Tank drove out of the parking lot onto Railway Street, heading north. With the rising sun backlighting them, various zombies could be seen shambling around the streets farther into Milk River, Alberta. Groups of zombies were also beginning to form and head towards the sound of their vehicle. They hadn’t been able to check the rest of the town yet and wouldn’t be able to now. James marked the other stores they hadn’t made it to on his map so they could come back later. Their main mission was to do reconnaissance and search for large amounts of food and other necessary supplies while also getting an idea of the number of infected.
They pulled up to a pump at a gas station on the northern outskirts of town. James exited the rig and drew his handgun, walking closer to the three zombies stumbling towards them. At ten yards, he opened fire, and in four shots he had them on the ground as a suppressed gunshot went off behind him. With the hostiles taken care of, Tank began to fuel Scourge.
“You two can head inside and check,” Tank said with an edge to his voice. “I’m gonna stay and fuel up.”
“Sure thing,” Connor said, moving to the station building. “C’mon James.”
James looked at Tank and then followed his brother. They’d done something to piss him off. At the front of the station, Connor banged on the door, then waited a few seconds and opened it as James trained his handgun on the doorway. Groaning sounded from inside, but nothing came out to greet them.
“There’s at least one,” James said, moving into the building. “Must be trapped or something.”
“Careful,” Connor said, following.
James holstered his handgun and drew his tomahawk, looking around the interior. The groaning came from the back of the room so he moved farther in. One of the beverage coolers had fallen over and a zombie was trapped underneath. It looked like it’d been trying to claw out for a while because its fingers were broken off and streaks of blood covered the floor in front of it. Bringing the tomahawk down on its head, he ended its torment. Unexpected emotion rose in his chest as he looked down at the creature. It had once been a woman, and probably a beautiful one at that. Now she was dead—fully dead—not stuck in some half-existence. This woman had once been a daughter to someone, maybe even a wife and mom. She’d once had dreams of her own. She’d loved, feared, hoped, and been someone once. She used to be alive.
That could be Alexis, James thought. Or me. Or any one of the people I love.
Tank’s words from before came back to him, and he was struck with sudden clarity. He had to live each day like it was his last or he wasn’t truly living—he was just surviving. He said a quick prayer for the woman as he moved to check the rest of the building. There was a sadness buried deep inside him that he hadn’t realized was there until then. He’d thought he was healing and growing used to all of this, but in reality he was trying to stay busy to keep the feelings at bay. This past week had been a struggle for him in that regard, but now that these emotions were starting to surface, he was afraid of what they would bring. He’d done things to survive that he didn’t know if he could reconcile.
“Clear,” Connor said, checking the bathroom.
James scanned the room with his eyes. The station had been effectively raided and nothing useful was left.
“What’d you say to Tank?” Connor asked.
“I don’t know,” James said, thinking back. “I made a comment about how I wanted to wait until marriage to have sex.”
“Let me guess—you said it the same way you always do?”
“Well, yeah.”
“James, you say things with such intensity sometimes that it comes off as judging.”
“I don’t ever mean it that way.”
“I know, but you do realize Tank and Chloe have been hooking up.”
James stood there, stunned. He knew they’d been spending a surprising amount of time together lately, but he hadn’t realized that.
“Damn,” James said. “He thinks I was judging him.”
“Yep,” Connor said.
“That makes sense.”
He thought back to the past decade he’d been friends with Tank. They were too similar sometimes but also completely different, which caused them to butt heads when they spent too much time together. Their friendship had even been compromised by arguments a few times. It was funny, Connor and Tank never got that way, only him and Tank. He knew what he needed to do, even though he didn’t want to. It wasn’t his fault people always took things the way they did when he spoke. He was just an intense kind of guy, and it tended to lead to the misunderstanding that he was arguing when he was really just stating an opinion. Okay, so maybe he was argumentative at times.
“Let’s go. I’ll fix it,” James said, walking towards the exit.
“Good, because I always seem to get stuck in the middle,” Connor said, following.
Outside, Tank had finished fueling and taken down five more zombies that had strayed too close. There was a small horde of them coming from town a few hundred yards away.
“You ladies finally ready?” Tank asked, starting the diesel engine.
“Born ready,” Connor said.
James just nodded. He hated it when Tank called him things like that. It was like his friend didn’t respect him at all. Biting back a response, he realized it was just the friction between the two of them. Normally, he would laugh at a comment like that, but not when things were like this. He needed to clear the air before it got worse, like it usually tended to.
“Hey, bro,” James said, “I’m sorry about earlier. I didn’t mean to imply anything with you and Chloe. I was just stating what I wanted to do. I never judge you for the way you live; in fact, sometimes I wish I could be more like you. You’re so good at interacting with women and living the way you want.”
“I know,” Tank said, glancing back. “I wasn’t upset. I just wanted to stick with the rig, but thanks.”
