Only the Dead Live Forever Read Online Free

pushed the desk against it and hid. I heard them coming for him. He
fought them, and I heard him scream … it took a long time … but they didn’t
leave, they started pounding on the office door, they broke the glass and tried
to get in. I fired my rifle till it was empty, then I reloaded and fired more. When
my rifle was done, I fired the pistol. I ran out of ammo and waited for them to
come in after me … but … but something happened … They were distracted. I heard
them crash through the doors and go up to the third deck. They never came
back.”
    “Do you know
where they came from?”
    “No! I told you
already! I was asleep. Some of the men were yelling and blaming it on PAK-PETRO,
since they own and operate these oil rigs. They had been pulling people back
from the other sites all month, consolidating them here … waiting for the main
evacuation order.
    “Everyone is
supposed to get checked for bites and scratches, but sometimes people get
through the cracks. We’ve found primals turned in their cells before, screaming
and trying to get out … Plus there are a lot of people in the ships moored
below and on the first level; they don’t get checked till they get to the second
deck.”
     “Another
classic cluster fuck,” Brooks said in frustration. “Who was in charge of
security here?”
    “Officially the
Marines were, but there were only twenty-five of us. There were over five
hundred people on the platform plus I don’t know how many on the ships. And we
aren’t grunts; most of us are wrench turners and technicians. We had to trust
the locals to do most of the security since we were only in charge of the top
deck. PAK-PETRO ran the lower two decks with the Pakistani Navy; they have a
few boats down there. Our Navy never left their ships, they just plugged
into the platform for shore power.”
    “So to sum it up,
we have no idea what’s going on anywhere on this platform, how many infected there
are, or how many survivors,” Sean grunted.

 
    4.
     
     
     
    They sat in
silence and tried to digest the bad news. Swanson was asleep again. They still
had plenty of questions for her, but Sean didn’t see any point in beating her
up all night. They were locked into the lounge, but still felt uneasy when they
stared at the door that led into the building, not knowing what waited for them
on that third deck.
    Brad had
collected his gear and was back in the overstuffed chair in a corner. He had
broken down his rifle and was meticulously cleaning it. Brooks distracted
himself by doing the same in the opposite corner of the room. Sean lay down to sleep
on a pool table; the pilots were already sleeping against the front wall on a
pile of sofa cushions that they had bunched together. The emergency lighting
was still working, but they had no idea how long the batteries would last.
    Dawn came slowly;
the rain was still coming down hard. The grey gloomy light was just beginning
to pierce the glass windows in the door when Sean got to his feet and peeked
out of the glass. Looking both ways as best he could, he seemed satisfied that
the immediate outside was clear.
    “Brooks, Brad,
why don’t you two start suiting up,” Sean said.
    “What are you
thinking, Boss?” Brooks asked.
    “I want to take
a quick look around so we can get our bearings. We also need to pull the gear
and ammo from the Black Hawk,” Sean answered. “Captain, you two stay here with Swanson
and hold the fort. We won’t be long. Keep an eye on those doors.”
    “Okay, can do,
Chief,” Bradley answered.
    The team suited
up and gathered at the double doors. Sean pulled the bolt back and slowly
opened the right side, slicing his viewpoints until he had a full view of
everything to his left. Then Brooks eased open the opposing door and sliced to
the right. When they were confident the way was clear, the left door was closed
and they slid outside before closing the right door behind them. They heard the
officers latching the door