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,” Tank 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,” Tank cried out. “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?” Benji asked.
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.”
Tom 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,” the guy replied.
“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 guards 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 the key 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 the door, the click could easily have woken him.
At least I know Tom will clobber him if he tries to come through the door 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 the door 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. I walked down the hall to John's office. I stopped and listened for signs of life in the house, 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 the arms 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,” Tank 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. 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 at that moment 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.
“He's just unconscious,” Tom informed us, placing his fingers on Tank's neck and checking for a pulse. I picked up the gun and handed it to Tom.
“Cover him,” I managed to croak out through my swollen throat, “while I go through his pockets. If he moves at all, go ahead and shoot him.”
“”What happened?” Benji inquired as I fished out Tank's car keys.
“It was a trap. The girl who was helping us is actually his daughter. They planned on killing us all and telling John we were spies for the other side.”
“That's crazy,” Tom argued. He seemed to be finding his grip on reality again now that it looked like we were going to escape.
“It gets worse,” I went on. “The road out of town is actually on the New Lompoc side. Which means John was trying to trick us into staying and fighting in his war. We never needed to go to the border in the first place.”
“So what happens now?” Tom stared at me.
“I guess we head south and leave town,” Benji suggested. “And pray they don't have a trap waiting for us there too?”
“No,” I said shaking my head. “We promised Tom we'd find Joel. I know we didn't exactly get along like best friends but we can't leave without finding out what happened to him.”
“Thanks,” Tom said. “You're a good man.”
“How are we going to get out of the house without raising an alarm?” Benji asked.
“We march right out the front door,” I said darkly, retrieving my sword from Tank along with another pistol. I checked the blade to make sure it was still in pristine condition. The small sliver of light coming in the window danced across the steel. “God help anyone who tries to get in our way.”
“We'd better hurry before one of them comes around,” Tom prodded.
We rushed down the hallway, taking the steps two at a time. When we got to the front door Tom stopped and waited for my response. I drew my blade and nodded. He held his pistol tight with one hand and opened the door with the other. He yanked the door open but there was no one outside. The Jeep was parked by the curb. Suddenly, a loud yell rang out upstairs and lights flashed on in the kitchen.
“Let's go,” I cried out, rushing outside. Benji and Tom were right behind me. We climbed over the side of the Jeep and I hopped in the driver's seat. I had the keys in the ignition and the engine running in just a heartbeat. Tom and Benji pointed their guns at the front door. The short man we'd ambushed at the secret room came running out with his gun drawn. Benji and Tom both let off several shots that seemed to explode over his head, forcing him to run back into the house for cover. I peeled out, racing up the street and turning onto Ocean toward the direction of the border. I wasn't exactly clear on how we had gotten where we were. The last thing I wanted to do was go by the gas station and ask for dir
ections. They'd be after us now in no time. The plan was getting more screwed up by the second.
“Turn left up here,” Tom advised, pointing at an intersection with a strip mall. “I'm pretty sure John took us this way on our personal tour the first morning before you arrived.”
“You got it,” I replied, glad to have a distraction.
We drove past armed patrols but they didn't even turn their heads as we went by. No one had sounded the alarm yet.
Tank was obviously going rogue, I thought as I rubbed my sore throat. I could still feel his arm crushing my windpipe.
“Turn right up here,” Tom directed. We rounded the corner and I could see the barricade in the distance coming up fast.
“What are we going to tell them?” Benji asked.
“We'll think of something,” I lied.
One of the armed guards held his hand up as we approached and I slowed to meet him.
“Let me do the talking,” I insisted. Tom and Benji nodded. I stopped to meet the guard.
“What are you doing out here this time of night?” He didn't seem upset or alarmed by our presence, just curious.
“Tank sent us out,” I said calmly. “Said we'd have a better chance of looking for his brother Joel at night since zoms slow down after dark.”
“I wish that were true,” the man replied. “I'm Harvey. Park over there.” He pointed to a line of vehicles. Benji shook his head no but I pulled over and parked anyway.
“What are we doing?”
“We're finding Joel and getting the hell out of here,” I whispered. “Just do what I do.”
“We're going to get caught,” Benji said.
“No,” Tom said in his normal, relaxed voice. “Everything is going to be fine.”
Zombie Attack! Rise of the Horde Page 10