Forest Park: A Zombie Novel (32 page)

Kathy extended her arm and touched Steve.

He smiled. “I married the right girl, didn’t I?” he said.

“You sure did.”

Steve stood up. “Make sure you get some sleep, I’ll be back.”

Kathy and Susan were alone for the first time.

Steve strolled out into the main area of the store and stood alongside Tyler and Cook.

More and more of those things began to collect outside.

“Good work out there,” Tyler said to Steve.

“Thanks.”

“You should have played in the Majors,” Cook added.

Not long before such ferocity would have seen Steve, a non-violent man, go to jail, now it was amusing --- a lark.

“You really consider her that dangerous?” Steve asked Tyler.

“I do, but I’m not sure how much she means it, or how much of that menace comes from fear or that hit to the head, but the fact remains, she is dangerous. The last time I saw Susan there were three of us alive, and now she’s alone. Even Charlie has gone...”

“What was he like?” Steve asked.

“Docile and harmless, but with a massive crush on her,” Tyler answered.

“His heart was in the right place from what I remember,” Cook added.

“You think she had anything to do with him being gone?”

“Who knows, but I’d imagine so, so yes,” Tyler said.

“Are we taking her with us?” Steve asked

“Yes, yes, of course. I didn’t want to leave anyone behind before, and I don’t plan on leaving people behind now. I’m just saying to beware; we can’t trust her. However, if she can trust Kathy, then maybe she won’t do anything dangerous while we try to get the fuck out of here,” Tyler said.

“Do you think she would try something dangerous?” Steve asked Cook.

“I wasn’t there when all this other shit happened. All I know is that I trust this guy,” Cook said.

“That all said, how do we get out of here?” Steve asked.

Tyler’s upstretched finger pointed to the ceiling, while in the other room, Susan opened her eyes. “I’m not dangerous,” Susan said.

“Nobody is saying you are,” Kathy replied.

Susan smiled. “I heard the whole thing, but you can’t believe everything you hear, especially from Tyler.”

“He’s been true with Steve and I, and Cook seems to trust him.”

Susan nodded. Even so, Kathy could tell that she wasn’t listening.

“I thought he was authentic too, until he let everything spin out of control. I’m not the sort of person that runs people down for nothing, Kathy. I know he blames me for Lieutenant Anderson dying, but the truth is, Chris came to his own conclusion about Tyler. After Fort Gillem fell, Chris felt that Tyler wasn’t able to cope with the burden he was under, the pressure we were all under, especially the weight of being in command.”

Susan took a deep breath.

“I admit I didn’t know either of them very well, but I trusted Chris’s appraisal of Captain Tyler. All any of us desired was to get out of Forest Park alive, and it appeared that the captain had made a lot of terrible mistakes.”

“And your friend Charlie thought the same?”

Susan rubbed her eyes; at the mention of Charlie’s name, she began to feel upset.

“Yes. We all did. After the explosion at the gas station, we all thought Cook was dead and Williams was gone also, and now it seems Williams was. So things had to change, Chris --- Lieutenant Anderson --- believed he had to take charge, and after everything that had happened, both Charlie and I thought he was right. However, Captain Tyler didn’t see it that way. He refused to believe that Chris would ever betray him. When, in fact, Chris was doing what he had to do, to save everyone, even Tyler.”

Susan’s eyes begin to pool with tears.

“So Tyler blamed me. I don’t know why he did, but he did. I know about that time he was feeling very alienated, but he had done that to himself; he didn’t trust anyone and was becoming a danger to everybody because of his growing state of paranoia. And then, he shot the boy. I saw him do it with my own eyes.”

“I heard the boy ask for help, but it was too late. I may even have thought the boy was one of those things the way he looked, but they don’t talk. Maybe he didn’t hear him. I can’t believe he’d intentionally murder a child. I suppose accidents can happen when you’re under too much pressure.”

“What happened to Charlie?” Kathy asked after a minute of quiet.

“After those things killed Chris, Tyler ran into the darkness, leaving us behind. Charlie and I were totally alone, neither of us knew what to do. Except Charlie never gave up. He dragged me through the darkness toward the gas station and led me through ---”

She started to break down.

