“Thank you, sir. I appreciate you taking a chance on us. We’ll try not to let you down.”
“Oh, you won't let me down, but I would like a detailed report when you return. What area you went to and what the situation looked like. Dismissed.”
As River and I walked away, I couldn't believe the amount of respect and deference he'd given her.
“You know you're very special, don't you?”
“What makes you say that?” River looked at me curiously as we walked toward the armory.
“Sergeants don't generally ask for the opinion of civilians, much less take their recommendations and make them happen.”
“Why did you tell him I would be going with you?”
“I realized that he put a lot of faith in you, and if you suddenly disappeared, not only would you lose his trust, but he would spend precious man-hours trying to figure out where you'd gone.”
“There's no way he considers me that special of a person. Anyone could do the job I'm doing, they just have to work at it.”
I understood how she felt, but she was a natural leader, even if she couldn’t see it.
“Dragon, the sergeant said to give us the scouts ration for two days, along with the guns. Private Lamb, please radio Private Teller and Private Sharp to the cafeteria with their packs. We’ll be back in thirty minutes to collect our rations and theirs before moving out.” River didn't even wait to see if they followed her orders, but headed back in the direction of the cafeteria.
“Why don't you wait here for me while I go collect my stuff and make sure that Beverly is able to take over for me. When Private Teller and Sharp arrive, you can give them the rundown if I'm not back by then.”
I simply grinned and watched her walk away, pitying the man who ever got involved with the little spitfire.
River
Darren's appearance was the answer to my prayers. I needed a way to escape the drudgery of people politics. This would give me a chance to travel and let off some steam. Stacy probably didn't need our help, but this cowboy was going after her whether I went with him or not.
Even though I'd lived in Nashville my entire life, I’d never had a chance to travel beyond the city, so this was going to be a fun adventure, even if I have to kill a few ZITs to do it.
The sergeant had issued us a gun with extra clips, but I still felt more comfortable taking my bat with me. He'd been a good friend over the last four weeks and saved my butt more times than I could count, which was why I named him Hero. He was the only knight in shining armor that I would probably ever come across.
I got back over to the cafeteria in less than twenty minutes, but both the privates had still managed to beat me.
“Gentlemen, did Darren tell you what your new assignment was?” That was one thing I did appreciate about the military, with their no-nonsense approach to problems.
“Yes, ma'am. We’re ready to follow you over to “Operation Neighborhood Watch,” Private Teller responded with a smirk.
“Who came up with that code name?” River shook her head at the antics of the young men.
“I'm afraid that's above your pay grade, ma'am.” Private Sharp snickered behind his hand.
“That's enough, Private Sharp. Drop and give me twenty.” River snapped her fingers and both boys came to attention. “Don't make me repeat myself. You're being given an opportunity to prove that you can handle this. I suggest you don't screw it up by disobeying the command you're getting.” She tapped the bat she was holding in her hand for emphasis.
“Yes, ma'am.” They both responded by dropping down to give her twenty push-ups.
“Now, if we’re done playing around, grab your packs and let’s go get our rations. Then we’ll follow Darren onto Operation Neighborhood Watch.”
Darren had done a great job blocking off the areas that had been cleared, while giving the men and women a job to do in patrolling and making sure that the ZITs didn't wander near their homes.
He called a meeting when we arrived to explain the new setup to everyone.
“I went on a mission today to see if we could get help from the army and use our resources together. This is River, she's in charge of skill assessments and seeing what kind of jobs or abilities you bring to the group. She will do a personal interview with each one of the adults and get a little information to help our neighborhood work more efficiently. These guys with me are Private Teller and Private Sharp. They are going to be in charge for the next week while I go check on some friends that need my help. Depending on River’s recommendations, we may be adding some other families to the empty homes. I need to know if that's going to be a problem with anyone. I don't want you to feel that we’re trying to replace those we've lost, but at the same time, the college campus can only hold so many people, and we need to work together until our city is cleared to use again of the infected or the zombie infected things, as the military has started calling them.”
“Why can't Mike or Jerry be in charge? They've done a great job on the other shifts when you’ve been gone. Seems like you're overlooking our own to bring in more government people,” Trudy called out from the middle of the group.
“I'm not trying to replace Mike or Jerry. They will still be in charge of their shifts. We’re just giving the two privates a chance to work on their leadership skills. That’s not giving the government control of our neighborhood. It’s simply using our resources wisely so that we can get back to a somewhat normal existence.”
I could see the doubts on the neighbor’s faces.
