Tony pulled his swollen face out of the chunky, steaming remains of his lunch. He wondered when he’d had time to puke. He found his pistol and aimed it in the general direction he’d heard the shooting coming from and started pulling the trigger. When the magazine ran dry, he put his head back down beside the puke puddle and waited for someone to put a bullet in him. When no one did he closed his eyes and passed back out.
Kelly and Caitlyn stood in the doorway to one of the rooms about ten feet from the broken door leading out to the garage. They’d expected to be chased by now. They’d already herded the girls into a new room they’d busted the door down on. When no one came looking for them Kelly decided to go see what was going on. Zombies would be rushing up the garage any second now with all the noise they were making. If there was any chance to rescue Tony and Randy, she had to try. Leaving them out there to die wasn’t an option.
Leading with the AK-47 they’d taken off the dead Brotherhood scout she motioned for Caitlyn to stay behind and guard the girls. She was torn knowing she may get herself killed with this stunt. She wasn’t worried so much for her own life. What made her hesitate was wondering about who was going to take care of the girls if her and Randy both bought it in this damned garage. She couldn’t just abandon her husband though.
The closer she got to the garage door the louder the screeching from the Zombies became. Heart hammering in her chest she swung around the corner pointing the AK in the general direction of the van. Lacking the time for subtlety, she clicked on her flashlight to see what was going on. She spotted Randy motionless on the ground next to a motionless man in camouflage wearing night vision goggles. That guy didn’t appear to be a threat since he had a machete stuck in his head. She stepped over the dead body of another soldier to check on Randy. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt a pulse. He was definitely out of it, but still alive.
Spotting the big, black Escalade idling in the handicap spot next to the bullet hole riddled van she made a snap decision. She ran back to the door and yelled for Caitlyn to come out and bring everybody with her. While she waited for them, she looked for Tony. One of the soldiers had pulled himself up against the garage wall. He was trying to get a pistol out of one of those holsters that goes under your arm. Kelly shot him in the face to put an end to that foolishness. She was glad she’d been able to knock out that gruesome task before the girls got there. They were already going to need to take out a second mortgage to pay for the therapy the girls were going to need if this nightmare ever ended.
She heard moaning coming from a prone body and walked over to see who it was. She found Tony lying half underneath the Escalade. It looked like he’d been washing his hair in a big puddle of his own puke. He had a huge knot sticking up on his forehead where he’d been hit. His pistol was on the ground beside him in a pile of spent brass. She heard noises behind her and spun around to make sure it was the kids.
It was. She told Myriah to get the little kids in the Escalade and motioned for Caitlyn to help her get Randy and Tony loaded up as well. The screeching from the Zombies was getting danger close. It’d gone up a few octaves when she’d shot the soldier in the face. They needed to get everyone loaded into the Escalade and they needed to get it done now. Hoping they weren’t doing any more damage to the two men they hoisted them up and shoved them into the luxury SUV. Tony’s puke bath wasn’t going to do the upholstery any favors.
“They’re coming!” Caitlyn hissed.
Thinking fast Kelly turned the Escalade off and ordered everyone to get on the floor and stay quiet. She knew if they tried to drive through a herd of the Zombies, they’d most likely just get swarmed and destroyed. Especially in the tight confines of a parking garage. The only thing she could think to do was go into quiet mode and hope the Zombies ignored them. The trick had worked plenty of times in the past. Hopefully the Zombies would be sidetracked by all the fresh meat lying around them.
Luckily the guy who’d owned the truck originally hadn’t cared about the legal requirements for how dark the window tint could be. They’d gone full on secret service level tint with the windows. Kelly stretched out next to Randy on the floor behind the driver’s seat and prayed the tint would be enough to keep them alive. Minutes later the first Zombies started running up to investigate the scene. A few of them slapped their hands on the windows or pressed their faces to the windshield to try and see in. None of them seemed to notice anything though. They mostly tried to look in for a few seconds then screeched and dived into the buffet of blood covered corpses spread out on the ground. Kelly shifted around to get comfortable. It was going to be a very long night.
Chapter 21: Paperwork Never Ends
Kyler woke up when the truck slowed down to take a turn. They were moving slow enough now it would’ve been easy for any of them to jump out had they wanted to. The truck drove up an off-ramp and into a small town. There was the mandatory trucker gas station and some run-down restaurants on a four-lane road that probably changed to two lanes within a mile or two from there. Gigantic signs advertised great discounts on fireworks.
They drove through the intersection then turned down a side road. Normally a Zombie or two would’ve popped out at some point in such a large area with the sound of a big rig driving through. Kyler didn’t see any chasing them this time though. That was a good sign the town here had been well cleared. The rundown buildings and dingy concrete quickly gave way to woods as they kept driving. Kyler estimated they’d gone about twenty minutes off the interstate when the driver started slowing down again. It’d still been clear sailing up to that point.
