by J. W. Vohs
“Nope, at least they haven’t reported any.”
Jack nodded, “Good, good.”
He was quiet until Andi gently spoke, “I know you lost some people yesterday.”
Jack looked up with pain in his eyes, “I’ve been to war. Lord knows I understand that people die, but this is bestial. When we lose people in this war we hear them being eaten; I can’t get it out of my head.”
Andi stood up and began to massage his shoulders. He winced as she gently kneaded his tense muscles. “I don’t know exactly what you’re having to deal with, Jack, but I do know that my girls, and hundreds of other people who would have suffered the same fate as the soldiers you lost yesterday, are alive and well because of you and the others.”
She set her chin on the top of his head as she wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled him close. “Thank you,” she whispered, “thank you for suffering for all of us.”
Jack leaned back into Andi’s firm embrace, “I might need you to keep reminding me of the good these sacrifices bring.”
“Every day that you see me running around here, just remember that I would be dead or one of those monsters if not for you.” She leaned in and playfully whispered in his ear, “And isn’t that enough?”
He broke free from her grasp and turned around, grinning as he looked into her eyes and replied, “If you end up bossing me around as much as Deb does Carter, I might not answer that question in the way you’re hoping.”
She stepped forward and lightly kissed him on the lips, “If I, or anyone, ever loves you as much as Deb loves Carter, you’ll have a new perspective on that ‘bossing’.”
Jack chuckled, “So we’re still on for our date when I have a free night?”
“If you ever get a free night we’ll see how you feel about that. I’m not the only one with eyes for you around here, and most of them don’t have two kids, stretch marks, and the ability to kick your butt if necessary.”
Now Jack laughed out loud, “I’ve been an adult bachelor for fifteen years now. Don’t you think I see something in you that’s special? Something more beautiful than I’ve ever seen before? Something that I’d fight a million zombies to save and cherish?”
Andi looked doubtful, “You’ve known me for a week, and it’s been a dramatic one—more like a scary movie than real life.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been looking for you for a long, long time. The zombies have been an unexpected complication.”
She smiled wistfully, “Before the end of the world I’d make you prove your words over months, maybe years of dating, but as things stand now, I’m going to go ahead and believe you know what you want.”
Jack grew serious, “What about you? I mean, as beautiful as you are you must have been mobbed by guys since high school.”
“Sometimes,” she confessed, “which has only taught me how to recognize an honest man when I meet one.”
Jack looked sad for a moment, “My dad drilled into us the fact that all a man really has in this life or the next is his honor. I’ve always tried to live up to that. I hope I’m getting better at it as I grow older.”
Andi reached over and gently touched his face, “You’re a good man, Jack, but if you try to tell me that you haven’t had women throwing themselves at you all your life I won’t believe you.” She smiled mischievously and added, “You’re tall, dark, handsome, heroic, sensitive, funny, smart, and probably a bunch of other things I haven’t had time to discover yet.”
Jack tried to look insulted, “I’m not sensitive. You take that back.”
Andi rolled her eyes with mock exasperation, “Ok, I take back the sensitive part, but it’s true anyway.”
Jack let out a long sigh, “Whatever. I’ve tried to prove to you that I’m a macho one-man killing-machine.”
She patted his shoulder reassuringly and replied, “I know, tough guy.. Don’t worry, I know what a killer you are.”
Jack grinned, “All right, that’s better. Now let’s wake up my troops and make some plans for the day.”
Within the hour Jack had the TV room filled with the RRT leaders, Doc Redders, Deb, and as many other soldiers and nurses as he could fit into the room. Others filled the hallway outside the meeting area and quietly listened to the discussion taking place among the leaders of The Castle. Jack had laid out his plan for evacuating the refugees at the safe-houses and bringing them to The Castle, which raised some objections since the compound already seemed to be overflowing with displaced people.
Jack raised a hand to quiet the grumbling. “Look, we can endure shoulder-to-shoulder crowding for a few days, and we have more than enough supplies here for everyone still alive in Noble County. The goal is to fight the remaining zombies on our own turf, destroy them, then place refugees in nearby homes. Once that’s accomplished we can begin to systematically search every building in the county for food and other supplies, which should hold us over until we can get our own agricultural system in gear.”
Jack’s brother Tom raised his hand and asked, “Do you really think it’s wise to attract thousands of zombies here and trap ourselves inside?”
Carter spoke up, “All of these monsters are lookin’ for food, and we’re the prey. None of us will be able to safely live our lives outside these walls as long as zombies are still roamin’ the county. We know the battle’s comin’, so let’s just get on with it.”
Jack took over, “I’m pretty sure the human population has just been reduced by over ninety percent. Now, are the survivors going to live huddled behind walls for the rest of their lives, and leave their children with that type of life to look forward to, or are we going to fight back and reclaim OUR world?”
Cries of, “Let’s get ‘em!,” and “Take it back!” echoed through the room.
