Deadrise 2: Deadwar (5 page)

Jenkins took the last drag from his cigarette and ground it out beneath the toe of his combat boot and he drained the last of his whiskey. His mind felt clear, and the whiskey, nicotine and fresh mountain air had eased the anxiety. Now maybe he could get back to planning the Evanston run…

CHAPTER 7

Saturday, July 14, 2001

Rainbow Lake, UT

10:23 AM

David focused on his work. He had only been back to work for a few days, and his wounds were far from healed. His shoulder was stiff as hell, and although the inflatable cast on his broken leg allowed him to walk, he was in constant pain. Dr. Reilly had given him pain pills, but they made David’s head feel like it was stuffed with cotton and his stomach slightly queasy. And they made him itch. He couldn’t work in that condition so he simply suffered through the pain.

But right now he was so absorbed in his work that the pain was forgotten. While he had been out of commission, Pvt. Randy Jordan had been in charge of the network and managed to get a good, operational understanding of how it worked, maybe even more so than David.

To his delight, he came upon a section of the system that Pvt. Jordan had been unable to access. And he could see that it wasn’t for a lack of trying.

David took a crack at it himself. In less than five minutes he was through the security protocols, accessing the contents.

“Nice work, David.” Pvt. Jordan’s voice crackled over the intercom. He was downstairs, working at the secondary security station. “What's there?”

“It’s what I had hoped it was… What I’ve been looking for…” His fingers were flying across his keyboard. “We can access the complete Orioncorp network.”

“We’ve had access since we arrived.” Pvt. Jordan replied.

“Only limited access… But now that we are using Mordecai’s uplink, we can access the entire network, their spy satellites, complete information on the Orioncorp operations worldwide.” Having its capabilities at his disposal, in conjunction with the military access codes Jenkins had procured in Park City would give David complete access to the military network and all that they were linked to…

David turned back to his work, delving deeper into Mordecai’s systems. The house, outbuildings, and all the grounds were wired and networked as tight as the Main House. Aside from nearly every square inch of his own estate wired for video surveillance, he had installed remote cameras at various points around the lake and surrounding forest, giving him a view of all the houses and estates as well as most of the main trails and pathways. He also had a dozen cameras situated in the town of Kittewa itself!

Most impressive of all was the defense system, complete with remote and motion controlled .30 caliber machine guns, mines and claymores, and a surface to air missile system!

By lunchtime David had gained access to the Military network as far as General Parker's clearance allowed. After that, he relied on his skills as a hacker.

“Hey you, are you ever going to eat?” David was startled out of his zone by Samantha’s voice. He swiveled his chair and saw her standing in the doorway of the security room.

“W-what?” he asked, confused. He had been so caught up in his work, and he hadn’t been expecting her.

“It’s 1:30; aren't you going to take a break and eat?” a smile played across her beautiful face, touched upon her large brown eyes.

“Come here.” David extended his arms out to her, and she came to him without hesitation, settling gently across his lap so not to hurt his broken leg and wrapping her arms around his neck. Without another word they kissed, long and passionate, their lust barely contained.

“I’ve been thinking,” Samantha said after they had broken their kiss.

“About?” David asked, kissing the hollow of her neck. The flesh was soft and sweet as cream.

“Marriage…”

David pulled his lips from her throat and met her gaze. “We’ve talked about this before. There is no priest.”

“What about Jenkins?” Samantha asked.

“What?”

“He is the Supreme Commander here.”

“So?”

“Doesn’t that give him the authority to preside over a wedding? You know, kind of like the Captain of a ship…or a judge?”

“I don’t know? I’ve never even considered it.”

“Maybe we should ask him?”

David didn’t answer her. They had talked about marriage. He loved her, and he wanted to marry her, to adopt baby Tyler and baby Mary as his own. But would it be real? The world had fallen apart. There was no society to recognize their marriage. Having the ceremony, whether conducted by a priest or a General, wouldn’t mean anything. So what was the point?

“David? What do you think?” The look on Samantha’s face told him he had not been listening to her.

