The Zombie Plagues (Book 2)

by Sweet, Dell

  His story had been a little more involved, and over a few beers Ben had sat and listened while the kid had told him all about Bluechip and the dozens of test subjects he had seen come through the facility. He had talked about weeks of deprivation: No food. No water. Severe wounds, yet the tests subjects had lived on in seemingly good health. He had not been privileged enough to see any of the end results, but he had heard the rumors and twice he had seen things that pointed to the truth: A top secret virus that could prolong life: A long term military project that had come to fruition. Kohlson swore it could make a person immortal. Swore he had seen it work: And who wouldn't want to live forever?

  Tommy planned to use it to control his empire forever. No changing the helm ever. No dying from the virus that was eating away more of his life on a daily basis. Imagine it, Tommy had told him in private. Just the fact that it could be done would put the fear of God into his enemies. And the first time someone did try to kill him and it failed? That would seal it. Tommy and Prescott had already taken their own dose of the stuff. He was waiting for the arrival of the bales of pot as a back-up. Ben wasn't sure what he believed. Could it be true? Maybe it could be. He intended to keep it for himself. He would be the first to try it...

  The cops had nothing at all. Drugs, money, the virus: None of it. She and Jingo still had it, so it was a matter of whether they knew what they had; whether she knew what she had, he corrected. He didn't want to think she might actually be involved with Jingo.

  Tommy Murphy had been HIV positive for quite some time. And still he couldn't leave the risky stuff alone. About two years ago he had become active with a second strain and it had steadily eaten him alive. He had maybe another six months, a year if he was very careful. All of his money couldn't buy him any more time than that: Except now it could.

  If Ben had been absolutely sure he could stay on the run and hide from Tommy for that long, he would've taken it all himself, but he wasn't sure. He just wasn't positive. And what he really had wanted to do was to turn Tommy and Jefferson against each other. Leave all the money and drugs. Let Tommy believe that whoever had been working for Jefferson, had grabbed the virus. By leaving the money it would seem like the virus had been the goal all along and who would know except Jefferson? Once Tommy's suspicions were up he would go after Prescott. It was a good plan: It was a simple plan.

  He had kept it simple so it would work. He knew them both, he knew how it would look and he knew how it would go down. He hadn't been sure who would make the first move, whether Jefferson would try to take out Tommy or Tommy would try to take out Jefferson. But he had known they would go after each other. Tommy would take out Jefferson because he would be sure Jefferson took the virus. Who else would have the means? The opportunity? And Jefferson would try to take out Tommy because he knew Tommy well enough to know what he was thinking. He would know he suspected him and would come for him; he would want to take Tommy out first. It only made sense.

  It had backfired somehow. First the cop had not followed him, or if he had he had lost him. Then the girl who was supposed to clean it all up: Make sure the money and drugs got into the cops hands so he would still go down; didn't do her part either. Instead she had teamed up with Jingo who had decided spur of the moment to steal it all. It could not have become more fucked up if he had purposely tried to fuck it up himself.

  There wasn't supposed to be a chase quite like the one that they had had. It wasn't supposed to be that risky. He had intended to take everything in his own car. Kill both of the dip shits that Carlos had hired. And the cop was supposed to fall right in line, follow him as he fled. Ben would crash the car and abandon it with Reiser's body in the driver's seat: Take off to meet Nikki in the woods. In the end the cop would get his mitts on the money and drugs both that Tommy had provided. And then Neo himself would put the word out on the cop so that he would get caught as he was supposed to. Jefferson would buy it; the bare bones would be there. And they could question the cop if they wanted to, he wouldn't know anything, but the cop had decided on his own to break right into the middle of things. And the two dip shits had stolen a few million worth of drugs. And they were lucky they hadn't killed themselves. The stuff was 100% pure. It had not been cut. That caused them to miss the deal, and Ben had been tempted to take the cash and go, but the virus compared to fourteen and a half million in cash was not something he could walk away from. Then when it had all gone bad they had shot him: Tried to kill him and as it turned out: As it was now; he had neither the drugs, the virus nor the money and a hole in his shoulder that was going to need a doctor eventually. The girl had the drugs, money and the virus: The girl who was maybe Nikki Moore, maybe April Evans. Nothing had gone right, but despite that it had turned out okay. He had worked with what he had to work with. Everybody was still walking around breathing and that meant things could be changed. Could still turn out the way that he had supposed they would in the first place.

