Transformation: Zombie Crusade VI (39 page)

The troops reloaded as quickly as possible, thankful that about half the cannon managed to discharge another volley into the approaching ranks of monsters coming in for more. A second, rather ragged round of buckshot tore through another thousand hunters, the creatures falling in bloody ranks just in front of the laager. The pattern of alternating cannon and shotgun fire managed one more half-hearted volley before the flesh-eaters were on and in the human line, and in the blink of an eye the battle disintegrated into hundreds of individual combats decided by steel blades and hands and teeth.    

Zach’s feet were now on the blood soaked ground. He had come to the same conclusion as Gracie some minutes earlier; he was done trying to command, now he could only fight. His spear was long gone; the tried and true war hammer resting familiarly in his weary hands. Every section of the line held designated “sweepers,” fighters whose mission was to sweep up any hunters who made it past the fortified laager. Zach could see these sweepers engaged all along the line as scores of hunters began to survive their collision with the laager and somehow make it through the storm of steel and lead being employed by the troops in their protective enclosures. He found the action hot but manageable until the firing of the guns came to a sudden halt; then, the floodgates opened. He swung his war-hammer in mighty arcs that shattered bone, and splattered flesh every time the heavy weapon connected. It wasn’t enough. A score of broken dead and thrashing wounded formed a macabre mound around the vicious young warrior; at least a hundred more hungry beasts were closing in for the kill. Zach had fought in many battles since the collapse, and he’d nearly been killed half a dozen times over the past year. But as his beloved hammer slipped from his blood-soaked glove and he reached for a short-sword, he believed that he was living his last minutes here on this earth.

Gracie watched the failing line with something approaching panic in her mind, but she still had one card to play before ordering a general retreat. Logan had left three soldiers from his former command at Fort Sill under Gracie’s supervision at the command post. The troops had chafed at their inactivity since the fighting started, especially as their buddies manning the cannon wiped out tens of thousands of hunters in the first hours. From her position atop the command vehicle she pointed directly at the trio of artillery men before giving them the thumbs-up that was the pre-arranged signal for them to employ their weapons. With whoops of joy and excitement they opened the cases that held what were possibly the last three Stingers on the planet.

The Blackhawks directing the horde were still trying to keep a safe distance from the human defenders, but the complete lack of fire directed their way had made them complacent as the afternoon wore on. The pilots had drifted closer than they’d originally intended, though in their defense, what happened next would not have changed if they were twice as far away from the line as they were when the first missile streaked skyward. The helicopter circling the center of the hunter-army erupted in a powerful fireball that shook the earth, as well as all the creatures fighting on it within hundreds of meters in every direction.

The radio-net connecting the pilots exploded in a frenzy of voices shouting questions about what had happened to the lead-chopper. A few flyers thought they’d seen a missile-trail just before the Blackhawk blew up, but their commander ordered everyone to remain where they were and continue directing the battle. Ten seconds later another helicopter was transformed into burning wreckage, and it managed to collide with a third before crashing into the ground. The Blackhawk damaged in the collision stayed in the air, but immediately began wobbling away to the southwest, leaving a trail of greasy smoke in its wake. The loss of three choppers in a matter of seconds was understood by every pilot to be more than coincidence, and orders or no, their survival instincts kicked in and they whipped their birds back to the south before the third Stinger could be locked onto a target.

Luke was shocked to his core at seeing his father’s fiancé alive. “Come on, get out of there—these hunters won’t hurt you,” he shouted at Andi again. He grabbed Barnes by the collar and jerked him to his feet. “My father believes you murdered her,” he growled.

The General’s terrified gaze flickered from Luke’s hunter-eyes to the eastern sky, and he was obviously stunned by whatever had diverted his attention. A split second later, Luke heard the roaring whine of an aircraft in distress and turned his own eyes in the direction of the sound. A spinning helicopter filled his vision, careening directly toward the plateau upon which they stood. He grabbed for Barnes as he leapt for the nearest depression in the ground, and he also muttered a prayer before the world around him shattered in a fiery explosion.

The blast rocked the ground, scorching Luke’s leathers and briefly igniting the hair on the back of his head. He frantically beat back the flames as he looked around wildly for Barnes. Then he remembered Andi. He shouted to Will’s silhouette in the smoke, “Get Barnes—I’m going for Andi!”

