Then Fred and Gary heard Steve thumb back the hammer.
Fred stood up slowly and approached the two. Then he calmly put his hand on Steve’s pistol. “There’s been enough hurt today, Steve. It was a mistake. Let it go – we need to worry about Xander.”
“Get out of my sight, you stupid motherfucker!” Steve growled, slowly lowering the pistol.
“I’m sorry, I panicked. I…I…I just didn’t want to get eaten, like, like, like my g-g-g-girlfriend did,” he stuttered. Then Todd collapsed to the ground and started blubbering like a baby.
Gary helped Todd up and led him away, while Fred and Steve tried to help Xander.
Chapter 22
October 3rd
“Lieutenant Colonel Rogers, we need to regain the initiative,” General Raine stated flatly.
“Pardon, sir?” Rogers replied. Rogers was commander, First Battalion of the Princess Patricia Canadian Light Infantry, the Brigade’s mechanized infantry component.
“The Canadian Forces trains its officers to seize the initiative and gain tactical and strategic advantage over its adversaries, using high morale, leadership, team work, and perseverance. It is time to put those tenets to work.”
“What do you propose, sir?” Rogers inquired.
“We haven’t seen very many infected in the past two days. Therefore, I propose to send a patrol back into the city to do a recce. However, we have to be extremely careful. In the past, the patrols we sent into the city took hideous losses – we simply can’t afford that again.”
“I’m sure my staff can work something up in a few hours, sir.”
“There’s no need, Colonel. My own staff has already developed a plan. We’ll send in a small unit, platoon-sized to investigate the areas close to the base. Specifically, I want Intel on Klarvatten, Schonsee, and Lake District, the three residential areas directly south of the base. Once we’ve gotten some basic Intel, we can plan other missions into the city.”
“Okay, sir, which platoon do you want?”
“I want the platoon led by your best officer, Colonel.”
“But, sir, all my officers…” Rogers started.
“Let me stop you right there. I’m sure all of your officers are great, otherwise they wouldn’t be officers. But you and I both know some officers are better at some things than others. I once had a major in my brigade who was a whiz at paperwork, but put him in a field exercise with troops and he was useless as tits on a boar. A captain I once knew was a dervish in the field, capable of feats of amazing bravery and a real leader of men , but put that man behind a desk and he was hopeless.
“No, Colonel, I want an officer who is enthusiastic, but not gung-ho, one who is smart, but not brilliant, one who leads by example and has troops that will walk through hell to carry out the mission. I want an officer who will seize the initiative and not let go, but who won’t be reckless. Do you catch my drift?”
“Definitely, General, I have just the officer in mind.”
An hour later, a tired and somewhat surprised Captain Kelly Penner stood in front of General Raines. General Raines was surprised to see a woman standing in front of him. He had demanded Rogers’ best officer, and Rogers had sent a woman. And that was a bit of shock for the General.
It wasn’t that Raines was a chauvinist, but like every male on the planet, his psyche was hard-wired to protect women, not send them into battle to potentially die a gruesome death. He didn’t like commanding men to do it either, but with women, in his mind it was somehow different.
For much of its history, Canada had allowed women to serve in the military and its supporting arms, but always in rear echelon roles such as medicine. In the 1970s, Canada had been among the first western nations to allow women into traditional combat roles, and like any organization bound by tradition and history, the Canadian Forces had been highly resistant to the idea at first.
Typical male superiority arguments were brought forth, arguing that women weren’t as strong as men, they couldn’t lift as much, run as far, and so forth. As with any argument between politicians and the military in a democracy, the politicians won and women were allowed to enter combat roles, such as fighter pilot, infantry soldier, tank gunner, and so on. To fight any appearance of favouritism, the Canadian Forces set the physical standards as high as possible. Initially, this limited the numbers of women who could meet the requirements.
