Dead America The Northwest Invasion | Book 12 | Dead America: Seattle [Part 10]

by Slaton, Derek

  “Do you know where General Stephens is?” the Captain asked.

  “Oh yeah, I can take you to him,” the soldier gushed, nodding furiously. “Please, follow me.”

  David and Benny approached from behind.

  “Captain,” the pilot piped up, “you do what you need to do. I’m going to see about scaring up some fuel for my baby here.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder at the big bird.

  Kersey nodded. “If anybody gives you any shit,” he said, pointing a finger, “you tell them to come talk to me and the General.”

  “Love the benefits of having friends in high places,” Benny declared with a happy sigh, miming tucking his thumbs into pretend suspender straps.

  Kersey and David chuckled, then followed the young soldier across the base. The place was a flurry of activity, troops setting up barricades, fencing, and machine gun nests.

  “Looks like this is where the military is going to call home,” David mused. “At least for the time being.”

  Kersey nodded. “Makes sense,” he agreed. “If things go to shit, they can just go straight to the water.”

  The soldier led them into the main building, and waved them towards the staircase. “Just gotta go up to the second floor,” he said.

  “Lead on,” Kersey said, side-stepping a few soldiers carrying large pieces of wood to fortify the windows. The hum of power drills and banging of hammers was loud as the troops reinforced the interior of the building, turning it into a hardened position.

  The second floor was a lot quieter. There were just a handful of soldiers and civilians walking about, with a few offices set up with detailed maps and radio equipment.

  “Looks like they don’t care about fortifying this floor,” David commented as they walked.

  Kersey shrugged. “Guess they figure if they lose the first floor, anything on the second would just be delaying the inevitable,” he mused.

  “Better to be eaten than starve to death, I suppose,” David said. “Not that I’m very eager to prove that theory.”

  The soldier led them down a hallway to a back office. General Stephens sat behind a desk, reading over reports in several binders strewn across the surface.

  The soldier knocked on the doorframe. “Excuse me, General Stephens,” he said gently. “These men say they’re here to see you.”

  Stephens looked up, his serious expression brightening instantly. “Well, well, well,” he said with a grin, “look what the cat dragged in.” He got up from his seat and approached the door as the duo entered, holding out his hand.

  “Been a while, General,” Kersey said as they shook vigorously.

  Stephens nodded. “You’re telling me,” he replied. “Last time I saw you back in Kansas, you were just a lowly Sergeant. Now look at you. Standing here as a Captain and dispensing advice to the President.”

  “Not bad for a grunt, huh?” Kersey replied, and they shared a laugh.

  The General wagged a finger at him. “Don’t sell yourself short, my friend,” he demanded. “You have done your country proud these last few weeks. Hell, you’ve done the whole damn human race proud.”

  “Let’s not go too crazy here, General,” the Captain replied, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

  Stephens raised his chin. “I’m being quite serious,” he declared. “Thanks to your hard work and ingenuity, we now have a foothold to rebuild this country, and the world. Communications are sketchy with other nations, but none of what we’re hearing is good. But there will be plenty of time to discuss that.” He waved a hand. “Come, have a seat.”

  “Excuse me, General?” the soldier by the door piped up as Kersey and David sat in front of the desk. “Is there anything you need from me, sir?”

  Stephens glanced at Kersey as he took his own seat.

  The Captain turned towards the door. “Can you make sure my pilot, Benny, gets whatever he needs?”

  “Absolutely, sir,” the soldier replied, nodding sharply.

  David raised a hand. “And if you could scare up some coffee, I don’t think any of us would complain,” he added.

  The soldier’s brow furrowed, as if confused at how to respond to a civilian request. He glanced at the General for help.

  Stephens smirked. “You heard the man,” he said, “see if you can find us some coffee. I heard a rumor that they were rigging something up in the break room downstairs.”

  The soldier nodded and hurried away.

  Once gone, the General held out his hand towards David. “Sir, I don’t believe we’ve met,” he said politely. “If the Captain here is bringing a civilian into a meeting with me, I’m going to assume you bring something to the table other than the ability to order drinks.”

