Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 03 (16 page)

"We've been given strict orders to not let anyone, living or dead, down that corridor," one of the soldiers called back.

"You were told that by General Hill, right? Boys, you've been lied to. General Hill has been lying to everyone."

Alex and the others waited as they listened to the soldiers continue to discuss this new information. "No dice, captain. Sorry. We can't let anyone..."

"You are going to die," Captain Mitchell interrupted. "Son, we don't want anyone else to get killed, but we are going to get in there. General Hill has kidnapped that girl. He's kidnapped that girl and killed lots of people. Lots on innocent people. Don't make us kill you to get in to that bastard." More waiting as they listened to the hushed whispers of the soldiers.

"Sorry, captain. But we can't let you in."

Mitchell turned to Alex shaking his head. "They aren't going to budge, Mr. Kemp. They are soldiers. They are going to die following orders."

Alex cursed under his breath. "Gentlemen," Alex called around the corner. "That is my little girl. Hill took her from me almost a year ago, after killing my wife and friends. She's all that I've got in this world, and I'm going to come get her. If you are in my way, I'm going to go through you. I'm going to hold my little girl again before this day is over." Alex stepped forward and peeked around the corner of the corridor. A bullet whizzed passed his head.
 

"I think you're right," Alex said to the captain. "Corporal, what did you have in mind?"

Corporal Jensen slapped another soldier in the chest and both men stepped up to the corner and aimed their rifles up. The two men sighted down the line of lights that ran the length of the ceiling and pulled the trigger. Glass and sparks showered down on the corridor below, each new shattered light plunging the hallway deeper into darkness. Reaching the edge of the line of fire, Corporal Jensen swung his arm and rifle around the corner, blindly shooting at the remaining lights out of sight. The soldiers defending General Hill's command center returned fire, but could find no target to attack.

"Step one, blind them," Corporal Jensen said after ducking back behind cover. The enemy fire died down after quite a while of constant barrage. "Step two, make them duck." Jensen and his comrade each pulled the pin on a grenade and flung them down the corridor towards the enemy barricade. A second later, the grenades exploded, deafening everyone in the area. Screams issued up from the injured men as a second barrage of gunfire flew down the hall. Bullets pinged off the opposite wall, digging large gouges of paint and plaster out of the wall.

"Again," Jensen said to his comrade, and the two pulled the pins on another pair of grenades. These flew back down the hall towards the barricade, exploding only seconds after leaving their hands. "Go!" Jensen commanded another of his comrades. This one dropped to the floor and aimed his M249 SAW down the corridor at the enemy. The suppressing fire was unstoppable and the only option for the enemy was to take cover behind the barricades.
 

"Now!" Jensen called and he swung his rifle around the corner, carefully laying down additional fire at any specific targets that presented themselves. The second grenade slinging soldier dashed across the corridor, pressing himself against the wall as much as possible, his rifle aimed down range at the concrete barricades.
 

"Good luck," Captain Mitchell said as Alex and his Stryker team dashed out into the hallway, staying low and hugging the opposing wall. The suppressing fire buzzed close to them, passing just inches away. Fifteen yards from the barricades, the SAW cut out and Alex's men spread across the corridor, staying low and raising their weapons to take aim at the enemy position.
 

Two soldiers stuck their heads up, just above the safety of the barricades. Theresa and Donovan let off a quick burst of gunfire, ripping through the tops of the heads from the two enemy fighters. From back down the hall, Captain Mitchell called out once more to the soldiers.
 

"This can end here and now! We don't want any more blood shed!" Slowly hands began to raise above the top of the barricades.
 

"Don't shoot," the men called out and slowly began to stand. Six men total stood behind the concrete barriers.

"Drop your weapons in front of the barricades and carefully step over," Captain Mitchell ordered. The soldiers did as ordered, stepping over the barriers, and helping the injured across. Alex and his team moved aside to let the soldiers pass through, all the while keeping their sights on the soldiers. Donovan and Theresa kept watch for any other threats in front of them. A moment later, Captain Mitchell hurried around the corner followed closely by three of his fellow soldiers. They hurried past the front line, taking up positions along the front of the barricades and began policing the weapons dropped there while the remaining seven hurried to join them.

