“275th. I did four tours of duty and saw action at Tremblay Three among other places.”
“Consider yourself recalled to active duty, soldier.” The captain opened a drawer in the desk and pulled out three purple bracelets, handing them over to Les with a smile. “Upgrade for military personnel and their families. Entitles you to a private family unit instead of a tent, for one thing and extra rations and supplies at Stores.”
Les repressed his inner rebellion at being under orders again and kept his emotion off his face. Devora squeezed his hand and he knew she understood the last thing he’d ever planned to do was become a soldier again. Clearly his choice was going to benefit their tiny family, however, and he expected being a trusted member of the organization running this camp would be a further safeguard. He could learn a lot about what was going on behind the scenes here at Glastine if anything, and make an informed decision about getting himself, Devora and Jenny out if necessary. Maybe this place was utopia and rainbows as Captain Briskinn implied and maybe it wasn’t. He’d walk carefully and find out whatever he could.
“Thank you, sir,” he said out loud, taking his bracelet and handing the others to Devora. “When should I report for duty?”
“Tomorrow morning is fine. Draw a uniform and gear at the Armory at 0700 and report to the Officer of the Day in the central command building at 0800. She’ll assign you wherever she needs extra hands most.” The captain turned his attention to Devora. “And you, ma’am? Previous occupation?”
“Police dispatcher in Rosewater,” she said. “And then I was the chief cook at the refugee compound in town until the infected overran it.”
“I’ll assign you to general admin duties,” he said. “The kitchen is pretty well staffed right now and we could use more admin support as the camp grows.”
“How many people are here?” she asked.
“About 2000, with a few more arriving each day. Yours was the largest group we’ve seen in a while. Between Ruger and the Millerville town council access to the camp here is difficult. How did you get past them by the way?”
“We took an old overland route,” Les said, making a quick decision to leave the rancher out of the conversation. “Detoured through the foothills. It was brutal though, lost our second bus in fact, although all the passengers were saved.”
“The brush fire our drones spotted was your doing?”
Nodding, Les said, “Yes, the other bus had a leak and eventually the whole thing caught fire and subunits exploded. There wasn’t anything we could do about the wildfire it sparked.” He decided to ask another question. “What’s going to happen to the bus we arrived on?”
“We have a parking lot full of vehicles so it’ll be driven or towed over there and eventually we’ll use it to fill in a barricade most likely. The damn infected keep pressing on the walls we’ve constructed and the force shield doesn’t begin to cover the entire perimeter, although the General has plans to extend it obviously.” Briskinn directed an earnest look at Devora, as if to impress her with his sincerity as he continued, “It’s safe here, ma’am. We have effective defenses and plenty of weapons and ammunition. There have been no incursions by the infected beyond the outer fence line and we plan to keep it that way. Each person entering the camp is screened for possible infection, as you were today. The general doesn’t believe in taking any chances.” Switching his focus back to Les, he asked, “Why does it matter what we do with the bus?”
He shrugged. “Just curious. By the way, we found a fairly big container of meds bound for a pharmacy in Verner’s Ford. We brought it with us in the bus’s cargo hold. I figured you might appreciate the gift.”
“Found it eh?” Briskinn suppressed his amusement but didn’t ask any further questions. “Sure the hospital can always use more supplies. Tell the OOD about it tomorrow and I’ll leave orders for you to be authorized to retrieve it as your first duty.” Glancing at his screen, he sat back. “All right, we’re through here. You’ll see on the map your residence is barracks ten, which has been subdivided into military officers’ quarters and family units. Welcome to Glastine.”
And with that they were dismissed. Les took Devora by the elbow and steered her out of the office. Once they made their way outside and got oriented with the sketchy map, they headed off down a road in serious need of repair toward the building Briskinn had indicated. There weren’t many people out and about but the ones they encountered were friendly and most called out a greeting. Everyone seemed busy and moved with a purpose. An armored vehicle rolled by, soldiers on the alert and the gunner waved at Jenny.
There was an indefinable sound hovering at the threshold of Les’s awareness and he finally identified it—the moans and growls of the sea of infected, surging endlessly against the walls the captain had spoken of. With a chill running down his spine, he had to breathe deeply to fight a moment of panic. He was going to become thoroughly acquainted with every inch of this place as soon as possible so he could identify the best escape routes for himself and Devora and Jenny if the camp ever fell.
He didn’t care how optimistically Briskinn presented the facts, being caught in the center of a swarm of infected representing a substantial percent of the population of Glastine— hundreds of thousands if not more—was not where he wanted to be.
“It’s fascinating what these people have done to the old fairgrounds,” Devora said, eyeing the place with interest. “Lots of room to expand inside the fences. This FAQ sheet is woefully inadequate —I have so many questions that aren’t addressed. But I guess we’ll find our way around pretty quickly.”
Les pulled her close and gave her a hug, while telling himself he was being overly paranoid. This did appear to be a well run camp, based on his first impressions and the military were on the ball and sharp.
They found barracks ten, which had apparently been the Arts & Crafts and baked goods exhibition hall in the pre-apocalypse days. It was three stories and their apartment was on the third floor, at the end of a hall. Les unlocked the door with the chip inside the purple bracelet and then stopped Devora from entering.
“I believe there’s a tradition to be observed, Mrs. McDaniel,” he said with a laugh. As she gave him a puzzled look, he swept her and Jenny into his arms and carried them across the threshold into their new home. He ended with a kiss for each of his girls and then set Devora on her own feet.
“You’re such a romantic,” she said approvingly. Jenny was giggling and demanding to be picked up again.
The apartment was small, all one open area with a double bed in the farthest corner, a beat up bureau, a sagging couch and a coffee table. There was a tiny bathroom—they’d seen the communal showers at the other end of the hall—and a closet. Devora opened a door next to the closet and sighed with relief. “You get your own room, Jenny. Isn’t that exciting?”
Les followed them into the space behind the door, which was pretty much a glorified closet but did contain a cot with two drawers stacked underneath. The toddler promptly sat on the floor and began unpacking her backpack, setting her toys in a ring around herself and telling them very seriously they were home now.
Devora pushed Les out into the main room and left the door ajar behind her. Looping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his chest, she said, “At least we’ll have privacy at night now.”
He rubbed her back. “Are you happy we’re here?”
“So far, yes. I’m impressed and having a place all to ourselves is a big plus.” Eyes dark with concern, she studied him. “I appreciate what you did, telling him about your military service. I know you never intended to go on active duty again and I’m so grateful you changed your mind. You could have left it out.”
“I’ll do anything to make it better for you and Jenny,” he said. “We’ll know more after our first day of work tomorrow, right?”
“Absolutely. I feel safer here than I did at Jonny Fafield’s for sure.”
