by Lee Thomas
"Ok. We should also think about grabbing some extra chains and tow straps, just in case. If I take the trailer, we can load up extra tires for the RV's, and truck, as well as extra parts. We could keep the gas cans in there too, so they aren't exposed outside the RV's or leaking fumes inside.” Jeff said.
"That’s a really good idea, yeah. I will want the weapons stored in the RV's with us though so we have easy access to them. We need to find out how many people here are good shots, are squeamish, and how many are willing to follow orders so we can do this without having to worry about explaining every little detail every time, or convincing everyone every time."
We discussed various other aspects of my plan for a while, making sure there were no obvious holes in the plan. We ran different scenarios through, from lack of gas, large swarms of infected, hostile groups of humans, and lack of shelter. They brought up new ideas and backup plans. We talked about the people we knew would follow us willingly, and the ones who we thought would be problems. Talents were discussed so we could figure out who could do what best.
The next week was spent gathering supplies, contacting families and friends, watching the news and waiting for the looting to stop. We had several instances of looters trying to break in as well as infected. We had power throughout all this time, as well as water. I was waiting for the electrical grid to go out, which would then kill our water supply. I made sure we were bottling as much water as possible for when it finally went, plus the trip. I was figuring water and food would be in short supply on the road. We had brought Jeff's rig and trailer to the hospital and parked it in back. Jeff, Shayne, Mark, and I then went and started bringing RV's back. We got four the first time and parked them out back, between the trailer and the building. I wanted to try to somewhat armor them before we went and got more. So we took the sheet metal we had and made plating to protect the tires, the windshield as much as possible, and the windows. We figured out how to leave small ports to fire from, in case we were swarmed.
The news finally petered out as various locations either completely succumbed to the virus, lost power due to rioting and looting, or people just gave up and ran. The day before we lost city power, I managed to find an internet connection and found one site that gave updates on the virus. According to the maps it showed, about 50% of the population had either been killed, or infected. This was now about one month since the first patient walked into an ER complaining he had the flu.
April 30th, 2018
I awoke to mostly darkness, and then realized the only light was from the emergency lighting. That means the city power was out, and the generator wasn't working. I got up and dressed, grabbed a flashlight, and went in search of Shayne to see if he could figure it out. He was good with mechanical stuff, and I thought we had a couple of electricians and such too, so I would ask around.
I went to the bathroom to see if we still had water, which I was betting not with the city power off. Sure enough, nothing. Well, we had an outdoor courtyard in the middle of the building; I guess we would need to build some outdoor toilets soon. This bumped up my timetable a little.
I found Shayne with five others in the generator room, looking it over, talking amongst themselves about possible solutions. They looked up when I walked in. Shayne motioned me over, not a pleasant look on his face.
"The generator seems basically sound, but it is very low on fuel, and some of the parts have not been maintained well, so it will need some work before we can use it. The problem is we don't have the necessary parts to replace them with.” he told me, giving me a rundown of what was wrong with it.
"Alright. Well, with no water, we can't stay here long anyways. How long will the emergency lighting last?" I asked.
"No more than three days.” said James, one of the electricians.
"Ok. Well, then, in three days we leave, unless you can get it running.” I told them. I left them to figure out if they could get the generator running in three days, while I went to make preparations just in case.
We now had about 80 or 90 people total here, including the kids. I needed to know how many people for sure we could get in one RV so I could plan how many more we needed to obtain. We also had regular vehicles and tow hitches for the RV's, so if need be people could ride in the cars being towed. I found Jeff and Mark, then went in search of one more driver so we could bring back four RV's to give us an even eight. That would allow us to have ten people or so in each RV, which shouldn't be too crowded.
"Sheldon! Sheldon!" someone came running down the hallway yelling for me. It was Travis, one of the kids we were using as message runners for the watchers, "Jason, on the west door, sent me to find you. There are looters trying to get into the west door. They have guns, axes, and crowbars."
"Mark, you and Aaron go grab some more weapons and men, Jeff, come with me. Meet at the door. Travis, go around to the other watch stations and make sure no one else is trying to break in anywhere else.” I said, staring to run back towards my room to grab my swords. After I got them, I ran to the west door to help Jason. I could hear the outsiders banging on the doors from down the hall. As I came up to the door, I could see that they hadn't broken through yet. Footsteps behind me told me that Jeff was there with his gun, and probably sword as well.
Jeff snuck up to the inner wall; with the power out they wouldn't see him from outside. He and Jason crouched down below the viewports on one side, while I crouched down on the other. The door was locked tight, and boarded up inside and out. Jeff had his pistol in hand and his sword on his side, while Jason also had a pistol. I looked back down the hall and saw Mark and Aaron coming, along with four more men, all armed. I glanced back at the door when I heard glass crack. Another two hits and broken glass fell down between the boards, right behind Jeff and Jason.
Jason popped up and fired three rounds through the new hole. I heard shouts from outside as Jeff also popped up and fired as well. Shots from outside hit the boards, some punched through, some didn't. Luckily none of us were hit. I stood up and looked out the viewport nearest me and saw them running away, firing blindly behind them. They jumped into their truck and drove away. I watched them until they were out of view.
