What Remains (Book 1): The Outbreak Read online

  What Remains

  The Outbreak

  Tyler Barrett

  © 2017 Tyler Barrett

  CONTENTS

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Epilogue

  I dedicate this book to my wife, son, and family. You have all encouraged me to follow my dream of writing a novel and gave me the push to do it.

  Prologue

  As the officer looked out from the small command tent; he noticed how dark the whole scene was. They had been stationed in Tokyo and had set up their checkpoint at an intersection right in the heart of the city. The government buildings loomed overhead, casting long shadows. The streets around them littered with cars, left by their owners after being processed by his team, before being transported out of the city. It looked deserted, but that was far from accurate.

  He set down the radio after speaking to his superior. He had just been given an order, and it was time to deliver that order to his men. He looked around at the ten men who remained. They had started with twenty, but many of them had been requisitioned to other posts. The chatter across the radio was grim news: there was nothing left to defend, and all form of government had perished. The officer stood and left his tent, preparing the speech in his mind he was about to give to those who had stayed with him. They usually respected the chain of command and stood when an officer approached, but this was not the time for such formalities. Realizing that, they remained seated, facing their commanding officer.

  “Men, I understand if you wish to leave and try to find your families. Those who wish to stay and defend this post, I commend you. I have served with you proudly, and hope that we may make some good from this situation.”

  A hasty speech, if you could even call it that, but time wouldn’t allow for any more words to be said. As the Officer turned to go back into the small command tent, the soldier he had on watch by the crudely built wall of cheap metal suddenly yelled, “Targets in sight! They are heading straight for us!”

  He and his men simultaneously grabbed their weapons. He looked hopelessly down the street, as he faced his final moments, he knew right then, they were his last. The Officer knew with certainty that they would perish here. As the enemies drew closer, he and his men opened fire. There were too many already, and they swarmed down the street. The bodies of the dead piled higher and higher, but still, they came like a flood. The death surrounding them seemed to make no difference.

  The officer threw a well-placed grenade. The loud boom and bright flash made the men taking cover behind the wall cringe, forcing them to look away. They all looked back in unison, only to see a screen of smoke—and no targets. A moment of hope flared within the defenders, and then the smoke started to clear.

  They were still coming, crawling over the piles of dead bodies and the pieces of street strewn everywhere. Together, the remaining soldiers began firing once more. The empty shell cases hitting the ground almost masked the animalistic noises made by the creatures closing in. He could feel the dread settling into his men, and knew they had only stayed because running meant leaving their comrades to die.

  A few targets had made it to the wall and were clamoring over it, attacking a couple of the men. The officer and those who weren’t fighting hand to hand kept firing until their rifles were dry and only the clicking of the empty chamber was heard. He pulled out his sidearm knowing that he just had twelve shots. He made them carefully, lining up his targets before squeezing the trigger. They were going to be his last shots, and he was making sure they counted.

  The make-shift wall was overwhelmed. Most of the pieces were being shoved down or out of the way by the attackers, allowing more to rush in. It was like a dam bursting, with an endless sea of bodies pouring in. The last thing the officer saw was one of his men lunging out at him, tackling him to the ground. He felt the pain, knew what was happening, but was helpless to stop it.

  As his blood spilled out of his mouth, he saw the morning sky above. One last peaceful memory. A moment of quiet before the storm. He would be reborn, just like his attacker who was now walking the street he had just defended. It was in this last moment that the radio in his tent burst to life and he faintly heard a man screaming as he faded into the abyss.

  “We need reinforcements; there are too many! Does anyone copy?”

  Chapter 1

  The Jump

  The interior of the chopper was semi-dark; the red jumper light was the only source of light for the eight men sitting inside. They would split up into two separate Fire teams, each containing four men. The small conversations going on within the belly of the chopper were muffled out by the slicing of blades through the air. Four men sat on each side of the aircraft, already split into their respective Fire team.

  “Five minutes to Fire team three’s drop site.” Four men stood up and hooked themselves onto the rope, waiting to rappel. Their somber faces betrayed no emotion; they were all experienced military men, ready to do their jobs without hesitation. The chopper slowed its acceleration as it neared its destination.

  “Opening the ramp, stand back!” The four men stared at the lowering ramp, waiting to drop the rope; the mechanical hum of the hydraulics stopping the ramp in place. Fire team three jumped, one after the other until they all were rappelling down the rope. Fire team four hauled the rope back up and closed the ramp, leaving the four men alone on the ground. Fire team four would be nearing their drop site within a few minutes, following suit after Fire team three.

