He pulled out an electronic gizmo that looked like a bulky electronic tablet. I saw him type in her name on the touch screen.
“She was here as of last night,” he said. “But we’re evacuating everyone to other relocation centers further inland. I'm sorry to tell you that she was put on a bus last night. To be honest, I'm not sure which site they’re going to send her to.”
“Can you radio the bus and find out where she’s headed?” I asked.
“No, I'm sorry. It’s out of range by now,” he said.
“Do you want to come inside and get some food?” he asked.
“No thank you,” I said. “I'm actually with a group and we’re trying to find our family members and friends.”
I gave the soldier the full names of Jennifer's sister and Ms. Suzy to the soldier. He informed me that Jennifer sister was alive, and had been bused out two days previously. However, Ms. Suzy and her family were still in the relocation center. Once cleared by the sniffer dog, we would be free to either enter the compound to talk to her, or they could come out and speak to us – if they were supervised, of course. They couldn’t risk a cleared person becoming infected.
I suddenly realized I hadn’t been told why the relocation center was being moved.
“Why do you have to bus everyone out?” I asked.
“That's classified,” the soldier said.
“Please, I know it may be classified but the world is falling apart, and there is probably not much of a government remaining. Can you please just tell me what is going on? There are large groups of survivors not too far from here. What's happening?” I asked.
“I'm not supposed to say anything,” he said. “But the Robert E. Lee Memorial nuclear power plant, along with a few others in this part of the country is having some problems.”
“What?” I asked.
“The power grid is down so there is no way to keep pumping the water to keep the fuel rods cool,” he said. “The power plants have been using their diesel generators ever since the outbreak started, but there is a fuel shortage.”
“We expect multiple meltdowns in twenty four hours or less,” he added.
“What does that mean?” I asked. “Is this whole area going to become the next Fukushima?”
“Yes, I’m afraid that’s what it means,” he said.
He then walked away
Suddenly, I realized how bad the situation had become not only for us, but for the people back at the church.
I ran as fast as I could back to the van.
There were no freaks around, so huffing and puffing for air I waved for Jennifer, Robert, and Meredith to get out of their vehicles.
Once they were around me, I tried to catch my breath.
“What's wrong,” Jennifer asked.
“We have a problem, a big one,” I said. “We have to send someone to the church to warn them.”
“What is the issue,” Meredith asked.
“Did you ever take a class in nuclear physics?” I asked.
“No,” she answered.
"Well, here is what you need to know in a nutshell. A whole lot of radioactive, nuclear material is about to have a criticality, or go boom," I said.
“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“There’s going to be a meltdown,” I answered.
Deadly Dose
Chapter 1
Jennifer, Robert and Meredith looked at me with shock as I continued to share the bad news In the middle of trying to survive the zombie apocalypse the last threat we would expect to have to deal with was a nuclear disaster. Multiple nuclear reactors racing towards a meltdown was a terrible card to have been dealt, but thinking over, it was not really too surprising.
“How does that happen?” Jennifer asked me. ”Can it be stopped?”
Keeping watch on our surroundings to make sure the area was clear of freaks, my mind raced as I tried to figure out how to explain the situation. Thankfully, I had a basic understanding of how nuclear power worked due to the excessive quantities of arcane knowledge I had acquired over the years. All those coffee fueled, sleepless nights browsing the internet – before another day of work at Grocery World – could pay off somehow now.
“There are a few nuclear power plants in the area,” I said. “To control the nuclear reactions and the amount of heat produced, the plant must have a constant source of electricity to keep water flowing through the reactor core. Without the electricity, the fuel rods can overheat and if they get too hot, explosions can occur.”
“But a power plant is supposed to generate electricity,” Meredith stated. “Why can't the plant just power itself with some of the electricity it produces? I don't get it.”
“It just doesn't work that way. I'm not an engineer, but the plants are not designed to self-power themselves like that,” I said.
I kept looking around the streets where we stood. Apart from soldiers near the relocation center there was no one around, not even freaks. I could see our dog looking through the van window. Jennifer must have let it out of the crate.
“Can't they just shut the plant down somehow?” Jennifer asked. “Surely they have a cutoff switch somewhere.”
“It can take weeks or months for a nuclear plant to fully stabilize after a shutdown,” Robert stated. “At least that is what they said on the news after the Tsunami in Japan.”
“That's right,” I said. “And to keep the process going they need fuel to run their backup generators. From what I was just told by the soldiers, they’re running low on fuel.”
“So is a meltdown definitely going to happen?” Meredith asked. “And what would that do to us?”
I didn't want to give her an answer, because the truth was not something anyone would want to hear.
“I'm pretty sure every nuclear power plant in the world will melt down at some point, in the current situation,” I told her. “Of course we don't know if every other nation was hit so hard by the infection.”
