we’d built walls and had over a hundred people living there. That’s when the major showed up and said he was point man for a government relief force. When the choppers flew in the next day, we opened the gates, and that’s when we met General Barnes.”
Jack hid his excitement at hearing the name, encouraging his captive to continue by asking, “The medical guy who was helping the president?”
“I guess,” the prisoner shook his head as he explained, “but he ain’t working for the president now. He told us that he could keep the infected off us as long as we cooperated, and we didn’t really have a choice once we saw the valley fill up with thousands of the monsters. Within a few weeks we were farming for Barnes and his cronies. They were a bunch of assholes, so I jumped at the chance to join one of the militia platoons they were forming.”
The still-shivering man stared at his feet as he whispered, “I shouldn’ta done that.”
Jack waited a moment before gently prodding, “Why do you say that?”
“That crazy bastard, Barnes, he’s forcing every settlement he finds to surrender to him or he sends in his monster-army to kill everyone; I’ve seen the remains of one of the fights.”
The prisoner grew quiet again until Jack asked, “How did all that lead you to this bridge?”
“I can’t say for sure, but Barnes is moving that army of his through southern Kentucky right now. My guess is that he wants to make sure he can use bridges like this one to get over the Ohio; the infected don’t like water.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed, “w e’ve noticed that too. So you think he’s bringing the whole army this way?”
“He’s definitely headed north according to the scuttlebutt going around; word is he wants to get into Indiana and Ohio for some reason.”
“The whole army headed this way?” Jack inquired. “Should I get my people out of the area?”
The prisoner’s eyes grew large, “Hell yes! You guys n eed to run as fast as you can—find an island or something. I’m telling ya’, you’ve never seen anything like this in your life. These creatures ain’t human anymore, and I swear there’s a million of ‘em. Well, not that many, but definitely tens of thousands . . . probably over a hundred thousand. And none of ‘em are damaged either. He’s got herds of cattle following along to keep the creature’s fed; live people are hard to find in these parts.”
“Well,” Jack promised, “w e’ll run north and look for a place to hide. How long until this army gets here?”
The prisoner thought about that for a moment before shrugging, “Five, maybe six days. Could take a week, but I wouldn’t take that chance if I was you.”
Jack looked thoughtful before declaring, “I appreciate your honesty.”
“W hat are you gonna do with us?” the frightened captive asked as Jack stood to walk away.
The tall soldier looked down at the cold, weary-looking militiaman, “I’ll let you know.”
Over the course of the next two hours all of the prisoners were interrogated, and all of them willingly shared everything they knew about Barnes and his army of infected. The Blackhawk crew was despondent, both with families still living at Fort Dietrick, but when Jack told them about the pilots already being held in Fort Wayne they agreed to answer every question asked of them. All of the stories shared by the captives matched closely enough that everyone on the team was convinced that Barnes was definitely headed north through Kentucky, and this bridge figured into his plans. What they couldn’t be sure of, however, was if the Brandenburg area was the only crossing point. Nobody could really envision how much space more than a hundred thousand hunters on the march would occupy, but Jack knew from history that forces of that size had often advanced on broad fronts, along multiple roads.
With the information they had available , they decided to unpack the main radio and share what they
Jack hid his excitement at hearing the name, encouraging his captive to continue by asking, “The medical guy who was helping the president?”
“I guess,” the prisoner shook his head as he explained, “but he ain’t working for the president now. He told us that he could keep the infected off us as long as we cooperated, and we didn’t really have a choice once we saw the valley fill up with thousands of the monsters. Within a few weeks we were farming for Barnes and his cronies. They were a bunch of assholes, so I jumped at the chance to join one of the militia platoons they were forming.”
The still-shivering man stared at his feet as he whispered, “I shouldn’ta done that.”
Jack waited a moment before gently prodding, “Why do you say that?”
“That crazy bastard, Barnes, he’s forcing every settlement he finds to surrender to him or he sends in his monster-army to kill everyone; I’ve seen the remains of one of the fights.”
The prisoner grew quiet again until Jack asked, “How did all that lead you to this bridge?”
“I can’t say for sure, but Barnes is moving that army of his through southern Kentucky right now. My guess is that he wants to make sure he can use bridges like this one to get over the Ohio; the infected don’t like water.”
“Yeah,” Jack agreed, “w e’ve noticed that too. So you think he’s bringing the whole army this way?”
“He’s definitely headed north according to the scuttlebutt going around; word is he wants to get into Indiana and Ohio for some reason.”
“The whole army headed this way?” Jack inquired. “Should I get my people out of the area?”
The prisoner’s eyes grew large, “Hell yes! You guys n eed to run as fast as you can—find an island or something. I’m telling ya’, you’ve never seen anything like this in your life. These creatures ain’t human anymore, and I swear there’s a million of ‘em. Well, not that many, but definitely tens of thousands . . . probably over a hundred thousand. And none of ‘em are damaged either. He’s got herds of cattle following along to keep the creature’s fed; live people are hard to find in these parts.”
“Well,” Jack promised, “w e’ll run north and look for a place to hide. How long until this army gets here?”
The prisoner thought about that for a moment before shrugging, “Five, maybe six days. Could take a week, but I wouldn’t take that chance if I was you.”
Jack looked thoughtful before declaring, “I appreciate your honesty.”
“W hat are you gonna do with us?” the frightened captive asked as Jack stood to walk away.
The tall soldier looked down at the cold, weary-looking militiaman, “I’ll let you know.”
Over the course of the next two hours all of the prisoners were interrogated, and all of them willingly shared everything they knew about Barnes and his army of infected. The Blackhawk crew was despondent, both with families still living at Fort Dietrick, but when Jack told them about the pilots already being held in Fort Wayne they agreed to answer every question asked of them. All of the stories shared by the captives matched closely enough that everyone on the team was convinced that Barnes was definitely headed north through Kentucky, and this bridge figured into his plans. What they couldn’t be sure of, however, was if the Brandenburg area was the only crossing point. Nobody could really envision how much space more than a hundred thousand hunters on the march would occupy, but Jack knew from history that forces of that size had often advanced on broad fronts, along multiple roads.
With the information they had available , they decided to unpack the main radio and share what they
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