The Reckoning - 02 (40 page)

             
“What was your MOS
[19]
?”

             
“13 Foxtrot,” I replied. “I was a Forward Observer
[20]
. E-6
[21]
when I got out.”

             
“Did you hear about the recall order?”

             
“I heard it, but then they declared this area a containment zone,” I replied. “No one got in or out. Besides that, I already had a uniform and responsibilities here.”

             
“Fair enough, Wylie,” he said. “From the looks of it, you’ve done well with what you’ve had to work with. We didn’t expect to find many survivors in this area.”

             
“I’m surprised there aren’t more,” I said, grinning. “There were so many rednecks around here that grew up hunting and fishing, I would have expected more people to put up a fight.”

             
“We think there might have been more, but your
Freemen
found them and took them out for their supplies and weapons.”

             
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” I asked, shaking my head. “We need to stop those people in a bad way.”

             
“That’s the plan,” replied the First Sergeant.

             
As we approached the designated dining area, I saw that most of my people were down here eating. I headed to a table where Spec-4, Southard, Bowman, John Banner and Gunny were all sitting. After introductions, we slid into chairs and joined them. This morning’s breakfast was ham and powdered egg omelets. I was considering going through the line when my wife approached the table with a tray. She handed both of us a large plate of food and a cup of coffee. Then she gave me a quick peck on the cheek and headed back towards the makeshift kitchen.

             
“Friend of yours?” asked the First Sergeant.

             
“My wife,” I said, sipping the coffee.

             
In lieu of a reply, he just nodded and started eating.

             
We all sat in silence for a few minutes as we ate our breakfast. Southard broke the silence first.

             
“What exactly was a group of Rangers doing here?”

             
“I’ll get to that in a minute, Chuck,” I said, setting down my plastic fork.

             
Once everyone was done and their attention was on me, I brought them all up to speed on the conversation I’d had with the First Sergeant. They all listened gravely when they heard about what the
Freemen
had been doing. With a large amount of firepower at their disposal and an unknown number of people, we really didn’t stand much of a chance against them. Our only advantage lay in armored vehicles and training.

             
“So Chuck,” I said, “any idea where their compound might be?”

             
“Not really,” he replied. “I know a few guys who have dealt with these psychos on the road, but those were traffic stops.”

             
“Damn it,” I muttered. “So much for an easy solution.”

             
“Too bad we don’t have one of them to interrogate,” said Southard.

             
Spec-4 just gave me a quick glance and a smile. I didn’t want to mention the one that I’d had in custody in the pawnshop. I really hadn’t intended to kill him. He just didn’t give me any other options when he decided to try to kill me. Oh well, no sense dwelling on it now. We’d just have to find another way.

             
“Sounds like we’re going to be doing some recon,” said Southard, smiling.

             
“The big question is,” said Spec-4, “where to start?”

             
“Well, we know where they aren’t,” I said. “The square got pasted by the fighters the night they shot down Jade. We also know they aren’t close to the airport. They would have been seen from the Evac center.”

             
“There’s a big map of Springfield on the wall in the Hive,” said John Banner. “I saw it when I was in there getting some supplies.”

             
“Well, let’s go check it out and see what looks like a good place to start,” I said, shoveling the last of the food into my mouth.

             
We all returned our trays and plates to the kitchen area. I paused long enough to grab another cup of coffee, and then we all headed towards the Hive. Josh was already there when we strolled inside and headed for the big map in the conference room. I took a position midway along the wall, facing the map.

             
“Alright folks,” I said, crossing my arms. “If you were a renegade band of assholes, where would you set up your base of operations?”

             
“Well, they’d have the same problems we do,” said Spec-4. “It would have to be someplace they could fortify enough to keep the zombies out.”

             
“It would also have to be off the beaten path,” said Southard. “We’ve been up and down most of the major streets running our rescue ops. If they were in the main part of town, we’d have seen them.”

             
“Good,” I said, still staring at the map. “Anyone else?”

             
“It would have to be big enough for their vehicles,” said Josh, approaching the map, “and someplace that they can either fence off or reinforce.”

