Lewis’ mission was quite simple - stop them by dropping enough ordnance to cause a massive avalanche to totally barricade the pass. Originally, it had been thought that the task could be completed simply by destroying the road bridge at the west end of the pass, near the edge of Moose Lake. It allowed vehicular traffic to transit the pass, while rail traffic ran beneath it. However, planners worried that the infected would still be able to make it over the rubble, as the lake wasn’t very deep at that point and the wreckage would likely rise up out of the water and allow the infected the pass through.
Once engineers surveyed the area, they concluded that it would be necessary to cause avalanches and fill the valley with rubble and snow instead. The bombing run was necessary because despite the best efforts of engineers from CFB Edmonton, the pass still hadn’t been blocked. If the infected got out of this pass in large numbers, it would be virtually impossible to bottle them up and hold them off.
“Okay Hill, you’re up. Target the peaks on the south end of the valley. I’ll take the north. Make sure you hit west of Moose Lake, we don’t want any debris in the lake where it won’t help us.”
Hill and Lewis split up and began their bombing runs. In a real conflict, they would have had to deal with enemy fighters, anti-aircraft artillery, surface-to-air missiles, radar jamming, you name it. Not this time.
This mission was almost too easy for such veteran pilots. Hill sighted his two GBU-12s and released. His plane leapt upwards slightly after dropping the pair of 500 pound bombs. They streaked in and hammered both mountains. Each, already fully snow-capped, crumbled under the assault, with snow, tree trunks and boulders sweeping down into the valley below, crushing and burying hundreds of infected.
Lewis’ bombs did much the same to northern peaks, but the amount of debris was nowhere near enough to block the passes. The highway through the valley had dozens of huge boulders on it, but the infected were stumbling in between the gaps, seeking the living flesh on the other side.
“Okay Hill, let’s use your CRV-7s right above the blockage,” Lewis ordered.
Originally designed to destroy heavily fortified Warsaw Pact hangars in the Cold War, they were simple fire-and-forget rockets that lacked any guidance capabilities. They did however, have extremely powerful engines and should penetrate several inches into the rock before exploding. Hill ripple fired both pods at the south peak.
The rockets roared into the mountainside and pulverized it, causing next to no avalanche, although a dozen or more huge tree limbs tumbled down the hill and added to the rough barricade.
“Looks like the CRV-7s are no good for this. I’m going to pass over them and see how well they work on the infected,” Lewis said flatly.
His plane swooped down and he unleashed his CRV-7s. They landed several hundred metres west of the crude barricade and immolated row upon row of infected. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, were literally shredded by the sheer destructiveness of the rockets. Still, that was an infinitesimal amount when compared to the apparently limitless horde advancing down the valley.
“Moore and Wilson, you’re both up. Target the mountainside just above the roadblocks our strikes created,” Major Lewis ordered.
One by one, they each dropped four 1000-pound bombs, causing more damage to the mountains and filling the valley with more debris. The debris towered almost fifty feet into the air. It would suffice. Barely.
Below them, the infected pawed and strained against the massive barrier in their path. A few began to try and climb, but not one made it more than a few feet off the ground before tumbling back in to the masses.
“Spartan Flight to base, over,” Major Lewis said.
“Sitrep, Spartan Flight.”
“Our strikes created plenty of debris, and the pass is fully blocked. The CRV-7s are essentially useless in creating barricades, but are excellent for use against the infected. As insurance, I recommend another strike with Mark Eight-Threes, not Mark Eight-Twos, just to make sure. Repeat, Mark Eight-Threes. In the meantime, we’ll close with and empty the last of our ordnance on the horde and then RTB,” Lewis replied.”
“Understood, Spartan Flight, will send out another strike package. Out.”
Lewis and Hill both took turns strafing the valley with cannon fire, hoping to take out as many as possible. Back at CFB Cold Lake, other crews were readying similar strikes against infected in the Rogers and Crowsnest passes. Once completed, Alberta would be sealed off from the hordes of infected ravaging across British Columbia.
--------
The mixed civilian/military advisory council was meeting again after yesterday’s fierce attack on the base. It had rattled a lot of people, especially recently rescued refugees, who were shocked both by the sheer violence and the tenacity of the base’s defenders.
“This meeting will now come to order,” General Raine said. “Ellen, attendance please,” he added, nodding to his executive assistant.
“Mayor Steven Johnson?”
“Present.”
“Councillor Jim Tkachuck?”
“Here.”
“Councillor Melanie Fisher.”
“Present.”
“Deputy Police Chief Robert Lewis?”
“Absent, Captain Henry Chan attending in his place.”
“MLA Scott Gregson.”
“Present.”
“Member of Parliament Steve Franklin?”
“I’m sorry for the short notice, but I felt it prudent to convene this group for a quick update after yesterday’s attack on the base.”
“As many of you are aware, yesterday’s attack on the base was the closest the infected have come to swamping our defences. At one point, about one hundred infected created a breach in the fence and were repulsed. Fortunately, with the dedication and hard work of our troops, we prevented any breaches from occurring, although they almost broke through the fence line in three different places. These are just estimates, but we think approximately one hundred thousand infected tried to get in, and if we hadn’t started building those other trenches south of Valour Avenue, they might have succeeded.”
