ATZ - an English Adventure - The package (4)

"ANNA!"  

Gobbo bellowed out his crewmate's name, half in surprise, the other half in fear as he saw his friend being dragged behind a burly fella dressed in black military gear.  He could see her stumbling like a groggy drunk, her hands held unnaturally in front of her.  Bizarrely, a whole squad of the "soldiers" had alighted from the idling ambulance he had shared with Putters on the night of the storm.  All this streaked through his brain as it tried to put the ill-fitting pieces together and come up with a scenario that made some sense. 

 Astrid, standing next to her father heard the cry and recognising the female paramedic took a step forward to add her voice to the greeting, while her far more logical brain processed the scene at a much quicker rate. With a warning tug on her dad's sleeve she indicated the ominous nature of the soldiers and the clearly bound hands of his crewmate. 

Gobbo following his daughter's gaze, cottoned on just as the closest soldier lifted his evil looking machine gun.   With a speed that belied his awkward bulk, Gobbo raised his own weapon and squeezed the trigger.
  

BOOM! 

The noise was incredible, as the shotgun discharged its deadly load at the soldier.  A sound like hail hitting a tin sheet roof signalled a miss, as Gobbo's shot went marginally wide and peppered the front of the ambulance.  Astrid, beside and slightly in front of him, aimed very briefly and let fly with her own missile, the bolt flying just over the shoulder of the squaddie as he took a knee and returned fire. 

Gobbo felt the tearing of his flesh as the bullet plucked at his cheek and grazed his temple, spinning him round and dropping him to the floor in a heap.  The chatter of an assault rifle, set to semi auto reached his ears after what felt like an hour, but had to be only a split second later as the other rounds spun inches over his prone form, followed by the scream of his daughter as she watched her dad fall.  The D-subs, forgotten momentarily in the commotion and not wanting to be left out, surged toward the Wosa family, eager to feast on the fallen EMT.  More and more of the infected, drawn in by the immense noise of the gunplay, surged around the humans. 

Astrid slung the xbow across her back in a practised move that subsequently flicked the haft of the vicious axe into her right hand.  Originally a replica purchased by Gobbo, he had sharpened the blade and hung it in his man cave alongside the replica gladius that was strapped to his waist.  Astrid, seeing her father on the floor, stood over his prone body and swung the brutal weapon in a wide arc at the approaching D-sub.  The heavy axe head ploughed through the leering face of the closest monster, powered by fear for her dad rather than the strength of her arm.  The result was none the less devastating as the steel blade tore through flesh and thudded into the back of its skull.  Gasping at the sight of such destruction, she weakly pulled the weapon from the wreck that had once been the head of a human being, puking onto the shoes of another D-sub as it reached for her.  The zombie stumbled as its right foot connected with the vomit and slid out to the side.  Astrid, recovering from the shock of the violence she had delivered buried the blood-soaked blade into the neck of the creature as it fell. 

Gobbo shook his head violently from side to side, trying desperately to gather his scattered wits.  Buffeted by his daughter's legs as she shifted her protective stance, he was shocked back to his senses by the awful sound of steel meeting flesh.  Above him, Astrid fought to keep the D-subs from snacking on da Gobbo and the realisation that his diminutive progeny was shielding him finally got him moving.  As the last of the infected fell before that dreadful axe, Andy broke the shotgun and reloaded the weapon with a cartridge from the thigh pocket where he'd kept his meds guide in, in what felt like a previous life! Stumbling to his feet, reminiscent of the uncoordinated movement of the D-subs, he lifted the weapon sighting down the single barrel and unleashing a hail of pellets at the soldier that had shot him.  The black clad man took the blast in his centre mass, lifting him from his feet and dumping him on his backside.  Grabbing his daughter's free hand, he pulled her behind the cover of the police cruiser while he reloaded the cumbersome firearm.  Astrid, who had been aiming at a D- sub that had been bearing down on the family, discharged the weapon hastily, missing due the sudden change of direction.  

"TOMPKINS" the sarge bellowed, seeing his man taken down by the shotgun wielding EMT.  Sgt Boyle, armed with more intel than the approaching medic, had assessed the threat to his mission posed by the older man. "SITREP!" 

"I'M OK SARGE, THE KEVLAR TOOK IT!" The junior NCO screamed back over the moans of the hordes of D-Subs that were bearing down on the squad. 

"ROGER THAT, EVAC IS 3 MINS, RV AS PER BRIEF!" Boyle knew that the Lance Corporal understood the message and would know what to do.  "Dewbury, bring the girl. Conti you got 'six' cover. Let's move!"   

"Aye Sarge!" Conti called back as he lifted his assault rifle to his shoulder and dropped a pair of D-Subs with a controlled burst.  Two more of the infected, shielded by the front pair managed to get within spitting distance and tried to grab the burly squaddie.  With a drop of his shoulder, Conti evaded the first zed, cracking the creature in the forehead with the butt of his rifle.  The second monster attempted to pull the soldier into a deadly embrace with its claw-like hands. Conti, ignoring the grasp as the D-Sub's fingers sought to penetrate his body armour, drew his side arm while holding the hot barrel of the rifle in his off hand. Placing the pistol to the soft underside of the D-Sub's chin, Conti pulled the trigger twice in quick succession, blowing the top of the creature's head off. 

