Josh disconnected, drove his Charger over the curb, and parked as close to the entrance as he could. He let the engine run and opened the front passenger door. Where was Mark? How long did it take to get from his office to the doors? Josh tapped his foot and stared out the window for the hundredth time.
Mark flew through the doors at a dead run with an infected person clawing for his shirt. Josh's heart lodged in his throat. He couldn't get a clear shot. The man was too close to Mark. Mark spun swinging the bolt cutters and connected with the guy's jaw but tripped and landed on the ground. Two more infecteds breached the doors and ran for him.
Josh jumped out of the car and used the roof to brace his arm. He fired and the first one dropped, but the second shot went wide, and the rabid reached his brother. Mark scrambled backward swinging the bolt cutters as Josh fired on the second man. As Josh rounded the car, Mark regained his footing and ran toward the Charger. Josh climbed back inside.
Mark slid into the seat, "Go! Go! Go!"
Josh’s heart pounded faster than a crazed metronome. He floored it out of the area. He glanced in his rearview mirror and saw people pouring out of the building. "Did they scratch you?" Josh glanced at his brother as he steered the car out of the parking lot. "Answer me! Any scratches or bites?"
"No. Most never got close enough. I saw them milling around on the other side of the lobby, and I booked it." Mark let out a shaky laugh. "Good thing I still jog two miles every morning, otherwise my backside would be toast."
"It almost was anyway." Too close. Seeing those things bear down on his brother had taken years off his life. Josh tugged on the collar of his shirt. They had to get to Uncle Reg's place or they'd never survive. The radio continued to scan, and finally landed on a 40's station.
"What's with listening to Great-Grandpa Amos's music? Did you get old or something?"
Josh hadn't thought of his great-grandfather in years. The old man always smelled of pipe tobacco. "I wanted to hear the news. If there is any, and this is the only station playing."
"That'd be nice since I've been locked away in the office without a radio or television." Mark stretched his legs. "I thought the way from my office to the museum would be clear. One of the guys in the control room brought the disease in, and as soon as I saw what was happening, I found an empty office, locked the door, and moved the desk in front of it. I wasn't going to take a chance walking home or using public transportation."
"Smart move."
"Thanks, bro." Mark crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm man enough to admit I was scared spit-less."
Josh grinned at Mark's choice of words. His baby brother hadn't changed much in the last few years. Mark had never cursed. In fact, Josh couldn't remember the kid ever saying anything off color. "I'd call you a liar if you said you weren't."
"At least I'm safe now."
"Maybe." Josh took a deep breath. "The world's devolved fast. I don't know if we'll ever be safe. Aunt Mary Anne gave me directions to a bunker Uncle Reg had built in the Hill Country. She said if we can make it there, it's reinforced, but to make it, we'll need to stay focused at all times."
"Why did Uncle Reg build a bunker?"
"I don't know." Josh rubbed his eyes. "He's a scientist of some sort in a top-secret job for the government. Maybe he had forewarning."
Mark nodded. "Where are they coming from?"
"She said they're on the way from Silver Penny and will meet us."
Mark adjusted his seat to recline. "How long will it take us to get there?"
"Technically? A little over four hours." Josh scoured the roads for signs of trouble. They zipped past residential condos dotted with leafless pecan trees on one side and the transit center on the other. "Of course I'll drive much faster than the speed limit but from what I found coming from Austin, we may encounter blocked roads, and who knows what else."
"Really?" Mark leaned forward. "So, I guess stopping for a burger's out of the question?"
Josh resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Didn't Mark understand if he couldn't get out of the Space Center, chances of a burger joint still standing were nil? "We can stop at a store. If we can find one that hasn't been ransacked."
"Good, I could use something to drink and eat. I haven't left my office in days."
"Days? How'd you use the bathroom?"
Mark shrugged. "Maybe I exaggerated when I said, 'my office'. As an intern, I only had a cubicle. When everyone left, I took over a bigwig's office. It had a bathroom attached."
