Detroit Reanimated

by Michael Halliday

  “Every culture has those kinds of people, but at the same time, we have great people in each race. Look at your family, Crazy Horse, Sandra. There’s also Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, Dalai Lama and Gandhi.”

  “Jesus Christ, even though I’m not a Christian,” Cameron said. “He did do some great things for people. He even brought people back to life.”

  “My father would appreciate that,” Evan said. “My mother would love you. She was into Native American art and flute music.”

  Evan stopped to laugh at a mental image of his mother meditating in the living room when he got home from school. He was twelve when he first discovered his mother listening to the music while she looked outside the window. Thinking about it now, Evan understood why a man would fall in love with Ellen Carter. She had a heart of gold, and she was loyal to her husband, despite the passive mental abuse.

  “My father called her love for the music blasphemy,” Evan said, almost in a snarl. “To him it was promoting and condoning paganism. To her, it brought her peace.”

  “What a bunch of bullshit,” Cameron said. “We had no freaking clue about your God. We had one God for the Sioux. He was the one who created everything on earth. He controlled the spirits, who are pretty much the same things as the white man’s angels. He gave us animals as guides and for sustaining us. He gave us the leaves on the trees so we know he was giving us breath.”

  “You sounded just like Matt right there,” Evan said. “Anyways, you’re preaching to the choir. I loved my mother’s way of seeing life. I hated my father for trying to shove the bible into our throats. My brother ate every word like it was an entrée. I spat it out once I knew any church was a house of unrighteous judgment.”

  “Wow,” Cameron said faintly.

  “Don’t tell Sarah I said that,” Evan said. “With all those biters wandering around, she’s barely hanging onto her faith. She needs what little she has left to lead righteously.”

  “I won’t,” Cameron said. “Thanks for keeping me awake and listening to my words.”

  “Anytime, brother,” Evan said.

  “What are you going to do for the future?” Cameron asked. “I mean, you have Matt as kind of like a son now, but do you think you might get married again? Have more children?”

  “Maybe, if the right woman comes my way,” Evan replied.

  Cameron looked back at Mandy. He then looked at Evan with a smirk.

  “Seriously,” Evan said.

  “I’ve noticed the way you two look at each other,” Cameron said.

  “If she wakes up and hears us talking about this, she’ll likely slap us both.”

  “Maybe that’s where it starts,” Cameron said jokingly.

  “You’re evil,” Evan said. He thought about the possibility of being with Mandy. “I have to take time to get over Colleen and the kids.”

  “Just remember this,” Cameron said. “Spirits cannot be held. They need to be allowed to walk the path to the Great Spirit. You can’t guide Colleen and your children there, but they know you love them. They know that you think about them. They see you in that camouflage uniform. They love you too. They always will.”

  Evan felt as if something was pulling him. He heard Cameron’s words reach out to him as if they were made to heal him mentally. Heartache grappled him for a brief moment knowing that Cameron was right.

  “What time is it?” Evan asked.

  “Almost five in the morning,” Cameron said.

  “What the hell?” Evan muttered. “Did I fall asleep?”

  “Yeah, you slept for a few hours,” Cameron replied. “We’re almost there.”

  “If this goes south, thanks for coming with me.”

  “It’s not going to go south,” Cameron said. “At least, not for us it won’t.”

  “I better wake them up,” Evan said.

  He tapped the legs of each of the back seat passengers. Byron took a few taps to wake up. He seemed to want to sleep away the fact his friend and commander was dead.

  “Gina, we may run into some shamblers,” Evan said. “If you have to, use you M4 to take them out. We don’t want to alert them with the sound of a fifty.”

  “Got it,” Gina said groggily. “Can we stop at a McDonalds for a coffee?”

  Evan and Cameron snorted. Gina grabbed her rifle as soon as the Humvee slowly made its way through a jumble of abandoned cars that appeared to have been set in place on purpose. She stood up into the gunner station to keep an eye out. A mile further down the road, they came to an odd site. A single man sat in a single chair and a small table on the side of the road. He was well armed with a military-grade assault rifle. He also wore a gun sling that held two pistols. Sitting against the table was a dandelion digger.