The truck shuddered as they came to a complete stop in the middle of the road. Kyler got up and walked towards the open trailer doors. He was holding the M-16 casually as he walked. Before he made it all the way to the doors three men in military fatigues stepped out from somewhere pointing their weapons into the trailer. Kyler let his M-16 drop to his side and kept carefully walking towards the men.
“Listen up! We’re going to play a quick round of Simon Says. If you get something wrong, you get shot in the head. I’m Simon. Do you all understand?” The guard waited for everyone to acknowledge him.
“You. With the rifle. I’m assuming you’re with a team, right? Go ahead and come out of the trailer. Move very slowly. Keep your hands where I can see them at all times. Do not put your hands on your weapon.” The man redirected his attention to everyone else. “Everyone not authorized to have a weapon lay down on your stomachs and extend your hands and feet as far from your bodies as you can. We’ll be coming through and checking you each for contraband in a minute.”
Kyler walked up to the edge of the trailer. He wondered if he was supposed to have an ID card or know a secret handshake or something. All he really had was the brand on his back and the fact that he was walking around with weapons. In Brotherhood territory the regular people didn’t even use butter knives outside of the mess hall without risking severe repercussions. The soldiers climbed into the truck and started searching the men in the trailer. The guard on the ground behind the trailer handed Kyler a box and asked him to shove all his weapons into it then seal it up. Kyler started doing that while the man on the ground watched him curiously.
“How many knives do you really need?” The man asked sarcastically as Kyler considered if he may need another box or not. He understood where the guard was coming from. He’d become a bit obsessive about making sure he had weapons where he could get to them easily. He finished shoving everything in the box and used the tape the guard handed him to seal it up.
“Now what?” He asked the guard.
“Nobody else on the truck that we need to worry about or take with us, right? I mean the rest of them are just looters?”
“Yeah. I’m the only one, I think. How do you figure out I’m me?” Kyler asked. It was a really strange way to phrase the question but luckily the guard knew exactly what he was getting at.
“No worries. I’m assuming this is your first time on a r
eal base. Out in the field you’re mostly meeting up with the soldier types. Here we have a lot more of the admin types. We also have power and the ability to print ID cards so believe it or not before the day is out, you’ll have a shiny new ID card. Assuming what you’re telling us is true. They’ll do an interview to confirm everything you say and compare it to the sacred database. I don’t really know how they do all that. Now if you don’t mind, I need to search you. Assume the position.”
The guard searched him looking for any weapons Kyler may have forgotten to put in the box. Once he’d finished, he had Kyler get up and grab the sealed box and follow him. Kyler threw the box up on his shoulder. He noted the two knives still hidden in his boots in case he needed them. He didn’t understand what was going on with the box. It was a solid wooden box with a latch, but they’d just made him tape it shut. He could be in the box and armed in a matter of seconds.
The guard led him around the truck. Kyler got a good look at the massive warehouses for the first time. A sturdy looking ten-foot tall chain link fence was visible running around the perimeter. More soldiers were walking around inside the fence. It was early morning and the sun was out, but no one seemed overly concerned. Kyler’s instincts were screaming at him to find a place to hole up for the day. He checked his survival instincts to keep up with his escort. The guard took him to the shack that was setup by the open gate into the compound.
The bored looking man inside the guard shack came out and put a lock on the box. That answered that question. The man then handed Kyler’s guard the key and asked Kyler for his name. Kyler gave his name which the man noted in the logbook then told them to head to the admin building. Kyler once again found himself lugging the big box walking behind his escort.
Everywhere they went there was tons of action. People were unloading supplies from trailers into the warehouses. Loading docks were stacked with boxes and crates as all the inventory was being categorized and arranged. No one seemed too concerned about making as much noise as they were making. Kyler finally just couldn’t take it anymore and did a quick walk until he caught up with his escort.
“What’s up with all the noise? Aren’t you afraid of attracting Zombies?” Kyler asked.
“Zombies? You mean the infected. They’re just a bunch of sick people walking around. Not like they rise from the dead or anything. No. We’re not worried about attracting them since we’ll end up doing it anyway. You’ll find out more about that once you get verified. You don’t want to get caught around here knowing more than you should.” The guard ended the explanation mysteriously. Only rubes must call the infected by the more common names used by the soldiers in the field.
They reached the admin building. It was actually a construction trailer in the middle of one of the warehouse parking lots. Kyler’s escort marched him in then left him in the supervision of a bored looking greasy guy wearing khakis and a stained polo. Greasy guy had a pistol in an unsnapped holster hanging magically off his waist. The guy had managed to stay fat during an apocalypse. That feat took some real dedication. When greasy guy stood up to go grab a file, Kyler saw a webbed belt appear from under the guy’s massive paunch.
“I know. Who the hell gets fat during an apocalypse, right? I’m just kind of proud to be in a position where all I have to do is paperwork. I’m happy with other people doing all the dangerous stuff to keep me fed. Fill these out and we’ll get started getting you processed.”
