DEAD: Blood & Betrayal: Book 11 of the DEAD Series (8 page)

“Hey,” Chad said, yanking Caroline out of her little ruminations. She was surprised to realize that he had come to a stop perhaps a dozen or so steps back.

“What’s wrong?” Caroline’s hand went to her hip and her machete out of reflex.

Chad pointed and she turned to look to the right. A sign was off of the road and up in a rocky crevice.

It read simply: Emigrant Lake-Survivors welcome!

“Seems pretty straightforward,” Caroline finally said after it was clear that Chad was going to just stand there until she offered some sort of input.

The man approached her, his eyes seeming to search the ground for an answer or perhaps a sign. When he looked up, she saw for the first time that amount of pain he was feeling.

“You think we could give the place a try? Maybe Ronni will get over our leaving the last place.” Chad’s hands were twisting and squeezing themselves in nervous agitation.

“We won’t know until we give it a try.” Caroline shot a look over her shoulder at the young lady who was starting to rise up on tiptoes and cock her head as if that might magically allow her to know what was being said.

“Fine,” Chad agreed, “but we do this my way. I will go in and give the place a look. You two make camp over the other side of that ridge.” He hiked a thumb over his shoulder to indicate where he wanted them to wait.

“That seems fair enough.”

Less than an hour later, camp was made and Chad started off towards where the arrow pointed. It took him the better part of two hours, but at last he crested a ridge. Before him was a massive lake. A wall at least twenty feet high ran alongside what was left of a two-lane road.

There were dozens of cabins spaced out as well as a few large buildings. Even from this distance, he could see more people walking around than he’d seen in one place since this whole nightmare began. Even more important, he saw children. There was a park with dozens of children running around. He could see blankets spread out on the grass as people enjoyed the sun and a picnic. It was enough to bring tears to his eyes.

Could it really be this simple? Was their journey finally over?

***

“Jody, you can’t do this,” Selina insisted. “Not without me.”

Jody turned to face the woman. He loved her with all of his heart, of that there could be no denial. Yet, his daughter was in danger and he was about to go out with the sole intention of doing something horrible. He knew from experience that killing another living being was not as simple as many people believed. Killing a zombie was one thing; but killing a person who might be looking up at you and begging for his (or her) life? He would not allow Selina to see him do such a thing; nor would he allow her to be forced to commit it.

“I need you here in case she returns or whoever did this thinks twice about the road they are heading down.” Jody put his hands on Selina’s arms and looked into her eyes. He could see the same pain in hers that he felt all the way to the core of his soul. “And I have no idea what is going to happen once I walk out this door.”

Jody saw no need to lie. Besides, he was certain that all of the hardware he was sporting gave away his intentions. He even had two of his handmade flash-bang grenades dangling from his vest. He also had his crossbow with a high-powered scope that he only used if he was hunting game.

“Do me one favor,” Selina whispered, her head against his chest so tight that his heartbeat could be felt by both of them.

“Name it.”

“Bring her back.”

Jody kissed Selina and walked out the door. He was not to the bottom of the steps when he saw somebody in the shadows of the trees at the corner of his street. The person was outfitted in camo gear and had a wide-brimmed hat that cast a shadow preventing the face from being recognized. For a moment, the two stood facing each other. Neither seemed inclined to move for an uncomfortable amount of time. Jody was making a study of this person. He was looking at the weapons this person had all over their body. They obviously meant business.

At last, the figure raised both hands, laced them behind the head and knelt. That had Jody curious. Certainly it was obvious as to what he, Jody Rafe, had in mind. And if this person was one of the people responsible, it seemed incredibly peculiar that he or she would submit so easily.

Instantly, Jody went on guard. This could, in all likelihood, be a trap. Erring on the side of caution, he brought up his crossbow and advanced. His gaze went everywhere, but continued to flick back to this individual to be sure they were not doing anything devious.

Once he was about ten or fifteen feet away, the figure spoke. “Can I take my hat off? Maybe then you won’t be as anxious and accidentally shoot that damn thing.”

“Danny?”

“Yeah, and this is really playing hell on my ankles. Can I please get up now?”

“What?” Jody was confused for a moment. “Oh, crap…yes!”

