Run

by Burk, William

  "Getting an early start on the move?" I ask when the others have left, leaving Owen and myself behind.

  "Yup, Half the town has just left. Once they've unloaded drivers will bring the cars back for the second half of town." He takes a breath. "Nothing left to do here but wait and make sure everyone makes it out and to campus safely. You know the way and have your own truck. You're free to go whenever but I'd be more comfortable if you waited for the escort and second trip."

  Not letting my confusion show as I say. "Sure I'm in no particular rush."

  "Great, keep me company while I do a walk through of town and make sure we haven't overlooked anything?" He asks already on the move and not waiting for my response.

  I agree and we spend a few hours walking around checking every crevice of the town. Stopping to chat idly with anyone we cross paths with. I can't help but notice Owen is wearing his gun today which he normally doesn't do in town trusting his guard. I chalk it up to most of the guard being at the new home. He seems more on edge today too but again. With the move taking place it's understandable and I don't give it any further thought.

  The convoy pulls back into town just as lunch is being prepared for the remaining town folks. They report no issues and everyone is settling into the dorms nicely. Tables and chairs and most of the food already moved to the new town leaving us with bread and canned tuna for lunch. Everyone scarfs down lunch quickly. Not wasting any time and rushing back to loading the cars with their personal belongings. I however take my time enjoying the rather dull lunch before I move my car to the tail end of the convoy. Rather than sitting around waiting, Sarah and I both offer up our services. We help other folks with moving and loading.

  It doesn't take long before we're on the road to our new home. On the way out two of the guard vehicles shift to taking up the two tailing spots on the convoy. The trip itself passes uneventfully and quickly. That changes however when we make it to campus. Turns out our convoy is one vehicle short. One of the two tailing guard vehicles went missing during the trip and no one noticed.

  "Who was driving?" Owen asks Alan who was in the second to last car.

  "Joel and Eve were the only two in the vehicle sir," Alan responds curtly.

  "And where are they now?"

  "Don't know sir. Lost sight of them on the highway off-ramp just two miles from here. With all the turns between here and there, I didn't actually notice they weren't behind us anymore"

  Owen sighs heavily. "Go and find them. Take James and Brandon with you." He gestures me over to stand beside Alan before shouting out.

  "I need three guards to go searching for our missing people." Walking away he says no more to Alan and I. Alan shouts for Brandon while I run inside grabbing a gun for myself. Unlike most of the guard, I don't generally keep myself armed and only grab for a firearm when preparing for a mission. This seems like a good time to be armed though. I'm guessing they probably just got held up by a flat tire or something along those lines. No need to worry just yet.

  The sun remains up for another three hours and the entirety of that time is spent searching. My team is with Alan driving. And a second-team being led by Owen himself. Who has demanded we have radio check-ins every five minutes. If we're leaving range we need to make sure to report it with an estimate on how long. Strict but when we find absolutely zero traces of Joel, Eve or the car nobody questions the commands. Nobody is saying it but everyone is thinking Joel , Eve and the car couldn't have vanished so completely without foul play.

  #

  "We're losing light. All search teams return to base" Owens voice cuts through the silence of our searching. His voice coming over the radio.

  "Roger that. ETA twenty-five minutes" Alan responds.

  "That's it," I ask.

  "What more can we do? We haven't found even the slightest trace of them. Think we'll have better luck after sundown? I'm sure Owen will send out search parties in the morning. But whatever happened to them and the car wasn't zombies or something as simple as a flat tire. They either decided to go off on their own or someone decided for them" He answers.

  "Wait what? Decided for them. Do you mean Owen? But then why spend all this time searching?" I ask confused.

  "No not Owen you idiot. He means like bandits or someone else taking them and the car with force!" Brandon cuts in from the back seat.

  I twist in my seat looking at him through squinted eyes then back to Alan. Neither says anything.

  "Wouldn't be something you aren't telling me is there?" The suspicion oozing from my voice as I ask the two of them. no one says anything for several minutes. "Well don't both of you speak at once now!" I say into their silence.

