Day by Day Armageddon (22 page)

  I suppose the government used the space and missile command to take up the slack for the "rogue" pilots. They must have foreseen this coming as Baker commented on his new target packages well before the pilots decided to disobey orders.

  Still no key to the small arms locker. I am debating on whether or not it is worth it to go out into an urban area to retrieve the necessary equipment needed to cut the lock off. A cutting torch would be optimal, but I doubt I would be able to procure one. It may have to be a hacksaw. Bolt cutters would be useless, as the lock bolt is so large, no cutters I have seen would get through it.

  John found the access code needed to get into the environmental compartment. It was embedded in the file system in the facility control folders. As with any new area we were very cautious about going in. John held the door and waited for me to give the signal. I dreaded shooting anything in this compartment, as I did not want the ricochet to damage any vital systems inside. John slung the door open, it was very dark.

  I pulled my NVGs down over my eyes, and switched them on. Walking in, I saw no danger. The room was very clean. Finding the light switch on the wall, I pulled the goggles back up above my eyes and flipped the switch. It took a few seconds for the fluorescent bulbs to hick in. The room touted a huge air cleansing system, of which I have no idea how to adjust or maintain. There were equipment racks holding all sorts of environmental monitoring gadgets. Right of the bat, I noticed two different varieties of gas masks, and also five Geiger counter devices sitting side by side in a neat row. The gas masks were without filters, as the filters were still sealed in the tins sitting next to the masks. I counted ten gas masks of both types, twenty in all.

  On the floor there were several boxes that had "C.B.R. suit" stamped on the side. Using my knife, I carefully cut away the tape and found that each box contained ten olive drab chemical, biological, and radiological protective suits, sealed in plastic. Also in the box, was a set of specifications and instructions on how long and how much exposure a human can expect to take while wearing the suits.

  It is clear that this facility was designed to endure a nuclear attack. I just don't understand why there were only two officers stationed here, and no other VIP survivors. Maybe the world fell apart too quickly, or this outpost wasn't even on the map. That brings up another important item. It was only yesterday when I found out where we were. It seemed like a long time ago when we left the
Bahama Mama,
and blindly ran into this place after what seemed like days of walking, taking turns carrying Laura and Annabelle. Using satellite imagery, John found our location. We estimated our general direction of travel from the shoreline, and used the atlas to enter in coordinates.

  We first had to find the boat. We then adjusted our coordinates and resolution northwest in baby steps until we found the wreckage site where the fireman was hanging from the hydraulic ladder. After this, we kept walking the coordinates, painstakingly northwest again, until we came upon the facility.

  It was easily seen, as the gaping hole of the launch bay was in obvious flag. John marked the exact coordinates on a piece of paper. Just to make sure we were looking at the right photo, I took a roll of toilet paper up topside, made sure the area was clear, and made a giant letter "X" with the toilet paper near the open launch bay doors.

  After about fifteen minutes of waiting, John re-entered the coordinates and sure enough, the toilet paper "X" was immediately visible from the one hundred meter resolution we had entered. Keeping the same coordinates, we zoomed out to two hundred kilometres of resolution. Though we could not see our facility, we knew it was centre screen, because that is how the program works.

  We were able to determine using the atlas, and the photo, that we were near the small town of Nada, TX. The bad news was that we were also about sixty miles southwest of Houston. Houston was not destroyed in the nuclear campaign and remembering the photos we pulled up on the 8th, we knew it was crawling with the un-dead. Using the CCT cameras we can monitor un-dead movement at the main entrance, however using the satellite photos, we can attempt to monitor (he big picture now that we have our exact coordinates.

  Haven't mentioned much about the entertainment value of the facility. There is a lounge area, equipped with television, VCR, and DVD player. Numerous DVDs line the inside of the wood case the TV is sitting on. After opening the case and checking the contents, I came across one of my old favourites, Omega Man, on VHS. For some reason, I just cannot bring myself to watch it, sort of like watching a war movie while still on the battlefield.

  I have taken to running the perimeter fence during the day. I check the CCT monitor prior to going outside, to make sure the crowd is still where I saw them last, hopelessly clawing at the thick steel door at the front of the facility. After almost fifty laps around the perimeter fence, I come in, and take a very short shower. I usually time myself so that I can conserve water. This reminds me of boot camp, and officer candidate school, where I had to put the shampoo in my hair before getting in the shower to save time in the shower. I have my time down to one minute.

  The others don't seem to have the discipline, or the concept of conservation. I can't expect everyone to act like a machine I suppose. Perhaps that is my problem lately. I have been so shell-shocked that I have reverted to logic and emotionless response to deal with the situation at hand.

  After checking the facility thoroughly a few days ago, we now have a suitable entrance to get in and out without having to climb the silo ladder every time. There were stairs that led up to where we thought was the shed sized brick building with a grey painted steel door. Since this access door led to the surface near the launch bay doors, we thought it best and safer to use it.

  Tara and I spent time together today. We are becoming friends. Under close supervision, she and I let Annabelle and Laura outside to play in the perimeter area. Yesterday afternoon, John and I went outside. Using some twine and four wooden stakes taken from the maintenance compartment, we made a make shift fence around the launch bay door area. I didn't want any of us accidentally falling in. Obviously, we still have not figured out the coding needed to operate the bay doors. John seems to know how to access the right area of the computer system, but he just doesn't want to make a mistake, and open the main doors in front of the complex.

