We came across the power plant unexpectedly, with the dark building looming large in the night. I could make out the outline of several utility towers stretching away from the plant and the complex was ringed with a tall, barbed-wire tipped chain link fence. Off to the east, I could see stars reflected in what appeared to be a significant body of water and I could see several buildings in the outlying areas. We moved closer for a better look and I could see three buildings which looked like maintenance sheds off to the west. We crossed a parking lot and moved into the shadows by a maintenance office building. There was a large guard house at the entrance to the plant with a gate that slid out of the way. The fence was impressive, two parallel lines with a walkway in between large enough for a vehicle to travel. There was an administrative building about seventy-five yards back from the gate and I could see several large trucks parked in front of it.
Tommy touched my sleeve and pointed to the second story of the admin building. There were small flashes of light and I realized the windows had been covered or painted and we were seeing light through the cracks. Pretty smart. Whoever was running this show was smart enough to realize a light would attract every Z for miles.
As it was, we could see several pairs of glowing eyes in the darkness, headed our way, attracted by our scent and sound. We had very limited time before we would be in a serious fight.
I motioned for Tommy to follow me and I sprinted for the gate. It was the only part of the fence that didn’t have barbed wire on the top. I jumped for the fence and climbed over the top, dropping down and looking around. The parking lot had several zombies shuffling across and I could see more on the road and fields outside the area. There was no guard posted outside and I could see why. The fence was more than sturdy enough to withstand an assault and with two lines running completely around the complex, this place was as secure as any. Had I lived in this area, I would have chosen this place as a good spot to make a stand.
“What’s the plan?” Tommy asked as he dropped down beside me.
“I want to make sure this is the place we have been looking for. I wouldn’t want to wipe out a group of people who were just trying to survive. So let’s scout a bit and see what’s here,” I said, unslinging my rifle from across my back. Tommy did the same with his AR, checking the magazine and making sure our ride hadn’t moved around his spare magazines too much.
We moved towards the office building and when we were about twenty yards away, we could hear faint sounds of activity from within. There seemed to be muted cheers and yells and what sounded like a bottle breaking. We may have found the right place after all.
I moved around to the corner of the building and stopped. I caught the scent of something odd in the wind and when I smelled it again I recognized it. Blood. Something had lost a lot of blood recently and it was on the wind. I signaled Tommy to circle wide and together we rounded the corner, guns at the ready.
Sprawled out on the grass was a man or what was left of him. He had been completely wiped out, not enough of him left to reanimate. Some of the bones had even been cracked open to get at the marrow inside. His head had been smashed open and his brains were completely missing. Blood was all around, leaving a large dark stain on the greening grass. Bloody footprints lead away into the dark, dark blotches on the sidewalk.
I looked at Tommy and we both realized the same thing at the same time. There were dead things out here. We didn’t want to alert anyone to our presence, so we reslung our rifles and pulled out our blunt weapons, trusting in our side arms for firepower as needed. We stepped farther around and I could see the power relays in the distance, dwarfed by the tall towers as they reached for the dark of the sky. I could see several shadowy shapes moving among the towers and I knew them for what they were.
I pointed them out to Tommy and we moved quickly, spreading out and trying to take out as many as we could before they could swarm. The grass gave way to sand, which muffled our approach. The wind was still coming out of the east, which allowed us to attack from downwind. The gross side was we could smell the bastards and I have yet to meet a walking corpse that didn’t smell like someone had microwaved a bag of garbage. The sad part was I was used to it. I came to one zombie who was just standing still, swaying slightly as it smelled the wind. I swung the pickaxe and sent the Z back to oblivion.
The sound of my pick cracking the Z’s head open carried like a shot and three more turned in my direction. Tommy put his down and was approaching a third when I sprang towards the ghouls.
