The Dying of the Light (Book 1): End

by Jason Kristopher

  Shit, there’s another one on the ground. Must’ve been a snack for the other. He went to one knee and sighted in on the mobile one. A sound like a muted cough, and it was just more dead flesh. Highly contagious dead flesh, but no longer a walker, and that’s all that really matters.

  He moved up a few feet until he had a clear shot and took out the other one as well. “Alpha Six, two tangos down.”

  “Roger, continue your sweep.”

  “Acknowledged.”

  He was turning back to Rachel when he saw it. She was looking in his direction, smiling at him, instead of keeping watch. Otherwise, she would have seen it, too. He didn’t even have time to shout a warning, just brought his gun up and fired at the walker that was coming up behind her. The flash of fear and surprise that crossed her face was etched in his mind as his bullet struck the walker in the cheek, taking out the right side of its head and sending it flying backward.

  Eaton ducked out of pure reflex as the shot went past and she felt it brush her collar without being slowed in the slightest. She rolled away from the walker, coming up facing it, gun ready. She knew she should be shaking, but she didn’t care why she wasn’t. All that mattered was that she was alive, and so was Dalton.

  She turned back to him just as he reached her, lifting her in a crushing bear hug. “Can’t… breathe…” she managed to choke out, and he put her back down.

  “Are you ok? Did he get you? Let me do a splatter check…” He began looking her over, searching for even the smallest drop of blood.

  Under other circumstances, I’d welcome this much attention. Now, though, it’s not helping.

  “I’m fine, D. Really. Let’s move out.”

  “Okay, but only if you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure. Carry on, soldier. That’s an order!”

  He snorted, and moved to the next row as she reached for her throat mike and spoke. “Alpha Six, one more down. Clea-”

  It wasn’t so much the bite that hurt, it was the knowledge that something as simple as that was all it took to end… well, everything. Her life, her plans for marriage, all of it.

  “Fuck!” she shouted, slamming her weapon into the zombie’s gut, feeling its teeth tear a scrap of fabric from her ACU sleeve. “You son of a bitch!” She didn’t remember switching her SCAR to full-auto, but the stream of bullets she unloaded on the walker was evidence enough.

  She didn’t know Dalton could move so fast, but he was by her side — or at least so it seemed — in less time than it took her to blink.

  “What happened? Where did…” She saw his eyes catch on the ripped uniform, and he stared. “No,” he whispered. “No.”

  Picking her up, he moved to the center of an aisle, where the light was brightest. Ripping the rest of her sleeve from her uniform jacket as though it were tissue paper, he carefully inspected the wound. It was clear even to Rachel that the bite had gone through the fabric and the skin. The teeth marks were clear, but it was the blood that mattered. Bright red. Flowing. Her blood.

  Infected blood.

  She looked up at Dalton, who had broken out his first aid kit and was swabbing the wound with what appeared to be enough anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral meds to kill a small village full of diseases. At least he had remembered to put on gloves. She ran her free hand over his cheek, smiling sadly, and reached for her mike.

  “Alpha Six, Eaton. Code white. Repeat, code white.”

  Dalton stopped what he was doing for a second, but then shook his head and continued. She could see his tears falling on her arm as he fought to resist the truth of what had happened.

  “Ack…” came the halting reply. “Acknowledged. We’re on our way. Stay there.”

  “Roger.”

  Tom looked over at Angelo Martinez, his partner in the next warehouse over. “Did I hear that correctly?”

  Angelo swore in Spanish and nodded, once. “Si.”

  Now it was Reynolds turn to swear. A minute, then two, and he got himself under control.

  “What now, hermano?” asked Martinez. “Do we go to them?”

  Reynolds debated the idea for a moment, but his military training took over. “No. Nothing we can do for her now, anyway. Barnes will handle it. Let’s finish the sweep.”

  “Roger.”

  They moved off into the warehouse, checking row after row of boxes. There were some offices on the other end, but Ames and Turner were taking care of those.

  Why couldn’t it have been that homophobic asshole, instead? Why did it have to be Rachel? What the fuck is wrong with this world?

  He continued down the row to the end, where he signaled Martinez to hold.

  “Contact right,” whispered Martinez. “Friendly.”

  Tom glanced in that direction and noticed Janet Turner exiting one of the offices. Ames has gotta be close. Might as well give them some cover, just in case. He motioned for Martinez to scout the next row, and indicated he would cover Turner and Ames. Angelo nodded and moved off as Tom took up position to cover the others.

  Fuck this, thought Ames. This little bitch thinks she’s hot shit cause she’s seen more action than I have. I’d like to show her some action…

  He was following Turner, checking every other office in a staggered clear operation, a standard method for small offices like these, especially when time was of the essence. He knocked and opened the door when he heard nothing from inside the room. Unfortunately, the blinds on the office were down, so he couldn’t just look inside.

