“I do remember that,” Dr. Sanderson replied looking at Bannon with interest.
“I was that pilot,” Bannon said. “It made the news and got the attention of one Benton Worthington III. He offered me a job at three times the salary I was making for the airline; so I accepted and here I am.”
“Are you glad you took the job?” the Doctor asked.
“As with any job there are good days and bad days. There aren’t the regulations and restrictions or bureaucratic bullshit you deal with as a commercial or navy pilot. I am, however, at the beck and call of an eccentric billionaire. I see myself as a well-paid indentured servant,” Bannon said with a chuckle.
“What’s Benton like?”
Captain Bannon leaned in closer to the Doctor and spoke softly, “He is a man who gets what he wants Doctor. I have flown him around the world a dozen times and have overheard conversations that would make your hair stand on end. Be very careful in you dealings with him. He will tell you what he wants you to know and no more.” He leaned back and added, “And anything you say around him,” nodding out the window toward Gunner, “you might as well be saying to Mr. Worthington himself.”
“I appreciate the advice John,” Dr. Sanderson said.
They both sat back in their chairs and looked out the Gulfstream’s windows.
It was Captain Bannon who broke the silence this time, “So why are you here? As I said, Mr. Worthington tells you only what he wants you to know.”
The Doctor thought for a moment and then said, “I’m the one who inadvertently started this nightmare.”
Gunner and his men reported no infected activity in the area and deemed it safe to stay for the night. Captain Bannon returned to the cockpit where he would be able to get some sleep. The Doctor had grabbed a blanket out of the storage compartment and moved to the couch. Stefan and Ludvig leaned their chairs back while Mikael stood to take first watch. Gunner took the large chair that faced inward and reclined back.
Dr. Sanderson moved back and forth adjusting the blanket and the pillow in a vain attempt to get comfortable. His mind was racing with the events of the day; starting with Benton’s arrival through the narrow escape out of the hanger in Miami. As sleep finally overtook him, the last image he had was the look on Captain Bannon’s face when he told him that he was responsible for the current situation they found themselves in.
The Doctor awoke to the sound of shuffling feet in the cabin. He slowly opened his eyes and noticed the cabin was still dark. He sat up and started rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. The shuffling had stopped and he sensed someone standing over him. Actually, more like hovering. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he also noticed an unpleasant smell; one not unlike the odor in the house in Arkansas. He looked up and saw an imposing figure moving toward him. It bent down revealing the face of Gunner Johansson. Except it was not the same face he had remembered. The eyes were sunken in, the face thinner, and the teeth discolored. The Doctor suddenly realized why as Gunner lunged at him. He was able to move just enough so that Gunner was unable to hit him head on. He rolled off the couch and onto the floor of the cabin. Gunner was quickly on top of him and had the Doctor pinned to the ground. His teeth exposed as his hot breath washed over the Doctor.
Tilting his head back and looking upside down at the rest of the plane he saw Gunner’s men strewn about the cabin. They were hanging off of chairs and lying upside down on the floor. There was no sign of Captain Bannon. He turned his attention back to Gunner who was now leaning in ready to take a bite out of the Doctor’s neck. Unable to hold him off any longer he let out a scream for help …
Bolting upright from his prone position on the couch the Doctor instinctively started moving backward pushing himself against the cabin wall. He was in a cold sweat, his clothes were soaked. It took a few seconds to realize that he had just awoken from a terrible nightmare. The cabin was bathed in early morning light. Standing in front of him was the hulking presence of Gunner Johansson looking nothing like the he had in his dream.
“You were having a bad dream Doctor,” Gunner said.
“This whole endeavor is one bad dream,” thought the Doctor as he just simply shook his head up and down.
“The lavatory is open, go ahead and wash up,” Gunner said adding, “and by the way, we received another signal during the night.”
Chapter 22
Dorothy and the Tin Man
The morning’s first light was just peeking through the room’s window as Lucy awoke, confused at first as to where she was. Having finally enjoyed a sound night sleep, it took her a minute to come to grips with where she was and why she was there. As she slowly woke up, she stretched and let out a yawn.
“Sleep well Lucy?” asked Kim from across the room.
Suddenly remembering she was not alone in the room, she replied, “Better than I have in a week, how about you and the kids?”
“I got a couple hours of sleep, but my kids slept like rocks,” Kim said motioning to the still sleeping children.
“I guess we should start getting ready before Captain Morris shows up,” said Lucy.
“Yeah, I think we should pack up some of these blankets and toiletries for the road; oh, and the water seems to be working even with the power off but you can only get the cold to work.”
Looking around the room for the first time in full light Lucy located the bathroom just inside the door. There were two double beds, a small desk and dresser with a TV. Next to the dresser was a locked door that connected their room to an adjoining room.
“If you and the kids want to use this bathroom I’ll see if I can go through the door to the adjoining room and use that bathroom,” said Lucy.
“Sounds good, I’ll get the kids up. I have a funny feeling we’ll have to go wake the boys up,” Kim said with a smile.
