The Last Blade Of Grass (29 page)

Mike asks, “So how are you one of those vicious people?”

I look at Mike directly, and say, “Now there are no rules for anyone, Mike. Before the collapse, I was constrained by the law and morals, just like every other honest person was. We were at the mercy of criminals that couldn’t care less about our rights, our health and safety, and they especially couldn’t care less about obeying laws.

“How can you stop a criminal that will kill you the first chance they get, when the law can’t touch them until they act? All you could do then was arm yourself with a gun and hope that you had it with you when the bastard criminal decides to come and kill or rob you. And the worst part about it is you never really knew who the criminal was, or when, or even if, they were going to attack.”

“I don’t get it,” Mike says. “If someone was threatening you, wouldn’t you know who that is?”

I shake my head at him in the dark, and reply, “How would you know? I’m not really talking about specific threats, Mike. I’m talking about the thousands of crimes—rape, robbery, and murders that occurred every day while civilization was still intact. All the police, sheriffs, jails, and prisons were needed for a reason, right?

“There were people that were dangerous around us every day. Lots of people lived their lives oblivious to the threat, and I would often meet them in my shop after they had been robbed. If they thought to buy a gun before they were robbed or attacked, they would have saved themselves the anguish that the criminals put them through.

“Anyway, now I can be just as vicious as the bastards that we are heading to kill. I can walk in to that Wal-Mart and kill every one of those murderous pricks in any way I choose, and there will be no police officer coming to my door to find out why I did what I did. The only problem I have now is I still have a conscience and the bad guys still don’t. They won’t hesitate to hurt or kill us, and our hesitation to hurt them puts us at a double disadvantage against their numbers.

“Look Mike, I don’t mean to sound so pessimistic, and I definitely don’t want you three to think we are just riding to our deaths. That's not what I’m trying to relay. We have a great chance of getting every hostage out of the store safely, but it all depends on three critical things. First, we can’t engage in a firefight with them. If we fight them as equals, gun against gun, we will lose. There is no tactical high ground in the area, and they will have the cover of the store.”

Mike adds, “I guess they have all of the supplies in the store to use as well.”

“Exactly!” I say. “We can’t outlast them in a siege either because of those supplies. Our food and ammo will run out before theirs. They also have hostages that they can just start killing. They’ll know that is why we are there as soon as they see the two girls that escaped on our side.”

Mike, Simone, and Hannah nod their understanding, and I continue, “The second thing we need to win is to convince these guys that they are facing an overwhelming force. They need to think that they are the outnumbered group and that we are trained soldiers of the U.S. Military. Some of the things we brought, like the laser pointers, are going to be used to make each gun seem like three or four guns.”

“And the last thing we need to convince these guys of is that they will not be punished for what they’ve been doing.”

Mike and Hannah give a sour look at each other, and I stop them before they start to protest. “I said we will make them
think
they will not be punished, I never said they won’t be. I’ll give you the details with everyone else when we catch up to Arthur and Samantha. If they have already engaged these guys in a fight, then my plan is irrelevant.”

Ruben steps out of the trailer door, and I walk back to him.

He asks, “Do you folks have to leave right away? I could use some help with my wife if you’ve been through this before.”

I shake my head. “Sorry Ruben, there’s something important we have to do. Some people we know are being held by someone. Don’t worry too much about your wife, there really isn’t anything you can do to help her through the fever, other than tie her arms and legs up and put something in her mouth to keep her from biting her tongue. Basically treat her like she’s going into a severe seizure. Then let her sleep it off to regain her strength.

“Are you planning on staying here for a while?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, Ruben. If things go well, we will come back this way in a few days, and check on you.” I shake hands with him, return to my bike, and we begin the last leg of our journey to the edge of Rogue River.  

The night is quiet once again. No banging or unusual noises. Once we arrive at the edge of the town, we dismount, and huddle for a quick breakdown of our plan. “We need to make it around this place without drawing any infected out. Greg said the girls came right down Interstate 5 and there aren’t many cars on the road.” I pull out the map of Rogue River and point where we’ll head. “So this cemetery next to us puts us here. We go around this curve on Wards Creek Road, down this little stretch of River Rd, and across Classick Dr. That will take us right up the I-5 on-ramp off of Depot Street on the map here. That should have us bypass most of Rogue River and get us onto I-5 in just under a mile. Let’s walk slow, keep your ears open, and we should be fine.”

