by TW Gallier
"Sounded like tanks to me," Sean said. "Or artillery. We have to check it out."
Then the distinct sounds of automatic weapon fire, punctuated by more explosions, filled the air. It was off in the distance, but sounded like it was within the city limits of Frankfort.
Chapter 29
"Sounds like a full-scale battle, Sean," Charlie said. "And it's within city limits, too."
I just nodded as that battle brought back unwelcome memories.
We stood outside on the western side of the building. The storm was passing, and the rain was fading away to a light drizzle. Exploding ordinance lit up the night west of our position. Light arms fire was almost constant now. Mortars were shooting flares to light up the battle.
"That's only a few miles from us," Roger said. "Too close for comfort."
"That is definitely a military operation," I said. Roger, Mike, and Charlie all nodded. Terrel shook his head woefully, and then glanced back at the building full of non-combatants. "We need to assess the situation."
"We need to bug out," Roger said.
That's when two helicopters came over the western mountains. Looked like Blackhawks to me. They fired off rockets, and then circled a spot while door gunners opened up on their foe on the ground. We watched until they either ran low of fuel or ammo, and then departed.
"If they have helicopters, then they'll see us on the road," I said. Roger scowled. "Do you think they're the same helicopters we saw in Lexington?"
"You're right," Roger said. "I'm not sure if they are the same people from Lexington, but that would be my guess. I'll lead a team over to scout them out."
Mike and Charlie immediately volunteered to go. I shook my head.
"Not this time, Roger. I want to check this out myself," I said. "And I need you back here to defend this building until we return."
We went back inside to advise the others of what we planned. Then Mike, Charlie, and I got ready to go on a reconnaissance mission. Mike and I carried M-4s with M203, bandoliers of 40mm grenades, and a double load for the M-4s. Charlie chose the M-249 SAW with three spare ammo pouches of 200-rounds. We all had binoculars, and lamented the fact we didn't find any night vision gear back at Andrews. Or body armor.
The battle was still raging when we departed. Roger had every able-bodied man, woman, and teen on guard, save for the women taking care of the children. Mike was the trained scout, so I put him on point; I followed, with Charlie bringing up the rear.
Mike led us straight west until we reached the main road, and then detoured to a gas station. It was looted of food and drink, but we found a city map.
"Okay, we're right here," Mike said.
We were huddled inside the gas station, in the store room so we could use our flashlights. I was surprised to discover we weren't actually in Frankfurt, but just outside of city limits. Looking at the map, it appeared the battle was across the Kentucky River, and that the ground between us and it was undeveloped. It didn't show us what kind of ground it was, so I worried it was impassable. But there were several parks shown in that space.
"The battle is almost due west of us," Charlie said, while tracing a line across the map. "I doubt they are fighting at the state capital building, but there is an airport beyond that."
"Look, police academy on this side of the river," Mike said, jabbing the map.
I was betting on the police academy and jail facility indicated on the map. Survivors would be eager to get their hands on guns and ammo. The police might even be holed up there, so could give renegade soldiers a good fight. But why would soldiers and police be fighting?
"Only one way to find out," I said. "We'll go cross-country. If it isn't the police academy, then we'll head for this bridge over the river. It's a little south of the battle."
With our route mapped out, Mike again took point. I moved Charlie to the middle since he had the most powerful weapon. They moved quickly and tirelessly compared to me. I was a lot older, longer out of service, and hadn't toughened up crossing half the country over the last month. Still, I didn't let on that the pace was grueling. I had to uphold the reputation of the Corps, after all, and those two would ride me hard if I faltered.
The terrain proved tougher and more rugged than I could imagine within city limits. Up and down, heavily wooded in places, and we had to cross creeks. We went around the hills as best we could, which were pretty steep, and kept to the land cleared for farming for the most part.
"What the hell is this?" Charlie whispered.
