Dead Life (Book 3) (11 page)

              Still, the numbers coming at us were staggering. Solidly packed groups came into the firing lanes only to be shot down by the soldiers at the fences. By this time the machine gunners in the towers were firing strictly over the trenches and were trying to slow down the approaching horde. This left the open area between the trenches to us along the fence. There were too many of them. I had originally hoped to hold their progress to the minefield. All along our line, I could hear the men switching their rifle fire from single shot to fully automatic. This went against my orders but the men were getting desperate. If they couldn't slow the progress of the zombie horde, they would reach the fence. If that happened, rifles would have to be pulled back and shooting through the chain link fence was not an option. Once holes were opened in the fence, the undead would eventually find a way in.

              Corporal Flowers was right beside me firing into the zombies coming at us. We both ran out of ammunition at the same time and stopped to reload. I slapped another magazine in my rifle, put the barrel through the fence and resumed firing. I felt someone grab my shoulder and begin shaking me. I stopped firing and looked at Corporal Flowers.

              She leaned in closer to me. “We need to get the men from the other side of the airfield over here.” Flowers shouted.

              My attention had been concentrated on what was happening right in front of me, losing sight of the overall picture.  I looked across the compound and saw the men on the other side of the airfield standing along the fence staring in our direction. Even though there were zombies coming at them from that side of the field, the numbers were insignificant. The snipers in the towers had been able to keep the few zombies coming at them from reaching the minefield. She was right. Somebody needed to get their asses moving. I'd told the men early on they needed to be mobile. Those idiots were going to stand there and watch us get overrun.

              “Get someone in a jeep to get over there and have them get their asses over here.” I yelled to her.

              She looked at the jeep behind us and turned back to me. “Thanks for saving my life.” She kissed me and ran to the jeep, got in and drove away.

              I was shocked. The last thing I wanted was for her to go. I switched my rifle to full auto and opened fire on the horde. She was already gone and there was nothing I could do but keep firing. The other Chinook flew overhead, past the trenches and turned back to the airfield. I hoped the pilot found someone to get on the fifty caliber and join the fight. The zombies were still thirty yards from the fence, making a slow but steady advance. Soon they'd be on us. The helicopter Lieutenant Price was flying came back our way from over the trenches. He made two passes over the zombies on this side of the trenches. Strafing the zombies making their way towards us with gunfire on each pass. The numbers of the undead were greatly reduced and we were back to being able to hold our own. Trucks thundered past my position. The men from the other side of the airfield were on their way. 

              One of the trucks stopped behind me. The men on board rushed to the fences to help fortify our positions. The other Chinook flew overhead. I watched in awe as the automatic gunfire from the chopper tore the ugly bastards in front of me to shreds. The tide had turned. For the first time, I had the feeling we were going to make it out of this attack alive. At the same time, I came to the realization that the Colonel was right. There was no way in hell we could hold off the second horde. As soon as we had this situation under control I was going to order the evacuation of the airfield. I kept firing into the rapidly decreasing number of the undead for the next half hour. Only one thought occupied my mind the entire time. Where was Lily?

              Things finally calmed down enough that I was able to take a jeep and drive down the fence line. Going from station to station congratulating the men on a job well done. I found Sergeant Adams and the two of us drove to the helipad and waited for the return of the two helicopters. I still hadn't seen Lily and was beginning to get a little anxious. Not a little anxious a lot, I hadn't been able to get her off my mind since that kiss. Lieutenant Price set down his chopper. The Private I only knew as Ken jumped from the Chinook and ran to the Sergeant and me. He stopped in front of me, saluted, then grabbed  the Sergeant in a bear hug, lifting him off his feet.

              “We did it Sarge.”

              “Put me down god dammit.”

              “Sorry Sarge. We did it though, we did it. We stopped those bastards.”

              “Yeah we stopped them. You did a good job up there kid. Now go somewhere and calm your ass down before I kick it.”

              Even though he sounded pissed off, I could tell by the smile on the Sergeant's face the kid's enthusiasm was contagious. Hell I even had a big grin across my face. It was true. We had stopped the horde and if we hurried, we just might get out of here alive. Lieutenant Price came over saluted and instead of saluting back, I reached out and shook his hand.

              “You saved our asses back there Lieutenant. If you wouldn't have come to the rescue when you did, they would have made the fence.”

              “Lieutenant Mercer saved you, not me. When he got back and saw how close to the fence the zombies were, he radioed me and told me of your situation. That's what brought me back. I was so busy trying to keep them from getting to the trenches I hadn't even noticed how bad things had gotten on your end.”

              “Either way, those big guns turned the tide. The towers are too far back and too high. They weren't as effective as I thought they'd be.”

              “If we mounted those machine guns on jeeps and sent them out on the other side of the fence I think it might work out better sir.” Sergeant Adams said.

              “We're getting the guns out of the towers alright. But we're not sticking around for the next horde.”

              “What's the plan sir?”

              “I was thinking we should head north and try to avoid that other horde. Then we're heading west. I want to load some fuel for the choppers. Use them for air support and reconnaissance.”

              “Sounds good sir,” Lieutenant Price said. “But command contacted me during the fighting. They want one of the choppers to pick up a Dr. Parks and fly him out to one of the aircraft carriers”

              “Where are they holding him?”

