Deadlocked 6

by A. R. Wise

"It's the Noah's Ark principle," said William. "Think of the disease as the flood. You wipe everything out, and the only things that live are what you want to survive. It's a rebirth of sorts."

  "Man, there's another word you need to check the definition on," said Hero. "I wouldn't call a worldwide extinction a rebirth."

  "You people are beyond fucked up," I said. "I take it only the members of The Electorate were going to be safe. Right?"

  William nodded.

  I looked at the forlorn soldier and smirked, "That means you and your friends were on the kill list too."

  "Is that true?" asked the young man.

  Again, William nodded. "We wanted the sins of the past to stay there. Our children would never know about what we did. The truth would die with us."

  "Except you wouldn't die," I said. "That's the whole reason for the Dawns. Don't get fucking altruistic on me, pal. There's no changing the fact that you're the bad guy here. You're the terrorist."

  "If I could, I'd create a cure." William looked up at me. "If I had a sample of your blood, I'd get to work right now on creating a cure for this. I never wanted to hurt anyone. I fought against the Noah Initiative."

  "We don't have time for this," I said and looked at Hero. "Let's go. We need to go stop Jerald from killing the Rollers. You ready?"

  There was a sadness in Hero's eyes that I wasn't expecting to see. He gave me a forced smile and said, "I'm not going, babe. This hero's journey is over." He looked down and held his leg out.

  There was a wound on his ankle.

  "What are you talking about?" I asked. "What's that?"

  "I got bit back there," he pointed at the entrance to the facility. "When I was holding our friend up, one of the zombies got to my ankle."

  "No," I said. "That can't be right. I shot him. He didn't bite you." It was as if I could keep it from being true if I just didn't believe him.

  "Sorry, partner, but I'm going to have to sit this one out. If this new virus is as dangerous as they say, I can't go running out there."

  "No," I said again and rushed to inspect his ankle. "Are you sure this isn't from something else?" My heart raced and I felt queasy as I stared at the punctures in his skin.

  "Would it matter if it was?" he asked. "I'm infected either way. We walked through a sea of their blood. The virus has got to be in me now."

  I started to breathe heavy, as if my breath couldn't sustain me. Grief swelled and I felt my throat start to close. Then I stood up and faced William. I wasn't willing to let sorrow defeat me.

  "You can cure him."

  William's eyes widened and he shook his head. "What do you mean? I can't. I'm sorry, but if he was bit then it would be best for us to just shoot him now."

  I marched to him, determined and scowling. He gripped the canvas bag with the bombs in it tight to his chest and cowered. "Don't hit me!"

  "I'm not going to hit you, idiot. Put the bag down."

  He did as I told him to and then continued to cower from me, like a child from a parent's belt. "I can't cure him. We don't have a cure. I've been trying to tell you that."

  I put the syringe of infected blood into my left pocket and then retrieved a fresh one. I pulled it out of the wrapper and handed it to him. "Here. Take my blood."

  His hands were shaking and we had to kneel down for him to steady himself enough to get the needle in my vein. "I can try, but there's no guarantee I'll be able to do it. I need weeks, maybe even months to replicate the antibodies. You're asking for a miracle if you think I'll be able to save him. He's got a day or two at most before the virus kills him."

  "Don't worry," I said as I watched him finish drawing blood. "I've got faith in you." Then I grabbed his arm with one hand as I pulled out the syringe of infected blood with the other. I stabbed the needle into his neck. He was terrified, but couldn't stop me from injecting the blood into him. He fell back and pressed his hand over where I'd stuck him.

  "You bitch! What did you do?"

  I took the bag of bombs and stood up. "I gave you some incentive. Now get to work." Then I turned and walked back to Hero. I put my hand on the back of his neck and pulled him down so that I could kiss his forehead. "You'll be fine. My Hero doesn't die like this. Understand? You'll be okay." I couldn't stem the tears, and neither could he.

  We pressed our foreheads together and embraced. "You'd better save them," he said to me, his voice stilted by grief. "I'm depending on you, partner."

