8
Last Alarm
Chapter Eight
"The High School Of The Dead"
"Whenever You Are On The Scene Of An Incident, It Is Important To Remember To Always Remain Calm At All Times And Keep Your Emotions In Check. You're No Good To Anyone, If You Are More Panicked Than The Person, Who In Their Most Desperate Time Of Need, Has Called You For Help."
FF/EMT-P J.C. Trevino
"Are you alright?" A calm, soothing voiced asked from behind my left side. I had been trying to keep my emotions in check, and not break down in front of the young people in the same room. I wasn't entirely successful, and I quickly rubbed the tears from my eyes, before I turned around in my chair to see who was talking to me. I wasn't trying to conceal my anguish from the group over something as silly as trying to keep from looking foolish or weak and suffering from a bruised ego in front of everyone. There's no room for pride or arrogance in the field when people's lives are at stake. No matter what line of work you're in, or how tough you are, we are all human. And we all suffer fear, anger, grief, frustration, and pain just like everyone else in the world. But to keep ourselves going despite overwhelming odds, and catastrophic situations, and especially for the sake of others depending on us, we keep our emotions in check.
The reason for that is not macho B.S. The real reason is because people rely on all of us, man or woman, to come up with solutions to situations and disasters that are occurring and they really aren't concerned at the time if we're happy, sad, angry, or just having a bad day.
They want help and answers and they want them ,...now.
When I was an EMS instructor and a Field Training Officer, I had always lectured the cadets and the rookies about keeping it together, on scene.
"You can't help people who have called for your help in their most desperate time of need, if you are more panicked than they are. You're going to see stuff that will make you want to puke, cry, scream, freak out and want to quit right then and there and make you wish you had never even thought about doing this for a living." I would always tell the class, or the young scared student medic riding in the ambulance with me or the new rookie in the Dept.
"But you can't, because people need you. They're depending on you to make things better even if the truth is you can't, no matter how hard you try.
"And even if there's not a thing that you can do, remember, IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU."
" It's about what you can do for them, even if all you can do is comfort them, because it's already too late." I would say, and then hope that my words would sink in to the next generation of medics and firefighter rookies.
It sounds horrible, but it's our reality, and that's what makes working as a paramedic, policeman, firefighter, and military so rough, and yet so unique.
You have to love what you do to keep doing it for the rest of your life despite the emotional and physical toll it has on you, because they sure as hell don't pay you enough for this shit, and to keep doing it, well, it really does have to come from within yourself.
People will fall over each other in a panic to save their own lives from danger which is understandable and not shameful. No one wants to die. But it takes a whole lot of something else to run towards the danger. And keep doing it, time and time again for years if you happen to survive that long.
But it does come with a heavy price.
I was devastated with concern over my family. But I couldn't afford to fall apart with worry even though I sure felt like it at the time. But right now it wasn't about me, and right now, it was time for me to cowboy up and get these people to safety.
I turned around in my chair and looked up into the worried eyes of the young raven-haired teen with the bokken, who stared at me with a look of deep concern on her face. The others were engaged in some sort of deep conversation, and she had been the only one to notice how quiet I had suddenly become after seeing the news on the television screen.
"Something is wrong." Saeko said as she had glanced at the American, whose back was turned toward the group as they were conversing over the spread of the Contagion and the possibility of it reaching pandemic proportions.
Moved with concern, she had walked unnoticed by the rest, toward the American in hopes that whatever was troubling him, that were was some possible way she could be of any assistance.
She had stepped over to his left side so as not to startle him, and quietly asked if there was something wrong, trying not to draw attention from the others.
I looked into her face and saw the look of concern etched there, and I quickly got over myself.
No way was I going to let these kids down and have them believe I couldn't be counted on in a crisis. I had just barely re-gained their trust and it wouldn't do to see me falling apart when what was needed here, was strength and a clear and level head.
"No honey, I'm fine. I'm just tired." I said to her, lying through my teeth as I rubbed my eyes and gave a fake yawn. "What are ya'll discussing right now?'' I asked, looking at the group that seemed completely absorbed in their discussion.
"We were discussing the similarities of this disease with previous pandemics in the past and the possibility of the disease eventually subsiding or a cure being found. We were also discussing the reluctance of the officials to admit that this is no ordinary form of sickness." Saeko replied.
"And they won't either, hon.'" I said, with an edge to my voice.
"What makes you say that?" Saya asked looking over at us.
The rest of the group had noticed Saeko and I speaking quietly amongst ourselves and stopped to listen. I could see Rei translating to Takashi as I spoke. "Good" I thought. "All the kids need to hear this."
