Retribution: Operation Z Book 2

by G. D. Szepanski

  The route he traveled ran parallel to the highway and allowed Jim to avoid any large population centers. This kept him away from any potential trouble these places might hide. Big Jim’s biggest problem would be finding the actual location of Donald’s bunker. Max mentioned it being in Virginia about an hour and a half from Washington, DC. Not much to go on, and Jim couldn’t stop and ask directions at the local gas station. Those he encountered were members of the walking dead, and they didn’t speak. He hoped some divine direction would intervene and steer him in the proper direction when the time became right.

  Fallow fields filled this area, and it reminded Big Jim of his old hometown in Iowa. Just past noon, Jim came across a once busy town center. A hospital sat on the outskirts of town and Jim considered stopping to look for supplies, but the dead roamed the grounds in numbers too large even for him to handle, so he continued on.

  In the center of town, he found a farmer’s supply store. A twin of this place sat in his hometown, and it made him long for the past. He missed his old life with Melody and his brother on the farm. Big Jim took a quick look inside the building but found the front door wide open and the store a complete wreck. Someone picked the place clean long ago.

  His luck changed at the general store. After forcing the door open and dispatching four zombies who made their home inside, Big Jim found a cache of bottled water, snack food, sports drinks, and non-perishable food. He ate and drank his fill from the store after he filled the back of the Gator.

  Big Jim departed the town during the late afternoon with the well packed Gator. Outside of the city limits, he found more neglected farmland. Jim loved this area because it reminded him of where he grew up. Each farm he passed looked long abandoned by their owners. The fields became fallow and overgrew with weeds. Where had all the people gone?

  He drove on for almost an hour and a half before he found any signs of life. A well-kept farm with active fields stuck out like a sore thumb with all the neglect surrounding it. Big Jim hid the Gator, so he could look around and see who maintained this farm. No one would describe Jim as small, but he learned early on how to either intimidate or calm a stranger. Before he decided which tact to take, Jim would observe the farm and determine what threat the people on it presented to him.

  An ancient oak tree two farms away provided a perfect perch for Big Jim to observe from. He carried the hunting rifle from the log cabin, not because he excepted to find a need for it, but it had a scope for him to see better. From a height of approximately thirty feet within the tree, Big Jim had a bird's-eye view of the entire farm.

  Jim saw a boy around ten years old and a woman who resembled Arwen working in the yard. A red-headed woman strode across the yard to talk with them as a third woman joined the group. All three women had pistols strapped to their sides, so they were capable survivors. Of course, they had to be to survive this long. He sat in the tree for another fifteen minutes and saw no one else on the grounds. Seeing no logical reason to wait any longer, Big Jim approached the farm.

  Not wanting to be a threat, but not wanting to be stupid, Jim left the Glock in its holster and the hunting rifle slung across his back. He strolled down the driveway with both hands in plain sight. He spoke before getting close to them so he’d appear to be less of a threat.

  “Good evening ladies and gentleman. I come in peace. I’m traveling on my own and looking for friends.”

  The group turned as one at his voice while the red head drew down on him. He left his hands up at chest height and stopped walking toward them. Big Jim didn’t want to come this far just to be shot, so he looked as non-threatening as possible. What happened next, he never would have believed if someone had written it in a book. But this was his actual life, and he lived it.

  “Jim? Is that really you?” Of all the four to speak first, it had been the boy. Did he hear him correctly? Did he really call me Jim?

  “Uh… Yes, my name is Jim Richards… Did I already say that and forget?”

  Big Jim stood frozen and very confused as the boy addressed him by his name. If he thought that had been confusing, then the next moment would prove unexplainable. While he stood rock still, the boy broke into a run and sprinted straight at Jim! He didn’t perceive the boy as a threat to him but didn’t know how to react to his charge.

  “Matthew, wait.” The women who looked like Arwen spoke, but she couldn’t stop the boy as he rushed toward Jim.

  Matthew, he remembered hearing that name somewhere before. But where? Before Jim could process the thought, the boy leapt into his arms and squeezed him for all he was worth. Big Jim saw no other option but to hug the kid back. This reaction wasn’t one Jim predicted when he planned his approach.

  “Jim, it’s me, Matthew. Don’t you remember talking to me on the radio?”

  Then it finally hit him. This was the boy Donald saved from the zombies in Boston at the start of the apocalypse. After all this time, and all his traveling, he ended up exactly where he belonged. Divine intervention struck, just like he had hoped it would.

  “Yes, Matt. Of course, I remember you. Where’s everyone else?”

  “Gwen, Helen, Natasha. This is Big Jim, from the camp in Tennessee. He found us!”

  The red head lowered her weapon, and the three women stared at the two of them with open mouths. No one seemed to know what to say, except for Matthew. He took Jim’s hand in his and dragged him across the lawn to where the three women stood.

  “I can’t believe you found us. Where’s everyone else from the camp in Tennessee? Can we go there with you?”

  At the moment's euphoria, Big Jim almost forgot about the loss which brought him to this farm. Matthew dragged him to the place where the women stood. Big Jim took off his hat and introduced himself.

