Beginning of the New Beginning, Vol. 2

by W. Joe Taylor

  “I know, Dave, that’s why I picked you.”

  Shortly thereafter, the C-130 took off again with only Charles and Vinny.

  “So, what’s the plan, Bob?” asked Dave.

  “We’re going to hook up the snow plows and start going street by street. If you see Central Avenue, stay north of that. There is a gang of bad dudes down there, and we don’t want to mess with them until this GM guy shows up.”

  “Cool. He will definitely make them sorry if they fuck with us.”

  “Oh? How so? Vinny didn’t really talk much about him.”

  “You’ll see,” Dave said, and he gave Bob a look that said to drop it. Bob didn’t bring it up again for a while. His only hope was that these guys from Kentucky really were on their side.

  The Billings crew had some experienced people who knew how to work the plows. Some of them had worked second jobs in the winter to help the airport clear the snow. They hooked up the large plows to the front of two trucks and laid out on a couple of maps who was going down which street. There were two teams. Each had a plow truck and a front-end loader. The loaders would go first and move any obstacles. Each truck also had three people in the bed of the truck to shoot Z’s as they followed. The idea was to have the plow trucks go fast enough that the thrillers would be thrown into obstacles hard enough that it would cause enough brain trauma to render them re-dead.

  Team One went down Rimrock Road, and Team Two went down Poly Road. Both teams learned quickly that they had to maintain at least forty miles an hour to thoroughly destroy the Z’s enough to keep them from getting back up. Within two hours, they had hit all the main streets and then began going down smaller residential roads. By the time the 130 returned that night, they had killed most of the thrillers wandering around outside.

  Dave made sure that the Billings crew had plenty of ammo and firepower from their stockpile of M4s. Then he, Bob, Danny, and a handful of others from the Billings crew went over to the Yellowstone Country Club. It was on the far west side of town and away from large population centers. They drove around until they found a mansion at the end of Masters Boulevard that was fit for a king. The lot next to it was empty. Dave though that would be a perfect spot to park all of the overflow vehicles that wouldn’t fit on the street when GM had meetings. Behind the house was the fourteenth hole and the tee box for the fifteenth hole. Dave let out a long, slow whistle.

  “Wow. Yes. This is it. GM will love this. That will definitely put you on his good side.”

  “Good. I think. So, you’re really not going to tell me why this guy is so important?”

  “You see, he was semi-pro in the MMA, and he is a big dude. We’re talking six feet eight and 320 pounds, all muscle. He eats about seven thousand calories a day. Even at the end of the world, he still works out for at least the first two hours of his day. He is not to be messed with. I’ve seen him literally kill a guy with one punch.”

  “Damn, well, yea, I don’t want to piss him off, then.”

  “Let’s get inside and check the place out. Make sure it’s ready for him. He is probably going to want to go straight to sleep when he gets here.”

  “Ok, good plan.”

  Bob then assigned Danny to take four other people to go house to house and clear them out for the other new guys to stay. Dave liked that idea, as it meant the Campbellsville crew could stay close to each other. He still didn’t know how the Billings crew was going to like GM’s new way of life, but for now, he was going to play it cool. Inside, the house was clean. It looked like the residents had been away on vacation when ZomPoc had started. There was even a large four-wheel-drive truck in the garage. Dave found the keys to it on a hook by the kitchen garage door.

  After GM’s house was clear, Bob and Dave joined the others and spent the rest of the afternoon clearing houses around the golf course. After a quick dinner of whatever they could find in the last couple of houses, Dave asked about the Army base he’d heard Vinny talk about.

  “Oh yea, it’s a reserve center. We hadn’t messed with it because we didn’t want to go to prison in case the government does actually came back. Stealing government property is slightly frowned upon.”

  “Well, I can tell you, we have been all over the country. Vinny and Charles especially, and there is not any government anywhere. It’s like the Wild West all over again.”

  “Well, in that case, let’s go check it out and see what kind of goodies we can scrounge up.”

