We were still an hour and a half from touchdown. I don’t know how Kenny stayed sane when things like this happened. Send people out, get casualties back. When I was in the field, I took people with me. I kicked in doors with them. I laid out battle plans and carried them out. If someone got hurt, I got them back to Leary or Bailey, depending where we were. This. This was tough. I sent people out. They made their decisions and I saw the result of those decisions. Good or bad. And they were now all my people. Not just my team, or my squad. All of them were mine.
But it needed to be done. We couldn’t just hole up in this valley and wait for things to get better. We couldn’t just sit here and expect it to all go away. We needed to get out and inventory what was going on. Where there were people and where there were zeds. Now I knew why commanders all look like old men.
I stood at the corner, debating on going home, going to the office, or going to check on Gibson. We’re a small town, but I didn’t want to hike over to the area Gibson would be using. I headed for the house.
“Daddy,” Rachel shouted as I came in the door. She scampered across the floor to meet me. She wrapped her little arms around one leg and smiled up at me. “Daddy home. Hi, Daddy.”
I smiled back and picked her up. I tickled her ribs and she giggled. Mikey trotted in from the other room. He held his hands up to me. I hoisted him with the other arm and set him against my other hip. I stepped into the kitchen, to find Cat with Tony Junior attached to her leg as she made an afternoon snack for the kids. Ella pulled a bottle of powdered milk from the ’fridge, Kevin laid out plates.
“How is it I have three baby sitters and I end up with two of the kids?” I put both kids on the floor. Tony toddled over to them and together the three went off into the front room.
“You’re just good with kids,” Cat said. “Surprised to see you here.”
“I need a ride to the other side of town.” I picked the keys to my Harley from the hook.
“Ah. Don’t fall off that thing. We don’t want you damaged,” Cat said.
I grinned. “Funny.”
She smiled back at me and I felt my stomach do a little flip. Girlfriend, Pepper said. Funny girl.
The bike was in the garage. It fired on the first hit from the key and I made the run over to the airfield. We were an hour out from arrival. The bird should have been on the ground with Hawk’s troops by now. Pickups towed wagons loaded with tanks of aviation fuel to what at one time was the western end zone of the high school football field. The horses penned there had been caught and moved to another pasture. Gates were open and trucks lined the field, tailgates down. They would load the casualties into the beds and get them to the hospital.
Gibson reported in as I rolled across the parking lot. They were ready to go on his end. Everyone was in place. He had received word on the radio that the birds were taking on passengers. There were eight casualties coming in. Jinks was on the line. Various wounds. Bullets and shell fragments had made a mess. I called and passed word to Leary. He shouted the information on to the others as I hung up.
“What you think, Boss?” Gibson asked. His face was grim. He was a soldier. A survivor of this plague. Most of his Marines had been wiped out at Great Lakes Naval Station. He didn’t even know if anyone else in the Corps survived, outside of his fifty.
“About what?”
He cocked an eyebrow at me. His dark face was impossible for me to read sometimes.
“I think I’m glad that zeds can’t shoot back,” I said after a minute. “I think I want to blast the people that did this to hell and back. But I also think we need more information before we go off and pull some kind of raid. We need to make a trip to Fort Knox and see what the hell is going on.”
“Glad you’re thinkin’ of all that. You understand things better than a lot of Civvies.”
“Gib, I been fightin’ zeds and carrying a rifle for the last three years. I think I’m a little beyond the ‘Civilian’ title.”
He flashed a wide smile at me. “You still trainin’. I’ll let you know.”
“Thanks.”
We waited. Longest forty five minutes of my life. The birds started to chatter at us from thirty minutes out. They wanted clearance to land. We told them where to park. A hundred yards would be a tight fit for them, but they could do it. They informed us they were coming in low on fuel and wouldn’t be able to get much further. One bird would come in on fumes.
