She didn't know how long she stood there in a trance-like state studying the crowd of corpses, but she noticed certain things that were somewhat shocking. The fact that they had stopped shooting up close turned out to be a smart move. It made it so that a pile at the base of the wall never existed, and none were allowed to build up and create steps or a mound for the more able-bodied Z's to climb. She also realized that the runners never showed themselves until they saw a human, but it seemed to be more than that. It seemed as if they weren't runners until they saw a human and something snapped or instantly changed within them that caused them to become runners right at that moment.
The lack of gunfire also seemed to have a calming effect as they felt the drum beats flow through them much as Lisa did. The sound of the drum, though in a way beautiful and useful in controlling the horde, would haunt her for the rest of her life. Tap ta-tap-tap. Boom! Tap ta-tap-tap. Boom!
She broke away from the scene of a hundred-thousand-plus zombie mosh pit and scanned some of the living faces. Nobody smiled, nobody had that look of excitement right before something big is about to happen. It was grim regret and resolution to do what had to be done. The thought that these things were once human weighed heavily on them.
"You better start clearing people off the bridge now, Lieutenant; we don't think it's going to survive. The zombie buildup is too much about a half mile out. We're having to back trailers into the barricade to shore them up and keep them in place. Our best shot at this is now. Over."
"Roger that, Mustafa. I'm a little worried that we tapped too much fuel out of the tanks before we painted and positioned them. Over."
"I was too, Lieutenant, but I have been reassured that the tanks will explode better at a near empty state; especially with the C-4 charges we have on a lot of them. Over," Mustafa said, referring to the small charge they had slipped into the tanks of the bigger rigs to insure optimal combustion.
"Roger and out," Lisa said as she scanned the layout before her. People were already being herded off the bridge and Lisa followed. She counted six semi tankers spaced out on each side of the interstate with smaller household LP tanks in between. Right down the middle were more five-hundred-gallon household-size tanks stretching off into the distance, each specifically prepared for the day's events. It was going to be loud, it was going to be spectacular. It was going to be horrific, as well as morally devastating.
She walked back into the lines and worked her way toward the rooftop where she was to observe the destruction that was about to occur. Thousands of living stood safely at ready for the aftermath. Once it went, there would be no walls left to restrain whatever survived. They waited; ready, willing, and dreading the future they were fated to.
Skit stayed silent beside her as they pushed through the crowd while Tonka wove in and out of multiple pairs of legs. The dogs seemed capable of detecting zombies, but some humans had even been rescued by a wayward mutt who interfered with a zombie attack. It made Lisa feel as if those who were here, belonged here. She didn't believe in a god whose predetermined will put everyone where they should be when they were needed. That didn't, however, mean that she didn't believe in fate. Whoever or whatever was the thing called fate that she believed in she didn't know. She did know that she had seen it in action enough to know that fate is real. She had to trust that fate had put what was needed for those who were resourceful enough to use it. She snickered when she thought of what was given to them. Ball bearings and powdered drywall quick-set sand. She had never seen anything like it. Hopefully it could make things go a little smoother.
Over a mile away, she and her commanders stood on a rooftop watching the bodies within the chute as they squirmed in sequence to the beating of the drums, which had been pulled back on a flatbed trailer. Tap ta-tap-tap. Swaying in anticipation of what was to come. Every second packing in tighter to the end of the chute just below the Raymar Bridge. The mass of dead was starting to heap up around the edges from the pressure of more zombies packing into the center when Lisa gave the nod. A part of her wondered if they could just trap them here and hold them instead of the massive destruction that was about to ensue.
Mustafa shouted an instruction before he started a slow countdown while he waited for the last of the drivers in the distance to get clear. Lisa dismissed the idea of containment, knowing that it was just not practical, let alone safe. She had to be decisive, hard … ruthless. They are dead, and they need to be laid to rest.
"You've been very quiet throughout this whole deal, Skit. What's on your mind?"
"I can't help but feel there will be a lot of people down there who I know. I had a lot of friends in Little Rock; some real good friends," Skit said regretfully.
"So what do you want me to do? Stop this so that we can find your dead friends first?" Lisa said, letting her sarcasm vent a little. She didn't realize how delicate her personality would become under such extreme circumstances. She shouldn't be treating Skit like this but …
"I'm sorry, I'm just on edge by this whole thing. A part of me feels that it is really, really wrong, but I don't know what else to do," Lisa apologized, and Skit smiled before responding.
"I know this is tough, Lisa. I'm right there with you and if I disagreed with what we were doing, I would have said so. I have been preparing myself to witness the most horrific event the world has ever seen and I have regrets. By the same token, I know it's the right thing to do, it's the only thing we can do, and we should just be thankful you thought of it."
"Hey, Mustafa and Krupp had a lot to do with it too," Lisa replied defensively.
"No, not this time. This time there is no Brett to take the credit or Benson to shield you. You have to own it," Skit said with a mixture of pride and regret.
