Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Tom followed Dr. Stevens into the control tower, leaving his friends behind. He was steaming that one of the guardsman had taken his Taurus that his father had given him. He was assured that he’d get it back… yeah right. His gut told him that coming here was a mistake, a big mistake. All of the guardsmen here seemed to be on edge, and appeared that they weren’t just on guard from the undead outside the seemingly thin defense of a fence. Come to think of it, he hadn’t really seen any civilians wandering around out here.

“He’s waiting at the top.” Stevens said, standing at the bottom of a stairwell. The tower was dark, and the constant hum of the central air kept it cool and refreshing compared to the hot sun outside. Stevens used his index finger to push his glasses back into place as they slid down just a tad too far.

“Is there anything I need to know about this… Taft?” Tom asked, taking a few steps forward and looking up the stairwell to see if he could see anything or anyone. He couldn’t.

“Don’t piss him off.” The doctor turned around and exited the tower, his white lab coat fluttering behind him. For the first time, as Tom watched him leave, he noticed splotches of blood on it. The Private put his hands in his face, wondering what they’d all gotten himself into as he started up the stairs. He wasn’t halfway up when he stopped dead in his tracks.

“That guardsman at the house…” How could he have forgotten? The soldier that Nick had pulled out of the wreck… he’d said something before he succumbed to his wounds.

“Taft… he said that Taft did him in… shit!” He cursed himself as he took a deep breath and continued up the stairs. He was still in part of his military fatigues, so maybe he could convince him that he was on their side. And he still did have his military ID… it could work.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he saw several men manning various radios and equipment. Some of it was already there before the outbreak, but some of it was haphazardly set up. Nobody paid any attention to him as his gaze shifted to the Colonel.

“Ah, Private, I was wondering when I’d be able to speak with you.” A small man stood in the middle of the room, enjoying what looked to be a very tasty cigar. The man was slightly balding, and grey streaks of hair lined the side of his head. His uniform was crisp and clean, and posture dictated that he was in fact the one who ran things here. A large Desert Eagle was strapped at his side. Taft extended his hand, not moving from his position in the middle of the room. Tom took a few steps forward and accepted it. Taft’s handshake was firm and brief.

“Pardon me for getting right down to business, but I was informed that you were stationed over at thee high school?” Tom didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about, but decided he should just go for it.

“Yes, we all were.” He said, motioning to his group outside. He could just make out them being led away. The Colonel nodded, taking another puff off his cigar.

“Where’s everybody else?” Taft asked. Tom looked down at the ground, trying to think of something, anything to say. If he was caught in a lie, he had no doubt that it would seal his fate. He shifted his feet, looking around at the three men monitoring the radios. They each wore nation guard uniforms similar to the soldiers outside.

“Private, where the fuck is everybody else? Answer the fucking question, and that’s a god damn order.” Taft growled. It’s now or never…

“They didn’t make it. Those creatures outside broke through our main line of defense. It all happened so fast, we weren’t prepared at all… I grabbed what I could and saved who I could. I didn’t see anybody else make it out, sir.” Tom finally said, looking the Colonel straight in the eyes. He wasn’t typically a liar, but when he needed to, he could be a damn good one.

“I kind of figured that happened, Private. Where did you go for the last three days, though? We sent out helicopters to search the surrounding area, as well as multiple radio transmissions.” Tom shook his head.

“We all took cover. Like I said, sir, we were overwhelmed.” Tom replied. He noticed that the Taft was now looking outside the tower, watching Nick, Jake, and Katharina. “And without the help of those I saved, I probably wouldn’t have made it.” He quickly added. Taft ignored him as he turned to one of the men on a radio transmission device.

“Ready the men, they’re moving out in 5.” He then turned over to Tom. “Eric here will take you over to the armory.” Tom’s eyebrows raised.

“Wait, what?” He asked, not quite sure what was going on.

“I’m sending a team over to the high school to see if you were bullshitting me or not. I want to find out what went down over there. And guess what? You’ll be my team’s guide. Gear up, Private. If what you said was true, it looks like you’re going to be in one hell of a firefight.”





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“Stay close.” Nick whispered to the kid and girl as they were being led over to a large hangar. He could see dozens of people inside mulling about. When they saw them being led over by gunpoint, they all stopped what they were doing and glanced over.

“You, you’re coming with me.” The man with the scar told Katharina as he grabbed her by the arm. He shot Jake a quick glance, before delivering a shift punch to his face.

“Leave her alone!” He growled. The soldier’s eyes went wide with shock, as if nobody has ever tried that on him before. The other soldier leading the group quickly restrained Nick, whispering in his ear.

“Bad mistake fucking with Barnes.”  Barnes took a step forward and jammed the butt of his gun into Nick’s gut. Nick keeled over, gasping for air. Before he could regain his composure, Barnes’ boot was in his face, knocking his down to the ground. As everything started going black, he saw Jake standing over him yelling something. All he could hear was Barnes, though. Before he led Katharina away, he kneeled over Nick.

