Dead America The Second Week (Book 7): Dead America: Carolina Front, Part 4

by Slaton, Derek

Kenny held his belly and wiped a tear from his eye. “Boy, that’s a good one, Frank. Ain’t neither one of us ever done anythin’ close to workin’ out in our lives.”

  “‘Cept that one time when we were on that mission trip to Nigeria,” Zane countered.

  The taller man shook his head. “It was Niger.”

  “Nigeria!” the shorter man exclaimed.

  “Niger!” Kenny growled.

  Zane clapped his hands and barked, “It was Nigeria! Boy, you need to go back to school and learn geology so you can be smart like me!”

  Frank scrubbed his hands down his face again, this time trying to keep his sanity intact.

  “Anyways,” the shorter man continued, turning towards their seated audience, “we was on this mission trip, when this little hottie Sallie May Hutchinson offered to give Kenny here an adult wet willie, if you know what I mean, provided he could prove his worth by leapin’ over a creek. Well try as he might, ole Kenny here was waist deep in water you wouldn’t wanna be within twenty feet of. If I live to be a hundred I’ll never laugh that hard again!”

  Frank stifled a chuckle, rubbing his chin. “Okay, fellas, so if you don’t want to work out, then what do you need the dumbbell for?”

  “Well Frank, we had us a little brainstorming session.” Kenny tapped his temple. “We came up with somethin’ that might help clear out some of them critters outside. Don’t know if it’s gonna work or not, but we wanna give it a shot.”

  Frank shrugged. “What the hell, if nothing else it’ll be a good opportunity to see what you boys can do. Take what you need.”

  The duo turned their backs on him, whispering to each other in a private conference. Every once in awhile they would break to point at a few things, and then seemed to settle on a ten pounder.

  “Alright, Frank, give us about a half hour or so, then come up to section two-thirty-two and we’ll show you what we’ve got,” Kenny declared.

  The Captain nodded with a tired smile on his face. “Looking forward to it, fellas.” He chuckled as they headed out with their dumbbell, and before the door even closed Bill Huff entered. “Hey Bill, I was just coming to find you.”

  “Looks like I wasn’t the only one,” the older man replied, and motioned over his shoulder with his thumb. “They’re a couple of special ones, aren’t they?”

  Frank barked a laugh before standing up and heading over. “Understatement of the day.”

  “I wouldn’t underestimate them, though, they’re the best at what they do,” Bill said.

  The Captain nodded as he removed the towel from his shoulder. “I don’t doubt it.”

  “If you’re done with your workout, you want to follow me up to section two-ten?” The older man asked. “Freeman and the team should be back any minute.”

  Frank shoved the towel and water bottle in his duffel bag and zipped it up before holding the door open. “Mission go well?” he asked as he motioned for Bill to go first.

  “I’ll let him fill you in,” the older man explained. “But I have some stuff I need to cover with you first.”

  They strolled down the long corridor, various military and civilians wandering around them.

  “How are things looking?” Frank asked.

  Bill took a deep breath. “The living quarters are almost completely set up, and should be finished by the end of the day tomorrow,” he said. “There were some power fluctuations in the last area we were setting up that delayed things.”

  “Anything we should worry about?” Frank’s brow furrowed.

  “Nah, turns out someone had just stumbled over a cable leading to some of the solar panels, and the connector came loose.” Bill waved him off. “Plugged it back in and we were good to go.”

  The Captain sighed in relief. “Simple fixes are good.”

  “Especially given our limited supplies,” the older man added.

  “Speaking of.” Frank raised his chin. “How’s our food supply looking?”

  “More than enough to go around.” Bill spread his hands. “Just got word that we are getting some tomato sprouts popping up in some of the greenhouses. We’re still about a month away from having fresh salads, but we’re on the right path.”

  They reached the elevator just as the doors opened, and a few soldiers filed out, saluting the Captain. He responded in kind, and put out his hand to hold the doors open for Bill.

  “How are we looking on the research facilities?” he asked.

