Dead Life (Book 5)

by D. Harrison Schleicher

  Chapter 17

  As soon as I put the batteries back in the phone it rang. General Simmons wasn’t wasting any time. I had been hoping the damn thing wouldn’t work anymore. It had been days since I’d charged it and as wet as it had gotten yesterday, well there was no use thinking about it. I was getting ready to try and call the General anyway. There was no reason to keep trying to avoid him. They had us dead to rights. The chopper hadn’t left yet and we were pretty sure they had us surrounded. I could picture him and his Special Ops guys crouched out there in the woods, guns ready, waiting for us to make a break for it. I answered the phone on the first ring and prepared myself to tell him where we were. It was time to face the music.

  Instead of the loud obnoxious voice of the General I was surprised to hear my dad’s. We talked for only a few minutes. I really couldn’t say much about our situation since everything we said was most likely being listened to. All I told dad was that we would try to get there as soon as possible and hope for the best. Hope for the best! The best thing that could happen now would entail a helicopter taking off followed by a helicopter crashing.

  “Did you just talk to General Butt Pirate?”

  “No John that was my dad.”

  “What the hell you messing with that phone for? Take the battery out and give it to me. If you keep messing with that thing they’re going to find us.”

  “I was going to call the General anyway.”

  “Don’t you think you should have talked to us about that first?”

  He was right. We weren’t in the service any longer. I wasn’t the CO anymore. “You’re right I should have talked to you first.”

  “I’m on board with whatever you decide,” Lily said.

  Lily didn’t have to say that but I’m glad she did. Took some of the pressure off. “There’s no reason to try and avoid it any longer. He’s outside the fence somewhere close by. I think we should get it over with.”

  “I agree you may as well call the bastard. We can’t avoid him any longer.”

  “Then what the hell was all that about?” After making a big deal about me calling the General John now tells me he thinks we should call him.

  “We’re in this together now. No one of us should make the decisions for the group. Everyone has an opinion and should be heard. Then we can decide our course of action.”

  “He’s right Tim. After you make that call we lose all freedom of choice,” Lily said. “We’ll all be right back in the General’s Army again.”

  “Both of you should know this though. We’ll be prisoners after we make that call.”

  John was right. General Simmons had either found Dr. Parks or was done looking for him. He wanted us for something other than finding Parks and whatever that something was I was pretty sure he wasn’t here to re-enlist us. “In that case John do you think we should try and make a run for it?”

  “We’ll never make it out of here in those trucks.”

  Lily looked around. I could tell she was scared, hell I was scared, and if John wasn’t he was insane. “Let’s go through the fence,” she said. “I don’t want to wait for him to grab us. Tim leave that damn phone here. It’s been nothing but trouble.”

  “If we leave the phone we won’t be able to let his dad know what’s going on,” John said.

  “Exactly what do you think is going on?”

  John was right. If General Simmons couldn’t find us he’d head straight to Fort Leonard Wood and grab dad’s group, hold them hostage, then wait for us to get there. “John she’s right. I appreciate you concern but my dad’s a big boy. They’ve made it this far they’ll just have to deal with General Simmons like we’ve had to.”

  “That won’t work Tim. They have no idea how crazy that bastard actually is. Call them then we’ll head out.”

  I wasn’t sure what to do. So I did what John said. While he cut a hole in the fence I dialed the number to the sat phone I’d sent dad. The phone rang unanswered. Dad’s phone must have been off. I tried, there wasn’t much else I could do. “We’re off then. Lily will you help me get our stuff out of the truck?”

  Lily climbed back up into the truck. “Of course I will.”

  There wasn’t much left of our already meager supplies and it only took a second for her to toss them down to me.

  Lily climbed back out of the truck and took me in her arms. “You can try them again after we get out of here.”

  “No. I’m leaving the phone here.”

  “You can’t do that. How will we get in touch with the other group?”

  John returned from cutting through the fence. “Can’t do what?”

  “He can’t get hold of his father and he’s going to leave the phone here because of what I said before.”

  “We don’t have time for this. Take the batteries out and bring it along. You really should warn them what’s coming their way.”

  “Fine. I’ll keep the damn thing. Let’s head out.”

  Lily and John headed for the fence. Neither one of them saw me switch the phone on and drop it to the ground. The decision was made. I couldn’t put it off any longer. It was time we finally shook the General off our asses. Dad would just have to deal with him if it came to it. Even though I wasn’t raised by my father I still spent enough time with him when I was a kid to know that if nothing else he could be very resourceful. He worked hard for everything he had and I never lacked for anything growing up. Besides I knew he had Al there to take care of him. The main thing I remember about his neighbor Al from when a kid was that he was a mean old son of a bitch. They would be fine. Besides the cavalry was on their way. Yeah that meant that John, Lily, and I would save them if need be.

  For some reason I had a nagging feeling that I should go back and get that phone.

  ……………..

