by T. L. Walker
"He knows better. They all know better. You see, unlike you, I run a tight ship."
It dawned on me then – that’s how she knew that Luke had military experience. That’s why she was so – her. "Tight ship? Either you’re a lot older than you look or you’re a military brat."
I don’t know what made me say it, and I wasn’t sure if I was finally one step ahead of Jia or if I’d simply made things worse – because when she spoke, her voice was level."My mother was an Army Ranger, actually."
"Is that supposed to scare me?"
"If you let it," was all she said.
"I think I’ll be okay."
"Good. So, Bobby will stay here, we’ll take Luke, and you’ll see us again in three days."
I had to bite down on the inside of my cheek to keep from snapping at her again."I’ve lived in this city for the better part of a decade. I know where the school is. You don’t need three days to get there and back."
"Who said anything about needing? That’s the way we work, and you have to accept it."
Why three days? I was burning to know what nonsense Jia cooked up in this waiting period of hers, but of course I knew better than to ask.
That question would be for later. For Bobby.
Finally Jia’s people finished picking through our supplies, and I knew the only reason any of them were left was because they couldn’t carry anything else."That’s good enough for now,"Jia said."But before we go, just one more question."
My heart leapt into my throat. Please not Lauren and Mabel...I raised my eyebrows in pretend surprise."What, not ready to leave our little safe haven quite yet?"
"More than ready, actually, but I find myself wondering...where’s your dog?"
I wanted to be relieved that she didn’t seem to know about Lauren and Mabel, but when I opened my mouth to respond I realized that Ididn’t even know where Holden was. Thankfully I caught myself, though not as quickly as I would have liked."Richard put him up. He can be...protective."
Jia cocked her head again, a habit of hers that was already beginning to annoy me."From what I saw, he seemed friendly enough. But I suppose he would sense when you’re...upset."
"He senses a lot of things. That’s one of them, but not the one you’d need to worry about. Still, I’ll introduce you to him, if that’s what you’re getting at. Who knows, maybe he would like you just fine." I was being nonchalant despite not really knowing how Holden would react if she insisted on seeing him; I couldn’t help but hope that she would hear the not-so-veiled threat in my words, no matter how inaccurate it may be.
But Jia only shrugged."Maybe next time."
I gave her the coldest smile I could muster."If you insist." How long would it take to teach Holden to respond to some sort of ‘attack’ command? A stupid question, of course; I knew there was no chance in hell of that happening in just three days.
Just three days...but shit, if they took Luke, what would three days do to him? I’d been so worried about the idea of Jia taking someone at all that until now I hadn’t thought about his arm, about the infection that seemed to be spreading faster all the time.
"Richard, take Bobby somewhere...safe,"I ordered."Daniel, take the rest of these people outside." I simply mouthed Stay hereto Mike before facing Jia again."I’ll have a minute with Luke before we leave this building." It wasn’t a request, wasn’t a suggestion, and I willed her to see as much and not push me any further.
"Of course you will," she replied, every word weighted with judgment.
"Whaddaya say, boss?" Bobby interrupted. I looked over to see Richard standing by his side, tense as always.
Jia looked irritated."Go on, then." We watched as Daniel herded the rest of her people out of the office. Richard and Bobby followed, and although I worried that he wouldn’t have an easy time of it, locking the kid up, I knew that I had to focus on what I would say to Luke. I gestured for Jia to go ahead of me, frustrated with this time-consuming parade.
We met Monika and Luke just outside the door; I was more than a little shocked when Jia actually motioned to the other girl and they walked down the hall. Jia didn’t even look back, though Monika did – but not at me. At Luke.
"She told me. I could only hear bits and pieces of your conversation, but she told me."
"Luke, you don’t have to –"
"Yes I do. You know I do."
"But your arm..."
"That’s exactly why I have to go. I’m done for, Charlie. I know it, Richard knows it, and goddammit, youknow it."
