Al had come to the hospital without bodyguards, which had been a huge step in easing tension between the two groups. Once the meeting was over, Jack and Snake walked their guest back up to the roof. Lindsey followed, since she’d been told that Lee wanted to talk to her before they left.
When Reynolds saw Lindsey, he seemed unsure as to what to say. It was the first time they’d seen each other since she had left the compound.
“You look good, Lindsey,” he said, though his eyes drifted to the long scar on her left arm.
“Thanks. I’m finally feeling human again,” she said.
“I don’t even know where to start,” Lee finally said, looking at her for a moment before continuing. “When I heard Wayne on the radio saying you were dead . . .” He shook his head.
“If you hadn’t given me that key, I probably would be dead. I never would have gotten over either of the walls,” she said.
“It wouldn’t have been necessary,” he said. “I came back to take you away from there, but you were already gone.”
“I heard that you came back for me, and I appreciate it. It just might have been too late. Loto talked to one of the guards from the compound the other day and was told that Wayne had been planning on starting the inquisition right away. He wanted to surprise Henry with the name when he got back. I guess he came up to get me about the time I went over Henry’s wall.”
“I never should have agreed to Henry’s deal,” Lee said. “I’ll live with that for the rest of my life.”
“What exactly was the deal?”
“Henry wanted to talk to you. I knew he might have to bring you back to the compound to do that without others around, and I agreed to help. I kept thinking that once you saw the place and once you talked to Henry about his plans, you’d understand that we could make the vaccine easier than you could do it at the hospital. He called it an intervention and I guess I kind of saw it that way, too, though I realize now that it wasn’t that at all. And he never even mentioned Doune to me.”
“And what were you supposed to get out of this deal? You could have kidnapped me on your own. You didn’t need Henry’s help for that.”
“I had him promise me that everybody from the hospital would be allowed into the compound to live. I told him that it was probably the only way we’d ever get the immune person there. He also promised me that nobody would be hurt. Obviously, he had no intention of keeping his end of the deal.”
“We all make mistakes, Lee,” she said. “You thought you were doing the right thing at the time.”
“Partly. But it was jealousy that finally pushed me into agreeing to the deal,” he said, explaining about the photo that Henry had shown him.
“Henry was an expert manipulator. It’s not your fault that Hawk is dead. I hold Henry and Wayne responsible for that,” she said, “and Wombat survived the fall.”
Lee said, “I’m glad he lived. I wish you were with me instead of him, but I screwed that up. Now, I just want you to be happy.”
“I am happy,” she told him.
Lee glanced over and saw Al getting into the helicopter. “I’ve got to go,” he said. “If you ever need anything, Lindsey, you know how to reach me.”
She nodded. “Goodbye, Lee,” she said, watching as he ran over to the chopper.
Snake and Jack walked over to join her as the helicopter lifted into the sky.
Wombat had been told that he couldn’t be on the roof when Reynolds was there. He hadn’t been happy about it, but Snake had insisted, worried that the biker would go after Lee.
“What did you think about Al?” Snake asked the others, after the chopper grew small in the sky.
During the meeting, Lindsey had brought up several issues with Al, based on the time she’d spent in the walled community. Besides the fact that Henry had tended to kill people who hadn’t cooperated with his agenda, there were several other problems. Quite a few of the residents had been kept in the community against their will, and many of the women had been treated as possessions. Al had assured Lindsey that his first order of business had been to make it clear that those who wanted to leave were free to go. Quite a few of the residents had left the community, and housing arrangements had been changed for others. Al had said that his goal was to have a community that more closely resembled the pre-apocalyptic world, not Henry’s warped version of utopia.
“He seemed . . . normal,” Lindsey said. “Maybe he really will fix things there.”
“I hope so,” Jack agreed. “Sounds like he’s going to try. And I’m all for the idea of doing some trading with them.”
The Lansing compound had workers who were skilled in certain areas, but they were lacking a mechanic, among other things. They had a dentist, which was something the hospital didn’t have.
“I like the idea of working some trades between our groups,” Snake said, “but I’m not quite willing to trust them completely, just yet.”
“They’re going to have to earn our trust, after what happened,” Jack agreed.
“Still, it would be great if we could all work together,” Lindsey said.
Snake nodded. “This guy seems to be a huge improvement over Henry, so I think there’s a chance that’ll happen.”
~*~
As Reynolds guided the chopper across the city, his passenger leaned back in his seat. He had temporarily taken on the duty of running the Lansing compound because he knew he was the best man for the job. So far, everything was going very well. With a little luck, he’d finish what he’d set out to do and would be back in California before winter hit.
