Zombie Dawn Exodus Read Online Free PDF Page B

as he checked his
printed diagram of the ship.
    The massive vessel contained over seventeen
passenger decks and the Grand Lobby was just over a third the way
along the ship and low down in the hull. It would take some time to
work their way from the forecastle to reach it. The radio
crackled.
    “We are receiving a series of low frequency sounds.
They are unlikely to be equipment as they’re not in a continuous
rhythm. There’s a chance it’s survivors.”
    “Yeah, also a chance of a hundred zombies in there
trying to claw their way out,” he muttered off the radio.
    “Understood. Will reappraise the situation, once we
control the bridge section of the ship.”
    “Good luck,” came the reply.
    Captain Black turned to the troops on the deck. They
were already divided up into three groups, the smaller one stayed
near the ropes on the port side. The other two groups consisted of
a dozen Marines, each of them equipped with worn but functional
digital camouflage and a selection of body armour and weapons.
Unlike combat units of just a year ago there were some noticeable
changes to their clothing since the outbreak. The first was that
they all wore sturdy gloves with reinforced protection on the
wrists. On the rest of their arms were what looked like lacrosse
armour that ran from the forearm to the shoulder. The extra
armoured sections were made of toughened cloth and plastic and were
designed to protect against bites from the undead. On their legs
they wore similar armour that ran from the shins to just above the
knee. The final piece of unusual equipment was neck armour that
looked like a padded ring around the throat, a piece of equipment
often used in hockey to protect the windpipe. Though they were of
no use against combat units these modifications had saved the
Marines in scores of battles.
    Each Marine carried a mixture of M16 rifles, M4
carbines, Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns and pistols. With
supplies running low each Marine stuck with the weapon they had
easy access to. This meant a few of them carried non-issue shotguns
and weapons taken from the battlefield. Though this led to some
irregularity with the firearms, it was hardly surprising in the
circumstances.
    “Listen up, we have information on possible
survivors in the Grand Lobby section. We’ll secure the bridge and
attempt to activate the video feeds before moving deeper into the
ship. Assume every section is contaminated and exercise extreme
caution. I want a zero casualty rate on this one. Secure the
stairs, doorways and access points; once the bridge is secure,
nothing gets in. Understood?”
    He was greeted by a chorus of “Ooh-rah”.
    “Let’s go then!” he shouted.
    Captain Black led the first dozen along the port
side of the ship, each Marine staying close to the edge of the
vessel and away from the superstructure. On the opposite side of
the ship Sergeant Fernanda led her unit towards the access hatch
that led inside the lower sections below the bridge. Upon her
signal Corporal Kowalski moved to the hatch and attempted to open
it. He was no weakling but the hatch refused to budge.
    “Fuck! It’s locked down Sarge, probably from the
inside,” he called.
    “Blow it!” said Fernanda.
    Corporal Armstrong moved up to the door and placed a
small number of charges in place. It took just seconds to fit them
to the key points on the hatch. With a hand signal he ordered the
unit to pull back from the blast zone and when far enough away hit
the button. With a dull crump the hatch blasted inside and exposed
a space of approximately one metre wide, perfectly big enough for a
Marine to enter. Kowalski went in first, quickly followed by
Fernanda and the rest of the unit.
    On the port side of the vessel Captain Black found
the doorway to the secondary stairwell was unlocked and still open.
He signalled to Gunnery Sergeant Freeman, a tough, well built
Marine, to clear the entry point before they moved inside. The
Marine moved to the entrance and