Season of Rot

by Eric S. Brown

  Warren hid a smile. He wondered if he was ever as young as Brent was. “It’s okay, Private, and please stop calling me sir.” Warren nodded at the skateboard. “Looks like fun.”

  “Yes…” Brent caught himself before he ended with the word sir. “It is.”

  “At ease, soldier. I didn’t come by to give you hell. I’m working on a list of the stuff in the armory for Mike and just thought you might want to help me finish it.”

  Brent visibly relaxed. “Love to, sir.”

  Warren shot him a look. “Call me Warren, damn it, or I will end up kicking your ass after all, got it?”

  Brent nodded and started to collect his stuff from the hallway.

  “Leave it,” Warren ordered. “It shouldn’t take us long. You’ll be surfing the corridors again before you know it.”

  The base consisted of four levels. The top held the administrative areas, and the second floor housed a mixture of supply storage, generators, the armory, and things of that nature. Both the third and fourth story contained a mixture of quarters, labs and the like, but unique to the third were the communications room and security area.

  Warren and Brent got into the elevator, and Warren hit the button for the second floor. As the doors closed, he spoke up. “I’ve been meaning to ask how you got out of the attack on the convoy alive. Most everyone credits you with saving their lives, but I wanted to hear from you what really went down out there.”

  Brent shifted uncomfortably. “I just did what I had to do.”

  “I know that, soldier. I’m not looking to place judgment. It’s a miracle any of you got out. I just want to hear how you pulled it off.”

  Brent took in a deep breath and started his explanation. “We were all tired and hungry. You know how tough life on the road could be, and that was an especially bad day after you guys left. We had a hell of time getting to the rally point. Gerald was raging worse than usual, and we were forced several times to stop just so he and his crew could jury-rig some of the vehicles to keep them rolling. When we finally made it there, all anyone wanted to do was rest. There were more of the wandering dead around than usual, so Mike ordered me to round up some volunteers to help deal with them. None of us were concerned… well, not really. We just figured the slightly higher number of the dead came from being closer to a formerly populated area. I sent the regulars to their posts and was still trying to get some people to help us out when all hell broke loose.

  “Suddenly the dead were pouring like rivers out of the hills all around us. I’d never seen anything like it. They just kept coming, wave after wave of them, staggering towards the convoy. I rushed to the perimeter to try to take command of the convoy’s watchers, but the panic in the camp was too great. Almost everybody with a gun started shooting. We started having our own people caught in the crossfire…” Brent paused; crossfire wasn’t the correct word, but he couldn’t think of another one. “Some idiots were trying to shoot at the dead all the way on the other side of the camp from them. Then things got worse.

  “The rats came in, using the dead as cover. I saw Mike on top of the command car with that little guy he spends so much time with. Mike himself was using the car’s mounted weapon. I knew I couldn’t reach them, so I couldn’t ask him what to do. Rationally I guess I knew we couldn’t use the flamethrowers against the rats with so many of the dead around, but I went for them anyway. My mind kept screaming that they were our only hope against the rats. Even an automatic rifle is nearly useless if you’re facing a swarm of them.

  “I made it to the supply truck, grabbed the closest flamethrower and lit it up. Something must have snapped in me because I just let go with it. I started torching everything that moved. The rats began to keep away from the area I was in, and I realized most of the camp was already on fire. Somehow the tank had exploded.”

  “The tank exploded?” Warren asked.

  “Yeah, it was a nightmare. Anyway, a few others flocked to my position to keep the dead off me, and suddenly my little burning patch of the camp became an island of safety from the rats. We held off the dead long enough to load up anyone we could in the closest vehicles that weren’t on fire, and then we rolled out. We had to leave the truck with the flamethrowers, and it blew just as we made it out. We lost a car from the blast. I will never forget seeing those poor people being burnt alive, but I think it’s what saved us and let us get away. We tore a streak out of there and just kept running until Mike’s little buddy heard you on the radio and we were able to meet up.”

  “Stop blaming yourself,” Warren told him. “It sounds to me like you’re the only reason anyone’s alive from the convoy. I would have done the same things you did. Guess I should be glad I left you behind.”

  Brent tried to smile.

  “Well, soldier, let’s go see what we’ve got on hand in case the rats come calling.”

  “Yes, sir,” Brent said, and Warren let the “S” word slide as they entered the armory.

  #

  At 1600 hours on their seventh day at the base, the survivors assembled for the first time to discuss their plans for the future. Mike had organized the meeting and had chosen the mess hall for the location.

  By the time he and Benji entered the room, everyone except for Darren, who was working on the base’s systems while on watch in the command room, were already waiting on them. Benji broke away from Mike’s side and took a seat at the front of the small group near Michelle, Warren, and Brent.

  “Good afternoon,” Mike began, looking out into the faces before him. “I know you’re all as glad to be here as I am, so let’s start with a bit about where we’re staying. Long before the world fell apart, the government and the military were experimenting with ways of waging war that, if unleashed, could have brought about a hell similar to what we live in today. There are bases like this scattered across the U.S., but this base… this base isn’t like any of the others. It’s beyond them.

