Dead and Dead Again: Kansas City Quarantine (14 page)

“—forget it. No time!”

“Ok, I—”

“—I said no time! Look, you got to
get whatever weapons you can and some protection, and come downtown and meet
us.”

“Yeah, sure. I’ll get right on
that. Taking weapons to a parade where there’s a thousand Secret Service agents
wandering about protecting the Vice President. You know, I was just thinking
today seems like a great day to examine the downtown jail, maybe try out that new
water-boarding thing over at
Gitmo
everyone’s been talking about.”

“I’m not kidding, Scoot. And for
your information, we just stole a half-dozen guns from the downtown jail because
it’s as empty as your head.”

“Bullshit.”

“No shit. You and Athena need to
get yourselves armed now and get in a car. No, find something bigger. In fact, the
biggest vehicle you can get with a full tank of gas.”

“Armed how? I’m at Ren Fest.”

“Right, doesn’t matter. Buy a sword
or whatever.”

“What’s he babbling about?” Athena
asked, edging closer to get a better listen.

Scooter was afraid to put it on
speaker the way his friend was acting. “I think he’s been drinking. Maybe he
got some bad weed.”

“We’ve been smoking El Supremo all
morning and we’re not freaking out.”

“What the hell are you babbling
about, Trip?” Scooter passed on her question.

“Zombies!”

“What?”

“Yup. Bad weed,” Athena nodded
confidently.

“Honest to God, flesh-eating, brain
sucking Zombies from hell, man. They’re stomping all over Downtown like it’s
the fucking Day of the Dead.”

“Dude, we’re trying to have a
romantic date here. It’s our Valentines Day Again…again. We’re not coming to
the parade no matter what bullshit you pull. Have some class, man.”

“Damnit! Wait one second,” his
friend’s voice faded for a second. They could hear mumbled arguing as he talked
to someone else. Then he returned. “There was a plane crash. Some virus got out
and a guy bit some people and now there’s a full-blown epidemic down here of
Infected people who seem dead, and are trying to eat everyone else. What does
that sound like to you?”

“Sounds like one of those bad
zombie movies you make us suffer through on the StyFly channel.”

“Right, only it’s happening right
now…for real…right here.”

“Look, Trip, maybe you’re taking
your name a little too seriously today, or you had a bad nightmare last night,
but I’m gonna have to let you go so I can get back to romancing the love of my
life, OK?”

Athena squeezed his hand and leaned
in closer.

“You talk to em, Babe,” they heard
Trip saying to someone else. A woman’s voice mumbled something. “Just tell em!”
he shouted.

“Ok.” There was a slight pause.
“He-hello?” a shaky voice murmured.

“Sarah?” Athena asked, not quite
recognizing her friend’s voice.

“Hey, you guys, it’s not a joke,”
Sarah sniffled, sounding stronger.

Both Scooter and Athena now
recognized her soft lilt.

“It’s all true. I don’t know…I saw
this…” she stopped talking and began sobbing and they heard Tripper trying to
soothe her. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I was in control until we got
to my building.”

“You didn’t have time to think
before, Hon,” Tripper said in a near whisper. “Now it has all come crashing
down on you and you’ve got nothing but time to think about it. Hell, I’d be
crying too if I didn’t have to make these calls.”

“How did this happen?” she cried.

“I don’t know, but you have to tell
them, sweetie. They’re never gonna believe it coming from me.”

“I know. It’s just so crazy, but…”
her voice got stronger as she took the phone. “You guys?”

“Tell us, Sarah.” Athena tried to
sound encouraging—however one does that—and maybe she even succeeded, because
Sarah did continue.

“They…they’re eating people here.
Live people. I saw…oh my God, I saw a cop eating a little girl’s face,” she
broke down in tears with that declaration, but everything now came out in a
rush between sobbing breaths. “They’re everywhere. They chased us. Trip was
almost killed. We found this doctor. He was on the plane that crashed. But then
we crashed Trip’s car and now we’re stuck downtown. I shot people.
I
shot
people!
We’re hiding at my work now. I’m so scared, you guys. It’s…it’s
like some nightmare came to life and took over the city. I’ve got a gun…I shot
some of them…they were people…and I shot them…I’m so scared. But we’re safe
now, and we have a great position to defend ourselves. But it’s real and
happening and oh my God, you guys. It’s really happening. Please come help us.”

