Detroit Reanimated

by Michael Halliday

  “So am I,” a voice in the darkness said.

  Three of Eric’s soldiers instantly raised their weapons at the direction the voice came from.

  “Show yourself,” Eric growled.

  A lone man walked out. He wore completely black attire and night vision goggles. He was also unarmed.

  “Do you have a death wish?” Eric asked.

  “I’m not here to cause anyone any harm,” the man said. “I am guarded though, so make sure we keep this civil.”

  “I have four squads in these barracks,” Eric warned. “You best start explaining who you are, and what you want.”

  “My name is Lieutenant Byron Greene. I’m here to speak for Colonel Arthur Hummsfeld. We’ve been watching you for most of the day.”

  “You need to understand that you’re serving a wanted man,” Eric stated. “You are aiding a condemned officer of the military, which means you are also wanted.”

  “Arthur made a huge mistake,” Byron said. “We saw you have August Daley here with you. Why aren’t you holding her accountable for what happened at Farmington?”

  “There’s a difference,” Evan said. “Lieutenant Daley didn’t contaminate food that was fed to thousands of men, women and children. Your colonel committed genocide. That’s not a mistake.”

  The dim light from Eric’s lantern showed the man shrug at Evan’s insinuation.

  “You got me there,” Byron said. “He’s haunted by what he’s done, sir.”

  “Why did you come?” Evan asked.

  “We want to talk about peace,” Byron replied. “If we have to turn ourselves in, we will. You don’t want that, not right now. We’re the only ones keeping you apart from a serious problem.”

  “Joseph Spelasky,” Eric said.

  “That’s correct. He’s off the deep end, and blood thirsty.”

  “Where is he?” Eric asked.

  “He’s currently residing in Flint, which in about two or three days will be filled with hundreds of thousands of reanimated citizens we are taking from Farmington Hills. We want him to stay there.”

  “I must apologize,” Eric said. “I was thinking Hummsfeld was a friend to Spelasky.”

  Byron released a hysterical laugh at the remark.

  “Considering Arthur can’t go…” Byron said before there was a thud. He toppled to the ground unconscious.

  Cameron stood over the lieutenant’s body with the butt of his rifle ready to strike Byron again.

  “You’re too good at that, Cameron,” Eric said.

  “I better be,” Cameron replied. “Steve, Gina, bring them out.”

  Gina and the former BIA agent came out of the darkness wearing night vision goggles over their brows. Their rifles were aimed at the backs of three men.

  “Look what we found,” Steve said. He tossed three more sets of goggles next to Byron’s body.

  “We’ll have to get the rest of what he has to say when he wakes up,” Eric said.

  “You’re awake,” Evan said.

  He sat against the wall closest to the cell where Byron was placed.

  “Yeah,” Byron said. “I have the mother of all headaches to welcome me back.”

  “You likely have a concussion,” Evan said.

  “Not again,” Byron muttered.

  “What?” Evan asked.

  “Second time in a week I’ve been captured. I’m going to tell Arthur I’m done. I was shot in Flint, which gave me a broken rib, and now this.”

  “Not a good week,” Evan said. “I told Eric I would be willing to talk to you.”

  “Where are the others?” Byron asked.

  “We sent them back early this morning. You’ll be leaving right after we talk. I can also arrange a doctor friend of mine to check that concussion for you.”

  “That’s the least you could do,” Byron said. “Look, Arthur knows he’s in purgatory for what he’s done. He’s being eaten alive daily by his guilt, but he’s trying to make up for it by protecting all of you civilians. Eric should have told you that there’s a two edge sword.”

  “’One side is an officer may think the order to kill civilians only applies to those who were at the refugee shelters,’” Evan recalled what Eric had told him. “’The other side is sworn to carry out the order regardless.’ Eric did tell me.”

  “Arthur is the first example,” Byron said. “Joseph is your Ernest Medina, but he’s far worse than that.”

  “Who is Ernest Medina?” Evan asked.

  Byron came to the bars closest to Evan to sit by him.

