Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse (Book 3): Salvation (42 page)

“Want to
steal some wheelchairs?” asked Lizzy.

“Whatever
for?”

“Wheelchair
crash derby.”

“That
sounds like fun, but I foresee lots of pinched hands and fingers.”

She
grunted. “Only if you lose.”

“How
about we take them to one of the steeper roads and do downhill races instead?”

“Jacob,
that would be…”

She
whirled to the side and dropped a zombie that came out a side door. It had been
moving straight for the center of our tiny party. Tara and Dale, having already
passed by never noticed it, but Mary seemed to catch sight from the corner of
her eye just before Lizzy fired.

“Hold
up,” I ordered.

“I
thought you said they were never inside buildings,” exclaimed Abigail.

“They
usually aren’t.”

“Almost
never,” agreed Lizzy. She shook her head. “Happens sometimes. Fuck. I wish the
bastards would moan like in the movies. Too fucking quiet.”

“Anymore
that are here, head our way,” I called out, loudly.

I
listened carefully but heard nothing.

“Probably
just a fluke,” remarked Lizzy. “Let’s get going.”

It was
another forty feet to the room Abigail identified, and it did hold a pair of
x-ray machines. She quickly assessed both.

“This is
the one we want.”

“Shouldn’t
be hard,” commented Lizzy. “Just looks like a funny exam bed and a… thing on a
swivel pole.”

Yvonne
stepped forward. “Much of the equipment is in the walls. We have to get all the
wiring, the control console, take the film, the lead plating, all of it.”

I tried
not to grimace. “We have to dismantle walls?”

“Not all
the way,” said Abigail, “just where the machinery is. There are plates. We
should be able to unscrew them.”

Ah. That
wasn’t nearly so bad.

*
* *

Twelve
hours later, Abigail announced she had everything we needed. Some of it was
stacked in the hallway, carefully placed along a wall so our view wouldn’t be
obstructed. Most was sitting in the x-ray room itself, resting in the corner.
My back was throbbing. I had a headache. I was tired.

“That
was fun.”

“Was
not.” Mary let out a yawn.

“Xavier,”
I asked, the little radio in one hand, “you up there?”

“This is
Ronnie. Xavier is refueled and sitting on the ground.”

“Ronnie…”
I stifled a yawn of my own. “…we are done, but I don’t want to be trying to
move anything in the dark. We’re going to camp out in the hospital, in the room
we’re currently sitting in. It’s on the bottom floor and gives us a clear run
to the front door. No windows either, so the lanterns we have can’t be seen. I
think we’re safe enough. Let’s plan for the two of you to do a flyby in the
morning to draw the dead away from Marcus’s truck. Once he arrives, we’ll drag
everything out and load it up. Have him bring a few extra people for the
lifting too.”

“I’ll
relay the information. Do you need anything?”

“Nothing.
Tell Briana and everyone else that we are fine. It just took longer to
disassemble the machine than anticipated.”

That
settled, I turned to more immediate concerns.

“I have
first watch with Mary. Twins get middle. Lizzy and Michael the last.”

“What
about us?” asked Abigail.

“We get
to sleep,” answered Yvonne, before I could. “We aren’t militia.”

“That
seems unfair,” said the other woman. “We can help.”

“Not
necessary,” I reiterated. “You’re more tired than the rest of us anyway. Get
some rest. After we get back tomorrow you have to put all this together again.”

“How
about Michael and I…”

“You get
first watch with me,” I interrupted. “I want Lizzy to have plenty of time to
harass, intimidate, and otherwise annoy Michael.”

“I’m too
tired to do that.” My friend withdrew a blanket from her pack and curled up in
the corner. “Wake me when it’s my turn. Get me up before that, and I’ll shoot
you.”

Placing
a hand on my daughter’s shoulder, I guided her into the hallway. “We’ll sit
down back to back so we can watch in both directions, and we get to talk for
the next three hours. Three hour shifts.” This was directed to the others. “It
will take Marcus time to reach us, so we might as well get what rest we can.”

“I don’t
think I have enough to say to fill three hours.” She was fidgeting.

“Please.
You always have something to say. Don’t worry. I’m not going to question you about
private stuff. I just want to be certain neither of us falls asleep, mostly
that I don’t doze off. Being the leader, I would have to punish myself, and I’m
somewhat biased. I think I might let myself off with a slap on the wrist, and
how would that look?”

“Okay.”
She smiled and settled down on the tile floor. “You know, it’s been a long time
since we had to set nighttime watches in the field.”

“Over a
year, I think.”

Lizzy
exited the door, crossed in front of me, and entered a small janitorial closet
opposite.

