Outbreak: Boston (13 page)

“Bravo Whiskey Six, HQ Five Niner. Break.” Amy flinched involuntarily as something heavy clunked into her door. She glanced up at Lacey and said “Stay cool, Lacey. It’s gonna be okay.” Frays keyed the mike. “Listen, we’re getting a lot of static from the locals. Why don’t we just throw a couple cases of MREs at them so we can get the heck outta here?”

“HQ Five Niner, Bravo Whiskey Six Actual.” the lieutenant paused a couple seconds. “Negative that, repeat negative. Do not distribute any aid. How copy, over?”

Frays muttered a few creative curses under her breath. “Sir, we’re about an hour away from home. It’s ninety five degrees in the shade and there’s no shelter out here. Let’s give them some of our food and water, maybe try to get a fuel truck out here so they can stop blocking the highway.”

The radio was silent for a couple minutes. “Alright, every vehicle toss out one case of MREs and a couple water cans.” Sergeant Barnes ordered. Frays thought about trying to push her door open, but Lacey was already slinging a cardboard box of rations into the crowd and unlashing a water can from the side of the Humvee. All at once the convoy started moving and Amy was relieved and sad to see the crowd fading in her rearview mirror. She pinched the bridge of her nose for a second, wishing it would all just go away…

A dull roar distracted her from her thoughts. A pair of F-18 Hornets streaked by on the right, barely three hundred feet off the deck and headed east towards Boston. Amy’s mind raced. Where did they come from? There wasn’t another Air Force base in the state and Hanscomb did not have any Hornets just now, so maybe there was a carrier parked in the harbor. Hanscomb could support that kind of aircraft but they did not have much in the way of spare parts or munitions, not to mention the fact that there were probably cars parked on the runway. Were the pilots running sorties in support of the evacuation from a carrier in the harbor?
That seemed like the most logical explanation. “Whiskey Bravo Six, this is HQ Five Niner. Did you see those fast movers, over? They looked like a couple F-18s.”

“We saw them, HQ Five Niner.” Lieutenant Jenkins answered. It was hard to tell over the radio, but it sounded to Amy like the guy was nervous about something. “Keep an eye out and let us know if you see anything else.”

About ten minutes later the air shook with the sound of a massive flock of helicopters overhead. It looked like every airworthy chopper at the base was in the air and flying away. Lacey could only stare numbly at the birds as they scattered to the four winds. There were a lot of them, Chinooks and Black Hawks mostly, along with a couple different ones that he could not name off the top of his head.

As they got closer to the base they could see why the choppers
had fled the base in such a hurry. Almost half the base was covered in a miasma of thick, oily smoke. Small fires burned here and there like tiny orange pinpricks in the dark. A handful of figures stumbled by the convoy as they drove through the gaping hole where the main gate and most of the base’s southern perimeter had been when they left, dodging around the charred skeletons of the vehicles that had clogged the road outside. The small line of trucks stopped outside the gates and formed a perimeter around the smoldering remains of the guardhouse. Amy’s breath came out in panicky, shuddering gasps: Sergeant Emery’s wife and two kids lived in the on base housing units across the highway that looked like they had been hammered flat and firebombed by the fast movers.

Amy sat in the Humvee listening to Lieutenant Jenkins frantically trying to contact anyone on the radio for a good five minutes. “Lousy good for nothing little so and so.” she grumbled to herself as she jumped out of the truck and ran to Eamon and Jean in the Five Ton and climbed onto the side of the truck. “Hey guys, we’re gonna go take a quick look around, see who’s left and get them outta here. Sound like a plan?”

Frays saw fit to inform the lieutenant of what they were doing after their flight’s vehicles had left the perimeter. The other vehicle’s crew served weapons started to bark at the scattered handfuls of infected that seemed attracted to the group. Amy shook her head angrily as the Humvee rolled over the debris scattered across the compound.

There was a small section of the base where they had set up tents for the refugees still intact. Roughly two dozen heads poked up when their vehicles rumbled up. Amy jumped out of the Humvee and ran to the Five Ton. “Try and get everybody to pack up their things and let the ones who can’t walk ride in the back of the truck. Me and Lacey will go see how many of the civilian’s cars are still working. Once we got everybody ready we’ll get everybody in their cars and get the heck out of here.”

Fortunately, most of the civilian cars and trucks were right where their owners had left them and still reasonably intact. Amy picked up the radio’s handset. “This is HQ Five Niner. The civilian vehicles look alright. Eamon and Jean, get everybody over here time now. How copy?”

“Roger that, Amy.” Jean said quickly. Frays could hear the Five Ton’s motor fire up over the radio. “We’ve got most of them ready to go. Be there in five.”

Amy sat in the Humvee, nervously drumming her fingers on the steering wheel. “Roger that, Jean. Hurry up.”

