Sample Chapter – Pappa Zulu
Hey, Whiskey Delta fans! How y’all doing? Last week, I finished work on Whiskey Delta and announced that I would be following it up with a sequel. I believe I even promised a sample or two for those who were still looking to read about some more zombie-smashing! Well it just so happens I’ve written a sample chapter for the upcoming sequel and wanted to share it with you. It’s still a green chapter, taken from the general context of the book, and I’d like to know from you if it’s any good.
Specifically, this chapter is from the early part of the novel, where the attack that the Mage has been fearing finally comes. I’ve decided to share it with you since it is intrinsic to the entire tone of the novel and will determine what the first half of the novel will be all about. If it’s a good romp and full of enough excitement and suspense, then I shall run with it as is. If not, it means nothing more than replanning and replotting. But that’s what sampling is all about.
So please, be brutal, be honest, and be assured that you’re feedback will go a long way to helping this next novel take shape. What do you think should be different about the next story? What should stay the same? What worked and needs to be repeated? And what added tidbits would you like to see happen? And with all that said, here’s Pappa Zulu!
* * *
“Men rise from one ambition to another: first, they seek to secure themselves against attack, and then they attack others.”
-Niccolo Machiavelli
It was the strangest thing, looking up at the sky and being so perplexed by seeing it filled with objects and human bodies. Somehow, the mind always took it for granted that when it looked up, all it would see were clouds and empty sky. To see so many things hovering before your eyes, especially attack jets and troop planes, was nothing short of stupefying.
They were everywhere. Every which way they looked, the sky was filled with planes, chutes, and men dropping to the ground. The larger Hercs arced overhead, deploying troops and materiel out their back doors. The fast-movers cut across from above, their wings and engines making terrible noise as they sliced through the air.
The base’s general siren was wailing. All around the grounds, people were running from their barracks and hangar bays to see what was going on. Outside the walls, more people were leaving the cover of their houses and watching with general alarm and awe. Braun wanted to shout out to them, to tell them to get back inside. If those planes began to let loose their ordinance, they would all die. And as soon as the paratroopers boots hits the ground, anyone standing out in the open would present a tempting target. But they were too far away, and his voice had caught somewhere in his throat and wasn’t responding.
Like the entire company, he was stuck in the midst of the powerful display.
The radio was the only thing talking. The voice on the receiver loudly proclaiming the obvious:
“This is Warlock to all Rattlesnakes in the area. We are under attack by armed hostiles. I repeat, we are under attack by armed hostiles! All friendlies in the area be advised. Warlock has been compromised. I repeat, Warlock has been compromised.”
“Shit, sir,” said Ramirez from the driver’s seat. “We really seeing this? Is this real?”
Braun reached down and grabbed hold of his SCAR. He chambered a round and grabbed hold of the mike from the squawk box.
“Real as it gets, Private. Be ready to move.”
“Yes, sir.”
Braun switched over to the squad frequency and signaled the entire company. “Viper Actual to all Vipers. We are Oscar Mike. We are proceeding to Warlock and dispatching any and all hostiles in the area.”
He switched back over to the base frequency just as the first vehicle in their convoy began to move. The voice on the frequency was still issuing the general alert, but orders began to follow after a few seconds. Braun looked at the box incredulously as it came in.
“All friendly forces in the area are ordered to assemble at the following pre-designated coordinates. Sierra-Foxtrot, five-nine-four. I repeat, Sierra-Foxtrot-”
“Sir?” Ramirez said. “Did HQ just tell us to turn tail?”
Sierra-Foxtrot, the code book designation for the compound in Santa Fe. He nodded heavily as there was no denying it. They had been caught with their pants down and now the Mage was calling for a general retreat. Clearly, he was operating under the assumption that the entire Brigade was still deployed. He couldn’t know they were in the vicinity and able to do something…
“Sir?” Ramirez said. There convoy was still moving, and towards town, in defiance of their new orders. Braun shook his head.
“They don’t know we’re here. We can still help.” He keyed the mike.“Warlock, this is Viper Actual. We are in the area and monitoring the situation. We have eyes on the enemy and are able to assist, over.”
The reply they got was less than enthused.
“Viper Actual, you are ordered to fall back to secure location and await further orders. Do not attempt engagement with hostile forces at this time, over.”
Braun blinked hard. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Did they really just expect them to turn tail and run? He couldn’t for the life of him believe these orders were coming from the Mage. Someone further down the line had to be issuing them, and was making a bad call. He keyed the mike once more.
“Warlock, interrogative. What is the status of Rattlesnake Actual, over?”
Another pause. “Rattlesnake Actual is engaged and unable to respond. You have your orders. Fall back to designated rally point and avoid HQ at all costs. Colonel Haynes has command and will be directing operations, over.”
“Shit,” Braun said, hanging up the mike.
Ramirez brought the vehicle to a stop. The others in front of them proceeded onward until they noticed the Lieutenant’s Humvee putting in at the side of the road. The box began to crackle again, this time with the other squads wanting to know what was happening. Braun was too busy staring at Ramirez to answer right away.
