The Eliminators | Volume 3

by Druga, Jacqueline

  “You are free to go now, Mr. Porter,” Norton opened the cell door. “Charges were dropped. You have been assigned to a new Eliminator team.”

  He stood up, his frame towering over the sheriff. “Really?”

  “Yep. Your new Commander is outside waiting. I think tomorrow you’ll go to Command with some of your team, pick up your weapons. I’m sure the team will tell you all about it.”

  “This is great. Thank you.”

  “Good luck out there.”

  “Appreciate it.” He nodded and walked down the aisle to the last door. He opened it. He didn’t have any belongings on him.

  He didn’t see anyone in the lobby of the jail, so he went out the main door. As soon as he did, he saw her standing there, arms folded, leaning against the building. He recognized her right away by her short, Captain Marvel style hair.

  “So,” he said. “You’re my new commander.”

  Rachel looked up to him and extended a hand. “Rachel. I’m the temporary team Commander. Ours should be back on full duty in a day. I know your name is not Lunk. What do they call you?”

  “Zeus.”

  “Zeus? Your nickname is Zeus?”

  “No, that was my professional name,” he said.

  “It fits. Except your hair is dark. I used to have long hair and then a dead grabbed it and now it’s short.”

  “You didn’t wear it up?” he asked.

  “That’s what Rigs always said.”

  “Your hair,” he pointed at it. “It looks different. Good but a little shorter.”

  “Thank you for noticing,” Rachel touched her hair. “I got a trim before getting you. I wanted to do it before we went back out.”

  “I’m glad to be going back out. Thank you for this,” he said. “I won’t let you down. Being an Eliminator has become my life.”

  “I know that feeling. Now … let’s go meet some of your team.”

  “I’m ready.”

  “Good. And I’m sure,” Rachel said. “They’re ready for you.”

  <><><><>

  “Where is she?” Rigs paced back and forth in Barry’s hospital room. He paused to push on his ear.

  “At least you aren’t talking at loud volume anymore,” Yates said, staring down to what looked like a phone.

  “I can almost hear again. The ringing is still there, thank you very much. What are you looking at?”

  “Oh, just trying to tap into the other EPEVs. They aren’t hooked up yet.”

  “You’re seriously obsessed,” Rigs said.

  “I’m seriously concerned.” Yates looked up. “You know, we went to try to see Fred. They talked about moving him to designated survivor towns for the infected. They talked about a scanner. I wonder if they’ll be using my tracking program. It measures pulse, temperature and breaths.”

  “That’s actually a really good way to track if they turn,” Rigs stated. “If they aren’t doing it, maybe you should suggest it.”

  “No. I suggest it, they’ll be putting eliminators in these towns.”

  Barry spoke up. “Would that be bad? Sounds like it could be interesting.”

  Yates shook his head. “I heard from the guy in the cell next to me you can’t just put them down. All town residents that turn have to be brought to something called Peace Centers. You have to incapacitate them.”

  “How?” Rigs asked.

  “Beats me.”

  Rigs sighed out. “Sounds dumb.” He looked down to his watch. “Where is she?”

  “Who?” Barry questioned. “Sandy or Rachel? Sandy went to Starbucks.”

  “What is it with you guys and Starbucks. It’s the apocalypse,” Rigs said. “But I was talking about Rachel. She told us nothing about the new Eliminator and was supposed to be here.’

  “She went to get her hair done first,” Yates replied. “A trim before we go back out. Maybe highlights.”

  “For real.” Rigs shook his head. “That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.”

  “Absolutely,” Yates agreed. “I mean if she wants people to stop thinking she is gay she has to lose the Captain Marvel hair. She can keep it short, just pixie cut it or something.”

  “Are you seriously encouraging the hair thing? Again, like with Starbucks, it’s the apocalypse. Why?”

  “Um, just because it’s the apocalypse doesn’t mean you have to look bad,” Yates said. “High humidity days, I can take up to an hour to straighten this mess.” He pointed to his hair.

  “Am I the only one who doesn’t give a shit about how they look now?” Rigs asked.

