WorldLost- Week 1: An Infected Novel (20 page)

Everyone stopped except for me. I walked out the door ready
for this next challenge.

I moved fast, keeping close to truck stop walls, staying low
to reduce the chance my prey might see me. I made a quick dash to the semi-trucks
parked in the back lot getting behind one of the front tires of the first semi
I came to. I crouched down looking under the semi-searching for the biker who
was trying to sneak up on the building. At first, I didn’t see any sign of the guy,
so I moved a little deeper into the parking lot trying to find him.

After reaching the first semi-truck I started to get a
feeling like I was being watched, it was just one of those things, those
feelings that make the hair on you neck stand up. It’s that feeling when
someone is close by, but you can’t see them, but you know they’re there watching
everything you do. I looked up and back towards the truck stop scanning the
door I had come through, the windows of the garage trying to see if I could see
the periscope peeking out the windows and then I looked up to the roof. I
couldn’t see anything in the garage windows, but I did catch a glimpse of Brian
perched low on the roof of the building using his rifle to watch over the
parking lot and it looked like he was currently locked on me, watching me sneak
through his parking lot.

I gave him the thumbs up to let him know I saw him and that
things were good. I was also hoping he wasn’t tracking me as his target, but
since I got no response from him, I was a bit concerned and looked for an
opportunity to find a hiding place out of his line of sight. Since I didn’t
know Brian, having just met him yesterday, I knew he was a good shot at a long
distance so it kind of creeped me out.

I moved further on through the parked semis until I was only
two trucks away from the back of the parking lot area. There was a wire fence
surrounding the lot area which I supposed was there to make sure people paid
for their services and to provide a protected area for truckers to leave their
trucks. I turned and look at Brian once again, giving him thumbs up hoping he
would respond. This time, he responded.

He was making a hand signal that told me to
look south of where I was. I could tell he was moving between points, my
location and what I assumed would be the biker trying to sneak into the parking
area. Knowing he wasn’t targeting me made me a lot more comfortable and
relaxed. I continued to keep low behind tires moving back towards our target. I
would stop and watch under the semis, looking for another set of legs which
would tell me where he was. After moving between a couple more semi-trailers, I
couldn’t see the guy, but I could hear him. His radio was turned on and I could
hear the conversation.

“Jerry, you there? Over.” He said. “I don’t see anyone out
back. There’s a couple guy on the roof, I think, watching the parking lot back
here but I can’t tell if they know I’m here. Over.” So, this was interesting,
could that be my old friend from yesterday?

Did Jerry think he could show up and take me on? I knew I
should have cut his Achilles tendon so he couldn’t come back at us. This was a
lesson that I would have to remember and make sure I didn’t repeat in the
future.

“How many guys on the roof? Over.” Even through the radio, I
could tell it was, in fact, the same Jerry.

“I think two. They’re staying low, trying to stay hidden. Over.”

“Try to get closer, try to see if you can tell how many there
are. Bossman will be pissed if we get this wrong. Over.” Jerry replied.

I continued to watch the biker as he tried to sneak closer to
the truck stop building. I looked back at Brian but couldn’t see him now. He
must have hunkered down so he wouldn’t give his position away. I hoped he had
his rifle on the guy, just in case. I continued to watch under the semi-trailer
and finally saw two legs moving towards the building. I moved as quietly as I
could, watching every step I took so I didn’t step on something that would make
any type of noise and made my way to the guy so I could sneak up on him.

The new guy wasn’t even aware of me as I came up behind him.
I swung the bat I had, hitting him in the head with just enough power to knock
him out. He immediately dropped to the pavement moaning and curled up in a
fetus position.

I searched him for any weapons, removing his pistol, a knife,
and another two-way radio. I spent a minute continuing to check him over for
anything else that could be a used as a threat or used to escape. I grabbed him
under the arms lifting his upper body off the ground and starting to drag him
to the back door of the garage area.

