewhere?”
“How many men have you lured back from the bar in your day, Jarvis?” Davila asked innocently.
She shot him a sheepish smile. “I withdraw the question.”
The table erupted in laughter, and Jinx got to his feet.
“Where you off to, Corporal?” Burch asked.
His superior inclined his head to the door. “Going to see if I can procure us some extra provisions,” he explained. “As for you five, finish up, grab your gear, and be up on deck in twenty.”
His team nodded, and he headed off to make some last minute preparations.
CHAPTER THREE
Jinx led the group up to the deck, joining the other two teams standing at the top. Odom stood there with them, along with a few other troops who were making preparations on the rappelling lines that were being connected to the railings.
Jinx raised an eyebrow at the line, which was made of chain link. “Sparing no expense for us, Captain?” he asked.
“So much stuff was cast overboard to make room for more soldiers that this is all we could scrounge up,” Odom explained. “Four chains.”
Dead America The Northwest Invasion | Book 6 | Dead America-Seattle [Part 4] Page 1