Drew and Mikey drove the lead truck out of the graveyard and set a course for the warehouse they’d so recently fled. Gus was driving the second truck with Jeff in the passenger seat. Yue was resting in a pile of sleeping bags in the back with LeBron watching over her. Tom and one of his lieutenants were sitting in the sleeper section grilling Jeff on the warehouse they were headed to.
“The special agent who drugged all the people in Harley’s party is dead. Unless he’s hiding out in a room in the warehouse somewhere. Totally possible since the place is a secure maze filled with tons of supplies. Yue, Drew and LeBron were all with Harley when the group got drugged. You can ask any of them to confirm that I didn’t have anything to do with it.” Jeff explained the whole drugging, kidnapping women thing again for what felt like the twentieth time.
“Rohypnol really knocks these things out? Then they recover all of a sudden without any noticeable pulse?” Tom asked. Jeff could see the wheels spinning in the man’s head. It’d be nice to get a pharmacist’s opinion on poisoning the infected.
“Yes. That’s what Drew told us anyway. They go into such a deep unconscious state that it’s easy to mistake them for dead. They burn off the drugs then snap awake like nothing ever happened. Any ideas on that?” Jeff asked hopefully. They’d had the top biologists and epidemiologists in the world working on this and gotten nowhere. Maybe Tom from CVS would be the one to outsmart them all.
“Not really. I guess you could try injecting a lot more of the tranquilizer into them. See if that does the trick. Probably easier to just go ahead and shoot them.” Tom said after considering it all for a minute. So much for Tom being some sort of pharmacology savant who could save them all.
“Inject them with hot lead instead. Someone should totally make that into a bumper sticker.” Gus joked.
“Why are you guys headed back to the warehouse? What’s the plan for you?” Tom asked. Jeff shifted around in his seat to stare out the side window before answering. He knew he sucked at lying. He was hoping if he hid his face that he’d be able to pull it off. At the last second, he started wondering if it’d be better to just tell the truth. The government didn’t care if they lived or died. The government definitely didn’t want the refugees taking any supplies.
“We were tasked with gathering supplies and bringing them to another depot. We’re supposed to gather as much as we can from the warehouse and lock it back down before we leave.” Jeff said. He thought that was vague enough to work. Tom wasn’t buying it though.
“How were you supposed to get in the base with six people? From what you guys have said it’s filled to the brim with crawlerz right?” Tom asked.
“No clue yet. We’re making this up as we go. There may be a way we can lure them out. If no one’s in the warehouse anymore they may have all left already. I don’t know that they stick around if there’s no people in a place.” Jeff said. He was working that piece out in his head as he said it. Lots of theory there with little actual data to back it up.
“What other depot are you supposed to take stuff to?” Tom asked.
“You know I can’t tell you that.” Jeff answered.
“Is it the place you’re thinking of taking us? You can see why I want to know right?” Tom was starting to sound frustrated. He kept asking the same thing in different ways hoping for a better answer.
“I see why you need to know. Do you see why I can’t tell you?” Jeff replied. He was thinking maybe he should write all of his arguments down. He’d just gone through all of this with Carl and Amita the week before. Maybe they should start using that date rape drug on refugees. Stick them with a needle then wake them up when they got to whatever base Jeff had decided to take them to.
The conversation continued in circles until they arrived at the small road that would take them up to the warehouse. The tire tracks they’d seen on the way in were clearly visible in the road leading up to the warehouse. If the military was sitting up there at the order of the President that kind of changed things. Tom and Harley had both told Jeff that no one else should know where the warehouse was except for them.
The problem facing Jeff now was that if they pulled in with a bunch of refugees they could be shot on sight. He had no idea what the President’s orders may have been. For all he knew this was an ambush to take him out and make sure the location of the warehouse and all the other depots remained a secret. He radioed Drew asking him to stop for a second. He knew Drew and Mikey could see the tire tracks as well. He couldn’t really ask them what they thought without revealing everything to the two jokers sitting behind him. He really missed being able to send text messages.
“Why are we stopping?” Tom asked. It was his millionth question. Jeff took a deep breath to keep himself from saying or doing something he might regret. Even in the middle of the apocalypse it wasn’t cool to shoot people just because they were super annoying. The Rohypnol idea was sounding better all the time.
“We’re stopping because of the tracks leading up to the warehouse. We don’t know who may be up there. I’d prefer not surprising anyone.” Jeff answered. No one needed hm to explain why surprising jumpy people with guns was a bad idea.
“Only the government knew where this place was though right? So, it’s probably your guys up there. Maybe the President sent people to help clear the place out.” Tom offered. He looked excited by the presence of the additional tire tracks. Jeff looked over at Gus who shrugged back at him. It was a tough spot they’d gotten themselves into.
“The President could care less if you all live or die. If he sent people here it was to keep people like you from accessing these supplies. We’re on a mission from the President but it’s our last one. We’re not planning on running it the way we were ordered to.” Jeff let it all out in one continuous statement. It was a lot of information packed into a very short amount of time.