             
“They wouldn’t be able to modify the building without making noise,” said Gunny. “And noise attracts the dead. It would have to be someplace that they could walk into that didn’t need much in the way of modification.”

             
“Shit, Gunny,” I said, “There just aren’t that many bunkers lying around town.”

             
“How did they get to the Square without our roof sentries seeing them?” asked Bowman.

             
“That and the Square was crawling with zombies,” said Spec-4. “How did they get into a position where they could launch a Stinger from the roof of that building without us hearing them fight their way through the dead?”

             
“Maybe there’s another way into the building,” said Southard.

             
“Hang on,” I said. “What building did they launch from?”

             
“The office building where the Department of Motor Vehicles is at,” said Southard. “What does it matter?”

             
“That office building has a tunnel in the basement,” I said, grinning. “It’s been closed off for years, but it’s still there.”

             
“What the hell are you talking about?” asked Bowman. “I’ve been in there a hundred times and I never knew it had a tunnel system in it.”

             
“I learned about it in a class I took in college,” I replied. “It’s not really a tunnel, but an entrance into a cave. They sealed it off a long time ago.”

             
“Where does it connect to?” asked Spec-4.

             
“Well, one point comes out in the basement of Central High School,” I said. “There are a few others around town, but the main opening of the cave is in a park on the north side of town. I can’t remember the name of it, though.”

             
Josh immediately started scanning the map, focusing on the northern part of the map.

             
“What’s it close to?” he asked, excitedly.

             
“Its north of Kearney Street,” I said, “and west of National.”

             
“Is it west of Kansas Expressway?” asked Josh, running his fingers along the map, tracing the path of the streets we’d mentioned.

             
“No,” I said. “I don’t think so. I think it was near the bible college.”

             
“Eureka,” said Josh. “I believe I’ve got it.”

             
“What is it?” asked Spec-4.

             
“Doling Park,” said Josh, tapping the map for effect.

             
“Yeah,” I said. “That’s the name.”

             
“Ladies, gentleman and Gunny,” said Southard. “We have a suspect.”

             
“Yeah, yeah,” said Gunny. “And the horse you rode in on, sunshine.”

             
We all chuckled at that.

             
“OK, boys and girls,” I said. “We have a destination. Let’s plan a recon mission.”

“Ten soldiers wisely led will beat a hundred without a head.”

-
Euripides

              After discussing the plan at length, we headed for the area we used for supplies. There were boxes there that I didn’t recognize. All of them were marked with military style labels that indicated they were uniforms. There were dozens of them, all of which were ACU digital camouflage. I decided to switch out my black BDU’s and grabbed a few sets of ACU’s in my size.

             
We grabbed enough tactical radios and body armor to outfit a squad. I wasn’t sure exactly how many people we’d be taking with us, so I made it an even dozen sets. My first stop was my quarters to change into the ACU’s. Then, I headed for the Armory and found Packer inside, cleaning and inspecting weapons.

             
“What can I help you with?” she asked as I walked in the door.

             
“I want to do a little shopping,” I said. “It’s time to swap out some guns.”

             
“Help yourself,” she said with a wink, and went back to cleaning weapons.

             
I searched through the pistols first. I wanted something to replace the Berettas that I’d been carrying. Don’t get me wrong, the Beretta is fine. I just wanted something that I would like better. What I found surprised me. Sitting on a shelf by itself was a pair of unusual looking pistols. At first glance, I wasn’t sure what they were. Picking one up gingerly, I checked the manufacturer’s stamp. According to the markings it was a Keltec PMR-30.

             
“You like that?” asked Packer.

             
“I’ve never seen one before,” I replied, working the slide.

             
“They’re pretty cool, if you don’t mind the smaller ammunition,” she said, looking up from her work.

             
“What caliber is it?”

             
“A .22 Magnum,” she replied, grinning.

             
“Do we have any ammo for it?”

             
“Tons,” she replied. “You got a couple of cases of ammo from your raid on the pawnshop. And those are the only .22 Magnum weapons we have.”

             
“I’ll take it,” I replied. “Got any extra magazines for it?”
              “Yeah, there are five more in the bin over there,” she said, pointing.

