The Reckoning - 02 (36 page)

             
“Find a seat and stay down,” I said to the kids. “Don’t get up for anything.”

             
I started to head back out the door to go after the teacher when she started screaming and ran back towards the convenience store. The zombies that had been across the street saw the movement and went after her instead of us. To my horror, I realized that they were all
Sprinters.
She almost made it to the doors before they caught her. They were savagely tearing into her flesh before I could get back out the door.

             
There was nothing I could do for her. Reluctantly, I closed the door to the bus. Glancing down by the ignition switch, I saw that little Hannah had been correct. The keys weren’t there. I was about to pull out my multi-tool when I had an idea. Grabbing the sun visor, I pulled it down and the keys fell into my hand. That was the best piece of luck I’d had since I left the pawn shop.

             
Slipping behind the wheel, I slid the keys in the ignition and pushed in the clutch. The engine coughed and groaned, but came to life on the third try. The
Sprinters
were too busy eating to pay attention to us as I drove out of the lot and across the street. Spec-4 saw me and disappeared from the window. I whispered a silent prayer, hoping that the zombies wouldn’t follow us.

             
Heading around to the back of the pawn shop, I pulled the bus right up against the back door. I would be able to open the sliding door, but nothing could get inside because of the way the bus was parked. Spec-4 yanked the door open just as I was shutting down the engine and setting the parking brake. Hustling the kids inside, I slammed the door behind me and locked it.

             
“I thought you were going for food,” teased Spec-4, smiling at the kids.

             
“Change of plans,” I replied, grinning.

             
“Now what do we do?” she asked.

             
“Well, that depends,” I said. “If it looks like we’ve attracted a lot of attention, we’ll get in the bus and get the Hel out of here.”

             
“And if not?” she said, smiling.

             
“Then we load up all of the guns, ammo and equipment we can carry and head for the Underground.”

             
“Sounds like a plan.”

             
Suddenly an idea struck me. I snagged Spec-4’s rifle and headed up the stairs. When I reached the little office, I crept over to the window and started scanning the area with the scope. I was looking for any high end cars that might be parked in the area. After a couple of minutes of searching, I found what I was looking for. A beautiful black Corvette was in the parking lot of a Chinese restaurant down the street.

             
Taking aim, I gently squeezed the trigger. I felt the kick and heard the loud boom of the big deer rifle. Through the scope, I saw the passenger side window of the Corvette explode. Instantly, the car alarm went off and started honking and whooping so loud it seemed to echo around the area. Glancing around, I saw that every zombie in the area was turning towards the alarm and heading that way.

             
“Nice,” said Spec-4, approvingly. “That’s a great distraction.”

             
“Now let’s get the bus loaded as fast as we can and get out of here,” I said, heading for the bedroom.

             
We quickly recovered all of our gear and loaded it on the bus. Then we started on the guns and ammo. I even put the kids to work. They were filling bags with ammo and anything else small enough to go into the bags. Spec-4 and I loaded them on the bus. We filled every seat but the front two, leaving only enough room for them to have a place to sit.

             
We cleared out all of the guns, ammo, knives and survival gear. We also took all of the leather jackets, t-shirts and tools we could load up. By the time the alarm stopped sounding, we were loaded up almost to capacity. The only thing we left was the electronics and the assorted junk that we wouldn’t need. Now, if the
Freemen
came to loot this place, the only thing they’d find were car stereos, televisions and DVD players. They were welcome to them.

             
The bus was a little sluggish as I backed it out into the street. Two
Sprinters
came running out after us as I put it in gear and started moving forward. They made a satisfying crunch as I clipped them with the bumper. I gazed at the spot where my friends had fallen, now only a burnt spot on the road, and felt remorse for my friends. They died to give the rest of us a shot at survival. I was going to see that they didn’t die in vain.

“Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”

-
         
Winston Churchill
 

             
We made it back to the Underground with no problems. Erich Webber was at the gate when we pulled up. I could tell he was shocked to see us alive and with other survivors. It seemed like he couldn’t get the gate open fast enough, though. Once we were safely inside, I stepped out of the bus and started to shake his hand. He bypassed the handshake and lifted me up off the ground, gear and all. I thought he was going to break my ribs when he hugged me.

             
“We all thought you were dead,” he said, smiling. “Did anyone else make it?”

             
“Just me and Spec-4,” I said, sadly.

             
“You’re sure?”

             
“Positive,” I replied, holding out the bloodstained sheriff’s badge for him to see.

