by M. D. Massey
No answer. I attempted to get the horses to move closer so I could see more clearly, but they seemed intent on staying as far away as possible. The rain was obscuring my line of sight, and I couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. His head hung low, and I could see his chubby jowls bulging out from beneath. Then, it spoke.
“Scratch—they did something to me, Scratch. Something god-awful. I feel like I’m not all here, but like there’s something else inside with me.” He tilted his head up at me slightly, and his eyes told me that this wasn’t Donnie Sims, at least, not any longer. Despite the rain, his words seemed to echo across the gravel lot. “It’s like there’s less of me, but more. You gotta kill me, Scratch—please.”
The horses became even more skittish at the sound of his voice. It was like two voices speaking from the same mouth, one Donnie’s normal, everyday voice, and another one, low and menacing overlaid on top of the first. That second voice reminded me of the roar of a kiln, insistent and manifold in tone and volume.
“Donnie, I need to know what happened at the settlement. Is Kara okay?”
He chuckled, or rather, two voices did. It was like an echo of Donnie’s voice hit a half second after his own voice, every syllable hitting in a double rhythm. “Kara? Kara’s fine. But look at me, Scratch. I’m dead, but I’m still alive. This thing they put inside me—it keeps telling me to do things. I don’t want to do those things, Scratch. I tried to put a bullet in my head, but it won’t let me end it. You gotta help me—please kill me, I’m begging you.”
“Donnie, how many are left?”
Donnie’s head rolled around bonelessly for a moment, and then it popped up a hair off center and went stock-still. I caught the barest glimpse of his eyes locked on mine through the pounding rain.
Suddenly I heard a splash to my left, and swiveled my head around to see a zombie limping up on my flank. But before it could reach me, out of the corner of my eye I saw Donnie’s mouth open up, so wide—wider than a snake eating a rat, wider than the gates of hell. And he screamed, screeching like nothing I’ve ever heard before or since. At that, the zombie cringed, literally cringed away, crawling off as if it were a dog that had been badly scolded by its master.
I turned back to Donnie, drew my pistol, and fired. He tilted his head, almost too fast for the eye to see, and a red crease opened up across his temple. “Ah, ah, ah.” Donnie’s fat finger wagged at me, and now it was just the second voice taunting me, alone and separate from Donnie’s own. At once, Donnie’s body rolled off the hood of the vehicle, vanishing from sight.
I waited for him to reappear from behind the car, but could see little in the driving rain. I waited a minute maybe, and finally heard that second voice off in the distance. “No damaging the merchandise, Sullivan. I was provided this wretched man’s body in payment for a task not yet done, and I’ll not give it up so soon.” It cackled then, a sick, high carrion call of a laugh that sent a chill down my back. A moment later, I heard the voice one last time fading off into the rain. “One last word of advice, Scratch—don’t forget to look up!”
After that strange bit of advice, nothing remained but the sound of pouring rain and thunder in the distance. I took one last look around the place, then spurred the horse and headed after Gabby.
I followed the road to where I’d told Gabby to wait for me, but she was nowhere to be found. The rain had obscured any chance of spotting her trail, so I decided to head for the rendezvous point at the airstrip, trusting to chance and the kid’s plucky attitude that she’d make it okay. Well, that and a few million dollars’ worth of government research. I wondered if the she’d even needed me to rescue her from that trailer roof, or if in fact it was the other way around. That was something I’d need to talk with her about, once we had time to sit and chat.
I kept to the road until it intersected with another road that ran east-west, just north of the old military base’s boundaries. Then, I headed east for another four miles until I was certain I was parallel to the airstrip, and turned south through what had once been an upper-middle-class neighborhood of sprawling country estates. As I rode down the cracked and pitted blacktop, I spotted a few abandoned Beemers and Benzes, along with the odd swimming pool or two. Houses like this out in the middle of nowhere were usually a scavenging goldmine, and I made a mental note to return after reaching the Facility to look for supplies, especially for clean water and ammo.
