Zombie Rules (Book 4): Destiny (41 page)

“I can answer that. First, we must assume there are people out there who are monitoring radio transmissions with their fancy little Bearcat scanners. They may be good guys or they may be bad guys, marauders. So, we limit our transmission range and we only speak when we have to. Second, and this is what I think Josue is worried about, if you talk a lot on one of those radios that has a short antenna, it’ll eventually damage the radio.”

“Si,” Josue replied.

“Oh,” Kate said.

“So, reiterating, all radio transmissions should be short and sweet and we’ll be changing frequencies often.” I saw Kate about to ask another question and I held up a finger.

“There is a pattern we’re going to use when changing frequencies. It’s all written down in the packet, so read up on it.” I’d answered her question, but not to be out done, she rolled her eyes and flippantly tossed some hair back. I had no idea why she didn’t like me, I only assumed it was because she was sleeping with Shooter and therefore she
had
to dislike me. Seth nodded and motioned for me to continue.

“Also included in the packet is an inventory list of essential gear. Whatever vehicle you’re in, you’ll be responsible for the gear, and of course you can bring any of your personal property along. Keep in mind though that space is at a premium.” I looked over the passenger list and passed out the copies of the mission order.

“Okay, please take the time to read up on this, and if you decide to switch vehicles, please let me know. Any questions on what we’ve covered so far?” Nobody said anything, not even Kate.

“Okay, good. Now, we need to address our biggest issue: ammunition. We don’t have a whole heck of a lot.”

“Captain, what is your inventory of ammunition?” Sarah asked.

“Ma’am, in the Stryker we started out with two thousand rounds for the fifty caliber, one hundred grenades of various types, and fifty mortar rounds. But, we only have approximately two hundred rounds of five-five-six.”

“And each vehicle is going to have their own load of ammunition,” I added.

“So,” Sarah continued. “We don’t need to be going on any zombie safaris.”

“Agreed, ma’am,” Seth said. “We only shoot in defense of life, right, Lieutenant?”

“Absolutely, sir,” Justin replied and pointedly made eye contact with everyone to ensure they understood.

“If you have a stash of ammo, don’t leave it behind. If there is some type of specialty item you think we’ll need and you don’t have it, let me know and maybe we can scrounge it up.

“Our departure is in three days. Major Fowkes and Captain Kitchens have agreed that a certain jarhead should be the road commander.” There was laughter at this.

“Absolutely,” Sarah replied. Seth nodded his agreement.

“Cool. Now, with Jorge and Josue’s help, I’ll ensure that every vehicle is prepped and ready to go. It is up to all of you to ensure you have your essentials. I’m not sharing my toilet paper or tooth paste, so bring your own. Any questions?” I looked around and waited. Rachel raised her hand.

“How long will the trip take?”

“It took us three days to get down here,” Seth responded. ”With the eighteen-wheeler and extra vehicles, I’d estimate an additional eight to ten hours. No more than four days, barring any unforeseen catastrophe.”

“We’re going to assemble at zero-six-hundred hours at the Concord and Nolensville intersection,” Justin declared. “That means all vehicles will be loaded up and ready to go the night before. We’re going to depart no later than zero-seven-hundred hours. Anyone not present will be left behind.” Sheila wiped her mouth and spoke up.

“Zach, if I may ask, you have a lot of livestock, what’s going to happen to them?”

“I had considered acquiring a second eighteen-wheeler and hooking a cattle car up to it, but decided it isn’t feasible, so I’ve worked it all out with Tonya. The school group is going to take over running my farm.”

“What about that tour bus?” Kate asked. “Why can’t we take it?”

“We considered it, but after discussing the road conditions with the captain, I don’t think the bus would be a viable means of transportation, so we’re going to go with the van instead.”

“But the bus has a toilet,” she lamented.

“Oh, please,” Sarah retorted. Kate’s lips tightened, but she didn’t say anything else.

“Okay, getting back to the fuel, we have the two tankers, one will be for diesel and one will be for gas.”

“How much?” Seth asked. I noticed Raymond had surreptitiously slid my notepad closer to him and was now reading it intently.

“Each tanker can hold up to five hundred gallons, but we only have about two hundred gallons of each, maybe a little less. With each vehicle filled up, we should be okay, but we may need to siphon a few tanks along the way.” Raymond looked up.

“It looks like you’ve thought of everything, Zach. We need to set you up with the logistics team when we get home.”

“Ray runs the logistics team,” Sheila said.

“It’s a lot of work,” he lamented. “I could certainly use some help.”

I didn’t comment. The truth was, the only thing I really wanted to do anymore was run a farm, raise my kids, and chase Kelly around the house. I cleared my throat.