The pilot of the injured Blackhawk had been frantically trying to reach what had once been a friendly landing base. When the helicopter slammed into the unforgiving desert just shy of the small command post, the fuselage had burst apart and sent flaming tendrils of fuel spewing across the entire area. Through the haze and flames, Luke could still hear the engine of the presidential helicopter idling on the ground; he set off in that direction, calling out for Andi. He heard her coughing nearby, trying to answer him but overcome by the smoke. He found her injured and crawling on the ground.

“L – Luke?” she wheezed as he scooped her into his arms. “I think my leg is broken.”

“Don’t worry,” Luke assured her, “I’m getting you out of here.”

Andi started to struggle. “No! I’m not important—get Barnes!”

“If he survived the crash, my friends will take care of him. I don’t know of anyone who deserves vengeance more than they do. Now just relax—” He stopped to watch the huge Marine helicopter rise in the air and roar away from them, flying low, a mere fifty feet above the ground.

CHAPTER 33

The effect on the ground following the downing of the helicopters was nearly instantaneous. Fighting continued all along the front, but the unending pressure forcing the leading ranks of flesh-eaters up and over the laager noticeably decreased within a minute of the Blackhawks going down. Behind the point of contact, hundreds of thousands of hunters began milling aimlessly about as the irresistible compulsion driving them forward suddenly disappeared. Instinct led many of the beasts to attack the nearby humans, but a significant number of hunters used their newfound freedom to make a run for the hills, or desert, or anywhere that was not where the helicopters could reach them. The bulldozers took advantage of the confusion by circling around in arcs that took them right in front of the laager, further breaking up the momentum of the remaining attackers.

The soldiers continued to kill as long as they could find targets for their blades and spears. They were exhausted beyond measure, hungry, thirsty, and caked with gore from head to toe. But they found the strength to finish off the remaining hunters. Zach managed to stumble to his Hummer and answer a radio check. His voice was joined by those of Maddy, Wyatt, and Logan. All commanders reported losses within their units, but the Battalion was still intact. Ammo for the cannons was being rushed forward, along with food, water, and medical workers. The fight was over for now, but everyone expected the hunters to eventually regroup and continue their attack; Barnes would have to open up I-15 in order to continue his invasion of Utah. But with just three hours to go before sunset, the spent soldiers began to believe that maybe they could hold out until darkness allowed them to slip away. Maybe, just maybe, they had managed to hold long enough.

Gracie called her officers together at the command center on high ground overlooking the dwindling battle; when she saw Joe Logan she nearly skipped to his side. “You know your men and their perfect aim saved the day. We were minutes away from being completely overrun.”

“It was your plan to sucker those choppers in closer like that,” Logan countered. “You’re a damn smart officer—and here I always thought that was an oxymoron . . .”

“Hey, don’t forget that you’re an officer now,” Gracie reminded him as Zach and Maddy came trudging up the hill together. The closer they got, the more obvious Zach’s injuries became. “Good God, Zach, are you alright? You need medical attention—”

“He’s being stubborn,” Maddy interrupted. “But he promised that I could take him to get checked out right after this. I think he’s got a couple broken ribs, and maybe a concussion. No bites.”

Zach was obviously in a lot of pain, but he stuck out his hand to Logan. “I’m here to give you that apology . . .”

“Stop right there—I may be slow, but I’m not completely stupid. I know you were just trying to get my dander up before the fight. And I saw you out there with that hammer; remind me never to piss you off.”

Zach smiled weakly. “That’s Maddy’s job anyway.”

Maddy rolled her eyes. “Actually, my job is to give our report.” She turned to Gracie. “We’re formed up again, and the line is secure. Logan may have told you that the gun crews have replenished their powder, but there isn’t much canister left.”

Gracie nodded. “Casualties?”

“Near as we can tell right now,” Zach replied, wincing, “thirty-one dead and twenty-nine wounded.”

Gracie took a deep breath. “I suppose it could have been a lot worse; let’s hope those numbers don’t go up.” She knew she would long question her decision to send Wyatt’s cavalry into the line after their scouting foray. She suddenly noticed the captain’s absence and asked with growing alarm, “Where’s Wyatt?”