“Listen everyone. I know you don’t know me, but I can guarantee one thing, our city will never be the same again. Things won't go back to being normal. That doesn't mean we can't have a new type of normal, but it's going to take all of us to get to that point. If we don't work together, we won't have food and electricity in the fall to stay warm. We've all come to love our modern conveniences, such as phones, TVs, even cars and trucks. Every one of these things has to have people working to make them run. Someone's going to have to monitor the electric plants, while someone else is going to have to be on a security detail. This is your chance to do something you've always wanted to do. Maybe not right away, since it'll take a couple months to get everything sorted out, but for those of you who absolutely hated going to your nine-to-five jobs, this is your chance to learn something new or do something different. Or discover something that you're really good at. Give this a chance to see if we can't make this work.” I stepped off my soapbox and was surprised when the neighborhood started clapping.
“I always hated doing data entry. I would much rather cook for people than to work with those computers,” a middle-aged woman from the back confessed.
“Exactly, Doris. I've always hated working at the plant on the assembly line, and couldn't wait for the weekend to enjoy my hobby of gardening.” Van raised his hand. “Young lady, I volunteer as tribute for gardening detail. Might as well use my green thumb to your advantage.”
“That's the perfect attitude. I'll be doing interviews right over here at the porch table, so if y’all get a chance from your other duties, come find me and we'll figure out where to use your talents.”
A few hours later, Darren rejoined me after showing Private Teller and Private Sharp where everyone was, and the general layout of their system.
“Certainly makes you appreciate the good old days before the ZITs took over, doesn't it?” I laughed when Darren plopped himself into a chair and put his feet up wearily.
“Honestly, I would've agreed with you a few weeks ago, but that was before I met Stacy. Just those few short days together…I think we have something special, and if it hadn't been for the dead, I probably wouldn't have met her.”
“Well, before the ZITs came, I didn't have nearly the same social skills that I do now, but I'm hoping to escape them to be introverted for just a few hours while we go find Stacy. Listen, I know this is a personal question, but do you really think you fell in love with Stacy during that short period
of time?”
“I can’t be sure, of course, since I've never been in love before. What I can tell you is that the thought of growing old and not at least giving it a chance makes me very sad.”
“It makes you sad? What kind of response is that?”
“I'm in the military, give me a break. I'm supposed to be tough and not in tune with my emotions.”
“I call bull crap.” I coughed into my hands, calling him on the nonsense that was spewing out of his mouth.
“Okay, yes, I would shed tears if something happened to Stacy, but I'm a guy so I don't do that.” He grinned over at me, letting me know that that wasn’t the truth.
“Ah. So, where am I bunking tonight?” I asked, hoping that there was a place available so I wouldn’t have to go back to campus. “Aren't you supposed to let them know who's moving off campus? I'll stop by in the morning with one of the privates and they can get everyone transferred over after we leave.”
“Okay. So, what do you have so far?”
“Most of the people from your neighborhood were doing labor intensive work before, although there were a few who did have just warehouse jobs. There are several ladies who have craft skills, others who like to cook, and several who can do gardening, along with our teenagers that we can put to work. Last, but not least, there are several guys who have big dreams to carry a gun. I'm not sure we want them to do that, but a few extra people with gun training might not be a bad thing. Add that to the skill list we have on campus, and we have a nice start to a community.”
“Is that the military's goal, to start the city's businesses again?”
“I believe so, at the important essential ones needed to begin the process of recovery. I think I’m going to turn in now, but don’t forget that we have to go by the hotel downtown for more supplies.”
“How on earth do you have supplies stashed downtown?” Darren asked, incredulous.
“It’s a long story, and I’ll fill you in on the details tomorrow. I have a hard time trusting people.”
“That might be the understatement of the year. Night.”
Jackson Mountain
Andi
When I heard that Brad and Patti had arrived, I was anxious to hear about the situation in Nashville.
Everyone was so excited to see them, but all I could think about was the fact that there were more people on the mountain now. While at college, I enjoyed the time alone and with my friends who were also more introverted. I was used to coming to Nana and Pops for the holidays, but generally left early, ready to get back among people who understood my world.
It had been about four weeks of living with the entire family, my dad and stepmom, who weren’t my biggest fans. I wasn't sure how adding more people would help things when there were so many other places we could be.
Our family always seemed to be ready for anything, but that was because so many generations had lived on this mountain and gone through several different wars. The military had given each returning veteran a way to prepare for anything in the future. Those on the mountain had been around since before there was electricity and running water.
As Granny Earlene always said, “I was here before all these modern conveniences showed up.” Since she was close to one hundred years old, I guess that would be true.
I left the kitchen and snuck back across to the garage barn where I had setup my own little computer info center. I was having to use the satellite dish to get the Internet, which was fine since I wasn't trying to play games or do more than simply contact my friends. I was worried because there had been a few messages, and I didn't like the way they were starting to sound. The transmissions had broken off before they could update me, and I was hoping that I could find out some more information before I was forced to sneak away to make sure our friends were all right.
Up in my small area, away from the commotion of the new arrivals, I managed to get a signal and started trying to communicate, but I only heard silence. I didn't want to use the radio walkie-talkies due to the fact the entire family was now monitoring those stations in hopes of word from others nearby that might need help.
