The only light were small rays of moonlight piercing through the limbs to illuminate small patches of ground in the darkened woods. The leaves crunching softly beneath their boots sounded much too loud, but they didn’t have much of a choice in the matter.
After a few hundred yards, Herrera stopped the group at the sound of significant movement up ahead. He motioned for them to stay put, and slowly moved as quietly as he could to the next tree, looking out into the darkness.
There was a moonlit patch between several trees with signs of tracks moving off to the side, as well as a few creatures milling about. He looked around on the ground, spotting a rock the size of his fist, and he picked it up, pitching it as hard as he could to the left of the lit area.
As soon as it landed, the zombies whipped around towards the noise, moaning and shuffling off towards it. The Corporal waited, holding his breath as a dozen creatures passed through the lit area. If they’d made a play for the visible creatures, they would have been overrun by the ones in the shadows.
When the immediate threat passed, he motioned for the others to follow him again. They continued to move, the path relatively clear for the next ten minutes or so, the group slow and steady. They worked their way north, only occasionally having to pause for a well timed rock throw or a quick jab to the skull of a lone zombie.
Herrera brought the group to a stop again, this time at the edge of a picnic area. He peeked out at a dozen or so creatures spread out over the fifty by fifty yard area, most of them hanging out by a gazebo and grill as if it were a family barbecue for the undead.
As he scanned the area, he looked to the left of the woods, seeing significant movement in the shadows, like a pack just waiting to be unleashed.
The Corporal pursed his lips and motioned for Choi to join him. “We have to cut across the open area,” he breathed the words as quietly as he could.
The Private gaped at him, his eyes easily conveying, Are you fucking crazy?
Herrera pointed to the leftmost edge, and Choi squinted, his shoulders slumping when he spotted the massive amount of movement in the shadows.
The Private leaned in and whispered, “How do you want to play it?”
“Dead sprint, don’t worry about noise,” the Corporal replied softly. “Just get across and get back to cover, and we’ll lose them in the woods.”
Choi nodded and then stepped back to relay the message to the others. They clustered around behind their superior, ready to roll.
Herrera readied himself, giving another scan of the field. They were about fifteen yards away from the left edge where all the movement was, and twenty yards from the congregating barbecue zombies. He gripped his weapons tightly and then took off like a shot.
He broke from the tree line like a sprinter out of the blocks, his trio of men following several yards behind in a staggered pattern. There weren’t as many leaves on the ground, but the heavy pounding of boots on the grass was enough to alert the zombies in the area.
He glanced to the right, where a few barbecue ghouls staggered towards him. To the left, dozens of creatures emerged from the trees, moaning and arms outstretched. He wasn’t worried, as there was more than enough space between them. However, as they got halfway across the field, the collective noise of their boot falls had alerted more corpses in front of them.
He continued running even at the sight of half a dozen zombies shambling out of the woods ahead. They were spread out well, so it wasn’t overwhelming. When he came within ten yards, three ghouls appeared right in his trajectory. Just before he reached them to attack, the sound of rapid footsteps made his heart rate triple.
A runner burst out of the trees, shoving past a slower zombie and tore towards the Corporal. Herrera didn’t have time to attack, instinctively shoving the fast-moving ghoul to the left as it got close to him. He kept his momentum and slammed his knife into the zombie he’d originally been aiming for and then whirled around at the sound of Anton’s screams.
The runner latched onto the poor Private’s shoulder, and Herrera stared at the horrific mauling, eyes wide.
“Watch it!” Choi barked, and darted forward to tackle a creature within an arm's length of the Corporal’s back. He hopped on top of the fallen ghoul and stabbed down repeatedly into its face, sending blood everywhere.
Herrera snapped back to reality and lunged for another nearby creature, bashing in its head with his baton. Both men returned their attention to Anton as Jacobs managed to slam his knife into the runner’s head as it tore another strip off of his friend.
“Jacobs, we gotta move!” Herrera cried, seeing the horde of creatures gaining ground past the bloodied duo.
The Private looked down at his friend, bleeding profusely from his shoulder wound. He reached down to help him up, and Anton immediately snapped off his vest, shoving it against Jacobs’ chest.
“Take my ammo and go!” he demanded.
Jacobs stared at his comrade and then gulped, nodding and running off to join the others. Anton picked his weapons off of the ground, let out a primal scream and ran headlong into the crowd of zombies flailing wildly and trying his best to take out as many as possible, while making as much noise as he could.
Herrera led his two remaining team members into the woods, running as hard as he could through the trees, barely able to see what was ahead. He could hear the other two several yards
