[HGB] Humanity Gone Bad: The Dead Chronicles

by Watkins, Charles

  “If we can destroy the barricade that those assholes have created somehow and let those things loose into their command station it will help take the heat off of us.” I stated in deep thought.

  “Yeah—but it will also put us in great danger…we don’t have much of a choice though.” Beau answered as he scratched the side of his face.

  “Hugo—have you been able to catch any of their conversations?” I asked as I glanced at Jennifer, Sheila and Chloe briefly.

  “Yes—they are talking about being on high alert, they know about the homing beacons being destroyed in our vehicles.” Hugo answered after a few seconds had passed.

  “Damn…then there’s already a good chance that they know we’re here—I say that we attack them head on and destroy them before they can call for help.” I answered after some deep thought on the issue.

  “I’m with Chaz on that one; hit them hard and fast before they have the chance to sniff us out here.” Amy stated in an eager tone as she gripped her weapons tightly.

  “Alright—let’s do this; everyone needs to be ready for the fight of their lives because that’s what this is going to be.” Hugo answered on the other end.

  “Baby—you get inside on the .50 caliber machine gun—that thing is powerful and it will help us destroy them quickly…anyone else who has grenade launchers or RPG’s get ready for bombardment.” I instructed as I got down low pointing my M16 at the nearest cluster of enemy marauders.

  Everyone prepared and Jennifer got into our Mustang and pulled the steel plating down over the passenger side area near the machine gun and I gave the signal and she opened fire—the first group of marauders were cut to pieces by the powerful bullets and the others nearby were caught completely by surprise as they ran for cover; Richard fired his RPG launcher and the rocket flew into an area where we had seen a large group of the enemy forces flee to and it exploded violently sending bodies flying through the air as the force of the explosion caused the nearby small building to collapse in on itself. I spotted one of the marauders who looked like they were a commander running for cover across from the plaza and I opened fire gunning him down as his blood splattered across the nearby wooden barricade that the other enemy forces nearby had created and were hiding behind—I jumped into the driver’s seat of our Mustang as Sheila and Chloe done the same along with our kids and I sped forward into the plaza with Jennifer still firing away with the mounted machine gun; I could hear the enemy bullets hitting and ricocheting off the armor plating of our car as we went and I glanced back and seen that the others of our group were advancing as well and within the next several minutes the entire enemy command station had been purged of them. I led the way into the room of a building that we had cleared out last that looked like it had been a command area as the bodies of the slain marauders around us looked like they were of high ranking officers—I walked over to the nearby table where there was a large, bulky radio set up and we could all hear a male voice asking for a status update; by his tone it sounded like he was getting quite frustrated.

  “That voice…” Beau stated as he hobbled forward with Evangeline’s help.

  “Bowman…you’ll be disappointed to know that your forces here weren’t much challenge to us.” I stated as I picked up the receiver and spoke into it.

  “Ah…I knew that it was only a matter of time before you fools got there and destroyed the marauder forces stationed there—my plan was a complete success.” The voice on the other end answered with a gleeful tone.

  “Let me get this straight…you set them up to die here?” Beau shouted as he hobbled up beside of me.

  “That’s right, Beau Lewis—I used them for my purposes the same way I use any other common tool.” The voice answered in a mocking tone.

  “How the fuck do you know my name?” Beau answered in spitting rage.

  “I remember you well, little man—you’re that idiot who came strolling out onto your lawn nearly twelve years ago…I told you then that the day of reckoning was coming and you didn’t believe me.” The voice answered callously.

  “Listen up, asshole because I’m only going to say this to you once—we’re coming for you and you’re going to fucking pay for what you have done to the ones we love as well as the rest of humanity!” I stated as I stole the receiver from Beau.

  “I certainly look forward to seeing your feeble attempts to exact retribution onto me fail, if you think that you can stop me then feel free to come to my stronghold here in the Carpathians—I will be eagerly looking forward to staring down into each one of your group members’ beady little eyes as I crush their skulls with my bare hands!” The voice answered in a growing tone before the signal shorted out.

  “We’ve lost the signal…he said the Carpathians…that would mean the Carpathian Mountains—most likely in Romania or western Ukraine.” I stated in deep thought as I stared off into space.

  “That’s in Eastern Europe…damn…we’ve got one hell of a trip ahead of us.” Richard stated as he glanced around at the others.

  “Looks like our next destination is set…now all we have to do is find a way across the Atlantic Ocean so we can make our way to that area.” Beau stated as he hobbled toward the doorway to the room we were in.

  “Chaz, guys—I found a means of traveling across the ocean.” Hugo answered on the other end of the CB.

  “What did you find?” I asked as we all gathered outside in the plaza that was littered with the corpses of the dead marauders.

  “It’s a large ferry boat that should hold all of our vehicles—I checked the fuel reserves and they’re almost completely full.” Hugo answered on the other end with an excited tone.

  “Sounds interesting, where is this ferry boat located exactly?” I asked as I wrapped my left arm around Jennifer as Sheila and Chloe wrapped theirs tightly around me.

