Transformation: Zombie Crusade VI (25 page)

“No, Major, if you were able to handle it without my hand-holding you’re just doing your job. You’re correct in your assessment that competent leadership is difficult to come by.”

“Thank you, Mr. President; I’ll get that report to you ASAP.”
And when I do
, Daniels thought,
I’ll find a way to set up Pruitt for a big fall.

Even though Luke had braced himself for whatever it was that had nearly overwhelmed him the last time he and Will had made physical contact, he could only handle the flood of images and sensations for a few seconds before he stumbled backwards and sat down hard on the cold ground. Will remained upright, still as a statue, and Luke sensed that the hunter was drowning in memories. With a growing sense of horror, Luke realized that the massive creature before him was experiencing memories of his life before turning into a flesh-eater. Pain was etched all over Will’s face, and Luke felt
compelled to
intervene. “Will!” he yelled. “Look at me!”

Will didn’t move, and Luke could feel an oppressive blanket of anger, despair, and terror descending over both of them. He jumped up and ran directly into Will, knocking him down. “Look at me!” he ordered.

Slowly, Will’s eyes began to focus, and a snarl curled his lips. Luke sat down beside him, and, not knowing what else to do, he began to ramble. “You’re Will. I’m Luke. A man named Barnes released a virus into the world; that’s how you became who you now are. He deliberately unleased unspeakable suffering, and I intend to kill him.” Listening to Luke’s voice seemed to calm Will down, so he continued, “You and I are connected somehow, and I have some idea what you’re going through. You are remembering the past, your life as a human being, before you were infected.”

Will snarled again, but his eyes flickered with understanding. “Yes,” he hissed.

Luke was temporarily taken aback by Will’s clear verbal response. Adjusting to this new development, he decided to ask a few questions. “Are there others like you? Others who remember?”

Will considered the question before answering in a voice somewhere between a snarl and rasp, “Not sure.”

“Can others communicate with you? Can you understand each other?”

Will was slow to answer again, but finally growled, “Yes.”

“I need you to find the others like you, ones who can communicate, or ones who are starting to remember who and what they were before they were infected. Don’t show yourself to anyone but me. I will come back here every morning until my human group heads west.”

“Yes,” Will snarled again, but his anger was no longer on the verge of exploding.

“Together we are going to build our own pack, and together, we’re going to make Barnes pay for what he’s done.” Luke sensed nothing but satisfaction from Will as they parted ways, but his own heart was bursting with renewed fury. He’d thought that he understood the extent of the evil Barnes had unleashed upon the world, but he was wrong. What Will was experiencing was a hell beyond anything Luke had ever imagined. 

“So where were you off to so early this morning? Same as yesterday?” Gracie poked Luke in the ribs as they finished breakfast. “I bet you thought I didn’t notice you sneaking out in the middle of the night.” She got up to mix herself a cup of MRE instant coffee.

“I wasn’t sneaking; I was trying to be polite and not wake you up—and it wasn’t the middle of the night,” Luke objected as he wadded up a napkin and launched it at his wife. “Technically, it was morning.”

“So you still didn’t answer my question.”  She sat down next to Luke and put her hand on his leg. “It’s okay, baby. I figured one day you’d start to wander, maybe find yourself a nice female hunter to stalk livestock with and—”

“Very funny,” Luke interrupted, “but if you’re really interested in my morning exercise, maybe you can join me tomorrow.”

Gracie narrowed her eyes and studied her husband. “You know I’d rather sleep than run around and freeze my butt off in the dark. I know there’s something you’re not telling me—good thing we have the whole ride to Vicksburg to talk about it.”

Luke leaned over and kissed Gracie passionately. “We can talk about whatever you want; just never doubt that I love you with all my heart. I think I would die if anything happened to you.”

“Don’t say that!” Gracie admonished. “Don’t ever say that again; where did that even come from?” She quickly thought of Andi and felt like a fool. “Oh, babe, I’m so sorry. It’s Andi, isn’t it? I guess my brain just isn’t awake yet this morning. It’s only natural for you to be thinking of Jack and what happened to Andi since we’re on our way to visit him.”

