“Thank you,” Rogers said quietly as he swapped out his mug.
She stared down at them with soft eyes. “I know you boys are concerned about Reed, but there ain’t nothing you can do for him.” She paused, and then put her free hand on her hip. “Actually, I’m wrong. There is something you can do for him.” She raised her chin. “You can snap out of it and start doing your damn jobs.” She wagged her finger at the two surprised men. “I haven’t known him but a week or so, but I reckon he’d be pretty pissed if he was the reason this community fell apart. So honor that boy and get to work.”
Both men blinked at her and said “Yes, ma’am,” in unison, turning towards the computer as she walked back to her desk, back ramrod straight.
“She’s right,” Rogers said, taking a deep breath. “We should get back to work. A lot to get done.”
Leon’s eyebrows rose. “Even if she was wrong, I’m sure as hell not gonna be the one to tell her.”
“That’s why you’re a survivor,” the Detective said, clapping him on the shoulder, “you make good decisions.”
Leon chuckled as he took a sip of his fresh coffee and clacked at the keyboard, pulling up the town on the satellite feed. He scanned the area for movement, and Rogers lifted his pencil, jotting down notes on a pad of paper as they went along.
“Looks like we got a small batch of ‘em at the south end of town,” Leon said.
The Detective nodded. “Probably got stuck in the drainage ditch and couldn’t get out. I’ll mark it down for the team.”
“Might be a good idea to send some of the high school group with them,” his partner replied. “Get them some field experience, since they’ve been locked up tight from the beginning of this thing.”
Rogers looked up from his paper. “That’s not a bad idea,” he agreed. “Have you talked to any of them this morning?”
“Yeah, a few of them were over by the bridge this morning,” Leon said. “I think they were just happy to be out of that school, and wanted to take full advantage of it.”
The Detective took a sip of coffee before asking, “They get settled in okay?”
“Eh, more or less,” Leon replied, cocking his head back and forth. “They stayed in a couple of the houses just across the bridge. They wanted to go back to their homes, but until we can do a full sweep of the town, I didn’t think that would be wise.” He continued to scroll around the town, stopping to point at a few zombies wandering around the southern portion.
“Well, from the looks of things, we should have it cleared out today,” Rogers declared as he made another note. “At least the streets will be.”
Leon nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, I’m going to have the bridge teams go door-to-door and knock on windows and stuff,” he suggested. “It’s not going to be perfect, but it should give us an idea of how many houses need to be cleared.”
“Speaking of cleared,” the Detective began.
Leon held up a hand. “I know what you’re going to say, and I might actually have some good news on that front.”
“By all means, lay it out for me,” Rogers replied with a sigh. “Because the thought of having to clear out thousands of charred corpses does not sound like good news no matter how you slice it.”
His partner wrinkled his nose. “Well, it’s going to be a grisly job no matter what, however, Landry told me that there were a couple of ditch diggers in the school garage.” He shrugged. “Guess they were sharing space with the city, but regardless of why, they are there.”
“Oh goodie, we have mechanical help in digging mass graves,” Rogers said dryly.
Leon grinned. “Look at the bright side Detective, you’re in charge of the town, so you can delegate the cleanup.”
“That sounds like a volunteer offer to me.” His partner laughed.
“Apparently that bullet took out your hearing as well as your ear,” Leon replied. “We’re pretty clear now if you want me to run over to the hospital and get you a hearing aid.”
Rogers slapped his knee. “I tell you what, when you have some actual good news for me, you can go get the hearing aid.”
“Deal,” Leon replied, and held out his hand. They shook on it as the town nurse walked in, brow furrowing at the laughter escaping the two men.
“This wasn’t the mood I was expecting to find in the room,” she admitted.
Leon shook his head. “Sometimes you gotta laugh to stop from crying.”
“Funny, a lot of the teachers I worked with lived by that motto,” she said.
Rogers turned to face her. “How’s Reed doing?”
“The only positive thing I can say is that the bite wasn’t incredibly deep,” she replied with a sigh. “The infection has fully set in and there’s nothing I can do for him, but with the severity of it, it could be worse.”
Leon’s gaze darkened. “He has a death sentence, how could it be worse?”
“He could be in severe pain,” she shot back. “He could have already died. Because of the bite being light, he could still have near complete movement, and it probably bought him an extra day, maybe two.”
“And there you have it,” Leon muttered.
Rogers clenched and unclenched his jaw. “Is he in quarantine?”
“We set up a room for him in one of the houses away from everyone else,” she explained. “Your military friends took shifts overnight to keep watch on him.”
Leon checked his watch. “Well, if you’re right and he does have a few more days, he should be here with the others soon.”
“Have you had a chance to check out the survivors from the high school?” the Detective asked.
She nodded. “Nobody has any major injuries, although they are a little malnourished.
“Who isn’t these days?” Leon sighed.
“Tiago Rivas,” Rogers said easily, jutting out his chin. “And that’s probably the end of the list.”
His partner raised an eyebrow. “About time we did something about that, don’t you think?”
“I’ll leave you boys to it, then,” the nurse replied, raising a hand to wave as she headed for the door. “If you need me, you know where to find me.”
