The Extinction Pandemic: A Post Apocalyptic Novel (The Hatchery Compound Book 1)

by Grayson Hawkins

  Logan took a step forward and told the group that he first wanted to first check their fitness levels with a run down to the highway and back. He explained that if they couldn’t make it, or needed to quit, that Greg would ride along in one of the trucks. He told them that it wasn’t a competition or a race, but was merely a gauge to see what sort of fighting condition everyone was in. Logan and Robby would join them, as well.

  The purpose of this was to see who had kept in shape, who was malnourished, and who would need some work. They needed to know these things before they sent their people out into the field, and they needed to know which teams were better suited for which tasks.

  After the run, Logan wanted them all to get a little firearms training so that they could get some time on their M4A3 rifles and sidearms they would carry on missions. Logan also wanted to have Alpha team on the SAW and a sharpshooter rifle for a little more range time. He wanted to make sure Alpha team was ready to be the fire support for Bravo team.

  Finally, Bryce wanted to try and build some team cohesion by letting both Alpha team and Bravo team do some scavenging in the rest of the houses that surrounded the hatchery. There were two more housing areas off the main road into the hatchery that had not yet been explored, and Bryce wanted to know what was there.

  While the two teams were out on their missions, Bryce wanted to sit down with Colonel Bradley, Mitch and Gloria, so that he could get to know them better. Mitch and Gloria had rode along with Bryce, Logan, Robby, and Jessica, but they had not gotten to know the couple exceptionally well yet. Today would be their opportunity to get to know each other, and develop the brain trust that would be the command structure for both compounds. The decisions made from the command team would be carried out and potentially affect the lives of all of their families, so it was imperative that they all thought somewhere on the same wavelength.

  They all spent a few more minutes in discussion and then Bryce dismissed Alpha and Bravo team with Logan to lead them. They dropped their gear off and changed into clothes more suitable for fitness. Nobody complained about missing breakfast after they learned about their excise regimen for the day, but none of them were excited to run down the hill, except for Jessica who came out in a sports bra and shorts. She typically ran to the bottom of the road three or four times a week, and for her it was routine.

  On the other side, nobody hated the idea more than Nelson Brooks. He was pushing fifty and had gone soft in the waist. Bryce realized that the run was not going to inspire the men or make them happy. He knew he had to push them to do it so that he would know who could handle the intense fighting, scavenging, scouting, and in the worst-case scenario, running like hell on foot.

  Logan got everyone to the edge of the parking lot, and Greg pulled the truck around. Some of the guys rolled their eyes, because obviously they thought that Logan was going to hop in the truck and follow them. Instead, he started to jog down the hill. He stopped after ten feet and waved everyone forward.

  After a couple looks at each other, they all jogged to catch up with Logan. Robby caught up with his father and the two set the pace for the morning run. They started out steadily, so that nobody got too many muscle cramps from the lack of a warm up or stretch. Logan wanted to see how they performed unrehearsed and unprepared.

  The group jogged down the hill at a decent pace, and as they got past midway to the bottom of the hill, Logan started to pick up the pace. Some of the guys started to slow down a little bit, as the end of the second mile clearly had tired them.

  Logan yelled back to them, “Keep up the pace until you can’t go on any longer.”

  The idea was to see how long they could keep up at a decent pace. Theoretically, if they were on the run from infected, eventually they would hunker down or find a vehicle, but no one knew how long that might take.

  At this point in the exercise, Nelson Brooks decided to tap out. He signaled Greg to stop, and Greg pulled over so that Nelson could hop into the back of the truck. Nelson, who was much older and out of shape from chain smoking and unhealthy eating habits before the Outbreak, would not hold up so well. Granted he had lost most of that weight since then, he still didn’t have the lung capacity of the younger members.

  The rest of the team trundled down the hill, and not too much farther down the road, Freddie decided to tap out. Freddie had been a computer nerd before the Outbreak, and didn’t have much endurance. Whatever stamina he had before, he had lost in the past month, and even the idea of impressing Jessica quickly faded as fast as his energy levels.

