Darkness covered the compound, creating the perfect atmosphere for mischief and exploration.  Had circumstances been better, Ted would have looked forward to an adventure.  Back home, the man holes leading to the sewer system had been welded shut, save for a few controlled points.  The precaution was put in place before they’d known the zombies wouldn’t learn new tricks.  It also helped prevent raiding parties from sneaking in.  Once when he was fifteen, he and Zack Henderson had discovered an unattended access tunnel inside of some service tunnels.

            Armed only with flashlights, they’d stormed the tunnels in search of a secret underground society who kept oversized alligators as pets.  Without plans or a sense of where they were going, the teens had ended up lost in the tunnels for hours.  Though it was possible they walked around the same fifty yard circle many times, Ted figured he and Zack had passed under the compound gates, traveling further than they had in their lives and placing them square under the feet of a mass of drooling creatures who’d been dead before the pair of explorers had been born.  The sun had come up by the time they found their way back to their entry point.  Though the passage had been unguarded when they’d entered, two started guards greeted the teens with the barrels of their rifles.

            The explorers had escaped with a minor punishment compared to their adventure, but four years later Ted realized how bad of an idea entering the tunnels had been.  Not only had they been lucky not to run into the undead with nothing to fend them off, but that the guards hadn’t been a little more jumpy.  Those weren’t the kinds of things Ted thought of when he was fifteen, but now he had an injured woman who counted on him.  Sure, he was still often the first to jump at an adventure but only when he knew the danger was minimal.  Instead of relishing an adventure Ted watched the street, dreading the moment Jack would step out of his hotel room.

            The plan was simple.  Ted and Jack had been scheduled to watch their hotel over the late night shift, meaning Sam and the others would expect them to be awake and moving.  Their goal was to find a patrol, gathering of guards, top secret building, anything and find information.  Failing that, they’d wanted to explore the grounds in search of alternate exits or anything else that could put them at an advantage in a confrontation.  Though the plan was flimsy at best, it would leave them with a better idea of their host’s intentions or at least a better lay of the land.

            When Jack’s door slid opened, Ted stood at attention and held his breath.  Jack had dressed in a similar manner, straying from wearing all black.  They’d instead worn dark blue jeans with dark colored tops.  Ted’s was brown while Jack wore a green plaid shirt.  Like Ted, Jack had fixed a pair of gloves and a flashlight to his belt.  They’d also agreed to bring folding knives, but to keep them hidden.  Where Ted had worn tennis shoes, Jack had decided to go with hiking boots.  Should they get caught, the plan was to look like they were doing nothing worse than taking a walk.  Hopefully, they would receive a lecture and get an escort home.

            Ted wondered though.  Franklin had gone missing, and he wasn’t the type to run off into the wild or commit suicide.  To the best of anyone’s knowledge, Franklin hadn’t been outside of the town walls since before the dead started to walk.  He certainly wouldn’t have run off by himself.  The fact that Franklin also wasn’t the type to snoop around like Jack and Ted brought little comfort, but any information that would give the group an idea of their host’s intentions was welcome.  Had Sam known, he would have locked both Ted and Jack in one of the hotel rooms to keep them out of trouble.  On the other hand, he was probably planning a recon mission of his own.

            “Got everything?” Jack asked.

            Ted nodded, pulling out his own flashlight and knife.

            “Let’s go,” Ted said with fake enthusiasm.

            Without further hesitation, they moved down the stairs to Catherine, Helen, and Erika’s room.  Jack had drafted a note, addressed to Helen, telling her where they went.  Assuming she picked the note up by sunrise and the duo wasn’t back, then something went horribly wrong.  Placing the note under the door was a way to give the others proof that Jack and Ted didn’t just run off.

            After slipping the note under the women’s door, Jack and Ted rushed off into the night, ducking behind the shadows and looking out for headlights.  They hadn’t been around long enough to see if the night watch made regular, timed rounds or if they patrolled freely so it was best to proceed with caution.

            From what little they’d been told, the compound was one of a hand full of emergency fallback points, comparable to the shelters from which they’d been extracted.  Since there were close to a hundred thousand people in the main compound, this outpost was able to fit five thousand.  There were maybe two-hundred and fifty refugees in two hotels.  The compound was guarded by at least three hundred soldiers, maybe five hundred at the most.  Even with additional civilian personnel to maintain and operate certain facilities, the outpost was filled only to a fraction of its capacity.  As a result, most of the buildings were empty and made excellent hiding places.

