Dead and Dead Again: Kansas City Quarantine (67 page)

“Nice job Lucy, Boomer,” Calvin
commended the pair of gunners as they rolled safely between two groups of
limping college students who should have been thankful they were still alive,
but still managed to shout more obscenities as they passed. Lucy did slam one
more grouping of nails into the leg of a tall blonde man who used a
particularly crude expletive to describe her and the others shut up.

There were more protesters milling
around the fences of the medical facility, but the guards were keeping them
clear of the black iron gates, which rolled open as they approached allowing
both vehicles to continue through, unhindered. The doctor pointed over Calvin’s
shoulder to a spot away from the main building and Felicia pulled over parallel
to the curb, parking across three clearly marked parking spaces. Everyone had
already said their goodbyes in case Dr. MacGreggor needed to leave in a hurry
so now that the final moment was upon them, he simply stepped out of the
vehicle and stood looking with a passive mask at the group in the Hedgehog.

“Later, Doc,” Calvin said.

“Good luck to you all,” the doctor
replied with a nod and turned away. But he didn’t walk towards the large,
fenced-in building surrounded by razor-wire and armed guards, as everyone had
expected. Instead, with a skip in his step, he sauntered down a short sidewalk
to a small brick shack that was easily dismissed as a tool shed. Deftly
punching some numbers into a box beside the door, it swung open with ease. Turning
with a flourish of his white lab coat, he stepped through the door and into the
darkness beyond, the friends watching in wonder as his form slowly sank into
the earth as he descended a set of stairs until the door shut, blocking their
view.

“Huh,” Calvin stated firmly.

“I did not see that coming,” Athena
agreed.

“Fucking government!” Tripper spat.
“Can’t do anything straight up. Always have to mind-fuck everyone.”

“Pretty cool, though, wasn’t it?”
Felicia asked.

“Heads up,” Lucy reported. “Coming
out of the main building. Military.”

A powerfully built, six-foot Native
American full-bird Colonel strode purposefully towards them through a light
drizzle falling from an ever darkening sky.

“Should I shoot him?” Lucy asked.

“Easy, Lucy,” Tripper cautioned
her. “I don’t think he’s making a bayonet charge on our foxholes. We’re already
inside their first perimeter. Oh, and they’re on
our
side.”

“Well, what the hell? He’s not
using an umbrella—that’s not normal. And…well, I mean no one’s ever just walked
up to us before.”

“Good point.” Tripper conceded.
“Maybe he ain’t right in the head.”

“Mr. Hobbes?” the colonel asked,
stopping a neutral distance away in respect to the perimeter clearly enforced
by the turrets on the vehicles.

“Yes?” Calvin asked, stepping from
the Hedgehog and walking around to stand before the man, his armor instantly
beginning to drip from the increasing rain.

“Sir, I am Colonel Matthews. We
have been informed that all tracks heading south have been destroyed or blocked.”

“What? Who did that?” Tripper
hopped from the back of the Hedgehog and stalked up to stand beside them.

“Trip Grissom,” Calvin informed the
colonel, who nodded politely, if a bit stiffly.

“I don’t know. Some say we did it.
Others are saying the civilians are trying to make sure you can’t get to the
fortress you were heading for.”

“How could they know about that?” Captain
Batmouche’ approached with the sergeant in tow. Both saluted the colonel, who
returned their salutes and then promptly ignored their presence, addressing
every response to Calvin.

“There is money flying around outside
that wall like it rains from the sky,” the man informed them, a note of disgust
clear in his deep voice. “There are reporters from all over the world crawling around
every piece of Mother Earth they can find out there. It’s become something like
a ring city with everyone coming from everywhere in trailers to volunteer to
stand civilian watch on the wall with the National Guard and militias. Can you
believe it? We’ve got honest to fucking god official state militias again,” he
explained. “Not National Guard, but authorized Civil Militia with guns marching
off the goddamned perimeter in four states, all of them ready to shoot any who
try and go over or through that wall. And people putting up tents to sell stuff
to all of
those
people.”

“Don’t they know if this thing
breaches they’ll be the first to go?” Calvin asked.

“It’s free enterprise,” the colonel
explained with a shrug. “This is America. Hell, I don’t know why half of you
civilians do what you do,” he explained.

“You a lifer?” Calvin asked.

“Since I was seventeen and twelve
months,” the man nodded.

“Thank you for your service,” nearly
everyone said at once.

“No one ever said that to us,” the
captain muttered over the headset.

“That’s because you showed up being
a major pain in the ass, Captain,” Felicia whispered from the driver’s seat.
“But thank you,” she added.

