Outbreak (Book 2): The Mutation (9 page)

The civilians that joined them had come along for various reasons. Steele went because he wanted to kill more of the infected. He knew killing zombies would never bring his family back, but every time he put down one of the infected he felt like he was saving someone who wasn’t even in danger yet. Kind of like paying it forward. Cain had come because he knew they were headed west, and he was trying to get closer to Colorado. He needed to find out what had happened to his family.

The rest of the civilians came, Wilder figured, because they were restless. Being holed up in Fort Hood had taken its toll. Sure, there was a lot of space, but one still felt like a prisoner waiting for the executioner to come get them. Only this executioner was thousands of infected humans ready to tear you apart.

Wilder and Butsko weren’t going to talk anyone out of coming with them. They knew they could use the bodies.

The people at the base were supportive and knew that Wilder and Butsko’s plan, if it worked, would benefit them and possibly the world. Many of the people at Fort Hood believed it might even end these dark days.

They’d loaded up the two M939s and Growlers with as much ammo, water, and food that would fit and hit the road. There’d been an uneasy calm as they left Fort Hood. Everyone in the convoy had felt as though they’d left dry land and were headed out to the deep sea—that they’d never see the land again.

Wilder and Butsko had a plan, and they knew how important it was to succeed in this mission. They hadn’t shared the details of their plan with the others. Butsko and Wilder were worried that if the others knew and were then infected, that somehow that knowledge would transfer, and then be known by all the infected. This mission wasn’t to simply burn a few dozen zombies in a barn. If they were successful, they might be able to save the world.

2

Fort Hood

Killeen, TX

After they watched the convoy leave, the soldiers and civilians who stayed behind knew how important it was that Wilder, Butsko, and the others were successful in their mission. Everyone at the base felt something they hadn’t felt in a long time.

Hope.

It had been about twelve hours since Butsko and the convoy had left, and there was still a palpable feeling on the base that things might turn in humanity’s favor and that everyone might not have to live in fear every second of the day anymore.

The base’s new commander, Brick Phillips, saw the smiles return to people’s faces and hoped they weren’t jumping the gun. Wilder and Butsko had an ambitious plan, and there were about a thousand things that could go wrong with it. Phillips wasn’t a pessimist or a cynic, but he’d been in enough battles to know when something was a long shot.

“Good morning, Lieutenant Colonel Phillips,
”
said one of the civilians as they walked by each other. It was the morning after Butsko’s convoy had left and many people had celebrated the previous night.

“Good morning, Kristian,
”
Phillips replied with a smile. Phillips appreciated it when civilians who never served in the military respected the various ranks.

Phillips planned on running the base just as Butsko had. Butsko had never wanted there to be a distinction between civilians and the military. He didn’t want the non-military personnel to be intimidated by the soldiers. Everyone was in it together, and everyone was important to the survival of entire base.

“Didn’t partake in the festivities last night, Sean?
”
asked Phillips.

“No, Sir,
”
Sean replied. “I’m excited that there might be a light shining at the other end of this very dark hallway, but there’s still hundreds, maybe thousands of the infected out there.”

Phillips stared into Sean’s eyes and smiled. He knew how much Sean had lost before making it to the base.

“You’re a good man, Sean,
”
Phillips said as he patted Sean on the shoulder. “Just don’t burn yourself out.”

“You’re about a year too late for that advice, Sir,
”
Sean said, smiling.

Just then, the two men heard the unmistakable roar from one of the .50-calibre machine guns mounted on top of the protective wall. The person working the machine gun had paid attention to the training and was shooting the Browning in short bursts.

Phillips and Sean looked at each other and ran in the direction of the gunfire. On the northeast wall he saw Ripley as she fired the machine gun, paused while she swung the barrel around, and then fired more. All around the wall soldiers and civilians alike ran to back her up. The peacefulness of the early morning was shattered as more and more M4 carbines joined in, blowing up the dawn. 

As Phillips and Sean approached the wall, Sean broke away and joined the others in defending the wall. Phillips climbed up the ladder and situated himself next to Ripley. Phillips didn’t need to ask Ripley what was going on. He looked beyond the wall and saw hundreds of the infected running toward them. He nodded at Ripley and let her continue.

Phillips walked up and down behind the shooters, many of them civilians trained by the soldiers on the base, and reminded them to focus on the task at hand and to remember their training.

What the fuck is going on?
Phillips thought. He knew the zombies would never penetrate the wall’s defenses and wasn’t worried.
What the hell are they trying to accomplish?

Before Phillips could think things through, he heard the .50-calibre Browning going off on the western wall. The adrenaline hit Phillips all at once. The western wall was too far to see, so he jumped off the wall and ran. He saw a few civilians follow him.

“Stay where you are and protect this wall,
”
Phillips said.

The civilians returned to their positions and continued firing their M4 carbines.

It was a long run to the western side, but when he was in sight of it, he stopped dead in his tracks. The infected were pouring over the wall.

That’s impossible
, Phillips thought, thinking about the deep trench around the base.

The soldier who’d manned the Browning was already dead. Phillips could see Michaels
’
hand still attached to the trigger with blood dripping from the wrist. The screams and shouts of the soldiers and civilians began to drown out the machine gun fire as more and more people fell to the invading zombies.

Phillips unholstered his side arm and fired. He shot various infected humans straight in the chest and head, but the bullets seemed to have very little impact. He’d shoot one zombie and four would take its place.

