The Zombie Solution

by Vic Sandel

  Ten minutes later, the three vehicles were alongside of the C-113 and being loaded.

  Seeing that all was still clear around the plane, Jessie, Ron, and the group that would be heading for the plant, pulled out and began the twenty-minute drive that hopefully would take them to the sonic weapons.

  Arriving at the plant, they made a significant and strange discovery. The company was surrounded by a fifteen-foot anchor fence. They would have crashed right through it if it hadn't been for the fifty or so bodies scattered around.

  They decided to check them out before just forcing their way through the gates. While they were clearly zombies, they were completely inactive. There was no evidence of trauma to the heads of any of them. They should have still been mobile. The only thing unusual about them was the fact that all of them showed a trickle of blood, now dried, had come from their eyes, noses, and ears.

  Not wanting to waste time, they decided to put the dozer through the gates. As the big earthmover began to push on the gate the air was pierced by a sharp, screaming and unbearable sound.

  Nobody ever gave a thought to the idea that when the owners left, they might have made their sound deterrent, the key element in their burglary prevention system.

  Consequently, with their super hearing, the vampires were in worse shape than the humans. There was nothing to do for the moment excrept run. They had to get themselves out of the effective range of the weapon. They were almost eight hundred yards away before they began to find comfort. It was also obvious, what had terminated the zombies. These things wouldn't just crack ice, they could also kill.

  Any electricity coming into the facility was long dead. The power had to be coming from an internal generator.

  With no one left within the established proximity of the fence, the sound soon ceased. The team members were left dazed with ringing in their ears and burning sensations in their facial areas.

  “So, Jessie said, how the hell do we get in?”

  A short walk around the perimeter of the facility with a couple of pair of binoculars revealed that there were four large sound blaster units mounted upon the roof of the building. As zombies don't have weapons, no thought had been given to protecting the giant projectors from attack.

  Ron came out of his truck with a launcher and four Stinger missiles. He stood up on the flat bed, braced himself and with four shots, took out the devices.

  Opening the gate proved no problem, but as they approached the building, it seemed reasonable to assume the facility was also protected. Two team members, wearing reinforced shooter's ear protectors, pried open the main door to a building that looked most like a warehouse. Sure enough, the piercing screech began again. As these units were much smaller, they were able to enter the facility

  and cut the power, leading to the blasters. The rest of the crew entered and were treated to a sight that was beyond their wildest hopes.

  Standing like soldiers, and ready to be boxed, were rows and rows of sound emitting devices. From the small, hailing devices, to the largest deterrents like what had been on the roof numerous units stood waiting. At the far end of the building sat six Humvees with the largest emitters mounted and ready.

  This was too good and almost too easy, Jessie thought. He turned the key and listened to the first vehicle start right up. In fact, all six came to life without hesitation.

  As the bulldozer had already been offloaded, they drove the first four Humvees right on to the flatbed and two men began the drive back to the plane to load them.

  The first box truck pulled up and they began to load the largest emitter units aboard, followed by the next size down.

  Once they finished, they decided to explore the other buildings. The first they entered was clearly the corporate office. The one thing of value found there was a stack of boxes containing instruction manuals on the units.

  A long hallway connected the offices to a huge hangar-like building where they made another amazing discovery. It was obviously the mechanic's shop, where emitters were being installed in law enforcement vehicles. Several police cars from different cities were either fitted, or had been in the process of being worked on. A small, bubble-nosed helicopter was there too. Perhaps the most amazing thing was a small armored vehicle with a police insignia, sporting a full-sized sound unit. This was immediately driven outside to join the remaining two Humvees on the returning flatbed. One last Item that blew Jessie away was a twin engine Skycraft Air Monarch with sound arrays mounted on it's underside.

  Opening the giant doors, they pulled the plane out of the hangar with several heavy ropes, and using the “mini tank” that they had driven back inside for the task.

  Jessie entered the aircraft and began to perform a check of its systems. The first thing he noticed was that the batteries were badly in need of a charge. He immediately sent someone for either a generator or one of the Humvees, and a couple sets of cables. If need be, the engines could be started manually, but that was not the preferred method if he intended to take the airplane home.

  While the batteries were charging, Jessie began an exterior check of the tires, control surfaces, stabilizers and other exterior components. The slightly low air pressure in the tires was quickly corrected.

  With everything taking a charge, he next began to check out the gauges and controls. All looked good but he was too light on fuel to make the trip back to Wright Patterson, if by chance the engines started at all.

  Once the gauges read a full charge, Jessie turned the power on to the port engine and gave the fuel pump a moment to prime the engine. He adjusted the prop and hit the starter. The propeller turned once, twice slowly, then three times and with a puff of smoke the engine caught. It was a little rough at first, but within a few seconds h smoothed out to a steady, powerful, hum. He repeated the procedure on the starboard side with the same effect. The charging wires were pulled and access boxed locked, as Jessie set the brakes to allow both engines to idle while he checked the pressure gauges.

  Everything else had been loaded and the team was ready to pull out with all the loot and head for the C-113.

