Eastern Front: Zombie Crusade IV

by J. W. Vohs

  “How hard are we going to look for Lori and Blake on our way to the Green?”

  “If I was them I’d be hidin’ if I heard a big boat comin’ upstream. I mean, we’ll have a general idea where they are when we come to the first wrecked bridge, but I don’t think we have the time to go back lookin’ for ‘em.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” David relunctanly agreed, “and Jack probably wants them blowing bridges till they reach Vicksburg anyway.”

  Carter frowned, “Seems a shame, don’t it?”

  “Not as shameful as letting Barnes cross either river with that army of his.”

  “Yeah, I guess yer right about that. Hey, I got an idea,--how ‘bout we talk our current pilot into takin’ us right on into the Ohio?”

  “Sounds good to me; what you plan on offering in exchange?”

  “Follow me and find out.”

  Carter marched up to the pilot with David in tow. He wasted no time making a proposal to the pilot, offering an AR-15 with two thirty-round magazines and five hundred rounds to load them with. The pilot must have been a poker player, recognizing opportunity when it came his way. He let out a barking laugh, “I wouldn’t do it for five M-16s and a thousand rounds for each of ‘em.”

  David immediately decided that the impromptu negotiations required a lawyer’s skill. “I would have bet that you’d do it for less than that, but no matter. My friend here’s got a generous spirit; plus he doesn’t realize what we could really get for that AR package.”

  The pilot realized that he wasn’t going to be able to rip off the skinny guy with a Kentucky accent, and with a sour expression he tried to salvage something from the deal on the table. “I owed the mayor a favor, plus he threw in a hundred gallons of gas; that’s the only reason I took y’all down to Vicksburg. I mighta missed some lucrative opportunities in the time it took to get ya’ll there and back.”

  “You mean in addition to the five thousand rounds of ammo and four cases of moonshine that accompanied us to Vicksburg but aren’t down in the hold now?” David pointedly inquired.

  The pilot’s shoulders sagged visibly. “If we find your friend on the Green, I get Carter’s original offer. If we have to backtrack and head down the Tennessee ya’ll will have to double it.”

  David nodded, “Sounds fair enough, but there’s more to it.”

  “What now?”

  “Wherever we find Jack,” David explained, “you’ll take all of us back to Cairo when we’re finished.”

  “Yeah, yeah, of course. Whatcha think I’d do, leave y’all sittin’ out there on the river in hostile territory?”

  David smiled as he held out his hand, “Just making sure I understood the deal.”

  The surly pilot shook David’s hand, “And don’t forget we need to stop in Cairo and refuel before we head up the Ohio.”

  “A half-hour stop sound fair enough?” David asked, remembering that they needed to check in with the mayor and try to get an update from Fort Wayne.

  “Fine,” the pilot agreed as he turned back to guiding the boat.

  Carter whispered in David’s ear as they walked back through the cabin, “Remind me to never buy nothin’ from a lawyer.”

  David smiled as he whispered back, “I’ll also remind you to avoid double negatives or a manipulative attorney might try to take advantage of you.” Carter scowled at David, who laughed, “Fine, never buy anything from a lawyer.”

  Vickie’s jaw dropped at the audacity of Doc Redder’s claim. “Do you know how crazy you sound? There’s no way that Jack Smith has any genetic link to the infected.”

  Redders’ eyes grew wide, “Sample A is Jack? Are you serious?”

  “I have no idea what you think you’ve found, but you must have contaminated your samples from the creatures somehow.”

  “All of them? I don’t think so, and contamination wouldn’t account for my findings. I didn’t want to give you too much information up front, but I guess the cat’s half way out of the bag now. I’ll tell you everything I’ve got, then you try to find where I might have gone wrong.”

  “Fine, you can start by explaining why on earth you think that Jack ‘Sample A’ Smith has any connection to the infected.”

  Redders looked relieved. “Look, you’re right about this not making any sense. I can’t explain how this all came to be, but I can tell you that the end result of some incomprehensible genetic engineering is this not- too-far from human species we now call the infected. That’s apt, because they are infected, but not just with some mutated rabies virus. The altered rabies virus is foundational, and it starts the process, but it’s much more complicated than that.”

