"They keep repeating that," said Naruto, pointing at the radio.
"Huh," said Omar, sitting down and then reaching for the controls. He hesitated for a moment before hitting the big red button on the microphone. "Roger that. Understood. Presence of infected? Over."
"Thank goodness someone's still out there. No Infected inside. Heavy presence of Infected outside. We shot a few from the roof. Unfortunately that drew heavy Infected presence in the area. Too heavy to just break out ourselves."
"Roof access?" asked Omar. "Over."
"Roger roof access but unable to roof-hop as surrounding buildings distant, over."
"Roger that. Hold on, I have to discuss this with other survivors, over," said Omar before setting the microphone down and regarding the four kids.
"What?" asked Naruto.
"There's a risk involved," said Omar. "They MAY have an infected and not know about it. There is ALWAYS the possibility of mechanical failure and we have to abandon the blimp. Since this puts you guys at risk too - I'm asking for your vote."
"They need rescue, so we should," said Naruto.
Sakura fidgeted for a moment after everyone started looking at her. "Uhm. What do YOU think, Sasuke?"
"Determine what skills they have, what equipment they can bring, and condition of the survivors." Sasuke held up the gun he'd taken a liking to. "If nothing else, I can get some practice in."
Hinata fidgeted like Sakura for a moment before she spoke. "R-rescue."
Omar nodded and turned back to the radio, picking up the microphone and keying it again. "Will attempt pickup. Be ready for rooftop extraction. Need your precise location and numbers - medical conditions and any other status."
"We're in 'Bizarre Guns' on Oddie Boulevard in Reno," responded the besieged. "Four individuals, over."
Omar paused, glanced at the four kids, raised an eyebrow. "Please repeat. This is the name of a GUN store? As in supplies of ammo and weapons? Over."
"Roger that, but if we shoot any infected it draws more and they remain in area. Over."
"Affirm," said Omar. "Okay, need details. Will use line and cargo lift. Have things ready to go. Over."
"Roger that. You got a helicopter or something? Over."
"Something," said Omar. "Stand by."
"We aren't employees, actually," said Michelle. "We're customers. We came here expecting to find the owners or employees but they were all missing. No notes or anything."
"So - why go to a store," asked the young girl over the radio. "Uhm, over?"
"Because - zombie apocalypse. Gun store. A location you can defend yourself from," answered Michelle. "Anything with really large windows wouldn't be a good idea. Over."
"There are some zombies out there, in the shade of the 'Mickie D' where it's not all burned out," said Chris, briefly looking out of the corner of the window. "What the hell?"
"What is it?" asked Michelle.
"One of them is still wearing makeup and the shirt of a clown costume," answered Chris.
"Probably got bit at a kids' party or something," said Michelle. "Just don't make any quick moves there."
"Hell, I know the drill. Fast movement means prey means zombies trying to break in. Don't know how well those bars over the windows are going to hold up. Taking chances in a zombie apocalypse means you're on the menu." Chris sighed as she eased away from the window.
Michelle keyed the microphone again. "I heard some transmissions earlier in the week from up in Arnold on the California side. There might be survivors there but it's been two days since I heard anything. Over."
"'Arnold'?" asked the girl.
"Mainly a campgrounds community from what I gather," said Michelle. "The ones who were talking had barricaded themselves in a True Value up there. Ov- what's that sound?"
"Something's making noise and those zombies across the street are shambling this way," warned Chris. "Though they're looking up?"
The man's voice from earlier came on. "We're over you now. Lowering a winch to your roof. Get everything you want to take with you NOW. There's a fire going to the East of your position."
A voice from the roof shouted down. "Mel? Chris? You wouldn't believe what the calvary is driving!"
"Okay, keep them throwing knives of yours hidden," said Omar. "We don't know what these guys are like. They might decide to take over, they might be idiots that'll get us all killed, or they might like gangsta-rap and drive us all nuts with that stuff."
"Uhm, what's..." began Naruto.
"Never mind," said Omar as he worked the winch. "They might have killed the owners of this shop for that matter. What I'm saying is - we don't know anything about 'em. For all I know they've escaped from a prison work crew and took shelter here."
