100 Days of Death (38 page)

Our food supply could become a problem. Something took one of our food bags the other day and Alison and Marion just did an inventory on our remaining supplies. If we are conservative, we have less than two weeks of food for us all. Jim couldn’t find anything salvageable in the store and we all agreed that nobody should go back in that building as it looks like a strong wind could blow it down.

I told everyone that I will be ready to travel tomorrow. I doubt that anyone believes me but nobody argued the point. I still feel like crap, but I’m tired of staying here. We all are.

DAY 93

We are at the bunker. It is late, but as tired as I am, I can’t sleep.

Today has definitely been one for the books. Just when I think there’s nothing that can freak me out anymore, something rears its ugly head and stomps all over me.

We left the store early this morning. The sky was clear for the first time in days. We had to drive slow because we couldn’t even see the road under all the snow. Thankfully, the trip through the pass was uneventful.

We got to the turnoff five miles south of Weed and headed east along the base of a mountain. We found the small valley where the bunker was located and parked under some trees a mile away. Jim and I hiked up a ridge (not at all good for my knee) to the top and surveyed the ravine below.

If we hadn’t had the information from the codebook we would have never found the place. As it was, we were only able to detect the entrance because somebody had been there already and had left trash lying around it.

We sat on the ridge for over an hour surveying the area and looking for any signs of danger. Finally, at around 2:30 p.m., we decided the bunker was safe enough to approach. The shadows were growing long across the valley and we were both freezing and needed to get off the ridgeline. On the way back to the vehicle, something strange happened. As we made our way down a slope, trying not to slip in the slushy snow, the forest suddenly went silent.

Jim and I both froze. One second there was bird and forest sounds, the next second it was like someone flipped a switch. We crouched down and brought our weapons on line. Out of my peripheral vision I thought I saw something. I looked over into the tree line but couldn’t discern anything specific. I could smell an awful stench in the air. I stared at one spot for almost a minute and then something large flashed between the trees. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

Jim turned and we both heard something crash through the trees where I had been looking. Whatever it was moved back into the tree line and then was gone.

Jim and I looked at each other wide eyed. Inexplicably, we both started laughing. Slowly, the forest came back to life. Neither of us spoke about it as we worked our way back to the others.

While we were gone, Albert had removed the chains from our vehicles. The ground was still snowy in places but for the most part, the road was just mud and gravel. We drove into the little ravine and located the entrance to the bunker. Although it was well hidden from a distance, once we approached it, it was easy enough to recognize.

The entrance to this place looks like the front of a concrete two-car garage painted in earth tones. The structure blends right into the rock face of the ravine. There is a warning sign (that somebody shot full of holes) stating that this was private property. We found the code keypad

in what looked like a breaker switch box on a post. The keys didn’t look like they had any power going to them but we punched in the code anyway.

After a few seconds, we heard a loud clicking sound followed by a dull thump. The bottom of the entrance door tilted upward a few feet and then stopped. Albert walked up to the entrance and lifted the bottom up. It opened just like a regular garage door, only this door looks like it was made of three-inch thick steel. It swung open on counter balance cables and we peered into the darkness.

There is a ramp leading down into the structure. We spent almost an hour exploring the cavernous icebox with flashlights before Albert and Marion found the generator. Once the power was up and the lights were on, the place lost its mystery. This bunker looks like an underground parking lot. Someone looted this place long before we got here. At one time this place probably housed numerous vehicles and tons of supplies.

There are five rooms off the main garage area. Three of them look like storage rooms, one looks like it was some kind of commissary, and the last is a barracks for sleeping. The bunker looks like it’s been abandoned for a while. With the power on, a heating unit kicked in and warmed the place up pretty quick.

In one of the storage rooms we found around two hundred stray rounds of 5.56 caliber (.223) ammunition lying between some pallets and seventy two MRE’s (meals ready to eat) that had been discarded or left in cardboard boxes. They are mostly Spaghetti and Ham and Eggs (I’m guessing they were someone’s least favorite meal selections).

