Zomblog Saga Box Set (Books 1-6) (109 page)
The whole scene changed as black, acrid smoke roiled amidst the flames. It took me a moment to realize that the ‘dan
cing’ flames were actually men who had caught fire and were running and rolling and swatting at themselves. Whatever was in those barrels, it could not be put out by any ordinary means. I saw some of the more level-headed soldiers drop and roll. It did no good at all. Eventually they would stop rolling, but the greenish-blue flames continued to burn.
I heard the sounds of retching and was not surprised to see a few of my people doubled over. The greatest problem we faced now was that all this dark smoke made it all but impossible to see. Additionally, at least five more casks went off, adding to the hellish scene and completely obscuring our ability to target an
ybody.
I yelled for a cease fire since we could no longer be sure of our targets. I split my group in half and had one group head back in the direction the soldiers had come from with the instructions to take down anybody they see that was trying to make a run for it. I took my group and ran to the end of the gulley where any of the soldiers who tried to continue forward would emerge.
By the time I was clear of the smoke and could see again, I was able to make out the faces of the enemy. I felt my heart squeeze just a bit as I saw kids no older than me in the uniform of the enemy. Their expressions were a mix of pain, fear, surprise…and anger.
I was not able to at that moment, but now that it has been several hours, I can reflect on that thought for a few seconds. If somebody on their side happened to be keeping a journal like I am (and it is way more common than I realized), then in their version…we are the bad guys. We assassinated
their
president, we rolled into town and started executing their religious leaders. (Although I am a bit squeamish about giving The Genesis Brotherhood the same status of being a religion as the more—for a lack of a better word—normal religions.) It really is just a matter of perspective when you come down to it.
So, as I am getting my first up close look at the enemy—just as I fire the first bolt into the chest of one—I hear screams co
ming from back in the smoke. I also hear what I was immediately able to identify as the rasping moans of walkers. I guess it was just a matter of time before all the commotion brought them down on us.
I told my people to take down the stragglers and motioned for three of my group to follow me. A little further down the gu
lley, the ridges started to descend. It is there that I was able to cross over and work my way back to Mary and her group. As I crossed the mouth of the scene of our ambush, I could look back for almost a hundred yards before the smoke obscured my vision completely, but coming out of that swirling black cloud were several, perhaps a hundred, undead.
Some of them had flames licking over their skin, but they paid it no mind as they were focused on the dead and dying so
ldiers that we had shot full of arrows and bolts. The screams were beginning to grow in intensity and number as the zombies started to fall on the first bodies. Since they were still a good distance away, they were nothing more than an afterthought for the time being. If anything, they were doing our dirty work and putting down the remainder of the enemy.
I started back towards where I imagined Mary and her group to be. I am a little bothered that she did not split her forces like I did to deal with the stragglers. If anything, I would have e
xpected her to at least head this way and ensure that any of Major Carson’s men who might try to continue towards their objective be stopped.
As I reached the point where the smoke began to become a problem, I had to put my arm across my face so I could breathe, and that was not very effective. I was only able to go a short ways before I being forced to retreat. The screams, however, were growing in number and intensity. I could go wide, and hope to find Mary or somebody from her group, but that would really just be a waste of precious time.
I fell back just as the first few soldiers emerged from the smoke. These were the ones who were not quiet dead and had zombies move in to take a few bites. A couple showed very little actual damage from the zombies. In fact, the first one that I saw looked like he had a bite on his hand, but I couldn’t even be sure. It was hard to look away from the half-dozen arrows jutting out from his torso.
When a cluster of them emerged, I got an idea. One of them had a cask strapped to his back. I moved around just enough to get a good shot and fired my crossbow. It hit and caused the e
xact effect I was hoping for…another explosion. I figured that would take care of the zombie problem and maybe even take out a few remaining soldiers if I got lucky.
Signaling for my group to rally around my location, I deci
ded that there was nothing much that could be done until the smoke cleared. All I had to wonder about now was what, if any, response all of this would bring from either faction in Irony.
It was only a short time before a detachment arrived on horseback. They were from our side and I think they had a diff
icult time reconciling the devastation with the group of youngsters that greeted them at the scene.
I explained what I had seen and what we did and one of the members of the detachment wrote a note, handed it to a girl on a horse that was pawing at the ground and obviously ready for a good run. Something was said about how they had really blown it by leaving this area exposed. I didn’t bother saying anything about how it wasn’t…we had been here.
We were talking as the smoke finally cleared and allowed us to see the carnage in the gulley. Creepers were everywhere. I guess the explosions had blown limbs off of several. And then I felt my throat seize.
I will never know how she ended up down in all of that, but Mary was dead…and now she was undead. Her body was burnt pretty badly, but I could make out the face well enough to know it was her. One of her legs was gone from around mid-thigh. A handful of her soldiers were in similar condition.
