over the roar of the cargo plane’s engines. Right beside him on the horribly uncomfortable netting seats were the other three men in his team, sleeping soundly despite the noise and turbulence.
“We’re dropping down below the clouds to check out a small airport ahead. Kate’s saying that FOB she was hoping for is dead in the water and she thinks we should put down at this strip. We're in Morocco if you're curious. I’m betting we’ll have dead folks down there though, so we should gear up. We gotta secure a perimeter around the bird at the very least," Kevin yelled.
Jaden nodded. “Sounds good, what's our time to target?”
Kevin yelled over the din once more, “I think she said a hundred fifty miles or so.”
“Man, that doesn’t give us much time unless she circles a bunch. Alright. We’ll make it happen.” Jaden got to his feet and began to rouse his men.
Kevin walked past the special operators as he felt the plane dip. The descent wasn’t rapid, but it certainly was noticeable. He steadied himself as he walked towards the rear of the plane and his men. Speaking of which, there were damn few left.
Fitz; Kevin’s best friend on his team was still kicking. He was favoring the after affects of a bad cramp he’d suffered in his side earlier that night back when they were running like hell to escape England and the army of undead that had laid siege to the base they were at. Currently Fitzy was drinking one of their few remaining Bud Lights and staring off into the dark interior of the plane. Beer was Fitz’s coping skill.
Sitting next to him was Quan, the smart assed Vietnamese operator Kevin loved. The little Asian man was his team’s demolitions specialist, which wasn’t saying a whole lot. Quan was good at blowing shit up, but was a good deal fidgety, and Kevin was always expecting whatever Quan was working on to blow up in his face. So far, the tiny dark skinned man had been successful. All eight fingers and two thumbs were still connected. Quan was cleaning his rifle meticulously through the plane's motion.
Kyle was one of Kevin’s men too. He was a young man who normally drove Kevin’s lead vehicle when they were doing protective work for their company, WPG. Sadly, they didn’t really protect anyone or anything other than themselves anymore, and now Kyle was just another top notch shooter trying to stay alive in a world filled with undead.
Lastly they’d dragged along a British Royal Marine named Harold, or Hal for short. Hal had been part of a small unit of Marines attached to Kevin’s group when they had been protecting a US Senator back in England. The Senator was long gone, but Hal remained with them. Hal was a tall, powerfully built black man that had kicked more ass in the few months they’d known him than any of them could believe. He was funny, clever, strong, an excellent warrior, and each of them would step in front of a truck to keep him on their team.
Kevin cleared his throat to tell them what was up, “Hey shitheads!”
They all perked up. Fitz slowly lowered his beer and glared at his friend. Kevin adjusted the white cap that was perpetually on his head. It was dirtied now, and covered in spots of blood, but in the red interior lighting of the plane’s cargo bay, it looked radiant.
“We’re putting down in Morocco at a small airport in a bit. We need to get ready for a shit storm on the ground when we land. Might be bad, but we don’t know yet. Gear up like we’re making a run.”
“Kevin, I can’t go anywhere, I think I blew out my ribs.” Fitz said with a grimace. He had wrapped his torso tightly in flesh colored bandages to help with the pain.
Kevin nodded, looking at the clear discomfort his friend was in. “Alright. That’s fine partner. We’ll leave you here with the flight crew attending to your fucking skirt and tampon. When your balls drop and you feel like being a man with the rest of us, let us know.”
Fitz gave Kevin the finger, and tilted
M. R. James, Darryl Jones