This morning’s arena fight made him painfully aware to what purpose he was being put, and if things got more heated, he would need to regain his strength if he were to survive.
The door opened and two men entered, taking a guarded position on either side of the doorway. They were the jailers from this morning and his stomach quenched when he saw that they had brought a bowl with them. Setting it on a box a few feet in front of him, the man on the left backed up while the other held a gun ready in case Robert took any action against them. He was too hungry to think of that now and grabbed up the bowl quickly. It looked like stew and his throat burned as he began gulping the liquid down. Chunks of meat fell into his mouth and as he began to chew, he saw the man on the right smiling.
“What?” he managed as he chewed eagerly. His mouth was salivating at the meat and his stomach was beyond caring what kind it was. It had a tang to it he didn’t recognize, but he kept grinding it all the same.
“I’m not sure if I liked the taste the first or second time more. Granted, the first was a bit more pleasurable. Still, she did satisfy me in every possible way she could,” the man finished, grinning and rubbing his stomach.
He stopped chewing.
His mind clicked together and he quickly understood what the man was saying; as did his stomach, which immediately went to work to regurgitating everything he had fed it. Vomiting violently, he emptied the contents back into the bowl and heard the laughter of the guards as they exited and shut the door. A bolt fastened and he wiped his mouth of the bile on his lips.
“Fuck me,” he cursed, tossing the bowl aside. It came to rest on the floor, half its contents still within its cracked shell.
His mind roared at the injustice of what had been done; his heart sickened by it. “I’m sorry Nina,” he said softly. He had known her briefly, but her heart had been like his and they could have gone far together. He remembered her embrace, the fiery beat of her heart and quickening of her breath. He closed his eyes and pictured her legs gripping him, her fingers digging into his back, and the look in her eyes as she orgasmed.
A cramp hit him in the gut, his hunger starting to override his senses. If he was going to have any chance at surviving, he was going to need his strength. No matter how much it repulsed him, the protein might save his life. He grimaced at the thought, cursing his inner will, which seemed to be slipping.
He couldn’t—he mustn’t.
“Fuck me,” he moaned again, hitting his fist into one of the nearby boxes and spilling a rotten head onto the floor, where it rolled against the freezer door, coming to rest with dead eyes staring at him. He looked into those eyes and saw his own.
If he didn’t get out of this, if he didn’t find a way, then his head might end up in a box as well.
He quickly crossed himself. It was a habit he hadn’t yet broke. Who was he praying to? The same son of a bitch that had killed his daughter? That had killed most of the world and burned Humanity to the ground? Exactly who could he count on to hear his prayers? No, he was going to have to do this on his own. Vengeance began to swell anew within. He had a large rock of hate in his heart, one that seemed to be growing with every hour of his imprisonment.
This sick turn of events had done one thing, it had given him time to reflect. The cooling stew was a reminder of what he had himself put into motion. Had he been any different than the monsters that had imprisoned him? Had he not been just as ruthless? He had been driven in hate in his quest to capture Sabrina and drive Todd from his compounds, was he any different than these slave mongers and their abhorrent tactics?
“I would never do this,” he managed, but he didn’t believe it, even as he spoke. Had he been given the chance, would he have done something different? He had to admit that he had enjoyed the rush brought on by the gladiator combat he had participated in, had almost lost himself in the heat of battle. He felt like a man born to exist in this new world, to conquer it in his own name and make it his own. Was there room for compassion in this new existence?
Was Todd really to blame for all of this?
His certainty had begun to shift, his resolve to weaken.
Even if Todd had posted something on Facebook, would he have listened or just ignored it? He remembered telling Sabrina that those compounds of Todd’s were nothing but bullshit, could he really say that he would have put stock to anything the man said?
These were the questions that he had refused to face on his path of vengeance and now that he sat in this cold cell with his head between his hands, he had to look at all his failings with no distractions to divert his attention. He understood that if he was going to survive, he would have to admit the dark truth of his soul and accept everything that was. From that understanding would come the strength he needed to break free of his shackles.
He was a man driven by hate, but now that hatred was shifting in a new direction. Maybe he didn’t need Todd and his compound after all, what good would he do locked up behind some walls in the woods? What purpose would it serve? When he had seen those guards holding guns on that cheering crowd, something in him had stirred. Maybe his destiny lay in freeing the people here and taking his place as their leader. Yes, he would be more effective here than hidden in the forest.
He knew in his heart that he was meant to lead. He looked within and began to accept the things that he had done, to let the regret flow inside. He resolved himself to accept his current existence, to what he would now have to do, and began turning his mind to how he’d make it a reality.
“I’m sorry Nina,” he said again, as he reached forward and grasped the lukewarm bowl cooling on the cold floor. Hardening his heart for what was to come, he took a long sip of the liquid, letting his mind roam freely as he ate the chunks of cooked meat; swallowing it down without a second thought.
Chapter 24
STRIKE!
Todd
Duncan, AZ
Joseph came to an abrupt stop just outside Duncan.
