Government Z (Book 1): The Beginning

by Reid, Bryan D.

  Meanwhile Christi, Sam, and I made our way around the building until we reached the main entrance of the building. Don we located the main entrance to the building I called over out 2 way radios. Did you find anything on the roof? I asked. I can see some zombies but they are on the outside of the gate and have been eliminated Don said. The only entrance up here is a hatch that is locked and a few skylights. I will look inside while you guys enter from the main entrance. I looked at Christi and Sam, pulled the slide on both my desert eagles; keep your eyes open and your guns up until we secure the building I said. Sam grabbed the handle of the door as Christi and I held are guns up preparing for anything. Sam swung the door open fast as Christi and I entered the lobby. Lobby is secure I called out. Sam you remain here while Christi and I sweep the warehouse. We pulled the front doors shut and put whatever wasn’t bolted down in front of the door to keep anything out. Sam started walking between the two windows looking for any signs of trouble as Christi and I prepared to enter the main warehouse. We opened the large double doors leading into the warehouse. The smell was like punch in the face. It caused instant gagging and we had to retreat back into the lobby. What’s wrong? Sam asked. It smells like death in there Christi said. I can’t tell if there are bodies decomposing or if all the food has rotted Christi added. I wonder how long this warehouse has been abandoned for the food to smell like that I said. Sam put her backpack full of supplies down on the ground and started to dig thru it. Here we go Sam said as she pulled out some bandanas. This should help mask some of the smell, Sam said as she was tying one of them around Christi’s nose and mouth. Here is an extra one for Donnie if he finds a way into the warehouse Sam said. I shoved the bandana in my pocket as I reopened the double doors. We slowly walked out into the warehouse where it was completely dark. The only light came from a large skylight overhead where I could see Don looking thru at us, so I started looking around for a light switch. I found a circuit breaker on the wall and started flipping thru each breaker one by one. I slowly watched as the overhead lights started to warm up and brighten the raided warehouse. Aisles of racks and shelving covered most of the sections I could see from the front door. I assumed it was the box and can good sections with the butcher, freezer, and produce sections blocked off in other areas of the warehouse. There was also a catwalk going across the ceiling hanging about ten feet down and then another section about eight feet below that one connected by small ladders and stairs. The ceiling had to be fifty feet from where we stood. We started down the main aisle of which looked like the box goods section. Some of the boxes were still intact but others looked like mice or rats had eaten small holes into the boxes. As we proceeded forward you could hear the dry stale food crunch under our shoes. After about forty feet and twelve aisles which stretched to the catwalks of box goods we entered the can good section which was about the same in length. I looked up to the second skylight and saw Don overlooking what he could see from his height. Hold up. Don shouted over the walkie. I see something on the left five aisles up from your position. I took position on the right to have a better angle to see down the left aisles and I let Christi take the left side because I wanted to approach the danger first if we had any. We approached the fifth aisle I could see a small pile of cans on the floor and what appeared to be a shoe. Is the right aisle clear I whispered over to Christi? Christi nodded her head so I entered the left side of the aisle and approached the pile of cans with the shoe in it. I started to move the cans off the pile to reveal the shoe was attached to a foot. Damn, Don we have a body under these cans I said into the radio. After pulling back all the cans we found a man in his mid thirties wearing a butcher’s apron and half of his face had been ripped off. I put my desert eagle up to the open side of his face and pulled the trigger. Christi looked on in horror. Why? Christi asked. I said it was a precaution because of past experience that we could take the chance he became a zombie and attacked us I said. We have to move on Christi I said.

