Dead and Dead Again: Kansas City Quarantine

by Dalton Wolf

  Calvin’s sore chest forced him to call it a night sometime just prior to midnight and Athena joined him. Neither knew for some time how long the others stayed up or what they had discussed.

  Goodbye Doctor Death

  “Good morning. I was told they have finally sent in a unit to get me,” Dr. MacGreggor announced, striding lazily into the cafeteria late the next morning.

  “Can they even find us, Doc?” Calvin asked.

  Having never mentioned on any of his numerous visits to the ‘party room’ his opinion on how they had spent their night, and in fact watching the full original Star Wars with them and commenting on how rare it was to see a copy where, as he said “Han shot only”, the doctor had risen in opinion polls throughout the group. Instead of Doctor Death or Doctor of Death, from that night on he became ‘Doc’ to them all.

  “I gave them the address on that first day.”

  “What’s the chance they’re gonna take us with them?” Calvin asked hopefully, through bleary eyes.

  “None, I’m afraid. I tried, but they said they’ll be sending in a small team with a specific mission. Everyone inside must fend for themselves due to the contagion rate.”

  “When can we expect this escort?” Calvin asked, forking a pile of syrup-laced pancakes into his eagerly awaiting maw.

  “Apparently they are only a few minutes away. I guess they didn’t want to announce their presence until they reached the area.”

  “Damn it! Great!” Calvin spit the half-masticated cakes across the table and lurched to his feet, clutching his chest with a grunt of pain while pulling on his helm and fastening the straps as he stomped down the hall to the patio.

  “Everyone get miked up!” he shouted. “Trip, get on the back window and let me know if anyone shows up out there. Stay small.”

  “Roger,” Tripper responded.

  “Brick, no, Boomer take that little patio over the west entrance and keep us updated. Athena, get on the security video and keep an eye on the blind alley.”

  “If you think for one second I’m going to hide in a broom closet—”

  “—I didn’t mean Athena…I meant to say Felicia!” he amended quickly. “Yes, Felicia can you go to the security office? Sarah will tell you where and how to run the monitors real quick. It would have been better to have someone like Athena do this because she already knows how to operate everything, but of course I would rather have her by my side every minute of the day.”

  “Sure thing, Chief,” the perky actress saluted him smartly and went over to Sarah’s table to get the information.

  “Rifles loaded and safeties off, everyone.”

  “Hey, are we going to war with the Army, Old Buddy?” Tripper asked. “Aren’t these guys on our side?”

  “You watched the same movies I did. Are the military guys ever on anyone’s side in them? They always have ulterior motives.”

  “Yeah, but—“

  “—it’s very much like that in real life.”

  “That doesn’t mean we have to shoot them, though,” Athena added.

  “Right,” Calvin agreed. “But we also won’t be letting our guard down. I love our military, but since both of my parents were Special Forces, and told their young son things they weren’t supposed to, I can guarantee they will follow orders, whatever they may be. If their orders are to take the doctor into custody and kill anyone who comes close, then that is what they will do. They won’t pause to make distinctions between Infected and Clean. They might not have even been told what the situation in here is. As far as we know, we’re all hostiles in their eyes. At the very least, we don’t matter. The most important thing will always be getting the package where it needs to go. So let’s keep sharp.”

  The others nodded as he placed everyone in a perimeter behind columns scattered around the main floor lobby. Watching uneasily from the balcony as a soldier off in the distance ‘snuck’ through the park and dropped quickly under what looked like a burlap sack covered with grass right next to Lola’s gravestone, which Hef and Quinn had placed either before their arrival the previous night or on their way out early that morning.

  “Got a sniper on the North side, by the wall where we saved Gus and Joel.” Tripper informed them.

  “And us,” Scaggs added.

  “Not important right now,” Trip shot back.

  “To you, maybe. But I sure as hell remember it.”

  “Keep it quiet, guys,” Calvin muttered. “Only pertinent information...but Scaggs and FeFe matter too, Trip.”

