United States of the Dead - 04

by Joseph Talluto

  “Get your stuff together. Take only what you can carry. Station someone by this door. When we come back, we may be moving fast and you may have to move fast as well.” I looked down the dark corridor and felt a strange primordial chill go up my back. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a bad move.

  There was an excited conference and suddenly Katie said, “What about the people at the Library?”

  Jason looked sheepish. “Forgot about them. Can they come, too?”

  “Library?” asked Tommy tentatively.

  “The Library of Congress.” Jason said quickly. There’s a bunch of people holed up there as well.”

  “How many?” I was afraid to ask, but had to.

  Katie answered. “There’s about thirty of them.”

  Jesus. “We’ll have to see about transportation. As it is, unless we can find a bus, we’re in for a wild time.”

  Mike smiled. “Pal, you’re in D.C.. There’s buses everywhere.”

  I leveled a look at him. “Find one that works and get it back here before I return and I just might start to like you,” I said as I ducked into the corridor. I didn’t really want to find out if there was another hundred people living in the Space Museum that needed a rescue.

  Tommy was right behind me and Nate followed with Duncan. Before the door closed I could hear Mike ask the others why I wouldn’t like him.

  Chapter 17

  We moved quickly down the hallway, heading away from the Smithsonian. The way was dark as hell and we kept our light to one flashlight. Tommy, Nate and Duncan all had weapon lights, but wouldn’t use them unless we hit a group of Z’s. The nice thing about the corridor was it had been sealed against the elements, so there weren’t any animals or bugs down here. The air was somewhat stale, but didn’t have the sickly sweet odor of decay one usually found with dead people.

  We moved over to a ladder and I was curious to see where it led, so Duncan volunteered to scramble up and take a look. He handed his rifle to me and drew his sidearm as he reached the top of the stairs. He opened the hatch and sunlight flooded down, momentarily blinding me. Duncan looked around and came back down.

  “Well?” I asked.

  “It’s an access hatch, right in the middle of the mall. It opens with a key from the outside, since there was only a handle up there from here.”

  “Any friends upside?”

  “Oh sure. Thousands. Want a look?”

  “Um, no. Let’s keep moving.”

  We seemed to be heading in the right direction and passed by a couple more ladders to the world above. When we reached a junction, I called a halt.

  “I think we’re across the mall, but I have no way to be sure,” I said to the huddled group. “Since we need to head East, let’s go right and at the first ladder find out where the hell we are.” My voice carried in the dark corridors, which was fine with me. The sooner a Z heard me, the sooner he responded and I would have time to get ready to nail his ass.

  “Hey, John?” Tommy spoke up.

  “What?”

  “How the hell are we going to move sixty seven people out of a zombie-filled city?”

  “Not a clue. You know I just make this shit up as I go along.”

  “Just checking.”

  We moved eastward and that’s when we heard it. There was a dragging sound, followed by a thud, followed by a deep moan. The problem was we didn’t know if it was in front or behind us. The acoustics of the tunnels made it hard to tell. But we did know we needed to keep moving. I shined my light ahead and the corridor showed clear, but it stretched far enough ahead that I could only see a hundred feet or so. The moans continued and didn’t seem to be getting closer or louder, but it sure as hell was creepy, knowing it was down here somewhere with us. Another concern was if we had to move through the tunnels quickly heading back, I didn’t want a smelly corpse waiting for us.

  After moving along about three hundred feet, we encountered another ladder. Duncan handed his rifle to me without a sound and clambered up. At the top he opened the hatch slowly, looked around, then scrambled through, opening it entirely.

  I was looking up when the moan sounded again, this time much closer.

  “Same one or different?” Nate asked.

  “Not sure,” I said. “Stay here, I’ll go check.” I walked down the hallway, keeping one eye on the floor and one on the distance in front of me. I didn’t want to be watching for standing ghouls when a crawler nailed me in the knees.

