On the road to Fort Benning, Day 21, 1:02 AM
The soldiers were making their way back to Fort Benning in Humvees, a Bradley and an MRAP. While driving the MRAP, Jane updated Foley, who was riding shotgun, on what had happened recently.
"General Shepherd has made it out of Washington D.C. and is now in Fort Benning. The evacuation went FUBAR, thousands dead, both from ours and civvies. Worst thing to happen since the nuke in Basrah five years ago."
"Damn it." said Sergeant Foley with a shake of his head.
"We stopped a WMD in Baltimore. Manifest says someone's using the virus as a weapon. We sent it to G-2. What do I think? Probably the Russians." continued Captain Jane.
"Who else is still out there, sir?" asked the Sergeant.
The Captain faced Foley for a second, then kept his eyes on the road again.
"We've been all over, Sergeant. We in the 175th Infantry Regiment of the Maryland Guard are assigned to the 28th of the Pennsylvania Guard when we're under federal use. We stopped the arming of the Green Flu in Maryland, but Pennsylvania was a shitshow. Ground zero. We held out at Mercy Hospital in Fairfield, but we got the fuck outta there around a week after the first infection. Both the outpost in Whitney County and the command post in Riverside fell. We were ordered to pull out of Pennsylvania, so we fell back to New York. Word was Georgia was in need of reinforcements, so here we are now. In other words, the East Coast is fucked. Atlanta, New York and D.C. are probably the only ones left standing."
"Let's hope that their "standing" status will remain that way." said Sergeant Foley.
The large man restrained on a nearby stretcher began to stir. Then, he woke up with a gasp.
"Argh…what the hell?!" he shouted as he found himself restrained.
"Francis." Zoey said with a gasp.
It took a few moments for Francis to figure out the situation he was currently in.
"What the hell happened?"
He turned his head to see the soldiers seated near up front, and saw his teammates handcuffed. Anger built up inside the biker's chest. As if he could not hate the military enough already.
"HEY! HEY!" he shouted.
Ramirez immediately took notice of him.
"Whoa there! Stand down!" he ordered.
"Where the hell are you taking us?! You can't do this, we're cops!" shouted Francis, struggling to get out of his restraints. Two soldiers suppressed laughs at the last comment.
"Pfft. Bullshit." Dunn remarked with a scoff as he stood up.
"Hey, shut the fuck up!" Jane yelled from the driver's seat.
Bill immediately tried to shush Francis in an attempt to get him to calm down.
"Francis, please. Settle down now." he told his teammate.
Francis tried to get his arms out of the stretcher's harness.
"C'mon! I can take all of ya." he said.
Corporal Dunn slowly gripped his Desert Eagle, pulling it halfway out of the holster before Francis stopped moving.
"Goddamn it." he said in frustration upon realizing the restraints were tougher than they looked.
Dunn slowly rested the gun in his holster again.
Fort Benning, 1:39 AM
Everyone arrived at the base and saw it and its troops in a hectic and stressed state as Infected breached its perimeter. The soldiers got out of the vehicles and got the survivors out as well.
"Holy Mother of God..." muttered Bill upon seeing the state of the base.
Sergeant Foley approached Dunn.
"Dunn. Watch the civvies."
"Okay. Come on. Let's move." said Dunn.
The survivors and the soldiers moved away from the vehicles and saw Colonel Marshall and General Shepherd approaching them. They raised their voices as a lot of talking, shouting and gunfire were heard in the background.
"Glad to see you and your team in one piece, Sergeant!" complimented Colonel Marshall.
Foley nodded, and turned to General Shepherd.
"Sir, we have four of the HVIs!" he informed the General, directing the latter's attention to the four survivors, who were visibly dumbfounded as the General looked them over. Shepherd nodded with a smirk.
"Good. Your unit is riding with me, Sergeant Foley." Shepherd told Foley.
The General opened the back door of an MRAP and gestured for everyone to follow.
