Zombie Theorem (Book 2): The Siege (27 page)

Hase moved over quickly and took the file folder. He shoved it into Howser’s pack. “I think we should get going, guys. Time is running out.” I nodded my agreement and stood.

Hase led us down the way we came and back to the lobby. Heaven and his team met us there. We explained what we found. “I’m sorry, Dan. We struck out. Nothing important.” I shrugged my shoulders and told him it was ok.

We filed into the Humvees and made our way back to the C-130 and the team waiting for us. I stared out the window, still trying to grasp onto one of those puzzle pieces. Before I knew it we had returned to the plane. Kuppers opened the door for me and I stepped out onto the tarmac. “So, find anything good?”

“Yeah, found a document signed by the Secretary of Defense ordering the base evacuated and flown out on a private company’s airlines. Nothing about the city, though.”

Kuppers shared a moment with Hase and Phillips. I sat on the hood of our Humvee and refused to let myself wonder anymore about the mysteries floating around in my head. It was time for me to be in the here and now. Kuppers returned to where I decided to catch some sun and relax. He nodded at me and raised his eyebrows.

“Let’s stop wasting sunlight and get going then,” Kuppers ordered. He then turned and raised his voice to that authorative level he used when he wanted something done right away. “Load up people, time to move out!”

Phillips shook our hands and wished us a safe and fast mission. I climbed behind the wheel of the second Humvee in line and fired it up. Julie climbed into the passenger seat and would act as my navigator. Brian and Angel climbed into the back. All five Humvees sat idling. Their fuel tanks had been topped off using a fuel depot Heaven had found earlier. Our supplies had been measured, divided up, and stowed in the rear of each Humvee. Nothing left now but to get moving. Delta’s lead Humvee pulled out, and I followed after leaving a cushion for safety from an enemy attack.

We pulled out the front gates and headed down the road for a mile and turned east on Highway 2. It was weird not seeing traffic or broken down vehicles on the highway. We made good time as we connected up with Highway 90 and followed it for the short trek to the downtown core. That uneasy feeling I had felt earlier while watching the drone footage of downtown came back. We pulled off onto North Division Road and entered the small downtown of Spokane. I kept thinking that at any second now we would be attacked or surrounded by the zombies. I felt the tension rise in our Humvee as we stared out the windows at the passing buildings. Brian had his M4 ready to fire out the window if we came upon any problems. Julie reached down and gripped her rifle and stared out her window.

I kept my eyes on the lead Humvee and would occasionally check behind us, making sure the rest of the convoy was following. I tried not to watch the buildings as they passed. I wanted to assure we followed the lead Humvee. Heaven manned the .50 Cal in the cupola and moved the weapon back and forth, being vigilant for any movement or danger.

I’d like to say we ran into problems or met up with living people, but the further we went the more I was sure the city was empty. I let my mind wander for a moment as we crossed the river and entered more housing and commercial buildings. I tried to solve the mystery of where everyone went. There should be dead bodies or damage somewhere in the city, but I couldn’t discern any. Spokane is not a very large city, but the idea that they all got up and left was eerie to say the least.

The miles rolled under the Humvee’s tires and melted behind us as we passed a hospital, a Sonic’s Drive-in, parks, houses, and North Town Mall. I expected to see the hospital and the mall packed with cars. They were empty, though. I don’t mean one or two cars in the parking lot. I mean they were devoid of vehicles and life. I pushed down on the brake, bringing us to a complete stop. Up ahead, Delta saw that I had stopped and reversed back to our position. I kept staring at the hospital. Julie reached over and patted my knee. “What’s up, honey?”

I cranked the wheel to my right, coming to an abrupt decision on the spot. I drove over the sidewalk and over the grassy lawn bordering the hospital parking lot. I made for the front doors and stopped in front of them. I sat there with the engine running and stared hard up into the lobby of the building. I knew more answers had to be in that building somewhere. I shut down the Humvee and opened my door. I stepped out and placed my MP5 inside the Humvee onto my vacated seat. I checked the loadout on my shotgun and left my Zomgo pack where it was. I looked back to Kuppers and Vic. They disembarked their Humvees and followed suit with their weapons.

