by Brown, TW
“All of these people were immune,” Kevin breathed. “What the hell is going on?”
His mind began to churn through the possibilities. However, it was a series of his own thoughts and feelings that provided the answer he thought would solve this quasi-mystery.
He had likened his infection with the AIDS virus. He had even been able to discern that once it was introduced to the system of a person who displayed “immunity” for whatever reason, that it might very well be communicable like the AIDS virus. That person would be a carrier.
If people were afraid of something…they might simply kill it nowadays. There had been plenty of assaults and hate crimes in the so-called Civilized World. Strip away that thin veneer, and he had already seen some of humanity’s dark side. The fact was, this was a world without rules. Then it struck him. He would not actually call it a revelation, but the thought was rather forceful and consuming.
There were no rules.
Since this entire thing had started, he had done his best to live within the constraints of society. Yes, he had committed a couple of acts that bordered on barbaric. But looking back, his only regret came when he discovered that Cary had been immune. Leaving him in that car with a gun and a single round had been an act of mercy coupled with his own cowardice at not being able to kill another human being. He had discarded that little qualm when dealing with Heather’s twisted captor, Mister Abernathy.
So what could he do now that he had this newfound epiphany? His first thought was to be proactive. There were obviously people in the area that were killing those who showed immunity to the zombie contagion.
“Kevin?” Heather’s voice called out. He could hear the fear and apprehension in it.
Giving the hanging zombies one final look, he had counted thirty-three of them, he turned and headed back to the ramp that led up to the apex of the overpass. When his three traveling companions came in sight, he noticed that they were all clustered together at the rail and looking off to his left. That would be west, and the general direction that he had intended them to travel for a bit before swinging north and making for the second meeting spot on the route he had given Catie.
He did not want to try for the first because he did not want to risk missing her by a day or so and having to play chase to catch up. It would be better to get ahead and just wait. Of course that would mean he needed to plan a route that would get them there, but he could worry about that later.
He was halfway up the ramp when a tremendous crash to his right drew his attention. The girls spun as well and sprinted across the overpass to see what it was. Kevin had an idea, but veered to the right to get a look for himself to confirm his suspicion. Sure enough, the main body of the horde that had broken off and followed them down the hill had finally reached a point where their numbers and sheer force had caused a section of the coupled train cars to topple. He did not want to think about the force required to do such a thing. And, honestly, he was now doubting how sane he had been in the first place to make the run for it.
Of course the zombies were no longer actually in pursuit of him and the others. In fact, their current path would now take them southwest; whereas they were headed northwest.
He jogged the rest of the way to catch up with Heather, Aleah, and Rose. “So what’s up?” he asked once he reached them.
He smiled at the fact that he had whispered out of habit. Despite the fact that the zombies were far enough away that they could not possibly hear a regular speaking voice, he had slipped into that mode brought on by fear.
“You need to see this,” Heather said, grabbing Kevin by the hand.
Kevin allowed himself to be pulled along. He had no idea what to expect. He certainly did not anticipate what he saw when he reached the other side of the overpass.
“That is a camp!” Kevin breathed.
He fumbled for his binoculars and scanned the area. It looked like maybe a college or something. The on-site stadium looked too nice to belong to a high school, but what did he know?
Whoever this group was, they had built the largest protective barricade that he had seen so far. The campus (and he was pretty certain that was what this place had been) sat in a perfect spot. The roads all around helped provide added strength to the barrier.
One of the things that he had seen in lots of the zombie movies were huge sections of road packed with traffic. That would have been realistic if the event had been sudden. This had not. It had been an isolated case here and there. When he and his friends had set out, they had marveled at having the roads to themselves for such long stretches. That was not to say there were not some pockets of highway that had ended up log jammed; it simply was not very common.
These people must have scoured the city to bring in every semi, city bus, and other type of large vehicle to park bumper-to-bumper on the roads all the way around this location. Then they had gone to work on a proper wall. This was not pieced together; it was constructed. The lower ten or so feet was concrete and even had windowed watch towers set all the way around the site. Then there were strands of coiled razor wire at the top.
“They are building wind turbines,” Kevin noted. “Probably have those babies up by summer. That means they have some people in there that know what they are doing.”
“So are we changing our plan?” Rose asked innocently.
“Not a chance,” Kevin answered, although it was clear his mind was elsewhere.
He could see people moving around down there. In fact, he had not seen that many living people in one place since this whole thing had begun. Only, what he was seeing had him a bit curious. It almost looked as if…
“They are sending out a large party,” Kevin said to nobody in particular. “Holy crap…they’re armed to the teeth.”
“You don’t think they would be stupid enough to try and fight that zombie horde?” Aleah asked, glancing back towards the CTA lot and the now steady stream of undead shambling across it.
“No…they probably don’t even know that the mob is close. And they are not in its path…so that should not be an issue for them. I have a feeling this has something to do with the bodies hanging under this overpass.
