Life Among The Dead (45 page)

“
Come on in.” He steps aside. “We’ll get you guys through inspection right away.”

Lynton scoffs. He hates inspection. It takes the medics forever to get to the gate, and it will delay his grand plan of eating, bathing, and sleeping. It’s mandatory now for all who enter the base since the onset of the plague.

The convoy parks along K-rails set in front of a large tent. All the soldiers and refugees will be stripped down to their underwear and searched for wounds. Many people have lied about being bitten, and turned while behind the walls. This way there is no hiding it.

“
At least it’ll be warm inside.” Lynton tries to see the silver lining of the situation. Rash and Zee are heading towards the large enclosure. They hope to be the first ones through. They leave the deli girl bound in the back seat, figuring she’s someone else’s problem now.

Before entering Rash, as team leader must divulge the casualty list to a guard with a clipboard. She mentions the hit and run, wondering if the eggheads will be mad that she had put him down.
They probably would have wanted him for their experiments on the unbitten dead.
There is no way she would let one of her men turn on her watch, and she would be damned if one of them gets used as a guinea pig either.

She thinks of the red truck and vows to make those fuckers pay if she ever sees them again. She doubts it will ever happen.
Like Zee said, they are long gone.

16

Dan had fixed Jack a bottle for the road and the two of them walked around the house to make sure they didn’t forget anything. The entire time Dan told Jack about the Ranch. He ran off a list of the animals that live there and he made the sound that each one makes. Jack laughed and giggled at the soldier’s antics.

Jack is secured into his car seat and Dan assumes his seat in the front. He takes a few minutes to ensure he has all his gear at the ready. The pistol is next to him on the seat and T-Rex’s hunting rifle is leaning along the passenger door. The large revolver is in the glove compartment to prevent it from sliding around too much.

Dan is telling Jack about the activities they can do at the ranch; the ATV trails, snowmobiling, and horseback riding. He backs down the drive after clicking a device on the visor that opens the gate like magic.

“
That would have been useful earlier.” Dan tells the smiling boy in the back. The soldier is a little worried about the snow. It is really coming down in the early gloom of dusk
. The roads might get hairy.

“
And, of course the lazy plow guys haven’t been out yet.” Dan says in a sarcastic voice. “All right Jackrabbit, Let’s hit the trail.”

Dan is pulling onto the road, but has to break suddenly. The high walls had obscured his view and he wasn’t expecting any traffic. He stopped to avoid colliding with a military jeep that is speeding past. The full time soldiers screech to a halt, sliding on the snow-covered asphalt as their tires try to find traction.

Dan remains still as if their vision is based on movement and they won’t see him. He reviews his options as the jeep full of soldiers backs up. They have him blocked from behind now. He can’t run. He can fight, but figures they’d win
. Play it cool,
Dan tells himself and turns the engine off.

The driver of the jeep exits, his side arm is drawn as he approaches Dan’s door. The soldier is being covered by two of his buddies with twin M-16s. Dan has a second to cover the wound on his hand with the cuff of his sleeve. He pins the fabric in place between the wheel and his palm.

“
Sir, you need to proceed directly to…” The sentry lowers his weapon and waves for the others to follow suit. “You’re a company man.”

“
Just a reservist actually.” Dan says with a smile. “I’m on my way to Eagle Rock to see if I can help out.” He mixes the truth with lies.

“
We sure could use the help. Between casualties and panty waist deserters, we’re spread quite thin.” The soldier looks in the back at the pint-sized passenger.

“
Do they have any sort of daycare at Eagle Rock?” Dan asks.

“
I’m sure someone will watch him when you need it. We have plenty of refugees and dependents with nothing to do.”

“
Awesome.”

“
Looks like you suffered a loss of your own.” The soldier is looking at the house. Dan figured he’d spot the large grave. The snow has not yet obscured the mound of dirt. The outside light doesn’t help conceal the evidence since it is still shinning down like a beacon.

“
My folks… This was their place. Jack and I are from Waterloo.” Dan lays it thick.

“
You look like you’ve had a tussle. You aren’t bit are you?” The young doughboy moves his hand back to his holstered weapon.

“
No,” Dan replies easily. “I got knocked around by my Dad before I took him out. Then, I had to dig the holes out there.” He hopes it’s enough to explain his filthy uniform and the rest of his untidy appearance.

“
Good thing.” His hand relaxes away from his gun. He hitches his thumbs into his gear and his elbows rest on his dual canteens. “They’ll check you out as you enter the base anyway.”

“
I figured as much. You have to be careful these days.”

“
Sure do. This shit is a nightmare.” The soldier shakes his head.

“
So… Where are you boys off to in such a rush?” Dan wants him to go away, but thought it might be suspicious not to ask.

“
There’s a prison one of our recons found a ways south. It’s been completely abandoned by any sort of authority. The inmates are still locked up in their cells. We have to go baby sit. Feed them and shit.”

Dan recalls passing a state penitentiary. He wonders if this is the prison in question.

“
Sounds like fun… I should get going before this weather gets worse.” Dan starts the engine. The gas gauge indicates they have a quarter of a tank. Dan isn’t worried about this. He had found a gas can Ryan must have used for his mower, and he had siphoned fuel out of the sedan they weren’t using.

“
Yeah, us to. They say we’re in for quite a blow. I’ll see you on post. The kid looks just like you.” He is walking backwards towards his ride.

“
Everyone says that.” Dan shrugs with a smile. He has to wait for the other vehicle to take off before he can pull onto the road.

“
So, as I was saying. The ranch has absolutely everything we will ever need.”

17

Jack and Dan are on the road driving as fast as the weather allows. They have just passed the turn for Eagle Rock and the kid is starting to get fussy. Dan has run out of things to talk about so he is pulling CDs out of the visor.

