Mike didn’t waste a moment. He immediately waved at the woman and the boy, motioning for them to come over. They came down the road at a jog, gingerly stepped around the corpse and finally made their way into the building. Mike closed the door behind them.
Tammy surveyed the newcomers, the ringing in her ears slowly fading into the background. They had collapsed on the floor just as she had a few minutes earlier. They sat with their backs against the wall, their knees bent and their heads down – trying to catch their breath.
The woman appeared to be in her mid to late thirties. Long brown hair had cascaded in front of her face, shielding her features from Tammy. She was somewhat short and squat, and obviously not used to the physical strain of running. The teenage boy seemed to be holding up better, although he was very pale. Tammy figured that he was in shock.
Mike knelt beside the two newcomers and quietly checked the two for any injuries. Dan was standing at the door, his rifle held to his chest. The soldier that had uttered the warning from upstairs had come down as well, although he hung back from the rest. The room felt over-crowded and Tammy started to feel the tickle of claustrophobia.
“What did I miss?” Abi’s bubbly comment broke the tension.
Mike turned to Dan. “Can you grab a couple of water bottles for these folks?”
With a nod, Dan moved off, returning with a couple of water bottles. The woman and the boy accepted these without comment. They were still winded.
Mike turned to the soldier at the stairs. “BB get back up there. We need eyes.”
“Uh, ok Mike.” Tammy studied the young man as he turned to head back upstairs. He was tall and skinny. His features verged on gaunt, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes. Tammy wondered if this ‘B.B.’ was suffering from the syndrome. She turned to ask Mike about it, but he had already moved over to the radios and Abi. Tammy took a step closer so she could hear.
“What’s the word, Abi?”
Tammy was surprised at the casual and informal way these soldiers interacted. She was also surprised at how relaxed they seemed, in the face of this disaster.
“There’s a lot of radio traffic out there, boss.” Abi replied, the smile dropping from her face for the first time. “I can’t raise HQ at the moment, but from the in-camp transmissions I’m picking up...” A troubled look crossed her face as she listened. “It’s not looking good, Mike.”
Mike waited for her to elaborate, motioning for her to continue with a slight nod.
“Um, it sounds like the fence near the front gate was destroyed. Somebody ran through it with a Humvee. That’s when we got that code red call.”
Abi noticed Tammy’s presence and her interested look, so elaborated.
“All the codes correspond with a general message, which I then send out to all receivers in the camp. Code red is basically a call to arms – or all hands to stations.” She smiled at Tammy. Mike cleared his throat and Abi’s expression turned serious again.
“Uh ... Yeah, so the code red was issued because the perimeter was compromised. What I picked up since then, is that the fencing has collapsed in at least two other places. We...” Abi hesitated as the reality of the situation hit home. “We are overrun.”
Mike shook his head “Damnit! I knew our numbers were getting too light! Try to raise HQ. We’ll need extraction. If that’s possible.”
“Yes boss.” Abi replied, not unkindly. She put her headset back on and turned back to her radio.
Mike turned to Tammy. “Let’s go check on our latest arrivals.” His smile was meant to be reassuring, but Tammy could tell that the soldier was troubled.
The woman was still too winded to take a drink from the water bottle she had received. She held the bottle in her hands, which were resting on her knees. her head was still down. Thick and long brown hair curtained off her face. Tammy felt a brief shudder as she imagined the woman raising her face to reveal the mouth and eyes of a zombie.
The hair fell away from her face as she looked up. Much to Tammy’s relief, this revealed a youthful, flushed complexion and dark brown eyes. Tammy knelt in front of her, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
“Hey, just breathe deeply. You’re safe here.” She said. The woman responded with a small nod.
Tammy let the woman regain her composure and looked over at the boy. The sharp smell of urine accosted Tammy’s nose. She then saw his wet jeans. He had pissed himself.
The boy took a sip of his water, his eyes firmly on the floor.
“Hey.” Tammy started. The boy slowly looked up at her.
“Hi. I’m Tammy. Hey. You’re ok now. We’re safe in here.”
Instead of responding, the boy dropped his gaze back to the ground.
“Here.” Mike had stepped up. He held a pair of clean trousers in front of the boy’s face.
“Put these on. They’re Abi’s but they should fit you ok.”
The boy grabbed the pants. Slowly, he stirred himself and got to his feet.
“You can change in the bathroom over there if you like.” Mike said, pointing the way. With a mumbled thanks, the boy stepped away.
“Mike.” Abi had turned and pulled her headset off her ear. “You’d better come over here.”
“Uh-oh. That can’t be good.” Mike walked over to Abi.
He sat down at the next chair and put on his own headset. After a few seconds she could hear him speak into his microphone
“Negative Sierra two, Kilo two-six is compromised. Standby. Over.” After which he turned to Abi. She was communicating on her own radio and writing something down at the same time.
Tammy watched all this from her kneeled position. It was just then that she noticed her own discomfort, and she winced as she shifted.
Dan saw this and walked over quickly. He extended his hand.
“Here, Tammy. Let me help you up.” She gratefully took his hand. She could see the bandage on her arm as she got lifted to her feet. It still held, and only the smallest droplet of blood was visible. Tammy felt self-conscious and embarrassed. She smiled at Dan.
