People on the rooftop screamed when the chopper crashed, and even more screamed when they saw that the chopper crashed in front of approaching zombies. Joel looked on for a moment before acting.
"Knox, set up here and start picking those things off. Keep them off that chopper. Carlos, do you have any snipers?"
"Yes, Peppers! Set up and give the Marine a hand."
"Yes sir."
The Marine and Delta snipers set up their rifles and began picking zombies off from over 800 yards away.
"Hansen, we're taking the Humvees and we're going to get those people out of there. I'm not leaving anyone behind for those things to eat."
"Yes sir."
"Medics, I'll need you to load the wounded and dead. I can't spare my men for that out there."
The Marines reattached to the rappelling lines and began jumping over the side to the gym parking lot and they're parked Humvees. Joel then addressed Carlos once more.
"I need you to stay here and watch over these people. If we don't make it, try to wait it out. Keep online for that airlift and get these people out of here."
"You got it, and watch yourself out there."
Joel nodded before launching himself over the edge of the roof and into peril. His Marines were already loading into the Humvees and preparing their weapons.
"I want each .50 up, manned by a rifleman. I want as much firepower as possible ready to be deployed. We're going to form a triangle in front of that chopper and lay down crossing fields of fire to hold off those zombies while our medics load them into the Humvees."
The three vehicles sped out of the parking lot and across the street. They ramped the curb and drove directly to the down chopper. Smoke billowed from the interior and a small fire burned around the canopy. The Humvees formed the V in front of the downed craft and Marines debarked and fanned out before them save for the three manning the .50's. The four medics ran to the chopper and began extricating bodies from the wreckage.
"Fire at will!"
Fully automatic fire blasted from the .50 caliber machine guns on the roof's of the Humvees and ripped zombies to pieces. Baker used his M249 SAW to a similar effect and was mowing down zombies left and right. Gregory launched a grenade from his M-4/203 combo and blew a cluster of zombies apart as Dell did the same. Hansen and Stanton where each putting zombies down with well placed rounds to the head while Johnson, Crisp, and Prince continued to blast away with the .50's.
Joel had just blown another zombie's head apart when a medic came up and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Sir, the girl in there, she's hurt real bad and pinned under part of the wreckage. I don't know if we can get her out."
Joel knew he was talking about Julie and rushed to the chopper to see. Julie lay bleeding beneath a section of the roof which had collapsed on her and pinned her to the floor. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth while her eyes locked onto Joel's.
"J-J-Joel..."
He kneeled down beside here and held her hands in his.
"Shh... you're going to be alright Julie. You're going to be fine. You just hold on now, do you hear me? I'm going to get you out of here, and we're going to get you patched up just fine."
Julie coughed and a gob of blood spattered the floor of the chopper.
"I'm not going to make it... am I?"
"No, you hold on girl. You are going to make it. By my god in heaven you are going to make it!"
She grinned slightly and coughed again.
"You were always the optimist Joel..."
Julie then went into a fit of coughing and then lay still. Her eyes closed and she did not breathe again.
Joel's adrenaline peaked and he grunted and lifted the collapsed section off of her body. He looked down at her crushed body and saw the knife jutting from her side. His eyes watered and the world turned crimson before him. He whirled around and saw Bunse leaning against the rear bumper of a Humvee, trying to avoid his gaze.
"YOU BASTARD!"
Joel rushed Bunse and before the large man could react, threw a monstrous right hook into his jaw. Bunse's eyes closed and he collapsed from the impact. But before he hit the ground Joel was on him again and he was lifted up, his large feet completely clearing the ground.
"I'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch!"
Joel wrapped his hands around Bunse's neck and was strangling him when a medic called out to him.
"Wait sir, she's still alive! We need to get her back to the gym immediately, I need the supplies there. She's got heavy injuries and if we don't attend to her soon, she really will die."
Joel released Bunse and let him fall to the ground gasping for air. He helped the medic lift Julie's limp form into the back of a Humvee then got in the drivers seat.
