by James Master
“I only meant that you were tossing and turning in your sleep and that it might have been a bad dream or something.” Jessica thought about her mirror father and laughed. Ashley looked at her through the two chairs with suspicion.
“Is everything alright Jessica? What was your dream about? You’re not losing it are you?” Jessica stood and stretched, yawning as she did.
“Nope, nothing is lost, thank you very much. I also have to thank you for using my actual name and not princess or brat. It's a refreshing change.” Ashley pushed one of the chairs using her legs and managed to stand up.
“Don't get used to it princess.” She smirked at Jessica and walked past her into the bathroom, shutting the door as she did. Jessica sat down in a chair and stayed silent. Her eyes were different Roland thought as he looked at her. Jessica noticed and responded.
“What is the matter? Do I have something on my face?” Roland didn't answer to the sarcastic question. Instead, he cleaned his revolver for the seventh time since they came to the motel.
A minute later Ashley walked out of the bathroom. Jessica stood and walked past Ashley, going into the bathroom. She stopped and watched Jessica walk into the bathroom. She nodded towards the bathroom. “What's with her?” Roland shrugged his shoulders without looking up from his dismantled gun.
“Must be her time of the month.” Ashley playfully pushed Roland back using both hands. He laughed, “Well, maybe she just had a bad dream and didn't get much sleep. My wife used to have nights where she would never be able to sleep because she kept having bad dreams causing her to wake up.” Ashley looked at Roland and asked a little defensively, “You have a wife?”
Roland laughed, “Yes and no. Technically I am still married to her.” Ashley sat on the chair and motioned for Roland to do the same on the opposite of her. He did and let out a sigh of relief. Ashley pressed on regarding his last sentence.
“Technically?” He avoided her eyes as he talked, but answered truthfully. “About a year before my father passed away, my wife started having nightmares. She had always had them, but they were getting worse to the point that she had to go see a psychologist about them. After the psychologist prescribed her medication, she seemed to be getting better. She was even able to sleep without any interruptions.” He dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief he pulled out from his pocket. Ashley waited for him to look up from his cleaning before asking her next question.
“The dreams started back up, though, didn't they?”
Roland nodded and took his hat off his head. He started fidgeting with it, running his hands around and over the brim. Ashley knew that something terrible had happened, but she thought that Roland should be the one to say it and not her. He eventually came around to it.
“She went crazy one night and killed our only child. He was two when she smothered him. I woke up to the sound of her crying. I ran to the baby's bedroom to find her still holding the pillow. She was crying when she attacked me. I managed to tie her hands with a sheet and called the police. When the police interviewed her the only excuse she gave was that my baby was possessed by a demon. She’s currently locked away in a mental facility up in Gary. I visit her every month, but she never acknowledges me.” He started to wipe his eyes again on his handkerchief.
Ashley was going to say something to change the topic when Jessica opened the bathroom door with a loud bang. They both looked up at the girl in surprise. Roland stood and tucked the handkerchief in his back left pocket. He motioned for her to sit where he was and when she didn't move, he said with just a little bit of force.
“Sit, we need to discuss our situation. Now.” Jessica obeyed this time sitting where Roland had been sitting. He sat down on the floor in front of the two chairs. “Alright let's talk about what our exit strategy.” Ashley looked confused about that and voiced her confusion. “What do you mean? Don't we just blast our way out?” Roland shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her tenacity.
“We could, but I think it's going to be much simpler.” Jessica folded her arms across her chest and stayed silent. Roland chuckled inwardly. Ashley simply asked, “Why will it be so easy?”
Roland stood and moved the dresser away from the door. Both Ashley and Jessica watched as Roland threw open the door. They both stood and reached instinctively for their weapons. The only thing that attacked Roland when he opened the door was rays of light. The heat wafted in, enveloping them like a blanket. Roland walked out with his revolver drawn just in case. He looked to the right of him down the balcony seeing nothing of the undead variety. Roland turned his head to the left and was happy to find not one single zombie ready to feast on him. He walked out and turned, leaning back on the wrought iron railing of the balcony. Roland smiled at the two women who were still hesitant about coming out of the motel room. Their shocked expressions on their faces caused Roland chuckle.
“Told you guys, easy as pie.”
*** 6 ***
They walked down the stairs, carefully avoiding the dead bodies that littered the ground. Roland still kept his revolver out but was confident that they wouldn't see very many zombies in the daylight. They seemed to only come out in darkness which had caused Roland to reevaluate his infection theory. Ashley and Jessica were still cautiously making their way down the stairs by the time Roland had made it to a car not too similar from the one they had arrived in last night. Roland opened the door and proceeded to hotwire the car while watching the two ladies in the rear view mirror trying not to laugh.
Ashley was on the last step when Jessica placed a hand on her shoulder. Ashley turned her head, slipping a hand on her gun. Ashley turned to look up at Jessica with a questioning look on her face. Jessica looked to make sure that Roland was still in the car and asked her, “Did you kill my father?” Ashley looked at where Roland was for a fraction of a second. She looked back at Jessica and answered, “No, I did not kill your father. He was dead by the time we arrived.” Ashley turned around and jumped the three steps. Jessica watched her hurry to the car before following.
