Detroit Reanimated

by Michael Halliday

  “My men found some survivors,” Joseph replied. “We took care of them.”

  “Meaning you murdered them,” Byron said.

  “It’s not murder when you’re ordered to do it,” Joseph said with a nasty smirk.

  “Tell that to some of the Jewish survivors of Nazi Germany,” Byron replied coldly.

  ‘Great minds think alike, Byron,’ Arthur thought.

  “I’m going to be very specific,” Arthur said. “You are ordered not to kill another living person unless I say to.”

  “Yes sir,” Joseph said. He granted Arthur a hateful look.

  ‘Got you, didn’t I?’ Arthur thought with a vengeful glare.

  “That’s all, Captain,” Arthur said. “I have nothing more to discuss with you.”

  Joseph appeared to protest his dismissal. Arthur gave him a gesture to ‘shoo.’

  Once the captain was gone, Arthur began his plan to contact the survivors in Dearborn.

  “Give them the message we’ll meet in a few days,” Arthur told Byron after the lieutenant asked what he wanted to do. “Tell them they are safe from our troops, but have them understand that there is a threat here.”

  “Yes sir,” Byron replied. “Will we join them?”

  “No,” Arthur said. “We’re going to stay away from them after we set up the agreement.”

  “I understand, sir,” Byron said.

  “We’re just going to keep falling apart unless we get rid of that man,” Arthur said with worry eating away at his stomach.

  “We should just find another town completely,” Byron suggested. “Pick up and leave after he goes back to his camp.”

  “We tried that, and look what happened.”

  “I told you, Arthur,” Byron whispered. “I’ll kill him for you.”

  “He or his lackeys will shoot you as soon as you show your face,” Arthur replied in a whisper. “You’re too valuable.”

  “Let’s make a run to Flint,” Byron said. “I think I know a place where we can load up on some weapons.”

  “Get second squad prepped to go too,” Arthur said.

  Byron waited while Arthur got his gear. The one thing he and his troops had going for them was their stock of guns was exceptional. They had many silenced M4s that still ran well, and a member of the company that knew how to fix just about anything. Arthur carried his M4 around with him everywhere. He also had a Glock that he set on his night stand each night. They desperately needed more ammunition, however.

  When they left the house, Byron spotted a member of second squad and he ordered the soldier to gather the rest. Within ten minutes, the squad was ready to roll. Eleven soldiers got into four SUVs. Their Humvees were abandoned two days prior.

  ‘We’re broken,’ Arthur told himself. ‘We’re a broke bunch of men. How did we get here?’

  He recalled the events during the Warren massacre in his mind as Byron drove. He will never forget it.

  He watched as people streamed into the camp. Unlike August, he didn’t take information from refugees. He also didn’t allow anyone already bitten into the camp. Those were the few people that turned later that day outside the camp, killing loved ones and others who didn’t heed the advice of the emergency alerts.

  The order arrived just about the same time the toxin did. He took the cylinder to the camp’s cooks. They dumped the toxin into numerous pots of soup that was going to be served to the refugees. The meals were served around noon. The irony was the refugees found the soup as the best part of the meal. An hour later, corpses and soldiers were all that were left in the Warren camp.

  Seeing the people simply die without suffering was the only thing good about the whole dilemma. A fraction of the refugees lived long enough to watch others collapse lifelessly.

  ‘My God,’ Arthur had thought on that day. ‘What did I just give them? What was that stuff?’

  The realization of what happened ran through the colonel’s ranks immediately. Most of the company was so repulsed that they simply picked up their gear and walked away. Some of the troops went after Arthur’s officers. He lost half of his command staff before the uprising was put down.

  He and the remaining men spent two days digging mass graves no more than four feet deep. They tossed the bodies in without consideration of who those people were. It was particularly difficult with the children. Arthur was still sick from when he ordered his troops to shoot infants who were too young to eat the soup. He later learned that the troops smuggled the infants out of the camp. His officers found a few of the troops who were responsible. With Captain Spelasky now alongside, he ordered the soldiers to be executed.

