Only the Dead Live Forever Read Online Free PDF Page A

went
slack.
    Sean slowly
released his grip from the primal and rolled away from it. He looked down and
saw that its eyes were still following him with a hateful glare. Even with its
windpipe crushed and its neck and spine snapped, the primal still was looking
to fight. Brooks pulled a small suppressed MKII pistol from his pack and placed
it against the creature’s head, then fired a single shot.
    Suddenly the
door opened and Captain Bradley looked out. “What the hell are you guys doing
out here making all of that noise?” He stopped and looked down at the dead
primal, and both Brad and Sean still sitting on the deck. “Oh! Well hey, come
on guys, get back inside before more of them come.”

 
    5.
     
     
     
    The men hurried
into the room, the Captain quickly locking the doors behind them. Shivering
from the cold and soaked to the bone, they began stripping off their uniforms.
    “Err, ah, excuse
me! There is a lady present,” Swanson snarled.
    “Oh, please feel
free to wait outside while we avoid hypothermia,” Sean barked back.
    Swanson had no
reply and instead pulled a heavy chair and turned it so that it faced the wall,
then sat down. Mr. Douglas stepped forward and retrieved the wet uniforms from
the floor and started hanging them to dry, while Captain Bradley handed the men
some folded linens that he had found in a cabinet. The room was still dimly lit
by the emergency lighting and the winds were howling outside.
    “When will this
damn rain end?” Brad said, mostly to himself while wrapping a sheet around his
naked body.
    “What? This rain
won’t be over for a while, few days maybe … That’s a tropical cyclone out
there, and just the beginning of it. They were predicting a Category 3 at
least. That’s why the squids were prepping the tender to get us the hell out of
here,” Swanson answered, still facing the wall.
    Captain Bradley
rolled his eyes and looked her way “Bullshit! Cyclone? Colonel Cloud didn’t say
anything about a cyclone when he briefed me on our exfiltration plan.”
    “Of course he
didn’t … once we delivered Aziz, we weren’t his concern anymore. So when was
the tender supposed to leave? Where did it go?” Brooks said.
    “I’m not sure. I
know the sailors were anxious to get out ahead of the storm. I already told you
PAK-PETRO’s been moving survivors from the other rigs to here over the last
couple days. We were just waiting on the word to get going … but then the
attack … I don’t know what happened. Maybe they’re still down there waiting for
us; we need to get down to the dock level!”
    “Don’t worry
about it. The tender is gone. All I saw in the water were Pakistani boats,”
Sean said as he fell onto the end of a sofa.
    “So what now
then?” asked Mr. Douglas.
    “Now I say we
need to clear this damn building. I’m not spending another night in here not knowing
what’s up on that third deck,” Sean said.
    “How do you plan
to do that?” asked Mr. Douglas.
    “Well, I figured
I’d take a quick break; then we’ll go out that there hallway and up those
stairs and kill everything that doesn’t look friendly,” Sean said, pointing at
the doors leading from the lounge and into the building.
    “What the hell? Are
you serious?” Swanson argued.
    “I’m not willing
to just sit here until we starve … From my last count, Brooks, Brad, and I are
the only ones with any gear or food. We’re cut off from the supplies on the
deck, and our current position is occupied. Unless anyone has any better ideas,
everybody be prepared to assault through this building in two hours, and I mean everybody !” Sean gritted, looking in the direction of the two officers.
    “Excuse me
Chief, but we aren’t trained for this,” Mr. Douglas said, stepping forward.
    “Doesn’t matter
anymore; we’re all in this together now. We’re all going to pull our weight
until we get out of here. Swanson, tell me more about the platform, how many
were on board?” Sean