by Ricky Sides
“I found the lantern. Now I’m trying to find the batteries,” Randy told him. The two men searched for a good ten minutes before Randy finally found the batteries they needed to power the lantern.
“Tomorrow morning, we definitely need to get this stuff organized,” Herb said.
“Yep. And we still need to inventory our supply of weapons. I’m curious about that set of satchels the armorer gave us.”
“Okay, why don’t you check them out while I find the windup radio to see if we can listen to the news,” Herb suggested.
Herb located the radio and unpacked it from its factory packaging while Randy sorted through the assorted materials contained in the three satchels. Herb got the radio working, and then joined Randy at the kitchen table. They listened to the news while they examined the gear.
There were a dozen high explosive grenades, two dozen magazines for the Berettas, and an equal number of additional magazines for the M4s. There were also a dozen boxes of 9mm ammunition as well as several hundred rounds of 5.56 for the M4s.
“We need to make better plans in the future,” Herb said, referring to the weaponry. “I didn’t like leaving the weapons here when we went into town.”
“Neither did I,” Randy pointed out, “but at best we’ll lose them to confiscation, if we’re caught with them, and at worst we’ll go to jail.”
“I know, but what if we encounter some of the zombies when we’re unarmed?” Herb countered.
“In that case, we’d be screwed,” Randy admitted.
“Right, so here’s what I think we should do. We’ll continue to take both vehicles, just in case one breaks down. Since we’ll be traveling in both, I say one of us carries the weapons. The other will make the purchases. The man armed watches over the other vehicle and provides security for the unarmed.”
“I don’t know, Herb. That’s risky. The armed man goes to jail.”
“I’ll take that risk. You don’t need to do it. I’m not going out again unarmed. When things get bad enough, there will be people out there who will be willing to kill us over a can of food.”
“I’m not asking you to take all the risks,” Randy said quickly.
“I know you’re not, but this is my idea, so I’ll take the chances. You’d need to drive my truck though. It would haul more.” Then Herb changed his mind and said, “Wait. That wouldn’t work. The car is in your name, so that would implicate you. So you can make the purchases and just stick them in my truck.”
The men had been talking while the radio was reviewing the top news stories of the day, which they had already heard multiple times. Then something the commentator said caught Herb’s attention and he held up his hand for silence as he reached over and turned up the volume.
“I repeat, we have confirmed cases of the zombies in Arkansas,” the news commentator said. Herb thought the man sounded understandably upset. “The outbreaks are scattered throughout the eastern half of the state, and there are reports that the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has seen verified cases.”
After that snippet of news, the commentator began repeating other news stories that he had covered previously, so Herb lowered the volume a bit and then he turned the hand crank to wind the spring, which powered the radio.
“That’s where Erma was earlier today doing those nanotechnology tests,” Herb pointed out to Randy.
“Yeah, I hope she’s doing okay. She was a nice lady who did what she could to help us,” Randy observed.
“Yes she did,” Herb agreed. “I’m sure she has plenty of protection with her.”
“I don’t know,” Randy countered. “She didn’t have much back at the armory, and Agent Marx didn’t leave with her.”
“She had the whole Guard Unit at her disposal there,” Herb countered, but Randy’s observation caused him concern. “Listen to the radio to see if they say anything important. I’ll be right back,” Herb said.
He went outside to his truck and returned with the big road atlas he had used as a reference to navigate the highways during the trip to the cabin.
“Are we planning a trip tonight?” Randy asked.
“No. At this point, I’m just doing some research out of curiosity,” Herb explained.
He consulted the atlas and soon discovered that they were about 70 miles from Little Rock. If they drove Highway 40 most of the way, then they could be there in a little over an hour.
“Well? How long would it take us to get to her?” Randy inquired. “And why are you even considering it at all?”
“It would take a bit over an hour to reach the city, depending on traffic.” Herb shrugged then and said, “As for the why, I don’t have an answer you’d understand.”
“Try me,” Randy prompted his friend.
Randy saw Herb’s face take on a troubled expression. “I guess it’s mainly about last night for me. I lost just damned near everyone I know last night. I don’t know the Langley woman well, but I do know her.”
“And she risked her job to help us,” Randy added. Then he said, “Okay, count me in on this hair-brained scheme.”
“You don’t have to go, buddy. Hell, I haven’t even decided whether or not I’m going yet.”
“Oh, you’ve decided. You just don’t know it yet. But I know it, because I know you, so let’s get to the mission goals and skip the bullshit. Okay?”
Herb grinned at his friend. “You know me pretty well, don’t you?”
“I should. We’ve been friends most of our adult lives,” Randy replied. Then he said, “So what’s the plan? Do we leave tonight, or wait for morning? And do we take one vehicle or both? Oh and are we taking weapons?”
“I think we should go into the city at first light. I’m not familiar with Little Rock, and we’ll have to find the University once we get there. It looks easy enough, but you never know. It’s five miles from the state capital.”