  “Um … yes.” Yates put his device in his pocket. “Even Fred cares. And that’s saying a lot, the man is as laid back … wait let me think of a Fred type thing, he’s as laid back as …” he snapped his fingers “a prostitute on a Friday night.”

  “Oh my God,” Rigs said.

  “I thought it was good,” commented Barry.

  “No.” Yates’ eyes shifted. “No.”

  “No what?” Rigs asked.

  Rachel walked in with the new Eliminator.

  “You did not get the jailbird,” Yates said. “Tell me I am dreaming.”

  “Tell me I’m dreaming,” Rigs said in a daze. “Oh my God. Zeus Porter.” His voice crept up. “It’s Zeus Porter.”

  “You know him?” Yates asked.

  “You know him?” Rachel repeated.

  “Yes. Yes.” Rigs extended and shook his hand. “And you’re on our team?”

  “Yes, I am. Thanks to the commander here.”

  Rigs laughed through the excitement. “She’s temporary, I’m the commander.” He chuckled again so unlike himself. He spun to Barry, “Look it’s Zeus. Len would have lost it.”

  “My son,” Barry said, “and Rigs were huge fans.”

  “Okay. Stop.” Yates made a T with his hands. “Fans of what? Football. Not basketball, you’re too thick.”

  Zeus laughed. “Wrestler.”

  “Zeus here,” Rigs pointed. “Was a twelve time heavy weight champion. He is a God of pro wrestling.”

  “Like Zeus,” Yates said facetiously.

  Sandy’s voice entered the room and she spoke slowly and with shock. “oh … my God.”

  Yates faced Rachel. “Is everyone a wrestling fan?”

  Rachel shrugged.

  Zeus turned around to the door. His eyes widened. “Aunt Sandy.”

  “Eugene!” Sandy raced to him.

  Both Yates and Rachel hurriedly looked at each other. “Eugene?”

  “Oh my sweet boy.” She placed her hand on his face. “My sweet boy.” Her voice quivered. “You survived. I can’t … I can’t tell you how happy I am. I thought you were in London.”

  “I was. We were doing a promo cruise. The yearly Cruise with the superstars? And that’s when it hit. FYI,” Zeus said. “Important tip, don’t be on a cruise during a zombie apocalypse.”

  “Actually,” Yates added. “That sounds fun.”

  “There are still ships out there,” Zeus said. “People they sent out for safety. Who knows, maybe it will be a new Eliminator thing.”

  “That would be cool,” Rachel added.

  “How did you find me?” Sandy asked Zeus.

  “I didn’t. She …” he pointed to Rachel, “Found me.”

  “Purely by accident.” Rachel waved her hand. “I can’t take credit for finding your nephew, just for finding an Eliminator.”

  Rigs spoke up, “He’s the newest member of the Flaming Saffrons.”

  “You’re on our team?” Sandy asked with excitement.

  “Aunt Sandy? You’re an Eliminator?”

  “I am.” Sandy nodded. “Well, pseudo. I’m the medical person on the road. I don’t actually go out and Eliminate those things. But this trip, honey, you’ll have to be without me. This is my friend Barry. And I’m gonna stay back for this mission. It’s a short easy one so we won’t be missing much, it’ll be nice to hang back.”

  “In a nursing home,” Barry griped. “They tried thi
s once with me. It didn’t work.”

  “You aren’t staying there for good,” Sandy defended. “A couple weeks and it’s an Assisted Living. We’ll be fine.”

  Barry shook his head. “I won’t be fine until I’m back on the road. Cast or no cast.

  “I feel bad for you,” Rigs said. “Seriously. We now have the coolest team ever, and you’re gonna miss out. Kasper’s back, we have the tech guy with all the toys, and a superstar professional wrestler.”

  “What am I?” Rachel asked.

  “You’re … Rachel.” Rigs paused. “With the … wow your hair, it looks nice, did you get it cut and highlighted?”

  “Oh my God, Rigs,” Rachel smiled and touched her hair. “I did. Thank you for noticing.”

