by Glyn Gardner
Theresa looked at Mrs. Arrington. The teacher was still not moving. She just stared out the window.
“We can’t do much else with her like that,” replied the girl. “Maybe we hit a gas station or something where we can stay near the truck.”
Jackson agreed. They stopped at a gas station a few miles north of the hardware store. Jackson found several gas cans of varying sizes and a siphon pump just inside the broken glass.
“What the hell was that?” asked Jackson.
“What?”
“Was that bring your kid to work day or something?” the trooper asked. “I don’t think I’ve seen so many child zombies in one place before.”
“I guess it was kinda weird,” she answered. “Maybe there was a school or something around there.” The thought of a school full of zombie children made Theresa think about her school friends. This made her think about Davy. She fought back tears at the thought of her big brother. Oh she missed him.
Jackson could hear her sob, even though she tried to hide it. He didn’t know what to say. He’d never been good at consoling people. He just patted her knee with his hand. She sobbed even more. Way to go Jackson. Just let her cry next time. We’re almost home anyway.
The sound of gunfire from somewhere up ahead interrupted the trooper’s thought. The Humvee slid to a stop. He could tell that the fire wasn’t close. He estimated a mile or so ahead. Shit! Who’s shooting? It’s too far away to be the vet clinic. He didn’t think any of their group would be close.
He tried to reach SSgt Brown on the walkie-talkie. No use. He’s too far away. Damn! He looked at Theresa. She shrugged, glancing at Mrs. Arrington. The science teacher was still curled up in the back seat of the Humvee. The message was clear: We can’t take her into a fire fight.
“Ok,” he decided. “We sit tight here until things quiet down.”
The gunfire finally ended about ten minutes after it started. They waited and listened for another few minutes.
“We have to move,” Theresa announced. “Let’s see what happened.”
The scenarios began to play out in Jackson’s head. Did someone run across a zombie horde? If so, are they alive or dead? Did a group of survivors find another group of survivors? The image of the Adams brothers flashed in his head. He wondered if the survivors were friendly or something less than friendly.
“C’mon Jackson,” the girl pleaded. “If nothing else, we get home faster.”
“Fuck it.” The truck lurched forward.
Steve knew he was dying. He couldn’t believe this. He and his sister, Jackie, had not only survived this long, but they had even found some good people. Now here he lay bleeding, two bullets in his stomach, the pool of his blood growing larger under him.
He turned his head. He could see the old man lying motionless a few feet away, blood pooling under his head. Tears began to well up in Steve’s eyes. The man was the first survivor they had found after it all started. He was a kind man. He’d taken the siblings in without question. He and his wife had given them food and shelter. They had taken them in like they were their own.
The past two weeks were tolerable in the company of the couple. He and Jackie weren’t the only survivors the couple had taken in. Tom was twelve years old and had beheaded both of his parents’ reanimated corpses. They’d found Alexis wandering down the road in nothing but a black silky nightgown thing. Steve remembered how she looked so vulnerable, but also pretty when they had helped her up the ladder.
He moved his head some more. He could see the bottom of Jose’s boots. They weren’t moving either. He’d seen the big man go down when the shooting started. He didn’t go down without a fight. The big Mexican had continued shooting his pistol until he ran out of bullets. Then he just stood up; stood up in the middle of a fire fight. Who does that?
He tried to find the others. He craned his neck, but couldn’t see anyone else. That’s when he heard the engine. No, they’re back. No, the engine sounds different. He saw a military vehicle pull to the side of the road as it came to a stop.
Jackson saw the young man lying on the edge of the road, blood pooling under his back. The man reached for a weapon that had fallen just out of his reach. He could see the fear and panic on his face. Jackson rushed to the man, more to keep him from getting the gun than to render aid.
“Get the first aid kit,” he shouted to Theresa. He picked up the little pistol, clearing it, and making it safe.
“Who…who…who are…are…you?” the man struggled to get out.
“We’re the cavalry. We’re here to help.”
