bent and burned and hanging from one hydraulic piston, but what really drew their attention was the occupants that slowly stumbled from the rear of the vehicle.
Martinez came out first. The front of his T-shirt was stained crimson, as was his bandaged arm. His face and neck were a dingy gray, and his eyes were blood red. Cole followed and he looked worse. There were huge chunks missing from the meat of his neck, and the right side of his face had been savaged. Everyone raised their weapons, but Androwski and Rick stepped forward. The live men looked at each other, nodded and then raised their rifles. Two quick reports followed, and the dead men collapsed.
The rest of the team walked up to their dead friends. “Martinez must have died on the bench and then attacked Cole,” Seyfert said. “See? He’s not bitten but Cole is. We didn’t know how bad off he really was, but who dies from a damn broken arm?”
Rick got down on one knee. “Sorry Pabs. Nobody deserves this.” Rick closed his friend’s eyes with a gloved hand. He stood again. “We need to bury them.”
Androwski looked at his shoes, “Rick, Boone might not have that kind of time. We need to hump the ammo from Two to One, and get back there for him. We can move them,” he indicated the dead men, “to the side of the road and cover them, then we can come back.”
“We did that damn plane fer nothin’, Boone is by hisself too,” Dallas said under his breath.
Rick nodded in the negative. “We did it for our friend, and I wouldn’t do it any different for any of us. Boone wouldn’t have it any other way either.”
“Yer right on that, Hoss. Let’s go git ‘that tough bastid.”
“Lieutenant,” a deep voice came over the radio, “I’ve got movement in the woods on the thermals. My door is open and I’m lonely.”
“Roger that, Stark. Everybody saddle up.”
Rick, Dallas, Androwski and Seyfert dragged their fallen comrades to the side of the road, and then helped the others wordlessly carry the extra ammo back to the undamaged LAV. Rick made sure to take Martinez’s SR25 and all its ammo as well. “What about the other guns on LAV Two?” asked Chris. “Shouldn’t we take them?”
The Bushmaster is too big,” Androwski told him. “We could strap the barrel to the outside of this rig though, and we’ll definitely come back for the LMG. Let’s roll, Stark.”
“Solid copy, Lieutenant.”
The light-armored vehicle rumbled back toward the airport.
12
“Jesus, look at them all.” Anna was looking at monitor that was displaying thermal optics. “There must be two thousand, where did they all come from?”
“How do we find him in alla that?” Dallas demanded waving his hand at the screen.
Androwski was leaning over and looking into the monitor as well. “Lone Wolf, do you copy? Lone Wolf, this is Wanderer, are you receiving? Lone Wolf, if unable to speak, squelch twice, over.”
There was no response, just dead air. The population of undead at the airport had grown substantially. The team couldn’t figure out why though, as there were no living people in the area that they could see, and the dead weren’t attacking any fortifications of any kind, they were just milling about. Androwski began to check his weapons.
Rick put his hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder. “Andy, we have no illusions about who’s in charge, but you cannot go out there. You can’t.”
“Boone wouldn’t leave anyone behind, and I mean to find him.”
“We can look, but not outside this vehicle. Do you think Boone would want you to die looking for him?”
“Rick, I’m a SEAL. We don’t leave people behind.”
“I understand, but don’t you think that the mission is more important? A possible cure for this plague? If you get killed, that’s one more trained person that can’t help us get where we need to be.”
“Rick’s right, Andy,” added Seyfert. “You go out there and you’re just gonna get dead. And
Martinez came out first. The front of his T-shirt was stained crimson, as was his bandaged arm. His face and neck were a dingy gray, and his eyes were blood red. Cole followed and he looked worse. There were huge chunks missing from the meat of his neck, and the right side of his face had been savaged. Everyone raised their weapons, but Androwski and Rick stepped forward. The live men looked at each other, nodded and then raised their rifles. Two quick reports followed, and the dead men collapsed.
The rest of the team walked up to their dead friends. “Martinez must have died on the bench and then attacked Cole,” Seyfert said. “See? He’s not bitten but Cole is. We didn’t know how bad off he really was, but who dies from a damn broken arm?”
Rick got down on one knee. “Sorry Pabs. Nobody deserves this.” Rick closed his friend’s eyes with a gloved hand. He stood again. “We need to bury them.”
Androwski looked at his shoes, “Rick, Boone might not have that kind of time. We need to hump the ammo from Two to One, and get back there for him. We can move them,” he indicated the dead men, “to the side of the road and cover them, then we can come back.”
“We did that damn plane fer nothin’, Boone is by hisself too,” Dallas said under his breath.
Rick nodded in the negative. “We did it for our friend, and I wouldn’t do it any different for any of us. Boone wouldn’t have it any other way either.”
“Yer right on that, Hoss. Let’s go git ‘that tough bastid.”
“Lieutenant,” a deep voice came over the radio, “I’ve got movement in the woods on the thermals. My door is open and I’m lonely.”
“Roger that, Stark. Everybody saddle up.”
Rick, Dallas, Androwski and Seyfert dragged their fallen comrades to the side of the road, and then helped the others wordlessly carry the extra ammo back to the undamaged LAV. Rick made sure to take Martinez’s SR25 and all its ammo as well. “What about the other guns on LAV Two?” asked Chris. “Shouldn’t we take them?”
The Bushmaster is too big,” Androwski told him. “We could strap the barrel to the outside of this rig though, and we’ll definitely come back for the LMG. Let’s roll, Stark.”
“Solid copy, Lieutenant.”
The light-armored vehicle rumbled back toward the airport.
12
“Jesus, look at them all.” Anna was looking at monitor that was displaying thermal optics. “There must be two thousand, where did they all come from?”
“How do we find him in alla that?” Dallas demanded waving his hand at the screen.
Androwski was leaning over and looking into the monitor as well. “Lone Wolf, do you copy? Lone Wolf, this is Wanderer, are you receiving? Lone Wolf, if unable to speak, squelch twice, over.”
There was no response, just dead air. The population of undead at the airport had grown substantially. The team couldn’t figure out why though, as there were no living people in the area that they could see, and the dead weren’t attacking any fortifications of any kind, they were just milling about. Androwski began to check his weapons.
Rick put his hand on the lieutenant’s shoulder. “Andy, we have no illusions about who’s in charge, but you cannot go out there. You can’t.”
“Boone wouldn’t leave anyone behind, and I mean to find him.”
“We can look, but not outside this vehicle. Do you think Boone would want you to die looking for him?”
“Rick, I’m a SEAL. We don’t leave people behind.”
“I understand, but don’t you think that the mission is more important? A possible cure for this plague? If you get killed, that’s one more trained person that can’t help us get where we need to be.”
“Rick’s right, Andy,” added Seyfert. “You go out there and you’re just gonna get dead. And
Similar Books
