Zombie Theorem (Book 1): The Culling, page 21
Kuppers takes lead, he clicks on his radio. “Brian, you and Angel in position? Do you have a visual on us over?”
“Roger we are in position, I have a visual on you and the team. Can’t see anyone else out there. You are clear.” Brian reports in on the radio.
“Let’s do this quickly and quietly. Have you already checked these last four? Are any of them occupied?” Kuppers inquires.
Senshi answers back. “The first one here and the last one in the line are. Two in the next line. We left the first line alone so we could keep our presence hidden.”
“Good job, Senshi, you and Cupcake take Doc with you and hit the last one in line. Remember no killing unless they draw on you. I want them trussed up and tied to their bunks. Meet us back here.” They take off on their way to the cabin. “Vic and Apache take lead on the door take down, I will be back up. Dan you watch our backs, get your gun out, turn off the safety, finger off the trigger.” He shows me how he wants my finger along the trigger guard so I can move it in quickly to fire. I feel uncomfortable, but I do as I’m told, remembering Apache’s words earlier.
Vic and Apache take each side of the door. Vic reaches in and turns the door knob slowly, then slides the door open quietly allowing Apache to enter. She steps to her left allowing Vic to enter to the right. Kuppers steps in and stays at the door. I put my back against the door jamb, with my gun resting in my hand at my side and watch the walkways around us. I don’t hear much from inside the cabin. I keep all my senses concentrated on my surroundings, but soon Kuppers’ gloved hand rests on my shoulder. He whispers in my ear. “We have three down, gagged, and secured. You take lead walk our same steps back to our meeting place. We will follow, you got this.”
I take a deep breath, pay attention to my surroundings again, and then slowly walk back the way we had come to our previous meeting spot. The rest follow me in single file. We arrive and the other team is waiting for us. Doc winks at me, and throws me a thumbs up. “Everything went well I figure?” Kuppers asks. Senshi, Cupcake, and Doc nod positively. “Great, so there are three cabins on your side clumped together and same on our side. When you complete your objectives head to between the cafeteria and showers. Radio if you need help. Any questions, concerns, or gripes?”
No one speaks up, Doc and his team rise and move on to their next objectives. “Brian all covered above? Anything we need to worry about?” Kuppers radios out.
“All clear Kuppers, not a soul except you guys are down there. Angel is using glasses and is acting spotter.” He announces with pride in his voice.
We rise and Vic takes lead, Apache follows, I come up next with Kuppers covering our rear. I notice everyone is walking heel to toe, so I try and mimic their steps. I still sound like an elephant compared to these guys. My eyes continue to scan all around us and I listen as closely as possible to my surroundings. We come to the next cabin in our line and Vic comes around the corner to the door and we repeat our same entry steps as the cabin before. We catch three sleeping and within minutes Vic and Apache have zip tied them to their beds and gagged them. They were so quick, that the people inside had not had a chance to wake up before they were gagged. We rolled out of the cabin and shut the door.
I took lead and moved us to the cabin to our left. When I reached the door I fell out of line and took a knee on the path in front. As Kuppers went past he rested his hand on my shoulder. I stood up and stepped back waiting for the door to be breached. I then heard a scream that was cut off as fast as it was raised. Kuppers came up to my side and we both took our knees watching and listening for any alarms. “Brian report, we had someone let off an alarm, but we were able to stop it quick. Anything moving or making noise out there?” Kuppers asked on the radio.
“Wait one.” A full minute passed and Brian came back on the radio. “someone just stepped out of the cafeteria, he looks like he wants to start walking in your direction. Finish up your cabin and I will continue to watch him. If he starts in your direction I’ll pop him, out.”
“Roger, only if you have to.” Kuppers looks at me and points to his eyes and then points at the corner of the next cabin.
I read that as he was saying for me to watch that corner closely. I moved my eyes in that direction and pay close attention. I sense the door behind us closing and the others come up on us. Apaches breath flows across my neck as she whispers. “Move to the corner and stay very low. I am going to move around the other side of the cabin and deal with that interloper.” I nod my head yes and raise myself to my feet and slowly make my way to the point she stated for me to go to.
