by Gary Hickman
Thomas leaned forward on his chair, narrowed his eyes at Priest and spoke carefully,” That also includes articles of war if we deem it necessary.”
Thomas leaned back in his seat and his face took on a more casual demeanor, “People take you seriously when you can speak to the level of the room or above it, such as in my case. Mr. Priest, knowing the answer to this question before I ask, I still feel compelled to ask, anyway. How would you like to join our little family? You and your fellow soldiers, that is. You could help with ensuring our existence, providing much needed security and tactics advise, while you help to spread our authority across the region to re-establish humanity?”
Priest looked at him and the smile left his face, “I assume we would just be the silent minority? The spearhead to further your cause? Just doing what we’re told and keeping our mouth shut? Does that sum it up accurately?”
Thomas thought pensively, and Priest could see the diplomatic wheels turning in Thomas’s mind.
Priest knew a lot of shit was getting ready to spew from Thomas’s mouth and he didn’t wait for an answer, “With the prior attempts to kill us earlier, the nice job your associates did on my face and body, I am afraid I will have to decline. You understand that with my pride, it’s hard to let that just fly. I have killed people for much, much less than this. I will miss our little talks, though,” Priest spoke in a raspy voice.
He continued, “The fact that I considered your offer for a split second, might earn me some water?”
“Ah, Mr. Priest. I would love to accommodate you, but I feel that would confuse our relationship. It might be seen as a betrayal to the rest of our group.”
“Well, I expected as much. Thought I’d ask, though,” Priest said and then spit on the floor. Blood and phlegm mixed in a small pool by Thomas’s boots.
“You might want to keep that in your mouth, Mr. Priest. No telling when the next time you’ll have something to drink may be.” Thomas said as he looked down at his boot.
“I’ll be fine, but thank you for your concern. To reciprocate your kindness, sans the beating you levied on me. Let me extend an offer to you. Our group could use an educated man who knows the area and could assist us in acquiring needed resources. How about you join our group instead? You let me go, I take out these fuckheads, and we mosey on up to the compound together. What do you say?”
Priest knew Thomas wouldn’t accept his offer, but for a moment, he swore he saw consideration flash across Thomas’s face.
Thomas laughed and stood up. “Mr. Priest, you paint a rosy picture. Had we met a little while ago, I might have taken you up on that tempting offer. Just the opportunity to listen to your various quips is reason enough to join.”
The men behind him bristled about and mumble to themselves, but Thomas raised his hand to silence them.
“I am afraid I will have to decline. You see, Mr. Priest, here I am the one in charge; the one making decisions, the one with the last word. I have no illusions to the fact that with your group, I would be regulated down to just a participant. One who may offer an opinion, but who would be ignored and looked upon as a lesser contributor.”
Priest shook his head, “Honestly, as soon as my hand was free, I would have ripped out your fucking windpipe, then waded through these fucking skirts you use as soldiers.”
Priest grinned as he spat another wad of blood and phlegm on the floor. It was quickly becoming more blood than phlegm.
“Ah, again with that humor of yours. I would love to stick around and entertain you further, but I am afraid I have to leave you now. Don’t worry though, I have a special “skirt” coming to spend time with you and he will provide his complete and undivided attention. Mr. Priest, let me introduce you to my right-hand man, Mr. Brody.”
Priest thought he recognized the man as the one from the gate at the compound. As Mr. Brody walked a little closer, Priest recognized him. It was definitely the same man, and he didn’t look all too pleased.
“Ahh, Mr. Brody. I think I remember him from the yacht club,” Priest chuckled. Brody walked up to him and kicked Priest in the gut, causing his chains to bounce back and forth.
“Shit!” Priest yelled. “That was fucking uncalled for. Your dingy never measured up to my cabin cruiser.”
Brody started towards Priest again, but Thomas stopped him.
“I apologize, Mr. Priest. My friend, Mr. Brody here, is not as cordial as myself. He is a little more direct, and I must admit, I don’t have the stomach for this kind of stuff. You know, we can skip all of this if you would just agree to allow us access to the facility.”
“Well, I would love to have you over for tea, but our neighbors are extremely judgmental and I just don’t have the patience to get into it with them again.” Priest showed a bloody smile.
Thomas was laughing and shaking his head, “Mr. Priest, I really enjoy your company. Unfortunately, I don’t think you will be in the same frame of mind after your “quality” time with Mr. Brody.”
“That is a shame,” Priest retorted.
Brody walked up and pulled a large hunting knife from its sheath. He put it on a nearby table and walked over to Priest. Grabbing the collar of Priest’s t-shirt, he ripped it in two. He scanned Priest’s body and looked back at Thomas. With Priest’s heightened adrenaline level, the multiple scars all over his body were radiating a sickly redness. Thomas showed an instance of shock but quickly tried to hide it.
“Well, Mr. Priest. You have had some troubles in your lifetime, I see. Had a rough go of it?”
“Yeah, rough childhood. Fell off a few jungle gyms back when I was a kid,” Priest responded.
