Enraged, nearly half the men charged the house, firing as they went, peppering the building with bullets, Gabe and Frank both futilely calling out for them to stop. No less than eight of them were injured or killed by booby traps set up among the obstacles in their paths, but the rest reached the porch and began firing blindly through the windows and the open doorway. Two men stormed inside, firing in all directions and, a few moments later, another explosion sounded and one man, ragged and bloody, staggered back outside to collapse in front of his fellows. No one else was eager to see what was inside the house and they all waited until Gabe and Frank cautiously picked their way through the obstructions and reached the building.
While Gabe cursed and railed at the men on the porch, freely giving out backhand slaps, Frank worked his way around the rear of the house, reappearing a few minutes later.
“The trucks are gone, the cars are gone, everything’s gone!” he reported.
“Shit! Shit! We got almost a dozen men down for nothing! You stupid fucking idiots! You see what happens when you don’t stick to the plan? Damn it! Let’s get the hell out of here before anything else happens!”
He turned and headed back toward their vehicles, careful to follow the same path he used to approach the house as smoke from the fire started by the second grenade started to drift through the open door and shattered windows.
The men sheepishly followed him, leaving behind their dead and the most grievously wounded, helping two along who could just walk on their own. When they reached their cars, Gabe went into a rage to find that all the tires were flat, coolant was still dripping on the ground and the two men he’d left to guard them were each tied to a tree.
“You stupid bastards!” he screamed, kicking and slapping each in turn several times. “Come on,” he said, waving to the rest of his gang. “These dumb asses can watch the cars ‘til Judgment Day now for all I care!”
“We ain’t leavin’ Bernie, are we?” Cy whined. “He’s still good for something, anyway.”
“You gonna cross me?” Gabe whirled around and stood face to face with him.
Cy backed away and Gabe started down the road, the rest of the sullen men following.
“Sorry, Bernie,” Cy said as he looked at his comrade for the last time. “You shoulda been on your toes, boy.”
Chapter 17: Reunion
Kate drove the 350 down the road, giggling and laughing over the way they’d surprised the two hapless guards, then tied them up, slashed the tires and cut the radiator hoses of the vehicles they were supposed to be guarding. Kim rode next to her, in a grim mood, complaining that they should have killed the bandits instead of just disarming them and tying them up.
“Do you have to be so damned blood-thirsty all the time, Kim?”
“I’m not thirsty for all blood,” she came back, “just the blood of people like them.”
“Well, I’d have liked to seen their faces when they found out the house was empty. I wonder what those explosions were, though. What the hell were they trying to blow up?”
“I set a couple of booby traps,” Kim calmly explained. “I hope I killed a lot of them.”
“Kim! What the hell? Anyone could have come across the house and you might have killed innocent people!”
Kim didn’t answer, just formed a cruel smile.
They caught up with the rest of their convoy in less than an hour and they all stopped around noon to stretch, grab a quick bite and change drivers. Hannah made a circle of rocks on the road shoulder and built a fire inside, intending to make a fresh pot of coffee for the rest of the trip.
“Do you think we have time for that?” Pete asked her.
“We’ve got plenty of time,” Kate assured him. “You don’t drive a car very long or very fast on four flats, especially with no coolant left.”
“You don’t drive one at all if you’re dead,” Kim added, bitterly.
“Okay, but let’s set up a watch, just in case. How’d you spot those guys, anyway?”
“We went to look at our little garden one last time, just to see how it was doing, and we saw all these cars headed toward the house,” Kate explained. “There were nine cars and two pickups and I recognized a couple of the men from when they were in my sights, trying to spy on the house. They were all armed and one of them had a sniper rifle. I wish I’d had time to track him down. Anyway, when they all disappeared into the brush, closing on the house, Kim and I got around behind the two guards. It wasn’t hard; they were passing a bottle back and forth and had no idea we were anywhere near.”
