DEAD Snapshot Box Set, Vol. 1 [#1-#4]

by Brown, TW

  “Well three of the people in my group were part of the last response team to put boots on the ground here in Vegas. The other five are civilians, but they seem to have their heads on straight.”

  Joel nodded. He wondered if the person had simply reciprocated sharing information, or if perhaps he was trying to establish that his numbers were superior. Either way, he wasn’t inclined to continue standing around in the street having this conversation. It would be getting dark soon, and he wanted to at least be someplace defensible by the time it was full dark.

  “You’re welcome to join us if you like.” Joel tried to sound uninterested in how his offer would be taken. “And if not, we just want to be on our way.”

  “Give me a minute,” Tim said with a nod. He turned on his heel and jogged back to the roadblock.

  Joel made a count of heads as people emerged to meet the man. He counted six people besides Tim. That meant two were staying out of sight. Smart move, he acknowledged. If he’d been honest in revealing their numbers, then they had the sense to keep what he imagined were designated snipers out of sight and on alert. A moment later, his suspicions were confirmed when the report of a rifle sounded and another zombie that was approaching the scene dropped lifelessly to the ground like a toy that had just had its power cut.

  After a very short meeting, Tim turned and jogged back. “My people are amicable about us perhaps joining forces.”

  “That’s all well and good, but before you make that decision, you might want to explain that we are not a rescue mission in the making.” He saw the man nod and decided to elaborate a little. “We are looking to set ourselves up not to simply survive, but to live. The world we knew is over. Most folks are going to cling to its decaying corpse for as long as possible. I plan to create my own little Utopia.”

  Tim regarded Joel long enough that Joel thought he’d reconsidered. At last he spoke again, his voice barely a whisper, “We gonna become raiders?”

  “Nothing quite so sinister,” Joel laughed and patted the man on the arm. “But we will take what we need, and if it means taking it from somebody else…well…that isn’t off the table.”

  Tim glanced over his shoulder at his group that were now gathered on the other side of the roadblock—Joel marked that as the first mistake he’d noticed in the group. Trust was simply not something you could afford to be generous with in the current world environment. He would have a bit of work to do as he built what he was beginning to think of as his New World Army.

  “I think the best plan for today would be to get someplace for the night and hunker down,” Joel said, putting an arm around Tim’s shoulder and walking with him towards the group clustered in front of the roadblock. He could almost feel Debra’s eyes boring into his back, and had to wonder if maybe now it wasn’t his turn to be making the stupid move.

  “Folks, this is…” Tim turned back to Joel, his face just a little flushed with embarrassment. “I feel stupid. All the excitement and I went and forgot your name. Seems almost crazy to even be considering joining up with you when I can’t even recall your name.” He laughed uncomfortably.

  Joel did a quick sweep of the people gathered around and saw at least two individuals who were less than impressed with developments. Or maybe they were simply not happy that their apparent spokesman, and possibly even their leader, could be so absent-minded.

  “We gonna stand around here in the open like this much longer?” a woman snarled. “I thought we were taking cover in the Walgreens until tomorrow morning before blowing this Popsicle stand.”

  “I guess I will start the introductions with the always outspoken, Miss Hope Dalton,” Tim said with a wave of his hand to indicate the woman who’d just spoken.

  The woman appeared in her early thirties with hair that was a shade of red that Joel knew did not grow naturally. Her blue eyes were squinted against the reflection of the sun off the side of a nearby building. She had rifles jutting over each shoulder and a hook-bladed weapon on her hip that looked like it’d seen a considerable amount of action. When her eyes met his, the corners of her eyes tightened and her lips pulled back in a bit of a sneer.

  “We can do this when we get settled in for the evening, if you don’t mind.” Joel held up a hand, silencing Tim before he could continue. “And do you think something like a store that size is really the best choice for making camp tonight?”

  “You got a better idea?” a man huffed, folding his arms across his chest.

  Joel turned to see a dark-skinned young man no older than his late teens glaring at him. This had been the person who had been aiming the grenade launcher at them. He held the weapon in his hands with the look of comfort that a person well trained on a weapon will possess. He was wearing a tee shirt advertising one of the casinos, but his pants were military fatigues, and his boots were definitely Government Issue.

  “Yes,” Joel said flatly. “I believe I do have a better idea than a store that size. There are plenty of abandoned private residences. A few have sturdy fences around them, a few even have stone walls. We take one over for the night.”

  “Not likely to find a lot of supplies for this many people in a single residence,” the dark-skinned man grumbled.

  “We don’t need to top off supplies today,” Joel countered. “We hold up until morning and then make planned and organized assaults on locations that are likely to have vital supplies. But even then, we have to be mindful of where we plan to set up our base of operations. Space will be limited unless we find a large vehicle like a UPS truck to haul stuff.”

  “I only got one question.” The young man swung his grenade launcher around so that it wasn’t exactly pointed at Joel, but it was certainly in his general direction. “Who named you leader?”

  “Nobody. And I could give a flying fuck if you come along or not. I spoke with your man Tim here, let him know my intentions, and now me and my crew will be on our way. Come…don’t. I absolutely don’t care.”

