Doug buzzed the airport a couple times to lure out the infected. A few people appeared out of the buildings and were easily dispatched. Lia was manning the .50 cal and Izzy had an M4 providing support.
Priest’s and Webb’s team exited and knelt down in an outward facing semi-circle on each side. Doug ascended to about 20-30 feet and hovered. Each team spread out to 100 yards, then made their way to the fuel tanks by one of the maintenance buildings.
Priest, Shaw and Doc checked the building for any infected while Webb, Neville and Shin posted guard out front. Priest reported all clear, and they brought the chopper in.
Doug set down near the tanks and spun down to refuel, kept the engine running just at lower torque. Allison exited and refueled. A couple minutes went by, then they heard a siren, and all looked around.
Webb spat, “2 o’clock, emergency vehicle.” They saw a bright lime green emergency fire truck coming their way.
“They have active emergency services working here?” Shaw asked. Nobody really knew the answer to that one, but saw the truck came around one of the main buildings and headed towards them. As the fire truck came closer, they could see the people hanging off of it and the way it was erratically being driven.
“Aw shit,” Shaw spat. “Fucking infected.” The team opened up on the truck.
Priest yelled into his comms, “Allison, stop fueling and get this bird the fuck out of here!” Allison stopped the pump and threw the handle. She jumped back in the chopper and Doug cranked the RPM’s getting the rotors up to takeoff speed.
The team was throwing as much lead down range as they could and rounds were slamming again the truck’s front, shattering the windshield. Two of the infected fell off the sides of the fire truck after being shredded by all the bullets, but the truck was eating up the distance by the second.
“This shit is getting hairy,” Webb shouted. “Get that chopper out of here, Doug!”
“I’m trying, but I have to get enough lift first. It doesn’t just jump in the sky in a second!” Doug yelled. Just then one of the front tires blew out, which caused the truck to flip and slide on its side. The speed and the momentum drove the sliding truck toward the chopper.
“Move! Get out of the chopper!” Priest screamed. Doug lifted off, but it was too late. The truck slid and crashed into the chopper, plucking it out of the sky. As the truck hit the bottom of the helicopter, it tilted on its side. Rotors bounced off the concrete, which broke apart, sending pieces of rotor and chunks of concrete in all directions.
Each of the team dove for cover while attempting to dodge all the fragments being hurdled everywhere. The truck slid into fuel tanks and slammed into the side of the building. BOOM! The leaking fuel exploded, and the explosion pushed the truck back into the helicopter, which was on its side now. This sent the helicopter flipping across the pavement.
The shock wave leveled the team to the ground and sent pieces of debris and bodies flying all over the area along with blood and fuel residue. The landscape took on a toxic feel and fire was everywhere. It was difficult to breathe, and the disorientation made it nearly impossible to gauge their surroundings.
There was screaming and moaning, which faded in and out because of the explosion affecting their hearing. Fear and panic gripped Webb, and he bled from multiple cuts and the mist caused by the fuel in the air bit at every open wound on his body. He was disoriented and was trying to regain his feet under him, as he yelled out, “Reapers, sit rep. Reapers, I need a sitrep.”
The call out was to see who was still with him. Priest tried stumbling to his feet, but the earth was shifting back and forth under his feet and he found it difficult to find his equilibrium. “I’m here, but don’t know shit beyond that.” He looked around at the total devastation surrounding him, which was difficult to see with the fuel mist floating in the air. He also tried to locate the rest of his team. “Shaw, Neville, Doc, Shin, call out!”
“Mother fucker!” Well, there was Shaw. A couple seconds later he came stumbling over to Priest. He was dirty and bloody, but none the worse for wear.
“You see anyone else?” Priest asked.
“Negative Sarge, but we better find them quick. This situation is deteriorating fast.” There were fires all around that were creating columns of smoke. The two were navigating the debris and the fires as best they could.
Shin opened his eyes and was immediately beset by excruciating pain, and he moaned at the stabs of agony. He looked down to see an enormous piece of the tail rotor embedded in his abdomen.
Blood was seeping around the wound, and he couldn’t seem to move his legs. He could hear faint voices calling out, which he tried to clear his throat and answer. His voice was horse, and he was having trouble catching his breath to call out. He managed a yell with no audible words, hoping it was enough to be heard.
A minute later, he saw a figure through the smoke. He couldn’t tell who it was but could determine they were hurt. His voice was low and raspy, “N-Neville, is that you? Doc?” The figure wasn’t big enough to be Priest, Shaw, or Webb. “Hey, I need help here. I am quite injured.” The figure seemed to hear him and made its way toward Shin. “Thank you, I am in some trouble. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. Doc, is that you, I hope?” The figure came out from the smoke and the nearby flames illuminated their face.
It was not any of the team, but one of the infected from the fire truck. Half its face had melted off its skull showing a bone jowl and exploded cheek bone. The eye on that side was a bloody mess and looked like slime dropping out of the eye socket. On that same side, its arm and leg were at weird angles and barely functional. “Shit!” Shin uttered. He tried calling out, but his voice just wasn’t loud enough. The infected figure had locked on him with its single eye, which spurred its shambling toward him with a renewed vigor.
Shin reached around him, searching for some kind of weapon to repel the creature. He could see his backup knife sticking out of his boot, but being paralyzed prevented him from reaching down to gra
b it.
Shin panicked and tears streamed down his face. There was nothing in his reach to use, so he tried to move, using any function his body was allowing him to use. The panic was grabbing him and squeezing his breath out of him. The creature was only a couple feet away when he heard Shaw’s voice calling out for him.
Shin gathered all his strength and called out to Shaw.
“Coming buddy, you hold on.” He saw Shaw stumbling over and witnessed his eyes lock on the creature almost on top of him. Shaw was off balance, but fired on the creature, causing it to fall. Shin closed his eyes in relief until he felt the hand grab his arm, followed by intense pain. He opened his eyes to see the infected had taken a mouth sized chunk from his forearm.
Shaw had shot him, but being off balance only managed a couple rounds into its torso. It wasn’t a head shot, and it wasn’t dead. Shin screamed with all the strength he had left and the infected creature’s head blew apart. He looked up to see Shaw holding a pistol at the creature’s head.
“Holy shit. Buddy, are you ok?” Shaw had worry in his eyes and you could hear it in his voice.