This was of course an obvious truth. The only soldiers any of them had seen had been dead ones, still the news coming from a man in uniform seemed to gain the weight of fact like it hadn't before and the four of them stood looking at each other with faces that had grown pale as they realized that the government was no more and the army was now in the looting business.
Sadie finally spoke, “What's the Island? You said it like there's people there...could we go?”
Now the officer gave her an even closer look, as if judging her as he would a suspect horse. He turned to them all and looked them up and down. “The Island is the last bastion of humanity that's left in America...at least as far as we're aware of. If I was you I'd go and see what the colonel thinks of you. If he likes you and thinks you have what it takes then you can stay. We're always looking for good men. And women of course.”
“And if the colonel doesn't like what he sees?” Neil asked. When the officer had looked at him it had been with a bit of a smirk and Neil was fairly certain this colonel wouldn't think much better of him.
“Then you'll have to find your own way in this world,” he answered, and then went on to explain about the Island in very general terms. After that he wished them the best of luck and left with his men.
Chuck was enthusiastic. “We should definitely go. They have two-thousand soldiers there!”
While Sadie was definitely less happy at the idea. “We shouldn't go. They have two-thousand soldiers and if they're anything like that guy, then no way. Could he be more inappropriate with all his staring?”
“Oh please!” Chuck ranted. “All you women do is complain. When men look too much you complain. When men look too little you complain more. And if the guy is ugly then if he even looks a little, he's creepy, and if a guy's handsome then every look means he's in love.”
“What are you saying?” Sadie asked, spitting the words out in her anger. “That my opinion doesn't count because I'm a girl?”
“No, I'm saying let's check out this Island. So that one soldier was a little odd—yes, I thought he was weird too, all high and mighty acting, but that doesn't mean they'll all be that way. Let's check out the Island and if it doesn't work for us then we scoot on down the road. There's no harm in just taking a look.”
Though Sadie still seethed over Chuck's rant, she agreed to the plan and Neil did as well, although he did so only for her sake only. He knew in his heart that no military man would see much value in him, but Sadie with her bravery and her street smarts would likely fit in just fine. They would be lucky to have her.
With a heavy heart he drove the monster truck west, following the directions the officer had set forth. The Island was only some forty miles distant, however they did not make it that day. An immense wave of zombies, inexplicable as ever, came down out of the farmlands of southern Illinois and the group was forced to pull over. There only other choice was to mow them down by the hundreds and that was just to sickening for both Sadie and Neil, who didn't mind the wait, high up and safe as they were.
Chuck and his son, on the other hand, had to sit under blankets, afraid to move or make the slightest sound. It was a long evening for them, but eventually the swarm moved on and was replaced by a hellacious storm. It was loud and violent, yet it could not drown out the sound of a battle raging a few miles away to the west.
“That's the Island, I bet,” Sadie said. “They're being attacked by that swarm. Do you think they'll make it?”
Neil shrugged in the dark. “I don't know. If that's the last bastion then I really hope so, but from what I've seen, fighting the zombies doesn't seem to work very well. Remember in Passaic? There were more zombies in uniform than normal zombies.”
“Yeah,” Sadie breathed. They sat in the dark and watched lightning and artillery light up the sky and both of them wondered what they would find left on the Island in the morning. Would it be overrun? Would all they find is corpses and walking corpses.
“Do you mind if I go up there with you,” Sadie asked in a little voice. “I'm cold.”
She wasn't cold, she was afraid.
Normally she was a girl on the verge of being a woman—a girl with a tight little body, with nipples that always seemed to defy anything she wore—but to Neil she was a girl who was afraid of the world. They fell asleep snuggled together, but only after Neil kissed her once on the forehead and only after she smiled at him.
At first light of day, the two vehicles approached the island from the south and Neil's worst fears were realized. All they saw was death. Bodies were everywhere—some hundreds were hung up in bright coils of concertina wire. These bodies were grey and foul. More bodies littered the island; some were dead humans, some dead zombies. Nothing moved that was alive. Only the dead went here and there in that dazed way of theirs.
