by Tom Germann
Wagner nodded and said, “Good job. Maybe we can figure out what’s going on now. How did everyone else do? Let’s make this fast. We need to pack and get out of here. I’ll go first.”
He paused and then continued,. “The party that went to the basement confirmed that it was clear with no one there. There are some amazing systems built into this building, but it still seems really primitive. More importantly, we found a lot of items that we can use. There were several skids of canned military rations that are good for the next six months. There are almost eight hundred boxes of rations. That would last us for about a year as long as we had some fresh food to supplement it. The canvas tentage was in okay shape, but useless to us, and it’s big and bulky. We also found a small workshop and a portable generator of what we think is about three KW and communications gear. The radio gear is OLD, but there is an adapter system so that you can actually plug those radios in and power them by using a generator. We also have all the other stuff that goes with that, like power cords and maintenance manuals for the generator and radios. We brought up most of the light stuff that we would use and have pulled about half of the food upstairs and it’s stacked up like everyone saw. Next?” He looked at Vajjer.
Corporal Vajjer started speaking. “So I couldn’t open the vault, but Private Weibe found the keys, which is good. Sergeant Caisson helped me check the weapons over after he was done in the basement. So here is the inventory list so far.” He referred to his list. “We have one hundred rifles in the armoury. Eight are down broken and need more work than I can do in ten minutes and they would need test firing after anyway. So we have ninety-two rifles that are supposedly functional. Those rifles are M1s. That is actually a great rifle but I didn’t think any first world militaries were still using them as their main weapons. We have four magazines per rifle and all the accessories to clean and maintain them. We also have a little over three thousand rounds of ammo for them. The ammo was stored in the vault in a cabinet. I guess it was the ready ammunition for the unit and since no one found any more in the building, that must be all of it. We also found five forty-five calibre semi-automatic pistols and all work. Again, four magazines each and two hundred and fifty rounds of ammunition. There are four pump action shotguns and a hundred and twelve rounds. There are two belt-fed machine guns and I don’t even know what type it is. One is broken and the other is tagged as functional, but I don’t know anything other than it’s a three-oh-eight belt-fed with four belts of ammo. I found no explosives but based on a list I found, there should be a box of dynamite here for ‘training,’ as well as some hand grenades. I feel good about the functional weapons and better about the ammunition. Most of the stuff we need is already prepacked in travel boxes so we can load it no problem. That’s it from me. I guess that means you’re next, blondie.”
Susie stopped tracing the carved initials and stuck her tongue out at Vajjer. She sighed. “I took a look at the propane and the kitchen quickly. We have most of the propane left and that is a BIG tank. So we are good for weeks if we are careful. The kitchen is well stocked with the basics and the fridge is really small, but the other two-thirds of it is a freezer that is chock full. It all still has power. We also have a LOT of dried and smoked meat and other stuff, so we could just live on that for maybe three weeks? I guess it’s still good as everyone ate the burgers I cooked up from the deep freeze. I grabbed a shower almost immediately and feel way better. We have hot running water and enough stuff here in the building that we could just sit here and be comfy for almost a month. That little rinky-dink medical room has more bandages and the basic first aid stuff, but not much in the way of medicine. I almost think we should stay here and rest up.” She went back to tracing and ignored everyone.
Jimmy spoke up in the awkward silence. “I went through that little transport office there. We know there is only one army truck here. The other four left to support the locals. I did find a few military and civilian maps of the area. Some of the towns and other stuff look different, but there is a city maybe eighty miles down the road. The only thing is it’s called FreetDorf and I never heard of ANY city in the US called that. You know I kinda agree with Susie. I think we should hole up here and take a break. Everyone is tired and could use the rest.”
Sam nodded. “We should stay here. We have food and water, with more water from the well. These walls are thick and the doors thick. There are rifles with lots of ammunition. We could stay here through the winter and be okay and those…things will rot away by then. What if there isn’t anything else left?”
Everyone else was silent. Tracy was nodding in agreement while biting her lip.
The thud of the sergeant’s hand hitting the bar top was startlingly loud and everyone jumped. Neil half-stood, looking at everyone before sitting back down and going back to taking care of Sarah.
“That’s great. None of you have ever seen a horror movie or thought stuff out. If that undead horde are still coming, then they’ll circle this place in a few hours and if they ever see you, they won’t be leaving. Ever. What if they don’t rot away? What if something happens to kill the little power this place has? How much firewood can you cut and bring in before you can’t go out anymore? This place has a big fireplace because they have old windows. This place is going to be an icebox in winter. So if you want to stay, then as far as I am concerned, you can. We’ll leave you the portion that you need to survive and the rest of us will hit the road and find whatever area has fortification and survivors. IF we can come back for you, we will.”
