Dead and Dead Again: Kansas City Quarantine (50 page)

“Babe, Festus never liked Brick. He
always said that it seemed to him like he was dead inside—called him a zombie
long before we actually knew zombies were real, believe it or not. He said Zombies
are without soul and all they do is feed. Brick always had to feed his needs,
usually his ego, no matter who it hurt. He said he didn’t want the man he might
have to one day kill to be a regular guest at his favorite place. I’m actually surprised
he wasn’t happier about this, but you know how he loves his toys.”

Scooter looked straight in Athena’s
dark eyes and put his hands on her shoulders and she just
knew
he knew
everything. Her blood froze as she realized
he
knew
she had
murdered one of his oldest friends in the world. How could he ever look at her
the same now? Why would he want to? They’d been killing zombies, but she had
just killed a
man
. A living Human, flesh and blood. A man they all knew.
No matter what he had done, didn’t that man deserve justice? What if he was
just insane? What if it was merely the drugs causing his actions? Shouldn’t she
have given him a chance to clean up? Scooter believed whole-heartedly in
justice. How could he possibly forgive her for this? As he forced her to return
his gaze, she wanted to scream and run. It was over between them.

“Well,” he said flatly. “At least
I
don’t have to kill him now,” then much more lightly, for effect. “That’s a load
off my mind, let me tell you. You guys want tea? I think I’m gonna go make some
tea,” he headed for the big steel hatchway to follow the two artisans, rubbing
his sore chest through his armor. “And maybe a sandwich.”

“What?” She reached out and grabbed
his shoulder, pulling him around to face her. He held her eyes with an intense,
level gaze.

“He was becoming a danger to
everyone, Athena. I shouldn’t have left him with you and Sarah that first time.
I should have been thinking. He’s been doing a lot of very powerful drugs for a
long time, longer than anyone should, but he was apparently out of control long
before this Infection thing hit us.”

“You mean you…you knew?”

“No. Some of the others warned me
he was acting unhinged and I started paying attention far too late.”

She nodded understanding.

“He only had one strength in life,
Rosebud.”

“I thought it was football?” Sarah
asked.

“No, way. His old man was always on
him about his shitty play—no matter how good he
actually
played, his dad
never gave him a break. After the accident, he didn’t have that anymore, anyway.
No, in his mind the only thing he ever did right was women. I should have known
he’d try to use that as his crutch through this thing. He was never as brave as
he put on. I should have guessed he might try something. Knowing I put you and
Sarah in danger…I should have seen to this earlier, but he was one of my first
friends. I didn’t want to believe he would…”

“How did you know some thing needed
to be done?” Athena asked quietly, fearing the answer.

“I saw the footage of the two of
you when we left you at the Fortress—”

“—Calvin, it wasn’t the two of us.
It was just him. It’s not…I—”

“—Athena,” he gripped her shoulders
firmly. “I love you. But more than that, I trust you. And even more than
that
,
I know you. I know what you look like in all of your moods. And I certainly
hope I’m aware enough to know what a rape looks like when I see one. I saw the
fear and anger in your eyes and the look in his when he grabbed you. I saw you
fight back before you were taken off-camera...I just didn’t see the rest.”

“It was over quickly. I fought him
off, Calvin.
Nothing
happened,” she insisted.

“I know. But not for his lack of
trying.”

He turned to Sarah with a thank you
written all over his face. “If Sarah hadn’t been hiding in the hall and come in
at such an opportune time with a weapon, I’m not so sure you would have come
away so unscathed.”

Sarah turned away, hiding her face
from the pair.

“There’s nothing to be ashamed of,”
he laughed. “You might have saved her life. Brick might have magically changed
his personality from that moment on just because someone knew what he had done.
It could have happened. It could have taken only one incident to change him. You
at least gave him that chance, gave him a few more hours on this planet to try
and fix things, to make better decisions.”

“That’s three months longer than he
should
have had,” Athena breathed heatedly.

Scooter doubled-back, stunned. “No!
You mean he…it wasn’t…it wasn’t the first time?” he pointed stupidly at Athena’s
loins with a pained query in his pleading eyes and a regret in his heart that
it hadn’t been he who had finished the man off.

