“Doggie, doggie.” Elise fell on top of one of the shepherds, much to the horror of both mothers. The dog just curled in and licked the child on the face, recognizing how young she was. Soon other dogs were crowding around her licking her face, and all anyone could hear was the child laughing.
“Tomtom, take these fine people to the showers. Show them where they can get some fresh clothes as well as some shut-eye if they want… please. While they’re doing that, we are going to set Gene, here, up in a whirlpool so those muscles from his dislocated hip don’t swell too much. I will fix up something good for ya’ll to eat.” Finished giving instructions, Beverly strode toward the kitchen, comfortable taking charge of the situation.
“I wish I could have talked to Ram before he left, but he got so much attitude with me last night. I could have given him a list of safe houses, or fuel dumps at least,” Ian said, regretting their harsh words the night before.
“You’re not the easiest to deal with sometimes, boss,” Kinsey said.
“What do you mean?” Ian sounded more than a little offended.
Jose jumped into the conversation. “It’s all right. I hooked Jesse up last night, so they’re good to go. Even found another siphon. There are dozens of them downstairs in supply.”
“Good, we’ll have to take a couple with us when we go,” Ian said.
“Yeah, about that, boss… I think I’m going to hang out here and help Beverly for a bit.” Jose gave Ian a worried look, unsure how his boss would take it.
“That sucks, Jose. I mean, I get it… this is kind of close to your home, and there is nothing going on except my own crazy ideas about the North Koreans,” Ian said regretfully.
“I believe what you’re saying about the North Koreans, and I figure this is going to be one of the first places they come. Besides, I really like dogs.”
“Okay, Jose. We’ll try to find a sat phone here and keep track of each other.” Ian was resigned to losing his longest-running employee and friend.
“I haven’t found a sat phone, but we could hook up a mobile ham unit, which on the right night, could bring us halfway around the world.”
“That would work. Let’s do it, and we’ll be on our way.”
“You’re not going to hang it out for a day or two?”
“Naw, I want to get to DC ASAP. There is a concentration of safe houses and supply depots around there, and I have a feeling they might already be seeing some action.” Ian glanced at the Toms. “What about you boys? You going to come to DC with us, or stay here with the dogs?”
“We’re gonna stay here,” the dark-haired Tom said. Then he added, “Thank you… for helping us, that is.”
“You’re welcome son. I wish I could do more.”
“Ah, you’re leaving us in a fully stocked bunker surrounded by attack dogs… I think you did pretty good.” Blonde Tom’s smile was genuine as he spoke to the man responsible for getting them there.
Beverly tsk-tsked. “It’s pretty well, not good. I think you did pretty well.”
“Beverly, are we square on Jasper?”
“More than square, Ian. Be sure you take a couple big bags of food for him and lots of water; he’s still a little peaked.”
“Got it covered.”
“Jose!” Dark-haired Tom yelled from the observation room, where he had wandered during the conversation.
The tone of the boy’s voice concerned Ian. They all hurried into the room to find a wall of TV screens with most of them on, and more turning on as they entered. “Where is that?” Ian asked when he saw a lot full of military vehicles, ranging from troop transport to tanks.
Jose recognized it immediately. “That’s the walled lot behind us. We’ve been taking the dogs out there to do their business in the grassy area out by the wall.” He paused as he looked at another screen. “Holy crap, these three screens are displaying the government and financial district in downtown Phoenix.”
“I guess we don’t have to ask where all of the infected are hiding out,” Kinsey said as she looked at the three screens. Hundreds of thousands of the near-million-and-a-half people that lived here a month ago were still here.
“By the way they are swarming those buildings, I would say that there are a lot of people trapped inside.” Ian then fell silent as his mind processed what he was seeing. “Probably out of food for weeks already.”
Ian met eyes with his crew, and none of them could find words. There was nothing they could do, yet at the same time, there was “nothing” not worth trying.