  “My name is David Frazier, sir,” the communications expert replied, shaking Stephens’ hand. “I joined up with the good Captain here back in Spokane, and have been with him ever since, coordinating not only the local drone surveillance, but compiling all of the battlefield data.” He held up the giant binder and set it on the desk.

  Stephens pulled it over to him and flipped through it, nodding approvingly. “Appears to be some damn fine work,” he said. “If you ever want to move up to working with a General, my stuff could use an upgrade.”

  “General, are you really trying to poach my communications expert?” Kersey asked playfully, cocking his head.

  Stephens smiled. “Of course not, Captain,” he replied, folding his arms in front of him. “You forget, I’m a General. If I wanted your communications expert here, I would just assign you to an out of state mission.”

  “Been there once already,” Kersey replied with a chuckle.

  Stephens grinned. “Victim of your own success, I’m afraid,” he replied. “Oh!” He held up a finger. “Speaking of successes, I have a surprise for you.” He picked up a walkie talkie from the desk and held it to his lips.

  Kersey and David exchanged an intrigued glance, the former shrugging with no clue what the surprise could be.

  “Mary, can you send in my guest, please?” Stephens asked into the radio. He set the device down and nodded to the Captain. “You’re gonna like this.”

  A moment later, there was another knock on the doorframe, and they turned around, laying eyes on Corporal Bretz.

  “Holy shit!” Kersey cried, launching himself out of his chair. “How are you doing, man?”

  Bretz's face broke out into a lopsided grin. “Little sunburned from hanging out on top of a truck for the better part of the week, but other than that, not too bad,” he replied.

  “A week on top of a truck?” David blurted, eyes wide. “Damn, how did you pass the time?”

  The Corporal deadpanned. “Trashy romance novels.”

  The other three burst out laughing, but he didn’t even crack a smile.

  “No, seriously,” he continued when they were finished, “trashy romance novels. Some of the guys that helped us procure the trucks thought it would be a laugh to put those in our care packages.”

  Kersey wiped imaginary tears from his eyes. “If you need me to have someone court-martialed for that offense, you just let me know,” he said, patting his friend on the shoulder.

  “Actually, some of them were quite entertaining,” Bretz admitted, laughing.

  The Captain turned to Stephens, brow furrowing in playful concern. “General, have you had this man checked out thoroughly for head trauma?” he asked.

  Bretz knocked on his own head. “With a skull this thick, I don’t think they’d be able to get an accurate reading.”

  There were laughs all around as the two men took seats across from the desk, clapping each other on the back.

  The soldier returned with a tray of mugs. “Here you go, General,” he said, focusing on keeping his hands steady. “I got enough for everybo… dy…” he trailed off as he noticed Bretz, and his eyes widened in panic.

  “It’s okay man,” the Corporal said, waving his hand flippantly. “I’ve already had my fill for the day.” />
  The soldier looked relieved, shoulders slumping, and passed out the steaming mugs before scurrying out of the room.

  “So, tell me Kersey,” Stephens said, wrapping his hand around his cup, “how was the flight in? All I’ve seen are reports on how it looks out there.”

  The Captain leaned back in his chair. “To put it mildly, we’re going to need one hell of a cleanup crew,” he admitted, circling his coffee under his nose. “Our troops have done a hell of a job out there.”

  “And they’re continuing to do so,” David added. “Those barricades to the south look fierce.”

  Kersey chuckled after taking a sip of coffee. “Not sure using a beat-up sedan as a barricade can be considered fierce, but they do have a solid line formed,” he said. “Not to mention, on the interstate there’s a pile of bodies half a mile long. No hordes are going to penetrate that line.”

  “Good to know my reports appear to be accurate,” Stephens replied, nodding. “Our troops are doing some good work.”

  The Captain smiled. “That they are, General,” he replied, “that they are.”

  “General,” David piped up, raising his hand, “any idea how we are looking around the base here?”

