We sat near the nose on the ground, far away from the massive slow-turning blades of the engine. I pulled the silencer from my pocket and was about to screw it in place when Harry stopped me and shook his head no. “That will screw with your accuracy, and every zombie in the neighborhood will know we are here already. I’ll thin them out while they are still far away. You only need to watch my sides and rear.” I nodded my agreement and put the silencer away.
Harry was magic with his gun. I found out later he was using a SCAR-L. The gun was wicked looking, and I can attest to how well it picks off zombies. Whatever Harry aimed at died a quick second death. The horde of twenty was whittled down to five by the time they gained thirty yards. I loved the slow zombie thing. Just imagine how fucked we would be if they ran, climbed, or could open doors. I shuddered to think of it.
My radio came to life in my ear. “Dan, get in here quickly!” Brian called out. I tapped Harry’s shoulder, and he nodded his acceptance that I had to go.
I made it up the ramp and over to Brian’s station. “What’s up, Brian?”
“Hold on.” He made a couple of adjustments on his station then pointed at the screen. “First, the good news. Alpha has made it to the objective. You can see them thinning out the rest of the horde that’s still present. Now the bad news.” He made some more adjustments on his station. I could see the airport in the distance becoming closer. “A horde nearby has taken an interest in the airport.”
I watched as the drone’s camera zoomed in to the south of the airport. A horde appeared. A big horde. It was so big they covered the entire street for a city block. When they reached the fence, we would be in a heap of trouble.
Dammit!
“I need suggestions, Brian.”
“We still have the escort jets. They could strafe the horde with their cannons, but with that many, I don’t think even that would be helpful. We could try another bombing run. With how close they are, though, I have a feeling they would ignore it.”
“Have you informed Phillips?”
“Yeah, he asked me to update him when they got closer. He may have to move us to the other end of the runway.”
“Ok, keep watch, and let me know when they get closer. Also, try and keep any eye on Alpha. Maybe we can divert Bravo over to help us. I’ll be on the tarmac.” I turned and trotted down the ramp. I caught the girls’ attention, and they made their way over to me. “We are going to be getting a load of uninvited guests soon. A large horde is coming from the south side of the airport. Keep your eyes on that area. If they come closer, Philip wants to move the plane to the other end of the runway.” They nodded and moved away to the positions they had set.
I bent over and ran over to Harry’s shooting position. “We are going to be screwed in a minute. The drone shows a large horde coming into the airport from the south. I’m guessing a count of about seven hundred or so.”
He took his eye away from his scope and gave me a bland look, “I figured this would happen. What’s the plan?”
I shrugged. “They are too close to drop bombs on. We don’t have enough ammo or shooters. Philips said when they get closer he is going to move the plane to the other end of the runway. I figure if it gets worse I’ll call Bravo back to support us. I am out of ideas. If you have any, please share.”
He looked at me for a bit then turned and surveyed the airfield. “We just don’t have the resources. If I think of something, I’ll let you know. Until then, I like your plan.” He turned and finished off the last zombie in the horde. He slung his rifle and moved off to support the girls. I followed in his wake. I had nothing else to do.
We watched as the zombie horde made their presence known. First in twos and fours, then in larger and larger groups. At this point, we had a good one hundred yard cushion to play with. My radio clicked open, “Dan, Brian. It looks like Alpha has completed its mission. They are on their way back, but I can see another horde is about to sidetrack them. I think we should send out Bravo to cover them.”
“Nothing we can do about it. Send them, but let them know about our situation. Have Phillips move the plane like he planned. We will come back on board now. Over.”
“Roger, Boss. Over.”
I stepped onto the ramp and got the others’ attention. They climbed on board, and Diana raised the ramp. Almost instantly after it closed, the plane vibrated and started moving. I almost fell to my knees, except for Harry grabbing onto me, stopping my fall. It took us five minutes before we reached the other side of the runway and the position with nose pointing down.
