Soldiers of Fame and Fortune Full Series Omnibus: Nobody’s Fool, Nobody Lives Forever, Nobody Drinks That Much, Nobody Remembers But Us, Ghost Walking, 12 Book series...

by Michael Todd

  As her fingers began to rapidly move over the keys, her phone buzzed. She groaned and grabbed it, putting it to her ear. “I really thought that by now you would have given up on calling me in the middle of the night.”

  Rod hissed. “Good morning to you too, bitchy jungle woman. Somebody miss their coffee today? I try to time it perfectly.”

  Holly glanced at the mug on her desk, realizing she had only taken a few sips. She grabbed it and let the hot liquid wash into her mouth. Swallowing, she shook her head. “No, but I don’t think I need a babysitter. The company must really want to get me in there.”

  As Rod cleared his throat, she heard the sounds from his balcony in the background. “Actually, I heard you had moved out of the hotel. I called there last night your time because your cell went straight to voicemail.”

  Holly grimaced. “Yeah, I forgot to charge it. Was listening to some really...valuable information about the Zoo. And yes, I moved out of the hotel. I figured I would be here for a while, whether I take the contract or not, so I wanted to feel more comfortable and at home. There was an apartment for rent down the street, and it was the right price and the right size for me.”

  Rod snickered. “They have two-thousand-square-foot lofts out there?”

  Holly rolled her eyes. “Despite what you think based on my condo in the City, I can be pretty happy with a tiny studio. Actually, I was happy in Zimbabwe in my tent...after they put a floor in it. Those ant bites nearly killed me.”

  Rod shivered. “I remember that. Not something I would recommend you ever do again.”

  Holly ran her hand over a scar on her arm. “Me either.”

  Rod yawned loudly. “So, do you need anything out there in the slums to make it more manageable? I can get a care package together.”

  Holly wanted candles, but she wasn’t about to ask Rod for them. There was always a catch. “Just that you stop your constant nagging. That’s free.”

  Rod laughed. “I got something else that’s free, but I don’t think it’s quite big enough to reach all the way out there.”

  Holly pretended to gag, then opened her mouth to say something, but there was a loud banging on her front door. “Oh, so sad, gotta go. Enjoy the hellish snow.”

  Before he could protest, Holly ended the call and jumped up from the chair, skipping toward the door. She unlocked it and flung it open, assuming it was Amanda. “Did you come up for some coff...oh.”

  The woman standing in front of her was tall, with tanned skin and bright eyes. She had a toothpick sticking out of the corner of her mouth, and a black hood pulled over her auburn hair. Her clothes were worn but not tattered, and she had a pistol on each hip. Her boots were military issue, and she looked at Holly as if she had known her for years.

  Holly cleared her throat nervously. “Sorry, I thought you were the landlord. Uh...can I help you with something? If you are here for the shop and you didn’t see her down there, she should be back soon.”

  The woman blinked and took a deep breath, walking past her into the apartment. “No, I came to see you, Holly. You might want to close the door for privacy, though.”

  Holly looked at the door and then back at the woman for a minute, contemplating whether to make a run for it, close the door, or just stand there with it open. Finally, she decided to close it. There was no reason for anyone to have an issue with her. She shut the door and walked to the center of the room, her arms crossed on her chest. “How do you know who I am? I mean, I don’t think we’ve met.”

  The woman didn’t respond, just walked over to the desk and looked down at Holly’s laptop. Something caught her eye, and she turned it toward her with a chuckle. Holly hurried over beside her. “Those are just stories I’ve been told.”

  The woman smiled. “I know. I was in the bar for the last couple of stories that JB has blabbed to everyone. This one I was a bit surprised to hear.”

  Holly looked down at the screen. “Yeah, it was a good one. Wild Bill Hickok. It definitely surprised me.”

  She smirked. “Well, you can rest assured, she’s not dead.”

  The woman turned and Holly narrowed her eyes, watching her walk across the room. “How do you know that?”

