by Ricky Sides
The door opened and Jesse stepped outside to meet them. He shut the door while he looked them over before committing to exposing his people to them. He studied both men for several seconds as he introduced himself and shook their hands. “I guess you guys are okay,” he said, and then he instructed the people inside to come on out.
Jason and Ed both did a head count as the survivors came out of the building. “I only see seven people,” Ed informed Jason.
“Yeah, me too,” Jason confirmed. He turned to Jesse and said, “You’re one short. We were told there were eight of you.”
“Hernando didn’t make it, man,” Jesse explained. “He got scratched by a damned zombie earlier. Said he could feel a burning, and after we talked to you guys, he said he was burning up with fever. That must have been one nasty zombie.”
“Did you kill him?” Ed asked with a sick expression on his face.
“No. I don’t think I could have given him a mercy shot, if that’s what you’re thinking. He left to avoid contaminating us. He’ll wait until we leave, and then he’ll do it himself.”
“Shit!” Jason said. “We’ve got to find him!”
“Jason, you need to get those people in the bus,” Randy said from his position in the gunner’s chair. “They are all exposed to danger out there.”
“Sorry, Randy. You’re right,” Jason responded. Then he said, “All right people, let’s get you aboard the bus, and then we’ll see about your missing member.”
As the survivors stepped off the curb into the street, Jesse saw the brown cloth that Hernando had used earlier. “Don’t touch that rag, folks. Hernando was using it earlier to wipe sweat off his face.”
“That’s your missing man?” asked Herb, who had overheard the conversation at the door.
“Yeah. Hernando was our leader,” Jesse confirmed.
After the people boarded the bus, Herb stood up and said, “Ed, get me an inoculation kit, and then I want you in the driver’s seat. Oh, and I’ll need your rifle.”
Herb turned to Jason and said, “Jason, you watch Randy’s blind spots. Ox, you’re with me. Let’s go and find the missing man before he kills himself.”
“You’re not planning to experiment on him or something are you?” asked Jesse, whose eyes had narrowed in suspicion.
“No. I’m going to cure him. That is I will if I can find him,” Herb replied brusquely. He felt he didn’t have time to waste explaining things.
“I’d better go with you then. We’ve had some trouble here in Newport with outlaws. If he sees you searching for him, he might assume the worst,” Jesse explained.
“Okay, let’s go,” Herb agreed as Ed placed one of the syringe kits in his hand. “Keep the door shut after we leave, Ed,” Herb cautioned, and then he stepped off the bus and turned to call Ox to him. “Let’s go, boy. We need to find a man.”
Ox bolted to Herb’s side in two bounds. Jesse followed the dog, and Ed closed the doors.
“You say he was using that rag to wipe sweat?” Herb asked for clarification as he pointed to the piece of brown cloth beside the curb.
“Yep, that’s his. He used it just before he left the building. I guess he didn’t mind littering, considering he was a dying man.”
“Okay, Ox can you remember the game we played back home? Find the man who owns that,” Herb said as he walked over and pointed his finger at the cloth.
Ox dutifully walked over and placed his muzzle above the brown fabric. He smelled it, snorted and shook his head. “Find the man, boy,” Herb encouraged Ox.
Ox leaned his body forward, scenting the ground on the other side of the piece of cloth. Then he moved his head from side to side before finding a spot that interested him. He emitted a low pitched “woof” and then Ox moved along the street to the corner. He paused at the corner for a moment, and then he headed across the street on a diagonal.
“He’s heading for the sheriff’s department,” Jesse said. “I guess he wanted to stay close so he could watch over us. Are you sure you can cure him? I wouldn’t want to get his hopes up for nothing.”
“I’m living proof the shots work. Yes, I’m sure,” Herb responded as he trotted after Ox, who was getting too far ahead of them. “Wait, Ox,” he ordered his dog.
Ox stopped and waited for a second, but then the lure of the scent drew him onward and he resumed his hunt. It didn’t matter. Herb had closed the gap by then, as had Jesse.
