Transformation: Zombie Crusade VI (8 page)

Maddy and the others realized they’d forgotten a cardinal rule that had been their idea in the first place: respect Luke’s authority and the chain of command when in the presence of the troops and settlers they encountered. Now, they all remembered their roles as a chorus of, “Yes, sirs” sounded around the fire. Nobody had died since leaving the Shreveport area, as battlefields had been selected and prepared to give every possible advantage to the soldiers still learning on the job, but Luke and his friends—his lieutenants—knew that their string of good fortune couldn’t possibly continue. When the dying started, the troops would need every ounce of discipline to stay focused on their tactical and strategic missions. Much of that discipline was dependent upon solid leadership, and everyone had to play their part. To build a real army, Luke had to command his wife and friends, and they had to command their officers and sergeants. Embracing their roles was a matter of life and death.

The story of Luke and his group’s slaughter of the pack that had treed Terry had been told and retold until the dozen flesh-eaters had become fifty, but that was just a story; none of the new recruits had actually seen Luke in action outside of their training exercises. He decided it was time to change that unfortunate situation. The best medieval commanders had led their troops into combat, and Luke felt that he needed to do the same. Tomorrow, while his lieutenants were helping the sick and hungry in Watkins’ settlement, he would personally lead a powerful reconnaissance along I-30 between Texarkana and the Red River Depot to get a first-hand look at the situation. While this was technically a scouting expedition, if only half of what Jonah Watkins said was true, there was a good chance that they wouldn’t be able to avoid engaging the enemy at some point along the route.

Andi had tried to ignore Barnes during the flight to Coast Guard Island in Alameda, but he had successfully baited her several times before she feigned sleep for the final two hours of the trip. With a pillow positioned on top of her head, she had passed the time by imagining the various ways she would enjoy killing Barnes. She’d been surprised by her own cold-heartedness; she wanted him to suffer a slow, painful, and frightening death, and she would gleefully participate in his torment. A tiny voice deep inside warned her not to let Barnes win by becoming like him, but she was in no mood to indulge in an ethical debate with herself. Hate kept despair at bay, and it was the only thing that gave her any comfort.

Government Island was another bustling military base, populated by soldiers and civilians working for Barnes. Andi didn’t have a chance to get a good look at the place before she and Thelma were escorted to a housing barracks near where they landed, but she found the various holiday decorations along the route to be ridiculous and generally offensive under the circumstances. Two stoic soldiers escorted the women to the second floor, ushered them in to a small apartment, and left without saying a word. The accommodations were spartan and slightly grungy, causing Thelma to begin a thorough inspection of every cupboard and closet in search of cleaning supplies.

“I certainly hope someone has taken more care with the president’s quarters—whoever is responsible for the upkeep of this place deserves to be demoted.” Thelma located a broom and dustpan and began sweeping the small kitchen.

“Do you think this is where we’ll be staying?” Andi asked, fishing to see if Thelma knew any more about this trip than she did.

“Good Lord, I can’t even imagine such a thing! I’m sure that President Barnes just had some important business to attend to—he can’t be bothered with us when he has a country to run,” Thelma scolded.

Andi couldn’t help herself. “A country to run? What country is that, Thelma? Do you seriously consider him to be the president of the United States? What United States?”

Thelma spun around and shook the broom handle at Andi. “How dare you, after all that man has done for you! While most people are struggling to feed themselves and stay safe, you’ve been living in luxury like a queen. What do you expect—do you think that he can just wave a magic wand and fix everything?”

Even though Andi wanted nothing more at that moment than to slap the woman silly, she knew that short-term rewards needed to be sacrificed for long-term gain. She sank into a chair and pretended to cry. “You’re right, of course,” she sniffed. “Sometimes it just feels like everything’s been lost, and like there’s no way back.” She wiped away imaginary tears and buried her face in her hands. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“Oh, of course, dearie,” Thelma sounded truly sympathetic. “I can’t expect everyone to be as strong as me. I only focus on the positive—you should try that.”