“He was so brave…”

Susan started to cry.

Kathy leaned over and embraced her.

“If it wasn’t for Charlie, I’d be dead,” Susan said.

“He led me to the store across from here, and we hid in the back room. He thought it would be best to hide until it was dark. I just wish we found you guys here instead.” Susan shuddered.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything else,” Kathy said.

“I want to,” Susan added. “We were safe until that thing barged in. Charlie had a gun with him. Chris gave it to him, I think. However, it only had one bullet and when that thing attacked us, Charlie used that bullet to save me. He shot the thing, but it didn’t die. It just kept coming, and then more quickly came too. I didn’t know what to do, but Charlie fought them. He flew at them like a lion.” Susan paused. “He got me out of there, but he didn’t make it. I wish he did. He was one of my best friends”.”

Kathy squeezed her tighter.

“Then you found me on the street and saved my life. I owe all of you so much.”

“What happened to the gun?” Kathy asked.

“Charlie had it with him. He beat the shit out of those things with it,” she said as tears continued to roll down her cheeks.

“I’m going to miss him so much,” Susan said.

Kathy shut her eyes and fought back her own tears. Much to her own surprise, she believed Susan’s story. Maybe both Tyler and Susan were telling the truth, only it’s from their own perception of what the truth actually was. Kathy wasn’t going to judge either of them; they needed all the hands they could get.

Susan stood up and ran her fingers through her hair. “Where’s the bathroom?” she asked. “I must appear an awful mess.”

When Susan saw herself in a mirror, she was pleasantly surprised by how good she did look.

She ran her hand down to her waist and felt for her gun. She then hurriedly checked her cell phone’s reception and battery.

All was good, but there was still no signal.

She was in with a fighting chance anyway.

TURNER FIELD

OUTSIDE THE BUNKER

Harris and Gibson shook each other’s hands warmly, while behind Gibson stood two men, almost identical in appearance wearing military fatigues, but neither man wore any form of unit identification markings or an insignia of rank.

“Ambrose,” Gibson said, stepping toward him.

Ambrose held out his hand for the obligatory handshake. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gibson, can I get that for you?” He was referring to the leather satchel Gibson was carrying.

Martin Gibson was the new head of Homeland Security; or what there remained of it. He was a small wiry man with straw hair and sharp smile. He walked fast and spoke very little. He was nothing like his predecessor, Kurt Schwartz, a large and now dead dolt, Ambrose thought. Gibson was smarter, more thoughtful, a more elegant man overall.

Both men had soft hands, and their handshake was akin to velvet.

“Thank you,” Gibson said in reply before his eyes shifted back to Harris who was standing nearby.

“The President wishes to see you straight away,” Harris said to Gibson.

“I’ve been looking forward to meeting the man of the hour,” Gibson reciprocated.

Harris laughed.

Ambrose said nothing.

The three men made their way to the waiting golf cart, leaving the two unmarked men behind.

Ambrose climbed in behind the wheel and the electric-powered buggy lurched into motion.

“I’ve been hearing good things about you,” Gibson said.

Ambrose thought he was talking to him but wasn’t sure.

“You’re rare commodity in this business, Cornelius, honest and brave.”

“Honesty is its own form of bravery, sir,” Ambrose answered as he heard Harris’s chuckle in the background.

“I can’t argue with that,” Gibson said, “everything that is truly meaningful always comes at a cost. However, by now you’re already aware of that.”

The sounds of firing .50
Caliber machine guns emanated from outside Turner Field.

Its bark was heavy and threatening, and even more so in the coming darkness.

Ambrose continued driving; he didn’t look back.

“How do you mean, sir?” he asked.

“It’s one thing to enter our business with ideals, but it’s another to adhere to them.”

Once they had arrived at their destination, Ambrose reversed their buggy into a waiting space where a young enlisted man plugged it back into the power source.

After being screened for contagions, the three men entered the bunker proper and made their way toward the President’s Command Centre --- PCC.