  Joel turned and started back toward the Humvee. He quickly dialed in Debra’s face and watched her expression. She would tell him everything he needed to know with her eyes. He fought the urge to touch any of his weapons, opting to hopefully put off an appearance of calm confidence.

  Her eyes never found his, but instead continued to watch the people he had behind him. By the time he reached the door and opened it, he could feel a trickle of sweat roll down the middle of his back.

  “Are you insane?” Debra whispered, barely moving her lips and keeping her eyes forward.

  Joel climbed in and started fastening his seat harness and tugging on his headset. He barely had it on when he heard Will Barnes.

  “Umm, what do we do here, chief?”

  “Hold your fire,” Joel answered, assuming that the statement had been intended for him.

  The group had all started climbing into the assorted vehicles used to block the road at this point. Joel kept his eyes on the one that Tim climbed into. It pulled away first and rolled his direction, coming to a stop beside the Humvee.

  After unlocking the small window, Joel removed his headset and regarded Tim with raised eyebrows. The other vehicles were all falling in behind Tim’s, so whatever choice they’d made, it looked unanimous.

  “We’re with you,” Tim shouted over the noise of the numerous engines.

  “Okay, then let’s get off the streets and clear a location for the night.”

  Joel turned to Debra and gave her a nod. She pulled forward without a word, but he saw her jaw clench just a bit. He would ask her later what reservations she might hold, but there were a number of zombies staggering out into the street because of all the noise. Their conversation could wait.

  It didn’t take long for them to locate a residence that would suit their needs perfectly. To Joel, the two-story house looked like it belonged to somebody who wished they had more money than they actually possessed. It was heavily landscaped with all sorts of fruit trees, fountains, and had the general appearance of being immaculate. C
loser inspection, and being heavily involved in real estate made that one of Joel’s specialties, revealed that most of the work was cosmetic and little more than a coating of gloss over chipped tiles. The water features were not real rock, but poly-resin constructs. The wall was the giveaway. The iron work that topped it was pitted with rust that had been painted over an unknown number of times. Still, that wall would be enough to keep zombies out for the night.

  Getting in was a simple matter and all the vehicles were parked along the front of the home. Sentries were posted and a rotation was quickly drawn up. Joel, Tim, Debra, and the young soldier, Malik Wyrick, took seats around the large dining room table and laid out plans for the next few days. Joel explained his goal of establishing a main base at the Hoover Dam.

  “We need to move fast. If there are any workers still on site, we secure them. They will be the key,” Joel explained.

  “Key to what?” Malik asked. His tone had started off challenging, but as the plans were explained, he’d quickly gotten on board. Now he was almost anxious.

  “Power will be the key. This world is about to be thrown back into the dark ages,” Joel explained. “If we can secure that massive source of power and harness it for our consumption while simultaneously choking off the rest of the grid that feeds off it, we would quickly become the most powerful entity in this new world.”

  “And we are agreed on the fact that we only bring in viable workers,” Debra repeated. “One of the biggest failures in our country was caring for all the wastes of life that couldn’t get off their ass and get a job.”

  “If they can’t work, they are nothing more than a drain on resources,” Joel reiterated.

  The meeting broke up after a little over two hours, but everybody walked away from the table feeling like they had a direction. Joel went from the meeting straight to his shift as a sentry perched on the roof of the house. That had been another point that he’d hammered home during the meeting: Everybody pulls their weight…no exceptions.

  ***

  It had taken two weeks to gather over fifty individuals that were willing to fall in with Joel and his growing New World Army. Taking the dam had almost been anti-climactic. The best find had been the cluster of a dozen workers that had secured themselves in the big chamber that housed the enormous turbines.

  After very little persuasion, an employee roster was handed over. Joel sent teams out on recovery runs to bring in as many of the individuals that worked at the dam as possible. Many of their searches were fruitless, but in the end, they managed to round up a total of thirty-five dam workers that ranged from engineer all the way to tour guide.

  “Why the hell do we want some parks and recreation drone?” Debra had grumbled.

  “They know this facility probably better than anybody,” Joel explained. “That includes all the hiding spots and secrets.”

  By the end of five weeks, there were over two hundred people living in the visitor’s center and plans were put into play to start creating more living quarters in the multi-floor parking garage. It was just after a supply mission that Joel faced his first real challenge.

  Walking into what was now designated the control center, Joel stopped by the radio operator’s station. One of the posts manned around the clock was the communication room. All sorts of monitoring equipment and a handful of shortwave radios were constantly being listened to for any signs of survivors…or enemies. This was how they found the locations of various groups. Joel never ceased to be amazed at how much information was given up by people that were growing increasingly desperate.

  “We have what sounds like a pretty large group out there,” the young woman wearing the headset reported. “But they are still in the city.”

  Joel had ceased sending groups into the city of Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. Now that the power had been shut off, the city was a death trap. The casinos and hotels were nothing more than hives of the undead. The risk/reward ratio was slanted too far towards risk as bands of zombies and the worst dregs of humanity warred for supremacy. Joel would let them battle it out until winter came and went, then he would return and see if there was anything left.

