The Smell

by Damon Hunter

  It missed him but grabbed his good leg as Deke tried to crawl the rest of the way to his pistol. The elongated jaw of the vampire rotter was wide open, revealing multiple sets of sharp teeth as Deke grabbed his trusted Colt 1911. He twisted and put the rest of his magazine into the vampire rotter’s open mouth.

  With the thing finally down, he pulled himself into a seated position and spit a long stream of tobacco juice onto its exposed grey matter. He looked out into the abandoned cars and saw another wave of amblers moving steadily in his direction. Deke started crawling to the Suburban.

  CHAPTER 10

  TMRT Bunker, San Francisco, CA

  “You seriously thinking about crossing the bridge?” Ashley asked Vance as they watched the Golden Gate from the bunker.

  “Our vehicle is on the other side. I can get out to the Interstate and with any luck get all the way to the new quarantine zone.”

  “You really think so?”

  “North to south routes aren’t really clogged up once I get out of the city. Everyone was trying to get east.”

  “Okay, maybe. I’m guessing when shit went down people went whatever way was available and every road is a total fucking shit show. Even if you’re right, it’s still a bad idea. Our evac is on the way.”

  “They won’t go get Donna and Katelin.”

  “What if they got out? You don’t know what happened.”

  “I know if they don’t escape in the next two hours, the drones will be deployed and then they’re stuck unless they’re in a vehicle with a TMRT transponder. I have to act like they didn’t make it. If I wait too long, it won’t matter. I doubt I can make it over the bridge at night. It’s not like I can put if off much longer.”

  Ashley nodded. He was right; if he didn’t get to their transport while the sun was still shining, he would have to wait until tomorrow to start. If they were trapped and he waited, the odds of them being around when he got there dropped to about zero.

  “Even if you made it, how would you find them? Sounds like a big area is going to become QZ. There’s a lot of people living in North County, how do you expect to find two of them? Especially if they are moving, which I figure they have to be if they’re going to survive.”

  Vance held up his phone. “I’m a horrible dad, but it doesn’t mean I don’t worry. It doesn’t mean I’m above maybe being overprotective, even from a long distance.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means I had a pal in the cyber unit hack my kid’s phone. As long as she has it on her I can track her.”

  “That seems like. . .”

  “A total dick move?”

  “I was going to be more diplomatic, but yeah.”

  “I know, I thought so too. Which is why I’ve never used it.”

  “But it’s still there?”

  “Well, I am still sort of a dick. I’m going to use it now.”

  “If things down there are as bad as it sounds, she might forgive you.”

  “Even if she doesn’t, I’m still going to do it.”

  “You’re taking a big risk,” she said.

  “If I find out they made it, I can come back.”

  “Brass will be pissed if they come out to get you and you aren’t here.”

  “Sure, but they have been pissed at me before and I got over it. I let my kid die out there when I could have done something, I don’t think I’ll get over that.”

  “Good point. You want company?”

  “Yeah, but no. If there is somebody here to evac, they’ll be less pissed at me, and I need someone to cover me with the sniper rifle as I cross the bridge.”

  Ashley nodded. “Only flaw in your thinking is with your immunity they may be more than just angry you left. It sucks, but I think they’re going to want to study you.”

  “I’m leaving one immune for them. That should be enough.”

  “You think?”

  “I’ll leave some of my blood if that helps. Plus I’m not planning on this to be a suicide mission. If I’m going to rescue anyone, I have to be alive.”

  “Good point, but leave some blood anyway. Make it less likely they yell at me.”

  Vance nodded and went back into the bunker to get ready while Ashley set up the sniper rifle to cover his run across the bridge.

  He had everything packed when she came into the bunker and started taking off her clothes.

  “Might as well get in one more,” she said as she undid her bra.

  “I don’t know…”

  “What if immunity is transmitted sexually? You could be saving my ass.”

  “It is a nice ass to save.”

  “Damn right. Get undressed soldier, I promise to be quick.”

  He wanted to get moving, but given the odds he may not survive, decided he could go one more round with the statuesque soldier he shared the bunker with.

  CHAPTER 11

  Monterey, CA

  Dr. Talbot had the soldiers carry the body of Mr. Osborn down to the truck. Mr. Osborn decided to waste his gift of immunity and hang himself before Talbot and his crew could get to him. Dr. Talbot was disappointed; he liked his samples to be collected fresh. On the plus side, he was glad he chose hanging as opposed to slitting his wrists, shooting himself in the head, or worse, turning himself into modern art on the sidewalk jumping off a high building. Other than a broken neck, his body was in good shape. The blood had settled in his lower extremities, but Talbot could still drain it.

  The body had not been there long. Maybe a day, but maybe not even that.

  Dr. Talbot looked at Major Cook, who was supervising as his soldiers moved the body out of the house the man had holed up in.

  “What do you think pushed him over the edge?” Dr. Talbot asked.

  “With all due respect, sir, look around.”

  Talbot nodded, conceding his point, before adding, “He made it so long though. What was so much worse about yesterday or this morning to drive him over the edge? He knew we were coming for him. As far he knew, he was being rescued.”

