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

by Kinney, Matthew

  “I agree,” Jack said.

  Henry’s face began to turn red. “Again, you are in no position to negotiate,” he said, gritting his teeth.

  The door suddenly opened, and two children walked in, followed by Eric, who took one look at Henry and turned pale.

  ~*~

  Lansing Compound

  Lindsey’s head snapped to the side as she was backhanded by the guard.

  “Stupid bitch,” Wayne said. “I knew you were going to pull something. You just can’t be trusted at all, can you?”

  She didn’t bother to reply, and she remained silent as her hair was grabbed and she was yanked to her feet. She had already learned that the guard had a short fuse. He was the same one who had hit her when she’d locked herself in the bathroom.

  “Cool it, Wayne,” said the other guard whose name she thought was Brett. “Henry wants her alive. He won’t get any information from her if she’s dead or in a coma.”

  Wayne let go of Lindsey’s hair and looked her over slowly. “I had something else in mind. It would teach her a lesson she wouldn’t forget.”

  “Bad idea,” Brett said. “She’s Reynolds’ property, and he outranks you.”

  Lindsey bristled at the word “property” but she remained silent, knowing that it wouldn’t take much to push the guard into doing something stupid. She desperately wished she had a weapon that she could use against the man, and that thought bothered her. The last thing she wanted to do was to lower herself to the level of the animal before her. She took a calming breath and turned away, not looking back until Wayne stormed out of the room.

  “That wasn’t a smart move,” Brett told her after Wayne left. “You’ll be lucky if Henry doesn’t kill you as soon as he returns.”

  “That’s what he’s going to do anyway,” she said, “after he has me tortured.”

  “Look, I’m sorry,” the guard said, “but if you’re not willing to share the vaccine with us then maybe it’s the way it has to be.”

  She turned her head to look at him.

  “We all know about the immune person,” he said. “We know you guys want to keep the vaccine for yourselves and let the rest of us die. We want the cure just as badly as you do.”

  “We’re not the ones who would hoard the vaccine,” she said. “Henry is. We’d make it available to everybody. Ask yourself who is excluding people from their community. It isn’t us. We allow anybody in that needs shelter.”

  “That’s not what we heard,” the guard said.

  “Well, you heard wrong,” Lindsey told him. “We’re out there almost every day trying to bring in more survivors. Ask Lee.”

  The guard had no reply. He turned to leave, but Lindsey’s eyes followed him as a plan began to form.

  ~*~

  St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing

  “You!” Henry looked stunned. He turned to his men, seething with anger. “Why is this idiot still alive?”

  Lee took a deep breath. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by one of Henry’s men, who was pointing a rifle at Eric.

  “That female pilot was supposed to take care of that, sir. As far as we knew, the mission had been carried out.”

  “Let me guess,” Henry said. “The same pilot who left with one of my choppers a few days ago?”

  “Yes, sir,” the man said.

  Jessica had been making her way over from the sofa. When she reached the children, she stood in front of them.

  “Can we play Mario now?” the boy asked.

  “Not now,” Jessica said, trying to keep them quiet.

  “But Eric promised!” Jon said, disappointment in his voice.

  “Who might this be?” Henry asked, smiling at the boy.

  Jon grabbed Jessica’s hand, appearing to realize that something wasn’t right.

  “Is this your step-son?” Henry asked Eric with a bit of a diabolical smile.

  “No,” Eric said, fear in his eyes.

  “I disagree. I believe your fiancée’s name is Cheri.”

  Henry addressed Jon again, kneeling down to talk.

  “Young man, is your mother’s name Cheri?”

  Jon hesitated then nodded.

  “Loto,” Henry said as he stood up, “please make sure there are no more interruptions.”

  Loto nodded and left the room, blocking the door.

  Henry’s eyes grew cold as he turned to face Eric. “These people have the nerve to hide you here after you wrecked my helicopter, got three of my people killed, and damn near killed me?”

  Eric began to shake with fear.

  “You don’t know how many times I regretted not killing you myself,” Henry said. “By having someone else do it, I always felt as though I had cheated myself out of an experience I would have savored for years.”

  Eric closed his eyes and began to weep.

  In one quick movement, Henry pulled a small pistol from the pocket of his jacket and pointed it at the head of his victim then pulled the trigger.

  There was stunned silence as Jon’s hand released Jessica’s and the body hit the floor. When the echo of the gunfire subsided, it was replaced by Marie’s scream.

  ~*^*~

  ~54~

  St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing

  “If any of you so much as looks like you might do something stupid, every one of those children outside will die. All I have to do is send the message.”

  Jon stood frozen for a moment then began to back slowly away from Jessica’s body as if he wasn’t sure what to do.

  Most of the men had already started to move, but they stopped at Henry’s words. The rifles pointed in their faces were extra incentive, though unnecessary. The threat against the children was enough to keep them in their places.

  The man with the headset let out a slow breath when he saw that they were going to comply.

  Henry looked Eric in the eye. “I believe that makes us even.”

  He turned and regarded the others.

