Transformation: Zombie Crusade VI (31 page)

“Uh, I’ve seen a few small boats, but they always avoid me.”

“I’m referrin’ to tankers, the ships big enough to carry fuel out in the gulf.”

“Well, there are two huge ships docked along the shore where the electric power is working. They’ve only been there a couple of weeks.”

Jack cut in. “When did you last see those ships?”

“Three, no wait, four days ago.”

Jack liked the sound of that. “Did you see any sign that those ships were getting ready to leave?”

“Uh, like what kinda signs?”

Jack knew next to nothing about river-shipping, so he looked to Orvil for help. “Orvil, what would be some signs that those tankers were getting’ ready to head out?”

“Sorry, sir, but somebody out on the river wouldn’t know if those tankers were getting’ ready to move.”

Carter frowned. “Could ya tell from shore?”

“I think so, Colonel. Anyway, most of the transfer of fuel from the refinery to the ships would be controlled by automated processes. Maybe if you could see the shore-side of the tankers you might notice the lines being disengaged or somethin’ like that. But even then you couldn’t know if the crew had the ship ready to go. Hell, they might even need tugs to get out into the channel . . .”

“You notice any tugs nearby,” Jack asked J.J.

“There’re abandoned ships everywhere along the shores down around New Orleans—hard to tell if any of the tugs tied up to piers are operational. There weren’t any tugs near the tankers.”

Jack shared a look with Carter before turning to Harden. “Can I borrow these two for a few days?”

Harden leaned back. “Of course.” He paused for half a beat. “So can I borrow John and Tina for the mission to the Red River Depot? I’d like to revert back to our original plan—extracting the resources from that place is a huge and complicated task, but I think we’re all in agreement about what a gold mine that depot is. John and Tina have the background and experience we need for the job.”

“They might even prefer settin’ up camp at the depot,” Carter suggested. “Luke said he almost felt like a kid in a candy store with all them military vehicles and supplies, plus they’ll have a roof over their heads. I think Gracie said there was even functionin’ showers.”

“You know those two, they’ll want to be where the action is, or where they can make the most difference,” Jack replied. He locked eyes with Captain Harden. “You’re right about the depot, and you’re right about John and Tina. We can’t be putting all our eggs in one basket; I can’t guarantee that the refinery is what we think it is.”

Carter looked concerned. “Whatever it is, I’ll still git to blow somthin’ up, right?”

Harden grinned devilishly. “No doubt about that—our friends in Monroe wanted to make a contribution. They sent a couple hundred pounds of various explosives and said they figured you and Jack would know what to do with ‘em.

Joe Logan didn’t need much convincing before agreeing to consider joining Luke’s army, especially when he learned that Wyatt planned to smuggle out his incarcerated soldier when the troops headed west. The First Sergeant wanted to check with the inhabitants of Preston, but he didn’t expect any real opposition given the recent conflict over one of his soldiers, plus the fact that his troops had become increasingly sullen and unpleasant to be around since the last large pack of hunters had been destroyed months earlier. Luke made it clear that he only wanted willing volunteers, and Logan laughed out loud. “I’ll be surprised if even a dozen of my men will want to stay behind, which is good since I’ll want five person crews for each of the guns.” In less than an hour, the agreement was in place, pending one last detail: Logan wanted to bring some soldiers and train with Luke for a few days before making a final commitment.

Both Wyatt and Luke were in good spirits as they ventured back to Denison. They talked about artillery modifications, the advantages and disadvantages of firearms in a fight with the infected, the history of the long bow, and Jack’s pre-outbreak hobby making historically accurate edged weapons for people who liked to reenact medieval battles. They were a couple miles from the edge of town when Luke saw a slow moving figure shuffling through a field ahead of them. There was an edge to his voice when he said, “Stop here, Wyatt. I think we have a situation to take care of.”

The Ranger didn’t immediately see what Luke was referring to, and he was annoyed that Luke jumped out of the Jeep before it had rolled to a complete stop. “What the—?” He closed his mouth and drew his weapon when he saw what Luke was running toward—the lurching gait was a dead giveaway. Wyatt immediately knew that they had found one of the Merrill brothers.

