Brent Acuff - Undead Nation 02 (3 page)

"My commander had been quickly ingratiating himself with the village leader. The two of them were almost never seen apart, and I noticed that Elliot was beginning to take an active part in some of the activities of the village. Some of those included the capture and destruction of zombies in the surrounding forests.

"Everything came to a head about two weeks after our arrival. We couldn't quite figure out why, but the villagers kept talking about a celebration of sorts. Our limited ability to converse with the locals made it hard to understand exactly what was going on. It became all too clear one night.

"A large bonfire had been erected in the center of the village and everyone had gathered around it. There was some excited talk amongst the villagers, but none of us took much notice of it. Soon, a young woman was dragged from the village leaders hut, bound and the wrist and ankles and gagged so that her protests were muffled. Then Lieutenant Elliot came out."

Morgan watched as Alex's eyes glazed over and his voice became distant. She realized that at that moment, Alex was back in the village, reliving everything that had happened.

"There was a mad look in his eyes. Something that you didn't realize had always been there, but now you wonder how you missed it all those other times. An older man followed the lieutenant out of the hut, escorted by the village leader himself. The older man had a sly smile across his face, like he was the only one to get the joke. The village leader...that man was scared. He knew something bad was going to happen, but he was terrified to do anything.

"The young girl -- god, she couldn't have been more than fourteen -- she was dragged to the bonfire and thrown in the dirt. Elliot...Elliot had murder in his eyes. He stood over that girl, grinning something evil and looked around at all the villagers gathered. Then he said, 'This girl is dead. She has been taken by the dead walkers; made one of their own.' Then he looked down at her, grinning and said, 'She must be destroyed.'"

Alex stood up from the bed, startling Morgan with the sudden movement. He began pacing back and forth in front of the bed, eyes still distant and continued.

"I knew what was happening. I knew it, because I finally realized what it was that I had seen in his eyes. That murderous look, the madness. Elliot was going to kill this girl. This young girl who wasn't even infected.

"I didn't have a gun with me. I usually did, but just hadn't this night. Everyone around me was armed so I got complacent. I started to rush at the lieutenant, but only made it a few steps. He had seen the movement and looked up. The lieutenant was a smart man. He knew what I was going to do, and he had the unwavering loyalty of his grunt soldiers. One look at them and I was grabbed. I was physically lifted off my feet and slammed to the ground. They couldn't see what I saw; they could only follow what they were told.

"I lay there screaming at him, screaming at the others to stop him. I kept telling them that he was going to kill her. That she wasn't infected, but they just kept me there, pinned to the ground and watched as he butchered that girl.

"The lieutenant started by beating the girl with his own bare hands. That should have clued the others in that she didn't have the disease. No one ever touch the infected. He beat that girl again and again until her face was a bloody mess and his knuckles were split. Then he took his knife..."

"Stop! Stop, Alex." Morgan cried. The sound of her voice managed to pull Alex out of the past. His eyes cleared and he nearly stumbled when he returned to the present. Tears streamed down Morgan's face and Alex stood, staring at her until he regain his senses. Placing gentle hands around his wife's shoulders Alex held her tight until the sobs subsided.
 

"What happened? What happened to the girl?" Morgan asked. Alex shook his head, not wanting to continue.

"No. That's enough. You don't need to hear anymore." Alex pleaded with her to not make him finish the horrific past.

"What happened, Alex? You said that it wasn't just what you saw, but what you did. What did you do?" Morgan's question was a whisper, neither of them really wanting to go on, but know they had to.

"He killed her, Morgan. That demon Elliot cut the flesh away from the innocent girl while she was still alive. Then he stood over her and admired his work. There wasn't a sound save for the cracking of the bonfire. Not even nature herself could believe what she had just witnessed.

"One of the men holding me down slowly stood, and the other retched all over himself. I rushed at the lieutenant. He didn't even take his eyes away from the corpse as I slammed my shoulder into him. I straddled him and beat at him, and all he did was laugh. He laughed a crazed, hysterical laughter. Then I felt a knife at my throat...

