by Ricky Sides
Herb opened the bus door, and then he drew his pistol. Randy was topside and the remaining team members were outside looking for the medical case. That left him as the primary defense of the open door. He knew that Ox would help, if it came down to it, but he didn’t want to wait for the animal to defend the interior.
Outside the bus, Ed and Jason approached the tangled heaps of bodies that lay strewn upon the highway. Herb had stopped their vehicle about thirty yards from the zombies. As the two men drew closer, the stench emanating from the bodies caused them both to frown with disgust. “No matter how many times I encounter them like this, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the way they smell,” Ed said.
“Same here,” Jason responded as his head turned from side to side, scanning their surroundings for signs of danger.
“Hey, there it is!” Ed said.
“Where?” asked Jason, turning his head to see where Ed was looking.
“There, beside that zombie in the green shirt,” Ed responded as he pointed to one of the corpses.
Sure enough, Jason saw the side of the red hard-shell case. “That wasn’t so bad,” he said.
“Speak for yourself. I’ve got to roll that thing off it,” Ed groused. Then he said, “You know, I should probably drag them off the road while I’m out here. That would make it easier for us when we come back from the mission.”
“Get the case. We’ll worry about the bodies later,” Jason asserted.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Ed conceded. He walked toward the dead zombie, keeping a close watch on it as well as the other bodies in the vicinity.
When Ed bent down to take hold of the body and roll it off the case, he felt the all too familiar feeling of loathing that he always experienced when he was forced to touch a zombie. The very idea of doing so was repugnant to him and always left him feeling unclean. He gritted his teeth and swallowed hard, fighting down a wave of nausea as he rolled the body off the case. He nudged the medical kit away from the creature with the toe of his combat boot before bending down to pick it up.
A moan sounded nearby and a gunshot sounded in response. Ed jerked his body erect and saw Jason aiming his rifle at a body on the road about twenty feet from his position.
“I think that was the kid’s dad,” Jason said sadly. “I recognize what’s left of his clothes. He had turned already.”
“They turn fast when they’re swarmed like he was,” Ed replied.
“Here come two more!” Randy shouted from his perch above the bus. “You guys better get back inside with the case!”
Ed bent back down and grabbed the medical case by the handle, and then he ran for the door of the bus with Jason a couple of steps behind him.
“Did you see my dad?” Robert asked when the men were safe inside the vehicle.
Jason stopped and looked at Herb as the door closed behind him.
Herb had a troubled expression on his face. He wasn’t at all certain that it was a good idea to tell Robert the truth. Neither he nor his men were trained to deal with the grief of such a young person, and he was afraid they’d handle things all wrong. Yet, the boy deserved to know the truth about his father. Herb saw no point in allowing him to hope in vain that he would be reunited with his dad. In fact, he considered that an act of cruelty. After a lengthy delay, he asked, “Was your father wearing a green shirt and blue jeans?”
“Yes, he was. Have you seen him?” asked the boy hopefully.
“We tried to rescue him, but he didn’t make it. I’m afraid he’s dead, son,” Herb said in a gentle tone of voice.
“No! That’s a lie! Those things could never take my dad! Don’t you say that!” Robert said, surprising the men with the vehemence of his angry reply.
“I wish I didn’t have to say it, but it’s the truth. I’m sorry,” Herb said again in a gentle tone of voice.
Robert jumped to his feet and darted out into the isle. “Let me out of here!” he screamed the demand. “Dad warned me about people who might tell me lies and take me prisoner.”
“Hang on just a second,” Herb said to the young man. Then he turned to his men and asked, “How bad was the body?”
“Too bad, if you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking,” Jason responded quickly.
“I don’t like it either, but I don’t believe we have a lot of options,” Herb replied.
Jason nodded his understanding and sighed. “Give me a minute to see what I can do to make him more presentable,” he said.
