Deadrise 2: Deadwar (25 page)

“Was is really a hellhound?” Sgt. Buffett stammered.

“Yep…and at least one superzombie. The Intel now is that at least six more have been sighted down at the farms. And more than likely they are all headed this way.”

The Sgt.’s eyes went wide and his mouth tightened. “What are we going to do?”

Larsen gave him a hard look. “You received the same orders as me Sgt. We hold our position.”

“But seven superzombies and a hellhound? There’s no way we can hold-“

“Shut up Sergeant!” Larsen barked. “Reinforcements are on the way. We are to hold this position until they arrive. Do you understand?”

“Yes Lieutenant.”

“Good. Where are your dogs?”

“Out on patrol. They were released just after we got the word from HQ.”

“Good. Now lets all take our positions.”

As Larsen climbed up to the firing platform on the back of the wall he quickly radioed HQ, alerting them of the situation and inquiring about reinforcements.

“What’s the word Lt?” Sgt. Buffett asked as Larsen propped his rifle on the rim.

“Bravo Two is on their way right now. Approaching Checkpoint One as we speak.”

Five more men… That would put them at ten total. Larsen wasn’t sure that would be enough. Maybe if they could disable the hellhound quickly, the Sentinels would be less likely to advance? Larsen almost snorted with laughter at the thought.

The sound of braying dogs somewhere in the distance sent of chill of liquid adrenaline coursing through Larsen’s blood. In quick succession his minds eye flashed Law, Corbett & DeBirk, all of their deaths replayed several times in the span of a second.

“The dog’s tipped us off earlier…” Larsen said, bracing himself for the coming fight.

For all the good it did…

CHAPTER 30

Monday, March 18, 2002

Rainbow Lake, UT

4:18 AM

Mac wearily pulled himself into the Command Center. There had been a red alert, which required that all soldiers and civilians go to designated spots, and Mac was supposed to report to Jenkins over five minutes ago but he had been unable to pull himself away from Mel; Her soft flesh, burning green eyes and searing touch had been all consuming. All consuming. That was the perfect phrase to describe his desire for her. She was always on his mind. When they were apart he could barely think straight because he missed her so and when they were together they spent all of their time naked, rutting like wild animals, time melting away. She brought out an elemental ferocity in him that he never knew existed. He warmth and energy fulfilled him, made him whole. He felt incomplete without it.

“What took you so damn long?” Jenkins barked at him.

“I took something to help me sleep. I’m groggy as hell.” It was a thin excuse, and they both knew it. Jenkins sized him up and it was clear he didn’t like what he saw.

“We got a situation here Mac.” Jenkins began explaining things to Mac, but he was only half aware of what the General was saying. He could feel Mel’s presence in his heart, indeed tickling his mind.

He doesn’t respect you.
It was as if he could hear her voice, whispering in his mind.

“Are you going out? Do you need me to hold down the fort?”

“What’s with you Mac?” Jenkins asked pointedly.

“What do you mean?”
He feels threatened by you.

“You haven’t been yourself lately? Is everything ok?”

The prying bastard… He should mind his on business!
“Everything is fine, Jenkins. I’ve just been having trouble sleeping. I took something last night and I’m still fuzzy. It’ll pass.”
Don’t explain yourself to the bastard!

“You don’t look so well…” Jenkins stared at him oddly.

“I’m fine, Jenkins.”

“Take a seat, Colonel. If I need you I’ll call on you.” Jenkins turned away, dismissing him.

The Bastard. You are a Council member! How dare he dismiss you like some subordinate!

Mac made to argue but Mel’s voice in his head stopped him.

No. Let him think he has control. Let him tighten his own noose. When they all turn on him, you will be there to take control…

Without another word Mac walked over and took a seat…

CHAPTER 31

Monday, March 18, 2002

Checkpoint Two, Kittewa UT

4:23 AM

They could hear the hummer coming up the canyon, its engine echoing through the night. The dogs had fallen silent over a minute ago, but they had heard nothing from the hellhound. And now a hummer was coming up the canyon.

