Until The End

by Brown, Derek

  “There were hundreds if not more. We wouldn’t have stood a chance out there, especially not if there had been any shots fired.” I shuddered at just the thought. “Right now we all need to calm down and assess how we are going to get out of here.” A loud popping noise made us all jump and turn to see Lazarus taking a long drink from a bottle of 805 as he leaned up against the wall.

  “What you said to calm down?” Lazarus stated in a matter fact of tone as he took another drink as he smiled and laughed. It was infectious and we all began to laugh as the stress of the events that we have been through took a backseat if only just for a moment. We all just began to laugh at the way in which Lazarus was drinking his 805. Then we all heard the door being unlocked and we turned to see a huge bear of a man enter the room. He was easily 6’6” and his belly while big did not look like fat but more solid. He was wearing a dark black sweatshirt and dark blue jeans with brown work boots on. Across his right shoulder he carried an AR-15 rifle with an ACOG scope. Hanging at his belt in a brown stealth was a huge machete that we all felt he knew how to use. As he entered he glared from underneath a hood that was covering most of his face but we could see a huge beard that was prominent. Quickly our laughter died down and silence filled the room. It felt like we were all being weighed, judged, and sentenced by his gaze.

  “And what the fuck do you all think is so funny?!?!?!” He roared at us as he stormed in breathing heavily from the effort. “Be quiet and you all might live through this, there is a huge pack of Zombs out there and our survival depends on them passing by us quickly and not getting distracted by the damn ruckus you are causing in here.” He turned around quickly and slammed the door shut and we heard the bolt of a lock finding its home. We all sat there motionless for a few moments each of lost in our own thoughts. So I took the opportunity to break the silence and catch up on a topic that had me very curious.

  “So Anthony, tell us how did you ended up in California last we spoke you were in Pennsylvania?” I turned to him and I hoped I would get everyone’s thoughts of what could happen if that pack found its way into the grocery store. We were basically sitting ducks here or more accurately a buffet table for them to gorge their faces on.

  “Well brother that is quite a tale to tell to be honest, let’s see where should I start?” He scratched his head and his eyes seemed to stare off into space and he seemed lost for minute. “Well I guess it should start by me tell you what my job had been in the Army while I was stationed at Fort Gettysburg…”

  “What are you talking about Fort Gettysburg? I was in the Army and I don’t ever remember a base being there. And what do you mean your job? You were a clerk you said.” I quickly interrupted him and I saw a smile creep across his face. As if he knew something that I didn’t.

  “Well no I don’t suppose you would have heard of it. The entire base is top secret and no one who isn’t stationed there knows about it. But since the world is pretty much going to hell in a hand basket I guess I’ll let you guys in on the secret. Fort Gettysburg was working directly with the Center of Disease Control in Atlanta, GA on creating, controlling, and preventing bioterrorism. We experimented on all kinds of uses for specific viruses in order to control population growth, bio-warfare, and even fighting viruses with bacterium. We were also developing weaponized versions of specific viruses and bacterium to be used to attack foreign countries who we didn’t want to know that we were attacking them. We would introduce the weaponized various into water, food, or even indigenous sources in order to hit the population of the nation we were targeting. Do you remember the outbreak of Ebola last year? There was a terribly cruel Warlord Azela who was working with the Iran government to produce secret nuclear weapons in Nigeria, which were to be shipped covertly to Iran. So we made sure that the area became un-stabilized and Azela disappeared without anyone knowing that we were involved. I was actually the transporter; my job was to deliver the viruses and bacterium from Atlanta, GA to Gettysburg, PA hence I was always calling you to talk while I was driving. I had just gotten off a mission driving a completely new bacteria strain from Seattle to Gettysburg, boy was that a drive, it was all very hush, hush stuff you understand.” I actually remember he would call me quite often to ask me to talk because he said he was driving and bored. I had never really put much thought in why he was driving so much. “So when this fungal bacteria strain Night Fury 6 began to spread I was sent to the relief site in hopes of gather samples to get back to Gettysburg for the scientist to study. Of course while I was reviewing the list of possible sites that I could obtain a sample I saw Fresno listed and I immediately asked permission to come here. When I arrived the relief site was in complete disarray and I was assigned to helping guard the perimeter because they were short-staffed. I was always going out on missions to find samples. While I was out on a run the relief camp got overrun while I was away and I almost didn’t go back to the site. I had decided to make one more sweep of the area when I did I saw you guys being overran. So I rushed to you guys and well the rest is simply history as they say.” He sat back and looked around at our stunned faces. “Well anyone have any questions?” He threw his arms behind his head and leaned against the wall of the cooler and stretched his legs out in front of him and opened an 805 that was sitting next to him.

