by Mike Fosen
“Fuck me!”
All too soon the bombardment stopped and Griffin waved again with a huge shit-eating grin we couldn’t help but see as everyone watching burst into cheers and whoops of joy. The entire populace of the safe zone was on their feet now, clapping and waving at the airmen as they turned south and sped off on their way towards Springfield, at what Stephen remarked would be their cruising speed of 170 miles an hour. As the Blackhawk shrank into the distance, I looked over at Stephen, who had the appearance of someone who’d just had a religious experience.
“You should close your mouth, you might swallow a bug.”
Stephen blinked and shut his mouth with an audible click of his teeth.
“I can die happy now,” he said. “Excuse me while I go change my boxers.”
I laughed long and hard and clapped him on his back. “Come on bro, we are due for perimeter duty anyway. Let’s go grab our gear.”
For the next four hours I had to listen to him replay the mini-gun incident over and over.
26
September 10
Day 16
Not too long after the excitement of the helicopter visit, the monotony of daily life returned, along with the added stress of Councilman Lewis. First there was a rumor, spread by Sgt. Henderson, that the National Guard was going to make a sweep of the area and would be dropping off a fresh load of supplies, but they never showed up. This caused a major crash in safe zone morale. He also again began to flex his muscle and tighten his grip on power, playing favorites with rationing and luxury items. He was also increasingly stingy with the weapons. In a gesture of goodwill, Stephen and I did eventually agree to let some of our own reserve firearms be distributed to the guards. I observed that contact with the random infected increased by the day and that the guns were going to be needed to help secure the perimeter. Stephen even donated some of his food supplies to the safe zone to help balance out the meal selection. Included in this was his stash of multi-vitamins that he demanded be saved for the kids.
The new security measures my group suggested made the security portion of the safe zone run much smoother. The wall of crushed vehicles had been reinforced and several shooting platforms had been erected; however, much work still needed to be done. Councilman Lewis in his stubbornness continuously failed to implement supply runs on a daily basis, seeming convinced that somehow the Federal government would take care of things. Robert had gone out on a couple of unsanctioned runs with a few guards and had very good results, securing food, fuel, generators and weapons for the safe zone. We stayed out of it for political reasons and focused our energies on security instead. Lewis seemed annoyed at the group’s success and again harped on the fact that they needed to follow his instructions and wait on the government for help.
One of the other excuses Councilman Lewis publicly used for shying away from more supply runs was that he’d recently sent out a truck on a raid that went bad. There had been an outcry over a shortage of baby formula, and Lewis eventually relented. What he didn’t mention to the rest of the safe zone was that he’d armed the crew with only one bolt action rifle and a pair of .38 revolvers. The truck never made it back in the two-hour timeframe it was given. When a plume of smoke was spotted in the distance, we jumped into the ambulance and went to investigate. Once again we had to argue with the gate guard because we didn’t have clearance to leave. Only with the threat that I would ram it did he relent. When we arrived at the source of the smoke we found the still burning truck along with dozens of undead milling around. It appeared that their ranks had increased by three, as we could see the driver and two passengers stumbling after us, obviously infected. Dan did manage to scoop up several cans of formula which made him an instant hero to a certain segment of the safe zone’s population.
That morning Dan had an odd request that he needed help with. It had come to his attention that several young mothers were quickly running out of diapers for their babies.
“I find it hard to believe that you are asking me to go on a raid with you for baby diapers with a straight face,” I chided my buddy, “all while you are wearing that stupid t-shirt with the outline of a stripper on the front and the words ‘I support single moms’ written on the back.”
“I’ll admit I have a soft spot for hard-up women,” Dan admitted, “and that I’m ‘talking’ to three or four of them that don’t know about each other, but it’s a valid problem. And there are a couple of drug stores only blocks away. It will be a quick operation, in and out.”
“Well,” I relented, “we will catch hell from that asshole Lewis, but I’m about sick of his shit anyways. Let’s do it!”
“Chris and I are both in,” Stephen told me after hearing of our plans. “I’m tired of being cooped up in this old high school. It’s starting to feel like my freshman year all over again.”
“What, still no action with the ladies, Stephen?” Dan joked. “Just like high school?”
Robert was manning the gate for the morning so it would be an easy in, easy out deal. Guards were reporting heavier than normal contact on the southern wall, and Robert told us to be safe and make it as quick as possible.
“Well, if all the shooting is going on to the south, then I’m glad we are pulling out from the north,” I joked as we left the gate in the ambulance with me behind the wheel.
Sure enough, there were a couple of pharmacies close by, and although previously raided, the looters had spared the disposable diapers. Although each location was occupied by several dozen zombies, their presence was no match for our combined firepower.
“We made that look easy,” Stephen commented as he let the last zombie, a large male in blood soaked blue coveralls, get close enough to allow a head shot from point blank range with his M9 pistol.
“We should have enough to keep all your baby mamas in diapers for a while,” I joked as Dan loaded up the last case.