Luke was so fast that Wyatt didn’t have a chance to provide back-up. He briefly made eye contact with the zombie from beside the vehicle before Luke swept the monster’s legs from beneath it with a lightning fast kick. A second later he had the flesh-eater pinned faced down with a knee in its back. Wyatt hadn’t seen Luke pull a blade, but a wicked-looking dagger was already pointed into the soft spot at the base of the unfortunate creature’s skull. Luke gazed at Wyatt with an expression that didn’t reflect the fact that he was in the midst of a combat-situation: he looked sad. Wyatt held the teen’s gaze for several seconds before nodding once as he lowered his eyes. The plunging steel ended the unfortunate victim’s hungry thrashing.

By the time Wyatt crossed the twenty meters to Luke’s side, little rivulets of black blood were starting to soak into the frozen ground. “Jesus, you run faster than any man I’ve ever seen,” Wyatt panted while trying to catch his breath. He looked at the body and then turned away. “That’s Brock.”

“I figured it had to be your missing man.” Luke knew he had to keep his anger in check, but his connection to the hunters added new layers to the emotions that fueled his crusading spirit. Barnes and his virus continued to steal the lives of people such as Wyatt’s friend, and that was horrible enough, but the pain and the horror didn’t stop there. Luke snarled as he thought of Barnes, and Wyatt backed away from him.

Luke wasn’t sure what to say when he saw the fear in Wyatt’s eyes. “I get angry when I think about Barnes. You don’t have anything to fear from me.”

The older man chuckled nervously. “Remind me not to get on your bad side.” He stepped back up next to Luke and gazed at the corpse before them. “We won’t be returnin’ Brock to his family; the infected ain’t allowed in the city—livin’ or dead.”

“So what do you want to do?” Luke was certain that Wyatt wasn’t going to just leave him to rot in the field.

“I’ll send a team back to bury him, and tell ‘em to keep an eye out for his brother.”

Lying in bed with Gracie that night, Luke was having trouble concentrating on his reading. His thoughts kept returning to Brock Merrill. He finally set the book aside and noticed Gracie watching him. “I thought you were asleep,” he said.

“You were fidgety,” she offered. “And you’re distractingly cute when you’re trying to concentrate.” She sat up and gently kissed his cheek. “We all had a pretty productive day—the recruitment and training is going really well, and you’ve managed not only to increase our troops but get us big-boy artillery too. What am I missing?”

Luke sighed. “Wyatt said those brothers who disappeared—you know we found one as an infected today—were both experienced, responsible patrolmen. Two guys, on horseback, who were just on a mission to observe and report . . . something just feels off about the whole situation.”

“Are you worried that some of the hunters following us could have attacked them?”

Luke leaned back and looked at Gracie quizzically. “Not in the least. Those are the only hunters around here that I wouldn’t suspect.”

“Okay . . .” Gracie yawned. “Why don’t we take a group of fighters to wherever the brothers were supposed to go and have a look around for ourselves?”

Luke reached over and switched off the light. “That’s a really good idea; I’ll talk to Wyatt about it tomorrow.”

Gracie fell asleep quickly, and Luke relaxed as he listened to her soft snoring. Eventually, he drifted off as well.

The tri-fold door was slightly ajar, leaving only a small crack to peer through. The corner of a dark and dingy bedroom was visible, but sounds of movement indicated that someone else was in the room. Suddenly, a sharp scream pierced the darkness. The door slid open to reveal a female hunter with long matted hair sitting on the edge of the bed. She pivoted to face the closet before letting out another high pitched shriek that seemed to bounce around the room. Luke stumbled forward, and the hunter stood and eyed him curiously. Just then, the door to the bedroom burst open and two men, with guns drawn, stepped inside. Almost instantly, dark shadows from behind Luke fell upon the men, and the female hunter turned to Luke and smiled malevolently. He reached out and snapped her neck, and her head disintegrated into hundreds of tiny black helicopters . . .

