Class of 2013 - 16

Chapter Sixteen

After our mad dash to the booze racks, we started to notice that Lea was, in fact, firing her rifle. Every few seconds we heard a loud, thunderous blast from above our heads. It was oddly comforting to hear though, as it meant that there was one more dead zombie each time that it was heard. Within minutes the racks of wine and other liquor were emptied and packed into the Suburban, and we began to load the actual supplies we came for. The work was quick as we filled shopping carts full to the brim and then pushed them over to the SUV. With every shipment of supplies, I was checking to see out the front windows of the Suburban to make sure that the zombies weren’t hording, and thus far they weren’t close enough to start doing so. Thanks to Lea they weren’t even getting close.

It was about half an hour before we had the Suburban packed full, and it was only then that we realized we’d made a mistake. We’d packed the rear of the SUV full, as much as we could, and it was only after doing so that we thought about how we were supposed to actually get back into the vehicle. We’d come out the back, but all four doors to the cab were outside of the store. We thought for a moment, and the first thing that came to mind was trying to unload some of the things in the back. That was quickly shot down as it would take too long, and by the time we were done some of the supplies might actually go bad. The next thing that came up was having someone crawl under the SUV, get to the front, start it up, and then back it up until the rear two cab doors were inside.

Of course, there was only one person that could fit properly and move effectively beneath the vehicle, and that was James. The vote came down, two to one, in favor of him doing it. He accused us of ganging up on him, and we just kind of agreed that we did. After all, that was how you won when you voted for things. You ganged up against those that didn’t share your opinion and beat them with greater numbers. That was politics for you, really. Scowling, James took the keys from me and then blew out a breath before getting down and crawling under the truck. As he did, Chien and I closed the rear doors to make sure that nothing fell out when he backed up. A minute or two later the sound of the driver’s door slamming shut could be heard, and the two of us stepped off to the sides.

Soon the Suburban backed up and the rear two doors were inside the store. As soon as they were we threw them open and Chien scrambled over the seat and out the front passenger door. James shifted into park and hopped out the driver’s side. I was the last to scramble over and out. James shouted up to Lea to come down, and in the meantime Chien and I started firing the scoped rifles that we’d brought. None of the zombies were close really, but we didn’t want them getting anywhere near us either. It was while Chien and I were firing that I heard my Asian friend speak between shots.

“Hey Roy!” He called to me, “Was that there yesterday?” When I paused in my shooting, I looked over to see him pointing at something. Across the street from the parking lot was the Perris High School campus, and from one of the buildings there was some sort of banner hanging. It was white, and I couldn’t quite read it from that far away, but when I looked through the scope I could see it clear enough. It read: Living inside, please help! Well… if that didn’t beat all. More survivors.

“No, don’t think it was. They must have put it out after we were here. Probably figured that we’d return.” I grinned a little then and shrugged. “They figured right.”

James looked at us quickly. “Should we go try and help them?”

“No, not now.” I shook my head. “No point if we can’t get them out of that place. We’ll drop off the supplies and then talk to Sweet about what we should do. He’ll probably want us to help them, but how is the question. Could do anything from a full rescue mission, to just a distraction for them.” Of course, I was banking on it being the full rescue mission. I was already getting ideas for what we could do to improve the tactical situation that we were faced with.

Then we heard Lea call us from the inside of the Suburban, and both rear doors shutting. James was first inside from the front and over into the back seat, and Chien and I climbed into the front. The doors were shut and all four were locked before we were off. As the SUV moved out of the store’s doors, they slid shut just as they were supposed to, and then we were moving out of the parking lot. We’d have to come back for the woman’s corpse at some point, and load up all the tinder in the store and out in the parking lot. We were going to have plenty of fuel for our power plant. I was just wondering how far that would have gotten by now with Sweet leading it. It could only go so fast, and I doubted that it would be anywhere near completion, but it would be nice to see at least a little progress.

The trip back to the school was a short one, but it did give me time to think. I doubted Sweet wouldn’t have us help them, but we needed a way to get them out safely. There were multiple ways of doing this. One way required minimal force, but was the highest risk. Another way maximized our firepower and security potential, but meant that everyone would be going on the mission… and I wasn’t sure if most of our group was ready for combat operations.

