“Dinner is served,” Stone said as he placed the platter in the center of the table and took a seat.
The group passed around the food then focused on the serious business of eating. Durst, unlike the rest, picked at his food as if not interested. He had been quiet the entire time they had hiked back to Safeguard.
“Something wrong, Frank?” Sharon asked noticing her brother’s unusual behavior.
“It’s nothing,” he said poking at his potato.
“Franklin, I’ve known you since you were born. I know something’s bothering you. Now spill it,” Sharon said.
“It’s just all those people. I mean the people at Clovis, Clyde and all those people at the Air Force base. They’re gone. Dead. Infected, whatever you want to call it,” Durst said sadly.
“We don’t know if all of them are dead,” Sharon said reassuring him.
Durst looked over at his sister.
“We all saw what was happening out there. Those people are dead and here we are having a celebration meal,” he said tossing down his fork.
“Hey, this isn’t a celebration meal,” Stone said defensively.
“What else is it?” Durst asked angrily. Everyone stopped eating and looked at him with exception to Cassie who quietly continued eating and watching the interaction.
“Frank, this isn’t a celebration dinner. This is a just dinner. We have dinner everyday,” Sharon reminded him.
“How can you people eat after what we saw happen out there?” Durst asked loudly. “Those people were killed by those things, the infected. That whole city is gone. And we did nothing to stop it.”
“Better them than us,” Cassie said quietly.
“What?” Durst asked, looking at her angrily.
Cassie chewed her food, swallowed then placed her fork next to her plate.
“I said, better them than us,” she repeated enunciating her words carefully while looking up at him.
“That’s sick! They didn’t ask for that shit to happen to them! Those people were just trying to survive!” Durst yelled.
“Apparently, they didn’t try hard enough,” Cassie said evenly.
“Fuck you! You know what?” Durst said looking at everyone at the table. “Fuck all of you!” he yelled storming out of the room.
“What’s up his ass?” Cassie asked as she resumed eating.
“It seems that Mr. Durst is having an issue with survivor’s guilt,” Woody stated. “Everyone deals with it differently but it appears that he is having a particularly rough time of it.”
“He just needs time to adjust to what happened,” Sharon said. “We’ll give him some space.”
“How much time does he need? It’s been a couple of days, it’s not like he knew anyone there,” Cassie stated. “Besides, we were a little preoccupied trying to stay alive to really worry about everyone else.”
“We knew Clyde,” Sharon said glaring at Cassie. “He was as close to a friend that we all had there.”
“True,” Cassie commented. “But he didn’t really live in Clovis and he wasn’t killed by those things.”
“While we’re on the subject of Clovis,” Stone said cutting in to attempt to change the subject. “I’d like to go and recover our trucks. Probably won’t happen but just an idea to toss around. I spent a lot of time getting them tuned up and used parts that we may not find so easily again.”
Mecceloni, who had sat quietly throughout spoke up.
“I’m up for a recon of Clovis. Be a good thing to keep tabs on the bible thumping asshole responsible for what happened.”
“Actually, you may not need to physically go there. Duty Officer can locate both trucks for you,” Woody volunteered.
“Well, shit. Woody, that’s great!” Stone exclaimed. The conversation continued until Sharon spoke up.
“So tell us,” Sharon said changing the subject and looking at the two new arrivals who had remained quiet through all the previous conversation. “What do you know about what happened to the world when all this started.”
Burnett and Drewett paused, wide-eyed as everyone looked at them expecting an answer.
“Not much,” Burnett ventured. “The colonel kept what was happening outside the base compartmentalized. We figured it had to be something serious when the Hesco barriers went up. Those are normally used in a combat environment.”
“What did you two do there? You’re both officers and Kit-bag mentioned something called JAY-MOO,” Sharon continued.
“That’s JMAU, Joint Medical Augmentation Unit,” Drewett said.
“What does that mean in civilian speak?” Stone asked.
“It’s basically a trauma hospital inside a plane, usually a C-130,” Burnett explained. Stone nodded understanding.
“What did you do there?” Sharon persisted.
“Allie,” Burnett indicated her friend. “Was in charge of bleeders and I did the anesthesiology.”
“Bleeders?” Sharon asked.
“Those would be people who were severely injured resulting in a major artery being ruptured,” Drewett explained.
“Essentially you were trauma nurses?” Stone asked.
“A bit more than that but close enough without having to go into a lot of technical detail,” Drewett replied.
“I stabilized the patients for the vascular surgeon and Jess made sure they stayed asleep during surgery,” Drewett stated.
“You two are pretty handy to have around then,” Stone commented. Drewett fixed him with a smile.
