Ragnarok Rising: The Crossing (The Ragnarok Rising Saga)

by Roberts, D. A.

  As the big lights above us came up, it illuminated the cavernous room below us. It was a veritable treasure trove of equipment, waiting for use. There were a dozen Humvees of different configurations. Two were set up as ambulances, two as command and communications vehicles and the rest were standard Up-armored infantry vehicles.

  There were six of the heavy-duty M939 5 ton 6x6 Cargo Trucks. All six had pintle mounts on the roof for a heavy weapon placement. They were the work-horses of the Army and could be used for almost anything. They would also run on almost any kind of fuel. The Cummins engines were designed as multi-fuel engines, but primarily ran on diesel. They could just as easily run on a mixture of oil and kerosene. If it would burn, they’d probably run on it.

  The next row of vehicles put a big smile on my face. They were going to bring us a level of firepower that we’d never had before. Something I wish we’d had against the Freemen. There were two M2A3 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles. These tracked vehicles could fight as well as carry troops into battle. They could withstand anything but a direct hit from missiles or anti-tank rockets. Those would make the zombies a much less lethal threat for our people.

  Last, but certainly not least, there were four M1126 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers. With those in our arsenal, we would be able to make our home safe. We could rebuild a place where we could live our lives, not just hide beneath the ground. We could start to reclaim part of our world from the dead. We would rebuild our lives and start fresh, here in this valley.

  There were tanks of fuel that would keep us going for a long, long time. There were enough resources here to keep a military unit fighting for at least a month of sustained combat operations. For our little group of survivors, we could turn the food and supplies into the start of a community. We now had something we hadn't had for quite some time. We had hope.

  At the far right-hand side of the room was a ramp leading up to a set of steel doors with gigantic pistons attached to them. From what I could tell, they should open up right across the road from the Visitor’s Center by forcing their way open through a covering of dirt and grass. The massive pistons could open and close the doors no matter what was on top of them.

  We now had an underground stronghold that would serve as our base of operations while we secured the park. It would be our home while we established a perimeter around it to protect us from wandering zombies and the living, as well. There was more than enough room for everyone in the Underground. The quarters would be tight, but it was only going to be temporary. Once we secured the park, there was plenty of room for everyone to have a place of their own.

  I liked the idea of securing one of the cabins for my family. We’d stayed in the cabins before, during one of our fishing trips to the park. They were big enough to live in without everyone being on top of one another. If we could find a way to run electricity to the buildings, then we could resume a standard of living close to what we had before the dead returned.

  We had a long road ahead of us with a lot of work to do, but in the end it would give us a chance at life. If we turned some of the land into fields for crops, we could feed ourselves indefinitely. It would be nice if we could make enough room for livestock, as well. We would need the food sources to get us through the winters.

  “OK, folks,” I said. “We’re in business. Let’s get some rest and start planning our next move in the morning.”

  “Are we secure down here?” asked Southard.

  “I would say so,” I said, nodding. “There’s no way the dead are coming through those doors.”

  We headed back down the hallway and each selected a room. I went in to check on Becca and found her still out cold. As irrational as she had been acting, I was half afraid that she’d wake up and open the door that led back up the stairs. If she let the undead inside, then we’d lose everything. I wasn’t about to let that happen. I reached into my belt cases and took out two pairs of handcuffs. I attached her wrists to the bed frame and made sure they were tight enough that she couldn’t just slip out of them.

  In a cabinet beside the bed, I found blankets, sheets and pillows. I covered her with a grey wool blanket and headed out the door. My eyes were getting heavy and I couldn’t wait to put my own head on a pillow. Elliott was waiting for me outside.

  “Hey dad,” he said. “We fixed up one of the rooms for us.”

  I followed him into one of the junior officer rooms and found that everyone had brought their gear inside and made the beds. Spec-4 and Southard had already removed their body armor and boots. They were both under their covers and had their eyes closed before I was out of my armor.

  “Dad?” asked Elliott.

  “Yeah, bud,” I said, turning towards him.

  “Are we going to be moving here?”

  “That’s the plan, son,” I said, smiling at him.

  “What about the Stalkers?” he asked, looking concerned.

  “We’ll deal with them,” I said. “We have plenty of weapons and gear, now. We’ll find out where they’re hiding during the day and take them out.”

  “Good,” he said. “I hope we can get everyone here, soon.”

  “Me too,” I said, lying back on my pillow.

  “Do you remember when we used to come here to go fishing?” he asked, settling into his own bed.

  “I’ll never forget that,” I said. “Those were great times.”

  “Can we do it again,” he said, “I mean once we’re secure here.”

  “Absolutely, son,” I said. “We’ll be fishing together again, in no time.”

  With that, we both settled in and went to sleep. I think I was out before my eyes were even fully closed. The bed was either incredibly comfortable or I was just that exhausted. Either way, I was out in seconds.

  The dreams returned to me in striking clarity. For the first time, I knew what they meant and why I was having them. My sons and I were direct descendants of the warriors that faced the dead so long ago in that Viking village.