  “Maybe he knew what was coming.”

  “Impossible. How could he know?”

  “I don’t know, but something made him want to hang himself.”

  “Couldn’t be that,” Dr. Talbot said, but the idea bothered him. What he was doing was known to the people calling the shots in the TMRT. For good reason, his controversial method for data collection was kept within the organization. Many did not like what he was doing, but no one could question his track record. In these desperate times, no one felt there was time to debate Dr. Talbot’s ways if he had a chance to get results quickly.

  It did not mean some in the organization weren’t unhappy with what he was doing. Even though it was meant to stay secret, there was always a chance someone talked.

  He tried to push these thoughts aside as he processed the dead man. Once the blood was drained, they processed the body for storage. The processor was much like a wood chipper, even sounded the same. It broke down a body so it fit into a rectangular box about the size of a brief case.

  There was really no reason to, but Dr. Talbot liked to observe the placing of both the blood and the box in the storage unit in the third car.

  Major Cook, who was supervising as two of his men placed both in the refrigerated locker, took off his head gear and looked at Talbot.

  “Something else to say?” Talbot asked him.

  The man put a cigarette between his lips and produced a lighter. “Just thought I’d sneak in a cigarette before we headed to the next stop. Want one?”

  “It’s a bad habit. I’ll pass.”

  “I suppose it is. I had quit for awhile, but seeing the way things are going I’ll be lucky to live long enough to get lung cancer.”

  Dr. Talbot motioned to the storage unit, and the twenty or so boxes of shredded humans. “Don’t be such a pessimist. The solution is in these boxes. I know it.”

  “Ever feel bad? killing them like that?”

  “You feel bad mowing do
wn infected with your machine gun?”

  “Not exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. The infected are a threat. That old dude back in Bakersfield wouldn’t have hurt anyone.”

  “Today he wouldn’t have, but you’ve seen how the disease advances. You’ve seen how it affects people differently. Maybe he wasn’t immune at all, just had a slow-moving version of the rot.”

  “That what you tell yourself to sleep at night?’

  “I sleep fine. I’m going to save the world from rot with this. I’m going to give you a chance to get that cancer, Major Cook.”

  Cooke took a long drag of his cigarette. He did not look convinced.

  “I don’t like your holier than thou attitude. You do realize when a vaccine is finally found, every infected you have killed could have been cured with a shot?”

  Cook nodded. “I do. That’s why I asked. I don’t sleep well and wanted to know your secret.”

  “Finish your smoke,” Dr. Talbot told him. “We need to get moving. With any luck we can be in San Francisco before dark. We have two to process there.”

  “Heard a rumor one of them is TMRT.”

  “No.”

  “So he’s not?”

  “Not anymore. Once he let one of them bite him, he became a sample for me and others to study. What he did before does not matter.”

  Cook again did not look convinced. He finished his smoke.

  “In a crisis like this, sacrifices have to made,” Talbot told him.

  “You find out you have immunity, you going to jump in the chipper?”

  “I guess we will have to wait and see on that one. I’m out here in the QZ putting my ass on the line for this project. I don’t think you should be questioning my commitment.”

  “It wasn’t your commitment I was questioning,” Cook said as he headed back to his transport.

  Dr. Talbot did the same. Once he was aboard, the small convoy started heading north toward San Francisco.

  As they drove, the powerful vehicle knocking aside anything standing in their way, Talbot looked at the vampire rotter they had captured alive for study. They didn’t need more samples of the infected; this one was for behavioral research.

  “How are you doing, Mikey?” he asked.

  Mikey answered by struggling to break free and shaking his head violently in a futile attempt to get the muzzle off his face.

  “That good?” Talbot said. “You may want to turn me into you, but at least you aren’t a judgmental prick.”

  CHAPTER 12

  Sea Shell Hotel, Oceanside, CA

  Donna and Lumpy pulled Ana back up to the fourth floor.

  “What happened?” Donna asked.

  “The stairwell is overrun.”

  “What about Dino?” Jo asked.

  Ana shook her head.

  Donna noticed Jo tear up. It seemed while Dino had eyes for Katelin, Jo may have had a thing for Dino.

  “It can’t be,” Jo said.

  “Sorry,” Ana said.

  “Why did you leave him?”

  “I didn’t. He was gone before I got there.”

  “What now?” Katelin asked as the locked-in rotter hit the door again.

  Donna looked at the window. She moved to it and saw the alley was still clear of infected.

  “We go down this way,” she told them.

  Bar looked down. “I think we have enough rope.”

  Lumpy went over and started pulling the sheets and blankets up, but was having difficulty. He dropped the improvised rope and pulled a big flashlight out of his bag. He stepped up and shone it down the stairwell. The mass of infected was growing steadily toward the fourth floor. The mass of amblers was holding their rope in place.

  Lumpy turned to Bar. “Hold the light.”

  After giving the light to Bar, he unslung the rifle on his shoulder and turned to the others. “Someone pull on the rope while I try to clear some space.”

  Donna and Katelin moved to the rope as Ana drew her own rifle and aimed down the shaft. Bar handed Katelin the light and took her place at the rope. Katelin did not argue, she had no doubt the big sailor was stronger than her.

