Refuge From The Dead (Book 1): Lockdown by Joseph A. Coley Read Free Book Online Page B

stranger to missions involving life and death. During his dozen years in the Navy, he’d seen a lot of shady shit, but he’d also seen the best that a man could offer. His job as a SWCC – Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewman – was just below Navy SEALs in the hierarchy of military badassdom. He spent the majority of his career picking up SEALs from hostile environments. Half his career was spent taking enemy fire, so he was no stranger to returning it if necessary. An older man than what he looked, Winston was by no means “old.” While most of his adult life had been spent in the military, he had started early and retired before hitting forty. That was eight years ago, but he was still two years shy of fifty.
    Captain Winston hung the phone up and ruffled his hair. He hadn’t slept much in the last few days, and it was starting to show. A five o’clock shadow, bloodshot eyes, and unkempt hair complemented his haggard look. He blew out a long sigh.
    “No nurses, no counselors, and now no supervisors. It fuckin’ figures,” Winston said to no one in particular. He looked up to the two men standing before him. “Let’s see. Caine and Helton, right?”
    “Yes, sir,” both men said simultaneously.
    “All right. I know that you boys are new here and you are working overtime, so I’m going to make it easy on you. The two tower officers that are up there have been on duty for fifteen hours now. If you guys can relieve them, I would greatly appreciate it.”
    Michael nodded. Tower officer – while somewhat boring – was a very easy assignment. All you had to do was make sure that no one made it over the fence, and if someone did, shoot them. Pretty cut and dry. Michael had qualified at the top of his class, along with Zachary Grant. The two men tied for top honors at the academy, with each one only missing three shots out of sixty with a handgun, and neither missed with the 870MCS or AR-15.
    “Can do, sir,” Michael replied.
    “Sweet. Make sure you have your weapons cards and head to the armory. I will issue your 870 and AR-15. Normally, you would take over the long guns on post, but we are doing a thorough cleaning and need those weapons cleaned,” Captain Winston said, arranging some paperwork.
    “Sir, can I ask you something?”
    “Yeah, what is it, Caine?” Winston said, not bothering to look up.
    “What is our emergency plan for this virus?”
    Winston stopped and looked up. “You guys, too? We have to keep this place going, no matter what. Anything short of the end of the world means that Black Mountain State Prison keeps on keepin’ on.”
    “At the risk of sounding stupid, sir. What then?” Helton asked.
    “What then, what?”
    “Sir, we have reason to believe that there is more to this virus than what is being reported. I have heard several calls on the CB saying that there is some weird shit going on out there. Caine’s wife works at Bluefield Regional ER, and he said they have been treating plenty of people with this virus. People are leaving town in droves and there have been reports of the dead returning to life,” Helton said. “The fact that you’re geared up for a TSU mission doesn’t do much to take away from the fact that there is some serious shit going down outside the walls of this prison.”
    While he hadn’t heard the effects of the virus, Captain Winston was unsettled by the mention of it. Half the shift called in and five others had to be taken to the hospital from being attacked by inmates. While it didn’t seem to add up, the dead returning to life was farfetched to say the least. He waved a dismissive hand.
    “Don’t believe anything you hear and only half of what you see. TSU is on standby because of this virus shit. We have to get hold of every person we can, including TSU. I don’t doubt that this virus going around is causing some major fucking problems with everyone, but having the dead return to life seems a bit…what’s the word… fucking stupid .