by John O'Brien
* * * * * *
Red Team gathers by one of the Humvees checking on their ammo and supplies after receiving word from Drescoll that they were to help one of the new arrivals find her daughter.
“That really sucks about Jack’s daughter,” Gonzalez says checking her ammo pouches and radio.
“Yeah, no kidding,” McCafferty replies verifying both of their radios are in working order.
“Think he’ll be okay?” Henderson asks.
“What do you mean?” Gonzalez asks in response.
“Well, I knew this Sergeant in Afghanistan who lost one of his kids while he was there and completely lost it. Walked his entire squad into an ambush and fell apart,” Henderson answers looking back at the large structure.
“Look guys, it’s up to us to watch out for him and make sure we support him the best way we can. He’s one of us,” Gonzalez says.
“I don’t get the feeling that Jack will fall apart like that,” Denton says on the heels of Gonzalez.
“Hey, here comes the lady we’re supposed to help. Game faces on,” Gonzalez says watching Kelly, Brian, and Jessica approach across the lot. “Hey, by the way, who’s leading us?”
“You are,” McCafferty replies.
“Nice try but no thanks,” Gonzalez says.
“Sorry, but you brought it up so you’re it by default. You two agree?” McCafferty asks Henderson and Denton who both nod their agreement. “You’re outvoted so you’re it.”
“Fuck you guys,” Gonzalez responds. Kelly and the others finally join them and introductions are made.
“Are you ready, ma’am?” Gonzalez asks.
“Yes,” Kelly answers.
“Okay, let’s load up. Henderson, you drive,” Gonzalez says.
“Uh, ma’am, I’m not really comfortable with your daughter coming along,” Gonzalez adds seeing Jessica begin to enter.
“Why not?” Kelly asks.
“Because we don’t know what we’re going to find out there,” Gonzalez answers.
“She’ll be fine, miss,” Brian says.
“You really don’t know that or what it’s like out there do you?” Gonzalez says. “I’m not comfortable with taking her and she’ll be safer here. She stays. And I’m not a “miss” as you so eloquently put it. You may call me Corporal or Gonzalez, your choice.”
“I don’t really care one way or the other. Can we just go?” Kelly states.
With everyone on board, Henderson starts the Humvee. Lynn walks across the lot and to the open window. “I want you all back here by 1900. That gives you three hours.”
“Yes, First Sergeant,” Gonzalez responds from the passenger seat.
“That’s back here, not starting back or taking off on some sight-seeing adventure.”
“Hooah, First Sergeant.”
“Okay, good luck,” Lynn says.
“How’s Jack?” McCafferty asks.
“Finally sleeping. Now off with you.”
They head off and make their way through town taking several turns with Kelly’s guidance. They motor through the quiet and empty streets but the pervasive smell of rot fills the air. The houses seem to shrink back from the streets as if knowing their usefulness to humanity has come to an end and they’re receding into the background. To the team, they seem to grow dimmer in the light of the sun as if the harboring of so much dead or night runners has changed their personality or charm; as if the dead are somehow changing the very essence of what were once called homes.
“Is this what it’s like everywhere?” Kelly asks at one point, looking at the quiet and still environment.
“Yes, ma’am. At least as far as we’ve seen,” Gonzalez answers.
“It doesn’t seem that bad,” Brian says from the back seat next to Kelly.
“Fuckin’ noob,” Henderson chuckles under his breath so only Gonzalez can hear.
Gonzalez chuckles at his comment before answering, “Wait until night or go waltz into one of those buildings and you’ll change your mind.”
“Yeah, we really didn’t know until last night,” Brian says and relates the story at the apartment as they make their way to where Kelly thinks Carrie might be.
The team members shake their heads after hearing the story, although told from Brian’s point of view, and sorry that Jack had to return to such a tragedy after going through a night like that. They pull into a neighborhood tract and up to a light blue house as directed by Kelly. They park and exit noticing the front door open on the two-story house built closely to its neighboring houses. The house is one of those tract houses that are thrown up quickly and pretty basic in its shape and nature. Curtains are drawn across the front windows facing a small porch and on the two upstairs windows as well. The open door isn’t evidence of anything in particular but the fact that it’s open leads Gonzalez to believe that it happened after the disaster or it would have been closed.
“Carrie?” Kelly’s scream beside Gonzalez startles her.
“Ma’am, please don’t do that,” she tells Kelly, not really wanting to give notice to anything that may be inside that they’re here.
There is no answer or appearance at the door of anyone responding to Kelly’s scream. The houses stare back in silence.
“Are you sure she’s here?” Gonzalez asks.
“It’s her dad’s house. I don’t know where else she’d be,” Kelly answers.
“What can you tell us about the place?”
Kelly gives a rundown of the interior with a living room opening up to the right leading to a dining room and kitchen in the rear. Stairs head up just inside the doorway leading to two bedrooms upstairs. A hallway branches off to the left past the stairs leading to two more bedrooms. A basement door exits off the kitchen to a half basement below.
“Okay folks, you’ve heard the layout. Let’s take a peek inside and we’ll formulate a plan based on what we see. Keep on your toes. Check your radios and lock and load,” Gonzalez says.
