I brought my binoculars up and began to scan the horizon. To their rear was a hill. On either side, among the trees, were a series of campfires. They weren’t burning but did consist of carefully constructed circles of rock. A few chairs and folding tables stood nearby. I saw no one, but there was some sort of movement on the slope.
“Tara, Dale, they may have people up high. See if you can get them.”
Both Mary and Lizzy returned shortly after. Lizzy was bleeding, with my daughter screaming that she needed to hold still so she could get a bandage on her.
“Cut it out already! It’s just a graze. I’ve had them before.”
“Lizzy, let Mary tape it up and tell me what’s going on.”
Grumbling, my friend allowed the sixteen year old to cut away part of her sleeve with a boot knife and slap a thick gauze pad on the outer edge of her shoulder.
“You got some holes in your armor,” I pointed out.
Lizzy glanced down. “Fucking good thing this stuff is sturdy. All that happened to me was getting knocked on my ass. I think I walked right into it.”
If not for the military issue body armor and helmets everyone wore, our earlier losses would have undoubtedly been worse.
“Stop moving!” shrieked Mary.
She relented, but not without some disgruntled muttering.
“How’s squad one?” I asked.
“Two down, nothing critical, but Carly might have a concussion.”
“Some went into a cave,” announced Dale.
“What cave?” I was looking through the binoculars again.
“Right of the rocks.”
The entrance was behind the rock outcropping the raiders were using for cover, largely hidden from view. There was no way to tell how far back it went or if it opened up elsewhere.
“If they were sheltering inside, it might explain why Kimberly and the others so rarely saw people here. This could be a permanent base or a supply drop.”
“I don’t want to charge that,” said Mary. She’d finished with Lizzy.
More raiders came outside, joining those shooting at us, and these were carrying heavy machine guns.
“Mary, radio… No. Go tell squad three to move to the side and back so they have more cover. Lizzy, do the same with squad one. Both of you take a look and let me know what you see. I’ll be on the radio calling in the Cobra.”
Harvey was already pulling back. It looked like the others were doing the same, but I definitely wanted them moved so we had better cover.
“I got squad one,” shouted Mary, already on her feet.
“What?” demanded Lizzy.
“You can have Tim ask you ten times if you’re okay,” came the faint reply.
“That fucking boy…” Lizzy was also moving.
Dale struck one of the machine gunners, but another directed his fire at us. I rolled to the side and tumbled down a gentle slope as dirt kicked up around me. That had been close, but I was completely out of sight now. It turned out the twins had done the same, although they were crawling to the side in order to get back into the fight. Enough of this shit. I got on the radio and called for the last of our secret weapons, the Cobra.
While waiting for it to arrive, we kept up a steady rhythm. There was no attempt to advance into the open – charging machine guns is pretty damn stupid – and I didn’t try to circle around, aside from having the outer squads spread out even more. Even with this level of caution, the casualties were rising. Several more were injured, one woman with shrapnel slicing across her eyes. Fucking grenade launchers. She would never regain her sight. Two others were killed. Yeah, there was no way I was ordering anyone to charge that position. I couldn’t even evacuate the injured. The only nearby place to land a helicopter was directly in front of us.
“It’s almost here,” said Mary. “I got the pilot on the line.”
“Tell him to swoop in and blast the raiders in those rocks and make sure he knows they have heavy weapons. He needs to do it fast.”
The information was relayed, and when the Cobra shot over our heads, a few feet above the trees, it opened fire. 70mm rockets struck the raiders. The bastards never had a chance. Their machine guns, along with the bodies manning them, were torn apart or flung aside. One or two managed to make it into the cave. A few others on the outer edges ran for the trees. The gatling gun opened up next, finishing off anyone still moving and sending several hundred rounds directly into the cave entrance. The pilot then pulled up, taking the helicopter away and to the side.
“Wow,” said Mary. “That was way better than the Pave Hawks.”
No arguing with her on that count.
“And we have two of them at home.” She turned to me. “Don’t you think we really should have sent them here?”
“Probably,” I answered, “but the captain never argued when I said I wanted to hold them back as reserves or a surprise.”
“That’s because we are sitting on most of their women and brats, and they want to make sure we can protect them,” said Lizzy. “But, what are we doing about that cave? I don’t know how we can inside without losing a whole lot of people.”
“We don’t either,” said Tara.
Dale nodded his agreement.
“Mary, ask the pilot if he has missiles ready to fire.”
“Sure does,” she replied, a few seconds later, “four of them.”
“In that case, it’s time to use them.”
The Cobra dipped back down into the meadow, drifting left as the pilot maneuvered the craft so it had a clear shot at the entrance. All four TOW Missiles were fired in rapid succession. The ground shook, and the hillside began to the shift. First it was a few rocks, some boulders. Then the entire thing collapsed. When the dust cleared, the cave was gone.
* * *
“How many do you think were in there?” asked Harvey.
Following the destruction, he and the other squad leaders had joined us for a quick meeting.
“Mary, get Xavier over here to pick up the wounded. Have him drop off more ammo too.”
“It might be someone else. He’s been running stuff to Captain Briggs.”
