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

by Kinney, Matthew

  “Damn it, I just fell asleep!” Chuck yelled. “Are you guys going to be waking me up every half-hour to see if I’m sleeping?”

  “We’ll leave you alone for a while if you’re feeling better.”

  “I’m feeling fine, just tired.”

  “Still lightheaded?”

  “No, just tired, damn it!”

  “Okay, Debbie’s going to have to change your IV bag in a while, but she should be able to do it without waking you. You can ring the bell to call someone if you need anything,” Dr. Martinez said, pointing to a bell on the table. “The call buttons are only working about half of the time.”

  “Believe me, I will,” Chuck said.

  “Let’s let him rest for now,” Dr. Martinez told Debbie after they left the room.

  “What about his pain meds?”

  “If he wants them, he’ll ask for them. Just check his IV and change it if you need to, but try not to wake him up.”

  As Dr. Martinez left to walk back down the hall, Bull bit the inside of his cheek, waiting as the minutes ticked by. When Hawk finally arrived and Wrench left, Bull spoke quickly, knowing that the doctors could return at any moment.

  “You need a quick smoke break before going on duty?” he asked Hawk. “If you and Debbie want to run up there, I won’t say anything.”

  Hawk’s hand went to the pocket where he kept his cigarettes, but he shook his head.

  “Better not. Snake will have a fit if I leave my post.”

  Bull wanted to scream when Hawk walked over to the nurse and started flirting with her.

  Maybe someone’s trying to tell you something. Maybe you don’t need those pills as badly as you think you need them.

  Just one, Bull promised himself. And maybe a couple for later, since the docs won’t give me what I need.

  When Debbie finally went to check on her patients again, Hawk wandered back over to where the other biker was sitting.

  “That nurse is pretty cute,” Bull said.

  “She’s got a good sense of humor, too,” Hawk said, his hand moving toward his pocket again. “I’d ask her out, but there’s nowhere to go.”

  Bull forced a laugh, though it took effort. His nerves were ready to snap.

  “What are you going to do when you run out of cigarettes?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” Hawk said, pulling out the pack and holding it in his hand. “There’s got to be a ton of them out there in stores and houses. I’ll go out on my own and find some if I have to, but I know someday they’ll all be gone. I wonder if we could grow tobacco here.”

  “I doubt it,” Bull said. “Don’t they grow it where it’s warmer? I think I remember something about Virginia.”

  “I think you’re right,” Hawk said, pulling out a cigarette and smelling it. “I ought to quit anyway. I’m smoking about once an hour when I’m awake, and I get up twice during the night. It’s bad.”

  “You go up to the roof at night?” Bull asked.

  “I open a window.” Hawk rolled the cigarette between his fingers then said, “I wonder how long they’ll expect us to be on duty here.”

  “At least a couple more hours,” Bull said. “Maybe longer. Everyone knows the guy wasn’t near the deadheads, but Dr. Doom’s got to waste our time on a stupid rule.”

  “I should have taken a smoke break before Wrench left,” Hawk said.

  “Go ahead and run up there now,” Bull suggested, keeping his voice down. “Debbie will be gone at least ten, fifteen minutes. I’m sure not going to say anything.”

  “I shouldn’t,” Hawk said.

  “Do you really want to wait a couple more hours for that smoke?” Bull asked.

  “No, I don’t,” Hawk said, standing. “Okay, I’ll hurry.”

  The second Hawk was through the door, Bull ran for the nurses’ station and dug around until he found the key. Less than a minute later, he was trying doors down the south hall. He found the room quickly and ducked inside, pulling out a flashlight so he could look around.

