When she came around the corner from the pillar, she saw someone hunched over the sacks of supplies they'd collected, rustling through them.
"Hey!" Sarah yelled.
The man stood upright and pulled a gun out of a holster and pointed it at her face.
She stopped dead in her tracks, and Noah did the same, momentarily paralyzed by surprise. He started to reach for the pistol on his own hip, but two more men obscured by the pillar at the front of the lobby stepped out into the open and raised their guns at the two of them. Noah stopped his hand just above his gun, his fingers longingly stretching out for it, before he slowly raised his hands.
One last man stepped out from the front of the lobby into view. He was short with buzzed dirty-blond hair and a goatee. His face was worn like he had been through his fair share of battles, and his eyes were heavy and measured, never breaking his gaze from Noah. At last, his lips spread into a smile.
"Hello Noah," he said.
"Hello Zed."
11
Parley
Noah stepped in front of Sarah and held her back at arm's length. She stood timidly behind him, frantically thinking of a way out of the situation, but she knew there was no way out; they were at Zed's mercy.
Zed took a step forward and eyed her. "Who have you got there?" he asked. "Pretty little thing, she is."
"Why don't you just get to the point, Zed?" Noah said.
"Okay, sure, since you asked so nicely." He casually paced around the lobby, enjoying his position of power over Noah, every once in a while glancing and smiling at him as he stood there helplessly. "I don't want to give you the wrong idea," he said. "I'm not here to fight you. In fact, I want to put all that behind us. So fellas," he said, lowering his hands in a motion to the men around him.
The three men surrounding him with their guns pointed at Noah and Sarah lowered them and put them back in their holsters, standing casually and non-aggressively.
"What I want," Zed continued, "is a truce."
Noah was shocked. "A truce? What are you talking about?"
"We've been at odds for too long, I think, and quite frankly, we both have a much bigger problem right now."
"Like what?" Noah asked.
"There's something I think you, me and Delroy should discuss. It concerns all of us, and it's not good. Think of it like a joint venture to ensure our survival."
"Are you talking about the bandits?"
"I'm not talking about anything yet. But I think tomorrow the three of us should meet. Let's say the plaza at sunrise."
"You just tried to kill me and my people—you've killed some of my people—and you want to call this whole thing a truce and work together now?"
Zed lowered his head and raised his eyebrow curiously. "Noah, come on now, you're no angel. I think maybe I acted a little too rashly in trying to attack your camp. Consider it a wakeup call, I guess. But if you want to talk about attacking this and murdering that, don't stand there and tell me that you just happened to forget your part in all of that. Shall I mention you picking off an entire squad of mine last month when they were attacked by bandits and caught in the fray? Or is your memory too selective to remember that?"
Sarah looked at Noah, confused by what Zed was saying. She didn't remember anything like that happening a month ago, and Noah wasn't giving any information; he just stood there silently glaring at Zed.
"Well, whaddaya say, pal?" Zed asked.
"I don't trust you," Noah said.
"And I don't trust you either," Zed replied, "but that doesn't stop this from being important to all of us. If we don't do this, there's no telling who might die. Hell, maybe all of us. All I'm asking for is a parley."
Noah considered his offer. "The plaza tomorrow at sunrise?"
Zed nodded.
"I'll be there," Noah said with a slight measure of contempt in his voice.
Zed smiled. "That's good," he said. He turned and motioned to the men he was with to follow as he began to head for the door. He only took a couple of steps before he stopped and turned around again. He looked at the two sacks full of supplies on the floor then looked at his men, jerking his head toward them.
Two of his men stepped forward and hoisted both sacks over their backs, returning to Zed's side.
"Say, I had two of my own go missing just yesterday," Zed said. "You wouldn't know what happened to them, would you?"
Sarah knew he was talking about the saboteurs he had sent to plant the bomb on the wall of their camp.
Noah stayed tight-lipped.
"Well, just thought I would ask," Zed said. He looked at the sacks each man was holding on either side of him. "I guess we'll just call this one even, then."
And with that, he and his men turned around and left the hotel.
Noah stood still and watched them go, and even after they left, he didn't move for a long time.
Sarah wanted to ask him a litany of questions, but she was too scared to do anything until he made some sort of acknowledgment of what just happened.
"Let's get going," he said at last. There was anger in his voice, but he remained calm.
As he started to head for the door, Sarah apprehensively followed. "What about the supplies?" she asked.
"It doesn't matter," he said. "I'll send some men out later to get more. Let's just get back to camp."
They stepped through the broken glass in the entrance and out onto the street. The cold sun shined in their eyes and made them squint as they set off down the road back to Noah's Ark.
"What was Zed talking about with his men last month?" she asked.
"He was just talking shit," he said. "Guys like Zed and Delroy... they'll say anything and twist around what happened to try and get a leg up on you. What they say happened, isn't what happened, that I can tell you."
"Do you think there can actually be a truce?"
"With those two? Not a chance."
Noah rounded the corner to Foster Street and the others followed.