As Kim began to wake her kids up, Lucy moved to the door between the two rooms and unlocked it. Opening their door she found the door to the adjoining room half open. She cautiously looked around the door and into the next room. No one was immediately visible but it looked like someone had been staying there when this all started. The place was a mess and it smelled of spoiled food.
Holding her breath Lucy quickly walked to the window and opened the shades letting enough light into the room to see what she was doing. Then, walking to the bathroom, she opened the door and let out a blood curdling scream. There, on the floor of the bathroom, were two zombies staring back at her. The female zombie had several bite marks on her legs and arms and the male zombie had a large bite taken out of his shoulder. The floor around them was strewn with empty medicine bottles. Each of them let out a chocked moan as they slowly got to their feet. Lucy turned and went running from the room as fast as she could. Tripping over an open suitcase, she caught herself on the bed and launched herself at the door to the next room. She considered turning around and closing the door behind her but was gripped by fear and thought only of the safety of her room.
“Kim, help, there are infected here!” she screamed as she burst through the door into their room.
Lucy paused in bewilderment as she looked around and found it empty. Just then, Kim stuck her head out of the bathroom.
“Quick, get in here!” she yelled.
Lucy ran to the bathroom and dove inside as the two zombies stumbled through the adjacent room’s door after her. As Lucy hit the floor hard Kim slammed the door shut and leaned against it. Danielle and Jason had both crawled under the sink; Jason still gripping his golf club. In unison both girls started pounding on the bathroom walls and screaming for help.
Stephen had been up for a couple hours unable to sleep any longer. All he could think about was his family and if they were safe or not. He had no way of contacting them, no way of knowing, and it was eating him up inside. As the sun was just coming through the window, Stephen got up and shook Dave and Nick awake. Dave turned out to already be awake, curled up in the fetal position just staring at the wall. Nick pulled the covers over his head a
nd tried his best to ignore Stephen.
“Come on man, just five more minutes. You’re as bad as the military guys,” said Nick from under the covers.
“I want to be ready when they come for us.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’ll be up in a bit just give me a minute,” groaned Nick.
Stephen busied himself gathering up some of the spare blankets and towels and making an improvised sack wrapping up the room’s coffee and toiletries inside. As he was setting the sack by the door he thought he could hear banging coming from somewhere outside his door. Unlocking the door he opened it a crack and peered into the darkened hall. It came again from across the hall, this time accompanied by muffled screams. Realizing in horror it was coming from the girls’ room Stephen turned back into his room and grabbed his axe.
“Dave, Nick, something’s wrong in the girls room, go see if you can find the Major!” Stephen yelled.
As Stephen dashed out of the room and across the hall, Nick threw the covers off. Jumping out of bed he hurriedly put his pants on as he hopped towards the door.
“Come on Dave get up,” he said to Dave who was still lying curled up on the bed.
Without waiting for him, Nick finally got his pants pulled all the way on and sprinted out of the door down the hall to the lobby. Stephen had reached the door to the girls’ room and had his ear pinned against it listening. He could hear the girls pounding on the walls and screaming from where the bathroom should be. He could also make out sounds just on the other side of the door. Fearing the worst, Stephen glanced at the door and then began to hack at it with his axe.
As he swung the axe he yelled, “Hold on girls, I’m coming!”
“Hurry,” screamed Lucy, “there are infected in here trying to get through the bathroom door!”
As the door to Room 102 began to splinter Stephen could make out two zombies trying to claw their way through the bathroom door. Finally, when enough of the door had been hacked away, he gave it three swift kicks and knocked what was left of it off its frame and into the two zombies. The zombies, now covered in splinters of wood from the door, turned their attention to Stephen. Both began squeezing through the broken doorway towards him. Letting out a yell, he swung his axe connecting with the female zombie on the right, cutting deep into its shoulder. It staggered but kept coming at him as he pulled his axe free and began backpedaling away from the doorway. The second swing from his axe landed square at the base of the zombie’s neck severing its head from its shoulders. The momentum of the swing knocked Stephen off balance and he crashed forward into the decapitated zombie.
Falling to the floor, with the now headless mass of undead flesh landing on top of him, Stephen had the wind knocked out of him. Looking up in horror he saw the male zombie reaching down for him. Kicking desperately with his legs, Stephen was unable to stay the murderous advance of the second zombie. Struggling with all his might there was nothing Stephen could do to protect himself. Then suddenly two deafening shots rang out in rapid succession in the hallway. The male zombie was flung back against the wall and slumped to the floor motionless, a dark substance from inside its skull splattered all over the hallway.
Looking up Stephen saw Chester standing calmly with a smoking shotgun as Nick ran to take the dead body off of him. As he got to his feet he suddenly remembered the girls.
“Quick, the girls and the kids,” he said as he ran to their room.
Stepping through the broken down door he saw the bathroom door covered in claw marks from the zombies who had tried to gain entry.
“Open up, it’s okay, it’s me Stephen, they’re gone now,” he yelled as he pounded on the door.