“If you’ll note, I’m going to have the semi, work truck, the dually, and the van loaded up and ready to go on the eve of departure. Sergeant Caswell,” I said and nodded toward him, “has agreed to assemble a team to guard them that night.”

“That’s affirmative,” he replied. “True and Mann have volunteered.” I pretended to look at my notes while I gauged the reactions of Justin and Seth out of my peripheral vision. I didn’t detect signs of suspicion.

“Okay, I would like for each of you to read the mission order thoroughly and have a good idea of how this is going to be run. If you find a mistake or have a suggestion, please speak out.”

The rest of the evening was spent by everyone discussing what they should bring. Several questions were asked of me, that is, until I kept referring them to specific pages in the checklist and mission order. Everyone slowly ran out of steam and decided to retire to their respective homes. Brandon and his crew lingered behind and were the last ones to leave.

“Do you think it’ll work?” he asked.

“Yep. How’s your scavenging going?”

“We’ve been going at it hot and heavy. Tonya’s been on our asses for shirking our duties.” Blake scoffed and spat.

“I’ll be one happy ex-soldier when we get out of that school.”

“Yeah,” True added.

“Well, anyway, we’ve found some stuff we can use, the rest we’ll give to you.”

“We ain’t giving it to Tonya, that’s for sure,” True said. I chuckled.

“Alright, we’re still good with the plan?” I asked. The three of them nodded. “Good, I’ll see you men in two nights.”

I started to walk back inside, but as I did so, their headlights caught the shadow of two figures standing beside the barn. I pulled my Kimber out and started to open fire.

“Wait, Zach.” It was Sarah. She and Rachel emerged and walked over.

“What are you two doing?” I asked as I holstered my handgun.

“Being nosy,” Rachel responded cheerfully.

“Not cool,” I rejoined.

“What’s going on, Zach?” Sarah asked. I didn’t answer, only stared at her coldly in the dark.

“Does this mean you don’t trust me?” she asked in a softer tone.

“The two of you are soldiers; you’ve sworn an oath, correct?” Sarah didn’t say anything this time, she merely stared at me. “The answer is yes, you have, and I think the two of you don’t give your word glibly.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying I’m not going to answer you. You two are going to have to trust me and honor my request to not say anything about this. It’ll all come to light very soon. Afterward, if you feel I’ve done something wrong, you can criticize me all you want.”

“Does Kelly know?” Rachel asked.

“Of course.”

“Oh, good, we’ll ask her,” Rachel said and headed for the door. Sarah reached out and grabbed her by the arm. Rachel scoffed.

“You’re no fun.”

“I want you two to stay quiet about this. I’ll explain everything at a later time.” They didn’t like it, but they didn’t argue and left soon answer.

I was sitting on the tailgate of my truck waiting for them with a thermos of coffee. It wasn’t decaf and I’d probably stay awake all night, but I couldn’t help myself. They arrived promptly at twenty-three hundred hours in Rick’s dually truck. They’d found a camper top from somewhere that fit nicely on the back.

“How’d it go?” I asked. Blake inhaled deeply and let it out slowly.

“She knew we were going to pull guard duty here on these vehicles, but that didn’t stop her from assigning me guard duty at the school.”

“Well, that wasn’t very nice of her, but you really don’t have guard duty,” I reminded him. Blake scoffed.

“Yeah, but she didn’t know that.”

“No worries,” Brandon said. “You can sit in back and catch some shut-eye.”

“Hell, I’m too keyed up to sleep. But I got her back,” he said. “At the end of my shift, I fired off a shot and told them I spotted a zombie. All of them are awake now.” I couldn’t help but laugh. It served them right for doing that to Blake.

“Do y’all have the dually all packed up and ready to go?”

“Roger that,” Brandon replied.

“Alright, well, I guess there’s nothing left to say. If you get tired of seeing the country, this house should be empty and available.”

“We appreciate you, Zach. Are you sure you can handle those officers? They might want to come looking for us.”

“Not a problem, don’t even worry about it. You guys just promise me to take care of each other,” I said and took turns shaking hands with each of them. Without further fanfare, they loaded up and left. I went back to my tailgate and sat.

“You can stop hiding now,” I said into the dark. After a moment, a small flashlight came on and the two women emerged from the barn.

“Did you know we were back there the whole time?” Rachel asked.

“How could you not be?” I responded. “You two are a couple of busybodies. Look,” I said as I used my own flashlight to point out two cups sitting beside me. “I was so certain you two were going to spy on me, I brought extra cups.” I poured each of them some coffee and motioned toward them. “Drink up.” They each took a cup and sat down beside me.

“So, what did we just witness?” Sarah asked.