  “How the hell did they pick you?” Lazarus asked the question we were all thinking. “Why was our government experimenting with bio-terrorism? Was our government really responsible for the Ebola outbreak?”

  “Well it just sort of happened I was living about 10 miles away from Gettysburg and my commanding officer saw the post come up and asked me if I wanted to take the job there. As for why well I really thought we were trying to good there by experimenting in ways to prevent outbreaks. I thought the good we were doing there would outweigh the bad we were doing. I don’t know if I made the right decision but I do know that it brought me here to you guys.” He gestured to each of us.

  “Well I’ll be damned if that is not a tough pill to shallow. Want to know what’s funny? Is that Lazarus and I were in Seattle, we actually helped recover that new bacteria strand you picked up. I’ll be dammed.” I said out loud not really sure if I could wrap my mind around it quite yet. Just then the door opened again and instantly we all shut our mouths and silence filled the room. The big man slowly entered the room looking around as he entered moving towards the center and he stopped suddenly and let out a grunt of surprise.

  “Well I’ll be a horse’s ass.” He reached up and pulled back his hood and I instantly recognized his bearded smiling face. I could never forget that face, I had seen it as a friend and as a boss both many times.

  “How the hell? What the hell? Wait how did you get here, Ash?” The words came out so fast in a rush and I reached up to shake his hand, as a huge smile grew across both of our faces. Ash was actually an old boss who through time had become one of my closest friends. “I see you finally are allowed to grow that beard the way you always wanted it. How the hell have you been boss man?”

  “I have been better… It feels like I have been alone so long.” His voice broke as he wiped a tear away. “I sent them away… I tried to protect them… I did the right thing… We were running out of food but I had to stay behind because Cristina’s father couldn’t travel. Cristina wanted to stay but there was no way we were all going to make it at the house. So I sent them to the relief site and I stayed behind to stay and take care of her father. He died though when one night the Zombs broke into the house and I barely managed to escape myself. Once I got away from the Zombs I stumbled upon a group here of about ten that were holed up here. I sort of just took charge of the group here and I have been preparing as best I can but the roads have been too dangerous to travel. Every day I think it’s the day that I am going to leave but those things are crowding the roads and it has been too dangerous to travel. Now I am stuck here and I don’t know if they made it to the relief site in time.” His eyes were red and I could tell he was holding so much stress, pa
in, and hope inside of him. I knew I had to tell him though, because I would want to know if I had been in his spot. There was no other choice but for me to just tell him so I took a deep breath.

  “Ash, I am sorry, the relief site is… well it’s… gone.” I didn’t know how else to word it to him. I had to tell, he had to know because I knew what it was like to be stuck wondering about your child. He looked at me and his face got all red and he clenched his fist biting his cheek and he swung his right fist and hit me across the jaw. I fell backwards from the blow and he jumped on top of me and tried to hit me a couple more times. I was able to cover my face with my arms blocking any further blows as I pulled my arms up across my face. He was sobbing as Anthony and Lazarus grabbed his arms and restrained him to stop him from hitting me any longer. “I was only trying to tell you the truth; I had to tell you Ash. I am so sorry. I know that I would want to know.”

