Infection Z [Books 1-3]

by Chesla, Gary

  “I don’t know if they would do that, at least not at first,” Doc replied. “Could you imagine what would happen if all the desperate people out there realized this was here. Every gangbanger would be out to take over this facility for their own little kingdom.”

  “Well how would the people here be able to help the survivors if the people didn’t know where they could get food and supplies?” Rogers asked.

  “I think it was room number forty-seven,” Doc smiled. “Ultralights and small helicopters. The facility could broadcast where they would drop food. That way they could help people without starting a survivor civil war or putting the facility at risk. I would imagine for a time, it would be a difficult balancing act until the survivor’s desperation would subside and trust could be reestablished. Until they reached that point and the survivors came to understand the facility was here to help them and learn that in order to survive, that they had to protect the facility, it would be dangerous for anyone to know what was here. We are going to face this problem when we start to go out into the world again. It is not going to be an easy task.”

  “I could imagine what would happen if some roving gang managed to survive and discovered what was here and that there were only six of us to defend the place,” Rogers said. “It would be like being back at the base only the invaders would be the living.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t think of that before. I guess we just can’t hang out a sign that says, free food,” Davis added.

  “I didn’t realize helping people was going to be so hard,” Rogers replied. “Luckily we have Doc here to walk us through all of this.”

  Doc laughed, “Like I once told Chervy, this is all going to be trial and error. Hopefully we can do more right than we do wrong. Just because the infected shouldn’t be around much longer doesn’t mean we won’t have anything to worry about.”

  “Hey, come look at this,” Chervy shouted from the other side of the tunnel.

  They all walked across the width of the tunnel and entered the room where Chervy stood.

  “This looks just like the situation room back at the base,” Chervy said.

  Rogers backed out of the room and read the sign above the door to the room.

  “The sign says situation room,” Rogers said.

  “I wonder,” Chervy said as he walked over and looked at the computer.

  He leaned down and hit the power button on the computer.

  After twenty seconds, the computer screen lit up.

  Chervy leaned down and typed on the keyboard, a moment later an image of Granite Mountain appeared on the screen.

  “Hey, it has a Granite Mountain screen saver,” Rogers smiled.

  “Chervy grinned, “Yeah, and the screen saver even has our wrecked Seahawk on it.”

  “It what?” Doc asked and moved in for a look.

  “It has a satellite link, just like we had back at the base,” Chervy replied. “It even has a night vision mode.”

  “I guess that would make finding survivors easier,” Doc said.

  “It would also let us know what else was going on outside, like when the infected started to die out.” Chervy added.

  “It looks like someone thought of everything,” Davis said.

  “Yeah,” Rogers laughed. “It’s hard to believe the government built this place. My experience is that everything the government touches they end up royally screwing up.”

  “I guess that’s why they planned on only bringing the brightest minds to Granite Mountain in the event of a disaster.” Chervy replied

  “That would eliminate any government employees from being sent here,” Rogers laughed.

  “That makes me wonder why there isn’t anyone here but us?” Chervy asked. “Any ideas Doc?”

  “My guess is because they didn’t have a chance to send anyone here,” Doc replied. “The Infection started and spread so fast, the government didn’t know what hit them. No one saw it coming. There was no time to do anything.”

  “You saw it coming Doc,” Chervy replied.

  “I had a little insider information,” Doc replied, “But apparently even that wasn’t enough. What happened was so impossible to believe. Knowing what it was still didn’t make anyone want to believe it. By the time anyone understood what was happening and then was willing to do something about it, it was already too late.

  But maybe for the first time in history, the government actually used taxpayer’s dollars to do something that will help someone.”

  “Do you think the emergency generator will hold out long enough for us to help any of the survivors?” Chervy asked. “It could be weeks.”

  “It will be a lot longer than a few weeks to discover when the infected are gone and then find any large groups of survivors. It will take even longer to find a way to get food out to the survivors, gain their trust and then get them to start working with us,” Doc replied. “It could be months or even years to put a plan into action and then get it to work.”

  “There is no way the emergency generator will last that long,” Davis said. “The fuel tank had to be huge for it to have lasted this long.”

  “Since we can now assume that they actually finished this project,” Doc replied. “The blueprint and the files folders I read last night show that there is a small nuclear generator here supplying this place with power. We should have power at the facility for a hundred years.”

  “Then what do we do?” Chervy grinned.

  “One of these storage vaults should have some batteries stored in them,” Davis laughed.

  “Well Doc,” Chervy said. “The Captain sent us here to help you save the world. This is your baby. What do you want us to do?”

  “I think the first thing we will do is take a week’s vacation,” Doc smiled. “It will be a working vacation, but at an easy pace. We need to find some good locks and make sure the entrance to this facility is impenetrable. If we are going to be successful, we have to make sure that no one else can surprise us, get in here and take over. It’s not very likely, but it is a possibility.