“The little fat one wet his pants when I reached around and held my knife under his chin,” Kim recalled with a malicious smile. “Kate wouldn’t let me cut his throat,” she added, accusingly. “I wanted to; I wanted to cut both their throats. I probably should have. I hope I don’t regret it.”
“Forget about them! They were just so pathetic! We’ve been all through the area and never found any sign of an encampment. It’ll take hours for them to get back to wherever they came from and they’ll be on foot until they can scrounge up some more vehicles.”
“Yeah, after a year of sitting, most of the cars that are left will need a bit of work to get on the road again,” Pete nodded. “Still, as soon as we get that coffee in our thermoses, we should put some miles behind us.”
“It will be wonderful to be around people again,” Liz sighed.
“Maybe,” Kim was wary. “Most of the people we’ve run into so far, well, I could do without.”
“We’re with friends now,” Kate told her, taking her hand. “We’re safe, we’re healthy, and we have a family. What happened at the diner…”
“I don’t want to talk about the diner,” Kim blurted out, rising to her feet. “I don’t ever want to talk about it or even think about it again!”
She stalked off back to the 350 and an awkward silence hovered over the small group until Hannah announced that the coffee was ready. Thermoses filled, they all piled back into their vehicles and, once again, headed toward Hollington.
“I was beginning to think the Kays had gotten over what happened to them,” Pete mentioned to Carolyn, who sat next to him in the big Army truck.
“Something like that doesn’t ever go away,” she told him. “You’re a man, you wouldn’t understand. They’re trying, but I don’t think either one of them will ever really trust another man. They do trust Jake and to some extent maybe you because you’re the ones who rescued them, but it’s never going to be easy for them to be comfortable around men again.”
“That’s sad. They’re both so young and pretty, it’d be a shame if they spent the rest of their lives alone.”
“What the hell? You think all women need a man to feel complete? I’m glad you’re in my life now, but I was very happy being with Vickie before you showed up.”
“Yes, dear. I’m wrong; you’re right.”
“You big doofus!” she scolded, punching his arm. “That was the right thing to say, but it would be better if you really meant it!”
It was slower going on the side roads but the main arteries were clogged in too many places with abandoned vehicles and occasional barricades for the big Army trucks to easily negotiate. They stopped just before dark at a roadside park a few dozen miles after passing a small substation. The latter was set back just far enough in an overgrown field that none of them paid much attention to it, but wary eyes watched as they passed. Eve remembered waving to Jayden there the last time they passed it and mentioned it to Pete, who said he’d keep it in mind, but had no intention of going back right then. Hannah and Liz handed out an MRE to each of them for supper while Kim sat apart from the others on a wooden bench near the edge of the park. She didn’t say a word to anyone but Kate, who brought her meal to her and sat and ate with her. The rest of the group enjoyed their usual nightly banter during and after their meal, Pete strumming his guitar while Hannah surprised everyone with a lewd ballad that made them laugh out loud.
Later, when Kate went
off to stand first watch, Carolyn saw Kim, still sitting apart from the rest, absently running her already razor-sharp knife across a stone. She watched for a while, disturbed that any member of their family group should feel uncomfortable with them and decided to approach her.
“You really should join us,” she said, sitting on the bench beside her. “You’re part of our family, and it hurts all of us to see you like this.”
“I know,” she answered in a small, wavering voice, sliding the knife back into its sheath. “It’s just remembering everything that happened before you found us.” Kim lowered her head and covered her face with her hands. Carolyn laid a hand on her shoulder and Kim stiffened for a moment before looking at her. She suddenly burst into tears and Carolyn enveloped her in her arms, holding her tightly as she sobbed and trembled. It took several long minutes before she was able to speak again and then it was as if floodgates were opened and, tears on her cheeks, she poured out her story to Carolyn.
