Deadlocked 6 (28 page)

He nodded and saluted as I started driving again. I passed by Dustin, who was standing near a beautiful red car parked on the side of the road. He was getting guns out of the trunk and handing them to nearby Rollers. The thoroughfare split in front of a church in the center of town, and the trucks were lining up on either side of it. An idea occurred to me and I stopped in front of the building.

"We need to hole up here," I said as I got excited at the prospect. I flung my door open and stood on my seat so that I was high in the air. "Everyone listen up." The Rollers looked up at me, waiting for instructions. "Pull the trucks through the back lot of the church and make a circle. Let's set this up as a camp, with the church in the middle. We can put up the partitions just like this is a normal campsite. Hurry. There's no time to talk about it."

Clyde ran to the front of my truck, and waved his arms to get my attention. "Billy had us pull some of the partitions down to block the road back there."

"Do we need them?" I asked as I tried to gauge how large of a circle we would need to make around the church.

"I don't know, but we'd be in trouble if we were short even one wall."

"Okay," I said. "I'll go talk to him." Then I turned to Arthur. "I've got to talk to Billy. Can you use your left leg to drive this rig and get it in place?"

"Yeah," said Arthur as he slid across the seat. "Go on. I've got this."

The sky behind me was bright blue, and the white clouds were underlined with a gorgeous orange hue. The mountains loomed, blue in the late day horizon, with the setting sun behind them, touching down somewhere past California. Ahead of me, in the vast plains of eastern Colorado, the fire had grown to frightening proportions. The only thing that scared me more was the massive horde that was descending upon us, incensed by the fire as well as by the desire to eat us alive.

Billy was busy ordering people to set up a barrier that ran from one side of the street to the other. Two of the Rollers were now stretching razor wire across the top of the wall.

"We're almost done, Captain," said Billy when I got to him.

"I need you to take it down." I spoke quietly as to not let the others hear.

"What?" He was shocked at first, and then angry. "Are you fucking serious?" He pointed out to the plains in the distance where
hundreds of approaching corpses were silhouetted by flames.

"We're going to set up camp around the church. We need to make sure we've got all the walls in case we need them. Please don't fight me on this, Billy."

He glared at me, and then at the church. The setting sun's light made him look gorgeous. The side of his hair had streaks of grey in them, and his stubble was speckled with white hairs. His jaw was rigid, and his eyes were dark as he stared at the church behind me. I waited anxiously for a response as he assessed the situation.

"You're right," he said and nodded. "That's a better plan."

I sighed with relief. "Oh thank fucking God, Billy." I put my hand around the back of his neck and pulled him in for a hug. Then I kissed his cheek. "Thanks for not fighting me on this."

"No worries. You get back there and make sure they're putting the wall up right. I'll get this one taken down and brought back there."

I kissed him one more time and then ran back towards the church. The Rollers were doing as I asked and had positioned several of the trucks already. It was a difficult process to get the circle to work properly, but I had faith in them. I saw Clyde driving a truck along the outside of the circle and was confused by what he was doing.

He was in the small military transport that we'd been using to carry Harrison and his friend. I waved at Clyde to stop and then climbed up onto the footrest as he rolled down the window. "What are you doing?"

"We don't have room for this truck anywhere," he said. "We're going to have to leave it outside."

"What about Harry and the other one?"

Clyde shrugged. "I don’t know, Laura. We've got to worry about our own first."

I grimaced at him. "I don't believe that for a second, Clyde. I've never known you to leave a person behind."

"I didn't say I was going to leave them," he said. "I just can't get the truck into the circle without making it harder for us to build the wall."

"Then what are you planning?"

"I'm either going to get them into the camp or I'll stay out here with them."

I sighed and opened his door, then hopped
off so he could get down as well. "Come on then. Let's get them inside. I'm not going to let my best medic stay out here acting like a damn hero."

Clyde got out and went to the back of the truck. When we opened the back door, Harrison's friend was already sitting up. He waved and said, "Get me a gun. I'll help."

"Settle down, gunslinger," I said as I got into the back of the truck. "We've got plenty of guys with guns already. We just need to get you to safety."

"Take Harrison first," he said and motioned to his unconscious friend.

"You sure?" asked Clyde. "He's pretty far gone already. I'm not even sure he's going to…"

"Take him first." The man was insistent.

We did as he asked. I took Harrison's legs, and Clyde carried him by the arms. We walked between two of the trucks, making it through before the Rollers had attached the partitions, and up the stairs to the church's entrance. The Rollers had already gotten the elderly and children into the building and they were gathered in the nave, just past the quaint vestibule. We set Harrison on one of the pews and then rushed out to get his friend.

"Ben," said Clyde as we approached the truck. The man had gotten out of the truck and was favoring his bandaged side. "What the hell are you doing? You shouldn't be walking."

"Shouldn't be alive," said Ben. "But I'm not too good at dying."

"Stop with the action hero shit," I said and put my arm around his shoulder as Clyde went to the other side. "Let's get you inside."

"You should give me a gun," he said as he limped along. "I can help."

"Maybe next time, tough guy," I said.

We passed between two trucks just as a Roller was about to set down the partition. Clyde and I helped Ben up the stairs and into the church to wait with his friend. As we entered, a dog's bark startled me. It was the little pug that Ben kept as a pet. The dog had been staying with the children while his master was healing, and was overjoyed to see him. The little dog jumped up at Ben over and over until I bent down and scooped him up.

