Amsterdam apocalypse, p.9
Amsterdam Apocalypse, page 9
“Where on God's green earth were you?” Mace Mundy asked as Jacob rounded the building and caught sight of the main entrance. Like a bouncer at a popular nightclub, Mundy stood in the doorway, his shape filling most of the opening.
“Just needed a moment. What's happened?”
Mundy stood aside and he entered the church. “Dr. Tee needs you. Something to do with Jimmy.”
Jacob descended the steps into the basement, not waiting for Mundy to catch up. The lights were low—created by candles since the power was still off—and family members gathered close together inside classrooms that had been turned into recovery areas. People without families or injured loved ones moved from room to room, checking bandages, temperatures, and trying to ensure proper hydration.
Jacob turned a corner and entered one of the rooms. On a cot, with his son and wife standing over him, Jimmy Cundiff lay sleeping. Or was he dead? Jacob frowned. Jimmy was still their best and probably only shot at repairing Amsterdam's damaged power supply. With it up and running, ensuring survival during the winter months would be far easier.
Dr. Tee pulled back the bandage covering her husband's shoulder as Jacob approached. “It's showing signs of infection—and he's not the only one.”
Jacob looked at the wound. He wasn't a doctor or a medic, but he'd seen more than a few gunshot wounds over the years, beginning with his experiences during the war on terror in Afghanistan. Unlike many of the others in nearby rooms, Jimmy had been lucky and the bullet had passed through, missing bones and vital organs entirely. In a fully operational hospital, his survival and full recovery were all but certain. But here, in a facility designed for classes and community events, nothing was for sure.
“What do we need to do?”
Dr. Tee, her normal stoic professionalism on hold and her face revealing the concern of a wife and mother, turned and motioned for him to follow her into the hallway. Mundy stood in the doorway and stepped aside as they passed, closing the door silently and following them to a far corner next to an emergency exit. Jacob and Mundy leaned in close, as it was obvious that Dr. Tee was trying to avoid being overheard.
“If even half of the injured survive the next few hours, we'll be running low on key provisions by morning. We designed the medical stores for long-term treatment, not mass casualties. With infections becoming an obvious problem, I'm going to need things—antibiotics, IV fluids—things that have expiration dates and that we couldn't store here long term.”
Jacob closed his eyes and hung his head. Was it really possible that only half of the men injured would survive? Of course it was. One doctor and a handful of amateur aids were treating them in a church; they needed to be in a hospital with an entire staff of trained professionals. “What are you suggesting?”
“Hospitals are well stocked. I have colleagues and friends who can help us get what we need to save more of these people, but we'll need to move fast.”
Mundy shook his head. “A hospital? That means going into Roanoke and you know what happened in the cities and bigger suburbs during the pandemic. We'd never even get close.”
“Yes. I remember very well what happened. I was there and it took days for things to get out of control.”
“This time's different. It took days for things to get out of control because it took days for people to realize what they were dealing with. We won't have that advantage this time.”
Jacob nodded. “He's right. Deyerle confirmed Naff's story about Carvins Cove Dam being ruptured and that means most of North Roanoke has probably been evacuated. Those people had to go somewhere. Things are going to go bad faster than they did last time. There's going to be a lot of scared and desperate people out there.”
“All the more reason why we need to go now,” Dr. Tee said. “I don't like it anymore than you do, but if we're going to save these people—our friends and family—we don't have a choice.”
Jacob examined the floor. The prospect of leaving Amsterdam wasn't a pleasant one. Here they had the advantage of knowing the area, the numbers and supplies to protect it, and the anonymity that an obscure location provided. But marching into a more developed area full of scared people with only the things they could carry meant an end to all of that. And with few cars working, moving fast enough to reach their destination while remaining undetected would be impossible.
He shrugged. What other choice did they have? “Alright. Get a list of what we need together. I'll go with Deyerle and a few others.”
Dr. Tee shook her head. “That's not going to work. You're not going to be able to just walk in and take what you need. These facilities will still be operating in whatever ways they can. I need to come with you and talk to them—professional to professional—tell them what we're dealing with and what we need.”
“You can't leave. Not now. These people won't survive without care—”
“I'll get everyone I can stabilized and to a point where the others can give them what they need for the time being.”
“What if someone's condition changes for the worse? What are they going to do in your absence?”
“If anyone takes a turn for the worse they're going to need the things we've gone to get. Without those items, I won't be able to do anything for them. That's why it's imperative that we go now.”
Jacob shrugged again. “Alright. Alright.”
“Jacob,” Mundy began, “you can't—”
“Doesn't sound like there's much of a choice, does there?”
Mundy ceded the point with a frown.
“Then let's forget about the reasons why we can't,” Jacob pushed past him and headed for the stairs, “and focus on how we're going to.”
Chapter Sixteen
9:05 p.m.
