Dead, But Not For Long (Book 2): Pestilence and Promise

by Kinney, Matthew

  “Let’s see what we can find,” Wombat said, pulling out his machete.

  Lindsey loaded an arrow into her crossbow and followed, fighting back a grin when she saw Helga shadowing Snake.

  A couple of the men took the first shift in the parking lot after making it clear that they wanted a few minutes inside the store once the others were done.

  Snake approached the double glass doors and tried the handle with no luck. He looked around for Wolf, who was already digging through his saddlebags for his tools.

  Moose walked over with a large sledgehammer, watching as the other biker carefully picked at the lock. “I could get the job done a lot faster with this,” he said as he brandished the mallet. “I doubt anyone would care.”

  “We’ll save that for when we need a rapid entry,” Snake said. “It’d be nice to be able to lock the place back up when we’re done to keep the riffraff out, in case we need to come back.”

  Moose breathed a heavy sigh and dropped the hammer to his side.

  “Sometimes it ain’t about the size of the mallet,” Wolf said with a smile as he worked his magic. Once he’d gotten past the lock, he grabbed the door and waited for a signal from Snake.

  “Ready, boys?” Snake asked.

  When he gave the signal to Wolf, the biker yanked the door open quickly. Nothing rushed out, so Moose and Wombat stepped inside, only to be met by a spray of lead from a shotgun that blasted a hole in the glass.

  ~*~

  Yucca University Medical Center, California

  “Are you ready?” Hixson asked, sticking his head inside Rayburn’s office.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” George said, looking over at Dan. “Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. Why?” Hixson said, the words coming out short.

  “I don’t know. You seem tense. Are you worried about going to my office? If you are, I’m sure they could send someone else with me.”

  “I’m not worried,” Dan said. “In fact, I’m looking forward to it. We just need to get going.”

  Rayburn looked around the room then placed a hand to his shirt pocket. “Where’d I put my phone?”

  “Right on your desk where you always leave it,” Dan said, grabbing the small cell phone and handing it to Rayburn, “though I’m not sure why you need it.”

  “Bob said I had to bring it,” George said. “I guess they might need to call me.”

  “Let’s go. They’re waiting for us.”

  Hixson did his best to hurry the doctor up to the roof, though twice Rayburn paused to greet someone and had to be urged on. When they finally reached the landing pad, there was a group of soldiers already in the helicopter.

  Rayburn sat down next to one of the men and started to chat with him immediately.

  “Dr. Rayburn, you need to buckle up,” Dan said, sitting across from him.

  “Oh, sure,” Rayburn said, trying to figure out where the belt was and how to buckle it. The soldier next to him reached over to help.

  Rayburn thanked the man then started talking about seatbelts as the helicopter lifted into the air.

  Dan listened as the older man rambled on, but his mind was elsewhere. He looked out the window as the walls disappeared from sight, revealing chaos in the streets below. Long Beach had been a nightmare, but it had not prepared Dan for what he saw as they moved over Los Angeles. As they transitioned from the idyllic charm of the walled community to the worst of nightmares, he realized that the fortifications not only protected the residents physically but also sheltered them from viewing the horrors that were ravaging the rest of the world.

  As long as the chosen ones remained hidden behind their walls, they could pretend that everything was normal. They wouldn’t be bothered by the images of people fighting for their lives in a city that was owned by the dead.

  Dan wondered if any of the residents thought about the friends and family members they’d left behind to die. Surely the price for entrance into the community had been high enough to require it.

  His thoughts turned darker as they moved on to his daughter. Had she been a victim of Petrov and Rayburn’s grand plan? Had the cancer even existed, or had Brittany been a pawn in a diabolical scheme by the two doctors? Were they responsible for her death? His hands started to shake, and he quickly turned his thoughts elsewhere, knowing he had a job to do.

  The flight didn’t take long, and before Dan realized it, the helicopter was landing on another roof. The squad quickly prepared to leave, and when the doors opened they all jumped out except for Rayburn and Hixson.

  “We’ll wait until they have the building secured,” Dan said.

  “That might take a while,” Rayburn noted, moving to where he could watch through the open door.

  “Hopefully not,” Dan said. They’d have to clear several floors, but it didn’t appear that the front door had been breached so there shouldn’t be an influx of dead from the outside. Gunfire could be heard almost immediately, and it continued. Rayburn tried to talk to Dan, but Hixson closed his eyes, pretending to sleep. It was easier than trying to hide his hatred and anger toward the doctor.

  After almost an hour had passed, the others returned.

  “It’s clear, Sgt. Hixson,” one of the men said.

  “Good,” Dan said, checking his weapons. His hand lingered on the knife that was strapped to his leg. He knew that he’d need it later. “Let’s make this fast.”

  He and Rayburn entered the roof exit door and hurried down the stairway to the second floor.

  “Aren’t they coming with us?” Rayburn asked, looking behind him.

  “No,” Dan said. “They’ve done their job. Now it’s time to do ours.”

  “Sure, that makes sense,” Rayburn said, digging for his keys.

  “Let me open it in case someone’s inside,” Hixson said, taking the keys.

  “How would someone get inside without the key?”