Kyler spent the next hour filling out forms. Then he spent another hour sitting there while greasy guy input the information into a laptop computer occasionally asking for clarification. At some point he must’ve answered all the questions correctly. He found himself standing outside the trailer with his weapons strapped back on with orders to return the box to the guard shack and report in for guard detail. He was also the reluctant recipient of a brand-new shiny laminated identification card.
Walking back across the sizeable parking lot to the guard shack he reflected it could’ve ended a lot worse. The chubby clerk could’ve taken offense at some answer he’d given and shot him in the head. No one would’ve cared. There never would’ve been a trial. It was the way of the world now. The guy would’ve had to mop up the mess and dispose of his body or maybe he’d have just switched trailers. There were plenty of trailers out there full of worse things than a dead guy with a hole in his head.
Kyler got the box back to the guard and asked for directions to where Lieutenant Krantz could be found. Twenty minutes later he found himself standing in another trailer in front of an extremely messy desk being dressed down for his lack of knowledge of how to stand at parade rest. The lieutenant may know a lot about how soldiers were supposed to stand when speaking with him but didn’t seem to know a lot about concealing his sobriety level. Kyler had been around Mike for more than long enough to recognize when a semi-functional alcoholic was wasted and trying to act normal. Krantz was wasted.
Ignoring the dressing down he was getting from the salt and pepper haired thin framed man in front of him Kyler let his eyes roam the room. He’d already noted that the lieutenant may be skinny, but he was rocking a substantial beer belly. If the lieutenant had been a woman then thinking he was five to six months pregnant would’ve been a reasonable guess. The room they were in was crowded with rumpled papers and garbage from leftover meals. There was no overt display of bottles of booze, but Kyler’s practiced eye easily picked out the discarded bottle caps. He noted the trash bag full of bottles shoved out of the way by the edge of the small brown couch. Evidently the lieutenant had never learned the Visine trick either since his eyes were a demonic shade of red.
Krantz finally got tired of chewing him out and started asking him questions about how he’d wound up at the base. Kyler started in on his fabricated version of events that led to him arriving there.
“I don’t need all the bullshit. Just the important parts. You have any specialized skills? Other than being lucky enough to be as dumb as you are and still be breathing?”
Kyler saw the alcoholic officer glancing over towards his bag. The man was trying to make it through this interview so he could pop the top on whatever he had squirreled away in the bag. Kyler assumed that meant there was no need to go into detail about which merit badges he’d earned. Instead, he just said he didn’t have any particularly specialized skills.
“Ok. Good enough. You’ve been cleared for this detail so here’s what you need to know. We stock the warehouses with the supplies the looters collect for us. It’s loud work. It takes lots of trucks and people to make it happen. It’s basically impossible to avoid having a herd show up at some point while we’re doing it. So, we don’t worry about it. A herd will be headed this way at some point. When it gets here, we try hard to make sure we aren’t here. We’re kind of expecting all that to happen in the next day or two. The problem is we’ve stashed all this junk here and need to guard it so we can’t just leave. Make sense so far?”
Kyler nodded. He was following along and figured he could guess where this was going. He just hoped he was wrong.
“Cool. So, you’ll be part of the team that hangs out to make sure the whole place gets covered in Zombies. We’ll have some people hanging out to shut the gates to lock the Zombies in. Pretty slick really. The Zombies guard the place for us, and we move along to the next one. When we’re ready to come get our crap we just walk along the fence line shooting ‘em all. Any questions?”
“Who do I report to sir?” Kyler asked.
“You’ll be reporting to me. I must’ve pissed off somebody important cause this is how I get to spend my days. This is the fifth supply cache I’ve been in charge of mothballing, so we have a decent process down. If that’s all go ahead and head over to the trailer next door and hang out until muster. I’m thinking the herd will probably start showing up tomorrow sometime. That gives you time to shower and get some shut eye. Take advantage of that time. Once we start working life starts to suck really fast and there’s not a lot of time for things
like eating and sleeping. Dismissed.”
Kyler saluted and walked out of the trailer. He went directly over to the larger trailer next door looking forward to finally getting some rest. Walking through the front door of the trailer he ran into a shirtless man sitting on a couch in the front room. The guy had a shot gun leveled at Kyler’s face. Kyler very slowly raised his hands up to show he wasn’t coming in a threatening manner.
“You the FNG?” The man asked.
Thankful for all the time he’d spent around military men Kyler nodded his head in the affirmative.
“Ok cool.” The man lowered the shotgun. That made Kyler feel a lot better. He hadn’t realized how large the barrels were on a shotgun until that moment. “In the old days we’d have had some sort of initiation ceremony. Now a days. If you’re living you’ve already been through hell and back so there doesn’t seem to be much of a point to it. I’m your platoon leader. Head NCO. Whatever you want to call it. You don’t have to salute me just obey every word I say as if it were the word of god. Bunks are that way. Go away.”
Zombies! (Book 4): Nowhere To Hide Page 19
