The Fall of Society (The Fall of Society Series, Book 1) (27 page)

           
“I
guess that was a bad idea,” Bear said about the undead at the back gate.

           
“We
had to test it,” Ardent said.

           
“Yeah,
and now we can fix the other one.”

           
Tom
came out the back doors of the hospital. “Did I hear a working boat engine?”

           
“You
did,” Ardent told him.

           
“Great,
when do you think you’ll get the other one working?”

           
“Maybe
by today, if not, then by tomorrow morning,” Bear said.

           
“Tom,
we should start loading the boat,” Ardent told him.

           
“Good
idea,” Tom agreed.

           
“It’s
your call,” Ardent said. “But I think the load should be sixty percent food and
water, with the rest being weapons, ammo and tools.”

           
“That
sounds about right,” said Tom.

           
“Okay
then, ask Derek, Milla, and Lauren to help you.”

           
“I’m
on it,” Tom said and walked over to John and Anthony. “That looks good, guys,”
he said regarding the mines.

           
“Yeah,
I still have a few, so we’re gonna put some at the front of the hospital, too,”
John answered. “But you wouldn’t happen to have a heavy machine gun that we can
set up out here for extra cover, would you?”

           
“Come
with me; I have something to show you,” Tom told him.

           
“Alright,”
John answered.

           
John
and Anthony went with Tom; they entered the back doors and headed down the long
corridor toward the front. As they did—John noticed the entrance to the
north wing that was just about in the center of the corridor, he stopped and
tried the doors, but they were locked.

           
“There’s
nothing in there, it’s just an empty wing,” Tom told him.

           
“Then
why are the doors locked?” John wondered.

           
“You’re
gonna have to ask Doc Ceraulo,” Tom said. “His office is in there, and he’s
just a little anal, in case you haven’t noticed.”

           
John
took a whiff at the doors.

           
“What’re
you doing?” Anthony asked.

           
“Nothing,”
John answered, and he tried to open them again but with more force. The locked
doors
rattled
hard, but they wouldn’t
open. John stepped back and was about to kick them open, but stopped to—

           
“Can
I help you?” Ceraulo said from down the corridor.

           
“Maybe,”
John said and pointed to the doors. “What’s in there?”

           
Ceraulo
walked over in a slight hurry. “What’s in there? Nothing, it’s empty,” Ceraulo
said.

           
“Then
you wouldn’t mind if I take a look,” John said and prepared to kick the doors
in.

           
“Don’t
do that!” Ceraulo said, and he stepped in front of the doors.

           
“Why
not?” John asked.

           
“The
nonessential parts of the hospital are locked up in case any of the dead manage
to get in from the outside, so they won’t be able to get into the main building
through these doors.” Ceraulo explained in annoyance. “And that won’t work if
you kick in the doors, now will it?”

           
“So
unlock it for me,” John asked.

           
“I
don’t have the key.”

           
“But
I thought your office is in there?” John said.

           
“It
is, but I don’t have the key right now.”

           
“Then
who does?” John asked.

           
“Alan
does.”

           
“Okay,
thanks, Doc.” John said.

           
The
three of them left, while Ceraulo watched them walk away.

           
Inside
trailer, John stood there as Tom pulled the cover off a large weapon. He was
quiet as he looked at it.

           
“What
do you think?” Tom asked.

           
John
didn’t say anything, just smiled.

           
“I
think he likes it,” Anthony said.

           
John
eyes gazed upon a military Mark 19 grenade launcher, which was just like a machine
gun, but it fired 40 mm explosive projectiles.

           
“That
will do just fine,” John said.

           
“At
sixty grenades a minute, you bet your ass it will do nicely,” Tom said with a
grin.

           
“How
many rounds do you have?” John inquired.

           
“Only
five hundred,” Tom said.

           
“Only
five hundred?” John said with a bigger smile. “What’s the round programming?”

           
“They’re
not programmed,” Tom answered.

           
“You’re
my new best friend, Tom,” John said.

           
“What
does that mean?” Anthony asked.

           
“The
rounds that this launcher fires can be programmed in different ways, from
air-bursting to detonating after a certain distance,” John said. “When they’re
not programmed, they explode the moment they hit something, no matter how close
it is.”

           
“Cool,”
Anthony said.

           
“Help
me carry it,” John said to the kid.

           
“Sure.”

