Jason Campagna: White Ash on Bone: A Zombie Novel

Another man walked up to the conversation carrying some type of aviation book. “Rex,” Sulla said, “You remember Jack from the meeting earlier; we were going to meet to discuss where to run to. This will fit perfectly.”

“What did I miss?” asked Jack.

“Pikeville, Kentucky,” Sulla replied.

Jack opened his spiral bound book and flipped through the pages. “PBX is the Federal Aviation Administration designation for the airport,” Jack said. He ran his index finger down the page. “The weight limit may be a problem if we use that C-130. I am sure the pilots are going to have to consider this. The smaller planes here will have no problem; it’s even inside our maximum envelope of fuel.”

Twenty minutes later, Major Sam Warren and Captain Rick Anderson joined the conversation.

“That’s rugged country,” said Warren. “I’ve flown over those mountains; they are nothing to sneeze at.”

“What about the airstrip?” Jack said.

“Let me see the book,” said Warren. “Yeah, that weight limit is a problem. We for sure can land, but we may tear the runway to hell when we do it. Of course this other section of the field to the west looks like it’s not paved. We can land on grass or dirt if need be. I don’t see this as a huge problem, but I would like one of your planes to run a pass on the airstrip before we go. In relation to this, I have good and bad news.”

“Which is?” Sulla said.

“There are three other birds fueled and ready to join us at the 911 th ,” Warren said. “The bad news is there are zombies on the runway at Pittsburgh International. We don’t have to worry about the guards; they have bugged out on other planes. The squadron was ordered to move to Dayton Ohio to support Wright Patterson Air Force Base. The birds sitting there disobeyed orders because they want to help us. We’re going to have to figure out a way to clear the runway and get them off the ground.”

“Major,” Jack said, “Why don’t you use your gunship?”

“We dumped all our ammo killing zombies before we broke off mission,” said Warren.

“There are two life-flight helicopters sitting on the other side of the main hanger,” Jack said. “I don’t suppose you can fly one.”

“As a matter of fact I can,” Warren said. That’s what I do as a civilian for my day job.”

“So we fly some ground people in and shoot up the dead, drag them off to the side then fly out,” Jack said.

“Easy enough on paper,” said Rex.

“It’s a fenced-in facility,” said Warren. “So it might not be too bad till Murphy’s Law turns it into a nightmare.”

“Well,” Sulla said, “what do you think Captain Anderson? Should we put together a team to do this?”

###

The meeting had broken up hours ago with the decision to head out just before daybreak. Rex had moved his group to the other side of hanger two so his gear would be closer to the life-flight helicopters and a single engine Cessna that was to be used in the operation. Rex was sitting on the back gate of the black Dodge Ram cleaning an AK-47. Jack Cotta stood by the back of the truck petting his cat Naomi. Ginger, Alison, Donna, and Mazie stood by watching Rex clean the weapon.

Kimberly lay inside the truck curled into a ball. Rex hadn't heard the girl utter more than a couple of words since he brought her back from the field. Rex had expected her to disappear into the crowd of people at the airport, too ashamed to show her face. Instead, she seemed to have accepted Alison as having some authority over her.

Ginger on the other hand, had plenty to say about Rex's inclusion in the rescue party to free the planes.

"I don’t care, Rex," Ginger said. "You're not going with them; I need you. You're not a soldier, and you have a responsibility to me."

"I'm sorry Ginger, I do," Rex said. "But right now that responsibility means I have to make sure there is enough room to fit all of us on a plane."

"There is another option," Jack said. "I mean I'd feel real shitty about it, but we could take one of the larger civilian planes and scat right out of here."

"If only it were as easy as that," said Rex. "But we would need to leave too much hardware behind. What would happen a few weeks from now when we might need that stuff to survive? Trust me, I want to bug out, but I have to consider the longer game of survival here."

Jack nodded his head, "Yeah, I have to agree with you. They would probably shoot us down as we took off anyway."

"But why does it have to be you?" said Ginger.

"You know why," Rex said. "I worked out of there for months. If something went wrong and we had to work around the terminals I know the place like the back of my hand."

"I'm afraid I'm with Ginger on this," Alison said. "This is an unnecessary risk; you should stay."

"I'll look after him," Jack said. "If something goes wrong, I can land on a much shorter runway. I can fly in like Han Solo on the Millennium Falcon and swoop Rex to safety."

Donna picked up Naomi from the back of the truck. "Jack, I don’t like the idea of you going either. I'm not going to let you take Naomi with you on the plane. I’ll keep her with me. You should know we've talked, and the two of us will never forgive you if you do something stupid enough to get yourself killed."

Jacks face reddened and he petted Naomi's soft brown fur as Donna held the cat in her arms.

"Jack," Rex said, "you should tell Leia and Chewbacca that we’ll be fine tomorrow. We’re going to come back and then we’re going to get the hell out of here, all of us."

###

Later that night, the group rested safely inside the hanger. The air in the hanger remained hot long into the hours of the night. Mazie had moved inside the truck to try and sleep on the front bench seat; Kim was laid out on the seats behind her. The windows of the truck were open to keep the temperature in the cab from becoming unbearable.

Rex had ripped off the fiberglass bed cover of the truck so there would be a place for Ginger, Alison, and him to sleep. Ginger had laid their sleeping bags over top of one another to make as thick a mattress as possible. Rex lay inside the bed of the truck spooning his wife from behind. Alison faced the couple on her side as the entire party listened to news the radio.

The city of New York is undergoing a crisis of apocalyptic proportions. Earlier today around four in the afternoon, martial law was declared by the President of the United States. “In New York, in a desperate attempt to contain the situation, the Air Force began a process of destroying all bridges leading to the island. This occurred even while civilian foot and vehicle traffic was attempting to cross the various bridges. The effort proved to be of little use as New Jersey is already reporting mass undead activity. As of eight this evening the New York City Mayor’s office indicated that it is now impossible to contain the outbreaks running rampant in Gotham’s streets. Some estimates put the number of undead in the streets of New York at greater than 100,000.

In Washington D.C., several outbreaks have been contained, but authorities remain cautious as refugee population shifts bring constant threats of new outbreaks. The government shut down the beltway interstates to civilian traffic only to see a major crisis develop in neighboring Fredrick, Virginia and several other towns near the Federal District.

The FAA has closed down civilian airlines in hopes that the spread of the outbreak can be slowed down in other major U.S. cities. The move came perhaps just hours late for the cities of Atlanta, Miami, and Dallas. These cities are now officially reporting undead activity. The outbreaks are also causing problems across the nation as people are making runs on local grocery and hardware stores. The city of Detroit is attempting to put down mass looting and riots in the already economically stricken region.