“Is he going to make it, Doc?” Snake asked, worry on his face.
“He has a good chance,” she said, looking up. “He punctured a lung and broke his arm, as well as a few ribs. There could be other damage I haven’t found yet, but his vitals are good. I am mostly worried about trauma to his head. We’re going to move him down to the high-risk quarantine room. I did find some open cuts and scrapes that could be a problem.”
“All right,” Snake said.
“Boss,” Wolf’s voice came over the radio.
“Yeah,” Snake said, stepping out into the hall.
“Xena’s gone.”
~*^*~
~46~
Lansing Compound
A knock came at the door, and Lee opened it to speak to Loto. After a moment, he turned to Lindsey. “I’ll be back in a while.”
“Chain her up,” Loto said. “You heard Henry.”
Reynolds walked over with the restraints. He fastened them around Lindsey’s wrists and ankles, making sure that they were tight enough so that she couldn’t slip free. After locking them, he put the key in his pocket.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
When she didn’t reply, he left the room, and Wayne locked it from the outside.
Lee made his way to the library, where he was invited in and told to sit.
The expression on Henry’s face was much less friendly than it had been the last time they’d met in the room, and Lee knew why.
“It will behoove you to remember your place here,” Henry spat. “Never question me in front of others again. Your services as a pilot may be valuable to me, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be replaced. As you well know, besides the other two pilots currently residing in our community, we have several more in training at the moment, and most of them would probably kill to have your job . . . literally.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” Lee said, “but this wasn’t the way things were supposed to happen. You told me that you might apply some pressure and use some scare tactics, but you assured me that nobody would be hurt.”
“And you believed me,” Henry said. “I thought you were smarter than that.”
“You gave me your word,” Lee said, tersely. “I thought that meant something.”
“It doesn’t,” Henry snapped. “You military types are all alike, still believing in foolish notions such as honor and integrity. Nobody gets ahead in this world by worrying about such things. Haven’t you learned that, yet? This is especially true now. If you want to survive, you need to be able to do whatever it takes, however unpleasant that might be.”
“What’s going to happen to Lindsey?” Reynolds asked, knowing that it was not only pointless to argue with the man, but dangerous.
Henry lifted a crystal glass, and a scantily-dressed young woman hurried over from the other side of the room with a bottle of liquor. She was clumsy, almost spilling the liquid, but she was just as beautiful as every other woman Lee had seen working in Henry’s lavish home. It was obvious that the woman had not been hired for her skills as a server.
“Leave us now,” Henry said, pointing at the door.
The woman quickly complied, and once the heavy door was shut, Henry asked, “Have you gotten the information we need?”
“No,” Reynolds said. “She’s being stubborn.”
“We’ll find out what we want to know then we’ll dispose of her. If she is cooperative, it can be done humanely. I’ll have Dr. Chan give her something to stop her heart.”
“Sir, please,” Reynolds said, “I want her with me. You told me that wouldn’t be a problem.”
Henry took a sip from his glass then looked at Lee, pursing his lips. “You seriously can’t expect me to let her live after she tried to kill me.”
“In her defense, you had just killed two of her friends,” Lee pointed out. “She reacted out of passion. It’s not as though it was a premeditated assassination attempt. And you know she was intentionally provoking you when she called you a coward. She wanted to die.”
“Then I’ll give her what she wanted,” Henry said, giving Reynolds a look that should have made his blood run cold.
“Please give me some time to get an answer from her. I promise that you won’t ever have to see her if that’s what you want, but please spare her life.”
Henry remained silent for a moment as he considered the request.
“I’m not without compassion, Lee, and I see how much she means to you. I’ll consider letting you keep her if you can get the name from her. If you aren’t successful, we’ll do this my way.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“I had hoped that Dr. Chan could give her something to make her talk, but he says he doesn’t have access to the drugs he would require. I told him to find them, so he’s checking with other colonies. I have the feeling that the doctor may have been stalling for time, but I hope not, for his sake.”
“There would be no need to have Loto interrogate her if you can use the drugs to make her talk,” Lee said, relieved.
“We’ll have Loto do an interrogation, regardless,” Henry said. “She’s earned it.”
~*~
St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing
“Gone? What do you mean, she’s gone?” Snake asked.
“Fish went to tell her about Wombat, but he couldn’t find her. Gunner and Moose both think she was on the roof with Wombat when the helicopter landed.”
“Of course she was,” Snake said, pulling on his beard. “What was I thinking? She would have gone up to meet the chopper. We need to go check those bodies behind the building again. I hope to God we don’t find her there, but if not, it probably means they took her along with Doune.”
“I’ll grab my stuff and meet you at the door,” Wolf said.
Snake, Wolf and a handful of the others rode their bikes around to the back of the building and searched the pile of bodies. When they found no trace of Lindsey, they rode around the neighborhood, doing a thorough search.