  Second, we need to explore this place and find out what we have. I’m sure we couldn’t begin to imagine what we are going to find here. Then we can start to make plans how we can use what we’ve found to help people once the infected begin to die out.

  Maybe Chervy, you can find an inventory on that computer somewhere.

  Then Cherv, you can spend an hour or two each day on the satellite, monitoring the infected and trying to find survivors. It is my guess that we will have three to four weeks before we can do anything on the outside. In the meantime, we can start discussing the best way to get started.

  I’m sure any ideas that any of you have will be helpful.

  We might even want to start broadcasting daily reports to let any survivors know that can hear us, that there is going to be an end to this nightmare.

  If we see any indication that our broadcasts are being received, we might even want to start herding the survivors together into groups and make our job easier later on.

  Anyone ever want to play talk show host?”

  “I can tell jokes,” Rogers perked up and said.

  “Our job is to help people survive, not want to kill themselves,” Davis replied.

  “That may not be a bad idea,” Doc said. “I’m sure by now, people would be happy to hear anything on the radio from anyone just to know there was someone else out there and they weren’t alone.”

  “You haven’t heard Rogers tell jokes,” Davis replied.

  The men started exploring the tunnel excitedly.

  Chervy walked over to Doc.

  “Doc, there are a lot of things here, but do you think there is enough for us to save everyone?”

  “It depends on how many survivors there are,” Doc replied. “My guess is that there won’t be many survivors left by the time the infected die out. We will just have to wait and see how things shake out.

  You know Chervy, that this facility was never meant to save all the surviv
ors after an apocalyptic disaster?”

  “I kind of guessed that. The rumor I heard about this place was that the government would select a few people with certain knowledge and skills to survive the disaster here at the facility and then restart the human race. All the materials stored here would be so they would be able to survive.” Chervy replied. “So what do you plan to do?”

  “I’m also sure they never intended for a doctor to run this place,” Doc smiled. “I took an oath to save everyone.”

  “That sounds like an impossible task,” Chervy said.

  “It probably will be,” Doc replied. “Again, it depends on how many survivors there actually are. It will also depend on where they are. After we see what is left, then all we can do is the best we can.

  Perhaps we may only be able to save the survivors around Granite Mountain, at least that’s where we can start and then go from there. Take one step at a time and see where it takes us, but I intend to use all the resources at our disposal to save as many survivors as we can.

  Unfortunately, there isn’t a manual to guide us on how to save the world. Like everything else, it will all be trial and error.”

  “If it means anything Doc, if mankind’s survival depends on just one man, I’m glad you are that man,” Chervy said. “Besides, I don’t think the six of us by ourselves could rebuild the human race unless there is something about one of these guys that I don’t know about.”

  Doc laughed, “You do have a very good point there.”

  Chapter 37

  The summit, near Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Thursday, May 20th.

  Tony came out of the woods dragging the large buck he had shot with his crossbow on today’s hunting trip.

  They had been at the little house near the summit now for a week.

  It had been quiet without any signs of walkers or any other thugs that might have survived.

  They actually started to feel safe again.

  They had talked about what they should do or where they should go next, but since they didn’t have any reason to leave at this point, they decided to stay alert and just stay here for a while longer.

  They were prepared to leave at a minute’s notice, if they had to, but until they had to leave, they decided to stay and make the most of the peaceful isolation for as long as they could.

  To help make the supplies that they had found at Outdoor World last, they began to hunt in the forest behind the house.

  Tony showed Mike and Linda how to shoot a crossbow.

  So far, only Tony had managed to come back from hunting with any game, but he knew the way Mike was progressing on the bow, he would soon be contributing in the hunting department.

  Even though Tony knew Mike was improving on his bow skills, it didn’t stop him from teasing Mike.

  “Don’t worry Mike,” Tony had laughed. “You’ll get something soon. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut eventually.”

  Linda thought it was funny, Mike just tried to ignore Tony, but everyone could tell he was pissed and more determined than ever.

  Everything had been so peaceful over the past week, they stopped trying to have someone stay up at night to listen for trouble.

  Tony knew that tonight they would celebrate him getting a deer by having a large feast of deer meat.

  It had been a while since they had a meal where they could eat as much as they wanted.

  There would not be any rationing tonight.

  They had plenty of propane for the stove, but until today, little reason to use it.

  Tonight, they would celebrate.

  They would celebrate having all they could eat for the first time since the world had changed.

  They would also celebrate their week of good fortune.

  After the week before, when everything went to hell, they didn’t think they would ever have a week like this past week again.

  Of course. it was probably a bad idea to be celebrating after everything that had happened.

