The Broken and the Dead (Book 1)

by Jay Morris

  “Because you know what it takes just as much as the L.T. Besides I trust you more than anyone else.”

  Just for a moment I felt a little sorry for the son of a bitch, the only one he thought he could count on hated him. But I said that I would then I leaned out of our vehicle and called over to the Lieutenant so she could get her report in too. I walked inside and sat at the table where the meeting was to be held and waited. I got several strange looks but I ignored them. A few moments later Rico and the L.T. came in and sat next to me. Janey hobbled in and sat on the far side of Rico so she was between us and where their people were going to sit. Eventually Dr. Carter, Mr. Moore and two other people I didn’t know yet came in and sat down. The two new comers were introduces as Jeff Blaine and Diane West. Mr. Blaine was in his late seventies and was in charge of keeping track of their supplies and such. Ms. West was in her late thirties or early forties; she was thin and had a hard looking face with a pinched nose. As far as I could tell she was there because no one was brave enough to tell her not to be.

  It didn’t take long for the nitty gritty to be set out for us. They had too many people and not enough weapons. They had some supplies but eventually would need more food. A fellow named Finch had rigged up a boiler in the back and they were distilling river water so that wasn’t an issue. We were thirteen and they were forty seven, a nice round sixty in all. The Post Office was actually a lot bigger than the lodge but not as comfortable, the Post Office was more defensible but not nearly as well hidden nor did it have the food production potential but it was closer to scrounging opportunities. Then Lt. Klein told them we had brought four M-4 carbines and six M-9 pistols. We brought about 500 rounds of 7.62 NATO for the M-4s and 400 rounds of 9mm for the pistols. They seemed quite happy about that and then she said we were prepared to leave our radio behind assuming we could work up a power supply for it. As far as food went we really couldn’t supply much right now but perhaps we could assist in scrounging efforts. Both groups agreed that keeping a low profile and not drawing any attention from the Z2s was imperative.

  After some discussion it was decided that we would be taking seven people from their group home with us. They said that they had several operating vehicles and between one of those and our Humvee transportation should not be an issue. Ms. West spoke for the first time and taking out a slip of paper she read off a list of seven volunteers who would be leaving with us in the morning. There was Candace Hardy and her two daughters, Gina and Jordan, a college student named Kelsey Longacre, Genevieve Boudreaux who was from New Orleans originally but had retired here several years before, Sarah King who had run a local diner and a man named Vernon Lowe, a retired mechanic. I looked over at Rico and he shrugged so I turned to look at Lt. Klein but she wouldn’t make eye contact and wasn’t saying a thing so I did.

  “That’s bullshit.” I said.

  “Johnny!” Janey interrupted but I wasn’t going to let this go.

  “Look, these may be nice people and all but how are we going to feed and protect them? You gotta give us at least one fighter in the bunch.”

  I said the anger in my voice barely disguised.

  “That’s enough Johnny.” the lieutenant said.

  But when I looked at Dr. Carter he knew I was right and he wouldn’t look at me either.

  “The boy’s right, Lieutenant” Dr. Carter said, “but we just don’t have the personnel, we can barely provide for ourselves here.”

  There was a moment of silence then Ms. West spoke up “I’ll go.”

  The reaction was immediate,

  “NO!” Mr. Moore said, “Diane, we need you too much!”

  Ms. West didn’t take her eyes off of me.

  “No, Walt, you don’t, you needed Clay and he is dead.”

  There was a moment of silence then Dr. Carter raised both hands in mock surrender.

  “Alright, fine, Diane will go too if that is okay with you.” he said but to my surprise he wasn’t looking at Lt. Klein he was looking at me.

  I suddenly felt uncomfortable; I had grown used to these people treating me like a kid so this was a new deal for me. I looked around the table from Rico to Janey and the Lt. then finally back to make eye contact to Ms. West.

  “Fine, you will be fine.” I said a little waver in my voice but everyone seemed to settle down after that. We were shown to a room for the night and we crashed.

