forcing all of his anger, his angst, his pain into one full outburst. He lay back on the ground, inhaling for yet another, when a scream came echoing back to him in reply from deep in the woods. Suddenly, Buck went stiff. He could feel his body begin to tremble at the realization of what had answered his call, and his breathing came in short and shallow pants. His head frozen, his eyes darted back and forth, trying to spot movement in the shadows of the woods.

Buck slowly rolled to his side and stared off into the woods. He could hear the crashing sound of something moving fast in the trees, branches breaking and feet moving fast. His ears couldn’t quite pinpoint the direction it was coming from or the direction it was going, but it was getting louder. He slowly got to his knees and tilted his head. Closing his eyes, he focused all of his attention on the sound of the creature that crashed in the forest.

He could hear the footfalls growing louder, then…suddenly, they stopped. Buck strained his ears to listen, but he heard nothing. Not even the birds were chirping, and it seemed as if the insects had enough sense to vacate the area. As he concentrated with all of his might to listen, another scream pierced the air and Buck nearly wet himself. The zombie was so close, he feared that any movement on his part would bring the mad creature right to him. He heard movement again, and he was able to get a general direction. Buck glanced around and saw a large tree he might be able to use as a block. Slowly, he got to his feet, and, ever so carefully, he placed one foot in front of the other, slowly lowering each foot until he could lean behind the tree.

Buck concentrated on controlling his breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth…slowly. However, his heart was beating so loudly, he knew that it would give him away. It sounded like a bass drum in his ears. Surely it must be echoing all through the woods.

Another scream cut through the woods and Buck clutched the knife with both hands. Maybe if it found him, he could get a good cut in before it ate him. Maybe he should just go ahead and do himself in before it got a chance to turn him into a zombie like his mother…

The rustling and crashing of feet dashing through the woods startled him, and Buck nearly jumped as the creature came closer. He could feel his body shake as the rustling came closer, then stopped close enough that he could hear whatever it was breathing. He could hear it snuffling the air, snorting, and sniffing as if trying to get a scent of its prey. The creature screamed again, then took off in the direction Buck had come from, using hands and feet to claw its way up the hill as fast as it could.

Buck chanced a glance from behind the tree and saw a man with long hair and tattered clothes scrambling up the hill, his hands throwing debris behind him as he clawed his way up. He slipped from behind the tree and took off in the other direction. He had no idea where he was going, but he wasn’t going to waste any time getting there.

Captain Andrews sat in the back of the transport as the truck bumped and jostled up the dirt road. At one point, they stopped, and a group of the soldiers got out to clear a pickup out of the road that had somehow gotten wedged between two SUVs.

Captain Andrews stood up in the back of the transport and looked over the edge as the men hooked a chain to the heavy front bumper of the truck and pulled it out of the way, then used the same bumper to simply push cars out of the way. The next order of duty was to simply push the pickup off the road as well.

He grunted and sat back down, thinking to never call on these brutes if he ever got his own vehicle stuck. They had all the finesse of a bull in a china shop.

As the truck jerked forward again, Andrews was tossed to the side and found the wooden bench he rode on to be even less comfortable than he remembered before they had stopped. The truck continued its slow, lumbering pace up the mountain road until they eventually passed all of the parked vehicles and had turned off onto another road, continuing the relentless climb upward.

Andrews had a sneaky feeling what Vickers was up to. He was going to use the ultrasonic frequency device and the makeshift amplifier to call all of the infected to one area so that a single gunship could make quick and easy work of them. No more risking soldiers on the ground. Who knew? The gangly bastard might even be on the gunship himself and fire the first rocket propelled grenade into the crowd. Andrews was sure it would give Vickers a thrill to watch the bodies explode into a pink mist as the RPG hit its intended target.

The truck slowed and one of the soldiers in the back hopped over the rear tailgate, unlatching it before the truck came to a complete stop. “Time to unload, Doc,” he said as he dropped the rear gate.

“Here?” Andrews asked, looking about at the deserted area. “We’re at the top of a hill.”

“Yup,” The soldier said dryly. “Keen sense of observation you got. Must be why they pay you the big bucks.”

Andrews bristled and stood erect. “I’m still a captain, corporal,” he seethed. “I would think you could show a little respect.”

The soldier paused and cocked his head in thought. “You’d think, wouldn’t ya?” he grinned just before he began pulling the crates from the back of the truck. Three more soldiers appeared from the front and began unloading the

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