Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3): Salvation (41 page)

Chapter XIV

“What’s
going on?”

It was a
short walk to the radio room, located on the top floor of one of the citadel’s corner
towers. We planned on relocating the bulk of the equipment to a specially
constructed building in Baltis at some point, relegating this to a backup role.
It really wasn’t the best spot. You couldn’t fit all that many inside, and the
place tended to be quite chilly in the winter.

“A plane
just landed in Wyoming. The Yellowstone folk are heading there now.”

“I
didn’t know anything was due from Hawaii. It is from Hawaii, right?”

Harlan
gave me a nod. “It was apparently unscheduled.”

“Damn.
They really need to stop doing that. Wait and see, one day they’ll be coming in
and all of us will be off fighting or doing something. Then the dead will show
up, swarm the airstrip, and eat the pilots.”

“They do
have soldiers with them. At least, that’s what they say whenever I get a call.”

“A
handful, yeah, but I don’t think they’re scouting the area in advance with
satellites. Well, they might be trying to, but there’s lots they want to see
all over the planet. I don’t think they can divert to us each time a cargo
flight arrives. Bad practice. I’ll tell Major Briggs to knock some sense into
them.”

The
major and the Yellowstone settlement in general were more closely linked with
the civilian government in Hawaii. They sometimes provided us with information
directly, but most was relayed through Briggs. I was fairly positive the man
was filtering out the crap – hurray – so Briana and I only received what was
relevant or important.

“There
is a person who is supposed to move here,” added Harlan. “They want you to pick
her up.”

My brow
furrowed. “A newbie? They give any details?”

“An
x-ray tech, for the hospital. Yellowstone is getting one as well.”

“Then I
guess I’ll head on over. Where did they land? Oh, tell the major that I’m on my
way too.”

*
* *

“We are
going out first thing in the morning,” I announced. “This should be a fast run,
and we are taking the Pave Hawk. Marcus will follow up later with a truck and
Harvey’s squad for actual transport.”

Abigail,
our new x-ray technician, was a treat. Not only did she know how to operate
such equipment, but she could supposedly also take it apart, put it back
together, and perform minor repairs all by herself. Unfortunately, Hawaii had
been unable to ship us an actual x-ray taker thingee, having already sent their
extras to the other American held islands and outposts. Even so, we are
definitely in a position to find one and cart it back to the Black Hills. No
shortage of hospitals in our general area.

“Who’s
on the team?” asked Briana.

“Xavier
will fly us out, with Ronnie scouting around in one of the smaller choppers.
The team that searches the hospital will be myself…”

“Daddy!”
interrupted Asher. He was sitting on the floor playing with some wood blocks.

“Yes, it
will be your daddy who is in charge,” I confirmed. “Mary is going to come along
– can’t trust her if left unsupervised.”

“Not
true!” she protested.

“Hush,”
ordered Briana. “Jacob, keep going, and Mary, don’t you dare get started with
the editorials.”

“Michael
gets to come too,” I continued.

Mary
looked immensely pleased at this announcement. She had been bugging me for
hours to include him.

“Tara
and Dale of course. Lizzy can come, I suppose, to keep an eye on the children.”

“I am
not…”

“Mary!”
Briana was tired and irritable and in no mood for levity. “Be quiet or you will
be staying here.”

The
teenager knew better than to argue, and everyone knew I wasn’t going to go
against my wife.

“Yvonne…”
The skinny, dour woman was an excellent nurse who tended to remain level headed
in the worst crisis. “…and Abigail too, since they know what we are looking
for. So, a team of eight: me, Lizzy, Mary, Michael, the twins, Yvonne, and
Abigail.”

“Is that
enough?” asked Briana.

“Should
be,” answered Lizzy. “We just have to find the thing and then sit put until
Marcus comes to collect it. Not too different from the normal scavenging trips
we’ve been on, and Rapid City is mostly clear.”

“You
never checked out that hospital in detail,” pointed out Briana, “be careful.”

This was
true. We hit the pharmacy and storerooms on the bottom floor for medicine, bandages,
splints, bed pans, that sort of thing. The structure itself was largely left
alone. More importantly, we hadn’t been back in nearly two years. It appeared
to be intact, and the machinery inside would hopefully still be operational. If
not, we would have to try for other facilities. There was bound to be an x-ray
machine somewhere nearby that Abigail could get running again. And if we
couldn’t find the new model she wanted, we could always downgrade to one of the
older varieties. There was one of those sitting in Custer already.

“Lizzy’s
right,” I said. “This should be a simple, straightforward run. Renee will be on
standby if we need more people, and you have both Cobras and all the other
planes and helicopters too. I don’t see anything bad happening.”

She
snorted. “You just jinxed yourself.”

Mary
rounded on me. “Bad, Daddy. Bad. Bad.”

“No
good,” said Asher.

“Yes,
good,” she corrected, dropping to her knees beside him and quickly making a
stack of blocks that the three year old gleefully toppled. “And if you’re good,
maybe I’ll bring you a present.”

His eyes
lit up. “Presents!”

“That’s
for later, young man,” said Briana. “Right now it’s past your bedtime. Mary,
put him to bed.”

“Sure
thing.”

“Nooooo!”

I miss
the days when Asher simply curled up, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
Nowadays every night was a struggle. Based on my own childhood, I did not
expect that to change anytime soon.

*
* *

The
flight out was standard. We gathered on the outskirts of Baltis with our gear.
Xavier made certain everything was ready, grabbed a co-pilot and gunner, and
made a short hop from the makeshift hanger to our location. It might be
laziness on my part, but I didn’t feel like carting all the weapons and supplies
to where the choppers were normally kept. We then loaded up and took off.