  “That was all I had, I only had that tiny bit of hope left and you just took it away, you fucking asshole, you took that away from me. You just couldn’t let me have it could you, Colin? You always were a fucking asshole you know that?” He fell backwards into the wall clutching his knees into his body almost in the fetal position lying on the floor. Cries of anguish escaped his lips as he let out the pain and despair he must have held bottled up inside. It was viciously clawing its way to the surface at that moment right in front of our eyes. Lazarus helped me up and I moved towards Ash to try to comfort him. I couldn’t think of anything to say so I placed my hand on his massive shoulder. I could only imagine what he must have been feeling, he had just been told he lost his family. What do you say to someone in that position? What can you say to someone in that position? Nothing because nothing will ever make take that pain away, he will carry it forever and I fear he will blame me for a long time. This new world I find myself in seems to just keep taking and not giving anything back. So much loss and grief experienced in such a short time.

  “Ash, they might have gotten out, you never know, we went in and we got out quick. We didn’t really take the time to look around.” I was trying to get him to focus and remain calm.

  “Actually I had time to look around it was pretty bad man. I don’t know if anyone could have survived that honestly. I was stationed there and even I barely made it out of there.” Anthony seemed to have a knack for saying the completely wrong things at the completely wrong time. I looked over at Anthony and I tell you what if looks could kill. He looked at me dumbfounded and shrugged his shoulder. I motioned my finger to my lips to be quiet.

  “Damn man you hit like a donkey’s kick, my jaw is sore.” I reached my hand to help him get up, determined to take his mind off of things. I needed to pull him out of his misery and focus on learning what the situation we were currently in was. I was holding my breath hoping I had said enough to pull him out of the pit he was in for now at least. He looked up at me with blood shot eyes that were welled up with tears and he met my gaze. “You know if I was a betting man, I would bet that your wife being the smart cookie that she is took one look at that place and turned around. In fact I bet you that she is holed up some place way better than this place right now with the kids.” Now I held my breath awaiting his response. It was so quiet and he stared into my eyes, almost as if searching my soul for answer to end his misery. After what seemed like forever he drew a deep breath in and opened his mouth to speak.

  “Do you really mean that?” He was waiting for a response the best I could offer was a slight nod of my head trying to avoid eye contact. I reached over and grab us both an 805 and opened the bottles handing him one and taking a drink myself. I felt the fiery refreshing crisp carbonated liquid flowing down my throat. A funny thought popped into my head until I had taken a drink of 805, I had hated beer. I thought it tasted awful, the smell was just bad. Then one day Lazarus had made me drink an 805 at The Hook a local bar we used to go to all the time. I remember it as I first sipped the ice cold draft beer it was cool and refreshing with that sip leading into another and another. I looked over as he spoke dragging me out of my day dream. “I suppose your right they could have gotten out alive. I am sorry I didn’t mean to hit you, I just lost control for a moment, I am better now.” He grasped my hand and pulled himself up and dusted himself off. His face looked pained and he had the lost look of those going through grieving that I had become accustomed to while being a nurse all too often. “Alright, I have to focus, I have to ask you all a favor and I know I am asking a lot.” He paused as he searched for the words to say to us. “We have about thirty people here now and we have been surviving mostly by luck to be honest. That pack you saw is not even the biggest the scouts have reported seeing recently. To make matters worse about two days ago a group of about six men came riding right up on motorcycles to our front door. They were demanding access to the store and while it was against my better judgment, I was convinced to let them in by Lepaul. You remember Lepaul don’t you?” He was correct in knowing that I would remember Lepaul, the man had been a General Utility worker at Applebee’s’. They man was insufferable he spent more time in the bathroom then he did actually doing his job. His mouth never stopped moving while he was at work and most of the horse shit he spewed out was complete and utter bullshit. The man was always talking about his business ventures and how he had so much money he could do anything he wanted to do but he was still working at Applebee’s and I was his manager. So why he decided he was just going to be a cook at Applebee’s is beyond me, you can call me crazy but I always thought the man was full of shit. He had even once threatened to have us all killed by gang members because we had made him mad about something or another.

