"How far have we gone?" Cord asked, sweat dripping, breathing heavily.
"Couple miles, kiddo," Newman said. He wiped his forehead with a shemagh and adjusting his boonie hat. "Hell, Cord, I used to walk farther 'n this 'ta 'git me mail back 'ome."
"Yeah, yeah." Cord wiped some sweat with a bandana. "I get it, Alby, you're Australian."
"Naw, jus' tough." He smiled as they fast-walked up the trail. "Australian is jus' icin' on the cake."
Amante walked point ahead of the team, followed by Lieutenant Wickham, Sergeant Diamond, West, Clarke, and Major Hale. Newman, Cord, Winger, and Gonzo followed them. Mac, Gibson, Jayne, and Lucas trailed behind them while Jefferson and Washington brought up the rear. It was a miserably hot hike for all of them.
"Major," Diamond turned and stopped next to Hale. He held the small radio pack’s handset up to him. "It's the captain."
"Thanks." Hale signaled the line to halt. "Captain?" he said into the handset.
"Been a long time since I've been on one of these," Jayne said, squatting down and grabbing a water bottle out of his pack.
"Miss it?" Lucas asked as he sipped from his own bottle.
"Nope." Jayne shook his sweaty head. "Not one bit."
"Too many marches," Mac said. "I wouldn’t care if I never had to walk anywhere again." He popped open a water bottle. "Think I might put one of those conveyor belts in my house."
"Like at the airports?" Gibson asked.
"Yeah." Mac squeezed the sweat out of his boonie hat. "Like at the airports."
"That is lazy, Mac." Jayne took another swallow of water. "Lazy."
"Jayne, I bet if we had one now, you wouldn’t complain."
"Nope. I wouldn’t." He smiled.
"Alby would." Gibson laughed. "He'd say we were cheating."
"Yep." Mac chuckled. "Can't figure you Aussies out."
"I heard that," Newman said from the trail above.
"Man has bat ears," Lucas said shoving his bottle back into his pack.
"Yep." Mac took another swig from his water. "Aussies."
***
Washington and Jefferson were on the trail a few hundred feet behind the others. Washington had caught the major’s signal to halt, so he and Jefferson quickly complied. They both knelt down in the tall grass, watching the rear of the group as they drank from their water bottles. Washington, the bigger of the two, capped his bottle and adjusted his sunglasses.
"Long haul, Jeff."
"Easy, brother," Jefferson said. He wrung the sweat from his boonie cap and replaced it on his bald head. Jaunts like this were merely workouts to him. "In the Corps, we would have double timed it up."
"Can't figure out you jar heads." Washington lifted his Calgary Jets ball cap and ran a hand through his close-cropped hair.
"It's a Marine thing, brother." Jefferson smiled. "Gotta be a Marine to get it."
"I guess, Jeff." He slapped him on his pack. "Got to be an easier way."
"I'm sure there is. Obviously, this ain’t it."
"Shit. Looks like we might even be shooting it out with some Ivans."
"Yeah." Jefferson nodded. "Kinda weird, bro. All that old Cold War shit, and here we are fighting Russians on this beautiful tropical island."
"And we can't tell anyone. Ain't that a bitch." Washington wiped some sweat from his cheeks with the green shemagh that he wore around his neck.
"Don't forget the deaders."
"Oh, yeah. I almos' forgot the deaders." He laughed to himself then grabbed Jefferson by the pack and gingerly shook him. "Hey, check this out, Jeff. Would you ever fuck a deader?"
"What?" Jefferson looked back at him as if he had three heads. "What the fuck are you talking about, Wash?"
"Just lissen'." Washington moved closer so no one else could hear him. "Jus' lissen, Jeff. What if she was beautiful, man? You know, a real knockout." Jefferson frowned and shook his head. "What if she had big ole titties?"
"She's still a deader, Wash."
"I know, I know. Let's say she's fresh dead, bro. Not too bloody or messed up.”
“Man,” Jefferson moved away a few feet, “you are sick.”
“Come on bro. Let’s say only you would know.”
