The Corporal smiled and shook his head as the truck drove slowly down a residential road. There were a few straggler zombies darting out onto the road behind them, and at the sound of gunshots the two soldiers stood up, rifles at the ready.
“You ain’t gotta worry,” Walter said, motioning for them to sit down. “That’s just our people clearing the way for us.”
They relaxed and sat down, but kept their guns ready as the truck drove right into the center of town. Two-story buildings lined the streets, gunmen leaning out the high windows. They each hooted and hollered, occasionally picking off a stray zombie, but keeping the horde out of the way. A few of them simply flipped off the zombies, bringing a bit of joy to the soldiers as they looked on.
The truck passed through a makeshift gate, which looked like a repurposed barn door covered in barbed wire. A few older farm hands shut the gate behind them immediately before the distracted zombies noticed, and then lowered the tailgate of the truck.
“Y’all do okay out there?” The taller African-American farm hand smiled as he helped the kids off of the bed.
“We had some trouble, but our new friends helped us,” Walter replied, motioning to the soldiers.
“You go on and get Xavier now, Walter,” the man instructed as he helped the old man to the ground.
“Yes, sir,” Walter replied, and headed off.
Coleman and Terrell clambered down into a hive of activity. There were well over a hundred people buzzing around, the majority of which looked like farm workers. A small group cooked in large pots over open flame, numerous people carried supplies into buildings, and others reinforced one of the walls blocking the street.
It looked like what had been done originally was to block the city’s center square with whatever they could find. There were cars reinforced with sheet metal, giant hay bales packed two high and eight deep. At the far end there were three large eighteen-wheelers lined up.
“Pretty impressive,” Terrell said, nodding as he gazed around. “Two days into the apocalypse and they’ve already got themselves a kingdom set up.”
“While I don’t consider myself to be royalty,” a loud voice replied, “it would be rude of me as your host to deny you the ability to refer to me as such.”
The soldiers turned to see a tall African-American man that looked to be in his mid fifties striding towards them. He had weathered skin like most of the farm hands, but his clothes were clean and crisp unlike the tattered plaid of the workers. His hair was cropped close to his head and his collar-length beard was well-groomed.
“You must be Xavier,” Terrell said with a smile.
The man nodded as he reached them, clasping his hands in front of him. “Indeed I am, gentlemen. And you must be the two good samaritans young Walter spoke of.”
“Yes sir,” the Captain replied. “I’m Terrell and this is Coleman.” He extended his hand.
Xavier shook with each of them in turn. “Terrell. Coleman. Thank you for bringing my people back safely.”
“It was our pleasure, sir,” the Corporal replied. “The Captain and I never pass up an opportunity to put a bully in their place.”
“I wish that this situation was nothing more than a simple case of bullying.” The leader sighed. “I’m afraid this goes much, much further than that, however.”
“Well, based on our encounter, these guys seem very interested in acquiring something you have,” Terrell explained.
“Yes, they want our food supply,” Xavier replied. He paused and blinked before shaking his head. “My apologies, gentlemen. I have failed in my duties as a host. May I offer you something to eat?”
Terrell’s stomach growled at the mere mention of food. “We would be very appreciative for a meal, Xavier.”
“Hell, I’ll settle for a pack of crackers at this point,” Coleman added.
“Well my friend, I believe we can do a little better than that,” Xavier replied with a twinkle in his eye, and waved for them to follow. He led them to a makeshift camp site where two white-haired women were cooking in a giant pot over a large fire. “Afternoon, ladies,” the leader greeted.
“Hey Mister Xavier!” one of them replied with a toothless smile.
The other winked at Terrell. “And hello to your new friends!”
“Miss June, Miss Ruth,” Xavier said, “I’d like you to meet Terrell and Coleman.”
“It’s a pleasure.” June inclined her head.
Ruth smirked. “Mmm. Love me a man in uniform.”
Coleman blushed as Terrell gave her a little bow.
“Well ladies, what delicacy do you have cooking up for us, today?” Xavier asked.
June preened under the compliment. “We have a wonderful six vegetable soup, nice and hot.”
“Although I see that look in your eye,” Ruth added, pointing at Coleman, “and I got something special for you.”
The Corporal laughed. “Ma’am, I cannot wait.”
She reached behind the pot and pulled out a plate with a fried chicken leg on it. “You strike me as a leg man,” she said coyly.
“Ma’am, you have no idea,” Coleman replied, and gratefully took the leg. The three men each took up a bowl of soup and made their way over to the bench in front of the court house. They inhaled their food, the only sound over the ambient working noises the slurping of hungry soldiers.
“Xavier, that was tremendous,” Terrell said after he drank the last of his bowl.
Coleman nodded his agreement. “Thank you very much.”
“My pleasure, gentlemen,” the leader replied. “It’s the least I could do, given your deeds.”
“May I ask you a question?” Terrell asked.
Xavier nodded. “Please.”
“How did you manage to secure the town of Clinton?” the Captain inquired. “Was it not impacted by the zombie outbreak?”