The metallic clicks of charging handles being released resonates off the walls of the houses close by. They walk up to the doorway in a staggered formation, ready for anything to emerge but cautious with the trigger fingers as Kelly’s daughter could show at the door. They know a night runner won’t come out of the front door but they also know not to assume anything. They remember the marauders back east and so exude caution.
Gonzalez peeks in the open door. The odor emanating from the interior isn’t any better or worse than the smell already emanating from the area. Stairs take off just inside the door as promised and the house opens up to the living room on the right.
“Denton, you cover those stairs. The rest of us to the right. We’ll clear the first floor first,” Gonzalez says eyeing the dark interior. “NVG’s on.”
“You got it,” Denton says. He steps inside and kneels on the first steps with his M-4 pointed to the landing above. The light from the open door stretches most of the way up the stairs so he doesn’t lower his goggles.
Small clicks sound in the still interior as the others lower their goggles. The dark house becomes a bright green as they are turned on. The stillness of the house remains even though the once dark corners are revealed. The team members feel the stillness as if it has weight to it. It settles on their shoulders and feels like it compresses inward as if trying to smother them.
“Okay everyone, remember there may be a little girl in here so don’t have itchy trigger fingers,” Gonzalez says stepping into the living room.
She sees the hall stretching away to her left with the dining room ahead and the kitchen opening past to the left. The house seems to breathe on its own as she stops to listen. She knows it’s only her own chest rising and falling with her heart pounding like a bass drum inside, but it’s the feeling the house and atmosphere gives off. Nothing comes to her ears that seem out of place. A glance down the hallway shows two open doors to the right and one open at the back of the hall.
“Henderson, cover the hall while we check out the kitchen,
” Gonzalez says in whisper.
Henderson kneels, turns on his aiming light, and aims his weapon down the hall; the thin beam of light streaks down the hall and enters the room in the back. Gonzalez and McCafferty quickly enter the dining room and focus their beams in the kitchen. A closed door is against the wall to the left in the back but all else remains empty. Another door leads to the outside on the right. A few dishes are stacked in the sink but all seems to be in order. A small stream of light from outside sneaks past a slight opening in the curtains pulled across the windows over the sink.
“Henderson, move up and cover this door and kitchen,” Gonzalez says. A rustle of clothing and gear sounds as Henderson shifts position to the dining room.
“We’ll head down the hall and clear each room as we come to it. I’ll cover the hall while you check out the room,” Gonzalez whispers to McCafferty.
“Hooah,” McCafferty whispers back.
“We’re heading down the hall,” Gonzalez whispers into her throat mic. Double clicks in her ear piece signify the others heard and understand.
With Gonzalez in the lead and on the left, the two head cautiously and slowly down the hall coming to the first door to the right. McCafferty quickly peeks her head around the corner of the door. “Bathroom. All clear,” she says in whisper.
“Do you hear that?” Gonzalez asks just as quietly.
“What?” McCafferty says.
“Sounds like breathing. Ahead,” she answers nodding in the direction of the back room. “Or panting.”
“I don’t hear anything,” McCafferty replies.
“There’s something there. I can barely hear it but it’s definitely something.” McCafferty shakes her head indicating she still can’t hear anything.
“Alright, let’s move up,” Gonzalez says but keeps her thin beam of light aimed at the back room. Two more steps in the hall and the panting gets significantly louder.
“I can hear that,” McCafferty says as her beam joins the first.
For a moment, Gonzalez is unsure of what to do. Her instincts say get the hell out as they only have four of them in the house and an unknown number of night runners in front of them. Plus, Henderson and Denton are slightly spread out. They could quickly be overwhelmed in this small hall if there are a lot of them. That there are night runners is no longer in question but there is a small, nagging notion that there may be a little girl inside.
“Sounds like we have night runners in the back room,” she says quietly over the radio.
“What do you want to do?” McCafferty asks as they are both frozen in place in the narrow hall.
“I think we should get the fuck out,” Gonzalez whispers.
“I’m with you on that. What about the girl?”
“There are night runners in here. I’m not….”
That’s all Gonzalez gets out before a high-pitched shriek emits from the back room and fills the hallway. It deafens the two of them in the enclosed space and sends their heart rate and adrenals into high gear. The shriek is followed by the immediate appearance of a night runner at the bedroom door streaking for the two of them. The two women are shocked by the appearance of the creature so close, with its skin and eyes glowing in their goggles, but not to the point of inaction. The night runner runs directly into their twin beams of light. Their instincts take over. The hall is suddenly filled with the strobe-like flashing against the walls and the muted cough of rounds transiting through suppressors. The first rounds to strike in the center of its chest halt the night runner’s momentum, standing it up as if jerked upward by a puppet master. The subsequent rounds tear into a chest already spotted several times by bullets entering, launching the night runner up and backwards into the room from where it came. Gonzalez and McCafferty pause in the hall with the aftermath ringing in their ears waiting for others to arrive. Silence ensues.
“What do you think?” McCafferty says in the silence.
“I don’t know but I can’t hear shit now,” Gonzalez answers.
“Me either,” McCafferty whispers.