"We can't hold the Fort much longer. Fort Benning's aircraft is grounded. We are falling back to Warner-Robins Air Force Base. Let's go."
He pointed at the survivors.
"Get those four in the M93 APC!"
Shepherd approached Jeff and Annie and placed his hand on the former's shoulder.
"Private Pratt and Corporal Kendricks. You two are both with me."
"Hooah." they both responded.
The survivors were then led inside an APC. Shepherd entered the MRAP along with the Rangers, the two surviving soldiers from Millhaven, and Colonel Marshall.
"Hurry up! The Infected are pouring in! Get in the Humvees! We are escorting the General's convoy!" said Captain Jane.
As the Infected breached, the ever-familiar Boomer got into close proximity with four soldiers. One of them, not knowing what the Boomer could do, shot it, causing it to explode and cover the man and his three comrades in bile. Because they were blinded by vomit, they were unable to fight back against the Infected nearby and were left vulnerable to them. All they could do next was scream in pain and terror as the Infected immediately surrounded and vented their uncontrollable rage on them. From the MRAP, Shepherd tried not to look as the four men were beaten to death by the angry, ravenous fiends.
Atlanta, Georgia, 2:26 AM
As Private Fahey drove, he picked up messages from the radio and informed Colonel Marshall of what he was hearing.
"Sir, we are receiving multiple distress calls from all over the state. One of the transmissions came from Warner-Robins, Sir."
The men listened closely to the military comms chatter coming in through the radio.
"This is Warner-Robins AFB! We are down to 10 percent combat effectiveness! Where is that evac?"
"Evacuation Order April! I repeat, Evacuation Order April! Evacuate all military and essential personnel from Hunter Army Airfield! Get the hell out of there!"
"Overlord, Dagger 2-1. We have eyes on Georgia Air National Guard from above. Doesn't look too good from here. Over."
"Broken arrow! Broken arrow! WE ARE BUGGING OUT!"
"My God…" muttered the Colonel, shaking his head.
"Doesn't sound too good." Foley thought to himself.
"Sir, our evac point in Warner-Robins is compromised. All secondary evac points overrun. Divert to Safe Zone Echo, Sir?" Colonel Marshall asked his commander.
"Negative. There's a C-130 at Dobbins Air Reserve that will be extracting a Delta team from Atlanta at 04:00. We can rendezvous with them there. I can re-divert assets to provide support." said General Shepherd.
"Understood, Sir." said Marshall.
The Colonel turned around and looked through the windshield. "Take us to I-85. The road's blocked once you're by the Hotel District, so take a detour to Freedom Parkway to the right. Turn left on Ponce De Leon until we're on I-85 again. "
"Yes, Sir."
Fahey drove and led the convoy to I-85, approaching the south side of Atlanta. There was a clear view of the city from the highway. Foley, Dunn, and Wells looked through the windshield and observed the city. Explosions, fire, and smoke on the cityscape lit up the dark sky. It had an ambience that consisted of artillery, small arms fire, and jets flying above. Soldiers barking orders and Infected shouting and howling could also be heard in the distance. Needless to say, it was a full-blown war zone.
"It's a literal highway to hell, man." Wells told Dunn.
"Aw man, we gotta go through there..." Dunn replied.
Meanwhile, the survivors in the APC following the General's MRAP discussed their next move.
Francis kept banging on the barrier separating them from the two drivers with his two cuffed hands. "C'mon, if you let us out, you can still keep Louis!"
"Francis! Cut the shit, man!" said Louis, placing his palm on his face.
"All this effort for the four of us?" groaned Zoey. "What do we do, Bill?"
Bill kept quiet for a moment, then looked at her. Before he was able to speak however, the survivors were suddenly thrown forward in the vehicle as it abruptly stopped.
"Whoa!" cried Francis.
In the lead vehicle, a large figure blocking their path suddenly caught Shepherd's sight.