  “I’m through with playing nice. If anyone in this pathetic little group of outcasts ever crosses me again, I guarantee they’ll wish they’d been lucky enough to have gotten a bullet to the head,” he said, nodding toward Jessica’s body. “This town belongs to me now. I’m not your Mayor. I’m not your President. I am your King. You will do exactly as I say. If you don’t release the immune person to me, I will come back and infect every man, woman, and child in this place until I find the one I’m looking for. Henry pulled a knife from his pocket and reached down to Jessica’s body, severing her pinky and throwing it to one of his men.

  “Test this,” he said, “and they’d better pray to their so-called God that she wasn’t the one.”

  “Shall we put this one out of his misery?” one of Henry’s guards asked, motioning to Eric.

  “No,” Henry said. “Let him wallow in his grief for a while. Besides, the man’s a walking menace. It won’t be long before these losers either throw him to the deviants or allow him to bring them down with him.”

  Without another word, he turned to walk away.

  “Reynolds!” Snake said, grabbing the pilot by the shoulder before the man could leave with the others.

  “I’m sorry,” Lee said, pulling Snake’s hand away.

  Henry turned and locked eyes with Lee, who quickly departed without another word. The old man stared at Snake for a moment then continued on his way out the door.

  When the men were a safe distance away, Snake opened his closed fist, revealing a small, folded piece of paper.

  “What’s that?” Moose asked.

  “Something Reynolds stuck into my hand,” Snake said, opening the note to read it.

  “Boys,” he said after a moment, “looks like we’ll be leaving early. Xena may not last the night.”

  ~*~

  As the helicopter lifted into the air, Henry stared out the window, smiling as he recalled the shock he’d seen on the faces around the room. Even some of his men had looked surprised. Good, he thought. He had heard
once that being feared was almost as important as being respected. He disagreed; being feared was better. Fear led to subordination. Once he made these people realize that he was in charge, his job would be much easier. The look on his face turned to one of disdain as he thought about the people who were living in the hospital. Maybe one of the doctors or nurses would show some promise. The blue collar hospital workers and security guards served a purpose, as long as they remembered their place. Bikers, on the other hand, were the dregs of society. They were part of the reason that civilization needed to be destroyed and rebuilt. Henry would choose the people he wanted then the deviants could claim the rest.

  ~*~

  Jessica’s body was removed and placed in one of the patient rooms where her son wouldn’t see her. The children were brought up from the basement and in from the park. Jon and Marie were taken to Cheri, and Snake spent some time talking to all of them. Cheri felt horrible guilt over Jessica’s death, and Snake worried that it would push her deeper into the depression which had been consuming her. Instead, she surprised him.

  “I want to help with Michael,” she said. “I owe that to Jessica.”

  “We’d sure appreciate it,” Snake said. “The teachers have their hands full with the other kids right now. He’s with Marian in the cafeteria, and she just broke the news to him.”

  “I’ll go down there,” she said, hugging both of her children tightly before following Snake to the door.

  Snake walked with them as far as the cafeteria, where he watched Cheri and her children join Marian and Michael at their table.

  After dropping them off, Snake went to the ER where several of the bikers and a few other residents were discussing Henry’s visit.

  “We should have done something,” Moose said.

  “Like what?” Snake barked. “This dude has no conscience. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’d have started killing those kids if we’d done anything.”

  “So we just let him come in here any time he wants to, and we’ll sit back and watch as he kills us off one by one?” Moose argued.

  “Snake’s right,” Jack said. “We were outnumbered and outgunned. It wasn’t the time to make a stand.”

  “So when is the right time?” Keith asked.

  “We’ll be knocking on Henry’s door tonight,” Snake said.

  “All I ask,” Jack said, “is that you leave enough bodies here with us so we can defend ourselves if . . .” Jack paused, “if you don’t come back.”

  “Understood,” Snake said.

  “That’s crazy,” Eric said. “You’re going to get us all killed. If I couldn’t beat this guy, no one can. He’s got an army the size of the Michigan National Guard. We need to give him this person he wants and . . .”

  Eric’s soliloquy was cut short by a right hook from Moose’s huge fist. The rest of the group watched in stunned silence as Eric fell to the floor, unconscious.

  Snake’s eyes slowly drifted from Eric up to Moose.

  “Sorry, Boss,” Moose said sheepishly. “I couldn’t take him anymore.”

  Keith reached down and checked for a pulse, cursing when he found it. He checked the security guard’s pupils next.

  “He gonna be okay?” Snake asked.

  Keith stood and shook Moose’s hand. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do that?” he asked, smiling.

  “So I guess that’s a yes?” Snake asked.

  Keith said, “He’s going to have one hell of a headache when he wakes up, but he’ll survive.”

  Snake turned to Jack to apologize for Moose, but the ear-to-ear smile that Jack was wearing told Snake it wasn’t necessary.

  “Well,” Snake said, stepping over Eric, “I’m going to spend a few minutes on the roof, talking to the big man upstairs. We’re going to need all the help we can get. When I come back, we’ll get rolling.”

