Slow Burn Box Set: The Complete Post Apocalyptic Series (Books 1-9)

by Bobby Adair

  I shook my head. “We were the only three, and I’m not sure about one of us.”

  “So there are just three of you?”

  “You know we’re armed.” I told him, wanting to make that point clear. As much as I wanted to trust Wilkins, my first moments in the building were giving me pause.

  “That’s not why I’m asking,” he assured me. “We mean you no harm. The cadets didn’t intend to threaten you when the elevator door opened. It’s just that we all have to be more careful now. You understand that, don’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “I watched you through the window,” he said. “You picked up a lot of weapons for just three guys.”

  “We were planning for the worst.”

  “What can I do to talk you out of some of those weapons?” he asked.

  That made me think. They were just people like me, trying not to get killed. They were wary. We all had a right to be. I asked, “What do you know about the rifles the soldiers were carrying?”

  “It’s the standard weapon. It’s a military issue M-4.”

  “Shows you what I know,” I said. “I was guessing an AR-15.”

  “Same thing, Zed. One is for civilian use, the other, military.”

  “Ah,” I said. “Well, I don’t know anything about how to use or take care of one.”

  “You looked like you handled it pretty well out in the quad,” said Wilkins, “when you were shooting the infected.”

  “Well, as long as nothing goes wrong, I’m good. But like I said, I don’t know anything about taking care of a gun unless it shoots paintballs.”

  “You’re a paintball player?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I nodded.

  “So is my son,” he said.

  “It’s a lot of fun.”

  “Yep,” he agreed. “I hope he’s okay.”

  “Is he here in town?” I asked.

  “No.” he shook his head. “He’s in the Army, stationed up at Fort Hood.”

  I didn’t know whether to offer encouragement or condolences. “Look, we’ve got more guns than we need right now. We can spare at least one M-4, and I may be able to go out and pick up those other guns. I mean, my luck has got to get better than it’s been. If you’ll show me how to handle one of these properly and how to take care of it, we’ll call it even.”

  “That sounds good. How are you guys set for food?” Wilkins asked.

  “Same as you, I imagine. We had eight vending machines and they all seem stocked—at least the ones I broke into.”

  “We’ve got four in this building,” Wilkins told me.

  “But there have got to be at least a thousand spread all over campus,” I speculated.

  “You’re probably right about that,” Wilkins agreed.

  “It’s not nutritious, but it’s a lot of food with a long shelf life.” I thought for a second about what else we might need. “How are you guys set for electronics? We don’t have anything.”

  “I’ve got a cell phone with half a charge,” said Wilkins. “Mark may have a charger for his. Most of the guys have laptops, but again, only a couple have cords to plug them in.”

  I nodded. It wasn’t great but it was better than nothing.

  “Zed, you seem like a good guy to me.”

  “Okay…”

  “I don’t know what tomorrow will bring,” said Wilkins, “but we might all be better off if we combine forces, so to speak, and work together.”

  I nodded. “Sure, we don’t have plans past getting through the day. I mean, we talked about some things, but frankly, it’s all guesswork. Do you guys want to move in together?” I laughed. “Your place or ours?”

  Wilkins thought on that for a few moments. “Getting together in one building would be best. This building isn’t defensible—too many windows downstairs. Your building has fewer ground floor windows that we’d need to fortify. We might make do with that until we figure out something better.”

  “That’s fine,” I agreed. “We’ve got plenty of room. We’re camped out on the fifth floor. The rooms up there have great views of the surrounding areas and they each have bunks for four.”

  “That sounds good,” said Wilkins. “Are you sure you’re comfortable with us moving in?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I’m not worried about the elevator thing. The world is going crazy and we’re all on edge. Besides Major, you seem like a good guy.”

  Wilkins asked, “And your CDC man won’t mind?”

  “I doubt it,” I answered. “He’d welcome the company. I think he’s afraid to be by himself.”

