by Dan DeWitt
"Yikes," Jameson said. "Make sure you red pen that house on your map or put a sticker on it or something. It's like the whole neighborhood is in there."
Lena smiled at that. You're not that far off. "I think we're good. We can hit the next location."
O
Orpheus was in his office, poring over the photos that he'd gotten from Lena. He wasn't surprised by the number of zombies in his living room, because he was the one who had let them in. What was disheartening was that the photos that Lena was clever enough to get didn't help him for shit.
He said, "Well, it was a good try," and dropped them into a desk drawer.
"What was?" Ethan asked as he walked into the office and closed the door behind him.
"Lena got some good photos of the house, but I don't know any more now than I did before. I'm going off of memory and a vague recollection of what was where. We're putting ourselves at risk with no promise of a payoff."
"I feel like that's kind of our thing by now."
Orpheus shrugged. "I can't exactly argue that. But we've done okay so far."
"I hear that."
"Let's get serious for a moment, Ethan. Are you okay with bringing Rachel? That's not a question about her, because she's as capable as anyone on the island, myself included. Are you going to be able to focus with her there?"
Ethan bobbed his head back and forth, weighing his answer. "If you asked me that before the outbreak, I would've said yes, but I also would have been lying. Now, we're a team. When push comes to shove, she can throw down with the best of them. I can worry about her without actually worrying about her, if that makes any sense."
"I know exactly what you're talking about."
"Mom?"
Orpheus shook his head. "My pigheaded kid."
"Your genes, dude."
"Don't remind me. And don't tell her I asked you that in the first place. Both of you be sure to get some rest. We go at midday."
"You got it." Ethan paused when he got to the door. "Did you ask her the same question about me?"
Orpheus leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Ethan walked away, and Orpheus heard him mumbling. "That's a yes."
Orpheus let out a long, contented sigh. "Being a father's fun sometimes." He opened his journal and made a few notes, then went over the mission plan again. There wasn't much to go over. They would leave a few hours after the squads had deployed. They'd take two Jeeps, which figured in strategically or if they encountered any mechanical problems. Orpheus would conduct the first post check. The post checks may have been a cover for their other activity, but they'd be a good learning opportunity, as well. Orpheus wouldn't be The Guy forever. He didn't believe in destiny, but he didn't see anything stopping Ethan from taking up that mantle within the next decade or so. If not him, Tim.
Who am I kidding? The four of them will be running the show until their kids take over for them.
If Orpheus was being honest with himself, he was kind of looking forward to passing the torch. He wasn't old, but he was knocking on the door of too old to be fighting the undead wherever and whenever they popped up. Let someone younger, smarter, and more energetic do that. He could do the wise old sage thing.
Wherever and whenever they popped up.
He'd accepted it as a certainty that the world would be dealing with zombies in some capacity from this point forward. They were created once, and it would be a lot easier to create them a second time. Sure, they could clean up this mess eventually, but another outbreak was imminent. His only hope was that they could stay ahead of it and contain it before it spread too much.
If not, well, the outlook would be pretty bleak. If an outbreak got past a certain geographical barrier, it wouldn't stop until it reached the oceans. If an infected person got on a plane, not even then.
What had Jen called it?
A "world-killer." There was no exaggeration in it at all.
Thompson had to come through. Orpheus hated putting it in his hands. He still didn't trust him completely, but Orpheus was no detective. Thompson struck him as the kind of guy who, if properly motivated, would find out anything. Orpheus really hoped so.
A chat box opened up on his computer. Lena.
I think I got a photo.
Really? How?
Started with the friend. Stalked Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and pretty much the entire internet. Hold on ... uploading. If it's right, I'll print some up.
Orpheus clicked a button and looked at the photo.
Hot damn, that's it. This'll really help avoid a disaster. Thanks.
You know you love me. Gotta get back to saving the world. And Cam? Be careful.
Copy that.
This was a bonus. At least this way, Ethan and Rachel would have something to go on. They really only had one shot at this. If they screwed it up, they'd never get another opportunity.
Nothing to do now but wait and see if they could pull it off.
House Cleaning
Orpheus made it outside in time to see the squads off. He pulled Tim and Fish aside to give them some last minute pointers.
Tim asked, "What time should we expect you to show up?"
Orpheus smiled. "It's a surprise, Tim. That's the point of a post check. To see if you have your shit together when your boss isn't around."
"Curses."
"Relax. It's more about teaching everyone else than it is you two. Now get moving."
Tim led them out to begin the day's duty.
Orpheus walked to the motor pool and saw what he hoped he would see. Ethan and Rachel were inspecting the vehicles, per the checklist. With two working vehicles, their side mission should be relatively easy. But even a minor vehicle malfunction could immediately put them at a greater risk.
"How much longer?"
Ethan said, "Just about done. Hey, would you mind checking out the hood for a second? I think the latch might be stuck."
"Hmm." Orpheus walked to the front and put his fingers under the hood, feeling for the latch. That was the precise moment when his son honked the horn. Orpheus nearly fell backwards.
Ethan made an elaborate writing motion on the clipboard. "Check."
Orpheus straightened up and slow clapped. "Bravo."