  About thirty yards down the corridor I found the source of the moan. It was a crawler, one of his legs was halved at the knee while his hands, torn by rough surfaces, were literally down to the bone. He raised his head and leered at me with black teeth. I gave him a nice smile, then crushed his skull with my pick.

  As he slumped down, I heard shuffling in the darkness, like leaves being disrupted by the wind. I shined my light down the hall and sure enough, another one was moving in. This one was a little faster, being upright, but she was dragging a broken foot. When the light shined on her face, she bared her teeth and tried to increase her speed. Her arms raised and her hands clawed, looking to rend and tear with wildly colored fingernails. The things you notice.

  I reached down and dragged the now-dead crawler across the hall, creating a tripping point. I figured to kill the walker when she fell. As she approached the obstacle, she surprised the heck out of me by stepping over it. I was nearly caught off guard as the situation suddenly switched.

  “Clever girl,” I said as I swung hard from the right just as she came within reach. I could hear her starting her moan and as I connected, I noted her necklace had some interestingly colored beads on it. The zombie went down in a heap, falling back over the first. She had closed her eyes in death and in the dim light she almost looked like she was sleeping. Scratch that. She looked like she was at peace, which I supposed she finally was.

  I heard a shot behind me and the echo of the report bounced off the walls and travelled like a freight train down the corridor. I spun around and hurried back, finding Nate standing over a small corpse, holding a still-smoking pistol.

  “What happened? I thought we weren’t using our guns until we absolutely had to.” I asked of no one in particular.

  Nate answered. “Little shit came out of nowhere. He was on me before I could see him.”

  “He get you?” I asked softly. I had no desire to put Nate down, but I would do what I had to.

  “No, he managed to get his mouth on my neck, but I got him off, no bites. He just scared the holy living fuck outta me.” Nate looked up at the ceiling and blew out a long breath.

  “All right. Let’s get moving then. That shot will probably cause every Z in the tunnels and sub levels to come looking, so the sooner we’re out the better.” I crawled up the ladder and with a quick look around, stepped out. I helped Tommy up and was going to help Nate when he waved me off.

  “No need for that, I’m fine.” Nate came through the hatch and stumbled a bit, catching himself on the ground.

  We were in a maintenance shed, exactly where, I had no clue. Duncan was on one side, Tommy was on the other. Both were looking out the windows at the respective views. The good news was we were able to gather ourselves unseen in a shed. The bad news was I wasn’t sure where we were. I went over to Duncan’s side and carefully looked out. I could see a road and a big building and judging by the sun I was looking west. There were a lot of ghouls wandering about and they generally seemed to still be moving over to the west.

  Not knowing anything of significance on this side, I went over to Tommy, sparing a glance at Nate who was sitting on a chair, scratching the back of his neck. Tommy was looking back and forth and nodded as I came over.

  “Looks like a garden or something that used to be a garden,” Tommy said. “That big building is the National Gallery of Art if that helps orient you any.”

  I nodded. “That helps a lot, thanks. That means this is the Sculpture Garden and we’re actually across the street from t
he National Archives.”

  “Seriously?” Duncan asked from his spot. “We did pretty well, all things considered.”

  “Don’t get ahead of yourself, we’re not there yet.” I cautioned. “We still have to get across the garden, across the street and into the building, which hopefully will be open, secure the documents and get out without getting shot or bitten.”

  “Buzzkill,” Duncan said, looking back out the window.

  “Let’s get ourselves moving. We’re going to use the garden as much as we can, then it’s a straight sprint to the archives,” I said.

  “John?” Tommy spoke quietly. He had walked back to check out the window in the back of the shed, which had placed him directly behind Nate. Tommy motioned to me to come over. Nate was sitting with his eyes closed and his breathing was deep, like he was sleeping.

  I went over to Tommy and he pointed to the back of Nate’s neck. There was a small ring of teeth marks on the back of Nate’s neck. I looked closer and saw that none of the marks broke the skin, which was good for Nate. But the marks went right across a mosquito bite that Nate had scratched open and that was bad for Nate. The wound was dark red, with deep red lines radiating out from it. A dark, nearly black line disappeared into Nate’s neck as it traced higher into his head.

