Zombie Theorem: Dark Times Book Five

by James Wallace

  “We were there during the mass exodus from San Fran, our first stop before moving up the coast,” Dan explained as he stared in admiration at the build-up of the Island.

  “When we left, the 129th was in charge of the Island,” Brian leaned over Dan, holding onto a strap in the ceiling.

  “We heard about that,” Savage put his hands over his headset and smiled. “We just got a call with our directions.”

  “Dan, we are going to drop to almost wave level and head out to sea before swinging south to meet up with the Reagan. Hold on, I need to get over this wreck first,” Thad the pilot explained.

  Dan and Brian looked to where Savage was pointing. The Golden Gate Bridge was just a skeleton of its former self. Giant sections of the roadway had detached from the guide wires and laid in the ebbing water of the bay. The mighty tower which used to hold the roadway were bent in odd angles as if a giant had thrown a temper tantrum.

  “What happened to the bridge?” Brian called out.

  “General Richards ordered it brought down. It was providing the dead an expressway across the bay after the evacuating people. That thing took on almost everything we threw at it, finally took a M.O.A.B to do the job,” Savage pointed to the bridge.

  “Dan a M.O.A.B is the “Mother Of All Bombs”. Probably the most powerful weapon we have in the arsenal that is not a nuke,” Brian explained for his Boss.

  “Wow!” Dan explained.

  “The Bay Bridge was easy to take out, all that Chinese iron had been faulty. The first bombing run utterly took out the SF side,” Savage pointed behind them and into the bay.

  Dan and Brian craned their necks and could see the San Francisco side of the wrecked skeletal Bay Bridge. The Blackhawk climbed in altitude as it cleared the left overs of the Golden Gate and then dropped like a rock toward the cold water below. They flew farther away from the Bay and overflew numerous ships, some nothing but rusting hulks, others gutted from fire, and some still looking untouched.

  Savage pointed to the ships as they went by. “Those are the many ships that made it out of San Fran with loads and loads of human cargo. Too bad most of that cargo had been bitten and infected. One by one, they fell to the hordes, and now sit way out here ebbing on the waves as rusting out derelicts.”

  “What happens when the tide brings them in closer?” Brian asked.

  “Hasn’t happened yet, but the General says we will hit it with firebombs and then sink them,” Maly the copilot answered.

  “Good plan.”

  “Only plan, no way are we going to risk putting men on board to kill the infected.”

  Dan moved away from the door and took his previous seat. He felt exhausted at all the loss of life and history. He took another beer from Savage and closed his eyes. He nursed on the beer and again turned inward, ignoring all the talk around him. He felt totally alone, the pressure being put on him was enormous. A voice cut through all the rest, a musical female voice, one that always caused him to smile.

  “Dan, you will never be alone.”

  Dan opened his eyes to find himself back on the boat, Angel sitting next to him. He tried to smile at her, but his lips failed miserably. Angel wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down to her chest.

  “I promise to always be by your side Dan,” she kissed the top of his head.

  “I know, I just feel overwhelmed Angel. I think this creator chose the wrong guy, I don’t think I can do this.”

  “He is not the only one who chose you Dan. We all have chosen you, we know who you are even when you are not so sure.”

  “It is nice to know someone believes in me.”

  “Brian believes in you…” Angel stopped talking and looked up to the sky, a look of shock on written on her face.

  “What is wrong Angel?” Dan had never seen that look on his Angel before.

  “I need to send you back, something has happened.” Angel gave him one more kiss to his head and then he was flying back into his body.

  Dan rocked in his seat and looked around. He caught Brian’s gaze, he looked worried. “What is happening Brian?”

  Brian moved over next to Dan and placed his arm around him. “The base Julie, your dad, and General Richards were on, has been hit.”

  “What? What do you mean hit? What happened?” Dan shook his head as if trying to erase the words.

  “Preliminary reports say the base was hit by a commando raid and then bombed. General Richards, Julie, your Father, and most of our team are unaccounted for at this point.”

