Zombie Night In Canada (Book 2): 2nd Period

by Friesen, Jamie

  “No shit Sherlock!” Xander said.

  “Go fuck yourself!”

  “Okay, the room is secure, let’s get back outside and keep moving,” Dan said.

  The section filed outside and took up position behind Fourth Section.

  A shout from the front got Dan’s attention, and he bounded forward. The unit had reached the first security checkpoint and a set of heavy doors. Dan fumbled with the keys, then slid one in the lock.

  “Look sharp, we’ve got no idea what’s on the other side of this door!”

  The troops braced as Dan unlocked the door and pulled it open. Light from the soldier’s headlamps trickling in, providing some illumination, but not enough to see more than a few feet inside.

  “Fourth Section, toss in glow sticks!”

  The troops each pulled two glowsticks out of their pockets, cracked them and gave them a good shake. Then they tossed them inside in a wide arc. The green light cast an otherworldly glow inside the prison common area, which was huge, at least ten metres per side. Dan rapped on the security door with his mace three times, each times a loud clanging sound reverberated down the hall and out into the prison. He waited a couple moments, then rapped on the door three more times.

  A deep throated moan emanated from the darkness.

  “I guess we can eliminate equipment malfunction as a reason why we haven’t heard from them in two weeks,” Xander said dryly.

  “Everyone into phalanx formation, shields up!” Dan ordered the troops in front of him.

  “Possible contact with infected,” Dan shouted to First Platoon further down the hall.

  Second Platoon hurried into combat formation, with First through Third Sections each forming a row of soldiers, with their shields up and maces at the ready. Fourth Section stood in reserve.

  “Let them come through the doorway to us, Second Platoon,” Dan said.

  Xander and the rest of the soldiers tensed, waiting for the infected to come through the door.

  The seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness, moans coming from inside, the crescendo rising as the infected neared.

  Finally, a little boy stumbled out. His clothes were in tatters, her hair messy and her throat had been torn out. She was followed by several more infected, all dressed in civilian clothing, not prison garb or Sheriff uniforms.

  After more than a score of infected civilians had been killed, infected in prison garb and Sheriff’s uniforms began to spill out of the darkened hallway. They too were put down. Soon, the pile of bodies forced the troops to retreat a few steps, then a few steps more. Still the infected came.

  “How many people were in here?” Xander asked nobody in particular.

  “The briefing said there should only have been a couple dozen of the worst offenders and ten Sheriffs to guard the facility,” Dan replied.

  “Sounds like the briefing was wrong,” Xander grunted as he swung at an infected senior citizen grasping at him.

  The platoon fought for another ten minutes, dispatching several hundred infected. After the infected finally stopped coming, Second Platoon made sure all the infected were dead, while First Platoon went through the door into the darkened hallway.

  There were a few more reports of “Contact” throughout the facility, but by and large, most of the infected had been dealt with at the security checkpoint.

  As Second Section boarded a truck afterwards, Xander quipped, “So much for an easy mission to pop our cherry, eh Sarge?”

  Chapter 29

  November 24th

  With the huge stacks of cash they each soldier had, they were the big men on campus in the tent city. It reminded Xander of the old World War Two documentaries, where Europeans clamoured for attention from liberating troops, demanding cigarettes, chocolate bars, and booze. Everywhere Xander went, if he wore his armour and uniform, people begged and pleaded for money, food, booze, or anything else he would give them. A couple of the older Loyal Eddie NCOs told similar tales from peacekeeping missions in the Balkans.

  For the first day or two, Xander had given stuff out to kids, buying treats from the CanEx to hand out and even giving some cash to those who looked worse off a time or two. Those same NCOs had warned about doing this, as most kids didn’t get to keep it, instead were forced to give it to local thugs, or at best, their parents, who then traded it for whatever they wanted. Usually, that meant alcohol, drugs, or even cash. After a couple days Xander got suspicious when the same sketchy guy tried to sell him things he was sure had given to a child hours before. The next day, he marked up a couple chocolate bars with a Sharp, then handed them out to a couple kids. Sure enough, a couple hours later, the sketchy guy was selling them in front of his tent. After that, Xander stopped giving anything to anyone, aside from Diane and Jared.

