Cody kept talking anyway while his eyes roamed the highway looking for any more signs to the airport.
“The Mexicans weren’t too happy about Texas going off and doing its own thing,” he said. “You can imagine. So they laid siege to a little mission located not too far from where we are right now. Bet you can’t guess what that mission was called.”
Rachel lifted a bored eyebrow. “The Alamo?”
“Right,” he said, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “Thousands of Mexicans fought against two hundred men who were defending the Alamo. Two hundred – that’s crazy right? So the two hundred fought their hearts out and they held out for about a fortnight before the Mexicans finally overpowered them. Two weeks man, that’s pretty impressive. Ever since then, for Texans and a lot of other people, the Alamo has become a symbol of heroic resistance. Fighting against the odds. And that’s exactly what we’re doing – you and me. We’re like the two hundred.”
Rachel turned away, unimpressed. “They all died,” she said. “Didn’t they? What’s so great about that?”
Cody’s shoulders slumped in defeat. The Alamo was a great historical example of courage and bravery, no doubt about that. But Rachel was right – they’d all died in the end.
“Yeah,” he said.
He concentrated on the road instead of trying to give any more pep talks. And at last, he saw the sign he was looking for:
‘San Antonio
Int’l Airport
EXIT 1 MILE’
“Here we go,” Cody said.
He merged onto the McAllister Freeway. Soon after that, he followed a sign taking him left towards the airport. Cody’s heart was galloping as they got closer to the destination. All the worst-case scenarios that could still happen were playing around in his head on a constant loop. What if he’d taken too long to get here? What if Nick and the others had already gone? What if that mask he’d let go on the 281 appeared on his tail again, all guns blazing and with more of his shotgun-wielding redneck pals standing on the cargo bed?
And what about the refugees? What if they’d been flocking on foot towards the airport? They were searching for a way out the city. Why wouldn’t they try the airport? It was possible wasn’t it? What if Nick saw them coming – hordes and hordes of people who may or may not have been infected with Black Fever? He would have been left with little choice.
Was the plane still there?
The sweat was running down Cody’s forehead.
When at last he reached the airport, he followed the signs towards Terminal A, just as Nick had instructed him to do. The area was dimly lit and there were no other cars and no people in sight.
Cody pulled up outside the terminal building. He let go of the wheel and his head fell back onto the seat with a quiet thud. With a sad smile, he turned the Dodge’s engine off for the last time. He gave the steering wheel an affectionate pat.
“We did it,” he said.
“You talking to me?” Rachel said.
“I was talking to the car honey.”
“You’re weird.”
Cody closed his eyes. He felt like he’d been on the road for days, as if he’d just completed a cross-country trip from one side of America to the other, non-stop. In reality, he’d driven about twenty-six miles from Spring Branch to San Antonio International Airport. Twenty-six miles that felt like twenty-six hundred.
Now all they had to do was find the plane.
Cody had memorized the next part. Once they got inside the terminal, they had to follow the signs for departures and make their way down to Gate A5. Walk through the door of the gate and onto the apron. That’s where the white and blue Alaska Airlines plane would be waiting for them.
Cody pulled the key out of the ignition.
“Dad,” Rachel said. “Look. Do you see that car over there?”
She was pointing at a police car parked further down outside the terminal building. Cody had noticed it as he’d pulled up, assuming it was just one of thousands of abandoned vehicles lying scattered around the San Antonio area.
He leaned forward in the driver’s seat.
It was a Ford Explorer Police Interceptor. The passenger door was lying wide open, pointing towards the terminal entrance. Upon first glance it looked like someone had exited the car and ran into the airport in a hurry. Poking his head through the Dodge’s open window, Cody saw the words ‘San Antonio Police – Protecting the Alamo City’ written on the side of the car.
“That’s the real deal,” he said. “SAPD. I wonder what it’s doing there.”
“Do you think the police are in the airport?” Rachel asked.
