The Beginning of the End (Book2): Road to Damnation

by Kidd, Sean

  The dirt was soft, and he was able to push it away with his hands, “This grave is new,” he thought, “the soil hasn’t even settled yet. What will you tell me?”

  It didn’t take long before a nose broke the surface. A few more brushes revealed the face of a young woman, “How are you, beautiful? What happened to your face? That’s a gigantic hole in your forehead, and it’s surrounded by powder burns. Someone shot you from up close, didn’t they?”

  He moved to the next grave without bothering to push the dirt back over Kate’s face. Sitting at the edge of the second grave, he wondered, “What will you tell me?” as he pushed the dirt away exposing the man's face. It was his dear brother Kane.

  “Oh, brother, brother, brother. What did you do? Now didn’t I teach you better than this? What can you tell me about those culprits? Did the old man have something to do with this? I think not. Let’s figure this out together, shall we?”

  Kane’s brother cleared the dirt away and meticulously examined the body for any clues. The body revealed no secrets.

  “We can’t just leave you here, can we? Let’s clean you up and get you in my truck.”

  Over the next two hours Kane’s brother, stripped him, washed his festering flesh, and dressed him again. Getting Kane’s body into the truck would have been a difficult task for an ordinary person, but with his brother’s extraordinary strength it was as simple as throwing him over his shoulder, climbing the MRAP ladder, and setting him in the truck. He placed Kane’s body in the passenger seat, put a pair of sunglasses on him, and secured his seatbelt, “Safety first brother,” he said in a flagitious voice.

  As he stood there next to his deceased brother, he knew the strange feeling of revenge would determine his fate.

  Kane’s body still locked with rigor mortis, sat straight up staring south. His brother lay a warm hand on his shoulder, “So it’s south then, is it? Well if south is what you say, my dear brother, then south is where we shall go.”

  Chapter 32

  Chevy examined the puncture wound the needle left on his arm and glanced up at Sophie. She walked away, angry because of the attitude he gave her. I jumped up to my feet and called out to Sophie, “Is that going to stop my friend from turning into a zombie?” She didn’t answer and kept walking, so I chased her down. I knew she heard me. I got in front of her and held her by the arms, so she’d stop moving, “Sophie, please tell me. Is that going to stop him from turning into a zombie?”

  Sophie gave me a moronic look, “What do you think? I told you it was the cure. Why the hell do you think it’s so important we get to Atlanta?”

  I was baffled, “I thought it was for protecting people who drank the water, not if they got bitten.”

  “It is for people who drink the water,” she said, “It’s also for victims of zombie attacks. If they’re not too far-gone, like Chevy, it should cure them. It’s about a three-hour window.”

  “Are you sure?” I blurted out.

  “If I weren't sure, I wouldn’t be risking my life to drive across this godforsaken country, now would I?”

  I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to ask her ten more times if Chevy was going to be okay, but I knew he was. I ran back over to him and gave him the great news. He sat there in disbelief and began to feel guilty about the way he treated Sophie.

  I was so happy I shouted loud enough for everyone to hear the great news.

  The whole group came over and congratulated my friend.

  Herman gave him a power pill that was in the form of a Smartie candy, and Chevy merrily popped it in his mouth, “Mmm, they’re warm,” he said.

  “That’s because Batman keeps them in his pocket…I’m Batman.” Herman cheered while dancing around the parking lot.

  Cowboy noticed Sophie standing alone behind the banged up Jeep. She had one of the brown boxes of ZMapp open and quickly closed it when she saw him walking in her direction.

  “Whoa, little lady. It’s just me.”

  Sophie pushed the box into the Jeep and slammed the back closed.

  “What are you doin’ there, Soph? Hiding the rest of your cure?”

  “If we’re going to save the world. I can’t give it out every time someone gets bitten by one of those things. I need to get as much of this serum to Atlanta as possible. Once we’re there, the lab can synthesize it, and you can all have as much as you want. In the meantime, it needs to be kept safe and unused. I don’t have enough samples to pass around.” Sophie explained.

