United States of the Dead - 04

by Joseph Talluto

  Nate swerved the RV to the left as the Smithsonian Building came into view and we crashed through the garden in the front of the building. The last thing I heard before we came to a sudden stop was Nate cursing.

  “Who the fuck put that there?”

  Chapter 16

  The rest was lost in a crunch of metal as we were thrown to the floor. Nate had his seatbelt on and I saw him slam forward and back.

  “What the hell?” Tommy yelled from the back. He had fallen forward carrying loaded packs and was trying to climb off the floor.

  I heard even worse cursing from Duncan and I realized he was in the bathroom when we hit. I pulled myself off the table and gave Zeus the cat a reassuring pat on the head, which earned me a nasty snarl. Zeus had flown across the entire kitchen and was hanging from the curtains.

  “Holy hell,” I said. “Nate, you okay? What’d we hit?” I asked, trying to see the damage.

  Nate shook his head and unbuckled himself, straining to see the front of the vehicle. I joined him at the cracked windshield and looked down. The front of the RV was wrapped around a concrete planter that had overgrown and looked for all intents and purposes like an innocent shrubbery. Well, this bush had teeth and had bitten the shit out of us.

  “We can’t stay here, all the ghouls we pissed off are on their way. We gotta leave the RV,” I said, grabbing my pack and slinging my rifle over my shoulder. I took one of the medieval billhooks from Tommy and started for the door.

  “Why are we leaving?” asked Nate. “This place was designed to be a fortress.” He looked back at me and crossed his arms over his chest.

  “Sure, but not for as many zombies that are out there.” I pointed to the garden and street. “There’s enough of them to knock this rig over and in case you hadn’t noticed, the last car you hit dented in the door. There’s a big enough crack for a hand to get in and you know that’s all they need.”

  Nate glanced over my shoulder and saw the dent. “Shit. Well, I need my pack.”

  Tommy threw a loaded pack to Nate.

  Nate shrugged it on. “I need my weapons.”

  Duncan handed him a rifle and another billhook.

  Nate blinked and then he laughed. “I need a big-titted blonde in love with me.” Nate paused while Duncan just looked at him. “Well, all right then. Let’s hope we can get inside.”

  I silently prayed we could while we exited the RV. The rig had stirred up a lot of attention, but it was all on this side of the museum. I was grateful we hadn’t yet made our presence known to Thorton. Surprise needed to be on our side and when you wandered about at the head of a phalanx of walking dead, you tended to attract attention.

  Fortunately, we were still alone in the garden as we got out of the RV and as we circled towards the building, we got a good look at all the damage our journey had inflicted on the vehicle. Looking at the mangled sides and paint that belonged on other cars, I was stunned we had made it as far as we had.

  I moved to the back of the vehicle when a moan got my attention. A well-dressed zombie moved out of the bushes and stumbled at us. Nate hefted his billhook and with a single swing, crushed the Z’s head and put him down.

  Nate looked at his handiwork and commented, “You know, as useful as a gun is on these things, there’s something oddly satisfying about taking them out with one of these babies.”

  I had to agree. It was like we were connecting with a more primitive part of ourselves to take out a primal threat. Would I wander into a nest of zombies with just my billhook or pickaxe? No. But I could appreciate the damage they did and the savings on bullets. Who knows? Maybe one day all we would have left were medieval weapons and warfare.

  Duncan and Tommy had hurried to the main doorway and waved us over. The front gate did not look to be barred in any way, at least not from the outside. Inside might be a different story, but things looked relatively normal. The castle-like turrets jutted into the air, lending a distinctly somber attitude to the place. I liked it, although the red was a bit over the top.

  “Something strange here, John,” Tommy said, indicating the door. “When we first walked up, the door was locked. After Nate killed that Z, the door was open.”

  That was odd. “Are you sure you might not have jarred it loose when you tried it?” I reasoned.