“Shit,” Sadie whispered and for once Neil didn't correct her. That he didn't think he would be chosen to live on the island didn't mean he wanted to see the lucky few who did get killed. They drove on staring glumly, but then another island came into view.
All along this one the dead were stacked like rotting pancakes, but this was only on its outer edge where the concertina wire had held. On the interior of the island not a zombie could be seen. Instead the land between the rivers bristled with uniformed men, going here and there with purpose.
Neil and Sadie smiled at each other and then she asked, “Can I drive?”
He understood. The soldiers all seemed young men in great shape and Sadie didn't want to be seen as 'just' a girl. “Sure, it's your truck,” he said, knowing that although she would be elevated in their eyes, he would suffer a corresponding lowering in their estimation. After all 'real' men drove, they didn't sit back and let their women do it.
In the end it didn't really matter.
They were stopped before what looked like a very strange bridge and questioned by another officer. This one with a single silver bar on his collar. He introduced himself, “Hey there. I'm Lieutenant Turner and I must say that is one perdy truck.”
“Thank you,” Sadie said as she climbed down. Though she had complained about the soldier from the day before, she didn't seem to mind that the men on this side of the bridge all stopped what they were doing to watch her as she did. “I'm Sadie and this is Neil and Chuck and that's Charles.”
“Charlie,” the boy was quick to interject. Just as Sadie, he didn't want to appear weak or young in the eyes of these men. “It looks you guys had a real fight last night.”
“That we did. Them stiffs were insistent upon eating us.” Turner looked around, his smile fading a bit. “So, what brings you to the Island?”
“We were looking to find shelter from the storm, so to speak,” Chuck answered. “We ran into a group of soldiers who suggested we come here. They said, uh that you'd take us on.”
“Of course we would pull our own weight,” Neil added quickly. “We're not afraid of hard work.”
Just as the soldier from the day before Lieutenant Turner gave them each a look and said, skeptically, “Not afraid of hard work? What did you do before?”
“I was on Wall Street,” Neil said and when the lieutenant's smile became polite only, he added, “And Chuck here was a top notch mechanic. He can fix anything and I'm sure he taught his boy quite a bit, and Sadie...” he paused looking at the girl. She seemed suddenly very nervous, and had every right to be. The position of 'Loner Goth-girl' didn't seem to be in high demand on the Island. Neil cleared his throat and said, “She's a zombie killing machine. I've never seen anything like it. She walked the streets of Jersey as if she didn't even know the meaning of the word fear.”
“Sometimes I was a little nervous,” she admitted, keeping her face an easy neutral. Out of sight of the lieutenant she squeezed Neil's hand in gratitude for his words.
“You're from New Jersey, interesting,” Turner said. “And you're a mechanic? I'm somewhat of the Gate Keeper for Colonel Williams, but I think he would be interested in meeting you. Put any weapons you hav
e in your vehicles and we'll go see if he has a few minutes for you.”
This sounded very promising and so the four hurried to obey. Even Neil had a growing hope. The Island couldn't help bring it out of him. The soldiers were hearty looking men and their weapons were frightful in appearance, however it was the fact that they had survived the zombie swarm that had him wishing he would be allowed to stay. He could be safe here.
They were brought to a tent and then left to themselves, however this was for minutes only and then a soldier came in and said, “The colonel will see you now.” The soldier led them to another tent where a tall man sat eating steak and eggs. Unbelievably there were four plates set out and he waved them to sit down as he chewed.
“Sorry, I shouldn't have started without you, but I've got a zillion things to take care of this morning. I'm Colonel Williams.”
They introduced themselves and then sat. Charlie didn't wait on any formality and began to eat with a gusto, while Sadie tried to be more discreet, however it was clear that after weeks of eating cold meals the food was too much to resist.
