by Kempf, Shaun
Ben stared at the rounded ceiling of the sewer. It was true, it had been a long time since he last had that dream.
“You know what that means,” Michael stated in his quiet tone.
“It’s a bad sign,” Ben said as he sat up and scooted back to lean against the wall. He knew that attempting to try to fall back asleep would be a waste of time, not after that dream. “That something terrible is going to happen,” he wanted to give a chuckle to lighten the mood, but he couldn’t find one. “You say that all the time.”
“And you rebuff me all the time.”
“We’re living in a zombie apocalypse. Terrible things are going to happen no matter what,” Ben responded still trying to circumvent the conversation.
Michael just stared hard at him. Ben knew what he was getting at. They had been through a lot together. They had seen things that would haunt them the rest of their lives if they were ever able to beat this infection and attempt to live normal lives again.
“Not this time, my friend. Not this time.” Ben didn’t look at his friend, he couldn’t. He simply dropped his head and stared at the ground between his legs. Nothing else was said between them that night.
TWELVE
When they finally decided to all get up again, which based on Ben’s watch indicated, it was around 7:30 in the morning. Or at least he thought that was the correct time. He couldn’t remember if he had reset his watch when they flew in and before they left on their mission. Things had been somewhat hectic.
Each team member dug into their packs and pulled out one of the MREs they each had packed. Ben couldn’t stand MREs, no matter what meal he tried. He knew that they were designed to be portable, non-perishable and nutritious rather than providing flavor, but he avoided them whenever possible. His team knew this and since there was nothing to scavenge down in the sewer, everyone was watching as he pulled one of the packages out of his bag.
Ben prepared his meal, if he could actually call it that, and took a bite. He must have made the same face a five-year-old makes when you make them eat broccoli or spinach because of the guys, even Annie started to laugh.
“Got a good one, Lieutenant?” asked Static trying to keep his forkful of food in his mouth.
“It’s like eating wet cardboard that tastes like skunk leg,” Ben replied taking a deep breath in preparation of taking another bite. He would’ve gone without eating, but he needed the calories since they would be walking the rest of the day.
“Hey now,” said Twitch in a fake southern drawl, “Skunk can make a fine meal.”
“I bet that rat is sounding pretty good right now,” Annie said smirking as she slipped a plastic forkful of her meal into her mouth.
“Sadly, some of these are better than my mom’s cooking,” Gatlin said digging around in his pouch with his fork.
“What? Are you kidding me?” asked Static.
“Don’t get me wrong, I loved my mama, but she couldn’t cook worth a damn,” Gatlin said. “Never could figure that one out.”
“How the hell, then, did you get so big?” asked Annie.
“My Nana lived right around the corner from our house. I’d head over there after dinner at my house and have a second meal fit for a king.”
Everyone laughed and then Twitched screamed. Ben turned to see an Infected woman with a hand on Twitches head and one on his shoulder with her mouth clamped down on his flesh right where the neck met the shoulder. Without hesitation, Ben brought up his rifle and shot the woman in the face. Her head flew backward releasing Twitch who dropped to one knee. He put a hand up to his neck where blood was pouring out from the wound. The crimson liquid flowed up between Twitches fingers. Ben grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down the tunnel. The rest of the team made room and then stepped forward to form a firing line as best as they could in the tight space.
From the darkness, more Infected began to appear. The tightness of the sewer tunnels was aiding the team as only so many Infected could approach them at a time. They began to make quick work of the lead Infected as they tried to approach the team.
Twitch grimaced as Ben leaned him back against the wall. Ben glanced at the rest of the team.
“Fuck that hurts,” Twitch said.
“Let me take a look,” Ben said reaching for Twitches shoulder.
Twitched knocked Ben’s hand away. “There’s no need. We both know what this means.”
Ben dropped his eyes. He couldn’t stand to look at Twitch anymore because he knew what needed to be done. Twitch had been infected with the bite and there was nothing either one of them could do about it. Ben gripped his rifle a little tighter and started to bring it up. Twitch stopped him.
“Twitch, I’ve got to,” Ben somehow got out without choking on his words.
“I know, and it would be an honor if you did, but I’ve got this.”
Ben looked at Twitch who had a sheepish grin on his face, which was already starting to get pale. Twitches eyes dropped down to his hand. Ben’s gaze followed Twitches and he then saw the grenade in Twitches hand.
“Okay,” Ben said. “It’s been a pleasure, Kurt. Your parents would be proud.”
“I’ll find out soon enough. Now get out of here. I’ll hold them off as long as I can.” Kurt slid out of his pack and Ben took it along with some extra clips that Kurt had on his belt.
Ben put his hand on Kurt’s shoulder, looked him in the eye and gave a nod. Then he stood and shouted for the team to fall back.
The team started stepping back quickly, but continued to fire until they reached Kurt. Each team member reached out and touched Kurt as they passed. Standing Bear put his hand on Kurt’s head, Annie squeezed Kurt’s shoulder and Gatlin pounded Kurt’s fist. Static wrapped his hand around Kurt’s free hand as if he was going to help him up. They held hands for a moment before Kurt, with a tear running down his check nodded at Static and let go. Then Kurt was firing what bullets he had left in his rifle at the approaching Infected and the team was racing down the tunnel.
