The Zombie Plagues (Book 2)

by Sweet, Dell

  "I got it, Jen," Don said.

  "Hey... You be careful... Come back to me, Donnie," Jennie said.

  "You know it, Jen," Don said.

  "I love you, Donny," she said.

  "I... I know you do... You know," Don said.

  "Sammy right there? Well, I know you love me, tough guy. Just bring yourself home in one piece... Start thinking about making an honest woman out of me too... I'm really tired of all the secret agent stuff," she clicked off.

  "Me too," Don said into the dead phone. He clicked it off and handed it back to the flight attendant. He tore the paper off the pad and handed it back to her along with the pencil. She walked away.

  "They have Neo and the girl holed up in a motel room in Mississippi... Some place called Pascagoula... I got directions... They have a witness who ID-ed Neo, not Jingo, but Neo. What kind of sense does that make? We already know for a fact we've got Neo's body cooling in the morgue. I don't get it. I just don't get it," Don said.

  "Maybe we don't have Neo," Sammy said.

  "Well maybe not the Neo, but we got a dead guy whose prints come up as Neo's... who else could it be?" Don asked.

  Sammy shrugged.

  "Well, anyway, we got to head for the motel as soon as we're off the plane... Maybe luck is with us." He looked down at the arm of the airline seat. Plastic he saw. "Knock on plastic, I guess," he laughed. "We'll wrap this up and then head right back, I fuckin' hate planes," Don said.

  "Yeah? I love them. I really do," Sammy said. "I hate driving. I know people that drive cars cross country and I say to them, 'Are you stupid!' Two or three days in a car and you could be there in a couple hours! Not me, that's for sure," Sammy said.

  "Yeah, but planes crash," Don said.

  "Yeah; cars crash too," Sammy said. He sipped at his airline coffee which tasted like something familiar, but not exactly coffee. He couldn't place it... Something burned.

  "Yeah, but a car crashes and it's only a couple people: The plane crashes and everybody dies," Don said.

  "Yeah? The car crashes and you're in it I'm pretty sure you're not gonna give two fucks that more people weren't killed. You'll still be as dead as dog shit," Sammy said.

  "Hmm," Don said.

  "No comeback?" Sammy asked.

  "I can't top that reasoning. You're right, but I still think planes suck," Don said.

  "Oh, well, that's just a matter of preference. You probably have an underlying fear of things you can't personally control. You know, you're in the car you got the wheel. You're in the plane some pilot that you don't know is behind a closed and locked door, probably finger banging the Stewardess, for all you know, and he supposed to be flying the plane," Sammy said.

  "Jesus thanks for putting me at ease like that, and they are called flight attendants now," Don told him. "Now every flight attendant I see, I'm gonna have this visual, Sammy," Don said.

  "Probably sniffs his finger for the rest of the flight too," Sammy said.

  "You are a sick bastard, Sammy," Don said. "Probably does though."

  "So how's he flying the plane...? Sniff... Sniff... oops, the fuckin' plane is off course... Sniff... Sniff... Oh fuck! A flock of geese!"

  Don nearly choked on his coffee. "Jesus, Sammy," he managed at last.

  The flight attendant came down the narrow corridor. "Are you okay, sir?" she asked.

  "Fine," Don said. "Fine."

  She smiled and moved away.

  Sammy sniffed.

  Don bit his tongue. "Prick," he said to Sammy. Sammy just laughed.

  Don turned his mind to Mississippi. The Neo angle made no sense at all. And if the girl was seen out of the room, by herself, and went back voluntarily with only 2 cups of coffee, that meant she wasn't a hostage like they had begun to think. It made no sense. Where was Billy Jingo? And although he didn't expect the paperboy to be with them necessarily, he had expected him to turn up eventually and so far he had not. Dead guys who weren't dead: Parts of dead guys in duffel bags. Teenage girls who did dumb shit; and a few million dollars worth of drugs, whatever the big secret was, not to mention all the cash that was supposed to be missing too. This was turning into the biggest pain in the ass that he had ever dealt with. He massaged his eyes, closed them for just a second, and then woke up in Mobile with Sammy shaking him hard.

