“Rayna,” he said to the woman behind him. “Be a dear and fetch a few of the workers.”
“Right away, Professor,” she said.
“And Rayna,” he said, turning his head and locking a sinister gaze on her.
“Bring some shovels.”
Epilogue 2
“There’s still something I don’t understand,” Jason said as he watched the Wisconsin border sign pass by.
“What’s that?” Murphy replied as he reached down to scratch behind Titan’s ear. “Wait a minute!” he said before Jason could say anything.
He spun the wheel slightly right, lining the rig up with a lone zombie pulling itself along the middle of the road. Its lower half long since torn away, long ribbons of pulped entrails dragged on the ground behind it leaving a trail of black viscous slime on the pavement. The truck barely registered the creature as its massive wheels crushed the monster’s head, the pop of its skull overwhelmed by the loud whine of the diesel power plant pulling the multi-ton vehicle.
“Got ‘em,” Murphy smiled as he straightened the wheel. “You were sayin’?”
“Nice one,” Jason said. “About what kicked all this off—”
“I’d rather not talk about it anymore,” Murphy said, his mood darkening. “I told you everything. Constantly questioning me isn’t going to change the answers.”
“Untie those panties, Marine. It’s not about that,” Jason said reassuringly. “It’s about Washington. Why nuclear?”
“No idea,” Murphy replied. “Like I said before, I don’t have all the answers. I did my job, end of story.”
“So the people who set off this plague had nothing to do with blowing up country capitols all over the planet?”
“I didn’t say they did or didn’t,” Murphy replied. “But if I were to put money on it, not that money is worth anything anymore, I would say they didn’t set off the nuke.”
“Why not?” Jason asked, raising a confused eyebrow. “If they wanted to end the world, why not nuke it?”
“Why go through all the trouble building this biological time bomb just to go and set off a nuclear weapon?” Murphy answered. “It doesn’t make any sense. For a group who went through all that just to set off a big explosion, just seems too crude for them.”
“So who then?” Jason asked, watching a group of female walkers shambling along the side of the road. They cut onto the highway, making their way toward the rolling can of meat. The truck barreled along, removing the arm of a creature that ventured too close to the massive vehicle. “You really enjoy that, don’t you?”
“Hell yeah I do,” Murphy beamed. “Think of every one I take out as one more mark in my favor for what I helped do to this world. But to answer your question, there was a lot of chatter in the first few days. ISIS, Boko Haram, all the big players with plenty of nitwits ready to strap a bomb on themselves and martyr their way to seventy-two virgins. Not just them either. North Korea, Syria, Iran, and everyone else with a grudge against the world. There’s no way to tell who set off the bombs with all the shit hitting the fan. But if you saw your enemies getting their asses kicked by someone else, wouldn’t you take your shot? I mean, I’m not above kicking a man when he’s down, and I guarantee those assholes out there aren’t either.”
“Jesus,” Jason said, deflating back into the overly comfortable passenger seat. “Sorry I asked. But speaking of your role in all this—”
“Jason,” Murphy sighed in frustration.
“Hear me out,” Jason cut in. “When you meet my family, it might be best if you don’t mention that whole deal. Chris might understand following orders, but Dan can be a bit of a loaded pistol in the right situation. Probably best to keep all that under your hat.”
“Well I wasn’t planning on advertising it,” Murphy said sarcastically. “You only know because you took advantage of me while I was drunk.”
“You enjoyed it,” Jason teased.
“Anything on the cell?” Murphy said, clearly changing the subject.
“Nothing since the day after we left,” Jason answered with deep concern. “The shitbird with Dan’s phone has gone radio silent too.”
“Cell towers are getting spotty,” Murphy said, trying to reassure his companion. “Could mean anything.”
“Yeah,” Jason sighed. “I just hope Chris is still in Hollandale. Between the snow, the hordes, and trying to skirt cities it’s taken us a hell of a lot longer to get here.”
“Why don’t you try the radio again,” Murphy suggested. “You said Chris was Army, maybe he’s listening.”
“Nothing else better to do, I guess,” Jason sighed, pulling the handheld radio from behind his seat. Flipping the device on, he started to move through frequencies, broadcasting the same message on each before pausing and moving to the next.
“Any station this net, any station this net…this is Echo Seven Foxtrot …how copy. Over.”
Silence.
“Any station this net, any station this net…this is Echo Seven Foxtrot…how copy. Over.”
Jason snapping to attention as the radio popped, his surprised eyes shooting over to Murphy who returned his shocked gaze.
“Unidentified responder…this is Echo Seven Foxtrot, United States Marine Corps. Please Identify. Over!”
“Welcome home Marine”
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James lives in Northwest Illinois with his wife Sarah, and his children. He was born in Chicago, Illinois and has lived with his mother and three brothers until he struck out on his own in his late teens. He’s lived in Chicago most of his adult life, until marrying and moving to the suburbs.
James can easily be reached on Facebook at www.facebook.com/jdean1975 and Twitter @jamesdeanauthor. You can also find him at his website, www.jamesdeanauthor.com. If you enjoy his writing, please join up and send him a message. He will always try to respond if he can.
If you enjoyed this book, please do the author a BIG favor and visit Amazon.com to write a review!
Other Works by Author James D. Dean
This Dying World: The End Begins
All Things Zombie: The Gathering Horde (The Professor)
Bite Sized Offerings: Tales and Legends of the Zombie Apocalypse (A Sister’s Promise)
Tricks Treats & Zombies: Halloween Tales of the Living Dead (Trick or Treat)
Lockdown Anthology (Shadows in the Dark)
Only The Light We Make: Tales from the World of Adrian’s Undead Diary (The Calling)
This Dying World (Book 2): Abandon All Hope Page 43
