someone else can carry it.'
'Ah, I see your plan. You'll carry it when you are fresh and hand it off after we've humped five hundred miles and are tired. Then point out you've already done your share.'
'Something like that sergeant.'
'Warrant Officer.' Ruben corrected him, 'It sucks that we have to go by ground from here.'
'Tell me about it.' They all knew why they had to walk or take ground transportation from this point on, aircraft were disappearing if they flew further east.
Where they had been dropped off was as close as the pilot could get safely. There had been reports by some scattered National Guard units of planes being shot out of the sky by missiles from the ground and a few, more chilling accounts, of actual fighter jets engaging anything the living sent eastward.
There were a few zombies left in the building and Draper's men quickly and efficiently cleared it room by room, calling out information as they did so. Max couldn't help being a little smug that the special forces troops had missed one, but he tried not to show it when he directed them to a locked basement room. The door had been locked from the inside and the lone man in a mechanic's uniform looked almost unwounded before the riflemen put him down for good. As soon as the building was cleared they gathered in the foyer of the main building to discuss their next steps.
It turned out they needed the man in the basement too, the keys in his pockets matched up to a Ford F-150 series truck that was high on the list of vehicles the teams wanted to take. Draper, his second in command, Bill and Stewart were looking over the keys they gathered for the vehicles parked outside. There was not a huge selection to divide up between the two groups, but there were a few choice vehicles both sides wanted.
'Let us take the pickup, it's four wheel drive, extended cab and suits our team better because it's smaller. You can take the H-2.' Stewart said.
'The H-2 is a civilian model, the F-150 is the best out there, in fact I would put the older pickup ahead of the H-2, and that older SUV, what's it? The Relay? That might be a better bet in the long run. It gets better gas mileage than the other vehicles so it has extended range.'
'Oh come off it, I know you want both the H-2 and the F-150, don't try to pawn of some piece of shit Relay on us with the 'gets better mileage' card!'
Draper smiled and sighed, 'Really this conversation is between the lieutenant and I.'
'Don't haul me into it, I like the Ford too.' Bill said.
'You mentioned 'card'?' asked Draper moving over to the small counter, there were decks of sealed cards there, along with some small flashlights and novelty magnets, all with the airports name and logo on them. 'Maybe we should let chance settle this?' He unwrapped a deck and started shuffling.
Stewart looked at him, 'Poker? Or do we do this like adults and just go with 'high card'?'
'We don't have time for a Texas hold 'em tournament, so high card. Max', Draper said, calling the man over, 'Come shuffle this and hold while we draw.'
Max came over and shuffled the cards seven times then offered the deck to Draper to cut, the man's huge hand dwarfed the cards and he went deep. Max set the deck down on the counter and stepped back.
'You first.' Stewart said.
'Cutter doesn't draw first.' Draper said with authority.
'Fine. Bill draw one.' Stewart said as Draper swore softly.
'Me? Why me?'
'I've heard you're lucky.'
'Hold on there a second, you don't want to use his luck up on getting a vehicle, for all you know there could be a better car two miles down the road than anything sitting in the lot out there.' Draper said.
'A good truck will get us closer to our goal faster, it's worth using his luck up for this. Go for it Bill.'
Ruben chuckled from the side of the room, 'Will someone just do something? I don't have many years left and I can feel them slipping away from me.'
'Fine. Bill can draw, but I will take first pull.'
'Fair enough.'
Draper reached out and took the first card off the top of the deck looked at it then smiled and flipped it over, it was the ace of hearts.
'Goddammit.' swore Stewart.
Bill pulled the next card and flipped it without looking first. The ace of spades.
Draper scowled and threw the Ford's key onto the counter while Stewart let out a whoop and started laughing.
'Don't worry Colonel, you'll probably find a better car a few miles down the road!'
'No one likes a gloater. C'mon men, let's get those vehicles ready to go.'
'Did I win?' asked Bill.
'Yes Bill, you won. Let's go make sure they fill our truck up too.'
Everyone filed out of the building into the parking lot where they helped siphon fuel out of the cars they were not taking and transferred it to the ones they were. The fuel was transferred and the vehicles were loaded up within half an hour, which left at least two hours of travel time. Draper and his three vehicles were heading north on highway seventy five, Max was heading south.
The choice of Madison Airport was closer to Washington than to northern Florida, but highway seventy five was the main road into Florida, all they had to do was follow the road outside the airport south and they would, hopefully, get close enough for Max to pick up the location of the man he was looking for. Draper was tight lipped about where, exactly, his crew was going. Only stating it was around 'D.C.'.
Once the vehicles were loaded the two teams stood around looking at each other, each debating how to say good bye to people they didn't really like, but would still miss. Finally Draper said, 'Well, good luck.' and stuck out his hand.
Bill shook it first and returned his good wishes. Stewart gave Draper a nod and a handshake as well and then the Colonel turned to Max.
'I am sorry about the first time. I hope you find what you are looking for…and kill it.'
Smiling and nodding Max replied, 'Good luck to you too Colonel, I hope you find what you are looking for and that it is still alive to save.'
Max never saw Draper again.
Chapter 12 — Katie
They lost Samantha at the 'Farm and Fleet'. Katie was inside and the girl had gone in with her to watch the door while the rest of the group kept watch in the parking lot. Katie wanted some better equipment, and a new rifle, if they carried firearms. Samantha was hit from the side by a super zombie and screamed as it pulled her back into the feed section and tore her apart.
Katie went after the zombie, firing at it, but it was the 'Flash' of super zombies and always seemed to be a step ahead of her. She finally had it corned when it did the unexpected and tossed Sam into her as she fired on it. The girl's body slammed into her head and shoulders with her torn apart stomach drenching Katie even as she was forced to the ground. Katie thought she was dead then, but the others had rushed into the building and the super zombie fled rather than face their combined firepower.
Her four saviors had gone insane with grief when they saw what had happened. Sam was, after all, their daughter. Something seemed to snap inside Robert and he stared at the young woman and started to cry uncontrollably. It was Kent who put Sam down when she revived a minute later. Katie was drenched in blood,
