As the group looked at the ash filled medic ward with different degrees of emotions, Speke slowly meandered into the room. his feet echoed off the walls as the fire made the room sparse of anything that would dampen noise. "There were fifteen, no sixteen, guys in this room. Most of them were guards, but all of them were bitten trying to get this man," Speke said pointing to the ashen body on the burned out bed, "handcuffed to the cot. Now, our colonel said he was the first one."
"This colonel, is he around?" Gerry asked and Speke looked at him with a laugh and waved a hand to the twitchting dead fingers.
"Yep, feel free to ask him any questions you like," Speke said. Gerry sighed as the Doc walked into the room and looked around at the situation. He looked at the bound corpse and dropped to a knee to get a good look.
"This man, the one shackled, do you know who or what bit him?" Dr. Fassbach asked. Speke looked at the man and nodded as he got a distant stare recalling events.
"He was the base doctor," he started. "He just got back from the field, after being sent out to verify the death of a soldier. Said soldier had gone AWOL the week before and when he was found by some villagers he didn't look good. Foaming at the mouth, oozing some black tar substance. When they tried to help the guy he tried to bite one of them, which earned him a gut shot for his troubles. After that they tied him up and threw him in the barn, where our lovely doc took a look at him. Next thing we know the docs back, attacking his own patience and ending with the mess you see here."
"Do you know where the soldier came from?" Dr. Fassbach asked. Speke shook his head as his memories of the horrible moment replayed in his head. "Any one he might have come in contact with?" the doctor asked again and Speke shook his head again. "Let me see the base doctors records." Speke looked at the doc and sighed as he waved a hand to a corner. Everyone looked over and saw the burned out remains of a file cabinet. Gerry blew out a breath and the Doc looked annoyed.
"You're welcome to take a look if you want, though I'd take a guess and say you aren't going to find what you're looking for," Speke says.
"Then the origin could have come from anywhere" Gerry says and the doc tries to find the next question to ask.
"Sorry you folks had to waste fuel to come all the way out here to find that out" Speke says walking back to stand next to Gerry. Ellis at his point strolls slowly into the room with a bum knee looking a little lost. Gerry looks into the room and mindlessly asks another question.
"How did you all escape this..." he says, waving a hand. Ellis smiled and turned around while patting his gun.
"The expenditure of ammunition Mr. Investigator" Ellis says.
"Is that how you tweaked your leg?" Gerry asked as he watched the soldier slowly move into the room. The doc is still just kneeling there but looks over at the question. Ellis looks down at the injury and shakes his head.
"No, shits been bugging me for a few months now," he answers. Speke chuckles and points at Ellis.
"This fool, stands right in the mix of them as seven or eight turn Zeke all at the same time" Speke says. "Yet they got no time for Ol' Dirty Bastard here, as they're biting everything like fat kids love Candy." Ellis smirks as he walks out leaving the doctor looking curious. "Got no time for his lucky ass," Speke says while walking away from the medic wing.
"Ain't it obvious I'm charmed?" Ellis says following his captain. Gerry follows and everyone passes the couple who are eyeing the doc. He was the new variable in this world as he should have died on the plane. Yet here he is, looking like he's putting pieces together.
"No time..." Dr. Fassbach says the following behind Gerry.
"Shit might be wrapping up faster than we thought" Logan said and Akane frowned.
"I hope not, I want my action scenes" she says as they both move to walk behind the doc and Gerry. The group doesn't make it far before the shouts of crazy have Gerry and the doc flicking their gaze over to a prisoner in a cell. Speke and Ellis sigh as the man rambles about this and that, though the doc and Gerry are hearing the key points that have them walking over. Logan and Akane sigh and follow. "~More expository bullshit~" Akane says in a sing-song voice.
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"Jurgen Warmbrunn" the crazed ex CIA agent whispers to Fassbach and Gerry. "That's the man in Jerusalem you want to see. his worlds have the two entranced enough that they look at one another and plans are made. Gerry leads the doctor back to the front and takes control of the SEAL team.
"We're going to Jerusalem. I'm your co-pilot" he said and the team nodded as Gerry walked past them to find a private moment. The doctor stays with the team who are regearing for the refueling and takeoff mission. Logan and Akane start to roam and talk with the base soldiers curious about how fleshed out they are. they knew this was a movie and these were nameless background characters, but yet this was a technically living and breathing world to some degree. Surprisingly they struck some gold as soldiers practically vomited up their own little backstories.
Most were still very generic though a few held tragic stories of final calls with family or friends before shit went bad. By the end the couple had a bag of letters that they gave to the pilot. They remembered he survived to head back to the carrier, so he would be handing out the letters. Gerry returned a few moments later and looked miffed as everyone was about ready.