"You must be starving."
"Not too bad. He kept a case of water in the office mini-fridge. I also had those chicken salad packs in my desk and a package of cookies that I took with me when I took over the office, but I finished the last off early this morning."
Josh increased his speed as he neared Rosenberg. "Why didn't you call me at the first sign of trouble?"
"Dude, upper management assured us we needn't worry. They captured the man who brought the virus into the building, so we thought everything was okay." Mark rubbed his eyes. "Only it wasn't. When things weren't better by that night, I tried calling, but nothing was working. Every time I dialed your number, I got a strange busy signal. I got through to Aunt Mary Anne once, but her phone cut out after she said, 'hello'."
"Why not use a landline?"
"I did." Mark shifted to look at him. "Your landline at home went to the answering machine when I called."
"Yeah. I tried to reach you so many times, and it didn't go through. Guess I got lucky this last time." Josh spotted a convenience store, and slowed to a crawl. No one around. He turned into the lot and parked. "Let me go in and see if it's clear. If it's not safe, get out of here."
"I'm not leaving you behind."
Josh gritted his teeth. "Mark—"
"No. There is no argument here." Mark opened his door and climbed out. "You were in the corps. No man left behind. We've always taken care of each other."
Josh grumbled under his breath and jogged around the car to catch up to Mark. "At least keep your butt behind me. I'm the one with the gun."
Chapter Four
Everything was gone in a matter of days. Nothing more than a few boxes of macaroni and cheese, and a couple of packages of ramen noodles. Why didn't she keep her pantry stocked with real food?
How did this happen? She looked at the sky. If her parents were right, and there's a God who loved them, then why did He allow this atrocity to happen? People turning into mindless cannibals? Sure didn't look like a caring God to her.
Randi pulled into the parking lot of Garling's Hunting and Sporting Goods. A log structure that had large windows and sliding doors in the front, it was a mecca for outdoorsmen all over the Hill Country. While it looked ordinary, they carried any kind of equipment a sportsman could desire.
The deserted parking lot sent chills up her spine. They were in the middle of hunting season. The time of year when Garling's was packed. She parked near the doors. "We need to play it smart since we don't know if this place is safe or not."
"Is it even open?" Miguel asked.
"Who cares? At this point, if it's not open, we break in and take what we need." Leon leaned forward. "We do whatever it takes to protect our family. Whatever."
"He's right. If they're open and in business, we'll load everything we can on my credit card." Randi opened her door. "But I doubt anyone's around. The world's collapsed in a matter of days. Leon, my AR and 30-30 are behind the seat. Grab them. I've got my .45. We aren't taking chances on encountering biters."
"I don't like this."
"Then keep your butt in the truck, Miguel." Randi glared at him. "I'm not letting my doctor brother become a zombie buffet."
Miguel blanched, but took the 30-30 from Leon.
Randi led the way. The automatic opener sprang into action, and the double doors whooshed open. She huffed out a breath and stepped inside. Lights blazed, but silence met them. Where were the owners? Did they leave the store without locking it? This felt off. Hummingb
irds fluttered in her gut, and her senses went on high alert. "We need to make a quick run through the store, clear it, and load up on guns, ammo, tents, sleeping bags, camp stoves, heaters, portable toilets, chemicals, and anything else you can think of," Randi whispered.
She motioned for Leon to take the left side of the store and Miguel the right while she went straight toward the back of the store. She pushed through the doors to the storage room. Empty.
Gunshots rang out.
"Help!" Miguel screamed.
Her heart tried to beat out of her chest. Randi ran toward the right side of the store. A group of infected people cornered Miguel. One of them pinned him against the wall. She aimed her .45 and placed two rounds in the man's brain. He dropped to the floor. She turned to the next infected. As she aimed, several more shots rang out.
Leon ran toward them firing into the group. Miguel recovered his dropped weapon and fired several rounds.
After they cleared the store, Randi headed back to the storage area. The only person in their group with any medical knowledge had almost died. They should never have split up. Her lousy leadership almost cost her brother's life.
