Zombie Crusade

by J. W. Vohs

  “I don’t know, deputy. I’m sure that the sooner you get to the hospital and get those wounds treated the better your chances will be.”

  Jack knelt down next to the wounded officer and lightly touched his shoulder, “You have a family?”

  A tear slid down the deputy’s cheek, “Wife and two kids.”

  A long moment passed until the infected lawman asked, “I’ll be a danger to them, won’t I?”

  Jack looked away with sadness, “You fought well today, and put your life on the line to try to save your partner.”

  “Am I a danger to them?”

  Jack sighed, “From everything I know about the virus, you’ll turn in the next twenty-four hours. I’m sorry, deputy.”

  The stricken officer closed his eyes and shook his head. “What should I do?”

  Jack thought for a minute, then answered, “Bring your family to The Castle after they treat these wounds at the hospital. Spend the night loving your family and saying what has to be said. We’ll keep an eye on your condition and separate you from them before you become dangerous. After you’re gone your wife and kids will be safer with us than anywhere else I can think of. We have over fifty people there, including families. She’ll have help and comfort, and the kids will be fine. I know it’s hard to accept, but if I was you I would want to hear the truth.”

  The deputy looked far away, finally asking in a small voice, “Any chance I won’t turn.”

  “I honestly don’ t know officer; maybe there’s a chance.”

  “Well,” he gritted in pain, “it’s not a chance I’m willing to take with my family. They might not let me out of that clinic once they get me in there. Will you get my family and take them to your retreat?”

  Jack asked, “Will you call your wife and let her know this is what you want?”

  The officer nodded.

  “All right, where’s your cell phone? I’ll put my number in there for you.”

  The deputy indicated his left front pocket, and Jack pulled out the phone and entered his number for the officer. By this time sirens were growing closer, and Jack quickly declared, “Good luck, deputy. You did all you could, now you just have to bear it. I’ll be expecting your call.”

  With that he gave the deputy a reassuring pat on the back, and took a last look around the scene before heading back to his Jeep. A quick call back to The Castle told him that Andi and her children were being settled in well. For a few moments he wondered what else he could do to slow the spread of the virus into this area. He had been warning authorities for days, and told all his neighbors everything he knew. He finally admitted to himself that he had done everything he could to prepare himself and his people for the battle ahead, and now all he could do was wait. He turned the Jeep around and headed back to The Castle.

  By the end of the day, leaders were emerging among the people gathered at The Castle. Tina had an easy way with everyone and folks found themselves wanting to follow her orders and suggestions. Many times people tracked her down and asked for her leadership. Carter was quiet and efficient, but even during his NCO days in the Army he was always better as a number two. He was still the same guy, so Tina’s husband John had naturally reassumed the role he had played as their lieutenant in Afghanistan. Jack’s brother, Carey, was still the car salesman and business leader; he knew how to organize and keep people productive. During his Army days, Jack had never commanded anything larger than a squad of soldiers, but his confidence and intelligence led everyone to look to him as their overall leader.

  As the day slowly faded toward evening, Jack was told that phones had been placed in all nearby homes, and everyone connected through communications with The Castle had also been offered protective gear and weapons. That process would continue the next day, and a training schedule was also developed for the civilians, with all of the former Rangers teaching the others how to fight. Jack decided to keep the wall and gate guards literally few and far between, but insisted that they keep four fighters on call with armor, weapons, and vehicles ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. Although he knew he wouldn’t be able to lead this small group all the time, until the nature of the crisis became more clear, either Carter or himself would be on call with what they called the Rapid Response Team (RRT) at all times. They were still the only two people in the compound who had ever seen and fought the zombies, and they worried about how the others would respond the first time they faced the creatures.

  Just before dark the sheriff pulled up in an SUV, followed by a large sedan. The gate was duly opened and the vehicles entered the compound; Jack moved forward from the small crowd that had gathered to see why the police had arrived. The sheriff stepped out of the lead vehicle’s passenger door and nodded to the crowd, briefly looking for Jack before he walked forward with his hand extended.