"LOOK OUT" the General cried.
"Oh shit!" Fahey yelled out, as he abruptly stomped on the brake. Meanwhile in the APC, the survivors got on their feet.
"The fuck?" said the soldier driving the APC.
"What's happening? Why'd we stop?" asked a confused Zoey.
"No clue. Now sit the hell down back there!" replied the soldier riding shotgun.
Upfront, the MRAP's headlights revealed the large figure. An 8 foot behemoth with a thousand pounds of muscle mass. The Tank roared in fury, before smashing the vehicle's hood down with a powerful hammer fist strike, and following with a punch forward with great force. It sent the MRAP colliding into the APC behind them. The Humvees following the two vehicles stopped and National Guardsmen went out. They quickly approached the collision and took out nearby Common Infected, as supporting elements and infantry from BCT-One engaged the Tank from an overpass behind them.
The National Guardsmen caught the attention of the Tank as they fired their rifles at it. The Tank retaliated by taking a large chunk of concrete off the road and throwing it at an approaching fireteam, killing four of the National Guardsmen. Fortunately, the vast firepower of the supporting elements on the bridge which included an M1 Abrams tank and its full arsenal was able to take out the giant Whiskey Delta, before it was able to further decimate the General's convoy.
"Everyone alright?!" asked Foley as he got up in the MRAP overturned on its left side.
"Hooah!"
Everyone climbed out of the crashed vehicle, observing their immediate surroundings. The convoy was stopped on Freedom Parkway NE 500 meters east of I-85 in between the intersecting roads, Jackson Street behind them and Boulevard NE in front of them.
Foley, Dunn, and Ramirez look behind the convoy, seeing another view of the burning cityscape of Atlanta and members of BCT-One retreating north that stopped to cover them from the Jackson Street flyover bridge about 100 meters behind them, laying fire on the Infected surrounding the convoy.
The four survivors awakened from the crash, still inside the immobilized APC.
Bill got up and checked on everyone. "Report in, people!"
"I'm good, more or less." Zoey responded, with a bit of blood coming from above her forehead.
"Phew! Good thing I'm indestructible." Francis said as he got up and stretched his neck towards the side, making his joints pop.
"Louis?" Bill called out.
They noticed him lying down near the driver's seat.
"Oh shit! Louis!" cried Zoey.
"Ow! Oh man. I'm in sorry ass shape." Louis said in pain as he clutched his leg.
Outside, the Rangers quickly went to free them. Dunn, Ramirez, Jeff, and Annie quickly opened the APC's hatch with crowbars. The door was opened and the two Rangers went in with weapons raised, while Annie and Jeff covered the rear.
"Get out! Go!" ordered Dunn.
Zoey glared at him in distrust.
Dunn approached Louis and checked on him. "Shit!" The Corporal's military occupational specialty training from the Special Operations Combat Medic course kicked in. "We got a wounded HVI. I'm providing initial medical and trauma care!" He did what he could given the situation. He soon finished and he and Ramirez picked Louis up.
"It'll hold for now." Dunn assured him.
The howling of Infected rapidly approaching was suddenly heard by everyone. Dunn looked back for a split second.
"Come on! Let's get outta here, damn it!" Francis yelled.
"Alright. C'mon. This way! Let's go! Let's go!" yelled Dunn after hearing Francis and seeing the massive horde in the distance, gesturing for the four survivors to follow him.
Bill kept a close eye on Louis as they walked out of the APC. Suddenly, the four survivors caught sight of two familiar soldiers.
"Annie?! And…Jeff? How did you-" asked Francis, who wanted to confirm if it was really them.
"Not now. We'll talk when we're outta here." Annie told him.
As the soldiers took up positions on Freedom Parkway next to the convoy wreck, the survivors were uncuffed. However, they were not given any weapons, for obvious reasons.
