They were almost at the gate when shots rang out far up the valley. First just a few. Liam and Victoria stopped in their tracks, looking at each other in a frozen pose of surprise.
A few more shots rang out. Then nothing.
He felt himself leaning forward as if to continue walking, and another shot rang out.
“We better hurry to the council.”
They left the newcomers and the MRAP at the front gate. They jogged up the small road. Just yesterday they had both run the opposite direction as they chased the young man who pushed Victoria into the creek.
Liam spoke as they jogged. “It can't be a coincidence that guy who pushed you was probing our camp at the same time the survivalists were attacking the subdivision on our northern boundary.”
“I was beginning to think the same thing. The only thing worse would be if he worked for a different group that was going to hit us from a different direction.”
They both got a nervous laugh out of that as they reached the administration building. Liam figured it would be shut down and everyone would be asleep, so he was surprised to see it was a hub of activity even in the pre-dawn hours.
And there, just inside the doors, were his parents.
2
Liam's father still nursed his broken leg; he sat on an ancient metal folding chair. When Liam walked in, they were all over him.
“Liam! Thank God you're OK.” His mom ran and hugged him as she said it.
“Yeah, good to see you, son. Forgive me for not standing.” He tried to laugh, but Liam saw he was still in a lot of pain.
“We can't get out of here. The doctor wanted to make sure it wasn't going to get infected since we have so few medical supplies available. He said it was cleaner in here than in those dirty tents.”
“Yeah, we saw you and Victoria run out with that Marine, and we saw him come back without you. We knew it was crazy, but we couldn't help but imagine he offed you in the woods. We didn't know what to think until we heard the MRAP was back at the front gate. They said you'd spoken with the guards along the road so we lined up here to give you a welcome home.”
His mom still didn't let him go. Instead, she grabbed Victoria and pulled her into the embrace as well.
“Just so happy to see you both.”
Liam would have been embarrassed in the Old World to have his mother show such affection in front of his girlfriend, but in this new one he was perfectly fine. He knew she might be gone tomorrow, or he himself might be a fine mist after a massive fireball explodes out of some nondescript garage.
“I'm glad to see you guys too,” he wasn't necessarily going to tell them every scary thing out there, but he had to tell them something. “Things are getting worse out there.”
“We heard there was a doomsday cult making trouble north of here?”
“A cult? No, they were survivalists—or so we've been told. We didn't actually see them up close. They burned a whole subdivision to the ground. We found a big group of women and children on the open road and we brought them back here before they could be rounded up by the bad guys. Most of the men didn't make it.”
Liam looked at his dad as he said it, knowing his father would understand what he was saying.
They were still in the doorway, so it was easy to hear renewed shots in the distance. His mom finally released the two kids. It gave Liam a chance to see how much activity was going on inside the building. Scores of flashlights bounced back and forth between the lantern-glow of the various rooms. He saw head-lamps and hand-held flashlights heading out into the distance and coming toward them in streams from the tents. Liam thought it was kind of magical. The moment was broken when several men and women charged through the doorway. One of them was Mr. Lee.
“We need to talk to the council! We're under attack!”
Mr. Lee shouted, but noticed Liam and his family and diverted to them.
“Liam! Thank you for the warning. The runner from the checkpoint got to us in time to warn us, which I can tell you probably saved a lot of lives. At this hour it's easy to be lax, but with the prompt of possible trouble our boys were on high alert. I really don't have time to explain everything going on. I need help out there.”
“We're in.” It fell out of his mouth before he even thought about it. Night fighting in the woods wasn't really something he was proficient at doing.
Are any of these Boy Scouts any more prepared?
His conscience reminded him of the reality of where they were. They were all in this together no matter how much experience they had on paper. Fifteen-years-old or fifty, it made no difference now. He'd seen some of those same Boy Scouts fight like lions in hand-to-hand combat against the zombies.
As Mr. Lee moved away, Liam faced his parents again.
“I know you two have to go back out there. I wouldn't expect you to cower here like children. Even though I can't help but think of you as my little baby boy.” She began to tear up. She still clutched his filthy shirt, as if unwilling to separate.
Liam couldn't remember his mother ever being this emotional. It was affecting him as well. He didn't want to start sobbing like that little boy she envisioned. To compensate, he looked at his dad. “See ya, dad. You guys have weapons in here?”
He nodded in the affirmative. He then held out his hand for a handshake. After all their difficulties the past several months he'd forgotten the last time they'd shaken hands or hugged. Maybe New Years.
Liam took it with a firm grip. The unusual displays of affection from both his parents were making him dangerously close to losing it.
“OK, we have to go. We'll be back as soon as we can.” He turned around and was hasty walking out the door. Victoria followed.
When they were into the tents, he stepped off the main path. He felt the tears forming in his eyes. “I'm sorry, I didn't want to get emotional in there. I've never seen my parents like that.” He wiped his eyes, only making a cursory effort to keep her from seeing him.
