Zombie Theorem (Book 2): The Siege (26 page)

              “Yes, please.” Angel let go of my hand and wiggled out of her sleeping bag. She then bent over and laid a kiss on my forehead, and whispered so only I could hear her, “I love you, Dan.”

              “I love you too, kiddo,” I whispered back.

              She then tiptoed over to Kuppers. I let go of Julie’s hand and stretched my arms over my head, feeling my back creak and moan, but no sharp pains. That was a good thing. No, that was an ‘oh my God thank you’ moment. I rolled over in my bag and watched as my night vision took over and I could make out Julie’s features. I lifted myself a little bit and moved myself closer to her. I pressed my lips against hers. She smiled and then kissed me back. She kept her eyes closed. Her arms broke free from her bag, and she wrapped them around my neck and held me closer to her. We enjoyed our morning kisses even though neither of us had the best morning breath at the time.

              She released me and opened her eyes finally. I sat up and worked my way out of my bag. I went slowly, not wanting to anger the back gods any further. I stood up and went through some stretches, making sure I would be able to move freely today. Julie stood up and went through a quick Yoga like routine. “Show off,” I said when she leaned over and laid her hands flat on the floor. I patted her shoulders and left to find my way outside, so I could relieve myself. Suddenly, the lights of the cargo bay flashed on, almost blinding me. Then Angel’s voice yelled out from the front of the aircraft, “Ok, you sleepy heads! Time to get up!” Kuppers then bent down and whispered something into her ear. “Or else, you maggots!” She blushed a deep red when she yelled that.

              The bay was filled with laughter and groans as some woke easily and started moving, while others rose like the undead themselves. I made it to the side hatch and was undoing it so I could open it when someone on the other side yanked it open. I didn’t hesitate. I pulled my 1911 from my leg holster and stuck into the face of the person who yanked the door from me. Peter shoved his hands in the air and stared at me with wide eyes. I sighed and relaxed. I holstered the gun and shouldered my way past him. I looked around to make sure the area was clear, unzipped, and took care of my pressing need. 

              I zipped up and looked out across the runway. The morning was cool, and a low mist hung near the ground. I waited for a horde of zombies to appear and start running out of the mist at us. Nothing happened though, so I turned and moseyed back to the plane. The ramp started winding down, and the aircrews came down to look over their aircraft.

I looked around and found Brian, who looked much better then yesterday. “Brian, think we can get the drone back in the air soon? I want to check out our route out of the city.”

              “No problem, boss. Let me put some quick food into this body and some coffee down my gullet. Then I will get that bird up.” I patted him on the shoulder, and he pulled me into a half hug.

              I finally got away from the Sasquatch and found Doc. “Need some help making breakfast?”

              He turned and handed me a little can and a teakettle. “Go make coffee.”

              “And how do I do that without a fire? Oh, and by the way, where the hell did you get a teakettle?”

              “I took the kettle from the house we stayed at. That little can in your hand is a Sterno can. Just pop the top, light it, set up this little metal stand over it, fill the kettle with water, and put it over the can. I don’t think you can screw that up, Dan.”

I nodded at all the right points then turned and walked away making my way for the ramp. I went down the ramp, found a clear space, and set up the Sterno can and wire stand. It’s then that it dawned on me. I need a lighter and some water. I trotted over to the Humvees and found our stash of water bottles. I pulled the case out and carried it back to my little set up. Now I needed a lighter. I looked around and saw the female pilots standing by their planes. I got their attention, and they made their way over. “Would one of you nice ladies have a lighter?”

The shorter one, her helmet said Petunia on it, took a yellow lighter out of one of the many pockets on her flight suit. She handed it over. I bent down, lit the Sterno can, and went to hand it back to her. “Keep it. Who knows when you’ll need it again. I didn’t get to meet you last night.” She offered her right hand. I took it and we shook, her grip was firm. “My name is Lieutenant Stacie Pike. This is my wingman, Lieutenant Mary Roark.”