“Oh shit!” Lacey exclaimed and kicked Amy in the shoulder. “Frays, take a look at our eight o’clock!” Amy tried to turn and look where Lacey was trying to draw her attention. She grumbled and climbed out of the truck then immediately kind of wished she
had not done that: almost three dozen moaning figures shambled towards them. A few of them were still smoldering from the ordinance dropped on the base.

Amy dove inside the truck and grabbed the handset. “Jean, hurry up! We’ve got about three dozen…break” she paused and did another head count “Make that fifty plus infected coming our way. Get those civilians here time
: now!” Frays brought her carbine up to her shoulder, slapped the Aimpoint’s magnification module into place with the heel of her hand and centered the red dot on the nearest infected’s forehead. She took a deep breath and pressed off a shot, dropping the creature in its tracks. Ma Duce started booming out her deep backbeat to the sharper crack of her M4.

The Five Ton rumbled across the compound and stopped behind the Humvee. A handful of people that Amy did not know jumped out of the back of the larger truck and sprinted towards the closest civilian vehicles. Frays scrambled for the radio in the Humvee. “Whiskey Bravo Six, this is HQ Five Niner. We’ve got the civilians to their vehicles and we’re coming back to you. How copy?”

“Good copy, Zoomie.” answered Sergeant Barnes. There was a slight pause. “HQ Five Niner, I’m sending Rattlesnake Five to provide covering fire. Get those civilians towards the front gate TIME: NOW, over.”

“Roger that, Whiskey Bravo Six.” Amy said quickly.
A tight, relieved grin came to her face when she heard the
Poomph! BOOM! Poomph! BOOM!
of Rattlesnake Five’s Mark 19 fully automatic 40mm grenade launcher as the other soldiers cleared a path for them through the infected. She marveled at one of them as it did a cartwheel through the air just in front of the vehicle. Frays mashed down the accelerator and steered the Humvee towards the front of the base. “We’re going to be at your location in about a minute, Whiskey Bravo Six. Let’s get out of here.”

The Five Ton and Humvee along with their civilian counterparts arrived at the guardhouse to find the others still forming a circle around what was left of the structure. Amy felt like pounding her head against the steering wheel. “Whiskey Bravo Six, what’s the hold up?” she nearly shouted into the radio’s handset. “We’ve got to go, over.”

“W-we have to wait for orders from higher, HQ Five Niner.” Lieutenant Jenkins muttered into the radio. The crew served weapons on the vehicles were firing almost continuously now. “Just hold on, I’m sure somebody will answer soon.”

“Whiskey Bravo Six, our southern perimeter is GONE! We CAN’T stay here, sir!” Amy screamed into the radio. “Let’s head back to Concord and set up a FOB there, if they’ll let us.”

The radio was silent for a long, tense minute. “All stations this net, this is Whiskey Bravo Six.” said Sergeant Barnes. “We are out of here. Follow us. If there is anyone monitoring this transmission, we are going to regroup in Concord.”

Chapter Three
                         

13 May 2011 15:36 hours Route 2A Concord, Massachusetts

The ride to Concord was almost eerily quiet after the noise and confusion of their flight from the remains of Hanscomb Air Force Base. The convoy halted along the main street. A few people peeked at them out of their windows or spared the soldiery nervous glances as they passed by. Amy rested her head against the steering wheel, trying to catch her breath. “C’mon…wake up.” Amy whispered as she gently rapped the rim of her Kevlar on the wheel. “Wake up…wake up…you’re going to wake up safe in your bed any minute now.”

A knock on the window startled her. “C’mon, Zoomie.” said Sergeant Barnes. A
strange little smile tugged at the corner of the big black man’s mouth. “LT wants us to meet with the mayor and the sheriff.”

Frays followed the two men up the stairs. The sheriff’s office was the same maelstrom it had been when she left it a few hours ago. Sheriff Yates waved the three of them towards a room in the back of the stationhouse. The building’s air conditioning was a welcome relief from the heat outside as Amy dodged between the cops and civilians between her and the conference room.
             

Mayor Howard Nichols was a fat middle aged
guy with long greasy looking hair and rumpled suit gave the man the air of a sleazy used car salesman. Amy disliked him immediately and she could tell from the way Sheriff Yates treated him she was not alone. Once they were seated around a long wooden table and the mayor’s secretary brought a carafe of coffee on a tray along with a stack of Styrofoam cups the five people stared across the table at each other for a long, awkward moment. Lieutenant Jenkins told the mayor and the sheriff about what they saw at the Air Force base. The two men seemed stunned.

Amy poured herself a cup of coffee and cleared her throat. “Sir, do you have anywhere we can put up our refugees?” she asked and sipped the tepid liquid. It was strong and just warm enough to cut the shivers from the air conditioning. “Have you given any thought to putting up any barricades around the town or anything like that?”

