Another of the flight officers ran over to Anderson and ripped his fatigues open.
“Hang in there,” he said, “We knew you were coming and were trying to stall them from shooting us.”
Anderson grabbed his hand and threw it off.
“I’m dead, he managed but each word took more effort. He took in one last breath, “Fly.”
Anderson’s head went slack and rolled to the side.
###
Sulla led the group to the end of the next concourse with the dead closing the distance to their right. The fuel truck sat on the corner of the building in front of the group.
His plan had been to dump the fuel and light it to create a wall of fire to keep the undead back. The undead were too close to have time to make that work, and more were falling out of the broken windows of the airport terminal in front of them.
If we keep running, he thought, they are going to follow us and some may end up on the runway. They could have used the helicopter to lead them away but the dead were too close, and its pilot was making a visual pass on the nuclear reactor 10 miles away.
"Shit," Winters said as he listened in on his radio. "The Cap and our team got wasted on the other side, but the planes are ready to go."
"What about the chopper?" asked Sulla.
"Eight minutes away," said the Sergeant.
Winters grabbed his radio and pushed the button to transmit, "We got major problems down here, but the runway is currently clear. I advise you to dust off like there is no tomorrow."
Sulla ran to the truck and grabbed on to a ladder attached to the back end.
"Get out of here," Sulla shouted while he climbed. "One of us has to keep them here like the Meal Wagon Guy."
"That’s suicide," Winters said.
"No," Sulla replied, "it’s the life of hundreds of kids back at Butler." The zombies closed the distance to the fuel truck to 50 yards.
"Then I am staying with you," Rex said, and he reached for the ladder.
"Bullshit," Winters said, "You got a wife asshole; get out of here."
Winters pushed him out of the way and climbed the ladder with Kovalcik and Callen following.
"All of you need to get out of here," yelled Sulla.
"I'm not going to let a civilian die for me," Winters said.
"Fucking right," agreed Callen. "Sulla, you should go too, we got this."
"There’s no time,” Sulla said. "They see me and they’re too close. Rex," said Sulla, "You got about ten seconds to run like hell before they tear you apart." Winters pulled his field radio off his belt and tossed it at Rex.
The deep whine of a C-130 throttling up for takeoff came rumbling down the runway.
Rex could see the shadows of the dead cast on the concrete underneath the fuel truck. He turned and ran for the corner with everything he had. Behind him, gunfire erupted from the top of the truck.
"Come and get some," Winters yelled above the staccato.
Rex's feet pounded on the concrete as he raced past a baggage cart. The first C-130 flew by on his left, its wheels taking off into the air.
Rex looked over his shoulder and saw the shadow of the fuel truck engulfed by the bodies of the undead surrounding it. One zombie walked out past the corner following the noise and sight of the plane. A bullet smashed into its head, and it fell forward on the concrete. Rex turned and kept running. He heard the second plane throttle up while it made its way down the airstrip.
The radio Rex carried crackled, "This is Major Warren. I’m in-bound over the terminal with the chopper."
Rex brought the radio up to his mouth, "This is Rex. The rest of my group is sitting on a fuel truck on the runway side of the terminal. They are holding off a crowd of zombies."
"Roger that, I can see them. I am going to try and hover over them and pick them up."
Rex stopped at the far corner of the end of the concourse; he looked around the corner and didn’t see any movement of zombies. Behind him, the engines of the helicopter replaced the sounds of gunfire. Rex moved away from the wall of the terminal and looked up into the sky back in the direction of the fuel truck. The chopper glided toward the fuel truck from over the terminal. It lowered in the sky and slowed as it neared the area where the group held off the horde of zombies.
Rex breathed a sigh of relief as the chopper neared Sulla’s position. "They’re going to make-"
He was thrown over, and his ears filled with a roar until the world went silent around him. A ball of fire reached up into the sky and batted the helicopter like an insect. The shock wave pushed the craft over and spun its tail like a top. It twisted in a death spiral that carried it out into the airspace just above the runway. A C-130 barreled down the runway lifting off the ground just behind the spinning helicopter. The plane banked to the side to try and avoid a collision, but the helicopter smashed into its wing. The helicopter was driven straight into the ground from the mass of the heavier vehicle. The wing of the plane jerked up into the air as its engine caught fire and trailed smoke behind it.
The pilot managed to straighten the wings, but the loss of momentum carried the plane down and over the embankment of the roadway leading into the landside terminal at the far end of the runway. Out of the sight of Rex, the C-130 crashed into the long-term parking lot of the airport. Black smoke and red flame rose from its crash.
The smell of charred human flesh and fuel filled Rex's nose and mouth. He rolled up onto his shoulder facing the runway and felt a wetness running down his face. His hand reached up to his face and pulled a chunk of glass out of his forehead above his left eye.
The radio lying on the ground next to him crackled, "This is AF-One-One-Three. Major Warren's chopper just took out One-One-Two. We are past the point of no return. I think we can make it."
On the runway, the C-130 barreled down strip and punched through the rising smoke of the wrecked helicopter burning on the tarmac.
Rex heard a thump behind him. He turned back at the noise to see a zombie had fallen out of the shattered windows of the smoking concourse above him. Flames were rising out of the end of the terminal closest to the blast.
The male zombie wearing a pilot's uniform pushed itself half way up until its leg bowed at an obviously broken point between its foot and knee. The creature fell back over but after a moment dragged itself in the direction of Rex with its hands and legs. The bone of the broken leg clubbed out behind it.
Rex went to grab for his AK but the blast had knocked it ten feet away. He pushed himself into a sitting position slightly straining under the weight of the thousand 7.62 rounds he carried on his chest.
The zombie lunged out to grab his leg, but Rex kicked back and pushed himself out of the way as its hand brushed his boot.
He gritted his teeth and kicked out at the creature. His foot impacted with the pilot’s jaw, and it crunched backward shattering teeth and bone. The zombie latched onto his leg before he could pull it away. It bit down on the leather of Rex's boot. Its jaw was shattered, but Rex felt its hands tighten on his leg.
The last C-130 roared by behind Rex as it took off into the air.
"This is AF-two-six-zero we are the last one off the ground and we are all clear."
"Roger that," said Cotta. "Rex, are you still with me down there?"
Rex tried to kick the creature off his leg, but it held fast and was trying to claw its way up his body. Rex reached down and grabbed for his holstered .45. The first round wasn’t chambered, so Rex pulled the weapon back into the air. The zombie crawled up his body heading for his face. Rex brought the weapon crashing down on the top of the zombie's head. The blow cracked against its skull and momentarily the zombie went slack.