  Stephens shook his head. “Haven’t seen firsthand,” he admitted. “But from what some of the soldiers who helped get me set up here were telling me, they are going full tilt boogie on clearing this area out. Every building, every nook and cranny, cleared in triplicate. This base is going to be more secure than Fort Knox.”

  “Well, more secure than Fort Knox used to be,” Bretz cut in. “Has anybody checked on that place recently?”

  The General chuckled. “No, but I’ll put out an A.P.B. on Goldfinger if it’ll make you feel better,” he said. His radio beeped as the others shared a laugh. “Excuse me a moment,” he said, and picked up the radio. “Yes, Mary?”

  “General, I’ve just been informed they are working on the entrance to the stadium,” the woman on the other end said. “You are being requested to join them.”

  Stephens nodded. “Tell them I’m on the way,” he replied.

  “Yes, sir,” she replied. “Oh, and I let the President’s team know that there is going to be a delay due to this. They happily rescheduled for an hour from now.”

  The General smiled. “You’re the best, Mary,” he said, and then put the radio down. “What do you say, boys? You want to come check out one of our stadium fortresses?”

  “Absolutely,” Kersey replied, taking a gulp of his brew and getting to his feet.

  Stephens nodded as he stood up from his office chair. “And afterwards, we get another in-depth meeting with the President to find out what other insane task we get to tackle next,” he said with a soft groan.

  “Silver lining through,” Kersey countered. “You could be one of those civilians who just gets to kick back and enjoy the fruits of our labor.”

  David held up his hand. “Yeah, where do I sign up for that one?”

  The quartet shared a chuckle as the General led them out of the building and into the parking lot. A young soldier stood outside of an SUV and stepped forward as they arrived.

  “General Stephens,” the young man greeted, “I’ll be your driver to the stadium.”

  Stephens’ brow furrowed. “Driver?” he asked. “The stadium is just on the other side of the road there. I think we can manage.”

  “Sir, I have my orders to drive you there personally,” the soldier insisted.

  Stephens cocked his head. “Did the President give you those orders?”

  “Um…” the soldier stammered. “No sir.”

  Stephens leaned in a little closer. “What about another General?”

  “Uh… no, sir,” the soldier replied, starting to sweat now. “It was my Captain.”

  “You know how military ranks work, don’t you, son?” Stephens asked.

  The soldier nodded jerkily. “Yes, sir.”

  “Good,” the General replied, clapping his hands, “so I’m going to give you new orders. You are to report back to your Captain that the General says he doesn’t need a goddamn babysitter to go across the street. And make sure you emphasize the goddamn, because I really want it to resonate.”

  The soldier gaped at him for a moment. “Um… okay,” he stammered. “I mean, yes, sir.”

  “Run along, now,” Stephens demanded, waving him off.

  “Yes sir,” the soldier squeaked, and turned away, then back. “Oh, and the keys are in the ignition,” he added, and then scurried off.

  “Gentlemen, our chariot awaits,” Stephens said, and motioned them forward with a flourish.

  The four men piled into the SUV, and the General fiddled with his seat, moving it into the proper position before flipping on the air conditioning.

  “You boys getting air back there?” he asked, glancing in the rearview.

  Both Bretz and David made noises in the affirmative, and Stephens grinned.

  “All right, let’s ride then,” he declared, and then hit the gas.

  He peeled out, screeching the tires as he picked up speed. Kersey chuckled at the genuine look of pleasure on his face as he sped across the lot.

  They crossed the interstate underpass, and the stadium came into view in the distance. Several snowplows moved limp corpses to the far corners of the lot, clearing the path and setting them up to be disposed of. Heavy machines grabbed stacks of dead zombies and dropped them into garbage trucks that were standing by.

  “That…” David shook his head, gagging. “That is a horrific sight I probably could have lived without seeing.”

  Bretz took a deep breath. “It’s going to be a hell of a messy job cleaning this town up,” he said. “Millions of bodies, and that’s on top of battle zones, blood-soaked locations, and a whole hell of a lot more nastiness spread out.”