I looked to my left and see that Apache has already disappeared, Vic and Kuppers made their way over to the other corner taking up position. I drop back to my knees and slowly move my head around the corner. I can now make out the guy, he is slowly sneaking his way in my direction, I keep my head low, thinking he can’t see me. He raises his rifle and I can see a smile spread across his face as he looks through his scope at me. I start pulling my head back when I lose my balance and fall onto the ground. The guy starts to redirect his aim when he stops short, drops his gun onto its sling and tries to turn. I see Apache appear behind him she had hit his knees with the baton she took from me and shoved her knife into the man’s throat. I can hear him gurgling as his throat fills with blood, choking him and drowning him. Apache catches my eye and winks at me, as she lowers the man’s body to the ground.
I get back onto my knees and make my way crouching over to Apache. We together drag the body to the rear of the cabin and dump him onto the ground. Kuppers comes up and checks on the guy and then looks at us. He gives us a thumbs up and then points, indicating the front of the cabin. We join back up into our line and I take lead. We creep to the front door and I take a knee again. I keep my 1911 pointed to the cafeteria’s front doors as the team takes down this cabin. I keep my eyes sweeping across the windows and then over to my left, watching Doc and his team working their way over to the showers. Doc gives me a thumbs up and I shoot one back at him. Vic comes up to my side and indicates I should take rear as we move on. Apache passes and Vic takes his place behind her. Kuppers steps in front of me and walks away, I come off my knee and follow, making sure to keep checking behind us.
We make it to the rendezvous site and both teams take knees with their guns pointing out around them. “How did you guys do?” Kuppers enquires.
“Seven down trussed up like turkeys, no issues no roadblocks.” Senshi informs him.
“Great, clear the showers then work your way to the cafeteria and protect our rear as we take down the chow line.” Kuppers orders.
Senshi pounds his fist with Kuppers and his team detaches and makes their way to the showers, bathrooms, and locker room combos. Apache rises, takes the lead again followed by Vic. Kuppers points for me to take the next in line and he will cover the rear. I put my hand on Vic’s shoulder and squeeze it so he knows who is behind him. He nods his head ok without ever looking back at me. We continue to the front doors and Apache enters first but stays low and we continue our way in following her. The hallway is long with four doors to our right and a single entrance off to our left, halfway down the hall. I figure, the doors to the right were at least two bathrooms and maybe two offices. The entrance to the left must lead into the main dining room and access to the kitchens.
When we arrive at the first doors to our right, Apache and Vic disappear into the first. I stop and Kuppers passes me and makes his way to the next door then motions for me to follow. I push open the door and we enter the female’s bathroom. I drop to my knee and drop my head to the floor to look under the stalls. I notice a pair of feet in the last stall and point to Kuppers then point at the last stall and then raise my index finger into the air. Kuppers motions for me to wait as he makes his way down the stall doors to the last. He stops and waits making sure his feet are aligned with one of the posts holding the door. He waits till he hears the toilet flush, he then drops his gun onto its sling and pulls his handgun. The door opens and his hand swings up fast slamming the gun butt into the woman’s head. She starts to fall but he catches her and lays her on the ground. He quickly zip ties her hands and ankles then cuts off pieces of her shirt, balls it up and shoves it into her mouth. Next he removes a roll of duct tape from one of his many vest pockets and rips off a large piece and wraps it around her head, securing her mouth and creating a gag.
We secure the rest of the bathroom and make our way to the hallway where Apache and Vic are waiting for us. Kuppers motions that we took one down, Vic motions they found nothing in theirs. We continue down the hall and stop before the entry to the left and the last two doors to the right. Kuppers points to the two offices then to him and I, he then points to the dining room and then to Apache and Vic. They nod their approval, before we move off Vic takes my handgun and puts it back into my thigh holster and hands me his, which has something attached to the barrel making it look longer. He whispers into my ear. “It’s a silencer, makes the gun a little quieter, but not silent.” I nod my understanding.
