“Burkhart wants an updated long range weather report,” Tara Wheeler called out from the other room. She too was a CSE employee and had continued coming here after the world fell to shit. Unlike Anthony, she was single and her friendliness and beauty made Anthony’s wife a little bit jealous, no matter how many times he told her they were just co-workers.
“I’ll pull it together, but I don’t know how accurate it’s going to be. Stations keep dropping off the network,” Anthony replied.
Environment Canada had operated hundreds of small, automated weather stations across the province, and supplemented that information with radar and satellite data to develop highly thorough weather forecasts. Other organizations added hundreds more weather stations to the mix. However, as generating plants and substations went offline and the power grid deteriorated, more and more stations stopped transmitting data. Environment Canada had begun retrofitting stations with solar panels nearly a decade ago, but limited funding meant that the majority of their network still relied on landline power and data to send data.
“Nothing we can do about that,” Tara said.
“I guess.”
Anthony wasn’t a meteorologist by any stretch of the imagination, but he knew enough to compile a simple weather report. By some miracle, the facility itself still had power, so Anthony was still able to check the satellite network and Doppler radar for additional information, then ran it everything through the compiler, which aggregated all the data and created a weather forecast.
“Hope you brought a parka with you Tara, looks like it’s going to get cold next week,” Anthony said.
Chapter 26
November 17th
The recruits had spent the morning drilling and then done a couple runs through the obstacle course, during which Xander and his section had smashed the existing record by almost two minutes.
“How the hell did you run through it so fast recruit?” Warrant Officer Raroger shouted.
“Teamwork, Warrant Officer Raroger!” Thomas replied.
“ Excellent work, carry on!”
A few other sections ran through the course, and while they posted good times, none were close to the record.
“Alright, congratulations to Second Section, Second Platoon for setting a new record. Time for your final exercise recruits. Attention!”
The company snapped to attention.
“Right face…by the centre, quick march!”
The company started marching and passed the parade square, barracks, and continued moving south across the base, until they neared the south gate. Arrayed near the gate was a platoon of regular force troops lounging around their APCs. As the company approached, they scrambled into their vehicles and waited. Troops near the fence line stood up sharper and more alert, and a pair of troopers ran to the huge trucks that were parked behind the gate, turning over the engines.
“Company halt!” Warrant Officer Raroger ordered.
The pair of trucks each inched backwards, opening a five metre gap between them, then they stopped moving, although the troopers kept the engines running.
Another soldier ran and opened the huge padlock on the gate and shoved one of the gates open.
“Company, forward march!”
The company marched outside the fence line and as the recruits crossed the threshold, they began to tense up. When the company neared the first trench, Raroger ordered them to halt again.
“First Platoon, forward,” he barked. When they got there, he ordered First Section into the trench.
Shortly after they descended a pair of ladders into the trench, Xander heard infected growling from nearby.
Someone in the trench shouted, “Contact forward! Shields up!” and then grunts of exertion, intermingled with snarling from the infected rose from the trench.
After a couple minutes, it was all over.
“Good job, First Section. Up and out of the trench, head back for your medical exam!”
Members of First Section filed past, some of them as white as a ghost.
What the fuck is going on? Xander thought.
“Second Section, your turn!”
One by one, sections went down into the trench and fought a pitched battle against an unknown number of infected.
Before Xander knew it, it was Second Section’s turn.
“Alright Second Section, you know the drill, get in there!” Warrant Officer Raroger ordered.
They descended the ladder by one after the other, and all of them readied themselves for an attack.
The trench was about three metres wide, which meant a full fireteam could reasonably block it using their shields. Due to the mild weather, the bottom was a slushy mess, and traction was difficult, but each recruit braced themselves as best they could. Twenty metres away, a crude wooden wall stood, then slowly lifted up, and about a dozen infected sprung forward from behind it.
Xander stood shoulder to shoulder with Thomas on his left, and Andrew and Philip on his right. Behind the infected, the wall dropped back into place.
“Contact, shields up!” Corporal Crozier.
The recruits raised their shields and readied their maces.
When the infected were close enough, Corporal Crozier yelled, “Strike!”
Xander, Thomas, Philip and Andrew all swung their maces, and landed blows on the infected
“Fireteam Alpha, step back!”
The team took a step backwards in unison.
“Strike!”
In less than two minutes of combat, all the infected were on the ground. Xander was breathing rapidly as he lowered his shield slightly.
“Fireteam Bravo forward!”
Mack, Frank and Jack stepped forward.
“Barnes, take my place and get in there next to Ashton,” Corporal Crozier ordered.
Xander stepped forward.
The gate lifted again and more infected staggered towards them.
“Get ready Jack,” Xander said.
“I’m ready motherfucker.”
“You better be.”
“Shields up!”
The infected surged forward and crashed into them like a tidal wave. Jack lost his footing and fell back when a huge fat infected man hammered a blow down on his shield. This left a gap in the line and the huge infected man attacked Xander at the same time as he was trying to deal with a teenage girl.
