Recovery: V Plague Book 8 (8 page)

The flight
back to the small town, I never learned its name, was quick.  Martinez gave the
steel communications tower a wide berth as she brought us into a hover before
slipping sideways and landing on large concrete pad with a big yellow “H”
painted in the middle of it.  An orange windsock on a tall pole had been lazily
shifting in the morning breeze but went taut from the powerful wind of the
Huey’s rotor.

We’d seen
roughly a dozen infected males from the air, stumbling about and turning their
blind eyes towards the sky when they heard us.  I had noted from the air that
there was a rolling gate that could seal off the entire area within the fence,
but it was open when we landed.  Releasing Dog and removing the mesh harness
from his body I jumped onto the concrete and brought my rifle up.

“I’m going
to go close that gate,” I said as I scanned the area.  “Find us a way inside
and I’ll catch up.”  I didn’t wait for a response, just took off at a trot, Dog
at my side. 

We ran along
the eastern edge of the building, which was brick construction.  The wall was
taller than it had looked from the air.  Tall enough for there to be two
internal floors.  There was not a single break for a door or window and it took
a moment for the significance of this to dawn on me.  This was probably a jail,
too.

“Martinez,”
I called on the radio as I ran around what I thought was the front corner. 

It was
actually a change in the design of the building.  I was now next to the front
part of the structure and it was narrower than the rear and no more than a
single story.  There were also windows spaced evenly.  This must be the
administrative area.  Finally clearing the front corner I could see the gate
across a large, asphalt parking lot that held a few cars.

“Go for
Martinez.”

“I think
this rear area is a jail,” I said as I ran.  “Don’t go in without me.  There
may be a lot of infected inside.”

“Copy,” she
said.

The gate was
set twenty yards back from the road and there were already half a dozen males
making their way towards the opening.  Picking up the pace I made it to the
gate at the same time as the leading three.  Dog surged forward and leapt,
taking the closest one to the ground as I drew my Kukri and waded in.

Two fast
slashes and mine were down.  I turned around to see Dog standing over the body
of the one he’d killed, looking at me and wagging his tail.

“I got two. 
You’re slacking,” I said to him.  He ignored me and trotted over to pee on a
small bush.

Grabbing the
edge of the gate, I pulled and rolled it along the metal track set into the
pavement.  It squealed and protested and was hard as hell to move, probably
rarely having been used.  But I got it closed, the three remaining males
banging into it when they arrived a moment later.

There wasn’t
a lock on the gate, or a chain or any other way I could see to secure it. 
Knowing I’d be driving out in a short amount of time I decided it was good
enough and headed back across the parking lot.

“What’s your
location, Captain?”  I asked over the radio.

“West exterior,
about a third of the way from the front.”  She answered immediately.

Changing
directions I ran down the front of the building and turned the corner.  I could
see my group standing a dozen yards from the side of the building, waiting for
me.  All of them had their rifles up.  Dog and I covered the distance quickly
and I circled behind them and came to a stop between Crawford and Katie.  A
heavy steel door set into the brick wall was standing open.

“Did you
open it?”  I asked

“Negative,”
he answered.  “It was open when we found it.  Haven’t seen or heard any…”

He stopped
speaking when Dog lowered his head and growled, attention focused on the
opening.

“Well, guess
that answers that question.  Ready?”  I asked.

Everyone
acknowledged they were and we moved to the outside wall next to the door. 
Crawford and I stacked up just like we had when we cleared the rooms at the
casino.  Dog was next to me and Katie and Martinez were watching our rear so we
could focus on the entry.

A soon as we
moved against the wall I could smell the stench wafting through the open door. 
It was the sickly sweet smell of rotting bodies overlaid with the odor of human
waste.  I wasn’t happy to note that the lights were off but there wasn’t a
solar system here to fix before I went inside.

Turning my
flashlight on, I swiveled into the side of the open doorway on my knee,
Crawford right behind me with his rifle over my head.  We were looking into
what appeared to be an intake area for prisoners.  Nothing was moving.  The
Colonel tapped my shoulder to let me know he wasn't seeing anything from his
higher point of view so I stood and we moved quickly.

I scanned to
the left as he checked the right.  Still no threats.  The area was small, hard
benches with steel rings for securing handcuffs lined the perimeter.  There was
an interior wall that looked like it was reinforced, solid up to five feet then
ballistic glass with wire mesh the rest of the way to the ceiling.  A wide door
stood open a few inches, the glass reflecting our lights so we couldn’t see
what was beyond. 

There were
dried splashes of blood on the walls and floor, the once shiny tile littered
with shell casings.  Someone had fought back here.  Katie and Martinez followed
us into the room and would stay here to make sure nothing came in behind and
surprised us.

I gestured
at the door and Crawford and I stacked up and repeated.  Moving through the
opening we found ourselves in a long hallway with several rooms down either
side.  It ended at a steel and reinforced glass door, which was also partially
open.  Dog, at my side, growled as we stepped into the hall.  I glanced at the
Colonel to make sure he understood the significance and he nodded back.

Moving slow
and quiet we approached the first door.  It wasn’t actually a door, just an
opening in the wall that let into a small room.  An infected male wearing a
filthy guard uniform was bumping around behind an “L” shaped bench, unable to
find a way out.  A round to his head ended his efforts.  The rest of the room
was clear.

The second
opening was to a short hall that stopped at a heavy door with another
reinforced glass window.  The door was locked but peering through the glass I
could see into what looked like the part of the building set aside for the
police.

