“Our strategic forces are also largely intact, although of less use in this crisis. Our ICBM bases immediately sealed themselves off and refused admittance to anyone, including Air Force personnel who had not passed through quarantine. Most of our boomer subs also scrambled quickly and are on station around the world should we need them. SAC bomber bases didn’t fare quite so well, although a fair number of B-1 and B-52 bombers were dispersed to alternate airbases in remote locations.”
“Finally, there are a few bright spots overseas. Forces on Saipan, Guam, Okinawa, Diego Garcia and a few other islands are still functioning and reporting to us. While the base in Diego Garcia has relatively few soldiers, they have huge amounts of stockpiled food, equipment and other vital supplies. Meanwhile, there are just over five thousand Marines on Guam and another twenty thousand servicemen and women in Okinawa that we can bring stateside when we need them.
“What about the infected?” The President asked.
“Well, they seem to have coalesced into several mega-swarms, typically centered on major urban regions. We’ve identified one in southern California, one in Northern California. There are two in Texas, one centered on Dallas-Fort Worth and the other encompassing the San Antonio-Austin-Houston triangle, another in central Florida in the Tampa Bay-Orlando corridor, one in the Chicago area, and three in the Northeast, one near Boston, another in and around New York City and the last one covering Washington DC, Baltimore and most of Maryland. Other smaller swarms have formed in essentially every other major city in the lower forty-eight. Over the course of monitoring these swarms, they’ve exhibited extraordinary growth week over week as the infection spreads. Three other swarms are notable – one in the Seattle-Tacoma region actually flowed across the border into the Vancouver area, while another smaller swarm is moving north from St. Paul/Minneapolis as it follows refugees fleeing towards Winnipeg. In a reversal of those two incidents, a much larger swarm from the Toronto area poured into New York state and overwhelmed Buffalo and has split into two smaller swarms, one moving eastward towards Rochester and another moving southwards to Cleveland.”
He took a deep breath, then continued, “In the lower forty-eight , the areas with the lowest rates of infection are in the less populated, so-called flyover states such as Montana, Wyoming, the Dakotas and Nebraska. However, as people flee here from urban areas, we can expect infection rates in those states to rise too.”
The President closed his eyes and rubbed his temples as the briefing continued.
--------
After eating, Evelyn suggested they check out the Can-Ex, which had just re-opened. Even though it was only a couple blocks away, Evelyn frowned when he suggested walking again, so they took the Pathfinder yet again.
As soon as they walked in, Evelyn was beaming, running from rack to rack, looking at clothes and other knick knacks that she wanted for her tent.
“Oh, look at this, isn’t this cute?” Evelyn said, to which Xander just nodded.
Xander kept a running total of everything she threw in her basket, remembering that he had just over two hundred dollars in his wallet. Before he knew it, Evelyn had several hundred dollars’ worth of purchases.
“I don’t think we have enough for all of that, honey,” Xander said casually.
“You mean I have to put it back?” She said, pouting slightly.
“Not all of it honey, just some of it. How much do you have?”
“I’ve got about fifty dollars.”
“Really? When we split the proceeds yesterday, you had over two hundred,” Xander said.
“Well, I lost some of it in a card game yesterday, I think about sixty dollars. And I just had to give some to Janice, she lost everything, including her whole family. All she has are the clothes on her back. It’s no big deal, we’ll start working in a day or two and we can earn more,” Evelyn replied sweetly.
Xander rolled his eyes.
“Hey, it’s true. Besides, it feels good to help out other people,” she said.
Xander sighed, “Okay, I can give you eighty bucks.”
Evelyn squealed with delight, “Thanks honey. I’m so going to rock your world tonight!” She whispered the last sentence in his ear.
She sorted through the basket and knocked her purchases down to one hundred and forty dollars.
“Please can I have one hundred? Please?” Evelyn begged.
“Okay,” Xander said, handing it over.
They loaded the stuff in the back of the Pathfinder and drove to the gymnasium where the movie was set to start in under half an hour.
“Five bucks each,” the attendant droned in the hallway outside.
“At least it’s cheaper than Cineplex?” Evelyn said cheerily.
Xander glanced at his rapidly emptying wallet and handed over ten dollars and they went in and found a couple seats. Given that the movie was family oriented, the crowd was mostly children and their parents. The nine o’clock show was some sci-fi movie Xander had never heard of and the eleven o’clock was a slasher flick.
Who in hell would want to watch that type of movie after all we’ve been through, Xander thought.
“Popcorn! Get your popcorn!” An attendant announced from a booth just inside the gym.
“How much?”
“Nothing, it’s included in the ticket price. Do you both want one?” The attendant asked.
“Sure,” Xander replied.
About time we got a break on something here, Xander thought
A few minutes later, Xander was sitting with Evelyn, munching on popcorn and looking at his phone idly when an idea popped into his head.
“Do you mind staying here for a second?” Xander asked.
“Uh, sure, okay?” Evelyn mumbled.
Xander ran out to the Pathfinder and dug a couple bags of candy out from the hatch in the trunk.
