Authors: Gary Chesla
“Confirmed XO. Stay alert for any sudden signs of activity here or on our perimeter. If the President is here, we should expect some sort of defensive response. Please alert on any potential signals no matter how brief. We are going in to determine status.” Helo one out.
“Assessment Sargent?” The Captain asked.
“I would have expected some sort of radar or warning system to identify approaching aircraft or vehicles, especially if the President is actually present. We didn’t pick up any perimeter defense. They are either short of resources or…” The Sargent paused.
The Captain watched for any activity near Air Force One in the distance.
“or they are unable to mount any defense outside of the buildings.”
“Or they are all dead!” The Captain added.
“Yes Sir!” The Sargent replied.
The Captain moved the helo within two hundred feet of Air Force One. He sat the helicopter down, powered down, but did not shut down the engine.
The Sargent followed the Captain into the back where the men waited.
“Sargent, please pick two of your men to remain and protect the helo.”
“Davis, Johnson. Assume positions outside. Davis, take 3 o’clock, Johnson take 9 o’clock.” The Sargent ordered.
“Gentlemen.” The Captain said. “When on duty, remember the helo is our only way back to the carrier. No one gets near this helo. I don’t care if the President of the United States comes out here and demands to get on board. Understood!”
“Yes Sir!” The men replied.
“The rest of you will come with me. We will assume anything or anyone in this compound is hostile until we can confirm otherwise. Act accordingly until I inform you to stand down. Weapons at the ready.” The Captain said then slid open the side door on the helo.
Johnson and Davis crawled under the helo and laid side by side. Davis faced 3 o’clock, Johnson laid facing the opposite direction.
The Captain led the Sargent and Petty Officer over to Air Force One.
They took positions behind the planes landing gear for cover.
When they were in position, the Captain shouted out towards the buildings. “Anyone inside the compound. This is the U.S. Navy. USS Ronald Regan. Please acknowledge.”
They waited. They could hear some kind of movement inside, but no acknowledgement of their attempted contact.
The Captain shouted again. “Anyone inside the compound. This is the U.S. Navy. Please acknowledge.”
Again, there was some noise inside, but no attempt to reply.
“Sargent. What’s your take on this compound?” The Captain asked.
“It looks like four construction trailers that were probably flown in by heavy lift choppers. They were set up quickly. It looks like they didn’t spend much time trying to level them. The two on the left are leaning to the right.” The Sargent replied.
“I agree. This place was thrown together fast. Probably a last ditch effort to relocate the heads of state. That’s probably is also why there are no signs of any kind of defense. They just didn’t have the time or the men to set things up properly.” The Captain said. “They probably don’t have much in the way of protection inside either. We’re going in to check it out, do whatever you need to do to protect yourself.”
The Captain shouted one more time. “Inside the compound. We are coming in. We mean you no harm. Please acknowledge.”
When there was no response the Captain said. “Sargent, you go to the left. Clawson, to the right. I’ll go straight at the door. When we are all at the first trailer, slide over to the door, then we will go inside.”
They all nodded.
The Captain flashed one finger, two fingers, three fingers. They all rushed towards the trailer.
After they were all at the door, the Captain grabbed the door handle. The handle turned easily. It was unlocked.
Inside they could hear movement.
The Captain made eye contact with each man, then pulled the door open as he moved to the left side of the door.
Five badly decomposed creatures came staggering out of the trailer.
The Captain was the first to fire, dropping the first creature as it came through the door way.
He hesitated for a second as the stench stung his nose.
The men then put a well placed single shot to the head of each of the infected as they came out the door at them.
When no other infected came from the trailer, the Captain took a quick look inside.
The trailer was one large room that contained a couch, three chairs and a desk. Other than the furniture, the trailer was empty.
The Captain turned to see the Sargent staring down at one of the bodies.
The Sargent looked up. “Sir! It’s the president.”
The Captain nodded. “Sargent, I hope you don’t think I am being unpatriotic, but I believe our chances of salvaging something form this hell hole our country has become has just increased five hundred percent!”
The Sargent nodded. “Yes Sir!”
“Let’s clear these other trailers then we will go inside and see if we can find any info that might tell us anything.” The Captain ordered.
They cleared the other three trailers. Ten more of the infected were inside the other trailers. The other trailers appeared to be sleeping quarters. The uniforms they found in the other trailers indicated they had found the crew for Air Force one. They didn’t find any ID to indicate who the two smaller planes belonged to, but assumed at least one or two of the dead may have been a congressman.
