by Bible, Jake
I’m being blamed for that too. Fuckers.
“Thoughts, Stanford?” Captain Leeds asks me, as we stand on a small hill overlooking the transfer station.
I’m very grateful he doesn’t call me Long Pork like everyone else. I picked up the unfortunate nickname from a canny girl I rescued. Elsbeth. Badass. You do not piss Elsbeth off. She called me Long Pork first and everyone else joined in. Really kinda sucks. You know why? Because long pork is a euphemism for human meat. It’s what’s for canny dinner! Long pork: the other white meat. And black meat. And yellow meat, brown meat, red meat. My actual name is Jason Stanford, but I prefer Jace.
“Oh, I have lots of thoughts, Captain,” I say, looking at the pipes and equipment before me. “But none useful. I don’t know shit about natural gas lines.”
“Critter?” Leeds asks, turning to the older, lanky, wiry man next to us. “Any experience?”
“None, I’m afraid,” Critter says as he unceremoniously scratches his nuts. “Long Pork done fucked this shit up. We’re gonna need an expert on this one.”
“Don’t happen to have one back at your holler, do you?” Leeds asks. “Maybe one of your gambling customers or inebriates?”
“I don’t call them customers,” Critter says. “I prefer suckers. No need to mince words during the apocalypse.”
“Fair enough,” Leeds smiles. “Would one of those suckers know about natural gas?”
“Possibly,” Critter shrugs, studying the station, “but I wouldn’t know who. Maybe we should get inside and see if there is some switch we can hit. Could be simple as that.”
“I wish,” I say. “Nothing’s ever as simple as that.”
“Usually is for me,” Critter smiles. “But then I avoid all the hard shit. Narrows down my options, right quick.”
“That’s one way to go through life,” Leeds smirks.
Captain Walt Leeds is the commanding officer for ODA Cobra, a US Army Special Forces team out of Fort Bragg that was on a training exercise when Z-Day hit. They stayed alive and hidden during the entire apocalypse, until they met up with me. Two of Leeds men, Weapons Sergeant Danny “Stick” Kim, and Engineer Sergeant Dale “Cob” Corning, were killed helping save my ass in Whispering Pines. That is my fault. I take full responsibility for that. I will for the rest of my life.
“Boys,” Critter says, turning to a group of men standing off to the side. “How’s about you go down there and take care of those Zs? Get that gate open and we’ll be down shortly.”
The men, many of them looking like they could eat nails and like it, don’t even blink at the order Critter gives them. If they did, they wouldn’t last long. Not around Critter. He’s a good guy, don’t get me wrong, but he wasn’t exactly Mr. Morals before Z-Day. Now? Let’s just say he doesn’t have the time or patience for anyone that wants to waste his time or patience.
We watch as the men walk down the grassy hill towards the swarm of Zs that surround the transfer station. Did I mention the dead meat smell? Yeah, that’s not so good when the world is overrun by flesh-hungry undead. Since there’s no movement or sound inside the fence, the Zs don’t get all worked up. The smell just attracts them to the station and then they stand there, staring between the chain links, waiting.
Despite each of them having pistols holstered to their belts, the men use only melee weapons: crowbars, lengths of pipe, baseball bats, and machetes. I have my own baseball bat I have dubbed The Bitch. It used to be Elsbeth’s, but she gave it to me after I lost mine. We thought The Bitch was lost, but we found it in the rubble of Whispering Pines, its wood scorched a little, but still deadly as hell with the steel spikes driven through the end.
The men spread out, dividing up the swarm of Zs. It doesn’t take long for the things to realize fresh meat is behind them. One turns, then another, and finally all of them do, their rotting bodies stutter stepping their way towards the men. These aren’t fast Zs like in the later zombie movies pre-Z. These are the shambling kind. Slow and easy to pick off; they don’t get dangerous until there’s a bunch of them, or if you let your guard down and one sneaks up on you.