  They headed down Broadwater and passed a plow team along the way. Bob could already see a marked difference in Z activity from just that morning. He was glad the guys from Kentucky had shown up. He was beginning to feel more at ease with them there. They parked in front of the main building, and Dave was super excited about the Hummers and other large trucks he could see parked behind a chain-link fence. Bob went up and tested the door to find it open.

  “Must have been a reserve weekend. That means we’re going to find quite a few Z’s in here.”

  “No prob, Bob.”

  “Like I haven’t heard that my entire life.”

  Both men laughed as they headed inside the building. They turned right down the first hallway and found several rooms empty. They heard a lot of shuffling in a room with a placard marked “Break Room.” Dave motioned for Bob to back up, and Dave slowly opened the door to peek inside. He moved so slowly that none of the thrillers inside noticed the motion. The stench that wafted out assaulted his naval cavities with a vengeance. His eyes started to water immediately. Dave struggled to keep himself in check and managed to get the door all the way open. He raised his M4 and began killing Z’s, starting with the ones closest to him. He toed down the door stopper and backed up into the hallway. In less than a minute, all fifteen Z’s in the break room were re-dead.

  “I hear some down the other hallway over there. I’m going to check it out,” Bob said as Dave finally lost control and threw up his dinner onto the floor.

  “I’ll be right—” Dave dry-heaved. “There.”

  Bob headed down the adjoining hallway, checking rooms as he passed. He found another room where the Z’s were frantic from the shooting. This room had a placard that read “Dispatch.” While Bob waited for Dave to join him a few minutes later, he finished looking into the rest of the rooms in this hallway.

  “There are another few in here,” he told Dave when he got there.

  “Ok, it’s your turn to open the door.”

  “Right, I’m going to kick the door open as hard as I can.”

  Bob lifted his right leg and gave it his all. The door flew open, and several Z’s fell over backwards. By the time he got his gun up to shoot them, the door was closing again. The second time he kicked the door, a few more fell over. He blocked the opening with his body to keep it open while he opened fire. Soon the dispatch room was clear.

  They headed upstairs and found it mostly empty except for an ornately decorated room with a large desk. There was one Z in there, and Bob guessed he was the commander.

  “Whelp, that’s that. Looks like we now officially own the Army Reserve Center.”

  “Sweet. Let’s see if this guy had any keys on him. I’m sure there is an armory around here somewhere.”

  “You’re right about that. I had a buddy that was Reserves a few years back. They were always talking about going to the range and shooting off a shit-ton of different weapons.”

  The two men checked all the other bodies for anything useful before they headed outside into the fenced-in area. Bob went over and unlocked the gate so the rest of the crew could get in without having to go through the building. At the end of the building was a single-story section that had no internal access, and the door on the outside was large and steel.

  “I’m willing to bet what we want is in there,” said Dave.

  “Looks that way. I opened the last door. That makes it your turn again.”

  Dave unlocked the three locks, and since the power had been out for days, the cipher lock was already open.
He rapped on the door three times and then put his ear to it. After a few moments, he didn’t hear anything move inside, so he opened it.

  Inside were rows of M4s and boxes of ammunition. There were also a couple of pallets of meals ready to eat, as denoted by the writing on the side: “MRE.”

  “Score!” Dave said enthusiastically.

  “Cool. Looks like we might make it through winter after all.” Bob picked up an MRE from an open box. “Each one of these has enough calories for two days if we ration it out right. We will be hungry, but we will live.”

  “Yea, but GM is going to want to clear out all the grocery stores and stockpile everything in one central location. Looks like we have enough firepower here to take out them dudes to the south.”

  Dave tossed Bob a grenade, and Bob about had a heart attack.

  “Jesus Christ, man, warn me next time before you do some shit like that.”

  “Sorry, man. I just wanted to show you what else we have in here.”

  “Apology accepted. Just please warn a brother next time. I have no idea how most of this shit works.”

  “No prob, Bob.”