  He went and stood in front of the Humvee without speaking.

  “Mind getting out of the way?” Gina asked from the turret.

  “I mind,” the man replied. “Mind telling me where you stole that beast?”

  “We’re not here to play games, sir,” Gina said.

  “Where did you get that Humvee?” the man asked, almost condescendingly.

  A few seconds later, Gina repeated what Evan told her to say.

  “I’m a sergeant in the United States Army,” Gina said. “We’re in a hurry, please move out of the way.”

  “Well, that’s dandy, Sergeant,” the man said. “Who else do you have in that vehicle?”

  “That’s none of your business, sir. Are you in the military?”

  “Fuck yeah, I am,” the man replied. “I’m a colonel!”

  “Tell him you’ll shoot him if he doesn’t move,” Evan said.

  “Are you sure?” Mandy asked Evan.

  “Yes, I’m sure I’m a colonel!” the man said.

  “Shut up and get out of my way, or I will shoot you.”

  “I dare ya,” the man snarled.

  Gina fired to the left of the man.

  “Why the hell did they put a stupid broad in the gunner’s station when she can’t shoot for shit?”

  Mandy shot the dandelion digger six times rapidly. The shots tore the digger’s wooden handle to splinters. The man slowly turned his head back to Gina after seeing the display.

  “Holy fuck,” Evan exclaimed.

  “You were saying?” Gina asked.

  “Look, I’m sorry,” the man said. “I’m just a lookout. We’ve been having a lot of trouble lately by vagrants and some nut who claims he’s a captain.”

  Byron got out of the vehicle.

  “Are you in this company?” Byron said coldly as he charged toward the man. “Are you with these people? Answer me now!”

  “I am,” the man said. He staggered back away from Byron.

  Evan and Cameron got out of the Humvee next. Evan motioned to Gina to watch the area. He joined Byron to listen to the man better.

  “I got it,” Gina said.

  Byron snatched the rifle from the man’s hands.

  “That crazy captain assassinated Colonel Arthur Hummsfeld while he was meeting with people to talk peace. He’s dangerous, and he’ll take you into hell with him. Tell me where we need to go to find your commanding officer.”

  “Colonel Hummsfeld is dead?” the man asked.

  Byron stared daggers into the man.

  “Fine, you go to the left in the fork up ahead. Go north on 75 until you get to 72. You keep going until you reach the gates. You’ll know the one when you get there.”

  Byron turned away to go back to the Humvee. Evan looked the man over once. The man looked petrified.

  “You’re a captain?” the man asked Evan.

  “Yes,” Evan replied. He turned to walk back to the Humvee after Byron. “Sorry about your dandelion digger.”

  Evan got into the Humvee with a brisk shake of his head.

  “Did you hear the directions?” Evan asked Cameron.

  Cameron nodded before he put the Humvee in motion. Evan watched as the lookout gathered up his shattered digger.

  �
��I think that was the best display of marksmanship I have ever seen,” Evan told Gina.

  “Thanks,” Gina said. She glanced at Evan from the gunnery station with a satisfied smile.

  The road to the gate had plenty of obstacles that seemed to be man-made. Obviously the group involved in making the obstacles made them to slow down vehicles, not stall them. The gate was exactly as the lookout described it. Shamblers were chained to the walls on each side as if they were guard dogs. The gate was wide open for them to pass through. As Cameron drove the Humvee in, the shamblers reached out at it.

  “That’s far enough,” a guard said. “State your business.”

  “We need to talk to your commanding officer,” Cameron said.

  “In regards to,” the guard said, almost lethargically.

  “Hey numbnuts,” Evan said sharply. “See the rank on my collar? Point the way so that I can talk to your officer.”

  The guard sighed with Evan’s torment. He tried to look inside the Humvee, but the glare from the morning sun on the backseat windows masked the occupants.

