The Early Days Trilogy: The Necrose Series Books 1-3

by Tim Moon

  Ben lay down and rolled under the tent first. He came up in a kneeling position, looking around for whoever was in the tent. His rifle clutched in his hands, following his gaze around the room.

  Charlotte rolled in a second behind him.

  Ben stood up letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. It was amazing how much the thick material of the military tent could out the lock light.

  “It’s good to see some else is still alive,” said the voice. It came from behind a folding table that was covered in paperwork, the white sheets standing out against the dark desktop. Rising up from behind the desk chair was a large man. He was nearly as tall as Ben and much more muscular.

  “Who are you?” he asked tentatively, stepping between Charlotte and the man. He kept the rifle raised.

  “I’m Keanu,” he said.

  Ben paused. The name was familiar. Could it be?

  “Were you at the Brewing Company the other night?”

  Silence fell over them for a brief moment. A slight tension filled the air.

  “Yes, were you?” the man said.

  “I helped you after you knocked that crazy guy down. You know, the one that bit the girl,” Ben said.

  “Okay, fun reunion, guys,” Charlotte said with some sarcasm. “I’m Charlotte. Now, can we get on with finding supplies and getting out of here? Those things freak me out.”

  Keanu chuckled softly and walked around the table. Ben slowly lowered his aim.

  “What the hell are you guys doing here?” Keanu said.

  “Last night they tried to evacuate us. When things went to shit at the airport, we came here to get help but…” Ben gestured outside.

  “Same with me, I came here for help. I was with a small group that came in last night. It must have been just after you guys left. We’d been hiding out in the restaurant, when the soldiers found us. I was hoping my brother would be here, but I figured I could meet him in Molokai if I didn’t see him here. They said that we’d be leaving today. But then we got hit,” Keanu said. “There were so many of them, man. All the shooting and screaming. It felt like a never ending mass that crashed through here like a tsunami.”

  Despite being cloaked in darkness, the emotion in Keanu’s voice was clear.

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” Ben said.

  Charlotte said, “We know how you feel. It’s been a nightmare for days now.”

  “So the airport is no go, huh?” Keanu sounded disappointed.

  “Pretty much,” Ben said, feeling as disappointed as Keanu sounded.

  No one spoke for a few moments.

  “Goddamn things are crawling all over the place,” Keanu said. “You have no idea how much I appreciate you sticking your necks out to help me.”

  Ben grunted. “No problem.”

  “You’re welcome.” Charlotte walked away and began rummaging through the drawers in the tent. “But seriously, you guys better hop to it.”

  Ben smiled. She was all business.

  “What are we hopping to?”

  “She’s going to find medical supplies and I’m supposed to find weapons and ammo. You’re welcome to join me,” Ben said, looking around. The door of the tent faced the center of the camp, which made it the shortest route to the Humvee and weapons he’d spotted earlier. He strode to the door and peeked out of the flap. He was thankful that none of the infected was in sight. Ben pointed outside. “We have a clear shot to the weapons over there.”

  Keanu stepped up next to Ben. He pushed the flap open a little further so Keanu could see.

  “Okay, gotcha,” Keanu said once he’d spotted the gear.

  “Just be careful and quiet,” Ben said. He looked down at his rifle. “It’s best to not have to use this. The infected are attracted to loud noises.”

  “Is that why there’s such a racket out there?” Keanu asked.

  Ben smiled, but it faded quickly. “Yeah, our friend is distracting them so we have clear passage. But there might be stragglers, so watch out. Crush their head to kill them, as quickly and quietly as you can.”

  Keanu made a face. “You’ve done this before?”

  Ben’s lips tightened into a flat line and he gave a quick nod.

  Keanu’s eyebrows rose slightly and he gave Ben an approving nod.

  Leaving the relative safety of the tent, they gave their eyes a moment to adjust to the brightness. Ben squinted as he walked over to the bodies of the dead soldiers. Wafting smoke brought the stench of death. He covered his mouth to avoid coughing, or gagging.