Alexander Madec turned to look out the window as the hospital grew small in the distance.
~*^*~
~Epilogue~
Western Oregon
Dan walked the fence line one last time before dark. Everything seemed to be in order as he returned to check on the two homemade smokers outside the barn. He and Miranda’s father had shot three deer the previous day, and some of the meat was in the process of being smoked. The rest of it had been cut up and put into large chest-type freezers in the barn, though several steaks had also been set aside for dinner. George had quickly volunteered to handle the grilling. Once Dan checked the barn and closed the doors, he went inside the house.
“Looks like everything’s okay out there,” he said.
“Thanks, Dan,” said Carolyn, Miranda’s mother. “I don’t know what we would have done without your help.”
Dan smiled and said that it wasn’t a problem. It was a routine they went through on almost a daily basis. Since he and George had shown up, they’d spent much of their time helping to ready the farm for the winter months. The fence around the property had been reinforced, and Dan thought it would hold unless a large group of the dead came through.
He’d been concerned about the neighbors at first, worried that one of them might give the men up for a large enough reward, but he soon grew to trust them. Several families lived in the area, and they’d formed a small but tight community over the years. They had all welcomed Dan and George with open arms, thrilled to have a doctor amongst them. They had been equally appreciative of the help Dan gave them whenever needed. After seeing the DVD, they’d all assured Dan and George that they’d do anything possible to help keep the location of the men a secret. Dan had no doubt that they’d all meant it.
The neighbors had started taking turns patrolling the area, watching for both the living and the dead. On more than one occasion, intruders had been scared off when they saw the vehicles moving around the area.
Since his arrival, Dan had helped to harvest crops and had contributed to the food supply by hunting and fishing. He’d also done all sorts of repairs on the house, the barn and the vehicles. There was little free time for anybody during the day, though evenings were spent together in the living room, telling stories, playing games or just talking.
“I think we’re almost ready for winter,” Miranda’s father, Jeremy, said as he stepped over to join Dan by the fire. �
�We’ve got enough meat to last a while, and most of the crops are in.”
“My biggest concern is that there won’t be enough to do this winter,” Dan said. “I’m not one to sit inside all day.”
“Don’t you worry about that,” Jeremy said with a wink. “We can always use fresh fish.”
Dan loved to fish, and he knew that Miranda’s father did as well. “Jeremy, don’t tell me you use fishing as an excuse to get outside.”
“Shh,” the older man said. “You’ll get me in trouble. But, honestly, I’d go crazy if I had to stay inside all day.”
George walked by with a plateful of marinated steaks, and Miranda’s sister hurried over to open the back door for him. The grill was set up on the deck, which had its own gate in case the dead ever breached the fence.
“We might want to check with the neighbors, too,” Jeremy said after George went outside. “I’m sure some of them could still use some help.”
“Good idea,” Dan said.
“Can someone get the door?” George called a short while later.
“I got it,” Dan said, walking over to let his friend back in. As George carried the plateful of steaks to the kitchen, Dan stepped outside for a moment, enjoying the brisk, damp air. It was quite a change from California, but so far he loved everything about it, even the weather. He just wished that Miranda could be there with them. Her family worried a lot, and though Dan tried to reassure them that she’d be fine, he still had his doubts. Odds of survival in this new world were not good, but he hoped that she had the skills and tools she needed to beat those odds. Maybe, just maybe, one day they’d look up to see her truck pulling up to the gate.
He spent a few more moments outside, enjoying the silence before going in to join the others for their meal.
~*~
Whispering Springs, Nevada
Miranda glanced at the sky. She knew that she didn’t have a lot of time before dark, but she wasn’t concerned. She had a routine when she went shopping and she stuck to it. The bed of the truck was almost full, and the dead were starting to trickle back in to the parking lot. It was time to go. She had used abandoned cars to block off the area around the grocery store entrance. When she needed to stock up on food, all she had to do was to move the car at the end and back her truck into the gap she’d left, closing it. Sometimes she had to kill a zombie or two that had gotten over the cars, but she’d gotten good at it.
Dan would have been proud of her, she thought, jumping into the truck. She’d kept her word to him, and had practiced the moves he’d taught her, almost religiously. She spent hours in training every day, and she’d managed to get into the best shape of her life. It had kept her alive. There had been some close calls, but she’d learned from them, honing her skills and finding safer ways to do things. Much of her time was now spent preparing for her trip to Oregon, since she had no longer had a reason to stay in Nevada. Just days after George and Dan had left, her husband had returned, along with a horde of his dead friends. Miranda had wanted to die, and she’d come very close to giving in and just walking outside to join him, but she hadn’t done it. For several nights after her husband’s return, she’d only been able to get to sleep by drinking herself unconscious. After about a week, she’d finally figured out that she wanted to live. She would do what she had to do to stay alive, and when the weather turned warm again, she’d go to Oregon. Hopefully, she’d find her family alive and well. She didn’t even want to think about the alternative, but she’d still be better off in a place where she could live off the land than she would be in the desert.
