“You guys,” Mark said. “Been looking all over for you.”
“Well, now you found us,” Mick said.
“What’s up?” Jake asked.
“Radio room,” Mark answered. “You guys really need to hear this.”
Mick and Jake exchanged a glance, and hurried off with mark to the radio room, which had served as a sort of dispatch center for the facility in its more lively years. As the trio entered the room, which had CB gear, as well as a television and an actual broadcast radio in it, they found the others gathered around. They joined the group in the dimly lit room with the low ceiling, standing in front of the radio as a voice sounded.
“…to levels of four to six feet, followed by snowfall in even greater amounts, driven by winds of forty to sixty miles per hour, gusting much higher. End message.”
“What is it?” Jake asked.
Holcomb held up a finger to his lips.
“It’s a recording,” Jon answered quietly. “Check it out.”
“Message, Wednesday, September 6,” the voice began again. “From Station two Alpha Bravo, South Dakota, we are sending this last transmission before leaving. Observations from other radio operators to follow: Arctic shifts caused by asteroid impacts have caused a major thrust of cold air and weather to move south. The situation is deteriorating rapidly, and we urge any who can hear this to move south at once.”
Jake became concerned, and he exchanged a glance with Mick.
“This is a slow-moving system that has already crossed much of Canada, and the following conditions have necessitated our evacuation to the south, though there is no telling how far south this system will push before halting. Observed were rains and sleet which preceded worsening weather, followed by freezing rain, resulting in ice building to levels of four to six feet, followed by snowfall in even greater amounts, driven by winds of forty to sixty miles per hour, gusting much higher. End message.”
As the message began to repeat, they were all silent for a moment.
“I don’t want to be the one to say it,” Bulldog finally piped up.
“I’ll say it,” Jake said. “Safe as the place is, we can’t stay here.”
“Unbelievable!” Mark blurted, throwing his hands up.
“Makes sense, though,” Mick chimed in. “Winds have been picking up, and it’s definitely colder.”
“So where the hell are we gonna go?” R.T. asked.
“We can settle on a place after we get going,” Jake answered. “But we can’t get frozen in here, especially not knowing how much of that crap will hit us, or how long it will stay.”
“Damn it,” Mark grumbled.
“What’s the matter, squirt?” Brock asked him. “You disappointed you’re gonna have to go outside?”
“Real fucking funny,” Mark snarled.
“Oh, I think it’s a scream, junior,” Brock said right back, his eyes hard.
“Maybe we can find an island or something,” Jake mused, ignoring them, but aware that there was perhaps hope for Brock after all.
“I’ll drink to that,” Holcomb said to Jake with a grin.
“Bulldog? What do we have here we can take for the road?” Jake asked.
“There’s a little bit of everything in here,” Bulldog said. “But I don’t think we ought to travel in one pickup truck like that.”
“Gonna have to go shopping, then,” Mick said.
“Okay,” Jake said. “It was a beautiful castle while we owned it, but starting tomorrow, we gather everything we need. The moment we start getting anything frozen from the sky? We’re gone.”
“The transmission gave the day,” Holcomb observed. “That was yesterday, so I’d say, depending on how fast this weather is moving, we have four or five days to get what we need, and get on the road.”
“Sleep tight, kids,” Jake said. “Tomorrow, we hunt.”
Mick had left the meeting, deciding he needed to get his weapons cleaned, and then himself, as he wasn’t sure when they’d encounter a working shower again. On his way down the main corridor, he spied Ash on the large couch again, and he ducked into the room. He would have smiled at her, but she looked as though she’d been crying, and he sat opposite her in a chair. She looked up at him, and it was then that he smiled, if only to appear comforting to her.
“How was your day?” he asked her.
“Not so good,” she answered. “You?”
“One town destroyed, the other full of those things,” Mick said with a shrug. “Not so good, either.”
“Well that’s just fantastic,” she said sarcastically, her voice thick from crying.
“Just wait, the news gets worse,” he said, which drew her gaze.