“Well, they did think you were dead. Gunshots are ringing out in the night, getting closer. They don't want to lose you for real. Frankly, I feel the same way. We're heading into a dangerous situation again. We can't be kids anymore, just sitting on the sidelines while the adults take care of things for us. They've known that for a long time, as have we.”
Is this what it feels like to be 25? 55? 105?
Liam briefly considered telling Victoria to stay with his parents, to keep her safe. But he knew how that conversation would end.
3
Liam and Victoria stood outside the building waiting for Mr. Lee to organize things on the inside with the council. He took the time to check their rifles, organize their magazines, and lighten their loads. His backpack had nothing but the brick-sized 1000-round box of .22 caliber ammo, still mostly full. He had nothing else extra to toss out. They each had one of his dad's surplus AK-47 rifles with one thirty round mag in the body of each weapon, and three spares. No water. No food. No medical supplies. Liam also had one pocket knife and one mysterious photograph.
They looked each other over to ensure they had no loose clothing or other obstructions that could get them killed. Shoelaces were tied.
“Your clothes stink.”
“Oh really? And what do your mud-soaked clothes smell like?”
“I'm a lady. They smell like roses.”
They had no opportunity to change since they survived the bombing of his street and jumped in the muddy creek. They both reeked, but so did the rest of his friends and family.
She had tried to buoy his spirits, but all he had in him was a polite chuckle.
He pushed out the thoughts of the dead, and tried to regain his focus on the moment. They each had their little Ruger .22 pistols, though his felt insignificant next to the larger semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. As he found back at the dead intersection, it would only be useful as a last resort.
The faintest light of the morning appeared as Mel and Phil jogged up. They both looked like deat
h warmed over. None of them got any sleep on the journey in, but driving and navigating while watching for bad guys all night clearly took a toll.
“Hey, guys. What's the plan here?”
“We're waiting for Mr. Lee. He's talking with the council and getting a plan together for how to defend the valley. Once he comes out we're going to link up with him and see what he needs from us.”
“Does he know we have the MRAP here? Surely he does.”
“He didn't tell me anything. He was in a hurry.” Liam looked at Mel. “How would you defend this place Mel?” She'd surprised him several times the past weeks in her quick understanding of tactical situations. In all that time he still didn't think to ask her about her military background, or how she ended up selling shoes.
She had already formulated a plan.
“This valley is impossible to defend from all directions. We aren't professionals, and this isn't a movie where stupid heroism wins the day. We have thousands of innocents, most without weapons or any means of protecting themselves from flying bullets. The survival guys will already control all the hills, or at least the hills they need to assault this valley. Our only good options now that we've lost the initiative are to either get everyone out and use our shooters to facilitate that escape, or try to draw in the enemy to the place and time of our choosing and strike them hard. I doubt we could evacuate anyone before the place was overrun. That leaves only one realistic option.”
Liam tried to think of what he'd do with the MRAP. “Maybe we could wait until we see them down here in the valley and then shoot them with the chaingun on the MRAP?”
“How would we avoid slicing and dicing unarmed civilians? That gun isn't exactly a precision instrument. Even less so in the low light.”
“What about the Marines? Are they still close by?”
“No!” Mr. Lee had just emerged from the building as Victoria spoke. “We've kept our eye on the Marines, but they cleared out just before dark last night. We have no idea where they went, other than north up the interstate. We can only depend on ourselves in this fight.”
Several armed adult men ran out of the administration building. They were the core of Mr. Lee's defense force for the valley. He explained they were a mix of ex-military, law enforcement, and competent listeners who could also shoot. There were only a precious couple dozen of them gathered now.
Melissa pulled Mr. Lee aside toward Liam, “Where are your men heading? What's your plan?”
They discussed the plan cooked up between Mr. Lee and the military guys. They were going to launch an immediate counterattack by taking a long route down the valley and then work their way around the back of the attacking force to catch them off guard.
“We don't have time for a counterattack. Your boys don't have the discipline to pull it off. It would be tough for regular army under these conditions and with such bad intelligence. You need to put your men where you know the enemy is going to be—here in the valley bottom. Put a token force in the administration building and along the creek bed, draw in the enemy and then give them the building. They will then stack their troops in there because it's the only hard cover around. Then we hit them hard with the MRAP when they're grouped up. Kill the stragglers.”
Mr. Lee seemed to waver.
“Lee, you can't leave the valley in the hope you run into them. By the time you've made contact they will already be here killing your people.” Melissa spoke to him softly, almost pleading with him.
“You're right. God, I just need five quiet minutes to think.” He ran his hand through his thinning hair. “We talked about that very thing inside, but some of these military guys want things their way or the highway.”
“You trust 'em? Sounds like a blue falcon trying to take himself off the field of battle...”
They discussed the plan for about five minutes. It wasn't enough time to cover every eventuality, but it was enough time to address the fundamentals. Melissa was very keen to convey that the plan must be as simple as possible. Mr. Lee rounded up some of his lieutenants and together they established a new plan. Liam listened in, but offered no opinions. He knew he was out of his league, and for once he was glad. He would be worried if he knew more about tactical matters than the people supposedly in charge of security.
