by Derek Slaton
She let out a nervous laugh and then headed over, sitting down beside him. She opened up the container and pulled out a tiny capsule, no bigger than an aspirin.
“So what am I looking at?” Reed asked.
She pulled out a piece of paper. “I combined a few different drugs, one is called-”
He shook his head and put his hand on the paper. “It doesn’t matter what’s in it. Just tell me what I need to do.”
“I put the concoction in a plastic shell,” she began, swallowing hard. “It won’t dissolve in your mouth, but it’s soft enough that you’ll be able to bite through it when…”
Reed nodded. “When I want to change so I can bite that motherfucker Tiago Rivas in the throat?”
“Yes,” she replied quietly. “When you’re ready for that.”
“Doesn’t sound too difficult.” He shrugged. “What do you think, Trenton, simple enough that I can’t fuck it up?”
His friend smiled sadly. “I think you got this one, bud.”
“Me too man,” Reed said, staring at the pill. “Me too.”
The nurse cleared her throat. “Something you need to be prepared for, though.”
“What’s that?” He raised an eyebrow.
She took a deep breath. “This is not going to be a painless death,” she said slowly. “Nor will it be a quiet one. I have no way of testing this, or getting the exact right measurements, so I had to double down on the lethality.”
“What can I expect?” Reed asked, trying to control the quiver in his voice.
She shook her head. “It’s going to feel like you’re having a seizure, because you probably will be.” She avoided his gaze. “Might last thirty seconds, might last three minutes, but I honestly just don’t know.”
“Hopefully it’s on the lower side,” he said. “Don’t want them to have a chance to take me out.”
She finally met his eyes. “I think it will be,” she said. “But I just wanted you to be prepared, in case it lasts longer.”
“Well, given that I’m going to get stabbed in the gut just to get to this point,” Reed replied, injecting as much brightness into his voice as he could, “I don’t think an extra couple of minutes of pain is going to matter much.”
She didn’t have a response, just sucked her lower lip between her teeth.
He reached out and touched her arm as her eyes went glassy. “Hey, hey, come on now,” he said gently. “It’s okay, really.”
“Sorry,” she blurted with a heavy sigh, looking at the floor. “I’m just not used to doing stuff that causes harm, let alone death.”
Reed took her hand. “Look at me.” He waited for her to meet his gaze. “No matter what you do, I’m going to die tomorrow. What you’ve done is give me a way to make my death mean something, which is all I want. And it’s the most important thing you could have done for me.”
She forced a smile and nodded jerkily. “Thank you.” She got up and swept out of the room, wiping at her eyes as we went.
As the door shut, the airhorn bleated, and Leon got to his feet. “That better be Hammond, or we’re in a heap of trouble.”
They clustered around the window as the truck pulled up, and the quartet emerged from the doors, laughing about something as Landry carried on.
Leon led Trenton and Clara outside, as Reed sat in his seat, staring at his death pill.
“About damn time you got back,” Leon barked as they approached their friends.
Landry pressed his palms together. “Sorry there dad, wasn’t aware we had a curfew.”
“Aw, were you worried about us?” Whitaker teased.
“Worried about you?” Leon rolled his eyes. “Nah. Worried I was going to have to avenge most of your deaths? Yeah.”
Landry cocked his head. “Most of our deaths?”
“Man, I’m getting up there in age, do you have any idea how exhausting it would be to have to avenge four people?” Leon joked. “Two, maybe, maybe three of you would get avenged.”
Landry wrinkled his nose. “Well, which one of us would be left out?”
“I mean, if you have to ask,” Whitaker teased, and the group shared a laugh.
Trenton stepped up as Leon greeted the group with handshakes and bro hugs. “Did you find what we need?”
“And a whole lot more,” Rogers replied with a grin. “C-4, grenades, armor piercing rounds. We’re some bad motherfuckers now.”
Leon’s eyes lit up. “And the fifty-cal?”
Hammond reached into the backseat and pulled out one of the sniper rifles. “Locked and loaded to take Tiago’s head clean off.”
“Hell yeah, that’s what I like to see,” Leon replied, running a hand over the barrel. “Can… can I hold it?”
Hammond looked over at Rogers, who discreetly shook his head.
“Sorry Leon, but Mathis is very superstitious when it comes to his rifles,” the Sergeant replied. “He just doesn’t feel right letting another sniper hold his weapon, especially just before going into battle.”
