The Rotting Souls Series (Book 3): Charon's Debt

by Ray, Timothy A.

  “Is Blayze okay?” his daughter asked, stepping away from her father. She was still upset and looked like there was something unresolved to finish, but she knew that she couldn’t rain on her mother’s good news parade even if she wanted too.

  Monica was pouring herself a cup of coffee and nodding her head. She had a bad case of bed head, the two women quite the sight. He would laugh if not for the gravity of the situation. “My nephew is fine. They haven’t heard from Kat’s boyfriend, and my father is still MIA, but the three of them have been hunkering down and waiting for things to clear enough to make a break for it.”

  “I don’t see how they’re going to get out now, unless they head out over the desert. Since the communications have been restored, I had Ben check out Tucson in hopes of finding some of the people we left behind, there isn’t much left. The military has done a thorough job and destroyed most of the city. And even if they do get out, Benson is currently being “cleansed” with reinforcements from Ft. Huachuca, and I’m pretty sure Wilcox is overrun. Not to mention, we have no idea where Robert went after he took off and is probably holing up in Safford. Going north is out, because we know that before the military pulled up stakes to head north, they were working on clearing that city out as well. Flagstaff is already destroyed, Springerville is overrun. I just don’t see how we can get them here without doing it over rough terrain. The Huey is gone, we’d have to do it on foot,” he said out loud, trying to work it through.

  “We can’t just leave them there,” his wife turned on him. “We got your parents out, didn’t we? There’s no way that we’re just going to leave my mother, sister, and nephew to die in that apartment without at least trying to save them.”

  She was getting cross with him for no reason. She had to understand what he was saying, and he didn’t suggest they leave them out there, he just didn’t have a clue what there was to be done about it. “You could have them pack supplies, see if they could scrounge some camping gear, and head out into the desert and just keep moving east. They’d have to go over the Rincons though, and then head towards Mt. Graham, but they could begin walking on foot. Maybe if we take the off-road vehicles and enough gas we can avoid the major roads and cities. But Honey, I’ve got to tell you, getting caught out in the desert in the open like that would just be bad. If snakes and coyotes didn’t go after them, random herds of walkers would.”

  “We have the outfitted vehicles we upgraded over at the other compound, maybe we should just try to force our way through. It’s only a four-hour drive there, we’re not talking about a trip to Los Angeles,” his wife pushed.

  The Humvees they upgraded might actually be able to do it. It’d take a lot to stop them with that armor plating, and they could just mow any herd that got in their way down, but it wasn’t those kinds of obstacles he was nervous about. It was the abandoned cars littering the interstates and roadways. If they had to get out and clear them, it would leave them exposed. And with maniacs out there hunting people, like what happened with Sabrina, he couldn’t be sure that they could avoid any traps set along the way.

  Still, maybe they would have to try. He knew that if he didn’t come up with something, she’d just go anyway.

  “Let me at least get some coffee in me first before you beat me up too much,” he groaned, reaching for his own cup. His daughter had disappeared, and he made a mental note to check on her later; maybe give her a valium to help her sleep.

  “Just as long you realize that no matter what you say, I’m going,” she told him firmly and he let out a sigh.

  Would he ever start a day in a normal way? Then again, what was normal anymore?

  Chapter 12

  Two Birds

  Todd

  Compound 2

  “Hey, I’m sorry to wake you,” he apologized as he came into Samantha’s bedroom. Her children were asleep and it was still early. He didn’t want to wake her, but he had a feeling it was going to be a busy day and didn’t want her mad at him for not keeping her informed.

  She was lying there in her bed, brown eyes lit up by the screen of her iPad, her reading glasses on the tip of her nose. “You didn’t. I couldn’t sleep.” Her magenta hair was pulled back in a ponytail, her eyes looked weary and bloodshot. “You know how I am, never more than three to four hours sleep at a time.

  He sat down on the bed near her feet, his hand landing on her covered feet and stroking them as he looked upon her. “Monica finally got ahold of her mother and sister. They are holed up in Tucson and are unable to get out of there. I have a feeling I’m not going to be able to talk her out of going, and I won’t be able to let her go alone.”

  “So what are you saying? You want my permission? You know it’s always been the two of you first, why bother asking me now?” she returned, a crabbiness creeping into her words near the end.

  “You know it’s not like that. Have I not done everything possible to make things equal between you two? What more can I do? You knew what you were signing up for when we got married,” he remarked. They had been together for four years and in his mind, they were some of the best of his life.

  Her iPad tilted down as she looked at him from over her lenses. “Not legally.”

  “Well, of course not legally. But when has that mattered to us? We’ve always acted like it’s real, never treated it as anything else, so why go there? Do you even think that matters anymore?” he inquired, sliding up the side of the bed and coming to rest by her hips. “Hey, look at me.” He reached out and lifted her chin, forcing her eyes level with his own. “You know you mean the world to me. I wouldn’t change a day of the time we’ve had together. You are just as important to me and you know that.”

  “Then don’t go out there,” she returned, a small tear forming at the corner of her eyes. “You know what’s going on, you have seen the video feeds. If you go, you’ll never come back. If you love me, you’ll stay.”

