Class of 2013 - 14

Chapter Fourteen

A few silent moments passed after Lea left the office to talk to James. We all knew why he was upset, and Chien and I both knew that under any other circumstances this would have likely put us on edge as well. Burning bodies as a fuel source? It was entirely morbid, there was no way around that, but we had to think about survival first and cultural norms second. In a manner, people that grew up in first world nations were, for the most part, used to bodies being treated with a great deal of respect and care after death. To westerners especially, death was something that was feared and shied away from. It frightened us and sent shivers down our spines. The very sight of a human corpse was usually unnerving – at the least.

To an extent it made sense to me why Chien wasn’t all that affected by it. His parents had both lived in Vietnam during the war. I had no doubt he heard at least one or two horror stories in his time; not to mention that he had a mixing of cultures thanks to being brought up in the United States. He could see why people were so affected by it, but didn’t really have much reason to be so himself. He understood reverence for the dead, but only so far as paying your respects and moving on to the next task. To me death wasn’t a big deal; it was just one more part of life. People died. It was the only thing that humans couldn’t really screw up; mostly because we didn’t have control over it. If you dropped dead, you dropped dead, and that was it. It was a rather morose way of looking at it, but it was the truth of the matter.

Some places in Asia and the Pacific islands, most notably the Philippines, had so little space that they could neither bury all their dead nor have room for all their living. You would get cities popping up in massive graveyards, and because the ground was so soft you rarely had graves that were dug – instead you would get mausoleums and other above ground tombs. Some of these were little more than the sort of filing cabinet kind of storage like a morgue would have. Others were like old mass graves with a plaster cover on the outside and a coffin held within.

As far as the ‘cities of the dead’ went though, it was entirely common for shanty towns to pop up in the graveyards. It was common for children to be found playing with the bones of someone’s ancestors. Not only that, but if a family was lucky enough to have a mausoleum, they might actually live inside it and use the stone coffin as their bed, kitchen table, or perhaps their work bench. One of the common jobs was even to remove human remains from the thousands of temporary graves if the family failed to pay rent on the grave. There was so little space that the cemeteries actually charged for the space to hold the deceased’s body. All too often the poor families in the Philippines wouldn’t make rent, and the bodies would be removed so another could be put in its place. Cemeteries were just the apartments of the recently deceased.

The thought of that made me think that it was rather lucky that this seemed to be some sort of infection – if it were some sort of supernatural occurrence, I could only wonder at what hells would be unleashed in such places as the Philippines. The entire graveyard rising up to consume the living inhabitants – it sounded like a movie. Of course, thinking about it a little more also brought along the conclusion that there probably wouldn’t be much trouble unless somehow skeletons were made to get up and terrorize the living. Bodies in the tropics didn’t last long, not even the buried ones, though the bones seemingly lasted forever.

As glances amongst the remaining portion of the group were exchanged, the conversation began again, but this time in regards to only somewhat related topics.

“We should also think about going out and getting more supplies; specifically of the frozen and refrigerated variety.” I began, looking toward Sweet and his wife. “We still have a lot of space in the freezers here. They were practically empty since the school year was nearly finished. The more goods we can save and pack into the freezers here, the better off we’ll be in the long run. It’ll prevent us from having to use the canned goods too soon. As well, assuming we can boost our power grid, we can expand the storage space that’s available and store more frozen goods. The more we store the better off we’ll be. We can also freeze refrigerated goods like milk in order to preserve them for longer periods as well.”

“Now that sounds like an idea that won’t cause an argument.” Sophie smiled, “What did you boys have in mind?”

“Well, Stater Brothers is right over the bridge, and we already cleared out the massive horde that was in the area, so if we start making trips soon… we might not have to worry about being pinned down by zombies…” Chien answered, “…but we need to move soon; really soon.”

==X==X==X==

After stepping outside, it wasn’t hard for Lea to follow James. Even had she not seen him, she could have heard him cursing and talking to himself. It seemed to be something that James did when he was angry – though it really wasn’t that strange to hear people do. Our friend was pissed, and while Chien and I really couldn’t quite grasp why he was so angry about this (which likely only made him that much angrier), Lea was able to figure him out. It wasn’t so much the morality issue, or the fact that we seemed to have drawn logical conclusions about this. Rather, it was more the fact that despite anything that he said about it… he knew we were going to do it anyway. Nothing he could say would change our minds about our chosen course of action, and that was what got under his skin.

