Transformation: Zombie Crusade VI (26 page)

“No lakes south of Provo,” Luke added, remembering the maps he’d been studying.

“Nope,” Jack agreed. “Carlson says that the vast distances and inhospitable terrain have kept interstate-packs to a minimum.”

“In other words,” Luke mused, “once the Utah-infected were cleared out near the Nevada and Arizona borders, they haven’t had to deal with any large packs.”

“Basically, yeah,” Jack concurred. “They eventually expect trouble from the west, mainly because I-15 connects to Las Vegas and southern California, so they have observation posts along the highway through all of northern Arizona.”

Luke considered the layout of the areas they were discussing for a moment, then decided. “We’ll follow the river until it’s too shallow for our boats, then we’ll pick up I-40 all the way to Flagstaff and wind our way north from there using the state highways.”

Carter had been listening to the exchange, and nodded in agreement. “Ya do that and ya should be able to enter southern Utah not too far east of I-15.”

Luke appreciated the plan. “That would put us firmly across the most likely route of invasion if Barnes is planning a spring campaign.”

“So how long do you plan on staying at the depot?” Jack was talking to Luke, but his eyes flickered to Charlotte on the other side of the room. They briefly made eye contact, and Charlotte smiled demurely before looking away. Gracie was sitting on the floor in front of Charlotte, playing with one of the kittens, and she watched the exchange with curiosity. 

“I’m not exactly sure,” Luke replied, “probably another week or so.”

Jack nodded. “That base is massive. I assume you’ll be leaving some folks behind to continue building resources and keep at least a section of the depot secure as an outpost for the Resistance?”

Luke blinked. “To be honest, I hadn’t even thought of that, but it makes total sense. I wish I had more soldiers; we’re a pretty small outfit. We’ve only secured a fraction of the base—just keeping guards around our established perimeter zaps my resources.”

“How do you feel about moving some of Harden’s troops there, along with some civilian mechanics, and putting Tina and John in charge.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Luke replied. “I wish I’d thought of it first.”

Carter scowled, “Ya ain’t the only one with limited resources. We should think this thing through ‘fore we go makin’ promises.”

Jack ignored his friend. “Carter and I will get with Harden and organize things on this end to set-up a permanent base at the depot. You should stay focused on getting your mobile fortress on the road.”

“And here I thought I was my own boss, now,” Luke complained half-heartedly.

“Ya lost that chance the day ya got married,” Carter said with a wink to Gracie. “Tween yer wife and yer daddy, ya may need t’start askin’ permission to poop.” He glanced at Jack. “Just hope they ain’t gone deaf thinkin’ they know everythin’ . . .”

CHAPTER 21

Work at the depot had continued unabated while Luke and Gracie were in Vicksburg. Some of Maddy’s troops had found a ridiculous amount of flat-black paint, and one of the base body-shops began painting vehicles that were otherwise prepped and ready to join the mobile fortress. By late afternoon, half the soldiers on the base were referring to themselves as members of the Black Battalion.

Zach was watching one of the bulldozers receive finishing touches from the painting crew when Maddy strolled over. “What do you think of the new color?” she asked with a hint of amusement in her voice.

“Whatever makes the troops feel better, I guess,” he half-heartedly responded.

“I thought you liked black?”

Zach snorted. “It was one of our school colors; yeah, I like black shirts and coats and stuff. But the purpose of uniformity is so we can tell the difference between us and the bad guys. We could be wearing every color of the rainbow and still know our troops from the hunters.”

“Yeah,” Maddy sarcastically added, “I’m sure that a name like the Rainbow Battalion inspires ferociousness.”

“You know, Maddy,” Zach scowled, “I shouldn’t have to keep reminding you what a great guy you think I am—which means deep down, you really have a lot of respect for my opinions. Personally, I think ‘Rainbow Battalion’ would be bad ass. Just picture it . . .”

Maddy was grinning. “OK, I’ll concede that it might confuse the enemy—if the enemy paid attention to such things. Too bad for you that we only found black paint.”

“I guess I’ll just have to learn to live with it.” He gave Maddy’s dark blond ponytail a tug. “Turn around, butt-head—it looks like our fearless leaders are returning.”

A few seconds later, the gate guard announced over the open channel that Luke and Gracie’s vehicles were pulling into the depot. The husband and wife duo arrived minus two Hummers and a litter of kittens. They were hungry and anxious for a situation report on the day’s progress. Courtney delivered two travel-plates filled with roast beef and baked potatoes, while Zach and Maddy informed them that the mobile force they were now commanding was in the best possible condition for travel and eventual combat. Luke especially liked the name, “Black Battalion.”

Zach’s pride was obvious from his bearing and tone of voice as he finished up his report, “We’ll be ready to move out way sooner than we thought—how long until our replacements arrive?”