“Wash, you are a nasty motherfucker.”
“Come on, man. You could do whatever you wanted.”
“Wash, she’d bite your dick off!” He chuckled. “I think you need to run over behind those bushes and give yourself a combat jack. Quit talking about screwin’ deaders, man!” A whistle signaled they were moving out. Thankful to be moving away from this uncomfortable conversation, Jefferson stood up and started back up the trail.
“I was jus’ kiddin’ bro,” Washington laughed. “Besides, I thought you Marines would fuck anything with a hole.”
“Wash, I never knew you were so twisted.”
“I was jus’ playin’, Jeff.”
“Sure, Wash, sure you were.”
***
"So," Lieutenant Wickham walked up next to Hale as they continued towards the top of the trail. "Captain Brooks said there were twenty Russian mercs?"
"Fifteen if that Russian was telling the truth."
"Great," Zoe West said from behind them. Her thighs were starting to ache from her prosthetics. "I was hopin' fer five or less."
"Zero would have been perfect," Hale said. "We have the better operators, so we'll be okay."
"Right," Wickham agreed. "We just need to get there 'fore they do."
"Let's pick up the pace then," Hale said, moving faster. "Brooks and Wu are headed this way. I thought we could use the firepower."
"Bikes will make it up this trail," Zoe said.
"Too bad they can't carry us all," Clarke finally spoke. He was drenched in sweat and red-faced. They could all smell the alcohol seeping out of him. "I could use an ice cold Fosters 'bout now. Big ole' frosty one!"
"We get out of this okay, Clarke, I'll buy you a case of Fosters, and you can bathe in it," Hale told him.
"Don't think I won't, mate. Don't think I won't!"
CHAPTER 30: BAD GUYS ALWAYS FINISH FIRST
Hidden in the tall grass, Arkady watched the lab compound from behind a pair of binoculars as old as the Cold War. The Russian could see at least two hundred zombies trying to break into any of the lab’s openings. Two snipers on the roof of the building were busy trying to thin the ravenous herd below. Several dozen newly re-dead bodies lay strewn underfoot of the other undead. Arkady put down the binoculars and looked at Yuri.
"Zombies surround the lab," he said quietly. "I count at least two hundred." There were several loud pops from the sniper rifles.
"Less now," Yuri said.
"Da, but more will be coming. They have to be getting tired up there. I would like to wait them out, but we don't have the time."
"What is plan then, Arkady?"
"Dimitry, when I give word, take your grenade launcher and take out the men on the roof." Dimitry nodded. "Kata, see the gasoline pumps by the garage? Take your launcher and blow them up. That will hopefully draw the zombies over to the other side of the building." The Russian mercenaries were all flat in the tall grass along the fence line. "The rest of us blow the back door, grab everything we need, and get out. Those four Jeeps parked in back will be our way out. Ivan, Alexi, you hot wire them, no?" Both men nodded. "Good. Once we are out, we head to the boat."
"Iosif and Alona haven't checked in," Alexi said. "What about them and the boat?"
"I don't know." He scratched his day’s growth of stubble. "We worry about that after we get what we came for. We may have to commandeer the Americans’ airplane. Valentin can fly us out if the Americans won’t or can’t.”
"Da," Valentin said quietly.
"Bogdan, Grigory, cut us a hole in the fence line so we can get in." The two Russians crawled forward and obeyed.
"Listen," Kata said, gripping the multi-round grenade launcher to her chest. "They've stopped firing."
Arkady nodded. "I guess then it's almost time to go, comrades." He looked over at Nico, who seemed to be lost in thoughts of mass destruction. "No raping on this one," he said, reading Nico's mind.
"Arkady," Nico protested.
"We won't have time. Grab a hostage to go if you like, but we don't have time to fuck around on this."
"Never let me have fun, Commander," Nico said, popping a few OxyContin in his mouth. "Remember Chechnya? That was a lot of fun."
"Why don't you just grab up a fucking zombie and rape it?" Arkady growled, annoyed.
"Tried that, Arkady. I couldn’t get hard." Nico nearly drooled.