“As to the mission goals, we go in and see how she’s doing. We know from experience how quickly the zombies can overrun a place. We know her trailer where she conducts experiments. If it looks as if everything is under control, then we leave without contacting her. If not,” Herb shrugged, “then we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.”
The two men talked about their plans for the next day a bit more, and then they got busy storing the supplies that they had accumulated. Both men were accustomed to keeping odd hours, having recently been called into active duty. They were keyed up with a tense excitement due to their plans for the following morning, and neither was ready to call it a night and go to sleep. Randy suggested that they go up into the bell tower to check it out as a possible defensive position.
Herb grabbed the windup radio and tied it to his belt, and then he led the way up the wall-mounted ladder that was situated along the wall between two of the bedroom doors. He lifted the hinged trapdoor that gave them access to the roof and soon the two friends were standing in the bell tower.
Herb closed the trapdoor to prevent them from falling through the open access, and then the two men stared out into the night. The tin roof below them was slanted at a steep angle, which gave Herb a sense of vertigo as he stared at it in the faint moonlight. The sky was clear, and a myriad of stars twinkled in the heavens.
“It’s such a beautiful night,” Randy observed. “For a moment, I could almost forget that all is not right with the world.”
“That would be a dangerous lapse tomorrow, buddy,” Herb said. “But tonight, yeah, I agree with you. It’s almost enough to make me forget too.”
The shrill emergency broadcast system tone alerted Herb that there was about to be more important breaking news. He grabbed the dangling radio and turned up the volume. This time, the government was issuing fallout warnings related to the nuclear missile strikes that occurred the previous night.
“It looks like the east coast is sort of screwed, doesn’t it?” observed Randy.
“If this thing can’t be stopped, the whole country is probably screwed,” Herb countered.
After the detailed fallout warnings, the news commentator came back with a live report that indicated there had been outbreaks in France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico and Russia. China had sealed all borders and threatened to shoot down any aircraft that invaded their airspace. However, Australian sources were quoted as saying that the Chinese Ambassador to the United States had fallen ill at his residence in China. Members of his family and the public had greeted him upon his return from the United States. China was denying that the man had been infested with the Akins parasites, but sources had been quoted as saying fires were raging in the area.
“How the hell did it get overseas?” asked Randy.
“With people or animals, I imagine,” Herb said. “The same way it skipped to New York and Atlanta. Reporters most likely carried it there. Then there’s that whole exchange student thing to consider. Really, who knows what a tangled set of circumstances could have led to the spread? I can think of a few off the top of my head, but most come back to the activities of people or animals. The important thing is that it has spread. At the rate this is progressing, the whole world may be infested in a couple of months.”
“Can we just turn it off for a few minutes and look at the stars without the distraction?” Randy asked.
“Sure, buddy,” Herb said. He understood his friend’s desire to forget all the troubles for a few moments. He switched off the radio and the two friends stared out into the night in companionable silence.
When his night vision improved to the point that he could pick out landmarks, Herb pointed out the property lines where his land butted up against the Dagmar State Wildlife Management Area. He explained that the area was home to a myriad of species such as squirrel, rabbit, deer, ducks, fish, and even the occasional black bear.
“Well, we need to remember to cook any game we take well done, like Erma told us,” Randy said.
“I don’t plan on doing any hunting in the near future,” Herb said. “But if I do for some reason, you can bet the meat will be cooked very well done.”
“What’s that over there?” Randy asked. He pointed to the woodline to the left of the front of the house.
Herb stared at the area Randy was indicating. He could see something moving at the edge of the woods where the open field met the tree line, but couldn’t pick out enough detail to determine what it was. “I can’t tell from here,” he said.
The words had just left his mouth when Ox gave a savage growl in the yard below. The dog started to run toward the woods, but Herb shouted, “Ox! Come back, boy!”
The dog stopped but didn’t come back to the house. “Come back here!” Herb shouted again. This time, the dog turned his head to look back over his shoulder. When he didn’t see Herb, he turned his body around and moved his head from left to right and back again searching for him. “Get back on the porch and guard it, boy,” Herb said in a more normal tone of voice, though he was still speaking loud enough for the dog to hear him.
“Whatever it was, it went in the woods,” Randy informed his friend.
They went back down the ladder and into the house and Herb opened the door to check on Ox. The animal acted as if nothing had happened. He debated letting it in for the night, but opted against it.
Herb and Randy ate a small meal of stew that they heated over a makeshift candle stove as they planned the next day’s mission. They would be taking along their rifles, pistols, and a few of the grenades. It was risky, but then, so was facing a horde of zombies unarmed. Doctor Langley had helped them, and they were both determined to do the best they could to return that favor.
Chapter 14
Panic in Little Rock
A half hour before dawn, the two friends left to begin their mission. They had opted to drive Herb’s truck so that they would have higher clearance on the trip back over the rutted dirt drive. If things went well today, they planned to return late that afternoon with another load of supplies. That clearance might also be needed if they encountered zombies in Little Rock. It wouldn’t do to run over zombies in a car and get stuck on the street with them wedged under it.
“We’re running later than I wanted,” Herb said grumpily.
