The Dying of the Light (Book 1): End (14 page)

As Kim finished talking about her parents’ death at the hands of a single walker, I was still trying to process everything. I was able to manage a smile as Kim looked up at me, though. I had moved to sit beside her, one arm around her shoulders and the other holding her hand as she told me how her parents had died. I was saddened not so much by her loss, though that was tragic, but more so by the fact that she and especially her young brother had had to witness such horror.

“The man who seemed so sad to me was, of course, George,” she said. “He told me that my mom was dead and that my dad was very sick and might not make it either. He calmed me down and told me that he had arranged for both of us to stay with him for a while, until they could locate some family we could be placed with at least temporarily. I told him not to bother; my dad was an only child and his parents had died years before. My mom didn’t even remember her parents, having grown up in the foster care system. So there wasn’t any family for us to go to.”

“I remember he looked even sadder at that, and somehow I realized at that point that I could trust him.” She snorted as she continued. “Of course, by that time my dad was already dead and had reanimated, and for defense the helicopter crew had neutralized him before they even put him on the chopper.”

The way she said
neutralized
left me cold, and I realized how brutal an experience that must’ve been for such a young child, and how much it might’ve warped her world-view if George Maxwell and his wife hadn’t been there to help them both through it.

“He took care of us; he took us home and fed us, treated us just like the children he and his wife could never have. He hid the truth from us only because it was so horrible. I saw how he lived and the standards he held himself to, and I knew then that I wanted to be what he was; I knew that the Army was where I wanted to be.”

“So when did he finally tell you the truth?”

“I had just finished a tour in Afghanistan, and I came home for a visit. My first in years, actually; he and Althea were very surprised and glad to see me. Johnny even managed to get some leave around the same time, so it was something of a reunion. One night after dinner, George and I were sitting outside on the porch, him with his cigar and me with a glass of wine, and he just started talking. He told me the truth about my dad, and even about Jack; the zombie had bitten him too, and I simply hadn’t noticed as I rode him off the farm. They saw the bite right away and put him down before the chopper took off with us.”

“But animals don’t turn…”

“We know that now, but at the time they believed that it was a virus, remember. They were afraid it could end up as a carrier of the contagion.”

“Did you believe him? Maxwell? It’s a big story to swallow if you’ve never considered it before.”

“At first I thought he was just bullshitting me in a weird and hurtful sort of way, but then I realized it was painful for him to tell me all these secrets he’d been hiding.” She stood up and walked to the bulkhead, then turned back to me. “I didn’t believe him, not at first. I mean, I knew
he
believed it, but I still didn’t. I couldn’t. I mean, zombies? Seriously? So he showed me the tapes and the pictures and the videos.”

“Then he asked me to join this new team he was forming, a ‘special branch of service,’ he called it. He told me I could get revenge for my parents, and I signed on. Johnny got pretty banged up and got an honorable discharge just before I went to Afghanistan, so when they put us on inactive status, I knew where I wanted to go — wherever he was.” She took a deep breath. “And then you and the others were all wanting to stick together, and I thought that would make everything so much easier.” She came back to the crates, sitting next to me and reaching out to hold my hand. She didn’t look up at me, though, and when I saw teardrops start to fall, I lifted her chin so I could meet her eyes.

“I’m sorry, David. I didn’t want to lie to you, but I didn’t know how to tell you the truth. Then it just got so hard to keep all the secrets, and I withdrew, and…” I smiled at her as I wiped the tears away, and I could feel her shiver as I brushed her hair back over her ear.

Can I trust her again?
I wondered. After all, she had kept such a huge part of her life secret.
Will I always wonder what else she’s hiding from me?

“I understand why you did what you did, but I can’t just forget about it. So let’s take it slow, okay?”

Kim nodded and smiled. “Okay.”