  Ronnie Macklin appeared and called Jessie. “Hey Jess, we're ready to leave. We have everything we came for.”

  Jessie went to the open door. “Not quite everything, I want this. It's already set up to blast sound from above. I just need some fuel and a co-pilot wouldn't hurt.”

  “I don't know much about planes but I'll go for a ride with you. Where are you going to get fuel?”

  “Knowing Pete Marcus, he flew out overloaded. I'm sure he can spare a gallon or two. With all the extra weight he's gonna have aboard, he might even be glad to get rid of some.”

  Ron climbed aboard and Jessie began the long taxi along with the convoy of trucks to the waiting C-113.

  Pete Marcus was more than surprised when the trucks arrived. He had already put the first four Humvees aboard and locked them down. He was expecting the other two and even the box of free standing machines, but a tank went well beyond his expectations. Then, when he thought he had seen it all he hears aircraft engines and sees the Skycraft scooting down the road.

  While he was not thrilled about giving up any of his aviation fuel, he did have a great deal more than he needed. Despite some huffing and puffing, he topped off Jessie's Air Monarch for the trip home.

  When all was loaded, and the team had made sure the road was free of debris, Jessie and Ron taxied on to the highway, and took off for Ohio.

  A few minutes later the C-113 went wheels up.

  Chapter 40

  Safety First

  The three Coast Guard helicopters led by Brian Sanders, touched down at Wright Patterson and offloaded their nineteen passengers. Waiting for them, were a couple of supervisors from the childcare area, where children currently on the base were housed and educated. They were there to help situate these new arrivals and made to feel as comfortable as possible.

  On the flight back, Leslie provided a vivid description of the events that led t
o their being encamped in the school and the abject cowardice behind their disgust with the one male survivor in the group.

  “We had a nice little town, you know, a quiet little place where everyone knew each other. We had been aware for about a week that a bunch of those creepers were heading our way. Up until then, we only had suffered a couple of attacks from tiny groups of two or three. The men in town were able to handle them pretty easily but we were in no way equipped to handle a large cluster. Knowing that, we decided to take our sturdiest building, the school, and fortify it. To leave made no sense, as we had no idea of where we might go to be safe. As we have always been a forestry and logging based economy, it seemed natural and easy to erect a tall stockade around the school grounds. No matter what happened to us, saving the children became our top priority.”

  She pauses for a few seconds. “They arrived days sooner than we expected. First, small groups, followed by hundreds and even thousands suddenly surrounding us. A good number of our men were tough lumberjacks and could swing axes tirelessly, but no matter how many they put down, there were always more. Ever go to a nice beach with soft, dry, powdery sand and try to dig a hole? Everything you shovel out is immediately replaced by other falling grains and the hole fills back up.That's how it was.”

  Brian just let her go on and continue telling the story.

  “Anyway, a couple of the men cleared a path ahead of us to the school. Edgar Ireland, our Vice Principal, and the guy in the other helicopter came along. He was needed to open the school. He had the keys, you know. As it was, the door was unlocked and he ran inside claiming he needed something from his office. He left the fourteen children and four teachers to fend for themselves. We went in, secured the doors, and searched for what we thought would be the safest place to hide out. Meanwhile, the men outside fought off the zombies as long as they could, to buy us the time we needed. Unfortunately, one-by-one they fell. One of them was my husband.”

  Leslie was fighting off the tears as she finished her story.

  “A couple of hours later, that bastard, Ireland, shows up munching on something he found in the kitchen. He had nothing for the children, but he was safe and content. You know that banner we brought outside for you to see? We made it days ago, just in case. Ireland was supposed to go out with one of the women, we drew straws. When the time came, he ran to another classroom and hid. He did have a gun and fired a few shots from the upstairs window, brave man.”

  Brian finally commented. “We never know how we'll act in an emergency, untill it happens. I am so sorry about your husband. Did you ever see him again?”

  “Actually, yes! He was one of the two zombies about to attack us when we were holding the banner. Your brother shot him in the head.”

  “Again, I'm so sorry.”

  “Don't be. Under the circumstances, you guys did us a favor. He would have wanted it that way.”

  The arrival of another nineteen people had caused a bit of anxiety on the base. Many worried that if an attack on the base could not be avoided or fought successfully, they were just leading “more lambs to the slaughter”.

  Colonel Dickerson called a meeting for all team leaders and senior staff at 17:00. By then, he fully expected Major Marcus, Major Abbington, Bob Eller, and Jessie Porter to be back on the base, among the others presently there. He also would invite all the Coast Guard officers.

  Robyn was really worried. She stood out on the tarmac looking up into the sky over the runways. Major Marcus and the team aboard the C-113 had returned over an hour ago. From what they told her, Jessie was a bit ahead of them when he told the Major that he wanted to try something. He peeled off to the south and that was the last they heard from him.

  Oh Jessie, she thought to herself, why do you always need to be the hero?

  At that exact moment, Jessie and Ron were about ten miles out and on course for home. They had found a control panel in the cockpit that allowed them to control of the sound array, and decided to try it over an area where they knew they would find a high concentration of zombies. As the craft was equipped with the largest units, it was an excellent opportunity to see just how effective they could be. Marco and Baldwin would be thrilled to hear what they had discovered.

