“We have more than just the Humvees.” Damien told Ed. “We have an entire fleet of military vehicles. We could take the large supply trucks. They can hold plenty of supplies.”
“What about fuel?” Ed asked.
“We could take one of those tankers from the fuel point.” Shelly put in. “I can operate them. We could find one that is totally full, or combine the fuel from multiple trucks to top one off. Those things carry twenty-five hundred gallons. That would get us pretty damn far.”
“Yeah, we could take a MaxxPro, one of the supply trucks, and a fuel truck.” John added with excitement. The MaxxPro was a type of MRAP vehicle, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle. The soldiers in Afghanistan used these for most of the patrols and on supply convoys for added security. “We fill the supply truck with all the rations, water, and ammo we can find on this base. We use the MaxxPro as our lead vehicle, for extra protection from any leftover mines or IEDs. We could sleep inside the vehicles and use the turret to post a guard at night. We have six people. Two people in each truck. We go as far as we can each day and sleep at night.”
“What if they break?” Ed asked.
“I can fix most things, unless they need parts.” Damien assured him.
“We go as far as we can until we encounter those problems, then we deal with them.” John said. “We can’t stay here Ed.”
“I agree son, but it is a hell of a risk.” Ed told John. He looked at the floor for a few minutes, contemplating the plan. “Alright John, I don’t have any better ideas, and you are right, we can’t stay here. What the hell, let’s do it.”
“Shelly?” John looked at her.
“I’m on board.” She nodded.
“George, Damien, Susan, any objections?” Surprisingly it was Susan that spoke up. “We have no other options the way I see it. Plus, it was you that got us to Kandahar and back, and out of that mess in the city, I might be crazy, but I think I would agree to anything you say at this point.” George and Damien nodded in agreement.
“Thanks Susan.” John said appreciatively. “Let’s make a list of everything we need to accomplish before we leave.” He walked over to a white board in the room, pulled the cap off a dry erase marker, and started the list.
“We need to clear zombies and search for supplies.” George said. John wrote it down. He put food, water, and ammo in parenthesis.
“Fuel and the trucks.” Shelly added. John added them to the list.
“Tools, towing equipment.” Damien said. John nodded and added it.
“We should find more batteries for the radios and a GPS.” George added. “The GPS can run off the vehicle power and there is no way the satellites have been affected by zombies, they should still work.”
“Excellent point.” John agreed. He added them to the list.
“Maps.” Susan said. “I can get us paper maps from the intel office. We have maps printed for most countries if not all. We were always doing collection and developing maps for various countries.”
“Great Susan.” John said and added it. He started to jot names next to each task. “I think clearing and searching should be a group effort. We’ll tackle that first. After that, Shelly will get us the fuel truck and make sure it is full. Damien and Ed will get the other trucks, Susan will get the maps, and George will get the batteries and GPS; let’s add medical supplies to that. Did I miss anything?” He asked.
“I think that’s it.” Ed said.
***
It took the group two full days to clean out all the remaining zombies they could find on the base and gather supplies. They drove the two Humvees around and George and Damien took out any zombies they had missed from the safety of the turrets. They cleared the dining hall first. They found several undead inside, but working as a team, cleaned it out without incident. They found hundreds of cases of MREs in a back room of the chow hall and several cases of various other dry goods. There were water points all over the base, where cases of bottled water were stacked under awnings constructed from plywood. There was a bunker on the base that was full of ammunition. It contained all sorts of ammo, from 5.56mm for the M4 rifles to 155mm artillery shells. They took as much 5.56mm, 7.62mm, and 9mm ammo as they could scrounge up. It amounted to thousands of rounds. They would be good on ammo for some time. They took all the food, water, and ammo they gathered in trips, using the Humvees, back to their headquarters.
