Crucifixion - 02 (6 page)

The night lit up as a giant ball of flame engulfed two
hangars and several parked fighter jets.  With the heavy glass windows that
faced the flight line blown out there was nothing to shield us from the
shockwave that slammed into the room seconds later.  What few shards of glass
had remained in the window frames became shrapnel as the wave of air blasted
through and more bodies hit the floor, several of them screaming in pain.  When
my hearing returned a few heartbeats later I could hear sirens sounding the
alarm.

The explosion and fireball had been large and intense enough
to create a small mushroom cloud, just like a miniature nuclear weapon, and as
the flames fed the superheated air the cloud was lit from within and looked
like a gate to hell had opened up.  I spun at the sound of a scream from across
the room that was uniquely different from the screams of the wounded.  A female
infected wearing an AF enlisted uniform leapt up onto a console and screamed
again at a group of co-workers that were huddling behind another console.  I snapped
my rifle up, flipping the selector to semi-auto as I brought it to my shoulder
then squeezed the trigger.  The infected’s head snapped to the side then her
body fell limp to the floor.  What the fuck was going on?

I swung my rifle around at the sound of running boots behind
me, but it was only Roach and the two MPs responding to my firing the rifle. 
Roach looked in the direction I pointed, saw the dead infected and quickly sent
his two men to opposite sides of the room.  I was surprised and gratified to
hear him repeat my admonishment about keeping their rifles on semi mode. 
Lowering the rifle I turned back to find that Rachel had moved up next to me.

“This place is about to completely fall apart,” she said in
a low voice.  “We need to get out of here while we still can.”

I nodded.  She was right.  I didn’t know if there had been
another release of the nerve agent, or if it had a delayed reaction on some
people, but being in a group didn’t seem like the safest place to be at the
moment.  I walked over to where Masuka was intently listening on a field
radio.  She held up a finger in the ‘one minute’ gesture as I approached.

“Copy that,” she said and handed the handset back to a radio
operator who was standing at her side.

“Infected attacked a maintenance crew while they were
refueling an F-18,” she said.  “Firearms and jet fuel aren’t a good
combination.”

I started to respond but movement on the flight line caught
my attention.  Dozens of figures were silhouetted against the fire, and all
were shambling towards us.  I pointed and Masuka turned to look, cursing when
she saw the infected.  Other people in the room noticed us and looked and a
swell of voices raised in panic.  It was time for me to take charge.  Grabbing
Masuka’s arm I pulled her attention away from the infected stumbling across the
tarmac outside the windows.

“We need to get these people to a secure area,” I said.  “I
don’t know this base.  Where do we take them?”

“There’s a fallout shelter in the basement of this
building,” she replied.

“No good.”  I said.  “Fallout shelters have one way in and
out and the infected will pile up outside that door and trap us.  We’ll only
survive as long as the food and water lasts.  The flight I was supposed to be
on tomorrow morning.  Is that plane here?  Do we have a pilot?”

“It’s not here.  It’s due in from McConnell in a few
hours.”  She was referring to McConnell Air Force Base which was a couple of
hundred miles southwest of Kansas City near the Oklahoma border.

“OK, what about those Globemasters you said were orbiting? 
Can we get one on the ground and start evacuating?”  I was getting antsy as I
watched the infected move closer to the building we were in.  We needed to
move, but I wasn’t getting much help in coming up with where to go to.

Masuka turned to her radio operator and started barking
orders.  Even before she was through he had the handset to his head and was
presumably talking to the pilots.  After a few moments he lowered the handset and
looked at Masuka and me.

“Foxtrot one seven is diverting to McConnell.  Foxtrot one
nine is lining up for a landing and will be on the ground in five minutes.”

I didn’t wait for Masuka.  “Everyone form up in a group,” I
raised my voice loud enough to be heard over the moaning of the wounded and the
hubbub of frightened conversation in the room.  “If you’re not armed, help the
injured.  If you are armed I want you on the perimeter of the group.  We’re
going to evacuate to the flight line and board a Globemaster that is inbound.”

Everyone stared at me, only a couple of older Sergeants
starting to move.  We didn’t have time for this.

“Move now or you’re going to die!”  I shouted, galvanizing
everyone into action.

I turned to Roach and told him he was bringing up the rear. 
I would take point and lead the group out of the building and out to the flight
line.  I spent a few seconds checking my weapons and spare magazines, then went
over to the body of a fallen MP near the door and collected five full rifle
magazines from his harness.  Rachel had her pack on, rifle in her hands, and I
handed her two of the magazines and kept three for myself.  Telling her to stay
close I activated my radio to check in on Anderson and Mayo.

