by Mike Staton
She adjusted her .22 on her shoulder and reached out to the pull bar of the station. She hesitated. She could do this. These were strangers. She’d dealt with strangers before. Everyone at the military academy was a stranger before she got to know them.
She flicked her tongue over her lips and yanked the door hard. It opened smoother than she intended and she nearly smashed it into the wall.
“Careful girl, don’t know your own strength.” Cooper lightly punched her shoulder.
She didn’t dignify him with a verbal response.
“You can’t give me the silent treatment forever,” Cooper muttered.
“Might be surprised.” Judith pushed past him.
Kat followed her into the building. The doors opened into a large foyer for entertaining guests to the station. A couple couches, missing their cushions, resided scattered around a couple of coffee tables. One had been glass, the glass now residing shattered beneath it. A map of the forest hung behind an information counter. A large bay window looked out into the forest and provided the majority of the light, though a couple of fluorescent bulbs flickered overhead as well.
Kat shook her head. The lights could be disconnected to save on power. At least during the day. A stairwell led into a basement and a door led into a separate space inside the station while another gave way to a back porch.
Lindsey looked up from behind the counter, winked, and chuckled softly to herself. “Took you long ‘nough.”
“Mmhm. Where’s everyone at?” Kat didn’t bother with any pleasantries with the young woman.
“Awww, no foreplay? I’d be more than willing to wrestle with you since dancing isn’t quite your flavor.” A wicked smirk bloomed on her face as she hooked her thumb at the interior door. “Back room. Serves as the briefin’, debriefing room or whatever.”
“Thanks.” Kat could feel her cheeks heat under Lindsey’s casual flirt. She led Judith past the counter and toward the door. A placard labeled the room as ‘Employees Only.’
“What’re you up to this evenin’?” Lindsey’s raspy voice caught Kat’s attention as her hand closed on the brass knob of the door.
She glanced back and found Cooper’d stopped by the counter.
“Don’t know just yet.” Cooper leaned against the counter.
“Cooper,” Kat muttered. Her voice got louder as she spoke. “Hate to break you away from your personal discussions, but other business.”
“I’m sure you can handle it.” Cooper didn’t look away from Lindsey.
“You’ve quite capable hands, Kitten.” Lindsey smirked at her. “You’ll not need his in there.”
Kat opened her mouth to spit something back at them, but Judith’s hand resting lightly on her shoulder cut any words she had short.
“He ain’t worth it.” Judith nodded toward the door. “They’re waiting.”
Kat twisted the knob and yanked on the door. It rattled in the frame, but didn’t open. She felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment and pushed the door open and moved into the room.
The room was windowless and lit by a fluorescent bulb overhead. The power seemed a bit more consistent here. The bulb cast the room in sterile white and clearly had at one time been an employee breakroom. A white table stained with coffee spills stood in the center of the room with a map of the forest spread out on top of it. Danielsville was just barely visible on the edge of the map. A vending machine, long since raided for anything edible, stood in the corner next to a refrigerator. A sink and small amount of counter space sat against one wall with a microwave resting atop the counter. Against the opposite wall rested a desk with a radio very similar to the one at the farm atop it.
A young man, Kat guessed Gavin, sat at the controls with a headset on. Every now and again he said something low into the microphone, then twisted a dial.
Krista was in the middle of writing something and Dakota stood at her side on just the other side of the table. Only Dakota looked up from the map. Kat pushed the door closed behind her.
“I was under the impression there’d be three of you.” Dakota unfolded arms. Without a hoodie on, Kat could see that the bulk wasn’t fat. She wondered about the disparity of resources. While some seemed to be on the verge of starving here, others seemed well fed. Perhaps it was a perk of being willing to leave the relative safety of the station.
“Some of us think they’ve better things to do than discuss our mutual survival.” Kat made no attempt to hide the venom from her words.
Dakota shrugged once.
Krista looked up from the map. “His loss. Come on over here.”
