The Event: The Beginning (4 page)

              I decided to start with the main doors, just in case they were accessible. They were boarded up pretty good, and I didn’t even see any ways to look out. The guards had spread out to either side, so I looked up. It was a three story building, with a covered porch running all around the front and sides as far as I could see. I decided to climb up on the roof of the porch and see if I could get in on the second floor. I sheathed my sword and began climbing a tree that had a large enough branch that spread over the porch roof. I eased out onto the limb, and then dropped onto the roof. It creaked, but held my weight.

              I eased over to the first window. It was boarded up halfway on the inside, but I could look in. it was apparent someone was or had been staying there by the items strung about. I walked over to the next window and that room was the same way. I tried pushing up the window, but it was locked. I walked from window to window trying them all until I found one unlocked on the side of the building. I eased it up, still not seeing any signs of life other than trash. The guards on the ground had both made it all the way around and met back up without finding any way in. They noticed me on the roof and stayed with me, just in case. I waved to them and motioned I was going in. They nodded and kept watch. I knocked on the boards to tear them loose, sure if anyone was alive inside they would hear me and come investigate.

              After the last board fell, I waited to see if I had drawn any attention. With no sounds coming from inside anywhere, I laid on the porch roof with my head over the side to talk to the guards.

              "I'm going to go in. I will find the closest door and see if I can open it. I'm going to check the upstairs first, so it may be awhile. Go tell the others in the RV and come back to the back door. Wait there for me and keep watch.” I told them. They nodded and headed for the door. I eased myself into the room, which appeared to be a small storage room. There were shelves with a few things on them, such as toilet paper, printer paper, what looked like thermal paper, pens, and pencils. I turned my flashlight on and shined it around the room. When nothing moved, I turned it back off and crept to the door. I slowly opened it and peered into the hallway. The upstairs appeared to be full of storage rooms, offices, maybe a smaller conference room or two. I was at the corner of the building, so the hallway ran in front of me, and then to my right. I peered straight first, then opened the door more to look to my right. Nothing was moving, and I heard nothing.

              Sword first, I stepped into the hallway. I had some chalk with me, so I marked the door I just came out of with an 'X' so I knew it was clear and eased it shut. I knew from looking in the windows that the next five rooms were also clear, so I marked them as well. I then went back to the corner and headed down the hallway, looking for stairs. The exit sign was dead ahead of me, so it seemed like a good sign.

              I put my ear to the next door and listened for movement. Hearing nothing, I eased the door open, sword at the ready. I flung it open after just a little bit and jumped back. When nothing came out, I looked inside. Another conference room, but the table had been lifted on its side and the chairs placed so it wouldn't fall over and it blocked the windows. I closed the door and placed an 'X' on it. Three more rooms between me and the stairs were also clear. Once I marked all of them, I went to the stairwell door.

              I placed my ear to the door and didn't hear anything, so I eased the door open. I winced at the squeal of the hinges, but nothing seemed to start moving. I propped the door all the way open and headed down the stairs. I figured the top story would be all machinery and equipment rooms, so I ignored it for now. I put my ear to the door and listened for several minutes. I didn’t hear anything moving on the ground floor, so I slowly pushed the door open; ready to jump back at any minute. At least the hinges didn’t squeak on this one.

              I stepped into a hallway and immediately saw all the discarded clothes and trash lining the floor. I headed towards the back first since the guards would be at that door, and I would like the help clearing the rest of the building. I passed into a kitchen that looked like it had been used recently. Through the kitchen it opened into what appeared to be a multipurpose room that had been cleared and the windows boarded. There were a few cots and sleeping bags strung around the inner walls, kept mostly out of the walkway. There was also a fireplace in the room, and it was warm. I went over to the fireplace and the ashes were still glowing slightly. That meant someone had been here very recently. I passed through another doorway into what was apparently a lobby area which had the back door I was aiming for. All the windows and the door itself were boarded up pretty good, with several places left to look out of.

