“Very well,” Mike replied. “We will be back shortly.”
Danny and Mike backed out of the cabin slowly, not turning their backs on Angela.
“May the Lord be with you,” she called after them. It sounded like a sarcastic afterthought rather than a true wish.
“Shouldn’t we have insisted that Cliff and Beverley come back with us?” Danny asked, a little confused by their retreat.
“No,” Mike replied. “Cliff needs to make that decision for himself or he’ll always resent us. Anyway, I’ve seen a look like that before. Angela is about one argument away from blowing up.” Looking like he was struggling with a decision to say more, he made a decision and continued to explain. “There was this soldier in Camp Bastion, a young officer. He’d been in Afghanistan for about three months. He and his platoon went out on patrol one day and only he made it back. And even that was a near-run thing. His men had been blown to bits right in front of him. He was covered in their gore. It seems this was the last straw for him and he went into meltdown. Last time I saw him he had that same look in his eyes; he wasn’t seeing me, he was seeing something else. He was playing with his gun; it was like he was contemplating whether he should shoot me or himself. A couple of his mates saw him doing this and he was disarmed and sent home on medical leave. He’s still in that psychiatric facility today. Probably.”
So Mike thought the same as Danny. The girl was an escapee, and Danny had thoughtfully brought her here in the second truck. Shit.
“Wish I’d run her over instead of stopping,” Danny said out loud, but to himself.
“Amen, Danny.” Mike smiled. “Everyone’s allowed one mistake.”
Arriving back at Tom’s cabin, Janet put together a clothes package for Beverley. From the brief glimpse Janet had of Beverley, she believed that the child was only a little smaller than Penny so there was plenty to choose from. Rejecting the entreaties of the women that one of them should accompany Mike and Danny back to Cliff’s cabin to try their luck, the two went back, knocked on the door and handed the bundle to Cliff, who just took them and went back inside.
“There’s nothing more we can do for now,” Mike said as they returned. “I’d kill the bitch and end this right now but it wouldn’t help our situation with Cliff. It might even make things worse. So we’ll just have to wait and see for now.”
“And watch the bitch like a hawk.”
“You said it.”
Chapter 8 - Music To Their Ears
The next morning was a beautiful one; there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and thankfully it hadn’t snowed again in the night. The view from the helicopters would be amazing; they’d be able to see for miles.
“While we’re out there, do you want to check out the shopping mall again? You know, the one with the help sign painted on it?” BB asked Mike as several of the survivors sat around in a group eating MRE’s, courtesy of Chuck.
“You mean Cherry Creek Shopping Center?”
“I think that’s what it was called, yeah.”
“We can do. I don’t think there’s anyone there but we can have a look-see if you like.”
“I think I’d like someone to do the same for me if the situation was reversed.”
“Know what you mean. Yeah, we can do that first. We’re not landing though. If there’s anyone there we’ll winch ’em up.”
“Understood.”
“I’ll come with you, I can ride shotgun,” Danny offered.
“Me too,” Rob added.
“Great,” Mike answered. “We’ll need bodies on the ground to get the fencing together as quickly as possible. The longer we’re on the ground the more likely we are to attract attention.”
“The area is fenced off, so you should be safe,” Laurie said.
“What about the employees in the target buildings? They could easily be a problem for us.”
“Oh, yes. I hadn’t thought.” Laurie looked embarrassed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to correct you,” Mike said quickly. “I’m just a cynical old bastard. I’ve always been a little on the glass half empty side. To that end I always expect trouble.” He smiled at her.
“That’s alright; my desk job didn’t really equip me for all this,” she conceded.
“I presume all this stuff was supposed to be positioned to disaster zones by helicopter?” BB asked, considering their needs to make this a success. “Will there be any lifting harnesses there that we can use?”
“Oh, yes,” Laurie replied, enthusiastic about her specialist subject once more. “These kits were designed for airlift as they were expected to be moved to remote areas or deployed quickly at least.”
