Once back on the other side of the wall, everyone got to work on completing the placement of the studs around the trailer. After the last one was set and drilled, Kyle stepped back and surveyed the status of the repair job. For the moment, it appeared it had worked as the trailer had finally stopped swaying. Kyle asked Leon and Brian to start reattaching the ends of the trailer where it had broken free to the rest of the fence, to shore it back up the rest of the way. He then left to investigate what had happened to Ron.
Kyle asked if anyone saw Ron leave the area, but everyone replied in the negative. For Ron to simply walk away without telling anyone, let alone in the middle of the huge repair job that he had been the one to bring to Kyle’s attention, was uncharacteristic of his friend. Ron was one of the most trustworthy and reliable people Kyle had ever known, and for him to abandon his post was unheard of. The only logical reason he would have done so was if something had happened to Josey. Kyle knew in his gut that even then, Ron would still have mentioned something to someone. Even so, Kyle decided to start his search there. He left and headed back toward his house, confident that David could supervise the rest of the repairs.
As Kyle arrived back at the house, he found Josey still sitting with Hope on the back porch, but no sign of Ron. “Hey, any improvement?” He looked down at his daughter as he took a spot opposite Josey.
“A little. The fever is down to 99.5, and she opened her eyes for a moment a minute ago. But we have a bigger problem. She reached over and lifted up the shirtsleeve that covered the bite mark he had tried to keep concealed.
“Oh, I can explain—”
“I don’t want to hear it. I can’t believe you would put me at risk like that. And not just me, but the whole camp as well.”
“I know what you’re thinking, but please let me explain. I have a feeling this is not what we think it is.” Josey, with whom no one had ever won an argument against, again interrupted Kyle.
“Really? Because I think we have a zombie bite here, and you were trying to hide it from me. If it’s not that, then by all means tell me what it is!”
“I think you might be right about the bite. What I mean is, it may not be as bad as we thought. I know what we are used to seeing, but I have a feeling she might be able to fight it off.” Kyle struggled with the choice he had dreaded making for a long time. Even with Hope’s life possibly in the balance he struggled and debated with himself, wondering if he should tell Josey the whole truth.
“What the hell are you saying, Kyle? Nobody we have seen has ever survived a bite. What are you not telling me?”
“Well, there is one case of someone surviving a bite that I know of—” Before he could continue, Brian and Leon burst through the back door and interrupted him.
“Hey!” Brian said. “Ya’ll gotta come quick! We found Ron and he’s in pretty rough shape.” He noticed Hope in the lawn chair and stopped short. “Whoa! What the hell is wrong with her?” A strange look passed over his face as he glanced towards Josey and Kyle.
Josey ignored the question and began to rapid-fire questions at him as she tried to discern what he’d meant by Ron being in rough shape. They told her Ron had gone missing, but they had found him unconscious atop the wall while they continued the repair on the broken trailer section. After he’d been found they had been sent to retrieve her and Kyle, and to return with medical supplies.
“What the hell do you mean he went missing?” Josey asked. She again turned one of her ferocious glares upon Kyle.
“I came back to see if he came to check on you and ask if you’d seen him. Before I could tell you, though—” Kyle started to explain, but was cut off as Josey tried to slam her right fist into his face. He managed to dodge the punch, but almost stumbled over Hope as he did so.
“I will be back to finish our conversation shortly, as long as Ron is okay. If he’s not, you might want to consider hiding when I come back.” She turned and ran into the house and gathered up her medical bag before she disappeared out the front door.
“You want us to stay here or what, dude?” Leon asked. It was obvious he was completely confused at what had just transpired, but wise enough to ignore it.
“Ya’ll go. I’ll be fine here, just make sure they don’t need help with Ron,” Kyle responded. As the two guys took off, he sat down to tend to his daughter.
CHAPTER 44
EIGHT MONTHS PRIOR TO THE CAMP H INVASION
President Miller and Kane
The Four Seasons Tower, standing high above all the other buildings in Miami, had once been the crown jewel of the Miami skyline. Once upon a time, it had been a tourist destination without equal, in a city known for its lavish extravagance. Currently, it served as the headquarters and capital for what had been dubbed, The South Florida United States Government.
It was commandeered then occupied by the remaining military and government officials who’d headed the offensive to reclaim the southern part of Florida from the infection. Since the POTUS was lost in the initial outbreak, Vice-President William Miller had succeeded him and become the acting President of the United States. POTUS Miller had taken the remaining military and government officials and led the offensive to reclaim their current seat of power and create a new capital. President Miller and his staff had been quite busy; they’d also begun the planning for the eventual charge to cleanse and reclaim the rest of the country. For about a month, they had been completely infection-free in the SFUS safe-zone, since the completion of the defensive wall. It hadn’t been an easy task; the construction of the wall had been a monumental undertaking, with work running round the clock, and the loss of human life had been vast. The payoff, however, looked to be well worth it, since they had been able to fend off any more of the advancing undead.
