Dead Highways (Book 2): Passage (14 page)

Robinson took point, carefully poking his head around the bumper. “Found one,” he whispered back at me. That was fast. He made a flat downward motion with his free hand.

What did
that
mean?

I gave him my best confused expression.

He did the downward motion again and said, “They’re on the ground.”

I nodded. I got it. On the ground.

A sleeper.

That’s explains the missing two infected. They thought this little collection of vehicles would be a good safe place to rest, one of them just yards away from our hideout.

We quietly moved between the trucks, keeping a 360 view of all paths leading out, knowing that somewhere nearby was probably a second sleeper. I stayed in Robinson’s shadow, doing everything he did, head up, gun down, remaining vigilant. In short time we stepped free of the military maze and walked upright again like Homo erectus, carving a path through the patchy grass, over a knocked down chain-linked fence, to the empty parking lot where Ted waited for us.

I rested Sally back in her holster. Should anyone see us now, they’d have a lot of open ground to cover before being much of a threat.

“You two look like shit,” Ted said as we walked up.

“I
feel
like shit,” Robinson replied. “I could use a good night’s sleep.”

“What’s that?”

Robinson smirked. “I’m starting to forget.”

“Well, get in,” Ted said. “I got a surprise for you.”

Ted drove about four miles east, the whole time refusing to tell us where we were going. It was a surprise, he kept saying, though I remember him mentioning a barn earlier over the radio. I didn’t think there were many barns in Orlando, and the thought of sleeping with farm animals sounded unpleasant, to say the least.
Surprise, you get to sleep in a horse stall tonight!
Yee-haw!
Not the kind of surprise I wanted. It was hard enough getting to sleep with Robinson snoring like Geppetto from Pinocchio.

So when he pulled into the parking lot and I saw the big Mattress Barn sign out front, I couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh man,” Robinson said. “This is the surprise?”

“Yep. I figured this would be as good a spot to rest up as any. What do y’all think? You approve?”

“Yes, absolutely, I approve.”

“It’s like heaven,” I added. “Can we spend the night?”

Ted chuckled. “That’s the plan.”

Ted parked the SUV next to its matching brother around back, and then we entered the store from a rear door they had pried open.

“Don’t shoot,” Ted said. “It’s us.”

I guess
don’t shoot
was the secret password.

We entered. The building smelled like you’d expect a mattress store to smell—like mattresses, and the others had set up some candles and a lantern that provided enough light to make your way around without tripping over one of the many display beds.

One by one, the others greeted us with hugs and handshakes (except Aamod who stood by the front window and kept watch), and then we swapped war stories. They told us about how they got overrun back on the highway. Robinson and I told them about our narrow escape into the back of a military supply truck. Ah, fun times.

Then we ate dinner. Same thing as the previous night, MRE’s, only instead of meatloaf, this time I got Beef Ravioli. It tasted better, which wasn’t really saying much. Hey, I was hungry. It was food.

After dinner, Robinson called a meeting to talk about shifts, where we all agreed to go solo this time, mostly because it meant we would each have fewer shifts. And fewer shifts meant more sleep—in a brand new, pillow top, king-sized bed, of all things. Naima, Olivia, and Jax were the only ones not assigned to a shift. Aamod bailed Naima out by accepting her shift, Olivia wasn’t even a week old, and Jax was just a dog.

With that last order of business settled, Ted took first watch while the rest of us went off to carefully select a bed, agreeing to discuss how best to continue the journey to New Orleans in the morning. I picked a bed as far away from Robinson as I could, and fell asleep within a minute of lying down.

I was up again four hours later. Robinson tugged at my leg, my shirt, poked me. I rolled over and looked up at him, wishing him standing there was just a bad dream.

It wasn’t, he assured me. It was time for my hour shift.

No way.
Already?

I checked my watch. 1:01 a.m. Damn, he was right.

I rolled out of bed, yawned, tried to rub the sleepiness from my eyes.

“See anything?” I asked. I kept my voice down so as to not wake the others.

“Nothing.”

“Did you go outside?”

He shook his head. “No, and you shouldn’t either. Just keep an eye on the front window and the back door. Make sure everything is secure. Wake me if you see or hear anything unusual … and I mean
anything
. That’s really all you need to do.”

“Okay. I can do that.”

Robinson headed for the bathroom at the back of the store. I sat down in a wooden chair they’d set up at the front of the store and looked out at the small parking lot. With the streetlights out, the moon casted the only light.

Robinson returned a minute later with a bottle of water. “Thought you might want this,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said, taking the bottle from him. “Was the chair your idea?”

“Ted’s. And I wouldn’t sit in it too long. We don’t need you falling asleep.”

“I won’t. It’s pretty uncomfortable.”

“Night, Jimmy.”

“Night.” He got about ten feet away, then turned and came back. “Something else?”

He knelt down beside me, gazed out at the dark street. “Had a little chat with Bowser. This was after you went to sleep. When we switched shifts. Apparently there was more to the story than what they told us earlier.”

“What do you mean? What story?”

“About what had happened back on the highway, when we were off scouting ahead.”

“Really … like what?”