Rob and the others were waiting for us and helped me get the biker
inside. We sat him next to the car lift pole. His eyes were rolled back in his
head since I had hit him pretty hard.

“We should get him tied up and gagged before he comes to,” I said
to Butch and Rob who were standing to the side of the biker.

Butch and Rob grabbed him and moved him against the automotive
lift and using some tie wraps to get him tied up. I grabbed a greasy rag from
the work bench close by and put it in his mouth.

“That rag is disgusting; it’s got oil all over it,” Shannon
said to me.

“Really, does it really matter? I just hit a guy in the head
with a bat and we’re tying him up to basically interrogate him….and you’re
wondering if a dirty rag is the best thing to gag him with.”

Just then the guy’s radio spoke. “Andy, come in.”

I looked around the group landing on Shannon. She looked away
at Amy and said, “You’re right, he can be an asshole sometimes. No need to be
an asshole, Matt.”

“Do we answer or …..” I waited for someone to make a
decision. No one jumped at the chance so I made the decision.

Using my hand, I held it over the mic of the two-way radio
and said. “Hold on a second. Going off the air for a minute. Over.” I turned
the radio off and looked at everyone. “What’s the plan for our friend Jerry?” I
asked the group standing in the garage.

“Who’s Jerry?” Rob asked. I explained how we had a run into
the biker gang yesterday, how they had chased us through the back woods. I told
them about Jerry and his pal, Al and what I had done to them in order to get
some info. I left some of the detail out because I knew they would all not
agree with my approach, but I did what I had to do to get the info we needed.

“Wish you had brought this up last night when we talked,”
Shannon said.

“We can talk about why we didn’t later. The why now doesn’t
help with answering the question. We need to deal with this now while we have
an advantage.” I replied.

“Well, I’ve never dealt with anything like this. I mean we
have a prisoner now.” Rob said shrugging his shoulders.

Everyone acknowledged that this was a new and different experience
for all of us. Then Amy said, “Except that you did kind of do something like
this yesterday, so maybe you have the most experience.” She smiled at me with
that knowing smirk and a wink.

“Fine; if you want me to be in charge of this task, then I
need each of you to agree to my tactics and not interfere.” I sarcastically
said back to Amy and the rest of them. “I don’t need anyone questioning what I do
when I do it, how I do it or anything.”

When everyone agreed or nodded their heads in agreement, I
told everyone to be quiet, turned on the two-way radio, placed my hand over the
mic and spoke. “Two people on the building. Over.”

“Good. Same as last time.” Was the reply from Jerry. “Over.”

“I’m heading back out, meet me by the fence,” I said.

“Heading that way now. Over.”

I turned to Shannon and said, “Call Brian on the two-way and
ask him to track Jerry as he moves to the south parking lot. Let me know when
he is out back.” I finished as Shannon picked up her two-way radio and called
Brian to tell him what I had said.

As Shannon was talking to her brother, I told Rob to watch
the first guy and moved Butch and Amy to the door. “Go out there and get Jerry.
Find him, restrain him and bring him back here. Make sure he doesn’t use the
radio to alarm anyone.” I opened the garage entrance door as they both nodded to
me as they passed by and slipped into the parking lot.

The first guy was still knocked out when Amy and Butch
dragged an unconscious Jerry through the door. “Tie him up like the first guy,”
I told them.

After Jerry was secured to the second car lift pole, we all
moved out of the garage except Rob who agreed to watch over them.

We went to the office to talk about next steps with these
bikers. Everyone found a seat or a wall to lean on and Shannon said, “What’s
the plan?”

“Simple,
” I said. “We wait till they come to, we make them uncomfortable. When
they’re ready to talk, we ask them questions to learn as much as possible. We
need to do whatever it takes to get them to talk and get answers. Then we can
use the information they give us to make a plan based what we learn.”

“Simple?”  Shannon asked. ”Sounds a little more involved than
just a simple question and answer session.”

