Dan thought there must have been hundreds of trucks and cars, metal twisted together to form a massive roadblock. The dead might eventually be able to climb over, but it wouldn’t be easy for them.
“I hope this will hold them back,” Dan said.
“There are other passes,” Miranda told him. “They can get around, but maybe it will take them a while to stumble upon another route.”
“Is there someplace that might have air for your spare?” Dan asked her, after they’d spent a few more minutes looking at the wreckage.
“We can go to the shop where I usually go for repairs,” she said, walking back to her truck.
They drove back into Boulder City, again avoiding the roadblocks. As they drove through town, Dan wasn’t surprised to see empty streets and closed businesses.
“It seems odd to see this street so bare,” Miranda said. “There were always people here during the day.”
Dan saw what appeared to be a couple restaurants, with tables and chairs outside.
Miranda pointed toward a place that said, “Milo’s.”
“I used to come here once a week with a group of friends to have a beer or a glass of wine. We had some good times here.”
“Have you spoken to your friends?”
“They all went to the shelter or left town. I haven’t heard from anybody lately.”
She turned a few corners, making her way to the road that led to Whispering Springs. The auto shop was on the edge of town, and Dan waited in the truck while Miranda ran up to the door. To his surprise, someone answered when Miranda knocked.
Dan had assumed the place would be empty, and that they’d just fill up the tire. Since it was too late to keep from being seen, he got out and walked up to join Miranda.
The young man explained to them that he lived in an apartment above the shop and had been worried about looters. He had decided to stay instead of going to the shelter.
“You’re the first customers I’ve had today,” he admitted.
“I’m not surprised,” Miranda said. “There aren’t too many businesses in town still open.”
“I noticed that,” he said.
He fixed the flat quickly and added air to the spare. Within fifteen minutes, Miranda and Dan were on their way home.
~*^*~
~50~
St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing
Snake rubbed his hands over his face then took a deep breath. “We need to find this place, Eric. How long did the flight take, and where did you end up? Maybe that would help narrow it down.”
“Well, we ended up in the ocean,” Eric said, “but I don’t know how long it took to get there.”
“The ocean?” Jack asked. “That’s quite a distance from here. Are you sure it wasn’t one of the Great Lakes?”
“Positive,” Eric said with certainty. “I couldn’t see the other shore, and Henry said we were heading for Canada.”
“Canada’s before the ocean, Eric,” Jack sighed. “You said you were in the water. Was it salty or fresh?”
“Come to think of it, it wasn’t salty,” Eric said, “but it wasn’t very fresh either. It smelled like fish.”
“You don’t get out much, do you?” Snake asked.
“He’s never even been out of Michigan,” Jack said.
“That’s not true,” Eric protested. “I was born in Waterford.”
“Waterford is in Michigan,” Jack sighed. “And from what I saw on the internet, there’s not much left of it. Looks like the jets may have paid a visit over there.”
“Okay, you ended up in one of the lakes, either to the north or the east of Lansing,” Snake said, “but I’m guessing you made your way back since Reynolds dropped you off here.”
“Right, we walked for days to get back. I had to guide the others out.”
“Drop the bullshit, Eric. Just stick to the facts. Which direction did you take?” Jack asked.
“Um.”
“If you led the others out, surely you know which direction you took.”
“Well, this other guy, Frank, kind of helped since he had a compass.”
“Okay, this is getting us nowhere,” Jack said. “Did you go through any cities or was it rural?”
“There was a lot of farmland,” Eric said. “Oh . . . wait. We didn’t go back to the same place we started. We walked to another compound that was near farmland.”
Jack stared at the ceiling in frustration.
“So there were two places?” Snake asked. “They could be keeping Xena and Dr. Doom at either one. That’s going to make it tougher.”
“They’re probably at the main place,” Eric said. “The other one was just for running the farms, I think. The main place was near a city. I remember seeing a city from Henry’s balcony.”
“Did you recognize the city?” Jack asked, leaning forward.
“No,” Eric said. “But I wasn’t paying that much attention.”
“So this place was outside a city, like on the outskirts?”
“Maybe,” Eric said, trying to remember. “It was pretty big, though. I mean, the place was like its own city. I remember seeing miles of parks, lakes and mountains.”
“Mountains? So it wasn’t around here?”
“I guess they could have been hills.”
“You’re sure about the hills? That might help.”
“Pretty sure,” he said, after a long pause.
“I keep thinking about the walls we came across when we went after the parts for the generator,” Snake said. “At the time, I didn’t think much of it. I just figured it was a bunch of people like us, throwing up barriers to keep themselves safe. But this place couldn’t have been nearly as big as what you’re saying. It was inside the city.”
“Not a chance,” Eric said. “This place was huge, probably bigger than Lansing.”
“What were the walls like?” Snake asked.
“It had huge, rock walls, like a castle, and these big guard towers all over the top.”
“I didn’t see any guard towers,” Snake admitted. “There was a thick fog that day, so we couldn’t see a whole lot, but the walls were definitely not rock.”