“I’m guessing they’ve got her,” Snake said after they’d scoured the area. He was relieved that she wasn’t dead, but fearful of what might happen to her.
“I think you’re right, Boss,” Wolf said as they waited for the gate to rise.
Before they had a chance to lower it again, the other group of bikers appeared down the street, returning with the message that they’d lost the chopper.
They all headed inside, where Snake went to find Jack.
~*~
Lansing Compound
Lee had spent hours trying to talk to Lindsey, but she had refused to give him the information that Henry wanted. After a while, he tried to talk to her about other things, but she had nothing to say to him. She lay in bed, staring at the wall, just wishing he’d leave her alone.
There was a knock at the door, and Lee answered it to find Loto there again.
“Henry wants you to bring the woman to dinner, but if she tries anything, he’ll have her shackled in front of everybody.”
“I’m not hungry,” Lindsey said, keeping her back to them.
“It wasn’t a request,” Loto said, handing a garment bag to Lee. “Make sure she wears this dress.”
When the door closed again, Lindsey said, “It’s not going to happen.”
“Lindsey, please,” Lee said. “I’ve convinced Henry to give you some time, but it’s not going to take much for him to change his mind.”
Lindsey sat up and turned to face him. “I just don’t care,” she said. “I know he’s going to kill me, no matter what I do, so what’s the point?”
“I don’t think he’ll hurt you if you cooperate,” Lee said, unzipping the garment bag. He pulled out a dress that probably cost a small fortune.
“I’m not wearing that. The last thing I want to do tonight is to dress up and go to dinner with that horrible man. I just want to be left alone.”
Lee sat down next to her and pulled her close. When she tried to push him away, he whispered, “Relax and just listen to me for one minute.
”
She quit pushing him away and he lowered his head to whisper into her ear. “This room is bugged, and there’s a camera. He hears everything you say and sees everything you do.”
Lindsey tensed at his words, but she forced herself to appear more relaxed. Lee’s face was hidden by her hair so it wouldn’t be obvious that he was talking to her.
“Play his game, Lindsey,” Lee continued. “Stall for time, and maybe he’ll change his mind, but if you provoke him, it’s all over. Understand?”
Maybe he had a point. At the moment, her world was a dark, suffocating place, and it took effort to simply keep breathing. Looking past the grief that was clouding her judgment, she knew that she wasn’t ready to die. There was Autumn to consider, too. The girl had already lost so much, and now both Lindsey and Doune had been taken from her as well. Lindsey owed it to the girl to try to survive and return to the hospital. If she could buy some time, an opportunity for escape might present itself. Maybe she would be able to avoid the torture Henry had planned for her.
“Okay,” she whispered.
He pulled back to look at her. “Won’t you please wear the dress, for me?” he asked.
“All right,” she said, for the benefit of those who were listening. “I’ll wear it, but I’m not changing here.”
“There’s a restroom down the hall,” Lee said. “I’ll take you there.”
~*~
Whispering Springs, Nevada
“Have a seat and I’ll get you some spaghetti,” Miranda said.
“Wow. Thanks,” George said, limping over to join Dan at the table.
“How’s your knee?” Dan asked.
“It’s sore as hell,” George admitted. He peeled the bandage away to show them. It was swollen and several shades of purple. “I can hardly stand on it.”
“It looks terrible,” Miranda said, glancing down as she handed him his food and a glass of water.
“It feels pretty bad, too.”
“Did you get some sleep?” Miranda asked.
“I slept great for a while,” he said, “until I started having nightmares.”
“Zombies?” she asked, returning to her seat.
“No, garden gnomes,” he said, not elaborating.
Miranda and Dan exchanged a look, but Rayburn just said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay,” Miranda said, fighting back a grin.
Dan updated Rayburn on the conversation he and Miranda had been having.
“I’m mostly worried about the electricity going out before next summer,” she told them. “I’ll have no air conditioning, and it’s miserably hot here. If the water quits running, I’ll have no way to keep my garden alive.”
“You may have to raid the stores and even houses to find food,” Rayburn told her.
“George!” Miranda said, surprised.
“If it gets as bad here as it is other places, people aren’t going to care if you take their things, because they’ll be dead.”
“Maybe that won’t happen here,” Dan said. “This town is kind of secluded.”
“Boulder City has over fifteen thousand people, and Whispering Springs has almost five thousand,” George pointed out. “Things could get much worse if twenty thousand people end up infected here. And that’s not counting the dead on the freeway.”
“I worry about the ones coming from Vegas,” Miranda said. “There are almost two million people in Las Vegas and Henderson.”
“What will you do if they start coming this way?” Dan asked.
“I need to stay for now, but eventually I’d like to go up to Oregon to be with my family.”
“Why don’t you just go?” George asked.
“I have my reasons,” she said.
“Miranda, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to travel all the way to Oregon alone,” George said.
“I may not have a choice,” she told him.