The highway ahead was swarming with the undead, as if the entire population of the small town had come to the town center for a meeting. They were milling about, as if just waiting for someone stupid enough to approach and provide them something to eat. Without external stimuli, they were like giant bee hive that would react instantly when poked with a stick.
“Well, what now?” the man beside him asked, and he tried to think quickly before they were noticed.
“In the mood for bowling?” he returned, then was sickened by the thought.
It had only been a couple of days and somehow his mind was already adjusting to see them as nothing else but something to kill, not the human beings they had once been. Had his mind been conditioned to this by the endless movies he had seen over the years? Or was this the ugliness of Humanity rearing its ugly head?
“Bowling?” his son asked from the back and his head appeared between the two seats. “Oh, sick,” Nick said disgusted and disappeared from sight.
Joseph glared at him. “You know we can easily find a way around,” he suggested, probing.
“I thought you were eager to meet the enemy head on,” he returned with a grim smile.
“Touché,” the man replied, then turned to study the packed road once more. “Easier said from afar; not so easy to stomach when you actually do it.”
The Humvee hummed beneath their feet and he took stock of the numbers of undead before them. Sighing, he made a decision. “Ros, use the remote on the M134 minigun, but start by firing a grenade into that horde first. I’ll use the heavy machine guns and try to plow the road,” he spoke, keeping eyes on the road, but picking up a control pad from the resting spot on the right and gripping it tightly. His pad controlled the two M9s mounted on both sides of the Humvee and he tested the controls, doing another check before actually using them. They swiveled on their mounts and he targeted the front row of zombies ahead.
“Joseph?” he asked, not taking his eyes from the video screen.
He felt the vehicle lurch forward i
n response.
The Mk 19 grenade launcher fired and its ordinance streamed ahead of them. It exploded and he watched as the horde became a fiery mess of torn flesh and broken bodies. The sudden stimuli focused the mass of undead and they turned in the direction of the approaching Humvee. He pressed down on the pad and the machine guns started firing just as the minigun above roared to life, tearing the nearest of the zombies in half. He adjusted his aim to take them in the head instead of the chest and grimaced at the lack of bodies he was clearing out of their way. Tracking them as best he could, he felt the Humvee buck and realized they were now amidst the undead hordes trying to get at them.
Joseph made an adjustment to the tire pressure allowing for better traction on soft terrain and hit the gas. He continued firing, viewing what was happening through the screen rather than looking up through the windshield, even when bodies began to pound against the bulletproof glass.
“Dammit,” he cursed, as the guns continued to miss their marks. He had it on automatic fire and he wished that he had played more of his kids’ first-person shooters before the world had gone to shit. He hated this focused view crap.
Sabrina let out a scream and he looked to his right to see a zombie clinging to the side of the Humvee, beating on the glass to the rear seats. “Joseph,” he warned, but there was no need as the vehicle swerved, brushing a large horde of undead and tearing the creature free. The grenade launcher fired again and a mass that had grouped before them suddenly blew apart.
Joseph pushed forward and the Humvee shot through the breach and beyond the undead horde chasing after them. “Nick, the rear guns,” he commanded his son, who was already reaching for the pad nestled on the roof above him. His son’s hands worked quickly and the rear mounted weapons opened fire, tearing into the zombies hot on their rear.
They were now in the open with farmland on either side. Most of the undead had massed in the center of the city and as they raced forward less and less dove their way into their path. The weapons went silent and everyone in the Humvee let out a large collective sigh of relief.
“How’d I do?” Nick asked in excitement.
He felt disgusted by what had just happened, now that he had time to reflect on it, and he wanted to scold his son for his apparent joy. However, he didn’t need the boy doubting what they doing, a hesitation at the wrong moment—
“Better than I did,” he answered, trying to smile. He could see by the shared looks between Joseph and Rosilynn that both of them had felt the same as he did and saw through his false tone. “We’ll need to stop and reload when we get the chance. We’ve got some backroads to navigate and nothing really in our way before we get to San Simon.”
“Wish there was a car wash on the way too,” Joseph muttered, leaning over to see the gore covered front end of the truck. “You know we would’ve saved a lot of ammunition if we’d simply gone around.”
He sighed. “No matter where we go, there will be undead waiting. We can’t hide from it forever.”
“I don’t want to imagine what Tucson’s like now,” Sabrina groaned.
“Well, we’re soon to find out,” he returned grimly.
The day had only just begun.
Chapter 25
Delusions
Ben
Compound 2
It was no longer his imagination; the air was growing thinner. He wiped sweat from his forehead as he kept working. He only had one server left to go and he was beginning to have vision problems; an inability to focus. He took a quick drink of Red Bull and his quickened breathing was starting to make him dizzy.
“Come on Ben, you’ve almost got it,” a voice spoke in his right ear. He jumped and saw Todd standing behind him, peering over his shoulder. He looked just as he did earlier that morning and his mind was having a hard time reconciling his sudden presence.
