Crawlerz | Book 2 | Batten Down The Hatches

by Merritt, R. S.

  “I’m sure they’re fine. Based on what you told me that base is way better protected than the other ones I’ve seen. It’s hard to get people out of the old mindset of fighting guys with guns. Fighting these things isn’t like fighting a traditional enemy. You know that. You’ve fought them. It’s completely insane how fast they are.” The Marine tapered off. He realized he’d gone down the wrong road again for someone whose brothers were trapped over there. Yue decided to show him some mercy while digging up some intel.

  “Are you going on a camping trip this time?” She asked referring to the pack he was wearing.

  “Word is we’ll be gone for a while. You’re going to have to make it through the days without my bright eyes and manly jaw here to cheer you up.” He made a silly pose and winked at her.

  “I’ll try to survive.” She deadpanned right back at him with a smile intended to take the sting out of her words. The tough acting leatherneck was probably only a year or two older than Yue. Maybe that’s why she wasn’t into him she thought wryly. The two guys she’d had her eyes on since the world had gone to hell had both been about ten years her senior. She wondered what it said about her that she kept going after the alpha males. Well, neither Blaze nor Jeff were what you’d traditionally call an alpha male. Both of them had been in positions of power and had something to offer her though. Was she doomed to be an apocalyptic gold digger?

  “Hey, I’m positive your brothers are good to go. I may even see them for all I know. We’re going in to reinforce a base and we’re headed south so you never know.” The Marine said mistaking her distraction for concern about her brothers.

  “If you do see them make sure to tell them both I miss them. I’m hoping to see them soon. Maybe you could shove them under your seat and bring them back with you.” She joked.

  “If they’d let me I would. For sure. Who knows maybe it’ll happen? Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’m already late and they seriously frown on lateness around here. I’ll see you when I get back?” He said. He leaned forward and was rewarded with Yue ducking her face quickly out of the way to give him a hug and send him on his way. She watched him walking quickly towards the other side of the carrier. By the look on his face, he’d finally figured out that he was solidly in the friend zone.

  She hoped he’d still come around and talk to her. She knew she’d miss him if he didn’t. It was a huge ship with a crazy amount of people on board, but she still spent most of her time alone. Other than Charani there really wasn’t anyone else she spent a lot of time with. She was hoping to change that with Jeff. She may be looking to use him to get her brothers rescued but she also kept catching herself thinking of him in a decidedly non-friend zone kind of way.

  She looked at the watch she’d gotten from a trashed jewelry store to see what time it was. It was a gorgeous watch that would’ve been way out of her price range pre-apocalypse. If nothing else the end of times was making stylish accessorizing much more affordable. She shook her wrist hoping the little hands were just stuck. When the tiny dials failed to move, she sighed and wondered what she was supposed to do for the next eight hours while she waited to go to dinner. Resigning herself to a whole lot of staring at the ocean she slid down to sit on the hard deck.

  Chapter 12: The Infection is Airborne

  “Good afternoon sleepyheads.” A tall Marine with a clean-shaven face was standing over them. Blaze and Drew looked up sleepily from the couches they’d passed out on in the breakroom. They were both exhausted. The light the Marine had turned on when he walked in yanked them forcefully out of the depths of an exhausted slumber. Looking over at the clock on the wall Drew saw they’d been asleep a whopping three hours.

  “Dude must be from the ship.” Blaze said sleepily. He slid his pistol back carefully into the holster on his leg. The Marine standing by the light switch never knew how close he’d come to being shot. Blaze had kept the pistol he pulled hidden under the banket he’d thrown over himself before passing out.

  “How’d you know that?” The Marine asked curiously.

  “All the Marines stationed here got killed already. I’m guessing you’re the replacements.” Drew said simply. He yawned and stood up to make coffee ignoring the Marine’s incredulous look. He was exhausted. They’d managed to tag two crawlerz right before it started getting dark. Then they’d spent most of the night shoving bodies into bags and dragging the bags around to form neat rows. Drew had no idea why they’d felt the bodies being lined up like that was so important. As soon as the sun came up, they’d opened up the door again to hunt the surgers in the field. They’d gone full auto and carried out spare rifles to make short work of the handful of surgers still left alive. Aiming mostly for the legs let them inject a few of the ones that survived.

  “Yep. That’s us. That field out there looks like something out of a movie. One of those Civil War ones where they pan across all the dead soldiers in the early morning mist at some major battleground. I thought this base was supposed to be secure.” The Marine paused as a few more men walked in including an officer. The lieutenant walked over to where a barely awake Drew was attempting to figure out the coffee pot and nudged him out of the way.

  “I’ll take care of this. Looks like you’ve been pretty busy already. I’m assuming the body bags wrapped in chains and duct tape are the specimens you collected?” The lieutenant asked while filling the filter up to the rim with coffee grounds. The smell of the coffee grounds had already perked Drew up.