“I’d never been with a man before. My family was very old-fashioned, very strict. I had a fiancé, Ning. He was Chinese, and my parents were not happy with my choice at first, but he was so kind and loving and he treated them with respect and honor and eventually won them over. We were to be married last summer, but the world fell apart before that could happen. The only intimacy we had together was holding hands, stealing a few kisses while my parents pretended not to notice. I always imagined what our wedding night would be like, how wonderful it would be.
“They came to the shelter where we were staying,” Kim continued after another long pause to steady herself. “We all believed we would be safe there. My parents, my poor Ning, the rest of the people there, they killed them all, except for the women. I thought the infection was the worst nightmare. I was wrong.”
“I won’t pretend to understand what you went through,” Carolyn spoke quietly. “I can’t even begin to imagine it but it’s over now, those men are dead. We’re here with you now, all of us together. We’ve all lost families, friends, and our old, comfortable, familiar way of life. None of that is ever coming back. Things have happened to you, to most of us, that you believe you’ll never be able to get past, but we still have to go on living. Not just surviving, but living, making a life for ourselves, for our new family.”
“I understand what you’re saying, and I do think of all of you as family. It’s just being so close to those kind of men again. I was denied my revenge on them. Jake and Pete killed them, and I’m grateful they did, but it was something I needed to do myself. When I see that there are still men out there like that…”
“It’s all over now,” Carolyn again told her. “I wish this had never happened to you, to your family, but I swear the rest of us would die to prevent it happening again.”
“I want to forget what happened to me, to Kate and Hannah and Susan and all the other women who were…” Kim’s voice faltered and she had to stop again. “That’s where I met Kate. She was taken a week or two before I was. We found each other, consoled each other and, as time went on, became much more than simply two victims clinging to each other for support. I would have died without her, just as all of us would have died without Jake and Pete and Vickie rescuing us. I owe my life to them, to all of you. I can never adequately thank you for that.”
“Families are always there for each other. They don’t need to be thanked; they just need to be together. Will you come on back and join the rest of your family now?”
Kim nodded and then reached out to hug Carolyn, quietly sobbing for a minute or so until she was able to collect herself and they rejoined the rest of the group. After a time, she began to loosen up little by little, even smiling at Pete and complimenting him on his playing. Carolyn whispered in Pete’s ear as they finally broke off for the night and he nodded and went to relieve a surprised Kate early, telling her that Kim needed her tonight.
The night was warm and most of them slept in the open, on sleeping bags atop picnic tables or in the grass, weapons always close to hand. Tom relieved Pete around two in the morning and the rest of the night passed uneventfully.
After a modest breakfast and filling their thermoses once again, they topped off their tanks and reloaded their vehicles. Miles down the road; they ran into a small herd of drones, perhaps fifteen in number. Some of them charged the vehicles, but their bodies barely registered on the big green trucks in the lead, bouncing off the thick logs wired to the front bumpers, some crushed beneath the wheels. They stopped again around noon for a quick lunch and to check the vehicles for damage, and were on their way again in less than an hour.
The Hollington walls came into view later that afternoon. Pete, with Carolyn beside him, drove one of the big trucks to within a hundred yards of the gate and they stepped out to show themselves to the sentries. Ted and Joaquin came out with a half dozen other men to meet them and, after checking each vehicle and their occupants, allowed them to enter. Joaquin made it a point to tell Kim how glad he was to have them there but she merely threw him an icy glare and turned away. Vickie greeted them inside the walls as soon as they alit from the vehicles, hugging Carolyn and assuring everyone that Jake was recovering nicely and was waiting by the main building. Everyone except those on guard duty or with other pressing tasks, turned out to shake hands and make introductions and Phil had already arranged temporary quarters for them.
Jake was sitting in a lounge chair just outside of the main building smoking a cigarette and broke out into a huge smile at the sight of his friends. Pete began to catch him up on events at the farmhouse while Carolyn frowned at the cigarette in his hand. She turned to glare at Vickie who shrugged her shoulders in a display of helplessness.
“You did the right thing,” Jake told Pete. “The two places are too far apart for us to divide our time between them both. I could just see them waiting until half of us were on the road to attack. I’d like to have seen the look on their faces when they saw all the flat tires.”
