“I want to keep you for a day for secure observation. Make it through my 24-hour quarantine, and I’ll declare you fit for duty with the caveat that you are still infectious.” Abrams escorted Caleb to an eight by eight room with a bed and sink. “Sorry that this is the best we can do. It does resemble a jail cell, but that can’t be helped. There’s a buzzer by the door if you need anything or have to use the toilet. You are under observation, so please don’t use the sink as a urinal.” Abrams smiled and patted Caleb on the shoulder as he withdrew from the room and locked the door behind him.
Caleb looked around the room and smiled, a sense of calmness he hadn’t felt in a long time overcome him. No sharing a room with over a dozen other assholes that are in competition with each other to win noisiest or smelliest sleeper of the night. To top that off, a real bed instead of a cot. I should recommend they keep me for 48 hours just to be safe!
Caleb stripped down to his shorts, and then turned off the light to discover a red light that stayed on. He could see through the mirror Capt Abrams and the nurse were kissing passionately. He tapped the mirror and waggled his finger at them while shaking his head no, trying to look disappointed in the pair. He was out cold the moment he pulled up the blanket to his neck.
MG Peters listened to Lieutenant Ann Fotos as she repeated her story about her adventure after leaving Colorado Springs. She actively gave credit to the airman who accompanied her, commending him for being fast on his feet when he took out an ambush by fake police. Later, his ingenuity in finding a canoe, and then taking them to the middle of a lake to spend the night while Zs shrieked at them in frustration. She praised his courage in going into stores they knew had Zs. She also admitted he was infected, and how, in less than 24 hours, he had a gunshot wound heal. He was impressed with the weekend warrior from Peterson AFB and that she was a trained intel officer.
“Lt Fotos, we have all the intel we need coming out our backsides, all electronic intercept or from our surveillance satellites. Do you think you would be able to manage an ad hoc intel team to go out and evaluate bands of survivors to determine who we should help and who is a potential threat? With your glowing review of Airman First Class White, I’d like to put him on that team, especially with his extraordinary abilities.”
“Sir, I think Airman White and I would make a good team, I’d be very comfortable with him watching my backside, err, I mean, back.” She flushed red and Peters didn’t comment on it.
“I’m glad I found you, Lieutenant, you corroborated his story nicely. The young man will not be an Airman much longer, though. Before you met him, he bought us the time we needed to make it possible for us to load the evacuation planes at Peterson at great risk to himself. He drove his truck all over the base, distracting the Zs. Later, when we were ready to take off, the Zs were too close to the last plane and he and another airman volunteered to stay behind and hold off the Zs. The other airman didn’t survive. I’m awarding the airman that accompanied him a Silver Star. White will also receive a Silver Star and a battlefield promotion to second lieutenant. Thank you again for your assistance, Lieutenant Fotos.” Peters stood and shook her hand before she could say anything else. Once out the door she had some concerns. I should have said something about his anger issues. Will he be able to control his anger?
Brigadier General Davis, vice commander of all forces, was unhappy with MG Peters. After the victory celebration, for clearing out the town of Douglas, there had been numerous fights between every imaginable combination, Army against Air Force, military against civilians, active duty against reservists, combat troops against non-combat troops. Before the apocalypse, his decision to have and then carry out the party, the way it was handled, would have been the end of his career. He figured there had been enough regulations broken he could demand the general step down; there was only two problems with that. One, it obviously broke up the stress that was building up to a breaking point among many of the troops. Second, there was no way in hell he wanted the responsibility of being the man on the top of this mess. Peters had also dismissed 90 % of the charges against those brought up on charges, with a stern warning. The remaining troops would receive company punishment for their misdeeds. That went against the grain of everything he believed in, but he accepted his orders. Today would be the start of forming the men into new combat units and the start of training to get them into a cohesive fighting force. With the force having such a short support trail, many troops would find themselves with the new MOS 11B in the infantry. Hopefully, with so many of them hung over, it would be easier to perform the transitions.
Major Arnot, the senior ranking survivor from Air Force Space Command other than Major General Peters, was responsible for all aspects of satellite and communications efforts. He sat at his terminal reviewing the material collected overnight from the different satellite systems. He was currently monitoring 800 settlements in the US, ranging from ten to two hundred, only a few near any major population centers. The settlement outside of Phoenix was the one that held his attention the most. The settlement had managed to provide itself with electricity and a secure encampment inside the walls of a high school near a series of major farms. With the difference in growing seasons between the north and south, it held out the promise of producing food year round compared to the short growing period in Wyoming.
Chapter 2
Surprise, Arizona, April 5, 2029
Gloria tried to shake the nightmares that had filled her head throughout the night. In one, Oliver was not listening to her as she told him to come inside and then watched the infected tear him apart. The dream woke her up, and then she’d finally get back to sleep with a new dream. She walks into the RV and finds Oliver over the two German Shepherds, Tom and Jerry, both with their throats ripped out as he feeds on them. She finally gave up on sleep, choosing instead to open the curtains of the RV and watch from inside the darkened RV as the stray Z or two went through the school parking lot. She chose to remain in her RV outside the protection of the walls since the Zs could detect that she was one of them and had no interest in her. Her fellow survivors, although worried about her being outside the fences, worried equally about her being inside the fences when they slept.