“Thanks, Dan. I’m all right.” He shrugged off her thanks with a small smile and stepped up to the other woman, who had finally recovered from her run.
“Would you like a hand up as well?” He asked and extended his hand.
“No. I want to be carried around, baby style.” She quipped. Then, seeing the confused look on the soldier’s face she changed her answer.
“Sure. Thanks.” Dan helped her to her feet.
“Running. It’s not my thing.” She said, then looked around. “What is this place?”
Dan beamed at her. “Welcome to Kilo Two-Six Com HQ!” He said with a flourish at their surroundings. He received only blank stares in return. Slightly embarrassed, he explained. “This camp’s code name is K-26. And this is the communication headquarters...”
“We are the resident Communication Corps. Well, more like a squad really.”
The stares were still rather blank, but unperturbed, Dan continued.
“Mike over there is our C.O. That’s short for Commissioned Officer. He’s a Lieutenant and leads this team. He’s been doing this for a long time, as you can tell from his advanced age. He used to be a combat signalman – that means he saw actual combat – He’d be the first one to tell you!”
Dan chucked at his own humor, then continued quickly as he was met with confused stares.
“Sorry. We’re a pretty close-knit group. We’re always bantering with each other. You know, we’ve been operating communications gear in chicken coops like this” –he waved his arm around him– “for as long as I’ve been with them. That’s well over a year now. And I’m the new guy! The rest of the team have been together for many years!”
“Ahem ... anyway, Mike’s our boss. Abi and Willy are the primary radiomen. They pretty much spell each other off on the radio – they’ve been doing it for ten days straight! I only get on the radio once in a while, and mostly run around to support the rest of the team.”
/> Tammy interrupted at this point. “Willy? Who is that?”
“Oh sorry, I should have said BB His real name is Willy Boyne. Willy – Billy ... Billy Boyne ... B.B.” He explained.
Tammy hardly listening anymore though. She was distracted by Abi and Mike on the radios. Mike was communicating to one person or group, while Abi was communicating with another. Every few seconds they relayed information between the two of them through hastily scratched notes. Tammy took a step closer so she could hear.
Tammy could overhear Mike as he finished off his radio communication.
“Copy that Sierra two. Stay frosty out there. Whiskey Alpha Romeo out.” He said. He took off his headset and looked poignantly at the radio in front of him for a moment.
“Godspeed to those guys.”
Tammy left the radio operators and sat down at the bench near the back of the room.
ODDLY, THINGS QUIETED down for the next hour or so. They heard the occasional gunshots, but none of those came from anywhere nearby.
Tammy was sitting around a small table with Breanne. The woman had finally come to her senses enough to introduce herself. She seemed well-composed despite the horrors that had occurred. Breanne was a single woman. No parents or siblings or any other people that she really cared about. She did care about her cats, but they had died a week ago.
“I got picked up yesterday, after being stuck in my place for almost a week.” She said.
“I’m no good at being cooped up.” She continued. “Come to think of it, I guess I did what my cats would do. I slept a lot. I cleaned myself often. ... Also, once in a while I ran around the apartment like a maniac, screaming my lungs out.” Tammy guffawed at the joke.
The boy introduced himself as ‘Steve’. He didn’t say much more than that. He refused to answer when Tammy asked if he knew where his parents were. Tammy didn’t press the matter.
Tammy did notice something conspicuous after a while. It was Dan. The man was grabbing at his belly every minute or so. Tammy feared that he was infected with the syndrome.
Willy, or BB, on the other hand, actually seemed fine. Tammy got a good look at him when he spelled Abi off the radio. He was just a gaunt, skinny guy.
The group ate a late afternoon meal consisting of crackers, cheese strings and chocolate bars.
“Courtesy of our resident junk food junkie; Private Dan McKenzie.” Mike said with a grin on his face. The junk food was oddly tasteless and stale, but it was something at least. Dan was conspicuous in his lack of appetite, and his sense of humor seemed to have disappeared.
Shortly after their meal, BB received information from the main field headquarters. The news was grim. Everybody could tell that the news wasn’t good by the look on his face.
“Sorry folks. They’re not coming to get us. ‘’No assets available’ is what they’re telling me.”
“Oh no... What are we going to do? How are we going to get out of here?” Steve started working himself up. Mike walked over and placed his hand on the teenage boy’s shoulder.
“Steve, guys. We are in this together. We are safe in this building, and luckily for us we have the means to communicate with the outside world right there.” He pointed at the radios.
“We are not going to give up, Steve. The message that we just received is that we can not be extracted right now,” He said this with a stern look at BB. “but it’s likely that they will send a rescue team later. So, we are going to be patient. And we are not going to panic.”
It would have worked like a charm – it was working – but then Dan piped up.
“We got some movement down the street, boss.” He said, continuing to stare through the small window in the door. Abi poked her head in from upstairs to confirm the news.
“We’ve got a group of individuals heading our way, Mike! They look like...” She threw a cautious look at the civilians before she continued. “They look like they are, uh...”