  “Captain over the My Lai massacre in Vietnam,” Byron replied. “Joseph had his men go around shooting civilians who died too slowly. Like our company, he had a lot of men desert their posts. We had a few come to us. They told us some of his best men sodomized corpses, tear them apart, take off heads and throw them around like beach balls.”

  Evan was sick to his stomach.

  “You don’t want that man anywhere near your set-up,” Byron said.

  “What about Colonel Hummsfeld?”

  He rested the left side of his head against the wall while he spoke.

  “Arthur was a standout man in the Army for two decades. He recently took the position in the National Guard because he had the greatest plan to train troops. I started out as an E1 in his company. I’m his top man now. But when we were in the army, he was the colonel over 3 Battalion, which he had four awesome captains over his companies. I was in his headquarters battalion in both the army and guard. He was the inspiring men I’ve ever met.”

  “He helped you climb the ladder?” Evan asked.

  “Me and Lieutenant Daley both,” Byron said. “Daley was his favorite officer in the HHC. She had a bark and a bite to keep those lazy bastards moving. She was also moral, ethical and just. Sorry, she is. When we found out she was alive, Arthur felt he had a chance he could redeem himself. She had that tragedy over her camp, yes, but she never had the intention of killing those people. He gave her that command over Farmington, you know.”

  “How did Spelasky get the third camp?” Evan asked.

  “Beats the hell out of me,” Byron replied. “We were activated by the governor, and he put the colonel in Warren because of the potential numbers of refugees. Arthur asked the governor to place me in Sterling Heights, and August in Farmington. I assure you, sir, Detroit would have had two red dots over those camps. Three if Arthur knew what that metal cylinder was that he was given. We talked about it. Why wasn’t I over that camp?”

  Byron was silent for a moment.

  “We were so strapped,” he finally said. “Arthur had an infantry company from his battalion and his HHC. Captain Spelasky was given another of Arthur’s companies, and August was given only two squads. That was a fucking joke and a slap in the face for August. She could easily handle Arthur’s third company. Can you imagine that? Two squads could never handle potentially two-hundred thousand plus people. That’s if Dearborn got their people to Farmington. What if there was a riot?”

  “I’ve always liked the word fubar,” Evan said. “This is all fubar.”

  “This was the mother of all fubar situations,” Byron said, nodding his head. “’It can never happen here.’ News flash, Mr. President, it happened.”

  Evan had studied Byron since they had begun talking. Byron didn’t seem to be a man plagued by guilt. Just by the circumstances every living human in the country faced. Byron was ok in Evan’s book. Evan stood up to unlock the cell door.

  “Let’s get you checked out,” Evan said.

  “I don’t know your name, but I hope you and your people can come out of this ok. I’ll do my part to make sure that psychopath doesn’t hurt another soul.”

  “Evan Carter. Thank you for all the information.”

  “Arthur will want to talk to the major,” Byron said. “He has more survivors hidden that you all could use to help your cause, a sheriff, some deputies, and their families.”

  “We’ll welcome them if they check out,” Evan said. �
�The sheriff may know the best way to get in Flint to kill that captain.”

  Chapter 14: Fort Wolverine

  “Sarah!” Evan screamed.

  Sarah lay half submerged in a ditch filled with water and blood. She had been shot down by one of the Humvees that still slowly rolled down the streets of The Eye neighborhood. A soldier in the turret placement fired on anything that moved. Evan waited until the Humvee turned a corner.

  Evan himself was shot in the stomach. Blood ran freely from the wound. Despite the pain that consumed him. Evan made an effort to get to his feet. He stumbled quite a bit as he made his way to Sarah’s unmoving body. When he got to the ditch, Evan stopped. His heart shattered when he saw his niece also lying in the ditch near Sarah.

  “No, God, please not this,” Evan said when he went into the ditch. Screaming from the pain, he dragged Tracy’s body out to discover she was shot in the forehead. “Joseph, I’ll fucking kill you!”