  “Okay,” said Wilkins, seeming satisfied with the progress of our little negotiation. “That leaves the girls in Blanton.”

  I shook my head on that subject. “What are you thinking?”

  “I have an idea,” he said, “but you might not like it.”

  Chapter 24

  With a sour look on his face, Mark swung the door open and I walked out into the blazing afternoon heat with a fully-loaded pistol in hand and half a magazine to spare. The air tasted of ash. The formerly ubiquitous traffic noise from the highway was gone. Howls of the infected echoed between the buildings. The sound of distant gunfire popped in the air—the sounds of civilization falling apart.

  My feet crunched brown blades of grass as I walked out into the center of the quad. The infected lurking in the shadows of the giant oaks and behind the shady bushes gave me only a passing glance.

  I squinted in the harsh light and realized that I needed sunglasses if I was going to function in the daylight hours with permanently dilated pupils.

  I turned and looked up at the window on the fifth floor of the dorm where I thought Jerome would be cowering—unless Murphy had turned, broke free, and ate him. I waved an arm and watched the dormer window.

  Nothing.

  I waved again, but got no response. “What a pussy.”

  I went about my business of collecting. With a specific prize in mind, I was lucky to find a pair of sunglasses in the pocket of the first dead soldier I came to. Seeing that the infected had no interest in me, I collected two full sets of gear including tactical vests, helmets, and weapons.

  On my way back to the ROTC building I angled close by the dormitory to see what I might see.

  The click of the mirrored glass door on the side of the dorm startled me. I stopped and looked over. Jerome poked his head out nervously and waved me over.

  I looked around to check on the state of the infected in the area. I headed over toward Jerome, and harshly whispered, “What the hell, dude.”

  Jerome nodded his head toward the infected and gave me a look that said ‘stay quiet.’ He swung the door open wide for me and noiselessly pulled it closed behind us.

  In the long hallway that ran the length of the building, I laid the equipment on the floor and turned on Jerome. I made no attempt to mask my anger. “Damn it, Jerome, I could have been killed by those infected. You were supposed to open the door. What the hell?”

  “Dude, dude. Be cool, man.”

  I shook my head. “No, I don’t need to be cool, man. What I need to do is beat your ass.”

  Jerome stepped back. In a condescending tone, he said, “Don’t go all Neanderthal on me, Zed. Grow up. I did what I had to do.”

  “You had to lock me out because you’re a pussy, you mean?”

  “Zed, if I had let you in with a hundred infected chasing you and hundreds more coming up the street, how long do you think that door would have held once they saw you come through it?”

  I didn’t answer. My rage had bubbled to the surface and my brain, impaired by anger, was in no mood to hear reason.

  “Think about it, man.”

  I huffed and picked the gear up off the floor just to keep my fists from balling up and beating Jerome.

  “You know I’m right. They would have come in here and killed you, me, Murphy, and that girl. And then where would you be?”

  I held up my freshly bitten and still oozing forearm for Je
rome to see. “They wouldn’t have killed us. They don’t seem to like our flavor.”

  “But one bit you anyway,” he argued.

  “Duh.” It’s amazing how much you can make one syllable sound like “fuck you anyway,” when you really try.

  “Don’t you see, Zed?”

  “See what?”

  “Just because they don’t want to eat us doesn’t mean they won’t injure us if they’re in an excited state. They might even kill us.”

  I headed toward the elevator.

  “By the way, what happened to the girl?” he asked.

  “She’s fine,” I said. “She’s in the building next door.”

  As we rode the elevator up, I quickly related what had transpired. We were standing in the hall on the fifth floor when I finished and I told him about Wilkins’ idea that we join forces.

  Jerome said, “That’s not a good idea.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked him.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea to have them here. We don’t know these guys.”

  “Jerome, twenty-four hours ago, I didn’t know you. Forty-eight hours ago, I didn’t know Murphy.”

