by Jack Flacco
But the sound of two clicks behind them proved otherwise. When Ranger and the kids swung around, soldiers Private Nate Sanders of Nashville, Tennessee and Private Clyde Thomas of Omaha, Nebraska stared at them with their guns drawn.
“Easy there.” Ranger said, still holding Jon in his arms. He noticed the soldiers’ ages. The army must have recruited them when they were crawling in diapers. “We don’t want to do anything foolish here.”
“Hands in the air. Move.” Sanders motioned to the base with his gun.
Matty raised her hands. “Did you see what just happened? That could have been your sister, your mother out there.”
“Move.” He repeated, less forceful this time.
“We saw what will happen to you at another military base. You will become like them. Once they’re through with everyone. You’re next.”
Thomas lowered his weapon halfway.
“Don’t listen to them, man. They’re just trying to get out of it.” Sanders said.
“I’m tired of this.” Thomas rubbed his eye. “I didn’t join the army to kill Americans.”
“Let’s bring them in, and we’ll worry about your conscience later.”
“No.” He pointed the muzzle of his weapon to the ground. “Tell me what you saw.”
Matty slowly lowered her hands. “We saw an empty military base. All that was left were zombies in military uniforms. Everyone else was dead. They attacked us with the intention to eat us. We had no choice but to kill them.”
Sanders dropped his gun to the side as he listened to Matty’s testimony.
“I’m sure they did what you’re doing now. But eventually they, too, changed.”
The looks on the others grew worrisome. Jon fidgeted, unable to stay in Rangers arms any longer. Ranger bent to set him safely on the ground. That’s when something from the base had whizzed over Ranger’s head and hit Sanders in the chest. Before the soldier knew what had happened, he fell dead.
Ranger shouted, “Everybody down!”
An onslaught of bullets streamed by, hitting the ground where the kids scattered.
“In the truck!” Ranger shouted. Everyone piled into the Range Rover, including Thomas.
The Rover swung around in a hail of bullets.
“Down, everybody stay down!” Ranger pressed Jon’s head to the floor of the Rover.
The rear window blew out, missing the passengers by inches. The vehicle made traction through the canyon. About halfway through, Thomas shouted to Ranger. “Stay left!”
“That’s not where we came from.”
“The way you came from will be cordoned off. It will be the first thing they will do. Every exit to the canyon is already sealed. Go left!”
Unsure whether to trust him, he glanced at Wildside who shrugged, “Go with your gut.”
“Go left!”
Ranger went right instead. Wildside’s eyes burst open to Ranger’s decision not to trust the soldier. But as fast as Ranger had made the decision, he grunted and stopped the vehicle. He performed a complete one-eighty. Thomas sat in relief, letting off a well-deserved exhale. Throughout the drive, Thomas pointed directions through the labyrinth of caverns until they reached a clearing in the caves, just past some loose rock sitting above a set of crags. The vehicle made an abrupt stop. Ranger flew from the driver’s seat, marched to the back of the Range Rover, and grabbed the soldier by the scruff of the neck, dragging him out of the vehicle and throwing him to the ground. Everyone else exited from the truck having surprised looks.
“What the hell’s going on?” Ranger’s hands curled to fists.
Thomas reached for his gun. He didn’t have a problem using it, if it meant defending himself. “Listen to me. You’re safe, aren’t you?”
Matty waved her hands as if she was an umpire waving a runner safe on home. “Put the gun away. We’re just like you. We’re trying to find a way out of this. Can’t you see that?”
Trembling, the soldier alternated his gun pointing at Ranger, Randy and Wildside. Could he trust them? Desperation set into the soldier’s eyes. Perhaps he made a mistake. He should have never gone with them. He should have stayed behind.
“Are you an alien?” The silliest question anyone could ever ask, Jon had to ask it. Matty, Randy, Wildside and Ranger all traded glances of amusement.
“What?” the soldier shook his head, confused by the question. “I’m not an alien.”
“Oh, I know you’re not. I’m just wondering if everyone else knows that.”