“It’s a rough job but somebody’s got to do it,” he replied with a wink.
“Stephen!” Chris yelled. “Quit playing around out there! Get your ass in the truck, it’s time to go!”
“Roger that,” Stephen replied back as I put the ambulance into gear, hoping to return the favor for all the times Stephen nearly left me behind.
When we returned to the safe zone, we heard the loud cracks of sustained gunfire erupting from the south.
“Glad you’re back,” Robert said upon our arrival. “We had a very large group of zombies hit after you left. We haven’t seen anything like it yet. We could use your help on the wall.”
“We’ll get right on it,” I replied, and drove the ambulance directly to the sound of the battle.
Pulling right up to the wall once reaching the southeast corner of the safe zone, we hooked up with Mattie in the heat of the battle. She stood on an elevated platform that allowed a terrifying view down into a large mass of hundreds of savage zombies who were hitting the wall with their dirt and gore stained hands. Whipping her hair back from her face with an angry shake of her head, she began giving me hell as I climbed up to her.
“Don’t you dare leave me here with these idiots ever again!” she yelled, blasting a zombie in the face without missing a beat and still giving me the evil eye.
She replaced an empty magazine with a fresh one and resumed firing into the horde with remarkable efficiency.
“It won’t happen again,” I said loudly over the chorus of gunfire.
My apology was lost in the thunder of my group’s added firepower as we unleashed carnage among the enemy. Stephen, Dan and Chris climbed onto the roof of the ambulance and opened up with their rifles. The added AR-15’s made a considerable dent into the horde in mere minutes. Besides the ones owned by our group, there were only a few others in the entire safe zone. Stephen attributed this to the fact that most of the guns had been picked up by survivors, and most AR-15 owners were probably still alive and using them elsewhere. His science had no proof of actual numbers to back it up, but it was hard to disagree with the result
s we were now seeing. We were again turning the tide back in our favor.
Shortly after, and with a few zombies left remaining, I called for a cease fire. The gunfire trickled to a halt, and the guards looked at me confused, for there were still zombies to be killed. To show them that they could kill without wasting precious ammo at times, I grabbed my bat from the ambulance, hopped down onto the other side of the vehicle wall and headed for the few remaining zombies that turned and came my way. The few guards on the wall stared as if I had grown a second head.
“You see, guys, you don’t always need a gun to kill these things,” I said, bashing the first zombie to reach me in the melon. “In fact, this is actually quite fun.”
The second critter went down after another swing of the bat slammed into its head, snapping the infected bastard’s neck at impact.
“Move aside assholes...” I heard Dan growl.
He leapt down from the hood of a car that topped the makeshift barrier with a shovel in his hands, and joined in. Together we made short work of the remaining zombies and hopped back onto our vehicle wall.
I saw Jack walk my way shaking his head in disbelief.
“You’re one crazy bastard, Mike, but I will make all guards from now on carry a blunt weapon of some type,” he said with a weary grin. “We can raid the school sports equipment room of all their baseball bats.”
“Good idea, but you have a bigger problem,” I replied. “I was told by Mattie that some of your guys ran away from the battle after it started.”
Jack’s face twisted in a grimace when I said this.
“I’m well aware of what happened, and it’ll be addressed immediately,” he said, patting me on the shoulder while walking off looking for the deserters. “They all have an excuse, I’m sure. This was by far our biggest engagement yet.”
Climbing back over the wall, I noticed the young reporter, Troy Lundell, standing nearby. He was talking to a young girl who had captured the small battle on her video camera. I wanted to ask him a question, and after what happened here today now might be a good time if I caught him alone.
“Hey guys,” I said as I walked up to Stephen and Chris, who were standing nearby, “take the ambulance back and help Dan unload those diapers. Then let’s grab some chow and rendezvous back at the ambulance for a meeting. I think we need to go over a few things.”
As they walked over to the ambulance, I saw Mattie sitting on a vehicle’s trunk with her knees pulled up to her chest.
“Hey, Mattie…are you alright?” I asked.
“He was just a kid,” she whispered.
Looking around, not seeing a kid, I asked what she meant.
“The first one I shot before you got back. He was just a kid,” she said, looking at me with tears in her eyes.
“Damn…sorry girl, but these creatures are not human anymore,” I replied softly. “He would have killed you without any remorse. No more than stepping on a bug.”
“I know that, but it still fucks with your head, you know?”
Putting my arm around her shoulder, I told her not to hold it in. “Let it out, girl, or it will eat you up from the inside.”
Mattie laid her head into my chest and cried quietly for a few minutes.
She lifted her head and wiped her eyes. “I’m okay now. Don’t tell the others I broke down please.”
“You might be surprised, but I bet everyone here has broken down since this shit started at some point.”
“Even you?” she asked in disbelief.
“No, I haven’t yet, but then again I’m an asshole,” I said with an expressionless face. “Now go help Dan! He has some diapers to hand out.”
