The Demented Z (Book 3): Contagion (4 page)

  The hike along the
road turned out to be uneventful. All
but Hannah hoped the base itself would be more of the same.
  She didn’t voice it, but she was both shocked
and disappointed that there had not been a confrontation yet.

All of them agreed beforehand that they would only split up
if necessary as it would be too easy to get overwhelmed in fewer numbers.
  Bear lead the way between giant Ponderosa’s,
powering through the deep snow, breaking a trail for the others.
  Even with much of the snow cleared it was
tough going for the others. Through the
trees they cut at an angle toward the base and quickly came to a tall fence
topped with concertina wire. Running
along the fence, about ten yards off, was a massive mound that circled the base
to keep it out of prying eyes.

Tom was ready for the fence.  
Once they got up next to it he began digging through Hannah’s backpack
and pulled a compact pair of bolt cutters.  
He took his time, keeping the fence from rattling as he snipped his way
up the chain links. After cutting a large
opening he debated chucking the cutters to save weight, but decided against it
and stuffed them back into Hannah’s pack.

Bear held the fence back while everyone slithered through
the opening.

They silently stalked up the low hillside, watching ahead as
the top of the base slowly came into view.  
A tattered American flag flapped in the light breeze at the top of a tall
pole.

Hank whispered to Tom, “Flag like that…no military here.”

Tom nodded in agreement.

At the top of the rise they all hunched low and peered down
at the base before them. A four story
drab gray building sat in the center of several smaller buildings.
  In front of the buildings was a cluster of OD
green military vehicles and at least a dozen choppers.
  The spray apparatuses still hung off the
sides. Aside from the breeze lifting
snow particles and sending them swirling across the white landscape there was
no movement amongst the buildings. The
snow between buildings and vehicles was flat and untouched.

Hank had his rifle out, eye to the scope.
  “Ghost town.”

“Let’s hope ghosts are the worst of what’s inside.”
  Bear grumbled.

“Check the windows for movement.
  Take our time.”
  Tom said.  
He looked around at the group and added, “Hannah and Bear, why don’t the
two of you circle back a ways…make sure we haven’t drawn any.
  I don’t want any surprises.”

Hannah rapidly nodded her head and took off down the hill,
following the trail they had made. Bear
didn’t seem as excited, but followed in her wake.
  Tom watched the pair make their way back through
the fence and disappear into the forest.  
He hesitated momentarily, staring at the snowy trees, and then hunched
back down with Hank and Logan to get more eyes on the buildings.

Time ticked away with the three of them sitting in
silence. The breeze continued to send
white tendrils of snow flowing between buildings and force the tattered flag to
flutter and jump like it was controlled by strings from above.
  One of the side building’s doors hung open,
allowing a pile of snow to build inside.

“I think I see movement.”  
Hank whispered. He never lifted
his head from his scope.
“Third building on the north side…windows.”

Tom squinted at the dark windows.

Logan shifted over, peering through his binoculars.
  “I got nothin’.”
  He said.

“It’s faint.
Almost a shadow in the dark.”
  Hank said.

Tom was about to either dig for his binoculars or grab
Logan’s, when he heard something behind them.  
Hannah and Bear were making their way back through the trees, and based
on their slow shuffle he guessed everything was good.

As the pair walked up, Tom said, “Good?’

“Affirmative.” Bear said while they
were both nodding their heads.

“Possible movement in one building…too
dark to I.D.”

“Anything else?”
  Hannah asked.

Tom shook his head, “Not a lot of windows and most are
shrouded in darkness, but nothing visible.  
Let’s circle around using the hill and move in on Hank’s building from
the north.”

They all nodded in agreement and swept back down the
hillside, using it for cover as they circled around to the back side of the
base. Tom eyed the tree line as they
made their way around, the worry of an infected shambling around keeping him on
edge. Despite his worry and the mental
visions of hordes racing out of the forest, there was nothing but silence and
stoic trees.

“We go in quiet.” Tom
said. He looked at Hannah.
  “Keep your rifle ready in case, but don’t
fire unless there is no other choice.”

She nodded her head.

“I mean it, no other choice.”

“I got it, last resort.”

