No Easy Hope - 01 (47 page)

“Living. Putting one foot in front of the other. Taking the next breath. Eating the next meal. Dealing with the next heartache. Fighting the next crisis. Not giving up.”

“Tell that to Sergeant Cartwright.” I said, and looked down again.

Ethan put a heavy hand on my shoulder for a moment, and then he left.

The soldiers got themselves together and swept the area around the compound for half a mile in every direction. They put down several dozen more undead. Bill set another watch, and Lt. Jonas volunteered his men to assist. Will Cartwright got progressively worse, but he refused all offers of pain medicine. Jonas kneeled down in front of him and leaned in close.

“Sergeant, I am not asking you, I’m ordering you. Let the Doctor give you something to ease the pain.”

“With all due respect sir, go fuck yourself.” Cartwright’s grimace morphed into a pained grin.

“You’ve been waiting for years to say that to an officer, haven’t you?” Jonas replied, smiling.

“Yep, sure have. And it couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” Cartwright replied, laughing.

“It won’t make you less of a man to let the doctor make you more comfortable.” Jonas pressed.

“No, it wouldn’t. But it would mean less pain medicine for the living.”

“You, sir, are still alive.” Bill interjected.

“No I’m not.” Cartwright said. “I can feel it inside me. I’m getting cold, which means that the fever is about to start. It’s like I have a million little jagged worms in my veins, crawling around under my skin. My head is getting fuzzy, I can’t think too clear.”

“You want out, say the word.” Jonas said. The sadness in his expression belied the evenness of his tone.

“Nope. Not today, no sir. You folks might want to take me outside though. I’d hate for someone to get infected on my account.”

“I hate to say it, but he’s right.” Bill said.

Jonas closed his eyes and gave a short nod. Two of Cartwright’s soldiers helped him to his feet and half carried him outside. They laid out a bedroll for him near the supply truck and laid him down on it. He shivered uncontrollably, and I could hear his teeth chattering from ten feet away.

“Anything we can do for you Sarge?” One of the soldiers asked.

“A b…b..blanket w..would be n…nice.”

The soldier climbed into the truck and came back with a couple of Army issue wool blankets. He laid them over Sergeant Cartwright and stepped back, unsure what to do next. I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see Lt. Jonas walking toward us.

“I’ll take it from here, men. First Sergeant Ashman will be taking over Sergeant Cartwright’s duties. Go report to him for your work assignments.”

The soldiers saluted and jogged back toward the warehouse. Jonas drew his pistol and sat down cross-legged next to Cartwright. He laid the pistol on the concrete beside him.

“You know what’s going to happen, right?”

Cartwright nodded.

“I’ll wait until you give the word, then.” Jonas said.

I sat down on the concrete on the other side of Cartwright. Jonas looked up at me with a furrowed brow.

“I’ve got this, Mr. Riordan.”

“I know. I’m just here to lend a hand, when the time comes.”

Between shudders, Cartwright asked Jonas to tell his mom and his fiancé how much he loved them, and that were in his thoughts at the end. Jonas swallowed a couple of times and nodded. Cartwright shivered and shook for an hour before the convulsions started. I helped Jonas roll the stricken soldier on his side to keep him from hurting himself. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Cartwright went still. It was the first time I ever heard a death rattle.

We rolled Cartwright over onto his stomach and took a few steps away. Jonas lifted his pistol and fired a single round into the back of Cartwright’s head. I helped Jonas carry him into the factory and load his body into the incinerator.

“I’ll take care of this part, Lieutenant. You should go say something to your men.” I said. Jonas nodded stiffly and walked away.

Once Cartwright’s remains were taken care of, Bill called a meeting and invited Lt. Jonas and his men to attend. We set out chairs for everyone, and Bill started things off.

“I know everyone is shaken up about what happened this morning.” He said. “I take full responsibility for what happened, and I want to apologize for my mistake.” The old man had black circles under his eyes, and he looked twenty years older than the day before.

“That’s nonsense, Mr. Cooper.” Lt. Jonas said, and stood up from his chair. He walked in front of the assembly and stood next to Bill.

“If anyone is to blame for Sergeant Cartwright’s death, it is me. I am his commanding officer, and any harm that befalls my men is my responsibility. I knew as well as anyone that not posting a watch last night was taking a major risk, and I did nothing about it. I should have known better, and a man is dead because of my poor judgment.”

No one spoke for a few seconds. As much as I hated to admit it, the Lieutenant was right. He could have ordered a couple of his men to take the watch, but he didn’t. He should have put two and two together and figured out that the undead were following his convoy, but he didn’t. Not until it was too late. As a military man, those were not the kinds of mistakes that he could afford to make, even if he was only trying to do something nice for his soldiers.

“While my actions were inexcusable, for the time being I still have a job to do.” Jonas continued. “Mr. Cooper here has been kind enough to offer his hospitality to Privates Dodd and Walbach. While they recuperate, my men and I will continue to patrol for survivors over the next two weeks. After that, we will retrieve our men and head back to Fort Bragg. I want to thank you for your kindness, and your hospitality. Sergeant Ashman, you have the floor.”

Jonas went back to his seat, and Sergeant Ashman took his place. Ashman was every bit of six foot four, and probably weighed about two hundred and forty pounds. He had a shiny bald head, and darkly tanned skin.