“All right, but be careful out there. Ed will bring Robert when you give the signal. Randy, you cover him,” Herb instructed his second-in-command who had lowered his chair when the shouting started in the bus.
“You’ve got it,” Randy responded.
“Just a moment,” Herb said as Jason moved toward the door. “Take Ox with you. I don’t want you out there without backup, even with Randy providing covering fire.”
Jason called to Ox and the big dog walked over to him. “You want to go with me, boy?” he asked.
Ox looked at the door and then back at Jason.
“I guess that means yes,” Jason said to the dog. He moved over to the door, which Herb opened, and then he stepped outside. Ox followed a few feet behind him.
Robert had been strangely silent during the exchanges between Herb and his team, but the moment Ox left the bus, the boy bolted for the door.
Ed snaked out an arm and caught their fleeing passenger. “Hold on now, son. You’ll get to see your dad’s body in a few minutes. Jason is just going to make him more presentable,” the medic explained.
Sheba stepped up beside Robert and whined. She leaned her shoulder against his leg and looked up at him. The boy absently reached down and stroked her head, but he spoke to Ed when he said, “You’ll see. You’ll all see. There is some kind of mistake. My dad is not dead. He can’t be dead. We already lost Mom and my grandparents. Dad is all the family I have left, so he just can’t be dead.”
“I’m sorry, son. We all are,” Herb replied. “We tried our best to save him. Ed was almost pulled out of the bus trying to pull him inside.”
“I don’t care what you say. That’s not my dad out there. It can’t be him.”
“Jason is signaling that he’s ready,” Randy reported. He added, “As far as I can tell, the area is clear.”
Ed walked toward the door with Robert in tow. Sheba moved along with them. Herb started to tell the dog to stay, but changed his mind and decided to let her accompany the boy because she seemed to calm him down.
They saw Jason waiting near the group of dead zombies on the road. When Ed and Robert reached his side, Jason pointed to the body of Robert’s father. He had covered the neck and torso of the body with a jacket to conceal the majority of the wounds. He had also covered the forehead and top of the head with remnants of a shirt that he had torn from the body of one of the zombies. That was necessary to cover the head wound that he had administered to terminate the newly turned zombie.
“Dad?” Robert said hesitantly. He started to walk closer to the body, but Jason put his hand on the boy’s shoulder to stop him.
“Don’t go any closer, or you’ll run the risk of being contaminated by the parasites,” Ed cautioned Robert.
“Your dad wouldn’t want you taking that risk,” Jason added.
Although it was true that coming into close proximity to the bodies could lead to contamination, the risk was negligible because they had the nanobots. The real reason both men were trying to keep Robert from venturing any closer was the condition of Mr. Waller’s body. The zombies had ripped out bite-sized pieces of his neck and both arms. He had also been bitten on the left side of his face, which wasn’t visible from their current position, but would be if the boy moved very much closer.
Tears ran down the young man’s cheeks. “Oh, Dad. They got you too.”
“We need to wrap this up,” Randy said from his position above the bus. “Every zombie within a mile of here will be heading this way.”
“He’s right. We have to go, boy,” Jason said to Robert.
“What about my dad? We can’t just leave him here,” Robert responded.
Ox growled low in his throat. Ed looked in his direction and saw the dog standing with his head erect and body held in a stiff pose indicative of alertness. He was staring at a house less than forty yards away on the left side of the road.
“Move out, guys. Get back inside the bus now. That’s an order,” Randy said.
“We have to go, son,” Jason said firmly.
Jason still had his hand on the boy’s shoulder. He wasn’t expecting resistance from the young man, so he was taken by surprise when he darted away and ran toward his father’s body. “Hey, wait, kid,” Jason said, but it was no use. He wasn’t listening.
Robert ran the short distance to his father’s body and threw himself on it. “Dad!” the boy cried out in anguish.