  The descendants of the berserkers who stood their ground to save their family and friends. It explained a lot. We were the chosen of Odin. Destined to fight this evil since the day it was first unleashed. We were the Einherjar[11] and this truly was Ragnarok. I awoke from the dream with the realization that had escaped me before. There were others like me, out there. Somehow I knew we would find one another.

  10 May

  I awoke to the smell of food cooking. It smelled amazingly good. My stomach began to rumble in anticipation as I got out of bed and slipped my boots on. Southard and Spec-4 were already up, but Elliott was still fast asleep. That made me smile. He’d been almost impossible to wake up for school since he was small. He looked so content; I really hated to wake him up.

  “Rise and shine!” I bellowed, striding over to him and yanking off the covers.

  “Aww, dad,” he groaned. “Ten more minutes.”

  “Fine,” I answered, “but don’t expect me to save you any breakfast. I smell bacon.”

  “Bacon?” he said, sitting up. “Real bacon?”

  “That’s what it smells like,” I replied, heading for the door.

  I could hear him scrambling for his gear as I walked out into the hallway, smiling. Two doors down was the mess hall. I walked into the room to see Southard in the kitchen area with Spec-4 sitting beside Becca, sipping coffee. Becca had a black eye and didn’t meet my gaze.

  “Sorry about the eye,” I said, taking a cup of coffee from Spec-4.

  “No, I’m sorry,” she said, softly. “I freaked out and almost got us all killed.”

  “The important thing is,” I said, gently, “no one got hurt. Well, other than your black eye. We’re all fine. Don’t waste time being upset about it. It happens to the best of us, sometimes.”

  “It won’t happen, again,” she said, looking down.

  “I know,” I answered, with more confidence than I felt.

  Her nerves were gone. I couldn’t blame her for that, but I also knew that we couldn
’t rely on her to come through in a pinch. We were going to have to be very careful when faced with danger, if she was in harm’s way. She was most-likely going to end up getting herself or one of us killed. I really hoped that she would come out of it, but it’s been my experience that once the nerves are shattered nothing short of a miracle will put them back together, again.

  I sat down at the table as Southard brought in two big pans full of eggs and bacon. They smelled great, but I had to wonder where he’d gotten them. He presented them with a flourish and sat the feast out before us. It was a feast, to be sure. There was a small mountain of food before us. Even Cal Sanders would have had trouble with that pile.

  “Where did you get the eggs and bacon?” I asked, snagging a piece.

  “Well, the eggs are powdered,” he replied, snagging his own bacon and popping it into his mouth. “The bacon was sealed in cans for long-term storage. There’s a shit-load of canned goods in the storeroom.”

  Despite being canned, it may well have been the best bacon I’ve ever eaten in my life. The eggs weren’t bad, either. We all sat and ate our fill for the first time in quite a while. Between the five of us, we cleaned both pans completely out. When we’d finished, I leaned back with a contented sigh.

  “Nicely done, Chuck,” I said. “You’ll make some lucky man a fine wife one of these days.”

  That drew a round of laughter from everyone but Southard. He just gave me a mock scowl and the finger. We all chipped in and cleaned up the mess before heading out to gather our gear. We’d done what we set out to do. We’d found the POMCUS cache. Now it was time to find out the feasibility of living in the park.

  By the time we finished gathering our gear, I had begun to formulate a plan. I knew that the Stalkers had to be hiding somewhere during the day. They avoided bright lights, so there had to be a place close by that they were going to ground. I knew the perfect place to begin, too. In the Nature Center, there was a scale 3-D map of the entire park. If there were any caves or large hiding places, we’d see it on that map.

  My next concern was whether the Stalkers were still in the stairwell or not. I didn’t want to open the big vehicle doors, because once they opened, you wouldn’t be able to conceal their presence. So long as we kept them shut, anyone who wandered by would just assume it was an abandoned park. Even if they did find the door to the cache, there was no way they were getting inside it without the combination.

  We stopped long enough to top off all of our ammo from the armory, and then headed for the main door. When we reached the big vault door at the end of the hallway, we all locked and loaded our weapons. Since there wasn’t any kind of a window in the door, it was going to be a coin toss whether or not there would be anything waiting on the other side. I wanted to do my best to put the odds in our favor.

  “Alright, folks,” I said. “Let’s be ready for whatever is on the other side of that door.”

  “How do you want to play this?” asked Southard.

  “We’ll open the door a crack, but keep a firm grip on the handles,” I replied. “If anything tries to pull the door open, I’ll toss out a frag[12] and we yank the door shut.”

  “That ought to discourage them,” said Spec-4, smiling.

  “Yeah, that’s pretty much the definition of a bad day,” said Southard. “That should shred whatever is out there.”

  “After the boom,” I said, nodding, “we’ll swing open the door and finish off whatever is still moving.”

  Everyone got into position by the door. Southard and Elliott held onto the handles while I prepared to turn the lever. Spec-4 was ready to shoot anything that tried to poke its head through the door. Becca just backed away slowly with a look of terror on her face. I wasn’t surprised. I knew her nerves wouldn’t let her face the dead, again.