  Later that night, in the total darkness, I heard Janey speaking;

  “Johnny? You awake?” I grunted affirmative and she said “That was amazing.”

  “What was?” I asked. “How you got those people to listen to you. Can you imagine yourself doing something like that a month ago?” she said. I was silent for a moment, trying to remember a month ago, I failed, so I answered her honestly;

  “No, no, I can’t.”

  Day 22

  Rico spent most of the night hooking up the radio to a bank of car batteries and to an antenna on the roof. Everyone coming with us spent the time packing and getting ready for relocation. The Doc had arranged for an old sun bleached Chevy Lumina (that might once have been maroon) to be the additional vehicle which made Klein’s eyebrows to go up in a manner that I personally found hilarious. I hated to admit it but I was looking forward to getting away from these peeps and back to the lodge. These guys always looked at me like I was a freak or some kind of 5 year old psychopath. To be honest I didn’t understand them either, it was like they hadn’t figured out that the world was shit and if you wanted to survive in it the old way of looking at things just wasn’t going to cut it.

  By dawn we were ready to pull out so Klein radioed in our ETA to Tucker, he was weird on the radio, I mean weirder that usual, so much so that it made Klein look to me for an explanation. Unfortunately I didn’t have anything to offer so I just shrugged and looked at Rico who said “Don’t look at me; I never did get that guy.”

  Ms. Boudreaux and Ms. King rode with us, Ms. West drove the Chevy with the other five volunteers; the Lieutenant talked quietly to the two older ladies. Ms. Boudreaux was almost seventy Ms. King was closing in on 60 pretty quick. Ms. King had run the Hilltop Café for years and she quickly offered her skills as chef and chief chef for the lodge. Klein was thrilled and soon after Ms. Boudreaux had been conscripted as her assistant. Well, I guess that was useful at least, I was skeptical that the others would be so eager to pitch in but only time would tell.

  I knew I was being lazy but as we drove I let my attention wander and my mind filled with random thoughts. The train was rapid and hard to follow but went something like: Lucy to Elaine to bandanas to bananas to grocery stores to Mom to Dad to mysterious vanishings to big foot. I know it’s crazy but that’s what I thought about. I wondered why thinking about mom didn’t hurt so much and what she looked like when we took the exit and made the turn onto the service road towards the lodge. I wondered for a moment if I was losing my mind; I decided that most likely I was and I just didn’t give a damn.

  Our mini-convoy pulled into the circle drive around 8 AM and came to a stop, as we exited I looked up and saw Deputy Weir on roof look out. He waived to me, his eyes hidden behind his stereotypical mirrored sun glasses, and I nodded back. A flash went through my mind, I liked him because he didn’t talk and right now that was enough. As we got everyone unloaded our people came out to meet the new people and to hug and cuddle with Janey. Only Weir and Tucker were missing, since Weir was on over-watch that left only Tucker as missing. Karen came over and stood next to me so I asked her about OMT, she said he was gone again.

  “Again?” I asked.

  Karen leaned in closer to me so no one else could hear;

  “Johnny, come with me I have to show you something.”

  I nodded and followed her unnoticed by the others who were too excited to see Janey and to meet the new people. She led me upstairs to Tuckers room, it was a mess, He had set up a card table and it was coved in pages and pages of math and hand draw diagrams.

  “What is all this? I asked.r />
  “No idea but there is more, come on,” she said pulling on my arm.

  We went to the roof, he had set up the last of Rico’s radios and he had taken one of the solar panels to run it. The antenna had been replaced with a lazy-Suzan from the spice cabinet with a large empty coffee can laying on its side nailed to the end of a broom handle standing straight through both the table and the spice rack. It stood like a flag pole; the crowning glory of his ridiculous contraption. He had drawn the letter ‘N; and degrees all around the edge of the spinning spice rack. On the umbrella covered table was also a notepad and a pen. He was recording something. Date and time, direction and another value that didn’t make a lick of sense to me.

  “So what is he doing? I asked.

  I looked at Karen and saw the concern in her eyes.