Wayne, Kenny and the other six men strode down the street on either side of him, all of them armed to the teeth. Noah didn't think they would try anything stupid, but he didn't want to take any chances either.
It looked like it would be an overcast day and might even snow, but so far it was dry. The sun was still hidden just over the horizon, but dawn would crack at any moment. It was bitterly cold—unseasonably so—and even Wayne shivered.
The CCB Plaza came into view down the street past the next intersection. Zed and Delroy stood in the middle of the square with three extra men apiece, all of them only modestly armed compared to Noah and his group.
They crossed the intersection and entered the square, lining up across from Zed's and Delroy's groups, forming a flat triangle. Both Zed and Delroy were looking at Noah, and he got the sense that Delroy already knew why they were there.
They all stood in silence, looking each other up and down in a measure of strength. Kenny turned his nose up at them and spit down on the brick. Wayne was stoic and quiet.
The tattered American flag limply hanging from the pole flapped in the gentle wind as the bronze statue of the Durham bull looked on.
"Bit overkill, isn't it?" Zed asked, looking at all the men Noah brought with him.
"It is what it is," Noah said, casually searching the rooftops of the neighboring buildings.
"Well then, why don't we get down to business?" Zed said. "My men have spotted something that could be a bit of trouble for all of us. Maybe you and me first and then Delroy later, or maybe none of us, who knows?"
"What are you talking about?" Noah asked.
"Zombies," Zed said. "Lots of 'em."
"How many?"
"Hard to say for sure, but my men estimate up to a thousand."
Noah gulped and his eyes drew sharp. "How did that happen?"
"Your guess is as good as mine," Zed said. "You know how those things like to bunch up together. Maybe they just built up over time. In any case, they're out a few miles east,
which is probably why none of us noticed them until now, but I think you can understand what would happen if they made their way west and found themselves at any of our front doors."
"Do you think the bandits are pushing them toward us?" Noah asked.
"Hmm, nah. How do you push a zombie anywhere? You can only really pull 'em. They're probably just as scared of them as we are, but they're a little more transient and they've got their bridges, of course.
"Now if they headed west," Zed continued, "they're probably going to find themselves either at your camp or mine first, but Delroy has been kind enough to lend us his support."
"So what are we talking about here?" Noah asked.
"Like I said, a joint venture," Zed said. "Call it a show of good faith."
"You really want a truce, huh?"
"Do you really want to keep going like this?" Zed asked. "I think we've all done our fair share of killing lately. That shit has spiraled way out of control for years, back and forth. I think this is as good of an opportunity as any to bury the hatchet."
"And you're on board with this?" Noah asked Delroy.
"I am," Delroy said, "but it's gonna take three for this tango."
Noah looked at him carefully. His words seemed genuine, but he was looking for any hint that gave him away.
Delroy stood at just under six feet, huge and muscled. He didn't quite match Kenny in size, but he did have a lot more muscle and a lot more strength. Aside from his political major, he spent his days at college on the varsity wrestling team, doing quite well for himself. Even the end of the world was no excuse for him not to stay in shape, and he always kept his body and his mind incredibly agile.
The sun made his black skin glow, but his eyes didn't squint, staying unwaveringly on Noah. It had been a long time since college, but Noah still knew the man well, and he knew when he was being genuine.
"So what's it gonna be?" Delroy asked.
Noah looked to Kenny and then to Wayne for silent counsel. They just stared at him without a word, and their eyes said everything he wanted to know.
"What's the plan?" Noah asked.
"There's a lot of 'em," Zed said, "but we all have more than enough firepower to take care of the problem if we're smart about it. All we need is a coordinated attack. We wouldn't even need that much manpower; just firepower. Think of it like a team-building exercise. If it goes well, maybe we can all turn over a new leaf."
Noah eyed him carefully. There were so many factors at play that it was hard to tell what Zed's true intentions were, let alone the outcome of siding with him, but Noah was also smart enough to know an opportunity when he saw one.
"So are you in?" Zed asked.
"I'm in," Noah said.
12
Pillow Talk
Sarah sat on her bed running her fingertips up the stem of the rose and gently brushing them across the pedals. The rose that Noah had picked for her was just on the cusp of starting to wither, but it still maintained all of its elegance and fragrance. She brought it up to her nose and sniffed it, letting the intoxicating scent fill her body, sending a tingle down the back of her neck. She smiled.
She slipped it back into the water and got up, walking out of the ladies' dorm.
Noah had been locked in his office with Wayne and Kenny for the entire morning since the three of them had returned from their early meeting with Zed and Delroy. She hadn't had a chance to talk to him about what was going on, and she could feel a lingering sense of nervousness in her body that wouldn't go away. But there was also hope mingling in her too. Whatever conclusion Noah came to, she had faith in him.
She brushed by the closed door to his office on her way outside and heard Kenny's muffled voice arguing, but she couldn't hear what he was saying.
