Free Only the Dead Live Forever by W. J. Lundy Page A

able to break through without notice. Before moving on, Sean reached into
his dump sack and handed Brad a handful of ties and some rubber wedges he had
prepared earlier.
    “We are going to
move out along the walkway toward the support buildings, same as before. If you
come up on any entrances to the buildings, don’t worry about clearing them. Just
secure the doors as best you can, zip tie the latches, and pile shit against
them or wedge these blocks into the doors. When the deck is secured we’ll begin
moving into the structures,” Sean said.
    Brad nodded his understanding
and they moved out just as before. Brad’s team moved down the long walkway
leading to the first of two support buildings. “That’s the power station,”
Swanson whispered to Brad.
    Brad just nodded
in acknowledgement as they continued to move forward, covering Sean’s team’s
movements as they covered his. Brad’s team was skirting the seaside railing
while Sean’s team was looking into the platform on the other side of the
walkway. Wilson raised his hand and pointed at the tip of a ladder that reached
over the side of the platform from the lower deck.
    Brad approached
the ladder and looked down; he could see the empty deck below. He pulled a
heavy wrench from his pack. The wrench fit the ladder bolts perfectly just as
Tony had told them it would. With some heavy pulling and kicking, the first
bolt broke its lock and started turning. They hadn’t ever seen a primal climb a
vertical ladder, but he would sleep better knowing that the ladders were gone. After
some heavy turning, all of the bolts had been removed and Brad kicked the
ladder. It fell free and tumbled to the bottom deck with a loud clatter.
    Brad waved
Sean’s team forward and they moved to the power station where they found the
doors hanging open. Brad peeked inside and could see the open engineering spaces.
The one-story building’s large open bay appeared to be empty, so they closed
the door and sealed it shut as best they could. Moving forward, they watched as
Sean’s team removed the second ladder and secured the doors of the controls
building.
    They gathered in
shade near the open walkway in front of the power station. Brad dropped to the
ground and drank from a bottle. He guzzled it halfway down before tossing the
other half to Sean, who finished it before sticking the empty in his pocket. It
had only taken two hours to clear the deck, but those two hours in the sun had
exhausted them.
    Sean sent two of
the Marines back to inform the others that the decks were clear and to begin
the process of removing the dead. The rest of them would get to work on
clearing the two remaining buildings. It had already been a long day, but it
was far from over.
     

 
    12.
     
     
     
    The rest of the
team stacked up on the door to the power station. Brad pulled the wedge from
under the door, and at the count of three he yanked it open. They held a small
firing line just outside the entrance, waiting for a rush of primals that never
came. After some uncomfortable minutes, Brad moved in front of the doorway and
cut inside, with Brooks close behind him.
    They found
themselves in a large, steel-clad building with one long open bay. The room was
dark, hot, and stank of burnt oil and weld dust. There was a small workspace in
the corner with an instrument panel and a bank of switches. The far wall was
lined with huge generators. The opposing wall held a number of machines and
tool and die equipment. Brad and Brooks carefully walked the room and searched
the shadows.
    “Room’s clear,”
Brooks called out.
    The rest of the
team entered the building and began to look around. Sean went to the workspace
and searched through piles of papers and engineering drawings, but found
nothing useful. “Swanson, what do you need to get the lights back on?” he
asked.
    “I’ll need some
help getting fuel drums swapped out, and then it should be as simple as kicking
the gennies back up and bringing the