"This is worse than the situation at the church," Linda said. "There at least I wasn't a literal prisoner. I don't have any ideas yet either."
"Well, if we want somewhere decent to sit or lie down, we better go claim one of these mattresses, before they're all gone. Then we can put our heads together."
MAYOR
The man in the back seat sure smelt homeless. Not that he smelled like a Georgia peach by any means. JT got used to taking cold showers and took one every third day if he could. Dodge there needed to stop dodging cleanliness. Get some new clothes while he was at it. Wasn't like he couldn't afford them anymore.
He struggled with the decision Hannah made, to let the man to come with them. Sure, he wasn't a group of people. They weren't joining together permanently. At least, he didn't think so. Her wariness had almost gotten to a point in the last six months that JT worried she may have gone too far the other way into paranoia. That she let Dodge tag along with them, even temporarily, showed how desperate Hannah was to find Gus. He wanted to find the old man too. Getting killed wouldn't help anyone.
JT looked over to Hannah. She'd had a queasy stomach the last couple of weeks. to the point he needed to pull over the RV and the truck a few times. It concerned him to see how the smell bothered her. She must have caught him looking, as she turned to give him a tight-lipped smile.
"Hon, you mind taking over driving. I suddenly don't feel so good. Maybe I ate some expired food earlier."
"Sure, no problem," JT said. They did a seat exchange. JT slid behind the wheel of the truck, thinking how weird it was that Hannah had read his mind.
He eased the truck forward until he stopped at the intersection where the Wal-Mart sat on his right. Compared to a lot of intersections in big cities, this one was clear.
"So, Dodge, where did you hear things? Shall I go right? Left? Straight?"
"No," Dodge said, a little too quick and defensive for JT's taste. Or had he become too paranoid as well?
"Okay. Then which way should I go? And what exactly did you hear?" JT drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
"I'd say it was two or three nights ago. Swore it was gunfire, coming from the west side of town. I hadn't seen or heard anything from the living side for months before that. I didn't check it out, no, no. I crawled up a little higher until I could reach out and touch the overpass."
"Very well." JT cranked the wheel and turned left, weaving between three stalled out SUVs. He kept his eyes double peeled, one for any sign of trouble, and two, for any sign of Gus and the rest.
Hannah didn't sound as nauseous as she turned around and questioned Dodge. JT was glad of that. He tried not to show his worry. "Have you been in Cheyenne your whole life?"
"No ma'am. I was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. I joined the military and lucked into being stationed at the Air Force base nearby, Offutt. Have you ever heard of it?"
"No, sorry. We're not from around here."
"That's cool. Doesn't matter anyhow, I guess. It's empty or a zombie filled deathtrap now. I have to tell you, I'm still shocked at how damn fast this zombie thing took us out. I would have thought the military would have fought back more, had a plan or something."
"I had the same thought at first," Hannah said. "Once we escaped the city, the first few days I was sure we would come to some temporary camp, some tents or something. It was almost like we were the dried out forest, rotted at its core, and the virus was the spark that ignited a wildfire."
Dodge made the sound of a closed mouth laugh. "That's a pretty way of saying most of us died unprepared."
"I didn't. I would have been the definition of unprepared." She laughed at herself. "You're still here. You didn't die either."
Again Dodge made a rough laugh like sound. "I got prepared the hard way. I got out of the Air Force, tried to make up my mind about going on to college. Or if first I should marry the girl I was getting serious with at the time. Then I fell in with the wrong crowd. Made some unwise choices. Soon it spiraled out of control and I lost everything. When I took my problems to veteran affairs, they didn't seem to care too much. They treated me like a civy. I lost my job, my girl, my house, and all of my money. That was about a year before The Outbreak. I started drifting and somehow I settled here."
"Where they made you the Mayor," JT interjected. Guy sound like he hit some bad luck, but it also sounded like the kind of his own doing. He knew many enlisted men back in his bouncing days, and he didn't like the majority of them. He wondered what kind of illegal things Dodge did, and was he more dangerous than he appeared? He was curious what Dusty would think of the man, if he were still around.
"Yeah, Mayor McCheese, my friend. You got it."
JT drove on, past a big factory or something on his left. The street made a little jog to the left. He saw a residential area coming up. He didn't want to go in there. He stopped hard.
"I don't want to go through anywhere were a bunch of people used to live. Even if you say you haven't seen many packs around here. And I don't want to use the interstates. Which way should I go?"
"If you don't want to use the interstate, then you'll have to go right here. You'll still skirt some residential, but it will get us across town faster. Either way, you'll be passing houses."
JT frowned at that. He gave Hannah a head jerk to the back and a shoulder shrug to say he wasn't sure he trusted the guy. Hannah shrugged too. She looked resigned, as if this was the best lead they had right now to Gus. She patted the rifle that laid across her lap.
"We'll come out at a main street where you will see First Baptist Church." Dodge continued on, oblivious to their little conversation.
Hannah perked up. "You think that's where some people could be holed up?"
"I'm not sure about that. After I had an incident up in that part of town, after the Outbreak, I kept down to my corner."
JT was interested in what that could be. "What kind of incident?"