  Shelves had been set up inside the room, making it look like a miniature pharmacy. All of the bottles were in alphabetical order, and he quickly found the Vicodin bottle. It was almost full, so he grabbed a handful and stuffed them into a pocket before putting the lid back on and retreating to the door. Now that he knew where to find the meds, he could easily come back at night and get more. He eased the door open, but paused when he heard voices in a room not far down the hall. His heart was pounding as he closed the door as quietly as possible then hurried back to the nurses’ station. Glancing around to make sure nobody was looking, he sneaked the key back into the drawer, certain that someone was going to show up and catch him in the act. He quickly closed the drawer and made it back to his chair without being seen. He pulled one of the tablets out and swallowed it dry, just before Debbie showed up around the corner.

  “Where’s Hawk?” she asked, looking around.

  Before Bull could reply, the other biker came through the roof-access door.

  “Hey, sorry,” he said, sheepishly. “I needed a smoke.”

  The nurse gave him a smile and said, “My lips are sealed.”

  The lights went off again, and this time they stayed off.

  ~*~

  St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing

  “This is the culprit,” Wrench said, showing Jack the injector pump. “It’s probably never been replaced. Might as well put in new injectors while we’re at it. If Snake’s still within radio range, maybe he can pick up the parts.”

  Jack tried his radio several times, getting no response.

  “He’s probably either too far away, or he can’t hear it over the noise of the bikes,” Wrench said. “I’ll head up to the roof. Maybe I’ll get a better signal.”

  Jack handed over the radio. “I’ll try to find a model number on this dinosaur. It’s got to be at least a couple decades old, so finding parts for it won’t be easy.”

  “Good luck,” Wrench said, watching Jack rub the years of grease and oil off of the neglected generator in search some kind of informational tag. He left the room and hurried up the stairs to the roof to make the call.

  Snake immediately answered.

  “Jack needs you to make another stop,” Wrench said. “The injector pump on that gen is shot.”

  “Where am I gonna find something like that?” Snake asked.

  “I don’t know,” Wrench answered. “Jack’s trying to find you a model number. I seriously doubt you’ll find it at your local auto parts store. That machine’s pretty old. I’m sure you’ll have to find a diesel shop.”

  “I don’t reckon I’ll just run into one on our shopping trip,” Snake said. “Try to find a phone book. Maybe there’s something close.”

  “Will do, Boss,” Wrench said. “Hopefully, you’ll still be in range.”

  “I’ll make sure of it,” Snake said. “Radio me back in half an hour.”

  ~*~

  Malibu, California

  “I need pants,” George said.

  “I know. You’ve told me that thirty times already.”

  “Well, I still don’t have them, do I?”

  “If you weren’t so picky, you could have gotten some at that last place,” Dan pointed out.

  “Did you see the stuff they had? Jeans with holes in the knees? I like to wear out my clothes myself. I don’t need to pay money to have someone else do it.”

  “Since you’re not going to be paying money, it shouldn’t matter. And wouldn’t it have been better than walking around in your boxers?” Hixson asked.

  “Not really,” Rayburn said.

  Hixson steered the other man around a small group of zombies before taking a few minutes to finish them off with his knife.

  “I don’t believe I’m looking for a clothing store while we’re being chased by a mob of flesh-eating corpses,” he muttered, cleaning off his knife before sheathing it again. He checked the next corner and found it clear. “This way.”

  They’d barely esc
aped from Rayburn’s office alive. Hixson guessed that the massive crowd of dead that had been surrounding the building had been drawn by the noise of the helicopter. It had been difficult to fight their way out of the building since Dan hadn’t wanted to draw the attention of his squad by using his firearms.

  The alley had been the worst part. It had taken almost five valuable minutes to transfer Rayburn’s clothing to the zombie while more of the dead had been moving their way. They could have done it faster if they’d killed the creature first, but Dan had wanted the zombie to be mobile, so it could move around with the phone, which undoubtedly had a tracking device on it.

  After transferring the phone and clothes to “Zombie George” as Rayburn had called the ghoul, they’d had to fight their way through a growing horde, finally gaining access to a building through an unlocked door in the alley. The area in front of the building had been clear, and they’d left without being seen, leaving the crowd of dead in the alley. Dan had made himself a promise to avoid populated areas in the future.

