A World Apart (Part 1): 8,000 Miles

by Sean P. Thomas

  “The entrance is on the back side of the base.” Samir told John. “This road will take us around to it.”

  John nodded and continued down the road at a slow pace, so that he and the others could look for any signs of hope that the base had survived. The runway inside was clearly visible at this point, and John sighed when he realized there were no aircraft parked anywhere in sight. He didn’t want to give up hope yet though, there were hangars that would house a military jet inside. On the outside of the base there were many old pre-war aircraft strewn about. They were abandoned many years before and were left to rust in the desert. It was an eerie sight. When the convoy approached the edge of the village, John thought it was strange that it was so empty. The size of the village would suggest that it housed many families, but there were no people, or zombies, in sight.

  “Peculiar.” John said. “I would think we would at least see some zombies walking around this village.”

  “Yes, very strange.” Samir agreed. “I have seen this village many times, before the dead started walking. It was always full of activity in the middle of the day.”

  They continued along the road and were now on the south side of the perimeter of the base. The chain link fence went all the way around the base, and there were large, well-constructed guard towers every hundred yards or so. The military typically invested a lot of money into the security of an air field such as this one. John did note that the towers thus far appeared to be unmanned. Everything felt so unreal. They hadn’t seen a living person or a zombie since leaving their camp that morning. It was like they had been transported into another dimension where all the people simply vanished off the planet. John kept them moving along the road and around to the back side of the base.

  “There is the gate.” Samir said as he pointed towards a break in the fence line. There were guard towers on both sides of the gate. The gate itself was constructed of chain link, like the fence. John approached the gate slowly, looking for any sign of life. Just when he was convinced that the area was void of any living or dead, the gate started to open slowly. Several men emerged from a small building just inside the fence and stepped through the opened gate. They were wearing uniforms and armed with rifles. The uniforms were the standard combat uniform of the United States Airforce, John recognized. One of the men gestured for them to halt with his hand and John complied. He shut off the engine then called the others on the radio.

  “STAY INSIDE YOUR VEHICLES.” John instructed. “I’M GOING TO TALK TO THESE GUYS AND FIND OUT IF THEY CAN HELP US HERE.”

  John opened his door and climbed out of the truck. He approached the men slowly.

  “Where did you all come from and what is your business here?” The man who had signaled them to stop asked John.

  “We came here from FOB Dwyer.” John answered. “Everything we have seen is lost to the zombies. Kandahar is totally gone, our own base was overrun, and we travelled through FOB Delaram to get here, it is lost too. It looks like this area has been untouched by the apocalypse. Is the airbase still operational?”

  “In a sense.” The man replied. “We are surviving. What are you looking for here?”

  “Honestly, a way home.” John told him. “We thought if this base was intact, there might still be a way to catch a flight back to the states.”

  The guy looked back at his fellow airmen and laughed. “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” He told John.

  “You just said you were operational.” John shot back.

  “I said in a sense.” The guy corrected him. “The base is clear of the dead ones. We are safe behind these fences. The base also happens to be clear of any planes or pilots too. There lies the problem with your plan.”

  “Dammit.” John said in frustration.

  “You got a plan B?” The man asked.

  “Yeah, but it is a long shot.” John told him. “We are going to drive west until we hit the ocean, find a boat, and sail to the U.S. if we have to.”

  The man laughed again. “Yeah, that’s a long shot alright.” He told John as he approached him with his hand held out as if to shake John’s hand. John reached up to grasp the guy’s hand, but instead of shaking John’s hand, he grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. The man brought his pistol up and pointed it at John’s temple. “It is definitely a long shot, because I’m afraid you aren’t leaving here. We’re taking your trucks, your supplies, your weapons, and you might just live if you cooperate. I’m going to need you to tell your friends to step out of the trucks and join us here on the ground.”

  The man turned his head back to his own men then. “I tell you boys, it sure is good to see some new friendly faces here, I thought we might be the last living people in Afghanistan.”

  CHAPTER 32

  Angie was still upset about the not so subtle accusations thrown her way by Patty when the alarms rang out that the party was back from the run, and that someone was hurt. Angie panicked, she just knew it was Jerry. She left Sam with Karen and Grace, who were sitting in the cafeteria close by, then ran out of the large room towards the back entrance. She merged with Greg in the hallway on the way out.

  “Who is hurt Doc?” She asked him.

  “I don’t know yet.” He said. “I only just heard.”

  She and Greg reached the back door of the school and ran out together. The bus was diagonal to the door, not far from the entrance. She spotted Alex and Roy carrying an unconscious Hector out of the bus, as other residents, including Patty, ran up to assist them.

  “Bring him to the clinic, quickly.” Greg shouted. The clinic was nothing more than a high school nursing station, but everyone, including Greg, had taken to calling it the clinic.

  Kyle came out of the bus next. Alone. Angie was a nervous wreck, she still hadn’t seen Jerry. She ran up to Kyle and grabbed his arms.

  “Where is he?” She yelled at him. “Where is Jerry?”

  “He is still in the bus.” Kyle answered her. “He is just sitting in there.”