  He had managed to make Ed's death seem believable. Jilly had done her job. There was no reason for Tommy or Jefferson to dig too deep and make sure the body really was his. As long as they got their shit back that is and Jingo was dead.

  She had made Jingo up to look enough like him that he purchased a vehicle in his old name. And that had maybe fucked things up with Tommy. At the least it would make him suspicious. He would wonder whether Ben really was dead after all. Could April Evans do that? He didn't know, but he did know that Nikki Moore could do that: Nikki Moore was good at that. Nikki had gone to school for it, he himself had paid for it. She could change herself so completely, and had a few times, that she could fool anyone including him.

  The few glimpses he had gotten as he followed them couldn't tell him. He had only a few online school photos of April Evans. They were built the same. About the same height, April had black hair, Nikki dark brown. April had pale green eyes, Nikki gray-blue. Contacts could take care of that, but could she have gotten contacts already? Tinted contacts? The hair was easy enough to dye. And did it even matter? Did Billy Jingo know April Evans well enough to know what color her eyes were?

  Their faces were similar, but she was so good with the makeup he couldn't tell. He'd have to be closer. Much closer, and the way she looked now told him nothing. She looked nothing at all like her old self.

  He didn't know who they were meeting. Someone they didn't want to be seen with. He knew Jimmy was running around down here somewhere. He would love to put a bullet into that psychos head: One less thing to worry about.

  He thought of what he knew about Nikki. She was an open book. At least he had thought she was. She had been on the streets three years ago, sixteen, a runaway. Turned out and just beginning a crack addiction that Jamal Hayes had got her hooked on to keep her working the streets for him.

  Jamaal was strictly small time. He'd taken him out of the picture and taken her home. Something in her had touched him. He had to have her: Had to.

  He had dried her out. Put her in a private school and then the specialized stuff when he thought of this whole idea. He'd simply been waiting for the right opportunity.

  "Why not just walk away?" she had asked, and he had told her that Tommy Murphy would not allow it: Ben simply knew too much. You did not allow someone like that to quit: At least not on their own terms. Tommy had his own retirement plan, Jimmy West. And Jimmy's retirement plan would probably be some other hired gun. It didn't matter who did it. There would be guys standing in line who would love to fill their shoes; it only mattered that they wound up in a hole in the ground.

  She had been the one person he truly trusted. The one person he truly loved. And she had turned, or... Or he didn't know. Could April Evans have somehow turned the tables on her? Nikki? He himself had taught Nikki how to use a knife: A gun; her hands. He just couldn't believe some white trash trailer park girl would stand a chance of any kind against her.

  A car slowed, turned around and then cruised by the lot checking it out as it drove by. It had only been a glimpse, but he ha
d seen who it was. Jimmy West. Tommy had sent Jimmy to take care of things and here he was about to finish the job; about to clean it all up.

  Now he had a choice to make. Step in now or later. He might be able to get all three if he stepped into it now, or he might end up with only one, if they split up he could not follow all of them.

  Jimmy was good. He might, if Ben left him alone, take care of both of them. Then Ben could simply come along, relieve him of the virus and disappear him. If Tommy looked for anyone after that it would be Jimmy, not Ben. It might even be a better plan all the way around. But could he let go of her that easily? If it was Nikki?

  The car came back, slowed: Pulled into the driveway and drove out back. He'd have to decide now, he told himself.

  Sammy and Don

  Don listened.

