“Okay. That chair doesn’t look too bad. I’ll get our stuff.”
“Thanks,” she said.
“For what?”
“Coming back.”
“About the …”
“It’s okay,” she said, and went to check out the bathroom.
* * *
We spent the afternoon in the den watching the news. As Ram had predicted, things were getting worse. It was becoming Hell on earth. There was a set of monitors in the kitchen, and Landry spent a good deal of time watching them. It was as if he were waiting for someone. I came in to get a water from the refrigerator.
“You think the undead will find us up here?” I said.
“I don’t know,” Landry said. “I need to find Ram.” Then he walked out of the room.
Dinner was amazing. Ram, an excellent cook, made us a full Indian dinner. He said that, lucky for us, he was from the South. I don’t know how lucky we were. The food was so spicy I thought my teeth would melt. I had to drink a lot of water to get through it.
“My wife loved this kind of food,” Ben said.
We looked at him. We had never asked Ben what his story was, why he wasn’t anxious to return home with his son. We assumed he was divorced.
“You said ‘loved,’” Holly said.
“She passed away a few weeks ago,” Ben said. “Pancreatic cancer.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“She put up a good fight, but in the end she wanted to go peacefully. So we moved her to a hospice near our home. Aaron and I stayed with her. Until the end.
“After the funeral, we couldn’t bear staying at home. So we decided to do some camping and fishing—something we hadn’t done in a long time.”
“Normally that would’ve been a great idea,” I said. Holly shot me a look.
Ben laughed. “Yeah, I guess these aren’t normal times. Lately I’ve been thinking about Faith and wondering if she wasn’t luckier than us.”
“Don’t say that,” Holly said. “You and Aaron are together. That’s what matters.”
“You’re right,” he said, and gave his son a hug.
“Family is so important,” Ram said.
“What about you, Ram?” I said. “How did you end up here ready for World War Three?”
“I came to this country as a student. Got my engineering degree from Stanford. I was going to start my doctoral program but decided to take some time off and work.”
“You ran that motel,” I said. “How can you afford all this?”
“Not to boast at all, but I come from a wealthy family, Dave. I convinced them to support me in this.”
“Lucky for us,” Aaron said.
Landry had been uncharacteristically quiet. He glanced at Ram, and I saw something pass between them.
“It seems Mr. Landry has come concerns, though,” Ram said. “I think this is a good time to discuss. We mustn’t keep any secrets.”
“I’m worried,” Landry said, more interested in stirring his coffee than drinking it. “Not about the undead.”
“This is about those Red Militia freaks, right?” Holly said.
“How did you know?” Landry said.
“She reads minds,” I said.
Kicking me, she said, “I was thinking the same thing.”
“I’ve taken a look at all the plans for this place,” Landry said. “I’ve watched those monitors. I’m concerned that, if they wanted to, someone could take out the electrical fence, shoot the dogs and break into the house.”
“The fence wouldn’t be that difficult, would it?” I said. “Couldn’t you use a grenade or something to punch a hole and knock out the power?”
“They’ve been saying on the news that these guys are stealing weapons from Black Dragon,” Holly said.
Ram thought about this. “There are alarms everywhere. If someone were to try that, we would be waiting with guns.”
“But depending on how many were attacking, someone might still get through,” I said.
“We need to prepare for the worst,” Landry said. “That means a twenty-four-hour watch.”
Ben created a schedule for us that seemed to suit everyone. We each took four-hour shifts. The plan was to monitor everything from the command center in the basement. If anything suspicious happened, the person on duty woke up the designated backup. Then, depending on the severity, it was all hands on deck.
We weren’t hardcore about limiting bathroom breaks, but Landry advised us to remain vigilant. The video cameras and alarms around the property were first-class, so that helped. Still, there was always a way to defeat the best security.
Landry was a fascinating guy, and I came to appreciate him now that we were together. Though I’d known him only as my science teacher back in high school, I soon learned that he was a voracious reader. When he put his mind to it, he could master a subject in a matter of weeks. That’s why he was more prepared than most when the undead first appeared.
His biggest concern was the people who built Ram’s compound. They must have been locals and would know how everything worked—including any weaknesses in the defense. They might have even built in weaknesses intentionally, the way a computer programmer can build a back door into a software program.
And this was where I came to appreciate Ram, that crazy Indian genius. He’d already thought of that. Instead of using locals to build his fortress, he brought in construction experts from India on H-1B visas. And while he was planning, he studied and obtained his contractor’s license so that he could handle all the necessary permits himself. It was true that the plans were on file at city hall, but he assured us that he’d tweaked the design after submitting them and that the final revisions never made it into the official record.
* * *
It wasn’t yet time for my shift, but I couldn’t sleep. So I went down to the basement, where I found Aaron at the console and Ben in the workout room.
Ben was an interesting character. He didn’t say much. I had the impression his wife’s death had drained the life from him. For all I knew, he might’ve had a great sense of humor at one time, might’ve been the life of the party. But now he seemed quiet and serious. He was bench-pressing around a hundred pounds.