On the third day, they split up into their individual tasks. John helped Shelly with the fuel. They filled the fuel tanker that they had used a few days ago using the other trucks at the fuel point. Shelly and John drove the truck up to the gate area and staged it there. Damien and Ed found plenty of vehicles that would meet their needs in a unit motor pool, they secured a MaxxPro and a 5-ton supply truck, just as they had planned. They both had full tanks of fuel. Damien inspected them and determined that they were well maintained and in working order. They took them to the same area where Shelly had parked the fuel truck. George came through with the medical supplies, radio batteries, and he found a working GPS. Susan got maps for Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey, but didn’t have any of the other European countries. John told her that was fine, they would hopefully find other people before the maps were needed, and if not, they would just keep heading west. They spent the rest of that day loading up the trucks with all the supplies they had gathered and their personal effects, blankets, sleeping bags, and cots. Shelly had grabbed a five gallon can of oil and Damien loaded up a tool box full of mechanic’s tools. They had everything ready by night fall.
“Good work everyone.” John congratulated the group. “We’ll sleep in the trucks tonight and leave in the morning. George and I will be in the first truck, Ed and Susan will take the second, and Shelly and Damien in the fuel truck. Say goodbye to this place people, because we are never coming back. It’s going to be a long and dangerous trip, but we are going to find a way. We are going home!”
CHAPTER 20
Angie spent some time trying to get the two abused women to open up a little bit. She wanted to take care of them, make them feel safe. She knew that none of them were safe anymore, but for at least a time, she wanted desperately for the two women to forget the abuses they had suffered from the unconscionable group of bandits. The men in their group had all went out to search the grounds for their stolen supplies and anything else useful. Sam was nearby, exploring the platforms around the factory. She was alone with the women and had managed to get them out of bed and sitting with her while they ate something. She started talking to them, trying to learn more about them.
“We are safe now, you know?” Angie began.
They both looked at her and nodded apprehensively.
“What are your names?” She asked. “My name is Angie.”
“My name is Karen.” One of them said. She appeared to be the older of the two. She was at least in her mid-thirties, Angie guessed, but it was hard to tell. She was dirty and her hair was disheveled. She looked to the floor after sharing her name.
“I am Grace.” The other girl said. Angie guessed that she couldn’t be more than twenty years old. She was the one that was pulled out of the cage and raped right in front of Angie. She felt sad when she thought about it. Angie could tell that she was very pretty, even through all of the grit and grime.
“I’m sorry for the pain that you have both suffered.” Angie told them. “You are with us now, and no one in this group will hurt you, I promise. You can stay with us for as long as you want. We are heading north, for now, looking for survivors, trying to find out if there are any plans to fix what has happened to the world. We want to see if there is a safe place to wait this out, a sanctuary, if you will.” She explained.
“Thank you.” Karen said. Grace only nodded.
“I’d like to get to know you both, but I don’t want to pressure you into talking, if you don’t want to.” Angie said. “Just know that you are safe, and we will protect you from now on. Whenever you feel like talking about all of this o
r anything at all, just let me know and I’ll be all ears.” She smiled at them both and got up to walk away.
“Thanks Angie.” Grace said.
Angie turned her head back and looked at Grace with a smile, then headed towards the exit. When she got outside, she found Jerry and Derek loading up supplies in their truck. There was another vehicle parked behind the truck, it was a large SUV. Angie walked behind Jerry and placed her hand on his shoulder.
“How’s it going?” Angie asked.
“Great.” Jerry answered. “We found all of our supplies in one of those sheds, and a shit load more. It seems this group waylaid more than a couple of travelers. They had quite the collection. We found some bodies as well. They weren’t zombies. Most likely it was the previous owners of some of these supplies.” He told her.
“We should bury them.” Angie said. “Before we leave. No one deserves that.”
“You’re probably right.” Jerry agreed. “We can do that.”
“How are you doing Derek?” Angie asked. “How is that shoulder?”
“I’m alright.” He answered. “Shoulder hurts like hell, but I don’t think it is infected or anything. The wounds are starting to scab over already. Thanks for fixing me up.”