Kat obeyed and moved across the room. She looked down at the map. The edge of Danielsville was circled and beneath it was stenciled in Krista’s neat little script: ‘EMPTY.’
“Welcome. Sorry we don’t have a feast prepared for you, but we’re a little low on supplies right now.” Dakota leaned against the edge of the table. “I’m glad y’all are friendly and accommodating. Don’t right know what we’d do if you weren’t.”
“Persevere as we’ve been doing.” Krista took a deep breath. She looked tired for the first time since Kat’d seen her. “The dead’ve scared most game out of the region and there simply hasn’t been enough to scavenge to have a proper stockpile to get us through.”
“That’s awfully blunt.” Judith bent to stare at other notations on the map. “I’ve not been hunting this far north. Over state lines and all that.”
“Wouldn’t expect you to feed us.” Dakota shook her head. “I mean, it’d be nice, but…”
“We’re in this together.” Kat folded her arms. “You’re in a tough spot as far as food goes, we can probably help. We…”
“We’ve had our own rough spot recently.” Judith stepped into the conversation. “We have an excess of food for now and extensive scouting through a fair portion of Tennessee.”
“What would you want for it?” Dakota asked.
“What happened that has you with a surplus of food?” The question from Krista was aimed directly at Kat.
Kat looked away. Judith cleared her throat.
“Outbreak? Epidemic? Overrun?”
“They should be told. Warned if nothing else,” Judith said quietly to Kat.
Concern bloomed across Dakota’s face as she furrowed her brow. Her arms crossed once more. “Is there a new type of sickness?”
“No. Not that we’ve seen. Just a couple different varieties of zombie.” Kat cleared her throat and shook her head to clear it. Her scouting of Prosperity Wells popped back to the forefront of her mind. The scores of zombies in her streets. Her dead friends, far too many of them killed by bullets and not bites. Each was a painful scar to her psyche.
“We were attacked.” She let the hot fire of the injustice surge through her. “Some fucktards with military grade weaponry in Humvees slammed us with a massive horde and swept through to finish things off.”
Silence permeated the room. Even the radio operator had gone silent. If there were crickets, or Kat had a pin to drop, she’d hear both crystal clear in the room.
“We lost a lot of good people.” Judith’s quiet, solemn voice broke the silence. “Good friends.”
“Y’know, if it’d just been a massive horde, I’d of accepted it by now. But…” Kat shook her head and slammed her fist into the table. “I want to find the assholes who did it and… and I don’t even have a starting place to begin my God damned search.”
“We can start asking around.” The radio operator broke the silence this time. “I mean, we obviously have gotten in touch with more folk than you have. I can discreetly ask. Gavin Doppler. Don’t laugh, I get the joke plenty.”
“We can trade information, certain. The Tennessee border isn’t too far and if we procure a vehicle to make travel a bit quicker, it’ll be all the better.” Krista’s concern faded to stern professionalism. “If that’s something you want to do.”
Kat shook her head. “I…”
“We’ll make that decision later.�
� Judith’s tone came across ice-cold. “I think we can do a good faith exchange.”
Krista glanced at Dakota. “This isn’t going to be a long-term solution.”
“I know.” Dakota rubbed her eyes. “We’ve the materials for extending our existence, but, not the man power.”
“We might be able to help in that department as well. But there’s no guarantee.” Kat lifted her hand from the table. “Might be the next step is to get Cadet Colonel Pull on the line.”
“Who’s he?” Dakota glanced at Krista.
“Leader of these folk.” Gavin glanced over his shoulder. “His brother talks on the radio. Only heard him second-hand. Kind of like how you talk to them through me.”
“Can you do that for me then?” Dakota turned away from the table and moved to hover over Gavin’s shoulder.
“Sure.”
“Katherine, a moment of your time while they get Ian… Colonel Pull on the line?” Krista nodded her head to the side. “In private?”