  “Who knows? Let’s just play it safe,” Hixson said, opening the door. He handed the key back and stepped inside, his weapon ready.

  “Holy shit!” Dan said, looking around the office. “Looks like someone beat us to it.”

  “What do you mean?” Rayburn asked.

  “Look at the place,” Dan said. He checked the office quickly and found it safe. “I wonder if the person who looted your office was looking for the package.”

  “Oh,” Rayburn said. “I don’t think anybody looted it. This is how I left it.”

  Dan blinked but said nothing at first. There were books strewn everywhere. He saw piles of papers that looked like they were going to topple over and boxes that were stacked almost to the ceiling in some places.

  “Well . . . that’s good, I guess,” Hixson said, shaking his head. “Okay, let’s find this DVD.”

  Rayburn walked over to the far side of the room and pointed to a box toward the middle of a stack. “I think it’s in that one.”

  Dan moved three boxes to reach the one that Rayburn wanted. Within seconds, George had the package.

  “I’ll take that,” Dan said, holding out his hand. Once he had tucked the DVD safely away, he reached down to pull out the knife. “Now, I have one more thing to do.”

  ~*^*~

  ~10~

  Lansing, Michigan

  Wombat ducked back out the door while Moose dove inside behind a store display that offered little protection.

  “We come in peace!” Snake called out.

  “That sounded like a line from a bad sci-fi movie,” Wolf said, grinning.

  Trying to pinpoint the source of the blast, Snake added, “We’re just looking for some stuff to keep us alive a little longer. You know, some jackets, maybe some gloves. We’ll even pay for them.”

  A woman’s voice finally came from somewhere off to Snake’s right.

  “I don’t want any trouble,” she yelled. “I’ve got my kids here, and I’ll kill anybody that even thinks about looking at them wrong.”

  Snake motioned to Lindsey from his crouching posit
ion, and she carefully made her way over to him.

  “I think she may be a little more reasonable if she hears a woman’s voice,” Snake whispered.

  Helga, who was standing within earshot of Snake, replied in her thick Ukrainian accent, “I talk to her.”

  “No!” he blurted out. Feeling Helga’s scowl, he thought quickly. “She might not understand your accent.”

  Helga grunted her displeasure, but seemed to believe Snake’s excuse.

  “Ma’am,” Lindsey called out, “I promise that nobody will hurt you or your children. My name is Lindsey, and I’m a physical therapist at St. Mary’s Hospital. We’ve got a large group of people there, and we’ve reinforced the building. If you and your children would like to join us, we’d be happy to have you. Now that your door has a hole in it, I’m not sure how safe you’ll be here.”

  A head finally peeked around a shelf to look them over. The shotgun was pointed in their direction, but it was obvious that the woman was listening. Her eyes moved to the cross that was stitched onto Snake’s jacket, and she visibly relaxed.

  “You’re part of that group, God’s Grunts, aren’t you?” she asked. “You’re the guys who help at the homeless shelters. We usually have a booth set up at rallies and races, and I’ve met some of you there.”

  “That’s us,” Snake said. “But it seems our job’s gotten a lot more difficult recently.”

  She finally pointed the 12-gauge down at the floor and stepped out. The woman was thin, but her clothes seemed to fit her, indicating that it was her natural state. She had shoulder-length, dark brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail.

  “My name’s Kristine,” she said, “but you can call me Kris.”

  Snake introduced himself, Lindsey and Wolf. “And that’s Moose, hiding behind the display,” he pointed. “Dude, you can come out now.”

  Moose stood up and walked over, eying the shotgun warily.

  “Do you own this place?” Snake asked.

  “No, I just work here,” Kris said. “When things got bad, my ex-husband dropped the kids off here, along with some food and water.”

  “Where’d he go?” Snake asked.

  “He and his new wife were heading out of town,” Kris replied. “He wanted us to go with them, but I was afraid the roads would be jammed, and I thought we’d get stuck out there. The manager’s office here is pretty secure.”

  She glanced toward the back of the store before lowering her voice and continuing, “I don’t think they made it. He called me on my cell phone and told me that I was right, the roads were packed, and they weren’t moving. He said they were going to try to walk out, but I never heard from him again. The kids don’t know.”

  Snake gave her a sympathetic nod. “We’ve been hearing a lot of stories like that.”

  “So you’ve got food and a safe place to sleep at the hospital?” she asked.

  “Sure do, and you’re more than welcome to come back with us.”

  “Let me think about it.”

  “No problem. You mind if my guys do some shopping? We’ll leave an IOU in case things ever get back to normal, but we really need some of this stuff.”

  “Help yourselves,” she said, waving a hand to indicate the merchandise. “I was worried about someone breaking in to loot the place in the beginning, but it’s pretty obvious now that life isn’t going back to normal anytime soon. We’re on our own, so you may as well take what you need.”

  “We’ve come to the same conclusion,” Snake said. He turned to the open door and yelled, “Come on in, boys.”

  Helga walked in with the others but growled when she saw Lindsey still standing near Snake.

  Wombat reached over and took Lindsey’s hand, leading her toward the jackets.