He stepped back and reached down to give Danny a hand up. The man was wobbly at best, but at last he was on his feet.

“I thought that you needed a cane to even get around a little?” Jody stepped back. He was trying his best to sound more concerned than suspicious.

“Yeah. I have been going through some gnarly physical therapy. And honestly, I just got to the point where I could go anyplace without my cane. It hurts wicked bad, but I gotta push myself, ya know?”

“Okay, but that still doesn’t really explain how you are here or how you knew what I was about to do.”

“Funny thing when you are seeming to be crippled. Folks forget that you are even around. Can you believe I even have some folks that talk slow and loud like I might be deaf or mentally challenged?” Danny scoffed.

“Yeah…that ain’t really stretching things,” Jody said with just the hint of a smile on his lips.

“Screw you, Rafe.”

“Listen, I appreciate the offer. Seriously, but you look like you can barely handle going to the end of the street, much less scour the freaking community as well as the surrounding areas. No offense.” Jody gave a raised eyebrow and glanced down at Danny’s feet.

“Good to know you still don’t listen to a damn thing I say,” Danny said after a moment. “If you paid any attention, I just told you that people tend to ignore me because they think my ruined freakin’ ankles got anything to do with my hearing or ability to understand.”

“I don’t think I follow.”

Jody stepped back. He knew that Danny wanted to at least appear to be helpful. And that might do a lot to mend their ruined friendship, but right now, he had much bigger things to deal with and no time for further delays. He could not deny that it felt good to see that a person he had considered to be a dear friend was standing in front of him, offering his help despite the fact that there seemed very little he could actually do.

“Jesus, Rafe!” Danny hissed. “Not only do I know who took your daughter, but I know right where they are.”

***

Entry Seven—

I don’t usually hunt women. Seriously, in this day and age, I figure they have gotten the short end of the stick enough times, that anything they did would pretty much be justified. The zombie apocalypse set back women’s rights about a hundred years in some places. And in others, well, they don’t have any at all. Every once in a while, I hear tales of some poor gal reaching her breaking point. Some abusive jerk ends up castrated or worse; and believe me, there are things that are worse.

I could give two squirts about that sort of thing. And honestly (I will probably piss a few people off here), I don’t delve in domestic issues. If I started down that road, I would probably lose what is left of my mind.

This woman is an exception. I first heard about her when I  was spending the night at this little community by some nameless creek. The stories were such that I thought it was just some tale to keep the kids in check. When I looked around and realized that the kids had all gone to bed and then saw the expectant faces looking at me, I knew otherwise.

Sometimes my reputation precedes me. I never meant for that to happen. But in this new world, news can travel in strange ways. Of course it is often so distorted that you can’t tell where the actual story resides in the morass of fabrication.

The woman in question actually begins the story as a victim. The way it is told, she was living alone with some guy in a cabin on a bluff. She got pregnant and gave birth to a son. Unfortunately, she turned out to be like those women you heard about every blue moon in the old days. She was like that lady that put her kids in a van and drove it into a lake, then tried to blame some imaginary minority.

This woman’s husband comes home from a day of chopping wood or whatever to discover his nine-month-old son floating face down in the wash basin. The husband goes nuts and beats the woman near to death. Only, after all that, the bastard felt guilty and slit his wrists. The story says that he thought that he had
actually
beaten her to death.

From there, it gets sort of strange. The woman survives and in the process, whether due to the beating or her own mind’s inability to process the terrible thing that she has done, she goes crazy. She starts slipping in to other communities. Once she is accepted, it is just a matter of time before she snatches some poor kid and takes off.

Nobody is certain what happens to these children, but they are never seen or heard from again. Unfortunately for the woman, she has some pretty identifiable disfigurement around her left eye. It did not take too long for her to strike enough times so that people started sending word to other settlements. Also, traders and merchant caravans were given the story and the description.

One day, she shows up and somebody freaks. They call her out, saying that they knew what she had done. That is not the best way to deal with crazy. And I am sure that, with hindsight being twenty-twenty, the poor fool would have kept his mouth shut.

The woman did not even blink or bat an eye. She just walked up to the sap and stuck a knife in his belly. Then she walked away as cool as the other side of the pillow. People heard the shouts or screams and came running. By the time they showed up, the woman was gone.

