“I can see how that’d be a difficult one to tap dance around. No matter. You mind giving me your names?” The officer asked. He had his hands hovering expectantly above the keyboard.
“I’m Paul Jameson and this is Richard Mulligan sir.” Kyler lied. He’d known Paul for a short time when he first got his brand. The Mulligan name was one he remembered off a roll call sheet. He hoped Ritz heard him and was working up his cover. They really should’ve talked more about this before being captured.
“Hmm. Paul Jameson from Smithfield?” The officer asked. “Do you have your identification on you?”
“That’s me sir. My identification’s in a box under my rack in the bottom of a bunker that’s probably still on fire. I grabbed my guns when the alarm went off and that was it. Thought it was a false alarm at first. We got plenty of those.” Kyler answered.
“Would you mind showing me your brand and telling me who gave it to you?” The officer asked.
Kyler pulled up his shirt and rattled off the names of the men who’d branded him. He threw in the name of the officer who’d been in charge of that outpost for good measure. He knew Paul had also been branded there. He just wasn’t sure if it’d been by the same people. He’d had no idea that was something anyone kept track of. The slightly worried look on the officers face melted away. That answer must’ve done the trick.
“I guess I can change your status from missing and presumed dead to alive and assigned to the train battalion. I’m assuming you don’t have other orders as far as where you need to be?”
“No sir. We were assigned to guard a base that’s been turned into a big hole in the ground. My entire chain of command was blown to hell. I’m good to roll up north and get some payback.” Kyler said. Ritz nodded agreeably when they both looked over at him.
About thirty minutes later Kyler found himself in charge of a car full of heavily armed men and women who’d been pressed into fighting for the Brotherhood. The officer left him and Ritz there after introducing them to the man who’d been in charge before Kyler showed up. The man who’d just been demoted was about ten years Kyler’s senior, but Kyler’s Brotherhood brand instantly placed him higher in the pecking order. Even though a platoon leader position should theoretically only be held by an officer. There was shortage of officers in the train battalion, so they were lowering the requirements to fit reality.
The train car held a fifty-person group the Brotherhood referred to as a platoon. The platoon was separated into five different squads of about ten men each. Each squad had a squad leader. The man Kyler replaced as platoon leader became a squad leader on his demotion. Kyler had him gather the rest of the squad leaders together and meet with him at the bench seats in the front of the car. He had to act like he was interested in leading this platoon into battle when he’d really just be looking for a way to get them all killed. All of them except for himself and Ritz of course.
They gathered around the table and took their seats. Kyler verified by looking around the table that he was definitely the youngest person there. A couple of the men had that look about them that indicated they’d been in the military back when the world was still semi-sane. Kyler had them all introduce themselves. He asked them to tell him where they were from and what their military experience was. When they were done with introductions, he asked them to fill him in on what the makeup of their patrols was like. He put himself into the role of being the commander taking these men to war trying to understand who he’d be leading into battle.
The answers were about what he expected. The squad leaders all had some sort of military experience. The troops themselves were a mix of people with some military experience and a bunch who just had hunting experience or similar. The bulk of them were from Tennessee with a handful from Alabama. The ones from Tennessee had marched down to join the battalion after being forcefully split apart from their families. They’d been told their families would be taken care of while they were gone as long as they performed well in service to the Brotherhood.
They may not all have military experience but they mostly all knew how to shoot a gun. You didn’t survive this long without having some sort of survival skills. Kyler wasn’t super clear on what the Brotherhood expected to accomplish with a battalion full of amateurs rushing at an aircraft carrier with guns blazing. He hoped there was more to the plan than that. Otherwise it was just a waste of these people’s lives. These people had survived the apocalypse only to become cannon fodder for an assault on the settlements. That explained why they didn’t have an officer leading this group. They didn’t want to send one of their own on a suicide run.
The more he listened to the squad leaders the more sickened Kyler became. It reinforced his decision to fight the Brotherhood. It even made him feel a lot better about blowing up the Senator’s bunker. What it didn’t do was justify the fact that he was going to need to get all these people murdered before they were able to kill any of the people in the settlements. He found himself in the position of needing to figure out how to kill a bunch of innocent people to save a bunch of innocent people.
The soldiers under his command had no choice. They’d have to follow orders to march off the train and kill every man, woman and child in a settlement. A few of them may balk at it. They might shoot into the trees or let the women and children escape into the woods. The majority of them would do what they were told though. They’d fear that to do otherwise would lead to the torture or deaths of their own family back home. The children they’d been forced to leave at the reeducation camps the Brotherhood had setup in Tennessee. There were married couples in his platoon who’d been told to fight hard if they ever wanted to see their children again.
