The moat would be six feet wide and at least eight feet deep. Only where the road passed through would an opening remain. Wire stretched around the acres of vegetables on both sides of town. On the southwest side, where the hill ran hard against the homes, they'd constructed a palisade wall of downed trees ten feet tall. Peeled and sunk into the ground, the trees were lashed together at the top. No one felt comfortable about removing the wire fences, though, so where the leaders felt the mound was weak, the crew stretched barbed wire tight between posts.
Danny was about to climb into the trench when a young soldier trotted up on the inside of the wall.
“Captain Death.” The young man saluted. “Your presence is requested at headquarters.”
Danny returned the salute. “What’s going on, Private?”
“Major One Shot called a meeting. Major Jackson is expected in town within a half hour, sir.”
Danny pulled the watch out of his pocket. Four thirty. He'd known Tom was coming to town, but time got away from him. He handed his shovel to the young man as he climbed down from the mound.
“Take over for me, Private.”
The young man saluted and jumped into the trench with the shovel. Danny heard its blade bite into the earth as he walked away. He hoofed the two blocks home. The water should be running now. They finally had a system in place. For two hours a day, generators would fire at the water treatment building. Every house would have water pressure for that time to run laundry or a bath.
He peeled off his clothes as he mounted the front steps. By the time he hit the bathroom, he was undressed. A quick twist of the knob, and he stepped into a hot shower.
“You’re home early, baby,” Pepper remarked as she stuck her head inside the shower curtain. “If you’re here for some afternoon delight, you’ll have to wait. Mikey wants to be fed.”
Danny grinned. It was good to have her home. “No. I’ve been summoned. Kenny called a meeting, so I’m on the run. Jen around? She should go.”
“In the garden. I’ll tell her.”
Danny watched her leave the room, his son on her hip. Moments later, as he rinsed his hair, Jenny stepped into the shower with him.
“You should have called me sooner. We wouldn’t have wasted the water for two showers.”
Danny kissed her lips, wet from the spray. “Didn’t know where you were. We got a meeting with Kenny.”
Ten minutes later, they walked out the door in clean uniforms. Jenny’s long hair, pulled back in a soggy ponytail, swayed with the rhythm of her steps. As they entered Kenny’s office, the other commanders followed. Danny nodded a greeting to his brother. Soon, everyone had gathered. Kenny turned the floor over to Tom.
“Yesterday, at zero six hundred, Marines and Navel personnel left the Great Lakes Training Center," the Major began. "They made it to Northwestern Illinois University at twenty-three thirty last night. It’s chaos up there. They confirm what we've heard from the people in Chicago and what Star has told us of Peoria. The Zeds are more vicious and aggressive since the spring thaw.”
“Doesn’t help that those assholes in Peoria didn’t burn them when they had the chance,” Danny grumbled. “They'd rather kill each other than work together to kill the Zeds."
“Happens a lot in the bigger urban areas, Captain Death. People aren’t used to working together.” Tom paused. “But that isn’t our concern today. Our concern is the last thousand refugees from the Chicago area. The troops will escort them from Northwestern to our depot in Glen Ellyn. We’ll load people and equipment onto the train there and come back to Princeton. We leave tomorrow at zero six thirty. Any questions?”
“The rails are clear between here and there,” Kenny said, “There should be no delays. It’ll be a straight shot there and back. Danny, you’re in charge of our people involved. Pick a squad from each platoon. That’ll give you a heavy crew to assist. Major Jackson has one hundred troops waiting in Princeton to depart in the morning. There will be three hundred Marines and Navy personnel escorting the refugees. They’ll join you when you leave.”
“If we’re loadin’ their equipment on flatcars, are we gonna have time to cover and load?” Danny asked. “If the deaders are as aggressive as you say, it’s going to be hard to shoot and load the train at the same time.”
“That’s why we’re taking as many people as I can spare,” Tom said. “The troops from the Navy base will help out, too. I don’t know how many shooters there are among the civilian population. We’ll have to take that as it comes.”