I thanked Harry, and we made our way over to the drone station. Brian turned and looked back at us. “Bravo, just hooked up with Alpha. Looks like they are fighting a running battle, but are on their way back to the airport.” He swung the drone back toward the airport and showed the large horde approaching the hangars and outbuildings. Brian then cocked his head to the side as he listened to a voice over his headset. He said something into the microphone and turned his head toward us. “Halo 1 reports that another horde is coming in from the west of the airport, and it’s almost the same size as the southern one. We are going to become overwhelmed before Alpha and Bravo can return. Phillips is talking about leaving them behind to meet us somewhere else.”
I thrust my hand out to Brian, and he handed me his headset. I was so upset; I was not going to wast time looking for my own. I slipped it over my ears and adjusted the microphone near my lips, “Phillips, we are not leaving them. I am going to round everyone up and drop the rear ramp. We just need to keep them away from the plane. Alpha and Bravo can blast their own hole to get to us.” I took off the headset and tossed it onto Brian’s lap.
“Diana, drop the ramp. Let’s get outside and protect the plane.” I grabbed my Zomgo pack and my shotgun from the bench I had been sitting at earlier. Julie joined on my side, and we ran down the ramp. We braced ourselves against the air being whipped back by the powerful blades still spinning on the engine. The air felt like a miniature tornado, threatening to knock us off our feet and on our asses. We tilted into the wind and bulled our way forward. We set up in front of the plane and aimed our barrels down the runway.
I felt a presence and looked around, Harry appeared on one side of me. I figured Diana was guarding the ramp and rear of the plane. I looked up hearing a weird buzzing sound. I could make out a small dark dot growing bigger by the minute. I pointed at it, and Harry raised his scope to look at it. He dropped his scope from his eye and rubbed at them.
He looked again and a smile crept across his face, “I think our wayward sons have come home.”
“What?”
I looked forward and watched the dot turn into a small airplane. It came down quick and flared out onto the runway just in front of the horde. It motored down the runway. When it got closer, it turned and stopped before it hit the grass off to the side. The engines stopped running, and the doors popped open. Howser and Helmut climbed out and waved at us. They started pushing the plane off the runway. Harry started firing down the runway, taking out zombies before they could get too close to them.
I clicked on my radio. “Alpha, Bravo, can you guys hear me? Over.”
I closed my eyes and listened intently as the channel opened and a static filled voice came through, “Roger, Charlie, your broadcast is full of static. Over.”
“Howser and Helmut just showed up, came out of the air in a small plane. The airport is becoming thick with zombies. South and west are covered in hordes. You will have to blow a hole through them, but you better hurry. Phillips wants to move soon. Over.” I listened intently again, waiting for an answer.
Two long minutes passed as Howser and Helmut made their way over to us. They would stop and fire down the runway as the zombies continued to move closer. My radio finally came to life as Julie and Harry moved together to meet up with Howser and Helmut. “Roger all, we are moving as fast we can. We need about five minutes. We will pump out metal death when we hit the horde. Keep the engines warm. Over.” Vic’s voice came through the radio. I couldn’t tell if they were successful because the channel was full of static, and I couldn’t make out any inflection in his voice.
I made my way up to the team, and we took shots at the zombies. There was no way we could keep that rate of fire up. Either the zombie horde would grow too big and overwhelm us or our ammo would run out and we would be overwhelmed. No matter what, we would be overwhelmed soon. Brian came over the radio at that point. “Get under the plane. Halo 1 and 2 will be rocketing down the runway trying to hopefully pull the horde’s attention away from us for a small amount of time.”
We backed away under the plane, making sure to stay away from the turning props of the engines. We made it to the ramp and stopped waiting. I pulled to the side and watched the two escort jets scream out of the air and down low near the runway. It amazed me how close they got to the ground. Zombies in the horde were thrown to the ground by the blast the jets created.
I could hear the Humvees before I saw them as they rounded a corner near the hangars and plowed through the first rank of zombies before they could get to their feet. The .50 Cal chattered away into the horde before they could fully recover. I got on the radio, “Brian, alert Phillips to be ready to go as soon as the Humvees climb the ramp. Over.”
“You got it, Boss. Over.”
I found myself jumping up and down in frustration. The Humvees made good time through the crowd, but now they were being pressed in on both sides. “Helmut, Howser, Harry, follow me! Julie, get ready to help Diana strap the Humvees down and keep the zombies off the ramp.”