             
“What’s the magazine capacity?” I asked.

             
“Thirty in the mag plus one in the pipe,” she replied.

             
“What?” I said, surprised.

             
“Yeah,” she said. “I was shocked too. Isn’t a .22 round too small to take out a zombie?”

             
“Not a magnum round,” I replied. “It shouldn’t have any problems at all puncturing a skull.”

             
I tossed her my Beretta and the extra magazines, and then checked to see if the Keltec would fit in the same olive drab holster. Surprisingly, it fit just fine. I grabbed the extra magazines and a case of ammo and put them on the table. Then I started loading the magazines with hollow point ammo. Packer grabbed a magazine and started loading it for me. That’s the only drawback to high capacity magazines. They take forever to load.

             
Once that was finished, I started searching for a replacement for my venerable HK91. I decided to go with an M-4 with an ACOG optic already mounted. It also had a pistol grip mounted on the fore-grip and a tactical light mounted on the side. That would come in handy if we had to go inside the caves to find the
Freemen.

             
Then it was just a matter of replacing all of my ammo. That was the easy part. Bowman and Packer already had a big stack of 5.56mm ammunition loaded into 30 round magazines. With all my ammo replaced, I was ready for our little foray into enemy territory. For the first time since this all started, I was worried more about the danger posed by other living people than I was about the zombies.

             
I carried two range bags full of gear back with me to where the rest of the group had assembled. Gunny had acquired himself a set of our black BDU’s, an interceptor vest and an M-4. His treasured .45’s were on his hips. He was still wearing his old boonie cap on his head.

             
“Decide to join the department?” I asked, smiling.

             
“It was either that or wear the Army digitals,” he said, grinning. “I just couldn’t bring myself to wear an Army uniform.”

             
Hearing boots behind me, I turned to see First Sergeant Gregory walking up with his other two Rangers in tow. They both looked a little worse for wear, but seemed steady on their feet. I knew that they had to be all right or Maddie never would have let them leave her infirmary.

             
“Let me introduce two of my men,” said the First Sergeant. “This is Sergeant Brandon McDonald and Corporal Caleb Jackson. McDonald is our designated marksman.”

             
“Good to meet you,” I said, extending my hand. “Wylie Grant.”

             
They both shook my hand and nodded. I took a moment to introduce everyone around the group. After introductions and handshakes all around, we all headed into the Hive. The conference room in the Hive was big enough for all of us to sit and discuss our coming mission. I wanted to hear what the Rangers thought about what we had in mind.

             
It didn’t take me long to sketch out my plans on the big dry-erase board. I drew a rough map of the area around Doling Park and my best estimate of where the cave was. The big book of topographical maps that I’d snagged from the library was a big help in that. Unfortunately, the topo map book didn’t cover caves. If it had, my job would have been much easier. When I was done, I turned to the group expectantly. I didn’t have to wait long.

             
“So, basically,” said First Sergeant Gregory, “what you’re saying is that these assholes are in a cave.”

             
“That’s our theory,” I said. “But it makes sense.”

             
“What kind of cave?” asked Sergeant McDonald.

             
“Missouri Limestone,” said Josh. “It’s pretty dense stuff.”

             
“That pretty much rules out an airstrike, then,” said Gregory.

             
“Yeah, Top,” I agreed. “It would be a pretty tough target to hit.”

             
“If you’re right about this,” said the First Sergeant, “we’re going to have to go in and take them out the old-fashioned way.”

             
“The one advantage we have is that they don’t seem to have much in the way of training,” said Southard. “No discipline, either.”

             
“The problem is,” said Gunny, “we have no way to know how many of them there are.”

             
“That’s why I’m planning a little recon party,” I said. “Who’s up for it?”

             
The affirmatives were unanimous. Everyone was ready to put boot to ass on this one. We’d all taken losses at the hands of the
Freemen.
The Rangers were looking for some payback for their fallen comrades, and I couldn’t blame them. So was I. After the encounters that we’ve had with them, I knew damned good and well that the only way we’d end this was they were dead or we were. If I had my way about it, it wasn’t going to be us.

