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

by Kinney, Matthew

  “We’ve heard a rumor that you have an immune subject in your possession. I’d like to meet this person.”

  Lindsey’s breath caught in her throat, though she did her best not to react.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said quickly.

  “Oh, I think you do,” Henry said, all vestiges of the grandfatherly image now gone. “Give me the name.”

  “I’m sorry, I . . .” she started.

  Henry lifted a hand up into the air, and several armed men piled out of the helicopter, four of them racing to surround Hawk while one of them pointed an AK47 at Wombat.

  Reynolds grabbed Lindsey and held her tightly in place.

  “Lee, please don’t hurt them,” Lindsey begged. “I’ll go with you.”

  “I know you will,” he replied, watching as the men moved toward Hawk.

  The biker put up a good fight but the men were able to restrain him after a short time.

  Henry nodded toward a large, well-dressed Samoan man, and said, “Go ahead, Loto.”

  The big guard entered the building through the roof access door, with four other men close behind.

  Lindsey could see Wombat’s hand move toward his machete, but his captor must have seen it, too. Lindsey couldn’t hear what the man said, but Wombat lifted his hands into the air.

  As Henry walked closer to the men, Reynolds dragged Lindsey along.

  Wombat took a step forward, but the guard in front of him made it clear that he would shoot. Lindsey could see in Wombat’s eyes that he was weighing his odds of grabbing the rifle.

  “I wouldn’t advise it,” Henry said to the biker. “You make a move, and I’ll kill Lindsey. I have no reason not to, except that I know the noise will bring your friends running if anybody’s even still here.”

  A muscle twitched in Wombat’s jaw, but he remained silent.

  Henry stepped closer and looked at Wombat then Hawk. “Now, who is the immune person?”

  “They don’t know,” Lindsey said. “Please just leave them alone.”

  Henry turned toward Reynolds. “What are their names?” he asked.

  “The one with the dark, curly hair is Hawk,” Lee said. “I don’t know about the other one.”

  Henry began to speak into the radio. “I need a name. He’s a biker and he’s about six feet tall, with straight, medium brown hair that’s a bit on the long side. No facial hair. He’s fairly young.”

  After a moment, he turned toward Lindsey. “Is his name Wombat?”

  She didn’t answer at first.

  “Tell me, or I’ll have him shot!”

  “Yes, that’s Wombat,” Lindsey said.

  Henry stepped away, continuing his conversation out of hearing range. He returned a few moments later, still speaking on the radio.

  “You’re sure it’s not either of them?” he asked. “Okay. You’d better be right.” He put the radio into his jacket pocket and approached Hawk. “I need the name of the immune person, and I need it right now or you’re going to die.”

  “I don’t know it, and I wouldn’t tell you if I did,” Hawk said, defiantly.

  “Well,” Henry said, “that’s going to be a problem. Let’s see if this hawk can fly.”

  Reynolds sucked in a surprised breath, tightening his grip on Lindsey.

  The guards seemed unsure what to do, and one of them turned and looked at Henry with surprise on his face.

  “No!” Lindsey yelled. “I’ll tell you!”

  “Sir?” the guard asked.

  Henry quickly pulled his pistol, leveling it at the man. “Do it!” he yelled, fury on his face.

  In one fast move, the men flung the biker over the edge of the building as Lindsey screamed, horrified.

  “Shut her up,” Henry said, turning to aim his gun at her. “If you won’t, I will.”

  Lee quickly covered Lindsey’s mouth. When she struggled to get away, he held her tighter.

  The men moved toward Wombat next, eying him warily.

  “Are you going to answer my question, or will you join your friend?”

  Wombat glanced over the edge of the roof then turned his attention back to the men who were closing in on him.

  “What’s the point?” he asked. “If I knew and I told you, you’d just kill me anyway.”

  “You’re absolutely correct,” Henry said, smiling.

  Lindsey managed to pull Lee’s hand away.

