Day One (Book 3): Alone (14 page)

We both could hear his footsteps moving through the first floor. A door open, and then a few seconds later it shut and more footsteps. “Rachel, stop playing around. We’re about to move out to the next location, so unless you want to get left behind, then you better get your ass out here A-S-A-P!” More footsteps from downstairs and they were getting close to the front door, as well as the stairway.

These idiots were going to get themselves killed running blindly into houses and yelling for people. All it would take is for them to choose the wrong house and they’d have a horde of undead all over them. Their survival would rely upon a quick response, which in my eyes; they would be unable to perform.

He popped his head around the railing and looked up the stairs, calling to her once more. Fortunately though, she was further to the left of the top of the stairs, so he was unable to see her from where he stood. He’d have to climb the stairs and reach the halfway mark before she’d come into view and when that happened he’d see the fear on her face and know they were not alone. Others would be called.

I kept the weapon pointed at her and moved to a position directly above the stairs. From there I could see him, when and if, he started up toward the second floor. I crouched down and settled in for a swift gunfight.

“Rach, you up there?” He asked and started up the stairs. He had only taken three steps when he spotted a figure and thrust his eyes and pistol toward the unknown, instantly seeing Rachel standing there silent. “Dammit, I almost shot your ass,” he said as he continued to climb the stairs. “What the hell are you doing up here?”

She knew better than to tell him the truth, yet where I was crouched I could see her well and began to worry that he might become suspicious of her just standing there and raise an alarm by yelling for backup.

Two more steps and he quickly saw her gun to his left on the floor. He thrust his gun up and focused on Rachel. “Where is he?” He asked quietly.

“Behind you with a gun at your head, so I wouldn’t do anything stupid if I were you,” I told him and watched him freeze in his tracks. The gun was in his left hand up near his head, so if he began to spin in hopes of getting off a shot before I could, I’d prove him dead wrong.

“There are a lot of cop’s out there, buddy. You’d be smart to just give up and come out with your hands up. Make it easy on yourself,” he explained.

“Rent-a-cops, you mean? Because there isn’t one damn law enforcement officer in the whole bunch of you. You’re nothing but a bunch of thugs taking advantage of people, although because of me you aren’t performing acts of murder and calling them experiments anymore,” I said to him in a happy tone that had to make his blood boil. There was a part of me that was doing all I could to enrage him, blind him to the point of violence so I could shoot him with justification in my mind. I wanted to shoot him so bad that I could taste it. He was no better than Morris and deserved exactly what I was ready to give them all.

Yet even amidst all of that, there was still that part of me that would only shoot him if he tried to give my position away, call for backup or anything else that could negatively affect my stay in this house any longer. I’d let him live, but that length of time would depend upon him and his actions in the coming minutes.

“Just give yourself up, buddy. That’s the only way you’re walking out of here alive,” he added, no doubt trying to scare me into giving up. Only problem with that tactic was that I wasn’t scared of him or any of the other Guards outside. Morris was no more frightening to me than a stuffed unicorn. I had already experienced the fear of them and found it to be futile. They were nothing but thugs and there was only one way to deal with a thug.

“You’ve got a lot of confidence for someone that could die at any second,” I told him; apparently the side of me that wanted him dead was the dominant today.

“Rachel, he can’t get both of us,” he told her. “Rush him and get your gun.”

“Go ahead, Rachel. Let’s see how fast and accurate I really am,” I said with a devilish grin on my face. I was more than confident, no, I was positive that when he moved and if she went along with his idea, I could drop both of them before either of them could fire a single shot at me. “Go ahead, maybe you’ll get lucky… then again, maybe you won’t.”

Rachel shook her head to his idea, as well as mine. She wanted no part in dying for nothing and we could both see it on her face.

“Pick up that damn gun and shoot him!” He said in a deeper tone. “You better remember whose side you’re on, because if you aren’t with us, then you’re with him and I’ll shoot you just as easily!”

“Back away, Rachel. Walk backwards until you are in that bedroom at the end of the hallway,” I instructed her.

“Don’t you do it, Rachel!” The Guard demanded of her.

The situation, like many before it, was quickly spiraling out of control and sooner or later the shooting would start and someone was going to die. That outcome depended upon a great many factors, yet only lead in two different directions. Either the Guard died or I died.

“Go, Rachel, now!” I instructed her.

The beautiful blonde was stone faced with terror. Unable to move forward or backward, as either direction could mean her death, yet continuing to stand stationary wouldn’t do much for her in any aspect. She looked from me, studying my face a few brief seconds before throwing her eyes to the Guard on the stairs. She saw something in my eyes apparently that loosened her fear and slowly I watched as she took a step backward, her eyes locked onto mine as if I were her inspiration and protector.

“Leave her alone and put your gun down!” I told the Guard on the stairs.

“It’s not happening, buddy,” he replied in a firm tone.

“I’m not playing with you, asshole! I
will
shoot you!” I added, hoping that at some point, rather quickly, he would see he had no advantage where he was and do what I told him. If he advanced, I’d cut him down. If he tried to retreat and go for help, I’d still cut him down. I had no idea what was going through his mind, but if he didn’t choose soon, and make the right decision, then I’d make it for him.

“This asshole killed people you knew and grew up with, Rachel. He’ll kill you two the moment he has the opportunity,” the Guard stated.

“You mean those sick twisted fucks like that Smith guy?” I asked. “The very guy that was using his own son to get people back to the school so he could murder them, take all of their shit, and then call it looking for a cure?” I brought my eyes to meet hers and shook my head. “I already had the opportunity to kill you, did I not?”

She nodded her head instantly.

