Zombies, about fifty of them. It was an even larger number than the horde that had attacked us last week. They’d surrounded the Humvee Kate was in, trying to get at her. She was shooting out of the top, but she was in danger of being overwhelmed, real danger. At least one of them had somehow managed to climb onto the hood. And what was worse, Shooter had foolishly run right into the pack and was now fighting for his life. We were about thirty yards away from them, which was a good, safe distance. I ordered my team to stop.
“Cyclic rate of fire, headshots only!” I yelled. “And be careful not to shoot Kate.” I really didn’t care about Shooter. I pointed to Goober as I took a knee.
“Watch our six!” He acknowledged with a curt nod and took a knee facing behind us, scanning with his rifle as the rest of us began methodically shooting. The sounds of other gunshots told me Justin had set up on the opposite flank and the stinkers quickly began dropping like flies. Only one of them realized what was happening and took off at a loping run. I took careful aim and popped him squarely in the back of his head. It made a satisfying impact like a ripe watermelon being hit by a baseball bat. He fell face first and his face splattered on the road.
It was over in less time than it had taken to run to Kate’s aid. Everyone was jubilant and exchanging high-fives, but I was still irritated from the conversation with that idiot Shooter and my ears were ringing from the gunfire.
“There might be more of them hiding, so be careful,” I said a little more loudly than I intended and walked over to where Shooter was now hugging Kate. I guess he believed he was the one who rescued her when in fact he was damn near eaten alive.
“They came out of nowhere,” Kate lamented, “and I couldn’t raise anyone on the radio.” Everyone comforted her while I looked around. The reason we put her in this particular location was to afford her a wide open field of view, so it seemed doubtful they came out of nowhere. I glanced in the Humvee and saw a couple of open magazines lying on the passenger seat. Yeah, they came out of nowhere. I reached into the vehicle and raised Kelly on the radio. Thankfully, everything was okay at the school. I told her what’d happened, assured her nobody was injured, and said we’d be there shortly. Justin had walked over while I was talking to her.
“Everything’s fine at the school,” I said and then lowered my voice to a murmur. “The radio works just fine.” He saw the magazines I was gesturing at and nodded at my implication. I kept my temper in check. After all, nobody got killed, bitten, or otherwise injured, so I forced myself to keep it in a positive perspective.
“This is a damn good example of why we went through that training some of you were complaining about,” Justin declared while looking at the primary complainers, Shooter and Cutter. “Alright everyone, we need to pile these things together and burn them.”
“What for?” Cutter asked. “They’re dead now, they ain’t gonna hurt anyone.” He emphasized his statement by kicking one of the corpses.
“It’s the only way to make sure the disease is not transferred to the carrion that are bound to come along and start eating on them,” Major Parsons replied. He pointed down the overgrown roadway to a rat up on its hind legs sniffing in our direction. “See? There are rats and other scavengers everywhere, and rats will eat anything.”
Cutter responded with a scornful scoff, raised his rifle, and shot at the little scavenger. He missed. Justin yanked the rifle out of his hands.
“We don’t have a whole lot of ammo to waste, numb-nuts,” he scolded. Several people started chuckling. “Alright, you heard the man. Team one, your job is to take care of the corpses.” He pointed at Private Mann. “Grab someone and scout the area. The rest of you police up all of the brass and then help with the burning.” He looked over at me. I nodded.
“We can haul the wood back later.”
“The brown rat is the most common rat in the cities of America, although the black rat is also prevalent.” The doctor had become very talkative on the ride back for some reason. I guess he wanted to show he was a valuable asset. Normally, his manner and the way he spoke irritated me, he reminded me of the actor, Ben Stein, but today I was in a relatively good mood and listened to him with interest.
“If I remember correctly, a rat carries at least eighteen known pathogens that can cause diseases in humans,” I said.
“Yes, indeed,” he replied.
“I take it y’all conducted tests on them.”