Scooter’s blood temperature dropped
by degrees the longer he listened and Athena’s hand clutched his arm like an
eagle’s claw does a juicy field mouse. Sarah Devorah Berg was about as straight
as they came. Her mold had been carved into a perfect square and then God had shattered
it when he realized she was straighter than he was. Granted, she had loosened
up quite a bit after spending so many years with the group, but she would never
be a part of one of Tripper’s jokes—she rarely even understood their purpose.
Like Athena, Sarah was a spoiled little rich girl. But the only thing her daddy
could never buy her was a good sense of humor, or even a bad one as this case
would have been. Sarcasm was something she had been forced to understand and develop
over five years of dealing with Trip and his friends.

Zombies
. Scooter let this
information sink in while sharing an ‘oh shit’ look with his girlfriend. A cold
chill ran down his spine and grabbed his nuts in a firm, merciless grip that
made him throw up in his mouth a little. Forcing the acidic bile back down, he
tried to give a reassuring smile as Athena’s tiny hand squeezed his own tightly.

“What do we need to do?” Athena
asked.

“Hold on,” Sarah mumbled, followed
by some muttered conversation and the sounds of the phone changing hands before
Tripper jumped back in.

“Dude,” Trip nearly shouted. “You
need to get the fuck out of there and come get us. Festus says he has a vehicle
that can get us safely out of town, and he’ll let us stay there if we have to.”

“What about everyone else?” Athena
asked.

“Everyone else, who?”

“Like our friends and families,”
she explained.

“He’s got room for us all.”

“Call our parents while we’re on
our way if you can, Trip,” Scooter explained calmly. “Tell them to head for the
tracks off of 210 near Burlington if they can. If not, just tell them to get
someplace safe with a radio and we’ll try to come get them.”

“I hope we can still get through to
the outer areas; the cell towers are getting hammered right now.”

“We’ll try to call yours too just
in case we have an open node here or something.”

“Awesome. Get here quick, Scoot.”

“Ok. But I got a question, man,”
Scooter said, his voice taking on a deeper, more serious note than normal, to
match the situation.

“What?”

“If these Zombies are roaming all over
Downtown, why in Samuel K. Hell would I want to drive down there? I’m, like,
two minutes from I-70. We can just turn west and keep going to the ocean. Hell,
we could get on a boat and sail for six months ‘til this thing blows over.
Seems like driving downtown is just shy of Stupidville.”

“Because my car is totaled. I ran
into a whole mob of stiffs trying to save this old doctor dude and we had to
hoof it from there.”

“Still seems a little dangerous for
me and selfish for you. Don’t you want me and Athena to have long, happy lives?
I mean, we could escape and live instead of dying as I try to save your
ass…again.”

“What if I let you have that
threesome with Sarah and Athena you always wanted?”

“The fuck did he just say?” Athena
demanded in mock anger. He was always joking about that, only
he
was the
one trying for the threesome, not Calvin.

“Athena says she’s in,” Scooter
shrugged at her innocently and she punched him in the shoulder. “But I think
you need to sweeten the pot.”

“I’m not putting myself into any
sexual situation with you, Calvin,” Tripper joked.

“You’re headed the wrong way,
Tripper. I think I’m driving into a tunnel. Losing service…”

“Ok, ok. You know how in those
movies there’s always one guy who knows what the hell is going on?”

“Right, some doctor or researcher or
something who was working on a cure when the shit went down, but even though
there are a million other scientists on the planet he’s the only one who can
figure out the problem,” Calvin muttered with a bored, rote monotone. “I watch
the same stupid shit you do.”

“Right. Well, this guy we saved,
the guy from the plane that crashed…”

“Yes?”

“
He’s
that guy.”

“Bullshit.”

“He’s supposedly got the only data
on a possible way to stop this thing from spreading. Save me for that…and if
not for that, then because I’m your best friend and you can’t live without me.”

“Well damn. Got me there. Be there
as soon as we can. Get your radio ready.”

