Z-Boat (Book 3): Z-End

by Robb, Suzanne

  She fought her bonds, kicked and bit at the arms and hands holding her in place. "Ben! What are you doing to him? He's a good man. He'd make a great soldier for you."

  Jerry smiled. "He didn't tell me what I wanted to know, but he's still going to work for me."

  Ally turned to find Sean. "Close your eyes."

  Jerry put a hand on her arm and made her face forward. "All he needed to do was answer my questions. People don't seem to understand that one simple rule."

  Ally continued to struggle. "What questions? Ben doesn't know anything. He kept the peace at the facility…that's all."

  Jerry frowned. "I know the truth. Your radio friend told me about Ben and his close affiliation with Daniel. You think it's a coincidence he's the only one left alive from your precious facility?"

  Ally stopped moving. "My radio friend? Larry? He would never say something like that, and the reason Ben is alive is I had his back on every run we went on. He's not friends with Daniel. You're killing an innocent man."

  "You don't understand. Your friends will become like the guards I have outside, keeping this place safe for eternity. I'm giving him immortality."

  Ally spit. "How can you do this? You're sacrificing people for no reason. Why make more zombies, we have enough."

  Jerry slapped her. "Don't call them that."

  She licked blood off her lip and tried to come up with a plan. As Ben prepared himself to fight, Neal huddled in a corner and begged for mercy. When the zombies reached the bars they clawed and tore at the metal. These were not as strong as the ones outside.

  "Why are these weaker? What did you do to make the ones outside so…"

  "Unbeatable? I used to work in a lab for the military. They had us work with a sample of the bacteria to try to control them. Our efforts failed in the end, and we made what you like to refer to as 'the bastards.' I knew they would slaughter us for our failure, so I left. No one cares about the research apprentice in a blood bath. After a few months, I created a serum to make them stronger, more agile…perfect. The only issue was the delivery method, but then it hit me." He smiled again, his eyes lighting up. "Put it in their food."

  Ben howled with rage when one of the zombies pinned him down and bit into his neck. Neal stopped crying because his throat was torn open. Unable to watch anymore, Ally stared at the ground.

  "You're psychotic."

  "You say tomato…anyways. I have a proposition for you if you can get over that huge pile of morals you're choking on. Join me. Swear your loyalty and be part of a new world. I've sent my men all over the country to collect all the healthy men and women."

  Ally laughed. "What could I possibly do for you? I'm not the maternal type and if you think one of your goons forcing themselves on me is going to happen…"

  Jerry looked at her aghast. "What kind of person do you think I am? I need a strong leader to train the new recruits, and you fit the bill. Your reputation precedes you. I need someone who will make sure this place stays safe. I trust my creations… to a degree."

  "You're an idiot. They'll turn on you. Did you forget they can plan and adapt? I'm surprised they haven't overrun this place already."

  Jerry silenced her with a finger and turned to the cage. "Get the big man out of there and on the cross. Release the ones who fed on the scrawny one outdoors." His gaze returned to Ally. "Where were we?"

  Ally bit back the response she wanted to spit out. If she gained his trust she might be able to get the hell out. What she'd witnessed proved she was right about people.

  "What's in it for me? I need to know my friends are safe. You can't be sacrificing them every other day."

  Jerry walked back the way they came and the Jericho in her side motivated her to follow. She glanced to the side and saw Sean's face full of tears. The poor kid had lost so much and had seen enough to cause a lifetime of nightmares. Kevin stared ahead, his face blank, which scared her.

  "I don't do this often. Only when a point needs to be made, or when they get restless because of hunger. Your friend Daniel has not been forthcoming with information. Even when I fed his men to my babies outside. Can you believe that? He refused to tell me what his back-up plan is."

  Ally remembered Daniel's talk of a Russian Firm installation up north. She doubted its veracity but knew he believed. Why didn't he send this freak up there? It would get a good portion of men out of the way.