Grumbling rose among the commanders. It was a risky mission. Still, they needed the people and the research from the CDC. So far, refugees had settled in small towns along the Illinois, Rock, and Mississippi Rivers. The last batch would move into the towns along the railroad tracks. Towns that now sat empty like Princeton, Wyanet, and Sheffield would house small populations trying to rebuild their lives. Snareville would take in the people from the CDC. Remote and protected, it was the best place for them to continue their work.
The meeting broke up. Danny went with Jenny to notify his platoons. First, he would take Jenny, Bill, and Sandy from his house. He’d add Jinks and Hunter from Dog’s old squad. He would also take Catfish’s squad. Two other groups joined the mix, and all the troops began preparations. Guns were cleaned. Magazines were topped off. Extra ammo was tucked into ditty bags. Water and MREs were packed up for the trip. Buckles were taped up. Boot laces were checked. No one knew what contingencies they might face on this rescue trip, and few of them had been into Chicago on trade missions.
“I want to go,” Pepper mumbled against Danny’s shoulder as they lay in bed that night. Moonlight lent the room a low, silver illumination. “I don’t want to stay here. I’ll worry about both of you.”
“You and Heather have to watch the babies,” Danny said, “It’s your turn. You both went out to fight last time.”
“Rachel’s on cereal now, so you should be able to feed her and Mikey, too.” Jenny reached across Danny’s body to take Pepper’s hand in hers.
“What if you guys don’t come back? This mission is nuts.”
“I know, but we need those people. They have too much information to lose. We can’t let the deaders just have the world. We have to save the ones we can. We did that for you.”
“Sure, lay on the guilt.”
Danny chuckled. He laid his hand on top of his wives' linked fingers. “We’ll make it back. Tom says it’s an easy run. Blast into town, pick up some people, blast out. You’re not gonna stop a train with a bunch of rotted corpses. If it were cars or pickups, yeah… then you could worry.”
“I’ll still worry.”
Sleep came soon after that, quickly followed by the battery-powered alarm clock. Five o’clock, and the town buzzed with activity. People dressed for combat. They would take three pickups to haul everyone to Princeton.
Danny swung past a house on the north end of town to pick up his brother. Star sat out on the front porch in one of the town's few wheelchairs. Tom gave her a brief hug and a kiss on the forehead before he dashed out to climb into the cab of Danny’s truck.
Danny dropped the truck into gear and headed for the gate. “I don’t really appreciate you seein’ that… woman, bro.”
“It's been fourteen months since I’ve seen Kathy, Danny. You’ve got two wives, so don’t you give me any shit.”
From there, they drove through the gate and passed between the town walls in silence. The fields to the east and west of the road were fenced in as well. Garden vegetables grew strong in the morning sun as people bent over the rows to pull weeds. Sentries walked the north borders of the fields. They lifted their arms in salute as the short convoy drove past.
Princeton lay silent but for the birds singing in the trees. Over the winter, the dead cars that clogged Main Street last year had been moved. The vehicles now acted as a blockade north of town to keep out any people driving Interstate 80.
Jenny radioed the sergeant of the squad that guarde
d the warehouse Danny used to work in. All was well there. Next, she checked in with the group watching over Wal-Mart. Again, everything seemed quiet.
Danny swung into the parking lot of the train station. No other vehicles in sight. The convoy backed into the slots, facing south. Tremors reached them through the ground as the big engines idled a few yards away. There were two puller engines, two pusher engines, and twenty-five cars between them. Fifteen passenger cars and ten flatbeds made up the train. Gun platforms had been built onto the lead and rear engine, with two more mounted between—twin fifties on the first engine, alternated with mini guns. Some troops rode the center of the flatbeds, and some rode in the passenger cars.