She smiled as she ran her hand along the side of my face, along my jaw. “I missed you, David,” she said as she leaned in and kissed me. I relaxed and held her close, feeling her against me as I had feared I never would again, never wanting to let her go.

We were startled out of our kiss by a burst of loud clapping and whistling. We looked up as Eaton, Gaines, Martinez and Reynolds finished rounding the corner into our little nook with huge grins on their faces. Martinez and Gaines pounded me on the shoulder. Rachel and Kim were hugging and tearing up just a bit, and Tom stood there like a proud parent, watching us all and smiling so hugely he must have been hurting something.

I looked around at my squad, and was happy for the first time in quite a while. “Ready to kick some zombie ass?” I shouted.

The echoing agreement in the plane was deafening.

A tall, thin man met us in front of the main building as we disembarked from the Humvee that had picked us up from the airfield. Dressed nondescriptly in grey, he was the most average-looking man I had ever seen, and when he spoke, I thought I would die from boredom from the nasal drone of his voice.

“Good evening, gentlemen and ladies. My name is Henry Gardner. I’m the new head of the civilian arm of AEGIS, and the Secretary of Defense asked me to introduce myself to you personally; I thought this would be as efficient as any other method.” We looked at each other, and then the rest of the squad turned to Kim.

Command is a lonely job
, I sighed as she turned to the grey man and held out her hand.

“Captain Barnes, 1
^st
Alpha squad, at your service, sir.”

Henry looked down at her hand as if it were some sort of poisonous creature about to bite him, and licked his thin lips. “Yes, well, this way, if you please,” he said.

It appeared that introducing himself was just about the limit of old Henry’s abilities.

Kim and I exchanged glances, and I heard her whisper, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Me, too.”

As we entered the building, it seemed as though nothing had changed. I was surprised when Gardner stopped just outside the mess hall, wondering why we weren’t headed for the briefing room. Inside, all the chairs and tables had been folded or stacked against the walls, and the room was empty apart from two men I knew well, but hadn’t seen in almost a year.

I grinned and there was a cacophony of chatter as we approached Colonel Maxwell and Commander Anderson. They turned at our approach and smiled in welcome.

“David! Good to see you, my boy. It’s been a long time,” boomed Maxwell. He shook my hand as roughly as ever, making me wince, and turned to Kimberly.

For a moment, the tension in the room was palpable, then he held out his arms and she came forward as he embraced her with a huge hug. I smiled as they finally parted, and Maxwell straightened his uniform and cleared his throat.

“Uh, yes, good to see you too, captain,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye as he looked at Kim. “We’ll talk later, but for now just tell me this: Is he all right?”

She nodded. “Yes, sir. He’s fine, and on his way to the Springs as you suggested.”

“Good,” he said, the matter closed for now. “Good to see all of you. The rest of your team should be joining you here momentarily; I’m told they’re landing just now.” He turned to Henry, standing off to one side, looking at the small reunion with vague distaste.

“Henry, perhaps you’d like to greet them as well?”

“Yes, of course, colonel. I will return shortly.” As the door closed behind him, Maxwell turned back to us. “That guy gives me the creeps, plain and simple.”

I’d swear I heard Anderson snort at that comment, but I couldn’t say for sure.

“We’ve got a bit of a surprise for you folks, but we’ll wait until the others get here,” said Frank.

“Sir, shouldn’t we get right to the briefing?” I asked.

Maxwell’s only response was a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, come on, sir. You wouldn’t have activated us just for some sort of reunion. We’ve got a mission.”

Maxwell laughed and shook his head. “Steady, Blake. The birds are fueling now, and the quartermaster is prepping your gear. In the meantime, why don’t you catch us up on what you’ve been doing?” The confusion was considerable as we all began talking at once, but eventually everything calmed down, and the only really big news — that Rachel Eaton was soon to become Rachel Gaines — went over extremely well with our superiors. They were both very congratulatory to the pair.

