Zombie Theorem (Book 2): The Siege (29 page)

Brian came up and put his hand on my shoulder, “Yeah, we had equipment that could do it, but that means someone is out there doing this on purpose.”

“I need to get inside and see if my dad is okay.” I clicked off my safety and checked to make sure I had a round chambered.

“Not without me, boss.” He raised his gun and mounted the stairs to the front door.

“Everyone stay here, and keep Angel in the Humvee. I’ll call when it’s clear.”

I met Brian on the stairs, and I tested the doorknob. It was locked. I reached up and felt the top of the old fashioned light dad kept there. I felt the key and pulled it down. I unlocked the door and turned the knob. I pushed open the door, and Brian pushed past me, gun up, clearing the large entry way. I followed, and we moved to the right, entering the living room first then off to the other rooms on the first floor. The rooms looked fine, except for a small amount of dust resting on the furniture and tables. I looked at the floor, checking for disturbances. Nothing had walked through these rooms in a long time. We made our way into the Victorian style kitchen. Again, nothing seemed disturbed. I unlocked the back door and opened it to find Doc and Senshi waiting. They came in and took position at the bottom of the grand staircase. I went first with Brian on my tail. The stairs creaked just how I remembered them. We stopped at the top of the stairs and listened. The house was as quiet as a mausoleum. We made our way through the rooms and bathroom. I checked the lights and found we had power. The master bedroom still had my dad’s clothes in the closet. I pushed through to the back and found dad’s gun safe closed and locked.

I dialed in the code and cracked open the door. Everything seemed in place, except for two missing slots. I still didn’t know guns too well, so I was not sure which ones were missing. But if dad had time to pull two guns and was able to lock the safe, it seemed like good news to me. I clicked on my radio, “Vic, can you go over to the garage and checked to see if Dad’s Dodge Ram is there? Over.”

“No problem, Dan, on it. Over.”

Brian and I made our way back down the stairs and met up with Doc and Senshi. “There is a basement and an old bomb shelter.”

Kuppers came back over the radio, “Black Dodge Ram is in the garage. Over.”

“Thank you. Over.”

I walked over to a door located by the kitchen and under the staircase. I opened it slowly and reach in to turn on the light. It didn’t work. Only the dark greeted us. I dropped my MP5 on its sling and removed my shotgun from my back. I flipped on the powerful LED light mounted on the rails. It flooded the stairs with a bright white light. I took the stairs slowly, Brian right behind me. It felt like old times back in the tower. My fear ratcheted up, and I tried hard to push it back down. I stopped at the landing and moved against the far wall, shining the light around the corner and down the last flight of stairs. Nothing stirred that I could see or hear. I took each step slowly. It felt like the fear was going to overcome me. I stopped midstep and sniffed, trying to make out any putrid smells like dead bodies. The only things that I did identify were mustiness and sawdust.

I made it to the bottom and swung left and right, lighting up the unfinished basement. The house was old and the basement was humongous. I moved forward, allowing Brian, Senshi, and Doc to spread out. Doc turned on his flashlight. Senshi and he took the left side and front of the basement. Brian and I turned right, checking the darkened corners and behind the numerous unfinished wood projects my dad had started.

We came to the old metal door set into a concrete and earthen wall. I looked it over and saw that the door looked undamaged, but was closed and secured. I reached down and removed my Kabar from its sheath on my belt. I used the end to pound on the door. I heard nothing in return. I pounded again, but this time I stopped at seven pounds and then pounded another three times. I waited then the door made a clicking and squeaking sound. I stepped back and directed the guys to step back and lower their weapons.

The door opened a crack and a tired old voice called out, “Dan, is that you?”

“Yeah, Dad, it’s me. I brought some friends. We are armed, so don’t freak out.” I pointed the barrel of my shotgun to the floor.