They returned to the first trailer where the President had been. This trailer was set up as an office area. It was probably to be the new command center for the country.
“What do you think happened here?” Clawson asked. “This area seemed far enough away from the city. We didn’t see any of the infected in the mountains on our way here?”
“My guess is one of the men they brought up had been infected and hid it from the others. Or whoever those other two small planes belonged to were infected and brought the virus here.” The Captain replied.
“It was obviously a politician.” The Sargent added.
The Captain said. “Keep looking for anything that might help us. The helo will be running low on fuel soon.”
“You want me to shut it down?” Clawson asked.
“Negative.” The Captain replied. “As far as I am concerned, the area is not secure. We may still need to make a fast exit.”
There wasn’t much to work with inside the office, but again, the men that had come here didn’t have much to work with outside of the office either.
They searched the brief cases in the main trailer. They found a few reports that were dated over a week ago. They detailed the fall of Europe, India, Australia, Africa, and the rapid spreading of the virus throughout South America.
They found a report by some bureaucrat that stated they didn’t feel the U.S. had much to fear from the virus due to overall health of the American population.
The Captain just shook his head as he looked at that report.
The computers on the desks were all open. None of them responded to any attempts to power them on. The batteries were all dead. The computers were plugged into the wall outlets. The portable generators that sat out behind the trailers had all run out of fuel days ago.
“It looks like we know more about the virus than anyone here did.” The Captain said as he tossed the last report down on the desk. “As I assumed, we are on our own.”
“Orders Captain?” The Sargent asked.
“Let’s go home. If we are going to find survivors, our time is running out. “The Captain said.
They started to leave when they heard gunfire coming from out near the helo.
They ran around Air Force One.
The two men under the helo were now lying side by side, facing in the same direction and firing at a slow moving group of the infected heading towards them.
There were only about thirty of the staggering creatures. They were still over a hundred feet away.
“Save your ammo men. Get in the helo.” The Captain ordered. “They are welcome to help themselves to whatever is left here.”
They quickly boarded the chopper and the Captain guided the craft into the air. They made a quick circle around the infected and the now dead compound, the last remains of the U.S. government, before heading back to the carrier.
They arrived back at the carrier thirty minutes later.
One Marine was standing out in the middle of the flight deck, standing at attention.
The men on the helicopter piled out as McClain and two other men ran out to secure the helo to the deck.
“What’s with the Marine out on the flight deck?” The Captain asked.
“He disobeyed orders Sir. The men were ordered to only fire at the dead from the top of stairwells three and seven. Private Harrison decided to go down the stairs. The Lieutenant is making him stand at attention for an hour as punishment.” McClain answered.
The Sargent started fuming. “What the hell is this, a God Damn daycare center?”
He marched out to where Harrison stood and pushed his face into Harrison’s face and started yelling.
When the Captain walked into the command center in the tower, he looked down at the Sargent who was still reaming out Harrison.
“XO.” The Captain said. “If I had it all to do over again, I think I would like to be a Marine Sargent.”
The XO laughed. “And you would have made a damn good one too, Sir!”
Chapter 25
Mike was up early this morning. He felt well rested after sleeping all day yesterday and all last night.
He thought he had heard some occasional groaning sounds passing by the barn last night, but he was tired and felt secure in the barn.
The barn was secure and the dead didn’t appear to have any indication that Mike and his family was inside.
They had just moved on.
Kimmy moving around the loft woke him up. She was obviously feeling better and she was curious about the loft.
Mike had laid awake for over an hour watching her running around in the hay.
He held his breath a few times, hoping there hadn’t been a hole in the loft under the hay when she jumped into piles of hay. He held his breath when she didn’t jump right back up, but stayed under the hay for a few minutes.
Finally she got bored with the loft and came back over to lay down next to him.
He looked at the scratches and bit mark on her arm. Her arm seemed to be healing quickly. Must faster than the scare that it had put into him when he first saw it.
After the second trip to take Kimmy down in front of the car to go to the bathroom, he decided to get up.
He didn’t feel she really had to go to the bathroom the second time. He thought she was just getting a thrill with being allowed to go inside the barn and was taking advantage of the situation.
But he didn’t complain, not after yesterday.
Kelly had smiled at him when he came back the second time. All the activity had finally awakened her too.
