by Germann, Tom
Sue put her hand up when it was obvious Steven was done. Captain Wagner nodded, “Go ahead Sue. What do you have for us?”
Sue smiled sunnily and stood up. She unzipped the light hunting jacket she had found at the hunting store what seemed so long ago when they met up with Sarah and Neil and took it off.
Everyone gasped and Captain Wagner with raised eyebrows asked Sue. “Where did you get that?” He was clearly referring to the shoulder holster holding a smaller revolver with several pouches on the other side under her arm.
Sue giggled and sat down again keeping the jacket on her lap. “Well, you know that shy Private Kerlingen? He was the one who every time I smiled at him he looked like he was going to faint?”
She didn’t wait for anyone to respond but continued. “Well, when we were getting the mattresses for our sleeping area I saw a big brick structure off to the side, kind of near the garage. I remembered the Private looked after the armory and of course where else would you put all the guns and ammo but in a large secure brick structure? Any of these rooms with the paper tissue walls? You may as well just leave the guns on the floor of the garage.”
Sue smiled again and flicked her hair back with a quick snap of her neck before continuing. “I just wandered over while everyone else moved some of those mattresses and Private Kerlingen was there. I flirted a little with him, “she giggled and looked down before continuing, “and asked for a tour of the armoury. They have lots of military stuff in there but not much ammunition. They also have a bunch of civilian stuff including several short barreled thirty-eights. I just told him that friends of the family were police officers and I had used them a lot and I feared the infected getting into the building. What would I do then??”
Sue batted her eyes and said woefully. “A girl couldn’t possibly use a hammer or some other big tool like all the men could and I had lost my revolver trying to save a friend early on. It’s just so dangerous out there….”
Sue smiled again cheerfully as she wrapped up her story. Everyone just stared at her speechlessly.
Tracy was the first to recover. She glared at her friend as if she was suggesting throwing children to the infected. “Sue you’re carrying a gun!” She almost yelled. “It could hurt someone! I don’t believe you had sex with the guy! He’s a no name army grunt!”
Sue just looked at Tracy. She held up one finger. “First Tracy I did not have sex with anyone. I flirted with him by smiling and chatting him up. I did undo one more button of my shirt but I have tube tops which show more skin. He was just a young guy who is nice and way too shy.” She held up a second finger. “Second. I will gladly shoot any infected and I have said that since we first got firearms. I am better shooting a zombie as it really isn’t a person any more. It’s a dead, unnatural thing that wants to kill me and everyone else. I never said I wouldn’t. I was just nervous as it’s been awhile since I did any real shooting. Now I can see we all need to be armed or we can end up dead. I’ll go down fighting thank you. Finally, aren’t you carrying a hammer? Are you going to use it if the infected get in here or allow yourself to get bitten?”
She put her hand down then raised both hands giving her friend the single finger salute with both. Then she looked over at Captain Wagner and in a more serious tone continued. “The big points from this are, there is not a huge amount of ammunition here for all those weapons. I didn’t even see a reloading machine. Next, there are lots of machine guns and cases of ammo for them. If there were weapons which used that ammunition maybe we could get some of them?”
Sue took a deep breath and a look of almost fear crossed her face. “The thing is I didn’t think Private Kerlingen would give me a weapon. But he gave me the revolver, shoulder holster, three speed loaders and two boxes of ammunition. He didn’t make me sign for it. He just said it had been taken off some of the survivors who had come through here and they couldn’t send it on. The whole thing was wrapped up in string in a box. As he gave it to me he told me to keep it loaded and on me. He said some of the others here had made comments, bad comments. He wouldn’t say what and don’t try to force him please. I don’t think Tracy or I are safe here at least not alone with these guys.”
Caisson slowly nodded. “I don’t think it’s so bad. But I kind of agree with Sue, no one should go alone here. I don’t want to think about anyone getting jumped because these guys think we gave them some disrespect or some other crap. Or if it is worse than I think it is, we give them an opportunity for … some fun.” The last was said while he glanced over at Sue and Tracy.
Captain Wagner spoke quietly. “I agree. No one goes alone and everyone goes armed. I hope it isn’t as bad but I don’t know and I won’t have any of us injured or assaulted because of something stupid.”
Jimmy snorted. “These yahoos are stupid and you know what? Stupid is forever. I don’t think we should go in small groups at all if we can help it. I heard those idiots talking.” Jimmy was turning red with anger and had clenched his hands down at his side. The thinning hair on top of his head was slicked down with sweat and he looked enraged.
Jimmy took a couple of deep breaths and started talking quickly. “Me and Corporal Toker here stayed behind to deal with checking out the engines on those vehicles and trying to figure out what was going on here. As soon as you all had left there were those three grease balls and they looked like they were giving orders to two of the dunderheads who ended up staying behind to keep an eye on us.”
Jimmy stopped and closed his eyes taking several more deep breaths. When he opened his eyes again his flushed face was slowly fading back to normal and he seemed much more in control. If you looked closely though you could see a steely glint of anger deep in his eyes.
