The Great War (Surviving the Zombie Nightmare Book 5) (15 page)

With the tone of the sound of the truck's tires on pavement, Eric knew they were about to go through the security checkpoint. Any wonder about what the soldier Destiny called Curtis was going to do was about to come to a head as he approached the key point in the entire mission. If he wanted to give them up silently, he could do so without them being able to stop him. If he wanted to blow the mission verbally by suggesting outright that there were living and breathing enemies of Organic Ascendancy in the back of the truck he could do that, although it would probably cost him his life very quickly. A sure-fire way to ruin things would be if he decided to attempt to take Eric and Destiny out before they had the chance to retaliate though that would also probably end in a quick death.

It was so far, so good as the truck slowly rolled to a stop and a different voice could be heard saying, “Where is the rest of your crew soldier?”

“We battled to the death with a couple of other groups of men as well. Everyone was killed except me but I was lucky enough to have the honor of bringing in the bodies of O.A.'s two biggest enemies, Destiny and Eric Bayne.” Curtis' voice was even and almost mechanical in nature but apparently that was close enough to normal to convince the guard at the gate or maybe what he said was enough to force the guard to pay attention to the cargo in the back instead of his voice. Either way, it worked for that first minute at least.

Eric was laying as still as he could manage and knew that Destiny was doing the same beside him. The guard at the gate broke his normal mechanical protocol and said, “What the hell, are you serious? Where did you find them? They've been said to be dead for a while now but nobody could find them. I,” he paused, “I need to check and make sure so go ahead and open the rear door.”

An unsteady feeling settled in Eric's gut at that statement. How closely would the guard check to see if they were alive, he wondered? Suddenly Curtis spoke up in a more animated tone, “No way!”

“What?” the guard demanded, “Why not? Open the goddamned back hatch or I'll do it for you!”

“You think I'm going to go through hell to bring these two in just to allow you the chance to steal my thunder and take the credit for yourself?” Curtis asked and followed up when the guard didn't immediately respond. “I know the cut-throat way this military fuck-up works but you aren't going to even have the chance to take credit for these two. I'll cut your fucking head off and piss down your neck hole before you open that mother-fucking hatch! Open the goddamned gate, get someone to cover the gate and follow me inside if you want. You can see them but you'll have to wait until I show them just like everyone else.”

Eric was unsure what to make of the outburst by Curtis. It could well be that he wanted to still take credit for killing them himself after they got inside and he had the best shot to take them out for real or he could fear the telepathic sword threat enough that he was just trying to preserve his life until there were more soldiers around. Either way, it worked well enough as the guard sighed heavily and said, “Alright, but drive slowly; no games or anything like that. I'll be right behind you.” After a brief pause he must have waved on or went to press a button or something because Eric heard the familiar sound of a gate opening and felt the truck slowly move forward. As they drove forward the guard from the gate could be heard yelling, “Three-two-one-seven! Cover the gate; I am escorting this one in personally.”

Other than the fact that it would mean another body being there when he and Destiny busted up this game, Eric didn't mind that one bit. After a moment Destiny remained still but spoke in a whisper, “Keep still Eric. That went well enough but they should still have some surveillance that could pick up movement and we don't want them seeing us move until we are ready.”

“Ten-four,” Eric said quietly and remained still as the truck kept a slow pace driving forward. He noticed a familiar feeling in his gut that he had grown so accustomed to over the years when the shit was about to hit the fan. Unconsciously he began to flex his fingers and build his telepathic powers to a crescendo. A deafening silence rang out as the sound of tires on smooth concrete floor replaced the hum of large tires on the drive in and Eric's fingers began to loosen up. All over he felt a cool and calm presence come over him as he waited patiently for the rear door of the truck to open.

Several loud calls and shouts suggested that they were in the main hanger area that Destiny had spoken about and the sound continued for a solid two minutes at least. He guessed their speed at about ten miles per hour, and though it was impossible to be certain, he noted that this was indeed a huge room. If the size of the main hanger area suggested the size of the complex, Organic Ascendancy was certainly a monstrous facility.

The shouts finally began to calm down and he assumed that they were leaving the main hanger and going into the smaller side room that they had spoken about. No voices could be heard so Eric hoped they had lucked out and the only soldiers around would be the one driving and the one following with only a couple of uninvited guests. They would not be able to hold up in a room such as that he knew because an outfit the size of O.A. would certainly have plenty of ways to take out intruders. They would need to be on the move and remain on the move if they wanted to stay alive for more than just the first few minutes.

Time seemed to slow down at the same time that the truck slowed down and stopped. Eric knew that any minute would bring an open door and the battle would be on so it was odd that at that moment he wondered why they didn't specify a goal of any kind. The best reason he could think of for not formulating a plan passed the point of getting inside the place was that they both really knew what they wanted to do once they arrived inside and Destiny voiced it with a quiet whisper as footsteps could be heard nearing the door.

“Time to kick ass,” she said and he knew that it couldn't have been said any better than that.

Curtis actually decided to stay inside as the door latch opened and the gate guard said, “Let's see what we have here soldier.” When the large hand grabbed Eric's foot, he felt as calm and reserved as he could remember feeling any time in recent memory. With a mental shrug, his sword suddenly hopped to life and flew directly at the man. A loud gurgle could be heard and Eric knew he hit his target somewhere critical so he sat up and turned around. The guard's face was priceless with eyes wide and mouth hanging open.

“Yeah, I know,” Eric said as he sat forward and removed the sword from the guard's chest with a quick jerk of his left hand, “Payback really is a bitch isn't it?” He twirled the sword around and sliced the man's head off with a clean swipe from right to left. A quick glance up and to the left revealed six soldiers wearing the O.A. logo staring down at him. It was relatively quiet in the smaller hanger so he could hear the group talking.