"We got Whiskey Deltas incoming from our 12 o'clock! Range! 300 meters! Looks around five hundred of 'em! We got a handful of the big ones too, small arms might not cut it!" yelled Corporal Keating as he pointed at the swarm that included tanks in the distance.
Foley looked at the horde with a slight expression of awe, which quickly turned into a look of determination. He turned to Captain Jane. "My team's got our six!" the Captain said, before nodding. Foley began barking out orders.
"Engage! Morgan! Thin 'em out with the M240 Bravo! Wade, switch to the M203! Defensive positions!"
The soldiers fired at the charging horde, attempting to put a dent to their numbers. As Private Slayback's mag ran dry, he caught sight of something coming out from Boulevard NE to the left and went charging towards Private Fahey at a very fast pace. "Fahey! Incoming! 1 o'clock!" he warned.
Unfortunately, it was too late. A Charger rammed Fahey, colliding with several other soldiers who were knocked back a few feet. It tightened its grip on Fahey's torso and repeatedly slammed him onto the ground. A loud snap was heard upon the second smash, indicating that Fahey's spine had been severed. The other soldiers then killed the Charger and noticed Fahey's unmoving body on the ground.
"Fahey! FAHEY! Shit! We got a man down here!" yelled Slayback.
Dunn ran towards Fahey, turned him over to face up and checked for vitals. He looked at Slayback and shook his head, notifying that Fahey was K.I.A.
Shepherd immediately looked at the fallen Ranger and the guardsmen that were killed, followed by a quick glance at the massive incoming horde. The Infected got 150 meters closer. He looked over to the civilian survivors. Realizing the desperation of the situation, he went over to Fahey's body and picked up the fallen soldier's M4A1. The rifle had a tan A2 pistol grip, lower receiver, and stock. It was fitted with an A.R.M.S. #50C-TR S.I.R. system and #40L rear back up iron sights, a flip-up PRI front sight gas block, a triple loop ambi sling adapter receiver end plate, a KAC foregrip, and tan rail covers.
"You get any bright ideas, and we kill you." the General warned, handing the assault rifle to Bill.
Bill briefly glared at the General.
"Yes, Sir." he muttered bitterly, before joining the soldiers in holding off near impossible odds.
The voices of five hundred aggravated infected did not fade, even with the loud automatic gunfire and explosions that ensued through the engagement. Knowing that they had absolutely no chance of survival if the massive horde reached them, Shepherd got on the radio as he stood next to the humvee carrying it.
"Overlord, This is General Shepherd! I'm embedded with Hunter 2-1! We are trapped along Freedom Parkway half a klick east of I-85 at Grid Square 30312! We got around five hundred Whiskey Deltas due east of our position next to the Jackson Street overpass. Range, 150 meters. Requesting close air support and reinforcements!" said Shepherd.
Overlord replied. "Roger. Brigade Combat Team One has already peeled off an Abrams to assist. Callsign is Rhino 2. We're sending a Ranger QRF to your location. Stand by for air support. Over."
Overlord then contacted nearby air assets. "Roll in Strike Package Echo on Whiskey Deltas. I authenticate Tango Whiskey at time 03:00 Zulu."
Radio transmissions were then heard from an AWACS from the United States Air Force.
"Attention, all aircraft. This will be a danger close fire mission."
"Since when did General Shepherd care about danger close?"
"Weapons, I just got a call from Falcon Ops. Who's closest to Kill Box One Bravo?"
"Send the Hogs, sir."
"Okay, switch the Hogs to Kill Box One Bravo. 500 feet, danger close. Friendlies in the area."
Two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs were mobilized and head for their target. Overlord then notified the platoon.
"Hunter 2-1, the air corridor is clear for our A-10s to commence gun runs. Standby for relay."
"A-10s are in the airspace! Get your 13 Falcon on those comms! We need our location and the targets marked!" Shepherd ordered.
