by J. W. Vohs
Chad grimly nodded his approval, “He was with the Marines in Fallujah.”
“Well,” Shafer went on, “He saved my life today. Jolsen and Betts had ARs, and me and Jenkins had shotguns. Those two would draw the hunters to one side of the buildin’ while we smashed our way into the next, used double-ought to clear the street ahead of us. Just kept jumpin’ from buildin’ to buildin’ that way. Jolsen got mobbed pullin’ rear guard on one of the jumps, and Betts got bit a few minutes later. We were in the last house before a long stretch back to the raft, and Betts said he just couldn’t go on. We told him we were gonna die right there with him, but he just wasn’t havin’ none of that . . . kept sayin’ that somebody had to make it back to warn y’all.
“Jenkins said he was right, and warned him to keep at least one round in his .45 for himself . . .”
In spite of all he’d been through, Shafer choked up until Chad patted him on the shoulder and promised, “You boys did the right thing.” He nodded towards Maddy. “This young lady is going to finish getting all the details of your report, then she’s going to get you to a secure evacuation vehicle.”
Maddy started to speak, but Chad cut her off, “If you learn anything that could be a game changer for us, you let me know. I’m trusting you to handle this.”
She looked around for confirmation from Jack, but he was already gone. “I won’t let you down, sir,” she said as she grabbed Shafer under his shoulders. “Can you walk?”
Shafer shook his head. “I won’t be running any races, but my legs aren’t the problem.”
Maddy steadied him on his feet. “Can you walk and talk at the same time?”
“Just don’t ask me to chew gum and I think I can manage it,” he cracked.
Maddy smiled, “You’re not much of a comedian, so you better just stick to your story.” She led Shafer toward the closest group of armored vehicles, and he continued with his report.
“Well, me and Jenkins took off through the trees, but you know how fast those sons-of-bitches are nowadays. I fell about a hundred feet from the river and felt both arms break. Jenkins pulled me up and pushed me toward the raft, and I was so scared I didn’t even look back. I could hear him shootin’ and screamin’, even over the howls of all them hunters. Somehow I was able to push the raft into the river with my knees, then I fell into it and looked back in time to see Jenkins come splashin’ in just ahead of hundreds of those monsters.
“Somehow I was able to grab him with my left hand, the right one ain’t workin’ at all, and pulled him in just before they got him. He was bit bad, but he kept sayin’ that he got ‘em. I used my teeth and left hand to bandage him up as best I could, then made him swallow about five Vicodin. He was hurtin’ to high heaven, but kept talkin’ for hours while we floated back here. He wanted me to shoot him, but I just couldn’t do it, so he made me promise to get here ahead of the hunters. That, and to tell his wife that he died instantly.”
Shafer suddenly stopped and broke out into deep, racking sobs. Maddy wrapped her arms around him and gently rocked back and forth. She stroked his hair and whispered, “I can’t do anything to bring back your friend, and I can’t do anything to ease your pain, but I can promise you that we’re gonna kill thousands of the infected today, and for every single one I see fall, I’m gonna think, ‘That one’s for Jenkins.’ It’ll never be enough, but it’s a start.”
Shafer pulled away and straightened to his full height. He gazed down at Maddy with a glint of fire in his eyes. “You’re right, it’s a start.” As they started to slowly walk on, he asked, “How old are you anyway? You seem pretty tough for a girl; are you gonna be doing any of that killing today?”
Maddy grinned. “Don’t you know you should never ask a woman her age? But you can bet that I’ll be killing my fair share of those monsters today. They don’t call me Maddy the Annihilator for nothing.”
CHAPTER 11
Within five minutes of the initial blast of the siren, all the fighters assigned to the bridge were present and accounted for. As soon as the tumult following the alert had settled down, every soldier strained to pick up the sound of helicopter rotors in the distance. The night was winter-cold with temperatures hovering near twenty degrees, but there was no wind and the moonless sky was crystal-clear. The minutes seemed to audibly tick by with agonizing slowness as everyone stood anxiously waiting in the dark, their breath floating around their heads in smoky wreaths. Finally, long after chills had set most of the troops to shivering, running lights appeared in the eastern sky. Soon the outlines of Blackhawks took shape in three different places in the distance.
