Regeneration (Mad Swine Book 3) (20 page)

To change the subject, I asked, “How
are things coming? Will we be ready to move out in a couple of
hours?”

Phil nodded his head, although
Crystal responded. “They’ll be ready. We’re already making good
time.”

Nodding, I said, “Thank you.” To
Phil, I said, “Can you bring Sam to my place in about a half hour?
I need to talk to you both before we move out.

“I’ll see you then,” he said. I could
feel both of their eyes on me as I walked back up the hill toward
my house. For some reason, I felt naked and awkward.

* * *

Brian and I sat across from each
other at the dining room table. Although it was cold, the sun was
strong and poured in through the open windows. A thin layer of dust
filmed all of the furniture in my absence. Using his index finger,
my brother was finishing his drawing of a map out on the wood
surface.

After returning, I asked Tammy to go
get some food for us. The promise of a hot meal and coffee was all
she needed to get her up and out the door. I could eat, but I
really just wanted the time with my brother to go over the plan and
to make sure he was okay with what I had to tell him.

“So we need to move some of these
containers here, at the entrance, I think three or four on each
side, to make a nice long kill box. We get as many of them in there
as possible and then detonate the explosives. Kill as many as
possible, slow the rest down immediately.”

I looked down at his map drawn in the
dust. “That’s assuming they’ll come head on, right through the
gates.”

“They will. Their leader sounds like
an arrogant fuck and that’s exactly what he’ll do. He’ll be pissed
off and not thinking clearly.”

I sat back in the chair and crossed
my arms across my chest. “Okay, let’s assume, though, that’s he’s
an arrogant fuck, that he doesn’t let his rage cloud his judgement,
and he has at least half a brain. After all, he’s survived this
long and you saw the maps. They’re good at this.”

Brian took a deep breath and let it
out in a long sigh. “I hear you, bro. So if he’s smart, he holds at
the front and sends scouts through, and maybe sends a couple of
groups on the flanks. They trip the explosives, he loses a few, and
within minutes they’re in, they realize we’ve gone and they come
looking for us and either catch us on the road or before we have
time to set up a defense at the farm.”

“And that is why I have to stay back
and trigger the explosives when they’ll do the most damage.” I held
up a hand and said, “Before you argue with me, think about it.
There is no other way and we have very little time. We have to make
this count. We have to kill as many of them here as possible if
we’re going to have a chance of holding them off at the farm.”

“Then why not dig in and fight here?”
Brian asked. “Look, we set up our ambush just like we planned. Set
up some teams to protect the assault, fire teams at their front and
rear. Let’s commit to it and stop them right here.”

“We have no idea how large a force
they have, but if we believe Tammy, then he’s got a damn army. We
cannot take on an army here without losing many lives in the
process. We stand a better change by combining our forces from here
and the rest of our group at the farm.”

“You’re right,” Brian said,
surprising me. He stood up from his chair and leaned over the
table, looking down at his dust map. “Someone needs to stay to
trigger the explosives when they’ll do the most damage, but it
won’t be you.”

“I can’t ask anyone else to do
this.”

“You don’t have to ask. I’m
volunteering,” he said, shifting his eyes from the map so that he
could look at me. “Don’t turn this into some pissing contest, bro.
We both started all this shit and we’re both responsible for the
way things ended up. And I’m tired of you trying to carry all the
guilt on your own. It’s my turn to shoulder some of it.”

“Not like this,” I said.

“Exactly like this,” Brian said. “You
think this is a suicide mission. I can see that in your eyes. But I
know I can make this work. I can walk out of here after.”

“Then I should stay to help you.”

“No, you need to lead these people,”
Brian said. He came around to my side of the table, pulled out the
chair beside me, and sat down. “All that stuff Phil talked about
earlier, I know that’s what you want. It’s what we all want, and
those ideas could be the start of something big. Bringing these
people together is the start. It makes us stronger. Start creating
safe zones. Start pushing the crazies back. Take back the land one
stretch at a time. Start building our army, one made of good people
who want to live, who want to start over again. Don’t you want
that, little brother?”

