by Germann, Tom
The Captain leaned forward and refilled his mug. Major Wagner and the crew were paying careful attention to the story being told. The atmosphere was not threatening but horrified. The other outpost survivors were shifting around and there was quiet grumbling at points. Yet they were still here, they had stayed together and survived.
“After the Guard got here they took over on convoy runs out to us instead of us sending school buses in with escort. We saw them the first day when their convoy commander explained how the Guard was now running things differently. They would be by every three days to take care of the refugees. When they left, I had the boys pack up and then we headed North. I knew about these warehouses. Camping stores, grocery store supplies and even one classified warehouse which acts as a shipment point for the military in the region. There was a small shipment of ammunition waiting to go out so we claimed it. We also found crossbows and lots of bolts. Those are silent. As people came in some of them worked in the area. We did some quiet recce’s and pulled in some ammunition reloading equipment and supplies. We never saw anyone else from the military for about a month now. About seven days ago a small Guard convoy drove through the area looking for us. We stayed silent and hid. They never got out of their vehicles. I am going to go on a limb here. About five days ago we heard firing in the distance, a lot of firing for a few seconds then we saw smoke clouds in the distance over the next two days. I am guessing the Guard talked a bunch of the other soldiers into joining then took the supplies held by the outposts and everything else they could raid. So, we just sat here and took in the refugees as they came. The number dropped off fast and we haven’t seen anyone new in the last four days. The last one was a skinny underfed kid. He had walked from his town up North. Before that, was Gabe and his crew on a breaking down old school bus.”
When the Captain had introduced Gabe, he had nodded at an older man leaning against the wall. The man, Gabe had straightened, nodded at Major Wagner and his people then gone back to leaning.
“We got real lucky. We have about a hundred and twelve survivors and they brought in enough transport so we can move them and more. We were considering getting ready to break out after the heat wave breaks. After all we are forted up well here, have cool water and food till year end as well as other supplies. The survivors also have a lot of skills we could use. To be fair, after Gabe arrived I gave them the option to go with us or head in to the city where the headquarters is or was. Everyone voted to stay here and break out with us later. Oh, I forgot. About four of my boys came down with the flu and turned. I put them down. One was my second in command, good man Lieutenant Jones was and we miss him. We were lucky. So enough of our story. What can you tell us about what is going on? Did reinforcements come finally? Are they taking back the city and the coast now or just building up?”
The Captain had stopped and was eyeing Major Wagner eagerly. Everyone else was leaning forward as well eager for news from the outside world.
Major Wagner looked at his people and the empty bowls in front of them. Tired and hot, but at least they were fed and had been able to take a break.
He nodded. “Well Captain this is what I can tell you. My troops and I are Canadian. We were on an exercise during the outbreak and didn’t know anything had been going on for the first bit….”
For the next few minutes Major Wagner passed on their story. Sometimes Sergeant Vajjer or First Caisson gave a comment or two. When they came to their arrival at the headquarters the grumbling which had started earlier ended. The Captain’s face went white and all he said was, “less than sixty?”
Gabe started cursing when the story about Sue and Tracy being attacked after the dinner came out. He promptly apologized to them for his language but kept his eye on the two from then on.
When Major Wagner finally wrapped up with their arrival at this the last outpost everyone was silent for a second.
The Captain finally spoke up. “I can’t believe we’re all falling back like this. All it takes to stop those dead monsters is a shot to the head. Destroy the brain and they are done. But I know we can’t hold on here forever so I guess it means we are going to come in and take the train out. We’ll start packing immediately and use the buses we have for transport and we know about trains. All the vehicles will be loaded with supplies we can load onto the train. We also have enough lift capacity we can stop off at the other outpost and pick up the Lieutenant and his people on the way in. We should be there by seven thirty tomorrow morning so you don’t need to come out and run escort for us.”
Sergeant Orlen, a younger man stepped forward and nodded at Sue and Tracy. “Sir, ma’am. Would it make more sense for the ladies to stay here? We have fourteen other ladies that they could be with and they won’t get harassed like they would back in headquarters.”
Sue looked angry for a second then shook her head. “Thank you for the offer but I feel safe with our people even if I don’t feel safe at the headquarters. I don’t doubt you all aren’t like them but I just feel better with our own if you understand?”
Both the Sergeant and Captain nodded their understanding. The Sergeant walked forward and looked at his Captain and the Major then put two bundles on the table. “Then ladies, I went and pulled out some extras we have in our lockup. Those are thirty-two caliber revolvers with shoulder holsters and some extra ammunition. Kind of underpowered as a weapon but it would surely make a man think twice about being bad when he’s facing down something like that.”
