A little recon might prove useful.
‘What are you thinking?’
Sully resumed his vigil.
‘Find somewhere with a decent line of sight, survey the grounds...,’ Sully began, ‘get a read on it, then head back.’
Isaac weighed the benefits against trying their luck for supplies in another unit. Given Jacob’s description of the ruins, it would likely be higher risk than plundering a few apartments.
‘If it looks doable, we make a plan,’ Sully continued with a shrug, ‘if it doesn’t, at least we know.’
Isaac contemplated their limited success. He would have greatly preferred to return with their packs a little heavier, but the certain benefit of some intel on the barracks trumped the uncertain benefits of another canvassed building.
‘Alright, let’s do it.’
Sully replaced the binoculars in his jacket pocket.
‘Your wife’s going to hate me,’ he grinned.
‘She’d be right to,’ Isaac flatly replied, ‘you’re a bad influence.’
Sully scratched at his beard as he turned from the window.
The attempts at humour felt strained between them.
Sullivan fought to keep memories of William from crowding his thoughts.
They wordlessly left the apartment and made their way to the streets below.
They pressed due south, towards the tip of the peninsula overlooking the cold waters of the harbour. It wasn’t a straight shot to the grouping of buildings commonly known as the Barrack Green Armories. While ghoul presence was sporadic amidst the burnt out remnants of the old part of town, Sully and Isaac opted to avoid confrontation, quietly slipping between buildings as they crept closer.
As they emerged from between the narrow lots, they paused to catch their breath at the ruined corner of a mixed commercial and residential block.
The Barrack Green structures were ancient by most Canadian standards, some two hundred years old and among the last vestiges of the early fortress system for the Loyalist city. The buildings were imposing, formidable brick structures that jutted out from the southernmost tip of the peninsula. Though chronically understaffed, several reserve units had called the place home pre-outbreak.
As Sully and Isaac put their eyes on the structures for the first time since the outbreak, their hearts sank at the thought that even a reinforced facility such as this had fallen to the tide of dead that engulfed the city.
Neither could resist the feeling of dread that washed over them.
Sully interrupted the tension.
‘Come on,’ he urged, motioning onward. ‘We’ll get a better view from over there.’
Isaac shook the fear from his head and fell in behind Sullivan as they sprinted the distance. Their course took them beside the remnants of a municipal park.
It lingered in bright-coloured silence, a mournful witness to long departed laughter, undisturbed since the falling of the world.
Isaac had been here many times before. In the summer months, occasionally farmer’s markets would grace the playground. Music, the many smells of ethnic cuisine and fresh produce, the sounds children playing and filling the air with gleeful celebrations.
Conceptually, Isaac could remember them now.
Not the actual sounds or smells; just their concept.
As they crossed the open expanse alongside the park, they noted a few scattered infected appeared to have picked up their movements. Several distant figures shambled towards them. Isaac kept a close eye to gauge their speed; these ghouls seemed from an early generation. Their approach was slow and labored. So long as he and Sully didn’t linger unnecessarily, they could easily outrun them.
Sully leaned out around the building.
‘We’re going to have company,’ Isaac asserted between breaths.
‘We’ll be quick,’ Sully promised as he dug the binoculars out. Raising the aperture to his eyes, Sully drew deep breaths through his nose to calm his heart rate.
‘Fuck,’ he cursed, ‘No good… gotta get closer.’
Isaac wasn’t thrilled, but knew they’d likely not find themselves this close again. It was now or never; any advance would take them between a series of congested buildings and compromise their sight lines. They would lose the ability to gauge their berth from the advancing corpses.
Their shadows were cast long as the sun continued its slide towards the western horizon.
He took a quick scan about them. The infected drew closer but their distance was still relatively comfortable.
‘Okay, okay… let’s go.’
Sully grit his teeth. The complications mounted.
He led Isaac on.
The two rounded the corner and advanced up a side street.
With his line of sight disrupted, Isaac was beginning to feel claustrophobic. He unsheathed his knife and flexed his fingers around its handle.
Finally satisfied with their vantage, Sully raised the binoculars and took a thorough scan of the complex.
The fence was breached in multiple spots.
The grounds and the streets outside were littered with a combination of dead ghouls and half consumed bodies, some of which wore plainclothes while others were uniformed.
But the ghoul presence – outside at least – was minimal.
A few stragglers, unaware they were being watched, paced about mindlessly in the yard.
Several of the windows were shattered on every level.
An assortment of large military trucks and vehicles dotted the landscape.
Sully lowered the aperture and considered the scene.
Half the surface area was obscured to him by the building.
Nevertheless, they had multiple potential points of entry; might even be able to pick up something useful from the yard.
Isaac leaned over Sully’s shoulder.
‘What do you think?’ Isaac whispered.
‘Looks better than I thou…,’ Sully trailed off.