  The woman stopped and stared back at her. “Because I’m her.”

  Holly’s mouth dropped open. “I wasn’t going to publish these stories or anything if that’s what you’re thinking. Does JB know you’re here?”

  Billie kept a tight smile on her lips. “Not yet. I was really shocked that my story had been told so many times, though. But that wasn’t what caught my attention. It was the signs JB was showing.”

  Holly furrowed her brow. “I don’t understand. What signs?”

  Billie pushed her hood back and smoothed her tight ponytail. “The ones that tell me he is sick as hell.”

  Holly’s hands fell to her sides and the shock of having Wild Bill standing in her new apartment left her. She turned quickly, wrapping one arm around her waist and bringing her other hand to her mouth. She peered out the window and up the street at the FUBAR sign in the distance. She had noticed everything about JB from his hair to his scent, but it never occurred to her that he was sick.

  Holly shook her head. “Now that you say it, it kind of makes sense. The clinking when he walks, the coughing the other day, and Paula nagging him like she is his mother. God, I can’t believe that I didn’t pick up on it. I’ve been sitting there with him for days and days.”

  Wild Bill shrugged. “He’s good at hiding shit, but I have my ways of figuring it out. It would take knowing him for a long time to see that he was not okay. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

  Holly wrinkled her forehead, silently looking out the window. She felt a knot in the pit of her stomach; an ache for him. He had seen so much and done so much, and now he was standing behind that bar dying and not telling a soul. It fit him, though. He probably didn’t want people to feel about it exactly the way she felt at that moment. He wasn’t the kind of man who took pity very well.

  She slowly turned back to Billie, having almost forgotten she was there. “So what do you want from me? I’m not a doctor.”

  Billie breathed deeply, running her finger over the bedpost. “No, but you are a chemist, and you know how to mix things properly.”

  Holly was confused. “Like what? Some sort of medicine?”

  Billie nodded. “Something like that. I know for a fact that there are a lot of ways those plants and chemicals in the Zoo can be used to heal people. My problem is, I know it can be done, but I haven’t the slightest clue how to actually do it. I find, liberate, and move information from place to place. It isn’t my job to figure out how to science the shit. You, on the other hand, have the brains.”

  Holly bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head. “What you’re talking about means working with substances that aren’t from Earth, things that I have never worked with. You want me to create something to heal JB, give it to him, and hope I don’t kill him? Uh...I want him to get better, trust me, but I don’t want to be the one who puts his picture up on that fucking wall.”

  Billie narrowed her eyes. “Then we sentence him to a very painful, long, and drawn-out death. The cure might very well kill him, but if we don’t try, he will certainly die. From the signs he is showing, I would say that it’s not that far off, either.”

  Holly clenched her teeth, looking frantically back and forth. “And what will you do?”

  Billie chuckled, patting her guns. “My job. I’ll find, liberate, and move information. You will take that information and create something that will help our friend.”

  Holly scoffed, looking at her guns. “And kill. You forgot that one on your list of jobs.”

  Billie chuckled and gave her a deadpan look. “Yes, but they ALL deserved it.”

  Holly opened her mouth but closed it again, walking back over to the window. She peered at the mercs and soldiers of fortune walking along the sandy streets below. They were all potential heroes for the wall;
all voyagers into the depths of the Zoo. If she had learned anything in her time there so far, it was that people like JB didn’t come along often. They were few and far between. The man had been out of the Zoo for a while, but now he was dying. It seemed almost cruel, in a way—to survive the depths of hell only to die a mortal’s death.

  On top of that, Wild Bill Hickok was standing in her apartment asking for her help. She wasn’t sure anything she could formulate would actually help, though. Holly knew that what Billie was asking her to do was highly irresponsible, against the code of ethics she had sworn to uphold, and very dangerous. She might create a concoction that not only killed JB but unleashed the Zoo right there in the center of the town. At the same time, though, it was for JB, and he deserved the chance at life, or at least more life than he had been given.

