“Is this the end?” #zombie

Ty cuts down as many of the creatures that is possible.  Ben and Jayce watch as cargo hatch slowly lowers to the ground.  The children startled by the gunfire, begin to cry uncontrollably as the team prepares to jump out and attempt to keep the creatures from making it into the plane.  Once they feel Ben bring their safe zone to a stop, the unit scrambles out.  Tracy follows close behind the men in her uniform skirt, and takes a knee.  They begin firing immediately.  Jayce yells back, ordering their passengers to stay inside the safe confines of the Stryker.  They watch as the advancing creatures fall.  Jayce yells out orders to the flight crew to raise the ramp.  Once fully closed, Jayce opens the hatch to the Stryker to let their passengers out.  The crewmen quickly begin securing the Stryker back down to the belly of the plane with chains.

Harris gets his wife and children situated in the jump seats as Jayce yells, “LET’S GET THIS BIRD OFF THE GROUND!”

The engines on the plane start up and Harris enters the cockpit.  The co-pilot’s girlfriend, Harris’s family and Anne all sit together.  Stan, Tracy, and the unit are sitting away from the “civilians” and talk about what they had seen.  Ty informs the Colonel that from the turret he saw a lot of “those creatures” still fully mobile. 

“Colonel, where to?” Jayce asks.

“Brooks Range, Alaska.  There is a base there.  I’ll radio them to make sure it is still active.”  The Colonel answers.

Jayce walks up to the cockpit to tell Harris where they will be heading.  He then goes to the back to tell everybody that it is going to be a long flight, so they should get some sleep.  Jayce watches as Patrick goes to his wife and leans his head on her shoulder and closes his eyes.  Jayce leans back in the jump seat, in between Ty and Tracy.

“That was some good shooting Sergeant.” Jayce tells Tracy.

“Thank you, sir.” She replies as she straightens out her skirt and dusts off her knees. 

Jayce takes the ear bud out of Ty’s ear closest to him and sticks it in his ear.  He closes his eyes.  Tracy nudges him, and he opens his eyes once again.

“Captain Granger, Sir, sorry to interrupt you.”

“Your good, but call me Jayce.”

“Is this the end?”

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/384839556/desolation-1-of-3-in-the-series-apocalyptic-redemp

"A little warning would be nice,” #zombie

First thing, first I have launched a Kickstarter to fund the publishing of the first book, Desolation.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/384839556/desolation-1-of-3-in-the-series-apocalyptic-redemp

Thanks, now back to the story.
__________________________________________________________________________

Jayce turns and scans the faces of the passengers.  The pilot’s wife and co-pilot’s girlfriend are holding each other’s hands and crying.  Anne stares intently at the floor, where Tracy is ready to fight.  The Colonel sits, watching the kids enjoy the ride without the slightest expression of any emotion.

Jessop looks through the window and makes a subtle motion, Jayce turns to see several more creatures running across the road in front of them.  One lunges at the windshield, its forearm slaps the windshield and then slips underneath the vehicle.  Jayce notices a barcode tattooed on the forearm just before it had fallen to the weight of the vehicle. 

Jessop points to the turret, and Jayce shakes his head.  He taps Ty on the shoulder ordering him into the turret.

“Gladly.”                                                                                                                                

Ty climbs up into the turret, where he sees the absolute horror. 

It appears that the gate is blocked by emergency vehicles, and the creatures are feeding on corpses lying in the street.  Ben takes the vehicle off the road to try to avoid the creatures and corpses.  The passengers are rattled as Ty fires the machine gun on top at an unknown target.  He ducks back inside as Ben takes the Stryker through the fence surrounding the base.

“Damn it Sanchez! A little warning would be nice,” Ty yells as he climbs back up into the turret.

The base is desolate aside from the bodies lying in the street.  Even the first responder vehicles that are left, appear to be abandoned.  Ben warns the group to hold on as he makes a hard left toward the airstrip.  He sees several Humvees up ahead blocking the road also with several corpses scattered among them. He hits them at almost full speed scattering them.  It is now a straight shot to the run way, except for a fence and a grass knoll.

Ty sees the creatures binging on the corpses everywhere he looks.  He climbs back in as the Stryker jumps the knoll and crashes through the surrounding fence. 

Jayce radios Adam who is still in the plane, and orders him to get the cargo hatch down.  Ty climbs back into the turret, and immediately the machine gun lights up.  Ty is not firing in short bursts like before, the gun is now wide open.

“WE ARE COMING IN HOT! GO TO THE CARGO HOLD AND KEEP IT CLEAN!” Jayce orders Adam.

“Yah, those are just the ones we have seen.” #zombie

“Granger, can you take the kids out and I will go and help my wife?”

Jayce starts to round them up.  In an attempt to focus the children, he asks them if they would like to play army.  The children nod with excitement.  Jayce then gently explains that they are going to march to the “Tank”.  Jayce un-holsters his pistol and hands it to Harris, who gladly takes it.  Jayce walks out the door leading the playful march to the waiting vehicle.  Ty and Ben fall in behind them, as the others keep their positions.  Andre opens the hatch.  Playing along as he salutes the children, allowing the children inside.  Jayce returns back inside.  Harris hands the pistol back to him as he enters.  Jayce takes the three small bags from Harris.

“You just help your wife out, I got these.”

Jayce reads the grown terror in Harris wife’s eyes.  Leaving the house behind, Harris locks the front door.  He points across the street and informs Jayce that the house across the street is his co-pilot’s house.  The co-pilot’s girlfriend sees Harris through her window and walks out to make sure everything is alright.

“Dan, is everything ok?” She asks.

“You need to quickly pack a bag and come with us.”

“But I have to go work.”