  A half-corpse soldier crawled toward them. The infected monstrosity pulled itself along with its hands, dragging the torso behind it while its guts trailed along in the dirt. Keanu pointed it out. Ben ran over and kicked it in the head. It stretched its arms out, trying to grapple him for a bite. Without hesitating, Ben stomped on his head a few times until it stopped moving.

  Keanu’s big frame was heaving with each breath, as he stood there dumbfounded. He blinked a few times, looked at Ben, and then kept moving toward the weapons. Keanu picked up a rifle.

  It was immediately clear to Ben that his new friend understood how to handle the weapon. Keanu gripped the rifle under his arm and dropped the magazine into his hand, checking to see if it was loaded. It wasn’t, so he discarded it on the ground, setting it down gently to avoid making noise.

  It seemed like Anuhea was doing a great job keeping the infected occupied. Her shouts mixed with their groans and the clank of the chain link fence as they tried to press through and reach her. Anuhea’s voice was reassuring, even if several tents blocked their view of her and the mob.

  Ben wondered what Keanu would do once they escaped the camp. Would he join them or go his own way? There was no time to discuss it now, but once they’d left the infected behind, they could figure it all out. Crouching down, Ben checked the corpse for ammunition, watching wearily in case it moved. He found three full magazines in the pouches. He thought for a moment, and then decided to remove the soldier’s vest.

  “Here take this,” Ben said, handing over the vest and three magazines.

  The next weapon they found had a grenade launcher on it. Ben’s eyes widened and he felt giddy, like a little kid as he hefted it up.

  “I’ve never seen one of these in person before,” Ben said in awe. “But I’ve always wanted to shoot one. Do you know how to shoot it?”

  “I can show you how. I served in the army for a few years before switching to the Coast Guard,” Keanu said. “We fired the M203 in Basic Training.”

  “Oh yeah,” Ben said, running a hand lovingly over the grenade launcher’s barrel. It would bring some much needed firepower to their growing team.

  “We need to take his vest,” Keanu said. He began to relieve the soldier of his load. “This has all the ammunition.”

  Keanu pulled it on over his grimy t-shirt. He slung the rifle he was already holding on his shoulder and hefted up the M203. “Oh yeah. This reminds me of the good old days.”

  Ben nodded at him. “Good crowd control.”

  “Hey, is that your friend?” Keanu pointed toward the front of the Quarantine Center.

  Ben turned and was surprised to see Ty standing off along the side of the road. It looked like he was peeing. Ty noticed them looking and gave them a quick wave. No biggie, you couldn’t stop the call of nature. He should have stayed hidden from view though.

  “Yeah, that’s Ty,” Ben said, shaking his head. He gestured to the Humvee. “When we leave, we should take this beast. It’s better than the one we have, for extra firepower, anyway.”

  Bodies of dead infected as well as several soldiers surrounded the Humvee. Two of its doors were open. Inside, the vehicle was empty except for hundreds of shell casings on the floor.

  The Humvee sat beside a smaller tent. Its green canvas was charred black in a sad pile covering the ground, remnants clinging to the poles that used to hold it up. Next to the tent was a sandbagged area that looked like a fighting position. Blood splatter stained the sandba
gs and spent casings littered the ground. Ben wondered which of the soldiers had fought there. It was such an awful way to die.

  “You know how to use that?” Ben asked, turning away from the sight, gesturing to the gun mounted on the roof of the Humvee.

  “It’s been a while,” Keanu said. “I’m sure it’ll come back to me. It looks like we’ll need ammo though.”

  He checked inside and found two ammo cans. Both were empty, so he set them on the ground.

  “I’ll go look for ammo. You should get your friend,” Keanu said, pointing back at the tent where they’d met. “I doubt we have much more time.”

  “I agree. If you see food or water, grab it. We have nothing,” Ben said. He was a little concerned about leaving Keanu alone. They didn’t know him well and it was possible that he could take the vehicle and ditch them. Although that by itself wouldn’t be such a big problem. The noise of the engine driving away and crashing through the gate would be a problem, especially if it pulled the zombies away from Anuhea’s distraction. Of course, he couldn’t stop Keanu if he wanted to leave.