“What the fuck are you doing, Private?”
“Sir, they ordered us to turn around,” he said sheepishly. Braun continued to stare angrily at him, but couldn’t countermand that simple fact. They had been given their orders and they had been clear, regardless of whether or not they were coming from the Mage himself. For a moment, he sat there, watching the terrible scene unfold and unable to respond to the mounting calls of distress over his vehicle’s radio.
In time, Saunders came running up the road, following close behind by several other NCO’s. By the time they reached his door, he had begun to pull himself together again. The Company needed their CO, and he needed to have his head on straight if he was going to lead them. Now was not the time to be disappearing up his own ass.
“Sir,” said Saunders, flanked by Rickson and Tate. “What’s the word from HQ?”
Braun looked at Ramirez warily. He half-expected the young private to jump in and tell them what the order of the day had been. The Private seemed to be good for that today. But he knew enough to keep his mouth shut. Good for him. And it wasn’t;t as if he could lie about it either. Looking back to them, Braun let them have it:
“We’ve been ordered to fall back to Santa Fe. Colonel Hayes is taking command of the Brigade. HQ is compromised and we’re to treat it as a lost cause.”
The three of them all issued cries of dismay at once. Things along the “What?!” and “Are you fucking kidding me?!” variety.
“We’ve been caught with out pants down people. Command doesn’t want us risking our lives on some last-minute rescue op. The Colonel will no doubt be planning a counter-attack once we get there.”
“Sir,” Rickson interjected. “Are we really going to abandon the Mage like this? Whatever happened to leave no man behind?”
Braun shook his head. He was not in the mood to argue, especially where orders he didn’t even agree with were concerned. “No choice, people. Orders come down the line for a general retreat. We gotta follow it.”
“Bullshit,” said Saunders. Braun looked at her, bald-eyed.
“I beg your pardon?” Saunders cleared her throat and tried again, in a measured, civilized tone this time.
“Sir, if we fall back now, who knows what will happen to the Mage. Who the hell knows who these guys are, what they want? We fall back, we abandon everyone in that town and our HQ to their fate. Are we really going to do that? We’re not even going to try?”
Braun took a deep breath. He could feel the urge to spit building in him. Telling them to run as ordered was leaving a bitter taste in his mouth and making him want to bite some heads off. But the counter-urge, to say to hell with their orders and join them in what they were suggesting, that was hard to deny too. Unfortunately, the desire to do his duty was also weighing in, and it had the upper hand.
You’re the fucking CO, it said to him. You don’t make decisions based on you’re personal feelings. Tell these people to shut up and get ready to move!
“What would you have us do, Sergeant?” he said to Saunders. “Charge in, risk our lives like fools? Endanger whatever hope we have of mounting a successful counter-attack later?”
“No…” she said finally. For a moment, it looked like the matter had been settled and dropped. Luckily, Rickson still had some points to make which could help tip the scales in their favor.
“Sir, you said yourself we have no idea who these people are. An attack might not be the smartest thing, but a recon wouldn’t the stupidest either.”
“He’s right,” agreed Tate. “The Colonel will want to know everything he can about this threat before we report back to him. Besides, we’re the farthest elements north right now. No one can expect us to get south before the rest.”
“A few prisoners might come in handy too. They’re dropping in all over the place. Ought to be easy to snag if we approach carefully.”
Braun eye’s brightened. Rickson was right, that wasn’t the stupidest idea in the world. He could even feel a slight smile forming on his face. He looked to Saunders, who was beginning to do the same. His eyes brightened even further when another thought occurred to him, one which made about as much sense as the rest.
“There have to be elements within the city that are looking to retreat too, but they’ll be cut off. Who knows? Maybe the Mage is with them…” He let that thought percolate, began to feel his legs itch as he realized they were wasting time trying to justify their actions and not doing them. “If the opportunity arises, we might even help some of our boys break out and retreat south with us.”
Rickson nodded. “Could come in handy later. We’ll need every warm body we can get if we’re going to take back the base.”
Saunders was now smiling brightly at him. It was the look of a grunt who was pleasantly surprised to see her commander was coming through after all.
“Our orders didn’t specify immediate withdrawal,” he said finally. “And I think we’ve just been cut off from making a steady retreat and need to find an alternate route.”
Saunders put her rifle on her shoulder. “Would a route through the edge of town suffice, sir?”
Braun smiled and nodded. “It would, Sergeant. Get back to your vehicle. You’re squad is in the lead.”
Snapped out a salute. “Yes, sir.” Tate and Rickson snapped their own and proceeded to follow her back to their Humvees. When Braun returned to his, he found a shaky looking private manning the wheel and peering at him sideways.
“Wheel up, Private. We’re diverting course to take us around the edge of town.”
“Yes, sir,” he said warily, putting it back into Drive. Braun smiled to himself.
He can inform on me later, he thought. The war was far from over, and Haynes would have plenty of chances to court-martial his ass. Right now, they had bigger fish to fry, and possibly a few asses to save!