  The leader, Knight, sat looking out of the small circular window, his steely gaze reflecting due to the flashing lights on the bottom of the other two choppers. Owing to his calm, infallible nature, he had the respect of his men. Unless they were in the field, they treated him like they would any other soldier, something that he had always appreciated. They were confident in his ability to lead, as he was confident in their skills.

  The pilot’s called over the headsets, “Two minutes to Fire team four’s drop site.” They stood and repeated Fire team three’s previous actions, hooking themselves onto the rope. The time seemed to snail by, feeling like it was happening over several hours, but truly only lasting a few short minutes. The ramp opened, and loud rotors filled the cabin once more. The ramp lowered itself into position once more. They walked toward the edge of the ramp and, one by one, they took the plunge into the abyss.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Carter was the third one to jump, and as he did, he felt t
he familiar rush and blast of frigid air. The whipping wind from the helicopter blades nearly overpowered his grip on the rope. Carter remembered his fast rope training and tried not to loosen his grip any more than he needed to. He looked out at the view before him, seeing the second chopper descending towards the roof of the future forward operating base. The two men who jumped before Carter were descending with almost perfect timing.

  This was his first mission with the others, and he hoped to prove to them that he was up to the challenge. Serving with these men was a privilege and something he had worked very hard to get a chance to do. These men were part of a legendary black ops group and the yearning to demonstrate his abilities and steadfastness in the field was the driving force behind his motivation. Carter would prove to the others that he was an invaluable part of the team. He landed and quickly moved to join his squad mates, Ramirez and Smith, nearby.

  Knight followed Carter down the rope. On his way down, he made a quick mental map on the way to the ground below, making sure he knew his surroundings well. He could see several cars left in the street obstructing the straight path he had hoped for. They would have to take those areas with caution or find an alternate route. He was now only a few feet above street level.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Three groups of eight men sat around a long conference table in a briefing room. The door opened, letting in a man dressed in a black suit with red and white striped tie, all tailored to perfection. It gave him the unmistakable, prominent look of leadership. He turned the lights down as he walked in, not waiting to make sure the screen was prepared for his presentation. He knew it was. He didn’t waste time with the standard political bullshit. Most of the men in the room looked exactly like how he felt; like they just wanted to get this done and over with.

  A map of the Pacific opened on the screen; with a short tap, the map zoomed in. Without any introduction, he launched into giving his report.

  “Japan,” the man said, “is in a complete blackout and has been for two weeks. Apparently, Japan’s government thought it would be best to put out a media blanket and cut everyone off from leaking any information whatsoever. However, cutting off their communication between themselves and the outside world it made it very hard to contact anyone for help. We did receive several reports before they went off the grid, mostly of rioting in small towns and that it was beginning to spread to the major cities,"

  He paused, glancing around at the men sitting, then continued, "Now, what isn't being publicly announced is that this is some sort of viral outbreak that has crippled an entire nation in a matter of weeks. We had contact with one of the safe bunkers that held the last remaining members of their government, but we lost contact with them shortly after we established a connection. The only thing we were able to learn before they went dark was, it doesn’t seem to be airborne. The projections that we have report that approximately ninety-nine percent of the population has been killed by this pandemic, so there is a chance you may find survivors, but it’s unlikely," the man in the suit paused for effect.

  “And this is where you come in,” the man in the suit said, calmly, as he paced the front of the room. “We are sending in three squads of men, which are to be split into two Fire teams each, to scout the area. Your mission is to find out what is going on and contact the remaining Japanese government, assuming there is any. We have reports that the Russians are scrambling a team as well. This mission is a rush priority, and we will get there before them. Our current plan is dropping everyone in by plane overnight.”

  The soldiers at the table sat upright, attentive to the briefing. The man in the suit held the sway of the room, commanding the attention of all within. He spoke loudly and clearly to leave no misunderstanding with the men seated around the table.

  “Each team has a different drop zone and overall objective,” he pointed at the map, highlighting different areas of operation. “Fire teams one and two will focus on securing the roof and the rest of the building, in this sector, with the goal of setting up and maintaining a forward operating base. Once each Fire team has accomplished their primary objective, they are to join Fire teams one and two at the new FOB and hold the position.”

  The man in the suit was just finishing the first squad’s objective and continued with the next teams briefing, pointing to another area of the map.

  “However, Fire team three will be dropped to the downtown police station to contact and locate any local authorities they can find. They will establish a chain of command under military supervision to gain control of the situation. Fire team four will be providing back up for Fire team three, securing the surrounding area of the police station.”