A massive blow landed on Xander’s shoulder and staggered him. “Strike,” Xander shouted, not waiting for Corporal Crozier’s command.
Frank and Mack struck the infected in front of them, while someone helped Jack to his feet. Xander used his shield to push the teenage girl backwards, then swung his mace with all his might to his left and crushed the fat man’s head, and the infected fell to the ground.
A moment later, Xander felt hands grab his ankles and yank hard, dragging him down to the ground, and then he was on his back in the mud. The teenager crawled over Xander, growling and clawing for his face. Xander stuck his forearm into her face and heaved her backwards, and she took the opportunity to bite his arm. Her rotten breath wafted into Xander’s face as her teeth crunched on the chain mail, but did not penetrate it. Then a mace slammed down on her head and she went limp, followed by a hand that appeared and helped Xander back to his feet.
“Thanks,” Xander muttered.
After that, the Mack and Frank took out the last two infected straggling towards them.
“Good work Second Section! Now up and out of there so someone else can get a chance!” Raroger ordered.
They climbed out of the trench, where each got a quick medical inspection, except Xander, who was ordered into the medical tent and forced to remove his armour to prove he hadn’t been infected.
As he stood there shivering, Corporal Yang walked in, “We have to stop meeting like this recruit.”
Xander shrugged, trying to be nonchalant. He failed as his shivering increased.
“I better hurry up or you’ll freeze to death…we wouldn’t want that now, would
we?” Corporal Yang said as she winked at him.
Then her professionalism came to the fore and she checked him over thoroughly, clearing him for duty. Then left just as abruptly as she had appeared, leaving Xander to quickly get dressed and rejoin his platoon.
--------
“Recruit Barnes reporting as ordered, sir!”
“Stand at ease, recruit,” Captain Koch said. “Your section’s record was very impressive on the obstacle course today, son. The section performed even better during the graduation exercise. Do you know what I saw?”
Son? This guy is only a few years older than me, Xander thought. He paused for a moment, then said, “No sir, I do not.”
“A natural leader. You led by example and when necessary, took control of the situation and exercised initiative to get your section working as a cohesive unit. Out of all the sections I watched this morning, yours is the only one that gelled that well.”
“Thank you sir.”
“Your leadership sparked my curiosity, so I checked your admission form and read all about you. Yet there was nothing on the form that suggests where those leadership skills came from, no management positions, no military or law enforcement experience, nothing. So I did a little digging – do you know what I found?”
“No sir.”
“You bear a striking resemblance to one Xander Barnes who was an alternate captain on the Canadian World Junior Hockey team six years ago. That’s where your leadership grew and developed – on the ice, like a lot of Canadians. The difference is that you took it to a much higher level than most people do. Why didn’t you mention on your form that you won a both a gold and silver medal during your time on the national junior team?”
Xander shook his head slightly, “It was a lifetime ago and I didn’t see how my failed hockey career was in any way relevant, Sir. Especially given how soon it ended after I was drafted, Sir.”
“No matter. I’m putting a note in your file recommending you for promotion to Corporal as soon as possible after you join the Loyal Edmonton Regiment next week. Strong leadership skills such as yours are always in short supply, and we’ll need every hand on deck to deal with this crisis.”
“Thank you Sir.”
“You’re welcome. May I ask you a question or two about the World Juniors?”
“Of course Sir.”
“Sit down and relax, Barnes. The interrogation part of our conversation is over.”
Xander sat down, somewhat nervously.
“I want to ask about that series. How did the team turn it around after that pair of losses?”
“Well, after that blowout loss, everyone wrote us off. Some of the guys in the dressing room even thought we weren’t even going to make it out of the preliminary round, but neither George Singer or I were willing to let that happen. We pushed everyone to be better each and every shift. It certainly helped that George and I were both the biggest and in George’s case certainly, the meanest SOBs our teammates ever met. George actually had to wallop one or two guys, but nobody ever had the balls to cross him. I grew up in Edmonton and met Mark Messier at hockey school a couple times and he told me sometimes you have to threaten to kick some ass to get results, so that’s what I did. Given that I couldn’t score like Messier, I didn’t have much choice. That’s how Jackson turned his game around – he was minus six after the first two games, but after we had a chat with him after everyone else left the rink, he became our team’s best two-way forward.”
“We knew we didn’t have the best offence that year, so the only way for us to win was to have the best defence-we did that by getting everyone to buy in and back check like crazy. It was a lot of heavy lifting behind the scenes, but it was worth it, because it caused a lot of turnovers. Those turnovers got us four game winning goals, including the one that won the gold medal game.”
“I remember reading about that series, and most commentators praised the goalie, St. Martin, as well as Jackson and a couple of other forwards. Do you know why?”
Xander shrugged, “That’s just the way it is in hockey, the glory usually goes to the goalie that gets the shut out or the forward who scores the winning goal. It didn’t matter to me, I just wanted to win. Nobody ever remembers who was the tournament MVP, but everyone remembers whether or not you’re a champion.”
