Deadlocked 8 (34 page)

After a brief silence, Clyde said, “I’ll
leave you two alone for a minute.”

Zack stayed in his seat, and I sat on the
edge of my bed with a weak smile for him. After a moment I said,
“You knew what you were signing up for when you said, ‘Yes.’”

He was chewing on his bottom lip, and his
nose flared as he took a deep breath. He was upset, and wouldn’t
look directly into my eyes. Instead, he stared down at his big
hands as they laid helplessly in his lap. “I want to help.” The way
he said it broke my heart. He wasn’t angry, just forlorn about his
inability to do anything to stop the illness that was slowly
murdering me. “I want to make you better.”

“You do make me better,” I said as I saw a
tear roll down the bridge of his nose and drip down to his
calloused hands. “You make me better every day, you big
softie.”

That got him to chuckle, and he wiped his
thumb across each eye, clearing the tears away. “What am I going to
do with you?”

“Hopefully you’ll do what I ask and take me
to New Vineyard.”

“Is that an order?” he asked.

“It’s a request from a girl to her
boyfriend,” I said. “Unless you say no, in which case it’s an
order.”

He laughed again, and then stood up beside
me. He offered me his hand and said, “Then let’s get going.”

“Thank you,” I said. “But let’s go check in
on Jill first.”

Jill was in her own room down the hall, not
far from mine. The rehab center had become uncharacteristically
quiet now that the refugees of Vineyard had been relocated, and
there was plenty of space for the Rollers to enjoy some privacy as
they waited for the go ahead to launch an attack against the
airport base. We’d considered all moving to New Vineyard, and
mounting our attack on the airport from there, but there was a
stark division in our group, and everyone thought it would be best
if we allowed the two sides to enjoy some time apart. Being trapped
in this place for so long, forced to deal with one another, made
getting some breathing room a top priority for everyone.

I gently tapped on Jill’s door before easing
it open. Clyde had left my room and come in here, and he greeted us
at the door. Jill was on the bed, her upper half supported by
pillows that Clyde had piled up for her. She smiled and waved.

“Hey there, how are you feeling? I heard your
stomach was giving you trouble,” said Jill, cheerful and worried
about anyone but herself, as always.

“Funny,” I said as I walked in, “I heard the
same about you.”

Jill set her hands on her stomach and rubbed
her hands on it. “Oh, this ain’t nothing. Just my little Hero
kicking around like a wild man.”

“Clyde said you were having contractions,”
said Zack.

“Nothing new about that,” said Jill as if it
was nothing more than a bout of gas. “Just the Hicks type, not the
real thing. False alarm. This’ll be the fourth time the little
bugger tried to trick me.”

“You sure it’s not the real thing?” I asked,
concerned about the mother of Hero’s baby. I hadn’t been more
excited about the birth of a Roller child since David, and the last
thing I wanted was to think that anything could go wrong.

“Yeah, I’m sure,” said Jill. “I’d already be
up and working if Clyde wasn’t such a worry wart. You know how he
can be.”

“Do I ever,” I said with a chuckle as I
grinned at Clyde. He looked more tired than usual, and he stood
with his arms crossed near the door.

“As soon as he gives me the go ahead, I’m
going to have Abe drive me out to New Vineyard. I can’t wait to see
how it’s coming along. I’ve heard it’s pretty nice.”

“I’ve heard the same,” I said as I held
Jill’s hand. “We’re headed there now.”

“Tell everyone that I miss them,” said Jill.
“Not that I miss all those people jammed into one place, but you
know what I mean.”

“I sure do,” I said before leaning down to
kiss her head. “You take care of yourself, and that little bugger
in your tummy too. I can’t wait to meet him.”

Zack kissed Jill on the forehead before we
left, and Clyde followed us out into the hall. I turned to him
after Zack closed the door and asked, “What do you think? Is the
baby coming?”

“I don’t think so,” he said, but looked
uncertain. “It’s hard to say. She’s not dilated, so I think we’re
dealing with another false alarm. I’ll keep my eyes on her just in
case.”

“She’s not due for another month or so,
right?” I asked.

