Suffering: Male Reader x TWDG

Chapter 32: Fort Benning

"WELCOME TO FORT BENNING, HOME OF THE MANEUVER CENTER", that's what it says on the sign outside. According to some documents in the General's office, Fort Benning was actually the headquarters for the US Army Rangers which is certainly fitting considering it's the Militia Rangers that have been sent to secure it.

The military base is a lot bigger than you originally thought it was and is definitely overrun. The infected are scattered throughout the base and turn to you all as you walk through them, killing as you go. "Hey Corporal, Carris says it's this way!" Goldilocks shouts to you from his position on top of a burnt out humvee.

Technically you now outrank all of the Rangers except for Captain Anderson and Bug: who is apparently a sergeant. You hate being called corporal so the Rangers have been addressing you with it for a laugh; much to your annoyance.

You change direction and begin advancing towards a decrepit looking hangar, a horde of infected lurk outside. You raise your AK47 and start taking shots at the infected, calmly hitting one after the other, cold and calculated as always. The other Rangers catch up and join in, including David Carris and the Militia pilot, who were both brought along.

You can't remember the pilot's name, it was something like Jim but you're not completely sure. Apparently he used to pilot helicopters in the army before the world went to shit so he's here to have a look at the helicopter David said he found.

You all fight your way to the hangar and slip in through a side entrance, blocking the door behind yourselves. The interior of the hangar is pitch black but everyone quickly turns on their flashlights, illuminating the walls around you. You look around and do a quick headcount, Goldilocks, Hulk, David, Jim, Bear, Cutter, and Bug; Captain Anderson is back at Fort Summer so that's everyone accounted for.

The hangar, despite its size, is quite cramped as it is cluttered with huge shelving units filled with crates. Cutter grabs a nearby crowbar and opens a crate, it's full of M4 carbine rifles. He opens up a second crate and that one's filled with ammunition. "Holy shit, we've hit the goddamn motherlode" Bug says, grabbing up another crowbar and opening a third crate.

"I told you I was telling the truth!" David says, shining his flashlight over the crates, "Ain't that right Y/N!".

Bear shoves David in the chest, "That's Corporal to you!" he growls. You're surprised at this, usually the other Rangers don't care about rank but you suppose they must do when it's an outsider, or maybe they just have a distinct distaste for David Carris. He can be kind of irritating at times.

"Hey hey, I'm sorry" David says, backing away further into the hangar, his foot hits a can and it rolls noisily across the hangar floor. The banging and growling of the infected outside becomes more excited.

"Hey let's just get outta the hangar, there has to be a back door or something" Bug says as he starts to walk through the maze of shelves. Everyone follows, waving their flashlights around. You follow close behind, making sure to look back every once in a while to ensure the infected haven't broken in the way you all entered; they haven't. Yet.

You reach the back wall of the hangar and hear a chorus of groans and sighs, "There's no fucking backdoor!" Cutter growls.

Jim points to the ceiling with a smile, "But there is an open skylight" he says, "And a shelving unit right under it".

"So all we need is for someone to climb up the shelves, exit through the skylight, and draw the infected away from the hangar so we can stop being trapped in here?" Bear asks skeptically, "Because that sounds like a dodgy plan at best".

They all turn to you, "Umm no offence Ghost but your 16 year old body is a bit smaller than our hulking masses" Bug says, "So could you pl-".

"Yes yes, I'll go" you sigh in defeat, eyeing the precarious shelving unit stood before you, "But if I die I'm coming back to eat all of you".

Climbing out the roof of the hangar wasn't exactly a difficult task and as you stand on the curved roof looking down at the tarmac below, you ponder the situation you got yourself into. The infected are all bunched up at the entrance to the hangar so don't notice you sliding carefully down the side of the hangar and onto the roof of an an abandoned tank.

The clatter of your feet on the tank's armour attracts a couple of the infected who break from the crowd at the hangar door and begin to head in your direction. You raise your rifle but before you can dispatch the infected, an undead hand grasps at your ankle through the tank's hatch and drags you down inside.

Another hand grabs at your collar and you panic, letting off shots which smack into the undead body and hit the insides of the tank, ricocheting slightly. You wrestle with the infected, trying to do anything possible to get it off you. You twist and turn but it stays holding on, it's grip tight. You bump into something. The tank starts to roll slowly forward. It's picking up speed.

-CRASH-

Dust flies everywhere. You and the infected go flying forward, its head smashing into the driving instruments and splitting open whilst you manage to avoid great injury and seem to have only scraped your elbows. You pick yourself up and quickly hop out the tank's hatch. You managed to crash it into what looks like an administration building for the military base, a corner of the building has completely collapsed in on itself and has buried part of the tank.

The group of infected that had trapped you all in the hangar has followed the noise of the tank and is heading towards you. You fire a few shots into the group, taking out a couple of the infected, before hopping off the tank and making a dash across the runway; giving the infected a wide berth. They ignore you and continue shambling towards the wrecked tank.

You meet with the others outside the hangar and you all carry on following David who insists he remembers where the helicopter was parked. "Look I'm telling you" he says, picking up speed, "It should be over there". He points over to another hangar eagerly, "I hid out in that hangar when I was last here and it was just sitting in there".

You reach the hangar and open it up. An olive coloured Apache helicopter sits inside, its armaments still mounted. "Holy shit!" exclaims Jim, "This beauty is in perfect condition, doesn't even look like it's ever been used".

"So do you think it will work?" Bug asks.

"There's only one way to find out" Jim says as he hastily climbs into the cockpit. He flicks a few switches and you watch as the helicopter comes to life, its blades slowly turning. Jim turns it back off and climbs out. "All we have to do is wheel it outta the hangar and it should be good to fly, it pretty much has a full tank".

David claps his hands together, "Now I've proved I wasn't making this up, can we be just friends?".

Hulk slaps him on the back and grins, "Of fucking course we can, you might've just won us this war!".

Goldilocks crouches down and opens up his backpack, removing a radio set and turning it on, "Fort Summer, this is the Rangers, come in" he says down the microphone. There's a crackle in the speaker and a voice replies.

"Rangers, you have reached Fort Summer, please wait while we find Captain Anderson".

A minute passes and you hear a new voice on the radio, it's a voice you instantly recognise; "Gentlemen, this is Anderson, what have you found?".