Dead States | Year Zero | Nebraska

by Brockschmidt, Marty

On the ride back to the compound Blade called out to Crystal, “Crystal?”

  Crystal turned to look at Blade and angrily cocked an eyebrow. While training Blade was in charge and Crystal was the raw recruit now away from there her position required respect.

  “er Captain I've been thinking”, Blade corrected himself

  “Thinking is good”, Crystal responded.

  “Captain what you need is something to increase your reach. I thought we could speak to Mr. Canales to construct a weapon for you.”, Blade explained.

  “Thank you Corporal I'll look forward to see what the two of you come up with”, Crystal replied.

  A couple of days after describing the weapon to Mick, He and Doug showed off their handy work before the crew left for the day. The first thing Crystal noticed was Doug was walking. He chuckled at her amazement and then propped his leg up and raised the pant leg.

  “I whittled a new one. I'm no good just sitting around.”, Doug professed.

  Mick handed Crystal the equalizer, “I think this is what your looking for, Doug did the checkering and carvings and helped me steam it into shape”, Mick announced.

  The men had turned a length of hickory into a dowel, then steamed it and bent a “L” at one end. Mick forged iron points to attach at each end and finally fitted a forged pistol grip handle at the balance point perpendicular to the “L”. Doug checkered it at each end and then carved ICE and CRYSTAL above and below the handle. The equalizer ended up at just under three pounds and about thirty inches in length.

  Crystal gave each of the men a hug and a kiss on the cheek, “Thank you so much I can't wait to put this to practice.”

  “Our pleasure Captain we just tinker around in the shop at night anyhow it was nice to actually have a project to work on”, Mick confessed.

  Then Crystal spun on her heel looked at Blade, “Don't we have somewhere to be Corporal.”

  “Right you are Captain. Load up we're burnin daylight”, Blade announced.

  Yep this had to be the strangest CO that Blade ever had, but maybe she was exactly the type of person to lead in this new world.

  A few days later and the initial training and testing on the captive dead had been completed. Blade had selected the team members for the first phase of Crystal's plan. Keeping true to her promise to Mac to keep this plan under wraps, Crystal had yet to tell Tobin that she would be leaving for a few days. As a way to break the news to him more gently, Crystal chose to hold a small house warming party in her new apartment.

  The gathering was small, besides Tobin she invited Percy and Mae and Matt and Amy, giving Amy another chance to socialize with Matt. Tobin stopped by early to help Crystal setup for the get together and brought hors d'oeuvres and cocktails. There was really little to do to get ready, the couple did adjust the scant amount of furniture and Tobin setup his MP3 player for some background music.

  The first to arrive were Percy and Mae, Crystal went to greet them promptly when they knocked, “Come in, come in. I'm so glad you came.”

  “I hope ve are not to early.”, Percy expressed.

  Before Crystal could answer Mae went up to her and hugged her tight, “Dot I am so happy you moved in next to us. I just wish you were home more so we could visit.”

  “I'm sorry work does keep me busy. I am pleased we are able to get together this evening. Have I introduced you to Tobin?”, Crystal asked as there was another knock on the door.

  When she greeted Matt and Amy at the door Matt said, “Buenas noches. Pueda tenemos permiso para entrar.”

  He smiled and then repeated in English, “Good evening, May we have your permission to enter.”

  “Oh yes please, come in”, Crystal replied.

  Matt went on to explain, “Amy had told me this was a housewarming for you and I was trying to figure out a gift for you. Then I remembered when I was setting up systems in Costa Rica the hospitality they prided themselves on. One of those traditions was to show respect for the homeowner, by asking permission to enter.”

  Crystal smiled, “Thank you I truly appreciate that”

  Guiding the pair to a seat Crystal asked, “Speaking of systems how are things coming here?”

  “Uh oh, now you've opened a can of worms.”, Amy joked.

  Matt chuckled, “She's teasing. I need to talk my way through the process and Amy has been a good listener. I think I can give you the short version. The solar panels should be operational over the next couple of days. The big project is the greenhouses we're building in the atrium of two of the buildings. By fall we'll be able to have fresh veggies all winter. Mick expects to have wood boilers in place in a couple of weeks to heat the buildings and hot water. He even has a plan to run the generators on wood gas, so we have a back up to the solar.”

  “Ve certainly have a talented group here. Mae and I vere fortunate to spend our retirement here.”, Percy exclaimed.

  Crystal patted the old soldiers arm, “I for one thank my stars your here too.”

  Percy smiled at the young woman, “Sank you. I'm not sure Mister Grey is feeling so lucky right now. I had better rescue him from Mae.”

  The rest of the evening continued along pleasantly each of them sharing a little about their life before the outbreak. Eventually Mae was beginning to weary and Percy ever attendant to her needs said good nights for the two of them and led Mae home. Not long after that Matt and Amy excused themselves to leave as well.

  Tobin helped Crystal straighten up and when done he cornered Crystal and slid his arms around her waist. Crystal reached up and clasped her hands behind his neck and looked deep into his eyes. Tobin bent down and slowly kissed her.