Even though Tank had spoken like it wasn’t a big deal, James knew he’d accepted the apology and things would go back to normal soon. He’d just have to watch what he said for a little while.
Tank pulled out of the gas station back onto Railway Street, heading north again. There was another small town on their map they were supposed to scout out. They turned onto Highway 4 and continued on their route to Warner.
James was still surprised that the leaders in Coutts had let them come out on this recon mission unsupervised.
It’s because Emmett has pull and he talked with the right people, James thought.
That was why they had their gear and Scourge back. The first couple of days after arriving in Coutts, they hadn’t been sure what would happen, but after being interviewed a few more times, they’d been told they could have their necessary gear, but all the surplus went back to the black-uniformed people it belonged to. Luckily, they let them keep their two ACRs, the SAW, uniforms, and Scourge. After a week in town, they’d finally been assigned their first mission as a test—the one they were on now.
“Is that smoke?” Connor asked.
James looked to the west where Connor was pointing and saw a thin line of gray rising into the sky. The smoke didn’t look like much from this distance, but he knew it was a large fire.
“Looks like it,” Tank said.
“We should go check it out. Someone might need help,” James said.
“Really, bro?” Connor asked. “Haven’t you learned anything in the past two weeks?”
James bit back his immediate response. Was the potential life of a stranger really worth risking his life or the lives of his brother and best friend? It could be a trap. There could be people waiting there to ambush whoever came to check on the fire. James could even put Coutts and the rest of the survivors in jeopardy, but something deep inside told him it was worth the risk because life was precious. At the same time, he couldn’t ignore the potential danger to those he loved.
“You’re right,” James said, sitting back in his seat. “We have
a job to do.”
2
Life
Goes On
Alexis looked around at the other women in the kitchen and couldn’t deny that she felt out of place. Most of these people hadn’t been fully exposed to the harsh realities outside the safety of the fence. It wasn’t their fault; they’d been fortunate that the government had stepped in and made this a safe haven early on. Still, she felt like an outcast, especially in this kitchen. She’d never been much of a cook, opting to either eat out or just get some cheap TV dinners, but there was a limited selection of jobs in Coutts. Her dad was talking with the higher-ups about letting her go out on runs, but so far he’d made little headway.
He’d been able to convince them to send the boys out though, Alexis thought.
She had half a mind to think her dad wasn’t trying very hard, or at all, because he didn’t want her out there. For the first couple of days in town, he’d barely left her side, but once he’d established that it was truly safe, he left her alone. After all they’d been through, she thought it was almost comical that he was being so overprotective when they were safer than ever. It was beginning to drive her crazy though, and she had to remember that he was doing it out of love, however misguided.
Even though it was truly safe in town, she constantly had to remind herself of that. Her mind flashed back to the last time she’d thought she was safe—they’d been taken captive to be executed by a zealous priest and his pet zombies. Now it was hard for her to let her guard down.
It could happen again, a part of her whispered. Shushing the voice, she went back to the task at hand. She had pasta to make, and it was proving to be disastrous.
Two hours later, she exited the kitchen, smelling like burnt noodles. Cook—the lady in charge of the kitchen—had been impressed. She’d never known anyone who could burn noodles before. Walking out of the diner they’d turned into the Mess Hall, she stopped on the street, feeling peaceful. A light breeze rustled her brunette hair, which gave off the fresh scent of burning food. There was definitely a shower in her plan for the evening.
The summer sun was low in the sky. It’d be setting in a few hours and still they weren’t back. She headed towards the house she shared with her dad and Abby. As she walked, she had to keep her mind from worrying about them—well, worrying about James mainly. The feelings that rose within her every time she thought about him were getting out of hand. She’d rarely felt this way before. There’d been a few boys back in high school, but none of them had lasted very long. They were too young, and she didn’t have any patience for idiots or egotistical guys—except her ex, Patrick. He’d fooled her and broken her heart, taking some of her innocence with him when he left her high and dry.
“Alexis,” someone called from behind her.
She turned, reaching for the handgun holstered at her hip. It was her father, walking down the street towards her from the large Border Services building the military had claimed as their headquarters. Relaxing, she slowed so he could catch up.
“You finally get me out of that cursed food factory?” Alexis asked as he joined her.
“Roger, I—” Emmett cut off, flaring his nostrils. “Is that you that smells like a charred corpse?”
“Yeah, I burned some noodles today,” Alexis said. “Oh, and the sauce. The bread came out edible at least, mostly.”
Emmett laughed. “You got my cooking skills and not your mother’s.”
“Maybe I should use your technique and fool them all with MREs,” Alexis said, chuckling.
“Worked for me.”
“So, any good news?”
“You start working in the infirmary tomorrow.”