  "I can help with that," she said.

  Jerry clapped his hands. "See, I knew you'd come around. This is going to be so fun."

  How the hell did Neal and Daniel not realize this guy was nuts when they spoke on the radio? Situations like this are exactly why I keep my mouth shut.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ally rubbed her wrists and enjoyed the simple freedom of moving her arms. This time the room Jerry took them to felt more like a prison. Rust stains and cracks decorated the walls. A light hung from the ceiling, flickering on and off. A single mattress on the ground was the only item in the room. She walked it, ten feet across and twelve deep. Large enough to move, small enough to make her yearn for her old life on The Betty Loo.

  "Ally, what's going to happen to us? Is that man going to feed us to the zombies like…Ben?" Sean asked.

  "No, that's not going to happen."

  "Sean, come here and sit by me," Kevin said.

  Ally smiled, she and Kevin had gotten closer the last few nights. When she woke in his arms, she needed to make a conscious effort not to jerk away. She needed to move on and Kevin made it easy.

  Things she knew: Jerry was a lunatic and going to kill them, she needed to get the hell out of here as soon as possible, the place was surrounded by super zombies, she had no weapons, and she needed to find Daniel and any others who were still alive.

  She slipped off her jacket and put it next to Sean in case he managed to fall asleep. The contents of the inside pocket of her vest focused her thoughts. Plan B. Their only hope. Her reason to do whatever it took to get out of Jerry the Psycho's Playhouse of the Dead.

  The door slid open and a man entered. Ally tried to place the face, but Jerry never sent the same person twice. She knew the technique; psyche out your opponent by showing how large your numbers were. In this situation, escape, if possible, the numbers didn't matter. The more the merrier. Ally would just blend in with the masses.

  "Let's go."

  After a ten minute walk around the stadium and up eight flights of stairs, Ally was shown into a large room overlooking the remains of Phoenix. The area had been hit bad by the wars and water rationing, most people packing up and leaving two hundred years before. When the Firms developed a way to farm in the desert, some returned, but it never became the metropolis it once was.

  The door clicked shut behind her and she moved forward. Jerry sat behind a desk full of maps and panels. No guards held weapons on her, at least none she could see. Two plates sat on top of a table with a candle in the center.

  "Have a seat. I'll be there in a second."

  Real food. It made her mouth water. A basket of rolls caught her attention and she took her seat, palming a few things to take back to Sean and Kevin. The cold stew brought to them was not nearly enough to survive on.

  She watched Jerry as he pulled out his chair and doused his hands in disinfecting powder. He snapped his napkin and laid it across his lap.

  "Ladies first."

  She cut into a piece of meat, and then thought better of it. Meat was a delicacy before the world died, now…who knew "who" she was eating. She scooped a small portion of potatoes into her mouth enjoying the mix of butter and pepper.

  Jerry dug in, as well. Ally knew the meal was a risk. Did he put anything in it? Was he developing something new? Valid questions, but to gain his trust she needed to make him think he'd earned hers.

  "So, do you like the new room? I know it isn't much, but it's secure."

  "A blanket would be nice, and maybe a deck of cards." She swallowed a mouthful of green beans.

  "I'll see what
I can do. You still intend to give me the information I want?"

  "Of course. Daniel hasn't done me any favors. I'll tell you everything I know."

  "Beautiful! Is there a reason you're not eating the steak?"

  Ally poked it with her fork, and juicy red liquid burst forth. "Never had it before, so... rare."

  He smiled and shook his head. "Right, you think you're eating a person. Someone I took issue with? I assure you, this is the best beef around, or at least it was fifty years ago when it was freeze dried. You'll love it, but save room for dessert."

  An hour later Ally pushed away an empty plate. Her stomach hurt, it was so full. Jerry sipped a glass of amber liquid. Scotch, whiskey, water, she didn't know or care.

