Gen Z Boxed Set

by Baileigh Higgins

  At this point, Emily stood up with the papers in her hands and cleared her throat. “The plan is quite simple in some ways and devilishly complicated in others. Sergeant Alvarez and Private Paige believe we will be attacked by a horde of infected soon, drawn here by the easy availability of food. With the CDC convoy’s departure, we’ve lost most of our able-bodied soldiers, whether by accident or design, I hardly think it matters. What matters is what we do about it. In the event of the base being overrun, we need to be able to fall back to a secondary location that can be easily defended.”

  “Which is?” Steele asked.

  “The mountain,” Emily answered.

  “The mountain?” Steele said with a snort of derision. “There’s nothing there.”

  “That’s what we’re here for. To fix that.”

  “Private Paige assured me they will do everything possible to return early,” Chas added, “but if that doesn’t happen, we need to prepare for the worst.”

  “I see,” Steele said. “So, the plan is to magically turn the top of the mountain into a habitable fortress in, let me see, three or four days?”

  “Exactly,” Emily answered with a perfectly straight face.

  Chas’ heart nearly burst with pride at the courage her friend displayed in the face of such open derision. She’s a lot tougher than we give her credit for.

  “Impossible,” Steele said.

  “No, it’s not,” Emily replied. “Besides, do you have a better idea?”

  Steele sighed. “No, I do not.”

  “Then this argument is a waste of time, and we’d be better served getting to the point,” Emily said, pushing her glasses up her nose when they slipped.

  “Fine, go ahead,” Steele said. “Lay it out for us.”

  “According to this supply manifest, there’s an entire warehouse filled with army tents and camping supplies, including a marquee tent. We could set up the smaller tents for sleeping quarters equipped with the bunk beds from the dorms and using lockers for personal supplies. The larger tents could be used for storage, a school…just about anything, and the marquee tent can serve as a kitchen and common room,” Emily said. “There’s miles of canvas for flooring available as well. Portable lights, electric leads, wiring, it’s all there.”

  Steele nodded. “It’s possible, but you’d have to factor in the wind. It’s bound to be rough up there.”

  “I could throw up windbreaks along the sides easily enough,” Lange said, his red cheeks almost seeming to glow in the humidity. “It would only take a day with enough volunteers to help.”

  “I can put up the lights and expand the electricity network up there. If we’re no longer powering the lower camp, the turbines alone should be enough, but I can install extra solar systems too,” Wells said.

  “What about the infirmary?” Dr. Steward asked. “I cannot house sick patients in a tent. It’s ridiculous.”

  “There are two buildings on top of the mountain,” Emily said. “One is a dorm room for the guards stationed there. It can be converted into a clinic. A small one, granted, but it’s better than nothing. There’s also an ablution block. With a strict roster granting each person turns, we could make it work,” Emily said.

  “What about water?” Peters said. “You’re proposing that we cut off the main base and retreat to the mountain, but in doing so, we’ll lose the hydro station. Without water, we can’t survive.”

  Emily nodded. “That is a factor that Sergeant Alvarez failed to consider. Can any of you think of a solution?”

  Silence reigned.

  “Another problem,” Emily said, “is blocking off the pass. We lack the materials to do so.”

  “No, we don’t,” Mrs. Galway said, standing up. She walked to the whiteboard and picked up a red pen. “Let’s say this is the mountain pass with its walls coming down in a v-shape. If we blow the infirmary, it will create a natural barrier on this side. We can then fill in the gap to the river with steel containers and scrapped vehicles. The river acts as a natural barrier, and the hydro station will be on the inside with us.”

  “Do we have enough scrap to create such a large barrier?” Steele asked.

  “We do,” Galway said.

  “All right. That sounds reasonable, at least,” Steele said, much to Chas’ relief.

  With Wells, Peters, Galway, Steele, and Lange finally on board, the meeting moved along at a much faster pace. It was agreed that Lange would start work on the windbreaks immediately, as well as any other improvements he could make to the mountain top, especially the new infirmary.