Clyde shrugged and shook his head. “No one’s
really sure. If you were to judge it by the size of her stomach I’d
say she’s ready to burst, but with the genes that kid’s got he’ll
probably pop out of her toddler size.”

“Have you decided if you’re going to come out
to New Vineyard or are you sticking with the Rollers for one last
fight?” asked Zack.

We both expected him to say he was going to
New Vineyard, so it was a shock when he said, “I’m going to
fight.”

“Really?” I asked.

Clyde smirked as if he enjoyed our astonished
expressions. “I know I’ve been bitching about Billy for a few years
now, but I still owe the guy my life, as well as a lot of the other
people that are planning on heading out to fight this stupid war.
I’ll be damned if I let them charge out there without a medic to
watch their back. And Bonnie’s got lots of people with her that can
help deliver Jill’s baby, so I’m going to play the same part I’ve
been playing since I met you guys, and try my best to keep Billy
alive.”

“Speaking of him, where’d he disappear to?”
asked Zack.

“He’s out front with Abe, getting things
ready for the attack,” said Clyde. “You’ll see him on your way out.
His back’s not giving him as much trouble as usual, at least for
now.”

“Okay,” I said as I considered the
implications of Clyde’s decision. “So this is going to be the last
time I see you until after you guys get back from the fight.”

“Depending on what Annie says when she gets
back, yeah,” said Clyde.

“Damn, brother,” said Zack as he moved closer
to pull Clyde in for a hug. His girth seemed to swallow Clyde as he
pat his wide hands on the thin man’s back. “Be careful. Get to New
Vineyard after this mess with the airport is done. I need you there
to take care of my girl.”

“I don’t think you’ve got the kind of girl
that wants someone looking after her,” said Clyde as he turned his
attention to me. He raised a brow and added, “Even if she needs
it.”

“We all need your help, Clyde, myself
included.” I hugged him, and then kissed his cheek. “This isn’t
goodbye, pal. Right?”

“Right,” he said and waved as he headed back
into Jill’s room.

Zack and I made it through the oddly quiet
halls, like the last employees at closing time. The Rollers were
outside, where we’d pulled up trucks that we’d abandoned so many
months back. Billy’s men had retrieved the vehicles, brought them
back, and loaded them up with the weapons they thought they’d need
to put an end to Jerald and his army at the airport.

I feebly tried to persuade Billy to give up
the war, but I knew he’d never concede, and the Rollers that stood
with him felt the same. No one was angry with those of us that
decided to join New Vineyard, but it became clear that our group
had become divided. I was no longer their captain, and Billy took
control once again. Neither of us had any animosity towards the
other, although there was an undeniable sadness that stung me every
time we spoke.

Billy argued that this was how it had to be.
The Rollers had to go to war to protect New Vineyard. Jerald had
laid down the gauntlet, and he wouldn’t rest until he thought the
Rollers were all dead. When the High Rollers stormed the airport,
it didn’t matter if they won or lost, either way Jerald would
assume we were all dead. According to Billy, this was the only way
to guarantee that our war ended for good.

We found him out front, in the parking lot of
the rehab facility where the Rollers had gathered the trucks. He
was in army fatigues, cleaning a rifle when Zack and I approached.
He saw us coming, but didn’t get up to greet us. His posture was
rigid and I knew that he was hiding a back brace beneath those
fatigues. Despite how he tried to pretend he wasn’t in pain, I knew
the truth. I was well practiced in those sorts of lies.

“You guys headed out?” he asked as we
approached.

“Yeah,” I said and sat on a crate beside him.
Zack stood on the other side of Billy, and started to inspect some
of the rifles that had already been cleaned. “There’s just one
truck of supplies for New Vineyard left.”

“The mannequins,” said Billy. “Kayla and some
of the Rollers got the mannequins dressed with their bells on for
you guys, but we didn’t attach the legs yet. You’ll have to do that
when you get there.”

“No problem,” I said as I watched Billy start
to clean his rifle again. By the looks of the pile of weapons
beside him, he’d been at this for a while. “Are you sure there’s no
way I can convince you…”

“Laura,” said Billy sharply, and then he
shook his head as he gave an amused sigh. “You never give up, do
you?”

