Transmission: Voodoo Plague Book 5 (23 page)

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon as we
crossed the southern Oklahoma border.  I was trying to sleep, but failing
miserably.  Part of me felt guilty for not having stayed in Midland with the
Marines.  The practical part of me realized that they were well trained and
perfectly capable of doing what needed to be done to defend the oil refinery,
and that if I had stayed I would only have been another rifle amongst the
defenders. 

I was half asleep, thinking about dropping everyone at
Tinker and having the pilots take me back to Midland when a hand on my shoulder
startled me.  It was one of the pilots, standing well away as he was getting
the evil eye from Dog for disturbing me.

“Sir, there’s been a breach at Tinker.”  He said, taking a
couple of steps back when Dog growled.  That woke me up.  Fast. 

“How bad?”  I asked, moving Rachel’s head off my shoulder
and standing up.

“Bad enough.”  He answered, taking another step back when
Dog moved to stand with his shoulder against my leg.  “What I’ve gotten so far
is that it was sabotage.  Someone damaged the fence and the infected started
pouring in.  They still haven’t gotten them under control.”

“Take me to your radio.”  I said, following him back to the
cockpit after telling Dog to stay with Rachel.

In the cockpit I nodded to the Marine Captain in control of
the Osprey and accepted the headset that was handed to me.  Reaching out I
dialed in the frequency that Blanchard used for operational control of the Army
personnel that were on the base.  After a couple of tries he answered, alarm
sirens blaring in the background.

He quickly filled me in on the situation at Tinker, and then
asked about the status of my mission.  We weren’t on a secure channel so I
didn’t give him any details other than to say it had failed.  I promised a full
debrief on my arrival.  We signed off and I returned to the back of the
aircraft after thanking the pilots for use of their radio.

Rachel, Irina and Igor were awake, all looking expectantly
at me when I sat down.  Dog thrust his head into my lap and gently wagged his
tail.

“They’ve had a breach in the perimeter fence at Tinker. 
Intentional sabotage.  Several thousand infected made it onto the base before
enough defenders arrived to push them back and repair the break.  It’s a mess
right now.  Infected everywhere.  We’re coming in to a hot LZ.” 

Rachel nodded and began checking her weapons.  Irina
translated for Igor and he also made sure he was ready to fight.  I followed
suit, and when everyone was satisfied they were ready, I headed back to the
cockpit.  I wanted a good view of the base as we came in.

The pilots had the frequency being used by the defenders on
speaker and it sounded like there was a hell of a mess down there.  One Air
Force unit was cut off and running low on ammo, under constant attack by a
large group of females.  They were sounding desperate, but a squad of Marines
arrived before they fell.  I heard several more calls from units in trouble,
some of them not getting help until it was too late.  I shook my head and
gritted my teeth.  Whoever had breached the fence line needed to be flayed open
and staked out for the infected to feast on.

We came in over part of the city, threading the needle to
avoid the helicopters Tinker had put up to help battle the infected.  Flying
directly over the main gate, the pilot made a sharp turn to follow a runway,
transitioning the engine nacelles to vertical flight as we passed over a huge
parking lot full of civilian vehicles.

A couple of yellow school buses caught my eye, reminding me
of Betty and the kids I’d run across in Tennessee.  I knew they’d escaped
Murfreesboro, but had no idea if they’d made it across the Mississippi in the
final evacuation.  Starting to turn back to the front, a vehicle caught my eye
and I looked closer.

It couldn’t be.  It wasn’t possible.  It had to be another
truck that just happened to look like mine.  Ford sold something like 30,000
F-150s a year, right?  I pushed closer to the cockpit glass and stared.  Same
aftermarket, oversized wheels and tires.  Same third party winch bumper on the
front.  Fuck me if that wasn’t my truck!

“Get us on the ground now!”  I shouted to the pilot,
startling him.

“Sir, we’re not cleared for this area…”

“I don’t give a flying fuck what we’re cleared for.  Set us
down now, Captain!”  I said, glaring at the man.

He stared back at me for half a second, then shrugged his
shoulders and brought us down.  I was already in motion for the back of the
Osprey, hitting the switch to lower the ramp as I ran.  The ramp came down,
locking into place while we were still in the air.  I didn’t give a shit,
running out onto it and leaping the final six feet to the ground.

