distance and obstacles, “If we head north and circle back around down one of the other streets, we can avoid the Til by the hospital. If it goes smoothly, we could make it in thirty minutes.”
Mike absorbed the information. “Okay. Paul, Lisa, Andrew, and Jon, I want you guys to head out within the hour. We’re going to need two cars, preferably SUVs. I assume the loading dock to this building is on the west side, Jon?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good, when you get the transportation, head there. Sara and Pete, that leaves us a little over an hour to get as many of these supplies up there and ready to load in when they return.”
The middle-aged couple both nodded in agreement.
“You’re probably going to stir up a good number of Tils along the way, so as soon as you four get back, you’re to lay down as much cover fire as we have left while the three of us load up. After that, we pile in and plow through anything that’s still standing. I want us back at camp in forty-eight hours.”
As he finished, the others dispersed and set about their tasks. Paul was the last to rise from his chair.
“Listen, Mike, about what I said last night—” he began slowly.
“What you said last night was what needed to be said,” Mike interrupted, rising to meet the ranger eye to eye. “Now, I have supplies to haul up five flights and you have a couple of cars to steal. So, let’s skip the apology crap and get moving.”
“Yes, sir,” Paul replied with a laugh. “How many of the supplies you want to move on this trip?”
“All of them,” Mike answered as he made his way out the door.
“All of them?” Paul repeated incredulously.
“All of them. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long trip to Miami.”
Paul’s smile broadened, and he shook his head while shouting, “You know, you really are a crazy son of a bitch!”
Mike responded, voice booming down the corridor, “Yeah, I’ve heard that somewhere before.”
Chapter Nine
The room bustled with excitement as the students filled their backpacks, replacing books with vending machine snack food and bottled water. An uninformed observer would have assumed they had been trapped within the faculty room for weeks, rather than the forty-eight hours that had actually passed. Mike understood their need for action, for the feeling that they were not sitting around helpless, the feeling that—even in the chaos—they were in control of their fate.
During the night it had been decided that Derrick’s minivan, a vehicle borrowed from his mother that had previously caused him much embarrassment, and Sean Reno’s large Ford Explorer would be sufficient to transport the eighteen people to the military base. Mike had conceded that retrieving whatever weapons and supplies they could from Derrick’s house was worth the stop. Not surprisingly, the other students had all begun demanding that stops were made at their own homes, but he laid out the risks of such actions, and eventually the others relented.
A night had passed since he’d announced their imminent departure and he spent the intervening hours rehearsing each stage of the plan. In addition to having two of the largest vehicles of the drivers in the room, Derrick and Sean had parked quite near each other in the rear lot. Armed with the remaining ammunition, the group would exit the building through windows in the English pod, which overlooked the rear parking lot. Exiting the school grounds would present the first hazard as it required passing through the infected that roamed the front courtyard. Though not relishing the idea, Mike felt it was more prudent to use the vehicles themselves as weapons than to use up ammo in bringing down any infected that attempted to impede their exit. Since they insisted on driving their own vehicles, Mike had taken the two boys aside to make sure that they would be prepared to drive through an attack. Satisfied with their resolve, he agreed to let them drive.
Once off of the
Mike absorbed the information. “Okay. Paul, Lisa, Andrew, and Jon, I want you guys to head out within the hour. We’re going to need two cars, preferably SUVs. I assume the loading dock to this building is on the west side, Jon?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good, when you get the transportation, head there. Sara and Pete, that leaves us a little over an hour to get as many of these supplies up there and ready to load in when they return.”
The middle-aged couple both nodded in agreement.
“You’re probably going to stir up a good number of Tils along the way, so as soon as you four get back, you’re to lay down as much cover fire as we have left while the three of us load up. After that, we pile in and plow through anything that’s still standing. I want us back at camp in forty-eight hours.”
As he finished, the others dispersed and set about their tasks. Paul was the last to rise from his chair.
“Listen, Mike, about what I said last night—” he began slowly.
“What you said last night was what needed to be said,” Mike interrupted, rising to meet the ranger eye to eye. “Now, I have supplies to haul up five flights and you have a couple of cars to steal. So, let’s skip the apology crap and get moving.”
“Yes, sir,” Paul replied with a laugh. “How many of the supplies you want to move on this trip?”
“All of them,” Mike answered as he made his way out the door.
“All of them?” Paul repeated incredulously.
“All of them. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long trip to Miami.”
Paul’s smile broadened, and he shook his head while shouting, “You know, you really are a crazy son of a bitch!”
Mike responded, voice booming down the corridor, “Yeah, I’ve heard that somewhere before.”
Chapter Nine
The room bustled with excitement as the students filled their backpacks, replacing books with vending machine snack food and bottled water. An uninformed observer would have assumed they had been trapped within the faculty room for weeks, rather than the forty-eight hours that had actually passed. Mike understood their need for action, for the feeling that they were not sitting around helpless, the feeling that—even in the chaos—they were in control of their fate.
During the night it had been decided that Derrick’s minivan, a vehicle borrowed from his mother that had previously caused him much embarrassment, and Sean Reno’s large Ford Explorer would be sufficient to transport the eighteen people to the military base. Mike had conceded that retrieving whatever weapons and supplies they could from Derrick’s house was worth the stop. Not surprisingly, the other students had all begun demanding that stops were made at their own homes, but he laid out the risks of such actions, and eventually the others relented.
A night had passed since he’d announced their imminent departure and he spent the intervening hours rehearsing each stage of the plan. In addition to having two of the largest vehicles of the drivers in the room, Derrick and Sean had parked quite near each other in the rear lot. Armed with the remaining ammunition, the group would exit the building through windows in the English pod, which overlooked the rear parking lot. Exiting the school grounds would present the first hazard as it required passing through the infected that roamed the front courtyard. Though not relishing the idea, Mike felt it was more prudent to use the vehicles themselves as weapons than to use up ammo in bringing down any infected that attempted to impede their exit. Since they insisted on driving their own vehicles, Mike had taken the two boys aside to make sure that they would be prepared to drive through an attack. Satisfied with their resolve, he agreed to let them drive.
Once off of the
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