Luke slightly shifted the direction of the conversation, “So what’d you find for Andi’s girls?”

Gracie’s eyes lit up. “I think you’ll agree that I’ve found the perfect present—well, presents. Wait here . . .” She pulled on her coat and flipped up the hood. “I’ll be back in five minutes.”

“We’re leaving in ten,” Luke called out as the door closed behind her. He felt like he was being dishonest, not telling Gracie about Will. He argued with himself about what he should say, and when. Part of him wanted to share everything he knew about Will—his ability to communicate, his emerging memories, the excruciating pain and the anger about what had happened to his family . . . But what would be served by that? Did Gracie need to know Will’s truth? If so, did she need to know it now?
This is bigger than us,
he thought,
and until I know for sure what it all means, I shouldn’t try to explain it to anyone.

Gracie actually was back in less than three minutes, carrying a good-sized box and smiling from ear to ear. “A momma cat and three kittens,” she announced proudly. “Off the charts cute and cuddly, plus, they’ll earn their keep as stone-cold rodent killers. Just look at them . . .” She lifted one side of the lid and tilted the box toward Luke. The mother cat was stretched out, nonchalantly washing her paws. Next to her three fluffy kittens were wrestling like maniacs.

Luke stepped up to get a closer look. A smoky gray kitten looked him in the eye and hissed. Luke laughed and reached in to pick it up.

  “Aren’t they adorable? Such pretty kitties,” Gracie cooed in a high pitched voice. She looked up at Luke. “You don’t want to eat them, do you?”

Luke cradled the kitten next to his chest and stroked it gently. It relaxed and started to purr loudly. “Of course I don’t want to eat it,” he said, only slightly offended. The kitten crawled up and rubbed its face against Luke’s chin, then stared at him with big, melancholy eyes. “I think you did find the perfect present for the girls. And this one likes me after all. I’m going to name him Wolf.”

“What?” Gracie took the gray kitten from Luke and put it back in the box.  “The girls get to name their own pets—and anyway, what kind of name is Wolf for a cat?”

Luke shrugged. “Don’t ask me—he told me his name is Wolf, and that’s what I’ll tell the girls when we see them.”

Gracie rolled her eyes. “Fine, let’s get going. I know Jenkins has all the vehicles on your list fired up and ready to roll.”

This trip to Vicksburg consisted of four Hummers and twelve people—three soldiers per vehicle on the way there, six on the return trip since two of the Hummers were to remain behind with Captain Harden. Both Zach and Maddy were eager to return to Vicksburg to catch up with Jack and Carter, but they understood that their leadership was essential at the depot in Luke and Gracie’s absence. Sergeant Jenkins drove Luke, Gracie, and the cats in the lead vehicle, and he talked so much that Gracie never got the chance to question Luke any further about his early morning activities.

The convoy received a warm reception at the Vicksburg gate this time around; Jack was there to personally greet his son and daughter-in-law.

Gracie jumped out of the Hummer and threw her arms around Jack. “I know you’re not really the hugging type, but I can’t tell you how good it is to see you—is Carter with you?”

Jack picked her up in a bear hug and spun her around. “It’s good to see you too, Gracie. Carter’s at his mom’s new place—I promised to take you directly there. Andi’s girls and Lucy are driving everybody crazy asking if you’re here yet.”

Luke walked up to Jack and shook his hand. “What’s the news on the Castle?”

Jack pulled Luke in for a stiff embrace. “Everyone’s fine—our folks were just staying well-hidden underground and maintaining radio silence in case Barnes still had his eye on the place. Turns out that the hunters were there for less than 24 hours before the choppers came back and got them moving again.”

Luke raised an eyebrow. “What about the sheriff; wasn’t he affected by the helicopter signals? Did Doc Redders say anything about him?” He was secretly wondering if the hunter Redders kept to study at the Castle was exhibiting any unusual behaviors. Did he know that he used to be a human?