  Mississippi

  Billy Jingo

  Billy came back with two bags full of stuff that April had sent him for, only to find the Camaro gone. Before the panic leapt too far he heard a horn, turned around and saw the Camaro coming at him. A battered Ford SUV behind it blew the horn as she stopped.

  Billy opened the passenger door and climbed in.

  "The creep behind me has been stalking me. He parked next to us. I said to hell with it and drove away, but he decided to follow me," April said.

  "Fucker," Billy said. He started to climb out of the Camaro.

  "Don't," April said. "We can't afford to be remembered, or make a scene, or, god forbid, be arrested. Let's just go. I'll lose him and we'll find a place to do this. She shifted into drive and drove off. The SUV fell back in traffic and they both forgot about the guy after not seeing him for a few minutes.

  "Anyway, the guy was just some creep. Some weirdo... We need to go back to the motel... We still have time left on our room. I need a bathroom... Water," April said.

  "I guess the room is probably okay," Billy agreed, but a few minutes later when he saw a news crew van and several cop cars sitting in the cordoned off driveway that lead back behind the motel, he drove on past quickly. He held his breath as he drove.

  "Christ," Billy said. He snapped on the radio and tuned until he found an announcer talking about the drama downtown.

  "… As of now, all attempts to communicate with the couple have failed. Detective John Bass told us in an interview that there are two New York detectives in route from Mobile. He believes they may be able to help in talking the two into surrendering... That is our top story. I guess we'll know more as it develops. To recap, an eyewitness spotted Benjamin Neo and 17 year old minor, April Evans, both wanted in connection with several murders in the upstate New York hamlet of Waterville, at a local motel early this morning. It was thought the young girl was a hostage, but after seeing her leave the room several times on her own and return, according to eyewitnesses accounts, on her own, while Neo was seen coming and going too, it appears she's a willing participant with Neo. There have been no sightings of the other two missing teens. Sources called that ominous. There has also been no communication or further sightings since the police arrived here. Okay... Back to music... Here's the newest, Brady Parker, number five this week, 'If you had my body'... We'll be back."

  Billy snapped off the radio as the song began to play. "We're in trouble now," Billy said.

  "No, Neo and some 17 year old girl are in trouble now. We're fine. Waterville? Man are they stupid: We need a place, Billy. We need some place to get this done," April said... "Away from here too," she added.

  Mobile

  Jimmy West

  Jimmy looked at his watch, 9:30 AM, and then back to the TV. A local station was reporting live from Pascagoula Mississippi where they supposedly had Ben Neo and the girl holed up in a motel room. If that was true he might as well get into his own car right now and began to drive. Far... Fast... It was all over if that was true. He regretted he wouldn't be able to go back for the rag top Camaro, but that was life. He had taken no chances. He had bought the money from Richard Dean's place with him, along with enough of his own money that he had squirreled away to make close to a million dollars. He had two numbered accounts with over three million between them. He'd done well in his career. He would be okay as long as he was careful and kept below the radar.

  He stood from the stool. Several customers had stopped by this morning. Apparently Ronnie Lee's guitar shop wasn't just a front. Apparently it did some business. All the more reason to leave. It was stupid to hang around. It would just be asking for it.

  He star
ted for the back door when the phone on the wall rang. He picked it up and listened, probably someone calling for Ronnie lee. The real Ronnie lee. He had phoned the cell phone number that Billy had given him a half dozen times, but it simply rang and rang. Of course if they were surrounded by cops that could be the reason.

  "Ronnie Lee?" the girl's voice asked.

  "Annie," Jimmy said. He had almost slipped up and said April. "I've been concerned... Worried, I guess. Where you two at?" he asked.

  "Never mind, Ronnie, it's been a very rough morning. We're on our way to you... Maybe about 2 hours... You'll be there with the money?" She asked.

