by David Rogers
“It’s a risk.” Tyler said. “I won’t lie and say it isn’t. But I think it’s our best option. And no matter what, I won’t be going anywhere near Lanier. Some of the things Vanessa was able to pull out of our servers downtown before she lost the connection included some old government reports on epidemics and disaster scenarios.
“A lot of people are going to be flocking to Lanier. There are even some FEMA plans for utilizing it as a basing area for long term refugee housing, though I’m not sure how effective FEMA is going to be with the government collapsing. Trust me, if Lanier doesn’t end up with a zombie problem, then it’ll be dealing with more ‘normal’ disease issues after a week or two of rough conditions.”
“And we could start to see vigilante and gang activity.” Vanessa put in. “The veneer of civilization is a lot thinner than people think it is. It won’t take much, or long, for a lot of people to get desperate and aggressive.”
“Dennis, stop.” Jessica said as Dennis opened his mouth again. His gaze flicked back to her, and she gave him the same sort of look she did at the office. The one she used when he wanted something from her, and she needed him to understand why she was going to do something else, or do it differently. It almost always worked, because he trusted her to know what she was doing.
“Worst case, we’ll be far from Atlanta. If we can’t use any of the Eagle properties down there, I’m sure we’ll be able to find something usable. Even a small town will have buildings we can move into. And fewer people means fewer risks, at least until we have a chance to get setup and ready to handle problems.”
Dennis grinned abruptly. “I never would have expected you to have a flair for the mercenary.”
Jessica smiled, but her eyes had a core of hardness. She almost said something about Candice and how there was nothing she wouldn’t do to protect her, but changed her mind just in time out of deference to Dennis’ own missing kids. Instead she shrugged. “There’s a lot I’m prepared to do if it means safety. I’ve been through a lot since Friday.”
“We both have.” Candice spoke up.
“That’s right, we have.” Jessica said as brightly as she could manage, hugging Candice against her good side. “And we’re still here.”
“I like her.” Tyler said, grinning. “She’s everything you’ve always said she was. Listen to your office manager Dennis.”
Jessica jumped as the big garage door started rumbling and rising. She found her hand automatically on the grip of her pistol, which Austin had returned to her following Vanessa’s examination. The garage door had only retracted partially when she saw Austin duck underneath it and give Tyler a respectful nod.
“Sir, that’s about the last of what we need to load. Or can load I should say. We’re either out of room or weight capacity on everything if we’re going to fit all our remaining people in.”
Tyler sighed. “I wish we hadn’t lost so many of the vehicles.”
Vanessa ignored her husband. “How far down the list did we manage to get?”
“Everything on the critical section, but not much else.” Austin said. “If we dump one of the generators we’ll be able to carry more with us. They each kill an entire SUV off.”
“No, we can scrounge up food and medicine and clothing lots of places, but generators aren’t as common. Especially good ones like those.” Tyler shrugged.
Jessica was listening, but her attention was fixated on the open garage door like it was dangerous. Which, as far as she was concerned, it was. The sun was shining brightly, which she had never found so welcome before. And there were four men dressed similarly to Austin standing in pairs to either side of the garage, stubby guns she’d heard called MP5s in their hands as they guarded.
But she knew those men only looked dangerous, and that they were actually considerably less so than they appeared. They worked for Eagle Security and Executive Protection, but they were all regular security guards or even office personnel. Only Austin was one of the ‘Executive grade’ operatives.
Jessica was still not entirely clear on everything that had happened, but she’d picked up enough to at least have a basic grasp. Tyler was a senior executive with Eagle, and sometime Friday night he’d started organizing his company’s assets and resources, gathering them to Dennis’ house as a fairly safe staging point.
That had gone well, with surviving Eagle personnel arriving in response to Tyler’s calls, until last night when some of the other operatives had gotten disgruntled over the next steps of the plan. Apparently Tyler had wanted to move out to Knoxville, but before departing Atlanta his plan had been to take everyone around the city’s suburbs in one big security convoy and try to pick up as many other Eagle people as possible.