Jack waited a moment, then explained, “When we reclaim this county, and people are settled and working, we’re going to hold elections. I give you my word that I won’t be running for any office at that time. We’re going to win this fight and then Noble County will be run according to the US Constitution. Until then I’m the sheriff, and Carter and I built this place you’re all living in. If you want to be a part of what we’re doing here you’ll need to follow orders. I don’t believe I’ve made a single important decision without discussing it with many of you first, but in war you have to follow a chain of command and follow orders if you hope to win.
“Anybody who doesn’t want to be in here when the zombies come can leave now and try to ride it out someplace else. Once it’s over there’ll be no hard feelings; I realize that not everyone was born to be a soldier. I will say this, though; I do believe that every person should be willing to fight for their families and community. I do want you to think about that before you decide to leave. If you are a pacifist, just remember that these aren’t humans we’re fighting. If you can’t take a place on the wall, for any reason, you can still help in many different ways.
“Now the first thing we need to do is get our people out of the safe-houses as soon as possible, which means today. We’ll need volunteer drivers and fighters. As soon as this meeting is over I want everyone who is currently a part of an RRT to meet with John and Tina out in the barn. Marcus, Bruce, and my other squad leaders from the fight at Station 2 will meet with me in the yard out by the fire trucks. I hope that the drivers from last night are willing to drive again today; you guys did an awesome job getting us out of the station. Alright, unless somebody has anything else to add let’s get moving.”
Within two hours Jack and the other leaders had a plan in place and everyone ready to move. Deputy Miller at Station 1 and Barry Stergen at the Courthouse had assured Jack that though they were under steady pressure they would be able to hold their own perimeters until all refugees were on the trucks. That left the job of clearing the road to Jack’s people. Three squads of ten soldiers would head in on the lead truck and set up a protective U-shape around four of the RRTs assigned the task of clearing the road of corpses and wire. Carter, Marcus, and
Bruce would lead the same squads they had fought with the day before. Maddy and Zach were coming along as Jack’s aides. The rescue team was going to Station 1 first, so they could add two more trucks to the convoy that would eventually go to the courthouse. After hearing the details of the evacuation at Station 2, Deputy Miller had ordered similar modifications to the fire trucks in his bays. Since the courthouse held twice as many refugees as the fire station, Jack planned on dropping Miller’s people off at The Castle and then using the extra vehicles to evacuate Barry’s group.
Due to the fact that the previous day’s plans had disintegrated into brutal battles for survival, Jack expected the worst today, but the evacuation at Station 1 went off without a single loss of life. Miller’s safe-house had been surrounded by at least three or four hundred zombies, with perhaps that many lying dead in the wire, but the discipline of the refugees at this station, combined with the abilities of the people Jack had chosen for this mission, pulled off the evacuation very efficiently.
Two hours after leaving the gates of The Castle for Station 1, the refugees were safely back at the castle. The same rescue crew that delivered the civilians from Station 1 then headed out into the late afternoon sun with four modified fire trucks. Deputy Miller was perched on the back of one of them with an M1A and several hundred rounds of ammo. Jack expected the evacuation of the courthouse to be more difficult since they would have to navigate the streets of Albion in order to reach the front of the building, and he knew from his experience in Afghanistan that corners could present problems for a convoy. Calling ahead he learned Barry had ordered Rickers and Ross to take their squads out and begin clearing a route for the convoy to enter the perimeter. The decision was made to drive through the wire and line up adjacent to the front steps of the building.
Unlike the evacuations of the fire stations, rescuing the refugees at the courthouse was going to require moving people out of the building and onto the vehicles while the soldiers continued to defend the perimeter. Jack knew that plenty of things could go wrong with this operation, and when he saw the numbers of zombies fighting their way through the wire he knew that they would have a fight on their hands. Barry called on the radio as the convoy came into view and told Jack that the zombies had been able to close in on the building after Rickers and Ross had taken men to clear the road. There had been no breakthroughs yet, but the zombies were within ten feet of clearing the wire in several places.
Jack quickly thought the problem over then asked, “All the windows and doors on the ground level barricaded?”
“Yep, we even strengthened them last night.”
“Good,” Jack replied. “Order all of your guards to leave the perimeter to provide cover for the refugees until we get loaded up. We’ll pick them up on the way out. You keep everyone in the courthouse until I tell you to begin the evacuation.”
“Got it,” Barry responded. “See you in a few minutes.”
Jack then sent orders to the squads to form two lines stretching from the trucks to the front corners of the courthouse. They had to protect the evacuation route from any zombies that got through the wire. The RRTs were going into the building and leading people to the vehicles; the job wasn’t as easy as it sounded since some of the refugees were injured and would have to be carried out. Some of the elderly were in wheelchairs, and there were plenty of children who would need to be shepherded to the trucks and lifted up to the platforms. As soon as Barry announced that all of the refugees were out of the building the RRTs would conduct a quick sweep to make sure nobody had been left behind, and the convoy would be on its way. The plan sounded simple, but Jack knew that extracting the soldiers under Rickers and Ross would be tricky if they were under any pressure at all, and while the evacuation was going on someone would have to keep an eye on the space between the wire and the waiting trucks.