I looked at Stacie’s helmet and bit my lip. She read my look and let out a little laugh, “Oh, Petunia is my call sign.” She pointed over to Mary. “Her call sign is Babs.”  

They returned to the aircraft and set upon their planning. I finished boiling the water and used the little packets of instant coffee to make six terrible tasting cups. I then added more water to the kettle and set it up to boil. I took two of the hot cups of coffee to Petunia and Babs. They just about jumped up and down like little girls when they took their first sip of the terrible tasting, yet life-giving liquid. I knew they were going to be heading back up into the sky to start their protection for the C-130 and, hopefully, our trip to my dad’s ranch.

As the coffee finished, I handed it out to anyone looking like they needed it. Julie and I shared a cup of coffee and also a cup of oatmeal we found in her Zomgo bag. It was bland since all we had was a small packet of sugar from an open MRE pack. An hour after we woke, the escort jets and drone were in the sky again. Philips, Kuppers, Vic, and myself stood under the morning sun hashing out a hasty plan for our trip.

We settled on taking all the Humvees and heading out on Highway 2 east. We planned to turn east on Highway 90, then onto Highway 2 through downtown going north. Then we could turn off some back roads and out to Greenbluff where the ranch sits. I was a little worried about going through downtown with the idea that the buildings could be full of zombies.

Kuppers explained how we would have the jets and the drone over head to help. In order to keep the drone in the air, though, the C-130 was going to have to stay in the air and overshadow our trip. The Humvee with Delta and the .50 Cal would take the point in our convoy, and the Humvee with the MK-19 would take the rear. The rest of us would be in the middle.

Peter came out and interrupted our planning session, “Just got off the horn with General Richards. He is sending out two C5s with 20 pilots to take the KC 135s and a support group of mechanics with fifty troops for security.”

“That’s a good plan. Are they sending fighters to protect the flights?” Kuppers asked.

“Yes, this is an important mission as it allows the General to push out his missions further and support them for a longer period of time,” Peter answered.

I stood next to Kuppers and looked over the base. “Hey, Kuppers, quick question. Where would the command staff be housed here?”

He looked over at me and scratched his head, “OPs should be somewhere over near the main hangar probably. I’m not familiar with Air Force bases.”

Peter answered the question, “Not far from here over past the large hangar.”

“I think we should try and solve where everyone went before we head out, don’t you think? Might help to have some intel.”

Kuppers gave a lopsided grin and yelled at Vic and Hase to come over.

They ran over and looked us over. “Dan here has another great plan. Tell them, Dan.”

“I think we should find the Ops center and check for intel on what happened here. Should help us on our objectives.”

Hase and Vic both nodded and gave me an appraising look. Hase spoke up first, “Now I see why Brian calls you the boss. Always coming up with great ideas. I’ll get the guys together. I want you coming in with us, Dan.”

He turned and yelled for Delta to get their asses over here. He filled them in on the plan and pointed out one of the Humvees. They ran to grab it, and I took the time to find Julie and Brian and explain the mission.

“When do we go?” they both asked.

I looked from one to the other. “Neither of you are going. I just told you, Delta and I are going to go do this.”

Julie popped me in the back of the head, not hard but enough to let me know she was serious. “I told you I was not leaving your side anymore. So, you go, I go. Get that through your big thick head.”

Brian then took this time to play punch me in the chest, which almost knocked me on my ass. “I’ve been by your side for what seems like forever. I’m not letting you go without me either.”

“Well, looks like we’ll need another Humvee then. I’ll go alert Hase and the team.” As I turned to walk away, Julie smacked my ass.

“That’s momma’s good boy. Do as you’re told.” She laughed as I walked away.

I explained to Hase what I was told. He tried to fight the smile that was creeping onto his face, but failed miserably. He watched as Brian and Julie pulled up in one of the other Humvees. He strode over and opened the back door. “For you, sir.”