"He's right," Krupp said with Lu by his side. She was starting to follow Ed everywhere and nobody seemed to like it.
"I took half of the duties is all. Once it was manageable, you did your end better than anybody could have. I couldn't have done that and what I was doing either," Lisa said, not willing to take the full brunt of responsibility.
"You lead from the front; no one can judge for that. You just have to have people you trust behind you," Mustafa said, causing an uncomfortable pallor to fall over the group.
"I trust the living; we have no other choice," Lisa said as the first sharpshooter started to fire at a few of the smaller tanks going down the center. The shooter took two shots; the first one punctured the tank, allowing the remaining pressure to release, and the second creating enough spark to ignite the gas escaping from the tank. It shot out from the pierced tank with pressure, only allowing the flame inside at the very last moment where it would blow.
An average tank would kill for several feet around it when it blew up. The difference being that these tanks were coated in quick-dry mud mixed with thousands of ball bearings. The explosion resulted in projectiles tearing through flesh and bone as if it weren't even there. All Lisa saw through her binoculars was an explosion and a wave of pink sludge rushing outwards from that center point.
Mustafa called out a signal that was relayed to a man in an equipment van of some sort, and the earth rocked from the explosion of the farthest out tanker trailer. The C-4 charge inside caused a devastating explosion that spread shrapnel, ball bearings, and liquid propane over everything in its path.
A wave of pink rushed out and splashed up the other side of the containment wall in a jellied fleshy surge of goo. A shotgun had enough force and spread to pepper a large spot on a man's chest without going through the body completely. The ball bearings, on the other hand, were backed by a hundred times the force of a shotgun and there were a thousand times more ball bearings than bb's. The result was everybody in the path of the projectiles was virtually disintegrated into a gelatinous, oozing, slushy, pink liquid.
Lisa tasted bile when she heard Skit start to vomit behind her. Mustafa looked a little green, but she and Krupp just looked at each other, resigned to their own fates from this action.<
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After the second tanker, the smell of the second wave of pink slime became unbearable, and Lisa turned around and sat down. She didn't know it but many had turned away from the carnage and buried their heads into their shirts.
The drums had stopped and the only discernible sounds were the explosions and the shooters who had to keep hitting the smaller tanks, which filled in between the larger tanker trailers. Smoke started to fill the air around them as the last of the blasts continued for several minutes more, and Lisa shed one of the first tears of her life. Now she wept for the whole of humanity as a large portion of it was in the process of being destroyed.
Chapter 14
Word from Home
Krupp sat down next to Lisa with Lu on the other side of him, leaving only Mustafa standing to watch the destruction. His emotionless face said he was watching because it was his duty to bear witness to the end of all of these who once existed. Lisa didn't know what religion he was, as he never made mention of it, though she had assumed he was Muslim. He didn't cross himself or look at a personal religious artifact nor did he mumble a prayer or fall to his knees. He simply stood and watched, stoically, unflinching as each blast destroyed thousands of what used to be humans.
Skit was taking it worst of all and openly wept at the devastation. He kept turning and looking out at the chute with his eyes filled with tears and a thick layer of sweat and grime covering his face from the events of the day.
Those who did watch saw a sea of dingy grey-and-black walking dead showing blossoms of pink as the explosions decimated the meat that was once human. More explosions occurred and the pink blossoms started to overlap, sending splashes high into the air. Soon the entire roadway was nothing but a pink sludge quivering with a residue of past life.
"Where did you set us up at?" Lisa asked Krupp. He pointed toward an RV about a half mile back and in a field where several were pulled into a circle.
"Your stuff has been put into number seventeen, and the water and electric is up and running."
"Good, I'm going to try to get some rest and maybe talk to base while I'm there, but most definitely get a shower in," Lisa said and stood to go, Skit following along with Tonka.
They took one last look at the chute from that vantage point, only to be disgusted by the frothy, pale, pinkish hue that covered the roadway as explosions still filled the air. Then she scanned the rest of the area and noticed for the first time that the equipment operators had never stopped as they cleaned out the sparser groups of zombies that advanced on them from the outskirts along the sides of the highway. They had taken on the battle as their own personal task to be handled.
Hundreds were moving in from the countryside as bands of militia in giant farm equipment and heavy construction equipment kept them at bay. Diesel tanks were parked far enough away to avoid any of the fires that may result from the actions in the chute. Farmers and construction workers, mixed with a small number of military, seemed to be a self-motivating and policing group. Orders never needed to be issued, as everybody knew what needed to be done.
A close explosion of a tanker truck told them that the destruction was almost over. Lisa had no doubts that the devastation within the chute would be overkill at a hundred percent, leaving nothing but a sludge that would be pushed into already dug holes on the outside of the barrier. The area would then be covered in a layer of lime before being buried under a massive amount of dirt before being fenced off. There was no description for how toxic the highway had become in the course of one night. As a second thought, she turned back to Krupp.