"That worked out pretty well!" Alex said, the adrenaline of the fight making him seem excited. Captain Mitchell smiled at Alex then turned to clap Corporal Jensen on the shoulder.

"Boy, we make it out of this alive, and you're getting a promotion!"

Gunfire erupted from the other side of the barricade. Bullets ricocheted off the top of the concrete barriers and walls around the invaders. The doors to the command center had opened slightly, allowing a hail of gunfire to fly through at approaching soldiers.
 

"Dammit!" Alex cursed ducking low behind concrete walls. "Now what?!"

Jensen had already prepared for this contingency. He and his grenade buddy were each pulling the pins on another set of grenades. Before Alex could object, the grenades were over the barricades, each finding their way between the open doors.

"No!" Alex yelled, but the deafening blast of grenades drowned out his protests.

Jensen and three of his comrades were over the concrete barriers before the echo had died, racing towards the opening in the command center. Five yards out, gunfire once more erupted through the opening. One of the men crumpled as the stream of bullets ripped his stomach apart. The remaining three reached the side of the doors, beyond the reach of the limited line of sight. Quickly removing their side arms, the men reached through the doors and opened fire.

The gunfire was deafening. Alex flew over the top of the barricades, racing towards the command center. The three invading soldiers ceased fire. They holstered their weapons and grabbed the sides of the doors, straining to wrench them open.

Slowly at first, the doors began to give way, then suddenly they slid open as the mechanisms holding them shut gave way. The three soldiers lost their balance and fell back against the walls. Alex ran blindly, fearing that the grenades had injured or killed his little girl.

A single soldier stepped into view in the doorway, his rifle raised at Alex. A gun cracked just behind Alex and the enemy fighter fell, clutching at his chest. A hand clamped down on Alex's shoulder and pulled him around to see Liam there.

"Wait for us, old man. We do this together." Alex nodded.

The Stryker team entered the outer command center, sweeping through the room with a precision come from countless hours of drilling and fighting together. Each team member moved in a specific direction, their line of fire covering a designated area of the room. Pops and cracks from their rifles where quick and accurate, ending any threat before it became a danger to the team.
 

Close behind the Stryker team came Captain Mitchell and his men, less graceful in their execution, but still a deadly attack force. Both teams of men spread through out the large outer room, quickly picking points of defense and attack, positioning themselves behind cover.
 

General Hill's men were in a state of disarray, not having prepared for the possibility of fighting living men and women who were highly trained and capable of fighting back. Their tactics had been practice against the dead, slow and shambling zombies that were not a threat unless close enough for hand-to-hand combat. When faced with soldiers attacking with precision rifles, they retreated quickly and chaotically. Alex and his men picked them off as they ran.
 

"Move forward!" Alex commanded and began to step from around the protective column behind which he was hiding. Something moving unnaturally caught his attention out of the corner of his eye. Briefly taking his eyes off of his line of sight, Alex looked left to see Hayden stumbling forward, blood falling from his mouth. There was a massive hole in his chest and another that had taken off the left side of his jaw.

"Hayden!" Alex called and moved to catch his brother-in-law. "Man down! Man down!" he yelled frantically and reached out to catch the man just at he stumbled once more and fell forward.

"Man down," Alex continued to call as he attempted to put pressure on the chest wound. The hole in his chest was too large and Alex's hands simply slipped inside the dying man. "Hayden! God-dammit!" Alex grabbed at anything he could find that might let him plug the hole in the man's chest, to stop the rush of blood.

A hand grad Alex's arm and squeezed. He looked down at the distraction and realized that it was Hayden's hand. Looking back into his brother-in-law's eyes, he saw them clear for a moment and lock onto Alex. Hayden blinked and squeezed Alex's arm once more. Alex saw the right corner of Hayden's destroyed mouth raise in an attempt to smile. His eyes closed and Hayden lay motionless.

"Come on!" someone yelled in Alex's ear. "He's dead. There's nothing more that you can do for him."

