Zombie Fallout 16

by Mark Tufo

  “Can you find me a beanie? I don’t need everyone staring at it.”

  “I’d be self-conscious too if my head was knocked up,” BT said.

  “Thanks, man.”

  “No problem, I’m here for you.”

  Winters came back a few minutes later with a black knit cap. Even the light pressure from it was enough to cause some discomfort.

  “Holy shit, Captain! Who’d you piss off?” Major Overland had tracked me down while I was getting something to eat.

  “You can still see it?”

  “Anything less than a welder’s mask and it would show. Forget it. Probably best if I didn’t know. Your theory was right; we mapped out the zombie comm link.”

  “We’ll have to take that out before we land on the ship,” I said.

  “My thoughts exactly. We could simultaneously take out two or three links using grenades as depth charges.”

  “That’ll work?” I asked.

  “On the ones in shallower water, it should work just fine.”

  “We have another problem, Major.”

  “I was hoping for an added degree of difficulty.”

  “Sarcasm? I’m impressed,” I told him. “I have no way of confirming this, but my top came up with another reason as to why they may not wish to leave that ship. Of all the things I’ve said that I hope are untrue, this ranks right up there.” I stopped.

  “Are you pausing for dramatic effect? Because I’m already all ears.”

  “No, it's just that the words are so distasteful I don’t like them to cross my palette. People, there is a chance that the zombies are harboring, well, what for them would be considered livestock.”

  “Are you out of your fucking mind?” He backed away a couple of steps.

  “Oh, I see he finally caught on to you.” BT took that moment to come over to the conversation.

  “I was telling him about your theory, so if anyone has lost their mind, it would be you,” I said in defense. Though it was a fairly well-established fact that I may, indeed, not be the caretaker of my mind anymore. Love to know who had it; odds were they were treating it better than I ever had.

  “You have any proof?” Overland asked. “Not just conjecture?”

  “How could I? Just a theory, but it helps explain why they are so adamant about staying on board, especially now since we know that they can, and do, travel through the water.”

  “If there are people on board, it does not change the fact that we need that ship, but it does change how we proceed. Cannot just indiscriminately blast everything in sight. We are a go for tonight. Have your team ready.” Overland walked away, looked like he needed a bottle of Tums. He did not seem to enjoy adding this new wrinkle into his carefully folded plans.

  “I like the idea of us having night vision capabilities, might give us an edge,” I said. “As for blasting everything, if I was one of the people that had been held in captivity waiting for zombies to eat me and watching all of my friends being dragged out one by one, I might very well welcome a few hundred ball bearing rounds.”

  “Night ops…I know that gives us an advantage, but I hate looking through the night vision goggles. Everything is green, and there’s no peripheral vision. And anyway, how the hell are you ever going to get them on over your head-baby?”

  “Get the squad together, funny man.”

  “What are you going to do? Throw a shower?”

  I tossed what was supposed to be a biscuit at him; thing was hard even by military standards. I was lucky I didn’t take him out.

  Did a quick briefing with my personnel, let them know what was happening and what we thought. I was amazed Kirby held his tongue in check, though I don’t think he heard much that I had to say, as he was fixated on my noggin. When I was done, I sought out Tracy, who had the majority of the kids and was holding an impromptu class.

  “Excuse me,” she told her class. “Damn, Talbot! You’re going to need to register that thing if you want it enrolled.” She was looking straight at it.

  I did my best to cover up with my hand, but it’s hard to look inconspicuous with your hand in front of your forehead. “Hey, my eyes are down here, missy.”

  “Does it hurt?” She brushed my hand away and lifted the edge of the hat.

  “I’ll be fine. The mission is a go tonight.”

  “Why do you think I’m doing this class? Keeps my mind off of it.”

  “I just found out, how did you know?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Not really.”

  “I want to ask you to be careful, but that’s like telling a child not to jump in a puddle.”

  “Wait, that’s not a fair comparison. Kids make an active choice to get wet. Um…forget it,” I added, realizing I’d just invalidated my argument. “I will do like I always do, ensure that my team and myself make it back.”

  “That’ll have to do. I have to get back to the kids. Come and find me before you leave.”

  “Will do.” I found myself heading down to the docks. I walked out on a long pier so that I could get a better view of our objective. That was what I told myself, anyway. Couldn’t see much more than I could from the shore. I wanted to be alone, to think through all the dangers that this mission entailed. Wasn’t at all surprised when I saw Tommy standing there.

  “Hey Mr. T,” Tommy said without turning.

  “Hey kid. What brings you here?”

  “Kid?” He turned and smiled.

  “Term of endearment,” I told the being that was more than ten times my age.

  “I had some hesitation about tonight’s mission and then abruptly, it left. Does this have anything to do with your head?”

  “That rationale is like trying to compare apples to shoes.” I absently touched the sore spot.

  “Are you avoiding the question?” He didn’t turn to look at me.

  I could have played the deflection game; I was damned good at it, after years of practice, but this was Tommy I was talking about. If anyone would understand or even believe what I’d just gone through, it would be him. So I told him, in as vivid detail as when it had been happening. That, more than anything, let me know just how real the event had been.