  Shaking his head, he argued, “That’s not what I’m trying to say. They’re not like us.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “Infected.”

  I snorted and looked away. “I talked to them. We’re cool. They know what the deal is. They know we’re fine. Speaking of which, how’s Murphy?”

  “This is a bad idea.” We reached the door of our commandeered room. “Murphy started coming around about a half hour ago.”

  “And?” I asked.

  “And I think he’s going to be like us, a slow burner.”

  I nodded and went in.

  Murphy was sitting on the bed guzzling a sports drink. His cuffs were off.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked.

  “Like crap,” Murphy answered.

  “It gets better,” I offered. “Drink lots of liquids. Eat what you can. By this time tomorrow, you’ll be back to normal, or at least as normal as you’re ever going to be again.”

  Murphy made a show of looking down at the light-colored skin on his arms. He shook his head. “Are you saying I’m staying this color?”

  “Yes,” Jerome answered. “Just be happy you didn’t turn into one of the cannibals.”

  “Cannibals?” Murphy asked.

  I said, “You’ve missed a lot while you were out.”

  “How long?” Murphy asked.

  I turned to Jerome. “Why don’t you fill Murphy in? I’m going to get the people from next door.”

  “Zed, I still think it’s a bad idea,” said Jerome.

  “I know,” I answered. “But it’s a done deal, so let’s be big boys and deal with it.”

  I picked up a couple of M-4s that were leaning against the wall, booty from my earlier trip outside. “Jerome, are these loaded?”

  He nodded.

  “I’ll take these two with me,” I told him. “Are those clips full?”

  “The ones on the left are.” He pointed. “The ones on the right are empty.”

  “Thanks.” I scooped up a few magazines.

  Jerome said, “I know you’re mad, but you did the right thing, helping that girl. That was heroic.”

  It was hard, really hard but I said, “You did too, Jerome. If you’d opened the door, we’d probably all have been killed.”

  “What are you guys talking about?” Murphy asked.

  “He’ll tell you.” I headed downstairs.

  The dormitory and the ROTC building were rectangular buildings, erected in line with one another. They formed the southern boundary of the east mall, which lay on the opposite side of the buildings from the quad and Gregory Gym. Because of that, the door at the east end of the dorm fed directly into the door at the western end of the ROTC building with a mere twenty feet of sidewalk in between.

  As Major Wilkins and I had arranged, his group was waiting at the western door of the ROTC building when I got to the dormitory’s eastern door. I leaned the extra M-4s against the wall just inside the door and checked the gap between the buildings for lingering infected. I saw that it was clear, and swung the door open. I held it wide and stepped out as far as I could into the gap. I saw infected in the distance, but there were no nearby threats.

  I raised a finger to my lips to indicate quiet and waved Wilkins’ group across.

  Moments later, Wilkins, Felicity, and the five ROTC guys were in the dorm—with the door closing behind—each exhaling breath they probably hadn’t realized they were holding.

  Two of the ROTC guys, Mark and Tom, wasted no time in taking ownership of the weapons I’d leaned against the wall.

  I said, “There’s more ammunition upstairs. We don’t have enough weapons for everyone, but there are a lot more outside.”

  “Thanks,” Wilkins said, reaching out to shake my hand.

  I grabbed Wilkins’ hand and noticed Mark flinch. I glanced and down at my hand to check for blood and gory bits. Nothing.

  Mark’s reaction rattled me. Something wasn’t right.

  Wilkins fished a pair of car keys out of his pocket and handed them to me. “I can go with you,” he said.

  “I can go outside, because I’m infected,” I told him bluntly. “If you go out, the infected will come after you and we won’t stand a chance. Thanks for offering though.”

  Wilkins silently agreed.

  Felicity jumped between us and threw her arms around me. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

  I shrugged as she let go. “Thank me when I get back with your friends.”

  She pulled out her cell phone and gave it to me. “Remember, call Amber. She’s on my favorites list, the first one.”