“Redders didn’t mention him,” Jack replied as Captain Harden pulled up in an old Jeep. “Looks like our chariot has arrived. The captain here is anxious to see what you brought him, and I need to get you and Gracie over to Grandma Wilson’s. I’ll give you the full Indiana update on the way there.”

Harden tossed Jack the keys to the Jeep and gave Luke a friendly pat on the back. “So which of these beauties do we get to keep?”

Luke grinned. “You get to decide—pick two Hummers and we’ll take the others back with us.”  He motioned for Jenkins to join them. “This is Sergeant Jenkins—he’s our chief mechanic. I’m sure he’d be happy to go over each of the vehicles with you.”

Jenkins nodded. “It’d be my honor.”

Jack was already revving up the Jeep. “Come on, we’re burnin’ daylight.”

Luke hopped in the front seat with Jack. “You must be spending too much time with Carter—you’re starting to sound just like him,” Luke teased.

Gracie grabbed the box with the momma cat and kittens and climbed in the back seat. “The present for Andi’s girls,” she explained. The mewing gave away the contents before Jack could ask what they’d brought, and he smiled with approval. Gracie didn’t say much else as Jack updated them about the status of the Castle. She was watching him closely—she hadn’t expected him to be in such a cheerful mood. She reasoned that he was happy to see Luke again, and that he was probably emotionally distancing himself from the trauma of witnessing Andi’s murder. Also, the news from the Castle was good.

“After the infected were drawn out, about two dozen of Barnes’ men moved in and made themselves right at home. They drank up most of my good whiskey before the Utah troops hiding out with Redders took care of the situation. By the time Tina and the others got there, everything was under control.”

“So what’s the plan for the Castle now?” Luke wondered. “We have to assume that Barnes is gonna be keeping an eye on it.”

“We’re maintaining the same minimal crew there, with orders to lay low and keep up the appearance that the place has been abandoned. They have enough repair work to keep them busy for a while.”

“Don’t you expect Barnes to try to establish his own base there?” Gracie asked with concern. “I mean, he seems so obsessed with you, and that’s your home. I think leaving anybody there is asking for trouble.”

“We added ten prisoners of war from the group that moved in after the hunters were pulled out. Marcus debriefed each of them, and I’m comfortable with the situation for now.” Jack’s tone made it clear that the issue wasn’t up for discussion.

“What are you doing with the prisoners?” Luke was almost afraid to ask.

“Proud Southerners that they are, Tina and John were anxious to see Vicksburg—they’ll be escorting them down here in a day or two.” Jack took one hand off the steering wheel and gestured toward the cabins lining each side of the boulevard across the bridge. “This is a pretty impressive settlement.”

Gracie pictured Tina and John; married for nearly a decade, they were both former military officers who’d joined up with Jack at the Castle when the outbreak was just getting started. “I thought they were from Texas,” she said as the Jeep slowed down in front of what was obviously a newly built cabin.

“They are,” Jack confirmed as he parked the vehicle, “but even though most Texans probably considered themselves Texans first and Southerners second, the rest of us have never doubted that the Lone Star state was part of the South.”

The cats were a big hit with the girls; even Charlotte and her mom appreciated their value since mice were a constant nuisance in the settlement. Six-year-old Greta told Lucy she could pick one of the kittens to take home when it was big enough—just not Wolf. She’d promised Luke that she’d take special care of him herself. Cassandra was two years younger than Greta, and she claimed the mother cat and the extra kitten. When she said she was going to take special care of the momma cat till her own mommy came back to take care of them all, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

After lunch, Jack handed Luke a large notebook. “It’s your update on Utah. Not much has changed—Carlson runs a tight ship. The Mormon custom of maintaining a long-term food supply has certainly been an advantage for them.”

“Where do they live?” Luke knew the state was huge.

“From Provo to Logan they’ve used mountains and water to secure their flanks and kill every infected along the Wasatch Front and the entire Cache Valley. South of Provo, they’ve cleaned up the state as far as they know, so towns like Richfield and St. George are being resettled.”