Lea had once felt that way about the plans that Chien and I decided to act on, though had decided a couple years ago just to let it go. It wasn’t worth getting worked up over, and in the end whatever she was initially angry about seemed trivial later on. It was a pattern that she had realized existed, and after she realized it did, she didn’t see the point in fighting it anymore. Even now she was drawing the same conclusions that we had drawn, and was seeing that we were right about this. She still didn’t like it, but she at least would let herself see the reasoning behind our decisions. The fact that Sweet even openly admitted he wasn’t comfortable with it, but still supported the ingenuity it took to come up with such an idea, comforted her as well. However, while it comforted her, because it meant that it was okay to understand and accept it even if you didn’t like it… she knew that the opposite was true for James.

To James it would seem like some sort of a betrayal. He looked up to Sweet. The man was more of a father to him than his own had ever been – and he’d only known Sweet the last few years. The hope that had been in his eyes had been dashed the very moment that the Colonel had spoken of being proud of our ingenuity. He’d been shocked and dismayed that his idol, who had the power to simply tell us no, had instead allowed us to continue with our plans. It was a horrible feeling, and had he told us what was going on in that head of his, maybe we could have understood. That just wasn’t how James worked, unfortunately. In his mind that was a way of showing some sort of weakness. What he seemed to fail to understand was that we saw it the exact opposite way. This act of getting pissed off and storming away was what we saw as weak. Despite that, he didn’t see any middle ground whatsoever.

Trailing behind him at a distance, Lea followed him across the campus, to the back area near the parade deck and the basketball courts. She waited a little while as he took a seat on the concrete bleachers that were above the courts, and then finally crossed the parade deck. She was quiet for a moment as she got closer to him, until finally she spoke.

“Y’know James…” Her voice trailed off when he nearly jumped, flailing as he landed on the level below where he had been sitting.

“Fuck!” His hand went over his chest as he looked up at her. “I hate it when you pull that sniper ninja shit, Lea!” He breathed, and she couldn’t help but giggle.

“Sorry.” She shrugged a little. “It’s what I do…”

“Yeah, yeah…” He blew out a breath and then swung his legs over so that he now sat upon the level he was on. “Lemme guess; you’re here to tell me how much of an idiot I’m being over this?”

Lea sighed and rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she stepped over the top level of the concrete seats, and then down to the next. “You know me better than that, James.” She said, shooting him a look as she sat down. “I don’t like this any more than you do. It’s not right.”

“So why are we letting them get away with it?” James snapped.

“Because it’s the smart thing to do.” Lea sighed. “It might be morally objectionable, but the cost of the morals pays for the cost of the intelligence. There’s no good argument against something like this. We’d burn them anyway; we both know that.”

“Bullshit.” James fired back, “We don’t know any such thing. That’s just what they said to get to do this.”

“James…” Lea pinched the bridge of her nose, “…why are we even talking about this?”

“Because what they’re doing isn’t right, and we’re just sitting…”

“Stop.” Lea said flatly with a raised hand. James blinked. “That’s bullshit, James. This isn’t about what any of us thinks is right or wrong; you just don’t want to fess up to what the real problem is. I know what it is, Santo, so just cut the shit already.”

“What are you talking about? That is the fucking problem!”

“No. It isn’t.” Lea fixed him with a glare. “The problem is that you can’t get over the fact that they would’ve done it no matter what you used to argue against it. A couple years ago, I was the same way. If you think real hard about it, you just might remember those days. I changed because I learned that in the end, whatever I was so fired up about seemed trivial to me later on. The same is true for you. Most of these arguments you get into end the same way, and they’re so trivial later that nobody, not even you, can remember what the hell you were so upset about. All anyone remembers is that you were; not why, not over what… just that you were. I think I’m the only person that’s figured you out.”

James was quiet for a moment, and then looked away. Another moment passed, and he spoke again. “Okay… you’re right.”

“I know I am, James.”

“God, you are his cousin.” James groaned, “Do you have to be so smug, really?”

“I wasn’t being smug. I just didn’t need your confirmation.”

“That! That right there, Lea!”