"Jason, Aaron, stay here and watch, just in case they come back. I'll have Travis make sure extra ammo is brought." I said. I then turned and walked back down the hallway. Jeff came with me, as well as Mark. I went to the nurses' station we had set up as an impromptu info center. I asked one of the message runners there to gather everyone in the cafeteria. I sent a second one to find out about the inventory levels of our ammo, and food stores.
I went and sat at one of the tables and waited for everyone to filter in, minus the ones I left on watch to make sure the looters didn't come back. It wasn’t the first time some had tried to break in, plus the infected were starting to become a serious threat. It took about thirty minutes for everyone to show up.
"Okay everyone, here's the deal. As you all know by now, we have lost city power, and the generator is not kicking on for some reason. With no city power, we no longer have running water either. I need a couple of volunteers to help dig some holes out in the courtyard to set up a few outdoor toilets. I also need two drivers to go with me to bring back four more RV's so we can get them ready for the trip. We have stockpiled a little gas already, and will continue to search for more on the road. I would ask that everyone be ready to leave in two days. It will not be an easy trip, nor safe exactly, but in the end we will be more secure than we are here, with space, security, power, and water. I ask that you all listen to me, and we should get there safe and whole. Thank you." I then sat down and began thinking about how I was going to get this group halfway across the country. The two runners came in with notes in hand. I took them and reviewed what we had. It looked like we had plenty of ammo and food if we ration the food. Water might be an issue, but I was pretty sure we could ration it too and be fine. All I knew was we had to get moving.
With it being lunch time, I figured we could get t
he RV's here this afternoon and have them outfitted by dark. My hope was that overnight we could get everything loaded and actually hit the road first thing in the morning. I went and found Jeff and the other drivers, gathered some weapons, then headed out to get the last RV's. There was Jeff, myself, Shayne, Mark, and four others who volunteered as guards. We headed south, then west to the RV dealership. Along the way we saw wrecked cars, broken windows, even a few bodies that no one bothered to pick up. A few of the infected seemed to be out and take notice of our passing.
Pulling up to the dealership, Jeff pulled the car up to the office so we could locate keys. I had my swords out, ready for any infected that attacked us. All the rest had guns, as well as knives. Mark checked the door, thankfully it was unlocked. We went inside to find keys, and see if we could find any kind of map or other supplies we could use. Shayne found the key box and started handing out keys. We decided to figure out which RVs went with which keys before we worried about supplies.
"Alright, everyone look sharp. We saw those infected back on the road, no telling if there are any more around here. Watch your backs.” I told the group. We each took about eight sets of keys and split up to locate ones that worked. I went to my first RV and tried the door. It was unlocked, so I went in to see if I could start it.
I opened the door, then jumped back a hair. Nothing came rushing out, so I slowly entered. Nothing appeared out of place, and I couldn’t see anyone in it. I searched all the way to the back, just in case. Once I found it to be empty, I went and shut the door, put my sword away, and tried my keys. None of them worked on this one, so I left, putting an X on the door with one of the markers we found in the office. I tried three more with also no luck, and no surprises. Finally, on my fifth one, the engine started. I saw it was fairly full of gas already, and I moved it close to the entrance so I wouldn't forget which one it was.
As I stepped out of the RV and headed towards the rest to keep looking, I saw two infected people walk around the corner of a RV, following one of us. I ran over and peeked around the corner. It appeared that Mark was the one that had their attention, but luckily he saw them too, and got into a vehicle and shut the door. I got his attention since was looking out the window, and motioned for him to keep their attention as I snuck up behind them. He nodded, then started making noise and banging on the window. They snarled, and grunted, and kept trying to open the door. I snuck up behind them and swung my sword towards the first one, nearly decapitating him. The second saw the motion and turned towards me as I pulled my sword back. It was too slow to react however, and I planted my sword in the top of its skull before it could attack me.
As they fell, I felt movement behind me, and turned and swung at the same time. Jeff just managed to get his rifle up in time to block it.
"Whoa! It's just me! I saw you headed this way with your swords out, so I came over to see if you needed help.” he said as I lowered my weapon.
"Oh, well, sorry. I didn't know it was you. Maybe announce yourself next time.” I said as I stooped to clean my blade off with a rag I had found and kept on me.
"Are you okay Sheldon? You seem more than a little upset. You're actually shaking.” Jeff asked. Shayne and the others had come up by then as they noticed what had happened as well.
"I have never killed anyone before. I mean, I know they are sick, and would have killed me, or Mark, or all of us if given the chance. And while I was prepared to do it in the Navy, that was different. That would have been an act of war, in defense of the country and all that. I guess I wasn’t ready for the actual killing of someone by my hand, even if it is considered self-defense.” I admitted to them. We had defended the hospital from looters, and infected before, but nothing like this, and I hadn't actually fired a shot or swung my sword in defense of the building yet. It felt weird. I was kind of sick to my stomach, but proud and glad at the same time that I defended my friends against something deadly.
