Dead Drop Series (Book 1): Dead Drop (Rise of the Elites)

by K. S. Black

  “That smells good. I didn’t know you knew how to make chili.”

  “Mom taught me. She said it was one of your favorites. I found freeze dried ground beef in the pantry along with the rest of the ingredients. So why are you wearing your suit again?” she said, stirring the chili with a wooden spoon and keeping her eyes focused on the pot.

  “I’m taking the Humvee back into town after the sun goes down. Kevin and I never got a chance to get any supplies. And we need a small trailer. With Kevin stretched out in the back, there won’t be enough room for everything.”

  “Why can’t you go now while there’s still light outside?”

  “It’ll be harder for anyone to see what I’m doing when it’s dark.”

  She set a plate of reconstituted ground beef on the floor. “Okami, come!”

  The puppy, with his tongue hanging out and tail wagging, scrambled into the kitchen before the plate touched the floor.

  “Okami?” Cooper asked.

  “Yep, it means wolf in Japanese.”

  The name didn’t surprise him. Hayley couldn’t get enough anime.

  “I like it.” He looked down at the puppy attacking his dinner with gusto. “Okami it is.”

  A loud snore escaped Kevin’s open mouth. They both laugh at the same time.

  “I better go wake Sleeping Beauty for dinner,” Cooper said.

  * * *

  The drive back to the resort was otherworldly. The smoke from a nearby fire added to the dream-like quality. Cooper drove with the lights off and had engaged the mufflers so that he would be as inconspicuous as possible.

  Before he left the cabin, he checked the suppressor on his Tavor at least five times to make sure it was on tight and fought the urge to check it again. He pulled into the parking lot. The area looked the same as it did earlier in the day, but the darkness made it even more foreboding.

  The perfect trailer was attached to one of the so-called Homeland Security Humvees. He parked alongside the vehicle and got out. He pulled off the tarp and counted twelve boxes of MREs, six crates of .223 Remington ammo, two crates of 20 mm grenades, and several bundles of what looked like body bags. After a quick look inside the Humvee, he found four jugs of water but none of the carbines with M203 grenade launchers that he was hoping to find. He grabbed the jugs and placed them in the trailer.

  The thought of going back inside the resort alone, made his stomach churn, but he had to if he wanted to collect weapons. But first, he wanted to disconnect the trailer so that he could attach it to his Humvee.

  The hitch didn’t want to come off, so he gave it a couple of hard whacks with his palm. That didn’t work. He got on the ground and used the heel of his boot to knock the hitch upwards. The sound of his heel striking the metal echoed across the parking lot and faded into the smoke.

  After he unhitched the trailer, he made sure he was still alone before hooking it up to his Humvee and tying down the tarp. He thought he caught movement in the distance and got his Tavor ready. He waited. After a few minutes, he decided his imagination had gotten the best of him. He donned his respirator mask and entered the building.

  It was dark inside, and he stepped tentatively through the lobby. The flashlight mounted on the Tavor lit his way. He found another body in the same condition as the one he and Kevin found. His first impulse was to leave, but he knew if there were soldiers inside there had to be guns and ammo. But there were probably infected inside as well.

  Making his way through the lobby, he found two more mauled soldiers. But within five minutes, Cooper had found four carbines, three pistols, and six gun belts with full magazines—almost more than he could carry. But after what he’d experienced since leaving Tucson, they could never have enough.

  Getting through the door without making any noise was tricky, but he managed to leave the building without calling any attention to himself. Getting back to the Humvee was proving more difficult.

  A half a dozen people had gathered at the other end of the parking lot. They hadn’t seen him, but something was off about the way they walked. Without getting any closer, he knew they were infected with Dante’s Influenza. Cooper didn’t know what to call them, but he wasn’t going to call them zombies. Thinking about them that way seemed disrespectful.