"Ramirez! use your laser designator to mark those targets!" Foley ordered, as he tossed a green M18 smoke grenade by their crashed MRAP. The private then used his LA-10u/PEQ Handheld Laser Designator to mark the massive horde. Keating then placed a map next to the radio in the humvee.
The female pilot of one of the A-10s contacted the platoon over the radio. "Hunter 2-1, this is Valkyrie 2-6. In the airspace and at your service. Checking in with you as fragged. Flight of two A-10s holding east, flight level 175, 3.2 nm southwest of Midtown. 10 Maverick AGM-65s, 1350 rounds 30 mm, each. Abort code echo. Ready for your work."
"Valkyrie 2-6, this is Hunter 2-1! AO update! JTAC qualified Joint Fire Support Specialist with Army Ranger rifle platoon, 3.2 nm south of Midtown! Type 3 in effect, advise when ready for 9 line!" Keating responded on the radio.
"Ready for your 9 line." the pilot replied.
"Hasty IP, 16-Sierra, Gulf Charlie 40809 38627! Heading 085, left! Distance from IP, 1.4 nm! Elevation 1050 feet! 500 Whiskey Deltas, high density crowd out in the open! Grid Square 30312, marked by laser! Friendlies at 150 meters east, danger close, 40 man platoon marked with green smoke! Egress at your discretion!" Keating said over the radio, as he provided a 9 line for close air support.
"Hunter 2-1, read-back, 1050 feet, 30312, 150 meters east. Ready remarks." the pilot answered.
"Good read back!" Keating replied.
"Time on target, 10 seconds." the pilot informed.
"You're cleared hot!" Keating confirmed.
The two A-10s fired. The impact of the rounds against their targets was heard first by the ground forces. It was quickly followed by the sound of the GAU-8 Avenger gun's infamous "brrt". The A-10s then fired the Maverick E2/L AGM-65 missiles at the Tanks, eliminating them alongside the M829 sabot rounds from BCT-One's M1 Abrams.
The QRF mentioned by Overlord earlier then contacted the general and his men. "Hunter 2-1, this is Uniform 6-2. En route to your location, one minute out!"
"Copy that!" Shepherd replied.
"We have friendly vehicles moving on the ground. They're moving down from Boulevard NE. That's north of Hunter 2-1." Valkyrie's female pilot informed for the A-10s.
The soldiers got ready to move out. Shepherd loaded some rounds in his signature Colt Anaconda revolver chambered in 44. Magnum and engaged the remaining Whiskey Delta stragglers along with his men, landing shots to the head with accuracy and precision.
Uniform 6-2 then arrived with humvees. "Get those four in the humvees for Tango Mikes! Let's go!" the general ordered. "Hunter 2! We're Oscar Mike! Get in the vehicles!" Foley said, relaying the the Lieutenant General's order to his men.
With one pistol to spare, Annie and Jeff noticed the three unarmed survivors as they loaded them into a humvee with the driver's seat sealed off by a barrier. As Francis took his seat, Annie sneakily placed a Beretta M9 and a full magazine in his hands, before closing the door on him. "Hmph... Groovy." Francis expressed with a slight smirk, as he loaded the gun and hid it in his vest.
"The LZ is 20 klicks northwest, sir. A second wave of Whiskey Deltas are closing in. We secure, sir?" the driver of Shepherd's humvee asked.
"Secure! Let's go!" Shepherd replied. They then made their way to Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
Rhino 2 took point and ran over the Common Infected on the road. The main gun proved ineffective in engaging common infected. Noticing this, Carter, the tank commander, tightened his gas mask and opened the hatch. He manned the M134 Minigun and proceeded to dispatch infected that stood in their way.
Dobbins Air Reserve Base
The group eventually reached the airbase, despite fighting through Infected that used to be Atlanta's residents proving to be a very difficult task. Thanks to the assistance from the air and ground assets that General Shepherd had access to, the team was able to make it through.
Carter ordered the Abrams tank to fire on a collapsed concrete wall blocking the entrance to the base.