This earned a chuckle, and Mattie punched me playfully on my arm before she left me. I watched her shapely figure waltz away, really enjoying the sight, and suddenly had the feeling that I was not the only one watching. I looked over and caught Troy staring as well. We made eye contact and shared a brief chuckle. I invited Troy to join me for some grub, and in the cafeteria over large plates of spaghetti and meatballs, Troy relayed how he had just graduated from this very high school in May and was supposed to start college this fall.
“Now that won’t ever happen,” he concluded with a look of regret.
He told me how he had interned at the radio station every summer for the last four years and basically took over the job of reporting at the safe zone after the original reporter had a nervous breakdown shortly after he arrived with the van. The guy had lost his entire family and simply lost it, jumping off the roof of the school, killing himself. Troy said that many others did the same thing over the next few days. Finally I was able to get to the question I had been wondering about.
“What are ya hearing from the outside world?” I asked between mouthfuls of food. “Lewis keeps us in the dark as to what he’s hearing from the military and such.”
I was hoping that he could confirm what the crewman from the helicopter had said regarding what was happening outside our walls.
“Well, the last few days the radio has been all static,” Troy replied after a pause. “I was getting news from the AP wire, and that was all bad. Safe zones were falling all over the country. Military installations being overrun and entire units wiped out around major cities. Big cities would be a bad place to be during regular riots, but this was far worse. I can’t imagine the atrocities being committed by some of the survivors, who are desperate to live. Also, some of the last reports were that the plague had gone worldwide. The government was trying to hold the CDC in Atlanta at all costs, along with several military bases on the coast. They also have to contend with desertion as soldiers leave to go check on their own families.”
Troy looked around and then continued, “Lewis ordered me not to report any of this, but the day before yesterday the AP wire went dead, and now there’s nothing. I still broadcast out to help guide in survivors, but I don’t even know if anyone is listening.”
I just nodded and took in all of the information. I asked a few more questions as we finished our dinner and then Troy stood, saying that he needed to check on his girlfriend and prepare for the afternoon broadcast.
It was now time for our afternoon group meeting and inside the ambulance, which was cramped but secure, I found Stephen, Mattie, Dan and Chris patiently waiting.
“What’s up?” Chris asked as I walked in.
“I don’t like how this fight went today,” I started. “Mattie informed me that several of the guards ran off once the fighting started. They don’t fight as a group, and they lack firepower.”
“I agree,” Stephen said. “It wasn’t encouraging to see. Plus they haven’t had too many additional people with spare weapons show up.”
“They also haven’t had but a few successful supply runs,” Chris added. “I swear they must go hide around the block and come right back.”
“When Lewis even lets them go,” Dan chimed in.
I relayed the information that I just learned from Troy and looked around at each of their faces as I spoke. I was met by a mixture of apprehension and determination, which I was happy to see. Finally finished, I asked Stephen about our current weapons situation. Stephen drew it out on a marker board we had on the wall, allowing everyone to see.
Mike – Colt M4, Mossberg 500 12ga, Glock 17, Colt 1911.
Dan – Suppressed AR-15, Springfield TRP 1911, Glock 21
Chris – S&W AR-15, 870 12ga, Beretta M9
Mattie – Bushmaster AR-15, Glock 17
Stephen – 3 various AR-15’s, Springfield M1A, Mossberg 590 12ga, Beretta M9, Springfield 1911, SIG 220, and 229.
Ammo – 6500 5.56, 400 combined 12ga shells, 3000 9mm, 1800 .45 and 900 .308.
“We gave a lot to the guards,” Stephen said as he finished writing, “and have been doing a shit ton of shooting.”
“It’s a good thing I like my knives and bat,” I joked. “We might run out of rounds someday. I think it is time we sent someone to secure our fallback location, the prison. Whoever we sen
d needs to secure it for the rest of us and prepare it for our arrival.”
Dan raised his hand. “I’ll go,” he offered. “I need to get some fresh air anyways.”
“It’s more like he needs to get away from all the angry women here at the compound,” Chris said with a laugh. “A few of his baby mamas found out about each other while we were handing out those diapers.”
Dan shot him a dirty look as Chris volunteered to go with Dan.
“I don’t trust that councilman,” Chris said emphatically. ”They’ve been staying out of our way as of late, but him and Sgt. Henderson are total losers.”
“We all agree on that,” Stephen remarked.
So there it was. Dan and Chris would leave as soon as we exited the ambulance. They would take Stephen’s dog with them, in case things went south here in a hurry. He was already in hiding out of sight in the bus, sleeping under the seat. There was no reason to delay. In order to make it look good so the safe zone refugees would not freak out when a bus and truck both loaded with supplies left, we decided to stage a little fake fight. Stephen cracked open the back doors, apologized to Dan quietly, then growled in fake rage and boldly threw him from the back of the ambulance. The rest of us pretended to hold Stephen back from continuing the fight. Chris got out, attempting to hold Dan back.
“If you don’t like how things are being handled here, Dan, you can just fucking leave!” Stephen yelled.