The Complete Lethal Infection Trilogy

by Tony Battista

  “Oh, my God, Vickie!” cried the older women and embraced her when she ran into her arms.

  Jake lowered the Glock just a bit and said “I take it you know each other?”

  “Her mother, Rose, and I were in the PTA together! I used to babysit Vickie when she was little!” the woman explained. “Your parents! Are they...?”

  “Dead. Both of them,” Vickie said.

  “Oh, honey, I am so sorry!”

  “It wasn’t the infected,” Vickie shook her head. “It was a drunk driver about a year ago.”

  “What about you,” Jake said, turning to Mark.

  “He’s with us,” Art put in. “The people from that pickup, two of them, they came along just after we got into the store. Mark we ran into day before yesterday. He’s not talking too well right now, the way they worked him over. When those two came at us, he fought them off. Took a pretty bad beating and got his arm broken, but held them off long enough for us to make it to the back room here. You can see they shot at the door trying to smash through the lock, but the noise drew the others in. We heard them shooting and screaming and we stayed put all day yesterday while those things stumbled around through the store. We came out this morning and saw that those two and however many they killed had been dragged off. Then we heard you drive up and we hid again.”

  “Let me take a look at your arm,” Carolyn told Mark. He sucked in his breath in a loud gasp as she felt it and shook her head. “It needs to be set.” She turned to Jake. “Get that medical bag from the car and see if you can find at least two or three sticks to make a splint.”

  Jake looked at Vickie. “You sure these folks are okay?”

  “I've known them forever. They're old family friends.”

  Nodding, he retrieved the bag from the car and stood guard while Carolyn and Ellen laid Mark out in the back of the van and gave him a couple of pills and a bottle of water.

  “What are these for?” he asked her, his words slurred by the damage done to his face.

  “They're going to relax you, make you drowsy. It will help when I set that bone.”

  “You’re a doctor?”

  “I'm the closest thing we've got.”

  “I know she knows how to put stitches in,” Jake said, glancing down at his own leg.

  Mark took the pills and Vickie kept watch while Jake went into the store and came out again with some tent stakes and tie-down ropes.

  “Jake Harper,” he said, holding his hand out to Art. “You know Vickie already, and that's Carolyn Henson,” he said, motioning to the van with his chin.

  “I'm sure glad you came across us, Mr. Harper,” Art said, grasping his hand firmly. “The fellow in there with her is Mark Willis. Like I said, we only ran into him day before yesterday so I don’t know a lot about him except that he knows how to fight.”

  “We can always use another fighter,” Jake nodded, glancing over at Mark. “Art, let's you and me go inside and see what we can find that we can use.”

  Art had a .38 and a very old .30-.30 Winchester rifle in the back room with nine rounds for the pistol and three for the rifle. Knowing Vickie preferred her .38 to the Glock, Jake picked up what ammo was left there for it. He talked Art out of the .30-.30 since there was very little other ammunition for it in the store and handed him a loaded AR and a box of shells for the revolver.

  Outside again, they were just in time to see Vickie release an arrow that flew into the chest of an infected about sixty feet from the van. Three others lay not far away in a similar condition.

  “You're getting pretty darned good with that,” Jake admired. “We'll grab as many arrows as we can find from the store. How are you coming with that arm, Carolyn?”

  “Just about to set it. I've been waiting for the pills to take effect. He's pretty well out of it now. Art, would you hold him down for me?

  Art climbed in the van and held Mark by the shoulder as Carolyn straightened his arm out and grasped his wrist firmly.

  “Are you still with me, Mark?” she asked.

  “Mm mm... I hear you, sweetie,” he said dreamily.

  “Okay. Count of three. One...” and she suddenly pulled on his arm and Mark yelped loudly and passed out.

  “I had a feeling you weren't going to get to three,” Jake said with a grin.

  “It's better not knowing when it's coming,” she said simply as she applied the splint. “A few weeks and he'll be as good as new, minus a couple of teeth and a few scars.”

  “This is your van, Art?”