Simone asks, “Eddie, should we try to contact Arthur and Samantha on the radios before we get going? We might not be able to stop right away after we make it to the freeway if we’ve attracted any attention.”

“Actually, no, and for the very reason that we might run into problems going through here. We need to know what our situation is and when we will arrive before we contact them. That means being on the other side of Rogue River. Once we are on I-5, we only have seven miles to go, so another forty or fifty minutes with no major obstacles. Once we contact Arthur however, there is a good chance that the group at Wal-Mart will be listening since they have radios too, so we can’t say we’re not sure when we’ll arrive.”

“You think they will be listening at this hour?” Simone asks

“I would if I were them. They are a big group, and have hurt a lot of people, which should make them paranoid enough to keep track of radio traffic for incoming reprisals or challenges.

Simone shakes her head in disgust, the kids remain quiet, and we begin our walk through this ghost town. Simone is in the lead and takes us in a wide arch around a few cars with infected locked inside, and I pull up the rear. The infected that didn’t freeze should all be truly dead by now from a lack of food and water, but we’ve noticed on our trips that some of the bodies start moving and moaning when we walk close enough to cars for them to see or hear us. There must be some sort of suspended animation process with this disease to keep the body alive for so long. Hopefully this sickness doesn’t morph into a true undead scenario. It is bad enough having technical zombies without having to deal with the dead walking as well.

Chapter Thirteen

The Deception

“It’s time for us to try and contact the others,” I say as we all pull to a stop next to each other. “Mike, are you sure you want to get into this with us?”

He nods.

“Can I ask you why?”

He says plainly, “You haven’t killed me. For the last eight months almost everyone my parents and I encountered would shoot at us, try to stab us, or threaten us in some way. You did kill my father and you all have guns and knives, but I haven’t felt this safe since we had to leave our house. I know I’m only fourteen, but I understand what’s going on, and you could have killed me at any time by now if you wanted. I don’t know if I’ll stay with you, but I like feeling safe and the idea of getting back at some of the bad guys out there.”

“Okay,” I reply and nod. “I’m going to trust you with something important, then. I would prefer it said by a man, so I need your male voice.

“I want you to make the initial contact with Arthur for us. I have what you need to say written here, so just practice it a few times until it sounds like something you do all the time. Try and make it sound official. What I’m going for is that we are the military coming into town.”

I hand Mike the note I’m holding. “I don’t expect this conversation to go on long and hopefully the gang at Wal-Mart will be listening in, this is all for their benefit.”

After a couple minutes Mike says he thinks he is ready, so I turn on the radio, key it twice to send static over the line, and hand it over to Mike, who reads, “Captain Langford, Captain Langford, I have battalion commander, Colonel Keeper on the line over.”

Mike stops reading, and I give him a nod and grab the radio. “Hopefully Arthur decides to play along.” Twenty seconds go by with no response. I hand the radio back to Mike and have him send the message again.

I look at Simone, with concern, and have a million thoughts running through my head. This was always a long shot. Arthur could have fought the bandits already and could be dead or captured. If he and his group are doing okay, he could still easily say something that gives away that we aren’t the military. I wish I had gotten a solid survival group together before everything fell apart.

Finally, we hear the radio squelch, and, “Colonel Keeper, this is Captain Langford. The line is not secure. Repeat, the line is not secure. Over”

I grab the radio back from Mike and begin my hopeful deception. “Captain Langford, this is Colonel Keeper. Radio not secure acknowledged. It can’t be helped. Scrambling equipment received damage from an EMP attack. The mission has changed. Repeat, the mission has changed. I am inbound with another company. I will combine the two companies into battalion strength and take command. ETA twenty minutes. Acknowledge. Over.”

“ETA twenty minutes, and you will be taking command, acknowledged.”

“Mission change from assault to relocation. Repeat, assault is cancelled. Take no aggressive action and have all snipers stand down. Defensive rules of engagement only. Acknowledge receipt. Over.”

“Acknowledge receipt, Colonel. Take no aggressive action and have snipers stand down. Defensive ROE only. Over.”