"I've seen death more times than I can count guys, and that's no exaggeration, so let me tell you now, when a person is dead, he's dead, plain and simple. There is NO disease known to man that re-animates a person's body after death. If there was, medical science would have seen it long ago. Diseases take time to evolve and mutate into something that will affect a man's immune system. All the pandemics of the past were caused by filthy conditions and poor medical care. It took time for a germ to mutate into a disease that could kill a man. The black plague ya'll were talking about was caused by flea bites and poor hygiene and primitive medical care."
"The Spanish flu itself was caused by a strain of existing flu that grew into something else. Point is, these sicknesses grew from something else that had already previously existed and got out of hand. But they all took time to develop. From all these diseases of the past, we learned about better hygiene and vaccines, and how they mutate. But never has there been any disease that has re-animated dead tissue, especially one that just pops up overnight. This is something else entirely."
The kids seemed to be hanging on to my every word at that point. I just hoped what I was going to say next would start to make sense to them and not sound too far off the wall, although in truth, I was hoping I was wrong.
"But not bloody likely." I thought to myself, as I continued.
"This is only a theory.'' I began.
" But without the benefit of a full autopsy and a state-of-the-art forensics lab, I can't prove this with much certainty otherwise. But the truth is, it seems to me that with all the major super-powers being affected simultaneously, and with all the heads of government even now as we speak, being evacuated to parts unknown. It seems to me that what we're dealing with here is a contagion of human design, and not a unique strain of virus found in nature that has mutated. "
"This is a bio-weapon. And some group of idiot's have just unleashed it on the world."
The young people in the room fell silent in the room for a moment. Even Rei stopped translating for Takashi for a moment due to her shock at my statement, until he patted her on the shoulder and urged her to continue to finish the translation of my words. His face twisted into surprise for a moment. Then he asked a question which Rei translated for my benefit.
''Takashi-kun wanted me to ask you if you were thinking this is terrorism?" She said looking more frightened than before.
"No." I said looking at Takashi as I spoke.
" Americans have been pretty much yelling " terrorism" for every incident that has befallen us since September 11th." I continued.
"The fact is, while a lot of cases have been, most aren't. The problem is we were not as exposed to terrorism like the nation of Israel has been for example. Those people have had to deal with it every day. The truth is, our exposure to it took a while to deal with, and our understanding of it has improved since then, and some of us have finally come to realize, it's not to blame for everything."
"So no, this disaster is not terrorism. There's no way somebody could concoct enough of any type of bio-weapons grade virus in a bath tub or basement cellar to affect mankind on this grand a scale."
"No." I continued. "This takes serious funding and serious research and technology to make something like this. And I'm betting that this was some form of weapon that was unleashed on the world by the world leaders who already knew of its existence." I said looking out the window, pondering my own words.
"Sounds like some crazy conspiracy theory silliness." Saya said scornfully.
Oh yeah, Saya had bounced back to her little smart-ass, cranky personality pretty damn fast. I might have to start looking for a chancla after all, before our time together was through.
"Yes, it does. And again, it's only a theory. But it seems too much of a coincidence that only the major super-powers and their population are affected, while all the poorer, "Third World" countries aren't." I added.
"And also." I continued. "You've probably also noticed that all the heads of government are "flying the coop" as we say back home, and now the media is avoiding to explain the obvious fact that it's people killing people out here, and not a "Disturbance" or "Riot" like they're claiming."
"They are just trying to avoid a panic." Saya said, frowning as she pushed her glasses back from sliding off her nose.
"True." But here's one more thing that leads me to believe this isn't a natural occurence, pumpkin." I said.
"What's that?" she asked, puzzled.
"Shizuka-san." I said looking at the school nurse. "You're the school nurse, correct?"
"Hai!" she said perking up. "Why do you ask?"
"Just follow along with what I'm saying and maybe you can help me help the kids to understand." I said as I looked on my captive audience.
''Any of you kids take anatomy and physiology here?" I asked.
"Yes, we all do." The girls said right away. The boys however, seemed to take particular interest at staring at the floor.
"Start hitting the books, and put away the video game controller and the porn guys." I said shaking my head at them. "You're making us men look bad, and girls don't like dumb guys, unless you're rich, and neither one of you looks like you are." I said, in mock scorn.
The two teens looked at me in a mixture of horror and embarrassment, as the girls laughed at their vehement attempts at denial of their daily routine of video games and internet porn.
"Whatever." I said rolling my eyes. "Anyway, basically, the human body is normally looked at as nothing but bone and tissue in the eyes of most people." I explained, sliding into my old EMS instructor mode once again.
"However, the human body really is just one big chemical factory that processes all sorts of vitamins and minerals and chemicals in our body every day. Different chemicals are manufactured and processed in our body from outside sources such as food and water to help maintain homeostasis. "
"Balance." I said looking toward the two boys who were trying hard not to look completely lost in front of the girls, and failing miserably.
