Zournal (Book 4): Reap What You Sow

by Merritt, R. S.

  “How the hell did she get bit by a shark?”

  “She was just lucky it wasn’t one of the alligators!” Ann said. Walking over and joining into the conversation. Gunny stared around at us again. Eyes even wider than before.

  “When we get back to HQ we’re going to spend some time swapping stories. Right now, I need sleep. Running around the woods all night with Daisy waiting to be jumped by Zombies at any second wasn’t very relaxing. There’s some couches and stuff in the lounge area that we pulled together to make some really nice beds.”

  “Sounds good Gunny. Let’s go ahead and figure out a watch schedule and try to get everyone some rest so we can move out of here around midnight.”

  Gunny was right about those couches. I pulled Ann down on top of me and the second we hit the pillows I was out. When Ginny shook me awake to stand my watch it was pure misery to disentangle myself from Ann and drag my tired body over to the window. Ginny crawled into my spot and pushed Ann onto the other couch. They were both fast asleep in seconds leaving me to stand in the light of day staring out at a desolate overgrown field as the seconds slowly slipped by.

  Entry 33: In the Dead of the Night

  I was woken up the second time by Gunny shaking me on the arm and telling me to get my ass of the couch. This from the guy I had purposefully let sleep the longest since he’d spent the previous night getting drug through the woods by Daisy. So much for being nice to people.

  Daisy was a bit of a concern. She had been pretty good while travelling around the park thus far. She had only gone on crazy barking binges when Zombie attacks had been imminent. One wrong bark while we were sneaking around in the night past large mobs of Zombies could easily spell disaster for us all. Leaving her behind was not an option. The big loveable goofball would starve to death without us being there to open cans for her. Damn her lack of opposable thumbs!

  We talked about tying her mouth closed like a muzzle but figured then she’d whimper the entire time which may be worse. You’d have thought an outside party may have told us to cut our losses and humans were more important than dogs and all that but the Gunny never said a word about leaving her behind. Probably had something to do with the fact that Daisy had saved his life too. Reeves, Ann and Ginny all treated the mutt like she was there long-lost favorite niece so no way they were leaving her behind. Good chance I’m the only heartless bastard who even considered it.

  It’s my job to be the heartless bastard though. Someone has to make choices based on getting us through this alive versus doing what may have been the right thing to do two years ago. We’d become a family and somehow, we’d adopted a dog. A goofy, lifesaving, very large, always hungry, gassy, messy, loud, funky-haired dog. I intended to do everything I could to get my family through this mess as well as we could.

  We suited up in the dark. Pulling on packs and taking turns walking around and letting the others listen to us and tighten stuff up as needed. We’d tried putting a pair of socks on Daisy but that hadn’t worked at all so we gave up after a few minutes of pure unadulterated frustration. We gathered in a circle in the middle of the gift shop. Our eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. There was a quarter moon out so we could see but it was definitely not bright. It was also seriously cold so I hoped most of the Zombies had burrowed into their nests to sleep until morning. I whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

  “Ok. Gunny has the point. Everyone key off him. Reeves, you have Gunny’s back. Ginny, you next and you’re watching Daisy. Try to keep her quiet so we don’t all end up Zombie food because Daisy thought she saw a squirrel. Then Ann and me will bring up the rear. Silence is more important than speed. Hand weapons only. We shoot our guns, we’re pretty much dead. Anybody got anything?” I paused, no one had anything. “Ok. Gunny, take us away.”

  Gunny had a long metal rod in one hand and a machete in the other. He eased open the door we had come through and disappeared out of it. Everyone followed him through one by one until it was my turn to roll out. I gave the couches one last lingering look. I was really going to miss that couch. Sighing, I stepped out in to the cold night and slipped the combination lock back over the hook to secure the door.

  Gunny had us moving at a steady, fast pace through the open fields until we got to the main road. Instead of having us walk on the main road he chose to stay beside it in the bushes. We all followed the person in front of us. Being in the rear, I kept turning to make sure we weren’t being followed. Having a bunch of Zombies sneak up on you can really ruin your day. Having even one Zombie sneak up on you can be a fatal surprise. I tried my best to make sure that was not happening.

  Up ahead Gunny had us crossing over a street. We took turns going across the open space. Pausing in between each person to see if anyone had seen us. We made it across the street. When I crossed I noticed Reeves and Gunny were still there waiting instead of moving on. I noticed a pair of dead Zombies laying by their feet and that Reeves was breathing hard while Gunny was trying to wipe gunk off his face. If I hadn’t seen them kill the Zombies that meant no other Zombies had probably seen it either. Quiet was good.

  To make our lives complete it started to snow. It started to snow a lot. Big flakes were coming down hard and hampering our visibility. On the plus side, the big snowflakes seemed to dampen sound so we were able to move a little faster. Stopping sucked. We’d jog for a while and I’d build up some sweat. Then we’d stop and all that sweat felt like it instantly froze all over my body. There was no way this was healthy.