  “Can we try that place?” George pointed to a sign for a men’s store.

  “The glass is still intact,” Hixson said as they got closer. “You’ll have to be fast. Five minutes.”

  “Sure, I can do that.”

  Dan broke the glass then peered into the shop, unwilling to put his hand through until he knew that there were no teeth waiting for him on the other side. The store was dark inside, but Hixson saw nothing coming toward them through the shadows. He reached through the broken glass and unlocked the door. As they made their way through the gloom over to a rack of dress pants, Dan said, “Jeans would be harder to bite through.”

  Rayburn hesitated. “I guess you’re right.”

  “I’m going to go grab a few things,” Dan said.

  A loud bell began to ring, startling both men. Dan swore quietly, realizing that he hadn’t checked for an alarm.

  “I should try these on!” George yelled to Dan, holding up a pair of jeans.

  “There’s no time! Grab some shirts and underwear. Just hurry!”

  Dan pulled down a couple of backpacks that he found hanging on a display on the back wall. He ran over to Rayburn and shoved the second pack at him. “Here.”

  Dan stuffed some clothing into his own backpack and turned to help Rayburn do the same.

  “I found some shoes. Can I put them on?” Rayburn asked, holding up a pair of athletic shoes. “I might need to run.”

  “Put them on later. We need to get out of here before that alarm calls every zombie in the neighborhood this way.”

  Rayburn stuffed the shoes into the backpack and zipped it up as he followed Dan outside. The dead were everywhere.

  “Where are we going?” Rayburn asked as they began to run down the street. “Do you have a plan?”

  “We’ve got to go west. The whole LA area to the east is swarming with the dead, and I’m sure they’ll be spreading out.”

  “We’re on the eastern edge of Malibu. Do you want to go through town?”

  “No. There’s another compound nearby. It covers most of the city.”

  “Can we go around it?”

  “It’s bigger than the Yucca compound, and it starts near the water. We’ll have to go north of it. It’ll be less populated there, too.”

  “Okay,” George said.

  “We need to find a place where we can lay low for a while,” Dan said. “I know they’ll be looking for us once they find your phone.”

  “What makes you so sure that they can track my phone?”

  “There was no other reason for Bob to insist on you bringing it. We communicate with radios.”

  “That makes sense,” Rayburn said. “I’ll just follow you, since you seem to know what you’re doing. You’ve kept us safe so far.”

  “I hope it stays that way.”

  “I still can’t believe Madec and Bob wanted to kill me,” George said.

  “They’re looking out for themselves,” Dan replied, checking a street before hurrying to cross it.

  “Well, even if I die out here, at least I didn’t die at their hands . . . or yours,” Rayburn said pointedly, not looking at Hixson.

  “Are you going to hold a grudge?”

  “Probably not, but you really did scare the hell out of me, threatening to kill me with that knife.”

  “Do you blame me? I thought you were responsible for my daughter’s death.”

  “I’d never hurt anybody, and I really liked Brittany,” Rayburn said.

  Dan was unable to reply for a moment. “Let’s just put it in the past and concentrate on staying alive,” he finally said.

  He’d wanted to kill Rayburn after talking to Burnell and Madec, yet he’d needed to give the man a chance to explain himself. When Dan had accused him of helping to create the parasite, George had seemed genuinely shocked. A short conversation with the doctor had convinced Hixson that the photos might have been faked. The clincher had been the DVD, which they’d started to watch on the computer in Rayburn’s office. Petrov had admitted creating the plague that had been unleashed upon the world, but it had been obvious that Rayburn hadn’t been involved.

  They hadn’t had time to watch the whole video, but Dan had heard enough. He had traded the DVD for a movie on Rayburn’s desk, and they’d taken off, hoping they could figure out a way to get copies out to the public, or what was left of it.

