Apex Predator (18 page)

“I know.  What are you thinking?”

“Well, I was thinking we could go east until we hit the Mississippi River.  Vicksburg isn’t that big of a town.  We could try to find a boat or something and maybe try to head north.”

“Why north?”

“Well, for one thing that’s most likely the direction those bombers went.  There’s only a few bomber bases in the states.  I don’t think west is a viable option.  Even if it’s secure somewhere over there, we’d have to try to get through Dallas.  That’s a large population center.  I’m pretty sure it isn’t secure.”  She shook her head in agreement.

“So, that leaves the Dakotas or Ohio.  The Dakotas are pretty sparsely populated, so they should be easier to secure.  I figure if those bombers left, they must be heading that direction.  At least someone believes it’s secure up that way.”

“You’re making a big leap thinking they went to one of the Dakotas.  What if they were heading to Washington, or Boston, or even Atlanta?  SPC Wilcox did say the rest his unit went to Atlanta.”

“You could be right.  I just figure whatever this is; it will grow faster in a large city.  To me, that rules out most of the eastern seaboard.  Next logical place to fly those bombers would be the Midwest.”

“Ok, I guess I can see that.  Mike’s brother is in Atlanta.  We haven’t talked to him in a week, but it was fine there.”

“Yeah, and a week ago there were some civil disturbances in the Shreveport area.  Things have changed.  What and how much, I really don’t know.  I’m just trying to get these people to some place we can call safe.  If someone has a better idea, I’d sure like to hear it.”

“No, just playing devil’s advocate.  I think north is probably the best way to go.”

“I appreciate that.  We do need to resupply before we go trekking across the state.  Mr. White suggested some sporting goods store west of here just off the interstate.”

“You mean the Academy?”

“I guess.  What are your thoughts?  I don’t know this area.”

“Not a bad idea.  It’s huge.  Lots of stuff we can use.  I think they even have those dehydrated meals and water purification tabs.  Clean water is going to become an issue soon.  But, there might be a problem.”

“What’s that?”

“On the other side of the street from there is a big hospital.”

“So?”

“Think about it.  You get bitten by one of these things.  You spike a fever.  Where do you go?”

“Ah…”

“Yup, and then you die.  They closed most of the hospitals around here in the first few days.  Hospitals always become ground zero when we have an outbreak.  Anytime there is an Ebola outbreak in Africa, the hospitals quickly become the epicenter of the infection.  I don’t know but I’d be willing to bet that that area’s going to be crawling with zombies.

“Shit.  Where else do we go for ammo?”

“Well, I can’t think of a better place.”  She called Mike over.

“Yes sweetheart.”

“SSgt Brown was thinking about heading to the Academy for ammo and supplies.”

“Sounds good to me,” Mike replied.

“I was telling him that the hospital on the corner may make that area too dangerous.  Can you think of another place we can get supplies and bullets?”  She asked.

“Well, there is a Wal-Mart down the road about a half mile, but that’s a busy street.  We’ll have the same problem there.  Na, I don’t think there’s anything close.  But, I think I know how we can get there safe.”

“Ok,” SSgt Brown said.  “I’m listening.”  Mike picked up a stick, and began scratching a map out in the dirt.

“So, I-220 runs here.  Airline is here.  The store is here, a couple hundred yards east.  There are trees here and a creek here, between the trees and the store.”  He used the stick to point as he talked.

“If we move to the trees with whatever transport we got.  We move on foot into the trees, and across the creek.  We come up behind the store.  We’ll never be closer than 300 yards to the corner, and we’ll be shielded by the store itself.  All we got to do is get in, get what we need and get out.”

“How deep is the creek here?” asked SSgt Brown.

“There shouldn’t be much water in it this time of year, but the sides of the creek are steep and about 10 feet tall.  It should work as a nice moat if we need one.”

“Alright,” said SSgt Brown.  “Let’s head out at nightfall and try to get into the trees here before first light.  We can hit the store around first light.”  The sound of gunfire was fading in the east.  SSgt Brown hoped that meant that the 101
st
made it out ok.

