Indestructible: V Plague Book 7 (22 page)

I woke up, disoriented as hell, with a head that felt like
Snoop Dog had taken up residence and turned the bass all the way to 10.  The
sun was shining brightly, but I was in the shade of a tree and could hear
burbling water close by.  An arm was draped across my chest, a shapely, bare
leg thrown over mine.  At first I thought it was Rachel, then my mind began
creaking along when I recognized the improvised moccasin I had fashioned for
Katie out of my shirt.

She was asleep, head pillowed on my shoulder.  Raising my
head slightly, I kissed her gently on the forehead, turning when I heard a
grunt.  It was Dog, sitting between a lazy river and me, keeping watch.  He was
looking at me, tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted in the heat of what
seemed to be the morning.

“How’s your head?”  Katie asked.

“I’m fine,” I said, turning to look at her.  “How long have
I been out?”

“A few hours,” she said. 

Sitting up she crossed her legs and looked down at me.

“Got you down here after you went all berserker on the
infected, then you passed out.”  She reached out and gently touched my head,
examining something.  “You’ve got one hell of a knot on the side of your head
to go along with that gash.”

I reached up and touched a spot that was tender enough to
send a jolt of pain through my entire body.  Must have been where I hit my head
in the underground river.

“How bad you think?”  She asked.

“Don’t know, but I’m conscious and I
can
remember
what happened last night, so that’s probably a good sign.  No more infected
since the last attack?”  I rose up onto my elbows, my head pounding hard enough
to make my vision blur, but it passed quickly.

“Two males a couple of hours ago.  Your friend there took
care of them.  Rachel told me about him.”  Katie nodded at Dog, who looked back
at us, slobber dripping off his tongue.

“That’s Dog,” I said.  “He’s been with me since Atlanta and
probably has as much or more to do with me making it as Rachel does.”

Hearing his name, Dog got up and walked over, shoving his
nose against my arm for petting.

“He doesn’t seem to like me much,” Katie said.  She reached
out to pet him, but Dog pulled away.  He didn’t growl, but he kept his eyes
focused on her hand.

What the hell?  I’d never seen him act like that with
someone I was OK with.  I called him, but he wouldn’t approach me until Katie
moved her hand back.

“I’ve never seen him do that,” I said.  “He hasn’t growled
at you, has he?”

“No, nothing like that.  Just doesn’t want me close to him. 
I was afraid I was going to have a problem being close to you, but he just
hangs back a few feet and keeps a close eye on me.  Maybe it’s because I’m not
Rachel.”

Maybe she was right, but I wasn’t convinced.  Not that it
was a big deal, but I made a mental note to keep a close eye on him.  I
remembered the conversation Rachel and I had about the virus jumping to animals
and her saying that it was possible it could infect dogs.

The virus!  I had suspected yesterday that Katie was healing
fast because of the virus, even though she wasn’t “infected”.  Maybe Dog could
smell or sense something different and he was confirming my idea.  Deciding
this was best kept to myself, I sat the rest of the way up.

“So what’s our plan?”  Katie asked, standing and
stretching.  For probably the thousandth time in my life I couldn’t help but
admire the way the shirt stretched across her breasts.

“Would you focus on the problem at hand and not my tits,”
she said when she saw where I was looking.

“Sorry,” I said, not the least bit sorry.  I’d really missed
her. 

This was one of the few times in my life that I didn’t know
what to do.  I knew where Tinker Air Force Base was.  Knew we could reach it in
a few days on foot, or even faster if we came across a running vehicle.  But
there was the approaching herd that Joe and I had seen.  I had no doubt about
where they were heading and didn’t like the idea of being anywhere near them as
they pushed into the Oklahoma City area.

I relayed the thought to Katie, watching as she stripped off
the few rags of clothing she was wearing and waded into the river.  Dog gave
her a wide berth as she walked past him, also watching as she submerged her head
in the water, vigorously rubbing her fingers through her hair.  A couple of
minutes later she walked out of the water and stood in the sun, naked, letting
her body dry before putting the shirt and foot coverings back on. 

