by Kempf, Shaun
Upon reaching the upper chamber Ben took note as he ran that the supposed nicer shacks were barely that. Although most had wooden walls, all were patched together with any type of wood that had been found. On one shack, Ben saw the remains of a highway sign, its bright green color turned outward with big white letters indicating an upcoming exit. He didn’t take the time to notice which exit it referred to, but instead kept running trying to determine where the Infected were attempting to get in. Then he heard the gunshots and quickly followed the sound.
He raced down an isle of shacks with the sound of gunshots getting louder and more frequent. At the end of the aisle he turned left and saw, just fifty feet in front of him, a tunnel the door half open with two refugee men using their backs to put all their weight against the gate barely holding the Infected at bay. Numerous other refugees had made a semi-circle firing line just beyond the gate and were taking shots trying to slow the Infected down. On the far side of the firing line, Ben saw Static standing above a crouched woman, both of which were firing into the tunnel. Ben ran over to him.
“Is this the only place they’re coming in?” Ben shouted to Static as he placed a hand on his shoulder.
“So far,” Static said not glancing back.
Ben quickly looked around for Annie and found her just behind them up on one of the sturdier looking shacks. She was in the prone position looking down the scope she had on her assault rifle taking careful shots. He turned back to the tunnel.
The Infected that had been killed were partially blocking other Infected from getting in, but they were also in the way of the two refugee men from shutting the gate. Ben looked closer at the two men and could see wounds on their shoulders and arms. They clearly had been bitten, probably while they were trying to get the gate close. The bravery of the two men impressed Ben and he was saddened to know they would not survive this attack. Even so, he knew if it wasn’t for them still trying to get the gate closed that the whole camp population would probably already be lost.
“We need to get that gate closed,” Ben stated.
“Obviously,” Static responded. “I would have thrown a grenade already, but feared that might do more damage than good.”
“It would make a mess of things,” Ben agreed.
“You got any great ideas?”
“I’m thinking.”
“Make it quick. I don’t know how much longer those two guys can hold out before the infection gets to them.”
Ben glanced back at the two men holding the gate partially closed. They did look bad. Both men were starting to get pale and were sweating profusely. For each person the rate at which the infection took over their body was different. The young, weak and old turned quickly, whereas a healthy adult was able to hold out a little longer. The two men looked like they had been in good shape before today, but even so, their time was quickly running out.
Then from out of the shacks came Standing Bear. He was running at full speed holding a two-by-four. He ran past a young man at the far right side of the firing line, nearly knock the boy down. As more and more people noticed him the firing slowed. Standing Bear ran up to the gate and jammed the top of the board under one of the bars and slammed the other into the ground creating a temporary brace to hold the gate in its current position.
The two men went slack relaxing exhausted from the effort put into holding the gate. Ben could see Standing Bear speaking to the men, but couldn’t hear what was being said as the gunfire had picked up slightly. He watched as Standing Bear shook and dropped his head. One of the men sat up a little straighter and pointed at Standing Bear, who looked down at his hip. He then reached down and pulled his pistol out of his holster and handed it to the man who had sat up. Without hesitation, the man put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Then the other man shakily reached over, grabbed the gun and put it against his head. He hesitated and said something else to Standing Bear who only nodded. The man closed his eyes and pulled the trigger.
Standing Bear reminded standing on the end of the board to hold it in place, but his head was down. He had been able to give the men the dignity of dying before becoming fully infected. It had to have been hard for Standing Bear to hand over his weapon. However, Standing Bear had successfully secured the gate so it wouldn’t open any further and been able to do so while keeping himself out of harm’s way. Now they just needed to get the gate closed fully.
Ben felt a presence next to him and turned to see Gatlin standing there looking at the gate. He was staring intently at the Infected that were in the tunnel pushing the dead bodies of the Infected before them out of the way as they tried to get in.
“We’ve got to get the gate closed,” he said without looking at Ben. “If we can get that horde back far enough we could clear the bodies and then it would close.”
“The trick is getting the horde back. Our best bet might be to keep killing them until they stop coming.”
“They’re not going to stop coming. If this was just a small group, we would have killed them all already.” Finally, Gatlin turned to the Ben. “I’ll push them back. You need to clear those bodies as quickly as you can and get that gate shut.”
“How do you plan to push them back?”
“You just worry about getting that gate closed,” Gatlin said as he removed his ammo belt and set his gun down on the ground.
“Gatlin? What are you going to do?” Ben asked urgently.
Gatlin didn’t respond. He walked up to the firing line and paused.
“Reggie, damn it, don’t you do it.” Ben moved forward to stop the big man, but before he would reach him Reggie took off at full speed toward the tunnel.
Just before he got there, Standing Bear noticed him and pulled the board out. The gate swung open just at Reggie got to the tunnel opening. He opened his arms wide and with a barbaric yell he rammed into the horde and started to push the Infected back.