“Hey, is that someone near your truck?” Beverly pointed toward a different screen.
“That’s the gang that has been harassing everyone,” Armand said.
Ian scoped out the weapons they were carrying. Mostly ARs with a couple of AKs mixed in. “How are they harassing people?”
“They’ve been raiding hideouts and taking supplies, as well as people,” Armand replied.
“Why?” Toby asked.
“Why? What do you mean why? It’s what bad people do.”
Kinsey spoke for the rest of her group, who were all puzzled by Armand’s answer. “No, it isn’t. I mean… not yet, anyway.”
Ian shook his head in wonder. “They should be running and hiding from infected. Pillaging a city that is still rife with product doesn’t make sense, nor does rape or any of this, when infected are trying to eat you.”
“I agree, so I guess you would have to ask them,” Armand said sarcastically in his own defense.
“Jose, are you going to stick with me on this?” Ian asked his recently retired employee.
“Depends, are you going to help me clear out Phoenix? There are a lot of survivors trapped down in the city.”
Ian looked to Kinsey and Toby, who both gave him a single nod.
“Three days, Jose. I will give you three days and then we’re gone. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“It will give Jasper a chance to get some meat back on his bones. He didn’t manage to stay thick like Thor did, though even he is a bit thin.” Ian paused for a moment. “In fact, none of the dogs managed to stay thick like Thor did.” Ian looked toward Beverly, who was trying to look everywhere but at them.
Finally, she gave up and met Ian’s eyes. “Thor is the God of Thunder—storms and strength. He will survive.” She shrugged. “Or at least that’s how I am looking at it. It didn’t seem to change him… much.”
Jose gave a chuckle, seeming to have a good idea how he had stayed fed through his three weeks-plus of imprisonment. He understood that there were only two ways of staying healthy that long, and though they be of different species, both dog and man were still nothing more than meat on bone.
“Thor and I will slip out the back while you three take the front. Suppressors and headsets on. I’ll signal when we are in place, standard procedures,” Jose said, instantly taking charge of the situation before heading to the back door.
“You had better hurry, they’re starting to take crowbars to your truck,” Blonde Tom said.
“Not an issue, Tom. There is nothing on there that can’t be replaced, including the truck itself.” Ian moved toward the door, signaling that Jasper, though still weak, should stay by his side. He didn’t expect much from the dog, considering his condition. He just wanted him to have a little exposure to the type of life they would be living.
There were two front walk-through doors leading out. as a single overhead much too small for freight or vehicle which mainly stayed to the back of the warehouse. Toby lined up on the west door. Ian and Jasper took the east as Kinsey sprinted down to the far end, where there was a north door. Ian gave her a nod when she got there, and she quietly slipped out into the alley.
“Tom, what is the count on the perpetrators?” Ian asked from across the room, confident that little sound could escape the building.
“Perpe… what?”
Ian smirked, knowing that he should have known better. “Bad guys, Tommy, how many bad guys are out there?”
/> “Oh.” Dark-haired Tom took a quick count. “I see ten, but I think there are two on the other side of the truck.”
Ian gave a silent nod as his ear piece opened, and he heard Jose speak. “Exiting the motor pool now and moving up the west side. No hostiles in sight. Give a ten count to establish position. Over.”
“Roger, out.” Ian started with one-Mississippi to give the operator time to set up. Sniping on your own is dangerous work without a spotter or guard to watch your back. Jose and Thor had taken to each other and everyone knew without any doubts that Thor would have his six covered.
“Jasper, shadow.” Ian gave the command that he had been reviewing since he put his money down.
At seven-Mississippi Ian held up his hand for Toby and counted the last three out with his fingers. When his hand made a fist, they both exited their respective doors, Ian with Jasper in tow. There was no sign of Kinsey or Jose.
They hadn’t burst or rushed; they simply stepped out with their rifles at hip-ready, so not to be the aggressors. Their movements were so practiced and smooth, the perpetrators hadn’t noticed them at first. The sun was in Ian’s face, casting his shadow behind him, which is right where Jasper stood, visible to only the shrewdest of eyes.
