Jordan Rose Duology (Book 1): Break Away

by J. Michael Favreau

  As the man approached Rose, she remained unmoving with her arms outstretched above her head. Rose could tell the officer was inspecting her visually as he approached, finger on the trigger of his pistol which he kept out but pointed at the ground. He was likely taking stock of the weapons and supplies she had as well, but was really looking for any evidence of injury or infection. The man was tall and handsome with a cleanshaven face, dark hair, and green eyes. He appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties and was athletically toned like a basketball player or some other sport that involved a lot of cardiovascular activity. “Hello ma’am, I’m Lieutenant Matt Drisco of the Maine National Guard.”

  Lt. Drisco’s voice wasn’t too loud or too soft, more of a neutral medium but it had a self-confidence behind it that exuded authority without demanding it. Rose could tell that this man was a leader. “We haven’t had many people arrive at the base lately that haven’t been infected. I’m going to need you to identify yourself,” Lt. Drisco continued.

  Keeping her arms in the air but pointing down with her right hand, Rose said, “My wallet is in my back right pocket. My driver’s license is in there, as well as my badge and police ID. I’m a police officer.”

  Lt. Drisco’s guard seemed to drop ever so slightly upon hearing that. He reached around Rose and pulled out her wallet. Sure enough, inside was her license, police ID and her Green Forks PD badge. “How long have you worked for GFPD?” asked Lt. Drisco.

  “About two years. I just came from there, the town is gone. Completely destroyed.” Rose said. She was starting to feel the strain in her arms and her shoulders from keeping them elevated for so long.

  Lt. Drisco seemed to notice this. “You can put your arms down, by the way.”

  “Thank you,” said Rose slowly lowering her arms and shaking the blood back into them.

  “My cousin and uncle live in Green Forks,” said Lt. Drisco. “Or I suppose, “lived” based on that report. How have you made it this long without getting infected?”

  Rose was ready for this. The hike to Estcourt Station had given her ample time to perfect her cover story. “We had been fighting in town but had decided to pull back to the PD and set up a base, kind of like here. Eventually though we were attacked by a big group of infected. They broke through our defenses and most of our men were killed or infected. I fought my way back to the armory where I hid out for a few days. Once most of the infected had wandered off, I was able to get out of the building and get out of town. My car broke down somewhere between here and there and so I had to hike the rest of the way.” Rose had practiced it enough in her mind, it almost seemed like the truth to her as she said it.

  Lt. Drisco didn’t seemed completely convinced. He remained silent once she finished and walked around her in a circle. He appeared to be looking at her gear. “You hid in the armory, escaped unscathed, and had time to grab all this gear you’re wearing?”

  Thinking on her feet, Rose said “I’d been keeping the gear in my car out back in case I needed to make a quick escape. Good thing I did.”

  “And you were able to make it out of the police department without sustaining any injuries? Not even one?” Lt. Drisco pressed moving in close to Rose.

  Luckily most of the injuries Rose had received from Kate were covered by the clothing she was wearing and the minor facial scratches could be explained from the hike...she hoped. “Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea,” she thought.

  “I guess I was just lucky,” said Rose. “Like I said, I hid in the armory for most of the fight and just waited them out. There were almost no infected left at the PD by the time I escaped,” Rose continued, feigning confidence to bolster the lie.

  Lt. Drisco didn’t appear to think that Rose was telling the whole truth, but he could also not disprove her story. “It’s at least a day’s hike from Green Forks to here, if you’d been infected, you’d be showing it by now.” Lt. Drisco gave a signal to his men and they lowered their weapons. “Follow me please. We’re going to have to take your weapons and pack until you’re approved to have them back. However, in the meantime, you’re welcome to a hot meal in the mess hall.”

  Rose reluctantly unslung her AR-15 and shotgun and handed them to the soldiers around her. She then unbuckled her backpack and passed that off as well. Rose felt as light as air after removing the heavy pack and the thought of a warm meal made her stomach growl. Rose was flanked by soldiers as she followed Lt Drisco inside the base, the metal doors screeching and slamming closed behind her.

