“What if we don’t want to join any of the settlements?” Kelly asked.
“No problem. They’ll just ask you to be out of our territory within a couple of weeks. We don’t allow people to form other settlements in our territory because it risks the lives of our settlers. You’re totally free to leave though. The fences around the settlements are there to keep the Zombies out. They’re not there to keep our people in. Does that make sense?”
“Do you split up families?” Caitlyn asked. She’d finished her stack of pancakes and was eyeing the one or two left in the main serving dish.
“No. Unless they want to be split up, I guess. Why? I’ve heard some of the other people coming up out of Brotherhood territory bring that up. They really spilt up families down there to try and keep you under control?” Bryan asked. He shook his head in disbelief when Caitlyn and Kelly both nodded in the affirmative.
“They split up everyone to make sure you couldn’t leave. Pretty evil to separate people from friends and family, right?” Caitlyn said sarcastically. She’d passed the last two pancakes to Zoey and Ali. It took Bryan a second to get her meaning.
“If what Kyler told me is true then he’s basically a hero. We can’t just take his word for it though. He’s flying a giant New American flag with that brand he’s got on his back. As soon as we get to a comm station I plan on getting his story confirmed so we can let him hang out with you guys again. Although he’ll probably be shipped up to central command to get debriefed if he’s really been doing what he said he’s been doing. Get your stuff together. I need to make sure everyone else is ready and we can work on getting out of here.” Bryan left as soon as he was done talking. He ignored the obvious attempt by Kelly to get his attention to ask more questions. Henry and Sarah were staring open mouthed trying to figure out what Bryan was talking about. Kelly saw Myriah and Caitlyn whispering to them so figured that cat was out of the bag.
They wrapped up and strapped on their gear prior to wandering over to the front door to leave once they were told it was time to do so. Kyler was marched past them with his hands cuffed in front of him. He gave them a quick smile and a wink as he was walked past. Randy reached out to pat him on the back and the soldier escorting him shook his head no. Before they could argue Kyler had been marched out and was headed towards the edge of the yard where a large shed stood.
A few minutes later the hummer, a smaller jeep and the truck were rolling down the bumpy trail back towards the main road. Randy and Kelly had both ended up in the hummer this time. Caitlyn and Myriah were riding in the truck with the littles and Kyler.
“So where are we headed?” Randy asked.
“A little town outside of Charlotte. They should have a comm station up and running that we can use. They’ll be able to sort out where you should be headed next.” Bryan answered.
They drove in silence after that. The only bit of excitement being when Kelly smiled and punched Randy in the arm when they passed the big green sign welcoming them to North Carolina. It’d taken so much work to get to that sign. Even though they both knew it was only a sign it still felt like a major milestone had been reached. They just needed to drive on the interstate until they got to this regional headquarters place and everything would hopefully get resolved. Maybe they could actually plant some roots and get their lives back to some semblance of normalcy. At least as normal as you could get to in a world full of Zombies and would be dictators.
Chapter 27: When Good Men Stand Idly By
The helicopter landed in a parking lot in the middle of the forest. Krantz was asked to get out and wait in the overgrown parking lot. As soon as Krantz was safely out of the helicopter it immediately soared into the sky. That was all standard procedure to keep the Zombies from homing in on a place you wanted to be able to keep using as a landing area for a long period of time. Krantz didn’t have long to wait. A golf cart cruised into the parking lot a few minutes later. The heavily armed soldier driving the cart saluted and asked him to climb aboard.
The soldier didn’t say a word beyond providing vague answers to the questions Krantz had about where they were and where they were going. The golf cart ride was a solid thirty minutes long. Long enough that the helicopter could’ve probably landed somewhere much closer to drop him off. The length of the ride showed the place had some serious security protocols. The soldier stopped the cart in front of a large cabin. Trees covered the majority of the yard as well as the roof of the cabin. The tree cover would’ve made it very difficult to spot via satellite or plane.
Krantz got off the cart and walked towards the front door to the cabin. The soldier who’d driven him there in the golf cart sat there watching him until the front door opened. Two more armed men appeared and walked out to escort him into the cabin. The inside of the cabin was an empty shell for the most part. There were a few items scattered around by the men who’d been on guard duty. In the corner was a locked door that the soldier entered a code into and stepped back. A minute later the wall opened up and the door to an elevator slid open.
Krantz was escorted onto the elevator by one of the soldiers. The other one stayed behind. The elevator descended smoothly into the hidden bunker with a smooth whirring noise. In a matter of seconds, they descended almost six stories into the rocky earth. When it stopped and the door opened, they stepped out into a long corridor that ended in another locked door. That door opened for them as well and Krantz found himself in a richly appointed waiting room. The soldier left him there under the watchful eye of a smartly dressed female receptionist. The woman was in civilian clothes but Krantz could sense the coldly competent aura around her of a professional killer. Something told him her main responsibility wasn’t making coffee.