  With a metallic thunk the lock released and we pushed the door open very slowly. I was waiting for the sudden reaction of the creatures on the other side, but there was nothing. I could see the light in the stairwell, so I knew that anything on the other side would see us. More importantly, we would see it. After what felt like an eternity of nothing, I edged the door open a few more inches.

  We waited again, expecting the hideous face of a Stalker to appear in the opening at any second. Sweat began to run down my forehead and down my nose as I nervously waited for a reaction from whatever was on the other side. I strained to hear any sound of movement, but all I could hear was the slight hum of the florescent lights.

  I nodded to Elliott and he released his grip on the handle and readied his weapon. When he was in position, I nodded at Southard. Reluctantly, he released his grip as well and brought up his weapon. With a heavy sigh, I shoved the door open far enough for us to see into the stairwell beyond. There was no sign of the dead. Not a trace.

  “What next?” asked Spec-4.

  “Yeah, are we going to leave Becca down here or take her with us?” asked Southard.

  “Won’t she just lock us out and not let us back inside?” asked Elliott.

  “We can’t leave her behind,” I said, after a moment. “She could have a panic attack and seal this door. Once the bolts are in place, I doubt even the combination would open it from the other side.”

  “Can’t we just cuff her to the bed, again?” asked Southard, grinning.

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “If anything got inside, she’d be a sitting duck. We’ll have to take her with us.”

  “I’ll get her,” said Spec-4. “I think she’ll take it better from me than any of you.”

  “She’s right,” agreed Southard. “But let’s make it quick. We’re burning daylight.”

  “Bring her topside when she’s ready,” I said. “I’m going on up to check out the building and the Humvees.”

  “I’m going with you,” said Elliott.

  “Right behind you,” added Southard.

  I readied my M-4 and headed slowly up the stairs. I kept the weapon trained on the door at the top, just in case. I could see daylight streaming into the building, but nothing was moving. The only sound other than our footfalls were the sound of the wind moving through the building.

  When we reached the top of the stairs, it was clear that the Stalkers had gone into a frenzy when they got inside. Everything was torn apart. The window coverings had been torn down, the windows had been broken out and the mattresses on the beds had been shredded. The furniture in the little office had all been scattered and knocked over. In several places, there was debris hanging from the ceiling from where they had clawed their way inside from the roof.

  Southard pushed a dangling board out of his way and part of the ceiling above him collapsed. Through the hole emerged a body. It fell out up to the waist and hung there upside down. We all jumped back and brought our weapons to bear, expecting an attack to follow. The creature just hung limply there, swinging slightly back and forth.

  “Holy shit!” yelled Southard. “That thing scared the crap out of me!”

  Elliott looked like he’d seen a ghost. He was pale and his rifle barrel was shaking, slightly. I reached out and nudged it with the end of my barrel and it didn’t react. I could see that the back if its head had been blown out.

  “It’s the one I shotgunned last night,” I said, giving it a little shove.

  It swung back and forth with its arms extended out towards the floor. The glassy eyes continued to stare into oblivion, heedless of our presence.

  “Let’s get it the hell down before it freaks Becca out,” I said, grabbing it by the belt.

  With a heave, it came free and fell in a heap on the floor. Southard and I each grabbed a foot and dragged it out the door. In their frenzy, the Stalkers had torn off the rope and opened the door. Outside the building, the Humvees stood untouched. I had half expected them to have damaged or disabled them. With the doors secured, there was no way they were getting inside, but it looked like they hadn’t touched them.

  We dragged the body around to the back of the building and dropped it in t
he grass. We could find a better place for it later, but for now that was good enough. By the time we made it back around to the front door, Becca and Spec-4 were emerging from the building.

  “Nice of you to join us,” I said, grinning.

  “It’s not like I had a choice,” answered Becca, in a sour tone.

  “Would you rather we locked you to a bunk, again?” snapped Southard.

  “Chuck,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s alright. She’s just scared. Who can blame her?”

  Southard didn’t say anything else; he just shook his head disgustedly and stalked away towards the Humvees. Spec-4 shrugged and followed him. I nodded at Elliott to go with them. He just looked at me quizzically and headed after Spec-4.

  “Something you want to talk to me about?” said Becca, in a surly tone.

  “As a matter of fact, yes,” I replied. “I think we need to be clear on a few things before we proceed.”

  “Like what?” she snapped.

  “Like the fact that we all need to be able to depend on each other, out here,” I said, as gently as I could. “This isn’t a summer outing in the park.”

  “I know damned good and well what’s out here!”

  “Then you should know how close you came to getting us killed!” I snapped back, my anger rising.

  That had the desired effect and she seemed to shrink into herself.

  “Look, Becca,” I said, relaxing a bit. “I know you went through hell. We all have.”

  “Did you spend a month locked in a cellar?” she demanded, the fire returning to her eyes.

  “No, but I did blow up a marina to save my family, nearly killing myself in the process,” I replied. “I woke up alone and made my way back to the jail from Table Rock Lake, mostly on foot.”

  She looked surprised and just stared open-mouthed at me.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah,” I confirmed. “Just me and my dog, Odin. We fought our way back through almost fifty miles of zombies and crazy survivors.”

  She shook her head in disbelief.