  “The most deadly bio-weapons man ever conceived were being designed here. Only a select few in the government knew this place existed. During your stay here, you have likely noticed some of the rooms are sealed off. I don’t have the codes to access those doors, and I am not certain we should open them even if we could. From top to bottom, this base was built not only to keep unauthorized personnel out, but to contain the things that were being created here if something went wrong. This base is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the safest place in the western world—maybe the whole world. In short, I believe we are as safe here as we’re ever going to be.”

  Mike paused, letting his words sink in. “So that brings us to the issues of actually living here. Most of you in at least some sort of fashion have helped take stock of the useful things this base contains. We have running water, an unlimited, shielded supply of it, so thank God for that. There’s enough food to keep us from starving for years without rationing. And Warren was quite pleased with what we found in the armory. He believes we have the firepower to make a stand if the rats find this place. The sole real concern of the base is power.

  “Though it’s partially solar powered and has a wide array of batteries and generators to help recharge them, our fuel supply is limited. Eventually some of us may be forced to venture out to obtain more, but for now we’re okay. I don’t see the need for an expedition aboveground at least for a month or two. Thus, I suggest we enjoy what we’ve been blessed with. We have plenty of time to come up with viable solutions to the fuel issue. It’s time for us to rest and live a little again in a world where so many others don’t have the luxury.”

  Benji cleared his throat and got up to stand beside Mike. “We may have everything we need, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. We need people to cook, clean, pull watch shifts, and people to try to make contact with other survivors. And people to plan for what the future may bring. The world may be dead, but life goes on and so does work.

  “Now that we’re not on the run anymore, we need a better assessment of just what everyone is capable of
and what duties they would like to take on in our new home. I’ll be meeting with each one of you over the next day or so to see where everyone can be the greatest help, then we’ll come up with a duty roster so everyone knows where they stand and exactly what they’re responsible for. Each of us will pull our own weight from now on.”

  Mike motioned Benji to silence. “With that said, if you have any questions, you’re welcome to approach Benji or myself at anytime, and we’ll do our best to address them.”

  As the meeting broke up, Mike judged that most people seemed not just hopeful but happy. He was sure eventually there would be complaints and disputes over everything from assignments to living quarters, but as a whole, things were going well and the group was on its way to a real future.

  Mike followed Benji out of the breaking crowd and into the base’s control center, where Darren was working in one of the terminals.

  “How did the meeting go?” he asked.

  Mike smiled. “As well as could be hoped for. How are things going here?”

  Darren shrugged. “I know you picked me to help out with this because, other than you, I’m the only person in this group with any computer skills…” he smiled and shook his head, “but I just ran a geek squad for an electronics store. This shit here…” he gestured at the room around them, “this is some hardcore stuff. I’m doing the best I can, but it’s way beyond me. Without the pass codes you had, I doubt I’d even be in the system yet.”

  Mike nodded. “I know what you mean. Computers were never my specialty either. I used to just take this stuff for granted when I was a researcher, and when I took over as an administrator…” Mike sighed. “Well, let’s just say delegation is a wonderful thing.” He slid a chair over to where Darren was working and sat down. “I think between my casual understanding of the system here and your knowledge of hardware, we should be able to get everything online, given time. We did get the lights on,” he said, trying to ease the tension with a joke. “So what’s still not operational at this point?”

  “Most of the internal and external security measures. I haven’t been able to gain access to the security camera feeds, or whatever the hell the more advanced system is that overlaps them in the programming.”

  “That would be the base’s bio-scanners, I think.”

  “Bio-scanners, right. This whole damn base is like something out of Torchwood.”

  “What?”

  “Torchwood? You didn’t watch a lot of sci-fi, did you?” Darren laughed. “Forget it. Doesn’t matter. Anyway, we do have power. I have control over all of the base’s doors except the ones that I think lead into the high-clearance labs and a few of the more scientific supply areas. I have gotten the communications array working, including the intercom system. One thing scares me though. If this base’s bio-scanners, or whatever you called them, were ever triggered to a threat, there’s no way in hell I’d be able to override them. We’d be trapped down here.”

  “I don’t see how that’s a problem,” Benji chimed in. “Have you read Warren’s report on the armory? We could just blast our way out if it came to that.”

  Mike and Darren looked at him as if he were an idiot.

  “Benji, do you really think they’d build this place to where someone down here could get out if something went wrong inside of it?”

  “Darren’s right,” Mike agreed. “I doubt a point-blank nuke could rupture this structure. If it goes into lockdown, we’re finished… but at least it won’t be the rats that get us.”

  “You got that right,” Warren said, making them all jump as he appeared in the doorway.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Mike asked.

  “Not much to do around here, in case you hadn’t noticed. Besides, I had something I wanted to ask you. But if you’re busy, I can come back.”

  “No. No, not really. We’re still just trying to figure things out in here. What was it you wanted to ask?”

  “Just something I’ve been wondering about since we got here and found the main outer doors open. I can’t believe no else has asked it yet.”