  We weren’t on the other side of the fence long before I could hear them coming after us. What were we thinking? These guys were most likely Special Forces or some sort of black ops division. Yeah I was in the army and so were Lily and John but they were just regular army and I was nothing more than some fat lazy colonel’s secretary. Little more than a desk jockey. We were fucked.

  Running through the woods I couldn’t let go of the feeling of how bad this sucked. We had finally found a decent ride, something we would be able to plow through any horde of zombies that came at us with and here we were on foot again. Not to mention that we were going to be taken by the General’s men at any second.

  I stopped running bent at the waist with my hands on my knees. “Guys hang on.” Lily and John stopped and looked back at me. “This is ridiculous. They’re right behind us.”

  “Then you’d better get a move on soldier.”

  I had to admit I was compelled to keep moving. John had gotten us through some pretty close scrapes in the past but this was the end of the line. “You two keep going. I’ll tell them you were killed by the zombies. Get to Leonard Wood. Warn my dad. I’ll do my best to slow them down.”

  Lily’s eyes met mine. “We don’t have a hope in hell of getting there before them. Tim just come with us. I just found you. I can’t lose you now.”

  We were wasting time. They would be on us any second and there was no way in hell I was going to let Lily and John get taken by General Simmons. “Then do this. Don’t let them take all of us. Hide out in the woods. When they find me we’ll have a chance to see how things go. Maybe it won’t be as bad as we think it’s going to be.”

  I needed John’s help here. I had to get Lily out of here. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe General Simmons wouldn’t do anything to harm us. Maybe a pig would fly out of my ass. Starring John down didn’t seem to be doing any good. I felt like I was dealing with a child. There was only one thing to do. “Sargent, I want you to get her to safety. If and when the opportunity arises for you to intercede on my behalf feel free to do so. Otherwise I want you to proceed to Fort Leonard Wood. Understood?”

  “Yes Captain. Corporal come with me.”

 
“This is total bullshit.” Lily pulled away from John as he reached to grab her by the arm. “We should stick together.”

  “Lily go with him. Watch and see what happens. If things seem to be going fine, turn yourselves in. If it goes bad then take-off. We’ll meet up in Fort Leonard Wood. You can rescue me there. Please go now. They’ll be on us any second.”

  “Fine. Sarge let’s go. Let him be the hero.”

  There were so many things I wanted to say but we were out of time. “Thank you. I really believe this is our only chance.” I tried to give Lily one last kiss but she would have none of that and pushed past me. The two of them disappeared into the woods a few seconds before General Simmons men took me.

  ……….

  It was a wonder John and Lily didn’t do anything stupid. Five men in camouflage fatigues came at me and the first one to me knocked me on my ass without so much as a peep out of him. I became immediately aware this wasn’t going to be one of your average interrogations. From what I gathered it seemed they were more interested in seeking a little payback. A few of their men had met an untimely demise. While they were tracking us down they came into contact with a pack of the undead. At first I was surprised that we hadn’t heard any sounds from the encounter. Then one of the men cursed General Simmons for ordering them to limit their use of firearms to emergency situations only. I guess the deaths of a few of their men wasn’t considered an emergency situation. In reality it was probably best they hadn’t fired off a shot. All it would have done was brought an entire horde down upon our heads. I heard all these things from the prone position on the ground I’d only recently assumed.

  I was drug to my feet and stripped of all my weapons. They must have seen the rifle and sidearm I was carrying as inferior because everything was tossed off into the woods. My hands were tied behind my back and they marched me back in the direction we’d come. It wasn’t long before we came to the highway department enclosure. The chains holding the main gate were cut and they took me straight in.

  General Simmons was standing near the truck we’d spent the night in. “Captain Downs, it’s good to see you again.”

  “I wish I could say the same of you sir. What’s going on? Have you found Dr. Parks?”

  “You know we haven’t found him. Probably will have to wait for him to come to us,” General Simmons turned to the soldier that had knocked me on my ass earlier. “Where’s the rest of his people?”

  “He says they’re dead sir.”

  “When did that happen?”

  “Right after I got off the phone with you yesterday. The zombies got them as soon as we left the house we’d spent the night in.”

  General Simmons looked enraged when I said this. “Then who spent the night in this truck with you?”

  “No one. I was alone.”

  “You hear that corporal? Captain Downs says you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  One of his men stepped forward. “Two men and a woman spent the night here sir. One of the men and the woman had sex at one point.”

  “That’s sick Captain. You fucked that girl right in front of Sargent Adams?”

  I hated this man more every second. “I was alone last night.”

  “Who’s got my radio?”

  One of the men produced a radio and handed it to the general.

  “Put Dr. Hunt on,” he said into the radio.

  We waited for a short minute and a voice came back. “What can I do for you sir?”

  “How many test subjects are you going to need for the trial doctor?”

  “Three or four should be sufficient.”

  “That’s all doctor. Tell the pilot to get ready to take off. We’ll be back in ten minutes.”

  He held the radio out and the same man stepped forward and took it. “Your friends just got very lucky. Men load up we’re headed out.”