Luke had sidled up to Jack on top of the first wall, quietly observing, “There goes the daytime-travel theory we’ve been operating under.”
Jack thought for a moment before shaking his head, “I still think their vision is much better during daylight. Barnes is just trying to get to this bridge as quickly as possible after seeing what happened in Louisville.”
“Think this is just some sort of advance force?” Luke wondered.
“Maybe, but seeing as how we’ll only have to fight the hunters that can funnel onto the ramp it doesn’t really matter; I’m sure there’s thousands of them beneath those choppers.”
“True,” Luke conceded. “Glad to see that Chad’s people were able to scrounge some propane tanks and get them out here today.”
Jack smiled in the wan light from the bonfires below the wall. “That was a great idea . . . wish I’d have thought of it.”
“Me too. At least we were smart enough to listen to Jared out there.”
Jack turned serious again, “He’s an interesting kid, been through a lot of heartbreak the past few months.”
“Haven’t we all?” Luke retorted.
“Good point.”
“Seems like I haven’t met anyone of average character since the outbreak started,” Luke observed.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, most of the people I’ve encountered since leaving home have been trustworthy and willing to help others, often no matter the cost. Then there’s the people like Barnes, and his cronies, and those rapists on Middle Bass Island. I just can’t think of anyone between those two poles.”
“They’re dead,” Jack speculated. “I guess we’ve learned the hard way that most people are decent, hard-working folks who’ll help their fellow man in times of trouble. History teaches us that war brings out the best and the worst of human nature. Honor versus terror. Empathy versus avarice. And maybe when we’re fighting a war to save our species we instinctively band together—at least, most of us do.”
Luke nodded. “Even the prisoners we’ve captured seem to be decent men trapped in no-win situations. Most of them anyway.”
“There will always be a few assholes who will take advantage of any opportunity to abuse people when the rule of law breaks down,” Jack observed. “I’m just pleasantly surprised that there don’t seem to be too many of them.”
Luke paused before adding, “Guess all it took was an apocalypse for us to finally figure out who the real psychopaths are.”
Jack pointed toward the east, “I’ve got a feeling a few of them are just over the horizon.”
The sun still was struggling to usher in dawn when two Blackhawks completed a wide circle above the bridge before landing about three hundred meters away from the first wall. Six armed men jumped out of the first helicopter and assumed shooting positions behind cover. From the second bird emerged two officers, their impeccable uniforms and bearing standing out in sharp contrast to the insanity of the past five months. Jack had asked Jared to join him on the wall, and the teen needed only a few minutes with the field glasses to determine that he knew one of the soldiers.
“The dude on the left, that’s the guy who showed up at our fort on the Cumberland and threatened us. I think his name’s Major Jackson.”
“You think?” Jack pressed.
“Well, I haven’t seen him since the day before the attack, and th
e light ain’t so great. But I heard some people sayin’ that the officer who shows up at settlements and demands surrender is Major Jackson.”
“Good enough,” Jack decided. “Guess I gotta go down and have a talk with him; he’ll probably introduce himself.”
Even as they were finishing their short conversation, Jack and Jared watched the second officer unfurl a white flag mounted atop a short staff, while a soldier behind him hoisted a miniature American flag. Greenburg was suddenly at Jack’s side, where they were quickly lowered to the surface of the ramp by a crude elevator the men had rigged up after sealing the wall the night before. The two men approached the waiting officers with their hands in plain sight, hoping that Barnes’ troops wanted a quick surrender that would avoid a time-consuming battle with whatever group had decided to fortify the bridge. Jack was counting on the general’s emissary not knowing who he was by sight, and as they walked close enough to make eye contact with the major, the officer’s haughty indifference seemed to indicate that he had no idea whom he was about to talk to.