  "Fine!" Brandon says "I didn't tell you though."

  "What?" I say

  "It happened a few days after we returned from the hospital. One of the guard teams ran into a group of survivors who were less than friendly but weren't hostile. Well, the guard radioed to Owen. Who went out to meet with them twice and well things didn't go so well in the second meeting." Brandon finishes speaking.

  "What? Could you be any vaguer? What does not go well mean?" I ask abruptly.

  Alan answers this time. "That's all we know Owen wouldn't tell us any specifics. Only that we need to be on guard more so than normal. And to not trust anyone we come across or we could find ourselves dead at the hands of man rather than a zombie."

  "Interesting, Why is this the first I'm hearing about this? I mean not telling the other survivors I can understand." After a few heartbeats worth of though I add. "Maybe, But I am part of the guard with you fuckers too" I feel the flush rising in my cheeks as I speak.

  "Only the team leaders have been told. The majority of the guard has no idea that anything has happened" Alan is quick to speak.

  "I see," I say simply just as Alan turns the car onto the road that leads to campus. The school comes into view and we ride the last few blocks in silence. My mind is racing and planning a few choice words for Owen when we get there.

  Back on campus, I head straight for Owen who is already busy gathering the guard together. I try getting his attention but he brushes me off with a not now. I wander off instead in the direction of the wafting smell of food. Grabbing myself a plate of food. I meander back to where Owen and the rest of the guard are congregating. And stand eating there while the last few stragglers arrive. Once Owen is satisfied we're all there he begins speaking.

  "I'm sure you all know by now Joel and Eve are missing and without a trace." He begins his speech. He then jumps into explaining the group he met with shortly after the hospital visit. His explanation provides me and the rest of the people with more information than Brandon and Alan told me earlier.

  "During the meeting, it became clear they wouldn't fit in with our community. Namely, their forms of entertainment are absolutely barbaric." He raises his hands gesturing for everyone to remain silent. "I know not my decision to make but in this case, I think you'll all agree. I had Joel follow the group and gather intel after our first meeting. He found they keep women locked up and I'm sure you can imagine why. Their other form of entertainment is cage fighting. Particularly human vs zombie seeming to be the crowd favorite." Owen takes a breather. Waiting for the group of us to quit muttering before he continues. "The next day. When meeting with them the second time. I shared the news that we would not be sharing resources or joining our groups together. They didn't like this. If not for the guns we had pointed their way I imagine it would have ended even worse. But instead it ended with them threatening to 'get us' which I believed to be idle at the time. That night I sent Joel with Eve back to their camp to try and get out the prisoners. But the group had moved during the day and we don't know their current location. These are who I believe are responsible for Joel and Eve to be missing now. I specifically had them tailing the convoy as they knew the full threat better than any of us."

  "What do we do now?" a voice from the small crowd hollers out at him.

  "Well, we have to assume
they know where we are setting up home. As such the first task is to make sure we're on high guard at all times. as such four guards on watch with at all times two of whom will be watching from the roofs. Watching for any approach of people on foot or car. Also watching for smoke during the day and lights during the night. It may be possible to find where they are living currently. The second task is finding our people which if I'm right means finding this group of people. The last task is eliminating the enemy."

  With this last task spoken aloud. He looks to each individual guard member meeting their eyes. As if trying to determine if anyone isn't up to the task. I walk over to the dormitories wondering why everything always comes down to murder. Sure it's kill or be killed but that doesn't make it much better. Sarah appears in my path.

  "Hey, You're back! any luck?"

  "None. You know where my room is?" I ask

  "Sure do, I saved you the room next to mine," she says smiling broadly.

  #

  Chapter 24

  Search teams are being sent out daily. They are looking for our people or our enemies. The members of the guard have been referring to the enemies by a number of names. Such as 'Rat Bastards", 'Cockroaches', 'Dead Men Walking' and 'Future Zombies'. Rats is the name most have settled on using being short and rolling off the tongue easily.