“It's good to see young ones with such appetites, though sadly this isn't our usual fare,” the colonel commented. “We had the largest attack yet occur last night and our refrigeration units on the second island were damaged. We either eat or let the food spoil.”
“Did you have many fatalities?” Neil asked, and then politely took a bite.
Chuck seemed to have forgotten his manners about the same time he stopped brushing his teeth, i.e. long ago. Around a bite that could've been better suited to a gorilla's mouth he commented, “Yeah, there all sorts of bodies out there. It was hard to tell which was a zombie and which was a person.”
The colonel took a drink of water before saying, “At one time they were all people. Though I understand your question and your concerns. Our losses were negligible. Zero here on the main island, which speaks well for our defensive measures.”
“And what of the second island?” Sadie asked. “I ask because it was clearly not as prepared. Here you have foxholes every twenty feet and big machine guns and three layers of that wire stuff. Over there you just had the wire.”
“I don't discuss casualties, ever,” the colonel replied lightly. “It's bad for morale.”
“I think it's better for morale to know the truth,” Sadie replied, showing her courage by not backing down under the colonel's sudden glare.
“Sadie!” Chuck growled in warning. “We ain't gonna ingratiate ourselves none if you act like this.”
“Maybe Sadie has a point,” Neil said. “If she's going to be staying here then I want to know she's going to be safe. What I see is that this island is as well protected as it can be and that the people who live here all just happen to be soldiers. Where are the women and children? Where are all the older people? Did you keep them on that second island, Colonel? Were their deaths negligible because they weren't your soldiers?”
The colonel ate slowly, saying nothing. As he did he eyed Neil like wolf might. Neil did his best not to quail under the stare, and in fact he rallied with the realization that he wasn't going to be chosen to stay anyways.
Remaining polite, Neil ate his meal with an air of expectation until finally Williams snarled, “There's no saying we're taking any of you, first off. Second, when I say negligible I mean negligible. We don't take many women for the same reason we don't take any children. This is a military base and right now our main concern is surviving. And in case you haven't goddamned noticed we haven't been doing that good a job of it. For weeks, while you've been probably hiding beneath your damned bed, we've been fighting and dying and this Island is the first bit of luck we've had.”
Neil dabbed the corners of his mouth with his napkin and said, “I didn't mean to be offensive, Colonel. It's just your initial answer didn't do anything but worry us more that we already were.”
“I wasn't worried in the least,” Chuck remarked, sucking his teeth. “I'm sure the colonel runs his base as he sees fit. Like how a man should run his own home, with a firm hand.”
This had the colonel agreeing. “You must be the mechanic I was told about. A good mechanic is worth his weight in gold these days.”
Unexpectedly Chuck shook his head. “That's where you're wrong. Gold ain't worth dick just now.”
This had Williams laughing. “You just may be right about that. And this is your son? A good strong lad...and you two,” he said taking in Neil and Sadie. “A Wall Street guy and chick zombie hunter.” He blew out a long time as he stared at them, drumming his fingers as he did. “Yeah, I can't say I need any investment advice just at the moment and as for a girl who hunts zombies...I don't think so. I have a thousand men who are infinitely more qualified.”
Neil and Sadie flicked their eyes to each other and both saw the disappointment in the other. Again Chuck surprised them by saying, “If you want me, you have to take them as well, and of course Charlie. That goes without saying. We'll call it a package deal.”
The colonel's smile widened a touch, however it didn't look completely genuine. He cleared his throat and said, “Ok, How about I give them a once over first. Can you two please stand up and take off your jackets...and your extra shirt, Miss.”
He didn't need to look for very long. “Miss, stop hugging yourself. Put your hands down to your sides. Yes, just like that...Sorry, no deal. You can have your son, on the condition that he works.”
“You'll just put us out there,” Neil said, glaring. “At least take Sadie. She is smart and quick. You won't be disappointed.”