  “It’s down by the waterfront, docked in the harbor just about directly south of the plaza where you guys are now.” Hugo answered.

  I got into our Mustang and the others did their vehicles and I led the way in that direction and within several more minutes we arrived near the ramp to the back of the ferry boat that was still connected and open, there were several wrecked vehicles that were blocking the way onto the ferry itself but with a little bit of work we would be able to clear them off and get the ferry boat ready for the trip across the ocean; Hugo met up with us and then we started to work to clear off the ferry boat and by the time the sun rose the next morning the ferry was clear and free of wreckage and I led the way onto the boat with our Mustang. After we got all of our vehicles onto the ferry boat, we checked the ruins of the nearby enemy command station and we found enough food and fuel supplies to get us across the Atlantic and we loaded them aboard using forklifts that they had used. It looked like the marauder forces had already prepared the ferry for their own use and luckily the boat was free of any enemy survivors.

  “We better get going—the sounds of those undead are getting louder, those blockades won’t hold for much longer.” I stated as I glanced back toward the section of the city that the enemy had blocked off.

  Within minutes after that Beau and the other Covenant One members went to the bridge and started the engines of the ferry taking us out into the open ocean and looking back I watched as the landmass of the North American continent disappeared slowly, everyone settled into the cabin areas of the ferry for what was no doubt going to be a very long ride across the Atlantic; I chose a section of the second level above the vehicles where it looked like the captain of the vessel had worked—we set up a bed and sleeping area for Remy, Mace and Ember as well as Xavier and Darc Aiden who were both steadily growing. The movement of the ferry beneath us was often enough to put you to sleep and I would spend hours sitting out on the balcony watching the waves of the seemingly endless ocean before me—it felt good not to have to worry about zombies and other mutations coming after us but I knew that as s
oon as we landed in Europe that we’d be faced with constant attacks from not only the legions of undead but also the forces of Bowman; I had to put it out of my mind as I knew that for the time being we were safe. Weeks passed into months and soon the Summer had come and went and autumn was swinging into full effect as we woke one morning to a thick fog that was covering the ocean around us—I got up kissing Jennifer, Sheila and Chloe as I went and I went into the nearby restroom where I took out the straight razor that I had recently found and sterilized and I started shaving the thick beard off of my face that I had grown in the past month; after I had returned to having my normal goatee I headed for the bridge to check up on the situation. When I got there I met up with the Covenant One members who were inside of the bridge monitoring and controlling the various devices on the panels, I turned to Beau who was at the helm.

  “Morning Chaz, how are you guys doing?” He asked smiling.

  “We’re doing well—just getting a little anxious for this berg to get us to the shores of Europe.” I answered with a chuckle.

  “I hear that—according to the GPS we’re about 268 miles south of Iceland.” Hugo stated as he sipped on a cup of coffee that was steaming.

  “Damn…I know that we’ve been at sea now for the better part of three and a half months and winter is coming on again; I’m just glad that we’re not still stuck back in the States or in Canada somewhere.” I answered casually.

  “If all goes well, we’ll be arriving in Amsterdam within another four or five weeks.” Beau stated as he glanced at the nearby compass.

  “How’s the fuel level?” I asked as I glanced at him.

  “We’ve got plenty of fuel—my only concern is what this weather radar over here on this panel was showing earlier.” Beau answered as he motioned to the nearby panel where there was a computer screen with a detailed weather radar.

  I walked over to it and looked it over for a few seconds and seen what it was that he was talking about—there was a massive arctic front headed our direction and from what the radar was showing it looked like it was full of severe weather and very high winds; I turned back to Beau with a concerned expression on my face.

  “What are the chances of this affecting our current course?” I asked turning to face Hugo and the others.

  “High…we’ll just have to wait and see how bad it gets before we’ll know just how much it could affect us.” Amy answered as she and Desiree monitored the nearby instruments.

  I nodded and left the bridge heading back to where Jennifer, Sheila and Chloe were waiting and when I arrived I seen that they had went out onto the balcony and were sitting in the open letting the wind blow through their hair.

  I sat down next to Jennifer and Sheila as they breastfed Xavier and Darc Aiden and I took Chloe’s hand as she snuggled close to me.

  “What did they say about all of this fog?” Sheila asked in a concerned tone.

  “There’s an arctic front moving southeast that will probably cause issues for us concerning our route—I just hope that we don’t get blown off course too bad; right now we’re a little under 300 miles south of Iceland.” I answered as I kissed the three of them.

  “Where are we planning on landing?” Chloe asked as she ran her fingers through my hair.

  “Hopefully in Amsterdam…but if this storm gets really bad we might get blown off course—if that happens then there’s a chance that we could wind up somewhere along the coast of Norway.” I answered in deep thought.

  “It’s hard to imagine that all of this shit started back in Oklahoma City as well as Wilkes-Barre…especially now since it’s all over the world.” Jennifer stated as she burped Xavier and put him down to bed in the room behind us.