I took off running, not waiting for anyone to voice their opinion or answer me. I pulled the MP5 to my shoulder and fired into the crowd surrounding the Humvees. Shots from behind me erupted, and we started knocking down the dead in front of the lead Humvee. We were just not killing enough to make a difference. Heaven appeared in the rear Humvee’s cupola and, using the MK19, fired into the side of the zombies. As I watched this, something niggled at the back of my brain. I dropped to my knees and swung my Zomgo pack around, zipped it open, and rummaged through it. I came up with the grenades Doc gave me back at Alcatraz. Man, that felt like ages ago. I gave them over to the guys, whose eyes lit up.
I clicked on my radio and called out, “Alpha, Bravo, we are going to try and thin out the horde in front with grenades. Over.” I saw Heaven slide down inside the Humvee out of the cupola, and Senshi copied his movement in the other Humvee.
Three grenades soared out and into the midst of the crowds in front of the lead Humvee. I dropped to the ground and curled into a ball, hoping nothing from the grenades would make it to me. The explosions were mightier than I thought they’d be. Something rained down on me. I stood up and looked around at the detritus of bodies lying around. I heard the Humvees engines rev and the sound grew louder. I looked over and saw that they had finally broken through the horde.
Howser grabbed my hand and pulled me along, dazed, back toward the plane. The other two guys kept up but would turn and fire every other second, trying to keep the horde away from us. I was not doing well. My vision was doubled, and I felt like I was massively drunk. The Humvees caught up to us and Howser pushed me into the backseat. I landed on someone who grabbed me and held on. The Humvee’s engine revved again, and I saw the light dim as we tipped up. I was finally beginning to understand that we had just entered the plane. The backdoor opened and I crawled out, helped by Heaven, whose lap I had been lying in. The ramp was closing, and bedlam had erupted in the bay. The plane was moving. Julie, Diana, and Hase were tying down the Humvees. I also heard screaming. I turned my head and watched Apache preforming CPR on the hood of the lead Humvee. I pushed forward trying to see who it was. As I came closer, I noticed the person was a man, but not a member of our team. I came around the hood of the Humvee and found Vic holding a woman close to his chest.
Thank God!
I assumed she was Sharla, his wife. I turned and examined the man on the hood under Apache. I came closer and that’s when I saw the blood coming from his right bicep from under his shirt. I pulled up the sleeve, making sure my gloves didn’t touch the blood. I saw two half-moons with teeth indentations. I grabbed Apache’s arm and yanked her hard off of the man and onto the floor. I pulled my 1911 and pointed it at the man’s head.
Many voices started screaming at me to stop. I calmly pointed at his arm. “He has a bite on his bicep.” His body twitched, and he sat straight up and snapped open gray eyes flecked with red. I calmly shifted my aim and fired into his head, blowing out of the other side a pink mist combined with bits of bone and brain. I slid my gun back into its holster and then turned, and abruptly threw up on the ground. I stood hunched over spitting, trying to get rid of the taste in my mouth.
A woman’s scream brought me up short. The woman Vic was holding had flung out her arms and tackled me to the ground. Her fists started to rain down. She got a couple of good hits in, one to my forehead, which threatened to knock me out, flooding my vision with black spots. The other connected with my right cheek. I felt a tooth come loose and tasted the copper of blood. Kuppers had rescued me from any more hits by wrapping his arms around her and lifting her off, carrying her away.
I rolled over to my stomach and managed to make it to my knees. I breathed in and out deeply, trying to not pass out. Apache’s hands appeared in front of my face. I reached up and took them, and she helped me to my feet. She guided me over to a seat near Julie. There, Apache performed some first aid on me. She first opened each eye and swung a light into them. She clucked and shook her head. She handed me some gauze, and I stuck in my mouth to stop the bleeding coming from my missing tooth. Apache then cracked open a bottle of water and handed it to me. I sat back and tried to close my eyes. “Nope. No sleeping for you. Keep your eyes open Dan.” I opened my eyes and stared into Apache’s piercing gray eyes.