  Chapter 9

  The inside of the base was about as unimpressive as the outside was. The exterior walls were just that, walls which were were nothing more than a cordon around the encampment inside. They offered little protection as far as Rose could see, other than a physical barrier. Rose could see divots in the road where the fence line had been previously, but had been since expanded out making the circular outer wall larger. This was likely done to accommodate more buildings and people on the inside. There was a large central building that looked as though it’d been modified from the original guard shack. Several other buildings had been constructed around the central building using the same sheet metal as the outer walls. Each building seemed to have different sizes and functions. There was a long building that was likely the barracks, a building that had a chimney coming out the middle which was likely the dining hall, and the central building which had a large cluster of antennae attached to the top and was almost certainly the command center. Outside the cluster of central buildings were several others along the walls. On the far side from Rose was what appeared to be a vehicle depot with at least three of four humvees parked in a line. If the humvees were at 12 o’clock then the front entrance Rose had just come in was at 6 o’clock. At 3 and 9 o’clock were other structures that were less conspicuous. At 3 o’clock was a cluster of metal shacks that resembled portable toilets and at 9 o’clock was a single corrugated steel building. This building had no windows and Rose could only see one door. Rose was unsure what this building was used for nor she was told as she was led through the base.

  Lt. Drisco gave Rose a quick overview of the base as they walked toward the dining hall. He also made note of several stairwells that led up to the walls. All along the top of the wall, all 360 degrees around the base, were the upper catwalks. Rose noted at least ten guards at different places walking the catwalk atop the wall. In addition to the catwalk around the outer ring, there was a central catwalk that spanned the middle of the circle bisecting it in half. In the middle of this catwalk were stairs directly down to the command center, likely for easy access. Rose also noticed several locations around the outer ring where a “pill box” or enclosed mounted gun emplacement had been fashioned; again using the same corrugated steel as the wall. They were crudely welded and seemed to have been thrown together quickly, but Rose conceded they’d be effective if anyone happened to shoot at them. Rose didn’t seem to recall the infected being armed though.

  The smell of cooking food got stronger the closer they got to the dining hall and Rose hadn’t realized how hungry she was until that moment. Hiking all night on pure adrenaline, she hadn’t stopped to eat and she could feel it now. Rose couldn’t tell what was cooking, but she’d be happy to eat just about anything. The cluster of four soldiers left Rose and Lt. Drisco at the door to the dining hall and continued on to the command center; Lt. Drisco led Rose inside.

  Being mid-morning, it wasn’t very busy in the dining hall. There were about 10 people either sitting and eating or standing in line getting food. Almost all of them were soldiers, but there were a few civilians as well. Lt. Drisco directed Rose to the food line. “Looks like spaghetti and meat sauce,” he said with a half-smile. “Enjoy lunch. I’ll be back later and we can continue the tour.”

  Lt. Drisco turned and left, leaving Rose alone. Rose entered the buffet line and grabbed a plastic tray. There was one cook serving people while all the other cooks were working at stoves or ovens further in the kitchen. Rose
got a bowl of spaghetti, a few pieces of garlic bread, and two bottles of water, then went and sat down at one of the nearby tables. The dining hall wasn’t huge, but it was big enough to hold about forty people at four tables. The table Rose chose had a couple male soldiers sitting at it already.

  “You’re the woman who showed up outside the gate today right?” one of them asked as Rose sat down at their table. He was white with blonde hair cut short and brown eyes. The nametag on his shirt read “Lewis.” Rose guessed him to be about her age.

  “Yep that was me,” Rose said smiling and shoveling a large spoonful of spaghetti into her mouth. Being the first batch of the day, the spaghetti was still really hot but Rose didn’t care. She was so hungry that once enough room in her mouth opened up, another spoonful went in to fill the void.