He inserts a bright yellow disk into the player and a chorus of children serenades them. Dan remembers most of the songs from his youth. Jack isn’t impressed.

Dan is hitting the scan button, trying to find a song that might sooth the miniscule beast in the back seat. As it turns out only one song will do. The Wheels on the bus, Jack loves it. He seems to sing along with the anonymous young voices.

“
You know the words, do you?” Dan asks his passenger. He hits the repeat button. “Isn’t that always the way? You buy an entire CD, and wind up only liking one song on it.”

18

The snow is letting up. Dan has just passed a sign that tells him New Castle is only twenty miles away.

“
The last sign said ten miles.” Dan is worried he will wind up getting lost. He adds it to his long list of things to worry about. Ever since he awoke in the Charles River, he has had a sharp pain in his stomach that is getting sharper and harder to ignore. He wonders what an ulcer feels like, and if this could be the start of one.

His knuckles are white from squeezing the wheel. Jack has started crying and the never-ending song is getting irritating
. The fucking bus has to stop sometime,
Dan complains to himself.

“
Are you hungry?” Dan asks a little too loudly out of frustration. He pulls over to make the boy a bottle. The snow has all but stopped so he figures he might as well fill the tank now.

From one of the bags Cecelia had packed, the soldier grabs a baby bottle full of water. It has measurement lines along its side that indicate it contains six ounces. The mother had taped a note to a can of powdered formula:
One scoop per 2oz of water. Shake well. Example: six ounces of water = three scoops.

He can’t feel too insulted. The woman was just concerned about her child’s wellbeing. Dan scoops the white powder into the opening of the bottle. He is successful in getting most of it in with his trembling hands. A fine dusting covers his lap. He screws on the nipple and shakes the liquid until all the powder is combined.

Curiosity forces the soldier to open Jack’s beverage and smell it. He wants to know what Jack’s fuss is all about. The concoction makes Dan recoil. For a second he thinks the stuff has gone bad. It smells like garbage to the soldier. He isn’t exaggerating his reaction at all; the formula smells exactly like old, rancid trash. He puts the nipple on and hands it to the boy who lustfully guzzles it.

“
To each their own, I guess.” Dan says, making a disgusted face. He opens the door after a cautionary glance around. He really wishes he wore a watch. It’s dark and he would like to know what time it is.

Dan has the gas cap off and is ready to fill the tank. He notices a small problem: there is no nozzle on the can. He had seen this predicament before on the bridge, that didn’t end very well. He thinks about the situation and brainstorms an idea.

From the front seat he removes a beer from the remnants of the six-pack he had taken from Jack’s place. He hates the idea of drinking and driving with a child on board, but he downs one of the glass bottles. Dan turns the empty container into a funnel by smashing the bottom of it off on the rear bumper.

The neck of the bottle goes into the receiving end of the car and Dan is able to fuel his ride. He would love to have another beer, but can’t bring himself to do it
. Not with Jack in the car. I have to be a good example.

As the SUV’s lifeblood enters the tank Dan sees a light come on 200 yards down the road.

“
That’s odd.” He says to himself, finishing his task by tapping the can on the broken shard. He enters the SUV and douses the dome light as soon as it comes on. Jack is asleep, the bottle hangs from his lips like a passed out reveler’s party favor on New Year’s Eve. The soldier grabs his rifle and turns off the headlights to remain covert. He kneels behind his open door and peers down the scope.

It is a porch light to a small run down looking trailer home set on the side of the road. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, Dan has seen a few along the way. What stands out to the soldier is the vehicle parked in front, a red truck with a smashed up front end.

It can’t be,
Dan thinks of the road warriors he had battled earlier that day.
What are the odds?
Dan is certain it can’t be the same guys. The front door of the mobile home bursts open, the thin screen door falls from its hinges entirely. A man with black hair exits.

Dan can hear what sounds like a woman screaming. Two large men carry a girl from the cheap dwelling. She is in a slip of a nightgown, fighting against the massive men.

The goons who take the girl against her will are wearing matching orange hunting vests. Over their shoulders Dan can see they have weapons slung. One carries a pump shotgun and the other an AK-47.

“
You aren’t real hunters.” Dan thinks of Bill’s one shot one kill theorem. He wonders if they are people who have struck out to rid the world of zombies and those who have been bitten. For now, he decides to remain in the darkness. The black SUV blends into the night and is completely invisible to the folks at the little house.

The three males are leading the girl to the truck. She clearly isn’t fond of the idea. The closer they get her to it, the more she struggles against them. She has blond hair and might be attractive if her face wasn’t set in such a grimace of terror and anger. She grits her teeth as she strains to get free. Her foot shoots out and catches the smaller man of the group in his testicles.

The man doubles over for a few seconds. He rights himself and slaps her hard across her face. Dan can tell he is the leader of the pack. He points to the ground and his cronies lay the girl out, holding her down.

“
What can I do, Jack?” Dan asks the slumbering infant in a whisper. “I’m not a cop.”

“
True.” He responds as if he hears the child speaking. “But, one false move risks our lives. I really don’t have time for this.”

When Dan whispers that last statement he imagines hearing Jack speak in his head. “They are laying her bare ass in the snow so they can rape her. Do you think she gives a fuck what time it is?”

“
Good point. It’s the right thing to do. Cover me.”

The leader of the small gang is unzipping his pants. The lady on the ground is moving her pelvis trying to squirm free. The heavy weights have her pinned to the driveway by her wrists and ankles.

Dan takes aim at the guy with the assault rifle. The cross hairs are centered on his head, and then his head becomes surrounded by a fine pink mist. He falls to the snow.