"But theydon’t."
Luke actually laughed, then."You going soft on me? No, they don’t. And that’s going to be their undoing. I’mgoing to be their undoing."
"Some of them are probably innocent," I reminded him, thinking of the school nurse, and of Dominic.
"Probably, but Charlie...we’re way past that, now."
"This is biological warfare," I said carefully. Carefully because he was right, because I knew it was our best option, maybe even our only option. Carefully because while I wasn’t quite sure that I cared, I knew that deep down, he did.
"I have to improvise here. This is the only solution, and it is what it is."
"You hate that phrase." How many times had I said it to him these past several months? How many times did he tell me it was nonsensical?
"I need to do what I can to protect our people."He didn’t say"to protect you", but the insinuation was there.
"They’re going to lock you up, anyway. You don’t even know –"
Luke smiled sadly."I’ll get myself out as soon as I can – you said it yourself, there are people in that school who are innocent. Who knows what they wouldn’t do for a chance to change up Jia’s little regime. I’ll hide it for as long as I can, of course – Monika told me I’ll be there for three days. At this point I’m pretty sure that’s plenty of time. You’re the one who will be in the most difficult position. Someone will need to sneak out of here early, probably by the forty-eight-hour mark, and come keep an eye on the school...then make it back here to fetch more of you when everything comes crashing down around that girl."
"Luke, this is crazy. You can’t –"
"I can. I will. Just do me one favor, Charlie."
I clenched my eyes shut, took a shaky breath, and nodded.
"I’ll do what I can on my end, but if you can help it,don’t let me get out of the school. And make sure I’m not a zed for too long." His tone was devoid of all feeling, and I knew then that there was no way to change his mind.
"I’ll make sure,"I promised."I’ll take care of everything."
Luke drew me in close and hugged me tight, practically squeezing the air right out of me."I know you will," he murmured into my hair, before loosening his embrace and leaning back, tipping my chin up with one hand to kiss me softly on the mouth.
There was no passion in his kiss; it was simply gentle and warm and lovely.
Just the way a goodbye kiss should be.
I heard Jia push the door open, and her voice rang down the hall."That’s enough. It’s raining, and we have our own safe haven to get back to."
Fast as I could, I leaned in and whispered,"Keep an eye out for the school nurse, Mrs. Downing. She’s in her fifties maybe, her hair’s mostly gray. And Dominic. Young kid, short, mop of black hair."
Luke nodded, his hair brushing my lips, and I finally stepped away from him. We didn’t even bother to look at or touch each other as we made our way out into the rain; it was hardly more than a sprinkle, but I could see darker skies moving in over the trees and knew that soon enough we’d be caught in a downpour.
"I’ll take care of things from here," I told Daniel. I could tell that he was grateful, but thankfully he didn’t say anything in response, and Jia didn’t protest as he turned and let himself back into the building.
The twelve of us walked back to the front gate, keeping a brisk pace. We arrived back to see Allie pacing miserably in the rain while Virginia sat off to the side under a tree. Both of th
em had their guns in hand and spun to face us when they finally heard our footsteps.
“We’re all set,” Jia said. Virginia looked to me as she trained her gun on Allie, but when I shook my head she lowered her pistol.
We took turns gathering up our weapons, but when I moved to hand Luke a knife, Jia stepped forward and grasped my wrist, clenching her hand around it so tight that I knew she was trying to cause pain – but my adrenaline had taken over and I didn’t feel much of anything.
"Absolutely not. We’re not stupid – he’ll travel with his hands and arms free. But no weapons."
"Fuck you. God knows what could happen on your way there!"
"He’s been injured and he’s still alive. I have a feeling that between that and the training I’m sure he’s had, Luke here can take care of himself. If we get attacked, he can run. But I’m sure as hell not letting him have a weapon."
I opened my mouth to protest, but Luke spoke first."As long as my hands are free and I can run if I need to, I’ll be fine."