She walked outside and down the stairs toward the greenhouse. With all the craziness that had been going on recently, she hadn't had a chance to talk to Barry for a while. She opened the greenhouse door and was greeted by a rush of humid air, a delightful reprieve from the bitter cold of the morning. She found Barry in the far corner, kneeling on the edge of a planter bed, hunched over the dirt.
"Hey there, stranger," she said.
He took a moment to shift his weight and twist his body to see who was talking to him. "Oh, hello Sarah," he said. He put down the trowel he was holding and turned all the way around and sat down on the wood. "What's up?"
"Not much," she said. "Just wanted to see how you're doing. What are you up to?"
"Got a batch of potatoes that are nice and ripe," he said, patting a big round basket full of the dirt-caked spuds. "Almost done, too. And not a moment too soon."
"Back feeling sore?" she asked.
"Like you wouldn't believe. I've been sore a lot lately."
"I think you should take a break."
"I've been thinking about that very thing, as a matter of fact." He looked down at his hands, frowning and turning them over. They were worn and grimed with dirt, the spaces underneath his fingernails black. "To be honest with you, I think I'm getting tired of this."
She sat down next to him. "Seriously, you should get some rest and relax. And if you don't want to tend the garden anymore, you don't have to; there are plenty of able-bodied people here. Hasn't Chuck said he wanted more hours?"
"I'm not talking about that, Sarah."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I'm tired of this," he said, sweeping his arms out and motioning all around him. "All of it. I'm thinking of leaving this place."
She was shocked. "Leave? But why? Where would you go?"
"I'm thinking Raleigh," he said.
"Raleigh? Why there?"
"It's the closest city to here, and I think Selma may have escaped there."
She looked at him with sadness. She had something on the tip of her tongue that she wanted to say, but she held it in.
"I know you think she's dead," he said, sensing her doubt. "But she's out there. I'm telling you." He looked up and scanned the row of corn growing along the aisle. "I can feel it. I can feel her. She's still out there somewhere."
Sarah patted his hand. "I think you need to do what's best for you," she said. "But how do you plan to survive out there? It's not easy."
"I'll think of something," he said. "I always do." When he saw the concern on her face, he added, "Haven't you ever thought of leaving this place?"
She considered. "I have."
"Why?"
"When my son and I came here, I thought we were coming to a better place—a safe place. But I've seen just as much violence here as anywhere else."
"Do you still want to leave?" he asked.
"No. I think I realized that there's no escaping this world we're in, no matter how many walls we put up around us. And I know now that sometimes we have to be just as cruel as everyone else to survive. But if we keep our humanity, I think there's a chance for all of us to start over again. I haven't seen that chance anywhere else."
Barry nodded, staring at his feet.
"So..." she started, "are you... leaving soon?"
"I don't know," he said. "I just know that I have to do what's right. My wife's still out there and she needs me. I would do anything to find her again."
Something hit the ground in the next aisle behind the corn. It was a small, metallic sound, like someone had knocked over a tool.
Sarah and Barry both perked up.
"Is someone there?" Barry asked, raising his shoulders and trying to get a look through the corn.
After a moment of silence, footsteps echoed through the greenhouse. "It's just me," someone said.
Sarah and Barry traced the footsteps as they came to the end of the aisle and Kathy appeared.
"Don't mind me," she said, "I was just admiring the peppers, seeing how they were coming in." She had a hint of judgment on her face as her eyes darted between them. She lingered for a moment, but before they could say anything, she turned and left.
They heard the footsteps reach the end of the greenhou
se followed by the door opening and shutting. Sarah looked at Barry. "How long was she there for?"
"I don't know," he said, staring off toward the end of the greenhouse.
"Was she listening to us?"
He cleared his throat. "Forget about her. She's always been a brown-noser. I should get back to these potatoes, anyway. Would you be a dear and carry them to the kitchen for me when I'm done?"
"Sure," she said.
When he finished pulling the potatoes out of the ground and putting them in the basket, Sarah picked it up and said her goodbyes. She left the greenhouse and headed across the lawn through the biting cold toward the cafeteria. On her way, she looked over and saw Kathy disappear through the door to the second floor at the top of the stairs.
She kept replaying the event in her head, and she couldn't come to any conclusion other than that Kathy had been eavesdropping on them. She had always known her to be very friendly to Noah and very by-the-books when it came to business in the camp, but was she ratting them out for what they had said?
Sarah shook off the thought, figuring that there was no point in wondering and that Kathy had simply gone back inside. She opened the door on the ground floor and stepped into the cafeteria, which was filled with residents sitting around eating lunch as their conversations buzzed through the hall. She walked past the counter on the left and slipped behind it and through the door to the kitchen. She dropped the basket of potatoes on the counter as the cooks chopped vegetables and cooked venison meat that had been hunted the day before in the fireplace.
When she came out of the kitchen, she almost ran into someone. It was Jenny. Her face was white and she looked exhausted, like she hadn't gotten any sleep lately.
"What's wrong?" Sarah asked.
"Can you come with me for a minute?" Jenny asked her.
A Rising Tide (Zombie Apocalypse Series Book 2) Page 11
