The Event: The Beginning

by Lee Thomas

  "Excellent. Soon as all that is done we leave. I want to be somewhere in Virginia by nightfall, and we are only about halfway through Tennessee now. Thank you, Dave, in case I haven't said that lately.” I told him, reaching my hand out to shake his.

  "Don't even think about that man, you probably saved me and my family's lives. I owe you for that.” he replied, taking my hand and shaking it. He then turned and walked towards the ladder. I peered out over the parking lot and various buildings surrounding us, wondering how many of them were hiding infected.

  I decided to head down and check on the status of the RV's. I wanted to make sure none were about to blow an engine, or had any sheet metal about to fall off. I ducked into my RV and grabbed a towel, then reached in the driver’s area and popped the hood. Stepping out, I went around to the front and lifted the hood. I pulled the oil stick out, wiped it clean, then replaced it and pulled it back out to check the level. It seemed to be fine, but I knew all of them would need to get an oil change when we made it to the ship. We should have sufficient filters and oil in the rig for all of them. I checked everything else as well, air filter, coolant, etc. Since everything seemed fine, I closed the hood and went to the next RV and did the same checks. I did the same for all the RV's we had. They all seemed fine for now, but I would probably check again tomorrow morning before taking off also. By the time I was done with that almost everything was loaded and the scrounge teams were back, loading up what little they found. Jeff was under his hood as well, I hoped just checking things and not with a problem. I walked over to him to find out.

  "Hey man, problem, or just checking?" I asked as I stepped up to the far side of the engine from him.

  "Just checking. I saw you doing it to the RV's, so I thought I better do it to her too, just to be safe. It all seems to be good though.” he told me, wiping some engine grime from his hands and stepping down. I stepped back also as he dropped the hood.

  "Well, we should be able to leave in just a few minutes. I'm hoping to go straight through Nashville, and hopefully make it to Knoxville before we have to stop, but we will see how it goes. How's your fuel situation?" I asked. I knew the RV's were on average half full, but we had cans in the rig that were being put in them now, so they should all be full when we started.

  "Let me check.” he said, moving towards the drivers' door. He climbed up, put the key in and turned it enough for the gauges to come on. After a minute he looked at me, "Looks ok for now, a little over three quarters."

  "Good. I'm going to check on the rest of the drivers, make sure there are no issues. Channel eight still, right?" I asked, stepping down to the ground.

  "You got it. I've got the truck CB on 19 still which is the emergency band, but nothing yet. I'll let you know if I get anything." He said. I then left him to finish getting ready to go and went to make sure I was ready myself. I checked that all my gear was stored properly where I could get to it, and it wouldn’t go flying around while we were moving. Everything seemed secure, as well as the food and ammo, and everyone else's stuff that was loaded in this RV.

  I then went from vehicle to vehicle, checking with the drivers, making sure everything was secure, and nobody had any issues before taking off. Everyone seemed to be getting ready just fine, and everything was getting put away. I figured ten minutes and we could hit the road. I found Kevin and asked him how his people were doing.

  "They are all fine. Some are worried about leaving since we had a safe place here, but I assured them you had a plan for an even safer place. That seemed to alleviate most of their fears, but this is such a weird time, and situation. No one will give you any problems.” he assured me. I shook his hand, sure that he would deal with any problems his people came up with, until they learned they could trust me.

  Once I finished my rounds, I headed back to my vehicle. I got on the radio and asked all drivers if they were ready. I got mostly yeses, but two were finishing locking things down still. I told them to inform me when they were ready, and then looked at my map again. I-40 would take us straight into Knoxville which was where I hoped to get before stopping today. It was a long stretch of road, with many exits, rest stops, truck stops, and restaurants. Unfortunately that meant lots of places that could have roadblocks.

  I finally got the green light from all the drivers, so I told Jeff to go for it. We hadn't seen any infected moving this morning, so hopefully that meant we were clear to the highway. I saw Jeff start moving, so I put it in gear and waited for him to clear me. Once I started moving, I saw the rest follow suit. We drove down the service road towards the highway single file. As we pulled onto the interstate itself, I eased to one side of Jeff and looked in my mirrors to see the rest also staggered themselves.

