Dead States | Year Zero | Nebraska

by Marty Brockschmidt

  On her way out one of the soldiers grabbed Joyce by the arm, “Tell you what sweetheart I got the afternoon off. What do say you join me for a bit of afternoon delight?”

  Bill stepped up defensively and slid the man's hand off of Joyce's arm, “She has work to get back to.”

  The soldier thumped Bill in the stomach with the butt of his rifle, “This don't concern you. This is between me and the little lady.”

  “She is of concern to me and I will thank you to leave your hands off her.” Bill replied trying to curb his anger.

  Stu Redding hustled up before things got out of hand, “Stand down soldier. Your holding up the work details. General won't like that.”

  That night as Sergeant Redding gave his report to General Mayhue he added a point of concern, “Sir the men are starting to become distracted. Most of em haven't been with a woman in a while and with so many young women here, they are going to take advantage.”

  “Boys will be boys, but I get your drift Sergeant. If we let if be a free for all then all they'll want to do is get some trim. Keep em on a leash for now, I have a plan to keep this thing controlled.”, Mayhue replied.

  Jenny struggled to find words to comfort Mac. She could see the despair that had crept in on him ever since they found his soldier friends murdered. When Jenny looked at Mac she no longer saw the confident heroic figure that had liberated them. The man before her now held his head down and shoulders slumped, he had become sullen and closed mouth.

  “Mac work with me and we'll put an end to this for your friends.” Jenny directed motioning to Gael to stay out of it.

  “I guess we're here in time for that at least.” Mac replied.

  The four soldiers were quickly dispatched, with Jenny directing the procedure, “Okay Mac let's cut them free.”

  Mac did as he was told and drew his knife and cut the bonds holding the bodies to the jeeps. Jenny went over and grabbed the feet of the nearest soldier, “Take the other end Mac, we'll move them to the side for now.”

  The pair worked in silence until they had the four bodies moved away from the vehicles. Jenny seeing Mac's despair starting to turn to anger revealed that next step of the plan, “We don't really have anything with us out here to bury them. When we go in we'll have to find tools to do that.”

  “Don't be a fool woman. Can't you see it crawls in there. We go in and we'll end up being lunch.” Mac answered giving an angry jab with his foot to one of the soldiers bodies.

  “My Daddy didn't raise me to be foolish.” Jenny said emphatically. “Everything else you spouted sir is quitter talk and I never figured you for a quitter. Now I am sorry about the loss of your friends and I know you had high hopes in them helping you. What you do have, is us Mister McPherson and we will stand by you.”

  Once again Jenny reminded him of Ivy. Mac was a big powerful man, yet Ivy had a strength in her that had always sustained him. Mac felt Jenny's resolve begin to pull him back, however, the thought of using Jenny and her friends to attack Mayhue and his men was foolhardy at best.

  Mac pointed at the bodies of the soldiers, “You do understand the cruelty of the men that hold my town. Meurte was a coldhearted killer, but Mayhue is soulless.”

  “All the more reason to act now.” Jenny answered.

  “Winter is starting up north, we could end up like the Donner party trapped in the snow.” Mac said looking to dissuade her.

  “We will find transport. First things first we need to get into this base and get the supplies we came for.” Jenny retorted.

  “Not gonna talk you out of this am I?” Mac queried.

  “Fraid not” Jenny answered with a grim smile.

  Mac looked over at the handful of dead gathering near the gate, “If we are going in, we'll need someway to keep those things from looking at us like their next meal.”

  “How do we do that?” Asked Jenny.

  “I got an idea, but it won't be pleasant.” Mac answered.

  “Okay and after that?” Jenny requested.

  “We'll need a diversion. One hell of a big diversion.” Mac responded as an idea began to form in his mind.

  “Gael see what you can do to get these jeeps running.” Mac directed.

  “Si Senor Mac” Gael replied as he set to work on the jeeps.

  “Abby on top of the car, back on lookout.” Mac instructed the young woman.

  Finally Mac turned to the four bodies lying on the ground, “Gents it ain't right what I'm going to do to you. I know what you sacrificed to keep us safe and I shouldn't be asking more of you, but I need to do this. God willing this last sacrifice will help keep us safe.”

  Mac paused for a minute, silently saying a prayer for the four soldiers. Without taking his eyes off the bodies Mac spoke to Jenny, “Alright lets get their uniforms off.”

  Once the soldiers were stripped, Mac had Jenny layout the uniforms. Mac took out his knife and opened the belly of the first soldier from sternum to crotch. Mac wrapped a cloth onto the end of a stick and handed it to Jenny, “Mop up his innards and paint those uniforms. Hopefully it will makes us smell like the dead enough to give us an edge.”

  Jenny took hold of the stick and dipped the cloth end into the gelatinous mess and promptly threw up her breakfast. Jenny wiped off her mouth, “Sure am glad we didn't eat lunch.”