“Have to
use the toilet again?” I asked. We had a bucket inside. “Can’t you hold it for
more than ten minutes?”

She
threw me a half-hearted glare. It really had been a long day.

*
* *

“What do
you think?”

Briana
leaned in close. “I don’t think they are going to have that running anytime
soon. I’m thinking sometime next week at best, maybe longer.”

Asher
was in the corner trying to walk around with the heavy, lead lined vest draped
over his shoulders. Several of his friends were likewise playing with the
protective gear. Part of me acknowledges that Briana and I really should not be
dragging him everywhere we go, particularly when important business is being
dealt with. However, that is a very small part of my psyche which I am more
than capable of ignoring. Besides, he looked so cute falling over every time he
took a step.

“The
lead sheeting Hawaii sent is mostly up already,” continued Briana. “That’s
something.”

“I’m
just glad Randall was able to install it without having to totally redo the
place.”

“He had
to strengthen some retaining walls, but it was a one day job. We need to build
a bigger hospital in the town. We are starting to outgrow this one, and if we
get any more equipment like this, it’ll become too cramped to use.”

“I
consider that a good problem. I’ll talk to him about it. It’ll be priority come
spring, above the stone houses.”

She
smirked. “That’s going to do wonders for your popularity.”

“I’ll
talk to Laura and see if we can draft the school children to help. Their
parents can join in too. Maybe we can finish it super fast that way, like how
the Amish used to put up barn frames in a single day with everyone coming
together.”

“Announce…
No, I’ll announce that there will be a hospital building barbecue after the
walls and roof are up. We should make it into a community affair. Everyone will
want a new, better hospital anyway. It’s something no one is going to complain
about, not seriously.”

“Should
we tell Abigail that she’s going to be taking this all apart again in six
months?”

Briana
stared at the flustered woman and shook her head. “That can wait.”

*
* *

“All
righty, Renee,” I began, “what sort of dire news do you have for me?”

“Not
dire,” she answered, leaning up against the side of the armory – we were in
Venusville near the outer valley wall. “I am concerned though. Melody spotted another
motorcycle.”

“She get
a better look this time?”

“We have
pictures.” She held up a hand. “Not good ones. The rider was far off, and you
can barely see him. It was night time too, and the resolution goes all crappy
when we blow them up. You can’t make out anything.” Renee pulled a folder from
the satchel hanging off her shoulder. “Take a look.”

“I see
what you mean. Still, that is denim the guy is wearing.”

“Lots of
people wear denim jackets. A lot of us do, when we aren’t off fighting the
raiders that is.”

“And
never if we are on a motorcycle of our own,” I concluded. “It could be anyone,
but I’m feeling iffy. Having the x-ray machine might have used up this month’s
allotment of good luck.”

“Anyone
from far off, a place the prophet had never visited, or someone who was hiding,
might not know to never wear denim when riding. You can’t assume they would
have heard either. News and rumors are iffy outside the settlement.”

“True. Tell
Melody and the other lookouts to keep on doing what they’re doing. Tell them
and the patrols to be extra careful as well and not to shoot on sight. A few
raiders survived. There was a small number at their camp who got across the
ravine and maybe managed to avoid the fire. There were also scouts off riding
here and there. It can’t be very many, so we really shouldn’t assume the
worst.” I paused. “That does not apply if they are wearing patches.”

“Of
course,” agreed Renee. “The summary execution order is still in place.”

*
* *

As a
final note for this rather lackluster chapter – sorry about that – Christine
Lawson, the president’s charming wife, sent a care package to Briana. It arrived
with Abigail, along with a handwritten note saying there were no hard feelings
concerning the beating and near murder of Senator Alfred Mons. The man had been
impeached but managed to avoid prison, probably because he was half crippled, having
permanent damage to the inner ear which has completely screwed up his sense of balance.
There are also rumors that he’s now impotent, likely due to the burns he
suffered on his genitalia from when Mary dumped the steaming hot gravy on him.
Mons slipped out of Hawaii as soon as he was able and is currently captaining
one of his family’s cargo ships on the run between Hawaii, Japan, and China.

Regarding
the box, it contained candy for Asher, old fashioned hard candy made with real
sugar, not corn syrup – down with corn syrup, I say – and plenty of cookies.
There was a lovely dress which would undoubtedly look gorgeous on Briana after
the baby was born. She also received a set of onesies for the infant, many of
which had Hawaiian designs like pineapples, surf boards, and the like on them.
Finally, we had a collection of spices. These weren’t the big bulk items we
handed off to Steph. Instead, we were talking small bottles, each carefully
hand labeled. Everything appeared fresh, so I’m guessing Christine either has
an excellent herb garden going or she has access to one.