The group swept down the snowy hillside and over to the back
of Hank’s building. They all stayed low,
below the windows and out of sight of potential occupants.
  Tom slowly rose and peeked into one of the
windows. Rows of narrow bunk beds faded
into darkness, impeccable green blankets stretched tight over each one.

Tom slid back down.
“Barracks. Don’t see
anything.” Tom whispered.

“Movement was in a far window. “Hank said while pointing out toward the front
of the building.

Nodding his head, Tom led the way around the corner of the
building, staying tight to the wall and below the windows.
  He had his bow out with an arrow notched and
ready as he eased up to a short set of steps in front of the door.
  Bear and Hank were right behind him with
their crossbows at the ready. Tom
clipped his bow on his back and ducked low right in front of the door.
  A quick nod from the others and he slowly
turned the doorknob and eased it open.

There was a tense moment of silence.
 

Hannah and Logan crouched down in the back and watched the
building next to them, as well as the hillside behind.
  The woods sat eerily quiet.

Tom pulled the door all the way open, letting the light
spill in through the opening. Both Hank
and Bear brushed past Tom, sweeping in with their crossbows raised.
  Flashlights clicked on, illuminating the
interior. The stark glow hit on a
hideous face.

The man, dressed in camo fatigues,
had a wicked wound running from his scalp, down across an eye, and onto his
neck. He had clearly been dead for
weeks, if not longer. The black, crusty
blood was dotted with green mold. His
eyes locked on Bear and he opened his mouth.  
Bear let a bolt fly, ending the shriek before it began.
  The shot was perfect, striking the undead in
his good eye socket. Camo
dropped to the wood floor with a thud.

Bear started over toward the body.

“Hold up.” Tom
said. “Till we know more, let’s stay
back.”

Both Hank and Bear took several steps back, covering their
mouths with their sleeves.

Tom could see a length of barbed wire wrapped several times
around one of Camo’s legs and the other end wrapped
around one of the metal bed legs.   Large
lag bolts secured the bed to the floor. Who
had done this and why, were questions that lingered in their minds.
  Before backing out of the building he took a
quick survey of the barracks and found it contained nothing other than bunk
beds and the single undead. Tom followed
the others out to the snow covered ground.

“What was it?” Hannah
asked.

“Sergeant ugly chained to a bed.”
  Hank responded.

“What?”

Tom described Camo and the
wire.

“Now what?”
  Logan said.

Tom looked at the main building that towered over them.
  “We’ll find answers in there.”

“Hate leaving these unchecked.”
  Bear said while sweeping a hand out at the
surrounding buildings.

Tom nodded in agreement.  
“I know it, but it would take forever to go through them all.”

Hank looked up at the sky.  
“Not long it’ll be dark. Creep
factor is going to go way up.”

“Good point. Let’s
sweep through buildings, find a clear one, and hole up for the night.
   Hit the main building at full light.
  Murphy’s law and all that.”
  Tom said.

“Murph and I are well
acquainted.” Hank grumbled.

The next building they entered was a parts
storage, just the type of structure they were looking for.
  There were several rows of shelves with
neatly organized numbered boxes. A quick
glance through the boxes revealed that they were various vehicle parts.
  Most were unrecognizable and probably
specific to the helicopters and various military vehicles.
  No people, living or dead.

“Make sure to brush all the snow off your gear.
  May feel cold now, but our body heat will
warm this place up, melt the snow, and get all your goods wet.”
  Tom said to the group.

It only took a few minutes for all of them to get the
powdery snow off of everything. In the
meantime, Tom and Hannah rifled through their packs to pull together a quick
meal. Staying fueled up was a necessity,
both for potential battles and to keep body temperature up.

There were several windows along the side walls and one
along the back that stared out at the white landscape and nearby
buildings. Before the sun dropped all
the way below the horizon they used anything they could find to cover the
windows, not wanting to draw the attention of any unwanted guests.
  With the outside light blocked off, the room
was shrouded in darkness. They sat in a
circle on the floor, huddled around a single crank lantern, eating various
forms of packaged foods.

“What are we going to do when all the food is gone?”
  Hannah asked.

“We have several days’ worth.”
  Bear replied.

“No, I mean
all
the food…everywhere.”