Danny slung his rifle and followed his brother aboard a car in the middle of the train. He scattered his platoon across the cars and the flatbeds. As Tom took reports from his troop leaders, the whistle of the train blew twice. The whole mess jerked to life as the engineer pushed open the throttle. Danny bit off a thumbnail and spat it on the floor. From there, he started on an index finger. He jumped when Jenny laid her hand on his shoulder.
“What’s the matter, Baby?” she asked.
“Jen, we’re on a mission here. Don’t call me 'baby' in front of the troops.”
She grinned as she flipped him a salute. “Okay, sir, I’ll ask again. What’s the matter?”
Danny managed a return smile. “Okay. I’m fine. Just nervous. We might be ridin’ into a shit storm. Chicago was barely under control last time. I doubt it’s gotten any better.”
“I know,” Jenny said. “But we can pull it off. We’re on a train. What’s going to stop it?”
Danny shrugged. Together, the two walked the length of the car. They stopped at the observation area and sat, looking out the windows. Empty farmland rolled away from them to the horizon. Occasionally, the blackened skeleton of a house and outbuildings rotted in the sun.
“Will it ever be the same?” Jenny murmured.
“No,” Tom said from behind them. “Never. But hopefully, by the time your kids grow up, it’ll be better.”
“Hopefully,” Danny echoed with a sour nod. “Be nice to have Mom and Dad around. Couple of old hippies. They’d appreciate rebuilding everything from the ground up.”
“Wish I could've met them,” Jenny said quietly. “They raised a couple of pretty good sons. We’ll have to make sure their grandkids realize that.”
“Yeah,” Tom muttered. He cleared his throat. “When we get there, we’re going to need both covering fire from the troops and help loading the people and equipment. I want two of your squads as fire teams—one in the front, one in the rear. The other two, yourselves included, will help to load the people from the CDC onto the cars.”
Danny nodded. “Understood.”
They neared the city. Occasional Zeds were spotted in small groups along the tracks. At first, the gunners blasted them as the train rolled by. Tom quickly put an end to that with a barked order to conserve ammunition. They’d have plenty of targets when they got to their destination.
Small towns became larger cities. Then the cities lost their individuality and blurred into one. Some areas were charred and cold. Some places still crackled with flames. Smoke rose along the horizon in countless locations.
“Ten minutes!” Tom shouted. “It’s going to be hot when we get there, people. Get ready.”
He walked the aisle, passed by, and entered the next car. Danny stood. He buckled his harness and checked his pistols. Both were in place. His rifle was loaded and ready. Each person underwent a double-check by a partner. On his hip, Danny wore a short, double-bit axe liberated from the warehouse he once worked in. His whole platoon carried these additions for this mission.
As the train rolled into the station, Danny pulled the bandana up over his mouth and nose. Shatterproof goggles covered his eyes before he dropped the shield on his helmet. He flipped his comm switch on and called all his troops to the ready.
Jenny stood beside him, ponytail tucked under her K-pot. As the train slowed, he passed the orders to his troops. The closer they got to the depot, the more devastation they passed. Orange flame shot into the sky from surrounding buildings. Dismembered Zed corpses lay along the tracks and in the streets. Danny called his squad and Catfish’s to meet him in the observation car as the first explosion rocked the train. He heard the guns open up as they rolled to a stop.
Tom was right: there were plenty of targets.
A three-block cordon of Marines held more deaders at bay than could be counted. For now, their guns kept the wall of rotted flesh back, but their stand wouldn’t last much longer.
Danny heard Tom’s troops open up as they disembarked. He ordered his Raiders into position as the brakes on the train locked into place, then piled out of the car, Jenny at his heels. Civilians surged forward, tattered and thin, clutching plastic bags of belongings to their chests.
Organized chaos reigned for several long seconds. Tom took a report from the Marine commander as troops dropped mortar rounds into the swarm of Zeds. High explosives interchanged with white phosphorus. A Bradley Fighting Vehicle mounted up with a forty-millimeter grenade launcher blew holes in buildings and zombies alike.