“Wh…Where…Where’s Ja…Ja…Jackie?”
Jackson looked around. The ground was littered with brass of varying calibers, mostly pistol rounds. He saw three other men lying on the ground. One was a big Mexican guy, the second was a middle aged white guy. Both were dressed in jeans, work boots, and tee-shirts, just like the kid he was standing over.
The third guy didn’t fit in. He was dressed in black cargo pants and a black tee-shirt that looked like it belonged to his little brother. Jackson had seen guys like this before. He looked like a merc. The PMC’s, Private Military Companies, in Iraq dressed like this.
But, he didn’t find any women. He kneeled down to the wounded guy.
“I don’t see any girls here,” he said. “Sorry.”
“Ya…Ya…You got to fi…fi…find them,” the man pleaded. Jackson could see the tears running down the man’s face. “My sis…sister Ja…Ja…Jackie, Sar…Sarah, gone. Taken.” He lifted an arm and pointed to a two lane road leading west.
Jackson felt the blood drain out of his face. He was figuring out which scenario he’d walked into and it was the worst case. These dudes had been hit by a group of mercenaries, or something like them, and the bad guys had kidnapped some of them.
This is bad, real bad. If these guys are on the war path, they could be a big threat. Jackson considered not telling anyone about the PMC guy and the missing girls. Maybe we could just get our supplies and get out of here.
“Oh my God,” Theresa said from behind him. He could see the look of shock on her face.
“He’s going to be ok,” Jackson began. “We’ll get him to Jen. She’ll get him fixed up.”
“I know, but what about the girl?”
Damn. “I don’t know right now. Let’s get him to Jen first. We’ll let Sergeant Brown figure out what to do. C’mon. Help me get him in the truck.”
They dragged him into the back seat of the truck. Jackson drove as fast as he could back to the vet’s office. Theresa tried to render first aid. Her efforts amounted to tying bandages around the young man’s body.
“What’s your name?”
“St…Steve,” he answered.
“I’m Theresa,” she told him. “This is Private Jackson. Can you tell me what happened?”
“We wer…were out for…foraging. We saw th…the Jeep. It looked li…like there was some…somebody hurt. Aaron went to ch…check it out. Ne…next thing I knew, he and Jose were dead. I…I got hit in…” the young man coughed up a mouthful of blood. “I went down. I…I…I could hear them screaming.”
“Who baby?” she asked softly.
He began to weep. “Jackie.” He couldn’t control it anymore. “My sister, Jackie and Aaron’s wife Sarah; they took them.” He coughed up more blood. “Oh God! What about Tom and Alexis?”
“Who are they? Were they with you?”
“Yes. No. Kinda.” His breathing became rapid. “They’re alone in camp.” His voice became quieter, less panicked. The slur in his speech was becoming more pronounced. Theresa thought he was beginning to sound drunk. “They’re not going to make it. Jackie, Sarah, Tom…” his voice trailed off. A hiss as the last breath escaped. His muscles relaxed. His mouth hung open in a silent scream. He slumped over. Theresa knew immediately, he was dead.
“He dead?” asked Jackson.
“Yes,” she replied. She could feel the knot in her throat as she said it. She thought about th
e young man in front of her. He couldn’t have been much older than her brother Davy, maybe 20. She wondered where he’d come from? His accent told her he was probably local. No ring meant he wasn’t married.
Her thoughts went to his sister. What was she like? Was she older or younger than he was? Who had taken her? Why?
“Who do you think took her?” she asked Jackson. “Was that guy military or something? He looked like a soldier in black. Could he have been a cop?”
“I don’t know,” he answered. He doubted the body was a cop. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the people who took the man’s sister and the other girl were bad news.
He saw the LMTV, a panel van and a school bus in the parking lot of the vet clinic. It looks like the other group had good luck. Several of the engineers were busy moving boxes from one vehicle to another. Mike was on the roof. He waved at Jackson as he parked the Humvee.
