The Zombie Principle II

by David R Vosburgh

  Benton processed the information, making a mental note of everyone he saw in Mexico. It would seem that it was indeed this Major Bradley who was responsible for his doctor’s abduction. There were other men in military uniforms, one may have been a captain. No one else he saw there there fit those descriptions.

  “Thank you, Winston. Please make sure we have some food for tomorrow.” Benton said as a dismissal.

  Winston, taking the cue, got up and made his way toward the kitchen.

  Benton slowly got up. He was exhausted. It was a long trip from Mexico. He walked over to a large credenza and opened the rolling top, revealing a few photos, some mementos, and a small wooden box. He opened the box, reached in, and pulled out an old World War Two German Lugar. The trip was going to be dangerous and perhaps messy. He left the details to Gunner. No one was better at getting into and out of places than his chief of security. He felt better, however, when he had his “lucky” Lugar with him. He had won it, as you might see in a movie, in a game of poker.

  He had a holster made to the original specifications in the box as well. He removed it and placed the gun in the holster and then onto a small table next to the credenza. He was about to close the top when he spotted his father’s signed Babe Ruth baseball. Enclosed in a square plastic display case, it had become his when his father passed away nearly ten years ago. Not one for melancholy, he picked it up anyway. It was more of a symbol of power for Benton than a family heirloom. The Babe was the best of his time, often hitting more home runs than entire teams. He was dominant, unapologetic, and feared by opposing pitchers. It was how Benton viewed himself.

  He put the ball back and closed the rolling top. He headed upstairs to the master bedroom, tomorrow was a very important day.

  Gunner had detailed his plan to Benton just as the sun was coming up. The Escalade was already loaded with ample weaponry and a cooler bag filled with sandwiches, fruit, and energy bars. Mikael stood next to the passenger’s side rear door, double checking his weapon. Bronson was sitting in the driver’s seat adjusting his sidearm for maximum comfort.

  It would take them most of the morning to get to Fort Carson, depending on the number of abandoned cars, infected, and roving bands of human survivors they encountered. The normal security one would expect of a military base would not be there. They would rely more on patrols than sentries so Gunner assumed that he would be able to get close enough to assess his options. He had brought, in addition to the weapons, wire cutters, binoculars, and rope. They would time the sentries during the afternoon and then enter the base at night. They were all wearing standard issue army fatigues. With the number of different military branches and civilians housed there, it should be no problem blending in.

  If they were unable to locate Major Bradley or this Captain Morris, they would simply ask. Gunner had multiple cover stories he could use. They also brought walkies with which to listen in with. Once the Major was located … well, Gunner could be very persuasive. His only problem might be keeping that maniac Bronson from accidentally killing him before he spilled the beans.

  Once they had the Doctor he would eliminate the Major, and anyone else who may be a problem, fill the gas tank of the Escalade with the gas can they brought, and head back to Silverton.

  They arrived on the outskirts of Fort Carson just before mid-day driving north on Interstate 25. The town appeared to be deserted. Petersen Air Force Base was just a few miles northeast of the town.

  Gunner told Bronson to get off at route 24 and move slowly down East Fountain Boulevard. The approach would bring them directly across from the municipal airport that was attached to the base. Gunner had him turn off just before the airport at South Powers Boulevard and drive behind a small knoll at the edge of a local park appropriately called Panorama Park. It offered a view of the base from across the airport.

  “Stay here,” Gunner said to the rest of group.

  He grabbed the binoculars and exited the vehicle moving swiftly up the hill. He found a good perch. Getting low, he trained the binoculars on the southwest side of the base. He immediately spotted small plumes of smoke wafting into the air that was not visible from the road. Using his index finger, he focused the lenses further inside the base. Infected could be seen meandering here and there. After a few more minutes it was obvious to Gunner that the base had somehow been overrun and any human survivors would likely have evacuated to the Cheyenne Mountain Complex or somewhere far away. There was no way the four of them were getting into the former home of NORAD.

  He climbed down from the hill and walked back over to the Escalade. He had bad news for his employer. When he arrived, he noticed that Bronson had stepped out of the car and was pacing in front of it, weapon drawn. Gunner had heard no shots fired so he looked around but saw no infected. He moved around to the front passenger’s side where Benton was seated, window rolled down.

  “Base is infected, it’s unlikely anyone’s alive in there,” he said.

  Benton sat motionless in his seat, a pained expression crossing his face. He was thinking.

  “Let’s scan the walkies and listen for any chatter,” he finally said.

  The walkies they had brought were the same ones that were used on the base. Benton had, at one time, owned a controlling interest in a small defense contractor that manufactured various military communications devices, among them; walkie-talkies. He had kept a few figuring they might come in handy one day. Today may be that day.

  They had three walkies so Gunner, Benton, and Bronson each scanned a few channels each while Mikael kept lookout.

  After an hour of silence, Benton got out of the vehicle and went around to the back and lifted the hatch.

  “Anyone hungry?”

  They all were so a brief break was called, leaving the walkies on just in case.

  After the food had been doled out, Benton moved over to Gunner.