“Bowser said the reason the infected found them was because Aamod wandered off without telling anyone. Then he had to go looking for him. I guess it took him a little while, but he ended up finding him up near the interstate.”

“Where we were?”

“On the other side, I think. Westbound. Anyway, I guess they exchanged a few words. Bowser told him to stay by the cars. Aamod said he’d do whatever he wanted to do. And as you can probably imagine, it just escalated from there. Bowser made some remark about how Naima isn’t his responsibility to babysit. After that, Aamod got real angry and threatened to kill him.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said.”

“What did Bowser do?”

“He walked away.”

“Smart move.”

“Aamod followed him back to the cars, but the infected must have followed Aamod. Then all hell broke loose. Bowser said he didn’t tell the others about his conversation with Aamod, so I’m not sure they even realize what happened.”

“So is that why Aamod was so quiet when we got here?”

Robinson shrugged. “I don’t know. I suppose. You know how he is. I figured he was just being his usual self. But Bowser thinks it’s a mistake bringing Aamod along with us.”

“What do you think?”

“I think he’s probably right. Aamod is unpredictable. But the problem is—”

“Naima.”

Robinson nodded. “If we let him go, that means we’re letting her go too. And she doesn’t deserve that.”

“No, she’s a nice girl, and she’s got a lot on her mind … you know … her mom and all. I feel bad for her. Her father isn’t exactly giving her the support she needs right now.”

“If we let them go, he’ll do something stupid and get them both killed. I know it. If he wants to kill himself, fine. But I care about that young girl.”

“Of course if we let them stay he might get us all killed,” I said. “Or even snap and kill one of us on purpose.”

“He could. I don’t take kindly to death threats. And knowing Bowser, neither will he. I don’t think this is done between them. Not by a long shot. For now, we just have to do our best to reign him in. He can be a valuable member of the group when he wants to be.”

“And then other times…”

“He’s a nightmare.”

We sat in silence for a good minute before Robinson hit me with a question I was completely unprepared for.

“Do you know what happened to Diego?”

Something awful boiled in my stomach. A cold sweat broke out all over my body. My night shift was becoming more eventful than I had imagined it being.

Diego? Yeah, I know what happened to Diego.

I tried responding in words first, but when they didn’t come, I simply nodded.

“I meant to ask you earlier,” Robinson said.

I looked down, took a deep breath, and said, “Diego’s dead.”

“Are you sure?”

“I saw his body. Yeah, he’s dead.”

Robinson sighed. “Everything just happened so fast last night. The infected seemed to come out of nowhere. I thought you guys were behind us.”

I raised my head. “We weren’t.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault. They were out in the woods waiting to strike. Once Diego…”

“What? Once Diego what?”

I took another deep breath. “There’s something you should know. I gave Diego my gun. I know I shouldn’t have … we had an agreement … but I did anyway. And then he used it to kill himself.”

“Oh my God. Are you serious?”

I nodded.

“Why would he do that?”

“He was depressed. He missed Luna. He wasn’t making any friends. I think there were a lot of reasons. I don’t know. But he did it, and I helped him.”

“It wasn’t wise giving him your gun, Jimmy.”

“I know.”

Robinson bowed his head, looking damaged. “They were a great couple, weren’t they? You could tell how much they loved each other. You really could. I remember feeling that way about Trissa once. That’s my boy’s momma. Yeah, I remember loving her like it was yesterday, and that was many years ago now.” Robinson shielded his face as tears began to settle in his eyes. “All day today I was thinking maybe he made it out. Maybe all of you made it out. I prayed you’d be okay. But I never thought Diego would have killed himself.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to be sorry. I put him in that situation. I hit him with the car. I fucked up. Then after Luna was gone, after he had lost the love of this life, I wanted to kick him out on his own.”

“So did I. So did most of us. Don’t turn this thing around on yourself. You’ve got nothing to feel bad about. You of all people wanted to help him. He did what he wanted to do.”

“He didn’t want to die. He just didn’t want to live.”

“Either way, what he did was
his
choice. He didn’t see any other options. He didn’t see a life beyond the pain.” I put a hand on Robinson’s shoulder. “You don’t need to hold my guilt,” I said, my voice cracking, trying to hold back my own tears. “I can handle it. Diego even told me to tell you he was sorry for what he said. He realized he was wrong. He didn’t blame you anymore.”

Robinson took his hand off his face and looked over at me. “He really said that?”

I nodded. “He did. I hope that helps you.”

“It does a little. But you know … if we get to New Orleans and I can’t find my son. What will I do then?” He stood up, looked down at me. “What other options will
I
have?”

I knew I should say
something
, but I didn’t know what. For his question, I had no answer.

He walked away, left me sitting there alone, looking out at the dark, empty street, wishing I had even a sliver of hope to offer him.

But I had none.

Not for him.

Not for me.

None.

I spent the rest of my watch trying to forget the conversation Robinson and I had. I paced around, covered every inch of floor space. The front doors were secure. The back door was secure. The streets looked empty. And Peaches looked so wonderful sleeping I felt horrible having to wake her. So horrible I considered taking her shift. But the tears had made my eyes even more tired, and I was afraid I might not be able to stay up another hour.

I tapped Peaches lightly. “Hey, time to wake up. It’s your turn.”