In the distance I heard a noise. A decaying, fly ridden corpse was limping across the road towards us
“Follow me,” I said. “This will only take a second.”
Robert signaled us to stay put as he ran over towards the freak with his sickle and sliced into its head. The sight of the freak's brain oozing out of its skull would have made us nauseated a few days ago, but we had quickly become unfazed by the sight as we had started to adapt to the daily struggle for survival. Robert came back to us without any of us mentioning the incident.
“So basically, I don't know how bad the situation will become on a global level,” I continued, “But to get away from the radiation that will spread after a meltdown, everyone in this part of Georgia will have to evacuate, I'm pretty sure.”
“What will happen if we stay here,” asked Meredith?
“If the worst happens and the meltdowns breach the reactor containment buildings, radiation poisoning could kill everyone in the area,” I said. “One of us should go back and warn everyone at the church.”
“It's my church,” Robert stated. “I've been a member for the last six years, and if anyone should go, it should be me. I owe it to them. But where would I tell them to evacuate? Should I tell them to all try and make it here?”
“I don't know,” I responded. “I want to go and talk with whoever is in charge here.”
“Wait a second,” Meredith said. “You haven’t even told us if your people were here. Did you ask?”
I looked at Jennifer. Even though I didn’t want to give her more bad news, I had to be blunt.
“Your sister isn’t here. She was sent out on a bus to another relocation center two days ago. My mom was sent out last night,” I said. “However, Ms. Suzy and her family are still here.”
“Did they tell you where they were sent to?” Jennifer asked. She looked terribly disappointed.
“No, they don't know,” I answered.
“What? They don't know?” Jennifer's voice started to grow louder.
“They said t
he buses were out of radio range,” I said.
““They have to have some idea of where they were heading! I want to go talk to Ms. Suzy,” Jennifer stated insistently. “Let’s head up there.”
“Alright,” I said. “But let’s be careful. They seem to be pretty serious about security. They had a dog sniff me to find out if I was infected or not. I think we will all be okay, but I'm not sure what would happen if one of us were found to be infected.”
Meredith started to unwrap the bandage on her arm. Previously, her scratch seemed to be healing and responding well to the antibiotics we had found. We all watched as she held out her arm.
“How does it look?” she asked.
“I think it is healing,” I said. “The red streaks are fading.”
“How do you feel?” Robert asked her.
“I don't feel bad,” she said. “I can't say I feel great, but I am not running a fever or anything.”
“Do you mind?” I asked as I reached my hand towards her forehead.
“No,” she answered.
Placing my hand on her forehead, she didn’t feel as if she was running a temperature.
“You don't feel hot,” I said. “I really don't think you’re infected.”
“What if the dog can't tell the difference between someone with a staph infection and someone with the zombie plague?” Meredith asked. “Do you think they would just grab me, take me away, and shoot me in the head?”
“I highly doubt it,” I answered. “But we’re not going to take any chances. I think you and Robert should stay with the vehicles while Jennifer and me go and get some more information.”
“I need to know what to tell the people at the church,” Robert stated. “It will take a lot for me to convince them to leave. Some of the members have been attending for their entire lives. Unless I have some specific information, I don't know if I’ll be able to convince them to evacuate.”
“I'll find out as much as I can,” I said.
“I could stay here by myself,” Meredith said. “I can take care of any freaks that come my way.”
“That wouldn't be safe,” I said. “You never know when a large group of freaks may show up. With two people you have two sets of eyes.”
“Okay,” Meredith said.
“And put the dog back in the crate,” I told Meredith. “I'm scared of it getting loose.”
“Okay”.
“Stay safe, we’ll be back,” I said.
After handing her the keys to the van, Jennifer and I started walking towards the relocation center. We kept a look out for freaks as we worked our way down the worn, littered road. During the walk we only saw one of them and, it was easy to dispatch. Jennifer insisted on taking it out, and I simply watched as she quickly dug into its neck with her large butcher knife. Except for the creature's coal black eyes that continued to move in their sockets, the freak was motionless as it lay helplessly on the ground.
As we approached the relocation center, I noticed a couple of large buses and a number of military vehicles parked just inside the tall fences that surrounded the facility. Once again, a Humvee began to travel towards us. Eventually, it stopped.
This time a different soldier exited the vehicle looking tired and frustrated. He waved for his partner and the sniffer dog to join him.
“You know the drill,” the soldier I had seen earlier said holding onto the leash of Tybalt, the German shepherd. “We have to make sure you and your friend are clean.”
Jennifer cringed just a little at the sight of the large dog.
“Just relax, Jennifer. It’s not vicious,” I said.
After taking a few snorts of our scent, it walked back towards its handler.
“You’re clean,” we were told.
“We need to go inside and talk to a few people,” I said. “We were told earlier we would be allowed to do so.”
“Alright,” the soldier told us. “Climb in the back.”