Just as they turned a corner they heard a yell. It wasn’t one of pain, but more of a battle cry. Shortly thereafter they heard the boom of Kurt’s grenade exploding. Still, they raced on. They had no other choice. Kurt was probably able to slow the Infected down with the explosion, but they too would continue on.
Suddenly, ahead of them, they could hear shouting. It was two male voices. At first, Ben couldn’t make out what was being said. He wondered if it was some type of old recording, but was sure that any possible power source would have long given out.
“Hurry, this way,” said one voice.
“Come one, you can make it,” said the other.
Ben glanced through the heads of everyone else and could see two men with headlamps waving them towards a side tunnel they were standing next to. Ben didn’t have time in the moment to comprehend seeing two uninfected men in the sewer underneath New York waving them forward toward a side tunnel. He only hoped that they had a safe way to escape and ran even harder.
As he passed the mysterious men they pulled what looked like a round door made from pallet wood in front of the opening to the tunnel that they had just entered. The door was just larger than the tunnel they had entered. The two men stood there holding the wooden door in place.
“Aren’t you going to secure that thing?” asked Captain Perret.
“No need. Once that horde that’s chasing you gets here, you’ll see,” said one of the men who was dressed in cargo pants and a t-shirt with a college logo that Ben didn’t recognize. Gatlin stepped forward and helped them pull the door back against the wall.
Ben walked over to Static and put a hand on his shoulder.
“You doing okay?”
Static couldn’t respond verbally. He only nodded his head and looked down. Ben patted Static’s shoulder. Losing a man was never easy and Kurt had been a good man. He would be missed. At least this time the team had a chance to say goodbye.
“Boy, are we glad to see you guys,” said one of the men
.
“Actually, I think we’re the ones happy to see you,” said Gatlin.
“Was that you guys that caused the boom?”
“A grenade,” was all that Ben could muster for an answer.
The sound of bodies colliding with wood caused both men to turn and look at the tunnel mouth. The horde of Infected pushed against the wooden door that the mysterious men had been holding in place, but were no longer. They, along with Gatlin, had taken a few steps back as they watched the horde pound on the wooden blockade. The horde was effectively keeping the barrier in place as they pushed against it trying to get to the squad. Ben understood now why there was no need to secure the blockade in place; the horde was doing that for them.
“Holy hell!” said the man with the beard.
“That’s the most Zombies I’ve ever seen down here,” said the man in the cargo pants. “They follow you guys down here?”
“They couldn’t have,” said Captain Perret. “We came down through a manhole and recovered it before they could get in.”
“Come on, let’s get going. That’ll hold them quite a while, but it won’t hold them forever. Eventually, the wood will give and break,” said the second man with the beard who was wearing jeans, hiking boots, and a plain blue t-shirt.
The mysterious men walked through the squad and lead the way down the tunnel. Ben glanced back at the barrier and could have sworn he saw an Infected man with a red polo shirt standing against the barrier staring back at him, but he was sure that it had just been his eyes playing tricks on him. He threw Kurt’s pack over his left shoulder and followed everyone down the tunnel.
Ben felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Captain Perret.
“A moment, Lieutenant.”
They fell a few steps behind the rest of the team.
“Is it my understanding,” Captain Perret began at a soft tone when they were far enough away from everyone else, “that you intended to shoot your own man.”
“I did.”
“Care to explain,” said Captain Perret with a tone of displeasure.
“As I am sure you know the infection spreads through the saliva. Once bitten the victim is infected, no ifs, and's or buts. So, we’ve all agreed that rather than becoming fully infected we would be shot dead on the site.”
“That seems a little severe, Lieutenant.”
“Think what you want about it, Captain, but we believe it’s the humane thing to do.”
“While I am in charge of this squad you will desist from following those beliefs. I will not have my men shooting one another, no matter what.” Captain Perret stood up a little straighter. “Do I make myself clear, Lieutenant?”
“Sir, yes Sir,” Ben said through clenched teeth.
THIRTEEN
They followed the two men down the tunnel. They came to a T-intersection in the piping and the men turned left without hesitation. It was clear that they knew exactly where they were going. It wasn’t clear to Ben where they were leading his team to.
Now that the danger had passed, Ben tried to grasp the reality that they had just encountered to living, uninfected men inside the limits of New York City. So many questions swirled in his mind. More than once he opened his mouth to ask them a question, but always hesitated, unsure if it was the right question to start with. The men themselves didn’t talk. They appeared to be more eager to get to where ever they were leading Ben and his team.
After walking for nearly ten minutes and numerous turns later, one of the men turned to look back and said, “It’s not far, now.”
“What’s not?” asked Captain Perret.
“You’ll see,” the second man grinned.
A minute later the men’s pace slowed. They turned at a left intersecting pipe, which at the end of was a metal gate. The first man put his hand on the gate, turned to the team and as he opened the gate said, “Welcome to the City of the Sewers.”