As the sun began to set in the west, SSgt Brown had the group move out across the open field.  Jackson, as usual was in the lead backed up by Theresa.  The rest of the group fell in line behind them with Mike bring up the rear.

It took about 45 minutes to cross the 600 meters to the road.  They climbed the embankment.  Instead of finding any vehicles on the road, they found a totally empty stretch of highway for as far as they could see. Jackson looked to SSgt Brown for guidance.  SSgt Brown just waved his left hand forward, go that way.  Jackson continued on.

By midnight, they had reached the trees that Mike had told them about.  Jackson stopped.  SSgt Brown walked beside him.  “You want to stay on the road boss, or should we get into the trees?”

SSgt Brown thought about it.  His training told him to get in the trees and use the cover.  He felt exposed in the middle of the empty road.  But the trees offered the opportunity for close contact.

“Stay on the road.”

The group continued on.  Jackson could make out the top floors of the hospital in the distance.  He thought he could hear the collective moans of thousands of zombies.  He slowed his pace, concentrating on walking quietly.

About an hour later, he could see the concrete abutments on each side of the road.  The creek, he thought.  He veered to the north, moving the group into the grass.  Several minutes later he could see the corner of the trees that was their objective.  He looked over his shoulder to SSgt Brown.  When he made eye contact he waved his hand at the trees.  SSgt Brown nodded his head.

Once in the trees, Jackson slowed to a snail’s pace.  Keep it quiet, he thought to himself.  20 minutes later, they reached the corner of the tree line.  The creek was 25 yards in front of them, the back of the store a mere 50 yards past the creek.  He looked at his watch 0200.  The group tightened up around the trooper.

“Alright, we wait here for a few hours,” announced SSgt Brown.  Everyone grounded their gear and settled in for a few tense hours.  They could all hear the moaning now.

“Hey boss, you want me to go check it out?  We’re here for a bit, might as well know what we’re walking into.”

“Ok,” replied the NCO.  “Grab Theresa, and go recon the area.  Make sure she knows no shooting.  One shot and this trip is all for nothing.”

“No problem boss.”  The young trooper walked over to the teenager.  A couple of minutes later the duo exited the tree line and began moving towards the building.  SSgt Brown cringed when he heard the two slid down the creek bank.  Then he saw them climb up the other side.

Theresa couldn’t remember ever being so scared.  She was literally walking into the mouth of the beast.  She struggled to climb the bank of the creek.  Thank God the creek was dry.  She would surely have made a splash the way she slid down the bank uncontrollably.

On the other side she and Jackson ran to the back of the building.  Once there they stood with their back on the wall, trying to catch their breath and breathe quietly at the same time.  After several minutes, they moved to the southeast corner of the building.  Jackson peered around the corner.

He could see the south side of the parking lot.  It appeared to be empty.  In the distance he could see the rest of the buildings in the strip mall.  No bad guys there either.  He turned toward Theresa and smiled.  Passing her, he moved to the northeast corner of the building.  Peering around, the scene was the same.  He waved at her to follow.

He moved to the northwest corner.  He could see the entire front of the building.  Nothing was moving in the parking lot.  There were several cars parked in the lot but they appeared empty.  He looked at Theresa.

“Looks clear so far, follow me.”  He crouch-ran to the first car.  It was empty, as were the other three in the parking lot.  He realized that he could not see the main street leading into the shopping complex from the building.

He turned and slowly walked back to the front doors of the store.  He couldn’t believe what he saw.  Someone had stacked all of the shopping carts in the atrium.  Brilliant!  It would take him and Theresa at least a half hour to clear these things out.

“You seeing that,” he asked.

“Yeah, looks like someone’s barricaded inside.” 

Jackson turned to the cars in the parking lot.  “I bet there’s at least 3 people in there.  We need to tell Sergeant Brown about this.”  He turned and trotted back to the group, keeping quiet as he did.