“How can we help ya?” Chad called out in a gruff, cautious tone.
“I am Major Jackson of the United States Army Resettlement Corps. Our task is to reestablish federal control of the Tennessee and Ohio River Valleys. Tennessee has been pacified, and the patrol I am leading is the vanguard of the approaching government force. All strategic bridges are to be surrendered to us immediately. Anyone refusing to do so shall be viewed as engaging in hostile rebellion against the United States and subject to attack by American military units. Am I speaking to the man in charge of this fortification?”
Chad nodded. “Yep, my name is Billy McGuire. I ran the hardware store here in Brandenburg, and I organized the survivors after the outbreak. We had to evacuate Kentucky, but we’ve kept the bridge free of the infected. We ain’t rebels; what do you need us to do?”
The major sarcastically replied, “Enjoy your Indiana vacation . . . after you remove the bridge barricades.”
“Can’t you use your equipment to do that?” Chad whined. “We’re outta gas for our equipment, and them shippin’ containers is way too heavy for any group of men to move by hand. Can’t you just use your helicopters to lift that junk over the railings?”
“No! We will not use our helicopters to move your crude roadblocks.” The major sighed deeply, and the look on his face betrayed his belief that he was talking to the village idiot. “Simply evacuate the barricades immediately. My men will occupy the bridge and we will order heavy equipment and fuel to be delivered from Fort Campbell.”
“Uhh,” Chad sputtered, “Do you want us to show yer soldiers how to git over the walls and where our fightin’ platforms are and everythin’?”
“Whatever,” the major declared, waving his patrol forward with practiced ease. A sergeant with a USAMRIID patch led his truncated squad to his commander’s position at a trot, saluting as he pulled up in front of him.
“Follow these men to the fortifications, Sergeant. Your troops will occupy the fighting positions until our main force arrives with the equipment to clear the bridge.”
“Yes sir!” the non-com replied, obviously relieved that there was no hot lead flying around.
As Chad and Jack led Major Jackson’s soldiers back to the wall, a ladder was lowered from the top. When they drew closer, Chad shouted up, “These troops are from the government! They’re here to defend the bridge and set up federal control of the whole area. The fighters manning the wall let out a cheer, which led to smiles among the USAMRIID soldiers as they reached the ladder and began climbing up. As soon as all of the enemy troops had reached the top, they were guided down another ladder to the ground beneath the first and second walls.
Jack and Chad’s people had kept their rifles and handguns under long-coats that drew no suspicion in the unseasonably cold weather. The USAMRIID men had slung their M-4s over their backs during all the climbing, and they had no chance to even consider resisting when the bridge defenders they’d assumed were their escorts whipped out their weapons and informed them that they were now prisoners.
Even Luke was surprised at the turn of events, as apparently nobody had been informed of the plot except Jack, Chad, and the hand-picked squad they’d chosen to man the walls and capture the USAMRIID soldiers. The enemy sergeant was no longer smiling; in fact, his face bore an expression of fear that seemed misplaced in this situation. Chad’s fighters had relieved the prisoners of their rifles and frisked them for any other weapons they might be carrying, but the overall atmosphere wasn’t imminently life-threatening.
Finally the sergeant spoke up in a trembling voice, “If you intend to double-cross Major Jackson, will you please take us to the Indiana shore?”
Chad turned on the nervous soldier and demanded, “Why do you want us to do that?”
The sergeant was tight lipped, but one of his men blurted out, “The major’s gonna send an army of infected against your walls as soon as he figures out what you’ve done.”
Another captive added, “Hundreds of thousands of ‘em, and every one in top condition. They won’t stop no matter how many you kill.”
“Well,” Jack suggested, “maybe if we dangle you men from the wall they won’t attack.”
Now the sergeant looked absolutely terrified. “Listen mister, they’d just eat us alive and keep on coming; in fact, our blood would just drive them more crazy than they already are.”
“Why should we believe you?” Chad sharply asked.
