Rotter Apocalypse (9 page)

Natalie sat in the waiting room outside the warden’s office still wearing the ACU she had gone into battle with. The battle hadn’t lasted long after they had rescued Doreen, Sandy, and Batchelder. Most of the Deaders had been killed during the breaching of the main gate and the securing of the northern compound; the southern sector contained living quarters and housed mostly camp followers. Resistance had crumbled quickly. Two school buses were called in to pick up the survivors, as well as a pair of U-Hauls to cart away the bodies and any supplies that could be salvaged. The final casualty figures were sixty-three gang members killed and fourteen captured, as well as fifty-five camp followers rescued. Their losses totaled forty-four dead and twenty-nine wounded, all but one of whom would not become a rotter thanks to the vaccine the Angels had brought to Alcatraz. Having been kidnapped before he could be inoculated, Batchelder was the only one who would die from his wounds.

Thomas stuck his head out of the warden’s office and motioned for Natalie to join them. When she entered, Secretary Fogel stood in front of his desk. He greeted her with a warm handshake.

“Natalie, it’s good to see you again.”

“Same here, Mr. Secretary.”

He motioned to one of the two easy chairs in front of his desk. “Please, have a seat.”

Natalie took one of the chairs, and Fogel sat in the one opposite her. As usual, Thomas perched himself on the end of the desk.

“Corporal Brown briefed me on the raid on the Deader compound. It’s a shame about Captain Endo and the others. We’ve all lost good people since setting up the government here at Alcatraz, most of them due to the Deaders. We don’t have to worry about them anymore, thanks to you.” Fogel leaned back in his chair. “Now we can concentrate on the important matter. Taking the battle to the revenants and making America right again.”

Natalie shifted her gaze between Fogel and Thomas.

“The revenant outbreak caught the government by total surprise,” Fogel explained. “Too many politicians on both sides of the aisle saw the outbreak as a way to gain political advantage. Some members of my own party criticized the president for not taking decisive action, even though initially no one knew how to deal with the situation. A few wanted to go through the charade of an impeachment hearing. Those around the president blamed the previous administration. The Christian Right called it God’s judgment for accepting homosexuality. One Muslim cleric declared it Allah’s will against Islam for not ridding the world on infidels. While political and religious leaders dicked around, the American people had to fend for themselves. Everyone thought the world had come to an end.”

“Hasn’t it?” Natalie asked.

Fogel shook his head. He squinted through his glasses to see her better. “Our planet is like a living organism and, sadly, we’re the parasites feeding off of it. If we abandon a town or leave behind an environmental disaster, in time nature reclaims the land. When the population grows too large and becomes a drain on resources, the planet purges itself through pandemics, such as the Black Death or the Spanish Influenza. In that sense, Earth is like us. If we become overstressed, we get sick. Once the virus has run its course, we get better.”

“The Zombie Virus wasn’t natural, though,” said Natalie. “It was bioengineered in a lab and released into the population on purpose.”

“We know that,” said Thomas. “The concept is still the same.”

“Exactly,” continued Fogel. “However it came about, we see this outbreak not as the end of the world, but a resetting of it.”

“I don’t understand.”

Fogel sat forward. He spoke in a quiet, reassuring voice. “The world was going to Hell in an overcrowded hand basket. Overpopulation strained our resources. Our government had a twenty trillion dollar debt and no way of paying it off. The disparity between the richest and the poorest people was worse than ever, and the middle class had all but disappeared. People no longer trusted the government, the police, or the courts. The social fabric of society was falling apart. And the institutions we’d normally turn to for guidance didn’t care. The church was either covering up its own scandals or trying to influence politics. Our elected officials were too busy taking care of their careers to do the right things. You know, when I entered government thirty-odd years ago, both parties didn’t get along, but they agreed to disagree, and every American called this country the land of the free. Prior to the outbreak, politics had become a blood sport where you got what you wanted by lying and defaming your opponents, and no one thought we were free any more.

“The Revenant Outbreak was a reset button. There are no banks, police, courts, or governments. No one cares about reality TV, Internet connections, Facebook, gay marriage, gun control, illegal immigration, or the thousands of other petty things that dominated our lives. There are no more liberals or conservatives, rich or poor, Christians or atheists. There are only people who have survived and are trying to get their lives back in order. I want to rebuild society, but not the one we had prior to the outbreak. I want to abolish all the laws on the books, except the Constitution, and start from scratch. When Congress is re-established, there’ll be a whole new set of politicians who are not beholden to the system, and they can decide which laws are good enough to keep. This is our chance for a new beginning.”

Natalie found herself intrigued by the proposition. “Do you really believe you can change things for the better?”

“Maybe not permanently, human nature being what it is,” said Thomas. “We can at least try. Hopefully we can get two or three good years out of it.”

“Five, if we’re lucky.” Fogel chuckled. “I’m a realist. I know it won’t last. Whenever there’s an election for president, someone will try and get votes by blaming this on the other party. The rich and powerful will do whatever they can to get back what they’ve lost. I doubt it’ll be long before the world is in turmoil again.”