Ox led the two men straight to the front entrance.
Inside the building, Hernando saw the dog arrive at the door and wondered if it was a normal dog or if it was an animal turned zombie. He had encountered a zombie cat once and that encounter had spooked him where animals were concerned. It reminded him of a book titled CLAWS he’d once read.
Then he saw a man he didn’t know and next to him stood Jesse. “What are you doing, Jesse?” he said loudly enough to be heard through the glass. “You know I’m as good as dead. Leave me here and take the others to safety.”
“They can cure you, man. They have a cure,” Jesse explained.
“There is no cure. They said so on the news,” Hernando said bitterly.
“There is a cure. The government found one, but by then it was too late to save most of our population,” Herb said. Then he said, “Put down the gun and let us help you.”
It was only then that Hernando realized that he had his pistol in his hand with the hammer cocked. He had cocked it in preparation for what he had to do when the bus left. As the fever raged through his system, the man eased the hammer down on his pistol, and then laid it on the floor beside him. In his fevered delirium, he could have shot the people who were trying to rescue him.
Herb and Jesse entered the building and assisted Hernando in getting to his feet. As he climbed to his feet, Hernando accidently kicked the half eaten can of soup and knocked it over on its side. His eyes fell on the spilled contents and he murmured, “Well, there goes my lunch.”
“That’s okay, buddy. We have plenty of food with us if you’re hungry,” Herb reassured the sick man. “But first, let’s give you this shot that will kill the parasites. You’ll be as good as new soon enough.”
“What?” asked Hernando, who was barely conscious and in a state of confusion. Then he had a moment of clarity and he asked, “How fast does it work?”
“That depends on how many parasites you have in you and how far they have spread through your body. Anywhere from a few minutes to a day, longer if you’re almost dead, but you’ll feel much better in a couple of hours.”
“You’re sure this will help him?” asked Jesse.
“I’ve never seen it fail on a person who was still conscious,” Herb assured him.
“But you have seen it fail? Is that right?”
“Only once, but yes, I have seen it fail. The patient in that case had already slipped into the coma that precedes death by a few hours. In that patient’s case, it was too late for the nanobots to save him. Your friend here is far from being in that state. He’ll be fine. Unless we stay here too long and get overrun by zombies that is.”
“He’s right. If I’m not going to be a threat to the others, we need to get back to them,” Hernando said.
“Can you make it?” Herb asked. “If not, I can go back and get the bus and we can meet you out front.”
“I owe this man my life ten times over. I’ll carry him,” Jesse said.
“I’d help you with that, but one of us has to be ready to defend us,” Herb said.
“I understand. I’ve got this,” Jesse assured Herb.
Herb bent down and picked up Hernando’s pistol. Oz came to him and stood beside him, waiting to be acknowledged. “You did good, boy. Just like in training,” he said, praising the dog’s performance, and he scratched Ox behind his right ear. Then Herb got to his feet. “Okay, let’s go,” he said.
Chapter 17
Home.
Trevor Williamson was manning the tower closest to the entrance of the refuge when the bus rolled up to a stop outside th
e gate. He saw Herb emerge and exchange words with the armed guards. They opened the gate for him and he climbed back aboard the minibus and drove it onto the grounds of the refuge.
Trevor was troubled. All through his watch in the tower, he’d had the feeling that he was being watched. Twice he had seen something moving out in the forest near the refuge. The first incident occurred when he thought he saw a flash of movement along one of the trails that was visible through a small break in the foliage between it and the tower. The second time, he had spotted movement of a heavy tree branch for no apparent reason. Those incidents, coupled with the sensation of being watched, had him more than a little skittish.
