Chapter 7
Three days have passed since settling in at the Norfolk Naval Base. Jake and his squad were running a mandatory patrol a hundred yards from the base when overhearing some shots being fired in the distance.
“Coming from the city?” One of the sailors asked.
“Negative,” Jake answered. “Sound is way too close.”
The squad began hearing more shots fired and started hearing distant screams.
“That’s coming from the base!”
Just then, Jake was contacted on his radio by Commander Miller.
"Riley!" Miller exclaimed. "The base has been overrun! We need you and your men to rally to the main gate now!"
Jake arrived at the main gate to see a mosaic of dead sailors, civilians, and zombies scattered everywhere. Blood and gore covered the concrete they stepped over. They looked ahead and saw running corpses heading straight for him and his squad. They began firing rounds at many of the undead. Miller and his squad soon met up with Jake and assisted in battling the overbearing hoard.
"There's too many of them!" Miller shouted. "This base can't take much more, so we need to get these civilians out of here! I called for a Black-hawk to meet my team at the shipyard in Portsmouth within two hours. I need you and your men to go to the helipad and see to it that the choppers evac safely. Then you need to get out of here!"
Jake and his squad made their way to the helipads, firing at any decomposing zombie that crossed their path. They were not far from the pad when Jake saw zombies chasing Cassandra and Dylan. The squad began to open fire and eliminated the group of zombies chasing the two.
"Cassandra! Dylan!" Jake exclaimed. "How come you're haven't evacuated yet?!"
"Those things just tried to kill us!" Cassandra screamed.
"Follow me, and don't look back!"
Jake gave the order for covering fire around Cassandra and Dylan as everyone made their way to the last Black-hawk that was still grounded. The pilot stopped the group.
"Whoa!" The pilot ordered. "Not all of you will be able to fit on this chopper, Petty Officer! Two of you will have to stay behind!"
"Get these two on the chopper!" Jake ordered, referring to Cassandra and Dylan. "I'll stay behind with whoever won't fit! There's another Black-hawk that's supposed to be waiting at the shipyard in Portsmouth! If I'm not there within two hours, leave without me!"
"Yessir!" the pilot replied.
Jake turned his eyes to Cassandra. "I already know where you guys are heading to! If you leave Portsmouth before I get there, then I'll see you again in Fort Benning, Georgia!"
Jake and Petty Officer Third Class Matthew Stewart stayed behind on base. As the chopper took flight, Cassandra took one last look at Jake. Once the Black-hawk was gone, Jake and Matthew reloaded their weapons and proceeded to rendezvous with Miller and his squad. When the two arrived to the battleground, Miller was surprised to see them.
"Riley!” Miller yelled. “I gave you a direct order to get out of here!"
"Rescued some more survivors!" Jake replied. "The evac choppers were already gone, and not all of us would fit! Me and Matthew stayed behind so they could evacuate!"
With that, Miller gave the order to push the onslaught back. Miller, Jake, Matthew, a handful of sailors, marines, S.W.A.T. and national guardsmen, including Corporal Jeremy Polanski, Gunnery Sergeant Brandon Peterson, and Private Arnold Lancaster, bunched up together to hold back the zombies. However, the undead were too strong, and they were everywhere. One that was crawling grabbed a sailor's feet and tore into his tendons, causing him to topple over the crawler, becoming its meal.
"We've got to find a way out of here!" Miller shouted.
Jake tried to look around through the battleground and found an opening.
"Over there!" Jake shouted, pointing to a small gap near the south gate.
"It'll do!" Miller replied. "That's our window and it's closing fast! Everyone fall in!"
The mixed squad ran to the small hole that was a few yards away from the south gate. Some were tackled and devoured by the undead. The gate was infested with zombies, so the squad had to crawl through the hole. Jake went through it first while the others gave him covering fire. Once Jake made it to the other side, he gave covering fire so Miller could crawl through. Miller then assisted Jake in giving covering fire for another soldier to crawl through. Each one that made it through gave covering fire for the next guy.
Corporal Jeremy Polanski was the last to crawl through the space. As he was crawling, a zombie grabbed his feet and proceeded to drag him back. Stewart and Lancaster gave covering fire while Jake, Miller and the others tried pulling Polanski through the hole. More zombies grabbed on to Polanski's feet, and it soon became a game of tug-o-war with Polanski's life. While the soldiers were pulling on to Jeremy, he started screaming in pain. The zombies were not only pulling him back through the hole, but they were also feasting on his entire lower body that was still on their side of the opening. It was getting harder and harder to try to pull Jeremy out of that hole. Polanski was in excruciating pain.
Suddenly, Jeremy stopped screaming, and the tension broke. The soldiers fell back as Polanski flew and landed on Jake. His entire lower body was completely severed. Some of his intestines were laying on the floor, and his lifeless body was twitching. Jake shuffled back away from Polanski's corpse, holding every bit of bile back.