She looks at Dan’s wife, reading the terror in her face, and reluctantly agrees.  Jayce orders Harris to wait in the “Tank” with his family as he and his unit accompanies the young lady to her house to get her things.  Shortly later they return and situate all of their passengers.  With all of the VIP’s, only standing room remains, and they begin their journey back to the base.

Jayce stands by Ben as he drives back.  They watch out the windshield as the same buses and ambulances pass them once again.  It is a surprisingly smooth ride as Ben takes the vehicle over medians and anything else in his way.  With the base in sight, Jayce turns and calls Harris up to where he is.

“Captain, can you keep everyone preoccupied so they don’t have to see this?” Jayce asks him as he points towards the gates.  Ben abruptly swerves the vehicle.  As Jayce catches himself from falling, he sees the numerous creatures running towards them from a canal, paralleling the road in.

“Sir, I think the problem is bigger than anybody thinks,” Ben tells Jayce without taking his eyes off the road.

“Yah, those are just the ones we have seen.” Jayce answers.

“Worse!” #zombie

Ben pulls the vehicle into the apartment complex. 

            “Colonel, do you mind staying with the Stryker?” Jayce inquires.

            The Colonel nods as the team opens the doors to let themselves out.  Ben and Ty automatically take the point positions.  The complex is awoken to screams from people frightened by the unit’s presence, others are recording the incident with their cell phones.  The civilians are ignorant to the fact they are under attack.  They climb the stairs, their guns now lowered so not to alarm the watchful bystanders.

            Arriving at his door, Jessop pounds on the door, “Anne wake up!  It’s Pat, let me in.”

            He can hear the door being unlocked, then finally slowly opens.  The unit carefully push their way into the apartment.  Patrick tells her that he will explain when they get in the vehicle.  She is soberly woken up as the unit stands in front of her in their full battle gear.  She hurries back into their bedroom and packs a bag for herself, and slips on some shoes.  The men surround her as they descend the stairs on their way back to the armored vehicle.  Andre opens the hatch, allowing everyone inside.  Anne takes a seat next to Tracy. 

Captain Harris begins guiding Ben to his home, explaining that the other pilot’s house is in the same neighborhood.  Jayce orders his men to not make the situation so tense, explaining that it will only make things worse for the kids.  As they arrive at the pilot’s house, Jayce signals for his men to take up subtle positions in the front yard.  Harris and Jayce walk to the front door. Half way up the drive, Harris stops Jayce.

“Granger, is it as bad as it appears?” Harris asks.

“Worse!”  Jayce explains.

The captain pulls his keys out of his flight suit and unlocks the front door.  His wife is preparing breakfast for their three children as they enter the house.  She has a concerned look on her face as she glances at Jayce.  Harris goes to his wife and whispers something in her ear.  Jayce watches as her face changes from concern to terror.  She hurries off to go pack some clothes for her and the children.  The children run to hug their father.  He kneels down to hug them.

“We are going to take a ride with this nice army guy and go on a trip with him and his friends.”  Harris tells his children trying to keep them calm.

The middle child, a boy, runs to the window.  He becomes excited as he asks his dad if they get to go for a ride in the army tank, it is the closest thing the child knows to associate the Stryker to.  Harris smiles.

“Back to the plane?” #zombie

They run with weapons drawn, and Ben and Ty still on point.  A shot from either of them here and there rings out as they secure their path out of the building.  Arriving back at the Stryker, they take up defensive positions at the rear of the vehicle.  Patrick is the first to climb in, followed by the Stan and Tracy.  Patrick climbs into the turret to provide cover fire for the others as they climb in.  It is not long before the machine gun on top of the vehicle rings out.  Ty is the last to get in and slams the door shut.  Patrick climbs back down into the safety of the vehicle when he hears Ben start the engine. 

            “Back to the plane?” The Colonel asks.

            “Nope, we have a few more VIPs to secure.” Jayce answers.

            Jayce, introduces Stan and Tracy to Captain Harris.  The Colonel questions the validity of the other VIPs.  Jayce explains to the Stan that they are going to retrieve the pilot’s wife and three children, Patrick’s wife, and the co-pilot’s girlfriend.  Stan looks down towards the floor, knowing that Jayce’s unit will carry on with their mission contrary to any order he gives Jayce. He has already proven that he is acting on their own initiatives.  He knows that this disobedience is due to their personalities, which is the very reason they were chosen for this unit.  The Colonel looks back up to see the members of the unit reloading their magazines.

            “Take these, you’ll need them,” Jayce orders as he hands Stan and Tracy both a M4.   

            With dawn beginning to break and lighten up the sky, they begin their journey towards their loved ones.  The Stryker passes several civilian emergency vehicles leading a procession of busses through the gate which was left open to let the emergency personnel in.  Copious amounts of blood surround the guard shacks, and bodies of what were once the guards strewn about.  Laying amongst them are the corpses of the creatures that lead the attacks.  Jayce takes notice of the dozen or so semis sitting at the gate to the base, the trailer doors flung open.

            “Sir, what’s with the Tractor trailers?” Jayce asks the Colonel.

            “There were reports of several semis approaching each of the gates.” Stan explains.

            Sergeant Woods sits staring at the floor, not saying anything to anybody.   Patrick’s house is the closest.

            “Jessop, we are going to get Anne first,” Jayce orders.

“It isn’t safe" #zombie

“Colonel!” Jayce calls out.

            “Granger, is that you?” the Colonel answers.

            Knowing that that the Colonel probably has a gun trained on the door, Jayce tells Stan that they are going to open the door.  Slowly, Ty turns the door handle and pushes the door open.  The unit finds the Colonel sitting on a couch in his office with Tracy at his side in the dark.  The light from the emergency lights in the corridor expose the pistols both of them hold tightly in their laps. 

            “Captain, I ordered you to complete your mission!”

            “Is this what I think this is?” Jayce asks.