SSgt Brown saw the two running towards him.  Not knowing what was going on, he put the rest of the group on line, ready to cover his recon team if needed.  He saw them slide down the creek bank, and then climb up the other side.  What are they running from?

Jackson slowed as he neared the trees.

“What’s wrong Jackson?” asked the NCO.

“Nothing.  Well something,” replied the trooper.  “Parking lot’s clear.  ‘You can’t even see Zed from the store.”

“Good.  What’s the problem?”

“It looks like someone’s barricaded the front doors.  Three cars are in the parking lot.”

“Any idea who’s inside?”

“Nope, soon as we hit that barricade, I figured you’d want to know about it.”

“Ok,” he replied.  Now what?  He thought for a minute.

“Alright, everyone, let’s go.” They followed him to the front of the store.  SSgt Brown tried to peer through the pile of shopping carts to discern some signs of life.  Nothing.  He was about to turn around when he saw some movement inside.  What was that?  It was subtle and hard to see through all the plastic and metal.

He pulled his flashlight off of his web gear.  I really hope this works.  He removed the red lens cover, pointed the light at the window and began flashing his light.  After several times, a light flashed back at him.  Ok, now they know we’re not dead.

“Who’s out there?” a voice whispered loudly.

“Staff Sergeant Brown, One-Hundred Eighth Cavalry, Louisiana National Guard,” he said as loud as he dared.

“Come around the north side to the loading dock,” was the response.  The group moved around the north side of the building.

“You guys stay behind us.  Jackson, Wilcox, Theresa stay close to me.”  He figured the more uniforms in sight; the easier it would be to talk his way into the door.

The door opened.  A fat, white guy with a scraggly beard and AR-15 in his left hand opened the door.  “Boy are we glad to see you,” he announced.  He waved them inside.

The group rushed inside, Mike closing the door once inside.  The group walked through the darkened storeroom into the main floor of the store.  They found four survivors.  Two were fat white men in camouflaged overalls.  A third was a skinny Asian kid in a blue collared shirt with the name Simon embroidered on the right chest.  He had several bruises on his face, and his bottom lip was swollen with a thick line of dried blood on it.  The last a red headed young woman with the name Kerry embroidered onto her torn navy shirt.  SSgt Brown couldn’t help but notice the anger in her eyes.  Nor could he miss the greenish bruise healing under her left eye.  The two white men had AR-15’s and pistols.  The others appeared to be unarmed.

“I’m Jimmy Adams, this is my brother Steve,” announced the largest of the two white men.  “The chink here is Simon.  The split tail is Kerry.  She works here and was nice enough to give us access to her gun case.”  He looked over the newcomers.  “Who the fuck are you guys?  You don’t look much like a rescue to me.”

“We’re not.  Private Jackson and I were cut off from our unit last week.  Jen, Mike and Theresa here found us a few days ago.  Specialist Wilcox is from the 101
st
Airborne.”

“So, who’s the spic and the nigger?” Steve asked with disdain in his voice.

SSgt Brown could feel the anger well up inside.  “Mr. White and Maria were holed up in his house with his mother.  They were nice enough to take us in last night.”

“So,” Jimmy began “If you ain’t here to rescue us, what the hell you here for?”

“We’re running low on supplies.  Just came here for food and ammo.”  SSgt Brown could feel the tension building.  He wasn’t the only one.  Mike and Jen both took a couple of steps left.  This put them more beside the two brothers.

“So, sounds to me like you came here to steal from us.  You hear that Steve?  We got us a bunch of looters here.  You know Sergeant Brown, everything you take from here is food outa my mouth and bullets outa my gun.  I don’t believe you’re welcome here anymore.”

SSgt Brown looked at the rest of the group.  He could see the fear in the eyes of Kerry and Simon.  This was getting out of his control.  He took a casual step to his right, closer to the two, and causing the brothers to pivot towards him, exposing their backs to Mike and Jen.