Free Dead Island: Operation Zulu by Allen Gamboa Page A

they would be easy to take out, but the captain had heard something else. What the hell was it?
    Then Wu saw it; two figures clad in gray fatigues approached the undead from behind. One looked like a huge power lifter with a buzz cut. The other was thin and short, his uniform draped over his waifish frame. The Russians. The bigger mercenary raised a rifle up and brought the stock down on top of one of the deader’s heads, obliterating its skull. The re-animated corpse collapsed like a rag doll. The smaller bad guy stuck a bayonet through the back of the teenage deader’s head. It made a gurgling sound then flopped to the jungle floor. The third walking dead was smashed in the jaw with Buzz Cut's rifle butt and knocked to the ground. Buzz Cut then stomped its head into jelly. Brutal.
    Both Brooks and Wu looked at each other. The captain signaled for the NCO to hold still. The sergeant slowly nodded and scoped the two Russians. The big one wiped a bloody boot on the corpse’s back while the smaller one searched the bodies for anything valuable. Robbing the dead always pissed Brooks off. Even though they were deaders, they deserved a modicum of respect. Wu believed it was bad luck.
    "Wound them." Brooks gritted her teeth. "I want to question them."
    Wu half nodded. The big one appeared to be right-handed. The sergeant aimed and fired. Before the Russian dropped, he sighted the scrawny one’s right shoulder and pulled. Both Russians dropped, screaming. Brooks motioned for them to go, and both soldiers were up and running towards the downed Russians.
    "Mother fuck!" Iosif screamed as he writhed in pain on the jungle floor. He tried to grab his damaged shoulder with his left hand. Blood gushed from his fresh wound. "Alona! Alona!" he yelled.
    "Shut up!" Alona said in Russian. She cradled the ruins of her right hand. She shook her head, wincing at the pain. The Russian was more pissed about being caught off-guard than that she was wounded. Alona tried to reach for her AK, but the pain was too much.
    "Don't fucking move!" Brooks shouted as she aimed her assault rifle at Iosif. Wu covered Alona.
    "Funny!" Iosif said, almost crying, snot running from his nose. "You don't have a fucking hole in you!"
    "Shut up!" Alona said in Russian. She angrily stared past Wu and right at Brooks. "Say nothing!" she growled at Iosif.
    Wu was surprised that the bigger mercenary was a female. She was huge, probably bigger than anyone on his team. She looked like a female Dolph Lundgren. The sergeant was glad they had the upper hand on this one. She looked like she could beat the shit out of both of them without breaking a sweat.
    "Cuff them!" Brooks said, not taking her eyes off Alona. Wu pulled a couple of flex cuffs from a pants pocket and slung his rifle. Cautiously, he approached the female Russian. The big mercenary eyed him like a caged animal. "You move, and I'll blow your ass back to the Black Sea," the captain said evenly.
    "Sit up!" Wu ordered. Alona cursed a stream of Russian obscenities and slowly sat up. The sergeant could only imagine what she was thinking. On guard, he pulled her thick arms behind her and drew the flex cuffs tight. Alona grunted in pain but said nothing else. Wu was glad Brooks had the mini-14 aimed at her face because the Russian’s arms were bigger than his legs. Wu cuffed the smaller Russian without a problem then unslung his rifle and stepped back to where the captain was.
    "Okay, now that we're all calmed down and shit, I have a few questions for you two." Brooks smiled. "Answer them, and we'll all get along. Don't," she nodded towards the remains of the deaders. "Got it?"
    Iosif looked over at Alona. The giant slowly shook her head. In Russian, she repeated that he say nothing. Brooks’ smiled faded, and she walked over to Alona. The mercenary looked up at the captain and spit on her pant leg.
    "I thought we could be friends." Brooks smashed the butt of the mini-14 down on the Russian’s head. Alona groaned