  ~*~

  Lansing, Michigan

  “I can’t wait to see this place,” Brandi said, smiling. She handed a radio over to the man in the passenger seat.

  “You’ll fit right in,” the driver told her, dodging the dead and the cars along the road.

  “I’m sure I will,” she said. “Anything’s got to be better than living at that hospital. I mean, seriously, I had to sleep on a hospital bed until they could get some furniture, and even then it was cheap crap that I hated. They wouldn’t let me pick my own things out.”

  “Just wait ‘til you see the colony,” the man in the passenger seat said. “It’s better than you can imagine.”

  “Will I get my own house?” she asked.

  The driver shook his head. “You’ll be assigned to someone.”

  “Assigned?” she asked, looking back and forth between the two men.

  “You’ll be a cook or housekeeper or,” he grinned, “maybe there’s something else you can do.”

  “I thought I was getting away from having to work,” she snapped. “They said I’d live in luxury.”

  “Oh, you will,” the driver assured her. “Who knows, maybe Henry will even keep you for himself.”

  Brandi leaned back in the seat, mulling this new information over. She was torn between being upset that she’d been lied to, and wondering how she could use her talents to get the best deal possible. She remained quiet for most of the trip to the walled city.

  ~*~

  St. Mary’s Hospital, Lansing

  Moose waved as he left the park area, watching the gate drop down behind him. When he was out of sight of the guards, he smiled. “You can get up now,” he said.

  Marla’s head popped up from the back seat. She climbed into the front, sitting close to the big biker.

  “This is so exciting,” she said, hugging his arm.

  “I hope it wasn’t a mistake, letting you talk me into this,” Moose said. “It’s going to be dangerous. The car is full of explosives.”

  “But they won’t go off unless you hit something really hard, right?” she asked, having already gone over it with Moose several times.

  “Yup,” he said. “Snake says the impact has to be hard enough to activate the air bag, which will trigger the explosives. Not sure if hitting a zombie will set it off, but I don’t want to take any chances.”

  “Well, I’m sure you’re a great driver, so I’m not going to worry,” Marla said, laying her head on his shoulder.

  ~*~

  Lansing Compound

  Henry sat on a sofa with an attractive young woman next to him. She giggled as he picked up a cracker with caviar and placed it into her open mouth. Closing her eyes, she chewed slowly as if she were savoring the morsel.

  “I’m guessing you didn’t eat like that on the outside,” Henry said, watching intently as she swallowed, opening her mouth for another bite.

  “I hate to interrupt sir, but we have a problem,” said Loto, who was standing in the entrance of the room.

  Henry ignored Loto for a minute, stabbing a shrimp and lifting it to the woman’s mouth. She gently clamped down on the fork and slid the piece of seafood into her mouth, smiling as she chewed.

  “As you can see, Loto, I’m a little busy getting my young friend here acquainted with the cuisine. This damn well better be important.”

  “Very important, sir,” the big guard said, a look of concern on his face.

  Henry sighed, dropping his fork onto the table.

  “I’m sorry, my dear, but duty calls,” Henry told the girl, apologetically. “It’s one of the disadvantages of being in charge. If you wouldn’t mind giving us some time, I promise I’ll come and check on you later.”

  The woman grabbed a napkin and wiped her mouth, smiling at Henry as she left the room.

  “Now, what is so important?” Henry asked, making no attempt to hide his frustration.

  “Sir,” Loto started, “one of our men on the roof near the hospital just called in. They said that a vehicle just left St. Mary’s and appears to be heading this way. We think they may still be planning the attack, despite your warning.”

/>   Henry began to laugh. He’d had people watching the hospital and reporting back to him for days. He had never dreamed that the idiot bikers would be foolish enough to actually retaliate after he had shown them that he was deadly serious.

  “You bothered me for a one-vehicle assault on our colony?”

  “We don’t have all the details, sir, but our informant told us that they have some explosives. Some of the survivors are ex-military so they may have been able to rig up some type of delivery system for the explosives. We don’t think that they can do much damage, but with your old pilot knowing the ins and outs of the community, we’re worried that they may create enough of a disturbance to get inside the walls.”

  “I probably should have killed that fat idiot then and there,” Henry said through clenched teeth, “but I sure enjoyed watching his face when I killed his fiancée. I just wish the organization would let me destroy that building and everyone in it.”

  “Shall I call and have your helicopter prepared for an evacuation?” Loto asked.

  “For one vehicle? Hell, no,” Henry said, visibly irritated. “But I would like a bird’s eye view of whatever these jokers are planning. And bring our informant along. I’d like to know more about this planned assault. ”

  “Yes, sir,” Loto said.

  “And make sure Reynolds is piloting. I need to have a word with him about his taste in women.”

  ~*~

  Lansing Compound

  “Lindsey, don’t do this,” Lee pleaded. “He’ll kill you! He knows you’re not the one who’s immune, so he has no reason to keep you alive.”

  “He’ll kill me no matter what I do,” Lindsey said.

  “Just tell him what he wants to know,” he said, reaching out to take her hand, which she promptly pulled away. “He said he’d let you live as long as you give him the information he wants.”