“We are fortunate with our location, being so far away from heavily populated areas,” Xavier replied. “As a result, people around here had plenty of warning about what was transpiring. Most of those with the means to packed up and headed for the coast, my business partner being among them. He spouted some nonsense about finding a boat and getting offshore before calamity took root. It was a foolish plan, because even if he found a vessel, there wouldn’t be a reliable source of food or water. Alas, he would not listen to reason and chose to follow the majority of the town on their ill-fated quest.”
“If everybody left town, then who are all these people?” the Corporal asked.
“Mister Coleman, we are a poor farming community,” Xavier replied, spreading his hands to motion to the workers. “The farm owners, the business owners, those are the people who packed up and left. The people you see here? Most of them don’t have cars, and the ones who do have transportation wouldn’t have gotten very far given the condition.” He took a deep breath, clenching his jaw for a beat before continuing, “A lot of the people here were working their daily farm jobs when they watched their employers pack up their families and leave town without so much as a warning about the storm that was coming.”
Terrell furrowed his brow. “But you didn’t leave.”
“I did not, sir.” Xavier shook his head gravely. “I was born in this town, built a life for myself in this town, and achieved things I never thought possible when I was a child. The moment I learned vulnerable people were people left behind, I started collecting them. Carload by carload we came to the center of town and secured it. Ten people became twenty. Twenty became forty. And by the end of the first day, we had over a hundred and fifty people safe and secure behind these walls.”
“That’s impressive,” Coleman said, eyebrows raised. “Not to mention noble as hell.”
“Just because you are poor, doesn’t mean you should be left to die,” Xavier said, face stoic but his eyes betraying his anger. “I care about the people of this town, and will do anything to protect them.”
“Again, if you don’t mind me asking, how are you going to provide for this
many people?” Terrell worried.
Xavier stood up. “Please, gentlemen, come with me,” he said, and led them to the three huge transport trucks. “Before all of this, my business partner and I ran a successful trucking company. We had contracts with many of the farms in the area to take their harvests to market. As fate would have it, the day this hit, we had three of these trucks loaded up at a nearby farm.” He led them around to the back of one of the trucks, revealing that it was filled to the top with produce. “So food, for the moment, is not an issue.” He led the two shocked soldiers to a nearby building that looked like it had been some kind of recreation hall. There were dozens of large pots on top of burners, workers running back and forth carrying mason jars full of vegetables.
Terrell’s jaw dropped. “This is a hardcore canning operation you have going on here, Xavier.”
“Canning?” Coleman furrowed his brow.
“Come on, Corporal, you don’t know what canning is?” the Captain asked.
“What do you want, Cap? I’m a city boy,” Coleman replied with a shrug.
“Canning,” Xavier said, “is an effective way to preserve food. It’s been around since the early eighteen hundreds and hasn’t really changed a whole lot in the last two centuries.”
“Well, if it ain’t broke, right?” Coleman nodded.
Xavier smiled. “Right indeed, sir.”
“How long do you think you can hold out with this supply?” Terrell asked.
“If we ration properly, I believe we can survive for a year off of what we currently possess,” the leader replied. “My hope is that it will be enough time for the military to get a grasp on the situation.”
The soldiers exchanged a concerned look, and Terrell cleared his throat. “Xavier… I… I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the military isn’t coming. You’re on your own out here.”
The older man pursed his lips, eyes glazing over. “I see.” He took a deep breath, and then licked his lips, shaking his head. “I appreciate your honesty. One way or another, we will figure out a way to survive.”
One of the workers that walked by gave a violent cough, and the soldiers stiffened immediately.
“Xavier, do you have many sick people that are coughing?” Coleman asked.
The leader nodded. “Regrettably, we have a handful, perhaps a dozen or so.”
“This is going to be difficult to hear,” the Corporal replied, “but you need to quarantine them immediately.”
Terrell nodded as Xavier glanced to him with alarm. “It’s an airborne virus that’s causing all of this. If you have A-type blood, you get sick and turn into those things. If you get bitten, you get sick and turn into those things. Anybody that has been wounded or showing symptoms needs to be under lock and key immediately.”
Xavier let out a deep breath. “I understand, gentlemen. I will make the necessary arrangements at the conclusion of our talk.”
He led them back outside, into the shade of a tree. The town bustled around them, and if it weren’t for the ever-looming threat of death, it would have almost been peaceful.
“You have a very impressive setup,” Coleman said. “It’s no wonder someone wants to come in and take it from you.”
“I don’t know how they found out about the food, but they did,” Xavier replied, shaking his head sadly. “We had only been back for a couple of hours when the first shot rang out. There was a young man on guard duty, making sure those creatures weren’t going to breach the barricade. The bullet hit him in the chest.” He paused, pursing his lips for a moment before continuing, “The only comfort I take is that he passed before he struck the ground. We didn’t have time to mourn as they led a full tilt assault from the east. Hard to tell how many there were, at least a few dozen. We had to use most of our ammunition to repel the invaders.”
“Hey, look on the bright side,” Terrell spoke up, “they don’t know that.”
The leader nodded. “This is true, my friend.”
“And I wouldn’t worry too much about them for the moment,” the Captain continued. “We did a number on a couple of them and made it known that we were staying in town.”