Rachel just rolled her eyes. "Are you two having fun? Because I'm pretty sure that we have shit to do."
Orpheus motioned for the two of them to get in one of the Jeeps. As he opened the door to his own, he said, "Did you actually do the inspection, or did you just put sugar in the gas tank?"
Ethan winked and slid in behind the wheel. "It was one of those." He shut the door and started it up.
Rachel walked to her future father-in-law. "He's wired," she said by way of explanation. "This is his first mission side-by-side with you. He'd kill me for telling you this, but he's terrified of disappointing you."
"That's not even possible. But I will get him back for the horn thing, that's a promise."
She tied her hair back. "I hope you don't wonder where he gets it from."
He smirked. "I don't. Now back to business. I'll lead the way to the first post, Lieutenant."
"Yes, sir." She hopped into the passenger seat, and thirty seconds later they were rolling off of the base.
Orpheus knew the location of the first post and had memorized their route in order to minimize, if not eliminate completely, the threat of zombies. At most, they should see a straggler or two, and they would either kill it or just keep driving at Orpheus' discretion.
They reached the first post. They had already dispatched several zombies and were in the process of moving them to a single location for easier identification and burning. Men were posted on the roof and in a tight perimeter around the Rhinos. Orpheus drove up and rolled down his window. The closest soldier leaned forward and advised him that the area was secure.
The three of them got out of the Jeeps. Orpheus motioned for Rachel to take the lead, and the men hun
g back.
The door swung open and Fish met them on the ground. He came to attention, saluted Orpheus, and asked his superior officer if he would like a post briefing. He'd clearly been studying. Orpheus returned it and explained that Lieutenant Begley would be handling the post briefing. Fish adjusted his stance and started all over again. Fish gave Rachel the rundown of his personnel, post limits, and arms. Rachel asked him a few key questions. She'd been paying attention to Orpheus' crash course, as well.
Rachel looked like she wanted to make Fish twist a little, but she probably remembered that the situation would be reversed the next day. She put Fish at ease.
Orpheus said, "Nice job, both of you. Fish, next time, be outside waiting before the officer has a chance to get out of their car."
"Copy that, Captain."
Orpheus was informal again. "How's everything here?"
"We're good. A few rolled up on us, but we're ready to move to the next checkpoint."
"Good work. Unless you have something for us, we'll take off."
"No, sir."
"Be safe. And don't tell the others we're coming." He looked up at the men on top of the Rhino and held up a hand. "Gentlemen."
A chorus of, "Sir!" came back at him.
The trio got back into their vehicles and embarked upon their real mission.
The way Lena had set them up was a masterpiece. Orpheus' former home was smack dab in the middle of the two posts. As she promised, backup wasn't far away. If, for some reason, backup did become necessary, Orpheus could justify why he was there, as well. The street that he lived off of was the most direct route, and he couldn't resist the pull of nostalgia. They wouldn't have a prayer of masking their gunshots, but, hey, once he'd looked in his window he'd gotten furious that so many of those things were in his home and he decided to take them down. His anger problems were well-documented. As far as Orpheus could tell, all of the bases were covered.
While he drove, his eyes darted side to side out of habit. There was once a time when he'd be looking for deer, as they tended to dart out of the woods. He'd managed to avoid hitting one for the entire time he'd been on the island. Many of his neighbors' cars hadn't been so lucky. Now, the motions were the same, but he was looking for something more dangerous than deer.
Lena's intel had been right on. This area was all but deserted. Orpheus wasn't surprised. Most of the neighborhood had gotten slaughtered at the block party, and the lion's share of the rest were in his game room. Orpheus assumed that the remaining few had wandered off either chasing or in search of more prey.
It was setting up nicely.
They reached the Holts' driveway, but remained in the cul-de-sac. Orpheus did indeed feel a pang of nostalgia, and he did get angry when he saw all of those fucking ... things ... in his house. It was more than anger, it was fury. That was his home. He'd started and raised a family there. And it was corrupted forever. Gone.
He closed his eyes and got himself under control. Ethan pulled up alongside him and rolled down his window.
"You okay, Dad? I don't know about you, but I'm pissed."
"You could say that. No sense dwelling on it. I'll creep along the back. I'll let you know if it's clear. Once it is, I'm going up via the balcony."
"Is there a ladder back there?"
"I'm sitting in one. Once I'm inside, I'll let you know and survey the situation. I can't imagine that any of them will be upstairs, but I'll check the shit out of the top floor before we do anything. You sit tight until I give the word. Do not engage until I give the word, then light them up. Unless you see her. If you do, let me know and we'll figure it out. You have the photo?"
Rachel held it up. "Right here. With any luck, I should be able to pick her out."
"Okay. Either of us sees or does anything, we let each other know. No surprises." Orpheus rolled his window up three quarters of the way and drove slowly over his front lawn. He could see the zombies inside change their angle of attack as he moved across of their field of vision, but that bay window was top of the line. It had held them this long, it could hold them for a few more minutes. Assured that the zombies behind him were secured for the time being, he focused on what may be in front of him.