           
A
few minutes later, in the back parking lot as John, Anthony, Derek, and Lauren
pushed a compact truck into a corner at the back wall of the lot, opposite side
of the back gate. They pushed it in tail first, and it stopped against the
wall. John engaged the parking brake.

           
“That’s
good,” John said.

           
The
grenade launcher was on the ground near the truck, along with a few cases of
grenades. All of them picked up the heavy weapon and put it on the truck; its three
tripod feet dug into the steel of the hood.

           
“Damn,
this bitch is heavy!” Derek said.

           
“That’s
because she’s a big girl,” Anthony said.

           
John
said to Lauren and Anthony, “Okay, why don’t you two stand inside the truck bed
and then me and Derek will bring it to you.”

           
They
jumped into the bed and stood behind the truck’s cab, as John and Derek lifted
the grenade launcher over the windshield. Lauren and Anthony grabbed the rear
tripod legs and pulled it on top of the truck cab. The heavy cannon scratched
and dinged the top of the dirty truck as they set it down. Now it was in place to
fire on anything that entered the back employee parking lot.

           
“That’s
it, we’re done,” John told them.

           
Derek
went back to help the others loading the boat with supplies, while Anthony and
Lauren stayed.

           
“You
up to setting some more claymores, Anthony?” John asked.

           
“Hell
yeah, where?”

           
John
pointed where they were standing. “I want two right here in front of the truck
and use a wired detonator long enough to reach the truck bed.”

           
“No
problem,” Anthony said and went to work.

           
John
began to load the cases of grenades into the truck’s bed, and Lauren helped
him. He stayed in the bed while she handed him cases, “Thanks,” he said.

           
“I’m
Lauren, by the way.”

           
“John,”
he said and extended his hand to her.

           
They
shook hands, “I know,” she said. “That was quite an entrance you made, I was
hoping that you were gonna beat the crap out of Joe. That guy’s an asshole.”

           
“Yeah,
I should’ve, he definitely needs it.”

           
“I’m
sorry about your friend, the pilot.”

           
“Thanks,
he was a good friend.”

           
“Did
you know him long?”

           
“Fifteen
years.”

           
“Are
you really gonna go with us to Oregon?”

           
“I
guess.”

           
“What
do you mean?”

           
“I
have nowhere else to go at the moment.”

           
“Well,
you’re welcome at my ranch.”

           
“Your
ranch?” he said as he put down a case of grenades.

           
“Yeah
and we have plenty of room.”

           
“Who’s
we?
”

           
“My
dad and my older brother and a few ranch hands.”

           
“There’s
no infected out there?” he asked.

           
“Not
when I left, no.”

           
“Why
did you leave?”

           
“I
had just got back from a vacation with my family when the infection hit. Me and
my fiancé were trying to get there, but we didn’t make it.”

           
“Which
one of the guys is your fiancé?”

           
“He’s
dead.”

           
“I’m
sorry.”

           
“Me,
too.”

           
“At
least you have your family back at your ranch.”

           
“I
hope so; I haven’t spoken to my dad in four months, ever since the
communication system went down.”

           
John
tried to be positive, but it wasn’t easy for him. “There’s always a chance that
they’re fine.”

           
“A
hope?” Lauren said.

           
“I
don’t like that word, sorry.”

           
“No,
it’s okay, I understand.”

           
“No,
you don’t, I’ve lost everyone to this thing.”

           
“You’re
not the only one that’s lost people.”

           
“I
know,” John said and then he paused briefly as he thought. “But you didn’t have
to kill someone that you loved.”

           
“I
did, actually,” Lauren said quietly.

           
“I’m
sorry, then you know how I feel.”

           
“Yes,
John, I do, but I still have hope that things will get better, that one day I’ll
have a family of my own. If not, then what’s the point of going on?”

           
“The
only point of going on is for survival, and right now, I only care about one
survivor,” John said and motioned to himself.

           
“That’s
sad.”

           
“That’s
the truth,” John said and walked away.

           
Anthony
showed up with the claymores. “I’m ready to work, John,” he said
enthusiastically.

           
“That’s
good, kid, get to it.” John said and kept going.

           
“What’s
with him?” Anthony asked Lauren.

           
“Nothing,
he’s a survivor.”

           
Anthony
pfft
to that. “So am I.”

           
Ardent
and Bear were still at work on the second boat motor when John approached.

           
“Ardent?”
John said.

           
“Yeah,
what’s up, John?”

           
“Can
you gather everyone out front in fifteen?”