Hase appeared behind my left shoulder and tapped it. I turned to look up at him with a grim look plastered on my face. “We need to go in there, Hase. We need answers if we are going to try and live in this area. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt having additional medical supplies.”

He looked away from me and up to the daunting size of the hospital. “That place could be filled with death and zombies. You know that, right?”

“Brian and I have already survived that one, got the shirt and bumper sticker. Now I really want the mug. I don’t want to take everyone. We need a small team. The rest stay out here protecting the vehicles.”

Vic’s voice butted into our conversation and planning, “I agree with the assessment and plan. I am coming with. I want Apache to come along, also. She has the most medical training out of all of us.”

“I agree. I want Brian, and I know Julie will come no matter what I say.”

I was interrupted before I could say more, “See, I knew you’d learn sooner or later. Told you I wasn’t letting you out of my sight.” Julie and Brian climbed out of the Humvee and went through gear finding what they wanted and needed.

“I want Heaven in there with us. Having someone like him in a place like this makes a lot of sense,” Hase added.

“Ok, we need one more person to make even teams. Brian, who do you want to take in with you?” I asked the big man.

“I’ll take Doc.” He looked back and motioned for Doc to move up.

They chatted for a minute and made their way over to the front doors. They stopped when the front doors opened automatically. ‘I guess they have power’ was a thought running through my head.

“Ok, let’s split this up. Vic, you and Apache take Brian and Doc and head to the Emergency Room to gather your supplies. Move them outside and wait by the elevator doors in case we need back up. Hase and Heaven will accompany Julie and me to the Chief Doctor’s office, which I imagine is on the top floor. Does that sound like a good plan?” Vic and Hase agreed with my spur of the moment plan. “Kuppers, you and the rest of team set up down here, and be prepared to move out if we call in screaming and crying.”

Kuppers raised his right eyebrow at the last part I said. “No heroics, got it,” he said dryly and went back to set up a guard.

I looked into the Humvee and saw Angel. She looked back at me and blew a kiss. I caught it and blew one back. She didn’t seem agitated or scared at all. So, maybe this whole thing will be ok, I told myself.

I checked my shotgun again and patted the messenger bag I donned, which was full of extra rounds. I allowed Brian and Doc to make entrance first, with Vic and Apache close on her heels. Julie and I followed with Hase and Heaven, backing us up. We split off at the first hallway, as Brian and his group headed to the emergency room. My group continued to the admitting desk.

I came around the desk and sat in the chair. I found the computer screen glowing bright when I bumped the mouse. No password? Are you kidding me? I would fire people for that at my old job. I looked around on the desktop until I identified a directory and clicked on it.

I typed in “administrator” and was taken to a screen covered in numbers and directions to the Administration’s office. I pulled out my handy dandy flip notebook and made notations of the directions to those offices. I then clicked back on a search field and typed in Chief Surgeon. I noted in my notebook that information and then clicked on the email icon. I read through the last four emails’ subject lines. None gave a clue into what I was looking for.

“The Chief’s office is on the seventh floor, Room 719. Let’s take the elevators, not just because I am soft and would be needing mouth to mouth if I was forced to climb, but it will allow us to bypass floors that could be full of patients that are looking for a hot meal.” Julie had to cover her mouth to stifle a giggle at my words.

Hase never said a word. He moved down the hall toward the elevators and punched the up key. Heaven stepped back and aimed his rifle at the doors. Julie and I stood a safe distance back while we covered the hall in both directions. The elevator dinged with a yellow up arrow illuminating over the doors. They opened and Heaven rushed forward and cleared it. I guess it doesn’t take long to clear a space eight feet by five feet. He whistled softly, and Julie and I fell back and boarded the elevator. Hase entered last, covering us. The doors slid closed and, using a knuckle, I stabbed the seventh floor’s button.

