Even Zombie Killers Can Die by John Holmes, Alexandra Grey Read Free Book Online

you kill me.”
    “OH MY GOD AHMED!” she whispered back loudly, and body tackled him. At least she had the presence of mind to put the safety back on before she did it.
    “GET OFF ME, WOMAN! COVER YOURSELF!”
    When Brit helped him up to a kneeling position, Captain Buswarry had come over, leaving Red and his two others to pull security. A quick, quiet conversation followed.
    “Nick, there is a squad sized element advancing down the trail from the north. I am assuming the y heard the sound of your helicopter and are hoping to ambush you as they did to our team last month. I have been following them since this morning, and I moved ahead of them to warn you. We have about twenty minutes before they get here.”
    I quickly thought about it. Our forces would be about equal size, but they knew the terrain and could move faster. We had the advantage of surprise, though, because we knew about them, and they only suspected us.
    “How good are they?”
    “Nick, they are Infantry. American Infantry. Mountain soldiers, from the Vermont National Guard. Many combat veterans and survivors of the Zombie Apocalypse. They are good. I did not see any night vision equipment, though, and their weapons are a mix. One squad automatic weapon, but I think they are short on ammunition. The gunner only had M-4 magazines on him, no 200 round boxes, and there was a 30 round magazine inserted.” I didn’t ask him how he knew who they were, just assumed that one of their soldiers had disappeared in the prior month while Ahmed was living in the forest. We trumped them on firepower, too, since we had armed ourselves heavy based on the initial ambush. McCross carried an M-240B machine gun and we had two 40mm grenade launchers.
    “Shit. I don’t want to kill our own. Until we get this sorted out, though, I guess we’re going to have to do what we have to do. If they ask for surrender, though, we give it. I want prisoners. Besides, I have a plan. Here’s what we’re going to do.”

Chapter 14
    I sat in the darkness, watching their lead scout approach through my NVGs. This was going to be tricky, a pretty slick piece of timing.
    In the center of the clearing sat a military issue flashlight, turned on. It was shining on an American flag Brit had had stuffed in her pack, suspended from a stick in the ground. I knew Ziv and Doc had talked. They had no reason not to. So the Vermonters, for want of a better name, had to know the US Army was back in town. I’m sure whoever was running the show was thinking long and hard about what to do now. They had ignored repeated radio calls for survivors, but real live soldiers were a different story.
    As I watched the figure of the lead scout stop outside the circle of light, he held up a hand, and his squad fanned out in a line behind him. A figure rose up from the ground beside him where Ahmed had lain in wait, and a brief struggle ensued, followed by Ahmed getting up and moving away. The scout la y on the ground for a minute, and crawled back towards his squad.
    Captain Buswarry watched with me. “So, now we wait.”
    “Yep, the hardest part.” We waited for about fifteen minutes, then I took off the NVGs, slung my rifle behind my back, and walked forward into the light. I was freaking out. In the next few seconds, my life could be over. If they rejected our terms, I would get shot.
    “I just want to talk” I yelled into the darkness. “Send out your senior man!” I held my hands palm s up, in a gesture of peace.
    Stepping into the circle of light, a figure clad in old style BDUs slowly walked forward, dropping down his M-4 as he approached.
    “Son of a bitch. Nick Agostine.”
    “Danny Westbrook. I’ll be damned.”
    I held out my hand, and he pulled me into a bear hug. “Damn,” I said. “I haven’t seen you since you got blown out of your HUMVEE in Mosul!” He stepped back and held up his left hand, showing me that it was missing three fingers.
    “Cool!” I said. “Check this out, zombie