People went out to search, but in this world, if somebody wants to stay hidden, they can damn sure do it. I guess that was just over a week ago. Things were getting back to normal and folks were going about their business. Only, yesterday, some poor mother woke to find her daughter gone.

The girl is just eleven months old. Her mom put her to bed for the night like any other. When the father woke he ducked his head in to check and made the discovery. I showed up to people in an absolute sea of rage. They were all about going out to find her and deal justice. I totally understand.

When I arrived, I was questioned as to if I had seen anything. When I said I had not, but that I would certainly be willing to look, one of the men pulled me aside. He’d heard about me. Said he recognized me from the description some merchant gave. It is hard to believe, but I guess I am getting references.

I told him I was the person in question and then he called a bunch of the citizens together to get the community blessing on me going out to find this person. It was a short discussion.

I ate, got a good night’s sleep, and then picked up some gear. The guy at the shop told me it was on the house, but I told him that would not be necessary. If he wanted to hook me up when the job was done, that would be fine, but I just didn’t feel right taking stuff for a job that I have not done yet.

I left a few hours before dark. I had no idea which direction to go, but the surrounding landscape actually narrowed my choices. There is some nasty and mountainous terrain to the east. To the south is a massive river. Nobody crosses that without being on one of the barges that ferry people over.

That left me with heading west or north. Coin toss said west.

5

Making Her Geek Proud

She walked down the street, but she could not get a read from anybody as to where there might be something amiss. Of course, she assumed that these people had survived a great deal already. It would likely take something considerable to get them riled up. Still, she had to find out where Denise DeCarlo had run off to after getting the news that Kalisha had been taken to the administrator’s office.

“May as well just ask,” she muttered, changing her course to intercept a young man walking along by himself and actually whistling.

“Excuse me?” Catie hailed the man, having to step almost directly in front of him to get him to stop.

“Huh?” The young man’s head popped up and his eyes were a mix of alarm and confusion for a second. He apparently came to some conclusion and then relaxed visibly.

“Can you tell me where the administrator’s office is?”

“Sure.” The man turned and pointed to a large white building that had a steeple on top.

“Thanks,” Catie said, taking off at a jog.

“But they are in session right now,” the man called after her. “You probably don’t want to interrupt them.”

Catie heard the warning and chose to ignore it. She reached the stairs and looked up at what had obviously once been a chapel. This set a few more of her warning bells off, but she forced them down. While there were certainly those who had a twisted and convoluted idea of religion, there were others who were just trying to desperately cling to something safe and familiar. It was not fair for her to assume. Still, that did not mean that she did not need to be prepared.

Climbing the stairs, she could hear a rather heated argument taking place inside. Catie took one more deep breath and opened the doors. It was like the interior of any church that she had ever visited for the most part. Even the long wooden pews were still in place. The biggest difference came up in the pulpit. Instead of an altar or podium, there was a large, ornate desk.

A man was seated behind it and standing to his left were two big, rough looking men who had Kalisha between them; each one had a grip on her arm. The girl had obviously been crying. Standing at the bottom of the three tiered steps that ran all the way across the front of the raised dais was Denise, Eldon, and another man Catie did not recognize.

“…as the rules clearly state,” the man behind the desk was almost shouting. He stopped when Catie entered. One of the men holding on to Kalisha released her arm and took a step forward.

“Don’t stop on my account,” Catie said with a shrug. “I was just coming in to observe. Or are the hearings here of a private nature?”

“Who is this woman?” the administrator demanded. “Don’t tell me this is the young woman that Kalisha brought to our very gates.”

“My name is Catie…Catie Dreon. And I guess I am the person you are talking about. I met her outside of town in some territory supposedly run by a group calling themselves the Beastie Boys. I always thought
Paul’s Boutique
was perhaps one of the greatest albums ever made.” She paused and allowed herself a smile. “But I doubt you are old enough to remember. Hell, I bet you never had the pleasure of pulling a piece of vinyl from the sleeve and scouring the dust jacket while you gave a record its first spin on your turntable.”

“Your presence is not welcome here, Miss Dreon,” the man behind the desk said flatly.