  He sighed and lowered his head to the side. “You know I can’t do that. Would you have me send her out there on her own? What kind of husband would I be if I did that? There’s no talking to her, she won’t listen.”

  “Then make her,” she said, her voice breaking.

  “You’ve known her for four years Babes, have you ever been able to talk her out of anything she is determined to do? I mean, seriously,” he added, his hand stroking her arm.

  She shook her head. “I know. You have to go. Doesn’t mean I like it. I’m assuming you guys are going to have to take off right away, right?”

  “I need to meet with some folks first, talk it through, then yeah, probably. The longer we wait, the worse things will get. I just didn’t want to take off on you and have you wake to find me gone,” he explained. “Hell, I don’t even know how I ended up in bed with Monica. I thought I fell asleep in here with you.”

  “You did,” she replied, then smiled. “But I kicked you out because those beans you ate yesterday were tearing up your stomach and the ventilation in here isn’t really designed for that. No open-air Hon.”

  He chuckled. “Guess that explains that.” He leaned forward and kissed her on her forehead. “You should try to get some sleep. Who knows what will happen today and—.”

  “What?” she asked, curious as to why he broke off. Her fingers were stroking his arm hair and they suddenly paused as her face grew concerned.

  “I was going to say you’d be walking around like a zombie. Just realized it was a bad choice of words,” he remarked, thinking of all the people in the world that actually were zombies at that moment.

  She smiled weakly, then a hand rose and touched his cheek. “I’ll try, okay? No promises. There is one thing you can do for me though.”

  He turned and their eyes met. “What’s that?”

  “You know that my marriage was on the rocks, long before we even met, and though I don’t really care for the man, he is the father of my children. If you are going to go back out there, do you think you can at least check to see if he’s still alive? For the
ir sakes? They haven’t said it, but they miss him,” she requested.

  He was going to be heading to Old Spanish Trail and Houghton, Ruben’s girlfriend’s house was actually on the way, so he nodded—might as well, right?

  “Thank you,” she whispered. “Just make sure you come back to me. I need you Babes.”

  “I need you too,” he returned, then leaned forward and kissed her goodbye.

  Chapter 13

  A voice in the Darkness

  Robert

  Safford, AZ

  His body was in agony. As he started to regain consciousness he noticed that his left eye appeared to be swollen shut and as he tried to force it open, it screamed bloody murder at him. There wasn’t much in the way of light, but he knew from the pain in his shoulder that he was lying curled up on a slab of concrete against a cold stone wall.

  Was he in a cellar?

  He tried to move his legs and get to a sitting position but his feet were bound and no matter how hard he tried—he couldn’t get them to separate. His hands were tied up as well and as he tentatively touched his swollen face, he heard someone cough off to his right.

  “Who’s there?” he groaned, trying to see in the darkness; but despite his eyes’ adjustments to the light it was still too dark to make anything out. He slid his hand down his body and winced as his fingers slid across his torso. Even though someone had taken the time to bandage and tape him up, his ribs still hurt like hell as he tried to twist his beaten frame. He couldn’t help but moan as his ass briefly made contact with the wall and searing pain shot up his back and down his leg.

  “You need to be quiet,” someone hissed from the shadows.

  He couldn’t help it, his body was aching all over, the impacts and bruises flaring every time he moved. “Who are you?” he whispered back.

  “It doesn’t matter. Stay quiet or they’ll hurt you,” floated the soft insistent voice.

  Forcing himself to deal with the pain, he brought himself into a sitting position, and even though tears were streaming down his face, he did his best not to cry out again. He reached down and felt the bindings across his ankles and felt despair when he realized that they were locked shackles, explaining the metallic ringing sound he heard every time he shifted his hands or feet. He had to feel his way through it, there wasn’t enough light to see his fingers even when placed directly in front of his face.

  He had no idea how long he sat there, but soon his ass was numb and his limbs were feeling rigid. He did the best he could to stretch, but whoever had bound him had made it nearly impossible to do much more than bend and lengthen his limbs. His breathing was becoming more regular, but it hurt every time he inhaled, his chest keeping his exertions in check.

  Light flooded the room and he turned his head as pinpricks stabbed his eyes. He heard movement and knew that someone was approaching him. He tried to look up at the figure bending over him, the silhouette of a small shape reaching forward was all he could make out. After the long hours of darkness, his eyes were refusing to adjust to the sudden influx of light.

  His arm was yanked forward and he did his best to pull it back; but there wasn’t much fight in him just yet and he cried out as his chest erupted in white hot pain from his exertions. He felt the tapping on his arm and then something pierced his inner forearm. He felt pressure on his mind as instantly drugs started coursing through his system. The pain was gone, the agony of his limbs becoming a distant memory, and he actually smiled at the person hovering in front of the light.

  Then they were gone and he was plunged into darkness once more. Full of nothing but happy thoughts, he laid back down on the cold floor and closed his eyes. Still smiling, he drifted off to sleep and left the frigid prison that harbored his physical body.