The only divergence from Melissa's plan was that a few of the ex-military men insisted on going around the hills to hit them from behind as originally planned. No one argued with those guys, and Liam had to admit it would be sweet to have someone taking the fight to the enemy. If they got there in time. A team of four took off at a run down the road.
Liam risked injecting a question into the planning session. “Mr. Lee, who's defending us up on the hills right now?”
Mr. Lee smiled. “Liam, I asked the kids in my pack to call me 'Mr. Lee' to teach them respect. I guess it kind of caught on for everyone. But I want you to know, I'd prefer it if you just used my first name. Call me Lee.”
Liam was honored.
Lee continued with a sadness in his voice. “I sent several two-man teams of older Boy Scouts and their fathers to harass the invaders from random positions. I instructed them to shoot from afar and run—stay alive—but I fear many of them are dying too. But we desperately needed the time to organize a defense down here. My assumption was that any attacker would need to secure their flanks before advancing. Needless to say I don't want to blow their sacrifice.”
Liam had no idea if was a good or bad plan. The crack of gunfire intensified in the hills; Scouts were in peril out there.
Mel was right. This is nothing like the movies.
His hands were shaking.
4
Everyone was put to work to execute the plan. Mel and Phil ran back to the MRAP, while Liam and Victoria split up so they could each get people moving out of their tents and toward the far hillside—away from the attackers. He felt something unsettling as she ran from him. He watched until she was consumed by the stirring campers and he could no longer see her...
Liam had to yell at people and get them moving. Most needed little encouragement since the shooting was loud and clear on the hill above them. But there were holdouts. Some men and women refused to abandon what little they had in their tents, and were willing to fight and die for it no matter how long the odds. Nothing Liam could say would change their minds, and he didn't waste time arguing.
Maybe they'll delay the enemy, giving the rest of us a chance.
Thousands of people running across the valley in the dim twilight was a sight to behold. The area closest to the administration building where Liam operated was also the area with the highest percentage of Boy Scouts. They coordinated and executed the evacuation in a remarkably short period of time, given the pressure of the situation. But even the best of the best weren't fast enough for the worst of the worst.
“Come on! Run!”
He ran toward the administration building with a lagging group of men and women when he heard some gunshots close by. In the low light he couldn't tell if the shots were coming his way or going the other. His fears were confirmed when a large man in a white t-shirt crumpled in front of him. The red splotch grew on his backside.
Shots from behind.
Rather than push his luck to keep pace with the stragglers, he ducked down between a couple of large tents and found his way inside the smaller of the two. He took off his backpack because the box of ammunition rattled obnoxiously as he ran. He took the whole thing off and stashed it under a blanket to hide it. His hands shook almost to the point of uselessness. He couldn't help himself. He unslung his rifle so both hands had something to do while he readied himself for any encounter. A round was in the chamber, so all he had to do was drop the safety to get it ready for action.
Footfalls outside ran by, but he was pretty certain they weren't from campers. They were quiet and disciplined. His suspicions were confirmed when they conversed in hushed, winded, voices.
“We've got them all on the run, sir.”
“
Understood. Push through these people and continue until you find the primary target. We have—”
Liam took a step back in the tent, and stepped on something which made a large pop. He didn't have time to curse himself. He pulled out his pocket knife and got to work on the orange rear wall of the tent. In ten seconds he was out and running; he stayed low while putting distance between himself and the infiltrators.
He expected yelling and orders to pursue him, but the men were either too disciplined or—worse—pursued him silently. The thought got him running.
He went perpendicular to the survivalists coming off the hill, but in the darkness and confusing tent city they couldn't see him before they were on top of him—if at all. Several times he crossed paths with a survivalist just as he ran by. They skipped civilians and kept pushing in. He thought it was pretty risky to leave anyone behind your main attack, but now that he was there...
I can make a difference.
He tried to be as quiet as he could and snuck his way into another of the abandoned tents. He grabbed what turned out to be a shoe and briefly stuck his arm out the tent flap and tossed the shoe as hard as he could on the path where he was heading. It was the oldest trick in the book, but people kept trying it because it seemed to work.
He heard several people run by, but there was no way to check which direction they were going. He no longer heard voices or foot traffic nearby. If he had pursuers, he felt he'd lost them. Still, it was several minutes before he considered leaving the relative safety of his tent.
As he huddled there his heart rate kept going up. He could hear his blood beating through his eardrums. His mind fed him suggestions of delusions of grandeur. He knew if he was in a movie, this would be the time he could sneak behind the lines and kill the enemy general, and single-handedly win the battle for the good guys.
“Listen, this is NOT a movie. The golden rule is to not do something dumb.”
He was deliberately talking to himself inside his head. He felt it had to be done to keep himself straight under such pressures. A big part of him really was drawn to being a hero at that moment, but he was tempered by a vision of Victoria chastising him for even thinking it.
Stop the Sirens: Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse, Book 3 Page 14