  “Please don’t hurt him,” she yelled. “I know who it is! He doesn’t. Let him go inside, and I’ll tell you.”

  “Tell me, and I’ll let him go inside,” Henry countered, turning toward her.

  “I don’t believe you,” she said.

  “You have no choice,” Henry shrugged. “Tell me or I’ll kill him. It’s that simple.”

  “It’s me,” she finally said, hoping he couldn’t see through the lie. “I got infected when we had an outbreak. They put me in quarantine, but I never changed.”

  Henry stepped a little closer, pointing the gun at her head.

  “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” he asked.

  “No,” she said, shaking.

  Henry looked down at the jacket she was wearing then turned back to look at Wombat.

  “Oh, look Reynolds, they match. Isn’t that cute?”

  Lindsey could feel Lee tighten his grip.

  “No! Don’t hurt him!” Lindsey begged. “I can prove it’s me! I’ll let you infect me, just please let him go!”

  Henry got back on the radio. “And what about Lindsey?” he asked. “Could she be the one?”

  He put the radio away and said, “Let me see your arms. Show me where the bite is.”

  “Leave her alone,” Wombat said, through gritted teeth.

  “The bite,” Lindsey said, heart pounding. “It-it wasn’t a bite, just a tiny scratch. It barely broke the skin, and there’s not even a scar, but I tested positive.”

  “Where?” Henry asked.

  “On the index finger of my left hand,” Lindsey said. “You can’t even see it now.”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe that,” Henry said, looking over one arm, then the other. “We heard that it was a deep bite, and you look clean to me.”

  “You heard wrong,” Lindsey said, wondering where he’d gotten the information.

  “Get rid of him,” Henry said, turning to look at the biker again. “He’s been no help at all.”

  When one of the men lifted his rifle, Henry added, “Silently!”

  “No! Please don’t!” Lindsey begged.

  “Shut her up!” Henry said, his eyes still on Wombat.

  Lee covered Lindsey’s mouth again, as she struggled to free herself.

  One of the guards grabbed the biker’s left wrist. Moving fast, Wombat twisted his arm, grasping the other man’s wrist in his own hand and effectively locking them together.

  “Shoot him!” the guard yelled, panicking as he fought to free himself. “He’s got my arm!”

  “No guns, I said!” Henry snapped. “There are five of you. You can handle him.”

  As the others moved forward to grab him, Wombat eased his machete out, holding it close to his leg. When the biggest of the guards reached for him, Wombat let him get close then reached around to plant the machete deep in the man’s back.

  Wombat looked over at Lindsey and mouthed the word “Goodbye,” then pulled both men over the side with him.

  ~*^*~

  ~44~

  Whispering Springs, Nevada

  When Dan woke after his nap, it took him a moment to remember that he was in Miranda’s home office. He sat up and stretched before getting up and folding his bedding. He could smell food cooking, and he could hear the light clatter of pots and pans. Making his way to the kitchen, he found Miranda there.

  “I hope you were able to sleep,” she said. “I’m making some lunch.”

  “From your garden?” Dan asked, noticing scraps of onion and peppers on the cutting board. There was a pot filled with boil
ing water and another one that contained what appeared to be spaghetti sauce.

  “The onions, peppers, basil, and oregano are all from the garden,” she told him. “The tomatoes were canned.”

  “You didn’t need to do this for us, but I’m really glad you did. It smells great.”

  “I’m just glad I was able to buy a lot of food before things got bad here,” she admitted, adding some pasta to the boiling water.

  “I noticed you had quite a bit stockpiled in your office,” he commented.

  “And in both bedrooms, the garage, and the shed,” she said, as she cleaned the vegetable scraps up and put them into a container. “I bought a lot of canned food, dried pasta, flour, and all kinds of other staples. I even cooked up a ham and a couple of turkeys and froze the meat. Now I just pray that the electricity stays on so the frozen food doesn’t all go bad.”

