Lucky

by Sage du Toit

  They all got out their flashlights and shined them into the warehouse. They were lucky that three of the big bay doors were already open because they were controlled by electricity and they would have had a hard time opening them. They walked into the middle open bay and there were several bodies lying around on the floor. They were bloated and it looked like they were leaking fluids. Sam had never seen a dead body before, much less one that looked like this. She had to turn away as she fought the gag reflex and tried not to throw-up in her gas mask. The guys were doing the same, except for Rick Lee, he seemed almost immune. Sam was very thankful she couldn’t smell, sight was bad enough. Joe looked white through his mask and Sam worried about him but realized that she probably looked much worse with her black eyes and queasiness. Joe got everyone’s attention and sent them off in teams of two to search the warehouse. They were looking for food supplies, medical supplies, clothing and transportation, really anything they could use. None of them had weapons, because even though that had them back at the mess hall there were no bullets for them and there was no point in carrying around an empty gun.

  Sam was paired up with Rick, she had previously thanked him for the loan of the clothes and he had told her to keep them. He said he had another set. Sam had received some slack from some of the soldiers in fourth platoon because she now had a second set and they only had one each. She was surprised when Benny, who was also in fourth platoon, had stepped in, in her defense and offered to break their nose to see if that would get them some extra clothes. They had shut up after that and left her alone.

  Sam and Rick were sent off toward the back of the warehouse and the other two teams went to the left and right. It was dark in the back and they were shining their flashlights on the huge towering shelves. Sam couldn’t help but think of some of the zombie moves she had seen in the past and she kept envision something jumping out at her from behind one of the shelves. The pallets on the shelves were all labeled and numbered with a code and it was hard to tell what was under all of the plastic they were wrapped in. She knew they needed to find an inventory so they could locate what they needed without opening every pallet.

  They reached the back of the warehouse and there was an enclosed office with windows looking out to the warehouse, the door was shut and hanging on the wall next to the door was a clipboard full of papers. There were a few more dead bodies in this area and Sam was careful to step around them as she went to pick up the clipboard. She was looking through the pages as Rick checked over a forklift that was sitting next to the office. She shined her flashlight on the paper and saw that it was the warehouse inventory. Just as she was turning to signal to Rick, something slapped against the glass of the office from the inside. Her nerves were still up because of her thoughts of zombies and when she turned and her flashlight shined it on the thin faces in the window she screamed a loud echoing scream.

  Everyone came running and she kept the light shined through the window on to a man and a woman that were in the office. They looked desperate and slightly emaciated. Sam took the pen hanging on the clip board and wrote on the back of one of the pages. “Hang in there we will get you out! DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR UNTIL WE SAY!” She showed Joe what she wrote and they all got together to figure out the best way to get them out. Sam looked around the warehouse and thought what bad luck that all of this was out here and they were trapped in there. She remembered seeing something on the inventory list and scanned through it again. She made a note of several things, putting a mark next to them so it would be easier to find them again later. She then located what she was looking for. It listed NBC gear and that’s what they needed, gas masks and suits to get them out safely. The inventory showed description, location, bin# and quantity in stock plus a few other numbers she wasn’t sure of.

  The end of each row had a double letter on it and each shelf had a letter number combination. She showed the others what she found and they started looking for the correct location. They found it just a few rows down from where they were standing but the pallet was on a top shelf. Rick was standing at the window trying to talk to the people in the office, he was asking them where the key to the forklift was. It was like playing an extreme version of charades. He pointed at the forklift and then made the motion like turning a key. Both people shrugged and then you could see they were talking to each other and they motioned excitedly but Rick didn’t know what they were pointing at… there were a dozen things that direction including the forklift. Sam looked and saw there was a body on the floor next to the forklift and she pointed to it and looked at the people in the office and they nodded.

  Rick came over and started going through the bodies pockets and she suggested checking the hand. They were bloated and stiff but he pried the fingers open and found a key fob inside. He held it up and they gave a thumbs up. The other guys started dragging the bodies out of the way, they just grabbed them by the ankles and pulled them off to the side so Rick could maneuver the forklift. He got on the forklift and it started right away. Joe and Austin helped him by shining their flashlights where he needed to go and guiding him as he took the pallet down.

  While they were doing that Sam located the pallets of MRE’s and got David and Benny to come help her get a box out so they could give them something to eat. Next to the MRE’s were pallets of water that she hadn’t even seen on the list yet and she opened them up and pulled a few bottles out. They ran back to where the others had taken the pallet. They were at the open bay door so they could see better. Joe had out a pocket knife and was cutting the plastic down the side. The plastic reminded her they would need to create a barrier before opening the door so she checked the list again. She found what she needed and checked the location. The duct tape was on a second shelf and she had Rick bring the forklift over and take it down while she found the location of the plastic sheeting. These were rolls of thick plastic sheeting. They were stacked on a bottom shelf and she called David over to come pick up one of the big heavy rolls.

