Dead States | Year Zero | Nebraska

by Marty Brockschmidt

  Crystal gave Blade a sobering gaze, “I want you to go Blade, just time your departure so you get there by first light. We can't lose you walking into a shit storm in the middle of the night. I know the Colonel means a lot to all of you, but if it has gone bad for him, we need to keep a lid on that until after we go to Lexington.”

  “Fuck Lexington the Old Man is more important”, retorted Blade hotly.

  Crystal took a moment gauging her reply, “Blade ... relax, the Colonel is the mission. Just be smart about it.”

  Blade remained tensed, “Understood.”

  Crystal remained detached, “Go get your team assembled. Amy give Blade any help he needs, but I really need you here this Nordstrom issue isn't going to end well.”

  Matt turned to Amy, “I owe Bryan this. If anything should happen to me look after the kids.”

  To give the two a moment Crystal pulled out a map and went over the Colonel's last location with Blade.

  Amy wrapped her arms around Matt's neck and gave him a slow kiss. “We'll be waiting for you when you get back.”

  The council assembled and watched the interviews of the newcomers. When Zephram's interview completed the council members shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. It was obvious the kind of man that Zephram Nordstrom was, the question is what kind of people were they.

  Doc Linderman stood up to report his findings, “The three are all healthy, no bites or signs of illness. Miss Carter did have the cut on her neck which was consistent with a knife wound not a scratch. I spent much of my residency working at a rape clinic and I can definitely say that both women have recently undergone sexual trauma. In my opinion Jillian has been abused most of her life.”

  The Doc normally was able to retain a certain detachment from the plights of his patients, had to stop and compose himself before continuing, “As you can tell Jillian looks like your average young woman, but developmentally, she is little more than a child. I don't know if this is a protective mechanism due to the abuse or if she has a neurological condition hampering her development. My guess is a combination of the two.”

  As the Doc sat down Mac opened up the conversation again, “So that leaves us with the 900 lb gorilla in the room. Does anyone have any doubts that Miss Carter was raped this morning.”

  With the rest of the council silent Mac continued, “Does anyone have any doubts that Mr. Nordstrom has been abusing his daughter. Can anyone make a case for allowing Mr. Nordstrom to remain in our compound.”

  Joe Gant was the first to break the ice, “I agree I don't want this man around here. It is not just the woman and children I'm worried about. Watching his reaction to your interview Mac and the daughter hinting at the fate of their neighbors, I think he is a very dangerous man.”

  Bob Ryker was the next to speak, “What the hell are we talking about here. We can't just toss the guy out the gate and hope he walks away. I can't stomach the thought of taking him out and shooting him like a horse that's come up lame either.”

  Mick Canales took the floor, “There is the National Forest just a couple of hundred miles away. What if we took him there and left him. He would be miles from anywhere.”

  “I admit that exile on the face of it may be the best solution. My Daddy was fond of saying, The scum always rise to the top, even if the odds of Mr. Nordstrom finding his way back here are slim, I would sleep better at night knowing there was no chance of it.”, Crystal informed the council.

  They debated back and forth for a couple of hours. In the back of their heads they all knew this day would come in one fashion or another. What ever decision they made, let him stay, exile him or execute him, they would set a precedent that there was no coming back from.

  The following morning the group assembled to divest themselves of Zephram Nordstrom. Hazel had mixed up a herbal potion to add to his breakfast and shortly after Zephram was sound asleep. To be on the safe side they bound him hand and foot in case the sedative wore off sooner than expected.

  “Your good with this?”, Amy asked Crystal.

  Crystal shrugged, “Yes, I am. It was a majority decision.”

  The two women were quiet for a bit and then Crystal broke the silence, “How much did you and Matt tell the twins about their grandfather.”

  Amy smiled pleased for the change of subject, “We told them just what we knew. Matt and I agreed it was best not to build their hopes up to much.”

  Crystal chuckled, “Look at you actin all parental.”

  Amy laughed, “It surprised me to. Do you know that Cassie asked if she could call me Mom?”

  “That is great, I'm so happy for you.”, Crystal replied.

  Amy nodded back towards the vehicle behind them where Bill and Jason were keeping an eye on Zephram. “So Bill and Jason they are like your personal guard.”

  Now it was Crystal's turn to laugh, “Not quite. We do seem to work well together and none of us are officially part of a patrol. It is fun to tease Tobin about the other men in my life though.”

  “Speaking of Tobin how is he handling this plan to clear Lexington?”, Amy asked.

  Crystal took a deep breath, “It is a subject we try to avoid. He wants so badly to protect me, it's hard for him when I'm in the thick of it.”

  After about four hours on the road Mick announced, “We're close now. I'm going to take us by the ranger station so we can check that out first.”

  They found the ranger station deserted, but did find a rangers truck there. The keys to the truck were in the rangers cabin they jumpered the battery and after a few minutes they were able to start the truck. They decided to take the truck with them in case Zephram found his way here, They also took the radio from the cabin. A check of the nearby campground found it deserted as well.