Of course, I had no idea what Captain Perez had stockpiled at this mysterious facility of hers. Heck, I didn’t even know if her story was real or not, but it was all I had to go on, and all the hope I could muster for saving Kara depended on it being true. Firepower or no, I had little chance of surviving up against that pack as a stock human. I’d still try no matter what, but after seeing firsthand what sort of damage a ‘thrope could take and still keep on swinging, I knew that I’d need every advantage I could get.
But the doc’s whole plan about creating a team of super soldiers, well… that was almost more science fiction than I was willing to believe, even after seeing the world succumb to a zombie and monster apocalypse. Almost. Sure, everything that’d happened since the bombs dropped flew in the face of logic and scientific fact, and I’d only come to believe in zombies, vampires, and werewolves because I’d seen it with my own eyes. But all this mutant avenger shit—it was more than a little hard to swallow.
Maybe it was because I didn’t want to get my hopes up, and maybe it was because I didn’t want it to be true. Maybe the alternative, a long, slow retreat into human extinction, was the more acceptable option. And maybe I just didn’t want to have anything to do with whatever crazy shit the military had cooked up at the expense of other, better men and women who’d likely gone before me. Maybe I didn’t want or need that on my conscience.
But if the doc could prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that she could give me an edge, one that wouldn’t jeopardize the rest of humanity in the process, I’d take it without any hesitation. And if it turned out that the new and improved me posed a threat to the human race, or that Captain Perez’s research was a threat, I wanted to be close to it so I could stop it. I’d have no qualms about doing the deed when and if the time came to make that call; at least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
FOUR
VIRTUE
GABBY WAS WAITING FOR ME at the airfield, just as we’d planned. There were a few small buildings and some ConEx containers nearby, so she’d wisely hidden the animals and waited inside and out of the rain for me to show. There was a covered area outside the building, so I hitched the horses there so they could get some respite from the rain. The building itself looked like much of the mid-century military construction I was familiar with: green asphalt roof, nondescript white vinyl siding, and not much in the way of decoration or embellishment besides some WW II–era light fixtures decorating the exterior. Made me feel right at home.
Gabby walked out on the stoop of the building to greet me with narrowed eyes and pursed lips. “Bobby hasn’t made it yet.”
I shrugged. “Don’t worry too much about Bobby, he can take care of himself. We’ll wait a few more hours, and then head to this facility once the rain lets up a bit.” I followed her inside the building, and unsurprisingly the interior matched the exterior in exactly the manner I’d imagined. Dark wood-laminate paneling lined the walls, not the expensive kind you might see in an executive’s office, but the cheap stuff you’d see in a mobile home. There were military insignia painted on the walls and floor, emblems of old military units that were long dead and gone.
Gabby was staring out the window with a worried look on her face, so I decided to give us both something to do. “As long as we’re here, we may as well see if there’s anything useful around. I’ll take the south hall, and you take the north. Holler if you run into anything unexpected.” Gabby rubbed her arms before taking one last look out the window, and then she walked off to do as I asked.
I searched my end of the building, ro
om by room. Nothing much but file cabinets and assorted office supplies throughout much of the place, but I did find a roll of duct tape in one that was still serviceable. Finally, at the end of the hall I came across an officer’s office. I spied a foreign unit patch displaying the crossed kukri knives of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Gurkha Rifles hanging on the wall inside a glass display frame, along with a large curved knife in a leather sheath. I broke the glass with the butt of my HK and pulled the knife out, carefully removing it from the sheath with a tug. None the worse for wear and rust, the knife I’d found was a very serviceable kukri, likely a gift from the unit to the officer who occupied this office before the War. I sheathed it, and noting the dry rot on the leather, I also wrapped the sheath in the duct tape I’d just found in order to hold it in one piece. Once I’d stashed it in my pack, I started rifling the drawers for more goodies.