Phillips guessed there had to be at least a thousand zombies around the wall and pouring over it. He wanted to turn around and get the shooters from the northeastern wall to help, but he knew that by the time he got back, there’d be no western wall left.

“Try and hold your positions!
”
Phillips yelled to the remaining shooters. “We need to hold this wall!”

As if on cue, a section of the western wall collapsed and crushed seven civilians. Zombies jumped on the downed wall and ran into the base looking for humans to infect.

As he fell back, Phillips saw nothing but the infected. Everywhere around him the infected were tearing apart civilians and soldiers alike in a frenzy of blood and gore.

One soldier who ran away quickly turned and aimed his carbine at the closest zombie. The soldier fumbled but managed to fix the bayonet on the end of the rifle and the zombie ran straight onto it with such force that it completely impaled itself down the entire length of the gun barrel. The zombie grabbed for the stunned soldier and bit his nose off. Another zombie tackled the soldier from behind, and the two monsters ripped and tore at the man’s clothing. The first zombie, still impaled on the rifle, left little skin on the soldier’s face. As it tore the soldier’s tongue out of his mouth, the other zombie tore into the soldier’s stomach and pulled out his intestines.

Others around Phillips were experiencing the same thing. The zombies came hard and fast and there was nothing anyone could do. A woman screamed to his right as one of the infected bit a chunk of flesh off of her left breast. Blood poured everywhere as the woman tried to fight back. The creature caught the woman’s flailing right hand in its mouth and bit down with such force that it almost severed the appendage. The zombie hit an artery in her wrist, and the woman immediately fainted from shock.

“What do we do, Sir?
”
a few civilians and soldiers screamed as they ran past Phillips.

Phillips stood there, stunned, as he realized what had just happened.

“They
…
they ambushed us,
”
Phillips said to no one in particular.

“What, Sir?
”
the soldier closest to him asked.

“They divided us, soldier,
”
Phillips finally said as he regained his senses. “They attacked on the northeastern wall first, and when the bulk of our forces were on that side, another group of those bastards attacked us from behind.”

Phillips ran back to the northeastern wall and shot whatever was in front of him. It was like shooting into the waves as they crashed onto the beach. It did no good, and the waves just kept coming.

His pistol clicked on an empty chamber, and he was out of bullets. He did the only thing he could: he ran.

As he approached the northeastern wall, he realized he wasn’t hearing much gunfire.

Then he saw why.

The zombies had breached that side of the wall as well, and the infected were pouring in from two different directions, and trapping the humans in the middle. Most of the humans were either unarmed or out of bullets.

The zombies kept coming and kept attacking. There seemed to be no end to the continual stream of the dead as they surged over the fallen wall.

A gang of five zombies pounced on top of a fallen soldier who had tripped over one of his fallen comrades. The soldier’s high-pitched screams were quickly muffled as fingers entered his throat and tore out his larynx. The soldier drowned in his own blood as the gang of the undead ripped chunks of flesh off his body.

Phillips ran to the housing barracks where civilians and soldiers alike lived. He heard gunfire and his heart sank. He didn’t think the infected had made it this far onto the base.

Crack, crack!
He heard the sounds of small calibre pistols going off around the back of one of the buildings. Phillips grabbed a shovel that had been left on the ground and ran around the corner to see a mother making the ultimate sacrifice.

Three zombies raced towards her and her two young children, and not being able to handle watching her kids be eaten alive by those things, the mother lined the children up and shot each kid twice in the head to spare them death at the hands of the infected.

With tears in her eyes, the mother then turned the gun on herself.

Click
.

Empty. In her distraught state, the mother hadn’t counted her bullets.

One of the zombies jumped on top of her and wrapped its bloodied legs around her waist. The creature brought its rotten mouth over her left eye socket and bit down. As she fell to the ground, the last thing she saw were the other two zombies ripping apart her already-dead children, their little bodies coming apart like bloody piñatas.

Phillips had arrived too late to do anything. He watched as the infected ripped apart the bodies of the kids as if they were tearing apart a cooked turkey. He heard the mother scream as the zombie bit through her neck all the way to the bone.

Phillips ran over as two zombies fought over the little girl’s torso and smacked one with the flat side of the shovel. A loud crack filled the air as the zombie’s neck snapped back. The other zombie leapt up and went after Phillips, but his heavy boot caught the creature under the chin. Phillips heard the teeth inside the creature’s rotten mouth shatter and saw the thing’s jaw dislocate.

Seeing the first zombie with the broken neck start to stir, Phillips pinned it with his foot to keep it where it was. With the edge of the shovel, he thrust down and caught the zombie between the lips. A loud, wet crunching noise was heard as the blade went through the creature’s head and separated the top of its head from its jaw.

Phillips turned to see the zombie with the dislocated jaw run toward him. The shovel’s blade was stuck in the ground, and he couldn’t swing it around. Phillips felt death next to him and knew that if he didn’t do something—anything—he was a goner.

He looked down and saw the only thing he could use to defend himself. He crouched down onto one knee, grabbed the dismembered limbs of the dead children, and swung the tiny arm toward the attacking zombie without taking his eyes off it. The jagged bone of the little girl’s arm caught the zombie in the throat and Phillips pushed as hard as he could.

The bone in the arm was strong enough to punch through the rotting flesh. He held the little girl’s severed arm in place, reached down with his left arm, and grabbed one of the little kids
’
leg and slammed the dismembered appendage into the side of the zombie’s head.