by Jon Schafer
Knowing he had no choice but to face his fate, Eastridge made to straighten the blouse of his uniform. What he was really doing, though, was pulling the back of it down to conceal the .45 caliber pistol in a holster at the small of his back. If given half a chance, he would take out the Chairman. He knew that he would never make it out of the office building alive, but if he was going down, so was the dictator that had seized power. When he felt he was presentable, he strode purposefully into the room.
As soon as he entered his office, though, he knew that he didn’t have a chance of assassinating the Chairman. While the man made an easy target sitting on the edge of his desk, the two men flanking him with pistols at the ready would cut him down before he got a chance to draw and fire.
Scowling, the Chairman said to the guard on his right, “Search him.”
When the man had relieved Eastridge of his pistol, the Chairman said to him, “You’ve been a very busy boy.”
Eastridge felt his heart sink at the thought that they had been found out. If this was it, then at least he would get a chance to tell the Chairman what a scumbag he was.
“I’ve only been doing my duty, sir,” he replied forcefully. “I want you to know-”
Eastridge wanted to say how he was planning the coup because of duty and honor, but the Chairman cut him off by saying, “I really appreciate the extra work you had your men put in at the laboratory so that we can get Doctor Hawkins here as soon as possible. I know that I’ve been rough on everyone, but getting the Malectron up and running is a priority. I came here for two reasons, the first being to apologize if I stepped on your toes, but it had to be done.”
Eastridge was at a loss for words. He remembered how he had reported that he was pulling every third man off guard and sending them on temporary duty to help get the lab up and running, but it was a lie. In reality, these men had been given twelve-hour passes to go into Dog town.
With a smile, the Chairman added, “And I apologize for cutting you off. Now what were you going to say, General?”
Eastridge fumbled his words for a second and finally picked up where he had started by saying, “I want you to know that it’s an honor to serve you, sir.”
The words stuck in his throat, but he managed to get them out. If he wasn’t being arrested, then it meant he would live to fight another day. If living to fight meant kowtowing to the Chairman, then so be it. If Karma was a train, he wanted to be the engineer when it came around.
The Chairman nodded and smiled as he waved his two bodyguards away. When they were gone, he said, “And that brings me to the second reason for this visit.”
Standing, he circled the desk and sat in Eastridge’s chair before waving the General into the one that faced it. Eastridge sat heavily, his knees slightly weak from being so close to what he thought was a certain death before dodging it.
Clearing his throat, the Chairman said, “I took absolute power today for a reason. This country needs a strong man to lead it to its destiny of being the one true power on Earth. Others have faltered in this time and again, but I plan to succeed. To do that, I made the decision to let the weak fall by the wayside and perish. When you look at history, it is full of stories of great men that tried to help the pathetic masses and paid for it by being pulled down.”
Trying to keep the look of utter revulsion off his face, Eastridge could only nod.
“That is why I need strong men like you by my side to help me in my conquest,” the Chairman went on. “The Marine Corps built you into the man you are today. They taught you to obey orders and to follow those orders as they are handed down to you by your superiors. The main reason I’m here tonight is to make sure that you are on my side, the side of righteousness.”
Knowing that to reply in any other way meant that the two men waiting outside the door would quickly escort him to an undisclosed location from which he would never return, Eastridge said, “I’m with you, sir. The whiners and the crybabies have had it their way for way too long. It’s time to get rid of the dead weight and move on.”
Although he had a hard time spitting these words out, knowing that Sedlak could do nothing without his Marines made Eastridge utter them.
The Chairman smiled and clapped his hands together. “Good, good. I knew that you were behind me one hundred percent, but I had to be sure. Now that I know I have your complete loyalty, I can let you in on how things are going to be run in the future. In my experience, the American military machine is the most perfectly functioning entity known to man. We can do everything more efficient than any civilian body. For years, the supply of the armed forces has been left in the hands of private corporations, their contracts going to the lowest bidder. This is part of the reason we are in the mess we’re in now. If the oilfields had been run by us, we wouldn’t have a shortage of fuel. If the munitions factories were run by us, we wouldn’t have a shortage of ammunition. And if the farms, dairies and slaughterhouses were run by us, we wouldn’t have a shortage of food. Can you imagine corporations run with the precision that we bring to the battlefield? There has always been talk of unionizing the four branches of the military, and while I vocally opposed it, I was all for it.”
Then you can be the one to explain to Machine Gunners Local 513 why they can’t go on strike, Eastridge thought.
“Can you imagine a world where the trains run on time and everyone is working toward a purpose?” the Chairman asked.
Thinking of Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia, Eastridge bit back his reply and said, “That would be the greatest, sir.”
“Yes, it would be,” the Chairman intoned as he stood up. Stopping halfway, his eyes narrowed and his posture went rigid as he searched Eastridge’s face and added, “You know, you can always tell the measure of truth in a man by his eyes.”
Eastridge stared back, leaving his expression blank.
