The Dead Series (Book 2): Dead Is All You Get (15 page)

Holly and I sat on the small sofa in our trailer. My eyes were closed and I could feel her small, delicate hand stroking my hair. Griffin walked in with Greta. When she saw me, she came over and gave me a hug.

“Ow! Easy …”

“Are you hurt?” she said.

“I’m better. Everything’s been cleared up.”

“I was really worried. Do you want me to stick around?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Um, would it be okay if I meet Fabian in the cafeteria?”

“You’re asking our permission?” I said.

“It’s fine,” Holly said. “Don’t be too long.”

“I won’t. Come on, Greta.”

The dog pricked up her ears and trotted after Griffin. The girl seemed happy. I smiled as she went out the door.

“Am I doing the right thing?” I said.

“I don’t know.”

“I feel like I’m letting Warnick down. I mean, I was the one who wanted to get to the truth. But I don’t want to lose you. Or Griffin. Or the baby.”

“You won’t.”

I closed my eyes again and leaned back, my entire being in turmoil. Holly rested her head on my chest. “What do you do when you don’t know what the right thing is?” I said.

“You pray.”

“It’s been so long.”

“Hang on.” She got up and went over to our bed. When she returned, she was holding her Rosary. “Time to bring out the big guns,” she said.

Two yellow school buses
pulled into the command center parking lot carrying the survivors from the Arkon building, whom we’d rescued only weeks earlier, as well as the soldiers protecting them. While Warnick and Springer handled the paperwork, Holly, Griffin and I helped get people off the vehicles and into orderly lines for their medical exams. When Fabian showed up to assist, I gave him the guy nod.

Nina Zimmer stepped off one of the buses with her daughter, Evan. She seemed happy and, when she saw us, hurried over to give us hugs.

“Welcome to civilization,” I said.

“It’s so great to see you guys!”

“Evan!” Holly said. “Can I hold her?”

“Here you go,” Nina said. “My arms are so tired.”

“We’ve already got a trailer set up for you and the baby,” I said.

Nina took in her surroundings. “This place looks amazing.”

“Yeah,” Holly said. “With
amazing
showers.”

The women laughed as I walked Nina towards an MMU. We waited while they examined her and the baby. Then I grabbed Nina’s few belongings and led everyone to her trailer. Holly insisted on carrying Evan.

“So what’s life like on the other side of town?” I said.

“Not so good. We lost Ed Riley.”

“That old skinny guy with the huge Adam’s apple?”

“I think his heart gave out.”

“I’m really sorry,” Holly said.

“Everyone else is doing fine, but a few have been sick. There’s a woman—I forget her name—who has diabetes. They took her directly to the hospital. She might lose her foot.”

“Oh, sorry,” I said. “And Evan?”

Nina smiled as she took the little girl from Holly. “Somehow she’s managing through all this. I think she put on weight.”

“Awesome,” Holly said. “Well, here we are.”

Nina looked at her trailer and tears streamed from her eyes. Holly squeezed her shoulder and opened the door. “Home sweet home.”

“Thank you,” Nina said. “For everything. Dave, if you hadn’t shown up in that parking lot …”

“All part of the service,” I said. “Why don’t you get some rest? There’s food and fresh water in the fridge and baby formula in the cupboard. We need to get back.” She kissed my cheek and went inside.

“I think she’s sweet on you, bub,” Holly said as we walked away.

“Don’t start with me.”

After lunch, Warnick came by the trailer to give us our new assignments, which were to go out into the neighborhoods, search the houses and clear the area of draggers. If we found human survivors, we were to bring them to the command center for testing.

“I want to come with you guys,” Griffin said to Holly.

“I know, sweetie. It’s not allowed.”

“But I’m good.”

“Yeah, you are,” I said. “Stay here and make sure the new arrivals have everything they need.”

“Fine.” I could hear the disappointment in her voice. If it had been up to me, I would have taken Griffin along. She was an important member of the team, and I missed having her with us.

“You’re coming with, right?” Holly said to Warnick.

“It’ll be you two, Springer and me.”

“As per usual,” I said.

“There are some areas we haven’t gotten to. We’re not sure what we’re going to find. It might be dangerous.”

“Are you sure you want to do this?” I said to Holly.

“I may be pregnant,” she said, “but I’m still better than you.”

Griffin laughed. “Ouch.”

“Shut up,” I said.

We put on body armor and helmets and drove a Humvee across town to a residential neighborhood near the 5 freeway. I hadn’t been this close to the edge of town for a long time and didn’t know what to expect. When we stopped at the entrance to a cul de sac, I saw the barriers set up at the freeway exits and entrances. LMTVs were parked along both sides, and soldiers with sniper rifles stood guard nearby to make sure that no one got in or out. A Black Dragon helicopter did a low flyover, its passengers also armed.