“Let me give you a tip Barnes, the Army prizes leadership and initiative. If you have an idea or think of something that may help, don’t hold back, even if you’re not sure it will help. As that attack last week showed, we’ve got an uphill battle in front of us and need every advantage we can muster.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Dismissed.”
Part III – Soldier
Chapter 27
November 19th
Déjà vu washed over Xander.
Once again, Xander was sitting in a folding chair in a large gym, again filled with the rest of the recruit company. At the front of the room, an orderly had set up a podium and microphone. About a dozen non-coms lined the walls of the gym, standing at ease. Some were chatting amongst each other, while others were glancing at clipboards stacked with paper. There were signs for First, Second and Third Platoon on the back wall of the gym.
At least this time they had coffee and doughnuts, Xander thought as he sipped his coffee, which tasted like swill. Shitty coffee is still better than no coffee, I guess.
An officer strode to the podium and a non-com barked, “Attention!”
The recruits jumped to their feet and stood at attention.
“Good morning and welcome to the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, I’m Lieutenant Colonel Hopkins, commander of this unit. The Loyal Eddies have fought in numerous actions throughout its illustrious history, including at Vimy Ridge, Passchendale, and Arras in World War One, and in Sicily, Ortona, and Northwest Europe in World War Two. More recently, members fought in Afghanistan. Some people like to call us weekend warriors or other derogatory names, but rest assured, the Loyal Eddies are just as well trained and tough as any other unit in the Canadian Army, regular force or reserve. ”
He paused, “We’ve been tasked with retaking the city once winter sets in. This will be a daunting task, but follow your training and listen to your non-commissioned officers and you’ll do fine. We won’t be taking any needless risks, and will only engage ambulatory infected when absolutely necessary. Good luck and god bless! I’ll turn you over to Captain MacDonald and Warrant Officer Beauregard for your assignments.” The commander walked off the stage and out the door without a glance.
“Okay troops, find your platoon and meet your non-coms. Drill begins at 0900!” Warrant Officer Beauregard said.
Xander and the rest of his section lined up at the back of the gym and shortly were assembled with the rest of Second Platoon.
“Good morning men, I’m Sergeant Dan Simpson, senior NCO for Second Platoon. These are Sergeants Deladier, Wilcox and Washington. We’re your section leaders, and due to a shortage of trained personnel, the only non-coms in Second Platoon at the moment. You’ll meet Lieutenant Carpenter, our platoon commander later. The weather boys have told us it’s going to get cold this week, but until it remains that way for a solid seventy-two hours, we train. And then we train some more. When the powers that be deem it safe for us to go outside the wire, then it’s into the firing line to clear out the city. I think you get the gist of things.”
“Before we start your training, let’s break into sections and spend a few minutes getting to know each other. I’m sure most of you know each other pretty well, but you’re all new faces to us NCOs,” Dan said.
Dan led his section over to a corner, “As I said earlier, I’m Sergeant Dan Simpson. I’m not here to yell at or threaten you, I’m here to teach you how to be an effective part of this section. I’ve been with the Eddies for the better part of a decade and served in Afghanistan before it wound down. In my spare time, I was also a constable with the Edmonton Police Service and my colleagues and I spent many hours perfecting the techniques to de
al with the infected that you just learned in boot camp. I’ve read your personnel files already, so I feel like I know a little about each of you, but it’d be nice to put a face to a name. Why don’t we start with the Friendly Giant,” Dan said, pointed to Mackenzie.
Mackenzie introduced himself, and one by one the rest introduced themselves too, with Dan nodding or making small comments, but basically letting them speak their piece.
Jack was blathering on when Dan cut him off, “Thanks Jack, let’s wrap this up, we’ve got training to do.”
Jack shut his mouth and Dan looked over at the section leaders, who nodded their heads one at a time.
Dan walked to the middle of the room and said, “Let’s head outside and get formed up.”
Unlike the basic training they had gone through the past two weeks, this training was much more relaxed and laid back. The NCOs didn’t yell at or threaten anyone, and were generally pleasant. Instead, they used snide comments to correct mistakes. The main goal was getting the platoon to function as a cohesive unit, and each section was drilled how to function in open fields and confined spaces.
“What’s our biggest advantage over the infected?” Warrant Officer Beauregard asked the assembled platoon.
Silence.
The Warrant Officer sighed, then said, “Our biggest advantage we have is our intelligence. The infected have devolved into a feral state and have only the most basic instincts. All they know is attack. They don’t understand tactics or strategy and that’s why we will prevail. In the middle ages, infantry used a variety of formations to defeat cavalry, and heavy armour and shields to allow them to close with archers. The tactics and techniques we will add to your repertoire will allow us to use our foremost weapon against the infected – our brains.”
Zombie Night In Canada (Book 2): 2nd Period Page 22