CHAPTER 26

The plan was simple, as plans go, although the planners had very little idea how the attack would play out once they reached the refinery. A brand new cabin cruiser, captained by J.J., would carry Jack, Carter, T.C., and Orvil to a yet-to-be-determined landing point somewhere north of the tanker being fueled up by the refinery. The goals were to disable the tanker and disrupt the operations of the refinery. They still weren’t sure about how they were going to accomplish either objective, but after everything that had happened recently, Jack and Carter were more than ready to play soldiers again.

“Why on earth do you need T.C. to go along?” Charlotte had fire in her eyes as she glanced from Jack to Carter, then back to Jack. “He’s just an inexperienced kid who’ll be more trouble than he’s worth to you.”

Carter tried to appease his sister. “I’ll keep an eye on ‘im—”

“You shouldn’t have to keep an eye on him, you idiot. You’re going off on some dangerous mission—focus on the damn mission and keep my son out of it.”

“Yer son is livin’ in a dangerous world. Yer son ain’t a little kid no more, and he don’t have his daddy to show ‘em how to be smart ‘bout survivin’ and—”

“He’s got me. Are you sayin’ that I’m not smart enough?” Charlotte narrowed her eyes and raised her voice. “Are you sayin’ that I don’t know how to keep my family alive? We’re here, aren’t we? We didn’t need big, bad Carter to ride in and save us.”

“Ya had Curtis!“ Carter spat.

“Don’t—” Jack tried to interrupt.

Charlotte spun on her heels and slapped Carter’s face. “You have no idea what you’re talking about so I suggest you shut up.” She turned to Jack, and asked icily, “And how could you go along with this ridiculous idea? You’ve been livin’ with us; you know that T.C. is an immature, self-centered teenager who wouldn’t remember to zip up his pants if we didn’t remind him.”

“I do know what you’re saying, Charlotte, but I think you need to consider some of Carter’s points—and remember that he can’t express himself much better than a goat with a hammer.” Jack shot Carter an angry look that let his friend know in no uncertain terms to keep his mouth shut. “I’ve spent time with T.C. and he’s not a kid anymore, but you’re right—he’s inexperienced and immature. He’s also big and strong and full of young male energy and anger. He needs direction, and you could do a whole lot worse than Carter and me to provide that—we’re not raiding a horde or looking for a fight, our goal will be for all of us to stay out of sight. We really could use T.C.’s muscle if we have to carry our gear between waterways.” He walked over to Charlotte and took her face in his hands, “I promise you that I wouldn’t have agreed to let T.C. come with us if I thought it was a reckless idea. He’ll have both Carter and me looking out for him, and he will be an asset to us. Can you trust me on this?”

Charlotte stared into Jack’s eyes for several seconds, and as a few stray tears spilled down her cheeks, she silently nodded her agreement.

Carter’s jaw dropped as he watched the exchange between Jack and his sister. “I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but there’s somethin’ goin’ on here—“

“You’re a tool alright,” Charlotte snapped as she wiped at her eyes.

Jack was more direct. “Just shut up, Carter.”

Luke woke up with a slight headache and a vague memory of a female hunter, baiting two men with a human-sounding scream. He didn’t know if it was a memory or a dream, but he was anxious to get to Whitesboro and have a look around. He was dressed and almost out the door when Gracie stopped him.

“Hey, Babe, I woke up with a good idea.” She climbed out of bed and stretched. “We should put together a specialized break-out unit for exploratory missions or small-scale engagements—just a few Hummers and platforms with specific crews. Our goal should be to be fast and flexible. What do you think?”

Luke shut the door and gazed at Gracie appreciatively. “I think it’s like you said—you woke up with a good idea. We could try something like that today when we check out Whitesboro.”

“Didn’t you want to talk with Wyatt about that?”

“Yeah, and I was on my way to do just that. If you hurry up and finish getting dressed I’ll let you come with me.” Luke tossed Gracie her boots. “I might even let you buy me breakfast.”