“Oh goodness, Mr. Priest. Such a character, even though you’re facing undue torment. I must go now, because like I said before, I can’t stomach this kind of thing. We’ll talk later.”
Thomas walked away, stopped and turned back towards Priest, “Maybe.” He turned back around and left the room.
Priest shifted his eyes to Brody, who had picked up the knife again and stood there looking at him.
Priest looked down at his scars, then raised his head with an evil, bloody grin. “Bring it bitch!”
CHAPTER 40
“Where the fuck is he?” Shaw yelled as he went berserk.
“We don’t know, Shaw, calm down.” Webb was trying to reason with him. In the last few hours, they had lost communications with Priest, and the infected were making their way toward the facility. Doc had just come back from a surveillance run, and he couldn’t find any sign of Priest or his bike. They cut his search short because of the progress the horde had already made.
“We got to go out and find him! Are you sure you looked? Probably didn’t know what the fuck you were doing out there,” Shaw spat. Doc’s mouth stuck open as he looked down and then walked away.
Webb looked over at Doc with empathy, but needed to address Shaw first.
Webb reached out, “Stay with me, brother. We’ll find him, I promise. You know I wouldn’t leave anyone out there, least of which, Priest. I need you to stay focused.”
Shaw huffed, but Webb could see him visibly come down a few notches. Shaw was showing the most emotion Webb had ever seen from him, except for the rage he unleashed in battle. Webb knew Shaw and Priest were tight, like brothers, and that Shaw would take the fact Priest was missing the hardest. Webb saw the rage in Shaw’s eyes dissipate, but not the determination.
“Sorry, Cap. I’m good. I’m good to go.” Shaw said with a slight bit of embarrassment showing on his face. He looked over and saw Doc walking away down the hall.
Shaw called after him, and Doc stopped and turned around. Shaw thought about how he lashed out at Doc for no reason, and tears formed in his
eyes. He reached out and grabbed Doc in a bear hug.
“I’m sorry, brother. I didn’t mean it. I know you did all you could out there. I have been too hard on you lately, and I am sorry.”
Doc said nothing.
“Are we cool?” There was silence. “It would mean a lot if I had your forgiveness, so I can move on and concentrate on the mission ahead.”
Silence.
“Come on, Doc, I said I was sorry. I….”
A small voice interrupted Shaw.
“I – I would answer… if… if….I….could….breathe.” Doc squeaked out.
“Oh, shit! Sorry.” Shaw let Doc go and watched the color came back into his face.
Doc looked up at him, wheezing. “How the hell can you hug Allison and not kill the poor woman?”
Shaw laughed and slapped him on his back.
“We’re good, brother. I know where your head is. It’s cool, Shaw.”
Webb walked over. “We’ll find him, big man, you have my word on that.”
Webb then walked back over to the console in the CC and announced on the facility comms, “I need all hands on me ASAP.”
Within minutes, all were present. “Ok, here is our situation: We have lost communications with Priest and after a preliminary search, we can’t find him or his bike.” Lia’s eyes went wide.
Webb put his palms up, “Believe me; we will find him. I promise. Unfortunately, we have a bigger problem at the moment. These local fucks are leading a massive horde this way. Their plans are to have the infected storm this place, kill all of us, lead the infected away and then take the place for themselves. This is all speculation at this point, but we strongly believe that is their intentions from the get-go. So, our immediate effort is to address this large group of infected. Whether we kill them, redirect them or something in between, they are the immediate threat. I don’t like leaving Priest out there any more than you do, but we have to prioritize our risks and plan accordingly. We have a few ideas, but I want to hear from the scientist staff. Dr. Caulfield, any opinions?”
Dr. Caulfield looked at him quizzically, “You gentlemen are the problem solvers, why are you asking me?”
Webb walked closer to him, “Based on what little you know about the behavior and trends of the infected, we wanted to know your opinion on the matter.”
“Hmm, well, I believe once they focus in on this place, it will become a beacon for them. Once they realize they are uninfected in here, they will do everything they can, to get in. So they will need to be put down.”
Webb turned to Bethany. “Dr. Rand?”
“I would have to agree with Dr. Caulfield. They will key on this place. So, I believe you will have to deal with them again if not eliminated.”
“Duly noted. Dr. Holtz?” He wasn’t really paying attention. Once they brought the live specimen in, Dr. Holtz had been totally focused on it.
“Yeah, whatever. I agree with them,” he said with a wave of his hand.
“Okaaay, Dr. Santiago. Any opinion?”
“I really have little to offer. Once I spend more time with the specimen, then I will figure out where I stand on things.”
“Last but not least, Dr. Costa?”
“From interaction with these things, I believe they will have to be eliminated. Once, they have become focused on a potential killing field, they will focus and will continue to return. Especially if they have nothing else in the region to focus on.”
Webb nodded. “Ok, then eradication is our agreed upon solution?” All nodded in agreement “Then let’s plan for Armageddon.”
