Moosehill Militia (Book 1): INFECTED (37 page)

The rear of the train was moving through a quiet section behind industrial buildings and greenery on the other side, not many Infected around here he thought. How bad is it going to be when they hit downtown by the highway he thought?

“Colonel check it out”, Jake said to him, pointing to the bridge. Mike turned and looked. Dozens of Infected were throwing themselves off the overpass onto the train cars and mostly hitting the ground. The few that landed on the rail cars had a hard time with broken bones, but amazingly they kept crawling forward toward their next meal. The Troopers were in more danger from getting hit from falling bodies then being bitten at this point. The few unfortunates that did make it on the train were systematically being killed with axes or simply being kicked off the train.

“Colonel, the acting engineer said we have cleared the switch and were slowing down, he suggests someone get off and standby to switch the tracks, the manual switch is right over there. He pointed to some equipment and levers they had just passed going backward.” Sparks the radioman told Mike.

“Shit, Okay, Everybody off this car on the ground just like jump school, bend the knee and roll to the side. Move it he yelled at the dozen Troopers and his staff. Mike and the Troops following him did a poor imitation of the airborne jumping. No one died, they did sustain one badly sprained ankle.

Mike, Jake, Sparks and his two security Troopers and the dozen other Troopers that followed him jogged back the way they came to the manual rail switch.

Mike looked to the Sergeant leading the dozen Troopers. “Sergeant Fiske? Right.” Mike inquired.

“Yes sir, good memory.” Fiske said.

“Sergeant this is going to suck. We don’t want to attract too much attention until the train is on its way back. So that means no rifles, It’s Axe time, you all have your Spax?” Mike asked.

“Yes sir, sharp as a razor.” Fiske stated.

“Okay then, unless where being swamped, make like a Viking and hack them down.” Mike ordered him and his men. He turned back to the switching mechanism trying to figure it out with Jake and Sparks.

“There’s a few coming our way Colonel.” Fiske told him.

Mike didn’t turn around, “you know what to do Sergeant.” He heard a meaty slap in the direction that the Sergeant addressed him from then a few more and some cursing.

Mike and Jake finally figured the switch out and moved it. “Check the tracks over there Jake make sure it moved toward the main line.” He told him. Mike decided to double check himself too. They couldn’t afford a mistake now.

“Looks good Colonel I suggest we jam that switch the best we can.” Jake advised.

“Sounds good, you take care of it. I’m going to help the Sergeant and his men. You two watch over him.” Mike ordered his two security Troopers and turned to assist Sergeant Fiske and his men. He ran over to where Fiske’s dozen Troopers were holding off twice or three time there numbers of Infected with the Spax Survival Axe. Mike took his out and pulled out his favorite double edged stiletto knife from his vest, and wadded in taking an arm off, that was reaching for him, sticking his knife into an eye socket, kicking the body into the ones behind it. Fiske was to his right and methodically hacking an Infected apart. A young Trooper was on his left and he was on the defensive. Mike side stepped and sunk the spike on the Spax into the side of the Infected Skull, yanked it out blade first, right into the face of the next one climbing over the two he already killed. Mike took half a step back and observed the scene, none of the Troopers were down. These men had fought Infected before and were veterans of combat now. Mike looked and the front train looked to be stopped a half mile away. “Come on get moving forward.” He voiced quietly.

Someone must have been listening, the trains started moving forward and within a few minutes the first train was moving by them at a fast walk or slow jog. He ordered his men to put the rest down with rifle fire and move to the trains. They ran alongside and threw their weapons and packs up to Troopers on the cars and were pulled up quickly enough. What a relief Mike felt at that point.

Dave Maddox and Bravo Company were still moving backwards on the train passing under Armory Street where they were subjected to a few more Infected falling on the train. They kept going backward, now they were going over streets two in a row and they were into a train station where it split into five tracks, luckily their train stayed on the main line still going backward, but now slowing. There weren’t that many Infected around this area, not a lot of residential he guessed. They were slowing and moving at about ten miles an hour, Dave thought.