Wagner spoke quietly, forcing everyone to listen. “We are all staying together. Every horror movie, everyone splits up and gets taken out. The military also likes large organizations for redundancy for when things go wrong. We have very little ammunition with lots of guns. We have some food but until we open those tins, we won’t know if it is really edible or if those are last ditch supplies. The walls and doors here look good, like this place is a fortress, but I don’t want to be trapped here with a hundred of those things outside. Every time we fire a rifle, we could be drawing more to us as well. We keep moving. There are survivors out there, somewhere ahead of us, either in a military base or in a city that they barricaded off.”
Steven walked in as everyone stared at one another with increasing hostility. He must have been able to sense the tension as he cleared his throat and spoke slowly and loudly. “I’ve been able to make contact with a higher command, they want details and I told them I was going to get the military member in command. There are a bunch of survivors fortified in FreetDorf ahead of us and they are shipping other survivors out to a centralized camp. They want to know all sorts of information that I don’t think I should be sharing. Warrant? I need you to take over on that.”
Wagner got up to follow Steven, then paused and looked around. “Get everything you can loaded onto the army truck and make sure we get everything. Priority is food, ammo, guns, and then the rest. If something has to be left behind, make sure we are covered as best you can.” He walked out the door.
Jimmy stood up. “Okay, everyone, let’s get downstairs and start loading. Sam, you’re good at stacking up those stake trucks, so you’re going to be the load man for the army truck.” Sam nodded.
Everyone started walking for the door.
Susie walked over to Neil. “Neil, will you and Sarah be okay here while we load quickly?”
Neil nodded. “I think so. Sarah took a couple more sips and then fell asleep. Can we get her loaded last, right before we leave?”
Susie nodded. “Of course, I’m sure that if we keep her fever down, she’ll be fine. FreetDorf is just a short drive down the road and I bet that they have a hospital set up to deal with this. I’ll come get you when we’re ready and I’ll make a comfy spot for her to lie down on in the back of one of the cars, okay?”
Neil nodded and then turned back to Sarah, ignoring Susie.
Susie patted Neil on the shoulder and then slo
wly walked toward the door. She stopped at the doorway and looked back at them for a second. She sighed, hoping that it worked out for Sarah but doubting it. She didn’t know how to tell Neil, even though he should know. She shrugged and walked out to help everyone load downstairs.
Contact
Wagner walked into the small adjutant’s office and looked at the computer screen with its green glow. “I haven’t seen something so old since I joined. What sort of processing speed does that thing have?”
Steven sat down at the keyboard and patted another padded chair that he had pulled up next to him. “Have a seat, Warrant. Hmm, processing speed? None, really. This is a data entry console. This is not really a computer per se. The ‘hard drive’ and everything else will be located in a central location. You type in queries and the main system sends the information down to you. I’ve seen systems like this, just not anything separated by such a long distance.”
Steven nervously tapped the desk top and after Wagner had sat, he started typing . and talking slowly. “The beautiful thing about this system is that it doesn’t take much power. But we are so far down the priority list, I’m amazed we get signal. The locals must not have used it much because they had the passwords and access codes written down in a book right next to the keyboard.”
Satisfied, he stopped and leaned back while Wagner leaned in and stared at the numbers Steven had typed. Steven smiled. “I guess this is similar to how army radios work, where you have to identify yourself every time you start a communication. Here I send this location’s access code and when the typing back and forth starts, we don’t have to. When communication ends, then you have to use your code again to reconnect. It takes a minute for a response to come. Either they don’t know how to type or the signal takes that long. Probably both.”
Letters and numbers suddenly appeared on the screen.
Steven smiled. “And we are connected.” More letters started forming. “Any answers have to be short as the system can’t handle much. I think there are other users out there because of the amount of interference on the system. But if you don’t have the codes, you can’t really connect with other sites. Here you go.” Steven stood up and pushed his chair out of the way. “They are going to want to communicate with you. You just need to type answers in now.”
Both men could hear movement downstairs as equipment was moved, and Jimmy’s voice as he directed people.
Wagner leaned forward and read the words:
“Report your status.”
He started typing slowly after thinking it through.
“Thirteen survivors.”
Slowly, so slowly, the words appeared on the screen.
“Local garrison survivors?”
“No, we are survivors fleeing, 6 Canadian military personnel, 7 civilian.”
Steven nodded. “Good to keep those sentences short. It takes forever for a system like this to do anything. But the printer on the side there was set to print out everything that was said.” Steven held up a sheath of paper. “I found what was relevant. The system collapsed about three weeks ago, but headquarters has been regularly asking for updates.” Steven flipped through the paper and then stopped, showing the warrant officer a page full of numbers. “FreetDorf had a military strength of well over a thousand soldiers. They were ordered by their higher command to establish safe points in the city and destroy the infected as they came upon them. Clean survivors were to be loaded onto trains and sent into the interior where safe locations were maintained. There are no lists of casualties at all, but I get the feeling that the whole virus thing is not going well, if they are hiding in buildings and trying to shift survivors to safe areas…”
The screen had slowly filled with words while Steven talked. Every sentence was short but carried a large message.