The only fuel we found was diesel (pretty useless to us, but it will run the generator for a year). We did find three boxes containing boots and field jackets (all various sizes) and three fifty- gallon drums containing potable water. This place also has hot and cold running water and toilets.

Dusk fell at around 5 p.m. Although it was unlikely that anyone would return, we decided we would pull the vehicles inside and load them up with what we could and then leave. We felt like we would be safer parked somewhere in the forest rather than being trapped in here if someone came knocking.

Albert and I walked up the ramp. Outside, we could hear the early evening sounds coming to life. Suddenly, everything went silent again. Albert didn’t even notice it until I motioned him to stop. I don’t even know how to properly describe what happened next.

A loud…roar, I guess is the best way to explain it, resounded off the walls of our little canyon. The blood in my veins turned to ice. I heard something whistle through the air and slam into the side of the Land Rover.

It was a boulder the size of a soccer ball. The metal door of the vehicle crunched under the impact of the rock missile, leaving a huge dent. I saw movement in the trees up on the ridgeline and heard grunting. Another projectile flew out of the trees and landed only a few feet away from me. This was a log the size of my leg. It bounced and splintered when it hit the ground.

From all along the ridge above, I could hear movement from several sources. To my left, something let out a howl. Something answered from directly above and behind me. Boulders and debris began raining down on us.

Albert stood frozen in his tracks. I took aim up the hill to where I detected something moving and let loose with a dozen rounds from my carbine. Although the weapon’s silencer kept my gunfire from sounding impressive, the dozen rounds of .223 ripping through the tree line made an impact.

Something let out a howl of surprise from where I fired and stomped loudly further back into the forest. I turned and fired a half-dozen more rounds up onto the cliff face above me. I drove back my panic and forced myself to slow my breath. My ribs started to ache. I knew I wouldn’t be able to run on my screwed up knee, but I wasn’t interested in reenacting Custer’s last stand.

I called Albert’s name several times before he looked at me. I told him to start backing toward the bunker’s entrance. He started to move but froze when one of those things roared again. I think we both froze. In the growing darkness, I saw something, someone, come rushing down the hill toward us. I tried to take aim at it but it was moving fast and I was shaking so bad that the red dot on my reflex sight was dancing all over the place.

I fired three rounds and then my weapon jammed. I let it fall on its sling and drew my sidearm. I fired two rounds. The report from the weapon was deafening. Whatever was coming at us screeched and landed in the brush with a loud crash. It thrashed around for a few seconds and then was still.

I backed toward the entrance ramp, my legs shaking more and more with each step. Suddenly, I saw somebody standing next to me. It was Jim. He chambered a round into his Marlin .45-70 lever action, took aim at something, and touched the trigger. It sounded like a cannon going off. Everything went quiet.

Above us, I heard what sounded like somebody knocking two large sticks together. Something answered across the ravine. Jim and I backed down the ramp. Albert hit a button on the wall panel next to the entrance and the door slowly closed, finally stopping with a punctuated thump.

Something began pounding on the door from outside. We listened to the muted howls and commotion for several minutes. Whatever was out there wasn’t getting in. When I looked around, Alison and Marion were standing next to me, staring wide-eyed at the entrance. Chloe leaned up against my leg with her hackles up, growling.

It was Marion who finally asked what those things were. Nobody wanted to speculate, so we all stood in silence.

“We need our damn vehicles. Those things are going to trash them.” I said, trying to keep my voice from quivering.

“We need our damn lives.” Jim replied. “We ain’t going out there for no damn trucks. Not now.” he finished.

All of our possessions are in those two SUVs. But I got his point. We all went into the commissary where Cody and Grace were. Grace was crying. Cody put on a brave front and tried to comfort her. I closed the door to the area so we wouldn’t have to listen to the pounding on the bay door.

