The Corporal nodded again. “If you’re confident, Sergeant,” he said, “then I’m confident.”
“Truth be told, it’s more hopeful optimism than confidence,” Murphy admitted.
Bretz shrugged. “It’s more than I had in Spokane, so I’ll take it,” he said.
“All right, if you boys want to just hang out here by the bus, I’ll send a runner when we’re ready to move,” the Sergeant instructed. “Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes.”
“We’ll be ready,” the Corporal replied.
Murphy nodded firmly and headed off, barking out orders at the top of his lungs as he went. Bretz turned to his team, noting their concerned faces.
“Six minutes into the assault and we’re already getting our asses kicked?” Kent asked, shaking his head. “That doesn’t bode well for things.”
Baker took a deep breath. “Based on that, I think we should pick up some extra food before getting in those trucks,” he suggested. “Might be weeks before they get to us at this rate.”
“We stick to the plan as is,” Bretz countered. “A lot of these soldiers haven’t seen much combat, if any at all int he last month. And certainly not at the scale of this operation. Going to take them a minute to get their footing.”
Baker jutted out his chin. “You don’t actually believe that bullshit, do you?” he demanded.
Bretz cocked his head and gave a little shrug, not wanting to confirm or deny the Private’s accusation. “All right,” he finally conceded, “if you pass something while we’re going through the store, grab it. But don’t be going out of your way for stuff.”
“That’s a compromise I can get behind,” Mason agreed, and the group fell into a tense silence as they readied their gear.
CHAPTER FIVE
Bretz and his team followed the group of fifty led by Sergeant Murphy towards the shopping center. They stopped a block away, taking a knee by the side of the road. The center was the first bit of civilization they’d encountered, nothing but woods and fields up until that point.
Murphy pulled out binoculars and scanned ahead, focusing on the shopping center. It was a large complex, with two main anchors running along a five hundred yard long building, the back of which faced the group. Along the side to the left was a shorter building, about three hundred yards, with another major anchor.
While the driveway was only about thirty yards wide, he could see about eighty zombies or so in the lot, but it was impossible from that vantage point to see the majority of the area. He motioned for Bretz to come up beside him.
“What do we have, Sergeant?” Bretz asked.
Murphy tilted his head. “We have moderate resistance, just from what I can see,” he replied. “I doubt we’re lucky enough to have all of them to one side.”
“Based on my experience, none of us are that lucky,” the Corporal replied dryly.
The Sergeant pulled out a close-up satellite image printout of the shopping center, with two areas circled. One was on the main building on the far side, and the other on a shorter building closer to them.
“You need six trucks, right?” he asked.
Bretz nodded. “That’s right.”
“We got two target buildings here,” Murphy explained, pointing to the circles, “neither of which are going to be easy runs if we’re facing heavy resistance. I think in order to buy you the time you need, we’re going to have to clear this lot and set up a firing line to the north in case we attract some visitors.”
Bretz nodded. “If the keys are in the loading dock offices,” he said, “it shouldn’t take us more than ten minutes to get loaded up and head out.”
“And if they’re not?” the Sergeant asked, cocking his head.
The Corporal wrinkled his nose. “Could be thirty minutes or more.”
“No matter how much time you need, we’re gonna get it for you,” Murphy said firmly, and let out a soft whistle, pointing to some men close by.
Four soldiers rushed over and took a knee in front of him.
“We gotta buy the Corporal here some time,” the Sergeant explained. “Need two of you on each of the main buildings. Get up there, give us the lay of the land, then start picking them off. You got it?”
All four men made emphatic noises in the affirmative.
“Good,” Murphy said, “get going.”
The four men took off quickly down the road, moving faster than a jog. The Sergeant reached into his bag and pulled out a second set of binoculars, handing them to Bretz.
The Corporal took them with a brow furrowed. “You carry two sets of these?” he asked.
“My orders said I had to escort some VIPS,” Murphy replied with a little shrug. “Just wanted to make sure I didn’t disappoint.”
Bretz smiled and nodded, then lifted the binoculars so he could watch the foursome approach the shopping center. When the boys got close, the teams broke off into groups of two, focusing on their targets. The duo to the left, heading towards the smaller building, took cover behind a few cars parked on the side of the building.
There were some zombies wandering about on the other side of the vehicles, looking around suspiciously at the noise of the footsteps. The Corporal watched the two men draw knives, readying to strike. One of them picked up a rock and heaved it over the enemy’s head, and it smacked into the side of the wall.
“Smart move,” Bretz murmured as the soldiers leapt over the hood of the car, dispatching the distracted zombies from behind with ease.
As soon as the duo disappeared behind the store, panicked gunfire erupted from the other side.
“What are those chucklefucks doing?” Murphy snapped, and they frantically searched for the other pair of soldiers.
Bretz finally found them as the gunfire grew more intense. “Got ‘em, halfway down the building.”
A horde of zombies swarmed around a spot on the ground, presumably where one of the men had been standing. One of the creatures’ heads exploded, and then the gunfire went silent. Bretz’ mouth went dry, and he scanned for the other soldier,