  The executors replaced their live rounds with blanks. His officers later helped the troops escape after feigning their deaths.

  He remembered the smoke that rose from different sections of the city. He sent his scouts out to investigate the smoke from the downtown area. The trio of soldiers watched the city burn. There was nothing they could do.

  The world drifted by as Arthur watched out his window. He saw numerous reanimated men, women and children during the run.

  ‘This is what we tried to prevent,’ Arthur thought. ‘I can see the logic in this, but I cannot accept it. I did what I was told. We’re criminals on the run. We’re mass murderers and baby killers. I don’t deserve a second chance, and I refuse to allow Joseph to have one too.’

  Arthur looked over to Byron.

  “After we meet with those people, I’m going to retire,” Arthur said.

  “Just as long as you don’t mean you’re going to place a bullet in your brain,” Byron replied.

  “You don’t think I should?”

  Byron was silent for a moment.

  “No,” Byron said. “I’d have to shoot myself after you.”

  “We need to make sure Joseph is dead before I do retire,” Arthur said, again looking out the window.

  “Definitely” Byron said. “Then you can take any sailboat that you want. Find an island somewhere to live the rest of your life. You can still have children right?”

  Arthur laughed at the awkwardness of Byron’s question.

  “Yes, Byron,” Arthur said.

  “Find a woman and continue the Hummsfeld name,” Byron said.

  “I can imagine the conversation,” Arthur said. “’Dad, what did you do?’ ‘Well son, I served in the National Guard, where I massacred over two-hundred and fifty thousand people.’ ‘Why did you do that?’ ‘I was ordered to.’”

  “Neither of us knew what that stuff what, Arthur,” Byron said tartly. “For all we knew, it was the cure to prevent people from turning. Well, it was the cure, but we didn’t know it would kill them too.”

  “True,” Arthur said. “Flint’s right up ahead.”

  Byron led the squad to the Genesee County Sheriff’s station. The roads in Flint were sparsely populated with the walking nightmares. The squad parked two blocks away to plan out if there were people around. A reanimated man was right where they stopped. Arthur crushed in the man’s head with the butt of his assault rifle.

  “Urban combat tactics,” Arthur said. “Take down any of those things within twenty feet. Eyes open on the living. You and you are point and cover.”

  “Hough,” the squad said in unison.

  “Move out,” Byron said.

  The line moved like clockwork. No matter what darkness Arthur may have attributed within the last week, he was still known as the best drill instructor in the National Guard. His casualty rank was tied in the top three not to lose anyone from lack of fundamentals or accidents. Discipline was preached daily.

  Specialist Frank Durbin held his hand up to stop the squad when he was in sight of the sheriff’s station.

  The station was quiet. Durbin and Byron watched for three minutes before they ordered the squad to continue. Durbin led three soldiers across the street while the others covered. The doors were tested to see if they were locked or the type of security they possessed.

  “Next three, go,�
� Byron ordered.

  Three more troops crossed the street to reinforce the first trio.

  One of the three fell to the ground for no apparent reason. He didn’t move after he landed.

  “What the fuck?” Byron mouthed. “Cryder, get up and fall in!”

  Private Darin Cryder didn’t get up or answer. Byron went out to see what happened. He was hit on the chest as soon as he was by Cryder’s body. He wheezed from his ribs striking his lungs. He did he best to crawl to cover. He was lucky he had on his Kevlar and heavy uniform.

  “Sniper,” Durbin called out. He and the five other troops got into cover as well.

  “He’s got a silencer. We’ll never find him,” Arthur told the six others with him. “Eyes up, scan for any vantage points you think those two were targeted from.”

  “There may be more than one,” Sergeant Vincent Krueger said.

  “Always the possibility,” Arthur told Vince. He signed for Durbin. “Check doors, get inside to cover.”

  Durbin nodded. He continued to check the doors. Hugging the walls, he went around the entire building.

  “One door is open, opposite side,” Durbin signaled and mouthed back through Arthur’s rifle scope. Durbin went back around.