We climbed into the back of the Humvee with the dog and his handler sitting in front of us. As we bounced along the pothole-ridden road Jennifer held onto my arm to stabilize herself, and I grasped onto the arm rest.
By the time we exited the vehicle, we could see a group of survivors lining up against a fence in the distance.
“They can fetch whoever you want to talk to or you can go inside,” the driver of the vehicle said brusquely.
“Thanks,” Jennifer said.
Although I would prefer to talk to Ms. Suzy and her family without a barrier between us, I was hesitant to enter the camp. From the outside, it looked somewhat sinister. Instead of just one fence, the facility had double fences which provided twice the ability to keep people out, or in. Also, on top of the tall, chain length walls were lengths of razor wire.
“We will just talk to them from the outside, for now,” I said.
“Sure, let us know if you change your mind and want to go in,” said the driver. “The processing station is located in the brown building over there.”
The term, “processing station” made me feel uneasy.
“Thank you,” I said.
Jennifer and I walked towards the fence where a dozen survivors stood looking at us. Interestingly, the inner fence of this portion of the perimeter had an open gate that allowed the occupants of the compound to stand directly next to the outer fence. It seemed like the compound had been designed this way intentionally to allow outsiders to interact with the people inside.
“Howdy?” a voice called out.
“Hello!” a woman's voice said.
“How are you?” a man asked.
I looked at the faces of the occupants and they looked tired, but everyone seemed eager to talk with someone from the outside.
“Hello,” I said to the group of people. “My name's Hank, and this is Jennifer.”
We quickly became overwhelmed with different questions being asked at the same time. One woman asked how it was out there, and another man asked if I had come across his wife and children. Other questions were asked as well. I tried to answer them the best I could, but it was difficult communicating with so many people at once.
“No, I'm afraid I haven’t seen your wife. I'm sorry,” I told one man.
“It's pretty bad out there, but the freaks seem to be slowing down just a bit,” I told a woman.
“I'm sorry, but I don't know how bad it is in Springfield,” I said to another woman asking about her hometown.
Jennifer then stepped in and took control. “We need some help. We need to talk with a Ms. Suzy Lindermann -- we know she’s in the facility.”
“Oh, I’ve met her,” a blond haired woman, wearing a gray hooded jacket, told us. “I'll go find her and bring her here.”
“Thank you very much,” I told the woman.
While Jennifer and I waited, we continued to talk with the other survivors. They said the rations were a bit meager at times, but they were being treated well. When I asked them if they were free to leave at any time, they responded affirmatively. However, according to one woman, most of the occupants were glad to have the protection of the compound. It was not luxurious, but none of the monsters could get inside.
“Have all of you been told about the situation with the nuclear power plants?” I asked a man at the fence.
“Yes, the news leaked out last night,” he said. “When we bugged the soldiers enough they gave us an update over the loudspeakers.”
“What exactly did they tell you?” I asked.
“They said we would be transferred to another relocation center soon. You see, there had been several thousand of us in here, but now there are just a few hundred. We knew they must have been busing people out for some reason or another,” he said.
Suddenly, I saw a woman with red hair walking towards me. She clasped onto the chain length fence and smiled. It was Ms. Suzy, as beautiful as ever, if a bit weary.
“Thank God,” she said. “It's so good to see you! I didn't know if you two were going to make it or not. No o
ne else from the store has shown up so far.”
“It's great to see you,” I said.
Jennifer's attempted to entwine her fingers with Ms. Suzy's through the metal fence.
“I'm so glad to see you Ms. Suzy,” she said. “I was really worried about you.”
“I was worried about you too,” Ms. Suzy said.
“Where is Katie?” Ms. Suzy asked. “Is she with you?”
“I’m sorry -- she didn't make it,” I said. “She was bitten in Sandy Hills while we were trying to get out of town. Then we were overrun and...”
I saw her eyes lower at the news.
“She didn't deserve that,” Ms. Suzy muttered.
“No, she didn't,” I said. “But you can at least know she isn’t one of them.”
“Good,” Ms. Suzy said. “That would be a fate worse than death.”
“What about everyone else?” she asked. “Remember the coach that left the store?”
“We came across the coach on our way here,” I said. “It was turned over and everyone was dead.”
A look of shock appeared on her face.
“Everyone?” she asked.
“Yes, everyone,” I said. “I'm sorry.”
“So where have you been?” she asked. “It has been days.”
“We actually had a flat tire and found a bunch of survivors in a church. They invited us in and we stayed with them a while we had our van fixed. Actually, they have a good thing going, or at least as good of a thing as you can have these days,” I said.
“Really?” she asked.
“They have their issues,” Jennifer said. “But they were pretty good to us.”
“They’re going to need to evacuate,” said Ms. Suzy. “Where are they located?”
“They’re located just outside of Egypt,” I told her. “Do you know of the town?”
Don't Dare Call Them Zombies : Books 1-4 Page 20