"Hunter 2! Move out of the way!" ordered Rhino 2.
"Everyone, move back!" ordered Sergeant Foley.
Everyone took cover as the tank fired at the wall, destroying it.
"HELL YEAH!" yelled Francis. "FUCKIN' A!"
"This is as far as we can go. Good luck, Hunter 2-1. God be with you. Over." said Rhino 2, as the Abrams departed along with Uniform 6-2.
"Rhino 2, Uniform 6-2, thanks for the assist. Over." said Foley.
The large group ran towards the C-130J. The group advanced, but Louis tripped. Bill quickly noticed and he and the other two survivors lagged behind to cover Louis. "C'mon, man. We're almost there!" said Dunn, lifting Louis up in a fireman's carry. Captain Jane and the National Guardsmen lagged behind a bit to provide covering fire for the rest.
"Shit! The plane's noise is like catnip to them! We gotta go now!" Marshall said.
General Shepherd pulled out his radio while running. "Metal 0-1, we are making our way towards you. Hostiles following close behind."
"Roger that! We have a visual on you and the Whiskey Deltas. Providing covering fire." the Delta Force fireteam leader responded. "Grinch, get on it!"
The team's designated marksman then provided covering fire, taking out some of the Infected chasing them with great accuracy using his MK14 EBR.
Just as everyone got to the plane, two Delta Force operators came out of the hatch to cover them. One of them, an African-American, was known by his callsign: Truck. The other operator, whose face was concealed by his balaclava and goggles, had the callsign: Frost.
"They're here!" said Truck, as he and Frost eliminated several nearby Infected that were headed for the plane.
As soon as Shepherd, the Rangers, the National Guardsmen, and the civilians got on board, Frost and Truck went back inside. Dunn seated Louis inside a part of the plane's interior that had been covered with a plastic barrier as a safety measure for carriers.
"Hunter 2-1 is here! Let's go!" commanded the Delta leader, a Master Sergeant with the callsign: Sandman.
He made eye contact with the General. "Sir."
Shepherd gave a curt nod. Everyone immediately boarded the plane.
"Okay." said Sandman. "Let's get out of here! Pilot! Kick it!"
Just as they were about to dust off, something went horribly wrong. The plane had malfunctioned. Sandman ran towards the cockpit, with Bill following.
"What's wrong?!" questioned Sandman.
"We are detecting a fast drop in oil pressure in the second right engine! We can't take off!"
Suddenly, the howl of another massive Infected wave headed towards them was heard. Bill looked outside through the hatch at the back, then faced the pilot.
"We can't risk taking off with a dysfunctional engine!"
"But there's too many of them coming!" shouted Bill.
"I'm sorry!" said the pilot. "But you guys need to hold them off for now! We won't make it to Colorado if we don't get that engine fixed!"
"Great. Plane stopped." Francis expressed sarcastically.
Bill eventually decided to join the other soldiers on the hatch to help hold the Infected horde off.
"Francis, take care of Louis and Zoey! I'll help them hold the line!"
Francis nodded. Bill ran out of the plane to join the other soldiers and fired at the oncoming Infected.
"Someone has to get down there and fix the engine!" said the pilot.
"Does anyone here have a background in aircraft maintenance or repair?!" Colonel Marshall asked everyone inside.
Captain Jane watched for a moment as the Rangers dumped entire magazines to hold off the Infected. Although he was initially reluctant to do so, he gave in, wanting to do the right thing.
"Fuck it." he told himself.
"I was a 15 Gulf when I was active duty! My team can go down there and fix it!" he told the Colonel.
"Alright! Get your team down there! Go!" the Colonel responded, tapping the Captain's shoulder twice with the palm of his hand.
"Groundhog! With me! Let's go!" the Captain ordered.
They ran out of the plane, and were noticed by Foley.