  “We’re as good as we’re going to get for the moment,” Bill replied. “We are short on equipment, and there really isn’t a good way to improve the situation. We have some of the civilians keeping an eye out for what we need, but not a lot of scientific equipment being stashed in office buildings.”

  Frank pursed his lips as he punched the buttons on the elevator. “Make sure it’s stressed to them that our help isn’t contingent on how much equipment they find for us. Last thing we need is for one of them to get eaten and the rest of them picking up arms against us.”

  “There’s enough of that going around as it is.” Bill shook his head.

  The elevator gave a happier ding than their mood, and Frank shook his head. “And I have no doubt if anything happened on this trip, Freeman will make sure I never hear the end of it.”

  The doors opened and they walked into the hallway towards the open railing. The sun reflected off of the glass buildings along the skyline, splashing beautiful colors everywhere in an almost peaceful way. But as they gazed down at the ground, there was a sea of undead filling every square inch of space from the stadium all the way back as far as the eye could see.

  “You’d think with all the threats that are facing us, that people would be coming together instead of trying to kill us,” Frank said with a sigh as he tuned out the raw hum of dead groans. “We’ve got the undead around every corner, lots of people in the city are facing starvation, and I can’t imagine how people trapped in office buildings are dealing with the constant boredom. We at least have some things set up to keep us occupied in the stadium, but there’s only so many paperclips you can throw into a styrofoam cup before you snap.”

  Bill nodded thoughtfully as the zombies below parted around Freeman’s transport vehicle slowly moving through the horde. “I’ll see if I can’t round up some entertainment options for our city dweller friends. Pretty sure we can spare a football or two at the very least.”

  “Thanks Bill,” Frank replied, and then pressed his lips into a thin line. They watched in silence as Freeman closed in on the stadium wall. A small team of soldiers headed by them towards the landing zone with ladders, refreshments and medical gear.

  “Has there been any word from Terrell?” Frank finally asked the question that had been weighing on his mind.

  Bill shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry, there’s been no word from him.”

  “Well I guess no news is good news,” the Captain said, crossing his arms. “At least we haven’t gotten word of his demise.”

  The older man nodded. “From what you’ve told me about him, it’s going to take a lot more than the zombie apocalypse to take him out.”

  “This is true.” Frank chuckled. He winced at the sound of Freeman’s truck scraping loudly against the side of the stadium with a metallic screech. “He’s graceful, ain’t he?”

  “Luckily we have some good body shop guys on staff here,” Bill agreed. As his companion made to head over to the ladders, he grasped his shoulder to stop him. “There’s one more thing, Captain, and if I’m going to be perfectly honest, I think it should stay just between the two of us.”

  Frank’s brow furrowed and he turned, leaning in close. “This can’t be good,” he murmured.

  “Well, it doesn’t really change our immediate situation, but could demoralize people if they learn of it, dramatically changing our situation here,” Bill said, taking a deep breath.

  Frank’s heart pounded. “What has you worried, Bill?”

  “I talked to John Teeter this morning,” the o
lder man said. “Our scheduled call wasn’t for a couple more days, but he reached out directly to me. They made the decision a couple of days ago to isolate the east coast from the rest of the country.”

  The Captain’s jaw dropped. “Isolate the east coast?” he hissed. “How the hell do you do that without blowing up every bridge on the Mississippi River?”

  “Well…” Bill chewed his lip for a moment. “You don’t.”

  Frank’s eyes widened. “Fucking hell. I mean… yeah, it makes sense from a strategic point of view. Sacrifice the east coast so you have a chance to save the rest of the country.” He puffed out his cheeks and shook his head. “Still… it’s a kick in the dick to know we’re being abandoned.”

  “For what it’s worth, John did tell me that they aren’t abandoning us,” Bill said quickly. “They’ve left up a handful of rural bridges so they can still get supplies across to survivor settlements. Although he did admit he doesn’t have a timeline for that since they’re deep in the planning stages for the Northwest invasion.”

  Frank nodded. “Seattle?”

  “Yep,” Bill confirmed.