  Jade was the next one to give up at mile three. Since her job had forced her to ride a desk most of her adult life, she just did not have it in her either.

  A little while later, just as they reached the highway, Nick called it quits. He made it to the highway, which was his personal goal, and he was not in the mindset to impress anyone.

  Logan stopped everyone at the bottom of the hill and let them rest for a few minutes. Some of them sat down to take a drink of water, while others moved around to keep the blood flowing. Trevor and his men all looked like they had barely broken a sweat. Along with Jessica, they were in the best shape of the entire group, while Logan came in closely after them.

  While they were focused on their break at the bottom of the road, a truck careened onto the highway and barreled right toward Logan and the others. The truck came from across the highway at the resort and screeched to a stop in front of Logan and the others. The driver’s window rolled down, and Roger stuck his head out.

  His face was covered in fury and anger as he yelled, “Where the fuck is Bryce?”

  Logan stepped forward casually and replied, “What do you need, Roger? I can see if he can speak with you.”

  Roger pulled his head back into the truck and floored it up the hill.

  ***

  Bryce, Mitch, Gloria and Colonel Bradley were all positioned around one of the tables in the warehouse. Their informal operational command center was covered in maps and charts. The three men were in discussion on where they should go from here. The most recent discussion had centered on Heber, a small town about forty miles up the highway from their compounds. They mainly wanted to see the state of this town compared to Payson and if Heber was as deserted as Payson. Additionally, now that the group could expand since the Church Compound was found, Bryce wanted to get as many new people as he could find. Along with the new people, they would need a ton more supplies.

  The guys also had a terrific time getting to know each other. Colonel Bradley had told them some war stories and had also given them information and tactics for their current situation that Bryce had not even thought about. Colonel Bradley had already begun to prove his worth to Bryce, simply based upon his wealth of knowledge. Mitch, on the other hand, with his background in law enforcement, had provided expert advice to the team about how to keep peace and order around the compound. It wasn’t a huge issue at the moment, but if they continued to add new members to their group, there would have to be rules, punishments, and people to enforce them. Mitch suggested at that point that he could create a new “police force” and lead that aspect of the colony. Bryce had made about how that would work since there were no doughnut shops, which they all thought was funny.

  In the middle of their discussion, Henry ran into the building and made a big commotion.

  “Bryce, Roger from the resort camp is heading up the hill, and he’s not happy!” Henry blurted out.

  “What do you mean?” Bryce said.

  Henry quickly told Bryce about the call they received from Logan over the radio. He said that Roger was on his way up, and he was pissed so they needed to get their shit together. Logan also said that they were in pursuit, but Roger had a lead on them.

  Immediately after Henry explained the situation to them, they heard tires squelch in the parking lot.

  “Let’s go see what the hell this is all about,” Bryce said, and then he added, “Get your sidearms ready, just in case things go south. Henry,
get your dad and the builders to come out too.”

  Bryce walked briskly toward the parking lot with Mitch, Gloria, and the colonel in tow. They all had their holsters unbuckled and the safeties off.

  Just as the three of them arrived at the parking lot, Roger stepped out of his truck with four of his guys. They all carried rifles, and some of them even had Bryce’s M4A3 rifles.

  “Hopefully he doesn’t intend to kill us with my own guns,” Bryce said under his breath so Mitch and the others could hear.

  Mitch chuckled to himself hesitantly, but the colonel was all business.

  Roger and his men walked up to Bryce, and Bryce extended his hand to shake Roger’s.

  Roger just looked at him, and didn’t return the greeting. Bryce put his hand down by his side, because he knew now that there was a serious problem.

  Roger pointed his finger at Bryce and yelled at his face, “You got three of my men killed, and stole four more! You came to me under the pretense of peace and helpfulness, and instead you backstabbed me and stole my people!”