  Who the hell puts blinds on an office window that’s inside a warehouse? Dumbasses. He glanced around the room, noting the closet in the corner but not bothering to open it. No blood, no walker. Next!

  He left the room, crouching as he took a slug of cool water from his CamelBak reservoir. Noticing movement across the way, he saw Reynolds take up a position at the end of a row, looking to his right at Turner as she exited an office. He raised his SCAR, looking at Reynolds through the scope. It was then that the realization hit him.

  This is it. I could take out that bastard faggot now, claim I thought he was a walker and I shot to defend Turner. No one could argue that. He heard the voice of his father again, ranting and raving about all the evils of the world, chief among them all the “homo-sex-yuls” taking over. He didn’t even notice his finger tightening on the trigger, his aim correcting to take Reynolds in the head.

  Suddenly, Reynolds glanced his way and did a double-take as he saw the rifle in Ames’s hands pointed at him. Reynolds responded by training his own rifle on Ames, aiming through his own scope.

  Son of a bitch! That asshole has the same idea!

  Time seemed to slow for daddy’s boy Eddie Ames as he saw the muzzle flash from Reynolds gun, and he squeezed off a couple shots himself as he dived forward, rolling and coming up in a crouch, still aimed at Reynolds, who was now ducked behind some boxes. One of Reynolds’ fingers crept up above his cover and pointed twice to where Ames had been. A cold chill ran down Ames’ spine.

  With uncontrollable nightmare slowness, he turned to look behind him, expecting to feel the sharp bite of a walker at any moment.

  Instead, he saw one lying on the ground with its head missing, the brains and other remnants sliding down the window with the blinds he’d been so pissed off about earlier.

  Holy… He couldn’t finish the thought. Turning back, he saw Reynolds glance out from cover, then move more fully into the light, his rifle trained square on Ames, who swallowed hard.

  Pointing his weapon straight up, Ames looked at Reynolds and nodded once, in thanks. He could see the other man hesitate, then lower his weapon and nod as well. Both men moved to join their partners, a catastrophe avoided.

  “Any chance she’s wrong?” I whispered to Kim, glancing at Rachel.

  “None.” Kim leaned into me for a moment, and I thought for a second that she was going to break. I should’ve known better. “She… she’s done, David.”

  I sighed, feeling the weight of another friend lost lan
d hard on my shoulders. And she wasn’t even really gone, yet. That made it so much harder. Just that one smallish bandage on her arm and the missing sleeve to indicate anything was out of the ordinary.

  Nothing will ever be ordinary again.

  “Who’s it going to be?” I asked her in a whisper.

  “I’ll do it,” she said. To her credit, it was without any hesitation.

  I nodded. “If you can’t…”

  “I said, I’ll do it.” She softened the harshness with a brittle smile, then turned and knelt next to Rachel, who was sitting on a crate with Dalton hovering over her. “Rachel? How’re you doing?”

  “Well, except for the fact that I’ll be dead soon, I’m peachy-keen, ma’am. You?”

  Kim just smiled and shook her head. “That’s why I love ya. Always looking on the bright side.”

  “You know me, major.”

  Kim fiddled with her hands, not knowing what to do with them, and unholstered her side-arm. “Rachel…”

  “No,” said Dalton quietly. “I’ll do it.”

  All of us turned to look at him, but he was staring at the ground.

  “D…” For once, Rachel didn’t seem to know what to say. She stood still, looking at her fiancé as he took a step closer.

  “I won’t let anyone else do this,” he said, reaching out to take her hand, but still not meeting her gaze. “I won’t let you go alone.”

  A tear ran down Rachel’s face as she lifted Dalton’s chin slightly with one slim hand, so that she could see his eyes.

  I looked away as the tears in the big man’s eyes became evident, and then Rachel was giving me a fierce hug.

  “I’m going to miss you, Mr. Blake. You take care of my girl, here, or I’ll come back and haunt you. Got it?” My laugh became a choked-up sob as I hugged her back, just as hard. “Oh,” she continued. “And tell Tom that I’m gonna miss his cooking. He was the best of the best. And Angelo… well, just tell him hasta luego.” She turned to Kim.

  “And you, you listen to him once in a while, ok? You can’t always be the boss,” she said. “Although sometimes that’s fun.” The two women embraced, and there were more than a few tears from both. “You’re going to make it, I can tell. Take care of him, too, and you’ll both make it.”

  Kim nodded, and held my hand as Rachel took Dalton’s arm and they walked off among the darkened rows.

  “I don’t know if I can do this.”

  The big man was openly weeping now, clutching her to his chest. “I can’t do it. I just can’t.”

  Without breaking their embrace, she looked up at him, drawing his eyes down to meet hers. “Dalton Horatio Gaines, look at me.”

  Despite himself, he smiled a little at her use of his full name, and made an attempt to wipe away some of his tears. “Yeah?”

  “I love you. I need your help. Will you help me?”