Kyler wanted to order his platoon to turn their weapons on the men driving this train. He saw the resentment in their eyes when they looked at him. They’d probably mutiny if they thought they had a chance at saving their families. He’d gladly lead them into battle against the monsters holding their children back at the training camps. He didn’t see a way to make that work though. Instead he sat there thinking that him and Ritz needed to figure out a way to sabotage this train. Otherwise they were going to have to lead a bunch of innocent people to their deaths. He’d be personally responsible for a lot of children on both sides of the conflict becoming orphans.
The conversation at the table was mostly about the squads and squad leaders capabilities. They hadn’t been given any objectives yet. They weren’t sure if that was to keep everything under wraps or just because the plans hadn’t been solidified yet. The former platoon leader told Kyler to expect to be called up to the planning car when it was time to be given their orders. Considering they were steaming their way towards the settlements the call should be coming fairly soon. Kyler sent the leaders back to their squads and sat on the bench with Ritz. They waited impatiently for someone to show up and tell them Kyler was needed in the officers car.
“I see the big need for secrecy. I mean if someone were to tell the people up north that a big ass death train was on the way they’d stop it pretty easily with a couple of bombing runs.” Ritz said quietly.
“All it’d really take is a couple of guys with dynamite. This is a big beast but being bound to tracks can’t be good for it.” Kyler answered.
“It sounds like if someone took out the officers then the rest of these troops might just go back home with no one to lead them. Back where their families are being held in the camps.” Ritz said. Based on the way he said the word ‘camps’ he had the same level of contempt towards the concept as Kyler did.
Kyler nodded and leaned his head back to think. He’d love to be able to hash this out in plain language but the kinds of things they were saying were treasonous in the extreme. He was already worried that they might be able to pull up a picture of him in that database of theirs. Being a traitor to the Brotherhood must’ve made him pretty infamous in some parts of the country. He was lucky the officer hadn’t reviewed pictures of traitors and outlaws lately. The Brotherh
oods penchant for keeping everything secret may be the only thing keeping him safe right now.
Kyler was considering a few different options. They could try to hop off the train and disappear into the woods without being shot. If they made it then they could get ahead of the train and try to dismantle the tracks. Another solid idea would be to haul butt for the settlements and get them to launch an aerial attack. They could split up with one of them sabotaging the tracks and the other making a run for the settlements to increase their odds of stopping the train. The hard part with that was going to be making it off the train without getting shot. Considering the level of secrecy wrapped around the train they’d more than likely be pursued if they ran. A patrol on horseback chasing them through the woods could keep them from being able to complete either plan even if they somehow managed to survive the chase.
He could just blow up the car with all of the officers in it during the meeting he was supposed to get summoned to. He’d just need to somehow get a bunch of explosives and make sure he took out everybody without killing himself. He wasn’t ready to die for the cause quite yet. Even if he was it didn’t really matter since he didn’t have a whole bunch of explosives. He supposed he could toss a couple of grenades and then start shooting before making a run for it. There were only about a million things that could go wrong with that idea. He looked over at Ritz who’d been leaning backwards against the bulkhead with his eyes closed. He looked like he’d been asleep, but Kyler assumed he’d been scheming as well.
“I’ve got nothin’.” Ritz said shrugging when he noticed Kyler looking at him.
“Yeah nothing that’d have a good shot at working and not end up with both of us dead.” Kyler said.
“Let’s stick with plans where at least one of us walks away. Preferably me.” Ritz said with a smile. His smile faded and he got serious again. “We don’t have a ton of time to figure something out.”
“Sir?” A man was standing at the end of the bench staring at him and Ritz. Feeling like they’d compromised themselves Kyler tried his best to look like they’d just been in a casual conversation. He glanced over at the man who’d interrupted them.
“Yes.” Kyler said acknowledging the man.
“Your presence is requested in the planning car sir. If you’re available now I can take you.” The man said.
Kyler stood up and automatically rearranged his weapons. He grabbed his go bag and rifle then waited for the man to lead the way.
“You can leave your gear here if you’d like sir. This is just a meeting. You’ll be coming back here afterwards.” The man offered.
“You’re kidding right? I don’t get up to take a piss without making sure I have one in the chamber and my go bag close enough to grab.” Kyler answered standing there patiently waiting to be guided to the planning car.
Without another word the man opened the door leading to the next train and began leading Kyler through the different cars. As they passed between cars Kyler looked at the ground speeding by and ruled out jumping for it. With his screwed-up arm, he’d probably just end up killing himself if he tried that. Even if they didn’t stop the train and shoot him while he lay there rolling around on the ground in pain.
They were still traveling through dense forest. He was happy they’d been found by the patrol. Otherwise they’d have spent the next few weeks wandering through endless trees experimenting with different squirrel recipes. By the time they made it out of the woods the war would’ve been over. At least now they had a chance to get back in the fight. They’d also be eating a lot better.