Leon pouted, but nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I get it. I have my own superstitions as well.”
“Speaking of Mathis,” Hammond continued, “has anyone seen him?”
Clara nodded. “Yeah, we got him set up inside our house.”
“Come on, we’ll show you,” Trenton invited, and he and Clara led the three soldiers to their place.
“Detective?” Whitaker called over her shoulder.
He looked over at her, eyebrow raised.
“Once I freshen up,” she said, “I think you may owe me a drink.”
He playfully put a finger to his chin in thought. “I think you might be right.”
Clara leaned over to the female soldier. “I’ve taken a look in the closet of our house, and I think you might find something in there you like.”
“As long as it comes close to fitting and isn’t coated in zombie guts, count me in,” Whitaker replied, and the girls headed off.
Leon’s eyebrows rose as he turned to his friend. “Looks like you have a fan there, bud.”
“She’s got one too,” the Detective replied, staring after the woman in question.
Leon chuckled. “You old fox, you don’t wait long to pounce, do you?” He shook his head.
“Eh, you know,” Rogers replied with a little shrug, “instant attraction plus the end of the world, no sense in playing it slow.”
Leon smacked him on the back. “My man,” he said. “So. How did it go out there?”
“If I don’t swing a bat for a hundred years, it’ll be a fucking day too soon,” the Detective admitted.
His friend winced. “That good, huh?”
“Zombies fucking everywhere,” Rogers replied. “Details are pretty run of the mill, except for when I ripped an arm right off.”
Leon laughed. “The hell you did!”
“No joke,” the Detective replied, putting a hand over his heart. “Whitaker will back me up, too.”
His friend smirked. “Seeing how she’s sweet on you, I’d suspect she’d back you up if you claimed you walked on water.”
“No, she’ll back me up because she’s going to laugh her ass off when she tells you my reaction.” Rogers wrinkled his nose.
Leon laughed. “You being graceful as always?”
“You know it.” The Detective clenched a victorious fist.
His friend smiled. “Looking forward to it, man,” he said. “We could use some uplifting news around here.”
“How are the others doing?” Rogers asked.
Leon shrugged. “They’re fine,” he said. “Clara and Trenton made it back with the corpse for tomorrow.”
“And Reed?” The Detective raised an eyebrow.
His friend took a deep breath. “Handling it a lot better than I would be, I can tell you that.”
Rogers nodded thoughtfully. “You think he’ll do okay?”
“The man’s committed,” Leon replied, shaking his head in bewilderment. “He’s determined to make his life cou
nt for something.”
His friend paused, and then cracked his knuckles. “Well, we’d better not fuck it up, then.”
“Definitely,” Leon agreed, and motioned to the command center. “Well, you want to get on inside, then? Go over the plan again?”
Rogers nodded. “Yeah, just let me grab something out of the truck.” He headed back over and opened the back door. “Leon, I can’t express my gratitude for everything you’ve done for this community, as well as your friendship during all of this.”
His friend blinked at him, momentarily shell shocked. “You okay, man?” he asked carefully. “Not like you to get all sentimental and shit.”
“Well,” Rogers said, cocking his head. “I’m not getting sentimental as much as I wanted to tell you I picked you up a little something while we were out.” He reached in and pulled out the other fifty-cal rifle, walking back over and holding it up like a talisman.
Leon’s eyes were wide as saucers. “Get the fuck outta here. For real?”
“Just so you know, that bitch is heavy as fuck, and I lugged it all the way back here for you,” Rogers declared.
His friend took it with the hugest grin on his face, suddenly looking years younger. “I will treasure this until my dying day,” he promised, eyes gliding over his new toy.
“Which better be until well after the apocalypse has ended,” Rogers said firmly, holding up a finger. “Because if you want the ammo, you’re still gonna have to keep being the face of this town.”
Leon stroked the barrel. “Not a problem, bud,” he said distantly.
Rogers clapped him on the shoulder and they headed towards the command center. “Any idea where you’re gonna put it?”
“Right over my desk,” his friend said with a grin.
The Detective raised an eyebrow. “How do you think Ethel will like it?”
“I’m gonna ask Ethel if I can put it over my desk,” Leon amended immediately.
Rogers barked a laugh. “Good to know we both realize who really runs this town.”
END
Coming Soon: Assassination day has arrived as Hammond and his team put their plan into action in El Paso - Part 6!
Releases on May 31, 2020. Pre-order now!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08879LB9C