Dark Days (Book 2): Inquisition

by Dyer, Marcy G.

  "I don't get it. Why the need to control?"

  Randi shook her head. "No clue. Psychopaths? Sociopaths? Screwed up people, anyway. I think the woman Reginald talked about was that way. Vixen. She wanted people to stay there, but instead of making it welcoming and trying to get input, she forced people to stay against their will and tried to kill them if they dared to leave. That makes no sense to me. The chick could've grown her place easily by searching out survivors and inviting them in. Once she had them inside, if she treated them right, they'd never want to leave. From what I understand, your aunt didn't want to leave until the woman attacked Belle."

  Josh slowed as several people on the side of the road came into view. "Keep your eyes open. I don't like this."

  He pulled closer and the drooling, shuffling group moved toward the car. He gunned it and flew past.

  They followed I-10 until they came to the La Cantera area. Randi pointed. "Exit here. There's a computer store in this shopping center."

  Josh made a quick exit and pulled into the Best Buy parking lot. "What kind of computers do we need?"

  "Miguel said the Windows PCs would be better, but to get whatever we find. I thought it might be good to get a router, too."

  "Why?" Josh frowned. "There is no Internet."

  "I know, but we can set up a local network to communicate via computer. If our schedules and calendars are computerized, we don't have to hand write them all the time. That is if we can find enough computers to go around."

  "Looters may have hit the stores like this early on, when they expected the virus to be contained."

  "If so, we'll see what we can find at the school bookstore." Randi unbuckled her seat belt. "Or hit several of the other computer stores."

  "Let's do this." Josh opened his door.

  Randi joined him with her weapon at the ready. She searched the surrounding area. Empty. No movement. She closed her eyes and imagined shoppers milling about, laughter and voices floating through the air, and sighed.

  They walked to the door. Randi took a deep breath, held her weapon pointed at the door with one hand, and grabbed one side of the doors with the other. Josh grabbed the other sliding door and they tugged. Locked. No broken windows. This might prove perfect for them.

  "Hang on. I brought a tire iron." Josh ran back to the car, retrieved the tool. "It'll make breaking the door glass easier. He swung and the glass cracked, but didn't break out, so he swung it again.

  For once Randi was thankful that the electricity was off. They didn't have to worry about alarms.

  Josh cleared out enough glass for them to step through, and Randi took a tentative step into the store. She shuddered as she stepped into the dark building. At least the windows provided a little light.

  Her breath came in short bursts as they walked through the store. Empty. She turned to Josh. "Ready to check the back?"

  He switched on his flashlight. "Let's do this."

  She retrieved hers from her belt, flicked the button to turn it on and gripped it in her left hand as though she were holding an ice pick. She pointed it forward and rested her gun hand on top of her left hand.

  Her heart pounded in her ears as she walked through the door and toward the back. Josh disappeared from sight checking the other side of the room.

  Several seconds passed with no noise except for thud of her heart and the slight squeak of her hiking boots on the linoleum.

  Shots rang out from the left side of the room.

  Josh uttered a few choice words. The rabid had taken him by surprise.

  "You okay?" Randi's voice came out breathless as she ran to his side.

  "Yes." He pointed. "A rabid. Probably hid out here thinking he'd be safe. Maybe he didn't realize he was infected."

  "Or he came here to wait while he turned. Probably thought here he wouldn't cannibalize anyone else."

  "If that's the case, he got what he wanted."

  "Let's grab some baskets and load up on computers." Randi headed back toward the front. "Looks like this place is well-stocked. Too bad they don't have the software needed. I hate the idea of heading to UTSA. We've lucked out so far on this trip, but it might be overrun."

  "Only one way to know."

  She headed to the back room. "Good grief, they've got a lot of computers here."

  "Maybe stocking up for the Black Friday sales that never happened. The Windows units are over here." Josh pulled out boxes. "I'm picking out the ones with the largest hard drives and most memory."

  "Sounds good. We might grab some mice, too."