  “Thanks, Chief. I’ve got three targets sneaking down the alley. They must have gone all the way east and cut back before coming in,” FeFe announced.

  “Anyone seen anything on the nearby rooftops?” Calvin asked.

  “Nope.” “Nothing.” “Clear so far.”

  “Ok, keep your eyes open.”

  A few minutes later the rumble of at least two internal combustion engines began to shake the windows. Two black Humvees powered around the southern corner and swerved in front of the building, skidding to an immediate stop. At least two-dozen black-clad soldiers poured out and deployed in parallel lines up and down the east-west sidewalk. Out of the first car stepped a six-foot Captain with short, blazing red hair and a stocky, medium build dark-skinned Sergeant, dropping uneasily to the pavement and looking around before striding purposefully up to the building. Both stopped short as the shadows on the balcony moved, as did the weapons those shadows pointed their way.

  “How can we help you?” Sarah asked the big red-haired Captain.

  “I’m looking for a Dr. Devon MacGreggor or a Mr. Calvin Hobbes.”

  “They’re both inside.”

  “I didn’t catch your name?”

  “Sorry, my arm is a little sore today.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Sorry again, I guess I’ve spent too much time around Tripper.”

  “I…I don’t understand.”

  “I’m Sarah.”

  The captain waited to catch more, but Sarah wasn’t throwing it.

  So it’s going to be like that, the Captain sighed angrily to herself. Looking around, she noticed the turrets on the Hedgehog, though she could not see the barrel fronts. Highly illegal machine guns on civilian vehicles. No, those are military markings. Either way, illegal.

  One of the first lessons she had learned when dealing with civilians was to exert your authority. “Those machine guns will have to come with us,” she pointed to the turrets on the Hedgehog. “And both of those vehicles as well. Those are military vehicles, not civilian,” the captain pointed two soldiers to the Hedgehog and two to the Wagon to stand a protective watch. “Watch these vehicles until we return with the keys.”

  “You may want to talk to Calvin before you start giving orders regarding our property and the Sixth Amendment…if you ever want to leave here,” Sarah warned the officer. “You can go in the west entrance,” she pointed the Captain down the street to the side entrance, just a few feet around the corner from the main entrance.

  Calvin ran downstairs and took several deep breaths to calm himself. He had picked the lobby because they could get the most people with weapons trained on the smallest area and the incoming military wouldn’t have use of their vehicles...unless they had brought along a tank, which had remained a real possibility until they had finally driven up in only Humvees.

  A heavy knock indicated the pair of soldiers had reached the entrance. With a nod, Calvin allowed the doctor to go out and talk to the captain. Shortly he shuffled back, followed by the crimson-topped captain and her sergeant, a large black fellow with a chin that would make Bruce Campbell flush with inadequacy. Behind them came two privates, one a young man with an innocent face who was clearly the company ambush-bait. The other private was a stocky, brown-skinned brunette woman with a square jaw and hawk eyes. Calvin decided to call her GI Jane because she looked that gung-ho. Each wore simple black uniforms with army rank insignias, but no other patches. None of the other soldiers
followed, the captain having given them signals to keep the street clear, but one held the door open.

  “We’d rather not have a bunch of shooting out there, if you don’t mind,” Athena asked the soldiers. “If you have to kill them, go in close and do it quietly.”

  “I give the orders to my people,” the Captain snapped.

  “Well, they’re attracted to sound,” Athena responded coolly. “If you want to be able to leave here unhindered, you should probably not make too much noise.”

  “The streets look empty in all directions,” the captain argued.

  “They do appear that way, don’t they? But trust us. If you start making a bunch of noise, you’ll see how fast those empty streets can fill with dead people.”

  “I have a mission to complete. I don’t have time for lessons in battle from a civilian. As I said, I’ll give the orders to my people.”

  “And I’ll give the orders to mine,” Calvin said firmly, cradling his M-16 in the nook of both arms as he leaned casually against the central support column.