Miller picked up Jake. "On your feet, Sailor!" he ordered. "We have to keep moving if we're gonna make it to Portsmouth alive!"
The remaining soldiers started making a run for Portsmouth.
"Let's light these bastards up!" Miller shouted.
Everyone started to open fire as they ran into the city, passing every corner and street. As the soldiers sprinted block after block, some zombies would tackle the men that would grow weary.
“Don’t stop!” Miller ordered. “Keep on pushing through! We gotta get to Portsmouth!”
After passing through the tunnel in Downtown Norfolk and fighting onslaught after onslaught, Jake, Miller, Arnold, Matthew, and Brandon were the only men left, and they were still under heavy attack. They were close to running out of ammo from all the three burst and automatic firing.
The group arrived at the shipyard in Portsmouth, but it was already overrun. Jake saw two Black-hawks at the top of a building that was close to a hundred yards away from them. One was carrying Cassandra, Dylan, and Jake's squad. The other Black-hawk was for Jake and the rest of his remaining team. The only thing staggering in the way were dozens of undead.
The group flipped their switches to semi-automatic to conserve their ammunition. They were slowly inching their way to their destination, firing at anything that would try to attack them. The machine gunner on their chopper aided the group by giving them covering fire so they could get to the building, paying no attention to the handful of zombies that were behind him. The group had to move fast if they wanted to stop them from reaching the Black-hawk.
Jake and Miller started firing at zombies that were in the building. The group fought their way up each floor, taking the stairs. They were blasting zombies left and right. Jake and Miller, leading the way, would also use the walkers' strength against them, throwing them off the stairway.
The machine gunner on the Black-hawk fought back as hard as he could. The pilot and copilot also aided, unholstering their sidearms and firing at the walkers. The walkers ended up besting the Black-hawk, slaughtering everyone on that chopper. The zombies then trotted their way to the second chopper.
The pilot of the second chopper made a rational decision. "Lift this bird up," he said. "We need to leave before those things take us down as well."
"No!" Cassandra yelled. "We are not leaving Jake or David behind!"
"I'm sorry, miss, but there's nothing more that we can do. We have to get out of here."
Cassandra tried to leave the chopper, but one of the sailors held on to her, preventing her from getting herself killed. The chopper elevated away from walker's reach. They were leaving Portsmouth.
"God, be with them," the pilot whispered as they took off.
Jake, Miller, and the rest of the group made it to the rooftop, where they saw the undead devouring their only ride out of Virginia. They saw the other chopper flying away. Jake could hear Cassandra on that chopper screaming out his name. Jake and the rest started running towards the edge of the building in hopes of the helicopter turning around to pick them up. They started waving their hands and calling out for it, but the chopper didn't turn around. They had been left them behind. They were surrounded, and all they could do is watch their greatest chance of escape slowly disappear from their sight.
Chapter 8
The chopper was gone. Jake felt so much anger for being left behind. Everyone else on that building top felt the same way. They needed to stay focused, for they knew the undead were making their way up to them quickly.
"We're not out of this yet, boys," Miller reassured. "We know where they're headed, so let's get there so we can fuss at 'em!"
The group grabbed some ammunition and extra guns from the downed chopper and readied themselves to leave Hampton Roads. They grouped together and headed back down to the bottom of the building, eliminating every zombie that stood in their way. Once outside of the building, they started to fight back the onslaught, channeling their anger into pushing the undead back far enough to not be a burden. They needed enough time to at least find a working vehicle.
Matthew hot wired a work truck that was big enough to carry supplies, fuel, guns, and ammo, and still have plenty of room for everyone to fit in. Everyone piled up in the truck and Matthew drove to the armory first. While Brandon used his 30-06 bolt action Remington sniper rifle to pick off distant zombies heading their direction, Arnold, Jake, and David cleared the armory of zombies, grabbing as much explosives and weapons as they could carry. Matthew also drove to the mess hall, medical bay, and fuel dump. Everyone else did the rest, grabbing M.R.Es and first aid kits.
Within half an hour, the group was stocked up with more than enough supplies and equipment to last the five of them as long as they needed to. They also took the liberty of clearing most of the shipyard of zombies. Matthew then drove the group south bound. They were all leaving Norfolk, Virginia, and not one of them took a final glance at the place that used to be called "Home."
Grueling hours have passed by on the road, and everyone grew tired. Matthew had been driving on I-95 South for a while after getting on it in Rocky Mount, North Carolina. The group needed to find a place to rest for a while.
"We're not far from Fort Bragg, guys," Matthew stated.
"I wouldn’t take that risk," Brandon answered. "That place has been abandoned for about a week now. It could be overrun by now."
"It's worth a shot," Miller replied. "We just need to get off the road and lay low somewhere for at least a day."