“The Senator will see you soon. He’s wrapping up a phone call then he’s asked me to clear his schedule to meet with you. Would you like any refreshments while you wait?” The woman asked. Krantz politely refused and settled into the nicely appointed leather recliner to wait for the Senator. He sat there for about fifteen minutes before he was ushered into the room where the Senator was waiting.
“Thanks for getting all dressed up for the meeting.” The tall, lanky man with the piercing blue eyes sitting behind the desk said with a scowl. Krantz remembered what he was wearing and started to stutter out an apology. The Senator let out a bellow of laughter at the look on his face. He came around the desk with his hand extended to Krantz greeting him with a hearty politicians handshake.
“You should’ve seen the look on your face son. That was priceless. We’re in the middle of a god damned war with Zombies and those pecker heads up north. I don’t care if all you can find to wear is a pink tutu as long as you’re the right man to rally the troops and strike back.”
Krantz was still trying to come up with a good response as the Senator pumped his hand a few times. He finally blurted out a ‘yes sir’ before being invited to have a seat on one of the comfortable chairs scattered around the room. He sat down and waited nervously while the Senator busied himself making them a couple of drinks. Krantz felt his stomach doing flip flops at the thought of drinking again so soon but he still felt himself needing it. He recognized that he was becoming an alcoholic. He just didn’t care. If he could be a functional alcoholic and survive the end of times like he was doing, then he was ok with it. The Senator handed him a glass filled with some sort of expensive whiskey.
“Pappy Van Winkle reserve. That’s the good stuff right there. The price tag pre-apocalypse made it pretty rare. We’ve got cases of it down here we found in some warehouse north of the city. Go ahead and try a sip. I heard you’re a man who enjoys a good whiskey.” The Senator said pointedly.
Wondering if he was being tested Krantz tilted his glass back and took a sip. It went down smooth. He realized he hadn’t really understood what people meant by a smooth tasting whiskey until that moment. He felt a flush of invigorating energy through his system.
“That’s delicious sir. Thank you.” Krantz responded. The S
enator smiled at the obvious delight Krantz had taken in the drink. He took a drink out of his own glass before settling in to get down to business.
“I assume you’ve read the reports about the attacks from the north?” The Senator asked. When Krantz nodded the Senator continued. “So, tell me how you propose we hit them back. Roberts had told me he thought you would be a good one to lead the assault in the first place. I kept threatening to pull him back to be an armchair general with me. I’m hoping he was right about you.”
“Yes sir. Roberts was a great man. That was a huge loss for us when he got shot down. I had the opportunity last night to read through the reports you had sent over. We got hit pretty hard sir. The north knew where to hit us and they did it fast and efficient. That shows me they not only have a ton of military minds up there they also have a good source for intelligence. They must have multiple spy networks setup to gather intel and ship it back up to them. I didn’t see a single reported miss. As much as we move everything around there should have been some misses.” Krantz said.
“Yes. There actually was one big miss. A certain house in Hilton Head was bombed. We’d only let one group of people know about the munitions we had hidden there. That same group knew about the other sites too. They’re all dead now.” The Senator stated the facts like he was talking about stock prices. There was no hint of guilt in his voice at having wiped out an entire group of men to make sure the traitor died.
“Well that hopefully plugged that hole. We still lost a solid twenty percent of our fighting men based on the reports. That’s just the total number of casualties. I don’t know the breakdown of leadership lost versus our other units. We actually came out pretty light on human casualties because everyone is so spread out.” Krantz took a deep breath knowing this next piece was the bit the Senator wasn’t going to like hearing. “The bigger problem is the hit we took to our airfields, planes and helicopters. They bombed the hell out of all the large air bases we were using. They even hit some of the regional airports we had fuel and extra equipment hidden at. We won’t be able to hit them back as hard as they just hit us. Even if we had more planes and munitions, we don’t have the pilots.” Krantz said. He talked fast like he was peeling off a band aid. He was hoping to get through the pain as quickly as possible.
“I’m aware of the losses we took. I’m aware they hit us pretty hard. I didn’t have you fly out here to tell me what I already know. I want to know how we beat them and take North Carolina?” The Senator asked calmly before taking another sip of the wonderfully smooth amber colored liquor.
“Without more intelligence on the state of the military in North Carolina I’m flying blind. Roberts had a network of spies, but he didn’t share that information with me. With more intel I may be able to come up with an effective strategy to take North Carolina. I don’t want to just sit here and toss out ideas based on guesses though sir.” Krantz said. He was starting to sweat. He just hoped his nervousness wasn’t visible.
“This cabin is part of a network a few of us like minded individuals in the government had built. We all knew at some point with the overcrowding and the general lack of hygiene in some parts of the world that a pandemic of some sort would erupt and take most of humanity down with it. This place has three levels with the one we’re on now being the living quarters. The other two are stocked with weapons and supplies. If I wanted to, I could seal off the cabin and live here surrounded by a loyal group of men and women for the next twenty years.” The Senator said sweeping his hands around to show the luxury of the place.
“Yes sir.” Krantz said after a short period of awkward silence. He felt like he should say something to acknowledge what the Senator had said. That seemed to do the trick as the Senator kept talking.
