The Zombie Chro [99] - Undead Advantage, a Zombie Chronicles Novel

by Mark Clodi

  Nodding yes, Juan announced loud enough for everyone to hear, “The Army guys hung themselves, they called in a nuclear strike on the radio station, barricaded the roof access door from the outside and hung themselves right here.”

  The group of men and woman babbled a bit hearing this news, one of the women actually got sick, vomiting onto the gravel rooftop, the acidic smell caused Juan to wrinkle his nose.

  “Please people, stop for a minute here, that is not all.” Juan held out his hands, gesturing at everyone to quiet down. One of the men helped the sick woman away from her pool of vomit and handed her a dishtowel he had draped over his shoulder to wipe her face off with. “First.” Juan held up on finger, “We are not in any danger from fallout here at the hospital.” One of the men called out asking how Juan knew, the others became more agitated, “Okay, let me start again. First, I just got off the radio behind me,” Juan used his finger to point at the army radio sitting on an ammo crate behind him and then continued, “The army guy, I think he is a Major or something, he said we should be far enough from where the bomb went off at that we should be okay. Plus the winds should push what limited fallout there is to the south east of the explosion, but we are not in that range. That is the second thing I guess, we are not in any danger from the fallout from the bomb. Plus we didn't get hit by a pulse or anything that destroyed our electronics, another sign that we were far enough away. Third,” Juan held up a third finger, “The army guys did hang themselves and are dead, I think we should pull them up and try to take care of them we I get done. The last thing, number three? Four? Okay number four is that this Ed guy, the Major I spoke to on the radio, he is coming here by helicopter, he is going to be here in fifteen minutes or so to look over our situation and see what he can do to help us out, maybe even move us to the south to the National guard base where they are at. He wants to see our set up first, then talk to us a bit. So, well so we need to get organized, I think some of us should pull the bodies up and get them into the...morgue? Is there a morgue here?” One of the people dressed in green scrubs called out 'yes!' and several people nodded.

  Juan went on, “So we get the bodies into storage. I think we should do a quick count of inventory, list all the cars and trucks we have keys too, the number of phones we have working, how much food we have and how much space we have cleared here. Think we can do that in twenty minutes. I am not saying to count every packet of sugar or anything just more like how many days we could go without food, how long the generators could last before they run out of power, that sort of thing.” Juan was not sure how he was going to get people to volunteer for these jobs, however Jack jumped in and just started pointing at people and telling them what to do, adding several things that Juan had not thought of before turning back to a few men, including Charlie and Juan on the roof and saying, “We get to pull up the bodies.” He sent three men down to the ER for gurneys and then the three men left went to work hauling up the ropes with their grisly remains on the end.

  Leaning out over the edge of the building Juan pulled on a rope with one hand and was surprised to find he could pull it up quite easily, bracing his feet against the side of the building he started hand over handing the body up. Charlie and Jack shared a disbelieving look, Juan was a hundred and sixty pounds soaking wet, though he was wiry and strong, the men below were all muscular and probably weighed in at over a hundred and ninety pounds each. Juan was not even breaking a sweat in the cool morning air. The door opened up just as Juan got the first body to the rooftop, Jack and Charlie hurriedly pulled it over the edge, Juan glanced over and saw Nanci standing with a large thermos and a plastic bag that looked to hold many coffee mugs, she was standing there with a slight 'o' on her lips, when she made eye contact with Juan her lips pursed into a grimace and she nodded slightly and continued forward.

  “I saw a lot of people running down the stairs, not panicking, just with a purpose, you guys do that?” Nanci asked.

  “Kind of a group effort. I told 'em what needed to be done, Jack assigned them tasks.” Juan answered.

  Holding up his finger and pointed up into the air Jacked nodded at his hand, “Yeah this is a powerful tool. Just point and say, 'You! Do this! You! Do that!', it seems to work. I think I should have pointed at someone else to do this job though.” Jack frowned.

  Shaking her head, Nanci said, “No Jack, they jumped and did what you said because, you gave yourself the worst job, they know you guys lead from the front and that makes them respect you and want to help you.”