  “You are civilians,” the Captain scoffed.

  “That is Mr. Hobbes over there,” the doctor pointed an aging finger his way.

  “You are Calvin Hobbes? Colonel Robin Hobbes’ son?” the Captain asked in surprise, walking up and holding out her hand for him to shake or not as he so chose.

  “Yes,” Calvin said simply, shaking her hand, but lightly, still uncertain whether he was ready to trust her.

  “I…see…I am Captain Genevieve Batmouche’. This is Sergeant Dwayne Doogard.” She started to introduce the two privates, but realized they didn’t matter, and never thought of it again. “I must say, it’s a real shame the military has lost out on the continued legacy of your family, Mr. Hobbes,” she pursed her lips as if she’d just eaten a whole lemon, peel and all.

  “I’m sorry, captain, but that’s a personal issue between myself, my departed parents, and my uncle…not the military or yourself,” he explained, not appreciating her poorly masked disapproval.

  “Of course…yes. It’s just that…” she straightened up and squared her shoulders. “I knew your mother. I served under her. I would like to say that your mother was…is an inspiration to women and even many men in the military. She showed so many that anyone can do whatever they put their minds to. I took several of her courses at the academy. She always said that in the military a woman could not only shatter the glass ceiling, but use the broken shards to carve their way into the sky.”

  “Yeah, my dad was kind of famous for saying crap like that too. Most of their sayings don’t make much sense if you really give them some thought, but they sure got the troops fired up. And now they’re both dead, sent on a poorly-planned mission that was completely unnecessary. Is there anything in particular you want with us, Captain?” Calvin asked impatiently.

  “I’m sorry. I expected the child of two of the world’s finest to react in a friendlier manner towards the military.”

  “I’m sure you did. That’s probably why they sent you, since you knew my mom. I have all respect in the world for the military, but you showed up giving my people orders and talking about taking some of our stuff. That’s not a good way to make friends.”

  “Your…guard upstairs was the first to respond with hostility.”

  “I heard. It wasn’t that hostile. In fact, I thought it was kind of funny.”

  The captain simply stared back.

  “But we have a strange sense of humor. It takes time to get to know us.”

  The captain’s face remained an impassive mask.

  “But you still threatened to take away our vehicles. You cannot. We own them.”

  “We have our orders and we were sent in with insufficient supplies. We are tasked with obtaining further supplies from the populace if necessary.”

  “Then I’d suggest you ask nicely, because this ‘populace’ is your own populace. You’re not overseas. You’re not invading some land hostile to America; you’re in America. Anything you take, you’ll be taking from your fellow citizens against the rights expressed in the constitution you’ve sworn to uphold.”

  “We’re on your side for now,” Athena added. “But that’ll change in a hurry if you’re going to be a dick about it.”

  “I see. While I’m unaccustomed to having to ask for what we need, we will, of course, try to comply with your wishes. And I live and die for the Constitution”

  “That’s all I can ask,” Calvin nodded acceptance, though he wished she’d said something other than try and with much less emphasis.

  “So, I thought you just needed Doc and then you’d be gone? Clearly that’s not the case anymore,” Calvin noted sharply.

  “Ah, now I understand. Yes, I’m afraid I need something from you right from the start. It should not be asking too much.”

  “If it’s something I think we can give, you’ve got it,” he agreed affably, trying to put her at ease and get them at least close to friendly terms.

  “I need your man who saw the vehicle that took the package. The doctor has informed me of what he can, but I really need someone who knows the lay of the land.”

  “That’d be Tripper. He’s busy elsewhere at the moment.”

  “Scaggs,” he nodded to a pillar from which only a wild patch of unruly auburn hair, some weird metal shield-looking thing and the business end of an M-16 poked out. “Can you go relieve Trip and take his watch, please?”

  “You got it, Chief,” she walked backwards into the hallway and the captain could see now that the woman was wearing armor like the others and her hair had somehow managed to find little seams within the helmet to poke out from in long spikes.

