Free Pulse: Retaliation (Anisakis Nova Book 2) by Eloise J. Knapp

what the annies had done, what they were doing now. Their attacks against hospitals and MAC distribution centers hurt on all fronts. Beyond the obvious, like lack of medical facilities and the cure, it was rallying all the annies and sending the uninfected into chaos. They were civil before, everyone playing nice, but now they were animals at each other's throats.
    Just yesterday he saw a man beat a woman outside a food distribution center for one MRE. One fucking MRE and her face was pummeled into the ground for it.
    Stewart wasn't just fighting the annies. He was fighting his own countrymen and it made him sick. While guarding a food distribution building, half his company of four platoons was destroyed by a bunch of lunatic fucks who wanted everything for themselves. They weren't infected, just off their rockers. Wild. Desperate. The fight drew the attention of some annies, too, creating a battle between the three groups. The company rallied, but they lost almost everyone. It was reduced to just one platoon now, with just their two squads not even at full capacity. Corporal Gonzalez was their squad leader, with Staff Sergeant Pratt their platoon sergeant and Lt. Otto, their resident butter bar.
    Chaos. Pure fucking chaos. For the past three days they'd been clearing hospitals of infected, but for every one they killed it seemed like two popped up. Stewart heard an entire squad went AWOL after seeing a maternity ward with pregnant ladies torn apart in their beds.
    And they weren’t even poppers. God only knows what fate befell them.
    Now he was laying on an exam table, the kind with the crinkly sanitary paper, staring at a piece of painted plastic that looked like clouds over the lights, listening to Hallock snoring on the ground beside him. His stomach gurgled as it fought to digest chili mac MRE. He wondered if he'd go AWOL if things got bad and he was all alone.
    The thought vanished quickly. He'd never abandoned his post. Ever. He wasn't going to be that person. Someone had to keep things straight.
    "Hey, Stewart." Pvt. O’Keefe stood in the doorway of the exam room, geared up and ready to go. "Pratt said we're moving out. Ten minutes outside."
    "Wilco." Stewart was up in a second, grabbing his pack and rifle. He nudged Hallock with the tip of his boot. "Rise and shine, Barbie, we're moving out."
    Hallock was cursed with girlie features; blond hair and blue eyes. Everyone in his squad started calling him Barbie the day he showed up. He hated it at first, but you don't get a say in your nickname. Stewart never did anything to draw attention, and had stayed Stewart his entire time in the army.
    A few people that worked the clinic survived the annies’ attack, and showered them with thank yous again as they left. Other members of his platoon filtered out of their resting spots and converged outside. There were 20 of them in total under Lt. Otto. He was the kind of guy who loved power and kissing ass too much to do his job right. Stewart couldn’t count how many times he started a sentence with ‘based on my experience.’
    "Listen up!" he shouted. "We've got groups of annies abducting people and taking them to an unknown location. Last report was in South Seattle so that's where we're going. You see any of these groups on the way, light 'em up. Got it?"
    Sir, yes, Sirs all around. His squad piled into the M998 troop carrier, Barbie on the wheel and Gonzalez shotgun. Stewart climbed into the back with Norris and the others. The rest of the platoon had 1114 up-armored Humvees. Stewart would’ve preferred to ride in one of those, but they made do with what they had. Besides, he’d heard rumors that poppers liked getting into the 1114s. Wasn’t sure if it was true or not, but at least on the troop carrier it was more open.
    The roar of the engine muffled everything else around them as they made their way through town. The platoon passed fights and looting. Any place that might have food or valuable supplies sported