"The older man stood over me with a military issue K-bar knife held at my throat. He told me to get off the commander. What could I do? I stood up and he ordered me to back up. Then he stooped over to offer a hand to Elliot. I couldn't figure out what was going on until the two of them were walking away. The man...the older man, do you know what he said to the lieutenant?" Alex's eyes focused on Morgan's. She shook her head in answer.

"He said, 'I guess that will teach her never to turn down my marriage proposal, huh?' He had condemned her, accused her of being infected, because she wouldn't marry him. The fucker had four wives already, and he killed a young girl because she turned him down."

Alex was on his feet again, pacing. The focus was once again leaving his eyes, and Morgan did not know if she would get him back again if he fell back into his past. "What did you do? Alex, what did you do to them?"

Alex stopped and looked at his wife as if she hadn't been there before. "I killed them," he said calmly.

Morgan's hand held back a whimper at his confession. She shook her head, knowing and understanding why he had done it, but not wanting to believe it.
 

"No one would talk about it. I tried to get them to admit to what had happened, to help me do something about it. Take him into custody, remove him from command, but NOTHING!" Alex yelled this last as he threw the entire contents on top of the nearby dresser onto the floor. Glass and wood splintered on the floor and Morgan screamed as she threw herself back on the bed.

"The fucking cowards wouldn't do anything, so I had to. I had to make them pay for what they had done." Alex's eyes were crazed as he looked back across the room at his wife. "It was easy, actually. They were drunk off of the adrenaline and soon off alcohol. He could barely even defend himself let along stop me. And the older man?" Alex shook his head. "He thought that girl suffered?"

"Stop it, Alex. Stop." Morgan pleaded with Alex, but he only shook his head, the crazed look on his face terrifying her.

"The High-ups? They didn't believe me; didn't want to believe what Lieutenant Elliot had done. But they knew what I did. I made sure of that." Alex crossed the open floor and leaned over the bed, staring through Morgan on the bed.
 

"They did what they always do. They covered it up. No paperwork, no hearing. I was just released from the service without anything being said or done. Military pension and my signature that I would not disclose anything that I had seen or done during my service with the Special Response Team, under 'threat of imprisonment' for disclosing government secrets."

The craze from Alex's eyes faded, alone with the color in his face. He moved quickly to a small trash can in the corner of the room and threw up. Alex slumped to the floor and leaned against the wall. "They read my contingency plan, but decided that I was too much of a liability to actually follow it. They felt that my judgement may have been tainted by what I 'appeared' to have witnessed and trashed the whole thing. They never even saw this coming, did they?"

Alex fell silent, but continued to stare off into space. An eternity passed before Morgan could will herself to move. Slowly and deliberately, she slid off the bed and crept towards her husband. Carefully, she lowered herself to the floor and wrapped her arms around him, placing her head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Alex," she whispered, and the two of them remained their through the long night.

-----

The morning sun rose all too early for everyone in New Hope. Shuffling feet and silent figures moved about the compound, reminiscent of the dead walkers littering the countryside. After several of the colonists families had been kidnapped, word quickly spread that Lieutenant Colonel Hill, the Savior of New Hope, had coerced a few of the colonists to bring his family out of Austin. This morning, that group was leaving.
 

Alex stood alone at the back of a humvee, meticulously checking and rechecking gear and supplies. The rest of his crew, his unit, were saying their goodbyes. The sounds of muffled cries and pleadings to stay started to drift across the courtyard. Alex tried to ignore all of it.

Alex could hear footsteps approaching behind him and turned to see who it was. Shawn Davies and Luke Berryman were approaching, sly grins on their faces.
 

"You leaving without us?" Shawn asked, his tone happier than what would have been expected.
 

"Just making sure everything is right," Alex replied flatly. "You two say your goodbyes?"

Luke slapped Alex on the shoulder and chuckled. "To who? My family is right here," he said, indicating Shawn. "I'm a bachelor, and proud to be one. Guns...well, those are my babies."

Alex shook his head, but kept at his task. "You need to get out more, man."