Gracie slipped on several layers of clothing and pulled on her boots. “Just give me one more minute,” she said as she disappeared into the bathroom.

Luke groaned and picked up his book. “You mean one minute like when there’s a minute left on the clock in a football game. It says one minute, but it means five or ten.” He sat down and started to read his tattered copy of
Preindustrial Warfare
, but he was interrupted by a knock at the door.

He was surprised to find First Sergeant Joe Logan standing in the hall. The gruff commander didn’t wait to be invited in—he brushed past Luke as he asked, “You plannin’ on sleepin’ in every morning? I don’t believe in burnin’ daylight.” He picked up Luke’s book and leafed through it absentmindedly. “This stuff is good to know these days.”

Luke closed the door again and turned to Sergeant Logan. “I didn’t realize we’d set a time to meet this morning—”

Logan squinted at Luke curiously, “I can see why you wear the sunglasses. And we didn’t have a meetin’ time. Some of my boys were just anxious to see you and your set-up for themselves.”

Luke gestured for the First Sergeant to sit down. “Actually, I think you’re timing is perfect. We were just—”

Gracie popped out of the bathroom and smiled at the stranger sitting across from Luke. “I thought I heard voices.” She held out her hand. “I’m Gracie, also known as Captain Seifert-Smith, but please call me Gracie.”

Logan stood to shake Gracie’s hand. “I’m sorry to intrude, Captain?” He looked at Luke for an explanation.

Luke smiled at the First Sergeant’s confusion. “This is my wife, and she’s also one of my best officers.”

“Well, I don’t mean any disrespect, but I don’t know if my men will be able to look past the fact that you’re just a couple of teenagers. I don’t doubt that you’re both excellent fighters, but command is usually earned through experience.” He nodded toward Luke. “Survivin’ a bite certainly earns you bonus points, but your wife will have a harder time convincing experienced soldiers that she’s earned her rank.”

Luke didn’t appreciate anyone discrediting Gracie’s experience or abilities, but he did understand Logan’s point. “Like I said, I think your timing is perfect. We need to check in with Wyatt, but if all goes as expected, you and your group should follow us on a field exercise to Whitesboro. You should get a chance to see who we are and what we’re capable of before you commit to following our orders.”

Wyatt shared everything he knew about hunter sightings in the Whitesboro area, and he gave Luke and Gracie a basic map of the abandoned town and how to get there. The decision was made to take five of the Black Brigade’s Hummers, each pulling a combat-trailer, which was what the troops had begun calling the cage-like fighting platforms. They didn’t include any of Wyatt’s cavalry for this exercise since they wanted Sergeant Logan and his men to focus on what Luke’s forces had been trained to do. Luke expected to draw out a few stray packs of hunters attracted to the sound of humans; they would be dealt with quickly and efficiently. He also decided to run the small convoy through a series of formations along the route, mainly to show off for Logan’s group.

The gray-fog of exhaust from the column of vehicles spread over the Texan landscape as the soldiers warmed up their diesel engines. With a temperature somewhere around twenty degrees, the ground was rock-hard and the roads covered with a dusting of powdery snow that had accumulated over the course of the previous night. A much hoped-for warm-up had yet to materialize even though the calendar said it was February.

Gracie and Luke shared the lead Hummer with two soldiers she’d selected from her unit. They both had former military experience, and she thought that was an added bonus to their other qualifications since Sergeant Logan’s troops would be able to identify with these men who didn’t have any problem following her orders without question. Zach and Maddy each took charge of a Hummer and selected three-member crews to accompany them. Luke then chose two squad leaders to command their own and vehicles. In total, twenty people from the Black Battalion set off to show another twenty people from the troops at Preston what Luke and this part of the Allied Resistance Army were all about.