They head out to the left, I turn and follow Kuppers toward the first office door. It was closed; I reached out and turned the knob then pushed the door open and step back giving Kuppers room to move in quickly. He returned fast and shook his head no. I followed him to the next one and I repeated the door entry. Kuppers moved fast, I heard a quick struggle and had to fight with myself to not look in, to protect our exit. I had to trust Kuppers could take care of himself. A couple of minutes passed and my curiosity got to me, I turned my head after checking the hallway one last time. I saw Kuppers standing there with his hand on his hips, a body was lying on the floor in a pool of blood. He looked over at me shook his head, he made his way over to me. He advanced toward the cafeteria and I followed him. We entered and stood against the far wall scanning the room looking for Vic and Apache. “They must’ve cleared this room and moved on to the kitchen. Let’s move up and see if we can help them clear it.” I nodded my agreement and followed Kuppers toward the kitchen doors.
Kuppers opened them slowly and entered, I followed him in. The kitchen was a bright white, and stainless steel, gleaming under the strong florescent lights. No shadows could exist under this glare, so we walked our way to the rear and came up on Apache securing the wrists of a woman, two men had already been put down. Vic was guarding the back door keeping his eyes open scanning the room. He waved at us as he continued his scanning. A door was offset next to him and to me looked like a broom closet. For some reason my gaze stayed glued to the door. I thought I saw it move a fraction and I raised my gun pointing it at the door. The door opened fast and I saw a knife appear going toward Vic. Without thinking I started pulling the trigger, putting 3 shots into the door. Vic moved quickly away and shot a glare in my direction. He then looked down at the bloody knife lying on the ground next to his feet.
Vic moved fast kicking the knife away and then opened the door revealing a small broom closet with a bleeding man lying on the floor holding his arm and shoulder. Vic covered the man while Kuppers went over and patted the man down, looking for weapons. Once done he drags the man out of the closet next to his friends. Apache removes a medic pack from her vest and tries her best to stop the bleeding on the man’s arm. Once done she secures him with zip ties.
Vic comes over to me and reaches out and removes the gun from my hands. I noticed my hands are shaking slightly. He put his hand on my back and pats me. “Good job Dan, thank you for the assist.” He removes a cigarette from his vest, lights it and hands it to me. I take it without thinking and take a puff off of it, feeling the nicotine wash over my body and relaxing me. I stand there and finish the cigarette, and then look at the team. They are standing around watching me smoke my cigarette. Apache makes her way to me and gives me a small hug. “I knew you could do it. Now just breathe and relax, the adrenalin needs to bleed itself out of your system.” I remove my own gun from its holster and motion for the team to move on.
I was fighting the normal guy inside of me that was telling me that I probably just murdered a man. I told it to go fuck itself, that if I hadn’t shot the man then Vic would be the one on the ground watching his life force bleed out. I know I wasn’t the same guy from last week, but I wasn’t sure who I had become or was becoming. I followed the team staying behind Vic again and watching the area around me. The gun was in my hands and raised in the air following my eyesight, anytime my vision came across Vic’s body, I would lower the gun barrel toward the ground and raise it again to point in its new direction. We made our way to the big white tent at the end of the camp and rendezvoused with Doc and his team again.
“Apache and Senshi, give us a rundown of what we are going to find inside and how to get in without using the front door.” Kuppers ordered.
Senshi took the lead. “We entered near the rear where there is an unguarded entrance. They guard the front door while leaving the rear wide open. Once inside we will come up on the zombie pens. To the left are the infected, to the right uninfected, but they are bound to gurneys and medicated, probably tranquilized. Further in the middle it is wide open, broken up with work stations where the personnel are conducting their experiments. Near the front is another pen where they put the newly infected, waiting for them to turn.”
Apache took over the briefing. “I counted 20 technicians, with six guards; two watching the front entrance, the other four patrol the pens and check on the newly infected. They also move the dead bodies after they destroy them out to the rear and throw them into the ocean.”