“OK, so Oklahoma City is out.  What else is around here? 
We’ve got no food and you’re down to less than fifty rounds for that rifle.  I
checked after you passed out.”  She said.

I sat thinking, but I didn’t have an intimate knowledge of
Oklahoma.  What I did know was that there was a lot of open space, just like
Arizona.  You could walk for days without coming across civilization.  And to
make matters worse, I didn’t have a very good idea of exactly where we were. 
Somewhere northeast of Oklahoma City was the best I could come up with.

Food was going to be a real problem.  I hadn’t eaten in I
couldn’t remember when.  I had no idea when the last time Katie had eaten, but
knew there was no point in asking.  She’d just lie to keep me from worrying
about her.  Not that the human body can’t go for a long period without food,
but food is the fuel that keeps us running and fighting.  Katie didn’t have any
extra body fat to live on, and after the past couple of months, neither did I.

Water was a bigger concern, but I seemed to keep coming across
rivers and streams.  I wasn’t as worried about finding water as I was food.  As
much of the prairie as I’d run across, I couldn’t recall seeing any wildlife. 
Nothing that I could shoot and make a meal of.  We needed a destination,
relatively close, where we could find food, shelter and weapons.  But exactly
where the hell was that?

Standing, I swayed a little, but the dizziness retreated and
I felt more or less good enough to travel.  We were under a tree on the banks
of the river, a gentle slope leading to a small hill to the west.  Climbing up
I looked out across miles and miles of nothing.  Well, not nothing.  Southwest
of where we stood there was a massive dust cloud that obscured the horizon.  At
least I knew where the herd was.

Turning a slow circle I scanned in every direction, hoping
to see any indication of civilization.  Seeing nothing I sighed and walked back
to where Katie sat in the shade of the tree.

“We’re going east,” I said, staring off into my proposed
direction of travel.

“Why east?”  She asked, not challenging, just wanting to
know my reasoning.

“My parents grew up here.”  Katie nodded.  “I remember
visiting my grandparents when I was a kid.  We’d drive up to somewhere close to
Amarillo, then head east.  Maybe I’m wrong, since that was a long time ago, but
what I recall is that everything west of here is pretty much desolate grass
lands until you bump up against the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and New Mexico. 
East of here is water, trees and a lot of towns.”

Katie stood up and moved next to me, looking to the east. 
“I trust your memory.  Let’s get moving.”  She said, taking my hand in hers.

We drank as much water from the river as we could force down,
not knowing how long before we’d come across another source.  Setting off
across the grasslands, Dog fell in on the opposite side of me from Katie.  He
maintained position a few feet in front, ears at full alert.  I was glad to
have him along, even if he was acting weird.

I guessed it was mid to late morning when we began walking. 
The sun was already high and it was hot.  A breeze was blowing in our faces,
but it seemed there was always wind moving in this area.  I kept a close eye
out for any movement as I walked, frequently checking our rear. 

I wasn’t just watching for infected, I was hoping to see
something we could make a meal of.  But as we kept pushing east I didn’t see
anything.  No rabbits, which really surprised me, and no birds, which was a
relief after the infected vultures I’d shot.

Several hours later we reached a stream.  There wasn’t much
water in it, I could easily step across it without getting my feet wet, but the
water was running and clear.  We stopped long enough to drink our fill, Dog
lapping noisily until I thought his stomach would either rupture or drag the
ground when he walked.

By late afternoon we still hadn’t seen a single indication
that we were even close to a town or city.  I still hadn’t spotted any wildlife
either.  The prairie was completely empty, other than the three of us and the
dust cloud that was still visible to our rear.  As the sun began to sink
towards the horizon its rays turned the dust a fantastical shade of orange.  A
color that I’ve seen artists try to recreate, but it’s one of those things in
nature that man just can’t duplicate.