  “Could be, but it’s pretty damn coincidental. I’m not sure I like what this might mean,” Tommy said, hoisting his weapon and placing a hand on his gun.

  “Speak plain, we’re wasting time here,” Nate said, looking around at the garden. It was hard not to feel very exposed where we were.

  “If a ghoul was smart enough to realize we were here and unlocked the door so we could be ambushed, what else might be waiting for us?” Tommy asked.

  I shook my head. “That’s a little much. Chances are it wasn’t locked very well to begin with and you knocked it loose,” I said. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll go in first.”

  “Nothing to do with scared, you know better than that.” Tommy snapped, shooting me a dirty look.

  “Ease up,” I said reassuringly. “No one’s doubting you. But we’re outside in the middle of a shitload of zombies, so could we go where the odds might be a little better?”

  Duncan snickered and that broke the tension. I nodded to Nate, who stood behind me with his rifle at the ready. I opened the door and quickly ducked to the side, allowing Nate a clear field of fire. He didn’t shoot anything, so I stood up and led the way into the main foyer of the historic building. I walked past several display cases which to me seemed very close, until I realized they had been put there on purpose. Someone wanted to be able to funnel the intruders into a narrow corridor. As we walked, I noticed the display cases went straight through the building to the doors on the other side. I thought that was pretty clever. If someone was willing to act as a bit of bait, zombies who made it into the front would stroll on through and be none the wiser.

  I stopped in the middle of the great hall and climbed over the display case there. The tall ceiling made the room seem colossal and I wished I had visited this place in another life. We walked slowly along the hall and I noted that the alcoves, which must have housed various displays, were now being used as rooms for occupation.

  I didn’t see anyone, but I was sure they were here. I’d seen enough hasty exits to know when someone is truly gone and when someone is hiding.

  “Hello?” I called.

  No answer. I thought I heard some twitterings in the shadows, but I wasn’t sure. Nate and Tommy spread out to the other side of the hall, while Duncan and I looked this side over.

  I peeked into an alcove and it was neatly arranged. A small sleeping area had a simple blanket and pillow, while a couple of crates served as a dresser. In the corner was a length of pipe and on a peg near the door was a belt with a large knife on it. The blade had to be at least ten inches. When I saw that I knew the people were in either one of two conditions: dead or hiding. No one leaves such a useful item behind. That would be like me leaving behind my SIG.

  I tried again. “Hello? Anybody there?” I looked over at Duncan who shrugged. “We’re not here to hurt anyone, we’re just trying to pass through. We’re glad to find living people here.”

  “Drop your weapons and put your hands up!” came a forceful reply. The speaker sounded young.

  This was becoming tiresome. Couldn’t anyone just talk to me without wanting me to disarm myself? Didn’t anyone ever take into consideration how long it took to get this deadly in the morning? Seriously. I answered quickly.

  “No.”

  I noticed Nate and Tommy were suddenly nowhere to be seen, taking cover. Duncan faded into the background, keeping his rifle handy.

  “We have you covered! Drop your weapons!” The voice came again and this time I was used to the echoes and was able to pinpoint the general direction of the speaker.

  “I don’t like repeating myself. I’m not dropping my weapons and we’re not staying any longer than to get our bearing
s and be on our way. We don’t want anything from you, you can have your stuffed animals and archways and be dammed.” I was getting a little irritated this went on as long as it had.

  There was some kind of commotion at the stairs and I heard several voices in heated whispers. I waited patiently with my billhook resting on my shoulder.

  Soon enough a small group of four young men and women came down the stairs and headed in my direction. One of the men was carrying a rifle and wearing a scowl. The others seemed pleasant enough. The leader, a blond man about twenty-eight or thirty, walked up to me with a smile and outstretched hand.

  “Thank you for not making an issue out of things,” he said. “My name is Jason Kenaten and this is Katie O’Donnell and Rita Sanchez.” He motioned to the two women, a blonde and brunette, respectively. They were both young, probably near their thirties.

