by Mark Clodi
Max shook his head, "I can't go that far, not even close."
"But you have other abilities don't you?"
"Not that I've noticed."
"Ella was fast and healed quickly, her eyesight was improved, her other senses were sharper. But she seemed to go rotten after she reached a certain point. She was sex crazed and wanted blood like a zombie."
"Could you control her like a zombie?" asked Max, thinking about that made his skin crawl.
"No, but she said she was starting to be able to boss around the lessor zombies around us. I'm glad she is dead. She was annoying. So Max, when you look at me, what do you see?"
For the first time since he met her, Max engaged his secondary vision and looked at Aubrey and her companions. He was surprised and Aubrey read the look on his face with satisfaction.
"I think I know what you see." Aubrey said smugly, "Or rather, what you are not seeing with your mind's eye."
"I don't see anything." Max said, concentrating on getting a mental picture of the woman sitting less than a foot away from him, "You're off my radar completely!"
"Good. I hope it works against Sentry as well as it does against you. Now we have to get you back to your friends."
"Just drop me off at the campground. I doubt they've left yet."
Aubrey tilted her head sideways and looked at Max closely, "Can you see them?"
"No. They are out of range…"
"So your range is shorter than I thought, we're only a couple miles from where they picked you up."
"But we walked all morning!" protested Max.
"Didn't you keep an eye on them as you went?"
Shaking his head Max said, "It doesn't work like that. I have to focus, unless they are really close."
"So try now. If it helps they are over in that direction." Aubrey pointed into the woods.
"Can you see them?"
"No, they are living. Didn't Jimbo explain this to you? I thought you were best friends or something?"
"He killed my wife."
"So you owe him one." Seeing the look of anger on Max's face Aubrey asked, "Too soon?"
"I loved her."
With a sigh Aubrey said, "We've all lost people. You're nothing new. I was out of line. I'm sorry. I didn't lose all emotion when this happened to me, but sometimes the line of appropriate behavior gets blurry. I really am sorry."
Max nodded, but his eyes still smoldered.
"As to your question, no I can't see the living that far. I seem to be limited to a mile or so, but as I've gotten stronger I've noticed that buildings and trees don't seem to interfere much anymore. When I first came to, I was lucky to be able to see people through a wall. But undead are like lights in the darkness. I can see them all, like maggots crawling across the corpse of the world. And I can tell how strong they are too, it is color based." said Aubrey.
"Red told me…well he said people were like rainbow colors full of swirling life, he didn't really mention about what other zombies looked like. But what you are describing is what I can see too." Max said.
"Have you noticed that you can see zombies farther out than living people?"
"Not really. I haven't tried much. I knew Red could see people a long way off, like a hundred miles."
"I think it varies among us. It probably does for you too. Maybe you should try to extend your range a little. Maybe it's like a muscle; you need to exercise to get better using it."
"I'll get around to it in all my free time." Max said.
"Will you know Sentry? I mean will he stand out? Will you be able to tell what he looks like from a distance without seeing him?"
"I am pretty sure, yes. He'll be like you."
Aubrey laughed, "Oh, he is nothing like me! C'mon, get in the car."
"No bindings?" Max asked, more than a little surprised.
"I don't tie up my allies Max. And you are my ally. Trust is hard to come by. Plus…"
"I don't have any weapons anyway." Max finished for her.
Aubrey didn't deny it, but gestured for him to get into the back with her. Once they were strapped in Aubrey told the driver to head back to the last exit and go west. Another Humvee, a half mile behind them, was already turned around facing north on the southbound lane, it pulled out behind them after they passed.
"Friends?"
"Yes. No need to worry."
The vehicles pulled off the highway onto Raccoon Valley drive.
"How far is it from the highway Max?" Aubrey asked.
"Not far, less than a mile, on the left."
"Okay. Got it." said the driver.
Max concentrated a moment and determined the driver was off the radar too. "I can't see him either. I thought you were guarding the secret? Not handing it out like candy on Halloween?"
Aubrey smiled, "Jimbo taught me a few other things too. Among the things he taught was how to mess a little with lessor zombie's memories. I can go in and edit their minds. I can put in false memories, I erase things I don't want them to know. It's not too precise and I've already had a few of my experiments go bad, but I am getting better. Nathan there couldn't explain to anyone why they can't see him. Could you Nate?"
The driver shook his head, "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"See?"
"That is…that is cruel. Can you change them back? Or is it a one way ticket?"
"One way…unless I am very careful. Like I said, I have a few experiments out there. I can't just press a key and revert to a saved copy of their memories, not exactly. Jimbo was pretty cagey about that, warned me to be careful and he only showed me the very basics of it. I had to do a lot of practice in the last few days."
"Is that it?" asked Nathan, pointing a hand at the Campground sign.
"That's it." said Max.
He pulled into the campground and Max scanned the area. "They left." he said, stunned that his friends would leave so quickly.
"Pragmatic. Are they carrying cell phones? Are you?"