“Reminds me of home,” Katie said, referring to some of the
sunsets we had watched together in Arizona.

She was turning back to face east, freezing in place and
reaching out to get my attention.

“Do you see that?”  She asked.

“What?”  I asked, looking intently in the direction she was
facing.  I started to raise the rifle, then remembered the scope had broken and
I’d discarded it.

“I just got a glint of light.  Hold on,” Katie said,
stepping to the side to get a slightly different angle.

“There!”  She pointed.  “Power lines.  The big ones.”

I moved to stand behind her, looking over her head.  Far in
the distance, just catching the rays of the setting sun I could make out what
looked like strands of silver stretched across the horizon.  She was right. 
High voltage, power transmission lines.

“They’re running east and west,” she said.  “Will there be a
town at one end?”

“Yes,” I answered, already heading in that direction.  “A
generating station at one end and a town at the other.”

“But which way?”  Katie asked, rushing to catch up with me.

“Doesn’t matter.  Either end will have shelter, and a
generating station is a big place.  There might be vehicles and food there. 
We’ll follow them east and see where they go.”

We kept walking as the sun continued to drop.  I was going
to miss the daylight that let us see for miles in every direction, but I wasn’t
going to miss the heat.  It had been another scorching day and we were feeling
the effects.  We hadn’t found water since the small stream several hours
earlier, and my mouth felt as dry as the Sahara.

Two hours after sunset we reached the base of a massive,
steel girder tower.  Eight thick power lines were suspended from a cross arm
that had to be a hundred feet off the ground.  A large metal plate was riveted
to the tower at eye level, a series of numbers painted on it.  There was just
enough moonlight to read it.

“Any idea what they mean?”  Katie asked me.

“Nope.  Probably would tell us how far we are from the end
of the line, but I’ve got no clue.”  I said.

Under the lines was a narrow dirt track carved out of the
grasslands by the utility.  It was hardly smooth, but it was easier walking so
we moved onto it.  Dog continued to stay on the far side of me from Katie, only
coming up to me for attention if she wasn’t close. 

I’d had plenty of time to think as we’d walked, and I’d come
to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with him.  Katie had to have
some degree of infection from the virus.  Between the rapid healing of her
wound and Dog’s mysterious behavior that was the only logical answer.  Frankly,
that scared the hell out of me.

What if Katie was going to turn, and just hadn’t done so. 
Would I be able to shoot her?  To save myself?  No.  I didn’t even have to give
that any thought.  If she turned… well, then I guess it would be my time.

An hour later we moved into slightly more rolling terrain. 
I wouldn’t exactly call them hills, but the ground we walked across was no
longer billiard table flat either.  The power line towers marched away from us
into the distance, and we followed them, feet kicking up small clouds of dust
from the dirt road.

We climbed a series of hills, each slightly higher than the
last but none more than a couple of dozen feet above their surroundings.  Ahead
a tower occupied the crown of the tallest hill yet and when we crested we came
to a stop under the skeletal structure.  Below us was a broad, shallow valley
and it was occupied by a small city.

Water glistened in the moonlight at several points, marking
rivers and lakes scattered around the valley.  There were a few lights strewn
in the darkness, all of them looking like campfires.  A few others, far in the
distance, had the whiter look of electric lights, but it was hard to tell.

“That’s not Oklahoma City, is it?”  Katie asked quietly.

“No, it can’t be.”  I said.  “Wrong direction and it doesn’t
look right.  I’ve got no idea what this one is, but it looks big, which means
I’m betting we can find what we need.”

“Right now I need water,” Katie said. 

I nodded and headed down the slope towards a residential
neighborhood when Dog turned his head and growled.  He was looking behind us
and I spun, raising the rifle.  On the crest of the hill where we’d just been
standing was a lone figure, silhouetted by the moon.  It was definitely female
and I almost pulled the trigger, not really sure what stayed my hand.

