A note, I thought. Someone snuck a note to me. But who? And why?
I unwrapped the plastic and removed the paper from it, being extra cautious not to get it wet. I unfolded the tiny square of paper until it was the size of my palm. There were tiny words etched into its surface in perfect little letters.
The guard change happens at midnight. The spare key is hidden in the spine of Mein Kampf. Check the map in John’s office. The road south is not guarded by Unity Gang. You’ve been lied to. Eat the evidence when you are done. Good luck!
I leaped up and grabbed the book off the shelf.
“What’s going on?” Benji asked.
“I’m not sure,” I replied honestly, flipping the pages down and pulling at the spine. The glue gave a gentle sigh and came loose. A shiny silver key slid out and plopped onto the bed. I picked it up and shoved it in my pocket.
“What’s that?” Benji probed.
“I will tell you later,” I promised, crumpling up the note and jamming it into my mouth. I chewed it up as best as I could and swallowed it whole. I could feel the sharp edges tickling as it slid down my throat.
A moment later the door opened again.
Just in time, I thought. Any longer and I would have been caught.
The cute girl came back in and cleared the dishes away. I tried to make eye contact with her, to let her know I had gotten her message, but she wouldn’t look at me. She was in and out of the room in under a minute. Tank sauntered in after she left, looking annoyed to be stuck babysitting a bunch of kids instead of being out there chasing down gang members.
“All right,” he grumbled, sounding grumpier than ever. “Time for bathroom breaks. Who has to go?” Benji stood up and walked toward the door.
“Good,” Tank said. “Now let me remind you that if you try to escape you will be killed without hesitation. No warning shots. You got that?”
Benji turned white. His young legs began to tremble a little. He was unable to answer, so he nodded his reply.
“Fantastic,” Tank chortled, pulling him out of the room. He shut and locked the door again.
I turned to Tom. “I know you can hear me in there,” I whispered gently to him.
He didn’t budge. He hadn’t touched his food either. His eyes were moving back and forth a lot and he kept blinking, but that was about the only sign that he was still in there.
“We’re getting out of here tonight. First thing we do is steal a car. Then we go looking for Joel. You don’t have to do anything. Just be ready to go when the time comes and don’t slow us down. You got that?”
Tom closed his eyes and shook his head. “Got it,” his small voice croaked.
It made me sad to see him this upset. He was always the fun one, the peacemaker, the guy telling us all that everything was going to be okay. Losing his twin brother to the chaos out there had turned him into a hollow shell. I knew I didn’t have to explain to him that there was a good chance we wouldn’t be seeing Joel again, that his brother was dead and gone—or worse, transformed into a monster.
The lock clicked several times and the door swung open once more. Tank shoved Benji back in.
“Next,” he said.
I stood up. “I’m next.”
“You know the drill.” He frowned. “You make a break for it or try to be a hero and I will rip your arms off for real this time. Is that clear?”
“I understand.”
“Then let’s go.”
Tank led me out and locked the door. He slid the key back into his pocket.
That’s not going to be a problem anymore, I thought.
We walked down the hall, passing John’s empty office. My eyes lingered on the big map on the wall. Tank shoved me on before I could get a good glimpse of it.
“Keep going,” he said roughly.
There will be time later tonight, I reminded myself.
I walked into the bathroom and shut the door behind me, locking it even though I knew Tank could easily knock the door down if he wanted to get to me. I turned the water on and did my business. While I was in there alone, I went over my plan. At midnight I would strike, unlocking the doors to the secret room from our side and pulling them open. Hopefully, there would be no guard there, but if there was the element of surprise would work in our favor. I’d cover his head with a pillow case and choke him out. Then we’d all have to sneak out, find car keys, steal a car, sneak out of the neighborhood undetected, and slip back to the heart of a war zone to look for a missing person—all before high tailing it out of town with bikers chasing us.
This is insane, I thought. There are too many things to plan, too much left to chance. It’s never going to work.
I beat back the pessimism with an internal pep talk: It has to work. I have no other choice. Whatever happens, we’ll make it work. We will fight until we are free and on our way. Sure the odds are against us, but it’s been that way since Z-day and we’ve survived. We will adapt to whatever surprises come our way.
Adapt and survive. That was what Moto always said.
A loud banging at the door brought me back to reality.
“Hurry up in there,” Tank yelled. “I ain’t got all night.”
I flushed, pulled up my pants, washed my hands, and unlocked the door again.
Tank practically yanked me out of the room and shoved me down the hall.
“When are we going to see John?”
“Tomorrow,” he responded. “He said he’ll sit down with you first thing after church.”
“Church?” I gave him an odd look. Somehow I couldn’t picture them as God fearing Bible thumpers.
“That’s right, little sinner,” he said. “What? Did you think we were a bunch of Godless heathens like them biker trash?”
“Doesn’t the Bible say to turn the other cheek?” I asked.
“It says a lot of things,” Tank scolded, growing annoyed at having his faith challenged. “I’m not up to a theology lesson from a snot nosed punk kid like you right now. So shut it.”