“I’m sorry, I was in pain.” It was a weak excuse.

“Maybe we should ask Jenkins if he could marry us? If he can’t do it then I’m sure the Council can.”

“Jenkins will stop in to talk with me later. I’ll ask him about it then.” David gave her his best smile.

“Good. I’ll talk to Susan.” Samantha bent down and gave him a kiss. “Your mom’s watching the kids, I’d better get back. Are you coming to eat?”

“My leg hurts.” David said. It was true, but he also didn’t feel like seeing anyone right now. “I’m just going to stay here and see if I can get some work done.”

“I’ll send a plate up, and you better eat it!” she said in mock tyranny.

“Whatever you say, babe… I love you.”

“I love you too.” She left the room, pulling the door closed behind her…

CHAPTER 8

Saturday, July 14, 2001

Rainbow Lake, UT

3:10 PM

“You know what I miss about Park City?” Private Shane Law asked aloud.

“What’s that?” Private Brad Potter responded.

“The whores… Now don’t get me wrong, Rainbow Lake is a nice place, safe and secure, but there ain’t shit in the way of available pussy.” This drew laughs from all four men of Second Platoon, Alpha Company. They were all on horseback, riding single file, following a hiking trail in the woods south west of the Lake. As Pvt. Law continued his crude musings on the pleasures of days gone past, Lieutenant Stan Larsen tuned it out of his mind, focusing instead on how fortunate he was to still be alive.

Lt. Larsen was a large man, built like an ex-linesman, with a thick beard and mustache that hid a round, cheerful face set with icy blue eyes. He was a career Army Vet, who first enlisted in the eighties. After the Gulf War he entered the reserves and moved to Salt Lake City. Before long he married and had a son. When the Deadrise began and the world had fallen to shit, he was contacted by some reservist friends in Park City via CB radio, and told of the situation there. So he loaded up his wife Tina and his son, Stan Jr. and made for Park City. It had been harrowing with the living dead roaming the streets everywhere, searching for warm flesh, but they had made it just hours before the freeway junction at the mouth of Parleys canyon was closed. Upon reaching Park City, he had flashed his US Army Reservist credentials and been conscripted into the Park City Militia, and given command of a platoon of men. They had been stationed at Kimball Junction when it had fallen, and the horrors he had witnessed while evacuating back to the city still haunted his dreams.

He and his family had been living in one of the old resort hotels, and he'd barely gotten them out of the building and into the family vehicle when the Krylok spacecraft began its strafing run of downtown Park City; The first building that collapsed missed them by less than one hundred feet. The family sedan barely made it out of Park City, up an old quarry road at the southeastern end of town, following it up into the forested mountainside. This in turn had accessed another off-road trail used by 4x4 trucks. The sedan had gotten stuck a handful of times, and Stan had been required to get out and push while Tina worked the gas and steering. During those times, Stan had expected a mob of deadfucks to burst out of the trees, swarm upon him and eat him alive while his wife and eight year old son watched helplessly. But despite his overactive imagination, they had encountered no zombies. After a full day and night across the mountainside, they came down and into the town of Wanship. Wanship was crawling with zombies so he quickly drove across town to the Interstate entrance ramp. They were almost out of gas, and desperation was beginning to set in when they came across a group of three other vehicles parked along the side of the highway. It was more survivors from Park City. They were headed to the Town of Kittewa. They'd heard a rumor that the Military had an outpost at Rainbow Lake. As they were headed to a military outpost the group naturally deferred leadership to Lt. Larsen. It turned out there was no Military outpost, just the small Militia led by General Jenkins. He had been a Colonel when Lt. Larsen had served under him in Park City, but that didn’t matter now. Larsen presented his US Army and Park City Militia credentials and Jenkins had taken him into the Militia immediately, honoring his rank of Lt. and making him second in command of Alpha Company.

His family was safe, living in a cluster of cabins to the north of the Main House with four other Militia families. Every morning when he woke and every evening before he went to bed he prayed to God, thanking him for the good fortune he had shown his family, and asked for his continued blessing.