“It’s worse?” she asked.
“I’d be lying to you if I said it wasn’t, and I’m not going to lie to you,” he said, leaning forward. “We’ve got to leave.”
“Leave!?”
“There’s a major wave of arctic weather coming for us, and it sounds like it’s going to freeze this whole damn place,” Mick said, which set her to tears.
“But… my sister…” she whined.
“Any word on that front?” he asked.
“My dad called today,” Ash replied, holding up the phone. “They aren’t in Harper’s Grove now, but he won’t tell me where they are until they find a town to stop in.”
“When they do, and when he calls again, we’re going to get your sister,” Mick promised her, and leaned forward further to take her hands. “But we don’t have a lot of days.”
Crying, she could only nod.
The next morning was colder, but it started with a gunshot as Brock’s rifle went off, and a zombie crumbled from the shot. Immediately, a group of three of them moved into the gas station, gathering anything that was of any use whatsoever. That was the morning, and the pickup truck was filling with anything they found, in buildings, in cars, along the road… R.T. had, by early afternoon, made a large SUV available to them by getting it running.
Jake was pleased with the supplies that were being gathered, and even Mark had become more useful, as both he and Dawn were given the task of boxing things up to put in the trucks for the journey south. The foragers had returned after many hours, and decided they could resume the next day, as the skies had remained clear. After returning, R.T. had joined Mick and Jake on top of the structure to observe the approach of a dozen or so zombies.
Gathered from one of the supply runs, R.T. brought around a large bolt action rifle with a scope on it, noting that there were enough rounds to get in a little target practice. He opened the bolt on the rifle, and loaded the gun with the three rounds of .300 magnum that it held. He closed the bolt, and grinned at Mick.
“More and more of ‘em, every day,” he said.
“Cold weather’s pushing them south, I guess,” Jake said.
R.T. raised the rifle, and gazed through the scope. The report of the rifle was loud, and R.T. felt the flinch in his shoulder from the huge hunting round. Still, the result was what he’d wanted, with the others watching as the giant, obese woman that had become a zombie in her nightgown went down, most of her head torn away by the shot. Mick had seen it through binoculars, and he lowered them, shaking his head.
“Here, give it a try,” R.T. said, and handed off the rifle to Mick, who worked the bolt, and sent the spent round flying, while loading the next one. He gazed out into the field with it, and selected a target- a former power company employee in coveralls, with a once-reflective vest and a hard hat on. He peered through the scope, and squeezed off the next round, with the same thunderous sound.
The two halves of the hard hat went sailing, and the man’s head collapsed before he staggered down into the ground. Jake motioned for the rifle to come to him as R.T. made a rather approving noise from in between the brothers.
“Pretty good shot for a fly boy,” R.T. observed.
“Fuck…” Mick said. “Pretty good shot for anyone.”
Jake laughed quietly, and then w
orked the bolt again, and looked through the scope to see a rather enormous zombie, draped in the filthiest of orange t-shirts, rumbling slowly toward them. R.T. scoffed.
“Shit, anyone could hit that thing,” he said.
“Not him,” Jake said, and pulled the trigger to make the rifle roar once more.
A shorter, wiry-looking zombie keeled to the side, just behind the one in the orange shirt, the right side of its face remaining, and it’s small round glasses blown off of it. It hit the ground, and R.T. laughed loudly, taking the rifle back from Jake and working the bolt. There were still more than a dozen of the rounds left, and R.T. put three more in the weapon. He closed the bolt, and looked at each of the brothers, then nodded out to the field.
“See that big orange feller?” he asked. “I could hit him with my eyes closed, but I’m gonna get him right in the mouth.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Jake said. “With that scope, you could knock a fly off his shoulder.”
R.T. casually worked the quick mount, and removed the scope. He tossed it to Jake and raised his eyebrows.
“Watch this,” he said, and Mick lifted his binoculars.