Trevor wanted to inform the others that he suspected the refuge was under observation by forces unknown, but due to his conduct at the gate a few days ago, he was on thin ice with the leadership and other guards. A false alarm that caused extra work for everyone, and raised tension levels needlessly, was not something that would help him redeem himself in the eyes of the others. So he decided to remain quiet, so long as no patrols ventured outside. When the minibus entered the open gate, he fought against the impulse to watch it. Instead, he kept his attention focused on the woods nearby. His devotion to duty was rewarded when he saw a flash of light reflecting from a point in a tree. It was the same one where he had spotted movement earlier.
Trevor raised his binoculars and searched the area where he had seen the flash of light. He knew he was searching the correct area because he never took his eyes off it as he brought the binoculars up to his face. It took him a moment to spot the man in the tree. His camouflage was so good that he blended in with his surroundings quite well. He watched as the man raised a rifle to his shoulder and looked through a scope.
Trevor couldn’t be sure what the man was targeting. He didn’t dare take his eyes off him to try to make that determination. Instead, he lowered the binoculars and set them aside in favor of his rifle. He brought the M4 to his shoulder and flicked off the safety. The sight picture through the optical sight was different from the binoculars, so it took him a moment to acquire the target. He was still trying to decide whether or not he should shoot when the gunman in the tree fired his rifle.
Trevor cursed his indecision and fired his own weapon within a couple of seconds of the sniper’s shot. He saw the man jump as if in surprise that someone had fired at him. He assumed his first shot had missed, so he took a moment to steady his aim and then he fired again. This time, he had the satisfaction of seeing the sniper tumble from the tree.
Shouting erupted in the refuge as men yelled questions at one another. Trevor kept his eyes on the forest, looking to see if there was anyone else out in the woods with the sniper. He was still looking in that direction when Randy yelled up at him from down below. He said, “They say you fired your rifle, Trevor! Leave your weapon up there and come down here right this minute!”
Trevor looked down, taking his eyes off the forest for the first time. He paled when he saw that Randy and Jason were both aiming their M4s in his direction. “What? You think I shot at you guys?!” Trevor yelled down.
“I’m only going to say this one more time. Leave your weapons up there and get down here right now!” Randy demanded angrily.
“Okay, okay, I’m coming down!” Trevor yelled. As he saw it, he didn’t have much choice. Randy appeared to be on the verge of shooting him, and for that matter, so did Jason. He was climbing down the ladder that led to the ground when the man he had shot began to scream in pain and calling for help.
“Who the hell is that?” Randy asked.
“That would be the sniper I shot,” Trevor answered. “I’d been watching that section of the woods for a while because I spotted movement there twice. I saw a reflection of light and checked it out. There was a guy up a tree with a scoped out rifle, pointing it at the refuge.”
“So it wasn’t you that shot at us?” Randy asked.
“Hell no. It was that asshole out there. I was checking to see if there were any more of them out there when you called me down,” Trevor explained.
“All right. I owe you an apology, Trevor. Good work. Get back up there. We’ll go recover the shithead who shot Herb,” Randy said.
“Herb got hit?” Trevor asked, but it was no use. Randy and Jason were sprinting for the gate, yelling for the guards to open it and signaling other men to fall in with them.
When Trevor got back to the top of the tower, he took a few moments to look in the direction of the bus. He saw several people gathered around a man on the ground, and he saw Erma and Amy racing across the refuge in the direction of the bus.
“Trevor!” he heard Randy shouting his name. He turned in the direction of the shout and saw Randy outside the fence. He expected the man to chew him out for looking toward the bus instead of out toward the trees. “Watch our backs as best you can, buddy!” Randy yelled, and then he darted into the woods with Jason right on his heels. Trevor felt a moment of relief. He also felt he just might have achieved redemption by his actions. However, he hadn’t done it for that reason. He did what he had done because he was afraid of failing his friends.
It took Randy and Jason just minutes to find the wounded sniper. Their task was made easier by the man’s terrified screams. “Hey, I know that guy. It’s that Bernie character we picked up in Hunter yesterday,” Randy said when they saw him.
“Then the other two may be out here too,” Jason observed.
“You’ve got to help me, damnit!” Bernie yelled. “I know my rights!”