As they walked through the corridors ignoring everybody, Harris and Gibson conversed between themselves. Ambrose couldn’t quite hear what either man was saying as he followed behind, even though he listened as carefully as he could, something about Satellites; Satellites?

At one point, Gibson pivoted and looked directly at him.

His face was expressionless, and his eyes told Ambrose nothing.

Moments later, he unexpectedly grinned at Ambrose and then turned his attention back to Harris. The closer they got to the PCC, the more rapid their conversation seemed to progress.

At the last security checkpoint to the PCC, stood two impressively dressed marines, their eyes quickly scanning the IDs handed to them. They then ran the IDs through a swipe and offered them back before opening the door.

Harris and Gibson passed through while Ambrose waited; he wanted to go back, he wanted to leave.

“You’re coming, aren’t you?” Harris said.

Ambrose stalled. “I feel like some air. I might go back outside.”

“You don’t look well,” Gibson answered, instead of Harris.

“I don’t feel well.”

Gibson touched his shoulder. “Well, you better come with me then. I’ll make sure you’re not disturbed.”

Ambrose didn’t want to go.

“I insist,” Gibson said.

FOREST PARK

Steve waited for his turn to climb up to the roof.

His mind kept ticking like a clock going in circles; he didn’t believe Susan for an instant, and felt surprised when Kathy admitted that she now had some doubts about Tyler’s version of events.

He listened to what Kathy said in Susan’s defense, but it just didn’t add up.

Unfortunately, Steve couldn’t confide in either Tyler or Cook, in fear of creating a feeling of distrust.

There was no reason for Cook to lie or to embellish anyone’s story, but there was no reason for him to distrust his wife’s impression of what had happened, according to Susan before they had all met.

Something simply didn’t ring true. Charlie’s actions in Susan’s account surprised him. From what Steve had found out about Charlie, it just didn’t seem accurate. He couldn’t picture the man who Tyler spoke about being so brave toward the end, even to save a woman he thought he loved, a woman who Cook said scorned and ridiculed him at every turn.

Even if he had done, what he did out of love for Susan...

It still didn’t ring right. The only other option was...

It was that Susan was just plain lying.

And if you tell a big enough lie, you can create your own truth.

Steve was the last person to enter the manhole for the climb to the roof.

Looking up, he saw the twilight sky as it came into view, until ---

Susan? Her face, silhouetted against the sky. For a moment, Steve froze, because he knew, knew the truth.

Susan reached toward him. “Grab it,” she said, offering her hand. “It’s harder to get up here than it looks, especially for big boys like you.”

Steve didn’t take her hand. “I’ll be fine,” he said

“I insist,” she replied, “we’re a team now.”

“Thanks, but no thanks.”

Susan withdrew her hand slowly and smiled.

She’s fucking creepy, Steve thought.

Tyler wandered to the roof’s edge and searched the street below. He then turned toward Steve and Cook, offering them both a wink. “Welcome to Abby Road Studios,” he said.

Steve didn’t laugh.

Cook was tempted to, but the groans coming from below had sent his funny bone awry.

Tyler stepped carefully back from the edge.

“The plan is simple; we move as cautiously as possible toward the firehouse until we need to climb down and make a run ---”

“What if we can’t get into the firehouse?” Susan interrupted.

“Cook has the key code to get inside,” Tyler answered.

“What makes you think there’s power inside?” Susan interjected once more, but this time directing her question at Cook.

“The firehouse has an emergency power backup for powerouts during major storms. If the main is cut, the automatic system kicks in, alternating between the recharge batteries and the generator. The system can run independent for several weeks. The batteries have a twenty-four-hour run time. When the cycle reaches twenty hours, the generator runs to recharge the power cells and then cuts off to conserve fuel. Providing the generator was fully fueled when this began, there will be no trouble with us gaining access or power.”

“You can’t guarantee that though,” Susan said.

“How about we all just stay here then,” Steve said.

Susan glared at him.

“Maybe that would be safer. We have food and bottled water; we have everything we need here. I don’t understand this need to take risks!” Susan said.

“We decided on the plan earlier, Susan,” said Kathy.

“I didn’t decide.”

“We all did though,” Kathy answered her.