“How the hell did you get in here?” he asked, looking to his rear and seeing the still locked door.
“I never left,” the older man replied. “There, the last server is set up, now hurry and get the systems back online. Time is short.”
His mind battled against what his senses were telling him and as the screen began to blur, he quickly rebooted the computer and let the regular start up process begin. He let out a sigh of relief as Windows came back online and kept his fingers crossed that he had gotten every line of code Sean had installed—out. He had dismissed any program that had been created or modified since their last vacation, but for all he knew the files had been corrupted long before then. He was taking a risk, but there were just too many essential programs he would need in the days ahead, like the communication algorithms that let him talk to the other compounds. He couldn’t imagine not knowing how they were, to know if they had suffered because of him.
The loading tones began and he quickly typed in his user password. “That’s it,” Todd said again with a smile. “Almost there.”
“You’re not here,” he returned. “You can’t be. You’re just a figment of my imagination.”
Todd laughed, “Does that make me less real? By the way, you never thought I’d actually let you date my daughter, did you? I like you boy, but not that much.”
“I—,” he stuttered, but then a dizzy spell swept over him and he almost fell out of the chair.
The man laughed harder. “That’s right. Why would I let you have her when you can’t even finish such a simple task as this? It’s a good thing she’s above ground, otherwise your inability to fix this would have led to her death.”
“No!” Ben yelled, willing himself back to work. “You’re not real!”
Todd laughed harder. “Got your balls back, do ya? Let’s see what you’re really worth, boy.”
Gritting his teeth and forcing himself to focus, he began restarting the compounds systems. There was little he could do as he waited for them to cycle up and so far, there seemed to be no resistance from the outside. He opened the network and groaned when he saw that the other three were still offline.
Had he doomed them all?
Typing and clicking furiously, he fought to bring the program that controlled the lockdown back online and release the seals preventing him from getting any air. His breathing was becoming strained and his head was pounding. He double clicked on the reset button for the system and he heard the alarms suddenly go silent.
Todd’s laughter started again as he fell out of the chair and landed on the ground, striking his head in a sudden burst of light.
“Ben?” a voice called and he thought it was Jenn’s. Unable to respond, his vision darkened and he drifted off into the nothingness that was engulfing his mind.
Chapter 27
Clear
Monica
Compound 2
Her husband had called a short time before, so when her phone rang again, she didn’t even look at the caller ID, she guessed that he had made it through Duncan and was calling to give her an update.
“You guys make it through all right?” she asked as she hit the talk button. Michelle was sleeping in the hay lofts above and she stepped out of the stables so she didn’t wake her. Sam had long finished tending to the horses and had gone off to check on her own children.
“Is this Monica?” a frightened voice asked over her earpiece.
Who the hell? She glanced at the caller ID, but didn’t recognize the number. “Who is this?”
“There’s no time to explain. Get to Ben right now!” the voice commanded her and she was moving before her mind told her body to go.
“What’s going on?” she managed, as she sprinted away from the stables and cut across the football field towards the main building.
The female voice on the other end sounded panicked as she explained how they all had reset their systems and when the video screen had come back up, she had just caught sight of Ben falling out of his chair and out of sight. “I haven’t been able to reach him since. Someone needs to check on him.”
“On it, I’ll let you know he’s okay once I�
��m in there,” she responded and ended the call.
Rodger and Lucy were sitting in some bleachers by the baseball field watching the kids throw a ball around when she came rushing past.
“Rodger, its Ben!” she yelled, not waiting for the old man to respond.
The warehouse was on her left and she was quickly running out of breath from running at full sprint over the last quarter of a mile. Her ankles were throbbing, but she didn’t care. As she rounded the last corner she thought she heard someone behind her, but she didn’t wait as she plunged through the double doors and into the airlock within. It sealed after her and Rodger came to an abrupt stop outside the door. Lucy wasn’t that far behind, but there was nothing she could do but wait for the four-minute cycle to finish.
They would have to follow after.
From the girl’s tone on the phone she was certain that every moment counted and she couldn’t have waited for them to catch up before going through.
“I’m sorry,” she mouthed as put a hand on the Plexiglas and looked at the parents on the other side. She could sympathize with their sorrow, but she would also be glad someone else was trying to reach her kid as quickly as possible; not sparing a moment to get them out of trouble.
It was the longest four minutes of her life.
The airlock released and she was through the doors before they finished opening and rushed towards the stairway on the left side. The first thing she noticed was how thin the air was and as she ran she began to feel lightheaded.
What was with the air?
She bolted down the staircase, taking multiple steps at a time, and her knees ached as she jumped to the first landing and rounded a corner. The next steps flew past and she burst through the door into the first sub-basement level and almost ran face first into the wall beyond. Her lungs were burning now, something was wrong here. The doors were opening, so the lockdown had been canceled, but why was it so hard to breathe?
The Rotting Souls Series (Book 3): Charon's Debt Page 14