“Anderson, you up on the net?”  We hadn’t been on a planned
mission and didn’t have designated call signs.

“Go ahead, Major.”  His reply came back almost instantly.

“What’s your status?”

“Fueling complete.  Mayo found ammo for the minigun and is
loading us up right now.  We’re ready to go when you are, which had better be
soon.  There’s a lot of infected headed this way.”

“Copy.  Moving to the flight line with a group of
survivors.  Got a big bird inbound and the plan is to evac on it.  Get your
passenger ready to move and keep an eye on her.  People are still turning.”

“Copy that,” he replied.  “We’ll be ready.”

By now the survivors had formed up into a tight group. 
Eight unarmed people helped four wounded and I spent a moment getting us into a
movement formation with me at the point and Rachel right on my ass.  Roach’s
two MPs straddled the group and Roach was at the rear.  I bent and retrieved
the rifle and three more magazines from the dead MP, handed them to Roach, then
moved back to the front of the small group and pulled the doors to the hallway
open.

I had to immediately engage two infected males who had been
feasting on a body in the hall.  Both went down before they could rise and I
moved into the hallway, stepping over the bodies.  Dog took up position to my
right front as we moved, head and tail lowered but ears straight up as he
stayed alert for any threat.  The hallway to my left led deeper into the
building and was clear.  Ahead was the top of the stairs and I moved forward,
rifle ready and aiming down the stairwell ahead of my line of sight.  Behind me
I could hear the group moving, making more noise than I wanted as several feet
kicked spent shells sending them tinkling across the hard floor.

Dog trotted down the upper flight of stairs, stopping on the
landing.  The fur along his back stiffened and went straight on end as he let
out a low growl.  I moved quickly to stand beside him, swinging the rifle’s aim
down to the lower stairs.  Approaching were three infected males and I decided
to keep us as quiet as I could.  I had a sound suppressor for my rifle but it
was in my pack and I didn’t have time to dig it out.  Holding up a clenched
fist I signaled for the group behind me to stop as I lowered the rifle. 
Drawing the Kukri I descended the lower stairs and moved forward to meet the
infected.

The first infected I reached was wearing AF blue coveralls
with Tech Sergeant’s stripes and grease stains on the sleeves.  He looked like
one of the ground crew that had helped with the pre-flight on the Pave Hawk
earlier that afternoon.  He wasn’t that man anymore.  Leading with the tip of
the Kukri I rammed it into his throat then torqued it so the blade sliced up
into his skull as I pushed.  The body dropped and I yanked the machete free and
met the next infected who was wearing sweat pants and an Air Force Academy
T-Shirt.  He was younger and in great physical shape and moved faster than any
male I had encountered so far.  Not as fast as the females, but fast enough to
make me adjust my swing with the Kukri and miss slicing into his neck as the
blade cut into his upper arm and got stuck in the bone.

In a flash he was on me, trying to wrap me up as his
snapping jaws sought out my face.  I had already released the handle of the
Kukri and got my arms in front of me, hands flat on his chest and shoved with
all my strength.  He flew backwards, tumbling to the hallway floor, the blade
of the machete popping free from his arm when he fell.  The momentary
distraction with him allowed the third infected to move in and grasp my left
arm with an inhumanly strong grip.  Reaching across my body with my right hand
I grabbed his wrist and turned my whole body, breaking his grip and pulling his
arm into a cross lock.  With a quick jerk I snapped his elbow, but for all his
reaction I might as well have hit him with a feather pillow.  He kept coming
forward, grabbing with his good arm and trying to grab with his broken arm.  By
now the infected I had knocked to the floor was back on his feet and pressing
the attack.

OK, fuck quiet.  These weren’t normal humans that could be
subdued in hand to hand combat.  Shoving hard against each of them I gained a
few feet of space, drew my pistol and shot each in the head.  Scooping up the
Kukri and sheathing it I shouted for the group to start moving again as I
brought my rifle back to the ready position.  They quickly filed down the
stairs and stacked up behind me in the hall.  We moved forward again as a
group, several soft gasps sounding from behind me as we passed the bodies on
the floor.  Reaching the closed door where I had left the young woman earlier I
paused our movement and tapped on the door with the barrel of my rifle.  No
screaming or pounding from within the room so I turned the knob and cracked the
door open, ready to fire if anyone or anything charged at me.

