Fade to Grey (Book 1): Fade to Grey (58 page)

Estes and Keene briefly exchanged glances before shaking
their heads.

“Not a lot . . . and what we do know primarily comes from
looking through the ACOG on the M4,” Estes replied.

Major Sullivan’s tired eyes blinked slowly as he answered.
“My area of expertise is Neuroimmunology, which basically means that I
specialize in infectious disorders of the central nervous system.
Multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, Guillain-Barre
syndrome, chronic demyelinating polyneuropathy, myasthenia gravis and other
immune mediated disorders of the peripheral nervous system. That’s what I did.
That’s why I was called in.”

“Are you saying that these people are
getting multiple sclerosis?”

With a scoff and shake of his head, Major
Sullivan replied, “Not hardly. There are other highly advanced pathogens at
work here. The main culprit being . . .”

“Southwest tower to base command, do you
copy?”

Estes pulled the radio off his belt and
keyed it.
“Base command, go.”

“We’ve got movement, possibly substantial
movement about half a click away where the highway off-ramp dumps into
downtown. NVG’s are acting up and giving us a grainy image, can you confirm
with thermal?”

“Southwest tower, clarify. Movement,
motorized or not?”

“Negative on motorized. We think it’s foot
traffic, but it’s tough to tell. It might just be something in our goggles
screwing up.”

“Base command to southeast and northeast
towers. Can either of you get a line of sight on what the southwest tower is
reporting?”

Estes listened as both other fire teams
replied in the negative. No line of sight.

“Perkins, it’s Estes, do you have a radio?”

A brief pause of silence was interrupted by
the sound of an aggravated voice held too far away from the microphone.

“Yeah boss, I heard. I’m working on it. Give
me five minutes more to cool it down, and then I should be able to flip it on
for a least a few minutes before it overheats and crashes again.”

Estes acknowledged Perkins, and then caught
the wave of Sergeant Keene’s hand.

“You might want to consider sending the
night vision goggles from the northeast fire team down to the southwest until
the thermal comes back on.”

Estes nodded and gave a quick thumbs up to
Keene as he relayed that directive. No sooner had his orders been acknowledged
when an unfamiliar voice came across the radio.

“Delta Green Halo, Delta Green Halo, this is
Scorpion Flight Two inbound, ETA three minutes, can you confirm accessibility
to LZ?”

Scorpion Flight Two was the call sign of
Major Larrabee’s helicopter. It was about time, Estes thought. He nodded toward
Keene, who keyed his own radio in response.

“Scorpion Flight Two, this is Delta Green
Halo, affirmative on the LZ. It will be a tight squeeze and you’ll need your
own landing lights, but you can make it once we give you clearance. Recommend
you hold above station upon arrival until we confirm or contain a potentially
hostile situation.”

“Roger that, Scorpion Flight Two inbound,
ETA two minutes, will hold above LZ and wait for final clearance.”

“I think this conversation is going to have
to take a backseat for now,” Estes said. Major Sullivan, Sergeant Keene and
Corporal Henry all nodded in agreement as they stood. “Let’s see what’s
happening outside, and then go welcome Major Larra . . .”

Estes’s words were cut off in midsentence by
a frantic call over the radio.

“Southwest tower to base command, we have
movement, repeat, inbound people. Oh snap . . . there’s a lot of them!”

Estes, Keene, and Henry sprinted out the
door as Estes keyed his radio.
“Perkins, give me that thermal now!”

“If I flip it back on before it’s totally
cooled off, you’ll only have about a minute until it shuts down again.”

“Do it now—we need to know if they’re
infected or not.”

The approaching
thump thump thump
of
the helicopter registered in their ears as the trio ran down the hallway toward
the exit.

“Do we have permission to fire? Base
command, this is southwest tower, we have multiple targets, do we have
permission to fire?”

“Hold one, southwest tower.”

Estes burst through the door that led into
the fenced parking lot they were using as a combination vehicle and supply
storage area, and helipad. Rotating left, he dashed toward the Hummer that
contained PFC Perkins, and hopefully, a working thermal sight. Five seconds
later he entered the vehicle in question, just in time to hear the high
pitched, whining hum of the thermal view screen coming on. Estes had used
thermal equipment enough to realize that the bright white figures glowing in
the phosphorescent video image were abnormally hot. Infected! Estes could see a
long, bulbous line stretching from the highway all the way into town. And the
line was moving in surges his way.

The rotor wash of the helicopter overhead
made Estes look up as he keyed the radio. “
Scorpion Flight Two, this is
Delta Green Halo. Negative on landing, repeat, negative on landing. Hostiles
inbound. Base command to all fire teams, I want a fighting retreat to northwest
wing. Conserve your ammo and prepare to evacuate.”