            The Colonel solemnly nods as he looks down at the floor.

            “There isn’t much sense in trying to thwart an attack that is already happening.  I did what I thought would be the next best thing, protect our assets.  We don’t have much time, we need to go.” Jayce tells Colonel Wallace as they hear gun fire erupt outside the building.

            Jayce orders Stan and Tracy to stay in the middle of the unit as they begin to make their way back to the Stryker.  They approach the point where all of the corridors come together, and stop to listen.  It is quiet.  Jessop glances down at his rifle magazine.  He only has a couple of rounds left in his gun.  Popping out the magazine, he drops it.  The magazine lands flat on its side with a slap. Ty and Ben watch as two of the creatures stand up to the sound of the magazine hitting the floor.  They signal for the unit to tuck back into the hall leading from the Colonel’s office.  The Colonel taps Jayce on the shoulder.  As the captain turns his attention towards the Colonel, Stan points towards a fire exit.  Jayce shakes his head no, then whispers that the only safe exit is to go out the front door.

            “It isn’t safe, the Stryker is waiting on the front steps.”

            They hear the creatures running through the adjacent hall who then stop in the center trying to locate their prey.  Jayce and his men stand in the shadows, poised.  As the creatures pan the room, it is evident by their animalistic growls they have fixated on the group.  Ben and Ty waste no time as they quickly cut the creatures down.   Jayce turns to the Colonel and Sergeant, informing them that they have weapons for them back at the vehicle.

            They slip stealthily back into the center and look down the other three corridors leading away.  Jayce motions to the group to stop.  It sounds as if several people are running.  Andre calls out for somebody to answer.  With no response, he, Paul, and Patrick point to several grenades they have.  Jayce directs the three of them to throw two each down each corridor.  The three wait until they can see movement, then pull the pins and throw the grenades.  There is a clank of metal on the floor followed by the flash of the explosion. 

            “Go! Go! Go!”  Jayce yells, as the group begins to run towards the front of the building, where the Stryker waits.

“HEAD SHOTS" #zombie

It is a chaotic scene of not only military, but local law enforcement and first responders.  It is clear that they were not prepared for they are encountering.  They drive through the complex of buildings, not deviating from their new mission of retrieving and securing the Colonel.  They make their way to the command center and stop at the front steps.   Jayce orders Harris to stay with the Stryker while they go for the Colonel.  It is a horrid scene with bodies littering the steps and walkway leading to the entrance.  They make their way through the spilt blood staining the steps, only to find that the glass around the command center to be shattered.  Harris watches the team through the windshield. It appears as if they are one machine.

            Granger signals to the unit to stay quiet.  With guns drawn, they make their way into the building. They hear and feel the shattered glass crunch beneath their feet.  Cole is the last to make his way into the building, and catches a glimpse of something moving fast as it flanks them.  He fires several rounds into it with his rifle, tearing apart its torso.  It does not slow down, and Jessop turns firing several rounds.  One of the rounds strikes the combatant in the head, the unit watches as it falls lifeless. 

            “HEAD SHOTS, HEAD SHOTS!”  Cole calls out, directing the men. 

As they make their way through the command center, they pass body after body.  Both military personal, “mostly officers”, and the bodies of what they can only assume are the undead.  Several of the creatures are only maimed and begin to reach for the unit as they pass.  Ben and Ty are on point and take aim at these creatures’ heads.  The officers they pass seem to have bite marks covering their exposed flesh and pieces of flesh torn from their bodies, and lay in pools of their own blood.  Once in the center of the building, the corridor splits off in three directions. The left hall will take them to Colonel Wallace’s office.

            Through the dimly lit hallways, several combatants rush towards them covered in blood.  Several show signs of gunshots, however, the gaping wounds do not seem to be slowing them down.  The unit opens fire.  Cole and Jessop watch the rear for any possible threats approaching them from behind.  They make their way towards the Colonel office.  Jayce knocks on the door.  Ty backs ups towards Sergeant Wood’s desk to wait for the Colonel’s response.  He leans against the desk, lowers his rifle, and immediately feels something firmly grasp his ankle. He kicks his foot out as he spins around yielding his rifle.  The something that had a hold of him, begins to pull its self out from underneath the desk in pursuit.  Startled, Ty backs into the wall on the opposite side of the room, trying to determine what it was that had ahold on him.  The pop of the rifle echoes through the room as Cole fires his rifle, momentarily stunning the unit.

“Let’s go play boys!” #zombie

“You guys are nuts!” one of the flight crew interjects. 

Jayce turns and smiles. 

A couple of men from the unit begins situating the supplies in the Stryker, anxious to see who it is that is attacking their home.   They begin to load the machine guns on top of the vehicle.  Jayce oversees the situating of the vehicle.  He is no longer their friend, but their commander.  One of the flight crew approaches Jayce who has climbed up onto the side of the Stryker to help Ben load the guns.  He tugs at Jayce’s pant leg.

“Captain Granger, sir?”

Jayce looks down at the man.

“What?”

“Your presence is requested in the cockpit.”

Jayce climbs down and enters the cockpit.  Harris informs him that the tower is not granting them permission to land.  Just as Harris finishes, Granger’s phone begins to ring once again.

“Soldier, I told you to carry out your mission.”

“Sir, our mission was to discourage the attack.  It is discernable that we failed.  Sir, we are returning to retrieve you, stay in your office.”

“DO NOT RETURN TO THE BASE! THEY ARE TRYING TO EVACUATE, IT IS NOT SAFE!  THAT IS AN ORDER, CAPTAIN!”

“SIR, THIS IS NOT OPEN FOR DISCUSSION, and sir bring the letter.”

“GRANGER!” the Colonel yells as Jayce hangs up the phone.

