That last statement was a dagger straight to my heart. This was my best friend, my brother. I leaned against a cinder block wall and covered my face as tears broke free from my eyes rolling down my face and absorbed into my beard. It was then I heard a voice right in my ear, a warm breath across my neck.
“You have not failed Dan, he is in the dark and has nothing to hold onto. He is a boat with no engine trapped in the waves of a hurricane, he has no direction and no support. Julie is still alive, go north, go fast my Sasquatch. I will watch over you and guide as I can,” a pair of lips pressed against my neck lightly. I spun around to find nothing.
No Dan
Dan turned off the satellite phone and put it down on his desk. He was alone in his office, and it would seem that he was also alone in his life. His Julie, and father were gone, lost. Ridder had gone too far, and Brian had failed him. He felt a pang of sorrow at the thought of Brian failing him. He shouldn’t feel that way, but he was hurt. He was in the dark without light, without a someone to hold onto. Even his Angel had stopped talking to him. He grasped his head in his hands and closed his eyes tight, a massive headache threatening to rip his head apart. Tears streamed from between his fingers and pooled on his desk. He felt useless, yet he had so much power at his fingers. He could do something to hurt Ridder. He was no longer going to react to them, it was time to go on the offense. He wiped his eyes clear, blew his nose into a tissue. and took a heavy swig of his hot coffee.
“Chief!” Dan yelled out.
The hatch to his compartmented office undogged and opened. A heavily muscled Asian man stepped in. He snapped to attention. “Yes, Mister President?”
“I need Kuppers, Holston, Langham, and Schlesinger to meet me in the war room and get Chun on the radio ASAP.”
The man snapped a salute and dropped it quickly, suddenly remembering that Dan hated formalities. “Consider it done Mister President,” he turned and stepped out of the compartment and spoke into his radio.
Dan stood from his chair and grabbed two buried folders under a mountain of others. He had a lot of planning to do. He stepped around his desk, turned around and snagged his mug of coffee. He thought he heard a faint voice, but shook it off as part of his headache.
“No Dan,” the female voice sighed.
Round up a posse
I slid the phone back into my pack and cracked my neck. A hand pounded on my back, and I swung around ready to tear the offending appendage from the body it was attached to. I stopped as I found Nunzio looking up to me.
“You look like shit dude,” the man offered.
“Yeah well, what’s new?” I fought down my abrupt anger and emotions. “I just talked to the President, and we have new orders. Once we get out of here, we have been tasked with finding his dad, and Julie.”
“What is he thinking? He wants us to somehow discern where these two people are, fight through an army of dead, possibly take Ridder on just so he can have his loved ones? What about everyone else’s loved ones?”
He had a point, but I was made to follow orders not question them. “Nunzio, our President gave a us a direct order. Are you suggesting we ignore them?”
Nunzio bit his bottom lip and thought it through before answering me. “Fuck!” he snorted and balled his fists to the sky. “So, what is the fucking plan? We don’t have any fucking intelligence to figure out where they are in this big country.”
“I think I do have an idea. We go north, up toward Seattle. The new leader of the Ridder West Coast has made that his stronghold. There is no way a big group could pull this off, but we are small team of highly intelligent and wily bastards. We will win at all costs Nunzio.”
“Great speech, you hairy bastard. Now tell me who this short limping fucker is, and what is this Big Baby he keeps rattling about?”
I filled him in on the details of the idea and set him on course helping Moonie. I had another call to make. The satellite phone rang in my ear until a man’s voice answered.
“Hey Cowpoke, I was wondering when I was going to hear from your big ass,” Doc’s voice came across the line.
I smiled hearing the man’s voice. “Listen, I am in a bit of trouble and need some help.”
“What the fuck else is new? You are always in trouble. You need a real cowboy to come rescue you?”
“We will get to that, first I need some intel,” I explained our situation at the base and how we were going to get out. I asked for help pulling satellite intel of our path toward Interstate I-5, the main highway connecting San Diego with Canada.
