The Good, The Bad, The Dead

Operation Yankee

The helicopter lands on a hotel landing pad. We get out swiftly and look down to the streets. They look empty, but I know better. These things like to hide in the shadows. They're hunters.
They'll wait for you to get out in the open and pounce on you. And one might not sound like a lot with the M4 Carbine I have in my hands. But they're never alone. And they're never only a few. My lieutenant gets out last, Lieutenant Sampson, Or as we called him behind his back, Stone Cold Sampson.
He looked down at the streets behind his red tinted sunglasses and smirked.
"Deadies want to play some hide and seek, eh?" He chuckled to himself, "Just makes my job more fun!"
The guy was a psychopath.
He grabbed a Barret from our sniper, Jameson, and aimed it down.
"Ah. There's one!" He said as he aimed his barrel towards a random window.
He fired a shot. The glass broke and a deadie fell to the ground. It hit the pavement with a splat. Deadies started to gather around the body. Confused on how this one fell after that loud boom.
Sampson handed the rifle back to Jameson.
"Deadies will be swarming towards that body for the next hour. That gives us time to sneak into our desired location to the north!" He points a finger the opposite direction of the swarming deadies. "C'mon men! We have to find a suitable place for a shelter here in New York for survivors! Operation Yankee is a go! Move out!"
We all start to descend the building as the helicopter flies away in the opposite direction we were heading. The plan was to give the deadies as much reason as possible to leave the area we were in. So in case they decided not to follow the Barret shot, not that they had grown that sort of intelligence yet, the sound of the helicopter would draw them away. We got to the bottom floor and found a deadie without legs. Looked to be a FoSI.
Unable to move from the decomposition. It moaned weakly at us, almost as if it was... begging for death. I know I would be. Sampson walked over to it and stomped it's head without a second thought. The deadie's weak skull seemed to shatter from the force of his boot.
It died instantly. Sampson looked back at us,
"Keep moving."
We followed Sampson out into the street. This was where we had to be most careful. This is where they would be most likely to strike. Sampson held up a hand and we stopped. It was silent besides the distant growling and moaning on the other side of the building.
Sampson waited a bit, then pointed left. So we followed him along the building in the shadows.
"This is weird." Patterson whispered to me.
Patterson was my best friend and closest person I've ever been to. He was the only person who helped me through the military after the virus.
"There's no deadies. They couldn't have all gotten over there so quick, could they?"
Sampson stops and so do we. He turns around to face Patterson and me.
"Patterson! Hamburg! If you're the reason humanity dies before these monsters I swear to God I will be your fucking torturer in hell!"
He whispers loudly. Patterson nods and I look to Sampson.
"Hamburg?"
I nodded slowly, "Sorry Lieutenant."
He nods and we continue on. We walk along until we reach a crossroad. The end of our shadow.
Sampson waits and looks back, "Private! Up here now!"
The new private was shakey, Private Williams. He had been behind a wall this entire pandemic. He got lucky. Williams went to Sampson's side, obviously shaken.
Sampson pointed to the other side of the road. "Go there. Swift but quiet!"
Williams nods slowly and starts walking across. He reaches the middle of the road before we all hear a screech. This screech wasn't human. It was...
"Crowz! Three o'clock!" Sampson whispered loudly as we all aimed our guns but did not fire.
I looked to the private. He was stunned in fear. Right in the open. I tried to run to him but Sampson stopped me.
"It's too late for him Hamburg!"
I looked to the Private as he fell to his ass. He tried to crawl away before standing up and running. But the crowz flew faster than him and eventually caught up. Williams' screams echoed against the buildings as the crowz tore apart his clothes and tore parts of his skin clean off. The steam from each peck completely covered his body making nothing visible except a ball of black feathers and steam.
Sampson pointed across the street and looked back at us,
"The crowz are distracted. Let's get move on!"
We followed him across the street. When we got to the other side, I looked back to see Private Williams. His face change from fear and pain as he bled and screamed, to anger and betrayal as he roared. The crowz flew back up to the sky as Williams stood up, half of his right leg missing while his left arm remained on the ground. He stared at Patterson. Breathing heavily. Sampson, saw and finally let out a yell that seemed to barely have any sound at all.
My heart dropped as the now Deadie Williams screamed at the top of his lungs, calling the other deadies to him for food. We ran. Everything seemed like a blur. It felt like a grenade had just gone off. My ears were ringing, everything sounded distant, I saw deadies start to swarm down the street toward us.
Bullets fired from my gun and others as we tried to stay away. We ran into a building and into the stairway, Jameson took a nightstick on the ground and put it through the handles. We knew that wouldn't last long. We ran up the stairs as the many feet of a swarm started to shake the building. When we were five floors up, we heard the banging of the doors below.
Only four bangs did it take to open before we heard the screams more clearly. Patterson tripped and I looked back as he slid down the stairs. Sampson grabbed me and pulled me to keep me from going to save my friend. I yelled as Patterson disappeared from my sight. Three more floors up, I heard him scream as the swarm got to him.
I cried a silent tear behind my facemask. Two more floors and we finally reached the top. I hadn't noticed before but Jameson was screaming at his radio for the heli to get us the fuck out of here. We closed the door behind us. One door to buy the heli time to come rescue us.
My hearing returned to normal as me and Jameson held the door. The helicopter came into sight, flying as fast as it can towards us. Then the first bang came. I felt the deadie throw his whole body into the door.
Then another.
And another.
Soon it was consistent. The door was becoming harder and harder to hold as a whole swarm of deadies crashed into it. The helicopter threw down a ladder to us. Sampson screamed at us,
"RUN FOR YOUR FUCKING LIVES MEN!"
He started climbing the ladder with haste. I looked to Jameson and he to me. We both nodded. We ran. I heard the screams and bodies pile onto one another behind me.
I didn't dare look back. I jumped onto the ladder and started to climb. Then I felt a tug as Jameson grabbed on behind me. Sampson screamed into the radio.
"GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"
The helicopter started to fly away as a deadie flew onto Jameson's back. He screamed as it bit into his neck. I watched in horror as Jameson's now visible skin singed and bled as the deadie ate and ate. Then I heard a shot. Jameson and the deadie fell.
I looked up to see Sampson with a revolver smoking in his hands. His sunglasses were missing. Probably dropped them.
"Jameson was dead the moment his skin was touched, Hamburg! I did what I had to!"
I nodded. We climbed up and into the helicopter. I looked back at the building we escaped from. I noticed two full black military uniforms. Williams and Patterson.
I shook my head and looked down. Three men dead. And Operation Yankee had failed.