The Infected Dead (Book 2): Survive For Now

by Howard, Bob

  Over lunch we talked about everything and anything. The topics went all over the place because there was just so much to tell each other. Tom told us about how he and Molly had holed up in the fire station for a long time, and they could have stayed there longer, but as the infected dead moved out of the area, the scavengers had moved in. People who only prepared for an apocalypse of any kind by stocking up on guns and ammunition began to look in the obvious places for supplies, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that fire stations would be a good place to find what they were looking for.

  After Tom had retrieved Molly from the top of the fire truck, he made her comfortable and then went from room to room clearing out the bodies. It was bad at first because the only way to get the bodies out of the building was to carry them upstairs and then drop them out the windows. He had considered trying to open a lower window and quickly shoving out a corpse, but the outside of the building was surrounded. As soon as he parted the curtains at a window, a dozen or more infected dead had started for the fire station.

  After clearing out the bodies, Tom spent some time covering all of the windows. He wanted to let Molly have some light inside when he could to keep her from becoming too afraid. By the time he was done, Molly was already sound asleep. At least he felt like she would have a good night of safe sleep for one night. He had found a large supply of flashlights that had strong batteries, so he spent a restless night searching through the FEMA supplies that were stored in the fire station. There was a huge supply of food and bottled water. He didn't know how much cooking he would be able to do, but he figured without power, the only way he was going to be able to do hot meals was to build a small fire on the floor of the empty engine bay.

  Molly slept well, and by the time she woke up, Tom had found powdered milk and powdered eggs. There were lots of things like rice and instant mashed potatoes, and he only had to find a way to boil water. He was sure he would find something sooner or later, and it turned out to be sooner. The stove in the fire station kitchen used natural gas, and it meant Molly could have a hot breakfast. He found some pancake mix and syrup, and they had a real feast. He remembered telling Molly that she would be able to have chocolate milk again one day. Tom looked at the rest of us and told Allison and Bus that we helped him keep that promise.

  Tom and Molly worked together to make the fire station a home, at least for a while. They cleaned it as best they could, and they carried a fair amount of the supplies upstairs. Tom figured there could come a day when they would be trapped upstairs, and if that happened, they would need food for a few days.

  It turned out Tom was right. When the scavengers came along, they came in through the downstairs windows. Tom and Molly had no choice but to go out through the bedroom windows using rope ladders they had ready. Fire stations had some useful things, and Tom had made up some impressive bug-out packs for the day when they had to leave in a hurry.

  Tom was just telling us that living in the fire station was a temporary thing right from the start when we heard something on the radio. I hadn't realized I had left it on receive and speaker settings, or maybe I had done it on purpose in case Jean called us. Whatever I had done, it was making noise now, but it didn't sound like Jean.

  As a group we hurried from the dining room and crossed the kitchen, the living room and finally to the radio. It sounded like a distress call, and everyone recognized the European accent, but we couldn't tell what was being said. The only thing we knew for sure was that something terrible was happening, and a final scream came from the speaker just as we tried to speak to the person on the other end. There was only static coming from the radio.

  "I wonder what that was all about," said Bus.

  The Chief said, "I hate to say it, but it sounded like it could have been our Russian friends back at the island.”

  I said, “Have a seat, Bus. We need to be talking about getting back. Jean is there, and there's a boatload of Russians practically in our back yard.”

  Bus pulled at his beard and sat down across from the Chief. He had a thoughtful look on his face, and there seemed to be something bothering him.

  “Chief, so far you haven’t asked the obvious question,” he said.

  The Chief had his best poker face on, which meant no expression at all. He said, “I figured you would get around to telling us in your own time, but if you want me to ask, I will.”

  Bus said, “Allison is the only person I let in even though the whole town found out about the shelter and tried to get in. I knew a lot of those people out there, and I didn’t open the door for them.” He looked like he was ashamed of himself.

  “How did you wind up letting Allison in?” asked Tom.

  “Allison got separated from the her relatives and friends who were going to try for Huntsville, and I guess I just always had a soft spot for you and Molly. It didn’t seem right to let Allison die outside when I never doubted for a minute that you would survive.”

  “Were you outside when it all started to happen?” I asked. “I had left the shelter to go buy some……supplies, and I almost didn’t make it back.”

  “Your Uncle would have been disappointed in you. Didn’t he tell you to stay inside? Besides, what kind of supplies could you have possibly needed?” Bus gave me a stern look that made me feel like I was at the principal’s office again.

  “Yes, he did, but can you honestly tell me you were expecting a zombie apocalypse?” I asked. I probably sounded more defensive than I should have been, but it seemed like everybody knew there was going to be an apocalypse but me.

  “To tell the truth,” said Bus, “I was outside because I was still stocking my shelter. I was coming back when I ran into Allison, and I brought her along.”

  “Chief,” I said, “what about us getting back to Mud Island?”

  The Chief reached over and gave my shoulder a squeeze and said, “I think Bus has something he wants to tell us. Let’s give him a few minutes to speak his mind, and I’ll use a higher speed getting you home to Jean.”