That’s not a problem for Critter’s men. These guys are pros. They’ve been killing Zs since Z-Day and they are damn fucking good at it. I watch as one of the men goes down on a knee, acting like he’s wounded. The entire swarm goes for him, seeing easy prey. Systematically, the others start to pick apart the swarm, smashing and piercing skulls in a deliberate pattern that divides the swarm into smaller, more manageable groups. Group by group the men whittle down the numbers until there are only a couple left, their teeth gnashing at the men closing on them.
I swear I almost see fear in those Z eyes, but that’s just the grey rot that clouds them. Zs are dead; there’s nothing there that knows fear, or happiness, or love, or loss. They are empty, flesh-eating monsters. Putting them down is a mercy; after all, they were human once.
“Clear,” one of the men calls out.
I look around immediately, worried the sound of his voice will bring more Zs, but after a few moments, it’s obvious we are alone in the area. For now.
“What the fuck?” another man says as he gets to the chain link gate. “This shit’s locked!”
“Now that’s curious,” Critter says as we walk down the hill, “who’d go and do a stupid thing like that?”
“That’s a very good question,” Leeds says, “I’d like an answer to it.”
“Maybe Vance locked it up before he died,” I say.
“You mean before you jammed a pick axe up in his skull?” Critter laughs. “Take credit when it’s due, boy. Don’t be ashamed of your accomplishments. They’re about all we have in this damn apocalypse.”
“Yeah, you’ve said that before,” I reply. “But I’m not proud of it. Killing Zs is one thing, but killing people? Even people that deserve it? That’s a little harder to stomach.”
“It should be,” Leeds says. “Taking a life is not a casual affair.”
Critter shrugs. “You two can hug it out later. How’s about we get inside this fence and see what we can see? Boys?”
One of the men produces a bolt cutter and slices right through the chain, sending the padlock falling to the pavement. They shove the gate open and we walk up to the concrete building that houses the controls for the transfer station. Windows rim the top of the walls in order to let some natural light inside, but other than that, it’s solid concrete with a steel door. Critter tries the handle, but it’s locked.
“Dammit, this shit is getting old,” Critter says. “Who’s got the bumps?”
One of the men steps forward with a ring of keys and a hammer. I tried actually learning their names once, but Critter frowned on that. He said he wanted his guys to be detached from the rest of us in case he had to kill us all. I’m about 75% sure he was kidding. The guy inserts a key then gives it a bump with the hammer as he turns it. After three tries, he’s able to get the door unlocked.
Unfortunately, he’s the first in line as Zs burst from the building, coming at us hard. The man falls to the ground, his throat opened by the jagged teeth of a Z wearing a Postal Service uniform. He screams and shoves the monster away, but it takes half of his neck with it, flaps of skin hanging from its teeth. Blood spurts and sprays everywhere, sending the rest of the Zs into a frenzy. We’ll have more on us soon; Zs can smell fresh blood a mile away.
“Fuck!” Critter yells as he decapitates a Z with his machete. The body falls one way, the head the other, its teeth still gnashing. Critter kicks the head aside; he’ll get to it later.
Leeds holds a collapsible steel baton with the end sharpened. He flicks it hard and it extends and locks into place. He dodges around one Z, then jams the business end of the baton through the eye of another. The thing stops moving and falls when Leeds pulls the baton free. He instantly spins about and dispatches the Z that he’d dodged. He drops to one knee and lets another Z tumble over him, coming up hard and flipping the thing ass over teakettle.
I’ve al
ways liked that saying. I need to ask my wife, Stella, where the saying comes from. She’s a teacher and would probably know.
“Jace!” Critter yells as three Zs come at me. “Get your head out of your ass!”
I sometimes space off. Even when Zs are trying to eat me. It’s a side effect of my way of thinking. I tend to get lost in my head, thoughts swirling everywhere.
But, I get it together and slam The Bitch into the skull of one Z, while I plant my foot against the belly of another. And my foot slips into its abdomen. The smell makes me gag and I struggle not to vomit when I pull my foot free. Rotted intestines are wrapped around my ankle. I pull The Bitch from the first Z and swing it around into the skull of Gutsy the Stinky Zombie. Half of his head caves in and he falls in a heap.