Fogel reached out and took Natalie’s hand. His voice possessed a sincerity and optimism she had not heard in ages. “We have to try. We owe it not only to ourselves, but to the hundreds of millions who died in this war. History is going to view this moment with a critical eye. If we fight our way back from the brink of extinction only to embrace everything bad about society that put us in this predicament in the first place, this will be our darkest moment. If we try to salvage from the wreckage of our past something better, even if we fail, future generations will have a beacon to guide them. They’re going to have a difficult enough time as it is. We owe it to future generations to give them a good foundation to build on.”

Natalie felt inspired, something she had not felt in a long time. It had nothing to do with presentation, because Fogel gave his speech without any of the finesse or oratory flair she would have expected from a politician. Instead, he spoke with a heartfelt honesty. For the first time since the outbreak occurred, and especially since the destruction of their camp, Natalie felt like she had a chance to rebuild her life. She placed her hand on top of the Secretary’s and clasped it. “Count me in.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Fogel released his grip on Natalie’s hands and sat back in the easy chair. “Corporal Brown had some exceptional things to say about you. It seems discipline had fallen apart after Captain Endo was killed, and the outcome might have been different if you hadn’t taken charge.”

Natalie felt embarrassed. “All I did was shake them out of their initial shock. Endo’s troops did the rest.”

“True. Yet you saw that they had faltered and kicked them back in line. That’s the type of leadership we need. Only a handful of my people are professionally-trained soldiers, including a number of vets or people with police training. Most are civilians who signed on because they want to take this fight back to the revenants. They want to clear them out of our cities and towns, take back their homes, and start over. You and your Angels would be a major asset to the cause.”

“We’ll even keep you together as a unit if you want,” added Thomas.

“I’m definitely on board,” said Natalie.

“What about the other Angels?” Fogel asked.

“Let me talk to them. I don’t see why they’d say no.”

“No fucking way!” Amy practically shouted.

Natalie looked to each of the other Angels seated around the table in the empty dining hall. Doreen, Sandy, and Stephanie were with Amy on the opposite side. Josephine sat to Natalie’s left, her arm in a sling, and Ari to her right.

“Why not?” Natalie asked.

“Haven’t we done enough?” Amy answered in a calmer voice.

An awkward silence followed. When Natalie had gathered her girls together to present Secretary Fogel’s offer, she had anticipated they would accept. She had not expected such a vehement reaction. She wanted to respond, to shout back, to defend her position, or try to reason with the Angels. Truth be known, however, after what they had gone through the past month, Natalie couldn’t blame them. She slumped her shoulders and sighed.

Amy cared for her friend too much to allow her to lose face. Reaching out, she clasped Natalie’s hand. “You know as well as any of us that we’ve done more these past few weeks to end this apocalypse than most of the people here. We were not ready to deal with any of it. It took a toll on us, and not only in the friends we lost. I’m not afraid—”

“I never said you were,” Natalie cut in.

Amy squeezed her hand reassuringly. “We all know that what’s going to happen next is far worse than anything we’ve gone through up until now. I can’t take any more. Maybe if I’d spent the last eight months sitting safely on Alcatraz training for this, I’d be more willing to participate. After what we’ve been through…. well, it’s time to let someone else take up the fight.”

“Do you all feel this way?” Natalie asked.

Everyone except Ari and Doreen nodded or replied yes.

Natalie tried to hide her disappointment. “What are you going to do?”

“Most of us have already been recruited,” Stephanie answered.

“Are you serious?”

“Manpower is short, especially with the majority of people gearing up for war,” said Stephanie. “Based on my experience fighting rotters, they asked if I would train new recruits.”

“I’m getting medical training,” said Sandy. “Then they’re going to place me with one of the mobile surgical units that will follow the front.”

“I’ve been assigned to the mayor’s office,” said Josephine. “I’ll be helping restore order in the city once it’s cleared of rotters and reestablish the government here.”

“And you?” Natalie asked Amy.

“Logistics. I’ll be driving a truck for the duration.”

“Doreen?”

“They asked me to become one of Secretary Fogel’s bodyguards. I guess they liked the way I handled myself at the Deader compound.” Doreen chuckled. “I declined.”

“Why?” Natalie asked.

“None of us would have made it this far without you. I like those odds.”

“What about you?” Natalie asked Ari.

“I go where you go.”

“I guess that’s it.” Natalie could not hide the resignation in her voice.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way,” pleaded Amy. “We love you and respect you. We’ve followed you to Hell and back more times than we care to imagine. We can’t make that trip again.”

“I understand,” Natalie said, and she meant it.

“Thank you.” Amy stood and came around the table to hug Natalie. “Good luck. And God bless.”

Josephine was next, hugging Natalie with her one good arm. “We’ll see each other again.”

“Take care of yourself,” Stephanie said, embracing Natalie.

And finally Sandy. “I’m going to miss having you around to always save me.”

