the ground. ‘Why weren’t they open for us?’
Keswick stepped nervously toward us. The closer he got the easier it was to make out the sweat patches under his arms and the trembling of the hands he held up as if he were being arrested. ‘The gates were open at first. We opened them about ten minutes ago to let you in, but then…the victims. They were waiting. As soon as the gates were opened half a dozen of them flocked in. They killed most of the team, Sanderson wanted to close the gates but I knew you were coming, so I tried to stop him. We started fighting, then a victim attacked him while we were distracted. I was lucky. I guess the victims must have run when they heard the airslicer coming.’
Parker was nodding along at the story, but in my experience victims weren’t deterred by anything since they had lost most of their cognitive function. ‘So trained soldiers died, but you’re here without even a broken nail to show for it?’ I asked.
‘ W-well, I think I twisted my ankle a bit. But it wasn’t really bravery on my part at all. I kind of just stayed out of the way while the fighting was going on, I only came out to stop Sanderson closing the gates up.’
I frowned. ‘But why would he close the gates when the victims were already inside-’
Parker laughed and slung an arm over my shoulders in an entirely too informal way for my liking. ‘Jeez, Komatsu, enough with the interrogation already. The guy looks like he’s about to pass out, he’s just seen his entire team torn to pieces and been face to face with a pack of victims. Let’s get him a drink, I think we could all use one after that. And let’s be thankful that he did survive and manage to keep the gate unlocked.’
‘ What if the victims come back? The gate is totalled,’ I said, turning back to look at the wreckage even though Parker was steering me to the airslicer.
‘ We’ll post a watch out here, don’t worry,’ Parker said. ‘And we’ll make getting them fixed a priority. If I were you I’d worry less about gates and more about how I was going to survive out here. Looks like ground zero victims are tougher than regular ones.’
Chapter 2
My squadron doctor was coming over with the soldiers in a later aircarrier, so there was no clinician to do an autopsy and no official confirmations of death for the pilot and soldiers. The airslicer pilot had been zipped up in a body bag and placed in the infirmary, but the soldiers that had been attacked by victims were burned and their remains were tossed outside the fence since it was possible they'd been bitten by victims, and we couldn't risk them reanimating in the middle of the night. I watched the flames crackle, charring the remains of the soldiers and burning away their clothes until they were nothing but cooked meat clinging to bones. I knew it was protocol but it felt like a disrespectful end.
‘ Would you want to come back as a mindless drone?’ Parker asked when he caught me frowning.
I didn't even bother to answer, it was an obvious choice and it helped get me through the little funeral we held for them. How many times was I going to have to go through this in the coming months? How many of my men would be attacked out on missions and manage to drag themselves back to base, only to be killed and burned anyway in case they were infected?
As soon as the funeral was over we started clearing away the debris of the airslicer from the runway. Some parts were salvageable, but the restoration would take awhile as we'd need a brand new windscreen and left wing.
Parker sighed and wiped sweat from his eyes. Despite it being winter, the sun still beat down, and it was heavy work. ‘Looks like the officers are having their first taste of physical labour in a long time.’
I looked up to see two female officers who were still wearing their navy skirts and nice blouses. I had long since abandoned my dress uniform for a pair of black cargo pants and a black tank top, which was a
Keswick stepped nervously toward us. The closer he got the easier it was to make out the sweat patches under his arms and the trembling of the hands he held up as if he were being arrested. ‘The gates were open at first. We opened them about ten minutes ago to let you in, but then…the victims. They were waiting. As soon as the gates were opened half a dozen of them flocked in. They killed most of the team, Sanderson wanted to close the gates but I knew you were coming, so I tried to stop him. We started fighting, then a victim attacked him while we were distracted. I was lucky. I guess the victims must have run when they heard the airslicer coming.’
Parker was nodding along at the story, but in my experience victims weren’t deterred by anything since they had lost most of their cognitive function. ‘So trained soldiers died, but you’re here without even a broken nail to show for it?’ I asked.
‘ W-well, I think I twisted my ankle a bit. But it wasn’t really bravery on my part at all. I kind of just stayed out of the way while the fighting was going on, I only came out to stop Sanderson closing the gates up.’
I frowned. ‘But why would he close the gates when the victims were already inside-’
Parker laughed and slung an arm over my shoulders in an entirely too informal way for my liking. ‘Jeez, Komatsu, enough with the interrogation already. The guy looks like he’s about to pass out, he’s just seen his entire team torn to pieces and been face to face with a pack of victims. Let’s get him a drink, I think we could all use one after that. And let’s be thankful that he did survive and manage to keep the gate unlocked.’
‘ What if the victims come back? The gate is totalled,’ I said, turning back to look at the wreckage even though Parker was steering me to the airslicer.
‘ We’ll post a watch out here, don’t worry,’ Parker said. ‘And we’ll make getting them fixed a priority. If I were you I’d worry less about gates and more about how I was going to survive out here. Looks like ground zero victims are tougher than regular ones.’
Chapter 2
My squadron doctor was coming over with the soldiers in a later aircarrier, so there was no clinician to do an autopsy and no official confirmations of death for the pilot and soldiers. The airslicer pilot had been zipped up in a body bag and placed in the infirmary, but the soldiers that had been attacked by victims were burned and their remains were tossed outside the fence since it was possible they'd been bitten by victims, and we couldn't risk them reanimating in the middle of the night. I watched the flames crackle, charring the remains of the soldiers and burning away their clothes until they were nothing but cooked meat clinging to bones. I knew it was protocol but it felt like a disrespectful end.
‘ Would you want to come back as a mindless drone?’ Parker asked when he caught me frowning.
I didn't even bother to answer, it was an obvious choice and it helped get me through the little funeral we held for them. How many times was I going to have to go through this in the coming months? How many of my men would be attacked out on missions and manage to drag themselves back to base, only to be killed and burned anyway in case they were infected?
As soon as the funeral was over we started clearing away the debris of the airslicer from the runway. Some parts were salvageable, but the restoration would take awhile as we'd need a brand new windscreen and left wing.
Parker sighed and wiped sweat from his eyes. Despite it being winter, the sun still beat down, and it was heavy work. ‘Looks like the officers are having their first taste of physical labour in a long time.’
I looked up to see two female officers who were still wearing their navy skirts and nice blouses. I had long since abandoned my dress uniform for a pair of black cargo pants and a black tank top, which was a
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