Escape from the Damned (APEX Predator Book 2) (24 page)

Mike saw Jackson was in trouble.  He didn’t know why the soldier hadn’t followed him.  It didn’t matter now.   All that mattered now was saving his ass.  He slammed the SUV in reverse and hit the gas, knocking several zombies off of their feet.

The SUV screeched to a halt only feet away from the young trooper.  Jackson climbed into the passenger seat just ahead of the closest zombie.  As soon as he slammed the door, he passed out.

Mike shook the soldier but he did not wake up.  There was blood streaming down the side of his head and a nasty knot was beginning to rise on the side of the soldier’s head.  Shit!

Mike gunned the gas and slew the wheel to the right, doing a giant donut and knocking the closest zombies to the ground.

He looked at the helicopter.  He’d recognized this kind of helicopter.  He’d seen one like it at an air show once.  It had two rotors, one in front and one in the rear.  He couldn’t remember how many people it held but he was sure that their group would not fill it.

It was no longer hovering over the roof. The pilot had slid the big helicopter to the front of the building.  The crew chief, or whatever he was, was waiving for Mike to follow.  Jen was standing next to the airman, waiving franticly.

Mike gunned the engine, running through the fence towards the road.  The pilot led him another 200 yards until he found a place he could land the giant machine.

The SUV slid to a stop just outside of the rotor arch.  Mike jumped out and began waiving frantically for someone to help.  Sam and Frank both charged from the back deck of the chopper.  They eased the unconscious soldier out of the front seat, and carried him to salvation.  Mike fired at the few zombies that were close enough to threaten the rescue.

Over the intercom, the crew chief told the pilot that everyone was aboard.  The pilot twisted the throttle on his collective stick.  The two giant engines whined as he did so.  The ground soon began falling away.

As the helicopter gained altitude, Mike felt his body become heavy.  A wave of fatigue washed over him.  Veterans of combat, like Jackson and SSgt Brown, could tell him that this was normal.  It’s caused by the sudden decrease in adrenaline.  It was his body’s reaction to his brain’s realization that he was no longer in eminent danger.

He glanced around the cabin of the helicopter.  A medic was tending to Jackson’s injuries.  The little Indian girl was helping him.  The medic caught site of Mike and gave him a thumbs up.  He’s ok.

Mike’s eye returned to the young Indian girl.  He couldn’t shake the feeling that he somehow knew her.  He said as much to Jen.

“You do know her,” Jen replied.  “You’ve seen her on TV before.”  The puzzled look on his face told her he didn’t remember.

“She’s a medical student and her dad is kind of famous.  You know him.  You voted for him.”  She could see that he finally realized who the young mocha skinned girl was.

She leaned closer to Mike.  He held her tightly as they flew to…  Where, she wondered, were they going?

2 miles west of the Mississippi River

             
SSgt Brown couldn’t shake the feeling that they were in big trouble.  The house had been cleared and secured.  He wasn’t concerned about their immediate security.  He was concerned about the mission.

              He was down from five effectives to three, and a wounded man.  Sgt Procell would not be able to walk and that was going to slow them down considerably.  With only himself, an adult woman, and teen aged girl, it was going to be a struggle just to move the big soldier.

              He thought about the truck outside.  At least they had that.  But he knew they couldn’t count on that.  He did a quick mental inventory of all of the vehicles that the group had used over the last few weeks.  They seemed to drop like flies.  Although they were nice, in this new world they couldn’t be trusted.

              He looked to the three sleeping forms on the floor.  Theresa was too small, both in height and girth, to be of much help moving the bigger soldier.  Ms. Hebert was taller, but she was also fairly petite.  She wouldn’t have much stamina if she had to drag Sgt Procell around the woods.

              That left him.  He’d have to shoulder the load.  The implications of that thought began to sink in.  Not only would he be the only one carrying Sgt Procell but he’d also have trouble controlling the fight if it came down to it.  He’d have to trust that Theresa and Ms. Hebert would keep him and the injured engineer safe. The thought unsettled him.