He started talking again slowly and clearly. “I’m old, well older, and not deaf. Those young idiots thought I was half in the grave given how loud they were talking. Racist? Hell yes. They made comments about Toker here and his family.” He paused and patted Corporal Toker on the shoulder, “if it had been me? I’d have shot the bastards for saying those things about my family and me. But it gets worse. I don’t think these scumbags have seen a woman for months. At least not the way they were talking. They were pretty graphic about what they’d like to do to Tracy there,” he nodded at Sue, “I guess these folks prefer stick women to curves. Sorry Sue.”
Sue shuddered and said. “It’s okay. I’d really rather they not focus on me.”
Tracy glared at Sue then Jimmy before sitting down cross legged on the mattress and looking like she wanted to cry.
Jimmy kept going, looking at both women apologetically. “They wouldn’t pass on Sue though. I’ve heard young bucks talk about women before in the bars or, well, man areas if you know what I mean. I just think it’s all talk. Mostly because I don’t think they would know what to do with a woman if they had a willing one!”
Vajjer looked at Jimmy. “We get the point. They’re scumbags. Did you get any good info?”
Jimmy nodded. “These people are dumb. I mean like they know what their job is and have no clue about anything else. Lots of guys should be working on cars for fun and to help impress the ladies with their impressive ride. These guys don’t know where to add oil to the engine or even how to check it. I asked one guy to roll over the barrel of grease so I could lube up the joints. He disappeared and brought me a tin of bacon fat. Those vehicles look like they were in decent shape. I don’t know where all the mechanics are but I haven’t seen any of them yet. I also looked at the inside of the vehicles to see how easy they would be to use. Sweet Enola Gay! It would be about as hard as driving a tractor! Those trucks on the side are a bit harder because of their air assisted systems but still.”
Here Jimmy looked down and crossed his arms while considering what he was going to say next. “I don’t think these are the real soldiers. I think this is the bottom of the barrel being scraped up for numbers. They don’t know jack and they’re dumb with no discipline like Sergeant … uhh First Sergean
t Caisson there was saying. They’re good enough to open the roll-up doors and help move stuff. One thing I did hear. I think most of them being Sergeants and stuff is made up. I think they just faked it and the only officer left is their CO who probably doesn’t even know them. I heard them messing up a bunch.”
Jimmy stopped talking and looked around then pulled out the canteen on his hip and took a small swig. “Oh yahh, I made nice with those idiots pretending to laugh at their dumb jokes and the weaselly guy, I think his name was Timothy passed me a mickey. These guys have booze and it isn’t controlled. I want on that train before bad stuff happens.”
Sam had been quiet till now. “I heard them making jokes about Toker and saying some bad stuff about Captain Wagner. During a break, they asked what it was like out there and how much I must hate being stuck working for some jumped up brainless officer. I told them it was bad and the soldiers had kept us alive. I almost didn’t make it. They seem to like me and Andreis. I don’t like them but I played nice.” Sam stopped talking then and settled back on the mattress.
Vajjer put his hand up. “So, the troops are junk. But their weapons look well maintained. It could be they get one dirty then just switch it out from the armoury. The vehicles. Those look more basic and in better shape like Jimmy said than they should be. The vehicle is a nice basic design. It’s like all they really did was take a similar design from World War Two and improved it a bit. Some of those vehicles were basic but they worked. These guys have NOT left the wire. When I started talking about what it was like driving around out there with the infected and the few fights we had been in they got real antsy. I thought they were going to scream and hop up onto a chair or something.” He smiled, “I bet most of them have nightmares tonight.”
Wagner stood up after Vajjer had finished. “Okay, I have some answers on why things are the way they are here. While I go through it I want everyone to bite their tongue. No cursing, swearing or crying. Next,” the Captain looked at First Sergeant Caisson, “First, please set out an armed guard at the door looking down the hall. Use Andreis and Toker. I don’t want anyone hearing this and really we should have set a guard immediately.”
The Captain paused until the two Corporals were standing at the door with their weapons at their shoulder looking down the hallways. Then he sighed. “Okay everyone here we go with a quick history lesson.”
Everyone else leaned in to hear what he was quietly saying. Corporal Andreis at the door kept looking in at the group until Toker smacked him in the shoulder and pointed down the hallway.
One of the lights above sparked once like it had been intermittently.
The Captain took a breath and started talking. “After the outbreak became noticeable and the infected started to overwhelm the police and emergency services in some of the cities the government talked to the corporations and did a partial call up of the Reserves. That was for about two days. Then full outbreak happened somewhere in the south where a freighter had foundered. The full military was activated and called up. The Naval fleets here are like everything else we saw. Outdated. But the basics still work. They put up a quarantine around North America and started sinking ships. This States division was called up and plans were drawn up. First it was what we call ‘aid to civil power’. It didn’t even fully get pushed out to all the troops. They had intended to support the police and medical first responders. They started to set up storage sites in warehouses for the infected. The corporations didn’t like this but were willing to give a discounted lease rate as long as they were fixed up after the emergency was over.”