  Dan couldn’t think of anything to say. Every time he opened his mouth the words would fail him. He quickly removed a notepad from his pocket and started jotting notes. Brian could tell something was about to happen. It was if a curtain had fallen over Dan, he couldn’t read him anymore. Dan ignored every attempt at communication from Brian or the crew. He busied himself writing in his notebook.

  “Sir, we are about fifteen mikes out from the carrier and will be landing in twenty.” Thad called back.

  Finally, Dan came out of his notebook. “Radio ahead and have all senior officer staff prepare for a meeting.”

  “Roger sir.” Everyone around Dan felt the change in him. No one joked around anymore, no one used first names. Everything was back to being business.

  The Blackhawk came out of the darkening sky and followed directives from the carrier. Thad brought the helicopter down and started powering it down. Men on the deck moved quickly securing the Blackhawk to the deck. Five men led by one woman, approached the helicopter as Savage slid the door back.

  “Sir, I am Commander Langham, welcome to the Reagan. Right this way please, I have the senior staff of the fleet in the ready room, as well as command staff from the General’s office.” A medium height woman with brown hair extended her hand out to Dan.

  Dan stepped out of the copter and looked at the hand. He took it and shook it quickly. “Nice to meet you Commander, lead the way quickly. We do not have much time.”

  Brian climbed out from behind his boss and followed the men and woman into the superstructure in the middle of the deck. Brian had been on carriers before and knew how they were laid out, but he quickly became lost after the numerous ladders and turns through corridors. They finally entered a small auditorium and Langham led Dan and Brian to the front row.

  “Would you like coffee or anything?” A man standing nearby dressed in blue BDUs asked.

  “Coffee, black, hot,” Dan answered tersely.

  Langham pointed at two women standing near the front. “Get the show up and running. I think the Major is in a hurry.”

  “Yes sir.” A pretty, petite black woman dressed in a white pressed officer’s uniform took the front of the stage, stood behind a small podium. “First and foremost, I am Ensign Barclay. I am the chief intelligence officer and JAG or Judge Advocate General for this ship. Pretty much, I am a lawyer. Normally this position would be held by someone in a much higher rank, but in today’s world none others exist. In the audience is…”

  Dan interrupted. “I don’t care right now who is in attendance. Get to the nitty gritty, I need to know who is in charge.”

  The woman looked disturbed for a moment and then straightened her blouse. “Yes sir, I have General Jon Spielman on comms right now to explain that to us.” The ensign cleared her throat and nodded to the blonde woman to her side. “General Spielman can you hear us?”

  “Yes, thank you Ensign. Major Welko, I was the aide to General Richards and have been instructed by him that if anything happened to get a hold of you. I have a prepared statement from the General to read to you,” Spielman cleared his throat before continuing. “Dan, if anyone else is reading this, it would seem that Ridder has killed or taken me prisoner. Ever since the President put me in charge of the military, I have been trying to lead from that stand point. Over the time though, I have been in touch with other high-ranking officials of different military branches. We all agree that in the case I was not able to lead, that someone from the civil
ian world should be put in charge, a new President as it was. A vote was held by these same people. You were unanimously voted into that office. Congratulations Mister President, I have picked a competent group of men and women to act as your cabinet. You of course can replace people or add people as you see fit. All forces have been alerted to your position, the second anything happened to me. You are the one man I know who can lead us to victory over the Initiative and their lap dogs Ridder. God Speed Mister President.” Spielman finished reading.

  The room became quiet as everyone took in the monumental news. Dan sat quiet as Brian stared at him. Then Brian stood quickly, and snapped to attention, his right hand crisply whipping up to a salute. The room as one, followed suit, as they all saluted the new President. Dan bowed his head under the new pressure of his office and sighed quietly. He slowly raised his head and looked into Brian’s eyes for encouragement. Brian nodded his head slightly.