This was where the division had occurred. The operatives had objected to both the risk, which they said was too great, and the need to even bother rescuing ‘untrained’ civilians. Jessica had taken a while to understand why they used that term, but eventually she figured out the ‘operatives’ were all ex-military of some sort or another. Even before they’d been hired by Eagle they were tough and dangerous.
Jessica believed that, if Austin was anything to judge the others by. And assuming that was the case, she agreed with the Morrises that it was a shame all that trained and competent manpower had left. She would have felt much safer with a couple dozen Austins here. As it was, even the one Austin was quite reassuring.
“We’ll make do.” Vanessa said.
“Pull everyone back inside, and we’ll have a quick meeting before we mount up and get rolling.” Tyler told Austin.
“Sir.” Austin said, bracing a little but not saluting. “Guys, in here.” he called, raising his voice some.
The four guards glanced over their shoulders, then came into the garage. Austin pointed, and one of them went over the wall control and hit the button to start the door closing. Austin stayed facing the door until it was all the way closed. Only then did he turn.
Jessica limped in after Vanessa, following her into the dining room. Dennis was vanishing through another door, presumably heading off to find his wife. Jessica looked around as the others who remained filed in, then decided she was hurt and there was no sense in standing on ceremony. She let herself collapse into the nearest chairs and leaned the walking stick Dennis had given her against the table.
Tyler and Vanessa were positioning themselves at the head of the big dining room table. Both still wore suits, in stark contrast to the tactical gear most of the remaining Eagle people were wearing, and the plain casual clothes Dennis and Trudy and Jessica had on. Jessica had been wondering a little about the suits, but as she looked at the two of them standing there at the head of the table, she realized it was a subtle way to project leadership.
Everyone else looked like they were a soldier, or a dependent; Tyler and Vanessa looked like they were ready to make decisions and figure things out. It was strangely reassuring, however odd it might seem at first glance. As she watched, she saw Tyler was even having Vanessa straighten his tie for him.
The power was off again, the generators having been disconnected and loaded into vehicles for the trip, but the room was well lit from sunlight that streamed through the windows. It was a little stuffy, and Jessica knew it would become more so if everyone stayed in here too long, but she was prepared to object loudly if anyone suggested opening one of the windows. The hedges just outside the glass were sturdy, but not nearly enough so to prevent someone, or something, from getting at the windows.
“How are you feeling ma’am?” Austin asked, and she turned her head. He had decided to stand near the door behind her, which put him quite close to her. Jessica again noticed how he made anything he did look easy and effortless. Even simply standing. He gave every sign that he was ready and able to stand there all day if there was a reason.
“Better.” Jessica admitted. She was still on painkillers, now some oxycontin Dennis had given her, but even through the drugs she could tell her knee was feeling better. Not healed,
but considerably less painful than it had been. She hoped Dennis didn’t have to keep draining it, though he’d warned her if she didn’t keep off it he probably would have to again.
But she had a little baggie of pain pills, and another of antibiotics that Dennis had insisted she keep with her. “Just in case” he’d said. And her knee was immobilized in a heavily wrapped stretchy bandage that made it almost impossible for her to bend. She still couldn’t walk without a serious limp, or use of an aid, but all in all she was feeling a lot better.
“I’m glad. Leg injuries are the most annoying kind of minor injury to have, in my opinion.”
Jessica ventured a guess as she laughed. “I bet that’s because you’re not happy unless you can run ten miles a day or something, right?”
Austin smiled. “Not ten, but three to five, yes. I get restless if I can’t exercise.”
“You run five miles a day?” Candice asked, looking up at him. She had to do a lot of looking up to see his face; he was amazingly tall, especially compared to Candice.
