When Miller saw the Spartans fall to the clutches of the infected, he contacted Tyrese, who was with the other soldiers protecting the civilians.
"Jones!" Miller reported. "The airfield has been compromised! We need to evacuate the civilians! I’m on their way to assist!"
"Yessir!" Tyrese responded.
The horde of zombies ran up to the doors, which were blocked by the remaining Spartans and some extra soldiers. The remaining soldiers took the civilians to the roof of the building, where some helicopters were preparing to leave as soon as survivors boarded them. There were more choppers on top of another building that was a few hundred yards east of the lobby, but some Spartans were preventing a horde from barging through the doors leading to the building.
Jake, Brandon, Matthew and a squad of soldiers led Cassandra, Sean, Alana, and some other survivors to the roof. When they arrived on the roof, some soldiers ran to the edge of the building, shooting zombies trying to bust in through the ground floor. The civilians quickly boarded the choppers while soldiers gave cover fire, conserving their ammunition.
There were two choppers left on the roof that haven't evacuated Fort Benning. Cassandra, Sean, and Alana got on that chopper, along with some other civilians and a few soldiers. Jake didn't board the chopper with them.
"Jake!" Cassandra shouted. "What are you doing?!"
"I gotta find Dylan and Chief!" Jake answered. "I'm not gonna leave without them!"
"Jaycob, no! Don't you dare do this to me again!"
"I won't! I already lost you once! I'm not gonna make that mistake again!"
Jake caressed the back of Cassandra's head, showing her comfort.
"I promise you, I'll be back! I'm not gonna let the choppers leave without us!"
Jake leaned forward and kissed Cassandra and wiped the tears out of her eyes. He then turned his attention to the pilot.
"Keep this chopper hovering!" Jake ordered. "Do not leave until the second chopper takes off!"
Jake then turned to the soldiers that were on the chopper. "While the chopper is hovering, I want you to give cover fire for anyone uninfected!"
The chopper carrying Cassandra and the troops elevated, hovering over the building just as Jake ordered. The soldiers on the hovering chopper began to open fire at the zombies on the ground floor. Jake then ran to the chopper that hasn't left the building.
"Do not leave until the rest of the troops on the roof board!" Jake ordered the pilot. Jake then turned to Brandon, who was at the edge of the building shooting some of the intruding undead.
"If I do not return within ten minutes, then you and the rest of these men get on this chopper and get outta here!"
Jake then took Matthew and two other soldiers and proceeded to head to the ground floor.
Chapter 16
Tyrese and Miller were assisting the rest of the soldiers in holding back the horde, preventing them from breaking through the lobby doors. Jake ran up to Dylan, who was with the crowd of civilians.
"Dylan!" Jake replied. "We've gotta get outta here. I got a chopper ready for you and Chief. I think we can fit a few others as well."
Nick overheard Jake talking and pleaded to let him on the chopper as well.
"You think I can get on as well?" Nick asked.
"Alright," Jake answered. "You two get to the second floor and stay put until I get there. I'm getting Miller and we're getting out of here!"
Jake handed Dylan his sidearm and ran to Miller, who was organizing the defense.
"Chief!" Jake started. "There's a chopper up on the roof waiting for you! We have to get out of here."
"Negative, Riley!" Miller answered. "I won't leave until the other civilians get to Evac Point B! We're getting ready to bust through the door!"
"Guards!" Tyrese ordered. "Make ready to bust through the east door! Some of these civilians are gonna head to Evac Point B! Give them cover fire!"
A group of guards lined up in two rows of ten, with their guns aiming at the doorway, ready to push through. As soon as they were ready, the Spartans fell back behind the guards. Zombies started busting through the east doorway, and guards started to open fire. As the undead were pushed back, soldiers began to inch forward.
Once the guards were outside, five Spartans lined up behind them, and the civilians stayed behind them. Five more Spartans lined up on the left side of the civilians, and five on the right. Miller, Jake, Matthew, and Tyrese stayed behind the civilians giving cover fire from the rear.
