Apex Predator

by Glyn Gardner

  As they began to get close, Jen let off the break and let the vehicle coast forward.

  “You watch the road,” ordered the Sergeant. “I’ll watch Zed.” The humvee continued to coast for a hundred meters or so. “Ok, stop. We’re outrunning them.” After a minute or two, he ordered her to coast forward some more. Jesus, he thought. What the hell was he thinking? He wasn’t sure if he felt more like the rabbit at the dog races or a piece of cheese in a mouse trap.

  He could see the hoard had fallen for the bait. It appeared that the church parking lot was empty of zombies. He figured he’d lead this group another couple hundred meters down the road before trying to turn around.

  “Ok, Jackson, you should be good. Get in and get out fast. Tell me when you’re done. Rally point is where we stopped for dinner”

  The Church

  Father Geoff Albright heard a horn honking. He’d been hiding in the confessional of his church for almost 24 hours now. He’d been ministering to members of his congregation one-by-one throughout these trying times.

  Yesterday, one of his families had brought in a victim of the violence who had apparently passed away. They wanted him to receive last rights. He rose from the dead during the ceremony and began attacking members of his own family. Panicked, the priest had hidden in the confessional, hoping that the man and his family would soon leave. They didn’t.

  Then, last night, a group of people came in and began shooting. He almost opened the door to his hiding spot. But, at the last minute, he realized he could still hear the sounds of moans inside his church. So he waited.

  Now he could hear someone honking a horn. They had to be coming to help. It had to be a rescue party. Panic set in. What if they rescue everyone else but not me? No one even knows I’m here. I have to go. I have to get out of here!

  He burst through the door of his tiny sanctuary. There were several bodies lying motionless on the ground. He paid them no attention. The doors, the front doors were open. He had to get out! He ran. He ran as fast as he could, black robes flowing behind him as he did.

  Then he fell. He hadn’t tripped. He’d fallen backwards. What had happened?

  He felt cold hands and arms grappling for his neck. He knew what they were. One of the monsters must have grabbed his robes. He rolled to the left in an attempt to escape his attacker. He did not. His roll brought him face to face with the man on whom he’d had performed last rights only yesterday.

  He screamed and tried to push away. The man was strong. He could not push the open mouth away from him. He kicked and tried to roll again. Again to no avail. The monster’s mouth was now inches from his face. He shoved his hand under its chin in a last ditch attempt to keep the gaping maw from closing on his flesh.

  BANG! The zombie’s head exploded, showering the priest with bits of blood, skull, and brains. He screamed again, shoving the corpse off of him. “Get him up!” shouted LT. Cruzan.

  Privates Williams and Jefferson grabbed the priest under his arms, pulling him to his feet. The priest was spitting pieces of gore out of his mouth as he got to his feet.

  “C’mon Father,” shouted Pvt. Williams. “We got to get the fuck outa here.” He immediately mumbled an apology for his language. They dragged the priest out the front doors, and helped load him into the back of the LMTV. The kids were the next in, as the Engineers kept watch. After the kids and teachers were safe the soldiers loaded up.

  Mike slapped the top of the cab. Jackson gunned the engine, and the truck lurched forward. He keyed up his radio.

  “Sergeant Brown, Jackson.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “We’re loaded, ten civilians and four Screaming Eagles. Over.”

  “Roger. We’ll be at the rally point in ten Mikes. Out.” SSgt Brown told Jen it was time to lose their tail. Jen tuned into a yard on the south side of the road. It was large with a fence around the entire yard. The gate was opened. She gunned the engine and pulled the vehicle around the house. Then they waited.

  After all of the zombies were in the yard, she gunned the engine and circled around behind them. The tires skidded as they hit the pavement of the road. She floored it. It only took a couple of minutes before the mass of zombies were out of sight. Jen continued on to the convenience store.

  SSgt Brown was surprised at the sight before him, when he arrived. The LMTV was backed close to the door of the store. Several soldiers were posted as guards at the corners of the building, and Jackson was standing in the bed of the truck, as if watching the street-side of the store.

