Zombie Theorem: The End Game (12 page)

              “I will be ok. Thank you for the coffee, I appreciate it.” I took the coffee and blew the steam off of the top of the cup. I took a tentative sip and almost made a face over the taste. It was instant coffee and it had a bitter burnt taste to it, I hate instant coffee as much as I hated the zombies, but any port in a caffeine storm and all that. I pushed off of the wall and went back to the door which the guard reached out quickly and opened for me. I made my entrance pushing the burning pain out of my mind and took my seat. I took a full minute drinking the shitty coffee, and ignoring Joey. I finally put the cup down onto the table and looked up at Brian. He smiled and gave me a wink.

              “I believe Joey has some things to tell you sir.” Brian informed me as he took his place behind a disheveled and bruised Joey.

              Joey’s left eye was swollen shut, he had a split lip and his right ear was bleeding slightly. Honestly it looked as if Brian had gone easy on him. I picked up my pencil and notebook, and gave Joey my full attention. “Is there something you want to tell me Joey?”

              “Yes, just please, don’t let him hurt me again,” he whispered, through his pain. “There is no cure. The original plan was to let the infected, as we call them, do their job and then we could come in and corral them up.” He hung his head in defeat and stared at his hands through his one working eye.

              I wrote down everything he had said and looked over to Brian. As I did, the room rocked to the side and I was nearly thrown from my chair. Brian rushed to my side and placed his massive arms around me, shielding me from debris which fell from the ceiling. Joey was not so lucky and had been hit by a lighting fixture which had fallen down, striking the side of his head and knocking him unconscious. The room shook for nearly a full minute. And just as fast as it happened the room became still again.

              “You ok, Boss?” Brian asked as he continued to hold me in his arms.

              “What the fuck just happened?” I coughed through the dust and fine debris which coated the air like a fog.

              “Explosion. Stay here I am going to go find out what happened.” He removed my 1911 from its holster racked the slide, and handed it back to me. “If he moves in any way shoot him in the stomach.” Brian ran to the door and had to push hard to get it to open. He slipped through and I could hear him yelling at someone. I looked over toward Joey and found him alive if his chest rising and falling was any indication. I got up from my chair in pain and looked around at the debris on the floor and the cracks in the walls. I checked and made sure that Joey was still secured with his handcuffs chained to a hook in the table and then made my way from the room. The hallway looked as if a giant had grabbed it and shook it. The walls were no longer straight but instead bowed in on themselves. I saw Brian at the far end, gesturing for me to come to him.

I holstered my 1911 and using my left hand against the wall to help me stay upright, made my way over to him. Brian was holding a cloth against the hallway guards head and talking to him. “You’re ok, soldier. Get up, and find an operating radio. We need to know what in the blue fuck is going on here.” The guard looked up at him and nodded, then grabbed his proffered hand and got to his feet with a groan.

“There is a radio in the main office just over here.” He walked away and we followed him further down the hallway toward the front of the building. He unlocked and opened the door with a key ring on his belt webbing and we followed him in. The building rocked again, but with much less power this time. The guard slipped into a chair and put on the headset grabbed the mike and called out. “Gridiron, to Base, come in.” He got quiet and pressed his headset closer to his ears, eyes closed listening intently to someone on the other side.
“Roger all Base, out.”

The guard turned to us and gave a sad smile. “The base is under red alert, two jets flew over and dropped bombs on two buildings, and one fell near us. Three of our jets were able to get off the ground and are defending the base from anymore attacks.”

Brian looked over at me. “I think they know we have Joey here and may be trying to stop him from talking to us. Or softening us up before the hordes get here. What do you think we should do Boss?”

I grabbed the mike and headset from the guard. “Major Welko to Colonel Kuppers come in.” I waited for a minute and called again.

“Kuppers. Go ahead Welko.” The radio came to life with Kuppers’ voice.

“We are in the interview building, what is the plan? Out.”

