The Zombie Principle

by David R Vosburgh

  The few remaining men scattered from the demolished trucks as Private Sinclair slowly maneuvered the Humvee through the narrow gap created by the explosion. Moving between two of the trucks, he pushed them apart with his front bumper to make room for the rest of the convoy. As the sound of metal on metal scrapping filled the air, Major Bradley swiveled in the gunner’s cupola and watched what was left of Jeb’s men running away. He held his fire thinking to himself that the lesson had been learned and too much blood had already been spilled.

  Major Bradley looked down at Chester, standing on the running board, and gave him a knowing nod which Chester returned before turning his gaze to the Ohio River to their right. Doing a quick check over the radio Major Bradley conducted a head count and was relieved to hear that there were no injuries just some frightened civilians.

  As the convoy eased over the bridge, Major Bradley shook his head as he watched the burning trucks in Carrolton disappear from view as only the columns of black smoke remained visible. He knew he should not be surprised that the baser instincts of human kind came to the surface in a crisis. It saddened him to think that there were people out there that were taking advantage of this mess for their own personal gain.

  Chapter 25

  They’re Everywhere

  Dr. Sanderson had seen the collection of infected moving north on I-65 through the window as the Gulfstream dipped its wing, banking slightly, and headed north. It was, by far, the largest gathering of undead he had seen in any one place at one time. He leaned against the back of the couch, as Captain Bannon piloted the plane upward, trying to get the image out of his head. Regrettably, it was there to stay.

  Captain Bannon continued on the same course they were on prior to receiving the latest signal. He briefly thought about turning the plane around and flying south, maybe to the Caribbean. The islands were isolated from the rest of humanity and probably still uninfected. He could fly in, lie on the beach drinking a pina colada and let someone else deal with this problem. Unfortunately, the sense of duty that was drilled into him during his time in the navy was preventing him from doing so.

  When they had reached cruising altitude Captain Bannon engaged the auto pilot and headed out into the cabin. The sight of the pilot coming out of the cockpit surprised the Doctor.

  “Must be okay to get up,” he thought.

  Bannon moved past Gunner’s men and walked up to the Doctor and said, “Did we find what we’re looking for?”

  “We located the source of the signal,” answered the Doctor as he unbuckled his seatbelt, “but, unfortunately, it wasn’t who we were looking for.”

  “What, or should I say who, is it exactly that we are looking for Doctor?”

  “One of my former patients,” he said, now standing.

  “He’s one of those things now?”

  “Yes he is,” the Doctor answered. “As a matter of fact, he was the first one of these things.”

  Captain Bannon said nothing and just stared into space. He seemed to be looking past the Doctor instead of at him.

  Gunner broke the awkward silence by announcing he was going to update Mr. Worthington on their progress.

  “Could you ask him if he has located my wife and daughter yet?” requested the Doctor.

  Gunner nodded as he went into the galley where the satellite phone was kept. Dr. Sanderson was going to attempt to eavesdrop, hoping he would not converse in Swedish again. Unfortunately, the Captain was still standing in front of him and looked like he might have more to say.

  When it became apparent he did not, the Doctor asked if he was alright.

  “Yea, I’m okay,” he answered. “I continued on our northern heading, I assume that is acceptable?”

  “Yes, that would be fine,” the Doctor said adding, “we are just waiting for another signal.”

  Bannon nodded and began to turn around and head back into the cockpit when he abruptly stopped and asked, “How many more signals are out there?”

  “Um … Six more,” the Doctor answered.

  Nodding again, this time he did turn and head back toward the cockpit as Gunner returned from the galley. He did not look particularly happy.

  “Has he located my family?” asked the Doctor expectantly.

  Gunner ignored him and headed toward his men who were still sitting in their seats. After a brief conversation, he returned to where the Doctor was standing.

  With the Doctor’s question still hanging in the air, Gunner walked past him and said, “Not yet.”