            Jack and Ted took advantage of the coverage when a pair of headlights sliced through the night.  From behind a dumpster, Ted watched a jeep pass, hoping the driver didn’t slow his vehicle.  Only when the red tail lights disappeared around a corner did Ted exhale.

            “Remind me again why we’re doing this,” Ted said.

            He hated roaming around empty buildings at night.  Ever since he’d started going out on scavenging missions, all he could think about was how many undead might be inside of each structure.  His apprehension had grown after one particular mission.  About five months before, Ted had been involved with a food raid that had gone sour.  It had been a routine smash, load up, and go job on a super market and everything had gone smoothly until mobs of the undead showed up.  Two of the jeeps had laid down a circle of flammable chemicals in order to form a protective ring of fire, but when they dropped a torch, nothing happened.

            As thousands of dead bodies advanced, there was a panicked retreat.  Scavengers on the ground sprinted to the closest vehicle instead of evacuating to their assigned jeep.  One guy even dove into the back of the Mack truck.  Ted had been left behind during all the action.  With a mob of undead shuffling towards the front of the store where the commotion had been, Ted quickly ducked back inside and ran out of a back exit.  He heard several moans as a hand full of ghouls pursued, but Ted refused to look back.  Across the street, he spotted several abandoned apartment buildings.

            Ted loathed ducking into the apartment buildings because those were likely places for the dead to haunt, but he wouldn’t last long out on the street.  Maybe he could find somewhere to hide until a search party came for him.  Hoping none of the dead were watching, he ducked into the nearest of the structures, a four story complex.  The windows were barred and the front door was still intact.  As he closed the door, Ted glanced outside.  Miraculously none of the undead followed.

            Thinking back to his training, Ted recalled what to do in a situation like his.  Make sure your position is secure.  He’d need to check all exits and make sure the doors were sturdy and able to close.  After that, he’d need to perform a sweep of the building and make sure there weren’t any ghouls roaming loose.  Don’t attract attention.  If Ted had to confront the undead, he’d have to use clubs instead of guns.  Establish contact with home base.  Ted didn’t have a radio, so that step was out.  The final step was to make himself visible to rescuers.  Seek high ground.  He’d worry about that later.

            After closing off the doors on the first floor, Ted decided to check the basement.  In case of an emergency, the lowest level could make a good fallback point and if all went well, Ted did not want to double back down the steps.  He just hoped his friends didn’t return for him before he could finish his search.

            As soon as he opened the door, Ted was assaulted by an orchestra of moans.  He hoped the noise didn’t attract the neighbors.  Though tempted to slam the door and retreat, Ted pressed on.  If the ghouls in the other room were loose, they knew dinner was close.

            He slowly moved downward towards the source of the noise, ready to run back at the first sign of trouble.  In a worst case scenario, Ted might have been able to demolish the staircase, but the activity would be loud and he might have cut off an entry point he’d need later.  Weary of noise, Ted left his rifle hanging over his shoulder and instead held his flammable club.  He’d refrained from lighting the torch because he was afraid of setting the building on fire.  Instead, he held out his lighter.

            The light revealed that Ted had about five feet to move in any direction from the stairs.  Beyond that lay several rectangular sections sealed off by chain linked fence.  The basement looked to be some sort of holding cell for the undead.  Ted had heard stories of such constructs early on, when many people didn’t know what to make of the situation.  Many apartment complexes had been hastily modified into makeshift fortresses, manned by people who refused to leave their homes.  At first the police had tried to herd people out of the buildings, but after a couple of weeks, they didn’t have the manpower to wage a war against their own people.  Ted wondered what happened to the former tenants.  Had they escaped or were they gathered around the super market, drooling and stumbling?

            The holding cells in the basement had been section off as to avoid allowing too many of the undead to push on a large section of their cage at once.  Perhaps a hundred, maybe more bodies were piled inside of the cages.  Many of the chain linked cells had corpses stacked inside almost to the ceiling, leaving no room for the dead to move.  Ted wondered how the tenants had crammed the dead inside.

            When he was confident that the cells would hold, Ted moved back up to the first floor.  In the hallway, Ted heard even more moans, groans, and breaking glass.  To his right and left, ant trails of the undead closed in on his position.  They packed the hallway too tightly for Ted to maneuver past them and he couldn’t cover both sides with fire unless he wanted to burn to death.

            What the fuck did I miss?

            Left with no other choice, Ted ducked back into the basement, slamming the door behind him.  The door, frame, and hinges were all composed of a sturdy metal, possibly steel.  After locking the door and engaging the dead bolt, Ted noticed the metal bars that could be slid in place behind the door, keeping it from swinging opened.  As undead fists pounded the other side of the door, Ted tossed the bars in place and rushed downstairs.

