“And you think they will sign on now?” Toby asked. “What would he charge, five hundred MREs and ten thousand rounds? I mean, if he wants cash we can do that, but would we want someone stupid enough to believe cash still has any value?”
“Trust me, Toby, this one won’t give a shit about money.” Ian’s smile was mischievous. “I’m anxious to get there now. Driver, post haste, if you please.”
Kinsey led them back onto the interstate, which was relatively empty compared to the roads going in and out of the city. It seemed that for every person trying to escape, there were twice as many coming in to seek shelter. Ian’s group was lucky in that they didn’t have to scavenge or search through the wreckage of Tucson for supplies, so they made good time with minimal risk.
The day was bright and the sun hot, and they kept moving on and off the interstate as needed. They tried sticking to the frontage roads, but those kept veering off into other communities and away from the main route. If the HEMTT following them had wheels for the railroad tracks, they would be a lot further along than they currently were.
They were on one of these frontage roads when Ian saw a herd of cattle in a cracked, mud-baked pen. There were several dead cows already, and Ian wondered why the infected had left these cattle alive. They were in a remote area south of Sacanton, where it would be rare to see another person without a set of wheels under them, so maybe there weren’t enough infected to decimate the whole herd.
“Pull up to that gate there, Kinsey.” Ian could tell from the smile Kinsey gave him that she had already deduced what he was going to do. “Toby, watch my six.”
“Roger,” Toby said and stepped out of the truck, rifle ready.
“You boys stay here until it is clear, all right?” The Toms nodded, and Ian slipped out of the cab. He could instantly smell the fear on the giant bovines, and their braying became more frantic as they approached.
“Infected at two o’clock,” Toby said, and Ian dropped so the big man could clear them out.
Ian saw the head of a lone infected that was down, gnawing upon a corpse. Its head exploded from a 7.62 round.
“Infected at eleven o’clock.” Ian pointed his SCAR at a bloated man who was covered from head to toe in cattle offal, except for a brownish yellow substance that he could only assume was shit flowing from the bottom of his short bush pants. He smelled worse than any of the cattle ever could, and Ian realized the infected had been there for possibly weeks, gorging himself.
Toby fired, putting three center mass. The man stepped backward from the impact, extending his almost bursting belly outward, and Toby stitched another six right up the center.
Ian ducked and covered his eyes as what seemed like hundreds of pounds of partially digested meat burst out toward them. Then he heard the slapping sounds as the contents landed here and there, and he glared back at Toby.
“I had to see. Sorry, but you have to admit you were curious if he would explode or not. Now you don’t have to wonder anymore.”
Ian saw four carcasses out in the yard, literally picked clean, and wondered how long it took the infected to kill each cow with only their nails and teeth. Ian noticed two more bodies that had been trampled to death, most likely while they were trying to bite one.
As soon as the infected were gone, the cattle calmed down. Ian opened the gate, and the beasts wandered over to a trough that was as dry as a bone. Ian didn’t have much hope when he lifted the pump lever, but when the slow run of water came out of it, he smiled. He figured the pump was drawing from an artesian well that constantly flowed, which was handy for cattle yards where people didn’t live, much like this one. Ian let it fill and went to clear out the three-sided shack that gave the cows some protection from the elements and opened the gate to the field beyond. He tied all the gates open so they could have free range to the rolls of hay, the field, and the constant supply of water that he was going to leave running for them.
“All right, everyone,” Ian said, noticing that Jose’s group was already out of the HEMTT and taking care of whatever it was they needed to take care of. “Do what you got to do.”
A half hour later, they were back in the trucks, and the cattle were moving out to the field, feeling much better about the world. Ian hoped they could stay away from the infected now that they had room to run.
The interstate was clear for most of the day, and they pulled off the highway as Kinsey followed the coordinates from the GPS. It didn’t take her long to notice where Ian had them headed. “Are you sure that you’re ready for this? It is an awfully big step for a young man.”