Williams shook his head and then Chuck surprised them for the third and final time. “Then I want the monster truck out there. I may have to scrounge for parts and it's an ideal vehicle to get around in. Great vision, perfect hydraulics, what do you say?”
“Who are you talking to?” Sadie asked, yanking her jacket back on in such a fury that she got caught up in it. “That's my truck. You can't bargain with something you don't even own!”
“Actually you can,” the colonel said. “As long as you can get away with it. And in this case he can.”
“You can have the ranger,” Chuck insisted, trying to placate Sadie. “It's a great truck. Gets good gas mileage.”
The colonel grimaced as though he were about to impart bad news, which he was. “About the Ranger, that you can have, but you'll have to leave the gas. And your weapons.” Neil's mouth fell open and Sadie looked about to faint. Williams went on, “And any food or water. I have to think of the greater good in this and the welfare of two-thousand men comes before that of just two people.”
“Wait...” Chuck started to say, but the colonel stared hard, shutting him up.
He then stood and stretched, though with a hand on the butt of his pistol at his hip. “Before you start in, let me be clear I've heard it all. Yes, life is not fair—you're just going to have to deal with it. Turner, get in here!”
The man leapt in as if waiting for those exact words. “Sir, we have two packs ready as ordered. Two sleeping bags, two sets of clothes and assorted toiletries. A lighter, a can opener, etcetera.”
“Just like that?” Sadie asked, with her mouth hanging open. “We don't get a gun or anything? And no car?”
“Should be no problem for a zombie hunter such as yourself,” the colonel said as a parting comment.
Within seconds the two were escorted out of the tent and across the pontoon bridge. On the other side a number of tanks were parked and new rolls of concertina wiring were being strung. Turner handed them the packs and then gave them a light push toward the nearby forest and said in an undertone, “Don't hang around. Put as much distance between us as you can. Some of the soldiers can't be trusted around a young woman such as this. Do you understand me?”
Neil did and thanked him for the warning, but Sadie began to argue, and he was forced to drag her away. “There's no use trying,” he told her as they began to quick march through the forest. “They won't listen to reason...oh this is my
fault. Why did I say all that crap about you being a zombie hunter? They probably thought we were both idiots!”
“I don't think that was it,” she replied. “They wanted Chuck and all our stuff. Unless you were a doctor I doubt we had any chance from the get go. I mean they had these packs ready so quickly.”
She was likely right, yet that did little to help Neil who was nearly overcome with guilt. All of his supposed help had only got them stranded in a zombie-infested forest, with horny soldiers looking for an excuse to leave the island so that they could get at her.
Though just then it was the zombies that were more of a problem. They had been walking southeast, not by any design, it was only in an effort to evade the many undead that were wandering down from the north. Thankfully the forest was thicker close to the river and they used its foliage to hide in as a glomp of nearly a hundred of the beasts came slowly on, moaning like a dread wind.
Huddling down and practically wetting themselves they let the zombies drift right past them. And then the pair was up and running, looking to put some distance between them. Unfortunately the foliage worked both ways and they ran smack into a second wave of undead.
One grabbed Sadie's pack.
Quick and agile she swung about, letting the backpack slide off her shoulders, flinging the beast off of her in the process. She was so impressively calm that Neil would've cheered if this was little league football, instead he stooped and picked up a heavy rock and dashed in the brains of another that had come too close.
Then they were running for their lives, and the glomp that had passed them by came up to trap them. Neil grabbed a new rock and Sadie a stick. Like cavemen against a pack of wolves they prepared to defend themselves tooth and nail.
Chapter 28
Sarah
The Island
Her insides were cried out and empty, and the rain began to slacken, and her head hung. Below, the zombies ate their fill of what used to her father and most went back to the river to be washed on to their next slaughter, while seventy or eighty hung about, mindlessly milling. They were too many for Sarah with her limited ammunition.
The Undead World (Book 1): The Apocalypse Page 19