“You go back with him, and you’re a dead woman,” I said to her. “You know that as well as I do, so if you want to live then listen to me and keep backing away.”

The Guard could see the confusion in Rachel’s face begin to melt away and knew that at any moment she would do what the Stranger was asking her to do. And when she did that, there was a good possibility that he would be outnumbered. The time for talking had ended and all that remained was the action.

“You’re gonna die today, buddy!” The Guard told me.

“Not by your hand,” I threw back at him. “And certainly not in your lifetime!”

The comment enraged him and I could see the fight coming, although he had to as well, but understood better than me that he didn’t stand a chance and would be killed if he even flinched the wrong way. The only logical option he had was to put the gun down, however, this was not that logical world and I’m pretty sure he thought I would torture him if he complied.

The unrelenting imagination had gotten the better of him and he was willing to resort to violence in order to bring his point home since his aggressive attempt at forcing his ideology on me hadn’t worked.

There was a loud popping noise, nothing like that of an average gunshot, but something much quieter. He felt a sudden sharp pain crash through his right shoulder and the Glock fell from his grasp. He watched it hit the step in front of him, bounce and head toward the first floor. That’s when he saw the parade of blood flow down his right arm to his hand and felt the sharp pain shift to a burning sensation that could not be put out. He looked up at me, pushing the pain away as best he could and threw a glare of pure hatred at me. I almost felt the need to duck, as if he could really move objects with his mind and he was about to crush me like a pesky insect.

“Morris is going to make you feel levels of pain you never knew existed, asshole!” He stated, although there was too much pain brewing within him to form a smile on his unquenched lips.

There was a second loud pop and the Guard fell back against the wall in a spray of blood and brain matter, which colored the white walls red, and then tumbled down the stairs like a rag doll.

I wasn’t sure if anyone had been close enough to the house to hear the terrible fall, and out of fear for my personal safety and getting shot in the back, I couldn’t move to the window and gaze out to see if anyone was coming. Rachel was still in the hallway and so was her Glock, which put us both in a rather precarious, and extremely awkward, position. I wasn’t positive she wouldn’t pick up her gun and shoot me in the back, while I’m certain her thoughts were pretty similar to mine.

She watched me with terror filled eyes, probably wondering when I would shoot her, or if I’d keep her and perform sinister things on her once they were all alone. I even caught a hint of her looking towards her pistol… this wasn’t starting off as a good day.

“They’re going to eventually find him. They won’t leave without us, and when they do…” I cut her off.

“Yeah, I know already. They’re going to kill me like they did back at the school,” I said to her almost annoyed at hearing that.

“Look, lady. I’m just trying to get out of this town and be left alone, but if your friends want a war, then I’ll give them one.” My thoughts after speaking quickly turned to my son. The obvious was staring me in the face, had been for some time, yet I refused to believe it. I wanted to think it was a fifty-fifty shot, although knowing what had gone on at the school and my lack of knowledge of the supposed military group that had taken people away, the odds of that diminished quickly. I began to think that Smith had simply told me that to reinforce a small amount of hope into my system, so that I wouldn’t kill him. Well that plan had backfired on him.

“There are more than enough vehicles around here to make an escape, but you’re still here. So I highly doubt you want to leave,” she said in a shaky voice.

Maybe she was right? Maybe I was planning something different and just didn’t know it yet. Just because you kill the main person in charge doesn’t mean the whole group will collapse, as I had expected. No, what I had done was put Morris in charge and he was becoming a force to be reckoned with. He didn’t scare me, even if he did I would never admit it, he had more of this mystery to him and intrigue than anything else. He was almost the kind of guy I would have followed, if given the opportunity and the lack of knowing what was really going on within those school walls. That’s what I hated most… that’s why I hated him so badly, I guess.

“Leave, right now. Just sneak out the back and go while you still can,” Rachel added.

“So you can shoot me in the back?” I asked her.

This distorted look of offense rocked her face and she walked quickly forward, bent and retrieved the gun, and then moved toward me until the barrel of my short rifle touched her chest. She handed me the gun in a non-threatening manner, glaring at me through unblinking eyes. “Take the damn thing and go!”

I felt that awkward state come to life as I stood there looking at the woman trying to give me her pistol. She might not have had the ability to shoot me after picking it up, but she had showed me courage in the face of unsurmountable danger and was now even fuming over my thoughtless words. “I didn’t mean anything by it,” I said to her.

“Well, I’m one of them, so why should I care what you think, remember?”

I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet I still felt as though I had hurt her feelings and it bothered me that I had been so cavalier with my words. Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with me? I didn’t do anything wrong!

“Stop it!” I told her swiftly. “I don’t know you from Adam, and I’m sure things might have been a lot different had I not got the drop on you first, or just missed you entirely. So please spare me the dramatics. I remember you from the hallway – Morris sent you to look for my son, stalling no doubt as he put a plan together. So tell me where you went when he sent you away?” I didn’t notice the anger rushing across my face, nor did I realize that I was setting further into the weapon, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. I was becoming my emotions, flammable thoughts which could easily ignite at the sound of the wrong words.

“I was sent to come around behind you, so when they tried to overrun you, I could give them cover fire and pin you down,” she stated honestly.

All that raw combustible emotion just faded away. I was expecting some far-fetched story about her going for my son only to remember that the military had taken him or something else to that degree. Something that she knew would make me unstable and allow her the chance to get away or cry for help. She did none of the above. She told me the truth.

I looked at her and studied the look on her face, the movement of her eyes, any slight amounts of body language that told me differently, but I found nothing that I could doubt and carry any further. That whole idea of fifty-fifty vanished from my head.