Jimmy and I passed the time talking and taking turns running to the kitchen for coffee refills. We were to be relieved at six a.m., and the sun was peeking over the eastern horizon when Lex gave out with a low growl. Jimmy frowned and grabbed his binoculars. We were both facing west toward Clovis, and Jimmy’s visible alarm inspired me to find my own binoculars. I focused them on the town and saw nothing. I was about to ask him what he saw when he grabbed my arm.
“Right down there, at the base of the hill,” he whispered while pointing.
I redirected my focus to where he was pointing and observed a horde of infected, maybe three hundred strong. They were running straight at our hill at top speed. I had seen the infected act like this before, but it had always been when they were hunting something. Dogs were often a target. The animals had always sought human company, and thousands of them died in our area because they could not recognize the change in the Ragers minds. Lex had been intelligent enough to realize some humans were now best left alone until he encountered us.
I kept changing the direction of my binoculars, looking for a fleeing dog or cat. The land on the slope of the hill leading up to us was undulated and rippling with some parts lower than others. This served to keep certain parts of the hillside out of our line of sight. I was still searching the area in front of the running horde when I caught movement coming up over a low hill.
“Jimmy…people.” I pointed without taking the binoculars from my eyes. “About a hundred yards in front of that pack.”
Jimmy turned to where I was pointing. “I see ‘em.” He sighed. “This ain’t good, Virgil.”
As the people came closer, I could see it was a man and a woman. The man was holding a baby against his chest as he ran. “Oh, crap, Jimmy, they have a baby with them.”
“Yeah, I see. You’d better wake your Dad.”
I snatched the walkie off the guard table and keyed the mike. “Pops, you read? Code ten, I repeat code ten.”
His sleep-tinted voice came back almost immediately. “I read you; I’ll wake the others.”
Three minutes later Pops showed up with his hair still showing the effects of his pillow. He had his rifle and vest with him. The others started filing out of the house behind him.
I handed Pops my binoculars and pointed. He watched the scene before him and swore quietly. He looked at the Major who had just jogged up along with Emma. He handed the former Army officer my binoculars and showed him where to look.
The Major looked through the glasses and back at Pops. “Your call, Dan. If we help them out, we might expose ourselves, not just to the horde but to the gang down there and probably that new group, too.” He rubbed his face and shook his head. “Three people against the lives of sixteen. Seventeen if you count that girl we brought up here.”
Pops didn’t hesitate. “They have a baby,” he said as if that fact settled the matter.
Jaime and Myrna arrived at the gate. The running people were now close enough to be seen without the binoculars. Myrna caught sight of them and gasped. Jaime put a comforting arm around her.
Pops waved everyone over, and we gathered around.
“They won’t make it at this rate. They look exhausted and are slowing down as we speak. Virgil and I will take the quads and get them. The quads are loud, and they will definitely entice the Ragers to follow them up here to us. They might also be heard by those idiots down in the town.” He took a deep breath and sighed loudly. “I can’t stand by and watch those people get torn apart. I might have to think about it more if it were just the two adults, but I’m not about to allow that horde to savage a baby.”
He paused to look back over the top of the wall to see how close the horde was to the family. He turned back to us. “That means we will probably be giving away our location to people below who want to kill us. If that happens, I won’t think less of anyone who thinks their best course of action is to take a truck and head out through the back trail. You can take all the food and ammunition you think you’ll need.” He turned away then, showing he was through talking about it. He peeked over the wall again and looked at me. “Virgil, can you get the quads started?”
“I’m on it,” I said over my shoulder as I was already heading for the garage.
We had five four-wheel-drive, off-road quads. Pops and I had spent a lot of good times together using them to explore our property. They could go anywhere and rarely got bogged down or stuck. They had two shortcomings for a situation such as we now had. One, they were loud. Very loud. Two, they only had room for the driver and one passenger.
I threw up the door to the last pod in our garage. The quads were already pointed outward, and I hopped on the best one we had and my fingers searched for the key. It wasn’t in the ignition, so I jumped off and ran to the big metal key box on the wall, opened it and found the two keys I needed. Running back over, I jammed the key into the first quad and twisted it, praying the batteries were still holding a charge.
The quad’s starter dragged lazily. I turned it back to ‘off’ and used my legs to push the vehicle forward a few feet. It was a trick I had used with this quad a few times before. I didn’t know why but it always seemed to help it start. I stopped pushing and twisted the key again. The starter continued to drag, but the engine abruptly sputtered into life, punishing my ears. I rode it out to the gate and ran back for the other one. The second quad started quickly with no problems, and I steered that one out and parked it by the first.
Pops had been in the house again, and he came back out just as I arrived. Sharon was walking next to him, and they were saying something to each other that I couldn’t hear because of the whine of the two vehicles. They reached the quads and Pops leaned over and kissed her. It wasn’t just a quick peck on the cheek, either, it was a full-grown ‘I love you’ type of kiss.
“Turn your light on and stay right next to me,” Pops yelled to me over the engines.