  About forty-five minutes later Dr. Sanderson was jolted out of a daydream about a beautiful summer’s day twelve years ago with his wife and two children vacationing in Napa Valley, California, by the alarm from Gunner’s PDA. Another signal had been discovered.

  Gunner was sitting at the conference table sharpening the throwing knife he had stashed in his trouser leg. The PDA was on the table and began to wobble slightly as the message arrived from the GPS receiver. He returned the knife to its sheath and picking up the PDA, headed into the galley to consult the receiver. After returning, he placed the receiver on the conference table and made his way to the cockpit.

  He returned a few minutes later and sat next to the Doctor.

  “We have another signal,” he said, “it is a few miles south of Knoxville. We’re heading to the McGhee Tyson Airport. It will keep us further south of the city than the downtown airport. We should be able to stay clear of trouble that way.”

  As the Doctor was about to respond he heard the familiar sound of Gunner’s PDA going off again. It was still in his hand as he glanced down at it.

  “A second signal,” Gunner said.

  Turning around he picked up the GPS tracker from the table and jotted down the coordinates.

  “I don’t think it’s near the other one,” Gunner said.

  He returned to the cockpit to determine the location of the new signal. A few minutes later Captain Bannon’s voice came over the intercom asking for the Doctor to come to the cockpit.

  When he arrived, Gunner spoke first.

  “The second signal is coming from the Tennessee-Kentucky border” he said. “It’s about the same distance away as the other signal from our present position.”

  “Is there any way to determine which signal is the one we’re looking for?” Captain Bannon interrupted.

  “I’m afraid not,” the Doctor answered. “All the codes are the same.”

  “Do you have a suggestion as to which signal to follow first?” Gunner asked.

  The Doctor thought for a minute and decided he had absolutely no reason to follow one signal over the other. He also had detected an edge to both Gunner and Captain Bannon as of late. They were likely discouraged at the lack of progress and in some way blamed him for it. The several close brushes with death probably had not helped their mood any either. He needed to answer with authority. Get everyone back on the same page. With his best doctor’s voice he responded.

  “Follow the first signal, head toward Knoxville,” he stated without waiting for a response and turned around heading back into the cabin.

  Captain Bannon completed a slight adjustment to their heading and made the notation in the log. He was not even sure why he was even keeping a flight log. There probably was not a functioning FAA anymore. Mr. Worthington could care less and would never ask to see one. It was, he figured, simply out of habit.

  As he started his descent, the contact alarm from his onboard radar went off. He looked down at the circular screen to ensure the system was not malfunctioning; it was not. At first he felt a combination of surprise and excitement. They had not come into contact with any other aircraft since leaving Colorado (if they did not include Gunner’s borrowed Army National Guard helicopter). Another airplane meant a sign of normalcy to Captain Bannon. Perhaps there are people out there, living somewhat regular lives.

  The plane’s computer identified the aircraft as US Airways Flight 1665. It was an Airbus 319 at 18,000 feet heading toward Knoxville from the
opposite direction as the Gulfstream. The Captain did not have a visual confirmation yet but would have it soon.

  As he descended past 20,000 feet, Captain Bannon grabbed the binoculars and looked out the cockpit windows scanning the sky for the mysterious airplane. After a few minutes he spotted it just off the starboard side of the aircraft. It was now at 15,000 feet and dropping rapidly. It appeared to be in duress.

  Captain Bannon decided he was going to attempt to hail the troubled aircraft. He worked the communication controls and began to speak clearly.

  “US Airways Flight 1665, come in,” he said.

  He waited a few seconds and tried again. A third and fourth try ended with silence. He tried once more this time adding, “Please respond,” at the end.

  Captain Bannon was about to try again when his headset crackled with static and garbled sound that could have been voices. He waited a second but nothing else came through.

  “US Airways Flight 1665, please repeat.”

  This time a blast of sound came through the headset that nearly caused Captain Bannon to jump out of his seat. The voice was clear and sharp this time.

  “Please help us … they’re everywhere!” came the chilling cry for assistance.