Dawson, my dad, and his cousin Cole, had setup a radio station and had someone monitoring all the airwaves in the main house. I guess it went back to their training in the military and their need to know what everyone was doing all the time.
It seemed a little extreme for the situation, but Brad and our cousin Patti had been the ones out fighting against these things they were calling ZITs. I guess they were some form of zombies who'd been infected, but since no one really knew what to call them, it had stuck.
I mean, I was sure that things were bad out there, but there wasn't really a need for the entire family to come and hang out. We all could've stayed in our own homes and not been under lock and key. At least that's the way it felt to me with my dad looking over my shoulder every five minutes, trying to act like I was still a little girl who needed a protector.
There was a ding on my computer, causing me to sit up straight and check the screen.
A message flashed on from Sam, my roommate.
“Andy, we’re still stuck here at the movie theater. Our food supplies are getting low. There are several who want to leave and strike out on their own. I think we should all stay together because the zombie things are everywhere. It's like a roving group of dead people moving around Knoxville. Is there any way you could send your military family in our direction? I don't know how much longer we can make it.”
I placed my fingers on the keyboard, ready to send a reassuring message that help was on the way, but then I realized my family would never send a group from the mountain to rescue someone all the way in Knoxville. I had no idea what I might be facing, but I really needed to find my friends and get them to safety. There was tons of ammo and lots of vehicles that were sturdy enough to make it to Knoxville, but I didn't know if I could do it alone.
While in school, I hadn't gone out for track or any other sports except for long bouts of computer gaming, which they wouldn’t give me athletic credits for. So while some might be able to fight or run past these things, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t make it very far on my own.
“Help is coming,” I typed in reply. “Will send someone tomorrow. Which movie theater are you in?”
I wasn't sure if they would be able to reply, but a message dinged almost immediately.
“We’re at the Westend Theaters by the mall. We’ve closed up all the mall entrances, and the only way inside is through the back alley.”
“How many people need to leave?”
“I don't know that they need to leave exactly, but we need to find a way to bring more food and supplies into the building.”
“On it. Help is coming. Tell everyone to sit tight and don’t do anything stupid, like die. It goes against the rules.”
“Got it, lol. No dying.”
I signed off and went back to see if I could use the distraction of the new people to sneak out.
“Doug, we’ve got to do something. Jen wouldn’t have sent a message if she wasn’t in danger,” Stacy pleaded, standing at the porch railing.
Melting into the shadows, I eavesdropped.
“I know that you want to race over there, but we have no idea if those messages were from today or from two weeks ago. I hate to say it, but we could be going straight into a dangerous situation, and she might already be gone.” He placed a hand on her shoulder.
“No, I’m not going to accept that. Angie and Dillion are both safe. I can’t let Jen die if there’s any possible way that I could save her. I’m going to text River and see what she thinks.” She walked off the porch and away from the house.
I waited until her brother returned to the house.
“There may be a solution to your problem.”
“Agh!” she screamed. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that.”
“Sorry. I’m going to leave in a couple hours to head to Knoxville, and I thought you might want to join me,�
�� I offered.
“How are we going to make it there?” she whispered, hoping that no one had noticed her outburst.
“I’m going to take a couple guns and my dad’s Jeep, because I think your roommate and my friend are in serious trouble.”
“Won’t they come looking for us?”
“No, I’ll leave them a note. If we leave just before daylight, we should be able to get through without anyone seeing us. I might be slightly crazy, but I’m smart enough to realize we’re going to need the daylight on our side if we want to survive.”
“You might want to plan your secret adventures a little more quietly, kiddo,” Cole announced from behind the tree.
“Crap! Cole, you know we can’t just leave them there. Come with us. There’s no one here that needs you, and you’ll keep us safe,” I whined, trying to appeal to his wanting to protect people.
“Two girls, all by ourselves, need someone with military training to make sure we don’t get into trouble,” Stacy added, picking up my cue.
“I was already going to go with you, but if you want to keep on with the ass kissing, then I certainly won’t stop you.” Cole grinned, knowing the chaos it would cause when it was discovered that we were gone.
“Stacy, go ahead and tell them that you’re headed to bed. I’ll send Andi in to wake you up when I have things ready to leave.” He looked excited to be doing something besides staying on the mountain.
“Yes, sir.” She saluted him and went inside.
I wasn’t one to show a lot of emotions, but this called for something special. It was my turn to surprise him with a hug. “Thanks, Cole. You won’t regret it.”
“I already do, kiddo, but you’ve got the right idea. If anything happens to you, your dad is going to kill me himself.”
“Awe, he’ll have to catch us first.” I skipped off to the garage to get my stuff ready.
Against Zombies Box Set, Vol. 1 | Books 1-4 Page 38