  Robyn turned to enter the tunnels and the 17:00 meeting, she was already a tad late for, when she heard the sound of an approaching aircraft. While she did not recognize the plane, her heart skipped as she just knew Jessie was at the controls. She was here worrying while he played with a new toy!

  After a brief embrace, she pulled Jess and Ron down into the tunnel to the meeting that had already begun.

  As they entered the room, Colonel Dickerson stopped talking. You might have expected him to be angered by the sudden intrusion, but he just smiled as he welcomed them. “Mr. Porter, Mr. Macklin, and Ms. Winters, so nice that you took the time to join us.”

  “Good to be here, sir. Especially with the tidings we bring.”

  “If you don't mind we'll get to that in a bit. There are things that must be covered first.”

  He continued after a short pause. “With the group that our Coastie friends have brought in today, as well as the children of our current cadre, we now have thirty-seven kids on the base. We also have many non-combatant, non science personnel. While many are extremely helpful, he nodded at Mr. Banks and his family, other's talents would be best utilized taking care of the kids.”

  “Now that we have sent several sorties into the surrounding areas, we must face the fact that there are more than a few of the “undead”, headed this way. Major Marcus and the CAG-23 team have just brought us new and encouraging hope. While Doctors Marco and Doctor Baldwin have been working hard at refining their freezing methods and Ms. Winters continues to strengthen and improve her vaccine, we must also recognize the possibility that Wright Patterson could fall!”

  He pauses for several seconds. “So, that brings us to the main reason for this meeting. We need to evacuate the children, teachers, and care staff to a safe location. I open the floor to any ideas.”

  Seconds later, Lou Harris and Brian Sanders spoke out. “Sir, we know just the place. When we volunteered to join you, we were asked where our families were. How could we join you unless we knew our loved ones were safe? The answer was simple we couldn't have!”

  Brian took over. “When I was originally asked the question by Mr. Porter, I told him that we appropriated a large oceangoing yacht from a former millionaire, now deceased. Our families are safely anchored over deep waters in one of the Great Lakes. They have fresh water, plenty of food, weapons and a couple of very mechanical people who can do whatever might be necessary to preserve the safety they enjoy. A rogue group did the same with a stolen Coast Guard cutter. There are many other available yachts as well as a cruise ship or two, anchored off several coastal towns and absolutely abandoned. Any of these can be sailed into areas of deep underwater trenches and be a good place to secure the kids.”

  A round of applause went up from those listening.

  “Mr. Sanders, I'd appreciate it if you and Captain Harris could pick us out a winner. Take some members of the CAG group with you to make sure all is clear and stays that way. We'll load all the evacuees on the Chinook with supplies and get them there safely. Also, let's find some experienced marine personnel to run whatever boat we choose.”

  “Yes sir. First thing tomorrow morning.”

  “Dr. Marco and Dr. Baldwin are very excited about the sonic devices that were just brought in from Indiana a few hours ago. They are already testing them at various frequencies to see just what we have. I suspect the vehicles that were brought back with the mounted sound cannons, as well as the fire engines we collected earlier will be vital in establishing a perimeter in the not too far distant future!”

  “Mr. Porter?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “We have not yet had a chance to talk, but knowing you, and owing to the fact that you arrived so long after the C-113, I can hazard a guess that you tried out the soni
c equipment mounted on your new aircraft.”

  “Yes sir, we did. Ron Macklin and I found a control panel for the sound cannons in the cockpit. We spent over an hour passing over large concentrations of the undead, at varied altitudes and using a range of frequencies. We have taken careful notes of all of this data and the effects obtained, and turned them over to Marco and Baldwin.”

  “All well and good, but can you just cut to the chase and give us an idea of any positive results you obtained?”

  “Yes sir, we can. First of all, the sonic units can certainly shatter frozen items. We hit one frequency while flying slowly at about four-hundred feet and just above stall speed. During that pass, we shattered every piece of glass in the area, from windows in abandoned structures to automobiles. There's no doubt that frozen zombies will crumble as easily. The real reason we wanted to test the apparatus was the fact that we found terminated zombies around the gates of the factory. They had blood coming from mouths, eyes, and ears. You see there was still an active alarm system attached to the fences that set off sonic units mounted on the roof. It seemed to validate the fact, that given the right frequency these sonic denial units were capable of killing!”

  “And were they?”

  “It's really touchy, but if you hit just the right frequency and distance, the answer is yes. Our maximum range was about three-hundred feet and we have listed the decibel settings that indeed are in the microwave range. Sir, we literally cooked the zombie brains out. We also found our best results when the two units were set at different frequencies. The first, within the human hearing range that would hurt a human, but not really harm them, seems to stop the creepers in their tracks, while the second unit finishes the job. I'm sure our science team will be able to refine the whole thing a lot further. Mr. Macklin and I were kinda playing around with the controls to see what would happen, without really knowing what we were doing.”

  “One more question, Mr. Porter, if you please. While the two of you were “playing around” as you put it, how many zombies did you manage to terminate?”