I tossed back the pills and stretched my back. Julie geared up and slid the sling of her battle rifle over her shoulder, then helped me to my feet. She held my face in her hands and stared into my eyes. I felt intense love, devotion, and great power from her gaze. I knew together we could conquer anything in our way. We kissed passionately and enjoyed those last moments of peace with each other. We broke the kiss and opened our door to the chaos beyond.
Brian was leaning against the wall just outside our door. “I was trying to figure out if I wanted to come in or not, afraid of what I might find,” he winked at me and then turned and lumbered down the hall.
The house was awash in light and noise. Delta was ferrying our supplies and wine outside to the Humvees. Kuppers and Vic were eating breakfast in the dining room while the rest of the team were in the living room gearing up. I found Angel in the kitchen, sitting on the counter waiting for me. As I walked in, hand in hand with Julie, Angel’s face lit up with a great smile, “Dan! I saved you and Julie some cereal. Doc said you would love it with some milk! He and Brian made us a pitcher.”
I looked at her for minute, confused, on how someone could make milk without a cow. “Did they use a white powder and water to make it, hun?”
“Yes! They said it was a powdered cow. I have raisin bran for you!”
Julie and I eyed the pitcher of milk and both us decided to forgo it. I didn’t mind dry cereal. I went to the sink and brought back two glasses of cold water. We jumped onto the counter, one on each side of Angel, and dug into our breakfast. I kept throwing raisins at Angel when she wasn’t looking. She would laugh and laugh, then pick up the raisins and pop them into her mouth. The sky outside started to lighten, and that’s when Kuppers came into the kitchen.
He stood with his hands balled up into fists and resting on his hips. He looked at me first, then eyed the two girls. “Are we all ready for fun? The C-130 should be wheels-up in an hour. It needs under three hours to reach us, so we need to boogie.” He stalked over and snatched Angel off the counter and proceeded to tickle her until she was out of breath. He gave me a rare smile, winked, and left the room with Angel in his arms.
“You ready, my love?” Julie asked.
“For you? Always!” I hopped off the counter and then pulled her into my arms. We kissed, then headed out the door and into the mouth of uncertainness and Mr. Murphy’s arms.
We took our positions in the rear Humvee, same seats as last time. Brian was already in the cupola, manning his MK-19. Apache rested in the driver’s seat, and Vic was navigating. Up on top of the Humvee rode Hase and Heaven. That’s when it hit me. These were all the people that had decided to go to my dad’s ranch. The others going with Kuppers were loaded up in the lead Humvee with him. That was eerie. I wondered if it was predestined.
Cupcake pulled out in the lead Humvee, and we followed at a distance. Nothing happened between the house and outskirts of Fort Bragg. It was a nice Sunday drive in the country. The sun was rising from behind the mountains, chasing away the darkness of the night, replacing it with diamonds of sun as it rippled off the waves of the ocean. As we crossed into the city itself, the illusion of peace was shattered as the infected came out in force. As we raced through the city, we watched them emerge like cockroaches from every nook and cranny of the buildings lining the highway. Cupcake now had to maneuver around small groups here and there.
Then the radio crackled alive. Kuppers’ voice came over fully in charge, but I thought I detected a little nervousness, “The road is getting very packed ahead. Prepare to go to guns. Over.”
We were forced to slow down as Cupcake had to now maneuver around broken down vehicles and an ever-growing horde. I looked down at the MP5 and chambered a round, then removed my safety and watched Julie do the same. Just then, Senshi in the lead Humvee started firing the .50 Cal in bursts. The weapon was for knocking down and dismembering the zombies, headshots were almost impossible. But the damage the weapon did was mind-numbing. I had to hold my breakfast down at the sight of armless zombies trudging toward the Humvee and slamming their heads against the windows, bouncing off then trying to get to their feet again. Others had fist-sized holes punched into their torsos or midsections. They dragged organs and intestines behind them, their ruined bodies still moving somehow. I saw zombies on the ground, pulling their legless bodies at us, intestines falling out of their trunks tripping up others behind them.