However, as time went on, more and more women qualified for roles men never thought possible, and slowly but surely, the generals in charge came to the realization that allowing women into combat roles was a positive thing. The nation had been shocked when its first woman warrior had died in combat in Afghanistan in 2006, but it didn’t affect the policy one bit. Her death, sad as it was, had actually vindicated the policy allowing women to fight alongside men.
Of course, for General Raines, this was all ancient history. As a young Captain in the early 80s, he had had mixed feelings about letting women into combat roles, but as a lowly Captain he wasn’t in any position to do anything about it. By the time he had achieved flag rank, he had known far too many highly competent and capable female officers for the issue to even cross his mind. Of course, in peacetime, one’s thoughts are always different from combat.
As these thoughts tumbled around in Raine’s head, he returned to the file laid out before him. Its contents noted that Captain Penner was an exemplary officer, with tours of duty in Kosovo and Afghanistan, as well as numerous awards and commendations. She followed orders to the letter but still took initiative and thought outside the box when it came to finding solutions to problems, both in combat and while pushing a desk.
“Captain Penner, you and your platoon will get a proper briefing shortly, but I’ll give you the quick and dirty. Simply put, I need eyes and ears beyond the walls of this base. We need to know what’s waiting for us over the horizon. Are there a million infected in Edmonton just waiting to swamp our defences here? Or has the situation somehow stabilized itself, as the lull over the past forty-eight hours seems to suggest? If it has stabilized, why and how?
“Now, once the weather clears, I can send out choppers and UAVs on recce missions, and I will, but they can’t see everything, just what’s visible from the air. So I’ve decided to send troops back into the city. I’ve never liked sending troops into harm’s way, but as a commander, that goes with the job. Your platoon will get everything and anything you need to fulfill your mission. We’ll also have backup ready and waiting to help pull your group out of the trouble should the situation so warrant.”
“Sir, we won’t let you down,” Penner replied.
“Given your record, that’s exactly what I expect. Dismissed!” Raines went back to his paperwork as Captain Penner left the room.
---------
Xander awoke with a tremendous headache and a crushing pain in his chest. The first thing he noticed was Evelyn, sitting beside him in the sleeping area. Then he glanced down and he noticed that he was covered in bandages. The final item that registered was the smell of smoke from a wood fire.
“Did anyone get the name of the train that hit me?” he groaned cheerfully.
“Oh my God, Xander’s awake!” Evelyn shouted. People came running.
Evelyn turned to Xander. “How do you feel?”
“I’ve been better. Every muscle in my upper body is sore, I have a headache that would kill a giant and my throat is as dry as the damned desert,” he replied weakly.
“Here, have a sip of water, then eat something,” she said, pointing to a tray of nearby food. “After that, I’ll give you some Tylenol or Advil for the pain.”
“Okay,” Xander said. He took a few sips of water, then tried to eat some cheese.
“Just eat a little bit for now. Once I’m sure you can keep it down, I’ll give you some more,” Evelyn said.
In between bites, Xander asked, “What the hell happened? All I remember is Todd coming back for the last load of pallets, then pfft, nothing.”
�
�Well, Todd was trying to hurry with that last load and hit a patch of ice and lost control. According to Jack, the forklift spun like a top and the pallets went flying – you got hit by at least one of them.”
“No wonder I feel like shit,” Xander said. “Did we get all the pallets, though?”
“No, we had to leave the last bunch out there; some of the pallets hit the side of the building and made even more noise than the rest of us which attracted a huge group. You guys barely got back inside,” Evelyn replied.
“Can I have something for the pain?”
“Sure, what do you want? Tylenol or Advil?”
“Actually, I want both – three extra strength Tylenol and an Advil,” Xander said.
“That seems like an awful lot,” Evelyn replied.
“Don’t worry, I’ve taken that dose in the past, when I had a migraine.”
“Okay, but take it easy,” she said.
“I will, I promise. Any idea what kind of injuries I have?” Xander said as he lifted his shirt and looked at the tape wrapped around his chest.