“What happens if they don’t talk?” Amy asked looking at
Shannon to let her know that she was siding with her. “Are you prepared to hurt
them? Kill them?”

“Look, it’s not rocket science, it’s very straight forward.”
I could tell they didn’t approve of my approach and may not back me when it got
tough. “I’m ready to do what needs to be done to get answers. You guys can stay
here. Let me do what needs to be done to get the answers we need. I’ll get the
info and then we can figure out what we’re doing next. What are plan is going
forward”

They both looked at each other and nodded. Butch agreed with
me so I walked back out and headed to the garage to take care of business.

I walked into the garage and met Rob standing there watching
guard. “I’m going to have a word with them and it may not be a pleasant
conversation. It’s your choice to stay or go.” I whispered to him so the two bikers
couldn’t hear what I was saying.

“I’ll stay, I can handle whatever happens. Seen enough shit
the last few days and you may need some help. The first guy is coming around,
might want to start with him.” Rob said as he moved closer to the first guy.

I followed Rob to the first guy and gave him a slap across
the face. His eyes popped open looking around the room. He was trying to figure
out what happened to him and where he was. He focused on me standing there
smiling at him. “You took quite a hit to your head. Knocked you clean out and you
might have hit your head a second time on the ground. Be lucky if you don’t have
a concussion. I’d suggest you relax as we talk. You understand?”

He stared at me wide-eyed with the oily work rag sticking out
of his mouth. “You understand? Nod if you get it.”

He nodded his head up and down to acknowledge that he
understood me.

“We know you guys are from The Common’s neighborhood. We know
who the leader is of the gang, that douchebag Ripper. We also know that you
guys are using innocent people to play games with and using the women for your
own sick pleasure. Nod if I’m right.”

He shook his head over and over denying it.

“You saying I’m wrong about what I just said?” I asked.

He nodded his head.

“So, you know your buddy over there, Jerry. You see, he told
me all about what you guys are doing over there.” I pointed at Jerry tied to
the vehicle lift pole. “Did he tell you about our first meeting the other day?”

He shook his head.

“Well, you see, Jerry and I played a little game. It was like
this, I would ask a question. If he told me the truth, I didn’t hurt him. But
if he lied to me or I thought he was not answering my questions honestly, I’d
cut him and him not only got hurt, but he got to go to the next level of pain
in the game, eventually hitting the highest level, where he gets crippled. He
almost got to the highest level, but he was smart and decided to tell me what I
wanted to know. Did he happen to show you how he made out with our little game?
The cuts on his right leg?”

Once again, he shook his head no.

“Well, that’s interesting that he didn’t share any of that
with his friends. What did he say when you guys finally picked him and Al up in
the woods? Did he tell you that he cut it on a rock or something?”

This time,
he nodded.

“That hurts my feeling that he didn’t tell you guys the truth
about the game we played, how he failed at it and what happened when he lied to
me. Might have to talk to him about lying...anyway, here’s what happened.” I
filled him in on how the conversation with Jerry went and how and where he got cut.
While I was explaining this to him, I pulled out my knife and cut his left
shirt sleeve off. “Did you know if you get cut on a joint area of the body, the
elbow, the knee? You know. It can be painful and it’s something you remember as
you heal because every time you bend that joint, the scab breaks and you feel
the pain. Did you ever think about how you have to bend your arm to do just
about everything? Drink a beer, comb your hair, wipe your ass, pick your nose….?”

He shook his head again, back and forth, with a lot more
vigor this time. I could tell he was getting concerned. “So, you ready to play
the game?” I asked.

He shook his head over and over. “Come on, it’s a simple
game, even you can play it…... Now I’m going to remove the rag from your mouth.
No yelling, no screaming, just be silent and wait for the question. If you do
talk or make any noise, you get cut. Let’s get started.” I removed the rag and
waited, but surprisingly, he stayed quiet.

“Are you guy’s part of Ripper’s crew?”

“Yes.”

“Good start. Were you with the group when they stopped at
this truck stop the first day of the infection?”