Ben shook off his shock of seeing Reggie run headfirst into a horde of Infected grabbed Static by the shoulder and started to drag him toward the tunnel. Standing Bear was already beginning to move lifeless bodies out of the way. Ben and Static quickly reach the tunnel and to move bodies. They were able to make quick work clearing the tunnel entrance. Standing Bear quickly swung the gate closed and Static dropped the metal rod down through the locking system to hold the gate in place.
Looking through the now shut gate, Ben saw Reggie was being pushed toward the gate. The horde had finally stopped him and was finally starting to push back.
“Reggie,” Ben choked out being just loud enough to be heard over the horde, “the gates closed. You did it. You -,” but Ben couldn’t finish the statement.
“I want you to do it,” Reggie grunted as he continued to fight the horde.
“Your fights over,” Ben said as he pulled up his rifle.
“It’s been an honor to know you and to fight with you,” Reggie lifted his head as high as he could.
“The honor has been all mine,” Ben aimed his rifle and pulled the trigger.
He watched through blurred vision as Reggie’s body went slack and disappeared under the feet of the Infected as they rushed forward. Among the crowding Infected, Ben swore he saw one with a red polo shirt.
SEVENTEEN
After they were sure that the gate was secure and that all the other gates were secure, Ben and the remainder of his team headed straight to the Mayor’s office. She readily welcomed them in and assured Ben that they had secured Captain Perret in their make-shift jail they had created out of a janitor closet.
“I’m sorry about the loss of your man,” Mayor Brooks said. A strain of hair hung just to the side of her face, having come loose from her ponytail. Ben didn’t remember her hair being pulled back before. He wondered for a moment if she had pulled it back when the attack started. She quickly brushed the strain back, but it didn’t stay.
“You lost two of your own today. This fight for survival isn’t without its casualties,” Ben answered. Mayor Brooks only nodded. “We nee
d to continue to move forward.”
“So, you’re still leaving?” Mayor Brooks asked.
“I didn’t have you lock up the captain just so we could turn around and complete his mission,” Ben said being sure to put emphasis on the word ‘his’. “No, we’re getting out of here and everyone is coming with us.”
“About fuckin’ time,” Annie said.
“What’s the plan, Lieutenant?” asked Static.
“Sorry to interrupt, Madam Mayor,” said Matt as he stepped into the office.
“Not a problem, please come in,” Mayor Brooks said.
“We have all the tunnel entrances secure. Guards are posted at each one and we are working on sealing off the tunnel entrance the zombie horde tried to enter by,” Matt said, then added as an afterthought, “and still are.”
“Are all the tunnels compromised?” Ben asked.
“As far as we can tell the zombies are just at the one tunnel entrance right now, but there is a lot of them,” Matt said running fingers through his hair, his eye drifted away to some far off place, but quickly returned. “Some of the scavengers that have returned so far said that they ran into the horde and they are coming from all different tunnels. I have to imagine it’s only a matter of time before we’re completely cut off.”
“Looks like walking out of here might no longer be a solution,” said Annie.
“What about the tracks? Maybe we could clear the train tunnel and get out that way?” suggested Static.
“Too risky. We don’t know what’s on the other side of the barriers or if the tracks are unblocked the whole way,” answered Matt. “We’ve considered that before.”
“Not to mention we don’t know where the tracks go,” added Mayor Brooks. “They could take us deeper into the city or right to another horde. We’ve never gotten around to exploring them.”
“Do you have an evacuation plan?” asked Ben.
“Yes, but it was contingent on being aware of the Zombies before they reached our camp. The idea was to exit opposite than the direction they were coming from and seal off that tunnel after we had left.” Matt shifted the strap that was slung across his chest holding an M4 on his back.
“You said it was contingent on being aware of the attack,” said Ben.
“That’s right. Our scavengers pull double duty. They search for needed and available materials and report on any zombie activity in the tunnels.”
“So, the Infected got a jump on some of your scavengers before they were able to get back here to warn you?” asked Standing Bear.
“We assume so. There are three pairs of scavengers that haven’t reported in as of yet,” Matt let his last word hang in the air. He took in a breath as if preparing to continue, but hesitated. His eyes shifted among the faces of the group.
“But?” prompted Ben.
“But,” started Matt reluctantly, “we also have guards posted at each entrance. They’re supposed to hear them coming and warn us. Our guards have been on high alert ever since your group arrived after being chased by a group of zombies. However, the guards at the tunnel in question apparently never heard them approaching. Or maybe they did and thought it was scavengers returning. I don’t know.”
“They didn’t sound the alarm because they didn’t hear them until it was too late,” Standing Bear said. “When I put the wedge on the door they said to me; ‘they made no sound’. I didn’t understand what they were talking about, but now it makes sense.”
“Just like the stairwell in the skyscraper,” said Static quietly.
“You’ve encountered that before?” asked Mayor Brooks
“Only once and that was here in the city,” answered Ben.
“How is that possible?” Matt asked. “They’re always making sound, especially when they know that the living are nearby.”
“We don’t know, but I’ve got some theories. That’s not important right now. Right now we’ve got to find a way out of these tunnels and this god-forsaken city.”