“James, you gotta learn that there’s a difference between being smug, and just knowing that you’re right without being told.”

“I know there’s a difference; because being smug is when you actually point out that the person didn’t have to confirm that you were right, instead of just staying quiet.”

At that, Lea was silent.

“A-ha! See! Got you there!”

Lea shrugged, smirked, and looked at him. “Alright, I’m smug.”

At the sight of the smirk, James’ moment of celebration ended abruptly. “Well shit, ya don’t have to look so happy about it; fuck’s sake.”

“Oh, like you looked so happy just because you were able to give a definition to something that I couldn’t argue against?” She raised a brow, smirking. “You’re smug too.”

“I am not!” James snapped.

“You most certainly are, James. It’s just in a different way than Roy and I.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You’re louder than us.” She grinned then, before deciding it was time to get back to their real topic. “So, where do we go from here, James? You now know that I know why you get like this. So what are you gonna do? Keep acting like this, or change so you don’t get like this every time? Is it really worth having these tantrums of yours each time?”

“Why do I have to be the one that changes? Why can’t Chien or Roy change, and just not fucking do this shit? If they would just listen to me and not just ignore what I have to say, I wouldn’t end up like this!”

Lea leaned back on her elbows against the level above where they sat. “Because their plans work. When was the last time that they thought something up together and it actually screwed us over? I mean yeah, things they think of don’t always work out the way we hope, but it’s never really hurt us. Most of the time, it makes things better for us.”

James was quiet for a moment and then finally asked. “So basically… because they’re right? Is that what you’re saying?”

“As much as I hate to admit it? Yeah… because they’re right. Can you honestly say that they’re wrong, James?”

“Morally…”

Lea scoffed, “As defined by who? For what reason?”

”The civilized world, maybe?”

“Okay, why? Why is it wrong to burn the dead instead of bury them? Why is it wrong to put a boiler over the pyre and get electricity and fertilizer in the process? Can you answer that?”

“For someone that doesn’t like the thought, you’re sure pushing their side of it, Lea.”

“No, I want an answer... because I don’t have a good one to explain this. So what’s your answer, James? Please say you’ve got one.”

“I…” James sighed then; thinking. “…I don’t know, Lea. I really don’t know. I mean… I know that it’s not got anything to do with religion; not really anyway. Humans started burying their dead because they figured out that diseases could come from the corpses, and then it became habit… I guess. It just… this just feels wrong to me.”

There was silence between them then, but after a moment, Lea leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder and taking one of his hands. James’ eyes went wide as he looked at their hands, and then glanced at her next to him from the corner of his eyes. He felt the need to say something, do something… hell anything! Yet… before he could, she pecked his cheek softly and ended the silence herself; resting her head on his shoulder.

“I feel the same way.” She spoke with hushed words, “But I also know that Roy and Chien are correct. It feels completely wrong, but at some point we’ll need those generators, and when that time comes we’ll need fuel. They’re just the best fuel. We don’t gotta like it.”

Normally, James might have said something more on the subject, but considering his positioning with one of the most beautiful girls he knew… he decided he’d let this one go and just enjoy her company.

==X==X==X==

While James and Lea were gone, the group back at the office had broken into two parts: one part was Sophie and Timothy, and the other was the remaining four of us. Sophie had taken Timothy to go be motherly toward him (the woman did have a knack for it), and though she had tried to get Alice to go with her as well, the eleven year old genius had elected to stay with Chien, Sweet, and myself as we talked about plans. First was how things would be run during this raid that Chien and I wanted to do. After having shown Sweet the plans for the steam engine and the alternator that comprised out generator, he’d agreed to stay behind and oversee the construction of it. Then we were on to speaking of whether or not to take more of the cadets with us. Sweet at first wanted a few to accompany us, but eventually we convinced him otherwise. Taking more people just put more people, weapons, and ammunition at risk.

As it stood, Chien and I had already wiped out a thousand zombies, and after looking at the marks on our hands that were now raw from reloading so much the day before – as well as a more detailed explanation of how we’d done it – Sweet believed us. That meant Chien and I knew what we were doing. James and Lea had proven that they could work together as well with how they’d handled the situation at Sweet’s place in Menifee. These things combined meant that the four of us were the most experienced and battle tested of his subordinates. Of the eighteen survivors in our group, the four of us were like zombie apocalypse commandoes compared to the others… well, save for Sweet himself. Sweet could probably have handled going to the damn store on his own, but then again he probably would have taken longer if he ran into the same sort of horde Chien and I encountered.

