UNSCDF Chapter 28- Desperate Measures

Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

City Park Heights

March 25, 2001

1800 Local Time

            Taylor watched as the grenade hit the Titan’s chest and exploded violently. The explosion consumed the Warthog beside the Titan causing a chain reaction of explosions. The Warthog blew up and flung hot searing shrapnel everywhere.

            “Keep your heads down.” Zyrok shouted as debris flew over his head and smashed into the ceiling.

            The Titan got its legs blown off and was crawling away from the flames. Zyrok got out of cover and began to shoot at the Titan’s head.

            “Aim for the head.” Zyrok hollered.

            Casey and Nevarez got out of their cover and ran out to the streets. The marines concentrated their fire at the injured Titan and unleashed a torrent of bullets. In a matter minutes, the Titan was dead and burnt to crisp. Zyrok and Taylor ran down the stairs and regrouped with Casey.

            “Hoorah.” Nevarez shouted.

            “Mission complete.” Taylor reloaded his M21.

            “Time to head to back. I’ve got to see how Forester’s doing.” Zyrok looked at his watch with a worried face.

            “Call it in, sir?” Casey tapped his helmet.

            “Yeah, call it in. Taylor, get another DNA sample of this Titan. Nevarez, pop green smoke.” Zyrok nodded.

            “Roger.” Casey nodded back.

            Taylor took out his combat knife and walked up to the dead Titan. He stabbed the knife into its skin and cut out a piece of meat. Nevarez reached into his backpack and pulled out a smoke grenade and released the pin. Nevarez looked for a clear area on the street and threw the grenade. The grenade exploded and began to release green smoke into the sky.

            “Foxtrot 515, this is Echo Squad, come in over.” Casey spoke on the RaidCall.

            “Go ahead Echo Squad.” Pruett responded back.

            “Mission is accomplished. Request pickup at green smoke, how copy?” Casey reported.

            “Copy, confirm mission accomplished, over.” Pruett asked for confirmation.

            “That’s correct Pruett. What’s your position?” Casey looked at the skies filled with green smoke.

            “I’ve just entered Fort Calhoun. ETA twenty minutes over.” Pruett answered.

            “Copy, we’ll hold position. Echo out.” Casey acknowledged and ended the communication.

            Zyrok looked at Casey as he walked towards him. Zyrok glanced down the streets and saw a few zombies coming their way.

            “Let’s head indoors while we wait.” Zyrok suggested.

            “Good idea boss. We’re real low on ammo anyway.” Taylor looked at the zombies in the distant.

            Nevarez looked at the smoke beginning to fade and decided to grab another smoke grenade in his backpack.

            “Don’t. We’ll pop another one when there’s five minutes left.” Casey grabbed Nevarez’s hand and stopped him.

            “Okay.” Nevarez nodded and pulled out his hand out of the backpack.

            Zyrok watched as his men get inside a building and closed the main door. He looked inside for a washroom and saw one down a corridor. He opened the door and saw three zombies. One of the zombies had two heads and turned to face Zyrok.

            “Oh damn.” Zyrok pulled out his USP as the two-headed zombie screamed.

            Zyrok shoved a zombie and then fired his USP at the other zombie right at its head. Zyrok pulled out his bowie knife and charged at the two-headed zombie. He gracefully decapitated one head and then snapped the other zombie’s neck with his bare hands. He spun around and threw his knife at the zombie he had shoved over and fired a round into its eye. The head exploded and flung brains all over the wall. Zyrok ran out the washroom to see five zombies burst out of the women’s washroom. Zyrok fired a round and then realized he was out of ammo. He quickly ran into the washroom to retrieve his bowie knife, but was not quick enough to escape as the zombies entered the washroom.

            “Boss?” Casey called out from outside the washroom.

            “I need a hand!” Zyrok combated a zombie as he got corned to a wall.

            Casey kicked the door open and fired two shots of his shotgun into the backs of the zombies and then swung his gun like a club and took out the last zombie.

            “Thanks. Let’s get out of here.” Zyrok said with relief and headed out to the main entrance.

            “Guys…there’s a horde coming our way and it’s been fifteen minutes already. Should I pop smoke?” Nevarez looked out the window.

            “Pop it. We’ll have to hold them off.” Zyrok took a look out the window.

            “Here, have this.” Casey handed Zyrok his Lock 17.

            “Thanks Casey.” Zyrok smiled.

            Nevarez opened the door and threw a smoke grenade in front of the building. Green smoke erupted out of the canister and slowly lifted to the sky. Taylor steadied himself as he aimed his sights at the distant horde arriving.

            “Fire if necessary or else we should conserve with what we have left.” Zyrok ordered.

            “Echo Squad, this is Foxtrot 515. We have visual of your smoke. Hold position, we’re coming in just a few minutes.” Pruett spoke on the RaidCall.

            “Roger, see if you can hurry up Pruett. We’ve got a horde coming up.” Zyrok spoke hastily.

            “Copy, I have Schmidt on the turret to assist.” Pruett spoke calmly.

            “Alright, make it quick. I want a quick extraction.” Zyrok fired his pistol as the zombies were in range.

           Taylor saw the cue and fired his M21. Nevarez fired single shots from his M16 and watched Zyrok look at the skies. Suddenly a shadow cast over them as the Pelican flew on top of them. Zyrok waved at Schmidt manning the turret to shoot at the incoming horde. Schmidt waved back in acknowledgement and began to spray a heavy cover as the Pelican slowly descended.

            “Get on board.”  Zyrok shouted as the Pelican hovered a meter off the ground.