As civilians loaded onto the train, Navy personnel loaded heavy equipment onto the flatcars. Some tanks, some Humvees, some boxes as large as semi trailers. The train shook as it took on its load. People shouted and prayed. The noise became a solid wall of sound. Tom walked over to Danny.
“We got a problem, Captain,” he said. “Our CDC people are cut off and holed up in a store.”
“What? Where?”
Tom turned and pointed. “Past the perimeter, one block up and half a block left. Major Jeffers sent ten Marines to retrieve them, but they got stuck. They can’t shoot their way out. Too many Zeds. We can’t spare a lot of bodies here. Take your platoon and retrieve those people.”
“Not much firepower," Danny said, frowning. "Pretty long odds.”
“We’ll provide covering fire up the length of the block. All ten Marines are alive. That’ll give you thirty-five guns coming out.”
“Okay. That’ll help. How many people are we going after?”
“Thirty civilians, including Doctor O’Shea.”
“Great. Give me five to get people in.”
“You have three.”
Danny made the call over his command net. His troops fell in to get the assignment. Two squads quickly stacked rifles in the headquarters car; they wouldn’t very effective in a swarm. Pistols and axes only for them. Jinks and Tony kept the M-203s with bandoliers of grenades. Danny put the two SAW gunners with them. Everyone checked their pistols.
“What’s the call signals?” Danny asked Tom.
“Thunder countersign flash. I’ll have Jeffers tell his people you’re coming.”
“Thanks.” Danny held out his hand. “See you in a few. Hold the train for me, huh?”
“You got fifteen minutes, little bro. In twenty-five, this town is toast.”
“Give us cover.”
Danny ran to the line with is platoon. Guns opened up over their head. Mini guns painted the air red with tracers. The Ma Duce on the first engine chopped the morning air with half-pound bullets. Grenades from the Bradley lifted pavement from the street. For more than a block, Zeds liquefied under the onslaught.
As the firestorm lifted, Danny dashed through with his people. Guns held at half port, they eased down either side of the street. He heard a shot as one of his troops popped a Zed with half its body missing.
“If they’re not mobile, don’t waste a round on them!” Danny shouted.
They held up short of the intersection. To the north, a few deaders stumbled their way. Those with rifles quickly dumped the bastards. Danny gathered grenades. One of the squad leaders on the opposite side of the street did the same. Three count, pull the pin, and toss them around the corner. Two grenades exploded in each direction. Troops rounded the corners. SAW and M-203 faced east and north. Two rifle squads
supported. Danny turned west with his two squads armed with pistols and axes.
They shot their way through the few Zeds left standing and made it to the door as the others kept the deaders at bay. Danny stood flat against the storefront of a coffee shop barricaded with tables and sheets of plywood.
“Thunder!” he shouted at the door.
“Flash!” came the reply.
“Coming in!” Danny shouldered his way through the door with one squad. He left Jenny outside with the other to keep the passage open.
“Boy, are you a sight for sore eyes, sir!” the young Marine exclaimed, holding out his hand. Danny shook it as he glanced around at the troops. “You’re not regular Army, are you?”
“Raiders," Danny said. "Where’re the rest?”
“I’ve heard of you. They’re looking for another way out. We haven’t found anything yet.”
Outside, the guns kept up a steady pace. The medical staff gathered around.
“We have to get back to the trucks, Danny.” Doctor O’Shea stepped forward. “We have the vaccine, but the pouch with two of the flash drives got left behind.”
“Where is it?”
“A block west,” the Marine said.
“No way, Doc. We don’t have time to fight our way over there. Even with my guns, we don’t have enough fire power, and this whole place is on a timer.”
“That data is important. We need it. We've got a lot of research on those flash drives.”
“I understand that, Doctor. Now you have to understand me. This place is set to be vaporized in—” Danny checked his watch. “—fifteen minutes. We've got just enough time to get back to the train and pull out. Let’s go. Lance Corporal, you and your Marines cover the doctor and his people. We’ll punch a hole.”
Snareville Page 15