  Angie ran to the bus and went inside. Jerry was sitting in the seat right behind the driver’s seat. He was covered in blood. His head was down and his body was shaking. His head bobbed up and down, he was crying.

  “Dad!” Angie called to him frantically. “Are you hurt? What’s wrong? What happened?”

  “I promised to keep him safe.” Jerry said. “I said he wouldn’t get hurt. I failed him. I failed everyone.” He put his face in his hands and sobbed some more.

  Angie moved to the bench seat and sat next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and tried to comfort him. “Dad, are you hurt?” She asked again.

  “No.” Jerry told her. “I wish it were me instead.”

  “Don’t you dare say that.” Angie scolded him. “Sam and I need you.”

  Jerry turned to Angie and embraced her. “I’m sorry.” Jerry said.

  “It’s okay.” Angie told him. “Please, tell me what happened.”

  “We didn’t see it.” He tried to explain. “It came out of nowhere. We thought we killed them all. We were loading the bus, putting in the last piece of equipment. Hector was just taking a break, catching his breath. Then it was on him. It happened so fast. I couldn’t protect him. He was bitten.”

  “I’m sure you did everything you could to protect him.” Angie told him. “Maybe he will be okay, Doc is taking care of him now.”

  “It’s the bites that turn you Angie.” Jerry said. “I told you that before, when I first came to your house. I saw it happen back home.”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” She argued. “How much do we really know about this virus, or infection, or whatever the hell it is. Maybe he can fight it, maybe he won’t die. You can’t hold yourself accountable for everything. Alex, Roy, Kyle, Chris, they were all there too, it’s not all on you. You have to keep it together, for my sake, for Sam’s.” She told him.

  “You’re right, of course.” He admitted. “I feel so damn guilty though. Patty said he was too young to go. I argued for him to g
o. He may die because I said he should go.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” Angie said, starting to get angry. “If he hadn’t gone, then this could have happened to any of the others, including yourself. Snap out of it. The best thing you can do now is get your shit together. If we fall apart over everyone who gets hurt or worse, then this is going to be a short apocalypse for us. I need you Dad.”

  “I’m sorry Angie.” Jerry said. He wiped his face, put on a serious visage, and said, “let’s go see if Doc needs any help.”

  ***

  Jerry and Angie arrived at the clinic just as Greg was removing the bandage that Alex had applied to the wound back at the hardware store. Patty and Roy were standing off to the side and Alex was assisting Greg with Hector. Hector appeared to still be unconscious. Patty took note of Jerry and Angie entering the room and shot an angry look at Jerry. The look penetrated him deeply, but he would deal with his guilt later, he wanted to be there for Hector.

  Once the bandage was off, Angie felt a little sick from the site of the bite mark. It was not bleeding anymore, instead the blood in and around the wound had coagulated and looked like a black gel with a reddish tint. The skin around the bite was extremely discolored and she could see his veins through his skin, branching up and down the leg. The tourniquet that Alex had applied was still there. Greg was busy cleaning the wound as best he could when Alex moved to loosen the tourniquet.

  “Stop!” Greg snapped at him. Alex froze in place. “It might be the only thing keeping the infection from spreading. If the tourniquet stays in place too long, the leg will die, but I don’t have the equipment or the expertise to amputate. I don’t know exactly how this virus works, but I can see the wound is infected and the leg is already dying. I can’t remove that tourniquet, it might be the only hope we have to save his life.”

  “I don’t know if I tightened enough to cut off the circulation completely.” Alex told Greg.

  “I’ll apply a better tourniquet after I finish cleaning the wound.” Greg replied. “Alex, please stay and assist me. The rest of you should go. You can’t help Hector right now and you’re just going to be in the way. I’ll let you all know if his condition changes.”

  Patty nodded then moved to leave the clinic. She shot Jerry and Angie an angry look as she passed them. Roy followed right behind her. Jerry and Angie lingered a bit longer, then exited the room as well. When they came out into the hallway, Roy was waiting for them.

  “Don’t worry about Patty.” Roy told them. “I’ll talk to her about what happened to Hector. It wasn’t your fault Jerry. Patty has a lot on her mind. I’ll try to calm the waters.”

  “Thanks.” Jerry told him. Roy nodded, then walked away to find Patty.

  “Some food went missing from the kitchen.” Angie told Jerry after Roy left. “Patty seems to think that our being here is somehow connected to the missing food.”

  “That’s crazy.” Jerry said. Compiled with the guilt of the day’s misfortune, the accusation weighed heavily on Jerry. His shame quickly turned into anger.

  Angie could see the anger building in Jerry and tried to calm him. “Derek is setting up a guard for the kitchen and he is asking some of the other people if they know anything. You don’t have to worry about this.”

  “Derek is a good man.” Jerry said. “I’m going to go see if Chris needs any help with the supplies we gathered today.” He kissed Angie on the forehead then walked away. Angie sighed, uncomfortable with the way things were playing out, then moved towards the cafeteria to find Sam.

  ***

  Roy and Patty were standing inside the kitchen storeroom. She had just brought him up to speed on the stolen food.