  “You’re the only non-infected person we’ve seen in days, maybe a week. People were dribbling in at first, but that ended pretty quickly,” said the other soldier, a black man with brown eyes and a shaved head. The nametag on his shirt read “Jones.” Rose guessed he was younger than the white soldier.

  Rose swallowed the spaghetti in her mouth and took a long drink of water. “When did they build this place?” Rose asked after wiping water and spaghetti sauce from her mouth. “I was through here about a year ago on my way north to hunt and it was still just the old border crossing.”

  “I think they built it a few months ago-maybe earlier, I’m not quite sure. It was already built when I got here a little over a month ago,” said Jones. “We did the expansions since I’ve been here though.”

  “I think they built it right after New York was quarantined,” said Lewis. “I guess this seemed like a good place to hold out for all the government types. They’re here you know. The Governor, Senators, people like that. We picked them up when we came up north from Bangor. We have some local important people like some mayors and stuff. I think the last one we picked up was the Chief of Police in Green Forks before we came here. Him and his family.”

  Rose almost choked on her garlic bread. “Really? Chief Hill is here? I used to work for Green Forks PD. I’m a police officer.”

  “Yeah he’s around here; probably in the command post,” said Lewis glancing over at Jones quickly and smirking slightly. Rose noticed the smirk but didn’t question it.

  “I was in the process to be hired as a cop down in Portland. That’s where I’m from,” said Jones. “This infection worked its way up north from down south so I was called to active duty before they could hire me. I guess that’s why they chose the northernmost point in Maine as a place to make a base. Probably hoped they could outrun it.”

  “Makes sense,” said Rose mopping up the last of her spaghetti sauce with the last piece of garlic bread. “So it’s pretty bad out there? I’ve been kinda out of the loop.”

  “I think ‘pretty bad’ is an understatement,” said Lewis, all emotion fading from his face. “We haven’t seen much combat. I think we mainly stayed ahead of the infection sweeping up all the VIPs and bringing them here, but we get the reports.”

  “Or lack thereof,” said Jones. “We used to be in contact with the governments of Canada and the US as well as the CDC, but that ended about a week ago. Seems like everything is working from our end. We have power and everything, but we haven’t been getting updates. Things may have changed though. I’ve been on guard duty for the past few days.”

  “Yeah they’ve extended the shifts patrolling the walls,” added Lewis. “The number of infected that have been showing up recently has been getting larger. I’m sure you saw the dead bodies outside the walls. It used to be only like a couple a day, but now it seems like a couple an hour and that only seems to be increasing. We used to clear them away and burn them but we’ve been too busy.”

  “But the rest of the world, what happened? Are they still working on a cure?” pressed Rose, now done with her meal and opening another bottle of water.

  Both soldiers looked at each other. “If there is a cure out there, it hasn’t made it here yet,” said Jones. “As far as the rest of the world is concerned, before, when we were getting regular reports, it didn’t look good. Every major city was overrun and the infection was just moving out from there. Now that the reports have stopped-well you can probably guess.”

  “It was kinda like an explosion,” added Lewis. “Like the major cities were where the bombs went off and then the shockwave traveled out from there. But instead of a shockwave, it was crazy flesh-eating infected people.”

  “So are you guys here the only ones left?” asked Rose, shocked.

  “I doubt it,” said Lewis. “They set up a bunch of these types of places after New York all over the country. I’ve no idea where and if they’re still around, but I guess that was the plan. No clue what they did in other countries.”

  Rose couldn’t help being surprised even though she knew she shouldn’t have been. She’d seen first-hand how quickly and thoroughly Green Forks had been destroyed and imagined it was likely faster and more deadly in larger cities.