  They continued on for about hour through the maze of two tracks until they got to as isolated of a spot that they could find. The drug had worn off on Zephram a while ago and Bill had to gag him to keep him quiet. When they stopped they dragged Zephram out forced him to kneel and cut his bonds.

  Crystal had decided it best to leave Zephram no room for discussion, “Mr. Nordstrom we've agreed that you are a danger to our community. When we pull out we'll drop some supplies for you. If you do find your way back to our compound you will be shot on sight.”

  Zephram fumed spittle flying from his lips, “You stupid fuckin cunt this ain't over, not by a long shot. You got no right to do this. You bring me back to Jilly right now.”

  Crystal headed to the vehicle not taking her eyes off Zephram, “Lets go, no sense dragging this out.”

  With a roar Zephram got up and charged at Crystal. Swinging her baton she hooked him behind the ankle and dropped him on his back. Crystal put a foot on his chest and placed the crook of her baton against his throat. “You disgust me. Thinking you have a right to take advantage of a bad situation. Do something right by Jillian for once and forget all about her.”

  Backing up slowly Crystal drew her pistol, “Get up and your going down for good. Don't move until we drop your supplies.”

  Jason climbed into the back of the truck and leveled his rifle at Zephram, “You heard the Captain. You so much as twitch and it'll be your last move.”

  The group pulled away and dropped a backpack and a duffel bag for Zephram. When Zephram saw the supplies drop he sat up, flipped off the caravan, then went to see what they left him.

  Crystal turned to Amy, “That went pretty well, don't you think?”

  “Sir”, the adjutant called.

  Colonel Osgood's eyes fluttered open, “What is it Sergeant.”

  “Sorry to wake you sir. The dead are nearing the two mile checkpoint.”, the adjutant stated.

  “Thank you Sergeant have the sentries fall back and assemble the men.”, Colonel Osgood replied.

  Bryan Osgood had seen action in Vietnam, when he first entered the service. Later in life he had multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. The enemies there were desperate and determined, but none of them compared to these monsters.
These dead had almost limitless numbers. They do not stop, they do not rest, they are never scared. Every time someone dies their numbers grow.

  “I'm not going to pretend our chances are good. You have all done every thing asked of you and more. I am tired of running from this. Come what may this ends today, I am not going to retreat anymore. Neither am I going to hold any of you here. If any of you want to leave, you'll get no recriminations from me.”, the Colonel stated.

  The Colonel's adjutant spoke up, “Sir I think I can speak for all of us. We are all behind you and we are ready to show these dead bastards their fuckin with the wrong mans army.”

  Colonel Osgood saluted his troops, “I am so proud of each and every one of you. It has been an honor to serve with you all. Take up your posts and may God have mercy on our souls.”

  The Colonel's plan depended on not running out of ammunition before they ran out of dead. Since not all of the dead moved at the same pace he had a small squad of men posted a mile ahead of their position. They would engage the dead that arrived first, hand to hand. As this squad slowly fell, back they only took down a couple of hundred walking corpses. A drop in the bucket, but the main body of dead bunched up at the sight of fresh meat.

  As the horde approached the main line it was like a game of space invaders, keep the front of the horde from getting too close to the line. Twenty riflemen spread across the beds of two trucks began to open fire. With the horde bunched up the riflemen took care to only shoot when two or more targets were lined up. When the horde got to close the trucks pulled out, spent casings miserly collected to be reloaded. With the way clear the riflemen in the next row of trucks began to fire.

  The report of the rifles was like the ringing of the dinner bell to the advancing horde. They didn't care that their numbers were being decimated with every round. All they knew there was meat on those trucks and they needed it. Occasionally the horde would spread out. Then the snipers would go to work and keep them from being flanked.

  Morning wore on to mid-day and the horde was dramatically reduced. Corpses stretched for miles along the highway, when the adjutant came to the Colonel, “Sir we are down to just a thousand rounds.”

  Colonel Osgood cursed, “Damn. Thank you Sergeant. You know for a while I thought we were going to make it.”

  The Sergeant faced the Colonel and saluted, “It has been an honor Sir”

  Colonel Osgood returned the salute, “The honor has been all mine Sergeant.”

  When the riflemen on the trucks exhausted their last magazine their trucks moved up to box the horde in. When all the trucks were in place the soldiers fell back. As the remnants of the horde began to flow over and under the trucks the explosive charges on the trucks were set off.

  When the morning started the one hundred soldiers were outnumbered 300 to 1. Now as they readied to go hand to hand they were still outnumbered 20 to 1. For a while the soldiers looked to be keeping ahead. Eventually the sheer number of dead were too much and one by one the soldiers were over run. Each man had a side arm with a minimum of rounds. Colonel Osgood had told each man to save the last bullet for themselves. Each soldier chose to fight on to the end and as they fell the Colonel would send them to their rest.