The mayor and the sheriff looked at each other for a minute. “I guess you can put your people up in the high school, Frays.” the sheriff answered. He poured a cup of coffee for himself and glanced at the mayor. “Most of the other public buildings are full up. There’s a handful of people staying at the churches and the firehouse so there isn’t room there.”

Sergeant Barnes nodded. “Sounds good. Sir, why don’t we get that place squared away and then see what we can do to secure the town.” The lieutenant nodded and the big man stood up. “C’mon, Zoomie. Let’s get to work up there.”

Their ragtag convoy rolled up to the school about twenty minutes later. Walter Raleigh Senior High School was a single story brick building near the edge of town. The building seemed in good repair, but then Sergeant Barney Barnes only had PS 104 in Mattapan to compare it to. He decided to ride up with Frays and that jarhead, Private Lacey he remembered his name was and leave the lieutenant their Humvee. Barnes called the convoy to a halt outside the school’s front doors and called a meeting at the Humvee.

“Alright, people.” Sergeant Barnes said once everybody arrived. “Before we let these people in we’re gonna do a quick sweep. We’re gonna go in through the doors here” he pointed at the front doors “and make sure that none of those things have wandered in here. We’re gonna check every classroom, every fuckin’ nook and cranny of this place. Once we get that done we’ll get these people in and get them to work helpin’ us board the windows and doors up, roger?”

“Where do you want my people?” Frays asked. She looked as if she expected to help Sergeant Barnes go through the building, much to Eamon’s unease. The fat medic gripped his shotgun tightly and tried to put a more confident look on his face.

The big sergeant considered the question. “Your squad
will keep an eye on things out here. Keep the civilians calm. Have your medic there give everybody he can the once over.”

Amy nodded, biting back on a retort. “We can do that.”

She mumbled angrily under her breath as she watched the soldiers file into the school and went to tell Eamon, Lacey and Jean what they were supposed to do. Eamon and Amy would check the refugees for injuries while Lacey and Jean handed out MREs and water.

Eamon walked casually beside Amy as the two of them went from vehicle to vehicle asking people if they were injured or knew anyone who was. He went on a few paces before he noticed that Frays had fallen back a couple steps. A brief flash of unease passed over the woman’s face before she could hide it as she stared at the rusty Toyota about thirty feet away. An olive skinned face poked out of the driver’s side window.

He fell back beside Amy and acted like he wanted to put a hand on her arm. It was then that he noticed how tightly she was holding the pistol grip of her carbine and thought better of it. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m fine, why?” Frays said sternly, shooting the fat medic a hard look as she walked towards the cars. “C’mon, Eamon. Let’s get this done.”

They finished about the same time the soldiers came out of the school. Thankfully, nobody seemed to have been hurt by the infected but there were plenty of cuts, scratches and minor burns from the aerial bombardment. Amy approached Sergeant Barnes. “Hey Zoomie.” the big man said as he wiped his brow with a handkerchief. “Everybody okay?”

“Yeah, more or less, Sergeant.” Frays answered and pulled her notepad out of her pocket. “Out of twenty five people we’ve got six people with minor burns to extremities, seven with cuts and bruises…nobody looks like they’ve been bitten or anything like that.”

“Good.” the sergeant said and then continued on towards the refugees. “Alright, folks! Let’s get inside. Frays and Lacey, congratulations you’ve been promoted to foremen. Let’s get these windows boarded up and the doors barricaded.”

Frays and Lacey made a quick tour of the building. “What do you think, Lacey?” Frays asked as they walked through the school’s wood and metal shop classrooms. Between the two workshops there was a large supply of power tools and, more importantly, an entire closet full of every sort of bolt or nail imaginable.
Since the power was largely out in town, they were all glad to find out that the school had a large emergency generator with a generous fuel tank.

“Well, we can take the gym’s bleachers apart and anchor bolt the pieces over the windows.” he said carefully as he examined the stores of tools and hardware. “We can use the doors from the classrooms too.”

Amy nodded as she looked around. “I’ll take a couple people and we’ll shut off the breakers to the parts of the building we won’t be using.” she said. The young woman stretched the stiffness out of her neck. “Then we’ll go around and unplug everything in the areas we are. When we’re done, we’ll come help your crew board everything up. Sound good?”

The building rang with the sounds of cordless drills, circular saws and air wrenches for hours. The generator thrummed away in its bunker all the while, making the work go by so much quicker. Nobody really wanted to think about how hard it would have been to drill holes in the building’s thick masonry walls with the school’s collection of hand tools. Eamon was also kept busy treating blisters and the occasional slip up with a drill or saw.

