by Tom Germann
Most of the shots were good, but only a head shot would put them down.
The initial rush of zombies was over fast but there were several walking toward them. A few were in uniform while the rest were in civilian clothing.
Ignore the fact that human beings are walking toward you, moaning. Pump the action, aim at the neck, squeeze the trigger, and with luck, the head is hit and it falls.
From the side, someone was running at the zombies. Three shells down. Don’t shoot the shape moving in amongst the zombies calling out. Grab extra shells and load quickly. All three firearms were silent and Vajjer was changing mags. Running out of ammunition fast, and that was only the front door.
The louder crack of a rifle firing and another zombie head exploded. There were only three left.
Sarah had run up and was shaking one of the zombies, crying hysterically. “Jane! It’s me Sarah! Are you okay? What happened to you? All of you, stop shooting! What are you doing? These are good people!”
Jane lurched forward and it looked like she was hugging Sarah. Further back was more yelling, then sounds of a scuffle and someone running up.
Neil ran past the three soldiers just as Sarah started screaming.
Jane was biting and clawing at Sarah, becoming more animated and frantic while she attacked the girl. The noise and screams distracted the other two zombies that turned away from the larger party ahead of them and toward the thrashing, screaming duo behind them.
“Oh, for Christ’s sake.” Vajjer walked up to the zombie on the left, brought his left arm up so that it was covering his mouth and nose, and shot the zombie in the back of the head. He then walked to the other zombie, which was turning toward the sound of the shot. His arm was still over his lower face. The zombie opened its mouth and started moaning, which stopped as Vajjer jammed the gun into its mouth and angled it upward. He pulled the trigger and the top of the head and the soldier’s cap blew right off, spraying blood and brains over the last zombie, Sarah, and Neil.
Neil was ineffectually trying to pull Sarah away from Jane, but the woman and zombie were a struggling mass. Sarah’s attempt to push Jane away had failed, so she was now kicking and flailing, which did more damage to Neil as she slapped him in the throat and he staggered back, struggling for breath.
“HELP ME! GET JANE OFF OF ME! YOU’RE HURTING ME, JANE!” The girl’s cries could barely be made out.
Wagner and Caisson ran up to the fighting women rolling on the ground. The sergeant came in hard, booting the zombie in the side.
All that did was flip both bodies over so that Sarah was on top.
The sergeant stepped on the zombie’s chest, pinning her down with a boot and pulling out his hammer. He leaned over and started smashing her in the head.
Sarah’s screams stopped being intelligible and just became meaningless shrieks.
Vajjer and Wagner leapt in and pulled her away from the body on the ground as the sergeant kept hitting the zombie over and over.
When he finally stopped swinging the hammer, the zombie’s head was a smashed ruin and there was blood and gore all over the ground.
Susie came running up with a small first aid kit and then she stopped when she saw Sarah lying on her back, crying, and the bodies with dark, thick blood everywhere.
Up close, it smelled like a rotting sewer.
Everyone was frozen, staring at the ruined bodies.
Wagner started snapping out commands. “Vajjer, cover the front door. Sarge, get your shit together and grab that shotgun to back him up.” He looked at Susie and the others standing there in shock. “Susie, you’re on first aid for Sarah, and Neil, if he’s hurt worse than it looks. The rest of you, HELP HER! Don’t just stand there staring.”
Jimmy started moving forward with Steve quickly following. Tracy just stood there and started crying.
Wagner snorted. “Really? Fucking useless.”
He looked at the vehicles. “Nice shot, Tocker. Keep an eye out. You two! Stop staring at us over here and start walking that damn sentry line NOW. Keep your eyes out for what’s out there or you’ll end up eaten.”
He turned back to the front door and walked over to Vajjer and Caisson. He reached into his pocket and pulled out shells, reloading automatically. He looked back. “Jimmy, can you come here please? Steve, you too.”
Both men stopped trying to comfort Sarah and walked over.
He looked at both of them and spoke softly so only the four others could hear him. “We are going in now as we have the adrenaline and game face is on. IF she turns while we’re in there, then you need to subdue her fast without anyone else getting bitten or scratched. You may need to put her down. Can you do that, Jimmy?”
Jimmy just stared. “NO, I can NOT just put that little lady down. She’s not a sick puppy. She is a sick person.”
Vajjer snorted. “You’ve seen the infected. Whatever this is--a flu or zombie virus or voodoo or heck, maybe Hell is full, I don’t know. I do know that it’s an infection. We all know that. The best way to get that infection is blood or bodily fluids. Have you seen her bites?” He pointed at Sarah, who was being propped up by Neil and having several bite marks wiped down with anti-septic wipes. “She is likely infected and if she turns, you need to be able to react fast or others die.”
Wagner sighed. “Stop, Corporal. Okay, Jimmy, Steven. I understand what you are feeling. If it looks like she is turning, then you need to gag her and secure her hands. We made up some plastic cuffs using electrical ties back at the centre. Check with the privates and strap two sets on her TIGHT with her hands behind her back. We’ll deal with it if we have to.”
