A New World: Conspiracy (22 page)

Blanchard arrives and immediately sets to
work with the ones at the back of the room – taking vitals and
setting up IVs. He has a difficult time finding veins but
eventually manages. Krandle offers water and small bits of food
from his pack to the two men and girl. The men take what is
offered. The girl is hesitant at first, but then digs in.

As Blanchard treats the men and women, one
of the men shares some of their story. It’s one of searching for
food by day and retreating to the meat locker at night. He tells of
the food sources dwindling until they’ve had to subsist on
crackers, potato chips, and whatever else they could find. The
store shelves emptied early, and they’ve gone from house to house.
They learned early that the dark held death, so they would only go
in if they could make enough light by smashing windows. Lately,
though, they haven’t found much of anything. It’s been merely
fruitless searching by day and the pounding on the freezer doors by
those creatures at night.

He goes on to tell that this was the only
place they could find that they could barricade safely. The
barricade at the gate that a few survivors erected only held for a
short time. They set the bus on fire as a last resort, but that too
only worked for a scant matter of minutes. There were more of them,
but after the creatures broke through…

“It was a slaughter,” the man says, his eyes
far away in the memory of that night. “And there were creatures
inside as well. The roar of the fire…the gunshots down in the
town…the screams. I can still hear them. We didn’t have a chance.
The few of us remaining fled into the night and retreated here. The
creatures followed, but we were able to hold the door against them.
Then morning came and with it, silence. It soon became evident that
the creatures didn’t come out during the day, so we hammered the
roof in. That was the only way we could be assured it was safe to
come out each morning. They still come and the shrieks every night
are enough to drive one insane.”

“Why you didn’t just leave during the day?”
Krandle asks, looking to see where Blanchard is with his
ministrations.

“We wanted to but had…several others who
were too injured to move. They eventually…passed on,” the man says
with tears welling. “By that time, several more became sick, and by
the time they passed, we couldn’t find a vehicle we could start. We
thought about heading out on foot, but we were more worried about
getting stranded somewhere after dark. Now, well, Jim, Maggie, and
I could leave and take the risk, but we can’t very well leave the
others behind.”

Krandle catches Blanchard’s eye and motions
to him.

“Excuse us a moment,” Krandle says to the
man.

“Well, Blanchard, can we move them?” he asks
once they are out of earshot.

“Those four can only move on a stretcher and
that’s iffy,” Blanchard states.

“Okay, see what you can do. I’m going to
call the captain.”

Krandle contacts Captain Leonard and relays
the situation. He then asks for permission to bring the survivors
aboard.

“We don’t have room aboard, Chief. Give them
coordinates to Captain Walker’s location,” Leonard replies.

“Sir, they won’t make it out of town let
alone that distance. And there isn’t any transportation,” Krandle
says.

“Chief, can you tell me with one hundred
percent certainty that none of them are ill?” Leonard asks.

“No, sir,” Krandle answers.

“Sorry, but we can’t risk an illness aboard.
Find them a map and see if you can get a vehicle for them to
travel. Leave them whatever supplies you deem pertinent.”

“Aye, sir,” Krandle replies.

Krandle leans against a kitchen wall
thinking over their situation. He understands the captain but
doesn’t feel good about just leaving the survivors to themselves.
In their current shape, merely giving them supplies and finding
transportation would be the same as pronouncing their death
sentence. After thinking it through, he pushes himself off the wall
and walks back to the freezer.

Motioning Blanchard aside once again, he
asks, “What’s the final word?”

“Chief, they’re in bad shape. I set up IVs,
gave them some water and food. The ones standing are fine, a little
weak, but they’ll make it. The others…well, time will tell. They
should recover, but at this point, it will be up to them. We can
give them antibiotics, hydrate them, and feed them, but they’ll
have to be mentally strong if they are to fully recover. If we
didn’t show up when we did, I’d say most would be dead sometime
tomorrow,” Blanchard responds.

“Are they sick?” Krandle asks.

“You mean like a virus or something?”