“So why are people trying to keep
us from going to ground?” Tripper asked.

“You’re news now. People think you
have answers. They’re going to either try and stop you or help you, but either
way they’re going to try to get you. If they can do you a favor, you’ll owe
them. Best way is to quickly build you a bridge that ‘somebody’ has destroyed,
or more likely to charge you a toll.”

“But we don’t need train bridges,”
Calvin explained to the colonel.

“Oh…I didn’t know that, and it’s
probably not common knowledge yet, but it likely soon will be. They’ll block
everything they can, believe me.”

“So what the hell are we supposed
to do now?” Tripper complained.

“I am instructed to inform you that
we have a facility prepared for you and your people approximately ten miles
west, just outside Ogden Kansas.”

“How’s that possible?” Calvin
asked.

“To be honest, it was the initial
hope of my superiors that we could talk you into heading there so we could debrief
all of you before letting you go home. They had a smaller area set aside for
you to stay for a few hours. However, when we heard about the southern cities
and the ones back to the east being blocked off one-by-one, we expanded the
camp on this side of the wall. It is large enough for you and all of your
people and has medical facilities and more modules and other resources will be
dropped over the wall daily. This will be an ongoing project…”

“But?” Calvin asked.

“But what?” the colonel asked.

“There’s always a but,” said Calvin
simply.

“But you have to follow the rules.”

“And those are?”

“To follow base protocols to the
best of your ability. You’re going to be on the outskirts of Ft. Riley, and should treat the area with the respect an army base requires.”

“No way. We love you guys,” Tripper
informed the colonel boldly. “But we’re going to have El Supremo blazing all
night long, man,” Tripper informed the colonel.

The colonel looked confused.

“He’s saying many of us will be partaking
in activities of questionable legality,” Felicia added.

The officer still seemed perplexed.

“We’ll be smoking marijuana,
Colonel,” Calvin clarified. “And if you all have any problem with that, we can
find another place to go. And we will get there no matter who is blocking our
path.”

The colonel sighed. “I regret to
say it, but that was anticipated. I’m informed that little infraction will be
overlooked for your stay in the facility, mainly because it will be legal soon
anyway.”

“And they’ll put that in our list
of supplies?” Tripper asked energetically.

“I’ll see what we can do. I am told
your needs are being given top priority.”

“The other rules?” Calvin asked.

“No trying to get over or through
the wall.”

“Of course.”

“They will want to keep you under
observation, take periodic blood samples.”

Calvin nodded.

“You will remain until they feel
they have all of the information they need.”

“Unless we feel they’ve kept us far
past the time needed,” Calvin countered.

“You’ll be free to leave the
facility any time you wish, Mr. Hobbes,” the colonel informed him stiffly. “It
will be the honor system on both ends.”

“I think we can live with all of
that, Colonel,” Calvin informed the man.

“In that case, let me extend the
thanks of a nation to you and your friends for your help retrieving the doctor
and package. Captain Batmouche’, you and your team are to remain with Mr.
Hobbes to ensure they make their ultimate destination safely, no matter what
that destination is.”

“You mean if they turn south, we
stay with them?”

The colonel nodded brusquely. “But
if they go to the base, you will be informed there of your duties. And my
congratulations on the success of your mission, despite your…unorthodox
tactics.”

The captain blushed, but seemed
taken aback when the colonel saluted and she quickly returned the gesture.

“Cool, cool,” Tripper mumbled.
“So…how do we get there?”

“Sir, you can take the tracks or—”

“—sorry, dude.” Trip raised a hand
to stall the man. “Just tell us where we need to end up, Colonel. Directions
never seem to work out these days. We’ll find a way there.”

“So very true,” the colonel laughed
heartily. “Just west of Ogden, Kansas on 11
^th
street the rail tracks
start to expand. The wall runs right behind there with the switch yards on the
outside. You have a dedicated track for your vehicle. All you have to do is
make it to the inner wall of the compound and you’ll be under protection of the
big guns on the walls.”

“What do you mean all we have to do
is make it there?” Calvin asked sharply.

“The people of Ogden are building their
own wall. They think you’re a bunch of rich people and politicians who are
buying their way out of the Zone.”

“Shit.” Tripper hissed, spitting on
the ground. “Fucking Kansans.”

“Sorry, it’s a border war that’s
been going on for a long time,” Calvin explained.

“I get that,” the colonel replied.
“I’m from Topeka myself.”

“Sorry to hear it,” Tripper
mumbled.

“But I went to Mizzou,” the man
finished.

“Nice, me too!” Tripper would have
high-fived the man but he was holding a particularly dangerous looking rifle.

“M. I. Z.” Tripper said.

