“You see that?” Zach pointed.
Cale looked at his watch; it was twenty-two thirteen. He looked up at what Zach was referring to. It was a small make shift camp. Its perimeter was formed by cars and trucks parked bumper to bumper, that formed an oval shape around small tents at the center. They could see men standing on the taller semis with AK47s. Their faces were covered by black cloths. And each wore robes that blended with the desert sand. A massive bonfire lit the area, and gave it a strange atmosphere.
“What do you think Cacy?” Cale asked.
But Cacy was asleep. As they slowly approached the group, the men looked increasingly agitated. Something was wrong. Zach and Cale couldn’t shake the feeling that they were unwelcome. Zach halted the vehicle outside the fortification. Cale made his way out of the gunner’s hatch.
“Hello. Um, ---” Cale said to one of the guards, uneasily.
The men shifted and looked at one another, and two of them held their weapons at the ready. None of them spoke. Cale felt even more uncomfortable. One of the men began yelling back to someone in Arabic. The message was then passed on by more men shouting. A man poked his head out of one of the tents and shouted back.
“AMERICAN?” he asked. All eyes were on the truck. From the looks of it, these men didn’t like Americans. The man in the tent walked toward them. He was younger, most likely the caravan’s leader. Zach started to open his door, but the men standing on top of the semis began shouting orders at him. Zach raised both hands in the air, showing that he didn’t have a weapon. Cale put his hand up to Zach, motioning him to get back into the vehicle.
“Maybe we should leave,” Cale said.
The man climbed awkwardly on top of the hood of a car. His robes were white and he wore a black turban. The guards appeared more vigilant now. He looked at Cale in the gunner’s hatch, noticing he didn’t have a weapon. These Americans could be easy targets.
“You are not welcome here,” he said.
“Yes. Sorry for the intrusion,” Cale replied.
“Go now, or we will kill you,” The man warned.
Zach tugged on Cale’s pant leg, urging him to get down from the turret before he was shot. Just as Cale ducked down to close the hatch, Cacy opened his door and got out, coughing. The armed guards began shouting at him. A couple of them charged their weapons.
“You are not welcome. Now leave,” The man yelled at Cacy.
Cacy fell to the ground, coughing violently now. Blood stained the earth. Cacy vomited. Cale crawled out of the door Cacy had left open. He rushed to help him as the men continued shouting. Zach got out and ran around the vehicle to assist Cale with Cacy. Just as Zach reached Cale, one of the men fired a warning shot into the air. The two of them froze, while Cacy continued retching. Both soldiers now stood with their hands in the air, completely vulnerable. Neither of them had a weapon. Zach regretted leaving his body armor behind.
“We have to get our friend,” Cale started, “he’s hurt badly.”
The group’s posture didn’t change. No one spoke a word as Cacy made a gurgling sound. One of the men, after a few seconds, began shouting excitedly. Zach looked to see what they were yelling about just in time, as Cacy tackled him to the ground. His teeth were chomping, and he was drooling blood. Cacy’s eyes were glossy and glazed.
“OH SHIT!” Zach exclaimed, “AH FUCK!”
Cale turned and pulled Cacy off of Zach, grabbing him around the waist, and throwing him to the ground. Quickly Zach jumped to his feet, as did Cacy’s reanimated corpse. He stood in place, contemplating which of the tasty morsels to pursue. His uniform was covered in bile and blood. His pants were now soiled with excrement and dirt. One of the armed men jumped down from his perch on the semi, but offered no assistance. He wanted a front row seat to the carnage that was sure to take place.
“It seems your friend looks hungry,” The man on the car laughed.
The thing that was once Cacy looked away from Cale and Zach. The armed guard who jumped down was too busy looking back at their leader, laughing at his own words. Cacy pounced on him with lightning speed. As they fell to the ground, he shot wildly, screaming for help. A stray round struck one of his comrades atop another vehicle.
“LET’S GO!” Zach shouted to Cale.
Zach and Cale wasted no time in jumping back into the safety of their truck. The men opened fire on both Cacy and their fallen friend. Zach scrambled into the driver’s seat and put the truck in reverse, just as they shifted their fire toward G112. The 7.62mm rounds could be heard striking their armored truck.
“COME ON! GO! GO! GO!” Cale urged.
Zach replied, “I’M ON IT!”
Quickly, they drove away; both of them checked the mirrors to ensure their attackers weren’t giving chase. Muzzle flashes in the failing light could be seen like fireworks in the dark. Suddenly the vehicle hit something, and then rolled over the top of it. Both soldiers were too busy looking into the mirrors to notice they’d driven right into a large group of infected.
“What the hell?” Cale started, “Where did they all come from?”
“Who cares, let’s get out of here,” Zach replied.
The infected didn’t slow the vehicle at all, as they fled. Outside his window, Cale could see the decomposing group reaching for them with icy hands. It was a large pack. The insurgent camp wouldn’t stand a chance against them if they didn’t stop firing.