"Mount up Marines, we're heading back. Cease fire."
Simultaneously the Marines stopped firing, and the snipers back on the roof held their fire as well. The three Humvees began to roll out when Hansen called to Joel.
"What about Bunse sir?"
"Leave him."
The Marines drove off without looking back and returned to the safety of the gym. Joel carried Julie inside while the medics and Marines loaded the wounded crew inside and Hansen and Gregory re-secured the Humvees. Across the street, Bunse screamed as the zombies closed in on him and tore him to pieces. There were far too many zombies for even a fat man like Bunse to remain uneaten and he was completely consumed. Only bones and ragged bits of flesh remained. Upon finishing their meal, the zombies seemed to lose focus and milled about aimlessly in the Walmart parking lot.
On the roof of the gym in a makeshift medical tent, the two medics attended to Julie meticulously under the watchful eye of Joel. They paid careful attention to every detail having seen Joel's wrath and not wishing to invoke such a powerful response themselves. After nearly an hour and a half of incomprehensible ministrations, the lead medic reported to Joel.
"We've managed to stabilize her condition and we gave her a transfusion of blood to replace what she lost. There is no internal bleeding, and near as we can tell her no internal organs were damaged. We stitched her wound, but she does have several broken ribs. We've set those as best we can and she should be fine in a few weeks. Her overall mobility will be down for a while, but she should be fine. I've given her some antibiotics to make sure the wound doesn't get infected, and after she rests, she'll be perfectly ok."
"Thank you very much Corporal. She means a lot to me."
"Yes sir, I can tell."
Joel smiled before asking the medic, "How are the rest of the crew?"
"The two pilots are fine, one broke a finger and the other has a bruised testicle, don't ask me how that happened, and the two crew chiefs are in the best shape of anyone. Perfectly ok."
"That's great news. Thank you for all your hard work Corporal, I don't know what we would have down without you and your men and supplies."
"Its no problem sir, we gonna attend to the Delta wounded now, they got mostly some superficial wounds, bruises and abrasions. Do any of your men have any wounds?"
"Well you can ask them, but they should all be in top shape."
"Yes sir."
The medic went about his duties on the rooftop with his companions, administering to wounds and any complaints the civilians had. Joel went over towards where Julie was laying and sat by her side for a few moments while waiting for things to calm down. He unclipped his helmet and pulled it off his head. He sat for a moment longer and rubbed his scalp relieving tension.
He looked at sleeping form and sighed when Hansen walked up to him.
"Sarge, we did a check on our supplies and ammo. We're running low on food for all these people, and we're down a couple hundred rounds on the 50.'s. But we're lucky that we've been holding off on really engaging these things, we're still ok for ammo for the small arms. And even better we have enough explosives to level this entire school if we wanted to."
Joel cracked a smile.
"Outstanding. Go ahead and radio C&C for another supply drop, since that seems to be the only thing they can give us. And ask for an evac too, but we already know the answer."
"Yes sir. We're sorry we can't redirect airlift to you right now, but we will get you evacuated as soon as possible. Is there anything else you need?"
Joel and Hansen both laughed and Hansen moved off to the radio set, leaving Joel to his thoughts. Hours passed and eventually civies began filing back inside to the gym to sleep or eat. Joel remained at Julie's side all the while, sitting and staring off into space. Gregory and another Delta operator remained on watch but gave him a wide berth and allowed him the privacy he needed.
Joel was daydreaming when a familiar voice interrupted his reverie.
"Hey hot stuff, I thought you might be hungry so I brought you some soup."
Joel turned and saw Kristine sauntering over with a cup of steaming soup in her hands.
"Geez, thanks. You really didn't have to. That's just too nice of you."
He gratefully accepted the soup, but somewhat less gratefully accepted Kristine's company as she sat down next to him.
"So that was really brave of you today, going after them like that. You're a hero."