She glanced at the dead faces around the truck then looked away quickly, recognizing too many of them. Pulling away from the store, she ignored the thumps as she knocked over more than one of the walking corpses.
Time to go home, she thought, heading back through the empty town.
~*~
St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing
Snake stood on the roof as Madec and Reynolds left again. There was a chill in the air that hadn’t been there a week before, and he knew they were running out of time to finish harvesting crops before the first frost hit. Theresa was working furiously to keep up with everything they were bringing in. Most of the residents worked from dawn until late at night, helping with either the harvest or the processing of the food. They would all have some time off once winter arrived.
Snake watched the helicopter grow small in the sky. They had just had their third meeting with Madec, and they had worked out a deal to set up some trading between the two communities. A large group from the hospital had gone to help reinforce the compound walls as a sign of good faith. So far, things seemed to be going well, though Snake was still wary of the others. Any group that could put something together as quickly as had been done at the Lansing Compound had a little too much power for Snake’s liking. Still, there was no sense in borrowing trouble.
More survivors had come in. Some had chosen to stay, and others had been taken in by the Lansing Compound. Snake realized that Madec’s group was being choosy about who they took in, but Snake didn’t let that bother him. St. Mary’s welcomed the rest of them with open arms, as long as they agreed to follow the rules.
A funeral had been held for the people they had lost, though they had not been able to retrieve Moose’s and Marla’s bodies. Hawk had been buried next to Debbie in the cemetery down the street. Bull, Jessica and Dr. Martinez had been laid to rest there as well. While St. Mary’s had lost several people, there had also been some miracles as far as Snake was concerned. While Dr. Doune had been quick to tell them that Wombat’s survival of his fall had not been a miracle, but simple luck in landing just right on the pile of corpses, Snake had disagreed.
The doctor had yet to come up with a reason why Autumn was immune, but plans were being made to get her to Montana in the spring once the snow melted. They had all decided that trying to make the journey in the fall would be foolish with such a long trip ahead of them.
Looking down at the park, Snake saw Mouse holding his kitten while supervising the work on the chicken coop that was being built. Not too far from him, Wombat and Lindsey were walking together. The biker’s arm was still in a sling, and Dr. Sharma had already replaced the cast twice. She had tried to explain to Wombat that casts weren’t meant to be used as weapons, but the biker wouldn’t listen to her. He’d refused to stay behind when the others went on rescues and supply runs, and he had found the cast very handy at times.
There was always a bit of tension when Reynolds showed up, but Snake did his best to keep everything under control. While Snake didn’t think the pilot had played a major role in what had happened, he’d definitely been involved, and some of the residents weren’t willing to forgive him, at least not yet. There had also been talk about going after Wayne. Madec had explained that Wayne would have been killed if he hadn’t cooperated with Henry’s wishes, and while that might have been true, Wombat had seen the grin on the man’s face when Hawk had been thrown off the roof. For that reason, and because of what Wayne had done to Lindsey, Wombat had made it clear to Snake that if he ever got his hands on Wayne, the man would die. Snake had decided it best to keep Wombat away from the Lansing Compound.
Cheri had finally started to become a part of the community. With Jessica gone, she had also taken on the responsibility of raising Michael. She carried the guilt of Jessica’s death, though Snake had tried several times to reassure her that she wasn’t responsible. He knew it might take years for her to come to that realization herself. Maybe she never would.
Snake frowned when he saw Helga looking up at him. Once it had become obvious that Lindsey and Wombat were together, the Ukrainian had become even more determined to win Snake back. He let out a sigh as he looked away, but a small smile touched his face when he saw the children running around the park. Though the dead still roamed the streets with only a wall of rock to keep them away from the living, life appeared almost normal. Maybe someday it would be, Snake thought. He turned to walk
back inside.
~The End~
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STAY TUNED FOR NEWS ON PART III OF THE SERIES
If you enjoyed Pestilence and Promise and would be interested in reading more about the beginning of the plague and the survivors at the hospital, please check out Dead, but Not for Long, Book I in the series.
Dead, But Not For Long (Book 2): Pestilence and Promise Page 57