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The gate swung open, and we drove through.Inside, several guns were pointed at us.
“Stay in your vehicles,” one man ordered.Several others did a thorough sweep of every vehicle.
“Follow that Humvee,” the same man said when they finished.
A vehicle parked to the side roared to life and started down the road.We drove farther into the base and stopped outside of a hotel.We left the civilians there and continued on.I couldn’t say I minded when we braked in front of some military housing and were told to clean up and rest while Patrick met with Vance’s commanding officer.
The private, hot shower was nice.The real bed was even better, though.I fell into a light sleep without hesitation.
Yelling woke me.
I bolted upright and stared at the hallway.Someone ran past.Another person stopped in the opening.
“Get up, Andie.They have a breach.”
I scrambled out of the bed.“What kind?Dog or undead?”
“Undead, I think.”
I scrambled into my gear, cursing myself for not sleeping with it on like when we were in the field.The riot gear prevented bites but made for a miserable night’s sleep.A minute behind Roni, I rushed toward the exit and took position just inside the door.
“Ready?”she asked.
At my nod, she opened the door to darkness.
Distant pops rang out.Roni signaled forward, and I followed, watching our backs.We crossed the parking lot, spotting another pair moving like we were.Undead didn’t move with stealth.They either ran or shambled.But they didn’t crouch and move from cover to cover.So it was easy enough to identify our own…if we could see them.
If I got shot by friendly fire after surviving the last three weeks of madness, I was going to be furious.
We worked our way toward the gunfire, and I saw the horde of undead piled up near a section of lit fence.They were climbing over each other, reaching the top, and toppling over inside.Most of them were shot before they even reached the ground.But that was only creating a pile-up of bodies on both sides.
“It’s a body bridge,” Roni said.
I looked at the number still outside the fence.
“Where did they come from?”I asked.“Enid?”
“I hope not.”
A roar filled the night, and for a heartbeat, everything froze.The gunfire paused, and the undead turned to look back at the darkness behind them.The back half of the horde started running into the dark.
Roni swore under her breath and brought up her weapon.
“Hit the ones away from the fence,” she said.
For the next ten minutes, we did our best to thin the remaining number of undead.When the last one fell, my ears rang from the barrage of gunfire.Roni and I rushed forward, along with a dozen other men, to remove the buildup of bodies.Any without a headshot got one.We weren’t taking chances.
When the inside was clear, a group left to dispose of the remains.We stayed by the fence, waiting for the truck to reappear on the other side.We covered them while they worked.
The smell of rot filled my nose.I didn’t gag, and I didn’t breathe through my mouth.Tasting that rot was worse than smelling it.They worked fast, removing every last corpse.A few undead wandered their way in from the dark, but Roni and I—mostly Roni—ensured they didn’t get close.
We retreated, finding a less visible spot from which to watch the fence once they left.Neither of us looked away from the dark.
Something was out there.
Something that roared and called the undead to it.
Something I hoped I would never have to face because that sound had rattled my bones and shaken me to the core.
