Zombie Theorem (Book 2): The Siege (12 page)

The team all started talking at once. I sat quietly and listened to all the questions and comments being thrown about. Vic stood up and quieted the group with his commanding voice, “Alright everyone, I know how you feel. Let’s let Dan finish before we start asking questions.” He looked toward me, and I could tell he had a buttload of questions himself. “Continue Dan.”

I steeled some courage and continued on with my brief, “The reason I did not put this in the ‘Best’ or ‘Good’ column is that with what was found through her interrogation it’s not all roses and butterflies. According to the report, they had to lean on her pretty hard. Something about a CIA agent they had on base handled the questioning. I don’t know all he had to do, but she is not very presentable anymore to share with the masses.” I looked down at my notes to figure out where to go next, I cleared my throat and continued, “Seems the Culling is going better then they originally figured. Pretty much all of the major cities in most countries are uninhabitable. So far, they believe that 60% of the US is infected. That is a good and bad thing. Good because it means the military and FEMA were able to get control of the problem quicker then Ridder could disrupt them. Bad because, as we know, the infected only need to bite or scratch or have fluid contact with its victim and they turn pretty darn quickly. And with the cities down, that means the hordes are now moving out to small towns and suburbs. The Culling member was identified as Leslie Bryant, Congresswoman for the First District of Nevada. She is a low member of the group and was not privy to many secrets or information, but she rolled on them and gave up everything she knows. Seems that Ridder is concentrating on the East Coast around New York and Washington D.C. The President is dead, along with most of his cabinet. That happened quickly into the second week. Many of his Security Council and Secret Service happened to be on the Culling’s payroll. She didn’t know many of the members or who was on the top pulling strings. The names she knew happen to be CEOs of the most powerful companies in the U.S. and other Congressmen and women. No senators that she knows of, but she is sure the Secretary of Defense and Majority Leader are among the top members.”

I looked over my notes again, then at each member of the team, trying to get a read on what questions they might have. “Many military bases across the U.S. have been taken over already. They believe they are following the orders of the President, but a lot of National Guard units and a good chunk of Special Ops groups have sided with the General. Richards seems to be the main thorn in Culling’s side. Those units have aligned themselves under him for now. He’s ordered them all to do what is being done here in California: creating refugee camps and keeping track of Ridder. He doesn’t want them to confront Ridder unless they have to. So that is the important info I have. So I guess I will open the floor for questions.”

The room was eerily quiet as they chewed on the information I had given them. Vic was the first to ask his question, “Is there any information in there about what we may find on our little mission?”

I looked through my notes before answering, “No, it seems that no forces to the north have been in communication. The General has no flights or forces to the north right now. We seem to be the tip of his spear, I guess you could say.”

Kuppers spoke up and asked his question next, “So, what is he doing here at this location?”

“This is his forward operating base, or FOB, as he put it. He will have two Apaches and a Chinook on station, along with fifty regular Army and a Delta team of six. I honestly don’t know who or what Delta really is,” I answered.

“Delta is a team of bad asses,” Brian offered. “Think of them as tier one kind of guys. They perform special missions, like snatch and grabs, training foreign military groups, and kill missions. Think of them like SEALs.”

I was properly awed. “Wow, so way tougher than you guys. Maybe I should go hang out with them,” I joked.

Apache let loose a loud laugh and threw a rolled up pair of socks at me. “You think those guys would accept a cry baby like you in their team? You’re lucky we accepted you.” At this everyone started laughing.

Doc then broke in and asked his question, “Did he send us any toys or supplies?”

I shrugged. “Nothing about that in the reports. Kuppers, can you answer that question?”

“He sent us two up-armored Humvees, plenty of ammo, a mounted .50 cal, and a mounted MK-19 launcher. Along with some fuel, water, and more of those yummy MREs. Also, some batteries, enough night vision gear for everyone, and some new radios.”

Doc whistled out loud, “The General must like us.”