  “Smoke bombs would have been nice right now,” Arthur thought out loud. “See anything?”

  “Nothing,” PFC Garrett Frederick said. He lay on his stomach to scan the area. “This guy doesn’t want to be seen.”

  “Lieutenant,” Arthur called out. “Are you ok?”

  “Peachy,” Byron said with a wheeze. “Cryder was hit in the cheek. He’s gone.”

  “Shit,” Arthur said.

  There was a thump from Frederick’s rifle.

  “I see you,” Frederick said. He fired again. “Yep, he’s there, and he’s got good cover. I have him pinned though. Get ready to move.”

  “I’ll grab the lieutenant,” Vincent said.

  “Go,” Arthur said.

  He led five squad members to Byron. Vincent helped the lieutenant to his feet. Frederick fired frequently. Arthur saw the shots hit an alcove in the side of the station. They kept moving until they were inside with Durbin. Two men covered Frederick so he could get safely inside.

  “We’re not welcome here, I guess,” Byron stated in a whisper.

  “You don’t say,” Arthur replied, also in a whisper. “We’ll get Cryder after we clear this threat.”

  The door they had just entered opened to reveal two armed men. Frederick and Durbin shot at them. Gun fire filled the hallway. Bullets struck the wall adjacent to the hall they were in.

  “Stop firing dammit,” Arthur yelled. “We’re not here to hurt you, for fuck’s sake!”

  “Every last one of you traitorous bastards will die!” a man yelled back.

  “What’s up his ass?” Durbin asked.

  “Do I need to remind you that we’re cursed for what we did?” Arthur replied.

  “What you did, Colonel,” Durbin said sharply. “We didn’t have anything to do with your massacre.”

  “Not now, you two,” Byron said.

  “Can we talk about this?” Arthur yelled out.

  “No!” the man’s voice yelled back. More gunfire added an exclamation point.

  “We’ll have to pin down those two outside,” Durbin said. “Frederick, help me out.”

  Durbin kicked open the door. The bright sudden sunlight crippled Durbin’s vision, forcing him to shoot blindly outside. A bullet struck one of the men right below the chin. The other attacker ran to cover.

  “I got him, Frank,” Frederick said. “Don’t forget the sniper.”

  Some of the unknown shooters inside charged the hallway. They shot down three more of Arthur’s men. Durbin and Frederick ran out firing. Frederick was hit twice, but the bullets hit his gear. The remaining troops succeeded in getting back across the street.

  “Where’s Byron?” Arthur asked. He looked back at the station, but his lieutenant was nowhere to be seen.

  “We’re getting out of here,” Frederick said.

  “I can’t leave the others behind!” Arthur yelled.

  “They’re gone!” Durbin said. “We’ll die if we go back for them. They have that place locked down.”

  “We’re going to get more equipment,” Arthur said. “Those people are going to get smoked out.”

  “Leave them alone,” Frederick said. “We lost this time.”

  Frank and Garrett led the surviving soldiers back to the vehicles. The gunfire had called a lot more reanimated to the area.

  “If you want one last word, don’t move a muscle,” a man in sheriff’s uniform said to Byron. Two deputies had forced Byron to his knees. He had his hands on his head.

  “We needed ammunition,” Byron said. “We didn’t know you were here.”

  “What do we do with him?” a deputy asked.

  “We shouldn’t have allowed the others to get away,” the sheriff said. “They’ll get more. There will be too many to hold off, and they’ll likely have a lot better weapons.”

  “Talk to me, sir,” Byron said. “I beg you to talk to me.”

  “Shit!” the sheriff yelled. “Why the hell did you have to come here?”

  “We needed ammunition,” Byron repeated. “Look, you’re all as good as dead as soon as a very dangerous man hears about this. He won’t let any of you walk away from this.”

  “Ian,” a deputy gasped. “We need to get our families out of here.”

  “Get them out, sir,” Byron said. His heart sank. “Get them out now!”

  Ian pressed his handgun against Byron’s head. He growled with utter frustration.

  “That won’t make things any better,” Byron said.