I did
notice Tim Myers watching as we departed, and his gaze was most likely on Mary,
or possibly Michael who was walking beside her. It was hard to tell. He was way
in the back with his mother, one of the hundred or so who had stopped what they
were doing to see us off. Nothing on his face seemed out of the ordinary. I
think he was about done with all his former infatuation nonsense, not that this
meant I wasn’t going to continue keeping an eye on the boy. I’m slightly
obsessive compulsive to begin with and more so where my family is concerned.

“Since
Yvonne and Abigail say the x-ray stuff is going to be on the ground floor, probably…”
I nodded at the two who were seated in the rear of the chopper. “…we are going
to land in the street, near the front entrance. Ronnie will fly in about five
minutes ahead of us, hover a bit, and then slowly fly off so the shamblers
follow him. We get inside fast and shoot any we encounter with silenced
pistols. I don’t want a bunch to hear what we are doing and trail in after.
Once it’s clear, we can secure the doors and begin our search. Night vision
goggles only. I don’t want to be using flashlights in the rooms and hallways,
not until we find what we are looking for.”

The
twins double checked their weapons. For this trip, everything they were
carrying was suppressed. While there were times when that was necessary, not to
mention pleasant – the crack of bullets did hurt the ears, after all – the
extra length on gun barrels, along with the additional weight, could prove
awkward. I was equipped with only a single silenced pistol, the same as most of
the others, with a standard rifle slung across my back in case additional
firepower was required.

“Who
wants to place wagers on how many zombies I kill?” asked Mary.

“I say the
twins kill eight point seven times more than you.” I gestured at Tara and Dale.

“More
than that,” said Lizzy. “I’ll give even odds that they beat her number
tenfold.”

“They
are the best shots we have,” agreed Michael.

Neither
of the siblings’ expressions changed, but Mary’s face darkened.

“Are you
implying that I’m not a good shot?”

“No,” he
corrected, speaking so quickly that he almost cut her off. “You are totally
awesome.” Michael gauged her reaction before continuing. “Honest, you are
better than me, better than Lizzy. Better than your dad.”

“She
isn’t,” said Tara.

“No,”
agreed her brother.

“Jacob
is better than Mary,” said Lizzy. “So am I for that matter.” She glared at
Michael. “Don’t be getting creative with the facts just because you’re trying
to get her in the sack.”

“Lizzy!”

I
couldn’t tell who was blushing more, Mary or Michael. The lad was definitely
ahead when it came to squirming uncomfortably.

“Let’s
be civil,” I said, “and Mary is well above average, even by our standards.”

While we
allowed pretty much anyone to enlist in the militia, a person had to pass our
marksmanship tests if he or she wanted to graduate from training and become a
full member. These were strict, far above what the United States Army or Marine
Corps accepted. We were sticklers for accuracy, especially at long range. My
daughter generally scored in the top third. Lizzy and I were consistently in
the top ten. The twins were number one, being so evenly matched that it was a
tossup as to which might get that extra point or two on any given day. That
being the case, we just lumped them together as if they were a single person, not
that either cared.

“She
could be better, however,” I finished. “Mary, you need to spend less time
dancing and more time practicing. An extra hour on the range daily until it
starts snowing.”

“An
hour!”

“Darling…”
I made an attempt to appear stern. “…sounding indignant will not help your
cause.”

“Fucking
straight,” agreed Lizzy. “An extra hour for you too, Michael, and your times
will be scheduled separately.”

“Dad,
tell Lizzy she can’t do that.”

“I’m
fairly certain that Lizzy is a captain in the militia, meaning she is allowed
to do that, but I’ll tell you what. If you can get within, say, twenty points
of what either Tara or Dale do that same day, then you can stop the extra
practice.”

“That’s
not possible!”

Abigail
leaned over to ask Yvonne something. The two began to speak quietly, likely
about how spectacular the Zablocki twins truly were.

“It’s
possible.”

“No,
Dad, it is not.” Mary glared at me, then at Lizzy, then at Michael. “You
started this. It’s your fault.”

Poor
kid.

*
* *

We
landed a few minutes past nine. Tara and Dale, true to form, headed directly
for the front entrance while Lizzy and I dropped the four shamblers approaching
us. Once Dale gave the all clear, we hustled inside, keeping our two medical
experts in the center of the group.

“Tara, I
saw one more coming down the street. It was close enough to see us. Kill it
real quick, will you? I don’t want the thing following us inside.”

Her
brother held the door ajar while she leveled her rifle and nailed the monster
in the head. This was followed by two more shots.

“We
clear?” asked Lizzy.

“Yes,” confirmed
Tara.

Guiding
the others away from the windows, I moved behind the receptionist desk and
through the double doors into the hospital proper.

“Xavier,
Ronnie,” I said into my radio, “we’re good. Let us know if anything nasty
approaches.”

After
receiving their affirmatives, I clipped the device back on my belt.

“Any
idea where we look?”

Abigail
pointed. “Likely down there. I can see a radiation warning sign by those
doors.”

“Guys.”
The twins regarded me for an instant before moving forward. “I’ll take the rear
with Lizzy. Michael, Mary, either side of Abigail and Yvonne.”

We were
alone, but I was still whispering. The hall was cloaked in shadows, a glimmer of
light coming in behind us and a bit more on the opposite end from a single
window. Other than the soft clomp of our footsteps, it was deathly silent. We
are talking super creepy.