Containment_A Zombie Novel

by B. A. Hippsley

  “First we get in closer, then...”

  “Why don’t we just blast holes in those darn boxes like that Taylor guy said?”

  Sarge gave Glyn McDowall a sharp look before making him wish he’d never asked.

  “The targets are beyond the effective range of the M16’s. But the good news is that they can’t hit us either. Bad news – we gotta get closer. The hunting rifle’s got the range, but not the volume of firepower we need for the ECM’s.”

  “Why can’t we hunker down, get in real close then rush them? That would do it.”

  “McDowall, even at this range, that darn fifty can blow a hole in a block wall. We rush those positions across open ground, and it’d be like re-creating God damn Gettysburg!” said Sarge, scowling.

  Not to be outdone, McDowall pointed smugly at Ramon Tuco and gave a devious smile. “How about we use him to draw their fire then rush ‘em?”

  Sarge went right up to McDowall’s unpleasant face. “How about I kick your sorry ass over that ridge and use you for target practice?”

  Eastman held up his hand and moved in to separate them. “Sarge, can we use the game rifles to pin those guys down and move in with M16’s?”

  “Yeah, that would work. We got to hit them all over at the same time, divide their firepower. But we got us another problem.”

  Eastman frowned as he looked at the military man. “Now he hits us with the ‘additional’ problems. Mind sharing with us simple folk?”

  Sarge dismissed Eastman impatiently with a wave of his hand. “I was getting to it… George Lee may have found one of the missiles.”

  The others listened in stunned silence as they waited for him to continue.

  “There’s a clearing just beyond that ridge,” he pointed a few degrees right of the position in front of them, “with a launch pad complete with missile.”

  “Jeez Brad, we got us two targets!” called out Bodien.

  “Oh just great. We start on them,” said Paul Washington, jabbing his finger towards the ridge, “and them others are likely to fire that darn rocket!”

  Washington was right. Any kind of direct action against the ECM could well bring a whole bunch of trouble down on them. This was another of those ‘additional’ problems. It was obvious that they had to take out both of the targets but which one first? Eastman shot a desperate glance at Sarge. “You got any ideas here Sarge?”

  Sarge looked around the faces of the men sitting nearby, then pulled his peak down. “The mission is to put the ECM’s out of action but we got us a slight issue. In doing that, we risk triggering the very thing we’re up here trying to stop.”

  “Yeah, we kinda got that figured Sarge. What we gonna do to sort it out?”

  Sarge gave Bodien a dry smile then continued his briefing speech, “You want to take a bridge; you take it from both ends at the same time and...”

  “Maybe, but this ain’t no damn bridge Sarge!”

  Unused to being interrupted in military matters, Sarge rounded angrily on Washington.

  “That’s real observant of you there Washington, but the principle is the same. We need to hit both targets at the same time.”

  McDowall covered his face and let out a stifled cry. “So what, now we gotta blow up a God damn freaking nuke as well?”

  “Then maybe not.”

  The group whipped around to see Ed Callan squatting just to the left of them, dressed in his marine combat uniform and cradling an M16. His eyes seemed old in sharp contrast to his youthful face.

  “Well Ed, speak up.”

  “They got a medium strike bird all gassed up and ready to fly. But what we need is the command vehicle alongside it.”

  Eastman nodded thoughtfully at him. “So we take that out, then what?”

  “The weapon is more than likely being controlled from here. We shut that baby down and they can’t fire. They could launch from someplace else I guess, but it ought to give us the time to frag the jammers.”

  “What, we just pop some rounds into the gas tank?”

  Callan looked at Washington and gave him a faint grin.

  “Nope. The thing is armoured, rounds zipping off the hull is gonna give the game away. We need to destroy the truck pronto, before anybody can react.”

  Bodien gave Eastman a worried glance. “We got nothing to take down armour, Brad.”

  Sarge cleared his throat. “Reckon I could help out with that.”