After a few seconds, the Chairman smiled and said, “And I can see that you are behind me one hundred percent.”
Eastridge smiled back as he thought, and I can see that you are one hundred percent drunk on power and a megalomaniac.
“I want you to know that there are going to be a lot of changes around here over the next few days,” the Chairman told him. “I will be dissolving the positions of the Joint Chiefs and reappointing those that are loyal to me to be the heads of different ministries. I am considering you for the Ministry of Deportations. Do you like that?”
“I couldn’t think of a better post myself,” Eastridge said, and then asked, “but who wouldn’t be loyal to you, sir?”
“The Chief of Staff of the Air Force, for one,” the Chairman said venomously. “He is the only one I’ve had to replace. Everyone else is with me.”
Watching as the Chairman headed for the door, General Eastridge was relieved to hear that Admiral Sedlak was still alive and at his post. Deciding that he needed to put the plan they had devised into operation as soon as possible, he said, “Begging your pardon, sir, but something of importance has come to my attention, and since you are here-” He let his voice trail off.
Stopping, the Chairman asked, “Yes, what is it?”
“I have a contingent of men at Quantico that I would like to reassign, sir,” Eastridge explained. “Although Quantico is only forty miles from here-”
“Yes, yes,” the Chairman said in an annoyed voice as he cut him off, “I know where Quantico is.”
“Yes, sir,” Eastridge continued, “then you know that there is no way to transport them here by land, and since fuel is at a premium for air travel, I would like permission for a few of Admiral Sedlak’s ships to sail down there to bring them back to help defend Washington, D.C.”
“Are they loyal?” the Chairman asked.
“All my men are loyal to me,” Eastridge said truthfully.
“Then go ahead and bring them here,” the Chairman ordered. “The chief of the Air Force might not be the only one in the city that is plotting against me, so I’ll need good men at my back. Men I can trust.
When do you want to do this?”
“Would tomorrow be too soon?” Eastridge asked.
“I’ll give the order,” the Chairman told him, then called for his bodyguards as he went out the door.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Fort Redoubt:
Steve sat across the picnic table from Ginny in silence. After she had approached him in the chow line, they had hugged briefly, but it was awkward and they broke apart with self-conscious looks at one another, then at their new significant others. Steve to Heather, and Ginny to where Wilkes stood a few feet away. They were served their food, and with no other choice but to be polite, the foursome sat together.
Steve commented about Ginny being in camouflage, and she told him that she was the officer in charge of supplies. A joke about counting trays and beans fell flat, and they lapsed into silence as they ate. None of them knew what to say, and thankfully it was Wilkes that broke the ice by asking Ginny to tell them how she had ended up at Fort Redoubt.
“Oh, I don’t know, honey,” Ginny said. “They probably don’t want to hear all that.”
Wilkes seemed to want something to fill in the awkward silence, so he encouraged her to speak until she agreed.
Turning to Steve, she said, “So, like, you know, me and Valerie and Keisha went out dancing the night everything fell apart. It was kind of creepy driving through Tampa because there was hardly any traffic, but once we got to Ybor City, it was like everything was normal. Well, almost normal. People were partying and dancing and everything, but they were also talking about the dead coming back to life and what they were going to do when it happened. There was a lot of tough talk and a lot of denial. Most of the guys were all talking about how they would kill a hundred dead with one hand, while most of the women were all saying that the disease was never going to make it this far south. No one really knew what was happening, though.”
She paused for a second, then said, “You know, on an average night, one in four people are carrying a gun in Ybor City, but that night it seemed like everyone was armed. It was like the end of the world, but no one cared.” Turning to Heather, she asked, “Have you ever been to a Hurricane Party?”
Realizing that Ginny didn’t recognize her from the one time they had met at the bowling alley, she said, “I grew up in Florida.”
“Then you get what I mean,” Ginny said with a knowing look. “You party like it’s the end of the world. You think you know what you’re going to do when the shit hits the fan, but you really hope that it misses your fan and just kind of sprays against the wall. Someone else’s wall.
“But anyway, I was dancing with Valerie when this one guy shouts out to do the Zombie. Not the old dance, but a new one. It’s where everyone stands there all rigid with their hands at their sides and start convulsing more and more before they give a huge shake and then start dancing with their arms out in front of them. I’d never seen anyone do that one, so it was kind of cool, but then this one chick drops to the floor and starts shaking all over the place. I thought it was kind of odd since she was wearing a real expensive dress and the floor was all dirty and full of puddles where people had spilled their drinks. I’m laughing, though, while I’m watching her mess up a Dior original, when all of a sudden she stops and lays still. I expected her to pop up and stick her arms out, but instead she kind of half-sits up and then twists around to bite some guy on the calf.
“There were a lot of people watching, and they all thought it was a new takeoff on the dance, so they start fake biting at each other or sucking on their partner’s neck. Everyone floods onto the dance floor to try it, and it was really noisy, so I guess no one heard the guy getting bit as he screamed. The dance floor was really getting packed, so Valerie and I headed for our seats. The table we were at was raised up, so we saw everything that happened next.”