==X==X==X==

Once we arrived at the school and the cargo was unloaded and stored away, we talked with Sweet about what should be done. It became quickly apparent that he didn’t want to take everyone along, though he was also conflicted. It wasn’t the fact that he thought they couldn’t handle it that was holding him back from sending everyone. Rather, he knew that they were ready enough if we went about this the right way. Instead, it was the fact that he wasn’t sure how to organize this rescue mission. If we went with the least number of forces, we’d need at least three vehicles. Likely, they’d be the Suburban, Cutlass, and GTO. That was just to get in, rescue a few people, and leave. We weren’t even aware of how many people they had. It could be only a couple, or there could be a large number there.

It would also present the problem of having to leave behind the vehicles, and possibly have our exit route blocked when we went to leave. The last thing we needed was to go and help people only to be caught with them in a death trap. That wouldn’t serve to help anyone at all. The last problem with the small numbers plan was that we had no idea how many zombies were actually in the school. Perris High had been a much larger school than P.M.A., as it had been the primary high school in the district; we’d been a charter school with military flavor. That meant that there could be an incredibly large number of zombies inside, and perhaps a larger number of survivors than what we had already. The numbers game was not in our favor, no matter how it was looked at. We needed more for this.

With a soft curse, Sweet finally acknowledged that we’d need more people to go with us in order to pull this off. Out of eighteen people, five of them he was already counting out – basically everyone that had been rescued from Menifee. That left thirteen of us. The ‘Core Four’, Sweet, and the other eight of us that had survived. We could leave Sophie in charge of the power plant’s construction, and considering that Sweet’s girls had nothing else to do they could replace at least two of the construction team. That meant that there were seven that could go, and the remaining eleven would stay back to work on projects here at home base. We could all agree on that. The next matter was transportation. The three vehicles might not be enough for everyone. A minute passed before Chien suggested the busses in the yard, and Sweet grinned.

He had keys to the yard the busses were kept in, and he also knew where the keys to the busses themselves were kept. It was decided also that he would be the driver. The two extras we took along would stay back to defend the bus and provide fire for us if we needed it. That would ensure that we could get out when the time came. The plan came together quickly from there. Hopefully we’d be able to get the attention of Perris High’s survivors upon arrival and have them tell us how to get to where they were. If that bit of good luck didn’t present itself, we would have to think of something else, though we weren’t exactly sure what. One possibility was that we would use the school’s PA system to tell them what to do, and have them make it obvious to our bus guards where they were. Then the bus guards would use radios to contact us and tell us where we should go.

Plan in mind, we then found ourselves on another topic – that of the zombies themselves. We all knew already that they were blind and worked with sound primarily, but we didn’t yet know of James’ discoveries that had happened since leaving for Menifee. The discoveries of a possible healing factor of some kind, and that of the strange changes to their blood were interesting, though seemingly piqued mostly my interest… and that of Alice as she had been eavesdropping. What surprised us all was when she actually told us through her writing pad that she’d examine one of them if we could somehow capture a live specimen for her. Lea scowled at the thought of bringing a living zombie into the school. Chien would rather have killed them too. James and I were curious about what could possibly be making them – and Sweet wanted to know as much about how to kill them as he possibly could.

The vote was three to two in favor of a capture, though Lea and Chien were adamant that they wouldn’t be part of the zombie recovery team. Thus, it was to be left to James and I – though this was a side mission, and as such, wouldn’t be happening until we had these other people rescued. On the mention of that, Alice also requested that we recover any scientific equipment for her research that we could, assuming that P.M.A. didn’t have something and Perris High did. Sweet was the only one that really knew what P.M.A. did and didn’t have, so that would be his part in this. It wasn’t likely that we’d be able to make a grab for equipment while we were at the high school, but it seemed that in the meantime Alice would be able to make due with simple, basic biology lab equipment.

When the meeting ended, everyone went their separate ways, though I asked Alice to stay behind. She’d been obviously curious as to why, but stayed regardless. Glancing around the office to ensure that everyone had headed away, I walked over to one of the computers that the staff used to use and sat in the chair. Turning on the monitor, I opened WordPad and typed in a question. Seeing me doing this to talk with her, rather than just talking, brought a small smile to her face. She decided to continue using her pad though.

Do you have any guesses as to what the blood changes could be?

No, not off the top of my head; I would need a blood sample, Roy. Without that, I’m afraid my guess is as good as anyone’s. Why do you ask?

Well… I ask because it may have a direct link to their regenerative abilities.

You’re not thinking about trying to augment people with it, are you?

…Maybe.

I have to applaud the theory. It would be a wonderful thing if we could actually make it work, but I’m not sure we’d be able to. Whatever is causing the infection is likely the cause of the ability, so… we would likely have to infect someone for them to gain it. If we could somehow study the cause of the healing factor, then perhaps a controlled infection could work, but there wouldn’t be any guarantees that the person wouldn’t just end up a zombie eventually.

