Read Online In Harm's Way by Shawn Chesser - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Shawn Chesser
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had been captured that there were tens of thousands of infected bodies choking every square inch of asphalt.
“You are looking at downtown Denver, and as you can see, the dead are getting restless.” Major Nash paused and adjusted the collar on her three-button dress blues. It was a premeditated tactic designed to allow all eyes in the room a moment to assess the image displayed before them. Nash looked out upon the stunned faces and started the paused frame into motion. “The esteemed Doctor Fuentes, formerly of the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, has already analyzed this drone footage and made a chilling observation. He thinks the dead have overhunted the city...”
A murmur, like the buzzing of flies on a corpse, rippled through the standing congregation of need-to-know types.
Nash continued. “Groups of walkers, or Z’s as our boys have taken to calling them, are starting to migrate. The Z’s have been leaking out of Denver, in small groups, from all points of the compass... until yesterday afternoon.”
The still shot on the screen suddenly leapt back into motion and zoomed in. It became apparent to everyone in the room that the tens of thousands of walking dead were marching between the tall buildings, all in the same direction, like one single organism reacting to some external stimuli.
From the bottom corner of the frame a brilliant flare of refracted sunlight grabbed the drone operator’s attention; the image enlarged yet again and began tracking the slow moving SUV.
To Cade’s trained eye, it looked like a small convoy of civilian vehicles fleeing the river of jostling creatures. The lead vehicle, a black Suburban, broke free of the crowd, threading a course between the stalls and pile ups. The next two vehicles, a blue wagon and a shiny silver truck, trailed closely behind the point SUV. The final vehicle, a smaller white car, was being driven erratically and quickly fell behind. Inexplicably the white car swerved into a line of parked vehicles on the passenger’s side and stopped moving altogether.
The tsunami of walking dead flowed around the car, sealing off any avenue of escape.
Even though fate had already run its course, Cade silently rooted for anybody that was trapped inside the little car and finished with a silent solemn prayer.
The camera zoomed in one more stop as the pale figures enveloped the stalled vehicle. The screen filled with the writhing biomass as the monsters fought to pry the meat from within. The creatures pulled a man out of the driver’s side of the car. He kicked and flailed, fighting the inevitable. The body went limp, appeared to hover for a second and then disappeared beneath the multitudes of dead.
Once more the image paused. “I don’t want to show you any more of the footage. I think you all know the outcome. The zombie attack on the couple in that car was so graphic and violent the UAV operator had to hand the bird off to someone else.” Nash cleared her throat and continued. “The people in the silver truck, unfortunately, suffered the same fate...”
General Mike Desantos, his face breaking out in every shade of red, interrupted Nash midsentence. “Major, is there a reason why the operator of that Reaper or Predator... whatever type of drone it was... didn’t empty the weapon pylons, and finish those poor souls quickly before the Z’s got to them? They were Americans . Living, warm blooded Americans... and they deserved no less. ”
“I spoke with the drone operator and he shared your sentiment. The Reaper was Winchester. All of the Hellfires were expended yesterday on another operation. It made no sense to waste the fuel sending the drone back to Nevada so we vectored it here. It’s still useful as a viewing platform... but the bird’s got no claws,” Major Nash solemnly answered.
Cade exhaled audibly. Like a punch to the gut, it dawned on him why the drone was unarmed. He had been present the previous day in this very room and watched
“You are looking at downtown Denver, and as you can see, the dead are getting restless.” Major Nash paused and adjusted the collar on her three-button dress blues. It was a premeditated tactic designed to allow all eyes in the room a moment to assess the image displayed before them. Nash looked out upon the stunned faces and started the paused frame into motion. “The esteemed Doctor Fuentes, formerly of the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, has already analyzed this drone footage and made a chilling observation. He thinks the dead have overhunted the city...”
A murmur, like the buzzing of flies on a corpse, rippled through the standing congregation of need-to-know types.
Nash continued. “Groups of walkers, or Z’s as our boys have taken to calling them, are starting to migrate. The Z’s have been leaking out of Denver, in small groups, from all points of the compass... until yesterday afternoon.”
The still shot on the screen suddenly leapt back into motion and zoomed in. It became apparent to everyone in the room that the tens of thousands of walking dead were marching between the tall buildings, all in the same direction, like one single organism reacting to some external stimuli.
From the bottom corner of the frame a brilliant flare of refracted sunlight grabbed the drone operator’s attention; the image enlarged yet again and began tracking the slow moving SUV.
To Cade’s trained eye, it looked like a small convoy of civilian vehicles fleeing the river of jostling creatures. The lead vehicle, a black Suburban, broke free of the crowd, threading a course between the stalls and pile ups. The next two vehicles, a blue wagon and a shiny silver truck, trailed closely behind the point SUV. The final vehicle, a smaller white car, was being driven erratically and quickly fell behind. Inexplicably the white car swerved into a line of parked vehicles on the passenger’s side and stopped moving altogether.
The tsunami of walking dead flowed around the car, sealing off any avenue of escape.
Even though fate had already run its course, Cade silently rooted for anybody that was trapped inside the little car and finished with a silent solemn prayer.
The camera zoomed in one more stop as the pale figures enveloped the stalled vehicle. The screen filled with the writhing biomass as the monsters fought to pry the meat from within. The creatures pulled a man out of the driver’s side of the car. He kicked and flailed, fighting the inevitable. The body went limp, appeared to hover for a second and then disappeared beneath the multitudes of dead.
Once more the image paused. “I don’t want to show you any more of the footage. I think you all know the outcome. The zombie attack on the couple in that car was so graphic and violent the UAV operator had to hand the bird off to someone else.” Nash cleared her throat and continued. “The people in the silver truck, unfortunately, suffered the same fate...”
General Mike Desantos, his face breaking out in every shade of red, interrupted Nash midsentence. “Major, is there a reason why the operator of that Reaper or Predator... whatever type of drone it was... didn’t empty the weapon pylons, and finish those poor souls quickly before the Z’s got to them? They were Americans . Living, warm blooded Americans... and they deserved no less. ”
“I spoke with the drone operator and he shared your sentiment. The Reaper was Winchester. All of the Hellfires were expended yesterday on another operation. It made no sense to waste the fuel sending the drone back to Nevada so we vectored it here. It’s still useful as a viewing platform... but the bird’s got no claws,” Major Nash solemnly answered.
Cade exhaled audibly. Like a punch to the gut, it dawned on him why the drone was unarmed. He had been present the previous day in this very room and watched
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