Days Of Perdition: Voodoo Plague Book 6 Page 13

  23

  It took us close to twenty minutes to prepare, most of it spent loading ammunition into magazines. Once we were ready I circled the small group and discussed what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. Out of deference to Martinez I agreed that we would only use lethal force if we had to defend one of the team, even though I was ready to shoot, hack or slash my way through just about anyone to get to a helicopter.

  The first step was to find a likely aircraft. We knew the general direction where the Black Hawks flown in by the Army were parked, and I remembered seeing numerous Air Force helos in the same area, but I didn’t have any idea how much security was guarding them. Leaving everyone huddled in the dark I slipped around the side of the hangar to go conduct some reconnaissance.

  There was a cordon of Rangers acting as perimeter defense around the area, and the first problem was to get past them without being detected. This was going to be an even bigger issue, as I had to get back inside the perimeter and retrieve my team once I found us a ride.

  The Rangers were spaced at fifty yards, doubled up so there was always a pair of eyes looking in every direction. Shit! I squatted there in the dark, hidden by a thick bush, and watched them. They were alert and paying attention and I reminded myself that these were elite troops, not just some soldiers thrown on sentry duty. I wasn’t getting past them without a distraction.

  Creeping back to the corner of the hangar I rejoined my team and explained the problem to them. Scott suggested tossing food at them since they were Army. He grinned when I told him to fuck off. Rachel let out a sigh and asked Martinez to borrow one of her knives. Blade in hand she set to work and in a few minutes was ready.

  This time we all moved around the hangar, staying close to the wall and concealed by the shrubbery. When we were in place Rachel looked at me, smiled, turned to Dog and whispered in his ear. Pointing out into the dark she smacked him on his ass and he took off like a shot, racing past the closest pair of Rangers.

  There was a shout of surprise and one of them started to raise his rifle but relaxed when his partner laughed at him and pointed out it was just a dog. Rachel moved out from behind the bushes and headed directly for them, calling out when she was half way to where they stood.

  “Hello,” she said. They both turned to look and both did a double take.

  Rachel had used Martinez’ knife to cut the legs off her pants, and she’d cut them very short. She’d stripped down to a thin tank top, removing her vest and combat shirt. I had her pack and weapons. Walking the rest of the way up to the Rangers she put a roll into her hips and just the right note of distress in her voice.

  “My dog ran off. Have you seen him?” She asked, casually moving to their right so they were facing away from half their area of responsibility.

  I motioned the group and started moving, slow and quiet. Rachel had the mens’ undivided attention as she chattered brightly, reaching out and touching one of them on the shoulder as she laughed. In hindsight, I could probably have driven a parade float behind these guys without them knowing, but I wasn’t taking any chances as we moved in single file out into the dark.

  It took us over five minutes to go far enough that I felt safe in calling a halt. Dog ran up out of the dark, pleased with himself and happy to see me. I rubbed his neck and told him to speak so Rachel would have an excuse to come out into the field to look for him. He just stared at me. OK, so Dog can’t do everything.

  I was startled when a dog barked behind me, whirling around to see Scott with his head tilted back. His imitation of a dog wasn’t perfect but I was willing to bet it was good enough. I frowned at him and he shrugged his shoulders and grinned. I decided I didn’t really want to know why he could imitate a barking dog so well.

  A few minutes later Rachel joined us, quickly pulled her shirt and vest on, buckled on her belt with a pistol and shrugged into her pack. Once her rifle was slung I couldn’t help but chuckle at her.

  “What?” She asked.

  “You look like a teenage boy’s wet dream.” I said.

  “Yeah. Nice booty shorts.” Martinez chimed in.

  Rachel looked at us for a moment before punching my arm. Hard. “Are we ready to go or does anyone else want to make a comment?” She asked, hands on her hips as she glared at the group.

  “You lead the way, we’ll keep an eye on your rear.” Martinez said, trying to suppress laughter.

  I told all of them to shut up before I started laughing, then got us moving towards the flight line. We had to cover most of a mile, occasionally flattening ourselves on the grass as a vehicle passed on the road a hundred yards to our left. We moved past a couple of dark buildings and came to a stop behind a parked truck.

  We were in a large parking lot that fronted a warehouse adjacent to the flight line. On the far side of the area a low fence separated it from the acres of smooth and level concrete where dozens of helicopters and jets of all sizes were parked. Closest to us was a large group of Black Hawks and Apaches with Army stenciled on their tails, and they were heavily guarded. Too many guards to get to them without starting a fire fight.

  Martinez fished a pair of binoculars out of her pack and took her time scanning ahead of us. After a few minutes she handed the glasses to me and pointed at the far end of the tarmac. I looked through the glasses and it took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. Or not seeing.

  Half a dozen Air Force Pave Hawks sat by themselves, and there was only one guard within 300 yards of them. Whoever had set up the security had falsely assumed that if we tried for an aircraft it would be one of the ones we’d brought with us.

  “Think they’ll be fueled and ready to go?” I mumbled to Martinez.

  “They should be,” she answered. “We’re at war. Aircraft sitting on the tarmac don’t do you any good if they aren’t ready at a moment’s notice.”

