The Dead Don't Bleed: Part 2, The Aftermath (21 page)

There was no immediate reply and Crusher could picture the scene on the bridge of the cutter as the crew discussed his refusal to help and what they should do next. Something inside of him told him that they were not going to simply take no for an answer.

"Navy flight, please understand. We have women and children on board the civilian ships, close to three hundred refuges. Many of them are sick or injured. We're all on the same team here, we once again respectfully request that you follow proper maritime laws and render aid and assistance."

Crusher
would have preferred that the guy had come back with a stream of insults and curses instead of keeping such a measured and professional tone. It would have made it much easier for him to deal with.

"Bertholf, we understand your situation however we are unable to assist. You are once again instructed to alter course to avoid entering our declared exclusion zone, will you comply?" His training had never covered a scenario quite like this so he was really just making it up as he went. His orders were to assess their intentions and take measures to keep them away f
rom the carrier. How he went about doing that had been left up to his own discretion.

"Crusher, check out the activity on the gun deck of the cutter." Huntress called out over their secure frequency.

She was in a better position to observe the cutter and he had to turn around in his seat to get eyeballs on the bow of the ship near the weapon stations. Several figures were visible running across the deck towards the big cannon as well as the bow mounted 20mm guns. It appeared that the ship’s crew was rushing to their battle stations, he considered that to be their answer to his last question.

"Yeah, I see it, stand by. Guntrain this is Champion 56. Be advised, the cutter is manning battle stations at this time. We can see crew taking up station on topside weapons platforms. Request instructions." Crusher informed the carrier.

While they had of rules of engagement to guide them, he didn't want there to be any confusion in this situation on exactly what actions they were allowed to take. There really wasn't a great deal they could do anyways, only their cannons would be of use against the surface ships and they would have to get well within the cutters own weapons range to use them. He didn't think they would be ordered to mount any type of attack, at least he hoped they wouldn't.

The warbling tone tha
t sounded in his helmet receiver told him that the cutters fire control radar was searching for them. If the tone turned from a stuttering warble to a solid it would tell him that they had a target lock on him with at least one of their weapons. Glancing out of his cockpit window he saw that Huntress had automatically started a series of erratic turns as both of them altered their course to put more distance between them and those weapons. Crusher was impressed to see how well his wingman was coming along, most novice pilots would not have started such maneuvers until instructed to do so. She had a lot of potential and he hoped that they all still had some kind of future left where she could really put those skills to use.

Once they were clear of the effective range of the cutters main gun
, Crusher keyed his radio again, "Bertholf this is Navy flight. We have detected activation of your weapons systems. You are ordered to stand down immediately, deactivate your targeting systems and steer clear of the exclusion zone. Failure to comply will be met with force without further warning. State your acknowledgment and intentions." He had dropped the professional tone from his voice and exchanged it with a much more forceful one that he hoped got the message across that he was deadly serious in his warning.

"Incoming!" cried Huntress over the radio.

Crusher craned his neck back towards the cutter and saw a small puff of white smoke blossoming out from its stern. A second and third eruption of smoke followed in quick succession. Seconds later, the first shell exploded harmlessly in the air almost a quarter mile short and just a little behind them. The shells were much more accurate than Crusher had anticipated, even though they were still out of range the explosions tracked their movements through the sky in a smooth arch as they kept themselves on the outer fringes of the guns maximum range. There was no longer any need to try raising the cutter on the radio again, their answer was crystal clear.

"Guntrain this is Champion 56, we are taking indirect fire from the cutter. We have moved out of weapons range and are maintaining station still in visible contact with the ships. Request instructions." Crusher informed the carrier.

There was a pause and a click over the radio that he recognized as another station coming on the line, "Champion 56 this is Cheyenne. Maintain your current heading and altitude." Nothing followed that command. Crusher understood the ominous message that had been conveyed, the order had been given to destroy the cutter.

Almost sixty seconds after contact from the Cheyenne he saw the cutter begin to roll hard to starboard and increase speed to maximum. A frosty spray of white sea churned high in its wake as it began a radical series of sharp evasive turns. The main gun depressed to an angle just above the choppy seas out in front of it and the cannon began firing in rapid succession at targets moving to low and fast for the eye to discern. The helicopter on the aft landing pad of the cutter lifted into the sky and assumed a course directly toward the distant carrier, Crusher knew that they would next be ordered to deal with that situation and adjusted his course to put them into an intercepting vector. They would continue maintaining a
standoff distance until the fireworks show was over and then move in and deal with the helo. Fifteen seconds later he picked out the telltale jet wash of half a dozen sea skimming Harpoon anti-ship missiles streaking in for the kill. The resulting explosion was nothing short of spectacular, the cutter was hit with three missiles all along its starboard side. The explosions ripped the superstructure free from the frame of the ship and sent pieces as large as buses skittering along the surface of the ocean out to several hundred yards. Seconds after being hit, the cutter came to a dead stop as smoke and fire leapt high into the sky above the twisted and mangled remains of the dying vessel. As Crusher and Huntress moved further to the east on a course that would allow them to intercept the helicopter, they spotted another pair of large explosions. Crusher was surprised that a strike on the two civilian vessels had been authorized, it wasn't something he had expected. He turned away from the smoke pyres marking the deaths of so many sick and injured civilians and tried not to think about how all they had wanted was a little help from their armed forces who they had mistakenly thought were still sworn to protect them. He understood the necessity of taking those ships out, ultimately it was probably a much more merciful death than what they would have otherwise faced. But it still made him sick to know that he had just been party to the slaughter of so many unarmed and defenseless civilians from his own country.