Stephen took a step back as the door unlocked and slowly opened. There, behind the golf club wielding Jason, stood Lucy and Kim who was holding Danielle. Seeing it was Stephen, Jason lowered his golf club and Kim sank to the floor with Danielle. Lucy ran out of the bathroom, arms outstretched, and straight into the still stunned Stephen. It took him a minute but he finally hugged her back.
“Everyone alright?” asked Nick.
“Yeah we’re fine,” replied Kim, “just really freaked out is all.”
“I hate to break this party up kids but we need to get out of here, those things are attracted to sound. Who knows how many are locked behind these doors, the soldiers only cleared the common areas and the rooms you were staying in,” said Chester as he reloaded his shotgun.
“Yeah where did those things come from anyways Lucy,” asked Nick.
“I … I … went through the adjoining door to the next room and they were … in the … bathroom,” Lucy replied as she finally released Stephen.
Just then the Major and two soldiers arrived.
“What’s going on here, is everyone alright,” Major Bradley demanded.
His question still hung in the air when he noticed the headless zombies in the hallway and the black splatter on the wall. He was able to quickly piece together what happened.
“Everyone’s ok, they just found a couple of those things in the room next door,” said Nick.
“Good, now get to lobby … we move out shortly,” ordered Major Bradley.
He directed the two soldiers to stand guard and then turned and headed back down the hall. Everyone quickly grabbed the few items they wanted to bring with them, while Nick finally got Dave out of bed. They all gathered in the lobby a few minutes later. Looking outside, they saw the soldiers transferring the supplies from the second truck to the Humvees and the truck they had been riding in.
“The truck is fixed folks and we are ready to go. Outside is crawling with infected but we don’t think they’ve noticed us yet. We’ll have to skip breakfast here and eat it on the road,” said Captain Morris to the group.
“Now let’s load up and get out of here before we have any other problems,” he added.
The trucks all started up in unison as the civilians climbed into the back of the deuce and a half that now had decidedly less space than before due to the supplies it was carrying. Stephen helped Lucy aboard and was jumping in behind the others when shots rang out. Sgt. Sanchez jumped aboard and readied his weapon as the convoy began to pull away from the hotel. More shots were ringing out now and as everyone looked out of the back of the truck they saw zombies converging on the hotel parking lot as well the abandoned truck.
“Where is Chester?” asked Stephen looking around. “I need to thank him for saving my life. We didn’t leave him did we?”
“No, I think he is riding in one of the Humvees,” answered Sanchez, “there isn’t much room left in here.”
The convoy, now down to four Humvees, a fuel truck and the cargo truck quickly drove onto the highway as the soldiers took shots at the zombies who got too close. Once on the highway Major Bradley radioed a cease fire order and settled in for what he hoped would be a short and uneventful trip to Dayton.
“You saved a lot of lives back there Mr. Boone,” Major Bradley said to Chester who now rode in the back seat alongside of Specialist Simmons.
“I hope you seriously consider sticking with us when we get to Dayton, but if not, then I am sure we can find a vehicle for you to use if you so wish,” he continued.
“Mighty appreciated Major,” replied Chester. “I’ll let you know when I’ve made up my mind.”
Almost two hours later the convoy approached Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. Major Bradley’s heart sunk as they neared the main gate and he saw that this place would offer no signs of hope or life, but only the undead who now roamed the base.
Chapter 23
Practice Run
Dr. Sanderson’s appetite had returned after he splashed some water on his face and changed his shirt. He made his way to the galley and microwaved a Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwich and poured himself a cup of orange juice. The cup, of course, had the WORTH insignia prominently displayed on the front. Feeling much better, he returned to the main cabin where Gunner was talking to his men.
Gunner noticed him ent
ering the cabin and cut his conversation short; turning to the approaching doctor he said, “Feeling better?”
“Yes,” he replied, “thank you.”
“As I mentioned before, we received a signal during the night,” Gunner said. “It passed fairly close to here but has moved north. It would be too dangerous to try to pursue on foot so we need to get closer. I was just heading to the cockpit to see the Captain.”
“Mind if I tag along?” replied the Doctor.
Gunner said nothing and nodded his head in the direction of the cockpit. Assuming that meant to come along, the Doctor followed behind Gunner as they moved past his men and into the cockpit where Captain Bannon was checking his instruments in preparation for takeoff.
“I understand we have a new signal,” Bannon said as they entered the cockpit.
“Yes,” Gunner said handing Bannon a slip of paper, “here are the current coordinates.”
Captain Bannon entered the information into the computer and studied the information displayed before him. Checking his map, he turned to the other two men in the cockpit.
“The signal looks to be about seven miles northeast from here right alongside I-65,” he said pointing to the map in his hand. “Unfortunately, this is the closest airstrip to the signal.”
“It would be difficult, not to mention very dangerous, to try on foot. Is there any way to get us closer Captain?” Gunner asked.
“If the signal keeps moving in its current direction it will end up near Montgomery. We could land there and you would be closer.”
The Zombie Principle Page 20