Bernie was down in the same ravine where they had found Dana just days before. He had suffered two gunshot wounds. One to the upper part of his right arm and the other had grazed the right side of his head. He had tried to get away, but the head wound had left him dizzy and disoriented. As a result, he had staggered over the edge of the ravine and landed in a spot not far from where they had found the woman.
“These damned worms are attacking me! What’s up with that?! I’ve never seen worms that attack people! You guys have got to help me!” Bernie shouted in a panic. “I can’t put any weight on my leg! I think it may be broken!”
“How many of you are involved in this?” Randy asked.
“Huh? Look, we can talk about this shit later, man. Just get me the hell out of here,” Bernie insisted as he brushed one of the worms off his leg before it could burrow through his clothing.
“Those anizombie worms will keep coming out of the ground for you. If you want our help, then you’re going to have to answer my questions,” Randy said insistently.
“Anizombie worms?! All right, all right. You win. Nobody was helping me. I tried to take out your leader so that Dana and I could take over this place. She promised to be good to me if I’d do it, and I mean really good, if you know what I mean,” Bernie explained with a lascivious leer on his face.
“So you were acting alone? Is that the truth?”
“You know it, man. I wasn’t going to share her with anyone. That’s the hottest woman I’ve ever seen in my life. I could never get a woman like that before the zombies took over. Raman had a chance with her, but he chickened out and turned her in to the doctor for plotting against the leaders here,” Bernie said. Then he realized belatedly that he was telling his captors things he shouldn’t and he shut up.
Randy turned to the three men who had accompanied him and Jason on the hunt to track down the sniper. “Follow this ravine down the hill and you’ll come to a place you can enter with ease. One of you should stay up here to cover the others. The other two go and get his sorry ass out of the ravine and bring him back to the refuge. Jason and I will be heading back now. I need to make sure nothing else is happening there.”
“It may take a while. We’ll have to make a stretcher,” one of the men said.
“There’s no time for that. It’ll be dark soon. Just get him upright and two of you can help him hobble out,” Jason said. “You don’t want to be out here after dark. There may be things in these woods that are much
more dangerous than those worms.”
“And keep him quiet. You men need to be listening for any potential threats as you walk out. Gag him if that’s the only way you can keep him from making noise,” Randy instructed, and then he started out for the refuge.
“Don’t forget that human zombies may have been attracted by the gunfire,” Jason said in parting, and then he rushed to catch up with Randy, who was moving quickly but quietly through the woods. He’d made the comment loudly enough that Bernie heard him down in the ravine.
“Hey, guys, I think I might be able to put weight on this foot after all,” the man said as he got to his feet and tested his leg.
“Good. Start walking and we’ll meet you down at the end. And you might want to hurry. I can’t speak for the others, but if we encounter zombies, I’m inclined to leave your sorry ass to them,” one of the men said.
Bernie paled at the thought of being left to the mercy of zombies. He glanced down at his rifle, prompting one of the other men to say, “Go ahead. Make my day.”
“You want me to leave it here?” Bernie asked.
“No, we need to bring it back with us. Tie it to this vine and we’ll haul it out,” one of the other men said. He then lowered the end of a vine to the sniper and the others covered him with their rifles while the man tied his weapon to it. “Now get going,” the man holding the vine said as he began to pull the rifle up to him.
Bernie hobbled along at a slow pace. He could walk, but only with great difficulty and a lot of pain. The men from the refuge had little sympathy for the would-be killer.
***
“How in the hell did she manage to convince that man to do this?” Erma demanded angrily. “She’s been in isolation for God’s sake. How did she even have the opportunity to recruit him?” Erma was sitting at the table inside the cabin she shared with Herb. The doctor was meeting with the members of the refuge council to discuss the attack on Herb.
“He volunteered to help decontaminate the rooms the people from Hunter occupied when they arrived,” the doctor explained. “I guess they spoke to each other through one of the walls or doors.”