Dead Drop - Stolen Secrets

CHAPTER ONE

June 30 - Davis-Monthan Air Force Base at Tucson, AZ

Steve Conley sat at a metal desk in a small office he had converted into his quarters, his shoulders and back still wet from the shower. He traced the lines of the jagged scars that jutted out from under the waistband of a pair of compression shorts. The scars were a grim reminder of Afghanistan and the blast that had ripped his body and his life apart four years earlier, before he became a major in the World Federated Nations Special Operations Group and Commander of the Advanced Cybernetic Warfare and Reconnaissance Unit. The skin on his prosthetic arms and legs looked like the real thing, minus the hair, small scars, and freckles. Sometimes, he forgot the limbs weren't the originals.

He turned on his laptop and watched the video of the FLYPMODE arriving at what was left of Cooper Reid's still smoldering house. Two enhanced soldiers got out of their vehicle to assess the area. They poked at the blackened human remains and melted computer components mixed in with the rest of the rubble.

With the sun setting behind them, they made their way to the area where the helicopter pilot's body should have been. Footprints led off in several directions. They followed drag marks to a large, bloody spot in the dirt. The body was gone.

Conley could only hope that the warrant officer hadn't survived the crash—nothing indicated that he had. A lump had formed in his throat, and he swallowed in an effort to force it down.

After deploying the drone, the soldiers had an aerial view of the surrounding terrain. They didn't find the body but had a bird's eye view of the twenty infected advancing on them. They readied their XM8 rifles as the infected ran towards them like Olympic sprinters. Methodical in their actions, the soldiers shot three round bursts at each of the advancing aggressors. They dropped the infected one by one as they moved backward toward their vehicle. Conley had a clear view of forty to fifty more infected closing in on them.

"Situation extremely hostile. Retreating from location."

The words made Conley swallow again.

The infected launched themselves at the soldiers. Out of ammo, the pair deflected the most aggressive members of the horde with basic throws and knife thrusts taken straight out of the Marine Corp Close Combat Manual. But they were outnumbered. Five infected took down one of the soldiers while the other fought his way to the FLYPMODE. He slung his empty XM8 across his back and pulled out a .45. With the pistol in right hand and his knife in the other, he continued to fight his way to the vehicle leaving a trail of bodies behind him.

A mound of tangled of bodies formed over the downed soldier. Within seconds, blood, small bits of flesh and bone rained down around them after the sound of a muffled explosion came through the speaker.

The other soldier dropped his empty .45 and commenced stabbing and kicking at the remaining infected who used their hands and teeth to rip the fabric off his protective armor until they reached flesh. Their unrelenting bodies pressed the soldier against the vehicle. He opened the door and squeezed himself through the small gap between the door and the frame as they continued to tear and claw at him. One of them wrenched the bloodied helmet from his head.

Conley was amazed that the soldier managed to slip into the driver's seat and the shut door. Some of the infected slammed themselves against the vehicle in an effort to get to him. Others climbed on top trying to find a way inside.

From high above, the drone captured the FLYPMODE driving away. The area was covered with infected as the driver set a course back to Davis-Monthan. "A-2 returning to base. Mission failed. One casualty."

The vehicle picked up speed before it careened off a couple of wrecked cars on the side of the road and knocked off its unwanted passengers. The driver continued to swerve. He crossed from left to right until the front wheel made contact with a large concrete barricade that had been pushed onto the shoulder. The vehicle flipped onto its side and slid for twenty yards before coming to a stop. Within seconds, another group of infected ran out from their hiding places and onto the road.