  We all sat down around the radio to hear what Bus wanted to tell us, and to be able to listen for more contact at the same time. He had the look of a man who had a big burden on his broad shoulders.

  “I built that stockade with cabins above us like it was my shelter, and everyone bought it. The whole town of Guntersville thought that was where I was going to go when the world ended. There were plenty of people who made fun of me or called me crazy, but when the infection showed up here, you can bet everyone was trying to get up that winding road.”

  “How did you and Allison get back in with everyone else trying to get in?” asked Kathy. As soon as she asked, she guessed the answer to her own question. “Everyone else was going up one side of the mountain, while the two of you made your way around to the real shelter door.”

  “Exactly,” he said, “and my reward for outsmarting them was that I had to watch them die. The camera system here is like the one Titus put on Mud Island, and I was starved for local news. I needed to know what was happening out there, and once the Internet went down and the news channels went off the air, I only had the stockade to watch.”

  “Did they die from within?” asked the Chief.

  “If you mean, did they have infected inside but didn’t know it, then yes, they died from within,” he said.

  “And you feel responsible for that,” I said.

  “Yes, I do,” he said. “You should have seen them fighting to get in, and then they were shutting the gates on people when the place was full.”

  “How long before an infected person started attacking other people inside the stockade?” asked Kathy.

  He thought for a moment and said, “I think it was the third day, but I’m not sure. Time started to run together because I couldn’t stop watching the news, searching the Internet for something encouraging, and watching the people inside the stockade go into a state of anarchy over the smallest things. A candy bar could get you killed if the wrong person saw you
eating it.”

  Allison had been listening quietly, but she saw Bus was starting to relive the guilt she had already witnessed when it was happening. She stepped over to his side and said, “I’ve been telling Bus that he isn’t responsible for what happened. How could he guess they would turn on each other so fast?”

  She continued on for him, “Most of the people who got to the stockade first didn’t bring anything but their guns. When people showed up with supplies, the people with the guns just took what they wanted. There were a few people who tried to assert themselves and establish order.”

  “What happened to them?” asked the Chief.

  “The people with the guns put them out the front gate,” she said. “They put whole families out when they had to. Then it got really bad when they figured out someone would have to go down to the lake for drinking water.”

  Bus said, “Titus was ahead of me building his shelter. He got his power, fresh water supply, and everything else done before me. I was going to put a well up on the mountain. Running a pipeline from the lake up to the stockade wasn’t a problem. I just didn’t get it done in time. I decided I should get the shelter done first.”

  The Chief said, “That worked out for you in the long run because you accomplished what you set out to do, right? You didn’t have to save the world, just yourself.”

  Bus had his face in his hands when he answered, “But I’m a doctor. Now I know why Titus chose to put his shelter on a coastal island instead of the mountains. I’ll bet you didn’t have to watch people die on your island.”

  “I was lonely after only a few days,” I said. “When Jean, Kathy, and the Chief came along, I felt like I had won the lottery for a second time. Then when Tom and Molly took up residence in the houseboat, it was a no-brainer to bring them inside.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about,” said Bus. “You were able to stay inside with your head down. If it had been one family up there, I would have brought them in.”

  “That would have been a mistake,” said Kathy. “A family could have been protecting someone who had been bitten. When we brought in Tom and Molly, we got it out in the open immediately and dealt with it. If it had been a whole family on the houseboat, we would have watched them for days first, and we would have left them outside if one was infected.”

  Tom tried to brighten the mood by adding that the Chief told him he had to get naked if he wanted to come inside. That wasn’t entirely accurate, but it did earn a small grin from Bus.

  Molly had been sitting down below in the living room watching a movie on an iPad, but it turned out that the acoustics were good in this shelter, or she had exceptionally good hearing. She giggled and said, “I got a bubble bath and daddy got a shower.”

  I asked, “What happened up there in the stockade?”

  Allison took over again because Bus was being overcome with grief. “When the first infected person died and attacked other people, the ones with guns started shooting. Children were shot like they were nothing but animals.”

  “How did the hole get punched through the back of the stockade?” asked the Chief.

  “Someone had a chainsaw,” said Bus. “There were infected dead making it to the top of the mountain at the front gate. The people still alive inside figured they could go down the back side of the mountain without running into anything that was likely to eat them, so they cut a hole. Of course they found out that wasn’t such a good idea.”

  Allison said, “People who fell out the back were stranded on the plateau, and people who were bitten were tossed over the edge with them. It wasn’t long before there were more of the infected on the plateau than uninfected. Because it was completely fenced in, there was nowhere for them to go.”

  Bus said, “That plateau was another big part of the plan that never got finished. If I would have had time, I was going to clear it and put a tarmac on it as a possible helicopter landing site.”

  “Well, we guessed that one,” said Tom. “Is there an emergency tunnel that goes to the plateau?” he asked.