“Z. O. U.” the colonel finished
energetically.

“I hope there isn’t anything too
big on the tracks,” Calvin blurted out to stop their little school reunion.

“So what if there is? We’ll just
drive off, find a way to bypass the tracks and come in another way,” Tripper
muttered out of the side of his mouth.

“Not going to be that easy,” Calvin
corrected him. “We’ll have to stay on the tracks from here on out.”

“What? Why?”

“I’ll explain later,” Calvin
insisted, shooting his friend facial expressions that said in no uncertain
terms
shut
up
,
man
.

“Right. That thing with the other
thing. I remember now,” Trip covered lamely.

“Thank you for the information, Colonel.
Please tell your superiors we will be there within the hour...or plan to be, at
least.”

“Thank you, sir. And good luck to
you. I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes.”

“You will be if they ever decide to
unite and charge this place, Colonel,” Calvin pointed out to the gathered
students along the fence, watching, waiting, only waving signs and singing for
now, but on college campuses that could turn nasty in a hurry.

“I know,” a dark shadow brushed
over his features, but passed quickly. “But I’ll deal with that when the time
comes.”

“Better days, Colonel,” Tripper
called out as they climbed into the vehicle.

The man turned and marched
purposefully back into the stolid looking building, returning salutes from the
two soldiers standing guard outside the main entrance.

“I have a better plan,” Hef raised
a finger.

“No,” Calvin said. “If anyone does
it, it will be me,” he ordered before the bigger man could speak again.

“It is my vehicle,” Hef argued.

“Prove it.” Calvin said. “Show me a
title.”

Hef pulled a green slip from a
custom cabinet he’d installed into one wall.

“Damn it,” Calvin spat, but argued
on. “No. I’m the leader. It should be me.”

“But it is my equipment. Only I
have the codes to allow me to get out and still ensure that we can reenter
later.”

“Ok.”

“Great! Now that’s been decided.
Can one of you tell the rest of us what the hell you’re talking about?” Athena
asked in an annoyed snarl.

The group was back on the train, sitting
near the tracks just east of Ogden Kansas at an intersection between dense,
barren copses of trees for cover. The two had been arguing for ten minutes
about a plan they had apparently discussed and not told anyone else about.

“Hef is going to take the Dragon ahead
on the tracks, but we’re all going to be in the other vehicles taking a back
road.”

“So he’s going to be a decoy?” the
captain asked.

“Yes.” Calvin nodded.

“He’s going to make all kinds of
noise to get their attention.”

“Wow, the townsfolk out here are
the same as zombies,” Trip noted.

“If he can’t get through, he’s
going to drive around the obstruction or park the Dragon where it is and
booby-trap it to keep people off it.”

“But won’t we then lose it as a
viable vehicle?” Joel asked.

“Only for now,” Hef explained. “We
can come back if we need to and take it again. No one will be able to get
inside without some serious equipment and they could never get it started
anyway. But that is only if I cannot find another way.”

“Then let’s all go together,”
Athena suggested.

“We can’t. They’ll all be waiting
there for us,” Calvin informed her.

“Then let’s just go south,” Athena
begged.

“The roads are out…maybe.”

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Absolutely positive. That’s why I
said maybe,” he responded with a sarcastic snort.

“Maybe they’re just tricking us
because they need something from us.”

“They absolutely need things from
us. Of that there is no doubt. But I believe the colonel. Just in case, I’ve
got Quinn on the radio checking right now to see if it’s true.”

“Then let’s not make a decision
until he finds out.”

“We can’t just sit in the middle of
an intersection outside Ogden, Kansas at night, Athena,” Calvin told her with
hands raised to the ceiling.

They spent the next ten minutes aligning
the train on the tracks while they waited for Quinn, but when the big
blacksmith moped into the meeting room they learned that most of the bridges
were reportedly blocked, but not necessarily blown up.

“Shit,” Tripper hissed. “And that
means wheeling and dealing with everyone on our trip down and maybe having to
shoot our way through some places. Ok, so we take the military up on their
offer?”

“And we load everyone up in the
three vehicles and make a run for the wall on the back roads,” Calvin
suggested.

“But that still leaves Hephaestus out
there on his own!” Lucy exclaimed.

“I will be alright.”

“I don’t understand why we can’t
just shoot our way through like we always do, together,” she asked, her dark
eyes pleading for support from the others.

“We talked about this already,”
Calvin explained. “We don’t want to start a war next to the wall. This could
spiral out of control. Plus, the plan puts us at the wall before Hephaestus is
close, so we’ll give ourselves away and pull them to us so fewer of them will
concentrate on him.”

