Dead Life Book 5 (16 page)

I leaned my rifle against the wall outside of the door and took one of the grenades in my hand. Gripping it tightly I pulled the pin and looked around, wondering where I could put it. I was only going to throw the grenade as a last resort. Hopefully I’d be reinserting the pin in a few seconds. I stuck the pin in my top pocket and reached down to pick up my rifle. How was I going to open the door with a grenade in one hand and a rifle in the other?  “Al, how do I do this?” I said to myself. Then I heard his voice in my head say, “Put the rifle down. Take your pistol in one hand and use the same hand to open the door,” in a disgusted tone. “You didn’t have to say it like that,” I said. Talking to myself, I’m losing it.

Putting my rifle back against the wall again I fumbled my pistol out of my holster with my left hand. I got hold of the doorknob as best I could and turned it ever so slightly. At least it wasn’t locked. The latch clicked loudly and the moaning started back in earnest again. I threw my body against the door, closing it with a loud bang. Something wasn’t right. I looked down at my hand. The grenade wasn’t there. It was lying on the ground by the wall. I reached down to pick it up, realized that was a bad idea, grabbed my rifle, took two steps, and dove around the corner as the grenade exploded.

I’m dead. I have to be dead. No I’m not. I’m fine. I’m not fine. I’m an idiot. Thank God nobody was here to see that. Al would be laughing his ass off and Gina would have killed me. I stood up, dusted myself off, got the other grenade out of my pocket, then thought that I had better not and put it back. The zombies were going crazy inside the hangar by now and the moaning sounded louder from just around the corner. Moving away from the hangar I gave myself plenty of room and went back around the corner. The door looked fine but there was a jagged three foot hole at the base of the wall. All I would have to do now was get on the ground and peer in through the hole. What a stroke of genius. Couldn’t have worked out better if I would have planned it that way.

I went back to the truck and got a flashlight. Should have got one before. Then went back to the hole in the wall. From about ten feet away I got down on the ground and looked in. There was light coming from inside the hangar. They must not have shut down the generators on this part of the base. I could see something that looked like a table laying on its side on the ground but not much else. Whatever it was blocked my view into the hangar. I crawled to a different angle so I could see around it and saw a bunch of table legs but no zombie legs. I got up, went to the door, and went in. The hangar looked like a make-shift hospital. There were dozens of cots lined up throughout the building. Each bed had the still “living” body of a zombie strapped to it. Most, but not all of them had their heads restrained. Those that could lifted their heads to look at me. The ones that couldn’t raise their heads, because they were strapped down better than the others, shifted their eyes to get a better look at me. The way they looked at me from the corners of their eyes was the creepiest thing I had ever seen and believe me I’ve seen a lot of weird shit in the past few weeks. All of them gnashed their teeth and fought to free themselves. The dinner bell had been rung and I was the main course.

This was why the hospital hadn’t been overrun. Whoever was in charge here knew exactly what was going to happen and had kept the infected out of the hospital. But why had they left them here like this? I wouldn’t have done something like this to my worst enemy. This was why I had never joined the service. Only a group of assholes as seriously fucked up as the US Army would do something this sick. I was going to have to put each one of them down. This was going to take a while. There were close to a hundred zombies in the hangar.

It was getting pretty loud inside so I went back outside to radio Gina. If I didn’t check in soon she would most likely come charging up here hell bent on saving me from the clutches of imminent death. I didn’t want her to see this.

“Gina, are you there?”

“Yeah, I’ve been waiting for you to call. What took so long? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’ve got a mess here to clean up. Then I’m coming back.”

“You need to come back right now. Al’s awake and he’s asking for you.”

“That’s great. Tell him I’ll be back in an hour. This can’t wait.”

“There’s something else.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m not sure. Tim called. He said they would be here in less than an hour. That was fifteen minutes ago.”

“That’s not possible. When I talked to him this morning they were in Mississippi.” Then it hit me. “I’ve got the Sat phone. How the hell did he call you?”

“I heard a phone ringing at the nurse’s station. It went on for over fifteen minutes. They have one of those sat phones like you have. I finally answered and it was Tim.”

