by Damon Hunter
Chapter 9
Caroline Rutherford’s House – Oceanside, CA
“The ramifications of the plot I have uncovered are, and I say this without a trace of hyperbole, enormous. What I am talking about is a conspiracy hatched between our government, possibly under the influence of Satanic Communist Martians, and the shadow governments currently controlling nearly all the Far East, with the possible exception of Japan and parts of China, which as you know, loyal listener, are under the thumb of the Buddhist Illuminati. They are conspiring to detonate nuclear weapons on our soil.”
The first thing Tanner did once they got inside was go straight to the kitchen and turn off the radio his stepmom kept on the counter. She seemed to have a thing against silence. He had never seen her awake and in the house without either the radio or television on. The one exception was when she was with Grampy Gary, though even then she often left something on in another room, like she did today, so the noise would be waiting for her.
The house was silent as Tanner returned to Jennifer in living room. They both heard a dog bark in the distance. Tanner saw Jennifer shudder and he figured she saw him do the same.
“You have a bad experience with dogs too?” she asked.
“Yeah, you?”
“It is how my brother became infected, which led to my mom being infected and then my dad. He saw a dog in the yard and went out to pet it and give it some water. None of us thought dogs could get the rot but it turned out we were wrong. What happened to you?”
“With a dog? Nothing that bad. I just saw my dad bite one and give it the rot.”
“It wasn’t a golden lab, was it?”
“No, German Shepherd,” Tanner told her, feeling some relief that his dad was not responsible for infecting her family.
Judging by the time, he knew where his stepmom would be. Jennifer followed him as he went towards Grampy Gary’s room.
“On another day this might seem weird and creepy,” Tanner said to Jennifer before they went in, “but for today? It’s going to be nothing. I’m guessing you’ve never seen a man in an iron lung before?”
“No, I can’t say I have.”
“You want to?”
“Why not?”
Tanner shrugged and opened the door. Caroline looked up from spooning mush into Grampy Gary’s mouth. “I thought you and your father evacuated.”
“We tried. We didn’t make it.”
“Is Doug with you?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
Tanner did not say. It did not take long for Caroline to figure it out. She put down Grampy Gary’s bowl and tried to fight back the tears. Sensing she was losing the battle, she got up and faced the window so they did not have to see tears streaming down her face.
Tanner took her seat by Grampy Gary’s head. “How is it going?” he asked as he gave his step-grandfather a spoonful of the grey mush. Grampy Gary could no longer talk and did not really seem to have any clue what was going on around him but Tanner thought he saw the old guy smile at him.
“How did it happen?” Caroline asked them.
Tanner shook his head and gave Grampy Gary another spoonful. He realized with his stepmom facing the window she could not see the head shake. He said, “You sure you want to know?”
“Yes.”
“He was bitten.”
“Is he dead or infected?”
“Infected, in the worst way. He became one of the vampire rotters and spent all morning trying to get me.”
“Maybe we should find him and lock him away until they find a cure,” Caroline said.
“You don’t want to do that,” Jennifer told her.
Caroline turned to look at the attractive young woman standing in the room. While she was Tanner’s age, she looked far more put together than Tanner or the friends he usually brought over.
Jennifer sensed her confusion and said, “I’m a friend of, uh….”
“Tanner’s,” Tanner told her.
“Yeah, Tanner. I’m a friend of Tanner. We have algebra together.”
“You’re not failing too, are you?”
“No, ma’am. I have an A.”
“Good for you,” Caroline replied.
“We came back to get you,” Jennifer told her.
Tanner nodded, saying, “We never should have left you behind. It’s crazy out there, crazier than I could have imagined.”
“I can’t leave Grampy Gary.”
“If Grampy Gary could still talk, trust me, he would tell you to leave. The last thing he would want to see is you getting hurt and if you stay, at some point you are going to get hurt.”
“How would you know what Grampy Gary would want?” Caroline said.
“I spent a lot of time being grounded. Back when he could talk, we talked a lot.”
Caroline nodded. She knew he was telling the truth. She also knew what he said about Grampy Gary wanting her to be safe to be true also.
“It just seems wrong to leave him,” Caroline said.
“I cut off her dad’s arm and killed her mother today,” Tanner said, pointing to Jennifer. “Wrong changed sometime yesterday.”
Caroline looked at Jennifer, who said, “He is not exactly right. They were not themselves anymore.”
“Where will we go?”
“It seemed the people you took in have a plan,” Tanner said.
“They do. They invited me to come along. I told them no.”
“They invited us, too,” Jennifer said.
“We said yes,” Tanner added. “You should too.”
“I’ll think about it. You want me to finish feeding Grampy Gary?”
“I can do it. I don’t mind.”
“Let me. It could be the last time.”
Tanner figured this was a fair request. He and Jennifer left Caroline to feed Grampy Gary. They stepped into the other room as Donna, Katelin, and Bar came in the front door, each with an armful of supplies.
“You guys with the two TMRT guys and the other two?” Tanner asked.