“Locking myself away from the world isn’t an option for me. Those of us in power have a responsibility to rebuild this world the right way. The south eastern part of this country is my responsibility to get back up and running. I will get that done. We didn’t infect ninety nine percent of the world’s population with a mutating Zombie virus just so some rednecks in North Carolina could rise up and make the same damned mistakes that got us into this situation in the first place. This is about building a better world. This is about doing it right this time. We have a small window of time before the leadership in these areas brings us to a stop. This virus will eventually burn itself out. Inertia’s our enemy. Momentum is our greatest ally. I want us moving forward again and I want it soon. Are you the right man for the job?” The Senator was exuding a lunatic passion at this point.
“Absolutely sir. I’ll start digging into the humint network Roberts had setup and I’ll get my own setup as well. We can start moving people in to sabotage what they have up north. We can make it happen.” Krantz said. His mind was starting to churn with ideas on what they could do. He knew it was either get it done or get dead. A few of the things the Senator had just said in that rambling speech had Krantz wanting to ask all kinds of questions. He intuited going down that path may end up with him buried in the woods out back though so kept his mouth shut.
“Excellent. That’s what I was hoping you’d say. I just hope you do a better job at this than you did at capturing my sister’s murderers.” The Senator said as he pressed a button on his desk and announced coldly that Field Commander Krantz was dismissed. Krantz stood up and followed the assistant out of the room. He was tossing around the new title in his head and thinking it sounded a little grandiose. Right as he was about to shut the door the Senator had one more thing to say to him.
“Next time you come here make sure to dress appropriately. It shows respect. Shut the door and get me a status report on our progress by early next week. Sam will provide you with what we have on humint. That is all.”
Krantz shut the door softly and followed the attractive assistant out into the waiting area. She told him to have a seat while she took care of some things. Krantz sat down. He could still taste the whiskey in his mouth. His teeth were watering at the taste. He was lost in a daydream of wrapping his lips around the end of a bottle of the tasty brown liquor when the assistant came back in and gave him a manila folder filled with type written paper. He opened the folder and scanned the first few pages.
The printouts had names and locations for dead drops listed on them. It was a list of the people in the spy network Roberts must have had working for him. Beside each name was a corresponding list of the names of different cities and towns with numbers beside them. The assistant saw him staring and asked if he had any questions.
“I do. The Senator told me to reach out to Sam to review the information?” Krantz said questioningly. He was hoping this Sam guy would be able to hook him up with how to read these printouts.
“I’m Sam.” The assistant said.
“Samantha?” Krantz asked.
“Nope. Call me Sam. Everybody else does. I do a little bit more around here than bring the Senator and his guests coffee.” She said.
“I was wondering about that. FBI?” Krantz asked. She had that aura around her. He’d noticed it right away but thought maybe she was an attaché or something like that.
“CIA.” Sam said simply.
She was a spook. That explained it. Somehow Krantz doubted her resume would list a lot of administrative work. She seemed like the type that’d either be out in the field or directly supervising the ones out in the field. It explained why she’d be so close to the Senator.
“Do you fetch the coffee for all his visitors?” Krantz asked following a hunch.
“Just the ones he wants a second opinion on.”
“You got anything on me yet?” He asked. Sam paused for a second to organize her thoughts and consider what she should say.
“Yes. You’re an alcoholic who doesn’t understand the position of power he’s ended up in. You’re smart and you have some decent leadership skills but I’m not sure you’re up to the task of leading our military forces to victory.” She said.
“Well that�
�s pretty harsh.” Krantz said smiling. “Fair but harsh. Now can you help me decipher what all these codes mean? Do I need a decoder ring?”
Sam walked him down the hall to her office. It was just as richly appointed as the one the Senator was using. She explained the dead drop system she’d helped Roberts come up with for getting information out of the different regions without blowing the cover of the spies they had working up there. Corresponding to each spy they had a list of the family members they were holding to ensure that spies loyalty. Feeling a little dirty just reading that part Krantz skimmed it and asked Sam when the last time the dead drops were checked was.
The drops were checked about once a month. The information was transferred back to them manually for the most part. Some of the drops ended up at outposts that relayed the information to them via fax if they had a hard line wired back to them. Once Krantz thought he had a grasp on how the spy network was pieced together he asked what intel they’d been able to gather so far.
“About time you asked an interesting question.” Sam said smiling for the first time. “We have all kinds of data points we’ve collected. The main thing we’re learning is that the settlements up there are slowly being moved closer to the coast so that people can be loaded onto ships as needed. They have an aircraft carrier they’re retrofitting as a floating colony ship. I’m assuming they used the carrier to attack all the bases we have along the coast. It would also explain why Tennessee got off pretty easy. They’re organized and have high moral. They have stockpiles of goods like we do but they aren’t as protected as ours are. I can provide you with the number of aircraft they have and estimates of troop numbers. They move around a lot so no real target for us to aim at unless you think we should try and take on an aircraft carrier. They also have a command center on an island powered by a nuclear sub.”
Zombies! (Book 6): Hold The Line Page 24