by Gary Chesla
But today, Jamie and George playing, was just a side show as Tony, Mike and Linda discussed what they had seen over the last few days.
“I’ve given it a lot of thought over the last couple of days,” Tony said as he watched Jamie and George playing. “I don’t think we should make any other trips away from the house for a while. I know it was my idea that we needed to go out and scout the area around us so we would know what was going on, but I now believe I was wrong. I don’t know if this was why Doctor Kennedy kept telling us to stay in one place or not, but I just think it is too dangerous out there.”
“We did find that there were a few people that were still alive,” Linda replied.
“But they didn’t live very long,” Tony said. “If there is anyone else out there, I don’t believe they will live much longer either. The virus that caused all this devastation is still active. We can’t see this virus, but I have to believe it is present, especially anywhere there are dead bodies lying around. If we accidentally come into contact with this virus, we could be next.”
“Yeah, Sherry and her family didn’t have a mark on them when they died and became zombies,” Mike replied. “They had to have contacted the virus when they were in Westmont searching for food. Honestly, the idea that this invisible virus is floating around out there scares the hell out of me. I don’t know what we can do to protect ourselves from something we can’t see.”
“I see your point, Tony,” Linda said. “When I was in school and there was a bug being passed around, my parents kept me at home until the threat of infection was over.
When the kids at school stopped getting sick, then I was allowed to go back to school.
But how would we know when it was safe to go back out into the world? Since there aren’t any more people to get infected, how would we know that the virus is gone?”
“That’s tough question to answer. But between hunting and the supplies we brought back from Outdoor World, we should be able to live here comfortably for a long time,” Tony said.
“Are you suggesting that we stay here at this house forever?” Linda asked. “Even if we live, what kind of life is that? After a time, it will feel like we are living in a cage.”
Linda looked down at Jamie, “I was so looking forward to seeing Jamie grow up, go to college and makes us grandparents. Now all Jamie will have to look forward to is watching us get old and die. Then spending her final years alone.”
“I know, it doesn’t sound like the kind of life any of us want to live,” Tony added. “But the world we knew no longer exists. All we can do is make the best of the hand we’ve been dealt. It’s either that or…, let’s just say that I prefer that to the alternative.
We had a glimpse at how horrible life was for those that were infected or over run by the walkers.
We’ve all seen things that we never in a million years thought we would see.
Mike is always saying to think positive, I believe we should give it a try and stay here until we feel it is safe to leave our home here again.
If we are lucky, maybe someday Doctor Kennedy and his men will show up.”
“It would be nice if Kennedy would at least start his nightly broadcasts again,” Mike said. “It would make it easier to hang on and just be happy with what we have, if you can believe that there is something else out there.
If there is the possibility of help coming, I don’t care if that help is a year or two away. We can make it on our own until then, if we know that there will be an end to this nightmare at some point.”
“I would like to suggest that we plan to stay here until at least Spring,” Tony added. “I’m not a doctor or a scientist, but I believe if this virus is going to die, the subzero temperatures we get during the winter will kill it.
If we don’t hear from Doctor Kennedy by then, we can assume that we won’t be hearing from him again and consider that angle a dead end.
If we are all sick of each other by Spring, if we decide we don’t want to live like this any longer, then we can take our chances and go out and explore the world.
If the virus is dead, then we can go where we want and try to find the kind of life we want.
If the virus is still around, of course we won’t know it until it is too late, but if we don’t want to live like this any longer, we can go as far as we can until the end comes. At least we can say we tried.”
“So we make a nine month plan,” Mike smiled.
“I guess you could say that,” Tony replied. “At that time, we decide what our best course of action should be, if we are lucky enough to live that long. By then, we might decide that what we have here is enough.”
“I just feel so bad for Jamie,” Linda said.
“One thing I have learned is that everything changes, whether we like it or not,” Tony smiled. “By Spring, a lot is going to change. We will be looking at a completely different world by then. Hopefully we will find many things that are better than they are now. Maybe we will feel more optimistic than we do now. All I am saying is, that we should restrict our activity for the next nine months to the area around the house. In the Spring we reevaluate our situation. But for now, we stay here like the doctor suggested.”
“That sounds like a reasonable plan,” Linda replied. “I guess I shouldn’t worry about what is going to happen thirty years from now. Even before the apocalypse, thinking about Jamie growing up was scary. I often found myself worrying about when she got older, about her wrecking her bike, getting hit by a car, sticking a pencil in her eye on the school bus and about her and boys.”
“You would worry and be a nervous wreck no matter what,” Mike smiled. “My parents always said that over time, things would work out somehow. If we think short term, something manageable, it should be easier on all of us. Like Tony said, we have to be alive in nine months before we can worry about what comes next. If we approach life in small steps, who knows, we might be surprised.”
Linda smiled and nodded.
“We just pretend the last week never happened and go back to hunting and enjoying what we have here,” Tony said.