“Command, we have a hummer coming up the canyon.” Larsen said into his radio.

“Copy Lieutenant.” Captain Jordan’s voice came back.

“I don’t see any headlights.” Sgt. Buffett said.

“You won’t either. Superzombies don't need lights to see. Maier? Zabrinski?”

“Yes sir?” the two privates called from their heavy machine gun nests.

“As soon as that vehicle is in range you light it up. Do you understand?”

“Yes sir!” they barked in tandem, eager to unleash their weapons firepower.

“Sgt. Buffett? Pvt. Budell? You keep a look out for that hound. If it’s going to try and flank us it will be now, while we're distracted" He could feel the adrenaline course through the unit, through himself. He wondered if Private Corbett was among the six superzombies in that vehicle.

“I can see it!” Pvt. Maier said. “Its lights are off but I can see it by the moonlight.”

“As soon as that motherfucker is in range…” Larsen snarled, seeing Law, Corbett and DeBirk killed once again. “OPEN FIRE!”

The roar of the two .60 caliber machine guns drowned out everything else. Larsen watched the twin trails of lead trace their way to the approaching hummer. The driver wasn’t about to play sitting duck though and began to weave the vehicle back and forth across the road even as the bullets peppered into its frame. A dark figure popped up from the top gunners hatch of the hummer and began to return fire. The moonlight wasn’t bright enough to make out any features, but Larsen knew it was a Superzombie.

The gunners shredded the Sentinel on top to pieces before it could shoot anything and now they zeroed in on the hummer and were unloading into it full force, but still it continued to advance. It was now only three hundred yards away. The detonator controls for the row of mortars on either side of the highway rested with him and he contemplated for the thousandth time whether or not he should trigger the explosives. There was no guarantee that it would destroy the hummer, but it would definitely block the road with fallen trees and other debris. But it was only one vehicle. The claymores had been designed for crowd control, wiping out hundred’s, maybe thousands of zombies as they advanced on Rainbow Lake, not single hummers. Suddenly, the front end of the hummer exploded in flames under the onslaught of machine gun fire and it began to decelerate.

Flashing light behind him caught his attention, and Larsen spun around to see Bravo Two's hummer come to a halt in the compound. Finally, the reinforcements were here.

“Look at that!” Exclaimed Pvt. Maier from his machine gun nest. Larsen turned back to the battle and saw that a pair of superzombies had exited the burning wreck and were charging the gate. Both machine gunners opened up again, desperate to bring their targets down.

Gunfire from behind caused Larsen to turn and he saw that Sgt. Gleason had exited the hummer and was firing into the darkness of the forest behind the wall. One other soldier had exited as well and the rest were scrambling out as fast as they could. Then re-living the nightmare, he saw the hellhound leap out of the darkness and tackle Sgt. Gleason to the ground, its giant fangs locked about his head. With a single tug it ripped Sgt. Gleason’s head of, chomped it twice and swallowed it. Two of the soldiers from Bravo Two had brought their weapons to bear and began shooting the hellhound.

Over the gunfire Larsen could hear Pvt. Zabrinski scream “GRENADE!” He turned to look at the far machine gunner. The Zabrinski was scrambling to get out of his nest, his face wide with terror. Then the grenade exploded. The blast gutted Pvt. Zabrinski and nearly tore him in two, tossing his eviscerated body onto the road behind the wall.

The superzombies were throwing grenades!

“You fucking bastards!” Pvt. Maier screamed. His concentrated fire blew the legs off one superzombie and now he targeted the second.

Lieutenant Larsen froze. He just didn’t know what to do. Death was closing in from all around and he was paralyzed with fear.