Jayce picks up the radio in the C17, “Tower, this is Captain Granger, I have control of the plane we are on a deviated rescue mission, and will be landing!”

The tower reluctantly agrees.  Shortly after, the plane hears the screams through the radio followed by gunshots.  The flight crew tries to regain contact with the air traffic controller, but there is no response.  Approaching the air field, they see the scramble of planes trying to get to the safety of the air.

“Harris, it’s time to go.”  Jayce informs the pilot as he turns ordering Adam to take control of the cockpit.

            The unit climbs into the Stryker.  The anxiety is thick as they feel the jarring of the landing.  Jayce orders Jessop to the turret.  Ben watches as the ramp opens up in front of him as he starts the Stryker, and pulls out of the cargo hold.  There is a sharp jerk as the plane has not fully stopped yet.  Jessop watches the cargo door close behind them as they clear the ramp.

            “Let’s go play boys!” Ty blurts out as they begin driving across the tarmac.

            The unit is appalled at the sight of absolute chaos.  Jayce orders them to retrieve the Colonel first.  Using night vision, they catch a glimpse of two people feeding on a fallen soldier.  Jayce yells up to the turret and asks Jessop if he can get a bead on the creatures, just as the machine gun rattles off.  Jessop yells down questioning how he is supposed to discern from the soldiers and the combatants.  Jayce answers that they probably will not be able until their boots are on the ground and they are engaged.  From the turret, Jessop watches as one of the creatures overtakes a soldier trying to flee.  Jayce orders him back into the Stryker.  Ben is startled as one of the combatants jumps on the front of the vehicle.

            “What the hell is that?” Harris screams out.

            “Granger, is that what I think it is?” Ty asks.

            Stunned, Granger nods as he confirms that he thinks it is.  Ty climbs out of the top hatch.  The passengers in the vehicle hear Ty’s pistol fire.  Ben and Jayce watch as the creature falls from view.  Due to the weight of the armored vehicle, the men barely feel it go beneath the tires.

“It’s what we do" #zombie

Confused, Jayce follows the co-pilot into the cockpit.  The pilot closes the door as the Captain walks through the doorway.  Jayce looks down at his watch and is surprised that they have been in the air for only an hour.

Captain Harris turns around.  The expression on his face is obviously distress.

“Sir, bases are coming under attack, including ours!”

Their conversation is cut short as Jayce’s satellite phone begins to ring.

“Granger, the base is under attack.  You need to finish your mission.  That is an order.  It is not safe for you to come back.  Do you understand?” Jayce hears the Colonel’s voice on the other end.

“Yes sir!”

The phone goes dead on the other end.  The pilot questions Jayce as to the contents of the phone call.  Jayce explains that his orders are to carry out their mission.  Jayce turns and leaves the cockpit, and enters the cargo hold with authority. 

“MEN OUR HOME IS UNDER ATTACK! WE HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO CONTINUE WITH OUR MISION.  OUR FIRST MISSION IS TO PROTECT AMERICAN SOIL.  IT IS UP TO YOU, I WANT A SHOW OF HANDS.  ALL THOSE THAT WANT TO GO TO THE SANDBOX?”

The men’s faces are cold and unemotional, not a single hand is raised.

“ALL OF YOU THAT WANT TO GO HOME AND FIGHT?”

 Before he can finish, the entire unit have unbuckled their seat belts and are now standing.

“I’LL GO INFORM THE CREW WE NEED TO TURN THIS BIRD AROUND!”

  Jayce reenters the cockpit, and informs the flight crew that they are going home to fight.

“Sir, let me remind you of your orders,” Captain Harris starts.

“Captain, you have two choices.  You can help, or my men and I will take control of this plane,” Jayce explains with a smirk.

The flight crew are fully aware of what Granger’s unit is capable of.  They also know they do not stand a chance against them.  Harris explains that he is not against it, he just needed to state what concerns someone may have.  Jayce replies that when they touchdown, his team will go out in the Stryker and gather up the Colonel and any other survivors they may find.  He orders the flight crew to stay on the plane.  Harris pleads for Jayce to allow him to accompany them so that he might go and retrieve his family.  Another pilot asks the same for his live-in girlfriend.  Jayce allows it, knowing that if he had any family here, he would do the same. 

“Captain, we need to go get Anne,” Jayce hears Jensen’s voice behind him. 

Harris turns back around pulling on the controls to turn the plane around.

Jayce returns to his unit, they are already out of their seats and strapping their gear down to them, preparing for battle.

“WHO’S HOUSE IS THIS?” Jayce yells.

“OUR HOUSE!” The men cry out.

“WHO’S HOUSE IS THIS?”

“OUR HOUSE!”

“NOW LET’S GO KICK SOME ASS!”

Captain Harris enters the cargo hold as Jayce is rallying his unit, “Granger, I will go with you and your unit.  I know where the other pilot lives.”

Jayce nods, then orders Adam, “Cooper you stay with the plane, if it moves before we get back, put a bullet in them.”

Harris looks over at Ty concerned.  Ty shrugs with a smile, “It’s what we do.  We never lose, and we always have a contingency for everything.”

Without argument, Harris understands what this unit is capable of and returns to the cockpit to ensure the rest of his crew understands the same.

“We will unchain the Stryker before we land, I want everyone inside of it before we stop moving.  Once the plane stops moving, we will go show them what kind of training we have.” Jayce clarifies. 

The flight crew looks at Jayce’s unit in disbelief.  They ask if the unit always goes out looking for a fight.  Ben swiftly explains to them that they never go out looking for a fight, but they do not back down from one either. 

“Boys, wheels up in one hour!” #zombie

This is a rough draft so with that in mind I will set this post up.  This is the third chapter in the second book.  This book actually begins where the first book began, just from somebody elses perspective in a different area of the country, allowing you to see the two stories merge.  I will break this chapter up into the normal posts.