“It was my pleasure.” Angie smiled. “Where are Alex and Kyle?” She asked Jerry.
“Those two are quite industrious.” Jerry grinned. “They found this SUV here and brought it around. Already filled it up with a bunch of stuff.” He explained. “They took off about an hour ago in those bulldozers. Said they were going to clean up the cars that were blocking the interstate.”
“Nice.” Angie said. “Well I got the girls inside to give me their names at least.” She told him. “I think they will come around soon enough. Karen and Grace are their names.”
“They’ve been through a lot, by all appearances.” Jerry said. “I hope they can snap out of it soon. I don’t mind helping people, but they need to hold their own as well. We already have to look after Sam, which I am determined to do.”
“They will,” Angie said to him with a smile, “in time. I’m going inside to make sure Sam is alright, and I’ll make you boys something to eat.”
“Thank you, dear.” Jerry said.
“Thanks Angie.” Derek added.
She nodded and headed back inside.
***
It was almost sundown when they were all together again inside the factory. The group had spent the remainder of that day getting things ready. Alex and Kyle had finished pushing all the vehicles off the interstate, using the bulldozers. When they came back, Derek and Jerry had already found anything that might be useful and had it all loaded up in the two vehicles. They found some shovels and dug graves for the victims of the bandits, including Jessie, Alex’s wife. He and Kyle had climbed up the conveyor, where the evil men had left her body hanging, and gently pulled her up to them. Kyle cut the rope and Alex carefully carried her down. As they neared the bottom, Jerry and Derek helped them carry her to the graves they had dug. Kyle had taken the time to carve her name into a cross he made and placed it at the head of her grave. The rest of the group, even Karen and Grace, had come out to the grave, once the task was done, to pay their respects.
They had backed the vehicles into the factory through the large double doors. Jerry didn’t want to take a chance that someone else might come along in the night and take their stuff. The double doors were closed now and securely locked. Angie had put Sam down for the night, but the others were gathered together, discussing their plans. Jerry began the discussion, giving them all his recommendation.
“First, I think we should all stick together.” Jerry explained, referring to Alex, Kyle, Karen, and Grace. “There is strength in numbers. I think that anyone out there with ill intent would be less likely to bother with a larger group of people.”
“We will stay with you.” Alex said for himself and his brother.
“Karen? Grace?” Angie asked.
“We will go with you too.” Karen said. She was sitting next to Grace with her arm over her shoulder. It appeared that they had some sort of bond, probably from their shared experience, but no one knew if they had known each other before their captivity.
“That’s great.” Jerry said. “We had a plan before we got into this mess, and I don’t see any reason to change it now. We were going to hit every town we pass as we travel up the interstate and look for survivors. See if the police or any town officials are still functional, find out if anyone has any information. If we find a town that is overrun, we just leave it be and keep moving to the next one. Based on what we saw in El Paso, we had planned to avoid the big cities, but if we learn that one of them is still managing things, then we’ll give it a chance.” Jerry told them. “The bottom line is, we have to find a safe place where we don’t have to worry about these damn zombies, or men like the ones we found here, and wait this thing out until the government gets it under control. Do any of you see any reason why we shouldn’t continue down that path?” He asked the new members of the group.
“We were pretty much thinking along the same lines anyway.” Alex told him. Kyle nodded his agreement.
“We just want to get the fuck away from this place.” Karen told them, referring to the factory that had been their prison for an undetermined length of time.
“Good, we all agree then.” Jerry said. “Let’s get some rest tonight and we’ll hit the road first thing tomorrow.”
The meeting broke at that point and they all started moving to the beds they had chosen the night before. All except for Alex. He walked over to Jerry and shook his hand firmly.
“Thank you for allowing us to join you.” He said appreciatively. “After this shit went down, I started to doubt there were any decent people left in the world. I think you are good people.”
