“They’ll deny it. Even worse, it could rekindle a new Cold War.”
“They deny everything, but they lack credibility around the world.” Benton said. “And another Cold War? Don’t make me laugh. They couldn’t afford the first one, what makes you think they can do so now?”
“They’ll take their case to the U.N.”
“We’ll charge them with using the appeal as a ruse to mask their real intentions. We’ll heighten the terrorist warning to yellow. You know how Americans get with these rally-around-the-flag events.”
***
Outside of Hulett, Wyoming
5:24 a.m.
For more than 40 years, Berk Shiloh went flyfishing on the rivers in the northeast corner of Wyoming, in particular the Belle Fourche. Come rain or cold, Berk fished five days a week, usually catch and release. He found something romantic with being in the middle of the slow roll of a river accompanied by a red-orange sunrise reflecting off the water. His favorite sites were set against the quiet backdrop of the Black Hills. He was enthralled by the silhouettes of the leafless trees and the tulles airbrushed along the river’s shoreline.
He took his fishing seriously and was always in the water before sunrise. By design he was unmarried and without children. His life was his alone and revolved around his fishing poles, pick-up truck, and a loyal Chesapeake Bay Retriever named Captain. There was no one he had to answer to except, as he put it, “The man above.”
On this day the still of the morning was broken only when one of the fighting catfish broke water or attempted to extricate itself from Berk’s hook. Occasionally Captain would bark at a sprinting jackrabbit or a mule deer in the distance. It was as perfect a setting as Berk could imagine.
Captain trotted around the perimeter of the water, as Berk in his waders, stood waist deep in the gentle current. He’d caught several Bullhead and Channel Catfish, mostly keepers, but tossed them back. His freezer was already filled with enough fish to get him through the winter.
Captain disappeared into the foliage, rustling the leaves with an exuberance Berk was use to.
“Whatcha chasing after, old boy?” He called to the dog.
The dog let out a yelp, and Berk laughed. Must-a got himself into trouble with something… a skunk mebbe, but I sure as hell hope not.
Berk resumed his fixation with his fishing line. A growl come from the nearby weeds, but it didn’t sound like Captain. The bushes were still before the moment of silence was broken by the dog’s sharp cry.
“Captain? What the—?”
Berk reeled in, stomped his way ashore and set his pole on the ground. He hoped Captain hadn’t been set upon by a rabid animal. He moved as best he could, for the waders and a limp caused by a long-time back injury slowed his gait. He pushed through the damp weeds, where he found Captain on his side and his head twisted nearly 180-degrees.
Berk moved quickly, made a isstep and felt his leg slide into a sinkhole.
“Aw, shit!”
He splashed knee-deep in the hidden water, and jerked his leg free from the mire beneath. When he brought his leg up, his right boot slid away like someone pulled it off. He bent down to grab it and suddenly was snatched by his collar and thrown head over heels into the water. As he flopped around and tried to regain his balance, he saw the boot atop the water with his lower leg sticking out from it. The boot and leg floated away from him. When he saw the water turn red, he gasped at the awful truth.
My freaking leg has been torn off, but…There was no pain.
Whatever ripped off his leg came up behind him and sank its teeth into the back of his neck. As he looked around the river for the last time, he saw the black hair and the red, sunken eyes of another human being, only this one’s skin had a frightening blue hue. He managed to speak the preamble to his final prayer.
“Almighty God, please forgive me for my…”
Berk Shiloh was pulled under the water and never came back up.
***
5:30 a.m.
“An hour ‘til daylight.”
Valerie’s proclamation was equal parts weariness and wistfulness.
Roy nudged Cash. “Why don’t y’all catch some Z’s for a couple hours? Ned, Jenny and I can hold down the fort.”
“The rest of us are just as sleepy,” Ned moaned.
“You and I can crash out after these two get up. Plus, Grace will be sharp.”