  “Yeah, I know…Bowman’s mutagenic toxin became a global pandemic in just a few months and now it has reduced the world to a barren ruin—we’ve got to stop him at all costs.” I answered with a troubled look as I thought back on the things that the person on the other end of the radio had said.

  I knew that it had been Bowman—where he had been transmitting from I still couldn’t figure out, I knew that there was no way in hell that the equipment at that command station could have picked up a long range radio signal all the way from Romania; something told me that he had been close that day and if we had known where to look then we might not even be here halfway across the ocean now. I had to put those thoughts out of my mind because I knew that they wouldn’t do us any good now—if Bowman had been around that area that day then it was too late to go back and look for him there now, the asshole had more or less dared us to come to his hideout in the Carpathian Mountains of Eastern Europe and that was exactly where we were going to go. We spent the rest of that day and into the night relaxing and enjoying each other’s company and that was when the waves beneath the ferry boat started to become a lot rougher, the winds picked up and rain started to pour down out of the black sky—lightening flashed almost constantly and we were all forced to gather our things and go out to the main lounge where the rest of the group were except for the Covenant One members who were still on the bridge above.

  “What the hell is this—some kind of storm or something?” Billy shouted as he and Kayla clung to a nearby support beam for dear life as the swells beneath us started to get higher.

  “It’s a storm—we’re just going to have to try and stay calm so we can ride it out!” I answered as I had to cup my hands to my mouth and shout to be heard.

  Everyone around us found various places where they could hold onto something in case the swells beneath us capsized the ferry and we all waited, it seemed like we were there waiting for the longest time before the waves around us died down enough for our worries of being capsized to end; it was starting to get light in the east as the rain continued to pummel the outside of the windows and we continued riding out the storm on into the afternoon of that day until it finally calmed down and we were able to collect our wits. I went to the bridge to find out how we were doing and when I got there I saw that Beau and the others were working to clean up the interior of the bridge as the floor was covered with sea water and Beau looked up at me and motioned me over to the GPS.

  “We were seriously blown off course just like I figured we would be—we’re now headed straight for land and we should hit a place called Trondheim within the next six to eight hours.” Beau reported as he showed me the device.

  “We passed by the Faeroe Islands sometime during the storm and it looks like we hit something…we’re leaking fuel.” Desiree reported as she turned to Hugo.

  “Damn it…how bad is the leak?” Hugo asked as he turned and walked over to the panel she was at.

  “It’s not too bad—it’s well above the waterline, but we will eventually run dry on our fuel supply and then we’ll be dead in the water…we have roughly six hours tops.” She answered with a grim expression.

  “We loaded fuel supplies onboard before we left—use them and that should buy us enough time to get this thing to Trondheim.” I instructed as everyone turned to look at me.

  “We’ll give it a shot.” Beau answered as Hugo took the helm momentarily.

  He followed me down to the lounge where the rest of the group was and we explained the situation to them and then Billy, Richard and my dad offered to help with the fuel supplies; once the auxiliary fuel was poured into the tanks we settled in and waited as the Autumn day waned and soon it was almost completely dark—Beau turned on the bright forward lights lighting the way ahead as we arrived at the first fjord. The tall jagged mountains of the islands around us made us weary of the possibility of running aground but the lights helped and by midnight we had arrived in the harbor of Trondheim, it took us several minutes to get our gear together and get the vehicles unloaded to where they were ready to move but we finally did and I led the way through the dark, deserted streets of the town not caring to hang around for long for fear of what could be lurking in the dark la
ndscape of this unfamiliar place; I stopped near what looked like a ruined sign and found scattered pamphlets and other material on the ground and I reached down and collected what I recognized as a map and we continued on through the narrow, twisting roads that took us through majestic, mountain valleys and fjords as we headed south. Jennifer had some trouble reading the information on the map as it was written in Norwegian but we managed to make it to a town called Otta and by that time it was nearly morning as the gloom of the night was starting to fade into morning as the sun was rising over the eastern mountains. The town looked like it was in the same state as places were back in the States and wrecked vehicles were here and there as well as wrecked and overturned wooden carts that looked like they had belonged to local farmers back in the day, we were leaving the main part of the town heading along a forest road when a naked man sudden ran across the road in front of us causing me to slam on the brakes as a female zombie that was also naked chased after him.

  “What the fuck is this shit?” Billy asked over the CB.

  I quickly put our Mustang into park and stepped outside pointing my magnum at the female zombie and fired—the powerful bullet entered its head and exited out the front blowing a massive cloud of blackish blood and brains out onto the nearby tree as well as into the face of the nude man who had turned to look our way when he had heard the gunshot.

  “What—what the hell is wrong with you, why did you kill her?” The man demanded as he stalked over before me without a shred of care that his junk was in plain view of God and everyone.

  Sheila and Chloe took Remy, Mace and Ember into their arms inside of the Mustang and covered their eyes quickly as it was no doubt that my sister was having to do the same with Ella in the Van back a ways behind us.