  They walked down the aisles. Josh tossed in all of the mice on the shelf. "Is there anything else we might need?"

  Randi grabbed a couple of routers. "Mark can figure out which will work the best. Let's check out the software." Randi shrugged. "Who knows what we might find."

  Josh led the way to the software department. He grabbed several copies of Office. "They might need to make notes."

  Randi dropped several copies of Dragon in the cart. "In case they need to speak their notes. Let's get a microphone for them."

  Josh picked up a few microphones and a handful of thumb drives. "What about a printer? Would they need one?"

  "No idea. Can we fit that in the car?"

  "If we find one, we could put it in the trunk, then stow everything else in the backseat."

  "Okay. If it won't all fit, we can stuff part of it in the front seat. We'll make it work."

  They walked up and down the rows until they came to the printer aisle. Josh loaded a laser jet printer into another cart and grabbed several extra ink cartridges. "Let's get out of here before it gets any later." Could they make it to the university and back home before it got too dark?

  Randi pushed the basket toward the doors. A fridge filled with soft drinks sat near the counter and the candy rack was still full. She hopped over the counter, grabbed a few sacks, and loaded up. "Are there any backpacks? I'd like to give the children something for Christmas. They could keep their stuff in it."

  Josh had passed an aisle with backpacks. He backtracked and loaded quite a few of them into the shopping cart. Several pink and purple ones the girls might like. He grabbed a superhero backpack for the only boy in the group. "Hey, let's get a video game console for the kids. That is if you're okay with them playing in the RV."

  "Good idea." Randi dropped quite a few games into a basket. "I'm heading to the movies. The TVs in the motorhome have players."

  "Okay." Josh searched the consoles and picked out the most recent version of an X-Box and a WII. He walked toward the front where Randi waited. I hope they like these. I'm not sure what's popular anymore."

  "Are you ready? We still need to hit UTSA. I don't want to be there after dark."

  "Me either." Josh opened the trunk and wedged the printer inside. The lid wouldn't close, so he tied it down as tight as he could get it. "The rest will have to go into the car. Keep your fingers crossed it'll all fit."

  They stuffed the computers and the rest of the gear in the backseat. The game console and games would have to go in the front. "Hope you don't need to see out the back when you drive." Randi climbed in and latched her seatbelt.

  Josh followed suit. The sun had climbed high while they'd been collecting supplies. He needed to get them to the college bookstore and out San Antonio. "Where do I go from here?"

  "Take La Cantera Blvd around to Peace Boulevard. You'll then take that to UTSA Circle. I'm not one hundred percent sure of where the bookstore is. Miguel said it's possible they won't have the software. If they don't, we'll need to hit up the biomed department and steal more computers. If the software is on the servers, we're out of luck."

  "Let's pray they have the software in the bookstore. Did he say what it's called?"

  "There are several. He said they may not have them because sometimes they use virtual desktops or something or another, but if we don't find any of these, at least get some data analysis software." Randi pulled the note out of her pocket and read the list. "M
atlab, LabVIEW, Solidworks, and Visual Studio." Randi frowned. "If they don't have those, not sure what we'll get."

  "We'll see what they have and do the best we can." Josh pulled into the UTSA parking lot. He drove around the campus and passed the food court. The bookstore shared a building with it. The place was deserted. He parked, and took a deep breath. What would they face in the school? They'd been lucky so far with only one infected. "Let's do this."

  Randi slung the AR over her shoulder. Josh grabbed the other AR and did likewise. He hit the lock button on the car. No need to invite looters to take it and their supplies. His breaths came in short bursts. Did Randi feel her heart thudding in her chest like he did? He unholstered his Glock and took the lead. Randi always placed herself on the front line, but not today. Time for her to take a backseat. He'd step into danger first.

  He pulled on the door. Unlocked. The hair on his arms raised. Why couldn't it have been secured like the computer store? Less chance of encountering infecteds, but then again locked doors equaled stronger chances of encountering uninfected. A lose-lose situation. He walked through on shaky legs. The desire to grab Randi's hand and run the other way almost overwhelmed him.