“At daylight, I’m getting in my car and I’m getting ghost.” Ned uttered the words as if he expected everyone to burst into tears and beg him to stay.
“Do whatcha gotta do,” Roy said coolly. “But for the time being, we’ll keep the guard until you make your departure, okay?”
Valerie leaned over and whispered in Cash’s ear, “Let’s go to my bedroom.”
Cash followed her to the room, as did Ned’s eyes. Roy looked on as Ned’s finger tapped the frame around the trigger of his rifle. Roy made strong eye contact with him. I’ve got my eyes on you, old man.
***
Valerie and Cash stepped on opposite sides of a queen-size bed where on the wall above the headboard hang a zodiac sex positions poster. A dresser and entertainment center with a 41-inch TV were pushed against the wall.
Valerie led him into the master bathroom and adjusted the shower water before she slid out of her jeans and bra, and finally her bikini panties. Cash was a bit hesitant until she gave him that come-on-in smile, which made his inhibitions flee like a con during a jailbreak.
Outside of the shower she pressed her body to his and slid her tongue into his mouth. The kiss was more stimulating than any he’d ever felt. It reminded him of a quote he’d read in the eighth grade, from Rene Yasenek: “Kissing is a means of getting two people so close together that they can’t see anything wrong with each other.”
After they stepped out of the shower and toweled off, all eight inches of him was at full mast. Valerie took him by the hand and led him to the bed. Neither of them felt a need for a discussion; and the only words uttered were “condom” and “Please.”
Valerie’s whispered desperation and her cool breath on his face, culminated in an onrush of desire. The moment their flesh touched eliminated the necessity of foreplay. Valerie rolled Cash onto his back, and her erect nipples resembled overripe fruit burst on the vine. Cash took one between his lips and licked, sucked and nibbled on it, which elicited moans and heavy panting. Valerie offered her moist invitation, slowly at first, but as Cash palmed her buttocks and pulled her closer, she submitted wholly.
Tanisha and Sherry, who were in the next room, became like the proverbial pictures on the walls with big ears. As much as Valerie wanted to keep things quiet, that desire was superseded by her hunger for more of the gut-filling pleasure Cash provided. They went at it like he was a man freed from prison after a decade, and she a wayward nun desperate to experiment outside her vow of celibacy.
When they finished it was cash who wound up on top, spent. Juice dripped into Valerie’s every crease and crevice. The sex left them both feeling reenergized. When their synchronized deep breathing regained some level of normalcy, Valerie took his face between her hands and issued a plea and thank-you note rolled into one.
“Don’t let this be the only time we do this.”
“I won’t.”
“You’re leaving in a few days, so make sure you understand the full extent of what I’m saying.”
Cash raised up. “You want to go with us?”
“I’m not expecting you to turn me into a housewife, but I think we can kick it for a while and go from there.”
“What happens if we don’t make it?”
“Neither of us comes up short.” Valerie’s smile was followed by a soft moan and a kiss on the tip of his nose. “I give romance a try and you have the time of your life.”
“What about Ned?”
“He was just business, baby.”
“And what makes me different?”
“You shouldn’t have to ask. Think that old man is ma
king me moan like that? Hell, that’s the first time I had multiple orgasms in more than a decade.” Valerie applied a bit too much relish on her hotdog, but if Cash was like most men, she knew he wouldn’t mind.
“Stop, you’re going to have me leaving here with two swollen heads.”
“We better shower, get dressed and get back to work,” she said. “The sun will be up in a few.”
***
6:13 a.m.
The sun acted reluctant to make an appearance and peeped through the breaks in the gray sky like a nervous actor who pokes his head from behind a curtain to see how big the audience is. There was none of the exuberant greetings neighbors typically offered, or warbling coming from out of the trees as birds performed their sunrise symphony. Absent was the sound of cars warming up as parents readied for work or to take their children to school. The still hovered like fog as the scent of death permeated the morning air.
