The Reckoning - 02 (38 page)

             
“Sheriff’s department,” I said. “We’re here to get you to safety.”

             
“My men are hurt,” he said, concern in his voice.

             
“We’re on it,” I said.

             
I noticed the rank on his chest. There were three chevrons and three rockers with a diamond in the middle. It took my brain a second to recall Army rank structure and to realize what that meant. He was a First Sergeant by the name of Gregory.

             
“I’ve got you, Top,” I said, helping him to his feet. “We’ve got to get you loaded and back to base. We can’t be here when the dead find this place.”

             
He tried to get up and I helped him to his feet. My people began to run in and started bringing out the wounded. We loaded a dozen bodies onto the Hemmitt. I had no way of knowing how many of them were alive or dead. We even managed to pull the flight crew out. Out of the entire crew, First Sergeant Gregory was the only one that was conscious.

             
I sent the Hemmitt back with the wounded with instructions to get them to Maddie. The rest of us started stripping what we could salvage off of the C-130. By the time that Bowman had made it back with the second Hemmitt, we’d pulled everything we could. Some of the gear had been in the tail section and was burning. We managed to save the mini-guns and the ammo boxes, plus the gear for all of the soldiers.

             
By the time we rolled back inside the gates, the entire plane was burning. Luckily, we were well clear when the fireball rolled skyward after the flames hit the fuel tanks. We pulled everyone back down inside and sealed the gate. I didn’t want anyone topside to attract the attention of any zombie that wandered by, looking for the fireball. If things were clear later, we might try for the cows. Right now, it was more important that we all get safely back inside.

             
Maddie had an emergency triage site set up near the entrance to the Hive. I didn’t want to bother her, so I stayed to the side and just watched. Spec-4 handed me an MRE and I opened it with my knife. We both ate in silence while Maddie treated the wounded as best she could. April and the three nurses from the jail medical staff were working furiously, trying to help everyone at once.

             
I’m not sure how much time passed, but they covered the faces of eight of the twelve bodies. I noticed that Specter had been one of the ones that had died. That was too bad. He was a hell of a pilot and after everything he did, I really wanted to buy that man a drink. He’d earned it. Those men had died a warrior’s death and I’d share a horn of mead with all of them, one day. They all deserved the warrior’s rest in Valhalla.

             
Maddie brought me out of my thoughts when she walked up to me with a grim look on her face. There was a deep sadness in her eyes that hadn’t been there when we met. Slowly she removed her latex gloves and stuck them in the pocket of her smock. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and leaned against the side of the Humvee next to me. I offered her my hip flask, which she took with a nod. She took a quick drink and handed it back.

             
“We did all we could,” she said, softly.

             
“I know you did, Maddie,” I replied, putting my hand on her shoulder. “Under the circumstances, you did an amazing job.”

             
“I don’t know that I could have saved most of them if we’d been in a fully stocked emergency room.”

             
“I know it was bad,” I said, gently.

             
“I’ve seen my share of trauma,” she said, looking down. “But I’m not a military doctor. I’ve never lost this many patients all at once. It’s not something I’m used to.”

             
“I hope you don’t ever have to, again,” I replied, shaking my head.

             
“You’ve got four survivors,” she replied, “a First Sergeant, a buck Sergeant, a Corporal and one of the flight crew. I don’t know Air Force ranks very well. I think she’s a Senior Airman.”

             
“How bad are they?” I asked, dreading the answer.

             
“The three soldiers will recover,” she said, shaking her head. “They took quite a beating. It may be a few days before they’re back on their feet. The airman has a broken leg and arm. She’ll be out of action for a good long while.”

             
“Thanks, Maddie,” I said. “You need to get some rest.”

             
“I will,” she replied. “Those young nurses will make sure of that. They worry about me.”

             
“We all do,” I said.

             
“One more thing,” she added.

             
“What’s that?” I asked, turning towards her.

             
“The soldiers were all wearing this on their sleeves,” she said, handing me a patch.

             
I turned it over in my hand and gazed down at the embroidered emblem. It was a skull wearing a beret with parachute wings and a dagger. I recognized it instantly. I’d seen it many times before when I was on active duty. It was clear in my memory as I thought of my friends from those days. I knew several men who had worn this patch, belonging to a very elite group of soldiers.

             
“Rangers,” I said. “I wonder what they’re doing here.”

             
“You’d have to ask them,” said Maddie.

             
“I plan to,” I replied, staring at the patch in the palm of my hand. “I plan to.”

“Strength does not come from winning.

Your struggles develop your strengths.

