by Dana Fredsti
They moved into the living room.
“That’s a nasty neck wound,” he said. “Keep her head elevated.”
“Gunroom?” Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “Most people just have rec rooms.”
“Depends on your definition of recreation, I guess.”
Gabriel just nodded. I noticed hollows under his eyes and a slight sallow tone to his skin.
“You don’t look so good,” I said, and I reached up and touched his face. It felt hot and clammy. Sweat trickled down from his hairline.
“Just tired.” He grabbed my hand, moving it away. I hoped he was okay.
The bathroom was impeccably clean—not what I’d come to expect from a single man. There wasn’t anything that hinted at the presence of a resident—or even visiting—female.
Thick black towels, hung from wooden pegs on the walls, matched the toilet. A razor lay on the sink, carefully lined up next to a bar of soap in a black stone soap dish. A stack of Military History magazines sat in a large basket next to the toilet, along with a how-to book on building cob houses, a copy of The Anarchist’s Cookbook, and the unabridged edition of Stephen King’s The Stand.
Interesting selection of reading material.
I noted the address label on the back of one of the magazines. It read “Nathan Smith.”
That’s got to be an alias.
Finishing up, I washed my hands, then took advantage of the hot water, soap, and one of the black washcloths to try and get the dried blood off of my face and neck. I also wanted to wipe away any trace of Jake’s saliva. Whatever he was, I didn’t want that shit on my skin.
I glanced in the mirror on the medicine cabinet above the sink.
Yup, I look about as crappy as I feel. My lips were chapped and pale, their natural rose color leached out by stress and exhaustion. The circles under my eyes showed me what I’d look like when I was old... if I lived that long.
There was a knock on the door. I grabbed my weapons belt from where I’d dumped it on the floor in my haste to get my pants down. Then I turned the knob and found Lil practically dancing in the hallway. She dashed past, shutting the door behind her.
I went back up the hall at a more leisurely pace, glancing curiously at the closed door to what had to be the gunroom as I went by.
Every home should have one, right? I thought. You don’t get a spotlight in Architectural Digest without one.
Across the hall was an open door leading to what had to be his office. A brief glance inside told me that our host was a Mac man all the way. Whatever he did for a living, he could afford all the latest models, too.
Reaching the living room, I looked around more carefully. It had been furnished by Redwoods’R’Us, with burl tables of various shapes and sizes scattered about. The large couch was redwood and leather, with a matching chair and ottoman tucked in an alcove boasting a curved window that must have cost a fortune.
There were books everywhere—on shelves, on the tables, under the tables, in stacks next to the tables. All subjects, from lavish photo books to more how-to manuals, paperback fiction, biographies—a little bit of everything.
Not a bad place to be holed up in during the apocalypse.
They’d settled Kaitlyn on the large brown leather couch, head resting on two thick pillows. She shivered despite the two plaid blankets they had draped over her body. She didn’t look good, but at least she was conscious.
Our host knelt by her side, checking out her wound. He glanced up when I walked into the room.
“Ashley, right?”
I nodded.
“Yup, that’s me.” I couldn’t resist it. “Nathan, right?”
Up went his eyebrow. Then back down again.
“You’ve been reading my mail.”
Lil came back from the bathroom, and Gabriel immediately vanished down the hall. I hoped our host had plenty of toilet paper stashed away.
Nathan nodded toward me.
“Ashley, I need you to go into the kitchen and get a glass of water. You’ll find the glasses above the sink. There’s salt and baking soda in the cupboard to the right of the stove. Put two pinches of salt and one of soda in the water.” By way of explanation he added, “It’ll help with the shock, so hurry.”
Normally someone giving me orders sets my back up, but this guy had already pulled our asses—not to mention Binkey and Doodle’s furry butts—out of the fire. Besides, while he talked like someone who expected people to obey him without question, it didn’t seem like a power trip. More like he knew what needed to be done.