  “Good to see a week in the sun didn’t damper your positive outlook on life,” David said dryly.

  The Corporal shrugged. “Just calling it like I see it,” he replied. “We can only hope that some of the VIPs they rescued for the stadium were crime scene cleanup crews.”

  They pulled up in front of the stadium, where a couple of soldiers were in the midst of using an industrial strength blowtorch to cut through the front locks. The quartet got out of the vehicle and headed over, several soldiers stopping to salute the General and Captain as they approached.

  After a moment, the Sergeant on site appeared. “General, I’m Sergeant Weiss, thank you for coming, sir,” he said, saluting. “We almost have this door open.”

  “Any word from inside?” Stephens asked.

  “Yes, sir,” Weiss replied. “The Captain on site…” He checked his notepad. “A Captain Galvan is ready to meet you.”

  Stephens nodded. “Good,” he replied, and then looked around with an eyebrow raised. “Do we not have any medical teams on standby? These people have been locked up for a month, they might need some assistance.”

  “Yes, sir,” the Sergeant replied, “I have two med teams en route as we speak. Transportation is a bit lacking, so it’s taking longer than expected.”

  Stephens nodded. “Very good,” he said, “thank you.”

  Weiss headed off and the four men stood about twenty yards away from the stadium door. The blow torch soldiers finally cut through the lock, allowing them to swing open the doors. When they did, they revealed half a dozen soldiers standing there, with one older gentleman at the front of the line.

  “General Stephens,” he greeted, stepping forward and saluting with his soldiers behind him, “I am Captain Galvan. The Seattle Fortress is ready for your inspection, sir.”

  Stephens returned the salute and then extended his hand. “No need for an inspection, Captain,” he assured him as they shook. “However, we’ll gladly take a guided tour, if you don’t mind.”

  Galvin smiled. “It would be my pleasure, sir,” he said. “Right this way.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Galvan led the General and others into
the stadium, walking across the outer hallway and into the field portion of the stadium. He pointed to the south along the rim where almost all of the seats had been ripped out of the upper deck and replaced with greenhouses.

  Several people on the field played touch football, while others threw around a frisbee and a baseball. There was even a yoga class in the visitor’s end zone.

  “Welcome to the field, gentlemen,” Galvan announced. “As you can see, we have kept the majority of it as clear as possible so that the residents here have a place to work out or just relax. Not everybody is a gym rat, so I wanted to make it a priority that people had space.”

  David pointed to the end zone. “Is that a yoga class?”

  “Yes it is,” Galvan replied with a smile. “Please feel free to join if you like. Becky is a great teacher, and she loves breaking in new people.”

  David chuckled, waving a hand in front of his face. “Appreciate the offer, but I strain muscles standing up too quickly,” he admitted. “So I’ll take a rain check.”

  “Looks like you are doing a good job of keeping them fit, Captain,” Stephens piped up.

  Galvan nodded. “Not just fit, sir, but we put a premium on entertainment, as well,” he explained. “We dedicated a small generator to the film room and would run movies for the kids, as well as football games for the adults on Sundays, just like they were pre-apocalypse. Even had a few teachers come in with some of the VIPs, so we had them run some fun classes like creative writing. The mixed media art class was a big hit from what I hear.”

  “If you don’t mind me asking, Captain,” Bretz cut in slowly, “why would you spend so many resources on entertainment?”

  Galvin clasped his hands behind his back as they walked. “Well, my father was a prison warden,” he began. “He told me that one of the smartest things he did was to expand the library and activities for the prisoners. The fighting and acting out dropped significantly after he did that. You see, when you’re locked up, you don’t really have a lot to look forward to, which puts people on edge or makes them just outright lose hope,” he explained. “Neither of which is an ideal situation when you can’t leave the building. While I know this isn’t a prison, some people could very well have viewed it as such, so I took his advice to heart. The more we could keep people focused on anything other than the dire situation we were in, the smoother this ride would go.”