“Boys, wheels up in one hour!” Sergeant Wood informs the unit as they make their final preparations, then leaves them.

Ty hooks up his mp3 player as he states to the other men that a little Rob Zombie seems appropriate.  Jayce and the Colonel enter the same doors Tracy just left through.  Jayce glances at Ty, who quickly glances around the room at the other men.  He nods back at Granger.

“Sir, we are ready,” Jayce advises the Colonel.

Ty then walks over and turns down the mp3 player and they begin to finalize their assignments.

“Jensen, Sanchez have point with me.  Cole, you and Jessop take sniper with the Barretts.  Keys, you are on the saw, and Cooper, you have the M240. Once we secure a way in, we will all enter together with the other unit.”

Jayce knows that the assignments he had just gone through are the same as they had been on every mission, however, he goes through the list almost as if it was the first time.  

“What’s our ride while we are there?” Ben asks, as he wonders what it will be this time.

Deacon explains that he will see soon enough.  Sergeant Wood reenters the room to inform the unit that the “Bird” is ready.  The soldiers salute the Colonel and once he salutes them back he orders them to the waiting C17.  They grab their gear off of the tables and exit the prep room.  Ty runs back in, remembering his mp3 player.

“He has to have his tunes.” Jayce explains to the colonel. 

‘Captain, you ready?” Ty questions as he walks past Jayce and the Colonel.

Jayce assures him that he is.  He puts his arm around Ty’s shoulders and the exit the building.  Trekking across the tarmac, Ben turns and smile as he watches the flight crew back the Stryker into the plane.  Jayce knows that this vehicle is Ben’s favorite.  They reach the rear of the plane as the flight crew is chaining the Stryker down to the floor of the aircraft.  Upon climbing into the aircraft, Ben opens the rear hatch on the vehicle.  The members begin to choose their seats on the enormous “bird” for the eighteen hour flight, not to mention the stop in Germany to refuel.  Ty nestles himself into his seat, slightly head banging with his eyes closed to the music coming from the ear buds in his ears.  A tug pulls up at the bottom of the cargo ramp with a cart loaded with ammo for their mission.  Ben, Paul, and Adam begin loading it into the Stryker.  Jayce walks down the ramp with Stan. Stan asks him if he is going to miss this.  Jayce answers him that he will, but explains that he is not too excited about being one of the first to see what “undead” really means.  They look at all the commotion of the runways.  Jayce then questions about why his unit had been picked for this mission.

“This may be the most important mission ever exercised.  There is no better unit for the job.”  The Colonel responds.

The pilots stroll up and salute Stan and Jayce.  They return the gesture as the pilots board the plane.

The Colonel extends his hand and Jayce grasps it as the colonel tells him, “Captain, you and your men stay safe and we will be waiting for your return.”

“Yes sir.”

Jayce turns and walks up the cargo ramp, motioning to the flight crew to close the plane up.  He takes his usual seat between Ben and Ty.  One of the flight crew member walks through the plane and opens the door to the cockpit.   It appears as if he is telling the pilots something before he shuts the door and approaches Jayce.

“Captain, I let them know we are ready whenever they are.  They are doing their pre-flight checks and it should be about twenty minutes.”

Jayce nods and sits back into his seat.

Ty removes his ear buds from his ears and loudly asks Jayce, “So are you going to let everyone else know what you have planned?” 

Jayce looks at him surprised.  Ty has gathered the attention of the rest of the unit.  Andre is the first to ask what Ty is talking about.  Jayce hesitates, not wanting to detour from the mission, but then decides that not informing them of his resignation now that Ty has “let the cat out of the bag” will be a larger deterrent.  He begins explaining of his meeting with the Colonel and his reasons for his decision.  Expecting backlash from his men, he is surprised to receive his unit’s full support.  The only thing they are concerned about is the uncertainty of whether or not he will keep in touch.  He assures them that he will.

Just then the intercom crackles, “This is Captain Harris.  I will be your pilot on this wonderful flight to the desert.  Please keep your arms and legs inside the ride at all times.  If you should have any needs please consult the inflight stewardess.  The flight crew, who had taken their seats closed to the cockpit, laugh and shake their heads.  The sense of humor from the pilot brings a smile to the somber team, with thoughts of the undead lingering in the back of their minds.  The loud hum of the engines drones out any other noise in the plane which departs from its parked position and begins to taxi down the runway.  They feel the plane shutter as it lifts off from the ground.  Jayce signals for his men to get some sleep and pulls one of the ear buds out of Ty’s ear, placing it into his own and begins to nod off to sleep.

“CAPTAIN GRANGER, SIR!” Jayce is woken up to one of the co-pilots shaking and yelling at him.

“WE NEED YOU IN THE COCKPIT IMMEDIATELY!”

“Cut ‘em down!” #zombie

"I want to start this blog off by thanking everyone who has supported me on this.  A big thanks to David A. Martinez and One Night Dead.  As I do not want to give too much away, this will be the last post with material from the first book.  We are putting the finishing touches on the editing and hopefully "DESOLATION" is in print soon.  I will be releasing a chapter in its entirety from book two next Wednesday. 

Thank you again
Jeremy E. Cherry

Duke begins growling as a couple more of the dormant zombies start to reanimate.  Luke begins to put them down with his bow as Deacon chops at them with his machete.  In Deacon’s mind he continues to try to make sense of the fact that if the scavengers had been successful, the soldiers’ weapons should be gone, but they are not.  Greg and a couple of the others begin to pick up the abandoned weapons.