Ginny paused as she gathered herself. After a moment, she said, “We could see it start in the middle of this big crowd of people all biting at each other and flailing their arms around. It started with just a few, but then everyone started breaking away from this one spot on the dance floor. It was like a stone dropped into the water of a still pond. The ripples went out in every direction, but it wasn’t peaceful or serene. It was a madhouse of people screaming and knocking each other over, trying to get away.
“Everyone around us was asking what was going on, and when they saw a couple of people wrestling around on the floor, they all thought it was just a fight and went back to whatever they were doing. I saw a bouncer go over to break it up, but he jumped back holding his arm. Just about this time, the music dropped down as the song changed and you could hear the sound of screams coming from everywhere. The people from the dance floor, the bouncer, and most of all from the guy that had gotten attacked in the first place. A couple more bouncers jumped in, and finally they got this woman in a headlock. The people at the table next to us thought it was business as usual, but even in the strobe lights I could see blood all over the place. That was when I knew what was going on.”
Turning her attention to Steve, Ginny said, “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you tried to explain what was happening.”
He nodded, and she continued her story. “Like I said, I could see blood all over, so I grabbed Val by the hand and started dragging her toward the front door. There were so many people jammed up there that I knew it would be impossible to get out that way, so I led her back to the bar. The bartender was waving people toward an exit door at the back of the club, and we followed them out into this alley. There were no lights, and everyone was kind of bumping into each other as we tried to figure out which way to go.”
Ginny laughed and said, “I remember this one guy kept saying, ‘Excuse me, excuse me, trying to get through here.’ Like that was going to help. A lot of people were using their cell phones for light, but all they showed was that the alley was blocked on both sides. Someone finally found this little narrow passageway between two buildings, but you could only go through it one at a time. I was standing in the back of the group, but I could see light at the end of it. Street lights.
“Everyone kind of relaxed then and started moving down this narrow passage. When it was our turn, Val was right behind me and there was about five or six people in front of us,” Ginny said in a quiet voice. “That was when we heard a bunch of screams coming from the dead end alley. I turned around to look, but it was too dark to see anything except the glow of cell phones. Then one of them flew up in the air like a big lightning bug. The people in front of us stopped to see what was going on, but I knew it was one of those things that had followed us. It must have grabbed the guy holding the cell because you could see other lights going up and down real fast. Whatever had gotten him was being beaten by the people around him. There were a couple gunshots, and one of the bullets must have hit close by because I felt a bunch of brick shards hit my face. I screamed for everyone to run, but I could have saved my breath.”
Once again, Ginny had to stop to gather herself before speaking. “The little walkway we were moving through was only about shoulder width, and the people in front of us bunched up as they all tried to get through it at once. People were pushing at us from behind, too. I felt like my body was getting crushed. I lost hold of Val’s hand, but I could feel us moving forward, so I figured I’d just catch her when we were both out. With everyone behind us pushing, we shot out of that passageway and onto the street like a cork from a bottle.”
Ginny stopped, then after a few seconds said softly, “But Val never made it through. I waited for her, watching everyone that came out, asking each person if there was anyone else behind them. After a few minutes, no one else came out. I still had my cell phone, so I tried to call for help. All I got was this message telling me that due to heavy traffic, I had to try later. I had to find out what happened to Val, to make sure she wasn’t hurt or anything, so I turned on my light and went back in.”
Steve was impressed by her courage.
“The glow from the scree
n only lit up a few feet in front of me, so it was slow going,” Ginny explained. “I was really scared of running into one of those dead things, but I had to find Val. I almost tripped over one guy that was kind of half-leaning against the wall. He was moaning and kept saying it hurts, so I told him it would hurt a lot more if he didn’t get off his ass and get out of there. I helped stand him up and headed him toward the street. I found one of Val’s shoes and a lot of blood, but no sign of her. I was near the alley behind the club, and I could hear this whining noise. This really freaked me out because I knew it was human, but at the same time it didn’t sound human. I knew right then that wherever Val was that she was dead. All I could think of was her coming toward me all bloody, so I turned and ran.”
“Wise decision,” Steve told her.
“Yeah, maybe so,” Ginny agreed, “but when I made it back to the street, I wasn’t sure if I would have been safer in the alley. Ybor had turned into a madhouse, with everyone running around acting crazy. People were shooting at each other, and the only cop in sight was lying dead on the sidewalk. He must have just gotten killed because he still had his pistol in his hand. I watched some fifteen-year-old kid grab it and run off. I was standing next to this one lady, and as I turned to ask her if her phone was working, these guys rode by in a pickup truck and just grabbed her right off the street. Just slowed down a little and scooped her up before driving off. She was screaming, and they were laughing as they tore her clothes off. Somehow or another, I had managed to keep my shoes on, so I kicked them off and started running. I don’t even know what direction I was going, I just wanted to get out of there.