“That he does, but I think it’s because we are on a side mission for him by being his only northern units,” Kuppers added.

Brian asked his question, “Vic, this one if for you. How many more miles, and do we have a plan, for our trip tomorrow?”

Vic looked over his notepad he carried in his breast pocket. “We have about one hundred and forty miles to go. The plan has Kuppers, Cupcake, Senshi, and Doc in the lead Humvee with the .50 Cal. You, Apache, Dan, Angel, and myself will take the Humvee with the MK-19. We leave at first light tomorrow. I am a little worried. We have to go through a couple of bigger towns. We have no idea if they are infected or have Ridder forces occupying them.”

Senshi, being the last of the group, spoke up, “That worries me. If those towns have big hordes of zombies or Ridder, we are screwed. Two Humvees will never make it through those situations. Do we have any back up? Will the General send any resources to help us out? I’d like one of those Apaches over head at all times, but that doesn’t seem to be possible.”

The team turned to look at me, like I had a direct connection to the General. I shrugged my shoulders. Kuppers cleared his throat directing the attention back to him, “So far, every time we have called for help, the General has sent help ASAP. There is nothing to assume he wouldn’t keep doing so, since we are his tip of the spear here in the north. The Humvees sitting outside along with this FOB proves that.”

I nodded my head in agreement, seeing his point. Little Angel took this time to speak up, “Will we be seeing Dan’s pretty girl soon?”

I smiled at her. “I sure hope so, sweetie. We have a long way to go, and it depends on what we run into, but with the team we have here I am sure it will be soon. A couple more days at most.” She jumped out of her sleeping bag behind Brian and ran then jumped into my lap. She hugged me, and I felt power from her. It’s hard to explain what that little girl does to me. Heck, to all of us. She can see when we are hurting and always finds a way to bring our spirits up with a touch, kind word, or her special hugs. Even with Senshi, our resident brooder, she tore his walls down and even made him smile.

“Ok, sun has gone down. Finish cleaning your weapons and pack your bags. We leave first thing tomorrow, so get some sleep. No idea when we will be this safe again,” Kuppers called out.

Doc handed my weapons back to me, and I made sure the safety was engaged and put them next to my Zomgo pack. I made some notes on my notepad and slipped it into my pack, also. I dragged my hand across my head again and made a grimace. Then I smiled when I remembered the shaving supplies the soldier gave me earlier. I took it out and showed it to Brian, whose eyes grew big in excitement. We both gathered a change of clothes and a towel and headed off to find the restroom. We found it downstairs off of the back dining room and set up flashlights on each side of the sink. I took off my clothes and, using a bucket of water Brian procured from the soldiers outside, took a whore’s bath. Then I took a small amount of water in a bowl I had grabbed from the kitchen and shaved for the first time in weeks. It felt heavenly with that blade sliding across my head, removing the growth. I stared at my beard in the mirror, trying to come to a decision.

I sighed out loud and removed my Kabar from the sheath on my belt sitting on the counter. Using the Kabar and razor, I was able to cut my beard down to a tight goatee. I’ve had that beard for what felt like half my life. I cleaned up my mess and changed into my clean clothes and felt almost human again. I turned to find Brian staring at me.

“What? Never seen a pretty man before?”

Brian guffawed at my words and bent over, trying to catch his breath. “Not one as pretty as you before,” he blew a kiss at me.

“I told you already, Brian. You are way too much man for me,” I laughed back.

“Feels like a million years since the tower, doesn’t it? Since we had to fight together with no one else to depend on.” He grew serious, “By the way, thank you for not outing me to the team.”

I stopped and stared at him, like he grew an arm out of his forehead. “Dude, why would I do something like that? You are my brother and it is no one’s damn business what or who you like. I’d gut any one of those people who said otherwise. Now, put your damn clothes on and shave that dome.”