He hesitated, looking at me, apparently not sure what the
right answer was. I just stared at him, waiting. After a full minute of staring
at each other, I moved the knife closer to his elbow.

“Yes. I was here the first day.” He blurted out, flinching as
the knife stopped.

“Good. Now if you delay on any more answers, you get cut.” I
rested the knife on his forearm. “So you saw Ripper stab the owner of the truck
stop?” I saw Rob moving closer.

He looked from me to Rob and back. I held my hand out to Rob
telling him to stop. I moved the knife quickly across his forearm causing blood
to run freely. He screamed and started to cry, so I took the rag and shoved it
in his mouth to quiet him down. “I explained what would happen. I’d suggest you
don’t test it again. Maybe next time, I’ll let my friend here deal the next
cut.”

Rob moved back a few steps but continued to stare at the
young biker. The biker continued to cry, so I said, “My question is still
unanswered.”

He nodded. I reached up and removed the rag. “Yes.” He said.

“What’s your name?”

“Kyle. Kyle Simpson.”

“You got a nickname, Kyle?”

“Dookie.”

“Nice, I bet there’s a story behind that one. Dookie. Nice.”
I laughed. I walked over to Rob and told him to go and try to wake up Jerry. “So
Dookie, how many of you are loyal to Ripper?”

He saw Rob slap Jerry across the face to wake him up. Jerry
opened his eyes, looking around and landed on Kyle. I ran the knife across Kyle’s
elbow, digging deep with the blade to the point of touching the bone. This
caused a jolt from him and a scream, which made me stick the rag back in the mouth.
“Failed again. Next time, it gets worse.”

I walked away and met Rob halfway between the two bikers,
letting them eyeball each other for a few minutes. “This bothering you?” I
asked Rob in a whisper.

He shook his head and said, “No. They’re getting what they
deserve. They killed my father. If you told me to, I would kill them right
now.”

“Hold that thought for a while. Let’s get what we can from
them.” I moved towards Jerry and stood right in front of him looking him in the
eye.

“So, Jerry, my old friend. Didn't you tell your friends about
the game we played the other day, huh? Ashamed of it, maybe a little
embarrassed?” He just looked at me with hatred, but that changed the minute I
pulled out my knife, then his look turned to concern. I used my knife to cut
his pants to expose his bandage on his leg. “Looks like you at least got the
cuts cleaned and some meds on them. The bleeding looks like it stopped.” I cut
the bandage away exposing his skin and the medicated cuts.

“How’s Al doing? Did he live?” I placed the tip of my knife at
the beginning of the first cut from yesterday. I ran the knife deeper, this
time, retracing the original cut, reopening it. Blood began to run from the
fresh cut as Jerry tried to pull his leg away, but it was bound to the pole. He
screamed into the rag as I slowly continued to use the knife to reopen the
other cuts.

“You really shouldn’t have gone back to the gang, my friend.
It was a mistake and one you will regret this time.” The hatred in his eyes was
back and I stood there wondering if I was making a mistake by letting him live.

After a few more minutes of looking at Jerry, I walked back
over to Dookie and smiled at him. “How many are in the gang?”

He tried to say a number, but the rag prevented a clear
answer. I removed the rag and he said, “Ten. Why’d you cut Jerry, you didn’t
even ask him a question.”

I took the knife and cut his forearm a little bit more. “Like
I said, answer the questions. I don’t recall telling you it was ok to ask me
questions. But, to answer your question, I don’t like Jerry and so that’s why I
did what I did. You see, guys like Jerry and you are bad people and with the
way things are today, we need people that are willing to work with each other
instead of against each other. So, there are only ten in the gang?” I asked.

“We had more, but they were killed along the way. A few of
them here. We’re down to ten, I swear.” He looked at me and then at Jerry.

“So, there are only eight bikers left in the compound right
now. That’s better than I thought or could have hoped for.” I said to Rob,
which he acknowledged with a nod. “When are you supposed to be back at the
compound?”

