"Alright Listen," Gerry said as he put away his satellite phone and turned to the young doctor. "If you haven't already understood the situation, then I'll explain it now. Those guys," he says as he points to the SEALS team, "and the ones' who gave you that gear," he then points to Logan and Akane, "Are the ones going to keep us alive." The Doctor nods as he looks at both groups. "We're headed into hell and that means we need to listen to every word they say. If they move, we move. If they stop, we stop. When things get crazy, and they will, just focus on their boots and keep up with them."
The Doc grew nervous as Gerry kept talking and it was visible to see. Gerry did his best to show they were safe with the men. "These guys are hammers, and to a hammer, everything looks like nails."
"I heard that," one of the men said while checking his gear.
"You were meant to," Gerry said back, earning a chuckle from the plane.
"Speaking of hammers and nails," Akane said, gaining attention from the plane. "How much do you boys know about our enemy combat wise?" she asked. The men looked at one another before the team leader answered.
"We've done a few rescues and got a good understanding of their capabilities. Though you had a few days in the thick of it, got some advice you wanna share?" he both answered and asked. Akane grew surprised at the elite soldier willing to listen to advice.
"Aim for the head, silence will get you far, and never leave your back exposed" Logan answered as he familiarized himself with his handgun. He then went into further detail explaining the classic zombie survival techniques most understand when they watch enough movies. The Men tuned in and a few pulled out suppressors and removed their bullet proof plateting. The couple wasn't looking to keep the men alive, but would give them the tools to have a fighting chance.
"See what I mean?" Gerry asked sarcastically as he waved a hand at Logan's knowledge on killing the dead. "So, you see something important? You call it out and we'll make it happen."
"Okay," Dr. Fassbach said, feeling a bit more ready for what was to come.
"You think we're going to find anything?" Gerry asked, looking doubtful. The doc looked ecstatic as he nodded.
"Yeah, yeah we're going to find something" the doc said. "Mother nature is the world's greatest serial killer to ever exist. No one's better, more creative, and like all serial killers she can't help but to get caught. She likes to leave crumbs, and those crumbs are why I spent a decade in school. Each one is a clue to find the weakness of her machinations, like how sometimes the thing you thought was the most brutal aspect of the virus, turns out to be the chink in the armor. See, Mother nature loves to disguise her weaknesses as strengths, and that is what we will find, the chink in the armor..."
Gerry and the crew listened to the doctor's words intently, enraptured by his words and the fervor he delivered them. in the silence of his final line the sound of electronic pleasant music rang out and everyone looked over to see Akane playing on her DS.
"~I want to be the very best, like no one ever was~" the petite Japanese woman mumbled out, completely ignoring the doctor's words.
#####
"Everyone wake up, we're on approach to Camp Humphreys" the pilot sounded over the intercom while flicking on the lights. "Most of the base is dark, and no one is manning the tower, we're running on fumes and we need to land." Everyone opened their eyes and shook off the sleep as the plane started to land. The bounce of wheels touching down shook the plane and everyone got ready. The formation had the SEALS in the front, Doc and Garry in the middle with Akane and Logan holding up the rear, and sticking close to the civilians.
With a final confirmation the plane's back ramp dropped open into a dark and heavy rain. no one could see barely a foot in front of themselves yet the SEALS moved out into a four man position. The doc was pale as he gazed out at the bodies on the nearby barbed wired defense. He couldn't see what was out there and that unknown fear had him shaking. Gerry held up the Doc as the team scanned the perimeter while Logan and Akane shouldered their own guns. with a wave Gerry walked with the doc down the ramp and it was that moment that contact happened.
With a second to pick up the patter of feet one of the team shifted and put two rounds into a dead chest, sending it to the ground. two more teammates popped a few rounds in the head to end the thing. it was a bad call as another dead came running into a flying lunge at the two who turned. Akane put a round into its head killing it before it could bite one of them, yet they still fell to the ground from the momentum of the leap. The doc seeing two men fall panicked and ran back leaving a scanning Gerry.
"Doc wait!" he whispered as the young man ran up the ramp. He started to slip but Logan caught the scared man and held him to his feet.