“Yep, but we both needed the rest. How long has it been since either of us had a decent night’s sleep?” his friend asked.
“Too long,” Herb responded. “I did sleep well. How’d you sleep in your room?”
“Just fine. It was quiet and peaceful, and the bed was comfortable.” Randy replied, and then he changed the subject and said, “I’ve been thinking, and I believe we need to add another stop to our list today, if possible.”
“Oh?” asked Herb. “What have you got in mind?”
“We need some electronics. I’ve given the matter some thought and we need some of those hands free communications sets for when we go on missions like this. We also need some radios for our vehicles. The down side to your cabin is no telephone signal.”
“You’re right there. I was thinking we needed some CBs yesterday as we drove to Forrest City, and those hands free units you’re talking about would be great as well. We’ll see how everything goes. I hope we have time and opportunity to cover everything we need to do today. I am beginning to get a sense of urgency. I feel like things are escalating to the point that we are running out of time. Soon, it will be too dangerous for us to leave the cabin for trips like this.”
“I agree,” Randy said. “You just put into words what is bothering me this morning.”
The men reviewed their plans and focused on refining them during the trip to Little Rock. They were attempting to take all of the variables into account. Of course, they couldn’t plan for all eventualities because they had no actionable intelligence regarding the current conditions in Little Rock or at the university. They listened to the radio, but unlike the previous few days, it seemed as if the stations had reverted to their normal programming. The news just offered the typical local news and weather with a quick side bar concerning national events. There was no mention of the Akins parasites, the nuclear missile strikes, or zombies.
“Did we wake up on another world or something?” Randy asked. “This is weird.”
“The FCC must have ordered a news blackout. Probably to prevent panic. If I had to guess, I’d say this is bad. Really bad. It’s too soon for the stations to drop the fallout reports, and the outbreaks in this state should be at the top of the news.”
“I wish we had a laptop with us to see what’s going on online,” Randy said.
“We wouldn’t have a connection at the cabin, but yeah, I’d like to know for certain what is on the net as well. I’m guessing that’s blacked out too, but it would be harder to stop the reports going out on social media,” Herb speculated.
Traffic headed toward Little Rock was sparse, but traffic leaving the city was heavy, and the closer they got to the state capital of Arkansas, the heavier the traffic leaving the city became.
“This looks like a mass exodus,” Herb remarked at one point as he stared at the snarled traffic that had backed up at the traffic lights.
“Look at their faces,” Randy said quietly.
“I’ll try, but I’m driving, so that isn’t easy.”
“Then I’ll tell you. They look scared. Some of them look terrified, and they keep looking back over their shoulders.”
“How would they know if the outbreak has worsened? It’s not being announced on the radio,” Herb said, but then he smacked his forehead and said, “Television! I guess the TV news people didn’t get the memo from the government.”
“Or they don’t give a shit and are reporting the truth anyway.”
“Yeah, they’d do that if they have people at the scene and the story is big enough. It’s one thing to squelch wire feeds and a whole other thing to stop live broadcasting.”
As they drove further into the city, they saw signs of panic. They were passing a large service station when Randy pointed to a fight in the parking lot. He saw a man drag a woman out o
f her SUV and push her away. The guy jumped in her vehicle and drove it away from the pumps, then jumped out and raced to his car. He pulled it up and took her place at the pump. The furious woman blocked his path out of his car door and the man balled up his fist and struck her as he got out, knocking her to the ground. Then Herb was driving past that service station and Randy didn’t see how the conflict ended.
“I imagine we’ll see worse before the day is over,” Herb said after Randy described what he’d just seen.
Moments later, they did see worse, when a man pumping gas at another station was stabbed by a thug, who then jerked the gas nozzle out of the car, and threw it down on the asphalt with the pump handle locked. Gas spewed out onto the asphalt as the murdering thief peeled out of the parking lot in the stolen car. Another customer ignored the knife victim and shut down the pump long enough to get his car in position to pump his own gas. Further back in the row was a truck with its hood propped open. Herb and Randy assumed the disabled vehicle had belonged to the thief.
That incident occurred while the two friends sat at an intersection waiting for the traffic signal to change.
A pale-faced Randy leaned forward and reached under the front seat for his pistol. They had agreed to keep them concealed under the seat as they passed through the city, but seeing the things that he had seen changed Randy’s mind.
“Get mine for me too,” Herb said with a grim faced expression. “These people are going nuts.”
Randy checked both weapons, then handed Herb one and said, “It’s hot but locked,” indicating that it was loaded with a magazine and had a round in the chamber, but the safety was engaged.
Soon they were driving past a small convenience store where a full blown riot had broken out. Customers were fighting in an effort to get their vehicles fueled while others were running in and out of the store. Those exiting were carrying merchandise that they had grabbed seemingly at random.
“This is crazy! And it seems the further into town we go, the worse it’s getting!” Herb said. Then he said, Damn!” and jerked the truck into the left turn lane, which caused the driver of the car behind him to sound the horn in irritation. “I almost missed our turn,” he explained to Randy.