I nodded and slung my rifle over my back. I noticed that someone had partially opened the front gate. I looked around and saw that the other gates, at least the ones I could see were now totally closed.
Pops swung his leg over the quad, gunned the engine, switched on his light and sped out of the gate with his tires throwing up dirt behind him. I was right on his tail.
We followed the road leading down the hill until we reached a point that was directly above the fleeing family. Pops then turned the handlebars, and we started bouncing our way downward. The topography was not that rough, mostly gentle waves of grass, but there were enough rocks and holes to keep us on our toes. A crash could have deadly consequences for all of us.
Pops flew over a small rise in the dirt and went several feet in the air before crashing back down on four wheels. I followed him and was impressed by my old man’s ability to control his ride. He didn’t slow down for anything.
The sun was entirely over the horizon now, and our visibility had increased a lot even though it was still dim. The three people were now only twenty-five yards in front of the horde, and I could hear the grunts, moans, and growls of the infected over the roar of my vehicle’s engine. The two uninfected adults had heard us, and their faces reflected shock and hope. The man now was holding his baby with one hand while using the other one to pull his wife along. Both were visibly exhausted. I saw his mouth open but couldn’t hear what he was shouting.
Pops shot by the man and executed an impressive sliding U-turn, then came up beside him with the quad now pointing up the hill. I did the same on the other side. No words were needed. The man slid behind Pops while cradling the baby close to his body. The woman tried once to throw her leg over the saddle behind me, but she was just too tired. She was ready to try again, but I wasn’t happy with the distance that was now between us and the infected. I hopped off, gathered her up in both arms and plopped her down on the saddle. I then hopped in front of her and gunned my engine.
The woman screamed as one of the Ragers reached us just as we sped off. The sickened man had managed t
o grab hold of her sweater, and a piece of it came off in his hand. I could hear his enraged sounds of disappointment as we left him behind and shot up towards the gate at maximum speed.
I came through the gate about thirty seconds after Pops arrived. Jimmy was waiting for us, and he rolled the main gate shut as soon as I came through. I braked hard, and the quad skidded a few feet while throwing up a dust cloud.
Sharon was there immediately. She helped the woman from the saddle and into the house with Emma carrying the squealing baby behind them. The man was taken to one of the chairs we kept outside for the sentries to use. He was sitting down and chugging a bottle of water as I walked up.
Pops saw me and held up a fist. I gave him a fist bump, enjoying his wordless praise. Pepper appeared at my side and hugged me. I hugged her back and couldn’t resist kissing her. Toni, her mother, was helping Emma with the baby and she noticed us. I gritted my teeth for a moment but was relieved to see her smile at me.
I took a quick look around me. Everyone still seemed to be there. Pepper, reading my thoughts, shook her head.
“No one left. We all agreed we’re seeing this thing through to the end.”
That was good news, but I didn’t have any time to digest it because the Major and Buck came out of the cargo ramp carrying a long box between them. They laid it on the ground, and the Major shouted to us.
“Everyone over here, quickly please.”
We complied except for Sharon, Toni, and Pops. Pops was talking to the man, and Toni was hustling the baby inside the house, and I guessed she was on her way to taking care of the two Morrison boys as well. Sharon was apparently attending to the exhausted woman.
The Major helped Buck lift the wooden top off of the crate and reached in, withdrawing a slim, black rifle. “This,” he said while holding the weapon over his head, “is a Ruger model 10/22. It fires the .22 Long Rifle bullet. That round is quiet and inexpensive. We have magazines for this rifle that are both fifty and one hundred round capacity.
“People, we don’t want to use up our more effective ammunition if we don’t have to. These rifles will get the job done on the infected when they get close enough, and we have enough .22 ammo to last us, our kids and our grandkids without running short.”
He held up a finger as he shuffled over to gaze over the top of the wall. “They will be within range of us in about ten minutes unless they lose interest and we all know that’s not gonna happen. It looks like they are all heading for the west wall and the main gate. That’s good because it will let us concentrate our defenses there.”
Buck held up his hand, and the Major nodded at him.
“Major, I know this is a longshot but…we don’t know these people that brought the infected to our door.” He pointed over to where Pops was still questioning the man. “Is it possible this could be a feint, luring the horde up the hill while someone else, someone uninfected and not very happy with us sneaks up the back side?”
The Major frowned and rubbed at his chin with one hand. “Good catch, Buck.” He looked at the rest of us. “I need two volunteers to keep watch on the east wall and make sure no one surprises us.”
Jaime, Myrna, and Pepper all raised their hands. The Major pointed in their direction. “Myrna and Pepper, that’s on you. If you see anything at all out there don’t try to figure it out, give me a shout on the walkie.” He held up one of the radios and Pepper took it from him. I was a little disappointed that we would be in separate places during this fight, but I knew we all had to do our part where we were most valuable, and Pepper had no fighting experience. Neither did Myrna.