"All Hunter 2-1 victors, provide covering fire for Groundhog!" he ordered. The Rangers, the Delta team, and Bill continued firing at the horde. But as time went by, it seemed obvious that the horde was not going to diminish easily. In fact, it appeared that their numbers had now doubled. Several soldiers were down to their pistols, while a handful already retreated back to the plane due to having no ammunition left at all.
"Fall back to the plane and hold the ramp! GO!" ordered Foley.
Bill and the rest re-boarded the plane, still firing at the zombies they could still shoot easily. A lone Common Infected got dangerously close to Bill, who was facing the cockpit as he retreated back. As it got ready to sink its teeth in Bill's nape, Francis swiftly landed a clean and quick shot to its head with the pistol Annie gave him earlier.
"Merry Christmas." said the biker in a smug tone, as Bill quickly looked behind him and nodded at Francis.
Everyone continued to hold the Infected off with the hatch open. Outside the plane, Jane and his men finally managed to fix the engine.
"Got it!" said Captain Jane. "The leak is patched up!"
The three National Guardsmen made their way to the hatch. However, Jane's leg was grabbed by something that appeared to be an abnormally long and thick tongue, causing him to trip before making it to the hatch. Case tried to pull him while Trent covered them. From the plane, Grinch scoped out where the tongue was coming from. However, the horde were already mere feet away from the plane and the pilots were forced to close the hatch before Grinch had a clear shot.
"Open the hatch! We won't leave them!" said Foley.
"It's too risky!" said Sandman. "We do that and we all die!"
Outside, Jane was able to grab his knife and slice the tongue off of himself. He, Case, and Trent then moved back as they fired at the Infected, forming a triangle formation. Jane was waving his arm, gesturing for the plane to leave.
"It's okay! Just go! GO! Get outta here! NOW!" he yelled.
"No!" shouted Foley.
The plane sped up on the runway and finally took off with the Rangers, Delta Team, and the four HVIs.
"No other choice." Bill said sadly with a sigh, before going back to the portion of the plane's interior contained by plastic barriers.
Groundhog was presumed K.I.A.
23,000 feet above ground, 4:47 AM
Marshall and Shepherd were in the cockpit discussing their next approach. Grinch and Truck sprayed alcohol all over the plane and personnel as a mandatory protocol for sanitation and disinfection. Foley and Sandman stood by the door, shocked by what they had just experienced.
"Damn it…" muttered Foley.
Sandman shook his head and sighed.
"Someone had to go down there. There was no getting out of that. Believe me, I know I would have." he told Foley.
They walked up to the cockpit and stood near the Colonel and the General.
"If we don't stop this pandemic, Captain Jane and the rest of Groundhog, as well as tens of thousands of other brave men and women, would've died for nothing." said General Shepherd.
"We lost Atlanta, Sir." said Marshall, sounding defeated.
The General raised an eyebrow. "Metal 0-1. Debrief."
"Sir, we lost Dr. Edwin Jenner. By the time my team arrived at 19:00 hours, the CDC building had already self-destructed. No samples, findings, or research on Test Subject 19 survived the blast." said Sandman.
Shepherd shook his head in disappointment. "Our progress just hit a roadblock without Dr. Jenner's research. He was our best bet for a vaccine." the General said.
Shepherd crossed his arms and looked at the sky through the window. "For now, we regroup with the President in Colorado. You bring one enemy down and there's always something worse to replace them. No fear, remorse, or any set of principles. These things are mad dog killers driven by instinct. They've rendered most conventional warfare strategies ineffective. We are using a seventeen thousand dollar munition just to bring down one overgrown Whiskey Delta. Retrain and adapt. Get ready boys. We'll be seeing some changes in tactics, techniques and procedures soon."
Exhausted, Foley sat with the rest of his squad on one of the seats. He checked the time on his watch and faced Dunn. "Dunn, check on the civvies."
Dunn nodded. "You got it."
Ramirez and McCord accompanied the Corporal.
