“Platoon, form infantry square!”
Troops rushed to their assigned positions, with each section placing six soldiers per side, leaving the two remaining troops in the centre of the formation. Those troops were armed with crossbows and ready to engage the infected over the heads of their comrades.
“Formation, advance right!”
The troops moved to the right awkwardly.
“Third Section, there is a gap between you and Fourth Section, close it up!” Warrant Officer Beauregard shouted.
The troops shifted slightly, closing the hole in the formation.
“Let’s try that again. Formation advance right!”
They drilled the infantry square for the next hour, and then marched in formation to a set of ramshackle buildings.
“Alright, next up is urban combat training. I know you touched on this in basic training, but everyone needs to have this down pat. If you don’t, you’ll find yourself out of position and endanger yourself and your fellow soldiers. Sergeants, take your section and practice breaching and room clearing,” Warrant Officer Beauregard said.
Dan took charge of Xander and the rest of his section and they practiced simple close combat tactics for half an hour. Once Dan was satisfied with their proficiency, they shifted tactics.
“Okay, I think you’ve all got that down, so we’re moving onto to more advanced tactics. Does anyone have any idea how to advance down stairs? Or up stairs? Or in rooms with multiple entrances?”
Xander and the rest of the section all shook their heads.
“No time like the present to learn then. These may seem complicated, but these tactics were developed through trial and error hundreds of times in September and October and they work,” Dan said.
--------
After another hard day of training, Xander was back in the tent city, having been unceremoniously kicked out of the barracks that had been his home for the past two weeks. However this time, his unit was segregated from the general population, on the western edge of the tent city. Each platoon was grouped in a cluster of ten tents, with sections sharing pairs of nearby tents. Fortunately for Xander, Jack was in the other tent, and Xander’s tent mates were Philip, Andrew and Thomas. Mack, Frank, and Sergeant Simpson had the dubious honour of sharing a tent with Gilligan.
After the day’s training ended, Xander found Diane’s tent and got a hug from her and a high five from Jared. Donald was nowhere to be seen. He had been tempted to swing by Evelyn’s tent, but stopped himself from doing so.
Fuck that little bitch, he thought as he walked through the tent city.
“He’s off looking for another score,” Diane muttered angrily as the two of them sat at the table outside the tent. “One of these times, he’s going to get caught.”
“What’s he doing?” Xander asked.
“He actually got his medical waiver, so instead of contributing, he spends his day looking for ways to make a quick buck. I make enough for us to get by, which is good because when we were at school last week, he got robbed and lost most of his cash and the last few goodies he was hoarding.”
“Shit, are you okay Sis? I’ve got a pocketful of cash from my training. I can give you whatever you need,” Xander said, holding out a wad of cash.
“Jesus, Xander. Don’t let anyone see that pile of cash, you’ll get rolled for sure.”
“They’re welcome to try,” Xander said with an evil grin. “Seriously though, how much do you need? A hundred bucks? Two? Don’t worry, I’ve got lots and my pay is way higher than it was in the warehouse. Here’s two hundred, just take it.”
“Okay,” Diane said, stuffing the money in her pocket. “Just don’t let Donald see that wad. He fell in with some douchebags from the northeast sector and they’re doing all sorts of crazy shit. He says they’ve got a still and a couple blackjack tables, sell stolen goods, and shady shit like that.”
“He better be careful – if he’s hanging out with the group I heard about, the MPs know all about them and close to shutting down their dirty little operation,” Xander said.
“I’ve told him to be careful, but he won’t listen.”
“Yeah, well tell Donald…” Xander said as Donald strolled up, followed by a couple dodgy looking characters.
“Tell Donald what?”
“Ask Diane,” Xander said.
“Hey, look at soldier boy here,” Donald said, flicking Xander’s collar. “Nice costume, didn’t anyone tell you Halloween was weeks ago?”
“Don’t touch me asshole,” Xander growled.