  I nodded and took the time to brief the rest of the team on what Martinez and I were talking about. Everyone up to speed, I led us around the corner of the warehouse into the deepest shadows at its rear. There was a narrow strip of grass then a road running parallel to the perimeter fence. As soon as we came around the corner a chorus of screams from infected females started up from the far side of the fence.

  We hesitated as a group for a moment, then I broke into a run, the others following close behind. If we didn’t get away from the fence, fast, someone was going to come to investigate the commotion and find us. Sprinting along the back of the big building I should have slowed when I reached the corner but was in too much of a hurry and was distracted by the screaming females.

  An Air Force guard, coming to see what had the infected riled up, stepped around the corner and directly into my path. I ran into him at full speed, both of us tumbling to the ground. He fell one way and I the other and I was just starting to scramble to subdue him when Igor lunged forward and wrapped a thick arm around his neck, dragging him into the dark behind the warehouse.

  Igor had him in a sleeper hold, compressing the carotid arteries on either side of his neck. The guard struggled for a moment then quickly lost consciousness. Igor gently lowered him to the ground and stepped back. Martinez moved in, checked his pulse, then pulled some plastic zip ties out of her pack and secured the Airman’s hands and feet. A strip of fabric served as a gag.

  Nodding my thanks to Igor I set off at a run for the next building. The females were still screaming and though I couldn’t see them in the dark I could tell they were moving down the fence line, following us. I ran harder, making it past two more buildings before we encountered another curious guard. This one stepped around a corner thirty yards in front of us, looking to his left and right for whatever had the infected worked up.

  When he spotted us I saw his eyes go wide, even in the dim light, then he was swinging his rifle up in our direction. I was too far away to do anything to stop him, cursing and raising my own rifle. At twenty yards my weapon was up and ready to go, my finger along the trigger guard as I sighted in
. At fifteen yards he realized I had the drop on him, his rifle still not up to his shoulder, and he froze. Thank God!

  The Airman looked no more than 18 years old, just a baby to me, and relief flooded through me that he had the sense to not keep bringing his weapon up. I came to a stop five yards from him and motioned him behind the building where Igor and Martinez grabbed and disarmed him. A minute later he was bound and gagged and stashed against the base of the wall.

  “That was too fucking close,” I said to the group in general. “I almost had to kill that kid.”

  “We need to get away from the infected before a whole squad comes back here to see what’s going on.” Scott said.

  I agreed with him, but we either stayed behind the hangars and in view of the infected, or moved to the front in view of the guards. We didn’t have a whole lot of options. There were only three more buildings between us and where Martinez had spotted the lightly guarded Pave Hawks, so I decided our best option was to just keep running and hope for luck.

  We covered the remaining distance without any more incidents. I breathed a big sigh of relief when we reached the back corner of the hangar closest to the helicopters. We’d made it without hurting any of the Air Force guards. I knew I would have if I’d been forced to, but not having to carry that load on an already burdened conscience was an almost physical relief.

  “Shit,” Martinez muttered. She was leaning around the corner looking at the Pave Hawks through her binoculars. “They’re red tagged.”

  “What does that mean?” I asked, afraid I already knew.

  “They’re grounded, waiting for repair or maintenance.” She said. “Sorry. I couldn’t see the tags before.”

  “Not your fault. Do you think they’re really down, or could one of them fly?” I was grasping at straws.

  “As far as we’re concerned, they’re down. If I had time to do a thorough a pre-flight inspection, check the logs and do an engine run up, maybe we could find one that could make it, but as soon as we walk up to one they’re going to spot us. If it’s not ready to go as soon as we climb in…”

  I nodded and looked around at the small group of females pressed against the perimeter fence, screaming at us. We needed to get out of sight and come up with a new plan. I turned my head to the right when metal clanged at the fence. A couple of males were pushing on a small access gate that rattled in its frame but was well secured with a heavy chain and padlock.

  “Over here,” Scott hissed. I turned to see Igor finish picking the lock on a steel access door into the back of the hangar we were hiding behind and pull it open. We all quickly moved into the dark interior, Scott softly closing the door behind us, muting the sound of the screaming females at the fence.

  “Have you lost your mind?” Irina blurted a few minutes later when I explained what I planned to do. “There’s too many of them. You’ll never make it.”

  “Yes I will,” I said. “There’s a bunch piled up against the fence, but there’s still a lot of people that haven’t turned. I’ve faced a lot worse odds.”

  I looked around the small group and was met with grim expressions. All except for Dog who was curled up at Rachel’s feet taking a power nap. They hadn’t thought much of my plan when I explained it to them. I didn’t either, but I was out of options and wasn’t going to let something like a few thousand infected stand between me and rescuing Katie from Roach.

  “It’s simple,” I repeated. “I go out the gate behind this hangar and once I’m past the infected I can find a vehicle and drive to where Katie is. I’m not asking for anyone’s permission, I’m just telling you what I’m going to do.”

  “How do we find the location? It’s a hundred miles away.” Rachel said. For the moment I ignored the “we” part of that.

  “I…” started to say but was interrupted by Scott.