  I feel like I’m drowning in those eyes of hers. How can I not help the love of my life? Feeling like he was breaking apart, he nodded.

  “If you need my help, I’ll help.”

  “Good.” She turned from him, her arms crossed over her chest and her head bowed. “I love you, Dalton Horatio Gaines. And I always will.” She heard the soft scrape of his sidearm leaving its holster, and his whispered reply.

  “I love you, too.”

  “I love you, too.”

  Tom jogged up and saluted Kimberly, Angelo at his side. “Reporting as ordered, ma’am.”

  “As ordered?”

  “Commander Anderson, ma’am. He ordered Martinez and I here when our sweep was finished.”

  I looked over at Kim. Who knew that scary old bastard had such a soft heart after all?

  “Where’s Rach-” Tom started to ask, but was interrupted by the soft cough of a gunshot around the corner. It was such a quiet sound, yet it seemed to reverberate through all of us. Tom turned to me, and I shook my head as I put a hand on his shoulder.

  “She’s gone, Tom. There was nothing we could do.”

  I didn’t think anyone could look that sad, but I was wrong. Ever the professional, Tom confined his grief to a look of loss that made me want to cry, as well as a single tear, and a painful squeeze on my hand. We all looked around a few minutes later as Dalton came back down the aisle, his steps slow and measured.

  He carried a small, still form shrouded in a foul-weather poncho in his arms, and the look on his face… well, granite had more expression than he did in that moment.

  As if we didn’t have enough to deal with right then, another soldier trotted up out of the darkness in between the rows, and saluted Kimberly. We were all amazed when we saw it was Edward Ames.

  I don’t know who moved first, me or Martinez, but I know that it was Tom who held us both back, one hand on each of our shoulders. Both of us looked at him, as incredulous as we could possibly be, but he just shook his head, his eyes never leaving Ames, who hadn’t even glanced our way.

  “Petty Officer Second Class Edward Ames reporting, ma’am.”

  Kim returned his salute. “What can I do for you?”

  Ames continued to stand ramrod-straight, as though he was filming an instructional video for the perfect posture. I still wanted to beat him senseless after what he’d done to Tom, but I was also curious as to why he was here now.

  “Permission to speak to Captain Reynolds, ma’am.”

  Kim raised an eyebrow in Tom’s direction, and he nodded again, ever so slightly. Ames gave no sign he saw the exchange. “Permission granted.”

  Ames took several precise steps over to Reynolds and saluted him. The rest of us exchanged startled and unbelieving glances.

  What the hell is going on?

  Tom was the only one of us who didn’t react, other than to come to attention and return the salute.

  “Yes?” he said, more than a little curiosity in his voice.

  “Sir,” Ames began, looking Reynolds straight in the eye. “I owe you an apology. I was seriously out of line in many ways, and I know that I can never make up for the harm that I’ve done to you or this team. All I can do is apologize, and promise that I will, from this moment on, be better. It would be my honor to continue to serve with you, if you’ll have me.” Ames held out a hand to Reynolds and kept it there, waiting.

  Tom never glanced at it, but we all began to wonder as the moments slipped by and he didn’t shake it. It was an old-fashioned stare-down, with neither man looking away. Finally, Tom took a deep breath and shook Ames’s hand. There was a palpable sense of relief in the air, and Ames smiled, obviously relieved.

  “I owe you my life, Tom. I won’t forget it. I hope you can forgive me.”

  “Already done, Ed.”

  Ames turned back to Kim and saluted. “I’d best return to my squad, ma’am.”

  Kim returned the salute. “Off you go.”

  Ames jogged off, and we all congregated around Gaines, still holding Rachel’s body in his arms. He hadn’t made a sound, never even seeming to notice what had happened with Ames. He was completely unresponsive to us, and as I glanced at Kim, she shook her head.

  Solve one problem, gain another. When will it end?

  I was going to find out all too soon, I knew. We all were.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Fort Carson, Colorado

  I approached Gaines slowly as he sat on top of the picnic bench near our barracks, looking out over the Front Range in the rising sun. We had a great view from up here; I just wished we had something nicer to look at than the city of Colorado Springs. I didn’t think it was a bad town, but it wasn’t exactly as gorgeous as the mountains behind us.

  “Mind if I join you, big guy?” I asked. When he didn’t respond, I took his silence for acquiescence and sat down as well. We sat there for quite some time. He didn’t move a muscle, just stared at the sun as it rose, bathing everything in a golden glow.

  “It was a nice service. Simple, no frippery. Just what she would’ve wanted, I think.” Neither of us said anything for a while, but e
ventually, I glanced over at him and cleared my throat. “You know, D, if you ever need to talk…”

  I’d thought I’d gotten through to him when he slowly turned my way, but the look on his face was the same as it had been since we returned from San Diego — nothingness. He was functioning on autopilot, not really seeing anything or anyone around him.