  Some soldiers however, were less scrupulous and used their sudden wealth to buy alcohol, drugs, or even sex from the less fortunate. Jack in particular, always had a different woman on his arm when he was off duty. Training had finished for the day and Xander was headed over to Diane’s tent to check on her and Jared when he stumbled across Jack, strolling through camp with a young lady clinging to him. Her clothes were filthy and ragged, but she was naturally pretty and with a clean set of clothes, a shower, and a little make-up, she’d be one of the prettiest girls Xander had ever seen.

  “What the fuck are you doing Jack?” Xander asked.

  “What do you mean? I’m just out for a walk with a friend,” Jack said. “Besides, it’s none of your fucking business what I do off duty, so go fuck yourself Barnes.”

  “Listen Gilligan, if I find out you’re using your newfound cash to take advantage of women here, there’ll be hell to pay. And it won’t be from me, didn’t you pay attention to the rules on fraternization?”

  “Don’t call me Gilligan!”

  “Whatever, Jackass.”

  “Don’t call me that either!” Jack hissed. “Everyone is doing the same fucking thing, so who gives a shit? Take your high and mighty attitude and shove it up your ass sideways!”

  Xander turned to the young woman, “Has he asked you to do anything against your will?”

  She shook her head. “I’m just trying to make sure my kids eat at night. My husband died before we got here and I’m all they’ve got…I don’t earn enough to keep us all fed,” she replied.

  “Look, here’s a hundred dollars,” Xander said digging into his wallet. “That should keep you and your kids fed for a while. If you need help, go to the Refugee Services tent and see if they can get you some.”

  She hesitated for a second, then took the cash and disappeared.

  “What the fuck did you go and do that for?” Jack said.

  “To stop you from taking advantage of her. It’s not technically rape, but given the circumstances, it’s pretty fucking close,” Xander said.

  “What are you a Boy Scout? Just leave me alone asshole!” Jack turned to leave. “Tough luck Barnes, there’s a hundred other women waiting in the camp waiting to take her place!”

  Xander grabbed Jack by the shoulder and spun him around. “Listen up motherfucker, if I catch you doing this again, I’ll report your ass to Sergeant Simpson!”

  “Don’t fucking touch me asshole! You touch me again, and I’ll fuck you up!”

  “Anytime you want a shot at the champ Gilligan, I’m more than willing.”

  Jack paused for a moment, looking at Xander who was taller and more muscled then he was, then muttered, “I ain’t got time for this!” and stamped off. As Jack fled, he nervously looked backwards over his shoulder a couple times.

  That felt good, Xander smiled to himself as he continued on his way.

  --------

  Troops had tried to maintain order and safety in the areas directly south of the base, which meant that areas like Castledowns and Lake District had seen troop deployments almost right from the start. Casualties in those areas had been light, and because of their proximity to the base, they also had power throughout the crisis. But s
outh of 153rd avenue, the city had been a war zone. As matters got worse, troops had emptied every store in the area of whatever food remained, leaving IOUs behind for the owners.

  During the cold snap, search and destroy missions ventured as far south as the Yellowhead, a major east-west highway that ran through the city, eliminating pockets of infected wherever and whenever possible. At the same time, engineers also worked to help homeowners fortify their neighbourhoods, boarding up windows, strengthening fences, and cordoning off areas with makeshift roadblocks. Edmonton Police officers helped them set up block patrols and assisted in small arms training.

  However, as casualties escalated in early October, soldiers had stopped going into the city and focused on holding the base at all costs, fighting off several huge assaults on the southern perimeter. That meant civilians had been largely left on their own, and as numbers of infected surged, more and more civilians were either devoured or turned.

  But a new day has dawned, General Raines thought. The new company is fully trained and equipped and appears ready to go into the city to search for survivors and clear out infected.