“I doubt it,” Cody said. He sure hoped not. He didn’t want to have to walk in and explain to anybody what he was doing there with his daughter and a couple of heavily packed backpacks. But what if some do-gooder asshole had snitched on Nick and told the authorities that a black man had laid siege to San Antonio airport and was at present trying to steal an expensive Alaska Airlines plane?
The police were too busy downtown to care. Weren’t they?
Cody took another look at the black and white Explorer. It looked empty. He glanced at the terminal, searching for any sign of activity taking place inside the building.
“Don’t see anything,” he said. “You?”
“No,” Rachel said.
“Maybe somebody just left it here,” Cody said.
“Maybe it broke down,” Rachel said.
Cody nodded. “Come to think of it,” he said. “Whoever left it there is probably one of Nick’s friends. Yeah that’s gotta be it. Nick knows a few cops downtown. Looks like whoever it is, they’re getting on the plane too. Everyone else must have parked in the car park, apart from us latecomers.”
Rachel looked satisfied with that explanation.
“Anyway,” Cody said, pushing the driver’s door open. “We’ve got to go kid. Let’s grab the bags out the back and get moving.”
Cody got out of the car, opened up the trunk and threw the two backpacks onto the ground. They took out some of the plastic water bottles and crammed as many as they could into what little room was left in their bags. Cody had already put some food items into the bags back at the house – fruit, sandwiches, potato chips, nuts and chocolate. Anything he could think of that would fight off the hunger pangs while they were up in the air. There were some books in there for Rachel to read too. Thin ones.
Cody packed the ammo and speed loader into his bag. He zipped up the bulging backpack and checked that Rachel’s bag, also crammed to bursting point, was closed too.
He stood up straight.
“Ready?” he said.
“What about the car?” Rachel said, taking a step back from the Dodge.
Cody looked at his beloved 1970 Dodge Challenger with a heavy heart. His stomach felt like it was tied up in a tight knot. It wasn’t just the car – it was the many memories associated with it. Some of them bittersweet. A decade ago, he’d undertaken the journey of his life in the Dodge when he’d travelled from California to Texas with Kate. And with Rachel too, who would have been about the size of an apple in Kate’s womb at the time.
“This is where we say goodbye,” Cody said.
“I wish we could take it with us,” Rachel said.
Cody smiled. “Me too.”
He looked at the car key, which was fastened to a small Swiss Army Knife keyring. It was sitting next to the house key, which opened the door to a house that he’d never see again either. He tucked the keys into his pocket. At least he’d be able to take a little piece of the house and the car with him on the next stage of the journey.
Cody gave the car a final pat on the hood. “Thanks old buddy.”
He took a step back.
“Let’s go Rachel,” he said, throwing another wary glance towards the abandoned-looking police car in the distance. He walked to the front of the Dodge, grabbed the gun out of the driver’s side and checked there were still plenty of bullets in the magazine. When he w
as satisfied there was enough, he tucked the Glock into the waist of his jeans.
“Got your passport?” Cody asked.
Rachel held the teddy bear up. “I’ve got Bootsy.”
“Guess that’ll have to do,” he said.
Cody walked over to the two backpacks lying on the ground. Rachel held a hand up.
“I want to carry my bag,” she said.
“It’s heavy,” Cody said. “It’ll slow you down.”
“I want to carry it. It’s my bag.”
He sighed. “Alright.”
Cody handed the backpack to Rachel and she swung it over her shoulder. She grunted slightly under the weight.
They turned around and walked into Terminal A.
“So what now?” Rachel said. She was looking at the display boards next to the check-in area. All the boards were switched off. Although the lights inside the terminal building had been left on, it looked like the airport hadn’t been in service for weeks, maybe even months.
Cody looked up at the ceiling. “I sure hope that was Nick who put the lights on.”
“What did you say?” Rachel said.
“Nothing kid.”
“So where are we going?”
“Gate A5,” Cody said. “Alaska Airlines.”
“Alaska?” Rachel said. “It’s freezing up there.”
Cody shrugged. “Yeah but maybe it’s too cold for the Black Storm,” he said. “You ever think about that? If so, I’ll take it.”