He came back with a huge grin on his face and offered them to the attendant at the popcorn stand, “Hey, its Halloween right? You want to hand these out to the kids here?”
“Where the hell did you get this from, pal?”
“I was in the Costco until last week and had a bunch of stuff when I went into quarantine,” Xander said.
“Sounds like you had it pretty good over there,” the attendant said.
“It wasn’t bad. So do you want to?”
“Sure, as long as you don’t mind me snagging a couple for my kids.”
“Knock your socks off, dude,” Xander said.
“Alright, thanks!” The attendant said and turned to his co-worker, “Watch this for me, I’ll be back in a couple minutes.”
As Xander sat down, kids began howling in delight as they were handed candy. He just sat back and smiled.
“You know what honey, you’re right, it feels good to do something nice for people,” Xander said.
“Huh,” Evelyn replied.
“Nevermind honey.”
Chapter 12
November 1st
“Sergeant Simpson reporting as ordered!” Dan said as he snapped to attention.
“At ease Sergeant,” Lieutenant Colonel Burkhart replied. “Sergeant, it has been brought to my attention that you are also a police officer with the Edmonton Police Service – is that correct?”
“Yes sir, it is.”
“And that you have had extensive contact dealing with the infected, it that also correct?”
“Yes sir.”
“Sergeant, I’m going to pull you off your patrol duties and assign you temporarily to the new training battalion we are assembling. Your duties there will be as an instructor,” Lieutenant Colonel Burkhart said.
“An instructor sir? For what?” Dan blurted out. “Sorry sir.”
“No worries, I understand that you were only a part-timer.”
Dan bristled at that slightly.
Lieutenant Colonel Burkhart continued, “Specifically, I want to you to teach recruits how to fight the infected hand-to-hand. I’ve read briefing documents detailing how police officers such as
yourself cleared apartment and office buildings using only batons and riot shields.”
Dan opened his mouth to say something, then hesitated.
“Did you want to say something Sergeant?”
“Sir if I may. Yes, we did use hand-to-hand combat techniques such as those you’ve described, but they were always a last resort, because casualties always shot up when we had to fight them that way. We always used firearms first and whenever possible to prevent casualties. As you are doubt aware, the EPS sustained nearly eighty percent casualties, even with firearms,” Dan said.
“Not to worry, troops will receive instruction on ranged combat as well, but we want to pass along your expertise in close quarters battle.” Lieutenant Colonel Burkhart said.
“Well, sir, you can count on me,” Dan replied.
“Great, talk to my orderly for your new orders – you start tomorrow on this assignment. Dismissed!” Lieutenant Colonel Burkhart said.
Dan left and spoke with Burkhart’s orderly outside. He had to report to the PPCLI barracks building at 0700. He had asked about bringing Hall and Barker on this new assignment, but the orderly denied his request, stating that they were more suited to their current roles.
So much for sleeping in. Guess I have to go talk to Barker and Hall and tell them the bad news. Dan thought to himself.
That kind of annoyed Dan, because the two kids had really grown on him over the past couple weeks, although he thought their perception was slightly different. Where he looked at them like an older brother watching out for his younger siblings, they seemed to see him as a father figure, even though he was only a few years older than themselves.
Dan sighed again and headed towards the barracks to find them.
--------
After the movie, Xander and Evelyn had spent the night together cuddled in the back of the Pathfinder. It had been cold at first, but they found a way to stay warm.
Xander was typically an early riser and woke up just before the sun rose. He rubbed his hands together to generate some warmth and then pulled on his clothes, which were under the sleeping bag. They were cool, but not freezing. Then he crawled into the front seat and fired up the Pathfinder. The first thing he did was crank up the heat to take the edge off. Gradually, the air inside began to warm.
“Wake up sleepyhead,” he said to Evelyn.
“Lemme sleep another fifteen minutes please.”
“No can do, the sun is coming up and you never know when a crowd is going to form,” Xander grinned.
Evelyn bolted upright, “Oh yeah,” she replied, rubbing her eyes and stretching in the limited confines of the Pathfinder.
She pulled on her clothes and snuggled up to Xander. “Thanks for turning on the heat.”
“Hungry?” Xander asked.
“Famished!”
They drove off towards the mess to get breakfast.
Again, breakfast was nothing more than a bowl of unflavoured oatmeal and some powdered juice.
Better than nothing I suppose, Xander thought. But I’d kill for some bacon and eggs right now.
After breakfast, Xander walked Evelyn back to her tent so she could freshen up, then went to do the same.
The ice cold water from the tap was bracing, but he made do, giving himself a sponge bath of sorts. When he got back to his tent, Jared came running up to him.
“Uncle Xander!” Jared said as he jumped into Xander’s arms.
“Whoa, you’re getting a bit big for that Jared. Where’s your Mom?”
“She went to school to teach. They don’t have a spot for me yet, so I get to stay home for another day or two. Dad is over there, trying to sell some stuff to someone.”