  "I won't let you down."

  He let me go and wiped away his tears. "I know you won’t."

  CHAPTER NINETEEN - ONE LAST STAND

  Laura Conrad

  "Do we have enough partitions to close off the circle?" I asked.

  Billy was struggling to stand. He was using a cane, and tried to pretend his back wasn't bothering him, but he winced every time he moved. "Yes. I told them to go ahead and close us off. We're going to be swarmed any minute. I didn't want to give them a way in."

  "I agree," I said, then looked up at Dante who was perched in the Crow's Nest. "How's it looking?"

  "They're coming," said Dante. "And there's a bunch of them."

  "How far are they?"

  Then I heard Annie's rifle shoot from the top of the steeple. "Nevermind," I said and looked at Billy. "They're about three hundred yards off."

  "How do you know?" asked Billy.

  "Annie starts shooting when they're about that far out."

  He whistled and looked up at the steeple. "You did a good job on that one."

  I saw Abe and put my hand on his shoulder. "How much ammunition do we have left?"

  "Enough," said Abe. "As long as the wall holds up we should be fine."

  "We need to be careful not to let them pile up outside the circle," said Billy. "I've seen them crawl over stacks of bodies to get over fences before. We need to keep them as far from the walls as we can."

  "Okay," I said. "Abe, get the word out. Tell everyone to take up position and keep the zombies off the walls. Don't let them get within ten yards of the circle. Understood?"

  "You got it, Captain." The big guy ran off and started grabbing the other Rollers to tell them the plan.

  Billy took my hand. "I'm with you one thousand percent, Captain."

  I squeezed his hand and smiled. "Thank you."

  The Rollers continued to construct the partition wall. Time was a factor, so we weren't able to carefully construct them like we would have normally. Instead, we used razorwire to bind the metal pieces together where we could, and even started to nail a few odd pieces into each other with plywood between them. All of the Rollers that normally went on patrols, who had better weapons training than the rest of us, were sent to the top of the trucks to prepare for battle. Abe was in charge of doling out ammunition, and Dustin was securing backup defenses by setting hand-to-hand weapons out by all of the areas where the trucks were separated by more than a foot.

  Everyone was doing exactly what they were supposed to, and it looked as if we'd done this a hundred times. No one looked frightened, and I suddenly felt safer than I had in years. When we worked together, it felt like we were invincible.

  That's when the organ music started playing.

  "What the fuck is that?" asked Billy as he stared up at the loud music. It seemed to be coming from everywhere.

  "There're speakers," said Abe as he pointed at a black box attached to a nearby roof. I looked around and saw similar boxes attached to various buildings all around us.

  "And cameras," said Billy as he pointed to one on a different building.

  Then the singing began. It was a man with a raspy voice singing Danny Boy. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared up in wonder. They began to murmur in confusion and a few even started to laugh.

  "Don't pay attention to it," I said. "Focus on the zombies. They're trying to distract us."

  The horde approached, and the Rollers were quick to subdue them. The gunfire drowned out the song, although the eerie organ continued to shake the walls arou
nd us. The man singing stopped in the middle of a verse and said, "That was a great shot." That's when I realized that whoever was singing was also watching us through the cameras.

  He continued his song, and a sense of dread sank into me. He was toying with us, and wasn't worried that we'd win. Somehow, we'd fallen into his trap.

  Zombies pushed in on us, but the Rollers were able to keep them at bay. The gunfire was relentless, but none of the creatures managed to get close to our circle. Before the bastard finished his song, we'd slaughtered the army of creatures.

  Our victory was stunted as the man in the speakers began to mock us with a slow clap. "Look at how they cling to their guns and religion. Good show, boys. Good show."

  "Who the fuck is that?" asked Billy.

  "I guess you think you won."

  Everyone stared up at the speakers as if they might be able to catch a glimpse of our tormenter on a rooftop somewhere.

  "Trouble is, I haven't even started yet. I will say, you surprised me by killing the Wolves I had stationed there. They were good men. It's a shame you did that."

