Home Base

by C M Hoffmann

  Scarlett pulls Cane to her and plants a kiss, “We made breakfast burritos, take one with you for the road. I had to fight your friends off with a stick to save it for you. Be careful. I love you.”

  Cane, “Roger that, headquarters. Love you too.”

  Gavin sets Justin down, “See ya later, little buddy.”

  Justin, “Mr. Gavin, I really like you. You’re great for piggybacks. I asked my mom if she likes you. She says you’re cute! So, I think my mom likes you too. But, I think she likes you ‘cause you’re really strong. She told me not to tell you.”

  Mallory turns bright red, “Justin!”

  “But, it’s what you said! And you said to always tell the truth!”

  “I know, but, baby, there are certain things you keep to yourself.”

  Gavin laughs, “It’s ok. If you’re up for it maybe we’ll get together at the next family gathering and actually get to know each other.”

  Mallory looks down out of shyness with a smile, “I’d like that.”

  Gavin holds his fist out and Justin jumps up to fist bump him with a smile.

  Cane pretending, poorly, that he isn’t listening in, “Ready to go, big brother?”

  Gavin, “Uh yea, let’s roll.”

  As the brothers make their way outside, Cane says, “Not a bad match, brotha.”

  “Mind ya business.”

  “Hey! She’s my guest, so she’s my business; and you’re my brother, so you’re my business; therefore, you’re wrong, I’m right, get used to it. Plus, I’ve heard her talking about you even that first day back. She does like you. Don’t know why, must be your warm center, certainly not your exterior personality.”

  “Fuck you. You’re just mad.”

  “Ah yes there’s my deep and emotionally understanding brother. On the contrary: I’m happy for you. You deserve a girl like that.”

  “Yea, yea, let’s go kill shit.”

  “Always had a way with words, you’re so inspiring.”

  “Blow me.”

  Back in the house, Scarlett looks slyly at Mallory, “So, Mallory, got a thing for the oldest?”

  Mallory, “Um, well, he is really cute. I think it’s a lot to do with how Justin likes him. Normally he hates anyone I bring around. Something about this family though. Justin really likes all of you. I guess he really does fit in well here.”

  “You both do. And Gavin is a softy, puts on that tough exterior for his brothers but always willing to go see a scary movie with you. I’ve seen him bend over backwards to help people. I think you’ll like him even more when you get to know him. He’s had some bad luck in the past, but with a whole new future ahead of all of us, I think we all needed a fresh start.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks again for taking us in.”

  “It’s what we do.”

  The men load up in their respective vehicles and line up to go to Pops’ house. A short drive later, the house appears in the distance and the convoy sees what could only be twelve steves lurking near the house. As the line of pickups gets closer, Pops’ dog, Goose, can be heard barking from the backyard. Two-Six stops their vehicles a short distance away and immediately form up to send the dead back to where they came from.

  Cane, “Watch your sixes! With this many there may be more. I’ve seen the movie, it doesn’t end well for us. Keep a lookout.”

  Pops, “Hand to hand first, only shoot if necessary. Get your aim right boys, try not to hit one of ours. Go, now! RONSON! We’re coming in to clean out! Care to join?!”

  Ronson pokes his head over the fence, “You got it, boss!” He jumps the adjoining fence to the neighbor’s yard, then their fence to enter the front yard.

  The group moves in like a swarm. The array of hand to hand weapons flashes this way and that, smashing skulls, severing arms and necks, puncturing brain. The sound of the dog barking, continuously captures the steves’ attentions, they give no notice to their fallen brethren. Gore splashes on the wooden fence. The skirmish between twelve inattentive foes versus ten fully armed combatants lasts less than a minute, and leaves most of the Two-Six breathing heavily.

  Wyatt, “Cane, you were right. I DO like working for the department.”

  Wade, “He’s always freakin’ right.”

  Rapp points to the south, “Looks like he’s right again.”

  Fred, “That’s like twenty more!”

