to correct him, at least on that matter.
“I’d get to them if you would just shut your mouth,” Ganes barked in growing frustration. It was time to rein things in again. “I want silence in my formation, damn it!” He paused to see if anyone was going to challenge him. “Good. Currently, we can only fire if fired upon or if we are physically attacked. Because of the contagious nature of the virus, we have asked for the orders to be amended to allow for weapons discharge against any individual coming within thirty feet, but that hasn’t been approved yet. And that brings me to the bad news.”
Max almost cried out: contagious zombies wasn’t the bad news? He held back, barely.
Ganes read the look. “Yes, that wasn’t the bad news. We will be enforcing a quarantine zone with a circumference of one-hundred and twenty-two miles.” This caused the formation to collectively gasp. They all began looking around and most started counting how many of them were present, easily calculating that there wasn’t even one man per mile.
“This is crazy,” Max said, again speaking out of line. “There’s got to be like, twenty thousand people in Poughkeepsie. We’re supposed to hold them all back? Alone?”
“No. There is already a sizeable police presence around the town. We will be supplementing them until reinforcements arrive. The good news is that the entire 42 nd is being mobilized.”
There came a collective sigh of relief, but not from Max. “Sir, with all due respect, but the entire 42 nd has got only like, 10,000 men and they’re scattered in six states. It wouldn’t be enough even if they were all here right now. It would be something like seventy men per mile of perimeter. That’s not enough, especially if there’s a panic and everyone tries to leave the town at once.” Every single man in the unit was, for just two seconds, suddenly stone quiet as they realized how dangerously thin their lines would be under the best of conditions. The whispering began again.
Ganes had to nip it in the bud. “Fowler, you sound like a chicken-shit. You sound like a whining bitch. This is the situation. Yes, it sucks but we don’t have a choice in the matter. There is a virus spreading in that town and it’s our job to keep it from running over the entire country. So, are you going whine like a baby or are you going to step up and do something about it?”
“I’m going to step up, Sir.”
“Hooah! That’s what I want to hear,” Ganes said, grinning. There was a touch of worry showing in that grin. Everything Fowler had said was true but their situation was worse than he knew. The closest reinforcements to them was the 42 nd Infantry Division marching band and a headquarters company that was composed of medics and cooks and typists with asses that could barely fit into the largest BDUs…and they were two hours away! And to make matter worse, Delta Company would have to carry out their mission covered head to toe in their MOPP 4 protective gear, and that included their gas masks. Their ability to see targets beyond a hundred yards would be severely compromised. Who knew if they were going to be able to hit a thing?
And it was a given that they were going to be tested. Already the police had been involved with two fire-fights and, with the sun up, Ganes was sure there would be more as the people of Poughkeepsie tried to make a break for safety.
Chapter 7
Soldiers On the Line
7:36 a.m.
With his headquarters company straggling in from all over the state, General Collins was still relying on Courtney Shaw and her small team of dispatchers to place the first of his men on scene. He could read a map the same as Captain Ganes and both knew the men weren’t heading anywhere near the twenty mile mark as described by the governor—and neither cared. Courtney’s placement made sense when little else did.
Collins put the fate of his soldiers in her hands. She was competent, smart and clearly tough as nails.
The
“I’d get to them if you would just shut your mouth,” Ganes barked in growing frustration. It was time to rein things in again. “I want silence in my formation, damn it!” He paused to see if anyone was going to challenge him. “Good. Currently, we can only fire if fired upon or if we are physically attacked. Because of the contagious nature of the virus, we have asked for the orders to be amended to allow for weapons discharge against any individual coming within thirty feet, but that hasn’t been approved yet. And that brings me to the bad news.”
Max almost cried out: contagious zombies wasn’t the bad news? He held back, barely.
Ganes read the look. “Yes, that wasn’t the bad news. We will be enforcing a quarantine zone with a circumference of one-hundred and twenty-two miles.” This caused the formation to collectively gasp. They all began looking around and most started counting how many of them were present, easily calculating that there wasn’t even one man per mile.
“This is crazy,” Max said, again speaking out of line. “There’s got to be like, twenty thousand people in Poughkeepsie. We’re supposed to hold them all back? Alone?”
“No. There is already a sizeable police presence around the town. We will be supplementing them until reinforcements arrive. The good news is that the entire 42 nd is being mobilized.”
There came a collective sigh of relief, but not from Max. “Sir, with all due respect, but the entire 42 nd has got only like, 10,000 men and they’re scattered in six states. It wouldn’t be enough even if they were all here right now. It would be something like seventy men per mile of perimeter. That’s not enough, especially if there’s a panic and everyone tries to leave the town at once.” Every single man in the unit was, for just two seconds, suddenly stone quiet as they realized how dangerously thin their lines would be under the best of conditions. The whispering began again.
Ganes had to nip it in the bud. “Fowler, you sound like a chicken-shit. You sound like a whining bitch. This is the situation. Yes, it sucks but we don’t have a choice in the matter. There is a virus spreading in that town and it’s our job to keep it from running over the entire country. So, are you going whine like a baby or are you going to step up and do something about it?”
“I’m going to step up, Sir.”
“Hooah! That’s what I want to hear,” Ganes said, grinning. There was a touch of worry showing in that grin. Everything Fowler had said was true but their situation was worse than he knew. The closest reinforcements to them was the 42 nd Infantry Division marching band and a headquarters company that was composed of medics and cooks and typists with asses that could barely fit into the largest BDUs…and they were two hours away! And to make matter worse, Delta Company would have to carry out their mission covered head to toe in their MOPP 4 protective gear, and that included their gas masks. Their ability to see targets beyond a hundred yards would be severely compromised. Who knew if they were going to be able to hit a thing?
And it was a given that they were going to be tested. Already the police had been involved with two fire-fights and, with the sun up, Ganes was sure there would be more as the people of Poughkeepsie tried to make a break for safety.
Chapter 7
Soldiers On the Line
7:36 a.m.
With his headquarters company straggling in from all over the state, General Collins was still relying on Courtney Shaw and her small team of dispatchers to place the first of his men on scene. He could read a map the same as Captain Ganes and both knew the men weren’t heading anywhere near the twenty mile mark as described by the governor—and neither cared. Courtney’s placement made sense when little else did.
Collins put the fate of his soldiers in her hands. She was competent, smart and clearly tough as nails.
The
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