by Jeff Ping
Chapter 6
"Sir, are we going to be OK? Where will we be going now?" asked Private Butler.
"Just Bill or Mason, lets keep it simple and casual Mike. I think we should keep going northeast. Where do you think Tony and John will go?" I asked.
"Nellis Air Force Base, yeah, I'm sure they will head for Nellis. I overheard MSG Hill and Corporal Mahoney talking about checking there for survivors and supplies, and maybe a place we could hole up. I think he will for sure stop now if for no other reason, than to re-arm his APC with a .50 cal.
I just thought that, if we stay on 15 to Vegas then head north on 95 to Creech AFB. I was stationed there at the supply depot a couple years ago. There should be diesel there. So, we could top off our fuel tanks. And it’s about 30 miles in the opposite direction of Nellis. Then, if we stay north on I395, we can enter Northern Ca. at Susanville," suggested Mike.
"Good plan Mike. See it’s just smoother if whenever possible we discuss things, rather than bark orders. The last orders that Tony was given left all you guys to be Zombie bait while the order givers got the hell out of dodge. If it’s going to be everyman for himself, I’m certainly not going to find someone else to blindly follow. If at any point anyone doesn’t agree to what’s settled on, they are free to fire up their vehicle and drive away," I told him.
"Good point sir. Under the current circumstances, I can go with that. I'm just curious sir, I mean Bill, and would you have killed them?" Mike asked.
"I was so pissed at Tony, I think I could have. I'm glad I didn't have to find that out myself," I said and smiled.
We ate a dinner of canned beef stew and a loaf of bread. Mike walked over to his APC and returned with a couple of warm bottles of beer.
"Here, wait a minute," I said.
I walked over to my truck and opened a side compartment. Inside was a small refrigerator. I pulled two cold beers out and walked back to Mike and handed one to him. We sat down and I opened a bottle. After finishing the beer, I said, "Why don’t you guys sack out in the vehicles-- where nothing can sneak up on you. There are lots of books and magazines in there. Jack and I will sit up on the container and keep watch for a while."
"OK, I’ll relieve you before midnight and Pete can come relieve me around 3:00." said Mike.
Both Pete and Mike went to one vehicle and June, Beth, Kali, and Sue went to the other one.
"Jack, lets clear it with June, then you and I will do first guard duty. If June says its OK, get yourself a coat, a snack and a couple bottles of water then climb up on top," I said.
Jack ran to June’s vehicle to ask if it was OK, and I walked over to my truck and grabbed a rifle. Just as I was getting to the top of the ladder Mike called up to me,
"Here, maybe these will help." he handed me a pair of night vision glasses.
I climbed on top of the container and handed the glasses to Jack after he climbed up. "Cool," he said as he stood up and started looking around the desert.
After a few minutes, he sat down and said, "Nothing to report."
Jack and I kept watch completing our four hours. About midnight, Mike showed up to relieve us. I handed the sleeping Jack down to Mike.
"All clear so far, we didn’t see anything out there. And believe me Jack checked using the night vision glasses a lot, I told him.
"Good, you'll never hear me complain about not seeing Zombies." he said with a laugh.
"See you in the morning," I told Mike.
I walked over to Pete’s APC and put Jack inside. As I covered him, he curled up but didn’t wake up. I walked to my truck and climbed in and stretched out on the back seat. I was thinking about the long drive tomorrow when I finally drifted off to sleep myself.
I woke up a little before dawn. I sat up and looked out the window. I couldn’t see Pete from my position so I eased open the door and called out to him.
"Is it all clear out there?"
"Sure is, come on up," Pete called back.
I climbed up and sat down beside Pete.
"I appreciate you guys backing me last night." I said.
"No problem man, you’ve done everything we’ve ask of you and you haven’t been overbearing and ordering people around. We all feel comfortable and safe with you. That damn Tony would probably cut and run at the first real problem. He'd leave us on our own just like his superiors did to him. He wasn't concerned enough to go home and check on Joan, was he?"
"I don’t know if he would run out on us or not, but I did my military time and didn’t feel like being drafted into Tony’s little army," I said.
After a good breakfast of coffee, juice, eggs, and bacon, thanks to Pete’s camping gear and the refrigerator running off my truck’s built in generator, we pulled out. This time Kali and Beth rode in the back seat of my truck and Jack and I were in the front seat. Both of them liked being able to look around as we traveled, the back of an APC is like riding in the trunk of a car.
Pete and June were in the lead APC and Mike and Sue trailed our little convoy in the second APC. As we continued to drive down highway 6, I noticed the APC following me wandering around a lot and either falling behind or tailgating me. I sure hope Mike’s not into that beer he has, I thought.
We stopped around noon to eat and discussed the plan for checking out the Air Base. Mike estimated that we should arrive at the Creech Air Force Base about 1 or 2 pm that day. Mike looked at the radios Pete and I had picked up at Edwards. He said they only had about a 3 mile range. If we load the women and kids into one of the APC’s they can lay back and keep in contact with us using the handhelds. That will allow them to stay in the clear if we see any Zombies.
Mike said Sue had driven most of the way up highway 6, and was getting pretty good with the APC. June and Kali could use the 50 cal if they got into a tight spot. Pete and Mike in the second APC would lead me in my truck to check out the fuel situation.