Chapter 20
Katherine’s forces were ready. Seven hundred and seventy five men and women stood aligned and ready to die. She and Colson had the teams split into four groups and each of the groups split into many subgroups. Group A was designated as the suicide squad, as they would all be guaranteed to die if they did not retreat fast enough. Group B was set up behind the windows of the airfield’s lobby. Group C was positioned on the roof with rapid fire weaponry, mortars, grenades, and rockets. Group D was set up at the back of the complex o defend the busses and their escape route.
Katherine was in group A, of course. She saw violence as the greatest and most glorious way to end one’s life, and she wouldn’t give it up for another day. She put Zack in command of Group B, as they would be focused on the close range combat. Colson had command of Group C to control the mortar fire and Group D would not need commanders as it was simply there to ensure a quick escape. Katherine thought it ironic that she should have an escape ready when she wished to have no escape.
She and her followers were prepared. They felt at ease when the thin line of undead appeared upon the horizon. The line slowly grew bigger until she could see individual undead. Her sniper, who was stranded at the top of the control tower filled with explosives, said over his com, “I don’t see the other side of the force. Kat, I hope you know what the hell you’re doing.”
Kat took off her headset and said to her troops, “Line up in three rows. First row on your stomachs, second kneels, and third keeps standing. I want to see accuracy on all hits, but don’t be afraid to shoot early.”
The enemy was within a hundred yards, but they were slow as she had predicted. Kat had never actually seen any of the undead before, but she guessed they were the slow hits she remembered in horror movies. Each weapon of Group A was equipped with a scope, so every shot was accurate. When the enemy was close enough, Katherine yelled, “Fire, fire at will! Take a hundred to hell with you!”
The air exploded with fire and heat as three hundred guns blazed in unison and ripped the first two thousand undead to pieces. All of the men reloaded as one and continued to fire. The battle was going as she planned, but then all was thrown into a maelstrom of chaos.
The front ranks of undead wasted their ammo. The ranks behind them were much taller and had no problem running to their pray. Katherine yelled to her soldiers, “Retreat to the buildings! We need to get some to the mortars.”
They began to run, and Katherine realized all to quickly that she did not want to die. She also learned that the three hundred were trained runners. That was why they were chosen in the first place. Katherine, however, could not run as fast as them. The first undead to reach their ranks aimed for her.
Before it could kill her, Cory, her sniper, took out the undead as they passed the tower. Twenty undead changed targets to the one that could not run. Still, he remained devout to his orders and killed every undead that reached Katherine. He was on his last shot when two charged her at once at different speeds. He timed the two hundred meter shot with perfect accuracy and killed two birds with one stone. Then the door at the top of the tower was forced open by a grey-brown hand. And then the fifty pounds of explosives he rigged to the doors blew him, his rifle, and two hundred undead into oblivion.
Katherine gained a sudden burst of speed as the shockwave of the tower’s blast hit her back. She continued to run as Zack ordered his men to start firing. Another hundred lines of undead fell and tripped those behind. Still, the tide was endless. When enough were in range, Colson ordered all thirty of his mortar crews to fire at once. A round per second per mortar was launched into the air, and soon the ground was riddled with explosions.
Katherine was just able to reach the inner door when the first lines reached the walls of the facility. When she was up the stairs, ten men pushed a counter from one of the stores down to block the entrance. It was seven seconds later that Katherine’s prayers were answered.
Katherine was in group A, of course. She saw violence as the greatest and most glorious way to end one’s life, and she wouldn’t give it up for another day. She put Zack in command of Group B, as they would be focused on the close range combat. Colson had command of Group C to control the mortar fire and Group D would not need commanders as it was simply there to ensure a quick escape. Katherine thought it ironic that she should have an escape ready when she wished to have no escape.
She and her followers were prepared. They felt at ease when the thin line of undead appeared upon the horizon. The line slowly grew bigger until she could see individual undead. Her sniper, who was stranded at the top of the control tower filled with explosives, said over his com, “I don’t see the other side of the force. Kat, I hope you know what the hell you’re doing.”
Kat took off her headset and said to her troops, “Line up in three rows. First row on your stomachs, second kneels, and third keeps standing. I want to see accuracy on all hits, but don’t be afraid to shoot early.”
The enemy was within a hundred yards, but they were slow as she had predicted. Kat had never actually seen any of the undead before, but she guessed they were the slow hits she remembered in horror movies. Each weapon of Group A was equipped with a scope, so every shot was accurate. When the enemy was close enough, Katherine yelled, “Fire, fire at will! Take a hundred to hell with you!”
The air exploded with fire and heat as three hundred guns blazed in unison and ripped the first two thousand undead to pieces. All of the men reloaded as one and continued to fire. The battle was going as she planned, but then all was thrown into a maelstrom of chaos.
The front ranks of undead wasted their ammo. The ranks behind them were much taller and had no problem running to their pray. Katherine yelled to her soldiers, “Retreat to the buildings! We need to get some to the mortars.”
They began to run, and Katherine realized all to quickly that she did not want to die. She also learned that the three hundred were trained runners. That was why they were chosen in the first place. Katherine, however, could not run as fast as them. The first undead to reach their ranks aimed for her.
Before it could kill her, Cory, her sniper, took out the undead as they passed the tower. Twenty undead changed targets to the one that could not run. Still, he remained devout to his orders and killed every undead that reached Katherine. He was on his last shot when two charged her at once at different speeds. He timed the two hundred meter shot with perfect accuracy and killed two birds with one stone. Then the door at the top of the tower was forced open by a grey-brown hand. And then the fifty pounds of explosives he rigged to the doors blew him, his rifle, and two hundred undead into oblivion.
Katherine gained a sudden burst of speed as the shockwave of the tower’s blast hit her back. She continued to run as Zack ordered his men to start firing. Another hundred lines of undead fell and tripped those behind. Still, the tide was endless. When enough were in range, Colson ordered all thirty of his mortar crews to fire at once. A round per second per mortar was launched into the air, and soon the ground was riddled with explosions.
Katherine was just able to reach the inner door when the first lines reached the walls of the facility. When she was up the stairs, ten men pushed a counter from one of the stores down to block the entrance. It was seven seconds later that Katherine’s prayers were answered.