  “I don’t know but he isn’t sleeping, he spends all his time with this thing then he limps down the stairs.”

  She looked away ashamed then she held out her hand to me without saying another word. I took the empty pill bottle from her and read the label.

  “We have to show this to Amy and Lt. Klein.”

  I said and taking her hand we went down the stairs as fast as we could manage them.

  We found them in the kitchen along with Rico, Elaine and Ms. West. Amy looked up at me with a smile that vanished when she saw my face.

  “Johnny? What’s wrong?” she asked.

  I handed her the pill bottle and as she read the label I added

  “It’s Tucker, they say he has gone strange.”

  She stared at the label and said nothing it was Lt. Klein who asked “Strange how?”

  Ms. West asked “Mr. Tucker? The Tucker who was with Janey the other day?”

  I just watched while Karen explained and Elaine offered her insights. Amy just held they bottle while they told the new ones about tucker and what he had done and how he had been beaten for his sins. I watched as the empty bottle was passed around until it eventually found its way back to Amy. At last, I thought, at last they all know what I have always known. Tucker was dangerous, a criminal, a psychopath. Klein, West, and Rico went with Karen to see the machine and probably to look for a tin foil hat. Elaine went to check on Lucy who was playing with the new kids under their Mother’s watchful eye, it left only Amy and me. I sat down across from her and waited. She looked at me and said

  “This only means two things: first he was very sad before all of this and his name is John.”

  I practically barked a laugh,

  “And his magic box and the scribbles and nonsense he is writing down?” I said with sour venom dripping from my lips.

  “I don’t know Johnny, show me?” She said.

  “OK. Fine.” I said, I was confident I had him now.

  The others joined us in Tuckers room, everyone was looking at the gibberish I could hardly contain myself. They wouldn’t hang him for being crazy but they sure would not let him run around free. Some people searched his room but when Kyle found a photo Elaine snatched it away and put it back from its hiding place.

  “Since when is it a crime to have a picture of people you love?” she snapped. “Come on Lucy let’s get out of here.”

  She took Lucy’s hand and stormed out. I shook my head at her silliness. That was when Klein opened her big mouth.

  “Look, this isn’t gibberish. Its mathematics and it’s pretty high level shit. I took three semesters of calculus and a course in ODEs and I only recognize about half of the symbols.”

  She paused and then asked Amy,

  “What did you say he did for a living?”

  Amy shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know, I though he was retired, he never talked about it.”

  The Lt. laid the papers back down and said

  “Well, let’s wait till he gets back and ask him.”

  I couldn’t believe it, he was going to slip away again,

  “What about the drugs?” I demanded.

  “We will ask him about that too.” Ms. West added but when she put her hand on my shoulder I spun away and out of the room.

  Later after dinner I had calmed down and sat in as the others discussed the things they had discovered about what OMT was doing. I was impressed with both Klein and West, they worked well together, they had arranged things in such a way that the pieces started to fit together. The Z’s were on a schedule, they broadcast around 10AM, again about 6 PM and then 2AM. Each day the times were a minute or two later. Ms. West said that they were probably going by the sun and OMT’s notes said that he thought their range was limited and that by using his directional antenna he could pick up three or four different signals. OMTs notebook recorded time, directions in degrees measured from North and next to that was also a column of measurements in dBu whatever those were. I looked over Elaine’s shoulder at OMTs notes and saw (a long time later I actually copied it down)

  That’s when I came up with what I now call William’s Theory #1:

  “Math sucks the most when there aren’t any numbers”.

  Klein stopped and with a strange expression said in a slow, precise voice.

  “Tucker is tracking them.”

  Then for reasons that escaped me, she smiled. Just then Deputy Weir put his head in the door and said,

  “Unknown vehicle is coming slowly up the drive.”

  We scrambled fast and as I ran down the stairs, a .308 caliber M4 held in both hands I wondered why on Earth any kid would play war. War sucks. I went out the back door just behind Rico, we sprinted to along the tree line and both clambered up into our sniper hut. I was surprised when the rifle we put in there had been replaced with something big and long, boxy, and deadly looking. I whispered to Rico,

  “What the hell is that?”