Jerry nodded and smiled. “We are glad to have you and your brother. I can already see that you guys are good people too, and you know how to handle yourself too. You’re both going to be an asset to this group, I have no doubt.” Jerry told him and patted him on the shoulder, then the two men went to their beds.
Angie was lying next to Sam and trying to process what they had been through and the road ahead. Then her thoughts drifted, eight thousand miles away, to Afghanistan. She tried to imagine what John was going through. She missed him terribly and prayed that he was making it. She considered her own situation and how bad things were here. She tried to believe he was okay, but couldn’t imagine any outcome where John would be safe. Angie shook the negative thoughts away. My John will find a way. She imagined. He is a fighter, and he loves us way too much to give up. Then she closed her eyes and went to sleep.
CHAPTER 21
It was a short time before dawn and John was in the turret of the MaxxPro, pulling watch. They had decided from here on out, they would keep someone on watch any time they slept. John had pulled the last watch of the night and would wake everyone up soon. They were planning to leave at first light. He could already see the faint glow of the sun over the horizon. Just a few minutes before, it was pitch black, but now he could see his surroundings pretty well. There were no zombies in sight and no sounds could be heard. It seemed they had done a pretty thorough job of clearing the base of the monsters. John thought about his family while he sat watch. He prayed that the United States had the virus under control, that his wife and son were safe, but if not, he prayed that they had found somewhere to hold up, to wait this thing out. There was one thought that gave him the most concern, El Paso bordered Juarez, Mexico. A city of over a million people in a country that wasn’t much more developed than Afghanistan. He thought of what they had seen in Kandahar. He could easily imagine a similar situation in Juarez, and that bleeding over into El Paso, where Angie and Sam were waiting for him.
Shelly had come to the side of the truck without him noticing, intent on joining him. She knew he was thinking about his family, it was all he thought about when he had the time. Shelly interrupted his thoughts.
“Don’t think about it.” Shelly said as she climbed up on top of the truck and sat next to him. “We need you here. Don’t worry about something you have no way of knowing or controlling, it is a waste of time. For all we know, they found a cure or have at least controlled the outbreak.” She told him.
“I can’t help but worry.” John told her. “They are the reason I am still fighting.”
“I understand.” She nodded. “Just keep your head in the game. We have a long way to go before you can deal with that.”
“You’re right.” John said with a sigh.
“It’s starting to get light out, we should get the others.” Shelly told him. With that, they climbed off the truck and went to get everyone up and moving.
They pulled out of the gate and headed north at day break with no intent of ever returning to FOB Dwyer. They travelled on a gravel road that would bring them to a paved highway in a few hours. Then they would be on highway one, as it was called by many. The highway was also referred to as the ring road, because it circled the entire country of Afghanistan. This highway would allow them to head north west and eventually west into Iran. There was one populated area they would have to pass through before they could get to the main highway though, it was a farming village called Marjah. Marjah consisted of close to a hundred thousand people, but it wasn’t congested like a city. People were spread out in this village over a very large area. John thought they could bypass this village if they needed to, but thought this might be an opportunity to find some supplies, maybe some fresh fruits and vegetables, the group hadn’t eaten any fresh food in weeks.
They were driving for about an hour when John spotted Marjah over the horizon. Most of the houses were spread out by several acres and surrounded by worked farmland. John could see a more populated cluster of buildings up ahead on the road, but beyond that, the individual farms spread out again. They were still about a mile from the populated area that their route would take them through. He couldn’t see any people from this distance, but he could see forms moving around the farms that were off the left and right side of the road. John couldn’t see the figures clearly enough to see their features or confirm if they were undead, but from the way they walked, he presumed they were. “WE ARE COMING UP ON MARJAH.” John reported to the others over the radio. “I THINK WE SHOULD PUSH THROUGH THIS POPULATED AREA AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WE MIGHT CONSIDER STOPPING AT ONE OF THE FARMS AFTER WE GET THROUGH AND TRY TO FIND SOME FRESH FOOD.”
A World Apart (Part 1): 8,000 Miles Page 13