  “Keep going down this road until you get to a small series of houses along the lake. He’s the gray and white house. He might be out fishing. That’s all he does. You’ll find more guards out front.”

  Cameron put the Humvee into motion.

  “Be careful of your friends out there,” Gina said. “They bite.”

  The guard wasn’t amused by the comment. He gave Gina the middle finger as they drove on. They arrived at the house the guard spoke of a few minutes later. They were met by a pair of muscular guards.

  “We’re not here for trouble guys,” Evan said when he got out of the Humvee. “We just want to talk to the commanding officer.”

  “He’s busy,” one of the men said emotionlessly.

  “We’re busy too,” Evan said. “We know about the captain that’s been causing you trouble.”

  “We don’t know what you’re talking about,” the other man said.

  “Wait a sec,” Evan said. “You must be Tweedle Dee. So that makes you Tweedle Dumbass. Now stand at attention and get the fuck out of my way.”

  Tweedle Dumbass growled before he did as Evan ordered.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Tweedle Dee asked.

  “He’s a captain,” the second guard stated.

  “He’s right,” Evan said.

  Evan glanced at Byron, who must have changed his mind about letting Evan talk. The look on Byron’s face told Evan he was enjoying this.

  ‘Knockout punch,’ Evan thought.

  “Where’s Captain Devon Martin?”

  “Out on the peer,” Tweedle Dumbass replied.

  Tweedle Dee looked exasperated.

  Something troubled Cameron to cause him to raise his rifle into the tree line across the road.

  “What is it?” Mandy asked.

  “I saw something over there,” Cameron replied.

  “We have a few jackals over in the wood from those who turned in Grayling,” the first guard said. “If they cross the road, we’ll get them. Come on. I’ll take you to the captain.”

  The first guard led the five to the pier.

  “What’s your name?” Mandy asked.

  “Mayvin,” the first guard replied. “You can keep calling the other guy Tweedle Dumbass. It actually fits. Isn’t that right Corporal Dumbass?”

  “Fuck you, Mayvin,” the second guard said. “I’m Peter Moore, former corporal. We don’t deserve our ranks.”

  “Why do you think that?” Mandy asked.

  “We didn’t stop all those people from dying in Saginaw,” Mayvin said. “The captain thought it was something to prevent the disease to spread, not kill all of them.”

  “We know,” Byron said.

  “We won’t hurt your civilians,” Peter said. “We’re not like that.”

  “There he is,” Mayvin said. “Cleaning this mornings catch.”

  Evan led the five down the long red pier. Mayvin and Peter stayed behind.

  “Hello,” Devin said when they were halfway down.

  “Hello, Captain Martin,” Evan replied. “Mind of we interrupt you for a few minutes?”

  “Are you another envoy from Traverse City?” Devin asked, tearing out the innards from a fish.

  “We’re not,” Evan said. “My name is Evan Carter. I’m a captain of the New Detroit Militia. With me are Lieutenant Byron Greene, Sergeant Gina Mantellione, Cameron Talltree, and Mandy Ford.”

  “New Detroit,” Devin said. “So it’s true then. We heard that the old city burned to the ground.”

  “Downtown Detroit is gone, and so is Windsor,” Evan said. “We came here because we have a problem.”

  “Is it Colonel Hummsfeld or Captain Spelasky?”

  “Hummsfeld is dead,” Byron said. “He was assassinated by Spelasky.”

  Devin tossed his knife at the news.

  “I knew Arthur,” Devin said. “He was a good man, but he fucked up, like I did.”

  “I was in his company. I’m now in charge of it,” Byron said. “He gave me the post of his second after all the captains turned on him.”

  “Spelasky killed him?” Devin asked. “He was here. He took nearly two squads worth of my command against my wishes, the more ambitious members of my command anyways. The rest of them don’t want anything to do with anything outside Grayling.”

  “When did he leave?” Evan asked.

  “Couple days ago,” Devin said. “He told me that he lost his men from a group of criminals from Detroit. He was going to get revenge somehow. He went into Grayling, took one of my female soldiers into his bed and then left with my men.”

