Chapter 19
Mass Eviction of the Dead
The next morning, Jack yawns in the back seat of J.H.'s truck as they head towards Trumbull Valley to test out some weapons Jeb and Jose made with Jeb riding next to him, Jose is riding shotgun and J.H. is driving.
"Seriously, dude?" Jose looks back at Jack, "Jeb and I have been working our butts off to make these weapons. We're the ones that are supposed to do the yawning."
J.H. adjusts his rear view mirror, "Considering what Jack and I felt last night, we had to take precautions when we have to sleep."
Jose turns back around, "I can see that. Still though."
Jeb looks behind and sees three armored personnel carriers that were salvaged from the Fallout town close to the stargate. Both Jeb and Jose managed to get those vehicles up and running in order to train the militia they've assembled to fight against the zombies and to test out their new weapons. Most of the militia are comprised of Mudokons, humans and a small handful of dwarves that volunteer to assist with the expansion efforts in the event of a refugee crisis.
"So how come we're helping these guys ready for a fight rather than just deal with the situation ourselves?" Jeb asks as he turns back on his seat.
"So people won't rely on us so often." J.H. replies. "Jack wants to head back and find the person responsible for the mess. We did felt a presence not just once, but twice. So whoever caused this apocalypse, is also keeping an eye on us all. When we leave and head out, the people here will be able to defend themselves once we set out."
"Okay, I get it. But you know that Muammar... You know."
"I'm well aware." Jack says as he looks out the window. "He already went through enough as a kid back in the Middle-East. Best he does stay here for support."
"But he is good in a fight with that thieving ability of his." Jose compliments. "Remember Hu Ranch where he just absorbs everything? And the highway chase?"
"True," Jeb remembers, "but that was because we had to survive. He can fight, but only when backed into a corner. Like what happened to Glendo. He left his country for a more peaceful life. Since things are settling down, I highly doubt that he will join us on our expedition to find the person responsible."
"Cierto, pobre bastardo.
Translation: "True that, the poor bastard."
"We're here." J.H. pulls over followed by the APCs.
They all exit out of their vehicles with the troops lining side by side as they set up camp on the parking lot of a ranger station. All of them are wearing bright orange hazmat suits that also have a bit of armoring that is meant to protect them from bites as they have gas masks with filters to prevent any of the spores and blood that'll infect them.
J.H. then says, "Alright, listen up!"
Some of the people look worried with the exception of the dwarves, who are eager to try out new things.
"Today, we're gonna demonstrate new weapons and armor to battle against the new undead here on this planet! First, the hazmat suits." J.H. has a hazmat suit on an armor stand. "This suit not only protect you from any infection and keep infections out, it is extremely durable to ensure none of the shroom zoms can bite or claw into your suit." He pulls out a shotgun, "Even can protect you from shotgun rounds. Including Hornady 12 gauge 2-3/4 inch shell slugs."
J.H. fires a few rounds at the hazmat suit. He shot it at close range yet there is no damage done to it. Everyone is impressed how protective it is.
"However," J.H. reveals the catch, "the suit doesn't exactly protect you from a Barret or Grizzly Single Shot .50 caliber armor-piercing BMG. Jeb, show them."
Jeb is a few yards away and is armed with a Barret M82. He takes a shot that echoed throughout the mountains. The shot managed to not only penetrated through the hazmat suit, but also through the ranger station. A loud shriek is heard from the inside of the rangers station that cause many of the volunteers to be frighten as they stagger back.
J.H. smiles as he looks at the station, "Perfect timing."
Jack and Jose are armed with desert eagles as they take aim at the door. The door burst open to reveal a human-like figure with Cordyceps mushrooms on its body and has a mandible-like jaw along with piercing, glowing blue eyes as it roars. It stays inside due to the sun's rays since it is theorize to be the weakness of this monster. The two fire their shots at the undead mushroom corpse, which causes it to glow blue from the inside out before turning into a blue and black, ash covered mess like the scene from Underworld: Blood Wars.
"Ha!" Jose sounds proud of himself as he looks at his gun, "Guess those Underworld movies were a good inspiration."