"Some chemicals manufactured like adrenalin, affect the way we react to danger. When we're scared or angry, adrenalin is released to make us get ready to "fight" or prepare for taking "flight." Bile, when secreted helps in digestion. Insulin is produced to help in the breakdown of ketones or sugars. However, if there is a deficiency in any of these, the body quits working properly, and the organs start to fail. And eventually, the entire body breaks down."
" The heart itself can be affected by certain deficiencies as well, such as sodium, potassium, and even calcium which as you all know, gives strength to our bones. Too much or too little calcium though, can also cause cardiac irritability and fatal arrhythmias if not corrected."
"Irregular heartbeat." I said, as Takashi scratched his head, completely lost, as the girls continued to giggle at both of the boy's confusion. I don't know how Rei could keep translating for Takashi, as much as she was giggling. Guess I was gonna have to wrap this up pretty quick.
"Anyway," I continued. "The point is, different things affect the body differently. And when you introduce certain powerful medications into the body like the ones I carry in my pack, they react swiftly with the body chemistry to hopefully gain a positive reaction to a certain sickness or disease, and hopefully, reverse the underlying problem."
"However, as you know, certain drugs aren't beneficial and can kill or alter a person's physical or mental state in a completely negative way.
Poisons, such as cyanide, kill by asphyxiation by removing oxygen from the body. Mind altering drugs such as LSD can alter a person's perception so that he sees all sorts of "visions".
"PCP does the same thing, however what makes it even more dangerous is the user can go completely out of control and experience superhuman strength, because the receptors that tell him to stop and feel pain are blocked. "
" I'll give you an example." I said, trying to strike the point home and finish my lecture.
"A friend of mine who was a Los Angeles Paramedic told me about a call he made where a man, high on PCP, snapped a pair of handcuffs in two and was tossing 55 gallon drums full of oil, six feet in the air. It took several police to subdue him." I said, looking at their shocked faces.
"Years ago, a famous writer I knew about named Clive Cussler, wrote a book, that had a scene in it where a bunch of tourists were attacked by local tribesman who had been poisoned with leaking hazardous chemicals and became savage from the effects of increased levels of pollutants in their bloodstream that affected their brain tissue. They killed and ate the flesh of the tourists, just like our friends out there. That too is actually medically possible"
The kids seemed to be in total shock at my last couple of statements, and started talking excitedly amongst themselves.
Rei held up her hand as if she were still in class and said. "That explains why Wakisaka-sensei was so strong when Hisashi,…."
For some reason Rei stopped mid-sentence and then seemed very reluctant to finish her story and hung her head, as Takashi placed his arm around her, holding her close.
Whatever it was, I hoped I could talk to them later about it and help them work it out.
"So, your saying everyone's just drugged and not really dead?" Saya asked her voice indicating she wasn't really convinced.
"Not drugged. Just "altered," is what I'm getting at." I replied.
""But I stabbed Wakisaka-sensei in the heart and he still kept moving and he was still very strong too." Rei said.
"He's dead, as far as the man you knew, sweetie." I said nodding my head. "At the airport, I watched a guard shoot a man point-blank in the heart and he kept on coming."
"What drug can possibly do that?" Shizuka asked, her mind heavily pondering the theories I was presenting.
"None, that I'm aware of." I admitted. "But keep in mind, the heart is only a pump. Its job is to pump deoxygenated blood from the body to the lungs and then pump oxygenated blood from the lungs back to the body. It can be kept pumping artificially, by CPR or mechanical means. And if a heart is removed from the body, in theory, blood can still be pumped and oxygenated artificially and sustain the brain.
"But once the brain is dead, that's it, then nothing works. But, if the brain is still alive, and firing electric signals to the rest of the body, well, it might be possible. "
"Seriously?" Saya said, completely back in brat mode again.
"Well, think about it, there are single-celled organisms that swim, hunt, eat, and poop and they have neither heart nor brain. But they're still alive."
"So your saying that maybe someone made a drug that makes killer zombies." Saya asked in a very condescending tone.
I was realyy wanting that chancla pretty bad right about now. How quickly she forgot our little spat just a short while ago.
"What I'm saying pumpkin, is, that this isn't a natural occurrence of some mutated virus existing in nature. "
"Someone of a higher pay grade than mine and a medical education way past Stephen Hawking's ability, has made it possible to "alter" human physiology and make one hell of a bio-weapon that no one ever thought possible." I said flatly.
"It takes a lot more money and a lot more resources than any one person or private company can muster to finance a project like this." I continued.
" And then there's also motive." I said as I stared out the window.
"Motive?" Saeko asked, puzzled.