Breanne spoke up as she walked towards the window. “Jesus Crist, what are we, a bunch of kindergarten kids? They’re zombies, Abi. You don’t need to beat around the bush.”
She tried to see through the tiny gaps in the shutters. “I’m too fucking short!” She shrugged.
“Let’s get a look from upstairs.” Tammy gestured towards the stairs. They quickly headed upstairs and joined Abi for a better look.
The crowd was still quite some distance away, so it was hard to make out details. But Tammy knew that they were seeking prey. They swung their heads, moved to one side of the alleyway and started beating on the walls of a tent. The tent collapsed under the onslaught, but the crowd did not stop at that. They trampled the downed tent, still searching for their prey. The zombies moved like a flock of birds. One would get agitated and beat at a spot at his feet, and all of the others would immediately move over to that same spot. It looked eerie and unnatural to Tammy. She knew that whomever or whatever had hidden in the tent was either dead or playing dead.
It continued for another minute. When nothing moved anymore, the crowd of zombies slowed down and came to a halt. For several long moments none of the zombies moved. It was as if they were frozen in place. Then, one quickly swung its head in a direction and started moving. This triggered the entire group and as one they moved further down the road.
Closer to us. Tammy realized fearfully.
“I think we should move back from this window...” Abi stated. The three women backed away, and silently made their way downstairs.
“They’re coming this way.” Abi stated, her voice cracking a bit with fear.
“Keep it together, soldier.” Mike scolded the woman. Abi visibly flinched. “Ain’t nothing we can do about it. We just have to keep a low profile.”
Abi nodded and grabbed a water bottle for herself and a few extra for their guests. Steve, Tammy and Breanne joined her at the table.
They sipped water.
And they waited...
Chapter Thirty-three
Dan
Dan still stood at the door, peaking through the little gaps in the slats. They were coming closer, and he was starting to make out individuals.
Their faces are so ... inhuman. Why do they have their mouths open so wide?
He watched them, as they moved to a position and then kind of froze, with their heads at a strange angle. It looked like they were trying to put their ear on the ground to listen, but without actually getting down to the ground.
Then on some unseen signal the group would move off into one direction.
They’re hunting! Dan realized.
The first of the zombies had moved to within twenty yards of the communications shack. Up to now, they had remained undetected. Even if they were detected, Dan doubted that the zombies would be able to get in. The place was locked down.
Dan was momentarily distracted by a wave of pain.
Ow! Ah, this fucking gut! It feels like I am leaking or something! Dan closed his eyes until the pain passed, after which he returned his attention out the window.
Dan was better able to make out details now that they were this close. They were of all races, male, female, young and old. The syndrome did not have prejudices, it seems.
Dan saw a boy. The kid was probably no older than eight. He was wearing a t-shirt with some cartoon character on it. His pyjama bottoms had slipped down and were stuck around his ankles, forcing the boy to move with even more ungainly steps. The boy didn’t have a scratch on him, which for some reason freaked Dan out even more.
Then there was this woman. She was also dressed in the tattered remains of pyjamas. Her long hair hung forward, in front of her face. For some reason not being able to see her eyes terrified Dan. She had suffered some serious damage. Her midsection had sliced open at some point recently. Her entrails had fallen out and were dragging along the ground behind her. Dan watched as another zombie stepped on her intestine. Somewhat thankfully, the intestine did not tear or snap. Instead, the woman was pulled back half a step, like she was on an elastic b
and. Dan still had to swallow back some bile on seeing the scene.
One of the zombies caught Dan’s attention as it fell. Dan could see that one of its legs was broken, the white shards of bones in sharp contrast to the grey skin that they were sticking out of. The zombie’s foot was turned inward in an unnatural angle. Yet the zombie would still try to walk. Every step it took would drive the foot further into an angle, and its leg bones would stick out a little more. The zombie would crash to the ground, and somehow pick itself up again.
Another zombie was similarly unbalanced. The former old man was still dressed in a stately suit.
Funny how old people always seem to dress nice. The thought came unbidden to Dan’s mind.
The old man had been shot. Dan saw several horrific wounds that could only have been caused by bullets. The left side of his torso was riddled, and his shoulder hung at a crazy angle, almost folded under his chin. His lower arm ended in a couple of splintered bones. He also had facial damage. Most of his left cheek was gone, and so was his ear. It must have messed up his equilibrium, or he was simply too unbalanced now. He would step forward and stagger sideways for a couple of steps before falling again.
Dan watching him go down again, taking another individual out with him.
Most of the zombies were still quite mobile though. Dan watched the group lurch to one direction for ten feet or so.
Some of those dead fuckers are probably faster than me.
Dan froze. He looked to the right and saw another zombie. It had been a large woman in life. The thing that freaked out Dan, was that it had straightened its head and seemed to be looking right at him. The hairs on Dan’s neck rose. It looked in his direction for no more than two seconds, but to Dan it felt like an eternity. Then the whole group of zombies lurched to another spot, this time further away from Dan’s position. He watched the group move and noted with some relief that the zombie that was looking at him had moved on as well.
Apocalypsis Immortuos | Book 1 | Syndrome Page 21