by Kirk Withrow
L.T. shook his head, not liking what he was hearing. His face portrayed the room’s dour mood perfectly. “So what you’re saying is that we basically know jack shit. Am I right?”
All at once, everyone seemed to find the floor extremely interesting. No one in the room moved a muscle. L.T. waited, and when no one offered any additional information, he said, “Well, doesn’t that make your ass feel all rosy?”
Sensing the desperation and hoping to steer the discussion in a more positive direction, Montes asked, “Anyone have any ideas on how we can approach this?”
Garza cleared his throat. “The note said we have twenty-four hours to discuss the trade, so that doesn’t give us much time. If we’ve decided we’re not going to comply, I guess we need to figure out who’s going to fight and get ourselves ready to move tomorrow.”
After a lengthy discussion, they determined who would participate in the attack and who would stay behind. Everyone agreed that the more people they could bring to the fight the better. At the same time, they knew some of them needed to stay back to protect Dr. San. In the end, it was decided that everyone would go except L.T., Montes, and Anthony, who was none too pleased about being left out of the fight.
Coming up with a suitable plan to rescue Ava seemed felt like a crapshoot given the limited intelligence they had regarding the situation. They didn’t know exactly where the fight would occur or the size of the force they’d be up against. Given that the location would be a place of Connor’s choosing, they assumed that they would be assaulting a fortified position. His men would likely be dug in and waiting for the word to unload.
After discussing several strategies, they decided that a double envelopment attack, in which Garza drew their attention centrally while the others used stealth to engage the flanks, would be the most versatile. Ava’s location during the exchange would play a huge factor. Once they learned where the trade would take place, they hoped to tailor their plan, assuming they had some familiarity with the location. As it was, those among them with military experience found the situation particularly unsettling given that they were used to doing battle in the age of information overload when a drone outfitted with all the bells and whistles could tell you how many combatants there were, their exact location, and what they ate for lunch.
As expected, the two men returned to deliver a message the following day, and Garza was relieved not to find another severed head inside the bag. Unfortunately, he didn’t learn the location of the trade either. Instead, the bag contained a walkie-talkie along with an envelope and a note informing them of when to turn it on in order to receive additional instructions. They had three hours, and he and Dr. San were to come alone. Ava would be released once they were taken into custody.
When Garza finished reading the note, he turned his attention to the envelope. He was relieved not to see any greasy bloodstains to indicate it contained a finger or worse. In fact, it felt empty when he picked it up. Peering inside, he discovered that it was not empty, and what it contained was every bit as disturbing as a severed digit. It didn’t take much imagination to figure out whom the lock of curly blond hair had belonged to.
Garza lowered his head. Although they hadn’t even begun, he already felt defeated. Not knowing where the trade would take place ahead of time would make it tough to get the drop on Connor and his men. They would likely be expecting some sort of fight and would be prepared accordingly. The ball was completely in the Puppet Master’s court. As Garza walked back inside to join the others, he thought about all the ways things could go wrong.
Everyone gathered around and looked at the note and the radio delivered by the Connor’s men. “Clever bastard. If he uses the radio to give us directions, then he doesn’t have to tell us where we’re going. We won’t be able to tell anyone else exactly where we’re headed, because we won’t know until we’re already on our way,” Garza said dejectedly.
“Can’t we just monitor the same channel to find out where you’re heading?” Animal asked.
That sounded reasonable to Garza, and he was just about to say so when Plant reached down and picked up the radio.
“Son of a bitch,” he muttered as he inspected the walkie-talkie. “This is a TriSquare radio. A buddy of mine with some serious paranoia issues got a pair of these a few years back because he was worried about everyone being able to hear anything he said over radios that use the standard FRS channels. These were designed to use frequency-hopping to spread the signal across a bunch of channels to make eavesdropping difficult without using special equipment to follow the signal.”
Everyone stared at him blankly except Garza, who said, “Sounds like the SINCGARS radios used for military communication.”
“They’re nowhere near that good, but they’re a hell of a lot more secure than the typical walkie-talkies sold at the local sporting goods store.”
“So we can’t listen to what he says? That doesn’t leave us with a lot of options,” Animal added.
No one said anything for nearly a minute. They didn’t have much of a plan to start with, and this development definitely complicated things.
“This Puppet Master guy is turning out to be one wily asshole. I’m really starting to wish I would have killed him when I met him the first time,” Garza said.
All of a sudden, Mother’s face brightened. “What about a GPS tracker? If you keep it with you, we should be able to follow your movement without having to risk being close enough to be easily spotted.”
Garza nodded his head in approval. “That would probably work, but we still have a major problem. He’ll be expecting Lin to be with me. If I show up alone, things could get messy in a hurry.”
He had no intention of Lin actually going with him; that would be far too risky. His vision of storming in with guns blazing before Connor noticed that he was alone had been a long shot from the beginning. Now, it didn’t look like it would hold water at all. Lin was the part of the equation that he was having the most trouble sorting out.