  We continued through the rest of the can goods and found ourselves in the produce section. Don it looks like all of this produce is rotted as if it has been months since this warehouse got its last delivery or since it was abandoned I said. We made our way to another set of double doors with a warning sign next to the door. What’s that sign say I asked Christi who was closest to it? It has warning of heavy machinery and safety precautions to be taken Christi said. We must be at the butchery section of the warehouse. It has to be attached with the freezer department so the meat won’t spoil I said. We opened the door to see a small ten foot hallway with another set of double doors at the end of it. We entered and closed the doors behind us. As we approached the second set of doors I called Don on the walkies. Don can you see anything in the butchery? I asked. Don was peering through the skylight window but this window seemed dirty, so Don started to wipe the window clean. I can’t see anything right now let me see if I can clean this window off Don said over the two way radio. Don put his weapons away as he got down on all fours and slowly climbed across trying to clean the skylight. As Don was cleaning suddenly he heard a cracking sound and when he looked underneath himself he could see the skylight starting to give way. Oh Fuck Don said as the skylight glass completely shattered from underneath him and Don started to fall into the butch shop. Don fell ten feet to the catwalks over head but with nothing to break his fall and not being prepared he fell right on his chest knocking him out for the time being. With hearing the horror of glass shattering in the next room Christi and I burst thru the door in the next room. This is where the fowl stench that spread through the warehouse was coming from. The smell was so strong it ripped through our bandanas. As we looked around there was nothing but blood stains from the unused meat laying everywhere with hordes of flies and maggots covering the meat. As we started looking for Don we came to some half cow carcass that were being cut up and on the floor was the body of a butcher with a hatchet buried in the back of his head. Keep your eyes peeled Christi I have one body over here I said. We continued on and got to a spot with glass shards on the ground but no signs of Don anywhere. I looked up toward the skylight to see where Don had broken through. There I pointed to the scaffolding above us to Don’s body. Don can you hear me? I shouted. Suddenly we heard a gurgled scream come out. I turned around to have a zombie jump on me. I didn’t have time to get my guns up and fire, but just enough time to grab the zombies jaw before he was able to take a bite out of me. Bryan! Christi yelled. I turned to her as she was getting ready to get a shot off. Behind you I said struggling with the zombie. Christi turned around to have four more zombies rushing toward her. These zombies were different than others we had encountered so far. They weren’t the slow moving ones that were easily stopped and they weren’t the half human super breed we had encountered in Washington D.C. They were definitely more aggressive but seem to lack the willingness to control their actions. Christi raised her gun and surprised me with her marksmanship as she shot the two on the left right in the head with only two shots and then the one coming up the middle with another. The one on the right was close enough and swung to knock the gun from her hand. I grabbed the zombie I was struggling with by the forehead and jaw with one smooth motion snapped his neck and shoved his body off mine. I looked up to see Christi handling herself just fine. She punched the zombie in the face and then connected with a roundhouse kick that put the zombie on a conveyor belt. She grabbed it by the throat and walked a few steps to throw a power switch of sorts. I heard the band saw for the animal carcasses start and Christi ran the zombie skull first through it cutting it in half length ways. She looked over at me and I said I have never been more turned on than right now. Suddenly a gunshot echoed through the warehouse and as we turned around we saw a headless body standing about six feet away before it collapsed to its knees and chest. I looked up to see Don, now awake, looking over the rail with smoke coming from the barrel of his gun. I nodded and he shouted down “if you want to fuck can you at least wait until we get back home?” I flipped him
the bird and told him to get his ass down here and check the freezer. Don climbed the ladder descending from the catwalks flipped me off with a smirk on his face and headed into the freezer. The freezer door got flung open after about five minutes with Don coming out. It’s clear in there and I am pretty sure I have icicles on my balls now Don said. Nice, go get Sam and barricade the front doors entering the warehouse and let’s get to work I said. Christi opened the bay doors to the shipping dock and got the dock plate setup between the dock and the trucks, I got the only forklift we had seen which was in the first section of the warehouse before the lobby, as Don headed back through the warehouse to get Sam. Don got to the front warehouse doors and headed to the lobby to get Sam. When Don opened the doors the front lobby was deserted and Sam was nowhere to be found. Bryan didn’t you leave Sam in the lobby? Don asked over the walkie. Yeah, we barricaded the front door and she was keeping guard. Why what’s going on? I asked. There’s no barricade, the front doors are wide open, and Sam is gone! Don said. I parked the fork truck just outside the main doors and headed to the lobby. Don and I started to investigate the lobby for clues to where Sam was. Well the objects we stacked in front of the door are pushed just far enough for the doors to open. Look here I pointed to the left of the doors. Those look like bullet holes Don said. Shit we have company coming I said as I pulled my desert eagles out. Don looked thru the front doors to see a group of zombies walking toward the front door. Don and I scrambled to get the doors closed and the barricade back in place. Look in the waiting room Don pointed at two large vending machines. We ran over and ripped the cords out of the walls. Pushing the machines in front of the doors just as the group of zombies reached it. We got to move fast we are running out of time it seems like Don said. As we turned around we shocked to see Sam standing behind the receptionist counter, but something was different about her. Sam, are you ok? I asked. Next to her rose a zombie his mouth covered in blood. I looked closer at Sam’s face and could see her eyes were that pale white and she had a blood mark on her neck. No, Sam! I mumbled to myself. Christi came walking through the door just then and raised her gun up and fired a shot that went thru both Sam’s and the other zombies head. The bodies fell back to the floor behind the desk. Christi looked at me and Don and said lets hurry and fill the trucks.