“This had to be on the edge of a city, somewhere,” Eric reiterated. “It was massive.”
“I don’t want to waste my time checking this place out again if you’re sure,” Snake said, “especially when my guys and Xena got shot at last time.”
“I guarantee you it’s not the place,” Eric said.
“With the hills, it’s probably in a different city, but I’ll have my guys keep their eyes open when they look for the base. If it is nearby, it shouldn’t be difficult to find if it’s that big.”
“It’s huge,” Eric said. “I don’t see how you could miss it.”
“I’ll give them a call and update them,” Snake said, getting up to leave.
~*~
Whispering Springs, Nevada
“How did it go?” Rayburn asked as soon as they came in. “I’ve been worried sick. You’ve been gone for over two hours!”
“It went fine,” Dan said as Miranda left to go shower.
“Tell me everything,” Rayburn said, sitting down at the table. “Did she do okay?”
“Yes, she did,” Dan said, filling George in on all the details.
“You look worried,” George said, staring intently at Dan when he finished talking.
“She did really well for a person with almost no training,” Dan said, keeping his voice down. “In fact, she did a lot better than I expected, but there were still a few times when I had to step in and help her. I think she can do this, but she’s going to need to build some strength so she can handle the bigger ones, and she’s going to need to keep training. I’ll work with her while we’re here, but I’m a little worried about her being on her own.”
“If we stay a while, you can do a lot of training with her,” Rayburn pointed out.
“I know,” Dan said with a sigh. He was already anxious about the time they’d spent
at her house. His instincts were telling him that he and George needed to get farther away. Whispering Springs was just over two hundred and fifty miles from the Yucca compound, and that wasn’t far enough to make Dan feel comfortable. The group that was after them was not going to give up easily, and Dan wasn’t going to relax until he knew that they were someplace safe. But now he felt responsible for Miranda as well as George. Since Miranda wasn’t willing to leave her home, the only way to protect her was to stay with her, which could put George and himself at risk. He couldn’t argue this with Rayburn since George was willing to throw caution to the wind to keep Miranda safe. Dan knew he might have to make a choice, and it wasn’t going to be an easy one, especially after seeing the DVD. He had to keep George safe at all costs.
“I’m going to go clean up now,” he said quietly.
“Sure, go ahead,” Rayburn said, watching Dan walk away.
Miranda came down the hall to the kitchen just as Dan left.
“Dan said you did a great job,” George told her.
“I was a nervous wreck,” she admitted, walking over to the refrigerator. “Want a beer? I need one.”
“I don’t want to drink all your beer,” Rayburn said. “It’s not like you can run to the store and get more.”
“I have a ton of beer,” she said. “I stocked up. I also have wine and about twenty other different types of liquor, so name your poison.”
“Do you have any Scotch?” Rayburn asked hopefully.
“I do,” she said, pulling out a bottle.
When Dan came back out, he gladly accepted a beer before sitting down to join them.
“How’s the knee doing, George?” he asked.
“A little better this afternoon,” Rayburn said. “I can walk pretty well. I just have to be careful not to bump it.”
They retired to the family room to watch a movie. Miranda got two more beers out of the refrigerator and brought the Scotch out for George. She handed a beer to Dan and sat down with the other one. By the time they were done watching the movie, Dan was the only one who was still sober.
Miranda made nachos for a late dinner. To accompany it, she brought out a bottle of tequila, three shot glasses and a salt shaker.
Dan didn’t say anything, but he lifted an eyebrow at the sight.
“Sorry. No lime,” she said apologetically, “unless you want lime juice, but I just don’t think it’s the same.”
“I’m going to regret this tomorrow,” George said, taking the shot she offered him.
“It’ll help the pain,” she said, winking.
“Not me,” Dan said, when she offered him a shot.
“Why not?” she asked. “We’re celebrating my indoctrination into the zombie killer’s club.”
“Dan likes to stay alert in case there’s a breach,” George explained.
“Loosen up, Dan,” Miranda said, handing him a shot glass full of the clear liquid.
“We still haven’t seen more than a few zombies on the streets here,” George pointed out.
“It’s not just zombies I’m worried about,” Dan said.
“And we haven’t seen the helicopter lately,” Miranda reminded him. “Maybe they’ve moved on.”
“That’s what we thought in Barstow,” he said. He checked all the doors and windows then he joined the others, determined to let himself relax, at least a little. “I’ll have one shot, but that’s all.”
They discussed about all sorts of topics, but as the night wore on, the conversation grew more serious. George talked about his wife, whom he still thought about every day. Dan finally told Miranda about his daughter, Brittany, and her short life as well as her death. When he was done telling his story, he stood and said, “That’s it for me. I’m off to bed.”
“Good night, Dan,” Miranda said as he walked away.
She poured herself and George each another shot, and they continued talking until the sun came up.
~*~
St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing
“Boss, I think we found the temporary base that Reynolds and his group were using,” Wolf said over the radio.