  “Hey, sheriff, good to see you again.”

  The sheriff grimly shook Jack’s hand and explained, “I’ve got an injured deputy in the backseat who’s getting sicker by the minute. I want him in the hospital, but he insisted on coming out here with his wife and kids. You’ve seen what’s going on in the news; do you really want him in here with your people? One of the infected took off three of his fingers this morning, and now he ain’t looking good at all.”

  Jack shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve invited the neighbors in, but only a few have taken me up on it. I suppose your deputy heard through the grapevine about the invitation, and now that he’s seen these creatures up close, he decided to take me up on the offer. We can quarantine him and keep an eye on the situation. He can spend some time with his family, but if he turns as fast as we’ve been seeing in the news he isn’t going to be with them for long.”

  “And what will you do if he turns?”

  Again Jack shrugged, “I’m going to ask him ahead of time what he wants done. If it was me, I’d want my gun with me at the end and take care of the situation myself.”

  The sheriff looked disgusted, “Listen, you can’t go playing God out here.”

  “I’m not playing God, sheriff, but you wouldn’t want your worst enemy to turn into one of these monsters.”

  The old lawman considered that for a moment. “The guy that bit him was a sheriff’s reserve for Allen County, one of those officers overrun at the hospital. His dad’s one of my best friends.” The sheriff spat on the ground before he continued. “I don’t know what’s happening here, Jack, I just can’t process it. You know what I mean?”

  “Yes, sir, I do. When they came pouring out of that village in Afghanistan after the Apaches had fried them I had to accept a new reality very quickly or I would have been dead. I guess that’s why I’m not flipping out like so many others are around the country. Look, I’ll be more than happy to look after your deputy, and his family will be safer here than anywhere else when this thing picks up steam. But again I’m asking you to be proactive on this. Your men can’t hesitate when an infected person comes after them. Tell them to use a club if they don’t want to shoot. Take some of our biker gear for protection. Please, give your men a chance.”

  The sheriff rubbed his chin before deciding, “I will tell my people everything you’ve told me, and I’ll explain that I believe every word of it. I’m also going to suggest they copy your protective measures, but I’m not going to order it.”

  Again the sheriff paused before continuing, “I’m going to leave my deputy here with you. His name is Don Wagner; wife’s name is Susan. Don’t let him infect anyone else.”

  “We’ll take care of them, sheriff, you have my word on it. Come by tomorrow and check up on them if you like.”

  The sheriff nodded, “All right then. The family’s in the car. They got a lot of clothes and stuff in the back of the SUV and their trunk. Show us where to unload, and we’ll get back to the department.”

  Three hours later, Jack was sitting with Tina and Doc Redders out in the barn. They were monitoring a small television while keeping an eye on Deputy Wagner lying on a cot inside of a glass-pane
led office. Jack had asked the doctor to witness the effect of the virus on an infected individual. Doc Redders was young, small, and goofy-looking with huge, wire-rimmed glasses perched on his rather large nose. However, despite his appearance, the doctor was smart and efficient, and Jack was very pleased to have him aboard, especially since Deb had emphasized the potential significance of his background in endocrinology. Redders had been watching Deputy Wagner since the injured officer arrived, so Jack asked him for an update as soon as he and Tina were seated.

  The TV news was bad, really bad, but the true horror was watching the brave officer slip away from his family. His skin had turned deep gray, and his pupils were extremely dilated. He was having some trouble breathing, and his temperature was heading off the charts. Long purple streaks were creeping out from under the bandages on his hand, symbols of the devastating infection reaching for Wagner’s heart.

  The deputy had already said goodbye to his children, and now was spending his last conscious moments with his wife. He was shaking and peering about as if he was having trouble breathing. His pretty, young wife was shaking her head and crying, but Wagner seemed to gain a last burst of strength and demand that she look into his eyes. As he spoke she pulled herself together and nodded. He gave her hand one last squeeze and collapsed back onto the pillow.