All three turned. Tanner could tell they were getting ready to drop the stuff and draw guns. He put up his hands and said, “I’m Tanner. Caroline’s stepson. I know she told you I was evacuated but it didn’t really work out.”
“We had a similar experience,” Donna told him.
Jennifer stared a Katelin a moment before saying, “Are you, like, Killer Kate?”
Donna said, “Why would you ask that?”
Katelin said, “How did you know?”
“The guns, your outfit, the fact you look just like her.”
“How did you know about that?” Katelin asked.
“Your picture is all over Instagram. There is some video of you on YouTube killing the infected with a gun in each hand. You’re, like, viral.”
“Really?” Katelin said. Lumpy or Ana must have posted some footage from the GoPro cameras all the members of S.W.A.R.C. were wearing while they were holed up at Corrigan’s place.
“Being a viral killer is not a good thing,” Donna said, sensing her daughter was liking her new found celebrity status.
“If I have to go through this shit I might as well get famous for it,” Katelin replied.
“Language,” Donna told her.
Jennifer looked at Tanner. “Have you seen the videos?”
Tanner shook his head. There wasn’t any WiFi in Derek’s van.
She pulled her phone from her pocket but the jump into the pool had knocked it out of commision. Tanner pointed towards the laptop sitting on the end table by the couch.
“I want to see this myself,” Katelin said.
Chapter 10
Sacred Sons of America’s True Patriots Militia Recon Team - Fallbrook, CA
“Of course, loyal listeners may point out San Francisco is and has always been a Hell hole. The Bay area is a longtime stronghold to many organizations dedicated to destroying the American way of life. If the Koreans can finish what the rot started by blowing it off the map, why should w
e care?
“Well here is the thing. These dark forces also hate America, maybe even more than the various liberal freedom haters of San Francisco. Our freedom and resistance to their oppressive ways consumes them and they live for our destruction. Once we have let them destroy one city they are not likely to stop. And I do mean let, loyal listeners, because they are doing this with our permission. Look for strongholds of what I like to call the real Americans get cases of the rot in the near future so the forces in our America-hating government can finally get what we all know they want.”
Norris turned to the man nearest the radio blaring from the pickup truck and said, “Turn it off. After meeting him in person, I’m kind of sick of his voice.”
The man reached in and turned off the radio as Norris went back to his binoculars.
After getting a good view of the field below, Norris lowered the binoculars and handed them to his second in command, Doland.
Doland looked down over the ridge at the wrecked TMRT transport and then scanned back to the road where he saw the armored Suburban with the word SWARC painted on the side. He focused in on the man moving to the cut away some of the barbed wire, getting as much zoom out of the binoculars as he could.
“Definitely a TMRT uniform,” he told Norris as he continued to scan the area. “Got another one in TMRT gear too.”
“I was pretty sure,” Norris said. “You think it is a recon for the transport?”
“I don’t know, the other two are not TMRT. The girl may not be a hundred pounds and the other guy has the wrong haircut even if he didn’t have the facial hair. I can’t see either of them being military of any type, let alone an elite group like the TMRT.”
“Vehicle is wrong too,” Norris added. “It looks kind of like what we did to Humvees in the ’Stan when we found out the hard way they weren’t designed to withstand I.U.D.s.”
Dolan lowered the binoculars and looked back at the Hummer he and Norris had rode in. Black pickup trucks were in front and in back of it. Armed men in camo gear milled around, smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco while the two ranking officers in the Sacred Sons of America’s True Patriots Militia surveyed the field. Looking at the magnetic sign affixed to the side of each vehicle with a machine gun-toting bald eagle with the S.S.O.A.M. Logo, he thought about the similarities their trucks had to the Suburban with SWARC painted on the driver’s side door.
Norris seemed to sense what he was thinking, “Could they be another militia?”
“Possibly. I’ve never run across anything like that on the internet, but they could be more underground than even we are. A lot of people said the FBI monitors those websites; maybe they avoided them.”
“Or, they are on the wrong side.”
Dolan nodded. He thought about pointing out that old sides probably didn’t matter much, and they probably shouldn’t, especially on this side of quarantine line, but held his tongue. Norris was a true believer and his dedication was one of the reasons he was leader of their group. If humanity was down to him and one female he would be asking who she voted for in the last election. If she said democrat, humanity would end right there with her and Norris.
“The others still in the trees?”
“I haven’t seen them come out.”
“What do you want to do?” Dolan asked. “No question they are salvaging something from the TMRT vehicle.”
“I thought we got everything of value. They didn’t really leave shit.”
“Could be something we don’t know about.”
Norris stroked his beard. “Then let’s let them go get it. We can always take it from them later if we need to.”
Dolan nodded. “Should we tell Carson?”
“I don’t need his opinion. We’re in the field. Out here I make the decisions, not some big mouth radio personality.”
“I wasn’t saying to ask him what to do. Just inform him. We want to keep the information flowing both ways.”
“I don’t know. He’s been helpful and certainly has been a friend to the cause in the past, but I’m kind of sick of his shit. Plus I don’t trust the Chinaman he’s hooked up with.”
