No. I'm a survivor first.
The word sounded harsh, like metal on a grindstone. But better to be harsh than dead. So many others had given up, succumbed to the plague, or were caught by the zombies. Others were captured by their own government and used as guinea pigs. The man in the room with them was part of that government, no matter how well-meaning he might be.
He didn't need to ask his dad. He already knew what he'd say.
Trust no one from the Federal Family.
Easy enough. But where do you go from there?
Victoria looked at him, patiently waiting for him to make up his mind. In turn, he focused on her emerald greens. He hardly noticed the bruises and blemishes around them. Did she know what he was thinking now? Liam knew she did. He saw an almost imperceptible head shake.
Things were only going to get more complicated. It was no longer possible to offload the problems of being a kid onto the adults in the room. The new world had no respect for age, and it mercilessly penalized stupid people of all ages. Liam resolved not to be stupid.
He looked to make sure no one could overhear them. “We can't stay here with these people. If these Marines know we're here, it won't be long before Hayes knows. He may decide to decimate the valley simply because he can. We can't be responsible for that...” His thought trailed off as he looked out at the camp he'd begun to consider his new home. His parents were here somewhere, too. He suddenly had a deep resentment for Hayes, the government, the military—and whoever started this zombie plague. It was an inconvenience of the highest order.
He inwardly chuckled at the lunacy.
Victoria picked up where he left off. “OK, so we need a plan. We need to walk out of this camp where no one will find us. Do you and I run off? I was joking before, but this seems like the time to try it. We need to regroup and figure out how to find Grandma.”
Can we do it without the Marines?
Liam honestly couldn't answer that. He couldn't trust them. But could he use them just as readily as they would use him? He looked over at the LtCol, now engaged in quiet conversation with members of the Boy Scout council.
Liam knew what had to be done, though he didn't have a clue how to make it happen. “How can we get out of this room, get out of this camp without being seen, and have enough gear to survive?”
It was somewhat rhetorical, but Victoria answered him. “Getting out of this room is easy. We just tell them we need to collect our gear. Then we head back to our tent, grab some supplies, and disappear.”
“Just like that?” Liam knew there was nothing “just like that,” anymore.
“We'll, I admit there are bound to be some kinks. Let's hear your plan, Mr. Smarty.”
They both shared a conspiratorial giggle, a little louder than intended. It caught the attention of the LtCol.
“Have you two thought of anything that may help my search? I really need to be moving on.”
The council members became visibly agitated. “Moving on? We thought you were here to protect us.”
Soon the LtCol was overwhelmed with questions.
He tolerated none of it. “Listen! I'll only say this once. We are U.S. Marines. Not your personal security guards. We're here on a mission to save humanity. We need to be Charlie Mike as soon as possible. We're leaving.”
Their mission is my mission: saving people.
And then the way forward presented itself.
He was going to help the Marine Corps after all.
5
The chaos in the room grew as more people came from downstairs. The guards on the stairs either heard the LtCol say he wasn't staying, or other Marines on the lower floor had spread the message they weren't sticking around. However it happened, the result was madness.
Liam briefly considered trying to sneak out right then and there, but knew that was stupid. Better to play it safe.
They returned to the main discussion.
“Colonel, I think I have a way to help you find Hayes and my Grandma but you have to take us along. Victoria and I are going to grab our gear and go with you in your vehicle, if that's all right?”
The LtCol appeared distracted by the raised voices in the room, but he had the sense to detach one of his Marines—a burly-looking man with several stripes on his arm.
“Jax, keep an eye on our young friends and make sure they aren't harmed as they gather their gear.”
With that, he redirected his attention to the council. The message was clear. Get lost. But not too lost.
Victoria gave him a troubled look as they walked out of the room. The trio moved down the stairs and out into the tent city. Word was spreading almost before their eyes.
Cries of “The Marines are leaving!,” “They aren't here to help us!,” and “Make them stay!” permeated the desperate campers.
He walked hand-in-hand with Victoria, hands clasped very tightly as the energy built around them. Jax, who wore the name Jackson on his uniform, seemed unconcerned with all the fuss, but he had deftly moved his weapon from his back to a place under his left arm. Not openly hostile, but easily accessible.
Why'd we get the bad-ass professional?
Closer to their own tent, Liam checked the distance between them and their overseer and decided to share his plan in a quiet voice. “I'm going to get in our tent first. Then you tell him,” he nudged his head backward to Jax, “that you want to join me in the tent before we leave.” I'll take it from there.
Victoria nodded.
Several people watched Liam and his two friends walk into their section of the camp. Some nodded. Some were openly hostile to the Marine. Apparently word had spread well ahead of them that the Marines were abandoning them. Many probably didn't know the Marines had even arrived.
Liam didn't wait for an invitation from Jax to go into his tent. He just whipped open the zipper and plunged in.