Boyle, leading the way, moved through the entrance to the supermarket, carefully propped open by the strike team earlier to facilitate the 'ExFil'.  A quick pull of the trigger and two 'Subs lurking in between the aisles had their heads popped, the sarge barely even took note of their fall as he ghosted down the darkened interior of the store.  Dewbury pushed the groggy paramedic in the small of the back, causing her to stumble along behind the point man.  

Conti, plugged another of the approaching D-Subs before falling back toward the entrance to the supermarket.  Tompkins, shaking his head to clear it, scanned for sight of the portly paramedic that had shot him.  Seeing no sign of him or the girl he was with, he rose to a crouch and scuttled over to the big glass doors, shooting a lunging monster as he went. 

there are now a staggering 39 zeds on the board!

Gobbo, sheltered behind the wrecked police vehicle, shot from the hip at a D-Sub that was bearing down on him, barely clipping its arm and certainly not slowing it down.  Growling in frustration the medic ripped the gladius from its scabbard and stabbed the beast through the eye.  Looking back toward the supermarket, he could see the strike team disappear through the main doors and into the building proper, dragging his friend with them. 

Boyle slung his rifle and drew his sidearm in a fluid motion, barely breaking stride as he double tapped a 'sub.  Shifting his aim, he blew out the knee of another that had emerged from the warehouse at the back of the store.  A shot from Dewbury powered through the cranium of the downed D-Sub, as he strode passed with a strong hand around the zip tied wrists of the medic.  The remaining members of the team on rear guard, plugged away with single shots, taking the time to make head shots as the creatures slipped and tripped over each other in an effort to close in on the squad. 

Gobbo looked around desperately trying to figure out how to get to his crewmate.  It was obvious now why the soldiers were retreating into the supermarket, the enormous helicopter that had just circled overhead was the biggest clue! Clearly the evac site was the wide and mostly flat roof of the market.  He still didn't know why they wanted to abduct his friend, but that didn't matter to him! He needed to get her back first, THEN he could ask her what the hell was going on.  Breaking the shotgun, he quickly reloaded using the repetitive action to soothe his thoughts and formulate a plan.  Decision made, he lifted the weapon and blasted two zeds that were on the other side of a perimeter fence protecting the warehouse entrance and yard of the store.  Grabbing his daughter, he pushed her toward the fence before scaling the chain-link barrier (slowly). Astrid nodded in approval at the plan and followed her father, performing as poorly as he did at the climbing part... 

The Sarge could hear the powerful engines of the huge helicopter as it made its descent, holstering his sidearm he began the climb up the metal ladder leading toward the roof of the building.  Gesturing to Dewbury to carry the girl over his shoulder, he instructed the rest of the team to cover the escape. 

More and more of the infected poured into the area, drawn by the gunfire.  Dozens of the groaning creatures stumbled through the doors of the supermarket, looking like the world's worst Black Friday crowd (albeit only slightly). 

there are now 45 zeds in play!

Gobbo stood at the big folding door that currently blocked his way into the warehouse – where the bloody hell was the release?!? He looked around for a switch or button that would roll the barrier back up, so he could rescue Putters.  With dismay he realised that it didn't matter, there wasn't any juice in this section of Thanet to power the winches that pulled the door out of the way.  Astrid, making the connection at the same time began looking for another way in. 

"SARGE, WE GOT INCOMING!" Conti screeched as he heard the smashing of the glass doors at the front of the store.  Boyle growled under his breath as he struggled with the bolts on the trapdoor, his team had oiled them in preperation for their ExFIL so why in Christ's name would they not budge! 

Tears poured down Gobbo's face as he realised that he would not get to Anna in time.  There was no sign of a rear entrance and he and Astrid would have to take on a whole bloody horde of the creatures in order to get through the front entrance. 

With a cry of triumph Boyle yanked back the lock of the trapdoor and surged through to the roof of the building.  Behind him, the team practically ran up the metal ladder to emerge into the relative safety of the evac site.  The sight of the enormous rescue craft was a relief after the intensity of the firefight and the team threw themselves and their prisoner into the rear of the machine.  With a roar of the big engines, the giant aircraft shot into the sky and headed away from the battleground. 

Andy wept openly as the military aircraft disappeared into the distance, his friend had been taken and he could do nothing about it.  Astrid held his hand, nervously looking around, as yet the horde of infected hadn't spotted them but that could change at any moment. "Dad, we need to go" she said softly, gently leading him to the perimeter fence.  Gobbo, moved in a daze, climbing the fence even more clumsily than he had before, landing with a thump on the pavement.  With slumped shoulders the EMT and his incredibly brave daughter headed off back toward their own vehicle. 

"Excuse me" A softly spoken female voice caused the medic to spin, raising his shotgun threateningly. "Maybe I can help?" April added, stepping out of the shadows... 

hope you enjoy

dGG