However, they did continue firing at the taillights of G112, hoping to injure or kill one of the infidels. Unknown to Cale and Zach, this was one of the groups they were at war with, and the insurgents didn’t care; walking dead or no walking dead, the infidels had to die. Their leader, Malak, regretted not ordering them to be shot on sight. Speaking in Arabic, he ordered his men to keep shooting. They obeyed, and continued firing, not aware of the attention they were attracting. After a few more minutes of firing blindly into the desert, he ordered them to stop.
The bonfire cast an orange glow, causing their shadows to dance wildly on the sand. The bodies of the American and his soldier lay in the darkness cast by one of the semis.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t claim the kill for this American; it was the sickness that got him. He ordered the two men left standing guard to gather the bodies and throw them into the fire. It wasn’t normally their way to burn their dead, but now that the dead were returning, they couldn’t take any chances. The wind picked up slightly, for a moment he thought he could hear something. The smell of those ‘things’ had become part of their day to day life. It made Malak sick. He barked at the men in their native tongue to hurry up. Just as Malak was turning to return to his tent, he noticed something out in the desert. Had the Americans come back to fight? He could see movement at the very edge of the light, in the same direction the pair drove off. Suddenly, more and more silhouettes came into view. It was the dead, and there were too many to count.
59
Dreams and Nightmares
Zach and Cale drove further out; until they were sure they were clear of both the insurgents, and the undead. Neither of them spoke. It was now confirmed that a bite meant death. Cacy had lasted a little over a week; eventually the virus outran his immune system. Cale looked at the empty seat that Cacy once occupied. The plan originally started with four of them, but now he and Zach were all that remained. Zach continued driving. Driving was the only time he felt in control of something. He just wanted to be home with his wife right now. They’d planned on going to Japan as a belated honeymoon when he got back. Something they both had always wanted to do. The two of them were fascinated by Japanese culture. Zach himself idolized Bushido, the way of the Samurai. It was their nobility he liked, and their strict code of conduct. Their mission was to succeed or die. This was known as seppuku. Seppuku was a ritualistic suicide in which the Samurai, after dishonoring himself, would disembowel himself, as another Samurai decapitated him. This was a fallback in case the Samurai committing seppuku made a mistake disemboweling himself.
This,
of course, was against Zach’s Catholic upbringing. A suicide condemned him to hell. He was certain they were already in it. He imagined the streets of Tokyo now, filled with undead locals and tourists. His wife definitely wouldn’t enjoy the trip then. He had met his wife in high school, in Spanish class actually. She sat next to him, they had never seen each other before then. Every day they’d speak to one another, discussing how stupid they thought certain people were, or how awesome some topic only they knew about, was. One day, he mustered up his courage and asked her out. She said yes without hesitation, of course. Secretly, she had been waiting for him to make a move. If he’d have known that, he’d have asked her out the day he met her.
The two of them dated throughout what was left of high school, and beyond. They were together for three years before they finally got married. She was proper in the way that she wanted to wait for marriage to have sex. Zach didn’t mind. He’d wait for her for forever. It wasn’t until he was about to deploy, that they had to step up their plans to get married. The night before he had to report to the armory, she surprised him. He wasn’t exactly the romantic type, but she set out candles and what not. He appreciated the gesture none the less. Zach was lost deep in thought, wanting desperately to get home to her. He missed her so much. He was in such deep thought that Cale’s voice startled him.
“WHOA! YOU ALMOST HIT THAT THING!” Cale exclaimed.
“What was that?” Zach asked.
“Looked like a--- like a--- zombie camel.” Cale said hesitantly, as he checked the rearview mirror.
“A what?” Zach asked sounding surprised.
“A zombie camel,” Cale answered.
Zach circled the truck around to look again, now fully alert to his surroundings. Cale opened the gunner’s hatch, and adjusted the spotlight accordingly. As they doubled back, they confirmed it to be an undead camel. One of its eyes was missing, along with half of its neck. Part of the camel’s hind quarters had been torn away as well, exposing the bone underneath. This immediately concerned the duo. Animals were affected too.
“That’s not good,” Zach said quietly.
“I wonder what other animals can be infected.”
Zach returned to their original course, due west. Cale secured the hatch and returned to the passenger’s seat. They wanted to put some space between them and anything undead before calling it a night. Cale rummaged through his tan jump bag for the night vision goggles. Once they stopped, he would scan the area after Zach killed the lights, to ensure they were alone in the vast nothingness.
After ten more minutes at sixty miles per hour, Zach stopped the vehicle and shut off the engine. Cale prepared to go to work checking the perimeter. The goggles came on, and Cale opened the gunner’s hatch once more. He couldn’t see anything moving in the eerie green light.
“How’s it look? Anything?” Zach asked.
“I’m not seeing anything in any direction,” Cale responded.
Both of them now wished they’d have grabbed a radio. Maybe there would be some chatter. Even though they had each other, they felt alone and secluded. They had to be getting close to the sea now. Zach couldn’t be sure where they were, since they’d gone off road, hoping to avoid pockets of the undead. Cale unwrapped his iPod ear buds and plugged them into his iPod. He searched his playlist until he found the right one. Zach settled in for the night as well.