Every shot the soldiers fired was a clean head shot. If a zombie got to close to the sides, the Spartans would it them back with their shield and shoot it with their sidearm. When the group ran to the doors of Evac Point B, a horde of infected busted though the doors and sprinted to them. There were too many for the guards to kill them all, and the infected were surrounding the group. They had to fall back quickly before they were overrun.
As the group was hurrying back to the airport lobby, zombies tackled the front guards. The rest of the horde kept getting closer to the rest of the group. The zombies outnumbered them. Jake, Miller, Tyrese, and Matthew turned around to see everyone being consumed by the onslaught. It was total carnage and chaos.
A mother carrying her five-year-old son was running toward Miller and Jake, trying to get away from the undead before being taken. One zombie tackled the two, and the boy rolled out of his mother's arms. As the mother tried to get up to retrieve her son, the zombie grabbed her and sunk its teeth into her shoulder. She tried to fight the zombie to get to her son, but more undead started to pile up on top of her. The little boy started screaming and crying out in fear when a zombie snuck behind him and grabbed him. As the mother was being ripped apart by a group of infected, she watched her son become disemboweled by the zombie that had him.
There was nothing that Miller could do; all he was able to do was watch as everyone around him was slaughtered.
“What did we do wrong?” Miller whimpered. Jake grabbed Miller’s shoulder to snap him out of his shock.
"Chief!" Jake shouted as he started shaking him, snapping him out of his trance. "We have to go now! There's nothing more we can do! We have to fall back!"
Miller, Tyrese, and Matthew followed Jake as he was leading them back to the lobby. They shot any infected that would make an attempt at attacking them. Matthew shoved some back with a riot shield he picked up from a Spartan's corpse. They met up with Dylan and Nick, and the group ran all the way to the door leading to the stairs that would head to the rooftop.
As Jake kicked the door open, a zombie grabbed Matthew and sank its teeth into his arm, pushing him up against a wall. Matthew immediately plants the barrel of his sidearm against the zombie's temple and pulled the trigger, splattering its brains on the doorpost. More undead started pushing Matthew against the wall in that crowded room, and Matthew pushed the onslaught with every last bit of his strength.
"Go!" Matthew screamed. "Get outta here now! I'll hold ‘em off for as long as I can!"
As Matthew strained to prevent the horde from stepping foot on the stairs, the rest hurried to the rooftop. The horde pushed Matthew back and reached their arms around his shield to scratch him. Some zombies that were crawling on the ground bit into his ankles. Matthew started yelling in pain and kneeling down as the undead were tearing at his tendons. The rest of them started toppling over Matthew, leaning against the shield he was using to protect himself.
He knew that he couldn't overpower the entire horde with the little strength that he had, so he struggled to reach into his pocket and pulled out a frag grenade. As he pulled the pin, he let his guard down, allowing the undead to move past his shield and feast on him. Matthew held the grenade as they tore into his flesh and guts. He used what little strength he had left to let go of the grenade and wrap his legs around a zombie that was on top of him, giving him just enough room to start swinging his fists.
The grounded chopper, along with Brandon and the rest of his men, started getting ready to evacuate as soon as they laid eyes on Jake and his group. Brandon and his men boarded the chopper, and the pilot fired up the ignition.
Jake, Dylan, Nick, and Miller finally got on the chopper.
"Where's Matthew?!" Brandon asked.
"He got bit!" Jake answered. "He's buying us some time downstairs, but he won't last for any longer against the number he's holding off! That's why we need to hurry up and get this bird in the air!"
"Yessir!" the pilot replied. "As soon as we have enough power, we're gettin’ out of Dodge!"
While the chopper was still gaining power, the building started shaking. Then, there was an explosion. Matthew's frag grenade went off, and the blast hit the boiler room that was beside the stairway room. The fire started bellowing and severely burned one soldier in the face, charring him from the forehead to the lower part of his neck. He started screaming in pain, and Miller started pulling him closer in the chopper.