  “Any chance our doctor is still in there?’ he asked.

  “Impossible to say for sure,” Gunner answered in his thick Swedish accent. “Getting in there would be easy, getting out would be problematic. There could be bands of survivors holding out in one of the buildings but if Fort Campbell was any indication, it’s very unlikely.”

  He waited for a response but got none. He hesitated to mention the mountain complex because if Benton wanted to try to get in there, it would be a suicide mission.

  “What about the old NORAD complex?” he asked.

  “It’s possible some survivors had time to make it there but that area is shut up tight. Only one way in or out. We could play victims and hope they let us in but we could only bring in weapons that we could conceal. And then we would immediately be searched if we couldn’t get the upper hand quickly, we would be likely shot or incarcerated. Even if we got in, I think getting out would be impossible. Not to mention, as far as I know, there are no research facilities inside there. No place for the doctor to produce his pills,” Gunner answered hoping he was convincing enough.

  Gunner was never one to shy away from a job. The level of danger was never an issue. The probability of success, however, was. And the probability of a successful mission there approached zero.

  “I would agree Gunner. Dr. Sanderson would have likely arrived back just as the outbreak was occurring or soon after because we have to assume everything was fine when they left and they were not gone for more than a day or two,” Benton said, remembering that Captain Bannon had returned with the major a day after leaving.

  Benton took a bite of his sandwich and looked around as if searching for something.

  “It’s most probable that they never made it back into the base, assuming that they even came back to the base,” he continued. “Did you see any sign of my Gulfstream?”

  Gunner had not even looked for it. He had trained the binoculars past the airport and looked directly into the base. Without answering he took the last bite of his energy bar and sprinted back up the knoll. Mikael and Bronson turned to look as the sudden movement took th
em by surprise.

  He assumed the same position as before and was able to easily spot an airplane parked on the tarmac. He was surprised he hadn’t noticed it before. Using the binoculars now, the WORTH logo came into view. That would mean that they might still be inside the base. He focused in a little more, the Gulfstream now in full view. It was then he saw the break in the fuselage and the damage to the front landing gear. A pile of rotting corpses was set off to the side of the plane. The plane was not operational. If they left, they left on foot or by truck.

  Gunner returned and stood next to Benton who was now in a conversation with Bronson. He waited for them to finish, trying not to appear to be eavesdropping.

  “Yes?” Benton said when he was finished with Bronson.

  “The Gulfstream is there sir but it has been crippled. From gunfire perhaps but most likely from an explosion. Maybe a grenade. It is not flyable,” Gunner informed him.

  “So … they didn’t fly out of here. Which means, if they are still alive, they left on foot or in a vehicle of some sort,” Benton surmised.

  With lunch finished Benton grabbed waters for everyone and closed the hatch.

  “We’ll stay for a few more hours and listen to the walkies, it will give me time to think,” he said to no one in particular.

  He went back to his seat, grabbed the walkie and began scanning through channels as Bronson casually dispatched a zombie emerging from behind a tree.

  Benton spent the next several hours thinking. Calculating the odds of whether the doctor was still alive and if he wasn’t, what would be his next move. He still had a few samples of the pills he procured from the doctor’s knapsack, perhaps he could find another research doctor to duplicate the antidote. But what good would that do anyway, Dr. Sanderson said that it still needed more testing and the fact that he had been unconscious for the better part of two days proved that.

  And if he was still alive, where was he? He thought it was unlikely that he would be inside the base given the time frames he knew. When Bannon left with his plane, when he saw the doctor outside of the Mexican lab, the current condition of the base and the fact that they had returned here proved that the base had been breached during their absence or just as they had returned. That would likely mean they never made it back inside.

  After weighing all the possibilities, he concluded that the major and Dr. Sanderson arrived during the outbreak and fled soon after landing. The next question was how? On foot or in a vehicle. There were no vehicles visible on the tarmac which doesn’t necessarily mean anything. They could have grabbed the last one. Benton remembers seeing at least six people, including the doctor, outside his lab in Mexico. If they left on foot, he figured, the resourceful Major Bradley would have probably found a vehicle for all of them to ride in. Keeping an eye on six or seven people in a truck or SUV was easier than having someone wander off.

  If they left immediately with a truck, verses on foot, the search area would be significantly larger but one thing was fairly certain, they would have headed south. Fall was just about here and it would be getting colder soon, if it was him, he would head south. It was a significant area to cover and would be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. But, it wasn’t like he had many other pressing issues. And he despised being made to look like a fool.

  He decided he would make an effort to find them. They would head back to Silverton and gather supplies for a lengthy trip, perhaps a second vehicle to hold the supplies. They would keep the walkie channels open and listen for any chatter from Major Bradley or Captain Morris. It was a long shot at best.

  “Gunner, could we make it to the Gulfstream?” he asked.

  “The airport is clear, we could get there with little trouble. The infected level is unknown but I didn’t see any wondering the airfield.” he answered.

  “Let’s go see what we can salvage from the plane and then head south,” he said, closing the Escalade’s door and facing forward.