  “Yeah, probably. I am too smart for my own good. Juan here though, he is doing most of the work himself, me and Charlie are just gawkers.”

  Juan flushed a bit and shrugged his shoulders.

  “You think these military guys know what might have happened to you Juan?” asked Jack.

  “I don't know, maybe, maybe not, I don't think the guys at their base were really out yet, you know? They might have seen a lot of stuff though and some of their guys had to make it back, right? Do I tell them anything? Could be risky, I don't want to end up in a room somewhere with doctors prodding me all day long.”

  Nanci had a fearful look come over her face, “Maybe we shouldn't say anything?” she looked at Jack and Charlie's faces expectantly.

  “No probably not, maybe if you could talk to a doctor, if they have one, you know, privately, try to invoke 'patient confidentiality', maybe that would work?” said Charlie.

  “Hm, when you put it that way, I say 'Hell no!'. I am sorry I mentioned it, this is 'the man' we are talking about, even if the man does not exist anymore, I mean the whole U.S. Of A. Is not this bad is it?” Jack asked.

  The four of them stood looking at each other for a long while contemplating that thought.

  Chapter 28

  Whitney was laying on a bed with her arms around her sister Lauren. Next to her on one side was a black man, who she thought was named Kevin, he had been shot. Lauren, was softly crying to herself trying not to wake up the other patients, Whitney's tear stained face was a testament to her own grief at not being able to find their parents and almost losing her boyfriend Michael in the early morning battle with the zombie named Dave. Graig was lying on the bed on the other side of her, he was arguably the second most wounded of the survivors, the doctor they had suspected he had a broken arm, a concussion and a broken nose. The doctor has set the nose before Craig regained consciousness. Michael's brother, Matt, was nowhere to be found and Whitney had been trying to find out what happened to him. She loved Michael, and she was afraid of losing another friend more than anything. Whitney was pretty sure that her parents were dead, however she did not know for certain and that somehow made it worse.

  An Hispanic woman came by and brought her another box of tissues, taking away a plastic bag full of used ones. Her name was Evaine, maybe Whitney could get some information out of her.

  “Miss? Miss?” Whitney called quietly. The young woman, who had been walking away, turned back questioningly, “What happened to the others who came in with us?”

  “Oh, your friends?” the woman came over Whitney's beside and put her hand on Lauren's head, “The doc gave the boy a tranquilizer, he was not doing really good and we , well, we had to do something. One of your friends, Angie?”

  “Aggie.” interjected Whitney quickly.

  “Aggie? Okay Aggie is with him, the boy Ron he is feeling better, doc gave him pain medicine, but doesn't think his...his testicles, suffered more than bruising.”, the woman blushed, “The other guy, Juan...John, he is doing okay, but doc is pretty sure his jaw is busted. Doc set it up and wrapped him, he is with the other three over with the older kids. Doc said Michael, he needed a surgeon, so he put him in a pickup truck and took him over to the hospital after getting him stable here. Doc doesn't know about your ribs and doesn't want you moving around much, but he says even if they are broken there is not much he can do for them. He”, Evaine pointed at Craig, “is probably the worst off person we have here and rates a bed. Your si
ster, she can probably go with the others or stay here, she is okay, just has some scrapes and bruises.”

  “Can I leave? I mean, if I feel up to it?”

  “Ah, you mean will I stop you? No. We want to bring you down to the real hospital though, on the next trip, you and him.” again Evaine pointed at Craig, “You both need x-rays. Hank says there is a guy from the military that is going to meet them at the hospital, so he is going down there and you guys are supposed to go with them. I brought you fresh Kleenexes for the trip, you are supposed to be leaving soon.”

  “I don't want to leave my friends, if they are not going I am not going. Neither is Craig.”

  Evaine's smile faltered a bit, “You'll have to fight the doc about that, I don't know who is going on this trip, they want to move all the wounded and children down to the hospital today, you should go though, it is a real hospital and they can take care of you better there. Look here they come now. Please just go get checked out. Michael is there, so you can check on him, right?”

