Dead Island Ravenous Read online

  “He takes too many chances.” Irritated, Uribe just stared down at Doc’s fully inked arm.

  “Just gettin’ outta bed is dangerous nowadays.” Duley said through a mouthful of eggs. The black soldier grimaced as he continued chewing.

  “This shit is nasty.” The former border agent, Banjo, grumbled. “Can’t we get real eggs?”

  “Too bad Vannelli ain’t here, he’d love this slop.” Cross said as she took a sip from the cracked coffee mug in front of her.

  “Yeah, where is that human garbage can anyway?” Doc asked.

  “Armory duty.” Speedy held up what appeared to be a sausage. “You think this is real pork?”

  “Who cares.” Duley grabbed it off of Speedy’s fork and dropped it in his plate. “Ask Berry, I hear he’s a real sausage connoisseur.”

  “Hey!” The younger contractor frowned.

  “Anyway.” Doc let out a breath and glanced up at Uribe. “Loo-tenant, Hale is the best operator you can have in this bunch. Maybe you should cut him some slack…..sir.”

  “Doc.” The officer frowned at the sergeants near insubordination. “I just don’t know why you all follow him like a bunch of sheep.”

  “Sheep?” Duley chuckled. “That’s funny, sir.”

  “Sheep..” Cross suddenly felt Doc’s hand on her back, it was the only thing that kept her from flying off the bench and choking the officer out. The sergeant exhaled then leaned forward, elbows on the table. “We follow Hale because that man has sacrificed more for us,” she waved her hand at the other three soldiers seated at the table, “than we can ever repay.”

  “I….”

  “Hale lost his wife and unborn baby in one of those FEMA camps. His whole goal is to make sure that doesn’t happen to anyone else.” Cross violently grabbed up her water bottle.

  “We were able to save our own family members and get them into safe zones because of him. Hell, he pulled Doc and I out of an ambush in Washington. Hale kept me from being eaten and Doc from being raped.”

  Doc smiled and nonchalantly nodded in agreement. “Those bikers thought I was prettier than Sergeant Cross.” The medic jabbed his fork into the mound of reconstituted eggs on his plate and grinned. “Why do you guys think I sleep on my back at night? Who could resist all this man.”

  “Put a wig on you Doc and we're good to go.” Duley smirked.

  “Anyway.” Cross continued. “You can call us sheep L-tee if that helps you deal with your cowardice. As for me, I’d follow Hale anywhere.”

  “Sergeant Cross I’m not a coward!” Uribe protested.

  “I’m sorry sir. I didn’t mean coward, I meant …COMPANY man.” She stood up gripping the water bottle tightly in her hand. “I have the sudden urge to go shoot something. I’ll see y’all later.”

  “Sergeant…” Uribe started to stand up as Cross stormed out of the chow hall. Doc raised a hand to stop the officer.

  “Loo-tenant, you might want to go easy on her. It’s been a rough week. Let me tell you a story about Cross and this chopper pilot in Mali. This Captain refused to airlift a wounded Sergeant Morgan and Cross beat his ass. Must be that red hair, anyway, she got busted down in rank for that.” Doc took another bite of food. “She didn’t mean what she said or at least most of it.”

  “Yeh…” Uribe nodded and sat back down. “I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”

  “Oh, she meant it.” Duley said winking at Doc.

  “What?”

  “I mean, I’m sure she didn’t. Like Doc said, it’s been a rough week.” Duley grabbed Cross’s abandoned tray and dumped its contents onto his. “This is hard times for us all L-tee.”

  “Yeh, okay.” Uribe nodded. “I’ll let this one go.” He glanced down at his tray. At that moment, the young officer knew he would have to do something about sergeant Hale.