  He spoke over his shoulder “Barrett, fifty cal sniper rifle.”

  As he worked the bolt I got my first glimpse of that menacing round and it made me shiver. I set up next to Rico and picking up the binoculars I looked down the road.

  “What do you see?” Rico asked.

  I hesitated a moment then answered him,

  “A trash truck.”

  The thing was old and banged up, the back was one of those enclosed ones, and the truck was rocking from side to side as it slowly creeped up the drive.

  “Can you see the driver?” Rico asked.

  I sighed, lowered the binocs and closing my eyes I sighed as I answered him. “It’s Tucker.”

  It didn’t take long after that before the truck pulled around the circle drive and shut down. Rico and I walked in from the sniper station and others came out from either side of the lodge and Weir stood up on the roof station. I could see Tucker before the others as he climbed down from the cab.

  “Hey, hey, hey Mista Tucker!” Rico called out.

  As Tucker turned around to answer I could see that his eyes were wild, barely slits in his swollen face. He was limping, slightly hunched over and he was holding his left arm strangely, palm up, like he was cradling a football.

  “Rico! Good to see you!” then he smiled at me

  “John!” and he reached up and placed his right hand on my shoulder pretending that he cared. We walked around the front of the truck and most of the others gathered around us. Suddenly there was a tremendous banging sound from the back of the truck. Anyone with a weapon, me included swept it into position to open fire on trash bin. It didn’t stop in fact it seemed to get more intense when people started freaking out about it.

  “Calm down everyone! Calm down!”

  Old Man Tucker yelled and for the most part we did. Lucy was hiding behind Amy and several others had retreated inside the lodge.

  “Tucker? What on Earth do you have in there?” Lt. Klein demanded.

  He looked at her and waved his good arm at it,

  “I caught one of them, one of the monsters.”

  There were murmurs of:

  “Out of his mind”,

  “You gotta be kidding me”,

  “Jez-zus Kree-iste”, lots o
f things like that.

  Ms. West stormed out of the group and stood nose to nose with Tucker, I thought she was going to say something but she just stared at him, fury in her eyes, her hands trembling into fists. Tucker just stood there, he didn’t look angry or scared, he didn’t raise his hands to defend himself, and it was eerie.

  Lt. Klein made her way between them, gently separating them,

  “Alright children, cleansing breaths” she said.

  She took an exaggerated breath and exhaled it slowly. West didn’t take a step back really, instead she just readjusted her feet as she leaned backwards in response to Klein’s intrusion. Tucker took a step or two and opened the passenger door of the trash truck and pulled out a military style back pack by its strap, the strap of his Thompson along with it. The pack was heavy I could tell by the way he grunted as he shrugged it up onto his right shoulder. Tucker started towards the steps,

  “Come on everyone, I’m starved, after I’ve eaten I’ll explain everything I have got going.” He said.

  West’s eyes grew wide and she stared after him, her left arm slowly rising to point at the trash truck. The creature within going crazy, I could see the metal deforming with each blow and I felt my insides quiver with each one. I couldn’t stop myself from imagining it in there, it’s sleek black body armor, those cruel jaws and suddenly felt like I was going to pee my pants. I felt someone take my arm and pull me towards the lodge, I turned to see Karen Morena looking at me,

  “Come on Johnny, let’s go inside.” she said.

  Tucker took a can of chili and a can of peaches from the back pack. He opened them both as Elaine handed him a spoon, Amy reached in front of him and took the chili away before he could start eating she said

  “We still have the stove you idiot.”

  Tucker started to protest. Amy turned and poured the chili into a pan and the gas range clicked a few times before it lit. Tucker started to eat the peaches but Lucy climbed onto his lap and intercepted the spoon on its way to Tuckers mouth. Tucker didn’t flinch he just smiled, but the smile disappeared when Lucy told him that her friends Gina and Jordan needed some. Then he laughed as he picked up the can and handed it to her, as she climbed down he snatched the spoon away and said that she had to get her own.