  “So are you going to tell me what you and Amy were avoiding?”, Tobin asked bluntly.

  Crystal blinked a little surprised at Tobin's perceptiveness, “It was for Mae's sake, were we really that obvious? I had already planned on talking to you after everyone left tonight.”

  “I know you pretty well Crys.”, Tobin replied.

  Crystal had Tobin take a seat with her on the couch, “We've been studying those things. Learning what attracts them, how they move, and how to take them down.”

  Crystal paused to study Tobin's reaction, but he had on his poker face, “I asked Blade to make a team of the best, to clear the area around our camp. We'll be able gather more supplies and scout out places to go to if we ever have to leave here in a hurry.”

  “Sounds like a reasonable plan.”, Tobin stated urging Crystal to reveal the rest.

  “With more field experience we'll be able to build more teams and expand out. Eventually we expect to be able to clear a whole town, like Lexington.”, Crystal finished studying Tobin's face for any reaction.

  “Crystal do you honestly believe our little militia can take on all the dead in Lexington. I was there, I barely got out and you want to charge into that?”, Tobin asked heatedly.

  “Give me more credit than that Toby. I said we've been studying the dead. We'll lead them out and into a trap where we can dispatch them.”, Crystal retorted her resolve evident.

  “You've been saying 'we' a lot does that mean you are one of Blade's crack team?”, Tobin questioned.

  “I am.”, Crystal answered proudly.

  “How long do I have to sit here worrying about you?”, Tobin said softly.

  Crystal held both of Tobin's hands, “A week, but we should be in radio range for at least a part of each day. We'll send in regular updates.”

  “I worry about you, the thought of losing you ...”, Tobin confessed

  “You got a pretty good hold of me right now lets see where that takes us” Crystal told him coyly.

  Crystal slid her arms around his neck and Tobin leaned in for a kiss. One of his hands caressed her hip, the other other slid up her side and then fondled a breast. Crystal laid back, across Tobin's lap and smiled up at him. She enjoyed the tenderness of his touch and the way he looked at her. Tobin slid his hand over and began unbuttoning Crystal's blouse. A sudden nervousness gripped her a
nd Crystal stayed his hand.

  Seeing the confusion and desire in his eyes Crystal muttered,”I'm so sorry Tobin I thought I was ready for this, I'm just not.”

  Tobin was a little hurt, but he smiled at Crystal, “You know when I graduated high school I gave up all hope of ever being with you. Now we are closer than I ever imagined, I can wait a little longer.”

  Tobin could scarcely believe the change in his relationship with Crystal. Growing up as next door neighbors he and Crystal had always been close first as playmates and later more like friends. Tobin couldn't remember a time when he didn't harbor a crush on Crystal. There were times when he thought she felt the same.

  When he was fifteen their fathers had planned a deer drive on their adjoining properties. Tobin and Crystal were set together as standers, while their fathers attempted to push a deer to them. A buck broke cover and Tobin was able to get off a clean shot dropping the deer. Crystal let out a cheer and then gave Tobin a congratulatory hug. With her jumping around a strand of her hair slipped out from her hat into her eyes. Tobin slipped off his glove and tucked the strand back in and in a moment of bravery warmed her cheek with his palm. Crystal enjoying the warmth of his hand tilted her head into his palm and held his hand in place with hers. Their fathers arrived soon enough to check on the success of the shot and ended the moment.

  As a sophomore Tobin worked up the courage to ask Crystal to prom, but by the time he asked she already had a date. Their ways separated after that. Crystal started college and took a part time job and when Tobin graduated high school he moved away to attend culinary school. Tobin wasn't sure if their meeting up again in this band of survivors was destiny or dumb luck. Which ever it was Tobin was thankful for it. Now that he was on the verge of having the romance that he always dreamed of, he was fearful it was going to be taken from him.

  A day later and the team was making final preparations to head out in the morning. For this initial team Blade had chosen Amy, that was a no-brainer they had served together long enough. Justin was his next pick, he was young, but had military training and understood how to take and give orders. Hank was a pretty ordinary guy yet kept his calm no matter how stressful Blade made the situation. Blades final pick was Crystal, a choice he made grudgingly, but Blade couldn't deny she had earned her spot.

  Amy was no stranger to the diversions that kept a soldier from over thinking the outcome of a mission. Growing up an army brat the service had always been enough for her. It is not that she didn't have lovers, recreational sex was one of the best ways to relieve the stress of combat. Until she met Matt Brenner and his kids that had been enough. Travis and Cassie she understood they were army brats too. Matt was completely different than any man she had ever known. At first blush she thought of him as a tree hugger, but then he proved he could handle himself in a fight, he was so smart and he absolutely doted on his children.