  Panic gripped Evan suddenly when he realized he was completely alone. He had no idea where the others were. Eric was executed by Joseph almost immediately when the captain arrived.

  After he dragged Sarah out of the ditch, he stabbed her in the forehead with his knife so she wouldn’t reanimate.

  Evan staggered toward t safe zone. Between the trees, Evan could see a large pillar of smoke rise from where the zone sat. There was sporadic gunfire and explosions in the direction Evan was going.

  Evan lost his strength rapidly. He wasn’t sure if he’d make it to the safe zone before he bled to death. To Evan’s right, he heard multiple growls and groans. He slowly turned his head.

  Dozens of shamblers stood looking at him with starving eyes.

  “Get back, Evan!” Cameron snarled.

  Cameron came forward with his glaive-like blade. Blood ran freely from different areas of Cameron’s face and chest. When Evan tried to move, he fell to the ground. He was dying from blood loss. He was sure that he also suffered severe internal bleeding, as he felt a building pressure in his abdomen.

  “Did you hear what I said?” Cameron yelled. He didn’t know that Evan had fallen. When he looked back, he saw Evan struggling to even get on his hands and knees.

  “I can’t,” Evan said with a pant. He tasted blood in his mouth.

  Cameron started to hack down shamblers as quickly as he could. He grew fatigued as more and more arrived from reanimated guardsmen.

  Gunfire sounded very close. Evan looked to where Cameron was fighting off the undead, but the Sioux was now lying on the ground.

  “Cameron?” Evan said quietly. Cameron didn’t respond. “Cameron!”

  Evan couldn’t keep the shamblers away from his friend other than get them to go after him. He was almost dead anyways.

  “Hey! Come to me!” Evan yelled.

  The undead heard him. They started after him, which made Evan regret his decision. He couldn’t move fast enough to get away. They were on him in seconds, dragging him down and devouring him. Other things took their attention as the minutes passed by. Evan was left behind mutilated.

  A single carrion eating beetle found Evan some time later. It wandered onto his partially eaten arm to begin feasting on the remains. Two hours later, Evan’s body was swarming with the beetles. Some crawled below the surface of the skin that appeared to be a moving lump. One beetle chewed through the flesh on his cheek.

  Evan’s mottled and jaundiced eyes reopened.

  “No!” Evan yelled when he woke up.

  “Evan, are you ok?” Matt asked from the other room.

  Evan didn’t answer right away. His heart pounded like a drum in his ears.

  “Evan?” Matt said from the doorway.

  There was no light in the room whatsoever. There was a new moon that offered nothing naturally for light. The generator for TownePlace was shut down for the night. Matt seemed to find his way in the dark, as Evan felt something create light pressure on his bed.

  “I’m fine,” Evan said.

  “That was a hell of a nightmare, man,” Matt said.

  “The worst one yet,” Evan replied. “Did I wake you up?”

  “I think you woke up the dead,” Matt quipped.

  Evan laughed at the boy’s humor.

  “Can I sit down?” Matt asked.

  Evan turned on a battery powered lantern so Matt could see to sit down. He patted the bed beside him. Matt sat down facing Evan with an expecting look. Evan told him about the entire dream after asking how much the boy wanted to know. When Matt said the entire thing, he received the entire dream. His face was pale when Evan was done.

  “How long did the colonel postpone the meeting?” Matt asked.

  “A week,” Evan replied. “He wants to see if the shambler trick worked.”

  “That’s crazy,” Matt said. “How did they lead all of them to Flint?”

  “I don’t know. I’m guessing they found something to create enough sound that kept the shamblers’ interest. We have a big day tomorrow Mister Matt.”

  “Tomorrow’s the election,” Matt said.

  “That’s true, and the creation of the new society,” Evan said. “They’re implementing the militia too. Now that the National Guard building and Selfridge are taken, and the trench around the safe zone is done, we’ll start forming the new companies.”

  “Evan Carter, ‘Captain of Company C,’” Matt said with a grin. “You have a new title for the new world.”

  “I still think Eric is teasing me,” Evan said. I’m sure there are plenty of people in his command who could take the position.”