The woman was still huddled behind the overturned table,
eyes wide in fear.  I motioned her to come to me, but she was frozen in place. 
Reading the situation, Rachel stepped past me and into the room, talking to the
frightened woman in a calming voice.  A minute later she had her on her feet
and rejoined the group, giving the woman an assignment of helping with the
wounded.  I had maintained watch on the remainder of the hall and the exit
ahead while Rachel brought the woman out to the group, and started moving
forward again when I felt Rachel’s hand on top of my left shoulder.

“Major,” Anderson’s voice came over my earpiece.

“Go,” I replied in a low voice, keeping my focus on the exit
door at the end of the hall.

“It’s getting damn scary out here.  Infected are coming from
every direction.  Seems like there’s a major outbreak and the explosion and
fire are drawing them in.”

“What’s your status?”

“Aircraft is fueled, re-armed and ready to go, but we’re
going to have to start burning through ammo real quick.  We’ve got a pretty
large group headed our way.”

“Copy,” I replied.  “Get your ass in the air and stay in the
area.  I’m about to exit flight ops with a group of survivors.  That Globemaster
should be touching down any minute and I’ll probably need air support to get
these people on board.”

“Copy that,” he replied and I could already hear the Pave
Hawk’s engines spooling up over the radio.  “We’ll be on station when you need
us.”

I pushed out through the metal exit door and the first thing
that hit me was the smell of burning jet fuel from the massive fire at the far
end of the flight line.  The fire was close to half a mile away but it was
large enough to light up the entire area.  Silhouetted between me and the fire
were hundreds of infected, some shambling in our direction, others apparently
mesmerized by the fire and just standing there staring.  Closer to the fire
several figures stumbled along as their clothing burned.  As I watched they
eventually fell to the ground.

There were a couple of dozen infected males within 50 yards
of us and I started firing single head shots, dropping them as we moved
forward.  Behind and to my left another rifle started firing single shots and
the two of us quickly dispatched all the infected that were too close for
comfort.  When the last one fell I glanced around, expecting to see Roach, but
Rachel smiled at me and lowered her rifle.  I guess the time on the firing
range had paid off.

Overhead I could hear the heavy rotor of the Pave Hawk as
Anderson kept it in a tight orbit over the area.  Masuka came forward and
touched my arm and pointed off to the right, her arm indicating a spot a few
degrees above the horizon.  I looked and saw an impossibly large jet that
appeared to be hanging suspended in the air.  The optical illusion was quickly
dispelled as it grew larger by the second.  The Globemaster is the heavy lift
aircraft for the Air Force.  It’s almost 200 feet long with a wingspan as wide
as the aircraft is long.  They are capable of carrying armor and troops
anywhere in the world and are one of the largest aircraft in the US Military
inventory.

As I watched the pilot brought the gigantic plane down onto
the runway closest to us and the four massive engines roared loud enough to
shake the ground when he activated the thrust reversers to slow down.  The
plane rolled for a long way as speed bled off then the noise reduced as it
rolled to a stop and the engines were throttled back to idle.  I glanced around
in dismay as every infected in sight zeroed in on the new arrival and started
shambling towards it.

“OK people, double time.  Let’s move!”  I shouted and started
running, leading the way towards the idling jet.

We were several hundred yards from the Globemaster and I
couldn’t count the number of infected that were in our way.  The only good news
here is that the military is predominantly male so there were very few fast
moving females to deal with.  A couple of them noticed our small group and
broke away from the main body that was collapsing in on the plane and sprinted
directly for us.  Dropping to a knee I brought down one of them while she was
still over 100 yards out, missed the second one with my follow on shot then
split her head open when I fired again.

The group had stopped behind me when I went to my knee but
they stayed close with me when I rose and started running again.  Males were
shambling towards us on our flanks and rifle fire started up behind me as we
ran.  I was glad to hear single shots, not full magazines being emptied in a
couple of seconds.  I slowed our run to a fast trot to help us aim better and started
engaging targets directly to our front as the converging males took notice of
us and started turning to attack.  I burned through my first magazine, did a
quick change and started firing again.  My accuracy was suffering due to
running while I was shooting, often taking two or three shots for each
infected.  Slowing down to a walk was not an attractive option though as time
was not on our side.  We still had at least 300 yards to go to reach the plane.

“Anderson,” I called on my comm unit.

“Go for Anderson.”  The response was immediate.

“We need some air support down here.  Too many infected in
the way.  We’re not going to make our ride.”