  A balding older man approached the beds beside a taller middle aged guy. The taller guy came up and thrust his hand out at Whitney, he spoke with a mild southern accent, and Whitney recognized him, “Whitney right? I remember you from the clinic, Juan and I ran into you there.”

  “Yeah, I remember, Hank, huh? I don't want to leave the others here. I think we should stay together.” said Whitney.

  “Yeah, I thought you'd say that. We got a bus, the wounded will take up half of it, I think we can fit everyone in. I just hope no one else complains about you kids getting to go before the other kids, still you killed Dave, and most of you need medical treatment.”

  “Hank...” the older man began. Whitney recognized him as the doctor from the clinic where they had met Hank. Hank shushed the doctor with a wave of his hand.

  “They are all they have, like family, we are not splitting the other families up. They can go together. Michael was already rushed over there.” Hank's words carried authority and 'Doc' just nodded. Whitney appreciated the gesture.

  Doc spoke up, “We don't have any gurneys or easy ways to get you onto the bus, I wrapped your ribs, but it is still going to be uncomfortable.” He held out two tablets in his hands and Evaine got a water bottle from the stand beside the bed. “These are pain killers, they will not knock you out or anything, we need you to be alert in case the zombies hit the bus, we will need every set of eyes we can get. Okay?”

  Whitney took the pills, hoping she could trust the doctor. The group moved off and let her relax for a little while. After fifteen minutes she did feel pleasantly numb however when the time came to move it did, indeed, feel uncomfortable.

  Chapter 29

  When the helicopter landed there were a dozen people on the roof to meet them. It was a small helicopter, it only had three people inside and looked like it might carry six at the most. Hank and the group from the Mike's Club were not at the hospital yet, they were well on their way and reporting very little early morning activity, loading the bus had taken longer than everyone had thought, then there were a few unhappy people at the club who disagreed with who got to go on the bus and in the caravan that went along with it. Juan shrugged his shoulders, the quasi authority they had was just that, they didn't have a way to force people to do anything. His fantasies about building a better society with the survivors had taken a few hits recently, none were a worse blow than the near riot that Hank had to deal with just to get those people over to the hospital. In the end Hank calmed the crowd down by assuring them they should all be moved by the end of the day to the new facility except for a core group of volunteers who were going to be left in charge of defending the club and it's vast array of useful food and materials for the good of the group.

  The helicopter wound down and as the blades slowly stopped the man in back opened his door and hopped out. He was Hispanic, which Juan had not suspected over the radio, plus what Hispanic parents name their kid 'Ed'? He approached Juan confidently and put out his hand.

  “So are you the leader of this group then?”

  “Ah, no, not really, I mean this group at the hospital, sure, but we got another guy really in charge, he is on his way, coming over from the club.” Juan answered.

  “In a bus?” seeing Juan's nod, Ed continued, “Okay good then, we saw a bus with some other vehicles coming this way from the air, the only vehicles moving, couldn't miss them. Shall we go inside?”

  The pilot and co-pilot were getting out of the helicopter, Ed turned towards the dozen or so people and said in a raised voice, “Okay people I am going to talk with Juan and we are going to wait for the guy you chose as a leader to get here to decide what we are going to do. We saw his bus from the air and he should be here soon. I gave my assistant” he pointed at the man whom Juan had assumed was the co-pilot, “the information we have to share with you, so he should be able to answer all your questions. No holding back on anything either, ask and if we know, we will answer. Right now I am going to steal Juan away from you so we can talk before the other guy gets here.”

  Lowering his voice he said to Juan, looking at Nanci, “Your wife?” Juan nodded, “She is not excluded, but I feel we need to show leadership here to get organized, we can't do that by committee. There has got to be a room we can use to meet right?”

  “Oh yes the doctors had plenty of conference rooms, we have on set up, and there is a small auditorium we can use if we need to meet with everyone. We have coffee and food, if you or your men are hungry?” said Nanci.