It had just occurred to me as I'd been talking. And at least to me, it made the most sense.
"Motive." I said looking at Saeko, nodding my head.
"Why use nuclear weapons which would destroy everything on the earth several times over and leave nothing, when you can use a bio-weapon and kill all your enemies so the winning survivors can enjoy all the resources left behind later?"
I was a bit startled to see everyone suddenly staring at me as if I'd gone crazy.
"Uhm, what's the matter guys? I said, getting nervous.
"How do you know all this?" Shizuka asked seemingly alarmed at my statements.
I let out a breath and chuckled.
"It's not so amazing guys." I said, trying to explain. "In America, the whole zombie thing is much more popular than in the rest of the world. We have all sorts of movies and TV shows about it. The "Walking Dead" is a real popular show back home and it talked a bit about the theory I just mentioned.
I didn't come out with that theory all by myself. And I have had some fun myself wondering if such a thing was really possible."
"Wow." Saya thought to herself, impressed. " That was still pretty impressive talk for such a big ape."
"Anyway," I said dismissing the whole thing with a wave of my hand. "That's just some crazy theory that I have about the whole thing, and right now, it's a moot point. Our priority is getting all of you to safety." I said.
"Getting all of us, to safety don't you mean? Saeko asked, studying the man's face.
"Well of course, sweetie." The man said looking directly at her face with a weak smile. "All of us."
Saeko, though, wasn't convinced that the man was being completely honest. Her instincts were telling her that this man was holding something back, and it put her on edge for some reason. She didn't have long to ponder her thoughts as the man continued to speak.
"Guys, gather around." He said gesturing them to approach him by waving his hands towards them.
"Rei." The man continued. "Make sure Takashi understands each word of this that I'm about to tell you. If I'm going too fast, let me know. Understand?"
"Hai!" Rei answered.
As they all gathered in front of him, he continued to speak, and as Saeko watched, it seemed that the man was not just speaking to them as someone trying to help a bunch of strangers. There seemed to be a lot of concern in his voice as he spoke.
"Kids." The man began. "I'm not going to sugar coat it. When we walk through that door, we can expect nothing but ugliness, danger and death waiting for us outside of this room. It's not going to be easy, but we can make it. I've seen what you can do to protect yourselves, and I'll be honest with you. I'm VERY impressed with all of you."
" You've managed to survive while others didn't and that says a lot about each and every one of you. I feel that all of you can handle it and I'm hoping that we can get all of you to your homes and family without anyone getting hurt, but again. It's not going to be easy. In fact, it's going to be downright dangerous. But if we stick together, we'll make it. Agreed?"
There was a resounding "Hai" from all of them, and I hoped that I would be able to keep my word, because it was a lot worse outside than what these kids were fully aware of.
Saeko turned towards everyone and started talking to the them in Japanese for a moment. Then suddenly, everybody started grabbing their weapons as they all acted as if they were going to charge the door.
"WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!" I said standing in front of them holding my hands up to keep them from making a bee-line to wherever it was they were thinking of heading off to.
"Where's everyone going?!" I said startled by everyone's sudden reaction.
"Uhm, nowhere." Saeko said looking slightly embarrassed." I was just telling everyone we should team up and work together for our survival."
I smiled at her and let out a sigh of relief. For a moment there, I had thought everyone was going to charge the door and run off without me.
Geez, and my younger brother said I used to be overdramatic.
"Good idea, guys." I said, trying not to laugh and further embarrass them. "But we need to sit down and make a plan first before we move out, otherwise, we're not going to get very far."
"First things first." I said. "Weapons."
Saeko presented her bokken. "I have this." She said holding it up.
I asked to see her bokken, and as I held it in my hand, I hefted its weight.
The bokken that the Japanese use in their sword arts are NOT the cheap wooden swords made in China that you find in any martial arts store in America. These things are made to simulate the weight and feel of a real katana, so they are a lot thicker and heavier. This is especially important for those practicing the art of iaido, where the sword is drawn lightning fast and the enemy is cut, all in one motion. Of course, even by themselves, these bokken could easily kill a man if the wielder was skilled enough. Japan's greatest samurai hero, the ronin Miyamoto Musashi, according to legend, killed his greatest rival, Sasaki Kojirō with a bokken supposedly cut from a boat oar.
"You are a Kendo student?" I asked Saeko.
"Hai." She said bowing slightly.
"Not just that, but she's also the Captain of the team, and she and her team also won the annual Championship!" Rei exclaimed proudly.
"Ma, Miyamoto-san, Please!" Saeko said, her hand on her cheek, blushing slightly.
And a very modest girl too. I observed.