Grace stayed behind closed doors with her children, but Cash, Roy, Jenny, Ned and Valerie stepped outside and surveyed the damage. Blood, intestines and other bodily remains littered the grounds. Buildings resembled war-torn neighborhoods they’d seen on the evening news: they were museums of broken windows, splintered doors, broken windows, bullet-riddled walls, and leaning curtain rods. A dozen severed heads were scattered along the sidewalk and in the courtyard. A thick coat of mud and blood covered the sidewalks and bloody footprints went in every direction, some of which covered the squares of a hopscotch grid. Two smashed automobiles loomed on the other side of a cyclone fence.
Roy pointed to his right as he was the first one to spot Bobo, a local hustler with a severe case of acne and who wore a red bandana and black hoodie. He sat with his back against a telephone pole, a .32 caliber pistol in his hand. Upon closer examination, Roy saw that he’d been crying.
He called to him, “Bobo, what’s up with you? What are you doing way over here?”
Bobo looked up and shook his head.
Roy hesitated before pursuing his next question. “Where’s your daughter and grandmother?”
Bobo had to cough up a load of phlegm before he answered. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? How long you been here?”
All Roy got in return was a shrug and a hollow-eyed stare.
“Man, snap your ass out of it!”
Bobo never looked up and spoke in a barely audible whisper. “Some crazy shit went on out here last night and I ran off.”
“So you haven’t checked on your daughter or grandmother?”
He looked up at Roy and his eyes welled with tears. His lower lip began to tremble. “I went off and left ‘em. Those things came and I just panicked.”
Roy’s brow furrowed. “You abandoned your family?”
Tears rolled won Bobo’s cheeks. “I went…I went back for ‘em, but it…. It was too late.”
Roy shook his head and walked back to where his cohorts stood. No sooner did he rejoin their circle when the quiet was disrupted by a single gunshot. Bobo’s body tilted to one side and blood drained from a hole in the side of his head. After several seconds he fell to the ground with his eyes wide open. He became an afterthought as their eyes were drawn to the sky. A military helicopter zoomed overhead.
By this time Grace walked outside. Her face was long and drawn.
Roy saw her and muttered to himself, “Now what?”
Grace spoke in halting fashion and closed her eyes as she done so, as if she wanted to recite something exactly as she heard it. “According to the news report I just heard, the Governors of Oregon, Idaho, Nevada and Arizona have amassed their National Guard troops on their borders, and are not allowing Californians entry into their states. The cities of Pittsburg and Antioch have been put under quarantine. Travel is allowed within the city limits, but not beyond.”
“Looks like there’s no way out.” Jenny moaned.
Cash scowled and looked into Jenny’s gray eyes. “There’s always a way out if you want it bad enough.”
“How?”
“Under cover of darkness.” He took note of the confusion upon his cohorts’ faces. “We’ve got to stay here another night.”
“Aw, hell no,” Jenny’s voice shook uncontrollably. “Shit, there might be even more of those things.”
“We stay another night, hold down our little piece of the world and we have time to plan an exit with detail.”
Cash took their silence as consent.
***
When the kids got word they would be in the Low another twenty-four hours they began to cry. Tanisha did what she could to get them calmed down, but there long faces remained throughout the day. She understood the strain. They were not in their familiar surroundings and the memories of the growling and attacks by crazed creatures were fresh in their minds. Furthermore, Jenny’s shaking hands and crimson eyes didn’t help matters.
Ned remained outside with Cash and Roy. When Valerie returned to her house, Ned’s eyes took on the fiery glare of a judge announcing sentence for a heinous crime.
“I’m not staying another night here. I don’t care if the city is cordoned off. I know I can get out.”
Roy was nonchalant about it. “We’d love to have you stay, but if you‘ve gotta go, oh well.”
Cash wasn’t as diplomatic. “You’ve been running off at the mouth about leaving ever since last night.”
“What’s it to you?” Ned fired back.
