Kirk Allmond - What Zombies Fear - A Father's Quest

“When did we start a leather tailoring company?” I asked, “And where’s mine?”

“Leo’s been busy!” said Marshall, holding his side.

“Marshall. You should stay back, you’re still wounded.”

“No, I’m fine,” he said. “It just itches.” Marshall raised his shirt to show that his bite marks were completely healed.

“Whoa!” I said. “I want that ability!”

“That’s not all. I think I’m strong.” said Marshall.

“Let’s go find out, brother.”

We walked down to the gate to meet visitors for the second time in forty-eight hours.

“I hope this goes better than last time,” I said as we walked.

28. Colonel Frye

At my signal, John and Leo peeled off about one hundred and fifty yards from the gate, and stopped for cover behind a couple of large trees. We’d been in full view walking down the driveway; I just wanted to make a show. There were six ‘desert sand’ colored humvees parked at angles to the big iron gates. Each had a .50 caliber on the roof and a gunner manning each one. There were twelve soldiers standing at the gate next to our guard. They were talking in a fairly friendly manner, but the soldiers snapped to attention as we approached.

“Victor Tookes?” said an older man in desert digital camo fatigues. He had a mostly blue aura. Blue was the color mine was when I felt calm. I was still figuring out if there was some rhyme or reason to these auras, so I wanted to pay close attention to them during this conversation, maybe I could figure something out. Once I had a little down time, I would play with it some.

“I’m Victor Tookes.” I said. “How can I help you Colonel Frye?” The bird on his collar, and his name printed on his chest gave me the information. I addressed him as such on purpose, both to be respectful of his position and to let him wonder if I was military. With my current buzz cut hair and lean frame, I could certainly pass as former military.

“Tookes, we have a lot to talk about, would you be willing to open this gate?” Frye asked.

He’s been monitoring communications, I thought to myself. It’s very unlikely that he would call me Tookes, unless he’d heard Leo and John. I wasn’t going to outright call him on it, but I filed it away to figure out how I felt about it later.

“You know, it’s almost impossible to tell the smart zombies from humans.” I said calmly. “You’re well covered where you are; I’m not quite ready to give up my advantage.”

“We’re on the same side here. We both want to restore order to this world. We both want to help people.” he said. I hadn’t seen this before; red slashes appeared in the color surrounding him.

“I hear you talking, but, your men have very large guns pointed at me. You’re not being very convincing,” I said.

I watched all six men in the humvees consider options, but it was fleeting. They were well disciplined. I watched the Colonel weigh his options, but they all involved standing still, so I couldn’t make much out. His aura was blue, not threatening, but self assured. At least that’s how I felt when my aura was blue.

“You have John and Leo poised to kill all of us. I believe John could kill every one of us before we could fire a shot.”

“Colonel, I’m not sure I like having been under your surveillance. We’ve had some pretty close calls and haven’t seen any help from you. If you’re trying to help people, you haven’t been doing a very good job of it. I appreciate your stopping by, but we’re pretty tired. You’ve interrupted our dinner. If you would like, I’d be happy to make an appointment to continue this conversation the day after tomorrow at noon?”

Frye looked angry at being dismissed. I was angry at the notion that he’d been watching me get my ass kicked and did nothing to help. This was not a particularly positive way to start off an alliance. I definitely needed time to consider him, his approach, and what his motivations were, but I also didn’t want to leave him thinking that I was some wack-job.

“Colonel, walk along the fence with me.” I said.

I pressed the mic on my throat “Alpha team, Bravo team, stand down.” I said. He didn’t have to know that I was inventing names, or that each of those teams was made of one person. Leo and John stepped out from behind their trees.

“Marshall, Bookbinder, stay here.”

Frye and I walked along the fence, away from all of the people. I turned my radio off.

“Colonel, we have a large population of survivors here. Almost every one of them can fire a weapon. We have fortifications up, and they’re expanding every day. We have food, water on the property, fuel, and enough wood stoves and fireplaces to stay warm on the coldest nights.”

“Sounds like you’re pretty well covered here then. What about medical staff? Supplies?”

“Are you offering me a team of doctors and a hospital, Colonel?”

“No, well, not exactly. I’m offering to move all of your people to Mount Pony. We have security, medical professionals, supplies, and what remains of the U.S. Government.” More red slashes throughout. These nearly half colored the blue.

“Colonel, there is no U.S. Government anymore. Technically, there is no U.S. army.” I said. “I will tell these people that they have the option to leave and go to Mount Pony. You may have some takers, just so they can finally see the inside of that place.”

Mount Pony was a nuclear shelter built in the late 1960's. Through the 90's it belonged to the Federal Reserve, with rumors of over $1 billion in U.S. currency being stored there to jump start the U.S. economy after a nuclear attack. Up until 1992, 100% of electronic banking funds transfers went through the servers there. There was also rampant rumor that in times of national crisis, the vice president and speaker of the house were evacuated to that facility. Apparently that was also true.

“I feel pretty abandoned by the U.S. Government. Where were they during this outbreak? We’re the most advanced nation in the history of the planet, pushed back to medieval times by some parasite? There was nothing on television; the entire country fell in one day? One day I was at my office, the morning was like any other. By the very next day, almost the entire population was wiped out. How does that happen?”

“How do you know they’re parasites?” he asked. “That information was kept off all media outlets.” His aura turned purple.

“Frye, we need to get one thing very clear here. You are standing on my land. You came to me with a show of force, and it’s a pretty pitiful show. You want something from me, I think you need something from me, and it’s not those people,” I gestured up towards the house. “You need to start being plain. You will not intimidate me, and every minute we’ve talked I’ve grown to trust you less. Drop the bullshit.” I told him, as I turned around and started walking back to the gate. “When we get back to the gate, this conversation is over. If you’d like to continue it at that point, you and no more than two others will be back here at noon on Thursday.”

“Tookes, tell me how you can tell which of them are infected.” His aura shifted back to its blue color, and added in some red slashes.

“Finally. I appreciate your candor, Colonel. But I’m afraid I can’t tell you the answer to that.”

“It's vital. How are we supposed to fight an enemy if we can’t tell who the enemy is?” When he asked, his aura turned purple with red stripes.

“Colonel, I don’t know the answer you want. They just look different to me.” I said. That was a true statement. Red stripes disappeared and purple settled in to Colonel Frye’s aura. “I will talk to my people. Any who want to come with you are welcome to do so. Any who do not, are welcome to stay with me. I’ll see you here day after tomorrow at noon. Good day, sir.”