Zach thought about what Justin said. He’d gotten snippets of information from Grace and it sounded like Mount Weather was a place he no longer wanted to live, although he missed it terribly. He pondered for a moment, but only a moment, if things would have been better had he stayed, but he knew better.
“How’s Oak Ridge?” Justin asked.
“They have a heck of an operation,” Zach said. “They have nuclear power, their own supercomputer, you name it. They can build anything. These electric vehicles are a good example. They’re also working on an artificial intelligence network. I’m amazed at the stuff they’re doing.”
“As opposed to Mount Weather,” Justin grumbled.
“Yeah,” Zach agreed. Mount Weather was rather stagnant compared to the accomplishments achieved by Oak Ridge.
The two men continued to talk and catch up until they arrived at the main gate of Mount Weather, forty minutes later. Word had gotten around and there was a sizeable crowd clustered at the gate waiting for them. When Zach exited the vehicle, he was almost immediately surrounded. There were handshakes, hugs, and pats on the back. In a matter of seconds, the questions began.
“Where have you been, Zach?”
“Did you really kill Rochelle?”
“Are you here to kill Gil?”
Zach was about to start answering the barrage of questions when he spotted Fred and Rachel standing off to the side.
“All questions will be answered, but for now please excuse me,” he said and worked his way through the crowd. “What do you say, old man?” he asked with a grin.
“It’s good to see you, son,” he replied as Rachel gave him a big hug.
As they spoke, Lois Marnix walked up.
“Good to see you, kid. Are you going to stick around and watch the fireworks?” Lois asked.
“What fireworks?” Zach rejoined.
“In thirty minutes, there is going to be a big meeting. One might even say it will be historical,” she said with a wry smile and explained.
Zach gave a slow smile. “I didn’t know it was going to be today. Yeah, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
The four of them walked with the crowd to the big conference room. It already had people in it and soon it was standing room only. Zach and Fred picked a spot along the back wall while Rachel and the Marnix couple found seats.
“By the way, I missed you, old man,” Zach whispered. Fred responded with a grunt.
“It’s amazing how much has changed in only a month.”
“A lot of these people are sheep,” Fred said. “Oh, they can shoot a zed, plant herbs in a greenhouse or sow crops in a field, but they’re incapable of functioning at a higher plane of existence without competent leadership. When Parvis died and you left, all it took was someone like VanAllen to come along and make a mess of things.”
Lois, who heard what Fred said, gave a slow agreeing nod. Fred did not mean for his statement to be overheard by anyone else. He spoke in a quieter whisper.
“We’ll talk later.”
They watched as the senators filed into the conference room and took their assigned seats. A minute later, Vice President Rhinehart, who was acting as president pro-tempore of the senate, came in and took his assigned seat. A full five minutes elapsed before President VanAllen walked in, followed by his bodyguards.
“All rise!” D-Day yelled. Everyone slowly stood.
The president was wearing the same full-length sweater that he always seemed to wear. He stood in front of his chair and balefully stared at the senators a moment before starting to sit. As he did so, he caught sight of Zach and froze for several seconds before gathering his wits. He sat and curtly nodded at D-Day.
“Hear-ye, hear ye, this special meeting is now called to order. God bless the president.”
It did not escape anyone that he purposely omitted adding the blessing of the United States of America.
“Be seated!”
President VanAllen cleared his throat and began speaking. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today…”
He was interrupted by Vice President Rhinehart raising a hand and standing. “Point of order, Mister President.”
It was not at the level of a shout, but it was with a raised voice, the loudest anyone had ever heard him speak.
“This is a called meeting of the senate in which you have been invited to attend. You are not in charge of this meeting. I am.”
Gil VanAllen gave William one of those if looks could kill scowls before leaning over to D-Day and whispering something. William waited a half-beat before continuing.
“This is a special meeting of the senate called for by Senator Robert Duckworth, previously representing the state of Utah and now a representative of District 2 of the provincial United States of America. I now yield the floor to Senator Duckworth.”
Bob, who was sitting to the left of William, stood, and faced him. “Thank you, Mister Vice President.” He then turned to face the audience.
“Members of the senate and fellow Americans, after long deliberation and prayer, I have made a decision, one of the hardest decisions I have ever made. I am here today to call upon my fellow members of the senate to remove Gilbert Edward VanAllen as President of the United States under the tenets of the Twenty-fifth Amendment.”
He spoke in a somber tone, yet loud enough so that everyone in the conference room had no doubt what he had said. He waited a moment before continuing.
“Mister Vice President, I will now enumerate the reasons leading for me to call this meeting and to ultimately call for the invocation of the Twenty-fifth Amendment and the removal of President VanAllen.”