“I’ve seen it happen too many times. General Barnes has figured out a way to control the infected with those Blackhawks of his, and he can direct them to attack any place he wants. He tried to cross the river at Louisville, but someone wrecked the bridges before he could capture them. Now he wants this place, and there ain’t nothing you can do to stop the army he’s got.”
When nobody responded to his outburst the sergeant pleaded, “For God’s sake man, do what Major Jackson told you to do. Run off if you want to. Take us with you if you think it’ll help, but God himself can’t hold this bridge. Shoot us if it makes you feel better, but it won’t slow Barnes down for one second.”
One of Chad’s men piped up, “Thanks for the good ideas.”
The Sergeant turned to Chad, “We don’t like this any more than you do. I don’t want you to shoot us, and I’m sure my buddies feel the same. We’re all grunts from the 10th Mountain Division out of Fort Drum. We got orders to deploy to Fort Dietrick a few days after the virus broke out of D.C., and once we got there we were placed under USAMRIID’s command by order of the president. Sergeant Stemins here is just infantry too, but USAMRIID had a whole battalion assigned to them last year as protection for Dietrick. He’s not one of them in spite of the patch he’s wearing.”
Jack decided to intervene, “Where’s Barnes now?”
“None of us know for sure, but he’s moved his headquarters to Fort Campbell. If he’s not up here already, he will be soon; we’ve heard that this move into Indiana is top priority.”
“Why are you men still working for him? You know he’s been killing and enslaving survivors.”
The talkative enemy soldier hung his head, “I guess we’ve learned that fear’s a powerful motivator.”
He looked up, regret obvious in his expression. “Early on, Barnes declared that one of the soldiers at Dietrick had deserted. Scuttlebutt afterwards was that the poor dude was actually lost to the infected during a patrol, but the general decided to use the guy’s family as an example. Sent his wife and two kids over the wire . . . their screaming drew the infected to them immediately. We all got the message. Most guys are working on some long-term plan to get out of this mess, but right now Barnes has us over a barrel.”
“How many regular army troops does Barnes have under his command?” Jack asked.
The soldier hesitated as he thought about the question, finally answering, “Less than a thousand would be my guess. Fewer than half of them are infantry. He’s got most of the Army peop
le keeping the Blackhawks in the air.”
Chad jumped in, “What kind of heavy weapons does he have?”
“You know, the general doesn’t even seem to care about that. I mean, as far as we know most everything was used up during the early days, but Barnes doesn’t even look for leftovers. The choppers got nothing but snipers with M-4s, and that’s only once in a while. I guess when you’ve got a million flesh-eaters working for you, you don’t need any other weapons.”
“He has a million of those creatures?”
“Oh, probably not, but it sure as hell looks like a million when you see them swarming over the countryside. Sarge is right, there isn’t a military force still standing that could hold this bridge once the horde gets here.”
“Where is this army right now?” Jack demanded.
“Just a few miles to the east; as soon as Major Jackson figures out what’s happened here you’ve got about twenty minutes before they’re swarming your walls.”
Just then the guards began frantically shouting down, “Chopper, chopper!”
One of the Blackhawks had lifted into the air, quickly rising vertically until the pilots and their observers could see over the wall. The bird then flew over the bridge before making a sharp turn out over the river and heading south. The second helicopter immediately followed the first.
“Well,” Jack declared, “guess they know we aren’t cooperating.”
Ten minutes later the prisoners had been escorted across the bridge and secured inside a vehicle that would hopefully keep them warm. Three Blackhawks were now easily visible just to the east of Brandenburg, and the soldiers standing armed and ready on the walls were doing their best to not let their imaginations run wild as they thought about what was coming their way beneath the helicopters. Jack and Chad had assembled forty-seven of the best fighters on the continent to contest Barnes at what they hoped was now the last, undamaged span across the Ohio River. Every soldier under their command was armed and armored in the proven manner that had saved them before, and, they fervently hoped, would see them safely through this day as well.