Dead States | Year Zero | Nebraska Page 13

  On the trip over Crystal broke down the plan for Bill, Jason and Alice, “Above all else never do anything alone and never assume it is safe. When we are loading the dead keep it quiet and no unnecessary moving around.”

  When they arrived at the lab Crystal and Amy did a quick walk through and then had everyone unload. Bill and Amy took guard. Lois mixed a fresh batch of napalm assisted by Mac and Mick. While, Crystal took Jason and Alice into the barn to start loading four of the captive Dee's.

  As they walked into the barn Jason hooted out, “We're baaaack.”

  Once the dead creature was attached to the leads Jason again started up, “Yee haw git along little doggie.”

  As soon as the Dee was loaded into the trailer, Crystal asked Bill and Amy to help Alice with the next one and asked Mac to take guard with Mick.

  When the others entered the barn Crystal slammed Jason up against the suburban with her baton jammed against his throat. “What the hell was that in there. Did I not tell you to be quiet? Did I not tell you to keep it calm. Those things are dangerous and you put everyone's life at risk. Do you have an explanation mister.”

  “I'm sorry. I've never been that close to a dead one before and I was a little scared. I guess I didn't want you to see how afraid I was”, explained Jason.

  Crystal glowered at him, “Lives are at stake here, if you don't think you can do something I need to know. Do I make myself clear?”

  “crystal”, Jason acknowledged.

  “That is Captain to you”, retorted Crystal.

  “I meant crystal clear Captain.”, Jason responded.

  Crystal turned so Jason couldn't see her smile at her mistake. Jason was saved a further dressing down when Mac called 'Dee'.

  Crystal replied to let him know she was on it and turned back to Jason, “Are you ready to take down your first Dee?”

  Jason nodded.

  “You need to do exactly what I tell you, no hesitations. Can you do that?”, Crystal queried.

  Jason replied, “Yes Captain. I won't let you down.”

  Crystal began moving towards the Dee and filling Jason on the plan as they moved, “Walk a couple of steps behind me. When I tell you hold your knife in your right hand. When I say 'now' I'll move right and hook her neck. You move left grab a big hand full of her hair at the back of her head and run you knife quickly into her ear. Do you understand?”

  “Yes Cap.”, Jason answered.

  As they got closer Crystal began spinning her baton. She had placed a red ribbon at one end and when she spun the baton the ribbon caught the eye of the Dee. When they were parted by just a couple of steps Crystal yelled, “Now”, as she stepped to the right and hooked the Dee by the neck, with the crook of her baton.

  Jason did as he was told moved left grabbed the Dee's hair and with only a brief hesitation ran his knife into its brain and it slumped to the ground.

  “Grab an arm and we'll bring this one along to the quarry with us too”, directed Crystal.

  At the trailer Crystal had Alice help Jason load this last body in. Jason recounted the kill to Alice, “You should of seen it Alice the Captain had that deadun completely under control.”

  “You've made a new friend”, Bill remarked.

  Crystal smiled, “Yeah he's still on the rush of his first kill”.

  “Bill I'm a little concerned about the time line on the strike on Lexington. We can't have these guys freezing up or ignoring what they are told. On the other hand I've convinced myself if we are going to find more survivors we need to start looking there.”, Crystal said her worry over Jason's earlier behavior obvious.

  Bill and Crystal had spoken often enough on her vision for securing the area around them, He had to agree that the more they could reduce the number of dead around them the safer they were from that threat. He also had to agree that finding more survivors and surrounding themselves with satellite refuges would enhance their defenses. Still it was an aggressive plan to go and clear a city the size of Lexington.

  Bill appreciated that Crystal expressed her concerns to him, “Percy seems pretty confident he can whip us into shape. I do think the quicker we iron out the plan details the more often we can drill the mission. As my coach always said practice makes perfect”

  Once Amy finished assembling her bombs the group headed off to the quarry to test the impact on the Dee's they brought along. At the quarry Jason and Alice were put on guard duty. As Jason took his position he had Crystal's last words still ringing in his ears, “Make sure you are keeping watch over us and not watching us. Understood?”

  Jason quickly responded, “Yes Captain.”

  Mick and Lois watched from the suburban, the fewer out in the open the better. Bill assisted Amy and Crystal was filming the tests with Mac as her spare set of eyes. The first test was on the corpse Jason had dispatched.

  They tied it upright to a post stuck in the ground and when everyone was clear Amy called out, “Fire in the hole”, and ignited the bomb.

  Crystal was expecting some noise and a fireball, but was not prepared for the intensity of the blast. Even at her distance the heat was enough to make her skin warm. The wave coming from the blast blew her hair back. For the first few minutes the corpse was engulfed in flames and smoke and completely obscured. Eventually it came back into view. The flames had stripped away it clothes and hair. Much of the skin was starting to fall away and the stomach cavity fell open allowing the entrails to fall to the ground.