“Many, many tests,” he responded. “I know what you’re about to ask and the answer is yes, we found the virus in several of them.”
“Do you think rats spread the plague?” Tonya asked.
“The etiology of the virus was the topic of endless speculation and conjecture amongst my colleagues, but we never reached a unanimous conclusion.” I could see him thinking silently. He would start to say something and then stop himself before glancing at me. If I liked the man, I would have encouraged him to speak his mind, but I think I knew what he was about to say. I shook my head ever so slightly. He caught it, and then stared out of the window for the rest of the ride back.
“Let’s make one thing perfectly clear, Grant.” It was the first time I had ever used his first name. When we parked in the school parking lot, I had asked him to wait behind. After everyone had said goodbye and walked inside, I gave him a cold stare.
“I know what you were about to say a few minutes ago. You don’t seem to get it. You’ve screwed the pooch after what you did with my children and me, so don’t even bother suggesting more tests.”
“I understand why you dislike me, Zach, but let me say this. Over the last several weeks, I've done a lot of soul searching. In hindsight, I realize how easy it was for us, for me, to rationalize my actions and I know you’ll probably never forgive me. But, you’re a smart man, Zach. You know that your blood holds the cure and I don’t think for a moment that you’re selfish enough to keep it to yourself.”
“Maybe so, but you don’t have the facility nor the equipment to do anything about it, so it’s a moot point.”
“That could change, if you help,” he rejoined. I stared at him questioningly. “We can go back to the CDC and either make use of the labs or retrieve the necessary equipment and bring it back here. There is more than one mobile lab parked down there in the basement, gathering dust.” I frowned and shook my head.
“Out of the question. I’m not leaving my children. And before you even think about it, we’re not going to take them back down there under any circumstances.”
“Fair enough, I understand. But, I want to ask you a candid question.” When he hesitated, I motioned for him to go ahead and ask. “If I were to talk a few people into going back and bringing back the mobile lab, would you be willing to resume experiments?” Kelly came out of the school, kids in tow. She was smiling, but it looked like the kids had worn her out. I kissed the three of them and got the kids in the truck.
“What are you two talking about?” Kelly asked.
“The good doctor here wants to recruit people to go back to the CDC and bring testing equipment back here.” I motioned for her to get in the truck and I did the same. I thought for a moment and then spoke to him through the open window.
“If you want to get yourself killed going back down there, be my guest. If you’re successful and make it back, we’ll have a long talk.” I started the truck and drove off. I took one last look at him in the rearview mirror before turning onto Concord Road and saw Major Parsons grinning. Bastard.
“Was he telling the truth?” Kelly asked as we drove back home. I shrugged. “You always said he was full of shit.”
“Remember that time I was exposed and spent a couple days in that cage?” I explained to her, as best that I could, about antibodies and antigens.
“He is of the opinion that I’ve developed an immunity, but I’m skeptical.”
“But still, if he’s right, you have the cure.” I wanted to remind her of the time I was held captive and treated like a lab rat, but I didn’t.
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“Yeah, well, there’s nothing he can do about it at the moment. He’s going to need – hell, I don’t know, a lab and all kinds of equipment in order to synthesize a vaccine out of my blood. Anyway, it’s a boring subject. How was your day?”
“We had a great time. I don’t think Kate and Rhonda care too much for each other, but everybody played nice. Your son sure does like the girls.” I glanced over at him and grinned proudly. “And I had a long talk with the two nurses who came from the CDC.”
“Oh yeah? Mike and Mary, right?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“The woman sounds Jamaican. The dude talks like he's from up north somewhere.” Kelly laughed.
“Yeah, they met while doing missionary work. They’re really nice people, but that hasn’t stopped Cutter and Shooter from making a few snide remarks.”
“That figures,” I muttered.
“Anyway, they confirmed what Grant had said earlier about the vaccinations. All of the kids were inoculated.”