“Now everyone grab one of these rifles and find a place at the wall. Buck and I will bring out more Rugers as well as the mags and ammunition in a second.” He looked in my direction. “Virgil, we could use your help with that. Jimmy, you too, please.” He started to leave then thought of something. “Also, we have rigged all of these rifles so they can shoot in fully automatic mode but be careful, they can overheat pretty quick so don’t switch them over to full auto unless the situation calls for it. And be sure to keep your M4s close to you in case the twenty-twos aren’t getting the job done. That’s all I have. Good luck.”
And with that he stalked off toward the cargo ramp with me, Buck and Jimmy trotting closely behind. We followed him to the armory, and Buck found a rolling cart which we loaded with a second wooden box containing more Rugers. Another wagon held piles of loaded magazines for the twenty-two rifles. I was fascinated with the prospects of the rifles having been altered to fire in full auto. The first rifle I had ever shot was a Ruger 10/22, and it had always been one of my favorites. I’d seen videos on the internet showing the guns going full auto and always thought it would be fun to use them in that mode.
We filled up the carts and Jimmy, and I wheeled it up the ramp and onto the concrete surface of our compound. We went from person to person dropping off the magazines and giving pointers on the operation of the rifles. Then I went back down for another load. In all I made three more trips then ended up standing on a chair, resting the barrel of my Ruger on the lip of the defensive wall around the stronghold. My finger found the little button that our gunsmiths had installed on the twenty-two rifle, and I itched to slip it up into full-auto fire mode. My M4 was still on my back, and I had an additional six mags for it in my vest just in case the lighter bullets weren’t up to the task.
The horde was growing closer after I took my place at the wall. They were now only twenty yards or so away. Some were stronger than the others, and those were closer still. ensured the after-market selector switch was on single shot and lined up the green dot on my optic sights. I put the dot on the forehead of one of the closer Ragers and squeezed the trigger. I heard the unmistakable snap of a .22 going off and glimpsed my target doing a nose dive onto the surface of our driveway outside of the wall. It was so easy. The little rifle had almost no recoil at all, and I quickly lined up another shot as the others around me joined in. The sound reminded me of the time I was in San Francisco for the Chinese New Year celebration. The popping of fireworks was very similar sounding to the reports from the Rugers.
Ragers started falling in droves. We had ten people steadily pouring bullets into the attacking flock of infected. They took no pains to avoid us or even to duck; they just kept pushing their way forward, their only concern being to reach us and kill us. This was not the first time I had marveled at their ability to discern uninfected people from the infected. It was like they had some kind of sixth sense about it. Whatever it was that drove them to such hatred for the survivors of the plague it held power over them to the exclusion of all else, even self-preservation.
Emma and Kent were on our extreme southern flank while Jaime and Gayle protected the north, but very few of the crazies were arcing around us to the sides. Their natural urge seemed to be to clump up in a big knot and throw themselves at their prey. As a result, the Major started gesturing until Emma and Jaime left their positions on the flanks and sidestepped their ways more to the center.
Even with their added firepower, some of the infected were reaching the wall and slogging up the earthen slope, trying to catch the rim and vault themselves over. Though their minds had rotted from the effects of the disease, their bodies had not. We were making shots on our attackers, but the .22 bullets were not causing enough damage to their systems to cause them to shut down unless we scored a hit on their hearts or their brainpans.
I wasn’t surprised when Pops opened up on the horde in full-auto. Most of us followed his example immediately, including Buck and the Major. The hurricane of small bullets slammed into the infected mass like a flurry of wasps from a disturbed nest.
The effect was mesmerizing as what remained of the main body of attacking infected quickly fell beneath the onslaught. There a brief silence punctuated with the sounds of our people dropping empty magazines and slamming new ones into rifle magazine wells. I switched my Ruger back to semi-auto and started searching out the Ragers who were
still standing. It sounded like a few others were still shooting on full auto while others were copying me.
Then there was more extended silence of a sort. There were no more shots fired and no more infected on their feet. But that didn’t mean all of them were dead. A considerable number were alive but unable to stand, and they were emitting a range of sounds that went from growls to whimpers. It was the whimpers that gnawed at my soul.
I was ecstatic that we had prevailed in the attack though we were never really in any danger of being overrun. Even in my relieved euphoria, however, I was repulsed by the reality of dozens of men women and (worse) children lying at our doorstep and going through different stages of dying. The sounds cut through me to my core. The whimpers were now being joined by sobs reminding us that, underneath the coarse veneer of madness, they were real human beings. I stepped down from my shooting perch and leaned with my back against the wall. I wanted to plug my fingers into my ears but resisted the urge.
Pops stepped down off of the bench on which he had been standing and walked over to the man we had rescued. I was surprised when the man stood, and I noticed the handcuffs.
The Major came over and whispered something in Jimmy’s ear. Jimmy nodded and took the rescued man by the arm and led him into the house. Pops and the Major, now joined by Buck and Emma were back at the main gate on the west side of the compound. They were all standing on the benches we had constructed to see over the wall so they could see the small town below.
Virgil's War- The Diseased World Page 24