“Usually I would have one team at each entrance and work our way to the middle taking people down. But that isn’t going to work this time. We will work as one team, Doc and Cupcake you will take rear guard, next Senshi, Vic and Dan will follow behind Apache, I will take lead on this one. Let’s try and take some prisoners, but if someone points a gun at you, don’t hesitate to take them out.” Kuppers finishes, then points toward the rear of the tent.
We get into formation and make our way down the side of the tent. I make sure to continue my best to stay quiet, and walk the same way they are. The radio clicks on and Brian’s voice comes on. “Hold!” Everyone comes to a quick stop and drop to their knees. I follow their moves and drop to my knees pointing my gun up and out of formation. “We have movement from the rear of the tent. I count three, wait one, new count is five. They are all armed and making their way to the side of the tent you are on. If they continue on I will take out the lead, and then work my way down the line. But it’s gonna get loud since I don’t have a silencer.”
“Brian, Kuppers, we are going to fan out so we can put more barrels on the corner of the tent. When they reach the corner, fire one and lets us know how they react. We may be able to get to the corner fast and stop them if they try to retreat back into the tent. We can’t let them do that, or we will have a hell of a time gaining access. Senshi, Apache, be prepared to boogie fast to take them if they attempt the retreat.”
“Roger, looks like they are slowing down and taking their time. They stopped and look like they are taking time to talk it out. If I was you I’d send Apache and Senshi now. I can alert them to drop if I need to open up.” Brian calls out.
Apache and Senshi don’t wait for orders but instead take off running. Brian’s voice came over the radio just as Apache and Senshi were about 10 yards from the corner. “Drop, guns up, taking shot.” They throw themselves to the ground and raise their weapons, prepared to defend themselves. Since Brian is not that far away you can hear the shot shortly after he pulls the trigger. Two shots ring out in short succession. “Up, two down, the rest are taking cover. Their eyes are on the surrounding mountains so they won’t see you if you hurry. They are against the tent wall and look like they are thinking about running back inside.”
Apache and Senshi disappear around the corner and we hear four quick shots. “Team move up quickly.” Senshi orders over the radio.
We get to our feet and run quickly around the corner seeing Apache and Senshi, already entering the tent. We enter behind them and are immediately shocked upon seeing the pens. I hold my gun up looking left and right, looking for danger. Doc breaks off and moves up to Apache and Senshi, they take the left of the tent while the rest of us go to our right. We come across a work station where Vic and Cupcake take down the two technicians hiding by their computers. Kuppers and I continue on and come across another work station, this one drives me crazy with what I see. A young girl was tied down on a gurney as two technicians are standing there, one holding a needle and attempting to inject black liquid that looks like it came from an infected. They continue their motions as we come around the corner. I don’t wait and take two aimed shots, hitting the first technician in the chest knocking him back, blowing blood, bone, and pieces of lung out of his back and onto the coworker standing behind him. Kuppers moves in quickly, knocking the confused looking technician, still standing, down onto the ground and zip ties him quickly.
Kuppers looks up at me and nods. He regains his feet and we continue down our walkway, Vic and Cupcake catch up to us. As we come around a corner we see the last couple of guards with their guns raised pointing in our direction as six other technicians run for the entrance. Suddenly two shots ring out and the guards fall to the ground screaming out in pain. I look to my left and catch Senshi lowering his M4. We finish clearing our side and move toward the entrance, quickly trying to catch the fleeing technicians.
I follow the rest of the team as we run outside. The scene ahead mesmerizes us all. There are three helicopters coming in from the ocean turning sideways, the soldier’s inside aim their guns at the technicians. Our radios click open, “Oh yeah, hey guys, the cavalry is here.” Brian calls out.
“Apache, Senshi, and Cupcake, go secure those maggots.” Kuppers call out. He turns to me and puts his hand on top of my gun hand. He pushes it down slowly, “You can safety that thing and holster it. I think this is all but over.” He clicks back on his radio. “Brian keep an eye open, for any more of those Ridder guys. I have a feeling they know what just happened and I don’t believe they will just sit idly by.”