  Several children and adults were busy loading boxes into the bed of the truck, while Mike and the rest were organizing the supplies. There was a soldier near the bed of the truck who appeared to be directing traffic.

  The soldier waved his arms for Jen to pull up next to the truck.

  “Hey Sergeant Brown,” Jackson greeted him with a smile.

  “Jackson,” he replied with a scowl. “We just gonna loot all the Ho-Ho’s and Ding Dongs outa here?”

  “Just following orders Sergeant Brown,” the young trooper answered as he pointed towards Lt. Cruzan.

  The young Engineer Lieutenant strode towards SSgt Brown and Jen. SSgt Brown noticed the subdued rank on the Lieutenant’s ACU’s, snapped to attention, and rendered a parade ground salute.

  “Sir, am I glad to see you.”

  Lt. Cruzan returned his salute, and extended his hand to the NCO. He introduced himself. “Thanks for pulling our asses outa there. What unit are you with?”

  “We were with the 108th CAV Louisiana National Guard. I’m not really sure who we belong to anymore.”

  “Well, we’re from Bravo 326th Combat Engineers. Looks like you and Private Jackson have been federalized,” replied the young Lt.

  “I think we can handle that. Did Jackson introduce you to the rest of the group?”

  “Not yet. I kinda put everyone to work as soon as we got here.”

  “Well, this is Jen. She’s local and an ER Nurse.” He pointed up to the bed of the truck. “That’s Mike. He’s a rent-a-cop, and married to Jen or something. Theresa was their neighbor. We found Kerry holed up in a sporting goods store we raided a few days ago.” They each waved a hand at the officer as they were introduced.

  “It’s nice to meet you all.” He turned his attention back to the NCO. “How is your group set for supplies?”

  “Not too bad. Couple cases of MRE’s, about 800 rounds of five-five-six. Not a hell of a lot for the rest of the guns. Got a set of 2 way radios and there’s a SINGARS in the humvee. We probably have 50 gallons of fuel. Sir, what is the army’s plan?”

  “Well, as you probably figured out we evacuated the Air Force Base. The bombers and anything that could be air lifted went to North Dakota. It sounds like the outbreak has been pretty well contained up there.”

  “What about the grunts? You guys weren’t heading north. Where were you headed?”

  “Atlanta.”

  “Atlanta? Really, I would think that place would be overrun by now.”

  “Last we heard it was pretty hairy but we still had a foothold around the CDC. They dug a giant ditch around the whole damned place. I’m told they bulldozed a country club near there and are using it as an unimproved runway. The rest of my division is there, as well as some local reserve and national guard units.” He continued, “We were ordered to push to the CDC.”

  “No shit, sir. What are we gonna do now?”

  “I don’t know. I’m thinking we can’t try to drag these civilians through the streets of Atlanta with two trucks and six soldiers.” He looked east, into the darkness. “What was your plan?”

  “Well, sir, we were going to try to make Vicksburg. From there we would try to get some river transport and head north.”

  “I sure like that better than driving through every major city in the deep-south.” Without a word, he did an about-face and walked towards the store.

  After they finished loading the LMTV Lt. Cruzan ordered SSgt Brown to set the guard w
atch and get the civilians bedded down. They would not all fit in the vehicles, so SSgt Brown had the children and teachers sleep inside the convenience store for the night. He had two soldiers on watch at all times. The night was uneventful

  Day 10

  The Convenience Store

  Jen woke up stiff in the back of the LMTV. She thought about how she missed her mattress. The soldiers were all awake. Some were eating, while others seemed to be keeping vigil over the group. SSgt Brown was talking to the new officer and another soldier. They were huddled over a map.

  She woke Mike up and went inside the store. She smelled smoke. She found the priest sitting next to one of the store shelves with a fire underneath it and a pot of water just beginning to boil.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about,” exclaimed Mike. “Good thinking Father.”