“I think I can do that,” Linda replied and smiled at Mike.
“I know I will sleep a lot better,” Mike added. “We had it nice. Let’s just enjoy it a bit longer, hope we hear from Doctor Kennedy again soon and maybe something good will happen.”
They all sat back and watched Jamie and George, feeling at best content, at worst resigned to the fact that they at least had a plan.
They realized that they didn’t know if their plan was a good plan or a bad plan.
They didn’t know if they would be alive or dead in nine months, it all depended on how their luck went.
It was, at best, a shot in the dark, but at least it was a plan.
Hopefully, it would lead to something better.
As they sat quietly, they began to hear a sound off in the distance.
Wump! Wump! Wump! Wump! Wump!
The sound at first was faint, but grew louder and closer.
Tony jumped up, ran off the deck and began to look up into the sky.
Linda ran out into the yard and picked up Jamie and George and then ran back up on the deck and stood next to Mike.
“That sounds like a helicopter,” Mike yelled.
“It’s a Marine Corp Venom helicopter to be exact,” Tony replied. “I could identify that sound in my sleep.”
“It’s a military helicopter?” Linda asked.
“It’s a Marine Corp helicopter,” Tony smiled. “There is a big difference.”
“Where did it come from?” Linda asked.
“Tony,” Mike asked. “Do you think it could be from Doctor Kennedy’s group?”
“It could be, the Navy and Marines always work together,” Tony replied.
“On the other hand, you don’t think that it could be someone that just found the helicopter somewhere?” Mike asked again as he tried to decide if hearing the helicopter was a good thing or something that could mean dan
ger.
“I wouldn’t think so,” Tony replied. “Not just anyone can fly one of those things. If I had to bet, I would say that a Marine is flying it.”
They all stared up through the trees, trying to locate the helicopter as the sound grew closer.
A few seconds later, a dark shadow passed overhead, Barely above the tree tops.
“He went that way,” Tony yelled as he ran out to the front of the house to try and follow the helicopter across the sky.
“Shit!” Tony yelled as he watched the helicopter move away in the direction of Ligonier.
“Where you thinking about trying to get their attention?” Mike asked. “They could be trouble.”
“It’s a Marine helicopter,” Tony replied. “It could be the best chance we will get at making contact with civilization. It could even be part of Kennedy’s group. I agree there is risk involved, but in this case, I think it was worth the risk. But I guess it doesn’t matter one way or the other now. They’re gone.”
Linda walked over to Mike, holding Jamie in her arms.
“I think they stopped,” Linda said.
Mike and Tony turned to look back up into the sky, to see the helicopter hovering near the tree tops a few miles away.
“I think they are checking out the smoke at the camp where we found Sherry,” Tony said.
Mike looked at Linda, “I’m with Tony, I vote we try to contact them if we can. What do you say, Linda?”
“I can get in the car and drive up towards the camp. If I hurry, we might still be able to get their attention,” Tony said.
“Do it,” Linda replied.
Tony turned and ran to the Buick, jumped in and started the engine.
Dirt flew across the yard as Tony floored it and the car darted down the dirt road towards the road.
Linda looked at Mike and smiled.
“Maybe today will be our lucky day,” she said.
“It would be nice for something good to happen for a change,” Mike replied. “Until we see what’s going to happen, why don’t you take Jamie inside and stay out of sight.”
Linda looked at Mike.
“Please,” Mike asked. “If this goes bad, someone has to protect George.”
“OK,” Linda smiled. “But get your bow, if there is trouble, I’m going to need some help.”
Tony turned left on to Route 271 and gunned the Buick.
He tried to keep the helicopter in sight, but it kept disappearing as the Buick traveled around curves and hill tops drifted between the helicopter and Tony’s line of sight.
It only took a few minutes to reach Out Door World, the camp wasn’t much further, maybe another mile around the next hillside.
Tony hoped that was where the helicopter was going.
As Tony came around the bend, he found himself driving on a short straight section of the highway that ran past the entrance of the camp.
He started straining his neck to look out the edges of the windshield, trying to spot the helicopter.
It didn’t take him long.
The helicopter was directly above the camp.
Tony stopped the car, threw open his door and ran out on the highway in front of the car.
He began to wave his arms above his head as he stared up at the helicopter.
At first, Tony wasn’t sure if they had seen him or not, but then the Helicopter began to drift towards him, then it hovered directly above him.
Tony let his arms fall to his side as he watched the helicopter.
The helicopter drifted about a hundred feet away, then slowly landed on the road in front of him.
When the craft touched down, two Marines jumped to the ground, one on each side of the helicopter and took up defensive positions.
A third Marine, with his gun pointed at Tony, dropped down out of the helicopter and began to walk directly towards Tony.
When the Marine was within twenty feet in front of Tony, Tony smiled, looked at the nametag on the man’s uniform and said, “Oohrah Marine. Does your mother know that you still don’t know how to tie your shoes?”