“I’ll deal with you later.” The last thing he saw before everything went black was Barnes’ fist coming down on his face.





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Katharina wiped the tears from her face as she was led away from Nick and Jake. Barnes looked pissed off, she watched him wipe his fat lip and mutter curses to himself as she was led to another hangar.

“This is where you’ll be staying.” Barnes finally said as they entered a hangar full with women of all ages. She saw a pair of soldiers casually walking out, conversing with one another. Behind them, every last women inside had a look in their eyes. One of hopelessness, despair, and doom.

“This is where our boys come to… release themselves after a hard day.” Katharina turned towards him, as he grinned to the two dozen or so women. “Hello, ladies.” He chuckled.

“Excuse me?” She said, a tone of annoyance in her face. Barnes’ grin faded as he turned towards her and backhanded her across the face. She fell back to the ground, stunned. He stood over her, pointing a finger down in her face.

“Excuse you, bitch. We all protect you skanks from the horrors outside this airbase. In return, you’ll give us what we want, no, what we need.” Katharina slowly crawled backwards and stood up, rubbing one of her hands on her red cheek.

“Don’t get too comfortable, I’ll be back for you soon.” And with that, he turned around and walked away. Katharina slowly sunk into the crowd of women, never feeling more alone in her life.





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Tom sat quietly in the Humvee as it sped outside the safety of the airbase. Hard rock blasted throughout the vehicle as they neared the high school. Tom wasn’t really looking forward to the arrival. Hell, he used to go to Parkland High merely five years ago. He wondered if he’d find anybody he recognized… nah, fuck that. They’d probably be undead.

Three other guardsmen came along for the ride; two up front and one in the back with him. They each carried similar assault rifles. Their sidearm of choice ranged though. Tom decided to go with a stainless steel .357 magnum, opting for the stopping power for whatever lay ahead. The soldier seated next to him had a USP strapped to each leg, and sat with his assault rifle on his lap as he watched outside.

The soldiers up front had a much different choice of weaponry, Tom noticed. The driver kept a large machete strapped to his back in a sort of leather holster. He whistled to himself as the Humvee slammed into one of the undead, merely just a speed bump to the massive vehicle. The man riding shotgun had just that. In addition to his assault rifle propped up against his seat, a black Mossberg with a pistol grip was strapped to his back; a bandolier of shotgun shells lined his vest. Tom was startled out of his little daze as the soldier seated next to him finally spoke up.

“What’s on your mind?” The guardsman asked. Tom just shook his head.

“Nothing.” Over the music, Tom heard the man grunt.

“Don’t bullshit a bullshitter.” Tom turned over to the soldier, and was surprised to see a slight grin on his face. “Private Kingston, Jack Kingston.”

“Tom Williams.” Tom said, not bothering to say his rank. There really wasn’t a point anymore. Jack nodded, and he noticed that the guardsman kept watching him.

“I know you weren’t stationed at the school.” Tom’s blood ran cold as Jack finally spoke up again. He slowly turned his head, his hand reaching down for the .357. “Don’t.” Jack said, one of his USPs already trained on him. He sighed, taking his hand off the butt of the magnum.

“Yeah, how so?” Tom asked, wondering where this was going to lead. The soldier reached into his vest and pulled out a picture, still keeping the USP trained on him. He kept his voice down so the others up front wouldn’t hear. Tom reached over and grabbed the photo, and his heart skipped a beat. It was the one of him and Katharina, taken right before they’d arrived.

“I grabbed it before anybody else saw. I saw the way you looked at her and your friends. The soldiers at the airbase and stationed at the high school… they aren’t good people. Most of them, anyways.” Tom kept silent, his eyes glued to the USP aimed at his chest.

“Well, what are you going to do?” Tom asked as the driver called back from the front.

“We’re here! Kingston, man the turret, shit is going down!” Tom shot a glance back at Jack, whose eyes narrowed as he slid the USP back in the holster.

“We’ll talk later.” Jack jumped up as the Humvee’s tires screeched to a halt. Jack opened up the roof latch and got behind the mounted .50 cal. He pulled the bolt back on the massive cannon and let loose hell.

Tom gasped as he covered his hands with his ears. The continuous booms of the heavy machinegun reverberated throughout his entire body. Shooting a quick glance outside, he saw that they were parked outside by the football field. Fountains of dirt kicked up as the .50 tore apart the corpses as they stumbled towards their doom.

“Shit…” Tom breathed, not even hearing himself over the massive gun. As he kept his head down, he cursed as one of the shell casings from the gun fell through the hatch and landed in the collar of his shirt, burning his neck. He quickly flicked it away, just as the gunfire stopped. The driver grinned as he hopped out of the truck, the soldier riding shotgun did the same.

Jack Kingston climbed down from the gunner seat, shooting him a quick glance before exiting the vehicle. Tom sighed and looked down at the photo he still held clenched in his hands. He slowly closed his eyes and looked up at the roof of the cab as he put the photo in his vest.

“I’ll get you out of this, Kath. I’ll get you out…”