“I am pushing up the timetable to get people out. I have more fighters getting into the air to protect the base and escort the transports. I am ordering a full bug out of the base. Get your prisoner and transport all to the hangars. Out.”

“What about the surprise we were going to set up? Out.”

“Still a go, got them working over time getting it ready. Now, move it! Out.”

I turned to Brian and the guard. “We need to get moving out to the main hangar ASAP. Brian, grab the prisoner.” I looked over at the guard finally reading his name on his BDUs. “Clarkson, is there anyone else in the building?” He nodded his head yes. “Go and round them up and get them out-side, and grab a couple of Humvees. I need some time to get myself outside, with this mess I cannot use the chair, and we don’t have the time for one of you to help me, so get moving.”

Brian gave me a thumbs up and disappeared out of the office. The guard handed me a key and pointed me down the hallway for the easiest way outside. I thanked him and he left to fulfill my orders. My legs were starting to feel like Jell-O and my energy level was starting to wane fast, but I leaned against the wall and kept putting one leg in front of the other till I came to the front entrance. I used the key the guard had given me and after a while, was able to balance myself enough to unlock the door and push it open. I almost fell outside onto the ground but grabbed the door jamb just in time to stop myself. I was at the end of my energy reserves and my legs were now cramping and letting me know they were not happy, along with my chest and stomach. I could feel each wound from the last two months screaming at me to stop, but I kept moving knowing that I had to keep going.

Just then an arm snaked under my arms and around my back supporting me. I looked over expecting to see Brian, but instead, looked right into Apache’s eyes. I almost fainted with pain, but dug down deeper then I had ever done and was awarded with Hase appearing and lifting me up off the ground like I was no more than a baby. “Apache, help find Brian and the guards inside. That building is about to fall any minute.” My voice came out at a whisper as I fought more pain than I had ever felt before.

Apache gave me a thumbs up and started yelling and before my eyes Delta appeared from nowhere and ran to the building. But before they could get there the ground shook as one more bomb fell from the sky and struck a small hangar nearby. The shock was strong enough that the building shook and dust roiled out of it, and then it lurched to the left and imploded on itself. Hase turned me fast so I only saw the beginning of the fall and faced me away from any debris. He made it to their personally decorated Humvee and slid me into the rear hatch. This Humvee had been given a desert paint job, with the Delta logo painted on the top and a personalized patch with a grinning skull on the doors and an H on its forehead. I lay in the hatch trying to get myself onto a shoulder, so I could see more outside.

I felt the loss of Brian. I never saw him, the prisoner, or the guards get out of the building before it collapsed. Brian and I had been by each other’s side, since the days in the TransAmerica tower in San Francisco. He had become my brother through battle. Tears shrouded my vision and threatened to pour down my face. My physical pain and the possibility of losing Brian was too much for me to handle, and that old familiar hole swallowed me whole

I sat in the darkness, feeling the loss crushing me down into the abyss. Time moved much slower here, felt like an eternity of despair, till that familiar light blinked on in the distance. Angel’s voice came through but like she was far away, and having to shout for me to hear her. “Dan, come to my voice, do not give up!” I tried to get up and respond to her, but it felt like chains had grabbed a-hold of me and would not let go. “Fight back, Dan! They can only win if you give up!” Her voice came a little louder this time. I felt her, like a small warmth when all I had felt was an iciness.

I reached down deep inside myself, punched my hand into the ground and pushed with all my strength, grunting and yelling, my other hand became free and I punched it into the ground using it to help me get to my knee. The crushing force doubled in weight, the unseen chains dug deeper into my flesh and pulled. I would not give up, I would win, I would hold on to Julie and all she meant to me. More warmth spread into me, first through my fingertips, then up through my arms, into my shoulders, and neck. Then it exploded in my chest, hope grabbed hold and gave me the strength I needed to get off my knees and onto my feet. I stood there letting the feeling of hope flood through me. It pushed back the cold and light emitted from me. No, I don’t mean I lit up like an Angel, but more like a glow. Enough to push back the darkness swirling around me, a scream erupted in that darkness and I could feel it pull back away from me in pain, and more importantly I felt its fear. I walked away from its screams and whimpering, I went toward the light and felt stronger the closer I got. I heard a new voice coming from the light, a man’s voice, a deep boulder rattling voice. I knew that voice, as it called out to me.