  The Captain rubbed his forehead. “Another smart move. Got everything you could possibly need up there.”

  “Agreed,” the older man said.

  Frank sighed. “Well, that does give me hope that the leadership positions are still filled with competent people. We might just win this thing yet.”

  “One day, my friend.” Bill clapped him on the shoulder. “In the meantime, I still have about forty things on my list that I was supposed to get done before talking with you.”

  The Captain offered him a smile. “No worries, Bill. I should be getting over to the landing zone anyway. If I don’t greet Freeman when he gets off the transport he’ll pout.”

  They shared a chuckle and then parted ways. Frank reached the landing zone just as Gardner began dumping a bottle of water on his face to try to clear himself of the coagulated blood caked on him.

  “You okay there, Gardner?” the Captain asked.

  The younger man shook his head like a dog, splattering his three companions in pink liquid. “Another goddamn zombie bukkake, Captain!” He threw his hands up. “None of these other motherfuckers have a drop on them, hell, none of them even had to fight one except me!”

  Frank leaned in. “But you’re not hurt though, right?”

  Gardner wiped his face with a towel and then tossed it aside, shaking his head. “Nah, just pissed the fuck off, Captain.”

  His superior nodded and squeezed his shoulder. “Well, take the rest of your shift off and go hit the showers. I think we can handle it the rest of the way.”

  “Much appreciated, Captain,” Gardner replied, his whole body relaxing with the offer. He didn’t waste any time heading off, leaving Webb, Bennett and Foster staring after him with varying expressions.

  “Freeman, don’t think I don’t know you’re looking at my ass as I climb up,” Marie declared as she crested the railing.

  Freeman’s signature laugh echoed up to them. “I was just being polite, you know, ladies first and all.”

  “Yeah, forgive me if I don’t buy that bullshit excuse,” Marie shot back as she hopped off of the ladder, crossing her arms.

  Frank approached the railing. “If I may play Devil’s advocate for a moment,” he said as Freeman’s head popped up. “Marie, he very well could be allowing you to go first to be polite. Sure, he may be checking out your ass as y’all climb, but he’s sparing you from having to stare at his.”

  She put a finger to her chin in mock thought, and then let out a playful shudder before laughing. “I can see why they made you Captain. Out of the box thinking comes in handy.” She punched Freeman in the bicep before walking backwards towards the trio of onlookers. “I may have bought the ladder excuse, but that’s not going to work as I walk away. Eyes front, boys.” She shot Freeman a wink and then turned, heading off with the others to shed their gear.

  He blew her a sly kiss and smirked.

  Frank blinked at his friend in disbelief. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were smitten.”

  “Can you blame me?” Freeman shot back. “Look at her.”

  “I said eyes front, boys!” she barked over her shoulder in the distance.

  The two men shared a laugh and Frank clapped his friend on the back as they turned back towards the railing, leaning against it over the mass of moaning, rotting flesh below. “So, how’d it go out there?”

  “This trip was about as good as we could have hoped for,” Freeman replied casually. “We got five more floors secured in Wayne’s building. Two, maybe three more runs and we should have everything but the lobby secured.”

  Frank raised an eyebrow. “Clusterfuck?”

  “Understatement,” his friend confirmed. “Half the doors are unlocked and someone drove a car through one of the glass walls. We have the doors in the staircases to the lobby barricaded so nothing is getting through there without high explosives.”

  The Captain let out a low whistle. “Here’s hoping that our rowdy neighbors are fresh out of those.”

  “Ain’t that the fuckin’ truth,” Freeman agreed, and they bumped fists.

  “You have any issues with them this trip?” Frank asked.

  His subordinate shook his head. “Nah, they kept to themselves. We spotted a couple of their snipers in the windows of the building on the corner of third and Tryon, but no shots fired.”

  “Third and Tryon?” the Captain asked, eyes widening in surprise. “What the hell were y’all doing down that far?”