  “Okay,” I said. “They know I’m coming and they’re ready to go, right?”

  “Yes,” Felicity confirmed.

  “And your phone has enough of a charge?” I asked.

  “About half a charge,” she said, “but that should be more than enough.”

  “Yeah, okay.” I looked everyone over. “Jerome is up on the fifth floor. He and Murphy know you’re coming but be sure to say something when you get off the elevator, just in case.”

  “Will do,” Wilkins told me.

  With my pistol drawn, I opened the door and went back out into the heat.

  Chapter 25

  With a callousness that should never have grown so quickly, I walked among the scattered remains of the soldiers, picked out another M-4, and morbidly restocked my ammunition supply. An extra pistol seemed like a good idea, but I cut off my shopping trip there, not wanting to burden myself unduly for when I’d next have to run for my life.

  A faculty parking lot lay two blocks over, just as Wilkins had told me. Among the half-dozen cars, I easily spotted his gray sedan. As I approached the vehicle, I clicked the remote once to unlock the driver’s side door. The car responded with a chirp and a flash of the parking lights.

  Oops.

  I looked around quickly as I realized that it would most likely be some old habit from a different world that would eventually get me killed.

  A half-dozen infected were looking at or already running toward the car.

  I ran the last twenty feet, flung the driver’s door open, tossed in the M-4, followed it in, and slammed the door shut just as two infected pounced on the car. One landed on the hood and immediately started to beat on the windshield with his fist. The other tried to press his face through the glass on the passenger side window.

  “Stupid.” Adrenaline shook my hands as I found the ignition key and started the engine.

  The sound of the relatively quiet engine was enough to send the infected into a frenzy. The car bounced as two more infected bodies slammed into its side. The windshield cracked under the persistent fist of the infected woman on the hood.

  I shoved the car into reverse and spun the wheels as I backed out. I ran over a soft bump and counted one infected
dead. With the crazy infected clawing at the glass all around, I backed into a parked pickup I didn’t see. I shifted the transmission, punched the accelerator to the floor, and the front-wheel drive pulled the car hard right, into two more infected. They rolled off the hood as I raced toward the parking lot exit. I swerved hard to make the turn, and the infected woman on my hood slipped away and skittered across the asphalt.

  I raced out onto the street and caught another infected with the passenger side bumper, breaking out the headlight. I checked the rearview mirror. A dozen infected were running up the street in full speed pursuit.

  When I hit forty, I figured I’d better dodge as many infected as I could, lest I damage the car’s radiator with an impact. They were everywhere—coming out into the street and onto the sidewalks, out on the expansive lawns, from the gardens and fountains. As I passed, every single head snapped in my direction. Every one of the infected flowed into the street after me.

  Good God, there were thousands.

  I pushed the car to sixty as another one of the infected glanced off the passenger side of the vehicle.

  I smashed the brakes hard and rubber screamed on the asphalt as the car floated into a left turn. I spun the car out on a broad boulevard near the northern edge of the campus and headed west.

  I regained control and accelerated toward a wide pedestrian bridge that linked the main campus with the buildings to the north. A hundred heads popped up above the rail on the pedestrian bridge as I rolled under. Just as the echo of the engine bounced back to me off of the concrete all around, I saw the dark silhouette of a body fall in front of me from the walkway above.

  I braked and swerved as two more bodies fell. I hit one with the bumper just as the car jarred under the double impact of one on the hood and another on the roof. The windshield shattered into a translucent web.

  My foot found the accelerator again and the infected rolled off, but I was nearly blind and speeding west.

  I looked to my left and right to gauge my position in the road, and to judge how much further I needed to go. I prayed nothing lay in the street in front of me.

  The car lurched from another impact. A body smashed partially through the windshield with a crunch of bones and a splatter of blood. The girl now stuck in the windshield had done me the favor of knocking out enough of the shattered glass for me to see ahead.