“Just a minute,” Snake said. He hurried over to the cafeteria, looking around for Jack. He spotted the security chief at a table, going over some notes. Walking over, he sat down.
“They found the base,” he told Jack then picked up the radio again. “Go ahead.”
Jack put his pen down to listen.
“It’s not good,” Wolf replied. “The place seems to be completely overrun.”
“How sure are you?” Snake asked.
“We checked several of the tents, and they were all empty. The chain-link fencing outside has been torn down. There aren’t many vehicles or aircraft, either. I don’t know if it was overrun or if they packed up and moved out.”
“All right,” Snake said. “Xena said that she thought the place Reynolds was talking about was near the base. It may or may not be the same place where Eric was. If it is, it’s got to be around there somewhere, and it’s huge, so spread out a bit outside the city.”
“We’ll do that, Boss. Sorry it wasn’t better news.”
“Now what?” Jack asked after Snake put the radio away.
Snake shook his head. “I was hoping someone would be at the base to give us some answers. Times like this, I almost wish I were a drinking man again, Jack. Almost.”
“Except we both know that doesn’t fix problems. It just makes us forget about them for a while.”
“There’s a whole lot of stuff that’s happened the last couple weeks that I wouldn’t mind forgetting, but you’re right,” Snake said, staring across the room. He stood again. “I guess I’ll go up to the roof and think for a bit. I can’t shake this feeling that something’s not adding up.”
“I guess it can’t hurt,” Jack said. “And I’ll keep going over my notes from the interviews.”
~*~
Whispering Springs, Nevada
“How are you feeling this morning?” Dan asked with a smile when Miranda finally stumbled out to the kitchen.
She looked at the clock with one eye closed then poured herself a cup of coffee before answering.
“Not great,” she admitted after taking a sip.
“I haven’t had that much to drink since . . .” Dan started. “Well, in a long time.”
“I wish I could say the same,” she said.
“Do you do that a lot?” George asked, concerned.
“More often than I should,” she admitted, sitting down at the table. “I guess I don’t do it often, but once I start, I have a hard time stopping. I’m not real good with moderation.”
“You might want to be careful with that,” George said. “You need to be alert if you’re fighting zombies. It’s not something you want to do with a hangover.”
“Now you tell me,” she said, taking another sip of coffee.
“Promise me you won’t do that when we’re gone,” George said. “You might end up doing something stupid if you’re here alone.”
“I promise I’ll try not to do anything stupid,” she told him.
“I think you should come with us,” he said.
“You know I can’t.”
“I know you don’t want to. Why don’t you go to the shelter and talk to your husband and see if he’s willing to go, too?”
“He won’t go until he’s ready, and he’s not ready,” she said.
“How do you know?” George pushed.
“I just do.”
She changed the subject, making it clear that the discussion was over.
~*~
St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing
“Boss, there’s nothing out here like the place Eric described,” Wolf said. “Honestly, we’ve driven all around the perimeter of the city on this side, and there’s nothing. It’s bad out here, too. The dead are everywhere.”
“You guys might as well get back here. We’ll have to figure out what to do next.”
Snake put his radio down and sho
ok his head. “Could be anywhere if it’s not on the outskirts of Lansing. I think we’re back to square one. I’m going to kick myself if it turns out that it’s the place we found with the walls, and we’ve been wasting our time scouring half the county.”
“Well, since our information is coming from Eric, it wouldn’t shock me,” Jack said. “Let’s talk to him again.”
“If you think it’ll do any good.”
“Maybe I just need to bring the questions down to his level,” Jack said.
“I guess it can’t hurt,” Snake admitted. “I’m game if you are.”
~*~
Snake drummed his fingers on the table, growing impatient as he and Jack waited for Eric.
“He said he’d be right here,” Snake said, looking around.
“Eric doesn’t have a great grasp of time,” Jack said. “There he is now.”
Eric walked in to the cafeteria, his arms full of doughnuts. Crumbs dropped on the floor behind him, and his face was stained with chocolate.
“Right on time, as usual,” Jack said sarcastically, glancing at his watch. “I see you brought lunch.”
“Theresa said these were going to get stale if nobody ate them, so I thought I’d see if anybody wanted one.”
Snake eyed the half-dozen doughnuts, most of which were stuck to Eric’s arm and shirt.
“Dude, I’ll pass.”
“Me too,” Jack said. “They’re all yours.”
Eric smiled and dumped the doughnuts onto the table. He grabbed a chair and sat down, wiping at the chocolate that was smeared across his shirt.
“So, Eric,” Jack began, “Snake’s guys couldn’t find this place outside of Lansing. Now, I realize it could be a different city, but we just need to get some facts straight so we can figure out where to go next.”
“Sure,” Eric said, stuffing a doughnut into his mouth.
“You said this community where you were staying was huge. Just how big was it?” Jack asked.
Dead, But Not For Long (Book 2): Pestilence and Promise Page 45