by Damon Hunter
“We’ll drive on through town and start on the west end,” Major Starling said. “This way, if this stuff works, we can clear the town on our way back. Do it right and we should be back in time for lunch.”
The transport took the last exit on the west end of Quartzsite.
“Eye in the sky says the restaurant and gas station to our left has a quite a few infected around.”
“Then let’s start there. Strike team gear up. Prepare the first prisoner as well.”
The man in the orange jumpsuit who volunteered for the program in exchange for a chance at an early release looked like he was having serious second thoughts.
“No one said about going into an infected area in handcuffs and leg irons,” he said as the transport came to a stop. Already amblers roaming the parking lot were starting to come their direction.
“No one said you wouldn’t be going into an infected area in handcuffs and leg irons, did they?”
“No, but…”
“But nothing. Shut up or you will be going out there with a gag on your mouth as well,” Starling told him. The prisoner immediately shut up.
The four TMRT soldiers were covered in body armor from head to toe. The helmets they wore had been fitted with gas masks. They carried the TMRT assault rifle, but the bottom of the barrel was outfitted with a canister launcher. They could only fire one canister at a time, but each man had a belt filled with them slung over his shoulder.
“Tell the chopper gunner to be ready,” Starling told Donaldson. “If this shit doesn’t work I want my men covered.”
“That include me?” the prisoner asked.
Instead of answering his question, Starling looked at him and asked, “When the hatch opens, are you going to walk out on your own or do I need to throw you?”
“I’ll walk.”
The hatch opened and Starling told the prisoner, “Lead the way.”
The prisoner shuffled out of the transport. Once he was out, the four soldiers followed.
He had not gotten far when a vampire rotter leapt in his direction, its long blue tongue wagging back and forth as it charged.
“Fire at will,” Starling ordered from inside the transport.
One soldier fired his canister, which began to spray gas as soon as it left the barrel. The canister bounced off the chest of the charging vampire rotter and it stopped as it got a face- and mouthful of the vapor. It seemed very confused as the inside of its skin began to burn. It cocked its head and looked at its arm as the flesh began to melt. It turned and ran on all fours in a futile attempt to outrun what was happening. It did not get far before it was nothing but a pile of ash and charred bones.
The other infected within range began to burn to a crisp as well. One on the fringes of the canister’s range lost an arm and half of a foot but kept moving their way.
“Wait and see if the gas keeps working,” Starling ordered them.
The gas did not seem to be burning up any more of its body. It increased its pace as the prospect of biting into some uninfected flesh become realistic. The prisoner saw it coming towards him and turned to try and shuffle away. The loss of half a foot did not slow the infected man nearly as much as the prisoner’s leg irons slowed him.
“Engage now, sir?” the lead soldier asked.
“Give it another second,” Starling told him, “and use the SSS. I don’t want a horde forming until we know this shit is a hundred percent effective.”
The extra second was too long for the prisoner. The ambler grabbed his loose-fitting jumpsuit with its remaining hand and pulled him close enough to sink its jagged yellow teeth into his shoulder.
Just after it spit out a chunk of orange jumpsuit and the prisoner’s shoulder, the lead soldier released the spikes on the ball end of his Sick Slaying Stick and bashed in the top of its skull.
“You guys let him bite me,” the prisoner said.
“You murdered three women, did you really think you were going to get to walk?” the soldier said as sores began to bubble up all over the convict’s face. Before the prisoner could answer, the lead soldier swung the Sick Slaying Stick and smashed the prisoner across the face with a heavy iron ball covered in sharp spikes. The blow knocked the prisoner to the ground and swinging the SSS like he was splitting logs, the soldier finished the prisoner off with one more blow to his head.
The four soldiers moved to the restaurant and looked in the windows. The restaurant had at least ten infected milling around. The lead soldier pointed and one of the men fired a canister through one of the windows. It wasn’t long before all amblers inside were turned to ash.
The soldier reloaded his launcher and Starling commanded, “Let’s keep moving forward.”
The transport backed down the road with the hatch open so Starling could see for himself how the anti-rot bio-weapon was working.
“The eye in the sky has spotted what looks like a pack of infected dogs on the right and what appears to be a pair of vampire rotters on the rooftop of the gas station,” Donaldson told Starling.
“Dogs first,” Starling said through the headset so he could be sure his team heard him, “but have someone keep an eye on the gas station, you’ve got a predator on the roof.”
The leader pointed at the dogs, who had all turned and started running their way, and the man on that side of the road put a smoking canister right in front of them. There were six dogs of various breeds and they all ran through the gas.
The leader pointed to the roof and the man on that side of the road put a canister on top of the gas station.
The dogs stopped running and all six fell to the ground. They were smoking through their eyes, ears, and open mouths as they lay there on their backs.
“Shouldn’t they have burned up?” one of the men asked as he reloaded.
“I guess, but what matters is that they are dead and they look dead to me,” the lead soldier said.
