by Daniel White
Eric sighed knowing he should probably give some great advice. The problem was that he just didn’t have any. He was no miracle worker or oracle. It looked like what it was; the bad guys – whoever they were – held all the cards. Zombies or no, this probably wouldn’t end the way the plan said it would. Eric knew this already but figured there was no real reason to burden Hawkins with details. To him he said, “You just better hope that you can trust me and that something swings momentum in our favor.”
“Well if they are going to kill me either way what stops me from going to give them the real file?” Hawkins asked pointing at the car.
Eric grinned, “Maybe it is the real file Hawkins. But if it is, and if you do give it to them to double cross me, I’ll kill you.”
Hawkins indicated Bart who had rumbled up beside Eric, “What about him? What could he do to help?” It was clear that Hawkins was worried, as well he should be, but Eric was tired of worrying for him. He began walking and only replied, “That s-o-b is more selfish than I am. Maybe I could learn something from him.”
**
What if it was cold, Kurt asked himself. At least then he would have a much better reason for his hands shaking like they were. But no, it wasn’t cold at all. Even in the dawn hours it was fairly muggy and still dreary. God it seemed like it had rained for a solid month. It was almost as if the Sun itself was also infected and bright sunny days were a thing of the past. The fear that gripped his chest as he held his brief case, the brief case with the false file inside that would probably get him killed for nothing, was all painfully real.
Here he stood in the middle of five haphazardly arranged railcars, endangering his life for the simple reason that he had survived thus far. If he had been killed with the others at his office when the virus broke, he wouldn’t have this shit to worry about. But no, now he was in the meat of a kung fu – zombie – bad guy sandwich. Kurt discovered that he didn’t like the feeling very much. Someone of his abilities once was respected and admired. A computer expert was revered and respected, while a darker computer expert willing to do bad things to people was feared. Who feared or respected him now? No one did.
A rustling in the rocks nearby startled him and chills ran down his spine. This was it. All of the dreams he had to become something great, even if only in his own little mind and world, came down to this. His life was in other people’s hands, none of which he knew more than a month ago. How did I get here? The person who he had to trust to be on his side, he had only known for a few hours. To think of the feeling in his gut as a bad one would be quite the understatement.
There were only two clearings wide enough for people to walk through between the railcars. It gave the general impression that someone somehow had positioned these cars this way deliberately. Then again, there likely had been gang wars and all sorts of terrible things that once happened here. Through the clearing opposite of him walked a man that stood at least a few inches below six feet. What the man lacked in height, he more than made up for with a vengeance in girth. Or maybe it was all bulk of the muscular kind. It was impossible to tell for certain with the suit the guy had on.
He walked to a position roughly ten feet from Kurt and stood calmly. It reminded him of the impression that Bayne gave off, an aura of dangerous calm. If he worked for the guy that had knowledge about the zombie virus though, he probably actually had nothing to fear. The silence ambled until it became unbearable. Just before Kurt decided to shout something random to simple break the stalemate, the gentleman spoke.
“Hello Mr. Hawkins.”
“Hi Mr. uh,” Kurt paused a beat, “Mr. Sir.”
A sickening grin came to the man’s face, which was about all that could be seen of it. He wore sunglasses in spite of the dark hour. The hat hid whatever type of hair he had, though Kurt could tell it was dark by what hung down to his collar. His beard took care of whatever else would have once been visible of his face. The grin faded, “I’m glad to see you brought the file. I assume it’s in the brief case. That will work just fine.” Briefly the man looked around then continued, “Of course I’m also glad that you came alone as you were instructed. You did come alone, didn’t you Mr. Hawkins?”
Kurt’s breath caught half way out and he almost coughed out his response. He was able at the last moment to pause and gather him together. “Yes, yes sir I did.”
That grin returned and the man said, “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a terrible liar Mr. Hawkins?”
Kurt signed and closed his eyes. He hoped more than ever now that Bayne was not only on his side but also being very successful, “There was this one guy.”
**
While Hawkins was waiting for his meeting, Eric was stalking around the edges of the rail yard looking for anything and everything that would tell him what kind of ambush was waiting for his little buddy in that railcar circle. Truth be told, he did find himself liking Hawkins, but knew better than to let that get to him. The companionship was pleasant, but with attachment comes pain. Whatever happened here certainly wouldn’t end this war. It could only serve to better prepare Eric for survival in the months to come.