“Actually…” Catie took another couple of steps into the large open room, letting the heavy doors shut behind her, “it’s
missus
.”

“I don’t care,” the man scoffed. “You are not a member of the council, you are a stranger at the very least and an intruder in any case. This is not a meeting open to the public.”

“The public? Or just those who are immune?” Catie saw Denise close her eyes and press her lips tight in disapproval. She also saw Eldon smile.

“As I was saying, Dean, the new arrival is not only openly hostile, but she is immune,” Eldon chirped, putting a few steps between himself and Denise.

“You say that like it is a crime.” Catie turned her focus to the man and leveled her harshest glare his direction. He quickly looked away, obviously unable to maintain eye contact.

“I will only ask you this one time,
Missus
Dreon,” Dean, the man behind the desk, made it a point to drip sarcasm over the title, “you need to leave immediately. Do so now by choice, or else—”

“Or else what?” Catie challenged. “Because if you say that you will have me forcibly removed, that means you lack the stones to do it yourself. That also means you are nothing but a bully and a coward. You know how I deal with bullies? A swift punch in the nose.”

The administrator sat back in his chair for a moment and actually seemed to consider her words. He steepled his fingers and stared at her. If he was waiting for her to blink, Catie had news for the man.

“Eldon?” Dean turned in his chair to the man. “Would you remove this person from these proceedings?”

The man seemed to almost stagger back, but it was quickly apparent that it was from excitement and not anything like fear or hesitation. “Yes, Mr. Administrator.”

“Oh please.”

Catie suppressed a smile at the barely audible whisper that came from Denise. She also widened her stance a bit and eyed Eldon as he turned her direction. The man had taken a few steps, but his pace faltered noticeably when she obviously showed no signs of being the least bit concerned.

“You do understand there will be no going back for you once you put so much as a finger on me,” Catie warned. “You will get your ass handed to you by a woman in front of these idiots that you are obviously and blindly trying to impress.”

Giving the man a better once over now that they were about to square off, a thought came unbidden and Catie let a chuckle escape. She bit her lower lip and shrugged at Eldon’s raised eyebrows. She also noticed that he had stopped his advance.

“What’s so funny?” the man snarled.

“I just realized who you remind me of.” Catie let the laugh carry over in her reply.

“Oh? And who is that?”

“Biff, from
Back to the Future
.”

That earned a chuckle from Denise, and the woman quickly threw a hand over her mouth to stifle it when all eyes shot her glares of overwhelming disapproval—all eyes except for those of Kalisha. The girl looked equal parts confused and frightened.

This had the exact effect that Catie had hoped for from the oafish man. He let loose with a bellow and charged her with reckless abandon. Catie had hoped for this result because she was concerned deep down about her ability to bring a man of Eldon’s size to heel without some slight advantage offered.

Just as he was lunging, she made an agile sidestep and whipped her foot out to sweep the man at the ankles. The man, already having a full head of steam and unable to slow much less stop, went careening in a graceless belly flop and slide that did not end until he collided heavily with the massive doors. The impact was a mix of frame shuddering reverberation as well as a nasty crack that was punctuated with a yelp.

Diving onto Eldon’s back with both knees, Catie reached over and dug her fingers into the man’s eyes and yanked his head back. She leaned down to his ear and hissed, “Move and you will need a seeing eye dog for the rest of your short and miserable life.”

Catie shot a look over her shoulder to ensure that the goons were still staying put. While they were certainly giving anxious looks to this administrator named Dean, neither man had taken a step closer.

“Please let my man up, Missus Dreon,” Dean said as he rose from his chair. “And everybody else please clear the chamber. Take our little juvenile delinquent to her quarters, and Denise, you may return to yours as well.” The men actually looked like they might question the order, but any such thoughts vanished when Dean slammed his hand on the desk. “Now!”

Catie rose to her feet and made a point to get well clear of Eldon’s striking range. The man pushed himself up and scrambled to his feet in a hurry, one arm shooting out in a near-blind backhanded swipe.

“Eldon!” Dean barked. “I said to clear the room. I did not say for you to attack our new guest.”