"No… Wait! I've got a radio. God! How did I forget my radio?" Max fumbled in his jacket to turn it on. It was supposed to have a five mile range. Talking into it he said, "Stewart? Bill? Anyone?"
Silence reigned in the back of the Humvee.
"Looks like you're riding with me for a while more then. Do you think they went back?"
"What?"
"Do you think they are still trying to finish the mission to kill Sentry or do you think they went back?"
"Probably they would go on. But without me…I mean, they can't find Sentry, so what would be the point."
"Look at you, mister important! I doubt they gave that much thought, probably they figured out they could find him somehow. If they went back we might be screwed. Nate, pull up the gps and tell me where this road goes."
Nathan did as instructed and Aubrey looked at the screen. "This road by passes the city, if they cut over here they could rejoin the highway….about there." She said pointing to the map. "Nathan, take us back to the highway and we'll cut them off. We'll drop Max at the highway 162 and 75 exchange."
"It looks longer."
"It will be faster, the road is clear."
"You can see that?"
"I just know, trust me."
"If you say so. I think that was the idea, to skirt Knoxville."
"Normally that'd be smart, they didn't know Sentry had the roads cleared."
"Why? Do you know?"
"He didn't fill me in on that. But I think it was just to get things organized again. I did the same thing in Chicago. It's hard to get around when there is an accident blocking the road every two blocks."
Nate took the Humvee up to slightly higher than normal highway speed and they made good time driving through the fringes of Knoxville. Aubrey was silent most of the way and Max stared at her for a few minutes before she noticed, then smiled at him, "Sorry, I'm multitasking. I've got things going on. Many pots on the fire, that sort of thing. Did you need something?"
"What's it like?"
&
nbsp; "It sucked at first. It could be worse, I could be Nate or one of the other lower order zombies. I wasn't much in life, but I would have stayed alive given a choice."
"Do you sleep? Get hungry?"
"Not for flesh. I could eat more, it would beef me up, but I made a lot of children already in Chicago and it feels like each additional bit of power is less than the one I got before. Like I am getting less out of it, if you know what I mean?"
Max nodded.
"No sleep either. The weird part is, I feel like I am still growing. Like I consumed so much that it started something within me that is only getting more powerful. You want to know how many people I ate to heal up after the building dropped on me?"
Hesitantly, Max nodded.
"None. I haven't eaten in weeks. I wasn't a psycho killer before I was turned and I'm not now. I wasn't a conservative either. I wish I had been; then I would have tried to set aside a bunch of people somewhere."
"To eat?"
"No, not that. But I don't think we can reproduce the normal way. How will the species go on if everyone is dead? I thought, maybe that setting aside a bunch of people might be good to continue the race. We might be able to live with them. With you. Maybe we could exchange safety for blood or something?"
"Would that work?"
"I don't know. It worked for Ella, but she wasn't even dead."
"If I help you, and it works. What are you going to do?"
"I haven't thought that far ahead. Maybe I will find some people and protect them, get society going again."
"Really?" Max asked, "I don't want to be skeptical, but you could have stayed in Chicago and called off the attacks in that area."
"No, I couldn't. If Sentry thought I was dead I couldn't interfere. He already had others take over the hordes in that area and I could only stay free so long as I kept a low profile."
"But Jimbo taught you to…"
"Sentry would know Max. If the zombies stopped attacking, Sentry would know something was up, probably within hours. The best way to solve this problem is to get new leaders, who aren't so interested in complete racial genocide."
"The king is dead! Long live the King?"
"You're showing your education there, be careful. I envision more of an environment of multiple kingdoms. Some of them human, I hope. I will tell you this. If I survive, I will do everything in my power to help save you, your family, your friends and every human left in and around Iowa. How does that deal strike you?"
"I didn't know I had any leverage to bargain with. Maybe I should ask for more?" Max said tentatively.
"I'm offering that up as goodwill. Afterward, we'll use the trust I gain by helping you as a foundation for our new existence."
Max held out his hand and Aubrey took it. Her hand was soft and cool to the touch. They shook and nodded to each other. A few minutes later Nathan told them they were approaching the intersection.
The Humvee stopped well shy of the intersection and Aubrey asked Max if he could sense his friends yet.
"No." he admitted, "No yet." He started to say something else and stopped himself.
"What?"
"It's just…well a lot has happened this morning and my mind is catching up to where I am right now. So…" His voice trailed off.
"Spit it out, what's the worst I can do?"
"Okay, I'm trying to work things out here on my own first. Can I do that?"
"Sure, don't take too long, your friends will be here soon."
"That's part of it. How do you know that? You didn't know they left before."
Aubrey shook her head, "No, I was preoccupied with you. It is easy to find people now. I can take a hold on zombies and sort of see through their eyes. It's not as good as your radar, but it is better in other ways."
"That's what has me confused. You found me pretty easily and I was trying to figure out how." Max said.
Aubrey shrugged her thin shoulders, "I wasn't looking for you. Not necessarily. I was looking for someone and when the helicopters took off I knew I had better track them and get moving."
"So you followed us from there, by tapping into zombies along the helicopter flight path?"