  He slid across the ground to a large green holdall and sat with his legs astride the bag, watching the others as they drew near. He began to unzip the canvas bag. Eastman’s eyes widened as Sarge produced what looked like a small rocket launcher, followed by other assorted military hardware.

  “Now Sarge, I know you don’t have a licence for that stuff.” Eastman was amazed at the bag of goodies.

  “Some stuff I was saving for a rainy day.”

  Bodien scratched his chin as he looked at Sarge. “Most folk would likely have a rain coat for that Sarge.”

  McDowall pointed to the rocket launcher. “That some kinda bazooka you got there!”

  Sarge gave him an annoyed glare as he extended the small tube to double its length. “Bazooka? Dumb ass! This is a 66mm LAW anti tank launcher. It’ll sort out any armour they got over there.”

  “Hey, we can kill that truck,” Tuco continued excitedly, “and then those electronic things, all with that Baz... I mean anti tank thing.”

  “Hold the parade. The 66 is a one shot disposable weapon. You get to use it the once.”

  Washington jammed his baseball cap tight on his head. “Back to ‘plan A,’ I suppose.”

  Sarge continued to rummage around in his bag then gave a satisfied grin as he found the object of his search.

  “That’s an amended ‘plan A’.”

  “Grenades!” Bodien cried out in astonishment.

  Eastman reached into the box and picked one out as if it were an apple. Now at least they had a fighting chance. But the best way of using these weapons was to get in close, very close. He turned the small but deadly metal sphere around in his hand.

  “I’m not gonna ask where you got all this from Sarge, but do they work?”

  “You just pull the pin and count to three. Like in the movies.” Sarge clasped his hand around Eastman’s hand and the grenade. “Then throw the darn thing as hard as you can. Just remember Uncle Sam gives the contract to the cheapest bidder.”

  Eastman gave Sarge an awkward look then handed him the device. “Okay it’s about time we showed those bums we mean business.” He leant forward and beckoned the rest closer. “Now this is what we’re gonna do.”

  ****

  Eddy Joe had problems with the sheer number of creatures headed towards the town. The video Kate had taken with her phone had sealed the deal; there had to be damn near a hundred, maybe more. The only saving grace was that the blasted things only seemed to use two speeds, very slow and stop. It was almost forty minutes since they’d first appeared; enough time for him to get some of the guys to throw up basic defence lines.

  “That’s about as good as it gets.”

  He nodded slowly at Kate then looked at his band of warriors. It was obvious that Brad and Gerard had taken their pick of the best. There were no more than twenty armed men and just two automatics between them. He was expected to hold the line with this motley crew. Hold the line he thought, this bunch could hardly hold their water. The crude barricade slung across the street was no better. A couple of cars and some odds and ends of timber wouldn’t stop the creatures long. Where the hell was Mitch?

  “Hey Eddy Joe. Where’d the Judge go, planning the war?” Oscar Majors mocked.

  “I don’t much care where he’s at, so long as he’s outta my hair.”

  Eddy Joe laughed with the rest of the group. “How can he go and elect himself Mayor anyways?”

  Puzzled, Jim-Boy looked over at Majors. “Sure he can – he’s the Judge.”

  The conversation was cut short as all eyes turned towards the
arrival of Virdon’s fire car. He pulled up alongside the defensive line and called Eddy Joe over to him.

  “Is this it?”

  “It’s the best we could come up with.” Eddy Joe shook his head glumly at Virdon.

  “I got folk strung out all over town but this here is the most likely place they gonna reach first.”

  Virdon sighed, surveying the sorry excuse for a line. “This ain’t gonna hold long.”

  “I figured that, so I got us a fall back position over at Mendemus Road.”

  Eddy Joe indicated to a series of ramshackle barricades less than a block behind them.

  “What then?”

  Eddy Joe whistled through his teeth as he turned to Virdon. “By the time that comes around, there won’t be much point in hanging about here. Folks are gonna want to get off home.”