Brian wiped away a small tear forming in his right eye. He smiled, then headed to the sink. I hung out by the door putting my socks and boots back on, giving the damn Sasquatch time to get his shit together and shave. I felt cleaner and a lot like I did before all this shit went down. A hand landed on my shoulder, almost again buckling me to my knees. I swear, Brian enjoyed doing that to me.

“You ready to join the world, Princess?” I asked.

“Yup. Clean shaven and ready for a fight.”

I looked up at him and was floored. He had trimmed his beard close to his chin and shaved his head. We cleaned up our mess and tossed the water out the back door. Once back in the office, the team applauded as we came in. Apache spoke up as we settled in, “Excuse me, gentlemen. Have you seen two degenerate looking, scuzzy guys?”

I shook my head at her comment and climbed into my sleeping bag. Brian threw a wadded up piece of paper at her and snorted.

“No one needs to be on guard tonight. The boys downstairs will take the watch. So get some needed rest, tomorrow is gonna suck ass,” Kuppers words ended up being prophetic, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

              I slept well that night; no bad dreams or nightmares. I woke early, listening to the breathing and snoring coming from the team. I sat there in the dark, feeling refreshed and good about continuing my trip to get to Julie. My heart pounded happily in my chest. I laced on my boots and quietly slipped into my armor and gear. I rolled up my bag, clipped it to the straps on my Zomgo pack, and left the room.

I made my way down the stairs and listened to the quietness. I could see the lights the soldiers had set up shining into the front dining room. I made my way to my booth and was surprised to see six large men cleaning weapons and going through gear at the semi-destroyed eating bar that Brian and I had used for cover the day before. A man who made Brian look small snapped his attention to me, “Is everything okay, sir?”

              “My name is Dan, and yeah, I just had enough sleep. Thought I’d come down here and go through my notes. Also find someone who smoked and see if I could bum one.”

              The man reached into one of his various pockets on his vest and produced a pack. He shook one loose and offered it up. I put my Zomgo pack down and took the proffered cig. He flipped a Zippo lighter and flicked it to life. I took a deep pull and welcomed the sweet smoke into my lungs, calming me for a second. “You are with those SWAT guys, right?”

              “Yes sir, and thank you for the cigarette and light.”

              They all laughed at something I said. “You don’t need to call me sir. I am far from an officer.” He offered a hand that looked like it had seen more than any action stars had. I took it, afraid he would break my hand. Instead, he shook it firmly but not like he wanted to break my hand. “Names Hase. It’s German, means bunny. Don’t ask. The guys over there from farthest to nearest are Howser, Hunter, Harry, Helmut, and Heaven.”

I looked at him slyly and wanted to laugh, but instead nodded to them and took a hit off my cigarette, trying to hide the humor growing on my face.

              They all started laughing, then Hase spoke up, “I know what you are thinking. First, we have been working as a team for ten years. We had our first mission in Germany, and were given our names by a grizzled old GSG9 sergeant. He thought it would be funny to name us all with an H.”

I looked at him questioningly, “What is the GSG9?”

Howser answered that question in his best German accent. “Zey are ze greatest anti-terrorist team in their country, ja!” I laughed. He dropped the accent. “They were formed after the failed Munich Massacre at the Olympics in 1972. That’s where a bunch of Israeli Olympians were kidnapped and killed in a failed rescue attempt by the German police. So they created the GSG9, who are mean and wild sons of bitches.” 

“Well, that makes much more sense.” I sat down at my booth and leaned back. Howser came over and sat down at the other side, handing over a cup of hot coffee. I took a timid first sip and was floored. This was my brew of coffee, or pretty darn close to it. “Where did you get this coffee?”

“Heaven over there is a coffee connoisseur, or as we call him, a snob.”

I looked over at Heaven questioning, “Heaven, I am also a coffee snob. Do you get this from a small farm in Colombia? Maybe from Moreno Granja Tintico?” That means Moreno farm, of black coffee, for those who don’t speak Spanish.

Heaven’s cold blue eyes just about fell out of his head. “No way! You drink this too?”