“The man stopped, glanced down at his shoes to see that his left shoelace was dragging on the ground, then looked up at Tony curiously.
“You always were easily distracted,” Tony laughed. “You’re lucky that I didn’t take that gun off you and kick your ass.”
The man looked pissed for a second, but as he took a closer look at Tony, a big smile spread across his face.
“LT, is that you?” the man said.
“Private Mason, I’m delighted to see that you are still alive,” Tony replied.
“It’s Lance Corporal now, Sir,” Mason replied. “I got a promotion.”
“Who did you have to bribe for that?” Tony laughed.
“I think they felt sorry for me,” Mason grinned. “After spending a year under your command, they took pity on me.”
The men looked at each, smiled then shook hands.
“LT, what the hell are you doing out here?” Mason asked.
“Just trying to survive,” Tony replied. “What are you doing here?”
“Trying to find out if anyone else is alive,” Mason said. “Believe it or not, you’re the first person we’ve seen in two months that is still alive.”
“I believe it,” Tony replied. “Where are you stationed now? How many are in your unit?”
“This is my unit,” Mason said. “There are two more men back at the base.”
“Have you been in contact with any other units?” Tony asked.
“As far as we can determine, there are no other units,” Mason answered. “Whatever the hell happened, it took out everyone. We’ve been going out every day, trying a different route each time, trying to contact anyone. But there isn’t anything left. Norfolk is a graveyard, Washington is a ghost town, we finally found a place in West Virginia to hold up and we’ve been operating from there.”
“If you boys have a little time, I would like to take you back to my place and introduce you to a few other survivors,” Tony said. “I’ll make you some hot coffee and we can compare intel.”
“There are other survivors with you?” Mason asked. “How many?”
“There are four of us,” Tony replied.
“You always were good at keeping people alive,” Mason smiled.
“I had a lot of practice saving your ass every day,” Tony laughed.
“Yes, you did,” Mason smiled. “I owe you, LT.”
“Someone had to do it,” Tony laughed. “Since no one else wanted the job, it was up to me.”
“Where are you holding up?” Mason asked.
“If you will give me a lift, we can be there in a few minutes,” Tony replied. “It’s not far.”
Mike and Linda were in the living room, looking out the windows.
“It’s been half an hour,” Linda said. “Do you think something happened? “
“I don’t know.” Mike replied nervously. “If he wasn’t able to contact the helicopter, he should have been back by now. If he did make contact, well Tony can handle himself.”
The sound of the helicopter began to echo around the house.
Mike and Linda looked out the windows, but couldn’t see anything.
Soon the sound was almost deafening, and the little house began to shake.
Linda pointed out the window towards the front yard.
Mike rushed to the window and watched as a U.S. Marine Corp helicopter landed in the small clearing next to the front of the house.
The sound died down as the rotors slowed and finally came to a stop.
Two armed Marines jumped out of the helicopter and took up their positions on each side of the craft.
Then Tony, accompanied by two men in uniforms, came out of the helicopter and began walking towards the house.
“He has a smile on his face,” Linda said.
“Tony always has a smile on his face,” Mike replied.
Tony, Mason and the pilot walked around the house and approache
d the deck.
“Mike,” Tony called out as he and the two men stopped at the bottom of the steps.
“Yeah, Tony,” Mike replied from inside the house.
“We’re good,” Tony said.
Mike walked out on the deck and looked at Tony and the men, he still had his bow clutched in his right hand.
“I see you have your people armed with your favorite weapon,” Mason said.
“Yeah, and he is damn good with it,” Tony smiled.
Mike smiled hesitantly, “That’s right. If there is a barn around, I can usually hit the broad side of it.”
Mason laughed, “I see the LT has mellowed. He always told me it would be a cold day in Hell before he would see me hit the broad side of a barn.”
After hearing Mason’s comment, Mike lowered his bow and relaxed.
“I take it you have met these men before?” Mike asked.
“It’s been about eight years, but some people you can’t forget no matter how hard you try,” Tony laughed. “Let’s go inside and talk.”
Mike brought in the chairs from around the kitchen table as Mason and the pilot sat down on the couch.
Tony, Mike, Linda and Jamie sat on the kitchen chairs.
Tony quickly introduced everyone, then he started to ask questions.
“Where were you stationed when everything went to shit?” Tony asked.
“We were stationed in the Middle East. We got a call saying that everyone was being recalled stateside,” Mason replied. “There was a lot of scuttlebutt about why we were being sent home, but no one knew the reason for sure. All our other men and ships had already been recalled, we were the last of the U.S. troops to leave. When our ship arrived in Norfolk, we couldn’t believe what we found. The entire base was overrun with walking corpses. We tried to go ashore, but the damn dead began to attack us. Six men disappeared and another four were bitten before we made it ten feet away from the ship.