Kat glanced at Judith. “You can handle everything if he’s contacted before we’re back?”
“You got it, boss.” She gave a sloppy salute.
Kat returned a crisp one and turned to Krista. “Lead on, ma’am.”
Krista moved around the table. Even in a causal setting, the woman looked like a lithe, stalking animal; dangerous in every fiber of her being. Without a word, she walked to the door and pulled it open.
Kat followed her through the door, pulling it closed behind her. She cast one glance at Cooper and Lindsey, idling chatting at the counter, before following Krista across the room and down the stone staircase. She clicked on a flashlight as she descended. The basement was dark outside of a trickle of light through a set of double doors that led outside. The windows on the doors had been boarded over in such a way so as to seal the doors closed as well.
Kat clicked her flashlight on as well and swept it around the room, illuminating it in a hazy red cone. The room they stood in had once been a visitor’s center, full of petrified wood and a handful of replicated fossils that had been discovered in the area. Signs and information squares dominated the space.
Krista moved to the middle of the room and leaned up against the central glass case. The skeleton of some large cat resided within.
Kat moved to stand before her. She opened her mouth to speak, but silenced when Krista held up a finger.
She let the silence drag out for several moments before nodding. “Sorry, wanted to make sure your male companion didn’t get it into his head that he was welcome to follow us down here.”
“I don’t think he’s quite that dense. But likelihood is, he didn’t even notice us as he was pretty involved with talking to Lindsey.” A hint of spite bled through her tone.
“It’s not my place to say, and this isn’t what I wanted to talk to you about, but if you want to keep your claws in him you’d best stop ignoring him while she’s around.” Krista folded her arms over her chest.
“Don’t know that I do.” Kat let out a huff. She enjoyed kissing him and spending private time with him and he’d not pressed for anything more yet… but he was so frustrating at times.
“You’re a big girl, Katherine. I’ll leave that decision to you.” Krista focused her gaze somewhere over Kat’s shoulder. “How bad is it there?”
“Back home?” Kat took a deep breath, found an interesting spot in the dark past Krista to study. “It ain’t good. We’re set for food and water through the winter, but… that attack devastated us. We went from 400 or more people down to just under 50.”
“Is it safe?”
Kat let out a dry chortle. “Safe? Krista, you’ve seen this place. This world. Is anywhere safe?”
“Some places are safer than others.” Krista beat around the bush.
“He’s safe, if that’s what you’re asking. We don’t have a fence or wall where he’s at right now, but… We had both in Prosperity Wells and it didn’t stop them.”
“Prosperity Wells?” Krista’s voice piqued in interest. “Thought Zackary said you were out of Kentucky.”
“We’re a little more cautious after getting nailed.”
“Understandable.” Krista’s shoulder relaxed a little bit, as though a burden had been lifted from her. “I… Would he move here?”
Kat shook her head. “Not likely. Y’all could come down to us though. He’d like that. We could use the force too. Just in case they do come back. It’d be handy to have a couple spec-ops… your partner’s still alive, right?”
Krista nodded.
“It’d be handy to have you on board.”
“I’m needed here and the folk here aren’t in the mood to move.”
“There was talk of an evacuation before and that you airdropped back in, are you at liberty to say anything?” Kat pursed her lips and hoped for the best. An existing military structure would be a great boon to those caught behind lines. It meant that they might expect a rescue at some point.
“Nothing except that we can’t expect anything else. We were the last drop for the foreseeable future.” Krista shook her head. “Just too low on manpower. This thing ripped through our ranks faster than the civilian sector. We’re still unsure what the fuck happened.”
Kat shook her head.
“We’re not beaten. We’re just on our own for a bit.” Krista’s hands found Kat’s shoulders. “We can win this. If I didn’t truly believe that, I’d not have volunteered to drop back in.”
“What else do you know? I mean, what else can you tell me?” Kat reached up and patted Krista’s hand. “As ‘old friends.’”