Matthew got off the exit to Highway 24 and drove around Fayetteville, maneuvering past battery dead vehicles and totaled cars. The group eventually arrived at Fort Bragg. They drove to the Pope Air Force Base, where everyone would settle for a while.
The base looked deserted, but nobody was taking any chances. Brandon pulled out his rifle and took a long look at the layout of the base. There were no zombies staggering around the outside, which didn't mean they weren't inside. Arnold, Jake, and Miller readied themselves to bust inside the base. They suited up in their tactical gear and armed themselves with shotguns and a sidearm. They hurried to the main door.
Jake opened the main door. Lancaster went in first, with Miller following him and Jake following Miller. There were no zombies around, but everyone kept their guard up and kept skimming through every room.
The group made their way into one of the barracks. To their amazement, they had found a large stash of canned goods, bottled water, weapons, medical supplies, aligned in a pyramid formation. Jake walked up to the supplies to grab some of the bottled water.
"That's far enough!" Jake heard. He looked up to see a pistol pointed at his face. The person holding it was a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties. His finger was on the trigger.
"Drop your weapon!" Miller ordered as he pointed his gun at the man. Lancaster proceeded to point his shotgun at the man as well.
"You first!" another voice yelled out. Lancaster swung around to see a gun pointed at him. This person was a younger lady, probably in her late teens. Miller pulled out his sidearm. He was aiming the shotgun at the man holding Jake and his sidearm at the girl.
Arnold swung around and aimed his sidearm at an older man who was about to pull his gun out. "Whoa, sir," he asserted. "You don't wanna do that."
Another gun was pointed at Arnold. "I believe he does!" This man was a muscular black guy. Jake swung his shotgun around to where he was aiming at him. The old man pulled out his gun and aimed it at Miller.
This conflict escalated to a standoff. The man leading the group had a gun pointed at Jake. Arnold had a gun pointed at the middle aged man, who had his gun aimed at Miller. Miller had his shotgun aimed at the leader and his sidearm aimed at the girl, who had her gun aimed at Lancaster. Jake's shotgun was aimed at the black guy.
"Easy now, fellas," Jake started. "We don't want any trouble. Everyone just lower their weapons."
"No way!" the leader shouted. "We were here first! You lower your weapons!"
"Look, I think this was all a big misunderstanding. The five of us thought this place was abandoned."
"Five?!"
The girl looked up at the leader. "Jeez, Nick! Your head!"
There was a red dot on the leader's forehead. Peterson had his sniper pointing at him from an open field where he could spot the man through one of the windows the room had.
"Five!"
Stewart snuck into the room and had his gun pointed at the girl.
"How many of
us
do you think there are, friend?" another voice asked. A man who looked about as old as the girl snuck behind Matthew and held a knife up against his neck.
"Look, everyone just calm down!" Jake exclaimed. He turned to the leader. "The girl said your name was 'Nick?’”
"Who's asking?!" Nick asked.
"Listen to me. We’re friendlies."
"Sure got a way of showing it," the old man replied.
"Let me prove it to you guys then," Jake suggested. "I'm gonna wave to my friend that's outside, and he's gonna lower his rifle. That sound good?"
Jake waved his hand to Peterson in a lowering motion. The red dot immediately left Nick’s forehead.
"Now, I'm gonna lower my gun." Jake lowered his gun off of the black man. Nobody else budged, not even Nick.
"Now, can you please lower your gun?" Jake asked Nick. "I'm not asking for everyone else to lower their guns; just you, so we can talk this out man to man."
Nick hesitated, as he kept glaring at Miller's shotgun pointed at him.
"Don't look at any of my men behind me," Jake said. "They're already occupied. I'm sure that if you lower your gun, they're gonna draw their attention somewhere else."
Nick was still for a moment. Then, he slowly lowered his gun. Miller slowly took his aim off of Nick and focused his aim at the man holding a knife up to Stewart's throat.
"Now, let's see if we can meet somewhere in the middle," Jake suggested.
Suddenly, everyone heard shooting coming from outside. Nick peeked outside through the window and saw more people armed and firing.
Nick pointed his gun at Jake, and the standoff resumed.
"Those people shooting outside! They're yours as well!!" Nick shouted.
"Look Nick," Jake pleaded. "They're not mine! I have never seen those people before in my life!"
"I say we kill them right now!" The girl suggested.
Brandon contacted Miller through the radio. "Commander, bullets are flying all over the place out here! These guys look heavily armed, and they don’t look friendly!"
"Raiders," Nick whispered. "Sam! I need you to get the others to cover!"
"Sure thing," said the man holding the knife. He lowered his knife away from Matthew's throat and ran out of the room.
Nick turned his attention back to Jake. "This ain't over yet, but if you help us drive off these raiders, you'll have gained a little bit of my trust."