"At one time, I was part of a little group. This guy, the leader, found me. He was great, let me tell you. He survived because he was strong and had the will, the conviction to survive. Convinced me I did too. Why else was I still here, he told me. When he had found me, he had around twenty people. They set up at Cheyenne Regional Airport, of all places."
"If things were going so great, why didn't you stay?"
It was a long moment before Dodge answered. His voice turned rough as he talked. "I'd like to think I got unintentionally left behind. There was a clash with another gang. A fight broke out. When the dust settled, the other gang members were all dead, but my group was nowhere to be found. I had gotten knocked down. Maybe they figured I was down for the count. I made it back to the airport, but they had already cleared it out."
JT pondered what bad luck that would be. He imagined what it would have been like if he'd made it back to say that truck stop where they all met, only to find everyone had took off and left him behind. He would be a lot more pissed telling that story than Dodge here was.
Dodge went on, sounding wistful. "It wasn't so bad. I returned to surviving on my own. Wasn't someplace I hadn't been before. Found myself that cozy little spot under the bridge, scavenged what was safe, and went on living."
"That's rough," Hannah said. She frowned. JT could tell Hannah had pity for the guy. He reserved his judgment until they got to where he was leading them. If that place turned out to be legit, then he'd be willing to trust Dodge a bit more.
JT split the next several slow moving miles between keeping his eyes open for trouble and shooting the shit with Dodge. The dude wasn't big into video games or music, but they hit it off when the topic turned to football. As he went back and forth with Dodge, he came to realize how much he missed just talking to someone. Nice that it wasn't all talk about zombies or what the plan was next or any of that shit that seemed to take up the first year of The Outbreak. It was nice to talk about stuff that Hannah wasn't that into, like their high school football days or sports in general.
"W
hat the hell happened here?" JT stopped at an intersection that looked like a clogged artery.
His headlight beams stabbed the darkness. He could see in the beams that this time cars weren't the problem. Ahead he could make out the valleys and ridges of huge craters, strewn with dead bodies, all over the place.
Dodge leaned forward. "Oh yeah. This was where the military tried to fight back. You know, attempted one last stand. There's an Air Force base right outside of the city. On the day it all went down, I didn't know what was happening. I had no phone, no TV, and no idea about zombies. I was out, and I saw the birds launched, several of them. They circled about the city, which I knew was strange. I figured, hey, maybe they were doing some kind of new training or something. I had more important things to worry about, like my stomach.
Then a car about ran me over. It hit the sidewalk going full speed and crashed into the wall next to me. It showered me with bits of bricks and plastic. Then people were running past me, yelling and screaming. I booked it back to my shelter. On the way I saw some weird looking guys, three of them, crouched down on the ground. I couldn't see what was on the ground between them. At the time I remember thinking it was weird one wore such bright red lipstick.
I had just about made it back to my shelter before I saw the first actual attack. There were dozens of them, pouring in from all sides. One zombie took a nasty bite out of the neck of a woman. She dropped to the ground, wound squirting like a broken fire hydrant. Minutes later, she was back up, walking around, the hole in her neck not bleeding at all. I couldn't believe my eyes. I ran for the abandoned building and hold up after that. Just kept my head down and hauled ass.
I crawled all the way back into a dark corner, under a shift of blankets, and made myself as small and as still as a mouse. I don't know how long I stayed that way. I know my muscles protested after a while. I told them to shut up, blocking out the cramps.
Then the ground rocked and swayed under my body. I've never been in an earthquake, but I imagine it would be like what I felt. Like the ground had come alive and attempted to swallow me. A whump of sound like a solid wall hit me next. I covered my ears. Everything rattled. This is where they dropped those bombs.
Not that it did much good."
JT had picked up lots of crazy stories from other survivors. This however was the first where humans fought back in any significant way. Like Dodge said though, a fat load of good it did them. All this firepower, all this technology, didn't mean squat. He wondered what happened to the planes after they attacked? Did the pilots take off, seeing all was lost?
He heaved a sigh. This wasn't going to be pleasant, crossing this mess. As he looked around for what would be the best route across, a sign for Dairy Queen caught his eye.
"Man, I wish that DQ down the street was still open."
Hannah gave a snort. "I remember you saying your weakness was ice cream." She gave JT a look like she appreciated having something else to concentrate on besides the road ahead.
"It's been so long, I've forgotten what it tastes like. That's a damn shame." JT gave the sign one last longing look and turned back to the task at hand. He didn't see any easy way around it.
"It's going to get bumpy. You might want to close your eyes, Hannah."
"Always the gentleman." She squeezed her eyes shut and with her right hand grabbed the handle above her.
There was no easy way to do this, so JT figured he might as well get it over with fast. He gunned the truck. They bounded up and down several times as they crossed the intersection, jostling the three of them around the cab of the truck. The only good side was he didn't have to do much maneuvering, he only had to plow straight ahead.
It took an agonizing minute to get across. The truck stopped bucking like a bronco and unbidden an image of what the underside of the truck must look like came to JT. He could have done without those types of pictures in his head. He had grown to like the truck and didn't fancy scrounging for a new vehicle.