"Impressive, Kancho." I said, using the Japanese word for "Captain" as I handed her bokken back to her. I was really starting to like this quiet, shy girl who didn't try to act all self-important, but was extremely modest and sincerely concerned for others, as she had displayed out there in the hallway by comforting Saya, and just a few minutes ago, tried to help me when I was worrying about my family.
I then looked over at Rei and saw the mop handle in her hand with a very sharp metal end sticking up from where the actual mop head had been.
"You using that as a spear, Rei-chan?" I asked.
"Hai! It's what I'm used to. I'm in the sojutsu club." She said proudly.
"So you know how to handle a yari and a naginata, I presume? I asked.
"Mmm!" She said with a smile.
"Very good." I said nodding. "Maybe if we can, we'll try to get ya'll some real steel weapons. Although I really hope you don't have to use them."
"You are familiar with Budo?" Saeko asked intrigued.
"I have had no formal training." I replied. "But I am somewhat vaguely familiar with the Japanese fighting arts." I said with a smile.
"Takashi!" Nanda kore wa?" I asked looking at his bat.
Takashi handed his bat to me, as I looked it over. Aluminum, but still nice and heavy. Excellent.
"YOSH!" I said in my extremely horrible impersonation of Toshiro Mifune, as I handed it back to him as if it were a katana, while he and everyone else laughed.
"Kouta. My number one fan. Waddaya got?" I asked, staring at the strange contraption in his hands.
"It's just a nail gun." He said sheepishly. "I made it to shoot like a rifle when Takagi-san and I were trapped in one of the classrooms."
I have used nail guns in the past when I used to work (For FREE) with my dad on my days off from school as a teenager on his jobsites. I'd been shot twice by accident with one from other workers before nail guns were finally manufactured with all sorts of safety features so they couldn't fire without pressing down on a hard surface. The one that I got shot with, fired a smaller size nail. It wasn't pleasant, but it didn't penetrate the skin.
I had to admit, Kouta's invention didn't look like much either, but the two corpses I saw in the foyer with nails sticking out of their skulls said otherwise, to its effectiveness.
"What's the range? I asked, looking at him as I held it to my shoulder.
"Two meters,….max." He replied, slightly embarrassed.
"TWO METERS?!" I said aghast.
"Damn, this boy was brave. I wouldn't want any of those Infected things within TEN meters from me before I opened fire. At least, on purpose. Talk about fighting up close and personal." I thought to mtself.
"Son, that is some good thinking on your part, putting that together under those conditions. And you are one very brave young man. I mean that." I said looking into his eyes.
"If things work out, I'll get you a real rifle though." I said, and then immediately regretted saying it when the kid started asking me what kind of rifle I'd get him, where would I get it from, and how soon,….. etc., etc., etc.,
Me and my big mouth.
"Shizuka-san?" I said looking at the blond Japanese woman. I had seen plenty of women who have dyed their hair different colors before back home, especially at anime conventions, so her blond hair came as no surprise when I first saw her. Not like when I first saw Saya's hair color, although I was beginning to suspect that Saya's choice was not so much a fashion statement, but more of a rebellious gesture meant to shock her parents.
Anyway, I'm getting off track here.
"So what weapons do you have in that medical bag next to you?" I asked, pointing at the white bag with the red cross on it, lying on the desk behind her.
"Eh, weapons?" She said looking somewhat confused. "I don't know, let me see." She said lifting the bag and rummaging through it, and after a few long moments, pulled out a pair of blunt-nose bandage scissors.
'How about these?" She asked me with a serious expression on her face.
"Tell you what." I said trying to be nice. " How about you just stay close to us and don't wander off, Ok?
"Hai!" She said cheerfully as Saya rolled her eyes.
She sure was a good-natured person, I give her that. I just hoped that underneath her bubbly personality, there was someone we could all turn to in a crisis. Because if something happened to me, she was the only adult left to get the kids to safety, and so far, I hadn't seen anything to boost my confidence in any of her survival skills as of yet.
"Okay guys." I said, standing up to look at them . "This is important, so pay close attention. If anything happens to me, and you can get to my body, if it's safe to do so, I want you to,….
"What do you mean you're body?" Asked Saeko in horror, interrupting me. Everyone else seemed to be stunned by my words as well.
"I mean exactly that hon'." I said, the expression on my face becoming deadly serious. "If something happens to me, you guys are on your own, and that means you'll need all the help you can get. So listen up."
"I'm carrying quite a bit of equipment as well as weapons and ammo. Some stuff is in that pack and on my vest and on my person. If something happens, you need to take it. All of it, understand?"
Everyone nodded their heads reluctantly as I continued my demonstration.
I picked up my carbine and held it in front of them.
"American made SOPMOD M4-A1 carbine." I said holding up my carbine.