“Hey,” I said.
“I know,” he said without embarrassment, setting the barbell back on the stand. “It’s not much, but I’ve got to start somewhere.”
“You won’t hear me making wisecracks. I hate exercise.”
“Yeah, well, you might want to consider getting into shape.”
“Good point,” I said, and took a seat on one of the benches as Ben wiped the sweat from his neck and face. “So what do you think of all this?”
He looked at me, his face neutral. “I think most of us are going to die,” he said.
“So these projects you managed,” I said. “Were any of them successful?”
“Sorry to be so cynical.”
“Well, you might be right. The odds aren’t good. What about Aaron?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “He’s all I care about. I want him to make it—even if I don’t. I’ll do whatever I have to.”
“I know what you mean,” I said.
“How’s it going with you and Holly? Any better?”
“I like to think she hates my guts a little less every hour.”
Ben laughed. It was the first time I’d seen him do that. It was a high cackle that burst out of him, then disappeared. “I need to remember that line,” he said, and lay back on the bench for another set.
I started to walk away, then stopped. “How did you find me today? Really.”
“It was Holly. She seemed to know right where you’d go.”
“So you never did lie to her about me checking the roads?”
“No. I think she still loves you, Dave, FYI.”
“Anything’s possible,” I said, and left the basement to work out how to get through another night of being with Holly, together yet alone.
Chapter Fourteen
>
Chavez
The first attack came late at night, days after our arrival. Aaron saw something on the monitors. Motion sensors triggered floodlights around the front of the property, revealing seven armed men. They tried shooting out the vandal-resistant lights and cameras and, when that didn’t work, gave up. Aaron activated the alarm, which went off throughout the house.
The sound was high and piercing. Emergency lighting pulsed relentlessly in our rooms and in the hallways. Outside, the dogs barked ferociously. I woke, adrenaline coursing through my blood. Holly and I grabbed our weapons and joined everyone else in the basement as we had rehearsed.
Landry and Ram were already huddled around the monitors, assessing the situation.
“They must’ve hiked in,” Landry said. “Look.”
Men dressed in dark clothing came into view. I couldn’t believe that one of them was about to test the fence.
“Can’t they see the warning sign?” Aaron said.
“There is an energizer on that fence,” Ram said. “The voltage is very strong.”
“Did you release the dogs?” I said.
Ram shook his head. “I was afraid they might be shot.”
We watched as the moron tried climbing the fence, which whipped up the dogs even more. As soon as his hands made contact, he flew off, screaming silently. The others helped him up, and they all backed away.
“What do we do?” Ben said.
“We wait,” Landry said, his eyes never leaving the monitors.
The men scattered like rodents. Now there were only three of them in front of the house. We switched cameras manually, trying to find the rest. The monitors showed that the other four had split up, two on each side of the house.
“Even if they can’t find a way, they could go back and tell others,” Landry said. “If enough of them show up, they could overpower us.”
“Should we kill them?” Ben said.
“Thinking about it,” Landry said.
“I don’t want to kill anyone unless they give us a reason,” Holly said.
“I agree,” Ram said.
These guys may have been dumb, but they were persistent. For the next thirty minutes they inspected every inch of the fence. Then something happened.
An undead dressed as a UPS driver shuffled up the road and into the glare of the floodlights, surprising one of the three men watching the front of the house. Before the other two could stop it, the creature bit the man on the neck as the other two tried pulling it off.
One of the men smashed the butt of his rifle into the dead thing’s skull. It teetered and fell back. They raised their guns and shot it through the neck and head. The other men rejoined the group, as their wounded partner lay writhing on the ground, blood gushing from his neck, next to the still body of the undead.
Though there was no sound, we could see the victim crying out. We wanted to do something, but our eyes never left the monitors. One of the men said something to the others. Then two of them opened fire on their injured friend, with a final shot to the head.
The scene was sickening. Holly turned away, and I touched her shoulder. I looked back at the monitors as the remaining men dragged the body away. A horde of undead appeared and moved in. The startled men shot at them, but others attacked from the sides. It was like watching a silent movie.
In the confusion, several of the men were bit as still more creatures appeared. The others continued firing on the horde and, one by one, ran out of ammo. Those who had been bitten died. Moments later, they rose and joined the horde.
“They’re turning faster,” I said.
“We need to do something,” Holly said.
Landry shook his head. “No, they’re the enemy. Like those damned creatures.”
Holly looked away.
We watched as the last man shot one of the undead in the face—but not before he was bit. As the rest of the horde moved in, he looked down at his arm, drew his hunting knife and slashed his own throat, collapsing against the electrified fence.
The undead left standing pressed against the fence. The powerful voltage shot through them but left them unaffected. They repeatedly pushed against the fence. It was comical to watch as the electricity made their bodies dance like marionettes and then they fell away from the fence. Finally, they wandered off into the forest.
