Lankford exited the room.
Miller stood up again and looked around the office. Apart from the telephone, there was nothing interesting to do or even to examine. They had no clues to where they were or what was happening. Miller began to pace the small area between the table and the unadorned wall.
“What do you think happened to Major McDivitt and the others?” asked Piper. This whole thing was getting to her, cracking her tough military exterior. “Do you think they are still alive?”
“She doesn’t know shit, Piper,” Judy said. “We’re all in the dark.”
“Crespi said he is helping them right now,” Miller said. “We’ll just have to play along and hope for the best until we can find some weapons.”
“That asshole Crespi is one of the Triad, Sheriff.” The tone in Judy’s voice was accusatory again. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”
“What is your problem with me, Judy?” Miller said, softly.
“You got Bean killed.” There it was. No anger, no grief. Just a statement of fact, like the weather report. There was something wrong with Judy, Miller was sure of it.
Miller didn’t bother to answer that. She turned to Piper. “Crespi has helped us so far. Like I said, we’ll just have to believe he’s on the side of the angels until we know otherwise.”
Judy snorted. “That is pretty damn naive.”
“Well, what do you propose we do, Judy? Even if there are weapons nearby, we don’t know where to find them. Hell, that kid didn’t even wear a side arm. We have to be smart and not reckless.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“Judy, even if we could find the men, we wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting them out of here alive. Not on our own. We’ll have to trust Crespi. That’s our only sane play right now.”
The women watched her. Miller wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince, them or herself. She sat down again. They all waited, listening to the clock on the wall tick relentlessly forward. Christ, she wants to poison the water supply for the entire area? Dump the virus in a dam? This was bound to be one hell of a logistical problem. Miller knew she would need both Scratch and Sheppard and a lot of help from the McDivitt militia to pull this one off in time.
The door opened abruptly. “Hello, ladies.”
Miller looked up to see a grey-haired woman who wore thick glasses. She was also dressed in a business suit, one with blue pinstripes. She had to have been at least sixty years old, though she carried it well. The woman said, “Come with me.”
Miller, Judy, and Piper followed the strange woman out into the hall. They were escorted further into the building, away from the doors, their blocky shoes clacking along the tiles like tiny ball peen hammers. They were headed deeper into enemy territory, not toward the exits, and Miller didn’t like that at all. She was already lost, and wasn’t very happy about going any further into the land of the undead.
“Uh, excuse me?”
The stranger ignored her and Miller almost spoke again, but then they took a turn to the left and came to another metal security door. The woman escorting them opened the door, and to Miller’s surprise, she suddenly found they were outside in the cool of the evening. The air stank of gasoline. A big engine was running. Miller’s eyes adjusted. She was looking at a dark-colored bus, a vehicle filled with other executive types headed for home.
“Get on board,” whispered their female escort, “keep your mouths shut and stare straight ahead. Stay calm no matter what. Stand up and get off at the first stop, Olive Street, which is right near the edge of town. That’s the best we can do. After this, you’re on your own. Godspeed, Sheriff.”
Miller nodded and turned to the bus. She came to the door and stepped onboard. The others followed her up the steps.
“Sorry you missed your other ride,” said the bus driver, a bald man with a paunch. He seemed sincere. “I radioed ahead to dispatch. They’ll have a taxi waiting for you. I hope that is satisfactory, ma’am.”
Miller nodded like an irritated big shot. The driver seemed relieved. He waved to the women to get settled. “Please take your seats.”
Miller nodded and gestured for Judy and Piper to follow. They found seats near the middle of the bus. They sat down and stared straight ahead. A thin young man in disheveled lab clothing looked over at them. His cheeks were pink. He seemed to have had too many cocktails at some corporate party. He tried to strike up a conversation. “You folks here for the hydroelectric summit too?”
Miller had no time to interpret that, though the thought of the dam crossed her mind again. All she could do was nod and study her hands. The young man gave up and looked out the window at the night sky.
In the distance, across the flight line, four big KC-10 aerial tankers were loading up only a few hundred feet from where C-17s containing the zombies sat waiting. Someone was getting ready for something big. The doors closed and the driver put the bus into gear. Miller was immediately lost in her own thoughts of the coming mission, her doubts and fears and worry for the safety of Scratch and the other men.
The bus pulled away from the curb and vanished into the night.
Chapter Seventeen
3 hours, 0 minutes to Stage Three (9:00pm)
The world went from sleepy to chaotic within minutes. Final orders went out and were quickly disseminated through the ranks. Dr. Charlotte Williams stood at her window, looking out at the brightly lit flight line. Vehicles moved busily here and there, men and women on foot ran from station to station shouting instructions. Engines roared and alarms sounded and jeeps and trunks honked their horns angrily. The entire base was a flurry of noisy activity. Very few knew exactly what was going on, just that something big was about to happen. Williams suppressed a craving for a glass of red wine. Their mission was far from over. It would be another two hours before she could even begin relax. Everything was ready. It was a go. Within moments there would be no turning back.
“The tankers are loaded and ready for departure,” Williams said. She made sure to sound cool and collected. “The same is true with the cargo planes. I was about to give the order to depart, unless you have any objection.”