“He’s right,” Starling told him.The major lifted his binoculars and looked down Quartzsite’s only paved road. At the other end of town, he could see a sporting goods store.
“I see a group of amblers gathered up the road. I don’t want to waste canisters on individuals. We check the buildings as we go, but unless we encounter a group, let’s make the sporting goods store the next target.”
The four moved on with the helicopter hovering above them and the transport following on the road. They went to check the gas station with the vampire rotter on the roof and found it empty.
While they were moving along, no one noticed three of the dogs roll to their feet.
Chapter 27
Room 12 - The Goodyear Ramada Inn - Goodyear, Arizona
“Why didn’t you stop her?” Vance asked Barrington as he burst into the hotel room using the Sick Slaying Stick like a cane.
Barrington did not look up from Ana, who was lying on the bed with a wet towel on her forehead as he said, “She didn’t ask my permission.”
“You could have told her…”
“Told her what? Do you see her friend lying here burning up with fever? Do you think she would listen to me telling her not to try and save her life?”
“She’s a kid.”
“Not in her mind. Besides, it’s clear she is your daughter. This is exactly what you would have done if you could have, and you don’t have the excuse of being fourteen.”
Vance was not sure of the right answer to that.
“I’m not complaining,” Barrington continued. “Your willingness to take risks is one of the reasons I’m still alive.”
“I still don’t like her being out there.”
“I didn’t say you had to like it. You ought to get used to it. Even teenagers who haven’t had to survive a week among bloodthirsty zombies don’t listen to anybody.”
Vance nodded. He didn’t have any experience, but he could still remember the way he was when he was growing up. He pointed to Ana, who was awake but delirious. “How bad is she?”
“Bad. An infection set in a
nd she is running a high fever. Some antibiotics and a better job stitching her up, though, and she should be fine.”
Before Vance could reply, they heard a crash above them.
“I thought the hotel was abandoned,” Barrington said.
“It seems it’s not,” Vance said as he quit leaning on the Sick Slaying Stick and held it like the weapon it was designed to be.
“Someone else hiding out?”
“Could be.”
“If there were infected inside, I think they would have come after us by now. They are not very subtle or patient.”
“Or smart. They could be trapped on the their floor. I should check it out.”
“The way you’re moving, you should stay here and play defense. If they are amblers and they are trapped, the best move is to let them stay trapped.”
“If it’s something else?”
“If it is going to be a problem, it will come to us.”
“I don’t know, I prefer to go on the offensive.”
“I get that, but for my sake and this girl’s, please stay. If it is a vampire rotter and it slips past you, we will be in trouble.”
Vance nodded, knowing Barrington was right, and said, “Okay, I’ll stay.”
Barrington continued to dab Ana’s forehead with a wet towel while Vance listened, hoping to hear some indication of where the other motel guest was.
As he listened, they heard an explosion outside.
“Katelin,” Vance said, thinking they had to be hearing a drone strike. He turned and moved as quickly as he could on one leg out of the room and into the hallway.
“Wait,” Barrington called to Vance’s back, but the former TMRT soldier kept moving.
Barrington followed him into the hallway, but stopped after a few steps. The young woman burning up with fever still needed him. He turned to go back into the room.
He was almost to the door when he saw the figure at the far end of the long hallway. With the power out, all he saw was a shadow, but the way it was crouched made it clear he was looking at a vampire rotter.
Barrington realized that in his haste to find out what happened to cause the explosion, he left the room without a weapon. He didn’t even have a knife. The vampire rotter began to move using both its hands and feet to propel itself down the hallway. Barrington ran for the door. He was glad it was only a few strides away, as the infected predator was covering ground at a much faster pace than he could.
Barrington got inside and shut the door. He turned the deadbolt and set the chain just before the vampire rotter in a maid’s uniform threw her entire body into the door. Barrington picked up one of the TMRT rifles left behind. He aimed at the door and chambered a round. If the door was knocked down, he would be ready. He was surprised when the rotter did not ram into the door a second time. He heard they were relentless when they had their prey trapped. He had heard reports of vampire rotters beating themselves to death trying to bust through steel core doors.
Barrington looked over and saw the suite door they had used to enter this room was wide open. With the door to the adjoining room kicked in, there was nothing to stop the vampire rotter from getting to them. He moved across the room. As he reached the door, he saw the infected maid with her elongated jaw open to expose her new set of sharp teeth. He grabbed the door and tried to slam it shut as she leaped. The infected maid collided with the door just before he got it closed.
The door flung back into him and knocked Barrington to the floor. He landed on his back and looked up to see the infected maid rolling to her feet. The gun was right next to him. Barrington grabbed it and sat up. He had the barrel lined up with the infected maid’s chest, but her long arm with a claw hand knocked the weapon from his grip.
Chapter 28
Interstate 10 – Quartzsite, Arizona
The wreckage was not far. Katelin was the faster of the two and made it there first. She kept what she hoped was a safe distance from the actual transport and started sifting through the debris.
