by Damon Hunter
“You don’t even know if you can find her. It’s already dark,” Barrington said.
“Then we will wait until morning. We’re safe in here.”
“You still don’t know if you can find her.”
“No, I don’t, but I have to try. I’ve spent a lot of time on in the Quarantine Zone. Unless they get caught up in some kind of horde, the infected tend to stay close to where they got infected. This area is isolated, there isn’t anyone rot free around to draw a horde.”
“You don’t know that.”
“No, but I still have to try.”
Barrington decided not to argue. Instead, he asked, “Do you think we are clear of the drone strike area?”
“We should be,” Vance said.
Something struck the back of the transport and exploded. The missile just missed them, but the force of the explosion threw the transport forward. When it hit the ground, it bounced sideways and landed on its side and skidded to a stop in the sand.
Chapter 22
General Doctor Thompson’s Quarters - TMRT Checkpoint - Phoenix, Arizona
Thompson poured himself some scotch. The only good thing about today was that no longer would he come back to his quarters to find Agent Riley sitting there. Thompson had started out the day thinking if the survivors could give the right answers, no one would have to get hurt. He realized Riley could have cared less about Thompson’s debriefing, he was just stalling until he figured out a way to kill them all.
He was pouring his second glass when he heard the deadbolt on the door he had locked slide to the open position. He turned to see Carruthers and her ever present assistant Miss Walter come into his room.
“Have you ever heard of knocking?”
“I am the ranking General Doctor in charge of this checkpoint. I don’t have to knock.”
“Being the boss doesn’t mean you have to be rude.”
“Being the boss means I don’t have to hear people call me rude.”
“What do you want?”
“What were you and the dead CIA agent up to?”
“You don’t want to know.”
“I believe I do.”
“Do you like being alive?”
“That a threat?”
“No, just a question.”
“Yes, General Doctor Thompson, I do.”
“Then you don’t want to know.”
“I see. What happened with Torrance?”
“I’d say he had his own agenda.”
“Which was?”
“The opposite of mine. Are you sending a team after them?”
“No, I had them targeted by a drone. The transport is now a pile of flaming steel sitting just off the road right around Goodyear.”
“Bodies?”“No, but even if they did get out before we blew it up, they are trapped in the quarantine. No one makes it out of there, they won’t either.”
“They did it once.”
“They won’t do it again, especially since they are all dead. I suspect this works out for you and your people. Whatever they know is back in no man’s land.”
“I suppose so. If you aren’t going after them, what are you going to do?”
“I’ve moved up the first test of the anti-rot bio-weapons capability in the field.”
“Where are you going to do that?”
“Quartzsite. If things go as they should, this time tomorrow, Quartzsite will be rot free.”
“How wonderful for you.”
“It will be wonderful for all of us if we can eradicate the rot.”
“Yes, it will be. The question is why are you here telling me?”
“I need tomorrow to be distraction free and you have become a distraction. Is whatever dirty business you and the spook who was supposed to be in Florida, according to his superiors, cooked up going to get in my way?”
“No, I think it’s done.”
“Good. This time tomorrow, I think we can plan on moving the checkpoint another one hundred and thirty miles west.”
“Can I offer some advice?”
“Honestly, Thompson, given the disaster you have overseen, I doubt there is any advice I would take from you.”
“Funny, I thought the same way when I took over from Barrington.”
“And, much like I am know, you were probably right. Barrington is currently a smoking pile of rubble on the I-Ten right now. Go ahead and give your advice, Thompson.”
“Don’t make assumptions about success in the Quarantine Zone. Nothing goes as planned out there.”
“Nothing you planned went right out there, but I’m not you. Now some advice for you: stay out of my way. When the rot is dealt with, there will be an investigation into the events of today. It would be best for you not to have an enemy in me.”
Chapter 23
Interstate 10 - Arizona
“Are you alright?” Vance asked Barrington.
“For the moment,” Barrington said.
Vance nodded and moved to the back of the transport. Everyone was still alive. Bo and Ana were still cut up, but the crash had not made them any worse.
“How did a drone hit us? We have the transponder,” Katelin asked.
“Either they re-programed them all to ignore our transponder or gave one a manual order. Given how fast they got to us, I would say it’s one that has been ordered to override the transponder. Which is why we need to get out of this thing.”
“And go where?”
“Anywhere else. If it is just one programmed to hunt and kill us, chances are they targeted the transport. It won’t take it long to come back around. Gather all the gear you can and get out.”
“What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to get the transponder, we may still need it,” Vance said as he moved to the front of the transport.
The five in the back started gathering up all the weapons, ammunition and body armor they could carry and moved out the open back door.
“Let’s move west,” Torrance said. “No need getting vaporized by another drone trying to get away from this one.”