Interlude – Sergeant Brown’s Story

We’re
back to Sergeant Brown, one of our favorite soldiers of all time, living or
dead, real or imaginary. And why does he merit this glorious position? Well,
aside from being efficient, clever, and fun at parties, the man also keeps us
informed about foreign affairs. In this case, he provided an update of what was
happening around the world, a never ending source of fascination and
entertainment for those of us outside the diplomatic loop.

I’m not
going to share the dialogue, since that would simply muddle the details.
However, I will let you know that this occurred two weeks after we collected
our nifty x-ray machine. By the way, at that time we were still working to get
it operational. Abigail swore, repeatedly, that it was just about finished.
Mechanically, everything was in place, and the delay was related to the computers
or wiring, maybe it was the power supply. I forget. Either way, I received no
shortage of promises and guarantees that the problems would all be dealt with
shortly. I’ll also point out that those issuing said promises refused to give
me a time frame on when they would be done. Let me tell you, that instills
confidence.

As
stated earlier, the Caliphate was on the move. They had been marching toward
Mecca, journeying both overland and by sea, with the majority of the people
traveling by boat. They quickly reached the city, and a small group was sent to
nearby Medina to begin clearing it of the reanimated dead. The bulk focused on Mecca
itself. The non-combatants – we are talking women, children, the elderly,
slaves, more slaves, and quite a few of their clerics – set up a large
fortified camp a few miles away. Meanwhile the fighters, mostly able bodied men
and teenagers; a few slaves to help cart around supplies; and more slaves to
provide entertainment after the sun went down strode forth into danger.

At the
same time, other Caliphate settlements began to coalesce. Rather, they had been
in existence for quite some time, but radio traffic skyrocketed. It did not
take long for the United States, and pretty much every other surviving
government, to identify and locate these. As it turned out, the Caliphate had
more citizens than anyone expected and loosely controlled the Middle East from
the Mediterranean to Pakistan, along with portions of North Africa.

The
southeastern states, such as Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Indonesia were dead
zones. The massive populations and extreme population density meant only the
barest handful survived. It was similar to what happened in places like New
York City but on a national level. Food was the biggest problem, aside from the
shamblers of course. With the utilities down and all semblance of order
collapsing, none could be obtained. Starvation and fear led to rioting,
killings, suspected cannibalism, and eventual wide spread death.

Now, one
might think that recovering Mecca was important. If so, you are wrong. There
isn’t much there. Let me correct that statement. The city did have plenty of
modern buildings that could be restored and put to good use, but that’s about
it. Other than the Grand Mosque which surrounds the Kaaba – that’s the square
stone building Muslims face when praying – there are no other ancient structures.
The Islamic authorities in Saudi Arabia had been destroying the city’s historic
buildings, especially those associated with early Islamic history, for decades.
So, when you think about it, Mecca is important in name and tradition only.
There is nothing to see, nothing of relevance, aside from the Grand Mosque.
It’s just a modern city surrounding a single religious site. Personally, I
can’t see why the Caliphate wanted it. If was really as important as they say,
why did they go through so much trouble wrecking everything that made it so.
They intentionally turned it into nothing but a spot on a map. Then again, I’m
not Muslim, so it’s quite possible I’m missing something.

Anyway,
while Mecca was being cleansed of flesh eating, mobile corpses and various
towns, settlements, and fortifications were being strengthened and improved,
the Caliphate decided to make another try at war. You would think they had
their hands full, but apparently there were resources to spare.

Sergeant
Brown explained that a large group snuck into Jordan, crossed the river, and
made their way through the West Bank, not that it’s called the West Bank
anymore. It is now Judea and Samaria, which Israel had been calling it for
decades. Everyone uses that name now. I’m digressing big time. Sorry about
that.

Okay,
members of the Caliphate entered what had been the West Bank and began to
gather up zombies, much as the raiders had done against us. As soon as a herd
was formed, it was led straight for Jerusalem, with more following. While
Israel had fortified the holy city, they basically left the area between it and
the river alone, mostly since the zombies provided a line of defense against
any invading army. I guess it did not occur to them that the dead themselves
could be guided and used as a replacement for living, breathing soldiers. To be
fair, it hadn’t occurred to us either. I wonder if they ever saw our report on
the matter. We do forward such things to Hawaii. No idea if they share.