Her father beamed at her like it was the perfect outcome. She was a little pissed that she wouldn’t be going out on runs—she didn’t like to be coddled—but as she thought about it, she realized she’d rather be helping people than going back out there anyway. However much she didn’t want to be caged, she was also weary of always being on the run and constantly alert. It’d be nice to do something she loved and put her years of training to use.
“I know you want to go out, but I thought you’d like this even better,” Emmett said.
“It’s a huge upgrade from the kitchen,” Alexis said, “so I’ll take it.”
“Good. You know the building just south of our house?”
“Yeah.”
She’d seen it often but had never known why people were coming and going from there. It was always under guard and had the same type of fence around it that surrounded the town. It made sense; they had to treat every wound as if the person could be infected, especially those coming back from runs.
“That’s where you’ll be working,” Emmett said. “Head over to HQ tomorrow morning at eight and they’ll get you your credentials.”
Alexis nodded as they arrived at the door to their house. She stopped and turned to her dad, smiling up at him. “Thanks, Daddy. That sounds perfect,” she said, hugging him.
“You’re welcome, sweetie,” Emmett said.
“I need to wash this nasty smell off,” Alexis said, ending the embrace. “See you tonight at dinner?”
“Not tonight,” Emmett said, his face clouding. “I have a meeting, and it’ll probably go late.”
“That’s okay. I’ll see you in the morning. Love you.”
“I love you, too,” he said as he turned and left, making his way back to headquarters.
Alexis entered their house, thankful no one else was inside. Sharing a bathroom with her father and Abby was difficult when everyone wanted to use it at the same time. The house was small—three bedrooms, a kitchen, tiny living room, and the one shared bathroom. Her room was the first to the left and her father’s was next to hers. In front of her room was an open living room with a kitchen directly to her right and the third bedroom just beyond the kitchen. Abby, one of the survivors from Burns, stayed in the third room. She was fun to stay with because she’d lived a long life and loved to share stories with Alexis, but she also tended to take forever in the bathroom and repeat those same stories over and over.
She made her way to her room to gather her things before showering. When she left the bathroom some time later, steam came pouring out from inside the confined room. Entering her bedroom, she shut the door and flopped down on the bed, wet hair and all. Showering had felt good, almost too good. For a few moments, she’d been able to forget about everything and believe that things were back to normal, or at least what she remembered of “normal.” It was getting more and more difficult for her to remember those days. It was almost like her mind didn’t want to think about what it’d been like before all this. Now all she could remember was the last two weeks, which seemed like a lifetime. Closing her eyes, she made herself relax. They were safe; she was safe. She just had to remember that.
Recalling what her dad had told her, she grabbed the alarm clock from the small nightstand next to her twin bed. She had to make sure she was up early in the morning. Her dad had practically beaten into her the fact that to be on time was the same as being late, and she wanted to make a good impression on her first day.
She wondered what it would be like to work in the infirmary. From outside, the place looked more like a prison than a hospital. It made sense that she had to get credentials first; they wouldn’t let just anyone in there. With that thought, it fully dawned on her that her dad had gone to a lot of trouble to get her this position, maybe even more trouble than letting her go out on runs. He’d known that even though she wanted to go out, she’d like this more, even if she didn’t realize it at first. Her heart swelled with the love she felt. He’d always taken care of her and kept her safe. Maybe his protectiveness wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
She put her alarm back down on the nightstand and rested her head back on her pillow, letting her mind wander. It was crazy to think they’d been in Coutts for nine days already. The past week had gone by in a blur of nothing but sleeping, eatin
g, and interrogations. Then they’d been allowed out of their partial confinement and welcomed into the community. Most of the people were friendly and had been there since the beginning. Everyone contributed to the community in some way by volunteering at the different places around town. It was almost like people had jobs, and that created a sense of normalcy, which she was thankful for.
The higher-ups mostly left everyone to their daily lives, but there were a few rules, and the influence of the military was unmistakable. There were scheduled meals, food was rationed, and people weren’t able to leave the town without permission, which most didn’t seem to mind. The only part she didn’t like was that everyone was kept in the dark about how the outside world was faring. She was also suspicious of the buildings that were off limits and the constant string of helicopters coming and going each day.
Her train of thought moved on to another topic that she’d been spending a lot of time on lately—James. She wondered when he’d begun to occupy so many of her thoughts. It was like he was always there now, in the back of her mind. She couldn’t get him out, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. Did he feel the same? It seemed like he did, yet he hadn’t made a move. He paid her a lot of attention when they were together and she often found him sneaking glances at her, but he never did anything about it. Her experience with guys was the opposite. They would come sauntering up to her, lay on some stupid one-liner, and expect her jump into their arms. They never succeeded in their quest, but they tried anyway. James was different, and maybe that was why she felt the way she did.
As all these thoughts chased each other in her mind, she eventually dozed off, the softness of her bed lulling her to sleep.
Bad Company (The Brother's Creed Book 4) Page 2