“You just watched three soldiers resigning from their military obligation and going their own way.” Sarah took a moment to digest the information.

“And you helped them,” she said with an accusatory hint in her tone.

“Yep.”

“But, why?” Rachel asked.

“They’re tired of taking orders.” I told them about the bullshit stunt Tonya had pulled on Blake. “That right there is a good example. They’re ready to be their own men.”

“But why did they sneak off in the middle of the night?”

“Because they didn’t want any officers trying to pull rank and cause problems. They already said if that happened, it was going to turn ugly. I believed them and I prevented any possibility of it happening.”

“Lieutenant Smithson is going to take it personally,” Sarah said.

“That’s why you’re going to help me explain it to him.”

We couldn’t sleep; all of us were keyed up. Instead, we talked the rest of the night. At about four, we opted to surprise everyone with breakfast.

“I know you two don’t quite understand, but your mother is buried here.” I glanced at Kelly as I said this. She was sitting across from us; it was the first time she’d come up to the mound since she helped me bury everyone.

“But Kelly is your mommy now,” I continued. She smiled quietly as she brought her camera up.

“Okay, everyone look at me,” she said and snapped a couple of photographs. When we made the decision to leave, she’d scrounged up a digital camera and took pictures of everything and everybody. I wondered if we’d ever be able to print them off once we got to Mount Weather.

I said a few more words, wiped away a tear before Kelly noticed it, and led my family down the hill to Sarah and her Humvee.

“Alright, I’ve forgotten something; let’s ride back over to Fred’s house.” Sarah glanced at me as if to say, you never forget anything, but she didn’t comment. All three of them were standing there expectantly when we drove up. Getting out, I got some carrots out of the Igloo cooler and walked over to them. Shithead was the first to walk over to me.

“Alright you guys, you’re on your own now. Take care of each other, okay?” Sate responded by bumping me with his head and sniffing me, looking for more carrots. It was a sad goodbye, almost as bad as a few minutes ago when I was up on the mound. I was tempted to load up a horse trailer at the last minute, even though we’d decided against taking them back when we planned out the trip. I gave each of them one last scratch behind the ears.

“I’m going to miss them more than anyone at the school,” I commented after I got back in the Humvee. Sarah nodded in agreement.

“I’m telling you, man, I’ll be okay,” Jorge declared. He was sitting on his motorcycle, gripping the handlebars while his sister tried to pry his hands off. We had loaded it up in the semi’s trailer but last night he apparently got a wild hair and unloaded it. It was obvious he’d washed and waxed it, probably after everyone had gone to bed.

“It’s not safe,” Maria countered.

“I can scout ahead and I got this walkie-talkie to let you guys know if I see anything. When I get tired, I’ll load it up and ride with you.” I looked over Jorge’s motorcycle before glancing at Justin and Seth. Both of them shrugged apathetically.

“It can’t hurt, I suppose,” Justin said. Jorge grinned in triumph. When they walked off, Justin turned to me.

“Apparently, we have three men who’re AWOL. It seems like I’m the last to know about it.” I took a breath and explained it all to him. Sarah was standing off to the side. Within earshot but far enough away to be out of the conversation. When I was finished, Justin let out a long sigh.

“Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“They know how much you believe in duty. They weren’t going to take a chance that you’d pull rank on them.”

“If I did, would they have listened?”

“Nope, and you better believe they were ready to shoot it out if they felt threatened.”

“That wouldn’t have happened,” Justin claimed.

“So, you wouldn’t have tried to stop them?” He didn’t answer.

“Yeah, you would have been pissed, and then Captain Kitchens would have felt an obligation to back you, and the next thing you know, it would have been a major cluster fuck.”

“Maybe,” he conceded.

“Don’t get me wrong, I would’ve loved for them to be with us, but it was their choice, nobody else’s.”

“They took one of the M60s.”

“I gave it to them.” Justin stared at me with a frown.

“If I remember correctly, when you first spotted True, you pulled a gun on him and you’re still not convinced Mann wasn’t involved in the death of your wife.”

“I’ve given them the benefit of the doubt, just like I have with you and Ruth.” Justin snorted at this.

“Alright, what’s done is done, I suppose.” He looked around. “We’re wasting time; let’s get this goat fuck underway.”

We had the convoy of vehicles lined up in proper order almost an hour before departure time. Everything seemed to be going as expected and I hoped it stayed that way. Feeling I had to do something useful, I walked the line and checked the tires on each vehicle. They looked no different from the last time I checked them and was about have everyone check their headlights again when Tonya walked up.

“Looks like everyone’s ready to go.”

“Alright, if you decide to visit my farm, I’ve disabled all of the booby traps except for the creek. The bottom is full of sharpened stakes. Oh, and if anyone decides to move in the home, the stovepipes and chimney are full of creosote, they’ll need cleaning.”