As she left, she held the door open so the rest of the squad could enter. Sergeant Hammond led the way with his team, Trenton and Clara on their heels. The door shut and stayed closed while everyone said their good mornings, and then opened again.
As soon as Reed entered, the room fell silent.
He scowled. “That shit is gonna get real old real quick,” he said. “Yeah, I’m bit. Yeah, I’m gonna die sooner rather than later.” He looked around at the wide-eyed faces. “But right now I can be productive, so the sooner everybody stops treating me like a coddled fucking child, the sooner we can get to getting shit done. Anybody have a fucking problem with that?” As everyone shook their heads, he raised his chin. “Good. Now for the most important question of the day. Is there coffee?”
Ethel waved to him from the machine. “I got a fresh pot brewing, hon,” she called. “I’ll bring some over as soon as it’s done.”
“Thank you, Ethel,” he said, bowing a little and then pulled up a chair, grimacing as he sat in it. “Now. How the hell are we gonna take out the Cartel head?”
Before anyone could speak, the airhorn from the front of town went off, signaling an incoming vehicle.
CHAPTER TWO
“What the hell is the Cartel doing here?” Rogers asked, getting up from his chair. “They’re not due a delivery today.”
Leon shook his head. “Doesn’t matter why they’re here,” he said icily, “only thing that matters is that they are here.”
Hammond reached for his weapon, but the Detective waved him off. “Why don’t you all take up shelter in the back room there?” he suggested. “Cartel doesn’t know you’re here, and frankly they don’t need to know.”
Hammond nodded and waved to his team, and the soldiers filed off into the back room. Leon moved to the window and furrowed his brow as he peered outside.
“Hold up,” he said, waving them back. “This isn’t a normal pickup.”
There was just a lone SUV that stopped outside of the command center, with only one dark figure in the driver’s seat. The door opened, and Rodriguez popped out.
Leon smiled, his shoulders relaxing. “Good to know he took my words to heart.” He jogged to the door and headed outside as the others clustered around the windows to watch.
“This your Cartel contact?” Hammond asked as he stepped up beside Rogers.
The Detective nodded. “Yep.”
“You trust him?” the Sergeant asked.
“He risked his life to save mine,” Rogers replied.
Hammond cocked his head. “Good enough for me.”
Leon led Rodriguez back inside, and everyone spread out a bit into a loose circle so he could make his entrance. He blinked at the team in fatigues.
“Your numbers have grown since the last time I was here,” he said, letting out a low whistle. “You have Angel and Tiago convinced you’re down to two scouts.”
Leon shrugged. “Well, we talked it over, and decided we were going to need some backup.”
Rodriguez nodded and stepped towards Rogers, extending his hand. “How is the ear, my friend?”
“It’s fine as long as I don’t look in the mirror,” the Detective replied, shaking his friend’s hand with a smile.
Leon rolled his eyes. “He asked how your ear was, not your face.”
The well-timed joke cut the awkwardness in the room, and Rodriguez barked a laugh, holding up his hands as everyone chuckled.
“He said it, not me,” he said.
Rogers shook his head. “Seriously though, the ear is fine,” he assured him. “Taking a little time to get used to the sight of it, that’s all.”
“I sincerely wish there had been another way,” Rodriguez clasped his hands together, eyes regretful.
The Detective laughed. “Yeah, me too.”
Ethel headed over with the coffee pot and handed the newcomer a mug. He took it with surprise, blinking at the older woman as she filled it with steaming coffee.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said with a grin. “It’s good to see hospitality is still alive and well in the apocalypse.”
She patted his shoulder. “Well, Cartel or not, the Detective and Leon say you’re good, which is all I need to hear. You need a refill, you just give a holler.”
“I will, thank you,” he replied, inclining his head to her. He took a long sip as she walked away, letting out a soft moan at the taste. “So,” he finally continued, “forgive me for cutting straight to the point. But I have a limited amount of time before they wonder where I am. What is this urgent matter, Leon?”
Leon crossed his arms. “We’re going to assassinate Tiago Rivas.”
There was complete silence as Rodriguez stopped mid-sip, and slowly lowered his mug. He stared blankly at Leon, shock evident on his face.
Private Landry approached and pulled out his flask, pouring a little dollop into the cup. “Here you go bud, this might help,” he muttered. “Got me through that bullshit yesterday.”
Rodriguez looked at the cup, and then at the soldier, and then nodded in appreciation before taking a long sip. He took a deep breath, and finally said, “On the face of it, this is a terrible idea.” He raised a hand as Leon’s mouth opened. “However. I realize you are in a desperate situation, so I will hear you out with an open mind.”
Leon pressed his palms together. “About all we can ask for, really.”
“The demands from Tiago and Angel are killing us, both literally and figuratively,” Rogers piped up. “We’ve looted the most likely source of alcohol in Van Horn, and we don’t have the manpower or resources to venture into Fort Stockton. We have enough offerings to get us through another week, but unless something comes up in our search of Fabens, that’s all we have. Realistically, what do you think will happen when we don’t have anything else to hand over?”