"It's my job. If you didn't notice, all my Marines went out after those people today because it's all of our jobs. This is what we do. It's our mission to protect you all. If it were you out there, you could be damned sure that all of us would be out there too, doing our best to get you back to safety."
"That's sweet. I wish I had a boyfriend like you again. You always knew how to make a girl feel special. So is there anyone special for you now?"
"Uh, no. I've been going it alone pretty much since I got in the Corps. And I just made Recon last year, so I have been really busy and had no time for a relationship. It's all just training and more training."
"Aww, that's so sad... I think you need a girlfriend. Hey, since we've broke up, have you ever thought about me? I mean, I've thought about you, a lot more recently. I never really meant to hurt you when I dumped you, it was just something I hadda do ya know?"
"Uh yah, I understand. It's fine don't worry about it. No hard feelings right? So we're good now. I just gotta go and hit the shower and clean up before lights out. Later Kristine."
Joel stood up before she could say another word and walked to the entrance door. He headed downstairs and into the men's locker room. Once inside he quickly stripped off his combat gear and BDU's and headed for the shower. Then he let the hot water run over him and wash away his sweat and the soreness in his body.
When he finished and went back out into the gym and the lights were out and most everyone was asleep. As usual there were still a few hushed conversations going on courtesy of the teenagers lying around in groups and Joel nodded at the police officers who were standing watch over the slumbering mass of people. In a fresh set of BDU's and cleanly shaven, he walked back up the stairs to the roof and the medical tent.
The night sky was clear and the stars were brightly shining in the darkness. The moon alone was enough to illuminate the surrounding area almost as well as in the daylight and Joel sat on the roof and looked out at the land. The pale white light and shadows cast a beautiful, almost surreal halo over the landscape. Joel fell asleep on the roof, looking out at the town.
The sound of a chopper hovering close woke Joel from his slumber and he looked up to see a Chinook above the school. Not just one this time, but several. Six of the extra large cargo choppers were hovering in the air above the gym and the radio blared next to Johnson.
"Romeo 1, Romeo 1, this is Echo 4. We are your evac and are ready of land and load the civies. Can you clear a zone for use?"
"Roger than Echo 4, damned good to hear from you. We'll have an LZ clear in a minute."
"Copy Romeo 1. Standing by."
"Lets go Marines, lets clear an area. We're getting out of here! Carlos! Can you round up the civies and separate them into groups suitable for load into a Chinook."
"We're on it, Delta lets move!"
The Delta operators bolted down the entrance stairs and began rounding up the civilians. They were quick to comply once they heard they were being evacuated. The Delta squad and the police quickly corralled them into groups of forty and set them in order against the wall to wait for their turn to load.
"First group, follow me. We're going to come up and approach the rear of the chopper and load through the big ramp in the back. You can't miss it. Let's go."
The first group was ushered up the stairs and loaded the first chopper. It took off and flew to the west. Joel signaled the second chopper down and loading continued this way for another half hour until all of the civilians were gone and there was still room on the last chopper.
"Sergeant, you can put as many of you're officers on the chopper as you can, the rest of us are going to have to go back in convoy."
"Well we have enough vehicles with us, we can all go with you, there's safety in numbers."
"If you want, this is the last chance to get on that chopper."
"No sir, it wouldn't feel right leaving you all behind."
"You're a far braver man than I sergeant."
Joel waved the crew chief of the chopper and he went back into the ramp and shut it. The pilot waved at them from the cockpit and the chopper rose into the air and then was gone.
"Well, I guess we'd best get going. Gather up whatever supplies are left in here and load them into the vehicles. My Humvees will lead and Delta can hitch rides with us. We'll want as much firepower up front as possible if we run into any trouble. Let's double time it."
The thirty plus men rushed into action, collecting medical supplies and ammunition and storing them in the vehicles. Ten minutes later, the convoy was assembled in the parking lot and ready to move out. All the men loaded into their vehicles and moved out.
Minutes later they were speeding down the road heading towards the college stadium. And a minute after that, they ran into a major roadblock. Zombies filled the street from building to building.