  "Go fuck yourself," yelled Billy, then he turned to me. "Do you think he can hear us?"

  If he could, he didn't respond, and continued. "They were just there as backup if our triggers didn't go off, but I don't think you've got anything to worry about. I've never had a problem with remotely opening the containers in the past. I remember flying over Chicago, when the virus first began, clicking my controller to release the zombies into the streets. That was a fun day."

  "Who are you?" I screamed out my question.

  "I'm General Scott," he answered, apparently able to hear us. "I'm the one that's been following you around for so long. I have each and every one of your camping spots mapped out. I've been studying you for a long time, my dear."

  I recognized his name from the file in Ben's backpack.

  "Then why didn't you kill us before?" I asked.

  "You had something I needed. We were waiting to find the one in your group that's immune to the virus, but now we don't have to wait anymore. Now we found a new source, and we can stop playing this game."

  The church door swung open and I looked back to see Ben standing at the top of the steps. He stared up at the speakers as he limped out to join us.

  "Speak of the devil," said Scott. "There's our man now."

  "You want me?" asked Ben. "I'm yours. Come and get me."

  "Here's the deal, Rollers," said Jerald. "You need to send that man out of your little camp, and I'll forget all about the hundreds of innocent people you killed in your war with us. We'll let bygones be bygones, all for one man's life. That's as good a deal as you've ever been given. Send him out, and I'll let you live."

  "And if we don't?" I asked.

  He sighed. "Then you'll all die. Right now you're sitting on top of a military complex that's buried underground. We've been filling it with zombies for over a decade. They're in stasis, and when they wake up they're going to be hungry as hell. You don't have enough ammunition to kill them all. You, and everyone you love will die in the most horrific way you can imagine. These creatures will rip you apart. They'll eat your children. And all this will happen because you wanted to save one man's life. Does that make much sense to you?"

  "Let him take me," said Ben as he struggled to come down the stairs. "Don't let anyone die because of me."

  I watched the stranger approach. The Rollers around me stared down at us, silent and judging. I was keenly aware that they were waiting for my decision.

  Ben came to stand in front of Billy and me. "Don't put anyone in danger over me. You don't even know me."

  "I doubt he's got the best of intentions for you, pal," said Billy.

  Ben nodded and winked. "I don't have the best of intentions for him either. This is one of the guys I was sent to kill."

  The Rollers watched us, and none of them said a word. Our group had been split in two recently, and my decision here was liable to widen the gap. There were Rollers that wanted Billy to lead them into war, and others that wanted nothing but peace. If I refused the general's demands, I'd be putting all of us at risk. I thought about the children inside the church, and the families that I'd be risking here. It didn't seem worth it.

  "Open the wall," said Ben. "Send me out there. I'm ready. Don't risk your lives for me."

  I looked at Billy, and he nodded at me. "I'll support you, whatever you decide."

  I walked over to the nearest truck and climbed the ladder. The sun was setting over the mountains to the west, and the orange glow of dusk dominated the sky. Behind me, past the sea of corpses, blazed a massive wildfire that licked at the darkening horizon. The Rollers stared at me, respectfully silent, waiting for my command.

  "Annie," I yelled up to my daughter. "Do me a favor and shut this mother fucker up."

  She took aim and fired five times, and five speakers exploded into sparks. Jerald yelled out at us as she searched for the sixth and final speaker.

  "You're making a mistake! Don't be stupid," said Jerald before Annie located the final box. She hit her mark, and the General was silenced.

  Some of the Rollers looked scared, but none of them argued. They looked to me for guidance.

  I gathered my composure to rally the troops. "You're not the type of people that need motivational speeches to do the right thing. And you're not the type of people that would end one person's life just to save your own. You're not the type of people that would give in to the demands of a man like that." I pointed at one of the mangled speakers. "I know that, because if you were I wouldn't be willing to call you my family. Today, we've been given an opportunity to show them just exactly what type of people the High Rollers are."

  A hollow clang erupted from nearby. I didn't know what it was, or where it came from, but it echoed through the empty streets.

