The Zombie Chro [99] - Undead Advantage, a Zombie Chronicles Novel

by Mark Clodi

  “Yeah, okay, we can help with that, some of your boys had to get back from the radio station. I mean the guys that came in here said some made it back or were headed back?” asked Hank.

  Shaking his head Ed said, “Not as many as you might think, that was a clusterf..”, Looking at Nanci, he amended himself, “a...mistake from the get go. We deal in wounds, a normal enemy is bogged down, demoralized and defeated when he sees the wounded pouring in and hears of the dead left on the field, these things are not affected by wounding, our technological edge is not completely negated by their durability, but it is hampered. We were ordered to secure the radio station and tried to do just that in a conventional way, with only the most basic of information. It was not enough and we did not know who or what we were fighting. I have some video of the confrontation and we are learning from it, most of those men died. The few who made it back are more than half crazy and are getting the rest of my guys, worked up. No one likes to play soldier when their wives, girlfriends, parents and children are in immediate harm's way. Most of those at the base were reserve units, the special forces I am in command of were already serving overseas, I am, was, just pushing paper around on this side of the Pacific until we shipped out to relieve the rest of my unit.”

  Juan eyed him, “So, what, who you have, are mostly new guys and reserves?”

  “Oh it is not like that, you don't get recruited into the special forces off the street. I have a lot of well trained infantrymen under my command, with a core of instructors who are literally the best at what they do in the world. Most of the new recruits are veterans of the war too, they have been around the block a few times, I have too for that matter, I didn't walk into a rear echelon job, I was assigned to it when I was recovering from an IED that hit my command vehicle. We have combat experience. Plus the reserves have already done one tour overseas. The United States Army is the most highly trained armed force in the world and the men I now find myself in command of are good representatives of that training.”

  Hank snorted a bit “You sound like a recruiter Ed. So the base is mostly empty? Is it more secure than this place?”

  “I couldn't make the numbers to be a recruiter, they have a tough job these days, who wants to die in desert half the world away? The base is more secure, but not much more, it is not a fortress, just chain link fences with a guard house at the front to keep the riff-raff out. I have the troops putting up guard towers today, right now we can see things pretty good with our helicopters, but we don't have unlimited fuel and the way things are I think we can safely say we are not going to be getting any more for months, if not years.”

  “'The way things are', how are 'things'? Do you know?” Hank asked.

  Ed looked a bit worried, his clean shaven face frowned at them and again he shook his head, “Not good. Between the edges of Colorado up to the Mississippi there are few reports of enemy activity, the area is mostly secure, but that is a lot of territory, Chicago is a nightmare, it would be worse than Denver, but let's face it, Denver is gone, there is almost no one left here, the enemy moved up into the mountain towards the smaller towns pursuing anyone who got out or they flooded the plains heading towards North Platte and Kansas City. Further south Pueblo is still fighting and they are holding better than Colorado Springs did, New Mexico is still mostly untouched, though there are reports of enemy actions in Santa Fe. Wyoming? Pretty clear right now. The Dakotas are clear and Canada, internal Canada is still clear too, the coasts of the entire continent are dealing with enemy incursions. A bright spot is Mexico City, no reports of enemy activity, over a million God damned people and nothing going on there at all. Yet. Hell I read a report before I left and I could spend half the morning relying the information to you guys, do you have any specific areas you want to know about?”

  “Well, we could head north? Try to get to Wyoming or north east to the Dakotas? How is Boulder? Or Fort Collins?” asked Hank.

  “Boulder is like Denver, a lot of stragglers, a few humans moving around or trying to contact us with cell phones or radios, Fort Collins is the Pueblo of the north, they didn't get hit so hard, but they have less people to help fight the enemy off, it would be tough to break out with the number of people we have, especially the non-fighters.”

  “You got a plan, you must, it is what you do. If we can't leave then we stay here. Bunker down and wait the zombies out or for something else to change?”