Speke walked over to the man and handed him a ring that made him look even sad as he gazed at Speke. "No" Gerry said but Speke wasn't having it.
"My mother, Dallas, is likely pacing a hole in the floor right now...if she's still there," Speke said. "I'm not saying I'm dying, man, just saying you might see her before I do, that's all." Gerry looked stressed at the responsibility but nodded all the same as he pocketed the ring. "alright people!" the Captain shouted, gaining the attention of his men and women. "We've only got one shot at this refuel, so let's get it right. If you ain't a crack shot, don't aim for the head, just get the fucker on the ground. Spines divine, knees work just fine!" he shouted out before the door opened and the light went out.
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The rain was still heavy, and the darkness leaving the mundane eye useless, though thankfully the base had a few spare night vision goggles that the SEALS and Couple were now wearing. As the group left the Quonset hut the base soldiers swarmed left and right as Gerry's group biked into a water canal to get back to the plane. The creak of pedals earned the group an eerie mood, though Akane ignored the tense atmosphere as she Lazily swayed on her bike back and forth behind Logan who kept it straight. As they biked, the soldiers who had left them took overwatch up above and were ready for the first dead to show up.
Speke was giving out orders as he had left for the fuel truck. Gerry gazed into every offshoot of the canal they passed growing more nervous from each and every one. Logan did as well but mostly focused on the path. He was frowning as he remembered something triggered the dead to swarm them, but he couldn't piece together what.
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Karin sat on her bunk with her youngest fast asleep, looking lost in her thoughts. she gazed down at the girl and thoughts of her husband, and his possible death leaving her worried. she soon grabbed the Sat phone that was searching for him as their call had been cut off by the storm over Gerry. though a moment later and the satellite pinged that it found her husband and tried to make a call.
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Gerry and the group breached the canal and were now biking through the protective barriers. They were nearly home free when a SEAL member snagged his jacket on the barbed wire of a barrier. The man didn't make a sound as he started to pull the wire off, though it was at that time Gerry's phone went off. Logan raised his brow as he just remembered what spooked the dead as Gerry cursed and tried to get his phone that was stuck in his pocket. The damage was done however as the dead on the same barrier the SEAL got caught started to twitch.
Logan and Akane pulled out handguns as Ellies rang out to the soldiers on coms when the twitching dead signaled the shouts and screeches of the dead nearby.
"Looks like we've just woken the dead," he says nonchalantly.
"Uh, out of respect for others, please turn off all pagers and cell phones." Speke said over coms next as Gerry finally turned off the phone. A SEAL member dropped the dead on the barbed wire with a silent shot from his sidearm, as the trapped SEAL member finally freed himself. With that done everyone put their legs to work as they peddled their bikes as fast as they could, Though the Dead were moving fast and coming from all sides. The SEALS took shots here or there with their sidearms while Logan and Akane kept close to the doctor and Gerry. They didn't waste rounds on the dead as overwatch stepped in and started taking down the slowly growing hoard. Then came Speke in the tanker truck as he barreled through the dead with a smile.
"I'll make a path, you all just put the pedal to the metal" he shouted from the driver side as he did just what he preached. The truck rammed forward killing off a few dead as he pulled it around to fuel. Akane and Logan pushed forward grabbing Gerry and the Doc on the back, using their boosted strength to move the two faster. Speke stopped the truck and jumped out, grabbing the fuel hose. He rammed it home into the gas tank and the truck did the rest. Akane got the doc to the plane fast and hop off her bike.
She practically pulled the Doc with her off his bike and shoved him to a SEAL to carry up the ramp.
"Akane!" Logan shouted and she whipped her rifle up and put a hole through the head of the barreling undead heading for her husband and Gerry. She then took up defense as she dropped a few dead running up. Logan leaped off his bike with Gerry, and made it to the plane as the two were passed off to a SEAL. With that done Logan remembered this part of the movie clearly and decided to give his two cents' to the plot. Speke had his gun out and helped the team load into the plane from the side by taking shots at the running dead, this made him miss the dead reaching for his leg. Logan didn't however and with three clean shots sent the reaching plot point to its final rest.
Speke finally looked down and caught his near infection before looking back up to Logan with impressed eyes, as the tall man moved on to send a few more dead to their final rest while walking up the ramp. Speke unhooked the fuel tank and hooked it back to the truck. He hopped back in and drove it off as his overwatch picked off the dead that followed behind him. The plane was fueled and secured, not a single person from the group lost, and Gerry and the doc sat down safe and sound. Logan and Akane high fived from the rush of death before walking over and taking their own seats.
As they did, Speke rang the coms one last time. "We hope you all have enjoyed your boarding experience with Air Humphrey's, and have a safe flight" Speke said before ending the communication with, "hope you find out how to win this..."