by T. W. Brown
Graham, Carol, and Mister Perry all left. Sunshine stood at the window to ensure that nobody else was coming; at least that was what I had to assume she was doing. After a minute or so, she turned back to face everybody.
“They left, but Graham said something to his little goon patrol and two of them are still hanging around,” she reported.
“They can do what they want,” Dr. Zahn said with a shrug. “Tonight I will meet up with this person from Grady’s group. Perhaps we need to be packed and ready to leave.”
I heard and saw the disappointment on pretty much every face. I know that I was sick of scraping and struggling and hoping to God that some larger group did not come and either raid us, take us prisoner, or just plain wipe us out. Here in La Grande, I had almost believed that we would be able to settle down and start in on the business of trying to get some sort of normal life going; or at least as much as a person could in the middle of the zombie apocalypse.
***
“You think we will have to leave?” Katrina asked as we lay on the bed. I was staring up at the ceiling while she lay snuggled in close, running one index finger over my chest in some looping pattern.
“I think it is a big possibility,” I said with more sadness in my voice than I wanted her to hear.
“We could go back to that camp you guys had set up.”
I had given that some serious consideration. I still did not really understand why we had left that place to begin with. After all, we had worked hard to make it defensible. Sure, we were at risk if a large band of raiders came through, but that would be the case no matter where we called home.
However, there was something to be said about making La Grande our home, but I was not sure that we were all that welcome. Despite my name basically being cleared of what had been reported, it seemed like I was being watched by Graham’s security force. The trio that had posted up just down the street was still there the last time that I looked.
“I bet we could pull in a few stragglers. And you said that Grady has a nice, small group,” Katrina said around a big yawn.
And that was another thing bouncing around in my head. What was the deal with Grady? He seemed like a nice enough guy, but he was pretty skittish when it came to letting people know about his existence. And Dr. Zahn obviously wanted him and his people kept a secret.
Too damn many secrets, I thought with annoyance. Maybe it is my youthful inexperience, or perhaps I am just stupid, but all of this secrecy seems senseless.
I was just dozing off when the door opened. Dr. Zahn stepped in with Sunshine in tow. I realize that privacy is almost extinct, but for crying out loud, the door was shut!
“Get up and get dressed, William,” Dr. Zahn whispered.
“Why?” Hadn’t I done more than my share the past few days? And what does a guy have to do to merit some rest around here?
“And bring Katrina,” Sunshine added as the doctor exited.
“Umm…” but I was talking to the back side of a shut door.
I woke Katrina. She was just as puzzled as I was as to what this could be about. I picked up my clothes, not at all happy about putting on the smelly gear. Funny, but back when I was playing high school football, I had become accustomed to a certain degree of funk. It used to make my mom crazy. But the stink from my field gear with its flecks and bits of zombie had a stench that was beyond anything I had ever smelled in my life.
I slung my M4 over my shoulder and opened the door once Katrina was finished getting dressed. Dr. Zahn and Sunshine were whispering something and looked pretty grim. Whatever this was, it was bad.
“So what gives?” I asked in a whisper. I didn’t really know why I was whispering since we were inside our own house, but it felt like the thing to do.
“My watch was cancelled,” Sunshine said with a snarl. “I have been told to take a few days off.”
“Did they say why?” I asked.
“They did, but it was just a load of malarkey. The watch captain said that there were still a few things in my training packet that I needed to cover before he could put me in a tower.”
“So what do we do?” Katrina asked in her normal voice which seemed incredibly loud and scared the beejeezus out of me.
“After we scrape William off the ceiling, the four of us are slipping out to meet up with this Paisano person,” Dr. Zahn said with a bemused smirk on her face. “We will see what he has to say to me, and then we will make our decision as to how to handle things. We won’t be sharing this with Darla until we have a concrete decision made.”
Great…more secrets, I moaned inwardly.
“Melissa has opted to stay here with Thalia, Rabia, Levent and the baby. She said that she understood our choice, and if we did leave, she would be sad to see us go, but she believed that the baby would be safer here.”
I had to say that I felt just a little ashamed at the sense of relief that hit me when the doc said Melissa and the baby would not be joining us if we decided to leave La Grande. My only regret would be leaving Thalia behind. I could not explain it, but I felt a real affinity for that girl. Maybe it had something to do with that moment that we shared when she put Buster down.
“Do you think it is wise to tell Darla at all?” Katrina asked. I felt her grip on my arm tighten a little as she spoke.
“The young lady is an asset, and I believe that she wishes to remain with us. If she decides that is what she wants to do, then we will allow her to do so.”
“Damn right you will,” a voice came from a dark corner at the end of the hallway. A shadow pulled away from the wall and came our direction.
“Darla,” Dr. Zahn said with a stoical tone, “I believe that I asked you to keep watch from the roof.”
“I was, and that is why I am here now. I thought you all might like to know that a small team of about a half dozen just left the compound. They are probably off to check out the blazing fire that started up about ten minutes ago just to the south of Tower Ten.”
“That was the tower that I was supposed to be at when I had my watch this evening,” Sunshine said.