  “Somebody named Conrad Parks keeps coming on every hour and asking for help. Twice he has called for you by name, sir. He says that his group is trapped in the MGM Grand Signature Suites, Tower Two. There are…”

  Joel was no longer listening to the report. As impossible as it seemed, young Conrad was alive. If that was true, then he had no choice…he would go fetch the boy. Of course the boy was a grown man, but to Joel he would always be Bill Parks’ little boy.

  “I want a team ready in…” Joel glanced down at his watch, “…twenty minutes. Volunteer only. This will be a run into the city.”

  “But you said—” the operator started.

  “I am very aware of what I said,” Joel cut her off. “And that is why this is a volunteer only mission. Make the announcement. I will be in the briefing room, have anybody interested meet me there.”

  Ten minutes later, Will, Debra, Malik, and three other individuals entered the room with the long table that had been designated as the briefing room. Joel scanned each face and knew before the first words were spoken who would be a problem.

  Joel thought his name might be Patrick Something-or-other. The truth was that it didn’t really matter. This was going to serve a purpose as everything must these days. Joel had prepared in advance for this possibility, and held his smile in check when Will moved just behind and to the side of the man that Joel’s gaze lingered on.

  “I am heading into the city to bring in a group,” he announced. “They are trapped in the Grand’s Signature Towers. I will inform our communications team to make contact and instruct them on how it will work. This will be an in-and-out operation, but there will be risk. As we all know, the walkers have chosen to linger in the heart of the city in the area of the Strip.”

  “I thought you made the rule that the Strip was off limits…too dangerous was your edict, was it not?” Patrick challenged almost on cue.

  “That is correct, but I believe this group will be of use. My edict, as you have deemed it, was based on the risk versus the reward.”

  “I hear the person called for you specifically,” Patrick pressed.

  Joel hid his grimace. This meant that somebody in communications had let slip information. That would be a problem he would fix later. Right now he needed to handle the one before him. He needed to do it in a way that would make very clear the degree of tolerance he possessed. More important, it needed to demonstrate that any form of rebellion or dissension would be dealt with harshly.

  Joel gave a nod and Will struck like a cobra. The butt of his rifle smashed into the base of the neck of the man, dropping him to his knees. Just as fast, Debra stepped in with zip cuffs and bound Patrick’s hands behind his back.

  “We will leave as soon as this is dealt with,” Joel announced. He scanned the faces of the rest of those who had answered his call for volunteers. Not one of them showed much more than mild curiosity.

  “You gonna toss him to the stiffs?” Malik asked, toeing the downed figure with his boot.

  “Too easy.” Joel made a dismissive wave with his hand. “Bring him with me and have the entire population mustered to the emergency stairwell.”

  It took almost an hour to bring everybody down to the open corridor that terminated with an ominous metal door. An elderly woman stood beside the door with Joel. Her gray hair was pulled back in a severe bun and her face showed the ravages that years of smoking could do to the skin. In her hand was a large key.

  Once it looked as if everybody was assembled, Joel began, “When this dam was constructed, they had to build a set of switchback stairs to go up and down. I would like each of you to make your way through this doorway and travel in far enough so that everybody gets down to the first landing.”

  There were more than a few looks of confusion, and even a few of concern. Anticipating this, he gave Debra a curt nod. />
  “Everybody follow me. I’d maybe keep a hand on the person in front of you so nobody gets lost.” Without another word, she ducked through the open door, past a metal gate, and down the stairs.

  Joel watched as everybody began to follow suit with the exception of Will who remained and kept Patrick at gunpoint. It took well over twenty minutes for everybody to file in and past. Once the last person went through the door way, Joel moved over to a circuit breaker switch.

  “I will ask you to indulge me for a moment,” he called down the stairs. “Stay put, and do not worry, what you are about to experience will only be temporary.”

  With that, Joel stepped back, shut the heavy metal door and turned the breaker switch to off. Even through the solid metal of the door, shouts of alarm could just be heard. He glanced over at Will who was shaking his head slowly.

  “Do you have a problem, Mister Barnes?” Joel tapped the switch but still did not turn it back on.

  “That is some cold shit,” the man replied. “And there won’t be any going back once we do this.”

  “If you lack the stomach…” Joel allowed that statement to hang in the air.

  “Nope.” Will shook his head. “Just saying that we are going to be committed to this once we cross that line.”

  “Let me be perfectly clear.” Joel folded his hands across his chest and regarded the man with a cold stare. “We will have order. This is not a world were anything can be left to chance. The moment one of ours refuses to do what is asked of them, or believes they can rely on the old way of making a fuss to draw attention to what they deem is some sort of social injustice, we return to the same hamstrung politically correct world that failed and brought us to where we are today.”

  Without another word, Joel flicked the breaker back on and wrenched the lever up. With a grunt of effort, he swung the door back open. He didn’t have to say a word as people flooded out and back into the light. Many were blinking and rubbing their eyes. A few were busily wiping tears away. He made a point of memorizing those faces. Fear could be a weapon that he could exploit if the need arose.