R.T. lifted the rifle and breathed easy, looking down the sights. A moment later, the gun thundered, and the big, orange zombie’s head looked as though the top half of it had been on a hinge, snapping backward to leave the lower jaw intact. The zombie spun, then crashed to the ground. Jake laughed, and Mick lowered the binoculars.
“Show off,” Mick said, which cause R.T. to stick out his chin proudly.
“Well, let’s not hang out here all day, as fun as this is,” Jake said. “We’ve got more to do tomorrow, and we can’t waste too much more ammo.”
They began to pack up to head inside.
But not long after they had gone in, put away weapons, and Mick had considered looking for Ash to see if she’d heard anything more from her father, there came a shout from Jon. Accompanying Jon’s voice was a horrible wailing sound, and scream from Dawn. Mick, Jake, and R.T. ran through the place, passing Mark and Brock on their way to the lab, where they found Dawn standing back, her hands pressed against her face.
Ray was thrashing and bucking on the cot, drenched in sweat while Jon was attempting unsuccessfully to hold him down. Wasting no time in passing Dawn, Jake rushed with Mick and R.T. to the cot, and the four of them quickly grabbed hold of Ray. His eyes were rolled back into his head, and there was blood coming from his nose, but a voice called to them from the doorway as Holcomb entered, ripping open a sealed syringe.
“Hold him still!” Holcomb blurted, crossing the room.
“It’s not fucking working!” Jake said. “Get back!”
He’d drawn his pistol, but Holcomb swatted it away, and was quick to jab the needle into Ray’s arm, plunging the syringe quickly and standing back. Within seconds, Ray had grown silent, and then still, and the panting men that had been fighting to hold him down looked up at the doctor in shock. Dawn was breathing frantically, and R.T. gazed at the syringe as Holcomb dropped it on a table, and began to root around.
“What the hell is that stuff!?” R.T. asked.
“Fentanyl,” Holcomb answered, and turned around with another syringe, closing in on the cot. “About four times the amount it would take to kill you or I.”
“Why don’t it kill him?” R.T. demanded.
“Because lately, he’s not like us,” Holcomb answered.
“Wait a minute,” Mick said as Holcomb knelt with the other syringe. “What the hell is that, then?”
“Thorazine,” Holcomb said very matter of factly. “Quite a bit of it, to keep him still until the Fentanyl wears off.”
“And when exactly is that?” Mick asked.
“We can’t be sure,” Holcomb replied, and cast a quick glance at Dawn. “He’s not doing very well now.”
That was enough for Dawn, who burst out with a cry, and rushed from the room quickly. Mick exchanged a glance with Jake, and nodded toward the door, which set Jake out after Dawn. He was passed by Bulldog and Brock in the hallway, who headed into the lab while Jake had followed Dawn to the front room, which was darker than usual as he caught up to her.
“Dawn,” he said, which brought her around.
“I’m fine…” she lied. “I will be. I just…. It’s…”
“Yeah,” Jake agreed with her, not even needing to hear anymore.
“Just, watching him turn into one of them,” she said with a shake in her voice. “I’m scared.”
“You’re right to be,” he said.
“Wouldn’t it scare you?” she asked.
“I can think of a few other things it would make me, but scared is sure on the list,” he admitted to her. “With us needing to roll out of here in a few days, are you going to be all right?”
Mark had stopped in the doorway, staying out of sight.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “A couple weeks ago, I never would have even thought of asking someone this…”
“A couple weeks ago, a lot of things were different,” Jake said after she’d trailed off.
“Not guys like you,” she said, her voice sounding a bit hoarse from days of crying. “You guys got all those guns and you were in the war. You could have just come in here and took over- Ray had to keep all kinds of ‘em off me before we found this place.”
“It’s not how we work,” Jake told her. “It’s not what we’re about.”
“That’s good to hear,” she said, and took a step toward him. “I don’t want to ask someone to do it, but I… I can’t…”
“When it comes time, I’ll take care of it,” Jake said to her.
