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some of them are cut off. Falcon tells me you may have some guidance. Over.”
    My, my, my. When Big Army gets its panties in a bunch, who does it call? The snake-eaters, of course. “Your troops need to stay organized, practice fire discipline, and get to cover, Six. They’re in a vertical urban environment, the only place to go is up—they’ll have to try and gain access to buildings and fortify in-place.” Something tickled the back of Gartrell’s mind, and he reached for it. “Uh, that’s not all, Six. They can go down, into the subway tunnels. Zed can’t see in the dark, so if your troops have night vision, they can use that to their advantage. Over.”
    “Terminator, Summit—if they go underground, we’ll lose commo with them. That’s a non-starter, over.”
    “Six, you want your troops coming back to you alive? If not, they’ll come back to you dead, and some of them might still remember how to use their guns. It is what it is, Six. Get ‘em underground and save some of them, or lose them all. Over.”
    Summit Six’s voice was grim. “Roger that, Terminator. Thanks for the assist. We’ll see what we can do about getting you some transport out of there. Falcon will remain on this frequency. Summit Six, out.” The infantry commander disappeared from the radio before Gartrell could reply.
    How rude , he thought.
    “Ah, Terminator, this is Falcon Four, over.”
    “Go ahead, Falcon.”
    “Terminator, Falcon…look, thanks for trying to help our guys out. I hear the colonel now, he’s ordering everyone to either fall back or get into the subway tunnels if they can. It sounds like it’s probably their only chance, and no one here was even thinking that way before you brought it up. Over.”
    “Falcon, if you’re trying to cheer me up by painting me was a genius among idiots, do note that I’m currently depending on those same idiots to save my ass, along with the two civilians I’m trapped behind the lines with. Over.”
    “Roger that, Terminator.”
    “Falcon, Terminator. Can you give me a run-down on what’s been happening over the past twenty-four hours or so? I’ve been a bit out of the loop, and Terminator Six took the sat phone so I haven’t exactly been able to keep tabs on current events. Over.”
    There was a long pause before Falcon came back. “Terminator, this is Falcon. I don’t know how much I can tell you, but things aren’t improving. We’re trying to contain New York City, but there are outbreaks happening all over the country. Mostly on the East Coast, I think. Florida, DC, the Carolinas, Maryland, New Jersey…seems like wherever there’s a major seaport, these things are getting in. Homeland Security is trying to lock down the coastline, but that’s not really happening. All airspace has been sanitized for the past eighteen hours after a plane landed in Chicago with zeds on it. Don’t know much about the West Coast, but things have been pretty quiet over there. Over.”
    “Falcon, Terminator. What about Europe? Over.”
    “Ah…Terminator, I’m not sure. Russia’s gone dark, and a lot of Eastern Europe too. Germany and France are fighting zeds in their own countries. Seems like Britain and Switzerland are still hanging tough, along with the northern European countries, but beyond that, I don’t really know. The BBC was still broadcasting last I knew, but I haven’t been able to check into that lately.” There was another pause. “Sorry man, the questions you’re asking are way above my pay grade right now. Over.”
    Gartrell digested that for a long moment. The news, while not unexpected, was still chilling. Was the United States falling before a…a zombie apocalypse, like in the movie Dawn of the Dead ?
    Jesus, what about Laurie and the kids? Is the cabin remote enough? Can they get to it? Can they defend it?
    “Terminator, you still there? Over.”
    Gartrell pushed the thoughts of his family away for the moment. “Roger that, Falcon. Terminator’s