“Pretty sure he’s Korean.”
“Same difference. Still don’t trust him.”
Dolan considered pointing out that without the mysterious Korean both they and Carson would be completely in the dark as to what was going on, but knew it would just piss Norris off.
Norris stroked his beard some more before taking the two way radio off his belt and contacting the compound where Cam Carson was broadcasting to the quarantine zone.
Chapter 11
Corrigan’s Bunker - Fallbrook, CA
“Is it really going to be this easy?” Clay asked as Ana pulled the Urban Assault Wagon up to Corrigan’s property.
“Let’s not get too excited yet,” Vance said as he looked across the field. His marine buddy Corrigan had built a bunker in the hillside under the field they were looking at. Corrigan had been getting ready for the world to end long before anyone had even heard of the rot. Unfortunately, despite all his preparation for an event like the rot, he was a victim early on. Dr. Talbot, in an effort to make sure Vance never had a chance to tell anyone on the outside of the QZ what Talbot was doing, had blown a hole in the front of the bunker, letting the horde in and starting a fire which eventually engulfed the bunker.
Vance and most of his group escaped, but he and Ana both lost good friends in the bunker. One of the dead, a TMRT soldier named Ashley Cope, was much more than a friend to Vance.
When they left, the entire place was crawling with infected, but in the hours since they escaped it appeared the horde had moved on as well.
“You still want to use the bikes?” Vance asked, stretching his injured leg. “I think I can make it.”
“Well, we did bring them. From riding around the QZ in one of the noisiest vehicles around I can say with reasonable certainty engine noise does not seem to attract them like gunfire,” Clay said.
“It would still be the fastest way to get there and back, after all we are on the clock,” Bo added. “You may feel fine now but you’ve only walked from the car to the fence.”
“All right,” Vance said. “We’ll stick to the original plan.”
The plan called for Vance to make sure they had a clear path through the barbed wire on the ground. The TMRT transports had knocked down Corrigan’s fence but the wire was still there. It may not have any effect on the armored TMRT vehicles but it could do a lot of damage if a bike got tangled up.
While Vance cleared the wire, Bo and Clay unloaded the motorcycles. Ana left the Suburban running and went up through the hole she and her now dead friends had cut in the roof to cover everyone with her machine gun. Vance considered telling her not to fire unless absolutely necessary but stayed silent. The petite young woman had shown to be a competent soldier and knew this fact as well as anyone.
Vance and Clay had Sick Slaying Sticks and rifles strapped to their backs as well as pistols holstered at their sides. They both looked at Bo.
Vance said, “You want a weapon?”
Bo shook his head. “I don’t know much about guns and I don’t see how I could carry a sword or something and ride the bike. If things go bad I guess I need you two to watch my back.”
Both the TMRT soldiers nodded as Bo straddled one of the motorcycles. Vance climbed on the seat behind Bo, who handed him one of the two helmets they had found.
“You don’t want it?” Vance asked.
“I’m driving. I crack my head open and it’s my own fault.”
Vance put the helmet on as Bo kickstarted the bike. Clay put on his helmet and started his bike up as well.
Clay led the way. The drive was short. They had expected more infected to be around and figured on having to drive quite a bit farther. Clay pulled up next to the back entrance next to the overturned TMRT transport.
He dismounted his bike and looked inside the still open door. Two amblers were inside. It appeared they had
wandered in and had not been able to find their way back out when the horde moved on.
Clay took the Sick Slaying Stick off his back and pressed the button releasing the spikes on the ball end. The nearest one turned his way just in time to take a face full of sharp metal. Clay kicked the dead ambler aside as he spun the Sick Slaying Stick back into position to strike and did the same to other one.
“Clear,” Clay called back as he moved to the front of the transport and found no more infected inside.
Vance limped in and went to the cockpit. This TMRT transport was a different type than the one he took to the failed mission to San Francisco on the outside, but the cockpit was exactly the same. It did not take him long to find and remove the device which would signal the drones not to blow them up.
It also meant the TMRT could track his movements if they were inclined to do so, but with Talbot leaving the quarantine there should be no one left to track them anyway. Even if there were, he liked his chances better with them than the drones.
“Got it,” he said as he emerged from the cockpit. Bo was still inside while Clay had gone outside to watch for the infected.
“Righteous,” Bo said as they headed for the exit.
Clay was climbing aboard his bike when an arrow struck the ground just inches from his front tire.
“What the hell?” he said as another shaft stuck in the dirt at Vance’s feet.
The three men froze and looked in the direction the arrows had come from.
A tall, shirtless man emerged from the trees. He had long hair and a thick beard. His eyes were covered by mirrored sunglasses but he looked familiar to Vance for reasons he could not quite put a finger on.
The man had a Colt 1911 forty-five hanging loosely at his side in his right hand. He held up the empty left hand and said, “Don’t reach for the guns. In fact don’t reach for anything. Move at all and my partners in the trees with the compound bows will have to get nasty.”