“Why the hell did you answer the phone?” As soon as the words left my mouth I knew I’d just made a tragic mistake.

“Don’t talk to me like that.”

“I’m sorry. Tell me what he said.”

“The only reason I answered it was because it just kept ringing. It was like they knew there was somebody here. I didn’t say anything at first. I just listened. There was quite a commotion in the background. There was somebody yelling at him. Then Tim finally said something.”

“What did he say?”

“At first all he said was, ‘Dad? It’s me Tim.’ When I told him you weren’t here and introduced myself he asked about Uncle Al. Did you tell him about Al being sick? I didn’t know Al was his uncle.”

“He’s not.” There was definitely something very wrong here. “Yeah I mentioned that Al was sick.”

“Well other than to tell you he would be here sooner than expected, I don’t know, it seemed like that wasn’t why he was calling.”

“What did he say then?”

“That was it. Then the yelling in the background escalated. I’m pretty sure I heard a gunshot. Then the phone went dead.”

“I’ll be back there as soon as I can.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah I think so. Maybe not. I don’t know.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“I told you I don’t know.”

“What’s wrong?”

“What do you think? You were on the phone with him.”

“I think he’s in trouble and we’re about to be.”

“I think you’re right. If you and Cindy can move Al get him to the truck and wait for me.”

“What’s going on?”

“I think General Shithead is on his way to Fort Leonard Wood.”

Chapter 19

              Two men climbed into the dump bin of the truck and threw me over the side. I landed on my back and the breath was knocked out of me. I laid there gasping for air. General Simmons stood back far enough that I couldn’t get at him. One of the men jumped down and kicked me in the side as I rolled away from him he grabbed the rope between my hands and pulled me to my feet.  The other soldier jumped down and the two held me there.

              “I’ve got some good news for you Captain.”

              “You’re letting me go?”

              “Oh no. Much better than that.”

              “You’re going to kill yourself?”

              From where I stood I could feel the rage coming off of him, washing over me in waves. He nodded to the two soldiers holding my arms and I was thrown to the ground. After that I was kicked several times then drug back to my feet.

              “We found one of your friends. Seems you were wrong about them being killed by the undead. Other than a few cuts and bruises she seems to be fine.”

              Lily was drug from around the truck. She was gagged and had her hands tied behind her back. I had to give her credit, she fought hard against the two much larger soldiers that had her by the arms. The one that had hit me when I was captured wrenched her left arm up pretty hard and she took a kick at him. The bastard side stepped the kick then moved closer, punching Lily in the nose. Her head rocked back but she didn’t go down.

              I strained against the two holding me but wasn’t going anywhere. “You’re a dead man.”

              General Simmons looked at me, considering what I’d said. “Sargent, if she tries that again you have my permission to shoot her.”

              “Thank you sir.”

              “So now, Corporal Flowers, tell me. Where’s Sargent Adams?”

              Lily gave General Simmons a disgusted look and shook her head.

              “Take the gag out of her mouth Sargent.”

              He pulled the gag down quickly, keeping his exposed hand away from Lily’s mouth. “Careful sir, she’s a biter.”

              Good, she’d taken a chunk out of at least one of them.

              “Where is he?”

              “We both got killed by the zombies, General, but they ate him all the way. I guess I got lucky. I came back like that doctor fella. I can still talk.”

              If it wasn’t for the dire situation we were in the look of abject horror that came across the faces of the two soldiers that held Lily would have caused me to burst out laughing. One of them, I’m assuming he was the one she bit, let go of her arm and moved away.  He reached up and pulled his t-shirt away from his neck, trying to look at his shoulder. “Did she break the skin? Am I going to die?” He moved further away and brought his rifle up. “Stay away from me.”

              “Don’t be a fool corporal. She’s not a zombie.”

              “No sir. No sir. We all heard about that doctor you’re after. You aren’t going to kill me.”

              “Last chance,” General Simmons waited for half a second. “Somebody shoot this man!” he shouted.

              I heard the cough of a suppressed high powered rifle round go off about the same time the man’s head exploded.