The two team members escorting Robert strode forward toward their young charge. At the same time, Ox growled louder and Sheba moved to stand beside the big canine who took a step closer to the house that had captured his interest. Sheba’s body posture indicated that she too sensed the presence of an enemy. A second later, Randy saw the cause of the dogs’ aggressive stances when a female zombie stepped into view from around the side of the house. She moaned and began to shuffle toward the group.
Randy was about to pull the trigger that would terminate the zombie when he saw a blur of motion race into his field of view. “What the hell?” he said as he looked up from the optical sight of his M4. He saw Ox standing near the zombie, blocking its path. “Get out of there, Ox!” he shouted.
Jason reached Robert first. He grabbed hold of the young man and pulled him to his feet. “We’ve got to go,” he said and then he turned toward the bus and began to pull the boy along behind him. Ed took up the rear, calling to the dogs to come to him as the team retreated to the safety of the vehicle.
Sheba whined as the female zombie drew closer to Ox. Her whine drew his attention, causing him to spin in place and trot toward her. Sheba turned and ran back toward the bus where Ed was in the process of boarding. Ox picked up his own pace as Randy took the shot and dropped the female zombie.
Herb closed the door when Ox climbed aboard.
“All clear for the moment!” Randy reported from topside.
Herb put the bus in reverse and backed it into the wide driveway of a nearby home. Then he pulled back out onto the highway and headed north once more.
“We’re not going to take the boy back to the refuge?” Ed asked.
“No. We don’t have the time to get there and make the drive back to Newport before dark,” Herb explained.
“Then we’d best give Robert his injection,” Ed responded.
“Yes, you do that, and then check him for contamination. Better yet, all three of you need to decontaminate,” Herb instructed.
“We’ll do the best we can,” Ed replied. “It’s not easy to do that under these conditions.”
Chapter 11
Conspirators.
Bill Wiley stood outside the clinic staring at the door. He stood in the growing darkness, plagued by indecision. Part of him wanted to go in and see Dana. After all, they had lived together for months and he had loved her. Yet, another part of him couldn’t forget the way she had virtually abandoned him when she felt he was slowing her down too much. As he stood there trying to decide whether or not he should go see her, the door opened and Erma emerged.
“Oh, hi there, Bill,” Erma said as she closed the door to the clinic. Then she asked, “What brings you here? You’re not sick are you?”
“No, it’s nothing like that,” Bill responded.
“Good. With all the people from Hunter arriving the same day, the staff is swamped.”
“Actually, I’m trying to decide whether or not I should go visit Dana,” Bill admitted.
Erma frowned. She had heard about how abusive the woman had been with everyone she came in contact with at the refuge. She also knew that Dana had abandoned Bill when they were fleeing the zombies prior to their arrival at the refuge. “Good luck dealing with her,” she said. “I understand that she has been giving Nancy a hard time about having to share the quarantine room with some of the women from Hunter.”
“She can be demanding at times,” Bill admitted.
Erma nodded and said, “You’d be the one to know better than most. I can only imagine what the past few months must have been like for you.”
“It wasn’t all bad. She has her good moments too,” Bill said defensively.
“Yes, of course. I’m sure she does, and I didn’t mean to imply otherwise,” Erma acknowledged. “It’s been my experience that not many people are all bad. Most do have their redeeming qualities. It’s just that she’s been very vocal about her displeasure with all of us here at the refuge, and she has been in a foul mood ever since the arrival of the people from Hunter. She hasn’t gone out of her way to endear herself to anyone here.”
“I’ll talk to her. Maybe that will settle her down,” Bill said.
“Maybe it will help reassure her that we aren’t ogres,” Erma said, but she didn’t sound very hopeful that that would prove to be the case.
“I’ll do that then,” Bill said.
Erma thought he looked happy now that he had a reason to visit Dana. She wished him luck and then headed for the cabin. It had been a long day. She was ready to prepare her evening meal, and then settle down with a good book for a few hours before calling it a night.