“No, I’ve never been alone with him
before. Sarah was always there with us.”

“Not her,” Sarah said emphatically,
turning him quickly by a hand on his shoulder.

 “Me. Three months ago, when you
and Trip were off to California. I never told Trip. And you don’t
know
,
Calvin…” she stifled a cry. “You don’t know what he’s done. He said…he couldn’t
wait to tell me…while he was doing that to me, that bastard bragged that he’s
done it to your former girlfriends before, yours and Trip’s, and neither of you
knew. He said he’s had sex with a whole bunch of his friends’ girlfriends and that
none of them ever told. He told me it was because they loved it so much…just how
he said I was loving it…he said that while I was biting him and screaming and
fighting to get away, Calvin. He doesn’t see things the way they are really
happening. I was begging him to stop and he thought I was encouraging him. How
could he think I was enjoying it? He wasn’t on drugs that day. At least I
didn’t think he was. How many times did he get away with that?” her eyes
pleaded. “But I was never going to let Athena spend any alone time with him.”
She looked at her closest friend, tears of shame flowing down her face.

“Or any other woman if I could help
it. How many more times?” she repeated. “How many others before me…after me because
I said nothing?” she wailed and fell full into Calvin’s solid embrace, ignoring
the remnants of dead flesh mashed into the rings and the putrid stench they’d
all somehow become immune to.

That son of a bitch!
Calvin’s mind screamed.
I should have taken him out myself in front of
everyone. It should have been painful and…well, I guess nothing could be better
than what just happened…and it was a jury of his victims that decided his fate.
He nodded away any guilt.

“Yes!” Sarah exhaled her hate,
nodding up at him. “He was a
monster
. But he won’t be raping any more
women. Never again.” Oddly, stating it aloud seemed to bring some closure for
which she hadn’t known she was in need. “Maybe that helps. Maybe it doesn’t,”
she muttered “I don’t know how I’ll ever tell Trip any of this,” she wailed and
began crying anew as her knees gave out.

Scooter scooped her up, taking her
full weight into his arms and Athena was there in the span of a half-sob with
her arms around them both. “Maybe tell him how Brick died first,” he whispered
quietly into Sarah’s tiny ear. “Mention how you could hear him screaming in the
distance just how sorry he was as he was dragged down the alley being slowly eaten
alive…and how he prayed to God for mercy…and then mention what happened to you.”
He raised his voice. “Or do it the other way around. In either order, I promise
it’ll soften the blow of losing Brick. I know it does for me.”

Both girls nodded agreement.

“And that man in there loves you so
much that, if he handles it the way I think he will, you might have a boyfriend
waiting on you hand and foot for a very long time, if you so wish it,” he
hugged her in his best fatherly manner, with repeated, gentle ‘there there’ pats
on her back.

“Fiancé,” she corrected, smiling at
the thought. Trip treating her like a queen for a few months would surely take
some more of the hurt away…hopefully. Nothing could change what had happened,
but she had already made it three months alone through the emotional realization
of wanting and needing Trip Grissom in her life. Now her closest friends knew
her worst secret and Brick the Dick Stephens, the most evil man she’d ever met,
was gone for good…and she’d had something to do with that. The end of the world
was looking brighter already.

“C’mon,” Calvin whispered. “Let’s
get the streets clear and get the Wagon inside so Hef can fix it. We need to
get your parents out of here as soon as we can before they make everyone choose
between them and zombies.”

“Oh my god, Athena,” Sarah snuffled,
wiping away her tears and stepping out of the group-embrace. “Your dad is going
to drive Trip crazy. You know how much he likes to argue. And your father only
makes sense about half the time.” She calmly segued from the horrors of her
past to a happier time in the near future and took Athena’s arm in hers and
headed for the roof access.

Calvin smiled to himself as he shuffled
slowly behind the pair of chatting ladies, trying to rub the pain from his
chest through two layers of armor. But he couldn’t stop a deep frown from
creeping across his features as he paused to look back into the foggy, fading
light. Brick’s screams could be heard in the distance for a very long time…why
hadn’t he changed-over as fast as the other victims?

