Punch.
Peters got himself KIA.
Punch.
Durant was a goner, bled out in the back.
Punch.
The safe zone was fucked.
Punch.
We are fucked.
He stopped punching. Breathing heavily, he put his head in his hands for a moment. Blood ran down his knuckles and into his hair. The voice on the radio could be heard several times, requesting confirmation of the order.
Collins let him have his moment. He stood back, his hand unconsciously rubbing his belly. After a few seconds, he stepped in close and put a hand on Garcia’s shoulder.
“Get yourself together, soldier.” He said, the inflection on his words revealing his compassion for the Corporal.
Then the radio chirped again. “Sierra two how copy over.”
Garcia closed his eyes for a second and re-focused himself.
“Get those civvies calmed down.” He told Collins as he picked up the transmitter with a bloody hand and raised it up to his mouth to reply.
“Whisky Alpha Romeo. This is Sierra two. We copy loud and clear. Coordinates received. WILCO. Over.”
“Copy that Sierra two. Stay frosty out there. Whiskey Alpha Romeo out.” The disembodied voice finished.
Bloody hell! We are right cocked-up. Emily thought as she slowed the bus back down.
Within a few minutes, their new destination was determined, and the bus changed course. There would be no more evacuations today.
There would be no more evacuations, period.
Chapter Two
Emily
The sun was starting to get low in the sky, and shadows were lengthening as the school bus pulled into ‘Stone Meadow’. Stone Meadow was a gated community on the south-western end of the city. Thankfully, the only dead that were seen after entering the community were permanently dead. A few corpses were spotted here and there, on the sidewalks, driveways, and on the manicured lawns of high-end houses.
“That’s it, up ahead.” Garcia alerted Emily, as the houses on their right ended.
A chain link fence separated the houses from a set of fields. About another block down the road, they could see a driveway entrance. At the end of that driveway stood a building.
Looks like ... a school?
Emily spotted sentries in pairs on both sides of the driveway as the bus took the turn. A gate slid across the driveway behind them, as they entered the school grounds.
The driveway ended in a road circle, which in turn had an accessway to a parking lot on the left, next to a blocky portion of the building that Emily figured to be the gymnasium. The school entrance loomed up some concrete steps, straight ahead.
A soldier was standing there, and waved Emily towards the parking lot.
The parking lot already contained several army vehicles, including three army trucks, two Humvees, two of the light tactical vehicles, and one of the heavier armored vehicles. She saw that this last vehicle even had one of those Mk 19 grenade launchers mounted on it.
Could have used one of those earlier today. Emily thought as she pulled further into the lot.
The parking lot also contained several square tanks of potable water, a few other pallets laden with boxes, and a twenty-foot shipping container, or ‘sea can’. These were sitting at the far edge of the parking lot. Soldiers hustled between the school and the parking lot like ants, carrying boxes inside.
Emily parked the bus somewhat haphazardly but out of the way, and for the first time in several hours, shut off the ignition. The silence was almost overwhelming. Nobody stirred for several moments. The occupants of the bus were momentarily lost in their own thoughts, trying to process the events of the day.
Three soldiers walked up to the bus, and Emily opened the door.
Garcia was out first and after a brief muffled discussion, the men proceeded into the bus.
“Please stay seated folks.” One of the new soldiers said. The stripes on his arm identifying him as a sergeant. He motioned to the two men with him, and both he and Garcia stepped into benches to clear the aisle. The two soldiers picked up Durant’s body, and made their way back to the front and off the bus.
Emily had a good look at Durant’s injuries as his body was carried past her. She could see massive lacerations on his neck, and he was soaked in his own blood. Durant’s corpse bore bite marks. His right cheek had been partially torn away, the skin and meat flopping by an attached string of muscle and revealing his jaw and teeth. One particularly deep gash in his neck had severed the carotid artery and the young man had bled out within a minute.
Seeing the dead man reminded Emily of Peters, and she recalled the image of the young sergeant’s eyes bulging and rolling up as he collapsed to the ground.
Brown assisted the injured Moyers out next, and they were quickly directed to a medic. It looked like Moyers had a twisted ankle, which wasn’t too serious. But he had also suffered a wrist injury and that looked a lot worse. It was swollen and already turning an ugly purple colour. The gash on his face was covered with a field dressing. From what Emily recalled, he’d likely need some stitches for that.
“You better go see the C.O.” Emily craned her neck at the voice. It was the sergeant. He motioned for Garcia to head to a small tent set up near the fence. Garcia nodded and stepped to the front of the bus. As he got to the bus door. He hesitated a moment, turned and faced Emily.
“Hey. ... That was some good driving back there. I know Mark was impressed.”
Emily looked up at Garcia quizzically.
“Peters. Mark Peters. He was never a guy that would come out and praise others. But I know he appreciated how you handled this vehicle.” Garcia ran out of things to say. He gave Emily a half-hearted smile.
“Maybe you got a future as a bus driver or something.”
Emily smiled at that. “Actually, driving a bus was my day-job.”
Garcia’s eyes widened for a moment in surprise. “No shit?! Hehe.” With a