  ~*^*~

  ~19~

  Lansing, Michigan

  Snake didn’t like the idea of dragging the three big trucks all over the city, and he hoped that Wrench would get back to him with an address that wasn’t too far. He began to grow more anxious as time passed, and he realized that the men he’d sent back into the building had been gone for at least ten minutes, probably more.

  “If they’re not out in five more minutes, we’re going to have to go in after them,” he said to the others who were waiting outside. The group returned a couple of minutes later with Mouse and another biker who had his arms full of carpet scraps and lumber. He didn’t look very happy as he dumped the materials into the truck then walked away to talk to Wolf.

  “Sorry, Boss,” said Mouse, whose arm was wrapped and in a sling.

  “What are you doing, Mouse?” Snake asked. “Didn’t you hear me say that we had to go?”

  “Well, sure,” the small biker said, “but I was getting some stuff to build one of those, you know, scratching posts for the kitten.”

  Snake opened his mouth to give Mouse a scathing reply, but he closed it again, shaking his head.

  “Guess we’re going to need to start doing a headcount like they do in preschool,” he muttered.

  ~*~

  St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing

  Once Jack gave the model number to Wrench, he went to check on the newcomers, knowing they’d be done with their three hour wait. At the quarantine room, a couple of the bikers were reading over the list that Lindsey had left with the room assignments. Most of the people had already left quarantine, but there were a few still waiting to find out about their rooms.

  “This isn’t going to work,” Gunner said, shaking his head.

  “What’s wrong?” Jack asked.

  “Lindsey has this family going into room 410,” he said, “but someone’s already grabbed it.”

  “Another family?” Jack asked.

  “No,” Gunner said, glaring at a biker who was known as Dumbo for his unusually large ears. “Some blonde chick sweet-talked Dumbo here into giving it to her.”

  “Well, that isn’t going to happen,” Jack said. “That’s a big room, and single people get the small rooms. I’ll let her know.”

  Jack addressed the people that were gathered around. “Who is the family that was going into room 410?”

  A woman in the back of the group lifted her hand. Jack noticed that she had a grade-school-aged son. Hit with sudden inspiration, Jack spoke with Gunner and did some rearranging, putting a different family into 410 and choosing a new room for the woma
n and her son. Jack asked both families to come with him so he could take them to their rooms.

  The hospital was still undergoing the changes that had been settled upon earlier, and the rescued survivors only added to the chaos as they left their rooms to explore the building. Jack strolled down the hall with the two families, dodging one of the teachers with a group of children along the way. He stopped at the door marked 410 and told the blonde woman inside that she would not be moving into the room.

  The blonde told Jack what she thought about it on her way out, but he ignored her, sending in a couple with a baby and a girl of maybe five.

  He led the other family down the hall and opened a door to reveal a room with two beds.

  “I think this should work for you,” Jack said.

  “It’s perfect,” the woman said. She turned and offered her hand to Jack. “I’m Jessica, by the way. And this is Michael.”

  “I’m Jack, and it’s nice to meet you both.”

  “Good, there’s a TV,” the boy said.

  Jack followed the boy’s gaze to the television that was mounted to the wall.

  “Well, unfortunately, we haven’t been able to get a signal for a while, Michael,” Jack sighed, “but we’re turning our emergency room into an entertainment room. We hope to have it set up shortly, and we plan to get some DVDs. There’s also going to be a game room once we get everything we need for it. In the meantime, I’d like you to meet your next-door neighbors.”

  Jack excused himself and went to the next room. A couple of minutes later, he came back with a boy and a girl who were close to Michael’s age.

  “Michael, this is Jon and Marie. They’ve been here for a while so they can show you the ropes.”

  Marie smiled at Michael, and he nodded halfheartedly.

  “What do you do for fun around here?” he asked.

  “Have you ever ridden a rolling bed?” Jon asked.

  Michael stared blankly at the other boy.