“You want to use my phone, try them again? You never know. Maybe their battery was dead, maybe they’ve been looking for you,” she replied, taking another gulp of coffee and enjoying the burning sensation in her stomach. Her breath stank, the coffee was not helping that but she didn’t really care. She would take a shower soon and wash up.
Alicia shook her head. “I already tried, used the phone in the bunker. Straight to voicemail. My brother’s too.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly as the younger girl sat on the bed by her feet. “I can’t reach any of my family either. I don’t know if Sahuarita got hit, but it’s not like suburbs are completely cut off from the main cities. It was probably destroyed, along with Green Valley and Oro Valley in the bombings. Makes you wonder, if anyone survives, what do they have to return to? Who will rebuild or even know how to?”
“I read a lot of books about things like this, dystopian novels, end of the world stuff, zombie books. So far, I’m not sure what anyone got right or if I’m just not seeing it. Like, it’s too fresh. That isn’t Dead Rising or Resident Evil out there, it’s somehow worse,” Alicia commented, her eyes drifting off. “People got mean fast.”
“Not all of them,” she offered with a smile. “You found us.”
“You mean, you found me,” Alicia said as she tried to smile, but it was like she was thinking hard about something, wasn’t sure how to put it into words, and it faltered a bit. “While you were sleeping, I spent some time in their Communications Room with Zeke, one of Samantha’s kids. With Ben gone, there is no one to monitor the computers and he’s a wanna-be hacker, thought he’d take a crack at it. He’s been having some trouble with the interface, keeps bitching it ain’t all Windows, but he was able to pull up the video feeds—I wish he hadn’t.”
“That bad?” she asked, swinging her feet out of the bed and stretching her thighs. They were still cramped from the work out they’d gotten the day before and she felt like she’d ran a marathon. The bones in her toes cracked as she stretched, and she winced at pain in her right shoulder.
“Yeah. A lot of the feeds Ben was tapped into are down, most of the major cities, probably destroyed by the military or from lack of power. What we did see though, I can’t put into words—,” Alicia trailed off, still unable to give voice to her inner demons.
She reached out and placed a hand over Alicia’s, giving it a slight squeeze. “Just tell me bits, the rest will come.”
“There was one from an ATM camera, showed choppy frames of a zombie getting torn apart by a flock of birds, hands swiping the air as they ate it. One had a bunch of corpses we thought were dead, but realized they were trying to crawl, unable to get to their feet. That video was a little cleaner, and it looked like they were falling apart. Different parts of the country show different things. In the south, they are starting to look withered, cooked even. Like their flesh is drying out. In the southeast, they looked bigger, heavier, like a boiled chicken thigh, nearly falling apart. Up north, they appeared normal, like the cold is somehow keeping them together better. It’s confusing. I don’t get why. Aren’t they supposed to all look the same? I mean, those Walking Dead zombies looked no different in Season Two than they did in Season Seven,” Alicia finished, having spoken more in five minutes than she had the entire time they’d known each other.
She glanced away, processing what she’d been told. She understood the girl’s confusion. In her mind, these things were a threat that would never go away, but was that realistic? These things used to be human, they were made of flesh, what about this virus would change that? Wouldn’t they rot just like every dead human ever had?
“What did Zeke think?” she asked, curiously. The younger girl’s face flushed and her eyes slid away. She had to suppress a chuckle. Apparently, the teenager had a crush brewing. “Cute, huh?” she joked, tapping her fingers on the girl’s wrist and making her blush even more.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alicia replied after a brief pause, unable to look her in the eye. “He thinks that the weather is affecting them. The dry air is withering the ones near us, the humid air is bloating the others to the east, and the cold is preserving them better up north.”
“That sounds reasonable, and smart. If he’s cute, you should go for it. Always good to find a man with a brain,” she teased.
Alicia’s face grew more sorrowful, a small tear forming at the corner of her eye. “I don’t know if I can. After what happened—how can I? I’m no good for anybody.”