              “Holding him? They didn't say he was a prisoner. Just wanted one of us to go pick him up. I told them what was going on here. They told me to break off and head south.”

              “Then why are you still here?”

              “My radio malfunctioned. Been having shit loads of problems with communications the past few days sir.”

              “Is that why Lieutenant Mercer hasn't returned? Did they send him?”

              “No sir. He's having radio problems too. They're checking further north. Seeing if anything else is headed this way from that direction.”

              Something occurred to me. “Who's with him?”

              “Corporal Flowers. She's murder on that fifty caliber.”

              “Can you get that radio fixed and get them back here?”

              Lieutenant Price looked at Sergeant Adams and then at me. “Sir, my radio works just fine. I'll get hold of them now.”

              “You were right Captain. You've got a lot to learn,” Sergeant Adams said as he followed the pilot back to the chopper.

              The Lieutenant radioed the other chopper and told the pilot I wanted them to return to the airfield. A few minutes later the Chinook landed. Corporal Flowers and the pilot came over to where the Sergeant and I were talking. Lily had a big smile on her face. Even though I had been worried about her and was now pissed off that she had gone off like that without telling me, I couldn't help but smile back at her.

              “Corporal, next time you decide to do something like that, let me know. I had no idea where you'd gone off to. The Sergeant and I were worried about you.”

              “I wasn't worried about you. I figured you'd show up eventually. Besides I saw you get on the chopper.”

              “You should have told me Sergeant.”

              “Sorry sir. I thought you knew.” He said with a smile.

              “What's so funny Sarge?” Lily said. “Captain, somebody had to get on that gun. I was right there so I went with him.”

              “Understood. Lieutenant, great job. Both of you.”

              “Thank you sir. Did Price tell you we had a communication from command?”

              “Yes. Did you get the whole message? Or are you having trouble with your radio too?”

              He smiled and exchanged a look with Lieutenant Price. “I got the whole thing sir. Seems to be receiving fine. Having trouble replying sometimes though.”

              “Well I'm glad you stuck around, both of you. I just hope you don't have radio troubles when I need to reach you.”

              “Understood Captain. They've been chewing on my ear the entire time. The General's hopping mad. He wants that Dr. picked up and flown to the carrier ASAP.”

              “What's the location?”

              “Don't know sir. He said he'd give me the coordinates in route.” 

              “Sergeant, get the men together. Leave the sharp shooters in the towers. But get the rest of them over here. As soon as we can get prepared, we're getting everyone out of here. Lieutenant, I'll be going with you.”  

Chapter 11

              Progress was slow the rest of the day. I spent a lot of time on the wench pulling abandoned vehicles out of our way. We even had to back track once to get around a huge pile-up blocking both lanes of the highway.  A tractor trailer had jack-knifed across the road, tipped over on top of two cars, and caught fire.  The metal from the truck and cars was fused together and we weren't able to pull the wreckage from the road.  A guardrail ran down the center of the highway and the right shoulder was too steep to try getting the U-Haul through.  Gina used her maps to get us around the wreckage.  The detour added a few hours to the trip and it was getting late in the day so we decided to try and find a place to spend the night. 

              I wasn't in the mood for a repeat of the events from the night before so I suggested we find a quiet place off the highway, have something to eat, and spend the night in our vehicles.  This idea was met with shouts of disapproval and a big thumbs down from Gina.  When I reminded everyone of how we had to shoot our way out of the last house we'd spent the night in, their rejections changed.

              “I guess sleeping in the Hummer wouldn't be so bad.  Will you guys be okay in the truck?”  Gina asked into the radio.

              “We can throw some sleeping bags down in the back.  It will be dark soon anyway.  Steve's right.  We'll get off at the next exit.  Over.”  Al came back.

              We got off the highway and headed north.  There was a town five miles from where we were but the immediate area was very secluded.  Al turned off the main road onto a gravel driveway.  A large farmhouse was about a quarter mile down the drive but we weren't going anywhere near it.  Al turned the U-Haul around so he was facing back towards the road and I did the same.  That night we dined on canned tuna, Vienna sausages, and canned green beans.  It was a meal fit for a king.  Rick went to the truck for the night.  He slept in the cab, Al and Cindy stretched out in the back, and Gina and I laid the seats back in the Hummer and spent the night there.

              Just after dark, I was awakened by a tapping sound on my window.  A tall thin man was standing beside the Hummer holding a shotgun.  The barrel was pointed at the ground and he didn't appear too threatening so I got out to see what he wanted.

              “What you all doing?”

              “Just trying to get some sleep.”

              “That's our house down the road.  It's not safe out here.  Them things might show up.”

              “You had much trouble out this way?”

              “Oh yeah, my neighbor, Bill Parsons, tried to get my wife and kids today.  Had to shoot him.”

              I looked behind the man and Al was standing there.  He had his rifle but wasn't pointing it at the man. 

              “What's up, Steve?”

              The man looked back at Al.  “That's a nice gun.  Look, you can sleep here if you want.  We don't want any trouble.”

              “Neither do we, sir.  Sorry if we scared your family.”  Al said.

              “No, you didn't scare us.  I figured if you were looking to do us any harm, you'd have come up to the house.  I was just wondering who was out here.”