She didn’t have to say anything. Her thoughts echoed in his mind. “Your daughter would never ask me to let her go to the bathroom inside the barn!”
But Mike also knew that she was happy they weren’t going outside.
Mike just smiled back.
“I think we should get up and eat. We should probably get an early start today.”
Kelly nodded. She wasn’t excited about going back outside again, but she knew they had to if they were going to get home.
She wished they were already home. She missed her home. She missed her soft bed, even though the hay bed was nice, she also missed the feeling of being safe and secure that her home always gave her.
Most of all, she hated what they had been through the last few days. The only way they were going to get home was to get back on the road. That thought made her body tremble.
“I’ll get up and fold the blankets.” Kelly said. “Would you and Kimmy pick out something for breakfast? Try to pick out something other than candy bars today. OK?”
Mike smiled and knelt down as Kimmy climbed on his back for a piggy back ride down the ladder.
She giggled as Mike stepped out off the loft and climbed down to the barn floor.
Mike compromised on breakfast. He wanted granola bars, Kimmy wanted candy bars. They compromised and had chocolate covered granola bars and apple juice.
Their light mood began to change as the time to leave approached.
Mike packed the blankets and pillows in the back seat, then Kimmy jumped in the car and Mike secured her seat belt. Kelly also reluctantly got in her seat.
Mike ran back up into the loft and opened the doors at the back of the loft that looked out over the front of the barn and the road.
All appeared clear. Mike came back down and opened the lock on the door. It was time to stop stalling and get moving.
He pushed the doors open, pulled the car out front and secured the doors. He slipped the key back into his pocket and they were off.
“It seems like it has been a long time since we were on the road.” Kelly sighed.
Mike smiled. He just wanted to drive and avoid talking about it for a while. He didn’t feel comfortable yet.
They drove for about three miles.
Ever since Webville, the road had followed along the top of the ridge. The road had been fairly level here at the top of the mountain.
The road now began to descend down the other side of the mountain.
As they approached the first valley, Mike stopped the car.
Hundreds of the dead blocked the road in the small valley below.
Mike put the car in park as they sat in the middle of the road, half way down the hill.
Mike looked at Kelly. “Kelly, I think we need to talk.” Mike said.
The dead below had her terrified. The sound in Mike’s voice didn’t make her feel any better. In fact it worried her.
She looked at Mike. “What do you want to talk about?”
She looked worried.
“I’ve been thinking. Especially after what happened to Kimmy, it really made me think. This is crazy.” Mike paused and stared down the hill.
“What’s crazy?”” Kelly asked. “I know this is crazy, but what are you talking about?”
“This is crazy. Risking our lives, trying to get through all of these things.” Mike said. “Kelly, I don’t think it is safe to try and go home. Dave said if we can’t get through these back mountain roads, the larger interstates we are going to have to travel are going to be really bad.”
“Are you saying we can’t go home?” Kelly stared wide eyed.
“I’m not saying we can never go home.” Mike said softly. “I just don’t think we can go home now. Look at them down there. It is only going to get worse. I don’t know if we can get through this! If we can’t get through this, we aren’t going to have any chance when we get to the interstates. Remember what it was like on Route 64. We have been trying for how many days now and look at all the further we have gone. Think how many times we have almost been killed.”
Kelly nodded. “What would we do? Where would we go? When do you think we could go back home?”
Mike thought. “All of this just started. Maybe things will die down soon. I don’t know, I honestly don’t know. Maybe it will be better in another week. Maybe when winter comes these things will freeze or something. At least maybe the cold weather will at least slow them down and give us a better chance to get home.”
“Where would we stay until then? Were you thinking about staying back at the barn?” Kelly asked.
“No, not the barn. The only food we would have is what we have in the car. We would be out of food in about a week. I was thinking about Dave’s offer to stay with them.” Mike said.
“With Dave and his Mom?” Kelly repeated.
“He said they were going to be at an old family hunting cabin. He circled it on the map he gave me.” Dave pulled the map out of his pocket and pointed to the location on the map. “It’s not too far back to this spot. We could help hunt for food to get by. The food we have and rummaging around through abandoned houses would only get us so far. We would be with other people and more importantly, we would all be together. I feel it is more important for us to be together some place safe for a while, than keep putting ourselves through this.” Mike pointed to the dead at the bottom of the hill that were now all staring up the hill at them.
Kelly sat quiet.
“Thinking that I had lost you and Kimmy back at the barn hurt a lot more than the thought that I might not be able to get home for a while.” Mike said.
