Shortly thereafter they arrived at a small airstrip cut out of a valley between two sizable mountain ranges. On the tarmac was a Gulfstream G 670; the latest in corporate jet technology. On the fuselage, starting at the wing and moving to the cockpit, in big block letters and at a slight upward angle was the letters W-O-R-T-H. It was Benton’s corporate insignia.
Benton pulled alongside the plane and cut the engine. Dr. Sanderson reached in the back seat and grabbed his computer and backpack filled with his lab notes and data discs. After he closed the door and turned to face the plane, he saw that Benton was already walking up the stairs heading into the plane.
Dr. Sanderson reached the top of the stairs and entered the plane. It was just as impressive on the inside as it was on the outside. Looking down the aisle to his right he saw two ultra large seats on the left side and two more on the right. There were four men he had yet to meet already sitting in the seats; undoubtedly members of Gunner’s crew. There was one more seat on the right side facing inward and behind that a medium sized couch also facing inward. Beyond that there appeared to be a small conference table with seating.
As he looked to his left, he saw Benton coming out of the cockpit with a man dressed in a pilot’s uniform. The pilot was right out of central casting, about five foot eleven with jet black hair, solid build, and a confidence that all air jockeys have.
“I’d like you to meet your pilot, Captain John Bannon,” Benton said.
“Nice to meet ya,” the Captain said.
“Likewise Mr. Bannon, I just wish it was under different circumstances.”
“Please,” Captain Bannon said, “call me John.”
Before the Doctor could reply, Gunner emerged from the back of the plane and informed Benton that they were ready to go. He turned toward Captain Bannon.
“Have you completed your pre-flight checklist Captain?”
Not waiting for a reply, Gunner followed Benton to the edge of the stairs and had a few last words with his boss before raising the stairs and locking the door.
Captain Bannon turned to the Doctor, putting his hand on his back while leaning in and whispered in his ear, “Watch out for that one,” nodding in Gunner’s direction.
“Where to first, Doctor?” Gunner asked after he had finished sealing the cabin door.
“Do we have any signals to follow yet on the receiver?”
“Not as of yet, but we should have something soon, after we are airborne,” Gunner said.
“Without any other information to go on I would suggest heading to where they were last seen, Florida.”
“You heard him Captain,” Gunner said, “set a course for Florida.”
“Off to Disney World,” Captain Bannon responded.
Dr. Sanderson turned and headed toward the back of the plane. As he walked past the members of Gunner’s crew, he said hello but received no response. He was about to try again when Gunner came up from behind him.
“My associates do not speak English, Doctor,” he said.
“Oh, I wasn’t aware.”
“If you need anything from them, please ask me,” Gunner said. He motioned to the couch and said, “Sit here Doctor and buckle up; we’ll be airborne in a few minutes.”
“Förbereda för avresa,” Gunner said to his crew.
They checked their belt buckles and sat straight up. Gunner sat next to the Doctor on the couch.
Now in the rear of the plane for the first time, Dr. Sanderson noticed a small galley behind a partition separating it from the main cabin. On the other side of the galley was the lavatory.
The intercom came alive as Captain Bannon announced they were ready for takeoff and to remind them to buckle up. As the Gulfstream taxied to the end of the runway, the Doctor, for the first time, pondered the probability of their mission succeeding. After considering all the variables, he decided it would be best not think about it.
The airplane picked up speed as it hurled itself down the runway attempting to achieve takeoff velocity. A few seconds later they were in the air, traveling to where this whole nightmare began; into the lion’s den as it were.
Chapter 14
Up in Smoke
Early the next morning, after a peaceful night’s sleep, Chester made a modest meal of eggs and bacon that he had found unspoiled in the now room temperature refrigerator downstairs. As the morning mist was just lifting, Chester packed up his gear and grabbing the sawed off shotgun quietly making his way out of the house and to his pickup truck.
Throwing the gear in the back of the truck, he grabbed one of the jerry cans and topped off his tank of gas. Putting the can back in the bed of the truck he grabbed the shotgun and made his way to the other side. As he was reaching for the door handle a sound behind him made him stop mid-motion and turn.
There, coming around the corner of the house, was an infected person. Without thinking, Chester raised the shotgun and fired hitting the man square in the chest. The man staggered and then continued coming towards him, as a second blast from the shotgun to the man’s head finally put him down.
Chester climbed into the cab of the truck and started it up. As he slowly backed down the driveway he realized the noise from the shotgun blasts had attracted several other infected people. Anther came from behind Douglas’ house as three more came from across the street. Not waiting to find out if there were any more Chester spun his tires on the pavement as he pulled away from the house.
As he drove through the neighborhood he noticed that the infected were coming from everywhere. It was like he had kicked an ant pile. Speeding up, he managed to navigate his way out of the suburban maze while bouncing a couple of the infected off of his front bumper.