As the Angels left the dining hall, Natalie felt the depression fill her soul. She had known the Angels for a year. She had lived with them, fought with them, and, in many cases, watched them die. Now she had an unsettling certainty that, except for Ari and Doreen, she would never see any of these women again.

Robson stood in front of the survivors, who now numbered twenty-five. Last night, Linda had relayed to them his plans for setting out in two days to find a new place to settle down. This morning after breakfast, she came to him and passed along a request to meet with everyone. He assumed it was to answer questions about the resettlement. Upon entering the warehouse, though, he detected an air of hostility.

Linda walked up and stood beside Robson, forcing herself to meet his gaze. “We want to thank you for coming to talk to us. Last night, I informed every one of your plans for moving on, and some of us had questions we—”

“Are you going to make us go with you?” asked a tall, thin man who stood at the front of the group.

“I’m sorry?”

“Are you going to make us go with you when you leave here?”

“You can’t stay here,” explained Robson. “I promised Simmons we would—”

“I know that. I’m asking if you’re going to make us go with
you
.”

“Please,” Linda snapped at the tall man. “We had a long talk last night about our future. We understand we can’t stay here, and none of us want to take advantage of Simmons’ hospitality. However, not everyone wants to find a new place to stay.”

“Where would you go?”

The tall man started to speak when a young brunette cut him off, trying to be more polite. “On the way in here the other night, we saw an abandoned community at the end of the road. We want to live there.”

“You realize that community was trashed by the same gang that held you prisoner. None of the houses are livable.”

”It doesn’t matter,” said the brunette. “We’ll make the necessary repairs. It’s better than how we’ve lived since being captured.”

“Or being on the road,” added the tall man.

“You have to understand,” continued the brunette. “We know it’s less than ideal conditions, and that it’ll take a while to get things back in order. We don’t care. We’re too tired, physically and mentally, to do what you’re proposing. We want to start rebuilding our lives now, and that’s the closest place to do it. All we’re asking is that you give us our share of the food and medicine you got from Super Walmart, and then leave us be.”

“I don’t know,” Robson hesitated. “The odds of you surviving won’t be very good. I have a responsibility to take care of you.”

“What’s my name?” asked the tall man.

“Excuse me?”

“What’s my name?” he asked again. When Robson didn’t answer, he pointed to the brunette. “What about her, then? Other than Linda, do you know any of our names?”

Robson didn’t answer. He saw where this was heading.

“I didn’t think so,” spat the tall man. He paused and took a deep breath, and when he spoke again his tone had switched to one of understanding. “We know it was never your intention to save us, and that you wanted to rescue your friend Wendy.”

“Windows,” corrected the brunette.

“You didn’t have to help us,” the tall man continued. “And we’re all grateful that you didn’t leave us to fend for ourselves. You’ve given us a place to stay, and risked your lives to get us supplies. We appreciate that. But we’re not your responsibility. You know that, too.”

“That’s not true,” Robson replied weakly.

“It is. There’s nothing wrong with that. And you’re right. Maybe we won’t survive if we try to set ourselves up in that community. Maybe we’ll die of starvation, or be overrun by deaders, or attacked by another gang. We know that. You have your own agenda, your own goals. Don’t ask us to be a part of it. Let us live our own lives.”

“How many of you want to stay here?” Robson asked.

Fourteen of the survivors raised their hands.

“Excuse me,” said a blonde woman near the back of the group. She pointed to the three women seated around her. Robson recognized them as the camp followers he had rescued from inside the compound. “We have our own favor to ask.”

“Go ahead.”

“We don’t want to go with you either. We also don’t want to stay with the larger group.” She spoke to the tall man. “After what we went through, we don’t feel comfortable with large groups of people. No offense.”

“None taken,” Robson said. “What do you want?”

“We want to set out on our own. Give us one of the smaller vehicles and some supplies, and we’ll take care of ourselves.”

“And the rest of you?” Robson asked.

The last six survivors looked amongst themselves. Finally, a short black man said, “We’d feel safer with you.”

“Who do you want to go with?” Robson asked Linda.

“I’d rather take my chances with you, if that’s okay.”

Robson said nothing. Everyone stared at him, waiting for a decision. Finally, the blonde woman asked, “So, will you allow us to go our separate ways?”

Robson knew they were right, although he didn’t want to admit it. While saving these people had been the decent thing to do, expecting them to follow him as their leader was egocentric. He would have a hard enough time keeping his own people alive, let alone a group that didn’t want to be there.

“Yes, I’ll let you go your own way if you like.”

A murmur of excitement washed through the survivors, and they talked excitedly amongst themselves. Not wanting to spoil their good mood, Robson stepped back and exited the warehouse, motioning for Linda to follow. Once outside, she said, “Thank you.”

“No problem. I’ll talk to Roberta and DeWitt, and tomorrow you and the other survivors can coordinate the logistics with them.”

Linda smiled, the first time he had ever seen one from her. “I know a lot of them won’t make it through the next month, but you gave them something they haven’t had in a long time.”

“What’s that?”

“Hope.”