  My heart sank into my chest as I realized what had happened. The little Z that had surprised Nate had killed him too.

  I motioned Tommy away and he went over to Duncan to tell him what had happened. Duncan’s head snapped around and his eyes immediately found mine. I shook my head and saw both men shake their heads in disbelief.

  I circled around to face Nate and I squatted down in front of him. His eyes were closed and his breathing was becoming labored. I touched his knee and his eyes snapped open. He looked balefully at me with bloodshot eyes in a pale face.

  “Hey, Nate,” I said.

  “Hey, John,” Nate rasped. “The little shit got me after all. Wonder how he did it. He didn’t break skin.”

  “Mosquito bite,” I said.

  Realization hit Nate like a bucket of water. “Son of a bitch,” he said, shaking his head. “Son of a bitch.”

  Nate stood up slowly and took off his pack. “You’ll need the supplies.”

  “Nate…” I started, but he cut me off.

  “John, you know I’m right. Don’t get sentimental ‘cuz you’re gonna have to shoot me soon, anyway.” Nate’s voice was a whisper. He slumped back into the chair, gathered himself and stood again. He held out his hand and I took off my glove to shake it, trying hard to hold back my emotions.

  “Been an honor to know you, John. You made these last couple of years worthwhile.” Tears filled Nate’s eyes.

  “Thanks for all you taught me, Nate,” I whispered back, my voice cracking. “You’ve been a great friend.”

  “C’mere you two idiots, before I try and take a chew outta you,” Nate growled.

  Duncan came over first and shook Nate’s hand. “You stupid bastard,” Duncan said, wiping his eyes.

  “Love you, too.” Nate grinned.

  Tommy shook his hand, too choked up to speak.

  “Watch after John,” Nate said. “Chances are he’s gonna go a little nuts for a while.” Nate dropped Tommy’s hand and sat back down. “Gettin’ tired. Guess this little virus wants me bad.”

  “Nate…” I started, but he cut me off.

  “Finish this, John and kill that cocksucking piece of shit. After that you make this country again, you hear me? You make it a whole country again.” Nate looked slowly around and said, “So long, boys. You’re the best sons of bitches I ever met.” He tumbled out of his chair and fell through the hatch, landing heavily on the floor.

  “Nate!” I yelled, hurrying to the opening. Tommy and Duncan were right behind me.

  Nate’s pained voice drifted up to us. “Stay there! No time left, boys and I wouldn’t ask any of you to kill me. Wouldn’t want you to live with that. Tell Jake his Uncle Nate will be watching him. I’m going to be with my family now, John. No regrets.”

  There was a pause and then a single shot. I couldn’t see Nate in the darkness and I’m glad I couldn’t. I sat for a long time at the edge of the dark hole that had claimed my friend, not knowing what to do next. Tommy and Duncan were silently behind me, each man lost in his own thoughts.

  I thought back to the first time I had met Nate, the gruff survivor who taught me how to survive, how to fight, how to reclaim what was mine. Nate did more than teach us to fight, he taught us to not be afraid. I remembered how Jake loved Nate and knew it was going to be hard to tell Charlie and Sarah that our friend was gone. I burned Nate’s words into my mind, promising him I would make this country again. Even if I had to do it alone, I would do it.

  I reached over and closed the hatch, slowly sealing Nate Coles into the tunnels of D.C..

  Chapter 18

  “Anything on your side?”

  “Just a thing about Alexandria.”

  “What about Mount Vernon?”

  “What about it?”

  “Didn’t Washington live there?”

  “Who cares?”

  The two soldiers pawed through several scattered pamphlets and dozens of overturned bookshelves and magazine racks. The U.S. Capitol Visitor Center was a disaster, with papers and garbage and backpacks everywhere. There were a couple of corpses in the corner and they looked like they had been trampled in a rush and tossed aside as casually as an empty can. This was on the upper level. The lower level just had a couple of theaters, an exhibition hall and a curious collection of corpses in the Emancipation Hall that looked suspiciously like former representatives and senators. Each one had been neatly shot in the forehead, yet they didn’t look like they had been infected. The soldiers wondered if some sort of coup had been attempted.