Author's note: Please review my story, it's my first and I would like to hear what you have to say on it.
"Knox, set up here and start picking those things off. Keep them off that chopper. Carlos, do you have any snipers?"
"Yes, Peppers! Set up and give the Marine a hand."
"Yes sir."
The Marine and Delta snipers set up their rifles and began picking zombies off from over 800 yards away.
"Hansen, we're taking the Humvees and we're going to get those people out of there. I'm not leaving anyone behind for those things to eat."
"Yes sir."
"Medics, I'll need you to load the wounded and dead. I can't spare my men for that out there."
The Marines reattached to the rappelling lines and began jumping over the side to the gym parking lot and they're parked Humvees. Joel then addressed Carlos once more.
"I need you to stay here and watch over these people. If we don't make it, try to wait it out. Keep online for that airlift and get these people out of here."
"You got it, and watch yourself out there."
Joel nodded before launching himself over the edge of the roof and into peril. His Marines were already loading into the Humvees and preparing their weapons.
"I want each .50 up, manned by a rifleman. I want as much firepower as possible ready to be deployed. We're going to form a triangle in front of that chopper and lay down crossing fields of fire to hold off those zombies while our medics load them into the Humvees."
The three vehicles sped out of the parking lot and across the street. They ramped the curb and drove directly to the down chopper. Smoke billowed from the interior and a small fire burned around the canopy. The Humvees formed the V in front of the downed craft and Marines debarked and fanned out before them save for the three manning the .50's. The four medics ran to the chopper and began extricating bodies from the wreckage.
"Fire at will!"
Fully automatic fire blasted from the .50 caliber machine guns on the roof's of the Humvees and ripped zombies to pieces. Baker used his M249 SAW to a similar effect and was mowing down zombies left and right. Gregory launched a grenade from his M-4/203 combo and blew a cluster of zombies apart as Dell did the same. Hansen and Stanton where each putting zombies down with well placed rounds to the head while Johnson, Crisp, and Prince continued to blast away with the .50's.
Joel had just blown another zombie's head apart when a medic came up and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Sir, the girl in there, she's hurt real bad and pinned under part of the wreckage. I don't know if we can get her out."
Joel knew he was talking about Julie and rushed to the chopper to see. Julie lay bleeding beneath a section of the roof which had collapsed on her and pinned her to the floor. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth while her eyes locked onto Joel's.
"J-J-Joel..."
He kneeled down beside here and held her hands in his.
"Shh... you're going to be alright Julie. You're going to be fine. You just hold on now, do you hear me? I'm going to get you out of here, and we're going to get you patched up just fine."
Julie coughed and a gob of blood spattered the floor of the chopper.
"I'm not going to make it... am I?"
"No, you hold on girl. You are going to make it. By my god in heaven you are going to make it!"
She grinned slightly and coughed again.
"You were always the optimist Joel..."
Julie then went into a fit of coughing and then lay still. Her eyes closed and she did not breathe again.
Joel's adrenaline peaked and he grunted and lifted the collapsed section off of her body. He looked down at her crushed body and saw the knife jutting from her side. His eyes watered and the world turned crimson before him. He whirled around and saw Bunse leaning against the rear bumper of a Humvee, trying to avoid his gaze.
"YOU BASTARD!"
Joel rushed Bunse and before the large man could react, threw a monstrous right hook into his jaw. Bunse's eyes closed and he collapsed from the impact. But before he hit the ground Joel was on him again and he was lifted up, his large feet completely clearing the ground.
"I'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch!"
Joel wrapped his hands around Bunse's neck and was strangling him when a medic called out to him.
"Wait sir, she's still alive! We need to get her back to the gym immediately, I need the supplies there. She's got heavy injuries and if we don't attend to her soon, she really will die."
Joel released Bunse and let him fall to the ground gasping for air. He helped the medic lift Julie's limp form into the back of a Humvee then got in the drivers seat.
"Mount up Marines, we're heading back. Cease fire."
