The Reckoning - 02 (25 page)

             
I made sure to keep my weapon pointed at the ground. Southard swung the SAW to cover the street and Spec-4 lowered her weapon, but kept scanning the area.

             
“Major Alicia Pennington,” she said. “Call sign’s Jade.”

             
“I’m Wylie Grant,” I said. “This is Specialist Chrissy Wilder and Deputy Chuck Southard.”

             
“Nice to meet you,” she said. “Now can we kindly get the hell out of here before we all become zombie food?”

             
“Let’s get moving,” I said.

             
Reluctantly, she holstered her pistol and tossed down her bag. Then she turned and climbed off the edge of the porch. Dangling from the edge, she was still about four feet off the ground. I let my M-4 dangle around my neck and went to help her. I reached up and grabbed her by the waist.

             
“I got you,” I said. “Let go.”

             
She did so without hesitation. I controlled her fall and sat her safely on the ground. She turned as she came down and grabbed my neck to steady herself. This left us standing facing one another, her arms around my neck and my hands on her hips. I looked into her eyes and understood how she got her call sign. Her eyes were sparkling jade green. I had to swallow when I found myself looking into them for longer than I had planned.

             
“It’s nice to see a friendly face,” she said, in a soft southern drawl.

             
“I love the accent,” I said. “Texas?”

             
“You bet,” she said, smiling. “I’m a Corpus Christi girl.”

             
“I hate to break up this tender moment,” said Southard, “but we’ve got company.”

             
“Any
Sprinters
?” I asked, turning my head.

             
“They’re not zombies,” said Spec-4.

             
I let go of Jade and turned, pulling my M-4 up. A few blocks south of us, I could see two modified SUV’s heading our way. Brush guards, reinforced bumpers and steel mesh welded over all of the windows gave them a sinister appearance. I could tell that they weren’t military. I wasn’t sure who they were, but they didn’t look friendly.

             
“You wouldn’t happen to have another one of those, would you?” said Jade, pointing at my M-4.

             
I nodded to Southard and he reached inside to snag one of the spares. He tossed it to her and she caught it, deftly. She locked and loaded it with more confidence than I would have expected from a pilot. But then again, she was a
Marine
pilot. I’d heard it said that everyone in the Marine Corps was a rifleman first. I believed it, now.

             
The two SUV’s pulled up and stopped about thirty yards away. Four armed men climbed out of each vehicle. They were all wearing woodland camo fatigue pants and black t-shirts. They were armed with military style weapons. Two of them had AA-12 auto shotguns. I’d seen men dressed like them before. They looked just like the assholes that ambushed us at the Golden Corral and again when I got the scar on my face. They’d killed three of my people without provocation or warning. I wasn’t going to give this group the opportunity to do it again.

             
Shouldering my weapon, I brought it up and pointed it at them. The others followed my lead. The advancing men brought their weapons up, but didn’t fire. It was probably because of Southard on the SAW. Other than that, we were outgunned. The might have had numbers on their side, but I could tell from the way that they carried themselves that training wasn’t exactly their strong suit.

             
“That’s far enough,” I called to them.

             
They stopped, but one took a couple steps farther. The others seemed to defer to him, so I assumed he was in charge. He had a smug look on his face and carried himself like someone who was used to getting his way. I was going to be more than happy to disappoint him.

             
“What the hell do you want?” I demanded, watching his face a reaction.

             
“We’re
Freemen
,” he replied, as if that answered all my questions. “We don’t bow to your government,
Cop
.”

             
“That’s fine,” I said, “But take another step and you’ll bow before your maker.”

             
“I’ve heard of these guys,” said Southard. “Before all this happened, they were like a militia group. They refused to follow the law, claiming they had the right as
free men
to do as they pleased. They didn’t pay taxes or have drivers’ licenses or anything like that.”

             
“Didn’t they do a story on one of the news shows about them?” asked Spec-4.

             
“Yeah,” said Southard. “A couple of them killed some cops over in Tennessee a few years ago.”

             
“Yeah,” I said. “I saw that on the news. This won’t end well.”

             
“Give us the pilot of that plane that went down and you can walk away from this,” said the lead guy.

I dubbed him Dumb
ass Number One.

             
“Well, I’d like to help you with that,” I answered, “but I have a policy of not bowing to anyone, either. I think it would be in your best interest to get back in your vehicles and leave. While you still can, that is.”

             
“Listen,
Cop
,” he said venom in his voice. “We know about your little group in the jail. We took down a fighter jet. What makes you think we can’t punch through a steel door and get inside there?”