Everything was where he said it would be—Nathan was frighteningly organized. I made the mixture as quickly as possible and trotted back into the living room.
Nathan took the glass with a nod and held the rim up to Kaitlyn’s mouth, supporting her head with his other hand so she wouldn’t choke. She took a sip and made a face, almost spitting it out, but Nathan kept the glass in place.
“It may taste like shit,” he said, “but it’ll help. Sip it slowly.” Using a combination of coaxing and bullying, he got her to drink most of the mixture.
Kai elbowed me out of the way, carrying the granddaddy of all first-aid kits. Working as quickly and efficiently as any nurse, Nathan proceeded to disinfect, salve, and then bandage up Kaitlyn’s wound.
She stayed quiet throughout, drifting in and out of consciousness, still shivering every now and then. Nathan finished his first-aid and moved away from the couch. Mack followed him and spoke in a hushed tone.
“Is she going to be okay?”
Nathan hesitated. He looked at Kaitlyn and then motioned Mack over by the front door before responding.
“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It’s a good thing you stopped the bleeding when you did, or she would have died. But she’s lost a lot of blood and isn’t responding as well as I’d like. She needs better medical attention than I can give her. And even then, I’d say it’s iffy.”
“But she’s a wild card.” Tony flopped down on the ground. “We heal faster than other people.”
“Then that’s probably the only reason she’s not dead,” Nathan responded bluntly.
“So we have to get back to Big Red.” Mack looked at the rest of us. “Right?”
Nathan shook his head.
“You were lucky to get here. Getting out isn’t going to be as easy, at least until the zombies that followed you here decide to look for another diner.”
Gabriel reappeared, looking almost back to normal. Amazing what a trip to the bathroom can do. He took off his helmet and wiped sweat and blood from his brow.
“That’s not going to happen,” he said. “As long as those things know there’s food in here, they’ll try their best to get in until they rot where they stand or break down the fence.”
Nathan stared at him for a few seconds, expression unreadable. He strode over to the living room window, pulled the curtains aside and looked out. Still expressionless he dropped the curtains back into place and turned back toward the rest of us.
Another pause before he slammed a fist against the wall and growled.
“I can’t fucking believe you people led them here,” he said. “FedEx and UPS can’t find me, even with Google Maps, but you guys? You zero in on the place like you’ve got a goddamn homing beacon.”
“Sorry to have inconvenienced you.” Gabriel didn’t sound sorry at all.
Nathan snorted.
“But how about you?” Lil asked. She looked at Nathan with a mixture of hero worship and curiosity. “How do you get back here without them following you?”
Nathan’s expression softened fractionally.
“I know all the back roads, like the logging track I showed you two. I also have a little bit of experience when it comes to finding and losing people.”
“I’m guessing ex-military,” Gentry said. “Special Forces.”
“Something like that,” Nathan admitted. “And glad to be out of it.” He shook his head again. “Christ. Fucking zombies.”
“You don�
�t seem too surprised.” Gabriel folded his arms across his chest.
Nathan shrugged.
“I’m not. I saw a lot of weird shit over the years, and had my suspicions about a few things my superiors tried to cover up. And that was before I had a close encounter with one of those things.”
“You were bit?” Lil’s eyes got big.
Nathan nodded.
“Yeah. More than once.”
No wonder he hadn’t blinked when we told him about wild cards.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened,” he said, and he glared at Gabriel and Gentry. “Why the hell weren’t you people better prepared for it?” His gaze swept the room to take us all in.
As grateful as I was for the use of his bathroom, this still pissed me off.
“You people?” I said. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You people who have been covering this up all these years,” he said, as if that was supposed to explain everything. “You can’t tell me you’re not part of it.”
“Dude, until we nearly died and became mutant zombie fighters, we were just minding our own businesses,” Kai said, glaring at him. “Just like y—well, just like normal people. This is all new to us, man, so don’t mix us in with your ‘the truth is out there’ bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit,” Gabriel said.