President Miller was scheduled to meet with his military leaders that day, but he was just notified that a visitor was coming in via private jet, with whom he would need to hold audience. Intrigued by the prospect, President Miller’s curiosity got the better of him and he agreed to the meeting. His staff member only had enough information to tell President Miller to meet the guest personally once the plane touched down. To his knowledge, since the early days of the infectious outbreak, no planes had been allowed to fly anywhere in the world. He turned to watch the sunset from the window of his penthouse atop the tower, yet his viewing was cut short as a knock on the door indicated that his security detail had arrived to take him to the airport.
As the motorcade drove to the meeting, he was delighted to see the lights on and various signs of life around the reclaimed city. Sure of his new station in life, Miller felt a brief moment of pride rush through him. He was certain that he, and he alone, was responsible for the small semblance of normality in this small section of their once great nation. He would see to it that things were rebuilt in a much better way. After all, he mused, they had already managed to get one of the Turkey Lake nuclear reactors back online. How hard could it be to continue to do so in other parts of the country?
He turned his attention to the passing view as they continued on. Even though the city had seen better days, slowly the clean up, reconstruction, and salvaging was bringing back what had once been a thriving city devastated by fires and looting during the early days of the outbreak. Although much progress had been made, martial law was still in place, and the city’s curfew was fast approaching. He could see people out trying to enjoy themselves before they were required to retire to their homes for the night and prepare for whatever work detail they had the next day.
Military patrols that regularly policed the city moved aside to let the motorcade pass before they resumed their defensive positions on the roadway. It wasn’t the usual freedom most of these people were used to, but the world wasn’t the same as it was just a short time ago. Miller did his best to convince the city’s inhabitants that it was only temporary until they could eradicate the menace they faced, yet sometimes he wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince them or himself of the truth of this.
While still lost in thought, he didn’t notice that they had arrived at the Miami International Airport until he looked up and saw the runway lights coming on to guide in his guest.
It only took a couple of minutes before he saw the lights from an approaching plane in the distant night sky. He eagerly stepped out of the modified civilian Humvee turned stretch-limo, to greet his mystery guest. Immediately, he was surrounded by his security detail, and they all watched as the small Learjet made touchdown and slowly taxied over to where he stood.
As the plane came to a complete stop, his anticipation grew and he began to wonder at the identity of the mystery arrival, and if he should have been a bit more cautious in accepting the meeting. Too little too late, he thought as he did his best to appear confident and plastered his best politician’s smile onto his face. The door to the plane opened, and the staircase unfolded onto the tarmac and five fully-armed soldiers made their way down the ramp and took up defensive positions around the plane. President Miller was shocked into silence. His own security detail made no move to surround and protect him, nor did they attempt to assess any threat from the stranger’s armed soldiers. Instead, the Secret Service members with him, some of them with as much as 20-years experience protecting past presidents, stood at ease at the sight of the armed men before them.
“What’re you boys doing?” Miller whispered to the closest member of his detail. “Arrest them!” He received no reply.
Just as he was about to turn away and head into the Humvee limo again, he heard one of the stranger’s own security detail call out the all clear. A figure appeared from inside the plane and began to descend the stairs to the tarmac.
The man was well-built and stood at just over six feet tall, with thick raven-black hair that just barely kissed the tops of his shoulders. He was dressed in a classy black suit with a matching monochromatic black shirt and tie; over his suit he wore a beautiful cashmere floor-length trench coat. He carried himself with bone-deep dignity, and President Miller was struck by the sheer presence of the man before him. He held his hand out in greeting as Miller attempted to appear nonplussed at the entire situation.
“Acting President Miller, it is a privilege to finally make your acquaintance. Unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity to introduce myself prior to this most unfortunate situation we all find ourselves in..” The man’s voice was as cultured as his attire, and he spoke with a thick European accent that did little to detract from his stately manner.
Miller, still completely at a loss to what was happening around him, was taken aback by the grave tone of the stranger’s voice and the ease with which he closed the distance between them, with no action by his security force. “It is … my pleasure. I … I just wish I knew who you were, so I would know how to handle this encounter.” He did his best to hide his trepidation and that he was, quite frankly, for the first time that he could remember, intimidated.
As though sensing his fears, the man before him placed a placating hand on Miller’s shoulder. “I assure you, you have nothing to fear from me. I knew your predecessor well. I am certain had this outbreak not occurred, we, too, would have become acquainted, and sooner rather than later. Alas, here we are now, and I am here to assist you. My staff and I will help you to gain a firm understanding of what is required of you, should you wish to survive this plague, that is. I am told that the defensive barrier has been completed, and I must say I am rather impressed with the speed in which you were able to do so. From this point forward, I will assume complete control of this territory and all of its inhabitants, military and otherwise.” The man spoke with such authority that Miller almost acquiesced right then and there. The dark imposing stranger turned toward one of his security detail and gave them a nod.
Miller, shocked as he was by the audacity of his guest, shook his head and cleared his throat before he confronted the man who had just insulted him. “Now hold on just a moment, here. I don’t know who you think you are, mister, but there is no way you are going to just stroll in here and give me orders. I am the President of the United States of America! And … you are under arrest until I figure out what your deal is.” He waved his hand at his own Secret Service agents, fully expecting them to fulfill his command.
