Zed's World (Book 2): Roads Less Traveled

by Baker, Rich

  “No, it didn’t go well,” he says.

  “Do you think they’ll rescue us? Eventually, I mean.”

  He looks at her for a second before answering. “My take? Not unless they have a lot more men and a lot of ammo. If this was a probe, just their way of testing the way these … creatures, you know, engage them in battle, then they learned a huge lesson. Maybe we’ll see greater numbers of them later. If this was their main assault, we’re not going anywhere anytime soon. You should note, though, that these were Department of Homeland Security and Army. That will make a difference.”

  “But what about those planes? Won’t they come back?” she says, sounding hopeful.

  “There’s not much they can do for us. I think they hit Speer Boulevard because it’s nice and wide open and had a big concentration of those things on it. I don’t think they’re looking to destroy big chunks of the city yet. That’s good—it means that they still have hope they can get this under control. On the other hand, this is a big country with a lot of cities bigger than this one,” he says. “They’ll have higher priority than we do, I’m afraid.”

  Carmen looks crestfallen. “So why did they come here then?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe they had some ordinance left over after hitting Cheyenne, or Colorado Springs. Maybe they’re based locally and it makes most sense to use them here. Look, I’m not one to paint a rosy picture just to make someone feel good. I’m sorry if that’s what you’re looking for, but false hope isn’t productive. We can make it, but we’re going to have to be tough. We have to control 110 other people in this building who we don’t really know, and we have to be thinking a few steps ahead. The fact that DHS is still operating is a good sign. They might have a plan to get control. It just means we have to rely on ourselves for a while until they figure this thing out. But we have to have a plan B. If we put all our faith in the government to rescue us, we’re as good as lost.”

  “I just want this to be a nightmare, you know? Something I can wake up from and everything will be okay,” she says. “We can go back to watching bad TV shows and bitching about the price of gas. Normal stuff. Not … people being eaten by freaking zombies.”

  “I’m still in shock over this too. I never in my life thought something like this could really happen. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend riding my bike up to Central City and back,” D-Day says.

  Her eyes brighten a little. “What do you ride?” she asks.

  “A Victory—2012 Vegas 8-Ball.”

  “Nice!” she says. “I have …” She pauses as she thinks of the motorcycle that she crashed into the west side of the building. “Had a 2000 Soft Tail. I panicked out there, thought they were closer than they were, and I just lost it.”

  “Well, it’s not exactly a situation you train for,” D-Day says.

  “Still, I have enough time in the saddle I should have handled that better. And now … Bill is dead because of me,” she says.

  D-Day isn’t sure what to say, so he lets that comment linger.

  “We were through, you know, Bill and I,” she continues. “We just didn’t have the heart to break it to my folks yet. My dad had heart surgery last November and the time just never seemed right. Now I guess … well, it’s over anyway.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I could have …” D-Day starts, debating whether or not he should tell her that her parents already know, but Carmen cuts him off.

  “No, no, I had to do it. I wasn’t in love with him anymore, but I didn’t hate him either. We just … grew apart. I’m glad the last thing he heard was my voice. I’m glad that he didn’t die at the hands of a stranger. No offense,” she says.

  “None taken,” D-Day says, just as someone comes in wearing a backpack and carrying a duffel bag, both of them stuffed full of food.

  “More supplies!” she calls out. “This apartment was loaded! Serious Costco shoppers, too! A lot of bulk stuff. From the pictures, looked like a nice family. Where ever they are, I hope they’re okay. But their pantry is going to help us a lot!”

  Carmen smiles at D-Day. “Back to work,” she says.

  He leaves her with the new girl and heads to the stairwell. He’s been up for close to forty hours now, and he needs to get some rest. In his deployments to the warzones, he learned to catch a few winks any chance he got, and since he doesn’t know when the next chance will be, he’s going to take advantage of it.

  He’s been asleep for ninety minutes when someone starts pounding on his door. He’s upright, rifle ready before he realizes it.

  “D-Day!” a woman’s voice shouts. “We need you right away! Someone’s been killed!”