Cecil responded in her ear. “Tell me about Sheriff Miller and Captain Sheppard. Have they been processed?”
“Sheriff Miller is locked securely in a holding cell downstairs.”
Cecil said nothing, clearly waiting for more. Then, with impatience: “What about Captain Sheppard, Charlotte? Is he also in custody?”
“No, not yet, Cecil.” Williams forced her voice to remain steady, but her stomach did a back flip. “This is nothing to worry about. I’ve already sent a team to collect him. I have been assured that he will be on base and in our hands momentarily.”
“And yet, you are about to launch the mission? Are you serious? You know perfectly well that Stage Three cannot continue without Miller and Sheppard locked down and under control. Both of them.”
Williams sat clutching the phone. Her knuckles were white. An engine roared outside her window and someone shouted an order to other men loading a plane. Williams felt her last meal churning in her stomach. “Of course I know that, and I’m doing everything in my power to complete my assignment in the time you have allotted, but there is only so much I can do.”
“Charlotte, you’re making excuses. That’s victim behavior. I’m surprised that’s the way you want to be perceived.”
“You know something, Cecil, I’m a little tired of your admonitions. I’ve been living in Idaho for the last two years, and I’ve come through with every assignment I’ve been given. I’ve had Raymond’s shenanigans to deal with, and evidently now I have to work around you shooting missiles at the two people who can make Stage Three work, all without being kept in the loop. If anything, I should sound like a fiddle, because I’m being played like one. For heaven’s sake. When were you going to tell me that Miguel Crespi is working with us? If I had known he was reliable…”
“What about Crespi?�
� Cecil made no attempt to hide his concern.
“If you had simply told me that Crespi was on the team, I could have achieved so much more, perhaps even avoiding all this zombie madness.”
“Crespi isn’t on the team, Charlotte. What in the world would make you think something like that?”
“Well, you told me there were others who could initiate Stage Three,” said Williams, but she could already hear the hollowness of her own voice. “And then Crespi told me that he had to report into you, and so I just…” She desperately wanted to avoid using the word “assume” in a sentence.
“This is a disaster, Charlotte. What have you done?”
“I…” But she couldn’t think of anything to say. “I’ll fix it, Cecil. I will.”
“You’ll fix it? Just how do you propose to do that? Do you have an inkling of what you’ve done?”
Cecil was silent for a long moment. Williams didn’t dare talk over whatever he would say next.
Finally, he said, “Kill Crespi. Complete Stage Three. Bring Miller and Sheppard with you to Wellington. And if there’s anything left of the world left when your flight arrives, there may be a place for you here. But if you fail…”
“I won’t fail, Cecil. I promise.”
“Yes, so you’ve said.” And Cecil was gone.
Williams stood for a long time, staring at the handset to her phone. It held no answers, only more problems. If it all didn’t go perfectly from this point forward, everything she had worked so hard on for so many years would be for nothing.
What else could go wrong? She instantly regretted asking the question.
So much. So much…
Chapter Eighteen
3 hours, 0 minutes to Stage Three (9:00pm)
A slightly stoned young taxi driver dropped the three exhausted women on a side street, about a block from the entrance to McDivitt’s compound.
“You sure this spot is okay, ladies?” The driver didn’t seem to really care.
“We’ll be fine,” Miller said. She’d found money in the pocket of the business suit. She paid with the money and tipped him decently. They got out of the taxi and it drove away. The driver never looked back.
Miller looked around. The street was quiet and unlit. A long stretch of unpaved driveway led up the hill and curved going into to the compound. The moonlight was shrouded by clouds. The three women walked up the dirt road. Piper was on point. No one spoke. As they approached their destination, Piper stopped suddenly and held up a hand. The three of them crouched down. Piper pointed into the gloom. Miller looked around and noticed that the gate was unmanned and ajar. Piper and Judy shared a worried look, and without a word kicked off their inconvenient feminine footwear and hosiery. They ducked low and pushed the gate open just wide enough for everyone to slip through.
“What’s our play?” Miller whispered.
Piper motioned for them to keep down. “Just stay quiet for now, Sheriff. It looks like we may have another problem.”
They stayed out of sight and waited while Piper climbed the ladder leading up to the guard tower. She struggled a bit in the formal skirt and bare feet. Miller kept watch, but saw no movement in either direction. Piper reached the top of the ladder and vanished into the small perch. It did not take her long to assess the situation. She hissed a warning and came down almost immediately. She was carrying an assault rifle. When Piper got back down to ground level, she showed her bare hands. In the moonlight, whatever was covering them seemed almost black. Miller knew that scent all too well. It didn’t take a genius to realize that she was covered with fresh blood.
Judy whispered. “Who was it?”
“Chuck.” Piper shook her head to indicate there was no hope. “Let’s keep moving.”
If Judy had an opinion about this turn of events, she kept it to herself. Miller didn’t know what to make of the woman. She had been a cold fish, yet seemed traumatized by Bean’s death and had wigged out enough to almost get them all killed, but after that she’d seemed to just go into shutdown mode. Now she seemed numb and satisfied with following Piper’s lead. Well, that was probably for the best, especially if Judy was prone to losing her shit in a combat situation.
