Rotter World (15 page)

Chapter Twenty-four

Robson followed Mad Dog and Jennifer through the convenience store. He was concerned about the woman’s mental state, which seemed only natural considering what she had just gone through. He said nothing, hoping Mad Dog’s tenderness would keep Jennifer anchored in sanity and prevent her from going over the edge.

As they exited the store, Robson noticed that everyone outside had gone into lock-and-load mode. The Angels on guard duty had stayed at their posts, but were on heightened alert. Those Angels who had been eating dinner a few minutes ago now crouched in a semi-circle in front of the store, their Mausers trained outwards. Almost everyone else huddled by their respective vehicles, ready to join the fight or bug out at a moment’s notice. O’Bannon and Compton waited by the gas pumps.

“What the hell happened in there?” O’Bannon asked Mad Dog. Mad Dog walked by without answering, more concerned with comforting Jennifer and getting her someplace where she would feel safe.

“You can stand down,” said Robson. “The situation is under control.”

The Angels hesitated for a few seconds before getting up. Swinging their Mausers over their shoulders, they sauntered back to the convoy, hovering around Ari and bombarding her with a dozen questions at once.

O’Bannon sidled up to Robson. “What situation is under control?”

“Apparently the store was empty, until Mad Dog and Jennifer opened the freezer. Someone had locked twenty rotters inside, and when they opened the door they were swarmed.”

“Makes sense,” said Compton.

“How so?”

Compton looked up and down the street, although his vision only extended as far as the floodlights on the vehicles. “Look how meticulous this town is. No bodies or abandoned cars in the streets. No barricades. No signs of a panic. Whoever ran this town kept a tight ship. If you were going to lock up your rotters, the freezer is ideal. They can’t escape unless someone lets them out, and the cold would keep the bodies from decaying. At least while the electricity was still running.”

“But why keep them at all?” asked Robson.

Compton shrugged. “Maybe they were waiting until they had enough to make a decent bonfire.”

“Maybe,” O’Bannon mumbled, not sounding very convinced. “But what happened to the people who ran this town?”

As Robson contemplated that unsettling thought, Dravko drove the Ryder around from behind the convenience store and parked near the group of men. Dravko leaned out the driver’s window. “Are your people okay?”

Robson nodded. “And you?”

“We checked ourselves out. No bites or scratches.”

“That’s good to hear. Thanks for coming to the rescue back there.”

“You’re welcome.” Dravko smiled. “We’re in this together.”

As Dravko drove the truck back to the convoy, Robson turned to see the friendly exchange had not settled well with Compton or O’Bannon. Compton looked frustrated and refused to make eye contact with him. O’Bannon glared at him with a look that bordered between disgust and hatred. Fuck ‘em, thought Robson. If Dravko and the others had not shown up when they did, he would certainly have lost people in that storeroom.

Thompson and Rashid exited the convenience store, the colonel walking several paces to the rear. Robson immediately understood why. He could smell the stench hanging off of Rashid from here.

“Jesus Christ.” O’Bannon gagged. “What the fuck happened to you?”

“Don’t ask,” Rashid snapped.

Robson and the others stepped back as Rashid passed by. “Get out of those clothes and toss them. Have Natalie give you a gallon of water to wash yourself off.”

Rashid looked at him awkwardly. “It’s gonna take more than a gallon of water to wash away this stink.”

“I know. But that’s all we can spare.”

“He’s not sitting beside me,” joked O’Bannon.

“I love you, too.”

A frightening thought suddenly dawned on Robson. “You didn’t get any of that shit in your eyes or mouth, did you?”

“Thank God, no. I just bathed in it.”

“Make sure you wash your face and hands with anti-bacterial soap.”

Rashid grimaced as he continued back to the convoy. “You guys are all heart.”