The Train passed over Maine Street which ran north to south just like the Connecticut River they were approaching. Soon Dave and MHM Bravo Company were out over the river on the last train crossing the rusty old bridge and onto the other side where the rail tracks bent around to the north and into a large rail yard. Dave figured they were stopping soon the speed of the train was about a slow jog for him now.

“Captain.” One of his men called over to him and pointed to the north.

“Shit” he mouthed, it was too good to last. There was a large neighborhood to the north of the tracks and he could literally see thousands of Infected roaming around over there. The edges of that crowd were already turning to the train.

“Everybody check you ammo, hold our fire until I say so. Pass that up the cars both ways.” He called over to the men.

Soon the train slowed to a walking pace then a stop. The swarm of Infected from that neighborhood were within rock throwing distance and Dave ordered. “Fire, head shots only single shots.” He yelled a few times. Then took his own advice and started firing into the mass of the afflicted trying to pick out heads, a hundred or so Troopers were firing at what he estimated as four thousand or so.

The train started moving slowly forward, the Infected were only a dozen feet away from the side of the train, and these cars were only waist height making it easier to load and unload them. Not good Dave thought. Dave Maddox had positioned the SAW weapons in his company one per cart.

“Hit them with the SAW.” he yelled unnecessarily as they already had their orders to hold fire until they were close. It was like a dozen jackhammers going off only faster. The swarm was knocked back and down to the ground in most cases, but they started to rise with gaping wounds that would have incapacitated any normal person. His men were firing furiously.

Dave heard a scream and turned, the car behind his had Infected on it. He turned to a Sergeant. “You’re in charge here.” He ran the length of the car and leapt to the next over the head of a few Infected that made it that far and were trying to get between the cars to climb up. What they were going to get is dead. When the trains starts moving forward faster they’re road kill, he thought. Dave felt a lurch as he continued to the middle of the flat bed car where several Infected made it onto the car. Looking out he saw a sea of faces looking back at him with hunger in their eyes. The other thing that struck him was the stink. Two or three weeks of body odor and voiding in their clothes makes for the foulest stench he could imagine. He always hated going to a death scene when the victim had time to start decomposing after a week or so. You never forgot that smell.

Several Troopers were battling the Infected on the car and not shooting into the hoard which was giving them more time and opportunity to join their foul friends on the flatbed car. Dave waded into the Infected in front of him with his Spax in one hand and his Glock 21 in the other. A 45 round to the head is a deal breaker. He fired into the first Infected head he had a clear shot at mindful of his back stop not wanting a friendly fire incident on the other side. Dave used the Spax to ward off two more Infected inflicting minor wounds on them, swinging his gun around and taking them one after the other in the head. With a little breathing room the rest of the Troopers cleared the car, shooting, hacking and pushing the Infected back over into their brethren. One of the Troopers with tears in his eyes told his Captain that they lost three men pulled into the swarm right in front of them and torn apart and eaten.

“I’m sorry you had to see that. You men have fought like hero's today never forget that.” He told the dazed men standing before him. He realized that no more Infected were getting on the car. They were moving forward he noticed, faster than a walking pace. The train couldn’t go fast enough as far as Dave Maddox was concerned. Just then two Huey’s came down the North side of the train with the door gunners opening up. That defiantly put a dent in their advance on the train Dave thought.

On the middle train ahead of Dave and Bravo Company, near the end of that train, stood Major Antonio DiCaprio and Captain Dong Yee of US Marine Bravo company, they had their own smaller group of Infected to battle, if was no contest. The small group a few hundred at best on the edge of the larger swarm, swamping the last train. He heard two Huey’s fly overhead and open up with their door guns dropping hundreds in seconds. They passed down the north side and came around for another pass, and opened up again. Hundreds more fell giving MHM Bravo Company a slight breather.