“You act like some girl suffering through her first bout of PMS, that’s what it is to me,” Cash snapped. He got in Ned’s face. “You started tripping when you saw the youngsta sitting under Valerie.”
“I’m not wasting my time looking out for some whore!”
“Your act is starting to wear thin with me, homey. Remember what happened last time you talked about going out on your own, we ended up saving your bitch ass.”
“I’m not asking you or anyone else to do a damn thing!”
“Enough talk, wise guy.” Cash shoved Ned backward. “Get your ass to stepping right now!”
Roy knew that Cash was hoping the old man would draw down, so he could pump a hot one in him. He stepped back and called to Cash, “Bro, take it easy.”
“Naw, I’m sick of this clown.” He fired off one more white-hot glare at Ned. “You got ten minutes, Mister Adventurous Muthafucka.”
“I’ll only need five,” Ned said with false bravado. He knew he’d violated the golden rule as passed down from his mother: Don’t let you mouth overload your ass.
Cash got in a parting shot. “I hope you get caught out in the rain and those things tear you a new ass for real.”
T W E N T Y – T W O
6:32 a.m.
Jayson sat on his back porch in a silk robe and wearing a look of confusion. He strummed his fingers on the aluminum arm of a lawn chair. It wasn’t quite seven a.m., but he’d made it a third of the way through a fifth of Grey Goose. He looked at the two DVDs on the table next to his chair. One was the copy given him by Graham, the other a duplicate. He recalled the exchange between himself and the bank manager.
Have you seen the DVD yet?
No, but I talked to several of the bank employees. They told me what was on the discs we turned over to the PD.
Jayson set his drink down and left his seat as if it was of the ejector variety. He speed walked into the house, and grabbed a push pin from the bulletin board he kept in his kitchen. He went back outside and picked up the original copy of the heist. If he made small marks throughout the DVD he might mar it to where portions of it became unviewable. He was about to scratch it with the pin when it occurred to him the FBI was likely to have the technology to undo such damage. They might also be capable of determining whether the marks were put there manually.
He set the pin down. He owned a DVR recorder, but wasn’t sure if the disc could be recorded over, and even if so, he had no idea how to do it. He took his cell phone out of the pocket of his robe and hit a two-digit code.
“Hello
, Marco….yeah, I know it’s early, but don’t trip. I need a huge favor, and I’m willing you give you a couple hundred bucks for about an hour’s worth of your expertise… Good. I guess when money talks, it speaks in your tongue.” Jayson laughed at Marco’s response and closed with, “I’ll see ya in thirty.”
***
6:45 a.m.
Ned packed up and as he carried his duffel bag from Valerie’s house, she gave him a sad look. In return, he called her a “funky bitch.” His baleful eye contact and bitter words symbolized the official end of their “relationship.” Ned hoisted his bag and rifle over his shoulder and never looked back.
Cash manned the front window. The back door was barricaded with two tables and the windows protected by the refrigerator. Everyone else was sleep except for Roy and Tanisha. The girl sat rigidly with her hands clasped in her lap and her gaze distant, like that of a prizefighter getting up from a series of knockdowns.
“Tanisha, you okay?” Not until after Roy asked the question did he realize how foolish he sounded.
“My mother’s dead, and I feel ashamed by the fact I can’t muster up much sympathy.”
“You’re just stunned by it and further taken aback by all the craziness going on.”
“I always considered myself Grace’s child, too. I just don’t want her to…” the girl lowered her eyes. “I don’t want to be a burden.”
“Grace loves you every bit as much as she loves her own children,” Roy said. “I promise you that we’ll give your mother a proper memorial.”
“I’d rather not.” Tanisha wiped away a tear. “I just want to get to the next phase of my life.”
Roy shoved his hands into his back pockets. “I understand.”
“Where do you think Grace will take us?”
“No telling, but first we gotta make it through one more night. We’re gonna need you to tend to the younger kids.”
Zombie Factor Page 15