  Sixteen

  Longview, Colorado

  On the table, Toni cries out in pain. Danny turns to Elaine. “Get my kit from the Jeep.”

  Elaine heads for the front door while Danny gets his multi-tool out and cuts Toni’s shirt off of her. He looks under the dressing that Ben’s put in place. As soon as he does, fresh blood begins flowing from the wounds.

  “Kyle,” Danny says, “I’m going to take care of this as best as I can, and then Elaine and I are going to our place in the mountains. You guys are welcome to come, but the window is closing quick. You won’t have much time before everything falls apart.” He lowers his voice so only Kyle can hear him. “You may have to decide between saving her or saving all of you. You’re all welcome to come with us, but she’s not going to be able to travel where we’re going, not in her condition.”

  Kyle looks over at his son, who is wracked with emotion as he strokes Toni’s hair. Naomi stands behind Ben, rubbing a hand over his shoulders to comfort him. The boy who helped Ben bring Toni inside talks with two girls in sign language. Keith tells his dad about their night, going on about how awesome Stephenie is. Danielle sits on the couch and glares at the deaf blonde girl, and Andy and Natalie stand to the side, watching Toni with worry and exhaustion all over their faces.

  Elaine comes back in with a medical kit, and Kyle says, “Okay guys, listen up. We have a couple of things to decide, and we need to do so quickly. Danny’s going to do his best to patch Toni up, but she’s not going to be able to make it to Danny’s place in the mountains until she’s healed a bit. I don’t see any reason we all need to stay here with her … and anyone who stays may never make it out of town.”

  “If she can’t go, then I’m staying,” Ben says.

  “Ben, think about this …” Naomi starts to say.

  “Mom, I’m not leaving her. That’s final,” he replies.

  “I’m staying too,” Keith says. Danielle glares at him but says nothing.

  Andy and Natalie say they’re staying.

  “We’ll go with your man,” Robert says. “No point in sticking around this place longer than we have to.”

  “I’m staying,” Stephenie says out loud and signs at the same time.

  Robert can’t hide that he’s upset with her. He signs, but does not say out loud, “What are you doing? We don’t owe these people anything!”

  “We’d have been overrun without them,” she signs back, “and I can help them. They’re going to need someone who can shoot.”

  “That’s their problem. I won’t let you risk your life for them,” Robert signs.

  “It’s not up to you. Go if you want,” Stephenie signs, then crosses her arms to signal she’s done with the conversation.

  Out loud Robert says, “Annie, will you try to talk some sense into her?”

  “I think we’re past that, Robert. She’s made up her mind, and if she’s staying, I’m staying,” Annie says.

  “Well, I guess I have no choice then. I guess I’m staying,” Robert says.

  “You have a choice. Don’t hang this on us, Robert,” Annie says.

  Robert glances around the room at the people staring at him, conscious for the first time that they’ve been making a scene.

  “We’re sticking together, Annie. We’re it—the three of us are all that’s left,” he says.
>
  “Fine,” Annie says. “But if you stay, it’s YOUR choice. Don’t try and blame us later if things don’t go well.”

  “Fine,” he says, and then turns and heads to the dining table and asks Danny if he can help with Toni.

  ***

  Ben sits next to Toni, who now rests in the guest room on the queen-sized bed that was Ben’s before he moved to Fort Collins. She is conscious, but groggy, after taking some narcotic pain pills Danny has in his medical kit.

  Though he’s already gone through this with Ben, Natalie, Andy, and Danielle, Danny recounts the ad-hoc surgery for the rest of the group.

  “I removed a bullet and some fragments of bone from her shoulder. I’m pretty sure her shoulder blade is broken, but I don’t know for sure, and I have no clue what to do about it other than keeping her from using it for a few weeks and hope it heals. I cleaned the wound and stitched it up to the best of my ability.

  “I’m no doctor, but that’s the wound that worries me the most. I also took several fragments of a bullet from her ribs and cleaned and stitched that wound up as well, but there seemed to be less damage. I think both bullets passed through the door of Ben’s FJ, so it could have been a lot worse. I’m leaving a bottle of antibiotics for her, as she’s got a huge risk of infection, and that’s as likely to kill her as the gunshots. I’m at the limit of what I know how to do. It’s in God’s hands now.”