“I can give Amanda a call, but why don’t you ask the President. You two are buddies enough for that.”
“Look Doc, just do me a solid.”
“Hmm… I can do that,” there was a pause for a moment on the line. “What else do you need brother?”
I looked down to my feet and smiled. I cleared my throat and put on my best cowboy accent. “Round up a posse, we got a job to do.”
There was another quiet pause, but this one lasted a little longer. That is until Doc busted out laughing. “I am sure I could rustle up a couple of ranch hands, things here at the facility are as boring as shit son. I’ll get you your intel and start moving your way.”
“I knew I could count on you Doc.”
“Always. Keep your ass from getting bitten off and we will see you soon,” the call disconnected, and I stood there feeling a little better.
I surveyed the work going on the Big Baby and gained a new appreciation how well my new team of warriors worked together. With the addition of my SWAT family, I was sure we could deliver some real hurt on Ridder while finding Julie and Eugene. I peeled out of my gear and blouse and jumped in with both boots to help the team with the heavy lifting.
Two hours later I stepped away from the team when my satellite phone started to ring. I grabbed a shop towel and wiped the sweat from my chest and stomach. My hair was matted down, and I was breathing hard. What I wouldn’t do for a shower right about now.
“Go for Sasquatch.”
“I got your intel.”
“Great drop it on me.”
“Your phone can handle video. Hit the camera button on the screen.”
I raised an eye brow and stared down at the phone’s screen looking for the camera icon. I found it and pushed down it, then pulled the phone away from my face. The screen flickered for a moment before Doc’s sour looking expression popped on the screen.
“Holy fuck boy, put a shirt on. Looks like you got stung by a shit ton of bees and your chest swelled up,” Doc delivered in his best dead pan drawl.
I pulled the phone further away and lifted my right arm flexing my big bicep. “You should’ve eaten your veggies, you could’ve grown up to be a big man like me,” I dropped my arm and made my pecks bounce up and down.
“Holy hell, Lewis is one lucky guy!” a woman’s voice came over the line. I looked down to find Apache fighting with Doc for the phone.
“Hey Apache, good to see you doing so well.”
“Hey Sasquatch. You know you’re are supposed to lift barbells, not eat them.”
I slapped my forehead and shook my head. “That is what I have been doing wrong all this time. Thanks for the info babe. So, what do you and Doc have for me?”
Doc wrested the phone away from Apache and turned the camera to show a satellite photo. “That one is a wide shot around Travis. Things look shitty for you buddy. That base is crawling with undead.”
“I can look out any window and see that cowboy. What else you got for me?”
“How about the rest of your route? If you can get onto I-80 East, you can take that to the 505 North. The rest of the route looks good, only some basic abandoned vehicles. No hordes big enough to show on satellite. You just need to break out of Travis and get through Vacaville.”
I studied the photos he showed me and withdrew my tablet from my pack and traced our path on it. “Okay we can do this. We have a massive HET that we have been modifying and up-armoring to g
et us out of here. I’ll call you when we break free, thanks for everything Doc.”
“I’ll be seeing you soon,” Apache reached around Doc and waved.
“Love you too Apache. Hope you are on the mend hun.”
“I can still outfight half of these monkeys even in my state. Love ya, Sasquatch,” with that the call ended.
I stowed the phone and tablet back in my bag and shrugged back on my blouse. I surveyed the Big Baby and laughed quietly at how “Mad Max” the entire thing was beginning to look. All we needed was a heavily pierced, tattooed guitarist, with flames coming out of the stacks.
Get the wheels in motion
Dan sat at the conference table with his war council. To his left sat Langham and Schlesinger. To his right Kuppers, Holston, and on the phone Chun. Dan’s eyes seemed sunken and red-rimmed. He had been living on coffee, no food, and little sleep. He closed his mind off to the voice that kept trying to talk to him. He was tired of being told what to do, he was going to do what he had too now. He re-read the document in front of him.