Movement caught his eye and he ducked behind a large freight car. A peek around the corner revealed a large stocky man walking towards the railcar circle where Hawkins was nervously tapping his foot. Eric was roughly fifty feet away but it looked like the man was unarmed. There was zero chance that guy was walking into the situation without firepower. That left one question on Eric’s mind. Out loud he asked, “Where is your ace in the hole?”
“Right here,” a voice said from right on top of Eric. Before he could even wonder how someone snuck up on him he spun to see a familiar face. Then he felt the butt of a gun slam him in the chin. The shocking blow knocked him down into a heap, but not out. As he tried to order his arms to move him off of the ground, he realized who had hit him. As the gun slammed him in the back of the head for a second crushing blow, he put a name with the face. As darkness claimed him he had two questions. Why would Sage Thorn attack me? And did I just see wild eyed zombies crawling from the brush at the edge of the lot?
**
Kurt was about to melt into goo as the stocky man snatched the briefcase out of his hand and opened it. Where chills were running through him before; now he was sweating profusely through his armpits. The worry and stress of exactly what was about to happen was about to make him ill. Then he remembered who he had on his side and hoped against hope that Bayne was about to enter the area and make everything right by laying down lead and destruction. As the stocky man’s eyes went wide Kurt heard a rustling nearby. His heart jumped at the hope that Eric Bayne was about to save his skin.
But it wasn’t Bayne that walked into the circle.
Kurt didn’t know who this guy was, but he was dressed like a soldier ready for war and walked straight to the large man’s side.
“Look what we have here Captain Thorn. Mr. Hawkins worked up the guts to switch the folders on us.”
“No!” Panic struck hard into his heart and Kurt began to scramble for what to do. Stall! Run? He had to stall until Bayne could get here and fix everything. “No! What do you mean switch the folders? That’s the very folder I picked up at the bank!”
Captain Thorn spoke, “Considering I just ran into your partner in those bushes, I find it very hard to believe that you didn’t know this was a fake.”
The large man said, “Who is it? Is it the same one you told me about before?”
“Yes sir,” Thorn said, “Its Eric Bayne.” The boss looked towards the Captain and Thorn reassured, “Don’t worry; he won’t be joining us this evening.” The grin on Thorn’s face as he said it made Kurt sick. Worse still was what he said. Bayne wouldn’t be joining them? That was bad! As he saw the two approaching closer he knew it was worse than bad. It was life threatening. This was the face of death. “Wait! No Wait!!” Thorn grabbed his arms and spun him around into a standing pretzel. The large boss leaned in close enough for Kurt to smell h
is breath.
“I’m going to ask this slowly Mr. Hawkins. Where is the real file?”
“I… I don’t know!” Kurt lied. Both men actually laughed.
“Seriously man,” Thorn chuckled, “You’re a shitty liar. Tell the man what he wants to hear.” Kurt heard something else outside and for a moment thought it might be Bayne returning. When both men heard it and smiled at each other he knew that it wasn’t.
It was far worse. This just kept getting better. Before he could stall and beg for more time to think or delay to keep the broken plan alive, hungry busted faces poked through the holes of the railcar circle.
“Zombies!” Kurt said and was bucking as hard as he could to try and break free from Captain Thorn. When they found their way through and began swimming towards the three men Kurt nearly pissed his pants. Then, just as he knew they were all going to be breakfast for the growing horde, something incredible happened.
“They,” Kurt stared at the boss who was holding a small remote sized device, “They stopped. How?” Kurt noticed the wailing of Bart, Bayne’s dog, as he ran away and it hit him. They had found a frequency that for some reason disturbed the zombies’ busted brain track enough to stop their charge. That explained the office and other areas he had seen where people weren’t attacked.
“This is one of only two in existence. Mr. Hawkins,” the boss walked closer, “I want the file for several reasons. Most of those you could never know. One of them is that it includes a partial spec sheet for this little device. I never wanted the physicists in your office Mr. Hawkins. I wanted the premier computer and tech expert in this area of the world. Like it or not, with the losses in high places for obvious reasons, you fit that bill. Where is the real folder?”
Kurt was dumbfounded. This crazy fool really thought after all he had put him through that Kurt would actually help him? “What kind of moron are you? What’s your name anyway? Does anyone get to know that? There is no way in hell I would ever help you.”
The man smiled, “I thought you might say that. Funny how these things show up right when you need them huh? See this device? The radius it has would allow me to step outside this circle and then they would all be free to devour you. You sure you don’t know where that folder is Mr. Hawkins?”