Sitting cross-legged in the passenger seat, Gloria sipped her coffee, trying to just enjoy the coffee and not get introspective. She glanced at the right time to see movement behind the second story window of a house across from the school. As the curtains moved, she thought it was a trapped Z but knew she was close enough to sense a Z if it had been one. They’re either pretty damn brave or just stupid, if they made it this long, I’d have to go with brave. Why are they spying on the camp? Are they checking us out because they want to join us, or do they want to rip us off? When in doubt call it in.
“Sanctuary Security, this is Grits.”
“Go ahead, Grits” A tired voice replied. Gloria looked at her watch and saw it was only 0420.
“There’s suspicious activity in the fifth house across the street from parking. I’m seeing movement on the second window, second floor, not a Z. If you have your glasses, I’ll light them up for you.”
“Stand by Grits, let me setup first.” A sentry on the roof of the high school looked out over the parking lot, then used his night vision scope to check out the window. “I got nothing. You sure about that, Grits?”
Gloria opened her window and then aimed her IR illuminator at the second floor window; even from over the length of a football field, the inside of the window was visible with a NV scope. A woman stood behind the sheer curtain with a pair of binoculars and continued to watch the school without realizing she was under observation.
“Sanctuary Security, I’m going to welcome our visitor to the neighborhood. I’m taking the long way, so give me ten minutes to get in place. I sense about a couple dozen Zs nearby so I’d recommend against leaving Sanctuary unless I holler for you. Stallion 06 out.” I couldn’t just sit here drink my coffee and watch the world go by.
Gloria
donned her uniform and slipped a 9mm in her belt in the small of her back, in addition to the one in her holster. Hope I don’t need either weapon, she thought as she exited the RV and strolled towards the east until she was sure she was out of sight from the visitor. She ran across the street and used her momentum to jump the 6 foot block wall. Inside the enclosed yard was an in ground swimming pool. Gloria walked by, admiring the pool, and then opened the gate to the front yard. She stood for a moment sniffing the air for human and Z alike before walking down the street five houses, and then stopping in front of the house. The house was quiet and dark. Gloria could see the scraped paint and damage by the front door where it’d been forced open. Inside the room was long and wide. A long stairwell curved up the wall to the second floor, a huge crystal ball hung from the ceiling, along the far wall sat a baby grand piano. Gloria took it all in before climbing the stairs. A long corridor had six doors on either side. She went to the second door on the right, figuring it was the room with the window she was looking for. Slowly opening the door, she could see two heads popped out from under the bedcovers. A third person, short and slim, smelling of perfume, stood at the window looking out, a shotgun propped up against the wall next to her. Gloria silently walked up behind her, and realized by her deep breathing she was asleep on her feet. She reached down and picked up the shotgun, then softly tapped the woman on her shoulder. The woman’s entire body shook as if she’d been zapped with an electric jolt, but she did not cry out. She looked at Gloria, now holding her shotgun and seemed to deflate. Gloria held her finger to her lips and then motioned her to follow.
“Sorry for the scare, I noticed you watching our compound and became a little curious. Let’s go downstairs to the kitchen and talk without waking your babies. The area’s pretty much clear of the Zs.”
The woman resignedly shook her head and led the way out of the room. Gloria followed, easily sensing the woman’s feeling of utter despair, she walked with her shoulders down and slightly hunched forward. Gloria followed the woman to the kitchen, like the rest of the house; there were numerous windows, making it easy to see.
“Why don’t you sit down at the table? I want to see if I can find the coffee for that coffee pot in the corner.” She set the shotgun down on the counter, and opened the first cabinet and found a stash of cookies, pulling them out as she continued her search. She did not hear or see the woman stand, but instead felt her moving. “Don’t you worry yourself, I’ll find everything. You just sit and relax.” The woman was now closer to the shotgun than Gloria was, she reached down and loudly unsnapped the strap holding her 9mm in the holster. “Don’t you worry about those Zs either, I can pull out this here little 9mm on my hip and get off ten shots easy before you can even get the safety off that big old scattergun. So you just sit back down and relax, I’m sure you’re tired and don’t want to make any mistakes or get hurt. Here’s the coffee, you want Columbian, Italian roast, or French roast?”
“Err, French roast please.” The woman was once again sitting at the table, nervously squeezing her hands. Gloria looked over and felt sorry for the woman. She picked up the cookies off the counter and went to sit with the woman.
“Hi sweetie, I’m Gloria, why don’t you just call me Grits. I’m guessing things have been a little rough for you over the last few days. What’s stopping you from joining us at Sanctuary? It’s a pretty diverse group of people.”