The roof below the chopper started caving in, revealing the flaming pit of what was once the stairways in Evac Point A. the chopper started tipping over, and the burnt soldier tripped and fell into the fiery hole. Miller nearly fell into it as well, but Brandon and Dylan caught him just in time and proceeded to pull him back into the chopper. The Black-hawk's landing skids were caught between some of the remaining roof and some concrete and mortar, preventing it from ascending.
Everyone on the chopper started panicking as the pilot and co-pilot used as much power as they could to try and break free from their trap. The roof began to crack some more. Jake took one last gaze upon Cassandra, who was on the other chopper, watching in horror and realizing that death was imminent.
The roof collapsed, and the chopper, which was carrying Jake and everyone with him, toppled over inside the rubble. The rotors caught some of the building, slicing up more debris and snapping the rotors off the chopper and throwing them into various directions. Cassandra screamed out Jake's name as she saw his chopper being consumed by the flame engulfed building. The pilot couldn't stay there any longer, so he turned the chopper he was flying away from the remains of Fort Benning and left the ruins.
Chapter 17
Jake slowly opened his eyes. All he could see was a room filled with smoke, ash, and flames. The chopper that was a few feet away from him was turned over on its side. Most of it was engulfed and the rotors were snapped clean off of it. The pilot and the co-pilot were still strapped in, leaning towards the floor. They were completely charred and lifeless.
Jake attempted to lift his head up, but it felt like a bodybuilder had just swung a sledgehammer to it. As he was groaning, he glanced at his feet. His breath rate started to speed up when he saw a charred zombie gnawing at his steel toed boot, attempting to chew through the steel to get to his feet.
Immediately, he kicked the zombie away from him. He started to unholster his sidearm when the zombie stood up and toppled over him, making an attempt for his head. Jake shoved it to his feet so he could kick it back again, giving him enough time to pull out his pistol before the zombie could make another attempt. Jake fired two rounds into the charging zombie's skull. The runner tripped and its motionless body fell on top of Jake one last time; this time, it was not attacking.
As Jake rolled the zombie off of him, he felt a shooting pain in his ribs, as if he cracked them in the crash. He slowly got up, but struggled to stay standing. He was feeling dizzy. He had a slight concussion from the crash as well. There was smoke and dust in the air, so it was hard for him to breathe and see clearly. There was so much heat that his sweat came pouring down his forehead, stinging his eyes.
As Jake was looking for a way out of the rubble, another burnt zombie started charging at him. As he was caressing his aching side, Jake raised his gun and fired a bullet, dropping the zombie almost instantly. He turned behind him and saw two more feeding on a cooked corpse.
Pow! Pow!
He fired a couple more rounds, killing them.
Jake turned once more and saw someone on the ground. It was Miller, with his torso caught between a rotor, severed completely. He was groaning as a zombie feasted on what used to be Miller's leg. Three more were chewing on his arms and chest. As Miller kept moaning, he coughed and spat out blood, and clenched his fists tightly.
In anger, Jake raised his pistol and spat out rounds, killing the zombies that were tearing up already mutilated Miller. He then walked up to the Chief and tightly grabbed one of his fists. Miller looked up at Jake, and with blood still drooling out from his mouth, he uttered some words:
"Do it," Miller whispered, referring to Jake ending his suffering.
Jake hesitated, then raise his sidearm and placed it on Miller's temple.
"Do it."
Pow!
All Jake could do was stare at his mentor’s lifeless body. He wanted to crouch down and scream his lungs out. He looked out of the corner of his eye and saw a large, black piece of tarp. Jake opened up the tarp and slowly laid it over Miller’s corpse, covering his upper body and head.
“Hello?!”
Jake heard a voice coming from the room.
“I heard some shots fired! If you’re still alive, sound off!”
Jake recognized the voice. “Brandon?! Is that you?!”
“Yeah! I’m trapped under a piece of concrete!”
Jake walked around the torn room, searching for Brandon. He eventually found him under some of the rubble and gave a huge sigh of relief.
“Jake,” Brandon started. “You look like Hell.”
“Never thought I’d be so happy to see you!” Jake replied.
“Yeah, all my call girls say that. Where’s the Chief?”
Jake just shook his head in silence.