Vajjer had pulled out a cigarette and lit it. Sue and several others including Steven accepted them when he offered and lit up. The room quickly filled with smoke as the Captain continued.
“That plan was scrapped because parts of every division were infected. Most of the country were going through infection. Only some area called the ‘Industrial Core’ seems to have had minimal infection. But back here the new plan was for the military to move into the cities with the long-haul movers, trains running across the country using electricity, being used to evacuate the uninfected. Their doctors discovered there was no cure or vaccine. At least not now. The traditional ways of creating a vaccine just infected everyone it was tested on. Freetdorf was supposed to have three thousand troops here securing everything and moving healthy people out. The plan didn’t work well. The Commanding Officer and Deputy were infected. The last general they had went out for a meet and greet with the locals and ended up getting bitten pretty bad. He had been deciding on whether to sign off on the final option for the infected.”
He looked around at everyone in the room as they sat there quietly. “Yes, they knew the infected were dying and coming back and there was no cure. There were some orders in play to execute all infected. The General hadn’t signed off on it but when he came to after being attacked he put his service weapon in his mouth and blew his brains out. In front of everyone. Two of the people he splattered with his brains became infected shortly after.”
Everyone was picturing those early days. The image of people screaming, trying to make it to army support that didn’t know what it was doing while everyone around you was panicking or watching friends and loved ones get infected and turn on you. Everyone knew whatever they were picturing, it had likely been worse, much worse.
“The three thousand troops were a lot less. The CO didn’t say what the actual numbers were. But there was a gung ho and switched on Colonel who became CO then. He came up with the local action plan to push a company out to different points to act as collectors for all the refugees. They would be checked there then clean personnel would get shipped here for loading onto the next train to the Industrial Core. He had the armoured recce group act as convoy escort and it started to work. Then he seized as many large food warehouses as he could. There was also a warehouse of military rations which were collected and brought here for emergency use. The unit took other casualties then elements of the Patriots Guard were brought in. The last CO and his command staff were pulled back and another CO appointed. Infection and attacks seemed to be happening a lot more. The CO was shot down and the current CO took over as he was the last senior officer here. Previously he was the Deputy Commanding Officer but spent most of his time sending reports back to this Core thing on their consumption rates as well as reports on the spread of the infection.”
The Captain leaned back putting one of his arms on the shelving unit next to him. His flat green uniform looked faded out in the light from above. “Our current CO was promoted to Colonel and took over six days ago. He was a company commander almost twenty years ago and has been in operations and planning cells since then creating lists and getting mandatory training done for the division.”
Caisson just clamped his mouth shut. Steven had a pained look on his face and Vajjer grunted. “Shit” with no real feeling behind it. Everyone else just looked around with questioning looks.
Captain Wagner continued. “There are no other officers here. The last one was a junior officer who took off the day after the previous CO was killed in action. The armoured recce unit was operating as convoy escort and doing a good job but there was a big argument between its commander and the previous CO. They drove off five days ago to collect more refugees and check up on the outposts as most of those were out of radio contact. They never came back. I asked the Flag Sergeant. They took all the support troops with them, every single mechanic and as many spare parts as they could get into their vehicles. There was no reason why they should have done that.”
Jimmy snorted. “Well it looks like they were getting out before the idiots fully took over this place. Oh sorry.” He said after he saw the glare Caisson gave him.
Captain Wagner shook his head. “It’s alright. I had to keep a poker face for three hours of debrief. I only got away because dinner was coming up and I had to prepare.”
Vajjer lit another smoke. “So basically, a company quietly mutinied and ran
away. Oh, and other people have been doing the same in ones and twos for a while. Can we just drive off?”
Everyone leaned in to listening carefully as Captain Wagner continued. “No go. We are in for the duration. The CO who is also the only person qualified on the computer system already passed on info on us. If we run we are considered deserters and possibly spies.”
The Captain sighed. “Before you ask. No, the CO did not tell me. It’s a standard order sent out from the current government which is currently isolated somewhere. There was also the expansion of the militaries power to make some changes as necessary. What it means to us here and now is we are part of the US military as a foreign auxiliary. We are deploying tomorrow in armored vehicles to go check the outposts and tell them all to use what transport they have to make their way back here for this position to be shut down.”
Caisson stared wide eyed at the Captain. “Is he out of his frigging mind? We aren’t armoured. Why doesn’t he send his men out?”
Captain Wagner shrugged. “None of the CO’s men of which there are sixty-two here, can drive officially. It means they can’t drive the vehicles. WE are ‘foreign auxiliaries’ and we all know how to drive and fix things. It makes us valuable support troops.” He shrugged, “also to be completely honest I don’t think the local troops would even leave the building if they could weasel their way out of it.” He blew out slowly threw his mouth slowly. “I talked to the Flag Sergeant quickly. He thought anyone who tried to order the troops out would probably have an accident. A bad accident.”
Everyone leaned back from this as they considered. The older soldier’s faces had gone blank. Corporal Weibe looked around questioningly and piped up. “Sorry sir but how can they not follow orders? Aren’t they soldiers? What happens to them?”