  CHAPTER 11: APOCALYPSE BBQ

  Camp FedEx

  1800h

  Hale finished cleaning his M4 rifle when the beginning bass riff from ‘Gimmee Some Lovin’, rocked the windows of the airstream. The big sergeant sat the weapon down in the gun rack Morgan had salvaged from some sporting goods store and moved over to peer out one of the trailers tinted windows. Looking into the courtyard, Hale could see a big group of contractors drinking beer and blasting a portable stereo. He shook his head remembering it was one of the other contractor’s birthdays and there was a barbeque planned for it. Someone had been able to get ahold of some hamburger meat or kill a cow or some other critter that you could grill up. Could have been roadkill for all Hale knew. Fresh meat was a premium anymore so anything you could throw on the barbeque and cook up was considered a win. Hot sauce went a long way in hiding the true identity of what you were really eating. The smell of apple wood and grilled meat was starting to waft into the trailer. The sergeant grabbed up his black Giants ball cap and headed for the door. Whatever was cooking on the grill was starting to make his mouth water. As Hale reached for the door handle there was a loud rapping on the other side. Hale pulled open the door to find himself staring down at Cross .

  “Hale, figured you’d be hungry.” The redhead said offering him one of the paper plates she held in her hands. The sergeant stepped outside of the trailer closing the door behind him.

  “Thanks Cross.” Hale said taking the plate with the hamburger on it. “Smelt like real meat, my stomach was doing flip flops.”

  “It is. Freeman and his crew found a freezer full of meat that was only expired by a couple days.”

  “Yum, my favorite kind.”

  Cross shrugged. “Me and some of the team are sitting out in the courtyard, thought you’d like to not be a hermit and join us.”

  “Sure.” Hale lifted the burger up to his face and took a quick smell. “Oh yeah, that’s real beef. Hey, who’s birthday is it?”

  “Hell if I know?” The redhead shrugged as they walked over to the cluster of lawn chairs that was occupied by contractors. ‘Gimmee Some Lovin’ was still playing and Hale could see a few of the others dancing to the music. It made the sergeant feel like he was at some kind of Blues festival and not an outpost in the land of the dead.

  “This is good.” Hale said taking a bite out of the hamburger. He stopped next to Duley, who sat in a lawn chair drinking a beer.

  “Just like In and Out!” The soldier smiled. “I already ate two of them.”

  “Want a beer Sarge?” Vannelli asked from the lawn chair next to Duley.

  “Sure.” Hale said taking another bite from the burger. He hadn't had anything this good in months.

  “Here.” Vannelli handed him a cool bottle from a bucket filled with ice and beer filled bottles. The camp had a much coveted and often used ice machine, a perk most did not have during an Apocalypse.

  “Thanks.” Hale sat down heavily in an empty lawn chair. “All this kinda makes you think everything is back to normal.”

  “Nowadays this is normal.” Cross said sitting down next to the sergeant.

  “Yeah.” Hale nodded. “I guess that it is. Whose birthday is it anyways?”

  “Fuck if I know?” Vannelli frowned.

  “Got me Sarge?” Duley shrugged. “I’m just happy there’s real meat and beer!”

  “Right?” Vannelli agreed.

  “Hey Sarge.” Norma Williams, a compact brunette, called out to Hale as she walked by with another contractor.

  “Williams,” he nodded back. “you know whose birthday it is?”

  “I think it’s Taylors.” The little sniper replied as she headed over to the makeshift dance area.

  “Taylor?” Hale glanced back over at Cross. “We have a Taylor?”

  “I don’t know?” She looked at Duley. “Taylor?”

  “Not that I know of.” He turned to Vannelli. “Vannelli, you know a cat named Taylor?”

  “Nope.”

  “Can I join you all?” Banjo asked as he approached the group carrying a plate loaded with baked beans and a burger.

  “Banjo do you know who Taylor is?” Cross asked
.

  “Taylor. No.” Banjo shook his head. “Never heard that name. Good burger though.”

  “Someone said it was Taylor's birthday.” Hale took a swig from his beer and glanced around at the rest of the contractors that were outside partying. “Maybe Morgan knows who this Taylor is.”

  “Never heard of a Taylor.” Speedy said walking over to the group, his plate loaded down with food. “Maybe he’s one of Berry’s buddies.”

  “Taylor, isn’t she the motor pool sergeant?” Finn asked as he squatted down next to Speedy dressed in camouflage shorts and flip flops.

  “No, that ain’t Taylor.” Duley said popping off the top of a beer bottle. “That’s Sarge Baylor.”

  “Oh yeah.” Finn nodded, then ran a hand through his bushy blonde hair. “Baylor.”

  “Then who's this Taylor?” Hale asked as he glanced around at the motley crew of contractors.