The other soldiers seem confused on what just happened.
J.H. explains, "What you just saw were some new ammunition. Well, not exactly new, but very effective. What they fired were ultraviolet ammunition. Originally meant for killing vampires, but it seems that these bullets also work against the fungus zoms. If we use regular bullets, their corpse might release spores...in theory. Can't take any chances with these guys. But for now, you'll be training with standard rifles for you to get the hang of it. We'll introduce new gear when we start the mission. Any questions?"
A human soldier raises her hand.
"Yes?"
"Will we be expecting any hordes?" she asks.
"Not entirely sure, but we should leave before nightfall and not take that chance. Any other questions?"
One dwarf raised his hand, "Can we see the new gear already? We would like to know more about them."
"Okay." J.H. heads on over to his truck and brings out a speaker with what looks like a smartphone attached to it. "This here is a simple noise maker. Basically, it is meant to draw out the zoms out of hiding." He then pulls out a custom-made flamethrower, "And we have here is a flamethrower to destroy the spores or any form of nest the make." Then he pulls out something that looks like a vacuum cleaner with a pack, "And this here is a special spore sucker in an event we don't need a flamethrower or to use it in areas that we shouldn't burn. Like the ranger station here. We need it as an outpost while also keeping the other structures intact in an event of a refugee crisis. Basically, we need all the towns in the valley intact." Then pulls out some grenades that look similar to a flash bang grenade but painted red with a biohazard warning symbol, "These grenades here are a special anti-fungus gas grenade that should dispose of any spores or mushrooms you might find. We'll get to the other grenades later. Any other questions?"
No one raise their hand to asks.
"Okay, let's start working on your aim and trigger fingers."
Jeb, Jose and Jack already set up the targets for the volunteer soldiers to practice. Many tried a variety of assault rifles such as the SCAR-H, SCAR-L, FAL, TAR-21, F2000 and M16A1. They also have P90s and UMP45s just to get the feel for such weapons while also trying out a few pistols as as the desert eagles and Beretta M9s along with a few attachments. Some of them have a knack for the rifles as they manage to get a few easy bullseyes. Others prefer some of the smaller weapons so they won't have to deal with the recoil as much. Jeb and Jose went inside with the hazmat suits to clean-up any remains with the spore sucker and the grenades. Jack is up in a tree to see if any zombies can come out in daylight with the racket they're making by using the same sniper rifle Jeb used.
"Jackal, this is Homefront, come in." Amelia's voice is heard on Jack's ear piece.
"Hey Amelia, what up?"
"We're supposed to be using code names."
"Oh come on. Like anyone would hear our communications."
"Can you just humor me on this?"
Jack chuckles, "Alright. Jackal here. What's happenin'?"
"Marcus wants a status on your small group of soldiers."
"They're currently working on their aim and how to handle weapons. Although, I think the Mudokons would prefer bows and arrows and spears over guns. The dwarves really love using the guns. The other folks are learning. How are things on your end?"
"Nothing of interests yet, but the Worms would like to set up a coffee farm and shop once things are cleared in the valley. I could use a good cup of java right now. But Marcus is making contact with the other nations to discuss about his idea. You know? The Exile Confederacy?"
"Yeah, I know. Guess we're all gonna have to work our asses off, again, just to make a home. Anyway, tell him the volunteers are doing alright."
"Roger that."
"YO! JACK!" J.H. shouts. "WE'RE READY TO ROLL!"
"COMING!" Jack hopes out of the tree and joins the others.
Everyone loaded-up into their vehicles and set off to Spencer's Mill.
While in the truck and on the road, Jack asks, "Why is my callsign Jackal? I mean, Jackal meaning Jack?"
"It was my idea." Jose said. "You weren't around during the meeting since you've been working on that book. My callsign is, Eagle."
Jeb says, "My callsign is, Guinness."
"Seriously?" Jack doesn't like the racist stereotyping.
"Well, I picked it. Represents what my homeland loved and invented."
"Mine is Railway." J.H. says. "Because I was named after the American folktale of a man that has beaten the steam engines and help create railroads."
Jack asks Jose, "Why Eagle?"