Both froze as the sun’s rays behind them were interrupted.
A cold shadow fell over them, lengthening across the snows beyond.
Believing a ghoul had closed the distance faster than expected, Sully reached for the hatchet as Isaac spun to intercept.
Isaac rocked back on his heels as he was greeted by a familiar face.
A figure coldly embossed against the failing sun.
A silhouette, lithe and sleek; like a serpent coiled.
At least like a serpent brandishing a .45.
‘Hello, boys,’ she chided.
Chapter 24
A sinister smile spread over her thin lips.
‘Good to see you again,’ the voice continued from behind the iron sights.
Eyes burning with contempt, Sully’s hand retreated from the hatchet.
‘Now, now,’ she scolded, menacingly waving the pistol, ‘this is hardly the time to be smug.’
Isaac’s stare leveled.
‘If you pull the trigger, you’ll bring them all down,’ he rebutted, ‘we’d all be dead.’
Cox smirked and derisively cocked her head to the side.
‘Nah… I like my chances.’
Despite the convincing smile, her voice remained cheerless and grim.
Neither Isaac nor Sully doubted her.
‘So, what, then? Why come find us?’
Cox turned to Isaac. The smile left her face.
‘You’re going to take me with you.’
‘The hell we are,’ Sully scoffed.
Isaac didn’t like the prospects any more than Sullivan, but sensed now was perhaps the time to be diplomatic.
As Cox and Isaac continued their banter, Sully adjusted his footing, covertly shifting his weight beneath his sturdy frame.
He wanted to rush her, take her down and pound the lif
e from her, but he’d never beat her speed with the gun. He resented himself in equal measure for both feelings – wanting to tear her apart, and his inability to do so.
Isaac considered the demand.
‘Why?’
‘Do you mean aside from the fact I have a gun in your face?’
Sully clenched his teeth. He was growing restless, crouched in the snow and ready to pounce.
‘Yeah, I do.’
Cox’s stare didn’t waver.
‘Quinn’s lost it.’
Sully couldn’t keep his eyes from rolling.
‘Right, what else?’
Cox adjusted her grip on the pistol.
‘That place is collapsing. He’s losing the handle.’
Isaac continued to stare into her. He was more intent on her body language than the actual words, but he wanted to hear her out.
Sensing Isaac wanted her to continue, she obliged.
‘You’ve thought this through; your chances are better out here,’ she professed before pausing for emphasis, ‘and they’d be better with someone like me.’
Isaac didn’t move.
‘I know you, Isaac,’ she continued, ‘you see the wisdom in what I’m saying.’
Thoughts swirled in Isaac’s mind as he ran through the variables.
She was becoming impatient.
‘You need to make up your mind,’ she insisted, ‘before I change mine.’
The threat was heavy.
‘Give us a minute,’ Isaac replied.
Cox chuckled mockingly.
‘Take all the time you need.’
Isaac could have tripped over the sarcasm. He knew the dead continued to converge on them; between this cluster of buildings he couldn’t tell how much longer they had.
Isaac turned to Sullivan, but his eyes darted nervously between structures.
He motioned to Sully to join him in conference a few steps away.
Resigning himself to his present inability to settle the score with Cox, Sully rose to look Isaac in the eye.
‘We should consider this.’
‘You can’t be fucking serious,’ Sully scoffed.
‘I am.’
Sully’s face clouded with dark imagery.
‘She’s a murderer,’ he spat, making no effort to conceal the accusation.
In fact, if Sully was being entirely honest with himself, he wasn’t yet wholly convinced Isaac didn’t deserve the same title.
He didn’t care for their seeming familiarity.
Isaac shrugged off the lack of tact.
‘You don’t know that.’
‘Yes, I fucking do,’ Sully growled, jabbing his finger into Isaac’s chest, ‘and you do, too.’
Under the weight of the assertion, Isaac broke eye contact with Sully. He glanced down to the snow before turning to face the corporal.
Cox stood, unflinching and unmoved, as if chiseled from the ice itself.
‘Shit man, she’s not even denying it,’ Sully continued, gesturing incredulously, ‘…do you want that around Keeley, around everyone?’
The words stung Isaac.
He stepped into Sully and spoke in a hushed but sharp tone.
‘What’s the alternative? She shoots us like dogs in the street?’
Sully shook his head in disgust.
‘Hear me out,’ Isaac continued. ‘Even if she doesn’t kill us, assume she finds a remarkable sense of charity and lets us walk away from this; if she reports back to Quinn, we’re all fucked. We would need to leave tonight, right now, and that’s not plausible.’
Sully furrowed his brow and his nostrils flared.
Reestablishing eye contact with Sully, he added –
‘We’re not ready for that.’
Sully’s lips curled into a snarl, but there was undeniable truth in the words.