“Yeah. Like do they have the flu or a
cold?”

“Not that I can tell. They’re very
malnourished and some have cuts and scratches that are infected,
but I don’t think they’re sick,” Blanchard answers.

“Can you say with one hundred percent
assurance?”

“Nothing is one hundred percent, but they
don’t have symptoms of being ill other than a general weakness.
Their heart rates, blood pressure, and breathing rates are all
down, but that’s the malnutrition. They don’t have fevers, coughs,
excess mucus, or any other indication that they are viral,”
Blanchard reports. “Let me guess, the captain isn’t letting them
onboard?”

“No.”

“I can’t say that I really blame him, Chief,
but yeah, we need to give these people some help and soon,”
Blanchard says.

“Will they survive a trip to Captain
Walker’s?” Krandle asks.

“What?! No way. Not on their own anyway. The
two men and girl standing…perhaps. It’s only a couple of days
drive, but the immobile ones, no. They may not survive a trek to
the sub.”

“What if we stayed to help? How long until
they could survive the trip north?”

Blanchard pauses, glancing momentarily
toward the people in the locker. “Two to three days minimum. That’s
no guarantee, and I’d need a whole lot more than I have here with
me.”

Krandle radios Leonard again and relays his
medic’s appraisal.

“Chief, I’m standing firm. We can’t afford
to take on survivors. We made it clear when we left that we would
direct anyone we found to head north to Captain Walker,” Leonard
states.

“I understand, sir. I’m asking that we stay
until they are strong enough to make the journey,” Krandle
says.

“You want me to park my sub here for three
days?” Leonard replies with an edge to his voice.

“Aye, sir. It’s about finding survivors and
preserving what’s left of humankind,” Krandle answers.

A long pause ensues before Leonard
replies.

“Let me make this perfectly clear. It’s
first about protecting the crew, but you have your three days. Have
your medic send a list of his needs and be back before
sundown.”

“I’ll be staying with them, sir,” Krandle
states.

Another long moment of silence.

“Chief, you and your team are the only
security force we have. That being said, our agreement gives you
some latitude in how you operate. This would normally be
non-negotiable, but I’m giving you leave to operate as you see fit.
You have three days…three days only, and then we’re done here
regardless of the situation,” Leonard replies.

“Aye, aye, sir.”

Krandle walks to the others of his team to
confer when one of the men hails him.

“What’s going to happen to us? You’re taking
us with you, aren’t you?” the man asks on the verge of panic. His
eyes have the fear that newly arrived hope is about to be yanked
away.

“We’re going to stay to get you back on your
feet and then guide you to a safe place that’s been set up,”
Krandle answers.

“Thank you, sir,” the man says.

Krandle nods and joins the others. “Okay,
gents, here’s the plan…”

* * * * * *

Krandle stands at the edge of the mall
parking lot, watching the day draw to a close. The clouds have
given way allowing the sunset to bathe the sky in glorious reds and
oranges. The horizon is painted as if a great fire burns there,
which, technically, it does. A cool breeze blows at his back toward
the ocean and where the rest of his team lies safely submerged with
the
Santa Fe
. That is with the exception of Blanchard who is
also remaining behind to minister to the weakened survivors.

During the day, the team relayed equipment
from the sub to shore. Krandle remembers Franklin’s raised eyebrows
as he read through the list Krandle gave him, but then he shrugged
and tucked it in his pocket. To a person, everyone on the team
volunteered to stay the night – even Speer, which surprised
Krandle.

“This place is as secure as anyplace else.
I’m only staying because these people need hope more than they need
firepower. Besides, Captain Leonard will get cranky if he doesn’t
see your ugly mugs guarding his boat,” he remembers telling
them.

The last rays of the sun catch the top of
the choppy ocean waves and the spray where the waves bash against
the rocks farther offshore. Krandle wishes he could watch the last
of the glorious sunset but knows it’s time to retreat – the night
doesn’t belong to them anymore. It’s not the sanctuary of dark that
they once coveted and used to hide their operations. Now it has
been turned against them.