“Hey,” Ian said, and all heads turned toward him. Both he and Toby noticed that not one of them looked anywhere else but at the two of them, meaning they had become complacent in their roles—or they had zero training. Looking at their physiques and how they carried themselves, Ian suspected the latter.
“Two lookouts neutralized, eleven thirty.” Jose’s voice whispered through the mic.
Kinsey followed up. “Nothing to the northeast.”
With the building to the east, this was good; it meant they had come from the west, and their backs were covered.
A man in the middle of the pack took the lead. “Well, look what we have here, some army dude holding on to our guns. You looking to join up, Army Dudes, or do you just want to play?”
“Yeah, sign them up, boss. They can fill in when the girls get tired,” a large white man said, causing the “boss” to wave a hand as if stifling his drinking buddies from getting out of hand.
Ian could smell them from where he stood. A mixture of alcohol and piss, and it looked like some of them were half in the basket already. Ian scanned the big white man who had made the sexual reference. He had his head shaved like a skinhead, but he had no tattoos and was running with multiple races, all of whom were men. Everything about the man said hard time.
“Not looking for the Boy’s Club. We’re just curious as to why you are so interested in our vehicle,” Ian said.
The leader smirked. “Your vehicle? I’m sorry, Army Man, but this is not a military vehicle, so I am requisitioning it for the cause.”
“Play your games elsewhere, Chilupe,” Ian said, intending to insult him with the racial slur. Their leader continued to smirk, but a few others seemed a touch agitated. A couple black men smiled, as did the large white man; this would obviously be a source of ribbing once they got back into their camp—if they got back into their camp.
“You don’t understand, Army. We have many more guns than you, so you will do as you’re told and show some respect, or things will go very bad for you.” The leader slowly started to point his shotgun up at Ian, as did the others.
“Two and two.” This was all Ian said into his mic. Two of the men collapsed, followed by two more—one of them being the big white man. The suppressed shots from Kinsey and Jose never made so much as a whisper at this distance.
The group stopped in place, their eyes widening as they heard their friends fall. It was obvious that these men were hampered by booze and prescription drugs and were by no means ready to fight an organized unit.
“Now you are eight. In four seconds you will be four”—Ian nodded toward a confused-looking man to his left—“and I will be speaking to him as the leader.” In his head, Ian finished the two-count that remained of the four seconds.
Four more fell, including the leader, as promised.
Ian held the newly appointed leader’s gaze as he walked toward their old leader, who lay prone on the ground with what looked like a severed spine. A silent puff from Ian’s rifle ended the man’s misery in a 7.62 way. He heard the same report from Toby, who had done the same for another of the fallen. There was no love lost for these men. They were not survivors… they were predators every bit as much as the infected were.
“Drop your weapons.” They did so as one. “Toby, why don’t you take it from here.”
“I would be delighted to, Colonel.”
Toby slipped into his poser role better than anyone and had found it a good way to get information. They had used this technique on doctor Sanjay to great effect, so Ian was interested to see what he would ad lib now. Kinsey, no doubt, had her phone recording it; she loved this shit.
“We are interrogation facilitators for the US Intelligence Agency, who have unfortunately found ourselves without a job. We loved our work, so we are not happy about becoming recently unemployed.”
Ian found it hard not to giggle.
“One of the techniques that I loved but was not able to use often enough due to electronic monitoring of our techniques—as opposed to lack of will on our part—is a little game we call ‘Talk…or Not.’ We don’t really care either way. So, here is how it works. We ask you a question, and if we don’t get an immediate answer, I put a bullet in…” Toby paused and shook his head. “I’m sorry, I just can’t find it in me to finish such a verbalization. Let’s try this.” He paused again as if he had to think of a question.
“I got nothing,” he said and put a bullet through the head of one of the thugs.