  After watching Laura play outside with Annabelle, I forgot about the un-dead for a while. It wasn't until half an hour later, when the wind brought the moans of the dead to my attention did I remember the dire circumstances that brought is here to Hotel 23. I rushed them back into the facility just as the wind started carrying the smell of rot along with the symphony of horrible moans.

  Experienced a blackout here for approximately two hours. The battery back-ups kicked in providing some red battle lighting inside the complex. I suppose the power grid may finally be failing in this area. No way to determine. Power came back on at 2330. I am sure the system is automated, as I doubt any faithful electrical plant worker would be manning his/her post.

  I am going out tonight to recon the area with NVGs. I will be avoiding the high un-dead population area of the front blast door. That area is a quarter of a mile away over a small hill. John will be watching with the remote cameras.

  I told him that if there is any sign of trouble, I would lead them away from the complex and not to worry. It is not like they can see in the dark anyway. Perhaps I am becoming complacent, and I am underestimating them. I know that in large numbers, they are lethal.

  Today, I heard the strange mechanical sound four times. On one occasion I rushed to the environmental control room to see if that was the source. It wasn't. The sound is coming from somewhere in the bowels of this complex. It may be some sort of pump, or backup system, I cannot be sure. This is the first year I have ever been late on my taxes.

  I patrolled the area last night. Before going out, I checked out the satellite photos in detail from the day before with John. The area is surrounded by two fences, and the main entrance is only accessible through an underground tunnel, or by walking up to it from outside the second fence. I also noticed that on the photos, there appeared to be a small group of bodies on the ground at the northeast side of the complex. I went up the stairs to the exterior access. I asked John to shut off the lights in my area to allow them to adjust to the dark before I went out. I waited twenty minutes for full dilation.

  I slipped on the NVGs, adjusted the strap and opened up the hatch. The cool night air smelled of spring honeysuckles. I stepped through the threshold into their world. After dogging the hatch behind me, I took the blanket from my shoulder and flung it over the fence in the same spot we originally climbed over.

  I had the codes to the gate, but I didn't want to have to work the cipher lock during an adrenaline rush. The blanket was a safer means of traversing the fence in this situation. By now, the blanket had been cut up in many places and wouldn't be good for anything but a fire after a couple more uses. I left it slung over the razor wire as my boots hit the ground and I started walking counter clockwise around the perimeter.

  I could see the eyes of numerous nocturnal animals in the area when I switched on the infrared on the NVGs. Rabbits and mice, and squirrels were thick in this area at night. This is something to keep in mind for future food possibilities. I rounded the first corner to the fence, and walked.

  As I left the area I was familiar with, I stepped into part of the complex I had never been. There was a three hundred yard gap between our fence, and the other fence I had never been to. Right where I stood, I estimated that John was eighty feet below. I could see the bright lights of the security cameras at the corner of our fence as they followed me. They also used infrared, so they were like beacons to my goggles. I approached fence two after almost a minute of jogging. I edged up toward the northeast corner. The moans and the smell of the dead strengthened as I approached. I was now out of range of most of the facility cameras, vice the main access door.

  I could now see the bodies piled up outside fence number two, and faintly in the distance I could also see the main mass of the dead relentlessly pounding on the main access door. I crouched down, and quietly approached the corpses. The nearer I got, the more it made sense. The fence had numerous breaks in it from what I assume was automatic weapons fire through it. The corpses on the ground fell victim to someone inside the fence firing through it at them. The bodies on the ground had been there for a long time. Maggots and other insects dominated their bare skin.

  I scanned the interior of fence number two for the gunman that was responsible. I could see nothing inside the fence but tall grass. This fence must enclose something important, but I could not see any large steel hatches similar to the first fence we found. I can't help thinking that whoever shot these ghouls retreated back into the darkness of the bunker for safety. We have explored the facility and found nothing else inside it, living or dead. My mind wondered to the intermittent mechanical sound.

  I checked the fence where the damage was present, and found that though it was damaged, nothing bigger then a human arm could fit through it. There were dried blood stains and chunks of skin on the jagged edges of the damaged wire, indicating that some of them were in fact putting their arms through it, attempting to reach their executioner.

  Quietly, I turned around and made my way back the way I came. Instead of going straight to fence number one, I crossed over between the two fences, taking a different route. I came out between the fences on the west side of the complex. Again I took notice of the long, level grassy strip. I noticed it when we first found this area. I could easily take off or land a small aircraft here. It wouldn't be a bad idea to try and find one just in case. After all, flying is
not
like riding a bike, it is a perishable skill. I jumped the fence, retrieved the blanket, entered the complex and commenced to tell the others what I saw.

  I returned last night from a three-day trip to scavenge for supplies, and needed equipment. I am injured, and once again, almost did not survive this outing. John fared somewhat better than I with only a scratched face. One of them, in all its flailing, scraped him. We were on foot most of the time.

  Using the atlas and the air navigation chart I had from before, we were able to determine the location to the nearest airfield.

  According to our chart, a small private airstrip called Eagle Lake existed 20 miles NNE from hotel 23. The night prior to our departure, John and I were able to pull up a satellite photo of the general area and sure enough, two parallel concrete runways could be seen on the satellite visuals. A hanger and what appeared to be two small aircraft were parked near the small tower. As we zoomed out, the faint thread of 1-10 could also be seen roughly eight miles north of the airfield. We knew transportation might be necessary to return safely, so we zoomed in on the strip of I-10 directly north of the airfield. Cars were haphazardly stopped all over the interstate. This was the main vein that ran between the ruins of San Antonio, and the city of Houston.