“Why are you taking us there then?” Tom questioned. He sounded confused. The trust Jeff had built with him blew out the window. Tom was leaning back tensely against the rear wall of the sleeper compartment now. He was trying to casually make sure the safety on his weapon was disengaged. His lieutenant was a larger man with a big bushy beard. He was wearing a big duster jacket like the cowboys in the old western movies. He had a pistol hidden in one of the big pockets. He had it in his hand ready to pull out.
“We didn’t know anyone was going to be here. I figured we could just get the supplies we needed and disappear. I do know other places where you and your families should be safe. We may need supplies to buy you into those places though. Especially now that the President is anti-survivor.” Jeff said. He was well aware everything he was saying sounded like a lie. Which sucked since he was finally telling the truth.
“Why should we believe you now?” Tom asked.
“We’re doing a whole Robin Hood rebellion thing. It’s all good. We’re on your side dude. Why else would we have bothered picking you guys up in the first place.” Gus said with finality. He was over dealing with the subterfuge. He’d been cringing listening to Jeff try to dance around the truth all morning.
Chapter 14: The Whole Truth
“What the hell’s a Robin Hood rebellion thing?” Tom asked angrily. His people’s lives were at stake. The cavalier attitude of the Marine in the driver’s seat mixed with the steady stream of bull he’d been getting all morning from Jeff had been rubbing on him until he was about ready to catch fire. He was on the verge of demanding Jeff get out of the truck and sending someone to gather his group from the other truck. They could take one of the trucks and drive away. Assuming someone knew how to drive a truck. Otherwise, the smartass Marine could come along with them.
“I’m done letting people die. There was nothing we could do when this all started. There wasn’t a way to save everybody. Once things leveled out the plan was always to help the people who survived the first wave. That’s why we hid stockpiles all over the place. Every single store was going to be cleaned out before that first wave of infections
subsided. The original President believed in the plan. It was heartless but realistic. The Vice President didn’t believe in it all. That’s why he was on the carrier when everything went to hell.” Jeff paused to make sure everyone was following him. Seeing he had their attention he continued.
“Those two were never supposed to be on board the carrier at the same time. They were supposed to be kept apart to ensure the continuity of government. The Vice President knew he wouldn’t be able to convince the President to let everyone die so the elite could live though. At least not remotely so he came to visit. Then the President died. The Vice President got promoted. He was President for like five minutes before he started reversing everything we’d been working towards. This is way bigger than just us. This is every survivor in the states who should be getting the help they need. That’s why we’re a Robin Hood rebellion thing.” Jeff answered. His long-winded answer showing the depth of thought he’d put into it. His passion came through as well. It was obvious he meant what he said.
“That’s the first thing you’ve said all day that didn’t sound like bullshit. Actually it sounds completely delusional, but it rings a lot truer than the other crap you’ve been feeding us.” Tom said.
“It’s the whole truth.” Jeff responded.
“It’s great and all. We’re happy for you and happy to take whatever you can give us. We’re not trying to join a rebellion though. We’re trying to stay alive. Why shouldn’t we just take what we want out of these trucks and leave with one of them?” Tom asked. He positioned his rifle in a threatening way now to reinforce what he was saying. Seeing his boss getting ready to make his make his move the other man slipped his pistol out of his pocket.
Gus grabbed the pistol and yanked it right out of the shocked man’s hand. Then Gus hopped in the back. Jeff didn’t hesitate to follow him. Tom yanked the trigger on his rifle, but the safety was indeed on. He frantically searched for the little knob to make the gun work. Before he could figure it out Jeff had him by the hair and was smashing his face into the wall. Gus was lying on top of the other guy beating him in the back of the head with his own pistol. He was cussing the guy out in between every blow.
Jeff’s long legs were straddling the center console. He’d knocked Tom’s rifle to the side and gone to town. He was beating Tom’s face against the wall as hard as he could. Tom groped around to find the rifle for a couple of seconds then switched to trying to find his knife. He whipped out the novelty switchblade he’d snagged from a store prominently displaying throwing stars and num-chuks. He pressed the button that made the blade shoot out.
“Drop it or I’ll blow your brains out.” Gus said calmly. He was holding up the pistol he’d been using to beat the holy hell out of Tom’s accomplice. Tom looked over at the Marine and saw that he meant it. He dropped the knife on the thin mattress and waited for the rest of his beating.
Instead of venting a ton of frustration on the pharmacist’s face Jeff slid back down into his seat. He focused on getting control of his breathing. Gus was searching Tom and the other guy for any additional weapons. When he was satisfied that they were both clean he started to slide back into the front of the cab. Jeff watched in amusement as the pissed off Marine stopped. Gus spun back around to cuss and swing a few more punches before once again crawling into the driver’s seat.
“Feel better?” Jeff asked him with a smirk.