The door opened more, and a bearded looking cowboy stepped out. A big handgun sat in his hands, barrel pointed at the ceiling. He was dressed in an old pair of faded blue jeans and a buttoned up tan shirt, which had seen better days. On his head rested his Indiana Jones fedora. He loved that hat. I bought it for him when I was a kid after we had seen the
Last Crusade
. His tough look on his face melted to grief then to happiness when he finally recognized me. He wiped his eyes and holstered his handgun in the western style holster buckled around his waist.

I walked up to him, and he stared down at me. He was easily a foot taller than me. I had always been upset that I didn’t get his height, like my sister and brother did. He reached out, gripped my arms, and pulled me into a hug. He sobbed once and held me tighter. “Damn good to see you, boy.” He pushed me out to an arm’s length and looked over my uniform and weapons. His eyes seemed confused, “When the hell did you learn how to use a gun? And you joined the military?”

“I’m not in the military, Dad, but I was conscripted into a San Francisco SWAT team. These are my friends. I have a lot more outside.”

He smiled and nodded to the other men, “I have the Kellens here with their two teenagers. Is it safe for them to come out?”

I nodded yes and the door swung open a little more. Inside was revealed an older man with short hair and wire framed glasses and a tiny little woman with pinched features. They were followed by a young short blonde haired woman, and an older barreled chested man. They recognized me and waved. The young girl smiled and came over to give me a hug. I gave her one and then hugged her mom, lifting her off the floor. “It’s sure is good to see you Mr. and Mrs. Kellen. Elisa and Tom, glad to see you two are doing ok.”

I introduced the guys to them, and they all shook hands. I asked Brian to take everyone upstairs while I spoke to my dad. He agreed and patted my back. He led the team and the Kellens family upstairs. Light filtered out of the vault enough that my dad and I could see each other without my light. “Dad, I have a huge story to tell you, but I need some quick answers. First, where the hell is everyone? We drove through town, and there was not a soul.”

He looked at me with shock in his expression, “I have no idea, son. After the TV showed those pictures of San Francisco and Seattle, I emailed you and wrangled the Kellens over here and locked us in the shelter. I had no idea the city was empty.”

“This is getting weird. I have something to tell you, Dad, and I don’t think you will believe it.” I patted his shoulder and gave him a quick rundown on what I had done and seen. I told him about the Initiative and Ridder, the General and Julie. I then tried my best to explain little Angel. He smiled when he heard about her.

“Let’s not sit down here any longer, son. Let’s get up there and meet everyone.” He gave me another quick hug, and we made our way up the stairs and outside.

The sun blinded us temporarily as we walked out into it. Julie ran from her position by the Humvee and almost tackled my dad. She gave him a hug and cried into his shoulder. “Never thought I’d ever get to see you again, Eugene.”

“I always knew this boy would get his crap together and find you again. Just took him more time than I thought. It’s good to see you, my girl. You are as beautiful, if not more, than that first day I met you. You also know better than to call me Eugene. Call me Dad, sweetie.” He hugged her tight and kissed her forehead and cheeks.

The rest of the team took turns shaking his hand and introducing themselves. Kuppers patted his shoulder, “That boy of yours is a great man. Good job raising him.”

My dad chuckled and looked at me sideways through his cowboy squint. “Mr. Kuppers, it wasn’t always easy, and some days I almost planted him in the ground, but he turned out ok. Thank you for bringing him home.”

“He is very persuasive,” Kuppers dead-panned.

Little Angel stood behind Brian, but would peek her head out behind his legs and steal glimpses of my dad. He caught her stealing a peek and walked on over. He went to a knee and waved at her, “And who are you, young miss?”

She stepped around Dan’s massive tree trunk legs and slowly stepped up to my dad. This was the first time I had ever seen her be shy, it was weird. As if hearing my thoughts, she looked over at me and stuck her tongue out. She turned her attention back to my dad and held her hand out, “My name is
Angel Penelope Anwen, sir.”

“Do you know what Anwen means in Welsh, little one?” She shook her head no. Her eyes were wide as she stared at my dad. “It means very beautiful. I would say that name fits you perfectly. Also, don’t call me sir, sweetheart. You can call me Gramps, if you want.”

The smile she had on her face looked like it was going to split her in two. “Really? I can call you Gramps? I’ve never had a grandpa before.”

