Deadlocked 5 (15 page)

I marveled at the machine, with its eighteen wheels and boxy metal frame. There was a door on the back end with a latch that was connected to an exposed mechanism for opening it. There was a grate that jutted out from the back and a handle that looked as if it could be used to help step up onto the high platform. The rectangular box on the back of the vehicle stretched for more than twice the length of the front end, but it was the front that seemed to handle the majority of the effort required to pull the vehicle along.

"Ain't no way I'm staying, Fuckhead," said a man from inside the front of the vehicle. "This place is falling apart. You've got Greys in here."

"We're not letting any of you guys leave until we've found the person that planted the bombs."

I knelt low and looked under the vehicle. I could see a man standing beside the other side, near the front, speaking with the man in the vehicle's cab. The one on the ground was wearing a suit similar to what the men inside of the Facilty had worn.

"It wasn't us, you dumbass. It's one of the High Rollers. We tried to warn you about them. We told you they'd come after you."

"It doesn't matter, Scott said you need to stay put," said the man on the ground.

"Who? Jerald? Fuck him. You can tell him I said that." The vehicle rumbled and shook. "Tell him I said he can go fuck himself. I quit."

"Turn off the truck."

"Nope!" The man inside the truck had to scream over the noise. Then the vehicle shook, squealed, and started to roll forward. Hailey and I moved with it in an attempt to stay hidden. The man on the ground was shouting at the other one to stop, and then we heard the now familiar sound of his weapon firing.

The truck stopped rolling forward.

"Dumb mother fucker," said the man on the other side of the truck. He climbed into the truck and we heard metal grinding from the vehicle before he hopped back down and said, "Command Four, I've got a dead trucker in row two. Over."

A new voice answered him, layered with static that I understood was coming from a radio. "Dead from what? Over."

"Dead from my bullet in his brain. Over."

The man on the radio chuckled. "Fine. Drive the truck out to the depot and leave it there for now. Scott is sending them out to deliver the stiffs. Over."

"Drive it? The damn truck is covered in this dumb fuck's brains. Over."

"And that, my friend, would be your problem. Over and out."

The man cursed as he climbed into the vehicle. I pulled at the back of Hailey's jumpsuit to get her to follow me. We moved to the back of the truck and I used the handle to hoist myself up onto the black shelf that hung out under the door. I inched along to the other side, where there was another handle, so that Hailey could climb up as well.

"Hang on," I said. "We'll let him drive us out of here."

It took a few minutes, but the truck finally started to move. It was harder to hold on than I expected, and we quickly picked up speed until the wetness of my palms threatened to peel away my grip. Wind whistled in my ears and my hair whipped at my cheeks as we tore through the massive hall.

The familiar glow of indoor lighting began to be usurped by a more intense light and I dared to look around the corner of the truck. Ahead of us, not more than a hundred feet away, the corridor ended and an expanse of blue sky stretched out as far as I could see.

My heart leapt and I turned to Hailey with a wildly excited expression. I had to call out to her as she had her eyes clenched shut. I told her to look ahead and she leaned over her side of the truck to see what had excited me. She turned back to me with a joyous smile. She was as exhilarated as I was to be only moments away from stepping outside for the first time.

Unfortunately, the truck began to slow down as we neared the exit. It stopped and I glanced at Hailey in confusion.

"Hello?" the driver yelled out. "Anyone there?"

I clenched my eyes and bit my lip as I pressed my back against the truck's rear door. Had he caught sight of me in his mirror when I peered around the side? Was he about to discover us? We were so close to escape, the thought of being caught now was heartbreaking.

He opened the truck's door and I heard his boots clop against the concrete as he jumped down. "Hello?"

He started walking and I braced myself as I expected to be caught. If he turned the corner, I planned on leaping down and viciously clawing at him. We were too close to give up now.

"Command Four, come in. Over."

"Command Four here, what is it? Over."

"Who's supposed to be posted at the ramp in row two? Over."

Hailey and I crept off the back of the truck and around the other side from where the man was talking. As I walked, I had the chance to stare out at the blue sky beyond the ramp. There were grey streaks of clouds in the distance that I could only imagine were raining. Black specks flew through the air, and when they flapped their wings I realized they were birds, something I'd only read about before.

"Moore and Ghent are on duty," said the radio. "Why? Over."

"There's no one here, and the door is wide open. Over."

We made it to the front of the truck. The engine was rumbling and we glanced around for any place that we could hide or otherwise escape capture.

"Hold on," said the man on the radio. "I'm going to pull up the cameras for that area." My stomach knotted. I pushed on Hailey's back to get her to move forward despite not being sure it was safe.

"You've got Dawns out there!" The radio screeched. "On the other side of the truck, there're two Dawns sneaking out."

We dashed for the open air outside of the Facility, but it was an impossible attempt. The guard was carrying a weapon and screamed out for us to freeze. I pushed Hailey's back and yelled at her, "Run! Don't look back!"

Then I stopped and prepared to face the man behind me. Before I turned, I saw Hailey make it into the sunshine. It glistened off her skin and hair, turning her into an angelic vision that I was happy to die to protect.

I spun and faced the man with the weapon. He aimed it and I wasted no time in charging. I was too far to reach him before he could pull the trigger and end my life, but I hoped that if I threatened him he would aim at me first, giving Hailey a chance to escape.

I heard the weapon blast and clenched my eyes shut in preparation for the pain. Does it hurt when you die?