We'd just come out of wooded terrain to find ourselves in open country. Not farm land, but more like overgrown parkland. There was a US flag at half-mast before us. I spotted five small groups of zombies wandering toward the sights and sounds of battle, too.
We lay on the rain-soaked grass until the zombies moved on, and then moved cautiously toward the flagpole. I noticed a large, dark structure to our south with lots of zombies circling it. They were not in a frenzy, so there must not be anyone inside.
"Vietnam Memorial," Mike whispered upon our arrival. He looked to the northwest. The battle was still raging, with more helicopters engaging ground forces again. "The police academy is more north of us, so the battle looks like it’s…" He studied the map more intently with a red-filtered flashlight. "The capital building."
"Why would they fight over the capital building?" I asked.
"People will fight over a loaf of bread nowadays," Charlie said. "According to the map, there is a Capital View Park, so I bet we can see what's going on without crossing the river."
"Right across the street," I replied. "But we'll have to stay off the road with all those zombies heading in the same direction."
"Stupid zombies," Mike grumbled.
"Lead the way, boy scout."
"That's Cavalry Scout to you, jarhead," Mike said, grinning. "Scouts out."
He folded the map and took off at a trot. Charlie followed a dozen feet behind him, and I waited until he was a dozen feet ahead of me. We had open land or hardtop roads all the way to Capital View Park, but couldn't use them. Still, it wasn't very far at all. With a car we could've been there in a few minutes. On foot and off-road, not so fast.
The terrain remained rough. The zombies had it easy on the road. We had to make a few detours, and even used the road a couple times. There had to be hundreds of zombies in Capital View Park, so we hung back in the trees above them.
"Honestly, I don't think it's such a great view," Mike said.
It would be better if we could get down next to the river, but I could see zombies moving around in and around the wooded riverbank. We still could see enough to know it was a full-scale attack on the Kentucky state capitol building by what looked like US Army troops. The capital building was on fire, with the cupola half-blasted away.
"Bradley," Charlie whispered, pointing directly across the river. There was a line of Bradley Fighting Vehicles rumbling up the road. I didn't see any actual tanks, but from the sound of battle there had to be some already engaged in the fight. "Why are they stopping?"
Our answer flew in a moment later. A Blackhawk helicopter landed in a sports park between the road and the river. I watched through binoculars as a stout looking man came out of the helicopter and hurried up to the lead Bradley.
"That's got to be at least a full bird colonel," Charlie said.
We watched the Bradleys drive up to and enter a place in the woods along the road. It looked like something, maybe a tank, had smashed a path up toward the capital building. A few moments later the battle reached a crescendo, as if every weapon, every tank, every mortar, ever artillery piece fired at once. Three Apache gunships joined the fight, and it looked and sounded like hell on earth for fifteen minutes.
Silence fell like a palpable thing. We waited another hour, and I was just about ready to head back to the others, when the sound of engines revving filled the air. A line of Abrams tanks, Bradleys, and cargo trucks came down the road. The deuce and a halfs were all open, so we studied
them through binoculars. I expected to see soldiers, not women and children.
"What the fuck?" Mike asked. "Did someone steal the soldiers' wives and children? Or did the soldiers just steal someone else's?"
The only men in back of the trucks were armed soldiers. They had taken prisoners. I didn't know the answer, but it didn't look good. A moment later another line of Bradley's appeared. They stopped to drop off the man we suspected was leading the soldiers, and he got back into his waiting Blackhawk and flew away.
"The helicopters are all heading north," Charlie said. "Not eastward toward Fort Knox."
"I don't like this at all," I said. "Let's head back. Whatever we do, we have to avoid those soldiers. I think they've gone rogue."
Chapter 30
The ghost town formerly called Frankfort, Kentucky was deathly quiet as the sun rose and painted the eastern sky bright pinks and purples. The clouds were breaking up, so it might prove a nice day.
I jumped down out of the back of my 5-ton. I was double-checking the work done to cover the cargo. We cleaned and dried everything and the pile of mostly weapons and ammo with a tarp we found in the warehouse. It was good enough for government work.