  Both soldiers eventually got up from the table and Rose was left alone with her thoughts. She still had about half a bottle of water left and she continued to sit, sipping her water and staring at the hall’s metal wall. “Maybe this isn’t my new home,” she thought to herself. Rose was starting to doubt if this place was actually any safer. The defenses here were much better than anywhere else she’d find, but they appeared to have been built quickly and the walls were never designed to be permanent. The soldiers working here weren’t experienced fighters, they all appeared to be around her age or younger. If major cities were the so called “bombs” with the infection radiating out from them, would this be far enough away? Quebec City wasn’t a huge distance away-only about half the length of Maine to the south and the population there was much larger than any city in Maine.

  Rose was still lost in thought and didn’t see Lt. Drisco or his contingent of four soldiers enter the dining hall. As the group entered, they motioned for the few remaining people inside to leave immediately. Rose realized that Lt. Drisco was there as the last person exited the hall. Rose could tell from the look on his face, a combination of satisfaction and smug professionalism, that something wasn’t right. Lt. Drisco and his men strode over to Rose as she stood to greet them.

  “Is there a problem, Lt. Drisco?” Rose asked.

  “Yes, in fact, there is a rather big problem,” he said, holding up Rose’s wallet. She’d forgotten that Lt. Drisco had taken it from her. “I knew your name sounded familiar when you said it, but I couldn’t put my finger on why.” Rose’s thought’s immediately flashed back to her home and her fight to escape the CDC. A growing sense of dread was starting to fill her.

  As Rose stood to face Lt. Drisco, the door to the dining hall opened and Chief Hill walked in, looked around, and made his way over to them. “What’s going on here, Lieutenant?” Chief Hill called out as he approached.

  “I was just getting to that with Ms. Jordan Rose here, Mr. Hill,” said Lt. Drisco, turning his attention from Chief Hill to Rose. “I was explaining how, when we’d met, I recognized her name but I wasn’t sure from where.”

  “It’s Chief Hill, Lieutenant. I‘m working closely with Major Plant and Governor Lavoie, and I would appreciate the appropriate respect from an Army Officer,” Chief Hill turned his attention from Lt Drisco to Rose. “Anyway, I already told you that Jordan worked for me at GFPD. Nice to see you again by the way Officer Rose, I thought we’d lost you.”

  “Thank you sir,” said Rose, standing up a little taller.

  Lt. Drisco was undeterred. “As I was saying, I recognized her name once she said it. Once we were back in the base, I checked her name through our databases, and I got a hit. A few days before we lost contact with with the CDC, they’d issued a pick-up order for a Jordan Rose of Green Forks, Maine. The order had also made note that she worked for Green Forks Police Department.”

  Chief Hill seemed to be taken aback. “I...Jordan i
s this true? Did you know about this?”

  “No sir,” Rose lied. “I have no idea what he’s talking about, sir.”

  “The pick-up order hasn’t been canceled or rescinded and so it’s still valid. I will be acting on it,” said Lt Drisco, signaling his men to move in. Two men moved in and grabbed each of Rose’s arms, tense and expecting a fight. Rose knew better than that. It was four on one, not counting Lt. Drisco and Chief Hill.

  “Lieutenant Drisco! This is outrageous! We haven’t had contact with the CDC for days! How do we even know this is valid or if there is even a CDC to pick her up?” bellowed Chief Hill, furious.

  “Chief Hill, I need you to back away while I do my job. If you interfere, I will need to detain you as well,” said Lt. Drisco to Chief Hill with a sneering half smile on his face.

  “I’m going to speak with Major Plant. Rose, I’ll get this sorted out,” said Chief Hill, giving Lt Drisco one last glare before storming out of the dining hall, slamming the exterior door behind him.

  After Chief Hill’s departure, Lt Drisco seemed to soften slightly. Turning to Rose, he said, “Look, I know this order is old, but it’s from the CDC and it says ‘detain at all costs.’ I have no idea what that means, but I know that I need do it if the CDC says so. Ok?”

  Rose didn’t answer, she just raised one eyebrow and frowned at him.

  “Rules are rules, ma’am.” Lt Drisco turned to his men, “Alright, lets go.”