“Saul!” Miriam shouted, dropping
her knitting needles and limping to the radio.

“Hello, hello,” a scared sounding older
man’s voice repeated from the speaker on the modern black business desk across
the room. “Calvin Hobbes? Tripper Grissom? Hello? Can anyone hear me?”

“What should we do?” Athena’s mom
asked quietly, voice fraught with concern.

“What Calvin said we should do,
Miriam,” Saul replied in agitation, his aging body creaking as he slowly rose
from the office chair. “Go get Calvin or Tripper…or Athena. Whomever is awake.”

“What if he’s gone by the time I
get back?”

“Ah, yes. Good point, Miriam. We
should let him know we can hear him. You go and I will talk to the man.” Saul shuffled
over, picked up the mic and answered.

“Hello, um, sir. I can hear you. Do
not change your radio station.”

“Radio Station…you mean frequency?
Never mind. Who is this?”

“My name is Saul Rosenthal.”

“I’m sorry. I have clearly mixed
something up. I’m trying to reach a Calvin Hobbes or Tripper Grissom. I must
have gotten the wrong frequency.”

“No. I am monitoring this radio station
for Calvin. You have the proper…station…frequency…thing”

“Oh, excellent. I’m sorry, I don’t
recognize your voice,” the other voice said.

“I do not recognize yours, either,
but here we are,” Saul joked.

“Um…yes. My name is doctor Devon MacGreggor.
Did they tell you about me?”

“Yes, yes. They told me about the
mishugena Doctor of Death.”

“I’m not…look, I don’t want to go
through this again. Is Calvin there?”

“My wife has gone to go fetch him
or one of the others, so for now you’re stuck with me, Doctor Mengela.”

“Great. And you are?”

“I am still Saul Rosenthal.”

“Ah, you must be Athena’s
grandfather,” Doc said, taking a shot at payback.

“I am her father, you schlemiel.”

“Ah, of course,” the doctor replied
with an inward smile, despite his circumstances, which were dire. “They were
still awaiting your call when I left. I take it the mission to rescue you went
well, rabbi?”

“I’m not a rabbi; I’m just a Jew.
And yes, it went very well.”

“I’m glad. I like that bunch. You
must have done a good job of raising your daughter for her to have found a
group of friends like those.”

“Yes, we are very fond of our Calvin.
Nice boy.”

Calvin rushed into the office
looking almost refreshed, but harried, his generally bright green eyes red and
puffy around the edges, skin unusually pale. “I’m here,” he announced.

“He says his name is doctor Devon
MacGreggor,” Saul informed him quietly as he handed off the handheld mic to
Calvin.

“You don’t have to whisper, Mr.
Rosenthal. He can’t hear you if you don’t have the button pressed.”

“Hmm? Oh, right. Of course.
However, we Jews are well practiced at whispering and it is always good to stay
in practice.”

“I…I’m…not even sure how to respond
to that, but thank you for watching the radio, sir,” Calvin gushed gratefully.

“I have told you before, Calvin, my
father was Sir. You are almost my son-in-law. You will call me Saul or some
version of dad,” the elder man insisted forcefully.

“I gotta be honest, Mr. Rosenthal.
I’m probably never going to be comfortable calling you any of that.”

“We will see. We will see. But if
you do not, I’ll put a Yiddish curse on you.”

Calvin sighed. “Whatever you say…Saul,”
he replied with a tired smile and turned his attention to the radio. Still
unaware of the proper greetings and such even though Hephaestus had tried to
teach him numerous times before, he asked, “Are you there, Doctor?”

“Calvin?”

“Yes, Doctor. You have some new
information for us, or are you just calling to gloat from safety when we’re
still surrounded by death and destruction? Or are you testing your radio
equipment?”

“None of the above, I’m afraid.”

“Oh? What’s up?”

“I find myself in dire need of your
help again.”

“I see. Well the top secret escape
vehicle won’t be ready for a few days yet. How can we possibly help NBAD and or
the CDC now?”

“I never made it to NBAD.”

Calvin looked up sharply as Trip
entered, watching the smile leave his friend’s face as he heard those words. Both
men shared a very concerned expression.

