He had in his hands a piece of paper from which he seemed to be reading. Everybody gathered around in the living space.
“So, our friends at Camp David report that the President is safe. What exactly he is President of right now, they are reluctant to tell. Alongside him are his family members, and a bunch of other idiots with powdered wigs, maybe the Commander of the army or whatever they call it here.” Than had been too worried and exhausted to notice it last night, but William spoke with a thick British accent. “Two from the isles then!” He thought to himself.
CHAPTER EIGHT
A Fool’s Paradise
“The rest of the country, and for all we know many others, have by now fallen victim to the plague; as Miss Wilhelm calls it. Outside, total anarchy is now the rule of law. It was however quite rife even before the zombies came into the equation, redefining and amplifying it. The other news I list as neutral because it may or may not have any bearing on those present here. There are other shelters like this across the US, and Britain, and generally speaking other places across the globe. A total of 32 have made contact, a comprehensive list will be posted on a new bulletin board across from the sleeping space. God Save the Queen and he did, mostly; her majesty and the immediate family, so it does interest some of us. Hmm.” With this he concluded his little speech. After he had gone back to the place behind the lined up water cartons, Jessica told Penny and Than that it was part of William’s daily routine to bring any significant news and, as he said, mostly it was bad. He was probably just a cynical and sadistic old bum who got his kicks from draining all those around him of hope.
“He could report that the zombie infestation is over in such a downtrodden tone, that you will doubt whether anything of the sort had actually happened.” Penny said. She was chewing on a tic-tac, and shaking the bottle as she did, and it was rather annoying. Sensing the general feeling, she replaced the little container in her hip pocket.
It was almost noon when Than, for the want of anything to do, embarked on looking around the place. He wanted to see what lay beyond the kitchen and the water treatment plant. Also, in the process, he wanted to solve the mystery of where Mr William went after socialising with them so amiably. Between the kitchen and the space beyond was a plastic sheet that cordoned off the area. Than felt heat emanating from it. This was probably the farming patch, but he wanted to see it for himself. He moved the plastic sheet aside and sure enough, it was as he thought but nonetheless different from what he expected. It resembled farmland to a tee. Instead of sunlight, huge incandescent bulbs hung from long wires just a few feet above the plants. Plants had been grown in patches. He could make out potatoes and the tomatoes and the pea vines that were clinging on to bamboo stalks. “No, dead bamboo stalks!” he corrected himself; bamboos grow too quickly and after a while become useless and take up a lot of moisture from the land. The rest was maybe cabbage and sweet potato. At the side of the farming patch, away from the artificial light, in the corner, was a small room-like structure, with a small door covered by a curtain. It seemed that Mr. William was the only one to afford the luxury of privacy. Than approached the room and knocked at the door to be allowed entry.
“No intruders. No exceptions.” Came the response.
“But?” interrupted Than.
Suddenly, William popped his head out from behind the door and said “And definitely no buts”.
Than laughed at this silly little joke. He came back to the living area and it was afternoon already. The air conditioners were working marvellously well. He felt like taking a nap again, but there was a television set on, and the crowd was watching something. Quite unbelievably, a DVD player was connected to the television.
“Where did you guys dig up that relic?” Than said, sitting down next to Nate.
“It’s William’s” he replied.
“And what are we watching today?” he said, becoming a bit less glum.
“Zombieland starring Woody Harrelson, that facebook guy and Emma Stone”, Rick said.
“The irony is almost uncanny!” Than chuckled.
“Imma go and get some popcorn.” Penny said, and got up.
“So where does all the energy for this come from?” Than asked.
“Hush now, watch the movie in peace,” Jessica said, twirling a curl in her fingers. She had somehow taken up the bad girl attitude from Emma Stone from the movie.
Than laughed at this too, and stayed quite. He looked over towards the kitchen after a while, wondering where Penny had gone to. He saw her staring back at him. She jerked her head and called him over towards her.
“I’m going to get a glass of water.” Than said and got up.
“Just keep a safe distance from that Jessica!” She said.
“She seems nice, why should you say such a thing?” Than said.
“Just so, she’s like really clever, or at least she thinks she is and that is so much worse” Penny retorted.
“What’s gotten into her? Last night she was so distant and removed and now she’s acting like a high-school kid.” Than thought to himself. They walked back to the living space, and this time Than and Penny sat side by side. Penny looked pleased with herself, and a smile flickered across her face.
Their communal life was taken up with helping each other with daily chores, like tending to the plants, doing the dishes, cooking, and a dry wash was set up for the clothes. The concept of the dry wash was that it used a minimal amount of water to remove the stains, and then sterilization equipment quick dried the clothes using infrared. The first week went by, uneventful and bland. The unwatched DVDs and movies were thinning out. Entertainment is something that the twenty first century humans cannot do without. It makes the fabric of their drab lives. So naturally, a glum mood prevailed over the party for the coming week or so. Still, they found time to play poker and other card games, and of course cigarettes were involved. Trevor was an avid smoker, but had reduced to only half a pack a day, thereby ensuring that his supply might last over a year. Bill on the other hand, was a fitness freak and whatever time he had spare was used to do push ups and sit ups . He had also installed an Iron bar along one wall of the compound, where he carried out his dips and chin-ups. Naturally, he was in better shape than many of them, and certainly a rung above Trevor, who already was starting to show a belly beneath his black t shirt; however, his biceps showed no sign of fading into fatty blobs. He ate well, refrained from junk and bottled food, and drank plenty of milk.