  We rolled east, towards the rising sun, thankfully not coming across any roadblocks as we made into Nashville itself. Several cars were on the road, either crashed, or just abandoned, mostly on the shoulders or median though. A few had to be pushed out of the way, but Jeff did a pretty good job of that with the rig. I started seeing a lot of what we had seen in all the medium to large cities we had been through; burned out buildings, cars, trash blowing all over the place. A few bodies here and there lined the roads as well. I radioed Jeff to stop at every available truck stop and gas station so we could scrounge for fuel.

  With his blinker on, Jeff angled the truck towards the next exit. I saw the fuel signs and was hopeful that with several gas stations on this exit that we would be able to find something. We had only been on the road for less than an hour, but we did need the fuel, so I didn't have much choice but to stop. Like all the other stops, we circled the rig and faced so we could move out quickly.

  I got out with my riot gear on and swords on. Larger cities like this would be higher risk for infected attacks as well as other people trying to take our supplies. Several of the others got out similarly dressed. Like always, I posted watchers on the rooftops and split the rest into two search teams. Some of Kevin's people had also got out and were adding themselves to the teams. I liked that, as it meant they felt they could trust the plan.

  Breaking from normal protocol slightly this time, I ordered a car off a trailer and decided to take a small group to search the nearby houses, looking for survivors.

  "Are you out of your mind? There is no way in hell I'm letting you do that.” Jeff said angrily, walking up to me. I assumed I would see him as soon as he heard about it. I knew he wouldn’t like my idea, but I didn’t care, it was time for me to do something significant again.

  "You don't have a choice. I'm going. But don't worry, I'm not going alone. I'm taking Roger, and Eric. Both are good with swords, and I don’t want to fire a gun if I can help it.” I told him, not looking at him as I checked my weapons and gear.

  "The hell I don't have a choice. You are the one who has this groups trust, and you have the plan. What do think is going to happen if something happens to you out there? Have you thought about your kids, or Michelle, or the group in general?" he yelled at me. I looked around at saw he was starting to draw attention.

  "Keep your voice down before you draw unwanted attention. I'm going, so zip it, this is not up for discussion. Yes, I have thought about the girls and Michelle. I'm the leader you say? Then I'm pulling rank.” I replied to him, pointedly ignoring him after that and moving to find Roger and Eric.

  "Then I'm going too. Dave can keep everyone happy for a little bit. At least this way I'll know at least one person has your back that knows what they're doing.” he said to me, heading towards his rig, presumably to get his riot gear. I knew he had a couple of short swords, but he was lethal with a rifle or handgun, so I was sure he would be taking one or the other.

  "Fine. But no one fires a gun unless there is no other choice. Bring your swords.” I told his back. I knew there was no way to not let him go, and I didn’t really want that fight. As he walked away, I went in search of Roger and Eric. I found Eric in his RV, getting fitted in some riot gear of his own. Roger was walking this way in hi
s homemade leather and plate mail armor. It looked a little cheesy, but it was effective. I had seen a couple of those things bite his arm and the armor didn’t even have a scratch on it yet.

  "Are you sure just three of us are going to be enough?" Eric asked me as I got close.

  "Well, Jeff caught wind of me leaving, and decided that he didn’t trust anyone else to watch my back, so he made an executive decision to go as well. So it will be the four of us.” I informed him. Roger had walked up and heard me talking to Eric.

  "Well, four would probably be better than three anyways. That way we could split and go two by two to clear the buildings. It would save time." Roger said, agreeing with Jeff apparently. I shook my head, thinking about it, then nodded and decided he was right.

  We checked each other’s gear to make sure it was tight, no tears, and nothing loose. It would not be good to be attacked and have a piece fall off. Eric had two pistols and a hatchet, while Roger had two swords as well as his own hatchet. I had my customary weapon set, but I grabbed a pistol just in case as well. I disliked guns, even though I was good with a pistol. Jeff walked up during the checks and I checked his armor as well. All of his gear looked good. He had a pair of pistols with extra clips, as well as an assault rifle. He did have a machete with him at least as well.