The third Z grabs my Bitch arm and is about to take a nice little chomp at it when her left eye explodes, spraying goo all over my face. I wipe the black blood away and flick it off my hand.
“Thanks,” I say to Leeds as he pulls his baton out of the thing’s skull.
“No problem,” he nods, turning back to the rest of the Zs.
And there’s a fuck ton of them. The building must have been jam-packed. Someone really wanted to keep us out. Or keep everyone out. But my gut tells me this is about our group of folks.
My gut also tells me to duck, so I do, letting the reaching Z arms swipe above me. I come up and bury The Bitch’s spikes into the soft part under a Z’s chin. Well, that doesn’t narrow it down since most parts of a Z are soft; you know, because of the rotting flesh and all. But, the softer the better! I pull up and rip the thing’s jaw right off, and then bring The Bitch down hard on top of its skull.
Fingers grab at my arm and I shake them off, putting The Bitch into the face of the offender. Another Z down, only about twenty to go. Fuck me. Critter’s guys are doing well, but as I look past the chain link fence, I can see we have company.
“More Zs,” I announce, “I count another fifteen at least, coming down the hill.”
“I see a dozen coming up from below,” Leeds says, pointing with his baton before he pierces two Z skulls at once. The Z heads knock together; the sound reminds me of coconuts.
“Eight over there,” one of Critter’s guys says.
“Fuck,” I mutter as I take down two more Zs. “In the building and get secure? Or fight our way out and come back later?”
“I’ll leave the strategy to soldier boy,” Critter says. “What you feelin’, Captain?”
“Jace and I will get inside and hunker down,” Leeds says. “Try to see if we can figure out what’s going on with the gas. You and your men split into two teams. One draws the Zs off, while the other hoofs it to Whispering Pines for reinforcements. How’s that sound?”
“Sounds like a fine plan,” Critter says. “Let’s take a few more out before we make our move. Less Zs to see y’all go in there.”
We do just that and kill half the Zs in the station before Leeds and I duck into the building and slam the door. There’s enough light for us to see, but Leeds pulls out a flashlight and cranks the handle, bringing the bulb to life. He shines it around and we both cover our nose from the stench. The place is coated with Z gunk. It’s all over the banks of instruments and the couple of rolling chairs that are pushed into the corners.
“God,” Leeds says, “they must have been packed in here shoulder to shoulder.”
“I’m guessing they were lured in by that,” I say, pointing to the nearly picked clean bones strewn around the room.
The space is maybe twenty feet by twenty feet. An efficient concrete building designed to keep the transfer station controls secure and out of the elements. Not exactly built for comfort. I roll one of the chairs against the wall and stand up on it. I can just peek out of the window and see Critter splitting his group in two. One group heads off towards Whispering Pines, while the other starts jumping and shouting, drawing the Zs after them and away from us. I can see that Critter has stayed with the diversion group. Guy may be self-serving at times, but he’s got balls.
“Are they gone?” Leeds asks, watching me carefully. Which is the only way the man watches anything: carefully. He isn’t one to leave things to chance. If there is one thing I have learned in the past two months, it’s that Captain Walt Leeds likes to be informed. He doesn’t rush into decisions.
“They are now,” I say, “well, except for a few stragglers, but that was to be expected.”
“Then we better keep it down,” Leeds says, motioning for me to get off the chair, “and stay out of sight. They see motion in here, then they’ll wander over to investigate. That’ll just bring more.”
“Yep,” I smile as I step onto the soiled concrete. “Not my first Z rodeo.”
“Of course not,” Leeds smiles, “I’m just used to giving orders.”
“I’m married, so I’m used to taking them,” I laugh then look at him seriously. “Don’t tell Stella I said that. Please.”
“Wouldn’t think of it, Jace,” he says then starts to look at the control panels. “We should probably make the best use of our time and figure this out. Cob would have been able to make sense of this stuff. He was the team engineer.”
“Yeah, sorry,” I frown.