“That’s pretty cool, Laurie,” Danny agreed. “Sounds like we’ll have this all wrapped up by lunch time.”
“It might just be that simple,” Mike conceded. “We’ll need two non-pilot crew members on each chopper. We don’t want too many because of weight considerations; I want to bring back as much as possible on each trip. Danny and Rob have already volunteered. I’ll volunteer you, Zoë; we need a winch specialist. You alright with that?” She nodded so he continued with the planning. “I’m assuming Cliff won’t be with us. So I want one other and strength is a necessity.”
Chuck raised his hand. He was a pretty obvious choice really. Poor old Bill was not yet an option and Joshua was built like a sparrow. “I’ll be that man if you like,” he said, more self-deprecating than usual, solo living being more Chuck’s style; he was happy to be part of such a decent group of people but he had taken to sitting quietly on his own, content in his own company; large groups and organisation was more change than he had experienced in many years and so he held back, his loner status challenged.
“I’d like to come too,” Joshua said. “I would like to check out the electrical supplies, I guess they’ll have some. I have to work out how we alarm the fence.” His wife pulled at his sleeve, not amused at him volunteering. “Ethel, honey. I have to do this,” he admonished gently.
“Sure,” she replied, sighing. “I get it, just be careful. I’m not ready to lose you just yet.”
“You won’t, darling.”
“He’ll be safe with us, Ethel. I’m not about to take any risks with anyone,” Mike said, hoping he wasn’t promising more than he could deliver to the old gal. “Sure you can come, Joshua, I hadn’t considered that aspect.”
“What about securing the cabins?” Bill interjected. “I don’t think you should do the shopping mall until you’ve completed the primary objective of today, the fencing. It only takes one chopper anyway. You’re just adding risk to the mission. As long as the major part of the group is away it adds to the risk back here. I can see better since I’ve been using the eye drops, so I can hold a gun and shoot. Can anyone else left behind shoot worth a damn? Sorry ladies but the situation hasn’t changed since our last indelicate equality discussion took place. Just sayin’ it as it is.”
“There’s me, Bill,” Tom interjected. “I’ll be here.”
“Women can shoot too, you old goat,” Zoë countered, not as forcefully as she once would have. His misogyny, whilst alive and still kicking would have to take a backseat from hereon in; his dependence upon ‘mere’ women and girls for his protection was absolute, at least for now. The female of the species were categorically part of the defence force, whatever he wanted.
“I can shoot, can’t I BB?” Kimberley spoke for the first time.
“Oh, yeah. You sure can.” He smiled at her. “You’ve got the .357 haven’t you?”
“And a few 38’s as well,” she smiled back.
“I’ve been shooting once,” Janet stepped forward. “I’m sure I can hit something if someone will give me a gun.”
“That’s two, Bill,” Zoë chastised him light-heartedly.
“I’ve fired a pistol,” Stacey offered.
“Hey, Bill. Looks like you’re seriously outnumbered.” Zoë was grinning widely at Bill’s discomfort.
“Okay, okay. I get it,” he sa
id, holding up his hands in surrender. “Looks like we will be just fine, Mike.”
“Sure does,” Mike replied, amused at his erstwhile co-pilot’s discomfort. “I like your thinking regarding the mall though, Bill. We’ll do it if we get the time, BB. Sorry.”
“No, you’re right,” BB agreed. “No point risking several lives to try and rescue people that might not even be alive in there.”
*
With everyone aware of their own responsibilities the flight crews went to their helicopters. Before boarding, Danny went over to Janet and pulled her aside.
“Listen, love,” he whispered. “You need to keep an eye out for Cliff, but more worryingly, Angela.”
“She’s that bad?” she replied, a worried look on her face.