***
Durst stomped through Safeguard, angry at himself or maybe angry at the callousness expressed by everyone else. They should have done something instead of running away. He should have done something. In his mind, his inaction and indecisiveness plagued him. He had thought about this the entire time during their trek back to the facility. Since their return, no one had discussed what had happened at Clovis. Durst stopped in front of the door that led to his work room. He hadn’t been in there since he had started Duty Officer working on his algorithm that would show the spread of infection based on population density. He put his hand on the door, not sure why he was hesitant to enter. Gripping the handle, he opened the door.
Inside, the slight whisper from the climate control system was the only noise in the room. Durst walked over to the terminal, sat down and moved the mouse to stop the screen saver. The graph on the screen had finished filling in and the Excel spreadsheet now showed number values associated with major cities. He scanned the graph then moved to the next page, studying it more intently. When he had initially written the program he had doubted if it would actually work like he had envisioned. Now, with the values filled in on the screen, it was incredible, more than he had expected.
***
“You know your brother better than any of us,” Woody said to Sharon as they sipped their wine and walked among the fruit trees in the atrium. “Will he be alright?”
Sharon took a sip then looked up at the mango tree before replying.
“He will be. Eventually. He has this… this I don’t know what to call it, urge I guess, to help people. He’s always had it.”
St. John nodded as they walked.
“That’s a noble virtue to have,” he agreed. “But, in this day and age, extending a helping hand could backfire with horrendous results.” He left out that extending a hand in this changed world would most likely result in some infected sinking their teeth into and ripping a large chunk of flesh out of that outstretched hand.
“That’s what worries me,” Sharon said. “He’s always tried to do what he could to help others and then this,” Sharon gestured trying to come up with the right word. “Then this event, this outbreak or whatever we end up calling it, it just grinds at him. He really needs to worry about himself before he starts worrying about survivors.”
***
“Do you think you were a bit too harsh on Frank?” Mecceloni asked Cassie as they walked back to their room. While his personal feelings towards Durst wer
en’t exactly those of best friends, he knew that to keep the group together, everyone had to minimally get along and socialize to some extent.
“He’s a prick,” Cassie stated flatly. “We were all there in Clovis. We saw what was happening. I didn’t see him in the shit like you and I were. What did he want us to do? Stay in the market and become one of those things? Try to save the mayor?” She frowned. “We barely got out of there in one piece. The guy just needs to deal with it and relax. He has to understand that he’s not Superman and can save the world.”
Mecceloni was silent as he thought about what she had said. He agreed with it, there was no need to take unnecessary risks. This facility had enough supplies to last several years, probably longer. If they limited their exposure to the outside world and stayed within the perimeter they were relatively safe. Contact with other survivors, even limited, could be dangerous and problematic, maybe even leading to something as catastrophic as what had happened back at Clovis. Granted, there were a lot of extenuating circumstances revolving around what had happened there but he was in no hurry for a repeat performance. However, dissent with the inhabitants of Safeguard was detrimental to the overall group dynamic.
“Frank needs to get laid,” Cassie finally said as they approached their room. Mecceloni looked at her sideways. “Don’t look at me, I’m not volunteering,” she said quickly holding her hands up.
“That or he should go back and live in his mother’s basement,” she added swiping the card key through the reader and opening the door.
***
John Stone and Allie Drewett had taken the elevator up to the surface after dinner and were sitting on top of the man-made hill that concealed the main entrance to Safeguard. They were looking west watching the sun slowly lower itself below the horizon and paint the surrounding desert in hues of red and orange.
“What do you think about what your friend Frank said at dinner?” Allie asked.
Stone watched the sun fade before he replied.
“I’ve known Frank all my life. Hell, we met in kindergarten. He’s got a heart of gold and would give you the shirt right off his back if you needed it. Problem is, there are times he doesn’t think too far ahead.”
They sat quietly until the sun had dropped below the horizon to be replaced by the night sky.
“Shit, he’ll get over it. Just give him some time to see the overall big picture,” Stone said confidently looking up at the star filled sky.
“Beautiful isn’t it?” Drewett asked leaning back on her elbows on the blanket.
“It is,” Stone agreed before looking over at her. “What really made you two get off that plane and come with us?”
Allie sighed then lay back on the blanket.
“Honestly? I don’t know,” Drewett said, shrugging her shoulders. “We had talked about trying to get off the base a couple of times but each time we thought we’d be able to, we chickened out,” she said.
“When the opportunity arose, we took it.” She looked over at Stone who was studying her then back up at the stars. “Maybe we leapt before we looked?”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” he said simply.
“You guys looked like you had more going for you then Buzz and Kit-bag or the flight crew. You all actually had a plan and a place to go to. The other guys? They were just winging it, literally and figuratively.” She propped herself up on her elbows and looked up at the sky.
“Who am I kidding? It was your roguish good looks,” she said jokingly, looking up at him with a big grin.
Stone looked back out at the horizon.
“How long have you been in love with Sharon?” Drewett asked.
Stone quickly looked over at her with a shocked look on his face.
“C’mon, you think no one else noticed? The way you look at her anyone could tell you have feelings towards her.”