  After making sure everyone's armor was good, and weapons were secure, we walked over to the van I had decided to take. It was a full size passenger van, so if there were survivors we should have space for them. I told Eric to drive and climbed in the passenger seat. Jeff and Roger got in the back and Eric climbed in and fired it up.

  "Let's stay relatively close, I don’t want to be too far away from the group. According to this map I got from the truck stop there are three residential areas, all of them self-contained. Go right out of here and we will hit this one first." I said to Eric. As we pulled out of the lot, we all looked for any movement, whether it be infected or otherwise.

  As we drove down the street towards the entrance of the first neighborhood. It was to the right, and we slowed as we came up to the turn. So far all we had seen was trash. There was no sign of life anywhere so far. We turned in and came up to the first street, which was a T intersection.

  "Ok guys. According to the map, it looks like this place is big square, with offshoots off of it and into it, some connected, some cul-de-sacs, some just dead ends. It's gonna be a little bit of a pain either way we go. So, left or right?" I asked.

  "Flip for it?" Roger suggested. Eric and Jeff agreed to that, so one of them found a coin and we flipped. Heads we went left, tails we went right.

  "Heads it is, we go left.” Eric said, catching it in his palm and slapping it on top of his other hand. So we did, turning left and going to the next corner. We turned right and went to the next intersection. We decided to stop the van there and get out to search some of the houses from the entrance to here.

  "Ok guys, here's how I want to do this. Since there is four of us, let's split it up. We will go back to the entrance and hit each house back to here. Roger and Eric on one team, Jeff and I on the other. We will piggyback houses so we can search faster. Keep your radio on low, and call out if you find anybody.” I said. We then got out of the van and started walking back towards the entrance. There was no sound, and only the barest amount of wind.

  We made it to the first set of houses and split up. Roger and Eric went to the house on the left, Jeff and I took the one on the right. Each team walked up to our respective doors and listened. I put my ear to the door while Jeff looked in the windows. I didn’t hear anything, and so shook my head at him. Most of the blinds were down, so we couldn’t see in either. Trying the knob, we discovered the door was locked. All the windows we tried were also locked, no big surprise there. I pointed to the garage, and Jeff nodded and headed that way, while I went the other direction to try the back yard. I heard him try the door as I made it to the fence, but from the sound of it he didn’t have any luck. The gate at least was unlocked, so I swung it open and stepped into the back yard.

  There was a nice size pool back there, some lawn furniture, and a really nice grill. The shades were all drawn in back also, and when I tried the sliding door it was locked. I was looking at the windows on the second floor when Jeff came around the other corner. He shook his head when I glanced at him, indicating he had no luck yet either.

  "Judgment call. Break the glass and get in through the door, or try the second story windows to see if one is open?" I asked.

  "If we break the glass, it might draw attention here. There is a ladder on the side over here, we could try the upper windows first." He said. I nodded, and he went to get it. We played rock paper scissors to see who climbed the ladder, and he won, so up I went. I placed the ladder under one of the windows and started climbing. Once I got up there I tried the window. Of course, it was locked. I looked down at him, shook my head, and climbed down. Three more windows on this side to try, so I reset the ladder and went back up, grumbling all the way. Jeff just laughed at me and told me to suck it up. Once again, a locked window. Again, I looked down and shook my head. As I turned back around to the window however, this time there was a face staring back at me. An infected face.

  I gasped as it lunged toward me, smacking the glass. I scrambled down the ladder as quick as I could, hearing the growls and screeches from the infected up there. Continued slamming against the window, and now I heard cracking of the glass each time it hit it. Jeff obviously figured out what I saw as I came down the ladder because he had his rifle pointed up there and was speaking into the radio to Roger and Eric. I drew my swords as I hit the ground, expecting any minute for that thing to come flying out of the window.