Jack had no more time to worry as his Hummer passed through the opening created by Ross and Rickers, who were now busy pushing the attacking zombies away from either side of the road. Once inside the perimeter Jack led the trucks to the front of the building and hopped out of the Hummer with Zach and Maddy at his sides. He grabbed the two teens as the RRTs left their vehicles and set up defensive lines. “I need you two to cover the area between the convoy and the wire. The courthouse guards are protecting the opening we came through, but some of the zombies could get through the wire and go behind the trucks instead of attacking our defense lines. Don’t play around! Use your guns first, and call for help if you have any problems at all. Got it?”
The kids nodded in unison, and Jack slapped each of them on the shoulder and told them to get moving. The guard squads were already in place, but no zombies had found their way to the front of the building yet. Several of Barry’s perimeter guards came running from the back of the building to inform Jack’s troops that zombies were now moving past the wire.
When Jack entered the courthouse he had to move around the first of the refugees filing out of the large, ornate, double-doors that opened to the main hall. Barry had organized people in lines according to their physical condition, although he had been flexible where families were concerned. Most of the healthy men and women were armed and armored to some degree, and they were moving to the sides of their friends or families after following the order to abandon the wire perimeter with the arrival of The Castle’s soldiers. Jack nodded once at Barry and shouted, “Move ‘em out.”
The first of the refugees were marching down the steps of the courthouse when the first of the zombies came rushing around the corner of the building, impaling themselves on the halberds wielded by Jack’s seasoned troops. Some of the children began to scream, while several other people became frozen with fear at the sight of zombies so close to them and their loved ones. Jack and Barry pushed and shoved people along until they had the columns moving again. More zombies found their way through the wire and attacked the lines of guards standing between the trucks and the courthouse doors, but the soldiers had faced, and defeated, a far greater number of the monsters than they now fought and the line didn’t waver under the assault.
Jack shouted to Barry, “I’m going to run upstairs and have a look around us. Keep everyone moving!”
Barry nodded his understanding as Jack turned and headed up the stairs of the courthouse. When he reached the third floor Jack began running into offices with windows facing different directions and what he saw was not encouraging. Zombies were moving through the town everywhere he looked, and they were all headed directly to the courthouse. Jack wasn’t surprised that the monsters were homing in on all the noise taking place around the building, but he was dismayed to see that once again he and his troops were facing hundreds of the unrelenting creatures. Luckily the zombies didn’t appear to realize that Rickers and Ross’ squads were defending a hole in the wire, and the monsters continued to attack from every direction with no thought to how easy or difficult their chosen path might be.
The troops defending the opening were surrounded by scores of zombies and mounds of corpses, but the fighters were keeping the road clear and standing firm in their ranks. The lines defending the route from the courthouse to the trucks were spread thin, and dozens of zombies were shuffling in their direction. Jack was confident they could hold if the numbers of attackers didn’t significantly increase, but he still felt a sense of uneasy urgency he couldn’t quite place and he continued to scan the perimeter in search of what was bothering him. Then he saw it; Maddy and Zach were in position at each end of the convoy as ordered, guarding the area between the trucks and wire that Jack had been concerned about. But what Jack had thought would be a relatively simple task now looked like a suicide mission. Both of the teens were surrounded by zombies and fighting for their lives.
CHAPTER 23
Maddy had just arrived at the position Jack had ordered her to take when the first zombie appeared. She wanted to run up and use her halberd, but Jack had insisted that they use their guns so she leaned against the rear of one of the
trucks to steady her aim and fired at the creature that was about twenty yards away. She missed several times and the zombie was less than ten yards away when she finally made a kill-shot. Three more zombies soon appeared, each of them closer than the last one was when she began shooting at it. This time she killed the third one only two paces from her position and decided to switch out what had to be a nearly empty magazine. By the time she was ready to fire again, several zombies were nearly upon her, with at least a dozen more were moving through the last of the wire toward the girl who only two weeks before had been preparing for her school’s softball regional championship.
Maddy was a soldier now, and if she had doubted that fact the next few minutes would prove that she was born with the heart of a warrior. She felt a wave of calm push away the panic that had been creeping toward her consciousness, and she steadily pumped two rounds into each of the nearest zombies’ skulls without missing. Then she stepped over their corpses and quickly strode toward the others that were moving in her direction. Rarely missing, she continued to fire as she moved forward toward the monsters that sought to make a meal out of her. She smiled grimly as the last one fell, and she shouted out in battle lust as she viciously kicked the nearest body in the head while turning to see how Zach was doing. At least five zombies had managed to get between her and her former position, and she felt almost giddy at the opportunity to kill more of the creatures.
She lifted her pistol, sighted at the nearest zombie and pulled the trigger. A loud “click” was the only reaction from the weapon, and she knew that she had no time to put in a fresh magazine. Suddenly she was incredibly angry at herself as she saw her halberd still leaning against the back of the truck where she had left it, but without hesitation she rammed the pistol back into its holster and pulled free the mace Jack had given her. Now Maddy began a dance of death with the zombies threatening to mob her and pull her down. She ducked under the grab of one of the creatures and spun toward another with a two-handed swing that would have made her softball coach proud.