They dragged the gear they had secured about a hundred yards away and then looked back. The transport had not been targeted yet. They saw Vance and Barrington emerge from the back hatch. Vance had the transponder under his arm and Barrington was helping him walk with one hand while carrying some gear in the other. Katelin noticed her dad had grabbed one of the Sick Slaying Sticks and the magnetic holder which let him strap the weapon to his back.
“Should we go back and get more gear?” Bo said. “The guns and stuff are good to have, but a sleeping bag might be nice, since we are looking at sleeping outdoors.”
“Yeah, we should,” Katelin said, but before they could take a step, the transport exploded.
Even where they were, they felt the heat and the force of the blast. Vance and Barrington had disappeared from sight. They were all fearing the worst when, in the light provided by the burning transport, they saw Vance and Barrington rise to their feet and come limping towards them.
“It’s not all bad news,” Vance said as they reached them.
“What’s the good news?” Ana asked.
“The drone wasn’t programmed to target the transponder. We can still use it.”
“Great,” Katelin said. “What now? That explosion may draw the infected.”
Bo pointed to the right. “The hotel in Goodyear where they picked us up is right over there.”
With Vance limping, they didn’t move very fast, but they found their way to the hotel without encountering any infected. They had heard drone strikes almost non-stop during the day and held out hope that most of the infected in the area had been cleared out.
“Watch your step,” Bo said as they reached the front door. Just to the right side was the body of a policeman. Whatever had torn into him had made a mess, ripping out his intestines and spreading them out across the sidewalk.
“I’ve never seen them do that,” Talbot said.
“Me neith
er,” Vance said.
“All the more reason to get inside,” Barrington told them.
Vance nodded but still moved to the mutilated officer. The man’s gun was gone, but his flashlight and handcuffs were still on his belt. Vance took the whole belt and put it over his shoulder.
The power was down, but Bo had grabbed a flashlight from the transport and Vance had the dead police officer’s light. They didn’t waste a lot of time. Vance used the Sick Slaying Stick to bash in the first room they came to. It had a side door leading to the room next to them. The lock was on their side of the room so they could open the door and go in. This allowed them to at least shut a door behind them.
They lucked out, finding a room with two double beds and a sleeper sofa. Torrance volunteered to take the floor and the other six split up the beds.
“In the morning we figure a way to Quartzsite,” Vance said. If anyone disagreed, they didn’t say so.
Chapter 24
Room 12 - The Goodyear Ramada Inn - Goodyear Arizona
“We need to talk,” Talbot whispered to Barrington as he gave the sleeping General Doctor a gentle shake. He had managed five good hours of sleep, which was an hour longer than he usually slept.
“We do?”
“Yes. I assume you are like me and don’t need very much sleep.”
“You assume incorrectly.”
“We need to talk anyway.”
“Why?”
“Someone else needs to know about my vaccine and you are the most qualified.”
“Can it wait? I’m exhausted, betraying my country and nearly getting blown up took a lot out of me.”
“No, it can’t. The Quarantine Zone is not the kind of place where a person can procrastinate.”
Barrington sat up. “I guess you would know.”
“Unfortunately, I do. I’ve gotten very lucky staying alive out here. If my luck runs out, which the odds say it will, I don’t want it to cost everyone else.”
“You sound like you think you aren’t going to make it.”
“I’m a firm believer in math. The math says my number is probably coming up. Trust me, I want to survive, but if I don’t, I need my vaccine to make it.”
“I suppose there is a logic to that.”
“Bring a flashlight and meet me in the bathroom, there is no reason to disturb anyone else.”
Barrington did as he was told.
“I just ask need to ask one thing before I tell you how this works,” Talbot said once they were both in the bathroom.
“What would that be?”
“If it works, we need the world to know. I know as fugitives this may be difficult, but it needs to be done.”
“I’ll do what I can.”
“I guess I can’t ask for more than that,” Talbot said as he opened the aluminum case and started telling Barrington how the vaccine was supposed to work.
Chapter 25
Room 224 - The Goodyear Ramada Inn - Goodyear, Arizona
Vance handed the binoculars to Torrance.
“We could take them both,” Vance told him.
Torrance looked through the tenth floor window of the abandoned Ramada Inn. He saw the two SUVs parked in front of a house in a sparse Goodyear neighborhood. What he didn’t see were any infected walking around in the early morning light.
“We only have one transponder,” Torrance said.
“If we stay off the edges, we should be fine. When the time comes we can consolidate to one.”
“Too bad we lost the SWARC Suburban. It could hold us all,” Bo said. He had joined Vance and Torrance in going upstairs to scout the area. The others were looking to see if they could scrounge up any food.
“Either you two know how to steal a car?” Torrance asked. “Because I missed that day in spy class.”
“If the area was evacuated, we should be able to find a set of keys in the house,” Vance said. “Did you miss the ‘kick in a door’ class too?”