“Don’t worry, he’s in the med-tent, because he has more sense than hammer-boy here.” Maddy answered. “Broken wrist, concussion, and sprained ankle, but he’ll be fine.”

Gracie sighed with relief. “Jack radioed in—he should be here soon.”

Zach perked up. “Jack and his troops were incredible. I swear they killed over a thousand hunters with spears and halberds and didn’t even break a sweat.”

The sound of DPV’s interrupted the discussion; Jack, Carter, T.C. and the two scouts Gracie originally sent north for help pulled up to join the conversation. Gracie leapt into her father-in-law’s arms, the emotion of the day threatening to overwhelm her.

“Gracie, you continue to amaze me,” Jack whispered in her ear as he spun her around. “Have you heard from Luke?”

Gracie shook her head and sniffed back tears as she addressed the scouts, “Did you manage to get the message to Carlson?”

Carter answered for them, “They got the message ta Carlson, but ya’ll got the message ta Barnes!” He hugged Maddy and was going to give Zach a slap on the back when he noticed the young man’s injuries. “Boy, you need to see a medic right quick.”

Jack took one look at Zach and agreed with his friend. “Maddy, you and T.C. get Zach to a doctor or a nurse or whoever.” Zach looked like he was going to protest until Jack glared at him and barked, “That’s an order.” Maddy couldn’t wipe the smile off her face as she and T.C. led Zach back down the hill.

Jack turned back to Gracie and Logan. “I’ve never seen so many infected gathered together, and we beat ‘em! Where the hell you get the Stingers? Got any more?”

With only an hour of daylight left, Luke stopped and gently sat Andi down against a boulder on a peak overlooking the battlefield. The scene from their vantage point was beyond words, though gruesome, astonishing, and terrifying came to Andi’s mind as she gazed upon the flats stretching to the horizon. Corpses lay in windrows across the earth, seemingly blown into drifts like snow on a gusty day. Fires burned where two helicopters had crashed, the flaming wrecks surrounded by charred hunters who had suffered the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time when the missiles were fired. Many more creatures were on the move, stumbling along in every direction, most appearing to have no idea where they were headed without the Blackhawks directing them.

Luke had carried Andi on his back and moved quickly over the rocky terrain. Neither had tried to distract the other with questions or attempts at conversation. Now that they’d stopped for a short break, Andi got her first good look at Luke.

“You have eyes like a hunter,” she said with disbelief.

Luke smiled. “I know.”

Andi almost laughed. “Of course you do. I won’t point out how you seem bigger and stronger and, I don’t know . . . older.”

“What a difference a few months make, right?” Luke sat down next to Andi. “Can you tell me what happened? Everybody thinks Barnes dropped you out of a helicopter—Jack said he saw it with his own eyes.”

“You’ve seen Jack?” Emotion momentarily flickered across Andi’s face, but she quickly reverted back to a bland and stoic expression. “Psycho Barnes dressed up a look-alike—he killed her, but he wanted the people watching to think it was me. He could have gotten away, Luke. You should have killed him,” she said matter-of-factly.

Luke could tell that he wasn’t the only one changed by trauma since they’d last seen each other. “I had to get you out of there. For Jack, and for your girls.”

Andi stiffened at the mention of her children. She hadn’t allowed herself to think of them while she was Barnes’ prisoner—the pain of missing them would have broken her, and it would have given Barnes even more power to manipulate her mind. Now finally free, her emotional wall crumbled and she began to sob. “My, my g-girls, are they alright? Where are they? Oh my God, where are they?”

Luke wrapped Andi in his arms and held her tightly. “Don’t worry, they’re fine. They’re in Vicksburg—I just saw them. Gracie and I took them kittens. They’re staying with Carter’s mom, and they think you’re off on an important mission.”

She was calmed by Luke’s words and embarrassed by her outburst. She dried her eyes on her sleeve and drew a quivering breath. “We’re in the middle of a war with flesh-eating monsters and you found the time to take them kittens?” She leaned back and looked up at Luke. “Tell me about the hunters back at Barnes’ command post. You called them your friends.”

“Everything’s changing, Andi. The hunters keep evolving, and they’re becoming self-aware—some of them anyway. If Barnes did manage to make it out alive, he’s in for quite a shock. Surviving the bite connected me to them; connected us to each other. It’s not easy to explain, but I understand them—”

“You understand their thirst to kill and eat humans?”

