The Demented Z (Book 2): Desolation (Book 2) by Derek J Thomas

seen a white flag waving
from out of one of the exhaust stacks.  
We think they are holed up in the kitchen area.”
    Tom nodded his head.  
“Food...makes sense. How could we
help?”
    “We’re a ragtag bunch.  
Two guys served in the military, all the rest of us are, at best,
civilians with guns. Not only do we need
firepower, but skills as well.”
    “How are the two military guys you have?”
    Brad looked over at Hank and then back to Tom.
  “One is older...served in Vietnam.
  He knows his weapons and is a great shot...but
not a tactician. Radichi
is the other one...did a couple tours with the 10 th Mountain.
  Everyone calls him Smoke.
  He’s like a magician in his ability to
disappear. Great
guy...very capable.   He knows we
need more guys if we are going to attempt a rescue.”
    “Sounds like we need to make this a
priority.   I need to sit down with
Radichi. We
can formulate a plan and then pull together whoever you’ve got.”
    “I’ll track him down and get you guys together.
  Call him Smoke, he prefers it.”
    “Know anything about what is going on or why?”
    “I know I went from head of Information Technology to CEO overnight.”
  Brad said with a laugh.
    Tom grinned. “And I
always thought you had bad karma.”
    “Well I also went to no pay...so she still haunts me.
  Seriously though, I probably don’t know much
more than you. Bits and pieces from
those that saw the news before everything went offline.
  Seems to be the new flu
vaccine stabilizer coupled with something else...virus maybe.
  We see choppers overhead occasionally, no
help, just hover and fly by.”
    Tom nodded and said, “We’ve seen those as well.
  Know anything about them?”
    “I think they fly out of the training base up north.
  Military...they seem to know something.
  I just can’t get them to stop.
  We’ve tried to radio them, but no response.”
    “Hmmm...I’ve been to that base.
  First thing first, Hank and I are going to check
on Rachael. When you find Smoke, send
him our way.”
    “Will do...thanks guys.”
    ******
    Eddie had never been so scared in his life.
  When the infection first hit, he was
terrified, but not like this. At least
on that first day actions were based on reactions.
  It was making decisions to survive.
  The rules were simple:
  Evade, fight, and survive.
  This was different.
  This was planned.
  He had been up all night thinking about
it. Wading into those
things...attacked...torn to pieces...eaten alive.
    “Eddie, you coming or what?”
  Smoke said from next to Tom.
    He stood in place, staring at the two men, debating turning
and running, and then finally said, “I’m coming.”
    The three men, in addition to four others, were up late the
night before, finalizing plans and going over hand drawings of the school’s
layout. None of them thought they had a
great plan and they all knew everything could go really bad really fast, but it
was all they had. There were only seven
of them, four with real experience, and three that at least knew how to handle
a weapon.
    Tom and Smoke picked up a ladder and continued along the
sidewalk, nearing the forested hillside that overlooked the school.
  Glancing to his right, Tom could see Hank and
Dennis making their way up the side of the water tower.
  They looked tiny clinging to the ladder on
the side of the giant cylinder. Both had
high powered rifles slung over their shoulders.
    Eddie was scared before and now that they had reached the
edge of the hillside he was absolutely terrified.
  The three of them hunched down in the trees,
gazing at the school and surrounding horde below.
  There were hundreds of infected.
  Agitated bodies swarmed the building, forming
a wide wall of infected humans. All
Eddie could think was we’re going down
there . The thought seemed ludicrous.
    Tom looked over at Smoke.  
“You ready for this?”
    “Rock and roll