“Oh, my God,” Faith said, almost squealing. “I know who he is!”
“Is that…?” Sergeant Smith said.
“I have always appreciated the brave men and women who protect our nation,” Harold Chrysler said, shaking Faith’s hand. “But never has my heart been more filled with the pride of being an American than today. It is an honor to shake your hand, Lieutenant.” He’d played a president in more than one film and had the presence to pull the line off.
“It’s…uh…Oorah, sir,” Faith said. She realized she was getting ready to babble and cleared her throat. “It’s an honor as well, sir. Big fan, big fan.”
“I’m honored,” Chrysler said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Uh…oorah?” Faith said. “Sir?”
“Try to help herd the cats, sir?” Sergeant Smith said, thumbing towards the civilians. “We have got to keep them in the perimeter and not straggling or scattering…” There was a shot from the rear and the gunny bellowed: “STAY ON SECTOR.”
“’Cause of, well, that, sir,” Faith said, regaining her composure. “They keep…not staying in the perimeter. Which means if they get too far out, they’re in the target zones. And they keep bugging the Marines who need to stay on alert and not answering questions. I swear, they’ve got no more sense of survival than a baby duck.”
“The wealthy and powerful, even after all they have been through, tend to believe that they are invincible because of ‘who they are,’” Chrysler said. “I have no such illusions, but I grew up a working stiff.” He leaned forward to whisper in Faith’s ear. “I don’t suppose I could borrow a pistol?”
“Round in the chamber, sir,” Faith said, ripping one of her chest carries out.
“In the chamber?” Chrysler said, pulling back the slide just far enough to check. He carefully slipped the safety on as well.
“It’s a zombie apocalypse, sir,” Faith said. “I’d appreciate it if you don’t use it to herd the cats, though, sir. I’ve had to draw more than once but that’s me, sir. I can get away with it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Lieutenant,” Harold said, slipping the H&K into the waistband of his jeans. “Is there any news from the States?”
“I’ll put it in perspective, sir,” Sergeant Smith said. “You’re looking at sixty percent of the total manning of the United States Marine Corps, sir. The LT is number six in line of succession from the commandant. And she’s thirteen.”
“Almost fourteen!” Faith snapped.
“Oh, God,” Chrysler said, breathing deeply. “I thought…I thought maybe this was just what was available for such a minor… This is all?”
“Yes, sir,” Smitty said softly. “I was on the Iwo Jima, sir. We lost it to the infected till the LT and her dad came in and pulled us out.”
“Sir, we need to get going,” Faith said. “You’ll get some time off at the boats. We’ll have to cover the questions there.”
“I understand,” Harold said, shaking her hand again. “Again, thank you for your service. And you as well, Sergeant. I’ll go do what I can about the baby ducks…”
“Why can’t they all be that way?” Faith asked.
“Like he said, ma’am,” Smitty said. “Born a working stiff.”
“I guess,” Faith said. “Gunnery Sergeant! Get this wagon train a-movin’!”
“Aye, aye, ma’am. YOU HEARD THE SKIPPER! MOVE OUT…!”
CHAPTER 25
“…cleared a big grocery warehouse in Mandan. The zombies are still hanging in there in downtown Bismarck somehow. Go around if you’re coming in from the east. And bring all the ammo and guns…”
“How is the clearance going, Colonel?” Steve asked.
He generally touched base with the Kodiak Force once a day in the evening to keep abreast of progress.
“In action terms, just fine, sir,” Colonel Hamilton said. “That being said, I’m starting to regret not skipping to primary targets.”
“Problems?” Steve said.
“No casualties or injuries, sir, thank God,” Hamilton said, knocking the surface of his desk. “And we’re about to suspend operations. Island has been pretty much swept for survivors. Still a fair infected presence but just the usual. All that is fine, sir. The survivors, however…”
“Pregnant pause there, Colonel,” Steve said. “Not the usual odds and sods?”
“About half are, call it ‘labor,’” Hamilton said. “Island residents. Hotel staff. One facilities engineer which is pretty much the cream of the crop. The rest are… If I hear the words ‘Do you know who I am’ one more time, sir, I swear I am going to kill that person.”
“Oh,” Steve said, putting his hand over his mouth to cover a smile.
“I had to station Decker and Condrey outside the door to keep them from interrupting this meeting, sir,” Hamilton said. “With orders to be as polite as possible and as violent as necessary. I suspect you are going to get a fair number of complaints, sir.”
“No, I’m not,” Steve said. “I have people. But I understand your problems, Colonel. I even have a potential solution.”
“Other than slapping the hell out of them, sir?” Hamilton asked. “One of the complaints I fielded was on the subject of your daughter using very nearly deadly force in one case.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Steve said. “She had, it seems prehistory now, experience dealing with the same sort of folk during the Fall and used much the same approach. Do you have an issue with that?”
“I told the complainant that based upon their attitude and tone that I was equally unsurprised, sir,” Hamilton said. “Then I told them I used to be an interrogator at Guantanamo and asked them if they really wanted to get on my bad side. I apologize, sir. It just slipped out; I was that frustrated.”
“How’d that work?” Steve asked.
“They shut right the hell up and walked away, sir,” Hamilton said.
“Dare I hope we got more than the usual one to two percent?” Steve asked. “Even if they are a handful?”
“No, sir,” Hamilton said, shaking his head. “Just short of eighty so far. Bit over one percent.”
“Christ,” Steve said, shaking his head. “If you had asked me, Colonel, pre-Plague, if it was possible to essentially wipe out the human race I’d have laughed at you. And this hasn’t but…Christ almighty.”
“Yes, sir,” Hamilton said.
“I don’t suppose any of them preferred to stay?” Steve asked.
“None apparently, sir,” Hamilton said. “There is a real dearth of what you might call survivalist types. Despite the fact that the first group rescued were the female survivors from Celebrity Survivor: St. Barts. We have determined that the males all succumbed to the virus.”
“That is so…wrong,” Steve said.
“There isn’t a single person with anything resembling military training, LEO or even paramilitary, sir,” Hamilton said. “There are only a few with the vaguest familiarity with firearms. And as I noted, there is still a noticeable infected presence, sir. They have one and all declined to stay on the island. The only one who might have been willing to fight it out is both…elderly and an American citizen who has requested repatriation. Most of them don’t think much of the boats, either, sir.”