  You better have Periwinkle

  After that meeting, where my brother was named President, the entire day had been a whirlwind. Dan was rushed into another room and sworn in officially. Ensign Barclay, being the ranking legal official on the ship, stood side by side with the ship’s reverend and presented a Bible for Dan to swear on.

  I stood aside, proud of my brother, but also afraid that this kind of pressure would bend or break him. He had always been a leader, but this was way beyond anything he had ever considered. He was now going to be making all the decisions. Dan kept looking back to me and pleading with his eyes for me to help. I stepped forward and stood by his side. My hand on his back as he recited the words the lawyer spoke.

  “I Dan Welko, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so, help me God,” Dan whispered that last part.

  And just like that, the man who has been fighting by my side since our adventures in a tower full of Zombies had now become the most powerful man in the world. Dan tried hard to stand tall, but the weight of the world threatened to bend him. We were quickly rushed into another room and met with a glut of people, who were in charge of supplies, current missions, refugee camps, and available forces. Dan immediately appointed me in command of all special forces and promoted me to Major. That was a big surprise to me. He then got Kuppers on the phone and promoted him to his highest General and put him in charge of the regular forces. He quickly installed people he trusted into high positions, and then sat through meeting after meeting getting the full picture of our position. When he found out that Amanda was still alive, he made her his Intelligence Chief, and had her transported to the carrier.

  I left the Boss to deal with everything, and allowed myself to be pulled aside, and briefed on our special forces missions, supplies, numbers of troops, and equipment. I got Chun on the phone and made him my second on the spot. He told me to go fuck myself at first but acquiesced after hearing about the raid and loss of people. It turned out that our mission to turn back the convoy that was sent to destroy our facility was successful. The dead army being herded toward the facility was let off the leash, when the special speaker tracked vehicles were destroyed. The dead turned on Ridder and attacked them in mass, it was like a sick buffet. When the tracked armor turned and made a run for it, they had led the rest of the dead away. It turned out that Apache’s injuries were not so critical after all. She had a broken leg, a bruised spleen, and one hell of a concussion. The facility was safe, and Joseph was busy with his science team working on the inoculation to stop the spread of the dreaded Wild Fire virus.

  Many days and nights passed, as I worked through trying to get a hold of my new job, and what that entailed. I learned that the forces I thought I had under my control were much larger than I was first told. It would seem that special ops teams throughout the U.S. had escaped Ridder and the walking dead. Many hid out in the mountains and created safe zones for the populace around them. I contacted many of the teams, and promised supplies, and reinforcements when I could shake them loose from Kuppers. A month went by before our schedules mashed enough, before I again saw the Boss.

  I was shown into his temporary office by Ensign Barclay, whom he had assigned as his personal aide. Dan had his head down reading something, when he heard the hatch close and latch behind me. At first it was as if he didn’t recognize me, he looked beaten by the pressures of the office. After a moment, a smile broke on his face, he dropped the paper he had been reading, jumped up from behind his desk, and came around with his arms open. I snapped to attention and saluted before he could get to me.

  “Mister President, it is a privilege to see you again.”

  “Fuck you Sasquatch,” Dan laughed. He returned my salute and we embraced like the long-lost brothers we were.

  “If you don’t mind me saying, you look like shit Mister President.”

  “I feel like shit, and you especially, don’t need to call me ‘Mister President,’ at least in private. I think I preferred being at the troop level, this leading stuff sucks. I feel inundated, like I am treading water while trying to hold up this ship.”

  “You do know you have people you can assign to do the little shit, don’t you? You only need to make the big decisions and work with the brass. You are going to burn out man.” I took in the Boss’s demeanor.

  “Yeah, I know. Just like back in the Trans America days, before all this crap went down. I asked for you to come for two reasons. One, I needed to see you to make sure I am still sane and two, I want you to get out to Travis and see if you can’t get down to the nitty gritty on what happened to Julie and my Dad. I trust no one but you, you have full access to anything you need, except for nukes. By the way, did you know I now have access to a big arsenal of those weapons?”