  On this evening before their first house to house mission Amy was anxious to seal the deal with Matt. Since the send off dinner for Sergeant Andrews and the other soldiers, Matt and Amy had appeared to be a couple. It was when they were alone and became more intimate, that it felt like the ghost of Matt's wife enters the room and he becomes withdrawn. Amy had decided to play the shipping off to war ploy on Matt. Crystal had gotten Tobin to provide a dinner for Amy to share with Matt in her apartment. Crystal and Tobin were also going to keep Travis and Cassie occupied for the evening. Amy spoke with Cynthia to help her again with her attire for the evening and any pointers that she could share.

  Amy had put her life on the line countless times, she had fought herds of zombies and never questioned her ability to meet the situation. This simple little dinner with Matt had her a bundle of nerves. She had no training for this and her mother had left her and her father when she was so young that Amy had no one to model. She kept running through everything Cynthia told her to do and not to do that by the time Matt knocked at her door she wasn't sure which was which.

  Instead of the deep passionate kiss she wanted to give him she barely gave him a peck feeling the need to move things along, “Matt we'll eat over at this little table would you light the candles while I grab the dinner.”

  “Can do it smells wonderful”, Matt replied.

  “Oh I can't take the credit Tobin whipped this up for us”, Amy answered.

  Amy tried to hard make dinner conversation that she just kept hammering Matt with questions barely waiting for his reply before shooting out the next question. As soon as Matt finished his meal she whisked away the plates.

  As coyly as she could, “Matt if would like to take a seat on the couch, I'm going to change into something more comfortable and I'll join you in a moment.”

  As Amy quickly slipped into the black negligee from Cynthia and tried to remember where Cynthia instructed her to apply the perfume, Matt knocked on her bedroom door, “Amy just listen a minute. I know you are probably real annoyed with me right now and I am aware that I haven't been as open to you as I should. I could blame it on the outbreak or say I was worried about how the twins would react. The truth is I have been a stupid man dwelling on the past and not seeing what was in front of him. I promise if you give me a second chance I will put that behind me.”

  Amy rushed to the door, gave him the kiss she wanted to start the evening with, “Matt this whole evening was supposed to show you how much I care about you, but I'm just so bad at this stuff I just made a mess of things.”

  Matt hugged her close enjoying the smell of the perfume, “Well aren't we a pair. I am sorry I messed up your reveal though.”

  Amy stepped back so Matt could get a better look at her, “You mean this old thang. We could start over again if you like.”

  “Not necessary, not necessary at all”, Matt exclaimed and slowly guided her to the bed.

  Four days on the road and each house the team hits tells a story of the outbreak. Some homes had been evacuated and the pickings were slim on those. There were homes where the families had chosen to suicide. In one of those the father had shot his wife and daughter as they lay in bed. The mother had her arms around her child and the daughter had a small pink teddy bear clutched to her breast.

  From the blood splatter it was obvious the man sat down in the chair next to the bed, after killing his family and placed his pistol under his chin. Instead of aiming the gun so that the bullet would rip through the back of his head he pointed it straight up. The bullet ripped of his face, but did not damage enough of the brain. The team found his blind faceless corpse, stumbling around inside the home.

  Other homes had their belongings mostly intact. In some cases missing vehicles gave hope that the families found shelter elsewhere. In many cases the lack of inhabitants explained the small groups of dead they have dispatched on the roads and fields.

  Dealing with the constant horrors was having its impact on the team. On the plus side was a bonding and trust caused by the shared experience. However, the team had to develop a level of callousness to deal with the constant barrage to their senses. Each day was the sight of the dead, the smell of the dead and the sounds of the dead.

  In clearing one house in the basement they found the chained walking corpse of an elderly women. Crystal piked the woman with her baton and joked, “My Grandma what big teeth you have.”

  As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted saying them, “Hank you and Justin wrap up here.”

  “Alright Captain.”, Hank replied.

  Crystal headed outside where Amy, watching the perimeter, greeted her, “Everything good Cap'n?”.

  Crystal stared off into the distance,“Yeah, just needed some fresh air to clear my head.”

  Amy nodded, “Ahh”.

  Crystal turned towards her, “Amy how do you handle it? How do you keep all this from changing you?”

  Amy nodded, “Hmm that. Oh it changes you alright. I've seen some give into the darkness, but I'm not worried about you.”

  “I don't see them as people anymore. I used too, is that
wrong?”, Crystal questioned.

  “Of course they are not people. They used to be. They were someones father, mother, son or daughter. They aren't any of that anymore, they're monsters now and you know that.”, Amy replied

  “Maybe, still no excuse for me to act this way.”, Crystal grumbled.

  Amy laughed, “And that is why I'm not worried about you. Think about the folks at home. We protect them from this, “

  Crystal smiled, “Thank you. I better get back in there, the boys are to practical when they salvage.”

  The next morning the team came to a small farm. Pulling up they saw was the carcass of a pony At the barn was an entire family of the dead, the mother, father, two young girls and a boy little more than a toddler. The dead were pressing against the barn, clawing against its walls trying to get in. Hank hit the horn on the truck to attract the dead towards the team.