"All right, dear. We're clear." JT stopped the truck again to turn to Dodge. "You think we keep going straight?"
"Yes," he said, sounding as if he was holding his food in. "We're almost to where I heard the shots."
That better be true.
STEP RIGHT IN
Emilio didn't expect the level of fun he would have fucking around with these two. These were the two people the new group hoped would show up to save them? This was JT and Hannah?
He expected a couple of badasses who he might not trick so easy. After he had slid down the embankment under the bridge, he was ready for a firefight. Hidden away within diving distance were some weapons.
He wanted to mess with them first though. See what he may find out. He couldn't believe how well it all had worked thus far. Little did the two of them realize his men tracked and watched them for the last couple hundred miles. Scouts radioed him on their locations and what they were doing. The curiosity built, and it wasn't long before Emilio assumed these people were the almighty JT and Hannah he overheard so many whispers about from the new enlistees.
That was when he decided it was time to get into character. It wasn't the first time he had portrayed "Dodge, the homeless veteran." In fact, it was a well played routine from his most trusted affiliates. Portraying a person in need of help or offering shelter, sometimes food. Lure the suckers in and then decide their fate.
Most people would submit to the world Cash dreamed of building and accept his offering of safety and freedom. Other times they would give those they found the death penalty. If the person or group revolted against joining, he led Cash's people in doling out punishment, or left those ungrateful fools broken, with no chance of survival.
Seriously, he didn't understand how these two made it so long being so trusting and naïve, let alone earn the admiration of a group of people the size of the haul he brought in.
As he dragged them further and further into the city, he struggled with keeping in character. Good thing the thumping was so loud as they crossed the intersection after JT's rant about Dairy Queen. Emilio struggled to hold his laughter back.
After that fun little bit, Emilio decided he'd keep messing with them. Instead of killing them himself, he'd let the zombies do it while he sat back with some popcorn.
He learned that a few days ago, from his men's reports, that there was a grocery store, Albertsons, on the north side of town that had a pack of zombies trapped inside. He couldn't wait to get these two dummies inside, stand on the other side of the sliding glass door, and watch them either turned or devoured. Then he'd get to go back to Cash's place and rub it in the smartass older guys face about what happened to his precious JT and Hannah.
It was too bad they weren't stronger. JT was a big guy, he would have fit in, and he enjoyed their conversation after a while. Hannah was a nice looking woman, except her straw blond hair was so long she looked like a hippie chick. She seemed to think she knew her way around guns, the way she held the rifle in her lap. They could have been decent additions to Cash's group at one point, but now the possible reward simply wasn't worth the risk. Oh well, that's the way the dice fell.
JT had fallen silent after the bump and grind, but he spoke up again. "You know man, I can't believe you ended up out on the streets. Seems to me like the VA or something should help guys like you out more. I don't know." He paused. "I have to be honest with you though, me and military guys haven't always gotten along too well."
"Yes, you'd think, if nothing else, that you'd take care of your own," Hannah added. "Weren't you part of some church organization that might have helped as well? Long enough to get you back on your feet?"
A heaviness hit Emilio in the stomach. JT's point sounded like the platitudes he'd heard before, from the news, from politicians. Hannah, though, sounded concerned. He couldn't remember the last time anyone but Cash seemed to care about him. His bitch of a wife certainly didn't care when she left him, when he had lost all their money gambling. That's when he needed her the most, and she bailed
on him. Most of the story he'd told them was bullshit, but there were nuggets of truth strewn through it.
He stumbled around for what to say. "Well, um, yeah I guess I could of, except I didn't want to see my wife again, which I would have at the church." He hadn't gone to church since he moved out of his parent's house. She went without him during their marriage. "And the VA, man, they were as useful as being dealt a two and a seven in a starting poker hand." Hannah, who had turned around, gave him a blank look. "That's about useless. You never played?"
"No, I'm strictly a board game gal."
I can tell. I'm three steps ahead of you. He gave what he thought was a good fake laugh.
JT shot the shit with him more, telling him about his time as a bouncer before The Outbreak and elaborating on why he didn't like some enlisted men. Nothing personal, he said. Emilio took the guy at his word. JT seemed like a real dude. Against his will he enjoyed the vibe he was getting from JT. He seemed like a cool guy.
Emilio's leg twitched up and down. Why couldn't they be at the store already? He didn't know why he was in such a rush. He had gambled that instead of shooting them in the head, it would be more fun to fuck with them. It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Now all he wanted was to get rid of these two and head back to tell Cash. The boss would be pleased, and Emilio would have the satisfaction of a job well done.
After JT hushed up to concentrate on another snarled mess up ahead, Hannah jumped into his lull.
"I'm going to let you in on a little secret," she said. Emilio leaned a bit more forward. "Our friends we're looking for. They came from a town. A real community like from before, safe as anywhere nowadays. Last we saw them, they were working on getting things organized like schools for the kids, electricity running again, growing crops. The place needs repair, but when we find them and go back, you should come with us. I don't understand why, but I have a feeling you wouldn't shy away from hard work. You would want to do a job and do it well."
The Outbreak Series (Book 4): Deadlocked Page 10