  Wells would route more electricity up and install solar systems, while the civilians would set up the tents and living quarters. Steele would start moving their supplies, and Johnson would do his utmost to defend their borders for as long as possible.

  “As soon as the new clinic is ready, we’ll start moving the patients,” Dr. Steward said. “Until then, they stay where they are.”

  “I’ll work fast,” Lange said.

  “I certainly hope so,” Dr. Stewart replied while pursing her lips. Though not thrilled with the new arrangements, she wasn’t fighting them, at least.

  “I’ll get started on the barrier,” Galway said.

  “What about us?” Chas asked. “How can we help?”

  “I’d like you lot to stick with me,” Johnson said. He raised a hand to forestall Vivienne’s objections. “Don’t worry, ma’am. They won’t be in any direct danger. Rather, they’ll be look-outs.”

  Vivienne glared at him. “If something happens to any of these kids, I’ll have your head on a platter. Understood?”

  Johnson grinned. “Loud and clear, ma’am.”

  Vanessa cleared her throat, “One question. Once we’ve blocked off the lower camp, how do we get out?”

  Silence reigned.

  “We don’t need to. We simply need to last long enough for the CDC convoy to return. With their help, we can re-establish the lower base,” Vivienne said.

  “If they return,” Dean said, causing all eyes to turn to him.

  “Cheery thought,” Galway said, “but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, young man.”

  Vivienne stood up. “All agreed then?”

  “Agreed,” a chorus of voices said.

  Chapter 17

  That night, Chas and her friends slept in one of the watchtowers, taking turns to examine the countryside with night-vision binoculars. It was a novel experience for the teens and a fun one, but it also served a purpose.

  Around three in the morning, a group of zombies attacked, but their numbers were small, and they were cut down with ease. Just before dawn, however, a second attack occurred on the farthest corner of the base. It was a scramble for the soldiers to get there in time, and the first of the machine guns ran out of ammo.

  “It’s happening,” Chas said, staring at the sunrise over the mountain, streaks of blood-red bathing the sky.

  “It is,” Vanessa agreed.

  “All this time, I was hoping Julia and Alvarez were wrong.”

  “Me too.”

  Silence fell, and together they watched the sun dawn on a new day before they were called up as volunteers to help with pitching the tents. It was back-breaking labor and took three days to accomplish while at night they acted as lookouts. During that time, four more attacks occurred, each harder to stop than the previous one. The second and third machine guns ran out of ammo, and an undercurrent of tension ran throughout the camp. Nor was there any sign of the convoy, not even over the radio.

  By the end of the third day, Chas admitted out loud her worst fear. “I don’t think they’re coming back. Do you?”

  “I don’t know,” Vanessa admitted.

  “What if they were caught by a horde?” Chas asked, a knot forming in her throat.

  “It’s best not to dwell on it, Chas,” Emily said, taking her hand.

  “Yeah, Julia and Alvarez are tough. They’ll be fine, you’ll see,” Dean said, lounging on a chair nearby.
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br />   “I hope so,” Chas said, her voice a low whisper.

  The next day, Vivienne came looking for them, and they were press-ganged into helping move the infirmary. After a long day spent moving sick people up to the mountain, Chas’ mother insisted they sleep in the dorm for once.

  “I know you enjoy playing soldier, but just indulge your mother for once,” Vivienne said, and Chas had little choice but to obey.

  She found it hard to sleep that night, her worry for Julia and the rest of the team growing by the minute. She rolled around until her blanket looked like a pretzel, and when she got up the next morning, exhaustion weighed heavily on her shoulders.

  When they convened for breakfast, Chas was forced to admit the truth to herself and the others. “It’s been five days. Julia and Alvarez aren’t coming back. Nobody has heard anything from them over the radio for days now.”

  “That’s not true, Chas,” Emily protested, though it was weak at best. “They could still come back. There’s lots of time.”

  “Julia promised, Em. If she could keep her promise, she’d be here. I know it,” Chas said, and deep down, she knew it was true. Something was wrong. Very wrong. I might never see them again. Julia, Alvarez, Sanchez, Davis, Smith, and Williams…all gone.