“For what?” Leeds asks, looking at me. “You aren’t still blaming yourself for Cob and Stick, are you? If you are, then knock it off right now, Stanford. They were soldiers and they died fighting. No better honor.”
“Well, there are a few better honors I can think of than saving some spoiled suburbanite’s ass. Especially since I got y’all into that fight in the first place.”
Leeds waves me off. “We were going to have to get into the fight eventually.” He takes a deep breath and turns away from the controls to face me. “Listen, Jace. Vance was a psycho, pure and simple. He was a corrupt banker that likened himself the Appalachian Al Capone. And that was pre-Z. Post-Z? He thought he was a Roman emperor. And just as sick and twisted. My team was already coming across more and more of his followers every time we ventured close to Asheville. Your situation may have chosen the time for us, but it was our fight.”
“Yeah, but-”
“No buts. None. Don’t disgrace the memories of my men by looking for excuses. They helped stop a dangerous man that was going to kill many of your friends. In this day and age, we can’t afford to lose a single life.”
“Which is my point,” I counter, “we couldn’t afford to lose Stick and Cob.”
“Fair enough,” Leeds nods, “point taken. And rejected. They died doing what they love and what they were born to do. They were soldiers, just like me. At some point, we die horrible, bloody deaths. That’s our nature.”
“So I’m guessing you don’t have plans to retire in Boca and play golf until the next apocalypse then?”
He grins. “No, don’t think so.”
“Well, then we better crack the code to this shit,” I say, putting my hands on the control bank. Then pulling my hands away and wiping them on my jeans. Z yuck. Ugh.
The control bank is made up of dials, knobs, levers, and other doodads that look completely random. Labels and names are faded or covered in gunk. I gingerly wipe off as much Z yuck as I can, hoping a little clarity will occur. It doesn’t. Just looks like a bunch of dials, knobs, levers, and other doodads.
“What? Is this the 1950’s?” I ask. “Looks like the set to a bad scifi movie.”
“USB ports are over here,” Leeds says. “Instead of yanking the whole unit out, they just upgraded with a computer interface.”
“Good thing the place is solar powered,” I say, “or we’d really be fucked. Now, I can just plug my computer in and...oh, wait, I don’t have one. Never mind. We are really fucked.”
“For a man of intelligence, you can be very stupid sometimes,” Leeds says pointing to a shelf across the room. “You think they only had PhDs working this station? Not likely.”
“Manuals?” I ask.
“Manuals,” Leeds nods. “We better get to r
eading before we lose the light.”
“Lose the light?” I glance up at the windows. “You don’t think they’ll be back to get us before dark?”
“Not without a vehicle,” he answers, “which will make too much noise and put us back in the same position we were in before. We’ll spend our time and resources fighting Zs instead of fixing this station. No, they’ll be back in the morning.”
“Wish I had my blankie.”
He grabs a binder from the shelf and tosses it to me. “Cuddle up with this. It should warm the cockles of your heart.”
“Captain, I’m gonna need you to buy me dinner first, if there’s gonna be any cockles warming.” Leeds doesn’t laugh. “Okay, fine, not my best joke.”
“Less joking and more reading.”
“Roger,” I say as I plop into one of the chairs and crack open the binder. “More reading. Got it.”
It doesn’t take me long to realize the manual isn’t going to tell me much without some context. I look up at the shelf and see a binder marked, “Reference.” Handy. I take it down and open it. This is what I need. It’s filled with basic definitions and procedures. All I need to do is study this manual and I’ll have at least a key to understanding the rest.
I sigh and settle in to get the job done. After a few minutes, I look up and see Leeds watching me.
“What?” I ask.
“You just remind me of my nephew,” Leeds says. “He had a brain like yours. What do you call it?”
“I call my brain Steve,” I say.
“No, smart ass, what do you call it that you do?”
“I’m a generalist,” I shrug. “I have a knack for understanding pretty much any subject with just a little research. I tend to master skills quickly and then move on. Not everything sticks, but the majority does.”