  "On the table over there are satellite maps. I know this place won't last forever, and when it falls, I have everything prepared for an evacuation, except for a destination. Daniel caught my attention on the radio because he would not stop blabbing about his safe place. I want to know where it is."

  Ally played with her fork a moment before answering. "I can tell you what I know. He mentioned there was a Firm-operated facility up north."

  "You're lying. I would have seen it."

  Ally held up her hands. "Not one that's under a few hundred feet of ice. Daniel's confident he can get in. I, on the other hand, am not so sure."

  Jerry jumped up and went to his desk. "Show me. Show me the place."

  Ally got to her feet and made her way over. "I told you I don't know its exact location."

  "Then what good are you to me? Did I just waste a good meal?"

  Jerry's moods were unpredictable. She needed to get out of there soon. "I can find out. He'll need an ally, now that he's not in control. Make him think he has a chance of getting out of here. Get us in a room together, have your men slap us around a bit then leave us to reconsider our options."

  Jerry picked up a map and rolled it. "Is this a trap? If you try to trick me, I will cut you up bit by bit and feed you to my creations outside."

  "I would like to think I've given you the impression I'm not an idiot."

  He sat at his desk. "Fine," he said, pushing a button. "Take her to where we're holding Daniel. Chain her and work them both over. Make up something to question her about."

  The door opened and Ally looked into another new face. She'd hoped to talk to Kevin and try and fill him in somehow. Her plan would still work, maybe.

  They went down several flights of stairs then walked for twenty minutes. Ally thought he was doing it on purpose to try to confuse her. At the end of a corridor Ally decided led to a sewer due to the smell was a metal door with two guards.

  "Jerry wants her in there for questioning."

  The door unlocked and opened with a creak. They shoved her inside and dragged her toward the middle. Four sets of chains hung from the ceiling. One of the guards grabbed her wrists and jammed them in a pair. The click caused a tremor in her.

  "Be back in a minute. I know someone who's dying to talk to you."

  The comment came across as a threat and she wondered if Jerry had real control, or just the illusion of it. She scanned the room. Daniel was supposed to be in here. A lump of rags in the corner moved and Ally identified him by his short-cropped hair. Bruises, welts, sores, and a few slashes decorated his face. Left eye swollen shut, bottom lip split open, and part of an ear hung loose. He inched forward and Ally knew every movement had to be excruciating. His shirt hung in tatters, revealing more slashes and bruises on his torso.

  "Ally? I guess you're not here to rescue me?" His voice rasped but she understood.

  "Sorry, this place is a maze. I don't even know where I am most of the time." She hoped Jerry paid attention to her comment.

  "Tell them what they want to know…whatever you're protecting isn't worth it."

  The sound of a key in the lock stopped her response. A searing pain across the back of her thighs and then she saw him.

  He grinned at her. "Remember me, bitch?"

  Ally looked at him, squinting. "Should I?"

  The punch snapped her head to the side so hard she swore her eyes were rolling in their sockets.

  "You ruined my damn leg. Doc says I'm lucky. I don't agree."

  Ally glanced down at the appendage in question. She knew what she'd see, a brace. This was the man she'd kicked in the knee when they'd first arrived. The doctor was right, he was lucky. Normally, that type of injury would have lamed him for life.

  "You're gonna pay." He backhanded her across the face then delivered a series of punches and jabs to her sides.

  She bit her lip, thought about other things, did whatever necessary to not cry out. She would not give this piece of shit the satisfaction. She wondered if the idiot knew he was supposed to be questioning her, or if this was some screwed up revenge fantasy.

  "That…all…you…got? You hit…like a…bitch," she said.

  She expected the slap this time and tasted blood in her mouth. She spit out a tooth and smiled. "That's more like it."

  "What the hell's going on in here? Jaime's supposed to be questioning her."

  Jerry stormed into the room and held a Ruger to the temple of the man in the leg brace.