They continue on to another Suburban, Deacon looks through the shot out windows.  Every ounce of color drains from his face.  Crissy asks him what is wrong.  Deacon tells her that on his niece’s last birthday, Katelynn and her mom had made a doll for her.  He goes on to tell her that both Katelynn and he had signed the doll’s butt.  Deacon reaches in and pulls out the doll, lifting the dolls dress to reveal, “Love Katelynn and Deacon”. Deacon sinks, sliding his back down the side of the Suburban.  Duke attempts to wedge his head into Deacon’s lap, beneath his elbows.

Deacon sits crouched on the ground, his head is resting in his hands and the doll on his lap. 

“They are gone!”   

Deacon sits there while Greg, Lana, try to comfort him.  He continues to stare at the doll.  Luke takes the others out to gather what guns and ammo they can find.  Deacon stands back up and wipes the tears from his cheek.  Lana embraces him.  He buries his head in the crook of her neck.  With tears still running down his face, he whispers to her

“Before, I had hoped that they had made it somewhere safe.  Now, I know they never made it out.”  He stands up straight. 

“BURN IT, ALL OF IT!”  Deacon yells as he walks away from the decimated convoy, still carrying the doll. 

Jason begins ripping off strips of fabric, twisting it, and shoving it in the gas tank.  Andy takes what paper he can find and sets the interior of the vehicles on fire.  They move from one car to the next working their way back to their vehicles. 

They all return to their vehicles to watch.  Deacon leaves obviously upset, changing the entire mood of the group.  They stand watching the cars smoke, then become engulfed in flames. 

“What the hell?”  Greg says confused. 

The group watches as all of the other corpses start to reanimate.  They shoulder their weapons to prepare for battle, but all of the zombies slowly make their way towards the burning vehicles.  They pay no attention to the survivors, confusing the entire group. 

Greg looks at Deacon and asks, “What do we do with this?” 

Deacon still upset orders, “Cut ‘em down!” 

"zombies appear cresting an embankment" #zombie

Once on the interstate, they drive through the canyon on their way to Castle Dale.  Deacon points out a rest stop on the right where several vehicles are stopped.  Jeff says that he thinks he saw movement.  Deacon slows down Lana and Alicia become nervous, and frantically start asking why they are slowing down.  They plead with Deacon to not stop. Greg explains that it could be survivors.  Deacon stops his truck on the off ramp to the rest stop, and pulls a small pair of binoculars out of the cubby in the door.  He looks, then passes them off to Greg.  The now seasoned veterans’ in this fight to survive grip their guns a little tighter anticipating what may or may not happen. 

Attracted by the sound and movement of the passersby’s, several zombies appear cresting an embankment.  A few make their way around one of semis that had most likely parked there for the night.  Still frothing at the mouth and covered in what appears to be fresh blood, they stumble aimlessly towards the two vehicles.  Greg hands the binoculars to Luke.  Looking through them, he clarifies to the group that it looks like they just had a fresh meal.  The girls start to sob as they cover their faces.  Deacon takes off, making his way back on to the interstate.  Drake follows closely behind as they leave the threats in their rear view mirrors.  Back on course, Alicia now composed, asks them if this is the sort of thing they see regularly. 

The answer from Deacon, Greg, Luke and Jeff comes simultaneously, “Yes!”

“They started at the truck stops and just grew,” #zombie

As they pull off the interstate and drive through the city, Deacon points out the herds of walkers.  He describes the first time when they had come up they and had not seen a single walker.  The more they came up, now at least bi-weekly, the more herds had started to form and multiply in size. 

“They started at the truck stops and just grew,” he explains the herds origins. 

They turn on the road leading to Castle Dale. 

Deacon picks up the radio, “Keep your eyes open! Somebody is ambushing cars up here, and looks like everybody dies.”   He advises that there are some cars and bodies that have been shot up ahead of them.

The group has not run into them yet, but Deacon knows with as much as they go to see Simon it is only a matter of time. 

Deacon leans against the steering wheel, obviously focused in on something. 

“Hey, I see something gleaming up there in the trees.  You guys pass me and go!  I’ll keep up.  It’s up here on the left, in those trees.”   Deacon radios.

“RUNNERS!” She yells. #zombies

“RUNNERS!”  She yells. 

One of her shots finds its mark, and the runner falls.  The other two runners zig-zag their way through the herd of walkers.  Deacon yells to Luke to slow down the runners and that he and Greg will stay on the walkers.  The walkers are slow at making their way to the convoy, but are still falling.  The runners have broken free of the herd.  Luke drops one within fifty yards of the truck.  The other closes in on them quickly.  The more nervous she and Luke get, the more their bullet placement becomes less than stellar.  One of Luke’s rounds find its way to the creature’s hip, turning him.  Luke puts two rounds in the torso and one in the knee opposite of the hip he had shot.  Her shots tear through the runner’s flesh as he falls.  This runner falls ten feet from the front of the truck on the passenger’s side, out of sight.  Luke and her turn their attention to help Deacon and Greg with the walkers.  There are about thirteen walkers left and they have made it within thirty feet of the truck.  Deacon starts to question how good of plan this really was.  He has almost gone through two full magazines. 

"I have my reasons for doing what I did" #zombie

“I thought about losing her!  Before I knew it, the monster inside took over.” 

Simon puts his arm around Deacon and reverently explains, “Ain’t a monster, it’s the hero!  All mankind is capable of greatness.  It’s our character along with what we do in the most peculiar of circumstances that defines who we are.  You are either on the side of good or evil.  Do you do what you do for your own gain, or for the good of others?  That is what makes you a monster, or a hero.”   

They make their way back to the farm house as she and Lana walk out of the house

“Deacon, do you know anything about this?” she asks, holding a large batch of homemade taffy.   Deacon runs over to them.  He tells them that most of it is for Jaimie’s girls for watching Duke. 

“We need to put it in Greg’s car though, or Duke will eat it”.  