"I think we should bring some firetrucks up and rinse this entire roadway down before we use it."
"Good call; I'll get someone on it," he replied.
Lisa smiled while wondering what that look was on his friend Lu's face. It certainly didn't reflect the devastation that was occurring. She looked kind of eager or maybe even desperate. It didn't matter. There was way too much happening to worry about the Lus in the world.
They made their way down into the street and passed groups of people who waited to play their part in either the advancement to Little Rock or the cleanup of the chute once the destruction was complete. Some had found a place to watch the initial blasts but then quickly had enough, choosing to wait it out in one of the established common areas.
They watched Lisa's entourage walk by with hollow eyes. They knew who she was and what she had ordered done. They also knew it was necessary for all of their survival. But it didn't change the fact that she was responsible for destroying more human flesh and bone at one time than anyone in history. It was a horrific, soul crushing act while at the same time effective, efficient, and complete. A couple gave them a nod or a half wave, but most just watched as they walked by.
The RV was nice and seemed to shut out most of the noise. Lisa took the master and claimed shower first as Skit sat down and got on the radio to find out what was going on back at the compound. It was when Lisa came out of the shower dressed in sweats that she knew something was going on, by the look on Skit's face.
"What's up?" she asked and Skit gave her a small smile.
"Quite a bit, actually. The airport and surrounding areas, including the school and campus, are now under our control. Airplanes have been arriving ever since Tasha put the word out—some military, some civilian. Refugees are still funneling in of all makes and colors. Some of the gangs have even taken on a helpful attitude but they are being watched pretty closely," Skit said.
Lisa nodded. "I suppose they could cause some issues for us if left to their own devises."
"You're not worried about them taking over then?"
"Skit, we're approaching twenty thousand people now."
"Closer to thirty now from what Cat told me … and more signing on every day."
"Thirty and most of those are carrying guns that they have used quite extensively over the last couple of days I would assume. We're no longer a society of sheep willing to be intimidated away from our course to survival. Any of those gangs start anything, and the people will put them down in a hurry. Have you noticed that within the compound there haven't been any rapes or violent crimes to speak of? It's the safest place on earth for living, breathing humans than there ever has been because the strong have survived. There will be issues, but we don't have to worry about them escalating for a few more days anyway."
"How do you know all of this? I mean, your logic makes perfect sense, but how do you see all of this?" Skit said, not for the first time amazed by her innate skill.
"I don't know, Skit. It just seems to lay itself out for me." She sat down at the table across from him and gave her head a flick toward the bathroom. "Your turn."
"Okay, but there's something else," Skit started slowly. Lisa fiddled with a strange curved ivory-looking thing as Skit spoke and her hands froze while rubbing it.
"What is that? I have seen you fiddling with it several times now."
"Have you? I didn't realize … tell me again what you just said," Lisa said, not quite sure if she had heard him right.
"They have Web located on top of a building. He is torturing six people and broadcasting it to the entire city."
"Go take a shower," Lisa said as she grabbed the radio. "Cat, are you on? Over."
After a couple of seconds, the girl's voice came back. "I'm here, Lieutenant. Over," Cat said, somewhat out of breath.
"I need you to hook up a feed of some sort and stream it through my PD account so I can see it. My password is radiohead. Over."
"Radiohead? Over."
"What can I say, I'm a creep and a loser." Lisa couldn't help her sarcasm even in the most extreme situations. She had set that name up specifically for that comeback, and to throw it away just because man's existence might be coming to an end just didn't seem right. She pulled out her laptop and went to her screen.
"Roger. Okay, I'm just going to try it with a laptop. I just set it up a little higher. Over. Here, let me get the angle right. Over. There can you see
that?" Cat said, not realizing how she botched the transmission. There was dead air for a second before Lisa responded.
"Cat, you're only supposed to say 'over' once at the end of your communication. Over."
"Shit, I knew that." Pause. "Over."
"Okay, I can see it fine, so you keep me informed as to what's going on because the picture isn't that clear. Over." She could see the now bald doctor strutting around in front of six who were bound to some metal lattice work.
Lisa watched in silence, her hand unconsciously worrying away at the ivory piece when Skit and Tonka came out from the bathroom. Tonka had allowed Skit to clean him once before, therefore, in the dog's mind it was now his duty. At the station, he was always cleaned after a hard day and these last couple were pretty tough on the large canine. He lay down next to the door to sleep and dry the rest of the way as Skit came around and watched the end of the video feed that showed the boy in the lift rescuing the surviving two.
"Fucking A, that's Charlie!" Skit said excitedly.
"Who?"
"The kid with the shotgun. You know … Dean's kid, Charlie."
"Fuck me, you're right. That is Charlie. So that means Dean and that bear chick have gotta be around there somewhere," Lisa said, frustrated that the video camera didn't show what was happening elsewhere, only on the rooftop. "Dean was probably the one who was shooting in order to help out the black girl."
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