Chapter 19

Chapter 19

   “Barnes?” Rex Barnes’ radio crackled to life. He ignored it as he kissed his lover’s neck. Cindy Ashcroft moaned it pleasure as her nails ran along his back.

“Barnes! God damn it, pick up.” Rex cursed as he unmounted himself.

“What the hell is it now?” He murmured, walking over to his combats and unclipping the radio from the belt. “Yeah-” He cleared his throat. “I’m here.” Taft spoke on the other line, a hint of rage in his voice.

“It’s Peters,” Taft started. “patrol caught him trying to escape.” Barnes grinned, already knowing where this was going. He never liked Corporal Peters, smug bastard that he was.

“I’ll be right over. Over and out.” He sat his radio on down on the cot as he grabbed his pants and pulled them up. Cindy sat up as she looked for her bra, her breasts bouncing as she leaned over and picked it up.

“What’s up?” She asked casually as she snapped on the pink bra. Rex liked Cindy, a lot. Unlike most of the people here, she didn’t give two shits about what went on here. His unit was actually the one that found her, she was holed up in her dorm up at the state college. She’d survived with a mean swing from a field hockey stick.

“Insubordination… you coming to watch later?” She smiled as she put on her shorts.

“I’ll be there.” He grinned. Cindy seemed to have a thing for watching public executions. In a sick way, it turned her on. And that turned HIM on.

“Good. Keep you radio on, I’ll give you a buzz later.” He’d raided a pair of 2-way radios from an electronics store last week. They didn’t have much range, only about a mile, but it was a great way to keep in touch with her. They usually chatted up while he was bored during his shift on a secure channel. Technically, civi’s couldn’t have such equipment. Rex felt like he ran the place in a way, so after a short argument with Taft, it was allowed.

“You better!” She teased, giving him a light shove. He ignored it, looking for his vest. He found it on the desk, and quickly slipped it on. He’d converted one of the hangar’s offices into Cindy’s own personal room, a luxury that none of the other civilians had.

“Alright, I’ll see ya later.” He grabbed his rifle and gave her a quick kiss and slapped her ass as he opened the door. “Clean this place, too.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He closed the door and proceeded towards the control tower. He received multiple glances from the girls as he adjusted his rifle strap.

“What the hell are you looking at?” He mumbled.





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Tom couldn’t get over how Winters so selflessly gunned down the defenseless kid. They could have just put him in the Humvee… taken him back to the air base…

“Left.” Tom said as they came to the end of another hallway. Nobody had spoken since the incident, except for him relaying where to go.

“What the hell rolled through here…” Elliot said, holding the Mossberg close to his chest. Tom’s grip tightened on the .357. There were bodies everywhere, of soldiers and shamblers alike. There were multiple desks and couches set up around the middle of the common. Thousands of shells casings lined the floor, Tom’s boots making some of them roll across the blood-stained floor as he took a cautious step forward. Piles upon piles of corpses surrounded the makeshift barricade, all of them riddled by automatic gunfire.

“We’re taking that.” Winters said, pointing over at one of the couches. Tom had missed it at first glance, but an M60 could be seen laying on its side, along with a few crates of bandoliers.

“How the hell are we going to carry it?” Elliot asked, walking forward.

“Wait-” Jack grabbed him by the vest, halting him from moving. “Look.” Jack nodded over at the piles of bodies. Tom squinted his eyes, stepping back a step, his boots rustling more of the shell casings. As they rolled across the floor, everything seemed to quite down.

“What the fuck…” There was a cracking sound, as if someone snapped a stick. A hand twitched. He aimed his .357 over at it as the arm creaked. The shambler let out a long, mournful moan  as it pulled itself out of the pile of corpses. To the left, a leg moved. A head turned. A hand shot out of the pile.

“You’ve got to be kidding me…” Winters whispered as he slung the rifle over his back and unsheathed his large machete.

“What the hell is happening?” Elliot panicked, walking backwards.

“Hold your ground, soldier!” Winters barked, Elliot ignored completely, the Mossberg now loose in his hands. More and more shamblers slowly began to rise and congregate around them. “God damn it, Private! I said get over- gah!” Corporal Winters screamed in pain as one of the corpses lying on the floor next to him came to life and grabbed his leg. The shambler snarled as it sank its teeth into his leg, tearing out a meaty chunk of muscle.

“Bastard!” Winters swung his machete, driving it deep into the shamblers head. It instantly went limp, blood shooting out of its skull as Winter pulled the machete out. Tom was so transfixed on the rising horde that the sound of Kingston’s USPs startled him.