"Shoot's 5.56/.223 ammo in these 30 round magazines." I said pulling out the mag. "This magazine is plastic as compared to the normal military magazines and has a clear window on the side so you can see how many rounds you have left."
Also, this one has a clip that attaches another magazine to it, so as soon as one mag is empty, you press this button on the right side of the rifle and it releases the magazine, and you pull it out and slap the next one in, and hit this lever, it'll push the next round in."
" This is the safety lever right here. Flip it up one notch, and you can shoot one round at a time, flip it again and you can shoot it full auto."
"DON'T use that feature unless you have to. It just wastes ammo and makes a rifle this small that much more difficult to control."
"If it jams, pull this here." I said, pulling back the charging handle. "If that doesn't clear it, there are other things to do, but don't waste time screwing with it. Run away and then worry about it later."
" When you need more ammo, the vest has ten magazines in these pockets with thirty rounds each and this one," I said, pulling out the Surefire magazine. "This one holds sixty rounds. I also have six more 30 round magazines in that ammo pouch on top of my pack."
"I used up six mags getting here from the airport, so I used up all my extra ammo to reload my empty magazines. So what's in the magazines, is all the rifle ammo I have left."
"That's 600 rounds for the rifle!" Said Kouta excitedly. "That's a lot!"
"Not really." I replied in a serious tone. "A good firefight will burn this up quick." And there's no telling when you can get more, so if something happens to me, and you end up using this thing, don't waste ammo!"
"Anyway, touch this button on this sight right here, I said pointing to the Eotech sight. And you just aim the red holo image on anything within 25 meters and squeeze the trigger. Use head shots only. Center of mass doesn't work. There's also extra batteries for it in the pack."
"What about all these other things on it?" Rei asked, pointing to the top of the carbine.
"Laser unit and combat light." I explained. "Press this switch right here on this grip for the light, and this one on the other side of the RAIL for the laser. Don't worry about them unless you need them."
I passed the empty rifle to the kids to get familiar with it, and pulled out my pistol.
"Sig P226 Navy model." I said pulling out the magazine and racking the slide, ejecting the round from the chamber. " 9mm, and its double action, which means all you have to do is squeeze the trigger. But be careful, this is a combat pistol, so there's no safety. Keep your finger off the trigger until you need to shoot."
" The first trigger pull is kinda hard, the next ones shoot a lot easier after that. The magazines hold eighteen rounds each and there are six of them."
"One magazine is in the pistol, one is in this pouch on the holster, and four more are in this pouch on my belt. There's also two extra boxes of ammo in the pack." I then passed the pistol to them as well.
"By the way," I continued. "That is a rare NSW Commemorative pistol. There were only 2000 made. If something happens to me and you guys get to safety, I want this shipped to my younger brother back home in San Antonio if at all possible. OK?"
Everyone looked puzzled at my words except Kouta, which just about figured. If anyone could understand the value of the history of my pistol, it would be him.
"OK. Now for the most important thing, the pack." I said moving over to the pack lying on top of the desk.
"If you can't get to my vest and weapons on my body, then try as hard as you can to at least get to the pack. In here, are food, water, ammo, and some survival equipment that you can use. Also, this small pack that's hanging on the side here is a medical pack."
"Shizuka, you know how to administer I.V's? I asked.
"Yes, I do. " She answered, suddenly interested.
"Well, they're in there, complete with drip sets and I.V. catheters, as well as some I.V. Meds, lung decompression kits, and bandaging stuff. And in this pouch back here." I said as I pulled the cover off the stock of my sniper rifle and pulled it out for everyone to see.
"M24 SWS sniper rifle in .308 caliber, bolt-action with a magazine extender at the bottom so you can load eight rounds instead of the normal four. Be careful when you pass it amongst yourselves, it's very heavy."
"The scope is set for 100 meters. Anything beyond that is going to be trial and error and you don't need to be worrying about long distance shots anyway."
" If your target is more than 100 meters away, you need to think about running away and not acting like this is "Call Of Duty", cause it's not. I also have several knives, folding and fixed that I'm wearing on me, like the one on my leg, and also in my pack."
"Now, this pack was set up by a friend of mine named Andy who did a lot of long range recon in his military career, so it'll have everything you need for three days. You guys will just have to share, but it'll be better to have this pack that not at all."
"What did your friend do in the military?" Kouta asked, eyeballing the sniper rifle.
"Andy was 22nd Regiment SAS, and a former Royal Marine" I said to Kouta, knowing he'd love that. "He was also Pathfinder qualified. So my pack is the same as his, and when ya'll go through it, you'll find a lot of useful things to help you survive."
"Hopefully, we will not have to use them." Saeko said, looking at me with a strange look on her face. "I would prefer you be the only one who would need anything from the equipment you carry, and none of us need use it."
