Hatcher stood upright and tried to stretch his back without putting too much strain on his ribs. “What do we need to do for the antenna?”
Roger glanced to Candy and shrugged. She gave Hatcher a weak smile. “I was hoping maybe Will had some ideas. I’m sure that height helps, though.”
Hatcher nodded slowly. “Maybe we can set something up on top of the lookout?”
Will cleared his throat behind the trio to get their attention. “Pardon my eavesdropping. One of the ladies said that you were working on a ham radio project and when I heard my name, I…” he trailed off with a shrug.
“Okay Doc. What’s it going to take to make this work?” Hatcher asked.
Will stepped into the closet and looked over the equipment. “Well, for starters, about half of this equipment isn’t for ham radio. But we can definitely use the amplifier.” He rubbed at his chin then stood up. “I’m guessing that you hope to reach others with this? The military don’t usually monitor these frequencies.”
Hatcher nodded. “But is there a way to use it to contact the military? In case we need to?”
Will bobbed his head back and forth as he considered. “It’s possible. But none of it will work without the proper antennas.”
Roger stepped closer. “What do we need? I got rolls of cabling.”
Will raised his brows. “We need height. Lots of it.” He turned to Candy. “Where did you find all this?”
“There’s a supply store in town. I found an old phone book and there was an ad in the yellow pages.” She glanced to Hatcher. “I didn’t think anybody would raid it because they don’t have food or water there.”
Will nodded. “Perhaps we can go back and see what else they might have. Surely if they sell radios they’ll have the necessary peripheral equipment.” He pointed to the stack of components. “We really should put these on a surge protector as well.”
Hatcher looked to Roger. “Feel up to another road trip or would you rather catch some sleep?”
Roger looked to Candy and smiled. “Let me grab some coffee and I’m good to go.”
“There ya have it, Doc. I guess after breakfast you can raid the shop.”
Candy seemed almost giddy as she came to her feet. She swooned slightly and sat back down. “Ooh, head rush.”
“Easy there.” Roger held a hand out for her and helped her to her feet. “You okay?”
She nodded. “Just lack of sleep and too much excitement.” She stretched her neck then turned back to him. “While you’re in town, I’ll talk with the people here and see if anybody knows their way around this stuff.”
Carol rolled when she stepped from the chopper and Broussard held a hand out to pull her to her feet. The pair waited while the chopper lifted away from the rooftop, their hands covering their faces from the flying bits of debris.
“That’s exciting.” She wiped at her coveralls and brushed bits of detritus from her hair.
Broussard hefted the canvas bag and walked toward the parapet of the building. The soldier assigned to them had already taken up position by the edge, the barrel of his rifle scanning the ground below.
“Do you know where we are?” Broussard asked the man.
“The city or the building?” The operator didn’t look up.
“Both. Either,” he shrugged.
“San Diego.” He shifted the rifle and scanned the other direction. “This is some hotel, I think. I’m not sure the name. I just know this is where I’m supposed to stand overwatch.” He lowered the rifle and gave Broussard a hard look. “Let’s get something straight. My job here is twofold. I have to protect you two, but I also stand lookout for land forces that have come in from every direction to help direct this shit storm.”
Broussard gave him a confused shake of his head. “Land forces…”
“They’ve called in troops from everywhere even remotely close to here. Army from L.A., Marines from Twentynine Palms, you name it.” He shouldered the rifle again. “Part of my job is to spot Zeds and report their location to Central. They’re tracking everybody’s movements.”
Broussard held a hand up and backed away slowly. “We’ll just observe from over here.” He motioned to Carol and the pair moved farther down the roof. “I think it best to give him space.”
“Agreed.” She gave the soldier a confused stare as they backed away. “He seems really intense.”
Broussard nodded. “If he’s supposed to keep track of movement, then I wouldn’t want his job.” He gave her a slight grin. “I thought air traffic controllers had it rough, but this would be more like herding cats, oui?”
“Not if the generator works.” She gave him a nudge. “Fingers crossed.”
The soldier keyed his coms. “Go for sound bridge.”
Broussard and Carol shot each other a confused look then leaned over the edge. They watched as a small team of men trotted out of the shadows and placed a series of boxes in the middle of the street.
Papers and trash blew between the buildings as the men hurriedly opened the metal crates and began to set up the generator. As they ran cabling to the boxes another man pulled the bullhorn-shaped loudspeakers from the crates and mounted them to a tripod base.
Broussard’s eyes scanned the area, looking for infected who might take notice of their work. When the men finished, they quickly broke away from the device and bolted to the safety of an armored truck.
The soldier on the rooftop barked something into his mic and the device was activated. Broussard turned to Carol with a concerned look when the edge of the roof seemed to vibrate from the intensity of the sound wave. “Is it possible to be too loud?” he asked.
Carol shrugged. “Maybe they decided to increase the volume to reach more parts of the city?”
Broussard shrugged then gripped the edge of the roof, his eyes scanning below.
The trio stood vigil on the rooftop for what felt like far too long.