              I walked up to the door and peered out. The guards were there, looking around. I knocked to get their attention, then motioned I was going to open the door. I removed the boards from the frame and opened the door. Randy came in first, while John watched the outside; then he came in and we shut the door back. We moved through the first floor room by room, clearing each room as we went. Once we went through every room without a sign of life, I lead us back to a storage room off the kitchen where I had noticed something I wanted to take a closer look at.

              We walked in, and I pointed out a somewhat hidden trapdoor in the floor. Randy and John got in front and back of the door, while I crouched down in the middle and grabbed the handle. I mouthed 'one, two, three' then threw the door up and over so it opened all the way and fell back against the wall. We all three pointed our lights down the stairs as we saw…nothing but an empty stairwell. Since Randy was at the end with the stairs, he went first, followed by me, then John who had to come around. At the bottom of the stairs, a short hallway widened out and led away with several doors on either side. I stopped us at the bottom of the stairs. I had Randy on one side of me and John on the other. I saved us some time by calling out instead.

              "Is there anyone down here?" I yelled, sword at the ready. John and Randy each had their guns pointed. We all flinched a little when one of the doors creaked open a little. I visibly relaxed when I recognized the face peering out.

              "Leni, oh my god, you guys are alright.” I said, lowering my sword as she stepped out into the hallway. John and Randy lowered their guns as well. Her husband Brian stepped out behind her with their daughter Hailey in tow. Several other faces I didn’t know followed.

              "Let's all go upstairs.” I said, leading the way back up. I told Randy to go back to the RV and let them know we were ok, and we had found the people. I also wanted them to go back to the main group and bring back another RV or two to make sure we had space for everyone.

              We gathered in the large room with the fireplace as I made a head count. There were about 20 people here. I didn’t, however, see my dad or brother among them.

              "Leni, what happened? Where's dad?" I asked her, pulling her aside.

              "We got a hold of them, and he said they would come here on the boat. He showed up the next day with Liz, Philip, Tasha and the kids. We have been holed up here ever since. The owners, there, Kevin and Virginia, they gathered up some food, tools, a few people and supplies, and we came here. We had been here about a week or so when a band of men showed up, demanding our food, ammo, and supplies. We told them no, and they attacked us. Your dad and Philip fought them off, but they ended up killing about eight of us, and your dad was hurt pretty bad.” Leni told me, pointing her friends out to me as she spoke. It did appear that several were hurt; still nursing injuries, but at least no one was bitten by an infected person. "Philip and Gary took off after them with another ten of our group, but only three of them came back. Those guys standing over there. They told us they got the group that attacked us, and brought back our stuff, but then they got attacked on the way back by those, things. What did you call them? Infected? They were the only three that managed to make it back without being bitten. They said one of the guys was, and he turned the day before they got back here, so they had no choice but to kill him. Liz and Tasha took the kids and a boat and said they were going back to the house to get some more things, but that was five days ago, and we hadn't heard from them since."

              I listened to her tell the story quietly. It hurt, a lot, that I couldn’t get here in time to save my dad and brother. At least I knew they went out being heroes, but I wouldn’t have expected anything less. I couldn’t just leave without knowing what happened to Liz and Tasha either, but I also had the whole group to think about. I took the radio from one of my men and radioed the RV outside. I asked that my trusted inner circle, which included Jeff, Val, Michelle, Roger, Jenna, and now Leni to come here so we could talk. I had something I wanted to discuss with them.

              I went upstairs to one of the conference rooms to think, and be by myself for a few minutes. If I was going to lead this group, they didn’t need to see me break down and cry. I looked out the window for a few minutes, then sat down on the floor and let it all out. I had already lost my mom, and there were more than a few friends I could never reach, so I had to assume they were gone also. I cried for what seemed a really long time, and eventually I felt an arm go around me. I jumped, since I never heard the footsteps, but it was only Michelle. Apparently someone saw me come up here so they must have assumed I wanted to talk to my friends up here and sent them up when they got here. I saw the rest of them standing around the door, either just in or just out of it. I sort of laughed and cried at the same time in relief, wiped my eyes, and stood up. The rest of them came in and stood around me, all of them trying to comfort me somehow. I waved them off, knowing we had all lost people already, and it would probably only get worse. I led everyone to the room I knew had a table and chairs. We set them up and sat so I could discuss my idea with them.