  “Taylor?” Doc, dressed in a ripped-up pair of jeans and a t-shirt that said ‘WORLDS OKAYEST SOLDIER’ across it, casually plopped down in a chair in the center of the group. With a mouthful of hamburger, he smiled and said, “Today is his birthday.”

  “Who the fuck is Taylor?” Duley asked throwing up his hands in frustration.

  CHAPTER 12: EXTRA PICKLES

  Camp FedEx

  “Did you authorize this Morgan?” Colonel Cruz growled as he watched the party from the porch of his prefab office building. The camp commander stood a full foot and a half taller than the wiry Major and outweighed him by a good fifty pounds. The Colonel put his hands on his hips and shook his head angrily. “Was this you?”

  “Easy Colonel.” Morgan smiled and pointed to the two active barbeque pits. “We got our hands on some real beef and it was Taylor’s birthday so what the hell.” He shrugged.

  “We’ve been pushing the teams pretty hard lately so I thought a little party would be a good thing.”

  “You should have asked me about this.” Cruz grumbled.

  “You looked busy sir.” Morgan crossed his arms. “Didn’t think you’d want to be bothered.”

  “Where did you get the meat?” Cruz asked as he scanned the group of partying contractors. “That wasn’t out of our stores, was it?”

  “No, no.” The Major put up a hand. “One of the teams found a stockpile of frozen expired meat a couple of towns over. This is a case of finders keepers.”

  “Hmm.” Cruz scratched his chin. “The beer?”

  “It’s shit that Hale and I had liberated months ago, nothing the company should be concerned about.”

  Cruz turned back to Morgan and fixed him with a stare. “This is all my concern. You should have brought the meat to me first. Hoarding the alcohol…” Morgan held his tongue. He’d bring the meat to Cruz alright.

  “Colonel, if it makes any difference I had some of it wrapped and put in storage for you and Captain Booker. As far as hoarding the alcohol, that’s shit I recovered on my own time. No company assets were used.”

  “It’s all company assets.” Cruz gave him a disapproving sniff. “What about all the noise? The music is going to draw attention to us. That’s all we need is a bunch of meat sacks outside the gates looking for lunch.”

  “I have people up in the tower watching for any deaders that get in range. The moment they see anything hinky we’ll shut it down.”

  “You’ll shut it down when I say so.” Cruz grumbled.

  “Sir, yes sir.” Morgan nodded not wanting to agitate the hot-headed officer more. “While I got you here sir, you ever find those boxes of grenades Freeman’s team brought in?”

  “Grenades?” Cruz glanced back over at the crowd of contractors and rubbed his chin.

  “Probably lost in all that shit we have piled up in storage. I’ll put Blackburn on it.”

  “I was just asking because the Armory was on my ass about it.”

  “Just tell them I’ll look into it. Don’t worry about the grenades. I’ll handle it.” The Colonel grunted. “I don’t like this whole party thing, Morgan.” Cruz said changing the subject. “Promotes sloppiness.”

  “Why don’t you come down and have a beer and a burger sir?” Morgan pointed toward the line of contractors by the BBQ grill.

  “Whose birthday, is it?”

  “Taylors sir.” Morgan said watching a few of the contractors dancing to the music.

  “Taylor?” Cruz said stiffly. “I don’t remember Taylor.”

  “Well,” Morgan sighed as he saw Captain Booker approaching them in a huff. “It’s Taylor’s birthday.”

  “Sir!” Booker said almost out of breath. “This isn’t my doing! I’ll disperse this if you want!”

  “No captain, leave it be.” Cruz said annoyed. “Go get me a burger and a beer, make sure there’s extra pickles.” He glanced over at Morgan. “There are pickles Major aren’t there?’

  “Yes sir.” Morgan nodded. “Pickles.”

  “Good, Captain!” Cruz shouted after his subordinate who stopped in his tracks. “Don’t forget, extra pickles.”

  “Yes sir.” Booker nodded as he spun back around toward the grills.

  “Major?”

  “Sir?”

  “Tell this Taylor happy birthday for me.”

  “Oh, I will.” Morgan gave him a quick nod as he stepped off the small porch. “Soon as I find him.” He smirked.