Somehow I maintained my balance, turning and breaking into a
sprint for the parking lot.  A few moments later Dog fell in beside me.  I
didn’t bother to glance over my shoulder to see if everyone else was
following.  Right now I didn’t care.

Reaching the parking lot I raced around a Buick and nearly
ran into a female’s embrace.  I was running with my rifle up and just shoved
the muzzle into her throat and pulled the trigger without breaking stride.  Dog
leapt at another one, taking a few seconds to kill her before he was back by my
side.

Ahead, four males stumbled out from between the two school
busses.  Letting my rifle drop I drew my Kukri and sped up.  Running hard when
I reached them I slashed my way through, dropping two of them with severed
spinal cords.  I swung hard enough to decapitate the third one, his head
tumbling into my path and nearly tripping me.  Dog took care of the last one,
then we rounded a corner and I skidded to a stop at the front of the truck.

It looked exactly like my truck, only a hell of a lot more
battered.  There wasn’t much of the body that wasn’t dented or scraped.  As I
walked around the passenger side I noted half a dozen bullet holes in the sheet
metal.  It had the same bed cover.  Then I reached the back and looked for the
license plate.  It might have been there if the whole rear bumper wasn’t
missing.

Rachel ran up with Igor and Irina right on her heels. 
“What’s wrong?”  She asked, rifle up and ready.

“This is my truck!”  I slapped a hand against the tailgate.

“What?”  Rachel took her attention off scanning the parking
lot for infected and focused on me.  “What are you talking about?”

“My goddamn truck!”  I said.  “It was in my garage in
Arizona when I got on a plane to Atlanta.  Now it’s here.  That means Katie’s
here!”

Rachel looked at me with a shocked expression on her face,
then turned to survey the beat up truck.  “Are you sure it’s yours?”

I looked down at where the license plate should be, then
remembered another way to remove all doubt.  Striding around to the driver side
door, I looked at the external keypad that would unlock the truck, trying to remember
a code I never used.  I always used the unlock button built into the key. 

“What are you doing?”  Rachel asked after a few seconds of
me staring at the door.

“Trying to remember.”  I said, finally reaching out and
punching in the code.  The door locks thunked into the open position and I
grabbed the handle and opened the door.  Reaching inside I fumbled around in
the center console until I found what I was looking for.  Pulling it out, I
unfolded the registration with my name and address on it and held it out for
Rachel to see.

“My goddamn truck!”  I said, feeling real hope for the first
time in what seemed like forever.  “Now, where the hell is my wife?!”

Voodoo Plague: Book One

Crucifixion: Voodoo Plague Book Two

Rolling Thunder: Voodoo Plague Book Three

Red Hammer: Voodoo Plague Book Four

Rules Of Engagement: A John Chase Short Story

I’m learning that as an author’s fan base grows, there are
more and more people that need to be thanked for their contributions to a
novel.  Some are significant, such as my beta readers Jess and Scott.  Some may
not spend nearly as much time, but are just as important because they offer
suggestions that trigger ideas I might not have had.  I would try to name
everyone, but without fail I’d miss someone, so I’ll leave it as a Thank You to
all my fans that have corresponded with me either via email or Facebook.

I’d also like to respond to several comments I’ve received
from people who admit they haven’t served in the military, but feel that
sometimes I unfairly pick on branches other than the Army. 

Yes I do! 

And anyone out there who’s served understands completely,
and can probably tell as many disparaging Army jokes as I can Marine, Navy or
Air Force jokes.  In all seriousness, whether Air Force, Navy, Army or Marines
(and Coast Guard, too, though you’re part of Homeland Security) the US military
is just one big dysfunctional family.  We snipe, berate and denigrate each
other endlessly, but at the end of the day if you mess with one you mess with
all of us.  I just hope my Air Force readers can forgive me for making Roach an
Air Force officer.

Finally, as always, my heartfelt thanks to Katie for putting
up with me and being a good sport about her husband off running around with a
stripper while she’s left to the designs of a psychopath.  Yet another reason
I’m glad you married me!

You can always correspond with me via email at
[email protected]
and if you’re
on Facebook, please like my page at
www.facebook.com/FearThePlague
 
I enjoy interacting with my fans on Facebook and I answer all of my email…
eventually.

Thanks again for reading!

Dirk Patton

October 2014