As he drew closer to I-81 he took a wrong turn and ended up in the middle of Old Town Winchester. Out of nowhere a rock suddenly flew by the windshield and bounce off the hood of his truck. Slamming on the brakes and whipping his head around Chester saw a group of people coming out of a side street. They were armed with an assortment of bats, sticks, and rocks. It looked like the looters from the night before.
Not wanting to stick around Chester slowly began to steer around some debris in the road. He noticed in the review mirror that the thieves had begun to run after him. As a shower of rocks rained down on his truck, Chester floored the gas pedal and sped off. He navigated several more side roads before finally coming upon an on ramp for I-81. Merging onto the highway, he noticed the road was only occupied by several abandoned cars and several infected people. As he headed north, he turned the shortwave radio on to see if there was any new announcements. However, the message was the same as before and he quickly turned it off.
As the sun slowly rose in the east, Chester passed by Martinsburg and from the highway could not help noticing a number of smoke columns rising from the small town. Curbing his instinct to explore Chester continued north. In the distance Hagerstown came into view as he crossed the Potomac River. More cars began to litter the road forcing him to slow down.
Again, the area surrounding the highway was littered with burning fires. Here and there Chester could make out infected people moving without purpose through the deserted streets. As he passed under the I-70 interchange he saw another person coming down the road. However, this person was moving at full speed unlike the infected he had previously seen.
As he drove closer Chester slowed and was able to make out a woman waving her arms at him. She was young with light brown hair and wearing black Capri pants and a soiled blue tee shirt. Still wary of strangers Chester readied his shotgun in his lap and rolled down his window as the woman reached the truck. Instead the woman ran to the passenger side, opened the door and jumped in the truck.
“Hold it right there lady, what do ya think you’re doing?” asked Chester gesturing with the shotgun.
“Chill out mister, we got to get out of here, there are a bunch of those zombie things after me.”
“Zombie things? Oh, you mean the infected people?”
“Yea, those
people who died and come back from the dead all cannibal like. Seriously, we got to go.”
“Who the heck are you?”
“My name is Donna, now let’s go.”
“Well Donna, I never said you could get in my truck so what makes you think I am gonna to give you a ride?”
“’Cause I’m not getting out until we are clear of these zombies,” Donna said as she pointed to the group of them coming down the highway.
“This is why I don’t get involved,” Chester muttered angrily.
Looking around Chester saw roughly 30 zombies about 400 yards away shuffling towards them from all directions around the highway. As they converged on the highway they began to form a small group. Directly in front of his truck were several empty cars in the middle of the road leaving only a small path for the truck to fit through.
“Alright, Miss, I’ll get us out of this mess but then you get out of my truck.”
“Sure, whatever you say mister. What are you gonna do?”
“I’ve had about enough of runnin’ from these things; I think it’s about time I went huntin’. I’m going to rig a trap for them in that group of abandoned cars up yonder. We’ll draw them through that pathway and set it off. Then you leave.”
“Ok, but how are you going to take them all on by yourself?”
“Just wait and see. Help me grab these propane tanks.”
Getting out of the truck with the shotgun in his hand Chester met Donna at the rear of the truck. Grabbing one of the large propane tanks he motioned for Donna to grab the other. Moving to the abandon cars in front of the truck Chester set down the tank and moved to each car, crawling underneath and knocking on the gas tank trying to figure out which contained more gasoline.
A silver Dodge was the lucky winner and Chester placed one of the propane tanks underneath the car’s gas tank. Moving to the car across from the Dodge he took the second propane tank from Donna and placed it under that car’s gas tank. By now the zombies were about 150 yards away but had not seemed to notice Chester and Donna moving around the cars. After he had finished he ran back to his truck.
“Get in; I’m gonna to go draw those zombies into the trap.”
“Ok but I still don’t understand what you are doing with those propane tanks,” Donna replied.
“Just wait and see.”
Chester moved off through the gap in the cars. Leveling his shot gun at the nearest zombie he fired hitting it in the chest. The zombie stumbled but got up again and began moving straight for Chester. The other zombies in the area, having heard the noise, all began to converge on his position. After getting off two more shots just to be sure, he turned and ran back to the truck.
“Here goes nothing,” Chester said jumping into the driver’s side of his truck.
He slowly turned the truck around and began repeatedly beeping the horn. The zombies seemed to pick up on the new target and began to move between the abandoned cars as they drove off down the highway.
As he drove, Chester kept an eye on the review mirror watching as the zombies made their way to the cars. When the majority of them were in and around the cars he had booby trapped, he slammed on the brakes and jumped out. Retrieving his rifle from the bed he braced himself on the side of the truck, held his breath, and squeezed the trigger.
In an instance the propane tank under the Dodge exploded triggering subsequent explosions from the now exposed gas from the car’s tank, the second propane tank, and the other cars. Car and body parts rained down around the area as a huge fire raged in the pile of destroyed cars. A large dark plume of smoke rose slowly and drifted skyward. Chester’s ears were ringing and he was rubbing his eyes as some of the debris fell around him. It looked like most of the zombies had been destroyed by the explosion. Scanning the area he noticed movement as several zombies which had been thrown by the explosion got up and began to move towards them down the highway again.