  With a small shrug, Ben turned and strode toward the tent to find Charlotte.

  35

  Ben started looking at the tent where he had parted with Charlotte. In the first tent, a quick search revealed she wasn’t there.

  Her search for medical supplies surely couldn’t have taken her very far. This was the area where the QC’s doctors worked. So he walked through the tent exited the opposite side and went to the next one.

  Ben walked across the small gap that separated the two tents with his rifle ready to swing. As soon as he pushed the tent flap aside, an infected soldier turned around with a grunt. Ben jumped back in surprise. He choked off a shout and lashed out with his rifle. The desperate blow glanced off the solder’s shoulder, barely even rocking him.

  Ben cursed.

  The soldier must have been standing in the corner of the tent, unable to find the exit that he was right next to. What a dumbass. Part of the soldier’s jaw was exposed and the bare teeth shone brightly against his gray skin. When he saw Ben, the zombie moaned and raised his hands to grab the tasty morsel.

  Ben’s arms and rifle felt so heavy and his heart beat so hard that the artery in his neck throbbed. His energy was so low that it felt like he was moving through water. The soldier was on him before Ben could bring up the rifle. The infected soldier pushed against him, forcing him back. Ben’s arms ached under the strain of the fight. One of the tent’s guy lines slapped Ben in the neck, and then he tripped over a tent stake. They tumbled to the ground in a writhing pile. Like a flashback to the woman in the airport parking lot, he found himself pinned on the bottom.

  Ben grabbed the soldier by the throat and squeezed with all of his might. Releasing the M4, he dug in with both hands, crushing the throat of the infected. It didn’t kill him, but it kept him from sinking his teeth into Ben.

  His fingers slowly dug into the flesh, piercing the layers of skin that yielded under his adrenalin-fueled rage. Drops of blood rained down on Ben. He squinted at the disgusting sensation and the fetid breath of the soldier. Its groan turned into a gurgle as Ben tore its throat out. He shoved his hand into the hole, it felt cool and slippery like gutting a fish, and clenched down hard. With his other hand, he reached up and grabbed the man’s hair. It was just long enough to grip.

  Rallying what remained of his strength; Ben pulled the man down to the side and rolled on top of him. He rose to one knee and then squatted over the soldier, still holding him by the throat and hair. Ben dragged him over to the tent stake and slammed his head down on it.

  The flood of anger that had filled him when he had killed Eric, rushed into his veins and he continued slamming the soldier’s skull against the tent stake until it punched through, disfiguring his nasal cavity. One eye twisted sickly to the side and black blood poured out of his nose.

  All of the zombie’s fight immediately drained from his body and his arms fell to the ground with a dull thump. The right leg twitched a little as Ben fell to the ground, panting. Ben clenched his stomach and threw up in the dirt next to the body.

  Spitting the bile out of his mouth, Ben wondered how many more he’d have to kill. It sickened him every time. His hands trembled as the adrenalin continued racing through his body.

  Ben heard a noise behind him and struggled to stand up.

  “Get down, now!” Keanu yelled from behind him.

  Ben dropped into a crouch. His fatigued muscles gave out and he fell sideways against the tent. A shot cracked, followed by a thumping sound as a body fell. He looked up and saw that Keanu had shot an infected soldier sneaking up behind him. It only took one shot.

  This guy’s good, he thought. Then it hit him.

  “Shit, shit,” he said. Struggling to his feet again, Ben grabbed his rifle and looked at Keanu.

  “What’s wrong?” Keanu asked.

  “That shot is going to draw the crowd. We’ve gotta go now,” Ben said.

  Another shot sounded from Anuhea’s direction. Then a few more shots cracked through the air. She must have fired the shots to keep the infected focused on her.

  “Did you find the girl?” Keanu asked, helping Ben to his feet.

  “No.” Ben shook his head. “I hope that Charlotte has what she needs, because it’s time to roll out.”

  It seemed like she’d been gone forever. Was she waiting for them or what? Was she attacked?

  Ben stepped away from Keanu and said, “Come on, this way.”