  Naomi comes out of the Pucketts’ bedroom with a backpack over one shoulder and a carry-on sized suitcase being pulled by her other hand. Kyle goes over to her.

  “We’ll be after you guys as soon as we can,” he says.

  “I still don’t like this, Kyle.”

  “Neither do I, but I’m not leaving the kids here by themselves, and I don’t want you down here if things continue to get worse. You’ll be safe up at Danny’s Fortress of Solitude,” Kyle says.

  “I know I will, but you guys aren’t going to be safe here. Please don’t take any risks, and come up as soon as you can. Promise me,” Naomi pleads.

  “I promise, as soon as Toni can travel we’ll be on our way,” Kyle assures her.

  Naomi sets her bag by the door and goes to guest room to talk to Ben.

  Danny comes over to Kyle again.

  “Kyle, I want you guys to hole up at my place,” he says.

  “Danny, no, I …” Kyle starts, but Danny holds up a hand and cuts him short.

  “Look, I wouldn’t ordinarily offer, but your house isn’t secure. My house is. I WAY customized it. It cost me a fortune, but no one will know you’re there if you don’t want them to. And, there are some nifty toys in there,” Danny says. He hands Kyle a large manila envelope. “Instructions, how to get in, set the alarm, and lock the place down. Grab as much of your food as you can and get over there. Carry Toni if you have to, but get down there as soon as you can.”

  Danny turns and looks down the hallway.

  “Naomi,” he calls. “Time to go.”

  Naomi comes out of the bedroom with tears on her cheeks. She kisses Kyle and says, “You promised. As soon as you can.”

  “I know, honey, I promise. You promise, too—be careful up there. Don’t shoot yourself by accident or do anything crazy trying to keep up with them,” Kyle says, nodding at Danny and Elaine.

  “As if,” Elaine snorts. “We’ll make sure she’s trained for anything we need her to do.”

  “Yeah, brother,” Danny says. “I’ll watch her like she’s my sister.”

  “You hate your sister,” Naomi says.

  “Just because I hate her doesn’t mean I’d let anything happen to her,” he says, and then points at Kyle. “Seriously, get this gang over to my place ASAFP and get it locked down.”

  Danny cracks the door and looks around in front of the house.

  “It’s clear,” he says. “Ladies, time to go.”

  The trio sprints out of the house and to Danny’s Jeep. Naomi climbs in the back, and Elaine hands her bags back to her then climbs in the front seat. Danny fires up the engine, and as he puts it in gear, Elaine grabs her AR15 and gets it ready in case they meet trouble.

  Kyle watches the black off-road vehicle drive down the street and disappear around the corner. His wife is gone, and he has no idea when he’ll see her again.

  He pushes the thought out of his head and goes back inside. He finds Stephenie, Annie, and Keith cleaning the blood off of the dining table with some bleach-based cleaning spray and paper towels.

  “I hope it’s okay we’re using this stuff on your table, Mr. Puckett,” Annie says. “It does the best job with blood.”

  “Yeah, fine,” he replies. “There’s more paper towels in the laundry room if you need them. On top of the cabinets. And just call me Kyle, please.”

  Robert is going through the Sims’ bags, reorganizing the gear they brought and loading magazines for their rifles.

  The rest of the group is still in the guest room with Toni, so Kyle takes a minute and opens the folder Danny gave him.

  He’s only been in Danny’s house a couple of times. He has a workshop in the garage, with an immaculate work bench, pristine toolboxes, well-maintained mountain bikes, golf clubs and, of course, a fifty-two-inch flat screen and a keg fridge with his home-brewed beer on tap. The garage was built with an extra ten feet of space, shortening the driveway, but allowing room for the fridge and TV. Part of that extra ten feet is walled off, though Kyle doesn’t know what’s behind it.