  Gael had the jeeps up and running in short order and inflated the tires on the trailer that was still attached to one of them. Jenny handed the foul smelling uniforms to each of them. Jenny saved the largest uniform for Mac, but he was a bigger man than any of the soldiers, requiring some creative knife work to make the uniform fit.

  The last indignity Mac had for the soldiers was to tie them to the sides of each of the jeeps. Once that was done Mac laid out his plan, “I think we are less appealing to the dead on the other side of the fence. Before we go in I want to draw as many away as we can. We'll take some gas and one of the spare tires from the jeeps and get a nice smoky fire going around that bend in the fence.”

  “Are you sure these yucky clothes will protect us?” Abby asked.

  “No, I'm not, but I think they're worth a shot.” Mac answered.

  “What if the fire doesn't draw them away are we going to shoot our way in?” Jenny asked.

  “We only use our guns as a last resort, we start firing and it will just call every Dee close enough to hear the shots.” Cautioned Mac.

  With the gist of the plan made they went as a group to set the fire. The ground and what wood they could gather they soaked in gas and placed the tire on top. For good measure Mac tossed in some shotgun shells. They made their way back to the jeeps leaving a trail of gas, at about the halfway point Mac set the gas trail on fire.

  By the time they reached the jeeps the bonfire had ignited and shortly after the shotgun shells went off. The nearby dead began to drift off towards the commotion. Two Dee's stayed at the fence, so Mac dispatched them with his pike. With the way clear, Jenny started one jeep and Gael the other. Mac opened the gate and they drove in.

  Once inside they stopped and waited for Mac to close the gate and then Gael assisted him in attaching the bodies to the trailer.

  “I don't know if it will fool em, but I hope we look like a group of dead ones passing by.” Mac said to Gael.

  They made their way to the nearest building, the post headquarters. A number of large tents had been set up near the building, testament to the armies failed effort to rescue survivors of the outbreak. With no understanding of the threat the infected held, the army had moved people behind the apparent safety of their fences. Ultimately some of the survivors succumbed to their wounds. Suddenly the army was trapped by the dead on both the outside and the inside of their fences.

  Stopping at the main doors of the headquarters Mac exited the jeep and went to check the doors. Finding them locked he tapped on the door several times to see if any Dee's would respond. After a few minutes and no response Mac went back to the jeep and grabbed a pry bar.

  “Abby you come
with me, we'll see if we can find a map to the base. Gael you and Jenny keep a watch out here. Give us a shout over the walkie if anything happens.” Mac instructed.

  Mac quickly popped the lock on the door and he and Abby slipped inside. Jenny and Gael took up positions to keep watch. Jenny kept glancing over to the tents, trying to imagine the shock and horror that drove these people to such a desperate move. The flap on the tent began to move and then a Dee began to shuffle out and then another and finally five dead ones were on the move in their direction.

  Jenny and Gael hadn't been exposed to the outbreak as most survivors were. They had some confusing news reports and they had seen the dead, mostly from a distance. This was the first time they had an impression of the true horror people had to deal with.

  One of the Dee's advancing towards their position, had been an army medic, indicated by the insignia on its uniform and the stethoscope still dangling around its neck. Another of the Dee's had been a young girl, perhaps eight or so years old, with a large section of her neck and shoulder bitten away. The arm on that side was no longer able to function and just flopped around loosely as she walked.

  Jenny tried not to breath and waggled a finger at Gael telling him not to react. They both had raised their weapons instinctively, but were praying they wouldn't have to use them. There was no time to call Mac and probably little he could do anyhow. This was going to be as good a test of their camouflage as they were going to get.

  The main group of the Dee's wandered up to the jeeps. Whether or not the creatures could reason out that the jeeps being here was a change or if it was just the smells of oil and gas coming from the vehicles, something evoked their curiosity. The medic Dee broke away from the main group and sidled in Jenny's direction.

  Jenny held her breath and again motioned to Gael to be still. The creature was standing bare inches from here and stared intently at her with its cold dead eyes. She definitely smelled dead enough, but there was something. Could it hear her heart pounding in her chest, could it see the pulse beating in her neck. Maybe it was her eyes that were furtively moving from the creature, to her weapon, to Gael and back to the creature.

  Jenny had just decided she need to strike when a last shotgun shell in the fire exploded and all five of the Dee's turned to explore this new possibility. Jenny lasted until they got out of site and then collapsed against the building shaking uncontrollably.

  Gael came to her side and she hugged him close and kept repeating, “Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God.”

  Gael soothed her as best he could, “Si Senora there there. You were very brave and very lucky too I think.”

  After a minute Jenny gathered herself and exclaimed, “I hate to tell you this Gael, but I really gotta pee.”

  Gael led her around the corner of the building and then took up a position around the corner allowing here some privacy, “I am sorry, is the best I can do.”

  Jenny loosened her pants and then leaned back against the building to squat and relieve herself. When done with nothing to clean herself, she promised herself when she got back she was going to take a long hot shower and then an even longer bath. She and Gael returned to their posts and waited for Mac and Abby.