  “Wait a minute how the hell did you end up with Lepaul here?” I was trying to figure out events had transpired to have Lepaul holed up with Ash at the end of the world. Lepaul is probably the last person in the world that you would want to go facing a horde of angry flesh eating monsters. He was big and he was slowed but an unmeasurable amount of girth at his waistline.

  “We found him wondering on one of our trips to map more of the city. See we have been slowly working our way out in a circle pattern making a grand map detailing sightings of the infected and even other groups in the city. We also have been running decoy missions trying to draw those things out and away from us. Today you actually almost blew a plan that has taken a lot of planning. We were leading those infected a herd of about 400 out of the city and into gated field. We still managed to get most of the 400 locked in and now we are going to kill by burning them to ashes, which we have discovered other than taking a shot to the head is the most effective way of killing them. Our mapping has been going very well and a couple weeks ago one of the mappers came back with Lepaul and I just couldn’t bring myself to turn him out into the cold. I have a strict policy against turning anyone in need of aid away. Anyways we watched him closely because I couldn’t bring myself to trust him and we were not able to identify any suspicious behavior. But then with these six bikers coming to our door and Lepaul being so supportive of them has me thinking that there is more to the story.” Ash paused as if to carefully think out what he was about to say. “So the bikers come in and are all nice at first but then they demand that we start giving half of our supplies to them and they offer protection from other groups and the infected. Of course I say no but Lepaul starts going on about how we need protection and that these guys can offer to us. He really got the other members here worked up and now we are going to have a vote tomorrow night about whether to give these bikers our supplies or not. Colin listen to me I know who you are and I know what you are capable of. When we worked together I counted on you to stick your hands in the mud and get them dirty. You have always done what no one else would do and I once again find myself in a situation. I have to ask you do that again, we won’t stand a chance of surviving if we lose half our supplies, Lepaul is the lead supporter of these group. He can’t be allowed to be at the meeting tomorrow night and I have to be above reproach in this matter or I w
ill lose the respect of these people. I need you to once again do what I cannot do, please.” He walked over to me and stood in front of me looking me in the eyes. He reached his hand out to shake mine as if to signal that I was accepting the task. My mind was racing, I was considering every option here and what each avenue might lead to. I already knew what my answer was but there would be a price as there had always been before.

  “Ash, I have always done what needs to be done and I always did what you needed done but couldn’t do. I will not stop now however I will need some things in return sir. First off we need all our vehicles filled with gas and as much food as you can give us. Next we are going to set up our own base further out from the city. I will let you alone know the location, I am sorry but it is for our safety. Lastly I want all the information you have gathered on the infected and the mapping Intel that you have could come in handy.” Ash looked at me and a small smile crept across his face. He reached out with his giant hand and engulfed my hand in his and firmly squeezed my hand.

  “Colin, you have a deal my friend, that meeting is in the evening tomorrow night. Take a moment gather your thoughts then meet in the next room and I will show you around the place.” He slowly turned and walked towards the door then he paused. “Thank you, I am sorry, I am asking you to do this.” Then without waiting for a response he opened the door and let it shut behind him. We all sat in stunned silence for a couple of moments each of us gather our thoughts. My wife came up to me with a sad look she hugged me tightly.

  “You don’t have to do this baby. I know you want to help him but you don’t have to do this. You know what happens after you do stuff like this you lose a piece of your soul. You told me that and each time afterwards you retreat further inside yourself and it takes longer to get you back baby. I know you and I know you feel you have to do this but please be careful. I love you. I know we need the food though.” She was whispering in my ear but there was steel to her voice, she was a hard woman, who I have grown to love so much. She knows what needs to happen and does not shy away from it. With saying that she reached up and our lips met and again it brought butterflies to my stomach as if it was the first time. Then she pulled away and I noticed Lazarus getting up and getting situated, he looked up and without either of us saying anything, I knew he would be dealing with this situation with me. I looked over to Anthony and he was also getting ready.