“Hey! Don’t say that. Don’t you ever say that again, not to me, not to anyone. There is nothing wrong with you. You didn’t do anything wrong, something wrong was done to you. If he’s a good guy, he’ll understand that and be supportive. If he’s not, I’ll break his kneecaps,” she responded.
Alicia let out a quick sigh, then whatever she was about to say was interrupted by the ringing of Sabrina’s phone. It made her jump and she nearly dropped her coffee.
“What?” she asked, jamming the thing to the side of her face. “Fine, I’m on my way. Come on,” she told Alicia, gripping her hand tightly. “We need to get over to the bunker, morning meeting.”
“Probably something else going wrong,” Alicia returned with somber voice.
“When isn’t it?” she sighed and got out of bed. She’d have to forgo that shower, but at least she got some coffee. “I wonder if there’s something quick I can grab to eat, no time to make breakfast.”
Alicia looked away, then smiled. “There were Pop tarts, but I kind of ate them all.”
“Oh, you little brat!” she mocked, pushing the girl’s arm playfully.
“What? I was hungry!” Alicia giggled.
Some of the kid came back to the surface and she felt a brief bout of joy fill her heart as she got dressed and prepared to leave. It was a happy moment, which she knew was fleeting, but it was nice to have even just a glimpse of normalcy. It gave hope even in the darkest of times that maybe they might all survive this after all. Yet, she knew that it was time to get back to it and see what horrible things this day would bring. Would the insanity ever end?
Chapter 3
Washington
Monica
Colville, WA
The Hawker 400A was cycling down, they had just arrived at Colville Municipal Airport and it had been a bumpy ride. The skies were overcast and rain threatened to fall at a moment’s notice. The turbulence had made her sick and she threw a brown sack in the trash as she turned to get her weapon.
“Looks clear outside, zombie-wise,” John offered, fingers stroking his amber handle-bar mustache. He was starting to look scruffy, and he had been picking at the black rubber suit he had been forced to wear most of the flight. His shotgun was held in his right hand, the left cupped to block the internal glare off the porthole he was peering through. He had refused to wear a helmet, having found a brown ballcap instead. When his brown eyes flashed her way, she felt the anger he felt slowly ebbing across the space between them. He hadn’t wanted to come, had insisted that they wait for the others to return from Tucson, and had reluctantly agreed to join her only when he realized she would go anyway.
Pushing her blond hair back behind her ear, she simply nodded and ignored the stern gaze, turning to the larger black man hovering nearby.
Mark’s short black hair was visible for only a few seconds as her friend donned his helmet and began buckling the chin strap in place. An axe was leaning against his seat, his preferred weapon of choice, and he rarely went anywhere without it. Though, he wasn’t entirely fixated on letting them get that close, there was an AR 15 thrown over his right shoulder. Green eyes met hers and she watched him show a flash of a smile. His dark skin glistened despite the cooler interior, obviously hot in all the gear he was wearing. Still, if it saved his life—
“I doubt it will stay that way for long, we weren’t exactly stealthy with our arrival,” Mark retorted, standing erect and grabbing his axe. “You sure you want to leave the pilot here
? Raul shouldn’t be left undefended, just in case the undead show up. Or worse, other people wanting to go for a ride.”
“Yeah, I don’t understand why we didn’t just land at the compound,” Jenn offered from her seat, her laptop open before her. “I told you I could bypass the systems. There’s no way he could block our entrance into the tunnels.” Her short black hair was pulled back with a headband, her pink bangs clashing with the light blue cloth. Her brown eyes didn’t move from her laptop as she spoke, her smooth pale face pulled tight with concentration.
Vitarius stepped into view, his sniper rifle over his shoulder, his fatigues looking ruffled and well-used. He had just stepped out of the lavatory and was rubbing his hands together. Short brown hair was hidden by his camouflaged hat, hazel eyes peering at them from his deeper sockets, pronounced cheekbones, and rough looking face. He had a beard growing, and it looked slightly moist from having water thrown on it.