  “They have been here a few days and now we have missing food, and on top of that, Hector will probably die.” Patty complained. “We were fine before they showed up, now everything is falling apart. It can’t be a coincidence.”

  “They are good people Patty.” Roy argued. “I can’t imagine that any of them would steal our food. They have all taken an active role in the improvement of our situation. Jerry did everything he could to protect Hector. You weren’t there, no one could have anticipated the attack on the boy. I don’t believe these people are responsible, not for Hector, and not for the missing food.”

  “It was Jerry’s idea to go out, it was his idea to take Hector along.” Patty insisted.

  “Yes, it was his idea to go out.” Roy said to that. “And how long would we have waited to come up with that idea? How low would we have waited for our supplies to get before we risked anything to secure our future?”

  “What about Hector?” Patty asked him. “Are you telling me that Hector would still be hurt if they hadn’t come here?”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” Roy replied. “Hector was about to start his senior year, he is almost 18 years old. He is old enough to understand the risks, he wanted to go, to contribute. You can’t fault Jerry for that. I am devastated that he got hurt today, but I am sure he won’t be the last. It’s a new world out there, and it is a living nightmare.”

  “I’m not convinced that these people are as innocent as you would have me believe.” Patty stated.

  “Just hold off your inquisition for a bit.” Roy told her. “Let’s see how the situation unfolds before we make any rash decisions.”

  “Alright.” Patty conceded. “But if I get the slightest hint that they are not working out, I will banish them from the school.”

  Roy nodded, content that he had at least stayed her hand in taking any action against the new group.

  ***

  The man saw the bus approach from the north. He watched them as they carried the injured boy inside the school. He was hiding behind some of the cars that were in the parking lot behind the school, watching their every move. He studied the guards that were stationed on the roof. He made note of their routine. He watched all the people disappear inside and he waited. After the commotion near the bus ceased, he saw the guards on the roof divert their attention to the front of the school. One watched the northbound avenue and the other watched the south. He heard the scuffling footsteps approach from behind, but he wasn’t concerned. As soon as the zombie drew near, he turned and stabbed it in the head with his knife. He lowered the corpse to the ground, withdrew his knife from its skull, then turned and continued his patient vigil. He carefully watched the guards to see if he had drawn their attention in any way. They still watched the north and south avenues of approach.

  It was almost dark. He kept watching. Several minutes after everyone had moved inside, a couple of men came back out and moved to the bus. They started unloading supplies from inside. A larger man came out later and joined the first two men. They unloaded all the supplies from the truck and stacked it all near the rear exit. After their work was done, he watched them disappear back inside. He watched the sun go down. He could barely see the guards at this point. He stealthily moved away from the cars, went around the bus, and approached the north side of the building. His advance was routine, he had done it several times over several days. He moved to a window that was only a few inches above the ground. It was situated next to a large metal tank that had a hose coming out of it that led down into the window. The hose kept the window from closing all the way, so he easily lifted the window up. He poked his head inside and looked for any sign of people. The locker room was clear, so he slipped inside and eased the window back down behind him. He lurked though the shadows, through the boy’s locker room, out the door, down a hallway, and into the boiler room.

  He had been living in the boiler room for almost a week. No one ever came down there, so far, and he could rest there at night without being detected. He had slipped up to the cafeteria for a few nights in a row, and pilfered enough food and water to keep himself going. He had collected enough to survive for a while, it was all stacked in a corner of the room. There was makeshift bedding, created from piles of towels he had taken from the locker rooms. He was amazed at how oblivious these people were. He had mo
ved around the school completely undetected, at least until that kid had spotted him. He had planned to deal with the boy, but then a woman had come looking for the child. He had to move fast. The woman spotted him, but he got away from her, and so far, no one had found him or investigated the boiler room. He wasn’t concerned. If anyone did stumble into his abode, he would deal with them. He had a plan, he was biding his time, waiting to make his move. He grinned as he thought about it. He laid down and closed his eyes, completely content with the way things were going for him.

  CHAPTER 33

  John and the others were loaded into the back of their own supply truck and driven to a different part of the airbase. After several minutes the truck came to a stop. The tailgate on the truck was dropped and two of the men that had taken them ordered them to get out. Once on the ground, John realized they were parked on a portion of the air strip, right in front of a large hangar. The fuel truck and the MaxxPro were nowhere in sight. As far as John could tell, there were only two of the men from the gate here now. He considered trying to make a move, try to overpower them, but both men had their weapons at the ready. John and his friends had been disarmed when they were first taken. John could see inside the hangar through a large opening, it appeared to be mostly empty. There was a door inside on the back wall and a couple of more doors on the right side of the hangar.

  One of the men that held them now at gunpoint, was the guy who talked to John back at the gate. John assumed that this guy was in charge. The man motioned for the group to move inside the hangar.

  “Where are you taking us?” John asked him.

  “Just move.” The guy commanded.

  The group was led to the first door on the right side of the hanger. One of the men moved to the door. There was a hasp with a sturdy padlock securing the door. The man unlocked the padlock, pulled open the hasp, then opened the door.

  “Inside.” The guy that had been giving all the instructions told them.

  John and the others moved inside the room. Once they were all inside, the guy stopped at the opened door.