             
“Probably the fact that we’d kill you if you tried,” I said, matching the venom with my own.

             
“Keep talking,” he said, smiling. “It’s just a matter of time before the rest of my men get here and we have you surrounded.”

             
“Oh shit,” whispered Spec-4, glancing behind her. “I don’t see anyone.”

             
“He’s bluffing,” said Jade.

             
“Maybe,” I said, “maybe not. Either way, we can’t afford to keep sitting here. We’ve got to walk away, or fight. We’ll have zombies all over us before long.”

             
“Time’s running out,” he said. “What’s it gonna be?”

             
I could feel myself reacting. Time seemed to slow down as I gauged my options. There weren’t many. If he wasn’t lying, then we were in big trouble. We were outnumbered two to one, but we had the SAW. The decision was made for me when I saw that one of them had several badges attached to his belt. My eyes narrowed and Dumbass Number One realized what was about to happen.

             
“Open fire!” he screamed, scrambling back towards their vehicles.

             
Those were the last words he’d ever say, in this world. My first burst stitched him from navel to nose and he went over backwards, flailing and spraying blood into the air. The others tried to react, but Southard reacted faster. The SAW roared to life as he swept both vehicles, blasting apart the front end and destroying the motors in both of them. He also took out two of the gunmen.

             
Spec-4 and Jade opened fire, each taking out a target of their own. The three survivors tried to dive for cover behind one of the SUV’s, firing as they dove. I managed to hit one of them in the thigh as he disappeared behind a vehicle. I could hear him screaming as the weapons fell silent.

             
I motioned for Spec-4 and Jade to circle to the right while I went left. I could see the beginnings of a large group of zombies heading our way from the other side of Chestnut. They were attracted to the noise, but not moving very fast. That would change as soon as they saw us.

             
I moved quickly, and took a few potshots at the back of the SUV. It did the trick and drew their attention to me. Two of them stood up and started shooting while the other shot from the ground. I dove behind a parked car and heard the bullets smashing into it. Seconds later, I heard Spec-4 and Jade open fire. Then there was silence.

             
“Clear,” called Spec-4.

             
I stood up and ran around the car. The one with the badges on his belt was still alive, but not for long. He was losing a lot of blood.

             
“I’ll take these, you son of a bitch,” I said, snagging the badges and tucking them into my cargo pocket.

             
“Wylie,” yelled Southard, “we’ve got to move!”

             
I glanced up to see that the zombies were now coming our way much faster. About a dozen
Sprinters
were leading the charge, but they were still a couple blocks away. We had a couple minutes.

             
“Grab the weapons and let’s get the hell out of here!” I shouted.

             
In under a minute, we policed up six assault rifles, two AA-12 shotguns and eight pistols of various calibers. We also snagged two large range bags full of ammo and extra magazines. As we dove back inside the Humvee, the lead
Sprinters
were less than fifty yards away. I fired up the engine and backed into the street. With a screech of tires, I turned around and punched the accelerator.

             
The
Sprinters
were distracted by the smell of fresh blood. I only hoped that the asshole with the badges was still alive when they got there. My last glimpse of them was of a feeding frenzy in effect, as we slid around the corner and headed back towards the jail. Minutes later, we were back inside the vehicle sally port with the gate shutting behind us.

             
We had another able-bodied fighter with us. I was hoping that she was going to be a valuable asset, not turn out to be a danger to us all. She could have valuable information that might help keep us alive. If nothing else, we could find out if the military was still planning on taking us all out to “contain” the virus or if that was a rogue operation.

             
My instincts told me she was on our side. She fought alongside us and didn’t argue when I started giving orders. Technically, she had no reason to listen to me. I hoped that was a good sign. But then again, I’ve been fooled by beautiful women before.

“To the legion of the lost ones, to the cohort of the damned.”

-
         
Rudyard Kipling

              Once we made it back inside the jail, I made the introductions all around. Jade genuinely seemed happy to meet everyone. Southard didn’t go out of his way to be friendly, but I didn’t really expect him to either. I poured Jade a cup of coffee and took her into one of the interview rooms. Once we were inside, I shut the door and motioned for her to have a seat.

             
“Is this an interrogation?” she asked, smiling. There was a cautious look in her eyes.

             
“Not at all,” I reassured her. “I just wanted to talk without anyone interrupting us. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

             
“Should I ask for a lawyer?” she said, over the top of her coffee cup.