“What do you mean?” Heather asked.
Kevin explained what he found as well as the fact that they all looked to have been bitten and showed immunity. Heather and Aleah looked to be considering this newest revelation with concern, but it was Rose who spoke.
“So why would people just start killing folks that don’t turn, seems to me that they would want those types around for lots of reasons. They would be in less danger out on supply runs…heck might even be able to make babies that are immune.”
Kevin looked at the girl with admiring appraisal. These were all thoughts that he had entertained with the exception of the idea of reproduction. There was no way of knowing what factor genetics played—if any—when it came to immunity; however, there might be something in the girl’s logic.
He returned his attention to the compound. There were plots that looked like preparations for crop planting. The only thing he didn’t see was a ready water supply, although he did see three recently constructed towers that looked like they might be for water storage. Also, it looked like there were a series of rain catching troughs (that was the best way he could think to describe them) atop all the buildings. He simply did not think that was a sustainable manner to maintain the most vital resource. Also, when it came to irrigation for those future crops, they might be in a real bind in the event of a drought.
Finally, Kevin came to a decision on what to do. Going down there might satisfy curiosity, but he did not see any real reason to do so. They had a long road ahead of them and needed to get moving.
“Why don’t you all just put your hands in the air where we can see them,” a voice called.
Kevin and the others turned to discover a group of a dozen heavily armed individuals with some very impressive weaponry pointed at them. Try as he might, Kevin could think of nothing else to do
except comply with the demand.
18
Road Trip to Hell
I’d never seen so much shiny new firepower just wrapped up in a box waiting for me to lay claim to it. There was body armor, a cool helmet with a visor, a pair of gloves that looked surprisingly thin and light, but were supposedly puncture proof. (A statement that I proved by attacking them with my belt knife.) There was a pair of combat boots, black fatigues that were lined with chain mesh and a camel pack that held four gallons of water.
As for weapons, the M4 came with five thirty round magazines (all loaded and ready) as well as a canister holding a thousand rounds for reload. There were twin Navy Colt .45s with two hundred rounds, a KA-BAR and the utility belt to carry it on. Also there was a personal first aid kit and a small tool box with the usual assortment of universal tools. To top it all off, there was a TenPoint crossbow and a case with fifty bolts.
“These folks don’t screw around,” Katrina said with a hint of awe in her voice.
I didn’t say a word, but that was because I was basically stunned speechless. I felt like Christmas and my birthday had come all at once. It was not that I was super into guns and all that, but to receive all of this in a box with my name on it was really cool.
I dragged the box into the ground floor bathroom and suited up. When I came out, everybody was waiting for me. I guess somebody must have gone up and roused the crew because a few of them were still rubbing their eyes and yawning.
Honestly, it was really hard not to strut wearing this gear. I was surprised at how light everything was compared to what I expected. I knew it would start to feel heavier over time, but it really wasn’t that bad.
I hated taking it off, but the next morning, I slipped into it like a comfortable pair of shoes. After a brief meeting with Dr. Zahn and my own private farewell kiss for Katrina (which did not hold a candle to her “goodbye” to me the night before), I was ready to roll.
I swapped everything into the field pack they had given me. I looked at my beat up old knapsack and almost felt sad that I would probably never sling that baby over my shoulder again.
“You look…” Thalia pursed her lips as she stepped up to me and considered her next word. Her eyes lit up. “Mean! Not like mean to me or Melissa, but mean to any zombies.”
“Thanks, pal,” I said as I knelt and took her hands in mine.
“Don’t get eaten.” Suddenly she became very serious.
“I’ll do my best,” I said with a laugh. Only, she did not laugh in return; her face was grave and full of worry.
I gave her a hug and then headed out the door. It was still an hour before sunrise, although today we would probably not actually see the sun come up. A heavy cloud cover had the area blanketed and a fine mist was in the air that promised to turn to rain later.
I arrived at the rally point and was introduced to the rest of the people that made up our ten person squad—three women and seven men in addition to four “civilian” scientists. I had already forgotten everybody’s name by the time introductions were over and fell in to the rear of the line as we headed out. Before we left, everybody topped off their camel packs and were issued a dozen MREs to stuff into their field packs.
The morning was uneventful and surprisingly zombie free. After the past few days, I’d expected more, but it looked like perhaps they had wandered off to wherever it is that zombies go when they are not coming to investigate the latest noise.
We walked in a loose formation. There were scattered conversations, but since I was the “new meat” on the team, none of it was directed my way. I actually felt a little self-conscious. Everybody else was wearing the same gear, but theirs was worn and faded. Mine was still new and fresh looking.
When we stopped for the first meal break of the day, it was up on top of the trailer of a huge semi that was in the midst of what had been a pretty nasty wreck. I tried to imagine what would cause a crash like this out in the middle of nowhere. The five cars involved had to have been the only vehicles on the road in either direction for miles most likely.