  It was very late when they arrived back at the Silverton mansion. A brief sweep south of the base and the immediate area around Fort Carson yielded no results. They were ill-equipped for a long search so Benton decided to head back and gear up for an extended trip.

  Food, additional ammunition, camping gear, and gas cans were among the items loaded into two vehicles. Bronson would drive Benton in the Escalade and Gunner and Mikael would be in a Land Rover Range Rover. With the vehicles ready to go Benton decided to leave first thing in the morning. With any luck, he thought, they might have their quarry by the end of the day and all this won’t be necessary anyway.

  Chapter 19

  Mr. Banks

  The wind had begun to pick up and blow desert sand across the road in front of them reducing visibility to no more than a few feet. Bronson applied the break and slowed the Land Rover down appropriately. Gunner, sitting in the rear driver’s side seat, reached down with his right hand and gripped his sidearm. He hated not being able to see what was ahead of him, it made him very uncomfortable. Benton had traveled this road many times before and knew these brief sandstorms were part of the deal.

  As they slowed to a crawl he thought back to the events that led them to this point.

  After leaving his Silverton residence and heading out in search of his doctor they traveled back to the area just south of Colorado Springs. With a range of roughly three miles depending on terrain, the walkies were kept on as they scanned the various channels hoping to hear something that would point them in the proper direction. With no success, they began heading south on Route twenty-five and eventually ending up in New Mexico a week and a half later.

  They picked up a signal near Raton, New Mexico. It was definitely military although there was no mention of a Major Bradley or Captain Morris. Benton decided it was worth checking out as it was the first decent lead they had since venturing out. Bronson drove slowly as Gunner followed in the Range Rover. They approached from the north and pulled the vehicles off to the side of the road behind a small hardware store, as to not be visible from the main road.

  Gunner and Mikael set out on foot to search for the source of the radio transmissions. Bronson and Benton stayed with their vehicle. After ten minutes they discovered a small group of soldiers held up in a park ranger’s station or welcome center at the edge of a park called Climax Canyon Park. From the look of it, they had done a nice job of fortifying the building and the surrounding area. It didn’t take Gunner long to spot the lookouts on the hills just behind it.

  Gunner dared not to get any closer and used his binoculars to scope out their movements while listening to the chatter between the lookouts and others inside the building. A few soldiers could be seen entering and exiting the building. After a half an hour he determined there was at least a dozen soldiers and was pretty sure the doctor wasn’t with them. There had been no mention of any medical personnel plus this little town had no facilities large enough to accommodate Dr. Sanderson’s needs. He and Mikael were about to leave when he heard a slightly elevated voice come through the walkie.

  “Movement detected, northeast corner of the park … near Hill Street, over.”

  “Copy that … friendly? Over.”

  “Hard to say Sargent, targets are low to the ground, over.”

  “Copy, sending Mills and Somerset to check it out, over and out.”

  Gunner wasn’t sure if they were talking about them but when he turned and scampered down the knoll they had been using he noticed a street sign that read “Hill St”. Moving faster now, he and Mikael tore through backyards and around fences. It was dangerous to move as swiftly as they were, an infected could pop out behind almost anywhere and they would have very limited reaction time.

  They finally had to emerge from the backyards and out into the open. They were now on Parsons Street, which Gunner recalled, would lead them to the hardware store. He took a quick second to look back and spotted two soldiers, presumably Mills and Somerset, a block over and gaining fast. This was obviously their neigh
borhood and they knew it very well.

  The Land Rover was parked a few blocks from the interstate exit. Gunner considered whether or not they would be able to safely make to their car or if they should find some cover and engage their pursuers. He decided to try to make the Land Rover.

  When Gunner and Mikael arrived at the hardware store, Bronson had turned the Escalade around and had the car facing the soldiers. The car’s engine was running and Bronson was hanging out the front window, a semi-automatic wrapped around his elbow.

  “We heard them on the walkie,” Benton said as Gunner and Mikael ran past the Escalade.

  Bronson opened fire on the soldiers sending them scattering for cover. He had them pinned down providing enough time for Gunner to reach the Land Rover and climb into the driver’s side and start the engine. He slid the gear shift into drive and kicked up dirt as he peeled out of the hardware parking lot.

  Bronson ducked back into the Escalade, tossing the rifle in the back seat. He shifted into reverse and started pulling away from the soldiers backward.

  Mills and Somerset noticed the assault had ceased and poked their heads out from behind their cover. Quickly seizing on the opportunity, they returned fire. The Escalade was moving fast and erratic and made for a difficult target.

  Gunner had reached the interstate and saw Bronson do a one-eighty, the Escalade rocking back and forth for a split second before Bronson punched the accelerator. He was right behind Gunner in a matter of seconds as both vehicles were now headed south on route twenty-five.

  After a few miles, they pulled over, sure that they were not being followed. Gunner got out of his vehicle and moved alongside Benton’s open window. He informed his boss that Dr. Sanderson was probably not there or in the vicinity. Benton sat upright in his seat, clearly frustrated and low on fuel and food, he decided they would head back to Colorado and gather some more supplies. They would head out one more time.