“Then I say we go now. The focus is obviously going to be on that fire for a spell. If anybody tries to stop us, we give them the choice to step aside. If they insist on stopping us, then we take the necessary actions.” There was a tightness in the doc’s voice that made it clear she was not above taking a few lives if it came down to such things. Dr. Zahn was obviously ready for whatever might be ahead.
I had to give her credit, for an older lady, she was pretty damn tough. Honestly, I hoped it did not come down to us having to fight our way out of here. I was really crossing my fingers that we would have a few things go our way.
Heading down the stairs, I heard at least two weapons have their safeties clicked off. The coppery taste of adrenaline was filling my mouth, and the fatigue that I had felt only moments before was erased. I knew it was only temporary, and that I was going to be exhausted when the effects ebbed, but I welcomed it for the moment.
My hand had just touched the doorknob when I heard voices from right on the other side. I let go like it was molten metal and stepped back. I felt more than heard everybody behind me bringing their weapons up. I barely had time to wonder where Dr. Zahn had come up with that cannon of a rifle she had shoved against her shoulder before the knob turned slowly.
“…when you wake them, I don’t want any trouble,” a voice that I recognized as Graham’s came in a hushed whisper as the door began to swing open slowly.
“Too late,” I said in my normal tone. The need for any more whispering was gone now.
Even in the dark, there was enough ambient light to see Graham’s eyes go wide as he turned his head forward and discovered he was looking down the barrels of three rifles and two handguns. He froze, but the people behind him were still playing visual catch up and plowed into his back, sending him stumbling another step closer.
“Everybody freeze!” I barked. It was time to try and take control of this situatio
n before it turned nasty.
“Whoa! Whoa!” Graham was sputtering.
I reached out and grabbed him by the arm, yanking him in hard and flinging him to the floor at my feet. His crew was not very good, and I noticed that they all stood there with open mouths and idiotic expressions of surprise on their faces. These people would not last one day outside the walls of this compound, I decided.
“We don’t want any trouble,” Graham was pleading.
“Which is why you were sneaking into our house fully armed?” Katrina said with a bit of a kick to Graham’s ribs. It wasn’t hard, just with enough force to cause him to cough a bit.
“Actually,” one of the people who had come with Graham spoke up, “we came to check on you all and make sure that nobody had been harmed.”
“And why would you need to do that?” I was just a little surprised to hear Darla pipe in. She sounded as angry and indignant as the rest of us.
“A group of individuals snuck in about an hour ago, best we can tell. They killed at least one of our tower watches. We think they deliberately set fire to an old farmhouse to distract us. Sadly…it worked,” Graham said from where he lay on the floor at our feet.
“Still not sure why you are here,” I snarled, giving him a none-too-gentle nudge with the toe of my boot.
“I was afraid that it might be those individuals that Mister Perry had mentioned. Perhaps you were followed.” Graham kept his hands up in a symbol of surrender, but very carefully rolled over onto his back. “So…I know I am not in any position to make demands or requests, but might I ask why the five of you are suited up and obviously preparing for some sort of excursion?”
I glanced at Dr. Zahn, but she was still staring down at Graham. Deciding that I was tired of all the energy that I was expending with the secrecy crap, I told him where we were going. I heard the doc hiss as I mentioned Grady and his people, and I could feel her eyes boring holes into my head as I explained that we were about to slip out to meet Big Paisano.
“How about if we escort you?” Graham asked. Hastily, he added, “Not necessarily all the way, but at least to a point. Then we can set up and wait for your return. There is obviously something going on out there. I would hate it if something happened to any of you.”
I actually believed him. For some reason, I felt like our mistrust in Graham had been a mistake. Maybe he wasn’t one of the bad guys.
“If you are so damn concerned about us and care so much, then why were we put under surveillance? And why was Sunshine taken off the watch?” Dr. Zahn asked. Obviously she had recovered enough from being pissed at me to shift back into her normal mode of being her usual sunny self.
“I left a few guys to see if anybody tried to make a move on your house,” Graham explained. “Obviously somebody either does not like you, or they want to use your people as scapegoats. As for Sunshine being taken off the watch…” His voice trailed off and I was pretty sure that I saw something click in his mind as his expression changed and hardened a little. “I had no knowledge of that and gave no such order.”
“Are you thinking what I am?” one of the people still standing on our front porch asked.
“Yes,” Graham said with a scowl. He looked up at me. “May I stand? I believe we may be about to fall under a full scale attack.”
It could not have been timed any better. An explosion rumbled and there was a sudden flash from somewhere outside. I heard a stifled scream from deep inside the house that I was pretty sure had to be Melissa.
I grabbed Graham and yanked him to his feet, shoving him into his people in one swift move. Without waiting for anybody else, I barreled through the small cluster and made my way down to the sidewalk. Sure enough, to my right—which I was pretty sure had to be north—a dull orange glow could be seen. Seconds later, a second and then a third blast came. On the heels of that third blast, a siren sounded like the old air raid types.