The man wiped at his face and Catie was happy to see a series of perfect crescent moon-shaped marks that were leaking blood from where her fingers had dug into the tender flesh around the eyes. One side looked like it might even swell shut. When he headed for the door, Catie was even happier to see the man walking with a bit of a limp.

At last the large open room was empty save for Catie and this man named Dean. Not being a fool, Catie kept her mouth shut and chose to let him be the first to speak.

“They tell me that you come from out west.”

“News travels fast.” Catie moved into the middle pew and sat down.

“Not really,” Dean said with a shrug. “It is a small town. Most are these days from what I understand.” He stood and came around his desk, sitting on the edge and folding his hands in front of him. “So, what are we to do with you?”

“How about you let me ask all of those who are immune if they would like to leave of their own free will? We could find a new place to live and let you and yours live in peace.” Dean opened his mouth, but Catie cut him off as she continued. “But since I doubt you want to let go of all of your indentured servants, I think it will be a shade more complicated than me asking and you just agreeing.”

“Indentured servants!” Dean sputtered. He made a few gasps of incredulity, but then he stopped just as suddenly and his lips curved in a huge smile. “So, you are some sort of avenging angel? A do-gooder out to right wrongs and be the voice for the oppressed? That sort of thing?”

“Nothing quite so grand,” Catie replied. “In fact, if that creep Eldon hadn’t been such a jerk during my interrogation, I might have minded my own business and gone on my way. But then the whole thing about that girl being brought in like a criminal when all she was guilty of was going after her brother, and it got me to thinking.”

“I would be careful, Missus Dreon,” Dean warned.

“What deal have you made with these Beastie Boys?” Catie had considered how she was going to go about this. She knew that she did not have the patience to tiptoe around things. She was an “every problem looks like a nail” sort of gal.

“I have no—” Dean began to protest.

“Just don’t,” Catie snapped, cutting the man off. “We can dance around this and play silly games, but, and maybe this is the hormones talking, I simply do not have the desire to play games. Tell me what you have going on.”

“And what do you intend to do with any information I might offer?” Dean went back behind his desk and Catie watched his hands. If he went for any sort of weapon, she knew perfectly well that she was screwed.

“It depends.”

The man seemed to consider Catie with an appraising eye rather than a defensive one. Catie knew what it felt like to be sized up, and that is exactly what this felt like. At last, he seemed to come to a conclusion.

“You have two choices,” Dean spoke as he once again got to his feet. “You can get your gear and leave today. If you return after being escorted to the edge of our territory, you will be considered an invader and I will have you executed.”

“That sounds fun,” Catie sniffed. “You would just execute a woman who is pregnant?”

“Your…condition…is the only reason that you are being given that first choice of leaving. Too many people know about you. At this point, doing something would not be greeted with a positive result. I may be a lot of things, but stupid isn’t one of them.”

“You mentioned a second choice.”

“Something tells me that you are former military.” Dean folded his hand on his desk. His voice reminded Catie of a teacher giving a lecture. It was not overly emotional. A guy like this might not be all that difficult to work for…or at least with. “The way that you handled Eldon? That was impressive. If you were to perhaps lead a team of men that I chose to remove the head from the group that calls themselves the Beastie Boys, then we would be in your debt and I would consider asking you to stay on and accept a post as one of our chiefs of security.”

“And if I do this, I will have some stipulations of my own.”

“Such as?” Dean asked, a bemused smile curling his lips in the start of a grin that was more creepy than pleasant.

“We will deal with that when I return.” Catie walked up to the desk and planted her hands on it. She leaned down so that her face was inches from Dean’s. “And I want some people of my choosing on the team just in case you plan on having me killed after I complete this mission.”

“After?” Dean scoffed. “You make it sound like it is already done. You are quite confident in your abilities.”

“Yes, I am.”

***

“I just want one person that you trust with our life.” Catie sipped on the tea and savored its sweetness. She had not enjoyed honey in an age. And tea? Not only was this delicious, but it had just a hint of citrus in it that made her want to risk scalding her tongue just so she could have a second cup.

“That is a rather short list. But you are asking me to have this person put their life at risk,” Denise replied with a slow shake of her head. “You are asking me to join you, a total stranger, along with a handpicked goon squad that the administrator assigns for a mission that has been attempted twice and resulted in utter failure.”