‘If she’s serious, we stand to gain a huge asset. You’ve been on runs with her; who knows what we’ll encounter on the road. If she’s not, if she’s playing us, at least we can dictate how quickly news of our whereabouts gets back to the compound.’
Sully considered the proposal.
He hated Cox; not because he bore any love for William, but because of what she represented. The thought of her proximity, of sharing her company was abhorrent, but Isaac was right. Distasteful though it may be, this way offered them the only control they could find in the situation.
Besides, if she were to try anything, in the tight confines of the apartment refuge they would have the advantage.
The prospects of settling their score was disconcertingly satisfying.
Begrudgingly, he nodded his acceptance.
Isaac couldn’t prevent a wry smile from turning the corner of his mouth. He turned to address Cox.
‘Right, let’s go then.’
Sully scanned between the buildings and began tracing their route back.
‘…not even going to ask for my gun?’ she chided, thick with triumph.
Course set, Sully paid her no heed.
Isaac cast one last sideways glance in her direction.
‘Would you have turned it over?’
A wicked smile curled her lips.
‘Not a chance.’
***
Quinn didn’t take the news well.
The knowledge that others in the city had survived the plague up until this point was unsurprising. He had suspected there’d be pockets of survivors spread throughout the ruins.
The fact one of these bands had the audacity to attack his patrol was infuriating.
The redheaded soldier completed her report and Quinn gave her leave to wash the blood from her skin and uniform.
As the door closed and she departed, the module fell silent for a moment.
Several of the administrators and soldiers gathered exchanged defeated glances.
Quinn sat in silence.
Smaller bands would be more agile in the field, and assuming they had been active outside since the outset of the First Wave, they would likely be home to experienced killers.
Lynn cringed at the pounding thuds and sounds of breaking glass.
***
Jacob couldn’t resist the sensation of doubt as it steadily crept in.
Madison felt it, too.
Tonight should have been one of joy – a celebratory evening.
Instead the energy was unnerving, uncomfortable. It smothered the gathering and threatened to drown all those present.
The little refuge wasn’t much, and it wasn’t particularly happy. It was desperate, and though they struggled to ascend beyond scraping for their basic necessities, at least it was theirs.
Theirs – their little space, carved out and partially insulated from the end of days, now infiltrated with the encroaching dark of their newfound companions’ troubled past.
Jacob and Madison huddled together in the corner of the room. They watched silently as the rest, who now seemed more like strangers than ever, debated amongst themselves.
The hour was growing late.
Several worn pillar candles danced in the shadows, occasionally disturbed by an exaggerated movement.
Jacob considered the room, trying to establish intent.
This soldier, this new one – she was a pariah.
The clear source of tension.
Daniel and Keeley kept a wide berth from her, and Isaac and Sully were perpetually stationed between her and the rest of their group. Even Anders, who was growing friendly and curled up with Emily, seldom took his eyes off the dark-haired woman for more than a few moments. Though Sully and Isaac never said as much, Jacob guessed she accompanied them now under threat of duress.
The highlight of the day’s spoils was a bottle of whiskey. It was shared between them, each taking a stinging swig be
fore passing it along.
Only Jacob refused it at each pass.
As the bottle rounded the congregation again it fell to Daniel. He swirled the remaining amber liquid inside the glass bottle and frowned slightly. He wandered over to where Jacob and Madison sat and plunked down beside them, extending the bottle to Jacob with a friendly smile.
‘Have a sip, mate,’ he grinned, his rich accent coming through thick like molasses. ‘Today is a good day.’
Madison squeezed his leg encouragingly.
Jacob took the bottle and swallowed a burning mouthful.
‘I get the feeling you’ve had some bad days,’ Jacob leveled.
The smile left Daniel’s face as he conceded the point.
‘Who hasn’t?’
Isaac shot a glance to Sully, confirmed his intent was understood before he crossed the floor to where Keeley stood. She backed into him and he wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. Emily sat up from where she cuddled with Anders and turned to face Daniel and Jacob.
Anders stared at Cox.
Daniel held his hand out for the bottle, but Jacob retained his grip on its neck.
‘You never did tell me your story,’ Jacob continued, taking another small hit from the bottle. ‘In fact, you’ve avoided it each time I’ve asked.’
The room fell suddenly quiet; only the occasional sputter from the candles punctuated the space between them.
The normally jovial lights in Daniel’s eyes steeled and grew severe.
‘It’s a long story,’ he plaintively began.
‘Look around you,’ Jacob insisted with a clear edge to his voice, ‘we’ve got nothing but time.’
Daniel cast a glance to his companions as his ebony skin seemed to shrink into the shadows. He recounted their trials at the compound at length, at least from his own perspective – the beginning of the outbreak, life at the Coast Guard site.
The infirmary.
The cull.
Their escape.
Daniel never broke eye contact with Jacob throughout the retelling, and none interrupted. There were details each would have added, but Daniel’s version was close enough.
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