“No, in fact I got an A in that area. So who is going to go get the cars? With your leg, it will take all day for you to get there.”
“I’m good to go,” Bo said. The ankle wound he had taken a couple days ago had healed to the point he didn’t even limp.
“With your shoulder?”
“It’s a scratch.”
“Is Barrington worth a damn?”
Vance shook his head. “He’s a stand-up guy, but General is just a title at this point. He’s not combat ready. Talbot can handle himself.”
“Except we need him to deliver the vaccine. It wouldn’t hurt to have the actual medical people stick around and keep an eye on Ana, that wound is pretty nasty,” Torrance told him.
“Looks like it is just the two of us,” Bo said.
“It wouldn’t hurt to have a third. It seems the kid can handle herself, we should take her,” Torrance suggested.
“You’re talking about my fourteen-year-old daughter. She stays. If you need a third, I can go,” Vance told him.
“Your fourteen-year-old kid just killed a mass murdering, prison hardened convict and bested a trained CIA assassin in a gunfight. Even if she hadn’t, unlike you, she has two good legs.”
“She’s still a kid. She should be a freshman in high school. She should be trying out for the cheerleading squad or marching band, not going out on sorties in a potentially fatal situation.”
“No offense, I’ve seen your combat record, even the parts no one is supposed to know about, and you are an exemplary soldier, but right now, the way your leg is, I’d rather have the cheerleader watching my back. If I thought we had time to let your leg get better, I’d agree with you, but we don’t.”
“He’s right,” Bo said. “She’s kept me alive more than once. Plus I don’t think she is the cheerleader type.”
“This is not up for discussion,” Vance told them. “Unless the two of you want to learn how I got that exemplary combat record.”
Torrance was starting to reply when he heard the sound of an engine rumbling along the highway.
They moved to a room with a better view of the road. They did not need binoculars to see one of the big TMRT armored locomotive transports with the massive, black steel plow in the front coming down the road. The sounds of a helicopter filled the air and they saw the locomotive transport had air support as a combat helicopter flew above the transport as it went west on the I-ten.
They expected them to stop at the downed transport Vance and company had stolen last night but they kept going.
“What are they doing?” Bo asked.
“Probably going to test the bio-weapon. My guess is they will go until they can find some infected.” Torrance replied
“That’s bad news,” Bo said. “First place with any significant infected is going to be Quartzsite.”
Torrance nodded in agreement.
“Does it work?” Bo asked.
“Yeah, it works. If it works as well as it did in the demo, they’ll clear the whole place in a matter of hours.”
“Shit,” Vance said.
“We’ll never beat them there, even if we had the cars already,” Bo told them.
“We still need to try,” Vance said.
“Then we don’t have time to waste arguing,” Torrance told them. “Let’s go steal a couple of cars.”
They had to take the stairs. Vance was slow on flat ground so they left him behind as they hustled to the bottom floor. They found Talbot at the front desk eating some peanut butter crackers they took from the vending machine.
“Good to see you back. Barrington thinks we need to make a run back to the transport and get some medical supplies,” Talbot told them. “The girl needs antibiotics and stitches or she is not going to make it. In the rush to get out, we left them behind.”
“What transport? They turned it into a pile of rubble,” Bo asked.
“All the transports have a survival kit in a black box that is supposed to be able to survive this kind of thing. What he needs should be inside.”
“It’s worth checking. Otherwise, she probably doesn’t make it.”
“Can you handle it?” Torrance asked.
“By myself?”
“We need to go steal a car.”
Katelin came out of the room with the swords on her back. She had loaded the four holsters on her hips and legs with TMRT sidearms and spare magazines. She said, “I’ll go with him.”
“We were going to take you with us,” Torrance said.
“If she has to go with anyone, she should go with Talbot,” Bo said. “Vance already hates him. I still want to stay on his good side.”
“My dad left me ten years ago, he doesn’t make decisions for me.”
“You guys can call me a wimp,” Talbot said, “but I don’t want to go by myself.”
“Then let’s go,” Katelin said.
“Let me grab a rifle and get a shopping list from Barrington.”
“Shouldn’t you know?” Torrance asked.
“I’m a researcher, I have never treated a patient until a couple days ago.”
“Let’s hurry up, then,” Katelin said.
Bo went to the room and grabbed a pistol and a Sick Slaying Stick while Torrance grabbed one the of the TMRT M-14’s and an extra clip.
“Chances are we won’t even run into any infected,” Torrance said. “Any infected left behind wandered into drone strikes.”
“Better safe than sorry,” Bo said as he headed out the door.
The four of them went out the front of the hotel and split up, with Bo and Torrance heading into town and Katelin and Talbot heading to the freeway.
Chapter 26
TMRT Transport - Quartzsite, Arizona
“We have pockets of infected all over town, according the chopper,” Private Donaldson told Major Starling as they rolled into the small border town.