When you go through hardships and decide

not to surrender, that is strength.
”

-
Arnold Schwarzenegger

              I spent most of the rest of that night with my wife and the kids. We ate together near the big cold storage warehouse. One of the security officers, Weasel-face, turned out to be one hell of a cook. He got boxes of frozen hamburgers and corn on the cob, and then fired up a big propane grill he found by the Hive.

             
I’m not sure where they scrounged up bread, but I wasn’t complaining. There was plenty of food to go around, for now. One of the cold storage units was for a cheese plant in town, so there was no shortage of cheese. I only wished that one of the cold storage units had been full of beer.

             
By the time I had finished eating, Josh Kidman found me. Tossing me my freshly charged Stinger, he motioned for me to step away with him to talk privately. I gave Karen a quick kiss on the cheek and excused myself. My boys were still eating, so I just winked at them as I headed off with Josh.

             
“What’s up?” I asked, once we were a safe distance away from the group.

             
“Well, I completed a rough inventory of our gear,” he said, handing me a clipboard.

             
I glanced over it, nodding in approval. As far as supplies went, we were in good shape. Assuming we didn’t take in another large group of survivors, I estimated that our food would last about six months. That would take us into the heart of the winter. If we could get the cattle down here and into the cold storage units, the meat would last until spring at the least.

             
“I took the liberty of setting up an armory,” he said. “There’s no sense in having all of that gear just lying around.”

             
“I want everyone who can shoot to be armed at all times,” I said, nodding. “If we get breached, we may not have time to run to the armory.”

             
“I’ll see to it,” he said. “Anything else?”

             
“Yeah,” I said. “Let’s keep the armory access controlled. There’s no reason for it to be open for just anyone to stroll inside.”

             
“Who do you want to put in charge?”

             
“Hmmm,” I mused, thinking. “How about Johnny Bowman and your girl, Packer? Bowman is good at fixing weapons and Packer has a good head on her shoulders.”

             
“Good call,” said Josh.

             
“How long will the generators last?” I asked.

             
“Well, they’re on the natural gas lines with a propane back-up,” he said. “The natural gas is still working. Miraculously, the lines are still intact. So long as the gas holds out, we won’t need the propane. Once we switch over, the tanks will keep everything going for a couple of months. Longer, if we cut power to sections we’re not using.”

             
“Let’s do that,” I said. “Shut down everything but the lighting in those sections. We want the patrols to see where they’re going and not walk into a zombie in the dark.”

             
“OK,” said Josh. “I’ll shut down the machinery from the Hive.”

             
“Let’s also work on getting those cattle inside,” I said. “We can assign teams into rounding them up if the coast is clear.”

             
“I’ve had one of the cameras pointing into that field,” he said, making notes on his clipboard. “I haven’t seen any zombies in the area, so far.”

             
“Good, then let’s get that beef inside and cut up.”

             
“We can do that in the dry storage area,” he said, making more notes. “It’s out of the way and no one will be able to see it.”

             
“Good,” I said, nodding. “That will keep people from getting squeamish.”

             
“I’ll get some people on it,” said Josh.

             
I reached into my pocket and fished around for a badge. I found the one I was looking for. It was a sergeant’s badge. With a smile, I handed it to Josh.

             
“Here,” I said. “Take this. Welcome to the department. This will give your word some weight with the guys who don’t know you.”

             
“Thanks,” he said, replacing his security badge with the new one.

             
He slipped his security badge into his pocket and tucked his clipboard under his arm.

             
“What do you want to do with all the entrails?” he asked.

             
“Use as much as we can,” I said. “We can’t afford to waste much anymore. We’ll put the waste in drums and seal them. Then we won’t have to worry about the smell.”

             
“Sounds good,” he said. “Does anyone know how to cut up a cow?”

             
“Get with John Banner,” I said. “He’s been hunting just about anything you can hunt since he was a kid. He’s gutted and skinned more deer than I have.”

             
“I’ll get him, then,” he replied.

             
“I’m going to talk to our newest arrivals once they wake up,” I said. “I want to know what they were doing here.”

             
“I thought they were bombing targets in Springfield,” said Josh.

             
“You don’t bring a squad of Rangers on a bombing mission,” I said. “Besides that, the C-130 isn’t a bomber. The fighters were escorting it for a reason and I want to know what it was.”

             
“Good luck,” said Josh, heading off towards the Hive.

             
I turned and headed back over to the group and sat down beside my wife.

             
“I know that look,” she said, slipping her arm through mine.

             
“What look?” I asked, smiling at her.

             
“That perplexed look you get when something is on your mind,” she replied, leaning against me.

             
“It’s nothing,” I said, kissing her on the head. “There’s just a lot on my plate, right now.”

             
“You know you can share some of that burden,” she said, glancing up at me with concern on her face. “You don’t have to do everything yourself.”