Rodriguez took a deep breath. “My guess is that Tiago will give Angel the green light to burn this town to the ground, and everyone in it,” he admitted. “They fight constantly over this place. To put it mildly, Angel resents being sent out here on errands for his father, so he won’t have any hesitation when it comes to destroying it.”
“That was our conclusion as well,” Leon replied.
Rodriguez turned, taking a sip of his spiked coffee as he began to pace back and forth in quiet contemplation. He finally stopped, draining the rest of his mug and setting it on the table.
He held up his hands. “If you want my blessing, and my help, I have conditions.”
“Understandable,” Leon said.
Rodriguez lowered his hands and leaned on the table behind him. “Since I assume your grand plan is for me to seize control of the Cartel once Tiago is eliminated, I have to have plausible deniability,” he began. “Angel will suspect me regardless of what happens, but if I can make a convincing case to the men that I had no idea it was coming, I should be successful in my bid.” He paused to smile at Ethel, who approached to refill his mug. “Secondly, nobody from this town that the Cartel is currently aware of can be directly involved in whatever plan you have.”
“Well gang, guess that means us,” Hammond cut in.
Rodriguez nodded as he lifted his cup. “You are correct…” He motioned to the man for his name.
“Sergeant Hammond,” came the reply.
“You are correct, Sergeant,” Rodriguez repeated. “You four will be the only ones who can risk getting caught.”
The Detective straightened his shoulders. “What about me?”
“Under no circumstances are you allowed in the city,” Rodriguez shot back immediately, and Rogers nodded. “So what is your plan to carry out this assassination?”
Leon scratched the back of his head. “Kind of hoping you could help us out with that.”
“We have been spitballing ideas,” Rogers added, “but without knowing Tiago’s movements or tendencies, we’re flying blind.”
Rodriguez pursed his lips in thought, and then took a sip of coffee. “Tiago has always been something of a recluse,” he said. “Needless to say, the current state of the world hasn’t given him any reason to change that.”
“How fortified is his residence?” Hammond asked.
Rodriguez shook his head immediately. “You’re not getting in there.” He held up a hand to Landry, who looked properly offended. “Please don’t take that as an insult to your abilities. I have no doubt you are very skilled at what you do.” He sighed. “That said, a direct assault on City Hall where he is would be nothing short of a suicide mission. All roads into the city are manned with guards, so getting in would be problematic. Even if you do get in, there are hundreds of armed and trained men within blocks of the building who would descend upon you within minutes.”
“What about a lone sniper?” Private Mathis piped up. “I can get past the protective line and get into a firing position.”
Rodriguez studied the young man and rubbed his chin. “This… this could work. However, there is an issue.”
“Seems to be par for the course today,” Leon muttered.
“There needs to be an event that would cause Tiago to be taken to his safe room,” Rodriguez continued, ignoring him.
Leon sat down at the satellite computer, and pulled up the map of El Paso, centering on city hall. “Show us where it is.”
Rodriguez headed over and pointed to the front of the building. “Top floor on the east corner.”
Mathis leaned over Leon’s shoulder, and pointed to a square across the street from it. “What is in this building?” he asked.
“Some sort of office building,” Rodriguez replied with a shrug. “It’s unused at the moment, however it’s protected, albeit lightly.”
Mathis nodded. “If I can get in there, I’ll have a clear shot.”
“Assuming something can be done to force Tiago into the safe room,” Rodriguez repeated, str
aightening up.
“In our experience,” Hammond cut in, “it’s hard to go wrong with a car bomb and a firefight.”
Rodriguez turned to him, and took a deep breath. “While that wouldn’t force him into the safe room, it would be a reason for me to leave,” he said. “If you can hit one of the checkpoints, I’ll be forced to come deal with the situation.”
“And that might help me out in getting across the line,” Mathis added.
The Sergeant clapped him on the shoulder. “Car bomb and firefight it is, then.”
“Sergeant, one thing you must understand,” Rodriguez said, shaking his head. “I will do what I can to help your team, however… I can’t be viewed by the men as going easy on you, as it would defeat the entire purpose of this mission.”
“Don’t you worry about it, Rodriguez,” Hammond assured him. “You do what you gotta do, and we’ll handle our business. Any help you can give us will be greatly appreciated, though.”
Leon leaned back in his chair. “Still begs the question though, how do we drive Tiago to the safe room?”
“Would it be possible to get one of your men to initiate a false alarm?” Rogers asked.
Rodriguez shook his head. “Not without sacrificing the man,” he replied. “I’ve seen what they do to traitors, and I would never ask anyone to subject themselves to that.”
“Is there any other room he stays in where we can get a shot?” Leon asked.
Rodriguez pointed to the screen. “The only building with a direct line of sight to his office is the hotel across the street,” he said. “But it’s where the men are housed when they aren’t on duty.”
“So that’s a no, then,” Leon replied with a sigh.
Reed stepped forward. “What about zombies?” he asked, and the room fell silent. “What would happen if a runner got loose in City Hall?”
Rodriguez thought for a moment. “Without a doubt, that would force him into the safe room,” he agreed. “But I question how this would be achieved.”
The younger man stood up and lifted his shirt, revealing his wound. “It gets achieved because you will take me there.”
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