Somebody grabbed my arm as I went to her, but I shook it off and kept walking. I took out a few on the way, but I never broke eye contact with Mary as I approached with my machete drawn. I ended her and the others of her group that I saw before returning to my group. I could feel the need to cry in the back of my throat, but I refused to give in to it just then—mostly out of fear that it would be another one of those sessions that might disable me for the rest of the day.
At some point Betty took charge and the riders all returned to Irony after telling us to hold this ridge at all costs. Didn’t they realize we were already doing that? And as for ‘cost’? As far as I was concerned, one loss was already too much despite the fact that plenty of other people had likely died today.
And so here we are. Betty and I are on this ridge with our group. We can see figures scurrying around Irony like ants that just had their hill kicked. I feel exhausted and dread what tomorrow will bring. If the expressions that I am seeing on the other faces are any indication, then I am not alone.
Today changed a lot of people. I remember reading in my History class about wars. They seemed to be described in such a way that it was nothing more than dates and an estimated nu
mber of people killed. That can take a lot of the actual horror out of something so terrible. It makes it seem like any other fact that you learn like “2 + 2 = 4” or something equally mundane.
The reality is that war in any form is a brutal and violent thing. It does not matter which end you are on. There are no “good” guys or “bad” guys. When it comes to killing, it is an act that will stain your soul for the rest of your life. It will change you.
Some of those sitting around in this group are twelve years old. The oldest may be twenty. Killing zombies is one thing, but today, we killed a whole bunch of people. The funny thing is…I have no idea if we were actually facing Major Carson and his men. Not only that, but I have no idea if he is among the dead. Did we really accomplish anything?
Tuesday, March 30
th
Yesterday we saw what looked to be the worst day of fighting so far. I pray to God or whatever may be out there masquerading as a supreme being that it was the last gasp. Late in the afternoon there were a series of explosions and black clouds mushroomed skyward.
There looked to be a concentrated effort on three buildings in particular. One of the kids in my group said that one building was the one that had been taken by The Genesis Brotherhood when Dominique established her post in Irony. Even from as far away as we were, the sounds of battle could be heard as an angry buzz. It seemed to grow in intensity for several seconds.
And then…silence.
We have not heard anything from Irony since then. I will wait one more day before I pick a group to go with me.
I must say, this Genesis Brotherhood did not seem like much to me. I think it might be like any other case where people jump on some bandwagon belonging to something horrible. I know that one of the most common symbols that has seen being sported by raiders that roam the wilderness once belonged to a German sect called Nazis. For some reason, there is an element of fear that comes simply from seeing that symbol. Personally, I think that people who etch that sign into their flesh are simply trying to draw on something they don’t even understand. But by using that symbol they are able to mark themselves as something terrible and to be feared. There is a power that they draw from which leads me to believe that evil is something that is tangible and similar to a well. Only, I don’t know if the reservoir that feeds such a well actually has a finite supply. Evil seems to almost re-spawn itself as if by magic.
As for my little detachment, we had to go back to the scene of our battle and put down a few lone shamblers that were wa
ndering the area. The zombies appeared almost like they were confused. They were just shuffling around in that gulley.
I noticed a lot of the group spent most of their time asleep or at least pretending to be asleep. With so many of us here, we are able to keep the watches short. That may or may not be a good thing. I spent far too much time with my own thoughts.
In any case, we will be alert through the night.
I took five of my group with me and we ventured in to Ir
ony…what remains of it at least. There are still bodies littering the street as I sit in the bungalow that I was given. I have no idea where everybody else is and word about their fate is impossible to uncover.
Right now there are a lot of people helping the injured or dying. Everybody who has been injured is automatically being placed in quarantine since it cannot be confirmed that they are not in some way carrying the zombie virus.
A note about that…
There was a big surprise apparently when this zombie thing began. Some folks proved immune to the bite. However, it was discovered that if you were immune and bitten, you still turned after you died. Also, like most things that can be spread by bod
ily fluids, you could get the virus if you were exposed to zombie-ick. (That is what folks started calling the dark, tar-like goo that is in zombies.) Because nobody can be certain if they didn’t get a little splatter at some point, anybody on a “death watch” is placed in quarantine.
I would love to see Selina or even William. It would be nice to know that a few familiar faces made it through. Looking at all the clean-up and the number of bodies in the streets, it seems like more horrible news is just a bad night’s sleep away.
Friday April 2
nd
Selina is alive and well!
I have to temper my excitement because so many people are walking around in a haze of sadness. It would seem that there were a lot of people getting their first taste of killing in those three short days of fighting. (It is being called the Three Day War just so you know.) While you can live most of your life and only kill a zombie or two, it is unlikely that you can go forever without committing that act. However, killing a living human being is something entirely different.