Ranger unclenched his fists. As Thomas studied the group’s faces, he loosened his grip on the weapon. They meant no harm to him, except Ranger, who may have a problem with authority figures. Thomas trusted his instincts and put away his gun. Randy and Wildside moved in. Randy extended his hand to help Thomas up while Wildside pressed his hands against Ranger’s chest. Thomas saw this and once he rose to his feet, stepped back.
Ranger moved from side to side trying to avoid Wildside. “I just want to talk with him.”
“Calm down.” Wildside kept his hands on Ranger.
“I’m calm.” Ranger stopped. He looked at Wildside. “I’m calm.”
“All right.” Wildside stepped aside.
Suddenly, Ranger lunged at the soldier. At the ready, Wildside and Randy hopped in the middle, each grabbing an arm.
Wildside held him tight, but his voice remained soft. “Now, Ranger, you promised. Calm. Calm.”
Ranger stopped struggling. “I’m good.” Wildside motioned to Randy, letting the zombie killer go. Ranger stepped forward, the soldier stepped back. “I’m not going to hurt you. I want to know what’s going on. That’s all. What was that thing? And if you tell me aliens, I’m going smack you silly.”
The soldier thought for a moment, then spun his words. “They’re visitors.”
“Visitors. Are these visitors looking for permanent residency?”
“You can say that.”
“I am saying that. Don’t be smart.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Answers.”
“Change your attitude toward me and I may give you answers.”
“Start answering my questions and I’ll change my attitude toward you.”
Matty covered her face as she uttered, “Oh, God, what are you, little kids?”
“Okay, look.” Ranger pressed his right thumb against the corner of his eye, kneading the stress away. “The only reason you’re alive right now is because I haven’t killed you. And believe me, after seeing what happened to all those folks, there isn’t anything I’d take more pleasure than to strangle you with my own bare hands. But then I wouldn’t know what happened back there. And more than anything, I’m guessing you know.”
Thomas watched Ranger’s eyes closely. He could see the sincerity glowing from his face. The others retreated to allow the private to speak without interference.
“All I know is what I’ve seen.” The soldier sat on a rock. “They transferred me to Area 12 a month ago, when things were heating up on the outskirts of the city. Nobody had a clue what was going on. We all knew when our company transferred over that we had a job to do no one else wanted. The sergeants were taking orders from the higher-ups, giving shoot-to-kill orders for anyone who dared reach the vicinity of the base. No one was safe.”
“Is that why they fired on us and killed your friend by mistake?” Matty asked.
“That, and because you witnessed something you shouldn’t have. Area 12 is a secret military base. You should have been somewhere else.” He paused, wiping his forehead of the perspiration he had accumulated from loosening his tongue. “When the first batch of people showed up, we had them contained in the soldier’s barracks that acted as a makeshift holding area. There were too many of them. They told us a virus infected the people and they needed to remain quarantined. They told us to shoot anyone on sight who tried to escape. I didn’t get that, but I obeyed orders.”
“Like the little Nazi that you are.” Ranger growled. Matty r
ubbed Ranger’s shoulder.
“At the time, the ship hadn’t arrived. But my buddies and I knew something was happening. I got a feeling whatever it was it wasn’t going to be pleasant.”
“Where did the people come from?” Randy crossed his arms.
“We didn’t know. We thought they came from the nearby neighborhoods. It wasn’t until later that we found out they were from everywhere across the state. The trains shipped them to the stations. The trucks would pick them up and ship them here.”
Ranger closed his eyes. “Why?”
“The first wave caught those in the cities and towns. The second wave caught those on the outskirts.” The soldier bent his head staring at the ground. He rubbed the palms of his hands on his knees.
“Death squads. You were part of nothing more than death squads.”
“We didn’t know.” Thomas massaged the back of his neck. Then, looking at Ranger he shook his head. “I didn’t know.”
“What the hell was that thing hovering over the base?” Randy pointed in the air, “Tell me it was a flying saucer and I’ll scream.”
“It was.”
“What was the beam of light?” Wildside asked.
“I’ll bet you it was the death ray.” Jon said.