Andi nodded vigorously and scurried over to the sink to splash water on her face. When she finally turned to face Thelma, she managed to look contrite. “Can you help me? I want to be a better person.”

Thelma walked over and gave Andi a hug. “I’m not saying it will be easy. I’m not blind to all the suffering in the world, but I’ve learned to look to the future rather than wallow in the past or have too many expectations for the present.”

Andi felt sullied by Thelma’s embrace. She took a step back and asked, “Do you mind if I take a shower and put on some clean clothes? I always feel dirty after a long flight.”

“An excellent idea, my dear. You go get cleaned up, and I’ll work on this place.” Thelma patted Andi’s shoulder. “Just think about how lucky you are to be in California this time of year.”

Barnes stared at Major Pruitt across the table and wondered what on earth ever possessed him to put this lummox in charge of such a valuable operation. Of course, Pruitt was unquestioningly loyal, and that counted for something, but he lacked imagination.

“Major, I truly appreciate the detail in these reports.” Barnes waved his hand over the stacks of files and folders between them and leaned forward. “What I need to know right now is where we stand on our timetable.”

“We haven’t quite doubled our beef stock, but we’re close. I’ve tried to coordinate with Daniels to figure out a smooth transition for getting the infected we’ve been rounding up around here down to one of his holding facilities, but he’s not been very reliable, sir.” Major Pruitt wiped his brow. “I don’t mean to throw him under the bus, but he’s the reason we’re not where we need to be.”

“You’d be a fool if you didn’t throw Daniels under the bus, Pruitt. Somebody is responsible for slowing things down out here, and whoever that is will be dealt with by the end of the week.” Barnes stared menacingly at the major. “I need my western army, at least one million resilient creatures, and all necessary supplies, ready to move out in two months. The Utah rebels will be wiped out before spring sets in. That, Major Pruitt, is non-negotiable.”

Gracie actually got the drop on Luke on Christmas morning. His normal routine usually involved him drifting off to sleep at the same time she did, but then he would awaken and slip out of the tent just a few hours later. Today was different. She immediately dug around in her pack and pulled out a small gift wrapped in old newspaper. She’d been holding it since the day they’d salvaged items from stores in Shreveport and couldn’t wait to see the look on Luke’s face when he opened it. When she peered his way to see if he was still asleep she was almost startled to see him staring back at her with those intense, black eyes of his. “What’re you up to?” He demanded.

She coyly pulled the gift behind her back. “Nothing, just digging around to see if Santa brought you anything.”

Luke laughed at that. “I haven’t been a very good boy this year.”

She leaned over to nuzzle his cheek as she murmured, “Oh, you’ve been a very, very good boy this year.”

He playfully pushed her away a few inches. “Jews don’t do Christmas.”

She put her hand to her mouth in mock horror. “Oh my gosh, are you Jewish?”

Luke just sighed and shook his head. “Well, smarty-pants, Santa knows you’re Jewish so he didn’t deliver anything to our tent last night.”

“Well,” Gracie stuck out her bottom lip as she pretended to pout. What about us Messianic Jews?”

Luke shook his head. “Nope, too much confusion for ‘ol Santa.”

He then quickly pulled a small item from one of the multitude of pockets on his pack. “Luckily for you I remembered that Santa might be confused about your status—I got you a present instead.”

Gracie was genuinely surprised. “I figured there was no way you’d think about Christmas after all we’ve been through lately.”

“Ahh,” Luke confessed, “really didn’t think about it until I was scrounging around in one of those stores in Shreveport. I saw something there that was you, all you, and I put it away for a special occasion.”

Gracie bounced on her knees in excitement a few times until the pain reminded her that the only thing between them and the rock-hard ground was a self-inflating mattress pad and a sleeping bag. “Here,” she thrust her gift into his hands. “You first.”