  We reentered the warehouse and I parked the fork truck up against the doors while Don and Christi took apart some empty racking to stack on the hi-lo. We also found some door stoppers to wedge under tires. Alright let’s get to work I said. We laid pallets down at every aisle, than we started stacking boxes of dry and can goods on each pallet. Once we stacked all the non damaged cases we could find we used shrink wrap to wrap the pallets and then manually pull and put them on the trailer. It was quite an exhausting task cause once the pallets were full they were anywhere from 500-1000 pounds and we had twenty pallets from just the boxed section. Next we headed to the produce section. Again we laid down about ten pallets this time and started loading all the fruit and vegetables that were still fresh or could be frozen when we returned to the compound. What’s going to be the best way to transport the meat, we can’t just stack it on pallets like everything else? Christi asked. Well let’s use all the meat hooks and hang anything that has rotted or spoiled yet I said. Christi started cutting down all the rotted meat from the hooks while Don and I lifted the meat onto the free hooks. Man some of these have to weight over 400 pounds each Don said with a disgruntled voice as we lifted the half cow carcass onto the meat hook. We were able to find five cow halves, six whole pigs, two lambs, and fifteen turkeys still intact. We put the hook post for the meat in some wheeled bins so when we could load some frozen items under the meat to keep it fresh until we got back to the compound. After four hours we were finally headed for the freezer section with a whole truck still empty. It took another hour to empty the entire freezer section into our freezer truck. We closed the trailer doors and headed for the truckers entrance next to the docking area. With our guns drawn we slowly opened the door and headed outside. We seem to be in the clear Don said as we approached the trucks. Get in and get them started I told Christi and Don as I continued to keep a look out. Christi got in the freezer truck and Don got in the big semi and fired the engines with no problems. They started to pull the trucks from the docks when I spotted a small group of zombies coming toward us. I jumped into the sliding passenger door of the freezer truck and opened fire dropping two of the five zombies that were heading for us. Don led the way down the driveway and toward the main gate. Don seemed to be speeding up to my surprise since I needed to unlock the front gate. As we approached the front gate Don only seemed to be going faster and as we bore down on the gate Don went smashing through the gate. With a sharp turn we were on the main road headed back for the highway. We spent all day in the warehouse and now we’re going to drive the five hours back across the state to our compound. We arrived back at the compound around 2:45am with Bruce running to the garage as we parked the trucks. Bryan, Don, Christi, please come quick to the command center Bruce said. We arrived in the command center where Abby was holding the CB radio and feeding the baby. I grabbed the radio. Come in this is the Michigan Outpost, Commander Reid speaking. Static came over the air waves for a moment; Ooooo Woooo you bitches Rus shouted. A smile came across my face. Rus where are you? I asked. We just settled in Boulder City, Nevada about an hour outside Las Vegas and we will be headed there at first light Rus said. Glad to hear you old friend, we just returned from a shopping trip that should hold us over until your return or our fight with the FBI I said. Hard to think you have already been gone for five days. Don’t take too long just in case the FBI change their plans and come earlier. Be safe and keep us posted, Outpost out I said. Alright hopefully Rus finds something in Las Vegas, let’s unload the meat and the rest can wait till morning.