  Daily and nightly teams are out searching for the Rats base or our people. The rest of the guard is on constant vigilance and patrolling the campus perimeter at all times. Enough so that the civilians begin asking questions. After a week Owen gives in to the demands for answers. Everyone is feeling the tension and leaving the non-guard members of the community out of the loop is only making things worse. Especially when they start being denied answers. The outcome, however, has more people taking shifts on the watch. Civilians start volunteering and taking turns keeping watch from the roofs. Allowing guards to have breaks more often and free them up to patrol elsewhere or sleep. This is why Owen begins keeping only one guard member on the roofs with the civilians. The other two that would be up there are instead either on guard elsewhere, resting or out searching.

  A full month passes in this way without a single trace found of the Rats. The daily searches have gone back to being scavenging runs. The nightly searches have ended. Defensive and watch shifts remain unchanged. In this time full spring has come and the field has been worked into a farm. The farmers have planted Potatoes, Cabbage, and beets. Maybe not the most exciting crops. But I and everyone else here are drooling over the prospect of having fresh produce again. Still, many weeks to go for the first harvest. So we remain eating canned foods for us for now.

  Which brings us to tonight. I'm on the night shift along with two other guard members on the roofs. Only guards are used for the night watch and the night watch from the roof is the most tedious not from difficulty but from boredom. With it being night and dark we can't see anything from up here. If the Rats show up in the night unless they're dumb enough to do so with lights on. Or they wait for a full moon there is little chance we'll see them up here. Tonight happens to be a waning crescent moon not quite pitch black but fairly dark. And the days ahead will be darker for the incoming new moon. But we watch anyway more in case they do prove to be stupid but also for headlights in the distance. If we see any source of light no matter how close or far we are to immediately call it in and get everyone on high alert. Radio chatter comes in, all parties confirming all clears.

  The night drags on as I find myself pacing the edge of the roof for no reason other than to stay moving and awake. One other guard doing the same on the other edge while the third is sitting in the corner. Turning my back towards the guard sitting on the corner I began my trek across the building once again. I turn back quickly however hearing the whispering and shuffling of quick footsteps. Turning back I can make out the guard in the corner. He's gesturing towards me to come over and quickly based on the urgency of the gesture. The shuffling footsteps are from the other guard who is already on his way to the corner.

  As soon as I get there I whisper "What's going"

  Brandon, the guard from the corner cuts me off before I can finish my question, A finger on his own lips in a shh gesture. He then points downward towards the ground and raises his hand cupping his ear. I presume he's trying to tell me he heard something. Listening I hear nothing other than the wind. Minutes go by before Brandon whispers to us.

  "I was sure I heard footsteps"

  I lean over the edge a bit further trying to get a look at the ground. It's too dark to see much of anything and nothing is moving as far as I can tell. I look back to Brandon pointing to the radio and lean in to whisper to him.

  "Radio the guard patrolling ground level. Might have been them passing through no?"

  He shakes his head. "No, They radioed in not five minutes ago they wouldn't have been back yet. And if the patrol path changed they would have called that in too" Brandon responds.

  "OK, So call them up and have them hurry back to check things out. Probably nothing but better to be cautious. Or two of us can go down there?" I suggest.

  "No. We keep our post. I'll radio it in." He responds and moves away.

  He steps away from the corner to the center of the roof. He stands in the entrance to the stairwell leading into the building. A precaution we always take when radioing at night from the roof. The idea being not to give ourselves away from the sound of our voices. This leaves Me and John one of the younger Guard members in the corner. We're hanging over the edge watching and listening. Just as I'm about to give up on listening a sudden shuffling sound floats up to me. It's too faint to make any estimation on direction or distance. Instead, my eyes jerk to John whose eyes are wide with alert indicating he also heard it. Doubling my effort in listening. I close my eyes. Thinking I'll be able to hear better without sight distracting me. Three heartbeats pass before more sounds of scratching reach our ears. A bit more prominent now. It sounds like the scratching feet make when they just slightly drag along the ground. The sounds of a shuffling walk. The sort of movement you expect from a zombie or someone with a limp. Could be the wind pushing some leaves along the ground and our imaginations are getting away from us.