Everyone started to file through the gate. When Ben stepped through he almost tripped over Gatlin who had stopped just a few steps through the gate. Ben stepped to the side of the large man to see around him and what had made him stop in his tracks. The view before him quickly made him understand why Gatlin had stalled.
Ben found himself in a large open chamber. It might have been an old abandoned subway station, or at least he guessed. Surprising was the lights strung around the ceiling and walls that lite the entire chamber. The floors were flat and tiled. There were brick arches throughout and he could faintly see what might have been murals on some of the walls. However, what really stood out and what had caused Gatlin to stop his progress was the number of people they saw.
It was a city underneath a city. People had created makeshift lean-tos and other private spaces from cardboard, tarp and random pieces of wood. There were small fires burning in metal drums around which people had gathered to cook their meals. Everyone was dressed much like the men that had rescued them from the infected. They had on clothes that were old, dirty and patched. Faces, dirty faces, turned to look at Ben and his men as they stood there looking back. A pair of children came running around from behind one of the pillars supporting one of the arches and stopped when they saw the visitors. Ben looked at the boy and girl who were both no older than ten standing in clothes that barely fit them and watched as their smiles faded from their faces and looks of curiosity and wonderment replaced them. A woman called to the children and they ran to the woman’s side.
“The Mayor will want to see you,” said the second man.
“Mayor?” Ben asked. “As in the Mayor of New York?”
“I’d say he’s dropped a few levels since the outbreak,” snickered Static.
“Not the cities old Mayor. She’s a new Mayor that we elected,” the first man said in response to Ben’s question.
The two men lead the way through the sad shacks toward the other end of the chamber. Each face that Ben saw held the hardness of the life they were living by finding shelter from the infection below the city. Although each face was hard, none of them held sadness. They had forged a life, as undesirable as it might be, and were proud of what they had accomplished. The face did show wonderment at seeing Ben and his team. He even caught a couple glimpses of hope among the many eyes watching them walk through the chamber.
At the far end of the chamber was a doorway with two armed men standing on either side. Ben saw the men’s eye get large when they saw the team approach. One of them quickly turned and disappeared through the doorway. Ben guessed that the Mayor was through that doorway and the two men standing were guards. It made him wonder if the Mayor was in danger from the people of the underground city or if it was just a show of respect for the authority of the position.
Just as the group reached the doorway and before either of the two men leading the team had a chance to speak the guard that had disappeared through the door re-appeared. He was followed by a woman with shoulder length auburn hair and green eyes. It had been her green eyes that Ben noticed first. They stood out on her face that was, perhaps, cleaner than some of the others he had seen. She was just slightly shorter than he was, but she stood tall and carried herself well. Not as if the position she held made her more important than she was, but as if she needed to be an example for others to follow.
“Welcome, I’m Mayor Julie Brooks.” She held out her hand to no one in particular. Ben realized that he was staring at her and quickly averted his eyes.
Captain Perret stepped forward and took her hand. “Thank you, Mayor Brooks. I’m Captain Perret.”
“And this is our head of security Matt Turner,” Mayor Brooks said indicating to the bearded man to her left. He had been the one that had gone to get her from her office.
Ben gauged him to be about his age; in the mid-thirties. He stood tall and his eyes were sharp. He was dressed in dirty fatigues and had an M4 on his back. Ben wondered if that weapon, which he had probably grabbed from some military personnel, had allowed him to become the head of security or if because he
was the head of security he was given that weapon.
“Let’s step into my office, please,” Julie turned and lead the way through the doorway.
As the group followed Mayor Brooks towards her office, the way that Matt moved caught Ben’s attention. Even in this relatively safe setting, Matt moved with caution. He was poised, alert and ready for action. It wasn’t something that Ben hadn’t seen before. Survivors of the outbreak had often been through things and situations that left them constantly on guard, but Matt’s movements were crisp and without the normal jumpiness of those traumatized by the outbreak. It was clear that he must have had some combat training. He could have gotten his training as a member of the SWAT team here in New York, but Ben had the feeling that Matt had been a military man. It was the clothes and weapon. Sure he could have grabbed them off a dead soldier, but it was his movements that told otherwise.
The room they found themselves in had been an old storage room of some kind. It wasn’t very large. It held a small desk with chair, behind which and on the wall was a large picture of the city. There were red marks near the southeastern portion of the city. Ben guessed that this was the area in which they now found themselves. Though he had no idea what the circles, X’s and lines meant. On the other wall was a small neatly made cot with a pillow and blanket. From the ceiling hung a single bare bulb that was more than enough to light the whole room.
After the whole team had gotten into the room, which proved to be plenty large enough for everyone, Julie offered Captain Perret one of the folding chairs opposite the desk which she stood behind. He declined and took off his helmet.
“You don’t know how glad we are to see you, men,” Julie said as she placed herself behind her desk, but didn’t sit down. “We’ve been making do until your arrival. We had hoped it would have been sooner and we were beginning to think no one was coming.”
“I’m sorry, Madam Mayor, but until just a few minutes ago, we didn’t even know you and your people were down here,” said Captain Perret.