“Fuck you, Hase.” I climbed in the seat and sat like a petulant child. He shut the door and laughed at me.

We followed the Delta Humvee around the base and to a large red-bricked building Identified as Operations emblazoned on a white sign hanging out front. We parked just away from the lead Humvee and disembarked. Delta gathered near the front doors and waited for us to meet them. Heaven came up to me and turned me around. Heaven removed my MP5, strapped it to my pack, and handed me my shotgun. “This will be much more of a friend if we need to go to guns in the building.”

“Thank you, Heaven.”

He gave me a fatherly smile and winked. We formed up at the doors. Hase, Howser, and Helmut entered first. Once they moved forward through the lobby, Brian, Julie, and I followed in next. Behind us, Heaven, Harry, and Hunter strode in guns up heads scanning every inch and corner of the room. Julie and Brian stuck me in the middle of them, and we went room to room going through desks and file folders. The power was on, and the lights hummed while we moved to the rear of the building. We met at the back, and Hase pointed his finger up. We took the stairway in teams of three. Hase’s team would climb the stairs first while my team waited at the bottom and Heaven’s team stayed in the hallway guarding our rear. Hase and his team entered the second floor door and stepped through. That was our cue, and we climbed the stairs as Heaven and his team came in behind us. Once we were all on the floor, we made our way through the offices once more. I stopped outside the fourth office we had ransacked.

While I was in thought, the team had formed a circle around me guns pointing out. “Has anybody noticed anything out of place here?” I inquired.

Julie looked to me. “Everything is in place. They left orderly. I saw half-empty cups of coffee sitting on desks. Is that it?”

I winked at her, “That’s right. There was no rush, nothing in a mess. Where would the highest ranking officer have his office?”

Hunter answered, “Third floor, one of the corner offices.”

“Thanks Hunter, now where would the intel officers be?”

Heaven answered, “In the basement.”

“Then we need to split up,” I offered.

Hase took control and spit out orders, “Heaven, take Helmut with your team and go find the intel office. Ransack it and find any actionable reports. Radio if you find anything. I’ll take the rest of us upstairs and hit the offices.”

Heaven pounded fists with him, and his team moved out back to the stairway. Hase and the rest of us followed to the stairway and moved up one more floor. We stepped onto the third floor and found the floor was covered in a rich red carpet. Oh, we had reached the cream of the officers’ spaces now.

We followed Hase as he led us down the hallways reading nametags on the doors. The last office we found had the rank of Colonel on it. We tested the door and found it locked. Brian lifted his big boot and punted the door inward and almost off its hinges. Hase looked over at him in amazement. We made entry and I went directly for the desk. I ruffled through the papers on the desktop as the team rifled through the credenza and read through the stack of paper on the printer. I found a file folder that had no name on it. That was weird. Everything else was labeled carefully, but not this one. I opened it and read through the cover letter.

“I found something.” I said. Every eye rested on me. I read through the top sheet and moved on to the second sheet. I put it down and felt confused. “It is an order for the entire base to evacuate due to a biological weapon that had reportedly gone off somewhere. It’s vague, but it says the officers, enlisted men, and all family are to take orders from a private group that where flying in on private airlines to take them somewhere safe. It also orders them to leave all aircraft on the ground. That part is vague, also. The kicker is that the report comes from the desk of the Secretary of Defense. Nothing else written here.”

“I don’t know why the Colonel would follow orders from the secretary when she is not in his command structure,” mused Hase.

I looked it over again, looking for anything I could’ve missed. I slapped my forehead with the open palm of my left hand, making a meaty smacking sound. The team stared at me waiting for me to elaborate. “The date of the memo is the day after the start of the outbreak. The secretary used the fear of that to empty the base, thus removing the only military presence in this area. This is getting pretty weird. Nowhere in this document does it mention civilians. So where did they all go?”