THOMPSON By George L. Cook III
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AUTHOR’S NOTE: THOMPSON takes place during the events of The Dead War Series Book One. For a brief moment the two stories actually intersect with a character that you might recognize from book one although that character is not actually named in THOMPSON.
I wrote Thompson because I noticed that there were a lack of strong and heroic women in book one. That was later corrected in books two and three with the addition of Gabbard and Sgt. Manning. I hope that you enjoy this short story. If you have read book one it should fill in a gap for you about a particular scene and if you have not I hope it gets you to want to check out book one.
George L. Cook III
The loud screech of laser rifles and the moans of the dead filled the air as Sergeant Thompson and her platoon advanced on dozens of the dead.
Thompson was a petite darker skinned black woman with a no nonsense attitude and a knack for keeping her men alive.
She ordered her men forward as the dead fell. They had to reach the kids stuck on the second floor of a building only twenty yards away.
“Douglass!” Thompson yelled.
A corporal ran to her side, “Yes sergeant.”
The platoon neared the doorway of the building and formed a protective perimeter around the door. Thompson tapped Douglass on the helmet, “Hold your ground here. I’m taking two men and going inside to get the kids!”
Douglass nodded as he blasted one of the dead back over the hood of a car from which it had came.
Thompson tapped two soldiers on the helmet and then started into the building. She was met immediately by two of the dead. She smashed one in the face with the butt of her rifle as one of the soldiers behind her shot the other in the head.
The creature Thompson had hit slammed into the wall. Thompson quickly flipped her rifle and shot it between the eyes.
The three soldiers started up the stairs. As they reached the top of the staircase they saw eight of the dead attempting to break down the door of the apartment where the kids were.
“Light em up!” Thompson shouted.
The soldiers opened fire. The doorway exploded in bursts of blue light, blood, and black bile, as the heads of the dead exploded.
Thompson ran to the door before the last of the dead even hit the floor.
“Open the door!” she yelled, “It’s okay. We are here to get you out of here!”
Soon she could hear furniture moving and a minute later the door opened. Three girls between the ages of five and ten stepped out crying as they ran to Thompson. She hugged them. She was a soldier but at one time she was a mother. She wanted to make them feel safe.
“Sergeant!”, shouted one of her men, “We gotta move they can’t hold the perimeter outside forever.”
Thompson looked at the soldier and nodded. She then looked down at the girls, “We gotta move fast babies okay. Once we get outside keep moving and don’t look back. I will make sure you get to safety.”
The group started for the front door with Thompson in the lead. Thompson ran out of the doorway and nodded at Douglass, "Lets move!"
The group of soldiers and children began moving quickly as Thompson led the way methodically shooting down the dead. One of her men yelled out. She turned to see him being dragged underneath a car.
“Keep moving!” , yelled Thompson.
Some of her men who had started back toward the car reversed themselves and fell back in line while shooting down many of the dead as they protected the rear of the group.
“Shit sarge!”, yelled Douglass pointing to dozens of oncoming dead.
Thompson turned toward the oncoming dead, “Keep moving. I will lead them off!”
“I’m staying with you sarge!” , yelled Douglass as he ran to her side.
Thompson pushed Douglass back, “No, get those girls and my men out of here!”
Douglass reluctantly led the others away. Thompson saw the girls looking back their eyes filling with tears. Thompson had promised to get them to safety and dammit she would.
Thompson screamed to attract the dead. They all soon turned their attention to her. She then ran to the nearest car and placed a grenade on top. She hit the red button on top and ran to three more cars to do the same as the dead began to swarm around her.
She climbed on top of one of the cars and began shooting at the dead with her pistol. As soon as one of the dead fell another came to take its place. Thompson looked to see her men and the children reach the end of the street. She smiled. Then the grenades went off.
Thompson was thrown in the air and landed with a thud behind a car as the body parts of the dead flew through the air. Thompson saw smoke and flames and then blackness.
She woke up an hour later in incredible pain. Her stomach hurt badly. As her vision became clear she saw that one of the dead was feeding on her intestines. She was too weak to scream. She watched with terror in her eyes and her mouth opened in a silent scream as the thing pulled more of her intestines from her body.
She did not want to become one of those things. “Please God don't let this happen.” , She cried.
That's when he stepped into view. A man in an all black uniform and holding a laser pistol. A Scout.