“This is a stupid plan,” Lucy
insisted.

“Have you got a better one?” Calvin
asked.

“No, but that doesn’t make yours
any less idiotic. Hef could die!” she cried.

“Maybe we should leave your van,
Hef,” Calvin turned to his friend.

“No, you will need all three so
that everyone can ride comfortably. Also, there will not be time to unload a
vehicle when I am being chased.”

The third vehicle was Hephaestus’
jet black 4 x 4 Ford conversion van. It wasn’t armed or armored other than
being painted with a sprayed-on plating and having bulletproof windows. But it
did have a big metal bolted-on grill, a twelve-inch lift kit, huge over-sized
tires and snorkels for the intake and exhaust and a few other surprises. An
impressive vehicle on its own, it could carry nine of the escapees. Sitting in
the only copse of trees large enough to hide a train near Ogden, Kansas, the group continued to plan out the final leg of their escape. Another ten minutes
and the vehicles were loaded and ready to roll out.

Quinn would likely never again give
up control of his ambulance, so he was going to drive the Paddy Wagon, the
seven parents in the back with Boomer in the passenger seat. Sarah sat behind
the wheel of Hef’s van with Tripper in the passenger seat. The soldiers were
stuffed in the back with Morena from the car dealership, the two children and the
still mute Megan. As always, Felicia drove the Hedgehog with Calvin riding
shotgun. Lucy refused to relinquish her spot on the turret, but Gus finally got
his turn, replacing Boomer. That left Athena in the jump seat behind Calvin,
with Joel and Scaggs sitting across from her, all three clearly mopey-faced at
having been stuck in the back of the car like grunts.

Noticing their displeasure, Calvin attempted
to cheer them up a bit.

“Relax guys. Hef’s van is cramped
full of people. You’ve got leg room. I wanted us to be able to jump out in a
hurry. They’re kissing their own knees back there.”

While this did cheer them some, you
can never make everyone happy, and they
were
stuck in the back seat like
luggage.

“Hey, we’re almost home,” Calvin added
quietly. “You ready, Hephaestus?” he asked over the mic. He had to repeat
himself because a massive peal of thunder drowned everything out for a few
seconds and nearly stopped a few dozen hearts.

“That’s getting really close,”
Athena breathed.

“I am pulling out now,” his friend
replied confidently, setting off all horns at once and revving up the two giant
diesels as he pulled out, keeping the horns blaring well past the point where
he rounded the apex of the hill before them.

Waiting only a few more minutes, Athena
tapped Calvin on the shoulder. “Ok, let’s go. If my math is right, we’ll be
arriving about the same time as long as we don’t run into any problems. We need
to move fast.”

“He’s moving faster than I expected,”
Tripper mentioned.

“I imagine he wants to make them
think he’s going to try and break through,” Sarah suggested.

“And can someone tell me again why
that
isn’t
the plan?” he asked.

“Because, according to the reports,
there are people on that wall. If he busts through, he’ll kill them.”

“Oh…and he’s a pacifist,” Tripper
finished. “So why isn’t Calvin driving it?”

“Because Hephaestus is,” Sarah snapped
waspishly. “Just get over it, Tripper. This is how it’s happening. You know
Hephaestus isn’t going to let Calvin take a chance like that.” Clearly she
wasn’t happy with how things had turned out either. Everyone knew Calvin was
the lucky one of the group.

“It’s his choice,” Calvin informed
his friends firmly. “He wasn’t wrong. He built the machine. It’s his right to
do this.” But they could all hear his insincerity, stemming from the worry lurking
beneath. “Let’s go,” he ordered, the Hedgehog once again leading a caravan
through city streets. These streets weren’t lined with skyscrapers or being
stalked by zombies out to eat their flesh, but there
was
a potential
enemy stalking them, seeking to block them for different reasons, reasons of
fear, anger and survival. Calvin didn’t have the time or inclination to find
out just what each group had in mind for them. They would break one more barricade
and let the government take care of them from then on…at least until the
politicians on the outside decided they were a bunch of freeloaders and kicked
them out or something.

“It’s working,” Lucy reported,
eying the drone feed. “Several of the streets to the north are emptying. They’re
sending people to reinforce the barricade to stop the train.”

“Awesome.” Calvin muttered.

“It’s worse than that, though,”
Lucy added. “Their wall isn’t just over the tracks. They’re extending it
parallel to the Quarantine Wall. They’re making a neutral zone between the
Quarantine Zone and the Wall.”

“Can we still get through?”

“Yes. I found a mostly clear path. Do
what I say when I say it and we’ll be ok.”