“Or what?”
“Or you’ll be fucking sorry, that’s what.”
“Oh, I’m scared. What do you think, John, is soldier boy scary?”
The taller, more muscular douchebag looked Xander up and down, “Nope.”
“Whatever losers,” Xander said as he began to leave.
John stepped in front of him, “Not so fast.”
Really fuckhead? Xander thought as he cocked his head and raised his eyebrow.
Xander drove his elbow into John’s stomach. The air whooshed out of John’s lungs, and he fell to his knees gasping for breath.
“Anyone else want a taste?” Xander snarled, looking at the shorter, fatter douchebag.
Donald raised his hands, “Hey man, we were just kidding around.”
“I wasn’t. If I see either of you shitbirds around here again, they’ll have to carry you away on a stretcher. Now, get the fuck out of here!”
The fat guy helped John to his feet and they stumbled away, with John cursing “Next time,” under his breath as they left.
“Thanks a lot Xander. Those were my friends,” Donald mumbled.
“With friends like that, you don’t need enemies. You’re better off not associating with their type.”
“Who the hell do you think you are? You don’t get to tell me who I can hang out with!”
“It was a suggestion, you fucking moron. You do whatever you the fuck you want, but if your shit affects Diane or Jared, you’ll be dealing with me,” Xander said, jabbing Donald’s chest with his index finger. “And I won’t be nice like I was at Costco either.”
“I don’t have to take this from you,” Donald said and stormed off.
“Good riddance!” Xander said to Donald as he left.
“I wish you wouldn’t antagonize him,” Diane said.
“I’m tired of putting up with his shit and I’m not doing it any longer. If you or Jared need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. Gotta go, Sis.”
“Look, be careful. Something’s changed in Donald. Before, he was just a lazy asshole, but now with the end of the world, he’s different. I think he’s actually enjoying this!”
“Don’t worry Sis, I can take care of myself,” Xander said he left.
--------
“How can I help you Private?” A chubby Corporal behind the desk asked. Her nametag read Emerson.
“I turned in a pistol when I arrived on the base, I’d like to sign it out now please,” Xander replied.
“Sure thing, show me your claim form and I’ll be happy to process it.”
Xander fished through his pockets until he found it. “Here you go.”
“Okay, give me a couple minutes.”
Xander waited for an eternity until Corporal Emerson returned.
“Sorry, it took so long, somebody misplaced it. Here you go,” Corporal Emerson said as she handed over the empty pistol, as well as a handful of bullets.
Xander looked at it and said, “Excuse, when I turned this in, there were thirty-two bullets, not the eight I have here. See, look on the form.”
“Sorry, it’s all I could find. If you have an issue, you can fill out this form,” Corporal Emerson droned.
“But, but, but,” Xander stammered.
“NMFP,” Emerson replied.
“NMFP?” Xander asked.
“Not my fucking problem. Either fill out the form or forget it, I really don’t care which.”
X
ander sighed, “Do you have a pen?”
“To your right in the cup,” Emerson said.
Xander filled out the form, watched as Emerson double checked it and signed it.
“We’ll let you know in four to six weeks,” Corporal Emerson said sarcastically.
Xander shoved the pistol and bullets into a pocket and stormed off, cursing as soon as he was outside.
Chapter 28
November 23rd
“Okay guys, command is going to break your cherry with an easy mission. We’ve been ordered to secure the Edmonton Remand Centre for use as a future quarantine facility. At the start of the crisis, most of the minor criminals like drunk drivers and shoplifters were pardoned, while the hardened criminals were sent to the Maximum security prison northeast of Edmonton. A caretaker crew was left there to watch a handful of inmates who couldn’t be moved for whatever reason and hold onto the facility, but they haven’t reported to their superiors in almost two weeks and due to a series of mistakes, no one has noticed until now. We don’t know what this means – they could have succumbed to the infection, had their radio malfunction or they may simply have abandoned their posts. Our job is to find out what’s going on and to permanently secure it. A follow on unit will get it up and running again for an as yet to be determined future use. Mission parameters are that Second Platoon will go in first, and followed by First Platoon. Third Platoon will remain outside as a reserve should we need it,” Dan told Second Platoon as they stood assembled outside. “Now get in the trucks!”