Tom chuckled, “We get back to our roots.
  Hunt, fish, grow things.”

“I’m gonna die.”
  Bear said.

“Yeah, me too.”
  Hannah said with a laugh.

“At least we will starve together.”

They sat in a circle bantering back and forth as the sun
sank, blanketing the base in black. Tom
and Hank told stories of their troubles getting out of Portland as well as the
run-ins they had with Lincoln and his gang.  
Bear had heard of Lincoln and spat at the mention of his name.

“Dead?
  You’re sure?”  
Bear asked after Tom finished the story.

“Oh yeah.”
  Hank said.  
“His pillaging days are over.”

“What about you guys…how did the compound get started?”
   Tom asked.

Hannah looked to Bear , but when he
didn’t say anything she responded, “I wasn’t there in the beginning.
  I made it out of Seattle with a couple
others.” She looked up at the ceiling,
thinking back to those days. “Turned out
I had gotten out with the wrong people.  
They fought with each other…tried to… tried …”

Bear spoke up. “She
made it to the compound, alone. Miles
and the council let her in.”

“The council…who are they?”  
Tom asked.

Bear and Logan shared a quick glance and then he said, “Our
leaders. Miles is on the council.
  They started the compound…saved us all.”

“What’s the— “Tom started to say, but was
interrupted by a sudden pounding at the door.

The loud booms echoed through the room.
  All at once they stood, reaching for
weapons. The pounding continued.
  The door knob rattled and twisted, but the door’s
deadbolt held.

Tom eased toward the door with his bow drawn.

“That’s going to wake the dead.”
  Bear said.

“The dead woke a long time ago.”
  Hank whispered.
  “This is going to get them moving.”

Just as fast as it started, the pounding stopped.
  Only an eerie silence remained.
  Then there was a voice, muffled and
unintelligible. Tom took a hesitant step
toward the door. Bear raised his
crossbow and moved in close to the wall.  
A set of light taps sounded from the door, rhythmic in nature.
  Tom looked over at Bear quizzically.
  They both moved closer to the door, while
Hank filled the gap between them a few feet back.

Bang…Bang…

The raps at the door became louder and more insistent.

“I heard talking.”  
Bear said.

“Me too, they’re not infected.”
  Tom responded.

“Let ‘em in?”
  Hannah whispered from the back.

“No way.”
  Logan said.

Bear stared through the wall.
  “They’re going to eff
this all up.”

Hank lowered his crossbow a bit.
  “He’s right, if they keep up
all this racket it’s gonna get
ugly. We’ll find out just how much of a
ghost town this joint is.”

“We let them in…we have to be willing to put them down if
needed.” Tom said, looking back at the
group. Hannah and Hank nodded their
heads. Logan took a step back and raised
his crossbow. Bear remained stoic beside
the door. Tom stepped up close to the
door and gave it a hard knock.

The banging stopped immediately.
  Muffled whispers.

Tom leaned up close to the door, wanting to make sure they
were uninfected. He could hear people
talking on the other side.

“They’re going to let…told…hurry or…them.”
  Only bits and pieces of the conversation
could be made out.

Tom whisper-shouted, “How many are you?”

A girl’s voice came back, “Three.”
  A brief hesitation.
  “Please.”

An infected could be heard shrieking in the background.
  Through the door it was difficult to make out
how far away.

The voice came back, as well as another, panicked, “Help us,
please…their…she’s sick.”

Tom instinctively took a step away from the door at the word
“sick.” He looked over at Bear, who was
shaking his head. A look back at the
others got him the same result, more shaking heads.
  Nobody wanted sickness in the room with them.

A man’s voice on the other side of the
door, “On the road…my wife…please let us in.”

Silence.

Nearly shouting, the man said, “Please, they’re out
here. My daughter’s only fourteen.”

A brief silence and then more pounding
on the door.    A
scream. “Help!”
  The girl screamed.

It was gut wrenching.
  Hannah turned from the door, unable to even
look at the wooden barricade, as if it was a window to the terror outside.
  Hank moved toward the nearest window, even
though it sat on a wall that didn’t look out front.
  He debated pulling back the blanket covering
it, but quickly decided against it.

“Be quiet!” Tom
whisper shouted.