“Of course I want that,” I said.

“Then you have to lead them to that.
Only you can do that. Not me, or Sam, or Phil. Only you.”

“I don’t believe that. Their future
doesn’t end because I’m not in it. After all the mistakes I made,
they might even welcome a change in leadership.”

“Don’t talk like that. You’re their
leader. You’ve gotten this far and you’re going to take them
farther. You’re fucking bullet proof, man. You beat the fucking
infection that no one else survives. You’re the only one they want
standing at the front and giving them orders. Trust me, I know,
because that’s exactly how I feel about you, brother.”

I put my face in my hands and rubbed
roughly, mostly trying to conceal my emotions. His words both
embarrassed and inspired me. I still did not believe these people
could not go on without me. But right now, at this time in their
lives, I was their leader and it was my job to make sure they lived
to see the next stage of their evolution in this world.

* * *

At mid-morning, I was checking in on
the caravan when word reached me that our scout had returned from
Kappy’s with news. Under Crystal’s leadership, the caravan was
prepped and ready to go in less time that I originally planned.
With things well under control, I excused myself and made my way to
the command trailer.

Phil and a young woman in her early
twenties were seated at the table. The girl’s dark brown hair was
pulled back into a ponytail that poked through the opening in the
back of the Cubs baseball cap she wore. Her cheeks were red from
riding against the wind on her motorbike. As I entered, she started
to stand, but I motioned for her to stay seated.

Squatting beside her, I put a hand on
her shoulder. “Tell me what you saw.”

She nodded her head and said, “About
an hour ago, they rode in. A large caravan of motorcycles and
vehicles, but mostly motorcycles. The motors were so loud I could
hear them coming before I saw them. They pulled into the parking
lot of the restaurant, it was like a swarm of bees returning to
their hive. I never seen anything like it.”

“How many of them, honey?” I asked. I
did not even know her name, this girl who had risked her life to
bring back this information.

Her eyes widened as she shook her
head. “So many.” Now she turned her head and looked at me. “If I
had to guess, I would say at least one hundred, but maybe more.
They had a couple of vans and some of those moving trucks. There
could have been more men and women inside. I don’t know.”

“Okay, that’s okay. What happened
after they arrived at Kappy’s?”

“A few of them went inside while the
rest just stayed on their bikes or in the vehicles. They weren’t in
there very long before they came back out and started shouting
stuff.”

“Did you hear what they were
shouting?”

“No, I was too far away to hear.”

“What happened next?” I asked.

Another small group of men went back
inside and when they came out, they were carrying bodies. They
brought out four bodies, I think. Then more of them started
shouting and then they started revving their bikes and it was so
loud, I couldn’t stand it.”

Now getting to my feet, I sat at the
edge of the table and looked down at her. “What is your name?

“Sarah.”

“Okay, Sarah. After they started
revving their bikes, what happened?”

Before she answered, her eyes shifted
to Phil for a moment and then back to me, before settling on her
hands. “I got scared. I thought all of the noises were going to
attract the dead things and I thought they might have sent people
out to check the surrounding area and I wouldn’t hear them sneaking
up on me so I ran back to my bike and came straight here.”

Now she looked at me again and said,
“I’m sorry. I panicked and ran.

“You did fine, Sarah. I probably
would have done the same thing. Your instincts were probably right.
They probably had sent out scouts to check the area. With all that
noise, they were bound to attract the crazies. You were right about
that, too.”

“Thank you,” Sarah said. Now she sat
up higher in her seat and she looked directly at me when she said,
“I don’t think we have much time. Before I ran, I saw them gearing
up. I saw them loading weapons and dumping some of their saddle
bags like they were trying to lighten their loads. They were so
hyped up…I know I would use that anger before it wore off.”