The electronic crackle of the thermal sight clicking
off coincided with the chatter of gunfire erupting from the roof of the school.
Estes slid out of the Hummer’s front seat, immediately followed by Perkins. A
brilliant searchlight emanating from the hovering helicopter lit up the
roadway, revealing an undulating chain of gray skinned walkers almost upon
them. Flitting on the fringes of the line, fast moving shapes disappeared into
the shadows.

Estes keyed his radio again
. “All support
teams, gather up the civilians and get to the transports immediately, repeat,
all support teams, gather up all personnel, civilians and military, and report
to the trucks immediately.”

From above, luminous tracers accompanied the
roar of the twin miniguns as the Black Hawk tore into the line of infected.
Estes, Keene, Perkins and Henry shifted to the left and crouched near the open
door of the parked M113 as a wave of ashen figures poured against the chain
link fence surrounding the supply area. Raising the radio to his lips, Estes
was about reissue the order to evacuate when his eyes caught the glimmer of
headlights cresting the low hill behind the school. Confusion quickly turned to
alarm as the heavy, rapid-fire
THRACK THRACK THRACK THRACK
of the 25
millimeter cannons from the missing Bradleys poured their fire into the
hovering Black Hawk. At that range they couldn’t miss, and the helicopter
blazed like a meteor for a brief second before dropping like a rock toward the
school.

Look for
Darkness Ascending
, book two
of the Fade to Grey trilogy, available soon!

10/22     A .22 caliber,
semiautomatic rifle made by Ruger. Shipped from the factory with a 10 round
magazine, the gun is available in multiple finishes. Aftermarket items are
extremely prevalent for this well liked rimfire weapon. Folding stocks,
extended capacity magazines, custom triggers, barrels and much more are
manufactured specifically for this firearm. Extremely durable and field tested
for many years, it is probably the most popular semiautomatic .22 in the world.

11-87     Semiautomatic shotgun
manufactured by Remington. Available in a wide range of configurations and
gauges, it is exceedingly popular with American sportsman.

AED        Automatic External Defibrillator.
Small, portable heart defibrillator designed to analyze irregular heart rhythms
in cardiac patients, providing an electric shock to correct them in many cases.

ACOG    Advanced
Combat Optical Gun Sight. Internally illuminated telescopic sight often used on
top of military rifles. Manufactured in the United States by
Trijicon.

AK-47    Soviet bloc main battle
rifle. 7.62 mm. The AK-47 was the primary rifle issued to communist forces throughout
its history. Military versions are generally selective fire weapons, capable of
fully automatic functioning if required. Civilian versions are usually
semiautomatic capable only. The AK-47 is legendary for its durability.

AO          Area of Operations.

APC        Armored Personnel Carrier.
Military vehicles designed primarily to safely transport infantry in combat
conditions. Manufactured in a bewildering variety of configurations. The
American M113 and its variants are currently in service worldwide. Most
versions are equipped with a light machine gun for defense.

AR 15     Civilian version of the
M4. Mistakenly called “assault rifles”, they are limited to semiautomatic
firing only. Highly popular for competition shooting. Manufactured by many
different companies. A wide variety of aftermarket components and upgrades are
available for the AR 15.

BOB       A small, backpack type
survival kit usually containing enough food, water and basic supplies that
would enable someone to survive for a short period in emergency situations. BOB
stands for “bug out bag.” Several other acronyms are equally applied. GHB, “get
home bag,” and GOOD, “get out of dodge,” are two of the more common.

BRADLEY              American made
infantry fighting vehicle. Lightly armored and modular in design, it is capable
of being equipped in both anti-personnel and anti-armor rolls.  Most versions
carry a crew of three, and up to six fully outfitted soldiers. The M2A3 Bradley
is the most recent variant

CDC        Center for Disease
Control and Prevention. United States federal agency located in Atlanta,
Georgia that is dedicated to protecting public health and safety. The CDC is
heavily involved in research on pathogens that can possibly affect the public
health sector.

Colt Mustang     A scaled down
version of the classic 1911 45 caliber GI semiautomatic handgun. Available in 380
caliber, its small size makes it a favorite for concealed carry.

CZ           Initials given to a
line of weapons produced by Česká Zbrojovka, a manufacturer located in the
Czech Republic. Renowned for their accuracy and durability, CZ firearms are
extremely popular in many parts of the world. Eric’s duty weapon is a CZ-75
SP01 tactical model chambered for 9mm.

DHS        Department of Homeland
Security. Federal Agency created in response to the 9-11 terrorist attacks. Broad
reaching powers and limited governmental oversight have enabled the DHS to
virtually take over many agencies and systems whenever they desire.