  "You take the left side. I'll go right," Randi whispered from behind him.

  "Okay." He adjusted his grip on his weapon and took a step forward. His legs seemed encased in concrete. Every step took Herculean effort. He walked up and down every aisle without encountering anyone, infected or otherwise. No shots fired, so Randi must not have encountered anyone either. They met in the back of the store. The muscles in his back clenched. This trip had been too easy so far. What would happen next? "Let's hunt down the software and get out of here."

  "I want to grab some textbooks, too. Your brother remembers everything he reads, so the more we can load up on for him as reference, the better."

  He jerked his head toward the textbooks. "Do you think there'll be anything in this room that he can use? I mean quantum physics probably won't come in too handy."

  "Engineering books, medical books for Miguel, any biomedical engineering books for Reg and Miguel. I don't know what else." She lifted her shoulder. "But we need to take anything and everything that might be useful. This place is untouched so far. Let's clean it out."

  "Aunt Mary Ann was a trauma nurse, but it's been a while. Let's get the nursing books, too."

  Josh sorted through the software programs for data analysis, but some weren't on Uncle Reginald's list. Josh uttered a silent prayer that he could crunch numbers, or do whatever a biochemical engineer did with the programs he'd found.

  Randi loaded books on every subject imaginable into one of the large shopping bags, then grabbed another one. "We need to carry this stuff to the car. If there's any room left, we'll come back for more."

  "I got it." Josh grabbed the sacks from her and headed out of the door. He wedged everything in the car. If Randi found many more books, she'd have to hold them. As it was, she had no room for her feet.

  He went back inside. Randi stood at the cash register adding books to a couple of bags. "Any room left?"

  "Not sure. We'll try." She handed him the bag, he wedged as many books as he could in the back seat and the trunk. The rest he stowed in the front floorboard next to the game consoles. "I think we'd better head back."

  Randi grinned and grabbed the keys from his hand. "Your turn to ride shotgun." She flounced to the door and glanced over her shoulder. "You'd better hang on."

  Josh couldn't help but laugh. This wasn't a side of her he'd seen, yet. He followed her to the door, but she backed up instead of opening it. "Look," she whispered and pointed to the door.

  Infecteds swarmed the parking lot and surrounded the car.

  Chapter 8

  Bryan had gotten back to Reginald's place in time to see the blond guy and black-haired woman leave in the sports car. He'd watched from the front for a while, but they still hadn't returned, so he moved back to the rear of the house.

  Mary Anne walked out with an older Latino man. Bryan had seen him a few times before. The man said something that made Mary Anne laugh. She pointed to the trees at the front of the camp. Did they suspect someone was watching them? If so, what would they do?

  The couple didn't change directions, but headed straight for the building where they stored the vehicles. A few moments later, the two emerged in an ATV and drove into the outer area.

  He'd lose sight of them soon, so he focused the binoculars back into the inner fenced area. Reginald's kids and a boy walked the fence line. What were they looking for? They must suspect someone watching them the way they'd upped patrols.

  Vixen had said Reginald was controlling and manipulative. In his experience, those under the thumb of someone else weren't as relaxed as Mary Anne seemed. Old Reg hadn't inserted himself in her rounds. In fact, he hadn't seen the guy much since he'd staked out the place. What was he up to?

  Bryan dropped the binoculars and rubbed his eyes. Hours of watching Reginald's crew through the glass blurred his vision. He hadn't been on a surveillance team in years and had forgotten how endless watching made his muscles ache. He leaned back and closed his eyes. If he didn't get at least a little sleep, he'd never make a decent decision.

  Children's laughter lulled him into a relaxed state. He could almost imagine his kids laughing and playing. He rubbed his chest with his hand and focused on the task in front of him.