  “Is she relieving your man on the back entrance?” the Captain asked with a clever half-grimace as Scaggs bounded off through the central hallway.

  “Yes,” Calvin admitted.

  “Yes, we saw him there, and your women on the patios.”

  “Right. And we see your three men in the alley, the sniper to the north in the back of the pickup and the other sniper across the street in the park. It’s not safe out there, by the way,” he warned her.

  “Tell her I’m going to shoot the dick off of that guy in the park if he doesn’t get his rifle off of Lola’s tombstone,” Lucy whispered into her mic.

  “The Infected love the parks for some reason,” Calvin continued without pause. “And you should warn your man that if he doesn’t stop leaning on the tombstone of our very dear departed friend, my other friend Lucy is going to shoot off a certain body part he was probably hoping to use on his next Three-Day.”

  “That’s hardly professional.”

  “Her words, not mine. And I’m sorry but we’re mere civilians and I guess I don’t have the control over my people that you do,” he apologized insincerely. “But it really isn’t safe for him out their alone. With his attention on us, he might not see the ones that find him. They can be very quiet.”

  The captain and sergeant shared a quick look, one asking and the other uncertain. Finally the captain nodded.

  “Baker,” the sergeant growled over his mic. “Move in. We don’t need you out there. Stovington, close the perimeter to concentrate around the west and south entrances.”

  “What’s up, Chief?” Tripper asked, walking up to Calvin and giving a lazy salute.

  “Trip Grissom, this is Captain Batmouche’.

  “I need to know what you know about the car that took the case away,” the Captain didn’t waste time with further introduction or handshakes.

  Tripper looked to his buddy, who nodded almost imperceptibly. Calvin tried to keep a flush from his face as he realized that instead of getting high they could have all gone out and looked for the case some more. But he had felt his friends really needed a break and some time to breathe and have fun…and also he had forgotten.

  “It would be really helpful if you would tell us everything you know.”

  “Sure thing, Captain Buttmunch,” Tripper replied flippantly.


  “Batmouche’” the captain hissed.

  “Batmouche’, right. Sorry about that,” he mumbled.

  “Are you?”

  “Sure.”

  “If you misheard it, that is one thing, but I believe you mispronounced it on purpose.” She snapped crossly.

  “You’re right. You caught me. I do that sometimes. I just can’t help it.”

  She stared with narrowed eyes, to which he shot back his most brilliant, toothy grin. Tripper was an asshole, but he was charming as hell and few women could stay mad under the barrage of one of his charismatic grins. The captain sighed and looked to the sky for help. “Are you going to help us or not, Mr. Grissom?”

  “Sure thing, ma’am. Well, it was a red late-sixtees or early seventies Chevelle, red with gray primer spots on the hood. One guy behind the wheel. Heavyset with a red jersey. Couldn’t see if anyone else was in back. The car crossed the river safely. There were no missing rails on the bridge when we went through later and no damage so it had to have made the far side of the river. Once it reached the Northland, well, that’s a straight shot for quite a ways. As far as I could tell, they went on past Two-Ten Highway at the least unless he regained control and turned somewhere. We had to turn there because we had friends and family to look for. We never saw the car again. The way he was driving, I doubt he made many turns successfully. Calvin made us check all of the cross-roads up to Two-Ten on our trips in and out, but we didn’t see anything. For all I know, he might have recovered and driven off to wherever the hell he lives.”

  “I don’t think he would have kept driving with something dragging under his bumper,” the Captain shook her head, fingering the ammo clip of her rifle the way others would a chin when deep in thought.

  “Hey, you weren’t here when this shit went down,” Tripper argued. “You don’t know what stupid shit someone would do in that situation. I can guarantee that all you’re thinking when it’s happening that first time is that you’ve either lost your mind or you’re tripping. You think maybe you’re dreaming or that the world has just turned upside down and gone to hell in a hand-basket and you’re fucked. As it turned out, it was the latter and a lot of us weren’t too keen on staying downtown for very long.”