  I'll fuckin' bet it has been you smart-ass little cunt, Jimmy thought. "About that," Jimmy said aloud. "This is a place of business. It's light now, you know? I'm open. I've got people to run it; I guess I'm saying I can't do it here. I had thought, easy, we'll do it early in the morning. I could send you out with the money packed in one of my guitar cases... Who would know? ... But now I got employees here... Customers... It's too busy today... You see?" Jimmy said.

  "I see you're sounding like you wanna back out," April said.

  "No... No, no... See, that's not what I'm saying, darling," Jimmy said. "I'm saying there are people here now: Too many people. Let's pick another place... Any place... I got the money in my car... We'll meet, you choose the place... Let's get this done, little lady," Jimmy said.

  "You talk to me like I'm a sex object," April said. "Darling, girl, little lady, and I really don't like that, Ronnie Lee," April said.

  "Well... Well, that's just me... I don't mean to sound that way. I'm sorry, man... I truly am. I'm just giving southern men a bad name. It won't happen again... Come on, can we get this done, Annie... Can we?" he asked. He was barely holding his temper in check.

  "We'll call you back when we get into Mobile... Let you know where to meet us," April said.

  “But, wait... Let me give you my cell number... I won't be here; I have to leave to meet a shipment at one of my other stores.” Silence on the line. “Annie?”

  “What is it, Ronnie Lee?”

  He read it off. She hung up without speaking again.

  Jimmy slammed the phone back onto the wall so hard, that he broke the receiver case. Then he ripped it off the wall and threw it at a rack of guitars. "Cunt, fuckin' bitch, cunt, dirty fuckin' whore," he screamed. The phone knocked a half dozen guitars flying, and the noise was immense in the back of the shop. He started to the back door when someone began to knock on it. The door was a massive steel fire door and the knock sounded like a little kids knock. "Ronnie Lee? Ronnie Lee? Are you okay?" A female's voice called through the thick door.

  Everything inside of him went cold. He reached into his pocket, felt the comfort of the silenced 9 mm. He flicked the safety off, and with one hand in his pocket quickly jerked the door open.

  Two young women stood in the alleyway. Their mouths dropped open as the door swung inward fast, banging against the interior wall. Jimmy looked quickly left and right down the entire alleyway. Empty. He shoved the gun into the back of his pants and grabbed them both by the fronts of their shirts, pulling them inside before they could even react. He put one down with an elbow to the face, and then caught the other in a choke hold as he slammed the door and locked it.

  He looked down at the girl on the floor, out cold: The other one struggled in his arms. He dragged her over to the workbench, squeezed her throat again choking her. He got his control back a few seconds later, he dropped the girl and she crumpled to the floor by the bench. He was breathing heavy. He got himself up and walked over to the other girl who still lay unconscious on the floor and shot her twice in the head. The gun was so quiet he could hear the metallic click-twang as the ejector shot the used casing from the gun. He unlocked the back door, looked around the alley, and stepped out, closing the door behind him. When the door closed the girl by the bench took a huge gasp of air and choked, and then coughed several times trying to drag air back into her lungs. She spat blood. Her throat felt raw. She stood and staggered toward the front of the shop. Her head was pounding and tiny multicolored dots swam before them. She worked the locks and stumbled out onto the sidewalk that fronted the shop. Everyone that had been walking by stopped dead.

  "Tried to kill me," she managed to croak. "Choked me, killed my friend," she rasped. A man stopped in mid stride, stripped off his suit jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Cell phones began popping out of pockets all through the crowd.

  Jimmy walked through the alleyway from the back of the shop to the lot where he had parked the rental car: When he stepped out onto the sidewalk he heard a woman scream.

  "That's him, that's him... He did it."

  He had barely turned his head in that direction when he was tackled by the biggest black man he had ever seen. His head and shoulder slammed into the concrete hard, but he managed to stay conscious. It seemed like everyone was screaming and yelling at the same time. He managed to break the man's grasp, staggered to his feet, and pulled his gun out of his pocket. He waved it at the crowd and they surged backwards almost as quickly as they had appeared. Blood ran from his head into one eye, but he staggered to his car and climbed in. He started it and sped out of the parking lot; sliding out onto the main road and down off the pavement into the ditch. He floored it and the rental car climbed back up out of the ditch and then into the opposite lanes of traffic. He got the car turned around and headed in the right direction and took off.