The Captain looked away with a smile. “Ladies if you have a second some of my boys can show you how to handle the weapon. We also have a police officer who used to use the shoulder holster. He can give you some tricks to get it out and in use quick.”
Sue nodded and picked the package up. Tracy hesitated then gingerly picked up the other one. Both followed the Sergeant toward a door outside.
Major Wagner watched them leave. “Thank you. It’s still hard for me to imagine troops doing that to civilians.”
Captain Hastings face darkened and he leaned forward. “You keep an eye on Sergeant Tannis. He’s a tricky one and would fit right in with the Guard. I don’t doubt if you were a threat to him he’d do whatever he could to make you look bad. Hellfire and brimstone, it sounds like the CO surrounded himself with the gutter trash from the unit. I don’t believe for a second more than one or two would have gone over the wall. It’s just a death sentence and I think everyone knows it. You be real careful when you get back there, Sir.”
The Captain paused and continued speaking slowly. “I don’t want to consider doing this the hard way but maybe we should all just drive out? We could be at the refuge in a few weeks if we take our time. The train is only faster. Do you want to come back here to pick us up then we all just leave later when the heat breaks?”
Wagner looked at Caisson and Vajjer. Both considered then shook their heads.
Major Wagner slowly shook his own head. “We have the chance to get back to a safe place fast, we have all our gear back at the headquarters and some more of our people. We only need to stay on our guard for one more night then we are out of here. I think we are better taking the train, also, after we board there will be over two hundred of us so it should keep the few trouble makers in line.”
Caisson also spoke up. “Plus, we don’t know if all the vehicles will make it. We could be stuck if something blows out that can’t be fixed on the drive out.”
Vajjer shrugged. “What if roads are blocked further out? Or if we run into a horde of the infected like the one which followed us in? We could be swamped then we have to go cross country and they move at a decent speed.”
Captain Hastings nodded. “That was part of the reason we wanted to leave when the heat breaks at the end of summer. By then these infected should be dead of dehydration and exposure. So, we’ll swing by tomorrow and load on the train for around seven thirty. I’ll put money down the CO will have a final parade for the site. Probably an hour or more. Okay, we’ll be the
re.” He turned and looked at Private Henry. “Son I know those men back there at the headquarters and there ain’t nothing good about them. They view themselves as better than others, and you being black are an other. Do you want to stay here with us and come in tomorrow? We have every race in here with us and have space for more people. Your call.”
Everyone had been ignoring Private Henry as the drivers had been ignored throughout most of the day. They were there and accomplishing a task.
Private Henry looked up startled from where he had been eating a third bowl of the leftovers and a fourth helping of the slightly stale bread. “Thank you for the offer, Sir, but this group picked me up and there ain’t many of them. If those boys are aiming to try something I figure another rifle may help. Especially if they are eyeing the ladies.” He nodded at where Sue and Tracy had left. “A man is supposed to treat women with respect. So, if they go back I’ll go too.”
The Captain nodded. “Good man. It’s good to see, even with the sad situation the world is in right now there are still good young American men that will do the right thing. We’ll be there tomorrow and I hope for their sakes those scumbags haven’t tried anything on.”
The Captain pulled his chair back and stood. “I know you want to get going soon as you do have a drive ahead of you. But before you go do you want a quick tour of our little Fort America? See all we did in the last weeks?”
Major Wagner checked his watch and was startled. It felt like they had only sat down for a few minutes, but they had been sitting for almost an hour and a half. “I think we would love a quick tour. After all, when we head back we probably have another dinner then we should stay awake all night on guard. Lead on.”
The Captain took them to the back of the building next to the same door Sue and Tracy had gone through. He pointed out a chalkboard map up on the wall.
They were in the reception building with the sturdiest vehicle doors. There were three warehouses holding food and supplies. Two of the eight buildings were from a sporting good chain and was full of camping stores. Then there was the contracted warehouse the military and other federal agencies had stored items in for redistribution in the local area. The last warehouse had home scrawled over it. As soon as they had moved North to this location they had started barricading the roads around the buildings then as more people became available they had taken the sturdiest building and emptied it and started building living cubicles. They had walls and doors. They weren’t meant to last forever just for a few months and they had been built fast.
As the group walked through the compound it was amazing to see how much work had been accomplished in such a short time.
As Captain Hastings put it. “If you have nothing else to do you can get a lot of work accomplished. This was going to be home for a while. Everyone pitched in.”
When they came to the far side of the compound Major Wagner had pointed out the last two buildings. “What are those? They aren’t on your map.”