Luke smiled shyly at his wife, suddenly reminded that they were very much newlyweds. He opened the wrapping to discover an old, very cool gas mask.

“How did you know this is what I always wanted?”

She looked doubtful. “Do you like it? I found it in a glass display case at an army surplus store filled with vintage items. I liked the leather face-gear. I mean, I know we don’t have to worry about airborne threats—at least not yet—but I can’t get you to wear your helmet at all these days, and this thing will offer some protection without all the bulkiness you hate.”

Luke lovingly ran his fingers across the crafted leatherwork surrounding the eyepieces and filter. “Gracie, you have no idea how much I love this thing. You’ll see me wearing it every time the wind kicks up on the river for one thing; my face has been freezing out there.”

“And you’ll look very intimidating in it too,” Gracie added.

Luke kissed her. “Thanks, baby, I love it.”

He then held up a small box that obviously contained jewelry. Luke hadn’t bothered to wrap it but that was fine with Gracie; after an apocalypse it really was the thought that counted on the first Christmas. “Here,” he said softly, “Merry Christmas, Gracie.”

She carefully took the box from his hand, opened it beneath a beam of light shining through the wall of the tent, and caught her breath. Luke had somehow found a necklace with a golden Star of David surrounding a diamond-crusted, Christian cross. The chain was also made of gold, but so thick that she couldn’t imagine a situation in which it might break.

“Baby,” she began, “it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Luke smiled with satisfaction. “I was hoping that it would remind you of your family whenever you saw it.”

She nodded with tears brimming in her eyes. “I got you an old gas mask.”

Luke laughed so hard and long she eventually had to join him. As they finally caught their breath he explained, “I’ve always heard that it’s the thought that counts, but everyone who ever said that didn’t consider the end of the world. Now, it’s what you can find that counts, and money has no meaning at all. I love my gift as much as you love yours, and I love the giver much, much more.”

She held out the necklace. “Put it on me?”

He gently pulled the chain around her neck before connecting the clasp.  “Hold on,” he whispered before putting on his new gas mask.

“You do look scary,” she admitted.

“Merry Christmas,” Luke muffled through the mask before they both collapsed into laughter yet again.

After seeing Gracie and the others off an hour after sunrise Christmas morning, Luke asked Terry to bring him fifty of the most experienced, competent soldiers still in camp. The youngster brought four squads from Maddy’s company, and Gracie’s most experienced scouting team. That left sixty fighters to guard the entrenched, staked camp flanked on two sides by the river, so Luke had no concerns about leaving them behind to maintain security until his return. He suspected that when his wife and friends learned of this recon mission they would be furious with him, but he honestly believed that this was the most efficient use of the forces they had available. Besides, they kept insisting that he was their leader, so they needed to get used to not questioning his decisions.

Even in abundant protective gear and carrying weapons, the soldiers could move along at a miles-devouring trot and not significantly weaken themselves while doing so. Luke led them to I-30 in less than an hour. The roads in the area were among the worst they’d ever seen, filled with burnt-out vehicles and uncountable human bones scattered about. But the obstacles were no problem for the agile fighters, and they flowed through the wreckage quietly and quickly as their commander mentally noted the condition of the big-box stores on the north side of Texarkana from his relatively elevated position on the highway. Several times, mirrors flashed at the column from buildings to the south, a universal signal asking for assistance, but the troops didn’t deviate from their primary mission in spite of the calls for help.

What bothered Luke as the miles passed was that he hadn’t seen or heard any infected. From Watkins’ report, he’d expected to run into packs of hunters as he led his force toward the Army depot, but the outer buildings of the facility had come into view with no sign of the flesh-eaters. Luke had no intention of actually entering the base today, but he did want to know the condition of the roads as well as what level of opposition his main force would face when they moved on the depot the next day. So far, the highways appeared to need serious attention if they were to be used by vehicles anytime soon.