Dan lifted his head when he heard a vehicle pass by the house. He went to look through the blinds and saw a truck drive past. There were two people in the cab and a few more in the back. They all had rifles.
“That’s one of the trucks that patrols the area,” Miranda said, coming to stand beside him. “There are several of them, and they drive up and down the streets all day long.”
“So they’re the ones who are keeping the streets empty?” Dan asked.
“Yes,” she said. She turned away from the window. “I’m going to go get something. I’ll be right back.”
~*^*~
~47~
St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing
The bikers stayed in the hallway near the front door while Snake spoke with Jack in private. There was no sense in putting everybody into quarantine when Snake planned on sending them right back out.
“If it was just Xena who was missing, I’d say it was Reynolds, and he was doing it for personal reasons,” Snake said.
“We don’t even know for sure that Reynolds was involved,” Jack reminded him. “Just because it was a helicopter, doesn’t mean it was him.”
“It looked like a Blackhawk, in fact,” Snake said. “That ain’t what Reynolds normally brings.”
“Lindsey might have gone up to the roof thinking it was Reynolds,” Jack suggested. “It’s possible that Doune was the only target, and she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. In which case, it’s got to be about Autumn.”
“It’s just odd that Xena was kidnapped a couple days after Lee threatened her. It’s too much of a coincidence.”
“But why would Reynolds take Doune?” Jack asked.
“Who knows? Maybe he just needed a good brain surgeon with a bad bedside manner.”
“I guess it is possible that they wanted a doctor. If his friends are as powerful as he says they are, maybe they just take what they want. And it’s more likely that Reynolds would have known where to find him. Only the people who are currently living here know that Doune’s lab was moved to the second floor, but it wouldn’t shock me if Lindsey mentioned this to him in passing.”
“Right,” Snake said. “If it was the LA people, they wouldn’t have a clue where to find him. Moose said they did it fast, too. They didn’t take the time to search the building.”
“Maybe they asked someone,” Jack said. “I think we need to talk to everybody that was here at the time and see what we can find out.”
“I’d like to sit in on the interviews if you don’t mind.”
“I’d appreciate it,” Jack said. “Two sets of ears are better than one.”
“I’m going to send the guys out to start searching. I’m just not sure where they should start,” Snake said. He thought about it for a moment, then asked, “When Lindsey talked to us about Reynolds, didn’t she say he wanted to take her someplace else? It wasn’t the temporary base they were using or one of the shelters.”
“Right, though he did tell her that it was someplace near the base,” said Jack.
“If someone’s still at the base, they may know where this other place is,” Snake added.
“It shouldn’t be hard to find the base. Something like that’s got to be pretty good-sized, even if the buildings aren’t permanent structures,” Jack said.
“Maybe once we talk to Reynolds, we’ll know if he was involved or not, and it’ll at least give us a place to start.”
“Exactly,” Jack said. “I’ll make an announcement and we can get started with the interviews.”
“Sounds good. I’m going to talk to my guys and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
~*~
Whispering Springs, Nevada
George waited until he heard Miranda’s bedroom door close then he turned to Dan. “Do you get the feeling she’s not telling us something?”
“I noticed she doesn’t want to talk about certain things, but she hardly knows us. I don’t blame her for not wanting to confide in strangers.”
“Where’s her husband? You don’t think he’s here, do you?” George asked, leaning closer.
“Maybe he got bit and she’s keeping him locked up somewhere.”
“That’s really creepy,” Dan said. “Where do you come up with this stuff?”
“Well, it makes sense doesn’t it?”
“No,” Dan said. “No, it doesn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’d have heard or seen something by now,” Dan said. “The dead aren’t exactly quiet.”
“Maybe she’s got him gagged and chained up in her bedroom since we know he’s not in the garage.”
“We’d have heard the chains rattle.”
“Then he’s tied up. Maybe he’s outside, in the shed.”
“Do you think she would have taken us outside if she’s got her husband tied up out there?”
They both grew quiet when they heard the bedroom door open again. When Miranda returned, she was carrying a rifle.
“See? We know too much,” George whispered.
“Stop it,” Dan muttered through clenched teeth.
Miranda leaned the weapon against the wall. “I usually keep it out here during the day,” she said, “but I forgot and left it in my bedroom.”
“We should probably be going,” George muttered nervously. “We need to get on the road as soon as we can.”
Miranda looked disappointed. “I was going to suggest that you stay a few days until your knee is better.”
Dan debated. While he was anxious to get George farther away from the Yucca compound, he also thought that Whispering Springs might be an ideal place to hide out while George’s knee healed.
“What do you think, George?” Dan asked.
The man appeared torn, but he finally blurted out. “I want to stay, but not if there’s a zombie in the house!”
Miranda stared at George for a moment then burst out laughing. “Why would there be a zombie in the house?”
Dead, But Not For Long (Book 2): Pestilence and Promise Page 41