She then asks Deacon if he will show her around the farm.  Lana tells them both that she is going to join Greg.  Deacon and her start to walk towards the barn.  They get half way there and Deacon shows her the tree where he had first met Duke.  She sits down under it and pats the ground next to her as an invitation for him to sit next to her.   

“Are you sure you are ok?”  She asks him as he sits.

Seeing the concern on her face, he hesitates for a minute. Solemnly he answers, “Not really, I have my reasons for doing what I did, but.”

“Copy!” #zombie

Once they pull into the Dead zone, a few small straggling groups of walkers are immediately spotted.  They use a scope to get a better look at the small groups off in the distance.  As they reach the store, they ensure that the loading dock is clear.  Then Greg instructs Andy, Craig and Jaimie, the sniper/lookout group to go up to the roof and set up shop.  Once on the roof, they radio down using portable CB radios they acquired on one of their runs.

“There is a large herd of walkers about a thousand yards to the east and a smaller one to the northwest.” 

“Copy!” Greg replies. 

Surveying the outside of the building looking for threats, Deacon exclaims, “Just as I thought. Untouched!” 

They walk around the building with Duke and Deacon leading the group.  Duke has gone into work mode.  He sniffs the air, and pivots his head in order to funnel any sounds into his ears.  Greg orders everyone to look for a window that will gain them access into the store.  As they search they anxiously look intermittently in the directions the lookout team had given them warning of herds of walkers.

"You reek of death" #zombie

“Every time you guys come back from your runs, you reek of death and what the world has become.  You guys don’t see it, but there are a few that find somewhere else to be when you get back.  Those are the ones that will want to go.” 

Just then Duke perks up and the three men turn towards the door.

The door slowly opens and Lana comes in wrapped in a blanket as usual.  Duke trots over to greet her and licks her hand.  She sits down between Luke and Deacon.  All three of the guys wait for Lana to begin yelling at Deacon since she had not said a word to him since the shooting range the day before.  She takes his hand and he turns to look at her only to find she is looking directly into his eyes. 

“You promise you won’t let anything happen to her?”    

“I Promise!  I don’t want her to go either, but we both know that this is not an option we have.”

“HURRY UP!” #zombie

Greg yells, “HURRY UP!” 

The group with Greg is in absolute panic.  Some are screaming, others pressing to leave.  As Deacon looks closer, he locates two bodies lying in the street not too far from Donavan’s semi.  He lowers his shotgun in shock, walking in what seems to be slow motion towards the two bodies lying in the street, only focused on who they may have lost.  Duke’s voice explodes with barking and growling.  In Deacon’s head the barking seems so distant.  He turns to look at where the barking is coming from, his mind starts to refocus as he sees a runner coming straight at him.  It is as if everything is returning at full speed all of a sudden.  Deacon clenches his teeth in anger, raises his gun and squeezes the trigger.  The runner drops, but still under the forward momentum slides to Deacon’s feet.  Duke growls as the runner starts to move again.  Deacon levels his gun, putting a single round through the runner’s head.  Deacon reaches into his pocket.  Pulling out more shells, he reloads his shotgun.

“Come, Duke!”  Deacon calls his new friend as he begins to jog towards Greg.

"Learning" #zombie

He begins to run towards the car, alternating his focus between the zombies and the car.  The zombies part, almost as if to let something through.  It’s a runner coming up through the middle of the herd.  The zombies that do not move get knocked over in the process.  Deacon reaches the car, jumps on top of the hood and moves to the top of the roof.  He can feel the roof of the car sag under his weight.  Jumping, he catches the ladder.  With his legs swinging he begins to climb.  From underneath him comes a double thud.  The runner has copied Deacon’s movement and also jumped onto the top of the car.  It jumps in an attempt to climb the ladder but misses.  Jumping again, it hits its mark and begins to climb.  Glancing down, Deacon sees that the runner is right on his heels and begins to kick at the monstrosity trying to turn him into a meal.  Its yellowish teeth chomping at him and the rotting flesh so putrid not even the shroud could hold back the smell.  With the runner grabbing at his ankles, Deacon manages to kick free its other hand.  It falls on top of the roof of the car, collapsing it in.  Deacon begins to climb as fast as he can still keeping an eye on the runner.  The runner gets up and jumps to try to catch the ladder, but by caving in the roof of the car it is unable to get close enough to reach the ladder.

“This ends now!” #zombie

{I will be posting only once a week on Wednesday.  This new schedule will begin next week. 
{Thank you to everyone for fallowing along, I hope that all of you will stay with me for this journey.

“DEACON, IT’S JUST A HONDA. YOU CAN OUT RUN IT EASY!”  Dave says. 

“This ends now!”  Deacon responds calmly.

He pulls back the bolt to chamber a round in the rifle.  He presses the parking break down and cranks the wheel, sliding the truck so that his door will open towards the oncoming car.  Before the truck comes to a complete stop, Deacon opens the door and jumps out.  Everything appears to be moving in slow motion.  Deacon raises the rifle and sprays the Honda with a barrage of .308 caliber bullets.  The first shot hits the windshield of the car, shattering it.  Deacon’s aim is not as good as it would be with the smaller rifle, the rounds however, still find their mark.  After emptying the magazine, he mechanically drops it out of the gun onto the deserted street.  He takes another one out of his pocket and slaps it into the bottom of the rifle and chambers it again, reiterating the spray of bullets.  By this time Duke has jumped out of the shot out window and joined him at his side.  The Honda limps to a stop thirty yards away from where Deacon and Duke stand.  Steam is billowing from the holes in the radiator.  The passenger’s side tire is completely flat.  The car is riddled with bullet holes.  Deacon drops the second magazine and slides a third one in, and once again chambers a round.