             
He just closed his eyes and nodded.

             
Once we cleared the gate and rolled back down into the Underground, I could see that they had accomplished a lot since I was here last. The lights were on and the place was lit up. They had reinforced the fences with overturned semi trailers. I could even see that they had set up roving patrols around the perimeter, checking for breaches in the fence and watching for threats. Matthews had done well.

             
After a brief reunion with my family and the dogs, I had a quiet word with my wife and told her about the kids. I could see Karen’s heart melting as I told her about them being the only survivors of their class. I knew they would be in good hands, as she led them away to get them checked out by Medical. My sons lingered behind. I had a feeling I knew what they were going to ask.

             
“Mom says we have to clear it with you before we start helping out on guard duty,” said Elliott, my oldest.

             
“You mean she didn’t think I was dead?” I asked, surprised.

             
“Nope,” said Erik. “She said that you’d come dragging in, in a day or two, with a couple new scars and some stories to tell. She called you a
bad penny
.”

             
“Yeah,” I said, grinning. “That sounds like your mother.”

             
“Mom told us not to give up on you,” said Evan. “That you made it back from the lake, against all odds.”

             
“That’s good,” I said. “I’m glad you guys weren’t mourning me down here.”

             
“Don’t let them fool you, dad,” said Elliott. “She was worried. We all were.”

             
“Thanks,” I said, hugging them all. “I’ll tell you what. Let me find out how things are looking down here and we’ll see about letting you guys help out. I know you already know how to shoot. After all, I taught you.”

             
“Thanks, dad,” they said, in unison.

             
I headed off to find Matthews and Josh Kidman. I didn’t have to look far. I knew right where to find them. They were at the Hive. I found them standing next to a Humvee with Southard, Jade, John and Lt. Murdock. They all looked up as Spec-4 and I approached.

             
“Wylie,” said Southard, putting his arm around me, “you are one hard to kill son-of-a-bitch.”

             
“Thanks, Chuck,” I said, smiling. “I’m not complaining.”

             
“Us either,” he said, slapping me on the shoulder. “Welcome back, buddy.”

             
I reached into my pocket and took out the Sheriff’s badge. With a glance down at the bloodstained surface, I tossed it to Lt. Murdock. He caught it with his good hand and glanced at it before speaking.

             
“So he didn’t make it?” he said, quietly.

             
“We lost Daniels, Shane, Milkman, Benson and Chandler,” I said, meeting everyone’s gaze. “Good men that we definitely needed.”

             
“Not to mention a truckload of food and supplies,” said Matthews. “Those damned
Freemen
need to pay for what they did.”

             
“They did,” I replied. “I didn’t see any of them escape.”

             
“Good,” said Jade. “It serves them right.”             

             
“The big question is,” I said, “were they there scavenging the grocery store and we just happened by or were they waiting for us?”

             
“I’m going to guess that they were waiting for us,” said Spec-4. “Why else would they bring RPG’s to raid a grocery store.”

             
“I agree,” said Lt. Murdock. “I think they were raiding the grocery store as a bonus.”

             
“They didn’t have enough vehicles to take away everything we were carrying,” I said, rubbing the back of my head.

             
“I don’t think that was their goal,” said Jade. “It sounds to me like they were just planning on taking you out and picking the corpses at their leisure.”

             
“How the fuck did they know where we were going to be?” asked Southard.

             
“The radios,” I said, realization dawning on me. “We used to complain that every old lady in town with a scanner would listen to our radio traffic and call in to complain when they heard something they didn’t like. If they have a scanner, they could easily be listening in on our radios.”

             
“Not the SINCGARS,” said Spec-4. “Those hop frequencies every few seconds. Plus, they’re encrypted.”

             
“No such luck on the crappy old radios we have,” I said, tapping the mic on my chest.

             
“Well, then,” said Lt. Murdock, “it sounds like we need to stop using them.”

             
“We can use the SINCGARS so long as we’re in the vehicles,” I said. “We’ll need to find something we can use short range that they can’t pick up.”

             
“With what we have on hand,” said Matthews, “we’re probably going to end up using tin cans and string.”

             
“Don’t be so sure,” said Josh. “We’ve got the security radios in the Hive. They’re charged up and ready to use.”

             
“They’re not encrypted,” said Matthews.

             
“They don’t have to be,” said Josh, “they’ve only got a range of about half a mile. Unless they’re at the end of the driveway, they shouldn’t hear anything at all.”