“What do you mean you thought you lost me back at the barn?” Kelly asked.
“I’ll tell you later. It’s a long story.” Mike replied. “I promise we will go home. I just don’t think we should keep trying to go home now. If you insist, I’ll keep going, but I think we should stay and pick a better time.”
Kelly looked at Mike. She looked scared. She wanted to go home, but she wanted Mike and Kimmy more.
She reached over and squeezed Mike’s hand. “We really don’t have a choice do we?”
“I don’t think we do.” Mike replied. “I was hoping we did when we started, but I think we have to face it. We aren’t going to be able to do this right now.”
Kelly looked back at Kimmy. Then back at Mike. “OK. But can we do it today. I really don’t want to sleep in the woods along the road somewhere tonight.”
“I’ll try.” Mike said. He didn’t want to promise something he wasn’t sure he could deliver.
Mike turned the car around in the middle of the road and began to go back the way they had just come.
Kelly sat quietly. Tears began to run down her face.
She knew Mike was right. She had been worrying that they would not be able to make it home since they started to try and go home. She also agreed that it was more important that they be together and safe than it was to go home.
She understood it all and had to agree.
But in reality, it really sucked.
They all stared at the barn as they drove past.
“There’s our barn!” Kimmy said as they drove by. “I liked the barn. That was fun.” She paused for a minute and then blurted out. “Except for that damn cat!”
Mike couldn’t help but laugh, even Kelly smiled.
Kimmy’s habit of repeating Mike’s words, the one’s he would have preferred that she didn’t repeat, had lightened the mood created by the decision they had made to stay here in Kentucky.
In a way, they felt like a weight had been lifted off their backs.
Of course they wanted to go home, but the last two days of near death experiences, the death and horror they had seen, to just travel a few miles had scared the hell out of them.
The idea that they wouldn’t have to go through another day, like the last few days, felt good.
They had agreed to go back and take Dave up on his offer to stay with him for a while.
They would do a little exploring every few days and when the conditions were better, then they would leave.
Hopefully that would be next week or the week after.
They would just treat it as if they were extending their camping trip for another week.
Maybe in another week, the dead would go somewhere else. How much longer could these creatures keep moving? Hopefully they would starve, if that was possible.
But they believed it had to get better, because how could it get any worse?
Mike drove back along Route 1.
Soon they came to the turn that took them back onto Route 182. They no longer felt the need to hurry. They didn’t have two hundred and eighty miles to cover, now they only had to go ten miles before they could rest.
The fear of the unknown things they would have to face on that long journey home could now be forgotten for a few days.
They knew what they would have to face to get back to Graham. It was bad enough, in fact it was horrible, but they knew they had faced it before and survived.
They knew they could do this.
In a way they felt relieved.
They liked that feeling.
Mike turned onto Route 182 and they drove quietly.
The ride along Route 182 had a feeling of calmness about it this time.
He stopped the car when they arrived back at Webville. The two cars that had been used as a barricade were still sitting on the road. The dead bodies were still scattered around the cars. This time, there were no moonshine drinking mountain men sitting on any off the porches. The place was quiet and eerie.
The visions in their mind about what took place here just two days ago were tucked away with the other memories they had about what all had happened.
They hoped that those and a lot of other memories would be things that they could soon forget ever happened.
Mike drove slowly around the barricade and continued down Route 182.
So far on the trip back they had only encountered six or seven of the dead along the road. The sounds of the dead as they bounced off the sides of the car sounded as horrible as ever.
They were a half mile out of Webville when Mike stopped the car. Three figures walked down the middle of the road ahead. One was a very large figure.
“We should be able to get around them pretty easily.” Mike said. “I’m just waiting to see which side of the road that big one is going to so I can go to the other side. He could put a big dent in the car, or worse.”
They moved up behind the figures slowly, waiting for the figures to notice and react.
“They aren’t walking like all the others.” Kelly said.
“I noticed that.” Mike replied. “They walk like regular people. Maybe they aren’t zombies? Hold on, I’m going to get closer.”
As he got closer the figures turned, Mike was surprised when they waved.
“It’s Billy, Liz and their Dad!” Mike called out.
Billy, his sister and his Dad walked towards the car.
Mike pushed the power button and his window went down.
“Hi Billy.” Mike said.
“Hi Mister. How come you are back this way? I thought you would be long gone by now.” Billy said.