  Susan Wagner walked from the room with head erect and eyes clear. She approached Jack and declared, “He told me to tell you that he’s done, and that you would know what he meant. Earlier today he told me what was going to happen to him, but this is all so hard to believe. He made me swear to not go back in there. What are you going to do to him?”

  Jack hesitated, “What he told you I would do.”

  “Will it hurt him?”

  “No, Susan, he will physically die from the infection, and then I will make sure his body doesn’t come back as one of the creatures you’ve seen on the news.”

  “Will we be able to bury him?”

  Jack softly explained, “Of course we will. Tomorrow morning we’ll take him to where you want him to go. The only intrusion will be the protective detail assigned to keep you and your children safe.”

  Susan nodded and stifled a sob, “Ok, go ahead. Please let me know when he’s gone.”

  Tina jumped to her feet, “C’mon Susan, I’ll walk you to the house and we’ll see how the kids are doing.”

  As soon as the women left the barn Jack pulled on his gloves and walked into Deputy Wagner’s room. He stood still for a moment, finally whispering, “Don?”

  The infected officer opened his eyes for a moment before whispering, “Susan gone?”

  “Yeah, she’s in the house with the kids.”

  Wagner began to shake with exertion as he managed to croak, “You’ve got to end this. End it now.”

  Jack nodded over to the doctor, who quickly came over and gave the dying man a large shot of morphine. The deputy was gone in just a few minutes after the injection. Jack then pulled on his helmet to protect himself from any possible blood splatter and removed the suppressed .22 pistol from the holster under his jacket. He didn’t expect an exit wound with such a small caliber, but placed a few towels on the other side of the deputy’s head just in case. Finally Jack told the doctor to turn away before pumping four bullets into the brain of the corpse. They placed Wagner into a body bag and then locked the door of the room. Both men were distraught, but neither of them admitted to one another as they walked back to the house that they feared this wouldn’t be the last time they’d have to put a friend down.

  CHAPTER 9

  The news that night was terrible, a living nightmare was unfolding on the television screen before which most of The Castle’s adults were gathered. Washington D.C. was now a disaster area. Mobs of zombies roamed the streets of the city, while the uninfected hid in houses, workplaces, schools, and anywhere else they found themselves when the reality that they couldn’t survive in the streets finally hit home. Officials in every major city in North America had by now admitted that the virus was not being contained in their region. The same was true of all large cities around the globe as the rapid spread of the infection had proven impossible for any nation to stop. Closer to home, authorities believed that the virus was loose in every county of the state, though some local leaders still argued that their towns were free of infection.

  Jack finally suggested that everyone should try to get some rest while he and the RRT set up for the night. A room had been established as the command center for the guard rotation, communications with the outside, and basically any activity that might require opening the gate. While Jack wouldn’t ordinarily load up a single team with what he considered his best leaders, he expected action this evening so he asked Tina, John, and a fellow Ranger named Bobby Crane to make up tonight’s RRT. He remembered his first encounter with the zombies a decade ago, and how slow his mind had been to react to what his instinct had told him was a mortal threat. Basically, his people needed experience in fighting these creatures, and he wanted to be there for the first contact.

  Jack trusted Carter more than any man on earth and knew that he would be the sinew that kept The Castle and its residents running efficiently. In a fight Carter would be as good or better than any other person in the compound, but Jack was trusting that John would be able to resume the smooth air of command he had displayed in Afghanistan when he had led their Ranger platoon to hell and back numerous times with calm professionalism and deadly combat ability. The former lieutenant was a tall, rangy Texan who had stayed in Ranger condition after he left the service to help run his father’s ranch. Eventually he had moved north to marry Tina and help her run her security company, having met her when she presented a new lighting system to his father’s cattle company.

