Eric Brown - Season of Rot

“I made it to the supply truck, grabbed the closest flamethrower and lit it up. Something must have snapped in me because I just let go with it. I started torching everything that moved. The rats began to keep away from the area I was in, and I realized most of the camp was already on fire. Somehow the tank had exploded.”

“The tank exploded?” Warren asked.

“Yeah, it was a nightmare. Anyway, a few others flocked to my position to keep the dead off me, and suddenly my little burning patch of the camp became an island of safety from the rats. We held off the dead long enough to load up anyone we could in the closest vehicles that weren’t on fire, and then we rolled out. We had to leave the truck with the flamethrowers, and it blew just as we made it out. We lost a car from the blast. I will never forget seeing those poor people being burnt alive, but I think it’s what saved us and let us get away. We tore a streak out of there and just kept running until Mike’s little buddy heard you on the radio and we were able to meet up.”

“Stop blaming yourself,” Warren told him. “It sounds to me like you’re the only reason anyone’s alive from the convoy. I would have done the same things you did. Guess I should be glad I left you behind.”

Brent tried to smile.

“Well, soldier, let’s go see what we’ve got on hand in case the rats come calling.”

“Yes, sir,” Brent said, and Warren let the “S” word slide as they entered the armory.

At 1600 hours on their seventh day at the base, the survivors assembled for the first time to discuss their plans for the future. Mike had organized the meeting and had chosen the mess hall for the location.

By the time he and Benji entered the room, everyone except for Darren, who was working on the base’s systems while on watch in the command room, were already waiting on them. Benji broke away from Mike’s side and took a seat at the front of the small group near Michelle, Warren, and Brent.

“Good afternoon,” Mike began, looking out into the faces before him. “I know you’re all as glad to be here as I am, so let’s start with a bit about where we’re staying. Long before the world fell apart, the government and the military were experimenting with ways of waging war that, if unleashed, could have brought about a hell similar to what we live in today. There are bases like this scattered across the U.S., but this base… this base isn’t like any of the others. It’s beyond them.

“The most deadly bio-weapons man ever conceived were being designed here. Only a select few in the government knew this place existed. During your stay here, you have likely noticed some of the rooms are sealed off. I don’t have the codes to access those doors, and I am not certain we should open them even if we could. From top to bottom, this base was built not only to keep unauthorized personnel out, but to contain the things that were being created here if something went wrong. This base is, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the safest place in the western world—maybe the whole world. In short, I believe we are as safe here as we’re ever going to be.”

Mike paused, letting his words sink in. “So that brings us to the issues of actually living here. Most of you in at least some sort of fashion have helped take stock of the useful things this base contains. We have running water, an unlimited, shielded supply of it, so thank God for that. There’s enough food to keep us from starving for years without rationing. And Warren was quite pleased with what we found in the armory. He believes we have the firepower to make a stand if the rats find this place. The sole real concern of the base is power.

“Though it’s partially solar powered and has a wide array of batteries and generators to help recharge them, our fuel supply is limited. Eventually some of us may be forced to venture out to obtain more, but for now we’re okay. I don’t see the need for an expedition aboveground at least for a month or two. Thus, I suggest we enjoy what we’ve been blessed with. We have plenty of time to come up with viable solutions to the fuel issue. It’s time for us to rest and live a little again in a world where so many others don’t have the luxury.”

Benji cleared his throat and got up to stand beside Mike. “We may have everything we need, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. We need people to cook, clean, pull watch shifts, and people to try to make contact with other survivors. And people to plan for what the future may bring. The world may be dead, but life goes on and so does work.

“Now that we’re not on the run anymore, we need a better assessment of just what everyone is capable of and what duties they would like to take on in our new home. I’ll be meeting with each one of you over the next day or so to see where everyone can be the greatest help, then we’ll come up with a duty roster so everyone knows where they stand and exactly what they’re responsible for. Each of us will pull our own weight from now on.”

Mike motioned Benji to silence. “With that said, if you have any questions, you’re welcome to approach Benji or myself at anytime, and we’ll do our best to address them.”

As the meeting broke up, Mike judged that most people seemed not just hopeful but happy. He was sure eventually there would be complaints and disputes over everything from assignments to living quarters, but as a whole, things were going well and the group was on its way to a real future.

Mike followed Benji out of the breaking crowd and into the base’s control center, where Darren was working in one of the terminals.

“How did the meeting go?” he asked.

Mike smiled. “As well as could be hoped for. How are things going here?”

Darren shrugged. “I know you picked me to help out with this because, other than you, I’m the only person in this group with any computer skills…” he smiled and shook his head, “but I just ran a geek squad for an electronics store. This shit here…” he gestured at the room around them, “this is some hardcore stuff. I’m doing the best I can, but it’s way beyond me. Without the pass codes you had, I doubt I’d even be in the system yet.”

Mike nodded. “I know what you mean. Computers were never my specialty either. I used to just take this stuff for granted when I was a researcher, and when I took over as an administrator…” Mike sighed. “Well, let’s just say delegation is a wonderful thing.” He slid a chair over to where Darren was working and sat down. “I think between my casual understanding of the system here and your knowledge of hardware, we should be able to get everything online, given time. We did get the lights on,” he said, trying to ease the tension with a joke. “So what’s still not operational at this point?”

“Most of the internal and external security measures. I haven’t been able to gain access to the security camera feeds, or whatever the hell the more advanced system is that overlaps them in the programming.”

“That would be the base’s bio-scanners, I think.”

“Bio-scanners, right. This whole damn base is like something out of Torchwood .”

“What?”

“ Torchwood ? You didn’t watch a lot of sci-fi, did you?” Darren laughed. “Forget it. Doesn’t matter. Anyway, we do have power. I have control over all of the base’s doors except the ones that I think lead into the high-clearance labs and a few of the more scientific supply areas. I have gotten the communications array working, including the intercom system. One thing scares me though. If this base’s bio-scanners, or whatever you called them, were ever triggered to a threat, there’s no way in hell I’d be able to override them. We’d be trapped down here.”