Read Online LZR-1143: Redemption by Bryan James - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Bryan James
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reached the side of the plane, and I yelled as loud as I could to Rhodes.
“Get up!” I swung the shotgun down and scanned around us, watching for the closest creature. Behind me, I heard him start up the ladder, and Kate’s voice crackled in the ear bud from inside the plane.
“Mike, we need to go now. They are close to blocking off the runway.”
Cursing, I saw the two groups mindlessly moving toward a meeting in front of the nose of the plane, only five hundred yards distant. I turned and grabbed the closest rung, but as I did, a hand shot from underneath the plane and grabbed my ankle. Surprised, I thrashed, and Kate’s eyes widened, moving toward me. I shook my head and yelled into the cabin.
“Go, go, go!”
The engines immediately started to roar with increased throttle, as the pilot aimed the plane sharply to the south, putting the river to our left and the terminals to our right.
The hand below gripped tight to the metal plates of the shin protector, and the head of the creature came into view. I couldn’t tell if it had been a man or a woman—the hair had all fallen out, and both eyes were a fluid-filled, misty white. A jagged tooth stuck crookedly from the dirty mouth, and I simply stared for a full three seconds, remembering.
We had been inside a long time. It had been a long time since I looked into the face of death, so close.
I didn’t bother with a knife, or a gun. As the plane accelerated rapidly, the gravity force pulling the creature away, I simply reached down, put my hand on the creature’s face, and twisted the head completely around. The spine snapped, severing the connection between the brain and the body. The hand went limp, and as the plane moved quickly down the only runway not covered with the dead, I climbed up the ladder.
As I moved deeper into the cabin, which was alight with control panels, digital readouts and screens, and working chairs, I thanked the airman closing the door and moved toward the cockpit.
The pilot and copilot sat staring at the crowd of creatures approaching from the river and the terminal, even as they moved their hands over the controls.
“What’s the hold up, let’s move.” I said, rudely. Then, belatedly. “Sorry, guys. Tough day. We got a problem?”
They didn’t flinch, and the colonel in the pilot’s seat was calm. “Yes, Mister McKnight. The runway we are on is a little too short. But we are going to have to give it a shot. Our bigger problem is that group on the port side of the plane. They are going to cut us off if we take off to the south. One or two in the blades isn’t a problem. A hundred will put us in the water.”
I cursed and followed his gaze. There were thousands, lining the entire length of the narrow strip of land along the river. There were too many, and they were too close.
“Go. I’ll figure it out,” I said, and disappeared.
In my headset, I heard the curt order. “Throttle up.”
The plane shot forward as I grabbed the sole airman in the cabin with us and pulled the hood from my head, nodding quickly toward the large 25mm Gatling-style gun protruding from the plane on the port side.
“Son, those cannons work?”
“Yes sir. They’re locked and loaded.”
“Well, they’re pointing in the right direction. What say we pretend like our asses are on the line and play mow the zombies?”
He started in surprise, as if just realizing that they were an option, then shot toward the controls, flipping two switches and grabbing a control lever.
“These were never meant for use on the ground,” he said. But then he smiled. “But I always wanted to try it.”
The humming sound of a 7,000 round per minute Gatling gun vibrated through the cabin, and Kate stood up to join me at the window. The guns were angled toward the front of the plane, and he was taking down entire swathes of the creatures as the shambled near the path of the plane as it accelerated toward the river on the south side.
I glanced forward, and
“Get up!” I swung the shotgun down and scanned around us, watching for the closest creature. Behind me, I heard him start up the ladder, and Kate’s voice crackled in the ear bud from inside the plane.
“Mike, we need to go now. They are close to blocking off the runway.”
Cursing, I saw the two groups mindlessly moving toward a meeting in front of the nose of the plane, only five hundred yards distant. I turned and grabbed the closest rung, but as I did, a hand shot from underneath the plane and grabbed my ankle. Surprised, I thrashed, and Kate’s eyes widened, moving toward me. I shook my head and yelled into the cabin.
“Go, go, go!”
The engines immediately started to roar with increased throttle, as the pilot aimed the plane sharply to the south, putting the river to our left and the terminals to our right.
The hand below gripped tight to the metal plates of the shin protector, and the head of the creature came into view. I couldn’t tell if it had been a man or a woman—the hair had all fallen out, and both eyes were a fluid-filled, misty white. A jagged tooth stuck crookedly from the dirty mouth, and I simply stared for a full three seconds, remembering.
We had been inside a long time. It had been a long time since I looked into the face of death, so close.
I didn’t bother with a knife, or a gun. As the plane accelerated rapidly, the gravity force pulling the creature away, I simply reached down, put my hand on the creature’s face, and twisted the head completely around. The spine snapped, severing the connection between the brain and the body. The hand went limp, and as the plane moved quickly down the only runway not covered with the dead, I climbed up the ladder.
As I moved deeper into the cabin, which was alight with control panels, digital readouts and screens, and working chairs, I thanked the airman closing the door and moved toward the cockpit.
The pilot and copilot sat staring at the crowd of creatures approaching from the river and the terminal, even as they moved their hands over the controls.
“What’s the hold up, let’s move.” I said, rudely. Then, belatedly. “Sorry, guys. Tough day. We got a problem?”
They didn’t flinch, and the colonel in the pilot’s seat was calm. “Yes, Mister McKnight. The runway we are on is a little too short. But we are going to have to give it a shot. Our bigger problem is that group on the port side of the plane. They are going to cut us off if we take off to the south. One or two in the blades isn’t a problem. A hundred will put us in the water.”
I cursed and followed his gaze. There were thousands, lining the entire length of the narrow strip of land along the river. There were too many, and they were too close.
“Go. I’ll figure it out,” I said, and disappeared.
In my headset, I heard the curt order. “Throttle up.”
The plane shot forward as I grabbed the sole airman in the cabin with us and pulled the hood from my head, nodding quickly toward the large 25mm Gatling-style gun protruding from the plane on the port side.
“Son, those cannons work?”
“Yes sir. They’re locked and loaded.”
“Well, they’re pointing in the right direction. What say we pretend like our asses are on the line and play mow the zombies?”
He started in surprise, as if just realizing that they were an option, then shot toward the controls, flipping two switches and grabbing a control lever.
“These were never meant for use on the ground,” he said. But then he smiled. “But I always wanted to try it.”
The humming sound of a 7,000 round per minute Gatling gun vibrated through the cabin, and Kate stood up to join me at the window. The guns were angled toward the front of the plane, and he was taking down entire swathes of the creatures as the shambled near the path of the plane as it accelerated toward the river on the south side.
I glanced forward, and
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