“What about the other kids down there, did any of them survive?” Kelly shook her head sadly.
“They said the zombies had cut off the upper floors from the lower floors. They’d killed so many the stairwells were completely blocked.” She shuttered. “It sounded horrible.”
And Grant is adamant about going back, I thought. I didn’t see any good ending to that endeavor.
Chapter 28 – Sammy
“Bingo,” Justin said after he worked the portal open and took a sniff. I jogged over to the opening of the underground fuel storage tank he was inspecting. “Diesel,” he confirmed, “and it looks to be half full.”
It made sense; we were at a UPS hub Jorge had spotted a while back and they had a system in place to fuel up their delivery trucks. I motioned Sammy over.
“Take a sniff, but don’t inhale deeply.” He got on his knees and did so.
“That’s what diesel fuel smells like. It smells different from regular gasoline, right?” He nodded in understanding.
“Okay,” I said, pointing. “I need you to go climb up on the top of that truck over there and keep an eye out for anyone or anything, but don’t let them see you.” Sammy obeyed instantly, hustled over and climbed up the truck faster than any of us could. Justin chuckled.
“He’s catching on.”
“Yeah, he was a sickly looking kid when he first came here, but he seems to be doing a lot better now.”
Ruth got in our truck and Justin guided her as she backed the five hundred gallon tanker up to the open portal. Everyone watched as I dropped the hose into the tank and started pumping the fuel. Jorge emerged from the business and held up a torque wrench.
“They got some good tools in there, man,” he exclaimed. His father nodded in agreement.
“That’s great,” I said. “Anything that’ll trade, be sure and grab it.” Jorge and Josue needed no further prompting and were soon loading the back of the truck full of various types of tools. We were making a good team.
“It’s looking pretty good, so far,” Justin commented.
“Yeah, I hope this diesel is still good.”
“What else do you think we need for the rendezvous?” Justin asked.
“Anything that’ll be good bartering items,” I replied. “Besides food, fuel, and ammo, the biggest things will be anything that’s useful but hard to find. I don’t think I want to barter any fuel or ammo, we need to keep all we find.”
“Yeah, I agree. We have an abundance of corn and potatoes, but not much else.”
“Tonya’s little grow operation might bring in some trade,” Justin said. “She has an entire greenhouse dedicated to growing nothing but marijuana.”
“A true latent stoner,” Ruth quipped.
After we had taken everything we thought would be useful, we tied down our load and stood by the truck.
“It’s still daylight out,” Justin said. “But there’s no room left.” I glanced at Sammy. He was still perched atop a semi, dutifully scanning the area with my binoculars. I got his attention and waved him over. He climbed down, ran up to us and stood there anxiously in his loose-fitting tee shirt and jeans that were so long the legs had to be rolled up to fit.
“What’s next, Zach?” he asked.
“We’re all done here.” He looked dejected. No doubt he wanted to do more than just keep watch. I thought about it and gave the men a conspiring wink.
“Sammy,” I said, “have I ever told you about Tommy and Joe?” He shook his head.
“Who’re they?” he asked.
“They were two young men close to your age. Unfortunately, they died in a freak accident, but when they were alive, they were being trained how to be bad ass survivalists.”
“They were?” he asked, wide eyed. I nodded with mock seriousness.
“Yep, and let me tell you, the training wasn’t easy.”
“What kind of training?”
“There was all kinds of stuff. Some of it was pretty challenging. I’d show you, but I don’t know if you’re big enough.”
“I’m big for my age,” Sammy retorted. “You said so yourself.” I scratched my chin as if thinking it over.
“Okay, fair enough, but, before we get started, there are things you need to understand. First, you’ve got to take your training seriously.”
“I will,” he said earnestly.
“And you have to be able to follow orders from your superiors, can you do that?” He nodded his head even more vigorously this time.
“Alright, let's start with a training exercise right now and we’ll see how serious you are about this.”