“No idea, Harvey.” I wasn’t particular as to which pilot came to carry my people to the hospital. All that mattered was that they got there fast. “We’ll find out later when we start digging.”
“Fucking…” Lizzy cut herself off, glowering at no one in particular.
“Unless we get pushed out of here, we need to know,” I explained. “If it’s a few, then we have to worry about more of them being around. If it’s a lot, this might be coming to an end, finally.”
“It’s quiet now,” said Harvey. “The ones we missed have run off, and I don’t think they’re coming back. We might have the time.”
With no dissent, I ordered the area secured. Several sharpshooters placed themselves on the hill, and others formed a tight perimeter. The meadow provided a solid landing zone for our choppers, and numerous trips were quickly made, shuttling people and gear back and forth. I got in touch with Captain Briggs, asking if he needed us to head that way. The answer was no. He had things well in hand and was every bit as curious about this cave as I.
* * *
It was an hour before sunset when the captain decided it was indeed over. The last of the raiders facing him had reached a stash of dirt bikes and other vehicles, loaded up, and fled west. Briggs made no attempt to follow. A few minutes later, I got attacked. That’s right, there is always something bad to color the good. Well, it really wasn’t all that bad.
Somewhere between thirty and forty tried to reach the cave. I wasn’t certain if they knew it was destroyed or not, and my people spotted them first. There was a brief firefight, with our snipers used to full effect. Most of the enemy turned tail and ran. Nine were killed. We suffered two more wounded ourselves, nothing dire, and these got evacuated out. The raiders were very interested in whatever was inside. My desire to learn what it contained was growing.
* * *
“Anything from Kimberly?” I asked.
Mary shook her head. “The bad guys are still in Idaho, up in the mountains. She sees a few from time to time – so do the others – but they are all spread out doing something. I have no idea how many there are.”
“They’re out of the fight,” I decided. “They can’t have very many left. The prophet, if he’s still alive, can’t hope to beat us now, at least not at this moment in time. How goes the work?
“Squad three’s taking their turn,” said Mary. “I can see Tim digging, all dirty and sweaty.” She seemed quite satisfied.
“How close are they getting?”
“No idea.” Lizzy leaned back in her chair. “When I finished my last shift, we were clearing rubble. There’s a lot of that. Going faster now, than the top work did.”
“That was a pain,” I conceded, “but having another rock slide would suck.”
Three days and counting. Hopefully it wouldn’t take much longer. I was never one for sitting around doing nothing. Still, I was able to use the excuse of being in charge to avoid having to dig myself. Actually, it wasn’t an excuse. I was busy with paperwork. Even in the zombie apocalypse there is paperwork. That’s how you know the world truly is screwed. The good goes away, and everything that’s exceptionally evil remains.
“Hey,” continued Lizzy. “We got some of them coming this way. Maybe they finally found something.”
That would be nice, very nice. I got up and met the group halfway.
“Found some bodies,” said Terrance, “lot of bodies. Yes, we did.”
“Lots and lots?” asked Mary.
“That right,” he confirmed, looking rather uncomfortable. “You need to see.”
We followed him to the hillside where I entered the cavity. It was maybe twenty feet deep and fifteen wide. At the far end I noticed some open spaces, likely portions of the cavern that had not completely collapsed, and taking a closer look I noted there were indeed numerous bodies scattered about. Most were what we came to expect, filthy men and women wearing denim jackets covered in revolting patches. But there was also a gal wearing a dress – that was unexpected – and the detached arm in the corner belonged to a child.
“We had to kill a zombie,” said Terrance. “Only one. Most have squished or broken heads.”
“Keep at it,” I said, motioning for more to come and help. We were almost in. “And be very careful.”
* * *
We broke through, reaching the cavern proper, five hours later. It was a small opening, and the air within was foul, preventing me from examining it in more detail. Captain Briggs, who had flown in to see our findings for himself, suggested setting up some fans. Those were quickly rounded up, plugged into a generator, and placed beside the hole. After enough fresh air was blown in to allow a person to breathe comfortably, I scrambled inside.
“Oh, no.” Mary covered her face and quickly exited.
Lizzy and the captain remained with me. The twins had followed as well.
“Well,” said Briggs, “we found their families. Looks like they were all here.”
“No way,” protested Lizzy. “They had several thousand people, had to from what we saw when they were living in Salt Lake City. This can’t be more than three or four hundred.”
Some of the bodies were crushed or mutilated, but most didn’t have a mark on them, save a bullet to the head. A good number were self-inflicted, particularly if the person happened to be wearing a jacket. The wives, girlfriends, children, parents, and all the others… They were mercy killings.
“There’s another collapse over there.” The captain pointed. “The cave keeps going down. I bet that leads to even more space and that if we kept digging we would find additional people.”
“Even so,” I said, “we don’t know for certain. And, if they are all behind that other collapse, what if they weren’t put down like these folk? Maybe there are hundreds of zombies waiting for us.”
“That would fucking suck,” declared Lizzy.