  “Yes. Ellen and I have been living out of it ever since the outbreak.”

  “Well, we don't have much room left in the Hummer so I'd like to load some of these supplies in your van.”

  “Does this mean you're going to let us tag along with you?”

  “Safety in numbers, Art. With the three of you, we double our firepower. Once we find another place to stay and get settled in, you'll be a big help in setting up a defense perimeter.”

  “We haven't stayed put anywhere for more than a few days since this all started. Ellen will like that.”

  “Um, Jake? Can we move things along?”

  They turned toward Vickie as she drew back another arrow and sent it flying into the chest of an infected some fifty feet away. Six others were in sight and Vickie immediately drew another arrow and shot a second infected in the face. Jake hurried back into the building and came out with a cart with all the useful ammo he could find. He and Art stored that and the two gas cans in the back of the van, the pickup being so full of trash and foul smelling that they didn’t want it. After redistributing some of the load from the Hummer into the carrier atop the van, they drove off, Jake and Vickie in the lead with the Humvee while Carolyn rode with the others to look after Mark.

  “I can't believe it, running into Art and Ellen like that! What do you suppose the chances are?”

  “Does it matter? Nowadays, when something good comes your way, why question it?”

  She gazed at him and placed her hand on his thigh. “You're right. When something good comes your way, you should just accept it.”

  “Um, what are you doing?”

  “Do you remember that offer I made you?”

  Jake didn't answer and Vickie began to let her hand drift up along the inside of his thigh until he took her wrist and lifted it away.

  “Jake?”

  “I should tell you, the other night on the island, you and Carolyn were, ah, getting sort of loud.”

  “Oh, God.”

  “Yeah, it didn't take much imagination to figure out what was going on, especially after hearing you in the shower together the next morning.”

  “Oh, God!”

  “So, what I mentioned about adding complications to our lives, well, the last thing we need is a triangle.”

  Vickie stared straight ahead through the windshield, unable to look him in the face. They drove along in silence for a few miles, heading toward Harriot, the closest town of any size.

  “Carolyn would be alright with it,” Vickie said at last.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Carolyn. We actually talked about it. She'd be alright with my, you know, being with you, too.”

  “Well, I'm glad the two of you worked this out all by yourselves. Did you ever think of maybe asking for my opinion?”

  “To tell you the truth, neither one of us ever imagined you'd have a problem with it.”

  Jake turned to stare at her, then turned his attention back to the road, tempted by the offer but thinking about what kind of trouble it would almost certainly cause.

  They pulled into a gas station/convenience store half an hour later and used the hand pump to fill up the tanks on both vehicles and another five-gallon can they found in the building.

  “Whatcha got there, Art?” he asked, seeing the older man studying something he'd picked up from behind the counter.

  “Jackpot! I found a whole book of coupons for free car washes,” Art chuckled.

  Jake couldn't help
but laughing at the absurdity of it and that got Art to laughing and that got Jake to laughing even harder and they both roared, tears running down their cheeks until their sides began to ache, unable to stop.

  “What the hell is going on in here?” Carolyn demanded, sticking her head in the door.

  “Art wants to stop at the car wash,” Jake deadpanned.

  She looked at him, then at Art, then back at Jake and just turned around and walked out without a word and they both broke out laughing again. Jake grabbed a pack of cigarettes from a rack behind the counter and lit one up, offering the pack to Art.

  “I quit some years back,” he said, shaking his head. “Filthy habit, you know.”

  That started Jake laughing again, which, in turn, started Art laughing and they noticed all three women staring wide-eyed at them through the glass and started to laugh harder.

  “Thirty seven years I've been married to that man,” Ellen said, “and I still don't know what goes on in that head of his sometimes!”

  Chapter 19: Vickie’s Souvenirs

  Another hour's driving took them to the outskirts of Harriot. The place had held nearly twelve thousand people before the infection but it was a ghost town now. Driving slowly through the streets, there wasn't a single infected or any sign of life besides a few carrion feeding birds and the ever-present swarms of flies. They hit a couple small stores, a pharmacy and the IGA, topped off both vehicles and filled two more five-gallon gas cans at the gas station and still everything was eerily quiet.