“I still think we should have killed them,” Kim stated flatly. “We should have turned around and caught them on foot on the road and wiped them all out.”
“We’ll fight when we have to,” Jake countered, not failing to notice the way Joaquin looked at her. “I don’t want to take any unnecessary chances with any of your lives. On foot, they’ll be a lot more vulnerable to the infected. They may just take care of the matter for us.”
“I could have taken care of them myself,” Kim persisted.
“Maybe so,” Jake told her, “but we don’t need to lose another member of our family.”
Kim had a comeback ready, but hearing again how she was part of a family stilled her voice and she turned and walked off a short distance.
“I’d like to get started on our new place in the morning,” Pete said after a moment, turning to Ted.
“Good enough. We can loan you the use of six or eight men to help out and we’ve gathered a lot of building materials here in anticipation of your arrival.”
“That’ll make it easier,” Pete smiled. “Jake, are you up to coming out with us to look it over?”
“He is not,” Vickie answered for him. “Dr. Vargas wants him to rest for at least another week and I’m going to make sure he listens.”
“I guess I’m overridden,” Jake laughed. “You know what needs to be done, Pete. I’m going to take it easy for a few more days-”
“For at least a week” Vickie sternly insisted.
“…for about a week. Then, if the warden here will let me, I’ll come and see how it’s going.”
“Now that that’s decided, let’s get you settled in. We have a big dinner planned to welcome you and there might even be a few bottles to pass around,” Ted announced.
They got to know most of the Hollington people over dinner and drinks and began to feel genuinely welcome. Joaquin tried to position himself as close to Kim as possible, but Jake stepped in front of him, cutting him off and invited him to sit on the other side of the table where he and Vickie were. St
ill, he spoke across the table to her at every opportunity, despite receiving only the most terse replies or icy silence in return.
After dinner, Joaquin offered his services as guide to the newcomers and gave them a tour of the compound, staying as near to Kim as he could without making himself too blatantly obvious. Kate was more than a little annoyed at his attention to her mate, but at the same time watched Kim closely, ready to step in, if necessary, and stop her from doing anything rash. The tour ended and he walked next to her to show the Kays to their assigned quarters, asking her what she thought of the place, trying to draw her into conversation. Kim suddenly stopped and turned to face him, moving so close their bodies almost touched. She had to tilt her head slightly backward to look him straight in the eye and smiled sweetly at him. Joaquin beamed back at her and held her gaze for a few moments before he felt the edge of her Bowie knife pressing up menacingly between his legs against his crotch.
“Goodnight, Mr. Santiago,” she said in a very pleasant, friendly voice as she pointedly lifted the knife a bit higher, causing him to raise up on his toes before sheathing it and turning to walk into her room with Kate.
“That Kim, she is quite the woman,” he said to Ted shakily as he watched the sway of her hips. “How do they say, a ‘femme fatale’?”
“How do they say ‘castration’ my friend?” Ted asked before heading off himself.
Joaquin chuckled, but it was a nervous laugh and his forehead beaded with sweat when he noticed the neat slit she’d made through his pants.
Chapter 18: The Bandits Regroup
His wrists were raw and bloody but Bernie was finally loosening the ropes that bound his hands behind his back. His partner, Lou, was having much less luck with his own bonds. Both men froze at the sound of rustling in the brush near the clearing. Bernie struggled frantically and managed to slip his hands free. With effort, he was able to reach his pocketknife and began sawing at the ropes which still circled the tree, pinning his arms and torso to it. He then used the knife to cut his feet loose and turned to Lou just as the first infected broke into the clearing. It spotted them immediately and moved toward them, uttering a low growl as it advanced. Lou begged Bernie to hurry up, but a second drone appeared, then a third and a fourth and Bernie panicked and began running while Lou screamed and pleaded for him to stop.
The Complete Lethal Infection Trilogy Page 39