  Jason continued. “The man with the gun is Mike Morten and he’s a bit more stand-offish than we’d like.”

  I was about to introduce my crew when I was interrupted.

  “Where’s the rest of you?” Mike asked sharply, eyeing my gear.

  I turned and focused my full attention on Mike, taking several seconds to answer. I saw him start to squirm under my gaze and decided to respond.

  “The man called Duncan is behind you, pointing a gun at your head right now. My friends Nate and Tommy are likely training their rifles on you as well. Fair enough?” I asked, not really caring if he approved.

  I turned back to Jason. “Thanks for unlocking the door. We’d have been in trouble out there had the zombies come in force. Name’s John Talon.”

  “Not a problem. We did take risk on whether or not you were friendly, but it’s been a very long time since we’ve seen anyone alive and to have two groups nearby in the same day has been uplifting to say the least,” Jason said, smiling broadly.

  Behind me, I heard Tommy whisper “I knew it!” I smiled to myself. But the comment by Jason gave me pause.

  “Two groups?” I asked, figuring I knew the answer.

  The one called Katie answered. “I was on watch when I saw a group of seventeen men moving through the landscape around the museums. They caused quite a stir at the Museum of Natural History and I saw most of the zombies on the mall move in that direction. Then I saw them go to the capitol building and haven’t seen them since. Then you guys came.” She dimpled at me and I nodded my thanks.

  Several things occurred to me at once. First, Thorton didn’t have as many men as I originally thought and the odds were getting better for a confrontation. Second, he probably didn’t know where the documents were kept. That was a huge advantage for us and if we could get over to the Archives quickly, we could perhaps be out and on our way before he even knew we were there.

  “How many people do you have here?” I asked Jason, indicating with my billhook the alcoves.

  “We have thirty seven people here right now,” Jason said and I could see behind the smiles that he was concerned about something.

  “How did you guys get to be here?” I wondered aloud, as Tommy and Nate and Duncan left their respective cover and joined me in talking to the representatives.

  Mike laughed, a harsh sound. “We were the chaperones for an eighth grade trip when the shit hit the fan. We were in here when the first big wave of zombies hit the capitol and watched as the military made a stand at the Lincoln Memorial and the capitol building. They thought if they made two points of contact that they could divide the zombies up and be able to take them out.” He frowned. “Would have worked too, if there weren’t so damn many of them. We watched the fall of the Lincoln Memorial and the fall of the capitol.” Mike looked down.

  Rita picked up the story. “We had to protect the kids. They were scared to death and had no one to turn to. Everything happened so fast!” She lowered her voice. “The screaming went on for days. People were hunted down by packs of zombies and torn to pieces. Office workers tried to run or fort up, but there were too many!”

  I nodded. It was a similar story nearly everywhere. I was about to speak when Nate chimed in.

  “Wait, you were here in this building during the last days?” Nate did some quick calculations. “You’ve been here for over a year and a half?”

  Jason nodded. “It’s been interesting, to say the least. We managed to fort up the building and when we discovered a tunnel to the building next door, we used it raid nearby buildings for supplies. We have a garden growing under the skylights over there and have been able to keep ourselves alive.”

  He continued his story and I had to say I was impressed with what they had done. In the middle of madness they had kept their heads and were able to at least stay alive. I felt bad for the kids because they had to realize their world was finished and everyone they knew back home either was dead or thought they were. I looked around and thought this was a tough place to grow up. I had to hand it to the adults too. They had families back wherever they were from and had no way to contact them, no way of knowing if they were alive or dead anymore. This virus took so much from so many it was a wonder we weren’t all insane.

  When he was done I related to him who we were and why we were here and what our plans were. I told him about Thorton and what kind of person he was and Jason said he was very grateful he had opened the door for us and not Thorton. The four of them were grateful to know there were thriving communities still and they weren’t the only ones left in the country. They did wonder why we would risk our lives for a document that could be found in any history book, but I reminded them that the originals were about who we were as a people and as a country and we needed the symbolism to regain what we had lost. We needed a rallying point.

