“We’re coming up on Coda.” Zero jerked his chin toward the windshield. “And we got company.”
Alice turned slowly to look out the windshield. In the growing darkness it was only the headlights that allowed her to see the mass of zombies gathered in front of the base. They hadn’t yet turned to face the truck and remained focused on the base for the moment, but there was no telling how long that would last. Alice swallowed hard. There were fewer zombies than back in the city, but they were all standing between them and safety.
“Can we drive through them?” she asked hopefully, but with without expecting that they would be able to.
“Doubtful.” Zero confirmed her fears with a short shake of his head. “This isn’t a tank. We can get close, but we’ll have to fight our way in I’d bet.”
“We won’t all get in that way.” Cale shook his head. “We’ll lose more people.”
“You got a better idea?” Zero snapped back at him in frustration. “Because we’re coming up on go time.”
“This is Coda base, come in please,” A voice gurgled from the CB radio on the dash. For a moment no one did anything but stare at the small radio, too surprised by what they were hearing to react. “Again. This is Coda base, do you copy?” That snapped Cale from his surprise, and he grabbed the radio.
“We copy, just a bit surprised to hear you.” He grinned, absolutely giddy to hear there were survivors on the base. “Good to hear you though.”
“And you,” came the reply. It was a warm male voice. “How many are you?”
“About fifteen at this point I think,” Cale replied, honestly not sure what the count was.
“You think?”
“Don’t know how many we’ve lost on our way here,” Cale answered flatly, aware how heartless it sounded. “We got a bunch of kids.”
“Ah hell. Alright you just keep coming the way you are. Plow through as many of those things as you can. When you stop, we’re going to stun them. You’ll have a minute and a half or so to get in here.”
“Stun them?” Cale asked.
“Stun them,” the man confirmed. Cale was dubious, but they were out of options. He asked the most important question he could think of.
“You gonna fuck us, sir?” Cale asked.
The reply was preceded by a short laugh.
“No sir, not on this fine evening. Just do what I say.” The radio went dead. Silence filled the cab as they drew closer to the base.
“You think he’s telling the truth?” Zero glanced over at Cale, who sat deep in thought, gripping the radio tightly.
“I don’t really have any idea.” Cale sighed and cradled the radio. “I don’t see that we have any option but to believe him though. Do as the man says.”
“Alice?” Zero looked at her, Alice paused, not liking that they were looking at her for a final opinion on the matter. She felt like too many lives were in her hands.
“Do as he says.” She hoped it was the right answer. “If whatever they have planned doesn’t work we’re no worse off than we expected to be.”
“We got enough gas to keep going a few hours,” Zero said. He wanted to make sure they explored all the options.
“We don’t know where we would end up.” Alice shook her head. “This is our best bet.”
“Alright.” Zero punched the gas.
The truck gave a lurch, and then an unhappy roar as it picked up speed. Alice’s heart began to flutter as she realized there would be no turning back. Gently, she shook the two boys awake. Over the roar of the engine, she explained to them what was about to happen. The boys only nodded solemnly. Both looked as if they were on the verge of giving up, and she vowed to make sure they stayed safe. She wouldn’t let them down the way she’d let down Simon.
She glanced at Cale as she assured the boys, noticing how tight his jaw was. She wanted to reach out to him, hold him and make sure he knew the other boy’s death had not been his fault. With the truck roaring forward, it wasn’t the time. She could only hope he would press on and not let the loss of the boy weigh on him too harshly. Ahead of the truck, the zombies shuffled to turn their way, some tried to move aside, but it was too late and they were too slow.
“Here we go,” Zero said quietly. They plowed into the first line of zombies.
The truck jerked and bounced as zombies went flying away from it, or fell and were driven over. Even as some of them fell, others pressed against the truck from the side, oblivious to the danger. None of them seemed to notice or feel pain whether it was their foot being run over, or their leg being crushed. None noticed if the zombie next to them was pulled under the truck.
They ran over a particularly big guy and the truck began to sputter. The man had to have weighed three hundred pounds when he was alive and the impact felt like running into another car. After a few feet, the engine began to smoke, and the truck puttered to a stop. Immediately, they were boxed in on all sides by the zombies. Their leering faces pressed to the windows, hands pounding on the windows like dying heartbeats. Only about twenty feet lay between them and the walls of Coda, but it might as well have been miles. Alice tried to turn the boys from the sight of the zombies so close up, but they kept turning back.
“Those assholes better keep their word,” Cale muttered to himself as he stared at the base. A zombie flung its fists against his window, making Cale jump. He turned to look at the sea of bodies around the truck. It wouldn’t be long before they were able to break through the glass. When that happened, the fight would be over.
Blinding floodlights illuminated the area, giving the hollow eyes and worn bodies of the zombies a gruesome look. Alice and the others instinctively covered their eyes, then blinked rapidly, letting their eyes grow accustomed to the light. Alice looked past Cale to see that the zombie that had just been banging on his window was now standing, arms raised, ready to beat down again.
“They’re not moving,” Alice said. She scrambled to reach past Cale, and threw open his door. It hit the zombie. The thing took a few faltering steps backwards before standing still again. None of the other zombies made a move for the truck.