“Gentlemen, you have already done so much for us,” Xavier said, clasping his hands in front of him as he turned to face the soldiers. “I do not know what your plans are, however if you wish to move on and attempt to rejoin your military squad I will see to it that you have transportation and supplies for the journey. I fully realize that this pandemic is larger than us, and I’m sure your superiors are missing your talents at the moment. That being said, if you would be so kind as to humor an old man, I do have a favor to ask.”
Terrell nodded emphatically. “By all means, what is the favor?”
“There is a farm about fifteen miles outside of town that has another one of these trucks loaded up,” Xavier explained. “We made an attempt to retrieve it, but were overrun by the creatures. With our limited firepower and the threat of an imminent attack, we don’t have the ability to secure it before the food becomes inedible. I was hoping that you could bring it to town for us.”
The soldiers took a pause before Terrell cocked his head. “May we have a moment to discuss?” he asked.
Xavier nodded. “Please, take your time,” he agreed, and moved towards a group of people stacking wooden skids to inquire about the wall reinforcements.
“What do you think?” Terrell asked quietly.
Coleman took a deep breath. “I think these people could use our help.”
“And let’s be honest,” the Captain added. “Do you really think the military is going to risk a rescue for the two of us?”
“Hell, that’s assuming we can even make it out to the coast before they get out of radio range,” the Corporal replied.
Terrell nodded. “So, you want to say and help?”
“You know me, Cap.” Coleman grinned. “I’m a sucker for good fried chicken. I’ m in.”
The Captain laughed. “Nah, don’t give me that bullshit, we all know you have an eye on Ruth over there.”
“What can I say, Cap?” The Corporal joined the laughter. “I like ‘em feisty.”
They wandered over to Xavier as Terrell clapped his comrade on the shoulder. “All right Xavier,” he declared, garnering the attention of the leader, “we’re in.”
He extended a hand to shake theirs each in turn, his face lighting up into a full smile. It changed his entire face, the stoic old mask looking years younger at the curling of his cheekbones.
“Thank you so much,” he said. “I don’t have the words to properly express my appreciation.”
“It’s our pleasure,” Coleman replied. “Although I wouldn’t turn down some more of that fried chicken.”
“I will make sure Ruth does a fresh batch just for you,” Xavier promised.
Terrell nodded. “All right, we just need a truck and some directions,” he said, and the leader motioned for them to follow him.
Minutes later, the two soldiers sat in an idling truck at the gate, waiting for the distractions to pull the zombies away from the door.
“How are you doin’ on ammo?” Terrell asked.
Coleman checked his guns. “Got two full mags and a half one loaded in. One spare for my sidearm.” He glanced behind him, grinning at the rifle hanging just inside the back window. “And whatever is in that rifle there. Gotta love the rural south.”
“I don’t think I’m doing much better than that,” Terrell replied. “Looks like we just gotta hope we don’t have much resistance.” He punched the accelerator as soon as the gate opened, driving past the surprised zombies at full speed. Once he was out of range, he slowed down to maneuver the residential streets.
As he turned onto the main road out of town, he spotted a quick reflection from the tree line, and slammed on the brakes.
“What is it, Cap?” Coleman asked, lifting his rifle.
Terrell pursed his lips as the bright light vanished. “I think someone was waiting for us to leave town,�
� he mused.
The Corporal narrowed his eyes. “You wanna take care of ‘em?”
Terrell shook his head. “Not now. I have an idea.”
CHAPTER NINE
Frank held up his hand as they took up defensive positions outside of the fifteenth floor door, assault rifles at the ready.
“When we get into the room, find cover immediately,” he said, voice barely above a whisper. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with, but we have to assume everyone is a hostile. If you can avoid a killing shot, do it. But don’t take unnecessary risks. I’m going right, Freeman you go left. If you locate Bennett and Foster, secure them if you can and get them to the stairwell. Everybody ready?” He waited for the series of nods and then motioned to Gardner. “Here we go.” He fell into a half crouch, and the Corporal opened the door.
Frank went through first, into the mostly dark room. He ducked down behind a cubicle wall, noting a few little pockets of light scattered about. The bulk of the room was a giant cubicle farm, with a large glass conference room on the right. There were a few offices against the far wall with large windows, sunlight peeking in.
As Freeman entered, several shots ripped through the air, forcing him to the hit the ground and crawl to the left to take cover. Gardner jerked Marie out of the way as Webb took a knee and fired a few shots down the center aisle. He inched back and stayed low, eyes on the aisle way in case somebody popped out.
“You all right?” Gardner asked.
Marie nodded jerkily. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“You hit?” Frank asked Freeman, recomposed and leaning up against a cubicle wall.
The Corporal shook his head. “Don’t think so.”
“Good, let’s keep it that way,” the Captain ordered, and Freeman nodded. He shifted his focus to the left flank, aiming down the walkway between the cubicles and the wall.
Several more shots hit the wall, almost as if the shooters were simply trying to scare them instead of actually hit anything.
“Webb, y’all ready to move up?” Frank hissed.
Webb nodded. “On your mark, Cap,” he replied.
Dead America The First Week (Book 3): Carolina Front Page 5