As he spoke, his eyes darted back and forth around the terminal. It was so quiet inside the building.
They walked further inside and found a sign for departures. Cody led Rachel across the building, suppressing the urge to take out his gun. Even though he’d have been more comfortable with it in his hand, he kept it tucked in at the waist. He wanted Rachel to feel safe – to think that they’d made it. She’d already gone through a lifetime of worry that day.
They both had.
The terminal’s interior was sleek and modern. The color scheme was mostly white and cream, the style tasteful and minimalistic, at least just enough to avoid an aura of blandness. As Cody and Rachel walked towards the departure gates, large digital display screens were scattered throughout but like the other boards they’d encountered, none of them worked.
It wasn’t long before they found a sign for Gate A5. They hurried off in that direction, looking out for subsequent signs to the gate.
Cody was beginning to believe that this last part of the journey would go smoothly after all. It was about time something went their way. Both sets of footsteps were light, echoing around the deserted airport. There was even a spring in their step now.
“Do you think the car’s okay?” Rachel said, looking up at him.
He nodded. “Yeah I think…”
Cody stopped dead in his tracks. He grabbed a hold of his daughter’s arm and pulled her back.
There was a man standing further down the terminal.
It was a cop.
The cop was walking towards them. His face was curious but he remained silent as he closed the gap. There was no friendly greeting and no rapid-fire, robotic cop jargon to try and intimidate them either.
The man’s shoes made a loud clicking noise on the hard floor.
“Good evening sir,” said the cop. “Ma’am. How are you both?” He spoke with a stereotypically overdone West Texan accent – it was a lousy John Wayne impression that didn’t fit neatly with the boyish face. He couldn’t have been more than thirty years old. The cop possessed a pair of striking, emerald green eyes. He had long sideburns and he was handsome in a delicate, almost feminine way. The most striking thing of all was his skin – it was a sickly, pallid gray, which hinted of a lurking illness beneath the surface.
Cody looked at the man’s uniform – the dark blues, the silver badge and the equipment belt wrapped around his waist. He wondered what the cop was doing at the airport. There was a lot of valuable equipment in the building. Had he been sent to patrol the area, to guard it against looters?
Cody was glad that he hadn’t taken out his gun after all. The cop’s pistol was drawn and hanging by his side as he walked. The man looked ready to go. Things might have gotten ugly if Cody had been carrying his gun.
“Good evening officer,” Cody said, despite it still being mid-morning. “My name’s Cody MacLeod and this is my daughter Rachel.”
The cop smiled, showing off a row of white, slightly crooked teeth.
“What are you doing here at the airport Cody and Rachel MacLeod?” He spoke playfully, like he was talking to two young children instead of one.
The man took a step closer. Cody recognized the gun in the cop’s hand as a police standard, a Smith & Wesson M&P40. He found himself thinking back to the black and white Explorer sitting outside the terminal building. That was a real cop’s uniform the guy was wearing. That was a real cop car parked outside. And that was a real cop’s gun in his hand.
But something didn’t fit.
“We’re here to meet a friend,” Cody said. “That’s all.”
“You shouldn’t be here mister,” the cop said. He pointed the gun at Cody and Rachel. In a split second his tone had shifted from playful to pissed off. “The city’s in big trouble and we need all hands on board downtown putting out fires and helping people. You know what I mean?”
Cody nodded. Yeah? So what the hell are you doing here?
“I hear what you’re saying,” Cody said. “Really I do. But I gotta meet my friend first. I said we’d be here.”
The man laughed – a sneering adolescent cackle that made Cody’s blood run cold.
“You’re fleeing the sinking ship aren’t you mister?” he said, putting a hand to his mouth, trying to suppress the giggles. “I know what’s going on here.”
“What do you mean?” Cody said.
“You think I don’t know about that plane out there?” he said. “Gate A5, right? It’s a big plane, Alaska Airlines. It’s like a modern day Ark, ain’t it? All set to fly up into the sky and escape the drowning world. That’s what you’re here for right? You’ve got a ticket to ride with black Noah. The animals went in two by two. Hurrah! Hurrah! Tell me mister, what animal are you? The elephant? The kangaroo?”