  “I was kind of surprised to see that the grid hasn’t failed yet,” Dan said, looking up at the kitchen light.

  “It hasn’t been as bad here as other places,” she reminded him, stirring the sauce. “And we get our power from Hoover Dam. I remember hearing once that the dam could keep on running without human assistance for quite a while. I hope it’s true, but I’m not holding my breath.”

  “It would sure make life easier,” Dan said. “I guess George is still asleep?”

  “I think so. He looked exhausted when he finally went to lie down.”

  “I’m sure he was. I can’t even tell you how many miles we’ve walked over the last few days, up and down hills, sometimes through the desert. He did a great job of keeping up with me. I guess he walks a lot, but I was still surprised.”

  “He seems very nice,” Miranda said.

  “He is. Sometimes I want to put a gag on him, but in general, I can’t complain about having him as a traveling companion.”

  When the pasta was ready, Miranda dished some of it onto two plates and added sauce.

  Dan carried the plates over to the table while she brought over two glasses of water and some silverware.

  “Haven’t you had any outbreaks here?” he asked. “Are the dead just coming in from the highway?”

  “We’ve had some outbreaks over the last few days,” she said. “I can hear what’s going on around town with my police scanner. A lot of people went to the shelter after the first outbreak.”

  “And why didn’t you go?” he asked, curious.

  She looked at him in silence for a moment, and again he was struck with the uniqueness of her pale blue eyes.

  “A couple reasons,” she said. “I don’t like crowds, and with something like this going on, the last place I want to be is in a building full of people.”

  “I agree with you, there,” he said. “I’m just surprised that more people don’t understand that.”

  She shrugged. “For some people, it’s easier to depend on someone else than to try to take care of themselves. I’m not quite so trustful of others.”

  “I had that feeling,” Dan said. “I was kind of surprised you let us come to your house.”

  “I almost didn’t.”

  “You said you had a couple reasons for staying here.”

  “The other one is personal.”

  “Okay,” Dan said. After a while, he finally brought up the question that had been on his mind since he’d first seen Miranda’s house.

  “We just spent a day in Barstow with a couple who are survivalists. They had quite a setup, like they’d been waiting for something like this to happen. I’m not sure how to ask this since my ex-wife always told me I tend to talk before I think,” Dan said, hesitating.

  “Go ahead,” Miranda said, a quizzical expression on her face.

  “Well, you don’t strike me as the survivalist type. I’m not even sure what that would be, but I mean, you look like someone who probably has an office job, not a person who knows how to build a cinder block wall and stay alive during an apocalypse.”

  Miranda smiled and said, “I’m a paralegal, or I was one, anyway. My husband is an attorney, and I worked for him. I was never into the whole survivalist thing, though I regret that now.”

  “What about the block wall and the bars and everything? How did you know what to do?”

  “I paid someone to install the bars. I looked the rest up on the internet,” she said. “It’s amazing what you can learn if you look in the right places.”

  They were both silent for a while as they ate.

  “Do you think I’ll be safe here?” she asked, after a while.

  “With the people patrolling the area and the reinforcements you’ve made, I think your odds will be better than average.”

  They both looked up when George limped into the room, his gray hair sticking out all over.

  ~*~

  St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing

  Lindsey screamed into Reynolds’ hand, trying desperately to free herself while Lee struggled to hold her. She was able to get her right arm loose, and she slammed an elbow into his ribs, forcing him to let go long enough for her to escape. Her anguish narrowed her vision to the old man who had ordered the deaths of Wombat and Hawk, and she flew at him. Time seemed to slow as the old man turned, raising the gun as she approached. Lindsey realized that she could not reach him before he could pull the trigger, but Henry stood close to the edge and she hoped that her momentum would carry them both over. Her death would spare her from the torture she’d be forced to endure if she didn’t give up Autumn’s name willingly. She lifted her hands, intending to push the old man from the roof. She saw his grip tighten on the gun and, for a moment, she relished the look of fear in his eyes.

