The Dead Series (Book 2): Dead Is All You Get (38 page)

“I have to say, Kelly,” Quincy said, standing at the head of the table, “when you radioed me, I was pretty stunned. No one on the outside has been in communication with Tres Marias since the quarantine went into effect.”

Pederman moved his chair closer. “Other than our drone program, all Internet, telephone and cell phone communications have been blocked. Though we believed we were in charge, we … uh … discovered there was another agenda.”

“Yes, I looked into that. I’ve already been in touch with my senior command, and they are in agreement that, for the safety of the civilians, as well as your people, we need to be involved.”

“So glad to hear that.”

“Captain Quincy,” Holly said, “what will you do with the civilians?”

“We’ve arranged for temporary housing at a number of hotels in the area. Our people will begin escorting them once we’ve processed everyone. It’s my understanding that Black Dragon is working on a more permanent solution.” His eyes scanning the room, Quincy lowered his voice. “Let’s talk about the outbreak.”

“Everyone here has been tested,” Pederman said. “But the checkpoints have been abandoned, so there is the possibility the infected could escape.”

“Why didn’t you leave behind some personnel to guard the perimeter?”

Looking at Warnick and me, Pederman sighed. “Lou, I need to bring you up to speed on Operation Guncotton.”

For the next few minutes Pederman ran down everything we knew about the mayor and the rest, including the mysterious men in the black Escalades. He provided Quincy with a timeline—including the midnight deadline when the town would be “cleansed.” When he was finished, the room was dead silent.

Finally, Quincy spoke. “I need to alert the senior command. Where are the mayor and deputy mayor right now?”

“We think they’re in Mt. Shasta,” Warnick said.

“At the facility.”

“You know about that place?” I said, glancing at Pederman.

“It’s on one of our maps. We don’t know what’s in there, but we are aware of its location.”

“We have information that it’s inside the Lake Shasta Caverns,” Pederman said.

“That is correct.” Quincy rose and went to the door. “I’m going to call headquarters. Please remain here until I return.” Before leaving, he ordered one of his men to bring sodas and snacks. The other Guardsmen remained in the room at ease.

“Can I also get a bowl of water for our dog?” Griffin said. The Guardsman laughed and nodded.

“Do you think the civilians will be safe?” Holly said to Pederman.

“They’ll be fine. Just in case, we’re providing extra security at each of the hotels.”

The Guardsman returned with a cart loaded with bottled water, sodas and various snacks. He set out a bowl for Greta and filled it with water, which she lapped up.

“Thanks,” Griffin said.

We sat there quietly munching on potato chips, Cheez-Its, nuts and candy bars. Quincy returned looking grim and took a seat. “I spoke to my senior command,” he said. “They contacted the Governor and let him know what’s been happening up here. Needless to say, he was not pleased. He ordered us to take the mayor and deputy mayor into custody.”

“Excuse me, but how will you find them?” I said. “We were only guessing they’re at the lab. They could be anywhere.”

“Our orders are to go to Mt. Shasta,” Quincy said.

Something was up with Pederman. Warnick turned to him. “What is it?”

“I want some of our people to accompany you,” Pederman said to Quincy. “If you’re going after the mayor, I want to be there.”

“No disrespect, Kelly,” Quincy said, “but the Governor ordered
us
to carry out the mission.”

“No disrespect, Lou,” Pederman said, “but it’s the mayor who is responsible for the deaths of civilians on our watch, not to mention many of my people. If it’s all the same to you, we’ll be going with you.”

Quincy took a moment, then he smiled. “Well, the Governor didn’t say specifically that you
couldn’t
accompany us on this mission.”

“Appreciate the cooperation.”

I leaned over and whispered to Pederman. “I thought you said this wasn’t our mission.”

“Things change.” Yeah, this new Pederman was all kinds of cool. “Operation Guncotton commences at midnight,” he said, checking his watch. “That’s in less than two hours.”

“I’m sorry, but my orders are to stay away from Tres Marias,” Quincy said. “We have neither the manpower or the time to call up more reservists. We are to focus solely on arresting the mayor and deputy mayor.”

“Don’t forget the police captain,” I said.

“Is he a part of this?”

“Like horns on the devil.”

By the time we got outside and retrieved our weapons, the charter buses had arrived to take the civilians to their hotels. Considering everything that happened to them, they appeared to be holding up well. Most waited patiently, mothers and fathers carrying sleeping children in their arms. Some of our soldiers were already on their way to the hotels. We made our goodbyes short and watched as the people boarded the buses.

Quincy climbed aboard a military helicopter, along with a squad of eight privates and a staff sergeant. When they were airborne, a second helicopter carrying another squad followed. Everyone was heavily armed. When it came time for our squad to board our helicopter, Pederman had already decided that the mission was too dangerous for Griffin and Fabian. One of our people would drive them to a hotel, where they would remain till we returned.

“I wanna be with you guys,” Griffin said, standing next to Fabian. “Please!” Her eyes, shiny with tears, went from Pederman to Holly to me.

Holly smiled and took both her hands. “It’s for the best, Griffin. I want you to promise to look after the civilians. Both of you. We’ll see you soon.”

Griffin was an awesome soldier. I saw her heart breaking, but she forced a smile and took Fabian’s hand. “Come on,” she said. The two of them walked off with Greta following.