Continuing,
I shot two more males dressed like guards before we finished clearing all of
the rooms in the hallway.  As we approached the door at the end of the hall the
smell got much worse and Dog emitted a long growl.  This time I didn’t need his
ears and nose to tell me there were infected ahead.  I could hear the low
hissing and growling of males.

We passed
through the door into the main jail area.  It was two stories as I’d suspected
from the outside.  There was a large central area that was open all the way up
to a high ceiling, three of the four walls lined with barred cells.  The second
level was more cells with a narrow walkway running the perimeter.  A set of
iron stairs immediately to my left served as access to the upper level.

Skylights
set in the ceiling lit the area.  It wasn’t exactly bright, but bright enough
that I didn’t need the flashlight.  Clicking it off to save the battery I kept
scanning the area.  The sounds of the infected were all around us but there
wasn’t any movement.  Stepping to the row of cells on my right I turned the
light on and aimed it through the iron bars.

An infected
male, wearing an orange jumpsuit, stood in the back corner of the small space. 
A body dressed the same lay on its back in the middle of the floor.  It had
been torn open, the internal organs feasted on.  What a hell of a way to go,
locked in with no escape when your cellmate turns.

I glanced at
the Colonel who just shook his head then made another scan of the area.  Not
seeing any infected outside the cells I didn’t have the desire to go look at all
the poor souls who’d been locked up when they or their cellmate turned.  It
must have been horrible in all the prisons and jails throughout the world.  We
moved back into the hall, staying quiet. 

Leading the
way, I took us back to where Katie and Martinez were waiting.  I called over
the radio before we reached them, letting them know we were about to step
through the door.  They had taken up positions on opposite sides of the room,
rifles trained on the exterior entrance.

I had an
idea of how to get through the door into the police station, but we hadn’t
checked the public entrance to the building.  Maybe it was unlocked and we
could just walk in.  Stepping back out into the morning sun, all of us headed
for the front corner of the building.  Pausing when I reached it, I stuck my
head around to survey the area.

The gate was
still closed and there were now close to a dozen males and three females
pressing up against it.  I wasn’t concerned about the males.  I was a little
worried that when we showed ourselves the females would quickly figure out how
to slide it open.  Not that there were enough of them to really present a
threat, but I didn’t know how many more were in the area and would show up if
they began screaming.

Making my
decision, I signaled for my group to hold in place.  Dropping to a knee I
brought the rifle up and quickly dispatched the three females.  When the last
one fell I stood and started to lead the way but stopped and turned back.

“Martinez. 
Stay here at the corner and keep an eye on that side door we just came out of. 
Be sure you can see us, too.  If we can get in through the front I’ll call
you.”  I didn’t want to leave access to the jail area unwatched and have to
clear the whole area again.  She nodded and stepped a few yards away from the
corner so she could see both directions.

Moving
quickly to the front entrance I tried to peer through the glass doors.  The sun
was too bright and all I could see was my own reflection.  Pulling on the
handle, the door opened easily.  I looked through and didn’t need to go any
farther.  Heavy steel shutters that rolled down from the ceiling were in place,
completely sealing off this way into the building.  If the Bradley had been
there it wouldn’t have been hard to breach, but...

“Coming back
to you,” I called to Martinez and let the door swing closed.

Back at the
corner I explained what I wanted to do.  All of us were going to move back into
the prisoner reception area.  Katie, Dog and Martinez would keep watch on our
rear.  Crawford and I would force our way through the door into the police
station.

Back inside
I took a few minutes to search the different work areas until I found some duct
tape.  I had expected it to be there.  I doubted there were many military,
police or fire facilities that didn’t have at least one roll of the damn
indispensible stuff rattling around.

Going to the
small hall that led to the door I needed to break through, the Colonel took up
station out in the main corridor to guard our backs.  Not that we hadn’t
cleared the area but we hadn’t checked every nook and cranny.  There could well
be infected loose in the building that we hadn’t found in our cursory
inspection.

Tearing off
a long strip of tape I secured my last fragmentation grenade directly over the
heavy-duty deadbolt.  I stood there looking at the door for a moment, concerned
that it might be strong enough to withstand the blast.  I needed something to
focus the energy towards the lock and prevent it from freely expanding away
from what I wanted to destroy.

Back in the
hall I motioned for Crawford to stay put and stepped into one of the other
small rooms.  This one appeared to have been used for fingerprinting incoming
prisoners and the sparse furniture was large and heavy.  Grasping the top of a
solid looking file cabinet I tried to tilt it away from the wall.  I could
barely move it.  Perfect.  If I could just get it out of this room, across the
hall and into position.

Waving
Colonel Crawford in with me, I quickly explained what I was doing.  He nodded,
made a quick check of the hall before slinging his rifle, then helped me tilt
and lift the cabinet.  This wasn’t one of the cheap, thin walled units you see
in many offices.  It was constructed of heavy gauge steel and had a long
locking hasp running its full height.  An iron rod could be dropped through the
hasp and padlocked, securing all of the drawers.  Once locked, you pretty much
needed a cutting torch or explosives to get it open.

The damn
thing weighed a ton, or felt like it did, and by the time we carried it ten
yards and got it in position both of us were panting and sweating.  Stepping
back, I was happy with the results.  We had shoved the edge of the cabinet
against the body of the grenade and it would do a good job of concentrating the
explosive force onto the deadbolt.

I waited
until Crawford was back out in the main hall, safe around the corner before
reaching behind the file cabinet and yanking the pin out of the grenade.  I
turned and ran to join him.

“Fire in the
hole!”  I alerted Martinez over the radio as I turned the corner.