The drawers revealed nothing but a lot of paperwork and junk. There were pictures of what I assumed were the guy’s wife and kids on the desk, as well as a coffee cup that said 72 virgins, delivered courtesy of the Nightstalkers. I also noted a sizable stack of papers in the officer’s inbox on the desk; apparently, this guy hated being an office jockey. I speculated that he’d probably served in Afghanistan, was wounded, and then was relegated to REMF status after his recovery. Most soldiers choose civilian life after that, but I knew a few who just couldn’t give it up and who stayed on to serve in any capacity they could. As an afterthought, I reached down and retrieved the Gurkha insignia from the shattered glass of the display case. I carefully positioned it on the desk and silently thanked the soldier for loaning me the kukri before leaving the office.
Once back in the hallway, I heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching from the far end. I looked up to see Gabby running up to me with a smile on her face and a flush on her cheeks. “I think I found something—come check it out!” I smiled back and marched down the hall after her.
Halfway down the other hall, she turned into a room that had formerly been secured with a metal Dutch door. Must be a supply room of some sort, I thought. Whether the kid had picked the lock on the door or found the key, I had no idea, but if she could pick locks, it wouldn’t surprise me. As I walked into the room, she was rifling through an old box that said MEAL, READY-TO-EAT, IND. on the side, bubbling with excitement like a little kid, which I reminded me once again that she was.
She looked over her shoulder at me. “So, did I hit the jackpot, or what? This one says chili and macaroni, this one says chicken something or other, and this one says ‘veeg-eh-tar-ee-ahn,’ but I don’t know what that means.”
I hated to burst her bubble, but saving her from botulism poisoning ranked higher on my list of priorities than keeping her feelings intact. “Gabby, I hate to tell you this, but all those meals are going to be rancid by now. In the Texas heat, they’re only good for a year, tops.” Her face fell at that. “Aw, hell, it’s not all bad news, kid. The candy is probably still good. Ever had hard candy before?”
She shook her head. “Well, let me tell you, it’s going to be a treat. Pull out your knife and let’s start opening these up. I’m sure there’s still some candy and a few other thing we can salvage.” Within a few minutes, we’d pulled out a pile assorted hard candy and gum from the packages, as well as several packets of instant coffee, sugar, and iodized salt. The salt alone was worth its weight in ammo these days. We took it all back in the room by the entrance and sorted it on the counter, splitting it equally between us.
“Can I try some, Scratch?”
I nodded. “Sure, but let me just warn you—it’s going to be super-sweet. Sweeter than anything you’ve ever had. Just eat a couple, otherwise you’ll get a sugar rush and then crash hard after your insulin spikes.”
“What’s un-sulin?”
I laughed. “Insulin. It’s a hormone in your body that controls your blood sugar. Along with other hormones, it tells your body to use the energy you get from your food, or to store it.”
She looked at me quizzically as she popped a candy in her mouth, and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she squeezed them shut. I thought for a moment she was going to spit it out.
A moment later her eyes popped wide open. “It tastes like fruit!”
“Yeah, courtesy of pre-War tech. They could make anything in a lab back then.” I paused for a moment to let the shock of the candy wear off, and then asked her something that I’d been curious about. “So, how’d you learn to read?”
She kept sucking on the candy and shrugged. “My uncle taught me.”
I considered that. “His English must’ve been pretty good.”
The kid nodded, still enrapt with her candy. “I guess so. Some people have told me I talk funny, but doesn’t everyone?”
I nodded in agreement. “I suppose you’re right. Before the War, people from up north thought I talked funny, too. I have what’s known as a ‘Texas drawl.’ But I also found that some women from up north liked it, so it never much bothered me any.”
The kid nodded. “I want to learn how to speak like Captain Perez. She sounds smart.”
I chuckled at that. “Well, kid, there are worse things you could aspire to in a postapocalyptic world. Now, why don’t you eat some real food, before you get sick on sugar?”
She crinkled her nose at me. “Aw, man, you’re no fun.”