  “Interesting,” he said when I wrapped up.

  “Interesting? That’s it?”

  “Remarkable?”

  “Are you just throwing random words out there for appeasement?”

  “Is it working?” he asked.

  “Yeah, sort of.”

  “Don’t look so concerned, Mr. T. You didn’t cheat death, you beat him fair and square.”

  “Is he a sore loser?”

  “What’s to be sore about? He always wins in the end.”

  “Comforting.”

  Tommy changed the conversation. “Are you going to be all right with living on a ship?”

  I hadn’t really gone that far in my thought process. There were still so many steps to overcome, and I wasn’t one for long-term planning, well, short-term either. Now that I was presented with the question, I answered off the cuff. “It’d be nicer if this was a Royal Caribbean ship, but either way, no, I dislike large bodies of water. Too many unknowns. You can run from a bear or climb a tree to get away. Can’t do any of those things against a shark.”

  “Everything we’ve fought, done and seen and it’s sharks you’re scared of?”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “I’m not saying I want to face off against one, they just never come to mind.”

  “Sharks, killer whales, giant squids, rogue waves, endless water, sirens…can’t stand any of it.”

  “You realize sirens are part of mythology, right?”

  “So are vampires, yet here we are.”

  Tommy turned, he had a wistful expression on his face.

  I continued. “I don’t know how I feel about it. Once on that ship we’ll be as safe as safe can be but we’ll also be isolated. Generally I’m okay with isolated, lot of assholes out there. But there’s also been some good people w
e’ve come across, and this is gonna put us completely out of the humanity loop, like we’re being put out to stud. Hmm. Now that I said that, I don’t know why I’m poo-pooing the notion.”

  Tommy laughed. “I know what’s troubling you.”

  “Not the studding part,” I told him.

  “You’re right, though. When we’re out here doing what we do, we make a difference. It might be small in comparison to all that’s wrong, but to those we help, it’s literally the difference between life and death. Out to sea, we won’t be a part of that.”

  “You have seriously got to work on your pep talks.”

  “What you are missing is the fact that you, in large part, are responsible for all the lives here now. There’s a very good chance that most of them wouldn’t be here otherwise. Those we saved along the way or even the personnel from Etna when the base was close to falling, to some degree, they all have you to thank.”

  “So this is my payout? My reward for a job well done?”

  “What I’m saying and what you are refusing to see is that this is a reprieve, a time to get our feet back underneath us. We’ve been reeling and back-peddling for so long its been difficult to know where our feet are going to land.”

  “That’ll be great for a week then I’m going to go stir-crazy. I won’t be able to do any studding if I’m constantly pissing the missus off. I know my foibles well enough to realize I’m generally a pain in the ass.”

  “I’m sure there will be plenty to keep you busy. We should get going, the mission heads out in less than half an hour.”

  “I’m glad we had this talk, son. I feel like I’ve imparted some valuable wisdom to you.”

  “As always, your words have been of tremendous value to my health and wellbeing.” Tommy shook his head.

  4

  Mike Journal Entry 4

  “Thought you were going to pull a no-show. We’re about to head out.” BT looked worried. We had a plan in effect; I didn’t like it, but we had one, which was more than I could have offered the team. We were heading out in zodiac boats, which to me weren’t much more than rubber rafts with an outboard motor. We were going to have everyone, except the person piloting, under tarps so that if the zombies did see us, they would believe it to be four people instead of four dozen. We were going to get out as far as the ship in parallel and roughly a click away. Originally, Overland wanted us to ditch the boats and swim to the carrier. It was then I told him that not all of us were Navy SEALs; it was that or that he could go fuck himself. He didn’t like the fact that we were going to announce ourselves with the motor. I told him that, hopefully, the confusion from their comms being cut would be a big enough distraction to let us come in unnoticed. We were going to get more help in that department soon enough.

  The plane flyover had shown that the stern dock, for whatever reason, was open. It was close to the water line; we would still need ropes to make the climb, but it beat trying to get to the deck. The bad part was we would be in the belly of the behemoth and not able to use any flashlights.

  “Major, are we sure we’re not being watched right now?” I asked just as I was about to enter the skiff.

  “Our watch party will be taken care of.” He was all business now as the darkness settled over us, accompanied by a minor drizzle.

  My squad was already in and we were underway in less than a minute. We were halfway to the ship when whoever was running the hand grenade brigade had opened up shop. We received confirmation of three direct hits. I wanted to believe us coming in was going to be a complete surprise, but things hardly ever work out that way. Overland came across the radio to let us know we were going straight for the carrier. Between the successful bombing taking place and the rain now cascading down, it was the perfect opportunity. It was loud under that tarp as fat raindrops pelted the plastic covering, and it was beginning to get uncomfortably hot and humid. I was close to peeling the thing away; what were the odds anything could see us at this point anyway? Between the rain and the burgeoning night, we should be invisible. We were slowing down and I could hear the engines from the other boats as they got closer. It was still mostly drowned out from the rain, and there was no scenario I could imagine where a lookout on the deck far above us could hear. Then all was silent as the power was cut.

