“No!” I spat.
“It’s alright, Mr. Foster. If I wanted to poison you I would have done so already. No, I want you to heal,” he said. “Then, we shall have our fun.”
“Who—” I started as I felt the effects of the drug pouring through me. My eyelids grew heavy, my breathing slowed.
“Who am I?” he said sounding more and more distant in my drug addled mind. “That is the question, isn’t it Mr. Foster? Jacob Whitmore is the name I have used most recently. Truthfully, I don’t care for my real name anymore. I’ve never had real use for it.”
My body relaxed. Unconsciousness pulled at the fringes of my waking mind. The blood rushing through my ears slowed as my headache waned.
“In the world that exists today names are highly overrated,” he continued. “In many ways it has been a freeing experience. There is only one name you will know me by from now on—”
My eyes closed as I succumbed to the anesthetic that flowed through my veins. His footsteps echoed in the room as he walked away. I wasn’t sure if it was intentional or if it was a trick played on me by the deep sleep unraveling the threads of my consciousness, but his echoing voice suddenly carried to me like a viper’s hiss.
“Professor.”
Chapter 29
A cold blast of wintery air rushed through the apartment as the door creaked open. Boots clomped heavily on the stairwell before entering the living room.
Chris looked up from his phone as Joe walked into the kitchen, Matt following close behind. They lowered their rifles to the floral patterned tile floor before heading straight for the coffee. Silently they each poured themselves a steaming hot cup before sitting at the table.
They set their elbows on the table and sipped at their hot drinks. Both stared into their cups, the exhaustion from so many hours on the road apparent in their bloodshot eyes. The worry the two felt was palpable with their fear worn openly on their faces.
“Nothing?” Chris finally broke the silence.
“Not a thing,” Joe replied. “We went back to that warehouse first. We found—” Joe drifted off, pursing his lips as he swallowed hard.
“Dan was definitely there,” Matt picked up, his voice crackling as he held back his emotions. “Mark is...gone.”
Joe took a deep pull from his cup and swallowed the hot coffee in one gulp. He set the empty mug on the table, his wooden chair groaning as he leaned back, stretching his arms above his head. He winced, lowering his right arm and rubbing the sore muscle.
“Eric and Linda took us back to where the accident happened. The snow covered up most of it, but I was able to find a few pieces of the truck. But there was no way we could see which way that IDOT truck went after they lost sight of the lights. Too many turn offs, and their tracks are long buried.”
“What do you think of those two?” Chris asked, returning his attention to his phone.
“They’re alright,” Joe answered as he stretched his long legs. “They didn’t have to come here, you know. They could have taken your truck and left, but they came here instead. I’d say that makes them pretty good people if you ask me.”
“Not everyone is an asshole, dude,” Matt added.
“Yeah, I know,” Chris sighed. “Where are they anyway?”
“Well,” Joe started, the faintest hint of a smile appearing on his lips. “After hitting the warehouse, the snow started coming down pretty thick. It was hard to see the road, so we stopped at this farmhouse.”
“It wasn’t too bad either,” Matt joined in. “Nice place, after we took care of the three zombies.”
“Zeds,” Chris sighed, shooting a quick glance over the top of his phone.
“Whatever,” Matt replied. “Not much in the way of food, but plenty of water. Some first aid supplies too. No guns though. From the decorations in the house I would guess they were anti-gun.”
“Figures,” Chris said. “I bet if they lived, they wouldn’t be so anti-gun now.”
“Hey man,” Matt said. “To each their own. I don’t judge.”
“If you say so,” Chris sighed as he set his phone down. “But how does any of this answer my question?”
“We tried to wait out the storm, but it got dark and we decided to stay the night and really scavenge the house,” Joe said.
“You’re lucky we agreed on two days for your trip,” Chris interrupted. “Otherwise I would have never been able to keep Rosa here. She was ready to run out the door after you as soon as the sun went down. It was all I could do to keep her from going after you.”
