Read United States Of Apocalypse Online
Authors: Mark Tufo,Armand Rosamilia
United States Of Apocalypse (26 page)
“
Y
ou getting up
?” Tynes was standing over him and had just kicked his boot.
“Eventually. Wasn’t planning on doing it any time soon.” Mike could tell by the lack of light that the sun had not even broken the horizon.
“I brought you breakfast,” Tynes said, sitting next to Mike with his back against a wall.
“What the hell is that?” Mike moved his face as far away from the hash as he could.
“Corned beef, though I’m not so sure that’s cow.”
“Cow feet, maybe.” Mike scooted back so he could sit with his back against the wall as well.
Tynes was eating.
“Good stuff?”
“Once you get past the smell, it tastes pretty good.”
“You do realize that smell accounts for about seventy percent of taste, right?”
“Had no idea.” Tynes took in another big mouthful.
“You know what that smells like?”
“No, and I don’t want to know, although I know you’re going to tell me anyway.”
Mike ignored him. “You know—when you have gas, I mean the stomach cramping kind and it’s like, all night long you are just letting out this steady, breezy, long stream of the stuff?”
“Mike, come on man, I’m trying to eat.”
“Hear me out. I mean, the good thing about this slow pressure release going on is that there is absolutely no smell, just discharge. Then you hit this one aberration; for hours you’ve just been going about your business and then, without warning, you let one loose that just destroys the air. It hangs like a thick wet fog, clinging to every surface. I mean, it’s so bad, even
you
have to leave the room because the thing will not dissipate. Know what I mean?”
Tynes’ face had taken on a slightly green tinge.
“That’s what this smells like.” Mike put his plate of food as far away from himself as he could.
“That’s like
what
smells like?” Tracy asked, approaching.
“Yeah Mike, why don’t you tell
her
that story?”
“Pass.”
“You should maybe eat something, Mike. The colonel wants us down in his office in ten minutes.”
“What about Pembroke? Shouldn’t we be keeping watch?”
“If you’re keeping guard, you’re looking the wrong way.” She laughed. “Besides, there’s nothing to look out for. Pembroke has withdrawn.”
Mike stood quickly and turned to look out over the wall. “Well, holy shit. Did you know this?” he asked, looking down at Tynes.
“Of course, not all of us sleep until all hours of the day.”
“It’s barely even dawn, asshole.” Mike kept scanning the horizon looking for some subterfuge on Pembroke’s part. “I admit Pembroke got a little more than he was bargaining for yesterday, but I can’t imagine him just giving up like that. Not really in his nature.”
“That’s why we need to go see the colonel.”
Mike turned slowly. “There’s something worse coming.”
“Give that man a prize,” Tynes said, touching his nose then taking another large bite of food.
Mike choked down what he could but was internally grateful when Tracy said it was time to go.
“Bet the birds don’t even touch that,” he said, tossing the remains into a trashcan.
The colonel looked like he’d aged ten years overnight. That did little to assuage Mike’s fears. He’d been silently hoping that it was American troops that had scared off Pembroke. That didn’t seem to be the case. The meeting had been moved to the cafeteria; all the tables had been removed to make room in the structure for as many troops as possible. Still some were outside in the halls.
“As most of you know,” the colonel began, “your bravery and your sacrifice has led to the defeat of Pembroke’s mercenary army. They pulled out from their offensive positions nearly two hours ago, and have shown no indication of returning.” The colonel was interrupted as cheers arose throughout the crowd. The colonel placed his hands up and then lowered them slowly in hopes of getting some silence. “We have been bloodied in battle. We’re field tested and now combat ready, something we are going to have to rely on heavily in the foreseeable future.”
There were looks of confusion among the people as they tried to decipher the colonel’s words.
“I’ve heard from Washington and the military.”
There were a few short jeers.
“Yes, we know they’ve been conspicuously absent, leaving us to our own devices these last six weeks, but apparently it was for a reason. The Second Marine Battalion stationed on Okinawa has been recalled, and we will be joining up with them. We are living in unprecedented times, one in which the very fabric of the society and country we love dearly is being strained to the point of tearing. We cannot allow that to happen. We will fight and, if necessary, die to preserve everything we have ever known, if not for ourselves, then for our legacy.”
“What is he talking about?” Mike asked.
“The North Koreans, supplied by the Chinese, are getting ready to make land.”
“Here?”
“Here.”
D
arlene was
glad for the infrared scope, because with the cloud cover above, there wasn’t any moonlight, and it would’ve been useless to sit up here in the tree stand and watch for anyone approaching in the dark.