  The house is appointed well, with most items upgraded from the builder’s standard stock. It’s a ranch, with three bedrooms and a study. Now that he’s thinking about it, Kyle never saw stairs for a basement, and every other house in the neighborhood has one.

  Looking at the contents of the folder, now he knows why. The homes in the neighborhood are semi-custom, meaning they start from a base set of plans, but each homeowner can make significant modifications if they have the money to do so. Danny, it’s now obvious, had the money. Other than the model homes, his was the first house in the neighborhood, so Kyle doubts that anyone currently living in the Fox Run subdivision knows what was done when Danny’s house was put together. He’s included a scaled-down set of floor plans with numbers in locations that correspond to instructions.

  Unlock the door. The lock is electronic; lift the cover and enter the eight-digit code 53962568.

  Pressing ‘lock’ on the inside keypad locks the door, and ‘unlock’ (of course) unlocks it. Entering the same code as above and pressing ‘lock’ will lock it AND set the alarm You have to enter the code and press ‘unlock’ to turn the alarm off.

  Go to the basement. Open the closet door next to the guest bath. Inside you’ll find another keypad. Enter 96984585. This will release a panel in the floor; lift it, and proceed down the stairs.

  Same code entered into the keypad at the bottom of the stairs seals the access panel.

  It goes on with other instructions, but Kyle is admiring the layout of the basement. Based on plans he’s included in the file folder, Danny had the basement built larger than the main floor. It extends an extra fifteen feet in the front and twenty in the rear, but that extra space must be covered by the front and back yards. This gives him enough square footage for two bathrooms, a home gym, two bedrooms, a media room, a kitchen, laundry room, and a workshop where he does his gunsmithing.

  There’s plenty of space—counting the extensions Danny had built, the finished space totals more than 2600 square feet—but with eleven people in the same subterranean area for an extended time, Kyle can see this underground palace becoming claustrophobic. But, given the alternative of the undead breaking into his house and killing all of them, he’ll take close quarters over sunshine. He decides to get everyone moving.

  “Okay, everyone, gather around!” he calls out.

  The group, minus Toni, circles the island in the kitchen. Kyle looks around at them all, takes a breath and gets started.

  “All right, we all know what’s out there. We know they’re deadly, and
they’re multiplying. We’ve all chosen to stay here until Toni can travel; then we head to the mountains to link up with Danny, Elaine, and Naomi.

  “Until that time, we’re going to go from here to Danny’s place, two doors north. He’s got his house set up like a fortress, and it is WAY more secure than this place. But we should move fast. We have a hundred and fifty feet to go, and if those things are out there, that might as well be a mile.

  “Marc, you and Keith head next door to your place and get as much food and other crucial supplies as you can carry and bring it over. Someone should help you—any volunteers?”

  “I’ll go,” Stephenie says, raising her hand.

  “Oh, hell no,” Danielle says. “I’ll go with him.”

  Kyle frowns at the tension between the two girls. “I don’t know what’s going on here,” he says, pointing a finger and wagging it between the two girls. “But put it on hold. This is life and death, girls, so act like adults, please. Danielle, you go with Keith.”

  Robert says something in sign language that, based on her expression, Stephenie doesn’t like. Kyle ignores the exchange between them.

  “The rest of you help loot this place,” Kyle continues. “Food, toilet paper, toothpaste—anything you find that you think we’ll need for an extended stay. Sims—you three grab your gear and the stuff the kids brought from Fort Collins and ferry it over. I’ll help you with that. Ben, you get Toni over there. Carry her if you have to. Be sure to get the meds that Danny left. Any questions?”

  “How long do you think we’ll be here?” Natalie asks.

  “I have no idea, Natalie,” Kyle says. “Toni has two gunshot wounds and a broken shoulder blade. I have no clue how long it will be before she can travel. I’d say at least four weeks, but that’s a complete guess.”

  There are several groans from the group when he says this.

  “Guys, this is the reality of the situation,” Kyle says. “Four weeks might not be it. It may be longer. I just don’t know. If you want to go somewhere else, I won’t stop you. But if you’re staying, we need to get started on this move now.”