“If he has any clue that we are gunning for him, he’ll do something to boobytrap the runway,” Vitarius offered, getting a grunt from John. “No, it’s not as crazy as it sounds. You said this guy used to be a Defense Contractor, designed weapons, and fully funded the building of those compounds you guys are hiding in. If he has access to even a portion of the arsenal you showed me, then he could easily set something up to greet us when we landed. I like the way you think,” he said, looking her way and she smirked at the compliment.
“It makes sense. We already underestimated him more than once. I don’t want to make that mistake again. Jenn says that the compound is in the Colville National Forest, just to the northeast of here. And this is a relatively quiet part of the state, not much in the way of population. If we have any walkers to deal with, they should be sparse and hopefully easily handled. We can go find a truck, head in that direction, park several miles out, and try to make a go of it on foot,” she told them, having spent the entire flight trying to work it all out and not seeing any other way forward.
“And then?” John pursued, knowing that there was a hole in her plan and not letting her off the hook. “I’ve been inside yours, and I’m assuming they are all built the same. So tell me, you’ve designed these things to keep people out, so how exactly are you expecting to get in?”
She glared at him, hating that she hadn’t figured that part out yet and had hoped to get some help from at least one of them in coming up with something. She knew that this was her plan, she had pushed for it, but did that mean she had to do everything herself?
“We built them to be defended by more than one man. He can’t cover all sides at once. You berated me for trying to do this with only twelve people, but you’re suddenly worried that one will be too much of a problem?” she countered, her blood stirring with anger.
“Todd said something about added defenses, things we don’t have a clue about. I don’t want to walk into this blind, that’s how people die,” John returned, straightening up, gun in hand. “We need to go every detail of this, work it all out, before we get anywhere near that place.”
Jenn glanced up from her laptop. “What do you think I’m trying to do? Ever since all this shit went to hell, I’ve been going through every aspect of our compound back in New York. As long as he did the same things to all of them, I think I’ve got it covered.”
“I still don’t like the idea of you coming along. You should stay here with Raul, keep the plane ready to go in case we come back in a hurry,” she told the younger woman.
Naima stirred in the rear passenger seat and began stretching her arms. “You guys still arguing over what we’re going to do?” Her chestnut hair was a mess, her green eyes red from a restless night. As the shorter woman craned her back and stared in their direction, she could see that her husband’s best friend was still skeptical about why she had even been asked to come along.
“Staying here defeats the purpose of my coming along. You’re going to need me there to access the system. I can’t do that from here. You don’t really have a choice if you want to get in there. I’m coming,” Jenn told her firmly, closing her laptop.
“Do you even know how to use a gun?” Mark asked, concerned with the younger girl’s abilities.
Jenn laughed and smiled, “point and pull the trigger.” The way she said it reminded Monica of a scene in Zorro when Hopkins asked Banderas if he knew how to use his sword and she nearly cracked up laughing.
Groaning, John shook his head with disappointment, “well, this is going to go well.”
She couldn’t help it as the laughter began bubbling out of her, much to the chagrin of the former sheriff who had turned to glare at her. “Sit with John while we drive. Maybe he can at least tell you a few things along the way,” she offered when she was able to catch her breath. “Put the pointy end in the other man!” Then she broke up again.
“Well, at least someone is having a good time,” John snarked, and Mark erupted into laughter as well.
“A storm is coming in. You folks had better hurry or your visibility is going to suck,” came a voice from the cockpit. Raul had remained separated from the group and still seemed uncertain about Sean’s role in any of it, but whatever Jenn had said had convinced the man well enough to at least fly them there. But that was as far as he was willing to go.
“Right,” she told the others as she gathered herself together, the laughter trailing off. “We’ll figure out the rest on the way. Let’s get to it.”