  “Hi, ladies. My name is James Richards, but everyone calls me Big Jim or just Jim. It’s nice to meet you all. I feel like I know each one of you after talking with Betty and Matthew on the radio.”

  “My name is Gwen, and this is Helen, and Natasha. Betty is inside sitting with Helen’s patient Diana. We’re the only survivors left from the camp in Maine.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, the fate of the camp in Tennessee was similar. The NUS overran us and no one else made it out besides me.”

  “NUS? Who are they?”

  “Carl Stevens, the former head of HUD, declared himself president and formed the New United States. He mobilized the military and instead of protecting the survivors, they rob them blind. The remnants of the CDC are under his control too, and I’ve heard rumors of terrible experiments happening there.”

  “We were headed to the CDC with a man who was immune. They hoped he would be the key to a cure, but he died when we got to this farm.”

  “I had contact with a NUS soldier who fed us information. It allowed us to remain one step ahead of them. From what I heard from him, be glad you didn’t get there.”

  They stood around, catching up until the sky turned shades of red and the sun headed over the horizon. Before darkness fell, Big Jim parked the Gator inside the barn for the night. A wonderful filling dinner made with fresh produce became the highlight of the evening. A good night’s sleep would provide them with all the clarity they needed to decide on their next move.

  ###

  Big Jim rose with the sun the next morning after a restful night’s sleep. He toured the property to determine how viable an option staying put would be for the group. They told him about Donald’s betrayal, so he knew the bunker wouldn’t be a choice for them. Food, water, and security were key for their long-term survival wherever they went. This part of Virginia experienced winter weather, but it would be more temperate than Iowa or Maine.

  The barn was smaller than the one at his brother’s farm, but it had a hayloft and enough room to park the Gator, a farm tractor, and a good sized workshop. A bucket, harrow, plow, and a few rudimentary harvesting accessories all fit the farmer’s tractor. Not a terrible set of tools. The former owners planted abou
t fifteen acres of land with a combination of corn, wheat, and oats. All were good staple crops that keep for a long time, if stored correctly. Another seven to ten acres of farmland contained both summer and fall vegetables. Still plenty of food left to harvest from all the gardens.

  A small flock of seven sheep roamed an enclosure on the side of the barn. Sheep are a superb animal for a small farm since they require little care and can be eaten, used for clothing, or milked. Sources of food were abundant here with some hard work, but securing the area would be tricky. Best case would be a perimeter fence, but with all the work required to harvest and preserve the crops, it would draw their limited labor force thin. Plus, they would have to find the material to build the fence with.

  “There you are.” Jim turned and found both Gwen and Natasha approaching him.

  “I wanted to look around the property before everyone got up.”

  “So, what do you think?” Gwen asked.

  “This place would keep us all fed, but it’s going to require a lot of work. With four adults, I know Diana isn’t ready for hard work, and two kids, we’re going to spend most of our time farming. As for security, that’s tricky. A perimeter fence would be great, but where can we get one quickly?”

  “There’s a school bus depot about five miles from here. We could bring the buses to the farm and use them as a temporary barrier.” Natasha said.

  This comment made Jim think back to his arrival at Wheresville Valley, Tennessee, and how he tried to secure the town with school busses.

  “Yes. Let’s try it. What do we have to lose?”

  ###

  After breakfast, Jim helped Diana into a chair on the back porch of the farmhouse.

  “Give me a fucking rifle and I’ll keep this place free of assholes.”

  Jim laughed at her colorful language. Diana was something else, and tough as nails. The wounds inflicted by the farmer’s M1 rifle were serious. But she’d survive. Her ability to jog wouldn’t return, but Helen hoped she would eventually walk again on her own.

  Helen and Diana would remain at the house while everyone else traveled to the bus depot with the Gator. They’d bring the buses back to the farm three at a time and construct the best barrier they could. Their wall would provide better protection than nothing, but they’d have to come up with a more permanent solution later. Get the food harvested first and then upgrade the security later.

  Good fortune smiled upon them because they moved thirty three busses to the farm that day. The rest of the school buses on the lot wouldn’t start, and they had enough of a wall to ward off bands of roaming dead and keep prying eyes off the farm.

  ###

  Summer faded into fall. With Jim’s knowledge and experience, they harvested the rest of the summer and the fall crops while preparing the fields for winter. Diana gained strength and provided more help as the days went on. She’d walk with a terrible limp for the rest of her life, and the death of Michael threatened to cripple her sanity. But she survived.

  Jim and Natasha grew closer together. Like Jim, Natasha had a complex past that she wasn’t comfortable talking about. They’d both had to live in the present together instead of dwelling on the past.

  Both Gwen and Helen suffered from the ongoing pain of betrayal and loss. He knew both of their stories now and felt sorry for both of them. At least Gwen still had Matthew by her side, but Helen had no one.

