The Walking Plague Trilogy

by J. R. Rain

  Thud.

  The sound came from behind me. I whirled around to see a man and a woman drudging into view, materializing from the thick fog.

  They were not sane. I didn’t think they were even human anymore. They came slowly, methodically, with measured, lurching steps. Hair disheveled, clothes torn. Blood-red eyes, snarling. I knew they wanted one thing. Me.

  Specifically, my brain.

  I didn’t even think as I fired twice. Once into each head. They fell, but now I could hear the others coming.

  I jumped into the truck and sped up the road, hoping I was heading toward Carla, Jared and most importantly, my Anna. And I couldn’t help but wonder how this thing had spread so quickly and so pervasively.

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  At about the same time on the same evening, former Lieutenant Commanders Joe Carter and Mike Mendoza found themselves locked in a medical facility room at the Seal Beach Navy base, wondering how they’d managed to be tricked by the Agent in Black.

  They had indeed cured Cole, the Agent in Black. He had thanked them. After the fright of being drowned, that is. He said he felt more like himself. The two Navy buddies assessed that the red was completely gone from Cole’s eyes, and he seemed coherent.

  What they didn’t know was that Cole had almost drowned as a child. He’d gone too far into the deep end of a pool and no one had been paying attention. The event had scarred him for life. The result was that this new experience of drowning was just more than he could take. What he’d gone through for a “cure” had driven him close to the edge of insanity. No, he wasn’t insane, not yet, but he was far from stable.

  Carter and Mendoza didn’t need to know that, no. Cole would put on a brave face for them. He’d promised to take them back to the base, to let them help him “sort things out.”

  But Cole, the Agent in Black, for that was what he intended to be again, could not ever forgive them for what they had done. He remembered it all. Being blindfolded and handcuffed, he had no idea what was coming. His head forced down into the toilet, the flushing, flushing. The memories of his near-drowning as a child surfaced and utter fear overtook him. Much deeper than what either lieutenant commanders had experienced.

  So, Cole had talked with them reasonably...and secretly formed a plan to take command of the base. The three had driven straight there. Cole had slight reservations about being questioned at the check-in point, but oddly, it was unmanned.

  He drew them into one of the medical facility rooms, and promised to return with coffee for all.

  Before they knew it, Cole had locked them in.

  Now they sat, Joe on a bed and Mike in a chair, wondering what to do next.

  “This is the thanks we get for saving his life,” Mike said.

  “Yeah. What’s he doing, anyway?”

  “I don’t know. The place is empty. Bad sign.”

  “I bet things got out of control here, and everyone bailed,” Joe said. “Maybe we’re safer in here.”

  “I don’t like being locked up, and we’re trained for emergencies.”

  “I’ve never been trained for this,” said Joe. “Have you?”

  Mike shook his head, face grim.

  Joe added, “I mean, how long have we been gone from here? Four, five days? We were lucky enough to be cured. God only knows what could have happened.”

  “So, you think everyone here was somehow infected?” Mike asked. “How did this spread so fast?”

  “I don’t know,” Joe answered. “Maybe not everyone has it. But you remember how we were...that would be damned scary. Maybe some were infected, and the rest fled.”

  Mike considered this train of thought. “Maybe there’s still someone here.”

  “I wouldn’t be here, not if I valued my life,” Joe said.

  “I didn’t say the living were here. Maybe the...crazies. You know? Maybe the ones in that horrible state of mind.”

  They had time to think about this. They had time to become thirsty and drink water from the sink. They had time to search the medical drawers and find what could be used as weapons: a couple of hemostats and even a scalpel. Then they had time to wait some more.

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Cole didn’t give the two mongrels a second thought.

  Let them starve, for all I care, he told himself. Turnabout’s fair play.

  But it was a little disconcerting to find the place empty. He thought it was empty. Sometimes, he thought he heard noises. Scratching sounds.

  Just my imagination.

