She Hated flying. And the situation going on where they were supposed to carry out their mission only exacerbated her fears. There weren't enough military bodies to properly staff the mission and they still needed another medic, so she was chosen from the civilians to fill that spot. She could have refused but that would mean the job would have been passed on to doc. The folks back home couldn't afford to lose the only licensed medical professional so here she was.
She looked out the window of the Blackhawk and saw the ocean below. There were 16 of them in all between two helicopters somewhere off the coast of Louisiana flying inland. 2 medics and 6 soldiers per team. The mission was to check in with an outpost that had gone silent. the other chopper would be landing first in the outpost to do a sitrep while their team looked to secure the supply ship. They all knew deep down what had happened, but no one would say it. They still needed to check anyway to see what could be salvaged. Refuge was running low on supplies and shamblers don't need to eat anyway.
"Land ho."
The pilots sarcastic declaration brought her attention to the coastline that was coming into view. As they got closer, she couldn't help but feel even more nauseous. The outpost was an old port somewhere on that line. She picked up the shotgun she was given and checked to make sure it was loaded then went over her other equipment. The other medic next to her took out what looked like a pack of cigarettes and lit one up before offering her the last one. She looked at it hesitantly before taking it. She had never smoked before but why not. Lung cancer wasn't really a concern anymore.
"You got a name?" the other medic asked handing her the lighter.
"Audry." She took a drag before coughing violently.
"Evan, but You can call me roadkill. Everyone else does."
"that's a fun name how did you get it?" she asked, taking another drag.
"Got ran over by a zombie driving a car in the first days of this wonderful pandemic. Miraculously not a scratch on me."
"This will be my first time back on the mainland since the lighthouse fiasco."
The medic nodded, "As long as you use your head you'll make it back in one piece. Say, What did you do for a living before all this?"
"I was a paramedic."
"Nice! Must be why they choose you!"
"yep."
They reached the shore and now they could see the docks. Big plumes of black smoke reached up into the sky as multiple buildings had been burned down. The cargo ship was still intact and looked to be in excellent condition compared to the buildings surrounding it. The most erie part is that there were no zombies to be found just normal dead bodies.
"Well aint that just fuckin convenient." The pilot grumbled reaching for his radio. "Broderick be on your toes, might be a raiding party. Be ready to make a quick exit if things go south."
The radio let out some static before Broderick responded, "Copy that ill keep the engines running."
The other chopper started to lower as they turned and started to descend as well onto the ship's helipad. Before they could touch down bullets started to fly at them from the bridge.
"Just as I thought" the pilot turned the vehicle so the door gunner could return fire as the squad got out. "Good luck!"
Audrey could feel the adrenaline rush through her veins as she jumped out the door and followed Evan and the others as they bee lined for the access door. Luckily the gunner was doing a good job containing the enemy as he was the only one firing at this point. Once inside the ship they could hear the helicopter take off.
The squad leader did a head count an once satisfied he turned towards the dark hallway shouldering his m4, "alright lets get this over with."
They started clearing rooms as silently as possible before finally coming to the bridge. From the other side of the door they heard frantic talking and what audry recognized as someone choking on their own blood.
They stacked up on the door and the captain checked the handle. Finding it unlocked he opened it revealing three people who looked up in shock before finding themselves now at gun point.
"Please don't shoot! we found the place like this, honest."
"secure those weapons" the captain said looking at the stack of guns in the far corner. There were 3 of them in the stack and a 4th one on the ground by the window presumably where the wounded man dropped it. "search em newbie."
Audry stepped forward and started going through their pockets not finding anything unusual until she got to the wounded man. In his jacket she found a hand drawn map of the docks and some writing detailing all the security it used to have.
The woman who was trying to stop the bleeding of the man on the ground spoke up, "There's no need for more bloodshed. We can split the loot. Let bygones be bygones."
"how many of you are there?"
"Its just us man."
"Good." He then gave the signal to shoot and was surprised when he heard a 12 gauge first instead of 5.56.
Audrey sat bridge of the cargo ship as it slowly moved out to sea. The helicopters had long since returned to refuge and since she didn't like flying she decided to stick with the others and sail back. The captain stood at the wheel and Evan was playing cards with some other soldier.
"soo, Audrey, I get the feeling this wasn't your first time gunning down raiders?" evan asked giving her a sidelong glance.
She nodded, "there used to be a safezone near tampa. Had to fight off raiders nearly every week up until it collapsed."
"you sure get around huh?" the captain chucled darkly, "tampa safezone, lighthouse, heard you were even involved in the siege of key west."
"involved is a bit exaggerated."
"so blowing up a raiders den isn't being involved?"
"Wow so you know much more about me than I was led to believe." She sighed "just so you know I don't seek out the trouble it just seems to follow me."