Fifteen minutes later, the convoy departed Andover. Sultanic took the lead, driving the Mack, while Tibor followed in the school bus. Dravko drove the armored car, with Compton in the front seat and Robson and Thompson spread out in back. Tatyana brought up the rear in the Ryder. Beside her sat Mad Dog and Jennifer, the former wrapping his arm around the girl to comfort her.

They had barely driven five miles before Robson dozed off, lulled by the swaying of the armored car and the exhaustion of the last twenty-four hours.

* * *

Robson woke up slowly, disoriented and only vaguely aware of his surroundings. He did not know how long he had slept, but it must have been awhile since he remembered dreaming. Christ, he even remembered the details, though that was not difficult. He always had the same vision, a recurring nightmare of that day he and Susan had been overrun by rotters outside of Newington. Being out here in the middle of rotter hell had dredged up dormant memories.

Usually he woke from his nightmare in a cold sweat with his heart pounding against his chest. However, what woke Robson this time was not the physical anxiety caused by these hellish visions, but the sound of Dravko’s voice.

“Sunrise is not for several hours yet.”

“Are you sure?” Sultanic’s voice came over the radio.

“Yes,” Dravko said into the radio.

“Then how do you explain it?”

Robson yawned and stretched his arms and legs. The rear compartment of the armored car definitely had not been designed for comfort. He sat up and leaned against the interior wall. “What’s going on?”

Dravko looked over his shoulder. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s okay.” Robson ran a hand across his hair. “What’s Sultanic talking about?”

“Hell if I know. He thinks the sun’s coming up.”

“Shit.” Robson crouched down between the driver and passengers seats. “How long have I been asleep?”

“Only for two and a half hours.”

Robson was still confused. “Then what’s he talking about?”

Before Dravko could answer, Sultanic’s voice came over the radio again, this time sounding frustrated. “Is anyone there?”

Dravko keyed the microphone. “I’m here.”

“If sunrise isn’t for several hours, then can you explain to me what that glow on the horizon is?”

Robson leaned forward to look out the driver’s window. Sultanic was right. A bright yellow glow stretched along a large swath of the southern horizon. He could not see the source because of the surrounding terrain, but something created the light, and it was big judging by the reflection projecting off the overlying cloud cover.

Tibor’s voice chimed in over the radio. “I see it, too. Any idea what it is?”

Dravko looked to Robson, who shrugged. He keyed the microphone. “No idea yet. Wake up everyone on the bus in case it’s trouble.”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that.”

Robson pulled out his map and laid it on the floor in front of him, using a flashlight to illuminate it. “Where are we?”

“Route 149. A sign a few miles back said we’re about twenty miles from Interstate 87.”

By now all the commotion had roused Compton and Thompson. The doctor sat forward, looking anxiously out the windshield. “Is everything all right?”

“We have lights off to the south,” said Robson. He placed his finger on the map. “It looks like it’s coming from Glens Falls. Maybe they still have electricity.”

“Doubtful,” said Compton. “We passed Glens Falls on the way here. The city was pitch black and deserted.”

“Well, something’s generating a lot of light.”

Thompson tapped Robson on the shoulder. “Can I take a look?”

“Be my guest.” Robson pulled the map back into the rear of the armored car and made room for Thompson.

The colonel leaned forward and looked out the driver’s window. “Shit.”

“You know what it is?”

Thompson sat back down. “The light is shimmering off of the clouds.”

“So?” asked Dravko.

“I’ve seen that only once before. In Kuwait back in 1991 after Saddam Hussein set fire to the Kuwaiti oilfields.”

“You mean something’s on fire?” asked Robson.

“It looks that way.”

“If you’re right, then that’s one helluva fire,” said Dravko.

Fifteen minutes later, their worst fears were confirmed when the convoy rounded a bend in the road and had an unobstructed view of Glens Falls. A conflagration consumed most of the city. The residential neighborhoods scattered north and west of the river were engulfed as a wall of flames over a hundred feet high marched across the area. Above the city, thousands of sparks flittered across the night sky like giant lightning bugs, many falling back to earth to ignite homes, trees, and parks, each of which then merged into the spreading inferno.