Moving back to the cab Chester said, “Hang tight, I am going to deal with these stragglers.”
Slinging the rifle onto his shoulder Chester picked up his shotgun out of the front seat and then retrieved his pack from the bed of the truck. The pack contained his extra shotgun shells, just in case. Moving towards the raging fire he quickly dispatched three zombies that had survived the blast with shotgun rounds to the head. He shuddered as he dealt with a fourth that was still moving along the ground but was missing most of the left side of its body.
Chester let out a gruff cough from the smoke in the air around him and then stepped back from the heat of the fire. Standing there he admired the effectiveness of his plan and allowed himself another of his rare smiles. This was quickly replaced with a scowl as he turned back around in time to see Donna landing in the driver’s seat of his truck and speeding off down the highway with his truck and all of his camping supplies.
Chapter 15
All Together Now
It was well before the first rays of light painted the Maryland sky that Major Bradley awoke. Specialist Simmons was snoring, face mashed into the desk in front of him, having unsuccessfully tried all night to raise someone via the radio. Looking down from the observation deck he could make out a few of his soldiers on guard at the entrance below. The others would hopefully be fast asleep inside their vehicles. There was a light knocking on the observation room door and Major Bradley smiled as he knew who it would be.
“Enter.”
“Morning sir,” said Captain Morris as he shut the door behind him.
Coming up the two steps from the door to the observation deck he continued, “An uneventful night sir. A couple of the infected came within 20 yards of the perimeter but the men stayed calm as none of them posed a threat. Any luck with the radio?”
Gesturing to Specialist Simmons Major Bradley said, “That poor boy was up most of the night with no luck. It looks like we are going to have to do this the hard way.”
Shaking his head Captain Morris asked, “How did you sleep sir?”
“As good as can be expected considering the circumstances. I woke up to the sound of gun fire in the distance a couple of times; probably just some locals taking pot shots at the infected. At around two this morning I got up to stretch my legs. Looking out towards the town, I am pretty sure I saw car lights heading south on I-70. Not sure where they are going but that might not end well for them.”
“Yeah we heard the gunfire to, spooked the men a little, but hopefully that means fewer of those things.”
Handing Major Bradley a canteen Captain Morris continued, “Here’s your coffee sir, it’s not warm but it’s better than nothing. So what’s the plan?”
Taking the canteen from the Captain, Major Bradley took a swallow and then gestured to the maps laid out on a table in the middle of the room. “Logic would dictate that since Command abandoned this evacuation zone they probably have done the same with anything nearby. Our best bet is to head west.”
“What about some of the other regional airports, would they be used as evacuations zones?” asked Captain Morris.
“Most likely, but they will also be the first to be abandoned when the shit hits the fan. I think our best bet would be one of our army bases or an air base. They should be better protected and could hold out longer then a civilian airport.”
“We could head to Fort Campbell; I did some training there and they should be well protected.”
“We could, but I was thinking something closer. I really want to get these civilians off our hands if possible and I am not sure we want to drive all the way there with them.”
Pointing to the map Major Bradley said, “I was thinking of Wright-Pat Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. They’ve got a pretty secure base up there and we can just take I-70 straight to it. If we leave in the next couple of hours we could even make it before nightfall.”
“You want me to load ‘em up?” asked Captain Morris.
“No, give them another hour of sleep” Major Bradley replied looking over at Specialist Simmons. “But I want to l
eave no later than 0800; dismissed Captain.”
The sudden banging made everyone bolt wide awake as Captain Morris opened the door and stepped into the office.
“Rise and shine folks we’ve got to be on the road in about half an hour.”
Tossing some more candy bars and bottles of soda on the table he said, “We’ve also got some room temperature coffee out here if anyone is interested.” He then turned on his heel and left the room.
Stretching and letting out a big yawn Nick said, “Well at least we’ve got room service.”
As the others slowly woke up it appeared that Nick was the only one to have gotten anything resembling a good night’s rest. They all felt a little rested but none of them had truly gotten a full night’s sleep. Between the gunshots heard outside and the thoughts running through each of their minds, it had been a long listless night.
“Mmmm, a breakfast of champions,” Nick said as he finished his candy bar and downing the last of his soda.
“Easy there Nick. Save some for the rest of us,” said Stephen.
They all rolled up their blankets and grabbed the few things they brought in with them and headed out into the already muggy Maryland morning. Outside the soldiers were milling around the convoy vehicles packing up their gear. Up on top of the Humvees several of the soldiers manned the machine guns keeping an eye on the surrounding area. As they stood awkwardly awaiting instructions on what to do, Major Bradley, with Specialist Simmons in tow, came out of the tower.
“Morning folks,” Major Bradley said greeting them. “Hope you got some sleep.”
“It was better than nothing,” said Kim to the nods of the others.
“So I am assuming no one is coming to pick us up?” asked Stephen.
“That’s right son, it looks like we are going to be on our own ‘till we find another evacuation zone,” replied Major Bradley.
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