  Holly eyed Billie. “What is killing him? Are we talking cancer, or are we talking an alien illness?”

  Billie sat on the edge of Holly’s bed and shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. I haven’t asked him quite yet, but I wouldn’t be shocked if it was something connected to the Zoo. The man was a cowboy in that place. Nothing took him down in there, and that’s what he is trying to tell himself right now.”

  Holly put her hands together. “I would need to know what is ailing him to treat him.”

  Billie lifted both eyebrows. “Why? You study venomous alien plants or alien lacerations in that fancy school of yours? I am a Harvard grad, and we never touched on those subjects.”

  Holly blinked. “I guess you’re right. Doesn’t really matter if I know, because the cure is unknown in theory. I’m going to be like a mad scientist in a lab playing with compounds I’ve never seen before and hoping I can cure one man without wiping out the rest of humanity. Sure, seems like no big deal…”

  Billie chuckled. “I like the way you think, Miss Holly. Sometimes, when it comes to the Zoo, you gotta just make choices and go with it. I know you’re not a soldier, but your gut will tell you everything you need to know.”

  Holly looked at her wide-eyed. “I mean, my intuition has gotten me out of some tight spaces, but it has also landed me in some shitty ones.”

  Billie stood, walked over, and put her hand on Holly’s shoulder. “Considering this man means a lot to all of us, I would hope that the intuition you get now is the one that gets you out of tight spaces. This man means a lot more to this town and this community than you can even begin to realize. I need your help with this, Holly.”

  Holly leaned her head back and groaned. “Fine. I will do whatever I can, but if I don’t feel comfortable with the creation, I won’t be held responsible.”

  Billie smirked. “The only person who would do that would be you, and I have a feeling that whether you give it to him or you don’t, you will hold yourself responsible. Nonetheless, good. We are on the same page, then.”

  Holly sat down in her desk chair. “We need a lot of information. I mean samples, compound assessments, and any research that’s been done on this stuff—the whole nine yards. I’ll move as fast as I can, but I’m not going to start just throwing shit together and hope for the best.”

  Billie nodded. “I know. I’ve been thinking about all that.”

  Holly stared at her, waiting for her to continue the thought, but she stopped. “Okay...and what have you come up with? How are we going to find out more?”

  Billie cleared her throat. “Right, sorry. Not used to working with anyone this closely. My first move is to get my operations person on board, or at least I hope to. I’m not sure if he is going to be able to delve into this like I can. It’s kind of off the record for my organization.”

  Holly wasn’t sure who she was talking about. “Wait, are we talking about your guy? The guy in your ear who is obsessed with technology?”

  Billie lifted an eyebrow at her. “You were really paying close attention to the story. Yes, that’s him.”

  Holly decided to skip the explanation of an eidetic memory, tired of talking about it. “And if he doesn’t go along with it?”

  Billie chewed on the toothpick. “Then we figure out another way around it. I’m resourceful; I’ve had to be for years. It won’t be as big a setback as you think.”

  Holly tapped her fingers on her knee and stood up. “Then I’ll head over and talk to JB. As much as I like happy surprises, I will not do this behind his back. He would be pissed.”

  Billie chuckled. “For someone who’s only been here five or six days, you sure know JB pretty well.”

  Holly grabbed her green denim jacket and put it on. “Well, it doesn’t take long to figure out that he is set in his ways, and he doesn’t like people putting themselves in harm’s way for him. Besides, it’ll help me understand more of what is wrong with him. Right now, we are going off your intuition and a clinking noise when he walks. That’s not quite good enough for me.”

  Billie stepped in front of her. “Don’t mention my name at first. I’ll be there in a few, I just need to handle a couple of things ahead of time. He has no idea I’m in town, and I want to be the one who lets him know.”

  Holly stared at her for a minute. “Yeah, no problem. One thing at a time will be better anyway. He’s going to be a bit perplexed when I roll up on his ass playing twenty questions.”

  Billie laughed, a twinkle in her eye. “I think he’ll appreciate you. You remind me of me.”

