The Bomb and the Cage: Doree Anne (8 page)

“Is there an emergency backup generator?” Gus went into his office and motioned for me to follow.

Inside the control room was a desk and a toilet, nothing too fancy. He picked up a black binder off the desk and started flipping through it. He came to a hand drawn map of what I assumed was the facility. He pointed to with his index finger.

“There are three backup generators. We are here.” His finger made a circling motion around a crudely drawn tower. Then his finger swept across the page to a box with the markings
G3
in it. It was on the other side of the prison, almost back at the front, behind the administration building. Gus began to read. “Generator three controls the housing units, the back gate, and the main gate.”

“That’s an important generator not to work. Maybe it was taken out by the blast.”

“Well you better hope not if you plan on getting those numbers, or getting in for that matter.”

Gus pointed to a wooden box on the desk that was about the size of a large shoebox that had five buttons. Gus pressed one of the buttons towards the top.

“Nothing happened at all! That was the outside gate. Normally it would open, but it doesn’t move which means the power is out.”

“So what you’re saying is that I need to turn on the power, come back here, have you let me into the back gate and find the list to get the numbers?”

“Unless you can climb that razor wire?”

“I wish there was another way.” I pulled my radio off and pressed the call button.

I pulled out my phone and called my partner,
unit five
, Officer Pete Ryan. It rang three times then he picked up.

“Where are you Ted?”

“I’m at the back tower. Where are you?”

“Well I’m at the staging point. A woman came running to us. She didn’t look right at all. Bryan Smith tried to handcuff her but she bit him. Next thing you know Bryan fell over dead. She’s in the back of my cruiser right now, screaming and banging her head against the window. Couldn’t explain what’s wrong with her if I tried.”

“The people coming from here have some sort of disease. Don’t let them touch you. They aren’t human anymore. I shot one in the heart and neck and it got back up!”

“Ted what is wrong with you?”

“I’m telling you these things are dangerous. You have to shoot them in the head.”

“Ted you need to pull yourself together.” There was the sound of screaming in the background followed by gunfire. Then the phone disconnected.

“The things are now on
Highway 27
.” Gus looked at me in disbelief.

Chapter 16

09/18/2004 0925 Hours

Sgt. John Williams

I went to Jacobs, after I regained my composure.
How would I explain what had just happened
? When I got to him, I didn’t have to explain. There were mobs of those things roaming around, attacking people. Just a hundred yards away, three of them were tearing, biting, and eating someone who was screaming for help.

“Roberts is dead.” I said, the words barely leaving me. Jacobs turned towards me and his mouth dropped open.

“How, I thought you were going to be the one to go on the wing!” Jacobs looked like he was going to punch me. 

“I did, I locked all the doors. There were three bodies on the wing and I called him to help me with them. They didn’t have a pulse, and then one grabbed him. The other two got up and they started biting him. I barely got off the wing. Next thing I know he’s one of them!”

“What do you mean he’s one of them?”

“Come look.”

Roberts was still standing at the door where I left him. However, the other two must have been roaming around the wing. I could hear the sound of inmates yelling again. It was dark and I wondered if the inmates even knew the full extent of what was happening. They wouldn’t be able to see much, the windows were covered with a metal mesh plate bolted to the outside. This was there so that the inmates in
The Box
couldn’t communicate with inmates on the recreation yard, for whatever reason. One side effect of the metal mesh that the architect didn’t consider while designing the dorm was that the light would be blocked form the windows so during a power failure you wouldn’t be able to see on the wing. 

“This can’t be happening. It’s like one of those horror movies. “

“We need to do something. We need to kill it.”

“So how do you plan on doing that?” I looked around and saw the broom used to prop the door open, it was now broken in two pieces. I picked up one of the ends and touched it to my palm. It wasn’t as sharp as I would have liked it to be, but it was sharp enough to penetrate through an eye or mouth. 

“Open the door, but just a crack.” I said.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive, we need to put Roberts out of his misery.”

I could tell Jacobs was nervous by the way his hand shook as he put the key in, turned it, and opened it just wide enough for Roberts to push his head through it. Roberts started to scream, and it sounded as if someone had filled his lungs with fluids, like he was drowning.  I shoved the broom handle into his mouth in an upward motion with such force that it came out the top of his head. He stopped moving. I pulled the broom handle out and he fell back as Jacobs closed the door.

“Now what do we do Williams?”

“We go get the other two
Gray Eyes
in there. Pick up the other stick. I’ll go in and lure them back here. Hopefully, we can get them one at a time.”

“
Gray Eyes
. I like that.” Jacobs picked up the broom and held it just in front of where the bristles started. “I’m ready; let’s do this before I lose my nerve.”

“You lose
your
nerve? I’m the one running in there.” I smiled, even after all this, I still could smile that’s got to count for something.

Jacobs gave me a pat on my back and opened the door. I held my flashlight in my left hand and the spear in my right. . The wing had gone silent the moment I had started walking except for the sound of one of the
Gray Eyes
banging against the second cell on the left. I shined my light around; I saw that the inmates were all on their doors watching me through the small cell windows. I had planned to get the
Gray
Eye
’
s
attention but when I saw my flashlight just twenty-feet ahead of me I changed the plan. I walked slowly towards them. I wanted my flashlight back.