  “John, do you have those recce reports?”

  “Yes sir,” Colonel Burkhart said, rummaging through the papers in his attaché bag. “Here they are.”

  General Raines scanned the documents, then stood up and pointed to a location on a map of Edmonton that was hung on his wall, “It looks like this apartment complex might be a good place to deploy the new troops.”

  Colonel Burkhart looked at the map and nodded, “It’s close to the base, so we can easily withdraw if it gets hairy, and it looks like there might even be survivors still there.”

  One of the surveillance photos appeared to show smoke emanating from a window.

  General Raines glanced at his watch – it was already almost 3 pm, and it was too late to do it today.

  “John, I want them to secure this complex tomorrow morning, and see if they can locate any survivors. Make sure they are assigned an extra truck or two to evacuate survivors, and have a platoon from First Battalion give them fire support. Any survivors go to quarantine as per SOP.”

  “Yes sir, I’ll get the orders drafted and sent out right away,” Colonel Burkhart replied.

  Chapter 30

  November 25th

  Xander’s platoon had heard scuttlebutt last night that they were finally going back into the city to deal with the infected finally. Sergeant Simpson had refused to confirm or deny it, saying he hadn’t received any orders about the mission tomorrow, but at the same time noting, “That’s the whole reason they drafted, trained and equipped everyone in our unit – to go into the city and secure it from the infected.”

  Some recruits had tossed and turned during the night, and while Xander was nervous, he had gotten a decent night’s sleep. Some had stayed awake all night, gambling and drinking, hoping to God the scuttlebutt was wrong.

  But come morning, the rumours were right – the platoon was going into the city. Sergeant Simpson mustered the platoon at 6am, then they ran through some light PT, and went to the mess hall. After breakfast, the entire company grabbed their armour and weapons, then marched to the parade square and was reviewed by General Raine and his command team.

  “Men, today we begin the arduous task of liberating the city. Your company will be deployed en masse and will sweep and clear an apartment complex not far from here. Your unit will be supported by a rapid reaction force comprised of APCs, choppers and lots of firepower. Recce says this complex has few infected, but be prepared for anything. Watch your partner’s back and he’ll watch yours – we need every single one of you to come back safe and sound. Good luck and God speed gentlemen!”

  After General Raine and his team left, and Lieutenant Colonel Hopkins, Captain MacDonald and the other Loyal Eddie officers stepped forward. Hopkins started talking about the Loyal Eddies proud history and blabbering something about honour while the company stood assembled, their breath crystallizing in the cold November air.

  Blah, blah, fucking blah, Xander thought to himself. Hurry up already, I’m freezing my fucking balls off here. Xander tuned him out and curled his toes and fingers, trying to get the blood flowing to his extremities to ward off the cold.

  Finally, everyone had had their chance to talk and the company was ordered onto the waiting trucks. The troops quickly scrambled into the trucks, and when all were loaded, a pair of E-LAVs took point and led the convoy of trucks south into the city. Overhead, a helicopter thumped, watching for infected on the move.

  Only a few minutes after they had traversed the moat, the convoy stopped. The E-LAVs opened up with their machineguns, clearing the parking lot of the handful of infected that lingered there.

  Sergeant Simpson cupped his ear, then shouted, “Okay men, they’ve cleared the entrances, up and at ‘em!”

  The gate dropped with a loud clang and the troops tumbled out of the truck. They were in the parking lot of an apartment complex consisting of two L-shaped buildings. A handful of corpses lay were scattered around the lot.

  A voice boomed over a loudspeaker, “To any survivors in this complex, the Loyal Edmonton Regiment is here to assist you. Please stay in your apartment and pack your belongings, our troops will clear the building of infected and then we can evacuate you. Please be patient!”

  “Second Platoon, form infantry square,” Lieutenant Carpenter ordered. To their sides, the other platoons were maneuvering, First Platoon to protect the vehicles and Third Platoon to advance into the other building.