“Jon.” Matty raised her eyebrows. “Try not to disrespect the dead.”
“It is a death ray.” Thomas unbuttoned the top of his shirt. His collar soaked, “It sucks minerals from a person’s body. Once the body gets harvested, it’s left as a shell. Although functioning, it’s a body without a soul.”
“But I saw those folks die.” Ranger said.
“They do die. Something in them makes them rise from the dead.”
A silence fell on everyone as the words sank in. The idea of the army taking part in a mass extermination made Ranger turn his back and step away. The soldier stared at his hands, realizing the wrong he had done by participating in the deaths of innocent lives.
“Whose bones were they at Katlyn County Jail?” Randy bent to the ground and played with stones. “I found a pit of bones in the jail where I was being held. Whose bones were they?”
Raising his head in a slow but purposeful manner, the soldier placed his gaze on the boy. “Are you Randall Morrow?”
Randy rose to his feet with a small, flat stone in his hand. The memory of how he cracked the zombie’s skull in the machine room of the jail with a rock resurfaced. Yet, the memory faded quickly with not knowing how the soldier knew his name. “I’m Randall Morrow.”
“You’re the key. You have it within you to stop what is happening.” Thomas widened his eyes for the first time.
“I don’t understand.” Randy dropped the rock and grasped Matty’s hand.
“When I was at the base, there was this talk among the soldiers about a rebel faction operating deep within the army. No one was supposed to know they existed. But we knew. They were against the extractions. They didn’t want the alien presence. After the first wave, Jessum’s people had changed. All had changed. Everybody—save one. Randall Morrow. The rebels went into the town and carried the boy to Juvenile Detention a few miles away to keep him from harm’s way. They managed to transfer him to the rebel doctors who operated under the noses of the military medics in the jail, and believed Randall held the key to the salvation of humanity.”
Wildside blurted out without thinking, “Damn, Randy. You really are a savior.”
“Not a savior, the savior.” Thomas rose from the rock.
Like a pendulum, Ranger swung around, marched to Private Thomas, grabbed him from the chest, and lifted him, slamming him against the wall.
Without hesitating, Thomas pointed his gun at Ranger’s head. “Put me down or I swear I’ll put a bullet in your head.”
Ranger set him down but kept his hands on him. “The bones. Whose bones were they in the jail?”
“Let go of my shirt.”
Ranger released his grip.
The gun went back into its holster. “Zombies. After the aliens got through with them, the jail personnel killed them all and set them alight. The bones were then dumped to get rid of the evidence that the army had anything to do with it.”
“The army didn’t do a good job. Some of the zombies were left alive at the jail.” Randy rubbed his eyes of the exhaustion.
Ranger smirked at Thomas, satisfied the soldier was telling the truth. Just then, a gunshot rang out in the cave. The bullet whizzed by Ranger’s shoulder to strike the soldier in the neck. Without warning, the soldier’s back slipped on the wall and hit the ground. Blood flowed everywhere. Ranger shouted, “Everyone in the truck!”
It didn’t take long for the kids to dive into the vehicle. Bullets whizzed by as if they did not exist. Each one missing their targets. Each one embedding themselves into the walls and into the ground.
The truck’s wheels spinning in place finally gripped the ground underneath. Before Ranger and the others could make distance, he had to bring the vehicle to a complete stop. Private Clyde Thomas’ murderers blocked a portion of the entrance to the cavern. The soldiers stood erect with guns pointed and a scowl on their faces.
Ranger’s mischievous smirk made an appearance.
“Don’t do it, Ranger!” Wildside cried. “They’ll kill us all!”
“You’re right. And I’m not a murderer.” Ranger slipped his shotgun from its holster, brought it to the driver’s side window, and aimed at the loose rock sitting above a set of crags over the soldiers’ heads. Before any of them could react, his shot penetrated the crags, dropping rocks on the soldiers. “A couple of broken bones, nothing serious.” With that, the truck scooted through the cavern, passing the soldiers and disappearing into the tunnels.
“You do know where you’re going, right?” Matty’s comment made Ranger’s hair bristle.