“Sorry,” I offered, turning my stare to the ground to give him the impression I truly was.
“You know,” he pondered, unlocking the door. “We were all hoping things would turn out different with you.”
Before I could answer, he shoved me into the room. I collided with Benji and we both fell on the bed. The door clicked again and I knew it was now locked shut. I tiptoed over and put my ear to the keyhole, listening for the sound of footsteps. Benji tried to speak but I waved him silent with my hand. It sounded like heavy footsteps pacing back and forth in the hallway.
I pointed over to the corner where Tom was still sitting staring off into space. Benji and I huddled around him to whisper.
“What’s the plan?” Benji asked.
“The guards get changed at midnight,” I said.
“How will we know what time it is?”
Tom pulled back his jacket to reveal a kid’s wristwatch. The time was eight-thirty.
“That takes care of that.” I laughed. “Thanks Tom.”
He blinked in reply.
“So how are we going to escape?”
“I am still working on that.” I chuckled.
“What does that mean?”
“It means there are a lot of things involved in this escape,” I said, annoyed. “There is a whole lot that can and probably will go wrong. We need to be honest with ourselves about that right from the start if we are going to make this work. We need to stay flexible and never let go of our goal.”
“Freedom,” Benji whispered.
“Joel,” Tom mumbled.
“All the above,” I added.
For the next few hours I kept my mind busy, turning the plan over and over in my head, mostly to keep myself from falling asleep again. I dreamed up one possibility after another and then imagined what I would have to do to overcome the obstacles they presented. I thought about Tank’s words, how they had hoped I would go along with their plan from the start and join them. It would have been
a whole lot easier to escape if I had gone along with their plans for me. I wished I would have thought that through a little more, instead of just blurting out whatever came to mind. It was too late now for regrets.
When it got close to midnight, Tom tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the door. I knelt down again and put my ear to the keyhole once more. I could hear loud snoring. At points, it even shook the door slightly. A dull, male sounding voice resonated on the other side. There was some commotion that sounded like someone standing up. The door moved. For a moment I was afraid they were going to open it and check on us.
I glanced back to see Tom and Benji ready to pounce. I waved them back with my hand. It was too late to pretend we were sleeping. A few tedious moments passed and then I heard the men talking outside.
“It’s a ridiculous assignment,” the voice said. “They are just kids. How much trouble could they be?”
“It’s not up to you to make that call,” the other voice said. “John wants us to keep an eye on them. That’s what we’re going to do.”
“I thought he said the kid with the sword was joining our movement?” There was heavy sarcasm in his voice. “Thought he was supposed to be officer material. Guess that didn’t work out.”
“Stop asking questions or I will have you court-martialed,” the voice threatened.
“Take it easy.”
“I’ve been stuck watching a door all day,” the man said. “I’m hungry and I’m tired. See you in the morning.”
I heard one of them walk away. It sounded like the other slumped down into almost the same position the first had, with his back against the door. This part was going to be easy. I would simply unlock the door, pull it open fast, and choke the guard out. With a little luck he’d have a set of car keys on him. That meant all we had to do was check the map and get my sword on the way out. No way was I leaving without it!
I turned and made the thumbs up to Benji, who took one of the pillowcases off the bed and held it ready to bag the guard’s head. Tom grabbed a bronze bust of Hitler off the shelf. If the guy made too much noise we were going to knock him out. I only hoped Tom wouldn’t hit him too hard.
The closer it got to midnight, the more Tom seemed to come back to life. There was a growing fire in him, fueled by revenge. These people were misguided, no doubt about it. It was wrong to hold us against our will, wrong to treat us like kids, but I didn’t think they deserved to die for it.
The guys got real close to me. I put the key up to the lock, threading it into the key hole and slowly pushed it all the way in. Making as little noise as I could, I turned it until the door clicked. We all froze in fear. I put my ear to the door but didn’t hear anything. If the guard was sleeping up against it, the click could easily have woken him.
At least I know Tom will clobber him if he tries to come through before I get it open, I thought.
Just when I figured I couldn’t take any more, I heard a low snore coming from the other side of the door. I nodded one more time to the guys, then stood up and yanked it open. The guard, a small, middle aged man with a bald spot on the back of his head, fell over into the room without making a sound. Benji threw the pillowcase over his head and Tom hit him hard twice on his crown. He went limp almost immediately.
“Well that was easier than I expected,” I whispered.
I turned out the guys pockets. He had a small square of chocolate and a deck of playing cards. There were no keys. This was going to be harder than I had imagined.
“Stick close to me,” I ordered, slipping out the door and picking up the man’s dropped gun.
The house was dead quiet as I walked down the hall to John’s office. I stopped and listened for signs of life, but there were none. It was almost as if we were the only ones left. The thought gave me chills but I didn’t know why.
“Okay,” I said. “Keep your eyes open. If anyone comes near or if that guy gets up, don’t hesitate to raise the alarm. It’s going to take all of us to get out of here in one piece, and we are not leaving anyone behind this time.”