Panic struck once again. What could he do? He didn’t want to get turned over to a horde of raging zombies, but he didn’t want to help this lunatic either. The more he thought, the better it sounded to just give him the damn file. At last he decided. “Okay, let me go and I’ll tell you.” He watched as they both began walking out of the circle. He thought he could be strong. For a long few seconds he actually was. Then one entire side of the warded circle began advancing towards him and his will snapped like a twig.
“Okay! Okay, wait!” Thorn and his boss stopped just in time and turned around. “The car! It’s in the car!”
The boss smiled, “I knew you were smart Mr. Hawkins. And you will work for me as well I assume?”
Kurt thought about it quickly. All he had to do was say he would and then just run or escape in some other way. He carefully looked up, “Uh yeah sure. Yes I’ll help you.” Another sick looking smile made him wonder what it could possibly mean. He knew it couldn’t be good.
“You really should work on your ability to lie. Goodbye Mr. Hawkins. Thanks for the folder.” Kurt saw them leave and immediately began to scream. Within seconds the zombies began closing in on him with gnashing teeth and bloodied fists. There were so many that all he knew to do was to scream for help. His screams overrode the sick grinding of the zombies’ snarls as they began to try and finish him off. He thought as he felt faint.
So this is what it feels like to die.
**
Pain throbbed like a blacksmith’s hammer through Eric’s head. The shot Sage hit his chin with was vicious enough, but the pounding to the back of his head was agony. Why would this man save his life once, and then knock him out of the fight the next time. Shakily, he clambered to his hands and knees then sat back on his haunches to recover. Hands rubbed at his soiled eyes until he heard them. Instinctively he leaped into a fighting stance and then stumbled to his knees again. There were easily a hundred or more zombies all coming from the far side of the lot heading towards the circle.
Then he heard the screaming.
He knew instantly who it was. Hawkins was in pain and probably being ripped apart by zombies. He stood and saw one figure clearly, Sage Thorn, running towards the car and he knew. The bastard cracked! Finally able to stand without falling over, Eric was thankful at least none were attacking him. Where the boss man or whoever was, was unclear. Another scream pierced the thick air and he almost dashed forward to help Hawkins. That wouldn’t be a good survival choice. The chance of Hawkins surviving those things was zero. Eric might, but it was doubtful with that many. The clear choice sucked. If wanted to survive his heart needed to be cold steel he reminded himself. He looked once more at the railcar circle where Hawkins was screaming his last scream, and tipped a half hearted salute in that direction.
Eric Bayne turned and dashed out of the field and back up the road. Somewhere along the gravel road Bart rejoined him. Eric laughed out loud. The choice to leave others to their fate while saving himself seemed to be one that Bart always got to first. Maybe he should take lessons from the dog more often. It wasn’t a nice thing to do to leave Hawkins to his death. Nice things didn’t win wars, and nice things didn’t help people survive. This is natural selection at work. Eric wasn’t a nice guy and he knew it. Facing just how true it was, was harder than he thought it would be. In the end, he simply accepted it and moved on. There will be others who die and there would be losses in his quest for more information. That now was a flame reignited.
“Would you leave me behind to die to save yourself Bart?” he asked. The dog looked at him and cocked his head, and Eric could swear it was an expression that clearly said, hell yes. He laughed and continued jogging away from that damned rail yard depot.
**
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Copyright © 2012 Daniel White
Copyright © 2012 Cover Design by Daniel White
This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to actual persons, alive or dead, are purely coincidental.
The material in the eBook contains sexually explicit content and is intended for a mature audience only. All persons portrayed in this eBook are 18 years of age or older.
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Other Works by the Author
The Zombie Outbreak - Book 1
(Surviving the Zombie Nightmare)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008RA8M32
Terror strikes a government building when it suddenly becomes the target of an unthinkable attack. Zombies attack seemingly out of nowhere and the witnesses are ordered to leave at gunpoint. When Eric Bayne does as ordered, only to find that the zombie attack wasn’t a onetime occurrence, he is forced to face a terrible truth. The zombie apocalypse has truly come to pass.
Knowing that life will never be normal again, everyone has to make the choice to survive or give up.
Eric Bayne chooses to fight and survive at all costs. His journey to battle the odds takes him down a darker road than he ever imagined. Can he fight the inevitable and win or will he end up just another mindless creature?
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008RA8M32
htmare)