  Captain Bannon was about to respond but the mic on their end was still on. As the plane came into view with the naked eye he could see the aircraft was now in a complete nosedive. He focused his attention back on to the headset just in time to hear what was most assuredly a gunshot and then the line go dead.

  The doomed US Airways flight continued its spiral downward as the Gulfstream dipped below 12,000 feet. Captain Bannon made one last attempt to contact the aircraft but to no avail. He briefly hoped that somehow the pilot could pull the aircraft out of its nosedive. Unfortunately, it appeared to be hopeless; not like he would have been able to do anything anyway. The G670 emerged from some clouds to a clear view of the surrounding area. The excellent visibility allowed the Captain to follow Flight 1665 all the way down to its inevitable demise.

  The plane struck the ground and erupted into a giant fireball. The Captain could almost feel the explosion at 10,000 feet. He, of course, felt a kinship with the pilot and crew. There is a tight bond among those who make their living flying the friendly skies.

  To make matters worse, it looked as though the Airbus landed in a small residential neighborhood. Anyone who had managed to stay alive in that area was probably no longer so lucky.

  He did not have time to lament over the poor folks in that plane and on the ground; he had his own plane to land. Turning his attention to his instruments he saw that he was still on course to land at McGhee Tyson Airport. As he started his landing checklist there was a knock on the cockpit door. He did not like being disturbed during takeoffs and landings. He had half a mind not to open the door but decided it would be easier just to see what whoever it was wanted.

  He got up and opened the door to a slightly annoyed looking Gunner. He had the portable GPS receiver in his hand.

  “What can I do for you Gunner, I’m getting ready to land,” the Captain said.

  “I’m afraid that won’t be necessary,” Gunner countered.

  “What?”

  “We lost the signal. Most likely due to that explosion on the ground,” Gunner explained.

  “Do we know if it was the one we’re looking for?” Bannon asked.

  Dr. Sanderson stuck his head in the doorway and said, “Did you see that explosion?”

  Gunner and the Captain exchanged glances but said nothing.

  Gunner finally said, “The Captain wants to know if the signal we lost was the one we’re looking for?”

  “Like I said before, they all have the same signal, we’ll only know for sure with visual confirmation,” the Doctor replied.

  “Mark the last known location of that signal and if we exhaust all other possibilities, we’ll come back and sift through the wreckage,” suggested Captain Bannon.

  Gunner nodded. Dr. Sanderson looked uneasy about the prospect of pouring through crash site debris looking for all or part of his test subject.

  “I suppose we should set a course to the second signal. I’ll need those coordinates again Gunner,” the Captain said.

  Gunner nodded again and left the cockpit with the Doctor right behind him closing the cockpit door as he left.

  Captain Bannon leveled the Gulfstream at 7,000 feet and started to turn the plane around and head west. As the plane finished banking and straightened itself out, the Captain could see tendrils of smoke from the crash site rising past his cockpit windows.

  Chapter 26

  The Calm

  The back of the truck was silent save for the gentle sobbing of Danielle and the clicking of Sgt. Sanchez nervously turning his gun’s safety on and off. Kim was comforting Danielle on the floor of the truck while Jason sat on the bench seat above them tightly squeezing his gulf club. Dave sat hunched over, sulking on the bench in the front corner of the truck bed. Lucy had her face buried in the side of Stephen’s shoulder trying to hold back the tears. She had not released her grip on his arm since the shooting had started. Stephen exchanged a ‘what do I do now’ look with Nick, to which Nick shrugged.

  After escaping Carrollton the convoy found its way back onto the main highway before Major Bradley halted the trucks and came back to check on the civilians. No one was hurt but everyone was a little rattled especially after lying on the floor of the truck during the exchange of gun fire. Several bullet holes could be seen in the canvas that covered the truck bed. After ensuring everyone was okay, Major Bradley informed them they would not be stopping again until they reached Fort Campbell; about four hours away. The Major put on a brave face telling them that they should be safe there. However, they could all see that even the Major had doubts about that. The convoy started on its way again as the truck holding the civilians bumped along in silence, each person lost in their own thoughts.