Finally, we heard them. Faint at first, but as they closed in on us, the sound thundered in our ears. One chopper came in, made a pass of the field, then turned and landed the length of it. The door on the side facing the trucks opened and troops ran to pull wounded out. Some Amish woman in a long dress came out first, white as a sheet. She held a fluids bag over a young blond girl, half naked and covered in tattoos. There was a bandage around the girl’s chest. Two Marines grabbed the makeshift stretcher the girl lay on, carried it over to a truck and gently slid her inside. The Amish woman followed. One man jumped in behind the wheel, the other in the back to hold onto the stretcher. The driver eased out of the field and onto the street as the second chopper slowly descended.
Jinks hopped out of the bird next, arm around another tattooed Amish girl. This one had her leg wrapped. I ran over to them. The girl weighed next to nothing, it seemed, as I scooped her up.
“I didn’t exactly plan on you bringing people home with you, Corporal,” I told Jinks as she trotted beside me. “Good to see you though, Kid. You done well.”
She smiled up at me through the grime on her face. “Wasn’t like I planned this either, Boss, but it’s good to be home. Now get out of the way and let me work.”
I put the girl in the front seat of a truck, Jinks hopped in beside as the troops slid another wounded girl in the bed. They drove off as we finished unloading the wounded from both choppers.
Two pilots, Busch and Vandevoorde, walked over to us, saluted and gave us the rundown of what they knew. They had two crew chiefs coming in with tanks, but they didn’t know how far they’d make it on the fuel in the machines. I asked Gibson to put them up for the night and asked the pilots to fill out an after action report for me. Tom would get a copy as well. I glanced up at the sky. Black clouds boiled out to the west edge of the valley.
“It’ll take awhile to refuel your choppers, Captain.” I said to Busch, “and I don’t think you’ll get home before this storm hits. Looks like we’re goin’ to get a soaker tonight.”
“Thanks, Major. Been a lot of time in the air today.”
They saluted as I headed for my bike. The crew chiefs went back to tie the rotor blades down and do a post flight check. I rode back over to the hospital. They were still unloading wounded into the emergency room. We maybe should have taken them to the hospital in Princeton, but that one was barely operational and it wasn’t secure.
I watched the organized chaos for a moment, decided not to go in and caught one of the troops acting as an orderly. I told him to have Jinks get with me as soon as she could. He nodded as he rushed back inside. I waited. One of the most useless feelings in the world washed over me. I had sent my people out on a mission and I got wounded back. I had recognized Vickie. She was bloody and bandaged in a shoulder and just above her hip. I turned the bike back to the house.
Chapter 41
I rolled the bike back into the garage, pulled a beer from the fridge, went out and sat on the porch. George came over and shoved his nose into my hand. He leaned into me as I scratched his neck. The kids played in the yard as Ella and Kevin pulled weeds in the garden. One of these days, we would have to go back to mowing yards, just to keep the rodents and snakes away, now that the kids were out.
There was a lot to think about. A lot to talk about. Maybe we’d been living in this little bubble for too long. Human nature being what it is, maybe I should have done this sooner, just to get the lay of the land. Cat came and sat next to me and we discussed what to do in the next few weeks. She was concerned about me. Worried that I was
going to get down on myself too hard for something I knew nothing about. While I was the one who sent Henry and the others out on assignment, she reminded me they were the ones who accepted it. She also reminded me that if our troops hadn’t been there, the people in that little village would have been killed or taken prisoner. It made me feel a bit better. Her little kiss at the end of the discussion helped as well.
Jenny woke up from her nap and we went inside to take care of her. My daughter fussed as I picked her up. She needed a change, so while I did that, Cat got a bottle ready. Pepper had thought ahead and reserved some in the fridge. I started to feed her, but she still couldn’t get comfortable, so Cat took over. Jenny snuggled in with a little sigh and soon had the bottle drained. I went out to collect the other kids from the garden as thunder started to roll through the valley.
As I was walking back inside with the kids, I called Henry. He gave me an update. Told me some of the people who pulled off the attack were military. He bugged out after the first round and was holed up in a farm on the Illinois side of the line with the rest of the Amish and their stock. He didn’t know if they would make it through the night. There was a storm rolling in. We were in a bit of a lull right now, but it was building for him. West of us was another line of storms, according to Tom.