  “Don’t be too impressed,” Yates said. “I told him you went, and by the way …” He smiled smug. “He made fun of you.” He walked to the door. “I’ll see you at the house.”

  Rachel gasped. “I can’t believe you made fun of me. Probably because you’re such a freaking sexist.” She followed Yates out.

  “Why … why would he say that?” Rigs asked.

  “Because he’s a dick,” Zeus answered. “He threatened to beat me up in jail.”

  Rigs laughed. “As if he could.” He turned serious. “What house?”

  EIGHT – UNEASY

  It wasn’t a bad walk and it was convenient. Four blocks from Dr. Stevens’ labs to the place where they’d spend the night. She even got a glimpse of the facility where Barry and Sandy would be staying. It looked nice and was in a residential area.

  The housing given to Rachel and the others was on the same block as other Eliminators, either taking a break or waiting on a team. While in town, if not on a break, they worked security.

  But it was a nice night and Rachel didn’t mind walking.

  She spent longer at Dr. Stevens lab than she should have. Fred was moved there. He would be tested by Dr. Stevens and his virus hunters, trying to cure not only the sickness, but the aftermath as well.

  Rachel didn’t have the heart to tell him that Kasper was just a freak occurrence, once dead and turned, they stayed dead and turned.

  Fred was sad, Rachel didn’t blame him. But he looked forward to going back out as an Eliminator or working some sort of job in the infected survivor city.

  They talked awhile, Rachel looked forward to the day when Fred and Kasper would be out with her. She knew they’d get along. Perhaps she spent longer than she should have there. They would be leaving the next day for the mission, a little sooner than they expected. She just felt so bad leaving Fred behind.

  Finally, she left to walk home.

  As odd as it was, being around the normalcy of Charleston or at least the façade of normalcy, it made her think of her family more.

  Her son, Brad, suffered from the sickness part of the virus. How he died alone in that stadium even though she tried to get to him.

  Sami her daughter was still alive, screaming when the dead pulled her from the bus and out of Rachel’s grip. Her legs chewed apart, crying out, and even though it didn’t happen, in her memory, all Rachel heard was her daughter screaming, “Mommy.”

  Cliff, her husband in some sort of vain attempt to save his daughter, rushed from the bus, sealing his own fate.

  Knowing now all that she did about the dead, she knew the chance of them ‘turning’ was slim. There was a point where a person was torn apart so much, they didn’t turn.

  Her husband and daughter had to have been one of those who never turned. They were two people thrown into a mass crowd of hungry, raging dead.

  There were times before it all happened, when things were sane and normal, that Rachel would take a drive in the car and her mind would wander. Things she had to do or envisioning things she wished would happen, then suddenly she found herself on a wrong street.

  It was a dangerous habit she had of getting lost in thoughts.

  Much as she did that night.

  She was walking down the peaceful street, reliving those memories so vividly, they sucked her in, as if she were actually back there. Feeling those final moments she spent with her family. Totally sucked out of the reality of where she was until she felt it under her foot.

  A squishing feeling.

  Rachel stopped.

  She pulled out her flashlight, turned it on and lowered the beam to the sidewalk.

  She knew exactly what it was when she saw it.

  Zombie excrement.

  It lay in a big blob in the middle of the sidewalk, from the color of the dung, at least what she could see in the dark, seemed fresh. It had excreted from the body of an undead. Usually when they ate too much it just plopped out of them hours later.

  A pile of Zombie excrement not only meant there was a stiff around, but it also meant it fed.

  Staring down to it, she heard the soft growl.

  Lifting her head, Rachel saw it. The male stiff stood right before her.

  Quickly she grabbed for the honing rod, grasped it in her hand and lifted it ready to impale the undead. Before she could, blue sparks came from nowhere and the undead jolted, shook until it dropped to the ground.

  As her eyes cased from the undead upward, she saw a man in a police style uniform approach.

  “Sorry, Ma’am,” he said. “We should have been faster.”

  “That’s okay,” Rachel said.

  “You’re an Eliminator.”

  “I am.”