He got right to work with his pocketknife on the back nylon wall; he ripped it partially open so he and Victoria could sneak out the back and get a head start on a run. He knew they would be seen eventually, but the woods were thick not far from their tent—so they'd have a chance to lose any pursuit. No way Jax would shoot them.
Liam reflexively gulped.
No time for doubts. Victoria said her part and climbed in. She zipped the front zipper, then saw what he'd done to the back panel. The course of action became obvious at that point.
Liam whispered, “Follow me out the back and run like hell. We're going for the MRAP over the hill.”
Victoria nodded.
Liam cut the last little bit of fabric off the back of the tent and it fell to the ground, giving him a perfect view of the woods.
Unfortunately, the view was blocked by the imposing presence of Jax. “Do you kids think I was born yesterday? I know five-year-olds with better plans than you.”
He had his weapon out, but pointed at the ground. “Get your stuff and let's go.”
Liam smiled innocently as he retreated back into the tent. “Well, that didn't go as planned.”
“You tried, Liam. Now it's my turn.”
She partially unzipped the front zipper, turned around at him with a big grin and a wink. She did something that quite literally shocked him. She screamed at the top of her lungs, finished opening the zipper, and spilled out the front.
Liam was left in stunned silence. He turned around and looked through the rough cut of the rear of the tent and saw Jax as he moved toward the front again. He looked all business.
“That soldier tried to pull off my shirt!” Victoria screamed while forcing herself to sob.
Oh, shit.
Liam came out of the tent to see a dozen armed men and women running up from the scores of tents in earshot. None looked too happy to have to deal with a Marine, though the screams of the girl could not be ignored.
Jax came around the tent with his weapon drawn.
“STAND DOWN” he yelled in his most commanding voice.
The arriving civilians stopped in their place
, but not for long. More followed.
“I SAID STAND DOWN!”
Fewer people were affected.
The plan worked too well. Liam worried someone might get hurt. He stood up next to Victoria as if to comfort her. He made an exaggerated effort to speak so everyone could hear him. “Victoria, would you like me to talk to this Marine to get his side of the story?”
The crowd of men and women were twenty feet away, but spreading around him. He had to know his chances of surviving the flash mob was dwindling.
“Yes, please speak to him!”
Victoria was acting scared, but Liam thought he could detect real fear in her eyes.
“Everyone, give me a minute to talk to him. Please.”
No one seemed overly anxious to escalate beyond coming to a rescue.
Liam moved over to Jax, and directed him to the rear of the tent. He spoke quietly. “Do you have a pencil?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“A pencil? You know, to write with? I want to get you out of this alive. Victoria and I only want to be left alone, but if you give me a pencil, I'll write down how to find my grandma. That should soften your return to your unit.”
He didn't look happy, but he pulled out a stub of a pencil and a scrap of paper. Liam noticed it had some words printed on the side, in tiny gold script. It said, “Trust in God.”
He looked at it for a long moment, then wrote something. “You were right. My plan was as sophisticated as a five-year-old's. Hers...” He made a swooshing sound with his mouth.
He handed the paper and pencil back.
“That's the phone number to my cell phone. Currently my grandma has it wherever she is. Maybe you guys can do some fancy tracking on it or something. You have a better chance of finding her with it than I do and I have to believe you are less hostile to her than Hayes.”
Jax seemed to consider this new information. “Then why are you running away?”
He had a point. Maybe going with the Marines would be the fastest way.
Trust no one.
His dad's maxim on life.
He looked into Jax's eyes and felt himself wanting to believe this man, this U.S. Marine, was honorable.
“The government took my grandma. The government shot my girlfriend. The government bombed my house into scrap. I wish I could trust you and the colonel. I really do. But I have to go my own way, away from any agent of that government.”
With that, Liam spun around before he could be talked out of anything. The desire to trust the Marines was overwhelming.
He spoke to the crowd.
“I think there's been a slight misunderstanding. Victoria and I were merely wanting to go our own way, and this Marine accidentally tried to stop us. Would you good people make sure he gets back to his unit at the council's HQ? It's very important he not be harmed. Scout's Honor.”
Liam thought about whether he could really make this request of these people, but he was surprised to see several step up as if to provide escort.
For his part, Jax played along. He made no effort to talk the crowd down or reason with them. He simply fell in with them and led them back through the tents. No final words to Liam. No threats. Just business-like in his demeanor. He'd come to appreciate that in the real world there were seldom big speeches.
Once they were sure he was gone, they ran into the woods like cross country stars.
Chapter 7: Trajectories
“We have to find Mr. Lee. I just hope he's up in his watchtower where we left him.”
Victoria struggled to keep up with Liam as they ascended the steep wooded path. As she arrived, he asked, “You OK?”
“Yeah, just worn out. First running after you, then the excitement of the Marines, now more running. I think I'm exhausted because lying down in those bushes and calling it a day seems like a really good idea right now.”
She nodded and he followed her gaze.
“Well, you don't want to lay in those bushes. That's a tangle of poison ivy. My Boy Scout plant identification badge is still paying dividends.”
