Transformation: Zombie Crusade VI (21 page)

“It’s just instinct,” Daniels pointed out. “These things have a pretty strong pack mentality.” As the cattle continued to descend through the chute, the mass of tens of thousands of flesh-eaters grew increasingly agitated. Daniels knew he had to formulate a plan to find more people for this operation, and fast. “Captain, I’ll shift troops from the northern frontier as soon as possible; a lot of the camp commanders are asking for reinforcements. I’ve read the reports you and the others have been sending, but I think you’ve been receiving the bulk of eaters from the Los Angeles area on top of what your men have been rounding up locally. As of now, consider yourself at capacity—we may even have to divert some of your eaters to a secondary location—”

Daniels voice was cut off by the crackling and crashing of the cattle chute as it collapsed, piece by piece. The fence that had been containing the cattle at the base of the hill splintered outward, creating a huge gap. Hundreds of cattle were still pouring over the hill, then stampeding through the gap as tens of thousands of flesh-eaters descended upon them.

The shrieks and moans escalated through the dusty haze. “Jesus, they’re outside the perimeter!” Captain Bell shouted. “Containment has failed; this entire pen is compromised!”

Daniels would later learn that only one wire had been used to feed the electricity to the loudspeakers, the most vital pieces of equipment in the entire camp. The wire had supposedly been buried along its route to the first pole in the circuit, but somehow the powerfully churning hooves of the stampeding cattle had broken the connection.

“We need to get back to base camp and figure out the extent of your system failure,” Daniels ordered. “We’ll get some choppers in the air and lead these loose eaters away from here until you can reestablish security. Lieutenant, sergeant, you’re with me. Let’s move!”

The three soldiers ran for the vehicle as fast as they could safely navigate the rocky slope, but infected were dribbling around the base of the hill in small groups, with at least half a dozen of the creatures suddenly appearing in front of the Hummer. The sergeant didn’t hesitate as she approached the howling monsters, smashing into the closest beast with her short sword in hand. Daniels quickly dropped three of the creatures with expert shots to the head. “Get in the damn vehicle!” he shouted as the lieutenant was taken down by a small male flesh-eater. The creature leapt on the young man’s back and sank its teeth into the flesh of his exposed neck. As blood from the carotid sprayed into the air, the remaining nearby hunters turned their attention to this succulent fresh meat in their midst.

“The lieutenant has been kind enough to distract the eaters for us,” Daniels shouted to the sergeant who’d somehow managed to kill two more creatures. “Get us out of here now!”

The sergeant didn’t look at the feeding as she jumped behind the wheel and slammed the vehicle into reverse. The SUV roared back into a half turn before rapidly accelerating away from the growing number of infected running toward what was left of the lieutenant.

Daniels was impressed that the pretty sergeant was blood-splattered but certainly not panicked. She grabbed the mike of what was basically a powerful CB radio and called camp headquarters. Fortunately, a protocol had been established for just such a scenario, and within minutes a flight of Blackhawks was on its way to the camp, equipped with the broadcasting equipment that would allow them to corral the loose infected.

The major was driven directly to his own chopper, where the waiting pilot already had the engine warm and was ready to lift off. “You should come with me, Sergeant. An officer of your caliber is wasted at a place like this, and you’ve certainly earned a promotion.”

“Thank you, Major, but I don’t think I should be planning my future right now.” She tilted her head to reveal a slightly blood-matted patch of hair behind her left ear. “It’s not much more than a scratch, but it could be from an attempted bite, and it’s not something to take lightly.”

“Indeed not,” Daniels agreed. “but let me have a closer look.” He drew a handkerchief from his pocket. “Until you clean this up a bit how will you even know that the blood is yours? Turn around and let me have a closer look.”

The sergeant did as she was told, and she felt Daniels gently wiping at the area where she might have been grazed by a flesh-eater. For the briefest of instants, she felt something cold and hard pressed against the same spot.