  Second Platoon moved into formation, then were ordered to advance towards the closer building. When they got to the boarded up entrance, First Section ran forward and pried the plywood sheets off. Then the entire platoon headed inside. Lacking power, the hallways were dark, and Warrant Officer Sanchez ordered everyone to turn on their head lamps.

  “First Section, head right, Second Section, head left and clear the floor. Third and Fourth Sections, up the stairs and get to the top floor and clear it. Let’s move!” Sanchez ordered.

  Second Section headed right, with Andrew and Philip in the lead, followed closely by Xander and Thomas. They advanced down the hallway to the nearest door on the left and stopped.

  “Wyndham and Hoffmeier, go inside and clear it. Barnes and Skinner, advance to the door and be ready to support those two,” Sergeant Simpson barked.

  The section had planned this hundreds of times and practice truly did make perfect. Both assault groups moved cleanly and quickly.

  “Clear!” Andrew shouted from inside the apartment a minute later.

  “Get going Barnes and Skinner!”

  Xander and Thomas advanced to the next apartment, on the other side of the hallway. Xander kicked the door open and he and Thomas moved inside. Xander rapped on his shield with his mace and the pair stood still waiting, while the noise echoed around the room. Xander strained, trying to hear if there was any growling or grunting coming inside. Quiet reigned.

  “Sounds like nobody’s home Thomas.”

  “We still got to check it out.”

  They moved through the apartment, checking every room to make sure. When they were sure, nobody was around, Thomas shouted, “Clear!”

  They walked back to the kitchen, where Thomas opened one of the cupboards.

  “Look at all this!”

  The cupboard was full of canned food and dry goods.

  “Let’s see if they got any cold ones in here”, Xander said pulling open the fridge.

  “No, don’t open that!” Thomas said.

  An unholy stench wafted into the kitchen and Xander turned green. A few seconds later, he was vomiting into the sink.

  “What the fuck?” He muttered.

  “Dumb ass, there hasn’t been power here in weeks, everything in there rotted,” Thomas said. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Xander nodded and stumbled to the door.

  The section was already advancing down the hallway, and Thomas and Xander took up th
e rear, watching to make sure no infected flanked them. It took them about fifteen minutes to clear the first floor, and did not find any survivors. In one room, Xander and Thomas ran into some partially frozen infected, which they quickly dispatched.

  “Geez, they moved so slow, it was like watching an action scene in a John Woo film!” Thomas said. He pointed his finger like a gun and swept it in a slow arc across the room.

  “Yeah, if this is what we can expect, this is going to be a lot easier than I thought,” Xander chuckled.

  Second Section went up to the second floor and continued their sweep. In one room, a handful of torn apart corpses were huddled behind a makeshift barricade near the entrance to the bedroom. A final corpse in the bedroom had no head and a sawed off shotgun next to it. A couple of firearms and ammunition were scattered around the other bodies.

  “Looks like someone’s last stand,” Mack muttered as the section looked over the scene.

  Thomas picked up the shotgun and rummaged in the corpse’s pocket for shells.

  “Have some respect man,” Frank said.

  “These guys don’t need it any longer, and for one, I like the idea of having a persuader to back me up,” Thomas said as he racked the slide on the shotgun a couple times. Then he stuffed it all in his pack and kept digging.

  “Thomas is right, scoop up everything worthwhile and let’s get going,” Xander said.

  “What’s taking so long in there?” Sergeant Simpson bellowed from the hallway.

  Xander, Thomas, Frank and Mack came out of the room, rifles over their shoulders.

  “We found these weapons Sergeant,” Mack said.

  “Good, now let’s get back to business,” Simpson said.

  Halfway down the hallway, they met First Section under Sergeant Wilcox.

  The two sections were about to head up to the third floor, when they met Third and Fourth Sections in the stairwell coming down.

  The four section leaders quickly conferred, then checked with Lieutenant Carpenter over the radio - Carpenter and his command team had remained with the vehicles.