Soon enough, the rest of our team had arrived and filed in, and the process began again, everyone excited to hear what had happened to everyone else in the time we spent apart. The large space was filled with the sounds of laughter and conversation. The only spot of tension was the one we all expected, between Reynolds and Ames. For his part, Tom seemed to believe that Ames simply didn’t exist. From his reaction, I believe Ames was just as glad to pretend the same thing. Gradually, the talk died down and our attention was diverted to the front of the room as Maxwell and Anderson moved apart.

“1
^st
Team, it’s been a long time.” Cheers were cut short as Maxwell lifted a hand. “I wish we had more time to socialize, but instead, we have a surprise for you, then your activation orders.” Everyone sobered as we were reminded why we were here in the first place. Maxwell nodded to Anderson, who lifted a radio and spoke briefly into it.

“Send them in.”

We turned at the sound of the hall doors opening, and marveled at the sight of soldier after soldier marching through, taking ordered ranks in three separate groups. As the soldiers formed their ranks, I noticed my team quietly whispering amongst themselves, pointing and nodding their approval of the new arrivals. The muttering grew louder as we realized that there were now nearly four full teams, including ours, in the dining hall. Colonel Maxwell broke the silence as the last soldiers took their places in the ranks.

“First Team, fall in!” As though we had never left, we formed our ranks, eyes front and at attention. Maxwell smiled as he saw us form perfect ranks, despite being separated for so long. Not so much as a finger was out of place, and Anderson smirked with pride as well before straightening and also coming to attention. Maxwell paced back and forth before us, something we had all become accustomed to over the course of our tenure at ‘zombie boot camp.’

“About face!” Like clockwork mannequins, we pivoted in place, coming to rest viewing the other soldiers. “First Team, meet your fellow AEGIS personnel.” I was stunned as realized what I had missed previously — the patch each of these men and women wore on their shoulders, showing the familiar logo of AEGIS.

“Teams Two, Three and Four, take a lesson from First Team. They are the example you will set yourself by. First Team, about face!” We turned again, glad to see nearly forty more recruits added to our roster.

“Operators, as you are aware, we now have a full complement of soldiers. As such, we have been ordered to form the First Company of AEGIS personnel. First and Second Teams will be deploying today. 2
^nd
Team, get geared up and form up at the airfield. 1
^st
Team will remain here for further orders. The rest of you will fall out to the barracks. Dismissed!”

We remained at attention as the rest of the soldiers filed out, and as the last one shut the door behind him, Maxwell turned to us. “All right, fall out, ya lazy bums.” We began talking as we tried to figure out what had happened to cause the sudden surge in manpower. Maxwell came up to me and clapped me on the shoulder. “A word, son?” I nodded and stepped to the side, waiting for the colonel to continue.

“I would never ask this of another soldier, but your unique position in this company provides me with an opportunity that I can’t pass up,” Maxwell said. “No one has ever had a command quite like this, facing things like this. I need to know, straight up and no bullshit, if Kimberly can take it.”

The answer must have been clear on my face. “Settle down,” he said, chuckling. “I was sure of the answer, but I needed to hear it from her
second in command
.” He put special emphasis on the title, and I was shaken for a moment. He grinned. “That’s right, David. XO is yours. Do us proud.”

I marveled yet again at the change that had come over the formerly dour and severe colonel I said goodbye to less than a year ago. He turned and motioned to Commander Anderson, glancing at Kimberly. Anderson looked thoughtful as well, then nodded firmly, grinning.

“First Team!” Maxwell yelled to get their attention, and I shook my head to clear the ringing. “It’s been a while since you were all in training, and it’s about time we made it official. Say hello to your XO, David Blake. Major Barnes, front and center.”

Kim looked shocked as several people clapped her on the back and a general whooping and hollering rang through the dining hall. She pointed at me, a fierce scowl on her face, then laughed and motioned for everyone to be quiet as she walked up to Maxwell and stood to attention, saluting him.