  “Well?” Mike prompted.

  “Where the hell is everyone, Mike? You don’t build something like this and leave it unmanned. I don’t care if the F-ing world is falling into Hell; even if people were called out and some abandoned their duties to try to reach their families, someone would have stayed. Shit, Mike, we haven’t found a single corpse.”

  Mike stared at Warren as the soldier’s words sank in. “My God… You’re right. How in the hell have we been so stupid? There should have been a skeleton crew at least to keep the base operational. This place is too much for the government to just write off.” Mike whirled on Darren. “We need the security systems online now! We have to know if we’re alone, or if there are others in the base with us.”

  “Be my guest,” Darren said, getting up and offering his tools to Mike.

  “Shit!” Mike plopped into Darren’s seat and ripped open a panel on the console. Darren moved out of his way. “Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Mike snapped at him. “Get back here and help me!”

  Benji glanced at Warren and caught what appeared to be a quick smile pass over the man’s rough features. “I’ll get us some coffee,” Warren said and turned to leave the room.

  As Warren left, Benji found the nerve to speak up again. “But wouldn’t we have seen anyone by now if they were here?”

  “This base is huge, Benji,” Mike answered without looking up from his work. “And they’d know it better than we do. For all we know, they could be holed up in a safe room somewhere, biding their time.”

  “Biding their time for what?”

  “A chance to take back the base,” Mike said.

  Warren returned minutes later with a steaming cup of coffee in his hand. He took a sip as he watched Darren and Mike fighting with the base’s systems. They’d long since given up any fix short of manually bypassing the security protocols.

  “Damn it!” Mike shouted. “This is taking too long!”

  “Uhh… Mike,” Warren said, trying to get his attention. He didn’t look up. “Mike.”

  “What?”

  “There’s no army hidden in the base to try to kill us,” Warren said calmly.

  Mike almost ignored Warren and went to throw himself back into his work, but he caught a glint of humor on Warren’s face. He stopped and glared at him. “How can you know that?” he asked carefully.

  “The armory,” Warren informed him. “When Brent and I were cataloging it, we noticed a few things missing from what should have been there. Two rifles, a handful of pistols, some ammo. Just a bit here and there. The other inventory reports you had for the meeting showed similar things, just a bit missing here and there. The way I see it, there were likely one or two people living in this place when got here—maybe three if someone was injured. They likely saw us coming but for some reason couldn’t close the main doors in time, so they grabbed what they could, locked down the labs, and tucked themselves away when they realized there were too many of us for them to fight. Right now, I bet they’re tucked away, scared shitless, waiting on us to leave.”

  “You knew there was someone else here this whole time and you’re just now telling me a week later?”

  “No, I suspected. When I overheard about the problems you were having with the security systems, that confirmed it for me. You’ve been able to get the ones outside working just fine, but the internal ones… That’s because they shut them down hard to protect themselves. It’s what I would’ve done in their place. Though if these people were anything like me, most of us would be dead, picked off one or two at a time to even the odds, which makes me think these people, whoever they are, aren’t looking for a fight. They’ve had their chance to strike first and they let it slip by.”

  “So you’re saying we shouldn’t be worried?” Darren asked.

  “No, I didn’t say that. We need to find them. We need to let them know we’re not a threat before they ge
t so desperate they do something stupid.”

  “I’ve got it!” Mike shouted. The security console came to life. Not just a random screen here and there but the whole board of monitors, showing eight of the interior rooms, including the one they were in. They could now cycle through the cameras and, in theory, see most of the base, but more importantly the bio-scanners were online too.

  Darren double-checked Mike’s work. The last thing they needed was for the system to short out or blow.

  Mike clicked on the bio-scanner screen and a two-dimensional map of the base appeared. Little green dots spotted the map, most of them moving.

  “Those dots represent everyone alive in the complex. See how there are four dots here?” Mike pointed at the room they were in. “That’s us. So five of you came back from the fuel run and eighteen of us escaped the attack on the convoy, so how many dots do we have?”

  “Twenty-four,” Warren answered. “One person too many.”

  “But how do we know which dot isn’t one of us?” Darren asked.

  “Normally, I would say we couldn’t,” Mike said, “but luck has made it easy for us.” He pointed at the screen again. “He or she is camped out in the number-four lab. We haven’t been able to get into the high-security labs yet, so there’s no way that’s one of us.”

  “I think it’s time we paid them a visit,” Warren said, ready to get down to business.

  “Hold on,” Mike urged. “We may have gotten these systems online, but we still can’t open those doors. I don’t think going down there and banging on them is a good idea for any of us.”

  “So what do we do, Mike?” Warren asked, clearly annoyed. “Station a guard by them twenty-four seven and wait for whoever it is to get desperate enough to come out on their own?”

  “Actually, I was just thinking we’d use the base’s intercom. We can talk to whoever it is in there without putting any of our people at risk.”

  Warren thought it over and nodded. “Agreed. But I’m still going down there, just in case whoever’s in there gets spooked and comes out, guns blazing.”