  The leader of the group that had captured me took General Simmons aside and said something to him I couldn’t quite hear. From the looks of it the General wasn’t happy about whatever he had to say.

  “They’ve got five minutes,” he shouted. “After that they can find their own ride to Fort Leonard Wood. Keep an eye on your prisoner. Five minutes!” Simmons stormed off shouting orders as he went.

  My captor grabbed the rope that bound my hands and yanked me back into him. “Your two friends should be here any minute.”

  “That’ll be a good trick. They’re dead.”

  “You really think I believed that load of shit you tried to feed me for a second. I’ve got one more unit in the field. I’d be willing to bet they’ll be back with your friends any minute.”

  They threw me up in the back of one of the dump trucks and were getting ready to drive through the gate when their last unit made it back. From what little I could hear from where they had me the Sargent that knocked me on my ass was right. They had Lily and John.

  Chapter 18

  Sleeping in a real bed felt great. I woke up before five and went to check on Al, which was easy considering we had all slept in the same room. I did my best the night before to try and convince Gina that we were perfectly safe in the hospital but she would have none of it. I shouldn’t have said anything about thinking that someone from the base was headed back here. That’s what I get for acting like I know everything. After we ate she had me go to some of the other rooms and wheel the beds from them into Al’s room. It was tight in there but after we moved the recliner and the dresser out I was able to get four beds into the same room. At first I thought I was going to be able to get away with only getting three beds in. That way Gina and I would have had to share a bed. After I pushed the third bed into the room I made a big show of how tight things were. Gina and Cindy didn’t fall for it though. The two of them just gave me some kind of blank stare and without saying a word started dragging some of the medical equipment out into the hall. Women.

  The next morning the first thing I did was check on Al. He was still breathing but otherwise hadn’t improved. I took the sat phone out into the hall and called Tim. I was surprised when he answered on the first ring. He was still worried about the General that was trying to track us down so we only talked for a few minutes. I was able to let him know we were in Fort Leonard Wood without actually coming out and saying so. He tried to give me an idea of their location but I didn’t get much out of what he was trying to tell me. The only thing that made any sense at all was that they would see us in a few days. I told him of the success we had driving at night and from what I could tell they were going to give it a try. Hopefully that would get them here by the next morning. I told him that Al was sick and that we were afraid he was infected. That he hadn’t turned yet and it had been over a day so maybe he would be okay. He told me not to worry, Al probably only had an infection and that everything would be fine. I agreed and we ended our conversation there.

  When I got off the phone with Tim I walked the hospital checking all the doors. From what I could tell we were still alone. After that I went to the kitchen to see what I could scare up for breakfast. The best I could come up with was prepackaged cooked bacon and some oatmeal. Bacon sounded good. Oatmeal not so good. What the hell it was hot. I loaded everything up on a tray and started back to the room. When I got there the beds were already out in the hall and the girls were in the process of dragging the recliner back into the room.

  “Look at that,” Gina said. “You made breakfast.”

  “I’ve been trained well,” I said. “I already checked the building too. We’re still alone.”

  “Was that your son I heard you talking to?” Cindy asked.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”

  “Are they still on their way here?”

  “They should be here by tomorrow morning.”

  “That’s great Steve,” Cindy said. “I can’t wait to meet your son now that he’s all grown up. I remember him from when he used to visit you in the summer.”

  “That was a long time ago. He didn
’t even come every summer. I’m surprised you remember him.”

  “I talked to him a few times. Unlike you he wasn’t afraid to introduce himself to the widow woman living up the street.”

  “Let’s not start this again. Okay?”

  “Let me get this straight Cindy.” Here it came. Gina couldn’t resist giving me a hard time about this, again. “You met Tim, but you never met Steve.”

  “If I remember correctly he was about fourteen years old and he seemed to always be out riding his bike. I saw him all the time when I was out in the yard.”

  “Well that figures,” I said under my breath.

  “What was that Steve?” Gina asked.

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Yes you did. Come on baby. Don’t be shy.”

  “You just love this shit. Don’t you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yeah you do. The two of you are working this conversation around so you can see if you can get me embarrassed again about watching Cindy cutting her grass and working in her yard in her bikini.”

  “So you admit it. The both of you were watching me. I had no idea.”

  “What do you expect? Running around the front yard in a bikini, everything hanging out. The poor kid couldn’t help himself.”

  They got me again. “I’m going to check out the base. Enjoy your breakfast.” I stormed out of the room and stopped just outside the door, listening to their laughter.

  “You should go after him,” Cindy said.

  “No. Let him suffer,” Gina said.

  “What if something happens,” Cindy said. “You should go.”

  The door flew open and Gina rushed out of the room, nearly running me over. “I’m sorry. We were just teasing you.”

  “I know. I shouldn’t let it bother me so much.”

  “Cindy is a very attractive woman. Nobody blames you for anything. Just come back in and eat breakfast. When we’re done the two of us will go check out the base together.”