CHAPTER EIGHTY-EIGHT
PENNSYLVANIA ARMY NATIONAL GUARD
COMPANY D, 1-103RD ARMOR
Lieutenant Colonel Dietrich set his walkie-talkie down and stared at it for five long seconds. Across the table from him, Captain Rice stood in silence, not daring to intrude into this moment. He could see the fires that rage were lighting under the colonel’s skin. His commanding officer’s mouth was a tight knife slash; his nostrils flared wide like a charging bull.
Rice tried to make himself invisible. He expected Dietrich to suddenly dash everything off the table, or hurl the walkie-talkie the length of the room. But the colonel said and did nothing as the seconds splintered off the clock and fell like debris on the floor.
Dietrich walked over to the window and looked out at the storm.
“The wind’s dropping,” he said. His tone was quiet, calm, and that surprised Rice, who had heard the full exchange between Dietrich and that crazy female cop in Stebbins.
“Yes, sir,” said Rice. “Weather service says that we’ve seen the worst of it. The storm front is turning north by east. Winds are down to—”
“How soon before we can get some birds in the air?” asked Dietrich.
Instead of directly answering, Rice made a call, spoke to another captain, listened, and hung up.
“As soon as the wind drops another fifteen miles per hour, sir. We’re still at the outer range of unsafe. ”
Dietrich nodded. He clasped his hands behind his back and continued to stare out the window.
“That cop is well intentioned,” he said quietly, “but she does not understand what’s at stake. ”
Rice cleared his throat. Very quietly. “No sir. She was totally out of line. Probably stress … or the onset of the disease. ”
“Probably,” agreed Dietrich coldly.
“Your orders, sir?”
Dietrich said nothing for almost twenty seconds. Rice waited him out. Then the colonel turned.
“Sound draws these things, correct?”
“The infected, sir? Yes, that’s what we’ve heard from our people on the ground. ”
Dietrich nodded. “Then here is what I want to do. ”
Rice listened in silence. Dietrich’s plan was as solid as it was brutal.
As Rice hurried out of the office to set things in motion he said a silent prayer for the people in Stebbins.
CHAPTER EIGHTY-NINE
STEBBINS LITTLE SCHOOL
“Are you sure this will work?” asked JT as Trout set up the satellite equipment.
“Goat said it would, and he knows this stuff pretty well,” said Trout. “I’m no damn good at all in a fight. I do this or I go hide in a closet. ” He handed the unit to JT and showed him how to work it, then he stepped away and ran his fingers through his wet hair and straightened his soaked shirt. “How do I look?”
“Like a drowned golden retriever,” said Dez.
“Thanks. ”
“But a good-looking drowned golden retriever,” she said, giving him a small, crooked grin.
Trout flashed her a brilliant smile. “That’s probably the nicest thing you’ve said to me in two years. ”