She walked through the door to the storeroom and leaned against the wall. She gulped in a few deep breaths and fought the trembling throughout her body. Time to man up, Marine. She'd walked into this situation without preparing. The entire world had turned into a hostile war zone. She had to think like a soldier if she wanted to stay alive and keep her family safe.
A couple of large rolling bins sat right inside the storeroom. She pushed them into the gun department where she found a set of keys and turned off the alarms. Her thoughts wandered as she loaded every gun she could find and all of the ammo in the store. This might tick her father off to no end, but to survive, they needed firepower. The more the better. How the man could hang onto his ridiculous values now, she'd never understand. Too bad he hadn't always lived by that code.
"What've you got?" Leon peered into the gun bins. "Wow. You cleaned up, girlie."
Randi nodded and pushed them forward.
"Miguel has several shopping baskets filling them up with supplies." Leon grabbed a bin and started toward the camping gear. "Come on. We'll add to your bin and get more buggies if we need them."
"Okay. You help Miguel, and I'll load up on cold-weather gear."
They pushed the supplies outside once they had everything they needed. "There's a trailer." Randi pointed to several trailers at the edge of the parking lot. "All of this won't fit in my truck. I'll hook up to one of the bigger ones, and we can load it with everything."
She backed up to the trailer and climbed out of her truck.
They secured the trailer and loaded the loot, including the rolling bins. "Should we hit a grocery store while we're in town?" Leon asked.
"I grabbed food and drinks. There was a cafeteria in the back of the store. I cleaned it out except for the perishable stuff. I did grab enough steaks for supper tonight, though." Randi closed the truck's lift gate as soon as Miguel climbed out. "I also grabbed the kits to make smoked sausages. There's a smokehouse on the property, and we can go hunting."
"I saw the grinder. How does it work?" Miguel asked. "We don't have electricity."
"There's power in the smokehouse run by generators, solar power, and several huge wind turbines. Barker thought of everything."
They climbed into the truck, and Randi started on Highway 16 toward the compound. They came upon a car on the side of the road just after they passed I-10. A little girl stood there alone except for a shuffling, drooling man who headed toward her.
Randi hit the brakes, skidded to a stop, jumped out her truck, and ran to the little girl. The biter grabbed for the child as she reached her. "Not today." Randi planted her foot in the middle of the man's chest knocking him backward, scooped up the girl, and ran for the truck. She handed the girl to Miguel. Then rounded to the driver's side and climbed into the truck. "Check her for scratches or bites."
Randi hit the gas and careened away from the man. "Well?"
"Well, what?" Miguel looked at her. "Give me a chance to talk to the child," he whispered.
"We need to know if she's infected before we go any farther." Randi glared at him. "If she's bitten, we need to dump her. Now."
"Hush. You don't need to say those things in front of the child. Don't be so heartless."
"Shut up." Randi lowered her voice. "I'm not heartless, just realistic. If she's bitten, she'll turn. I refuse to take someone who's infected back into the compound."
"I've checked everywhere visible and don't see any bites or scratches."
"Little girl, what's your name?" Randi asked.
"Toni."
"Toni, has anyone bitten you?"
The little girl sniffled. "No."
"Scratched you?"
She shook her head.
"Do you have any owies anywhere?"
"Unh uh."
How had the child survived on her own? Where were her parents? She looked about six or seven at the most. "How old are you?"
"Seven."
"Sweetie, were you alone back there?" Miguel asked.
The little girl nodded.
"What happened? Honey, do you have any family?"
She sniffled and tears flowed down her face. Miguel hugged her to him and rocked her back and forth. "Shhh. It's okay, baby. You're safe now." The child's tears subsided, but she stayed snuggled up to Miguel.
Randi swallowed. She had no clue how to comfort a child. Or anyone else for that matter. Why couldn't she be more tender like Adriana and Miguel? Nope, Randi the tomboy. Never quite fitting in. Not even with her family.