Jack held one in each hand, firing continuously into the crowd. Tom looked over at the makeshift barricade set up by the soldiers. There were only three corpses behind it, all of them dressed in military fatigues. There was also a bullet in each of their heads, along with their sidearm clenched in their dead hands.

“Over here!” Tom yelled over the gunfire, climbing over desks and couches. He spun around, his magnum jumping in his sweaty hands as he prevented a shambler from climbing over.

Jack emptied both of his handguns into a pile of shamblers that have yet to rise, and prevented most of them from getting back up.

“Make way.” He said, jumping over a desk and sliding across. “Winters, Elliot!” Tom unloaded another slug into a shambler. It crumpled to the floor, tripping a few others. Elliot unloaded his shotgun into what seemed like a wall of the undead. Each blast sent a handful of them down, only to be replaced by more.

“Fuck!” Elliot slammed the butt of his Mossberg into a shambler’s face before he switched it out for his assault rifle.

“Come on, come on!” Tom ushered for Winters, he was hacking away with the machete. Each deadly swipe dismembered a limb or decapitated a head. The Corporal was drenched in blood now, and howling in rage. His howling came to an all-time high when another shambler latched onto his side, the sound of flesh being ripped from bone reverberating throughout the common.

“Screw it.” Tom placed his .357 in his hip holster, and unstrapped his rifle. He hopped over the barricade, only stopping to fire off a burst of gunfire to clear the way. Jack now had his handguns reloaded, and was keeping the crowd at bay from overrunning the small safe haven. Unbeknownst to Tom, he didn’t realize that Elliot was taken down from behind. His screams filled the hall as he was eaten alive. His finger stayed down on the trigger, and his gunfire went wild.

“Let’s go- whoa!” Tom hopped back just as he reached Winters. The Corporal let out a sigh as a burst of gunfire slammed into his chest. He fell to his knees, limbs going limp. The machete slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor as he fell down face-first. A small pool of blood began forming from underneath him.

“Gah!” Tom fell back as the gunfire continued. He saw tile shooting up in front of him, and without really thinking grabbed Winters’ corpse and flipped him over. A second later, Winters was being riddled with bullets. Tom cried out a round grazed his arm; he held on tighter then ever. A few seconds later, Elliot’s rifle ran on of ammo. Tom shot a glance over at him and saw a shambler ripping into his head as more tore into his stomach.

“Williams, we gotta move!” Jack cried.

“Right.” He pushed Winters aside and crab walked backwards, avoiding the rotten hands of the shamblers. A few of them stopped over Winters, deciding to go for the easy meal instead. He looked around for his rifle, and saw it behind the horde now.

“Might as well be in China.” He turned around and climbed back over the barricade, the touch a a hand running along his leg made his skin crawl.

“What now?!” Jack asked as he frantically stuffed his handguns away and pulled out his rifle. Tom looked around, there wasn’t an opening for escape. His eyes finally landed on the M60.

“We shoot our way out.” He ran over to the couch and picked up the gun, grunting with effort as he lifted it up. “Grab some bandoliers, we’ll need ‘em.” Kingston nodded as he grabbed a crate and slammed it down on a table. He opened it up, revealing thousands of rounds of ammo. Jack shot Tom a questionable glance.

“What other choice do we have?” Jack grinned.

“You shoot, I’ll carry. He tossed his rifle aside and began slinging the large ammo belts over his shoulder.

“Load one in.” Tom said, both of them backing up as the undead started climbing over the desks and chairs. “Hurry up!”

“I’m trying god damn it!” Jack said, fumbling with the belt as he loaded the first of many belts into the gun. “Set!” Tom didn’t waste any time, he unleashed hell from the mammoth LMG. The shamblers on the business end of the barrel were reduced to a splatter as the machine gun roared. Tom’s muscles clenched as he struggled to stay in place as he sprayed the weapon all over the common. Bodies jerked and exploded as the rounds ate them apart. He let go of the trigger as soon as he saw an opening.

“Let’s go!” He half-jogged forward, the weight of the gun slowing him down. He awkwardly scaled the barricade with Jack following closely behind. When over, Tom had to unleash war on the undead again. The gunfire was attracting more of them, zombies stumbled out of doorways and classrooms, eager for a fresh meal. The M60 clicked empty.

“Out!” Tom shouted, slowly walking towards the gymnasium. Jack pulled a belt off his shoulder and proceeded to load it in.

“Set!” The gun roared again, a classroom door was completely taken off its hinges from gunfire. The half dozen or so shamblers blocking their path towards the gym were cut down. “Clear!” They both moved forward, dully noting the horde that was forming behind them.

“There’s an exit inside the gym, leads out to the field and our ride.” Tom said, looking over his shoulder and making sure none of the shamblers got too close.