Event +16:05 hours
“I'm not trying to be the only naysayer around here, but all of these places are located right in the middle of some very heavily populated areas,” Mundy said, looking over the map spread out on Jacob's desk. On it, the locations of Roanoke's two hospitals as well as any medical offices listed in the phone book as surgery providers had been marked. “You're going to attract a lot of attention if you drive up armed to the teeth and just start taking things. Whatever police or neighborhood watches are out aren't going to respond kindly. You might get in okay, but getting out's going to be the trick.”
Jacob rubbed his eyes and sighed. “The offices will be better than the hospitals because people might not know exactly where they are or what they do. So they won't be a major focal point.”
“What about this one here?” A.J. Deyerle said, pointing to a red marker next to one of the area's interstates. “Roanoke Ambulatory Surgery. It's only a hundred yards or so off the interstate. We could take two vehicles, park them at different places along the route, and walk the rest of the way in. Hopefully by the time we get there, we'll have been able to shake any attention our arrival might draw. And if we're cut off from one vehicle, we have another close by. One way in, another way out.”
“That'll take forever,” Mundy said. “We don't have time for a covert approach. We need to get there and get back.”
“But we can't be getting stuck there either, bubba. That won't do anyone any good. I say we take small arms only, take two vehicles, and do just what I said. We can run in two groups. One goes directly in while the other makes rounds to be sure we're undetected. It could work.”
“It could,” Dr. Tee said, arriving at the open office door, “but that's a lot of work for nothing. There's someplace you're forgetting and a good friend of mine is in charge of it.”
Jacob, Mundy, and Deyerle watched as she studied the map for a moment and placed her finger on a spot that hadn't been marked. “The old Veteran's Administration hospital.”
Jacob thought about it for a moment. “Wasn't that place used during the pandemic as an isolation ward? I thought they shut it down after that—said it was too costly to sterilize and repair it because of the age of the buildings. The place has been there since—what—World War I?”
“Only the outer buildings were used for isolation and yes, almost all of them have been abandoned and condemned. But it's a big campus and the main facility is still operational. You just wouldn't know that unless you had a reason to go there. The VA system was largely shut down after the pandemic and the patients who were left were sent to other not-for-profit providers. But the facilities are still fully stocked. It's part of the government's Federal Recovery Plan. A colleague and good friend of our family—Dr. Tim Staunton—is the director. He'll be there and so will his staff, preparing for whatever's coming in the days ahead. That's been their focus since the end of the pandemic—trying to ensure we never see a repeat performance.”
Deyerle studied the map. “I forgot all about that place. It's been years, but I spent a lot of time there before it was closed.”
“I did my residency and spent several years earlier in my career there when the place was operating. It's huge… similar to a college campus.”
“Yeah. I've been there, too,” Jacob said. “After the war and before the pandemic. It's easily over two hundred acres and there's gotta be at least a dozen buildings surrounding the main facility. It's practically a city unto itself. Last time I was there, though, they had their own police force and everything.”
“They still do, but it's small from what I've been told. I'm sure a few of us could make our way in without any trouble. All I need to do is get to Dr. Staunton and tell him what's happened. He knows Jimmy. He's been to our house on multiple occasions. Once he knows what's happened and what I'm trying to do, I'm sure he'll give me whatever I need.”
Mundy looked over the map and traced some of the roads around the facility with his finger. “You still have the problem of getting there, though. The place is right on the edge of the old Signal Hill neighborhoods.” He looked at the floor and shifted his feet uncomfortably. “They're… uhh… they're—”
“Say it,” Dr. Tee said, looking at him. “Black neighborhoods.”
“That wasn't what I was gonna say.”
“Sure it is. And you're right even if I don't like hearing it. Signal Hill has always been rough, but it's become even worse since the pandemic and the riots.”
“It's been several years, but as I recall, the neighborhoods are a few blocks away,” Jacob said. “If we come in through the more industrialized area to the west, we should be able to make a slow and easy approach without anyone even knowing it. The only houses we'd pass coming from that direction would be quite a ways back. Anyone who saw us would never be able to follow us that far without a vehicle of their own and even then, we'd see 'em coming for sure.”
“That's still going to take time,” Mundy said. “And if they see you going in, they'll be waiting for you coming out.”
“We're wasting a lot of time here,” Jacob said, standing. “By the time we're done trying to figure out the perfect approach and finally realize there isn't one, we could have gone and come back. If we go in one way, we'll come out another like A.J. said. We can make our exit through Signal Hill and be gone before anyone has time to come out after us.”
“That's assuming they're not already burning everything within a two mile radius to the ground.”
“I have another idea,” Deyerle said. “You said this place was part of a Federal Recovery Plan, right?”
“Yes.”
“How do you know that?”
“Dr. Staunton told us.”
“And what does this recovery plan include exactly?”
“Dr. Staunton gave a series of in-services to the major medical providers in the area last year. The federal government has been planning for another national-scale disaster since 2015. It's some sort of Five Category Regional Response Plan, but fully stocked and ready-to-go emergency medical facilities are the only part I know anything about, and one of them is the former VA Medical Center in Roanoke.”
“How much you want to bet military deployments are in there somewhere, as well?”
“Let's not go all conspiratard,” Mundy said. “We have enough problems without imagining more.”
