by Howard, Bob
“He would never have forgiven himself for losing the few that didn’t make it,” she added.
******
It took a week to make all of the arrangements, but there was a lot to do. After the loss of our good friend everyone gave the Chief his space except Iris, and when he came out to us it was with a whole new plan.
While we waited for the Chief to take the time he needed, Kathy and I talked about what needed to be done. Fort Sumter wasn’t habitable. We didn’t know how long the agent would be active, but we learned enough about it from Denise Corrigan to know that we couldn’t test it. Well, maybe we could if we wanted to push a few of the infected inside and see if they came back out. Human test trials weren’t really our thing, though, and we agreed in the Chief’s absence to seal the shelter. It was a shame to lose the shelter and the supplies, but we still had Mud Island, Guntersville, Ambassadors Island, and even Columbus if we needed to ship in supplies.
We decided to take all of the civilians to Guntersville because the shelter was bigger and safer. There was also the functional community living in the village above the shelter, and we could continue to support them if needed. The helicopters had already carried most of them there by the time the Chief returned to us. Jed and Mattie had left on the first flight. He said he wanted to stay in the south, but he heard good things about Guntersville. You could go back into the woods because the terrain was a bit harder for the infected to navigate, but he really liked the idea about mild winters that still got cold enough to keep the spider population down. He was interested in hearing more about Sim’s friends living across the border in Canada, but he figured they could try Guntersville first.
Lt. Harrelson was next in line for command, and she had the respect of the soldiers because they knew Captain Miller had respected her. The other officers agreed that it wasn’t usual for an officer to promote themselves, but they believed she should assume the rank of Captain for the sake of continuity. They all supported a decision for them to maintain a small base at Mud Island where they could resupply when needed, but there was a new threat to the area because of the population explosion of the spiders, and it would take time for the population to balance itself the way the rats did. In the meantime, the Army decided to patrol the lowcountry by air to ensure no one else stumbled into those massive webs. Not to mention the thousands of infected that were added to the area.
We had no intention of going to the Yorktown for the supply of the agent they had produced. According to Denise Corrigan, they had enough of it made that we could probably use it to destroy the horde of infected and the horde of spiders. Besides the obvious risk of going to the Yorktown, we weren’t willing to risk the possibility of collateral damage caused by the agent. It wasn’t safe to handle, and it never would be because she didn’t know how long it would remain active even out in the open.
We did, however, bring to an end the source of the ringing in our ears. It had already done its damage by killing so many innocent people whose only mistake was to be in the wrong place when the thing was turned on. A Navy helicopter delivered one of our missiles into the big dish at the top of the bridge and silenced it forever.
So, the Army had a new plan. Our old plan was to fight back and to regain what had been taken from us, but we had lost too much in this battle, and we had made too little progress. The Army’s new plan was to keep people out of the lowcountry, sort of like Russia’s old plan for Chernobyl, but at least Russia knew what was there. If we all abandoned Charleston and someone else tried to reclaim it, they would fall prey to things they didn’t expect. We hoped it would work out for the Army because we all felt responsible for what we were leaving behind. Charleston was under quarantine and would be for years.
Our new plan was the Chief’s idea, but we were all in favor because we still wanted to fight back. We just had to know more about what was out there, and that had been our biggest mistake. We had gotten too comfortable in one place with a big threat in our own back yard. Now we were going to go out and find what was out there, who was out there, and what was being done to stop the infected from killing the rest of civilization.
After the Army was situated at Mud Island with a small force in Guntersville, we finished our preparations. Jean and I felt like bad parents already, so after some convincing by the Chief and Kathy, we agreed to stay behind. Actually, they ganged up on us, and they could lay a pretty good guilt trip on us when they wanted to. Besides, once word got around that we would be staying in Guntersville, I was elected mayor before the rest of the gang could even leave.
Winter was spent in the shelter at Guntersville while preparations were made. At the beginning of Spring as the last of the snow disappeared at the edge of the Appalachian Mountains, the official First Mud Island Expeditionary Force was ready to depart. Lined up on the road in front of the village above the shelter were four, specially equipped and modified Polaris RZR XP 4 Turbocharged all terrain vehicles. Needless to say the stock models didn’t come with the additional armor or weapons.
The Chief circled the vehicles with me and Jean and rattled off a list of their capabilities. Each one was originally a four-seater with the backseats removed for cargo and extra fuel. He proudly announced that they were all wheel or two wheel drive with one hundred and sixty-eight horsepower. At a few inches longer than five feet, they could go places cars couldn’t go easier and faster, and with the added safety features they could maneuver out of tight spots. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought the Chief was stalling because it was hard to say goodbye. When we got to the driver side of his vehicle, Iris was waiting patiently with an understanding expression.
We finally got the Chief into a seat that fit him remarkably well for his size, and I reached past him to start the engine. He thought I was coming in for a hug and caught me off guard with one of his own. He wouldn’t let me see that his eyes were wet.
As the engines roared to life, and the tires crunched on the dirt road, we watched our friends roll by. Kathy and Tom were in the second RZR, and Jean yelled that Molly was in good hands. Cassandra and Sim were in the next one, and even though it wasn’t warm enough to really appreciate it, he thanked us for the Carolina iced tea we had made just for him. Hampton and Colleen drove past in their RZR, and Colleen yelled something about Hampton being into speed dating.
“What did she mean by that?” asked Jean.
“They met while fighting a big horde. To hear Colleen tell it, Hampton wanted to say something to make an impression, and it came out as a pick up line. I guess you can ask her the next time we see them.”