“You all know your places,” Graham said to his people. He turned to me, a look of something in his eyes that I sure hoped was not desperation or fear. If he was the leader, this place needed him to be wired tight. For the first time, I really missed Jon.
“We could use every hand if you and your people are willing.” And with that, Graham turned to jog off into the shadows.
“Well?” I turned back to Dr. Zahn and the others.
“Our plans don’t change,” Dr. Zahn said with a shrug.
“And this attack? Do you plan to just walk through the battle and hope we don’t get sniped by one side or the other?” I asked as distant gunfire came in irregular bursts.
“We have the perfect diversion,” Dr. Zahn explained. “And if this BP person is still waiting, we need to see him now. The people that tried to kill you are in Grady’s custody. We may be able to help the people of La Grande a great deal.”
“If they can hold out against whatever the hell is going on,” I retorted.
“It would be nice if we were able to step in and save the day, but these people have set themselves up for just this sort of event. They have plans in place to deal with this and are now getting the chance to implement them. If this did not happen today, you can be assured that it would have sooner or later.”
Not knowing what else to say or do, I sighed, shrugged, and led the way to Tower Ten where Sunshine was to have had her watch. Something was itching in the back of my mind, and as the tall structure loomed in the distance, I put a hand up to bring everybody to a halt.
“Billy?” I heard Katrina hiss as I ducked low and moved to the base of the tower. I turned just enough to make eye contact with her and hold my hand up to insist that she and the others stay put.
As I reached the ladder, I could already smell it. Death is a messy business. People lose control of their bodies and do some pretty nasty stuff. I remember back before all of this when I used to watch South Park, Cartman used to laugh his head off every time that somebody died and crapped themselves in a loud and nasty fashion. I never gave it much thought back then, however, people do lose bladder and bowel control. It really is not all that funny.
Climbing the ladder, my hand reached for the top rung and I felt something sticky with my gloves. Pulling myself up and swinging the first leg over, I found a man sitting in his chair, a dark circle in the center of his forehead confirming what I had expected; he was dead. The surprise came in the fact that he was not alone.
“Took you long enough,” BP whispered.
“Jeez, man!” I squeaked in probably the most unmasculine way possible.
The giant had taken a seat on the floor against the wall right beside where I was coming over. His hand caught the cuff of my jeans or else I might have very well tumbled backwards and broken my neck. Maybe later I could allow myself to be impressed at his clever positioning, but at the moment I was a mixture of angry and struggling with just having the crap scared out of me.
“Looks like trouble brewing,” BP rumbled as he climbed to his feet and pulled me the rest of the way in.
“You wouldn’t know anything about this attack, would you?” I asked, sounding much more confrontational than was probably safe considering my position.
“I knew that those two who tried to kill you had something planned, but I sure wasn’t expecting this. And you might be interested to know that this is at least one of the locations where the invaders were allowed access to this place. ” He waved an arm toward the compound where the noises of battle were starting to intensify.
“Dr. Zahn is down below,” I said. “She wants to talk to you.” Without waiting, I turned and gave a short whistle. I saw four shadows scurry to the tower and begin the climb. It was going to be crowded, but we would all fit. I imagine nobody was too anxious to be left behind at the moment.
Darla was the last person over, and we actually had more room than I had expected. I moved aside so that the doc could get to work. BP might be a big man, but I didn’t think he would stand a chance with Dr. Zahn.
“So you are with Grady and
his people?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And he has the two people in custody that tried to kill William?”
I tuned out the pair as they spoke. My attention was back on the compound. I could see no less than a dozen fires. The sounds of gunfire were coming from all over. Whatever was happening, this was big, nasty, and obviously well planned.
“Take me to them,” Dr. Zahn was saying. That snapped me back to the conversation between the doc and BP.
“I can do that,” BP said with a nod. “But just you.” He pointed at Dr. Zahn.
“Hold on!” I snapped.
“We don’t have time for this,” BP cut me off. “I won’t bring all of these strangers to Grady, and you should probably stay here with these folks and look after them until we get back. If I brought you with us, these friends of yours would be in the dark.”
He had a point. I didn’t necessarily like the idea, but Dr. Zahn seemed okay with it. I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell her what to do.
“We will be back as soon as I can, William,” Dr. Zahn said as she followed BP over the lip of the tower. I watched until the two of them vanished into the darkness.
“So what do we do?” Katrina asked.
I turned and faced the three women. Even in the shadows, I could see anxious looks on their faces. They obviously expected me to have some sort of answer. I mulled the choices for a few seconds and made my decision.
“We are heading in to the action,” I announced.
I saw mouths open, and I knew that the protests would be coming. Raising a hand, I silenced them before they got started.
“Here is the deal,” I said after all three of them crossed their arms across their chests and gave me arched eyebrows. Jeez, what is it with women? “I am sick of running. I am sick of scrambling to survive. I want to find a place and call it home. This seems like the best chance we are going to get. Sure, it looks like a few people are dealing dirty, but we have run into that before. If we help these people make a stand, we will prove not only our worth, but our commitment to this place.”