  “As a matter of fact there is, but it doesn’t look like there would be much use for it now,” he said.

  “And how did they get the fence to collapse on the side of the mountain we came in through?” asked Kathy.

  “Sheer numbers,” said Bus. “So, I guess you’re wondering why I’m telling you all this.”

  “We were wondering,” I said. I could tell the Chief and Kathy were thinking the same thing.

  Bus asked, “Is your shelter big enough for us to come back with you?”

  “You would leave all of this behind?” asked the Chief.

  “You could use a doctor, and from what I understand, there’s a baby due. I don’t want to stay here after what I’ve seen. The view out the front windows might be beautiful, but the memories just make it look like a dead land to me. Besides, we could close this place up and use it as a fall back shelter if we ever have to leave Mud Island.”

  Tom looked at Allison to see if she was on board with leaving Guntersville, and she gave him a silent nod and a half smile.

  Allison said, “I’ve also heard Molly talking about her aunts and uncles, and that makes you guys all family now. If you’ll have us, I don’t think we could do better.”

  There were nods of agreement all around, and with that settled, we started to pack essentials. I wished Jean was with us so she could tell Bus what medical supplies he should bring. Since we had extra people we decided to focus on medicines, MRE’s, and ammunition.

  As we packed, we talked about the pros and cons of making the move to Mud Island. The biggest advantage to Green Cavern was that you couldn’t just walk up to the front door and knock, and being able to open the windows to get fresh air was an attractive thought. The disadvantages for those same things were that the elevator door wasn’t impenetrable, and the windows were within range of anyone who got their hands on an RPG launcher.

  The surgical suite was bigger at Green Cavern, but the important things were the supplies, so we considered it to be a trade-off. Green Cavern also had spare seaplanes not far away, but we figured that was something we could live without. Besides, the discussion brought out a little bonus fact that we hadn’t known. Bus could fly a seaplane too, so there was no reason why we couldn’t fly over and get another one for the trip back. After all, we had done the same thing with boats.

  The Chief was also convinced there was one big reason for Mud Island to be the best choice. Besides being a warmer climate, which we all agreed was more easily tolerated, the Chief believed that the coast was where rescue would eventually begin. He believed the ships already at sea had to be where civilization was being rebuilt. I didn’t think he had forgotten what happened on the cruise ship. I think he figured the military had handled it better. There were some ships that would have made the mistake of trying to treat bite victims, but even those that did might have done so under more controlled circumstances.

  We had everything packed and ready at the elevator in under an hour. Bus had set all of the controls in the physical plant to just maintaining security. No heating or air conditioning would be needed, and all lights could be off. The only reason to leave power on was to operate the elevator.

  The plan was simple. We would take everything down in one trip. All hands would load the plane except Molly and Allison. Molly would be safe inside the plane while Allison stood guard. If any infected showed up, everyone would stop to clear the threat using machetes. Guns would sound very loud in the entrance to the cavern. Once the plane was loaded, we would all shove it off and board.

  Bus watched the elevator go back up and said, “I thought it would depress me to leave my shelter behind, but I’m feeling more alive than I have in months.”

  He looked really alive to me. I was sure I understood what he was talking about because there was the feeling you get from being with a group of friends that you can’t get anywhere else. I didn’t know how lonely I was until my friends came floating up to my island
in a raft. Surviving and living are two different things.

  Loading went smoothly, and it wasn’t long before we were easing the plane away from the beach inside the cavern. We half expected to see infected in the water, but since they weren’t raining off of the mountain anymore, there had been no reason for them to stay around. With nothing for them to bite, the infected in the water had simply walked away, while the ones that had gone into the cavern had probably just gotten lost somewhere in the dark caves until they either fell over a steep drop or got stuck in a hole.

  We were still careful even though we weren’t seeing any of the infected in the water, and we rotated the plane broadside to the beach to allow Tom and me to give the plane a shove as we jumped onto the pontoon. We climbed inside, and the Chief started the engine. I looked around the cabin, and everyone looked so happy with this decision that they were all smiles. If not for the way the world had turned out, we looked like a bunch of people going to Disney World on vacation.

  The plane slowly rotated to the left until the Chief had it pointing straight out toward the middle of the lake. He powered up, and it began racing forward. The Chief was an excellent pilot, so his take-offs and landings were always smooth. This time was no exception. We were passing over the bridge toward the resort marina in only a couple of minutes, and we could see the huge expanse of the golf course stretching out toward the hotel.

  “Uh, oh,” I said as soon as I could make out the details at the marina.

  “That’s what I was thinking,” said the Chief.

  We had become accustomed to changing plans when we had to, and this was going to be one of those times. The docks of the marina were still overrun by the infected. We could probably land and coast up to the seaplanes that were parked in their private slips, but the risk to all of us just wasn't worth it. Not to mention the possibility of damage to the plane. Getting in close to the other planes meant we would have to watch where our wingtips were at all times. If we even bumped one against another parked plane, we wouldn’t be able to take off until we did a complete visual inspection.