So, here is the latest news…no, that was NOT Major Carson that I encountered. However, it is suspected that he sent that task force.
Word is that Major Carson has made a run to the south and is regrouping and recruiting. Supposedly, he has a force of three hundred soldiers under his command. Most likely he will be hi
tting tribal groups and “recruiting” more to serve under his banner. He was last seen heading in the general direction of the Boise Wastelands. That area is a known haven for just the sorts of people I mentioned earlier—the kind who like to carve swastikas into their skin as a symbol of something that I guess I just don’t understand.
I do wonder how this Major Carson will fare with these people…I know from all the reports I have heard that they only “accept” people who are Caucasian. So unless Major Carson has done some racial pairing down of his regiment, I doubt they are “all white.”
Tomorrow there is supposed to be some sort of meeting involving everybody here in Irony. I already sent word for Betty and the others to return early this morning and they should be here any minute now.
Now, back to Selina, I had to get information from her since it seems that she was smack dab in the middle of the fighting. She is awful at providing details, and I had to basically coax ev
erything out of her, but this is what I did eventually learn:
When the executions of the members of The Genesis Brot
herhood began and opened the floodgates of war, it seems that Dominique had a few tricks up her sleeve in preparation for a rebellion. Several key buildings were rigged with incendiary devices. That explained all the fires. However, I guess her paranoia did not help those on her side as she apparently did not divulge the locations of all these devices. Some of them took out loyalists to her cause.
Also, it seems that The Genesis Brotherhood had a dozen suicide bombers that were prepared for just such an event. So right after I left, it seems that things got very chaotic in a hurry. With fires burning everywhere, the conundrum for the leaders (like William) was about how much of their resources to devote to battling fires versus battling the enemy. To make matters worse, I guess there was some sort of secret dungeon operated by Dominique’s people. It was packed with a few hundred zo
mbies which they unleashed on the city the first night. And since they knew it was coming, all her people buttoned up tight leaving the citizen army of Irony to fight them.
With all of the insanity and the chaos, it will be several days before an actual accounting of the lives lost can be made official. Riders have been sent out in all directions to try and bring home those who simply ran out of fear. According to Selina, lots of people literally dropped everything and bolted when the fighting began.
The ones who stayed to fight went on house-to-house searches after the main battle was over. And I guess it was easy to pluck any of the members of The Genesis Brotherhood that tried to hide. They all have a symbol etched on their forearm that gave them away.
As for the few supporters of Dominique’s that were within Irony, they apparently fought to the last man (and woman) in a terrible and bloody battle. I think they will actually be reme
mbered in such a way that will probably grow over time into even more than it was despite their deaths and the final outcome. People are openly making quite a deal about them; using words like “valiant” and “brave” to describe those fifty or so soldiers. Perhaps somebody will right their story someday.
Sunday, April 3
rd
Stations have been set up in a dozen locations and everybody is being required to be registered. On the good side, there have been some tearful reunions as people read the lists that are posted hourly with the names of those who are alive.
Also, one of the barracks buildings has been converted to a “viewing morgue” for people to try and identify friends and fa
mily who did not survive. In addition, the riders who went out to round people up have brought back the heads of a few recently turned undead. Those were the toughest. That is how a few people had to discover their loved ones had perished. That is how we identified William Alexander.
A lot of small speeches were given. Most had to do with strength, unity, and the ability to rebuild. One was basically an announcement that all citizens who had been conscripted into the NAA would be free to leave, but that those who would stay would be compensated and their communities notified. Also, it was promised that any who did stay would be scheduled a two week leave period to visit home before returning to duty.
The word has spread that Major Carson is active and must be stopped. I have been asked to sign on to the administration and act as a diplomat. For some reason, they think that I will be able to influence more people to join the cause.
I sat down with Betty and Selina this afternoon and they both think that I should do it. I think that they are over-estimating what I bring to the table. Still, in two months, I will be on a train that will return me to Corridor 26. I told them that if I went there and had any success, then perhaps it would be worth considering.
In the meantime, I have signed on to a work detail. We are rebuilding Irony. I do believe that this place is beautiful…and it is a marvel to look at with all of its skyways and bridges; with all of the houses built into these trees.
I did do one thing on my own, and I have written it here in case something happens to me. I know that the first place an
ybody will look is in this silly book.
I sent five of the members of that fifty person unit that I had been given command of on Overlook Hill (I guess it had an a
ctual name) to Oklahoma Confederated Territory and five more to Timberline City up on Mount Hood. I hope the letters reach their intended destinations.
Something tells me that it is going to be a long, hot summer.