  “What do you think,” Art asked. “Is it just good luck, or is something really bad going to happen?”

  “Could be luck,” Jake answered, cautiously rotating his shoulder, trying to limber it up a bit. “I know we're due for some after the island.”

  “Yeah, Carolyn filled us in on that. Sounds like you had a nice setup there. No chance of going back, huh?”

  “I doubt it. Rotting corpses, flies swarming everywhere. Place will be a hotbed of disease by now. I'm not very familiar with Harriot, Art. Have you been here much?”

  “Nah. This is yuppie town. No place for an older couple like us. That looks like a police station over there.”

  “Let's go. We might find some interesting stuff in there.”

  The two men stopped by the vehicles first to let the others know and Vickie went with them while Ellen and Carolyn stayed behind with Mark. Jake crouched low in front of the door, shotgun at the ready, Vickie one step behind him, .38 leveled while Art gave the door a shove. The smell hit them right away and Jake and Vickie slipped inside, going right and left, Art following with an AR. Vickie's .38 barked twice and two uniformed infected dropped to the floor. They went through the building quickly, finding the remains of three or four other officers, it was hard to tell, and the corpse of a prisoner still locked in a holding cell. Vickie found a ring of keys on of the officers and used them to unlock a weapons cabinet while Jake took the belts and holsters from two others, adding two .357s to their armory. They came out of the building a few minutes later with revolvers and riot guns, tear gas canisters, pepper spray and ammo, along with two hand grenades, most of which went into the Honeywell's van. Vickie was also carrying a gym bag, which she placed on the rear seat of the Hummer.

  “Souvenirs,” she said at Jake's questioning look. He shrugged and got into the Hummer, insisting he was feeling well enough to drive for a while.

  Carolyn started to head to the van but Vickie took her elbow and whispered in her ear and she got in the back seat of the Hummer with her. Heading down the road away from town, they both bent over behind the front seat. Jake could hear them giggle but they didn't answer when he asked what was up. A minute or so later, Vickie asked him for his lighter and he handed it and a pack of cigarettes back to her, lighting one for himself after she passed them back. They lowered the back windows and leaned low again and he heard them both coughing.

  “The two of you ought to give up on the cigarettes,” he laughed at them. “Filthy habit, you know.” Then he caught a whiff of what they were smoking and jerked his head around to look at them. “Where did you come up with that?”

  “It was in my souvenir bag,” Vickie giggled before a coughing spell. “I found the evidence locker.”

  “Oh, good Lord, and you thought this was a good time to get wasted? Here in the middle of nowhere when we haven't even found a place to stay the night yet?”

  “Like you said, when something good comes your way, take advantage of it,” Vickie said, reaching over the seat to hold a sloppily rolled joint to his lips.

  “Cut it out,” Jake reproved, turning his head and batting her hand away.

  “Just for a moment back there at the gas station this morning, I thought maybe you could be a fun guy at least sometimes,” Carolyn sighed, disappointed.

  “I am a fun guy! But I know there’s a time for fun and a time to be serious!”

  Carolyn leaned close to Vickie, whispering in her ear and Vickie began to giggle. They finished the joint and Vickie climbed into the front seat, followed by Carolyn. She put her hand on Jake's thigh and moved it up between his legs, rubbing his crotch.

  “What is wrong with you!” he yelled, grabbing Vickie’s wrist and pulling her hand away. “I'm trying to drive here! We need to be on the lookout for a place to stay!”

  “It's okay,” Carolyn purred. “I told Vickie I wouldn't mind if the two of you got it on.”

  Jake turned the AC on full blast and directed the vents at their faces.

  “Would you please try to straighten up a little? Can we act like grownups here?”

  Carolyn leaned over and kissed Vickie on the mouth, slipping her hand under her blouse at the same time while Vickie reached for Jake again.