It took the thirty of them a little over seven or eight hours to complete boarding up the school’s windows and doors. A middle aged woman with curly salt and pepper hair named Alexandra recruited a couple of the other women to help her make dinner for everyone while they put the finishing touches on the barricades. Frays and Lacey were taking the classroom doors off their hinges and using them to seal off the last few windows when PFC Moore popped his head in the room and called out to them. Frays found herself reassessing her opinion of the guy once she got to know him a little: he reeked of that typical jock alpha male attitude that Amy had grown to hate. Lacey noted that while the rest of them looked sweaty and tired, the man looked practically fresh as a daisy. “Hey, Frays!” he said as he leaned on the doorjamb. “Chow’s on in five. LT and Sergeant Barnes want to talk to you.”

Amy and Adam gave each other a sidelong glance. “What’s up?” she asked carefully. She
had been around enough to grow suspicious when the higher ups wanted a sit down. “And what’s for dinner?”

“I think they’re gonna try and work out a guard schedule and start assigning people jobs.” the soldier said quickly. He leaned inside the room, his gaze drawn by something. It took Amy a half second to realize what it was: her body armor, LCS and ABU top were piled on a desk a few feet away. “I think they’re cooking up a bunch of frozen pizzas they found in the freezer.”

Amy gave Moore a sarcastic, irritated little grin as she laid her carbine on the desk and threw on her ABU top. “Thanks, PFC.” she grumbled as she turned her back to the man and started buttoning the garment up. “We’ll be along in a minute.”  

“Alright.” Moore said quietly as he pushed off the wall. There was something in the man’s tone of voice that told Amy he was now trying to get a good look at her butt. Thankfully, ABU trousers were pretty far from flattering.

“Jerk.” Adam muttered under his breath as he shrugged into his plate carrier and picked up his M16. Amy snorted laughter out of her nose as the man followed her out of the room. The two of them walked quickly down the hall towards the cafeteria.

Adam spotted Jean and Eamon in line ahead of them. They collected plastic trays and flatware from the front of the line then got their food: two slices of thin crust pizza, a serving spoonful of corn and a spoonful of green beans. A woman with a kind, grandmotherly face snuck the three of them an extra half spoonful of the canned peaches for dessert. They also got a little carton of milk like they gave you with your lunch in grade school. Amy said hello to Eamon and Jean before going to sit down with the lieutenant and the sergeant.

Eamon grumbled something under his breath as he forked the last of his peaches into mouth. “What’s up?” he said at last. “She too good to eat with us now or something?”

“It’s some kind of command meeting, Eamon.” Lacey explained as he devoured his pizza. He glanced at Amy for a second before turning his attention back to his food. “They’re going to work out a guard schedule and stuff like that.”

Jean smirked behind her hand as she finished the last of her milk. “Come on now, Eamon. Don’t be like that.” She gathered her trash and started off towards the garbage can when Lieutenant Jenkins stood up and pounded on the table to get everybody’s attention.

“Alright folks.” the man began nervously. “Settle down for a minute. We’ve got to work some stuff out. There’s going to be a duty roster posted on the board across the hall from the cafeteria tomorrow morning. Everybody’s going to have a job and I expect everybody to do it. For right now, Sergeant Barnes’ squad and Senior Airman Frays’ squad are going to split guard duty. There will be two people on radio watch in a vehicle at the back of the building, too. You guys can help there, since it mainly involves sitting and listening to the radio in the trucks. Somebody might be looking for us and they need to know where we are. The rest of us are going to turn the classrooms closest to the inside of the building into sleeping quarters. We’ll work out who’ll sleep where once everything’s set.”

Amy stood up. She smiled nervously and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry, I know everybody probably wants to watch the news or whatever, but the emergency generator only has so much fuel and we don’t know how long we’re going to be here.” she said  as she looked around the room. Frays started to feel oddly nervous with everyone looking at her. “I’ll turn on the generator for one hour every day at noon, but I think there’s a couple battery operated radios floating around. I’ll pick a couple people and show them how to use the generator, but until then, please leave it alone. You can get electrocuted or start a fire if you’re not careful and I don’t want to see anybody get hurt.

“One last thing: nobody goes anywhere alone. Everybody pick a ‘battle buddy’. Don’t go anywhere, even to the bathroom or whatever, without letting them know where you’re headed. It’s your job to watch your buddy’s back and it’s their job to watch yours, alright?”

The next three or four days passed in a blur. They had gotten busy again after dinner: Frays and the rest of her ‘flight’ (such as it was) went around to the town’s two churches and collected a dozen or so cots to set up in the classrooms and helped square away the sleeping quarters. On top of that there was making sure the barricades on the windows and doors were good and reinforcing the ones that were not quite up to snuff and helping Eamon as he gave the refugees a more thorough examination in the nurse’s office. Then Lacey helped Amy make sure the building’s emergency generator was working properly.