             
“I appreciate the enthusiasm, folks,” I said, “but we need to keep the recon team small. No more than six or eight of us.”

             
“So who are we taking?” asked Gunny.

             
“Me and Spec-4, for starters,” I said, “plus the three Rangers. That makes five. Then also Southard, Matthews and Luis Ramirez.”

             
“Ramirez?” asked Southard. “Why?”

             
“Because he was an explosives expert in the Navy,” I said. “If we get inside and want to rig the place to blow, he’s our man to do it.”

             
Gunny didn’t look happy, but didn’t argue the point. I didn’t want him to push too hard, because the wound in his shoulder hadn’t fully healed. He didn’t like it, but I knew he understood it. Besides that, he would be the perfect man to be in charge of the defenses while we were gone. Gunny had forgotten more about OpSec
[22]
than most of us would ever know.

             
“Alright,” I said. “Everyone who’s going, get your gear together and be ready to go within the hour. I want everyone in Army issue ACU’s so we recognize each other on sight.”

             
“I’ll go prep the Humvees,” said Bowman.

             
“Thanks,” I replied.

             
The meeting broke up with people heading out to do their part. Gunny and Spec-4 stayed behind once everyone else had cleared the room. We waited until everyone was out before we spoke.

             
“What is it that you ain’t saying?” asked Gunny, bluntly.

             
“I want you here to keep things going,” I said. “You’re in charge of operations until we get back. Also, if we get into trouble you get to play cavalry.”

             
I reached into my bag of badges and found one with the tab that said Sergeant on it. I gave it a quick shine on my pant-leg and tossed it to Gunny. He easily snagged it out of the air and looked at it.

             
“What’s this for?” he asked.

             
“Gives you some authority with the guys,” I said. “That way the uniforms won’t question your orders.”

             
“I don’t see them questioning Gunny, if they know what’s good for them,” said Spec-4, smiling.

             
Gunny just winked at her and grinned.

             
“Me either,” I said, “but this just makes things a little more formal.”

             
“What else is on your mind?” he said. “I know that look.”

             
“Keep an eye on that guard I call Shades,” I said, lowering my voice. “I don’t have anything solid, but I just don’t trust him. He gave me a dirty look when I was talking about the
Freemen.
Call it a hunch, but he might be one of them.”

             
“You think so?” asked Spec-4, looking worried.

             
“I could be totally wrong,” I said. “He could either be giving them information or was planning on letting them in here when the time was right.”

             
“I guess we beat them to the punch,” said Gunny.

             
“If I’m right,” I said, “he could do a lot of damage to us.”

             
“That’s why you didn’t want them on external security,” said Spec-4, smiling.

             
“That’s part of it,” I said, nodding. “Mostly, I just don’t trust any of them except Packer.”

             
“I’ll keep an eye on things,” said Gunny. “You just get your ass back here in one piece.”

             
“That’s the plan,” I said.

             
We headed out towards the parking lot where the Humvees sat. The rest of the group was already there and in full battle-rattle
[23]
. Ramirez was there with a big grin on his face. Spec-4 handed me a helmet and I slipped it onto my head. Then Bowman handed out the headset radios. We all did a frequency and sound check, then started loading our gear.

             
“I want Ramirez, Wilder and Southard in my Humvee,” I said. “The Rangers get the other one and Matthews rides with them. Maintain radio contact and keep someone on the SAW unless we have to button down.”

             
As everyone started moving towards their assigned vehicles, I motioned for First Sergeant Gregory to stay behind with me. He nodded and came over to where I was standing.

             
“Something on your mind, Sheriff?” he asked, cautiously.

             
“I just wanted to cover a couple of things,” I replied. “I’ll take point. Stay close and follow our lead. If we button down, you guys do the same. We’ve been going out in this since the beginning.”

             
“Got it,” he replied. “Anything else?”

             
“Just remember our course,” I said. “If we get separated or run into trouble, we’ll meet back here.”

             
He just nodded and scratched his chin. He looked like he was about to say something, but kept a lid on it.