Free Dead Life (Book 4) by D. Harrison Schleicher Page B

the doorway of the chopper. I punched him in the face with everything I had. His head rocked back and when it snapped back I gave him another. The gun fell from his hand. I grabbed a handful of his hair and threw him to the floor.
                  “That's enough Lieutenant. We're back in control,” I said into my microphone. “Are we clear of the zombies?”
                  “Yes sir we're clear.”
                  “Then put her down. We're going to let these people off.”
                  “You can't just leave us here,” the woman said. “We'll never make it.”
                  “Ma'am I'm sorry but we saved your butts back there and for thanks your husband tried to kill me. Your daughters have been bitten. Am I right about that?” She nodded her head. “Then you need to deal with that. I don't have to tell you what's going to happen.”
                  “Please don't leave us out there on our own,” she begged.
                  “If you want to stay on this chopper you know what needs to be done.” I felt bad for her. Hell I didn't even blame the man for what he'd tried to do. If it was my family I might have done the same thing. This was my family though and I was going to do whatever it took to protect them.
                  “Just let us off,” she said.
                  “We can't go back out there,” the man snarled at her. “You people are in the military. You're supposed to protect us.”
                                “After what you did you're lucky I don't just throw you out that door right now,” John said.
                  “We're losing hydraulic pressure,” I heard Lieutenant Price say over the headset. “With all that shooting back there a line must have got hit.”
                  “Can you get us down?” I asked.
                  “I think so. Get ready for a rough touch down.”
                  Lily got up to help the woman get the girls situated.
                  “Let them do it. I don't want anybody going near them,” I said.
                  We hurried to get ourselves buckled in. The chopper landed smoothly, a testimony to our pilots ability, and we made to get off of the chopper. I had Lily get a survival kit together for the family and sent them on their way.
                  “If you even look back at us he's going to shoot you dead,” I said, nodding to the Sergeant. “If I thought I could trust you I'd have given you a gun. Since I know I can't there are two knives in the bag. I suggest you keep them handy. You're going to need them soon. Good luck.”
                  They started off walking in the direction of Birmingham. I didn't hold out much hope that they'd get that far but even with what their father had done I wished them well. Lieutenant Price found the ruptured hose and Lily helped him fix it while John and I stood guard. We watched the family as they made their way to a row of houses in the distance. They hadn't gone far before the parents had to carry the girls. It wouldn't be long now. The break in the hose was easy to find but hard to fix. We were on the ground for about an hour when Lily came over to John and I telling us we'd be ready to go in a few minutes. Lieutenant Price was topping off the hydraulic fluid then we'd be on our way. Sergeant Adams looked to the row of houses through his scope. Four figures were headed our way.
                  “They're coming back, looks like the kids got them,” he said.
                  “Let's get out of here,” I said.
                  “Do you want me to take them out?”
                  “Save the ammo.”
                  They were about a hundred yards out when we finally lifted off. By that time the kids were running in our