As Daniels climbed into the waiting Blackhawk, he sighed with regret. He hated to lose valuable resources, and the young sergeant had shown such promise . . . He ordered the pilot to circle the camp several times before heading back to Alameda. From two thousand feet he could see the infected scurrying about on the ground, but surprisingly, most of the creatures in Pen One had stayed in place. The major decided that with their appetites sated, the flesh-eaters were momentarily content to rest in place.
Something they have in common with their human cousins
, he thought somewhat cynically.

After two days at the depot, the list of priority supplies and equipment to look for just kept getting longer. Fortunately, an abandoned Army base offered an amazing array of resources. The Red River Depot held thousands of military vehicles in conditions ranging from absolute wrecks to brand-spanking new, so finding a hundred up-armored Hummers wasn’t a difficult undertaking. Plenty of trailers were stored all over the post, so the soldiers could pick and choose on the basis of condition and stability. Half of the troops were dispersed along the perimeter established by Luke to guard against any hunters deep within the interior who might be attracted to the sound of activity in the main area of the base. The bulk of the remaining troops were dedicated to locating vehicles and working on modifications, but several squads were assigned to full-time scavenge duties.

With the operation at the depot proceeding smoothly, Luke told Bill Raker and his students that they’d be leaving for Vicksburg the following morning. The group had been checked out by a couple medics and overloaded with interesting food from the commissary. Since the infected had dominated the base so soon after the outbreak, there hadn’t been time for much looting by normal humans. When one of Gracie’s scavenge-squads targeted the commissary, they’d been thrilled to discover plenty of canned food still on the shelves, impervious to the foraging rodents.

Luke was on his way back to the room designated “command central” when Jerome and DJ caught up with him.

“Hey Luke, we’d like a minute to talk to you,” Jerome said seriously, “if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I don’t mind.” Luke had a feeling that he knew what these young men wanted to talk about.

Jerome got right to the point, “DJ and me want to join your Army.”

Luke nodded and took a deep breath; he scratched his chin and looked thoughtful for a minute, wanting the young men to understand that he wouldn’t just dismiss the idea out of hand. When he finally spoke, he put his hand on Jerome’s shoulder. “I can always use strong, motivated fighters. You both have experience fighting the infected, and you’d be valuable additions to my Army.”

Both boys were beaming. “We won’t let you down—” Jerome began.

“I know you won’t,” Luke agreed, “even if you don’t like the orders I give you. You’ll both get set up with uniforms and supplies, and you’ll be stationed in Vicksburg—”

“But—” DJ objected.

Luke held up his hand, “I’m not finished. If, when I’ve made my offer, you no longer wish to join my Army, there’ll be no hard feelings. The truth is, I need people in strategic locations. I need you to help get Bill and the other kids settled, and to learn what it takes to run a settlement. You two aren’t only good fighters; you know what it takes to keep people alive. You’re experienced survivors. Your presence will be extremely beneficial to the settlement in Mississippi. Not all the people who’ve lived through this pandemic are honorable and decent; settlements can need protection from hunters and predatory humans.”

Jerome and DJ looked at each other; DJ raised his eyebrows and shrugged, indicating that he was open to Luke’s idea. Jerome turned to Luke, “So we’d be real, official members of the Allied Resistance Army?”

“Of course, and I’d be certain to make that clear to the leadership in Vicksburg.”

A satisfied smile crept across Jerome’s face. “I was really worried about leaving Julian. I think we’d be honored to serve you and keep an eye on Bill and the others at the same time.”

DJ punched Jerome in the arm, “We got ourselves a win-win situation.” He looked at Luke. “So when can we get our uniforms?” 

Several hours later, Gracie and Luke were lying in their makeshift bedroom together, still thankful for the multi-day respite from sleeping in a tent. The relative comfort of indoor quarters, and the showers in the fitness center, had led the newlyweds to work at making up lost time in their love life. As Gracie lay snuggled against Luke’s chest, he gently caressed her warm skin. “You know, one good thing came out of this pandemic—we found each other. I bet if things had stayed ‘normal,’ I’d have gotten lost in the crowd of all your gentleman suitors.”