  They carried it all back to the office area and she held her sign up to them again, that she had written earlier. She didn’t want them getting excited and opening the door up too early. They discussed how best to get the items inside to them without exposure. Fortunately, the door opened inward and that should make it a bit easier. They placed some plastic on the floor in front of the door and stacked the Chem suits and masks, two MRE’s and 4 bottles of water. They then wrapped it up with stretch wrap to hold it all together and protect it. Next, they cut and hung long pieces of the thick plastic over the door and down to the floor on the outside edge of the pile of goods. They taped it all up and made sure there were not any openings.

  Once Rick said it was OK, she wrote another sign on the back of the paper per Rick’s instructions. “Hold your breath and open the door. Quickly pull in the package and shut the door. Eat, drink and then gear up.” She watched them read the sign and she could see the relief on their faces. The woman opened the door while the man pulled the package in and then she slammed it shut. They were tearing into the package taking out the water and started downing a bottle each. Sam watched them and thought maybe she should have added more water. Rick was pounding on the window trying to get their attention, he was trying to tell them to slow down, that drinking so fast was going to make them sick.

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  20 December 2020 (Continued)

  Douglasville, GA

  After moving the body Sam looked around the living room again. There was a small book case on one wall that had some cat figurines on top and on the shelves in front of the books. She squatted in front of the case to see if there were any books she might be interested in and saw that behind one of the tall cat figurines there was an old-style oil lantern. She pulled the lantern out and saw that it was filled with a blue liquid. She carefully placed the lantern on top of the book case, she would definitely take that back but she would have to be careful not to spill the oil. There was another lantern just like it on the other end of the book case
and she sat that out too. The books were all romance and mystery. She preferred Sci-Fi, Fantasy or Post-Apocalyptic, which she realized was ironically funny.

  She looked again at the cat tree that was in the corner, she could take it out and try to decontaminate it but she wasn’t sure she wanted to risk it, especially with the small kittens. She walked back to the cattery room, she had already searched the rest of the house pretty well and didn’t feel the need to go through it again. She had been careful to close the door to the cattery when she left. That room was clean of the Nerve agent and she wanted to keep it that way so everything in it would not need to be decontaminated. She stopped in the open bathroom before entering the cattery and rinsed her leather gloves in the sink. She didn’t want to wear wet gloves but she didn’t want to take a chance of spreading anything she might have touched in the living room.

  She dried her gloves as best she could with a clean towel from the closet, but the cold wet gloves made her hands icy cold. She also used the towel to brush down the front of her clothes just in case and then she threw it in the bathtub. She took her flashlight out and went to check the closet in the cattery. The closet was dark and there wasn’t much light in the room so she opened the curtains and blinds that were blocking the windows. She wished she could remove her mask but looking at the kennels she realized that probably wasn’t a good idea.

  Thinking about hauling all of this over to the house by herself was kind of daunting but it would be worth it not to have to come back over here again. She had to hand it to the cat lady… her cattery was well stocked even if overcrowded. She was getting ready to pick up the two bags of dry cat food to take over when she noticed a folded-up grocery trolley against the wall just inside of the door. She unfolded the heavy-duty wire cart and wished she had found it the last time she was here. She was able to get all four cases of canned cat food and the two bags of dry food on top. She pushed the cart forward and it rolled easily. The trick would be getting it down the front stairs.

  Before leaving with the cart she looked in the back of the closet, curious what the boxes were that were stacked in the back. She removed her cold wet gloves and left them on top of the stuff in the cart. Putting her hands in her pants pockets to warm-up. There was a big box on the bottom and it had a shipping label on the outside. She pulled the paper out of the bottom box and it showed “Lucky Cat – Cat tree, Blue and Cream, large cat tree, with hammocks and bed”. She laughed, what were the odds that it would be called Lucky? The date on the shipping receipt was the 9 July 2020, the day before N-day. She looked to see who it was shipped to and it showed Curious Cat’s Cattery. The other box was plain brown and smaller and kind of flat. She pulled the shipping label out of that one and it was dated the same day “Mini Kitty Kamping Tent with weather cover”. She laughed out loud again, a tent for cats? She really must have been a crazy cat lady.

  She then turned to the mini fridge behind her and opened the door. There were various boxes of small glass vials with vaccines and brown plastic bottles with prescription labels, she recognized the labels on the bottles as a type of wormer from her time spent at Nancy’s house, which was as often as she was able. There were also some open cans of cat food, an open can of kitten milk and a few filled bottles. She removed the boxes of vaccines and wormer and shut the door. Sitting on top of the mini fridge was a small multi drawer plastic chest with syringes and needles in one drawer, Boxes of Advantage for Cats and kittens in another, and the third drawer had various drops and ointments. Sam rubbed her hands together before putting the cold gloves back on.