“Jessica apparently volunteered at a hospital as a health aide, whatever that is. She thinks you have a couple cracked or broken ribs and maybe a slight concussion. It’s a good thing you wore so much clothing when you went out, it probably saved your life. We tried going online to use WebMD, but the wireless is down. So is cell service, so I couldn’t even use my iPhone,” Evelyn said with a distinct frown.
“Well, I got hurt lots when I played hockey, I’m sure I’ll heal up just fine. I’m still young and healthy, so I’m not too worried.”
“Well, stop trying to be the hero all the time and let someone else step up and do something for once.”
“Yes, dear,” Xander said in a patronizing tone.
Chapter 23
October 4th
“Knock, knock!” someone said cheerily from the hallway.
Dan shot up. He hadn’t been asleep, just lying in his cot desperately trying to get some sleep. He rubbed his eyes and wearily looked out of the cell that had been his home for what had seemed an eternity. Sleeping on the metal cot in the cell had been next to impossible, so he was sore, irritable and tired.
“What the hell do you want?” he growled. Dan’s gaze focused and he saw a pretty female soldier with a megawatt smile standing outside his cell. He immediately forced a smile onto his mouth and self-consciously ran his hands through his hair.
“Time’s up, sunshine. You’re a free man!” she said.
“About time. So what happens now?”
“Hi, I’m Corporal Green, nice to meet you.” She stuck her hand through the bars to shake his hand.
“Uh, yeah, nice to meet you, too,” Dan mumbled, somewhat chastened.
Dan grabbed her hand, intending to crush it with his powerful grip but was pleasantly surprised by how soft and smooth her skin felt inside his grip. Still, out of sheer petulance, he tried to exert his dominance and squeezed her dainty little hand as hard as he could. She surprised him once again by not only matching his grip but exceeding it.
He groaned inside and relented. “Okay, you win, I give up! Just give me back my hand!” Dan said jokingly.
Still smiling, Green said, “Sorry, sometimes I don’t know my own strength – I’ve got a fourth degree black belt in Karate and I’m surrounded 24/7 by young kids full of piss and vinegar – although I think the PC term is testosterone.”
Green reached down to her radio and said, “Open on 2-1-4.”
“Roger,” her radio squawked.
The lock disengaged very loudly and the door to Dan’s cell slid open quietly.
“To answer your question, you get another medical check-up,” Green said. “Then you get to clean yourself up and make yourself presentable. Then a debrief and then, anything goes I guess.”
“What about this stuff?” Dan said, gesturing to the books and iPod in his cell.
“We’ll get it later.”
Dan stepped out into the hallway and saw that it was empty save Corporal Green and himself. “What no guys to back you up?”
“Well, if you had been growling in your cell, someone would have put you down. When I came up and saw that you were cogent…surly, yet cogent, there was no point to calling for backup.”
“Fair enough,” Dan replied. “Lead on, Miss Green.”
“That’s Corporal Green to you, Sergeant,” she shot back playfully as they began to walk down the hallway.
“Yeah, whatever…after five days of stewing in that tiny cell I’m not in the best of moods,” Dan said.
“No one ever is, Sergeant. I will say that your greeting was one of the mildest I’ve gotten since this whole thing started. And while inside, you were also one of the lowest maintenance people we’ve had to deal with.”
“Thanks, but there’s no point bitching and moaning about something neither of us can control, is there?” Dan said.
“True, but compared to some people – not mentioning names – you were a model inmate. Now the mayor and his bunch…” Green shuddered at the memory.
“Say no more, he wasn’t very popular with the force either.”
They came to a cell door made of two inch thick steel bars and Green said into her radio, “Davis, buzz us through, will you?”
A buzzer sounded and the door smoothly slid open. They walked a few steps, turned left, and came to a metal security door with a Plexiglas window in it. Green waved to Private Davis, who was sitting on the other side watching a wall covered in screens displaying security camera footage from the cell block.