Everybody looked at him.
“He’s right.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
* * *
“Big of you to admit it,” Nathan said.
“But we don’t have time to talk about it right now,” Gabriel continued. “We have to get out of here, get back to the campus. Judging from what Ash and Lil experienced in town, and what we’ve seen here, the situation is worse than we’d thought. It’s only a matter of time before the zombies make it past the perimeter of the quarantine zone.
“That, or the government nukes us.” He turned back to Nathan. “Do you have a vehicle we can borrow?”
“You want me to turn over my only means of transportation, after you out me to a horde of hungry flesh-eaters.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Actually, I’d prefer it if you’d drive. By your own admission, you know the roads.”
“Jesus jumped-up Christ in a sidecar.” Nathan laughed, but there was no real amusement in the sound. “I suppose you’d like to raid my weapons supply, while you’re at it.”
We all looked at one another.
“You got extra ammo for M-4s?” Gentry asked hopefully.
“What do you think?”
Nathan was the master of the non-answer. But after a moment, he nodded, looking like he’d just stepped in zombie shit.
“Come on,” he said. “You’re gonna need help lugging stuff.”
“So we get to see the gunroom?” Tony nodded. “Sweet.”
Nathan rolled his eyes.
“Where are those bad-ass cheerleaders when you need ’em?”
He strode down the hall, and I admit that I was hot on his heels, curious as hell to see what the gunroom looked like. I had a picture in my head of Burt Gummer’s basement, racks and cases of guns and ammo lining the walls.
The image wasn’t far off.
Turned out the door opened onto a staircase. That descended into a room with a concrete floor and walls, and what looked like an ammo tumbler on a workbench in one corner.
When the hell did I start recognizing things like ammo tumblers, I asked myself. I wondered if Nathan had an elephant gun. He had a lot of stuff California law enforcement would frown upon, although it was probably legal in Texas.
Gabriel looked around, eyebrows raised. He could have been reading my mind.
“I hope you realize you’re in possession of some highly illegal materiel,” he said.
“Depends on who you talk to,” Nathan replied coolly. “Let’s just say I’ve earned the right to bear arms.”
“And flamethrowers?” Gentry slapped one of two green tanks attached to a metal and canvas frame, with what looked like a high-tech gasoline hose and nozzle. “Military issue, no less.”
Nathan shrugged.
“It’s impolite to question a man who’s about to loan you munitions,” he said.
Way to evade, I thought. But I agreed with him. He didn’t have to help us. We’d led a shitload of zombies to his front door. And while I’m not usually an anarchist, as far as I was concerned, he had the right to all the privacy he wanted.
Gentry, Kai, and Tony wandered the room, oohing and ahhing over weaponry the way my mom waxed enthusiastic over luxury yarns in her local knitting store. Even Lil was looking around with an expression of curiosity mixed with awe.
“Okay, people,” Nathan said. “Stop gawking and get your asses over here.” He pointed to one of the modular storage containers, neatly labeled “M-4.”
“There’s your ammo.” He pointed to another drawer. “Magazines.” Then he opened a locked metal cabinet that held half a dozen M-4s. “Extra rifles.”
Nathan pulled a couple of firearms out of another cabinet. I have no idea what type they were, but from the looks on Gabriel and Gentry’s faces, they had to be a weapons lover’s wet dream.
“How the hell did you get K-11s?” Gentry was practically drooling.
Nathan just gave a lopsided grin.
I noticed a second door at the far end of the room.
“Does that go outside?” I asked.
Nathan nodded.
“Up to the carport. Always have a backup exit.”
“He’s one of those survivalists,” Tony observed.
“Pretty smart there, Captain Obvious,” I said.
He flipped me the bird.
Nathan handed out M-4s and let us replenish our ammo pouches with rounds from the drawer. I felt like a pirate running my fingers through treasure as I scooped out enough rounds to stuff my pouch. I shoved a couple of magazines into my pockets.