  He was in the command room, on the computer. Every communication he read increased his anger. And yes, his fear. Reports from all over the world stated that cities, especially in third world countries were more and more out of control. More and more infected, going crazy. Becoming brainless cannibals. The military was overwhelmed. A United Nations meeting had to be canceled because airports were down, inundated with chaos, fear and murders.

  Cole reconsidered his two prisoners. Certainly, they didn’t trust him now that he’d locked them up. But really, he couldn’t command this base alone. Could he convince them to help him?

  Except he could not get the drowning out of his mind. He shuddered over and over again. No, from now on, no matter what, he couldn’t trust them.

  Never mind that they’d saved his life, he could see that from the communications he read. If Carter and Mendoza could do that to a person, they could be capable of anything. But that could make them an asset. He’d have to think about it.

  Then he heard it.

  Drag, thump. Drag, thump.

  Someone was coming down the hall.

  Cole flew to the door, locked it. He peered out the small window in the door. Three of them were coming. They were in Army fatigues but they were...insane. Their jaws snapped wildly, and their eyes didn’t seem to be focused on anything. They were searching. For prey, Cole realized.

  Then he recognized one of them. It was Stetson. Cole couldn’t help feeling a little pity for the doctor. Former doctor. At least he didn’t have to worry about the man’s whereabouts.

  So, this is what happens if you’re not cured in time, he thought. How Stetson had made it back to the base, he didn’t know or care.

  Cole remained still. He watched as they moved slowly, awkwardly down the hallway. Cole remembered that when he was in the weak state, he responded to sound.

  One thing for sure, he didn’t want to find out. For the first time in his life, the Agent in Black felt helpless.

  Chapter Thirty

  Joe had found some metal wiring and was working on the door lock.

  He and Mike had decided to get as much ammunition as they could and get the hell out of there. They would return to Los Feliz. Do whatever they could to help. Coming back to the base, they realized, had been a bad idea. But they couldn’t have known that before.

  “Dammit,” Joe cursed. “I broke the wire in the lock. Hand me one of those hemostats, would you?”

  Mike handed them over. Joe was sweating now. He had one of those feelings. Like being in the ocean, in shark territory and waiting, waiting to be lifted up to safety before being devoured from below. Bitten, torn apart.

  “Come on, man,” Mike said.

  “You’re welcome to try.” Joe was irritated.

  “I’m sorry. It’s just so...fuckin’ creepy here.”

  “Well, shut the hell up so I can concentrate,” Joe snapped.

  “I mean, we don’t even have any weapons, dude,” Mike continued, now pacing. “How’re we gonna defend ourselves if, you know—”

  “Christ, will you clam the hell up? Why don’t you gather up our stuff, whatever you think we need and then...”

  Click. Joe sat back, wiped his forehead.

  “You did it!”

  “Damn straight I did.” Joe grinned. He opened the door a crack.

  The three zombies were waiting outside of the door, which had been heavy enough to mask their arrival. Joe instinctively grabbed the nearest hemos, wheele
d around to find one of them almost on top of him. He shoved the thing back, hard, but the one-time soldier and now full-time crazy snarled and snapped his jaws. Joe drew back his hand just in time.

  Mike was beside his buddy in a flash. The two could barely get a punch in. All these Crazies wanted was to take a bite out of them; the infected had no sense of pain whatsoever.

  Joe side-kicked his attacker. It bought him a couple of seconds. He used them to plunge the hemostats into the guy’s forehead. No, the crazy’s forehead. It collapsed to the floor.

  Mike was fighting off the other two but had seen what happened. He used the scalpel to do the same while Joe took out the third.

  They stood there, both panting, adrenaline rushing through their veins.

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” Joe finally said.

  This shook them out of their initial shock. They took off down the hall. Mike stopped long enough to break the glass from a fire-ax, which he weighed for good measure as they continued.

  Cole was standing in his office at the end of the hall. He’d heard the commotion; when he saw Carter and Mendoza pass by, he opened the door. “Take me with you,” he pleaded.

  “Fuck you,” Mendoza told him.