The plane was still there. Despite the tense situation, Cody’s heart leapt with joy when he heard that.
“Look man,” he said. “I’m just trying to keep my daughter safe, you know?”
“And yourself,” the man said, pointing the gun at Cody in a stabbing motion. “Don’t forget that. Don’t you go pretending to be some sort of saint now.”
Cody nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “You’re right.”
The cop grinned and looked at Rachel. His dazzling green eyes lingered on her in a way that made Cody squirm.
“She’s a pretty girl,” the man said. “Damn pretty.”
Cody clenched his jaw.
“Are you really a cop?” he asked.
The man grinned. “What do you think?”
“I think I’d like to see some ID please.”
“You see the badge don’t you?” the cop said.
“How do I know it’s yours?” Cody said. “Show me something else man. You got a wallet on you? All those doughnuts you cops eat don’t come cheap. You gotta be carrying a wallet on you.”
The man looked at Cody with dead eyes.
“It’s in the car,” he said. “Parked outside. Are you going to be difficult sir?”
“No I’m not sir,” Cody fired back. “I’m a law-abiding citizen. But as you can see, these are hard times and I gotta wonder what an officer of the law is doing holed up in an abandoned airport when the city he’s supposed to serve is going up in flames. I’m talking about the Black Fever. There are people out there losing their minds. They need your help.”
There was a slight twitch at the corner of the man’s mouth. He was still looking at Rachel with ravenous eyes.
“Pretty girl,” he said again.
Co
dy did his best to stay calm. Time was running out and they had to get past this guy.
“Lot of people out there talking about starting anew,” the man said. His green eyes were staring into empty space now. “They’re looking for pretty girls. You hear it on the street all the time these days. People are thinking about the future – they’re talking about hauling ass out the city. Everybody thinks there’s gotta be somewhere the Black Storm don’t reach. Not so sure about that myself. Anyway these people, they want breeders, you know? Girls, good looking ones, to start over their families with. A big family – it might be the difference between life and death in the New Eden. Between being strong and being weak. That’s what they say.”
He pointed at Rachel.
“A little golden-haired beauty like that? They’d pay a lot of money to get their hands on you princess.”
Cody took a deep breath.
“You’re not a cop,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Are you? You stole that Ford Explorer out front. Didn’t you, mister? You stole the uniform and the gun. What I want to know is what happened to the cop you stole them from – did you kill him? Is he still in that police car out there? In the trunk?”
The man’s smile faded.
“Do you really want to know?” he said.
“I do,” Cody said. As long as you stop looking at Rachel.
“Wait till you hear about the day I’ve had,” the man said. “First thing, I went over to my parents’ house to see if they were still alive. Hadn’t heard from them in a long time. Guess I should’ve checked up on them sooner. Some son I am, huh? Turns out they weren’t alive. My best guess is that my dad had the Fever. He’d bludgeoned Mom to death with a golf club before hanging himself in the living room. Who knows? Maybe it wasn’t the Fever that got him. He was always teetering on the edge of crazy, the old bastard.”
“I’m sorry man,” Cody said. “Really I…”
The man held a hand up, indicating that he wasn’t finished.
“Anyway,” he said. “I was sitting in the back garden after that, trying to process what I’d seen and that’s when I heard them talking.”
“Who?” Cody asked.
“The couple next door,” the man said. “Tom and Linda Wagner. Well they had a plan, didn’t they? The city was toast but that’s okay because Tom and Linda had a plan. Whoopee-doo! And they were talking it over, unaware that I was listening on the other side of the garden fence. Somebody they knew, I guess it was Black Noah, had invited them to the airport. Apparently there was a plane – a big one, not one of those paperweight deathtraps falling out of the sky. It was going to get them out of San Antonio. Yes sir, Tom and Linda were being offered a free ticket for the Ark. The select few, middle-class and beautiful, had been chosen.”
The Exterminators Trilogy: A Post-Apocalyptic Thriller Box Set Page 11