“Yes. Both Mike and I think she broke out of a mental health facility and made her way to Castle Rock where we picked her up. Also Cliff was behaving really strangely earlier. At one point he looked like he might just kill Mike - Mike told him it was he who killed Cliff’s wife. But then he just seemed to deflate. But that Angela woman, she’s something else. She seems to hold sway over Cliff somehow. It might just be infatuation, or it might be some religious thrall; I think Cliff is quite a religious man. I don’t really know. One thing I do know is that she’s been a druggie, if she still isn’t.”
“Really? Does that mean the religion thing is a sham? Or perhaps she has seen the light, as they say.”
“She makes out that she is religious, but I can’t tell. To hear her speak she’d make the Pope look agnostic.”
“So what do you want me to do?”
“Well, talk to Laurie and Sandy will you? I don’t want you guys surprised while we’re away. Perhaps talk to Bill as well, but just be careful, I don’t know how well disposed he is either to Cliff or religion.”
“I’ll do that.” She noticed Zoë signalling to them. “Anyway, they’re waiting for you I think. Love you.”
“And you,” he said squeezing her hand and kissed her gently. “See you soon.” With that he ran to the waiting chopper; it was Mike’s; BB’s was already in the air, carrying Rob and Chuck away and down, out of the mountains. As soon as Danny jumped aboard Mike took off and followed BB towards their target. Danny waved at his wife as she disappeared from view.
“I hope this stuff is where Laurie said it would be,” Danny said over the intercom, voicing what the others had only thought up to now.
“Only one way to find out,” Mike replied. “There are probably other places to get it if this one is empty. One way or another we’ll get this done.”
“Sure will,” Zoë agreed. They sat in silence for the rest of the short journey, Joshua clenching the edges of his seat in what appeared to be a rictus of terror. Danny looked at him quizzically but he just shook his head, wanting to be left alone. Poor sod, Danny thought, he’s terrified of being on the helicopter. What a shame, he thought, not being able to conceive of how a person could possibly be scared by this joy ride.
Peering out of the Perspex side window Danny watched as they flew over the frozen reservoir and onwards over the peaks of the Rockies before descending towards the plains and Denver. After a few minutes he could see their destination off to the right; a large open field with a spiral road that led to a collection of buildings at its centre. Off to one side stood a set of utilitarian industrial buildings, constructed of corrugated metal walls and roofing with almost no windows. Everything looked intact at first glance but there were definitely signs of movement on the ground. As they hovered over the buildings they could see lone people wandering around the larger, enclosed grounds. Fortunately there was chain link fencing around the target buildings, securing the contents from marauding forces, or whatever the original builders may have anticipated. Within the fenced-off enclosure there was easily enough room for a couple of helicopters to put down, probably the intention of the design.
“Mike, this is BB. Can you hear me?”
“Yes, buddy. Go ahead.”
“I will put down and secure the area. We’ll make sure there’s been no breach of the wire, there’s a lot of them things wandering around outside the perimeter. Once we’re clear you can put down too.”
“Roger. I’ll move away so as not to attract them, over.”
“Good idea. Out.”
Brad brought his ’copter into wind and put down gently. Immediately Rob and Chuck leapt out, guns at the ready. BB stayed behind at the controls just in case. The two men made a single circuit of the main building but found no-one and no holes in the fence. Arriving back at the front, they gave the thumbs up to BB. Together they walked warily towards the light blue wicket door at the front. Rob pulled at it but to no avail, it was locked. Chuck waved him away, aimed one of his pistols at the lock and fired a couple of well-aimed shots, the second shot knocking the tongue of the lock out of the cavity in the jamb. The door swung open slightly.
Adopting wary stances they stepped inside the building.
*
Rob stepped into the darkness first, closely followed by Chuck. Waiting for their eyes to adjust to the relative darkness, Rob finally found a light switch off to one side. Flicking it nothing happened.
“Damn. No power.” He switched on his wind-up torch and the powerful LED lights lit up the immediate area, the strong beam penetrating deep into the building.
They were standing in front of a vast assembly area surrounded by banks of shelving stacked high with emergency goods.