  “He’ll use this,” he said, pulling a small, handheld GPS unit out of his pack and handing it to Martinez. She powered it up, hit a couple of buttons then punched in the coordinates she had memorized, watched the screen for a couple of moments then handed the device to me. The screen was small but a blue dot pulsed noticeably at the location she had just entered.

  “Press the green button,” Scott said.

  I did and the screen refreshed, displaying my current location and a large blue arrow pointing the direction I needed to go. In the top right a small group of text told me I was 107 miles from my destination. I met Scott’s eyes and thanked him with a smile and a nod.

  We talked, and argued, for another five minutes. Everyone wanted to go with me. I immediately overruled Scott because of his broken arm. It’s hard enough to battle the infected face to face, but doing it with your dominant arm in a cast would be a recipe for a quick and ugly death. I also vetoed Irina because of her lack of combat experience and finally convinced Igor to stay with his Captain. That left Martinez and Rachel.

  “Don’t even fucking say it, sir.” Martinez stared me down. “I’m coming with you and you can’t stop me.” Smiling at her I shifted my eyes to Rachel.

  “We’ve had this conversation too many times,” she said. “Do we really need to have it again?”

  I let out a sigh and shook my head.

  “Thank you.” I said to Rachel and Martinez.

  With that out of the way we spent some time redistributing what was in our packs. Scott and Igor gave us all of their spare magazines and ammunition. MREs from those staying behind and an extra set of batteries for the GPS from Scott and we were as ready as we’d ever be.

  Moving to the access door, Irina opened it and stepped out of the way. Igor and I each took a knee in the opening, shoulder to shoulder, and raised our rifles. My first target was the padlock securing the chain on the gate. It took four rounds from my rifle to damage the lock enough for it to drop free of its shackle, then Igor and I started targeting the infected.

  We were only 60 yards from the fence, easy shooting with a rifle, and an infected fell dead every time one of us pulled the trigger. We took out the females first for obvious reasons, then began clearing the males. There was enough noise from jets landing and taking off and the impact of the infected trying to claw through the chain link fence that none of them noticed our sound suppressed rifle fire.

  Soon there was a twenty yard wide gap in the infected, the gate in the center of the open ground.

  “Let’s go,” I hissed and ran for the fence, Rachel, Dog and Martinez on my heels.

  Igor and Scott ran with us, Igor continuing to shoot, bringing down any infected that started moving towards the gate. Scott had a length of heavy wire in his good hand that he would use to re-secure the chain on the gate once we through so the infected couldn’t come flooding into the base.

  Reaching the gate I ripped the chain out of the way and pulled it open, stepping through with my rifle up and immediately engaging a pair of females that were charging in from the right. They dropped and I kept moving forward, careful with my footing so I didn’t trip over any of the bodies in the immediate area. Dog was tight to my right side, a moment later Rachel moving up to my left and Martinez patting me on the shoulder to let me know she was behind me and ready.

  We moved, each of us firing as we walked, targeting the few females still in the immediate area that were homing in on us. Behind, I heard the gate clang shut and the sound of a chain being pulled through the frame. We were clear of the base and as on our own as Rachel and I had been in Atlanta. There wouldn’t be any answers to calls for help. No Black Hawks swooping in to pluck us out of danger. No platoons of Rangers to provide fire support. It was three rifles and a dog against a city descending into chaos.

  24

  Infected from up and down the fence line started closing on us as soon as we came through the gate. All three of us were firing almost continuously, but we were keeping them at bay. For the moment.

  On the outside of the fence there had been a five-yard wide strip of gravel at the edge of a multilane road that carried much of the traffic in
this part of the city. The power was still on in the area, in pockets, and after firing three more shots I had a moment to scan across the businesses that lined the far side of the road.

  The civilian areas immediately adjacent to military bases seem to never be good areas. I guess it makes sense that if you could live elsewhere why would you want to be next to the noise and traffic of a base? I wasn’t surprised to see a couple of cheap apartment complexes, low rent hotels, payday loan stores, liquor stores, fast food of every description and a small used car dealer.

  Changing directions I led us across eight empty lanes and into the dealership’s parking lot. We were still having to engage fast moving females but for the moment there weren’t as many of them coming at us. Reaching the edge of the lot, Dog leapt and took down a female that had apparently been waiting for us behind a rusting minivan. He finished her off quickly and came back to stay close to my side.

  The car dealer was a small, local business. The lot was paved with crumbling asphalt and a couple of dozen cars, trucks, vans and SUVs were scattered haphazardly across it. The sales office was a singlewide mobile home with a sliding glass door for an entrance. I moved us to the base of the metal stairs that led up to the door and turned to face out into the lot. Only a couple of females were approaching and I dropped both of them as Martinez and Rachel engaged the slower males.

  “Rachel, take Dog with you and go check inside. There should be keys in there. Get us a truck.” I said without letting up my rate of fire.

  A couple of moments later I heard glass break as Rachel battered her way through the locked sliding door. Eight shots and eight dead infected later she was back at my side with a key in hand.

  “Chevy truck is what it’s labeled.” She said. “It was the only one that said truck, but I see five Chevy trucks in the lot.”