The Jeep crawled around the corner of the house. He looked into the neighbor's adjacent lawn and saw no signs of any creatures. A glance at his own house revealed nothing in his own back yard, either. He did notice that the paint was beginning to peel in a ten-foot-square section.
He thought, I need to take care of that before realizing how absurd it was. Who was he kidding? The only thing he might ever do to this house was burn it. He'd never be comfortable in this house, or on this island, again. That had been ripped from him for sure, and Jackie hadn't expressed any interest in ever going back for any reason.
He radioed the other two and advised them that the back was clear. "I'm heading up. No radio contact. I'll let you know when it's time to engage. I'll chirp you to let you know when I'm in."
"Copy. Be careful."
Orpheus pulled the Jeep alongside the pressure-treated four-by-four posts that held up the balcony. He didn't think he'd have to break in to the bedroom once he was up there. The most likely scenario was that he'd left the door open the last time he'd been here, because it had been August. He should only have to open the screen door, if that. The winds around here often hit the screen door just right and slid it open. He might be able to walk on in, but if that was the case he couldn't imagine what furry woodland creatures may have moved in.
Once, maybe ten years ago, he'd gotten himself locked out of his house. He knew that the balcony was unlocked, but couldn't find a ladder. So he took a run at the wall underneath the balcony, jumped up to plant his foot, and drove himself up and away. His hands caught the bottom railing, and he was able to lift himself up via brute force.
Orpheus was completely honest with himself. No way was that shit happening now.
He double-checked his surroundings and slid open the moon roof. He turned off the ignition but left the keys. Even in normal times, the crime rate in the area was all but non-existent. Post apocalypse, he was pretty confident that no one was going to jack his car, and he could do without the jangling. He boosted himself through the opening and stood on the roof. The Jeep's height raised him up just enough to grip one of the railing posts. He felt that he'd be able to pull himself up, but it would take a pretty good tug to do so. His shoulder still wasn't right, so he did a few half-speed attempts. This was to test both his shoulder and the railing, and they seemed like they'd hold up at least this once. He grabbed his M4 and slid it onto the balcony, away from his intended landing spot.
He took a few quick breaths and practice bounces then jumped as high as he could while simultaneously lifting himself up with his arms. He heard a disturbing crack somewhere along the railing, but he was committed at this point. He put everything he had into his arms. His left boot found the post and it gave him the last bit of power that he needed to get his other foot to the small lip of balcony that extended beyond the railing. That mercifully allowed him to get himself over the railing and safely onto the balcony proper. He leaned against the railing and let out a relieved breath. "Goddamn."
The screen door was miraculously still closed, so at least he wouldn't have to deal with nature. He picked up his M4 and listened intently. He didn't hear anything upstairs, but that didn't mean a damn thing until they knew something was up here with them. He slid the screen door open, and it did so with a maddening squeak. Orpheus spun and put his back against the wall. He readied his weapon and listened again. Nothing.
He pressed his transmit button and clipped it back to his belt. That would let Ethan and Rachel know that he was inside. He cleared the top floor in relative silence. He knew that the thick carpet would mute his footsteps both upstairs and down. No zombies had made it upstairs. Nothing to chase up here.
He retreated to the farthest bedroom and closed the door slowly. He turned the volume on his radio down and calle
d the Jeep.
O
Ethan and Rachel had been on edge since they received the single beep on the radio. Ethan had to put the radio on the dash to avoid checking on his father.
He was inside with those things. Alone. No one in history was more qualified to handle it, but there was still no margin for error here.
The radio chirped again and Holt's voice came through. Both occupants excitedly moved to grab the radio off of the dashboard but only succeeded in knocking it away from each other and on to the floor at Rachel's feet. She lunged for it, but she still had her seat belt on and it locked against her shoulder. She threw it off and fumbled for the radio. She finally got it and responded. "We're here, Orpheus." She called him that without thinking about it. It was just who he became in these situations.
"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" He was clearly speaking in a whisper.
"Sorry about that. Nerves."
"Are you ready to go?"
Rachel looked at Ethan, who nodded and opened the moon roof. She said, "We're a go."
"Engage when ready. And for God's sake, be sure of who you're shooting."
"We will. Sit tight."
She stood up through the moon roof and joined Ethan. He was getting himself into a comfortable firing position. They didn't want to send too much lead through the window at once, so he was the shooter and Rachel was the spotter. For this op, her job was to help him identify targets and, just as importantly, make sure that nothing came at them from the sides or back.
Ethan laid a bandana on the roof and put four spare magazines on top of that. He checked his weapon one last time and loaded it. He said, "We've been noticed. You ready?"
"Yup. You have a plan of attack?"
Ethan welded the weapon to his shoulder and cheek. Without moving, he said, "Figure I'll just start with the men."
He picked a target and fired.
O
Orpheus listened to the gunshots for a moment before he chanced leaving the bedroom. He snuck to the top of the stairwell. When they'd moved in all those years ago, the stairwell was enclosed and had a door that opened up into the second floor hallway. It looked like a giant closet in the middle of the upstairs, and was a brutally ugly feature of the house. One of the first things that he and Jackie did when they moved in was open it up. They halved the opening and turned it into a four foot wall. They removed the door entirely.
