Jinx nodded. “Which means we’re going to have to move quick,” he said. “As soon as your boots hit the sand, make your way to the shack on the far end of the beach. That’s the rally point.”
“And the zombies?” Rollins asked.
The Corporal handed back the binoculars. “Clear the landing zone for the other teams and let the snipers handle the ones coming from the woods,” he instructed. “We got a double load out, but four hundred and twenty rounds is gonna go quick. Questions?”
The team shook their heads, making noises in the negative.
“Let’s get ready to roll, then,” Jinx said.
The soldiers geared up, loading up their ammunition and gear bags, and checking their files. Burch leaned over and looked at the chains, inspecting the thick gauge metal with large chunks welded to it every few yards for hand holds.
“This is some Frankenstein bullshit right here,” he muttered.
The deck teams lined up on the railing, bracing themselves as the ship hurtled towards the shoreline. As they reached the hundred yard line, the PA system crackled to life.
“All hands, brace for impact!” the Captain bellowed.
The ship began to run aground as it approached the shore, hitting the low part of the sea floor. Everyone lurched forward as the momentum quickly stalled. There was a horrific loud sound of metal vs rocks as the ship skidded along the sand.
The strike teams rattled around, holding onto the railing. Jinx’s eyes were wide, a massive grin on his face as if he were on a roller coaster. A few members of his team looked excited as well, prompting a few of Spence’s team to stare at him with furrowed brows.
Jinx flashed them a hand with his pointer and pinky fingers extended in the iconic devil horns sign, letting out a whoop.
Finally, the ship came to a stop on the shore, the front end of the ship about ten yards onto the beach.
“Chains overboard!” Jinx barked, and his team moved fast.
The soldiers shoved the heavy chains over the side of the ship. It took two people on each one to get it going, but soon the metal plummeted to the ground below.
Jinx looked over the side, all four lines close together, no more than five yards apart, landing on the sand below. One of the chains smacked a zombie on the shoulder, ripping the arm clean off.
“So close Davila,” the Corporal cried, “you almost had a headshot!”
Davila chuckled and tapped his gun. “Don’t worry, I’ll make up for it.”
“Davila, Jarvis, Rollins, on me,” Jinx said, “let’s move!” He hopped over the railing and grabbed onto the chain as his three teammates did the same.
He looked down the forty yards to the ground, watching the dozen zombies directly below them, and a few dozen more on either side of them on the beach, and headed their way. He climbed down quickly, hand over hand with his feet walking down the side, moving faster than his soldiers. When he was about ten yards from the ground, he stopped, looking at the dozen zombies reaching up for him hungrily.
Jinx wrapped his off-hand around the chain, enough to support his weight. He pulled his handgun, and then opened fire, one by one popping rounds into rotted foreheads, dropping them.
A few seconds later, the other three members of his team were level with him, joining in the execution of the ghouls.
“Landing zone is clear!” Jinx said, holstering his gun. “Move!”
The four troops dropped the rest of the way to the ground, quickly finding their footing on the sand and raising their assault rifles.
“Jarvis with me,” Jinx said, moving his hand in quick flicks of his wrist. “Rollins, Davila, other side.”
He moved to the left of the ship, taking aim at the twenty or so zombies that moved towards them, the closest five yards away. The duo acted as a single unit, moving forward and executing ghouls with precision, stepping over the fallen corpses to reach the next one in line.
The entire firefight was over in a matter of moments, with the two soldiers mowing through the crowd with ease. As Jarvis shot the last remaining zombie in the face at nearly point blank range, she turned and gave her Corporal a high five.
“Fucked ‘em up, Jinx,” she declared.
He nodded. “Yeah, we did,” he agreed with a grin. “Lot more waiting on the same treatment, let’s move.”
They rushed back to the ship as Stein and Burch hit the ground.
“Let’s go,” Jinx called, “rally point.”
The four soldiers moved across the beach, headed towards the old shack at the far end. As they went, they saw a trail of death from Rollins and Davila who’d cut through the immediate group of zombies.
When they spotted the shack, fifty yards away, there were several zombies emerging from the woods. As they ran, gunshots boomed from the ship, and the zombies began to fall as the backs of their heads exploded.
Rollins and Davila took a knee on the side of the shack as the other four caught up, and the shorter man nodded to the Corporal.
“Off to a good start,” Davila said.
Jinx nodded. “Yeah, we navigated through your handiwork on the beach,” he said. “Nice job.”
“So what’s next?” Rollins asked, keeping watch on their flank.
Jinx looked out from behind cover towards the woods, which was about fifty yards away, running for hundreds of yards in both directions. There were dozens of rotted corpses emerging from the trees, and they were starting to make headway to the ship, the numbers greater than what the snipers could keep up with.
The Corporal pulled out a satellite image of the area on their side of the bridge. “Bridge is on the south part of town, so let’s stick as close to the south as we can,” he said, running his finger along the paper. “The woods are going to be a bitch with as many of those things, so we need to push through. Rally point is this wrecker yard looking place. Teams of two, watch each