"The wind makes you hard, Nico," Kata grinned.
"That's not it. Pain." Nico looked around at the others and smiled like an evil skeleton. "They don't feel pain."
"Enough," Arkady growled. "We get what we came for, then you can fuck and kill anything you want."
"Yes, Arkady," Nico smiled evilly.
"Problem?"
"No problem."
"Got it!" Doctor Orlac rushed out of his lab and into the busy hallway. Zagers was hammering another piece of wood against the rapidly failing window barricade. He gave the hammer to one of the techs that was helping him and turned to Orlac. Wiping his sweaty hands on his khakis, he smiled, feeling a little relieved.
"Good news, Herr Doktor." Wolf wiped his sweaty forehead. "When can we leave?"
"I have—" A loud pounding from the dead outside drowned out his voice. Annoyed, Orlac let out a deep breath and started again. "I have Doctor Henstridge and Moreno packing up all the vials we have made. Fifteen minutes perhaps."
"Okay." He grabbed up his assault rifle from a table top. "Here's the plan, Doktor. Meissner will toss some flash bangs from the rooftop down to the front of the lab. The noise should draw all them things to the front of the lab. While they are distracted, we make for the Jeeps then the airport."
Orlac smiled. "Not much of a plan, herr Zagers."
"Simple plan, less to go wrong, Doktor." He looked down at the rifle in his hands. "Any questions, Doktor?"
"No." Orlac turned back to his workroom. "Sounds like a perfect plan."
There was a loud, crashing sound. The boards covering one of the windows burst inwards as dozens of dead hands reached and tried to pull themselves inside. Some of the wood held, but most of it clattered to the floor. One of the techs, Bauer, who’d been trying to secure the boards, was pulled into the center of the mass of hungry undead. Bauer's horrible screams were quickly cut short by the deads' chewing and ripping sounds.
"Fuck!" Zagers shouted as he started to unload his rifle into the terrifying crowd. Rolf, another one of Zagers' men, ran up next to him and started firing head shots with his .45. The rest of the techs panicked and moved back into their workrooms.
"Here!" Klattenhoff moved both men out of the way. He carried an XM806 .50 caliber machine gun in his giant arms. "I've got this!"
The machine gun roared to life, chewing the mass of undead in the window to pieces. Hot shell casings pelted Zagers and Rolf then crashed to the floor as the weapon did its job. Black blood, flesh, and bone fragments splattered everywhere. When the XM806 was empty, nothing moved.
"Ya!" Klattenhoff shouted.
"Come on!" Zagers grabbed a table that was wider than the window. Rolf helped him cover the opening with it before the dead could regroup. Klattenhoff set the heavy weapon down and helped the other two reinforce the window. Orlac tentatively peeked his head out of his workroom. "Doktor, you better hurry! I hope that tech wasn't irreplaceable." Orlac turned pale and popped back into his office.
"Glad the home office didn't skimp on the weapons," Rolf smirked.
"I'm taking that baby home with me," Klattenhoff nodded. He was the compound's armorer. "That's the least the company can do for me!"
"Get some two-by-fours!" Zagers said, pushing back against the table. He could feel the undead hands on the other side. "These monsters aren’t going to stop!"
CHAPTER 32: GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS
Amante knelt down on the dirt trail and wiped some sweat from his eyes. He looked back down behind him and could see the others trailing in the distance. Several loud pops ahead of him had the ex-ranger raising his mini-14 and glancing through his sights. He could barely see the compound through the trees and dense saw grass. Hundreds of deaders were amassed around the main building. Amante tapped on his headset.
"Major, this is Amante. I'm up top."
"Go ahead, Amante."
"Good news is the compound's about a quarter mile away. Bad news is there's a whole shit load of deaders trying to get in the lab."
"How many is a shit load?" Hale asked.
"Two, three hundred, sir."
The major grimaced. "Any sign of the Russians?"
"Can't tell. The lab’s got a couple of guys up top taking shots at the deaders."
"Good job, Amante. Hold up until we get there."