“I’m Paige. The last group I stayed with decided that in this new world, a woman shouldn’t be by herself, she needed a man’s personal protection, and then their leader claimed me as ‘his.’ The fat fuck was the custodian at a grade school by the baseball stadium here in Surprise before everything went south. The place was like a prison with concrete block walls, metal doors, gates and walls. There were even backup generators still running during the night and solar panels for during the day. He had about twenty men and boys following him, and six women, five that wanted to get away. I was so scared of the zombies I was willing to do whatever I had to in order to protect my boy and girl. By the time the sun came up this morning, I realized my fear was writing checks my body couldn’t cash, there was no way I could stay there. When the sun came up this morning, I ran out through a fire exit, and we’ve been running all day. I wanted to check this place out a little before I risked going through the same thing again. If it wasn’t for my children, I would have killed myself last night.” Gloria reached over and hugged Paige as she openly wept and shook.
“Come on, Paige. Let’s put you to bed with your children. When the sun comes up, I’ll walk you over there and you will be safe. If it doesn’t work out I’ll help set you up with an RV, fuel and food. I know a safe place. What happened to your husband?”
“Thanks, I can’t do another rollercoaster like yesterday. The children’s dad died over in the desert. My fiancée turned into a Z. I used my husband’s, I mean, my shotgun to put him down when he started to chase the kids. It was horrible. I humored my husband by having the gun in the house when he was deployed, but never fired it before that night. I took off half his head, nothing like the movies. It just exploded like a pumpkin. I still can see the wall behind him all red and gray!” Paige shuddered even harder and let Gloria guide her back up the stairs, then tucked her into bed with her kids. She then went to the window and did an exaggerated ‘thumbs up’ for the observer over on the roof of the school.
Down in the street behind the school, the occasional stray Z had been replaced by forty or fifty Zs that seemed to be shambling slowly along the street near the wall behind the houses. A pair stopped directly behind the house and looked up at her, cocking their heads to the side like a confused dog. That was the same time she felt a hand on her butt.
“I’m Amy, are you a friend of my mommy? My mommy’s sleeping. Can you get me a glass of water?” The Z in the street not only heard the young girl but also started to shriek. She detected no anger from the mob, only the desire to absorb the girl into their group, and confusion to why she had not done it already. Dozens answered their shrieks. Gloria could swear she heard the patter of feet on the pavement to go along with the shrieks as more showed up. The crowd began to press against the six foot high concrete block fence and she could see it was not going to hold. She shook Paige until she finally regained consciousness
“They know you’re here, we have to go. Your little girl asked for a glass of water and they heard her down in the street.” Gloria rushed to the other side of the upstairs and looked out a window facing the front lawn. Another dozen Zs were standing around confused and listless, just sort of swaying back and forth while waiting for something to happen.
“We don’t have any time, listen and listen good. You three are going to go into the garage. Be sure to grab your shotgun from the kitchen, do not shoot it, use it as a club or anything but if you fire it they will come from miles around to find you. When you’re ready in the garage, I’ll distract the ones who are out front to come into the house. You will then run down the street five houses, then slip into the back yard and wait for me. If I’m not there in ten minutes, carefully look over the fence. If it’s clear enough, run for Sanctuary across the street. If it’s not, then try to get into a house and find the attic, they’ll sense you and try to rip through the walls to get to you, but it’s the only game in town. Now move!” Gloria corralled the three down into the garage, hoping there might be a car inside. “One more time, on my signal, open the garage door and run like hell down the street five houses, see if you can make it across the street to Sanctuary. If not, take your chances finding an attic to hide in. Now be quiet until I give you the signal.”
Gloria ran back to the living room and could see that the back fence was going to tumble any second. She grabbed a chair and threw it through the picture window facing the street, then shrieked. In almost the blink of an eye, they were pouring through the window. Gloria continued to shriek, facing the stairs. The first few in charged up the stairs as the others followed. When she counted twelve, she s
houted, “Run for it!” She heard the garage door open the same time the patio door shattered. She once again shrieked, facing up the stairs as the new infected ran up the stairs at the same time those already up there were starting to come down, creating a tense situation as both tried to shove the others out of their way. Gloria used that moment to slip out the front door unnoticed, and run down the street. She could hear crashing and even more shrieking as the two groups started to fight behind her. She tried not to laugh as she ran.
Running through the gate to the backyard, she was relieved to see it empty, then she heard the shotgun blast. She ran and vaulted over the wall without giving it any thought. To her right were at least fifty Zs making their way to Paige as she tried to clear the malfunctioning shotgun. To the left, another group of twenty Zs headed for the mother. Her children were screaming at the top of their lungs as they ran for the entrance to the school. Damn! If I open fire they’ll tear me apart. If I don’t then those kids are orphans. Lord, I could use your help right about now.
“Run for the gate! I’ll cover you!” Paige dropped the shotgun and ran after her children. Gloria swallowed and pulled out the 9mm. “Our Father, who art…” BAM BAM BAM “in Heaven hallowed be thy name.” BAM BAM She turned and fired off twice more in the opposite group and sprinted, not realizing she was now shouting, “Thy kingdom come.” BAM BAM “Thy will be done” BRRRRP BRRRP. The top of the school looked like a Christmas tree with sparkling lights as the defenders opened fire on both groups. The shrieking hit a crescendo as even more Zs charged towards the sound of gunfire. Gloria made it through the gate just as it slammed shut behind her. She continued to the next gate that was even more solid, before going through the metal doors.
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