  “Yes Hank, that is what I was thinking, we still have a bunch of, well not even second line machines now, but the older vehicles and civilian vehicles will work to forage food, gather survivors and keep us alive. There is still food and fuel here and in Colorado Springs to keep us well fed and comfortable for years if the number of survivors we estimate we have to care for is even close to accurate. Hopefully we got most of the enemy leaders with the nuke this morning, they could be the real problem.”

  “I don't know, I am not so sure staying would be a good idea, the food will run out, the fuel will go, what will we do if the numbers you have are off, or if the zombies come back? Can you defend us with the guys you have?” asked Hank.

  “If the enemy came back we could not stand against them.” Ed let them digest that for a moment before continuing, “It is a numbers game, the base is a fort, we have ammo and guns, we have mines, bombs, grenades and a few people who know a whole lot of dirty tricks. All those pluses are wiped out by the sheer number of enemy personnel that we could be dealing with. I have already said the base is nothing more than chain link fence, heck in some areas it is only a normal barbed wire fence. That means we would be using the guard towers and buildings as firing positions, and they were not designed for that. We don't have a bullet for every man woman and child in the front range, let alone the state of Colorado. When you factor in that each of the enemy must have their brain destroyed, not their hearts or legs or guts...”, Major Stanson shrugged his shoulders, “This isn't a Rambo movie, my guys are good shots, but a head shot every time? Against a moving target, hundreds, thousands, even millions of targets, it is just not possible.”

  “So you are banking on them not coming back?” put in Nanci.

  “No, not really, for the short term yes, long term, maybe even sooner, they will get back, when the, uh, food supply runs out. We can prepare for them as best we can, we have the whole of Denver to draw on for resources, three or four of my guys come from combat engineer units, and they know what they are doing, we can pour cement, we can build a fortification, a keep at first then expand the walls and reclaim more territory. We can build silos to store food and water in, we can farm land, raise livestock, prepare and prepare and prepare. This is the worst case. I don't count the United States out yet, we will get a handle on this thing, however until then it seems prudent to prepare.”

  This little speech had a slow reaction on Hank, Juan and Nanci, they thought it over for a few minutes then Juan leaned over and looked Hank in the eyes and said, “What do we do?”

  Hank looked at Juan and Nanci then back to the Major, “This is like a what do you call it, a feudal state, practically, is that right?”

  The Major hesitated, then nodded slightly, “Not that far, no Lords and Ladies, we maintain the democratic process, however some things could not be debated, within each position of power people are going to have to be able to make choices and enforce the laws of the community. I am not going to create a government from scratch, that will be your job. I will submit the military to whomever the civilians elect as their proper leader. This is similar to how the national guard operates now, the governor of each state has control over how they are used. This is a good system, as it will not circumvent anything we have in place, we will still have the same chain of command that we are used to. We'll still need 'state' level support, representatives, judges, hell even lawyers, sooner or later people are going to commit crimes against the community.”

  Hank blanched a bit at that.

  “What? Don't tell me there is already a problem? Rape?”
>
  “No, no, last night some ya-hoo on guard duty shot another one of our guys. The shooter was a stupid braggart and that didn't help things. The kid didn't die, but he is mad and everyone was ready to tear this guys head off, I have him isolated for now.”

  Sighing heavily the Major responded, “We have a brig at the base, it is yours if you need to use it, it might be a good idea to get the guy away from everyone else before mob justice takes over.”

  “I'll have to get the board together and decide that, it is too big for me to just do on my own. I see what you are saying about the government, no chance we could break out north or south?” Hank asked.

  Shaking his head Ed said, “I would recommend against it, right now the enemy, the zombies, have their backs pointed at us, why fight through them to put ourselves in front of them again?”

