U.G.L.Y (34 page)

    
Major
Levitt
was
sitting
at
a
table
drinking
a
cup
of
coffee
and
reading.
Prior
to
joining
the
marines
he
was
a
science
major
at
Caltech,
and he
spent
a
lot
of
time
reading
about
tech
and
science.
I
had
something
in
common
with
the
Major
and
often
we
would
talk
about
science,
space,
and
on occasion, we
would
talk
about
philosophy and
the
end
of
the
world.
We
all
knew
we
were
going
to
die
and
collectively
we
had
decided
we
would
live
as
long
as
we
could
and
ride
the
apocalypse
into
the
ground.

“
Major!
”
Cooper
ran
quickly
into
the
tent.
“
Patrol
is
reporting
the
trail
head
gate
breached
by
those
sick
fuckers
…
Uh
sir
”

“
How
far?
”

“
About
a
half
a
klick
,
they
are
keeping
eyes
on
it
”
Cooper
said.

    
Levitt
knew
it
was
just
a
matter
of
time
before
they
would
breach
the
fence.
Somehow
these
things
would keep catching up to them. T
hey
would
stop
long
enough
to
feed
on
anything
they
could
find.
livestock
and
wild
life
were
abundant
in
this
part
of
Colorado
which
had been helpful up
to
this
point.
T
he
infected
were
eating
better
than
they
were now
and there was the growing issue that
they
were
getting
weak
and
the
infected
were
getting
stronger
and
faster.

    
Levitt
checked
his
watch
“
Shit
24
hours
till
the
strike
”
he
said
“
They'll
be
here
long
before
that
”
.

He
looked
at
Cooper
“
Lets
take
a
ride
and
see
what
we
can
see
”
.

Levitt
was
calm as always,
at
least
on
the
outside.
They
walked
quickly
to
a
waiting
Humvee
and
headed
south
towards
a
hill 
over
looking
Tuscan
valley
and
the
trail
head.
Cooper
was
behind
the
wheel,
driving
fast
through
low
shrubs
and
rough
retain.
T
hey
came
up
on
an
empty
vehicle
and
parked
next
to
it.
The
patrol
was
about
100
yards
from
the
vehicles, perched on the edge of the plateau.
Levitt
could
see
the
four
men
at
the
edge
of
the
trail
next
to
a
small
telescope
mounted
on
a
tripod.

“
Major,
we
have
eyes
on
the
leading edge.
T
hey are
moving
fast
and
easily
in
a
mile
or
so
now.
”
Staff
Sargent
Hicks
looked
stressed,
he
was
sweating
and
his
voice
wavered
as
he
spoke.

“
Relax
staff
Sargent
”
Levitt
said
calmly
“
they
aren't
here
yet,
let
me
take
a
look
”

    
Levitt
looked
through
the
eyepiece
and
could
clearly
see
the
broken
gate
and
what
appeared
to
be
a
solid
line
of
infected
moving
at
full
sprint
toward
them.

“N
ine
miles
to
go,
they
have
made
it
a
mile
in
a
half
hour.
To
be
safe,
we
have
about
3
hours
to
break
camp
and
move
into
the
woods.
”

“
The
woods
sir?
We're
gonna
run?
”
Cooper
looked
at
him
in
disappointment.

“
Yes
ma’am
,
we
are
gonna
run
like
hell,
we
can't
beat
these
things
on
our
own.
We
have
to
live
long
enough
to
lead
them
into
the
strike
zone
and
take
out
as
many
as
we
can.
That
is
our
mission,
so
we
pull
up
stakes
and
hide
out
with
everything
we
need
to
make
that
happen.
We
have
to
live
for
24 more hours
and
these
bastards
aren't
going
to
give
us
that
much
time.
Understood
?
”

Levitt
was
stern with Cooper.
H
e
understood
how
they
felt,
he
wanted
to
head
down
that
trail
and
take
them
on
himself,
but
he
knew
they
wouldn't
last
long
enough
to
even
make
a
dent.
T
he
chance
of
becoming
infected
in
a
frontal
assault
was
too
high.
There
was
no
way
he
wanted
to
go
out
that
way
and
neither
did
anyone
else
there.

If
they
made
the
strike zone
they
either
had
a
chance
at
escape
or
a
quick
death,
with
no
infection.
It
didn't
matter
either
way
to
Levitt,
he
was
ready
to
end
this.
 

“
Get
your
asses
back
to
camp.
Dubler,
setup
a
remote
surveillance camera
through
the
telescope
so
we
can
keep
eyes
on
their
advance.
”

“A
ye!
”
Dubler
was
the
resident
tech
guy,
computer
savvy
and
always
playing
with
techno
toys.
His
skills
had
been
useful
to
the
unit
since
they
headed out of
Tacoma
.
He
always
managed
to
find
equipment
along
the
way.