  After hearing his position, Sargent Knight, examined the map, beginning to plan where he and his team would set up. He mentally devised fallback points in case things got crazier than expected. At the front of the room, the man in the suit began talking about the other teams’ missions. Knight listened peripherally, to their objective; infiltrate a hospital and recover medical research. He focused on his planning, with his objective being his main priority.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Fire team two oversaw unloading all the equipment to make a functional forward operating base. They had everything they needed for the temporary base stored in a smaller shipping container specially designed to be unloaded with ease from a helicopter. All they had to do was move the container out and start unloading while Fire team one set up the perimeter. The four men of Fire team one stood at the back of the helicopter ready to rush out and secure the rooftop. Fire team two stood at the ready behind the container ready to unload it.

  When the helicopter landed, there was a slight lurch as the wheels impacted with the rooftop. The ramp lowered bringing into view a rather large rooftop, devoid of anything but a roof access door and a few small air conditioning units. The two men closest to the ramp were tensed in a battle stance, guns raised. Upon landing, they moved out of the helicopter and started to perform a sweep of the roof, quickly followed by two more men who did a sweep of the sides of the roof. When they heard the all clear, the four men inside began to push out the shipping container. Two of the men who had surveyed the roof returned to the helicopter to help guide the container out.

  The loud whirring noise from the chopper deafened the men to the threat on the other side of the roof access door.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  The previous worker of the tall office building had heard the commotion on the roof. Drawn by the sound, he slowly ascended the stairs reaching the roof access door. Only having a few sets of stairs to climb helped to shorten the time to get there, making it a quick trip to the top. He fumbled with the access door, not quite getting it to open; however, after a few minutes with no success, he was joined by several of his coworkers. Together they all fumbled with the door until a few minutes later the familiar click of an opening door was heard. Any other sounds were quickly drowned out by the helicopter that was just unloading its cargo.

  The pilot of the helicopter heard the gunfire from the men behind him. He turned just as one of the office workers ran towards the ramp. The cabin of the helicopter was clear now that the container and the men were out. He could see the co-pilot outside with the rest of the men but made his decision to leave now. The pilot started to raise the helicopter off the ground, trying his hardest to bring it up. Slowly, and with the ramp still open, he ascended and hoped he had made it clear of the fighting below.

  ✽ ✽ ✽

  Surveying the street below, something caught Knight’s attention out of the corner of his eye. He quickly looked in the direction of the movement. Scanning the spot, he saw nothing. He turned his head to look at the rest of the street, and again thought he saw movement coming from the right, but this time on the other side of the street. He scanned the area again, still seeing nothing out of the ordinary. His senses, however, were now on full alert.

  Knight saw the flash of gunfire on the roof, and the saw the raising of the chopper. The helicopte
r had taken off until it reached about twenty feet above the roof. It abruptly began to lurch around and quickly lost control, plummeting straight down towards the street. Something bad was happening, but Knight could only watch. He looked on helplessly as the helicopter impacted with the street below, exploding into several large pieces and showering the street with debris and flame. The fire scattered amongst the crash site was the only thing illuminating the area.

  Knight finally touched down on solid ground, rolling with his landing, and quickly tore off his gloves. He brought his gun up fast, treating it as an extension of his body. He scanned the area, sensed no immediate threats, and looked further up the street. He could only see the silhouette of one of his fellow team members. He raised his gun again and began to scan the sides of the road moving down towards his teammate.

  The rest of the team waited for him not far from where he landed, in the standard formation. Knight approached them and kneeled.

  “Did any of you see that?” he asked.

  “What, you mean the forward base in trouble? If you mean that, then yeah, I see it,” spoke Smith.

  “Shit. Alright, well let’s go check it out. It is our base after all.”

  “What about the objective? Shouldn’t we proceed and complete that first? We should call Captain Lewis really quick to see what he thinks," stated Carter.

  Smith looked at Knight with a raised eyebrow.

  "That's not your call Carter, I'm still the one in charge of this Fire team," Knight said sternly towards Carter.

  Knight sighed, "Smith, get Lewis on the radio and tell him we are going to check on the base before returning to provide overwatch."

  Smith established contact with Captain Lewis on the radio.

  "Lewis agreed. He wants to know more about the situation and says they are fine until we return."

  Knight looked at them all, "You heard it, let's move out."

  The four soldiers formed up together and started on their way to the building that was the site for the base. As they jogged down the street they could see the occasional body but paid no attention to them; their sole effort was on the forward operating base, their link to the outside world. They moved as quickly as they could, dodging cars and other objects that were left in the streets. The flashlight mounted on the under part of Knight’s rifle, and the sparse moonlight were the only remaining lights in the dead city.