I went into the office and partially shut the door. Using only the light coming in the window from the cracks in the blinds, I traced a line with my finger across the map from where we were to the barricade. I checked for routes from there that led down toward the highway. There was one that ran along an old cemetery and came to what looked like a dead end. We had been lied to by John for sure. The only way out of town was right through the far side of New Lompoc, miles from where the war was happening. There was no way for me to know that this morning when I had first seen the map, but now that I had been to the fight it couldn’t be more obvious.
“She was telling the truth,” I mumbled in disbelief. Before I could turn to tell the others the good news, I felt two sets of big arms loop around either side of my neck and pull me off the ground. The air came out of me in a rush as they tightened like two angry, tattooed boa constrictors. My feet kicked uselessly at the ground below. I heard my gun drop to the floor.
“Well, look who came out for a midnight stroll,” the man’s voice said.
Tank was going to strangle me to death. It had been a trap and I had walked right into it.
Chapter Eleven
“My daughter cannot tell a lie,” Tank crooned, his voice coming out of the darkness. “She just has too big of a heart. Poor thing. I blame myself for naming her Tammy. People don’t realize it’s short for Tammany, which of course is Irish for honesty.”
If I could have drawn in a breath I might have told him I was Irish too. I was not above playing the race card, especially since I knew the guy was a white supremacist. It was no use. My head was swimming. His arms felt like they were made out of metal. I scratched at them but he didn’t give an inch. It was as if he couldn’t even feel it.
“It’s only one of her weaknesses, unfortunately,” he said causally while I kicked and fought for air.
Had he been in the room the whole time waiting for us? She’d set us up? Of course she did. Why would she help us? It didn’t make any sense. He told her to trick us so he would have an excuse to get rid of me. John was still hoping to turn us to his side, and Tank was worried I might challenge him in the months to come. With me out of the way, things could go back to normal. First I had to fight off Joel and now Tank! The biggest difference being that Joel only wanted to kick my butt. I had no doubt that Tank was trying to kill me.
“The other is her beauty,” Tank mused absentmindedly, as if he strangled sixteen-year-olds to death every day for sport. “She gets that from her mother, may she rest in peace. Don’t feel too bad. You’re not the first to fall for her act. The note-in-the-soup trick works every time. You eat the evidence and no one can blame me. I’m just doing my job, keeping you from escaping. Later on I will tell John you confessed to being a Unity Gang spy and that it was no accident you were on the road waiting for us. John’s a great man but he suffers from paranoia, especially since his brother burned to death.”
My vision was going completely black. Tiny little pops of light appeared and vanished. I renewed my struggle. Where are my friends? Why aren’t they helping me?
“Usually I don’t take this much pleasure in killing a non-zombie,” Tank confessed, “but ever since you sucker kicked me in the jaw, I’ve been looking forward to the moment when I would finally get to watch the light go out of your eyes.”
At the rate he’s going it won’t be much longer now.
I went limp and let him hold me up.
Let him tire himself out, I thought. I’m going to need all the brain power I have left if I am going to get out of this. Think! Think! Think!
Moto had taught me how to slip out of attacks from behind, but in every instance they involved having my feet on the ground. I never imagined I would be up against a giant. My mind raced, trying to think of weapons I might have on me. My pockets were empty. I could try to head-butt him unexpectedly, but there was no guarantee that would work. More than likely it would just upset him more
and he’d snap my neck like a twig.
Tank was still talking, but his words were starting to sound farther away. They had a dull echo and I couldn’t tell if they were coming from inside my head or not. My fingers instinctually found his hands and gripped them. They felt like knotty branches from a tree.
His fingers, I thought. That’s it!
The short training sessions Moto and I had done on Chin Na came flooding back to me all at once. By applying a small amount of force on his joints, I could produce a huge amount of pain, forcing him to release me. Just twisting his hand the wrong way would be enough to completely bring him under my control if I did it right.
I took both my hands and wrapped them around the index and middle fingers on his right hand. Using all the strength I had left, I bent them back hard and fast. A loud roar erupted out of Tank and he dropped me. Air flooded back into me but I didn’t let go of his fingers. Tank reached back to slap me away, but I bent his fingers back even more and he yelped in pain, falling to his knees. Tears flooded his eyes, washing out the shock and anger. He rapidly panted in pain, unable to speak. I twisted his hand extra hard until I felt the bones snap and Tank screamed at the top of his lungs, unleashing a torrent of obscenities in the aftermath. With my free hand, I knuckle punched his windpipe and he went silent as he choked for air. My strength was coming back to me now. I was angry and flooded with adrenaline.
Tom and Benji came rushing into the room, but stopped and stared when they saw Tank on the ground holding his throat. I quickly maneuvered behind Tank and put him in a sleeper hold, using my forearm to choke him out. Despite his size, he gave me almost no resistance. Eventually, he fell to the carpet floor like a heavy sack of flour and remained there, motionless.
“Did you kill him?” Benji asked in shock.
“I don’t think so,” I said, my voice raspy from being choked out so long.
Zombie Attack! Box Set (Books 1-3) Page 10