“Door’s locked.” Jack said, pointing at a large chain wrapped around the double doors.

“Got it.” Tom said, lifting the gun and firing off a short burst. The chain snapped off and hung loosely from the bars. Jack ran forward and pulled it off, tossing it aside and opening the doors. There were medical tents set up across the entire gym. Shamblers dressed as nurses and doctors all seemed to turn in unison as they stepped through the doorway.

“…Set?” Jack asked. Tom aimed the gun at a nurse and fired, the barrage of rounds blowing her head off. He sprayed the multiple tents set up across the gym. The canvass tore apart like paper, knocking the tents over and trapping some of the shamblers with it. As he turned the gun to take down the others, it clicked empty. He muttered a “damn” as he dropped it to the ground.

“Fuck it, let’s run past them!” He pulled out the .357, Jack nodded and took off the ammo belts and pulled out one of his handguns. Tom took off, sprinting around a doctor and weaving between two nurses. He hopped over one of the downed tents, proud of his handiwork. He stopped when he reached a small door with an exit sign hanging above. He turned around and saw that Kingston was close behind, only stopping to blast a shambler that got too close. He opened up the door, and grinned when he saw the Humvee.

“Let’s get the hell out of here.”





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Tom hopped out of the Humvee and was immediately greeted by Barnes.

“Shit, what now…” He mumbled. Barnes looked over at the transport, at Jack, then back at him.

“The hell is Winters and Elliot?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Jack spoke up first.

“Didn’t make it, sir. Williams was right, the place has gone to hell.” Barnes didn’t seem to care, he just shrugged.

“Serves them right, should have been more careful.” He rubbed the stubble on his face before finally turning to Tom. “Why don’t you head over to the women’s hangar? I think you earned a trip.” He then turned over to Jack. “You too Kingston.“ Tom was about to object, when he remember Katharina was there.

“Will do… sir.” Barnes grinned, slapping him on the back.

“Good! Oh, be back here in twenty, I’ve got a special treat for ya… don’t be late.” Tom nodded and began making his way towards the hangar. He noticed Jack walking behind him, but ignored him. He quickened his pace as he reached the hangar, eagerly looking around for his girl.

“Tom-” Jack said behind him, he ignored. “Tom, listen I need to talk to you.” Tom stopped when he saw Katharina sitting on a cot with another woman. She laughed as they chatted amongst themselves. Katharina turned her head as he approached, her eyes lighting up and a big smile forming on her face. He turned to Jack for an instant before running over to her.

“Fuck off.” He ran over to Katharina and grabbed her as she jumped into his arms. She cried into his shoulder as he spun her around, kissing her head. “My God I’ve missed you.” He whispered into her ear. He pulled away from her, and frowned when he noticed she had a black eye.

“Kath… what happened?” She slowly turned away from him. He lightly placed a hand on her face and turned it towards his. “Who did this to you?” She blinked slowly, her eyes watering up again.

“That Barnes or whatever the hell his name is. Happened right as you all were leaving.” His blood began to boil as he shot a look down  the airfield. He could see Barnes lighting up a cigar. He turned back towards Katharina, stroking her face with his hands.

“I’ll fucking kill him… don’t you worry, he’s dead.” He whispered. She smiled and leaned forward and kissed him.

“This is Jessie.” She said finally, turning over to her friend sitting on the cot. Tom smiled and shook her hand. “She helped me out earlier…” She trailed off.

“Pleasure to meet you, Tom.” Jessie said, she had a thick southern accent. “Kathy here told me all about you.” Tom sat down on the cot, wrapping his arms around Katharina as she sat on his lap. He shot Jack angry glance, who was still standing in the entrance watching. Jack mouthed “I’ll talk to you later” before walking off.

“Who was-” Katharina started, he cut her off.

“Don’t worry about it.” He finished. She shrugged and hugged him.

“Tom?”

“Yeah Kath?” She pulled away and looked into his eyes. They were sad, and longing for something.

“I really don’t want to be here anymore…” Tom sighed, looking away from her.

“I’m afraid we’re going to be here for a while…” She grimaced, but nodded.

“Okay.” He held her close and laid back, relishing the soft cot on his aching body. Jessie stood up and smiled down at them.

“I’ll leave you two love bird alone.”

“I’ll see you later, Jess!” Katharina called out as she nestled next to Tom and kissed him on the cheek. She leaned forward, ready to say something, and hesitated.

“What is it?” He asked, already drifting off.

“I… I love you.” Tom’s eyes shot wide open. His heart skipped a beat. He smiled and turned his head to look at her.

“I love you too…” She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head down on his chest. Within seconds, Tom was fast asleep.