"It's the national symbol of my old country. Same with the United States. A proud and stoic creature."
"That's fair. But we're not in any of those countries anymore. Neither on Earth for that matter."
"We're here." J.H. pulls over at the Church of the Ascension as they park in the parking lot with the convoy.
Everyone exited out with the soldiers stack up against the outer walls of the church. Once the coast is cleared, they move in and stack up by the doors of the church. Some of the soldiers peer through the windows to see if any of the zombies are there. No sign of them as all they see is an empty church. The soldiers move in and check every room, closet and any hiding spots.
"Clear." one of the Mudokon soldier says.
"Clear here." says one of the human soldiers.
"Clear? This place is empty." says one of the dwarves.
Jose enters, "Well, this was one of the homesites from State of Decay. Looks like we have ourselves a base. Let's call in and get some supplies over. We'll check out the rest of the town before the day's out."
After establishing a foothold, the soldiers use the same tactics they just used at the church. Check the windows for the infected and then fire through the glass and gun down with quick precision and calculative strikes. Two dwarves placed one of the speakers at the front door and plays an airhorn sound that draws them out. What happened next was a complete slaughter against the zombies as they get shot down by P90s.
Once the smoke cleared, the dwarf on the left says, "This is actually pretty easy."
"Yeah." says the second dwarf. He looks at his gun, "These weapons are very efficient. If only we had these back on Arda. They would've been useful against the orcs and goblins that have controlled Moria."
"Something like these would've made short work on the Darkspawn."
They check the other houses and shops and manage to successfully cleared out all the houses.
A Mudokon radios in, "The entire town in cleared out. No major infestations. Delivering the gas in the sewers to wipe out the rest."
"Good work." Jose speaks. "J.H. and I are gonna check out the reservoir to see if its drinkable and safe. Jack and Jeb will deliver the canisters."
"Got it."
J.H. and Jose went over to the Fairfield Reservoir behind the Trumbull Valley Dam to see if the water is contaminated. In State of Decay, there were corpses all over the reservoir that made the water undrinkable and made the valley uninhabitable. They drove in J.H.'s truck to see if they can make the valley habitable and establish a more permanent settlement. J.H. uses his powers to phase through the destroyed cars and blockades blocking the road to the dam.
Jose looks out the window and wonders, (I wonder if I can set-up a shop here when all this is over?)
While J.H. is thinking, (We may need a lot of people to keep this dam up and running.)
Once they make it to a military campsite, J.H. parks his truck and cuts the engine. The two exit out of the truck and start to survey the area. Jose has his binoculars to see if he can find any dead bodies or any infected near the area as J.H. checks the water with some device that looks like an underwater drone as he places it in along with having some pH slips to see if its good.
"See anything?" he asks Jose.
"No, not a single corpse. But since these are mushroom zombies, they're probably disintegrated by now. Yet this reservoir is huge."
J.H. pilots the drone with his tablet, "Yeah, these waters are deep. The drone's not detecting any of the spores." He looks at the pH slip and the scale chart, "According to this, this part of the reservoir is seven. Green. Safe to drink."
"We may need to check other areas. Although, we should've checked Mt. Tanner Lake to see if it's safe to drink as well."
"Too late for that now. But we'll check once we're finish here."
J.H. looks at his tablet and sees that there isn't anything out of the ordinary. So far, all he can see through the camera is algae, rocks, a few dead branches, and a few fish swimming in the reservoir. Fish such as rainbow trout, black bullheads, blue gills, catfish and wipers. Nothing worth of note except he was expecting something a little different. But when he gets a little closer to the bottom, there were blackfish with colored stripes, a buzzfish from Star Wars and an Endor trout. However, there is a Skyrim slaughterfish in the water that ripped apart the drone.
"Ah shit! Drone got destroyed."
"We got three more in the truck." Jose walks by, "I'll get the papers in the tents to see where else have they dumped the bodies. Best to have the info before hand instead of wandering around like a bunch of morons." Jose went into one of the tents and tries to find any maps or documents on where they dump the dead.
Over at Marshall City, the soldiers check all the buildings as they make their way towards the courthouse.