Day 25

2 Miles west of the Mississippi River

              The kitchen Theresa was sitting in began to brighten with the first rays of the sun.  She had agreed to take the last watch and had been up for several hours.  In that time, she grew more and more depressed.

After the debacle of last evening, she began to realize that not everyone who had survived this long during the zombie apocalypse knew how to actually survive.  She had believed Shane and Ms. Hebert were intelligent and motivated.  She had felt comfortable traveling with them.  She felt safe in their company.  Now he was dead and, Theresa realized, Ms. Hebert could not be trusted to watch her back.

That was the hardest part for Theresa to swallow.  She had totally misjudged the people she had counted on.  She put her life in the hands of people who weren’t even smart enough to stay with the group.  Jesus, she thought, didn’t these morons ever watch horror movies?  When groups split up, people die.  That’s why she had stayed so close to Pvt. Jackson for the past three weeks.

Her heart sank even more as she thought about the young trooper.  He really was her only real friend.  The two science club kids were not her type. They were the nerdy type, all book smarts and no real brains.  They were the only ones close to her age.  The rest of the group was older.  Kerry was about six or seven years older and the rest were way older.  She didn’t have a lot in common with any of them.  Sure she’d known Mrs. Jen and Mr. Mike from back home, but Mamma and Daddy never really hung out with them.

This last thought caused tears to flow down the young girl’s cheeks.  She thought about her parents and Davy.  She still couldn’t believe they were actually dead.  The sight of her mother banging through the peep hole the day she had died almost killed Theresa.  She was so disturbed that she had almost opened the door.

She had heard Davy tell Mr. Mike about that.  What Davy didn’t know was that she didn’t try to open the door to let her mother in.  She had tried to open the door so she could go outside and join her mother.  She was thinking about ending her life.  She couldn’t take what she had seen.

Then Davy stepped up and got her mind on the right track.  And even though she had a knot in the pit of her stomach, she followed her brother.  She knew he needed her as much as she needed him.  Then, he fell from the roof and killed himself in the middle of a horde of zombies.

She tried to find some comfort in helping others.  She wanted so badly to save the Landry’s when she couldn’t save her brother.  Then, she accidently killed Larry after his father reanimated and attacked him.  She had gone numb at that point.  She had felt worse than useless.

Then their rescue helicopter crashed just as it was taking off.  After that, Jackson had kind of taken her under his wing.  He didn’t care about what she had done in the past.  He never asked.  He just accepted her.  Then SSgt Brown began relying on her.  It felt good.  She had a purpose.  She had a friend.  She had earned respect.

She looked down at the woman sleeping on the floor in the living room.  She had not earned any respect.  She’d have to work on that.

She jumped at the sound of something banging on the kitchen door.  Three weeks ago that sound would have sent her into shear panic.  Not today.  This time, she quietly pushed her chair from the table and tip-toed to the window next to the door.  Sure enough, there was a zombie banging its fist slowly on the back door.  She could see five more walking towards the house.

She quickly walked to the front of the house and peered out that window.  She was actually shocked at what she saw.  The orange and white truck was surrounded by a large group of zombies.

Why are they around the truck she wondered?  The moaning!  That was it.  The zombies in the back of the truck had attracted them.  How could they have been so stupid?  They should have killed them after they cleared the house.

She shook SSgt Brown awake. After giving him a second to wipe the sleep out of his eyes, she told him the situation.  He quietly uttered an obscenity that he would normally never say in front of a young girl.

He strode to the window to gauge the problem for himself.  His heart sank when he saw how many zombies were around the truck.  He immediately began to try to problem solve the situation.  It didn’t take long to realize that all the options open to him sucked.

They could try to slip out the back door and make their way to the river on foot.  He figured that they must be within a couple of miles.  They’d have to carry Sgt Procell but he believed they could do it if need be.