  Vickie tried to will away the headache that was creeping into her temples. “I don’t doubt anything you just said, but you still have not explained what Jack has to do with any of this.”

  “I was running random scans, comparing my samples of the infected against one another, trying to find the commonalities, hoping I could isolate what sort of infection we were dealing with. I found a few unexpected things—chryptochrome-2 for one. It’s a magnosensitive protein. But the weirdest thing was the hit from a stored human sample in the database—“

  Vickie interrupted, “I did store Jack’s sample. I was briefly interrupted when I was about to check it for something—something personal that requires doctor/patient confidentiality—and I uploaded the sample with every intention of deleting it once I got my results.”

  “What was Jack worried about?”

  “I can’t talk about that right now. Believe me, it has nothing to do with the infected.” Vickie located an aspirin bottle and swallowed three pills. “Just keep going with your story,” she instructed. “Believe me, you have my full attention.”

  “Well, this is where it gets crazy. The best way I can describe it is inexact, but gets the main point across. It’s like pre-selected bits from Sample A combine with aspects of the human part of the host to create the para-human part of the new life form. Like gametes, but Sample A contributes a few extra chromosomes, and there are some decidedly non-human elements in the creature’s DNA.”

  Vickie held up her hand. “Slow down a minute. It sounds like you’re saying that Jack and whoever an infected was before the transformation are like the parents of some mutated offspring?”

  Redders nodded. “Pretty much, especially if by mutated you’re including deliberately inserted non-human genes and the viral replication delivery system.”

  “You know this is insane. You’re saying that Jack is like the genetic father of all the infected. That just can’t be possible.”

  “And would you have said that a zombie apocalypse was possible a few months ago? I know, the terminology needs to evolve, but I’m telling you that we need to throw out any preconceived ideas about what is and isn’t possible.”

  Vickie was about to object when she thought of General Barnes. She only knew the man by reputation, but that was enough to inform her that he was an insane genius, someone capable of deliberately trying to destroy mankind. He also had a bizarre fascination with Jack, allegedly stemming from the time they had served together in Afghanistan. She remembered that Jack had been his driver when there was an outbreak of the infection in a small village there, and that both Jack and Carter considered that episode to have been a test run for Barnes. If the crazy general had been experimenting with his virus, or whatever else it was, Jack had been right there in the middle of it. “Oh Jesus,” she exclaimed, looking over at Redders. “You may not be so crazy after all.”

  The stop in Cairo was fast and uneventful; Fort Wayne had yet to hear from Jack, and the river pilot was able to quickly fill his gas tank and get back out on the water with nobody even knowing he was in the area. Smugglers, it seemed, always had to be careful about who might see them, and where. David had paid a perfunctory visit to the mayor while they were in town to let him know about the deal they had reached with the boat-owner, and he also promised that they wouldn’t put the craft or pilot in dan
ger. Of course they both knew he’d lied about that, but the mayor trusted that David and Carter would do everything they could to avoid trouble.

  After briefing Deb and Hiram about Cairo and making a few perfunctory introductions, Carter was anxious to hear about what was happening back in Fort Wayne. The most interesting new developments were occurring on Lake Erie, with Father O’Brien scouting potential hideout locations and making a connection with some Canadians who could prove to be valuable allies. Deb was fine, and Christy was still pregnant. She’d gone to visit her mother on the ranch out in Noble County, but left a message for Deb to relay to David. “Write this down if you have to, Carter,” his wife entreated, “there’ll be hell to pay if you screw this up.”

  Carter laughed, “Now, Deb, if ya can handle bein’ married to me all these years, ya should be able to keep Christy in line fer a few weeks.”

  “I guess my feminine wiles just don’t have the same effect on her,” Deb retorted. “Just get the message straight.”

  “Okay, shoot—I got me a notepad in case it gets complicated.”