It took less than an hour for the convoy and its audience to arrive at the edge of Whitesboro. They stopped in front of what remained of a fast food restaurant and assessed the situation. Although the town looked completely deserted, Luke sensed the presence of hunters. The first order of business was to form a laager and make enough noise to attract the attention of nearby flesh-eaters. He requested that Sergeant Logan and his soldiers incorporate their vehicles into the laager and observe Luke’s forces from the caged fighting platforms. A few of Logan’s men expressed doubt that there would be much to see in an abandoned town in the middle of nowhere, but they were still intrigued by the defensive formation of the combat trailers and the disciplined young soldiers running the show.

Luke had climbed to the top of the marquee and was sitting under one of the golden arches with a pair of binoculars to quickly survey the area. He spotted the first pack before he heard them; he was somewhat surprised that they weren’t moaning or howling as they approached—they were jogging in unison in the middle of one of the main streets leading from the center of the town.

“A couple dozen hunters approaching from the South,” he called down. “Helmets up!” Instinctively, he turned his field glasses in the opposite direction and focused on the state highway and interstate exits a short distance behind the laager. He couldn’t see any hunters, but he knew they were there. It made sense that the noise of the convoy would have attracted creatures along the route, but he hadn’t sensed that they were being followed. About the same time the pack from town was within crossbow range, another forty or fifty hunters stood up and peered over the ledge of the overpass.

Gracie saw them too. “Maddy, keep an eye on your flank—we might get some action from those exit ramps.” She glanced at Luke to make sure he was seeing the same thing. She heard the crossbows release their bolts and turned to watch the result when movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention. The hunters on the overpass were jumping over the edge and landing apparently unscathed on the road below.

Luke slid down to the ground and stepped toward the surviving members of the first pack he’d seen. Perhaps half of this group had survived the hail of bolts, and now they ran into Luke and his devastating axe. The hunters tried to avoid the fighter who didn’t smell or carry himself like a human. They did their best to run around the death-dealer and his lethal blade, but half of them were destroyed before Zach with his hammer, and Gracie with a halberd, expertly dropped the rest.

While Gracie and Zach had been showing off their skills, Luke noticed that there were no longer any flesh-eaters on the overpass, and he concluded that they were now forming up for an attack on the opposite side of the laager. In his heart, he knew that this had been a coordinated attack by intelligent creatures capable of communicating with one another. “Back to the laager!” he shouted before sprinting towards the tiny circle of vehicles and sliding over the hood of one of the Hummers.

Zach and Gracie were right on his tail. Maddy had taken charge of the defense against the new attack, placing two men each in three of the fighting cages. She also ordered a pikeman into each of the Hummers’ fighting ports. The rest of the soldiers guarded the spaces between the vehicles.

The hunters had learned nothing from the destruction of the first wave of attackers, rushing the human position en masse in a tactic that had probably worked for them before. Not this time. The first volley of crossbow bolts dropped ten of the beasts as they began their assault, and the men in the cages had pre-loaded extras they used to drop half a dozen more monsters as they closed on the laager. The pikemen in the fighting ports of the Hummers stabbed mercilessly with their twelve-foot shafts, punching right through skulls with nearly every thrust. A handful of monsters actually managed to breach the laager, only to find Luke and his bloody axe waiting to greet them. Then it was over: the Whitesboro pack was no more.

First Sergeant Logan and his men had watched all this unfold with growing unease. They had been anxious to add their firepower to the assault, and they were stunned when Luke politely refused Logan’s offer of assistance. They were even more stunned when a ring of dead and dying hunters surrounded the laager not more than fifteen minutes later, without the use of firearms or any other artillery.

Wanting to travel under the cover of darkness, Jack and his team left town an hour before dusk. They were placing their trust on a nearly full moon and a clear, cold sky to provide enough illumination on the river to avoid the many obstacles that could damage their midsize cabin cruiser. J.J. had convinced them that he knew the lower Mississippi as well as any pilot still alive, but travelling the river during the hours of darkness always had been, and was still, a dangerous proposition. Jack felt the potential reward outweighed the risk, and Carter fully agreed with his long-time comrade—they wanted to be as discreet as possible if they were heading into Barnes-controlled territory.