  Bryce looked at Roger for a few seconds before he responded, and then said, “Roger, your people knew what they were getting into before they came into Payson, and I sure as hell didn’t ‘steal’ the other four men.” Then he continued, “The four of them came to my camp asking to be part of our group. They wanted strong leadership, food, and the amenities we have to offer.”

  “I don’t give a fuck what you say, you bastard! You came in and stole my people, and now we are seven fighters down, and those four were my best,” Roger screamed, as spittle flew from his mouth.

  “Well,” Bryce said with a smile, “I’m glad I got your best fighters then.”

  The colonel shook his head at this comment. He liked Bryce, but he was clearly inexperienced in the art of diplomacy.

  “Listen here, you son of a bitch,” Roger yelled at Bryce. “I want my men back, and I want supplies and guns as compensation for the three men you got killed.”

  Just then, Logan and some of the others skidded to a stop behind them in Greg’s truck. Logan jumped out of the vehicle and instantly assessed the situation. Logan already had his handgun out in his hand as he stood in the open.

  Upon first sight of the men and with his exit cut off, Roger got even more aggressive. He raised his rifle and aimed it at Bryce’s head.

  Every single one of Bryce’s group members that had a gun pulled them at that instant and aimed them at Roger and his men.

  “Whoa, boys!” Bryce yelled, “Let’s all calm down.”

  Roger escalated the situation further when he charged his rifle in an act meant to make himself look more serious. Instead, he ejected a round from his already chambered rifle, and the round clattered across the pavement. In his brain he must have tried to act out some scene from a movie, but in the real world it didn’t work that way.

  After he sensed exactly how stupid Roger really was, Logan ran up to him, pistol whipped him in the head and took the rifle away from him. Roger’s men were caught off-guard and couldn’t react fast enough, before Logan disarmed two of them in under a second; in what played out like a scene in an action movie. The other two of Roger’s guys spun their rifles toward him and prepared to fire. Bryce finally drew his weapon from his holster, raised it, and shot one of the men in the head. The other man was shot in the chest by Mitch; who held his 9mm Glock and was ready for round two.

  Roger, laying on the ground, coddled his head as blood ran down his neck, and looked up at Bryce with a sad, defeated look. Then a second after the initial shock had worn off, Roger’s look turned to outrage, and he tried to get up. Bryce kicked him in the ribs and told him to stay down.

  “You listen to me, now,” Bryce said. “Two more of your men are dead, and if you and these other two want to leave this hilltop alive, then you need to get up and get the fuck out of here while you still can.”

  Roger thought for another second, and undoubtedly searched for another plan as he lay on the ground, but ultimately he feigned obedience and slowly rose off the ground. Logan waved Roger and his men to their vehicle, but didn’t allow them to pick up their weapons. He also watched as they got into their vehicles to make sure they didn’t have any weapons tucked away in the truck.

  “I want you all to go home, think about this, and decide how you want to proceed from here. I don’t want to start a battle with you, Roger,” Bryce tried to explain.

  “You haven’t started a battle, you’ve started a war!” Roger said as he started the engine on his truck and peeled out toward the main road.

  Everyone looked to Bryce to see if he wanted them to follow or not. Bryce just shook his head, because he really didn’t want to chase them down. For all he knew, the entire scene they made could be part of a larger strategy to lure the Hatchery members into a chase and then ambush them. Bryce decided it would be best to prepare for a counter attack that he knew would be all but imminent after Roger’s exit. Bryce told the group what he wanted to do and his command team was in agreement.

  Logan quickly told everyone to gather their gear: one rifle, six extra magazines, one handgun, three additional magazines, and the rest would be brought down later. He sent Greg down the hill to get the rest of the fighters who had been left behind when Logan and the first responders dashed up the hill.

  Before they had taken off, Logan had told the group to stay off the road and head back to the hatchery, but Bryce hoped that they had listened. With the way Roger took off down the road, he might have very well hit someone with his truck if they happened to be on the road.