“I think I can handle it.”
“Okay then, you’re going to have to feed it regular and train it and take it for walks… exercise is important for them, you know.”
Before Ian could answer her, Toby started hopping up and down in the back seat, getting the two Toms riled up with him. “We’re getting a puppy, we’re getting a puppy!” He said this over and over, and the boys joined in, enjoying the jovial nature of the giant intellectual.
“Relax, we don’t even know if any have survived this long. We’re just going to the training facility to check. I sent a down payment for one about two months ago so they could start training him per my instructions. I was supposed to pick him up either now or in a week or two, which would have been about the time one of you goof balls became unemployed.”
“Really? What breed were you looking at?” Kinsey asked, ignoring his unemployed comment.
“German shepherd. His name is Jasper.”
“Of course, German shepherd. There is no other breed, in my opinion,” Toby said from the back seat.
Hispanic-looking Tom could not suppress a huge grin. “Maybe they have beagles.”
“Beagles? I like beagles.” Kinsey looked at Ian with a smirk. “I want a beagle.”
“Maybe I will just leave you guys out here on the street while the only adult in the room goes in,” Ian said, causing more than a little scoffing and harrumphs.
Even the Toms were starting to loosen up and laughed at the comments. Ian couldn’t be too hard on them, considering all they had lost. At first, the boys thought they were prisoners and Ian’s team was just waiting until they got them someplace before they turned on them. Somewhere along the way, the Toms must have figured out that they, like everyone else, had nowhere to go and didn’t have a plan. In that way, they were all alike.
“Checking on Jasper, boss?” Jose’s voice came over the coms.
“Yeah, checking to see if my investment is still with us, at least—not that the ten K spent on him would amount to much in this day and age.”
“Roger that.”
They drove down the long driveway that opened into a dirt parking lot. It didn’t look much like a professional facility… until they got closer to the buildings and could see that they were new and unblemished. Unblemished, that is, aside from the hordes of infected people pressed up against the gates. The infected didn’t mess with the dead, so Ian knew there were living canines here, but what their mental state would be was another question.
“Okay, this is a volunteer mission. I won’t ask any of you to risk your life for a dog that might be dead already,” Ian said into the coms and to those in the cab before he stepped out.
All the other doors opened, and everyone stepped out into the dirt parking lot far enough away to not attract the attention of the infected, who were all captivated by what was behind the kennel gates they were pressed against. They could hear one dog barking, but it sounded raspy and dry. They also heard growls but couldn’t tell if they came from the infected or from the kennels. Ian checked and made sure that all the rifles had suppressors; no need to draw more infected if they didn’t have to.
“Runner at ten o’clock.” Jesse’s announcement prompted Ram to point his rifle at a woman who was running toward them from the main building.
“Hold fire, she is carrying a lever-action. Infected don’t carry firearms,” Ian said, and they waited, ke
eping their eyes on the infected that were still oblivious to their presence, in spite of being less than a hundred feet away.
“Oh, I am so glad you came. It’s too late for some of the animals, but there are a few that still might make it. I am Beverly.”
Ian was confused. “I’m sorry, were you expecting someone?”
“Well, the Army or Marines or something. Aren’t you with the military?”
“Ah, no. In fact, we haven’t seen any sign of the military since…” Ian paused, trying to think when.
Jose filled in the blank. “El Paso.”
“Oh… so why are you here?” Beverly asked as if the intrusion was more of an issue than the infected that were beating down her kennels. Ian looked across at one of the buildings and saw that some of the gates hadn’t held and were lying on the ground with scattered remnants of fur and blood.
Ian looked at the woman again. “Beverly, you said?” She nodded. “I believe that we spoke on the phone. I am Ian McCollister, and you had a recruit-in-training here for me.”
“McCollister? Oh yes, you bought… Jasper. He is a beautiful sable color, and as fate would have it, he is still with us. I will give you a discount if you can get rid of these infected for me.”
