The Slaughter - A Post Apocalyptic Thriller (ROT SERIES Book 6)

by Damon Hunter

  “He seem the type to do you any favors?”

  Gideon didn’t answer. He didn’t want to give Riley the satisfaction.

  “Face it, you knew this was too good to be true.”

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  “I’m here to offer you a way out. It will be tougher than just surviving a poison gas designed not to kill you, but it is right in your wheelhouse.”

  “How do I know you’re not fucking with me?”

  Riley reached into his jacket and pulled out a driver’s license and a small stack of credit cards. He turned the license so Gideon could see it was his picture on the front. Once Gideon had a good look, Riley put them back in his jacket pocket.

  “Brian Gideon will never be let free. Gilbert Hobarth, however, can go where he wants. Not only that, but Mr. Hobarth has a hundred thousand dollars in his bank account. I am guessing that is a bit more than Mr. Gideon has in his.”

  “Yeah, well, Mr. Gideon still has to get out of here before he can start being Mr. Hobarth.”

  “Like I said before, I know my way around. Who do you think knows you and I are having this meeting?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Nobody.”

  “So, I could just take that shit from you and no one would know?”

  “You could try. Even if you got lucky and took me out, you’d still be stuck in segregation.”

  “Okay, tell me what you want.”

  “There are three civilians on this floor with you. A young woman, a young man, and a teenage girl.”

  “The chick with the long, dark hair and the nice ass?”

  “Yes, I believe that describes one of them well.”

  “Okay, what about them?”

  “I’m arranging for them to all be in the same place at the same time, you can meet them then.”

  “Meet them?”

  “Yes, then kill them.”

  “Harsh.”

  “You’ve done worse for less.”

  “I suppose I have. You want me to use my bare hands?”

  Riley moved so Gideon could see the desk better and said, “Some fool left the eating utensils in the room.”

  Gideon saw the metal fork and spoon and said, “A gun, or even a knife, would be better.”

  “They’ll be unarmed. Besides, from what I hear, sharpening spoons is some kind of a specialty of yours.”

  “I may have done that a time or two. Where are they going to be?”

  “Did you see the door the dark hair and nice ass went into?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Watch the door. When an old guy in a fancy uniform leaves, you go there, it is the mess hall for the segregated floor.”

  “I thought you said they would be unarmed.”

  “They will be.”

  “If it’s the mess hall, won’t they have forks and spoons too?”

  “Sure, only theirs will be plastic.”

  “What about after? I’m guessing me stabbing three people to death might get some attention.”

  “You just need to make it back to your quarters.”

  “And then what? I’ll be trapped.”

  “No, you won’t, I’ll be waiting to guide you out of the checkpoint facility with your new I.D. and bank account. I’ll even arrange a ride into town. Like I said, I know my way around.”

  “You’re asking me to trust you?”

  “Either that or I use the utensils to kill you myself and make it look like a suicide. Having you kill them and then escape would be better for all involved. Getting people to buy an asshole like you decided to call it a life is one thing, convincing everyone three people just decided to off themselves is another.”

  “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

  “You have a choice, just only one option is any good.”

  “You mind telling me what they did to you?”

  “No, but if I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

  Gideon wasn’t sure what to say to that.

  Riley stood and ran his hand against the wall. A digital keypad appeared and he punched in a code. A second later, a door Gideon had not been able to see opened.

  “What the hell?”

  “Like I said, just make it back to your quarters. Oh yeah, and change clothes, they provided you with some. You don’t want to walk out of here looking like a convict.”

  Gideon watched the tall man in the suit disappear into the passageway behind the hidden door. Once he was inside, the door shut. Looking at the wall, Gideon wondered if it was ever there. He tried to find the keypad and had no luck. He decided to change clothes and wait in the hall until it was time to go kill three people.

  Chapter 16

  Segregated Quarters Mess Hall - TMRT Checkpoint - Phoenix, Arizona

  “Get the scrambled eggs and toast,” Bo told Ana as they approached the window. They were in segregation so all they had was a window to the mess hall where they could order some food. It was through this window that a sympathetic TMRT cook gave them the bottle of whiskey and six pack of beer they drank the night before. “Even the worst cooks have trouble screwing that up.”

  “Sounds like you’ve eaten in some college cafeterias in your time.”

  “A few.”

  They ordered eggs and toast, plus juice. Bo asked if they had any Gatorade and was glad to find out they did. He always found it helped with hangover recovery.

  They were about halfway done when Torrance came into the mess hall and sat at their table.

  “You eating?” Bo asked.

  “No,” Torrance said. “General Doctor Thompson asked if I would check to see if you arrived at the mess hall. He would like to get some of the debriefing done here while you eat, if that’s alright. It would save him a great deal of time if he could talk to the three of you together.”

  “Three?” Ana asked.

  “Yes, since you are here now, someone is being sent to bring Katelin Vance.”

  “Maybe you guys should leave her with her dad,” Bo told him. “They deserve some time together.”

  “Yes they do, but the sooner we can get this done, the better for all of us.”

  “It’s not like we can go anywhere,” Ana said.