“Captain, have Lieutenants Krenshaw, Weyland, and Blount available for full briefing upon my arrival. Let your men know, no exits or escapes from the Wal-Mart are to be tolerated, but no casualties desired. Suppressive fire to keep them from running only. Keep them in place until I arrive and can communicate with their faction leader. Colonel Keeper, out.”

“Acknowledge receipt, Colonel. Captain Langford, out.”

Simone, Hannah and Mike are all looking at me with confused expressions on their faces. “I’ll fill you guys in when we arrive at the cemetery and speak with Arthur and his group.” I shut off the small light, and we get on our bikes to continue our ride to the edge of Grants Pass.

*

“What’s this business about military designations?” Arthur asks as he and some of his group walks up to the four of us, with our bikes.

“Hello, Arthur. Hello, Samantha,” I say and nod to Conner and Jake.

“Greg obviously filled us in on what you guys are up to, and I thought there might be a way to get these guys out of Wal-Mart without a fight. I wasn’t sure if the men holding the hostages would be able to pick up our transmission, so I started my plan like that.”

“Oh they heard it, all right,” Samantha says angrily. “They had no idea we were here until you broadcast on the radio. Right after your call, they put four snipers on the roof, and had guys looking out each of the main and emergency doors.”

Arthur adds, “Luckily, we had our people already surrounding the place and watching, so each of those guys saw some of us with guns and popped their heads back inside right away. They haven’t taken any shots at us even though I know the roof guys have had some eyes on us occasionally, so for now, they are waiting to see what’s going on.”

“Samantha, I know you have the most riding on this being successful. My plan in short is to pretend we are the military and are here with an overwhelming force. We need to get everything rolling within the next thirty minutes so those guys in the store don’t decide to just start shooting. If two of you could bring everyone here that doesn’t need to watch the store’s exits, I could explain what my idea is in detail, and we can decide if everyone thinks it is a workable plan.

“I have some assorted worn fatigues we should change into. Only enough for ten of us so Arthur and Samantha should have a set. Then just pick six others besides Simone and I who would look like they belong in a uniform, and have them change into them.”

“We still don’t know what this is about,” Samantha says.

“I know, I know. I’m sorry. We only got about three hours of sleep and way more exercise on bikes than I am used too. My brain is a bit fuzzy right now. I’m thinking we can avoid fighting altogether, but I’d rather tell everyone at once, okay? Please, just give me the five or ten minutes while they gather here and get changed.”

*

Everyone is assembled around me, and I can see quite a few agitated faces among the group, probably due to my blowing their element of surprise.

“All right, it’s a crazy plan, and like anything, might or might not work. If it does, then it will prevent a gun battle with these guys. If not, then we’re really not worse off than before—even with our losing the element of surprise.

“Based on what Greg told me about their numbers, if we fight them, most of us could die or be taken prisoner, and no one inside will be freed. We can’t lay siege and wait them out, because they have a store full of supplies and hostages that they can execute if we don’t leave. So I thought a bluff would be good.” I look around quickly to see that everyone is following me, and then continue, “Arthur? Are the numbers that the girls told Greg accurate?”

“We’re not sure,” he replies. “They haven’t sent out any patrols since we have been here and have only sent a few people around the outside of the building. In total we saw about ten different faces. I don’t have a reason to think they are wrong,” he says while looking over at the two young girls in the group.

“Honestly Eddie, we couldn’t figure out a way to take these guys on with the numbers we have and their secured position.”

I nod in acknowledgment and look at Julie and Ava. “Okay, so if we go by the numbers you know are there, they have about forty men inside, maybe fifty. We have how many?”

“We have twenty-five, so with you four, we have twenty-nine,” Arthur says looking quizzically that Mike is here with us. “This better be a good bluff. What did you bring to pull it off?”

“I brought boxes of laser pointers and electrical tape. Each person should get three laser pointers and tape them to their rifles to make the bad guys think there are three shooters for every one of us. Maybe even attach some to sticks. This will, of course, just be our sniper team. I’ll be telling them that we have a force of three hundred plus men and women, and we are clearing areas and gathering survivors. Whoever has the taped lasers, make sure the snipers on the roof don’t get eyes on the taped up guns, or the whole ruse will fall apart. I will try to convince them that they need to release their prisoners or we will lay waste to the store and kill everyone inside.”