As we surveyed the street looking for signs of life, a police cruiser drove by slowly. My stomach twisted into a knot. I checked out the driver. He didn’t recognize me, and a few seconds later he sped away.

“So are we doing a house-to-house or what?” I said.

Warnick checked his weapon. “Exactly. Looks like our guys were by here before.”

“How can you tell?” Holly said.

Springer pointed his AR-15 at a stop sign, which was partially covered by a sticker with the familiar Black Dragon logo. I glanced around and saw those same stickers on a few of the houses’ front doors.

“We can skip this street and go on to the next one,” Warnick said.

“So are these searches random?” Holly said.

“They are, but we mark them off as we go. Pederman has maps of the entire town. Every day we turn in our report and he updates them.”

“What if squatters move in after we’ve been here?” I said.

“I suppose eventually we could make a second pass. But right now, there are too many other streets we haven’t hit.”

We left our vehicle and walked over one street. We didn’t see a sticker on the stop sign and decided to enter the street. Another sign read
DEAD END
.

“Fitting,” I said.

Holly jabbed me in the ribs. “Where’s that positive attitude, homey?”

We approached the first residence, a small ranch house with fading tan paint and a crabgrass lawn that looked like it hadn’t been watered in months. A chain link fence ran the length of the property, with a gate attached to the house. As we approached, we heard whimpering, then frantic barking.

Behind the gate a hungry-looking mixed-breed dog jumped up and pressed his paws against the fence, barking and whining. He was thin—I could see his ribs—but he seemed friendly.

“Hi, boy,” Holly said, approaching the dog.

Warnick stepped in ahead of her. “Holly, leave him alone.” As she backed away, he raised his weapon and took aim.

“What are you doing?”

“Our orders are to eliminate all dogs.”

She stood in front of Warnick, a scowl on her face. “You are not shooting that dog.”

Warnick lowered his weapon. “You don’t get it. If another unit finds him, they
will
shoot him.”

“Does that mean you’re going to shoot Greta?”

“She doesn’t have rabies. And besides, she’s one of ours.”

“Well, why can’t this dog be tested?”

“Because we don’t have the resources. Please, Holly, step out of the way.”

“Holly,” I said, “what if he tests negative? Who will care for him?”

“Way it is, Holly,” Springer said. “We can shoot the animal or someone else will. Either way, he’s dead.”

“You guys are all crazy.” She strode purposefully towards the next house.

I went after her. We stood on the porch, silent. A single gunshot tore the air and the dog yiped once. Then everything went quiet.

“Would you have done it?” Holly said.

“What? Shoot the dog? Yeah, if I was ordered to. You?”

She looked away. “I don’t know. What other shit jobs are we gonna have to do?”

I pulled gently on her ponytail. “Doesn’t look like there’s anyone in this one,” I said.

“Are we supposed to go in?”

I could hear the sadness in her voice, but it seemed she’d pulled herself together. We both knew Warnick was right. Even if we did save the dog, it would wind up in a shelter where it would be put down anyway. I don’t want to say we did it a favor, but we might have reduced its suffering a little.

Holly tried the front door. It was unlocked. I glanced back—Warnick and Springer had crossed to the house opposite us and were on their way in. I nodded to Holly and we entered, our weapons raised.

The house was dusty and unkempt, with worn furniture and peeling paint. It might have been a bank repo that no one had gotten around to renovating for an auction. We didn’t see any blood, and the house was quiet as we cautiously moved from room to room. At the rear of the house was a baby’s room—the only one that was freshly painted.

A blonde wood crib with the tags on it stood in a corner, matching dresser and changing table next to it. A used rocking chair sat in another corner. A Sesame Street mobile lay on the floor next to a toolbox. On the floor next to a pile of new, unopened toys was a stuffed bear splattered with blood.

Holly sucked down a sob. I didn’t know what to say, so I held her hand. After seeing that room, it was hard for her to enter the other houses, but she did it anyway. What we found was mostly the same—lives abandoned, the ghosts of families watching helplessly as looters cleaned them out. Eventually, the looters would be dead, too. And their ghosts could join the victims. They might still be there.

We never did find anything on that godforsaken street.

We drove a mile down the road to Royal Ranch Market, where Holly and I and a former group of survivors had come to stock up on supplies when the outbreak first happened. As we pulled into the parking lot, I thought about Landry, Ben and his son Aaron—all dead. And I wondered what had happened to the family who owned the store.