The second option was to fight their way into the truck; then move Sgt Procell to the truck.  The benefit of that was that they would have the transportation.  The down side was that they’d have to go up against a large group of hungry zombies.  As he’d realized throughout this entire run for the river, “Murphy” and his laws had been with them the entire way.  The risk of losing someone else wasn’t worth it.

The third option was to sit tight and hope that someone would find them.  The terrain was pretty flat and there were few trees.  If there were really drones out looking for survivors, it wouldn’t be too long before someone realized that the big orange truck was something new.  It was the safe bet but it also meant abandoning their mission.  He wasn’t sure he was ready to do that either.

He quietly woke the other two.  After allowing them to fully wake up, he explained the dilemma.  He also explained the options as he saw them.  After he finished, he asked if anyone had a preference.

“None of them,” answered Sgt Procell.

“I know,” the older NCO replied.  “I don’t like them either but…”

“No,” the younger man interrupted.  “That’s not what I mean.  I mean there is another option you didn’t mention.  Look, you’re first option is the best if you didn’t have my busted up ass to lug around.”

“No,” SSgt Brown replied.

“Damn it, hear me out.  You’re right about the other two ideas.  They’re non-starters.  So the first idea is the best but I’ll slow you down.  So, let’s change the situation.  Leave me upstairs with some food, some blankets and some extra ammo.  I’ll be fine.”

“I’m not leaving anyone behind,” SSgt Brown announced.  He knew the younger man was right, even as he said it.

“Wait,” Theresa added.  “He’s right.  The three of us could cover the few miles in an hour or two.  Then we just have to bring help back.”  A light bulb went on in her head.

“The stairs,” she said suddenly.  “We can tear the bottom two stairs up.  The zombies won’t be able to get to him.  That’s what we did at Mr. Mike and Mrs. Jen’s.  It’ll work.”

“See,” the junior man said.  “I’ll be fine.  You guys can come pick me up when you find help.”

“I have to agree with the others,” Ms. Hebert added.

“Looks like I’m out voted here,” he finally replied.  “I want to go on record as saying this is not a God damned democracy.  But, I concede your point.  Let’s get to work.”

Thirty minutes later, Sgt Procell was comfortably ensconced in the master bedroom.  He had at least two days worth of food on the two night stands.  He had the warmest blankets in the house on the bed and the bottom two steps had been removed.  SSgt Brown guessed that the zombies wouldn’t have the coordination to clear the gap but any rescuers would.

“You know,” he said to the injured man.  “You don’t have to do this, Ed.  We can figure out a way to get you to the river.”

“What then?  What happens if you miss the boat or if the boat doesn’t show up for a few hours?  You gonna just run up and down the river with me on your back?”  He paused for a moment.

“You know, two weeks ago, I thought I was a dead man.  I thought my El-Te was dead.  I thought my troops were dead.  I honestly believed the whole world was dead.  Then, you guys showed up.  You guys weren’t cowering in the corner waiting to die.  You were out trying to find safety.  You still had hope.”  He took a long drink of water.

“And you know what?  It was contagious.  You guys gave me hope.  You gave all of us hope.  We’re here because of you, your troop and those civilians.”  He pointed to Theresa.  “I’ll be fine here.  You know why?  Because you guys are gonna come back for me.  If there’s anyone who can get us out of this shitty situation, it’s you.”  SSgt Brown could see the pride and intensity in the young engineer’s eyes.

“You turned out to be one hell of a leader for a Nasty Guardsman.  It’s been an honor to fight beside you.  Hell, after my leg heals, I may just put in for a transfer to the scouts.”  A big grinned crossed his face

SSgt Brown tried to speak, but couldn’t think of anything new to say.  Since this thing had kicked off, he’d felt like it’d been one bad decision after another.  To hear this man, a soldier who’d seen combat, tell him that he truly was a good leader was almost more than his mind could handle.