Adrian's Undead Diary (Book 6): In the Arms of Family by Chris Philbrook

of fire for even just a few seconds, the river of dead bodies came to a screeching halt.
    “What the fuck is going on in here? Why isn’t this pig started?” Kyle asked as he dipped the barrel of his rifle, taking a moment to ask the question.
    “Don’t ask me, ask the asshole ripping the wiring in the truck apart.” Logan leaned his head towards Dale and went back to firing. More undead were appearing. Kyle snapped off another shot in the growing light coming through the massive tiled windows of the structure, and slid the rifle to his hip. He walked over to the diminutive Dale and grabbed him by the belt, yanking him out of the truck.
    “Help your friend, buy me a fucking minute,” Kyle said to him. Dale looked pissed, but Kyle caught a flash of relief to be done with the piece of shit African truck. Dale drew his sidearm, and walked to the front of the truck, assisting Logan by popping off a few rounds.
    Within seconds Kyle discovered that Dale had hotwired the radio to the blinkers. He laughed quickly, and freed his Leatherman from its pouch, and snipped the few wires that actually would start the vehicle. Thirty seconds later the diesel truck angrily belched a cloud of black exhaust, and started. The two airmen cheered Kyle, and Kyle grinned, pulling the truck out of the hangar, and towards the hungry plane that desperately needed a meal.

    *****

    Kate left the cockpit to assist her crew in getting the bird fueled. She was distracted by the constant snapping of gunfire nearby. Harold had grabbed one of the PJ’s sniper rifles and was picking off the leading undead that had turned around and were coming back at them. She was thankful for the fire support, but goddamn that rifle was loud. Each booming shot made her permanently deafer. She did her best to ignore it and hoped the eardrums were tougher than she thought.
    As she and the crew got the fuel moving from the truck into her baby, she saw a single truck pull up, filled to the brim with her people. One had failed to return. Kate noticed the leggy golden haired blonde immediately, and her heart skipped a beat. A pretty girl here in Morocco? This might turn out to be a good day after all.
    Her heart sank when she saw poor Jaden carried from the back of the Hilux, fighting a scream the whole way. His left leg was a ruined mess of twisted bone and bloody raw flesh. It looked as if it had been pinned against a wall and one of the trucks had smeared it doing sixty miles an hour. The leg was history. Jaden’s face was a wrinkled mess of agony as his two men carried him into the back of her plane to a cot where they could give him some serious medical care. One of the men helping him, Joel, had his own face slashed open, and was acting as if nothing was wrong. She was thankful for the excessive amount of medical training the PJs got. Each of them was practically a doctor.
    Kevin assisted the blonde lady out of the back of the truck, and the two of them strode wordlessly towards the back of the plane, stopping when they reached Kate. Kate looked Kevin in the eye, and she saw the pain and guilt of Jaden’s injury on his face.
    “Shit happens," she said.
    Kevin nodded somberly. “Yeah. How long until we’re out of here?”
    Kate did the math in her head and hoped it was right. “Two minutes maybe. Who’s your friend?” She looked at the blonde.
    The woman came to out of a daze and looked at Kate. Kate was stunned how pretty she was, even covered in filth and blood. “I’m sorry. I’m Michelle," she said. "I can’t believe you all made it. I’m shocked that this is really happening.” She smiled, and Kate felt a rush of warmth. She had known this girl thirty seconds and was already falling in love. Fairly typical for her.
    Kevin looked at her, vaguely surprised. “Were you expecting us?”
    She smiled again and nodded. “Definitely. You’re The Warden. You were sent here to save my life.” Her voice was full of conviction. Not the false hope and