He fell silent again as he looked around and found that his agents were standing idly by while the military figures that had arrived in the plane were loading bags and equipment into the other vehicles in the presidential motorcade caravan.
“What the hell is going on?” Miller barked out to anybody who would pay him attention. His inquiry, though, appeared to fall on deaf ears. That was until he noticed the tall, dark stranger whisper something into the ear of one of Miller’s own agents, who then proceeded over to him.
“Sir, if you would please get back in your vehicle, Mr. Kane will be with you shortly,” the agent stated. “He will clear everything up on the way back to the capital building.”Then he gently took the shocked President by the elbow and escorted him back into the waiting limousine.
Miller sat quietly in the limo and fumed as he watched his former security detail brief the newly arrived Mr. Kane and his staff. Five minutes later they broke away, and moved to their respective vehicles. Miller simply watched the activity as he sat and angrily waited for the return trip, all the while hoping he would soon have the answers to the myriad questions running through his mind.
Kane eventually entered the presidential vehicle and took up a seat directly across from Miller. He then leaned over and said, “Mr. Miller, would you be so kind as to relocate to one of the other vehicles? I would appreciate a few moments alone to clear my head on the way to the capital. Please.”
The words themselves may have been kind, yet Miller could easily hear the tone behind the kind façade; the request would not be open for debate. He regretfully exited the limo to get into one of the accompanying vehicles, which were all occupied by Kane’s security personnel.
As the convoy moved out, Miller sat in complete silence trying to wrap his head around what had just happened. One thought kept rearing its ugly head as they drove back to the capital building: Did I just witness the easiest coup in the history of any nation, ever?
CHAPTER 45
Benjy and Kyle
Benjy stopped just out of sight of the camp and turned off the engine to his truck. He was about a quarter mile south of the camp, and had been battling the wind and rain, all the way back. He stepped out of the truck and checked the cargo strapped down in the bed. He needed to make sure it would be safe while he checked on the status of the camp before he proceeded. He performed these tasks on autopilot, having done the same SOP with every trip. He always stopped short of the camp and did a small reconnaissance to make sure his friends were still in control before moving in. It simply would not do to pull up to the gates only to find he was delivering supplies to the enemy, or worse, that the camp had been overrun by slabs in his absence.
After he pushed the truck in between a couple of bushes and checked his cargo one last time, he headed on towards the camp. As he came within sight of the walls, he pulled out his binoculars and looked to the south guard tower and spotted Pete as he stood guard.
Curiosity satisfied he turned to head back to his hidden vehicle, but as he rounded the curve that concealed him from view of the guard tower, he came face-to-face with a small group of slabs. They didn’t notice him at first in the dark, but suddenly the darkness was momentarily chased away as a large bolt of lightning illuminated the area. Before they could attack him, Benjy sprung into action and rushed straight into the group of slabs, wielding only his knife. In a few short seconds, he managed to insert it into each of the slabs’ heads. The first one he’d struck hadn’t even hit the ground yet when he removed the blade from the last one. As he scanned the area for any more slabs, he smiled a little as he turned to eye his handiwork. “You still got it, old man,” he said aloud as he continued on to the truck. However, as he rounded the last bend in the road, he spotted
a much larger group of slabs as they staggered around his truck’s hiding spot. As another small lightning flash illuminated the area he could tell there were quite a few more than the first group. As good as he felt, he knew the knife wasn’t going to be enough for that many of them.
He quickly came to the conclusion that this could be the leading edge of the approaching mega-horde and he had no way to know how many more were potentially behind this group. Benjy opted for an overhead escape route since he had not met a slab yet that could climb a tree. He hastily found a tree that would give him a bird’s eye view of the area, and he climbed up. For a man clearly in the second half of his life, he exhibited the athleticism of a much younger man, as he pulled himself up the tree. Once he had reached as far up as he could go, he sat on a large branch and waited for another flash of lightning to give him a view of the situation. After about 10-seconds of darkness, Mother Nature gave him his light; he was shocked by the sight of hundreds rather than merely the dozens of slabs he’d presumed were shambling along in the darkness.
Mother Nature chose that moment to remind him of the other danger he was currently facing, as a large gust of wind hit, causing the tree to violently shake and almost knocking him from his perch. “What the hell was I thinking?” Benjy said aloud while he did his best to ride out the gusting wind. The limb, already stressed from the pounding storm, plus his extra weight, started to crack. Before he could so much as utter a curse, let alone react to the splintering branch, it sent him crashing to the ground.
He hit hard and was momentarily stunned as the wind was forced from his lungs. He immediately began to shake off the effects of the fall, but as he gathered his bearings, he realized he was completely surrounded by slabs no more than a foot away. Before he could react, he noticed that for some strange reason they paid him no attention. Benjy remained completely still as more than a dozen of them walked right past him in the complete darkness. Minutes passed as he lay frozen in place until the last of the group moved by, then he slowly got up and went towards his truck.
Humanity's Hope (Book 1): Camp H Page 19