  “Do you know where they went?” Cameron asked.

  “Didn’t say,” Devin said. “He knows he’s not welcome here, and when I tell the others he kill the colonel, they’ll probably kill him on sight.”

  “You said there are people in Traverse City?” Mandy asked.

  “Yeah, but you want to stay far away from there,” Devin replied. It appeared as if he had a chill up his spine. “Bunch of ingrates and bums who think they have a right to everything. They keep coming to beg for weapons and ammo. They offer their women for trade.”

  “That’s terrible,” Mandy said scornfully.

  “It’s tempting for the other guys in the company, and maybe me too, but I’m not into women. I have my husband, my boat, my lake, and this is my life now.”

  ‘Did he just say husband?’ Evan thought. ‘Well, if it makes him happy.’

  “It’s a nice place,” Evan said. “You’ve been a great help, Devin.”

  “Hey,” Devin said. “That soldier he screwed, if she’s pregnant, we don’t have anyone to do the delivery. Can we bring her down if she is?”

  “Of course,” Evan replied.

  “Then you have my word that we’ll kill Spelasky if he shows his face here again.”

  “Works for me,” Evan said. “We’ll visit to see how things are going up here.”

  When they were back in the Humvee, Evan took in a deep breath.

  “You did a fine job, Captain,” Byron said. “They may not join us, but they won’t be against us.”

  “What if he leads the shamblers away from those men of his who are stuck in Flint?” Gina said.

  “I’m not sure if he’s willing to risk his men to try that,” Byron said. “That’s the whole reason he came here. He’s writing those fools off.”

  “We need to make sure of that,” Evan said. “We can’t discount anything.”

  “You said I’m going to get fifty more men, right?” Byron asked.

  “Yeah, to help monitor the north of Detroit,” Evan replied.

  “We’ll set up checkpoints on every major road that goes north and patrol the areas in between,” Byron said. “We have weapons, and we can get vehicles. We just need support.”

  “You have it,” Evan said. “Cameron, get us back home.”

  The checkpoints were planned out as soon as Byron was back i
n Detroit. He wasted no time in sending his assigned troops out to key points to set up checkpoints. Holly, Michigan became his command center. Grange Hall Road was a boundary between the main interstates.

  Byron came up with a clever way to get rid of the need for gas by gathering horses from area stables. He happily called his command the New Detroit Cavalry. Horseback patrols were assigned hourly between Fenton and Holly.

  Byron was satisfied with the command given to him. Along with the twenty-seven remaining troops from Colonel Hummsfeld’s command, Byron became a New Detroit captain of seventy-seven soldiers. The roads became a death trap for any who wished to do harm against the survivors in Detroit. Captain Gage also provided support for the checkpoints by sending another platoon.

  The sheriff station was still heavily surrounded by thousands of shamblers. Cameron took a small group daily to check on it, along with Jeremy, Walter, Gina and Daniel. On the third day of scouting the station, they saw soldiers hanging outside the station. Cameron wasn’t sure if it was suicide or induced.

  “Where’s the doctor?” Jeremy whispered.

  “He must have been the other man with Joseph,” Walter replied.

  “We need to find that camp,” Cameron said in a whisper. “We also need to make sure Joseph is very uncomfortable. He shouldn’t be allowed to stay in a single place for too long.”

  “Count me in,” Daniel said.

  “Me too,” Jeremy said.

  “For now, we need to head back,” Cameron said. “We’re taking Beaumont tomorrow.”

  Cameron guided the group safely back to Fort Wolverine.

  Chapter 16: Next in Line

  Just three months ago, Matthew Reid stood in front of his father in his office being punished for stealing money so his friends could buy whatever they wanted.

  “So where is the money?” Pieter said in English so his son could understand.

  Matthew could barely keep up when his father spoke his native language. Matthew had an idea that his father would use German whenever Pieter would have something mean to say about him. That’s if they talked to each other at all. Matt would do whatever he wanted whether Pieter spoke to him in German or English.