Dan removed a pen from his shirt pocket, uncapped it, and with a flourish signed his name. “Mission Gambler’s Lament is a go. Chun, take Aces and Teams One and Three out to the outskirts of Vegas, recon and report back. I will have a squadron of fighters and bombers on standby to back you up. I want the Ridder and zombie threat neutralized, before you move Joseph and his team in. He will get to work on the inoculation, you need to assign a team to his side. He goes nowhere alone. Hear me?”
“Yes, Mister President. I will jump on that right away,” the phone disconnected.
Dan moved the folder and contents he had just signed off on aside and retrieved a new one. This one had the name Devil’s Breath emblazoned on the front. Dan sighed as he opened it and signed his name in a flourish. He turned to Schlesinger and handed him the folder.
“Get the wheels in motion. I will send you a timetable once I hear back from Brian.”
Schlesinger bowed his head in defeat. “Sir, of course I will do my duty to see my orders out to the best of my ability, but again I want to go on the record that I think this is a bad idea.”
“Noted, get it done Admiral,” Dan turned his attention to the next two files. He handed one to Kuppers and one to Langham. “Kuppers, I will rely on you to get this done. I expect everything will go off without a hitch. Langham, scrounge up as many pilots as you can find. We have enough planes and armament, it is time to get them in the fight,” Dan poured his attention into his notebook. He stopped and looked up a moment later. “Now people, get to work! Holston, you stay.”
Langham, Kuppers, and Schlesinger stood quickly, snapping to attention. Dan gave them a hurried salute and went back to his notebook. The three of them stepped out of the compartment and moved down the corridor, before stopping away from other ears. Schlesinger, was pale and wiped his sweaty upper lip.
“Kuppers, I am not one to ever question my superiors, much less than the President, but this right here is madness,” Schlesinger waved the folder he held at Kuppers.
Kuppers bit his upper lip and stared at Schlesinger. “Do as you are told, I will keep my eye on the orders. You need to understand this man Dan, I have been with him since day one of this war. He really is the savior, he will save people. He does know that, as he knows some will have to die for others to live. Still, I do not think he will go that far.”
Langham looked down to her folder. “You understand we are going to lose precious planes and pilots if I cut these orders?”
“Put Vader in charge and cut the orders. Out of all these plans, that one there, is the one I think that has a highest chance of success. Again, I’ll take full responsibility for the President’s orders and decisions,” Kuppers removed a doo rag from his back pocket, wiped his brow, and pushed it through his hair.
The three turned and moved together toward the bridge of the Reagan. Two of them needed a radio, and Langham was going to have to sit down with the one person she couldn’t stand.
That’s mighty fine of you Bucko
Doc busied himself loading supplies onto a pallet while Hase stood by with Apache in his arms. She was being surly, tired of sitting behind a desk. She wanted to get back into the fight, and Hase was trying to talk her down. Chun came out of the facility and stood in the dying light of the sun as he looked over Doc and what he was doing.
“Doc, where are you going? I saw no orders,” Chun strode quickly over to Doc.
Doc stopped and ran a finger over one side of his long dropping mustache. “I don’t believe you are in my command structure boy,” he squinted down at Chun.
“Woh! I was not ordering you brother. Just asking what was up,” Chun held his hands out in front of him trying to calm Doc.
Doc chewed his big wad of bubblegum for a bit as he stared at Chun. “Me and my team are heading out to help the mighty Sasquatch. He is in a bit of trouble and needs the posse to come rescue his big hairy ass.”
Chun put on a confused look and shook his head. “I haven’t heard anything about that.”
“That’s because it is not an official signed off order.”
Chun tried to stare holes into Doc, but he should’ve saved it for someone weaker. Doc stared right back at him, his right index finger tapping the butt of his holstered pistol. Chun shook his head slightly and raised his eyebrows. “I didn’t see you, I didn’t see these supplies, and I have no idea where the fuck you and your people went. Not my job to watch you.”
“That’s mighty fine of you Bucko.”