  Chapter 30

  Jeff was not happy. He was stuck in some cruddy office waiting for everyone to decide what to do with him, all over a stupid mistake. He had not meant to shoot Kevin, he was being careful, so he got a little excited? Who wasn't? Other people had been firing too, it could have been one of them that hit Kevin, hell they could have hit Jeff! He was lucky he was not dead, yet he had to take the fall for the friendly fire? This was not right and he was going to complain to...to who? Hank was the leader of this group, though Jeff hadn't elected him, no, he had not, in fact no one had, he was put up there by his friends because he had what? Fought some zombies? Sent back a doctor with gun ammunition? Big deal! Hank led the group, Hank thought Jeff screwed up and deserved to be punished for it, Jeff was going to be punished. Not fair at all.

  If that prick Kevin had kept his yap shut and covered for him, he knew Jeff hadn't meant to shoot him, yet there he was pointing fingers right after it happened. Kevin was Hank's man through and through. Everyone liked Hank and everyone thought Jeff was stupid and deserved to go down. What would they do to him? Surely not toss him out with the zombies? Kill him? Fine him? Jeff laughed out loud at that, money had suddenly, drastically, become worthless, they would not fine him. What about community service? They could make him do forced labor, he bet Kevin would love that, seeing Jeff working his ass off while Kevin sat around laughing at him. Jeff was in the midst of this mental conversation when the door was opened and a guy he only had seen around a few times came into the doorway.

  “Jeff, what are we supposed to do with you?” asked the man.

  Spying other men, rough looking men, behind the guy, Jeff swallowed visibly and answered, “Nothing. You, uh, heard what Hank said, he would decide what to do later.”

  “That is just the thing Jeff, you may not have heard but Hank left, took the guy you shot over to the hospital. He is not here right now.”

  Letting that sink in, Jeff tried to answer in a confident voice that sounded all too whiny and pathetic to his own ears, “Well, he'll, he'll s-sort me out when he comes back. W-won't he?”

  Shaking his head the man said, “No, no, see we all like Hank, but he is a nice guy, too nice maybe, Kevin told us some stories about Hank's life and while we trust him to do what needs to be done, we think” the man gestured over his shoulder at the other men behind him, “he might be a little soft on you. You see I don't have my two kids with me Jeff, I don't have a wife anymore, or parents or a sister or a niece and nephew. You follow me?”

  Nodding in confusion, Jeff answered, “Y-yeah man I get you, you lost a lot of people in this mess, I did too, you know I had a girlfriend and...” this was a lie and came out like a lie, which seemed to make the man happy. Jeff's voice trailed off, then he asked quietly, “No, no I guess I don't get what you are driving at?”

  “I said it already, I lost everyone, until I found these guys, they are my family now, I know that and they know that. But you, you, don't seem to know that. Anyone here would have laid his life down for yours last night, before you shot a guy this morning, but now? Now I don't think anyone can trust you, no one wants you in the family anymore. You're a fuckup, you shot your brother. You shot my brother. You want to know what is worse? You could have shot my kids, who are the ones we have found around the area. You could have killed my kid. You have shown that you could still kill my kids or my brothers and sisters or parents again. You are worse than they are Jeff.”

  Jeff didn't have to ask who 'they' were. He saw the look of resolve in the man's eyes and he knew, knew something really bad was going to happen. In a quiet voice he asked, “What are you going to do to me?”

  The men moved forward and closed the door behind them.

  Chapter 31

  It was mid afternoon, several hours after visiting with the Major and ironing out plans, several more bus-loads of people had been driven over to the hospital and the mob of zombies that the group had led away from the facility were being led further away and shot to pieces one undead body at a time. Hank was sitting with Juan at a normal looking hospital bed, if it were not for the fact that Kevin, who was laying in the bed flipping the channels on the remote, could not get a single signal the scene could have been one set weeks before the zombie outbreak.

  “So you sure you're gonna be okay, huh?” Hank asked Kevin for the third time.

  Kevin rolled his eyes and said, “Man, you know I am feeling weaker now, I think you are wearing me out asking me that question. The docs here said I should be fine, they should know. They even x-rayed me to see if anything showed up, that pea shooter Jeff had would have had to hit something key man, like my head or heart or atorta or something.”