“Where is she anyway?” Joe asked. “I was looking forward to my welcome home hug.”
“She’s in the other apartment with the kids and Anna,” Chris replied. “Where are Eric and Linda?”
“Right here!” Eric boomed from the stairwell as he knocked the snow from his boots. “She’s still purrin’ like a kitten.”
“Who is?” Chris asked.
“It’s a good one,” Joe said.
“What is?” Chris demanded.
“Linda loves it,” Eric said.
“Loves what?” Chris demanded again.
“But the color,” Matt said shaking his head. “I can’t believe she talked you into it!”
“Hey, is that coffee I smell?” Eric called out. “Hey, Linda. Coffee’s on!”
“Okay that’s it!” Chris said, slapping his hands on the table. “I swear to whatever God is listening that I will shoot the next person who says anything else without explaining what you are talking about!”
“That farm we stayed at had a big garage,” Joe laughed. “Eric found a nice F-250 out there, though I wouldn’t normally say the words nice and anything related to Ford in the same sentence.”
“We thought since they were helping us so much, we’d pack them up with supplies from the house for when they leave,” Matt said, standing to head back to the stove for another mug of coffee.
“Thank you,” Chris exhaled, falling back into the chair. He picked up his phone and started tapping out a message.
“It’s hot pink,” Matt said, stifling a laugh before diving into his coffee.
“You leave my hot pink truck alone,” Linda called in from the stairwell. “I like it!”
Eric strolled into the room, peeling his coat off and hanging it from the back of a kitchen chair. He set his Daewoo K7 on the countertop before grabbing a pair of World’s Greatest Gramma coffee mugs from the sink and pouring the last of the coffee into them.
“Oh damn, I’m sorry,” Eric said. “If you show me where everything’s at, I’ll make more.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Chris said, looking up at Eric. He noticed his knit cap had been replaced by a black western style Stetson hat, a leather band wrapped around the base of its crown adorned with small metal medallions on its front. He wore a plain black long sleeved shirt, tucked into dark blue jeans. Had he been wearing the right boots, Eric would have looked every part a cowboy. “Wyatt,” Chris added.
“You should see him when he’s wearing his duster and boots,” Linda laughed, setting her Uzi next to Eric’s weapon. “And his pistols, he looked like he was right out of the movies. What were they again?”
“Colt Pythons,” Eric announced. His eyes lit up as happy memories flittered through his mind.
“Nice guns,” Joe said. “What happened to ‘em?”
“They were in the trunk of my caddy,” Eric answered, handing Linda a steaming mug. “When shit hit the fan I had to leave it behind. She was a beauty too. Total classic.”
“Really?” Joe perked up. “I’d love to hear about it. I’m a bit of a car guy.”
“Oh you’d love it,” Eric smiled. “Black with gold highlights, she was—” He looked down into his cup, sighing deeply as his smile faded away. Linda went to him, taking his free hand into hers as she gently massaged his arm.
“She was from a different time,” he sighed. “Doubt I will ever see her again.”
“I’m sorry,” Joe said. “Didn’t mean
to open old wounds.”
“I have a question,” Chris spoke up, nodding at the guns on the counter. “Where did you find those weapons? Those aren’t exactly easy to find.”
“Preppers,” Linda answered. “Our old neighbors were really into prepping, but we had no idea they stocked up so much. They caught us before we pulled out of our driveway and gave them to us.”
“Dude,” Matt gasped. “Some seriously nice neighbors to give away that kind of protection.”
“Bill told us they had plenty and not to worry,” Eric said.
“Bill?” Joe asked.
“Bill and Barbara,” Linda replied. “Nice people, really friendly. The kind of people you would not expect to be hoarding an arsenal in their basement.”
“Any word on your brother?” Eric asked, abruptly changing the subject.
“I just finished updating him,” Chris said. “They hit the road almost immediately after we texted yesterday morning. They’re pushing through as hard as they can to get here.”