“Well not every day.” Austin told her. “Yesterday I didn’t, and I probably won’t today either, but that’s because I’ve been busy.”
“My husband was like that.” Jessica observed with a twinge of sadness. “Brett was never happy unless he was busy, and when he didn’t have something to do he went and found something else to do.”
“Daddy played baseball.” Candice said solemnly. “He was a pitcher for the Gwinnett Firefighters team.”
Jessica heard Trudy talking in her too loud voice and turned her head to look in that direction. She was being ushered in by Dennis, who was carrying two suitcases for her. “Candy Bear, can you go over to Mrs. Morris and see if she found those clothes she was talking about?” Jessica asked, pointing to make sure Candice knew which Mrs. Morris she meant.
Candice looked across the room warily, and Jessica instantly saw the hesitation in her eyes. “It’s just right over there. We’re inside, and I can see you the whole time. You like Doctor and Mrs. Morris don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“So help your mom out then, I’m not walking so well. Or do you want to wander around dressed like a hobo all the time?”
Candice shook her head reluctantly. “Okay. Don’t leave though.”
“I’ll sit right here, I promise.” Jessica said.
Candice left, heading around the table and toward the other side of the room. Everyone else was clustered over there, closer to where Tyler and Vanessa had deigned to establish themselves.
“Was?”
She turned her head again, looking up at Austin. “I’m sorry?”
“Your husband was a firefighter?”
“Oh.” Jessica smiled sadly. “Yes, was.”
“When?” Austin asked, his eyes filling in the unspoken part of the question.
“No, not this.” Jessica shrugged, making a small gesture around the room. “Two years ago.”
“I see. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thanks.” Jessica looked away to see Candice just arriving next to Trudy, who bent down to listen to her with a plastic smile fixed to her face. “Though maybe it was a blessing in disguise.”
“What do you mean?”
She shrugged again. “He was a firefighter. From everything I’ve seen, and knowing Brett like I did, he would’ve been in the middle of all of this. The odds of him being alive now wouldn’t be very good anyway, so I suppose it was better for me and Candice to have done our grieving already.”
“You still wear the ring.” Austin pointed out.
Jessica glanced down at the white-gold wedding band on her ring finger. Her engagement ring was in Lawrenceville, in her jewelry box. She’d only worn it for dress up occasions, since the diamond setting could sometimes catch on things; but she never took the wedding ring off. Her thumb brushed across it almost absently.
She’d left in such a hurry after . . . well after, it hadn’t occurred to her to retrieve the engagement ring. The wedding band was all she had left of Brett now. Well, and the gun she supposed.
“Yes.” she said after a moment, trying to force her thoughts toward the happy ones to keep the sad ones from overwhelming her. She didn’t want to break down with everyone clustered in the dining room to see.
“It takes time to deal with loss.” Austin nodded.
Jessica glanced down at his hands, but he was wearing gloves that kept her from seeing what she was curious about. “Are you . . . were you married?”
“No, but my mother died when I was seventeen. It took me until the end of my second tour to really get all the way over it.”
Jessica saw Candice accept a suitcase from Trudy, the girl carrying it in both hands and starting back toward Jessica. She knew it couldn’t be as heavy as Candice was making it out to be, it was just that Candice was still growing, and the suitcase looked to be half her size.
Looking back at Austin, she decided to ask something else that had been swirling around in her head since she’d arrived. “You were in the military?”
“Eleven years in the 75th Regiment.” Austin confirmed with a nod. “Rangers.”
“Why didn’t you leave?”
He gave her a puzzled look. “I did, that’s why I work for Mr. Morris now.”
“No, I mean . . . why didn’t you leave last night when the other operators did.”
“Oh.” Austin said, his face blanking just for a moment.
“Mrs. Morris said half of this is for you, and the other half is for me, and that she’s sorry if they don’t fit either of us too good.” Candice said as she finished lugging the suitcase around the table and put it down next to Jessica’s chair.