Steven turned and started jogging toward the vehicles. Jimmy turned back toward the group standing around Sarah.
The three soldiers looked at each other, and Caisson pointed at the door. “It’s time. Let’s do this.” They turned and started walking up the steps to the open door.
The Reserve Base
Inside the building, it was like dusk. There were plenty of windows, they were just small and high up. The door led to a wide hallway that stretched the length of the building. There was enough light to see by, but several spots where the shadows deepened.
It didn’t help that the ceiling looked like it was ten feet up and the entire structure screamed government institution with linoleum floors and poured concrete walls that had been painted and were covered in pictures and posters of the unit.
They stopped just inside the doorway. Vajjer said quietly, “Well, at least with all that screaming and shooting, we know there shouldn’t be anyone else in here or we would hear them, or they would have come toward the noise.”
Caisson constantly surveyed the hallway from right to left, shotgun at the ready. “Unless they didn’t hear anything or are stuck in a room with closed doors.”
Vajjer brought his pistol up. “Man, you are such a downer.”
Wagner hissed, “Enough already, move forward. Let’s clear the right side as we advance. Three up and when we pass anything, it’ll be two up and one covering the rear.”
They moved into the building.
Outside, Sarah was sobbing while Neil held her. Susie had put on some latex gloves and was carefully using the anti-septic swabs out of one of the first aid kits they had packed from the centre. So far, she had cleaned out two bites and was working on the last one.
The wounds were slowly bleeding and Susie was not sure, but she thought that they smelled bad. That could have just been the summer heat and the surrounding corpses.
By the vehicles, Tocker was looking around from his perch on top of the car while the other two slowly walked around the vehicles in a big circle while looking around. The rumbling of the engines was quiet but constant.
It was hard to realize that they had left from the centre just a few short hours ago and it was just after lunch now.
Tracy walked o
ver to the group. She had stopped crying and she had been wiping at her eyes till they were red. She looked terrible as she came over. She was still sniffling. “Typical army. They came in here and killed all of them.”
Neil and Sarah were off in their own world of misery, but everyone else just stared at Tracy. Steven spoke first. “What would you have had them do? Tie them up?”
Tracy clenched her fists at her side and glared. “Yes. They could have tied them all up and then they wouldn’t be dead!”
Jimmy shook his head. “You may have noticed that there were nine of them and only the three soldiers, right?”
She shook her head angrily. “Yes, or they could have done something else. They didn’t need to kill them all! We could have helped.”
Steven stepped up to Tracy and looked down at her. “I didn’t notice you running forward to help. I just saw you standing there screaming and then crying when everyone else was trying to get something done. My wife was killed by these infected, along with two other people. We’ve already been attacked once before and we did nothing to deserve that.” Steven took a deep breath. “You need to shut up about people in authority and start helping more. If you can’t do that, maybe you should walk on down the road looking for other people who think like you do.”
Jimmy stepped next to Steven and put a calming hand on his arm. “No need to say things like that. Everyone is just real upset because those infected were coming at us in a big group. Those soldiers did the best they could and all of us are alive, and only one person may be infected through her own silliness.”
Susie joined them, carefully removing the latex gloves which she bundled and dropped on the ground. “Guys, pay attention. Those infected are zombies. The nine that were in there are dried up a bit because of the heat for the last few days.” She shook her head. “Don’t say I could be mistaken. I’ve helped clean up some bad accidents. Blood doesn’t look like what came out of them. It looks like it’s been rotting as well. None of us volunteered to go in there--” She gestured over her shoulder with her thumb to the open door. “--so maybe we should cut them all the slack they need to keep us all alive?”
Susie turned and walked back over to Sarah and Neil. Jimmy and Steven went with her and left Tracy standing separate from the group, angry and alone.
Susie looked at the couple with Sarah sobbing and Neil holding her tight. “Neil, can you give me a hand? Let’s move Sarah over there to that bench in front of the building. It’s out of the sun.”
Susie and Neil started helping Sarah up and Steven gave a hand as the girl seemed like she was going to faint. The entire group moved toward the spot closer to the army building while Jimmy watched over them all and Tracy still stood alone, glaring after them with a glint in her eye.
Inside, the three soldiers slowly advanced down the hallway. Right after they had first come in, on the right hand side, they had seen some sort of guard room or check-in point that was abandoned.
The chalkboard on the wall, while difficult to read, seemed to indicate several nights training and what would be accomplished, including a pig roast the one night. On the one wall had been a large window with a series of shutters next to a podium.
On the left hand side as they had moved down the hall was a series of small, open cubicles just big enough to hang a coat and with space for some equipment. On the bottom was a smaller square, big enough to put some boots in. So no cloakroom but coat hangers like in a kid’s daycare.
Vajjer had pulled out a small flashlight and was using that with his off hand while still covering with the pistol. He was able to pick out more detail if they needed it. They came to an open area with halls splitting each way. They had quickly gone down the left hall, ignoring what they had discussed, and found only two doors that both led to large classrooms.