  Matthew and Betty used the technical know how they had learned from Bobby to set up a solar system for the farm. Now they had a supply of electricity to power the water pump and the hot water heater. The kids both mourned the loss of their friend Bobby, who taught them these technical skills. Jim was sure Bobby would have been proud of them both, because he knew he was. Kids were resilient even in the face of death.

  A series of felled trees, ditches dug with the tractor, and barbed wire discovered in a nearby barn improved the farm’s security. All these preparations would get them through the upcoming winter. Big Jim hoped the NUS or any other threat wouldn’t find them on their farm and they would continue to live in peace.

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  DR. ELIJAH “ELI” Roberts

  Dr. Elijah Roberts worked as the Deputy Director for Infectious Diseases when the zombie virus first appeared in a remote Chinese Village. Two and a half years passed since those first cases came to light. Eli saw the destructive potential of this new virus and sent repeated warnings up the line of command at the CDC. The administration at the time feared another Covid type shutdown of the economy and refused to take any precautions because polls for the upcoming election were too close to call. Dr. Roberts had the last laugh because the secret service shot the sitting President after he ripped the throat of the Speaker of the House out with his teeth during a live press conference.

  Even after this scene played out on live TV, the newly promoted Vice President still refused to take any action to protect the country. Instead, she issued an order to gag the press to keep any information about this new virus hidden away from the public. The press claimed the former President had a stroke rather than suffering lead poisoning from an agent’s pistol. Contain and control the truth to keep her reelection hopes alive. It might have worked if she hadn’t turned into a zombie a week later attacking the new Vice President and newest Speaker of the House. Who’d of thought the Speaker of the House would be such a dangerous position?

  Worry about reelection should have been the least of her problems because the virus ran rampant through the entire world by this time. All the precautions put in place during the Covid scare did nothing to stench the flow of this new virus. The infection rate was well over 99 percent, even if hosts displayed no initial symptoms. Death of the infected host prompted this new virus to take action. A resurrection of the dead host would turn them into an invincible, flesh-eating, killing machine. Bites and scratches from the risen dead host would activate the virus in new victims. An evil scientist bent on world destruction couldn’t have engineered a better, unrelenting virus to end all life on Earth as they knew it.

  In response to this threat, Eli locked himself into his biosafety level four (BSL-4) lab to develop a cure. Science would save the day. His team came close to a few vaccine candidates during their research, but none were effective enough. The purposed solutions worked on those who still lived, but they lost the living dead for good. If they only had more time, Eli was sure they would save the world by stopping this pathogen in its tracks. But everything changed with the formation of the New United States (NUS).

  Carl Stevens had been the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) when both Presidents turned into undead cannibals. The Secretary of HUD was thirteenth in the line of succession for the President of the United States. A complete nobody in politics. Eli didn’t know if any of the other twelve ahead of him were still alive, but the so-called President Stevens showed up at the CDC with an army in tow. They shot any who rebelled to his cause without warning, so Eli and his team fell in step with the Steven’s plan quickly.

  A nuclear weapon leveled Washington DC when things first turned bad. No one knew if the Chinese or Russians caused the destruction of DC or if it had been an attempt to end the virus by members of the surviving US government. Regardless of who launched the missile, President Carl Stevens declared the United States of America dead. The New United States would rise from the ashes to take its place. Atlanta would be the new capital of the NUS, and all power now lived there with him.

  This usurper wasn’t a harmless, misguided Alexander Haig character, but a pure evil dictator bent on total world domination. He ordered all work on any type of cure to stop immediately. Now all research would focus on creating a hybrid man zombie creature. This new life form shall have the strength and endurance of a zombie, and the ability to take orders like a human soldier. A new army with a hundred percent dedication to President Stevens. Stevens would use his army to command and conquer the entire planet. He possessed a warped vision of total world control.
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  The NUS Army used Atlanta as its home base to pillage the surrounding areas. Men as mad as Carl Stevens would go out to find the camps of other survivors. Most survivors lived in small, unorganized groups, trying to stay alive against the unrelenting zombie threat. When the scouts discovered a group, they would dispatch the army to invade their camp with overwhelming force. All supplies and survivors became property of the NUS. The army conscripted able body men and women into service if they proved moldable to the cause. Then they shot those who weren’t moldable, made them into slaves, or brought back to the CDC for medical experiments. NUS soldiers made the Nazi’s look like a genteel church choir group.

  Eli’s second in command tried to keep the research moving forward on the cure they came so close to perfecting. The grouped worked in secret while Eli threw up smoke screens to camouflage their progress. A lab technician who worked on the special project turned on the group and sent a message to the NUS leadership. This resulted in a public execution of those working on the cure, and the army hung their dead bodies from an overpass outside of the city as a warning to others who opposed President Stevens. The reward for the informant was a bullet through his brain after they killed the others. Let no man stand against the NUS or President Carl Stevens.

  A public execution had a way of taking the wind out of the sails of any potential rebellion. All surviving CDC scientists turned their work to President Stevens’ warped agenda of creating an undead super soldier. Even Eli became downcast and considered ending his own life rather than contributing to the end of all humankind. He went into medicine to help people, not create the plague that would end humanity’s reign on Earth.