None of us slept after that, so I made us a pot of coffee. Though I felt remorse for not helping those men, I felt an even stronger urge to protect our group. They were trespassers and meant to harm us, even to kill us. Sometimes surviving means you have to make hard choices—even if someone else ends up dying. Though this sounded reasonable in my head, it did nothing to take away the ache in my gut.
We sat in the kitchen, chilled to the bone. Holly kept to herself. Several times I tried comforting her, but she pulled away as if I had been responsible for the carnage. Maybe we were all guilty. Landry tried putting a bow on it.
“They were trying to kill us and take the house,” he said.
“Otherwise, why did they try shooting out the lights and cameras?” Ben said.
“We could’ve at least given them a chance,” Holly said. “Killed some of that horde so they could get away.”
“They might have killed us,” Ram said. “We will never know.”
I recalled something I once read. Your ability to rationalize your own bad deeds makes you believe that the whole world is as amoral as you are.
“What about the bodies?” Aaron said.
Ben looked at his son, his face set. “Leave them. As a warning to others.”
* * *
Two days later Black Dragon showed up. Two Humvees pulled up next to the bollards and approximately a dozen soldiers got out carrying AR-15s. This was it. We were being evicted. They were here to take over the building by force.
We watched them on the monitors as they talked among themselves and pointed at the main building. Two of them examined the dead bodies, which lay wet and bloated in the hot August sun, covered in flies and, I’m sure, reeking like Lucifer’s butthole.
“What do we do?” Ben said.
Landry watched them for a time. I knew that look—he was cooking something up.
“Irwin?” I said.
“We need to get ahead of the situation,” he said. “If they wanted to do a full frontal assault, there would be no way for us to defend ourselves. So we might as well see what they want.”
“Yes,” Ram said. “Let’s get it over with.”
By the time we opened the front door, weapons in hand, the soldiers had terminated two undead wandering out of the forest.
“Hello?” Ram said to them.
We stopped halfway to the fence and waited for them to acknowledge us. Our weapons were at our sides, and we tried to show a sense of calm. Ben and Aaron stayed in the house. We had no clue which way this was going.
One of the soldiers walked to the gate and looked at it. I recognized him from the television interview with Evie Champagne.
“The fence has been deactivated,” I said.
“Are you the owner of this house?”
“I am,” Ram said, stepping forward.
“We’re from Black Dragon.”
“We know,” Landry said.
“I’m Chavez, the supervisor in charge of this operation. Why haven’t you people evacuated with the others? Aren’t you concerned about getting sick?”
“Mr. Chavez,” Landry said, “we know what you guys have been telling the civilians. With all due respect, we prefer to stay.”
The soldier studied him a moment, and his mouth slid into a lazy grin. “Yeah, I get it. But we have our orders. Everyone who’s still healthy needs to be evacuated to a shelter.”
“And if we don’t?” I said.
“We’re authorized to use force.”
Holly broke away from us and strode up to the fence. What in hell did she think she was doing? I started after her, but Landry motioned for me to stay back.
“Why don’t you co
me inside and we can talk about this,” she said. “Okay?”
Chavez looked at my wife, smiled like he wanted to take her clothes off and said, “Sure.”
Another soldier came forward. “Sir, are you sure this is safe?”
“Wait here,” he said. Then to Holly, “Is this safe?”
She smiled at him like a freshman invited to the senior prom. It made my blood boil. Instead of saying something, I sucked it up and waited for Ram to open the gate, then I returned to the house with the others.
We sat around the kitchen table drinking sodas. Chavez was older than me, late twenties. Good-looking, fit. His teeth were white enough to be in a toothpaste commercial. I hated him.
“As you can see, we’re fixed up pretty good here,” Landry said. “Plenty of food, water and ammunition. We have a generator for power, and the building is secure.”
“I thought I heard dogs.”
Ram smiled. “German shepherds.”
“The group talked this over, and we feel we’ll do better if we stay put,” Landry said. “Who knows what kind of hell we’ll find out there.”
“Right,” the soldier said, getting up and poking his nose into different rooms as we followed. “How long do you think you can hold out?”
“Six months or longer,” Landry said. The soldier stopped at the stairs leading to the basement. “We can hole up down there if necessary. Plenty of guns and supplies.”
“You guys aren’t Red Militia, are you?”
“No,” Landry said. “You’re dealing with rational people here. We want to make it through this thing.”
Chavez peered down the stairs. “I don’t know.”
“Mr. Chavez,” Holly said. “May I ask how many people know about this house?”
“Well, all of my directs. Don’t know about the locals.”
“Look, we have it good up here,” I said. “High up where we can pretty much see everything.”
“Yeah, I noticed. Pretty sweet.”
“You guys are on the ground,” Ben said. “Getting surprised by the undead whenever they show, as well as by the looters.”
“You got that right.”
“And what about the Red Militia?” Holly said. “That’s who we think attacked us a couple of nights ago.”
The Shadow Box: Paranormal Suspense and Dark Fantasy Thriller Novels Page 210