Both classrooms were empty, but the first had been set up with sand and map models of the area and they had checked it out.
The local map spread out on the table had shown the town they had been in. There was a toy truck set up where the command post had been and markers to indicate soldiers’ patrols in the town itself. The description on the chalkboard simply read, “assist local authorities by bringing potentially infected people to the local mall where an aid station will be run. Wear surgical masks and gloves when dealing with the deranged as reports are in that people bitten become infected in most cases as well.”
They had carried on back to the main hallway and down the other cross-corridor.
At the end of the short hall was a door with another small, inset window. That led out to the compound on the side of the building and was locked. The key to the door was attached to the handle by a fine chain. They left it for now.
There had been a smaller, open door that led into a rabbit warren of small offices. There was no ornamentation or any real mess,. just a series of cubbies with a desk and chair that were separated by a half-height wooden wall. At least until they came to the end and in a larger office they found a large safe on the floor. That office had well-worn carpet and the walls had a hardwood veneer over the concrete. The sign on the door read “Duty Officer.” The desk was larger, with a pad of notepaper on it, and a large filing cabinet in the back corner.
Over the safe was a chalkboard and the only note at the bottom read, ‘remember to sign out and in weapon room keys.’
The desk had two drawers, which Wagner checked quickly but there was nothing inside, except for some pencils and more paper.
When they came out of the larger office, there was a door to the left that was closed. So far, this had been the only closed door in the building, so the sergeant stood to the side and hammered on it with his fist. The dull thuds should have been obvious to anyone or anything on the other side, but there was only silence.
Both Wagner and Vajjer backed up and pointed their weapons at the door while Caisson took the knob. At a nod from the corporal, he pulled the door smoothly open so that he was behind it.
Wagner whispered “clear” and the sergeant came out and kept watch down the hall from where they had come.
Vajjer moved ahead and looked at a man-sized safe door with two key locks, one low by the knees and one higher up at chest level.
He took the handle and tried to pull it, but the door was locked.
The safe door was right behind the other door with maybe two feet of space.
Vajjer tried wiggling the handle again, then stepped back and closed the door.
The three men stood together and Vajjer nodded at the door he had just closed. “Gotta be the weapon lockup. I’ve seen similar setups before in old places.”
Caisson looked at him. “Can we get in? Is a safe like that really tough to break into?”
Vajjer whispered,. “BIG metal door in a metal frame that is built into the poured concrete. Impossible to break down as explosives will just push it back into the frame and warp it. BUT those key locks are shit and it’s not well fitted to the door. Give me some time and I bet I can pick those locks.”
They heard a noise like someone walking in the hall, coming toward them. All three brought their weapons up with Caisson stepping down the small side corridor and aiming over the half-wall toward the doorway.
Jimmy walked into the room and strangled a yell as he leapt backward from the three firearms pointing at him. “Shit! You guys need to take it easy! It’s just me.”
The three brought their weapons down while Jimmy carefully walked toward them. Caisson still had a clear shot of the door and both the warrant officer and corporal could see that Jimmy had his pistol in hand.
“You guys were taking forever so they sent me in ‘cause we haven’t heard anything. I swear that Tracy thought you guys were sitting down having a drink while we waited.”
Caisson snorted. “Little bitch is sitting there complaining, right?”
Jimmy shrugged. “Don’t care about her. That Sarah
girl is developing a fever and is in a bit of pain. We were hoping you had found some antibiotics and maybe a bed for her to lie down on?”
Wagner shook his head. “Jimmy, we aren’t even done clearing the main floor yet and we aren’t bringing anyone in until we can secure what we cleared, okay? We are moving as fast as we can and keeping our eyes open.”
Jimmy nodded. “I figured as much, but I had to come and ask so everyone can see that work is being done. I’ll follow you guys out and then head back outside. I gotta tell you, I had the heebie jeebies coming in here on my own.”
The four moved out into the main hall where Jimmy headed back outside and the other three headed deeper into the building.
There was another entrance to a classroom with tables and chairs neatly organized to the side.
On the right hand side, at the end of the building, they found a large door that led to a stairwell, which they left alone and closed for now. There was a washroom past that and a fair sized kitchen as well.
In the kitchen, Vajjer stopped and strained. “Do you hear that?”
Caisson was backed in, facing the door back to the hall. “Hear what?”
“I can hear a humming.”
The three were silent for a second, then Wagner spoke quietly. “I hear it too. It’s coming from the back of the kitchen by the fridge.
They advanced and stopped at the fridge. Vajjer opened the over-sized door and the room was flooded with light. The three squinted and Caisson hissed, “Turn that shit off!”
Vajjer slammed the door shut. “How does it still have power when all the power is off?”
Caisson snarled. “I don’t care. We need to clear this place. Let’s go. There are only two more doors, I think, and then we are clear on this floor. Let’s go.”
The three moved out. At the back of the building was a set of double doors that were chained and locked shut. There were small windows inset in the doors and when Wagner looked in, it was obvious that this was a gym and small parade square. There appeared to be a dozen cots set up and the room looked empty of people.