  They began searching the remaining tents, calling her name. Ben stuck his head inside another tent, but Charlotte wasn’t in there.

  “Charlotte?” He ran through the tent to the other door flap and peeked out. Where had she gone?

  “Charlotte,” he said loud enough to be heard but not so loud the horde would hear him. “We gotta go.”

  They’d made it so far. He didn’t want to lose anyone here. Not like this.

  Ben ran to the next tent. He regretted leaving her behind. They should have stuck together. He held the rifle up ready to shoot any infected. No time left to fight. There was no telling how long Anuhea could maintain the attention of the infected.

  “Charlotte?”

  A tent flap fluttered. Her head popped out.

  “Goddamn it,” he gasped. Ben lowered the rifle so he wasn’t pointing it at her.

  “Ben! Jesus, what happened to you?” Her brow creased with concern.

  “I’m fine,” he said. “Didn’t you hear the noise? Let’s go.”

  “I was looking for supplies and heard the shot,” she said, relief washing over her features. “I was on my way back but thought I heard something following me.”

  “Come on, we have to move now,” he said. “We have weapons and the Humvee.”

  “Did you find her?” Keanu asked.

  “Yeah.” Ben nodded and waved Keanu over. “Come here.”

  “Look,” Charlotte said, holding up a water bottle. “I found food and water.”

  “Get whatever you can carry and let’s go.” Ben ducked into the tent behind her to grab a case of water.

  Keanu stepped in behind them. “Wait, stack the stuff outside. I’ll backup the Humvee so we can just load it here.”

  “Great idea,” Charlotte said. She pulled on a large camouflaged backpack.

  “What’s that?” Ben asked.

  “Medical supplies,” she said proudly.

  They began to stack stuff outside. Two 24-packs of water bottles and three boxes of MREs, or Meals-Ready-to-Eat, some protein bars and a few cans of SPAM topped off their haul.

  The Humvee’s engine grumbled a moment later. A second later, the tent beside them collapsed as the vehicle forced its way through. The guy lines snapped and a tent stake flew up and clanked against the metal body. Keanu was smiling behind the wheel like a demolition derby driver. He popped the door open and jumped out, racing around to help them load the gear.

  “Load it up. Let’s roll, guys.�
� A smile lit up his face.

  Charlotte took the protein bars, SPAM, and her medical bag and climbed into the back seat. Ben followed carrying the water. He handed them to Charlotte and she set them in the back. With the supplies loaded, they all climbed in. Ben felt cramped, but wasn’t about to complain.

  He glanced over at Keanu. “Are we good on fuel?”

  Keanu checked the gauge. “It looks like we have about three-quarters of a tank. We’re set for quite a while.”

  “Who cares? Get out of here,” Charlotte said, exasperated.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Ben said, opening his door. He stepped out and shouted as loud as he could. “Anuhea let’s go!” He sat back down in the passenger seat and said, “All set.”

  Keanu asked, “What about the gate?”

  “Fuck it, ram that bitch,” Ben said.

  Keanu didn’t need any more prompting as he sped through the camp toward the gate, smashing it open like it was an action movie. The chain link gave way to the muscular vehicle with a screech.

  Keanu jerked the steering wheel and skidded to a halt outside of the gate.

  “You have to move your other ride,” he said. “It’s blocking the road.”

  “Oh shit. Good point. I’ll be right back,” Ben said as he climbed out. He hadn’t even thought of the other vehicle. He ran down the road and jumped into the driver’s seat.

  “What’s going on?” Ty asked. “We heard gunshots.”

  “We got a new Humvee,” Ben said, turning the ignition switch. The rumble of the engine filled the interior and he had to shout over the noise to be heard. Oliver watched Ben intently. “The guy in the tent is the same guy from the Brewery Company. You know, the one that fought the crazy guy.”

  “No shit?” Ty looked shocked.

  “Right?!” Ben said as he sped down the road. He drove past the new Humvee. Keanu was just standing up in the turret and fiddling around with the machine gun.

  Ben parked sideways, blocking the space where the gate was before Keanu smashed it down. Already, the crowd of infected was slowly moving their direction.