I was, as they say, loaded for zombies. Okay, maybe they don’t say that, but I do.
“We should leave this way,” Nathan gestured toward the back exit, addressing Gabriel. “If we can get to my truck without the zombies seeing us, we stand a better chance of making it out of here.”
Gabriel frowned.
“Whoever opens the gate will be ripped to pieces.”
“Like I said,” Nathan replied, “Always have two exits.” He grabbed the flamethrower. “And a little extra firepower.”
Gabriel just gazed at him while Tony and Gentry grinned at one another, high on testosterone. Nathan held up a couple of backpacks.
“These are already full. Who wants ’em?”
Kai took both.
“I’ll give one to Mack,” he said, “and help him bring Kaitlyn down.” He stuffed a few more rounds in his pouch and headed back up the stairs.
Nathan shut the gun lockers, then turned to me.
“Ashley, can you grab the first-aid kit?”
“You mean that big honkin’ mini-fridge?”
He grinned.
“Yeah, that’s the one. But don’t worry, it’s lighter than it looks.” He held up the flamethrower. “Any of you know how to use this?”
Tony reluctantly shook his head. I could see he was itching to try it out, though.
Gentry stepped forward.
“I’ll take it.” Nathan held the tanks while Gentry slipped it on over his shoulders and fastened the canvas buckle around his waist.
“You look like a Ghostbuster,” Tony said enviously.
I grinned involuntarily as I ran back upstairs. I’d been thinking the same thing myself.
I almost ran into Mack and Kai helping Kaitlyn down the hall. She was supporting a little of her own weight now, but there was something about her skin tone and the tight, fragile look around her eyes that still didn’t bode well.
“They’re all over the fence,” Kai said, jerking his head toward the front window. “It’s only a matter of time before they get past the razor wire—probably because it’ll be
clogged with zombie flesh. We’d better get out of here fast, or we’re not going anywhere.”
“I’ll be right down,” I said. As soon as they cleared the hall and started down the stairs, I dashed to the living room and grabbed the first-aid kit. It really did weigh a lot less than you’d think.
Either that, or I can lift a lot more than I think.
Before I went back downstairs, I couldn’t resist a peek out the living room window. When I saw what was out there, I wished I’d had better restraint. Zombies lined the fence, two and three deep, more pushing against those in front as they reached the top of the slope. They were packed against it so thickly, I couldn’t see anything beyond.
Even though the house seemed to be soundproofed, I could hear their keening, as if it was distant. How the hell Nathan expected to get the truck past them was anyone’s guess. I assumed he had a plan.
Letting the curtain drop, I hurried back downstairs, carrying the first-aid kit. Everyone but Gabriel and Nathan had already headed out the back door. Gabriel came forward to meet me, and he put a hand on my shoulder.
“You okay with that thing?”
“I’m fine,” I said. I don’t know if it was possible seeing how I was wearing body armor, but I swear I felt heat from his hand pouring into my body.
Nathan cleared his throat.
“We need to get out of here,” he said. “Take this.” He tossed a full duffle bag to Gabriel, who took his hand from my shoulder just in time to catch it.
I shot Nathan a dirty look as we passed him. But he just shut the door and followed us down a short cement hall to another staircase, this one leading upward to a metal door which opened into the back of the canvas carport.
Out here the moaning of the zombies was loud, coming from everywhere. I recognized the big-ass truck Nathan had driven the night he’d saved me and Lil, and somehow I didn’t think he was driving it to compensate for a small penis.
Kaitlyn was already settled into the bed of the truck near the cab. It was lined with furniture pads. Mack settled in next to her, wearing one of Nathan’s backpacks. Gentry climbed in, too, and hefted the flamethrower. Lil started to join them, but I put a hand on her arm.
“How about you go in the cab, and I’ll help Mack with Kaitlyn.”