            After nearly colliding with one of the meat lockers, Ted scrambled away from the cages and ducked under the stairs, praying there were no surprises.  For the next two days, Ted huddled under the rotting stairwell, rationing water and praying harder than he’d prayed in his life.  Though the cages had held for over twenty years, Ted imagined them buckle.  After a while he was convinced that the cages would collapse and animated bodies would tumble out.  Amazingly, Ted had no trouble sleeping.  He dreamt not only of the cages breaking, but of the doorway above shattering.  With no exit or room to fight, and a limited supply of ammunition, Ted wouldn’t have stood a chance in a fight.

            Two days later, gunshots tore Ted from his slumber.  Light poured through the tiny windows below the ceiling.  Outside, Ted saw undead feet but the crowd seemed loosely scattered.  If the hallways weren’t jammed, this might be the only shot Ted would have at getting home.  Though he’d wanted to heroically charge up the stairs, Ted had to work out a cramp in his legs first.  After limping up to the doorway, Ted removed the bars, disengaged the locks, and yanked the door opened.

            When no undead claws or teeth greeted him, the soldier walked out of the building.  By the time he was outside, he felt confident enough to run.  No longer afraid of an inferno, Ted lit his torch and used it to ward off any stiff that walked into his path.  After the last two days, knocking a couple of them to the ground and lighting another on fire was satisfying.  When he reached the barricade of flames, Ted charged towards a clear spot and dove through, hoping he wouldn’t catch fire.

            A pair of scavengers in a jeep greeted Ted with aimed rifles.  He’d later been told that his stunt forced one of the men to change pants after returning home and that he’d probably come closer to death than any other time over the last couple of days.

            His return home was a heroes welcome.  After being written off as a casualty, it was almost as though Ted had risen from the grave in a biblical sense.  Zach Henderson informed him that the memorial service had been beautiful.  Ted was rewarded a week’s vacation, during which time he’d demanded a transfer to a different unit.

            Next to Jack, Ted just hoped that their current quest didn’t lead them into any basements.

            “I think it’s safe,” Jack whispered.

            Earlier, they’d planned to sneak by the movie theater again.  If that area was the stomping ground for the gang they’d encountered earlier they could have at least learned about the low level thugs who’d tried to attack them.  They’d later decided that to be a bad idea.  Not only was their goal to gain information about higher ranking officials, but there was no telling what the thugs would do to the two of them at night.

            As if on cue, a voice called behind them: “Hold it right there!”

            As Jack and Ted turned around, they were blinded by the white beam of a flashlight.  Maybe three forms stood in the darkness. Ted assumed they were armed.

            “Lookie what we have here,” the form on the left said.  The voice was nasal as if the owner had a broken nose.

            “After getting your ass kicked by a girl, I didn’t think I’d see you again,” Ted blurted, immediately regretting it.

            “Shuddup!” Broken Nose shouted.

            “Too bad you didn’t bring your girlfriends.  We were going to have a party,” the one in the middle said.

            “Too bad,” the one on the right echoed.  “I guess you’ll have to do.”

            Something moved and Ted heard a click.  A knife?

            Ted looked to Jack, but saw his partner hit the ground and roll to the side.  The light followed, allowing Ted to see though his night vision was ruined.  The two thugs on the right shifted their attention to Jack.  The man in the middle fired a few shots while the other moved around the side, waving a knife.  His rifle was over his shoulder.

            When he looked back to the remaining attacker, he saw that Broken Nose’s attention was focused on the commotion to his right and his rifle was aimed at the ground.

            Ted lunged, plowing a fist into Broken Nose’s name sake.  As the punk squealed, Ted nailed him in the face with his other fist then repeated.  When the attacker was out cold, Ted grabbed his rifle and aimed at the middle man, who was still shooting at Jack.  A clean shot to the head put the attacker down.

            The other attacker flew at Jack, swinging the knife and preventing a clear shot.  Ted rushed over to aid his friend, but tripped over something.  After his chin and stomach crashed into the ground, Ted turned himself on his back and looked to his feet in time to see Broken Nose grabbing for his ankle.

            Not yet, he thought.  When the blood covered face spewed out a stream of obscenities, Ted realized that his attacker wasn’t undead.  He’d just done a piss poor job of knocking the fucker out.  During the tumble, the rifle had flown out of Ted’s hands.

            As Bloody Face gripped Ted’s foot with his left hand, he grabbed for something else with his right.  Assuming the other hand was grasping for his sidearm, Ted frantically kicked at the punk’s face with his left foot.  After four kicks, the thug screamed and let go of Ted’s ankle.