  “Is Danielle going to be alright Kim,” asked Stephen, finally breaking the silence.

  “Yeah, she’ll … be fine, just a bit shaken,” said Kim looking up from her daughter.

  “You gonna be okay Lucy,” Stephen asked finally looking down at the girl clinging to his arm.

  “Uhh, yeah I’ll be alright, umm … sorry,” responded Lucy quickly releasing her grip on Stephen.

  “We can get you two a room when we get there,” Nick said.

  Lucy growled through gritted teeth at Nick.

  “You okay back there Dave,” Stephen said quickly changing the subject.

  Dave mumbled something back in reply and then went back to examining his shoes.

  Leaning in and lowering his voice Stephen said, “We really need to keep an eye on him, he is not taking this well.”

  “You wouldn’t either if you just lost your girlfriend,” said Lucy.

  “I know but there is just something else,” replied Stephen.

  “Yeah, I know what you mean,” said Nick.

  Sitting back up Stephen turned to Jason, “How you holding up there Jason?”

  “I’m okay as long as Mom and Danielle are safe.”

  “That’s very sweet of you Jason,” said Kim reaching up to give her son a hug.

  “Hey Sergeant do you have any food or water, I’m starving,” asked Nick.

  “Really Nick, after that you’re hungry?” asked Stephen.

  “Hey what can I say, a man gots to eat,” Nick said with a shrug.

  “There is some snack food in that box at the end of the truck,” said Sergeant Sanchez pointing to a cardboard box with a Little Debbies logo on it. “You’ll have to split it up amongst yourselves.”

  “Well, I guess we had better eat when we can,” Stephen said heading to the rear of the truck.

  As they passed the foodstuffs around, Danielle stopped crying and wiped her eyes dry.

  “Umm, Mommy how much longer till we get there,” she asked.

  “I don’t know honey. Why?” asked Kim.

  “Umm �
�� I might need to go to the bathroom soon,” replied Danielle sheepishly.

  “Oh, I’m sorry honey but we can’t stop. Can you hold it?”

  “I think so Mommy.”

  “I’m going to have to use the restroom soon to,” Lucy said chiming in.

  “Well how about we stop talking about it before all of us have to go,” said Nick.

  “Good idea,” chimed in Sergeant Sanchez. “We’ve got just over an hour before we’ll be there.”

  “Then what?” asked Stephen.

  “Then hopefully there will be someone there to evac you civilians and tell us what to do next. If we are really lucky we will all just wake up and realize this is a nightmare. But I’m not holding out much hope of either,” replied Sanchez.

  “I guess all we can do now is prepare for the worst and hope for the best,” said Kim.

  “I never thought I would say this but I hope they have something more than vending machine food when we get there,” Nick said.

  “And maybe a soft bed,” said Stephen stretching his back.

  “Mmm … and a warm shower. None of us have bathed in a while and you boys are starting to stink,” said Lucy giving Danielle a wink.

  Danielle giggled and then nestled up against her mom who looked down at her and smiled.

  “I haven’t heard that giggle since … well since before we left home,” said Kim longingly.

  “It’s interesting to notice the things we took for granted before all this happened and now we miss them,” said Stephen with a sigh.

  “Way to bring the mood down dude,” said Nick.

  With that, everyone in the back of the truck returned to their own thoughts. As the truck bumped along, silence engulfed them once again.

  Captain Bannon was still a little shaken as he tried to look over his maps. Looking up, he stared at the flight controls. This was more than he had signed up for. He just wanted to fly his plane. Even with everything going on down on the ground he knew that up in his plane he was away from of the horror of it all. Unfortunately, that comforting thought had now been cruelly taken from him as well. Looking back down at his guidance computer he discovered the coordinates that Gunner had given him were right in the middle of Fort Campbell, home of the famous 101st Airborne. He had flown into the base a couple times before so he was somewhat familiar with the army airfield there. They would be there shortly and the Captain knew he had to prepare himself.