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“Copy that,” Webb responded. He and Priest brought out a map to scout out some regional air parks to refuel. It was much safer than the major airports or anywhere close to a city. After consulting, they made a plan to refuel at Frederick Municipal Airport in Frederick, Maryland. That would get them close enough to Boone, North Carolina. They would probably stop one more time, because they didn’t enjoy flying around with little to no fuel.

CHAPTER 29

Major Harwell barked out orders as soldiers scurried around the Command Center.

“Get some ammunition over to the east wall. The infected are amassing there and are trying to breach the wall!” Harwell commanded.

The sergeant in front of him saluted and ran off to execute the order he was just given.

Harwell walked up behind a corporal who was manning a bank of monitors.

“How we looking on the west wall?”

“Not much better, Sir. I don’t know where the new mass of infected came from, but a large group is assaulting the west wall.” The corporal responded.

“Well, with the gunfire, explosions and the massive smoke signals we are sending from the various fires burning, I’m surprised we don’t have infected from half the damn country at our doorstep.” Harwell said absently.

Captain Simmons ran up to Harwell, breaking him from his funk.

“Sir, we are getting low on ammunition and the soldiers on the wall are reporting vehicle headlights coming this way from the west.” She said.

“Corporal, rotate that camera to get me a wider view of the west side.” Harwell ordered.

“Copy, Sir.” The corporal said as he rotated the camera to get a better view.

The three watched as headlights came into view and were approaching quickly. As they continued to watch, they could make out the infected hanging off the side of a 5-Ton truck.

“Tell the west wall to take the fucking truck out! Now! They are going to ram the wall!” Harwell yelled.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Tug continued to fire at the turned up infected faces. He had been on the west wall for a couple hours now and things were not looking better. He felt this was where he was needed most and where he could do the most good.

A scream broke his gaze from the scene in front of him. He looked to his left to see a soldier being pulled off the wall by the infected. As he landed into the waiting mob, they started tearing off arms and shredding his torso to grab at his insides. Tug took aim and put one in the young man’s temple to end his suffering…and his screams.

Another infected used the young soldier’s body as a bloody ladder and scrambled up to the wall before the body was pulled completely into the churning mass.

Tug leveled his rifle and fired, taking off the right side of its skull. The impact snapped the rest of its head back and sent it falling back into the horde.

“Sum bitch. This whole thing is getting ready to go tits up.” Tug mumbled to himself.

That’s when he looked up and noticed the truck barreling toward his section of the wall.

He yelled, “They’re going to breach the wall, everyone down!”

He turned and started down the ladder when a thought crossed his mind…the girls. He climbed down as fast as he could and hauled ass for the HQ building. His breathing became labored as he reached the stairs.

“Should have laid off of all that beer, you old fuck.” He said to himself.

His legs felt like Jello as he ascended the stairs, but he didn’t stop. He had to reach the girls. He felt like they were his responsibility. It was his job to protect them.

Tug was wheezing by the time he reached the front door, and he stopped for a couple seconds to keep from passing out. He heard a loud crash followed by a massive explosion. He turned to see the west wall was on fire and the spot where he was previously standing was no longer there. Instead, the mangled husk of a large truck engulfed in flames now stood in its place.

He shook his head, sucked in another deep breath and ran into the building. The Command center was complete chaos. No one was manning the monitors, and soldiers were running in every direction. As Tug passed the monitors, he stole a quick glance. He could see the infected scrambling over the destroyed wall and a pile of bloody ammo cans sitting on the ground unopened.

Tug continued his mission; he has to get to the girls. He focused on reaching them even though his old body was screaming at him.

He finally reached the third floor and ran down the hall. His body was ready to give out, and he had lost feeling in his extremities. His lungs were burning. He tried to suck in another breath, but it was like his chest was filled with concrete. It was heavy and vibrating as his heart pounded away.