  Pops, “Alright, let’s try to maneuver this one a bit. Gotta try new things. Group up like we do for the vehicles. Gavin and me; Wade and Trey; Cane and Wyatt; Fitz, Rapp, and Fred. Try to split them up. If you get bogged down call out. We’re new with this, but let’s try to get it right the first time. Ronson, you hang back on this one, unless we need you that is.”

  Ronson, “Roger that.”

  Cane points out the obvious, “Just realized how we’re grouped: the Legacies: Gavin and Pops; the Bashers: Wade and Trey; the Ninjas: Fitz, Rapp, and Fred; and then there’s me and Wyatt. Anybody else wanna tell me I’m right?” They all chuckle and shake their heads at yet another codename.

  Fred, “We’ll find you a cool nickname for you two lovers.”

  Rapp, “That’s a good name for them: ‘the Lovers’.”

  Cane shrugs, “Meh, we’ll find something better later.”

  Pops, “Pay attention. Everyone got their groups? Good. Now, let’s get a handle on this thing quick.”

  The four groups break up, the Legacies and the Bashers take the left side, while the Ninjas and the Lovers take the right. Coincidentally the steves have split into two equal groups of ten. Another round of melee combat ensues. Steves fall with almost minimal effort but the flurry of motions begins to take its toll on the Two-Six. As the few remaining steves are being dispatched, a shot rings out behind the group. A quick glance from most of them gives picture to sound of Ronson with a smoking Glock in his hand. Ronson had gotten caught up in watching the battle dance that a single steve had snuck up on him. Ronson smirks and shrugs as he looks back at the members of Task Force Two-Six.

  All but one steve is left. Facing the group of three, the steve stands no chance against the Ninjas. Fred delivers a devastating snap kick sending the rather bulky steve staggering backwards. Rapp spins in a crouch with his katana sword at gut level eviscerating the steve and spilling intestines onto the pavement. Fitz momentarily balances a throwing knife at shoulder height and then lets it fly. The knife soars through the air before striking with a dull thud in the steves right eye and it collapses.

  Pops, “Well done, Two-Six, very efficient.”

  Cane, “Efficient? That was spectacular!”

  Gavin, “A damn work of art on that last one.”

  Ronson, “Y’all are some sort of fancy. All those weapons and I’m the only one who fired a shot.”

  Trey, “Happens to the best of us.”

  Pops, “Everyone, meet Ronson.” Introductions are made and the group makes their way inside.

  After some small talk and story sharing, Ronson spreads the ‘good’ news, “Everything seemed to be manageable; and then, we got a weird call over the radio. Said a steve had lost it and instead of feeding or even biting, it just seemed like it wanted to kill everything. Allegedly the thing killed dogs, cats, and people, really anything it could touch. After that fewer and fewer people showed up to work and many more just stop responding to the radio. It was getting a little rough. I decided to opt out before it wasn’t an option anymore. Also didn’t help that as we leave the house dozens of steves are coming down the road and someone decides a Molotov Cocktail will take ‘em out. It didn’t for the record; they just walked through it. Then one hit my house and it went up. Anyway, I hope I’m not overstaying my welcome.”

  Trey, “Nah, you’re just as welcome as any other air breather. We were actually talking about having to find someone to stay here with mom. Now you’re here and Pops said you brought family?”

  Ronson, “Oh yea. Girls, come in here.”

  An average frame woman with a cheerful smile
and light brown hair comes out from the kitchen. She is followed closely by a mid-twenties woman with dark red hair. Cane immediately looks at Wade when he notices the multitude of tattoos artistically covering exposed areas of the younger woman’s body. Wade is staring hard at the young one and his face begins to redden.

  Ronson, “This is my wife, Denise, and my daughter, Abbey. They decided they were better off with me than at home.”

  Denise, “You hush, you know we convinced you to come.”

  Abbey, “Yea, Dad, you wanted to wait it out.”

  Ronson, “I said no such thing.”

  “Your ass! When you first told us about everyone here, we wanted to come.”

  Gavin, “Something about this interaction seems vaguely familiar.” Everyone laughs.

  Trey, “Ronson, I think y’all fit in just fine.”

  Another round of introductions is done and Abbey lingers a moment too long when meeting Wade.