  Crystal zoomed the camera in and focused on the head. The ears and nose were completely gone and much of the flesh on the skull was cracked and pulling away. As Crystal watched the muscle and tendons holding the skull gave way and the head slowly turned as if to look at Crystal. The lower jaw opened as if preparing to bite and then gave way dangling by its tongue. “Oh Shhh”

  “What was that?”, queried Mac.

  “Nothing I just wasn't prepared for it to move”, replied Crystal.

  The next test was on a one of the captive Dee's and by the time the flames had died down its brain, boiled in the skull, had turned to a gelatin mess.

  In the final test they bound the final three of their captive Dee's around the metal post. Amy pulled out a fifth of Jack Daniels. “I brought this along as an accelerant to hedge my bet a little, but I think we can spare a little to toast for luck.”

  Each in turn took a silent swig from the bottle. Crystal didn't drink often and then only beer or wine. However, this seemed like a bonding moment even if the others did get a chuckle as she grimaced over the taste of the whiskey.

  Amy up ended the bottle over the heads of the three and instructed the others to get safely away. Once they were clear she called out for the final time, “Fire in the hole”, and once again the flames did their work.

  After breakfast the militia and the council were asked to stay behind. Crystal cued up the footage, “Yesterday we tested a new way to terminate the dead.”

  The group cheered for each of the explosions at the end of the footage many stood up clapping and cheering. Crystal gave them a few minutes to enjoy the moment and then quieted them with a loud whistle.

  “In three weeks we are going to use this weapon to clean out Lexington. It would be a big prize for us and maybe we can bring aid to other survivors.”, Crystal's voice broke a little with emotion and she paused a moment before continuing, “Right now the world belongs to the dead and we have been relegated to this tiny corner. In three weeks the living strike back.”

  The room again erupted in cheers and clapping. Once again Crystal had to resort to a loud whistle to quiet the room.

  “I appreciate all your enthusiasm, but this is far from a done deal. My father was fond of saying, Proper Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. We have a lot of planning to do. We need to find an ambush site. We need to figure out how we draw the dead to the ambush site.”, Crystal had finished her footage with the corpse skull staring back framed by fire. Pointing to that image with her baton, “Most of all we need soldie
rs who can take a stand against five thousand of these.”

  Crystal then turned to Percy, “Gunny do we have those soldiers here?”

  Percy was filled with pride for this young woman that he had developed a father's affection for, “No Captain”.

  “Then I suggest you all have some work to do”, Crystal concluded and quick stepped out of the room.

  Slightly over a week had passed since they tested the napalm. Percy was drilling the patrols, fiercely. No breach of discipline was tolerated. Patrols leaders got double of whatever Percy dished out to their team. Percy was an exceptional drill sergeant and every day saw them closer to a solid army.

  They had taken more beef and Doc with the help of Lois, treated the blood they reserved with an anticoagulant. A little testing with some of their captive dead and they had a dilution rate that increased the volume of attractant and still left it viable as a lure. More importantly Doc and Lois created an ammonia based solvent that covered their tracks leaving the dead no trail to follow.

  “Blade what do you say, fish or cut bait?”, Crystal asked the morning after the last lure test.

  Blade looked at her a bit confused, “How's that?”

  “Take your patrol into Lexington. We need to know if the dead are still massed in the town or if they are spreading out.”, Crystal directed.

  “We're going to do this thing then?”, Blade questioned.

  “We are damn well going to try.”, Crystal answered.

  “Then I say fish. I fuckin hate this sittin around.”, Blade answered smiling broadly.

  “Mick has a spot picked out for us to put up the trap. He and I will take out a small crew tomorrow morning and check it out. We'll follow you most of the way over.”, Crystal replied, wishing she could mirror his enthusiasm, but she had to maintain her command posturing.

  The following morning Blade split his squad into two jeeps, one taking the lead and the other traveling behind the suburban. In addition to Mick, Crystal had asked Matt Brenner. Matt could handle himself if they got into trouble and knew enough engineering to help evaluate the trap site. Amy and Percy were along as tactical advisers and somewhat of a surprise to them Crystal had asked the Brenner twins along.

  Their grandfather had seen to it that they were weapons and self-defense trained and they had enough children in the community that needed to be similarly trained. Percy's drill sergeant methodology just wasn't going to cut it with the kids. The long car ride will give them time to work on a regimen for preparing the youth to handle this world.

  First Crystal had another question nagging at her, “Percy how do General's decide where to attack.”

  Percy considered her question,“No simple answer. You vant to disrupt the enemies supply lines, or prevent them from haffing a geographical advantage. Vhy?”

  Crystal shook her head, “I don't know that I have a simple answer to that either. Nebraska is pock marked with little towns and at this point our patrols have the skills to take on a number of the dead. We could focus on the small towns, keep our group pretty safe and feel good about saving a handful of lives.”

  Percy nodded, “Yes ve could do dat.”

