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Dr. Caulfield nodded his head. “Absolutely. I have access to two other facilities like this one.”

“Ok, which one is the closest?”

The doctor tapped his finger on his chin, “Hmm, I would say that would have to be our facility in Boone, North Carolina, located up on Snake Mountain. The other one is out west, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.”

“Ok, gather anything you absolutely need and let’s get the hell out of here. Like I said, I do not know how many more infected are in this compound and I don’t want to find out. You must tell me what the hell happened here.”

Dr. Choi began talking about what had happened and Webb cut her off.

“Sorry, Doc, maybe later. We need to go.” She nodded and then went to gather her items.

Abruptly, the team heard distant gunfire, followed by static on their comms. Webb and Priest exchanged looks. “The chopper might be engaged and the comms won’t work down here.”

Priest motioned to Shaw, “You, Neville and Lia on me. Shin, Webb and Doc, you guys get these scientists gathered up and follow some distance behind. We will let you know when it is clear. Ok, let’s move!” They were down the hallway and up the stairwell in a shot. They appeared in the outside doorway and stopped to assess the situation.

Five infected were clawing and biting, trying to get in the chopper. Two bodies were lying on the ground, apparently taken out by Allison on the M24. Doug looked over and caught Priest’s gaze. He motioned for Doug to lift off. Doug saluted, said something to Allison through his helmet and lifted off. Two of the infected were hanging onto the landing gear as the helicopter rose. The Team opened up on the ones still on the ground.

Priest sighted on one of the infected, but his head would put Priest’s round trajectory right into the fuselage. He lowered his aim and put a round right in the spine of the infected, which caused it to lose its grip and plummet to the pavement. The fall finished it as its head hit and exploded like a ripe tomato. The sound of the crunch and then the sick wet splat was enough to make you cringe. Maybe he was preoccupied with clearing the facility, or just didn’t notice before, but all the infected they had fought here had been soldiers. None of them were the surviving scientists. All were dead or infected. He wasn’t sure if this was note or just the way things panned out. Priest made a note to talk to Webb about it later.

A call from Allison snapped him to. “Father, we have a problem.”

“Go ahead.”

“We have a herd of infected coming this way up the access road.”

“Estimate and ETA?”

“Couple dozen and I would say about 10 minutes.” Priest turned to Neville and had him get the scientists out now.

“We will set up a defensive perimeter toward the access road. Shaw, get me a couple claymores with a trip wire about 100 yards down the access road.”

Neville appeared in the compound doorway. “Sarge, they said 5 mics.”

“Shit, tell them we lift off in 5, so they better be here. We’ve got company.”

“Copy that.” Neville ran back into the facility. Doug brought the chopper back to land, but kept the rotors spinning.

A few minutes later, Shaw regroups with Priest. “I heard them coming when I was setting the claymores. Ten minutes was more like seven.”

Neville joined them. “They are on their way up.”

“Copy. Let’s set up a perimeter here in case we need to give them more time.” They just saw the head of the pack cresting a hill on the access road. Priest keyed, “You people gotta fuckin move. We got company and we should be in the air by now!”

“Copy,” Webb responded. They were exiting the facility and loading them and their equipment. That is when the infected locked eyes with Priest.

“Ah shit.” The infected man dressed in ACU’s let out a shriek and started running for them. The rest, coming behind him, did the same and quickened their pace. Priest, Shaw, and Neville stared to unload on the approaching horde. “Just take out the sprinters. Leave the rest to hit those claymores as a mass.” The other two acknowledged.

Allison’s voice came over the comms, “We’re good. All are on board and Webb is on the fitty.” Allison had learned from the guys you don’t call it a fifty caliber or even a fifty. They called it a fitty. She was getting the hang of it, which made Priest smile. Shaw smiled too, but for a completely different reason.

As they turned to load up, the horde hit the claymore trip wire. The sounds of all those ball bearings ripping through flesh, bone, trees and brush proceeded a deafening boom. The concussion of the blast knocked a few of the infected off their feet.

The devastation of the ball bearings ripping through the mass was jaw dropping. Various

appendages were shredded while it eradicated faces and heads. It lay torsos to waste and rendered them incapable of holding any organs or intestines within the body. Although there wasn’t much body left on any of the infected, they still tripped on their entrails and fell face first like a little kid’s hockey team out on the ice.

The guys laughed as they got on board and gave Allison the thumbs up. She motioned to Doug to take off and within seconds; they were airborne and surveying the damage the claymores just delivered.

Doug’s voice came over the comms, “We will need to set down to refuel soon. I’d say in another 50 miles.”