Ragnarok Rising: The Crossing (The Ragnarok Rising Saga) by D.A. Roberts Page A

the gas. The raised air intake on the Humvee would keep us running as long as I didn’t let the engine flood out.
    We made it across without incident, and I was glad to see that I had been high on my estimate of the depth. Although we were in over the wheels, it never made it over the doors. It was less than three feet deep across the concrete bridge. As we safely pulled out of the other side, I reached for the radio mic.
    “All clear, Chuck,” I said, keying up. “Take it slow and steady. Stick to the right.”
    “Copy that,” he said, and began his run.
    Less than two minutes later, we parked side by side in the parking area next to the bathrooms. I decided that I wanted a closer look at the bullet holes along the walls, just to see for myself. When I climbed out of my Humvee, Spec-4 followed me and readied her weapon. Becca stayed inside the vehicle, but watched us intently. Southard and Elliott climbed out of their vehicle, weapons in hand.
    “What’s next, dad?” asked Elliott.
    “I want to take a closer look at the bullet holes on the wall,” I said, pointing. “Something about it just doesn’t seem right.”
    The four of us headed around to the side of the building, away from the entrances to the bathrooms. Behind us, I heard the door of a Humvee open and close. I turned around to see Jensen standing beside the vehicles, adjusting his weapon.
    “Don’t wander off,” I said.
    “I won’t,” he replied. “I just wanted to stretch my legs.”
    We headed around the corner and I could see the numerous bullet holes that pockmarked the wall. There was also quite a bit of blood on the wall and the ground beneath it. In the grass, I could see expended brass. Kneeling down, I picked up a piece and examined it. It was 5.56mm NATO. That meant it came from either an AR style weapon or the military. I selected a number of other rounds to check, just to be certain.
    “Multiple shooters,” I said, looking at Southard. “Firing squad deployment. Military, I think.”
    I was about to say more when I heard the scream. It came from around the corner in front of the buildings. We all spun and sprinted around the corner. Jensen was on the ground right in front of the men’s room entrance, his legs still inside the door. He was lying on his stomach, clawing at the ground trying to drag himself out of the bathroom. Before we could reach him, something dragged him back inside and the screaming began, again.
    Activating the tactical light on my M-4, I swung around the corner and illuminated the interior. What I saw sent chills running down my spine. Two of the dead were savagely tearing flesh from the still screaming body of Jensen. One was female and the other was a male . They were both wearing the tattered remains of military style ACU’s.
    They were biting into his thigh and lower back, heedless of his struggling and screaming. When my light fell on them, they did something I had never seen before. They reacted by crouching lower and snarling at me. I was shocked by their reaction and almost didn’t register that they were about to come at me. I managed to squeeze off a round, hitting the male in the forehead and blasting him back into oblivion.
    The zombie woman leapt at me with shocking speed. Unlike a Sprinter , it leapt at me like a tiger attacking its prey. Spec-4 shot it in the air, knocking it to the side instead of into me. It hadn’t been a kill shot, but it was enough to put it on the ground. It hissed and snarled as it rolled back to its feet. I shot it in the face before it had the chance to jump again. This time, it didn’t get back up.
    Jensen was done. He was bleeding heavily out of the wounds in his legs. One of the bites must have severed an artery. I could see his spine through the ragged holes in his lower back. His wounds were severe enough that we couldn’t have saved him, even without the zombie virus running through his veins. It was lucky that he had blacked out from the pain and would