"Keep your head doc," Logan said as he adjusted the helmet the couple brought for the man. He then turned the young man around and shoved him into Gerry's arms. He reshouldered as more dead could be heard coming. It was a sporadic grouping as two or three would show up feet away, but the group handled the random attack with a three round burst. The SEAL team grew more uniform as they got used to the attack style of the dead, and Logan and Akane enjoyed picking off what the team missed. The fight didn't last too long before backup arrived. They were clearly well learned about the enemy and how to fight them as they dropped them just as well as Akane and Logan.
With a rush the base team rushed to our position and took charge of the situation. While they did Akane looked over and saw that amazingly the SEALS team were still all alive. It would seem that the little lesson in undead combat gave the men a fighting chance. Their shots were silent and they knew where to aim for a confirmed kill, thus they dropped bodies faster than the dead rushed them. as the leader of the base team waved a hand, Gerry led the Doc down the ramp again. Logan and Akane followed close, dropping a few more that ran towards them.
"Let's go, go, go!" the base's team leader shouted and rushed back to safety. it was hectic as the group, now in the double digits, silently rushed forward dropping dead after dead with suppressed fire. Logan and Akane stuck close to the doc and Gerry, as was their job, and cleanly put down dead after dead that got too close, or was missed by the outer force. One of the base soldiers nearly got taken down but Logan sent a round into the leg of the dead, making it tumble towards the group. The young soldier put a round in its head before moving forward.
The run wasn't too long as they came up on a secure Quonset Hut. With a tuned bang the door opened and everyone rushed in as two soldiers ran out to cover the group's entry. As the returning men and women walked through the front door a soldier checked the group's eyes to see if any were infected before moving past.
"Who did we lose?" the soldier in charge asked.
"No one, sir" a soldier answered and the man sighed in relief.
"Alright, reload and keep up the perimeter" the Leader commanded and received a "YES SIR" from his men and women. He then turned to new comers with clear questions, "So what the fuck are you all doing here?" He asked. Gerry took charge as he spoke for the doc who was still in shock.
"We're here for him to help find the cure for whatever this hell is." Gerry said. Everyone looked over to the doc with a raised brow and the leader snorted.
"Well shucks, you know how to make a guy feel special" he said. "So, how did our little slice of hell catch your eye?" he asked. Dr. Fassbach looked a little out of it but Gerry shook him and he collected himself.
"This was the first place that sent information on the virus taking over the world, we're here to see your records and understand how this all started" the doc answered. The soldiers looked at one another as the leader laughed looking at his magazine. His laughter had the effect of leaving the air cold as he didn't answer the doc.
"You seem like you've all fought a zeke before?" A base soldier question, breaking the tension of the moment. The SEALS team all looked over to Logan and Akane who were taking a sip from their canteens. They noticed the attention and Akane smiled with a wave while Logan winked.
"Yeah, they were with me in Philly, Newark" Gerry answered for them.
"Bad?" the Leader asked and Gerry nodded his head slightly. His response soon had soldiers from all over the base start asking about hometowns and cities that their loved ones were in.
"Boys and girls, Olympus has fallen, the President and V.P are gone, and we saw a map over the world slowly losing this fight" Akane said as she finished her drink. The Soldiers looked crestfallen at the news yet Akane wasn't done. "I said we're losing, not that we're dead already. That's why we're here, to get the doc where he needs to be to find the answer to win this fight." Again, everyone looked over at the doc and he shivered from the attention.
"Well, then I guess will show you our... records" with slow steps the leader, Captain Speke as he finally introduced himself, and his second in command Ellis lead the doc, Gerry, and the couple to their records. when they came upon the ashen remains of the medical wing everyone but the couple grew crestfallen. a single bright bulb let up the wing and showed the burned remains of bodies, beds, and unfortunately in the corner the records they came for.
The Doc and Gerry looked at the mess and sighed while Akane found the fun little tidbit she liked in the movie. At the edge of the ashen remains was the partial hand of the undead and was still twitching looking for its next prey.
"God, that is so fucking creeper seeing with my own eyes" she mumbled only to Logan as she watched the thing wriggle around. she started to walk into the room to poke it, but Logan read her mind and pulled her back to his side.