As had been the case all morning, I was pretty much left to myself. It was fine, not like I had much to say to any of these strangers. Still, it made me miss my own group a bit more.
I remembered back to when I’d gone out on my first missions with the soldiers of Serenity Base; the experience had been entirely different. There was teasing and joking, and by the time we got back, I knew everybody’s name.
We got back on the move and I tried to walk close to a few people to see if anybody would say anything or even flash a polite smile. I gave up on that after an hour or so and just decided that I was here to do a job and nothing more. If these people didn’t want to get to know me, that was their choice.
By the time we stopped for a late day meal, the rain had started to come down steady. Also, I was beginning to notice an increase in walking dead. None were close, but you could see their dark shapes in just about every direction.
“S’up?” a voice said. I had to look up since I was squatting down under the limited cover of a roadside billboard.
The person looking down on me with a crooked smile was perhaps the ugliest man I’d ever seen in my life. He had a smashed nose that looked like his hobby was chasing walls and parked cars. His eyes were just a little bit crossed and he had severe acne scarring on his face that made the surface of the moon look smooth as glass.
“Just enjoying lunch…or whatever this is supposed to be.” I waved my foil pack at the guy for emphasis.
“Enjoying?” the man said with a dubious tone and raised eyebrow that almost seemed to slide off his face. Like I said, this guy was ugly.
“Well, maybe that was the wrong word,” I agreed. I sat the package down and got up, wiping my hand. “Name’s Billy…Billy Haynes.”
“Frank Porter.” The man took my hand and shook it. “And it seems that I was elected by the group to come check out the new guy.”
“Not here of your own free will,” I said with a tight-lipped nod. “I get it…sort of. I mean I get that I’m the new guy, but out in the field don’t you need to make sure everybody can handle their business? Shouldn’t there be some sense that we are a team?”
“It’s not you…it’s the guy you replaced. It was tough on the group…he was…” Frank’s voice actually caught in his throat and I thought that the guy was going to cry.
“It’s tough when you lose somebody, especially if you lose somebody that you like,” I commiserated.
“It wasn’t just losing him…it was how we lost him.”
I decided that this would be a good time to just be quiet. If he wanted to tell me, he would; if not, it really was no big deal to me.
“How much were you told about this run?” Frank asked, glancing over his shoulder at the others who were trying to watch while looking like they weren’t.
“Power supply stuff…wind farm. That’s about it.”
“But they didn’t tell you we have made this trip four times before…each time ending in failure?” Something crossed Frank’s face that I was almost certain had to be anger. “We have lost people each time. The last time we got off lucky. We only lost the one…although it might have been the worst.”
“So is there a lot of zombie activity?” That seemed like the most logical answer.
“Sort of.” Frank leaned in close and his voice took on an eerie tone. “The place is cursed…maybe even by Satan himself.”
I did my best to keep a straight face. So this was how they would prank the newbie. Whatever made them happy, I guess. Personally, I thought that they could come up with something better than demons.
“How do you mean?” I decided to at least play along for a while and be a good sport.
“The little ones,” Frank breathed. “The place seems to be empty, and then, out of nowhere…the dead kids just appear.”
I felt a cold shiver work its way up and down my spine. If he was saying what I thought he was saying, I had news for them…the p
lace wasn’t cursed. This was so much worse.
“Child zombies?” I asked.
“Demons from hell is more like it. They ain’t like no zombie. These ones…they are thinkers.”
So much for the idea of this being a prank on the new guy. I knew exactly what they were dealing with. I suddenly wished that Dr. Zahn were here. She would be able to explain things to this group. As it was, I couldn’t even remember enough of what she’d said to give a half-assed explanation.
“When was the last time you made a run on this place?”
“About five weeks ago.”
“Well then maybe they have moved on by now,” I said hopefully.
“That’s just it. They haven’t. First few times we come here, we lost people and didn’t know to what. This last time, it was like they wanted us to see them. They pulled down Tommy and I swear they just toyed with him…like a cat. Kept letting him get up and try to limp away only to knock him down and swarm him and nip at him. But they would not tear him apart…not until we all got there. Then, it was like they hid behind him so we couldn’t shoot the little bastards. And they kept biting at him, making him scream anytime we would try to get close. But the creepiest part was whenever one of us would try to bring up our gun and end his misery, they would snatch him down and attack with ferocity for a few seconds to make him really scream.”
Now I could see why they were spooked. That was the creepiest thing I’d ever heard. Sadistic child zombies? This was not shaping up to be a very enjoyable trip.
“So,” I decided to change the subject, “what is this big deal with you guys basically freezing me out. I mean you are the first to talk to me, but I can’t even get anybody to make eye contact.”
“Folks are just afraid to get to know you. You seem like a good kid, but—”
“If you get to know me and then I end up like that last guy, you’ll all feel terrible. And since you have no idea if I can handle myself in the field, I am the unknown quantity and therefore the most likely to die,” I finished for Frank.