  “If it were up to me, you would all be free to go. It’s not, so you are going to have to indulge General Doctor Thompson’s impatience.”

  Before they could argue about it, two TMRT guards escorted an annoyed Katelin into the mess hall.

  Torrance turned to her and said, “Why don’t you get something to eat, General Doctor Thompson is going to be a few minutes.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “This way you won’t have to come back from the infirmary and you won’t lose any more time with your dad.”

  Katelin shrugged and then went to the window and order a cheeseburger. While she waited for them to prepare it, she sat down with the others.

  Torrance noted the guards had left and then said, “If anyone asks, I never said this.”

  “Said what?”

  “Don’t tell Thompson a damn thing about the bombs you stopped them from detonating. They had someone passing on information from Cam Carson’s Compound, so they know you were there, but whoever they had was low level. They suspect you helped Fan, but don’t know it. If you did, don’t let them figure it out. In fact, don’t even let them know you have any knowledge of him or what he came to the States to do.”

  “How do you know about Fan?” Bo asked.

  “I don’t, and if you want to get out of here alive, neither do you.”

  “Have you told this to my dad?” Katelin asked.

  “I’m going there next. Even though your dad has been around, he doesn’t need me to tell him to keep his mouth shut.”

  Torrance stood as the steel shutter over the window slid open enough for someone to put Katelin’s burger on the shelf before closing. Katelin hustled over and grabbed her sandwich.

  “Wait here for Thompson and remember, the less said, the better,” T
orrance said after she sat down. After getting a nod from Bo saying he understood, Torrance turned and left the mess hall.

  “Your burger any good?” Bo asked.

  “No. I mean, compared to what passed for meals the last couple days, I guess it is okay, but I’d give up a kidney right now for a double-double from In and Out Burger and some animal fries. I should have gotten the soup.”

  “No reason not to,” Ana said.

  “Except it might be terrible,” Bo told her, adding, “Other than that, you might as well. As far as I can tell, we can order as much as we want.”

  “If that’s the case, I’ll just get something else if it sucks,” Katelin said as she went to the window.

  While she was getting her soup, General Doctor Thompson arrived.

  Chapter 17

  The Infirmary - TMRT Checkpoint - Phoenix, Arizona

  Torrance was surprised to see Dr. Talbot in Vance’s room, sitting in the chair Katelin had occupied.

  “You two friends now?” Torrance asked.

  “Hardly,” Vance replied, “but we still have some mutual interests.”

  “That so?”

  “Team Human and all that,” Vance told him.

  “I hate to break it to you, but that Team Human thing is not as important on this side of the quarantine,” Torrance said. “That is a big part of the reason I’m here.”

  “That sounds vaguely threatening,” Dr. Talbot said.

  “It was meant to be. You both know about a failed mission to start a limited nuclear war. The people behind that would like to pretend it never happened and you two could make that difficult.”

  “Are you saying Katelin is in danger as well?” Vance said as he started to try to stand.

  “Yes, but you need to stay where you are. They will be safe until after Thompson debriefs them. After that, things may get dicey fast.”

  “Can you delay Thompson’s interview?” Talbot asked.

  “I tried, but he is talking to them as we speak.”

  “Damn,” Vance said.

  “Yes, which is why I need you to stay where you are.”

  “How would that help?”

  “I need a reason to get them off of the segregated floor and seeing you is a legitimate reason. I can’t get any of you out of here if we are in segregation.”

  “Surely they won’t come after me,” Dr. Talbot said. “I’m near a solution to this mess. In fact, I have a medicine to test right now. It was what I was talking to Vance about.”

  “Why would you need to talk to Vance about that?”

  “I owe him and his daughter suggested a way to pay him and her back for some of the things I have done.”

  “Which is?”

  “We make Donna Vance and a young boy named Gavin our first test subjects.”

  “Seems unlikely, even if your work wasn’t about to be declared obsolete.”

  “Why would my work be declared obsolete?”

  “I’m not supposed to know this, but Thompson likes to talk. They have a bio-weapon which can eliminate infected without harming those who don’t have the rot. Unlike a nuke, it won’t render the entire West Coast uninhabitable.”

  “Isn’t the rot thought to be a bio-weapon gone wrong?”

  “It’s one theory, but it doesn’t matter. This is the direction they want to go. This also means your controversial methods are better erased, as well the failed nuclear adventure.”

  “So they’ll want to kill me twice?”

  “More like you have two factions who both want to see you dead once. The TMRT and my guess is the C.I.A.”

  “But, my research would still be useful?”

  “I’m betting if you are close enough for a test, they will figure someone could pick up where you left off.”

  “Not as well as me.”

  “Which would have been a good argument before they decided to go the bio-weapon route.”

  “Which would destroy any chance Donna, and everyone else with the rot has of recovering,” Vance said.

  “I’d say that was a long shot anyway,” Torrance told him.

  “Better than no shot,” Vance replied.