            Ted scrambled towards the rifle, but before he reached it Bloody Face’s sidearm discharged.  Instead of continuing his crawl for the rifle, Ted instinctively rolled to the side.  Looking back, he saw that his attacker pointed his gun too high and didn’t bother to aim.  After two more shots, Jack’s melee abruptly ended when his opponent fell to the ground.  He must have been hit by a stray bullet.

            Dumbfounded, Jack looked around.

            “Hold it!” the punk shouted before brain and skull fragments erupted through his face.

            When the corpse hit the ground, a form stepped through the shadows towards the other two bodies.  Even though the first fatality had been a head shot, their mysterious savior put another round in the head.  He then walked over the one who’d lunged at Jack with a knife and shot him in the head.

            “We don’t have much time,” he said.  “Take whatever you can carry off of them and follow me.”

            Ted recognized the voice.  It belonged to Lou Sanchez.

            They did as instructed.  Since the thugs were just a security patrol, they did not carry back packs.  Aside from a few granola bars wrapped in tinfoil, Ted found no rations.  The only useful item that wasn’t ammunition, a firearm, or a knife was a basic first aid kit with a few bandages and an opened bottle of iodine.  They took what they could then followed Lou through the forest of empty buildings.

            A few minutes after their exit, engines sounded in the background.  Lou dashed towards a near by building.

            “In here,” he said, yanking the door opened.

            They rushed inside and he led them to the basement.  After removing a panel from the wall, Lou handed Jack a folded map.

            “Follow these directions.  When you hit the surface, you’ll find a fueled ride with supplies.  You’re on your own from there.”

            Perplexed, the boys nodded and entered the tunnel.  Ted looked back in time to see their rescuer replace the panel.

*

            After securing the panel, Lou Sanchez rushed back outside and found his jeep two buildings down.  He was alone this shift so he hadn’t needed to worry about a partner, but he needed to get back to his radio.  By now, a patrol would have investigated the sounds of gunfire and found the bodies.  If he was out of contact for too long, somebody might suspect something.

            He hadn’t planned on extracting anyone yet.  Lou had followed the three guards because of a gut feeling.  They were away from their patrol route, and he suspected they were going to cause some sort of trouble.  He’d no idea how right he was.  Not only was their no time to dispose of the bodies, but the jeep he’d sent the boys to had been meant as an escape plan if one of Gideon’s subordinates had been exposed.  Someone who wasn’t completely loyal to Olmstead was doomed not to execution, but given personal time with Mr. Truax.  There was a whole network of refugees who’d sought freedom outside of Olmstead’s reach.  They kept in contact with those still on the inside and were still very committed to ending Olmstead’s reign.  A compromised agent would jeopardize their entire network.

            Gideon would have told Lou that he’d fucked up big time, but Lou’s superior would have also likely left the two boys to die.

            The jeep had been hidden in an alleyway almost two blocks away from the firefight.  By the time he reached his parking spot, several teams sped towards the scene.  When he turned the ignition, Lou was greeted by frantic chatter over the radio.  The security team to find the bodies hadn’t known what to make of the situation.  Fights between guards were not uncommon and even deadly shootouts occasionally happened.  The full picture of what happened wouldn’t come until the morning when the guests were counted and they found two missing.

            As a high ranking security officer, Lou would have to visit the crime scene.

            “Sanchez here,” he said into his receiver.  “I’m on my way. Over.”

            When he arrived at the scene, Lou counted five jeeps, a van, and two box trucks.  While investigators took Polaroid photographs of the area, several guards stood around, prepared to shoe away any unwanted onlookers.

            “What do we have here?” Lou said when he spotted Buckingham.

            “Three of our boys are dead.  Looks like there was a skirmish.”  Buckingham led Lou through the crime scene.  “When the fight ended, it looks like the winner put a round in each of the victim’s heads, meaning the killings didn’t happen in the heat of the moment.”

            Not only was Buckingham fiercely loyal to Olmstead, but he’d been their commander’s most trusted official because of his keen investigative instincts.  He’d been able to sniff out countless dissidents and gladly handed them over to Traux for questioning.

            “Contact Turnbull, and put together a team.  I want to know if any of our guests are missing.”

            “Yes sir,” Lou said, glad to have a reason to leave.

*

            Minutes later, Lou met with Gideon Turnbull on the rooftop of an unoccupied office complex.  From five stories up, he could see almost the entire compound.  Several lights shined until they reached the cement and steel boarder of civilization.  Even if they weren’t scheming against their government, they wouldn’t have wanted their conversation to find its way to the wrong ears, so the clandestine meeting spot would not have been suspicious.