Hase came over to the two men as they stared at one another, holding Apache in his arms. “What are you two numb nuts doing?”
“Nothing, because I didn’t see any of you,” Chun turned and moseyed away toward Butch, who had been leaning against a wall to the facility’s entrance, arms crossed watching the scene play itself out.
“What the fuck was all that about?” Hase pointed his chin at Chun.
Doc blew a big bubble, popped it, shrugged and said, “I have no idea what the fuck you are talking about. Now go put that woman in the C-130 and get out of my face pardner,” Doc nodded his head to Apache and moved past her back to his duties.
“You have any idea what is going on here?” Hase asked looking down into Apache’s face.
Apache shrugged, rubbed his cheek, and lifted her head to kiss him. “You heard what that dime store cowboy said though. Put me in the C-130 and get my load out. I’m on the mission.”
Hase shook his head in frustration. “What mission?”
“Brian called for the old band to get back together. Julie and Eugene have been taken hostage by Ridder.”
Hase stopped halfway up the C-130 ramp and stared down at Apache. He kissed her forehead and moved her to a pallet already loaded aboard and placed her on it. “I will be right back.”
Three hours later and with some strong-arming of the pilots by Doc, the C-130 lifted into the air and turned West. Five minutes later, a single F-35B lifted off the ground and chased after the C-130. Twenty minutes later another C-130 took off and headed south, and two F-35Bs took defensive positions around it.
Hold onto your butts
Moonie slowly moved around his Big Baby, checking each and every mount, weld, tires, engine, supplies, and three barrels of diesel. Every now and then he would stop, and grab hold of something and try to yank it with all his strength. A lit cigarette dangled from his lips, his eyes as bright and clear as an engineer’s. He stopped one final time at the front of the truck and removed his cigarette, before turning to the kitted-up warriors waiting for his call on their work.
“If this work had been presented to me six months ago, I would’ve torn it all apart and made you do it again. But you are shooters, not mechanics, so I’m mildly impressed, and that says a lot, coming from me. I believe the Big Baby is ready for her close up. She is gassed, supplied, weapons are cleaned, and loaded. Get your asses into your positions, I see no reason to sit around here with our thumbs up our asses. Althou
gh something tells me Dead Eye would like that,” Moonie spit a piece of tobacco off his tongue and jerked his thumb at Big Baby.
I made my way through the team and stood next to Moonie. “Alright you group of crayon eating, rainbow shitting, rejects. You heard Moonie, mount up. DP One and Two get on the back, man the side mini guns. Dead Eye, you have the rear mini gun. Kot, you are on top with the MK19. I will handle reloads and deal with any skinnies that squeeze through. Moonie, you will drive the Big Baby. Nunzio sit up front with him and make him feel special. we need to get to the I-5 interstate. I have a surprise waiting for us, hopefully.”
We took our positions as Moonie started the monstrous engine, black smoke poured from stacks as he revved the engine to life. D rings had been welded into place on the bed of the Big Baby. I secured the team’s vests to them with bungie cords. I would be the only one free, since I would need the freedom to move around. I checked the chambers of my SCAR and side arm magazines to assure I was topped off and had one in the chamber. I also pulled a nasty looking machete from a sheath on my back and checked the edge for the thousandth time. It was razor sharp, I was sure it would slice through arms, legs, and necks with little effort.
Moonie guided the Big Baby through the open garage door and out into the parking lot. The setting sun painted the sky in muted reds and oranges. We had enough light to navigate by and should be okay for the next hour or so. When the light faded, we had some powerful spotlights bolted onto the Big Baby in strategic places to allow us to light up a football field. We moved toward the massive reinforced chain link fence and I was preparing to jump down and open it when Moonie shifted gears and sped up. He intended to roll over it and push our way out. I grabbed onto a hand-hold and shouted for the team to brace themselves. The front V-shaped plow pushed aside the gate with such force it knocked back the first five rows of zombies, squishing them against the others behind them.
Zombie Theorem: Dark Times Book Five Page 12