“That will be no problem, ma’am. Let me ask you something, though… what are you taking for payment now that the world has gone to shit?” Ian’s question caused her to stare at him uncomprehendingly. “Seriously, if you want money, I can probably get you a million dollars in cash today if I hit enough cash registers but…”
“You do know that it has all gone to hell now, don’t you, Beverly?” Toby said callously.
“Well… I kind of thought there might be some problems, seeing as how my staff hasn’t shown up in weeks and my suppliers are unreachable. I also don’t have TV, and the radio is on the emergency broadcast loop, so I realize there is something going on. However, I have been here the whole time, and I am clueless as to how bad it has gotten out there.”
“Well, let’s get this cleared out and then we can have a conversation about things.” Ian glanced at Ram, who still looked a little rough around the edges from his mistreatment at the clinic in El Paso. “Ram, do you mind sitting this one out and keeping Beverly here company? We don’t want her firing that cannon and drawing more in. And maybe you can fill her in a little bit.”
“Sure, Ian, I would be happy to,” Ram said, and the others went to work.
It wasn’t until the third one Ian put a bullet into that the infected realized there was something more on the menu besides dog. Much to his surprise, a young girl barely into her teens turned and, in one motion, leapt on him, sinking her teeth into the sleeve of Ian’s coat and yanking like a poodle on a chew toy.
It was Jesse right behind his right shoulder who put one through the girl’s head. He checked the sleeve, grateful that the teeth hadn’t made it through the fabric. Of the thirty or so infected, Ian had to put down six, which was about typical for the five of them. Toby, however, got his six and then four more who were charging down a slope to see what the commotion was about. He was getting as good as Jose on the long-range shots. Jose acknowledged this with a slap on Toby’s shoulder and a nod.
Ian looked at the withered beasts in the cages and realized they didn’t have much longer until their ticket was punched. Their water seemed to be on an auto feed; their food, however, was not, and each of the remaining dogs had recessed bellies with ribs poking out from skin. They pulled the fallen bodies away from the gates, and Ian heard Beverly’s stressed voice.
“Oh, my poor babies.”
Ian looked at her incredulously, as if she could have made it better for the animals. He didn’t know why he felt an initial burst of animosity toward her; there was nothing she could have done with so many infected around. Ian couldn’t help but think the animals would have been better off if she had opened the gates and let them run, but there probably wasn’t time for that either.
Ian tried to push his resentment below the surface. “I guess it was pretty hard on you when they broke through that other kennel and got the dogs, wasn’t it?”
“That was terrible. It made me sick to my stomach. Thankfully, those were our drug-sniffers-in-training, which means they were smaller and a lot wilier. Beagles mainly, and most of them got away. A couple even made it to my back door and are sitting pretty right now.”
Ian could see it had been incredibly hard on her, being here all alone.
“I love beagles,” Kinsey said as Ian walked toward the kennels.
The dogs were either sitting on their haunches or lying on their sides, not even aware that their lives had just changed for the better. Some looked as if they couldn’t move at all, but knowing dogs, Ian felt they would spring back as soon as food was reintroduced. Ian walked toward the cage marked Jasper.
“Hey, Beverly, do you have any food for these guys? Preferably something soft in a can?”
“Yes, I still have all kinds of food for them, but I need some help getting it.”
“Tomtoms, go with Beverly here and give her a hand.” The boys stood there staring at Ian, and he realized they had picked up on his crew’s bad habits. He sighed. “Please?”
He returned his attention to Jasper. The dog sat, looking at Ian as if he had been waiting for him. He looked more than a little pissed that Ian was late. If he did the math, Ian would guess that this was about the time he was supposed to get him.
Tall Tom brought a can of food, and Ian smiled when Jasper’s ears sprang up at the sound of the lid being popped open. Ian went into the kennel and grabbed the food dish then brought it out to the parking lot and set it down. Jasper stayed right at Ian’s heel the entire time. The world had changed, and so had this dog’s destiny. Cages and kennels were no longer in his future.