Every impact to my window would make me shudder and look away from the horror outside. The zombies came from all walks of undead life. From women to men to children. Black, white, Hispanic, Asian. The infection treated them all the same. It had finally made the whole world equal; no matter your race, sexual preference, political stance, or religion.
Brian brought me out of my stupor when he started triggering off grenades into the horde up ahead of the lead Humvee. I also heard Hase and Heaven opening up with their rifles trying to protect the sides and rear of our ride. Apache started swearing, and would throw us around the interior when she had to swerve quickly around a car she couldn’t see until the zombie horde would move. I wondered how the guys on top could hold on and fire at the same time while being thrown around without notice.
I looked over at Angel. She sat in Julie’s arms, eyes closed, tears leaking out of the side of them. I felt for her. She had seen things no one should have to see, regardless of age. I shifted my eyes to Julie who gave me a weak smile, then her face went white. I looked forward where her eyes were focusing on. The Humvee in front of us had slammed into a big box truck and had become stuck. Zombies started to climb and engulf the vehicle.
I called over the radio, “Senshi, drop down inside and seal up the hatch. Howser and Helmut, get on top of that box truck and provide top cover.” I looked and saw my door clear of zombies. I opened it and slid out, pulling my sleeve clear from Julie’s clenching fingers. I slammed the door and looked up at Hase and Heaven. “Cover me! We have a winch I’m going to go hook up the Humvee and see if we can’t get them clear.” Heaven looked down at me and nodded once.
I ran to the front of our Humvee, ignoring everything going on around me. I could feel the zombies coming for me, but I put my trust in Brian and the Delta guys to protect me. I solely focused on untangling the hook from our winch and releasing the gear so I could pull slack. I turned in time to see a zombie come right for me. I pulled my 1911 and fired, punching a round into the bridge of its nose and blowing the back of its head out. I blew out a breath and pulled the hook with me as I made my way to the back of the lead Humvee. All around me, rounds zinged and punched into zombies. I got to the back of the Humvee and slid the hook into a hard point. I looked up just as a zombie dropped down on me. I didn’t have time to raise the barrel of my 1911, so I dropped it and raised my arm shoving it under the zombie’s chin. I fell backwards, taking the zombie with me. I heard screaming and shouting, and the shots around me picked up tempo. I tried to focus on the zombie on top of me, it was so strong, I couldn’t last long, I knew that. I freed my left arm and tried snaking it down to my Kabar while holding the zombie back with my right one. My fingertips grazed the pommel of the Kabar but slipped off when the zombie on top of me shifted its weight. The damn thing was not fast, but it was tenacious. It had one thought, and that was to feed on my flesh.
I kept shifting left and right to gain room to move my arm. I grabbed the pommel finally and was pulling the knife out when the zombie on top of me racked sideways and stopped moving. I pushed its body and wiggled myself until I was free. I stood up and saw Heaven standing feet away. He grabbed my hand and slid my 1911 into it. He then ran back to the Humvee. I said a silent thank you to God and promised to thank Heaven later.
I flat out ran to our Humvee and activated the winch. It took up the slack cable and then slowly, ever so slowly, moved the lead Humvee backward inch by bloody fucking inch. Once they were free, I disengaged the winch and ran some slack again. I ran back to the lead Humvee and freed the hook. I turned and saw Brian motioning me to move fast to my left. I dropped to a crouch, dove in the direction he indicated, and watched as five zombies had lurched into the space I had just vacated. Hase put them down quickly. I picked up the hook again and ran back toward our Humvee. Once there, I secured the hook and engaged the motor to pull in the slack. I stood up and saw that there was no way I was going to be able to get back into the Humvee due to all the zombies lying against its sides and pressed against the doors. I jumped onto the hood and scrambled to the top. Apache did not wait for me to get settled before she pushed down on the gas, following behind the lead Humvee again. The .50 was back in action. This time on full auto, no burst fire this time. At some point, Howser and Helmut had climbed back on the roof of their Humvee and were firing into the crowds on the side. We finally broke out of the city and away from the hordes. We accelerated into Mendocino and then over the bridge.