“I’ll warn everyone,” she replied and changed the subject. “I’m still surprised you decided to go.”

“And I’m surprised you decided to stay,” I replied.

“They don’t have anything I want or need.” She looked me over and actually smiled. “I bet one day I’ll see you coming back down this road. I’ll give it a year.”

“Time will tell, I suppose. If it does happen, I hope my family and I will be welcome.”

“Of course you will.” She lit her little one-hitter and offered it to me. I shook my head, which caused her to snort.

“You’re the most straight-laced kid I’ve ever met.” I chuckled as I watched Marc and Ward walking around giving everyone a farewell hug. I gestured at them.

“I kind of thought they’d go too.”

“They’re scared of the unknown,” Tonya replied. “This is their comfort zone. Same as everyone else who’s decided to stay.” I guess she was right. Marc, Ward, Gus, Rhonda, and the two nurses had decided to stay.

“I heard about the soldiers,” she said.

“Oh, yeah?”

“And you knew all about it.”

“Word travels fast around here.”

“Did they say where they were going?” she asked.

“They said they were going to hit the open road and see the world.”

“Dumbasses,” she said in contempt. I chuckled, even though I disagreed with her sentiment. I wish they were going with us, but I was happy for them. I didn’t tell her that Goober’s death was the deciding factor in their decision. True pointed out how Goober had pulled guard duty three nights in a row while others, Tonya specifically, had never pulled a single shift.

I saw Justin giving the hand signal for everyone to mount up.

“Alright,” I said. “This is it.”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” I pulled some papers out of my pocket and unfolded them.

“I made a hand-drawn map of our route and all of the waypoints, just in case anyone changes their mind. Oh, and I have a log of all of the cattle sitting in my desk at home.”

She looked at me with a sad smile, took the papers, and put her hands out.

“Give me a hug, kid.” Well, that certainly surprised me. I obliged, it was awkward as hell, but I obliged. She finished with a pat on the back.

“You take care of these people and make sure they get there in one piece. Even those two idiot brothers.”

“I’ll do my best,” I said.

“I know you will.” She turned and walked away suddenly. I thought I caught sight of her eyes watering up, but maybe it was my imagination. I was about to jump in the truck when Marc and Ward caught me and surrounded me with a group hug. Kelly, not to be left out, jumped out of the Volvo and joined in.

“We’re going to miss all of you,” Marc said forlornly. Both of their faces were wet and puffy from all of the crying. After the hug, I looked at them sadly.

“Guys, we’ve certainly had our ups and downs, but I’ve grown quite fond of you two and I’m going to miss the hell out of you.”

“Ditto,” Kelly added with another hug. Rhonda ran up and joined in the tears and hugging. At least Gus held his emotions in check and offered a simple handshake. After a lot more hugging and snot filled well-wishes, we managed to get ourselves separated from them and the kids secured in the semi. Kelly got behind the wheel without asking.

“Do you think you can drive this thing with a trailer attached?” I asked with a grin.

“Not only can I drive it, I can drive it better than you,” she retorted with a smug wink before going through the startup procedure. I couldn’t help but laugh, while Janet, sitting in the sleeper section, grunted. The radio crackled to life

“All units check in with your status,” Justin ordered.

“Your scout is ready, man,” Jorge replied. Everyone followed suit, with either a ten-four or some kind of simplistic variation, with the exception of Cutter, of course.

“Time to kick ass and take names,” he shouted on the radio and then gave a rebel yell. You almost couldn’t hear him from the blaring of heavy metal music in the background. I groaned.

“What an idiot,” Kelly mumbled. She had put on a pair of Ray-Ban aviator style sunglasses and began checking the gauges. The combination of the glasses and her dark hair was cascading down her shoulders kind of turned me on.

“You’re a mighty sexy-looking truck driver,” I said. When she looked at me with a smile, I snapped a picture.

“You set me up,” she accused with mock indignation and self-consciously ran a hand through her hair.

“It’s getting long,” I observed.

“I need to cut it. Maybe I’ll cut it short, like Sarah’s.”

“That’s a big negative,” I replied tersely. She smiled as I took more pictures, and almost as an afterthought I took a picture of Janet sitting with the kids before setting the camera down and looking out the window at the passing scenery.

“Are you nervous?” Kelly asked.

“No,” I answered quickly. “Maybe a little,” I added after a moment.

“I’m going to miss living here,” Kelly lamented.

“Do you ever miss where you lived before?”

“Not really,” she answered. “My parents lived in the same house that I grew up in. It wasn’t that big, the only decorating they ever did was buy a new TV, and the neighborhood had gone downhill over the years.”