Luke shrugged. “At least a week. Tina and John are still in Indiana, and I’m sure Harden will want to personally approve the crew he’s sending from Vicksburg.” He didn’t want to damper Zach’s enthusiasm, but even though the troops at the depot were making impressive progress with their vehicles and trailers, they still had a lot to learn about how to effectively fight with their new toys. “Anyway, even if all the vehicles were ready tonight, we’d still need to spend at least a few days training here on the base.”

“Oh, sure,” Zach quickly concurred, “I actually tried to tell Maddy that we need to practice moving into and out of a laager until we can do it in our sleep; it will save lives someday.”

Maddy was standing in front of the gathering sergeants and officers along with Zach. She looked at him with a dumbfounded expression. “Really?
You
told
me
that?” She turned around and presented her backside to the group. “You guys see the tire tracks from where jackass here throws me under the bus after he takes credit for my ideas?”

With over two hundred troops available to toil on the modifications in twelve-hour shifts, the bulk of the labor was completed in eight days. Several massive flatbed trailers were found to transport two armored bulldozers and a backhoe. Four tanker-trucks, capable of ferrying thousands of gallons of diesel, would also be part of the convoy. Each of the support-vehicles pulled a powerful generator. An intelligence-gathering, camper-type of trailer mounted on a five-ton chassis had been re-fitted to serve as a rolling-headquarters. Last, but far from least, four semis had been filled with enough uniforms, weapons, and other supplies to quadruple the existing size of the army. Finally, more than enough paint had been available to coat every piece of rolling equipment flat-black. Everyone was in agreement that the convoy looked quite intimidating. Then the training began.

Luke made appearances throughout the training days, but by and large he trusted his company commanders to whip the troops into shape. Many of Luke’s afternoons were spent pouring over maps and books about military strategies, and he disappeared for hours each morning for what he called his personal training and scouting exercises. He was sleeping more than usual at night, but he wasn’t experiencing any dreams that he could remember.

Will had returned to their meeting place on the second day, accompanied by another huge alpha and a dozen smaller hunters.  None of the creatures appeared to be at Will’s level of development, but all of them were attracted to and frightened by Luke. The other alpha and one small female were capable of basic communication with Luke, and he could get a sense of them beyond what they were able to express. They were not haunted by memories of past lives, but they were regaining some uniquely human characteristics, including rudimentary speech. The alpha, in particular, was seeking meaningful companionship with his own kind, and he had a deep-seated aversion to the machine-birds. His disturbing memories revolved around being trapped and controlled—and the pain of resistance. He had asserted his autonomy and broken away from a hive, and while he was not yet able to articulate it, he harbored a burning desire to destroy the forces that enslaved his brothers and sisters. He had labeled himself with the first word that held meaning for him: Free.

Luke was fascinated by all the hunters, but his bond with Will was something different. Luke couldn’t explain the connection—how Will’s dreams and memories ended up in his head, or how Will’s emerging awareness was accelerated by their interactions. Through Will, Luke had become the Strong One in the minds of the other hunters, and through Will, Luke danced on the edge of an evolving collective consciousness.

Jack and Carter had been spending many of their free hours following Luke and Gracie’s visit discussing plans for the Red River Depot. Two days after the young warriors had left Vicksburg, Carter was explaining his latest concern over breakfast in his mom’s kitchen. “I’m tellin’ ya, there ain’t no way to defend that entire base against any kind of serious attack. There’s still gotta be infected runnin’ around the place, and even if Luke had somehow managed to kill ‘em all, ya know as well as I do that the fences ‘round most Army bases couldn’t stop a Boy Scout with a crappy pair of wire-cutters.”

Jack nodded a wordless concession to the point as Carter continued. “Ain’t no fixed defenses work against these critters ‘cept the wall Gracie came up with for the bridge here. Hell, even our Castle couldn’t stop ten thousand zombies; imagine what that many hunters woulda done to us.”

“The Castle did what it was intended to do,” Jack pointed out, “we could only prepare for what we knew. We didn’t see anything other than newly-infected in Afghanistan.”

“Oh, I ain’t complainin’ ‘bout what we did with the Castle; we’d of all been long-dead if it weren’t fer that place. I’m just sayin’ that if somethin’ like the Castle can’t keep these hunters out, that rickety ‘ol fence around the Depot sure won’t stop ‘em. We can’t hold it forever—it’s too damn big.”

“So what do you want to do?”

Carter already looked victorious. “We scavenge that place fer everythin’ we can move, and bring it all back here.”

“Everything?”

“Yep. I know it’ll take a long damn time, but John and Tina can oversee the operation, and we can keep chasin’ Barnes.”

Jack scratched his chin. “I’d definitely want those Foxes and dozers brought over here as soon as possible.”

“Oh hell yeah,” Carter enthusiastically promised. “We’ll prioritize all the vehicles on base. We can share ‘em with the Louisiana boys too.”