“As many of you may have heard already, what is left of the Federal Government has retreated to Colorado Springs and taken refuge at the NORAD facility there. We are still in communication with them, and they have asked us to deliver a message to any groups of survivors that we encounter. A large contingent of the U.S. military is working to clear out the undead immediately in the vicinity of Colorado Springs. They have established several fortified operating bases, and expect to have the infected population under control in a matter of months. Anyone who wishes to do so, may make their way to Colorado and join the military in their efforts to expand the safe zone. Once Colorado Springs is secured, we will attempt to make a full assessment of the damages caused by the Outbreak, and we will begin stepping up our efforts to find survivors.

We have a huge job ahead of us, and to be bluntly honest, we need all the help we can get. Right now, we are accepting new recruits on a sign up basis. What that means is that you take the Oath of Enlistment, and when we come back through here a couple of weeks from now, we will take you with us back to Fort Bragg to begin your training. Anyone with significant prior military or law enforcement experience may apply for a field commission upon completion of whatever training is deemed necessary for them.

For those of you who choose to serve with us, well…I’m not going to blow sunshine up your ass. It’s pretty damned bad out there. You can expect lousy food, and not enough of it on most days. You can expect to risk your life on a daily basis doing difficult, thankless work. You can expect to be sent into dangerous situations and asked to accomplish nearly impossible missions with extremely limited resources. Right now, guns and gear are in good shape, but as time goes on that will most likely change. I realize that I’m not exactly painting a rosy picture of military life, but for those of you who want to help, I want you to know exactly what you are getting yourselves into. That being said, I hope you decide to join us.

Now that my recruiting bit is over with, you folks need to know about the deteriorating condition of the nuclear power plant in Huntersville. The President ordered the plant shut down, and it was. Problem is, when they took the reactor offline, they basically sunk it in a giant water bath to keep it cool. Well, now that there is no one around to keep the water circulating in the bath, the containment unit overheated and blew its top. The explosion spread dangerous levels of radiation over a wide area. According to our Geiger meters, this region was not badly affected, but a shift in the wind could change that at any time. I can’t force you to come back with us to Fort Bragg, but if you stay here, you will be in constant danger of radiation exposure.”

Ashman paused for a few seconds to let his words sink in. People began whispering worriedly to one another. The meeting went on for another two hours, consisting mostly of Ashman answering the same questions over and over again.

Could the radiation reach us here?

Yes, it could.

Could we have been exposed already without knowing it?

No. If we were exposed, we would have noticed by now.

How many other survivors had they found?

Not many. Estimated at less than a hundred.

What were things like at Fort Bragg?

Tense, but stable.

What about overseas, did the infection spread there?

Yes.

How?

Multiple sources. Ships fleeing the U.S. overrun with infected wrecking on the shores of Europe and Africa. Planes with infected in the cabin crash landing in Asia. Hawaii had managed to prevent any outbreaks, but conditions on the Island were deteriorating. Civil unrest. Fear and panic. Food riots. Things did not sound good for the Aloha state.

Switzerland was doing okay, and so was Australia. There were outbreaks in both countries, but they had time to prepare, and kept them from getting out of hand. The rest of the world was not such a pretty story. Most of Europe was a dead zone. The UK was dealing with multiple outbreaks and losing the fight against them. Africa was a total loss, as was most of Asia. I thought about the billions of people in China, India, and Southeast Asia and shuddered. That was a lot of infected to have to fight.

The most disturbing news was from the Middle East. Apparently, Pakistan and India engaged in a limited nuclear exchange, as had Iran and Israel. No more than ten bombs in total detonated. I shook my head at that. The whole world was being consumed by the walking dead, and these people still found reasons to annihilate one another. Depressing.

When Sergeant Ashman finished, Bill called an end to the meeting. It was only mid-afternoon, but I was exhausted. Jonas ordered his men to rest up for the day, and get prepared to move out in the morning. I thought that sounded like a good idea, and made my own preparations. That night at dinner, I broke the news to everyone at the compound. No one was surprised, least of all Stacy. She didn’t talk to me very much, and avoided eye contact with me for the rest of dinner. Bill looked disappointed, but wished me well all the same. I went to sleep alone in my bedroll that night, and wondered if I was making the right decision. The next day I slept late. Ethan came by at about eight in the morning and woke me up for breakfast. I ate flatbread and Spam with canned beans while Andrea spooned baby food into Aiden’s mouth.

“I really wish you would reconsider.” Ethan said for the umpteenth time. “I’m going to sign on with the Army. You should too, you would make a great soldier.”

“Ethan, you have a family, dude. Are you sure joining the military is a good idea?” I said.

“What the hell else am I going to do? You heard that Sergeant yesterday about the nuclear plant, we can’t stay here. What else am I going to do at Fort Bragg?”

“You’re an EMT. You have medical training.”

“Exactly, I could be a field medic.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry Ethan, but I don’t have any interest in joining the Army. I think you have a lot of guts for volunteering, but it’s not for me. Andrea, are you okay with this?”

She looked up at me with her clear blue eyes and gentle smile. Damn, but she was beautiful. “Not really, but I can’t very well watch other women’s husbands do all the hard work, now can I?” She turned and went back to feeding Aiden. “The Army needs help, and Ethan has a lot to offer them.”