  Daisy was having a great time. She loved all the running around and was even seeming to understand the need for quiet. The only noise I’d heard her make was when she growled at the two dead Zombie bodies after sniffing them. Even then, the growl had been low and quiet. Still a scary noise coming from a dog that was normally just a big furry pile of love. She didn’t love Zombies though. Good dog.

  We were going around the outskirts of the main part of the city versus going directly into the city itself. This should keep us away from the bulk of the Zombies and give us more room to run than if we were tromping our way down narrow alleys in the heart of the city. Another few blocks and we should see the warehouse. Gunny had spoken to them briefly on the radio back in the pro shop so they knew to expect us. They’d had to keep it real brief and use code words to avoid detection when they talked. The secrecy meant they had been unable to pass along the full story yet to the CO.

  We’d hopefully be able to tell him in person here in the near future. I saw Reeves stabbing at something underneath a bench and heard a muffled scream as he jumped back. A Zombie came out from under the bench and tried to stand up and attack the pesky human who had been poking at it with a bat. As the Zombie stood up looking at Reeves the Gunny stepped out of the shadows and smashed the things head in with his long metal pole. Looked like Gunny was fitting right in with us.

  Gunny and Reeves kept moving. Daisy paused by the dead Zombies to take a dump. I guess that made her feelings pretty much known without her having to be able to speak. I made sure to avoid stepping on the dead Zombies or the steaming pile of disdain Daisy had left behind. I didn’t want my first conversation with the CO to be around the fact that I needed to learn how to scrap dog shit off my shoes before walking into someone’s base.

  The snow was falling hard enough now that I could barely see past Ginny. I was depending on Ann to watch Ginny to watch Reeves to watch Gunny to get us to where we were going. I was also freezing. I kept moving forward and taking periodic breaks to turn around and make sure nothing was trying to sneak up on us. Right when we were approaching a new level of miserable I turned around to realize we were all standing outside a door to a warehouse looking building. Hopefully this was it.

  Gunny had already done the secret knock on the door. It looked a lot like he just banged on the door three times but he had assured us that we needed him to be the one to do it. I guess the rest of us would have managed to flub the three-count. We waited another minute, staring at the doo
r. It was like we were asking if the wizard was home or something.

  Finally, the door opened. A muzzle came out and went in Gunny’s face. He ignored it and strode right into the warehouse. The rest of us followed him. Inside the door was a small room that looked like it served as a mudroom of sorts. Two marines were standing in the room with M-16s. One of them pulled Gunny to the side and started talking to him. He seemed like he was getting pissed off. He told the marine to stand down and he’d take responsibility for it. I asked what was up.

  “These guys want you to leave your weapons at the door when you go into the base. I just told them they need to belay that order and we’ll confirm with the old man.”

  I stared at him. Reeves and everybody else seemed to understand all that. “I’m not a hundred percent on what the hell ‘belay that’ means but we’re not leaving our weapons anywhere. Maybe this guy hasn’t noticed it’s dangerous outside.”

  The marine I was referring to was a large one. He had the two bars on his epaulets that indicated he was a Lieutenant. I really didn’t care if he was an Admiral or the king of Spain. I wasn’t leaving my weapons anywhere. The guy moved towards us and asked which of us was in charge. I stepped forward and he tried to explain why we should leave our weapons here. I politely told him that wasn’t going to happen. We’d be happy to leave but we weren’t leaving our weapons anywhere.

  “You can’t leave. You know the location of the base. I need you to hand over your weapons now so we can process you into the base.”

  I was losing my patience with this guy. I was carefully considering the correct words to use when Reeves went ahead and showed his ability to be politically correct.

  “Hey sir. There’s shit everywhere that wants to kill us. There’s crazy blue diseased mothers who want to eat us. We’ve been betrayed and double-crossed and literally thrown to the damn sharks. No way in hell are we taking off our weapons. So, just try and be happy you got some more guns on your side and let us in.”

  Reeves smiled real big and held out his hand. I looked at Reeves. He wasn’t throwing off that normal smart-ass grin. He actually thought that little speech was going to win over this bureaucrat versus just pissing him off even more. I waited for it. I watched the dudes face start turning red. I saw Ginny casually drop her hand to her belt.

  The officer lunged for Reeves. Reeves just stood there smiling. Ginny flicked her wrist and the police asp she had in her hand extended to its full length and then ended its journey buried deep in the angry Lieutenants crotch. He grunted and fell over to roll around on the floor in pain with his hands buried between his legs.

  The other marine looked like he didn’t know whether to shoot us or what. Gunny was obviously trying not to laugh. Reeves was smirking real big. Ginny was standing over the Lieutenant looking down at him. I looked at Ann and she just shook her head at me indicating this was not going to end well. I made a sorry gesture to the poor marine guard who wasn’t sure how to react to the teeny bopper girl taking down the large Lieutenant.

  As we were all standing there awkwardly the door flew open and two more marines came in flanked by an older marine dressed in fatigues. The older gentleman looked down at the Lieutenant laying on the floor then over at Gunny. Gunny was standing at attention and struggling to contain a big grin.