            “This is going to escalate the situation,” Gideon said.  “They’re going to make a move for the cooler soon.”

            They weren’t sure what Olmstead wanted with a potential vaccination against reanimation, but their commander had become obsessed with it ever since intercepting the transmission from the stricken outpost.  A reconnaissance team had been sent to investigate, but they’d discovered that the area was a hot zone.  They’d also discovered another settlement had sent out another team to retrieve the vaccine.

            Their mission had become a simple matter of waiting for the other team to return then conning them out of their prize.  Olmstead had wanted the entire operation kept a secret, not only because of the possible fallout that could occur if his people found out that he’d attacked another colony unprovoked but because public knowledge of an end to the walking dead would not suit his agenda.  Without the fear of the undead, Olmstead would lose much of his power.  After obtaining the vaccine through diplomatic means, the plan was to execute the refugees brought in for questioning and let the others starve in their overpopulated safe houses.

            Sobkzak had complicated matters by bringing all of the refugees back.  The change in the plan had brought more soldiers in on the operation, not limiting involvement to a handful of loyal thugs who would stay quiet.  It had also complicated matters because people in the compound would know about the guests.  If they were exterminated inside of the grounds, others would find out and there would be outrage.  Grant had intended the move to protect the survivors, but Turnbull saw it as a chance to incite a rebellion.

            “I’ve already had watchmen posted outside of the hotels to see if anyone comes in past curfew.  Of course they won’t find anyone,” Lou said.  “What’s next?”

            “We’ll perform a head count in the morning.  When they find that two of the refugees are missing, well I’d hate to be one of the refugees.”

            “What’s the plan?”

            “I’ve had one of my agents tip off Buckingham about my loyalties.  Beyond that, the less you know the better,” He said.  “If Buckingham asks about me, tell him I was nervous the last time you saw me.”

            “What am I supposed to do in the meantime?”

            “Keep a low profile.  If I’m captured, I want you to kill me.  We can’t endanger the rest of our movement.”

            Gideon turned and moved towards the stairwell, taking a final drag on his cigarette before flicking it aside.  At the doorway, he paused and looked back at his subordinate.

            “With any luck these people’s deaths will count for something,” he said before disappearing.

            If Turnbull wanted to be discovered then it meant that he was going to disappear, and he wanted Olmstead to spend manpower to find him.  Lou wasn’t sure what his master plan was, but he was glad that Turnbull wasn’t the one staying behind with the refugees.

            Their deaths will count for something.

            If Lou could help it, none of them would die.

*

            When they slid the manhole cover aside and climbed onto the street, the boys paused and waited for undead moans.  The only sounds in the night were their own breathing.  Nothing moved in the shadows and no lights swept in their direction.  For the moment it looked like they were safe from both the living and the dead.

            According to the map, the garage to Ted’s left was unlocked and there was a fully stocked jeep inside.  In theory the jeep was loaded with enough food, water, ammunition, and fuel to get them to safety, but Sanchez had not provided the boys with directions to where safety was beyond the garage.  Ted estimated that they’d surfaced two miles away from the compound.  Hopefully any search parties were still concentrated on the inside of the compound.  He wasn’t sure how a search party would work outside of the walls, but he didn’t want to find out.

            Ted followed Jack to a doorway on the side of the building.  If that door was unlocked, it would make a lot less noise than their jeep’s exit.  The last thing they needed was to wake the dead.

            As Jack tugged the door opened, Ted watched the buildings surrounding them.  Luckily, the undead were still nowhere to be seen.  Because visibility was much greater, most of their expeditions had been conducted during daylight, but a small group on foot would do much better at night, when most of the undead were inside.  Perhaps they were trying to emulate the schedule of their past life.  As soon as they started the jeep and rolled out, Ted expected the streets to fill with drooling, hungry mobs of flesh eaters.

            Inside, they found a large object covered in a tarp.  Pulling away the cover revealed a jeep with several boxes and duffel bags inside.  First they inventoried the supplies, then took fifteen minutes to check the tires and under the hood.  After their hasty inspection revealed no obvious problems, Jack jumped in the driver’s seat.  As Ted moved to pull up the front gate, the engine roared to life.

            Jack rolled forward even before the door was closed to allow Ted to claim his shotgun seat just a little bit sooner and the boys sped off into the night.  Just as Ted predicted the undead started trickling out of the doorways, but he was more concerned about what might be lurking the in streets behind.

Table of Contents

This web page is property of Josh Thompson and any violation will result in a severe crack in the skull! Have a nice day : )