She glanced back at the makeshift camp and sighed, seeing two fires still burning, despite the rule to douse them once it got dark. It wasn’t even cold out tonight, but it looked like rain.
Tee shifted next to her and was looking back at the farm too.
“One of us has to watch for the North Koreans,” Darlene said. She smiled. All afternoon, they’d monitored the news while working on their defenses. The North Koreans had been stopped in San Diego and east at the Texas border, but unconfirmed reports said they were getting help from radical homegrown groups and reinforcements landing in other parts of the country.
By Herbert’s guess, they had a week or more before the front line moved to this spot, and if it did, it went without saying they’d need to run and cut their losses. But no one wanted to address it yet, and giving everyone something to do, like dig trenches, build more fences, and count the weapons and ammo was better than complaining or fearing the unknowable future, which didn’t look too bright from where Darlene was sitting.
Tee turned and went back to staring into the dark.
“What do you think of Herbert?” he asked Darlene, catching her off guard with the blunt question.
“I think he’s a great man. He literally saved my life. There’s no way I’d still be breathing if it wasn’t for him being so selfless,” Darlene said. “Why?”
Tee shrugged next to her. “I’m just wondering. Some of the people have heard a rumor he killed the head of the Sawyer family in cold blood.”
Darlene was shocked. “He didn’t. They came to the farm looking for a fight. Herbert wanted to straighten it out and talk. Nothing more.” She turned away, embarrassed.
“Then what happened?” Tee asked.
“It all happened so fast...”
Tee got up and stood, leaning against the tree. Darlene, sitting on the edge of the platform, turned her body to see his silhouette in the darkness.
“John shot and killed a deer from this spot. When we heard the shot, everyone drew their gun. Herbert got the drop first and killed Dusty before he killed one of us. It happened in seconds. No time to think. Just do,” Darlene said.
“I heard the boy with him was shot, too,” Tee said.
“Again, it was only because we thought we were under attack. John might not have known Dusty was here,” Darlene said.
She could see Tee turn his head and look back toward the farm.
“I can see the driveway from this spot. No problem. And even from this distance, a pickup truck driving up would make enough noise to wake the dead,” Tee said.
“It all happened so fast,” Darlene repeated for an answer. She didn’t want to think John would have shot the deer had he known it would lead to all of this. Was a chance to have fresh meat so important he did it anyway, even though he knew everyone would think there was an attack?
Darlene hated John right now.
“His stupid actions led to a great man dying and another wounded. The boy died on his way back and ran off the road. We found him hours later. He’d bled out,” Tee said.
“Wait...what?” Darlene said, a sinking feeling as she attempted to stand.
Tee suddenly moved forward and kicked her in the stomach. She instinctively stepped back, her feet finding nothing but air.
Darlene began to fall straight down and threw her arms out. They slammed into the platform and she screamed in pain, but her fingers caught the edge and she dangled in space.
Tee stood above her, a dark shape.
“I was hoping to be paired with Herbert tonight. I wanted to eliminate him first. But you’ll do. You’re just as dangerous as John. But he’s a loose cannon and I can manipulate him before we kill him,” Tee said.
“Why?” Darlene asked, trying desperately to pull herself up.
“I thought you’d figure it out on your own. Friends call me Tee, but I told you my name is really Thomas. Tom, which is ironic.”
Darlene felt a finger slip. “Tom...Tom Sawyer. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“I’m afraid not. It was a cute name as a kid, but as an adult, it gets old quickly, so everyone calls me Tee. I was recognized by one of the townsfolk, and when he confronted me, I had to kill him. The barn fire was an accident, actually. The lantern I used got knocked over in the struggle while I was strangling the bastard,” Tee said.
Darlene began to scream for help.
Tee stepped on her fingers gripping the wooden platform for dear life.
“Tee did it!” Darlene screamed as she lost her grip and fell from the tree.
V
isit Mark at
www.marktufo.com
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A
rmand Rosamilia is
a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping. He's written over 100 stories that are currently available, including a few different series:
"Dying Days" extreme zombie series
"Keyport Cthulhu" horror series
He also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool. He's a proud Active member of HWA as well.
You can find The Arm N Toof’s Dead Time Podcast at:
https://www.facebook.com/ArmNToofDeadTime?fref=ts
Y
ou can find
him at
http://armandrosamilia.com
for not only his latest releases but interviews and guest posts with other authors he likes! Email him to talk about zombies, baseball and Metal: [email protected]
