Free Carlie Simmons (Book 5): One Final Mission by JT Sawyer

eyes
widened at the sheer numbers of putrescent cannibals below. They resembled
millions of pollywogs, each one wriggling alongside the others while searching
for something to tear apart. My God, this country was hit hard. So many
people living in already cramped cities—the fatality rate must have been out of
control. No wonder this place has been silent. It’s a fucking tomb.
    As they drifted south past the central hub
of downtown, the cityscape became obscured by dense fog that was roiling in
from the bay to their right. Shane returned his attention to the white glow out
the right window and coming from the distant city of Kyoto. “Looks like a
nuclear reactor on the outskirts of the city that Duncan mentioned — Japan’s
got a lot of those as I recall,” said Shane.
    “That’s the airfield up ahead,” the pilot
said, raising an outstretched finger to a distant peninsula of land near the
water. “Now, if they can only turn on the runway lights for us, this’ll be a
smooth landing,” he nervously chuckled.
    “Set us down as close to the hangar as
possible. Duncan informed me earlier that the runway had shown few creatures around
it as of a few days ago,” said Shane, straining his eyes out to the horizon
then glancing down at his watch. “The sun will be up within the hour and we
need to be in the boats by then.” Shane knew that success depended on the golden
rules of combat: speed, simplicity, and boldness. Soon they would be on the
ground where every second would count and any victory would revolve around his
well-honed team executing his orders.
    Shane returned to the main cabin and sat
down across from Carlie while buckling into his seat.
    “I’ve got Commander Ellis on the radio.
He’s still firm on his ETA here,” said Carlie, handing the comms device to
Shane and then sinking back into her seat and closing her eyes.
    “Roger that.” He put the receiver up to
his mouth. “Commander, this is Shane Colter again. What can you tell me about this
nuclear reactor?”

 
    Chapter 15
    Osaka, Japan
    Friday, August 25, Twelve Months
after the Pandemic Began
    Shiro was sitting cross-legged on a gym
mat on the second floor of their improvised home in the Shinsekai Aquatics
Center. He was finishing a bowl of Soba noodles, sun-dried fish, and canned
green beans. Spread around the spacious floor, interspersed between weight
machines that had privacy curtains suspended between them, were the other eight
members of his band of survivors. He could hear the faint footsteps of their
ninth member, Yoshi, pacing outside on the roof during his two-hour lookout
shift.
    The sun would be rising soon and they
would be consigned indoors once more. The two-story windowless structure that
had been their home for the past seven months was located at the end of a small
peninsula that jutted out across from downtown Osaka. With only one road coming
in from the mainland, it made an ideal fortress. After they had arrived on the
boat many months ago, they had sealed off the bridge with a barricade of school
buses then went about fortifying the exterior of the building, welding the
other entrances shut and setting up auditory alarms in the form of hanging cans
and pots until the entire parking area resembled a giant’s chime collection.
The lower level where the pools and hot springs were located were made into the
kitchen and storage area while the upstairs gym was used for sleeping. Waste
from the makeshift bucket-toilets downstairs was flung into the ocean along
with trash and empty food cans. The warmth from the hot springs provided enough
heat to cope with the chilly nights and a small array of solar panels on the
roof afforded them enough electricity for indoor lighting and radio use.
    Shiro recognized early on that he needed
to maintain a rigid schedule to keep people disciplined and to help stave off
depression which seemed as ever-present a threat as the rotting menace roaming
the streets of the city. Daily fighting