  "Sorry, boss, Jaime thought I might like some revenge. No biggie, she's fine."

  Jerry pursed his lips. "You've been a problem since we took you in." He pointed his weapon down and fired into the knee Ally dislocated a few days ago. The man yowled in agony. Jerry pointed at one of the guards. "Dump him in the cage. I have no use for this…put Jaime in there as well."

  Ally saw fear in the eyes of the other guard as his friends closed in on him. Jerry gripped her chin tight. "I've lost two men because of you. Whatever you're hiding better be worth it." He left the room.

  She heard murmured voices outside but Daniel spoke. "Tell him. Jerry's an animal…you have no idea what he did to the others."

  "Why are you in here, then?"

  "I can't tell him what he wants."

  The door swung open and a man close to seven feet tall walked in. Emotionless.

  Now for the fun.

  * * *

  She lost track of time after the first blackout. When she'd come to, they'd ask her questions she had no answers for, most she didn't understand.

  "Who do you work for?"

  "Why are you spying on us?"

  "How are they extracting you?"

  Wrists caked with blood, her shirt stiff from the dark substance, and breathing made difficult from several bruised or broken ribs, she never uttered a single word.

  "See you tomorrow, Ally. We know all about you…and we will get our answers."

  For the first time since coming up with this plan, she was having doubts. Daniel would try to talk with her, but she didn't stay conscious long enough to hear what he said. Her chains eased a bit and she knelt on the floor.

  Her shoulders burned and her sides felt as if they were splitting. She could only see through one eye and her back felt like acid had been poured on it.

  "Daniel?" Her voice cracked.

  "Yeah."

  "You got a day off from their special treatment."

  "If you think watching them do that to you was easy, you're insane."

  "Sorry." She didn't know if he was sincere or not, but this wasn't the time to debate it.

  "You better tell them something tomorrow, or they'll get creative."

  "I'll be fine."

  He laughed. "You might be, but what if they threaten Sean?"

  Ally wanted to kick Daniel in the face. If Jerry was listening, he would use the boy to move things along.

  "Is that what they did to you?"

  "Something like that," he said with a sigh.

  "But it didn't work, you didn't tell them anything."

  He moved so his back was against the wall. "No. And I never will. I'll die first."

  Ally rotated her neck to work out a few kinks. "What's so important you're willing to let all your men die?"

  Time stretche
d out between them and she thought he might never answer.

  "The facility up north. Jerry wants to know about it, but I'll be damned if I send him up there with his army of sadists."

  She didn't know if the comment referred to Jerry's men or the zombies, but figured either one was bad. "I thought you were ready to blast in there and take over."

  "I was, until I realized what happened. I know you saw it. One by one, your facility friends didn't come back. Then Neal's people…we're broken, take a look around. If there are people up north I say leave them be, we'll only contaminate them with our violence."

  Was he kidding? Daniel developing a conscience did not factor into her plans. She needed to figure out a way to let him know: in order for them to get the hell out of here, they had to give Jerry something.

  "You saw that, huh? Glad you noticed. I didn't say anything because, after you sacrificed Victor, I knew you'd do anything to survive."

  Please catch on.

  "What the hell are you talking about? I didn't–"

  "Come on, I was there. I didn't hear about it from someone else. I watched you do it." She hoped the inflection on certain words would clue him in.

  He didn't move his body but she caught sight of his eyes.

  "It was a hectic night."

  "A lot of chaos and confusion, but we got out in one piece."

  He nodded. "Think that'll happen again? This Jerry guy is pretty tough."

  "I think if I tell him what he wants to know and you give him a location, it might get us out of here. Where is it? I remember you said something about it being closer to the east coast."

  * * *

  Ally exhaled as the guard undid the manacles on her wrist. Jerry smiled at her, map in hand.

  "Thank you, Ally. I could not have done this without you," he said, then shoved the map in Daniel's face. "Show me where, right now."