“Hold on, Tobes. I think that I can come up with something,” Ian said casually.
“Okay, give it your best shot.” Toby slowly walked toward a short, heavy man who didn’t look as if he was fit enough to run away from a herd of infected. The man was shaking, and a stream trickled out of his pants leg.
“How many are in your group?” Ian asked, and Toby raised his rifle, causing the man to jump to answer.
“Thirty—or about fourteen or fifteen now, not including the women.”
“How many women?”
“I don’t know, eight or ten and a couple of kids.”
“You don’t know?”
“The number changes… fluctuates up and down… you know.” The man’s hesitation sealed his fate. Blood sprayed out the opposite side of his head as the heat from the end of Toby’s gun singed the man’s hair.
Ian walked past a tall black man who didn’t seem to fit in with the group. He was in a sleeveless tee and had a tattoo going down his arm of what looked to be an African village, with crossed spears and Zulu shields—or at least what Ian suspected were Zulu shields—on his upper arms.
“Show me your teeth,” Ian said
The man glared at Ian. “I’m not a horse.”
Toby raised his rifle, but Ian halted him with a casual wave. Kinsey and Jose had both moved in, as well as Thor, while Jasper stayed within Ian’s shadow as commanded.
“You know why I’m asking, bud. I don’t want to hurt anyone who might be a boon to society. We’re going need all the good folk we can get. Now, open your mouth,” Ian said, and Toby put a little tension on his rifle.
The man hesitated and smiled, showing incredibly white teeth before opening his mouth and proving that they were all his own.
“So why are you running with these boys?” Ian asked, knowing they weren’t his people. “Where’s your gun?”
“They took my gun the day before yesterday when they found us.”
“Us? Who’s us.”
“Me and my kids. Their mom didn’t make it.”
“Their mom, you mean your wife?” Kinsey asked.
“No, we weren’t together anymore, and the kids lived with me and my dad. He didn’t make it either, but he went out proud.”
“That’s all you can ho
pe for these days. So why did they keep you alive?” Ian asked.
“I used to play circuit ball with a few of them back before all of this started. Pepe there was an amazing point guard and could have been pro if he had stayed off the shit. Then he got fat, but he remembered me. We played two seasons together and even won the Phoenix area championship.”
“Well, whoop-de-doo, good for you. My name is Ian. This is Toby, Kinsey, and Jose.”
“Pleased to meet you. I’m Rex.”
“Are you ex-military, Rex?”
“One tour Stateside. Some of the most unproductive years of my life.”
“Yeah, Stateside is rough, but the training is still there. Will you lead us to their hideout, Rex?”
“Nope, I was blindfolded in and out, but he can.” Rex pointed toward a shorter, heavier Asian man who sported some kind of cultural haircut that framed piggish eyes. He wasn’t defiant though. He stared back at the people who had just killed ten of his comrades without so much as a twitch.
“I will, I will,” the man said and flinched away from them while glaring at Rex, who ignored him. Ian wanted to trust him, he really did want to trust him…
Chapter Five
Scottsdale Arizona, April 30th
They took an MRAP and a passenger box truck, which they left off-site a few blocks. Though they had referred to the group as the West Side Gang, they were actually on East Curry, where they had a walled compound or complex or… something.
“You’re on deck,” Ian said to the Asian man, whose name was Frank, but he didn’t wear it well. Ian suspected he put on that label to avoid conflict within the gang or… his name really was Frank. They had left Jose and Thor with the van so Jose could try to set up a distance shot to elevate their situational status.
They all hated going into an area blind, but Rex seemed to know enough about the camp inside, and Frank was willing to cooperate. And there wasn’t much time. If Ian was right, they were already over three weeks into the invasion. There was going to be a reckoning from the invader sooner rather than later, but he couldn’t worry about that right now. He just couldn’t help that it was gnawing at him.
For Which We Stand: Ian's road (A Five Roads To Texas Novel Book 3) Page 5