“I don’t like it, Boss,” Henry said. “We’re not really secure out here. It’s bad enough on a normal night. With this storm rolling in, we’re going to have deaders all over the place.”
“Give me your coordinates and I’ll send help out to pick you up.”
He read his location off the GPS. Inside, Cat had started supper. Jenny was in her playpen, the kids were watching a DVD of some horse movie. Kevin just sat, mesmerized by the show. I got hold of Gibson, gave him a mission. I didn’t want people out there if I could help it. He was going after Henry’s team with busses, stock trailers and box trucks. Gib asked me to explain. I simply told him we were bringing home some more folks. He started gathering his people soon as we signed off.
Cindy came home. She was worn out and ravenous. She told me they had only lost one casualty. One of the Amish men had taken too much shrapnel to the guts and legs. They just couldn’t get all the holes fixed soon enough. He bled out while she and Leary worked on him.
“Your girlfriend makes a pretty good meal, Danny. But I need some sleep.”
I gave her a kiss goodnight as she headed upstairs. I rubbed her tummy, as the baby kicked at my hand.
“Your son needs to stop doing that,” Cindy groaned. “He’s been using Mommy as a soccer ball all day.”
“Sorry, Babe,” I said as she walked upstairs.
She waved her hand and reminded me to wake her up in a couple hours so she could trade off with Pepper.
I helped with dishes. Cat washed, I dried. She was worried about the deaders out wandering in this storm. I told her we’d be fine behind the fence. She reminded me Gibson was going out and Henry wasn’t secure where he was. We looked at one another and told ourselves everyone would be fine.
Dishes done, the kids played a little or watched another DVD. There wasn’t much to do in the evenings after dark. We adults played cards and I taught Cat the finer points of cribbage. We played a few hands and Pepper stumbled through the door. She looked exhausted. Cat got her a plate and laid the meal out for her. She about fell asleep more than once as she ate. Finally done, she gathered Jenny and headed upstairs.
TJ had fallen asleep on the floor. We picked him up and laid him in a chair. Cat wrapped him in a blanket I found in the closet. I asked if she wanted to stay the night. She accepted. I loaned her a set of sweats as she lay down on the couch.
“What, no goodnight kiss?” she asked.
I glanced around. All the rest of the kids had headed off for bed as well. Ella had tucked in the little ones, then went to sleep in her room. I bent over Cat and gave her a quick kiss. She smiled up at me and snuggled down into her pillow.
As I was headed upstairs, Cindy was headed down. She had showered and changed and was headed back into the hospital. Everyone was done in surgery and it was now just a matter of waiting through the night to see if everyone would make it. I gave her a hug and a kiss as she headed for the door. On the way out, she pulled a shotgun from the rack as she took the keys to the truck.
It was eleven o’clock as I slid under the covers with Pepper. Jenny still snuggled up against her mommy. My troops were out there in the dark, in Indian Country, trying to link up. Sleep was not going to come easy.
“Catfish stay?” Pepper mumbled.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “She’s on the couch.”
“Good. No room for her up here.”
I glanced over at the extra space in the bed. “Huh?”
She snuggled close to me in the bed. “Dan, I don’t mind your paramour being here and helping out. She did a great job today and Cindy and I didn’t have to worry. I like Cat. But don’t you be having her up here in this bed. Understand?”
“I understand.”
“We’re just figuring out rules as we go along.”
“Yeah. How’d surgery go?”
“Better than we figured. We saved seven of them. As long as they get through the next twenty four hours and we have enough medicines, they’ll make it.”
“Do we need to get up to the pharmacy?”
“Not yet. But we will after they’re on the mend. Go to sleep.”
I listened to her breathing and within minutes, she was asleep again. I envied her that. She told me it came from being an emergency room nurse and being on sixteen hour shifts. You slept when you could.
The thunderstorm was cracking away next time I was aware of anything. Windows rattled in the wind. Rain beat against the roof. I heard footsteps in the hall. I started to roll for my pistol, when Ella whispered for me.