  Crystal's angry response surprised her, “Are you telling me that I should leave people cloistered in some FEMA shelter to be run over by the dead, starving to death or freeze this winter.”

  Percy laughed, “See you know vhat to do.”

  Hazel Thurman's life has certainly been full of changes. She grew up an average white girl if a little bit nerdy. She always had an interest in history and chose to do her graduates studies in anthropology. Her thesis was on the cultural differences of the Native American tribes of Nebraska. While doing her research and meeting with the peoples of the various tribes she met Clayton Thurman.

  Clayton was a member of the Ne ma ha ha ki or more commonly known as the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska. Clayton, some fifteen years older that Hazel, was an herbalist, what might be thought of as shaman or medicine man. He enjoyed sharing his culture and history of the nation, with this inquisitive young woman.

  Hazel was the one that got the relationship moving beyond friendship and by the time she completed her thesis the couple was married. They moved to their home here north of Lexington, where Clay had found employment as a construction worker. Clay continued as an herbalist as well and eventually was elected to join the Medawin.

  It took several years for the couple to be joined by their daughter Grace. While Hazel embraced her husbands culture and lifestyle, Grace almost from the beginning rallied against it. It didn't help that Grace had to put up with taunts from classmates, calling her half-breed or Pocahontas. By the time Grace was fifteen she was running with a rough crowd of mostly older kids and got into drinking and drugs. The more Hazel and Clay tried to control Grace, the harder Grace fought against them. When Grace was eighteen a young man came passing through on his way to California and when he went on his way Grace went with him.

  A few years later Grace showed up at their door with a small child. Grace was in terrible condition from years of drug abuse. At least Grace cared enough about Krista to leave her with Hazel. Clay and Hazel begged their daughter to stay with them too. However, Grace was rushed away by her boyfriend when Clay refused to give her money.

  Unlike her mother, Krista was very happy with her grandparents. Even though Clay's health was failing he would spend hours with his granddaughter teaching her about the native plants and what they could do. When Krista was eight Clay passed quietly in his sleep. For the next couple of years Hazel continued to provide herbal remedies, for the people Clay had helped over the years.

  Hazel had become accustomed to a steady stream of visitors to her remote homestead, until about six days ago and visitors mysteriously stopped. Hazel was starting to become concerned by the change when a man pulled up to the house crying out for Hazel to help.

  ”Ma'am I've heard folks talking that you are some kind of witch or somethin. I don't know about that, but my boy is real sick and I can't get to the hospital. Can you try to help him please.”, the man pleaded.

  Hazel looked at the man for a spell. His panic gave him a wild look in his eyes and his clothes were spattered with blood. He had some wounds on his arms that were poorly bandaged.

  Hazel responded kindly, “Friend try to relax, I will do what I can to help. Now tell me what happened to your arms?”

  “Like I said my boy is real sick and he bit at me. Took a couple of good chunks out, but I'm okay.”, he replied a little to quickly for Hazel's liking.

  Hazel considered her options, “Well let me take a look at your boy and we are going to have to make up a poultice for those bites, you don't want them to start festering on you.”

  When Hazel looked into the back seat the man had the boy strapped up with duct tape, including binding his mouth shut. Nothing looked right about the boy. His skin was ashen in color as if all the blood had drained away. His eyes were glassed over, but still followed her every movement. Hazel reached in and felt for a pulse. She placed her ear to his chest to listen for a heartbeat or breathing.

  Hazel had always thought this was simply a legend nothing that she ever thought she would actually see, “Mister I got some bad news for you. Your boy is dead and his body had been taken over by the spirit of a Wendigo.”

  “A wenda what”, he asked.

  “Come on inside we'll get you patched up and talk this through”, answered Hazel.

  Hazel gave the man some tea that was both a mild sedative and antibiotic. Once the tea had taken affect and the man was calmer she removed his bandages. She had to stitch a couple of the bites, then liberally applied an antiseptic salve to all the wounds and put on clean bandages. When she was done Hazel tried to explain the boys condition.

  This was easier said than done. Hazel had adopted many of the ways of her husbands culture and she loved living close to the land. She enjoyed the science involved with learning the plants and their uses. She was fascinated with
the stories and legends, because those explained his culture. Clay though had true faith in his spirituality. When he called upon the spirit of an animal he truly believed in that. Hazel could never make that leap of faith. Today she was staring a legend in the face and science and practicality were going to be of little use.

  “Mister this is what I know. Your boy's skin color is ashen an indication that the blood has drained down to his extremities. His eyes are glassed over and the pupils do not react to light. I can not feel a pulse, hear him breathing or hear his heart beating. I am convinced your son is dead. I have no other explanation than an evil spirit, a wendigo, has taken over his body. A wendigo exists by eating the flesh of the living. To be honest I have never witnessed anything like this before, so if you want to call me a crazy old woman and take your boy and leave go ahead. I do think I can give your boy peace though.”