Jenny was delivering a case of bottle water. We'd found quite a few cases in the warehouse. So after loading them in back, I had a rare moment alone with my wife.
"You be careful," I whispered, and then kissed her. "We should see fewer zombies as we go north, but there might be more survivors turned into savages."
"Do you think those soldiers are savages now?"
"If what Sean says is true, then I believe so," I replied. "Killing the men and taking the women and children is how barbarians wage war, not American soldiers."
Sean was of the opinion that the soldiers were there just for the women and children. What else was inside the capital building they'd want? The idea of US soldiers conducting raids for women was disturbing. Maybe that unit was trying to carve a little kingdom out of the ravaged lands, so they were grabbing all the women and children they could to create families.
I still struggled to believe that was their objective, but ancient history showed the Romans did the same thing in their nation's infancy. So now we had to defend our families from flesh-eating zombies, murderous savages, and wife-stealing soldiers.
"The world has truly gone to hell," she said. "At least Sean moved Jake back into the bus. Nicole was a mess with both her husband and son manning machine guns."
Jake wasn't so happy. I think he actually felt like a man, but he'd still help defend the bus, only with a SAW. Larry Carr was taking Jake's place behind the M60 on my truck. Sean also swapped out Kate and Greg, so she would be the bus driver and Greg would be the M60 gunner on the rear 5-ton. I think Greg just wanted off the bus full of women. Kate took the move better than Jake.
"Make sure Jake feels like he's appreciated and important. Maybe put him up front and say he's the main gunner for the bus," I said. "And as bus commander, you be extra careful with our precious cargo."
"No, you be careful leading us up that road," she said. "Sean says our objective for today is Cincinnati, but privately he told me if it goes well we might try for Canada."
Cincinnati was eighty something miles north of Lexington, so an hour and a half at posted speeds. It was halfway between our location and Detroit, and that's where we planned to cross over into Canada. We'd be lucky to achieve any speed over 50 MPH, but still should be able to reach the city before midday. If we achieved our objective by noon, then I didn't see any reason not to continue.
"I'd love to wake up in Canada tomorrow morning, eh," I said, grinning. It took her a second to get the joke. "Seriously, though, don't get your hopes up too much. We might have to go around Cincinnati."
I honestly didn't think we'd have any more trouble passing through Cincinnati than we did through Lexington where zombies were concerned. My worry was that other survivors had figured out north was safer from zombies, so we'd have more savages to deal with. One armed survivor was a thousand times more dangerous than a zombie.
"How are the boys and Spooky doing?"
She frowned. "Harlan is having it a little tougher than Timmy. Spooky and Timmy are really bonding right now, but she's still a mess. I think it’s Timmy keeping her sane." She gave me an odd look. "You need to spend more time with her. She needs a father figure more than ever right now."
That made me uncomfortable. I didn't want to upset the little girl by trying too hard. Jenny was more attuned to others, and especially to Spooky, so I had to trust her judgment. She was my daughter now, so I had to step up.
The loss of both of Spooky's parents shocked the other families. Now everyone had spoken and worked out who would take care of their kids if the unspeakable happened. No one liked to think about such things, but brutal reality kicked us in the teeth. Most of the families had lost one or more members. Hell, Larry had lost his wife and a daughter.
Charlie and Mike came in the door. They looked hot and tired as they returned from scouting Highway 60 all the way up to the Frankfort Pike/460. We were just off the intersection of I-64 and Highway 60. The Frankfort Pike was a few miles north of us, and went back to I-75 at Georgetown.
"What did you find?" Sean asked as all of the adults converged on them.
Sara hurried over with a bottle of water for each, which they gratefully accepted.
"It's a mix of residential and retail all the way up to Frankfort Pike, and mostly clear of zombies," Mike said. "There are a few car dealerships around the corner if we want to add any vehicles."