I was a little confused by the strange look on her face. But I just shrugged and laughed it off.
"Hopefully, none of us will need to rely on any of my gear, Saeko-chan." I said looking at Saeko. "But if we do, you know what I have and what to do with it, if the worst happens. And that's why I'm doing this."
"OK, Kouta. Give 'em back." I said with a chuckle. The kid had somehow gotten all the weapons back from the other teens and was cradling them all like newborn children. And he acted like they were to, the way he was reluctant to give them up when I took them all away from him.
"Ok, Next thing, provisions." I said checking my mental list off. "Food, water, anything here of value?"
"Just bottled water." Rei answered. "But nothing else."
"No vending machines?" I asked. "How far is your school cafeteria?"
"They are all on the other side of the building and quite inaccessible I'm afraid." Saeko answered.
"Well, I have a dozen protein bars in here, and we can scrounge up food somewhere." I said. "However, we need to stick to packaged food and bottled water only. Right now this Contagion seems to be transmitted only by blood and body fluid contact from the bites of the Infected, and not by airborne means or in food or water. But let's not take any chances."
"Rei-chan, put those bottles of water in my pack, as many as you can fit, and some into Shizuka's pack as well, please?"
"Hai." The young girl answered as she turned towards the small freezer in the small kitchenette.
"As soon as we can, we need to stock up on provisions. There's no telling what we'll find as far as a safe route or a safe shelter if there still is such a place out there, so we need to assume that we need to fend for ourselves." I said.
"Next, we need an exit strategy and the locations of each and every one of your homes so we can try to make contact with your parents who I'm sure by now, will try looking for you there, before heading this way to look for you since I'm assuming your classes would be over by now, correct?"
"Yes." Shizuka said piping in. School would have been dismissed an hour ago."
"Good. We need a map of the city for everyone. And,…" I said looking around the room.
"That." I said, finding the small piece of paper encased in laminate on the wall near the doors.
In every public and government building is a small map showing the layout of the building and where all available emergency exit routes are. Every year, Fire crews visit all the schools, libraries and other buildings to make sure they have one. This was our way out for an entirely different reason now than a normal fire drill however.
I grabbed the plastic map off the wall and took it to the desk, where Rei was already stuffing water bottles into the two packs. Kouta had brought a map of the city he had found, and laid it out on the desk next to where she was.
''Ok everyone gather around." I said waving them all over. It was getting late and I wanted to move out of this room and to a safer, well-stocked and more defensible place of shelter once we made contact with their families.
When they were all gathered around, I pointed to the map and held out a felt marker to them.
"I need each of you to draw a circle around your homes and your names in Japanese and English and a number next to it from the closest to the furthest away from this school. And I also need a big "X" showing where this school is as a reference point." I said handing the pen to Shizuka. One by one, each of them drew a circle around their homes. It didn't look good. These kids were scattered all over this one easterly section of the city. It wasn't going to be easy to get to their homes with Infected and panicked crowds of people to say the least.
"Okay, here's the plan." I said looking at them. "When we blow this place, we're going to head to your homes, one at a time. If we can't find your parents, we'll leave a note on where to find us, and move on to the next house." I watched them as they all nodded their heads.
"If for some reason something happens and we have to separate, I want each of you to keep as safe as possible and head for the next house on the map whether you live there or not. I'll look for you there, and wait a couple hours. If you don't show up, I'll leave a note and look for you at the next house, understand?" They all looked at me and nodded their heads. Takashi raised his hand.
"Yes?" I said waiting for Rei to translate his words.
"Takashi's mom is a teacher at an elementary school, and she stays there late sometimes."
"Where?" I asked, as Takashi grabbed the pen and made a square around it at the furthest point away from all the circles on the map.
"Okay." I said rubbing my chin and happy not to have had any stubble there anymore. "That's our rally point."
"Rally point?" Takashi asked in English.
"Yeah." I said looking at him. "I know you want to get to your mom right away, and believe me, I know how you feel. But since her school is the furthest point away, that'll be the last place we look, and it'll be the place we all meet if we get separated for any reason and you can't go to your homes where I can find you. If I don't find you at the rally point at a given time, I'll head back to your houses and search for you." I said, as Rei translated for me.
Takashi looked at the floor and nodded his head. I put my hand on his shoulder, and looked at him in the eye as he looked at my face.
"Shinpai shinaide de, Takashi-kun." I said in Japanese hoping I was saying, "Don't worry, Takashi."
"If I know how mom's think, she's probably waiting at home for you to come walking in the door, and if not, then she's probably locked up as we are in the school, and we can rescue her, Ok?"
After Rei finished speaking, the boy nodded his head, but I knew he still wasn't happy about it. And I didn't blame him one bit, thinking about my own family back home in Texas..