“Preparing to pull out of FreetDorf in 3 days.”
“Can you make it here by then for evac”
“Have you seen more survivors”
“Are you self-sufficient”
The flashing icon finally sat motionless, and Wagner stared at the screen. Beside him, Steven sighed. “I guess it’s worse than we were hoping.”
Wagner nodded and began typing back slowly. The words formed on the screen.
“Yes No Yes”
He considered for a second and then added another line.
“Should we bring all rations from this site”
He hadn’t even finished typing the sentence before the answer was coming up on the screen.
“Yes”
Immediately after that, more words appeared.
“158 Anglian St”
“Warehouse District”
“Next to Fastmover Freight Rail lines”
“Enter South side loading bay area”
“Many infected in area swarming around activity”
Warrant Officer Wagner stared at the screen while beside him, Steven quickly wrote down the directions. He started typing back.
“Roger”
Then he sat back and stared at the screen. Two words appeared.
“Good luck”
The flashing icon just sat there staring at them.
Steven finished writing the information down and looked at Wagner. “Wow, survivors. Can we make it there with our vehicles?”
Wagner nodded. “We sure can. I just wish we knew what we were going into. I have the bad feeling that everything is worse than we are expecting it to be. I’m not sure if this isn’t some sort of trap or if it’s all legit. The only thing we can do is go in and hope for the best while keeping our eyes open.”
Steven nodded. Wagner stood up and looked around. “Tracy said something about some history books here we could read up on?”
Steven pointed to a small stack of books on the desk. “We pulled them out earlier. Something is seriously messed up with this place. The history books are wrong, or maybe we aren’t in our Kansas anymore. Maybe we slipped sideways somehow into an alternate Earth?”
Wagner just shook his head. “I hope you’re wrong, Steven. I want to go home, but I don’t know if we can at this point. Whatever you do, don’t say things like that around Corporal Vajjer.”
Steven picked the books up and frowned. “Do you think he’ll lose it or freak out?”
Wagner sighed. “Not at all. I think he’ll run his sarcastic mouth up and down that until we all go nuts.”
Steven snorted and walked out the door. Wagner followed him. As they walked outside, they passed the last few boxes of supplies still stacked up here and there in the hall. Both men looked at them and frowned but walked on.
Down the narrow hall and then outside and into the vehicle compound.
Outside, everyone was resting, sitting in the little shade provided by the trucks and sucking back water. They all had sweat stains to some degree on their new clothes. The cars had more supplies crammed into the backseats and both trucks had their gates down. The civilian truck that they had brought was loaded down now, but there was still a bit of open space at the back. When Wagner looked at the back of the army truck, he could see that it was mostly full but there was still a good bit of space left at the back. He frowned and started turning.
Caisson and Vajjer were already walking over to join them.
The sergeant gestured for Corporal Vajjer to go ahead and then started sipping his water from a canteen he had picked up in the stores within the building.
Vajjer took a sip and then started talking. “Okay, sir, we loaded all the ammo and weapons that looked okay along with the machine gun and some engineering tools. Generator is loaded on, as is every power cord we could find and even a lighting kit. I found some smaller tents in the basement and they must have been used a lot. They’re patched but we have enough so that we could all fit in them. Then we loaded food. There are a lot of old style metal jerry cans that were used for water and we topp
ed them up so we have a bit more than six hundred litres of water. We also have most--” He paused and thought. “--maybe seventy percent of the food loaded?”
He nodded at a jerry can sitting next to a vehicle. “We topped up every vehicle here and loaded every fuel jerry we could if there were tie-down points. The cars are all full and we have a few extra jerry cans stashed away there. We had a bit of a disagreement on finishing the loads. We can get more food or fuel on the trucks and a bit of other stuff. What’s the plan?”
Both men looked at Wagner. He considered for a second and then spoke slowly. “Remember on tour when you saw the local trucks and vans loaded to the sky? That’s how we need to load. We may have to drive thousands of miles, and we need fuel and food. There may not be any on the way that we can scavenge. I know the instinct is not to mix fuel and water or food, but we’ll have to make do and be careful when we do anything.”
Vajjer shrugged. “Easy. We put fuel on the bottom, cover it with a tarp, and then put the food and other stuff on top. If there is a leak, it’s on the truck bed and everything is higher up.”
The sergeant sighed. “A lot more work if we only have to go to a city a few hours’ drive away… Of course, it’s better to have too much than not enough.”
Steven had been looking around while nodding his agreement, but then stopped and looked at the three soldiers. “Excuse me. I don’t want to interrupt, but aren’t you missing two of your soldiers?”
Caisson nodded. “I put Tocker and Andries upstairs in that little forward area with the bigger window. That way they can keep watch. Tocker has good eyes, but two sets of eyes are better than one.”