by Schafer, Jon
Coming up on the football field located just past the high school, Steve noticed how deserted the area seemed. He could see the tents the National Guard had set up for the refugees, but they all looked abandoned. Suddenly, his sense of smell was assailed by a sweet, sticky stench that he first thought was burning pork. It caught in the back of his throat and for a second he started to gag but got it under control by swallowing hard a few times. Passing the bleachers for the stadium he could see low, smoking fires burning in an open playing field along the rear. The pork smell was stronger here.
Hell of a night for a cookout.
Two cars passed him going in the opposite direction and he tried to yell out a warning as to what awaited them that way, but they were moving too fast.
Steve looked through the smoky haze hanging over the empty playing field and could see that the traffic on Gulf to Bay had eased up quite a bit. Deciding that it would be quicker to go that route, and that it would give him more visibility than the closed in residential streets, he cut over on the first intersection he came to.
As he looked ahead for a crossover, he could see a few cars stopped at a National Guard roadblock. He started to pull in behind them when a thought came to him, if someone pulls up behind me while I'm sitting here, I'll be boxed in, and if those things come along I'll be trapped.
Making a quick two-point turn, he headed back toward the school.
Just before he reached the grandstands, Steve stopped and switched to four-wheel drive. Bouncing over the curb onto the practice field, he steered between two of the fires still smoldering there. The stink of burning filled his nostrils, causing him to gag again. This time it turned into dry heaves, so he stopped to lean out the door of his Jeep and threw up.
With nothing in his stomach, it only took a minute before he got it back under control. About to pull his upper body back in the Jeep, his eye caught sight of something glowing in one of the fires only a few yards away.
It was a human skull.
When Steve looked closer, he could see other bones resting in the embers, along with what looked like a metal prosthetic leg. Swallowing hard to keep his gag reflex down, he jerked himself back in the Jeep, slammed the door and drove as fast as he dared through the field.
He didn't know what had gone on back there, and didn't want to know. All he wanted to do now was get to the radio station. After turning from the field onto Gulf to Bay, he found himself coming down a short, steep, curving hill that delineated the edge of the downtown area. He could see more figures moving around now, and at first alarmed they might be more of the dead, quickly recognized that they moved with a fluid grace in contrast to the corpses walking around. These were people, living people.
Steve was relieved to be back among his own kind, but that turned to cautious fear when he reached the base of the hill. Here, a convenience store he had stopped at numerous times stood in the middle of a small parking lot. On this early morning, nothing would have gotten him to pull in.
The glass front of the store had been smashed in and a gang of people was standing around in the parking lot next to the piles of goods they had looted. From what he could see, it was mostly wine and beer.
Challenges were yelled at him as he drove by, and one man tracked the Jeep with a shotgun. Steve scrunched down in his seat to present as small a target as possible until he was out of range. He saw more figures, loaded down with goods, running out of a pawnshop on his left.
He drove as fast as he dared and soon caught sight of the Garnett Bank Building rising up to form part of the skyline. An onshore breeze was blowing, keeping most of the smoke away, so he chanced rolling down his window to breathe the fresh air that flowed in and spit the taste from the funeral pyres out.
The downtown area was deserted as he drove through it. This seemed more ominous than having looters and zombies running around. Normally, there was at least someone on the streets. Remembering what Heather had told him about the ESU team searching the storm drains right below this area, he expected to have to drive through a throng of the dead to reach the station. He could see where the grills and manhole covers over the sewers and drains had been removed, proving that the dead had been here, but where they were now was anyone’s guess.
Theorizing that they might have emerged here, in the mostly deserted downtown area, and then moved off to better hunting grounds, Steve was just glad they were gone.
Two National Guardsmen stood at the intersection in front of the bank where he needed to turn. As he approached, one guard help up his hand for him to stop.
Walking nonchalantly up to the driver's side door with his M4 assault rifle held loosely in his hands, the soldier blew a bubble with the gum he was chewing before sucking it back in with a pop.
"Where ya headin’?" He asked nonchalantly
"KLAM, I'm the station manager. I've got my ID and Captain Sobloski can vouch for me," Steve said while trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. Despite his best efforts, he thought he sounded like he had just sucked helium.
Brightening, the man overlooked Steve's nervousness and said; "I listen to you guys all the time, man. You rock." In a lower voice he asked, "Is Wood really hot? I mean she sounds sexy as hell."
Steve considered this; he had never put Mary in the same sentence as hot. She wasn't a dog but...
"She's all right looking," he finally said.
"Thought so. Most of those radio chicks are hogs when you meet 'em in person but she always sounded different. Ya know?"
Steve nodded, putting a sly, agreeing face on. He really wanted to get going but didn't want to piss off this trooper who could tell him to kick rocks and enforce the order with his assault rifle.
"If you get a chance, ask her to come down later and say Hi. It's safe here now. It got kinda hairy for a bit when those things started popping up but we chased 'em off."
Surprised, Steve asked, "She's here?"
"Guys on the other end of the street said that she and Meat came in about an hour ago." Stepping back he waved Steve past saying, "If you get a chance, play ‘Freebird’ for me."