              "Alright, here it is. I know we have all lost people; I just lost dad and Philip. I need to know what happened to Liz, Tasha, and the kids. If this is a secure enough place for the night, we can camp out here, and I can take a boat straight to dad's house as it's on the same lake here. It would take about three to four hours to get there, the same back, plus however long it takes me to search the area for them. I want your feedback on it, because as much as I want to do this, I now have this whole group to think about. I can't afford to just do what I want anymore. It also means we will be on the road a little longer." I asked of them. I really wanted to answer my question about the girls, but like I said, it wasn't about just me. They all looked at each other, I could see understanding in their eyes, and I was sure they were thinking about what they would do in this situation if it was them in this position.

              "They're my family too, so I say we stay the night here and go look for them.” Jenna said. Leni nodded and agreed as well. Michelle also agreed, and I knew she really liked Liz and Tasha, and this involved kids. I knew Jeff, Val and Roger would be my conscience on this one as they weren't related at all.

              "Man, we're behind you on this one no matter what. I'll go search with you, let's do it." Roger said. He would be an excellent backup, as he could be quiet, he was as good with a sword as I was, and I trusted him.

              "To hell with it, I'm sure most of the others could use some time out of the RV's anyways. We won't be going through our gas this way, and it’s a very good reason. I say go.” Jeff said. I knew he would probably want to go with me too, but I needed someone I trusted here to keep the group safe and not panicky.

              "I'm with everyone else on this too. Its family, I'm sure everyone will understand. They would want this opportunity themselves." Val said. I actually expected some resistance on my idea, and was prepared to 'pull rank' and say I was doing it anyways.

              "Good. Let's get the RV's here, take the two here back and reattach the trailers. Bring them all here; there is plenty of space even for the rig. I will work on preparing the boat. Once everyone is here and settled, Roger, myself, and two others will go and search dad's house. Philips’ is only about a ten minute walk from dads, so we can hit both very quickly. Neither house is large, so it will be obvious if they are there or not. It's almost dark now, so let's get moving.” I said, standing up. I started feeling like a leader then for the first time.

              The rest went to get the RV's, while Leni stayed to talk to her group and explain what was going on. I went with Randy and John to the boat docks and searched the boats. Several had gas in them, so we found a couple of gas cans and siphoned as much as we could and put them all in one boat. It was a pontoon, and had a canopy on it as well as solid walls around the rails, so if need be we could kill the engine and crouch down to avoid being seen. By the time we finished that, and had sufficient gas to get back as well, the rest of my group was back with the vehicles. We went back up to the building and the guards with me went to get ammo for their guns. Roger came out of the building with his sword and his armor on, which was handmade leather and plate metal. Cheesy looking, but it would stop a bite. We walked back into the building so I could address everyone before leaving.

              "Alright everyone, listen up. We are staying here for the night for several reasons. One, I know not all of you like being cooped up in the RV's for long periods of time. This gives us a chance to combine groups, and everyone get to know each other before being crammed into vehicles for a long road trip. And mostly, I have a need to search for the rest of my family, who was here, but left. If anyone has a problem with this, let me know now. I know you all agreed to listen to me and follow me. I just want you to know I'm not following my heart here without thinking of the group also. I have discussed this with my friends, thought about the ramifications for the group, and decided this was the right course of action. Does anyone have a problem with this decision?" I asked the group as a whole. I wanted them to know they could trust me, that I wasn’t going to just do whatever I wanted to do without thinking of the group. I waited and watched the group to see if anyone objected. Several looked around at each other, but no one raised their hands or objected, "Good. Let's have a relaxing night, and I will see you all in the morning."