“I’ll go in her place,” a voice called from the corner of the room. “He probably doesn’t have a clue what Dr. San looks like, so I doubt he’d know the difference.”
Garza was surprised to see Kate step forward. She hadn’t said anything during the discussion, and he hadn’t even noticed her standing there. It hadn’t occurred to him to have someone stand in for Lin, but it was a good idea. Admittedly, he would’ve never asked anyone to take such a significant risk, but it was a different story if Kate was volunteering for the job.
Garza had heard about the circumstances in which John and Reams had found Kate and about her ability to handle herself in the field. Like most people who’d survived the plague, she had been battle-tested and passed. What he wasn’t sure about was whether she knew exactly how high the stakes would be this time. Kate didn’t have a scientific background, but he assumed Lin could provide her with just enough vocabulary to make her sound convincing. Besides, he doubted that the Puppet Master had much of an understanding of LNV and any potential cure.
Garza raised his eyebrows and asked, “You sure, Kate?”
She shrugged indifferently and said, “I’m already going, so I might as well be where I can see what’s going on.”
It sounded like something Animal would’ve said, only with far less attitude. He nodded to her gratefully.
“So Kate and I will head out once they call us with the instructions. Given that the car approached from the south both times, I assume that’s the direction we’ll be heading initially. I think it would be best if everyone else was already outside the wall in case he has people watching as we leave.”
While no one argued with his logic, not everyone in the group was happy with the arrangement. With Stack having died so recently, Mother worried about Cujo and tried to convince her to stay with Dr. San. She was having none of that. The pain of Stack’s loss weighed heavily on her mind, and she was eager for anything that might offer a distraction. Anthony was not completely over the fact
that he was being left out of the fight, but he knew that Annalee needed his support. Since he wasn’t going, he volunteered to send Charon with them—an offer that was quickly accepted. The dog had proven to be an indomitable force in combat and had the ability to detect the infected nearly a mile away.
In the end, they decided to split the group into two smaller fire teams in order to minimize their profile and increase their potential avenues of attack. Plant, Animal, Cujo, and Mother would take the right flank, while John, Reams, and Lydia would take the left. John’s group would take Charon to keep the numbers equal.
Garza went over the plan one more time in order to make sure everyone was on the same page. The two teams planned to keep their distance and stay hidden as they followed Garza and Kate’s progress. Mother would track the GPS signal and keep John’s team informed of their location. Once they met up with the Puppet Master and his men, the two teams would maneuver around the flanks in an effort to improve their position. When Mother gave the word, they would emerge and begin the attack.
In addition to catching them off guard, they hoped that engaging the enemy on two fronts simultaneously would confuse them long enough to allow Garza and Kate to get out of harm’s way and into the fight. One of the biggest drawbacks was the potential that their fields of fire would be directed toward one another with Garza and Kate in between. Ava, too, was at risk of being caught in the crossfire. They would have to exercise extreme caution in order to prevent any friendly fire casualties. The last thing they wanted was for Ava to be injured during a botched rescue attempt. No one denied that it was a rough plan with a lot of holes in it, but it was all they had. They didn’t have time to come up with anything else.
When Garza finished the briefing, Mother nodded and said, “Okay, everyone. Are there any questions?”
Kate chewed her bottom lip as she shifted her weight nervously. “What about the cure? The trade is supposed to be for Garza, Dr. San, and the LNV cure, isn’t it?”
While the absence of a cure would be far less noticeable than Lin being absent, Garza agreed that it would be smart to have something they could present as a cure if needed.
Joining the conversation, Lin said, “I can help with that. I know it sounds horrible, but I’ve been thinking of preparing a mock vaccine that is tainted with LNV. If he decides to inject himself, he’ll get something far different than the immunity he hoped for.”
The thought of being an active participant in such an utterly evil plot made Lin look away. She was not a killer, yet she understood that preparing such a “treatment” would be no different than shooting him with a gun or stabbing him with a knife. That she felt the desire to do it filled her with shame, but it was easily offset by her disgust at the prospect of someone like Connor being allowed to continue living on the planet.
Once again, Kate pointed out an obvious problem with the tainted vaccine plot. “What if he’s suspicious of the vaccine and administers it to one of us first in order to be sure it’s safe?”
“Shit,” Garza said softly. This time, his face wore the pale-faced, wide-eyed expression of a person who had just dodged death by the slimmest of margins. That was a distinct possibility. Connor seemed too smart to blindly accept that something given to him by his enemy was safe and inject it into his body without proof of that safety. Clearly, he had underestimated the extent of Kate’s tactical prowess. Why haven’t we been running all of our plans past her? She seems to think of everything.
Lin, too, was deeply disturbed by the possibility that her plot might somehow lead to Garza becoming infected. It seemed like the ultimate way for karma to turn around and slap her in the face for having the gall to attempt such an evil act in the first place; the very thought of it caused her to break out in a cold sweat. She had all but decided to abandon the entire idea when it occurred to her that she could prepare two virtually identical vaccines—one tainted and the other not.