Actually… there might be a possible way to control the infection.

What do you mean?

While we were at Stater Brothers we saw a woman who had died. She’d been bitten on the ankle, but never reanimated. She ended up dying, not from the infection, but from a damaged artery and bleeding out. Somehow she cleaned the wound with a bottle of vodka; drank some of it too. I think alcohol can stunt the infection.

If that’s so, we might even have a way to either reverse the process and find a cure, or at least gain immunity to the infection over time. There’s no way to tell for sure until I have a chance to examine one of them.

Then we shall simply have to get one as soon as possible.

Quite right. She smiled, then pouted a little and wrote more. You’re not thinking of anything crazy though, are you?

Perish the thought, Alice. I’m not a madman.

Funny you should say that, considering you have that ‘hunt for immortality’ glint in your eye. Whatever the case is, just remember that these things aren’t intelligent anymore. Even if they’re somehow immortal, it wouldn’t be worth it to try and become like them, Roy.

I smiled softly. I know, Alice. Don’t worry. If the price of immortality is one’s mind, then the price is far too steep to pay.

I’m glad you agree. Good luck on the capture, Lieutenant. She smiled and stood then, walking a little bit away before pausing in thought, a devious little grin spreading over her lips. Scribbling down on her pad once more, she tore the page off and folded it into a paper plane – letting it fly lazily toward me and walking away.

Upon opening the plane up to see what she’d written, I smirked a little.

However, Lieutenant, if immortality can come without such a cost… it is most certainly worth whatever trouble you go through on your quest to attain it.

==X==X==X==

By the time that we were ready to go, it was nearly five o’clock in the afternoon. That gave us about two hours of daylight left to do this in, and I had the feeling that it was going to be a long two hours. The high school was in the center of town, and any noise made there was going to end up attracting more of the zombies. That, coupled with the fact that we’d done so much in the area the last couple of days, meant that there was likely going to be a large number of them waiting for us.

Thus, we decided that we were going to be bringing a large amount of ammunition – three crates of twenty-two long rifle, a full five hundred round ammo can for Lea’s rifle, all the .223 ammunition, one hundred fifty rounds for shotgun ammunition, ten magazines of nine millimeter ammo, ten magazines of forty-five ammo, and two hundred forty rounds for the Hammerli air magnums that were to be left on the bus (the bus guards were to be left with both air rifles and Ruger 10/22’s in order to save [initially] on ammunition use). The only weapons that were changing in the Core Four’s configuration were the Ruger 10/22’s Chien and I used being swapped out for the Mini 14’s from Big 5 (without the limiters in the magazines they could hold more ammunition).

As we loaded onto the bus we were quiet once more, just like before the trip to Stater Brothers. It was another new situation. Stater Brothers had been our first large scale raid going into a building that we knew was likely infested. This was our very first organized rescue mission as a whole group, and we had no idea how many people we were trying to save or how many zombies we were going to end up fighting. In truth, we just hoped that we had enough ammunition. Despite the concerns, we did have a strange sort of silent confidence that radiated through the group. We knew that we could do this, that we could save these people and maybe even others in the city if there were more survivors. The fact that there was another group of survivors at all spoke well for our fortunes. It meet that there was still hope for this continent.

As the bus rumbled to life, I watched from one of the front seats as four of the other cadet survivors opened and guarded the gate. An all clear signal was given, and the bus began to move forward slowly, out onto the side road that led down to the park behind the school, and then up to A Street. With a right turn we headed down toward the overpass, under it, around the loop, up and over, and then from the crest we could see Perris High. It wasn’t a pretty picture. Looking through the scope of my rifle I could see that the place was a mess, though no specifics could be told. There were a lot of dead bodies and the place was trashed, though I couldn’t pick out any zombies from this range. The bodies were easy to make out because of the sheer number.

As we moved down along the street headed for the high school, it felt like time was slowing down. A trip that only lasted a couple minutes seemed to last hours. My mind was trying to come up with solutions for the obvious problems that we were going to face this go around, and only one was coming up. However, this one idea did make everything a lot easier. Looking to Chien, I asked a simple question.

“Hey Chien… do you have your iPod on you?”

He blinked and looked back at me. “Yeah, I’ve got it… why? You wanna listen to something?” He quirked a brow. “Don’t you have yours?”