              “I’m tired of playing with you people. Sargent, draw your sidearm and place it against her head. She moves shoot her. Someone bring me the sat phone.”

              While all this was happening General Simmons came over to where I was. “Can we try and be reasonable men now Captain?” 

              With a gun pointed at Lily’s head I didn’t see why not. “Yes sir.”

              “Good. This is what I want you to do. There is a sat phone at the nurse’s station on the main floor at the hospital in Fort Leonard Wood. We are going to call that number. From what I understand your father’s friend Al is sick and this is where they are now.”

              I started to say something. He held a hand up to stop me.

              “No games Captain. You are going to tell them that you are with us, that we are coming by helicopter, and that they are to wait for us there. I also want you to make it clear to your father that we are all friends now. Can you do that Captain?”

              “Why should I help you? You’re just going to kill us all anyway.”

              “That’s a good question. I’m afraid I don’t have an answer. No wait I do have an answer. Sargent, I’m going to count to five. When I get to five kill her.”

              I had no choice. Maybe I could say something to warn my dad. I had to do something. “Just get me the phone.”

              “Fuck that. These assholes can suck my dick. Don’t sell your dad out.”

              Lily had such a way with words. “I’m not going to stand here and watch them kill you.”

              “I’ll make a deal with you Captain. My doctor says we only need one or two test subjects. You pick the two. The rest I’ll let live.”

              If he thought I would fall for that he was crazier than I thought he was. Lily and I were dead. My only hope was to get them to kill us before they could do whatever experiments they were planning. “In that case general, you’ve got your two test subjects. Do with us as you will.”

              I could tell I’d taken him by surprise. “Fine captain. That will be fine. We’ll still be going to Fort Leonard Wood. So I’ll still need you to call your father. I don’t want any trouble with them when we get there.”

              “That’s exactly what I was thinking. I’ll just tell them to clear out then”

              “That won’t be necessary. All I want is for them to know we pose no threat.”

              “You pose no threat?” I shouted. “You’re a General in the United States Army. You’re supposed to protect the citizens of this country. Instead you’re busy trying to round up enough people to run some kind of half assed zombie experiment on. I’m not calling anyone.”

              “Sargent hand me your sidearm.”

              The gun was already in the Sargent’s hand. All he had to do was hand it over to General Simmons.

              General Simmons put the gun to Lily’s head and looked me dead in the eye. “I want you to understand how serious I am. So I’m going to do this myself. You’ll make the call. If you don’t I’ll blow your whore’s head off her shoulders right in front of you. Your choice.”

              As crazy as it sounded I knew if I didn’t make the call he would do exactly as he said. “Make the call.”

              The phone must have rung fifty times before I gave up. “They’re not at the hospital,” I said, and disconnected.

              “They’re there. I know they are. Hit the redial.”

              I hit redial. “How long are we going to keep this up?” I shouted. “I’m doing what you want. At least you could point the gun away from her.”

              “Not until what I ask of you is done!”

              “And what happens if no one answers?”

              “I haven’t decided on that yet.”

              The ringing stopped. I could hear someone breathing, anticipating what I was about to say.

              “They answered, didn’t they?”

              “Take the gun away from my head,” Lily shouted. “Don’t say a word ‘til he does.”

              General Simmons lowered the gun. “Let’s all calm down now. Say something Captain.”

              “Dad, is that you? It’s me Tim?”

              I could hear his friend Gina talking on the other end but didn’t pay much attention. I needed a way to let them know things were very wrong on this end. “Is Uncle Al any better?” I knew it was lame but I couldn’t think of anything else to try and tip them off. “That’s too bad I hope he’s not infected. Look the reason I called was to let you know that we’ll be there sometime today.”

              General Simmons pushed Lily towards the Sargent and brought the gun up and pointed it at me. “He’s not your uncle he’s your dad’s neighbor!”