  Taking the cart to the house with the food wasn’t too bad. She grabbed the drying rack that was sitting in the hallway on her way out and hooked it over the cart handles. She was careful to check the area before going from house to house and she took it easy maneuvering down the two stairs of the porch. She unloaded the stuff in the bedroom, got some fresh dry gloves and then went back for the boxes and other stuff.

  The big box with the cat tree wouldn’t fit in the cart. So, she loaded the cart with the cat beds and blankets, basket of toys, mini tent, stuff from fridge and the small chest. She would have to make a third trip for the cat tree. On her way out, she stopped and went back and got two towels from the bathroom closet and wrapped the oil lanterns up and carefully placed them in the cart. She made her final trip back with the boxed-up cat tree and wondered how the cat lady was planning on moving it, it was heavy! As she sat the box down she wondered if it was the companies last shipment.

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  Chapter 12

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  15 July 2020 (Continued)

  Fort Jackson, SC

  Benny had found another forklift with a key already in it and he and Rick were taking the full pallets off the shelves with Maria Sanchez, the woman who was in the office directing them where to go and Joe and David leading them with their flashlights. They had decided that since Maria knew this warehouse like the back of her hand it would be better for her to take over the inventory list. Sam went with Austin and Tyrone White, who was the other Logistics person to check the vehicles to find which ones were working. The box of keys to all the vehicles had been in the office and they explained the codes on the key labels that helped them to locate which key went to which vehicle. They came just in the nick of time, a few days later and the Logistics people both probably would have been dead of dehydration. Not to mention that they never would have figured out the codes on the keys without the Logistics’ help. They would have had to try keys until they found ones that matched up. Now all they had to do was find vehicles that would start!

  Sam walked around the back of the warehouse with Austin and Tyrone and was amazed at the number of vehicles of all types lined up, just waiting. Everything from Big trucks with giant trailers to Humvee’s. There were even big bumper pull box trailers with doors on them of various types and she wondered what they were. Sam was checking the buses to find one that started. Just then Sam heard a loud rumbling sound of a semi starting up. Yes!! They must have found one! The logistics people were going to be a valuable asset, they knew where everything was here and even how to access the fuel from the tankers and which ones were full. They should be set for quite a long time!

  She had tried one of the newer buses already, like they used for recruits but it wouldn’t start. She was heading over to an older bus that looked like a white school bus. When she turned the key, it made a grinding crank but then stopped. She pumped the gas twice and then tried again. It started with a roar. She put it in gear and drove the large white bus around the corner of the building. Coming behind her was the semi with a long flat trailer on the back. Sam stopped the bus next to a fuel tanker and Austin pulled the 18-wheeler in front of the warehouse parallel to the pallets. Tyrone pulled up in a big truck with one of the box trailers she had seen and she wondered what it was.

  Austin jumped out of the semi just as Tom pulled up in the Bronco. Tom got out of the Bronco and raised both thumbs up into the air, letting everyone know he was pleased with what he saw. He came over to Sam and put his arm around her shoulder and hugged her to him. He was smiling a wide smile behind his gas mask. He said, “This is going to work!”

  Just then Tyrone walked up with Austin and Maria and Tom got a confused look on his face and the other guys came walking up as well. Sam explained to him how they had rescued the Logistics people from the office and what a valuable asset they were going to be. Tom was thrilled, he shook each of their hands and then looked at the bus. They were going to be awhile loading the truck and going through the warehouse to see what else they might need so she suggested that Tom take the bus back and leave the Bronco here. One of them could drive it back.

  Tyrone told Tom that he just needed to fill up the tank with diesel so he would have plenty for several trips if needed. Tom looked at the bus and said he didn’t think he would need more than one! He then asked if there was another smaller truck that they could use to
transport the supplies from the mess hall. Marie took him around the building to where all of the vehicles were parked to see if they could find one that would start. Just a few minutes later Tom drove a 2 1/2 ton camouflaged military truck with a cargo cover on the back around the corner. He pulled it up to the other side of the fuel tank and Maria got out and started fueling the truck. Tom came over to Sam and asked if she could drive one of the vehicles back if she felt comfortable enough with it.

  Sam’s dad had let her drive the 32-foot Motor home that they rented for two weeks of vacation right before she left for boot camp. So, she told Tom she would be fine to drive the bus. He handed her the keys and she went to tell Joe what she was doing and then told Maria too. She had given Maria her canteen earlier when they came out of the office so she could sip water through her gas mask and Maria had given her a big hug. Sam told her she was going to drive the bus back and Maria said to wait, she had something for her. She followed Maria over by the warehouse and she pulled something out of one of the pallets. It was a brand-new canteen. Sam reached out and gave her a big hug. Maria held on to her tight and said, “Thank you, Thank you so much for rescuing us”. Sam smiled at her and she nodded, she was getting choked up on tears. Maria then said, “And later I expect you to tell me how you got those black eyes! I hope it wasn’t some dude hitting you!” Sam laughed and said well… it was and it wasn’t and said her she would tell her later over some dinner! Maria said, “Food! Thank God!”