“Tomorrow morning.” Again he looked at Jerry.

“Rob, keep an eye on these guys, I need to talk with the
others.” I walked to the door that led into the hallway and left the garage. I
found the group in the main office, talking about how we might deal with the
bikers. “We have eight bikers to deal with and they will know there is a
problem by tomorrow morning,” I said as I walked in.

“We were just talking about how we might deal with them,” Shannon
said. “We really on have two options. Attack them or wait to be attacked and
then fight them off.”

“You sure the people here and the kids could handle being attacked?
What happens if we lose, what happens to them?” I asked.

“Bad things will happen to them,” Amy said.

“I didn’t say that is what we agreed to do. I was just
stating the fact that there are really on two options.” Shannon wasn’t happy
about this, which was understandable. I could tell from the tone of her
response and the look on her face that this decision was a difficult one for
her.

“So we attack them, go on the offensive,” Butch said. “Better
to die trying than to not try at all.” He put up his hand to me to high five,
which I ignored. “Really, you’re going to leave me hanging.”

“What do we do with the two bikers in the garage?” Amy asked.

“We can’t keep them. We don’t have the food to spare and if
they get loose, they could be a problem, take supplies or worse, kill people.”
Shannon replied looking around the room at everyone.

“How about we take them with us when we leave and drop them
off on the way, between here and there like we did last time. They can work it
out from there.” Butch suggested. “This time, we need to make sure if they get
loose and live, they leave for good and never come back to this area or back to
cause us more trouble. We need to scare them enough to not want to deal with us
again.

“I like Butch’s plan,” I said.

“I agree.” Amy and Shannon said in unison.

“Who's going to leave and deal with the gang and who’s going
to stay here to keep things in check?” Shannon asked changing the subject.

“We should keep it to a small group so we can be stealthy as
we scope out the place. If it looks like there are too many to deal with, we
could always come back and get more people or come up with a new plan. I’ve got
a few ideas” I replied.

The reality was that I was thinking of going by myself and
dealing with the bikers. For some reason, I was really pissed off about what
they were doing and felt that it was my goal to finish this with them.

After explaining the few idea’s I had to the group and trying
to sway them to let me do this by myself, which they were all against, we
finally agreed on the group that would go and the plan. We all thought that we
should leave early the next morning, before dawn which would get us to the
compound early in the morning, before the gang was fully awake and moving
around. We all left the office and Shannon said she needed to check on
everyone, making sure they were ok and that we didn’t have any new threats
outside.

I joined her on the walk through the building, checking on the
people standing guard at the various positions around the building. We were making
our way to the garage let Rob know of the plan when she said, “You sure about
this whole thing? It’s dangerous, with the bikers, the infected, lots of things
we don’t even know about. Maybe they will just leave us alone.”

“You’re concerned for me?” I asked with a smile on my face,
trying to be mister cool, thinking I might have a chance with this beautiful woman.
Even though I had only known Shannon for a day, I could tell that she was
someone I wanted to get to know better. She was beautiful, smart, and brave.

“No.” She said to me, giving me a smile back. “I’m concerned
about my brother going with you, that he might not come back from this...I
don’t even know what to call it. Amy told me about some of the things you have
done and they sound pretty reckless.”

Oh…...yeah I thought; her brother. Stupid me, I thought I
might have had a shot there for a minute.

“We’ll be fine. He’ll be fine. He’s a great shot, a good
tracker from what you guys have said. He knows his guns and how to use them. We’ll
make it back, we have to.”

“And what about you? You just going to charge head first into
that place and try to take care of it all by yourself. That’s what it sounds
like you like to do.”

“I won’t do that again. I won’t put my friends or your
brother at risk.” I said as we approached the garage. I stopped Shannon and said,
“You need to know that I had to do somethings to the prisoners that you might
not like. They needed to be done to get the information we need to get the
advantage over Ripper.”