“And then what?” Samantha just stares at me with blazing eyes.

“Samantha, do you want your daughter back?” I ask. She just stares at me with pain in her eyes, and I understand why she is so angry.

“You think she is already dead, don’t you?” Samantha lowers her head and starts to cry.

I continue, “You think that after she helped those girls escape, they killed her, and you just want to go in there guns blazing and kill everyone in sight. Maybe even get yourself taken out in the process so you don’t have to deal with this pain anymore. Well, I’m not going to lie and tell you everything will be fine. You may be right. They may have killed her, and I am truly sorry if they did, but we don’t know either way. What we do know is there are still other people in there. Other innocent people that deserve being helped and can be because of your daughter. They can be rescued if we play this smart and try to convince the hostage takers that they will get away free.”

“You want to let them go free?” Samantha says nearly yelling. “We have to kill those scumbags!”

“I said we have to make them think they will get away free, Samantha. I have no intention of letting a threat to our group survive. Just try to calm down and see the bigger picture, please. Emily sent these two girls out in her place to get help for everyone. She didn’t send them so they could bring in a firing squad to get everyone killed. If I can get the hostages out of there without a shot being fired, then I damn well will do it, and you will fall in line and help us do it or stay out of the way. All of our lives are on the line in this.”

Her expression isn’t changing as fast as I want to show me that she understands, so I need to bring it home for her. “Samantha, you were right in letting Arthur run this rescue up until this point. You are too emotionally wrapped up in the outcome to be patient enough to see it through. I think it would be better if you don’t stay for the rest of my plan. Go get something to eat or just relax somewhere, but my plan might work better if you don’t get the final details.”

After Samantha leaves, I finish filling in the specifics of my plan, and everyone agrees with it or doesn’t have a better idea.

“Is there anything I should know that you guys found out since you arrived? Anything that will help or hurt what the plan is?”

Arthur speaks up, “We don’t know any more than Julie and Ava do. Their leader is called Stockton. They number in the forty to fifty range and they are listening to multiple radio frequencies. They are using channel eight to speak with each other. At least, that is the channel their shooters on the roof are using.”

“Okay,” I say acknowledging Arthur. “There are two very important things all of you need to know from our end. First of all, I’ve been bitten.” There is a look of shock on each of their faces. “I was bitten yesterday at about noon and had a fever start at six p.m. When it was over, I got up, and was fine.” Most of the people are looking at me like I’m telling some kind of joke. “I can see by your faces that you don’t believe me, but it’s true, I was bitten here on my arm under this bandage. The bite broke the skin. I was bleeding and I didn’t turn.”

“Second thing, the infected have runners now. Have you seen any?” This news got strong looks of fear staring back at me, so it is apparently new news.

“The infected person I was attacked by was running and knocked me down while I was taking out two regular walking infected. It blindsided me with a tackle at a full run. I stabbed it in the mouth with my knife, it sat up, grabbed my knife with its hands, and pulled it out.”

A few grunts and whispers of that’s not possible spread through the group.

Arthur speaks up, and says, “We actually haven’t seen any infected in the area, but then we have put most of our attention on the building. I was thinking that these guys just cleared out this area really well, but maybe that isn’t the reason for no sightings.”

“I saw a few people running in the distance earlier,” Joshua Langford says. “I assumed because they were moving fast that it was just scared survivors, but it could have been these things.”

“I know we haven’t seen or heard about anything like this so far, but trust me when I say it was an infected and not a psycho or drugger. I’m hoping it was the cold temperatures of the winter that kept the fever from burning out the motor skills of those people that turned. If it wasn’t the cold, then we could be seeing a change to the way the disease affects people, or an evolutionary step by those that were infected a while ago. Whatever the reason for them, there have been at least three, the one runner that tackled me, and two more which we encountered an hour ago on our ride down here. There will be more.”

“What the hell else are we going to have to deal with?” Ava says to Julie as an aside, but loud enough for us all to hear it.

“Unfortunately, it gets worse. From what we could figure out about how my attack happened, it seems like the runner was stalking us, and waited for one of us to get separated and distracted before it attacked. We have to make sure everyone out there is doubled up with one person always watching the rear. Don’t let anyone or anything sneak up on you out there. And don’t trust that the infected will be slow and you can just occasionally check behind you.