"You did well, man. I would've been stuck in that RV for who knows how long if you hadn't seen them behind me. I couldn't just throw open the door with two of them there. You saved me.” Mark told me. I could tell it was both an honest sentiment as well as just trying to cheer me up. It did make me feel a little better, actually.
"Alright, let's finish getting these RV's so we can get out of here.” I said, shrugging it off. I would have to learn how to live with the fact that while I might be defending those I care about, I was still killing people to do it.
We didn't have any more encounters while we were there, and we found the other three RV's we wanted fairly quickly. After we had them all lined up at the entrance, we went in search of supplies. Extra parts mostly, nothing else of value or use was there. We found several gas cans, plus a few siphon hoses, so we siphoned all the gas out of the ones we were leaving behind and filled first the RV tanks, then filled the cans. After we had everything we could salvage, we each got in our own RV's and headed back towards the hospital.
We pulled up in back of the hospital, parking behind the rig. I told the guys to leave the gas tanks in the RV storage areas and bring the parts inside so we could pack them up. We had quite a few storage bins from the hospital supplies we could use. Once everything was put away, it was about three o'clock. I asked for the ones who volunteered for guard duty to meet me in the cafeteria as soon as possible, and a team to the RV's to place the sheet metal over the wheels. I then sipped on some tea while I waited for the guards to show up.
"Alright guys, here's the deal. We are going to try to outfit the RV's this evening so that in the morning we can load up the supplies and take off. We are going to have to watch carefully tonight for infected, as well as looters apparently. I want at least three people per door, with two runners and ammo already there. Don't fire unless you have to, and then make it count. If everything goes well we will be out of here by noon tomorrow. Keep us safe guys, I'm counting on you.” I told them, looking each of them in the eye. They all nodded back at me, and then went their separate ways, some to nap before their shift, some to relieve the current watchers.
I headed back down to my room to think. I was still shaken by what I had done today, even though I knew it would happen many more times before we were truly safe. I had set myself up in the lab since I was familiar with it, as I used to work there. It also had exterior windows high up so I could climb on the counter and look out without being seen from outside very well. I had removed the storage lockers from the small store room and placed an old army cot in there. I took my swords off, set them aside to clean later, and changed into some clean clothes.
I made up mind that night. It bothered me what I had done, but it would bother me even more was if one of those infected killed one of my friends or family. I decided to get into a war zone mindset; it was the infected, or us. This group was my responsibility now; it was my plan that brought them here.
Someone came in the lab, calling for me. It was one of the kids we used to run messages. Tim, I think was his name. It was almost dark, so I wondered what was going on.
"Sheldon, Shayne wanted me to tell you the RV's are done." He said.
"Ok. Tell him I said thank you." I replied to him. I figured I would go check them out, even though it would be dark out back. With no power we wouldn't have the lights, but we had flashlights. I wanted to see if we could start loading supplies in tonight so we could roll out in the morning.
"Hey man, wait up.” Jeff called to me as I walked down the hallway. I stopped and turned towards him to wait for him to catch up.
"What's up man?" I asked as he got closer.
"What's the next step now? We got the RV's you asked for, we got supplies, and we got people. Some are getting angry; most are frightened, as well as the kids. I hope you can pull something out of your ass soon.” Jeff said as he got close.
"Get everyone gathered in the cafeteria. I'll make the announcement. I'm going to check out the RV's real quick first. I'll meet you there."
"Alright. This better be good.” he
said. He then kept walking down the hallway as I turned into the stairwell. I went to what was once the supply room of the hospital, as it had the most defensible door closest to the back area. It had a peep hole, and I had stationed three guards there just in case.
"Evening guys, how's it going?" I asked them as I walked in.
"Good, no sign of any movement all day.” one of them replied. Aaron, I think.
"Alright. I'm going to check the RV's real quick, then I want everyone in the cafeteria for an announcement. Got a flashlight handy?" I asked. They handed me one, checked the peep hole, and then opened the door. I had my sword on me, and two of them went with me while one stayed inside to open the door for us. I kept the light off till we got up to the vehicles, just in case. I made a quick look at all four of the new ones and saw they made quick work of getting the sheet metal on, but it looked good. It should protect the tires nicely. We headed back in before the light drew any unwanted attention.
Once we were all three in, I made sure the door was secured and we went to the cafeteria. I walked in and saw most everyone was there. I sent a runner to all the doors being watched to make sure they were secure, and to tell all the guards to come here. While I waited for them to show, I got something to drink and just chatted for a few with various people.
Once everyone was there, I began. I explained my plan, and made sure everyone knew why it was time to leave. Some had questions, others had doubts. It was normal, especially with all this craziness going on. No one had any idea what to do, how to do it, or where to go. I tried to alleviate all of their fears and doubts, but this was an insane situation. Sure, we had movies, and books about a zombie apocalypse, but no one ever really seriously thought we would be living it. A few actually thought this was some kind of government plan. Almost everyone in this room had already lost someone to either looters or attacks of the infected.