  While everyone grabbed their gear, Bryce pulled Quinton Grymes aside. He was the only person from the resort crew that had made it on the truck during the initial sprint up the hill. He had witnessed Bryce and Mitch kill two men who, as of yesterday, had been in his group. Bryce looked at Quinton, who looked at the bodies of his fallen comrades, and tried to find a sign of weakness. No words were exchanged between the two of them, but before Bryce ran off to grab his own tactical vest he gave Quinton a quick squeeze on the shoulder.

  Bryce knew that it must have been hard on Quinton to “defect” to his group, but to see his prior group members slain must have been even harder. Either way, Bryce knew that if Quinton really had a problem, it would be perfectly clear.

  Bryce ran into the crew quarters and slung on his vest, which was already loaded with all the ammunition he would need. He strapped his .45 around his thigh and put his 9mm on his vest. Then he slung his rifle over his head and ran back out the front door. He stopped to talk to Colonel Bradley quickly before he met up with the others.

  “Cliff, I need you to get a couple of guys and get rid of these fucking bodies. I can’t have them in front of the kids and I don’t want them here when the rest of Bravo team gets here,” Bryce said.

  “Understood, I’ll grab Henry and Jerry, we’ll take them out to the woods and bury them later,” Colonel Bradley replied.

  “Thanks, Cliff. Stay safe up here,” Bryce said before he joined the others.

  Shortly after Bryce was ready, Alpha team had all of their gear as well. Bryce had the rest of Command team pile into the big Ford truck’s cabin and he waved Alpha over toward the back of the truck. Trevor and the guys jumped in the back of the truck and they floored it as they down the hill.

  As they drove, Greg passed them on his way back to the hatchery. Thankfully, everyone was fine. They looked a little shaken up, but they must have hidden off the road like Logan told them to do.

  Bryce called Quinton on the radio, and told him that the rest of Bravo team would be there shortly so that they could get ready.

  Logan drove like a madman, and made the trip down to the highway in record time. When they reached the bottom of the hill, he pulled the vehicle parallel to the highway. The six command team members and four Alpha team members got out of the truck in a hurry and spread out. They checked across the road for signs of the resort group and saw nothing. Bryce radioed back up to Quinton and asked
how things had come along. Quinton said that they were almost geared up and would be down in ten minutes or less.

  “We need to get a barricade put together so they can’t just drive up the road. This is the only road into the compounds, and unless they intend to take a hike up the canyon, this is where they will come from,” Bryce told the group.

  Logan issued orders to Alpha team and Command team immediately, he wanted them to bring large rocks and logs down from the forest that surrounded the road to create a thrown-together palisade. In a hurry, everyone rolled down massive rocks and carried heavy logs to build a barrier across the road. The road that led to the hatchery was only two lanes wide and had a dirt ridge on both sides, which created a natural barrier that they could easily defend.

  Several more minutes had passed, when Bryce began to think where the hell is Bravo team? No sooner had he finished the thought than Quinton and Bravo team arrived in two more pickup trucks. They all piled out and formed up near Bryce and Logan.

  Bryce immediately put them to work on the wooden palisade. A quick thirty minutes later, and the guys had constructed a four-foot-tall rock and wooden defensive position. If a truck rammed it, they might make it through, but the rocks would wreck the hell out of their vehicle and they wouldn’t be able to get away very fast after that.

  Bryce took a step back to admire their handiwork, when he heard another vehicle approach from the rear. He turned to look, and it was the big flatbed truck. The truck was piled high with munitions and people. Both the builder team and the maintenance team had jumped on the truck and driven down to the highway. With them, they brought enough guns and ammo to start a real war.

  As the truck pulled to a stop, Greg leaned out the window and waved, “Thought you boys might need extra guns, and bodies to fire them!”

  Bryce just shook his head. He wasn’t quite sure he wanted practically the entire camp down at the highway. Someone needed to protect the compound and the women and children. Bryce spoke with Logan about this, and Logan agreed wholeheartedly. They decided to send Greg and his people back up the hill, but told them to arm up. They also needed to get everyone from both compounds situated at the hatchery, that way they could all be protected easily.