"Yes, you will. Just don’t try to use this as a way to escape. It won’t go well for you – or for your friends back here," Jia warned.
"I figured as much." Luke sounded so nonchalant that I almost wanted to believe he actually wasn’t worried.
Jia smiled again."See? We’re all in agreement. You can see us out, and we’ll be back at the same time three days from now."
I nodded to Virginia, who opened the gate for them as quickly as she could. There was thunder rumbling in the distance; I guessed we had maybe ten minutes at most before the storm arrived in full force.
As I moved forward to help Virginia chain the gate behind Luke, Jia, and her people, Jia once again turned toward me."Of course you know we’ll be keeping an eye on you. Several pairs of them, in fact. See you soon!"
My hands clenched around the chains that I was holding in place, and I only allowed myself to let go when I heard the second giant padlock click shut."Let’s get back to the office," Virginia said. I was glad that she wasn’t trying to reassure me.
"Yeah. They’ll be watching our gate for us, I suppose."
"Someone will come back here when it stops raining. Maybe two people."
I turned and stalked away. Virginia was right; two of us needed to be guarding that gate until Jia returned. But who? We had to keep hiding Lauren and Mabel, and after what had transpired earlier, I sure as hell didn’t want Jia – or any of her people – watching Mike for any extended period of time. And we have to sneak two more out the back as soon as we can...
There was safety in numbers, but ours were dwindling.
Know how to improvise.
Chapter 11
Strength
By the time we let ourselves back into the office building, Virginia and I were drenched. It was my fault – the rain grew heavier with each passing minute, but still I walked as slowly and steadily as I could.
I hated the fact that someone had been able to watch us so closely; hated that someone might still be watching us now. With the zeds, you knew what you were going to get – the freshly killed, slow and clumsy, or the ones who smelled of rot and gore and moved so fast you could almost believe they were alive – the ones who could get close enough to catch you if you weren’t quick enough. Or strong enough.
Somehow, I must have allowed myself to hope that there would be a chink in Jia’s armor. Even if the people we’d met at the school weren’t happy with their situation, I knew they wouldn’t outright help us. Even if the girl from the roof hadn’t been part of Jia’s crew today – even if Dominic, the nurse, and the nine kids tagging along with Jia and Luke were all the people she commanded – well, she still had a healthy soldier inside our walls and nearly twice our own number outside of them.
Probably more.
We were inside and almost to Richard’s office when Virginia stopped and faced me."We need to ask Mike how many people might be at that school."
"Why? That’s just putting pressure on him when there’s no way he could give even a rough estimate."
"I think you underestimate him,"Virginia stated."Go on into the office. I’ll find some of the others and we’ll sit down and talk about what we will do."
What we will do. Not what we can do. What we will do.
Something about Virginia’s demeanor just then made me yearn for my mother."Just make sure to leave, you know, some ‘things’ where they are. And Richard or Daniel will have to stay with this Bobby kid. Maybe try to talk to him."
"Richard, I think." Her eyes met mine and I understood that, as long as Lauren and Mabel were locked away in secret, Daniel had the potential to be a very weak link in our already-eroding chain.
Mike was the only one left in the office."Ethan went to grab a few of the items we were hiding. Daniel came back for a minute, but then he said he wanted to get a better look at Bobby."
"Do you know him? Bobby?"
"No. I mean, I could have seen him before, but there were like...over two thousand kids who went to my school. I don’t think he was in my grade..."
I waved him off."It’s fine, Mike. I was just curious. Richard is going to guard the kid, but once Ethan, Virginia, and Daniel are back, we need to know everything you do about that school and how many people might be there. Even if it’s just guesswork, okay? No one expects you to be one hundred percent right...about anything. We just..."I paused, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath."Anything you think of could help. Even the smallest detail..."
"You have a plan," Mike said, and when I saw how relieved he was, my stomach flipped.
"Not exactly,"I finally replied."But we will."