  "Don't hang up," he said at last. "I want to tell you something first. I can fix this for you, April. I can do that. I never believed that Billy or you were truly involved in this of your own will. It was circumstances, April, I know that. I can even get the news to stop saying negative things about you. I can make that happen, but before that happens you have to know something. Ronnie Lee Sipos is dead. I just talked to a cop who spent his morning pulling his body out of a swamp. Will you please hear me out, April? Let me say all of this and if you want to hang up go ahead, but I want to give you some important information to keep you alive. I'm the guy that can do that for you. Will you listen? Promise me, April, will you?" Don asked.

  Sammy had perked up as soon as he'd heard the name April. He knew who Don was on the phone with. He had no idea how Don had pulled that off, but he had.

  "Okay. I'm not saying I'll buy it, but I'll listen," April said.

  Ben Neo

  'In for a penny in for a pound,' Ben thought. He'd scoped out the area back behind the Burger Joint. It backed up to the loading docks for a huge computer discount place called Data Terminal. It was really only a 6 foot high board fence that separated the two places. But to drive from the Burger Joint to the Data Terminal would take 10 to 20 minutes depending on the traffic. He looked at the fence and he was positive he could scale it in back of the dumpsters where the raised lid would keep him from view: Drop down, do what he had to do and liberate the money and the virus. Leave the drugs for the cops to find. He had a briefcase with him that would hold the virus. Jimmy could get dead easy enough and the whole thing, all the suspicion that might have fallen to him, would fall on Jimmy instead. He could leave the rest of the mess for the cops to clean up.

  He started the car and headed for Data Terminal. The traffic was light; he should be there before they got much of a conversation going.

  Sammy and Don

  Sammy listened.

  Don continued. "First, I know you've been trying to unload the drugs, we know about Dean. He's dead, you know, him and his girlfriend. They even killed his two young daughters. I figure Dean set you up to make a deal with Ronnie lee, but Ronnie lee is also dead: And a young girl too, nearly a second young girl; most likely the same guy that killed Dean, his girlfriend and daughters, the same guy that killed Alice, April. And he wants you. He's looking to get what you have. That stuff was stolen from two different organizations. And they both want what's theirs back: One the money; the other the drugs. It's a mystery. They're looking for you. There's fifty grand on each of your heads. No conditions, alive or dead." Don sighed. He lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply.

  "April, let me come get the two of you. You can get a good lawyer and walk away from this. I'd bet that you won't see any charges against you at all... Maybe Billy, but you can both explain how you had to run. You had to, to stay alive. With all these people after you, you had no choice. I'm sure you'll walk. Hell, probably Billy will walk too, but if this guy gets to you he'll kill you both, April. He'll kill you both," Don said.

  Jimmy West

  Jimmy pulled close to the back of the Burger Joint, and stopped. He was not about to get himself trapped in there. He had to be ready. A hundred feet and a left turn would take him behind the building, but that would have to wait. Right now he had to handle the pain. He could only afford a little bump: Just enough to take the edge off. He fumbled his kit out, fixed himself a small shot and put it to work: As small as it was it nearly put him out anyway. He took six of the little red pills on top of it and dry swallowed them. He sat and waited for those to work. About ten minutes and they would kick in. He needed a clearer head. He needed the pain leveled out, but he needed to be able to think too. He sat and waited.

  Billy Jingo

  She covered the phone with her hand. "He says Ronnie Lee is dead. He thinks the same psycho that killed Dean and his family is coming after you and me. He says it's a set up," April told Billy.

  Ben Neo

  A tractor trailer was backed into the loading dock. There was no way to get close enough to go over the fence. He jumped from the car and ran quickly to the fence. All quiet, but this was not going to work out. In fact if he'd been in here, where he had wanted to be, he would have been stuck. He cursed his luck as he jumped back into the Taurus, punched the gas pedal, and slipped around the front of a pickup that had pulled into the back area as he had been checking the fence. Maybe it was a little too open after all, he thought. He hurried back out of the Data Terminal's parking lot and onto the main road: As he picked up speed his phone rang.