             
“It’s not like that,” I said. “I just want to know what’s going on out there from the military’s point of view.”

             
“That’s easy,” she replied, serious now. “We’re basically screwed. There aren’t a lot of us left. Containment didn’t work and we lost a lot of good people trying.”

             
“Yeah, us too,” I said, raising my coffee cup in her direction.

             
“Once the dead started rising,” she said, staring into her coffee, “we recalled everyone we could. Even the reserves. It didn’t help. By the time we figured out that they weren’t alive anymore and center mass shots weren’t effective, we’d already sustained heavy losses.”

             
I listened without interrupting her, letting her continue her thoughts.

             
“We lost major cities, bases and even entire states. Hell, we pretty much lost everything west of the Mississippi River.”

             
“You mean there are safe zones on the east coast?” I asked, excited for the first time.

             
“I wouldn’t exactly use the term
safe
,” she replied, looking up at me. “We’ve managed to hold a few places that are difficult to get to. We blew the bridges to Manhattan and hit it hard. The last I heard, they were holding out. We air drop supplies in to them when we can.”

             
Her expression changed, growing darker and pained.

             
“We lost a lot of good people doing it,” she said, almost in a whisper. “My fiancé was one of them. He was a pilot, too. He flew Cobra Gunships. He went in after a downed pilot and got swarmed. I heard it all on the radio. He tried to take off, but they piled on his landing skids and it caused him to lose control. They say he died in the explosion. I really hope he did.”

             
I didn’t know what to say. The pain and emotion were raw on her face.

             
“Do you want to try to contact your unit?” I asked, trying to sound comforting.

             
“Not much point,” she said, wiping her eyes. “We don’t have the resources to go after a downed pilot. When one of us goes down, they assume we’re dead. No search and rescue ops unless we’re carrying valuable cargo.”

             
“I’m sorry,” I said.

             
“I think you’re stuck with me,” she said. “Even if I could get in touch with my chain of command, they won’t send in any more aircraft since I got taken out by a SAM
[9]
launch.”

             
“We heard rumors that they’re planning on bombing major cities to wipe out the dead,” I said, cautiously. “Is that true?”

             
“I think so,” she said. “I don’t get the bomber’s briefings, or anything. I’ve heard that they’re targeting population centers.”

             
I bit my lip to avoid cursing.

             
“If it’s any consolation to you,” she said, “they’re supposedly trying to keep as much infrastructure intact as possible. Then they’ll have equipment in place once they try to retake the area.”

             
It made sense. Why destroy places like factories, hospitals and utilities if you didn’t have to? The less you had to rebuild, the faster you could recover when this was over. At least someone was still planning on making a recovery. I had my doubts that it would even be possible. Either way, if the cities remained intact, then we had places to scavenge for supplies.

             
“The plan was to hold as much ground as we could and wait for the dead to fall to decay,” she said. “We’re not sure how long that will take.”

             
“We’ve noticed that they aren’t decaying at anything close to a normal rate,” I said. “Granted, we’ve only been able to observe for a few days. If we’re right, they could last for years. Maybe even longer than that.”

             
“That’s not good news,” she said. “We might never recover, if that’s true. We can’t hold for that long. We’re going to run out of ammo, equipment and most importantly, manpower.”

             
“Us too,” I said. “We’ve got to get out of here. Maybe go someplace where we can set up a sustainable community.”

             
“How are you going to do that?”

             
“Find an area we can defend and set up a perimeter,” I said. “Then we start growing our food and scavenge for whatever we can’t grow or produce.”

             
“It won’t be easy,” she said.

             
“The alternative is to just give up,” I answered. “I refuse to do that.”

             
“We’ll, I’m in,” she said, “if you’ll have me.”

             
“Glad to,” I replied, smiling. “We could always use another trained hand.”

             
“Who’s in charge?” she asked.

             
“Sheriff Daniels,” I said. “He’s hurt, though. I’ve been running field operations.”

             
“You saved my butt,” she said. “I won’t forget that.”

             
“I’m sure you’ll have the chance to return the favor before this is all said and done.”

             
“Deal,” she replied, extending her hand.

             
I shook it and smiled.

             
“Welcome aboard,” I said.

             
“What’s next?” she asked.

             
“We’re in the process of finding a new base of operations. The jail isn’t going to hold forever. Besides that, I don’t like those
Freemen
knowing where we are.”

             
“I don’t blame you,” she agreed. “Any idea where you’re going to relocate to?”