I had never seen my dad this happy before. He opened his arms, and Angel jumped into them. They hugged for a long time. When he let her go, he looked so happy. Julie came over and slid her hand into mine. Everything in this minute seemed right. That is, until my radio clicked on, “Guys, we have big problems.” Helmut’s voice came over the radio, “We found some of those dead people who should be in town.”

Hase took over the radio, “Report, where are you guys? How big of a force? How long ‘till they get here?”

Just then, we heard a loud boom and saw smoke appear over the trees and hills and the ground shook. “That little problem just turned into a big fucking problem. Too many zombies to count, and we’ve been spotted by a military looking group. I think Ridder is here. We are RTB.”

“Kuppers, get me the radio so I can talk to Harry and the escorts.” Kuppers turned and ran to his Humvee, returning quickly carrying a radio. I took it from him and called up Phillips, “We have a big military force, along with an unidentified number of zombies coming in from our east. Can you guys make anything out? Over.”

“Dan, this is Babs. We just overflew that area, and we see vehicles and men coming in your direction. I think they were in hiding waiting for you guys to show up. Over.”

“Can you slow them down and give us some breathing room? Over.”

“We will see what we can do. Over.”

Philips broke into the call then, “Harry says that the drone’s regular cameras work and, from what he sees, another big force is coming up from the south. I don’t know how they hid themselves from us, but you are about to be overrun. Over.”

“Can you ask him to use his weapons and try and slow them down, or at least make them think twice? Over.”

“Roger that. Over.”

I looked around at our group. “Dad, how big is your shelter?”

“Big enough for the Kellens and the little girl. Want me to get them inside?”

I thought about it for a bit, “Yeah, I think you should. Why don’t you go with them and guard the door just in case, Dad? I think we are going to get hit pretty hard.”

My dad grabbed my arm and squeezed to get my attention off the copse of woods. “Son, whatever happens I am forever grateful to see you again. I love you, be careful, and blow those sumbitches back to wherever they come from.” He took me in both arms and hugged me tight, then was gone, ushering the Kellens and Angel into the house. I stopped and wiped my eyes as they became full of tears over the emotions my dad showed.

“Okay, I want the .50 positioned over here, facing into the woods. I want the MK-19 oriented to the rear of the house. The rest of the Humvees we can use as cover,” Kuppers yelled out his orders. Hase moved the .50 to its position, and Heaven moved the MK-19 to the rear. The rest of the SWAT team removed ammo and supplies from the Humvees and set about loading weapons.

I took position behind one of the Humvees and removed my Zomgo pack. I rooted through and removed all my ammo, magazines, and the last four grenades I had left. Brian came around the bumper carrying a box and ammo and surprisingly more grenades. I removed my shotgun and placed it against the front tire of the Humvee and placed the ammo I had left for it on the hood. I organized my vest pouches so the left side carried my regular magazines for the MP5 and the right side pouches had the four magazines of hollow points Doc had given me.

Julie pushed in against me, tied her hair up in a ponytail, and tucked it under a baseball hat she found in the house. I looked at the hat and was taken back to when I was fourteen and my dad took me to see a Dodger’s game when we were visiting L.A. After the game, I told him I wanted to be a pitcher. He bought me that hat as we left. I shook off the memory and stole a quick kiss from Julie. She winked at me and set magazines for her HK614 SCAR. She had somehow also found some extra shells for her shotgun situated under the barrel of her massive rifle. I had to admit, she looked sexy holding that gun. She had swagger and seemed completely in control of herself. I, on the other hand, felt like I was going to piss my pants.

I pushed down the fear and set myself up on the hood. A tremendous explosion rocked the ground, almost pushing me down into the dirt. Large flames and smoke came from further into the copse of trees. I had lost my breath after the explosion had knocked it from my lungs. I breathed hard to get it back when another thunderous explosion rocked the ground again. This time from the south. Babs must’ve dropped her bombs on the incoming forces in the copse of woods as the drone dropped its load on the incoming enemy from the south.