“Please proceed, Senator,” William Rhinehart said in the same somber tone.
It was expected that someone would immediately object. If not one of his cronies like Senator Nelson, perhaps Gil himself would object. Surprisingly, the room was silent. Bob hid his surprise and began.
He started slowly. He had a list, which he kept in front of him, but he had the speech memorized. It took precisely thirty-seven minutes to enumerate each of Gil VanAllen’s transgressions. When he was finished, he paused long enough to take a sip of water before speaking again.
“In conclusion, I must reiterate that it is not one item, a singular idiosyncrasy or bizarre act that would predicate President VanAllen’s inability to fulfill his oath of office, but the totality of his acts and behavior that make him ineffective to lead. I therefore call for a vote to remove President VanAllen from office. Thank you.”
Bob sat down and after a moment Senator Nelson stood. “I second the motion.”
There were a few gasps in the audience. Nobody expected it, certainly not from Senator Connie Nelson, a supposed ally of President VanAllen.
Gil, who had been sitting like a statue during the entire proceeding, stood suddenly, which caused his chair to fly backwards two feet.
“Traitor,” he snarled. “You’re all traitors.”
He kicked his chair over and stormed out of the conference room. It made the ensuing vote easy. It was not unanimous, but the overwhelming majority voted Gil out.
After the vote, Vice President Rhinehart called for adjournment and almost everyone went to the cafeteria. Today, the Tennessee table was almost full.
“The sooner he packs up and leaves, the better,” Rachel said. There was a chorus of agreements.
“Who will take office now?” Kate asked.
“The vice president will step in,” Zach said. “Once the swearing in formalities are performed, he’ll officially be the fifth president of the provincial United States of America.”
“Five presidents in ten years; we go through them quick around here,” Rachel quipped.
“I imagine his first act will be to pick Connie Nelson as his vice president,” Lois said.
“Why do you think that?” Kate asked.
“Connie switched sides,” she said. “He knew Gil’s days were numbered. Everything he’s done up until now he can explain.
Neither one of them will ever admit it, but I would bet a dollar that once the two men knew what Bob intended, they met in private and planned their best course of action.”
He was interrupted by a couple of people walking up and patting him on the back.
“We missed you, big guy,” one of them said.
Zach thanked them. After they walked off, he looked around the cafeteria. There were a few smiles and waves.
“Well, it could be worse than Rhinehart,” Rachel said. “So, Zach, are you moving back home?”
Zach’s Oak Ridge team stopped eating and stared directly at Zach, waiting for his answer.
“I must admit, I miss this place. I miss most of the people and what it stands for. But Oak Ridge is my home now.”
That brought a few smiles, but there were also a couple of sad expressions, and it was damn near impossible to tell, but Zach would’ve sworn Fred’s expression saddened as well.
“Pardon the interruption.”
It was Connie Nelson, looking splendid in a pair of steel gray slacks, a starched white shirt, and a navy-blue blazer. Zach was always amazed the man still had nice clothes so many years after the apocalypse.
“What can we do for you, Senator?” Kate asked.
“I was hoping to speak to Zach, in private,” he replied.
Zach wiped his face and stood. He first focused on Radar.
“After y’all get a good meal, prep the vehicles and check the gear. We’re leaving in two hours.”
Chapter 55 – An Invite from Connie
“Let’s go visit your old home away from home,” Connie said.
Zach said nothing and followed as Connie led him to the elevators. They eventually ended up in Zach’s old office. It was locked. Connie used his key card to gain access. He flipped the light switch and stepped in.
“Come on in,” he invited. “I believe it is just as you left it.”
Zach walked in a couple of feet, stopped, and looked around. His infallible memory told him nothing had been disturbed, save for a couple of papers lying on his desk that appeared to have been shuffled through.
“Nobody took over after I left?” he asked.
“Our former president believed this position made one too powerful in the Mount Weather hierarchy,” he said. “For what it’s worth, I felt the same way. You made our jobs unnecessary.”
“Speaking of unnecessary, where is VanAllen?” Zach asked.
“He has locked himself in his office,” Connie replied. He gave a casual shrug. “We’ll leave him be. He’ll come out in a day or two and we’ll deal with him then. I would say we’ll send him back to Marcus Hook, but they have ceased relations with us.”
“I’ve heard,” Zach said.
“Yes, that is something we’ll certainly need to address,” Connie said and then stared pointedly at Zach. “I’ll come straight to the point. Would you like your old job back? You will have the same authority and responsibilities as before, perhaps even more.”
“I don’t think so,” Zach said. “There are more than a few of you I think should be banished from here.”