  Lala rubbed Chas’ back. “I’m sorry, hun, but we’re still here. Focus on this, today, the here and now.”

  Chas blinked back tears as memories of the first time she’d seen Julia surfaced. She’d looked so out of place. Beautiful and tough. A warrior angel among the mortals. And Alvarez, the man who’d saved her mother’s life at the hospital. His team, soldiers who’d given of their time to train a bunch of silly teens. It was hard to imagine she’d never see them again. Just like Grumps.

  That day was probably the worst day for Chas since the convoy had left. Not only was she heartsore and tired, but they’d spent the entire afternoon helping to finish the barricade that stretched from the river to the infirmary. All that remained, was to blow up the infirmary once the last person was through.

  A single building outside the barrier but close to it had been designated as a safe house. As such it had been fortified, supplied, and several running, fully fueled trucks were parked next to it. This was supposed to be a way out for a raiding party should they need it once the barricade was complete. The question nobody bothered to voice was how they were supposed to get to the safe house if the base was overrun with the undead.

  All the camp’s supplies had been relocated to the top, the windbreaks were in place, the infirmary patients and equipment moved to the new clinic, and most of the ordinary staff and civilians had gone up as well, no longer feeling safe in the exposed lower base.

  Everything was in place for the final evacuation, and finally, Lala decided it was time she, June, and the Barnetts moved to the top with the rest. This meant that Chas’ group had to go as well, abandoning the lower camp to its fate. Lala and Emily’s parents would never consent to the teens staying behind with the soldiers. It was too dangerous.

  It was with much sadness that Chas walked away, waving to Johnson and the rest, knowing that this was it. Everything they’d feared had come to pass, and Julia and Alvarez’s contingency plan had become a reality. Plan B was now their only hope.

  Chapter 18

  Chas woke in the middle of the night to the shrill blaring of the sirens. They wailed through the air and vibrated through the canvas walls and into her skull. She jerked upright, awake in an instant. So was everyone else, and worried cries created an undertone of tension to the alarms.

  “We’re being attacked again,” Vanessa said, scrambling out of her bunk to pull her jumpsuit and boots on. “Do you think this is it? The big one?”

  “I don’t know,” Chas said, though she felt in her bones that it was.

  Chas got dressed too, noting with approval that Lala was not only up but armed with her shotgun. She’d stashed it under her mattress, and with a full box of shells, she was armed and ready.

  After pulling her clothes on, Chas scraped her hair back into a bun and zipped her suit up to the chin. She tucked her knife into her pocket, and slipped on her belt and holster, a gift from Johnson who’d decided that everyone in the camp capable of bearing arms, should. After checking the load on her gun, she slipped it into its holster.

  With breathless anticipation, she went to stand outside their tent. It was much smaller than their dorm had been, and she shared it with Vanessa, Lala, and Sarah, though the latter was still in the infirmary.

  Next to them were Emily and her parents, and she soon joined Chas, followed by Dean who also stayed nearby. With one mind, they began to walk toward the edge of the ridge, scrambling up a few rocks. From there, they had a bird’s eye view of the camp below, though it was hard to see anything in the dark. Chas squinted at her watch in the faint moonlight. It was three in the morning.

  The lights along the fence closest to the gates showed movement, and Chas wished she had a pair of night-vision binoculars. Suddenly, Dean produced a pair, much to their delight.

  “Where’d you get these?” Chas asked.

  He shrugged. “Don’t ask.”

  She raised them to her eyes and focused on the gates. As everything came into focus, she gasped. Zombies. Hundreds of them. Maybe even thousands. They pressed up against the gate, and the metal struts bowed inward under their combined weight. The machine guns sprayed out thousands of bullets per minute, only to cough and die as they ran out of ammo one after the other.

  “What’s happening?” Vanessa asked, gripping Chas’ shoulder.

  Chas relayed what she was seeing before relinquishing the binoculars to her friend. Vanessa looked and cried out. “They’re abandoning the watchtowers. They’re pulling back. The soldiers are falling back.”