The first one rushed at me with slavering teeth only to be driven back by a spike to the head. The next one, a slight female with half her hair torn off, came slowly forward, her right foot turned around backwards. I hooked her foot and sent her tumbling, finishing her off with a spade to the head. The third one caught me by surprise, moving a lot faster than I had expected. He plowed into me, knocking me down and clawing at my back. I shoved back as hard as I could, but he was on too tightly. I couldn’t do much except watch as he brought his teeth down onto my shoulder. I felt his teeth bite something and then he brought his head back. I felt a tug at my back and realized he had bitten my backpack shoulder strap and had it in his teeth. I drew my knife as he chewed the strap and when he realized he hadn’t bit me, he leaned back for another lunge. I took that opportunity to shove my knife up under his chin and into his brain, ending his career as a deader. His glowing eyes looked into mine as he died and if I hadn’t known better, I would have sworn there was a spark of recognition.
I threw him off of me and climbed slowly to my feet. Tommy was finishing off his second with a golf swing to the Z’s head. He walked over to me as I was inspecting the damage.
“Holy shit. He got that close, did he?” Tommy said, peering at the teeth marks.
“Yeah.” I said shakily. “One inch left or right and Sarah would be raising Jakey alone.”
Tommy had nothing to say. I needed to get through this one on my own. I had just nearly bought the farm and brushing that close to death had a tendency to refocus your priorities.
I shook myself and looked around. There weren’t any more immediate threats but that didn’t mean they weren’t out there.
Tommy was inspecting one of the corpses, then he walked over to another, and another. “That’s weird,” he said, half to himself.
“What is?” I asked, cleaning off my weapons.
“All these Z’s have a stab wound in their throats.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, and it looks like it was done after they had turned.”
That was odd. “Any theory as to why?” I asked.
Tommy pondered for a second. “Its almost like they wanted to make sure they couldn’t moan, like when people used to do that surgery on dogs to keep them from barking.”
That made no sense. Why would someone go to the trouble of silencing Z’s and not finish them off altogether? Oh well. We had other things to do. I motioned for Tommy to follow me and we went over to a small building next to the main administrative building. I saw a lot of footprints in the sand going to the building and was curious.
I tried the door with Tommy standing guard and I was surprised the door opened. I let the door swing outward and was rewarded with the foul odor of sweat, urine, feces, and something else I couldn’t identify. I didn’t smell the dead, so that was a good sign. I couldn’t see in the darkness very well, so I unholstered my SIG and pulled out my flashlight. I scanned the building and saw it was a warehouse of sorts. A skylight allowed natural light to illuminate the interior, although that didn’t help at night. There were boxes of supplies and alcohol, stacks of dried goods, and piles of clothing and shoes. Walking into the stores, I was surprised at how much there was. This group had done well, considering where they were.
As I walked slowly down the center aisle, I became aware of a sound. It wasn’t loud, but it was there. It sounded like crying, but it was muffled, like someone was trying to keep themselves from sobbing out loud. I still hadn’t found anything that created the smell and it was getting stronger as I moved farther back.
Towards the back of the building it looked like where they had stored the leftover material for the fence that went around the complex. I flashed my light over this material and froze as I shone the light on a living face.
I stopped suddenly. It was a woman, but it was difficult to tell her age. She was thin and filthy and her clothing barely covered her. Her hair hung in dank strips over her face and outside the circumstances, she might have been pretty. She was in a cage fashioned out of the fencing material and as I played my flashlight over the area, I could see several more cages similarly occupied. I could hear shifting as more women moved to see what had disturbed their sleep. In all, I counted sixteen cages, all of them occupied. They were roughly eight feet long and eight feet wide, six feet in height. Each contained a bucket, a cot, and a threadbare blanket. The blankets were whatever was grabbed in a hurry and some of them looked like children’s blankets.
“Tommy.” I spoke softly, but the woman I was looking at flinched as if I had struck her. She looked like she had been used badly and had resigned herself to the fact she was going to be used badly again. I could see the remnants of a bruise on her cheek and could see more on her arms and legs.
Tommy trotted over and turned on his flashlight, the beam playing over the cages and captives. “What the hell?” he said softly, as more women woke up and looked out at us.
“What’s going on here?” I asked the nearest prisoner.
“We’re the slaves,” came a voice from the center of the cages. “That’s what they call us. Didn’t they tell you that?”