  The two men exchanged dejected glances; there were no options left. With all the comms down, they were on their own. They could only wait for the coming onslaught.

  ****

  Britney and Marv hurried through partly deserted streets; here and there frightened people scurried about, barricading their homes. Marv watched Mrs Cornelius ushering her two small children in from the front yard. Mr Cornelius was nailing heavy boards onto his new window frames.

  Passing onto Zanuck Drive, Marv became aware of Britney clasping his hand tightly. Altogether, not an unpleasant feeling – in fact he was enjoying it – but he had to get her home. It had been some time since the police ordered the street to be cleared; he didn’t want to hang about to find out why. Britney stopped abruptly, pulling him off balance as she did so.

  “Marv, you really think the army will bomb us?”

  He tried his best to reassure her. “Of course not.”

  “You are so not a good liar. Now, how about the truth?”

  He considered his reply before he spoke. “They’re running scared and people do dumb things when they get that way. My dad reckons they see us as a threat.”

  She stared deeply into his face. “But we’re not the threat; those creeps are to blame.”

  “Yeah, but the army don’t see it that way.”

  He looked down at the sidewalk, unable to meet her gaze. She tugged at his hands. “But they wouldn’t do that to us Marv, how could they?”

  “We bombed all those villages in the war ‘cause we thought they were strongholds. People do dumb things.”

  “But that’s our own army out there.”

  “Nothing worse than someone who thinks they’re in the right.”

  “Oh Marv, I’m scared.”

  “It’ll be all right, you’ll see.”

  He held her shoulders and looked into her face; she was scared but then so was he. “Anyway, Eastman and the others are gonna get us back on line.”

  “Marv you don’t believe that some old radio dude will stop this do you?”

  He took his phone from his pocket and flashed her a smile. “Yes, and so should you.”

  “Who’s the first person you gonna call?”

  “Pat O’Brian said you just gotta call everyone and anyone. How about you?”

  “You.”

  Suddenly she leant forward and kissed him firmly on his lips. Every inch of his body tingled until the only sensation he could feel was her lips on his. Gradually, they stepped back from one other and stood in silence, staring into each other’s eyes.

  “Come on, we’d best get you home.” He took her hand and started forward.

  “Marv look, there’s a cop over there, let’s ask him what’s going on.”

  She pulled him towards the figure of a deputy in the doorway of Lewis Dixon, the shoe shop.

  “They got more things to worry about than us.”

  He made an effort to draw her back but she pulled away from him and sped across to the sidewalk. The green-jacketed deputy seemed oblivious as Britney called out to him but then, without warning, the deputy lashed out and grasped her by her long brown hair and bit deeply into her bare arm. She screamed as Mitch Chattman continued to gnaw into her flesh.

  Marv could see Britney’s lips moving, but there was no sound. He shut his eyes tightly and clasped his hands over his ears, shaking his head as if to clear the image. Marv’s tear-filled eyes sprang open at the sound of a boy, screaming. It took him a few moments before he realised that the boy was him. He flung himself at the thing that had once been Mitch Chattman. With little effect, Marv rained blows down on the abomination that had torn his dreams apart.

  A tyre iron flashed past him, splintering Chattman’s skull and sending blood and bone splashing over the large shop window. As the now lifeless body crumpled before his eyes, Marv raced to Britney. He looked in despair at the ugly teeth marks on her arm. They embraced each other tightly, each fully aware of the inevitable outcome.

  “I think is time to get her to the hospital.”

  Miguel Bonzzoni stepped forward, clutching the bloodied tyre iron as he moved towards the youngsters. Marv had been completely unaware of his presence. He allowed Miguel to lead them forward, though in his heart he knew there was no longer any point.

  ****

  “Damn, damn, damn!”