Stone shook his head and looked back out at the night.
“Yeah,” he finally admitted. “I used to feel something for her. But now? I don’t know.”
“Used to? Who are you kidding? You follow her with your eyes every time she’s in the room,” Drewett stated. “Why don’t you just walk up to her and tell her how you feel?”
“I couldn’t do that now. Maybe a couple years ago I might have done that but not now. Too much time has passed; we’ve got our own lives now.” Stone stopped talking; thinking about what he had done over the last few years to get her off his mind.
“Well, if that’s how you feel,” Drewett said sitting up and pulling her t-shirt off. “Maybe you need something to distract you. Let me tell you that being outside at night makes me cold. Maybe you can warm me up a little.”
Stone looked over at her, staring at her as she put her hands behind her back, unclipped her bra and let it fall to her lap revealing her breasts. She reached out for him and pulled him into a kiss.
***
Durst was in awe at the amount of information that Duty Officer had compiled. He looked around for his Smart Tablet, finding it in one of the desk drawers; he connected it to the USB port on the terminal and began downloading information to it. There was only a portion of the data that he was able to load into the tablet but it was enough to keep him busy for several days. Unplugging the tablet, he let Duty Officer continue working on the raw data as he pushed back from the desk studying the tablet. His stomach grumbled. Standing up and leaving the work room, he wandered back towards the elevator and pushed the button to return to the main dining area all while intently reading the information on the tablet.
The elevator doors opening caused him to look up and become aware of where he was. Still reading the tablet as he made his way into the large, commercial kitchen area he stopped at the preparation table then set the tablet down before walking to the refrigerator. Rummaging through the contents, he removed one of the barbequed steaks, the potato salad and some other items that looked good. Turning around, he was startled to see Jessica Burnett standing by the table and reading what was on his tablet.
“Oh, hey sorry didn’t see you there,” he said placing the items on the table.
“That’s ok, you looked like you were into your reading,” she said looking up. “This is amazing stuff. How accurate is it?” she asked.
“Pretty accurate, its data from when this outbreak started and going all the way up to the point where all the television and radio broadcasts stopped.”
He opened the containers and scooped out some of the contents then searched for a plate for the steak.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” he said noticing Burnett still reading his tablet. “It just seemed that we were having a party while other people had died.” Durst shook his head. “Like a celebration that they were dead.”
“No, that’s not right. I mean we should have done more, something, I don’t know.” He trailed off forking the steak onto the plate then shoving it into the microwave.
“You did do something,” Burnett stated. “You got your friends out that place before they were killed.”
“Yeah, we ran away,” Durst said angrily.
“You did what you had to do. What other choice was there?” she asked. “If you had stayed to fight you’d all be dead now. Someone famous once said ‘he who fights and runs, lives to fight another day’. You aren’t responsible for what happened. You can’t put that on your shoulders and try to save the world.”
Durst was silent, thinking about what she had said and watching the microwave count down.
“I wasn’t trying to save the world. I was trying to save those that had clawed their way out of the hell that this world has become. I was trying to bring back some sense of normality.”
“You tried. That’s all that matters,” Burnett said. “Ever read Sun Tzu?” she asked. “He was the Chinese tactician that wrote The Art of War. One the many things he wrote in that book were how to choose your battles and you will be victorious. I know I’m not quoting it right but I think you get the idea.”
Durst remov
ed the steak as the microwave beeped and placed it on the table.
“That makes sense,” he said after several seconds of silence spent cutting his steak. Chewing slowly as he thought about what Burnett had quoted. “That really does make sense.”
Burnett allowed herself a smile then moved around to the table and spooned some potato salad onto a plate.
“Do you have a copy of this Sun Tzu guy’s book?” Durst asked as he walked out onto the patio that overlooked the atrium.
“I’m sure I can dig one up somewhere,” Burnett answered following Durst out to the veranda.
***
Chapter 4
RMA Sandhurst, Camberley, Surrey, United Kingdom
“Are you sure?” Jack Larkin asked as he sat beside Leesa Tobias on the bed in their shared quarters.
“Yes,” she said looking at the floor.
They sat in silence, knees touching.
“Well, if that’s how you feel then that’s how it’s going to be,” Larkin said standing up and walking to the door.
They had had this same conversation in the weeks since he had returned to Sandhurst and each time, her reply had been the same. Each time they had reached this point, he had been able to talk her out of her decision. This time, it was different. Tobias reached down and picked up the small day pack that had originally come from the Royal Windsor Hotel. She stopped at the door and looked at Larkin.
“It’s only for a little while. Just until things settle down some,” she said placing the palm of her hand against the side of his face.
He closed his eyes and felt the warmth of her hand against his skin then stepped back, opening the door wider. Tobias removed her hand and slowly shook her head, knowing what she had to do. Larkin watched her walk away towards the medical area of the building before closing the door.
Up From the Depths: Book 4 Movement to Contact Page 3