“You ready to go and kill some North Koreans, boy?” Ian asked and pet him as he ate.
He knew it was taboo to touch a dog while it feasted, but they were going to be arm-in-arm for quite some time to come, so Jasper had better get over any food aggressions ASAP. To the dog’s credit, he didn’t even flinch and looked up at him for more when his dish was cleaned.
Ian dropped a couple handfuls of dry food in his dish and Jasper scarfed it down. Jasper needed more than that, but Ian held off for a bit to give him time to digest what he had eaten already. Ian noticed that everyone had sided up to an animal or two and was doing what they could to keep food in front of them. The Toms were literally surrounded with dogs, and they were smiling as they opened one can after another and dumped the contents onto the dirt parking lot.
Later, they sat around an open-air pavilion that overlooked an obstacle course with everyone gathered around and dogs sleeping pretty much everywhere. Beverly had been planning on putting the dogs back in their kennels, but Ram convinced her that it would be setting them up to be trapped again. She acquiesced as a pale shade fell over her features at the memory of what she had just been freed from… being stuck in a commercial building, living off cans of dog food while the animals starved just feet away from the building where she was trapped.
“So why did you ask Jasper if he was ready to kill North Koreans?” she asked Ian.
“Because… I believe they are the ones behind this plague. They have allies, and we aren’t sure who all of them are, but we have seen supplies marked in Arabic.”
“Farsi,” Toby corrected.
“Yeah, Arabic and Farsi.” Ian saw Toby shake his head in amazement. Fuck him.
“Western Persian or Farsi are the languages spoken in Iran.”
“Yeah, so what?” Ian was irritated by Toby’s interruption.
“The writing on the boxes. I recognized the Korean, but I couldn’t tell you if the Arabic-looking words were Western Pakistani or Farsi.”
“Which means?” Ian was truly baffled by Toby’s point.
“Which means any number of things. Farsi is spoken by millions of people all over the Middle East, as is Western Pakistani, and neither me
ans specifically that Iran is involved.” Toby spoke as if to a child.
“Whatever, Toby. Dish out your theories later, all right? Either way, it seems we have uncovered proof that the North Koreans and some Middle Eastern country set this whole thing up,” Ian said, hoping to get to his point before he was rudely interrupted again.
Beverly spoke again. “You mean this whole mess…” She was at a loss for words.
“Yes ma’am.”
“I can’t believe that someone could intentionally…”
Ram joined in. “It’s true. Jesse and I were held by the government for weeks. They injected me with the toxin, or whatever it is, everyday trying to get me to be like the infected. They are cold-blooded and work without conscience or moral guidance of any sort.”
“What do they want? I mean, to kill so many people they must want something special.” Beverly needed something to validate their theory.
“Everything,” Kinsey spoke up. “They want all of it—and all of us gone, so as not to complicate things.”
Ian empathized with Beverly’s need to disbelieve. “Think of it, any country who claims responsibility may be shunned for a time, but they will also be the victors who write the history. They will be vaulted to one of the top three superpowers of the world almost instantly.”
“Wow, that’s a lot to take in all at once.”
“We would love to be able to give you all sorts of time, but we need to get back on the road while it is still light out. So, what are you going to do, Beverly?”
“I… I don’t have any idea, to be honest with you. What are you going to do?”
“Us, we’re headed up to a safe house in Scottsdale for the night, and we’ll make our decisions from there. You could come with, but we are short on vehicle space, especially considering you have all of these dogs with you.” Ian wanted to help her in some way.
“Well, I think staying here is a death trap for me and the dogs. It looks like I have thirteen minus Jasper, plus the two beagles in the house. I have a large cube van that could hold them, but I would need some help. And I have to haul as much food as I can. I suppose we could hook up the enclosed trailer for the food…” She drifted off, lost in her own thoughts.
For Which We Stand: Ian's road (A Five Roads To Texas Novel Book 3) Page 3