  Wade turns around and he is face to face with Cane, who is grinning from ear to ear, “Don’t say it.”

  Cane, “But! Dude! Seriously, come on. This may very well be the last woman you meet!”

  “Shut it.”

  “But..”

  “No.”

  Wyatt interjects, “Why not?”

  “Believe it or not, I’m more concerned about where my dad and my sisters are than anything else.” A somber silence follows as Wade wanders off to the back of the house.

  Cane, “Shit, I didn’t even think of that.”

  Wyatt, “Me neither, big dog. Any idea where they went?”

  “Said it looked like they evac’ed, but who knows. Until phone service is steady there’s no way to know.”

  Across the room, Rapp asks, “Ronson, any idea if your radio report was legitimate?”

  Ronson, “The last few days have been foggy. Reports are coming in from all over the districts. People still being affected by the airborne Lazarus Virus. People shooting neighbors when they so much as sneeze. The world’s gone to hell. As for the thing about the maniac steve I have no clue. No deputy saw it, all second-hand info.”

  Fitz, “Did you say ‘Lazarus Virus’? As in the Lazarus from the Bible?”

  “Oh yea, haven’t told most of you yet but when the dead came back to life it was kind of a dark joke around the office. Guess it might be sacrilegious but I’m not sure what I believe in anymore.”

  Abbey, “You should still believe, Dad. Don’t you think it’s a little coincidental that you happen to stop that guy, Cane, the one you only refer to as ‘the smart kid’? And then here we are less than a few days later and they’re taking us in: providing food, shelter, security. Through nothing but the kindness of their hearts. Think about it. They just took in three more mouths to feed and didn’t ask for anything except to protect the house we now live in.”

  Denise, “Technically it’s the garage but ‘home is where the heart is’.”

  Trey, “Home is where the family is. And around here we’re all family.”

  Pops, “Two-Six, time to move. We’ve got a little big city to clear out. Let’s get to it.”

  Mom, “Be careful out there boys. Watch your backs. We’re here if you need us.”

  Cane, “We’ll be out there if you need US. Always call if something happens.”

  “We will, sassy pants. Now go save the world. We’ll call the girls later to check in on them.”

  Everyone says their goodbyes and returns to their vehicles for the day’s adventure.

  Task Force Two-Six moves through the neighborhoods like a cleansing rain. Everywhere they go steves lie truly dead in their tempest. After several days of nine operators in four vehicles against wave after wave of steves, they finally decide that their tactics and styles have adapted an unspoken flow. During each clash the whole of Two-Six seems to live, breathe, and move together. Instinct overcomes thought. Suddenly, a snap kick to a steve sternum is met shortly after by a devastating blow from a separate entity.

  It’s as though the Task Force has taken on a life of its own. A body born of war and conflict and millions of years of evolution; socialization; combat; strife; each engagement slightly different than the last. The body grows strong and fast, encounters with even large numbers of steves barely put a damper in the steps of battle. No longer do the members feel fatigued after just one or two bouts. Now, the members don’t worry whether or not the man standing next to him will act accordingly; they know; they trust. Finally the time has come. Split up, cover more ground, and aid the public.... save the city.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  After a particularly long confrontation, the group stands among dozens of mutilated corpses. They wipe blood, flesh and tissue from their faces and arms. They flex and stretch their muscles relieving undo tension. Melee weapons are cleaned on the truly lifeless’ clothing and sheathed.

  Gavin fires multiple rounds from each of his pistols, dual wielding them like he is straight out of a Wyatt Earp western, as he uncharacteristically finds himself facing four steves alone. When the last falls and he reloads, he states the obvious, “Seems to be getting a little easier.”

  Wade, “Probably because you’ve lost like forty pounds in the last week. Surprised your heart didn’t give out.”

  “Jealous?”

  Cane stretches, “Yea, it’s almost not fair to them anymore.”

  Pops, “Then time to up the ante. We’ve been lucky so far, boys. It’s time for the home stretch.”

  Rapp, “What do you have in mind?”

  “The sub-groups. We’ve done fine as a whole but we all seem to keep to the subs. I propose it’s time for the next step.”