An instrumental version of U2’s “
With or Without You”
played softly over the speakers in the ceiling. I hummed along with the music until I noticed three sets of eyes watching me in irritation. I stopped and looked down at my boots. They were dirty and encrusted in all kinds of stains and detritus. I am going to need to clean them at some point. Maybe Brian will teach me how to shine them bright like in the movies. My mind was really wandering around in all kinds of places today. I raised my head as the doors dinged and opened to an embossed red number 7 on the wall in front of us. Hase stepped forward as I leaned on the open door button. Julie and Heaven followed him after a minute of silence. I let go of the button and followed them out into the wide tiled floor. We stood there listening to the silence emanating from the floor. I checked the small numbers on the wall with arrows pointing in separate directions.

I raised my shotgun and advanced down in the direction the little red arrow directed me. Heaven appeared next to me with his rifle up against his shoulder. We made it down the hallway with no incidents. I stood in front of the proper office with the plaque stating Chief Surgeon Jon Spielman. I reached out and turned the knob with a slightly shaking hand. I hated this part back at the tower. It scared the shit out of me every single time. I met Heaven’s gaze, and he nodded once slightly. I pushed the door carefully, and Heaven stepped through the door to quickly clear the room. 

The room consisted of a large mahogany desk sitting in front of the windows overlooking the parking lot. A credenza sat against the far wall of the office. I moved to the desk, as Julie came in looking through the credenza. Hase and Heaven stayed in the hallway watching for any movement. I flipped through files and patient charts. I pushed them aside and went through the drawers, pulling out more patient files and folders. I turned on his laptop on the desk and was confronted with a password prompt. “Finally, I find a computer that may be useful, and the bastard has a password on it.”

Hase came in and pushed me out of the way. He flipped over the laptop revealing a sticker on the bottom with a username and password written on it. I peeled it off, and he put the laptop in front of me. “Never met a doctor who could remember important things like usernames and passwords.” He turned and joined with Heaven in the hallway again.

I opened the doctor’s email and perused through it. One email jumped out to me. It was titled CDC Biological Emergency. I skimmed through it and found that I didn’t understand half of it. It used a bunch of fifty dollar words and acronyms I had no idea of what they meant. I hit the print function and was rewarded with the printer whirring on the credenza. Julie looked over at me when it came to life.

“I kind of found something and want to print it out to share.”

“You could’ve warned me. I almost shot the damn thing. You should take the laptop while you’re at it.”

That was a great idea. I looked around the floor and found a laptop case. When the printer finished, I shutdown the laptop and shoved it and its power cord into the case. Julie handed me the print outs, and I included them inside, also. I now had what I wanted, and we made our way into the hallway and back to the elevators.

I kept having a feeling we were being followed. I would stop and look behind us often. Heaven stopped and looked where I was looking and then over at me. He spoke quietly, “What do you see?”

“Not really what I see, but what I feel. I feel like someone is following us, or at least watching us.” It finally hit me when I looked at the corner of the hallway and up to the black camera dome. “Cameras. Let’s find the security room and see if we can look back at the video of what went down.”

“Good idea, my friend.” He spoke to Hase over my findings, as I stood there with the shotgun in hands and the laptop bag slung over my shoulder. Julie hit the down button and stepped back, waiting for the doors to open. They didn’t, they never moved.

“I think our mysterious watcher just shut down the elevators. Stairs, quickly, let’s go.” Hase kicked the door to the stairway open and stormed onto the landing. I stood covering the landing and stepped aside to let Heaven storm pass. Julie and I followed, with Hase taking up the rear. They switched off positions at each landing all the way to the first floor. We stepped out and came face-to-face with Brian and his group.

“What’s up, guys?” Brian asked, surprised at our arrival.

Hase rounded up Apache, Doc, Vic, and Brian and explained to them what we found and that we needed to find the security room. Vic took the laptop bag from me and hurried to the front doors. He spoke to Kuppers and left the bag with him. He came back and nodded that he was ready.