  “Don’t you worry, Sophie. We don’t want to use up your serum, and we want to save the world as much as you do. I also don’t remember anyone asking you to give it to Chevy.”

  Sophie let out a deep sigh and sat down on the bumper of the Jeep, “I’m sorry, Cowboy. I must sound like a huge bitch right now.”

  “Not at all,” Cowboy snickered, “you sound like someone who is trying to save mankind.”

  “I know I didn’t have to give the ZMapp to Chevy, but I’m so sick and tired of the death and dying. I know what I went through when Bob died, and I didn’t want to see Ty and his mother go through that too.”

  “Ah, I understand what your problem is,” Cowboy speculated, “you stopped being a scientist and turned into a human being. Well, ma’am, we can’t fault you for that. Before you go turning back into a scientist, take a look at what you did over there. I think you might have to agree, it was worth it.”

  Across the lot, everyone was standing around Chevy, laughing and smiling. People were taking turns embracing him. Even Thurman got in a hug.

  “That’s because of you, Sophie. Sometimes the small sacrifices are the ones that make the biggest differences. So why don’t we head over there and embrace the joy? I think someone over there owes you a big hug.”

  Chapter 33

  Master Chief Sawyer leaned against the office desk as he explained how they’d ended up there, “After the stinger hit us, our pilot was able to maneuver through the buildings and landed us on the edge of the park. Not far from here. It was a pretty incredible feat. The crash made a hell of a racket, and those dead came a runnin’. We had to fight for our lives. Beck and I are the only ones from the unit still alive. Our radio was destroyed in the crash, so we were cut off, and we have no way of communicating with Atlanta now. We’re completely off the grid.”

  “Don’t all choppers have crash beacons on their Black Boxes?” Daniels asked.

  “Of course, it does. But what does that matter?” Sawyer said appearing confused.

  “Your higher ups, know that you came looking for the doctors with the cure, right?”

  “Right.” Sawyer agreed.

  “Then if we hold up in a building with a clear view of that chopper when they come to rescue the doctors, we can hitch a ride.”

  Daniels comment left Sawyer baffled, “Corporal Daniels, I apologize if I wasn’t clear before, but we’re the last. There is not going to be another rescue team. They’re all dead or changed into zombies. The only people left in Atlanta are scientists and military brass. So again, sir, there is no rescue team coming.”

  “There’s nowhere to go, is there Mr. Sawyer?” Cecilia sniveled.

  Sawyer disagreed trying to comfort her, “There may not be places to go now, but as soon as we find Dr. Simone and Col. Aiken, we’ll get them to Atlanta, even if we have to walk. Once we do that, the General has assured us that the cure she developed will save the world. I don’t know if this serum will work or not, but it gives me hope, and with a little hope, we can do anything.”

  “We could use your help finding the doctor,” Sawyer said, giving Daniels and apprehensive stare.

  “What could we possibly do to help Navy Seals? We’re two men, a couple of kids and a hooker.”

  “Hey, you know I don’t like that word, sugar tits. I’m a lady of the evening. And don’t you forget it.”

  Daniels felt a little ashamed of his comment, “Sorry, Destiny.” He turned his attention back to Sawyer, “I’m afraid we wouldn’t be much help at all
, Master Chief.”

  “I disagree with you, Corporal. We watched you take over the solarium. You and your man Bunker moved well, a fast and direct approach and quick on the trigger. The four of us will take the lead and Destiny, Kaden, and Ceci will watch our back. I’ll bet if you give Kaden and Ceci to Beck for five minutes, they’ll come back as excellent junior marksmen.”

  “If you’re asking, I’m assuming you have a plan, Master Chief?” Bunker asked.

  “Now that you mention it, Bunker, I do. I don’t mean to put the screws to you twenty minutes after meeting you, but we’ve got a little mission in the parking garage.”

  “Top Secret mission,” Bunker joked.

  “Let’s call it, a kill the two hundred zombies in the parking garage mission.” Sawyer joked back.

  Bunker swallowed hard, “Two hundred?”

  “You’re not going to let a couple of hundred flesh eating creatures scare a big guy like you, are you?”