  Overland was again in my ear, all of our ears. “Ropes, move.”

  The sea was choppy from the storm; our small ride was bobbing around like a hyperactive kid-filled bouncy house. A rope was hanging down close to us. I tapped Tommy’s shoulder, letting him know to climb.

  “Damn. Figured it would be me,” Kirby whispered to Rose.

  I didn’t feel good at all about this mission, so many inherent dangers and unknowns, and I still wasn’t back to center. Trip’s death had profoundly affected me, and the constant wear down of events, the running, defending, running some more, it was definitely taking its toll. I was worried my hand tremors might return.

  “You ready?” BT asked. I don’t know if he could sense my unease, because without his NVGs on, he couldn’t see it.

  “I’m up,” Tommy whispered. “Night vision on. No zombies in immediate area. The smell…is pungent. Lots of signs of a struggle. Clear for embarkation.”

  “Kirby, you’re up.” I patted him on the shoulder. I had my goggles on and was watching personnel from the other three boats begin their ascensions. I sent Grimm up next with the rope to Rose’s supply bag of tricks and treats. I watched Baggelli struggle with a green bag as it got caught up on the rope; I figured it was extra ammunition, but it didn’t seem heavy enough. I didn’t give it another thought; this was one of those times I wished I could concentrate on more than one thing at a time.

  Almost everyone was aboard and so far nothing untoward had happened. But why would it? The zombies either had zero clue we were coming or very much knew we were and weren’t in any way going to risk all this food going to waste and slipping down the drain. No, if they knew we were here, they were going to wait until we no longer had an easy way to make a hasty retreat. There we were, a fully supplied, locked and loaded platoon of Marines, SEALs, and Army personnel, ready for conflict. As far as missions went, this was perhaps one of the best equipped I’d been on since my days in Afghanistan. I should have felt some measure of comfort, but I’d witnessed what smart zombies could do to a well-armed group six times this size, just recently.

  “We stay tight,” Overland ordered. “Rows of three, spaced five feet apart, side to side, front and back.”

  I wanted to tell him that maybe we should get closer: sixteen rows, times five feet, carry the one and throw the remainder out. As it was, we were stretched out some sixty feet from front to back. Now I didn’t want us to travel like the world’s largest rugby scrum, but somewhere between the two would have been preferable. Tommy was up front, I had BT in the middle, and I was in the back, figuring this was most likely going to be the first place of contact, but I wanted to cover all my bases.

  “Baggelli? What the hell are you doing back here? Figured you’d be leading the way,” I said quietly to the corporal.

  “The major and my mother started dating. I think he promised to keep me safe.” He delivered it so deadpan I didn’t know if he was full of shit or not.

  “No wonder Overland kept telling me to not say anything; he had this planned all along,” I quipped. “So, you’re like Forrest Gump. You know, your mom doing whatever is best for you.” I don’t think he got the reference, probably for the best.

  “Quit the chatter back there,” Overland said. I had to remember we were on a live mic to the entire group. I thought about congratulating Overland, then thought better of it.

  This part of the ship was massive and so far, I had not detected any sign of the enemy. It didn’t make sense. If there were thousands of zombies, they would be everywhere, right? I suppose they could all be congregated in one place; seemingly they were a herd animal. I heard the soft scrape of metal off to my side. I swung my head quickly. I’d swear on whate
ver holy relic was thrust before me that I saw a small girl zombie eating through a man and the sound had been his watch falling to the ground. When I realized it had been a figment of my imagination, I calmed slightly, but that was short-lived, as it occurred to me that it wasn’t so much something I was hallucinating as I was remembering. It was the girl from Walmart, from when we’d gone to save Justin and met Tommy for the first time. I nearly played it off as a psychotic snap, so, nothing to worry about, until I saw Tommy looking over at me. I wondered if he’d seen the same thing.

  Overland raised a closed fist, and we stopped moving. My nerves were raw and exposed; I was hoping that it had something to do with not getting enough downtime from my Etna escape rather than heading into an ambush. I could see Tommy looking around; he sensed it too.

  BT nudged my shoulder. He covered his mic pickup. “What’s going on?” he whispered.

  I was about to shrug when there came a faint ping, like a pin dropped during a moment of silence or a wrench smacking a bulkhead far away type of noise. As if that weren’t bad enough, there came a whir behind us. I didn’t need to look to know what it was, though I did. The access we’d come through was closing. The smart play would have been to run back, open it, and leave. Maybe when we were safe, find a way to sink the ship. That would have been my call. Still couldn’t see any sign of the enemy; the door had to have been closed remotely. Could feel the atmosphere in that area change as people were getting charged up—terror can do that. Overland was a good enough commander to realize some of his people were on the verge of losing their shit. I wondered if he figured I was one of them.

  “Stay calm, people. We still don’t know what’s going on. That door could be on a sensor, it may have closed on its own.” Doubtful he believed that, but if it got the people with him to reset, then lie away, boss. Last thing I wanted to happen was for a bunch of scared people with twitchy fingers to start needlessly spraying rounds. He must have switched frequencies because Baggelli and Reed headed back toward the door without us hearing anything through the headsets.