“How did so many infected get so close to the base?” MP Steve Franklin asked.
“We’re not sure, but it seems like the warmer weather over the past couple days allowed them to move towards us. However, at no time did our recce patrols, either ground or aerial, ever see any large numbers of infected. Honestly, we don’t know where they all came from. Based on the timing, we can surmise that the twenty one gun salute at the Remembrance Day ceremony may have been the trigger for them to attack. As such, future ceremonies will not employ artillery salutes.”
“I for one thank God for your soldier’s tenacity and perseverance in protecting the base and everyone here,” Councillor Tkachuck said.
“Any other comments on the attack?”
“I really wish there was some way to save all those people instead of slaughtering them,” MLA Scott Gregson muttered. “We should have compassion for the afflicted.”
Raines sighed loudly, “Yes, MLA Gregson, we’d all like to do that. However, given that the infected are intent on harming everyone on this base and there is no known cure for whatever is infecting them, the only solution at this time is deadly force. I can speak for every soldier on this base when I say we do not enjoy turning our weapons on our fellow citizens, but we must do what we can to protect the living at all costs.”
“But…”
“Sorry, Mr. Gregson, but there will be no absolutely debate on the methods we employ to protect Canadians. The next tem on the agenda is linked to the attack as well. Four days ago, one of our patrols discovered a group of survivors in an industrial park just west of Henday Drive. They have technical knowledge which should allow us to significantly enhance the base’s defences. In particular, they are familiar with casting concrete in the construction of walls and structures. Provided our recce teams can find the requisite raw resources, we may be able to pour concrete walls here on the base. That will
allow us to significantly bolster our defences, including a concrete wall around the base to supplement the trenches already in place.”
“Well, that’s great news,” Mayor Johnson said.
“Yeah, nothing like building our own Maginot Line,” MLA Gregson replied dryly.
“This isn’t a Maginot Line because there will be no lightly defended gap for the infected to attack through like the Germans did in 1940,” Raines continued, “We’re hoping that once the snow falls and winter sets in, we will scour the Capital Region, and if necessary farther afield, for everything they need to fortify the base and as much of the city as possible, because we’re going to need it come the spring. Royal Canadian Air Force fighter-bombers were successful in sealing the mountain passes from huge groups of infected heading east from British Columbia. However, those barricades are largely made of snow and ice and will fail once the spring melt begins. As such, we need to make sure we are prepared to deal with much larger numbers of infected than we’ve dealt with so far. The group of infected in the Yellowhead Pass was approximately forty kilometres long and may contain as many as one million infected. An even larger swarm was stopped in the Rogers Pass, while a smaller one is in the Crowsnest Pass and is being dealt with as we speak. Once the infected get out of the mountains, it’ll be a matter of days before they can begin to threaten cities and towns in Alberta. I give you our word that we will be ready to meet that threat head on. Any comments? ”
Everyone was stunned into silence by the numbers of infected waiting in the mountains.
“Okay, then let’s move on to the final item on our agenda – recruit training. I was briefed on their training this morning and I’m happy to let you know that the recruits are progressing well within expectations, with many exceeding those expectations. They were deployed and assisted in repelling the infected who breached the fence line. While their performance was not perfect, they did perform in the manner expected and were effective in dealing with the infected in close quarters battle and did this with only two minor injuries. My instructors are confident that they will be ready for deployment when the winter sets in. After that, we’ll begin training our next group of recruits and expect to have about two thousand newly trained soldiers by early in the new year. As recruits graduate from training, they will move to active duty with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, an Army Reserve unit, and work to clear out the city. We’re still drawing up our plan of attack, but initially we’ll deploy them in nearby neighbourhoods first, with plenty of mechanized infantry support, to prevent future massed attacks on the base. Once that has been accomplished, we’ll look at other possible missions to meet our long term goals and objectives of securing this city and as much of its population before next spring. Any questions?”
Chapter 23
November 13th
“Barnes!” Corporal Desjardins shouted.
“Yes Corporal Desjardins!”
“Are you ready to rejoin your platoon or are you planning on fucking the dog again today?”
“I’m ready for regular duties, Corporal Desjardins,” Xander said.
“Good, then fall in with the rest of the platoon!”
After morning drill, the company marched to the Supply Depot and were issued new shields, as well as the same maces they had been issued during the recent attack. The shield was much larger than, and at least twice as heavy as the little stop sign shields they had practiced with during the first week. This shield measured about three feet wide and four feet tall, and was made of a combination of wood and steel.
The mace was also much heavier than the broomstick padded with Styrofoam was, weighing close to six or seven pounds. Like the practice weapon, it had a bicycle grip handle, but the shaft was made of metal instead of wood, and culminated in a large steel ball with about a dozen half inch metal spikes.
The platoon drilled practiced as a unit the entire morning, learning how to march while carrying their mace and shield. The mace came with a holster of sorts that allowed it to hang on Xander’s right hip, while the shield was carried on his left arm across his chest. It was awkward and unnatural, at least for Xander and took some getting used to.