As the troops hustled to the trucks, Dan rubbed his weary eyes. Even with Alertec, the Canadian Force’s ‘go-pill’, and buckets of coffee, he was still exhausted. He had been running non-stop the past few weeks, leading patrols and then taking refresher training, followed by leading the new recruits through long hours of training each day. Some of the new troops looked just as dog-tired as he felt.
Nobody below the rank of Colonel had been briefed on it, but the Remand Centre was necessary because the powers that be wanted to sound an all-clear province wide and get people to return to Edmonton to begin the cleanup of the city and restoration of society. The base’s small prison simply wasn’t large enough to provide quarantines for large numbers of people – and if the military wanted to clear the city and save large numbers of civilians still believed to be in the city, it would need a large facility to hold them all in, at least until they were deemed safe enough to roam the base and other ‘cleared’ parts of the city.
It actually made sense to use the Remand Centre as a quarantine facility, Dan thought. It was far enough removed from the base that if the facility was compromised, it wouldn’t risk the base or any hope of clearing the city and re-establishing some form of government and society in the region. For once since the crisis began, it seemed like the powers that be actually had a decent idea.
The company climbed into a convoy of medium trucks for the trip, everyone shivering slightly in the cold November air.
“Why the fuck don’t we have sweet APCs like everyone else?” Jack muttered. “I bet those are nice and toasty warm inside.”
“Because every single one on the base is either in use or under repair – but I share your sentiment Private,” Dan said. “I get to sit back here and freeze my ass off too, if that makes you feel any better.”
“Not really, I’m still fucking freezing.”
The convoy, protected by three LAVs and three G-Wagens, started forward slowly, leaving the west gate and headed towards the Remand Centre. A lone Alberta Sheriffs police cruiser was sandwiched in the middle of the convoy. Less than ten minutes later, the convoy slowed and stopped in the visitor’s parking lot at the Remand Centre. The gate on the truck dropped with a loud clang and the troops clambered out.
“First and Second Platoons, form infantry square,” Warrant Officer Beauregard ordered.
Second Platoon scrambled into formation and waited nervously. First Platoon moved into a similar formation to their left, while Third Platoon assumed a defensive formation near the trucks. The LAVs and G-Wagens took up positions around the trucks, forming a rough defensive laager. A gate on one of the LAVs whined and a soldier stepped out and set a drone on the ground. A second later, it shot fifty feet into the air to provide aerial reconnaissance of the area. Xander tried to keep track of it as it rose, but the drone disappeared into the overcast sky almost instantly.
A muffled shout came from inside the Coyote, then soldier got back inside and the hatch slowly whined closed.
Probably slaved the feed to the Coyote’s internal screens so he didn’t have to stand outside and freeze their balls off like the rest of us saps, Xander thought.
The Remand Centre wasn’t really a prison, but was actually a short term jail and holding facility and its layout was different from typical prisons, which were usually surrounded by fences topped with razor wire and huge towers filled with armed guards. The Remand Centre was a massive squat structure that had a razor wore topped fence, but only along its eastern and southern edges. It had been built to hold almost two thousand inmates, and was spread over thirty-six plus acres on the fringes of northwest Edmonton. The building layout was rather unique in that it was half a dozen pod-like structures and connected via hallways and tunnels.
The parking lot was covered in several inches of snow, and here and there, an abandoned car was still parked.
“Second Platoon, advance!”
The platoon advanced towards the building, their steps crunching in the hard snow. When they got to the entrance, they found it sealed up tight as a drum.