  “Please. Don’t leave me here alone.”

  Joe Carter didn’t get angry too often but he was angry now. He doubled back to Cole. Stood about two inches from the Agent in Black’s face. “You left us alone,” he spoke in a quiet but menacing voice. “Alone and defenseless. You bastard. At least you have a gun.”

  “I––I’m sorry,” Cole said. “I didn’t think there was anyone here. I wasn’t going to keep you in there for long.”

  “You’re lying,” Mike said. “Nobody ever trusted you. Except us, in the end. Look how you repaid us. You almost got us killed.”

  “Come on, Mendoza,” Joe said. “We’ve got plans.”

  “No, no,” Cole begged.

  They were halfway down the hall when they heard more crazies ahead, just around the corner. They turned around to see two more trudging from the other end. When they turned back, that bastard Cole was trying to shut them out. Mike roared and kicked the door open. Unfortunately, he broke the lock.

  Cole had scampered back deeper into the office, fear on his face. He was nothing like the man in charge the lieutenant commanders had seen days earlier. Little did they know that the fear of drowning had awakened something deep within Cole, something primal and ugly and afraid.

  Six crazies were at the door trying to get in. Mike first fumbled with the lock, but it was useless. He pushed his back against the door and leaned as hard as he could. The horrible grunts and growls from the other side were louder now.

  Joe scanned the room for anything that could hold the door shut. His eyes landed on a metal half-file cabinet. It was bolted to the wall. “Your ax!” he called to Mike. Mike tossed it to him. Joe began prying the thing loose.

  Cole was frozen at the far side of the room.

  “Do something, goddammit!” Carter shouted at him as he worked on the file. The crazies’ snarls were so loud now he had to yell. “We need your fucking help!”

  But Cole, eyes wide with fear, just shook his head and backed further into the corner.

  Finally, the cabinet tore loose. Joe carried it across the room and under the door handle. It held. For now.

  Mike wasted no time. He crossed the room in one step and picked up the semi-automatic that Cole had left on the table. Two more steps and he had the weapon pointed at Cole’s forehead.

  “Face the wall, motherfucker.”

  Cole registered the fury in Mike’s eyes. He turned around.

  “Search him,” Mike ordered his friend.

  Joe did so, searching the Agent in Black and found two more pistols on him. “Where’d you get these?” he demanded.

  “They—were in the office.”

  “Any more?”

  Cole shrugged. The file cabinet rocked as the Crazies banged and pushed. Joe tossed one of the pistols to Mike, who pocketed it.

  “I’ll tell you what you’re going to do, Mr. Agent in Black.” Joe’s voice was deadly now.

  “Get over to that file cabinet and keep those bastards out. You hold them out. Mike’s going to have his gun on you while I search this place.”

  Instead of waiting for an answer, Joe shoved the agent over to the door. “You’re not calling the shots anymore. Keep them out any way you can.”

  Cole did his best. The file cabinet was dangerously close to coming loose. He pushed it back into place and kept pushing for dear life.

  Three angry men locked in the same room can be a dangerous circumstance. Mike wanted to shoot Cole in the head, and regretted like crazy saving the bastard in the first place. Some thanks. Meanwhile, Joe shuffled through drawers and cabinets. He came up with two more semis and surprisingly, a pair of handcuffs.

  He thought about cuffing Cole to the desk and letting them get to him. As for Cole, he was frightened but infuriated. No one had ever treated him that way. Back at the Sunset Beach cottage and now here. No one. He’d be damned if he’d let these two punks get away with it. Once he got out of here...well, they would see.

  Joe took a couple of deep breaths. Saw the anger in both Mike’s and Cole’s eyes. “Look, we need to calm down,” he said to Mike. He gestured to Cole. “You, too.”

  Cole was sweating, putting all his strength into keeping the filing cabinet in place. “Help me, goddammit,” he grunted.