The pounding continued.  
Angry growls from outside.

“Kill the light.” Tom
whispered.

Logan dropped to his knees and snapped off the tiny LED
lantern, enveloping them in darkness.  
Shrieks and growls betrayed the interior’s silence.

There was a terrified scream outside the door.
  The boom of a shotgun caused Tom to
jump. The pounding at the door started
up again, both angry and panicked. From
the sounds they all could envision the scenario that was playing out just
beyond the door. Even in the pitch black
interior they all stood staring at where they knew the door was.
  More screaming.

The boom seemed to shake the entire building.
  Everyone was stunned, not immediately realizing
what had happened, and then it dawned on them.  
One of the outsiders had used the shotgun to blast the door, blowing
apart the lock and handle, sending the door slamming up against the interior
wall across from Bear. Faint moonlight
spilled in the opening, highlighting the trio in silhouette.

With the silence already broken, Tom clipped the bow to his back,
drew a MAC-9, and a flashlight. With a
click, bright light lit up the three faces that were racing inside the
room. A young girl, tears streaming down
her face, was being rushed in by a man and woman.

Thwak

Bear was tight to the wall just to the side of the
door. The sudden light and movement had
caused him to panic, letting a bolt fly from his crossbow.
  The daughter had made it inside, while the
mom, following close behind, was in at just the wrong moment.
  As the door was swinging back the bolt caught
the woman in the neck and pinned her to the wood.
  She hung there, grotesquely, blood oozing
from around the fiberglass shaft.

“Nooo!”
  Tom shouted too late.

Not ready for her to suddenly stop, the man ran into his
wife’s back, spun sideways and crashed to the floor.
  His shotgun went skidding across the wood
ahead of him. The daughter continued to
race toward Tom, oblivious to what had happened right behind her.

“Get down!” Tom
shouted.

Hank raced forward and scooped up the shotgun.

The father’s eyes glanced up at Hank and then back at the
door, and his wife. He got to his hands
and knees, and scurried back to the door.

Bear looked up at the man while he finished loading another
bolt in his crossbow. A look of concern
crossed his face. He was unsure what the
husband was going to do.

They were all surprised when the husband moved behind the
door and leaned into it. The wife’s shoes
skidded on the wood as he shoved the door all the way closed.
  Dark movement could be seen through the
volleyball sized hole left from the shotgun blast.
  With a loud boom a demented slammed into the
door, causing the man to stagger back a step before he rushed up against the
door again. He leaned into it with his
shoulder.

“Someone help.” He
said through gritted teeth.

Tom holstered his MAC-9 and started towards the door, but
was stopped when the teenager ran into him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
  She was sobbing and mumbling unintelligibly.
  Hank rushed past the two of them.
  Hannah moved up next to them with her rifle
raised.

“Get off of me.” Tom
yelled to the girl. He knew she was
terrified and he felt bad right after he said it.

The door shook and a disgusting ripping, gurgling noise
could be heard. Hank was just coming up
next to the man when the door shuddered from another demented hitting the other
side. Both men shoved up against the
door, holding it closed.

With an angry growl Hank said, “Nice to meet you.”
  The man said nothing in response.

Bear clipped his crossbow to a belt ring on his hip and
grabbed the rifle from his chest sling.  
He held it at low ready, unsure what to do.

Hannah shouted at him.  
“Help me with this.” She said as
she moved over to a giant, metal tool locker.

Tom shook off the girl and raced over to help Hannah.
  The two of them were having a tough time
getting the heavy unit to budge until Bear showed up and added his considerable
muscle. The metal legs scraped across
the floor, leaving white gashes behind.  
Hank and the man peeled out of the way as they shoved the locker into
place. The door continued to rattle as
the demented tore into the body hanging from it.
  Angry growls could be heard as well as the ominous
huffing that signaled to others.

“One of them is calling.”  
Hannah said.

“Plenty of snow...can’t be many in earshot.”
  Bear replied.

Logan came walking out of the shadows of the back
shelving. He clutched his crossbow to
his chest, bolt pointed at the ceiling, “What are we…can they…”
  He stammered in a shaking voice.

Hank shook his head.  
“Suck it up buttercup.”