“Well, we’ll be leaving here in
three or four days. Maybe we can try and swing by wherever you are and pick you
up…”

“No. You don’t understand. We never
left Kansas City.”

“What?” Calvin and Trip exclaimed
together.

The sound of the conversation had
been traveling down the hall and echoing throughout the upper floors of the
Fortress and others started trickling into the converted conference room with
worried expressions. The doctor was
the
foundation of their hope that
this thing could be beaten, a cure found. Word about his failure to reach
safety covered the floor faster than a fart could fill a crowded elevator.

“How is that possible?” Calvin
asked.

“I’ve been trapped in the Follow Vehicle.
It took me a day and a half to figure out how to use this radio and get it
tuned to your frequencies.”

“Wait. Explain again how you’re
still here?”

“We believed we had found the car
with my case. But it was surrounded by Infected. The Captain ordered her
soldiers to drive in firing, hoping to scare the…zombies off.”

“They’re not animals,” Tripper
snorted to the group, knowing neither the doctor nor captain could hear him.

“But they’re
dead
,” Athena
added into the open mic as Calvin held it up. “And the Dead don’t feel fear.
They only want to feed.”

“Well, in her defense most dead
don’t get back up and walk around at all,” the doctor quipped. “But you people in
Kansas City do it a bit differently, as always,” he noted with a snort.

“Is that an insult or a
compliment?” Athena asked.

“I’m afraid we will only know that
answer when this is all over,” the doctor mused. He was keeping a fairly high
level of humor considering his current circumstances. Mainly he was happy to
hear their voices. His worst fear had been that Hephaestus had finished his
vehicle early and they had already left.

“So, they just marched right in?”
Calvin asked, eyes wide in wonder, somehow not having heard the dialogue
between Athena and the doctor.

“The sergeant tried to talk her out
of it,” the doctor continued, but quieter now as if trying not to be heard by
nearby Infected. “But the captain charged right in, guns blazing and the rest
had to follow her.”

“Let me guess, they ran out of
ammo?” Calvin asked.

“Yes. They were firing indiscriminately
at first. Even though you had explained to them that only head shots work. Many
rounds of ammunition were wasted on body shots, Calvin. That is not the
captain’s fault. I heard her and the sergeant yelling for them to conserve
ammunition and make only head shots. They were only half way through the mass
of Infected and were wasting ammunition as if taking target practice.
Eventually the others realized their error, but hundreds, perhaps thousands of
bullets had already been wasted. Closing ranks and finally taking their time
and using proper aim, they pushed the Infected away from their Humvee and made
a path towards the fountain—”

“—wait, fountain? What fountain?”
Calvin asked.

“That’s where the car is. It’s why
they had to jump out. They couldn’t get the vehicles to the crash site, so they
had to go on foot the last bit. But the Infected flowed back in and forced them
away from their vehicle
and
the red car. Once the ammunition ran out, it
was a slaughter. The last I saw, there were only a few soldiers left, running
east and fighting Infected the entire way. They might have made it to a
building for shelter, I don’t know. I lost sight of them because I was hiding
from Infected myself. Some of these were more energetic than many we have seen.
They were trying to break into the vehicle to get me, but it has very tough
windows.”

“We’ve run into some active ones
now as well, Doc.” Calvin felt a twinge of regret that he hadn’t offered the
soldiers some armor, but at the time they only had a few sets and he had a
responsibility to protect his own people. Besides, the captain hadn’t asked,
either, and most likely wouldn’t have accepted because she didn’t understand
just how much of a difference the armor made. He was certain that if she still
lived, she understood now. “So, this fountain, can you describe it?”

“I think it is round,” the doctor
said, but didn’t elucidate.

“That…doesn’t help, Doc,” Calvin
muttered into the mic. “You do know that this is the City of Fountains, don’t
you?”

“I thought that was Rome?”

“No, it’s…it’s not important.
Please try to describe the fountain, Doctor.”

“Ah, yes. Sorry. It is a round
fountain with children playing. It stands at the end of a road that splits into
three or four other roads, each curving off in different directions.”

“Ah…can you see a car dealership to
the West?”

“Yes, if what I think is west is
actually west.”