“I like milk fresh from the cow, so this is really a step down.” He said one day while talking to Than.
“Isn’t it harder on you guys, being holed up, and the whole system? You must have had a really active lifestyle, even after leaving the marines.” Than asked him.
“Well, for me it was mostly enjoying privileges, going on cruises, traveling along, taking advantage of military privileges as much as I could. It was Bill who got hit by the brunt of it. He was really active, all about healthy lifestyle, now the most physical he gets is his little gym set, and the shooting upstairs, which happens less than we’d like.” Trevor said.
“How are we really protected, is this all as bulletproof as I think it is? There have been no disturbances as far as I can tell.” Than said.
“Well, I will tell you a secret, don’t tell the ladies though, they’ll freak out.” Trevor said, looking over at the table, the two of them seemed to be getting along fine but they were alone now. With Than and Rick in the picture, they did become more sarcastic than palpable, as if hitting each other for KO points verbally. There was a sort of silent agreement between Rick and Than. They tried to avoid sitting with them at the same time. It was really an exercise in perseverance and it didn’t work most of the time, but it was still better than Jessica and Penny being in such vile moods.
“We get some Zombie action every once in a while. Keeps the blood hot and the place safe; last week we killed one old man zombie. He seemed to have somehow wandered through the maize and found us here. You see
it’s not that easy for just about anyone with the intelligence of a zombie, to find us, and on top of that we’ve got all sorts of tricks up our sleeve, don’t we?” Trevor said winking at him.
“Enlighten me!” Than said.
“Well, there’s the security system. It works sort of like in the same manner as a mosquito repellent, and only on zombies. You see, there are sensors in the maize over a diameter of about two kilometres. So when they sense something crossing the boundary, they send ultrasonic and infrared waves their way in spurts. Only zombies can hear it, like only dogs can hear a dog-whistle, eh? So, their already damned minds become phased enough, they start walking in the general direction that leads away from the source of the waves. It’s pretty neat. Then there are also the unwanteds. You see, after you came over, the camouflage work started, and Bill and I really worked like horses. Apart from sentry duty, we were tasked with painting the whole surface black, like the night sky. William took well over a week to paint a shadow maize crop over the lower surfaces, up to about 10 feet, but that’s not the trick really. The trick, I say, is the camouflage paint, which changes colour in sunlight. The dark maize crop looks like a lush cornfield when the sun comes up, and the black we painted becomes a sky blue, so we got all the bases covered.” Trevor said, looking very pleased, smoking a bent cigarette.
“You said something about unwanteds. Who is more unwanted than the zombies here?” Than asked.
“Well, good for nothing prowlers, hobos, wanderers, and the like.” Trevor said, like the fact he had just stated was too self evident to miss. The look on his face suggested “You stupid or something, lad?”
Than on the other hand, had never thought of that. Why? Had he been so stupid? It moved him to think.
That night there was quite a scene at the dinner table.
“I think it's fine. They called us stupid when we booked our spots and spent our hard earned savings on this venture. Serves them right, if you ask me, and for all I care, it’s just punishment for being so absolutely daft.” Surprisingly, it was Jessica who had said this, and even more surprising was the fact that Penny nodded in agreement.
“You, Penny? You too? I can understand Jessica being a stone hearted douche, but not you” Than said, absolutely stumped.
“Who you calling dumb? Eh? Cowboy?” Rick interrupted getting up from the table; Jessica held his hand and asked him to settle down.
“Look, all I am saying is that it wouldn’t hurt us to let a few in, that’s all I am saying. We have some social responsibility one way or the other!” Than said.
“And who decides that. Do you want to play God, Mr. Rogers? Being a plus one, you don’t really get the concept, I think.” William Nestor had made a sudden appearance.
“Can you give me a time frame for how long this is going to last? For all we know, we might never get out of here. By those standards, we are already running short on supplies, Mr. Rogers. If you want to pursue this wild fantasy of yours, I will expressively ask, if any prowler comes snooping around, that we only allow entry to those who get chosen after a majority vote. The catch is, they have to be smart enough or desperate enough to be able to locate us. They will have to come to us for help, and we will not go to them. As the curator of this facility that you are so bent upon turning to a madhouse, I have stated my conditions, with of course a voting clause. Five out of nine ought to do it. Now if you’ll excuse me and Mr. Trevor, we have a cabbage patch to tend to.” Having said that, William took Trevor along to the farming patch, and Than felt a bit more at ease. Now that Than knew about the zombie shootings, he made his way to the sentry posts. A corridor from the pavilion led to these isolated rooms, which were also situated at ground level but on the four corners of the building. Trevor and Bill were permanently on duty, while Nate filled in whenever he could.