Pvt. Law was just wrapping up his tale of sexual exploits in one of Park City’s finest brothels, to the laughter of the rest of the squad. Lt. Larsen’s horse brought up the rear of the line, allowing him to size up his men.

Pvt. Law rode point. He was a young man in his mid twenties. He wore his dishwater blond hair shoulder length and his green eyes and handsome features had no doubt been a hit with the whores of Park City. He had been a ski-bum pre-plague, but had proven a competent soldier in the Rainbow Lake Militia.

Pvt. Brad Potter was a compact, stocky man, with light brown hair, brown eyes and a tense, coiled air about him. He kept to himself; speaking only when spoken too, and Lt. Larsen suspected he had lost his family, possibly a wife and kids, before he had found the safety of Rainbow Lake.

The third rider in line was Cpl. Donald Wilcox. He was a big, burly man, nearly Larsen’s size, with a head of thick black hair, a baby fat face, and thick black glasses. A family man like Larsen, Wilcox had been in the Army Reserves pre-plague, and had served in the Park City Militia. He had escaped with his family, a wife and two young daughters. A fellow Militiaman had told him of the rendezvous point at Rainbow Lake. It had taken them almost three days of going cross- country on a pair of horses, but they had made it to Kittewa safe and secure.

They were good men. Law was a cocky punk, and Parker was too uptight for his own good, but they were a good squad all the same. A few more weeks and Larsen planned on having them whipped into crack shape. These routine patrols helped, but it wouldn’t be long until they were sent down to Kittewa or Summittown for a three-day rotation. Those assignments really tested their nerve. Although Larsen would miss his family, he was also looking forward to taking his squad away from the base, out in the field.

Up ahead Pvt. Potter’s horse gave a snort, stomping its feet and giving its rider trouble.

“What’s the problem Private?” Lt. Larsen asked, bringing his own horse to a halt.

“I’m not sure sir.” Pvt. Potter was still fighting to keep his horse under control. It had stopped advancing up the trail, and had taken several side steps into the trees.

“Get that animal back in line Private.” Larsen didn’t hide his irritation.

“I’m trying, sir.”

Lt. Larsen was about to order Pvt. Potter to try harder when his own horse suddenly went skittish, and he had to muster all of his riding skills just to keep it in place on the trail. A cold chill ran up Larsen’s spine. He had played the game of life and death long enough to know when he was being hunted…but by what?

Pvt. Potter's horse gave a loud scream and reared up, Potter did his best to stay in the saddle, but he was not an experienced rider, and he tumbled backwards out of the saddle and landed hard on the forest floor. There was a loud crack, like a branch breaking, and Potter gave a scream of pain. Free of its rider, his horse turned and bolted back up the trail the way they had come.

“What the hell is going-“ Larsen caught a flash of motion in the forest to the left, moving in Potter’s direction. “Potter! Heads up!” Before Lt. Larsen could say another word a lion pounced from the forest, coming down on Pvt. Potter full force, its jaws seeking his throat.

Larsen’s horse reared, but he managed to stay in the saddle, and when it came back down to all fours, it respected his control. Pvt. Law’s horse tried to rear, but he managed to fight it under control. Cpl. Wilcox had slipped out of his saddle, letting the horse flee while he brought his M-16 to bear.

The lion had tried to tear out Potter's throat with its massive jaws, but he'd somehow managed to roll aside, and it had him by the shoulder, shaking him around violently.

Cpl. Wilcox stepped forward, taking aim with his M-16 and squeezed off a single shot. The bullet tore into the big cats ribcage and it instantly let go of Potter and leapt free, snarling in furious pain and anger. Wilcox squeezed off three more bullets, each one finding a target in its torso. It took two loping strides toward the forest before it collapsed to the ground, blood pouring from its mouth and nose. It gave a final gurgling snarl, choking on its own blood before it shuddered and died. As the roar of the gunfire faded from their ears, it was replaced by the agonized wails of Pvt. Potter, who was still alive and conscious despite the terrible mauling he had suffered.