“Damn!” Brandon uttered. “Alright. Help me out with this slab of rock. I think I may have broke my right leg from the impact.”
“May have cracked a few ribs myself.”
On the count of three, Jake and Brandon attempted to move the rubble to the side so Brandon could get free, but it was too heavy, and both were in pain.
“I’m gonna try and look for some more survivors,” Jake replied as he handed his pistol to Brandon. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“Gee! No problem there!”
Jake walked around in the rubble, hoping that there were more survivors than just Brandon.
“Is anyone else alive?!” Jake called out.
“Ugh! Man!”
A man appeared from the smoke. It was Dylan. Jake ran up to him, checking him for any bites he may have gotten.
“You alright?” Jake asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Dylan answered. “Nick’s not far from me. He’s out cold, but he’s breathing.”
Dylan showed Jake where Nick was laying. They found him leaning against a corner. Jake crouched down and lightly smacked Nick’s face a few times, waking him up.
“Nick,” Jake started. “You okay?!”
Nick slowly opened his eyes and gave Jake and Dylan a blank stare.
“Remind me to never step foot on a helicopter again.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Jake laughed.
Dylan and Jake helped Nick up. As they were pulling him up, Nick saw a zombie attempt to sneak up behind Jake.
“Jake, behind you!”
Pow!
Jake pulled out his knife and quickly turned around to see a zombie laying on the floor, with his brains splattered all over the debris below him. The three looked up and saw Tyrese holstering his pistol.
“I thought you were trained to mind your six, Riley,” Tyrese joked.
“Good to see you too,” Jake replied.
“What’s the status report on the Gunny and the Chief?”
“Miller’s dead,” Jake answered. “Brandon’s alive, but he’s trapped under a slab of concrete. He may have a fractured leg, so I need some help pulling him out.”
With that, Jake led Dylan, Nick, and Tyrese to where Brandon was lying. The four of them grabbed a corner of the debris that was trapping Brandon, and moved it out of the way on the count of three. Nick crouched down and examined Brandon’s leg.
“He has an oblique fracture in the lower part of his femur,” Nick replied. “He’s gonna need a metal plate for that. The knee cap is shattered. Overall, he’s gonna need to try and stay off of it for about five months, maybe longer. He’s gonna need to an extra 6 months of physical therapy.”
“What did you say you did before this outbreak?” Jake asked.
“Emergency doctor,” Nick answered. “I was on call in Fort Bragg when all of this went down.”
“Alright. You stay here with Brandon. I’m gonna take Tyrese and Dylan with me and we’re gonna search for a working vehicle and a few weapons.”
“What about supplies?”
“We’ll worry about that later. Right now, our top priority is to get you two inside of a working vehicle.”
Jake took point to head out of the room, checking every corner to make sure there weren’t any zombies lurking about in the aftermath. There were few, but not a lot to be concerned over. Jake led the group to the south exit of the building. He saw a lot of undead walking about. There were crimson splattered weapons scattered around, and there was a Hummer that seemed to be a hundred yards away from them. Nobody knew if the vehicle would work, but it was a risk worth taking.
Once the doors opened, everyone moved fast, picking up a weapon from the ground as they were running. They made it to the Hummer before the zombies could as much as glance at them. The Hummer was unlocked and the keys were in the ignition. Tyrese took the driver seat, Dylan rode shotgun, and Jake took the .50 caliber turret that was on top of the Hummer.
Tyrese turned the key, and the Hummer made enough noise to attract the horde of zombies. The group quickly drove back to the building where Nick and Brandon. While Tyrese and Jake gave covering fire, Dylan hurried inside to get the two.
“Brandon! Nick!” Dylan shouted. “We gotta hurry up and get out of here! The Hummer is attracting the zombies to us!”
Nick helped Brandon up, and the three of them hurried to the Hummer. Brandon was using a Barrett 50. caliber sniper rifle he found in the rubble as a crutch and firing at the undead with the sidearm that Jake gave him. As soon as Dylan, Nick, and Brandon stepped foot in the vehicle, Jones stepped foot on the gas, and the group drove away from the aftermath of Fort Benning.