  “Fuck!” the sheriff bellowed.

  Byron looked at the other four dead soldiers on the ground.

  “You might want to shoot those four in the head,” Byron said. “They could turn at any minute.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” a deputy asked.

  The sheriff went to each fallen soldier to shoot them.

  “This fuck is military, and it was them that started this,” the sheriff said. “He says to shoot them, shoot them.”

  Byron was gripped by fear. He knew he wasn’t going to survive this.

  ‘Where ever you are, Arthur,’ Byron said. ‘Show these people how we go apeshit.’

  Byron’s chest was in too much pain to make an attempt to escape. One of his ribs felt broken, and if he made a wrong move, a shard of bone could do more damage.

  “Why do you think we had anything to do with this?” Byron asked.

  “You all poisoned those people in Saginaw, and buried them all in mass graves,” a deputy said.

  “I was out of Warren,” Byron corrected him. “If you knew how much dissent the National Guard has suffered because of what the colonel and captain had done, you wouldn’t hold me like this. I’m not the problem, but you better start worrying about Captain Joseph Spelasky. Get those people out when you have time. He’ll wipe this entire place out without thinking twice.”

  “Get them out, deputy,” the sheriff said. “Keep this man alive. He may be useful.”

  Byron was taken with the others as they abandoned the sheriff’s station. He counted forty-four women, teens, children and elderly.

  “You might as well forget about any of our weapons and ammunition,” a deputy said to Byron. “Without the keys, you won’t be getting any of it.”

  The deputy shoved Byron after the lieutenant gave the deputy a look of disbelief.

  “You have no idea what you’re up against,” Byron said. “If Colonel Hummsfeld has any good will after you killed five of his men, he might not tell the captain anything. If he does, you might want to kill off these people now and then yourselves.”

  “Ignore the murdering sack of shit,” another deputy said. “Your ass will be busted if you kill him.”

  “I didn’t murder anybody!” Byron yelled. “Most of us didn’t have anything
to do with it.”

  “Then why are you still with those men who did?” the first deputy asked.

  “I’m in the military, yes, but I have a duty to my country. I have a duty to help people like you. I regret all of the things that happened today. We could have handled things differently.”

  “No matter,” the second deputy said. “We don’t trust you people. The same thing would have gone down if you showed up with white flags.”

  “Those people matter,” Byron said. “I get that. You’re doing the right thing by getting them out.”

  The first deputy shoved Byron again.

  Byron looked around him. He smiled when he saw Durbin and Frederick quietly flanking the group.

  Four hours after the attack against the sheriff’s station, Arthur and Joseph stood over the four bodies of the fallen soldiers. The abandoned station was now taken by thirty soldiers.

  “Byron is with them,” Durbin said. “He’s restrained and held by two deputies.”

  “Send a squad,” Joseph Spelasky said. “Kill every last one of those people, including the sheriff. After that, kill Byron for being stupid.”

  “Belay that order, Durbin,” Arthur said.

  “Thank you, sir,” Frank said.

  “Colonel, we need to set an example. Why are we here if you didn’t want to hammer these people?”

  “Because, Joseph,” Arthur said. “I didn’t bring you here. You followed me. We attacked them, now I am getting my men, including Byron, by talking to them.”

  “Fuck that,” Joseph fumed.

  “Come again?” Arthur asked. “What did you say, Captain?”

  “You heard me, Arthur,” Joseph said. “I said ‘fuck that.’”

  “Stand down, Captain,” Arthur said with a tone to warn Joseph.

  “Not going to happen,” Joseph said firmly. “I’m taking this station, and everything inside. I’ll take this city after that.”

  “Do you have the keys to the armory?” Sergeant Krueger asked. “Do know where those people are?”

  Joseph glanced between Arthur’s men without saying a word.

  “Looks like we have a conundrum,” Arthur said. “Tell you what, we’ll make a deal. We’ll get the people out of here and with us, all of them. Then we’ll give you the keys. If we ever see you anywhere near Detroit, I’ll kill you.”