“Sniper!” #zombie

 Deacon leads the stranger out into the open, towards Deacons silver Peterbilt.  Deacon takes in the numerous walkers closing in.  A runner coming across the parking lot and another coming at them from behind catches his attention.  They are closing in fast.  He unsnaps the strap on his holster, and takes out his pistol.  Just then, the sound of a rifle report.  He turns to see the runner behind them, tumbling.  Without any doubt, he knows that Jaimie took the shot.  The entire place erupts into gunfire, from both the scout cars and the sniper position.  Deacon watches the walkers fall all around them.   

Then across the radio they hear Greg, “This is scout one, IT IS TIME TO GO!  Hauler two get moving and run over as many of those damned things as you can!” 

John’s semi starts moving towards them while everyone else gets into their cars.   The semi passes Deacon and the stranger and circles behind them.  The stranger turns to look behind them. 

“TURN AROUND, STAY FOCUSED ON MY SEMI!”  Deacon yells trying to keep them focused on their destination.

“I think I want to be a shooter.” #zombie

“Wait,” Greg exclaims. 

Deacon turns around to find Jaimie walking to them.  She asks if she could learn to shoot

“I think I want to be a shooter.” 

Greg abruptly asks her, “What about your girls?” 

With her forehead wrinkled, her fear is evident.  She tells them that she trusts them and knows that she will be ok.  Deacon smiles.

 “If that is what you want to do, I’m not going to be the one to tell you that you can’t.  Besides, the more shooters we have, the better the chances of surviving.” 

She half-hardily smiles and walks away.  Deacon resumes walking back to his truck. 

“Wait!”  Greg tells him again. 

“Oh, I thought you were getting me to stop so Jaimie could talk to us.” Deacon tells him. 

Greg then asks, “Why did you send Luke with me?” 

Deacon puts on his welding equipment, without looking up as he tells Greg, “Luke is the only one I trust with your life.  I’m in the semi, so I can’t do it.  He is the next best thing.” 

Deacon returns to working on his truck while Greg stands in bewilderment.  Greg had not thought of the fact he was losing his shooter, but it was obvious Deacon had.  Deacon starts the welder back up, and starts working on his semi again.  Duke lays down by the welding trailer, watching Deacon work.

“Good boy!” #zombie

Deacon and Greg are both taking shots now.  Sitting in the truck Jaimie watches the struck walkers drop.  In between shots, the sounds of distant shots from the others can be heard.  Duke stays right next to Deacon.  Greg looks over at Deacon and both Duke and Deacon appear to have been doing this together their whole lives.  Deacon, so focused almost looks like a soldier in a movie, and Duke moving ever so carefully through the neighborhood.  Their bodies move almost synchronized and both look so serious as if created just for this situation.  Deacon yells to Greg to watch for runners.  He motions for Jaimie to pull the truck up as he is getting low on bullets.  She pulls up next to him and he pulls out a shotgun, fills his pockets with shells and slings the shotgun over his shoulder. He then picks up the case holding his dad’s rifle.  Taking it out of its case, he slaps a magazine in to the bottom, pulling back the charging handle he, and begins firing rounds again. 

Shooting at the zombies from both sides was putting a hell of a dent in the flood of walkers that were on top of Luke and the scavenging party when they arrived.  The undead were dropping fast now.  Greg and Deacon were using everything they could find for cover, trees, parked cars, and retaining walls.  They started with almost thirty walkers and a handful of runners.  They were down to eight walkers.  The runners were hiding, making it a little harder to count them.  Deacon’s second rifle runs out of rounds and he lays it down in the grass.  He swings his shotgun around and holds the butt of the gun firmly in his shoulder, continuing towards the stranded party.  Almost everybody is out of bullets. Deacon and Duke move faster now.  With a little help they finish off the last of the eight left and turn their attention to the runners.  Walking up a hedge row, Duke explodes with a fierce bark behind Deacon.  Deacon swings around, with the readied shotgun just as the last runner lunges.  Deacon pulls the trigger twice. 

“Good boy!”  Deacon softly tells Duke as he reaches down to pet him on the head.

 

“Hold on!” #zombie

The last post was the last to be in order.  The rest of the posts will be excerpts throughout the book.  I want to take this time to thank everyone for being so supportive in this endeavor,

They make it into the city, all hell breaks loose on the CB. 

It sounds like Luke, “JOHN WE ARE PINNED IN!  THERE ARE TWO MANY OF THEM!”  

Deacon picks up the CB microphone, “LUKE WHERE ARE YOU AT?”  

Luke gets on and tells them that they are trapped on “Forest and 9^th”, ten miles from where Deacon and Greg are.  Deacon assures Luke that they will be there as soon as they can, and to hold them off for as long as possible.  Thick, bellowing, black smoke erupts from the tail pipe on Deacon’s Dodge. 

“Hold on!”  Greg tells Lana.

Greg gives his Challenger everything he can just to keep up with Deacon.  They arive to where the scavenging group is, they can see the semis.  Donavan’s door is wide open. 

“OH MY GOD!”  Jaimie exclaims. 

Looking through the windshield, they can’t see the cars through the walkers.  They can see a hole next to John’s semi about a hundred feet out.  Deacon knows that this is where his people are pinned down.  Deacon instructs Jaimie that as soon as he stops, she is to get in to the driver’s seat.  Greg tells Lana the same thing. 

He commands Duke to stay in the truck with Jaimie.  Duke’s tail stops wagging as if disappointed.  Deacon gets on the radio, tells Luke that they are coming in from the south, and then tells Greg its time.  They both get out of their vehicles, and grab their guns. 

“DUKE NO!”  Deacon yells as Duke jumps out of the truck. 

It’s too late to spend any time trying to get him in.  He thinks to himself that and at least he hasn’t had enough time with him to really get attached.  Deacon tells Duke to stay close, then shoulders his rifle and takes aim.