Smoke on the Water

by Bianca D'Arc

  “Yeah.” He picked up the tackle box and gear, loading it into her cart. “Okay.” He took charge of the now stuffed cart as they headed out of the sporting goods section. “Two more departments and we’re done.”

  “Two?” she questioned, walking beside him down the wide aisle of the super store.

  “Yeah, I want to get some supplies. A cooler and some food. Snacks, beer, chips. The kind of stuff people would bring for a week at a fishing cabin.”

  “And the other department?”

  “Rings,” he said simply. She didn’t say another word until they started debating the merits of various kinds of potato chips in the grocery section of the store.

  When they finally moved on to the jewelry counter, John picked out two simple gold bands and a petite engagement ring. They were posing as newlyweds of moderate means. The diamond was small, but it still took her breath away when she tried it on. John paid for the rings quietly and stuffed them in his pocket as they left the store.

  He let her drive again as they headed for the last leg of their journey while he was busy taking all the tags off their purchases. They stopped at a fast food place on the highway for a quick meal and he got rid of the evidence of their shopping trip, throwing out the bags and tags in the garbage.

  “Check out the billboard.” John pointed to a big man grinning down at them from a huge advertising board that looked over the fast food joint’s parking lot. The twenty-foot-tall image was of a portly man in overalls. He had a big gap between his front teeth as he grinned, holding up a giant fish on a line.

  “‘Bubba’s Bass Tours,’” Donna read from the sign. “‘Let Bubba guide you to the best fishing holes in Tennessee. Daily and hourly rates.’” Donna took a sip of her soda. “Now I know we’re in the South.”

  “Did you see the live bait machine near the drive-thru?” His eyes reflected humor.

  “The what?”

  “The bait machine. Put in a couple of quarters and out pops a plastic container full of wiggling worms.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “’Fraid not.” He saluted her with his burger before taking another healthy bite.

  “I guess there’s not much else to do in the area but fish. Seems to be the main occupation of folks around here. Even the guys in line in the fast food place were trading fish stories.”

  “Yes, ma’am. We’re in lake country up here. Too bad we can’t enjoy any of the fishing-related activities.”

  “You like fishing?”

  “I used to have a dune permit for my four-wheel drive,” he admitted with a hint of pride. “I’ve been known to cast a line or two of a morning.”

  “I had a neighbor that was into it. He had plastic tubing mounted on the front of his dune buggy to hold the fishing poles. Don’t tell me you’ve got that kind of setup.”

  “Once upon a time, I did,” he admitted with a chuckle. “I’m a lot more low key nowadays.”

  “Thank goodness for that.”

  Donna finished her burger and rolled up the paper it had been wrapped in, shoving it all in the paper bag for easy disposal. John did the same and hopped out of the car to throw out the garbage. A few minutes later, they were on the road again.

  She drove again as he snoozed in the passenger seat, his new camo fishing hat pulled over his eyes. She was pleased that he wasn’t going all macho on her about the driving. Almost every man she’d dated had insisted on driving everywhere as if she wasn’t to be trusted behind the wheel or something. John apparently felt comfortable enough not only to let her drive but to nap while she did it. She liked that about him.

  In fact, she liked a lot of things about him. He could be an overbearing, pigheaded fool at times, like most men she knew, but he also had some endearing qualities. His playfulness on their shopping expedition was new and completely attractive. She thought he must finally be getting comfortable with her. It gave her a warm feeling.

  She’d sensed his disappointment when she’d been assigned to work with him. He was a man of action, used to being in the field, in combat. She was an albatross around his neck. Or so he’d thought. The foolishness she had committed in San Francisco was at least partly because she had wanted to prove herself to him.

  She didn’t want to be an albatross. She wanted to be part of the team—a full contributor to their mission. She still wasn’t sure what she could contribute. She wasn’t a soldier, cop, or top scientist like the rest of the team members but she could learn. She knew how to shoot. She’d had to spend a couple of memorable hours at a firing range with John to prove she could hit a target. He’d seemed impressed, but with John’s poker face, it was hard to tell what he was thinking most of the time.

  He’d personally approved her to carry a weapon and had trained her in the care and use of the special toxic darts they used to destroy zombies. Years of lab work to earn her master’s degree in chemical engineering had helped her get used to the strict protocols necessary for handling such dangerous ammunition.

  Despite all her work to this point, if not for her immunity, she would never have been asked to join the team. She knew the truth. She understood that she was seen as the weakest link in the group. Instead of letting it annoy her, as she had in the beginning of this venture, she saw it as a challenge now. She worked extra hard to prove herself and was glad when she got those little signs of approval from her stoic partner.

  As she pondered it all, the car rounded a curve on the mountain road and Donna suddenly beheld the most amazing sight she’d ever seen through a car window.

  “Holy moly,” she muttered, unable to keep from exclaiming at the sight that met her eyes. They were riding along the side of a mountain, about to turn onto a two-lane road that would take them over the top of a massive hydro-electric dam.

  “What is it?” John roused from his nap, plucking the silly fishing hat off his face to look around.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you. I’ve just never seen anything like this before in person.”