  “Someone has to ensure that God’s children receive their nutrition. And if they get a little caffeine at the same time, more the better. Right my son?”

  “Oh, I totally agree Father.” He finished filtering the hot water through the coffee grounds. Mike took a Styrofoam cup full and added a few packets of sugar. He took a long drink. It was hot, but it tasted so good. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a nice hot cup of coffee.

  They were joined by two of the teachers. Each poured a cup of coffee and introduced themselves. Soon they told the trio about their experiences up to this point.

  Mike and Jen were amazed at their story. The group had left their small town in eastern Louisiana for Shreveport a week ago. They had heard of some rioting going on in Shreveport, but nothing major. The kids were all finalists in the regional science fair.

  They’d had no idea there were any problems. They had stopped at a fast food restaurant for lunch. That’s when the trouble began. Before anyone realized what was happening, several of the monsters stumbled through the automatic doors.

  Two children a teacher and their bus driver were killed. The remaining teachers had managed to herd the rest of the children out of the restaurant. They ran on foot until they found the storage facility. There they sat; cold, hungry, and afraid until Lt. Cruzan and his Engineers had found them.

  “And you guys had no idea what was happening in Shreveport?” asked Mike.

  “No,” the teacher with the glasses replied. “The news was talking about local riots, mostly dealing with the oil fields. When that first one of those things wandered in, I had no idea what to think. At first I thought there had been an accident. Then it attacked a woman.”

  The taller man without glasses chimed in. “Oh God, and do they smell?” They all shook their heads. These things stink.

  After finishing another cup of coffee, Mike walked back outside. He found SSgt Brown talking to the female teacher.

  “’Morning Mike,” he said.

  “Good morning Sergeant Brown.”

  “You sleep well?”

  “Not really. That truck is a little crowded, and the bed sucks.” The NCO chuckled.

  “Yeah, we need to get at least one more vehicle. El-Tee wants to get moving soon.”

  “Where we heading now,” asked Jen.

  “The river, then North, El-Tee says his unit is heading to Atlanta. Not the place to take a group of kids these days.”

  “I guess it’s pretty bad there.”

  “That’s what it sounds like. He says the CDC is still going, but the rest of the city is totally over-run.”

  “At least the CDC is still up,” Jen added as she walked towards them. “Maybe they can find a cure for all of this.”

  “Let’s hope,” the NCO replied.

  “Ok guys,” the Lieutenant barked. “Let’s get going. Get the kids loaded up and get moving.” The group loaded up.

  Lt. Cruzan had ordered the group to cross over I-20, and find Highway 80. He and his engineers would ride in the humvee, Pvt Jackson and SSgt Brown along with all the civilians would ride in the truck.

  They spent an uneventful day driving through a totally deserted town and through some similarly deserted countryside.

  “Jesus Jen, you see this?” It was Mike. “It’s five PM, and I’ve only seen two zombies all day.”

  “I know. It’s creepy,” she replied. Theresa and Kerry both shook their heads in agreement.

  “I’m not complaining,” he said. “But, I just know the other shoe is going to fall. And, when it does more people are gonna die. I just can’t shake the feeling that something bad is just around the corner.”

  “I don’t know,” Kerry added. “Maybe it’s time we caught a break. Maybe being this far out of town there aren’t enough people to make a bunch of zombies.”

  “She has a point,” Jen said. “That’s usually how it works with an outbreak. As the numbers of susceptible population decreases, the numbers of infections decrease. Eventually the disease burns itself out. Maybe around here the population is too spread out to support an outbreak.”

  “So what we need to do is stay away from people?” Theresa asked.

  “But that comes with some problems,” interjected Kerry.

  “What do you mean?” asked Theresa.

  “You know how to farm? How about milk a cow? We as people rely on others. Some people provide food; others provide shelter, security, make and maintain transportation. Some deal with power or water. In a modern society, very few people can survive without other people around.”