CHAPTER 41
Brody walked into Thomas’s makeshift office with a dejected air about him.
“Well?” Thomas asked, as he eyed the man.
“He ain’t going to tell us shit, and I don’t think he will help us get into the compound. Between you and me, that is one hard ass mother fucker. I’ve seen no one take that kind of punishment.”
“Hmm, well, if all those scars were any indicator…” Thomas made a face like the image repulsed him.
“You didn’t see all the ones on his back. It was like they whipped him like a dog.” Brody added.
“Ok, we haven’t dealt with anyone like him before, but no worries. We will see if his friends are as hard as he is. Bring his gear here, and we’ll see if we can contact his friends over at the facility. We will use him as a bargaining chip. If that doesn’t work, then I guess we will just let the infected do the dirty work. It’s much more cumbersome, but we have waited this long to take over. A few more weeks won’t kill us.” Thomas had a satisfied grin on his face.
A little while later, Brody returned with all of Priest’s gear and his communication equipment. Thomas patched it in to their equipment.
He looked at Brody, “Hopefully, it is still on the correct frequency.” Thomas keyed the mic. “Hello? Hello, I am trying to reach those in the CDC facility in Boone, North Carolina. Can you hear me?”
The Light Reaper Team had been planning their defense against the infected when a voice came over their comm system. The team looked at each other and then all turned to Webb. He cautiously walked over to the microphone like it was a rattlesnake ready to strike.
“This is the CDC facility, go ahead.”
“Ah, excellent. My name is Thomas Baker, and I’m the replacement mayor of our little community here. I would like to welcome you to our little town.”
“Well, we appreciate the hospitality.” Webb asked.
“Just a miscommunication, I assure you. With whom am I speaking with?”
“This is Captain Marcus Webb. Commander of the Light Reapers/101st Airborne, U.S. Army.”
“Oh, my goodness, that is a mouthful.”
“Just giving you all of it. I believe in transparency.”
“I couldn’t agree with you more, Captain Webb. Let me cut to the chase, if I may. You are in possession of a facility that we truly believe is ours. We have planned for years for this exact situation. Those plans specifically included the facility you now occupy. Hopefully, you can see the situation for what it is.”
“Ok, so let me understand this. You want this facility because it is part of your “plans”, and you want us to just hand it over to you?”
“It seems that my oratory skills have not diminished. You understand completely.”
“Mr. Baker, I am afraid we cannot do that. We have important work going on here that could benefit us, your community, and the entire country.”
“Now, that sounds quite important, and I’m sure you believe that you are doing what’s right. Here is the reality of it; you are trespassing on our property and holding on to that site when you have no right to do so. You and your associates can walk out right now, and we will allow you safe passage to go wherever you wish.”
“That sure is kind of you, Mr. Baker, and it is a generous offer. I am afraid we will have to respectfully, decline.”
Thomas let out a heavy sigh, “Captain Webb, I was hoping you would see things with more clarity, so let me see if I make things clearer for you.” Webb could hear his voice change tone.
Thomas continued, “You were engaged because you have trespassed on OUR facility, on OUR town, and on OUR carefully laid out plans. You will vacate that facility and set up in another area.”
“We are not leaving and will take our chances with the infected with which you are leading right to our doorstep!”
“Captain Webb, you are in no position to refuse or to dictate how things will go. I hold all the cards here.”
“Frankly, you hold shit, Mr. Baker.”
“Is that so? How about we ask our new distinguished guest, Mr. Priest.”
Webb let go of the mic.
Shaw was enraged again, “That cock sucking mother fucker! I’m going to rip out his fucking heart!” Allison was trying to calm him down.
“Quiet it down, Shaw. We can’t let him know he has us,” Webb pleaded.
“Captain Webb? Cat got your tongue? I’ll take it by your silence that you were not expecting that.” Thomas’s voice came over the radio with a sly and condescending tone.
“It doesn’t change things, Mr. Baker.”
“Oh, it doesn’t? Hmm, well, I can tell you Mr. Priest has been a lovely guest.”
“How do I know that you have even have him? You could have picked up a name by hearing our communications.”
“Come now, Captain Webb, do you think I would play those types of games? Mr. Priest here is a big man, with a shaved head, longer type salt and pepper beard, although his beard is quite red at this moment. Come to think of it, his entire body is significantly red. My associate, Mr. Brody, has spent some quality time with Mr. Priest. He is extremely stubborn and a tough and rugged man. There is no doubt about that. Don’t worry though, we will break him. That is, unless you give us what we want. What is rightfully ours.”
Shaw was seething at this point and was nearly at berserker mode. Webb knew he had to think of something.
“Mr. Baker, it appears you hold more in your hand than we initially thought. We will need time to mull over your offer, especially if we are to plan where we go from here. Our survival is as important to us as yours is to you.”
“Of course, Captain Webb, we completely understand. A decision of this magnitude takes some consideration. However, what you will not do is stall for time and make this a difficult transition. Do you understand me, Captain Webb?”