  CLICK! The metallic sound of the door bounced off the cars and filled the spaces in the air. He hadn’t secured the door. Four of the infected rushed outside, scanning the parking lot as they sniffed the air. When they spotted him, they let out a series of yelps reminiscent of a pack of hunting coyotes.And he was the rabbit dinner.

  The weapons made it difficult to run. He thought he could make it to the Humvee but that was before he saw some of the men jumping from vehicle to vehicle using the shortest route possible to reach him. Two of them were completely naked like the old woman that had attacked Kevin.

  One of them flew over the top of the Humvee’s hood at the same time that he reached the passenger door. He pulled the door open and dove in head first so that his feet were in position to kick. But the door slammed shut when another one of the infected hit the side of the Humvee with such force that it rocked the vehicle from side to side.

  The outside of the Humvee was covered with writhing bodies. He got an eyeful of snapping jaws filled with jagged teeth. They pounded on the armored panels and on the windows. He locked the doors, but they didn’t try to open them. Temporarily safe inside, he peeled off the carbines and gun belts and pulled the pistols from his waistband.

  When he started the engine, they pounded on the windshield trying to get to him. He put the vehicle into gear and stepped on the gas. One of them fell off the Humvee. If he hadn’t known better, he would have thought he had run over a speed bump. He drove in circles around the parking lot trying to shake them loose; at least two still clung to the roof.

  They worked as a pack which surprised him. Four of them charged at the Humvee, cutting him off before he could get out of the parking lot. He plowed through them before turning onto the main road. After about a mile, a bloodied face dropped down from the roof and peered at him through the windshield. Startled, he slammed on the breaks and sent the man flying into the road. He drove over him without a second thought.

  He stopped the Humvee and stepped out onto the road with the Tavor. The latest speed bump was behind him but not dead. With his arms flailing in the air and his mouth searching for something to sink his teeth into, the man attempted to sit up. But the vehicle’s nubby tires had left deep tread marks across his midsection. His back was smashed against the road. Cooper aimed for his head and pulled the trigger.

  When he returned to the Humvee, a young girl, who he guessed was no more than seven or eight, was trying to get down from the roof. She wore a yellow sundress similar to one that Hayley had worn when she was younger. The flash of memory hit him like a punch to the belly.

  The girl’s foot was caught in the roof rack. She pulled so hard that Cooper was afraid she might amputate her own foot. After several bone crunching tugs, she tossed her head back and let out a high pitched screech. A call for help or releasing her frustration? He couldn’t tell. He heard another screech in the distance, an answer to hers, as she continued to struggle.

  He stepped up and into the driver’s side of the Humvee and held onto the door frame. With his free hand, he delivered a blow to her face with the butt of the Tavor. He wanted to knock her out her long enough so that he could get her down but only stunned her for few a seconds. Her small hands swiped at him while her teeth snapped at the air.

  She had been someone’s little girl. He didn’t want to hurt her, let alone shoot her, but he had no other choice. Other children had been murdered that day, and he could do nothing but take pictures. With a heavy heart, he was going to kill someone’s child.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. Tears streamed down his face as he pulled the trigger. She stopped moving, and he freed her foot.

  The sound of feet slapping across the road caught his attention. He pulled her s
mall body off the roof and placed her on the side of the road. He grabbed his Tavor, took aim, and fired on the group of infected running towards him. When the magazine was spent, he dropped it out, put a full one in, and continued firing.

  He ducked behind the Humvee. Low on ammo, he aimed at the lone survivor running at him. When he pulled the trigger, nothing happened. He must have miscounted. “Shit!”

  He drew both Kimbers from his holster. The man was no more than three feet away when he fired. The man stumbled backward a few yards before he fell to the ground.

  He stood over him and fired until the Kimbers were empty. He didn’t care that the man had stopped moving after the second round smashed through his skull. He couldn’t stop himself. Each bullet was an extension of the frustration and anger that had been building inside him.