“Who’s imagining things? You don't think they're capable of declaring martial law in a situation like this? That's what it was invented for.”
“Unless they're going to be rolling through here anytime soon, so what?”
“So if part of the government response involves military deployments then they won't think too much about a military vehicle approaching them—from the air.”
Everyone looked at Deyerle.
“The helicopter Naff just used to cut us to pieces. That was a Bell UH-1—better known as a Huey. You know that, Jacob. You've been in them. The Army uses them all the time to transport troops, supplies—you name it. I'm sure that one in particular is some sort of military surplus, but that's irrelevant. What matters is where it came from and I can only think of one place—”
“CMG Aviation in Coaling Hollow,” Jacob interrupted.
“Bingo, bubba.”
“That place has been closed for years now. It never came back after the economic collapse that accompanied the pandemic.”
“That's only sort of true. It never came back as a heliport, but it has been operated as a car garage for a few years now. The owner—a guy named Gary—did some work on my old Willys a few times and the last time I was by there, he still had a back lot full of the old CMG helicopters and what not. He and his missus lived there and everything. He's like me—a survivalist type—likes his guns, his ammo, stockpiling all kinds of stuff—never throws anything away, and he likes talking about it. They even had an underground bunker they'd built from concrete culverts there. He showed it to me once. Now, how much do you want to bet me that he shot his mouth off to Buddy Naff as well and that's the first place Naff went when Carvins Cove was evacuated?”
Mundy raised his eyebrows. “Makes sense. I remember Gary. If loose lips sink ships then he could take down a small navy. And Carvins Cove isn't far from there—a few miles maybe.”
Jacob leaned over and placed his hands on his desk. “So you're saying they landed that bird in Coaling Hollow when they left here and that we should go and get it and fly it to the medical center?”
“That's exactly what I'm saying. Naff did some damage to us, but we did more to him. By my count, there were only five of his men who made it out of here—three in an old passenger van and two in the Huey. If they're holed up at the old heliport, it shouldn't be that hard for us to get the drop on them. They'd never expect us to come back at them so fast. Especially when there's so few of them left.”
Jacob nodded. “And obviously, one of Naff's leftovers is the pilot.”
“Yup. And if we bust in there, he should be looking to make some deals to keep himself alive. We take four or five guys to get the bird. Meanwhile, Dr. Tee stays here and keeps everyone cared for. When we return, she jumps in and we head for the VA—”
“And they'll think we're the Army coming in until we're on the ground. Then—if this Dr. Staunton is as agreeable as you say, Dr. Tee—we'll be back in no time with everything we need.”
Mundy shook his head. “There's a whole lot of ifs in there. BUT I like this idea better than driving in through Signal Hill, and if it works, we'll have a helicopter at our disposal.”
“Then it's settled,” Jacob said, picking up his Kalashnikov from the corner of the room. “Get four men armed and ready, A.J. We leave in ten minutes.”
Chapter Seventeen
9:32 p.m.
Event +16:32 hours
The warm breeze created by the speed of the Nissan 850 pickup blew Jacob's hair as he sat with his arm out the passenger window, looking quietly over the half-mile stretch of highway known as Amsterdam's “Front Door.” Flashlight beams illuminated the movements of men as they gathered the bodies of Amsterdam's fallen and carried them to the large plot beside the interstate that would serve as a graveyard. Soon they would erect wood or stone markers and the place would forever serve as a reminder of the short, but costly battle fought earlier that evening.
Deyerle slowed the pickup as they crossed beneath the concrete overpass where they had joined the battle and then wound their way around the barriers erected to prevent enemy forces from entering. In and along the side of the road, the bodies of Buddy Naff and his men lay where they'd fallen. Eventually Amsterdam's residents would clean up the mess and see to it that the bodies were burned, but not until they'd buried and honored their own.
Would there be any legal fallout from what had happened if the world somehow found its way back to normal in the coming days? It was hard to imagine, but that was part of Jacob's job as an elected member of the Directorate and its chosen spokesman. They hadn't faced any repercussions from the government after their first war with Naff and his militias. Why should he expect to this time?
He dismissed the thought as they passed an abandoned truck stop and approached a darkened stoplight. Ahead of them, an empty four-lane highway stretched into the distance. From here on, they were outside the borders of Amsterdam and would only be able to rely on each other and the gear they'd brought with them. Deyerle slowed and brought the truck to a stop in the middle of the road. “What's the plan, bubba?”
Jacob craned his neck. Coaling Hollow was only sparsely populated and he needed to figure out a way that would get them to their destination without attracting any more attention than necessary. “Hang a right and take us up into the industrial area. We'll park at the end and access the railroad tracks from there. Then we can walk the rest of the way to the heliport.”
Deyerle nodded and shifted the truck back into gear, passing some rundown restaurants and grocery stores as he sped up shortly and then slowed again. He turned between two stores and pressed the accelerator, climbing a steep hill. At the top, gray metal buildings that housed a variety of industrial companies sat unoccupied, as the contractors, factory workers, and drivers did not report to work that morning.