“I’ll check the maps and guidebooks,” said the captain. “A cave this big will be listed, and we’ll be able to find out if there is more to it or not without endangering ourselves. I should have done so sooner, but it didn’t occur to me.”
“You’ve been just as busy as us.” I shook my head. “We’ve been at this for too long.”
“It’s over now,” said Lizzy.
“I don’t know about that. We killed their families. As far as the raiders are concerned, we trapped them so they could die slow. They are not going to let that go. No way. We have to track the last of them down.”
“Fuck.”
* * *
The official charts showed that the cave was indeed quite large and could have easily held thousands in relative comfort. There even used to be guided tours, way back before the world fell apart, and a gravel road leading to a tiny visitor center. The road was gone, overgrown. The building we found, but it had burned to the ground sometime before.
I was not happy having killed all these innocents, particularly the babies and toddlers. It had me thinking of Asher. Granted, he’s going to grow up to be a fine, upstanding man, while these had been the next generation of butchers. Yet, that was the fault of the parents, not the children themselves. The whole thing was terrible. I was going to be having nightmares, as if there weren’t enough visions of horror flashing through my mind every time I closed my eyes.
The crew of the Cobra took it particularly hard. The pilot was in a depression, and the gunner had committed suicide. He slit his wrists and was discovered in his cabin the following morning. There was a service, and he was buried after having a spike driving into his brain to prevent him from coming back.
Interlude – Marcus’s Story
“What do you think they’re doing?” asked Arlene.
Marcus and his three companions were locked in a series of adjacent cells. The small rooms, each less than ten by ten feet, were composed of heavy timbers with a bare concrete floor. The vaulted ceiling, which was well out of reach, appeared to be constructed of thick, overlapping wood planks. There was a single window, far too small to squeeze through, overlooking an open space surrounded by a seven foot wall. Finishing out each cell was a sturdy door, the center of which had been cut out and covered in bars so their captors could see whatever might be happening inside. These opened into a hallway, the far end of which was secured by another door, this one of steel.
“No clue,” he admitted. “I got nothing.”
“Whatever it is, you know it won’t be any good,” said Tyler.
Marcus had been the first to wake. He supposed it was due to his greater size rendering the drug less effective. Maybe for some other reason. He didn’t know. Hell, he didn’t even dwell on the matter for more than a minute or two. It wasn’t all that important. The others came around shortly thereafter.
There’d been no response to their cries for help or subsequent demands for an explanation. Only a single man appeared, sometime around noon. He slid a plate of food and a water bottle through a slit on the bottom of each door. Nothing was said, nor did he give any indication he was paying attention to their words. For all they knew, the man might have been deaf.
“Just keep yourselves ready for anything,” continued Marcus. “We’re going to get out of here. Don’t worry about that.”
“We are not getting out,” protested Alan. “Those cultists have us caught – you know it’s them – and they’re going to do something bad. We wouldn’t be here otherwise.”
“We don’t know anything,” pressed Marcus, “so calm your ass down. We’ll find out when we find out. They might be listening too, so watch what you say.”
“I say they’re fucking assholes,” declared Tyler, “and I don’t give a shit if they hear that or not.”
“Tyler,” warned Marcus.
“He’s right,” interrupted Alan. “I’m not playing goody goody for their benefit. They’re fucking assholes.”
“Guys, keep it together,” said Arlene. “Really, don’t start fighting. That’s not going to help. We need to keep our heads on straight.”
There was some muttering, but the woman had a point. For his part, Marcus was glad she’d intervened. He was about to go off on both Alan and Tyler, which would have accomplished nothing, probably just made the situation worse.
* * *
Two days later, they received their first actual visit, excluding those of the silent jailor. Four men, all burly and heavily armed, unlocked Alan’s door.
“What the… Oww!”
A loud pop was followed by the sound of a body striking the floor.
“What did you do!” demanded Marcus. “What happened to Alan!”
“Just a tranquilizer gun,” replied Dennis Alongi. He passed in front of each cell in turn, briefly examining the occupants. “It’s easier to prepare people when they’re out cold. Don’t worry. He’s perfectly fine.”
“What are you going to do to him?” Arlene kept her eyes on their companion. Alan was placed on a gurney, loosely secured with a pair of straps. “Where are you taking him?”
“You’ll find out. Not too much longer.”
* * *
“Guys,” called Arlene, “out the window.”
Marcus clambered off the uncomfortable metal cot. It was the only piece of furniture in the chamber, although there was a latrine of sorts, a hole in the floor leading to what he hoped was a septic tank. The thing stank terribly, could not possibly be healthy, but there wasn’t a whole lot Marcus could do about it. At least he had someplace to piss.
“What are they doing?” inquired Tyler, speaking to himself.
Alan appeared semi-conscious, at best. He was also completely nude, having been washed and shaved. Men in white robes where attaching shackles to his wrists. This done, he was fastened to a chain that ran over a long crossbeam secured by two sets of timbers bound together to form inverted V’s. Hoisted into the air, he was left dangling a few inches off the ground. Marcus suddenly found himself comparing these men, with their telltale robes, to the raiders who were never without those dreadful denim jackets.
Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3): Salvation Page 15