  The interior of the building was dimly lit from the outside and it took a minute for Mac's and Abby's eyes to adjust. The headquarters was small and consisted of primarily offices and cubicles for the junior staff. At the main entrance was a small reception area, but it failed to produce a base map.

  Next to the reception area was a commissary just a couple of tables, a coffee pot in the corner and three vending machines. Mac popped open the first two, one holding soda and water, and one holding candy bars and chips. The third vending machine had held sandwiches, but they had long since gone bad. Abby found some trash bags and they loaded up. Abby opened the cabinet the coffeemaker was perched on and discovered a few large coffee tins and packets of creamer and sugar.

  “Oooh Daddy is going to have a smile on his face tonight. He really misses his coffee.” Abby exclaimed in a whisper.

  Leaving the bags next to the door they moved on to the nearest office, which was identified as belonging to the base commander, General Anson D. Carlyle. General Carlyle, was never one to run from a fight and ran the base with a strict discipline. Yet when faced with either being eaten alive, by the dead locked outside or slowly dying here of thirst and starvation and then spending the rest of his days wandering the halls of this building as one of the dead, General Carlyle chose a third option. He put on his dress uniform, shined his medals, buttons and shoes to a high gloss, sat in his high back leather chair, placed his service revolver in his mouth and blew out the top of his head.

  The office door was closed so Mac tapped gently in case any dead were inside. After a few minutes of quiet Mac slowly opened the door. The smell of rotting flesh assaulted them and when Mac's flashlight illuminated the General's body and the bloody mess on the wall behind his desk, Abby's stomach constricted sending its contents out of her mouth in an arching stream.

  Barely missing a beat Abby stepped into the room, “Well I guess this is as good a place as any to find the map.”

  Crystal was taken under guard to see Doc for a routine checkup. Doc started with the basics, weight, blood pressure, listening to her heart and breathing.

  “Your down another two pounds kiddo.” Doc commented looking pointedly at the guard.

  “Sorry Doc, I'm in the clean plate club I swear. Only problem is I only get one plate.” Crystal responded again directing her comments more towards the guard than Doc.

  Doc handed Crystal a gown and closed the makeshift screens around her. When the guard went to follow Crystal, Doc halted him, “She's not going anywhere son. This ain't no peep show I just need an ultrasound of the baby.”

  Using the cover of the ultrasound machine Crystal had Doc lean in close so she could whisper to him, “See if you can figure out a way to have a conversation with Sergeant Redding, he seems different than the others.”

  “You think he would help us?” Doc whispered back, continuing to work the ultrasound in case the guard poked his nose in.

  “I don't know. Its a long shot, but we need something. We are sitting on a powder keg here Doc. You see the way these guys keep looking at the women we have here. They keep taking out there frustration goading the men into fights, but it won't be long before someone gets raped or killed or both.” Crystal whispered back quickly.

  “I'll come up with some way to talk to him” Doc whispered back. Then in a louder voice, “Now there she is, say hello to your daughter.”

  “My daughter. My...daughter. Tobin should be here. Your sure its a girl? Tobin is really hoping for a girl.” Crystal exclaimed, the reality of her pregnancy shocking thoughts of their situation out of her mind.

  Doc chuckled, “Well I've seen a lot of ultrasounds. I'm right about half the time.”

  Crystal smiled back at Doc and patted his hands, “Thanks Doc. I'm glad its you delivering her.”

  “I brought you into the world honey and I'll be honored to do the same for your daughter.” Doc smiled as he held Crystal's hand.

  Their moment was ruined when the guard called through the curtain, “Alright let's wrap it up in there, the gal's got work to get back to.”

  The next day at their midday meal Doc went up to Stuart Redding, “Sergeant may I have a word please.”

  Stuart Redding considered the doctor for a moment. None of the townspeople ever started a conversation with the soldiers, well that Parson's woman would, but she would trade her own Mother if she could get an advantage, “Alright I'll bite. What do you need Doctor?”

  “Sergeant we are in close quarters now and it will only get tighter as winter gets into full gear.” Doc started.

  “I guess. You got a point, or just chattin about the weather.” Stu Redding challenged.

  Doc visibly bristled, but kept his calm, “My point sir is you and your men have traveled extensively, specifically out of country. Any
one of you could be a carrier of some disease that could run like wildfire through this community. These people are half starved, overworked and stressed. Their resistance is as low as it can get. I would like your men to be scheduled for physicals and health histories.”

  “Sounds reasonable. I'll discuss it with the General.” Anything else Stu Redding had to say was cut short.

  A scream of, 'NO', rang from the kitchen.

  Nana had finished heating a majority of their midday meal, wheeled it out of the kitchen and had begun setting it up. Amelia Cavendish was left in the kitchen to attend to the final preparations before following Nana out. The two guards posted in the kitchen ostensibly to insure the townspeople didn't somehow get more than their allotted ration, gave each other a sly look as Nana exited.