Valhalla
“Where the fuck is my Humvee?” Thor asked Joe.
“Someone else walked into the ambush before the military guys,” Joe answered quickly. He knew his answers better be right.
“Who, who the hell else sprung your trap?” He emphasized the word your.
“I don’t know. There were five of them, three guys, and two women.” He whistled. Poncho Villa dragged the two girls into the room.
Thor could see the fresh bruises on the older woman’s face. Both were sobbing quietly.
“We killed the guys and grabbed these two. You know, for you;” he added.
“Where is Ivan?” he asked, referring to the ex-Spetsnaz soldier.
“He get shot in the head,” Poncho Villa answered in his thick accent. “Everyone else make it back ok.”
Thor’s anger began to subside as he looked over the prizes his soldiers had brought him. He walked to the younger one. Nice, he thought. She was early 20’s, brown shoulder length hair. Her body told him she was athletic. He pictured her as a college soccer player, although he could be far off. He noticed the dried blood on her hands.
“What’s this?” he asked in a soft voice.
“Blood,” she said quietly.
“It’s not yours I hope,” he said.
“No, it’s Steve’s.” The tears flowed down her face, streaking through the dirt and grime.
“I’m sorry. Were you close?”
She wiped the tears from her eyes. “He’s my baby brother,” she growled just before she spat in his face.
Thor had seen this before. He knew how to break a woman like this. He grabbed a handful of hair in his left hand. He punched her solidly on the left cheek. The swelling and discoloration began before the girl hit the ground.
He jerked her up again by her hair. She let out a shriek. Once her feet were firmly under her, he jerked her head back, exposing her neck. He wrapped his massive hand around her neck as he whispered into her ear.
“This is your only warning. The next time you do that, I will cut off a finger.” He let go of her neck and drew a huge knife.
“Do I have to tell you what happens the third time you fuck up?” He stroked the sharp edge along the left side of her neck. She could feel the razor sharp edge slicing into her skin.
“No,” she sobbed.
“Get these two cleaned up,” he ordered Poncho Villa. “I expect to see them looking presentable when they’re serving dinner.” The big Mexican led the girls out of the room.
“You,” he pointed to Joe. “Get the fuck back out there and find out what’s happening with the others.”
“Who can I take with me?”
“Take that little shit Leroy,” Thor answered. “Same as before; I’ll send a runner after dinner.” Joe turned on his heels and walked quickly from the room.
The Vet Clinic
“Kidnapped,” barked SSgt Brown. “What do you mean kidnapped?”
“That’s what he said,” Theresa responded. The rest of the adults, except for Mrs. Arrington and Mike, stood in a small circle. She had just told them what had happened: The zombie attack, the dead bodies, Steve, and his allegations.
“Jackson, anything you’d like to add to Theresa’s report?”
The soldier shifted his weight nervously.
“Yeah,” he finally said. “There was a body that didn’t seem to fit with this Steve guy’s group: Black cargo pants, black tee-shirt, high-and-tight, in good shape.” He looked at the group. A couple of the engineers traded worried glances at each other. “Guy looked like a merc. If not a merc, he was definitely ex-military.”
“Shit,” SSgt Brown mumbled. “This isn’t good. Anything else you can add Jackson?”
“Yeah,” he said looking at the ground. “His buddies policed up his weapon and equipment.” He looked at the civilians. “I don’t think he’s the only ex-military guy with them. If these guys come gunning for us, we’re gonna be in trouble.”
They began trading nervous glances. The question was obvious. What now?
Sgt Procell was the first to speak up. “Ok, we were planning on getting the hell out of here anyway. We got plenty of everything but gas. I say we leave. I say we leave right now.”
“What about those girls?” asked Theresa.
“What are you talking about?” Pvt Williams asked. “We don’t know anything about any girls.” He shook his head in disgust. “All we know is some dude and his buddies got shot up and he said something about a sister we don’t even know exists.”
“He seemed pretty upset when he told us about her,” Jackson added quietly.
