They hopped over to the still-standing big rig and climbed into the cab. Eason propped his feet up on the dash, taking a well-needed breather, and Gilbert settled into the driver’s seat.
“Gilbert, you copy?” Herrera asked through the radio. “You two okay?”
Gilbert picked up the radio and raised it to his mouth. “Yeah, we’re good, Corporal,” he replied. “How’s life on the other side of the bridge?”
“We’re alive and kicking, but still have a bit of work to do once the sun comes up,” came the reply.
Gilbert nodded. “Won’t be that difficult to get things squared away,” he replied. “All in all, I’d say we did a pretty good job holding these things off.”
“I think you’re right,” Herrera replied, and then took a deep breath. “And for what it’s worth, you did a good job today.”
Gilbert heard the reluctance in the Corporal’s voice, and he couldn’t help but laugh. “Let me guess… still haven’t made amends?” he asked.
Herrera chuckled. “Hell no, not by a long shot,” he replied.
“That’s fair, I suppose,” Gilbert admitted.
“Keep this up through the rest of the conflict, however, and we can talk,” Herrera said.
Gilbert sat up straighter. “Rest of the conflict?” he asked. “You mean we aren’t done after this?”
“Being a soldier is for life!” the Corporal replied, feigning shock. “Didn’t anybody tell you that?”
Gilbert chuckled. “Pretty sure the only thing the recruitment guy told me was that if I signed that piece of paper, it would get me out of my hometown,” he said.
“I mean…” Herrera drawled, “he wasn’t wrong.”
“No, no he was not,” Gilbert agreed.
“Well, you boys get rested up,” the Corporal said. “When the sun gets finished rising, we’ll figure out all we need to do to secure this bridge.”
“Good with that,” Gilbert replied.
Herrera tossed down the CB and propped his feet up, taking a deep breath. He stared down the bridge to the east, looking over thousands of undead heads all struggling to get to him. A few minutes later, the sun began to peek up over the horizon, creating a beautiful view over an ugly landscape.
He tried to reconcile those two things meeting in the middle, knowing that this was just another day in the apocalypse.
END
Up Next: Corporal Bretz leads a daring mission to block off the interstate to the north of downtown in “Seattle - Part 3”.
Seattle - Pt. 3 can be found at this link
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HY5SQDT