"No," Sean said. "Four is pretty unwieldy as it is, and we'd just have to take time to install radios."
"That's what we figured, but the Chevy dealership had some really nice Tahoes out front. Anyway, we didn't see or hear any soldiers or vehicles out and about. There was some sporadic gunfire to the northeast, but it sounded like a hunting rifle," Mike continued. "We can't miss the turn off. There's one of those big green signs over the road showing how to get to downtown, the Civic Center, and the exit to 460 East and Georgetown."
"We need to leave right away," Charlie said. "We spotted a sizable horde coming up Frankfort Pike from the west. I think we can get there and head east before they reach it."
"That's all I need to hear. Mount up," Sean called. "We depart in five minutes max."
"Piss now if you have to," I whispered to the men on my truck. "It's harder than you think to piss out the back of a truck while it's moving, and the boys in the Humvee will kill you next time we stop."
Vince, Larry, and Mike laughed, but they all used the plow blade to hide behind while they emptied their bladders. I took the opportunity, too, after I gave Jenny, Timmy, Harlan, and Spooky each a hug and kiss. Everyone was ready before the five minutes allotted, so I opened the bay door. Charlie led the way out, pausing to let me climb in.
We didn't get a hundred feet before running over a zombie. It only took a moment to reach Highway 60, and we turned right. We actually got up to 50 MPH while driving through town. I think I might've seen a dozen zombies before we reached the turn onto Frankfort Pike to Georgetown. Unfortunately, their estimate on how fast the zombie horde was moving was off.
"Holy crap," Charlie said. He braked down to 20 MPH. "It's a zombie jamboree."
"Fire them up!" I shouted to my topside gunners.
Ratta-tat-tat-tat! Ratta-tat-tat-tat-tat!
There were a lot of tracers in the belts of ammo they were firing, which showed up especially good in the dim early morning light. Zombies went down in waves. Some of them got back up, but most remained down. As usual, other zombies began feasting on their dead comrades. I fired the SAW out the window and tried to not think about their unnatural hunger. All I wanted to do was open as wide a passage as possible for the other three trucks.
Soon the bus and last 5-ton gunners opened up, too. It was pure slaughter, and probably not entirely necessary. But it felt good and helped relieve some of my stress.
After
we turned and passed out of the horde, I watched the right side mirror outside my window as the other vehicles came around the corner and followed us. Everyone got through unscathed.
"Cease fire," Sean said over the radio. "We're good now."
"Why do I hear Mike in my head singing, I feel good, dana-nana-nana-na," Charlie said.
"Dammit, now that song is stuck in my head."
Charlie was able to wind it up to 50 to 55 MPH shortly after that. The highway wended through relatively flat farmland. There were quite a few zombies scattered throughout in small groups. Few were following the road, with the vast majority crossing from north to south. It was easy to avoid them for the most part. All went well until we reached a golf course.
Someone fired a shot that passed through both open windows and shattered the side mirror on the driver's side. I didn't actually hear the shot, but there was no mistaking the bullet that struck. And a second later both of our topside gunners opened fire to the right. There was a hill to the south, with the entrance to the golf course to the left. We were driving through the saddle between the hills.
Sean opened fire with his .50 cal, followed by others in the bus and rear truck. I wasn't sure where the shot came from, and the tracers showed others weren't sure either. They were shooting at a barn, home, line of trees. We continued laying down suppressive fire as we sped past and away.
"I think someone was just having a bad day," Charlie said.
"I bet he wasn't expecting us to return fire with a dozen automatic weapons."
He grinned. "Bet he pissed himself."
"I hope he pissed himself, and learned not to snipe innocent people."
Georgetown was another zombie nightmare. They were packed in tighter than sardines. We only made it halfway through town before I ordered Charlie to turn north on another road. After a few more turns, and using the plow to open a passage through more zombies than I cared to count, we came upon I-75 quite by surprise. We were just south of a big Toyota Motor plant.