After Malcolm was strapped into the passenger’s side and the wheelchair placed into the trunk of the late model dark blue Ford Fusion, the Doctor slid into the driver’s side and turned the key that was already in the ignition switch. He put the car in drive and eased the car out of the employee parking lot and took a left onto Tropicana Avenue beginning the short five-minute drive to the medical center.
Dr. Sanderson looked over to Malcolm who appeared to have aged years instead of months since they first met. He was staring blankly out of the front windshield.
“I think this will be a very productive day,” the Doctor said.
“I hope so, I don’t know how many more I have,” Malcolm replied without turning his head.
The wedding party jostled slightly as the truck weaved its way down Las Vegas Boulevard. The patrols Major Bradley had sent out spent some of their time moving the abandoned cars off to the side of the road the best they could but driving still required some maneuvering to avoid hitting some cars. After, of course, checking them for anything useful and siphoning any gas that may have been left. The Major wanted the main roads surrounding the casino as clear as possible in case of emergency and the group had to make a hasty getaway. It also would allow anyone who may have wanted to do them harm easy access to the casino. He had placed, however, some surprises around the property that would take care of that. That was, at least, the plan.
Jason was bugging her sister, trying to steal the flowers she had brought for the wedding. Kim was giving him a dirty look and shaking her head. He reluctantly stopped. Kim caught Terrance staring at her, a wide smile on his face. She smiled back but said nothing. Instead, she turned her attention to Stephen.
“So, Stephen, where are you going on your honeymoon?” she asked.
“We were thinking Vegas,” he answered with a grin. Everyone laughed.
“Are we getting the short version or the long version,” Nick asked Arch. “Because we have a party to get to afterward.”
“The Bride and Groom have written a few words they would like to say and then I have the short version prepared. That was really at the request of Major Bradley.” Arch replied.
“It took some doing just to get him to agree to the venue,” Stephen said. “So, we agreed to keep the ceremony reasonably short.”
Chester muttered something under his breath that sounded something like “Thank God” as he sat at the end of the bench seats staring out the back of the truck. He almost flew out of the opening when the truck came to an unexpected abrupt halt.
There are two main buildings comprising the Desert Springs Medical Center. A rectangular building with a glass façade that houses the administrative offices, some out-patient facilities, and the records room. The other was a four-story medical complex housing the hospital with in-patient rooms, operating rooms, and the laboratories that were of interest to Dr. Sanderson. He always parked in the same place, closest to the front doors.
Major Bradley had a patrol come here twice a week to sweep for any infected. The Doctor, therefore, felt safe and usually came here alone or with Malcolm. Sometimes he would even bring along his daughter. For safety sake, he had learned how to use a gun and kept a knife in the car at all times just in case. Thankfully he had not had any issues in the last two months and did not expect any today.
He grabbed the handgun out of the glove compartment, hopped out of the car, and ran around to the trunk where he retrieved the wheelchair and brought it around to the passenger’s side. Malcolm had already opened the door and was sliding himself out of the seat. Dr. Sanderson helped him into the wheelchair, looking around for any possible trouble. Finding none, he closed the door and wheeled Malcolm around and headed toward the entrance.
“Beautiful day,” the Doctor said looking up into a nearly cloudless sky.
“Beautiful day,” Malcolm agreed, despite himself.
Chester instinctively jumped out of the truck and slouched down, creeping toward the right side of the cargo truck he peeked around the corner. Stephen pulled the nine-millimeter out of his holster and moved swiftly to the open end of the truck. He saw Chester easing his way out from behind the truck and into the open.
Chester couldn’t see anything, at least no reason for the sudden stop, so he moved out from behind the safety of the truck and slid along its right side. Movement off to the same side of the road caught his attention as he readied his shotgun. He took a couple of quick steps, passing the bride sitting in the passenger’s seat, and clicked off the weapon’s safety.
Major Bradley arose from a kneeled position, dropping the legs of an infected onto the pavement, and turned to face Chester Boone and his shotgun. The Major raised his hands in mock surrender.
“I assure you, Mr. Boone that I am no threat,” he said.
Chester looked at the piles of infected on either side of the road and for the first time noticed Sargent Sanchez, Private Stevens, and Corporal Sinclair. Confident that the men were still in fact … men, and not zombies, he lowered his weapon and met the Major in the middle of the road. Stephen had emerged from the truck and was heading toward the two men.
“Where did these assholes come from?” Chester asked, gesturing to the infected strewn about the road.
“They were apparently staying at the HoJo’s across the street,” the Major answered nodding in the direction of the hotel.
Stephen arrived, shoving the nine-millimeter in his dress slacks.
“Where did these …” Stephen started to ask.
“The Howard Johnson’s,” Chester responded.
Suddenly realizing that where there was one zombie there were two and so on, Chester began looking around, gripping his shotgun a little tighter.
“The Sargent fired off a few rounds before we engaged them in hand to hand. I haven’t seen any more in the last five minutes but I think it would be wise to give it at least a few more minutes, just to be sure. Stephen, why don’t you get everyone into the parking lot over there and keep an eye on them while we check the immediate area for any more of these things,” Major Bradley said.