  “Perhaps, but what we need to worry about now is getting you out before you all start having accidents,” Torrance said. “I’ll will bring the three of them to you as soon as Thompson is done. I have reached out to Barrington, and we should be able to get you out. I suggest Dr. Talbot should get his research packed up and ready to go.”

  Torrance turned and walked out before they could argue with him.

  After Torrance was gone, Dr. Talbot said, “We won’t get far, even if we do get off the checkpoint grounds. They will say we are infected and all of America will be looking to kill us on sight.”

  Vance nodded. “It might be the most effective way to kill us. Except they would risk someone listening to us before they put us down.”

  “I’d say the odds are with them.”

  “If Torrance is right, though, and I believe him, staying here will be a death sentence as well.”

  “I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it,” Talbot said.

  Chapter 18

  The Segregated Floor - TMRT Checkpoint - Phoenix, Arizona

  Agent Riley checked the silencer on his pistol and made sure a round was chambered. He positioned himself behind the door to the hidden passageway that allowed access to all the rooms in the quarantine section. One of the best things to happen for Riley was a psychotic killer like Gideon volunteering to be a human guinea pig for the bio-weapon. Riley could not have asked for a better assassin. No one would question why Gideon decided to murder the survivors he was housed with. Killing people was what he did. He murdered people when he was a free man and murdered people in prison. No one would be surprised when he murdered people in TMRT custody. When Riley put a bullet in his head afterwards, no one would question that either.

  With these three gone, he would be down to only Vance and Talbot. They would be the last two who knew about the planned nuclear strike he and Thompson had done without permission from Washington. With his daughter dead and his wife infected, Riley figured setting up Eric Vance for a suicide would also be an easy sell.

  Seeing his pistol was ready to go, Riley checked the screen on his phone. Gideon was in the mess hall. It shouldn’t be long, if Gideon lived up to his reputation, he would strike hard and strike fast. As he watched, he saw the other man in the segregated area enter the mess hall. Riley knew Curtis had already eaten and did not figure he would be coming back for a while. Riley cursed himself for not recognizing the soldier’s obsession with Vance’s teenage daughter. He must have noticed her going in while he was loitering in the hall. He waited for Thompson to leave, much like Gideon, and then decided to meander in.

  This could be a problem, though if Gideon lived up to his reputation, the TMRT soldier would be too late to do anything. It could turn out to be a good thing if the soldier took out Gideon for Riley.

  No one came out as the clock continued to move. Riley wondered if the convict was up to something. He may have been insane, but Gideon was not stupid. He probably saw the double cross coming. Riley put his phone away, but kept the gun in his hand as he went through Gideon’s quarters and into the hall.

  Chapter 19

  Segregation Mess Hall - TMRT Checkpoint - Phoenix, Arizona

  “I don’t know how I can say it a different way,” Bo told the General Doctor as Thompson rephrased a question about the goings-on when they were seeking refuge at Cam Carson’s Compound. “They treated us about like you guys are, keeping us in a pen until they were sure we weren’t infected. They let us out just before the horde started breaching the walls.”

  “No one left until the compound fell?”

  “Nope,” Bo said, staying with the story they had agreed upon. He was glad Torrance had given them a heads up so they knew what to say. Thompson choosing to interview them together made it easier since no one would tell a different story.

  “How a
bout you, Katelin?” Thompson asked. “You’ve been quiet. Do you have anything to say?”

  “Yeah, this soup is actually pretty good.”

  “I meant about your time in Carson’s Compound.”

  “We weren’t there long, it was one of, like, four places we ended up hiding out in. Don’t you want to hear about any of the others?”

  “Right now I want to concentrate on Carson.”

  “Can I get another bowl of soup?”

  Thompson sighed and motioned toward the window. Katelin took her bowl and went to get a refill.

  Thompson looked at the other two and said, “I feel like you are leaving something out.”

  “Why would you think that?” Ana asked.

  Thompson couldn’t really say. He knew they were lying, and after he talked to Talbot and Vance, he figured he would be able to find holes in their story. Knowing what Riley had in mind for them if they knew too much, Thompson was glad to hold back. He knew Riley might have been right about the need to keep them from exposing them, but he didn’t like it.

  “I think I’ll let Katelin enjoy her second bowl of soup,” Thompson said. “We can continue this later. Thank you for the intelligence on the canines and the talking predator rotters, just by giving us this you have saved lives.”

  “You are welcome,” Bo said as Katelin returned with a piping hot bowl of chicken noodle soup.

  Thompson’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and saw a text from Riley. It read, “Keep them in the mess hall.”

  Thompson looked at the trio and said, “That was my assistant. He has offered to escort you all back to see Major Vance when we’re done. I shall let him know the interview is over for now. If you would wait here, it would make things easier on him. I keep him very busy, but he shouldn’t be long.”

  “No problem,” Bo said as Ana nodded.

  “I want to eat this anyway,” Katelin told him.

  Thompson typed in a text. Instead of messaging Torrance, he asked Riley, “Why?”

  “None of your concern,” Riley texted back.

  “If it matters, they don’t seem to know anything,” Thompson said as he walked out the door. He noticed the convict used to test the bio-weapon was standing in the hallway.