Bill had to wait for twenty minutes while the doctor was working with one of the patients. He saw him between patients and asked if it would be possible for him to visit with Dana for a few minutes. Ezra agreed to the meeting and escorted Bill to the door.
“Well, look who finally decided to show up!” Dana said in a loud tone of voice when he entered the room a step behind the doctor. “It’s about time you came to check on me, you ass,” Dana added angrily.
Doctor Fielding stopped and turned to stare at Bill who was turning red with embarrassment. He shook his head in disgust and said, “Apparently, she treats everyone like this, even you.” The doctor then turned to regard Dana with open disdain. “I have a couple of patients from Hunter who have flu symptoms, so I’m going to keep them isolated. That means I’m going to need this room for a few days. Provided you pass your blood test in the morning, you and the rest of these ladies will be moving out tomorrow.”
“We have to have more blood work done in the morning?” asked one of the women from Hunter.
“No, ma’am. You ladies from Hunter don’t. Only Ms. Rainey will need that test,” the doctor explained.
“Is she infected? Is there a risk of her turning?” asked June.
“No, old woman. I’m not infected, and there’s no risk of me turning, you crazy old bitch,” Dana said angrily.
“That will be enough out of you,” Doctor Fielding said quickly. Then he turned to June, and because he was angry at the way Dana had treated the woman for asking a very pertinent question, he said, “Ms. Rainey’s body was invaded by zombie earthworms. The nanobot injection killed them, but we need to be certain it’s all out of her system before releasing her into the general population.”
“Way to adhere to the concept of doctor patient confidentiality, you prick,” Dana said.
“In this situation, it was appropriate to reveal the truth about your condition to your roommates. They have been through enough anxiety today. There’s no reason for them to suffer needless fear because they are in this room with you.”
“How convenient for you,” Dana responded mockingly, with her hands on her hips and a sneer of contempt on her face.
Doctor Fielding was too tired to deal with what he would have once called a drama queen. Now he had a much less flattering description that he felt would be appropriate to use regarding her. Instead of continuing the verbal sparring match with her, he turned to see if Bill still wanted to speak with
the woman. “Would you like to meet with her in the hall briefly?” he asked Bill.
“No, thank you,” Bill said. He had come to see Dana, thinking that maybe she might be lonely and afraid. The thought of her feeling vulnerable had disturbed him. Yet, it was easy to see that she was fine. Her abrasive treatment of others was the only proof that he needed that she didn’t need him.
“No?” Dana said, arching her left eyebrow as she sometimes did before launching into one of her tirades in which she belittled him nonstop for half an hour.
“You’re fine,” Bill replied. “As you said on the road, you don’t need me. I just slow you down.”
“Oh that,” Dana said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I was just trying to get you to man up and get your ass in gear.”
“Young lady, would you mind not cursing so much in front of the others?” June asked.
“Are you for real, old woman?” Dana asked loudly. “What? They have virgin ears or something? Well, if they do, then I guess they just got screwed.”
June paled at Dana’s words.
Dana smiled at the old woman’s discomfort, pleased that she had managed to shut her up with ease.
“All right, woman, that’s it,” Ezra said. “You’re out of here.”
“Finally,” Dana said with a smirk. “If I’d known insulting the crone would get me out of here early, I’d have done it hours ago.”
“Just follow me,” Doctor Fielding said. He led the way out into the hall. After Dana and Bill exited behind him, he closed the door and secured it. “This way,” he said gruffly.
Doctor Fielding proceeded down the hall. He stopped beside another door at the end of a hall. “Ordinarily, I wouldn’t reward bad behavior, but these aren’t ordinary times. Since you objected to your roommates’ presence to such an extent you felt the need to harass them, I’ve decided to put you in a private room for the night. You’ll find everything you need in the room waiting for you.”
Ezra then opened the door and Dana moved past him into the room. She heard the door close behind her and the sound of the lock being manipulated.