  Chapter 24

  The city of Boulder was mostly abandoned, looted, with housed small gangs just surviving each day. Rus and Bev had no issues taking refuge in a two story apartment complex. Finding a room on the first floor, Rus disconnected the side car and trailer once Bev found a room on the first floor. Rus rolled everything into the apartment to avoid any looters throughout the night. Rus and Bev locked up and barricaded the door; the windows didn’t need to be blocked since they were already bar covered. They sat down to dinner which consisted of canned meat and a bottle of whiskey they shared. Let’s get some sleep Bev said as they slumped into a ratty looking fold out sofa bed. Waking up to the sun rising over the horizon and shining through the windows as Rus sat up at the edge of the sofa bed. The smell of whiskey still filled the room as a stray cat tried to lick what was left of the meat out of the can. Rus sat at the small dining room table with a cup of coffee. Rus pulled a small stone out and started sharpening the three small to medium sized knives he strapped to his legs while Bev continued to sleep. Rus sat there over an hour drinking a pot of coffee before he decided he should start waking Bev up. Rus sat next to Bev on the bed and rubbed her back to wake her up. Bev you’re going to have to start waking up so we can get moving Rus said. Bev started to stir as Rus made another pot of coffee and started getting geared up. Bev drank her coffee as she got ready and Rus started reassembling the sidecar and trailer to the motorcycle outside. Everything was loaded as Rus and Bev made their way for the strip in Las Vegas not knowing what they would find.

  I think the fastest route will be this highway we are on Bev said to Rus as they got just outside Boulder City limits. Ok we will see if we need to adjust routes as we approach Vegas Rus answered. There was a small area of desert before Rus and Bev started hitting the housing communities. Rus stopped about a quarter of a mile from the first community and pulled out his binoculars. What do you see? Bev asked. I don’t see any movement at all Rus said. No people, no zombies, no cars, nothing Rus added. Have your gun ready Rus said as he revved the motorcycle back up. Rus and Bev drove through Henderson the first of the two small communities before reaching Las Vegas. A faint whis
tle sound caught Rus’s attention. Do you hear that whistle sound? Rus shouted to Bev while continuing down the highway. Bev started looking around and then suddenly grabbed the handlebars of the motorcycle sending the bike swerving out of control down a side street. Rus gained control of the bike as it skidded across someone’s front yard. When Rus looked back he saw a mortar exploding in the road. Fuck that was close Bev shouted. Rus took off through the front yards of several of the community homes. Don’t look now but we’ve got company Rus said. Bev turned around to see two ATV’s and a pickup truck hot on their tails. Rus continued cutting through the lawns trying to outrun the bullets that starting coming from his chasers. Rus cut thru the backyard of one of the houses with one of the ATV’s chasing after while the other ATV and pickup truck continued on the streets. As Rus cut thru the backyard he drove under a clothes line. He pulled his machete out and cut one of the poles down as he drove under it. The ATV driver didn’t see the dropped down clothes line. He hit the line at thirty miles per hour taking him off his ATV sending it crashing into one of the houses and igniting in a fiery explosion. Getting back on the street on the other side of the house just as the pickup truck and other ATV turned the corner continuing the chase. The pickup truck turned down another street as the ATV followed Rus and Bev continuing to fire submachine guns at them. Rus cut into another backyard being met by both the ATV and pickup which followed closely continuing to fire. Rus busted through a fence in the backyard and found they were now driving thru a golf course. Now in the open it was harder to dodge the gun fire. Bev returned fire striking the front driver side tire of the pickup truck. The driver of the truck lost control and rolled the truck several times down the middle of the fairway and came to rest on the roof in a sand trap. Rus now headed for a small wooded area on the golf course and when he got just out of site of the ATV he cut down one of the golf cart paths. The ATV went flying around the corner and Rus pulled out from the path now in pursuit. Bev opened a full auto attack with two sub-machine guns on the ATV. The driver got struck several times in the back, falling off the ATV and rolling into the brush of the wooded area.