Jason Campagna - White Ash on Bone - A Zombie Novel

“There are over 8 million people in the city,” Carson said.

“Correct,” Anderson said. “And half of them have ignored warnings to stay indoors and are fleeing on foot for their lives. If they can’t get the numbers of expansion in check, New York will be looking at over 100,000 undead attacking the city in a few hours. The math after that makes our problems look like a vacation. With the outbreak spreading like it is, I can’t stress enough that we are unlikely to get help. Ever.”

The last word left a long silence in the room.

“What about the rest of the country?” Jack Cotta said.

“Panicked,” replied Anderson. “The President and his staff left Washington aboard Air Force One. The vast majority of the country is still untouched by the outbreaks, but roadblocks are starting to go up on State boarders. We expect to see martial law declared before this evening.”

Jack raised his hand, “I have a question. If we’re unlikely to get help, how long can we last here?”

All eyes turned to Captain Anderson. “I’d comfortably say from the set up we have here, we have weeks to months. Let me also say, however, that a week ago if you would have asked me how long we could hold out against the undead I would have thought you were crazy. Today, I have to stop and wonder if there are going to be any other insane possibilities that decide to blow up in my face.”

“You mean like Shippingport,” Rex added.

Anderson had a bad feeling that he wasn’t going to like what he heard next, “What about it?”

Rex scratched his beard, “If I remember correctly, its twenty-ish miles west of us and is home to a reactor.”

“Do we need to worry about it?” Sulla said.

“Yeah,” Rex replied, “There are people that maintain it as well as some fail-safes, but I worked with a guy who worked there. He liked to talk endlessly about the plant. I don’t know if you have ever seen the clouds the reactor forms, but that is water vapor. Those radioactive rods are really hot and need the water to keep them from catching fire. Even if the plant goes into standby mode, the water still needs to be cycled and replaced. If that plant is left alone long enough, think Chernobyl. Heck, think of Japan.”

“So that’s it,” Sulla said, “Unless the situation takes a 180 degree turn we are looking at that reactor finishing off anything left in Western Pennsylvania.”

“So what are our options?” Carson said.

“Driving out is possible,” Anderson said, “But highly problematic.”

“How about it Jack?” Sulla asked.

“Yeah, given enough time we could fly everyone out, but to where?” Jack said.

“Let’s put aside the where for now, what kind of capacity do we have?” Anderson said.

“There are ten of us who can fly at the moment, two of whom can handle those Learjet 60s in hanger three. Capacity though as the Captain here asked about, is going to be the problem. Stand alone, we can haul thirty people out of here per trip with an extremely light cargo load. Those numbers could change quite a bit depending on where. So to work with just moving people out, that’s something like twenty round trips. It’s an undertaking, but possible with time. If you want to move some of the hardware, it’ll take more and frankly some of it won’t fit. There is another option however.”

“Go on,” said Anderson.

“A couple of the pilots are commercial and can handle much heavier craft, if we want to go get bigger planes from somewhere else. Or you can get a couple of those C-130’s from the 911 thin Pittsburgh.”

“This is a lot to chew on,” Sulla said. “What do you think Captain?”

“I need time,” Anderson replied. “Let me try and bump this up the chain, I doubt they will send us the planes, but I can at least try. As an officer, I can’t condone theft, especially if Martial Law is declared; however, Sulla, you still have jurisdiction here and we are still operating separately.”

The cat that had been sleeping on Jack Cotta’s lap woke up and sniffed at the air. Anderson watched the owner pet the cat, but it jumped up on the table continuing to sniff. Its nose slowed down and zeroed in on one direction. The cat took a tentative step and halted as its tail grew to three times the size in width.

“What’s wrong Naomi?” Jack said.

The cat’s ears bent back and she stepped away from Carson and then she hissed at him.

Jack grabbed the cat and pulled her away from the table.

“She’s had a rough day; I’ll take her out of here,” Jack said.

Anderson looked at Carson’s pale face. “Are you all right Doc?” Anderson asked.

Carson coughed into his hand, “Excuse me, no I’m not. I was on call for 24 hours before all this started. I’m afraid I am quite fatigued. I’ll pull through though.”

“You should rack out while you have the chance, Doc,” Anderson said. “You never know when you’re going to get another chance.”

“If you don’t mind I think I’ll take your advice and go lay down for a bit. I’ll be in the office in hanger two if anyone needs me.”

Chapter Ten

Rex walked across the tarmac of the airport to his parked truck where Ginger and Alison waited. Carl’s red SUV sat beside the black Dodge but the family was nowhere in site. Ginger and Alison were sharing a bottle of water in the back seat of the truck with the doors open.

“How did it go cowboy?” Alison said.

“Slightly better than totally fucked,” Rex said, “Got any more water?”

“Sure do,” Alison said. “Grabbed one for you just in case.”

Ginger opened the cap to the bottle and handed it to Rex. The water was warm, but he gulped it down till it was empty.

“You finished that pretty quick,” Ginger said.

“Yeah lot of hot air in that room, I never did like meetings,” Rex said. “The short version is Sulla deputized me. I’m not sure he has the power, but I don’t think anyone cares. The plan is that we’re going to fly out, hopefully before we all die. We may have to go steal some planes if the military decides to leave us hanging. By the way, I have news for you Alison; how do you want it?”

Alison wiped her palms on her jeans. “Just give it to me.”

“I saw your husband, and he’s headed over to hanger two to take a nap in one of the offices. I didn’t come across his friend, but I’ve heard he brought an assistant.”

“Alison,” Ginger said, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to let him know what a piece of shit he is for leaving me out there to die, while he saved his slut.

“Do you think he might react violently?” Ginger said.

“Our marriage is messed up, but it’s never been like that,” Alison said.

“I’m still going to send Rex with you,” Ginger said. “He can at least be in earshot. I'll stay here and watch the stuff.”

“Thanks Ginger, but I don’t want to leave you here by yourself,” Alison said.

Ginger waved at a group of people walking toward their trucks. “Nonsense, here comes Brandi and her parents right now.”

“I guess that settles it,” Alison said. "Rex, if you don’t mind, I’m ready to get this over with." Rex and Alison walked down the tarmac past rows of parked cars approaching hanger 2 in the distance. Refugees milled about their vehicles trying cell phones or exchanging stories with one another.

"There is a suite of offices in the back of the hanger," Rex said. "He's supposed to be set up in office seven. I’ll wait outside a short distance away and give you some privacy, but I will be fairly close just in case."

"Holy cow, Rex, is that you?" a girl shouted from behind a parked car. "It is you, I’m so glad to see a familiar face," the girl said. He stopped and saw a girl with blonde hair and black lipstick running toward him with out-stretched arms. She threw her arms around him and squeezed. "This must be your wife. I'm Mazie. I met Rex at the Casino yesterday up in Erie."