*** 7 ***
“Roland, why don't the zombies bother us in the daylight today like they have done the last week?” In the front seat of the car, Ashley had given up rolling the windows down, instead of blasting the air conditioner as high as it could go. Roland glanced at her for a second while keeping his eyes on the road. They had been on the road driving in silence for the last half hour. Ashley was halting the silent game and getting down the real question that was bugging her. Jessica had leaned forward from the back seat and waited for the answer.
“Alright, I guess it's about time that I let you two in on what I know.” Ashley nodded and felt like a kid on Christmas, ready to find out what she was getting. Roland slowed the car down to thirty miles an hour. “I received an email from a man identifying himself as master4460. The message was simple: Read the following attachments and keep an open mind. If you survive the following crisis, all will be revealed. The attachments were reports from a program that my father and brother had spearheaded.”
“What kind of program was it Roland?” Jessica interrupted the story with her usual demanding voice. Ashley scolded her like she was a five-year-old asking an out of turn question. “If you would just keep your mouth shut and listen, you would figure out he was getting there.” Roland continued his story as if the two of them hadn't said anything.
“The program, from the attachments I read, were about life after death.”
Jessica couldn't keep quiet again, “What like ghosts?”
“No, more like the undead. There were two parts of the program. Scientific and religious. My father and brother were the lead scientists for the scientific side of the research. They were trying to figure out how to create soldiers that didn't feel any pain and took orders without question. They would be the ultimate foot soldiers.” Ashley looked from the horizon in front of them to Roland. “What happened then, what went wrong?”
Roland shook his head. “Well, obviously, something went wrong, but
I have my suspicions. Remember the talking zombie in Rochester?” Ashley nodded her head remembering. Jessica looked at the two of them, “What talking zombie?”
“There was a zombie in Rochester that talked to Roland and our friend.” Jessica looked awestruck. “A talking zombie? Why haven't I heard any of them talking? Can they do anything else?”
“They can't dance the Macarena, that's for sure. I do think, however, that something is controlling the undead. Some part of the project succeeded. Perhaps the religious experiments succeeded where the scientific ones failed. So now you know as much as I do.”
Jessica looked at the driver and looked at him, something in her head clicked. “Was my father a part of the project?” Roland looked at her through the rearview mirror.
“He was the person that funded the project. It was an undercover military project, they couldn't have any ties to the government, so your father funded it all. If you remember, he served in the army.” Jessica thought back to when her father was still in the military. It was when her mother was still alive. Her father left the military when she died and settled down with his business. Ashley’s mind was on the explanation Roland’s wife had given the police.
They drove in silence for a time, each thinking their own thoughts. They didn't even notice the mile marker indicating that Indianapolis was less than twenty miles away.
Chapter Thirteen
*** 1 ***
Hank watched the zombie approach his apartment building carrying a piece of cardboard. He zoomed in on the undead and watched as the zombie held up with both hands the cardboard. Written in blood was the message: We need to talk. Now. Hank logged out of his World of Warcraft account, ironically he was a level 60 undead warlock, and stood cracking his back. He carried his unfit body to the door stopping just long enough to pick up his Desert Eagle. The enormous gun felt unnatural in Hanks' hands.
He lumbered into the hallway and rode the elevator down to the lobby. The elevator doors opened and Hank was hit with nausea that normally affects him when he had to travel downstairs to speak with his master. He didn't hold any reservations that Starke had about his role amongst the dark side of the zombies. Hank served the master who in turn kept him safe from the undead.
Hank came into his master's service before the outbreak even started. He was approached by a priest. He opened the door after hearing a series of knocks at his door. The man was in typical priest robes, his hair tied back in a ponytail. He introduced himself as Father Winifred Waverly, a priest from a chapel in Terre Haute. The man looked at Hank and asked if he could come inside. Hank laughed and told the priest politely that he doesn't believe in God or any kind of religion. The priest laughed and told him that he was not here to redeem, just for a business offer. That had gotten Waverly into Hank's place.
Hank agreed to do the job the priest and the party he represented offered. Thinking about it now, Hank got the better of the plan, he was protected from the zombies. He also had his computers.
*** 2 ***
Hank walked out of the apartment building, looking left and right for zombies that might be lurking, even though the master said that none would harm him. The temperature had risen to well above the normal for this time of year and made Hank start sweating. This made Hank uncomfortable and gave him yet another reason to get back inside as soon as possible. He hadn't been outside his building since the outbreak. Wiping a sweaty palm across his forehead, he hadn't known that the heat was this bad. He looked at the zombie that had carried the message, pointing his Desert Eagle at it and said, “I’m here, where is the Master?”
The undead messenger dropped the cardboard sign and spoke. The voice was hardly recognizable, “Townsend. The end is near. Soon my minions will spread across the land, spreading their disease. Then I shall become the Master of All.” Hank had heard all of this before and was tired of listening to the Master's rant about his plot for world domination. He tuned out most of the rant but tuned back in when he heard his name.