  "The High Rollers are the type of people that fight for their families. They're the type of people that never stand down, and would never watch as an innocent person is hurt. The High Rollers are the type of people that will be there to help another in their time of need. They're the type of people that aren't afraid to stand up for those who can't stand for themselves. They're the type of people that would stand in front of the Devil himself and tell him to do his worst before they'd bow to his will."

  Billy cheered after each sentence, and others followed his lead.

  I continued, bolstered by the applause. "The High Rollers are the type of people that will listen to the demands of a man like that, a killer who's responsible for countless deaths, a man with hate in his heart and a shitty singing voice," the Rollers laughed as they cheered. "They'll listen to a man like that, and as he has his gun pointed at us, we'll scream out, so that God himself can hear our defiance. We'll scream out, 'Go fuck yourself.'"

  The Rollers cheered as I turned and faced one of the cameras. "General Jerald Scott, let me say this loud and clear," I breathed in deep so that I could scream as loud as possible. "Go fuck yourself!"

  Everyone followed my lead and we relished giving Jerald the finger. Dante was on the crow's nest above me and I laughed as he pulled down his pants to moon the camera.

  I climbed down from the truck as the Rollers rushed around, preparing for whatever Jerald was about to throw at us. More of the hollow clanging sounds shook the ground and I assumed that Jerald was releasing his undead army.

  Ben put his hand on my shoulder and shook his head. "You didn't have to do this."

  "Yes I did. I don't know if I told you yet, but we're the good guys in this fight. This is what we do."

  "Then at least give me a gun. Let me fight with you."

  "You've got it." I looked for Abe and then waved him over. "Get our newest Roller a gun. It's time for his initiation."

  "Sure thing, Captain," said Abe before running off to do as I asked.

  "You did the right thing," said Billy as I walked past him, toward the church.

  "Thanks. Hopefully everyone feels that way."

>   I saw Clyde and Jill at the open door of the church. "How's it looking in there? Do you have the equipment you need? We might have a lot of wounded here soon."

  Clyde shrugged and sighed. "We'll make do."

  I got up next to them and spoke quietly. "Are you pissed? I know you'd rather avoid a fight like this."

  Clyde frowned. "No way, Laura. I would've been pissed if you sent Ben out to die."

  "Oh thank God, I thought you were going to rip me a new one for this."

  Clyde put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. "I'd follow you through the gates of Hell, Laura. You know that." He paused and looked at Jill. "I'll leave you two to speak."

  "I don't think this is the right time," said Jill.

  "Yes it is," said Clyde before walking away. "Tell her."

  "What is it, Jill?" I asked.

  She took a deep breath and looked like she was about to start crying. "I don't know why he wants me to tell you this now. It's not that important. This doesn't seem like the right time to…"

  "Just tell me what's going on, honey."

  "I'm pregnant."

  I stared in wide-eyed amazement at her. Hero and Jill had been trying to get pregnant for years, and the revelation that they'd finally been successful overjoyed me. "Oh my God, Jill! That's fantastic."

  "I know," she said and couldn't stop smiling. She was so happy that she'd started to cry and was embarrassed as she wiped away a tear. "I'm so excited."

  "Does Hero know?"

  "No, not yet. I just found out." She wiped away another tear and apologized for crying.

  "He's going to be so excited. Oh, Jill, he's going to make a great father. Honey, this is such great news."

  "Thanks," she said. "I don't know why Clyde wanted me to tell you that now. It seems like a bad time to bring that up."

  I glanced over Jill's shoulder and saw Clyde watching us. I knew exactly why he wanted Jill to tell me now, and I received his message loud and clear.

  It was the right decision to protect Ben from Jerald, but it was putting families at risk. What Clyde was trying to tell me was that it was time for the High Rollers to disband. I'd been reluctant to let the group split apart because I didn't want to leave my daughters, but what I failed to realize was that I was a soldier too. Even if I wanted peace, I would never have it. By forcing the Rollers to stay together, I'd put innocent children into a situation that might kill them.