  Looking back for Brandon I see him over by the stairwell still. Rushing over in a crouching run trying to be quiet and stay low I get his attention before leaning in toward his ear.

  "Definitely sounds like shuffling footsteps. Is ground patrol on their way?"

  "They haven't answered. I had to radio the perimeter guard to come and check it out. I also called a full alert to CC. We are to stay here watching until further orders." he answers.

  "Fuck" is all I say turning back towards the edge of the roof and making my way back to the edge next to John. Brandon follows only a few steps behind me. During a full alert at night the protocol is to wake up all guards . Who will get dressed and armed in the dark to avoid candlelight giving anyone away. Quiet is also of utmost importance. However, how quiet can you really be when you're running around halls knocking on doors. Whisper shouting full alert through all the locked doors. From our vantage point on the roof we can here the scuttling around inside the building. It doesn't take long for the scurrying inside to make its way outside. The guard starts pouring out with guns and flashlights at the ready.

  They move to make a perimeter around the dorm first and begin heading out from there. I watch the guard running to and fro, flashlights swinging in every direction. I can't help but be impressed. We drilled this only a few times and from the looks of it, that was all we needed. Everyone is on point. My marveling doesn't last long. A shout rings out from the far edge of the farm followed closely by two gunshots. The silence is deafening as I stand here straining my eyes and ears.

  "Single zombie down. all clear here" The radio fills the silence a minute after the gunfire.

  I breathe a sigh of relief. A zombie would explain the shuffling footsteps. I remember the ground guard that wasn't answering the radio. They are still unaccounted for as
far as I've heard.

  "CC I think the zombie is ….or was Joel" The voice cuts in.

  Confused I begin to open my mouth to speak my questions aloud when the radio goes off yet again.

  "CC We have two guards down near the library, they're dead," A female voice says over the radio. Must be Ariel's voice. I haven't worked with her at all but with Ashley and Eve both gone she is the only remaining woman in the guard.

  "That would be the ground guard team. Their route circles the library" I say turning to Brandon. Remembering the route well for I was on that team just last night.

  Owen's voice comes through the radio. "Bring the bodies to CC, The zombie too. All guards remain on watch and patrol till sun up. Lights off. Don't make yourselves easy targets. Teams of three. Don't wander far."

  "What do we do?" I ask aloud knowing the answer is going to be to stay put and finish the watch shift. Sure enough, Brandon indulges me.

  "We still have a job to do. Back to our watch" he says.

  "Sure thing boss," I say over my shoulder, beginning to pace again as my eyes scan the horizon. I don't make it five steps when I see headlights off in the distance moving away.

  "Guys. car!" I quietly shout while gesturing towards the fleeting vehicle.

  Brandon follows my finger and wastes no time calling it in this time not bothering to move for the stairwell. "Command, We have a car moving eastward away from the base. Too far to make out any details just the headlights moving in the distance"

  "Roger that. Keep your eyes on it and note anything you can about its direction or path that you can." Owen responds.

  "Yes sir" Brandon answers.

  The last few hours of darkness pass by both quickly and slowly in response to the tension. We've lost two people today. It feels like three now that we have potential confirmation that Joel is, in fact, dead. This also means there is a strong possibility Eve is also dead. Up until now however hopeless it was. Without confirmation, we could keep that grain of hope alive. Now, however, that hope is taken away from us. At sun up the morning watch shift relieves us. The three of us run down the stairs three stairs at a time in our desire to confirm what all happened with our own eyes. On the ground floor in front of the building lie three bodies. One clearly a zombie. Not much remains of the face and head thanks to the two gunshots but the clothing is Joel's and it's his figure. The other two bodies are from two guards I didn't know very well. Noah and William.