"Well, I guess this is where big ole' Manny can take us then," Bennie exclaimed while looking at the pick-up that was so battered and littered with blood and guts.
"Well it's not a muscle car but it has taken us this far. We got to thank old man Malachi for that. I hope that grandpa finds peace." I uttered.
"I'm gonna take the battery and hide it somewhere in case we return for this one," Bennie suggested. "That's smart, take the keys, toolkit, and gas can too. We might need them." I added.
"Who's Malachi?" Amber asked while ushering Amy off the pick-up. "He's a sweet grandpa. Who gave us his truck." Abigail answered while getting off the trunk bed. "Where is he now?" Ambers asked again. I just shook my head. "Oh," Amber replied with recognition. She didn't ask knowing that whoever Malachi was, he didn't make it.
"Let's take at least 5 minutes of rest. Let's get some food, water, and rest if anyone needs to take a piss or take a dump. Make sure someone is with you alright? We are covered with some trees and shrubs but it's not a loss to still be vigilant." I suggested to the group as I went to a nearby tree to take a piss. "Richie be mindful next time. We got a kid with us." Abigail bellowed.
"Oh sorry, I was really at my limit after all our close calls," I said embarassingly.
~~~~~~~
As Buck was coming inside the Command tent, he was a bit appalled by all the activity. He looked left and right, Men and women in combat gear were checking and rechecking their equipment. People on the radios are marking coordinates on the makeshift map. A man with a Lieutenant Colonel insignia in his cap was affixing rock positions on a shoddy war table while occasionally talking to his radio. Buck walked towards the man.
"... defense line alpha!! We cannot hold I repeat we cannot hold and are in danger of being overrun! .. " Buck heard the shouting in the radio that was being held by the Lieutenant Colonel.
"This is Tower Actual. Do a fighting retreat to defense line Bravo. Lines Charlie and Delta need more time to pack essentials for transport. We can't survive out long without those. Buy us more time son." the man in charge spoke to the soldier on the other end of the handheld radio.
Gunshots and grenade explosions rang out of the radio. "... Load that goddamn rocket!! This is Alpha Actual copy! We'll make sure they stay dead sir!" the radio chattered back. Buck just stood on parade rest on the side not wanting to disturb the man. He has a lot to think about right now and disturbing him would only delay whatever plans this ragtag of jarheads will be doing.
"God speed son. Give them hell. Tower Actual out." the man keyed off the radio. "Myers! Status on those supplies... " the man shouted. "Half are already on the Bradleys sir!" a woman in combat fatigues answered. " I want every goddamn perimeter security to not let even a single mosquito inside the wire! I don't want a repeat of being breached again because we only thought these sleepwalkers came from one direction! You hear me!? I want them to check and recheck! Then fucking recheck again!" the man in command scream clearly in a rush to get things done. "Sir! Yes! Sir!" the woman named Myers hurriedly exited the tent.
As Buck moved closer, the man in charge noticed him and frowned.
"Sir" Buck saluted to the man. "What do you want Delta? As you can see I'm busy." the man exclaimed with a grunt. "Sorry for stepping on your shoes sir. But I also have my orders." Buck answered apologetically. "I know that Delta. That's why I'm pissed off. My men are dying out there and high command still doesn't have a solid line we can grab hold of. The Army, Navy, and Air Force are either on their own or on the move. We don't even know the shitstorm this is. All we know bites are lethal and they don't die easily. We had reports from our hawks hours ago the hordes that were following us were slowly swarming towards this position." the Lieutenant Colonel crossed his arms and sighed.
"Any updates for me sir?" Buck added. " It's just bad and very bad news. We got communications back up but only for a few minutes. From what the radio op managed to pick up. Mostly if not all air and sea assets are at Defcon 1. It's either they are engaged or on standby. We don't even know what the other nations' moves are gonna be. We don't even know if this threat is external or internal but make no mistake Delta we are at war." the man sat down looking at the war map.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
"We received a transmission that most ground assets are either engaged or lost. We are just too fractured to mount a response right now. We have the coordinates to rendezvous points to all available and surviving units." the man handed a small paper with notes of coordinates to Buck.
"Coordinates on dams?" Buck said puzzled. "Yes, I don't know why and I don't care. Those are the coordinates of the dams that will serve as staging points for the military. I just want to get these men to safety. We've been fighting for almost 3 days now. Those sleepers are relentless. We got lucky we got out in time." the colonel said while receiving the note back from Buck.
"I don't have extra ground transports for you to borrow but I can drop you off at your destination with the hawks. You're on your own after that." the colonel said.
"Any updates on Eagle one sir?" Buck clarified. "None, the one who was on the MILNET was the secretary of the army. I don't know how they manage that but I'm glad we're still in this fight." The colonel explained.
"Any intel you got for me, son? To increase these men's survival?" the colonel asked a bit quietly. It was clear to see that he didn't want the morale to get hit by looking weak.
"Officially sir, I can't say. But off the record, we are still in the dark. All we know is that a few weeks ago shipments of unknown origins were smuggled all over the country. We were tracking it back to the source but this epidemic hit and got lucky to link up with you when shit hit the fan, sir." Buck explained. "We managed to scrounge up some deleted data from some factories luckily but only came up with some corrupted files named "New Dawn" and "The Demons," Buck added.
"Demons huh?" colonel perked. Buck raised an eyebrow, "Does anything ring a bell, sir?" Buck asked. With a sigh, the colonel stood up. "I don't know son. Just a hunch. The scouts that went with the hawks to check the main routes through some cities had some weird reports mixed in. They said some irregularities had shown up beside the common sleepers we are facing." the colonel said as he looked at Buck. "I get the feeling that whatever we are facing? Is just the prelude to something even more sinister." the colonel added with a shake of his head.
~~~~~~~~
"There it is," I said in admiration. " I can't believe management didn't even bother to check." Bennie sighed in relief as he looked at the facility mostly covered in vegetation but otherwise fine.
"Alright, no point in dawdling here. In we go. Let's secure a room first and split into two teams to cover more ground. Watch your corners and doors. Especially the nook and crannies. We aren't even sure if this place is unclean-free." I warned the group. "Bennie and Abigail, you go together. I'll be going with Amber and Amy. Sounds good?" I ordered.
"Why am I paired up with Ben?" Abigail asked why while raising her hand. I smirked at both of them. " Definitely not to give both time to eat each other's munchies that's for sure," I said ridiculously.
Bennie rolled his eyes as Abigail just cleared her throat.
"It's for efficiency." Bennie clarified. "Miss Amber knows tactics and warfare. He can talk Richie into it but she still banged up so she won't be able to help much. I have some practice in close quarters so I'd come with you. Ambers and me are at least the most experienced in combat albeit mine came from playing airsoft." Bennie added.
"I'm not stupid enough to say I can handle myself like Ben and Amber do so splitting up the experienced ones is logical," I explained to Abigail.
"Oh. That's... understandable." Abigail said apprehensively as she glanced at Bennie. "Alright, let's get to it then. From the looks of the undisturbed fauna and still pristine buildings we should be fine but call out if there is any problem okay?" I exclaimed. I got some nods and the group started to split.
".. and Bennie." I smiled mischievously as I glanced at the two. "Don't get eager to get on each other's pants," I smirked. " Oh fuck off!" Bennie chuckled as he raised a finger and flipped me then walked to the entrance of the facility, all the while Abigail kept fixing her hair with her hands. She looks goofy on those pajamas.
Amber stood beside me while covering Amy's ears with her hands. " What?" I asked. Amber just shook his head and then grabbed Amy to start checking the sheds.