Garcia beckoned their signalman to come over.
“Sir, all I’m getting is chatter. The main force is continuing to draw the enemy to their location and holding position but are not able to advance. I was able to pick up some chatter from fire team one also. It sounds like there are about ten of them and they’re trapped in the vehicles. Their situation is deteriorating.”
“Ok that does it. We’ve got to go get those boys.” Riley stated. The staff sergeant had already shown that he could think on his feet.
Ben liked him.
“Sing, pick a man to stay here with you and the wounded. Close this place up as soon as we’re gone.” Sing nodded and turned away.
Riley faced Garcia and grinned at him, letting the young man know all was forgiven. “Looks like you and me will get to save the day, Garcia.”
“Hooah!” Garcia responded as they turned to their men.
A quick weapons check revealed that most men still had a minimum of two full mags. Riley told the men to swap out and that they would roll in thirty seconds.
Sing and his man stationed themselves at the door and sniped a few shots, while the eight-man team stacked up on Riley.
“We go fast but controlled. Four rows of two. Traditional Fire and Movement – just like we always practice. This is our fall-back position. You ready?”
“Hooah!” The team responded enthusiastically. They moved out on his signal.
They got to the far edge of the hangar when they made first contact. They moved in sync with each other, calling out contacts and positions. These were all onesies and twosies, so relatively easy to take down.
Soon enough, they got to the road leading out of the airport. Riley checked the corner and confirmed that they were in visual range of the LAVs.
Riley got the men into two staggered lines of four, and the team stepped out onto the broad road.
The team worked their way forward about twenty yards. The zombie presence in the area was significantly higher here. They started progressing up a slight incline in the road. Ben looked down and saw a flood of blood swirling past his boots and down the road beyond him. The first thirty yards in front of him was covered in blood, body parts and guts. The M2’s had literally shredded hundreds of the undead. The gore lay in front of them, in some places several feet high.
The area beyond that was still swarming with dozens of zombies. They were relentlessly beating on the Humvees and LAVs, wanting to get at the living people inside. Ben watched as one beat his fist against the side of an LAV, not comprehending that its wrist had broken. Its hand was flapping ineffectually as it kept slamming its half-attached hand into the armor plating violently.
Ben knew he wasn’t the only soldier stunned by the scene in front of him. Riley snapped the team out of it by telling them to stay sharp and change mags if needed.
The normality of swapping out mags got the team’s feet back on solid ground.
“Watch for any movement. Slow and steady. Let’s go get our guys.” The team started moving.
They stepped into the gore at their feet. The mass of body parts seemed to ripple, as badly damaged zombies clawed and crawled their way to the men. The soldiers had only advanced a few feet when the mass of zombies at the vehicles turned to face them.
“They’re coming!” Somebody yelled. Ben remembered looking up and being surprised at the number of zombies storming back down the ramp towards their position. It was instantly clear that there were too many of them.
“Fall back!” Riley turned and pointed as he pushed his men ahead of him. All of the men, Ben included, complied without thinking. They were nearly at the alleyway between the first two hangars when they heard shooting behind them.
Riley was covering their retreat. He kept shooting and stepping backwards.
“Set up a killing field!” He yelled over his shoulder as he ejected an empty mag and slapped a new one in place. The first loping zombie was fifteen yards away.
Garcia got the men into position about ten feet into the alleyway. He got them set up in a loose ‘V’ formation, creating what was called an area of concentration.
“All set sir! Fall back to our position!” He yelled. But gunfire overpowered his voice. They could see Riley going full auto just as the first of the zombies got within five feet of him.
“He’s not going to make it.” Somebody said off to Ben’s left. Ben didn’t hesitate. He ran.
“BROWN! BEN!” He heard Garcia yell after him, but he had already committed. He was out of the alley and closing in on Riley just as the Sergeant’s rifle clicked empty.
It all happened so fast. It was only now, when he was remembering those moments, that the events clicked into place for Ben.
Ben reached Sergeant Riley’s side and bought him a second with some well-placed shots to the heads of the nearest zombies. Riley hardly registered Ben’s presence as he pulled his sidearm and started shooting. Ben knew they were in the line of fire so lined up beside Riley and tugged Riley back with him. The two men backed up beyond the alley entrance.
As soon as they were clear, Garcia and the men opened fire. Then the main body of zombies hit. They surged past the alley and covered Riley and Ben in a wave of bodies.
Ben thought he heard Garcia yelling out his name one more time, but he wasn’t sure. He had fallen straight onto his back. All at once he was crushed under the weight of several bodies. His helmet had slipped over his eyes and he could not see.
But he felt things.
He felt hands beating at his helmet, felt clawing at his thigh, felt teeth bite down