DOD       Department of Defense. Headquartered
at the Pentagon, the Department of Defense is responsible for coordinating all
agencies of the United States government dealing with national defense.

DMZ      Demilitarized Zone. A
narrow strip of land separating North and South Korea. Approximately 160 miles
long and 2 miles wide, its name is a misnomer as it has one of the highest
concentrations of military buildup in the world.

Gator    Utility vehicle
manufactured by John Deere. Constructed in both gas and diesel models, two and
four wheel drive, and available with either four or six wheels. Most models
have a cargo bed for hauling loads.

GMRS   General Mobile Radio Service.
U. H.F., (ultra high frequency) FM (frequency modulation) radio service
primarily used for short range two way communications. Line of sight usually
limits transmission ranges to under three miles in flat terrain, usually much
less in hilly or mountainous areas. Elevated antennas and repeaters can
increase ranges to over thirty miles in certain situations.

Glock     Polymer framed
semiautomatic pistols designed in Austria. In use worldwide as the primary
sidearm for many police officers and military personnel. Famous for their
reliability, they are available in many common handgun calibers.

HS           Homeland Security. Abbreviated
acronym for DHS.

M 240    7.62 caliber belt-fed gas
operated machine gun. Heavily used by infantry forces, it is also highly
adaptable for mounting on different platforms. Currently manufactured for U.S.
forces by FN Manufacturing.

M35A3  A
medium duty military
truck in the 2½ ton weight class, often referred to
by its derived nickname as the "deuce and a half." Capable of serving
in many different roles, the M35A3 is the newest incarnation of the classic
troop truck.

M4         A gas operated, select
fire weapon currently issued to United States and other countries’ military forces
as a main battle rifle. 5.56 caliber, it is a direct, and refined descendant of
the Vietnam era M16.

Mossberg 590    A 12 gauge pump
action shotgun capable of holding up to nine rounds. Frequently used by law
enforcement or special forces teams for close quarters combat. Available in a
wide variety of configurations and finishes.

NATO    North Atlantic Treaty
Organization. International alliance of 28 member states based in Brussels,
Belgium. Members agree to a collaboration of military defense if outside forces
attack. Recent worldwide political upheaval has resulted in accusations that
NATO forces are being transitioned to a role of global police.

NBC       Nuclear, Biological, Chemical.

Quark AA             High quality
LED flashlight power by two AA batteries. Waterproof and shockproof, this small
light is machined out of aircraft grade aluminum. Fully adjustable in
intensity, it can produce up to 210 lumens of light at its max setting.

Remington 870       A pump action
shotgun available in many different gauges and styles. Popular for hunting,
trap shooting and other sporting uses, they are also offered in designs geared
for home defense or law enforcement purposes.

RTB        Return To Base.

Ruger Mark III   22 caliber, 10
shot semiautomatic pistol produced by Ruger. Renowned for accuracy and
durability, these pistols are often used in competition.

SIG         Acronym
for Schweizerische Industriegesellschaft or Swiss Industrial Company.
SIG Sauer is a manufacturer of firearms with German and Swiss origins. The
United States division is located in New Hampshire, and produces many varieties
of rifles and pistols, primarily used by military special forces and law
enforcement agencies. Records indicate approximately one third of United States
local, regional, state and federal police departments are equiped with SIG
manufactured sidearms. 

Smith and Wesson M&P               A
line of weapons manufactured by Smith and Wesson originally designed for use by
“Military” units and “Police” departments in the United States. Available in
both rifle and pistol configurations and a wide variety of calibers.

Springfield Armory          A large
firearm manufacturer located in Illinois. They produce many different types of
weapons, including custom built models.

TOPO    Topographical maps, usually
provided by the USGS (United States Geological Survey) that show terrain and
elevation changes. Previously available in paper copy only, they’re now
commonly found downloadable in electronic formats.

UPS        Uninterruptible Power
Supply. Battery backup power often used on computers and other sensitive
electronic equipment to allow safe shutdown in the event of a power failure. Larger
capacity UPS’s can provide for extended run times when no AC Power is present.

USAMRIID           United States
Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases. Military facility
located at Fort Dietrich in Frederick, Maryland. Dedicated to research for
defense against biological warfare threats, it has often been speculated that
they are involved in the creation of biological weapons as well.

USFW    United States Fish and
Wildlife.

WCO      Wildlife Conservation Officer.
Locally known as game wardens, wildlife officers, wildlife troopers or
conservation officers.

Winchester model 70     Bolt action
rifle manufactured in New Haven, Connecticut, primarily by the Winchester
Repeating Arms Company. Exceedingly popular with sportsman, the model 70 has
been chambered in over two dozen different calibers. Models produced before
1964 have a higher collector value due to perceived manufacturing quality.