The
defenders immediately engaged the horde of shambling dead. With their ditches,
barricades, walls, secondary walls, and a third line even further back, they
weren’t in any great danger. They began to kill the things, one head shot at a
time. However, this created a huge distraction, and Caliphate soldiers managed
to get close enough to fire some rockets into the city, targeting the civilian
sectors. These were loaded with chemical weapons, primarily mustard and nerve
gas. Rockets aren’t really the best delivery system, and many failed outright,
either not landing where they were supposed to or blowing up in a way to
harmlessly disperse or destroy the gas. Still, close to four hundred people
died in extreme agony, with about double that wounded.

The
Israeli defense forces responded immediately. It took next to no time to
determine where the rockets had come from, but the jets and helicopters found
no one. Seeing how the area was crawling with the dead, there was no way they
went far, and it is pretty much a certainty that the bombs got them. If not,
then the napalm that followed surely did the trick.

Best
guess is that the Caliphate wanted to take the city intact and felt that by
killing the civilian population the soldiers would likewise withdraw. Not too
sure how valid this logic is. Seems to me they would only get angrier and be
more determined than ever to stay. Or perhaps the Caliphate figured the
civilians were a tempting target and decided to go ahead and kill as many Jews
as possible while doing so was relatively easy. There’s no way to know for
certain.

This
attack was followed a few hours later by the sinking of a small ship in the
Suez Canal, a very small one seeing how the canal was all messed up and partly
blocked. The vessel was flying no colors, was of unknown origin, and had
ignored numerous signs saying anyone entering without alerting Israel of their
presence would be considered an enemy. Turns out they were indeed an enemy.

Almost
immediately after this encounter, two additional ships in the Red Sea, along
with a land based facility in Saudi Arabia, launched a slew of missiles. One
failed outright and crashed in the desert. Three were intercepted. Several more
went way off target. Two reached their intended destinations and exploded. Both
were equipped with nuclear warheads. Neither was anywhere near Jerusalem,
lending credence to the idea that the Caliphate wanted to take it intact, and
none of the major settlements were struck. It is assumed they had been targeted
by the others. Nevertheless, two thousand innocents were killed outright with
another thousand expected to die in the upcoming months due to radiation
poisoning. This was on the thirteenth of September.

The next
day, Israel formally recognized the Caliphate government. This is something
they hadn’t bothered to do previously. It also made them the only nation in
existence to acknowledge these bastards as official. This completed, Israel
declared war. The question of whether or not the little Jewish state was a
nuclear power was answered shortly thereafter. That same day, the IDF reduced
Mecca, its nearby civilian camp, Medina, and every single Caliphate settlement,
regardless of size, to radioactive rubble. This included several locations that
were unknown to the government in Hawaii. It seems Israeli intelligence was
better than ours.

They
then examined the ship that was sunk in the Suez Canal. It was armed with two
short range missiles, both carrying small nuclear payloads. The divers also had
to kill a zombie. One of the Caliphate sailors had drowned. Trapped inside the
wreckage, it had been unable to get free. The ships that had fired on them from
the Red Sea were also sunk, but not salvaged, at least not at the time this
news was provided.

Best
estimates are that virtually every last citizen of the Caliphate is dead. A few
likely survived, but they’re now alone or in tiny groups. They are also in an
inhospitable area, made so by both zombies and clouds of radiation. By the way,
radiation, even levels that would kill a breather inside of a minute, have no
noticeable effect on the shamblers. Some may manage to hang on long term, but
if they are ever discovered, they will most likely be killed outright. Israel,
China, and the Russian Mongolian alliance have all outlawed Islam. It is now a
capital offense to follow that religion. Their toleration for the recent
decades of terror was at an end. The centuries of terror proceeding this likely
played a part in the decision as well.

The
United States, Japan, and the British Switzerland alliance announced that
anyone directly associated with the Caliphate government or military would be
considered a war criminal and face either imprisonment or death. They did not
outlaw Islam itself, however. The First Amendment of the Constitution granting
freedom of religion prevents this. The Europeans couldn’t stomach the thought
of another genocide. There had been too many already. As for the Japanese, their
population consisted of zero Muslims, so it wasn’t really all that relevant to
their concerns. They might come across a few in Indonesia when they begin to
occupy it, but that’s iffy, and even if they do, the numbers will likely be
miniscule. I’ll also go ahead and mention that the U.S. and Europeans have next
to no Muslims either, and while the governments are not actively discriminating
against or punishing the few living among them, they are apparently being
closely watched. There is also an extreme backlash against any attempts the
Muslims may make to convert others to their faith. The opposite is not true,
and many Christians, Jews, and Atheists are trying to get these people to
renounce Islam. It’ll be interesting to see what the end result is.

One
final thing, near sunset on the fourteenth of September Israel went ahead and formally
declared peace. So, in a single day they declared war, fought and won said war,
and declared peace. Bloody or not, justified or not, this has to be one of the
most productive days in history.