Twenty minutes later, we slowed to a crawl then turned left on a road marked as Airport Road and accelerated again. We soon entered large pine trees that filtered the rising sun and put us in shade. I held on for life and would look over at Brian, who would throw a wink my way and smile. Fuck, only an hour in and was I exhausted. We took a long sweeping right turn and slowed down at a set of buildings and a sign welcoming us to Little River Airport. As we pulled up, I jumped off of the roof and was immediately bracketed by Hase and Heaven. Howser and Helmut joined us as we moved toward the gate and buildings. Our weapons at the ready, we swept the area around us. Finding nothing, we moved closer to the gate. Hunter and Harry caught up to us and then peeled off to clear the building to our right. Howser and Helmut moved to the left and took another building. Hase and Heaven followed me to the gate. I looked down at the huge padlock and was trying to figure out what to do when Heaven handed me a big pair of bolt cutters.
I went to place them on the lock when Heaven reached out and stopped me, “Cut the chain holding it in place, not the lock, or you will damage the bolt cutters.” I listened and moved them so the link of the chain was in between their jaws. I squeezed hard, using my shoulders and back muscles. The chain cut cleanly and parted. I handed the bolt cutters back to Heaven and then reached in and removed the chain and lock. I slid the gate open, and it emitted a loud rusty squeal, which I was sure could be heard for miles. Well, if there were any zombies around, they knew we were here now. Howser, Harry, Helmut, and Hunter rejoined up on us as we entered the airport grounds. The Humvees slowly followed us at a distance. We found the grounds to be empty. Delta broke into their teams and moved out to clear all out buildings and hangars. I stood on the tarmac and watched as the Humvees drove up onto the taxi way and stopped. Around me sat small one engine airplanes, along with a couple of cars. I found Doc and Senshi running to catch up to Delta. I presumed it was to add help in clearing the buildings.
Kuppers got out and strode over to me, “That was a stupid thing you did back there in the city. You should’ve let one of the Delta guys do it.” He was in my face and clearly upset. His eyes were hard and bore into me, his face flushed red with anger.
I had enough and pushed him back slightly. He allowed it. I was under no false pretense that if he wanted to, he could’ve just kicked my ass right then and there. “No one reacted fast enough. The thought came to me and someone had to do it. Delta are great shots and knew they could cover me. If it wasn’t for my quick thoughts and actions, you would be spam in a can.” I was yelling right back at him, drawing attention from the team left over. “So you’re welcome, Kuppers.”
I turned to walk away and a vise-like grip latched onto my right bicep. It hurt, but I wouldn’t show him that. I spun around the best I could and glared into his eyes. He stood there, breathing through his nose and staring right back. His other hand was balled into a fist. I knew if he was gonna punch me, I would not be getting back up without help. Then all of a sudden the air left his sails, he hunched his shoulders, let go of my bicep and closed his eyes. Then he spoke in a quiet voice only I could hear. “It is my duty to protect you, Dan. You, Julie, and Angel are my responsibility. If something happens to you guys, it’s my fault, my failure.”
I spoke at his level so no one could hear us, “Kuppers, cut that shit. I am a part of this team and have fought alongside you many times now. I will sacrifice myself for all of you, if I have to. Treat me like one of the team now.”
I spun to walk away again. He stopped me with his words this time. “You are right. Damn, you’re going to make a good leader someday. Quick to put your ass on the line to protect your team, you come up with plans, and you don’t hesitate to give orders. I’m sorry for getting in your face.”
I turned and gave him a brief man hug. He stood stiff for a second, then relaxed, and hugged me back. “Thank you for not kicking my ass,” I whispered. He grunted, rolled his eyes, then walked back to the Humvees.
Julie came running over and looked at me. “Not the same guy I knew from college. You scared the shit out of me. I just got you back, I’m not ready to lose you again. Do it again and I will beat the shit out of you.” I shut her up with a quick kiss, then turned to take the field in. “That will be the last time you shut me up. Got it?” I laughed then shook my head. We heard a couple of shots come from down the field in the hangars that Delta had disappeared into.