“Yes sir. I needed to let some aggression out. You want me to tie them up or throw them out of the truck? If you want me to shoot them, we should get them out of the truck first. The place already smells bad enough from Yue puking everywhere. A bunch of blood and brains and crap isn’t going to help any.” Gus replied.
“We weren’t going to kill you.” Tom said weakly from the back seat.
“You’re damned right moron. What were you even thinking? I’m a United States Marine. I’m trained to kill people. You’re trained to put pills in bottles and make change. Your moron friend back there pulled a gun on me. He shouldn’t even have a gun if he doesn’t know the most basic rule of owning one. You never pull a gun on someone you’re not planning on killing. You point a gun at me you better be ready to pull the damned trigger.” Gus said. Jeff was enjoying the show. He hadn’t seen Gus this worked up since LeBron almost shot him trying to kill a bunny rabbit.
“Alright. You tried to kill us. We beat the crap out of you. Are we good? What the hell do we do about the tire tracks headed into the base?” Jeff asked. This was fun and all, but they had work to do.
“I’m good. Jim’s got blood all over the back of his head. We weren’t trying to kill you.” Tom said again. Jim must be the other schmuck in the back. It made sense that Jim’s head was bleeding pretty bad since Gus had worked it like a piñata.
“Wrap his head in some gauze and try to keep him from bleeding all over the sheets. The mattresses have to be custom fitted in these things.” Gus said. His main worry was the fact that the sleeper portion of the cab was the absolute best place to nap in the whole little convoy. Tom had a few things to say around Gus caring more about the bed than Jim. He thought better of it though. He kept his eyes down while he focused on finding the gauze pads and bandages Gus had mentioned.
“Convoy actual to convoy two. Ready to roll? Over.” Jeff said lapsing back into the radio lingo. It still didn’t come naturally to him. If the people up ahead had their ears on, he didn’t want them to hear the people driving the trucks sound like a bunch of civilians. He felt like it was important at this point to be perceived as professionals.
“We doing the fancy radio talk stuff again? Cool. Yeah, no worries. Driving now. Over and out and whatever.” Drew’s voice came back over the radio. So much for sounding like professionals. Mikey and Drew might have decided to pass a bottle of something back and forth while they waited. Jeff hoped not. Drunk driving big ass trucks full of refugees through the snow in the middle of an apocalypse couldn’t possibly end well.
In the lead truck Drew sat the walkie talkie down and made sure his weapons were all locked and loaded. He told Lisa and her dad to check their weapons as well. Lisa was the girl he’d been talking to since their first pitstop at the graveyard. Her family had managed to survive the first wave of crawlerz by hiding out in an old bomb shelter. They’d been lucky enough to have a prepper neighbor. The man’s shelter had been fully stocked in preparation for the end of the world. The unfortunate prepper had died from an overindulgence in cheeseburgers and milkshakes a week before the tomb was opened in Egypt. It was a verse straight out of the Weird Al Yankovic version of the ironic song by Alanis Morrisette.
Lisa and her dad were the only two left in her family. They’d joined up with Tom’s group a month before Harley had shown up. They’d eaten their way through the supplies in the bomb shelter and been forced to leave. Tom’s crew had run into them in the back of a Chucky Cheese. Both groups had been looking to lift a few cans of pizza sauce and whatever else the Chuckster might have in storage. There was a lot of creative thinking going on around where food stores might still exist. The rest of their story was a series of scavenging exercises until they wound up sleeping in the graveyard.
The reason Lisa’s dad was staring daggers at him was due to Drew’s ‘talk now think later’ approach to conversations. He’d asked Lisa if she wanted to come hang out in the bed in the front of the truck with him. She’d thought that was hilarious. Her father hadn’t been amused. She kept bringing it up as a joke making her dad even angrier. Drew spent most of the morning doing an extra fine job of staring out the windows looking for any threats. It was way too awkward trying to talk to Lisa after all that. Her dad sat in the back staring at him like he’d been caught driving through their neighborhood in a big white van offering girls candy to help him look for his lost puppy.
Everyone in the truck tensed up when they drove through the broken gates. There were two heavily up armored Humvees sitting in the field. Rushing to get in position to greet the trucks was a small contingent of well-armed soldi
ers. The men were trying to avoid tripping over the corpses that littered the large open space beside the tarmac. All of them were focused on bringing weapons to bear on the two large trucks coming up the road into their space. Drew hit the walkie and relayed a quick sitrep to Jeff from their vantage point. He waited impatiently for Jeff to respond with what their approach should be.
“We’re all on the same side. Let’s just pull up and see how we can help each other.” Jeff said. He’d given up on maintaining proper radio lingo. He had Gus pull up and park them next to the other truck. He opened his door and climbed down to the ground. Gus, Mikey and Drew joined him as he strode purposefully towards the men standing around the Humvees.
A tall man with short blond hair took off his hat and walked towards them. He was easily as tall as Jeff but there was nothing gangly about him. He moved with the easy grace of a special forces operative. It was immediately apparent this wasn’t his first rodeo.
Crawlerz: Book 3: The Mountains Are Calling Page 12