Shawn placed a hand on Alex's shoulder and pulled him away from the vehicle. "Go, Alex. We'll take care of checking the supplies. I think someone wants to say goodbye."

Turning around, Alex caught sight of his wife and daughter, Gemma. Gemma's eyes were red and she had obviously been crying. In her hands were a scarf and a note. Alex recognized the scarf as the one which he had given her last Christmas, the one which she wore almost every day. Looking back to Shawn he said, "Thanks," and went to see his little girl.

Kneeling down in front of Gemma, Alex opened his arms wide and she rushed forward, throwing herself at him and nearly knocking the two to them to the ground. "I don't want you to go," Gemma said into his neck. She squeezed her arms around him tightly and it took quite a bit of pulling to be able to breath.
 

"Yes, little girl. I'm sorry, but I have to go." Alex lifted Gemma's chin so that she was looking him straight in the eyes. "There's another little girl that needs my help, and I've got to go and get her."

"But why do you have to go? Why can't someone else do it?" The words came out in a rush and Alex had to take a moment to make sure he had heard her right.
 

"I've got to go because I'm the only one who knows how. Remember? Who got us out of Austin the first time?" Gemma nodded her head slowly.

"You?" she asked.

"Yes, little girl. And now I've got to do it again, so that this other little girl can be safe. Okay? Is that okay, Gemma?" Alex asked this of her, actually hoping that she would say no, giving him a reason to stay.

"Yes, dad. It's okay." Gemma hugged her dad again, eyes shut against tears and holding back the sobs. "I love you, daddy."

This time it was Alex's turn to cry. Tears streamed down his cheeks and he worked hard to keep himself as composed as possible. Alex returned his little girl's hug with all the love he could give. He held his girl tight until she pushed herself away telling him, "Daddy, you're hurting me."

"I'm sorry, little girl," Alex said with a smile crossing his face. "Just wanted to make sure you knew I loved you."

"I know, dad. I know you'll do what you have to. Just hurry back, and be careful." She held out her hands to Alex and offered him what she had been hold. "Here, dad. These are for you." Alex took the scarf and letter that she held out for him. "The scarf will keep you warm and the letter is for when you are lonely."

Alex gave his girl one last hug and told her thank you before standing to talk to Morgan. Her eyes were red as well and streaks of tears shone in the morning light. "Take care of our girl, okay?"

Morgan nodded and hugged Alex. "Be careful, okay? Come home to me."

"I will. Keep your eyes open and watch out for yourself. Things may not be exactly as they seem." The two broke their embrace and Alex gently kissed her. "I love you."

"I know. I love you too." She pushed him back towards the trucks. The other members of his rescue unit had started gathered around the vehicles, most of them with a dejected demeanor about them. Lieutenant Colonel Hill stood next to the lead humvee, arms crossed, smiling.

"Bring back my wife and daughter, Mr. Kemp. Safe and sound, you understand?" The lieutenant whispered to Alex. "Don't fuck this up, sir. If you do, you'll regret it."

Alex glared at Hill. Thoughts of murder flashing through his mind. "Yes, sir. Anything you say."
 

The lieutenant patted Alex on the shoulder. "Good man, sir. Good man."

Shrugging off the lieutenant's hand Alex said, "Fuck you," and climbed into the driver's seat of the lead humvee. He took one last look over his shoulder at his wife and daughter before closing the door and heading out of the compound door.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Into the Lion's Den

The men in the convoy drove in silence, most of them lost in the moments that they had just left -- wives and daughters, sons and friends. Few, if any, of the men actually thought they would ever see their loved ones again.

The small convoy traveled down the road away from the New Hope colony at a fast pace. Alex's plan was to put some distance between the colony and their loud engines before anything in the countryside found where their families were. Four miles down the road, Alex turned hard on the wheel, steering them south onto FM 3054. Liam sat up when he noticed the direction Alex was taking them.

"Hey, man," he said. "I don't mean to be a backseat driver or anything, but we're going the wrong way." Alex remained silent. The anger and frustration that he was feeling at the moment kept his thoughts occupied.