             
“Yeah,” I replied. “Matthews and I used to do security before joining the department. We both worked a detail in the Springfield Underground. It’s an underground warehouse facility. If we can seal it off, we can hold it for a good long time. It has a big fenced off area above ground where we can grow food. Below ground is warehouse storage for several companies. One of them has a few hundred thousand square feet of cold food storage.”

             
“Won’t it all be bad, by now?”

             
“I doubt it,” I said. “For one, it’s below ground. The temperature stays constant. Also, it has its own generator system with a massive fuel tank. I’d guess that it can run for months.”

             
“Sounds like a plan,” she said.

             
We headed out of the interview room. Spec-4 was waiting for me when we came out. She looked a little apprehensive. I just gave her a smile and nodded. Sanders came walking up behind her.

             
“Cal, will you take Jade to the break room and get her some chow?”

             
“Sure, Wylie,” he said. “No problem.”

             
Jade headed off through the Main Sliders with Cal. I waited until they were shut before I turned back to Spec-4.

             
“Well, is she on our side?” she asked, quickly.

             
“I think so,” I replied. “I offered to help her try to contact her Chain of Command, but she said they will have already written her off for dead. They don’t have the resources to mount a Search and Rescue.”

             
“Did you ask her about the Evac-centers?”

             
“No, but I got the feeling that she didn’t know much about it,” I said. “I think that they gave up on containment.”

             
“Still doesn’t make it right,” she said. “There were children there.”

             
“I know,” I said. “But I can’t blame her for it any more than I could blame you.”

             
“Good point,” she said. “So, is she staying or is she going to try to make it back to her unit.”

             
“Staying, for now,” I said. “I don’t think she has any reason to go back.”

             
“So, now what?”

             
“I want to get a team together and go scout out the Underground. If we can clear it and close it off, we can hold out there for long time. How about you, Matthews, Southard and I make a run out there and see what’s going on?”

             
“Sounds good,” she replied. “I’ll go get the others together and check the Humvee.”

             
She headed off down the hallway while I headed up towards Master Control. I found Sheriff Daniels sitting at one of the control boards talking to the Lieutenant. They both looked up as I came in. Daniels smiled and the LT nodded at me.

             
“How’s it going, Wylie?” asked Daniels.

             
“Surviving it, sir,” I replied. “So far.”

             
“Well, that beats the alternative,” replied the Lieutenant.

             
“True, sir,” I said, reaching for the coffee pot.

             
“You planning on going back out today?” asked the Lieutenant.

             
“I was thinking about it, sir,” I said. “I want to go scout out the Underground. If we can take it, we will be able to hold it for a while. Also, it’ll be safe if they decide to bomb us unless they hit it with a Bunker Buster.”

             
“Who are you taking with you?” asked the Sheriff.

             
“Wilder, Southard and Matthews,” I replied, sipping coffee. “They’re assembling now.”

             
“When are you planning on leaving?” asked the LT.

             
“As soon as they’re ready,” I answered. “No sense wasting daylight. I have no intention of being out there in the dark.”

             
“You sure you don’t want to take a bigger team?” said the Sheriff.

             
“I guess I could take two Humvees,” I replied. “That would double our firepower. It would leave you guys short, here.”

             
“We’ve got plenty of people who can shoot,” said the Sheriff. “You’re the one short-handed on field capable people.”

             
“Alright, sir,” I said. “We’ll take two teams.”

             
I turned to head out the door and the LT called after me.

             
“Be careful, Wylie.”

             
“I will, sir,” I said, without turning around.

             
I took the stairs two at a time and met Southard at the bottom. He had his gear on and was holding one of the AA-12’s.

             
“I thought you might want one of these,” he said, holding it out to me.

             
“No thanks,” I said. “They’re great, but they burn the ammo way too fast. I’ll stick with the Keltec.”

             
“You’re call,” he said. “We’re all ready.”

             
“Let’s take two vehicles,” I said. “We can take more people.”

             
“Who else do you want?”

             
“Bowman, John, Jade and Winston,” I said.

             
“I’ll round them up,” he said, turning back down the hallway.

             
I took a few minutes to break the news to Karen. She wasn’t happy about it, but she didn’t argue, either. That was good. She understood that I was going to be facing danger a lot. We all were, before we could finally be safe. Safe might never be attainable. Safer might be a better word. The jail was a good base of operation, but there was no way to sustain us. We needed a place to grow food. Scavenged canned goods would eventually run out. If we weren’t prepared for that, then we would starve.