  The two had been assigned the task of finding the location of the founding documents and that required searching for information through piles of tourist pamphlets. It was a telling testimony of the former country’s educational system that not only did Major Thorton not know where the documents were, but none of his men did, either.

  Private Hickson overturned a large rack of pamphlets, causing a cascade of paper because he picked up the wrong end and managed to dump all of the information on the floor.

  “Nice work, dumbass,” Corporal Dodge called from across the room. He was browsing an information desk and was turning up a lot of stuff on the Smithsonian exhibits and memorials, but nothing that stood out as definitive proof of the location of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

  Hickson ignored the comment and continued looking. He was actually happy to have this detail, since the Visitor Center was free of zombies and he didn’t have to worry about getting killed. They’d lost enough men as it was.

  “Got it!” Dodge yelled, shining his light on a glossy pamphlet.

  “You sure?” called the private.

  “Definitely,” Corporal Dodge replied. Even as he sounded confident, Dodge checked and double checked the brochure to the National Archives. He didn’t want to present the information to the major, take the risk of getting there and discover he was wrong.

  “All right. Let’s get back to the major.” Corporal Dodge put the brochure in his breast pocket and waved his flashlight at the stairs. Private Hickson went up first, quickly and quietly. Even though the place was clear, only stupid people assumed it was safe.

  At the top of the stairs, the two men walked past a gift shop and Corporal Dodge veered inside. The shop looked remarkably untouched and there were still some packaged food and drinks at the counter. The other gift shop, on the opposite side of the center, was a looted disaster.

  “Well, what have we here?” Corporal Dodge queried. He ran a hand over several bottles of water and expired soft drinks, settling on a bottle of fruit punch. Private Hickson stuffed candy bars and chips into his pack.

  Corporal Dodge opened the bottle and said, “Cheers,” to the other man. As he raised his antici
pated joy, Private Hickson shouted suddenly.

  “Look out!” he yelled, raising his rifle.

  Dodge glance back to the counter and watched with no small amusement as a skeletal hand came up from the darkness and gripped the edge of the display. A grey-haired head slowly rose from behind the glass and glowing eyes looked repeatedly back and forth between both men. As the zombie stood up, the two men could see it had been a person who had worked there, as evidenced by her uniform and name tag which read ‘Elizabeth’. She didn’t seem to have any serious trauma to her, so she probably had gotten sick by her exposure to thousands of people, any one of which might have had the early sleeper virus.

  Elizabeth let out a rasping moan and lunged forward, hitting the counter and bouncing back slightly. She lunged again with the same result, over and over.

  “Sad,” Corporal Dodge commented. “She’d do that until she broke a hip and then where would she be? Nursing home for zombies.” Dodge grinned at his own joke, as he raised a hand and waved it front of the zombie’s face, laughing as she snapped futilely at the tender morsels just out of reach. He avoided her clumsy attempts to clutch his hands and stood inches outside of grabbing distance.

  “Let’s get moving, you’re asking for trouble.” Private Hickson worried that other zombies might be hidden nearby and he kept looking into the dark corners, of which there were plenty.

  “Relax, private. It’s not like you’ve never seen one of these things before. Whoops.” Corporal Dodge reached down to pick up the extra bottle of tea he had dropped. When he straightened, he was staring right in the face of Elizabeth, who had managed to walk around the edge of the counter and was now face to face with Dodge. She already had her hands up and grabbed two fistfuls of hair, hauling Dodge’s face to hers.

  Corporal Dodge had a full second to try and scream, but Elizabeth the zombie covered his mouth with hers as she tore his lips off his face. She didn’t stop with one bite, she kept his head in a death grip and tore and chewed most of Dodge’s face off.