Everyone else was on the helicopter. As Holly prepared to board, I took her aside. “Dave, what? We need to get moving.”

“I don’t want you to go,” I said.

“Look, don’t start with that—”

It was hard to talk over the sound of the helicopter rotors. “Listen to me! This is all kinds of dangerous. I have no idea what sort of threat we’ll find up there, but I want you to
live
. I want you to have our baby. Please, Holly, just this once, do as I ask. I can’t …” I held her close and whispered in her ear. “I can’t lose you.”

She pulled away and stared at me for a long time, her eyes astonished. I knew everyone else was waiting, impatient to leave. But I stayed focused on my wife. No one in the world was more precious to me. This was my only chance and I had to take it.

“Okay,” she said.

Surprised and relieved, I held her close and kissed her head. When I saw her face again, there were tears in her eyes. “Don’t die on me,” she said.

“I won’t. I love you so much.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

“I always wanted to see you in a sailor suit.”

“Next Halloween. Get outta here.”

She kissed me one more time and pushed me away. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to find Warnick. I followed him onto the helicopter while Holly stood there alone. In no time we were airborne. As we ascended, the wind blowing leaves and debris all around, I waved to Holly. She blew me a kiss. As I watched her below, I wondered if I would ever see her again. A terrible evil had caused the outbreak—an evil that we were about to confront directly. Would I walk away from this like I had all the other times? Or would there be another little baby in the world who would never know her father?

No cold, ghostly hand touched my heart, no bone-deep feeling of dread, like someone walking over my grave. If the devil is in the details, God is in the clues. And right now He wasn’t giving up any. There was only the sound of the beating blades and the lonely screech of a nighthawk.

It took us
only a few minutes to reach Mt. Shasta. The moon was bright through the trees as our helicopter touched down in a parking lot near Holiday Harbor. The Guard helicopters had already landed, and the Guardsmen—including Quincy—were waiting as we jumped out to join them.

The surrounding area was covered with dense forest, all the way down to the lake. The scent of pine and lilac hung in the air. There was only one road in—Shasta Caverns Road. The only other way to the caverns was by boat. We decided on the former route because a boat might be seen from the shore. We knew there were government agents in the area, and we didn’t want to make it easy for them.

Quincy went over the plan one more time with our unit.

“What happens if we don’t find the mayor?” Warnick said.

“A BOLO has been issued. Local police as well as the Highway Patrol will be on the lookout.” Somehow, that didn’t give me much confidence.

The lab was located in a separate compound away from the caverns, similar to the Robbin-Sear facility in Tres Marias. Our destination was around a mile from where we landed. Quincy and his people led the way and we followed. It was after midnight—Operation Guncotton was already underway. Tres Marias, the town where I grew up, no longer existed. Though I’d never been sentimental about the place, the thought of everyone and everything in it dead and gone sent a stab of pain through my heart.

I had no idea whether we would encounter hostile fire. The caverns were closed to visitors at night, so if we did, at least no civilians would be in danger. As we made our way down the paved road, I recalled that at the beginning of the outbreak, draggers had roamed this area like hungry wolves. In fact, they’d bit my mother-in-law, turning her into one of them. I remembered what Hannity had said about Creasy and his damned protocol. I wondered how they eliminated the draggers without killing everyone else in the process. Whatever the method was, apparently no one was the wiser.

No one spoke. The only sound came from our boots crunching on the ground. Each Guardsman carried a Rifleman radio for secure communication. Although they were not allowed to use them freely, they made it possible for Quincy to track the location of each of his people. As we hiked on, I thought about Holly, Griffin and Fabian, and I was glad they were far away, safe from the danger we were about to face.

On hearing our approach, a colony of bats fled the trees and, circling high in the air, disappeared. I wished Greta was with me. My heart raced, thoughts of my death swirling in my head like those bats. Agents could be hiding in the trees, waiting for us to come into range. They could easily blast us without warning. Based on the attack on our convoy, I knew these people had no conscience. To them, it was a job.

Up ahead, Quincy raised his right hand high in the air. We stopped and waited. He signaled for one squad to go right, the other left. Pederman waved us closer. Then Quincy signaled us to follow him into the shelter of the trees. We moved as quietly as possible, avoiding pinecones and dead branches. Before long I heard men’s voices carried on the cold wind that blew through the trees. Quincy signaled for us to stop again. We crouched near a chain link fence topped with concertina wire. I was sure the fence was electrified.
U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE
signs hung everywhere I looked.

Quincy started to wave us in but, at the sound of a large vehicle approaching, signaled us to stop. Soon a plain semi-trailer truck approached the gate, its airbrakes hissing. A sticker on the side of the cab read
BASEBORN IDENTITY RESEARCH—LOS ANGELES, CA
. The gate opened, and men and women wearing blue jeans and flannel work shirts poured out of the main building and approached the truck as it slowly pulled into the front yard. Forklift drivers followed with crates of what I assumed was lab equipment. It took a while for the truck to completely clear the gate.

Once inside, the gate closed and the waiting crowd hurried to the rear of the vehicle, which faced us. One of the men stepped forward, unbolted both doors and swung them open. Men dressed in yellow hazmat suits with hoods appeared from inside. A man on the ground spoke to them. They jumped down, and the forklift drivers began loading up the truck. Soon, another identical truck appeared, and they repeated the drill.