Stephen nodded and ran back to the truck and stopped by the driver’s side informing Ken of the plan. He waited for Stephen to hop in the back and pulled slowly forward, avoiding the zombie carcasses.
Major Bradley and Chester decided to take the east side of the road, the others took the west side. They moved in and out of the adjacent buildings, moving some fifty yards south, then backtracked and went fifty yards to the north. Fifteen minutes later the all reconvened at the cargo truck. Major Bradley stopped at the back of the truck.
“All clear ladies and gentleman, let’s get these two married,” he said.
Dr. Sanderson and Malcolm had arrived at the second-floor lab a few minutes after entering the building. The first stairwell to the right had a handicap ramp built into it so that anyone in a wheelchair, patients primarily, could move between floors in case the power went out and the elevators didn’t work. Getting Malcolm up to the second floor was a bit of a challenge but coming down was easy.
Malcolm knew immediately where to go as he had done this a number of times already. Placing himself at the Phlebotomy station, he began rolling up the sleeve on his left arm. The same arm that the zombie had taken a bite out of. The wound had, to Dr. Sanderson’s surprise, healed in the same manner as any other wound would have healed. He thought that it would have needed to be cauterized and maybe sewn up. But the infected blood had congealed and the body had grown new skin to cover the wound. It was why he chose to draw blood from this arm. A nasty scar had, unfortunately, replaced the wound.
Dr. Sanderson placed the gun on the counter and went over to the drawer that held the syringes. He pulled one out and unwrapped the sanitary packaging. Looking it over he saw no defects and deemed it safe to use. Grabbing a few alcohol pads, rubber tubing, some cotton balls, and a small gauze pad, he made his way over to Malcolm.
“Turn your head and cough,” the Doctor said with a smile.
> “Just jab me with that thing already,” Malcolm said.
Shaking his head Dr. Sanderson wrapped the rubber tubing around his upper bicep, waited for the vein to become more pronounced and opened a couple of alcohol pads and dabbed the vein. He inserted the needle, Malcolm winced slightly as blood filled the tube.
A minute later he was finished, the gauze pad and cotton ball pressed against his arm. Dr. Sanderson slapped a Band-Aid on the cotton ball and told Malcolm to keep his arm elevated the best he could for a few minutes. It was difficult given his ever-weakening state so he leaned it against a medical supply box on a nearby counter, keeping the arm properly elevated.
“Is this the last time doc, because these trips are taking a lot out of me,” he asked.
Dr. Sanderson felt for him. He couldn’t possibly understand how it felt for your body’s muscles to slowly shut down until you could no longer move. It must be a private hell that defies explanation. But he was confident that this new combination of SOD1 and Glutamate was going to work.
“Malcolm, they might eventually erect a statue of you because I think you may have helped save humanity,” he said.
It had been sprung on him at the last minute and he was dumbfounded. He had no idea what to say. If he could have seen the look on his face, he wouldn’t have believed it. The usually stoic, confident, and no-nonsense Chester Boone had been reduced to a humble man feeling emotions that were so foreign to him he simply stood there.
Lucy knew better than to ask him to walk her down the aisle before they left. She was afraid he would find a reason not to come. So, as everyone was taking their seats, she casually slid over to the entrance where he was standing keeping his usual watchful eye out for trouble.
“Umm …,” was all he could manage at first.
“Please, it would mean a lot to Stephen and me,” she pleaded.
Chester, of course, knew he was beaten. You couldn’t say no to a bride on her wedding day. It just took a minute to regain his composure.
“Of course, young lady … I would be honored,” he said.
The assembled guests spread out on both sides of the aisle. Not by the customary method of friends of the bride or friends of the groom, as they were all friends of both, but simply tried to balance it out.
Major Bradley managed to locate some wedding decorations the previous owners had stored in the back. He had done some quick decorating by placing cardboard wedding bells near the makeshift altar, some silver and gold garland on the pews, and a big congratulations sign overhanging the exit. The final piece was an old tape recorder that had a copy of Mendelssohn’s Wedding march. He found some batteries that were good and put them in the back of the player and placed it on the altar.
He was out front making sure everyone got into the chapel safely when Katie Sharpe came up to him.
“Hello Major Bradley,” she said.
“Please call me Charles,” he said hopefully.
“Or perhaps ‘Butch’”, she said with a mischievous smile.
“How did you …’” he started to ask as the obvious answer came to him. “I’ll have a word with Sargent Sanchez later.”
“Well Charles, I couldn’t help notice the pink Cadillac over there with the Elvis license plate. My grandmother was a huge Elvis fan. Her house was filled with Elvis stuff. Including a wall clock where his hands pointed to the time and his hips would shake on the hour,” she said in a slightly wistful voice recalling the memory.
“Could I go take a look at it?”
They were getting everyone seated and he didn’t want to prolong this thing any longer than necessary but he didn’t see the harm.
Just then Stephen came over and asked if he could speak to the Major.