  She was grabbed suddenly from behind when she was just five feet from the old man, but that didn’t stop him from firing his weapon. The blast from the pistol was loud, and the pain was immediate.

  ~*~

  “We’ve been trying to get a hold of you, Boss. I think we’ve got a problem,” Gunner said into the radio. “Reynolds is back.”

  “I thought he gave Xena a week.”

  “That’s what I thought. Hawk went up there . . . hey, was that a gunshot?” Gunner asked, pulling the radio away from his ear.

  “Sounded like one,” Moose said. “I’m heading up there.”

  “What’s going on?”

  “We just heard a shot,” Gunner said. “Moose is going up there.

  “We’re turning around. Be there as soon as we can. You guys be careful.”

  ~*~

  “You ruined my shot,” Henry said, looking annoyed.

  “It looks to me like you got her,” Reynolds said. There was blood running down Lindsey’s left arm.

  “Barely. She’s lucky I didn’t blow her damn head off.”

  Henry turned to look at his three remaining guards. “Why the hell was she able to get that close to me? In case you haven’t figured this out yet, your most important job is to keep me safe.”

  Two of the guards looked shell-shocked. The third one answered.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” the red-haired young man said. “I was trying to get a clear shot. I stopped once I saw that Reynolds had her.”

  Henry nodded, but his eyes lingered on the other two for a long moment before he turned his attention back to Lindsey and Reynolds.

  “Let’s get her out of here. She’s got some questions to answer.”

  “Sir, you told me she wouldn’t be hurt,” Reynolds said.

  “I lied.” Henry’s eyes narrowed as he regarded Lindsey. “Normally, I find these interrogations a bit unpleasant to watch, but I believe I’ll enjoy this one.”

  “I’d be happy to help,” said the red-haired guard.

  “I appreciate your enthusiasm, Wayne,” Henry said, “but I may have Loto do it.”

  Moments later, the roof access door burst open, and the rest of Henry’s guards came out, dragging Dr. Doune with them. One of the men hammered a wedge beneath the door to keep it closed. The doctor was shoved into the waiting helicopter with Lindsey, and they were
both blindfolded.

  “We temporarily disabled the elevator,” Loto said. There was a large red mark on his forehead.

  “What happened to you?” Henry asked.

  Loto started to answer, but the old man waved a hand. “Never mind. What about the doors?”

  “We put wedges in the doors at each floor in the stairwell.”

  “Good,” Henry replied. “That should slow them down a bit.”

  ~*~

  They were still a block from the building when Snake saw the helicopter rise from the roof. He started to increase his speed, but found that the back of the hospital was crawling with the dead. Unlike the front of the building, the back wasn’t walled in, and the infected tended to gather there, just never in the numbers he was seeing.

  The radio crackled to life again, and he stopped to answer it.

  “Boss, there’s nobody on the roof,” Moose said, sounding out of breath. “Don’t know what happened up here, but they disabled the elevator and blocked the doors. I had to take the fire escape.”

  “Was it Reynolds?”

  “I don’t know. I see blood on the roof.”

  “Stay there and keep an eye on the chopper, so you can tell me where it’s heading,” Snake said. He turned to look his group over, pointing at a handful of the faster riders. “I want you guys to try to follow that bird. I know it ain’t going to be easy, and I don’t want you taking chances, but do what you can.”

  Wolf tossed his radio to one of the men, and they took off with a loud roar of engines. When the bikes left, some of the dead began to follow, though more of them started to move toward the bikers who had stayed behind. Helga and several of the men pulled out their silent weapons and began to thin the numbers.

  Snake’s radio came to life again, and Snake glanced up to see Moose on the roof, looking over the edge.

  “Boss . . . I can see Hawk.”

  Snake felt sick to his stomach. “You mean down here?”

  “Yeah, Boss, looks like they tore him to shreds.”

  “You sure it’s him?”