Hunger Chronicles (Book 1): Life Bites by Tes Hilaire Read Free Book Online Page B

not, well...”
    I nod, but I’m thinking that it seems slim. Still, I have to admire the man for not calling his soldiers a lost cause. “So what’s the strategy?”
    “Rodriguez was in charge of the mission. Depending on circumstances and how much they were being pressured, he’d either hole up and wait until an extraction was possible or he’d confiscate a vehicle and attempt to get out of Dodge on their own.”
    He lays his finger on the point where the police station is. “If they grabbed a ride here, they would most likely head up H Street to 23 rd where they’d head for Route 178. If we’re lucky, they’re halfway back to base by now and you’ll meet up with them on the road.”
    Convict’s brow furrowed, shaking his head. “Route 178 brings them way north.”
    “It does, but I know Rodriguez. He’d want to find the fastest route out of any populated area and then use the back roads to make it down to 58.”
    The scruffy soldier who’d helped escort me up leans over the map. “I’m betting all the downtown streets are filled with abandoned cars. He would need a tank to get through that.”
    “Or a swat van,” Herbie offers.
    “Maybe,” Convict concurs, though he, like me, doesn’t seem convinced.
    “Or they could have picked up a car closer to the highway,” I suggest.
    Marine shakes his head. “Rodriquez would hole up rather than risk a dozen city blocks.”
    “So he’s either halfway home by now, or holed up in that police station making his last stand.” Convict makes a sound like a scoff. “How in the hell are we supposed to get to them if they’re stuck that deep in?”
    “Hopefully you can get pretty close in the Humvee. If the roads are blocked, you’ll just have to go in on foot.”
    “Great. Wonderful.”
    I find myself silently echoing Convict’s sentiment. Only my internal voice isn’t weighted down by saccharine sarcasm, just pooling saliva. I’m going into a zombie zone. Payday has come.
    “If they’re holed up, then most likely they have quite a crowd by now.” Marine shifts his attention to John, then me. “No heroics. If you can clear a path to get them out, great. If not, then it’s going to be Brice’s call whether you fall back completely or try to employ a Bert strategy.”
    “Oh, yeah, what fun. I just love playing bait.”
    I blink at Convict. Bait? That doesn’t sound nearly so fun. Nor does it sound all that sane either. I turn back to Marine. “Bait?”
    “Bert,” Marine corrects.
    Convict snorts, but doesn’t contradict him this time.
    Neither of our fearless leaders seems willing to offer an explanation, so I turn to John. He glances at Marine, who nods.
    John clears his throat. “One of our best team leads for rescue missions was named Bert. He developed a double team strategy that allows the threat to be drawn away from a group of holed up civilians while the second team rescues them.”
    “Yup. Strategy BERT: Bumble into a known zombie zone, Entice them with the lure of fresh flesh, then Run like hell and Try not to get yourself killed in the process,” Herbie puts in, emphasizing the pertinent words for the acronym.
    On second thought, let’s skip that. I’m all for hunting down some zombies, but if I wanted to volunteer for suicide, I could have just stayed with the hive.
    “There’s more to it than that.” The muscle-bound soldier who’d been hanging in the background finally speaks up. “The goal is to lure them into a trap along with the simultaneous rescue of the civilians.”
    Convict turns to him, disgust clearly written on his face. “And it worked so well for good ole Bert.”
    “Enough.” Marine ends the discussion, drawing all eyes back to him. “Your team isn’t large enough to pull off a true Bert, but you still might be able to draw their attention away so the other team can slip out. Regardless, those are all decisions for when you’ve arrived and assessed the situation.” His face darkens. I can imagine what