“I think you’re on Burlington still.”

“Yes, I think that’s it. It’s at
the end of the road on which Tripper and I lost sight of the Package.”

“Right. That’ll be Burlington,” Calvin said at a nod from Tripper.

“You’re just a few blocks away,
Doc. I hate to do this, but we had a tough day out there. We’re all really beat
and I’d rather not make another trip in the dark. If we can be there early in
the morning, do you think you can stay safe for that long?”

“Yes. I think so. In fact, I know
so. Since I seem to have no choice.”

“You always have choices, Doc. If
your life is in immediate danger, we can get there. But we haven’t done a night
run yet and we’d lose the camera for recon
and
we’re really very tired.”

“No. I think I can hold out one
more night,” the elder man admitted firmly.

“Do you have food and water?”

“Yes. I have the supplies the Army
left here. They have no need of them now.”

“Ok. Listen for us to radio in the
morning. We’ll be there as soon as we can get a plan together.”

“There is a very large number of
Infected still roaming around here, Calvin,” the doctor warned.

“I don’t suppose the Army left the
keys nearby, did they?”

“No, I think they were afraid I
would drive off. I believe I could have saved them if they’d left me the keys.
But they were trapped and separated from their vehicle and the guy in this
turret wasted all of his ammunition trying to make a corridor for them to run
through. When his ammunition was depleted, he charged out to be with the others,
screaming the whole time. It was very heroic, but never reached their position.
In the end the captain turned them and ran to the East towards some building.
These Infected are much more energetic, though, so I doubt they made it.”

“We’ll worry about that in the
morning,” Calvin said, suddenly feeling very tired and trying to stop the room
from spinning as his vision narrowed.

“Are you sure you want to come when
the Army has already failed? There really are very many Infected out there,
perhaps a thousand, and I don’t know how many more on the back streets. I…I
would understand if you refused to come.”

“You’re still our best hope, Doc. I
think we’ll be able to figure something out. We don’t always just charge in.
We’ll figure out a plan.”

“Ok. I’ll leave the radio on.”

“Stay safe, Doc,” Calvin said and
put the mic back on its rest, sitting on the edge of the desk to keep from
falling over. But he said nothing to the others.

“A thousand,” Tripper breathed. “How
the hell are we going to take on that many zombies and still get someone in
there to retrieve the case?”

“I’m sure it’s not as many as
that,” Calvin said hesitantly. “Every time we see a lot, it seems like a
thousand and we still manage to finish the job. Besides, I’ve already got a
plan working,” he shot them a self-satisfied smirk, but was really only trying
to hide a sudden light-headedness.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Athena
said forcefully. “You need to rest, Calvin. You were shot, remember.”

“Of course I remember. My chest
feels like an elephant is sitting on it,” he finally admitted. “But I’ll be alright,”
he assured her.

“I’m not so sure. You’re paler than
I’ve ever seen you…”

“I’m fine, Rosebud,” he kissed her softly
on the cheek.

“Would you tell me if you weren’t?”
she demanded.

A simple smile and a squeeze of her
hand was his only reply. “Everyone do what you have to do for a good night’s
rest. We have work in the morning.”

Mrs. Grissom and Mrs. Berg had
already taken over the building, making food for everyone and preparing snacks
for their future trips. Mr. and Mrs. Rosenthal had found a replacement for
Athena in doting on Alex and the Worm and were having the time of their lives
playing games.

The parents had completely understood
when informed by the ‘kids’ that they were all going to stay at Hephaestus’
place, noting that there were too few comfortable places to sleep in the
Fortress. Megan had not spoken since being hauled up to the roof and had been
sleeping since their return. She’d stopped responding to anyone after dinner
and sat staring at a wall until Mrs. Rosenthal had grabbed her hand and
half-led, half-pulled her to a room and helped her get ready for bed. She was
out before the sheets (table cloths) had been pulled over her body. After the
doctor’s call, the gang spent another hour showing the parents where everything
was and how to use the facilities of the building and then they headed for the
Dungeon. Although it was about an equal distance to the Dungeon as to the
Doctor, they estimated there were probably a thousand fewer Infected standing
between them and Hef’s place.