He noticed Annie walking in the same direction. "Kendricks, you coming with?"
"Yeah." she replied.
As Bill tended to Louis and Zoey, Francis stood up and walked over to Annie. He was quickly stopped by Dunn who held out an open hand, before letting him proceed.
"Slowly." the Corporal ordered.
Francis looked back at Bill then at Dunn. He gave back the pistol, with a slightly bitter look on his face. Dunn handed it to McCord, who walked back to Foley. He then approached the other three civilians.
"Let me check on that leg." he said to Louis.
Louis attempted to get some rest and remained silent. Zoey silently watched as Dunn soon finished checking on Louis. Then, he gestured to Zoey, giving her the signal to approach him.
"Hey, kid. Over here. Let me see that wound on your forehead."
Zoey glared at Dunn with distrust. "Why are you even helping us?"
Dunn rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Look, kid. Do you wanna be helped or not?"
With a resigned sigh, Zoey approached him and sat down. Dunn made eye contact with her for a second, before she broke off from the awkward exchange.
"...Thanks." said Zoey.
Dunn nodded. He finished with Zoey and checked back on Louis.
"Ramirez, get me the kit in the reebow. Should be a few MREs in there too." he ordered the Private.
Ramirez grabbed a med kit and a few other supplies. He gave the kit to Dunn. Then, he placed the MREs and water canteens in an open cardboard box. Afterwards, he handed the box to Zoey.
"Ration these supplies amongst yourselves. It's the only thing you get the whole flight."
"Okay." said Zoey.
Ramirez nodded at her. "Get yourselves some food and shuteye. You'll be needing 'em."
Dunn finished wrapping up Louis' leg. The result wasn't perfect, but it was the best he could do.
"That's all I can do for now." said Dunn. "We'll take him to a casualty collection point once we're on the ground. Just let me know if something comes up."
He looked at Ramirez. "Let's get back to the Sarge."
"Hooah." The two Rangers went up front and reported back to Foley.
"What I'd do for some pain pills right now." Louis remarked, before yawning and shutting his eyes.
"I wouldn't thank them yet. We don't know what they want with us. General over there might just want us alive to be lab rats." said Bill.
"Where are they taking us?" wondered Zoey out loud. "I hope we start getting details."
She looked at Louis, who was now asleep on the stretcher with a dextrose.
"Poor Louis." she said.
"We promised ourselves to never have anything to do with the military again." Bill told her. "Well…looks like things have changed."
"At least they bought you time to get out of that port alive." Zoey reminded him. "I thought we lost you for good."
Francis returned to the other three, having finished his conversation with Annie.
"Hey, Annie says we're gonna be meeting with the wonderful, excellent, great leader of this equally wonderful, excellent, great nation." he informed them.
Zoey laughed sarcastically, not believing him.
"She must be joking."
"Well, she's not a fan of peanut butter so who knows what the hell she says." he said with a chuckle.
"Hey, c'mon. Stop it. But did you ask her and Jeff about what they wanted with us?" asked Zoey.
Francis shrugged.
"Hell, even they don't know."
Zoey and Bill looked at each other, both looking slightly worried. The former looked towards Annie, who was on the other side of the plane. Annie gave her a thumbs up, as a way to reassure her. Zoey eased up a little bit and looked out the window, witnessing the sun rising. A very calming scene to start a new day, compared to the hell on earth going on 23,000 feet below them. She couldn't help but smile a little.
"Look, I hate planes. But at least I'm gonna get me some sleep." Francis said, as he sat down near them within the area of the plane contained by a plastic barrier.
"Get some rest, Zoey. I'll stay up in case they try anything." said Bill.
Zoey nodded.
"Here's to the unknown." she said.
"Agreed." said Bill.
The plane sped up as it headed for its destination. The sun rose up. Ironically, it was the only time everyone in the plane was able to get their much-needed rest.
Catch those The Walking Dead references? There are some in the first chapter, but even more on this one!