“You have any idea where we’ll store all that stuff here? We sure as hell can’t park all those vehicles on the bridges.”

“We don’t want it all here in Vicksburg proper,” Carter explained, “make too temptin’ a target for our ‘ol buddy. We’ll create motor pools up and down the river. We can use barges to move a lot of stuff, and make sure most of the assembly areas are close to major highways.”

Jack seriously considered the idea. “Well, I’m sure your plan will end up being a heck of a lot more complicated than you make it sound, but John and Tina are pretty damn competent officers.”

“Listen,” Carter conceded, “we’ll spend some weeks over there too, but when the snow finally melts off we’ll go prowlin’ around for Barnes. We can take advantage of everythin’ the depot has and continue huntin’ the bastard down. If we can’t use our ‘ol Ranger skills to sneak in an’ kill his ass, we’ll lure him somewhere close to a railhead and pull our army together right quick. How’s that fer a plan?”

“I have to admit, it’s not a bad idea.” Jack looked sideways at his closest and oldest friend. “But if you cost us the depot, I swear I’ll beat you to a pulp again.”

Carter laughed uproariously. “There ain’t never been a first time, Professor Smith!”

Once everything was loaded and ready to move, Luke called for a council with company and platoon commanders in the toasty headquarters building. He thought about how Jack handled these sorts of briefings, and he tried to emulate his father. “I’ve been going over local maps lately, and everything I’ve seen confirms our initial plan: follow the Red River until Lake Texoma. Now, near as I can tell, that’s about a hundred and fifty miles by road, and maybe double that on the water. Lieutenants Kinstler and Johnson are each going to assign two squads to me, and I’ll take the river route with those troops. Everyone else will be with the convoy. Questions?”

One of the platoon leaders raised his hand. “Captain, when will we receive the radios we’ve been hearing about?”

“You’ll have your radios before we leave here tonight, enough for every squad to have three,” Luke replied. “Platoon and company commanders will have larger units, capable of contacting the others at more than fifty miles out. This is a big deal for us; make sure everybody takes care of those radios.”

Another leader had a question. “What’s the plan after we reach the lake?”

“Based on what we’ve found so far, I expect that there will be a lot of small communities around that lake. The surface area is almost ninety-thousand acres. We’ll check in with the settlements, just like we did along the river.”

“How many more soldiers are we looking to recruit?”

Luke pursed his lips as he considered the question he’d asked himself many times. “I’d like to have a thousand elite fighters in our army. That’s just a ballpark-figure, but that number should be able to defend against the hordes we fought back east if our defenses are strong enough.”

“Are they strong enough for that, sir?”

Luke thought about all of the angle-iron, armor-piercing-ammo resistant mesh and cages, Kevlar-reinforced siding on the vehicles, and the expert welds laid down by the thousands over the past week. “I’m not gonna try to tell you that it wouldn’t be scary as hell, but yeah, I think that we could defeat five to ten times our number fighting inside our laager. The screens will hold.”

A few of the soldiers quietly whistled appreciation of their commander’s assessment of their new capabilities. Standing next to his squad leader, Terry felt compelled to share his higher-level math skills. “So, if we have a thousand fighters, that means we could beat an army of hunters fifty to a hundred thousand strong. . .”

“Those Texas public school teachers would sure be proud of you,” Zach cracked in a friendly manner.

Amid the laughter, Terry protested. “Hey, I’m from Louisiana!”

That made everyone laugh even harder. Finally, Luke raised his hand for silence. Jack always reminded his leaders of their successes and tried to build up their confidence; Luke wanted to do the same thing. “Guys, we will have to fight like the vicious killers we are, forts or no forts, but make no mistake, we will now be the most lethal force on the planet.” This statement inspired shouts and applause, so Luke waited for several seconds before he continued. “A few of the hunters have learned to respect man, or at least retreat when they realize attacking some humans is suicide. I believe, that within a few months, thousands of the bastards will run in the opposite direction any time they see us on the horizon.”

Again the commanders cheered. When they finally quieted, Luke kept going. “For almost eight months now, General Barnes has gone where he wanted to, whenever he wanted to. He’s terrorized half the continent, and threatened the other. Those days are at an end, at least when we come riding over the hill.”

After a chorus of “Damn right, and hell yeah,” died down, Luke summarized the plan. “We’re going to recruit through the Texoma region, and then we’ll leave the water behind and head for Utah on the state highways with our vehicles. Most of the rumors you’ve heard about the place are true: they still have modern civilization. Electric power, medical facilities, food storage and production, and maybe even the most organized, disciplined army on earth. The heart of Utah territory has all of those things. General Carlson has my complete trust and respect, and I’m hoping he’ll approve of our new model of fighting. He can really help us grow our forces; he’s got tens of thousands of outstanding infantry soldiers. Plus, even with all their resources, they’re gonna need our help if and when Barnes decides to show up.”