As it stood, what we had planned was to take the Suburban once more, and essentially go about it the way that we did at Big 5 – stick the SUV in the door and put stuff around the sides so the zombies couldn’t wander in. Stater Brothers was going to be an interesting new animal though, considering that we had no doubts about there being zombies inside the store, and perhaps a decent number of them. That, combined with the fact that the store had two automatic sliding doors, made this building an all new challenge for us to overcome. The good news was that there was some way to lock those sliding doors, so we could… in theory… make it so one side of the store was secure while the other was plugged with the SUV.

At the very least, the plan called for us to stick the Suburban in the doors that were closest to the frozen food section, and work from there. We would likely have to make more than a few trips to get everything in the store, but if we managed to clear most of the zombies out of the area, we could start doing trips more frequently, and with more vehicles. If nothing else, we could probably clear the area and start using both the Suburban and the El Camino for each trip. If we did that, we might get double the supplies – though we might have to put sidings on the El Camino and use tie-down straps to keep everything from falling out. This wasn’t going to be the easiest thing that we had done so far, but it would probably have the largest pay off rations-wise. We just had to hope that everything went according to plan; rarely were things that easy.

Even so, once our plans were drawn up and it was made official that it would be just the ‘Core Four’ going – as Alice had dubbed us – Chien and I went to pick out weapons and ammunition. For ourselves we picked out the same weapons as we’d gone with last time. We could have gone for the harder hitting weapons like James and Lea had carried to Menifee, but we preferred the commonality of ammunition that ours were capable of. Once more we decided to take a crate of two thousands rounds along, but made sure we had more magazines pre-loaded than last time. Our hands were pretty torn up after having to reload so much the day before – and we knew that if there were zombies in the store… well, we weren’t exactly going to have time to be reloading a lot. Once our weapons were picked out, we loaded them and the ammunition into the SUV and started trying to think of useful weapons for Lea and James.

After a couple minutes of debating what would be best, we ended up settling for the same load-out they had taken to Menifee. We could have divvied out more of the Rugers, but considering what we were going to be doing, I thought it best to give them their maximum firepower. With the Remington, Lea would be able to hit anything, anywhere, inside the store – and I had a sniper’s perch in mind for her. Considering it was a room up a flight of stairs on the inside of the building, I wanted James to be up there with her to cover anything that might go up after her. Chien and I would be on the ground and taking on whatever we could from there. Now… one might think it odd to put our actual close-range expert in a position where it wasn’t as likely for him to encounter any enemies, but it was done for more than one reason. The first and most obvious was that Lea needed someone as backup for close range. The second was that he was primarily skilled at hand to hand combat; he could use guns and other projectile weapons, but not usually to their full ability at range.

What did that have to do with anything, as far as keeping him back? Well… we didn’t actually have any weapons for him that were suited to his skill set. The slicer was good for him because it was melee, but any melee weapon would have been just as good – albeit less iconic, I suppose. His hands were his primary weapons, but against zombies that could be more of a hazard than an advantage. All it would take for something to go horribly wrong was taking too long to deal with one zombie – or worse, only being able to ring their bells and stun them with just your bare hands.

James had a hell of a punch, I’d felt it when sparring with him a couple times. It was like getting hit by a damned meteor when he got you just right. Down side was that to hit with that much power, without gloves on, could really screw up his hands. If he had something to cushion his hands just a little though… and maybe something a little more solid to deliver the blow… I was sure he could take zombies down left and right. Maybe Big 5 had something. We would have to go back there at some point to check, if nothing else. I knew they had gloves, but not if they had the right kind for this. Only James really knew that.

These things in mind, Chien and I began loading the rest of the weapons and ammunition into the Suburban. The plan was a rough one, but at least we had one this time. We knew where we were going, knew what we might encounter, and knew what we needed to do. This run we were going to grab some of the frozen foods, store them, and then we’d be back for the refrigerated goods next time. I doubted we’d have space for everything in this one store, but we wouldn’t worry about that until we ran out of space in the school cafeteria’s freezer. Once that happened we would worry about where to get another.