  “She says, ‘J. Hope is fine, I know who passed the test, and I’m sure you’ll do the right thing. No more secrets, but I’m keeping yours—I miss you like crazy, keep your head down.’ That’s it. Did you get it all?”

  Carter scratched his neck, “I think so, but can’t she talk like a normal person?”

  “People say the same thing about you,” Deb giggled. “Now you better read it back to me, just to be safe.”

  Carter was about to repeat Christy’s message when his sister’s face flashed through his mind. Carter changed course, “I’ll get to that in a minute, baby—is Momma there by chance?” He knew very well that she was since she made it a point to show up for her son’s radio reports, mainly just to hear his voice.

  “She’s right here.” Deb handed the microphone to Carter’s mom. “Why don’t you share some words of wisdom with your son?”

  Carter’s voice cracked with emotion when he said, “I met somebody in Vicksburg ya might want to contact. I’m sure Deb can get it all figured out, radio-wise.” He paused for a second, not sure exactly what to say. “It’s Charlotte and the kids, they’re holed up in Vicksburg. Curtis didn’t make it, but the folks there all say he’s a hero. Say he saved a bunch of ‘em on the way outta Tennessee.”

  For a minute there was no response, and Carter thought that maybe they’d lost the connection. Finally, Deb spoke up, “Are you sure, Carter? Are you sure it’s them?”

  “Course I’m sure. We’ve had some conversations. They look good, fer the circumstances.” His mother started to breathe again, and Carter heard her choking sobs. “Momma, I’ll bring ‘em to ya as soon as I can. Maybe I shouldn’ta said nothin’—“

  “No, Carter, you did the right thing,” Deb cut in. “She’s just overwhelmed—she’s crying for joy, you lunkhead.”

  “Can ya get her in contact with Charlotte fer me? Ya know I’m no good at this touchy-feely stuff.” He was glad that Deb couldn’t see the tears welling up in his eyes. “Gabe and Bobby are there; they should be able to help ya out.”

  “I’ll take care of it, baby. Now dry your eyes and go save our butts.”

  Carter smiled, thinking that Deb probably knew him better than he knew himself. “Aye, aye, hot stuff. I’m on my way.”

  By the time the three men were motoring up the Ohio, they were all thankful that the stop was behind them. The pilot owed people money, David owed his wife a call after her mostly incomprehensible message about hoping to pass some test, and Carter greatly appreciated the simplicity of the need for absolute focus on the mission at hand after the emotional family episode over the radio.

  The biggest decision they had to make concerned the first river to search. If they chose the Tennessee and Jack wasn’t there, they would risk missing him on the Green. But if they went to the Green River first and found the bridges blown, they would have to backtrack over a hundred miles to the Tennessee. David tried to do the math, working on a formula that involved the time of the assumed defeat at Brandenburg, travel to Cloverport, outcome of the Clover Creek plan, wiring of the Green River bridges . . . at that point he just gave up. There were simply too many variables concerning Jack’s whereabouts to make a legitimate attempt to scientifically try figuring out where he was. He might not have even survived the fall of the bridge. In the end, Carter’s gut feeling was that Jack’s forces held out for a while at Brandenburg, delayed Barnes’ march at Clover Creek, and he now was doing everything possible to prevent a crossing of the Green River anywhere north of Bowling Green. If he managed to do that, Barnes would be forced to backtrack scores of miles, buying almost a week for the Vicksburg defenses to be improved. With little more than Carter’s educated guess to go on, they chose to search the Green River first.

  Kentucky had spent a great deal of time and money working to turn the Green River into a navigable waterway far beyond what Mother Nature had initially intended. Not especially wide nor exceedingly deep, the river could still accommodate barge traffic destined for the Ohio, so it was more than enough water to stop hunters in their tracks. The first major bridge the pilot guided the boat to was the one built for Highway 60 to cross, and the span stood strong and empty in cold autumn air as the crew floated beneath. Carter and David were a bit disappointed at the discovery, but the map of northern Kentucky revealed the shortest route from Owensboro to the Green River was a four lane highway simply titled 9005. They ordered the pilot to head upstream toward that crossing as quickly as possible, and when the bridge came into viewing range of binoculars Carter found a soldier on the span staring back at him and the boat.