“Does he know how long it will take?” Joe asked.
“It’ll depend on how many cities they have to avoid,” Eric cut in, casting his eyes to Linda. “The cities are…bad.”
“Tell me something new,” Matt scoffed. “I came from Chicago.”
“How long did you stay?” Eric asked.
“Not long at all. We got out as soon as the rotters started walking.”
“Then, you haven’t seen them recently,” Eric replied. “It’s hell on Earth. We got around Miami and Orlando easy enough. But we got a little too close to Atlanta. I’ve never seen—”
Eric turned away from the group, leaned his hand against the counter and dropped his head. Linda again hugged his arm, rubbing her husband’s back as he collected his thoughts.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he continued. “There’s no more living people. If there are, they won’t be alive for long. There were bones everywhere, blood on every surface you can imagine. Half the damn city was burnt to the ground. And the zombies, they’re shoulder to shoulder in most of the streets. There’s no surviving there.”
“It was worse the longer we were on the road,” Linda continued. “Knoxville, Louisville, Indianapolis, each one worse than the last. Just when you think you have seen all the damage those monsters can do, the next town proves you wrong.”
“Then there’s the survivors,” Eric spoke up, turning to face the group again. “It’s safe to say the assholes outnumber the honest folk. Murder and mayhem seem to be the order of things now.”
“That’s exactly why I ain’t leaving until we find Dan,” Joe said. “Jason being here would help.”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Chris said. “He was taken by someone, and from what Eric and Linda have told us, these people make a habit of taking people. If I was a betting man, I’d say when we find them, we’re in for a fight.”
“No question, dude,” Matt said.
“That being said, I don’t want kids around when the bullets start flying.” Chris stood, warming his hands over the open flame of the propane stove.
“Where do you want them to go?” Joe asked.
“I don’t know yet,” Chris answered. “Just not here.”
“That’ll be a tough sell,” Matt said.
“Especially with Lexi,” Joe added.
“I know,” Chris sighed. “She hasn’t left the window except to eat and hit the head since she found out he was missing.”
“Who is she to Dan?” Linda asked.
“He saved her life,” Chris replied. “And her sister’s.”
“Then she saved his,” Joe added. “Twice from what I hear.”
“I thought she was his daughter the way you guys talk about her,” Eric said.
“Katie is Dan’s biological daughter,” Chris said. “But Lexi and Jane might as well be his. He’s taken them in and cared for them like his own. It hasn’t been that long since those two met, but Lexi is really close to him.”
“How close?” Linda asked, with a hint of suspicion.
“Nothing like that,” Matt said. “More like kindred spirits. Like she’s his daughter and his friend. They have a mutual respect for each other.”
The sudden sound of a door opening and closing in the stairwell drew everyone’s attention. Moments later, Rosa walked into the apartment, Anna following closely behind.
“There she is,” Joe smiled as he stood, taking Rosa in his arms and kissing her. “I missed you.”
“I was so worried when you didn’t come back last night,” she said, burying her head into his chest. “I know we said two days, but I was afraid something might have happened.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t come in to see you when I got back,” he said, stroking her long black hair. “I needed some of Chris’ death juice that he calls coffee.”
“I like it strong,” Chris shrugged.
“Well there’s strong, then there’s strip paint from a car strong. Yours is a bit stronger than that,” Joe said.
“It’s better that you didn’t come find me,” Rosa continued. “Katie isn’t sleeping well. She was just starting to fade when you guys got back. She thought it was her dad. She’s not doing well.”
“I can relate,” Chris said. “Is Lexi still at the window?”
“She hasn’t moved,” Anna answered, filling the campfire percolator with more water. Topping the basket off with coffee grounds, she set it over one of the stovetop flames. “That’s how we knew you guys were back. Who brought the Barbie truck?”
“Wyatt Earp and his wife,” Chris said, nodding toward Eric and Linda. “They found it on their way back.”