  “Sounds good, coffee is always welcome. Shall we?”

  Juan led Ed and Nanci through the doors down to the conference room on the second floor. They spoke for about fifteen minutes before Hank showed up. Hank arrived with some hubbub, he was surrounded by people as he came up to the conference room door and he was having some difficulty getting into the room, not so much because the crowd was mobbing him, but because he was trying to get everyone's version of the last day's events at once. Finally Hank held up his hands and said, “Okay, okay, this is not working, I have to go talk to the General or whoever he sent to speak with us. I will catch up with you people later. The bus is going back for a second run, we need to get some of you double checking the rest of the hospital to make sure it is safe. Most of the wounded are already here with this last load, I am sure we could use more help taking care of them too. I will try and speak to all of you if I can when you are working, if you don't know what you can do to help, just talk to Jack or Charlie, I am sure they can find something to keep you busy.”

  After saying that Hank pushed the rest of the way into the conference room and closed the door behind him. Looking around in surprise he said, “Oh. For some reason I thought there would be more people here, just the chiefs then, eh?”

  Ed Stanson had stood up when the door opened, with Juan and Nanci mimicking his action. Approaching Hank Ed put out his hand and said, “You must be Hank, I am Ed Stanson, of the 19th Special Forces Group.” shaking Hank's hand he continued, “I am very pleased to meet you.”

  “The pleasure is all my, er, General? Mr. Stanson.”

  “Major, sir.” Ed replied.

  Turning from Major Stanson Hank shook Juan's hand, then half embraced him before turning and hugging Nanci and saying, “Keeping him out of trouble Nanci?”

  “Sì Hank, mostly, you hungry? The cooks made muffins, and we have coffee?”

  Hank nodded to both and Nanci went and got him a plate, loading it up with two muffins and making him coffee from long practice the way he liked it. After all four of them had all the muffins and coffee laid out before them and were sitting down in the plush conference room there was an awkward silence. Finally they all started to ask questions at once, then broke into nervous laughter, the Major gestured for Hank to go first.

  “Okay then, well what can you tell me about what is going on Ed? Or should I say Major?”

  “Either is fine, I probably have more information about the overall situation in the region th
an you do, but so far as what is happening over all I am not sure you won't know as much as I do.”

  Juan chimed in, “Is there still a United State? Is help on the way out here?”

  Ed looked at them and said, “Of course there is a United States! As for help, we might be a bit lacking. The bomb this morning was supposed to get rid of the major problems in the area, we are, in a military sense, behind the front lines. Even given that most modern warfare philosophies would discount the term 'front line', that does best describe the situation. There were outbreaks of the enemy in Denver, LA, Seattle, Chicago, Austin, New York, and Miami. And that is just in the US, our data on the rest of the world is limited, it seems that every major land mass has had an outbreak, but not as many cities were hit as in the US, which points to us as the origins of the problem. The current thinking is the whole mess started somewhere in Florida, with hurricane Melony just easing up off the coast the area is a mess and communications are very bad.”

  Hank said, “Okay so you say we are behind the lines, are the zombies that organized?”

  “Zombies? Right now we just refer to them as 'the infected', yes, they do have the characteristics of a horror film zombie. Are we behind the organized lines? I would have to say yes and no. There does seem to be some organization at some level, something or some one is directing attacks, like the one on the radio station, we have reports of what we have termed 'Super Infected', er 'Super Zombies' that seem to be the leaders and can control other less able members of the enemy, sometimes some of them even seem to have regained some of their memories and abilities to think. There are other reports as well, of almost, well, lets just say unexplained abilities.”

  Juan nodded, so did Hank, the Major looked at them and went on, “I see you might be able to confirm a few stories I have heard too. I have to tell you I have not been out yet, this is my first foray into the field to meet you guys. I have been sending out troops on reconnaissance patrols and to keep down any zombies that get close to the base. I have not seen any combat with these things, you guys have me beat there, I would bet, and any information you could give me would help. So far what I know is not good.”