“What about the other two?” asked Jen.
“We don’t know who they are or where they are,” Sgt Procell interjected. “You’re not really suggesting we hang around here and go traipsing through the woods looking for phantom survivors?”
“And your answer is ‘to hell with everybody else’?” Jen asked, the anger rising in her voice.
“No,” replied Sgt Procell. “I don’t mind helping people, but this is crazy. We don’t know who’s who. We don’t know why that merc hit those folks.” He looked at Mr. Love. “We’re responsible for those kids. You want to throw them in the middle of this?”
“No,” Mr. Love said curtly.
“And you,” he pointed at Jen. “How long do you think these medical supplies are gonna last if we get into a shoot-out with a bunch of bad guys?” He spoke directly to SSgt Brown: “This is going to end badly, and we are going to lose people. How many of us are you willing to sacrifice for a rumor?”
No one spoke for several minutes. The young NCO had hit a nerve with his last statement. How many of this new family were expendable? How many should die to save a couple of strangers?
“I don’t know,” SSgt Brown replied quietly. He looked around the room. He saw the faces of people he’d grown to care for. Some had saved his life. He’d had to save others. He realized it was more than caring. He loved these people. They were the closest thing to a family he had left. He didn’t want to see any of them hurt.
He looked each one in the eye. He could see the pain, the sadness, the anger, in all of their eyes. Then his eyes fell on Theresa. The 14 year old girl’s eyes had something different in them. It wasn’t anger or sadness. He’d seen the look before. She was pleading with him. It was the same look the wounded give to a medic or buddy on the battle field right before they started crying out for mamma. It was the look his mother had given the doctors when his father was in the ICU. Don’t let this happen, their eyes said.
“We’re going after them,” he announced.
Several of the engineers groaned.
“If it were one of you, I’d expect someone to pull your asses out of the fire if I was gone,” he barked at them. “Let’s not forget who stuck their necks out to save your asses. It would have been real easy to drive by that church and leave you to rot. Now, you Screaming Eagles get to put a little back in the old karma bank.” He looked at the rest of the group.
“Teachers and kids are stayin’ here. Soldiers are going. The rest of you are we
lcome to come along if you want.”
Theresa, Jen, and Kerry all raised their hands in unison. “I’ll speak for Mike,” Jen added. “He’s in. So, I guess we’re all in.”
“Ok,” he said with a smile. “Sgt Procell and Jackson stay here. Everyone else help get the supplies cross loaded. Keep the Humvee empty for now.”
Jen climbed the ladder to the roof. Mike didn’t look at her.
“Hey Mike,” she said.
“Jen,” he answered.
“They found more survivors.”
“So did I.” he said quietly.
“What,” she asked. “How did you find somebody?”
“Don’t make it obvious, but look between those two pine trees just left of the little dirt trail. There’s a black guy and a white guy.”
She walked along the edge of the roof, trying not to be too obvious. There, there they were, about 200 yards away. They were hidden pretty well, but she could see them now that Mike had told her what to look for and where to look. Wait, the black guy, what was he wearing? All black. Shit!
“Mike, I think we have a problem.” She continued to tell him about the Jackson and Theresa’s experience.
“You think these may be the same guys?” he asked her.
“I don’t know. How long have they been there?”
“About an hour,” he replied. “They’ve just been sitting there watching.”
“I need to tell Sergeant Brown,” she said as she headed down the ladder.
“So, how do we play this?” asked Sgt Procell.
“Well, we don’t know where these guys are from,” replied the cavalry NCO. “We don’t know how many of them there are. We do know they have eyes on us, and you can bet they know that much about us. We need to get some intel.” He looked at the assembled soldiers
“We need to set this place up for defense without them knowing they’ve been blown.” He looked to Sgt Procell. “Get some help fortifying the reception area. If they actually hit us, it’ll be through there. We need to get an OP out. When the sun goes down, get someone on it. Jackson and I are going to see if we can do some snooping.”