Chapter 23 - Africa part 2

2 choppers were moving toward the 10th rendezvous point when their proximity alert rang: they were targeted by SAM’s missiles. Using every trick in their arsenal, they avoided the hit and signaled the base that hostiles were using SAM against them meaning that they could not go directly to the 10th help.
Mat, being encircled by Z’s took his time to make a fast inventory of what he had on him: his riffle with enough ammo to shoot around 30 of the monsters, his desert eagles with roughly the same amount of bullets, his sword and his two batons. Ok, so he could kill around 60 Z’s before having to turn to close combat. Not a good perspective. And since he had gotten back to the Agency, he had learned a lot more on his condition: each time he changed, he put such a strain on his body that it took 1 week of healing for each 10 minutes of being a Dark Blood Hunter. Well, Mat thought, the worst that can happen is that I die. Big deal. Let’s kill Z’s!
Back at camp, Parkson spread the news about the choppers. They would have to go for a survival position while help was on its way. Mat called on the com link to tell them of his sweet position and everyone groaned. More trouble there than was needed. And their beloved leader was out of the game. RedTail, Smith and Brown were put inside the Humvee despite their protest. Thompson had to pull rank on them to make them obey.
Thompson Took the sniper position while Parkson and Lee raised the special side plate designed for this type of situation: survival. They were 7 feet high once deployed and created an impenetrable fortress from where they could shoot while their friends inside were safe.
Safe but far from impotent. They had access to the weapon of the humvee itself: 2 turret guns in front and one in the back. The problem with these guns was that they were way too powerful to deal with Z’s. It shredded them and pulverized them, but rarely did it kill any. A cleaning crew was needed after their use and it took time and money to make certain that the area was safe. But in survival mode, everything was allowed.
Once the walls were in place, Parkson gave the signal to anchor the Humvee. 6 titanium/steel spikes were driven in the soil. Once they had reached a depth of 5 feet, they opened to form X and spun half a turn making the Humvee impervious to anything trying to tilt it short of an heavier truck or a missile. Thanks to the Humvee high and the addition of the plates on top, the Z’s could not reach them. But they could kill them easily. Thompson, using his great claymore was splitting skulls with an almost maniacal glee. Parkson, using a shoaling spade did the same while Lee used a weird contraption of he design that upon touching the top of a head triggered a piston activated spike that went inside the head, shot a 50 000 volt charge and fried the Z where it stood. It had to be powered by the powerful batteries of the Humvee but it did its work.
Inside, the 3 humans opened fire and started shredding zombies. They took great care to only shoot in small burst so they could try to control the damage and devastation on the other side. Having a bullet ricochet on some stone and coming back at them was not a good idea. Soon though, they had finished their ammo supply and stood there, in shadow, listening to the groans of the Z’s outside and their friends calling each other and doing their very best to keep them inside alive. Then, the trap on the top of the Humvee opened and their friends rushed inside, closed it, and Lee ran to the command center to activate the Delta protocol.
Delta protocol called for a vehicle to be air tight, pressurized and radiation safe. It meant a lot of fire power was going to be released on their location in a very short time. It took around 5 minutes to achieve Delta protocol. First, the plates were lowered automatically and placed on the four side of the Humvee, in this case. Then, the wheels were retracted inside the truck and they were lowered on ground level. The spikes went to 10 feet deep and every electrical system was shot down. All the while, the people inside put on special suites: they were a mix between bio hazard suites, armor and firefighter outfit. It had to be done in 4 minutes or less because once Delta was called, it fell exactly five minutes after being called.
The X team was ready in the allowed time and exactly 1 minute later, the world exploded. The pressure was so great that the top of the Humvee caved in, the windows cracked and only afterward did the heat struck. The automated defense mechanism activated and a cool foam filled the Humvee preventing its occupants’ from being boiled in their own juice. A good 15 minutes later, when things had cooled outside, Lee asked a disturbing question: What about Mat?