I slowed my charge as I held my arms out wide, hoping to provide a better shield for Hailey. I was breathing heavy, and my body ached from our escape. I was ready for death, content to have given my love a chance to live.

There was no pain.

I wasn't dead, and I was terrified that he'd aimed for Hailey first.

"Cobra!" I heard Hailey call out to me and finally opened my eyes to see what had happened.

The man with the gun was lying dead ten feet in front of me. A trail of blood rolled away from his head, back down the ramp into the Facility.

I turned to face Hailey, dumbfounded by what had happened, and saw another man standing near her. He was tall, with clothes that were speckled various colors of green and brown as if he'd spilled paint all over his jumpsuit. He had a weapon strapped to his back that was large and similar to the one the dead man held. He was also holding another weapon in his hand that resembled the one our Instructor had used to kill the man in the stairwell. A wisp of smoke trailed up from the barrel of the weapon in his hand.

His skin was black, and he had short facial hair around his mouth. He appeared stronger than the other men I'd seen, even with their armor. His arms were thick and his legs looked powerful and longer than any I'd ever seen before. He walked towards me as he put his weapon into a holder on his belt.

"Hey there." His voice was deep and powerful, yet calming.

"Did you do that?" I asked as I pointed down at the dead man.

"I hope so. If not, then we've got a problem."

"He was hiding over there." Hailey pointed to a small building beside the Facility's exit. "He came out of nowhere. Scared me half to death."

"Are you the one that's been causing the explosions?"

"I am." He walked past me and to the truck. "Come on, let's get out of here before they send more guards."

"Who are you?" I asked as I watched him.

He smiled and winked as he said, "All the pretty girls call me Hero."

BEN WATANABE

"Where are we headed?" I asked the old man as he drove us through the flat, barren land.

"Down to a place called Vineyard." He pointed ahead. "It's past Hanger a ways."

"What's Hanger?"

He snarled and rolled his eyes. "It's another town out here. I don't go there much these days, not after they threatened to kill me if they ever saw me again."

"I take it the traders pass them by too?"

He looked at me curiously and shook his head. "No. Why do you ask?"

"If the traders stop at this town, then why aren't we going there first?"

He scowled at me and said, "Were you not listening to me when I said they'd kill me if I showed up there again?"

"So you're willing to let them get poisoned and turn into Poppers because they don't like you?"

He grumbled and started cursing under his breath. "Fine, whatever. I don't give a rat's ass anymore. Fucking pain in my ass, that's what you are." It was hard to understand him as he mumbled.

"We can just stop in quickly and check it out. I just want to see if they got poisoned too. Then we can head to the other place."

"Vineyard," said Harrison grumpily.

"Right."

We stopped talking as Harrison stewed, but he soon calmed down and started humming a tune. He hung his head out his window and breathed in the air before commenting on how much he loved the smell of rain. I only nodded an agreement as I contemplated what lie ahead for us.

"What's your story, kid?" asked Harrison. His right hand was draped over the top of the steering wheel and he appeared relaxed as he drove.

I shook my head and shrugged. "Nothing worth telling."

Harrison scrunched his nose and looked over his right shoulder, and then his left. "What's that? Do you smell that? This whole damn car just filled up with bullshit." He stopped his animated reaction and winked at me. "Come on, kid, we've all got a story to tell. You're traveling alone through the apocalypse, on a mission to hunt down someone. Sounds like a story I'd be willing to listen to for a few minutes. Hit me up with it. You can pretend it's a confession and I'll absolve you over your sins." He made the sign of the cross over his forehead and chest.

"Sorry, I don't believe in God."

He seemed surprised by my admission. "You're a Red, right?"

"Yes, why?"

He looked back and forth between the road ahead and me. "How old were you when the virus hit?"

"Thirteen."

"Old enough then." He grimaced and shook his head.

"Old enough for what?"

"Old enough to know that God got pissed and wiped us all the fuck out. The Greens never knew how good we had it. They never saw what the world was like before the end. I was just like you back then, I didn't believe in nothing, but after the apocalypse, boy oh boy, you better believe this old goat started praying."

"God didn't have anything to do with the plague. It was manmade."

Harrison shook his head. "God has something to do with everything."

I laughed at the contradiction that the old man was ignoring. "Ten minutes ago you told me that God had nothing to do with the guns in the back, and now you're saying he has something to do with everything."

"God's a complicated mother fucker." He spoke with comical assurance as he nodded his head and smiled at me.

"I guess so."

"People always ask for a sign, and ask for proof that he's up there watching over us, but every time he gives us one we just ignore it. For fuck's sake, kid, he wiped out damn near every person on the planet and he still can't get any respect."

"If God had anything to do with the plague, then I'll add him to my list."

"What list?" asked Harrison.

"Nothing, never mind."  I hadn't meant to mention anything about the mission my father had left me with.

I pulled my pants down and adjusted the bandage over the bite from the zombie back at my former home. It itched like mad and I adjusted the tape to make it more comfortable.

"What's that?" asked Harrison as he eyed my wound.

"I got bit by a Popper in the house earlier." I knew how he would react to the revelation and quickly added, "Don't worry, I'm immune."

"Really? How do you know?"

"Because I've been bit a hundred times in the past two decades and I never got sick."

Harrison scratched his cheek and squinted at my wound as he moved his jaw back and forth with his lips pursed. He seemed deep in thought as he stared at me until he finally spoke. "You're not the first one I've met."