“An armored transport sure would be nice right about now,” said Annie.
“Would any type of transport do?” asked Matt.
“Depends on what it is,” said Ben curious to hear what Matt had to offer.
“We couldn’t think of a use for it, but maybe you can. We found a tunnel that leads up to some type of warehouse or something and inside is a tanker truck.”
“Does it run?” asked Static
“No idea. We’ve never tried to start it. We were too afraid that it would attract the Zombies.”
“Sounds like something that we could use to get out of this scrape. Just like back in Chicago,” Standing Bear said as he stared hard at Ben.
“I hear you, but that truck is a long shot,” Ben said. He didn’t want to rain on everyone’s parade, but he had to be logical about this whole thing. “There’s too many if’s with that truck. We don’t know if it’ll start or if we’ll be able to get everyone inside. Even if we did, there’s no way we would be able to drive it out of the city. Hitting that many bodies would eventually do enough damage to stop us in our tracks.”
“We could build some kind of plow like we did in Indiana,” Annie offered.
“I don’t think we have the time. We’ve got to get out now while we can,” Ben offered.
“And how do you propose we do that?” asked Static.
“We follow the evacuation plan,” Ben said looking at Matt.
“But they already know we’re here. They’ll keep searching for a way in,” Matt responded.
“They’re not that smart. It’ll take them awhile. If we organize now we should still be able to get out of here. Is there a tunnel that leads to the river?”
Matt maneuvered himself around everyone to the map behind the Mayor’s desk. “We’ve been able to explore a lot of tunnels so far, but we’ve only found one that leads to the river. One that’s big enough to get through, anyway. The only problem is that the river is still about a hundred yards from the opening.”
“We could send out our scavengers again to see if we can find a different tunnel,” Mayor Brooks quickly added.
“No, we don’t have that kind of time. Besides, we don’t want to lose anyone else if we can help it.”
“Lieutenant, I’m all about getting all us out of here, but there’s no way that I’m swimming across the river,” Static lamented. “That is even if we can get to the river, which as Matthew here pointed out, is a hundred zombie filled yards away.”
“Technically, I didn’t say zombie filled,” Matt pointed out.
“I figure we’ll call in an air strike,” Ben said with a smirk.
“With what?” Static said apprehensively.
“Static, I just know that you can use the radio they have here to get a signal out. I’ve seen you do more with less.”
Everyone turned to look at Static who suddenly became very self-aware. He fidgeted for a moment glancing around the room.
“You can do it, buddy,” added Standing Bear.
“Yeah, I suppose I could, but I’d need to be at the top of one of the skyscrapers, at least.”
“I think we can make that happen,” Matt said.
“Alright, now we’re getting somewhere,” Standing Bear said.
“All right, let’s make a run for it,” said Ben.
The group split up, each heading off to another area to spread the word and help people gather together their things. News of the Captain refusing to help the refugees out had already started to spread through the camp. Few knew that the Captain was now in the camp’s one cell and Ben had urged the Mayor to do her best to keep it that way. Ben wasn’t sure how the news would be received by the population of the camp and wanted them to focus on being prepared to leave.
Matt caught Ben as he was making his way back to his team’s camp site. He wanted to check their gear and needed to get something out of his pack.
“You know you’re probably going to be court marshaled, if we get out of this I mean,” said Matt.
“Who are you?” Matt asked.
“I might ask the same thing, but I’m guessing that uniform actually belongs to you.”
Matt shifted his weight back and looked Ben up and down. “Yeah, it’s mine. I was with the 47th.”
“That supposed to mean something to me?”
“You haven’t always been with the Army then,” Matt said as a statement rather than a question. Ben didn’t respond. “I was one part of the first wave to hit the ground at the Bryant Park.”
“Wait, you were part of the Retake New York assault?” Ben asked in surprise.
The Retake New York assault, as the media came to call it because the government had some weird long name for the offensive that no one could remember, happened early in the outbreak. New York had been hit the hardest the quickest, which is why so many believed the outbreak originated on the East Coast, but no one had been able to confirm that. The assault was the government’s response to the public who believed that they were losing control of the situation and were unable to contain the outbreak any further.
The plan had been to send in ground troops to secure strategic locations throughout the city. Those outposts were then to start clearing the city, one building at a time, while forces outside the city pushed inward towards the outposts. The plan looked great on paper and all of the politicians were slapping each other on the back until the first boots hit the ground.
“Yeah, what a dumb idea that was.” Matt continued. “Good Old Uncle Sam thought that if we could get a foothold at the park we could start to work our way outward until we cleared the city of the infected. The clearing of the park with ordinance went as planned, so did the landing of the troops. From there everything went to shit.
“Don’t get me wrong, we were able to set up a perimeter and hold the infected at bay, but the amount of ammunition was woefully underestimated. Before the second wave could even arrive with fresh troops and ammo, the line broke. That was the end of the mission. After that point, we were just fighting for our lives.