  Mississippi

  Billy Jingo

  "Well?" April asked. She held a mirror while Billy looked at himself. His hair was jet black. His face was made up pasty white with black around his eyes. He wore faded and ripped jeans with a sleeveless T-Shirt and had two huge fake tattoos that sleeved his lower forearm and most of the shoulder. Motorcycle boots finished the look. He looked like a thousand other kids he had seen on the streets as they had driven into this section of the city, which was seedy and run down. He didn't look anything like himself at all.

  April looked nearly identical to him. She had taken an ace bandage and wrapped it around her chest. Her breasts were not big to begin with, but now they had completely disappeared. She wore a black CDC shirt, painted on jeans that were ripped out at the knees. Her hair was cut short, dyed black and motorcycle boots clad her feet. She didn't even look like a girl anymore, Billy thought.

  "We don't look like us at all," Billy said. "You did a good job, April."

  They were at the seediest motel that they could find in the heart of the downtown area. Drug addicts in the hallways: Hookers in and out; a woman with one prosthetic leg, obviously a hooker, wandered by, smiling at Billy as she did. Nobody cared who they were. All you did was pay and take the room key. Not even a real key, but a plastic card that opened the door. Nobody here seemed to be aware of or really cared that the police thought they had two people surrounded at a motel just a few miles away.

  Billy pulled her to him. "We don't have to, baby. We can leave here. Fuck the Suburban. Fuck the rest of the money too, just go if you want to. Just drive into Texas and then over into Mexico," he said. He kissed her and she giggled.

  "What," Billy asked. "You look so... un-you," he added.

  "You do too, that's why I laughed," April said. "Let's go. We'll go to Mobile, and we'll see from there. The morning is almost shot. It'll be late afternoon when we get there. He's got to come to wherever we are. We'll pick a safe place... And if it looks funny, we'll jump. That's all," April said.

  "Yeah?" Billy asked.

  "Yeah..." She looked around the room. "Let's go before we catch something, or find out that smell is a dead junkie under the bed or something," she said.

  They had both commented on the smell: The smell was all through the motel. Rot and sewage. The building was old, falling apart, but Billy wouldn't be a bit surprised to find that there were a few junkies hanging around getting ready to die. Maybe even a few behind closed doors that were dead already.

  They made their way
to the car, drove out of the lot and headed for I10 which would take them into Alabama and Mobile.

  Pascagoula, Mississippi

  Sammy and Don

  "Lieutenant Jeffers," the man said and shook Don's hand.

  "I'm glad to meet you," Don said.

  "Ditto," Sammy said.

  Jeffers looked at Sammy like he was shit on his shoe.

  "We have these two surrounded, but they don't seem to want to talk: To give up. We can see the curtain move occasionally by the window... Someone looking out here at us, but they won't answer the room phone. Won't come out..." He looked at Don only, dismissing Sammy. "They told you it doesn't look as though your little girl is quite so innocent?" he asked. "She was parading around out here half naked this morning: In and out, him too, though not naked, but it's obvious she is not being held against her will. Talked to the desk clerk that checked them in, she made a positive ID. Said this Neo was done up to try to look younger, but she could tell he was older from his receding hairline. Said the girl was holding his hand, smiling, relaxed, she even saw them kiss on the way to the room... It's a different picture than the one we got on the official line." He pronounced it O-fish-O like it was some kind of joke. Which, Don supposed, it probably was to him.

  "We've had no concrete information on any of these people," Don said. "With the exception that they were missing."

  Jeffers turned away. "Not what I was told, old son," he said. "We may as well settle in, they don't seem much like they're coming out soon."

  "Why don't you go in and get them?" Sammy asked.

  "This ain't New York, Mr. Eastwood. We kinda like to leave them alive if we can," Jeffers said.

  "Maybe we could work a little harder at getting along," Don said.

  "Thought I was," Jeffers said. "I ain't said nothing at all about your garbage problems up there... Crack babies... Junkies... Prostitutes on every corner."