“Yes and no, I understand that Barnes designed them to be his mindless puppets. I understand that their human souls have suffered a fate much worse than death.”

“But if you understand them, how can you kill them?” Andi pressed. “How can you look at this?” she pointed to the carnage below.

“If I had turned into one of them, I would want someone to kill me. If, as a hunter, I remembered my humanity, or even just a little piece of it, I wouldn’t willingly serve the evil that cursed me. I would fight that evil, and I would find others to join me.” Luke stood up. “We need to get moving again—I need to get back to the Black Battalion before dark.”

Gracie formally introduced Logan to Jack and Carter, “This is Captain Joe Logan, our artillery commander. He’d managed to save three Stingers before leaving Fort Sill. We have one left.”

Jack warmly shook Logan’s hand. “Your men did serious work today.”

“To tell you the truth,” Logan admitted, “even I’m surprised by the destruction our guns wrought on those monsters. And the serious work was shared all around.”

Jack completely agreed, and he was about to say so when an agitated voice called for Gracie over the radio. The young woman’s demeanor completely changed as she responded crisply, “Captain Seifert-Smith here, what’s the problem?”

“Ma’am, you need to get up here on the double.”

“Where’s here?”

“Oh, sorry ma’am. This is Sergeant Taylor, squad leader in second company. Our forward observation post is reporting somebody climbing down the mountain just to the southwest of our line. It’s a person, ma’am, and they’re carrying somebody else. Not too many people are strong enough to come out of these mountains on their own, let alone carrying somebody. Sergeant Jenkins is using his D9 to clear a path through the corpses.”

Gracie shared a knowing look with Jack and replied, “We’ll be there ASAP. Logan, will you hold down the command center until we get back?”

“Sure thing.”

“So what are we waitin’ fer?” Carter grabbed Jack’s arm. “I only know of one, black-eyed zombie boy strong ‘nough ta carry somebody through those mountains. Let’s git a move on!”

  Darkness was quickly descending upon the valley following the disappearance of the sun behind the mountains, but in the deepening twilight Gracie could make out the human just reaching the base of a slope several hundred meters away. He’d descended the mountain along the easiest route to where Jenkins had cleared a path through the dead. The trail opened by the bulldozer was nearly a tunnel through corpses and body parts; the cannon had done deadly work here. Once the man reached flat ground, he began to sprint energetically.

Gracie had better eyes than Jack or Carter. “That’s my husband all right, and that’s a woman he’s carrying on his back.”

As Luke and his passenger steadily drew closer, Gracie resisted the urge to run out to meet her husband. She stood between Jack and Carter, barely overcoming the urge to jump up and down in excitement. A hundred feet out, Luke called, “Hey baby, looks like you had a little skirmish while I was gone.”

“Looks like you were out rescuing damsels in distress while the rest of us were fighting for our lives,” Gracie retorted.

“This isn’t just any damsel,” Luke declared as he and his companion drew closer. “And we might have gotten Barnes, too.”

Carter switched on a flashlight, careful to avoid shining it directly into Luke’s eyes, but the glow did illuminate the features of the red-haired woman peering over Luke’s shoulder. He looked at Jack. “Am I seein’ what I think I’m seein’?”

Jack made an unintelligible sound and rushed forward. Luke stopped in front of Jack and gently set Andi down between them. Even in the dim light, she could see the disbelief on Jack’s face. “I would try to leap into your arms, but I’ve got a broken leg,” she said, pointing at her injured limb.

The sound of her voice confirmed what Jack didn’t think was possible. Still in shock, he picked Andi up and carried her back to Gracie and Carter, mumbling to her, “I thought you were dead, I’m so sorry, I thought you were dead . . .” Andi clung to him, fearing that she would soon wake up to find herself back in her California prison.

Gracie threw her arms around Luke. “How . . .?”

“It’s mostly Andi’s story to tell,” Luke responded before kissing Gracie. “Are you alright? I’m sorry I wasn’t here, but it looks like you didn’t really need me after all.”

Gracie kissed Luke again. “Babe, you really need to work on your sense of humor. You’re just damn lucky you came back with Andi.”