As they moved forward in a loose formation, Miller felt relieved that Judy hadn’t spent the entire time weeping and complaining. Right now she seemed to be on autopilot, though if she was still in shock, then that made her unpredictable. The last thing Miller needed was yet another bitchy speech or heroic, dumb move from Judy. God only knew who would get killed the next time she freaked out.
Miller thought about asking for the rifle, but ultimately left it in Piper’s hands. She seemed capable and experienced enough and, most importantly, she knew the area best. Miller and Scratch had hardly had a chance to leave their room. She was just glad that they had a weapon. Being a control freak at that particular moment probably would likely backfire. With one gun and three egos, they’d squabble and just make a lot of noise and maybe even call attention to themselves. Miller kept her eyes out for a gun of her own. If the other guards were down, someone else’s would be available soon enough.
Miller kicked off her shoes, peeled off her nylons, and left them where they were. Moving around barefoot and in an executive skirt wasn’t optimal, as Piper had just learned, but it was far better than running around in a bloody wedding dress, and she’d survived that experience. Miller knew she would survive this one as well. She had to get back to Sheppard and Scratch. The three of them would complete their mission before the unthinkable happened. They had always come through together and damn well would this time.
The women stayed low as they made their way through the darkness. The lodge was up ahead, but still almost a football field away. It was still dead dark outside, except for a trace of moonlight, but that was just as it had been the first time they’d arrived, so by itself that didn’t mean anything. McDivitt wasn’t the kind to leave the lights on. But the guard at the front gate being dead and the gate unlocked? Different story and damn disconcerting. Someone bad was on the prowl. The only questions worth pondering were how far inside the bad guys had managed to get by this point, and if Sheppard was still alive.
As they approached the brown lawn of the quiet lodge, Piper waved them still. Now the women could hear faint sounds up ahead. It wasn’t just the rustling of the trees in the wind. No, these seemed to be voices. Men were chatting quietly. The women stood up and moved closer and then for a long moment the clouds parted and the moonlight broke through. Piper went into another crouch, and Judy followed suit. Miller decided not to be the one who couldn’t follow orders, even though she was used to being the one giving them. She crouched down. The clouds came back again and when they felt safe they edged closer.
Without their shoes, they were at least able to move silently. Piper and Judy didn’t slow down or seem to need to confer. Their posture remained one of combat readiness, so they didn’t recognize the voices. Strangers had gotten all the way into the compound, and Miller knew that meant Sheppard was in danger, captured, or dead. They had a little over six hours left to get to the dam and stop the nightmare from happening. Their safety had been compromised. If Sheppard had been taken, that alone would be one hell of a problem.
Miller spotted some people standing near a rain gutter. The orange tip of a cigarette glowed. She could smell the tobacco. There were four of them in all, and they were heavily armed. They stood in a tight group, with two of them facing out towards the road. Miller’s team approached stealthily. The intruders all seemed to be male, although one that faced away had a slender body and could have been a muscular woman.
Miller knew what they needed to do, but not how they’d get the job done. There was no way to sneak up on these people.
The other two women whispered without including her. Miller considered going off on her own. She worked out how to take down one of the mercenaries for his weapon and then how to kill the rest when armed. She liked her odds. She wondered what Piper would decide to do if
left in charge. Miller was itching to get started, concerned for her friends and uncomfortable with their current situation. She didn’t like the idea that she had to rely on these weekend warriors for her safety, but unless she got her hands on a weapon, she was stuck. Miller realized trying to take control at the last second was foolish, stubborn, and short-sighted. She continued to crouch and hope.
The four mercenaries laughed at something and looked away. Piper ran up behind an upside-down trashcan. She went down on one knee in a tactical position with the rifle raised and aimed at the enemy. Meanwhile, an unarmed Miller hid behind a nearby tree. When Judy tried to cram herself behind the same damn tree, Miller didn’t resist, but she wondered what kind of training this odd woman had received. McDivitt was a military man, strong wife or not, and should have done a better job. Miller again thought about striking out on her own.
But then Piper made her move. “Freeze! Drop those fucking weapons, or…”
As one, the four strangers turned and raised their weapons. They fanned out rapidly. Without hesitation, Piper opened up on full automatic. She swept them with a stream of bullets, but not before the one on the far left—apparently the last to be shot—got off a couple of rounds. One of the stranger’s bullets made the trashcan ring like a bell, and it jumped off the ground, knocking Piper back on her ass. The assault rifle discharged uselessly into the night sky then quit after another few seconds.
Miller watched the entire exchange with a growing sense of dread. She wanted to go check on Piper, but some of the downed strangers were still moving around and one of them was groaning in pain. Miller studied their proximity to their weapons and watched for signs of playing possum. They might be setting an ambush.
Judy, on the other hand, seemed to flip out again, or perhaps she was completely lacking in survival instincts. She darted out from behind the tree and went directly to her fallen friend.
The Hungry (Book 6): The Rule of Three (The Sheriff Penny Miller Zombie Series) Page 22