  “Yes sir. We stopped duct taping the bags when we ran out of duct tape. We’ve got two crawlerz and three surgers ready to go.” Drew said impatiently waiting for the coffee machine to do its magic. He willed the machine to drip faster and provide him with the piping hot bean juice he so desperately craved. The lieutenant asked him to describe how they’d captured the creatures and Drew went through the explanation.

  “Are you sure they’re alive in those bags after all that Rohypnol you shot them up with? We took a look at the bags and they’re not moving.” The lieutenant shifted his gaze back and forth from Blaze to Drew for clarification.

  “Feel free to unwrap them and check. We can always call the ship and ask them to send more Marines.” Drew replied without thinking. He really just wanted to drink coffee and get back on the uncomfortable military issue couch for a quick three-day nap. Realizing what he’d just said he waited to see what the lieutenant’s response would be. It would’ve been a lot easier for the lieutenant to let it slide if Blaze hadn’t started laughing.

  “How about if I have you and your boyfriend check? We can always go find some more scumbags to replace you two.” The lieutenant said getting in Drew’s face abruptly. Unsure what to do Drew looked over at Blaze for help. Blaze shrugged back at him then broke into a huge yawn. The other Marines in the room were looking on with interest wondering if they were going to get to see a brawl. It wasn’t every day they got to see an officer act like one of them.

  “No disrespect sir. It’s been a long night. Those things are pretty hard to kill. I’d assume a couple of them are alive still, but I wouldn’t want to be the one responsible for taking them out of the bags and putting them into the cages. I was thinking we could just roofie them again when the time came to unwrap them. Stick the needle right through the tape and the bags. Once those things wake up and sense people around, we’re going to be wishing we had more tape.” Drew said trying to placate the irritated officer. The lieutenant took a deep breath and backed away from Drew.

  “I knew a few of those Marines who are carved up out in the field. I might even know the ones you have wrapped up in duct tape and chains waiting to be delivered back to the ship. You joke but right now the enemy outnumber us a million to one. Every man we lose just makes the odds worse. Especially since the men we lose turn into those things half the time. Sorry I overreacted. Have some coffee and forget about it.” Drew nodded at the apology and slid past the lieutenant to get to the coffee pot. He really needed to make a habit of not talking when he was
sleepy. Yue and LeBron had both complained the first month or two he’d lived with them that he was a massive bitch when he first woke up.

  “Were there more surgers out there when you landed?” Blaze asked curiously.

  “There were a few wandering around. We went ahead and took care of ‘em.” One of the Marines said. The tension had drained from the room as everyone was now primarily focused on getting caffeine into their bodies. The tension spiked back up a couple notches when an odd sound suddenly filled the room. One of the men saw that a triangle shaped phone was flashing and reached over to hit the answer button.

  “This is Special Agent Leander with the Department for the Continuation of the United States Government. I’m assuming you’re Lieutenant Wilcox from the USS Ford?” Leander said over the speaker phone. Drew and Blaze weren’t surprised at all that Leander knew who was where in the building. He’d probably been sitting in his bunk watching them on his iPad all morning. It seemed like the creepy guy kind of thing Leander would do.

  “That’s correct sir. We’re here to provide security for the base and assist in your mission. My orders are to report to you and send the specimens back with the plane.” Wilcox answered. Drew’s ears perked up. He’d been under the impression he’d be getting to fly back with the plane. Time to see if Leander would come through for him or not.

  “Ok. Are you taking additional supplies for this run?” Leander asked. Typically, the planes that landed here didn’t go back empty. The thousands of men on the carrier required literally tons of supplies daily to keep going. Providing it by air wasn’t the most efficient way to move large amounts of supplies but it was one of the ways they did it. Why waste a flight to and from a supply base if you had the opportunity to chunk in a few cases of beans?

  “No sir. The specimens are a high priority cargo. We’re supposed to send them back along with a couple of men to make sure the transport is successful. I’m assuming that means these two guys right here. They should take a crate of the Rohypnol with them now that I’m thinking about it. I don’t know if they have it on the ship or not. They can use it to keep the specimens sedated. We have cages on the plane to put them in but why take any chances.” Wilcox said.

  “Sounds good lieutenant. Make it so.” Leander said before disconnecting from the call.

  “Does he always say that?” One of the newly arrived Marines asked.

  “Nope. That’s new. He must’ve found a box set of Star Trek or something. Not much to do here besides watch movies and wait to be killed.” Drew answered before remembering he was supposed to be watching his mouth. It looked like Blaze may have something to add to the conversation as well. Before it could go downhill any further Wilcox interjected himself forcefully into the conversation.

  “I need you two to get the duct taped body bags on the dollies. For your sakes I hope you didn’t kill them wrapping them up like that. The men up there are going to escort you out to the plane and help get the infected loaded in and secure. You’ll escort the bodies back to the ship then help unload them once you arrive. You’re getting this little break from the nightmare so that you can be interviewed about what you’ve seen so far. Any questions?” Wilcox asked clearly not expecting to get any questions.

  “What happens to us after they interview us?” Blaze asked.