She wasn’t sure what she was looking for, but even with just a vague description, she could tell nothing on this side of the wreck was the emergency supply box. Talbot caught up and she could tell he had the same opinion.
“Maybe we can find medical supplies elsewhere,” he told her as he tossed aside a piece of one of the transport’s seats.
“The stuff is scattered, maybe we should widen our search?”
Talbot looked around and said, “We can, but most anything of any size is nearby. If we had time I’d say yes, but we don’t.”
Katelin scanned the area. As she looked at the wreckage, she saw the corner of what looked like a black box sticking out of the sand right by the wrecked transport. She pointed it out to Talbot as she asked, “Could that be it?”
“I’m almost positive it is,” he said, “but it is in the kill zone for the drones. We can’t get it.”
“It’s not far. The drones always take a minute or so to acquire a target. I could get there and back in ten seconds.”
“You’re wrong. If there is a drone overhead, the targeting is almost instantaneous. Ten seconds in the kill zone will be about seven seconds too long if there is a drone overhead.”
“What are the odds a drone is overhead right this second? They have a lot of ground to cover.”
“Which is why I believe they doubled the number of drones patrolling the area. If you had up to a minute before, you are down to being up to thirty seconds at best.”
“That would give me twenty seconds to spare.”
“Assuming you have the whole thirty. You may only have three, and there is no way for us to know what is currently above us. It’s not worth the gamble.”
“In your best medical opinion, what are Ana’s chances without the stuff in the box?”
When Talbot was slow to answer, Katelin added, “Don’t even think about fucking lying to me.”
“You shouldn’t curse so much.”
“Answer the fucking question.”
“She probably won’t make it.”
“Probably?”
“You never know for sure, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”
Katelin put down the rifle, took off the swords and got into the best sprinter’s crouch she could manage without blocks to put her feet in.
“I don’t suppose I can talk you out of this.”
“No,” Katelin told him. “You want to say go?”
“No.”
“Close enough,” Katelin said as she started running towards the box.
She reached it, grabbed hold and pulled. Instead of freeing the box, it slid out of her hands and she ended up falling on her ass. The box was both heavier and deeper in the sand than she thought. She jumped to her feet, feeling the seconds go by and knowing she was running out of time. She was trying to get a good grip on it when she saw Talbot come up and kick the side of the black metal box.
His kick loosened it enough that Katelin was able to pull it free. She was having trouble holding it up, so Talbot took it from her as he said, “Go.”
They both started running as they heard a whooshing sound above their heads.
Katelin felt she had cleared the kill zone. She looked back to see Talbot right behind her. The missile hit the wreckage of the transport. They could feel the heat and the force of the blast knocked both of them off their feet.
Katelin was the first to stand. She dusted herself off and went to help Talbot up.
“That really hurt,” he said as he took her hand.
“No shit. Why did you follow me?”
“I figured if I didn’t come back with you, I was as good as dead anyway. Your dad has forgiven me too many times already, I can’t imagine him not killing me if I came back alone,” he said as she pulled him to his feet. “So, I figured why not.”
“I’m glad you did, that thing was heavy.”
“We’re lucky the drone that passed over was programmed to hit the transport, instead of targeting our movement. Otherwise we wouldn�
��t have made it. We got lucky.”
“I don’t feel lucky,” Katelin said.
“Me neither,” Talbot said as he punched in the four digit code anyone who had been sent into the QZ was given. He was glad to see his code still worked and the box opened. He grabbed what Barrington told him to get and all the other items he could hold. Satisfied they had what they needed, Katelin grabbed her weapons and they started jogging back to the hotel.
They had not gotten very far when Katelin saw a trio of dogs moving to intercept them. She tried to speed up, hoping to beat the dogs to the hotel. The infected canines may have been dangerous, but they still did not have thumbs and could be stopped by a locked door.
“Wait,” Talbot yelled as it became clear they trio of infected dogs would intercept them before they reached the relative safety of the hotel lobby.
Katelin heard him and agreed. She stopped and drew her swords. The dogs stopped.
“Did you hear the gunshot?” Talbot asked.
“No, but they did,” Katelin said as the dogs turned and started running towards the hotel.
Chapter 29
The Colemans’ House - Goodyear, Arizona
Bo was surprised how fast Torrance was. He had to be at least twenty years older, and while Bo was wearing running shoes and comfortable TMRT fatigues, Torrance was still wearing dress shoes and business attire.
Torrance stopped in front of the small single story house with the a sign saying ‘The Colemans’ hanging next to the front door. They figured this house belonged to the owners of the truck. He pointed down the street away from the house and Bo looked.
At the end of the block was a dog.
“Maybe he’s not infected,” Bo said.
“There was an infected dog here the other day, my guess is a rotter dog looks to infect his fellow canines with the same dedication an infected human does. Chances are he has the rot.”
“Then why are we stopping?” Bo asked. “Let’s get this done before he heads this way. Just like humans with the rot, they sometimes travel in packs.”