  “Wayne made contact with another group that was out for our blood,” Freeman explained, “but was able to convince them to join his group rather than fight against us. Problem was, they had a few people who weren’t really in any condition to move, so we had to go get them. They were packed up and ready to go on the second floor, so all we had to do was grab ‘em. Kind of like a drive-thru but for people.”

  “It was a calculated risk, but a risk nonetheless,” the Captain said.

  His friend nodded. “Oh, I agree, but I figured the less people we have out there trying to kill us, the better.”

  “Did you get a list of the people you brought over?” Frank asked.

  Freeman motioned back over his shoulder with his thumb. “Yeah, Marie took down a list of names of everybody in the new group. Claimed it was for medical reasons so they wouldn’t get suspicious.”

  “Good thinking,” the Captain commended. “You know I’m not the paranoid type, but it seems a little too convenient for you guys not to take any fire from those assholes.”

  “Yeah, seeing them in the windows watching us work…” Freeman pursed his lips in thought. “Just fucking eerie. Like they know a storm is coming and don’t want to waste any energy.”

  Frank shook his head. “I hope you’re wrong… but I’m afraid you might be right.”

  As they stood there, solemnly contemplating the coming war, somebody yelled, “Yee haw!” from down the hallway.

  “What in the country fried fuck was that?” Freeman demanded, turning around in surprise.

  Frank turned around, resting his elbows on the railing. “Oh yeah, that should be my new friends Zane and Kenny.”

  “It’s not like you to make friends,” his subordinate teased.

  The Captain shot him a wry grin. “Eh, figure I’m trapped in a football stadium, so gotta try something new to keep the boredom at bay, right?” He shrugged. “Come on, this might be entertaining.”

  Freeman shook his head but couldn’t deny the curiosity as he followed his friend down the hallway to the excited hooting and hollering. As they rounded the bend, the two demolition experts were standing against the railing, looking outside.

  Kenny turned the handle on a giant wheel housing a long chain, the base bolted to the concrete floor.

  “All right, slow her up there,” Zane said, waving at his companion. He reached over the edge and grabbed the chain, pulling up
the end where they’d welded the dumbbell. It was covered in blood and bone, and the redneck flicked the bits off with a gloved hand.

  Freeman wrinkled his nose. “New friends, huh?”

  “Well, looks like I was right about the entertaining part,” Frank quipped. “What do you say, boys?” he called as they approached.

  “Oh, hey Frank!” Zane greeted. “You shoulda been here thirty seconds ago, you missed a humdinger of a toss!”

  The Captain scratched the back of his head. “Apparently I’m missing quite a bit, because I have no idea what you boys are thinking.”

  “Well y’see, me and Zane were down in the shop workin’ on reinforcin’ some of them vehicles when we got to talkin’ about how much we missed fishin’,” Kenny began.

  His short friend nodded emphatically. “Yeah, just the simple joy of a man casting his rod into the water while gettin’ shitfaced on cheap-ass beer,” he added wistfully. “No better time in a man’s life than when he’s fishin’.”

  “See, as we was reminiscin’ about them good times, Zane found this here spool of chain and it got us thinkin’,” Kenny continued. “While we can’t get the cheap-ass beer, we can still cast that rod and hook us a big one!”

  Freeman shared a glance with Frank and then barked a laugh. “Fucking love your new friends.” He approached the wall. “All right, cast away! Let’s see if you can reel one in.”

  Zane excitedly leaned over the railing and looked for a target. He wound his arm back and whipped the dumbbell out into the air. It dragged the chain behind it, falling in an impressive arc before thunking down onto a zombie’s head.

  The demolition men shared a victorious yell and high-fived as the corpse in the tattered business suit crumpled to the asphalt.

  “Goddamn did you see that sucker’s head go?!” Zane exclaimed, blowing a raspberry to accentuate the splat. “Boy, that’s two straight headshots! Whoo!”

  Kenny furrowed his brow. “What you talkin’ about? You didn’t get that last one in the head!”

  “Bullshit I didn’t,” Zane snapped.

  His tall friend shook his head. “You took his ear off and hit his shoulder, that don’t count.”