“Got it charged and ready. I’ll be
on channel 9.”

“Roger that. Over and out.”

“What do you think is really going
on?” Athena asked as he punched the red ‘end’ button. She sounded really scared
despite the light tone of her question.

Cal sized her up, trying to judge
if she was ready to hear what he really thought. Though her eyes were drawn
tight with worry, her sharp jaw was set and held high, expecting the worst news
and determined to face it head-on. So he gave it to her. “I don’t know how or
why, but I believe them both. I think something bad has gone down. Zombies,
maybe, but definitely some people infected with something are down there doing
bad things. And our friends are in the middle. Sarah wouldn’t lie.”

“I know, but…”

“It’s so ridiculous?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, for now I think we take it
as fact. C’mon. We’re not too far from my axes.”

“If they’re right, we’re going to
need a lot more than that.”

“Right. How much money do you
have?”

“I’ve got about a grand on me, but
I’ve got better than paper…I’ve got plastic,” she pulled out a handful of
credit cards and flashed them along with a heartbreaking smile and they turned
as one and darted down the hill for the metal smith booths.

“If that doesn’t work, there is
still your boobs,” Scooter laughed, trying with little success to stare luridly
at her breasts and still run without falling on his face.

The excited couple raced past
artists booths, renaissance performers and wide-eyed visitors, both trying to
ignore the gawking of dozens of men and an equal number of glares from jealous
wives they passed along the way. Calvin marched up to the Armorer and casually explained
exactly what they would need.

“You want what?” the heavyset man
looked down at the pair in absolute incredulity, rubbing a callused hand on his
blue leather apron, bushy red beard splayed out in every direction and
half-made chain mail coif dangling uselessly from the other beefy mitt as he
sized them up.

“All of it. Everything you have.
And yours too!” Calvin yelled at the weapon smith in the booth on the opposite
side of the narrow walking path. “Along with my axes and that backpack your
friend is finishing for me. I’ll need it expedited.”

“Sure,” the Weaponsmith smiled
condescendingly. “You want it gift-wrapped?”

“No, I’ll be wearing it out, thank
you,” he replied. The honest, deadpan expression on his face made the man
actually doubt his own sanity for moment.

Scooter turned back to the Armorer.
“And I’ll want to wear that titanium chain mail I tried on earlier, and she’ll
take that smaller one there—”

“—you know those are over three
thousand dollars each, right?”

“And we’ll both need a pair of
those armored boots there and coifs to protect our heads and—.”

“—and how are you planning on
paying for all of this?” the man asked, glaring at them sideways in suspicion.

“How about a grand in cash and take
the rest from these?” Athena flashed the cards.

The Armorer’s eyes lit as he
recognized at least two cards with no limits. He ran the six thousand through
immediately and checked her id. When it came back cleared, his heart skipped a
beat. “Holy shit…you’re serious…”

“We’re absolutely serious,” Athena matched
him blank stare for blank stare.

“Mind if I ask why?” He asked.

“First, do we have a sale?”

“Of course.”

“We’ll want to wear our stuff now,
of course, and have the rest put in the vehicle…speaking of which…do either of
you happen to have a big vehicle we can pack this much equipment in and take it
with us?”

“Ungh…” the Armorer breathed. “I
have a military issue M-997, but…”

“Ooh, the Battle Ambulance?” Calvin
asked.

The big man nodded, his red beard
quivering from the oddness of the situation.

“Yeah, with a big iron brush guard
and a few other modifications.”

“Snorkels for the intake?”

“And exhaust,” the big man grinned.

“That’ll work.”

“Boys,” Athena shook her head.

“But I’m not gonna just let you
take it.”

“How about if we
buy
it?”
Athena asked.

“Not for sale.”

“You could come with us.”

“I got my booth to run.”

“Not really. We’ve just bought you
out. You could consider this a courtesy to your best customers ever.”

“Yeah…that…that’s true,” he rubbed
his beard to stop it from quivering, and in an attempt to stall while he
thought of a way out of this strange dilemma.

“You got any family?” Scooter asked
after a sidelong look from Athena.

“Got a daughter up in Washington. She don’t really like me much. No one else to speak of….”