Walking through the restaurant, he rechecks
the trip wire and the placement of the claymore he set up earlier.
He would have placed it closer to the kitchen but didn’t want to
risk jarring the freezer door loose from the back blast. Earlier
that day, he and Ortiz set another one up on the roof away from the
freezer.

He enters the tight quarters. Blanchard is
kneeling by the four, checking the IV drips. The two men look
nervous as the door swings shut and the girl remains close to one
of them. The freezer door closes with a sharp click and they drape
a chain around a thick C-clamps bolted securely to the door and
adjoining wall. With the aid of a faint beam from a flashlight,
they lock the chain in place.

With the doors closed, the aromatic nature
of the inside becomes more prevalent. It’s more than just body
odor. The weaker ones sitting on the floor weren’t able to move
much and have soiled themselves. Blanchard cleaned them up as best
he could, and the team found additional clothing for them. As the
two men observed the weaker ones being bathed, they turned away,
feeling ashamed that they didn’t do this for the others.

“We were concentrating on finding food and
water,” the man named Jim said at the time and walked away.

The men light a camp lantern, casting a dim
light across the interior. They break into rations the team
brought, and the girl, casting a smile at Krandle, opens the
wrapper of an energy bar. Krandle remembers Walker’s warning about
the night runner’s heightened sense of smell but lets the others
eat.

After all, it’s not like they can’t smell
us already
, Krandle thinks.

“We haven’t had the chance to get acquainted
earlier. I’m Vance,” he says, passing his canteen of water to the
others.

“I’m Charles,” says the man who has done
most of the talking. “This is Jim and Maggie. Those over there are
Carol, Miguel, Ritchie, and…shit, I can’t remember the other dude’s
name.”

“The one attending them is…” Krandle begins,
but is interrupted by a faint shriek coming from outside.

Charles and Jim tense and look toward the
door, their bites of food forgotten. Maggie looks up with terrified
eyes. The sound comes as if from far away, but the shelter of the
locker mutes any noise. Other screams begin to fill the night. The
night runners have emerged.

Krandle tenses along with the others and
turns toward the door, his M-4 lowered but ready. Blanchard comes
up beside him and assumes the same stance. A crash from inside the
café carries to them. The volume and number of shrieks rise.
Krandle hears a whimper from behind and glances to see Maggie
folded tightly against Charles. Charles, in return, has his arms
wrapped around the girl, but his eyes are wide with fear. Krandle
is sure those eyes have seen enough death to be terrified of those
now prowling around outside. He himself is nervous remembering the
run through the jungle with night runners hard on their heels. He
turns back to the door.

The ground shakes and a roaring blast
penetrates the thick walls. The compression from being inside an
enclosed space pounds at their eardrums. Through the rolling boom,
Krandle hears Maggie shriek and one of the men scream. The lantern
blinks out, but the light returns seconds later. The blast rolls
away, leaving silence outside and all of them sticking a finger in
their ears trying to clear them. All, that is, except Maggie who
has crouched in fear and has her ears covered with her hands.

Krandle snaps on his light to check on the
door and is relieved when he sees it is still whole and tightly
shut. He turns it back off to conserve his power.

“What…what was that?” Charles asks.

“A little present I left them,” Krandle
answers.

Blanchard goes to check on the patients and
is relieved, as Krandle was with the door, to find the IVs still in
place.

Blanchard rejoins Krandle. A short time
later, the shrieks resume, although they are more muted. Krandle
motions upward with the barrel of his carbine, indicating that the
night runners are on the roof above. In the dim light, Blanchard
nods.

Another thunderous blast shakes the
interior, this one not as momentous as the last.

“Another of your presents?” Charles asks as
the booming noise fades away.

“Yep.”

“How many did you leave?” Jim asks.

“That’s it,” Krandle answers.

The silence lasts this time. After a while,
Krandle notices the others fall asleep and details shifts for
Blanchard and him to watch over the group. The night passes without
further incident.