             
“How many do you have?” I asked.

             
“About a dozen,” said Josh.

             
“Fine,” I said, “we can put one with each team when we’re out. Small teams can have one for each person, if they need it.”

             
Lt. Murdock walked over to me and handed me the Sheriff’s badge.

             
“Take this,” he said. “Someone needs to carry it.”

             
“I don’t know,” I said, looking down at the badge in my hand.

             
“I ain’t taking it,” said Southard. “I think the damned thing’s cursed. Since this all started, the only person who’s carried it without dying is
you
.”

             
“Gee, thanks Chuck,” I said, raising one eyebrow.

             
“Hey, I’m just sayin’,” he replied, “better you than me, buddy.”

             
“It doesn’t really matter whether we have a Sheriff or not,” I said. “There aren’t enough of us to call a department, anymore.”

             
“It’s more than that, Wylie,” said Josh. “It’s a good symbol for people to rally behind. It’s something to unite all of us.”

             
“You’re ok with this, Josh?” I asked, surprised.

             
“Hey, I don’t want the job,” he said, smiling. “This group suddenly became too big for me to manage. I’m more of a logistics kind of guy.”

             
“That’s where we need you, anyway,” I said. “You know this place better than anyone. You can keep track of our assets and expenditures. Make sure we don’t run out of anything. That also means you get to figure out what we need so we can start planning runs for it. Can you get us a current inventory?”

             
“On it,” he said, heading off towards the Hive.

             
“Hey, Josh,” I called after him.

             
“Yeah?” he said, turning.

             
“Can you charge this for me?” I asked, tossing him my flashlight.

             
“No problem,” he replied. “I’ll get it back to you in a couple of hours.”

             
We watched as he walked away towards the entrance. Once he was inside, I turned to Matthews.

             
“Any issues since I’ve been gone?” I asked.

             
“Not many,” he replied. “The three idiots he has working for him think they can tell us what to do. I’ve done my best to convince them otherwise.”

             
“Good,” I said. “I’m afraid that will come to a head, sooner or later.”

             
“I’m sure it will,” he agreed.

             
“In the meantime,” I said, “we’ll just work with what we have. We’ll ignore the three stooges, for now. I don’t want them in charge of any details, though. Not even walking perimeter security.”

             
“No problem,” he said. “What about internal security?”

             
“Yeah, that might work. Let’s go with that. Keep them inside where they can’t do much damage.”

             
John Banner walked over and spread a map of the Underground out on the hood of the Humvee, using his radio on one corner to keep it from rolling up. I sat my hammer on another corner and we weighed the other two corners down with a knife and a pistol. Lt. Murdock illuminated the map with his flashlight.

             
“OK,” said Banner pointing to the map. “We’ve verified that the entrances here and here are secure.”

             
I noticed he was indicating the railroad entrance and the north entrance.

             
“However, we’ve only been able to secure the ventilation shafts in sectors three and six.”

             
“What’s the problem with the other four?” I asked, looking for the shafts on the map.

             
“They’re outside the secure perimeter,” he replied. “The fence only extends around a portion of the actual excavated area. We’re going to have to take teams outside the fence to make sure they’re secure.”

             
“Let’s make that a priority,” I said, finding them on the map.

             
I immediately saw a problem. One of the shafts was in plain sight of US 65. I knew from experience that it was crawling with zombies. There would be no way that they could work on it without being seen. That would only serve to draw attention to the shaft that we were trying to protect. It was a catch twenty-two.

             
“Is there any way to secure it from below?” I asked, glancing at the Lieutenant.

             
“Maybe,” he said. “I assume you mean without sealing off the shaft completely.”

             
“Yeah,” I said. “We’ll need those shafts intact to keep the air flow going.”

             
“One thing on our side,” said John “is that the shafts are almost completely vertical. It would be a straight drop down into three different ventilator fans. If a zombie fell down it, they’d be turned to sushi.”

             
“Or they could ruin the fan,” I said. “We’d have to assume that the fan would take some damage. Those damned things tend to go like lemmings. Enough of them falling into one would either clog or break the fans.”

             
“I’ll get to work on the ventilator shaft problem,” said the LT. “I’ll get a few people together and we’ll put our heads together. I’ll let you know what we come up with.”

             
“Sounds like a plan, sir,” I said. “Keep me posted.”

             
He just nodded and headed off towards the Hive.

             
“What about a schedule for perimeter checks?” asked John.