  Bunker felt a lubricating fear flush through his legs making his knees weak. He suddenly felt like sitting down.

  Sawyer laughed, “It’s okay, big guy. I’ve got just the thing to make you feel a little better.”

  Sawyer disappeared into the next room and came back lugging a monstrosity of a gun. He heaved it off to Bunker. The sheer weight and menacing look of the six rotating barrels gave Bunker a feeling of invincibility.

  “Ah, that suits you well,” Sawyer smiled, “it’s the M134 Minigun. It’s six rotating barrels shoot 7.62 rounds. Its rate of fire will throw more than 2000 rounds at your target a minute. Hell, you could take out a small country with that thing if you wanted to.”

  “Where are the bullets?” Bunker asked looking at the bottom of the gun.

  “Get the man his lead, Beck,” Sawyer ordered, as he pointed to the side room with his thumb.

  Beck returned with a backpack looking contraption that was even bigger than the gun.

  “If you’re feeling strong we can try it on,” Beck said struggling to keep the pack up.

  Beck fitted the pack on Bunker and tightened the shoulder straps while Daniels questioned Sawyer.

  “Seriously, what’s the mission, Master Chief?”

  “The NSA has a couple blacked out Tahoe’s in the lower level parking garage. The problem is, and I wasn’t kidding before, there’s about two hundred dead walking around down there. I have no idea how they got down there. My only guess is the building employees took shelter there and drank from the water fountain before they knew it was dangerous. I’ve got both sets of keys. If we can make it to one of the Tahoes, we can drive outside of the garage, pick up Beck and the kids, and make our way to the Intrepid.”

  “The Intrepid?”

  “It’s an aircraft carrier permanently docked in the river for tourists.”

  “I know what the Intrepid is, but why do we need to go there?” Daniels asked.

  “I’m afraid that’s need to know, sir.”

  “You’re kidding me,” Daniels snapped, “you expect us to risk our lives helping you, and you won’t even tell me what’s going on. This is a bunch of bullshit.”

  “What I can tell you, Corporal, is our mission to the Intrepid is merely a contingency plan. It’s a worst case scenario plan to help ensure survival for those who have a chance.”

  “I’m not stupid, Sawyer. There’s a big ass bomb on that boat, and you want to use it to blow up New York City, don’t you?”

  “Listen, Daniels. I don’t like it anymore than you do, but there are more than eight million people in this city, and earlier estimates put the re-animated dead at nearly ninety percent. When they run out of food, where do you think they’re going to go? Someplace with food, and that’s every small city in America.”

  “What about the survivors?” Daniels demanded.

  “Their sacrifice will help ensure world’s survival. It’s called collateral damage.”

  “You’re a cold-hearted son of a bitch, Sawyer.”

  “You’re a cop, Daniels. You know as well as I do. Orders are orders. Maybe you haven’t figured it out yet, but we’re in a state of war here. We do as we're told.”

  “So, is this some kind of suicide mission you weren’t going to tell us about?”

  Sawyer shook his head and smiled, “No, it’s nothing like that. Beck is going to install a satellite receiver on the device, so if it’s needed, the acting President can remote detonate the bomb.”

  “The President’s dead? Who's the acting President?”

  “I’m not sure,” admitted Sawyer, the way things are going, by next week it may be you.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “I wish I was. We don’t have time for this now. We’re losing daylight. Let’s get Bunker and secure that Tahoe.”

  Chapter 34

  The pulsing rumble of the MRAP’s 36-inch tires echoed inside the cab. Kane’s brother glared due south, seeking vengeance against unknown enemies for reasons he’d soon realize. The only thing he was sure of, Kane was no longer of this world. He had passed on. Now his festering carcass sat in the passenger seat, beginning to leak odiferous fluids.

  Kane’s brother sniffed and squinted at the nauseating aroma, “Oh, my goodness, what a disturbing bouquet. What have you been eating, Kane? If you want to ride in the front with me, you’re going to have to control that bottom of yours.”

  As the minutes passed, Kane’s brother craved conversation, glancing at his dead brother, “It’s going to be a long ride, Kane. Would you like to play a game? How about 'I Spy'? Are you familiar with it, dear brother?”