  “Lieutenant. Why the hell are you laying on the ground while these people I don’t know are standing on my base with weapons?”

  The Lieutenant drug himself to his knees and pointed at Ginny.

  “This one attacked me sir. Permission to have her thrown in the brig?”

  The old man stared at him incredulously. “Lieutenant, in the middle of the end of days I have personally seen you spending more time per day doing push-ups and lifting heavy crap than anyone else in this unit. You are a United States Marine Corps Officer. Or, at least you’re supposed to be. Please, start acting like one or I will have you thrown in the brig for being an asshole. Now, go take care of making sure our guests have a place to bunk down. I trust the Gunny when he says we can trust them so let them keep their weapons.”

  The Lieutenant got up and went through the double doors out of the mudroom and deeper into the base to carry out his orders. The old man waited until he left before turning back to us. He extended a hand and shook hands with each of us while patting us on the back.

  “From what I understand you folks have quite a story to tell. I look forward to hearing it but want to make sure you have time to rest up first. Assuming gathering sheets and pillows isn’t beneath him the Lieutenant should have you a space setup by the time we get in. I’m Colonel Hellfont and this is my base. While you are on it you will follow my orders, and do as commanded. I say this not to mean you are a conscript by any means but to ensure your safety and the safety of my other charges. Is that understood?”

  “Yes Sir!” Reeves barked out the response. He was up on his feet at attention. This guy did seem like the real deal. We all gave Reeves a look, he didn’t even notice.

  “Absolutely Colonel. Your base, your rules. We also understand you don’t want us to go wandering off without permission. We understand the reasons for that as well. Quick question for you. How long have you guys been at this base?”

  “A few weeks. Why?”

  “Well sir. The Gunny has mentioned a few times that not all of your teams have been out in the field for extended periods of time since this started. We have been. One thing you can be sure of. Once you are in a place long enough to get comfortable you’re probably only a short time away from being overrun. I wouldn’t say right now as a few weeks isn’t pushing it too far. I would say to consider moving soon though. We can talk more at your convenience, right now I’m pretty excited about laying my head down and being able to sleep in a building protected by a bunch of marines.”

  “Outstanding son. Gunny, go figure out where they’re berthing at and we’ll all plan on catching up tomorrow for lunch at thirteen hundred. That should give you plenty of rack time. Gunny, when you get them settled come find me.”

  With that, the Colonel turned and disappeared down the hallway the Lieutenant had gone down.

  Entry 34: Little Boys Room

  “Did anyone else get confused when he said we were going to a ‘birthing’ area’?” I asked. I did not see the need for the military to keep making up words just to feel special.

  “’Berthing’ with an ‘e’. It’s the place you live, the place you sleep, where your rack is.” Reeves supplied.

  “I guess bedroom is too easy to say? Whatever, which way to the bathroom? I mean, the head?”

  Before I could start annoying everyone by asking why the hell the military called the men’s room a head, Reeves pointed me in the right direction. I decided to just shut up since everyone else seemed hip to the military lingo. When in Rome.

  They had tried to stick the women in one room and the rest of us in another. I had been about five seconds from asking Ginny to kick the guys ass again when Lieutenant Dipshit finally consented to letting us all share a single room. We’d moved some cots around and made the interior warehouse space into a decent ‘berthing’ area. Gunny had wandered off to speak with the Colonel and I assumed he had his own rack space somewhere in the labyrinth of hallways we were in. I walked past the head and kept right on going.

  I needed to validate an escape route in case something happened. I felt like I should be leaving bread crumbs or rolling out a string behind me or something the place was so big and confusing. I finally saw the path to the two double doors leading out and was fairly confident I could get us there. I also had figured out where the office spaces where and had bumped open a door wide enough to confirm the front offices had windows we could go out if needed. Feeling better about spending the night in a windowless room I headed back towards our spaces.

  I was walking down the corridor when the door in front of me swung open and I bumped into it jostling whoever was on the other side. After an awkward exchange the door closed to reveal Lieuten
ant dipshit was standing there. The marine assistant who had been with him earlier came through the door with him as well. This was going to be fun.

  “Hey asshole. Why are you out of your assigned space?” The Lieutenant started crowding me as the marine he was with backed up a bit and looked on with interest.

  “Just going for a midnight stroll. Checking the place out.” I said. Trying to be cordial.

  “You’re not authorized to leave your berthing area.” The Lieutenant put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me backwards. “Wouldn’t want you to get hurt wandering around where you’re not wanted.”

  “Back off dude. If you think a thirteen-year-old girl is dangerous you don’t want to mess with me. I’m headed back to the birthing thing now.”

  He punched me so hard I felt my body do a midair flip before I landed on the trashcan in the corner. That was going to leave a mark. I looked up and saw him coming at me with a police baton in his hand. Screw that. I picked up the metal trash can he had thrown me on and threw it at him. He knocked it out of the way easily and kept coming at me. He had murder in his eyes.