“I’m going to go get the truck ready,” said
Zack, understanding the close relationship Billy and I shared and
having enough respect to give us a moment alone.

I watched as Zack walked away, and then I set
my hand on Billy’s knee and squeezed. “I love you, Billy. You know
that. And the thought of losing you scares the living shit out of
me.”

“Come on, Laura,” said Billy with a wry
smile. “You can’t possibly think I’m done giving you grief. You and
I have a whole lifetime left of getting on each other’s
nerves.”

“We’d fucking better,” I said as I squeezed
his leg again. Without any warning, my eyes filled with tears as I
repeated myself, “We’d fucking better.”

“Now stop that,” said Billy with a rare
tenderness in his tone. “Don’t go getting all mushy and stuff. I’m
going to be driving on up to New Vineyard soon with a big old smile
on my face because the Rollers whooped Jerald’s ass. You can put
money on it, babe.”

“I don’t care about that,” I said. “I just
want you safe. I want you to be there to help raise Hero’s kid. I
want you there to teach David how to shoot, and to help me yell at
Annie when she does something stupid.”

“Like the time she ate all of Reagan’s
bacon,” said Billy with a chortle.

“Yeah,” I laughed as well, recalling how
angry the old captain got. “And it was the last package he
had.”

“Yep,” said Billy. “He was so excited about
eating it, and turned his back for like two seconds.”

“Remember what she did when she got caught?”
I asked.

“Oh yeah,” said Billy, delighting in the
memory. “She rubbed her tummy and said it was delicious. That
little devil.”

It felt so good to laugh with him, like we
used to do so many years back. I could recall hundreds of nights
around a fire with him, doing our best to make each other’s lives a
little better as the world fell apart. There were few men ever
alive that I loved more than Billy Hendrix, and I needed him to
know it.

I moved over until I was right beside him,
and then hugged him. My arm rested on the upper edge of the back
brace that was hidden under his shirt. I cried, and he tried to
console me, but it was a useless gesture. Despite his assurances,
part of me knew that this would be the last time that I’d ever see
him, and that when I let him go I’d never hold him again. He was
dead set on a suicide mission, and there was nothing I could do to
save him.

“It’s time to go, hon,” said Zack. I realized
that he’d come back to get me.

“It’s okay, Laura,” said Billy as he pat my
back. “You get out of here. Go get things started in New Vineyard,
and I’ll be there for the wedding. You’d damn well better believe
that. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

I let him go, and wiped off the smear of
tears from my cheeks. “You’d better be. You’d fucking better be,
Billy.”

“Go on, potty mouth,” said Billy as he
playfully shooed me away. “Go live happily ever after already.”

Jerald Scott

I could feel the virus burning its way
through my veins. I was sopped with sweat, and my hands were
twitching. My stomach was turning, bringing waves of nausea that
threatened to make me vomit in my mask.

I was alone in my vehicle, afraid that I
would infect the men that had trusted me to save them. At first, I
thought I might be able to make it to the mountains with them, and
that the cold air would slow down the spread of the virus, but this
new plague worked fast. I was dying.

A printed copy of Hank’s conversation with
The Electorate was beside me, stapled to a map of the area that
showed how to get up to the mountains where we might be safe from
the Tempest Strain. Each vehicle in our caravan had one identical
to mine. I’d prepared them before we left the airport so that the
men would know the truth, and would be able to get their families
somewhere safe no matter what happened on our trip out.

The caravan was stopped along the westward
highway. The red hills that preceded the mountains stood before us.
This was where we would split up, and it would be the last time I’d
ever see many of the men that had pledged their loyalty to me. I’d
never see the other side of those mountains, not with this virus
tearing me apart from within.

I got out and stumbled away from my Humvee to
the concrete barrier that lined the shoulder, protecting drivers
from falling off the raised stretch of road. The wasteland of a
dead age lay before me as I tore off my mask in search of fresh
air. I stared down at the world I’d helped destroy, and vomited
onto it.

“Sir,” said a familiar voice behind me. I
turned and waved him away as I wiped the pink, stinging fluid from
my lips. It was Bear, the first of the assassins that The
Electorate had sent after me, and he waited patiently as I cleaned
myself.