Captain Hastings nodded. “Come on.” He opened the main door to the side and stepped in. Everyone else followed.
The building was full of every type of vehicle.
The Captain pointed around. “This is our second garage. Anything anyone drove in on or we could find and secure. This is it. These are all the smaller vehicles. Mostly personal. The next building over has the good stuff. Come on.”
In the next building over were several different types of buses, delivery trucks, two armoured vehicles and several larger army trucks along with a command post.
The Captain pointed at all the vehicles. “Anything we came into possession of which was in good shape is in here and is checked over regularly. Anything that was junk or in not great condition we stripped and put on the barricade along with a few hundred jersey berries we found near the highway. All the stuff we stripped we kept for spare parts. We are good to go. Tomorrow we’ll fire the vehicles up in the buildings. If it doesn’t start it gets left behind. We move the one blocking vehicle and we are gone.”
The Captain walked them back to the first building talking while he led them. “We’re going to re-secure the area before we leave. Then if anyone finds it they can have the use of it. Or if we head back this way this is a nice secure area to fort up in. But I have a bigger concern.”
They had entered the building and were walking toward the three vehicles. Sue and Tracy were already there and both were practicing drawing the revolvers from the holsters while they were wearing jackets. Interestingly enough, Tracy was faster. Sue was getting red faced and it was obvious the competition was fierce.
The Captain stopped in front of Major Wagner’s armoured vehicle and looked at him. “I’m glad to have this problem to run by someone of a higher rank. The utilities are running at just under half capacity right now. The city engineers figured the systems could run like that unsupervised without major breakdowns for up to two years. I know there are more people in the city. We’ve even seen lights at night in some of the taller apartment buildings. And it is not consistent so someone is turning them on and off when they feel like it. Tomorrow when we roll out I was going to stop at one of the control centres and pretty much shut the system down. It’ll make start up harder but if it is just ticking over we won’t have any breakdowns, at least not larger ones and the engineers would have an easier time repairing and starting the system up. But then we leave a dozen? Or a hundred? Or thousands of survivors with almost no power or water. So, I guess I have to leave the decision with you sir.”
Major Wagner grunted. If he was wearing his real rank then this wouldn’t be an issue but he had stepped up and was playing the game to keep his people alive. What was the best decision.
He looked at the Captain. “If you can do it safely then shut down the systems, or rather switch them to just ticking over like you said. With the way things are going here I don’t think anyone is coming back for a while. Anyone who wants to be found would have put the effort in before now. So, they are going to be on their own.”
The Major paused and looked at the Captain. “How are you going to deal with the infected in the area when they start swarming in here tomorrow when you start up?”
The Captain shrugged with a grin. “This is a warehouse district no one lived here. There are almost no infected dead people in the area. Those that are following you, well if they are close enough I have lots of people skilled with a crossbow after weeks of practice. Then if there are still more we’ll switch over to rifles. My boys won’t have any problems, don’t you worry sir.”
Major Wagner nodded then pulled out one of their walkie talkies. “This is one of our radios. With some clear area and decent reception, we should be able to hear you with more luck than you believe, out to three miles. This isn’t monitored by the headquarters staff. I’ll make sure one of my people is listening in as you get closer. Don’t let everyone know you have it, we only have a few and they’ve done well by us, at least until they break down.”
The Captain nodded his thanks and tucked the radio into one of his cargo pockets.
Everyone else mounted up into their vehicles then as the vehicle doors started rolling up they started their engines.
It was a short drive to the exit and the truck had already been moved.
As they drove away Major Wagner was standing in the turret of the vehicle watching as the truck was moved quickly back into position then there was no sign of life in the area.
It appeared as abandoned as it had before.
RETURN TO HEADQUARTERS
T
he three-vehicle convoy refreshed from their break quickly drove out of the warehouse district. As soon as they left the area they noticed more zombies walking around.
They had agreed a quick drive back to the garrison with no stops and hopefully no glitches.
BACK AT HEADQUARTERS
S
teven, Andreis and Jimmy had watched as the three vehicles had driven away. It had not been a good feel
ing given the people they had spent the last few days with and had kept each other alive were now leaving to look for survivors because the current military couldn’t figure out how to drive their own vehicles.
All three of them understood they couldn’t all go. It would look too much like they were bailing out on the local garrison. They only had three armoured vehicles up to snuff anyway as the rest were questionable according to Jimmy and Vajjer.
So, the three of them had agreed to stay behind and keep working to get ready for all the survivors to leave the next day. To finally head off to this redoubt or refuge or whatever it was. These people had no real idea about secrecy when it came to naming things.