CHAPTER NINE
Look at your Own Discretion
The security rooms were oddly reminiscent of the one they had recently visited in the morgue. “Maybe it’s my mind playing tricks on me.” Than thought to himself. There was a monitor screen, which he later discovered was connected to four CCTV cameras, which turned to infrared vision during the night. He made visits to the sentry posts regularly now, filled with empathy. He wanted to reach out to anybody that showed up, no matter who they were. William had narrowed it down to the least of probabilities, but where there is a will, there is a way, and Than was hell bent to find one. The days dragged on. Than sometimes imagined how he would have been able to survive without a purpose apart from surviving, and now he had one. In between, he helped around the bunker and spent his nights with a cup of coffee in hand, and eyes on the screen. He found himself dozing off during the day. The first activity he did notice on the screens was on the fourth night. He had just taken over from Bill, who had gone off to the loo. There was a rustle in the fields right in front of the entrance. As instructed by Bill, he flicked a switch which turned off all lights that could be seen from the outside, and the screen started showing red and glowing images from the infrared feature on the cameras. The rustle became a shaking and that’s when he saw it.
A figure with its hands on its ears was rushing in from the field in leaps and bounds, and banged straight into the sliding Iron door. It kept banging its head on it. The heat signatures showed that there was a build up of blood in the zombie’s head, and it was screaming in agony and gnawing at the door, breaking its teeth. Before he could do anything, he heard a gunshot in the night, and a split second later he saw the splattered zombie, its head shredded to bits, only possible by a shotgun burst. The heat signature was no more, just a cold splatter of decaying brains and spilled out entrails. Trevor had probably done a number on him. William instantly appeared after hearing the gunshots.
“How did this happen?” he said, pulling a chair next to Than. Without a word, Than replayed the whole scene on the screen.
“God Almighty! We have to bring down the deterrent a notch.”
Despite efforts from William, however, the appearances became more and more frequent. During the daylight, they came across a kid not more than seventeen almost on the brink of death, just a few days later. After a unanimous vote, Jessica had resisted at the beginning but gave in as Rick’s hand shot up for the vote, they tried to revive the guy. He was drastically dehydrated and in pain. He had a wound on his stomach, but it was clean, and not filled with gunk. Penny and Than tended to him; bandaged him up but the blood flow wouldn’t stop. The poor kid died without recovering, despite all the IV’s, and they had to bury him right in front of the bunker. They couldn’t even get a name out of him.
A few days later, another one appeared in the daytime, this one a woman of about 20. There was a heated debate over whether she could fend for herself or not, and would anyone follow her lead. For all they knew, she could have been a part of a larger group. The voting stood at 3 to 6, with Bill, Than and Penny for letting her in, and the rest against it. Than felt depressed after that for a long time. The woman, after wandering around the four acre bunker, finally left. She did, however, find a bag full of water bottles and canned soup, and a small lady’s pistol outside the bunker when she woke up. She fed herself on the raw beans and drank plenty of water, only to throw up later. Then she collected herself, slung the bag over her shoulder and headed North. There were mountains nearby. Maybe she would find a cave up there, but that was probably stretching it too far.
People from the Golden horde frequented the place now, and the voting, to Than’s dismay, was always against them. That changed when the Palmers came into the picture.
One day, while Than was keeping watch in the late evening hours, he saw a little boy crawling out of the maize. He was perplexed, and promptly alerted everyone else. They were now crowding the security room. The boy looked healthy, despite his shabby clothes. Soon after, to their surprise, a woman of not more than thirty, joined the boy. She lifted him up into her lap, patting his back while she observed what lay ahead of her. She didn’t seem adequately drained
so as not to see beyond the camouflage, and soon saw it for what it was.
“Seth, come hurry up! Look!” She said, and sure enough, a man who looked just as about her age, came out of the maize.
“Oh, I thought I had lost you guys!” He said, embracing her. The kid was happy to see his dad. The guy took him up in his arms, and stared in the direction of the bunker.
“Hon! We don’t know what this place is. It’s probably some weapons facility or a storage space of some sort, and besides we don’t know what might be inside.” And then he stopped talking. His eyes had found the grave. He walked slowly towards it, and revelation dawned upon him as he saw it for what it was.
“Hello? Anybody? We need help. My baby needs help. We mean no harm. For the sake of all that is good and holy please let us in!” He sat the baby on the ground, who started moving around instantly on all fours.
“Look, I will work for you, do your chores, I’ll even lick your shoes if you want to, just let us in, please! For god’s sake!” He pleaded. Tears had welled up in his eyes.
The party inside the security room looked nervously at each other.
“Vote” Than said “all in favour of letting these poor guys in.”
Hands instantly shot up, with only William refraining.
“Fine, run it as you like, but I don’t want to dig any more graves. Also, the man can fend for himself. If you really want to, bring the mother and the child in. That’s all I have to say here.” He said, throwing his hands up in the air in dismay, and left.
The door to the bunker showed a small green light as the computer announced “authorized entry”. William grunted and, like a cranky headmaster, went to his little room, grumbling.
The Palmers were a healthy new addition. The girls were more than happy to spend time with the mother and the toddler.
‘What’s his name?” Penny asked.
The Golden Horde and the Zombies (Zombie Conflict Series Book 1) Page 4