  Kane’s head, still rigid with rigor mortis stared straight ahead, a look of fright, frozen on his face.

  “If you’re going to sit there and not say anything, then I’m going to go first. Hmm, this is interesting, where shall I start? I…Spy…A little blonde woman who just ran behind that wrecked car, in the median. Did you see her too, brother? Is she real?”

  Snakeskin boots slammed on the brakes as the vehicle turned into the grassy area.

  The MRAP came to a sliding stop, barking the knobby tires as they threw up debris. Kane’s brother was glued to the window searching as the dust settled, “Where are you, girlie girl?

  He tapped a finger against the MRAPS bulletproof glass, “Oh, there you are. Let’s see if we can have a little fun, shall we brother?”

  Kane’s brother stepped out of the vehicle with both hands in the air being careful to not scare the girl. He masked his evil persona with a sad, timid leer.

  “Hello, ma’am. Are you out there? I can’t see you behind the car. Please come out. I assure you, I am a friend. It’s been so long since I've seen a living person, and not one of those horrible creatures who stalk the earth now. Please tell me you’re real, and I didn’t imagine you.”

  He hopped off the top step of the MRAP, with his hands still in the air. Kane's brother stared at the wrecked vehicle, refusing to relinquish his false facade.

  Blonde hair appeared near the trunk of the car. She was cautious and slow to move out from behind her aegis.

  When she did, it was clear she was no girl at all, but a woman, approaching her fortieth birthday. She was lean and looked as though she was attractive at one time. Years of abusive men and drugs had stripped her of her beauty.

  “Hello,” she said, raising her palm to wave and revealing a tattoo on the bottom side of her wrist. She was too far away for him to see what is was, but if he was to guess, he would have said an Infinity Eight.

  Interesting, he thought.

  Kane’s brother lowered his hands as he spoke, “I was just driving by and had to stop when I saw you. Like I said before, I can’t remember the last time I saw a living person. You don’t have to be afraid. I’m not going to harm you. I’ll even drive away if you’re scared of me. It’s just been so long since I’ve conversed with someone. I had to stop and say hi. So what’s your name?”

  “I’m Windy. You’ll have to excuse me for being cautious. All of my friends are gone,
and I’ve been stuck out here alone for days. I’m hungry and would appreciate any food you could spare.”

  “Of course, I have plenty of food. It’s in the back of the truck. You’ll have to pardon me, but I believe I may have misheard your name. Did you say it was Wendy?”

  “No, I said, Windy with an I. Don’t apologize, I get it all the time. My mom was a big fan of sixties music.”

  “Sounds like you mother was a big fan of The Association.”

  “Oh my god. You’re like the first person to know that," Windy cheered.

  Kane’s brother gave her a reassuring smile, “My mother was a big fan of the sixties too,” he grinned. “Let’s get you some food, Windy. You’re as skinny as a bird. Let me get the back door of my truck open.”

  The MRAP door squeaked as it opened, as he presented an extended trusting hand, “Here, allow me to help you up the ladder into the truck.”

  Her faith in humanity gave her the confidence to lead the stranger to his layer.

  “It smells like you might have some rotten meat in here,” she complained.

  Her naivety allowed her to make the mistake that ended her life.

  * * *

  An hour later, the lunatic stepped out from the back of the MRAP. He made good use of his shirt, wiping the dripping blood from his chin. He pulled a long blonde hair from his blood soaked hands and bent down to wipe them in the overgrown grass. In the distance, the sun was beginning to set. Feeling satisfied, he breathed in the sweet October air as he fastened his pants and zipped up the zipper.

  “You should see this sunset, Kane. It’s breathtaking. It makes me feel alive again.”

  He turned to Kane and approached the passenger side of the vehicle humming and singing, “Everyone knows it’s Windy.”

  An overwhelming sensation pulled his attention to the south. Rage burned inside him again, turning his face blood red.

  “Yes, I know, Kane. Stop yelling at me. I agree, no more fooling around. I promise you. We’ll have your vengeance, and we’ll have it soon.”