Chapter 4
Hope
Sabrina
Compound 2
Thirty people of all ages sat around the tables in the large room that doubled as a cafeteria. They were on the first sub-basement level of the compound, and it made her nervous just being there. She had seen what happened when the defense mechanisms were engaged and did not like that every living person within the compound was in this room; possibly at the mercy of a madman.
Nervously, she downed a Mt. Dew, and got up to get another can. Two people were standing at the end of the eight tables, as well as one in a wheelchair between them. Matt had wanted to walk, but Roxanne had refused to let him. It was obviously irritating the proud man to be babied like that, as his hands kept clenching and releasing, eyes daring anyone to remark on it. He was ex-military and to show weakness was not something they did very well. His light brown hair was looking shaggy, his green eyes haunted. His square jaw worked, as if biting off snide remarks he was wanting to make, clearly unhappy with events that had been going on while he was resting.
Roxanne’s dark complexion greatly contrasted with her paler counterparts, her long black hair pulled back in a ponytail, blue eyes taking in the crowd. She was wearing a black muscle shirt and black jeans, a blue ribbon in her hair. Her daughter, Deborah, was sitting with the older couple, her chubby arms constantly banging on the wooden table before her.
Joseph was looking calm and collected; the stress he had to be under was well-hidden as he smiled at those around them. His blond hair was masked by his SWAT ballcap, his larger arms bulging in the dark blue shirt he was wearing. He had finally gotten out of his uniform and looked out of place without his sniper weapon. He caught her eye, forcing an involuntary drop of her eyes. She tried to act like she hadn’t been admiring him, but knew she’d been caught red-handed.
“Okay, we called this meeting to get you all up to speed,” Roxanne announced.
A giggle erupted from the corner table behind her and she glanced at Manny and Casey, whose dilated eyes told her everything she needed to know; they’d spent the morning getting high. Both had shaggy hair, though Casey’s was brown and Manny’s was black. Shockingly, it appeared as if the latter had finally relinquished his guitar for the first time since she’d run into him on that street corner back in Tucson. He looked naked.
“You two want to keep it down back there?” Joseph called, getting another string of chuckles in response. “I’m serious Casey, shape up or ship out.”
“Aye, aye, Sir,” came Casey’s snarky voice as he saluted in a sl
oppy fashion.
She shook her head in frustration. So much had happened in the last four days, you’d think the two men would take things seriously. Ben and his family had virtually been wiped out. Erik, one of Manny’s friends, had been lost in Queen Creek, and a good number of their people had flown off to kill the man responsible for the zombie outbreak. Surely, they could do better than get high to honor all those dead and dying in the world.
Matt coughed, then looked up at Roxanne. “Just ignore him. You know how he is.”
“Hey! I heard that!” Casey announced and drew some irritated stares from all those gathered.
“Okay, so anyways. Here’s where we stand. Todd called this morning to say that he and Rosilynn had stopped off at a hospital in Safford for the night. They’re safe, he’s talking with family, and they should be on their way back soon,” Roxanne told them, then put a hand on Matts shoulder, as if comforting him. “He also said that there appears to be a bunch of gangbangers heading our way.”
There were some rumblings from the newcomers that had arrived with Joseph, and she shot Alicia a concerned look as the youth’s hand began to tremble. “I’m sure everything is going to be okay,” she whispered in her ear and only got a slight nod in return.
Joseph squared his shoulders, then began to speak, “Forewarned is forearmed. We were expecting an attack, and this doesn’t change anything. I’ve talked with Bill, the leader of the paramilitary group that moved into the other compound, and they stand ready to assist us at an instant’s notice. Obviously, they prefer us as neighbors rather than a bunch of street thugs.”
“What about Monica?” Sam asked from a nearby table, her kids’ faces looking somber, as if given a devastating bit of news. Then she remembered, they had visited their father on their way through Tucson and he hadn’t made it. Her heart went out to them, but not as much as it would have a week ago. Now, they were just another grieving family added to the millions around the world.
The Rotting Souls Series (Book 4): Charon's Coffers Page 3