Dog stopped growling and moved to stand beside me, opposite
of where Katie stood.  A few moments later the female walked forward, stopping
twenty yards away.  She was nothing more than a dark form against the lighter
sky.

“Imagine meeting you here,” she said.

“Martinez?”  I asked, lowering the rifle in surprise.

 Irina saw the chain link gate restricting access to the
airport well before they reached it.  Not bothering to slow, she wrenched the
Bradley into a hard turn, blasting through the gate as if it wasn’t there.  Reducing
speed, she drove through a maintenance lot, across a curb and between rows of
hangars. 

After the hangars was a long line of small, private planes
that were tied down under a metal shelter resembling the roof over covered
parking spaces at office buildings.  Reaching the end, she slowed further and
turned onto the sole runway and came to a stop.

 “Drive the runway,” Scott said.  “Let’s make sure it’s
clear before the Navy shows up.”

Irina nodded.  The Bradley accelerated to five miles an hour
and held there.  Driving along the edge of the long strip of pavement, she kept
her attention focused on the smooth asphalt.  She knew Scott was concerned
about debris that could damage landing gear or be sucked into a jet engine, so
she drove slow and looked carefully.

The turret whined as they moved, Igor keeping their gun
trained in the direction of the shattered gate.  He stayed quiet, and Rachel
hoped they wouldn’t have any more problems before her flight showed up.

She still wasn’t happy about leaving for Seattle, but
understood the necessity.  She had also finally accepted that she didn’t have
the first idea where to start searching for John.  If he had survived, she knew
he’d be nowhere near the canyons.  He would have gotten out of there as fast as
he could.

If he were still down in the caverns, trapped by infected or
still searching for Katie, she’d have no way of knowing and wouldn’t be able to
find him.  He was lost to her and her heart ached.  She’d always known this day
might come, but had been so caught up in her own dreams of being with him that
she’d not prepared for it.

Igor barked out something, Irina translating a beat later. 
“They’re coming again.”

Scott adjusted the direction he was looking and groaned.  A
massive, yellow bulldozer was trundling into view from behind the hangars they
had passed.  It was easily the size of the Bradley, probably more like two
times.  It had to be stopped before it made it onto the runway.  They couldn’t
risk anything that would jeopardize Rachel and Joe getting on that plane.

Speaking to Irina, he issued orders for Igor.  She
translated rapidly, Igor nodding and grinning.  He adjusted the turret slightly
as he activated a laser targeting system.  Satisfied with the results, he
lifted a protective flap and stabbed a red button with his index finger.  There
was a pop then a roar as a TOW missile shot out of the launcher mounted on the
left side of the turret.

TOW stands for Target-sensitive, Optically tracked,
Wire-guided.  When Igor had locked the laser onto the dozer, the Bradley’s
computer had begun feeding guidance data to the missile.  Upon launch, a thin
wire unspooled, connecting the missile’s guidance system to the Bradley’s
targeting computer.  The computer maintained the laser lock on the target,
updating its location and distance several times per second.  Igor had selected
the dozer’s large engine compartment, and seconds after the laser had locked on
the missile arrived. 

The TOW missiles fielded by a Bradley were designed to
penetrate and destroy enemy armor.  Tank killers, in other words.  As large and
heavy as it was, the cast iron, diesel engine in the dozer was sliced into like
paper as the missile detonated.  The driver was killed a fraction of a second
after the detonation, and giant pieces of the machine were blasted into the
air.

“Persistent assholes, aren’t they.”  Scott observed,
scanning for more attackers.

“They’re just frightened,” Rachel said.  “They didn’t get
vaccinated and they know what’s going to happen to them.  A lot of them have
probably already seen friends and family turn.”

“So we should take it easy on them?”  Scott challenged.

“No, that’s not what I’m saying.  I just understand their
fear.  But that doesn’t give them an excuse to attack us.”  She answered.