  Fitz, “Splitting up?”

  “You got it. Same as before. Legacies; Bashers; Ninjas; and Lovers.”

  Wyatt groans dramatically, “After what, a week or almost two, why are we still called ‘The Lovers.’ Can we please have a new name?”

  Trey, “Honestly, after the way we have been fightin’ together; not to mention our logo, I say we go ahead and give you the best names possible. ‘Spartans’.”

  Fred, “Ok, now that’s cool.”

  Wade, “Great. Now they’re going to think they’re the ‘Master Chief, Spartan 117’ fighting the ‘Covenant.’ Hopefully, there’s no alien invasion after the steve apocalypse.”

  Cane laughs and ignores the urge to rebut the ‘Halo’ joke, “Works for me, and given that we haven’t been using the departmental radios, since we’re independent and all, we can start. We’ll go to channel five and that’ll be our Task Force specific channel.”

  Trey, “And instead of beats we’ll just refer to each other as multiple person units. Legacies become just Legacy, Bashers are just Basher, Ninjas are just Ninja, and Spartans become Spartan.”

  Gavin, “Ha! Awesome!”

  Pops, “Don’t you think you’re having too much fun with the codenames?”

  Wade, “I like being called a Basher, it’s what I am.”

  Fitz, “You’re certainly big enough for the name.”

  “Was that a fat joke?” Before Fitz can respond, Wade’s phone rings with an unknown number. “Hello? Dad! Where are you? Are the girls with you?”

  Wade’s Dad, “Yes we’re fine, we made it to Baton Rouge before I-Ten went down. We’re holed up at the campus now, haven’t had any trouble since this all started. How are you?”

  “We’re good. You’ll never guess what’s happening.” Wade gives his dad a brief rundown of the events since ‘the Turn.’

  “I’m glad you’re ok, when this is all over we’ll meet you at...” The line goes dead.

  “Dad! Dad! Shit!” No one makes a comment as Wade sucks in a deep breath.

  Cane puts his hand on Wade’s shoulder, “They ok?”

  “Yea they’re safe for now. You know after all this the only thing I wanted to know was that they were safe. Now that I know, it’s time to end this bullshit and bring them home. I’ll take steve on single-handedly if it keeps them safe and gets them here.”


  Fred, “Good thing now you have us. There’s no need to go at it alone.”

  Trey, “We’ve definitely become much more than co-workers and friends after this.”

  Pops walks up and puts a hand on Wade’s other shoulder, “Ready to go to work?”

  Wade, “Hell freakin’ yes.”

  “Then let’s get to it.”

  Trey, “What’s the plan now, Pops?”

  “Well I had the foresight to grab some extra radios last time we were at the department, I’ve kept them in the truck, so everyone make sure they’ve got a working one with a full battery. Channel five sounds like a good idea since the traffic on channel one will probably be non-sense. Also, now that a good portion of the steves have been dealt with, it’s time to start focusing on the living. Unfortunately this is where it gets long and boring.”

  Cane, “Please tell me we’re not going door to door.”

  “That’s exactly we’re doing. Knock and give people plenty of time to answer. If there’s no answer, clear the house. Make notes of where there are unaccounted guns, ammo, gear, and supplies. We’re running pretty low on medical stuff so let’s try and find some. We want to keep the stores as stocked as possible for when the time comes that we really need them. Every last bean, bullet, and Band-Aid must be found.”

  Gavin, “Where are we gonna start? The perimeter? Start moving people further in?”

  Pops pulls out a folded up map of the city, “Yes, this line here. This is the perimeter of the city.”

  Cane, “Holy shit. That’s a lot more area to cover than I thought.”

  “Yes but given what we originally talked about, burning out four blocks from the perimeter. That’s where your mother and I’s house is. We’ll be on the list to go.”

  Trey, “Can’t we just adjust the line?”

  “We need to be fair. We aren’t dictators or winners of a world war to sit around with a map and divide up a country.”

  Fitz, “Then let’s let mayor and chief decide. They have to issue the order to displace anyway.”

  Gavin, “Well I’ve been thinking about moving out anyway. Starting to get a little crowded.”