“Dad? You awake?”
“I am now,” I whispered back. I swung out of bed, yanked on a pair of pants as Pepper stirred. I picked up Jenny and put her to sleep in her bassinet. I shut doors behind me as I stood in the hall.
“What’s going on?”
She was dressed and dripping wet. Her hair was plastered to her face in long ropes. “Cori sent me to get you. Neither one of us was sleeping good. She heard Kevin get up and leave.”
“What for?”
“That’s what we couldn’t figure. He took your keys and a flashlight and went out the door.”
“What? Is he crazy?”
“Don’t know, Dad. He headed east out the trench gate and across the fields.”
I stepped back into my room, pulled on a shirt and the holster from off the bedpost. I strapped the gun on as I stepped into the hall.
“What the hell is going on?” I wondered aloud. Ella followed down the stairs. “Where’s Cat?”
“Said she’d meet you at the eastern guard gate.”
“Great.” Lightning flashed again. I stuffed a hat on my head, grabbed a jacket from the pegs. “You stay here. Be ready if I call. This doesn’t feel good.” I slid the satellite phone into a pocket, checked the pistol to make sure it was loaded. Brass shone back at me and I had three spare magazines.
Half the garage had been converted in the first year to stalls. Cherokee and Chloe nodded sleep. I flipped on the light. The horses blinked in the sudden light. I stepped into Cherokee’s stall, slid a bridle over his head, opened the door and stepped out into the rain. He jigged a little in the storm as I grabbed a handful of mane and swung aboard. I went to meet Cat at the gate.
“Keep your eyes open for deaders. They’ll be out in this mess. I don’t want them sneaking up on us. You know the drill,” I shouted to the kid manning the post. He and his partner let us out.
“Yes, Sir.” He saluted as he closed the gate behind me.
I held out my hand. Cat grabbed it, put her foot on top of mine and slid on behind me. The storm was building as I gave Cherokee his head.
“How’re we goin’ to find him in this?” Cori shouted in my ear.
&nbs
p; “Keep your eyes open. If he grabbed my keys, he might be headed for the other gate.”
Lightning flashed close. White light and noise filled the valley at the same time. Cat tightened her grip on me. I remembered how much Jen liked storms. Kevin couldn’t have gotten far. As the light winked again, I spotted a small form climb out of the ditch. I nudged the horse in the ribs, Cherokee jumped into a lope and we caught him. I reined the horse to a stop. He stood frozen as I slid off and handed the reins to Cat. Lightning cracked again.
“Okay, kid. You better have a damned good reason for having me out here in this storm and scaring the hell out of me. You know how many zeds could be out here wandering around?”
He didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Just looked at me, then around into the woods. He started shaking as the tears came. “I know,” he sobbed, “that’s why I got to let them in.”
“Them who?”
“Them. The others.”
I took him by the shoulders. “Kevin, the others who? You’re not making any sense.”
Cat slid off Cherokee and stood beside us. Kevin pulled away from me and buried his face in Cat’s chest. The sobs rose over the storm.
“I wanted to tell you guys. I don’t want to lie. But Madison would kill my brother if I told you. But the storm came up and the zombies will be walking around. I have to let them in tonight.”
We let him cry himself out. I had to wrap my head around this. We got the whole story. He was part of a group of nomads who at times raided small settlements. They didn’t have much to bargain with. The women of the group didn’t like to trade sex for supplies. Most leaders of settlements didn’t trust other adults, either, so the boys were used as moles. Kevin was supposed to get into town, get in good with the boss and then find a way for the others to get in. There was someone watching the gate every night he’d been here. When they saw a flashlight, they would bring the rest of the group down from the camp. Madison was the leader of this group and had laid claim to the brothers when they found them hiding in a small town in Nebraska.
“Alright, here’s what we’re going to do.” Thunder rumbled again. The storm was building. We were less than a quarter mile from the gate. I started walking. “We’re going to let them in, but I’m going to disarm them as they come through.”
Snareville II: Circles Page 25