            Nevarez spun around and ran onto the Pelican. Casey patted Taylor to go as he continued to fire his shotgun. Taylor nodded and shouldered his rifle and hopped onto the Pelican. Zyrok waved at Casey to go and then looked at the horde. He saw a variation of special zombies and the new ones they’d encountered. Zyrok turned and ran onto the Pelican while Schmidt continued to fire. Zyrok looked out the Pelican and heard multiple screams within the horde. He wondered if there was going to be another Titan nearby, but reassured himself that it probably was the horde they’d separated before killing the Titan.

            “Let’s go!” Zyrok went to the cockpit and patted Pruett.

            “Alright.” Pruett lifted a lever and the Pelican began to ascend.

            “Guys…” Schmidt called out.

            “What?” Zyrok exited the cockpit to look at Schmidt.

            “What the hell is that?” Schmidt pointed at a massive zombie with multiple tentacles sprint down the street towards them.

            “Holy shit.” Casey got up from his seat as the zombie sprinted closer towards them.

            “Pruett! Get us up and out now!” Zyrok shouted as he froze in terror.

            The Pelican quickly lifted up to three stories high when the zombie slashed its tentacle at the Pelican.

            “Hang on!” Zyrok grabbed a handrail as the Pelican shook from the hit.

            The Pelican continued to lift up while Schmidt fired the turret at the tentacles. The zombie swung again and this time it hit the rear thrusters and the Pelican began to smoke. Pruett managed to get out of the zombie’s reach as it lifted to the rooftops of nearby buildings.

            “Sir, we got a situation.” Schmidt pointed at the rear thrusters leaking fluid.

            “Pruett! Status update!” Zyrok shouted as he entered the cockpit.

            “Our fuel line’s been severed and hull integrity at fifty percent.” Pruett looked at the flashing lights on the console.

            “God damn it. It means we can’t get back, doesn’t it?” Zyrok kicked the cockpit door.

            “That’s correct. I’ll see how long she can hold. We have to steer clear from that tentacle monster.” Pruett looked down at the streets below them.

            The massive tentacle zombie appeared to have lost sight of them as it wondered around the streets. Pruett steered the Pelican towards the outskirts of the city and pushed the thrusters forward. The Pelican spurted out sparks from the rear thrusters and ignited the leaking fuel.

            “It’s going to blow…” Nevarez watched as the rear thrusters went up in flames.

            “I’m going to divert all power to forward and vertical thrusters. It will consume more fuel, but reduce the flames at the rear.” Pruett flipped some switches and watched the computer screen.

            The Pelican groaned as the rear thrusters shut off and the flames began to die down.

            “Land there!” Zyrok pointed at a forest a couple kilometers outside the city.

            “I know sir. There’s not much of a choice either.” Pruett replied with frustration.

            The Pelican tilted forward and began to descend slowly at a sharp angle.

            “Son of a…” Pruett watched as his computer screen went black.

            “What?” Zyrok grabbed a seat beside Pruett.

            “I’ve lost navigations as well as hydraulics. I’m going to have to go manual on this.” Pruett took off his helmet as he turned a knob on the console.

            “What can I do?” Zyrok watched as the ground became closer into their view.

            “Hold this lever and grab it tight. It’s our flaps.” Pruett pointed at a lever.

            “Ok.” Zyrok grabbed the lever.

            “It’s going to give a lot of resistance as you pull it. Never let it go or we’ll increase our fall rate.” Pruett explained.

            “Got it.” Zyrok grasped the lever with both hands as he felt the strain in his hand.

            “I’ll see if I can steer clear of obstacles so we won’t have a big crash.” Pruett focused at the forest in front of them.

            The Pelican flashed an orange light and Pruett glanced at it.

            “Great, we’re losing steering.” Pruett hit the console with his fist.

            “Call it in.” Zyrok nodded as he knew they were going to crash hard.

            “Alright.” Pruett wiped sweat off his forehead.

            “Everyone buckle up and sit tight.” Zyrok hollered to the marines sitting in the rear.

            “Mayday, mayday, this is Foxtrot 515. We are hit and we are going down.” Pruett broadcasted on the RaidCall.

            “One thousand feet.” Zyrok buckled his seatbelt as he watched the altimeter drop rapidly.

        “Mayday, mayday, this is Foxtrot 515. We are going down. Anyone copy?” Pruett broadcasted again.

         “Five hundred.” Zyrok watched as the skies disappeared from their view as the Pelican tilted forward.

            “Mayday, mayday.” Pruett held on to his seat tightly.

            Zyrok felt his muscles cramp as the lever exerted a tremendous amount of force as the Pelican dropped.

         “Three hundred…two hundred…” Zyrok watched as the Pelican hit some trees and pieces of its wings chipped off.

        “Ah!” Pruett covered his face as the nose of the Pelican hit a tree and shattered the cockpit windows.

            “One hundred!” Zyrok watched as the right wing broke off as it smashed a tree trunk.

            Flames erupted on the right side of the Pelican and scorched the nearby trees. The rear thrusters reignited and exploded sending engine parts everywhere.

            “Seventy five…fifty…twenty five…God help us.” Zyrok saw the ground covered with mossy rocks and bushes.

            Just as the Pelican was about to smash into the ground, Zyrok’s life flashed in front of his eyes. He saw himself graduating high school as he walked down the aisle. He saw himself spending quality time with his family before the apocalypse. He saw himself sitting in his room chatting with Sarah, the girl who he truly cared about. He saw himself talking to Mary and enjoying a good time talking about life. Now, all of it was going to end. The highlights of Zyrok’s life flashed so quickly and Zyrok smiled as the visions disappeared and time began to speed up.

            “Thank you Sarah, for everything. I’ll always love you.” Zyrok closed his eyes as he embraced himself for the impact knowing that it may be the last words he will say on this forsaken world and he wanted to have no regrets.