  “What? The dam?” He looked at her, one tawny eyebrow quirking upward in an amused question mark.

  “They don’t have these things on Long Island,” she grumbled, turning onto the dam itself. To one side was a massive lake that stretched as far as she could see. On the other side was a sheer drop down the side of the dam. She put both hands on the steering wheel, feeling just a little trepidation at riding along the top of such a thing. Only this comparatively thin wall of concrete held back a massive amount of water.

  “So you’re a city girl?” He sat up and took a look around seeming to enjoy the view.

  “Come on. I know you’ve seen the file they have on me. You know I was born and raised on Long Island.”

  “Yeah, but hearing about it from you is different than reading it from a piece of paper.”

  She’d give him that. “I hear from your sister that you two are from the Island too.”

  John nodded. “We grew up in Lynbrook. But you’re a Suffolk County kid, aren’t you?”

  She hated the way he turned the conversation back to her every time she asked a question about him. “Smithtown. But you already knew that.”

  He nodded, a smug smile telling her he knew she was miffed. “We’re over the dam. You can release your death grip on the steering wheel now.” His words were soft. Almost…understanding?

  She looked around and realized they’d crossed over the dam while he had been distracting her with his questions. She consciously released the fingers of one hand from the wheel. He was right, darn it. She had been holding the thing way too hard. Her knuckles were white until she relaxed her fingers.

  “Where to now, navigator?” They’d come to the exit he’d told her to look for. She took it and waited at the bottom of a short ramp.

  “Make a right. There should be a sign somewhere up ahead for the fishing camp. We’ve got a cabin reserved for the week. I asked for one on the edge of the property. I told the guy we were newlyweds and wanted a little privacy.” He wi
nked at her. “So do your best to look happy when we get there, okay?”

  “Don’t worry. I took a few acting classes in undergrad. I’m sure I can fake not despising you for a few minutes.”

  He laughed out loud at her insult. They’d been trading barbs since almost the first day they started working together. It was comfortable for them and had morphed into an odd sort of affection. The more they teased each other, the closer they became.

  She found the sign and turned into a wide gravel drive. “This place looks kind of rustic.”

  There was a main building that advertised itself as both an office and a bait shop. She could see little cabins scattered around through the woods. They were set far enough apart, and the woods were thick enough, to give the illusion of privacy.

  “This place borders the Bemkey estate on one side and provides direct access to the lakefront. It’s perfect for our purposes.”

  “Convenient.” She pulled up, parking the car to the side of the office door.

  John grabbed her hand before she could open her door and get out of the rental car. She looked at him, meeting his all too serious gaze.

  “Give me your left hand, Donna.”

  She caught her breath as he took her hand in his, slipping the gold bands he’d bought—one sporting that small diamond—onto her finger. The atmosphere was charged. The air stilled as they shared the intimate moment. She didn’t dare breathe as John moved closer, placing a chaste kiss on her lips. When he pulled back, he was smiling.

  “I’ve never given a girl a ring before. I thought the moment should be marked in some way.”

  His gaze held hers as he searched her expression. She didn’t know what to feel. The mere brush of his lips against hers had knocked her world off its axis. It would take a few minutes to recover.

  Movement over John’s shoulder made her look away. An old guy in an even sillier fishing hat than John’s was grinning at them through the passenger-side window. John followed her gaze. Seeing the man, John opened the door, greeting the older gent with some friendly banter. She knew her face was flushed with embarrassment at being caught like a couple of teenagers necking in her father’s car as she got out on the driver’s side.

  The man was named Murray, she discovered, and he had an accent so thick, she had to listen carefully to figure out what in the world he was saying. John didn’t seem to be having the same problem as he went into the office with their garrulous host. Donna followed behind, watching as John signed them in as husband and wife. She accepted Murray’s congratulations on their supposed recent nuptials and was glad when John escorted her back outside with a wave to their new friend.

  He settled her in the passenger seat and took the wheel for the first time since leaving the airport in Nashville. She realized why a minute later as he deliberately got “lost” looking for their cabin in order to check out the surrounding cabins and learn the layout of the fishing camp.

  “There’s a little map on the back of the rental agreement,” Donna told him as they turned around for the second time on the narrow gravel road.

  “I know.” He spared her a withering glance as he backed the car into a three-point turn. “It’s just easier to see things in person first so I’ll be able to judge whether the scale of that so-called map is accurate.”

  Donna gave up. He knew what he was doing, even if it didn’t seem like it to her. “A little communication would go a long way in this relationship, John.”

  He grinned at her as he started down the gravel road again. “Now you really sound like a wife.”

  She had to laugh. She’d heard her mother make the same kind of sarcastic observation to her dad all her life. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

  “You’re right too,” he surprised her by saying. “I had some time to think on the plane and as you drove. A lot of our problems in San Francisco were caused by my not telling you what I was doing. Am I right?”

  She considered his words and the conciliatory tone he’d spoken them in. It felt like he was extending an olive branch. She’d be a fool not to take it. She really didn’t want to fight with him.

  “It felt like you weren’t doing anything when it turned out you had your reasons, and methods I didn’t know about. It felt like I was being kept in the dark.”