"Oh, and sir …"
"Yes, Amante?" Hale sighed.
"There's a twelve-foot chain-link fence surrounding the area."
"Anything else?"
"No, sir."
"Okay, Sergeant, just hold up."
"No problem, Major. I ain’t movin."
***
Not too much later, the group had reached the top and lay around Amante in the tall saw grass to watch the compound through binoculars and rifle scopes. Most of the troops welcomed the break after humping the trail in the tropical heat.
"Looks bad," Wickham said.
"Real bad." Hale scanned the area with his monocle. "We are going to have to shoot our way in. Wish we had that damn Pit Bull now."
"Lots of deaders." Zoe West wiped some sweat from her forehead. "I don't think we have 'nough bullets for all of 'em."
"Plan," Hale told them. "I have a plan. As soon as the captain gets here, we'll put it in action." He looked over at Wickham. "West, Diamond, Amante, ready grenades. When Brooks and Wu get here, toss them over to the right of the lab. The sound will draw the deaders away, and the motorcycles can lead them into the jungle. We swoop in; grab the doc, his people, and the vaccine; then beat it back down the trail to our rigs."
"I'm glad deaders are easy to distract," West chuckled.
"Like babies," Wickham added.
"Babies that will eat ya." West grabbed a couple of fragment grenades out of her pack. "My underhand is pretty good."
"Yeah, well, I won't make any throw like a girl comments while you’re holding frags, Zoe." Tim Diamond grinned. "I was never good at throwing those things."
"Give me yours, then, mate." She nodded and stuck her hand out. "I'll get 'em where they’re 'sposed to go."
"Sir," Wickham said to Hale, "we're going to need to remove part of that fence to get in."
"Yeah. Diamond, West, you have wire cutters on ya?"
"Don't leave 'ome without 'em." West smiled as she pulled a pair of wire cutters out of her pack.
"I got nothing but my K-bar," Diamond shrugged.
"Here, take mine." Wickham handed him a pair of cutters.
"What the heck is with you Australians?" Diamond asked as he took the tool from Wickham.
"Never know when you might run into a fence, mate." Wickham shrugged. "No worries."
"You two crawl up there and cut us a nice entryway," the major said, nodding at the fence.
"Gotcha, Major," West said, patting Diamond on the back. "Come on, mate, I'll show ya how to make a hole." She smiled lewdly.
"Sergeant Newman," Hale said, "pass the word to ready weapons. When I give the go ahead, we'll make for the lab." Newman nodded. "Your squad will provide cover while Lieutenant Wickham's squad enters from the rear. I'll go with them. Have Jefferson intercept the captain before they get up top. I want them far enough back so they can't be seen. When the grenades go off, I want them to haul ass past the lab and into the jungle. Lead those deaders away from us. Once they lose them, I want those two to double back to the airfield and secure the plane." He hit him on the shoulder. "Got it?"
"Right, sir." Newman moved back down the line of soldiers and repeated Hale's orders. The troops readied their weapons as quietly as possible. The presidents watched the rear of the group as the Australian sergeant crabbed over to their position.
"Hey, let us know when you hear the cap'n an' Wu approaching."
"You got it, Sarge," Jefferson nodded.
"Good, mates." He gripped Jefferson's shoulder and headed back over to Hale.
"Finally some action," Washington said, checking his rifle.
"Yeah." Jefferson watched the area behind them. "Sooner we get into the mix, the sooner we get paid and home."
"Lissen', Jeff, I really don't want to screw a deader." Washington smiled weakly.
"Too late, Wash. Cat's outta the bag. You’re a deader fucker. Can't change that, bro." Jefferson smiled.
"Jeff …"
"Shh! I hear something."
Jefferson could hear the whine of the two motorcycles straining up the hill. He raised his rifle and looked through his sights. He could make out Captain Brooks' bike in the lead, followed by Wu. The former Marine lowered his rifle and looked back at Washington.
"It's the captain and Wu. Let Sergeant Newman know," Jefferson said, hurrying down to intercept the two and relay Hales' orders.
"Roger that." Washington took off towards the others.