  She shook her head. “Hell, I know how to stock shelves and sell sporting goods. Throw in some good math, and English scores from school and that’s about it. I don’t hunt. I don’t fish. I’m not a nurse, or doctor, or farmer. Hell, in this new society, I’m pretty much good for helping with the cleaning, maybe security. I need other people to help me survive.”

  “You’re selling yourself short,” Mike retorted. “You work in retail right?”

  “Yeah, ever since I could hold a job.”

  “So, you know about inventory control right? That’s logistics and supply. That helps keep all those non-farmer types fed. You know trade. The mercantile class has been the backbone of almost every society since the Greeks. Na, just ‘cause you can’t grow tomatoes, doesn’t mean you’re worth less than anyone else. Plus, I’ve seen you shoot. I’ll keep you watching my back any day of the week.”

  “The point I’m making is this: We need each other to survive. But, the more of us there are together, the less likely we are to survive. It’s a Catch-22. How do we survive the zombies without total isolation and starvation?”

  Mike didn’t know what to say. She had a point.

  “We have to eradicate the disease,” Jen interjected.

  “What?” asked Mike.

  “If we can’t survive in the presence of a new plague, then we have to isolate and eradicate the plague. Historically this would mean vaccination. That’s why there’s no smallpox, and very little polio left in the world. We just need to do the same here.”

  “So, how do you vaccinate against this?” asked Theresa. “You can’t mean doing that thing that Edward Jenner did with the cowpox are you?”

  “Who’s Edward Jenner?” asked Mike.

  “He was the first man to vaccinate someone,” Jen replied. “He exposed people to the cowpox virus, and found that those people were less likely to catch smallpox.”

  She looked at Theresa. “No sweat heart, I don’t think that would work. Jenner had a disease that mirrored small pox in cows. I can’t think of a disease that fits this model. I mean rabies is close, but once you die from rabies, you’re dead.”

  She looked back to the rest of the group. “I mean that the way a vaccination works, is that it lets your body develop defenses against a disease before you have to go to the trouble of actually catching it. It lets your body’s defenses go out and kill the invader before it kills you.”

  “So, you’re saying that we need to go on the offensive?” Kerry interjected excitedly. “We are the defenses to the body that is humanity. We need to destroy these things and end the infecti
on.”

  “Yes,” Jen replied. “We need to gather our forces, protect them from further infection, and then find a way to destroy the invaders.”

  “Damn Jen,” Mike said. “You’d have made a good General. You missed your calling.”

  “Give it back!” It was one of the students. She was holding on desperately to a package of doughnuts. “Get your own Scott!” She continued yelling

  “Get another one. This one is mine,” the boy replied.

  “Let go!” She pulled hard.

  “Fine! You can have it!” The boy let go, laughing. The girl tumbled backwards. At the same time, the truck hit a rut in the road, sending everyone in the bed of the truck bouncing around.

  “Cindy!” Scott called out. “She fell out! Stop! She fell!”

  Mike immediately slapped the cab of the truck. “Stop! Jackson, stop the truck!” The young trooper slammed on the breaks.

  Jen, Theresa, and the three teachers jumped out of the bed of the truck and ran to the girl. She was lying on her back. There was a large cut on the right side of her forehead blood was oozing from her nose. She was not moving.

  Jen’s trauma assessment only took a few moments: Loss of consciousness, that’s bad. Airway: ok. Breathing: labored and gasping, not good either. Circulation: so far fingers were pink with good capillary refill. Deformity: No step-offs in the neck. Limbs appear to be straight. Exposure: Bruising to the right side of chest. When she pressed over the bruise, Jen could feel bone crunching under her fingers. This is called crepitus, a sign of broken bones. Shit!

  She looked up. SSgt Brown and the new officer were standing over her. “We have a problem. I think she’s got some broken ribs. Look at her breathing. One of those ribs may have punctured a lung. It will eventually collapse if I don’t let the air out.”

  “How do you do that,” asked the young officer.

  “I can either insert a needle, or chest-tube. I’ve never done either, but we have to do something or she could die. This is life threatening.”