  Dave walked out of the room and went to the nearest Humvee. He looked inside, reached over to the ignition switch, and started it.

  “Looks like I got a new ride, fellas.”

  He climbed into the driver’s seat and backed it up to a one-ton trailer. Then he backed it up to the door and had the others help him load all the MREs and as much ammo as they could into the trailer. He had one of the guys grab another Humvee and trailer. They completely cleaned out the Reserve Center storage.

  “Why exactly are we doing this now?” Bob asked.

  “We cleared out most of the deadheads, or Z’s as you call them, around town. Plus, we cleared out this place. If the south gang figures that out before we come back for it, none of this stuff will be here. So, we’re going to move it to the airport, where we will have round-the-clock security until they are dealt with. Once we own the whole town, then GM will redistribute the people to other tasks, like getting some power turned on and running water again.”

  “Oh, that does sound nice.”

  “Did you have a plan on how to do any of that?”

  “Naw, we were just trying to survive. Today has been the best day since everything started. I think my people are starting to have hope again.”

  “Good. That’s what I like to hear. Now, let’s head back over and unload this stuff. I want to relax for a bit before the big boss shows up. It might be a good idea to have everyone there. That way, he can see what we have accomplished in one day.”

  “All right, I’ll head up to our community and round everyone up.”

  “Sweet. See you in a few hours.”

  When Dave got back to the airport, there were only a couple of hours till the 130 came back. He found a quiet corner and lay down to catch a quick nap.

  Dave awoke to the sound of the 130 taxiing in. There was no mistaking that sound for anything. He looked around and saw several other people that he hadn’t seen before. Bob caught his eye and gave him a nod, implying that everyone was there. Dave walked out of the hanger with his fingers in his ears and waited for everything to get quiet.

  As soon as the crew door opened, one of the largest men Bob had ever seen followed Vinny out. Vinny was dwarfed by the sheer size of the man Bob guessed was GM. Dave started walking towards the airplane and motioned for Bob to follow.

  “Good evening, Dave. By the smile on your face, I presume you have good news to tell me.” The large man’s deep bass voice shook Bob’s ribcage.

  “Yes, sir. You’re going to enjoy your new house. It’s clean and ready to go. There is already a ride in the garage waiting, for when you want to start making your rounds. This is Bob. He is the leader of the Billings crew and has been a great asset. I think he’s going to fit into our organization very nicely.”

  “Nice to meet you, Bob.”

  As GM extended his massive hand and took Bob’s, he squeezed a little too hard, making sure Bob knew who the new alpha was.

  “I’ve heard good things about you, GM. It’s nice to finally meet the legend.”

  “That’s good. All right, well, I’m tuckered out. Dave, show me the house you picked.”

  “Right this way, sir.”

  Dave led the Grand Master to his Humvee, and off they went.

  “We’ve cleared out a few houses for you guys already. When you’re ready, we can show you the way if you’d like,” Bob said to Vinny.

  “Nah, you guys look pretty beat. We’ll just follow our other guys that have been here all day. You guys go ahead and head home. We’ll unload this stuff in the morning, after everyone has had a good night’s sleep.”

  “Yea, sure. That sounds fine.” Bob didn’t feel fine about it. He suddenly got a weird feeling in his gut that Vinny was hiding something. But he didn’t want to stir the pot because he was tired. They’d had a busy day, and it was now after midnight.

  After Bob and the Billings crew left, Vinny, Charles, and a few other minions went back on the plane. They untied what was left of GM’s harem, led the women from the plane, and loaded in an awaiting van. Vinny was glad Dave had had the foresight to bring one over from the main terminal. GM had hand-picked a few of the women who were his favorites, and the rest of them had been executed. After Vinny and Charles had returned to Campbellsville, Vinny had told GM they had already made contact with a group of people who were willing to help. Then GM had ordered all the slaves killed too. He didn’t want to scare off the new people right away. He needed them. He also knew they would be more pliable after they helped retake the town.