Both soldiers thought of their friend as they went to sleep. The friend they left behind. The friend they watched slowly turn into one of the undead legion, until it was too late. Unknown to the other, the pair each cried themselves to sleep in silence. Cacy haunted both of their dreams that night.
62
Save One for Me
Bret held out on the group’s last line of defense. One week ago he had followed Specialist Lowell with a dozen other soldiers to the Post Exchange. Lowell had been so thorough in explaining his plan. Exit the company MWR and move tactically to the Post Exchange. Once there, they’d hold up and wait for reinforcements. Lowell however, died before they even made it half way to their destination. Just under half of the group died, actually. It had sounded like a good idea, cutting through a maintenance tent. They could catch their breath and continue on from there. What the group’s leader didn’t realize, was that the survivors of the other company would seek refuge there, not knowing what the bites meant for their wounded.
When the door to the tent was opened, it was like a flood of undead. Lowell just happened to be the first of the tasty morsels they’d enjoy. What remained of the group ran for the Post Exchange. A few of the ‘things’ shambled around, narrowly missing the survivors. Once inside the Post Exchange they barricaded the doors - one large double door at the front, and one small door on the side. It was fairly easy to hold out the first day. But on the second, someone had the bright idea of trying to exterminate the undead that surrounded their building.
No one realized the gunfire would draw the attention of all the undead left on the forward operating base. On the third day, the number of undead surrounding them quadrupled. Bret rallied what was left of the group, to build a series of barriers. He hoped to slow them down till help came. Their hope slowly began to dwindle, but depleted more during the next three days, as the infected broke through the first barrier. Lack of sleep affected the group negatively. During their shift of watch, two soldiers fell asleep and became a tasty snack for their attackers.
One by one, the barriers failed, with still no rescue. Bret remembered seeing Travis and Cacy heading for the living areas. What was it Zach and Cale were doing? It didn’t matter now. Nothing mattered now. Bret and the last three survivors fired what was left of their ammo into the putrid mass, until only metallic clicks could be heard. Bret looked at the other three. Two of them were men from second platoon and the other was a woman from his platoon. They all looked tired and scared. Bret knew there was no hiding his fear. This was it; the infected broke down the last barrier and descended on the group. There was nowhere to either run or fall back to now.
“Should have saved rounds for ourselves,” Bret said grimly.
64
Safe Haven
The next few days were grueling for Cale and Zach. Neither of them had been getting good sleep in the truck. The nightmares about those they’d left behind and lost weren’t helping matters. The truck was starting to run rough too.
“I have to sleep in an actual bed soon, “Zach said, “My back can’t take any more of this sleeping in the truck. “
“I know what you mean, “said Cale solemnly, as he stared out of his window.
They weren’t even sure if they were going the right way anymore. They both felt they should have seen the sea by now.
“What’s the gauge say? “ Cale asked.
“We’re on E, “Zach replied
“Fuck. We might as well stop to fill up. You gotta piss? “
“Yeah, “Zach answered.
Zach pulled the vehicle over, and Cale checked to make sure they were clear to fuel up. Zach opened the back of the truck. They still had plenty of food and water, but they were down to their last container of fuel. Hopefully, they’d reach the Mediterranean within the next two days. If not, they’d be walking the rest of the way. The two of them discussed maybe taking a boat sooner. The security of the open sea seemed very appealing to them. They’d do anything for a good, full night’s rest.
Zach began fueling G112 as Cale stood guard. They’d been conserving their rounds so far, only shooting when they had to. As Cale looked around, he saw what looked like buildings to the north, maybe seven miles away or so.
“Hey, look over there.” Cale pointed to the town.
“Yeah. What of it?” Zach said, spilling some of the fuel on himself. “Shit.”
“I’m thinking we find a house to sleep in, and then find a map or a sign or something. “Cale replied.
“What are we gonna stay in then? Those things can break through doors and regular glass when there are enough of them, “he
said.
“We could easily clear a house and secure it for the night,“ Cale answered.
“Sounds like all the training we got in Ft. Bragg won’t go to waste after all,” Zach said with a grin. “And they said we wouldn’t be kickin' in doors and storming buildings.”
Cale couldn’t help but smile. They quickly loaded back up and headed north. Eventually, they found a paved highway and followed it into the village. Zach saw a sign for the city of Amman; the sign listed the distance in kilometers. Neither of them knew the conversion to miles. As they entered the village, they realized it was much larger than they had previously thought. The streets were littered with abandoned cars, few infected. That was a good sign. They drove until they agreed on a house. It was a large two story structure. In the gated front yard were three members of the undead: An older woman, who had most likely been killed while bathing, and two children, wearing torn street clothes with blood stains covering their front. They were easily dispatched with Zach’s knife. He didn’t want to alert any more in the area to their presence. The two entered the open front door and stepped into the foyer. A set of stairs to the second level lined the wall in front of them. Beyond the stairs and down the hall was a door. There was also a door to their immediate right.
“The house looks small, and this place is practically deserted. I should be able to take the upstairs by myself, if you wanna take the down?” Cale suggested.
Blood on the Sand (Z Plan) Page 6