  “Which is entirely my fault.” He shook his head once as he concentrated on the road. “My only excuse is that I’m used to working on my own. I don’t usually explain myself to anyone. In my current line of work, I can’t. Secrecy has become a way of life for me. I’m sorry I didn’t fill you in, Donna. You’re new to all this and Commander Sykes made a point of asking me to take you under my wing and teach you what I could. I haven’t held up my end of that bargain.”

  She was floored by his admission. “It’s okay. I haven’t been the easiest person to get along with either. I get a little sarcastic when I feel out of my depth. I’ve been feeling out of my depth since I woke up in the woods back on Long Island. Actually, even before that, when my boyfriend turned out to be a zombie.”

  They hadn’t talked much about the incident that had brought her to the team of zombie hunters. She’d been doing her best to forget it, but maybe that hadn’t been such a good idea after all. She knew she had to deal with the fear and pain of betrayal sooner or later. Especially if she could be confronted by the creatures again.

  “How did it happen?” His gentle tone invited confidences.

  “I was supposed to meet Tony at the track on the athletic field. He was part of the football team and I was going to meet him after practice. We were supposed to go to a movie, but when I got to the track, nobody was there. I walked around a little, thinking maybe they’d just moved to a different part of the field. I guess I got too close to the strip of woods that bordered one side of the field. I saw Tony there, under the trees, from a distance. It was after dark, so I couldn’t really see him until I got closer. He was standing with a bunch of his friends, so I thought nothing of it when he didn’t see me at first. I thought he was talking to his buddies.” She paused, her mouth going dry as she remembered what happened next.

  “But he and his friends were already dead, weren’t they? They’d turned into zombies by the time you found them.” John stopped the car in front of the cabin farthest out, along the boundary of the fishing camp. There were woods all around. They reminded her a little of that fateful night.

  “It was horrible. They made this moaning sound and their faces had been mutilated. Tony was lucky—he still had most of his face, though he was missing part of an ear and his cheek had been slashed clear through. He was all scratched up and his clothes had been shredded in places.” She shuddered remembering the brown stains of dried blood all over the young man who’d been so vital and vibrant.

  “You must have loved him a great deal.”

  The question shocked her out of her gruesome memories. “Love? No. We’d only been dating a week or two. He was a good guy, but he was a year younger than me. I felt like I was getting away with something dating him, but he claimed not to care that I was a cougar.” She laughed at the remembered joke. “He had a good sense of humor and he was smart as well as athletic, but I’m not sure we would have worked as a couple long-term.”

  John’s relief at her explanation of the relationship was heartfelt. He’d been worried that she would be scarred by the loss of her boyfriend. The file he had on her gave bare facts. He hadn’t been able to figure out if she was heartbroken or merely shell-shocked by the events that had led to her inclusion on the team.

  “So what happened next?” He’d shut off the car’s engine, but was in no hurry to go inside the cabin. They were getting to the heart of some serious stuff here. He didn’t want to spoil the mood until he’d heard as much of the story as she would tell.

  “He grabbed me and it felt like he was shielding me from the rest of the team. Hands reached out to claw me, but he folded me in his arms and moved away. He was a really big guy. Bigger than you, even. And strong. He pic
ked me up and carried me off through the woods, his zombie friends following along after.” She paused, a frown marring her soft brow. “I don’t really know what happened next. I saw a female cop and a guy in camo. They were firing darts and I thought they had to be kidding. I mean, come on, darts? What good would that do? But one by one the guys started disintegrating.” Revulsion crossed her expression. “Tony bit me before he succumbed. I’d also been scratched up pretty badly by the others when they tried to grab me away from him. I suppose he was trying to protect me in some way, but in the end, he ended up infecting me with the contagion.” She gave a wistful sigh. “I passed out. I don’t know for how long. I woke up in the woods just before dawn and made my way to my dorm room. I cleaned up, but I felt horrible so I checked myself into the campus clinic. Shortly thereafter I was approached and offered a position with the team. The rest, you know.”

  “Yes. Sarah was abducted and all hell broke loose. Nobody had a chance to check on you until much later. But I don’t understand why you didn’t tell anyone about what had happened to Tony.” That had been bothering him. Why hadn’t she told anyone about the zombies?

  One sleek eyebrow rose in challenge. “You think anyone would have believed me if I’d run to campus security babbling about zombies? They’d have thought I was coming down from an acid trip. I looked like hell. I felt like hell. All I wanted was a nice place to rest and a doctor’s opinion on my condition. For all I knew, it could have been a drug-induced hallucination. I certainly felt bad enough afterward. I figured someone could have slipped me something without my knowledge. I don’t do drugs, but they’re easy enough to get on any college campus. I wanted a little time and perspective to think about what I’d seen before I started talking about zombies. I didn’t want to be committed to a psych ward somewhere with padded walls.” She laughed but he saw the wariness in her eyes.

  “That was probably good thinking on your part,” he admitted. “It certainly helped the team keep a lid on the operation on Long Island. I didn’t find out about it until well after the fact and my own sister was involved.” He still couldn’t believe his baby sister had become mixed up in something so dangerous and covert.