  Dean got the next turn. His lips were pressed together until Vanessa slapped him on the back. “What do you see? Tell us!”

  “The gates, they’re going to…no, they are falling. They’re down. The infected are in. They’re inside the base.”

  Cries of horror rose from Lala and Amelia’s throats at the news, and June began to cry. Emily jumped up and down, impatiently holding out her hand for the night-vision goggles. “My turn!”

  Dean relinquished them, and as Emily looked, a string of explosions rocked the night. “They’ve tripped the explosives buried inside the fence. It’s created a gap, and the soldiers are running for the barrier. They…oh, no. The zombies are too fast. They’re not going to make it!”

  Chas didn’t wait to hear any more. Scrambling down from her perch, she ran down the mountain path, heading toward the infirmary. Lala screamed at her to come back, but Chas couldn’t. She had to help. What if Johnson got caught?

  Dean, Vanessa, and Emily soon showed up beside her, ignoring the cries of the adults. The path was clearly lit thanks to Wells and his electrical ingenuity, and the way down was easy. Within minutes, they reached the infirmary, breathing hard as they scrambled up the ladder to the roof. The building itself had been blocked, both the doors and windows, and explosives were wired throughout the structure.

  On top, they encountered Mathew, the soldier in charge of blowing the charges once the last soldiers were safe. His eyes were wide as he stared at the running figures of his fellow soldiers below fast being outstripped by the ravenous zombies on their tails. Even as they watched, two of them fell with helpless cries.

  Chas grabbed Mathew by the arm. “Math, don’t blow the charges yet. We’re going over.”

  “What?” he cried, shaking his head. “You can’t.”

  “We can, and we will. We’re going to help our friends to safety. Just give us a chance to get back before you blow it.”

  “Okay, but hurry,” Mathew cried.

  Chas scrambled down the waiting ladder on the other side, pulling her 9mm from its holster. Taking a solid stance, she fired at the closest infected. The area was well-lit, so it wasn’t hard to aim, and the zombie tumbled headfirst to the ground.

&nbs
p; This had been decided from the beginning to give any retreating soldiers good visibility during their retreat. The ground had been smoothed for them, as well. Nobody could afford a broken leg while they were running away, and they wore reflector vests to differentiate them from the zombies.

  Unfortunately, smoothing the way for the soldiers had done so for the infected too, and their bobbing orange reflectors made for a nice beacon for the flesh-hungry fiends on their trail.

  A couple of soldiers reached the infirmary and took a stand next to Chas and her group. Together, they laid down a withering wall of fire, dropping several zombies and giving more of the soldiers a chance to get to safety. In a steady trickle, they reached the building, some scrambling to the roof while others stood firm, adding their bullets to the constant barrage.

  The entire time, Chas looked for Johnson, hoping against hope that he hadn’t fallen. Then she spotted his tall frame, dragging an injured comrade across the earth as fast as he could, which wasn’t fast enough. He was the last in line and had probably stayed behind to make sure everybody else got out first.

  “Hurry up, Johnson,” Chas cried as the last of the soldiers streamed past, hightailing it up the ladder as fast as they could go.

  One by one, those who stood with them on the ground also climbed up to the roof until it was only Chas and her group still standing on the ground. From the top of the building, several soldiers began to lay down cover fire for Johnson, adding their cries of encouragement to Chas’.

  “Move it, Johnson.”

  “Come on, Johnson. Surely, Texan’s can run faster than that.”

  With their help, Johnson gained a small lead as many of the zombies fell to the wall of fire coming their way. Emily grabbed Chas by the hand. “Get onto the roof, Chas. Now!”

  Chas shook her head. “No! Not until Johnson gets here.”

  “He’s going to make it, Chas. Come on,” Vanessa cried.

  With reluctance, Chas allowed her friends to coax her to the ladder. Up they went until it was just her. She turned for a last quick look and was gladdened to see Johnson had almost reached them. Lengthening his strides, Johnson dragged his fellow soldier the last few yards, closing the distance. He’ll make it.