  Anne Lenski slammed her palm down onto the lab table, rattling the test tubes as she did so. Taylor’s blood cells were attacking the human cells with the same ferocity with which they attacked infected cells. She’d exhausted all the test combinations with this last infuriating batch.

  “No point in asking if you got a cure then Doc?”

  “I just don’t understand it, Sam. I’ve tried every test combination I know. It just has to be one of them.”

  “Yeah, um... hey, I wonder how the guys are doing up there?”

  She’d been so immersed in her work, she’d totally forgotten about Brad and the others. She felt a wave of shame wash over her; while she’d been in her own bubble, Lord knows what could have happened.

  “Any news Sam?”

  “Nope, not since all the radios went down. ‘Less of course you count the Judge, but that ain’t exactly news anymore.”

  Her face full of curiosity, she leant towards Cortez. “What’s that about the Judge?”

  “Jeez, Doc you really had your nose in them books. Carmille took over right after the guys left.”

  She stared at him bewildered. “He can’t do that. Who’d let him get away with it?”

  “Well you tell him that.” Cortez gave her a brief smile. “Called a meeting at the Court House then elected himself the new mayor. Way to go.”

  “Nobody said anything?”

  He looked at her and slowly shook his head. “Would you?”

  She sat back in her chair. Carmille held the town with a grip of iron, but she’d always thought him a stickler for the law. He’d have a fight on his hands when Brad got back. If Brad got back. She brushed the thought aside; it did no good to tempt fate.

  “Has Elle-May come back from the fire house yet?”

  “She went back out with two of those army nurses after she sent everybody home.”

  Anne nodded; there seemed no point in keeping staff at the health center when all the patients were gone, apart from those in isolation. And they were now well beyond any medical help she could provide.

  “Sam, could you bring me some of the samples we took at the morgue please? Can you bring them in the red plastic box?”

  She needed the samples, but she needed her space even more. Cortez was hardly her first choice after Conrad Brown. However, in fairness to him, Cortez had offered to stay, along with Elle-May and the two army girls. Conrad had failed to turn up for work and there was still no sign of Zillman. She had a dark suspicion as to what had happened to them.

  “Yeah sure, I know the ones.” He turned back from the door as though he’d forgotten something. “That kinda reminds me, Doc. Went by Zillman’s place this morning. He was packing his truck, said he was gonna split.”

  “Well at least we know where he is I suppose. Thanks Sam.”

  As he left the
room, Anne took a sip from her coffee and grimaced at the taste of the ice cold liquid. She thumbed through her notes; there had to be something she’d missed. Fully engrossed in her task she failed to notice the door slowly open behind her.

  “Don’t want to disturb you, but you got something I need.”

  Surprised, she turned to see Barney Branigan leering at her from the doorway. She’d never felt comfortable around the man.

  “We don’t often see you in here Mr Branigan.”

  “Not surprising since you barred me.” He gave her an odd grin, the type of grin that rarely meant well.

  “Yes, well my staff aren’t here for your personal amusement. What can I do for you?”

  He moved closer; she could smell his bad breath. “You got something I need, honey.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “I just want that cure you got for this virus thing. Then I’ll be outta here.”

  Cure! Was he mad? She was a million miles away from any cure and he would certainly be the last person in the line. However, the last thing she wanted was to antagonise him. Cortez would be back soon anyway; all she had to do was stall.

  “What makes you think there is one?”

  “We know what you’ve been up to. You been experimenting on people. I just want my share that’s all.”

  “I don’t know where you got that from but...”

  He strode over to her and growled in her face, “Don’t play dumb with me, lady!”

  She backed away from him until she bumped into a chair.

  “Suppose I did have a vaccine – it would be for everybody, not just for one person. Why would I give it to you?”

  “Cause it would save you a lot of pain.” His mouth opened in a grin, revealing his yellow teeth.

  “Be sensible, there are armed men out there...”

  Branigan advanced on her, his face full of menace. “I reckon they’re gonna have their hands too full to worry about little old me.”