  “You said there is a tunnel from this building to the one next door. Are there any other tunnels you know about?” I asked Jason.

  “There is a utility tunnel access, but we’ve never opened it,” Jason said. “I figured to leave well enough alone in case there was any possibility of leaving access for the zombies. In the madness people tried to hide wherever they could and it’s possible some made it to the tunnels.”

  I mulled it over and figured it was worth the risk if only to get us across the mall. There was no way we were going to be able to make it to the Archives above ground without our RV and that worthy died an inglorious death on the steps of the red castle. Our only option at this point was to head underground.

  “Where’s the access door?” I asked.

  Jason looked ashen. “You’re not thinking of going in there?”

  I shrugged. “Not much choice and not much time. We need to get across the mall and do it now. We don’t have our vehicle and we don’t have an army. We’re limited.”

  Katie chimed up. “But what if you open the door and the tunnel is full of those creatures?” She bit her bottom lip in worry.

  Duncan smiled and winked at her. “Then I’m sure John will shut the door.”

  I said nothing and followed Jason over to the stairs. We went down two floors, then made our way past a boiler room and what looked to be a maintenance storage room. Next to the massive electrical panels was a steel door marked ‘Utility – Restricted Access’ I walked over to it and saw it had a deadbolt lock. I tried the door and while the knob turned, the deadbolt was locked.

  “We need the key. See if you can find anything,” I said to the rest of the crew. Nate and Tommy and Duncan immediately began searching while Mike and Jason looked uncomfortable. After about ten minutes, Nate called out.

  “Got a ring of keys here, might be one of them.” He brought the keys over and I began the tedious task of trying to find one that fit. There was nearly a solid ring of keys and it took a while, but on what seemed to be the third to last key, the deadbolt turned. I took the key off the ring and held onto it, the hope being that the other access doors were all keyed the same. Dead ends tended to make me twitchy.

  “Okay,” I said, gently moving Jason and Mike out of the way, “I don’t know what’s on the other side of t
hat door or who might be lurking in the dark, so let’s get as much space cleared as possible. Duncan, you’re on the left. Nate, you’re on the right. Tommy, you’re behind me.” The men took their positions with practiced efficiency, making sure they had spare magazines within easy reach. I was in the most vulnerable spot, but I did not plan on getting shot. I was going to fling open the door, crouching low while Tommy flashed both his light and mine to give Nate and Duncan the best chance to see the Z’s before the zombies realized the new situation.

  I held the handle of the door and waited. When I heard, “Ready,” from three people, I turned the knob slowly, hoping it wouldn’t creak from inactivity. When it turned all the way, I jerked the door open and dropped into a crouch, leveling my SIG at the opening while holding the door open with my extended right foot.

  When no shots were fired, I exhaled the breath I was holding and stood up. I holstered my SIG and pulled out my pickaxe, deciding to leave the billhook behind. It was a tactical decision, since the utility corridor was too narrow for effectively using the big weapon. The corridor was tall enough to get a good overhand swing with the pick if I choked up on the handle a bit and it was such a familiar weapon to me that I didn’t feel like I was settling for second best.

  Mike was the first to speak, coming from around the boiler. “You guys sure look like you’ve done this before.”

  “Once or twice,” I said.

  Rita spoke next. “What happens after you get the documents, what then?”

  “We’ll see if we can’t find a vehicle, make a break for the water, head upriver, start heading home. Why?” I asked, checking my vest for magazines and making sure my knife was where it was supposed to be.

  “Since you seem to know what you’re doing and have a plan, could you take us with you?”

  I expected the question, but I was hoping to have a chance to figure out a plan, first.

  I looked at four faces and saw they had some semblance of hope for the first time in over a year. I imagined there were thirty-three other faces that were holding that same hope as well. Oh, well. This is what I do.