“Oh my God,” Chuck sighed, his jaw a little slack at the sight. “I didn’t need to collect all my survival stuff over the years. The government has been doing it for me all along.” He switched on his torch and together they began to search the building for hostiles. Rob whistled low as he realised just how much survival materiel was in front of him. Suddenly he stiffened and stood still, trying to identify what had made his skin crawl.
“There’s something in here,” Rob said quietly. “I can feel it watching us.”
“I think you’re right.” Chuck crouched, ready to defend himself if and when it attacked. Rob was holding his rifle up to his shoulder, sighting along the barrel while holding the torch under it, illuminating his way forward.
“It’s above us,” Rob said, standing stock-still again. Chuck didn’t move.
“Where?”
“On the shelves above us and to the right.”
“Okay. Let’s make our way back to the open area, see if we can’t flush this bastard out into the open.”
Slowly they reversed back to the assembly area, not turning around lest they gave cause to whatever it was to attack their retreating forms. Back in the open and clear of the shelves, Rob finally aimed his torch upwards. Two eyes reflected green in the torchlight. And then another pair, and another.
“Jesus,” Rob hissed, the sight sending a shiver down his spine. Chuck shone his torch along the rest of the upper shelving and spotted another two pairs of eyes off to their left.
“What the fuck are they?” Chuck asked, semi-rhetorically, not actually expecting an answer.
“Cheetahs,” Rob whispered. “We need reinforcements. Back out of the door, we’ll come back with the others.”
“Don’t need telling twice. I ain’t dying for this stuff.” Chuck’s voice was filled with genuine fright, something Rob didn’t think the older man capable of; he’d heard how easily Chuck saw to those two bandits down in Bolder.
Outside the door they pulled it closed. Next moment there was a terrific crash as one of the creatures threw itself against the inside of the door. Fortunately it opened inwards and so held against the onslaught. Silence descended again, both Rob and Chuck had levelled their pieces at the door but with no more noise, their tension eased a little.
“Go tell BB to call the others in. If we don’t get these bastards we may as well go home.”
Without replying Chuck raced to the chopper. With one eye on the door, Rob watched as the other helicopter changed from a hover and began flying towards th
em. At least the landing area was safe to land in for now. Below where the helo had been stationed about half a mile away, the Infected had begun to collect, dozens of them looking upwards at it. The beat of the blades were doing it again. No doubt they would eventually follow it over to this enclosure.
Mike set the helicopter down and shut off the engine. BB had already shut his down; hopefully the lack of moving blades would reduce the zombies’ interest in what they were doing.
Securing the helicopter doors all of the crews gathered together by the wicket door.
“So what have we got?” Mike asked, his demeanour all business.
“We counted five of what I reckon are cheetahs. They are hanging out on the top of the shelving stacks, probably waiting to ambush people like us.” Rob explained.
“There doesn’t appear to be power in the building either,” Chuck noted. “It’s like the inside of a whale in there.”
“What, smells like fish?” BB offered.
“No, you ass,” Chuck replied, not entirely irritated at Brad’s flippant manner. “Dark.”
“Ah,” was all BB said in reply. “Did either of you see what might have been a generator on your walk around the building?”
“There are a couple of smaller buildings off to that side,” Chuck said. “It’s possible one has a backup generator.”
“Take me to it,” Joshua asked. He looked like he was at last relaxing, perhaps even relishing his part in their foray; maybe facing death was preferable to being on the helicopter.
Chuck and Joshua walked away in the direction of the described buildings, Danny in tow and gun at the ready. Mike, Rob and Zoë remained at the small door, keeping watch.
“These bastards, these cheetahs, seem to have a real animal cunning. It was clear these,” Rob said pointing at the door, “are just waiting to pounce. We were probably the first prey they’ve seen and so didn’t react quick enough to catch us.”
The Common Cold (Book 2): A Zombie Chronicle-Cabin Fever Page 16