The convoy continued along the outskirts of Glens Falls, passing underneath the interchange with Interstate 87 and turning south. It traveled less than a mile when the lead vehicles slowed to a halt.

Dravko picked up the radio. “Keep moving.”

“We can’t,” replied Sultanic. “Fire’s blocking the road.”

Dravko pulled the armored car into the parallel lane. A few hundred feet ahead of them, the houses on either side of the road burned furiously. Several flaming trees and utility poles had toppled over into the street, blocking their path.

“What now?” asked Sultanic.

Robson took the radio from Dravko. “Head back to the interstate. We’ll regroup there. And for Christ’s sake, haul ass.”

“What’s the rush?” asked Dravko.

“If the flames close in on the road behind us, we’ll all be burned alive.”

Dravko did not need to be told twice. Shifting into reverse, he backed the armored car into a three-point turn and headed the way they had just come, pausing just long enough to make certain the other vehicles had made the turn safely.

Five minutes later the convoy gathered near the overpass for Interstate 87. As everyone stepped out of their vehicles, they were greeted by the deafening roar of a city consuming itself. A cool, strong wind rushed past them as the conflagration sucked in the surrounding air, feeding the fire. Robson took out his map and placed it on the hood of the armored car. As the other drivers huddled around him, he studied the map, holding down the ends with each hand so it did not flap in the wind. The fire was so intense he did not need a flashlight to read it. Unfortunately, the flames did not give him any insight on how to get around this situation.

“Where do we go from here?” asked Sultanic.

Robson shook his head in disgust. “Every other route around Glens Falls either takes us hundreds of miles out of our way or through heavily populated areas.”

“What about the back roads?” asked Dravko. “Some of these side streets eventually have to take us out to another major road.”

“Yeah, but which ones?” asked O’Bannon. “These maps don’t go into that level of detail. What happens if we get stuck in a cul-de-sac filled with rotters?”

“Why don’t we just go through Glens Falls?” offered Thompson.

Robson shook his head. “You saw the road back there. It’s impassable.”

“I’m not talking about that road.” Thompson pointed above him to the overpass. “It runs right through the neighborhoods and avoids built-up areas. We’d probably bypass most of the fire. Five minutes at top speed and we’ll be in the clear.”

“Too risky. Suppose we run into blocked traffic?”

“We took the interstate coming from Site R. An accident clogged the southbound lanes, but the northbound ones are wide open. There’s nothing in our way for at least twenty or thirty miles.”

Robson still wasn’t convinced. “We can’t take the chance.”

“We can’t afford not to,” added O’Bannon. “Windows didn’t have a chance to check out any of the other roads. If we try to go around this, God knows what we’ll run into. This may not be the best option, but it’s the best one we’ve got.”

Robson looked over at Dravko. “What do you think?”

The vampire put on a show of bravado. “When do we ever do things the easy way?”

“Then it’s settled. We go through Glens Falls.” Robson lifted the map off the armored car, almost losing it in the breeze, and folded it. “Keep five hundred feet between vehicles. Sultanic will lead the way in the Mack to clear the path. And for God’s sake, don’t stop for anything until you’ve reached the other side. Let’s roll.”

The small group broke up and headed back to their vehicles. Robson watched them. Sultanic helped Caylee out of the exposed gun mount and made her join him in the cab. He could tell by the vampire’s dire expression that he was not happy about leading the convoy into the inferno. As Tibor climbed aboard the school bus, the others bombarded him with questions. Robson could not hear the conversations, but he could tell by the yells of protest and the way several of the Angels cast him disapproving looks that they disagreed. Even Mad Dog, who was never fazed, shot him an awkward glance. Robson began having second thoughts about his decision, despite the support from the other leaders. Hell, after all they had been through, burning to death hundreds of miles from camp would suck.