Mark’s face wrinkled in disgust. Now he officially couldn’t stand the fucking do-gooder, and he ducked away from the room, not wanting to hear anymore. Dawn put her hands in the pockets of her shorts, and lowered her eyes, and then looked up at Jake and nodded.
“I knew I could count on you,” she said.
He said nothing more.
CHAPTER NINETEEN- ONE DISENCHANTED EVENING
Ash was sitting on the big sofa, staring at the phone as if willing it to ring with the music, but she looked up as Mick entered, and was glad for the distraction. She set the phone aside, and her face became a rather forced smile as he flopped down on the couch near her, and brought his hands to his face. When his hands slid down to reveal his face, his eyes looked over at her, and she tried to look somewhat comforting to him.
“What was all that noise about?” she asked.
“Ray’s gotten worse, and before we leave…” Mick trailed off.
“I don’t even want to think about it,” she said, and put her hands on one of Mick’s arms. “So, can I come with when you guys look for stuff tomorrow?”
“I don’t think we’d turn down anyone who wanted to help,” Mick said. “But it’s probably safer, here.”
“I know…” she groaned.
“But what?” Mick asked.
“I can’t just sit here and wait for this stupid phone to ring, or I’ll go crazy,” she told him. “You can understand that, right?”
“You bet I can,” he said. “If that was Jake out there, I’d already be out of my mind.”
“Then I can come?” she asked.
“Not entirely up to me, but I’m sure everyone will be glad to have you along,” Mick said, which finally brought a genuine smile to her face. She pulled on his arm.
“You want to maybe sleep here?” she asked, looking up at him as her teeth made their way to her bottom lip. He smiled, and then reached over and pulled her closer.
“I do,” he said.
They were close together on the couch for several minutes before she shifted her head on his chest, her eyes still open, and she grasped one of his hands with both hers.
“So… uh… when I said sleep,” she uttered. She turned her head to look up, and note that he was already out cold, and a quiet laugh escaped her.
“Guys fall all over me for years,” she said to herself. “This one,
I’m going to have to club over the head.”
Jake had been asleep in the room he’d been making his quarters in since the night of their arrival. It hadn’t been hard to fall asleep, given the amount of running and hauling of supplies they’d done during the day. A nice hot shower, and then into his bunk before starting it all over again, and all had been going as planned for him. But not long after falling asleep, he’d felt a sensation he hadn’t expected, and his eyes opened.
Dawn had crawled atop him, and before he knew it, her hands ran up over his chest, and onto his face. But, being bigger and stronger than she, Jake was quick to move her off of him, and he sat up on the bunk as she smiled sheepishly at him. His expression was more one of stunned disbelief, and finally, he broke the silence.
“Dawn, what are you doing?” he asked her.
“I was just talking, with Ray…?” she said. “He knows it ain’t gonna end good, and he told me, if I had to move on, he really liked you when we met.”
“Yeah, but Dawn…” Jake said, sounding disapproving.
“I know it,” she groaned. “Maybe it ain’t over with him yet, but Jake…”
He paused, and then his expression was far more comforting to her.
“Dawn, we’re going to get out of here, and you know as well as I do, Ray’s not coming,” Jake said. “I’m not saying I wouldn’t, but not here, and not now.”
Rather than bursting into tears, or becoming angry, she merely nodded, and got off the bunk. She smiled down at him.
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “Jake, I…”
“It’s all going to be okay,” he told her.
She nodded, and then left his room, at which time he heaved a huge sigh.
But after leaving his quarters, she had gone to the front room, and she quietly approached the gun rack, staring at it. She had no idea that Mark had been in the front room in the darkness, and he looked up as he watched her staring at the guns. Wondering what she was up to, he then left that thought alone, noting that she was very prettied up- no doubt for Jake, he reasoned. She was gorgeous, and Mark let his eyes travel the entirety of her. He then became confused as she actually reached out to the rack, and lifted a revolver from it.
Escape from the Dead Page 17