  It was down to just Colonel Osgood, armed with the ax he had borrowed from the young woman, and his adjutant, Sergeant Fred Walters. The two men stood back to back to face the last of the dead.

  “Fred I mean to see this through. We've done what we need to do you can still leave.”, Bryan told his friend.

  “Got no place better to be Bryan. I want to see this group finished. You take the ten on the left I'll take the ten on the right.”, Fred replied.

  The dead don't cooperate, who knows what drives them, but this group turned as a pack towards the Colonel. Bryan swung his ax taking out the first two and braced himself for the rest to over take him.

  “Bryan get out of there”, Fred yelled.

  The Sergeant threw his commanding officer to the side and dove into the middle of the dead. He held his own for a moment, but there were to many hands reaching for him. To many teeth biting at him. Even as he went down he continued to fight.

  Bryan pushed his way in cutting down the dead with the ax like saplings and cleaved Sergeant Walters skull ending his struggles.

  A handful of the dead were left and for the moment they focused on the remains of the Sergeant. Bryan Osgood ran back a few yards to give him some room. Once again he drew an imaginary line on the pavement with his toe.

  Bryan yelled as a maniacal frenzy began to over take him, “This is as far as I go. You hear me. You are not pushing me back anymore.”

  With a roar Bryan ran back at the dead. The ax swung once and then again dropping two more. The last four of the dead turned to advance on him. Three were close together so Bryan placed the head of the ax on the chest of the first one and pushed back as hard as he could. Three walking corpses fell like domino's. The ax split the skull in two of the fourth. The last three tried to untangle themselves and get back up three quick swings and the battle was over.

  The sun hadn't been up long when Matt pointed out the smoke billowing on the horizon and the flocks of crows and buzzards circling in the sky.

  “Doesn't look good Blade.”, Matt exclaimed.

  “We'll know soon enough.”, Blade said grimly.

  The caravan slowly drove by the long line of corpses littered across the road. Shortly after the wreckage of the blown trucks Matt called out for Blade to stop and pointed out Colonel Osgood seated against a jeep. Matt and Blade quickly, but cautiously went up to the Colonel.

  “Bryan”, Matt said quietly.

  The Colonel's eyes fluttered open, “Matt never expected to see you here.”

  Matt explained, “The young woman you sent our way said you were expecting trouble. Looks like you were right. Bryan you don't look so good.”

  Bryan told his story, “That group has been hounding us for weeks. Kept losing good soldiers to them. Every time we moved they would show up again with even more of them. If we had just a thousand more rounds. I lost my whole command Matt. I was going around making sure that none of my men would turn. It got dark and I got careless. One of those things got blew in half. Not much more than a head and arms, but it crawled up and took a bite out of me. I know I'm a dead man Matt, but I would like to see my Grand kids before I go.”

  Matt nodded, “They miss you terribly we'll make that happen.”

  “Its a long drive I wish we had something fast.”, Blade observed.

  “Might of been stupid of me Blade, but I commandeered a vehicle a while back. Just north of the intersection is a farm that had been owned by the Cook family. Matt fill me in on how the group has fared while we wait for our ride.”, Bryan stated.

  Blade had been with Colonel Osgood for several years and thought he knew the old man pretty well. When he saw the white Challenger parked at the Cook's residence he had to laugh. Blade left the other men that came along with them to bury his comrades and headed back to the compound with Matt and the Colonel. The hemi loved the even flat roads and zero traffic and they made it back to the compound in half the time.

  Even with the A/C cranked and Matt keeping the Colonel in cold compresses, the Colonel's fever continued to rise. Having radioed ahead they were met at the clinic by Amy and the twins. When the Colonel was situated in a room, Doc Linderman addressed him and his family.

  “Colonel”, Doc started.

  “Bryan please, no need for formalities now.”, Bryan said.

  Doc explained, “Bryan, I can't lie to you, there is no light at the end of this. We have had a couple survive a bite. Their limbs were immediately amputated though. I don't see amputation as an option in your case. Too much time has passed. With your permission I would like to try whatever we got. Broad spectrum antibiotics and antivirals. Pack you in ice to keep the fever down. Hazel Thurman here is a herbalist, skilled in Native American remedies. We might buy you some more time with your family. Maybe lear
n something to help others.”

  “Doc I don't want you wasting meds on me, but as long as I can be with my Grand kids and family, I'm your guinea pig.”, Bryan responded.

  As the Doc and Hazel worked on Bryan, Travis held his right hand and Cassie his left. Matt stood behind Travis and Amy slipped her arm around Cassie's shoulders and Cassie put her free arm around Amy's waist.

  Bryan looked at Amy, “Landers, Amy looks like your part of the family now.”

  “Its a good family to be part of sir”, replied Amy wiping tears from her eyes.

  “None of that now. I never expected to see any of you again this is a bonus.”, Bryan replied kindly.

  “Matt, kids your old enough to hear this too, unless the Docs Hail Mary works the clock is ticking on me. Don't let me turn Matt”, Bryan stated.