Steve smiled as he drove around the corner, past the MRAP and into the parking ramp entrance. Getting out of the Jeep, he unlocked the heavy chain link gate that secured the structure, and after driving through, locked it back up behind him.
He wasn't too worried about being attacked on the parking ramp as the whole first floor had chain link fencing over the openings. Once the gate was secured, no one could enter without a key. These security features had been added by the structure’s owners after a rash of car burglaries and robberies occurred. They had talked of putting in an automatic door, but since so few of the patrons used the ramp in the off hours, it was never installed. Because Steve usually arrived before dawn and left after the sun went down, it had been a minor annoyance. Now, he felt safer knowing it would take a key or a bulldozer to get in.
The ramp was almost deserted so he pulled into an open spot near the walkway to the bank building on the second level. Shutting off the engine he sat in the semi-silence, amazed he had made it.
In the distance, he could hear the rattle of small arms fire, punctuated by the occasional lower boom of a shotgun going off. The alert sirens were now nothing but a distant wail. Even as he listened, they wound down and went off completely. He decided this might be a good thing. The noise brought people out to see what was going on and exposed them to the dead that now seemed to freely wander the streets in certain areas. After wondering how many more people had been infected so far that night, his mind switched to Heather and Ginny.
Steve pulled out his cell phone and was about to try Ginny again, instead, he found himself dialing Heather’s number. The phone rang ten times and he was about to hang up when she answered. Sounding confused, worried and out of breath she asked, "Where are you?"
"I just got to the station. I'm in the parking garage."
"I saw a Jeep go by a while ago that looked like yours and I thought it was you. I
t was being chased by some of those things."
"Not me. I'm safe," he reassured her. "Are you doing all right?"
''I'm near Tropicana Field, it's surrounded by those things. Or it was anyway. We just got here and we can see them all over the place, going in and out. Somehow they got inside and overran the place. This was one of the biggest evacuation areas in the city and now it's gone," she said despondently.
Steve could hear a long string of gunfire come over the phone from Heather’s end, so he waited for it to stop before asking loudly, "What happened to the National Guard? I thought they had the dome secured."
"At sundown they went out on patrol to enforce the curfew and only left a few troops behind. When the dead started coming up from the drains, they had their hands full and couldn't get back in time. They called us to help but it was too late. I came down all the way from Clearwater, but it was just too damned late." Heathers voice started to break.
"I'm sorry," Steve said softly.
Heather sniffed and laughed slightly, "I'm sure you don't need two hysterical chicks on your hands, so I'll pull my shit together."
"I couldn't find Ginny," Steve said faintly.
After a moment, Heather said, "Now I'm sorry."
"Not your fault. She took off with her friends to go party in Tampa.”
"I hate to tell you this," Heather said, hesitating before going on, "but Tampa is in even worse shape. Ybor City was one of the hardest hit." Ybor City was the clubbing hot spot where you went to party in Tampa. "It's on fire," she added.
"Which part?" Steve asked as he ran a list of the bars Ginny frequented through his head, hoping she might be in a safe section.
"All of it," Heather said, cutting him off in mid thought.
The sounds of more gunfire erupted through the phone, causing Heather to say hurriedly, "We're pulling out. We're getting our ass kicked all over the county so we're gonna regroup. They're trying to get a headcount of all the deputies, so I have to go."
"Come to the station," Steve said. "You'll be safe here."
"I can't," Heather replied. "They need me here."
Steve wanted to argue that he had already lost one person he cared about but remained silent. To voice his fears that Ginny was gone would make it too much like a fact.
"Promise me that if it gets too bad you'll come," he said.
"Steve I’ll –."
"Promise," he cut her off.
"I promise," Heather said. With the way things were going though, she didn't think she'd be alive to keep that promise but felt she had to say it. She wanted to cut and run to be with Steve but couldn't do it. Not until she was sure the situation had collapsed completely. Although it seemed a harsh way of thinking, and Heather was sorry for Steve that Ginny had disappeared, with her out of the way, she now had a chance with him. Guilt tinged her thoughts but she couldn't help the way she felt.
"I'll be here waiting," Steve said.
"Listen, I've got to go," Heather said. "We're pulling back to the band shell at Janus Landing, over by the pier. I'll call you later."
They exchanged goodbyes and disconnected.
Steve put his phone away and gathered up his pack and makeshift luggage. Heading across the second floor walkway, he heard excited shouts coming from the guardsmen on the street and then gunfire.
Hurriedly, he punched in the security code for the door and slipped inside. He hoped that if the soldiers got into it with the zombies out in front of the building, that they didn't shoot out the glass front of the foyer. That would put a serious cramp in his plans.
He passed the elevator and took the stairs, because he didn't like the idea of the doors automatically opening on the unknown. Finally reaching twelve, he cautiously stepped out into the hall and looked around before moving to the main corridor that stretched the length of the building. Peeking around the corner toward where KLAM had its offices, he saw the National Guard soldier who had been posted there leaning back in an office chair with a styrofoam coffee cup in his hand and his automatic rifle propped against the wall next to him.