  “Take it, maybe,” Matt said. “Run with it and be successful, most likely not.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Evan said with a lop-sided grin.

  “What are friends for?” Matt asked. “I’m going back to bed.”

  “Goodnight, Matthew,” Evan said. He stood up to give Matt the hug Evan knew he wanted.

  Matt jogged off to his room.

  “The votes are in,” Robert said. “We have a complete turnout for our first election, so I’ll take them to have them counted. Good luck to the nominated.”

  Sarah stood next to Scott in the TownePlace reception hall. The hall and the adjacent banquet room were crowded with survivors and soldiers. Absolutely no one was left out of the proceedings. Sarah and Scott agreed that the first election for the outright leader had to be open to all with no campaigning.

  Outside, rain fell in sheets. It had rained since early morning. It didn’t appear that it would end anytime soon. Thunder caused a long rumble that rattled the walls, floors and furniture.

  Robert even used the word ‘shenanigans’ to describe any dirty tricks. Sarah wasn’t the type of person to try anything. She wanted the leader to be elected on merits. She told everyone that both candidates were excellent at providing what the survivors needed.

  Eric, August and Evan were all held out of nominations. Eric and August refused to be nominated. Evan decided he wanted the position of captain of company c. The decision negated him from being nominated. Eric agreed to take the position of Commander General of the New Detroit Militia.

  The tally of votes took an hour to complete. Robert came out of the room with the results.

  “With a vast majority, the people have selected Sarah Carter as the first leader. Sarah, do you accept the position?”

  “I do,” Sarah replied.

  “Sarah, do you have any preference for a title?” a survivor in the crowd asked. Sarah was uncertain who it was.

  “I’ll just use ‘Sarah.’ No queen, or president, or mayor. Let’s just use plain ‘Sarah.’”

  “What do you think we should call our new society?” Nikki asked.

  “How about we call this New Detroit?” another person asked.

  “I like that,” Sarah said. “New Detroit it is then. Feel free to ask questions everyone, but come to the front to ask them. You all deserve to be seen and heard.”

  Sarah received a round of applause for the comment.
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br />   An elderly woman was the first to approach. Despite the appearance of her age, she seemed to move around quite spryly.

  “The role of leader is not always a glorious one,” the old woman said. “What will the laws be in New Detroit?”

  “Wonderful question,” Sarah said. “Tell everyone your name.”

  “I’m Doris Beam.”

  “Doris, you’re right. It won’t always be easy as a leader. We must have laws in place, but we can’t live in a world where everything has a law. We need to make things simple, practical, and add common sense with that. We will have three major laws that could grant a person serious trouble. Murder, rape and theft will be punished by execution. Such savage acts cannot be acceptable.”

  The room exploded with applause with Sarah’s announcement. The banquet room also joined in as the words were sent over speakers powered by a generator.

  “There is another grisly rule we should think about accepting,” Sarah said once the room quieted down. “From what we have discovered, we all have the chance to reanimate now, from God knows what. When a loved one passes away, we should consider a humane way to prevent that person from suffering anymore. Planting a blade or a spike into a person’s skull will cease any chance of reanimation.”

  Sarah received another round of applause, but Evan saw the people wore morbid expressions.

  “It’s a tough new world we live in,” Nikki said to support Sarah’s proposal. “Such things are needed now. I had to do it to my husband who was killed on the way here. It’s a necessary precaution.”

  “Thank you, Doctor Silver,” Evan said. He gave her a caring smile.

  “All those in favor, raise your hands,” Sarah said.

  Like the vote to make her the leader, nearly every hand rose.

  “Next question,” Sarah said.

  “My name is Peggy Wilson. What are some of the things we can look forward to in this new civilization?” a woman with two young children asked.

  “The great thing about this new world, we don’t need money to do what we know is right. Education is the utmost importance. We have teachers here willing to teach because it’s what they love to do. We will set up a school. We still have a lot of work ahead of us on how we want to run it. Stephanie McCauley, are you here?”