“Yeah, past these rocks, through the George Washington Bridge and hitting the Long Island Expressway?”
“Yeah, that’s it. I didn’t want you to feel like you were lost or anything.”
When the vehicle arrived at the mouth of the rock archway, from where they had entered the gully, Ranger killed the lights. Ahead, soldiers had set up a barrier guarding the safe passage out. No other forks existed in the road. On the left of the barrier, two soldiers guarded a side while a third stood on the right. Another soldier paced from the length of the barrier.
“What are you going to do, Ranger?” Jon asked.
“I’m thinking.”
“The truck’s big enough, mow them down.”
“Sorry kid, zombies, yes. Our kind, no.”
“Well, at least you have some sense of morals.” Matty batted her eyes.
“I always had.” Ranger noticed another set of rocks above the soldiers. He had no idea how to set it off but he thought if it worked once, it’ll work again.
“You don’t want to kill them, right?”
“Right.”
“Well, check out the big boulders behind the smaller ones.”
“Great. That’ll kill them.”
“We’re back to square one.” Wildside stretched his arms and yawned.
Now Randy, watching the soldiers and having listened to everyone’s lack of plans, had his own way of doing things. He said, “I’ve got an idea.” And then exited the vehicle.
“What the hell.” Matty stretched her neck. “Where does he think he’s going? He’s going to get himself killed.”
“No. He’s already dead. He wants to know what it feels to live again.” Ranger stared at the kid, chewing his bottom lip.
Approaching the soldiers, Randy asked them if they had the time. He could have very well asked if they had a candy bar. Whatever the excuse, he needed their attention.
“Put your hands up where we can see them!”
His hands rose to their request.
“Keep ’em high.”
“My pleasure.”
Two of the soldiers approached him. One of them barked. “Turn around! On your knees!”
Randy began singing, “Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, knees and toes.”
“Shut up,” one of the soldiers smacked him in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle causing the boy to collapse to the ground. This prompted two of the soldiers to bend down and restrain him. The other soldiers kept watch for any additional intruders. They did well. Matty strolled into the area carrying her knapsack. The soldiers keeping watch, noticed.
“Stop right there. Hands up!”
Matty raised her hands and winked at Randy.
By this time no one looked after the gate. Two soldiers on Randy, two on Matty. It would be a miracle if the two escaped alive. Perhaps a miracle is what they needed. That’s when Ranger appeared in full armament. No doubt, the soldiers trembled. One of them even dared to reach for his gun holstered on his right hip.
“Ah, ah, ah.” Ranger motioned for them to step back. “No touchy the guns.”
The soldiers dropped their rifles and raised their hands. Matty, who they never had a chance to restrain, dashed to Randy’s side. He hummed when Matty released him from his braces with the key she pillaged from one of the soldiers’ pockets. As soon as Randy hopped to his feet, he grabbed one of the rifles on the ground and sang softly, “Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, knees and toes...” Without any provocation, he smacked the soldier closest to him in the head with the butt of the rifle. He then cracked the knees of the other soldier nearest him, and crushed the toes of the other two.
“This was your plan?” Matty stood in place, motionless. “Getting captured?”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
That was Ranger’s queue to throw the soldiers to the ground and contain them with nylon tie from one of their satchels. Once secured, he hopped into the truck where Wildside had remained with Jon throughout the whole ordeal. But before anything good came of it, jeeps from the base swarmed from behind. The kids left the soldiers bound and quickly piled in the back of the truck. The jeeps had caught up with them.
“What are we going to do, Ranger?” Matty asked.
Never one to skirt around issues, Ranger had his answer at the end of his shotgun. The truck sped through the barrier as the bound soldiers looked on, safely hugging the side. That prompted Ranger’s brazen attitude to take over. He pulled his weapon and fired at the rocks above the archway, missing them entirely. Matty and Randy gazed at one another as if thinking the same thing. They rose from the backseat, each popping their heads through their side windows, and fired their rounds. Not even a couple of shots, and the crags gave way to the boulders, which crashed on the barrier below, trapping the jeeps on the other side.