Get your shit together Larsen!
He thought of his wife Tina and his boy, Stan. They would need his protection. That was all the motivation he needed. Indecision left him replaced with cold, hard determination. He looked over the wall and saw that Pvt. Maier had taken out the second superzombie only fifty feet from the checkpoint wall. That resolved he gave his full attention to the hellhound.

The concentrated fire of the three remaining members of Bravo Two had driven the hellhound away, but it had snatched up Sgt. Gleason’s headless body before it leapt away into the darkness. Before Larsen could bring the chaos under control, shots rang out from the night. Bullets tore through the checkpoint camp. Private Billy McCain of Bravo Two was shot it the stomach and fell to the ground writhing. Pvt. Budell of Bravo Three took a bullet in the throat as he scrambled for cover. He saw no sign of Sgt. Buffett.

“Fuck this!” Larsen snarled. This position was overrun. An unknown number of superzombies had a hidden, elevated line of fire down into the camp. The hellhound was out there, somewhere.

Larsen leapt down from the firing platform along the back of the wall and took cover behind his own Humvee. He looked up to see Pvt. Maier had swung his M-60 machinegun around and began firing into the darkness. The damn fool, he was just drawing attention to himself. And sure enough, several bullets chewed up the sandbags surrounding the nest, but miraculously none hit Maier.

“Fallback to Checkpoint One!” he screamed aloud when there was a momentary break in the gunfire. He turned to look at Maier up in the machinegun nest. “Maier! C’mon!” he waved the Pvt. to come to him. Larsen moved up the length of his hummer, opening the passenger door and slipping inside. He stayed low and slid across the seat behind the wheel. The keys were still in the ignition. Just as he was preparing to start it Pvt. Maier appeared and slid into the passenger seat.

“Are you hurt?”

“No sir.” Pvt. Maier replied. Outside he could see that Pvt. Maxwell Callahan and Pvt. Ben Sanchez, the last two members of Bravo Two had climbed back inside their hummer.

“Radio Home. Inform then that the Checkpoint Two has fallen.” Larsen barked as he started the hummer. He put it in gear and peeled away…

CHAPTER 32

Monday, March 18, 2002

Rainbow Lake, UT

4:30 AM

While the Rainbow Lake defenses were focused on the attack from the canyon, another half-dozen Sentinels in full battle gear emerged from the woods at the north side of the lake. It had taken them several nights to get this close, always moving under the cover of darkness and flanking far around behind the lake to come in from the north side. The attack had been ready to go for over a week, but the Krylok Overseer in charge had held back, waiting for this half dozen to get into place. Due to the close proximity of the mountain and general ruggedness of the terrain it was the weakest point in the perimeter defenses.

Two of the Sentinels moved toward the nearest occupied homestead while the remaining four took off at a full bore run along the jogging path that encircled the perimeter of Rainbow Lake.

Even as these agents of chaos dispersed, another pair of Sentinels several hundred yards up the mountainside behind them had set up a mortar and began lobbing explosive shells down onto the community…

The four Sentinels ran at full speed along the narrow jogging trail that encircled the lake, coming around the northwest curve. They came upon a pair of sentries and shot them both dead without missing a step. They would reanimate minutes later as zombies and add to the chaos.

Two of the Sentinels branched off, swinging away from the trail and emerging onto the main perimeter road and continued ahead full speed. Almost immediately they were spotted by another pair of sentries who focused the beam of a searchlight on them. Instantly the call went out over the radio that superzombies were in the perimeter!

CHAPTER 33

Monday, March 18, 2002

Rainbow Lake, UT

4:40 AM

Matt stood out on the rear balcony of his bedroom and watched another mortar land on the far side of the lake, destroying a small cottage home. It was the third home that had been destroyed. The total number of dead was impossible to know.

Behind him his radio crackled.

“Command to all units. Status update… Checkpoint Two has fallen. Superzombies are in the perimeter! I repeat; Checkpoint Two has fallen and superzombie’s are within the perimeter!” Matt hurried back inside where Susan had been resting on the bed.