  Vinny and Charles followed their people over to where their new houses were, and for the night, they kept the harem in Vinny’s basement.

  Bob couldn’t let the feeling go. As soon as he got back to his house, he saddled up his horse. He kept it in the back yard of the house he had commandeered. He knew there wasn’t much room for it, but he also knew it was temporary. Bob also knew that someday gas was going to go bad or run out and horses would be transportation again. He and a couple of his buddies had been able to save a few.

  It was fairly cloudy, with only a crescent moon, as he took off into the night. He rode at a sprint through the wheat fields, heading southwest. He knew these lands well. He’d grown up here. And when he was a teenager, he had helped old man Jackson farm the land for many summers.

  After ten minutes of hard riding, he crossed a street called Nez Pierce Lookout. Bob brought the horse to a halt and looked out over the neighborhoods surrounding the golf course. Down on Rimrock Road, he saw a string of vehicle lights, and knew he had to hurry to find out what was going on. With a gentle tap of his heels, the horse moved down the hill. Once they were back on flat land, he urged the horse on faster, cutting through neighborhoods, until they were at the golf course clubhouse. He slowed the horse and followed along the tree lines. He didn’t want to leave hoof prints in the slightly overgrown fairways and give away the fact that someone had been there. When he got to the edge of the fourteenth fairway, he dismounted and tied the horse to a tree. On foot, he continued until he got to the edge of the fairway, at about the middle of the street where the Kentucky guys were going to live. He arrived just in time to see a large van pull into a driveway. He snuck along the back fence until he could creep around the side adjacent to another empty lot.

  It was a large stucco house, with a stucco and wrought iron fence around the property. He kept below the iron fencing part until he could see around the three-car garage. He knew this house very well. The general contractor who had built it was his good friend. Bob had been paid under the table to help with several projects at all stages of the build.

  He peeked over the lower stucco half of the fence and saw Vinny, Charles, and several other guys unloading women from the van. All had their heads hung down, and he couldn’t see their faces very well, but he could certainly tell they all had their hands tied behind their b
acks, and other men were pointing guns at them. All the women wore white lace nightgowns, and several were shivering from the chilly night air. He counted ten women in total, and he watched them disappear into the house. None of the men so much as touched the women, but the women were very afraid of the men.

  As soon as the front door closed, Bob headed back to his horse and back home, slowly this time so he could think. He was confused by what he’d seen, but he couldn’t confront Dave, let alone Vinny, about it. He would have to bide his time until the truth was revealed.

  Chapter 10. Billings.

  On the twelfth day since the world had changed, Bob awoke to the sun shining in through his window and into his right eye. The back of his house faced east, and he liked it that way. He’d never been one for sleeping in much; it made him feel like he’d missed out on part of the day. Still reeling over what he’d seen, in his morning grogginess, he contemplated chalking it up to a bad dream. When he looked out the window and saw the saddle haphazardly tossed onto the back porch, he knew it had all been too real.

  He quickly washed, dressed, and ate a meager breakfast of cold Pop-Tarts and cold instant coffee. They were supposed to meet with the Kentucky guys at the airport at eight. By the time he stepped outside, the other people in his neighborhood were already waiting.

  “Good morning, everyone,” he said. “Jim, you and Barbra take the usual crew down to check on the high school folks. Then head to the airport. Everyone else, we’re going straight to the airport again to help our new friends. I want everyone to be on the lookout. Ladies, always keep a friend or two with you at all times. Something doesn’t sit right with me. I noticed a distinct lack of females yesterday. You know how bad guys get these days. I’m not saying don’t trust them yet. Just be very aware of who’s around you at all times. Any questions?”

  “Why are we helping them if you don’t trust them?” asked Danny.

  “I didn’t say I don’t trust them. Just let them build up that trust. And because, so far, they have helped us clear out the town and will help build the infrastructure back up. They are smart and well organized. Right now, we need them. If push comes to shove later, we will do what we must to protect our city.”