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

We carried his body out of the old kitchen, and laid him out on a steel table in the slaughter house. It was the closest thing to a morgue we had.

I knew that killing a human was something that I would have to process at some point, but I had to deal with it later. Right now, I had a million things on my plate. I shoved the whole situation to the back of my mind. I just couldn’t think about it right then.

With Sanders corpse taken care of, I returned to the small dining room of the main house, which I’d sort of converted to my office. When I got there, I found Bookbinder waiting on me.

“Hey Charlie,” I said, exhausted. “You have those fire teams ready?”

“Yes, sir. I know you got held up with that Sanders situation, I didn’t want to bother you, but I’d like to get to work on this tonight.”

“Sure thing, Charlie. Tell me what you’ve got.”

“I grouped the men into teams. I had six men with some training. I made five teams. I’m leading one team; I have the most experience of any of the men. I’ve designated our team M1. M2 is led by Daily, M3 by Scott, M4 by Levitt, and M5 by Johnson. Johnson has no operational experience, but was enrolled in the police academy when this all happened. I put Baker with him, Baker is a retired cop, but still strong and will guide Johnson.”

“I’d like to take Levitt’s team tonight on a run out to Orange. There’s a daycare there that we should hit for diapers, formula and wipes, and other baby stuff, plus toys. I made a run out past there a few weeks ago before we got caught by Watley. The daycare was empty, there aren’t any little kids in there, I banged on the window.”

“Charlie, if you go out there and there’s a whole bunch of baby zombies locked in the basement, what are you going to do?”

“I’ll assess the status of the men, if they can handle it, then we’ll proceed. If they’re going to freak out, then we’ll abort. For me, I’m not sure I could leave a baby like that. I’d have to end its suffering.”

“Still, I’d like to avoid any more men snapping like Sanders did.” I said.

“Yes sir. We’ll handle it, or we’ll bug out.” He said as he stood to leave.

“Hey Charlie,” I said stalling him. “Thanks. You’re a good man.”

“I’m happy to have a job to do. All the men will be happy to have a job.” He said with a smile.

It had been a long day. I was exhausted, and mentally drained. I climbed the stairs to my room, stopping outside my door to take my boots off. I was grateful for everything I had these days, and I said a quick thank you that I wasn’t one of the ones pulled out of my bed in the night. A thank you that I was able to save some clothes, toys and tools and not be starting over here with nothing.

I walked through my room to the door to Max’s room, which was slightly cracked. I peeked in on him, he was sleeping peacefully. I covered him up with his favorite blanket, tucked his red furry Elmo under his arm, and kissed him on the forehead. He was warm, but not hot. He smelled like Max. He looked so much like his mother laying there, sleeping in the same position she always slept in. On his back, one arm on his stomach, one arm behind his head, left knee kicked out to the side. I was so glad to have him to remind me of her. Little three and a half year old Max, all of forty-two inches tall somehow filled up a whole twin bed. I kissed him one more time on the forehead and said, “Good night little buddy. I love you.” and he stirred a little in his sleep.

When I walked out into my room, shutting the door behind me, there was Leo, holding a pillow and a blanket. “Vic, can I stay with you tonight? I brought my own pillow.”

I strode forward and grabbed her, pulling her to me, holding her close as our lips met again. Still kissing, our lips parted only when I pulled her shirt up over head, then mine. The lust between us was palpable; I pulled her down onto my bed, where we spent our first night together exploring the passion we’d tried to deny since the day we met.

When I woke up the next morning, I went downstairs and poured a cup of coffee. As I took my first sip of coffee I said, “Thank you God for coffee.” Charlie Bookbinder came walking up the steps, covered in dirt and gore, and wearing a huge smile on his face. He handed me a written report, and said “Permission to get some rack time, sir.”

“Only if you go upstairs and take a shower Charlie.”

“No thank you sir, I’ll go wash off in the river with the men.”

“You’re an amazing man, Charlie.” I said to him. “You’re dismissed.”

I still have every single mission report any of those men filed.

M4 Mission One Log:

DATE: 08/13/2011

Objective 1: Clear Tenderhearts Daycare Center

Objective 2: Building breach training

Objective 3: Obtain toys and consumables for the children

RESULT: All objectives complete.

Recovered Assets:

6 boxes size two diapers

7.5 boxes size three diapers

5.5 boxes size four diapers

6 boxes size five diapers

3 large trash bags miscellaneous clothes, size one to 3T

2 large trash bags small plastic toys

2 Rubbermaid totes full of puzzles

2 Rubbermaid totes full of children’s board games

4 large Rubbermaid totes full of children’s books

1 large Rubbermaid tote full of action figures

1 large Rubbermaid tote full of dolls

Operational notes:

M4 was briefed in-route to target, Tenderhearts Daycare, about the possibility of infant and/or toddler undead.

It was agreed and assigned that any small hostiles present would be dispatched with extreme prejudice. The men were briefed on basic breaching principals, modified for the specific target building and possible occupants. Arrived on location in two trucks at 23:00 hours. Six men spread out, Jimmy Day levered the front doors open with a crowbar, and backed out into the street. One man was stationed at each corner of the building, and four men held the front doors. After prying the doors open, Day hit the horn on the truck and turned on the lights to help illuminate the interior.

Zero hostiles were found inside. Men cleared room by room, each of the men was given the opportunity and training experience to forcibly open a door and clear the room expecting hostile combatants. When the entire facility was deemed secure, the said assets were loaded onto the two trucks. We closed the building up and secured the doors with a chain and friendly padlock, code 22-10-31, for further exploration.

About one klick outside of town, we encountered a small force of slow moving hostiles, numbering twenty-four. There was no sign of a handler/ leader nearby. Bookbinder, Day, and Levitt dispatched the force using hand to hand weapons, while the remaining force flanked the hostiles to provide covering fire should the need arise. Day has a fire/police halligan, Levitt chose an aluminum bat, and Bookbinder used KA-BAR Marine Combat Knife. All weapons proved efficient at dispatching hostiles with minimal noise and zero ammunition used.

Mission report filed by Charlie Bookbinder, Tookes Brigade, Leader Fire Team M1.

33. The Supply Run

We buried Sanders with about ten people in attendance early that morning. Marshall, always the guy who gets things done, had the hole dug near the old cemetery on the property by about ten in the morning, and had built a box for the body. Those of us who wanted to see him off to the next life loaded up in the pickup trucks and bounced down through the field to say a few final words about a man who’d lost everything, including his humanity.