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” Eric said, staring straight at Chris. “I know there’s no way you guys are leaving without finding this Dan fellow. Linda and I would love to help you guys—”
“There’s a but in there somewhere,” Matt interrupted.
“Yes there is,” Eric said. “We agreed to tell you everything we knew, which I know wasn’t much. We even stuck around to show you where everything happened. You want to find your family, and we want to find ours too. We were on our way north to hopefully find Linda’s family up in Canada. You said we could take one of the cars across the way, but I was thinking—”
“The truck’s yours,” Chris interrupted, extending his hand toward Eric. “With our thanks. I’m sorry we had to meet with me pointing a gun at you. You’re good people.”
“Thank you,” Eric took Chris’ hand in his, shaking it vigorously. “I wish we could do more to help.”
“You’ve done a lot,” Anna said as she watched the slowly darkening water perk in the clear glass dome atop the percolator. “We would’ve never known Dan was kidnapped without you. At least now we know he isn’t dead.”
“When do you want to hit the road?” Matt asked.
“We were talking about that outside,” Linda said. “I’m anxious to get to my family. Seeing you get word from your brother renewed my faith that we’re not on a fool’s errand. We’d like to leave as soon as we can. The truck is full of supplies from the farmhouse, so we can leave anytime.”
“You sure you don’t want to rest?” Rosa asked with some trepidation. “It’s late already, you have to be tired.”
“We’ve been on the move almost nonstop since we left Florida. Between driving and running, we haven’t had much of a break,” Eric said, throwing his arm around Linda. “This little pit stop with you guys has been more rest than we’ve had in a while. We’ll be fine. Besides, the snow is going to get deeper and no one is out plowing. I want to have some miles behind us before the next snowfall.”
“How’s your ammo situation?” Chris asked.
“We could always use more,” Linda said. “We’re down to two boxes.”
“Joe will set you up,” Chris said, turning his attention to the big man who still had his arms wrapped around Rosa. “Joe, why don’t you grab them some MREs and water. Some coffee grounds too. We fo
und plenty at the store on the corner, no need to keep it all to ourselves.”
“It would be much appreciated,” Eric nodded. “Especially for the ammo. Zombies we can handle, but we’ve seen those kidnappers too many times already. I want to make sure we can hold our own against them if need be.”
“Zeds,” Chris said.
“What?” Eric asked.
“Zeds, not zombies,” Chris answered.
“He’s got a thing about the Z word,” Matt chimed in.
“Does it really matter?” Linda asked.
“Let’s not get that started again,” Anna said before Chris could open his mouth to answer. “We’ve already had that discussion several times over.”
“When do you want to leave, then?” Rosa interjected.
“I’d like to be on the road in the next 30 minutes, if possible,” Eric said, pulling his coat back on and hefting his weapon from the counter. Linda followed suit, slipping her arms back into her heavy winter jacket and slinging her weapon over her shoulder.
“In that case,” Joe started, kissing Rosa on her forehead before letting her go. “I’ll get your stuff from the Beast and meet you by your new truck.” With that, he slipped out of the kitchen and into the stairwell. Heavy footsteps clomped down the stairs before a blast of cold winter air rushed into the apartment as Joe opened the main door and stepped outside.
“That man does nothing quiet, does he?” Eric laughed.
“Not since I’ve known him.” Chris walked around the table, shaking Eric’s hand, then Linda’s. “Thank you again. I wish we’d met under different circumstances. I hope you find your family.”
“We hope you find your brother,” Linda said, her voice soft and caring. “If he’s anything like you guys, he has to be worth saving.”
“Well,” Chris laughed. “Dan is in a class all his own, but he is worth it.”
“I guess this is goodbye then,” Eric said. “I hope we cross paths again someday.”
“Me too,” Chris said.
“One more thing,” Anna said, pouring the coffee into a large thermos. She walked over to Linda and handed her the thermos.
This Dying World (Book 2): Abandon All Hope Page 29