Gracie laughed out loud. “My gentleman suitors? What have you been reading lately—wait, I know, more Civil War books.”

Luke smiled and ran his fingers through Gracie’s hair, causing it to stand straight up. “You do know me well, but I’m not sure you’d have given me the time of day if we’d met before—”

“Are you saying I must have been a rude or stuck-up person?” Gracie pretended to be greatly insulted. “I never refused to give anyone the time of day, but I’m not sure anybody ever asked . . .”

Luke pinned Gracie down and threatened to tickle her. “I’m just saying that you would have had your pick of guys. You’re the heartbreaker type.”

Gracie rolled her eyes and wiggled free. “Honestly, babe, I didn’t give many boys the time of day. I know you were homeschooled for a lot of years, so maybe you don’t realize how annoying teenage males can be. Thank goodness I didn’t get much romantic attention—I think part of the reason my dad made sure I was so well-trained in self-defense was to scare away potential boyfriends. A lot of guys are intimidated by a girl who can shoot like a sniper and kick the crap out of them if she wanted to.”

“I wish I would’ve known your dad; from what you’ve told me, I’m sure we’d have seen eye-to-eye on just about everything.”

Gracie smiled sadly as she thought about her father. “Yeah, he would have loved you. I actually think, in a way, he knew you were the one for me when he saw you fighting in the loft of that church.”

Luke seemed surprised. “What makes you think that?”

“When you all gathered around after killing the last of the flesh-eaters, he held eye-contact with you the longest. Then, you reached out and took his hand in yours just before he passed over. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this, but he was kind of mystical, like you are. I think he saw that right away, and I like to believe he maybe caught a glimpse of the future as well. I think he knew that you would be my champion.”

Luke reached up and ever so-gently wiped a tear from Gracie’s cheek. “I remember, baby, I remember every second. I didn’t know what it was about at that instant, but some sort of jolt went through me when his eyes met mine; that’s why I grabbed his hand. I think you’re right; I think he did see something there at the end.”

Gracie playfully poked Luke in the ribs. “So what about you—when did you know that I was the one for you.”

Luke grabbed his wife by her wrists before she could poke him again. “It’s an ongoing realization,” he answered huskily, pulling her closer and kissing her deeply.

Gracie pressed her body against Luke and returned his passionate kisses. She nuzzled his neck and whispered in his ear, “So is there anything I can do to encourage this realization?”

“I get tongue-tied around naked women; I guess I’ll just have to show you.”

Zach was unusually perky for five o’clock in the morning. “Come on, dude. You gotta see what I found for you.”

Luke was grateful that he didn’t need to constantly wear his tinted glasses anymore. “You realize it’s still dark out here, right? Aren’t you the guy who says it isn’t morning until the sun comes up?”

“Maybe,” Zach admitted, “but aren’t you the guy who doesn’t hardly need to sleep?” He led Luke around to the parking lot beside the fitness center. “You don’t need daylight to see how awesome these babies are—take a look for yourself.”

Luke opened his mouth, then closed it again. Three massive and strange-looking personnel carriers were parked in a neat line before him. “What in the world . . .?”

Zach was grinning from ear to ear. “I know, right? I mean, I had no idea what they were when I first laid eyes on them.”

“Well, what
are
they?” Luke’s excitement grew as he took a closer look at the vehicles. “Are these things amphibious?”

“You’ve got a good eye there, Captain Luke. They are indeed amphibious, and you’ll probably just want to call them foxes. They’re German: Transportpanzer Fuchs—fuchs is fox. The hull is armored steel, and the engine is Mercedez-Benz diesel.”

Luke’s mind was racing. “How far can one of these go on a full tank? What’s their top speed? How many of these did you find?”

Zach laughed and slapped Luke on the shoulder. “Three that are up and running—these right here. Two more that we might be able to get operational. We have some kickin’ mechanics in our little army.”