              I was pretty sure he was going to shoot me so I dropped the phone and went for the gun. My first instinct was to make a sweeping motion with my arm to get the barrel to where it wasn’t pointed at me. The gun discharged. I could feel the heat from the round as it went past my arm. If someone would have been watching I’m sure they would have come away with the impression that I knew what I was doing. I knocked the gun from his hand and brought the same hand up to punch him in the throat in one motion. After that I felt something hit me in the back of the head. As I went down things started looking a little fuzzy around the edges. I heard another gunshot then things went black. I’d been shot and was dying.

                                                                      ……………….

              “Tim you’ve got to wake up.”             

              I could feel something large jabbing into my side. The pain would go away then start over seconds later. No matter how many times I moved away from whatever was jabbing into my side the pain would return. “Leave me alone. I’m dead.”

              “No you’re not, dammit open your eyes. We don’t have much time.”

              I recognized that voice. Either Lily was dead too or I was still alive. There was no way I could be dead and hurt this bad. Maybe I was a zombie. Not even they could be in this much pain. My head felt like it was about to explode. I was definitely still alive. This was worse than any hangover I’d ever had. Almost worse than the constant throbbing behind my eyes was the ache I felt in both my sides. And there was that jab again.

              “Open your eyes Tim. I need you to untie me.”

              Just like that it all came back. I was in the back of the dump truck again and we were on the move. I would like to say my eyes snapped open, I jumped up, untied Lily, and was able to get us out of there, but it didn’t go like that. The best I could do was to pry my eyes open and roll in the direction of the foot that had just been removed from my ribs.

              “Don’t move. I’ll try to get to you. We don’t have much time. I can already hear the chopper starting up. We’ll be there in a few seconds.”

              Lily rolled in my direction. Her hands were tied behind her back and I began fumbling with the knots. At least I could still move my hands without too much pain. “How long have I been out?” Whoever had tied her up did a good job but I could feel something loosening.

              “Maybe ten minutes. We haven’t been on the road that long. Two minutes top.”

              “What happened?”

              “After you hit General Simmons in the throat one of his men hit you with the butt of his rifle. The guy that had a hold of me tried to shoot you on your way down. I was able to push him hard enough that he missed. Then General Simmons stopped him from trying again. After that three or four of them took turns kicking the shit out of you while you were on the ground. Then they threw us in the back of this truck. And now here we are.”

              The truck came to a stop. The sound of the rotors told me we’d be on the chopper in a few minutes. “I can’t get these undone fast enough.”

              “They’re loose enough. I’ll be able to get my hands out in a second. When I make my move be ready.”

              I could see how worked up Lily was. I hated to burst her bubble, but if I didn’t say something we would both be dead in a few minutes. Would that be so bad? If they got me first then no. Dead is dead. After that what does it matter? One thing I wasn’t ready for was to see her die. “Lily, I don’t think I can even stand, much less run. If you get a chance take it. I’ll do what I can to help you, but don’t wait for me. I love you.” There I’d said it. “I can’t watch you die.”

              I could see her melt before my eyes. Lily was a fighter and she was ready to fight. To stop her now, when she was so ready, was a hard thing. “We go together or we don’t go at all.”

              The lift gate on the truck came down. Two of the General’s men were waiting for us. “Move your asses over. Intel has it there’s a small group of zombies headed this way. We’re dusting off before they get here.”

              Lily stood up and I used her to pull myself to my feet. I held her shoulder while she drug me along with her to the back of the truck. “He can’t get down by himself. Would one of you give us a hand?” Lily shouted, over the roar of the helicopter rotors.

              “Sure thing lady.”

              They both reached up, grabbed me by the arm, pulled me forward, and let go. I was able to turn my head to the side before I hit the ground. I landed on my ear and shoulder. Instead of flat on my face.

              “Now get him on his feet and get you asses moving.”

              If I could have gotten up on my own accord I would have ended all this right then. These two seemed pretty nervous. It wouldn’t take much to get one of them to shoot me. The wrong look maybe a few shitty remarks, but that would put Lily in danger. The two of us had to make it to Fort Leonard Wood. Maybe there would be something we could do to keep this from happening to my dad and his friends. Lily reached down and pulled me to my feet. Our captives were too busy worrying about getting left behind by their friends to notice that her hands were untied.