“No, mine’s back at school. I haven’t been carrying it. That’s not why I ask though…” I paused. “I think I have an idea for distracting the hordes at the school.”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Well… they act mostly on sound, and we might go to the office to use the PA system anyway… so… we could always just key the PA’s mike and play a song over the system on repeat. That would get them to crowd around the speakers and we could just move through the halls quietly. No mess, no fuss, just getting in and getting out. Two could stay at the office to keep the PA going and hold the place, and the other three could go to meet the survivors wherever they are… or wherever we set the rally point.”

Sweet glanced over his shoulder. “Good idea.” He glanced between the road and me, “I’ll take you and Lea. James will stay with Chien in the office since Lea’s long range skills wouldn’t be useful there, and Chien knows where everything on his own iPod is. Sound good to you?” The question was for Chien.

“Sounds good to me.” Chien grinned. “I even know what to play.”

“Oh hell no…” I said flatly, looking at him. “No, Chien. Just… no.”

“What? You don’t even know what I’m going to play…” His Cheshire Cat grin, however, told me that I was correct in my assumption of what he’d end up playing.

“You’re gonna play Gangnam Style. That, or Get Out Alive.”

He just glanced away and whistled innocently, though fooled nobody. Before I could say anything further on the matter, we pulled up out front of the school, and now there were zombies to see plain as day. However, Sweet knew that we had to get the attention of whoever was in the school somehow. The only way to do that would be to make some noise. With a bit of a scowl, knowing it would only draw more attention to us from the zombies, Sweet laid on the bus’s horn – interestingly enough in what came out to be Mores Code for SOS. I doubted anyone inside the school would know that, but I thought it was interesting. It certainly got attention in either application. The evidence for that was someone leaning over the rooftop and flailing their arms. That was shortly followed by the assembly of multiple people near them.

“How many are there?” Sweet asked, and Lea’s voice from halfway back in the bus was the one that delivered the answer.

“Sixteen of them. More survivors than we had…” The last bit trailed off, sounding as if there was a bit of shock in her voice. Considering the group, I could see why. It looked like football players, three cheerleaders, and the school’s coach. Go figure that. “I can’t believe we’re rescuing jocks and cheerleaders. Fuck my life, man…”

“Oh come on…” James began, “…you’ve got to at least give them a chance first.”

“James, have you ever met a jock that you liked?”

James fell silent at that moment, trying to think about it. He quickly found her point.

“Exactly.” She said pointedly, and then looked up toward the roof again. “And I’ve never met a cheerleader that I liked… at least past the factor of lust, anyway.”

James was silent for a moment, and then spoke. “Okay, how the fuck can you get away with saying that, but nobody else on this bus could? ‘Cause you’re female?”

Lea grinned. “Yeah, basically. It’s not sexist if a girl does it.”

“That’s not fair.” James said flatly. “If any of the rest of us said that, we’d get a never ending amount of shit for it from every girl that we met and found out we’d said that shit.”

“That’s because the six of you are men, and I’m a woman. Women can get away with this kind of stuff. After all, what’s another chick going to say to me? That I’m being sexist? I’m the same exact gender as they are. They’d look like an idiot, wouldn’t they?”

James half shrugged and half nodded in begrudging, resentful agreement. “Yeah, okay, they would look like an idiot. That doesn’t make it right though, Lea.”

“Never said it was right, now did I? I just said it was a fact.” She grinned.

James pinched the bridge of his nose. “My god… you are his cousin.”

Lea just giggled at that.

Meanwhile, up near the front of the bus, Sweet was talking with those on the roof through one of the windows. The emergency hatch on top of the bus probably would have been better, but it was harder to reach from the floor with nothing to stand on… save ammo crates. The instructions given were simple ones. They would stay on the roof until we arrived to escort them down, and under no circumstances were they to leave the roof until that time; no matter what they heard or what was going on. If they left the roof it could compromise our plan for getting to them, and if that happened we would all die. The coach agreed and then backed everyone away from the edge of the roof.

Sweet then ordered for all the bus windows to be opened along the sides, and we quickly did so. The bus guards were given their orders – which essentially were to make no noise, not even shooting, unless there was a potential horde. Then, if that happened, they were to use the air rifles first and take out as many as they could. If there were too many for that, they would switch to the Rugers and begin to trim the horde back down to manageable size. It was then that I realized the advantage that a shotgun could have given them, but decided to just file the information away for later. In the future it might be more useful, in planning, to see large vehicles with multiple windows (and thus multiple gun ports) in terms of ships. After all, a shotgun was little more than a shrunken cannon firing miniature grapeshot.

Checking to make sure that the way to the office door was clear, Sweet motioned for the Core Four to follow him, and we departed the bus – the door being shut after we passed through…