They pause a moment longer. Images of their past battles float through Gonzalez’ mind. Where there’s one, there’s always been more and a lot more, she thinks eyeing the back rooms waiting for more shrieks or night runners to emerge. She is torn. Her first priority is to her team but they also have a little girl to look for. She wouldn’t feel right if they were to leave and she were here. On the other hand, with night runners in the house, or at least the one, what is the chance that she’s still here?
“Gonzalez, McCafferty, you two okay?” Denton asks.
“Yeah, we’re fine. One came out of the back bedroom. We don’t see or hear any others. We’re heading into the bedrooms,” she answers shrugging at McCafferty as she has apparently made up her mind.
Gonzalez nods to McCafferty and they both proceed slowly once again down the hall. The open doors at the end are only a few feet away and they are both acutely aware of just how quickly the night runners can materialize. The tension filling the hall compresses to the point that it feels like they are walking under water. With Gonzalez covering the room the night runner emerged from, McCafferty carefully pokes her head around the doorway. Nothing stirs. She moves further into the room, weapon up and ready for any movement. Nothing. A quick sweep through the closet shows only a scattering of clothes and boxes. She returns to the hall to report all clear.
Entering the far back bedroom, they step over the bullet-ridden corpse lying on the floor inside the door. Although fully expecting to find another night runner hidden within, they don’t find anything else.
“We’re coming back to the living room,” Gonzalez announces over the radio, receives the familiar two clicks of acknowledgement, and they join Henderson in the dining room.
“We’ll check the basement. Henderson, cover the hall just in case,” Gonzalez says with Henderson nodding in reply. She relays the info to Denton.
The two cross the distance to the door quickly. With Gonzalez covering the door from the side, McCafferty reaches across the door and tests the handle. Locked. With a shrug, she glances at Gonzalez with a “what now” look. Gonzalez waves her to the side and lowers her carbine at the latch. She hesitates a moment, not wanting to shoot through the door and hit someone on the other side. She doesn’t know if the door was locked from this side or the other. The fact that the door is locked but the front door left open makes her think that someone could be on the other side. Without seeing a quick solution, she gives a mental shrug and, after warning Henderson and Denton, pulls the trigger for a short burst.
The striking of the bullets causes the door to explode with a shower of splinters by the door handle. She nods to McCafferty who reaches across and swings the door open. The beam of light from Gonzalez’ laser streaks downward. Where she was expecting a night runner - perhaps locked in - or a very scared girl, she is only met by a flight of stairs heading down. A stench, unlike the odor of rot outside and smelling like an open sewer, rushes up the stairs.
“I’ll go first. You cover over the top of me,” Gonzalez whispers to McCafferty who nods.
Stepping down the concrete stairs into the chill of the basement, she swings her M-4 from side to side as she searches areas as they come into view; the beam of light follows her searches and defines where her barrel is pointed. Cautiously, step by step, she draws closer to the basement floor with the stench being the only assault so far. Reaching the bottom, she looks to the far end of the small basement and sees a figure lying on a few blankets spread on the cold, hard floor.
“McCafferty, get down here. I think we may have found her,” she says pressing the mic button at her throat.
With McCafferty on the way down the steps, she walks over to the figure on the ground. She kneels down next to a teen girl on her back with her eyes closed. She gives the girl a slight shake to see if she awakens but the young girl remains still with her eyes closed, although she did move loosely and without any rigidity when Gonzalez shook her. She sea
rches for a pulse and finds a weak but steady one. Feeling her chest, she feels it rise ever so slightly.
“I’ve got a girl down here with a weak pulse and shallow breathing but she’s alive,” she says over the radio.
They pick the girl up, noticing the worn, dirt-stained jeans and once white top, and carry her outside, picking up Henderson and Denton on their way. They place the girl on the thin strip of green grass serving as the front lawn.
“Carrie!” Kelly yells seeing them carry the thin figure outside and answers the question of whether they found the right girl.
“Denton, go see if there’s an IV and saline in the med kit,” Gonzalez says kneeling by the frail body.
To her, it’s obvious that Carrie has been without food and water for a while and looks like exposure victims she has seen in the past. Kelly kneels on the other side calling to Carrie, stroking her face. Denton returns and pulls out a bag of saline with an IV kit. Gonzalez was trained some time ago and knows she’s no expert at inserting an IV. She had a hard time finding a vein even back in training. She looks to the arm and notices the veins deflated through dehydration. She doesn’t feel comfortable trying to find a smaller one in the hand, and she’s definitely not going for the jugular, so she tries to insert the needle into the arm. Several attempts later, she’s rewarded with a spot of blood in the needle. Taping the needle in place and hooking up the bag, she turns the drip on high.
To the relief of everyone, Carrie emits a faint, stirring moan. She was worried they would have to transport Carrie in her weakened condition. Though there is still time before they are due back, she hadn’t wanted to risk moving her. Carrie’s eyes flutter open. Kelly sobs in relief and hugs her daughter tightly before turning to Gonzalez and giving her a big hug.
“Thank you. Oh, thank you,” she says.
“Our pleasure, ma’am,” Gonzalez says feeling a touch uncomfortable with the outpouring of emotion.