Simultaneously the Marines stopped firing, and the snipers back on the roof held their fire as well. The three Humvees began to roll out when Hansen called to Joel.
"What about Bunse sir?"
"Leave him."
The Marines drove off without looking back and returned to the safety of the gym. Joel carried Julie inside while the medics and Marines loaded the wounded crew inside and Hansen and Gregory re-secured the Humvees. Across the street, Bunse screamed as the zombies closed in on him and tore him to pieces. There were far too many zombies for even a fat man like Bunse to remain uneaten and he was completely consumed. Only bones and ragged bits of flesh remained. Upon finishing their meal, the zombies seemed to lose focus and milled about aimlessly in the Walmart parking lot.
On the roof of the gym in a makeshift medical tent, the two medics attended to Julie meticulously under the watchful eye of Joel. They paid careful attention to every detail having seen Joel's wrath and not wishing to invoke such a powerful response themselves. After nearly an hour and a half of incomprehensible ministrations, the lead medic reported to Joel.
"We've managed to stabilize her condition and we gave her a transfusion of blood to replace what she lost. There is no internal bleeding, and near as we can tell her no internal organs were damaged. We stitched her wound, but she does have several broken ribs. We've set those as best we can and she should be fine in a few weeks. Her overall mobility will be down for a while, but she should be fine. I've given her some antibiotics to make sure the wound doesn't get infected, and after she rests, she'll be perfectly ok."
"Thank you very much Corporal. She means a lot to me."
"Yes sir, I can tell."
Joel smiled before asking the medic, "How are the rest of the crew?"
"The two pilots are fine, one broke a finger and the other has a bruised testicle, don't ask me how that happened, and the two crew chiefs are in the best shape of anyone. Perfectly ok."
"That's great news. Thank you for all your hard work Corporal, I don't know what we would have down without you and your men and supplies."
"Its no problem sir, we gonna attend to the Delta wounded now, they got mostly some superficial wounds, bruises and abrasions. Do any of your men have any wounds?"
"Well you can ask them, but they should all be in top shape."
"Yes sir."
The medic went about his duties on the rooftop with his companions, administering to wounds and any complaints the civilians had. Joel went over towards where Julie was laying and sat by her side for a few moments while waiting for things to calm down. He unclipped his helmet and pulled it off his head. He sat for a moment longer and rubbed his scalp relieving tension.
He looked at sleeping form and sighed when Hansen walked up to him.
"Sarge, we did a check on our supplies and ammo. We're running low on food for all these people, and we're down a couple hundred rounds on the 50.'s. But we're lucky that we've been holding off on really engaging these things, we're still ok for ammo for the small arms. And even better we have enough explosives to level this entire school if we wanted to."
Joel cracked a smile.
"Outstanding. Go ahead and radio C&C for another supply drop, since that seems to be the only thing they can give us. And ask for an evac too, but we already know the answer."
"Yes sir. We're sorry we can't redirect airlift to you right now, but we will get you evacuated as soon as possible. Is there anything else you need?"
Joel and Hansen both laughed and Hansen moved off to the radio set, leaving Joel to his thoughts. Hours passed and eventually civies began filing back inside to the gym to sleep or eat. Joel remained at Julie's side all the while, sitting and staring off into space. Gregory and another Delta operator remained on watch but gave him a wide berth and allowed him the privacy he needed.
Joel was daydreaming when a familiar voice interrupted his reverie.
"Hey hot stuff, I thought you might be hungry so I brought you some soup."
Joel turned and saw Kristine sauntering over with a cup of steaming soup in her hands.
"Geez, thanks. You really didn't have to. That's just too nice of you."
He gratefully accepted the soup, but somewhat less gratefully accepted Kristine's company as she sat down next to him.
"So that was really brave of you today, going after them like that. You're a hero."
"It's my job. If you didn't notice, all my Marines went out after those people today because it's all of our jobs. This is what we do. It's our mission to protect you all. If it were you out there, you could be damned sure that all of us would be out there too, doing our best to get you back to safety."