I just couldn’t imagine that it would be a very good plan.
Virginia and Daniel arrived first, and we all sat on the floor, forming a circle that Ethan joined a few minutes later. He didn’t say a single word as he handed out snack-sized bags of peanuts and set a bottled water in the center of our circle.
"Okay,"I finally began."Obviously Mike knows the most about the school, but does anyone else have a clue about what’s going on there?"I fixed my gaze on Virginia."Is there anything you haven’t told us?"
She shook her head."I’d almost like to admit that we betrayed your trust and kept something like that from you. But no...we’ve been so sheltered here, we had no idea. And before you came, there were so few of us – even if those kids had come poking around the park, even if they’d walked our perimeter, the chances of us seeing each other..."
"You saw us," I snapped.
"You had cars," Ethan interjected. When I looked at him, he was staring at his unopened bag of peanuts, and he didn’t look happy.
I relented."Okay. Okay, fine. You don’t know anything, and we as a whole don’t know much more than that. Daniel and I saw the school, but it looked mostly deserted. The people we talked to seemed like they would be interested in the idea of removing Jia from her throne, as it were, but we can’t count on that. And numbers-wise...she could have a dozen people, or hundreds."I turned to Mike."This is where you come in. How many of those two thousand or so kids could be there?"
He chewed on his lip for a bit."We had a full day of school, and that evening things really started going to hell. Before I went to bed that night they’d already canceled classes and started telling everyone to remain in their homes."
Daniel spoke up."It wasn’t so bad down where we were, not that fast, but all of our radio stations were city ones, of course...and I was hearing some pretty crazy things when I was driving home from work that day. Must have been about four in the afternoon."
I was thankful for this information; I didn’t want to have to have to admit to anyone else that I’d been safely tucked away at a yoga retreat while the world collapsed around me."This...this could be good. I’m sure some people went to the school when things got bad – we sure as hell weren’t the only people who would have tried – but how soon did Jia take charge..." I rubbed my hand across my forehead as if to wipe away any hopeful thoughts that could be croppin
g up.
Mike stood up and began pacing."I can’t tell you when Jia took over, but she would have been at the school after hours. Her and maybe a couple hundred more kids, plus a few teachers. Football practice, clubs...it was close enough to the beginning of the school year, there was a lot of that stuff going on."
A couple hundred. She could have hundreds of people. "Okay, maybe not so good after all."
Virginia glanced at Ethan."If parents getting out of work were hearing about things on the radio, many of them would have called their kids to come home. Maybe some of them didn’t listen, maybe some of them didn’t check their phones in time, but I doubt more than a few dozen kids ended up in that school for good."
"There’s still the problem of how many people went there afterward, thinking it might be a safe place," I pointed out.
"And who would have let them in? Maybe some slipped through, if they were other students, other teachers, family members...so a few dozen more? And how many would have actually survived?"Virginia paused and looked at each of us in turn."Something happened there, I’m sure of it. No matter who Jia and her people were before all of this...they’re still kids. Kids who act like they’re part of some militia. That doesn’t happen overnight."
"But other things do..." I heard myself say. We’d tested it once, back on the farm. Saw a woman attacked by a small pack of zeds, heard her screaming, and couldn’t get to her in time. Something in me had clicked the moment I heard her screams subside, and I’d gone after the zeds, anger and adrenaline fueling my slaughter. It was Joey and Daniel with me that day, and I remembered being thankful that Luke hadn’t seen me lose my mind.
It wasn’t something I liked to think about, but now it was also the only reason I knew that three days was more than enough time for Luke to turn. Because I’d insisted on bringing the woman’s body back to the farm, and I dug her grave myself, with Luke keeping watch, obviously not understanding my need to do this one kindness.
But I forgot to bash this stranger’s head in. All of us had. I was lost in my fit of madness, while Joey and Daniel were clearly having trouble digesting the situation as a whole – what I’d done, what I was insisting on doing.