  “I have no idea. I didn’t know you two were the ones going back with the infected until a few minutes ago. I assume they’ll either keep you on as crew or drop you off at a camp somewhere. Either way it’s a better life than this one. I’m going to need you two to hurry or you’re going to miss the plane.” Wilcox replied before turning to leave.

  “Could my brother go with us?” Drew blurted out the question then wondered why he felt so weird asking it. When you thought about it. It was a perfectly valid question.

  “He up at the barracks?” Wilcox asked.

  “Yes sir.” Drew said feeling a sudden surge of energy. If they could all reunite and live happily ever after on the carrier that’d be the best possible scenario.

  “I’ll check. I’m talking to Leander again in a few minutes. I’ll ask him. Now get up to the hangar and get those things out the door.” Wilcox ordered.

  “Yes sir. Thank you, sir.” Drew said. He was overdoing the sirs, but he had some disrespect from earlier to make up for. Plus, if this guy could talk Leander into letting LeBron fly with them out to the carrier, he’d call him whatever he wanted.

  Up in the hangar the Marines had already strapped the man-sized bundles to five dollies they’d pulled out. The men had used copious amounts of duct tape to fasten the already well taped body bags to the dollies. Considering two of the bags were bouncing around he totally understood the jarheads reasoning. He didn’t want to get caught pushing a dolly when a very excited crawler managed to burst out of a bag either. No one wanted to be there when these butterflies of death finally emerged from their dark plastic cocoons.

  “There’s no way this is going to work out well.” Blaze said walking slowly towards one of the dollies. Drew nodded and followed him over.

  The Marines standing by the dollies laid out the plan and everyone got positioned by the door. Five of them would be pushing dollies while five others would be escorting them. The escorts would kill any surgers that got close. A seasoned Marine they all addressed as Gunny would be leading the little expedition. Drew waited until the last possible moment. He wanted to give Wilcox enough time to have asked Leander about LeBron. Seeing they were about to be starting the parade he asked Gunny if he could check with Wilcox to see if his brother would be joining them from the barracks.

  After a quick back and forth between Drew and Gunny the sergeant went back into the office where the phone was and made a call to Wilcox. Drew watched hopefully from outside the room. He didn’t want to get his hopes up but why wouldn’t they be willing to send LeBron back with them? LeBron wouldn’t just be able to answer questions about their experiences so far, he’d be able to offer up insights that anyone in charge would be able to appreciate. Drew’s excited grin disappeared at the negative expression on Gunny’s face as he hung up and walked over.

  “Sorry. The guy in charge wants to keep your brother around for now.” The news was a gut punch to Drew. He recovered quickly enough though. LeBron was fairly safe here. If the two of them were in a room together and could talk, he knew LeBron would want him to get on the plane. They needed to know what was going on with Yue. This could very easily be their one and only chance to find out. Burying his frustration Drew took his place in line.

  A minute later Drew got out of line to hand his badge to the Marine in the front of the line. Otherwise they’d have to call the barracks to get them to remotely open the door. The Marine snagged the badge and looked down at it while he was waiting for the order to open the door. Seeing the last name on the badge he looked appraisingly at Drew.

  “You happen to have a sister named Yue?” The Marine asked. Drew stopped where he was. He’d been walking back to get in line. Hearing the Marine ask the question like that a cold chill went down his spine. Expecting the worst, he turned quickly to look the man in the eye and find out what he knew.

  “I do. Have you seen her?” Drew asked. The Marine smiled.

  “Pretty much every day. She told me if I saw you to tell you she misses and loves you. Same to your brother who I’m guessing is getting left behind?” The young Marine was going to have to figure that out for himself. Gunny started yelling for everyone to get in line forcing Drew to abandon the conversation and get back to his dolly. His obsessively duct taped burden was fairly vibrating with energy trying to break out. He hoped those cages on the plane had been well constructed. His faith in duct tape was rapidly fading.

  A minute later he was running out the hangar door pushing his wriggling burden while the Marines guarding them took out the lone surger standing between them and the plane. At least the number of surgers seemed to be going down. Not that this base in the middle of nowhere with its fancy cameras and
highly armed defenders could be used as an example of what was going on across the country. The surger population may have fallen off substantially but the crawlerz were increasing exponentially. Infrared scans of the base showed the woods and other areas the crawlerz were burying themselves in glowing bright red from their body heat. It’d be suicide to leave the safety of the buildings here at night anytime soon.

  Pushing the dolly as fast as he could across the muddy weed covered earth Drew made it to the plane waiting on the tarmac. A man in a flight suit was standing at the top of the ramp holding an AR-15. Judging by the look on the man’s face he was ready to rock out with that rifle if needed. It was also pretty obvious he wasn’t super excited about someone loading the infected onto his plane. It was a scenario straight out of a ‘B’ rated zombie movie. All they needed now was Samuel Jackson to get pissed off about all the mother effing zombies on the mother effing plane.

  “Why are you smiling?” Flight suit asked Drew as he hustled up the ramp.