  Jake suddenly swerved to the side of the road and hit the brakes hard, bringing the Hummer to a sliding halt on the gravel shoulder. He got out and walked around to the passenger side, pulling a giggling Carolyn out and shoved her into the back seat, buckling her in. Then he grabbed Vickie and dragged her over to the van while Art and Ellen watched in confusion.

  “Vickie's riding with you for a while,” he said flatly as he pushed her through the sliding side door. He slammed it shut and headed back to the Hummer before anyone could say anything and spun the tires as he took off down the road again.

  “What on earth was that all about?” Ellen asked as Art hurried to catch up.

  “We were bad girls,” Vickie managed to say before breaking into another giggling fit.

  Art looked at her, frowning, in the rear view mirror and grunted.

  “You’re following a wicked path, Vickie,” he scolded. “Your parents didn’t raise you that way.”

  Vickie was more than a bit startled at the tone of his voice and sat quietly.

  Jake did his best to ignore Carolyn laughing in the back seat while he fumed behind the wheel. Another hour and a half of driving and he spotted a big farmhouse with a fenced yard, large cornfield behind it and surrounded by open fields on the other three sides. He turned in to the drive and Art pulled the van in after him.

  “You stay put!” he told Carolyn sternly and he walked to the van.

  “This looks like a good place to spend the night, anyway. How are you doing back there, Mark?”

  “Good. Carolyn did a nice job with the splint. Doesn't really hurt at all unless I do something stupid.”

  “Can you handle a pistol?”

  “Yeah. My right hand is fine.”

  “Good! I need you to stay here by the car and keep watch while Art and I clear the house. Okay?”

  Mark agreed and Jake and Art headed for the house. Again, Jake stood at the ready with the shotgun while Art opened the door. This time, the only smell was that of a stale house, one that's been sitting empty for some time. Still, they carefully checked each room and closet before going out to tell the others that it was safe. Jake took Vickie by the arm and marched her and Carolyn up onto the large porch, sitting each down in a wooden chair on opposite sides of th
e big front door.

  “You just sit there while we bring some supplies in! Don't get up! Don't move! Don't even talk!”

  This brought on another giggling fit and Jake let out an exasperated sigh and began helping Art and Ellen bring in supplies. When they'd brought in enough to last them a couple of days, Jake told the two young women they could come inside, but steered them to opposite sides of the living room.

  “This isn't a bad setup,” he said. “The house sits up pretty high, it won't be easy getting to the windows from the outside without something to climb up on and you can see a good long way in any direction. We might be able to stay here a while.”

  “And it doesn't stink of infected,” Mark put in.

  “Yeah, the family must have gotten out okay. Most of the cupboards are empty, the fridge is wide open, and dresser drawers are open like they packed in a hurry. Maybe they should have just stayed here.”

  “The stove works,” Ellen said, shaking the flame out on a stick match. “Looks like a gas well out back. We can have a hot supper.”

  “Maybe you should put on some coffee for the girls,” Art offered.

  “I don't think coffee will help,” Jake said. Vickie was dozing on a sofa while Carolyn was watching everyone with a bemused look on her face. “They'll be fine in a few hours.”

  “They must have found some pretty good stuff,” Mark chuckled. “I could smell it on Vickie as soon as you put her in the van.”

  “Yeah, well, I hope they got it out of their systems. Their 'souvenir' bag is forty miles down the road.”

  “What?” Carolyn asked in a small, high voice.

  Jake ignored her and turned to Art.

  “There's four bedrooms upstairs and a fifth room that looks like it was used as a sewing room. You and Ellen take the big one. Mark, you take one of the others and we'll put them in the third.”

  “Where are you sleeping?” Mark asked with a sly smile on his face.

  Art turned his head sharply toward Mark and scowled.

  “Look, it makes no difference to me how you get your kicks, but I don't go that way. That sofa folds out into a bed so I'll sleep down here tonight where I can keep an eye on the door. We'll work out a more permanent arrangement later, maybe.”