“What the hell?” Cale muttered. He hurried out of the cab. First he helped the kids down and then Alice, while Zero followed. “Get the kids to the gate. We’ll let the others out.”
“Okay,” Alice said and took the boy’s hands. They followed with dragging feet toward the gate. It was slowly rising, creaking as it went.
Alice tried not to touch the zombies, but it was almost impossible not to brush into them and it was faster to push them aside. There were so many. In the harsh light it was hard to imagine them as ever being human. She ducked past the outstretched arms of a gruesome looking woman. Half her head was gone, probably blown off with a shotgun. Blood and brain matter spewed out and down onto her shoulder but it hadn’t been enough to stop her. One good eye stared vacantly toward the lights. Alice glanced down at the boys, who gripped her hands tightly. Both had tears washing silently down their cheeks as they clung to her.
Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the others coming. They seemed to be moving too slowly; even from where she was the gate appeared impossibly far away. In reality, she reached it quickly. The gate opened only three feet and even the boys had to duck to get under. They stood in relative safety, watching as the others hurried towards them.
“Come on,” Alice encouraged softly. Jake reached the gate, ducked under, and reached back to help the boy behind him.
One by one, the survivors ducked under the gate. Ian and Corwin stood outside the gate, encouraging the kids forward. Grace followed them, and then Quigley. Alice had to restrain herself from hugging him; she thought he had died. Zero and Cale brought up the rear, and the zombies seemed to strain towards them. As Cale ducked under a zombie’s outstretched arms, it slowly opened and closed its hands, but Cale slipped by just out of its reach. Alice bounced on her toes, heart in her throat as she watched.
“They’re waking up!” Alice finally shouted as one of the zombie’s arms fell to his side. He gave his head a slow shake and turned, sniffing the air to find where the men had gone.
Zero slipped under the gate with Cale behind him as it began to lower. Half a second after Cale was clear, it slammed into the ground. The gate locked in place with a clang. Alice hugged Cale, and then Zero in turn, crying silent, happy tears that they were both safe. She lingered a moment in Zero’s arms, enjoying the feel of their strength around her before pulling away. She blushed as she checked on the children.
Zero grinned as Alice stepped away, a warmth spreading through him as he watched her check the children for bruises or cuts. He couldn’t remember meeting anyone quite like her. Not that that was saying much, he couldn’t remember much of anything. It almost made the whole zombie business worthwhile. In the life he had been leading, he never would have had a chance with her. One of the spotlights turned, shining down on the group. Zero shaded his eyes and looked up toward the light. The group huddled close.
“Hey man, think you could turn those things off?” Zero called. There was a short chuckle and the lights went out.
Alice felt disoriented a moment, as she stood waiting for her eyes to adjust. The darkness seemed absolute, the moonlight insufficient. Behind her the zombies rustled, scraping against the gate as they tried to reach the people inside.
“Might want to take a few steps away from the gate,” the same man from the radio spoke in the darkness.
They all shuffled forward. The zombies were pressed to the bars now, arms flailing to catch hold of someone. Alice shuddered and turned toward the voice. She could barely see the man climbing down a ladder on the wall.
“Who are you?” Grace asked, her voice commanding and even.
“That’s not really important anymore is it?” the man asked. “You all will want to follow me.”
“We don’t know that,” Grace answered, but it was a lie. Where the hell else would they go?
“Well you do what you want, but food is this way.” The man continued walking.
“Everyone stay alert,” Grace ordered quietly, and they followed the man.
The base’s streets were lit sporadically with streetlights, as if most of the bulbs had burned out. Alice took a good look at one of the dark lights; the bulb had been shattered. The man led them into the closest building. It looked like the rec center at Haven.
The man took them through a dimly lit hallway before opening the door to a large cafeteria. Children’s artwork lined the walls, memories from a better time. The man they were following was black, middle-aged, and clean cut. He looked more like a banker than a soldier. When he smiled, it was honest and open.
“Welcome to Coda base, I’m Gabe Carter.”
“Where is everyone else?” Cale asked, looking around.
“I spoke with you on the radio, correct?” Gabe asked pleasantly.
“Yes.” Cale’s answer was more wary than polite, but Gabe only smiled, not looking at all flustered.
“Well my friend, everyone else is dead. That would be why I had no intention of ‘fucking’ you, as you say. I don’t fancy living the rest of my life alone if at all possible.” Gabe sat at one of the tables, and slowly everyone followed his example. Grace and Quigley took seats to either side of him. With no room left at the table, Jake stood behind Alice. She glanced up and smiled at him. Jake smiled down at her and patted her shoulder quickly while Quigley was distracted.
“What were you doing here?” Grace asked. “I don’t mean to offend you, but you don’t look like a soldier.”
“Correct.” Gabe gave a sharp nod. “I was visiting my son and his wife. They just had a baby, a beautiful little girl. They named her Raya.” Gabe sighed, looking down at the table before continuing. His voice was soft and full of a familiar agony. “When the outbreak hit, they insisted I stay on base. The baby, as you might guess, was one of the first to get sick. My son and my daughter-in-law took her to the hospital right away. I never saw them again.”