Connie nodded thoughtfully. “I understand and I know you probably think I’m being gratuitous, but if I were in your shoes, I’d feel the same.”
“Does Rhinehart know about this conversation?” Zach asked.
“Yes, he does. He was supposed to join us, but he was feeling a little under the weather and went back to his room. I believe I know what you’re thinking; why would William Rhinehart want you back? The fact is, he respects you, Zach. I do as well. A lot has happened in a short time and frankly, we need you back here to help straighten things out.”
“Let me guess. You want me to negotiate with Marcus Hook because Mount Weather is almost out of fuel,” Zach said.
“You can add Roscoe and Johnny G to the list of people who have enormous respect for you. And yes, we need fuel. It seems as though Oak Ridge has found an alternative solution to petroleum though,” Connie said.
“Yes, they have,” Zach said. “There are some applications where diesel is still the more viable of the two, but they are still experimenting with different things.”
Connie gave a slight, thoughtful nod. “They’ve never shared any of their knowledge with us. If you came back, perhaps that will change.”
“Honestly, until I told them about the original Patient Zero and showed them the video, all of them were convinced the pandemic was a new world order conspiracy perpetrated by puppet politicians.”
Connie chuckled. “I’ve heard several variations of that theme.”
Zach gazed at the walls of his office where his maps were. He wondered how much damage Gil had caused in his brief time as president. After a minute, he turned to Connie.
“I would suggest calling Marcus Hook on the radio as soon as possible. It may take a while, but they will answer. Tell them what has happened and ask for forgiveness. As for me, I must go back to Oak Ridge. I’ll discuss your offer with my wife and my friends. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I promised Fred and a couple of others I would speak with them before I leave.”
Chapter 56 – Invasion
“Passing phase line Hotel One,” Zach said into the microphone. “Negative SITREP.”
“Roger, out,” the staticky voice replied.
Zach placed the microphone back on the hook. Phase line Hotel One was the intersection of I-81 and I-64, which meant they were roughly halfway back to Oak Ridge. He had mixed feelings about leaving Mount Weather, but his wife and kids were at Oak Ridge and that is where he was going.
Zach tried to adjust himself in the seat, searching for a better level of comfort, if it even existed. There simply was not enough leg room and the seat was not designed for his broad shoulders either. Getting comfortable was difficult. He glanced over at the driver, Radar, whose real name was Xavier.
“When we get back to Oak Ridge, I’m going to modify this damn seat where it’s more comfortable,” he grumbled.
“Are you going to grab some shut-eye?” Radar asked without taking his eyes off the road.
“Yeah, I thought I would,” Zach replied.
“You know what I think?” Radar asked, and then answered his own question. “I think you’ll be going back.”
“To Mount Weather?” Zach asked. Radar nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go back from time to time. Now that I’m not a wanted felon,” he added with a wry grin that did not reach his eyes.
“No, that’s not it,” Radar said. “You’ll be going back to live there. Those people look up to you. More than one of them said they need you back there.”
Zach grunted, but offered no comment. Instead, he leaned against the inner wall of the armored vehicle and closed his eyes. It wasn’t going to be easy, but maybe he could get a few minutes of shut eye. He was starting to decompress and relax when the radio crackled to life.
“Hard Charger, this is Oak Ridge One, over.”
“They’re calling you, sir,” Radar said.
Zach had been almost asleep, floating in between checking his eyelids and deep slumber, when the radio roused him. He leaned forward, reached for the microphone and answered.
“Mount Weather is reported to be under attack by several zeds. They are believed to number in the thousands. There is no further information at this time.”
Zach did not hesitate and ordered the convoy of armored vehicles to turn around. Radar could not suppress a groan. Zach understood. Since leaving Oak Ridge they’d only had a few hours of sleep. Plus, these men had family back home they’d prefer to be with. He reached and turned a switch, which allowed him to speak to his team members in the other vans on a sideband.
“Alright men, we’re not playing around this time. When we get there, we’re going to take care of business.”
“What about that Eve woman?” Radar asked.
“I’ll deal with her personally,” Zach promised.
Zach had pushed the convoy, but they were limited in how fast they could travel, especially at night. It to
ok them five hours. They reached the outskirts of the Mount Weather area at approximately midnight. Zach had believed the number of zeds to have been an exaggeration, but they were not even within sight of the fenced perimeter when their spotlights illuminated zeds.
And there were many, many zeds.
“When do we open fire?” one of the men asked in the second armored vehicle.
“Stand by one,” Zach directed. He was in the turret of the armored vehicle and began scanning the zeds with the vehicle’s spotlight, looking for any familiarity in the distorted faces, or even the clothing. He saw none.
Zombie Rules | Book 8 | Who The Hell Is That? Page 31