We all sat around a table in silence. I don’t know about anyone else, but I was feeling trapped. I hadn’t had a good feeling about this place to begin with, but greed had gotten the better of me. I had thought we would find “riches beyond imagination” here. A few rounds of ammunition and some crappy military rations hardly qualified.

“You know what those things are out there, don’t you?” Albert said, breaking the silence. Nobody looked at him.

“Those are Bigfoot…” Albert began. “Don’t start.” I interrupted.

“Oh, yeah, because it’s so much easier to believe that zombies are walking around all over the place.” Albert replied sarcastically.

Albert glared at me defiantly.

Finally, Marion broke the tension and said, “Maybe we should focus less on what they are and more on how we’re going to get away from them.”

“I heard that.” Jim agreed.

We were all pretty freaked out. Although the undead are pretty scary, they are at least familiar to us by now. We have no idea what is out there trying to kill us now, and personally I don’t think I want to find out. I do know this; if Albert mentions Bigfoot one more time, I’m going to punch him.

We tried to eat, just to do something normal, but the combination of not knowing our fate and flavorless MREs put a damper on our meal. Albert and I searched for some kind of escape hatch or back door. If there is one, we couldn’t find it.

Alison discovered the shower stalls in the barracks area. We all took turns taking hot showers. When it was my turn, Alison and I soaked under the hot water and held each other, trying to tune out the horror around us. It’s amazing how little comforts can make a difference.

At 12 a.m. when I went to relieve Jim from his watch shift, we went to the bay door to listen for signs of our attackers. We both put our ears to the thick door and stood in silence. For a minute, we didn’t hear anything.

Then, out of nowhere, something heavy slammed into the steel barrier just on the other side from where we were. We both jumped and quietly backed away, not wanting to provoke whatever was out there.

When we got back to the commissary, Jim looked at me and said, “You know, I didn’t get a clear look at those things, but their behavior does kind of match Albert’s description. Why are you so against him thinking that they’re…well, you know…”

I glared at Jim and then looked down and studied a package of MREs with more interest than I actually felt.

“Ah, it’s just not a good idea to encourage Albert.” I replied.

Jim grinned at me and then nodded. After he left, I thought about why I shut Albert down so hard. My conclusion is that this world has enough monsters in it already. I guess my mind’s just not ready to accept that there’s any more.

As I walked the inside perimeter, I came across Marion in one of the offices. She was sitting in front of a computer screen, studying it intently. I walked in and looked around. There was medical equipment and several microscopes placed about on several long tables.

A chalkboard on one wall had equations and formulas scribbled on it. Marion finally looked up at me, a grave look on her features.

“I think I know what attacked us outside.” she said. “Oh?” was all I could think of in response.

“They were experimenting with a vaccination for the plague. Every soldier here was given an inoculation.” she continued.

I looked out toward the bay door and thought about what lay beyond it.

“You think those things out there are the soldiers that were stationed here?” I asked.

“I think we’re looking at the next mutation of the virus. They seem even more aggressive and they actually seemed to be working together. I don’t know why they thought taking a strain of the virus would help them, or maybe they had no idea what they were being told to do, but I’m looking at documents from the Pentagon ordering all military personnel to be injected with this.” Marion stated. She held up a sealed metal canister with a biohazard symbol on it.

I instinctively took a step back. Marion smiled a little then set the canister down. “It’s safe.” she said.

Her expression turned grim again as she looked back at the computer screen. She ejected a USB thumb drive and looked back at me.

“I want you to hold onto this. It’s everything the military has on this infection. I don’t know what I can do about it, but it’s important.” Marion said, as she handed me the drive.

I hesitated. “Why me?”

“Out of all of us here, you’re most likely to survive and carry on. Somebody may need this someday. You should keep it with you.” Marion answered.

I thought about the codebook and all of the other things I was responsible for. Great, I thought; More responsibility. I reluctantly took the drive and stuffed it in my pocket.