I guess that’s why we spent three hours repeating it over and over, Xander thought.
Just before breaking for lunch, the platoon split into sections, and Corporal Crozier lead them to a spot where they could sit down and relax.
“Okay guys, we know we’ve run your asses ragged for a week now. Here is your chance to ask a question or two,” Corporal Crozier said.
“Corporal Crozier?” Jack asked. “An instructor told us that we weren’t going to get guns, is that true?”
“Guns? Holy fuck! The infantry doesn’t use guns asshole! The infantry use rifles or weapons, not guns!” Corporal Crozier roared.
“Well, I...I…,” Jack stammered.
“Stand up fuckwad!”
Jack stood up.
“Repeat after me asshole!” Corporal Crozier shouted.
“This is my rifle!” He shouted as he lifted his pace stick up.
“I don’t have a rifle,” Jack mumbled.
“Use your fucking mace!” Corporal Crozier screamed.
Jack hefted his mace and shouted, “This is my rifle!”
Corporal Crozier grabbed his crotch and hollered, “This is my gun!”
Jack copied him.
“This is for killing!” Corporal Crozier continued.
“And this is for fun!” Corporal Crozier yelled as he grabbed his crotch again.
The section laughed.
“Do you really think anyone is going to hand over automatic weapons to a bunch of fucknuts with two weeks of training like you assholes?” Corporal Crozier replied. “Now sit down and think of an intelligent question, you fucking retard.”
Jack sat down, his face beet red.
“Now, does anyone have a real fucking question,” Corporal Crozier growled.
Frank said, “Why didn’t we get these suits of armour on day one, Corporal Crozier?”
“I’m just a grunt, but I’ve got two guesses why. The first is that they weren’t ready yet. From what I know, they were being issued to troops that go outside the fence first, then those on the fence line, then the rest of us. The other more likely answer is that they wanted lardasses like Wyndham here to lose some fuckin’ weight first,” Corporal Crozier said with a grin.
Philip looked embarrassed.
“Look, these suits take a lot of time and resources to make, and it’s a pain in the ass to adjust the size. So if a chubby guy loses weight and the suit doesn’t fit, they have to spend more time and effort refitting it. It just makes sense to wait until the recruits slimmed down?”
Most of the recruits nodded in agreement.
“What about the food, Corporal? When I worked at the Depot before I got drafted, I saw pallets of those Army rations piled as high as the roof. Why not feed those to people in here?”
“I take it you’re talking about IMPs. Frankly, I don’t know why they aren’t feeding those things to people. They are so full of preservatives that they always plug me up after eating them three times a day on a field ex, so you’d think that the powers that be would have people eat them once and a while so they could get nutrition and not get constipated, but for some weird reason, they are hoarding them. It’s gonna be a big fucking problem if people are given those throughout the winter, because nobody gonna be able to take a shit for weeks. Personally, I’m glad, I like eating real food and won’t complain about not being forced to eat the omelet. That meal is fucking disgusting, next.”
“Are they going to split us up after our training is complete Corporal?” Frank asked.
“Again, I’m just a lowly Corporal, but I think the plan is to keep you guys together, so that whatever morale and camaraderie you’ve developed in training sticks with you during deployment. Scuttlebutt has it that you will be transferred to the Loyal Eddies after this week for eventual combat deployment…and you know what they say a
bout rumours, they are almost always true. Any other questions?”
Corporal Crozier waited, “Ok, then break for chow and meet back in front of the Barracks at 1300 sharp! And don’t forget your goddamn weapons and shield!”
“Yes Corporal!” The section barked.
“Dismissed!”
The section headed off to the mess hall together, and Xander and Thomas chatted while they walked.
“Geez, when I was rescued I thought I was really lucky. Then I got drafted and now I found out we’re not even getting firearms. It looks like it was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fucking fire!” Xander said.
“Could be worse I guess, you could be dying of thirst in a basement surrounded by infected. Then it’s a matter of wondering, what’s going to kill you first, dehydration or the infected clawing at your door.” Thomas replied.
“Yeah, I suppose so.”
“Hey, at least here we’ve got a fighting chance and decent food every day,” Thomas said.
“I had both of those at the Costco where we were holed up. Now, I’ve got to go out into the city and bash heads with only you assholes for company!” Xander spat angrily.
“We can hear you, you know?” Jack said indignantly. “
“You know I’m kidding, Jack,” Xander said.
“Then fucking act like it,” Jack shot back.
“What the fuck is your problem Jack?” Xander replied.
“You are the problem, you fucking dickhead. You strut around here like you’re an officer, telling us what to do all the time. We may have to take shit from Corporal Crozier and the other instructors, but we don’t have to take shit from you too!”
Xander stopped, “Anyone else agree with Jack?”
Silence from everyone, and a nasty glare from Jack.
“Come on, speak up, you’re not going to hurt my fucking feelings!”
Still, nobody said anything.
Xander sighed loudly, “Seriously guys, fucking tell me if I’m pissing you off.”
Zombie Night In Canada (Book 2): 2nd Period Page 20