Alex turned on the voice preparing to unleash a stream of rage at the person. Theresa stared back, eyes soft and pleading. "He's in a better place than us right now, Alex. We've got to move." She placed a gentle hand on Alex's face. "We've got to get Gemma."

The mention of his daughter's name brought Alex back to the present. His expression hardened and he nodded up at Theresa. He took up his rifle, and the two returned to the fight.

-----

Alex held his rifle steady, the iron sights locked on its target. General Hill stood tall, his Beretta 9-mm pressed against the little girl's head...Alex's little girl.

"Let her go, Hill," Alex ordered through clenched teeth. "Let her go and no one else gets hurt."

General Hill stood there, grinning like a mad man. "You'll kill me as soon as I do that," he said with an almost whimsical tone in his voice. "No, I'm afraid there really are very few options here. You put your weapons down, and I'll leave."

Alex shook his head only slightly. "No deal. I'm not letting my daughter go again. I'm taking her..."

"You let my daughter go," General Hill cut in, ice lacing his voice. "You were supposed to bring my family back to me. You were supposed to bring my daughter back alive, and you failed to do that. So I punished you in the only way that you would understand, the only way to make you feel what I felt."

"You killed our families," Alex said, and the rage he was feeling seeped into his voice. "Your daughter's death was an accident, nothing more. I'm sorry for your loss, but we had nothing to do with it."

"You had everything to do with it," Hill said, pressing the Beretta harder into the side of Gemma's head. She winced and cried out slightly, then returned to being rigid and silent. Alex stepped forward, but stopped himself, not wishing to provoke the man into pulling the trigger.

Thoughts and plans raced through Alex's head as he desperately tried to figure a way out of this. Their assault on General Hill's command center had not come off as well as everyone had hoped, and they had lost a number of men in the assault. Most notably Captain Mitchell, who now leaned heavily against the wall, a hand pressed against the wound in his stomach and his right arm hanging uselessly beside him. Theresa Hill had also been shot in the assault, pushing fast into the final room as she tried to get to her husband before anyone else. She now lay still, only her legs visible from behind a low table. Once the assault was over, only Alex, Donovan, Liam and Jensen remained standing.

Out of options, Alex slowly lowered his rifle and motioned for the others to do the same. "Okay," he said, "you're holding all the cards. What do you want?"

General Hill's smile faded and a single tear rolled down his cheek. "I want my daughter back."

Suddenly Gemma was gone, pulled down and away in a flash with only her scream echoing through the room. General Hill looked confused, and the same looks were mirrored on the faces of Alex and his team. Hill recovered faster and began to swing his Beretta in Alex's direction. Alex was too disoriented by the disappearance of Gemma, that he fumbled to bring his rifle to bear. A single shot rang out and General Hill's face exploded from the inside out. His body crumpled to the floor. Sergeant Major Matthew Cuzman stood behind the body, his pistol still raised and smoke trailing out the end.
 

"Holy shit!" Liam exclaimed, jumping backwards in surprise. "What the hell just happened?!"

Alex's disorientation cleared as Gemma began crying and he quickly looked around the room. Theresa's body was gone from behind the table.

Moving quickly around the low table, Alex's heart sang as he was greeted by the sight of Gemma held tightly in Theresa Hill's arms. She was stroking the girl's hair with a bloody hand and cooing quietly in her ear, trying to comfort the terrified girl.
 

"We need some help over here!" Alex called and raced to the side of Theresa and his daughter. Theresa's eyes opened and tears streamed down her face. When she recognized Alex, she release the girl and gently pushed her into her father's arms. Father and daughter hugged one another after nearly a year separated. Both cried uncontrollably and neither released their grip on the other.
 

Liam rushed to Theresa's aid while Corporal Jensen did the same for Captain Mitchell. Donovan kept his rifle up and trained on Sergeant Major Cuzman. "Keep your hands still," Donovan ordered, but the sergeant major did not listen. He deftly disarmed the weapon, pulling the magazine free, ejecting the chambered round and returning the weapon to its holster. "Keep your hands where I can see them," Donovan ordered again, stepping closer to the man.