  “I suppose we’ll go with you,” Kris told Snake. “We’ve only got another day or two of food left.”

  “Good,” Snake said. “We’ve got plenty of room.”

  “Do you think we could check on a friend of mine?” Kris asked. “She was with a group at an elementary school not too far from here. I lost contact with her yesterday.”

  “A lot of the roads are pretty busted up, so I can’t promise anything, but we can give it a shot.”

  After ten more minutes, Snake called out, “Boys, let’s get moving. We’ll come back later with the truck and get some more of this stuff.”

  Lindsey walked out with leather pants, boots, gloves and a new racing jacket. The jacket had plastic panels on the front, back and up the arms to the shoulders. Wombat had found one just like it while a couple of the others were now wearing hard plastic vests that snapped into place on the side. Some of the men had opted for thicker leather jackets rather than body armor.

  When Snake started to write down a description for the IOU, Kris shook her head.

  “Seriously, don’t bother. The owners aren’t coming back. I’ll go get my kids,” she said. “Can someone help me carry the food?”

  “Sure,” Snake said, “but let’s just get it ready to go and we’ll pick it up later. Moose and Fish can help you with that.”

  ~*~

  St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing

  “Jackson says he’ll have the internet up on the rest of the computers soon,” Doune told Autumn after another visit to the computer room. “Maybe we can get an update on the rest of the world.”

  Autumn listened to Dr. Doune with excitement. They’d had very little TV reception for the previous few days, and only one laptop with internet. Jackson had a satellite hookup of some sort, but Autumn knew nothing about it, except that he hoped to use it to get them all online.

  If they could get online, Autumn hoped they could find out how many others were still alive. Since Lansing had been virtually cut off from the rest of the world, she had started to feel like she and the other survivors at St. Mary’s were alone. After the death of her parents, loneliness had been a scourge that had continued to plague her. Her caustic personality was hard for people to handle. When foster parents took her in, they always seemed to expect her to play the part of the fairy princess, whereas her personality better fit the ogre. The family she had been with before the crisis had already been showing signs of giving up after two short months. She wondered if they were still alive, and she hated that she didn’t care. Although she had only been in the foster system for a little over two years, to her it had seemed like an eternity. The more she had been shuffled from home to home, the farther she had distanced herself from other people. She was afraid that one day she would awaken in a world where no one else existed.

  “I’m going over there if you want to come with me,” Doune added, picking up his laptop.

  Autumn smiled as they left the lab. For the first time in her life, she was being treated like an adult. Dr. Doune not only seemed to treat her in a less condescending manner than the rest of the adults, but he seemed to understand her and possibly even respect her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that a part of her was glad that the world had been turned upside down.

  The computer room was still in a state of disarray when Doune and Autumn walked in. They waited by the door as Sparky coiled up some extra wire.

  While Claire and Dustin moved from computer to computer, Jackson pointed to an empty table. “Come on over here,” he told Doune. “Let’s see what we can do.”

  The doctor walked over and handed the laptop to Jackson, who immediately got to work.

  ~*~

  Lansing, Michigan

  “Hey, uh, sorry about shooting at you,” Kris said to Moose as they walked toward the office.

  “No problem,” he said. “It’s not the first time and probably won’t be the last.”

  She opened the office door, revealing two young boys who were playing with Legos on the floor.

  “Boys, we’re going for a motorcycle ride,” she said as she made her way toward a crib in the corner of the room.

  “Really?” one of them asked, excited.

  “Pick your toys up,” Kris said.

&
nbsp; She quickly stuffed a few things into a diaper bag as the two boys competed to finish first.

  “How are you going to carry the baby on a bike?” Moose asked.

  “With this,” she said, picking up a cloth sling. She held the baby out to Moose. “Can you hold her for a second while I put it on?”

  Having no other choice, Moose took the infant, holding her at arm’s length.

  Kris quickly put the sling over her head and got the sleeping child situated without ever waking her.

  “I won!” one of the boys said, jumping up.

  “No, I did!” the other said, trying to slip one last toy into his bag without being seen by his brother.

  Kris grabbed her purse and handed the diaper bag to the bigger of the two children. By the time they reached the front door, the dead were starting to wander into the parking lot.

  Snake knelt down to the two boys and introduced himself.

  “Okay, here’s the deal,” he said. “No playing around. Some of those crazy guys are out there.”

  “You mean the zombies?” one asked.

  “Uh, yeah, some of those zombies will try to grab us, but we won’t let them get you. Just don’t freak out and jump off or anything. We’ll keep you safe. I promise.”

  The older boy nodded while the younger one started to go off on a spiel about how he could shoot the zombies and make them die.

  “Well, buddy, let’s wait until you’re a little older before you do that,” Snake said, grinning at Kris. “For now, let us handle it, okay?”

  “Too many video games,” Kris said. “I don’t think they really get it.”

  “Maybe that’s good,” Snake said, standing. “Wolf and Fish, take the boys with you. Kris, you and the baby can ride with Moose.”

  “Looks like the road’s getting a little crowded back the way we came,” Wolf pointed out.

  “Doesn’t surprise me,” Snake said. “We’ll just finish the route we planned, minus any stops.”