“Stevens!” he called.
Private Stevens turned around and took a few steps toward the Major.
“Please escort Ms. Sharpe over to the caddy, she would like to see it.”
“Do you think it was really owned by Elvis?” she asked.
“This is Vegas,” Private Stevens answered.
“After, I want you and Sanchez to remain out front. Keep an eye on things. Let me know if you see anything, I’ll just be inside the front door,” the Major ordered.
Stevens nodded and motioned for Katie to follow him.
“You can call me Katie,” she said to Major Bradley with a smile before turning and heading for the car.
He turned and went inside the chapel.
“What did you need … having second thoughts?” he said to Stephen.
Stephen smiled.
“No way, man, I’m just not sure how to operate this old recorder. I’ve never seen one before,” he said.
They walked up to the altar and he showed him.
“Just press play right here.”
The machine was so old that the lettering had practically worn off. The Major turned around and saw that everyone there had been seated and that Chester and Lucy were standing in the shadows off to the side at the end of the aisle. Danielle was standing at the far end of the aisle, flowers held tightly at her waist.
Kim, as the maid of honor, was in her place on the left side of the altar, the groom and his groomsmen on the right. Arch Waxman was standing in front of the altar with a Bible he found in his room at the hotel. He looked at the Major and nodded. Deciding there was no time like the present he pressed the play button. After a few seconds, a somewhat scratchy version of the Wedding March came through the small speaker. He quickly moved to the side as Danielle started her slow walk up the aisle.
He went around the pews against the far wall and considered sitting but ended up standing in the corner near the door. The Wedding March echoed in the small chapel as Danielle reached the altar and took her place beside her mother.
Chester could not have looked more out of place as he escorted Lucy down the aisle. Lucy broke into a wide grin as her eyes met Stephen’s, Chester remained overly serious until they reached the rest of the wedding party and he was able to hand Lucy off into the waiting arms of Stephen. The relief etched on his face was priceless as he found the first available seat and collapsed into it.
“Tracking a wounded deer through dense woods was nothing compared to this,” he thought.
Arch turned slightly and pressed the stop button on the tape player and Mendelssohn came to an abrupt end. Turning back around, he faced the happy couple.
“Ladies and gentleman, we are gathered here today, in the presence of God and friends, to join this man and this woman in holy matrimony,” he paused for a second to let his words wash over the assembled guests.
Major Bradley scanned the room as a smile creased his face. He was truly happy for these two. They had been together for nearly ten months and had seen things that a year ago they couldn’t have imagined. That smile disappeared quickly as he suddenly felt something was wrong but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He suddenly realized that Katie hadn’t returned from her visit to the Cadillac.
“If anyone can show just cause why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold their peace,” Arch recited more for tradition than anything else.
“I believe I can,” Benton Worthington III said from the rear of the church, holding Katie Sharpe in a vice grip under her throat and a Smith and Wesson .380 pressed firmly against her temple.
Chapter 18
Searching
Benton Worthington III pulled into his Silverton, Colorado estate hidden high in the Rocky Mountains and away from most of the madness that was unfolding in the rest of the country. More accurately, Benton’s driver pulled into the estate. A man known as Bronson to everyone, even his employer. It was the only man Gunner Johansson was nervous being around. Where Gunner was a mercenary, a gun for hire, he only resorted to violence when necessary. Bronson was a stone-cold killer.
They parked and went into the large house where Winston greeted them. The loyal butler stood waiting for his master’s instructions. Benton told Gunner, Bronson, and Mikael to get s
ome rest and pack for a trip to the air force base, they leave first thing in the morning. Packing, of course, meant weapons and ammo.
“Winston, may I speak with you?” Benton asked already knowing the answer.
“Of course, sir,” Winston replied.
They moved into one of the two living rooms in the house. Benton sat in one of the large leather chairs. Winston stood nearby.
“Please sit,” Benton said motioning to the sofa across from him.
Winston did as he was asked.
Benton wanted to verify who it was exactly that had taken his doctor. Gunner had mentioned a Major Bradley in the car on the way up. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his security chief’s recollection, he just was making sure.
Small talk was something Benton did very well with someone he wanted something from. A business partner, a business enemy, or a woman. Not, however, an employee, so he cut right to it.
“Those men from the air force base who stopped by looking for Dr. Sanderson, do you remember their names?”
Winston was very good at remembering names. It was an essential trait for a man in his profession. Recalling Benton’s business associates and friends’ names was a great asset to his boss. It made them feel relaxed and special before Benton went in for the kill.
“The taller man was a Major Bradley. The other was a Captain …” Winston paused a second, straining to recall the name. “A Captain Murray … no, I’m sorry, a Captain Morris. Yes, definitely Morris.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, sir. And there were two other men with them. They never came to the door but I saw them getting back into the vehicle they arrived in. I believe they were snooping around while the officers were distracting me. They didn’t look military. A middle-aged man with a beard and bushy hair. The other was a young man. Probably in his early twenties. Big. Well over six foot and two hundred twenty pounds.”
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