"That's sweet. I wish I had a boyfriend like you again. You always knew how to make a girl feel special. So is there anyone special for you now?"
"Uh, no. I've been going it alone pretty much since I got in the Corps. And I just made Recon last year, so I have been really busy and had no time for a relationship. It's all just training and more training."
"Aww, that's so sad... I think you need a girlfriend. Hey, since we've broke up, have you ever thought about me? I mean, I've thought about you, a lot more recently. I never really meant to hurt you when I dumped you, it was just something I hadda do ya know?"
"Uh yah, I understand. It's fine don't worry about it. No hard feelings right? So we're good now. I just gotta go and hit the shower and clean up before lights out. Later Kristine."
Joel stood up before she could say another word and walked to the entrance door. He headed downstairs and into the men's locker room. Once inside he quickly stripped off his combat gear and BDU's and headed for the shower. Then he let the hot water run over him and wash away his sweat and the soreness in his body.
When he finished and went back out into the gym and the lights were out and most everyone was asleep. As usual there were still a few hushed conversations going on courtesy of the teenagers lying around in groups and Joel nodded at the police officers who were standing watch over the slumbering mass of people. In a fresh set of BDU's and cleanly shaven, he walked back up the stairs to the roof and the medical tent.
The night sky was clear and the stars were brightly shining in the darkness. The moon alone was enough to illuminate the surrounding area almost as well as in the daylight and Joel sat on the roof and looked out at the land. The pale white light and shadows cast a beautiful, almost surreal halo over the landscape. Joel fell asleep on the roof, looking out at the town.
The sound of a chopper hovering close woke Joel from his slumber and he looked up to see a Chinook above the school. Not just one this time, but several. Six of the extra large cargo choppers were hovering in the air above the gym and the radio blared next to Johnson.
"Romeo 1, Romeo 1, this is Echo 4. We are your evac and are ready of land and load the civies. Can you clear a zone for use?"
"Roger than Echo 4, damned good to hear from you. We'll have an LZ clear in a minute."
"Copy Romeo 1. Standing by."
"Lets go Marines, lets clear an area. We're getting out of here! Carlos! Can you round up the civies and separate them into groups suitable for load into a Chinook."
"We're on it, Delta lets move!"
The Delta operators bolted down the entrance stairs and began rounding up the civilians. They were quick to comply once they heard they were being evacuated. The Delta squad and the police quickly corralled them into groups of forty and set them in order against the wall to wait for their turn to load.
"First group, follow me. We're going to come up and approach the rear of the chopper and load through the big ramp in the back. You can't miss it. Let's go."
The first group was ushered up the stairs and loaded the first chopper. It took off and flew to the west. Joel signaled the second chopper down and loading continued this way for another half hour until all of the civilians were gone and there was still room on the last chopper.
"Sergeant, you can put as many of you're officers on the chopper as you can, the rest of us are going to have to go back in convoy."
"Well we have enough vehicles with us, we can all go with you, there's safety in numbers."
"If you want, this is the last chance to get on that chopper."
"No sir, it wouldn't feel right leaving you all behind."
"You're a far braver man than I sergeant."
Joel waved the crew chief of the chopper and he went back into the ramp and shut it. The pilot waved at them from the cockpit and the chopper rose into the air and then was gone.
"Well, I guess we'd best get going. Gather up whatever supplies are left in here and load them into the vehicles. My Humvees will lead and Delta can hitch rides with us. We'll want as much firepower up front as possible if we run into any trouble. Let's double time it."
The thirty plus men rushed into action, collecting medical supplies and ammunition and storing them in the vehicles. Ten minutes later, the convoy was assembled in the parking lot and ready to move out. All the men loaded into their vehicles and moved out.
Minutes later they were speeding down the road heading towards the college stadium. And a minute after that, they ran into a major roadblock. Zombies filled the street from building to building.
Author's note: Please review my story, it's my first and I would like to hear what you have to say on it.