  A few minutes later there were at least a dozen men gathered on the bridge to get a look at the boat. Carter smiled from ear to ear and waved when he saw that one of the observers was Chad Greenburg. Seconds later, Carter’s former platoon sergeant was joined by Zach, Maddy, Luke, and finally, Jack himself.

  CHAPTER 17

  “Looks like my big brother managed to live through another battle,” David muttered as he gazed through his field glasses. “And he kept Luke alive too.”

  “Ya sure it weren’t the other way ‘round?” Carter mumbled.

  As the boat pulled close to the bank, David and Carter hopped ashore. The pilot was content to pull out into the channel and anchor away from any infected roaming the area. Luke was the first to reach the two men, grabbing David in a strong bear-hug and gushing, “Glad you guys are okay.”

  David pulled back and looked over his young charge, “Well, apparently you haven’t been bitten since I left you.”

  “No,” Luke grinned, “but not for lack of trying, I can promise you that.”

  Jack came striding up, “Okay, enough of the man-love already. Took you two long enough to get back.”

  “Yeah,” Carter retorted, “ya’ll have to forgive us for believin’ ya could hold onto that bridge for more’n a few minutes. I mean, I expected ya to retreat as soon as Barnes’ monsters came into view, but I thought Chad’s bein’ here might give ya some backbone.”

  “Good to see you too, buddy,” Jack quipped. “Hope your float down two of the nation’s most historic, beautiful rivers hasn’t left you too tired to help us lousy soldiers do a better job in our next fight.”

  After trying, mostly without success, to keep the cold winds from blowing through his clothing for most of a week, Carter quickly reverted to old-fashioned name-calling. “Listen here you rear-echelon mother—”

  “Hey!” Maddy loudly interjected, “since Deb and Andi are back in Fort Wayne, I’ll take charge of keeping you two children separated. Now, I believe we have a bridge to blow.”

  Sure enough, most of Chad’s men were scrambling beneath the dual spans with wires and explosives, working quickly to prepare the structure for demolition. For the first time, David noticed the number of missing faces and the seriousness with which the experienced soldiers were conducting their task. He looked over at his brother, �
�Tough fight at the bridge?”

  Jack nodded. “We have a lot to talk about.”

  “How close is Barnes?”

  Jack shrugged before giving his head a slight shake. “Close enough to keep us hopping. He can make forty miles a day with that army of his, at least in the short term. They closed on Owensboro faster than we expected; they’re probably in the eastern neighborhoods right now. We think they’ve outrun their food supply, thanks in part to a little strategic stampede, and Barnes is maybe reconsidering just where in the hell he’s going.”

  “Ain’t he still after ya?” Carter asked with concern.

  Again Jack shrugged, “I think maybe after the debacle back in Brandenburg he just sent his hunters west as fast as they could go, hoping they might trap us. Now he’s probably realizing that he should look over the map before deciding which way to go next.”

  “I was wonderin’ ‘bout that,” Carter said. “If I was him I’d be headin’ to the Tennessee and Cumberland fast I as I could, maybe cut yer guys off instead of the other way ‘round.”

  Jack smiled slightly, “He might have been able to pull it off too, if he could have gotten over this river. As it is now, we’re gonna wreck every bridge between here and Bowling Green.”

  Chad jumped in, “By the time we’re finished with the bastard, he’s gonna wish he’d headed straight back to Nashville and turned west from there; we’re gonna use these rivers to move him all the way back there anyway.”

  One of Chad’s soldiers shouted down that the bridge was ready to blow and everyone needed to clear out. Jack led Carter and David back to the impromptu laager the soldiers had formed with their vehicles the night before. The young cowboy, Jared, had a delicious stew bubbling in a massive pot as well as a score of large steaks sizzling over an open fire.

  “We found a stray cow this morning,” Jack explained. “I know you two have probably been eating well on the river, but we’ve been on MREs for a few days.”