“Let me think about that problem for a minute,” Lin said with a look of concern etched on her face. In the end, she handed Kate a case containing five syringes, all filled with a clear liquid and all appearing the same upon cursory inspection. Closer examination, however, revealed that the first syringe in the case had a small notch cut into the top of the plunger. It was easier to feel than to see, and it allowed the positive identification of the untainted preparation. All in all, the case represented a dangerous game of Russian roulette for anyone who wasn’t aware of the marking.
Garza took a deep breath to help focus his mind. The amount of work that had to be done was tremendous; the time in which they had to do it was not. There was no question that they had to rescue Ava, and he felt like he was responsible for her being held for ransom in the first place. Even so, he couldn’t help thinking that their chances of succeeding were woefully small. They were starting off at such a significant disadvantage, and there were so many variables that were simply beyond their control. He felt like throwing in the towel and taking the easy way out…until he glanced around at the others in the room.
The strength Garza saw in their determined faces bolstered his resolve and swept away the fog of doubt that had been slowly pulling him under. Regardless of the enemy’s numbers and any tactical superiority they possessed, the eight men and women who were willing to lay down their lives without question represented a force to be reckoned with. Just then, he felt like he had the might of an entire battalion behind him. He felt unbeatable. Although he wasn’t exactly sure how and if he had started this fight, he definitely planned to finish it.
“All right, people. Let’s go to work. We need to be ready to move out in two hours. I don’t think I need to tell anyone to be prepared for one hell of a tough fight,” Garza said.
As the group stood and began to disperse, Lin pulled John aside. “I know there isn’t much time, but there is something I want to give you—something that may be helpful given this guy’s penchant for using the infected as defensive pawns. Do you remember before you left on the scavenging mission when you said you wanted to discuss the preacher and the junkie? I told you that I’d already done some work with that idea. Well, I think I figured out what they have in common.”
Lin reached into her pocket and pulled out a glass vial filled with an amber-colored liquid. The dim light shone through the translucent fluid, casting a yellow swath on her face as she held it up triumphantly. Her eyes gleamed with the same scientific wonderment that John had seen in her countless times before.
John’s face remained fixed, his worried expression unfazed by Lin’s excitement. “What is it?”
“It’s an invisibility cloak, more or less. Let me explain. I first looked into the preacher’s illness and learned that it is a rare metabolic disorder that results in a significant elevation of dimethyl sulfide. This is excreted through the skin, giving those afflicted by the condition a strong, fetid odor—think of rotting cabbage, only much, much worse. In high enough concentrations, it has the sickly-sweet odor of decaying flesh. Are you familiar with the dead horse arum lily?”
John shook his head, unsure of what the plant had to do with the current situation.
“Well, dimethyl sulfide is one of the main chemicals used by that ornamental plant to attract blowflies, which act as pollinators. The stench is so horrid that the flies can’t distinguish it from that of an actual rotting animal carcass. I hypothesized that the same scent the blowflies find so irresistible could have the opposite effect in cases of LNV infection. That could explain the revs’ characteristic odor and the fact that they seem uninterested in the dead or other infected individuals.”
“What about the junkies?” John asked.
Lin nodded and said, “I believe the extensive tissue decay you saw was caused by highly toxic impurities in the poorly synthesized drug they were abusing rather than by the LNV infection. That amount of dead tissue likely produced dimethyl sulfide and other volatile chemicals in significant enough quantities to serve as something of an invisibility cloak. In other word
s, they smelled like death, and it confused the revs.” She pointed to the vial she held in her hand. “This is basically the essence of those two scenarios in a concentrated form.”
John was having difficulty focusing on what Lin was telling him, but he thought it sounded reasonable. What he was less sure about was what it meant for him at that moment and how it might help him get his daughter back.
Perhaps sensing his questions, Lin added, “We were only able to complete a couple of limited tests before the attack, and I won’t bore you with their details. What I can tell you is that when I applied this mixture to my skin, I was able to go unnoticed by a single rev in a controlled environment. We haven’t done enough testing to say for sure how it will hold up in a real-life situation so I wouldn’t recommend relying on it as your sole defense. And I must warn you—it’s been quite a few days, and I still haven’t been able to completely clear the nauseating smell out of my head. This is all we had time to synthesize. It’s probably enough for one or two uses. ”
John slipped the vial into his pocket. “Thanks for everything, Lin.”
She was usually good at keeping her emotions hidden under the cold veil of science, but John’s words blew it away like a stiff breeze, leaving her exposed and vulnerable.
“Be careful, John. Get Ava and come back safely.”
His eyes were glassy and his voice choked with emotion when he replied, “I will bring her back.”
John found Reams and the others in the armory, silently preparing for the upcoming fight. It was the present-day incarnation of an age-old war ritual: warriors donning the accoutrements of battle. They were modern gladiators choosing their preferred instruments of death and destruction. Rifles and pistols were checked. Blades were cleaned and sharpened. Spare ammunition and magazines were loaded into vests. All of these actions were performed with an almost ceremonial reverence meant to clear the mind and make them one with their weapons. John fell in alongside them.