“Furthest thing from it, in fact.” I threw her some jerky and trail bread. “Now, eat this tasteless crap and be thankful we have real food.” She stuck her tongue out at me, and for a moment I chose to see her as just an innocent kid.
Within a few hours the rain had stopped and we decided to head out. Bobby hadn’t showed, and that had me worried, but not by much. He knew more or less where the Facility was located, so I suspected he’d catch up with us before nightfall. Gabby and I packed our horses and Donkey, and headed off in a southwesterly direction toward the heart of the installation. After a few miles, we turned off on a gravel road that ended at a gate. The fence was down beside the gate, so we went around it and continued on, roughly another half mile as the dirt track on the other side ended abruptly in an open area about fifty meters across. There was what looked like a sewer or drainage pond in the middle, with a largish metal building beside it. Odd thing to have in the middle of nowhere, but certainly not anything that would look out of the ordinary in a satellite image.
Gabby led us up to a weathered and plain metal door at the front of the barnlike structure and dismounted. “Captain Perez says this is where we’re supposed to meet her. She showed me this place before she sent me off to find you.” The kid peered around like she expected the doc to step out from behind a tree at any minute. The fact that Captain Perez wasn’t here to greet us obviously had her worried.
“Well, let’s look around a bit. She might be camped out somewhere near here, or maybe she left to scavenge supplies.” After securing the animals, I began a sweep around the drainage pond and building perimeter, and came across a trail around the backside of the building that started at what appeared to be an underground-access entrance. There were heavy metal doors made out of rusted diamond plate covering the entrance, and no visible means of unlocking or opening them. I tried to get my fingers under an edge to lift them, but they wouldn’t budge.
Gabby appeared around the other side of the building, and a tilt of her head told me she hadn’t found anything. I waved her over and nodded at the door and the trail. “There aren’t any signs of recent activity here, so I’m starting to think that the doc never made it. And, she sure didn’t come in the way we came; otherwise we’d have seen her tracks.” I pointed at the trail that went off into the trees. “My best guess is that she normally comes in through here. Let’s take that trail and see where it leads.”
We followed the trail for roughly a half mile, and it came out on an old gravel road that went in a more-or-less north-south direction. We followed it north, and within another mile I saw why Captain Perez never made it back to t
he Facility. From the tracks I found, it looked like she’d come this way and then abruptly turned tail and ran. A little further on I noticed her boot prints getting further and further apart; the heel strike and depth of the prints told me she was running from something. What exactly, I wasn’t sure yet.
A few hundred yards further, her trail veered off into the woods. About fifty yards in, we found some 5.56 shell casings and a bit of blood. So, either she got hit, or she’d hit one of her pursuers. Based on the scattered shell casings that were left along the trail it looked like she was running and gunning in retreat. Another hundred yards in and it looked as though she’d been flanked; four larger sets of footprints converged with hers, and there appeared to have been a minor struggle. Her footprints disappeared after that, leading me to believe she’d been incapacitated and carried off.
The larger footprints looked military. I chewed my lip a moment or two before deciding what to do. “Gabby, I need you to head back to the airstrip and find Bobby.”
“But what about Captain Perez? If these were punters, you’re going to need help getting her back.”
I shook my head and pointed at the tracks in front of us. “Those prints were made by military-issue boots—I’d stake my life on it. Something tells me that these aren’t just your run-of-the-mill punters, and that puts us in uncharted territory.” It’d been years since I’d seen any military personnel, and most of them had been ragtag units that were almost as bad as punters. I strongly suspected that this group had long ago gone rogue, and that getting the captain back wasn’t going to be easy.
The look on the Gabby’s face told me she didn’t want to be left behind. Despite any feelings she might have had on the matter, there was no way I was taking her with me; at least, not until I knew what this group was all about. I knelt in front of her and placed my hands on her shoulders. “Look, all I’m going to do is run a scouting mission, find out where they have her, and then I’m coming back to get you two so we can spring her together. But right now, what I need for you to do is find Bobby, and then wait for me near the Facility.”