I gave the
pug to Ben who laughed as the dog licked at his face. "I'm happy to see you too, little guy."

Ben sat beside Harrison and I took a moment to look at the others gathered in the church. David was at the altar, and he was praying.

I glanced back down at Ben and saw that Harrison's head was now in his lap. The old man was staring at the altar, and he was crying. Ben pulled the hair away from the old man's face and said, "Don't worry, buddy. I'm here."

I saw Bonnie and Rachel nearby, gathering the children to keep them happy. There were a lot of refugees from Vineyard here as well, and I looked out over the families that were depending on us to protect them. There were so many innocent people gathered in this old church, filling the pews and holding one another. Mothers held their crying babies in their arms. All of
their lives were in my hands, and I was suddenly having trouble breathing as I stared at them.

Jill and another medic passed me, carrying the body of the pilot that we'd captured. If he was still alive, he didn't have much time left, but Clyde was determined to do everything he could to save
him. The Rollers were the good guys, and I'd never been more certain of it.

"Mom," said Annie.

I was startled by her and turned with my hand over my heart as I gasped. "Hi, honey. What is it?"

"If you don't need anything else from me, I'm going to see if I can get into the steeple." She was carrying a box of ammo and had her hunting rifle strapped over her shoulder.

"Good idea." I pat her shoulder and she was about to head off when I stopped her. "Annie," I said and then paused.

"Yeah, what's up?"

She was startlingly beautiful. Her curly red hair and blue eyes were too gorgeous to have come from me. When I looked at her, I saw her father, and I wanted nothing more than to pull her into a long hug. Instead, I just said, "I love you."

"Love you too," she said and turned to leave.

I gripped her shirt and stopped her from leaving.

There was something I needed to tell her, but was afraid to say. There was a secret I'd been hiding from my girls, and they deserved to know, but I wasn't strong enough to admit it yet, and this wasn't the right time.

"You're perfect. Always have been."

"Okay." Her smile turned to a smirk as she eyed me quizzically. "You all right?"

I nodded because I didn't want to give voice to a lie.

"Just be careful."

"I'll be fine up there. You need to be careful down here," said Annie. "The Rollers need you. They wouldn't make it without you."

That wasn't what I wanted to hear. I let her go, and watched her run off. Zack walked in through the vestibule and I ran to him. He was surprised when I thudded into his chest.

"Whoa, darling," he said and gently pat my back. "What's going on?"

"Just hold me, you lunkhead. I just need a moment to feel safe. Just one moment."

He didn't ask why, and just put his arms around me as I pressed my face into his chest. It felt so safe in his arms, and I cherished the few seconds we stole.

Then it was over, and we walked back outside into hell - together.

Kim Laporte

"Get out here," said the soldier as he stood behind William.

The facility's rear entrance opened into a dim mine shaft. There was a nearby light off to my left and the open door blocked my view of its source. The soldier was frantic, and pulled at William's shirt as the wave of gore continued to pour out of the corridor. The river of blood and body parts flowed into the mine and then off to the right, following the shaft's decline down into the pit carved into the earth.

"Get out here now!" The soldier pushed William down to his knees and held his assault rifle with one hand. He tried to point the weapon at us, but it wavered in his grip.

Hero was going to walk out first, but I put my hand on his chest to keep him back. I stared at the soldier and a grim calmness came over me. The blood continued to flow past my feet, like bath water slowly receding, pulling the fleshy pulp of zombies along with it. There was no smell of decay, probably a result of the biological alterations that the scientists caused, but the stench of metal was pervasive. I could taste the zombies' blood with every breath. Crimson dripped from the bottom of my saturated gown. I saw chunks of brain on my arm, and felt the slime of tissue on my cheeks. It was as if I were a demon, stepping out of hell, ready to unleash torture upon anyone that stood in my way.

"You can't kill me," I said. "I'm the one with the cure in me."

"Stay back!" He took his hand off William's shoulder to steady his gun. He set the stock against his shoulder and aimed down the sights. "I know what you guys did in there. You released the virus, and then blew up the rest of my squad. You're insane. Stay back or I'll kill you."

There was a dirt bike to my left, which I assumed the soldier had used to come find this entrance. Its engine was off, but the headlight was still on, which provided the only illumination in the mine.

"How did you know about this exit?" asked William. "I thought none of Jerald's men knew about this one."

"Your friends told me." He clicked on the laser sight that was under the muzzle of his rifle. It shined somewhere on my head. "Stop right there!"

I paused and kept my gaze steady. "I'm the one your general has been looking for. You can't shoot me."

"I know who you are. I stayed back to guard the two scientists when the rest of my squad chased you down. I was listening when you bombed them." He tapped a device that was perched on his right ear. "They told me you were headed out this way, and how to get here. They want you captured too. We can't risk letting you leave. I'm going to keep you right here until General Scott gets back."

"Gets back from where?" I asked, making sure to take full advantage of his willingness to divulge details.

"From killing the rest of your group." He sneered and took pleasure in aiming at me. "As long as we've got you, we don't need anyone else."

He was about my age, handsome with sharp features and black hair. He had blue eyes, and pale skin. I took another step towards him, and his face darkened with anger. "Get back, bitch. I'll blow your leg off. I'm not kidding."

"You can't shoot me," I said and took another step. "I'm too important, especially if you're going to kill the rest of the Rollers. You need me. If my family dies then I'm the only one with the cure."

I took another step, and he stood his ground. I was within arm's reach of him now.