Hisses and whispers erupted throughout the soldiers, and McCarty’s brow furrowed.
“Quiet down!” he barked. “Captain’s speaking!”
Kersey inclined his head towards him. “Thank you, Sergeant,” he said. “I know the odds are stacked against you, and frankly they’re stacked against all of us. This invasion is a gamble, and if we don’t take risks and pull it off, then everything is over.” He crossed his arms. “I hope each and every one of you understands that.”
There was a ripple in the affirmative, though the faces were still concerned.
“The Captain did not year you!” McCarty barked.
“Yes, sir!” the soldiers declared in unison.
Kersey nodded to him and then addressed the men. “If you will look at the southeast portion of your map, you will see a small forest circled,” he began. “This is your landing zone. People in D.C. have been monitoring this island for the last twenty-four hours, and this is the only place where there aren’t huge congregations of zombies. Not going to lie, it’s going to hurt.”
“A lot,” McCarty added brightly.
Private Gilbert raised his hand, scowling deeply. Corporal Herrera grabbed his arm from beside him, trying to pull it back down, but Gilbert tore his body away and kept his arm staunchly in the air.
“What is it, Private?” Kersey asked, tone clipped. He couldn’t help but still feel disdain for the ex-Sergeant that had cost so many lives with his ego.
Gilbert lowered his hand. “Sir, with all due respect,” he said, raising his chin, “why aren’t we doing a water landing? Wouldn’t that be safer?”
“Sergeant, would you care to take that one?” the Captain asked, cocking his head.
McCarty shot daggers at the middle-aged soldier. “Because Private, when you combine the amount of gear you will be hauling into battle with your complete lack of experience in water landings, half of you would drown while the other half would wish you drowned,” he replied, and then glanced back at Kersey. “Sir.”
The Captain raised an eyebrow. “Does that answer your question, Private?”
Gilbert frowned and lowered his gaze, nodding.
“Okay, just to the southwest of the forest, you’ll see a building circled,” Kersey continued, holding up his own map. “This is your rally point. It’s a former country club, so the hope is that it’ll be relatively deserted. First to arrive will secure the building, or if it appears to be too overwhelmed, secure a perimeter on the eighteenth green. From there, you will split off into two teams. The bridge team will be tasked with working their way to this shopping complex in the north.” He tapped at the area on the map, holding it up high so the men could see. “To secure the trucks in the back of these two stores. It is a three and a half mile hike from the rally point, so this team will have to move and move quickly.”
McCarty nodded. “I will be leading this team personally,” he said, “so whoever is with me had better be ready to keep pace.”
“You will have the standard layout of two hundred and ten rounds,” Kersey added, “along with your melee weapons and sidearm, so avoiding detection is going to be key to this mission succeeding. Once the trucks are secure, you are to proceed to the I-ninety bridges to the east and west at the northernmost part of the island. You won’t be able to plug them up completely, but the trucks should provide enough of a barricade to hold back the majority of the horde that will be coming from downtown and the suburbs.”
Private Dixon raised his hand, his eyes one of the only sets that were bright at the ungodly hour.
Kersey pointed at him. “Yes… um…” He struggled to place the soldier’s name.
“Private Dixon, sir,” the young man replied.
The Captain nodded. “Go ahead,” he said.
“Sir, why not just blow the bridges?” Dixon asked.
Kersey shrugged. “Because someone with a much higher pay grade decided they wanted to keep them up,” he replied.
“Fair enough,” Dixon agreed with a firm nod.
“Now, the second team has a two front mission,” Kersey continued. “Their first task is to clear the high school to the southwest of the country club. This one is going to be dangerous, as the sports fields appear to be packed with zombies. The quieter you can do this the better, because this is going to be a rally point for the reinforcements arriving by boat.” He held up a hand. “Which brings me to your second objective. About half a mile to the west are a string of docks that must be secured with the route to the school being cleared. As we speak, ship-based soldiers are departing for Vashon Island, which appears to be loaded down with the boats of people who were fleeing the outbreak in the early hours of this. Shortly after dawn, you can expect the first batch of soldiers to be arriving on the island, and they’re going to need a place to stage.” He raised his chin. “Once the sun is up, your orders are to begin clearing the island of any zombie not secure in a structure. When this happens, it’s imperative that the truck blockade is in place, because that noise is going to attract a lot of attention.”
Private Dixon raised his hand again, and Sergeant McCarty narrowed his eyes.
“Private!” he barked.
Kersey held up a hand to the annoyed Sergeant to calm him down. “It’s okay, Sergeant,” the Captain assured him. “I’m happy to answer questions. What is it, Private?”
“Sir, I think I speak for everyone here when I say we’re going to do our job