“Stop blacking out like a little wuss and open your damn eyes girly man,” the voice commanded.

I reached the light and was flooded with pain and exhaustion. There I was in the back of the Humvee looking up into a dirt and blood-caked face of Brian. The sneer he was giving me quickly turned up and lit his eyes up, when he saw me squinting back at him. “You know; I think I have said it before. But it bares repeating, you are not a pretty sight to wake up to.”

Brian threw his head back and laughed heartily at the often repeated joke. “Well, I for one am happy to be here this time when you woke up. Gave us a little scare there, Boss. Your heart-beat was slow and very faint. You need to thank Apache. She gave you a shot of adrenaline and hooked up that nice little IV of saline up to your arm there. I think she likes you or something. Shit, she hasn’t given any attention to me yet.”

“I tried, you damn Sasquatch, but and I quote you here,” Apache’s voice deepened into her best rendition of Brian’s deep voice. “I don’t need any damn help, woman.” She appeared around Brian and looked down at me, smiling. Her voice dropped back too normal. “How are you feeling, Dan?”

“Like Brian decided to beat the shit out of me.”

They both started laughing at my expense of pain. “Boss, if I was to beat the shit out of you, you would be much worse off. This is like if a ten-year-old beat you up. Now get better, we need to get you out of here,” Brian answered.

“Wait! What about the guards and Joseph? Did they make it out?” I raised my hand stopping them from walking away.

Brian smiled all over again. “The guards made it out just in time. I made sure Joseph got out alive, but I was not very nice about it. He has some new bruises and I think I broke his wrist when I pulled the pin holding his cuffs free from the table.” He looked down at me and winced. “You have the keys, so I had to improvise. He’s over near one of the other trucks, being watched by the guards.”

“Good, now I don’t have time to sit on my ass in here. Grab me a chair and get me out of here, and get this IV out of me. I need to think about what is coming next and help manage the evacuation of the base,” I protested.

“Dan, you need to stay here. You have been pushing your body a lot and I don’t think it can handle you doing so anymore,” Apache tried to protest back.

I stared holes into both of them. “Fine, let me act like a spoiled officer then. I order you both to get me out of this damn thing and get me into a situation where I can do my God Damn Job!” Neither had ever seen this side of me before.

They both snapped to attention and saluted. “Yes, Sir!”

Apache reached in and pulled out my IV and placed a Band-Aid over the hole left by the needle. She helped me move closer to the edge and we waited as Brian disappeared. He came back with a wheel chair he’d taken from one of the medical trucks that had arrived to help. He reached in and gathered me into his arms and sat me in the chair. I almost seized up with the pain, but bit down on it letting it fully wake me and pull me into the here and now. I looked around and saw smoke further into the base.

“I need a radio, and I need you to take me to Kuppers.” I took out my notebook from its home in my chest pocket. I looked for my pencil and couldn’t find it, but a female hand dropped in front of me handing me a pen. “Thank you.”

“Ok, Boss, I’ll get you a radio and we will take one of the Humvees.” Brian rolled me toward one of the Humvees and helped me climb inside. He stowed the wheel chair and climbed in behind the wheel, handing me a radio while he started the engine and got us rolling.

I gave up on the radio protocol and called out for Kuppers. “Kuppers come in.”

His voice came over almost immediately, “Go ahead Dan.”

“Brian is driving me toward the base headquarters. Is my team ok?”

“I don’t know; I don’t have a list right now. I’m out front. Hurry up and get over here,” he ordered.