Victoria scrunched her face in a “thanks Mr. Know-it-all” gesture, but they both laughed.
They resumed the trek the rest of the way up the hill and arrived at the watchtower they had left earlier in the day. It was a bustle of young Scouts running to and fro. Some worked on the fence. Others ran off into the woods. It was part of the communication system Mr. Lee had rigged up to talk to other checkpoints and keep the perimeter free of zombies and other intruders.
Liam saw Mr. Lee on the lowest level. He waved at them, though he looked very busy.
She grabbed his arm. “Wait, Liam. We have to discuss what we're going to do next. We need a plan so we don't look like a couple of kids just running away from our problems.”
“That sounds like an after-school special.” He was smiling, but she wasn't.
“OK, I guess now isn't the time for humor. I think we should all get in the MRAP and go follow the Marines and see where they go. I gave them Grandma's phone number and I bet they have access to the cellular network and can get a message to her so they can find out where she's being held.”
“What if she doesn't have the phone anymore? What if it was taken from her?”
Liam felt his face turn serious. “She still has it. I have to believe she does.”
“What about your parents? Are we going to leave them in the camp?”
Liam could feel his stomach turn over. “I should have tried to get them out. I didn't even think of it.”
“Do you want to go back?”
Liam took a long minute to think. “We can't. We'd never make it back under the nose of the Marines, and even if we did somehow manage to get dad out, his leg is busted. He would have to stay in the truck the whole time. My mom has to stay with him too. They'll be fine in camp, for now.”
Victoria nodded.
“So the next question is, who do we get to go with us? You and I can't drive that thing on our own. We really need Melissa.”
Liam looked around, but didn't see Mel. “Yeah, and having Mr. Lee, Phil and Bo along wouldn't hurt either. We could assemble our A-team again.”
Privately, Liam worried he had asked too much of his new friends already. Going out on another excursion for “the young kid”—with a low probability of success to boot—was asking a lot. Especially when they were somewhere relatively safe already. Victoria was right. They had to come to this with a coherent plan.
My plan sounds childish; save my grandma.
Liam turned the pages of his mind, searching through the books he'd read about zombies to try to arrive at his own solution, but he had to admit most scenarios like this started with noble intentions and ended in death for at least some of the noble warriors. Asking people to risk their lives for him was not the trivial request he thought it was just a few short minutes ago. It made going off on their own seem more palatable, even if it meant it would be much more difficult. Still, he wanted to give it an honest shot to enlist the others.
With suitable embarrassment, he managed to ask her how she would present his plan so it didn't sound juvenile.
“I think the answer is Hayes,” Victoria was deliberate in her response, “and his seeming inability to just leave you alone. We already know he has Grandma, so getting help to rescue her can't be ignored. But the bigger picture is the protection of this camp. We have a reasonable expectation that if Hayes knows we're here, he could attack the camp just like he did for your house and street. By leaving to rescue Grandma and stop Hayes, we are protecting the camp from further harm.”
Victoria snapped her fingers as if surprised. “That's it! We aren't going to rescue Grandma 'just because.' We're going to stop this once and for all so both the camp and Grandma can be safe. That sounds reasonable, doesn't it?”
“Actually, that sounds very reasonable.”
Except for the part where two kids take on a secretive military-biological Army unit.
They approach
ed the Endor watchtower hand in hand.
2
“Guys, I wish I could go with you, but this camp needs me here. The Marines have really stirred things up in our happy valley. I think people saw their arrival as the end of their time out in the wilderness—the sheepdogs were back to protect them. But as word got out the Marines were just visiting, they...well they didn't take the news too good.”
“We saw that coming up.” Liam left out the part where they escaped from their Marine overseer.
“We also saw firsthand what the Marines are looking for. Rather, who they're looking for. You won't be surprised to know they're looking for Hayes, same as me—us.”
“That figures. How did they end up looking for him here?”
Liam looked at Victoria. She shrugged her shoulders in the universal “I have no idea” answer.
“He didn't say precisely, other than to tell us he got really lucky. Hayes put my name in a database, and he followed the bombs. That's how he put it.”
“Hmm, sounds like we could be in real danger now that the Marines know you're here. Hayes knows, too. You can take that to the bank.”
Victoria gave Liam a knowing look.
After a thoughtful pause, Mr. Lee continued, “I still can't come with you. As head of security, this is when the camp needs me the most. As you can see, my runners are working hard to keep our ring of security positions in contact. Liam, people are trying to leave already. What's that saying? Rumors have traveled to the next county before truth has laced up its shoes.”
He must have understood the dejected looks on their faces, so he continued. “I do think Melissa and Phil will be back soon. They're doing some running for me, too. I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to go out and explore again. I don't think they like what I've got them doing.” He laughed, but had a distant look in his eyes. “If only we had some more radios.”
Mr. Lee excused himself so he could get back to managing his runners.
Victoria pulled Liam away and they sat up against a nearby tree while they waited.
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