Randi pulled into the gate and parked. "Miguel, take Toni to Mom and ask her to check her for bites or scratches." She made eye contact with him. "If she has any suspicious areas, she and I will camp in the outer area until we know she's not infected."
Miguel took her by the hand. "Do you want to go with me to meet my Mom?"
Toni nodded and allowed Miguel to lead her into the compound.
"He's good with kids." Leon grabbed a rolling bin out of the trailer. "I always enjoy watching him with our children."
"Yeah." Randi hopped into the bed of the pickup and handed supplies down to Leon. "I know. Growing up no one understood why he was great with children, but I didn't know what to do with them."
"You were just a tomboy." Leon grinned. "I remember when I was dating your sister, you always wanted to go hunting and fishing with the guys."
"Not quite a girly-girl."
"Being girly's way over-rated." Leon took sleeping bags from her and piled them on top of the guns. "I love Adriana more than life, but she couldn't handle herself out there. If you hadn't brought us here, I might not have my wife and kids."
Randi almost smiled. His jeans, plaid flannel shirt, and the trucker cap covering his red hair made him the consummate redneck, but the man had a heart bigger than the state. He'd always been her best friend.
They rolled the two bins into the compound, and Leon headed back to get another load as Randi's father took her hand. "We need to talk, mija."
"What's up, Dad?"
"Why did you bring all of these weapons back?" He pointed to the full bins "You aren't going to kill these sick people."
"If it means keeping my family alive, then yes, I will." She glared at her father. "You still won't admit how it is out there. The infected people aren't rational, reasonable human beings. They are peeing, pooping, and eating machines. The disease fried their brains. When they look at us, they see nothing more than a meal. I've told you this over and over, but you insist on not listening to me."
Her father grimaced. "Inside this compound, we should be safe from them."
"I love you." Randi kissed her father on the cheek. "But you're clueless how the world functions now." Or he chose to remain ignorant. "You only saw a tiny part of it on the way in. If we allow one infected person into our compound, then we're all dead."
He crossed his arms but didn't respond.
"Do you want to see your grandchildren eaten? Not by wild animals, but by people? Possibly their own parents? Torn from limb to limb, or worse, get infected and become cannibals intent on eating everyone in their path?"
"You don't need to be so graphic."
"I think I do. You've ignored everything I've said to you." Randi tapped her foot. "This outbreak isn't treatable. It's terminal. At the very best, the infected people are going to die a horrendous death, but at the worst, they're going to infect others. If we don't prepare ourselves for the inevitability we may have to kill people, we will die and take many of our loved ones with us. Then there are those who will kill us, for what we have."
"The Bible says we shouldn't kill."
Randi didn't remember much about her days in church, but she did remember part of a sermon on that particular commandment. "But isn't a more literal translation of the verse from the Greek, 'Thou shall not murder'?"
"What difference does that make?"
"A huge one." Randi took a deep breath. "If you are defending yourself and your family, it's not murder."
Her father paced for a few seconds. "Nonetheless, I despise the idea of killing people. We're safe here. I don't see the need for so many weapons."
Leon walked in with several compound bows and arrows. He raised an eyebrow. "Xever, Randi's trying to protect us. If we don't need these weapons, great, but why not prepare for the worst?" He put his arm around the older man's shoulder. "I'm not allowing those things to hurt my family. Not to mention the uninfected who are looking for vulnerable people."
"And what about food, Dad?" Randi motioned to the perimeter land. "There are several species of deer, antelope, rams, and hogs roaming wild. We will run out of food and need to go hunting."
"How do you know what kind of game there is?" Leon asked.
"I arranged for the purchase of the exotics per Barker's orders." She touched her father's arm. "This man hired me to make this place safe and to ensure a sustainable food supply. He anticipated this outbreak. If it was going to burn itself out as the CDC and WHO keep saying, Barker wouldn't have built a compound where his family could live for the next fifty years."
Dark Days (Book 1): Contagion Page 4