I wasn't so confident of my own words, but I didn't want him so sick with worry that he got himself killed in the process of leaving here and trying to get to her either.
"Okay, then. Everybody understand the plan?" I asked as all heads nodded once again.
"Good. Now I need two copies for each and every one of us. Keep one in your pocket, and keep an extra just in case."
Shizuka-san?" I asked. "If the printer is still working, could you make enough copies for everyone to have at least two?"
"I'll check, but yes, I will." She said, taking my copy of the map from me.
"Now, guys." I said turning towards the teens."Show me the fastest and easiest and way out of this building." I said looking at the evacuation map.
It took a little while before we were ready to go. One of the first things to go wrong had been when the subject of obtaining transport off the school grounds came to an almost near disaster, because Shizuka, who had claimed she had a vehicle for us to use, had failed to realize her little Toyota compact wasn't going to be enough to be able to carry us all.
Saeko saved the day however, by recommending we use the small mini-bus, that the school's clubs used, to take students to their out of town school events. If we hadn't known that, we would have had to start stealing multiple vehicles from the lot. Which would have been a problem, since we couldn't find any more car keys, and we were NOT about to search every Infected teacher looking for one we could use.
(That saved our bacon. Because contrary to popular belief, not all latinos can hot-wire a car.)
I also had to explain to these kids that we couldn't just charge out the door either like they had earlier. And I had to further explain that we needed to form a plan of egress, stick to it, and defend ourselves in an organized fashion, and not just whomp the head of everything that drooled.
That part had not quite been so easy.
Finally, after a few instructions on silent movement, hand signals, and what each of us were to do as we made our escape, I figured it was time to get moving.
"Ok everyone, gear up!" I said as I donned my combat vest and zipped it up.
Immediately everyone grabbed their weapons , since they had no other belongings to carry, and Shizuka grabbed her bag and put it on her shoulders. I donned my heavy pack and cinched the straps. Once I buckled in the waist belt, I did a quick little jog-in-place and then cinched the waist belt tighter.
"Why did you do that?" Kouta asked " Are we going to have to run?" He asked, looking a bit green.
"I hope not." I said, and I meant it too. During the Gulf War, an eight man team of British SAS went on a "SCUD hunt" and were compromised, having to run for their lives before most were captured, one was KIA, and a couple died from exposure. Their story was made famous in the book and movie "Bravo Two Zero."
The packs those men carried on that operation were British-issue Bergens, that when fully packed, weighed in excess of 200 pounds each. Mine wasn't that heavy, but running long distance with it wasn't something I really wanted to do either.
" My friend Andy showed me a little trick to prepare myself for silent movement in the field." I explained. "You put on your gear, and jog in place a bit. If anything shakes, rattles, and clanks, you correct it and try again, keep doing that till you hear nothing at all."
I did it again and hearing nothing, I grabbed my carbine and double-checked it. I watched as Kouta jogged in place, although not as vigorously as I did. There were a few clinks heard coming from the change in his pocket.
"Grab some tape and tape them together, and then try again." I suggested, as each of the teens did the same thing, with Takashi being the only one else that needed to tape some coins in his pocket as well.
When Shizuka tried to jog in place though, the same as everyone, I had to stop her. No need to give the boys a cheap thrill at seeing that, I figured, although I'm pretty sure they were pissed off at me for stopping her.
"Sensei!" I said, as she stopped in mid-step. "Don't." Which made all the girls laugh at seeing her bewildered face.
"Eh, doshite?" She asked not comprehending.
"Just trust me, hon." I said chuckling to myself. "Turn around and let me see what you got."
I had to remove a few glass bottles of antiseptic, which I didn't know why she had in the first place, since we wouldn't be performing field surgery in the second place. After tossing a few more items and making sure she didn't have anything rattling around, I left her pouting about the things I threw out, and the boys and I quickly removed the boxes of printing paper, and the table.
Enough preparations had been made.
We had been locked up in this room long enough as it was.
It would be dark in a few hours and we could no longer afford to stay here.
It was now time to leave.
Author's Notes:
After I posted the last chapter, I was very encouraged by the interest that everyone has shown in my fanfic. I was especially pleased to see the large amount of interest here in the U.S., but especially by the interest of all those overseas, including Japan.
I really would like to keep all of you enjoying this story. However, there does come a point where there is no action and fighting, and it comes down to people talking. I hope that this chapter doesn't bore you. But again, I try to imagine what it would be like if I were in a similar situation, and what I would say or do in such a case, and I do try not to ramble too much. In the next chapter, it'll be a bit more exciting, so bear with me. And thanks again for all your support. It really helps me to keep on writing.
Thanks again! Jim