Not having a good response, Scott grunted.  He kept his eyes
on the periscope, checking around the area, but for the moment the locals
weren’t ready to challenge the Bradley’s firepower again.

“Ram two seven, this is Viper flight.  Do you copy?”  A
strong, male voice sounded over Scott’s comm panel, the high-pitched whine of
jet engines audible in the background.

“Ram two seven copies,” Scott answered the call from the
Navy plane that was inbound.

“We’re fifteen mikes from RP.  What’s your status?”  RP was
rendezvous point.

“At the RP.  Runway is clear.  We have hostiles in the area,
but clear at the moment.”  Scott answered.

“Copy hostiles in area.  New Jersey.”  The pilot spoke the
challenge word.

“Giraffe,” Scott replied with the correct response. 

The two words were completely unrelated and meant nothing. 
They were simply a way for each party to verify that they were who they were
supposed to be.  If the pilot had failed to challenge, or Scott had responded
with any other word, it would have let the legitimate person know that
something was wrong.

“Confirm Giraffe,” the pilot said.  “We’re a flight of two
F-16s.  How do we recognize you?”

“We’re in a Bradley.  The only one in the area.”  Scott
answered, surprised there wasn’t a transport coming for Rachel and Joe.  “We’ve
had to engage the locals twice so far, but they’ve pulled back for the moment. 
Contact when you’re five mikes out and I’ll let you know if the LZ is hot.”

“Viper flight copies.”

“We’ve got more company coming,” Irina called out as the
radio went silent.

Scott checked the area she was watching, sighing when he saw
several hundred infected headed for them.  There was a mostly even mix of males
and females, the women sprinting out ahead of the group as the males shambled
along behind.  The sounds of the chain gun and then blowing up the dozer had
almost certainly attracted them.

“What’s wrong?”  Rachel asked.

“Infected,” Scott said.  “Not more than we can handle, but
still there are a lot of them.”

“Don’t let them get on the runway,” Rachel cried out.  “I
watched infected get sucked up into a big cargo plane’s engines in Tennessee
while it was trying to take off.  It didn’t make it.”

“Igor,” Scott said.  “Light ‘em up.”

Before Irina could translate Igor began firing the machine
gun in short controlled bursts.  He walked it across the ranks of the fast
approaching females with devastating results.  With the infected inside four
hundred yards, the heavy, high velocity slugs ripped them apart.  As he worked
their weapons, the sound of hard impacts on the Bradley’s armor caught
everyone’s attention.

“What the hell is that?”  Joe asked, looking nervous.

Scott was searching with the periscope, finally stopping and
focusing.  He turned the wheel to zoom the optics and watched for a moment. 
There was another loud impact and he spoke without removing his attention from
the view outside.

“Got some jack ass with what I’m willing to bet is a
fifty.”  He was referring to a .50 caliber rifle.  Deadly against just about
anything that isn’t armored.  “Relax.  It can’t penetrate our armor.  But we
need to shut him down before that plane arrives.  Those slugs will tear right
through an aircraft.”

Taking control of the turret from the vehicle commander’s
station, Scott activated the targeting system.  He focused on the shooter’s
position and pressed a button that activated the laser range finder.  The
sniper was 447 yards away, on the roof of a two-story building with a clear
line of sight to the airport.

A couple of more adjustments and the 25 mm chain gun fired a
two second burst.  Watching through his scope, Scott saw a large section of the
front of the building disintegrate into dust and debris.  There was apparently
a strong breeze blowing as the air at the target cleared quickly, revealing a
gaping hole in the brick façade.  Neither the sniper nor his rifle was visible
any longer.

“Not good,” Irina said a moment later.

Scott turned his scope and uttered a curse, releasing
control of the vehicle’s weapons system back to Igor.  A solid wall of infected
was emerging from streets and alleys, approaching the large empty field to the
east of the runway.