“Captain.” Major DiCaprio called over to him. “Please direct half your men to fire on the larger swarm, try and help thin out the heard. Those men could go under without some help. Damnedest thing. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Half of Yee’s men starting firing at the flank of the Infected attacking Dave Maddox’s Company. He could see hundreds falling in a minute. The train lurched forward and started moving. Soon it was going at an easy jog clip, the Infected could no longer keep up. They started falling behind, no few fell under the wheels of the cart and the men up top never felt a thing. These cars were so heavy even without the armored vehicles on top of them. Soon the last train carrying Bravo Company was passing over the river again on the old train bridge.

Dave’s radioman came up to him. “The Colonel is on the line for you.” He said.

“Bravo Actual, go ahead.” He sent over the radio.

“Bravo Actual this is Actual, how many casualties did you suffer?” Mike asked Dave dreading the answerer.

“Three, Actual.” Dave answered.

They passed the switch for the track split and kept on going on the main rail line. “Bravo actual, we have a situation. One of our helicopters scouting ahead has found civilians near the track with suit cases. They must have heard the commotion. I’m sending the rest of the choppers to locate survivors near the tracks and direct them to the tracks. That means were going slow. Your men might have to jump off to help people on. We can slow down but there is no stopping at this point. All the trains will be doing the same. Sorry about that last. I didn’t realize you'd be that deep in it. We can talk about it later.” He apologized. It took the trains fourteen hours going slow through towns like Abraham, Butlerville, Palmer, West Brimfield, West Warren, Warren, West Brookfield, Brookfield, East Brookfield and finally stopping in Spencer. There seemed to be a higher survival rate in these rural communities.

Mike could hardly believe they picked up close to two thousand people he estimated, from ten or so towns. He radioed ahead and had all the buses waiting to take the people to Moosehill. The tents were set up, and they could only take about five hundred inside, but its nice warm nights out. They'll be fine tonight until they could be settled. Also Sean sent Foxtrot and Golf Companies out here to guard the trains. His Troops on this raid were spent.

On the trip back Mike received a rough estimate of the equipment on the trains. Mike was ecstatic other than losing three Troopers to the Infected from Bravo Company the mission was a complete success, they brought back several thousand firearms and at least a few million rounds of ammunition for all calibers. The big payoff were three hundred M113’s, 300 General Dynamics land system MRAP Cougars, basically the vehicle replacing the Humvee. Three hundred M2 or M3 Bradley fighting vehicles. There’s enough armored vehicles there to field a mechanized Division or two. He couldn’t believe that was laying around. One of the engineers found there train route, it looked like these trains were going to Canada. Mike did remember reading about the Canadians buying military equipment from the U.S. recently, this must be part of that deal.

Mike and the three company's and the civilians who went on the mission went straight to Moosehill where the civilians were taken care of. Mike and the others that went on the mission went to bed until later the next day.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Day +14

Day +14 Conference

Mike took off early in the morning three days after the Smith & Wesson factory mission with the train episode. His men spent the last two days ferrying military vehicles and supplies from the train depot yard off of Route 49 near the Spencer East Brookfield town lines. The nine hundred or so vehicles were driven back to Moosehill base through the back road on Meadow Road past the old fair grounds, then crossing Route 31 by the cemetery and onto Wire Village Road, which follows a river up the valley approaching the Moose hill area. A hundred yards on Gold Nugget Road then onto Paxton Road and up the hill past Sugden Reservoir for a mile or so and into the Moosehill Airport gate. A total of about four miles.

This whole area, Leicester, Spencer, Paxton on the west side of Worcester is all river valleys and around four or five hundred feet above Worcester in altitude, which makes it great defensible territory. Moving nine hundred vehicles over four miles of road with several thousand tons of supplies is no small feat, Mike thought. But the MHM got it done in two days and there taking a well-earned rest. Parking all those vehicles is a whole other matter. The Airport Road is lined with M113A2’s, Bradley M2 Fighting vehicles, and Cougar MRAP’s. They had more vehicles then men to go in them. He was working on that.