I had this flashlight since I started my career. It was a gift from my father when I graduated the academy many years ago, while my father was still alive. It was a bad idea but still I crept past the
Gray
Eye
banging on the cell door. I started to have second thoughts when I didn’t see the second
Gray
Eye
. A few steps from the flashlight, I turned my mini flashlight off, put it in my back pocket, leaned over, and wrapped my fingers around the cold metal flashlight. I aimed it forward as I stood up, right on the face of that second
Gray Eye
. I had missed it somehow. It grabbed my face, and I felt its nails dig deep into my flesh. I kicked its leg in and pushing with my left hand breaking its grip. It fell onto its knees. I stabbed it in the head with the broom. There were the sounds of bare feet smacking concrete floors. The sounds still far away. I shined my light on the one I had just stabbed. It was on the ground, its arms and hands flailing around trying to grab the broom handle. It wasn’t in deep enough. I kicked the end of the wooden handle and it went all the way through.

I felt air against the back of my neck. I moved to the left and dodged the other
Gray Eye
and ran full speed towards the door, towards Jacobs. I made it through the door and Jacobs closed it behind me. A moment later, there was a thud of flesh and bone smashing into the door. Again, we opened the door just enough for its head to come through and Jacobs stabbed it in the head.

“Now what do we do?” Jacobs Asked.

“Maybe we could use these guys to help us get out?” This place was full of some very bad people that deserved to rot in a cell. Finally, they were going to get their chance to do just that. While others, the more
deserving
were going to get their second chance.

Chapter 17

09/18/2004 0930 Hours

Officer Ted Bryant

I asked Gus about his weapon supply and was surprised by the amount. He had one AR-15 with fifty-four rounds, one
Remington 870
Shotgun with sixteen shells, and one
Smith and Wesson Model 16
revolver with eighteen bullets. I had one
Glock Model 19
with fourteen bullets and four fifteen round clips on me. A
Bushmaster AR-15
in my truck with four thirty round clips, one Mossberg 500A
shotgun in my front seat with twenty shells.

Gus covered me as I got the weapons out of my squad car and piled them inside the tower. I picked up the shotgun and stuffed the shells into my pocket.

“What about the administration building? Won’t there be someone there that might have the number we need?” I asked.

“It’s Saturday, no administration here today.”

“So my only choice is to get the numbers from the back gate office?”

“That or go in.”
The thought had come to mind. However, I wouldn’t know where to begin once I got inside.

“How would I get inside?”

“Bolt cutters.” Gus pointed to the side of the desk where a large red handled pair rested.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Neither do I, but the option is there.” Gus reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring of keys.

“One of these unlocks the fuel tank. There should be a few gas cans nearby. If I was you, I’d fill up all of them and take them with you. I don’t know how many gallons those generators take but I’m sure it’s empty.”

“I’ll try and make this quick.” Gus wished me luck and I left the tower.

Chapter 18

09/18/2004 0930 Hours

Officer Ted Bryant

The first thing I did was pull the dead body out of my passenger seat and wiped the seat off with a towel I kept in my trunk. I got into my police cruiser and continued following perimeter road.

Within a three mile radius there wasn’t anything near the prison besides thick trees and swampland. Florida is known for alligators and there had to be more than you could count out here. It would be far too dangerous to walk through any of this. Maybe the gators would help contain this. Maybe, they would catch whatever they had. I didn’t want to think about it anymore.

I drove a minute or two at a slow pace until I came to a sign on the left that read:
Vehicle Maintenance Department
.
A dirt road went back into a heavily wood area. Thick oak trees hugged the road tightly and for a moment I wondered how any trucks ever made it through. I followed it around a bend and pulled up to a large building that had two large garage doors. I got out of the car and took my shotgun, keeping it at the low ready.

To the left of the building was a large fuel tank that was once a bright red that had faded to a dull pink. A metal sign attached to it just above the hand painted
Gas
that read
No smoking
. There was a padlock on the handle and I tried each key the key ring before finding the right one.

There weren’t gas cans insight so I walked over to the building and tried the door, it was locked and none of the keys worked. The thought crossed my mind about kicking open the door, but it was metal. Then I thought about shooting it open and that seemed like an even worse idea.
What if they stored the propane tanks on the other side
? I walked around the building, looking for another door.

On the other side, there were two doors. The first was unlocked and saw that it was a roach infested bathroom. It smelled of decay and ammonia. Dead leaves and a bed of what looked to be the once glossy pages of a gossip magazine covered the floor kept in place by men who missed the toilet.
No soap or toilet paper
,
I wonder when the last time they cleaned this
?

The other door was also unlocked and led to the inside of the garage. It was a dark windowless room that smelled of sweat and oil. I used my flashlight to make sure I was alone.

There were two lifts, both were in use. One with a large white van and the other an old Chevy truck that had been spray painted grey. Both were in very poor condition and probably didn’t run. They wouldn’t do us any good to get far from here.

The walls were lined with shelving and scattered with tools. There was a stack of tires in one corner of the room that was about six feet high and five feet wide. Next to them were several lawnmowers lined up.  Behind them on the wall were four weed eaters hanging by large metal hooks. There were no gas cans here.

There was only one other door in the room and I used it. On the other side, was a tiny room used as an office. There was a wooden desk on the left and several filing cabinets to the right. Across from the door I came was another door. It was the first that I had tried that was locked. Next to it was a shelf with several red gas cans. I picked up two large five-gallon cans and went back outside.

I took the cans over to the fuel tank, filled them, and put them in the trunk of my car. I got in and drove back to perimeter road. When I came around the bend, I saw someone between the fences with a pair of bolt cutters cutting a hole in the fence. I pulled up in front of him and got out with the shotgun in tow.

“Hey, put your hands up!” He raised his hands half way up as if ready to play paddy cake. The bolt cutters still attached to the metal fence.

“Hey, don’t shoot, I work here!”

“Why are you cutting a hole in the fence?”

“Because the powers out, people are trapped in here and all hell is breaking lose! I need to get the generator running again.”

“That’s what I’m doing!”