One human soldier says, "Man, this job is easy."
"Long as the sun is out." says one of the worried Mudokons. "Although I'm surprised that we've made it this far."
"Ha!" one of the dwarves went. "These bloody undead bastards are even easier to take down since they're total cowards under the sun!"
"I wouldn't jinx it, if I were you." says another Mudokon.
A huge shockwave was felt on the ground that nearly made them lose their balance.
"What was that?" asked the female soldier.
"I think it came from that restaurant there." the male soldier pointed.
Something came bursting out of The Alamo as they see red glowing eyes through the smoke. They hear a roar as they see this huge, black-encrusted carapace zombie with a gigantic belly running straight towards them.
"AH SHIT! THAT ONE IS IMMUNE TO SUNLIGHT!"
Everyone starts firing at the monster but their bullets just bounce off.
"FUCK! THAT THING IS BULLETPROOF!"
One of the dwarves pulls out a sniper rifle but charges right at them. Everyone gets out of the way as it slams against the dwarf that sends him flying down the street. Then it charges at one of the human soldiers and grabs her. The creature tries to bite into her hazmat but it is strong enough to not be pierced or forced off by any great strength or pressures. One of the Mudokons then throws an anti-mushroom grenade at it. The grenade landed at the giants feet and releases a purple smoke that seems to be working on the Carapace Juggernaut as it breaths in the smoke. It drops the female soldier which she gets out of the way as the harden armor starts to fall off and exposing its skin to the sun that causes it to melt from the inside out. Leaving nothing but bones and some nasty boiled goo.
"Holy shit, I'm alive!" the female soldier gets up. "These hazmat suits are incredible!" She looks at her right arm, "That thing tried to chomp me down yet I didn't feel a thing. What 're these suits made out of?"
The dwarf with the sniper rejoins, "Not only that, looks like we got some new problems." He looks at the remains, "That thing seem to have adapted some sort of armor to protect themselves from the sun. We should tell the big guys about this." The dwarf tries to radio, "How does this radio thing work again?"
Not too far, in the Farmlands in an open field, Jack is listening to his radio.
"Right. Got it." Jack then says to Jeb, "Heads-up, Jeb!"
Jeb stands back up, "What?"
"Looks like we got some mutant variants that can walk out in the sun."
"Aw, a mhic soith. Is cosúil go gcaithfimid cineálacha nua ammo a fhorbairt. Arís. I'll radio Jose, J.H. and the others to let them know."
Translation: "Aw, son of a bitch. Looks like we need to develop new types of ammo. Again."
"¡Ay, hijo de puta!" Jose went while holding a beaker of water for testing in another part of the reservoir. "Just how bad. ... Only one so far? ... And there seem to be a bunch of that stuff at the court house? ... At least those are working. ... Okay, got it."
Translation: "Aw, son of a bitch!"
"Anything wrong?" J.H pulls out a microscope from the bag.
Jose turns to face J.H. "We got some zombies able to walk out in sunlight by creating some sort of carapace."
"Son of a bitch!"
"I know, right? But good news is that the anti-shroom grenades are effective."
"That's good. C'mon, we need to conduct further tes-"
Their conversation got interrupted when a huge flash of violet light can be seen beyond the mountains just up north. Then a huge shockwave can be felt throughout the valley that later subsides as quickly as it began.
"The hell was that?!" Jose asks and tries not to drop the beaker.
"The fuck should I know!" J.H. make sure that his equipment didn't break. "It look like some flash of UV light!"
"Jose! J.H.!" Jack sounds worried on the radio, "You guys' alright?!"
Jose speaks, "We're alright, but what the fuck just happened!?"
"This is Homefront calling in all personnel." Amelia address everyone in Trumbull. "This is for Eagle, Jackal, Railway and Guinness. Please report back at the settlement at once. All soldiers will be receiving scientific help in a few minutes to finish their work and provide ammunition."
"Oh what now?" Jose is annoyed and lets out a groan. "Better leave some notes about what we're doing back at the tents."
J.H. says to Amelia, "Just what the hell is gong on?"
"I think you guys need to see for yourself."