Davis nodded and the lock on the heavy security door buzzed so Green pushed it open. They stepped through the doorway to see Private Davis with his pistol drawn and ready, aimed at the ground.
“You guys don’t mess around, do you?” Dan said.
“Nope, we enjoy things like drinking and fucking and the infected don’t do any of them!” Private Davis said, laughing as he holstered his pistol.
“Does your mother know you talk like that, Private?” Corporal Green teased.
“Who do you think taught me!” Private Davis shot back.
Corporal Green opened another security door and they stepped into a normal-looking hallway. Green turned and walked towards the prison medical centre. She opened the door and smiling, said, “Good luck, Sergeant.”
As Dan walked through the door, he thought he saw Corporal Green wink at him, but it was too quick and the door closed before he could be sure.
Once again he was subjected to an extremely thorough medical inspection and squirmed when asked to cough and frowned when the rubber glove snapped on the doctor’s hand. After almost an hour, he was cleared and allowed to leave the medical centre.
Dan took a long hot shower, trying to cleanse both the accumulated filth of five days in a cramped tiny cell off his body, as well as the unpleasantness of his far too intimate medical check-up out of his mind. After his shower, he found his police uniform waiting for him in the change room, freshly cleaned and pressed. Hanging next to it was a Canadian Forces CADPAT uniform with sergeant’s insignia sewn on the shoulders. CADPAT was Canadian Distinctive Pattern, the camouflage uniform used by the Canadian Forces.
“Why am I not surprised?” Dan said aloud. “Think I’ll wear the police uniform just to piss them off.”
He dressed quickly and then left the changing area.
Outside, Green stood there waiting for him. “That’s a shame, I was hoping you’d pick the other uniform…oh well, your loss,” she said. They started walking down the hallway.
“I only chose this one to ruffle some bigwig’s feathers – if it makes that much of a difference I can go change,” Dan replied, smiling at her.
“No, I’m just a sucker for a man in uniform,” Green said.
“What the hell is this?” Dan asked, fingering his police uniform.
“Not my kind of uniform,” Green replied.
“Huh,” was all that Dan could think of.
“Well, t
his is you,” Corporal Green said as she paused, then opened a door.
Dan walked into the office. Inside was a small table, overloaded with food and a half dozen people. A pair were in business attire and looked like they belonged to the City, two others were wearing Edmonton Police uniforms and the other two wore Canadian Forces CADPAT camouflage. Standing behind them were at least another dozen people.
As Green closed the door from out in the hallway, she heard, “Why don’t you sit down, Officer Simpson, we have a lot to talk about.”
---------
Xander was resting by himself when Todd came up to him.
“Hey, man, you got a minute?” Todd asked.
Xander nodded.
“Are you okay?”
“I’ll live. What happened, Todd?” Xander asked.
“I lost the coin toss with Gary about who had to get the last stack of pallets. I was rushing, trying to get back in, because I was terrified of being out there.”
“No surprise there, Todd, I think we’re all scared,” Xander said quietly.
“Not like I am. The night you guys showed up, I was talking to my girlfriend and heard her get eaten by those things outside. I frantically called my family back in Ontario, and the calls all went to voicemail. Since then, I’ve had nightmares every night, and I feel like some part of me is blaming the rest of me for not saving my girlfriend. Often, I wake up in a cold sweat, shivering. And that’s assuming I actually get to sleep. Most nights I just toss and turn for hours. The only times I can seem to get any solid shut-eye is during the day, when everyone else is awake and I feel some semblance of safety. Patricia even called me a chickenshit because of it, but I don’t really give a damn what she thinks.
“None of that excuses what I did, though, Xander. I’m really, really sorry. I know sorry doesn’t mean much when you nearly died, but it’s all I have to offer right now. I promise that it won’t happen again,” Todd said, tears streaming down his face.
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