  Chapter Two

  Holly and Billie walked down to the bottom of stairs and stopped outside on the sidewalk. Since Amanda was out, Holly locked the office door. Keeping her eyes on the doorknob, she said to Billie, “You know, you should really announce yourself a little better. I seriously thought I was about to meet my end up there. The last thing I wanted to do was be killed by some female Assassin’s Creed character before I even had my first cup of coffee.”

  Holly turned around, laughing, but Billie was gone. She looked right and left, but she was nowhere to be seen; not even a footprint in the sandy street. Holly let out a deep breath and shook her head. “Great, I’ve been visited by the Ghost of the Zoo Past, and I can’t even figure out why the hell I’m here in the first place.”

  Shaking her head, she shoved her hands in her pockets and walked toward the bar. The wind was bad that day, making it hard for her to breathe through the blowing sand. Holly pulled a black paisley bandana from her pocket and tied it around her nose and mouth, looking like everyone else walking around—a group of train robbers meandering through a dusty old Western town.

  She stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the bar, pausing for a moment to see if anyone would be thrown out today, but the place seemed pretty quiet on the outside, at least. She pulled hard on the door, the wind trying to force it shut as if to warn her. She rolled her eyes at the superstitious thought and yanked harder, cracking it open far enough to slip in. Pulling it shut behind her, she stood in the entryway, blinking her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room.

  She pulled her bandana down to her neck and stomped her boots on a mat where small piles of sand let her know everyone else had done the same. There was a familiar roar of voices and the smell of stale beer floating into her nostrils. Several of the guys at the tables closest to the door looked over for a moment and nodded as if they knew who she was. They quickly went back to their conversations.

  Paula’s cackling voice from across the room caught Holly’s attention. “Yes, Joe, I did say that. And I will tell you right now, I meant every fucking word. I can get a rolling pin up there, I just got to bend you at the right angle. Don’t think I won’t do it, either.”

  Holly smiled to herself and walked up to her normal stool, seating herself and leaning forward on the bar. JB was down at the other end pouring a shot for one of the guys and finishing a conversation. He glanced at Holly and nodded as he put the bottle on the shelf and made his way over to her. “Well, hello there. You came back. You ready for a drink and a story?”

  Holly chuckled, swirling the coaster back and forth. “Maybe. I mean, eventually. I�
�m going to need a drink today for sure.”

  JB furrowed his brow. “What’s going on, then?”

  Holly breathed the nerves down into her stomach and smiled, nodding for him to get closer. He leaned in curiously. She pursed her lips and whispered to him, “I just came into some information. It’s pretty serious, and I wanted to talk to you about it. You think we could sneak back to your office for a few?”

  JB lifted an eyebrow. “I’m not used to women pulling me to the dark back room anymore, but how could I tell you no?”

  Holly chuckled. “Trust me, it’s for your own good.”

  JB laughed. “I feel like that could be a lie, but I’m going with it. Give me a second to get Paula over here to watch the bar.”

  Holly nodded and walked around the bar and to the opening behind it that led to the office. She stood there watching as JB walked up to Paula and quietly whispered to her. She had obviously just gotten there a few minutes before, and looked like she had been thrown right into the mix. She glared at JB and then looked at Holly, wiggling her eyebrows. Holly shook her head and smirked before looking away.

  JB patted her on the back and began walking toward Holly, clinking as usual. Paula held her arms out to the people at the bar. “I am your bartending goddess now, my friends. What can I get you?”

  One of the guys whistled. “How about a big pair of tits and a nice warm place for my di…”

  Paula put up her hand. “We all know you don’t have very high standards. I think I got some pie in the back I can warm up for you. You can take it in the bathroom where JB put up that half-naked poster of a woman. Just try not to get whipped cream everywhere.”

  The guy rolled his eyes. “I’ll give you some of this whipped cream.”

  Paula slapped her hands together. “In your dreams. I like a man with a dick I can actually hold onto with my palms, not just my fingertips.”