“There’s still a government. It doesn’t seem like it, but it still exists. There’s still good people out there. We aren’t the only ones out here. Obviously. We’re still figuring out what the hell happened.” Krista’s hands dropped from Kat’s shoulders as she leaned back against the glass display once more. “The best of us who didn’t mysteriously get sick are on the ground around the country. It…”
“What?”
“We’re not the only ones. The U.S. that is. We weren’t the only ones nailed by this epidemic.” Krista looked away. “I can’t confirm, and this is what’s truly scary, but I think it’s worldwide. I’ve never seen ops canceled and operatives recalled as quick as when this wildfire swept through us.”
“Is everything black?” Kat hunched her shoulders. A worldwide epidemic? It didn’t surprise her, given the state of things locally over the past few months. Did it give a blow to her morale? Yes. She didn’t feel broken down though.
“I don’t know. We were losing contact worldwide when I climbed back on a plane to come back here.” Krista let out another long sigh. “In some ways I was running from the greater responsibility to help the smaller community. Could be that I missed the opportunity to help on the global scale.”
“If you’re questioning whether or not you made the right decision to volunteer to come back, I ought to slap you. You’re stronger than this.” Kat shook her fist in front of her. “You taught me to be strong. Do I need to teach your own lessons to you?”
A smirk flashed across the woman’s face. A flicker in the dark and gone. “I don’t think you could drop my ass on the grass like you did Lindsey. Or how I did to you when you were still just a kitten without proper claws.”
“Don’t remind me.” Kat dropped her hand and rolled her eyes. She could remember her second week at the military academy. The Colonel had stuck her in martial training with this diminutive little girl and walked away. The following hour, that turned into days, and weeks, had been a lesson that size didn’t always matter and strength bloomed from somewhere deep inside.
“You’re the one who started down this road to memory lane, Katherine.” Krista’s small smile returned.
“Yup. And you’re intent on making me regret it, I see.” Kat leaned against a display opposite to Krista. “More serious note: can you tell me your security clearance?”
“Nope. Why.”
“Percival came back from his scouting trip with a laptop. Something he swiped from some military unit operating near Knoxville after they’d torn his friends apart.” Kat watched Krista’s smile vanish and the professional soldier reemerge. “He seemed under the impression that they could control hordes of zombies as well. I’m inclined to believe him, given the way our home was hit.”
Krista stared past Kat’s ear, silent as she processed the information. Kat folded her arms under her breasts and waited patiently. It didn’t always take a rifle’s scope to bring patience out in her, but it certainly helped.
“Knoxville you said?” Krista mirrored Kat’s stance.
“Yeah. Wait… you said the other half of operatives you dropped in with went there, didn’t you?” Kat shook her head. “Shit.”
“Shit’s right. But that was months ago. I know the guys. You said the ones Percival met shot civilians unprovoked?”
“Percival’s not the kind of guy to try and start a fight, especially if he thinks something can be solved peacefully. He’s got a dark side, but his light shines so much brighter, you know?” Kat tried to recall every detail of what Percival had told them in his debriefing. He’d lost a lot while on the road and his story hadn’t entirely been coherent.
“Either he’s lying, or the folk he bumped into weren’t my friends. They’re out here to save people and none of us were carrying hardware such as a laptop. Battery-life and the like. I have a tablet I’ve not turned on more than a few minutes a week. With the power grid down, we brought stuff that wouldn’t require electricity.” Krista continued to study the far wall. “Might be high time to try to reestablish contact with the others. I’ll need to talk it over with Lieutenant Bradshaw. Is there anything else you can tell me?”
Kat shook her head. “If you want more, you’ll have to get it out of Percival. And it’s still a fresh wound for him. They shot the majority of his friends before he escaped them. Do you think these military guys are legit?”
“Rogue maybe. Or imposters. Did you bring the laptop?” Krista pushed away from the display she leaned up against.
“Unfortunately, no. We didn’t know for certain you’d be here.”