  Joe traded Mike’s pistol for a semi and stashed the others in his jacket pocket. “I’ll help,” he said, moving to the cabinet. His strength relieved Cole a little. “We need to quiet down. They respond to sound. Cole, Mike has us covered. You’re going to get a piece of paper and some tape. Cover the window so they can’t see us. If you make one wrong move, you’re history. Go.”

  When that was done, the three remained completely silent. It took a few minutes, but they finally heard the group of crazies drag their feet away and down the hall. Mike still had his gun pointed at Cole.

  Joe had his ear pressed against the broken door. “They went that way,” he whispered, pointing to the right.

  “Good.” Mike sighed in relief. “Front door is the other way.”

  “Lie down,” Joe ordered Cole. “Arms locked behind your head. And keep that hole in your face quiet while we figure out what to do.”

  Cole knew he had no choice. He was defenseless, and he understood the danger of causing a ruckus.

  The two LCDRs sat on the desk, both with a gun aimed at Cole beneath them. They talked quietly.

  “We have to get the hell out of here,” Joe said, and then laughed a little. Understatement of the year.

  Mike smiled. “What, you don’t want to stay? We got all the food and drugs in the world, and our best friend here.” He kicked Cole in the leg.

  “Right, I forgot. What do you want to do about him? We can’t bring him to...you know.” He didn’t want Cole to know where they were going.

  “Leave him here?” Mike asked.

  “Please, God, no,” Cole said.

  “Shut up,” they both hissed.

  “We could drop him off somewhere,” Joe suggested, “but I don’t even trust him in the car with us.”

  “We could cuff him,” Mike offered. “I never knew how handy handcuffs could be.”

  “Yeah. But we need to move fast. Find a good vehicle, load it up with ammunition, and be on our way.”

  “I could help you,” Cole tried again. “I’ve been reading all the reports and communications. I know a lot.”

  “The thing is,” Mike said, “we can’t trust you. We tried that. We saved your life, we trusted you, and what did you do?”

  “But you can’t just leave me stranded somewhere, unarmed.”

  “Oh, but I think we can,” Mike smiled. He tossed the handcuffs to Joe.

  Joe caught them and turned to the Agent in Black. “Hands behind your back.”

  Chapter Thirty-one

  I knew t
he park’s side roads like the back of my hand.

  I tore up the winding pavement, hugged curves, leaving dust in my wake. Even if Anna and company were safe, I had to see with my own eyes.

  Finally, I pulled up to the observatory’s top parking lot. What I saw was worse than anything I could have imagined.

  Carla’s patrol car was parked just below the main steps to the great building. She was fumbling with the keys, it seemed, to unlock the front door. Anna and Jared stood to either side of her. The undead, at least a dozen, were slowly climbing the steps.

  I pulled my truck up beside Carla’s car. The trio saw me but dared not let their guard down. I honked my horn. Long and loud. The zombies paused and turned in my direction.

  “Daddy, no!” Anna screamed. They turned back to her.

  I honked again, this time longer. I got their attention back. I honked again and again. I opened my door and stood on the running board. “Hey, assholes!” I hollered. “Over here!” I reached a foot up to the steering wheel and started honking again.

  I got what I wanted. They were leaving Anna alone. And Jared and Carla.

  I got back into the truck and started loading. Good thing these guys were slow. I had time to load three of the guns. If my hands weren’t shaking so badly, I could have had all four. Three would have to do.

  The zombies came closer...and closer.

  Although the fog barely reached this level, it was still there and difficult to see. I had a weapon in each hand. When they got close enough, I started firing. Straight for their heads....and away from my daughter and others.

  The shots echoed loudly. If any normal person had been around, they would have called the cops. But nobody was crazy enough to come up here. Not now. The public had been warned. Nobody was here except us.

  I missed a couple of precious shots and cursed.

  Focus, Carter, focus.

  One of them was a woman with a gashed neck and blood oozing down. A woman? There went that theory of Anna’s. Splat. Her brains were gone. I turned to the next and did the same. There were too many of them. They just kept coming. How many bullets did I have left?