Jessica glanced at Candice, then she heard Tyler speak up in a loud, confident voice.
“Okay, we’re all here, so if you’d listen up please?”
Reluctantly she faced in that direction. The little bit of side conversation that was going on stilled, and Tyler nodded pleasantly to the room. “Now, most of you have heard at least some of this, but we have the time, I think, to go over it properly before we set off. So, here’s the plan.
“Our goal is Knoxville. That’s Knoxville, Georgia, not Knoxville, Tennessee. It’s near Macon, about two or two and a half hours south of here under normal circumstances. As everyone here knows, these are not normal circumstances.”
Heads nodded, and Tyler nodded back briskly. “Maps with three different routes between here and Knoxville have been placed in each vehicle we’re using, but those are just backups in case anyone gets separated from us. If that happens, I want you to remain calm. Use the maps and join us in Knoxville.
“However, the best thing is for all of us to stay together. To that end, I want everyone to think convoy. That means you follow the car ahead of you. Mr. Carter will be driving the lead vehicle, and myself and Vanessa will be in the second. I want to be sure everyone understands me on this; stay with the convoy. Almost anything we might have to deal with between here and Knoxville will be best handled if everyone stays together.”
“Mr. Morris.”
Tyler nodded to a man sitting near him. He lowered his hand and stood up. “What if we need to stop for some reason.”
“Excellent question.” Tyler said as the man sat back down.
“Above all else, stay with the convoy. If you need to stop your vehicle for some reason, like a mechanical problem or some other difficulty, you should honk your horn and flash your lights to alert the vehicle ahead of you. That driver should do the same, and the next, and so on up the line until it reaches the lead vehicles. As soon as he thinks it safe, Mr. Carter will stop the convoy and we’ll deal with whatever is wrong.”
Tyler surveyed the room for a few moments, then looked at Austin and raised his eyebrows a little. Austin stepped forward and cleared his throat, causing heads to turn in his direction.
“Keep in mind we only have three radios and we can’t rely on cell phones. I’ll have one of the radios, Mr. Morris the second, and t
he third will be with whoever’s driving the last vehicle in line. Whoever’s on that third radio, you need to let us know if someone falls out of the convoy with a mechanical failure. Don’t stop for them, but let me and Mr. Morris know soonest so we can figure out how to handle it.”
Tyler nodded as Austin took a step back. “Now, be aware, we’re not planning on leaving anyone behind. But if a vehicle fails with zombies all around, we might not have much choice.
“If everything goes well, we should be able to head straight down I-75 most of the way, but be prepared for detours. Furthermore, we’re going to be holding the speed down for safety reasons, so don’t expect this to be that two hour journey I mentioned. Remember, these aren’t normal circumstances.
“Be prepared to stop and stay alert. If your gas gauge gets to one quarter, signal a stop immediately. When we do, let us know you need to fuel up, and we’ll find a place to do it at. Pay attention to your gas, you don’t want to run out since it won’t surprise me at all if we end up having to wind around on some back roads at least part of the way down.”
“What about bathroom breaks, things like that?” another man asked.
Tyler grinned, but it was a politician’s smile, one that was all face and little warmth. “I’d suggest everyone go to the bathroom now, before we leave. I know Trudy has prepared some things for the trip down, but if you can’t hold it for as long as four or five hours at a time my advice would be to drink sparingly, if at all.”
Austin stepped forward again, and Tyler shifted his gaze to the tall man after a moment, nodding slightly. “We have no idea what the conditions are going to be once we leave. We know it’s bad here in Atlanta, but it could be better or worse once we get away from the city. This is not a day trip down-state. You need to think of this as being behind enemy lines.
“Every stop we make in an unsecured area is a risk. Is a chance to take a leak or a dump in a toilet worth dying over? If you don’t know if you can hold it that long, then bring a bottle or some towels or something. Your dignity is a small price to pay for staying alive.”