  Sammy and Don

  "Hold on... Hold on," Don got the car to the side of the road. "Tell me and I'll be there. Just tell me... What... I can't do that... You know that... I... You leave the drugs and I'll let the two of you go. I'll let you drive away. That's all... That's all, April. I'm a cop. That's my ass right there... Leave them and drive away. That's all I can give you... I don't care about the money... From what we heard it's not enough to cause that big of an uproar. If I have the drugs to show and that psycho, that's a lot to me... Do you have it? April, don't you deny it; you have my word that I can fix this for both of you or let you go: My word. Now, do you have it?" Don asked again. He listened, hurriedly snatched his pad out of his pocket and wrote on it. He turned in his seat to see how far he was from the exit number she had just given him. Two, he saw, and he was already pointing in the right direction. He shot the car into drive, cut off two cars as he shot out onto the roadway and headed for the Burger Joint. "I'm on my way... Stay in the car, April, I'm on my way." Don said.

  Billy Jingo

  "Fuck," April said, "I lost him. He got cut off. He may not have heard how to get here," she said.

  "Calm down, baby," Billy said. "Call them back: Probably just lost the connection."

  "Here," April said. She pulled two guns out from under the seat and gave him one. "It's loaded. Just in case that psycho gets here before the cop," she said.

  Billy looked at the gun, flicked off the safety and watched the mouth of the alley the car would have to turn into.

  April punched the number in and listened to it ring.

  "Yeah?" Ben asked warily. He listened, then folded the phone and tossed it onto the seat. The smile that had been missing came up on his lips and loosened his face up a little. He punched the gas and headed back as fast as he could get the car to move.

  April smiled and closed the phone. "I got him, he's on the way," she said.

  "April," Billy said softly. "Why after all of this are we suddenly giving up?" Billy asked. "Why not just drive out of this lot and go?"

  "You're sweet, Billy." April frowned. She looked at him. "But you're not too bright." She bought the gun up and pointed it at him. "Billy, Neo is coming too... Ben Neo didn't die in that car. That body wasn't his, complicated, but true... The cop is crooked: He probably only wants to fuck me and then take the money; he'd say anything to get me to give it up. But, see, he fucked Neo over. And so Neo has to take care of him. The second call I just made was to Neo, not the cop. I knew he was around. I left him enough goddamn clues, including you buying a truck in his name. And who else but me could make you look like him? So I knew he was aroun
d… Remember that guy that I told you was stalking me? Driving around that parking lot checking me out? Well I lied… It was Neo. We sat right here in this car and talked everything out while you were inside. He's coming back now,” she frowned deeply. “He'll kill you, Billy, he'll have to. And he won't be happy with me if he finds out I actually fucked you. So I'll do it now. It'll be better for you, Billy. Really it will. Don't hate me, Billy,” she said. She pressed the gun against the middle of his forehead.

  “You're not April,” Billy said.

  "Nope: Killed the little bitch the day before when she walked up on me hiding in the woods: Crazy bitch; I made her tell me all about her life before I did it though... She had a thing for you, Billy... I guess you didn't know, but she did,” she shrugged her shoulders and fixed him with her eyes. She smiled sadly, and then the smile slipped away, a grim frown replaced it. “Nothing personal, Billy; same as this.”

  She pulled the trigger. The gun clicked.

  Billy smiled, lifted his own gun and shot her between the eyes. Her head bounced off the side glass and it shattered.

  He looked at her. “I switched clips... Baby. Guess I'm not as stupid as you thought.” He reached over, pulled the keys from the switch and walked calmly around to the trunk. He unlocked it, pulled the two pink backpacks out and slipped one over his shoulders. The second one he held onto by the straps. He looked around: Spotted the six foot fence behind the dumpster and headed for it. A few seconds later he was on the other side of the fence, running past the end of a tractor trailer.

  Sammy and Don

  Don forced himself to pull into the parking lot slowly. He passed a car whose driver looked to be passed out, rounded the end of the building and swung out past where the dumpster sat.