  He closed his eyes tighter and forced his mind to go to the ocean. He imagined the deep blue water of the Caribbean, the calming sounds of the waves crashing into the shore. He inhaled as the clean, crisp ocean scent washed over him and exhaled the stress and anxiety. His muscles relaxed, stomach unclenched, and he drifted off into peaceful blackness.

  Leaves crunching brought him to full alert. He jerked his head around. A squirrel. His breath whooshed out, and he gave a slight chuckle. He grabbed his binoculars and focused on the fenced area again. Reginald and his wife were walking hand-in-hand along the river's edge. They stopped and Mary Anne slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Didn't look like a woman held against her will to him. Not to mention, the woman always had a weapon. Either a handgun or a long gun and usually both. If she wanted to leave, no one could stop her.

  Why can't anything ever be easy?" Randi cursed under her breath. She was sick of this life, of fighting for every second of every day. What was the point? They were all going to die at some point, so why did they keep pushing? Why didn't they all just give up?

  "How do you want to handle this?"

  "I don't know." Randi brought her shaking hand to her forehead as her vision tunneled. She had no answers for Josh. No way out. Her legs grew weak, and she sank to the floor.

  Josh knelt beside her. "Randi, come on, we need to get out."

  She waved him away. He didn't understand. No one did. She sat staring out the door watching the infected count grow. How many of these slobbering shells were students here? Planning for their future only to become dying flesh-eaters. Life wasn't fair. It hadn't been when Raul died, and it had only grown much worse.

  "We have to get back to--"

  "Why? Why bother? They're all going to die anyway." She pointed outside. "Your God is nonexistent for this messed up disease to have robbed these kids of their future. It turned them into creatures that eat other people. How could a good God have allowed this to happen? Nope. He's not around. He's never been around. At least not for me. Either that or He's hated me since I was five."

  Josh knelt beside her. "He doesn't hate you. I can't explain why He allowed this difficult situation, but think about the Bible. How many times did He allow ordinary people to fall into seemingly hopeless situations? He was in control then, and He's in control now. Rain will fall, difficult times will come, pain will invade our hearts and lives, but none of this catches Him by surprise. When bad things happen, He's chosen to allow us to experience them for a reason, and He has a plan to get us through the bad times."

  "Yeah right." Randi sho
ok her head. "He chose the wrong person then, because I don't want to spend another second getting through this hell on earth. I'm tired, Josh. Tired of fighting to live, tired of killing. I'm done. Besides, I have so much blood on my hands that your God wouldn't want me even I believed in Him."

  "No, you don't."

  "You don't know."

  "I know David, a man after God's own heart, was a murderer, but he was forgiven. He was a man of war and had so much blood on his hands that God refused to allow him to build the temple, but God forgave him. Jesus forgave the thief on the cross next to Him."

  Tears stung her eyes. She needed to shut Josh up. She didn't want to hear another word about the God who ripped Raul and Aaron from her. "Come on. We need to get back." She forced herself to stand. Time to add more blood to her hands. Josh was wrong. Even King David didn't have the blood of children on his hands.

  "How do you want to do it?"

  "I don't know. We'll walk into the midst of them if we go out the front doors."

  "Let's check the back door and see if we can slip out that way and get off enough shots to get to the car."

  She took a deep breath. One step after another toward the back. She flipped on her flashlight as she pushed through the storage room door. Her heart thudded, and sweat dripped down her back.

  Josh stepped in front of her and eased the back door open. Hinges creaked, but he pressed on. He led with his AR and stepped outside. After a few seconds, he motioned for her to follow.

  The back was clear. They crept to the corner of the building and opened fire on the infecteds near the car. She squeezed the trigger time and again and watched bodies drop. The acrid odor of gunpowder mingled with the stench of the infected. The scene played out before her almost as if she wasn't there.

  Her heart pounded and her vision dimmed. No. Not now. Her chest grew tight, and her breath came in gasps, she shook so hard, she almost lost her weapon. Everything in front of her became fuzzy, and her vision tunneled. She sank to the ground as she fell back into the foxhole in the Middle East.