             
“I know, babe,” I replied. “I’ve got to work on delegating.”

             
“The boys want to help out,” she said, softly.

             
“I know they do,” I replied. “The problem is we need every able-bodied person we can get our hands on.”

             
“They’re just kids,” she said, sadness in her voice.

             
“I know, babe,” I said. “I won’t put them in danger any more than is absolutely necessary.”

             
“I don’t like the thought of them carrying guns,” she said.

             
“Me either, but I like the thought of them being eaten by a zombie even less. I’ll make sure they understand just how seriously they have to take their responsibilities.”

             
“I know you taught them to shoot,” she said, “but it’s my job to worry about them.”

             
“Me too, babe,” I replied. “I’ll keep them as safe as possible. They’ll probably be doing internal security with another officer. They won’t be alone.”

             
“Don’t let anything happen to them,” she said, almost pleading.

             
“I won’t, babe,” I said, stroking her hair.

             
After that, pretty much everyone headed for their own sleeping areas. Karen had claimed a set of offices with a small break room as ours. There were couches in the break room and Karen had put the boys to work rearranging the offices so that the boys had one and we had the other. It wasn’t a bad set-up. It was a good night, together. The next morning, I awoke to find Karen was already up and dressed.

22 April

             
“What’s up, babe?” I asked.

             
“I volunteered to help cook breakfast for the group,” she said, putting her hair in a ponytail.

             
“Take a pistol with you,” I said, sitting up on one elbow.

             
“We’re safe inside here,” she said, in protest. “I don’t like carrying a gun.”

             
“We’re not safe,” I said. “Not so long as the
Freemen
and the zombies are out there. I want you to keep a gun on you at all times. We all need to.”

             
“I don’t like it,” she said, shaking her head.

             
“I know, babe,” I said, reassuringly. “Maybe someday it won’t be necessary, but right now it’s best that we’re armed. If the dead got inside the perimeter, we’d better be ready to fight them.”

             
“Fine,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “Which one do I carry?”

             
I slipped out of bed and went over to my gear. I selected one of the M9 Berettas and unhooked it from my Interceptor vest. I also snagged three extra magazines for it. I handed it to her and she reluctantly accepted. With a look of resignation, she clipped the holster to her belt and slipped the extra magazines into her back pocket.

             
“I’ll get you an ammo pouch, later,” I said.

             
“I still don’t like it,” she said, shaking her head.

             
“I like it a lot better than the thought of you getting bit,” I replied. “It’s one less thing I have to worry about.”

             
That seemed to take the wind out of her sails. She met my gaze and held it for a few seconds before speaking.

             
“I know you have a lot to worry about,” she said, sadly. “I’ll wear it, if it will make you feel better.”

             
“It will,” I promised. “I’ve seen enough of the people I care about turned into one of those things.”

             
She gave me a quick kiss and headed out the door. I was proud of her for keeping herself together through all of this. She kept her wits about her and kept everyone safe at the lake. Now, she was doing her part to help keep the entire group fed and safe. I couldn’t help but be proud of her.

             
After that, I got dressed and back into my gear. I woke the kids up and told them to get dressed. Once they were up, I took them to the armory to get them outfitted. We didn’t have Interceptor vests that would fit the two younger boys, so I grabbed them a Velcro vest with Sheriff emblazoned on it. Then I showed them how to put them on correctly.

             
Elliott was bigger, so he got an Interceptor. Then I gave them all a pistol and rifle. I made sure that the two younger boys got semi-auto AR-15’s, not fully auto M-4’s. I needed to show them how to handle a full auto weapon before I trusted them with one. I gave each of them four loaded magazines for each weapon. Elliott had been working with Sanders, so he already had an M-4 of his own.

             
After that, I turned them over to Josh for assignment to a post. Since the boys wanted to help, they could free up another officer that could respond to the perimeter fence. I made sure to tell Josh not to pair them up with the three stooges. I still didn’t trust those three morons, no matter what Josh said. Then, I headed for the office area next to the Hive. Maddie had turned it into a field hospital and the wounded soldiers were all there. She was there checking on her patients when I walked in through the door.

             
“Morning, Maddie,” I said, as cheerfully as I could muster. “How are our new arrivals?”

             
“Awake and irritable,” she answered, with a shake of her head.

             
“Can I talk to them?”

             
“Good luck with that,” she said, chuckling. “They haven’t exactly been friendly.”

             
I grabbed a rolling office chair and dragged it along with me to where the beds were set up. Turning it around backwards, I straddled the chair and rolled the last few feet to stop next to the bed of First Sergeant Gregory.

             
“Mornin’, Top,” I said, folding my arms across the back of the chair.