“That's where you will play out your role, Townsend. I need you to be at the Lucas Oil Stadium as soon as possible. My zombie horde behind you will escort you there.” Hank turned around and noticed that there were ten zombies standing around him. He mentally slapped himself upside his head because hadn't noticed them shamble behind him, didn't even notice their stench. He turned back to the Master, but he already knew that the Master was gone. He tried to get back into the apartment building, but each time he tried to get past the bodies, they moved so that they blocked him each time. After five minutes of the same results, Hank resigned the effort and started walking to the stadium, where the Master said it would be the beginning of the end.
*** 3 ***
In the backseat of the car, Jessica was checking out her complexion in her compact mirror. She noticed that since her leaving the mansion, her skin was getting tanner. She wished she had remembered to grab sun tan lotion. She was horrified of getting freckles. Ugly red freckles invading her beautiful skin. The compact mirror flashed and Jessica blinked. When her eyes refocused, she saw herself without the leather skin and freckles. It was like at the mansion when she was sitting at her vanity table. The beautiful version in the mirror smirked and Jessica realized that she was having another vision. She was about to say something when the vision curled one of her fingers, beckoning for her to come closer. Instead of leaning in closer, Jessica pulled the mirror in towards her face. The mirror image of Jessica laughed a soundless laugh and touched the mirror's edge. Reaching out with her free hand, Jessica placed one of her fingers up against the glass of the compact mirror.
Roland heard Jessica gasp and looked in the rear view mirror. Jessica appeared all right so he called out, “All right back there?” Jessica only smirked.
*** 4 ***
They drove into the outskirts of Indianapolis by nightfall. The town stood looming over them like a giant long since dead. Roland and the two ladies got out of the car to look at the city. Roland looked at the city like a man in the desert views a mirage. Ashley noticed Roland's look and leaned next to him, bumping him lightly. Quickly, he looked from the city to see a startled Ashley. She saw his hand slip absently to his hip. She moved a hand over his and pulled it away from the gun handle.
“I was just trying to get your attention, Roland. There isn't any danger here.” Roland pulled her closer to him and held here in his arms for a while. Jessica tilted her head watching the pair.
“There is danger. It's getting dark soon, about another hour or so. They will return to hunt us, we had better take refuge. There is a half built building in the construction yard that would be ideal for our protection. That way we can figure out our next move.” Roland eyed Jessica queerly thinking there was something funny in her voice.
Ashley peeled herself from Roland's embrace her eye's shooting daggers at Jessica. Jessica tilted her head the other way, crossing her arms across her chest.
“You object to this?” Roland looked at the sun which was setting, slowly disappearing behind the buildings of the city of the dead. He looked back to see Ashley peering up at Jessica with her hands on her hips.
“Why do you want to go to that construction yard? Why not another hotel? There is a dozen here?” Roland looked over at the construction yard and liked the appeal of its protection. There was a ten-foot high chain linked fence to start. He could see that the way up to the second floor were ladders. That was pretty much all it took to convince Roland that the construction yard was the best place to hole up. He turned his attention back to the two women.
“The construction yard is the best place to go Ashley. The fence, the ladders, even the elevated height is great. That way we can map out the way into downtown. This building is perfect. Roland,” She turned to him and asked, “What do you think?” Both women turned to him for his opinion. He looked at Ashley, saw her panic filled face. Roland looked over at Jessica and saw that her eyes were confident, her body language was clear that she thought that this was the place. Turning b
ack to look at the sun, which was halfway behind the buildings, shoulders slumped. He knew that his choice was clear.
Roland had Jessica open the gate that led into the construction yard so he could drive the car into the lot. Ashley had gotten into the passenger seat, trying to get Roland to change his mind about their locational choice. “Roland, we cannot stay here tonight? Remember my dream? The one where you die?” Roland kept his eyes on Jessica and the gate, waiting for it to open. Roland remembered what Ashley had said about her dream. He also remembered the last time she had a dream. It had resulted in his brother’s death. Something wasn’t right with Jessica.
“Ashley that was just a bad dream. Even if Jessica did kill me, what motive would she have had?”
“Don't you remember the dream I had about your brother’s betrayal?” Roland drove through the gate into the construction yard and watched as Jessica closed and locked the gate.
“Ashley, just because you dreamed that I die and that Jessica kills me, doesn't mean that it will absolutely happen. I'll admit that your dream involving my brother and that bastard Starke is pretty convincing. So let's say that you are right and that you are having some kind of visions of the past. I promise you that I will not let Jessica have sex with me, you don't know how hard it is to make that promise, but I won't let her get me. Is that good enough for you?”
Ashley shook her head, reconsidered, and finally nodded. “If that is the best I can get from you then I guess I have to trust you. I will, however, be by your side the entire night. Just in case.” She started to laugh.
“Where’s the humor in this?”
“I get to be your chaperone. The student gets to chaperone the teacher for once.” She opened the car door and got out, pistol already in her hand. Roland turned the car off and wondered how he had gotten this far without the girls killing him instead of the undead. He looked in the rearview mirror to see Jessica staring intensively at him. Shuddering, he too got out of the car with his revolver in his hand.