  “Atorta?” Nanci asked and giggled, it was a refreshing sound to hear.

  Kevin pretended to go into a funk and slumped over, “Yeah, yeah, I told ya I was not an ace at school huh? Why do you have to dog me like this, I mean I am okay my atorta wasn't shot up and the docs said I need rest, like real rest, you guys only got in 'cause I told em you were like my family now. Don't make me take you off the list.”

  Laughing Hank said, “Aorta. Okay, okay, I'll lay off too, you are going to be fine, we'll lay off you and heck if you wanted you could probably be the one operating on aorta's, things are going to get worse before they get better, I think, and the doctors will need all the help they can get, even if it means training someone without a medical background how to operate.”

  Kevin perked up at that, “Hey you think so Hank? You really think so? My mama would be so happy if I were a doc, I mean really happy.”

  “The world is changed Kevin, who knows what opportunities are going to be there in the future? If you are interested I will talk to the nurses and docs, if this goes on awhile I can't see them not relying on their assistants more and more as time goes by. I wish I was wrong, I don't think I am. I think all of us had better be looking out for the future in this new world. Things are not ever going to be the same again.”

  “Yeah Hank? What about you, huh? Are you going to change too?” asked Nanci softly.

  Hank knew she was talking about Evaine, or any woman for that matter, he smiled and said, “Nanci, Nanci, Nanci, will you ever stop trying to settle me down? I am a bachelor and I love the life I have now.”

  “Bah! Men, you always think it is about you, it is about the woman too, not just about men or being alone. So are you?”

  Laughing Hank said, “You never give up? How'd we put up with her all these years Juan?”

  “Don't you get me into this, you talk to her, leave me out.” Juan said taking a step back and putting his hands out in front of him in a defensive manner.

  Nanci, on the other hand, sensed weakness in her prey and pressed her attack, “Answer the question gringo!”

  Hank smiled, about to give another evasive reply, then looked from Juan, to Nanci, to Kevin and the words died on his lips. He licked his lips nervously while Nanci put one hand on her hip and pointed the other one at him, “I have seen you with the ladies, you don't touch them, not just with your hands, but not with your heart, you love Juan and me and even, Kevin now.” she pointed at the black youth as if to demonstrate a poin
t, “You love us more than you allow yourself to love a woman. Why is that Hank? You can't go on grieving forever. You said it yourself it is a new world and you should be looking out for your opportunities. You better be looking out for them? Do you hear me?”

  Swallowing, Hank could not say anything he just gave Nanci a short nod, she smiled triumphantly and announced, “Finally! Sense! I cannot sit in this room talking all day, there is still work to be done.” She raised a hand to the men, “No you stay, it is good for Kevin to visit with friends while the doctors allow it. I have to go.”, so saying she abruptly left the room. Leaving a vacuum of silence behind her.

  “I think...”, started Juan, before being interrupted by Kevin who said, “You're doomed now brother!”

  Hanked nodded wearily in agreement. He walked over to the second bed in the room and sat down on it wearily. The talk then turned to discussing the girl Kevin had run into, his potential to become a medical assistant and how Hank was going to handle the upcoming elections. Hank and Juan discussed Michael a little bit, Kevin had never met the kid, who was only a little younger than he was. It seemed that he might be okay, if there was no infection or other problems from the surgery. The bullet wounds were terrible, one of his lungs had collapsed, he had multiple broken ribs and he still might die. Even with that the doctor who had spoken to Juan had said the would give better than two to one odds that the young man pulled through, Michael seemed to have a very strong will to live. Eventually Kevin asked Hank what he was going to do about Jeff.

  A troubled look came over Hank's face and he replied, “Kevin, funny thing, I shoulda mentioned this before, but I got a little sidetracked by Nanci and well, there isn't a good way to say it, Jeff is gone.”