“Stand by, Major.”  A few seconds later he was back, “Major,
turn on your strobe.”

I reached up to my shoulder and flipped the switch on a
small infrared strobe light attached to my vest.  Light in the IR spectrum
can’t be seen by the human eye but it would be very visible to Mayo through his
NVGs and would let him keep us spotted and hopefully not hose us down with the
minigun.

“Got you,” Mayo’s voice came over my earpiece.

A few moments later the Pave Hawk roared into a low hover a
hundred feet over our heads and the minigun started chewing up the infected in
front of us.  A red tracer was placed in the ammo belt at a ratio of one for
every 100 rounds, but the rate of fire of the minigun is so high that it looked
like a solid stream of red reaching down and destroying the shamblers to our
front.  Mayo used very controlled bursts to both conserve ammo as well as more
effectively keep the weapon on target.  Quickly a nice wide path opened up in
front of us and I took down the half dozen infected that had been too close to
us for Mayo to engage.

When the last infected in front of me dropped I noticed
there were no sounds of firing behind me.  Glancing back I saw the two MPs just
standing there watching the light show from the minigun.  Infected were closing
on our flanks and they weren’t paying any attention.  Spinning I fired twice at
the right flank, each round finding its target and dropping an approaching
infected.  Rachel turned with me, saw the danger and started firing at the left
flank, killing an infected moments before it would have wrapped up the MP on
that side in a deathly bear hug.  I ran back to the left flank and smacked the
MP hard on the side of his helmet before getting in his face.

“You dumb motherfucker,” I shouted, my nose an inch from
his.  “If you want to die, let me know and I’ll drop you myself.  You will pay
attention and you will keep these people safe.  Am I fucking clear?!”

“Yes, Sir!” he shouted back, eyes wide with fear.

I held his eyes for half a second, looked over at the other
MP to make sure he’d gotten the message then glanced back at Roach, who wasn’t
there.  Shit.  I scanned the tarmac behind us but couldn’t tell which of the
multiple bodies might be his.  Grabbing the MP I’d just dressed down I shoved
him to the rear of the group and told him he was on rear guard.  Running to the
front I sent Rachel to the left flank, told Dog to go with her, and started
running towards the plane again.

The path that Mayo had cleared was already collapsing as
more infected pushed into the area and I yelled for the group behind me to move
faster.  Rifles started firing behind me and I was burning through a lot of ammunition
to keep the path open.  I was about to call Mayo on the comm unit when the Pave
Hawk roared back into a hover and the minigun opened up again.  Bodies started
disintegrating from the heavy slugs which continued on through them to also shred
the pavement.  We ran through the aftermath of this, the air thick with a fog
of pulverized asphalt mixed with body fluids from the devastated flesh of the
infected.  Sure wish I had a mask on.  We still had a good distance to go when
the minigun fire ceased, infected quickly moving into the open space it had
carved. 

“Minigun is jammed,” Mayo’s voice told me over my ear piece.

Not bothering to acknowledge I changed rifle magazines again
and slowed so I could maintain a level of accurate fire, but there were so many
infected the herd was closing in faster than I could shoot them.  Even though
the three rifles behind me were firing single shots they were all firing as
fast as their triggers could be pulled.  I was worried that nerves were getting
the best of Rachel and the two MPs and they weren’t hitting anything, but I
couldn’t spare a moment to check.  Three females were pushing through the
lumbering males and one of them had just broken free of the press of bodies and
was sprinting directly at me.

I had her head lined up for a shot when a body slammed into
me from the side, very nearly knocking me to the ground.  Reflexively my finger
pulled the trigger and the round punched into the female’s body instead of her
head.  She stumbled for a step, then resumed her sprint.  I glanced to the side
and saw Major Masuka on the ground wrestling with an infected female that had
apparently sprinted into the flank and tackled her.  The two of them had then
slammed into me.  Taking care of the more immediate threat first I pulled my
pistol to engage the sprinting female to my front who was now almost close
enough to touch.  Whipping the pistol up, I fired just as she launched herself
into the air.  The heavy bullet destroyed her face and punched out the back of
her skull, but the corpse was already in motion and slammed into me, knocking
me back onto my ass.

Kicking the body away I scrambled back to my feet, grabbed
the long hair of the infected that was on top of Masuka and yanked the female into
the air, letting a badly bleeding Masuka scramble to her feet, and tossed the
infected a yard in front of me.  A male tripped over the female and fell on top
of her giving me a moment to holster my pistol and bring my rifle to bear.  Two
fast shots dispatched each of them then I raised my aim, searching for the two
other females.  They were less than 10 yards away and I snapped off two more
quick shots to put them down.  More males pushed in as they fell and there was
nearly a 50 yard deep wall of flesh between us and the plane.