“You heard her,” Calvin informed
the drivers. “Joel, take Lucy’s spot on the turret so she can focus on the
drone.”

“Ok, We’re on Skyway drive.” Lucy
mumbled. “Up here in a quarter mile, we need to take West 68
^th
Avenue north. Ugh, it’s hard see; the cameras keep digitizing from the
lightning.”

The storm intensified, rain battering
the windshield in torrential levels and lightning, thunder and wind blowing
limbs from trees into the path of the fleeing vehicles.

“Good timing,” Calvin murmured.
“Hopefully they won’t see us under the cover of this storm.” The three vehicles
turned right on the street she pointed to with no sign of pursuit or discovery.

“Ok, follow this on around and it
will turn into Vinton School Road…ok, we’re on Vinton now. Keep going…keep
going…keep going.  Ok, this one. Engineer road on the left. Stay to the right.
No, your other right.” She razzed Felicia.

“I was going to the right; I just
had to dodge that dead opossum.”

“Ok, stop.” Lucy shouted. “Everyone
stop. Oh shit,” she said.

“You wanna let the rest of us in on
the problem, Lucy?” Tripper asked before Calvin had to.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t see them.”

“See what?” Calvin asked calmly.

“There are vehicles coming down the
road towards us.”

“Maybe we can backtrack…” Calvin
suggested.

“No! Oh my god. They’re coming
fast. Off here. Off here now. Over there into those woods. It’s just two trees
thick. Just a line. There won’t be dust because it’s raining. Go!”

Felicia tried to ask a question but
was interrupted.

 “But what about—”

“—no time. Go now!”

“Go!” Calvin shouted, and Felicia yanked
the wheel and gunned the vehicle up a little hill and into the woods with the
other two heavier vehicles close behind. They punched through the high weeds
and brush around the trees and found that it was indeed a very thin line of
trees bordering the road. There was nothing but mud and grass beyond the trees.
But mud was an enemy they did not need. The Paddy Wagon and van both sank
immediately into the muck and began throwing out huge sprays of thick terra
firma as both drivers gunned their engines, gorging a path through the fields.

The vehicles plowed heavily over a few
steep hills and through the fields adjoining the road. “Slow it down now,”
Calvin ordered. “We don’t want them to hear the engines.

Felicia tried to keep them on the
other side of a dune-like hill so they didn’t draw the attention of the ‘enemy’
cars leisurely cruising on the other side of the trees. But in one valley
between two hills, there was nothing but a broken tree line for cover.

“Very slow here, guys, maybe
they’re only looking in the streets.”

“Crap.” They heard Gus curse. “They
saw us. I was looking right at the guy.”

“Go!” Calvin shouted.

Just before she once again floored
the versatile vehicle, Felicia heard the shouting and horns honking. A quick
glance out her port window confirmed the worst, as shadowy figures in the headlights
pointed through the trees.

“Go! Go! Go!” Calvin shouted.
Felicia once again floored it.

“How many?” Calvin asked.

“Ten!” Lucy shouted back.

“Which way?” Felicia screamed.

The wind had begun to scream and
howl and none of them had fully realized just how much until now. Even with the
earbuds, everyone was having to yell to be heard over the roar.

“Follow the dirt,” Lucy shouted.

“What dirt?” Felicia yelled.

“The
mud!”
 she screamed.

“West! Yes! Yes! Now south! Now
over there onto that field there, now west through those two trees there!” she
guided them using the cameras from the drone above, which was surprisingly easier
to control through the high winds than anyone would have expected. But their
luck couldn’t last and suddenly the feed shook and became the steady
screen-saver-mode of a lone tree standing sideways on the monitor as the drone
was blown forcibly into the muck.

“Jesus, are we in a fucking
tornado?” Tripper asked, face white in alarm.

“There! There!” Lucy pointed
between a pair of wind-whipped trees. “Now straight to the compound! We’re
almost there! Look!” she pointed again. Just ahead, silhouetted by the random multi-colored
flashes of lightning, rose the block and concrete walls of the compound. Watch
windows sat at steady intervals along the top of the low wall. In the
background beyond, glaring like the Grim Reaper sat a larger, dark grey wall,
each interlaced steel and concrete section thirty-foot high by thirty feet
long, the entire intimidating structure stretching as far into the distance as
they could see.

“Holy shit!” Tripper shouted in
awe. “They fucking built it! I thought it would be chairs and dressers and
sandbags or some shit! It’s fucking concrete! It takes them two weeks to get
water to New Orleans but they can put a 700 mile wall around Kansas City in a
few stinking days?”

“Must have called in Raiders and
Broncos fans to help build it!” Joel joked.