  Eric and Roger came running through the gate as Jeff and I slowly backed up. I glanced over to them, and as I did I noticed movement in what was probably the dining room area behind the sliding door. Another two seconds and another infected slammed into the back door. The glass shook, and cracked, but held.

  "Jeff, is that gate closed on that far side?" I asked. Once he said it was, I started moving us towards the one I had left open. We only got about five steps or so before the one upstairs came through the window. It hit the ground pretty hard, but started getting back up. The back door shattered then and another came out from there, followed by three more.

  "Run!" I yelled, turning to get to the fence. If we could get to the gate, and shut it, hopefully we could get it locked somehow so they would be trapped back there. Since Eric and Roger had already made it out, I turned so Jeff could go out, then I followed. Eric was behind the gate and he slammed it as soon as I was out.

  "Find something to secure it, quick.” I yelled. Jeff and Roger started looking with me, while Eric held the gate. I heard screeching from the back, and Eric flew backwards and the first infected hit the gate and it flew open. The infected stumbled out, followed by two more, one of which saw me and immediately ran towards me. The other apparently saw Jeff first and turned towards him. I simply held my sword out in front of me and speared it as it ran at me. Jeff fired his rifle and pretty much took the head off the one nearest him. I saw Eric getting up slowly behind the gate and motioned to him to stay there. Jeff then fired into the first one to come out of the gate, which looked to be the one which came out of the upstairs window. The two remaining ones didn’t appear to be that fast, so I told Eric to shut the gate back. I was betting they wouldn’t be strong enough to throw it open again. I heard the latch catch this time as Eric backed up. The two infected made it to the fence, punching it and screaming in frustration, but the gate held. I waved to move on and we abandoned these two houses. I decided to skip the next one as well, and motioned for Roger and Eric to take the next one over. Jeff and I headed for the one after that, and we began the process over again.

  Jeff put his ear up to the door this time, and I tried windows. No luck on my end, but when Jeff tried the knob, it turned. He looked at me, motioned to the door, and I came back and stood next to it. He moved behind t
he frame, turned the knob, and threw it open. He ducked back as it opened, but nothing came out. We both glanced in quick from our different vantage points. I could see a small entryway with a door leading to a living room, and a staircase leading up. Jeff shook his head, pointed to his eyes with a negative gesture, meaning there was nothing to be seen. I did the same, then darted in. I went for the living room, scanning left to right as I went in, and finding a corner put my back to. I heard Jeff come in behind me and go the opposite way. I looked after I found my room clear and saw he was in the dining room. I pointed to myself, then the back of the house, and he nodded understanding. We then both went our separate ways and started clearing the house. I heard him shut the front door back first so we wouldn't be surprised by anything coming in behind us. I stepped into an office area, neat, and cramped. A quick glance showed nowhere for anyone or anything to hide, so I continued on. Next was a small tiled room leading to the back yard. It had another door that led to the kitchen, which I could see through the window, and one to my back which I presumed led to the hallway with the stairs. I checked the back door, and found it locked. I then turned to what I assumed led to the hallway. It was a sliding door, not hinged, so I slid it back into its recess. Nothing was there except a hallway. I heard movement on my left, but it was Jeff clearing the kitchen. He opened the door and gave me a thumbs up. I motioned down the hallway towards the door, and he followed me down it.

  I passed a door and turned so we were on either side of it again. This time I turned the knob and threw it open. He thrust his gun in, looking left, right, and up, then again gave me the thumbs up to indicate clear. We both went to the bottom of the stairs, and listened for a minute. Surely with what little noise we made, if anyone was up there, they would have heard us.

  Jeff motioned to himself, and I nodded, so he moved in front of me and went up the stairs first. We took each stair slowly, and on the edges, so our weight wouldn't make them creak. It took us about ten minutes to reach the top. There was a short hallway with three doors on one side and two on the other. Jeff took the left side, I took the right. Only two of the doors were shut, which I assumed one was a bathroom, the other most likely a bedroom.