“Get that goddamn minigun going!”  I shouted into the comm
unit.

Blasting through the remainder of the magazine I put in a
fresh one but instead of starting to fire I grabbed a grenade off my vest,
yanked the pin with my teeth – always wanted to do that and it only took the
apocalypse to make it happen – counted to three and tossed it deep into the
mass of bodies in front of me.  A heartbeat later it detonated and cleared a
small area.  I repeated the process with five more grenades until I was out,
then brought the rifle up and started dropping infected again.  The firing
behind me was still at a furious pace and I could hear three distinct rifles so
I was reasonably confident our rear and flanks were still intact.  Males kept
pressing in all around us and I was about ready to go full auto just to keep
them out of grabbing range when a machine gun started hammering away from the
side, cutting a swath through the infected.

I didn’t have time to look and see who had joined the fight,
rather maintained my rate of fire to keep a couple of yards of clear space in
front of me.  We were no longer moving, having bogged down completely in the
crush of bodies, but after a minute of well-placed machine gun fire I was able
to start slowly moving forward, shouting for the group to stay tight on my
back.  I kept firing, the rifles behind me still in action and the machine gun
hammered away and bit by bit we began moving faster despite having to
continually step over infected bodies that littered the ground.

Finally reaching the far side of the herd of infected I sped
up to a fast jog, looking around to make sure the group was staying with me. 
It looked like everyone was there except for Roach.  Major Masuka was starting
to lag behind, her uniform blouse soaked in blood from the nasty looking bite
marks on her arms and face.  I could only see three infected still between us
and the plane and I slowed but shouted at the group to keep running.  Taking
careful aim I dropped the three in front of us then turned to the rear as the
last of the group passed me.  A solid wall of infected stared back at me as
they shambled forward, arms raised as they sought out their prey.  I did a
quick scan and didn’t see or hear any females, turned and trotted after the
group. 

Looking around as I ran I spotted our saviors.  An
up-armored Humvee with a pintle mounted machine gun was sitting 50 yards to our
right, a carpet of dead infected surrounding it.  I didn’t recognize the driver
or gunner, but couldn’t have been happier to see them.  I waved and the gunner
waved back as the driver pulled forward and positioned the vehicle between my
group and the pursuing infected.  The gunner opened up and knocked the first
few ranks of bodies down, the driver turning and following us to serve as rear
guard.

Ahead I saw Masuka stumble and go down to her knees.  I ran
forward and waved the MP on that flank away as I scooped her up and over my
shoulder.  Burden secured, I ran to catch the group.  Behind me the machine gun
sounded occasionally, keeping the infected’s advance to a minimum.  There was a
scream from a female and another burst from the machine gun silenced the
bitch.  Overhead the Pave Hawk returned to hover and I stopped and turned to
watch.  The minigun started firing and Mayo walked it down the whole front rank
of the herd, then reversed direction and adjusted fire into the main mass. 
Bodies either fell or just disintegrated, depending on how many of the high
velocity slugs struck them.  The effect was absolute hell on earth. 

No mortal army could endure that kind of punishment and not
break and run for cover.  But the infected weren’t like any mortal army on
Earth.  They showed no fear.  No awareness that what was happening to the ones
in front of them was about to happen to them.  They kept coming, stumbling over
the body parts on the ground in their path, not deterred in the least. 

“Save your ammo,” I called over the comm unit.  We were
clear to the plane and there wasn’t a tactical reason to keep expending ammo.  A
moment later the minigun fell silent and the Pave Hawk moved off, going back
into a tight orbit around the air field.  The Humvee pulled up behind me to
guard my back.  I waved my thanks to the driver and turned and ran for the
Globemaster.

Ahead the group was getting close to the plane and the rear
ramp was descending to accept them.  I could see Rachel had moved into the
front, Dog staying at her side, leading the group.  The back of the ramp
touched the tarmac just as she arrived and stepped aside to wave the group into
the cavernous opening.  She didn’t see the female infected running at her from
the far side of the plane, but Dog did.  He leapt at the same time as the
infected, meeting her in the air and crashing to the ground with his jaws
locked on her throat.  A moment later he raised his head, blood dripping from
his muzzle.  The female infected lay still.