After a long moment of silence, Phil
said, “Sarah, please go find Sam and tell her to have all team
leads meet us outside. Then tell Crystal we need to be wheels up in
twenty minutes. No later.”

The girls was up an out of her seat
in a flash. When she was out of the trailer, Phil stood up, walked
over to me, and sat on the table beside me.

“So this is it,” he said.

“Yep.”

“Does this change the plan any?”

I was quiet for a moment as I
considered this new information. “Maybe. I need to think on
it.”

* * *

We rallied with Sam and Brian,
sharing the intel provided by Sarah. When Phil posed the same
question about whether or not the plan changed, Brian considered
the question carefully before answering.

Finally, he said, “This doesn’t
change the plan.”

“I hear a ‘but’ in there. What is
it?”

“As much as I hate to admit it, I
could use some help. If they are as close as you say and things
don’t go the way we planned, for whatever reason, I won’t be able
to buy you much time on my own.”

“Tell us what you need,” Phil
said.

Rustling in his front coat pocket,
Brian pulled out his schematic of the community and set it on the
table, spreading it out so we could all see. On the map, he marked
the location of each set of explosives with red X marks. Large
arrows with dotted lines showed his points of egress, depending on
his location at the time the explosives detonated.

Scratching his chin with one hand as
he viewed the map, Brian finally said, “I need a small squad to
cover the rear. If they break through too quickly, we’ll need to
lay down a wall of suppressing fire. It won’t keep them long once
they figure out it’s a small group and envelope us, but it should
buy you enough time to get where you need to be.”

“I’ll stay,” Phil said. “Give me ten
minutes and I’ll pull a team together.”

“Phil, you don’t have to do this.” I
said.

“I do, though,” he said.

“If you’re putting a team together,
they need to know.” Brian said.

“I know,” Phil said

“Say it so we know you
understand.”

Phil looked at my brother for a long
moment. When I thought he wasn’t going to answer, he said, “They
probably won’t be leaving this place.”

“Are you sure about this, Phil?” I
asked.

“I’m sure. Now get the heck out of
here.”

I nodded, and shook Phil’s hand,
knowing there was nothing I could say to change his mind anyway.
For all of their differences, both my brother and Phil shared one
characteristic: stubbornness.

Awkwardly, I turned toward my
brother. In all our years, we’d never been good at saying goodbyes,
and this was no exception. Although this was probably the last time
I’d see my brother again.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything,” he said. “I
know.”

“
I
know,” I said.

Stretching my hand out for our normal
bro shake, I was surprised when he pushed it away and embraced me.
We had our share of hugs over the years, but usually I initiated.
His arms were tight around me and I could feel his hot breath on my
neck.

“See you around, little brother,” he
said.

When I walked away, tears stinging my
eyes, I knew this was probably the last time I’d see my brother
alive.

How Many More
Times

Not long after our departure, we
heard the first blast and shortly after small arms fire. Standing
on the flatbed, bringing up the rear of our caravan, I spun around
and saw the cloud of thick black smoke climbing toward the sky over
Route 20. For a moment, I stood looking back in horror, not because
of the explosion—I knew it would be coming—but because I did not
expect it so soon. If Brian set off the charges already, that meant
that the makeshift walls were breached.

Without realizing what I was doing, I
sat down on the edge of the trailer, suddenly feeling the strength
run out of my legs and my stomach churned with fiery acid. The
rattle and crack of small arms stopped shortly after, just before a
second explosion erupted from the southwest, and within seconds of
that, the third and final explosion kicked up to the northeast.

My mouth suddenly went dry as I sat
and watched the billowing pillars of smoke in the distance. The
silence after the final explosion weighed heavily for what seemed
like long minutes. I realized I was holding my breath, hoping to
hear more gunfire, a sign that my brother and Phil were still in
the fight. As I stared wide-eyed as the smoke pillars stretched
further into the sky, the continued silence seemed to speak to me,
confirming my worst fears.