  John and Tina had been the two who came immediately to mind when choosing the first night’s RRT members, but Bobby was the next person he thought of. The dark-haired ex-Ranger was of average height, but two-hundred pounds of pure muscle. He had been an all-American high school linebacker who wanted to do three years in the Army before attending college to improve his discipline and focus. When he discovered the excitement and fun of serving as an Airborne Ranger he forgot about football. Multiple deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq had led to a cynicism he couldn’t shake, so after nine years of service he left the Army to become a cage fighter. He was good enough to make a living at it, and that was saying something. Bobby hadn’t hesitated when informed of the nature of the virus and the invitation to join the group gathering at The Castle, and Jack appreciated his old buddy’s enthusiasm and fearless attitude.

  After catching up with Bobby as they settled down in the command center, Jack decided to give one of the cots a try. Surprisingly, he was able to fall asleep despite the moderate discomfort of lying in most of his protective gear. As expected, a call came in during the middle of the night to disrupt Jack’s sleep. Sally Haines, a neighbor from two miles down the road, was hysterically shouting into Jack’s ear, “Oh my God! Jack, they’re here, they’re here!”

  “Calm down, Sally. Who is there?”

  She nearly screamed her answer, “One of those things is here!”

  Jack spoke calmly, trying to calm the terrified woman as he asked, “Where is the infected person right now?”

  Sally had calmed a bit, but still shouted, “In the front yard—he has Bill stuck up in a tree!”

  “Ok, let me get this straight, one of the infected is in your front yard trying to attack your husband who has climbed up a tree?”

  Even as Jack was speaking into the phone he motioned for the rest of his team to gear up.

  “Yes, we heard our neighbors fighting outside and Bill went out to see what was wrong. By the time he got out there Lance Regan was biting his wife and tearing huge chunks from her body; he must have killed her and then started eating her, just like those people in D.C. are doing!”

  By now the team was pulling on the last of their body armor, and Jack told Sally, “You stay right whe
re you are. If you can yell out to Bill, tell him that we’ll be there in three minutes and he needs to stay away from Lance. You understand that?”

  Sally’s relief was evident in her voice, “Yes, I’ll yell through the window and tell him you’re on the way. Please be careful when you get here.”

  “Don’t worry about that, Sally. Now hang up the phone and wait for us.”

  Without waiting for a response, Jack hung up and called the gate guard, then told the team to follow him to the Jeep. When they arrived at the vehicle, Jack flipped the keys to John, then jumped into the passenger seat to finish putting on his gear. He briefed the team on the way to the Haines’ residence, telling them all, “We form a diamond, with John covering our six. I’ll lead with the halberd; Tina and Bobby will guard my flanks with their .22s. I’m going to take this dude down and pin him to the ground with my weapon, just so we can be sure this isn’t some drunk with an attitude. When I give the word I want all of you to put a few rounds in his head. Everybody all right with this?”

  A chorus of “Yes” filled the Jeep as they reached the Haines’ drive, John pulling in and placing the brights directly on a large oak tree that dominated the front lawn. Just as Sally had described, a Zombie was clawing at the base of the tree with a frightened Bill gripping a limb about twelve feet above the ground. The creature turned and began shuffling toward the Jeep as the four team members quickly exited the vehicle. Jack took a quick look around to make certain his orders were being followed, then quietly declared, “Let’s do it!”

  The zombie’s face and chest were covered with gore, a dirty bandage still wrapped around the forearm where he was bitten the day before. His black pupils glowed in the headlights as he loudly moaned in anticipation of fresh meat. Quickly covering the distance to the creature moving toward his team, Jack reached out with the halberd and easily tripped the zombie. Once it was down on the ground, Jack flipped what had been Lance Regan over on his back, then used the spear tip on the end of the halberd to pin him to the ground with a moderate thrust into the heart. If the rest of the team had any doubt as to the nature of the creature before them, it was shattered by the sight of the zombie thrashing about with eight inches of razor-sharp steel stuck in the center of his chest.