A Sheriff from the police car had followed them, and stepped forward to unlock the doors.
“There you go gentlemen,” he said, holding one of the doors open.
Sunlight illuminated the area near the doorway and offices close by, but the power was out and the interior of the facility beyond was pitch black, punctuated in spots by rays of sunlight streaming in from skylights and windows. The hallway was several metres wide.
“Second Platoon, attach head lamps!” Dan ordered.
Each soldier pulled a tiny head lamp out of his pack, turned it on, and strapped it to their helmet. The darkness receded by a dozen metres as the LED light stabbed into the darkened prison.
“First Section, advance, other sections, support them,” Dan said.
“Let’s go gentlemen,” Dan said. “They ain’t paying us by the hour!”
“I know I’ve heard that somewhere before…” Thomas said.
“Figure it out and I’ll buy your drinks tonight at the Mess,” Dan replied.
After the platoon had entered the building, Dan said to the Sheriff, “Hand over those keys.”
“No way, I’m responsible for them.”
“I don’t fucking care. Either hand over the keys, or you’re coming with us,” Dan said.
“No.”
“Then get your ass in there, you’re coming with us.”
“No fucking way,” the Sheriff replied.
Dan glanced at the Sheriff’s uniform, “Listen Mister Whittaker, we may encounter other locked doors inside, and we’re not fucking waiting for you to drag your sorry ass inside. Now get moving!”
“No fucking way. Who are you that you think you can order me around?”
“I’m the fucking guy telling you that you’re coming with us, either conscious or unconscious. Which way doesn’t really matter to me.”
Whittaker looked around for support, but saw only thirty plus soldiers in combat gear staring back at him, all festooned with chain mail and hockey equipment. He glanced over his shoulder outside, and remembered he had driven here by himself.
“I want clarification from higher up,” Whittaker demanded.
Dan sighed, “Ashton, go ask the Lieutenant to join us!”
Jack turned and headed outside.
A few minutes later, a cold and angry Lieutenant Carpenter entered the building, “What the fuck is the hold up? Why aren’t you securing the facility Serg
eant?”
“Sheriff Whittaker here won’t turn over the keys to the Centre, and he won’t follow us in either,” Dan replied.
“Sheriff Whittaker, you will kindly turn over the keys to Sergeant Simpson or you will follow them inside, it’s your choice. But those keys are accompanying my men one way or another.”
“I’m not going in there.”
“That’s fine Sheriff. Give the keys to Sergeant Simpson and come wait with me in my APC. Fair enough?”
“Uh, okay,” Sheriff Whittaker relented. He handed over the keys to Dan. “Don’t lose those, it’s my ass otherwise!”
Dan ignored him and turned to Second Platoon. “Okay, let’s get our asses in gear people!”
“Second Platoon, advance, First Platoon, follow us in.”
The sections in Xander’s platoon lined up and advanced down the hallway, odd numbered sections on the left, and even numbered on the right. As they moved further into the complex, the darkness at the end of the hallway went from pitch black to slightly murky as their LED lights pierced the shadows and light bounced around in strange ways.
Every time they came to a doorway, the lead section stopped and formed a shield wall around the door. One of the soldiers rapped hard on the door with this mace, and twisted the knob and shoved it open, quickly stepping back into line with his section. After a tense minute or two, the troops would enter the room and make sure any infected were dealt with. After a room was cleared, the trailing section would leapfrog the leading section and take their turn securing a room. The first few doors near the entrance were all empty offices, and provided nothing more than a few anxious moments.
Second Section poured into one such room to find it deserted. On one side of the room, half a dozen makeshift cots sat, some with clothing on them, others with duffel bags shoved underneath. The troops poked around, looking under the cots, examining the contents of the bags, and checking the closet just in case.
“Looks like we found the Sheriff’s living quarters, but there are no Sheriffs here,” Ashton mumbled.
Zombie Night In Canada (Book 2): 2nd Period Page 23
