Gerald scooped up the remote and shut off the the speakers.

"Jordon, we need to get Daniel and Jaycee and get out of town.  Savannah, Jacksonville, and Macon are all only a couple hours away, and Atlanta only four.  This disease could arrive here very quickly.  Especially with the large airports in Jacksonville and Atlanta."

"Yeah, you call them and get supplies organized.  I'll go prep the P.L.O.T. Armor and our assault crossbows for the evacuation."

"Cars will run out of fuel quickly.  I will get Daniel to bring Clydesdales for riding and hauling.  We can get a jumpstart using vehicles before switching to the horses.  Does that old semi out back run yet?"

"Yes, I was planning on using it to transport things around here.  I just needed to get my CDL, but I can drive it.  Also, we should grab our swords, they might slow a zombie more than a gun."

"Alright, get moving!"

"Right."

Gerald picked up his cellphone and called Daniel.

"Hey Gerald, you calling about tonight?"

"You need to turn on the news."

"Okay."

Gerald heard some background noise as Daniel flicked on the news.

"What the hell?"

"Language."

"Sorry, there ain't no way that is true."

"I once knew the lady reporting it on the small local channel we saw it on.  This is one hundred percent real.  You need to get some of your best Clydesdales on a trailer along with your best horse wagon.  Once the vehicles run out of gas we'll need to cover ground the old fashioned way.  Also, avoiding any major road is a must.  Meet us over here, we'll put our P.L.O.T. Armor on so that is can protect us.  The innermost layer will keep any disease or radiation out of our system, so that should help."

"Okay, let me round everything up.  I have a quite a few MREs around.  Should I bring them?"

"Yes, we can eat them anytime we can not get fresh meat.  Jordon and I will bring equipment to attempt to study the virus.  You're vetrinarian background will be very important.  We need to check the disease and make sure animals can not carry it before we eat any meat.  We should also see if it survives in water, and if boiling will kill it if so."

"I know someone who has likely already done so.  Let me make this a three way call."

After a second, a third person picked up.

"I assume you are calling about the zombies?"

"Yes, Henry.  I have another friend on the phone, we're getting out of Georgia.  What makes the zombies tick?"

"Well, these zombies hae been infected with a mutated hybrid of rabies and mad cow disease.  There are also trace amounts of radiation in the virus.  It is possible someone was trying to weaponize the virus.  The mind of the zombies has likely deteriorated at a rapid rate prior to turning.  It can be passed by body fluids, like blood, so fighting them is not recommended.  They are slow and clumsy, a hold over from both original viruses.  Thankfully, not all animals can carry the disease.  Possibly because of the mad cow disease, it seems only cows, sheep, goats, minks, and deer, who can carry a form of mad cow, can carry the disease.  However, they show no symptoms.  Avoid these sources of meat at all costs.  It can survive in water, but boiling will kill it."

"How do you guys know so much?"

"That is classified."

"I have a Lv. 3 security clearance," Gerald replied, "Spill."

"We discovered the disease a month ago in the Middle East.  We have been studying it ever since.  The news I got was that one of the CDC facilities studying the disease was bombed by terrorists, releasing the virus.  From there all hell broke loose."

"Thanks, I hope you make it out," Daniel replied.

"I can assure I won't.  My facility is surronded.  It is only a matter of time now."

"I'll pray for you," Daniel answered.

The phone line cut off with a loud bleep.

"Daniel?"

"Yeah, I'm still here Gerald.  A cell tower must have gone down somehow."

"We need to go."

"I've been rounding up horses the whole time.  I will be at the lab in thirty."

"Remember avoid the main roads."

"You got it.  See you then."

Gerald started rushing to get supplies, anything canned, which was quite a bit, was shoved into some of the old crates left behind when the place had shuttered an moved to the loading dock.  Some other things he grabbed were any tools of any kind he could his hands on, the equipment for a mobile lab, and every last scrap of Ultitanium he could find.  He forgot to ask Daniel to bring he camping gear, hopefully he remembered.  Gerald then went and found the gas tank.  He collected a sample for a quick test to make sure the semi would be able to run on it.  He discovered it would, and began fueling.

Daniel and Jaycee arrived and pulled around back.

"You fueling up that semi?"

"Yeah."

"I'll drive.  I got my CDL."

"Hey Daniel, we can take turns so that we don't stop," Jordon replied, "I just finished prepping the P.L.O.T. Armor.  I stripped out the thermal, and a quite a few unnecessary systems.  All that is left are the internal radios and the climate control.  If we come in contact with a zombie we can stand inside a fire for a few minutes to sterilize the armor.  The climate control will work for five minutes inside of a fire before it can no longer keep you cool and non-smokey.  It should only take three to sterilize."

"Good idea," Gerald answered.

"This is why you guys are the scientists, I never would have thought of that."

"Shouldn't we get moving?" Jaycee inquired.

"Yes, I have a nice U.S. map in the back," Gerald replied.

Everone followed him inside to take a look at the map.

"Up there in Montana, the Mississippi River widens out into a lake, how far away is that?" Jaycee asked.

"About two thousand miles as the crow flies.  We'll be on horseback before we reach there, but we could make it to Wyoming.  What is the range of you pickup, Daniel?" Jordon questioned.

"Two thousand miles, it has a massive tank in the truck bed that should give it the range of that semi."

"Good, we will need to take a route that avoids major cities and highways, get out the smaller state roadmaps and we can go from there," Gerald replied.

After a few hours they had their route planned.  It would take about thirty hours to reach their intial destination, a sparsely populated area in Wyoming.  From there, they would camp, before moving everything to horse carriage before trecking all the way to Fort Peck Lake in Northeast Montana.  On the way there Gerald and Jordon would work on plans for a zombie proof fort.  It was currently Monday, optimistically they would reach their destination by Friday.