Xander looked over to see Donald and an older man haggling, then Donald nodded and handed over a box of Ritz crackers and pocketed the cash.
“Easier than taking candy from a baby,” Donald said chuckling as he walked over.
Xander shook his head, “If you want to sell your stuff Donald, that’s fine, but don’t make people feel like crap or it’s going to come back to haunt you.”
“Just leave me alone Xander,” Donald replied curtly.
He turned “Hey Jared, I almost forgot, I’ve got something for you!”
He dug into his backpack and pulled out a full size chocolate bar, “Happy Halloween!”
“Thanks Uncle Xander!”
“Halloween was yesterday, Xander,” Donald said.
“Halloween is every day now,” Xander said, clearly exasperated. “Happy belated Halloween Jared.”
Jared nodded and devoured the chocolate bar. “Do you have another one, Uncle Xander?”
“Actually, I do. Here you go!” Xander said as he handed over another one.
Donald peered into Xander’s bag, “Got any more?”
“Nope,” Xander said. “Talk to you later Jared!”
Xander heard Donald grumbling and cursing as he left to find Evelyn to enjoy their last little bit of freedom together before Xander went back to work tonight and Evelyn started as an administrative assistant in the 3rd Division headquarters building the following morning. With their conflicting day and night shifts, they would more like ships passing in the night than boyfriend and girlfriend for the foreseeable future.
--------
Xander was sitting in the break room at the Depot listening to everyone bullshit.
“You know how it goes. The first time it happens, you go to the doctor and ask for a shot to take care of it. The second time, you tell your doctor you put your trust in the wrong woman. And the third time, you get a new doctor!” Harry roared.
Everyone broke out in laughter.
“Goddammit Harry, you almost made me choke on my sandwich!” Stan shouted at him.
Everyone laughed even harder.
When Stan had finally caught his breath, he said in mock anger, “Okay you dogfuckers, back to work!”
A collective groan went up from everyone in the room.
As Xander was leaving, Gary walked over to him.
“Thanks again for getting me this gig. It’s way better than that goddamned kitchen.”
“Hey, anytime man. Any idea why they put you in there in the first place?” Xander asked.
“They told me it was because I worked at Arby’s when I was in high school. That counted as ‘culinary training’! Can you believe that? Fucking Arby’s man!”
Xander laughed, “It’s so stupid I do believe it. Arby’s was fucking gross and about as far removed from food as I remember.”
“If you’ve ever seen the ‘roast beef’ before it’s cooked you’d throw up. It was fucking gray! What kind of meat is gray?” Gary replied. “When I worked there, I never ate that shit, the only thing I could stomach were the chicken burgers, because it was the one thing on the menu that was real meat.”
“Bet you’d kill for a roast beef sandwich from there right now, though,” Xander said.
“Well, if it meant that the world wasn’t fucked up and everyone I knew probably wasn’t dead, I’d gladly spend the rest of my life eating that fake shit,” Gary replied.
Xander smiled and slapped Gary on the back, “Yeah me too.”
Xander paused for a moment and then climbed into the forklift and said jokingly, “Now don’t make me look bad for recommending you.”
Gary nodded.
Xander gave him a thumbs up as he left.
With about an hour to go in his shift, the intercom squawked, “Xander, please come to the main office.”
Xander dropped the pallet on the dock, then parked his forklift at the charging station and went into the office.
Standing beside Stan was a police officer and a man in green coveralls with a big black eye. The hairs on the back of Xander’s neck stood up.
“What’s up boss?”
The police officer said, “Barnes, Xander?”
“Yep, that’s me,” Xander replied.
The man with the black eye thrust forward a clipboard with an envelope on it, “Plea
se acknowledge your receipt of this letter by signing here.”
Xander looked puzzled, but signed and took the letter. “May I?”
“Certainly,” said the police officer.
Xander scanned the letter.
Dear Mr. Barnes,
Due to the ongoing crisis, your services have been deemed necessary by the Canadian Armed Forces. You will report to 1 PPCLI building (see attached map, page 2) at 6 a.m. on Monday, November 5 for training and eventual deployment. Blah blah blah blah
Service to your country blah blah.
More bullshit, blah blah blah.
“Is this what I think it is?” Xander asked.
“Yes sir, you’ve been officially drafted into the Canadian Armed Forces,” the courier said.
Xander stood in shock for a second processing the news, then shook himself out of it.
“Uh, okay. Thanks, I guess,” Xander mumbled.
“No need to thank me, I don’t like doing this any more than people do getting it,” the courier said awkwardly.
“What happened to your eye?” Xander said offhandedly.
“When I handed one of these out earlier today, the recipient didn’t care for its contents, nor my appearance.”
“What’s wrong with your appearance?”
“At the time, I was wearing my old DHL uniform,” the courier replied. “I thought it would be funny, but that guy didn’t care for my sense of humour.”
“Well, as shitty as this news is, that outfit would have gotten a chuckle out of me,” Xander replied.
Zombie Night In Canada (Book 2): 2nd Period Page 11