  CHAPTER 18

  May 9 – Twin Peaks

  Cooper breathed in deeply and slowly. When he looked at his gloved hands wrapped around the steering wheel, they were speckled with blood. Startled, he drew in a sharp breath. He checked himself over and saw blood splatter on his right thigh. The drugstore he had seen earlier in the day was up ahead, so he slowed down and looked for a concealed parking spot.

  After reloading his Tavor, he scanned the area to make sure that no one could sneak up on him from any direction. Satisfied that no one was nearby, he made sure the store was empty and went inside. He walked the aisles and found bottled water, bleach, spray disinfectant, wet wipes, a bucket, and a scrub brush.

  He used the wipes to clean his suit, including his gloves and boots while they were still on him. He mixed the water and bleach together in the bucket and a dipped the scrub brush in the mixture and gave everything a good scrub until he was convinced that he was decontaminated.

  He carried four large cans of disinfectant spray and the container of wipes out to the Humvee. After removing the rifles and gun belts, he wiped down the interior and gave it a good spray. The outside of the Humvee had blood on it, too. There was no way he would head back to the cabin before he was sure that everything was clean.

  He donned the respirator mask and poured bleach water on the Humvee and went back inside to find a mop. The fumes burned his eyes, but he worked fast to scrub off every bit of blood, skin, and unidentified debris before giving the vehicle a final rinse with the bleach water.

  * * *

  Cooper had naively spent most of the day believing there was a possibility that whatever had happened to America was not as bad as he first feared. But that way of thinking had ended. He had done things he wanted to forget.

  When he pulled into the driveway, Hayley ran out the front door to meet him. “What took you so long? I was getting really worried.”

  “I’m fine. I ran into a group of them at the resort. I don’t know what to call them besides infected. I commandeered a trailer and found some guns and ammo along with some rations. I’ll be in when I’m done disinfecting the weapons in the garage.”

  “You smell awful. Did you get attacked like Kevin?”

  He wasn’t ready to talk about what had happened and held up his hand. “Later.” She went back into the cabin with without asking him anything else, but tears were welling up in her eyes before she went inside.

  * * *

  After he finished wiping down and disinfecting the guns and the gun belts, he picked up one of the rifles and examined it more closely. He liked to keep up with the latest weapons, but these were new to him. Each rifle was stamped HK XM8. He dropped a magazine out of one. It was loaded with .223 Remington cartridges. His Tavor could fire those as well as the 5.56mm NATO rounds he already had. He had plenty of both and liked having options.

  He brought the rifles, pistols, and ammo inside and laid everything out on the kitchen table. Hayley came over to see what he had brought in. He picked up one of the rifles and loaded the magazine.

  “Cover your ears, I’m going hot.” He aimed for a wall across the room and pulled the trigger.

  “What the fuck, man!” Kevin sat upright on the couch. He held his head with both hands and tried to focus his eyes. He had fallen asleep again right after dinner. “What’s going on?” With one eye still shut, he looked at Cooper. He opened both eyes as soon as he saw the rifle. “Holy shit! Let me see that thing.”

  Cooper handed him the rifle after dropping out the magazine and making sure no rounds were chambered.

  “Do you know what this is?” It was more of a statement than a question.

  “I’ve never seen one before,” Cooper said.

  “It’s a freakin’ XM8. I love this rifle! It’s gotta be my favorite. And look, it even has an M203 grenade launcher.” Kevin whistled through his teeth. He looked through the scope.

  He thought Kevin might start to giggle. “Don’t point that at me unless you intend to pull the trigger.”

  “Sorry, man—won’t happen again.” Kevin lowered the rifle. “Did you go back out? I must have fallen asleep again.”

  You did, and I found four of these carbines when I went back to the resort.”

  “Rifles,” Kevin said.

  “I stand corrected. Rifles.”

  “These are the latest in military hardware. I didn’t think there were many out there yet. And the HK stands for Heckler & Koch.”

  “How do you know all this?”