One of the cars they walked through was full of men putting together trays of food to be sent to the other cars. Judging by the bloody butcher tables they were much better at hunting than Kyler and Ritz were. It probably had something to do with them having all the guys who were good with bows hanging out at the top of the train every time it came to a stop. The hunger pang inducing aroma of cooking venison filled the car. Kyler felt his mouth watering up as he walked through the thick smoke.
“You eat yet sir?” The man escorting him asked politely. Kyler wiped his mouth off with the back of his hand wondering if he was drooling on himself or something.
“I’m good. I’ll grab something later.” Kyler said. The man ignored him and talked to one of the men putting together trays. He turned back around holding a paper plate with two gigantic burritos stuffed with meat. There were even scallions sticking out of the end of the burrito. Kyler realized his knees had gone weak at the smell of the freshly prepared food.
“We have time sir. It’s not like they’re expecting people at specific times. They’re rolling all the platoon commanders through and assigning them tasks. The tasks are already written up and everything. A few minutes for you to scarf this down isn’t going to matter. Plus, these are way better warm.”
Kyler took the plate and they headed to an unused counter at the opposite end of the car. He bit into the stuffed burrito and then fought back the compulsion to find the cook responsible for this and kiss him. It was stupid good. If it was true that an army fought on its stomach, then the train battalion was going to be an unstoppable force of nature. His escort had disappeared again while he was eating. He showed back up a minute later with a couple of glasses full of sweet tea and a handful of napkins.
The napkins turned out to be a necessity when eating the greasy goodness that he’d been provided. Even while Kyler was using them, he realized what an extravagance they were. It was the end of times and here he was using paper napkins to wipe off the grease from a delicious meal.
“You guys eat like this all the time?” Kyler asked his escort.
“I wish sir. This all came together maybe a week ago. We’ve eaten alright. Especially those of us around the officers. These Bambi burrito things are ridiculous though, right?” The man said smiling.
“Yeah but you know what they say about getting a great meal.” Kyler responded. He was referring to the fact that soldiers were historically fed well the night before a major battle. Kind of like serving the condemned man a last meal.
“I do but this one’s good enough where it almost makes me wish we were going to be charging the enemies machine gun nests every day. You good to go?” The man asked as Kyler finished up his second burrito and wiped the grease off his face. Kyler looked at his empty plate sadly before pushing it aside to see where he needed to go next.
“I’m good. How much farther up is the planning car?” He asked. It turned out the planning car was only another couple of cars up. They had to go through the officers berthing area then it was the next one.
Walking through the officers berthing area Kyler kept his eyes open for any familiar faces. The last thing he needed right now was to run into someone he knew. He’d spent so much time traveling around with Krantz that he’d been seen by senior Brotherhood members throughout the entire southeast. One of them recognizing him would be pretty awkward. They made it through officer country into the car used for planning without incident. Kyler wondered if he was expected to sleep in officer country or back in the car with his men. He wasn’t technically an officer, but he was filling in for one. He wasn’t sure if that meant he rated an upscale bunk or not.
His escort introduced him to the commander in charge of the train battalion and then left. The stressed out looking overweight commander was sitting at a table covered in paper maps. He had a laptop sitting on top of all the maps. Five men and a woman were sitting around the table with him. The air was heavy with cigarette smoke. Plates of food and pots of coffee littered nearby tables where a couple of men were busy cleaning everything up.
“You’re the new platoon leader then. Have much experience leading men in combat?” The white-haired battalion commander asked Kyler without preamble.
“A little sir. Honestly I’m still not quite sure why I was put in the position over the man who used to be the platoon leader sir.” Kyler answered honestly. What he was really wondering about was if he could shoot everyone in
the car and then somehow make a quick escape. He just wasn’t sure if shooting everyone in this car would be enough to stop the battalion. He’d have to go back and murder everyone in the officers’ quarters as well. Noticing how a lot of the men wore their weapons with great familiarity he opted against going all action hero quite yet.
“We have a lot of new men on the train who aren’t fully indoctrinated yet. We don’t want any of them thinking they can boss around Brotherhood. That’d give the wrong impression. The standard advice still applies though. Listen to your squad leaders. They’ll be the reason you end up accomplishing your mission. Failing to accomplish your mission means you’ll probably be dead.” The commander said dramatically. He paused to let his words sink in. Kyler did his best to look like he cared what the fat Nazi had to say. He wished he’d been able to bring Ritz up here with him. The two of them together might’ve been able to take on the car full of officers. Surprise was one of the great force multipliers.
“Yes sir. I agree sir.” Kyler said.
“Good meeting you son. Put your men through the paces. They’ll fight like crazy knowing their children’s lives depend on it. We’ve also got a bunch of coke if any of them need a little extra motivation.” The commander said.
Zombies! (Book 7): Still Standing Page 16