"Yeah, I couldn't possibly know you were on board, I didn't figure that out until you landed and split up from the other soldiers. Actually I recognized the old guy first. He made an impression on me. He is smart, maybe too smart. Sometimes smart beats youth, speed and strength. He certainly did a number on Ella. But I recognized the woman and you too."
"Why did you contact us, and not the other team?"
Aubrey smiled faintly, "Who says I didn't contact the other teams? Your friends are almost here. Get moving. We're going to get out of sight before they arrive."
"But…"
"Go Max! If everything works out I will see you after this is all over."
Reluctantly, Max got out onto the pavement and watched as Nathan turned the Humvee around and drove back the way they had come. Stretching out with his mind he could see his friends driving towards him.
As they drove into eyesight another thought occurred to him, muttering he said, "She said helicopters…she said other teams…There was only one helicopter, there was only one other team…"
Chapter 25 — Stewart
"Zombie on the viaduct." Javier said, indicating the intersection ahead of them.
The highway they were on had been fairly clear, it was supposed to bypass most of Knoxville and then merge back into highway 75.
"First one we've seen since this morning." Bill said, "Watch the exit, let me know if you see any more of them or if we can just drive on."
At that moment, their radio crackled to life, "Bill? Stewart?" It was Max's voice.
Javier answered immediately, "Max? Where are you?"
The figure on the viaduct waved as he spoke into the radio, "Here! I can see you driving towards me."
Bill let out a whoop of joy and honked his horn. After that exclamation he reached over and pounded Javier on the back, which almost resulted in a car accident as the vehicle hit the shoulder of the road. A moment later he had wrestled the truck back onto the road and hit the gas to merge onto the highway.
"Slow down there Bill!" Came Ruben's voice, "Watch for an ambush."
The truck slowed as Bill hit the brakes, it would be just the sort of thing the zombies would do too, use their friend as bait.
"Anything Javier?" Bill asked.
"Nothing, looks clear to me."
Bill reached the highway and turned the truck around to drive back to the overpass where Max was standing.
"Damn it Bill! You should let him come to us!" Ruben said. Stewart stopped her truck in the break down lane of the highway.
Bill wasn't listening; he jumped out of his truck and threw himself towards his friend. "Max! Are you alright? What did they want?"
"I'm fine, maybe a little bruised, but mostly that's my pride."
"Why? Why did they take you?" Bill asked.
The radio cackled to life and Stewart's voice said, "Bill I know you aren't up there debriefing him without us. Max you keep your cake hole shut and get in the damned truck. Let's put a few miles between here and where we stop before you tell us what happened. Unless you want to tell the story twice?"
"Shit. She's right you know." Max said.
"Of course she is. What happened?"
"Can't we at least head towards the truck before she yells at us again?"
As if on cue, the radio burst into life again, "So help me God if you don't get moving now I am driving up to get you!"
Max and Bill quickly jogged back to the truck and hopped in. Bill backed the truck around until he was once again going the way they intended and drove off down the highway. Once he was in the lead they travelled for less than a mile before he pulled over on a clear stretch of the highway.
Stewart popped out of the cab and ran to the back of Bill's truck to gather Max into a fierce hug as he came out. She then held him back from her at arm's length and looked him over.
"Did they infect you?"
"No. Like I told Bill, they only really bruised my ego."
Stewart gave him a reproachful look, "I told you not to start until we were all together. What did they want?"
"An…an alliance. Against Sentry."
"And they couldn't just come up and say so?"
"Well, I think we were moving too fast, the people who grabbed me were just doing a favor for the person who wanted to talk to me. She caught up to us, I think, while they were taking me through the woods."
"Where'd they take you?"
"To the highway, a little further down than we went."
"That's all? Damn. So how are they keeping tabs on us?"
"Wait, Stewart, how about I tell you the story and then you all ask questions?" The others agreed and after Stewart gave a curt nod, Max filled them in on his morning.
His statement that it was Aubrey who had arranged his abduction was met with disbelief.
"I saw her; she got shot and wasn't moving. Then the bombardment started." Bill said.
"It was her. Apparently she was the head honcho. And the building did come down, she told me she was buried in the rubble. Let me finish up then we can discuss it, okay?"
It was not to be, however, as he told the story he was interrupted several times by comments from his friends. By the time he finished at least fifteen minutes had gone by and the questions hadn't stopped. He ended his story by speculating that they were not the only two teams the military had sent out to deal with Sentry.
"But you don't know that for sure?" asked Stewart when he finally finished.
"No. But I know what she said. She said, 'helicopters', plural. She said 'other teams', plural." Max shook his head, "I don't think she is the type to make mistakes like that."
"So she wanted you to know too, but didn't come right out and say it?" Bill said.
"What did she do before this happened?" Ruben asked.
"I don't know, it didn't come up." Max said.
"It's hard to imagine a typical housewife leading the zombie revolution. Did she look like she was military? Or former military?" Ruben pressed.
"Geez, Ruben! How would I know? Is there a secret sign I haven't learned yet to identify ex-military people?"