  “First person shooters, man. I play them all the time. What are those pistols in the kitchen?”

  Cooper brought the pistols over and laid them out on the coffee table.

  Kevin set the XM8 down and picked up one of the handguns. “It’s the new Marine Corps M45 Close Quarter Battle Pistol— really nice.”

  “You know all this from first person shooters?”

  “Yep. Who says video games aren’t educational?” Kevin went back to examining both guns.

  “Guess those are his now.” He brought over another XM8 and an M45 with a gun belt and handed them to Hayley. “These are yours now. Clean them and get to know them.”

  She gave him a hug and tiptoed to plant a kiss on his cheek. Smiling, she sat next to Kevin. Both looked like kids on Christmas morning.

  Cooper picked up an M45 and examined it closely. It was brand new and had probably never been fired. He slipped on a gun belt with a thigh holster and slid the gun in. He grabbed the Tan XM8 with the M203 attachment and sat in the chair to have a closer look.

  CHAPTER 19

  May 9 – Heading to Tucson via Blythe, CA

  Morning came too quickly. Out of bed by 5 a.m., Cooper woke Hayley an hour later. Kevin was already up and proclaimed he had a restful sleep even though he had napped on and off the previous day.

  Cooper had changed his mind about only traveling at night. Traveling was dangerous any time of the day.

  The Humvee was packed and ready for the road by 7 a.m. He needed caffeine, but all his energy drinks were gone. He didn’t think he could stomach the caffeinated soda he found in the fridge.

  Kevin commandeered the backseat. “I should be able to navigate from back here as long as Haley keeps her melon out of the way.”

  “Ha-ha. I like riding shotgun better anyway.”

  “Unless we run into trouble, it should only take a little over four hours to get to I-10 outside of Desert Hot Springs if we use the back roads through the mountains. Head south once we get to the road.”

  He was relieved to be heading south away from the carnage he had left on the road the night before.

  Although he knew they would probably not see many cars on the road, he was surprised that they’d only seen two. He and Kevin wondered out loud whether the military had set up a base at Big Bear with satellite camps around the mountains.

  At Wilshire Peak, a group of cars headed down the mountain, a civilian evacuation with no military vehicles, but they lost sight of them after Kevin directed Cooper onto a dirt road through the Morongo Indian Reservation.

  The I-10 exit was not far away, but Kevin said they’d be too vulnerable on that stretch of the interstate, so he f
ound another route. After they drove north around Palm Springs, Palm Desert, and La Quinta, they ended up on a more isolated section of I-10 and started to make good time.

  As they approached the town of Blythe, Cooper’s stomach started to rumble, and a coffee headache began to build. A short break was in order. Even Okami was getting antsy and started sniffing around the back seat.

  Kevin pointed to an exit.

  When they drove into town, it was quiet but not still. Cooper spotted two open gas stations and pulled into one with a large convenience store.

  “Sit tight for a few minutes.” He scanned the area with the binoculars. There were no signs of the military or Homeland Security. Inside the store, a clerk was behind the counter counting out money from the register.

  “It looks safe enough. Let’s go.” He grabbed his Tavor and walked towards the door. Hayley kept pace with him and was obviously in a hurry to get to the bathroom.

  “I’ll stay outside until the puppy finishes his business,” Kevin said.

  He escorted Hayley past the clerk who didn’t acknowledge them as they made their way to the restrooms. He checked the women’s restroom to make sure it was clear. “I’ll wait for you here.”

  While he waited, Kevin entered the store with his XM8.

  “Hey! You can’t come in here with that. I’m calling the cops!” the clerk said.

  Cooper stepped out so the clerk could see that he was armed, too. “I doubt the phones are working. You need to calm down. We’re not here to start anything. We only want to buy some coffee and a few other things. Then we’ll leave.”

  “You can’t be in here with that either. Ya’ll gotta leave!” the shaggy haired clerk said.

  Hayley walked up behind Cooper. “What’s all the yelling about?”