  Ryan was dead, just about everything they had ever known was destroyed. The world was full of evil, walkers wanted to kill them, it appeared that if there were any other survivors out there that they wanted to kill them too.

  The world as they knew it was gone, everything that they had come to know and enjoy was gone.

  What was there to celebrate?

  Mike knew he was just happy to be home and have Linda and Jamie with him.

  That was enough to make Mike want to celebrate.

  Tony was just happy to be with them, even with the world the way it was.

  Good friends that you could count on was always a reason to celebrate, but never more than now.

  George didn’t know what was going on, for George the world was as it always had been.

  George was happy to celebrate anytime he was given something to eat and Jamie didn’t eat it first.

  So whether George knew it or not, he too would be celebrating tonight.

  As the evening approached, Linda made two large roasts in the propane oven inside the house.

  They had considered roasting the deer outside over an open fire, but decided the bright fire with smoke rising up into the sky would just be inviting trouble.

  If anyone saw the fire or the smoke, it could lead them right to the house.

  They had all dealt with enough problems over the last few weeks to last them a lifetime.

  They had a good thing here at the little house, they didn’t want to lose it because of stupidity.

  When the roast was ready, Linda set the table, putting the two large roasts in the middle of the kitchen table along with a plate of dehydrated potatoes.

  They all ate until they thought they were going to explode.

  It was a nice feeling.

  After dinner, they all went into the living room to talk and enjoy the large stuffed rustic chairs and couch.

  The propane lantern glowed, giving off a soft light that lit the entire room.

  “This is nice,” Linda said as she snuggled against Mike’s side.

  Jamie and George were playing on the floor.

  George’s favorite game was, see if you can get me out from under the couch.

  So far tonight, George was winning.

  “Do you ever think we can go back to our own house?” Linda asked.

  “I would think so eventually,” Mike replied. “But I’m not sure we would want to. The smell from the walkers is so bad there, I don’t know if our house will ever be habitable again. Besides, we have everything we need here for now.”

  “What if the owners come back?” Linda asked.

  “I don’t think that is going to happen,” Tony replied. “But if it does, we’ll worry about it then. Too many other things to worry about than that.”

  “I guess so,” Linda said.

  Tony picked up the crank powered radio he had found at Outdoor World, like he had done every night since they came back from the store, and began to spin the crank.

  “Why bother?” Mike asked.

  “I’m hoping that eventually someone will find a way to transmit again,” Tony said as he continued to crank the radio, charging the battery. “Maybe someday we will hear that there are others that survived. People that aren’t out there looking to rob and kill us. Maybe mankind will get their act together and we can start living a real life again. Maybe I’ll even be able to start building houses again. I probably won’t need a financial analyst for quite some time, but I’m sure I’ll have some other kind of job for you.”

  Mike laughed.

  “Maybe I’ll start my own business,” Mike replied. “Mike’s hunting and fishing guided tours.”

  “Well when that doesn’t work out, come see me,” Tony laughed.

  Mike grinned.

  Tony turned on the radio and began turning the tuning dial clockwise.

  “I think it’s a waste of time,” Mike said. “You haven’t got anything on that radio but static all week.”

  “You’re probably right, but if I don’t keep try
ing, we’ll never know,” Tony smiled. “Besides, it gives me something to do.”

  Tony slowly turned the dial and listened.

  Linda’s eyes lit up, “Tony, turn the dial back the other way. I thought I heard something.”

  Mike and Linda both jumped up and sat on the edge of the couch.

  Tony turned the knob back slowly.

  Suddenly a voice began speaking.

  “To anyone that can hear me, this is Doctor Thomas Kennedy of the U.S. Navy.

  I will try to broadcast each night at this same time.

  I’m sure all of you want to know what happened, but even more than that, you want to know if this will ever end.

  The answer to that question, is yes.

  The infected that have overrun our country, will eventually decay and become unable to function.

  When will this happen?

  If I am right, this should begin to happen in the next three to four weeks.

  How this happened, I will talk about tomorrow night.

  Tonight, I wanted to let you know that you are not alone.

  If you are someplace safe, someplace where you can survive for the next few weeks, stay there.

  It is not safe to travel, especially in or around the cities.

  The infected are moving in large masses, too large for anyone in their path to survive.

  I will try to broadcast where the largest masses of the infected are and where they are headed.

  If you are located in an area that the infected are approaching, this is the only time you should attempt to travel.

  I will also try to broadcast where you should try to go to seek safety.

  When I feel the infected are beginning to die out and it is safe for you to begin to go out and move around in the world again, I will let you know.

  When that time comes, we will try to help you.

  Before this disaster happened, the government made arrangements for the citizens of our country to survive such as disaster.

  “Food, supplies and most all of the knowledge that mankind had accumulated, was put in a safe location to help us rebuild.