Free Evacuation by Phillip Tomasso Page B

promise.
    “I’ll stay,” Spencer said.
    “You can do it, soldier?”
    “Kill that captain? Yes, sir.” Spencer stood at attention.
    Vitale nodded. “This is your command. You protect those people on board. We’ll keep in touch as best we can. We’re going to operate under radio silence as best we can. Everyone understand?”
    “Yes, sir,” we said.
    “Fine, you can at-ease. Just keep your eyes open, got me? Watch the boat, the water and the land. This fog is going to be tough as shit seeing much of anything,” Vitale said.
    “I understand, sir.”
    I felt all Secret Service -like ; radio buds in my ears, a button to depress for speaking into the cuff. Kinda cool.
    “Emergency transmissions only,” the sergeant reiterated. “And you, Corporal, you understand everything I’ve said?”
    “Clearly, sir.”
    “Okay. We’re going to split up into two search parties. Lieutenant Marfione, you’re going to take McKinney and Rivera. Chatterton, you’re going to come with Private First Class Spade and me.”
    Vitale used our last names, symbolized to me that we’re together, a team.
    “Headshots people,” Vitale said. “Be smart about your resources. If you can stab ‘em without getting bitten, do it. Saves ammo and is quieter. These bastards are drawn to noise. And McKinney, Rivera, you do whatever Marf tells you to do without question. Do you understand?”
    “Yes, sir,” we said.
    “We don’t have much to go on. We’re assuming Barron is injured at best. The three of them might be hobbling around inside the compound. Look at who you are shooting before you shoot them. Not gonna have minutes, or even seconds to contemplate what to do. Split decisions, okay? Might be Palmeri, but now she’s got lifeless fucking eyes, and she is drooling black blood all over her uniform. Might think she was a cool soldier, but now she’s a zombie. What do we do then, Spade?” Vitale said.
    “Headshot.”
    Vitale clapped his hands together. “Bingo. Headshot. However, if she is just covered in blood and guts from fighting zombies, then we want to try our best not to blow her fucking brains out. Clear?”
    “Yes, sir,” I said. It sounded comical, like a joke. This was Robin Williams improving a speech to troops. Might have come across better had he started with a big, Gooooood morning, Apocalypse! At the very least, a Na-nu na-nu .
    Sorry. Wasn’t liking it. Vitale and Keel, our leaders, were losing it. Out of control. I didn’t know if it was nervous breakdowns, if they’d been exposed to other chemical agents, or what. Their…behavior was obscure and uncomforting.
    Dave stared at me. He agreed. Was in his eyes. We’d have to have each other’s backs. Chatterton looked our way. No doubt. The three of us saw a problem. If I wasn’t reading the signs wrong, Marf also felt the same. Trust was thin in these . . . platoons. Getting thinner by the second.
    Spade? Spencer? They acted gung-ho for Vitale. Didn’t mean they agreed with or were against anything unfolding, just I hadn’t seen anything to indicate one side was preferred over the other. Except Spencer was ready to shoot a Coast Guard Captain, and Spade was ready to explode the brains of a fellow soldier on a split-second guess.
    Other than that…
     
     
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    I did not like leaving my kids on the boat. It was the very last thing I wanted to do, but there didn’t seem to be much choice. People were in trouble. They’d saved us. My kids were safer with the vessel. I had every intention of returning.
    Clouds back lit by moonlight looked iridescent in the sky. When they passed over the moon, we were plunged into darkness, but they passed quickly. The fog seemed to be settling some, too. It stayed low around our calves and as we walked, it swirled away and returned.
    Staying low, we walked several hundred yards away from the ship. I saw chain link fence and a tall wooden structure at the corner.
    “Watch tower,” Marf said. “The