  Chapter 13

  Morning Ride

  Todd

  Compound 2

  There was one thing about the compounds that very few people knew and he wanted to keep it that way. There was part of the northern wall that would open if you knew the right way to do it. It had been painted to match the rest of the section and only a trained and practiced eye would know where to find it and the latch that opened it. He pushed up on it now, making sure that no one outside his current group was paying attention to what they were doing, then slowly slid the door open.

  He led his horse through the gateway and paused on the other side as the others followed suit. After having a discussion with Monica that morning, he had set out to gather some of the others. It was time for them to have a serious talk about what they were going to do next, without the prying ears of a lunatic picking up every word they said.

  He couldn’t be sure that there weren’t hidden microphones scattered throughout the compound; his paranoia so complete that he had a hard time using the bathroom this morning as well. The thought of Sean watching him take a dump was outrageous, but he hadn’t been able to help it, and after thirty minutes and a numb ass, he had given up. They were going to have to find a way to shut the man out, but it wasn’t something he could discuss openly anywhere within the compound’s walls.

  Joseph looked tired from his trip and as he brought his brown and white horse next to his black one, they shared a look of wariness and understanding. He had been one of the easier ones to convince that they needed to go this far in order to speak; maybe his own training and tactical mind followed the logic that Todd had settled upon; the walls literally had ears. Rosilynn followed closely behind and he could see Monica, Ben, and Sabrina eagerly waiting their turn to pass through the five-foot opening he’d made.

  “I don’t understand what’s going on,” Sabrina muttered, her eyes showing signs of lack of sleep; it was a trait most of them shared.

  “Not now,” he responded, as he put a foot in his saddle and mounted his horse. They were wearing light combat gear and each of them were heavily armed. Even in the middle of nowhere the world didn’t feel safe. His eyes searched the woods and tried to pick up any abnormal movement; sure that somewhere out there was a danger just waiting for them to be stupid enough to lower their guard.

  Ben wasn’t happy either. He had been up late and it had taken more than thirty minutes to convince him to get out of bed and join them. As much as he sympathized and wanted to give the young man a break; he was an integral part of everything that happened in this compound and they couldn’t afford not to have his input and expertise. When the others were mounted, he pulled on the reins of his horse and nudged it forward.

  “Why are we going all the way out here?” the computer hacker asked. “Do you seriously think these horses have bugs shoved up their asses? Do you want to do a rectal exam to check?” He was cranky and the mood was contagious.

  All of them had been made painfully aware of their situation and none of them felt safe talking freely now that they knew that Sean was listening to every word said. No, he didn’t think there were bugs or tracking devices implanted on their horses; even his paranoid mind hadn’t gone that far yet. What he wasn’t sure about were the hidden cameras in the tree line that Sean had installed to watch the perimeter. Were they capable of transmitting sound? Since he didn’t know the answer, he refused to take the chance and kept pushing them further out.

  They reached a small clearing with a pond and he pulled up on his reins. He surveyed the tree line looking for cameras, but he was pretty sure that after the quiet hour-long ride, they were safely beyond the established perimeter and finally free to talk openly.

  He whistled softly to the others and dismounted. Looping the reins over a nearby branch, he unslung his AR-15 and began sweeping the area. Joseph had done the same, heading in the opposite direction with his sniper rifle up and disappearing into the tree line. When they both looped enough to run into each other, they nodded and headed back to the others waiting for them. They had their weapons out as well and they looked relieved when the two of them finally returned.

  “We should be fine now,” he told them as he lowered his weapon. He didn’t sling it ove
r his shoulder; he wasn’t that confident in their safety.

  “Why are we out here?” Sabrina asked. She hadn’t been part of the meetings so far and he had only requested her to join them because she happened to hear his conversation with Joseph, and had insisted on being a part of the conversation. It was hard to argue with her when she had her mind set on something; much to his frustration. Rather than cause a scene and attract notice from the others, he had reluctantly given in.

  “I didn’t see you guys come in last night, welcome back,” he told Joseph, ignoring the daggers Sabrina was staring at him. “I heard Marisol was out there waiting for you when you got here, finally well enough to travel. Though, it was late and no one was out there to greet her.”

  The big man laughed. “Yeah, it was kind of late and most of ya’ll had turned in.”

  “Not all of us,” Ben muttered, trying to force a smile.

  “When we get back, you’ll have to tell me about it,” he returned, trying to sound cheerful, even though his life was anything but for the moment. He looked to his wife and nodded.

  She told them all about her phone conversation that morning and her intent on going out to rescue her mother and sister. They listened passively and when she was finished, Joseph was giving him a wary look. “That’s why we’re out here? To talk about that?”

  “In part,” he began, trying to decide where to go with his line of thought.

  “Todd, you ain’t right, dragging us all out of bed and bringing us all the way out here just to say that your wife’s mom is okay. What’s up with this shit?” Sabrina asked in her usual brisk tone.

  “I’m not sure how much Joseph has been brought up to speed on things, so I’ll try to cover as much as I can quickly, so we can get back before too many notice that we’re gone,” he started.

  “Why does it matter if they notice?” Rosilynn asked, stepping forward, eyes intent on his face. Her hair was down this morning and she had the wet-just-got-out-of-the-shower look. He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful it made her look and he had to quickly avert his eyes to keep his mind focused.