"Okay, so don't trust them until we know otherwise," summed up Sakura.
"Hn," said Sasuke.
"I'm going back to the cockpit and keeping an eye on that fire," said Omar. "Hinata, you seem responsible. You run the winch."
"Ah, yes," said Hinata.
It was a small blimp, if you compared it to the Goodyear one. Maybe half the size, if that. The engines were propellors, it wasn't able to manage nearly the altitude of the bigger more professional ones. It was also noisy and had absolutely no chance of stopping a bullet in a firefight.
In a zombie apocalypse though - it was a thing of beauty.
It could easily go twice as fast as the zombies and completely ignore ground-based hazards. Omar Gutierrez had, in fact, told his passengers about going low enough to attract a crowd of zombies and then leading the chasers to a canal. He had just been aiming to give a group of survivors in San Francisco a better chance but he wasn't going to complain about the ones that had drowned.
He also told them that he didn't think that group of survivors had made it as he'd gone back later and not seen any trace of them.
Four additional people and supplies crowded things up considerably.
"Dang, that fire's spreading pretty bad," noted Naruto as they ascended.
"No Fire Department to contain anything," said one of the women who'd been rescued. "This is it though? Four kids, an old man, and us?"
"Still a few other stations out there, but they're slowly going off-the-air," said Sakura, letting herself be put in the spokesman role. For now at least. "That's why Gutierrez-san says he's not broadcasting his location."
"What? Why not?" asked one of the other women.
"Because the person who spread this thing is still out there," said Sakura.
There were a few startled looks at that, it apparently not being an angle the four had considered.
"Fine. Where are we going?" asked the first woman.
"Near Cathey's Valley in California, small airstrip, privately held," explained Sakura.
"She's got a point," said the other woman. "What DO we know about this plague?"
Silence for a moment before Sakura spoke up. She'd seen the videos and news broadcasts, probably the same ones these folk had. "H7D3. Two viruses which were basically created to spread this disease. One an airborne plague that was spread through mass transit and areas a lot of people went through. The second the actual zombie plague which is bloodborne. Mainly spread through bites or open wounds. It can be killed by bleach or other disinfecting agents when it is outside the human body. Last reports from your Center for Disease Control stated it was a genetically altered strain of the rabies virus."
"My, you're a smart little girl, aren't you?" asked one of the women.
"I was top kunoichi of my class," said Sakura.
"Top... well, certainly," said the woman. "So... your parents are ah. Never mind."
The other woman spoke up. "That's just what the officials said."
Sakura remained out of the way of the three women, eyed the single adult male of the rescuees, and wondered if this culture would ever make any sense to her.
"Okay, skills," said Omar as the ship's rotors finally finished swishing to a stop.
"Bathroom?" asked the other adult guy.
"Porta-johns that way," indicated Omar.
"No restrooms?" asked one of the women, apparently reacting as if the end times had truly just arrived.
"Yeah, but I want to make sure you're decontaminated first," said Omar.
"The water cut off two days ago," said one of the women. "We REALLY need some-"
"WATER!" yelled the man's voice off by the restroom. "PRAISE BE!"
"Guess he found the decontam shower I set up over there," said Omar thoughtfully. "Sasuke? Can you do lookout duties?"
"Me?" asked Sasuke.
"Best aim with that rifle," said Omar. "Just want someone watching - we were slower than normal with the extra load."
"Hn," agreed Sasuke, taking the rifle and then scampering up the side of the trailer to get a decent viewing spot.
"I'll help him!" volunteered Sakura.
Omar watched the three women who were now halfway towards the area with the porta-johns and the decontam shower. "Actually, Sakura. I'd prefer you and Hinata to keep an eye on the women. No offense, but you seem a lot more mature than they do."
"Why would I take offense at that?" asked Sakura. She shrugged though and made a 'follow me' gesture to Hinata.
"What mission do you got for me?" asked Naruto eagerly.
"Keep an eye on that guy," said Omar. "I got to unload, start refueling and settle the airship down for overnight. Want to go over the engine too. I know I do a preflight but today's was kinda rushed."
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(Posted Fri, 05 Jun 2015 03:24)
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