  CHAPTER 13: YOUR MOM’S PANTIES

  Baker Airbase

  “Here come some more.” Marine Corporal Anthony Jefferson said as he looked through the scope of his sniper rifle. A group of the undead were staggering toward the front gate of the airfield. Jefferson and Army Specialist Rowmeho Washington stood guard in a tower that overlooked the big automatic gate that was the entrance to the airbase. A double chain link fence secured by several towers ran the whole perimeter of the airfield. A joint task force of Army, Air Force and Marines provided security for the soon to be decommissioned base.

  “I can’t wait until we are out of here.” Washington glanced at the advancing flesh eaters through a monocular “What the hell were those Rangers hauling?”

  “Don’t know.” Jefferson fired the suppressed rifle twice. “Had to be important though. Those grunts were in a hurry to get whatever it was onto that private jet.” The marine pulled the trigger on the rifle three more times.

  “One meat bag left.” Washington said, watching through the monocular. “Maybe they have one of them suitcase nukes?”

  “Nuke?” Jefferson looked over at his partner. “What the fuck?”

  “I don’t know.” Washington turned his monocular on the twin engine gulfstream jet that sat on the empty air strip. “I hear Portland’s pretty messed up.” The younger soldier shrugged as he turned back to Washington. “I mean hell, look what they did to San Francisco. They bombed the crap out of it.”

  “Not with nukes you dumbass.” Jefferson reloaded the rifle. “We’re not freaking China. We set off one of those here we are all fucked.” The two soldiers had been stuck together since Washington’s National Guard helicopter , carrying Jefferson’s Marine squad had crashed several months back. The two soldiers had been instantly rolled up into the multi-branch defense of Baker Airfield.

  “Well, what do you think it was then Jeff?” Washington asked, sounding a little hurt at the Marines remarks.

  “I get paid not to think.” He set the rifle barrel on the small pile of sandbags he used as a rest and glanced back through the scope. “Thinking about shit will screw with your mind. I mean as messed up as things are right now, rumors and garbage like that will just ….” He pulled the trigger and the remaining flesh eater collapsed next to the others bodies. “Twist you up. Feel me?”

  “Meat sack down.” Washington said dropping the lanyard attached monocular to his chest. “Come on, what do you think it is?”

  “Mmmmm…” Jefferson, irritatingly exhaled. “Why the hell do I say anything? I told you, rumors will twist you up.”

  “Come on man. Just guess.”

  “You see an
y more walking around down there?” The Marine asked as he leaned the rifle against the interior wall of the guard tower.

  “No.” Washington gazed back through the monocular at the roadway that led to the small airfields main gate. “Clear. Now what do you think they’re loading on that jet?”

  “You just won’t shut up about this, will you?” Jefferson turned his back to the towers front facing window.

  “No.”

  “Mmmmm.” Jefferson growled and glanced at his watch. He had four more long hours with the annoying specialist. “I tell you what I think they have if you’ll shut up?”

  “Promise.” Washington eagerly nodded, popping a stick of gum into his mouth. “Not another word.”

  “Not a fucking a peep?”

  “Yes. Zippo.”

  “Okay.” Jefferson sighed. “The way they came in and all that extra security. I’d say it was probably….. a pair of your mom’s panties.”

  “What?” Jefferson could see Washington’s jaw practically hit the floor of the tower.

  “Jeff, that’s fucked up.” The younger soldier looked like the wind had just been knocked out of him. The Marine almost felt bad for Washington as he chuckled to himself.

  “Hey, you should be happy someone wants your mom’s panties.”

  “You’re a prick man. A real prick.”

  “Come on bro.” Jefferson shook his head. “I don’t know what the fuck it is. That’s above my pay grade.”

  “Jeff, my mom is dead man. She got killed in the bombing of Denver. That’s not cool.”

  “Denver? Shit.” Jefferson frowned and put a hand on the younger man’s shoulder. “Hey, I was just joking. I’m sorry brother.”

  “Yeah,” Washington looked up at the Marine and shoved his arm away. “So was I. My mom’s in a safe zone in Arizona.”

  “Asshole.” Jefferson chuckled. “Guess I deserved that.”

  “Yeah you did. Besides, my mom doesn’t wear panties.”

  “What?” Jefferson frowned. “What?”