  Donna looked at Jo, but Jo ignored her. Instead of helping, Jo leaned against one wall and tried without success not to cry. Instead of trying to convince her to help, Donna got a good grip and started to pull.

  Lumpy and Ana started mowing down the oncoming horde. As a layer of infected fell to their bullets, Bar and Donna were able to free a length of the rope. The progress stopped as more amblers piled in while they both reloaded.

  They both unloaded another magazine while Bar and Donna pulled most of the sheet and blanket rope up onto the fourth floor. While they reloaded, each down to their second-to-last magazine, Bar and Donna fell to the floor as one of the knots came loose.

  Lumpy looked at the pile of sheets and blankets. “Damn.”

  “Buck up, kid,” Bar said as he worked his way to his feet. “This should be plenty.”

  Donna, who was already standing, did not share Bar’s confidence, but she didn’t see much choice. She moved to the window and tried to pull it open. It did not budge. Looking it over, she saw it wasn’t meant to open.

  Lumpy stepped up and pounded on the window with the butt of his rifle. He didn’t even create a crack.

  “Plexiglas,” Bar said.

  Lumpy stepped back and waved Donna out of the way. The plexiglass was tough, but it wasn’t built to withstand bullets. Lumpy was able to take out what was left with butt of his gun.

  With the sheets still secured on the doorknobs, all they had to do was toss the improvised rope out the window. Donna leaned out to take a look. The end of the rope was still about ten feet off the ground.

  Bar looked too. “It’s going to have to do.”

  “I’ll be lucky not to sprain an ankle,” Donna said.

  “I look like I have a body made for jumping off roofs?” Bar asked.

  He had a point. Donna looked at the others. “Who’s going first?”

  Before anyone answered, the door opposite Jo shattered. A vampire rotter, who probably tipped the scales at three hundred pounds, came through and grabbed Jo.

  By the time everyone who had a gun turned to fire, it had twisted her head until she was facing backward and taken a big bite out of her neck, sending her blood spraying out like a fountain.

  Four guns pumping bullets into him had the obese vampire rotter down in seconds, but the damage was done.

  “I thought they tried to turn people, not kill them,” Katelin said.

  “I thought the same thing,” Ana told her. “But the one who got Dino acted the same way. I think us killing them has pissed them off.”

  “Great,” Lumpy said. “They were so nice before.”

  “Less chit chat and more rope climbing,” Donna said. “I think Ana should go first. She’s still the best shot.”

  Ana hesitated, thinking how well it went for the last person to take the lead.

  “Fine,” Donna said before grabbing some rope and climbing out the window.

  Bar looked at Katelin. “Give me a gun, Lumpy and I are still going last.”

  Katelin did so and then went to watch her mother climb.

  “Go ahead and get on,” Bar said. “If I lost your weight I’d still be a fat slob.”

  Katelin joined her mother in slowly inching down the side of the hotel.

  CHAPTER 13

  The Urban Assault Wagon, Oceanside, CA

  Deke searched his belt for a fresh magazine for the pistol and found none. He stuck the empty gun in his belt and started crawling. He held his prosthetic leg in his teeth so he could use both hands to propel him toward the Suburban.

  He did not look back. He didn’t have to. He could feel them closing in on him. They were moving faster than before and were all headed his way. It was like the vampire rotter’s pointing at him and making the weird sound got every rotter within the sound of the thing’s voice craving a bite of Deke.

  He did not
feel he was moving fast enough as he pulled himself along the pavement. If one of the vampire rotters spotted him, he was done for. They moved too fast for an unarmed Deke even when he had all his limbs working. Using both hands to crawl left him no hands to stem the flow of blood and who knows what other vital parts of his insides from pouring out. Deke felt he could pass out at any moment.

  He risked a glance back as he grabbed the door handle and saw an ambler reaching out for him. The bones of its fingers were poking through the rotting flesh of its hand.

  Deke pulled himself up to his remaining foot. He took his fake leg out of his mouth and smacked the ambler across the temple with it as it put a boney hand on his shoulder. The blow knocked it back enough so he could pull open the door and get himself inside.

  He shut the door and locked it. He looked back to see the hatch in the roof was still open. He moved back and pulled it shut just as a couple amblers made it to the roof. He found the first aid kit in the back of the Urban Assault Wagon and patched himself up as best he could.

  Deke figured the best move may be a tactical retreat. He could give the rest of SWARC his new location with the two-way radio. Only he remembered he had talked to them before while sitting on the hood of the Suburban-turned-Urban-Assault-Wagon and had left the radio there when the attack began.

  He decided to circle back after he cleared this horde. If he didn’t move soon, they might be too thick for him to drive away. There was no key in the ignition when he slid into the driver’s seat. He reached in his pocket for the keys and came up empty.

  Deke remembered Trey had been driving. Trey must have pocketed the keys at some point.

  CHAPTER 14

  Sea Shell Hotel, Oceanside, CA

  “You’re next,” Bar said to Ana. “You could probably get on now. You weigh less than one of my legs.”