“Oh, shit,” a big and tall soldier said, “Look at this shit.”

“Get your gear fellas! This is real! Eric Bayne is here! Let someone know! Let everyone know!” another soldier yelled.

“Fuck me, man,” one shorter soldier said as they made their way downstairs firing a few shots wildly, “Are we ready to take on Bayne?”

Eric had already moved around to the driver’s side of the truck which shielded him from any of the wild shots they were taking while he built up for a nice destructive telepathic blast. Before he could even plan what kind of shot he was going to take towards the six-pack of soldiers, Destiny finally crawled out of the truck and joined him in cover behind the truck.

She grinned and said softly, “Stay behind cover for now. Let me handle these guys.”

Eric nodded and decided to let her go. He was really feeling almost too confident at the moment because he couldn't quite see how any groups of these soldiers would be able to take the two of them down. If he was being honest with himself, at the moment it just felt like he was getting revenge and having a fucking blast while getting it. He listened and glanced in the direction of Destiny as she slipped towards the corner of the truck, wondering what she had in mind.

**

“You boys ready to party?” Destiny said loudly as she inched closer towards the corner of the truck. There was no audible response but a peek showed the male soldiers glancing at each other as they kept the high ground and likely planned to wait for back-up to arrive. They would never last that long, she knew as she sleeked around the corner of the truck and put on her best sultry walk towards their position. “I know I am.”

“What?” She heard one soldier say.

“Oh,” another said, “My fucking god! That's Destiny!”

“What?” the first soldier said again, “I thought she was dead! They said her body was in the truck.”

One soldier poked his head out from behind their well-covered position and said, “Her body sure fucking was and now she is walking up the goddamn stairs! What do we do?”

“What do you mean, 'what do we do'?” the first said, “We fucking shoot her traitorous ass!”

Destiny was only a few feet away by the time they argued with each other for another few minutes. She stood over them as they crouched and didn't even seem to notice she was there. “You know, it is tiring to return from the dead. Maybe you fuck-ups should shut up and do something and you wouldn't be stuck in hanger-two hell.”

One of them quickly directed his weapon and was about to fire but she yanked with her hand and all of their weapons flew over to where she was. Destiny looked down at their guns and then back up to them with a smile, “You know what, never-mind. I'll just kill you.” With a burst of telepathic energy she shoved three of the soldiers far to one side of the walkway. The other three stood ready to go at her hand to hand in a three on one fight.

She took on a fighting stance and watched the three of them do the same before drawing her sword telepathically in a Bayne-like move and twirling it through the air at them. The first two ducked which left the third a dead man without a head. Distracted by their fellow soldier being beheaded right in front of them, Destiny was able to slam her boot right across the chin of one and then punch the other hard in the jaw. They both hit the ground and weren't even moving as much as the one whose head she had removed.

Gloating almost cost her big however as she was grabbed from behind, her arms pinned to her side by the strong arms of the biggest soldier of the remaining three. Quickly a fist slammed hard across her face and she had never been more thankful to have an iron jaw. When she turned back around there was blood in her mouth and a smile on the face of the soldier who had hit her.

The smile only lasted long enough for her to get her foot from the floor to his chin. His body lifted with the tremendous force of the kick and flew over the rail onto the floor below. Still held in the strong grip, her legs weren't the only weapon that was free. Within seconds her sword was protruding through the chest of the only attacker left besides the one behind her.

There was about ten inches of her sword sticking through the man's chest with the point directed towards her. Thinking quickly she planted her feet and began to struggle as if she wanted to free herself. Whether that was actually possible was beside the point as they struggled around the platform while the stabbed man stood in gurgling shock. Finally she turned to the perfect spot, lifted her feet and kicked them both backwards towards the stabbed soldier.

Her estimate at the thickness of the goon who was holding her was almost deadly wrong as she felt the tip of her sword poke her slightly in the back, having stabbed through the man who was holding her. His grip released and she stepped forward with a shake of her arms to loosen them up after being held so firmly. Turning around, she wiped her mouth and looked at the blood on her fingers.

Looking up she saw the shock on the face of both soldiers and walked up slowly to them. She stopped inches from the front-most soldier's face, “Pity you still work for the bad guys boys. It means you get to feel the wrath of Destiny!” She wiped her blood on both of their faces and kicked them both over the rail. When their bodies hit the floor, her sword was still holding them both together.

Movement got her attention as she knew there were more coming. The plan in her mind had been to get the fuck out of the hanger so that they couldn't be trapped inside with overwhelming force coming at them but from the sound of the voices coming in their direction, it wasn't going to be all that easy. She lofted herself over the rail and landed with a tuck and roll on the hard floor before grabbing her sword and running back to where Bayne was still waiting behind the truck.

“Sounds like that went well,” he said in a calm tone.

Destiny wasn't so relaxed as she stared at him and then pointed back at the door, “We can't just sit here and wait Eric. They have surveillance all over this fucking place and will have ass-loads of demons, zombies and soldiers coming at us in a few minutes. We're sitting ducks in here! We have to get the fuck out of this room!”

Instead of hopping to attention and taking charge getting them out of the room like she had hoped he would, Eric simply stared passed her right shoulder. Before she could slap him out of whatever odd funk he was in, a voice sounded passed her shoulder.

“See, that's the problem,” Admiral Bullosky said from the lofty perch she had just vacated, “You are not going to leave this room my dear Destiny. I do apologize for the lack of assault on you two. It seems that unfortunately our surveillance system has gone down and you'll have to deal with only me and the little group of helpers that I have brought with me.”