  “On R and R?”

  “Getting ready to go out tomorrow,” she answered. She watched another man approach. “So a taser actually works.”

  “For a couple hours, long enough for us to get them to the Peace Center.”

  “I’m on the road,” Rachel said. “What exactly is that?”

  “Folks register dead they haven’t seen, if we can’t match the dead to the missing, we try to identify them. A way for people to have a farewell before they are put down humanely.”

  The other guy joined him and they lifted the stiff.

  “Have a good night,” he said to her.

  “Yes, thank you.” Rachel returned her honing rod to her belt and watched as they carried the stiff to a truck. She had been so caught up in her thoughts she didn’t see the big garbage truck there.

  The two men loaded the stiff in the backend, then got in and the truck drove away.

  Rachel wasn’t far from the house and she’d continue on. It struck her as odd that not only were they proficient in getting the stiff, but they also needed such a big truck. She couldn’t help but wonder why.

  <><><><>

  Were they even really playing?

  It was the fourth time Rachel had passed Yates and Zeus in the dining room and they looked frozen in time.

  They both were seated at the small dining room table, a chess board between them. Yates sat back, arms folded staring down, while Zeus, leaned forward, arms on the table.

  Both men had a look of studious intent.

  The house was small. It had a second floor but from outside it only looked like windows. It was so tiny, that the EPEV completely blocked it. But it had a nice side deck, Rigs was out there when she got home.

  She thought about sleeping in the EPEV, it was nicer than the plain old home and it didn’t have that vibe that Rachel picked up. The sadness that something horrendous happened there, the fresh white paint and neutral décor told her they whitewashed the tragedy of the home.

  Then again, how many homes were spared the tragedy?

  Her home back in Indiana was spared, they were away, the first ever vacation out of the country they had ever taken.

  She was bored, everyone was busy.

  The first time she walked by Yates and Zeus was when she came in the house. When she asked what they were doing, they hushed her. The second time, they were still in the same position when she went to see what was there to eat. After her shower, they still looked the same. She even sat on the couch watching them. Yates moved his hand to a piece once then pulled
it back.

  Finally, when she retrieved a beer, she stood over the table for a few minutes.

  “Did you need something?” Yates asked.

  “You’ve moved like six pieces,” Rachel said.

  “And?” Yates asked. “Your point?”

  “Aren’t you bored?”

  “No. Go bother Rigs.”

  There was a thought. What was he doing on the side deck anyhow?

  It was something to do and toting her beer bottle, she walked out to the side deck.

  His feet were propped up, a bright lantern perched on the table, a bottle of the beer in one hand, and he read from a folder.

  “Busy?” Rachel asked.

  “Yes. But … you can join me,” he said, dropped his feet. “Did you try that?”

  “Try what?’

  “The beer?” he asked.

  “Not yet.”

  “It doesn’t have a label, I think they make it here,” Rigs said. “I think it’s probably the best beer I have ever had.”

  Rachel shrugged and gave it a try. She was surprised how smooth it was. “Wow, you’re right, and I’m not a beer drinker.”

  “Have you been back long.”

  “About an hour and long enough to realize if a game of chess takes that long, it’s not for me.”

  “They started a while ago. How was Kasper?”

  “Good. Fred is there. They hit it off right away.”

  “Rach, did you find out what he eats?” Rigs asked.

  “You mean like does he eat humans?”

  Rigs nodded.

  “He does not.”

  “That’s good to know.” Rigs brought his beer to his lips.

  “I saw a stiff tonight.”

  Rigs paused in drinking. “Where?”

  “About two blocks up. Some sort of in town eliminator crew stunned him and took him to a Peace Center.”

  “That’s close.”

  “Yeah, I know. What have you been doing?”

  “Well … all these …” he pointed to the stack of folders. “Are twelve Eliminators in town looking for a team.”

  “That’s just stupid. If there are twelve, make them into two new teams and send them out. Why are you looking at them?”

  “Trying to figure out why you picked Zeus,” Rigs said. “Not that I mind, just trying to see what made him stand out.”