"Guntrain this is Champion 56. Confirm strike on all three ships, they are dead in the water and going down at this time." He reported. "A single MH-65c Dolphin was launched from the cutter prior to the strike and is now en-route towards the exclusion zone. Request instructions." That last part was unnecessary, he knew what would be expected of him. But he wanted someone above him to be the one to give the actual order.

The reply was terse and to the point, "engage and destroy."

He clicked his microphone twice to acknowledge the order.

"Huntress, stay on my six and back a little. I will take care of this one." He didn't relish the idea of shooting down yet another defenseless aircraft and preferred that her conscious stay as clear as possible with this.

The helicopter had dropped just above the waves and was pushing forward at an impressive speed, but it was not match for the F-18 stalking it. Crusher's advanced suite of targeting systems had no trouble picking out its target from the backdrop of the ocean. He selected his cannons to conserve their supply of missiles for a later day. Pushing forward on the throttle it took him only seconds to close the distance to within range of his multi-barreled Vulcan auto-cannon. The computer system lined up the shot for him and all he had to do was give a two second squeeze on the trigger to send a stream of 20mm rounds spurting out in a flash of tracer fire that resembled a solid laser beam. The beam crossed the path of the helicopter and signaled its end with a brief flash of light and smoke as the small craft exploded into hundreds of pieces scattering its remains over the sea below. By the time Crusher and Huntress overflew the spot where the
y had last seen the helicopter, they were able to see one large chunk of rotor as it slipped silently under the waves.

Crusher turned them back onto a flight path that would put them into the carriers landing pattern, signaled a successful attack and then instructed Huntress to follow his lead as they returned to base.

#

The ride back to the park was solemn, each of them remained quiet and lost in their own
thoughts. Miranda checked Cameron's arm and came to the conclusion that it was not broken but was at least sprained and would keep him from doing any heavy lifting for some time. The Percocet was kicking in and it was obvious that Cameron was no longer feeling any pain. She thought that he would end up sound asleep before too long and it was a good thing they didn't have far to drive. There was still a little hike ahead of them to get to the Ranger Station, but Cameron assured her that he would be able to stay awake and make it the rest of the way on his own power. Emily was regaining her color but was starting to offer complaints about pains in her back and legs. Miranda was once again glad for the short drive, after a period of rest it was likely that the woman's muscles were going to stiffen up to the point that she would barely be able to walk without assistance. Carrying her through the woods to the Ranger Station, along with all of their supplies, was not a thought she relished. Surprisingly, Doug offered not a single complaint, although he was clearly shaken up and worn out from their ordeal, he spent his time reassuring his wife that she was going to live while also refusing to pamper her. Miranda heard him whisper in Emily's ear for her to just "suck it up" and stop being a liability for everyone else. He was had clearly accepted their situation and the difference with how he now dealt with his wife was something to be proud of.

Garrett kept his eyes fixed tightly on the road ahead,
while leaving Doug and Cameron’s neighborhood he had to do some fancy driving and a lot of swerving to avoid zombies that descended on the road around them. As they put two or three streets behind them signs of zombies dwindled down to only a few here and there in yards and strips of woods. Garrett had lost friends in combat before, he had even mourned the loss of a brother to street violence after a night of hard drinking in a bar in downtown Baltimore, Maryland only a year earlier. However, none of those losses hit him as hard as Calvin. Over their years in the military together and after they both left the service, they had formed a bond that was closer than family. Forged over the blood and tears of lost comrades on the field of battle, the relationship between them was one that could never be understood by others who had not walked in their shoes. Losing Calvin also meant losing an important part of himself and Garrett did not think he would ever be the same again. Not only was Calvin's loss a great personal blow, but to the group as a whole it meant they were much weaker.

It was only a
four mile drive from the edge of the neighborhood to the park entrance, the main road remained clear of obstructions and they only noticed five or six undead over that distance. Entering the park, Garrett steered them onto the service road that would take them to the spot where Kyle's patrol car should still be parked marking the start of the path to the Ranger Station.

"STOP." Miranda cried out when they reached the start of the last bend before they reached their destination.

Garrett didn't waste time asking questions and instead mashed the brake pedal hard against the floor sending them skidding several feet into the grass beside the road.

Following Miranda's gaze Garrett peered through a break in the trees between them and the bend in the road. Kyle's patrol car was visible through the trees and walking around it in slow circles were four zombies. They didn't seem to have noticed the approach of the Range Rover and appeared content to simply stagger back and forth where they were for the time being. Garrett knew they could probably just stay parked where they were and cut through the woods to pick up the trail further down and out of sight. But he also could see a couple problems with that idea. The biggest issue would be the possibility of those zombies hearing them crashing through the woods and coming to investigate. Carrying their supplies through the woods would make it even more difficult to be stealthy and even without carrying anything he doubted that Emily or Doug would be very nimble while trying to pick their way through branches, tangles of tree roots covered in leaves and the rough terrain inherent with that kind of travel. They would be at a disadvantage if confronted with zombies in the woods where the trees and foliage would allow them to get uncomfortably close before Garrett and the others realized they were nearby. That same uneven terrain that would give Doug and his wife difficulty in navigating would work against them if they were forced into a close fight. The other troubling issue was that there were zombies that close to the shack to begin with. There was nothing else this deep in the park that could possibly be of interest to zombies
, the only rational explanation for their presence was that they had somehow figured out there were people back here.