“Okay,” he said eagerly. I handed him a flashlight.
“We’re going to start with testing your resourcefulness.” I pointed out the business we had been in for the past two hours. “I want you to go in there and find three and only three items you can use as a survivalist. Whatever items you find, you have to be able to carry all of them out at the same time, so you must consider the size and weight, right?” Sammy nodded. His eagerness was still there, but it was tempered now as he tried to think through the challenge.
“Okay, there are a couple of other rules. As you know, zombies are attracted to sound and light, so you need to be super sneaky quiet and only use that flashlight when you have to.”
Sammy chuckled now. “There ain’t any zombies in there. You guys have already checked it out.” Jorge groaned and shook his head.
“We didn’t check everywhere, man. Those things could be hiding in a closet or crouched down in a dark corner somewhere.” Josue said something in Spanish and Jorge nodded. “My father said those things like to hide and wait until someone is alone and then attack. And they like to eat kids, man.”
Sammy’s grin disappeared and he was now looking a little frightened. Justin and Ruth were each holding their hand over their grins.
“Okay, don’t come out until you’ve found three useful things.” I glanced up at the sky. It was a little bit after noon and the sun was shining brightly. “You better get going, it’s going to get dark soon.”
“Vaya con Dios,” Josue said somberly and made the sign of the cross. I thought I was going to shit myself I was trying so hard to not laugh. Sammy walked hesitantly and looked back a couple of times before disappearing through the open door.
“You guys are devious,” Ruth said while trying not to laugh. “He watched us clear the business, he knows there’s no zombies.” I tapped my temple.
“Nothing like the power of suggestion,” I said.
“Did you do this with those two boys you mentioned?” Justin asked.
“Oh, yeah. We all had a hand in their training. Corporal Alexander was training them in soldier skills, would you be interested in doing something like that with Sammy and the other kids?”
“Sure, when they get old enough.” He looked over at the door Sammy had gone into. “I suppose ten is about the right age to start, depending on the kid. My dad taught me and my brother to shoot a little twent
y-two rifle when we were about his age. Yeah,” he said, thinking. "Yeah, I think I'd really like doing that. We've got to teach the kids how to survive."
We chitchatted casually, mostly about the upcoming rendezvous. Jorge and Josue listened attentively.
“How's the progress going?” I asked Justin.
“I think we're ready to go.”
“So, this rendezvous, is it going to be good?” Jorge asked.
“I hope so,” I answered. Justin nodded in agreement.
“You think any women will show up?”
“There might be a few, it’s hard to say.”
“I hope so, man. Kate has a thing for Shooter, Kyra doesn’t want anything to do with me, and my balls are about to explode.”
“Kyra no Bueno,” Josue said and held his hands out as if measuring something. “Pequeño trasero.”
“What’d he say?” Justin asked.
“He said her ass is too small,” Jorge replied and shrugged a shoulder. “He likes women with big rear ends.” Justin and I laughed while Ruth shook her head in exasperation.
“Well, all I have to say is be wary of Janet. She’s no bueno.” Both Jorge and Josue nodded in understanding.
“He’s been in there a long time,” Justin finally remarked. I looked at my watch. It’d been about forty minutes. I thought he would’ve been out of there long before now.
“Yeah, maybe so. I’ll go in and get him.” However, before I could act, the door burst opened and Sammy emerged. He ran over and stood in front of us with his hands full and breathing heavily.
“Alright, show us what you got,” I said. Sammy held out his possessions.
“I got a hammer, a Bic lighter, and a water bottle,” Sammy held out his possessions tentatively. The hammer was a standard machinist’s ball peen hammer, the Bic lighter was almost completely full, and the water bottle was one of those plastic ones you bought at a Target store and put in your school backpack. I nodded thoughtfully, somberly, as if making a serious evaluation of his treasures.
Zombie Rules (Book 4): Destiny Page 23