Not wanting to get shot, he called out, "It's Steve Wendell. I'm going to the station."
"Yeah, they radioed up that you were here. C'mon, it's safe," the Guardsman replied nonchalantly.
Just seeing and hearing the soldier at ease helped ease Steve's state of mind. He had known it was just a matter of time before the guard on duty at the door relaxed. He felt safer with the extra gun guarding the door and wanted to remain on good terms with the soldiers, but he wanted them to be keeping people out, not keeping him locked in.
"You okay? You need anything?" Steve asked as he approached, noting the man's nametag he added, "Mister Pontran."
"Naw, I'm good, sir. Meat was just out here." He held up his coffee cup to show that he was being taken care of.
Unlocking the door, Steve said, "If you need anything at all just give me a yell."
"Will do, sir," Pontran said.
When Steve entered the reception area, he was amazed at the greeting he received. Mary, Meat, Jonny G, Brain and Tick-Tock were all there. Behind them he could see two people he didn't recognize and assumed they were guests of the staff.
Mary spoke first, "Where the hell have you been? It's almost five."
"Trying to get Ginny," he replied.
Looking past him, Mary asked, "Where is she?"
"Tampa," Steve answered pointedly. This shut Mary up.
Going into his office, he dumped his belongings on the couch and turned to see his people assembled outside the door.
"So, what do we do now?" Meat asked.
"Stay on the air and keep giving out information" Steve replied and then asked, "What's our status?"
From the back of the group, Jonny G took over. "I've been sending out a list of evacuation areas and safe zones every ten minutes since the shit hit the fan. Got 'em sent to us over the fax by the local Guard at the dome."
"Tropicana's gone now, so take it off the list," Steve informed him.
The group looked shocked at this, but before he was deluged by questions, he started giving out orders.
"Mary and Meat go on at five as scheduled. You'll do a live call in show. Find out what's going on out there," Steve ordered and then called out, "Jonny G?"
The intern popped his head in his door.
"I appreciate you covering for Tripod on the midnight shift but I still need you. Suck down some coffee and get on the phone. Start calling all the aid stations, hospitals, evacuation areas and anywhere else you can think of where people would go in this crisis and find out their status. When you get it, send it to Meat, so he can read it on the air."
Turning to Meat he said, "Don’t send out anymore locations until they're verified by Jonny G." Glancing at his watch, he added, "You've got seven minutes till air time so move."
Mary opened her mouth but Steve cut her off by saying loudly, "Move."
They moved.
"Brain," he called out.
"Right here, Steve." The fat man appeared in the doorway.
"Boost the signal strength. I want to reach as many people as possible."
"The FCC -," Brain started to say.
"Probably doesn't exist anymore," Steve finished.
At the thought of this, a devious look crossed Brain’s face.
"Don't say that to Mary though," he added. "Or every other word out of her mouth will be motherfucker."
With a smile, Brain left to do his boss's bidding. Steve then turned his attention to Tick-Tock. "I need you to come with me," he said.
"Where are we going?"
"Down to the mechanical room. The janitor has a set of master keys in his office and I need them."
Suddenly noticing that Tick-Tock was clothed in faded, tiger-stripe jungle fatigues, combat boots and had a pistol strapped at his waist in a holster attached to a web belt, he asked, "What did you do, join the Marines again?"
Tick-Tock smiled and said, "It's my costume man."
Ste
ve looked at him oddly.
"Did you forget?" Tick-Tock asked. "It's October 31st, man. It’s Halloween."
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Clearwater, Florida:
Steve could still smell the stink of burned gun power and bodies on him, so he changed into fresh clothes while Tick-Tock waited in the reception area. Coming out of his office, he heard Meat, through the speakers set in the ceiling, finish a recap of the night's events and then ask people to call in and let the Clearwater St. Petersburg area know what was going on.
Steve held up his hand to Tick-Tock and said, "Hold on. I want to hear this."
The first caller was a young woman who seemed hesitant to speak but Mary prompted her into telling her story.
The woman said, "Well, I got up this morning and went out to make coffee and my boyfriend was still in bed. You know, just lying there. So, when I came back, the door was cracked open a bit and I snuck up on it cause I was gonna rush in and – well, you know."
"A little morning meat," Meat suggested.
The woman giggled nervously and said, "Well, you know. But anyway, I look through the crack in the door and I see the most disgusting thing."
"What?" Mary asked in a way that made Steve imagine she was sitting on the edge of her seat.
Sounding like she was almost in tears, the caller said, "He was picking his nose and eating it. I mean, how can I ever French kiss him again without thinking about that?"
Tick-Tock laughed out loud at the inanity of the woman's call.
Steve shook his head sadly and said, "The world is full of idiots. The zombies deserve it. Maybe if they eat all the morons first, it might be a better place, but they'll need a big appetite."
Tick-Tock agreed, "All that's happening, been happening, in the world and this chick's freaked out over her old man eating a booger. I think she's in for a rude surprise when she steps out to get the morning paper."