  “As President, you should have access to every weapon we have in our arsenal. I checked, did you know the Initiative tried to get access to these weapons, but were pushed back by a small number of Delta and Ranger teams that it took upon themselves to back the Secret Service and the football?”

  “I now have a full Secret Service contingent. they’re all dressed like regular sailors, but one of them is always seconds away. They briefed me on that bloody battle.”

  “That Marine guard at the door?” I questioned.

  “That is one of them. I already gave them orders that you had access to me at any time, night or day. Watch out for that Commander Langham though, she seems to think she can decide who gets access to me.”

  “I heard stories about her, be careful.”

  Dan suddenly wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tight. “I am sorry for all this, I know we promised to stay by each other’s sides. I only trust so many people, and you are at the very top,” he pulled back and looked up at me. “I have an Osprey and a Seal team led by a man named Nunzio waiting for you on the deck. I expect to hear back from you within three days.”

  I snapped to attention and saluted, holding it there till Dan sheepishly returned it. “I will get to the bottom of everything Boss, don’t you worry.”

  “I know you will,” Dan opened the hatch to his office and walked me out into the hallway. “See you soon brother.”

  I nodded to him and then to the young black Marine standing guard at the door. “Protect him with your life son, or you will be answering to me.”

  “I promise sir,” the guard nodded in my direction.

  I stopped by the armorer and found that they had a set of armor designed for my Sasquatch size. I kitted out and grabbed a vulnerable FN SCAR-H rifle chambered in 7.62x51, and enough rounds to break a donkey’s back. For shits and giggles, I grabbed a pair of steel collapsible batons I spied. They took me back to the days in the field with Dan, as he swung one of these trying to knock zombie’s heads off. As I stepped out into the corridor, I was met by an honest to God Sylvester Stallone double. He was short, barely coming up to my shoulders, but he was just as wide with muscles as tall.

&n
bsp; “Nunzio, I presume?” I extended my hand. The Italian looked over my hand and then noticed the rank on my uniform. He snapped to attention and was halfway with bringing a salute to his eyebrow when, I slapped it down. “I swear if you or your men take the time out to salute me, I will tie you into a fucking pretzel, butter your ass, and eat you with a side of mustard,” I growled in my best Sasquatch imitation of my old boot instructor.

  “I may end up liking you after all sir,” the Italian stuck his hand out.

  I took it and increased pressure till he twitched. “Is your entire team full of Italian pussies like you?”

  Nunzio broke out into laughter and shook his head. “I have some competent boys on my team.”

  “Butch says nothing but bad things about you.”

  “You met that big bearded bastard?”

  “Yeah he and his boys saved our asses.”

  “I was supposed to go with them, but my team was pulled and sent back here to deal with that sadistic Commander who walks around muttering about having to put her stilettos on and taking charge. The Osprey is warmed up and my men are already on board. We talked the armorer into giving us a small pallet of assorted ammo, MREs, and medical supplies. We should be at Travis within three hours. We will be landing in an out of the way field to refill. We don’t want to take a direct route,” Nunzio explained, as we made our way topside and out onto the deck of the mighty carrier.

  It was night time, I had been so deep down inside busy that I hadn’t seen the sun in days. A man dressed in orange stepped up with a flashlight and directed us to our Osprey. “Have a great flight, sirs,” he saluted.

  I returned it and climbed on board to find four men and one woman already strapped in. I eyed the woman and then remembered that I had a compliment of thirty Spec Ops women assigned to my teams. She found me looking her over.

  “Never seen a woman warrior before?” the woman growled out.

  “Just the opposite, I have been serving side by side with an Apache that could sprinkle cinnamon on you and eat you alive. I couldn’t give a fuck whether you have breasts or not,” I took in a deep breath and looked over my team. “In fact, I am a gay man. So, if you have a problem with that, you can get the fuck off my Osprey.”