Surviving the Dead 03: Warrior Within (5 page)

“Okay.” I sighed. “One more question. Why me? I mean, fighting ability aside, what makes you think I’m the guy to do this?”

“You’ve read my intelligence reports,” Steve replied, “so you know that the Legion is growing. What those reports don’t say is that some of those people are survivors from the small towns around Hollow Rock and Bruceton.”

“How do you know that?”

Mayor Stone interjected,
“He showed me photographs. I recognized some of the people in them.”

I turned to stare at her, suspicious. “How is that possible? You’re telling me you recognized people from all over the county?”

Her eyes narrowed. “I grew up in Hollow Rock, Mr. Riordan. My family, those who are still alive, all live here. In my first election, I did my campaigning door to door. I’ve been the mayor of Hollow Rock for eight years, and I’m on a first-name basis with over half the households in Carroll County. I know the rest of them by either their tax records or their rap sheets. So yes, Mr. Riordan, I recognized people from all over the county.”

I nodded, getting the idea. “Okay then, why aren’t these people joining on our side? The Legion isn’t exactly known for their fairness and hospitality.”

“That’s the problem,” the mayor said. “We just don’t know. It’s not as if we wouldn’t welcome them here; we need all the help we can get. But ever since the last election when Ronnie Kilpatrick defected, no one has attempted to join our community. Not one single person.”

“Until you, that is,” Steve said.

Now we were getting somewhere. “So you need me to find out how the Legion is sourcing their troops.”

Steve nodded. “That, and we need to know where they’re operating from. There has to be somewhere, or maybe several locations, where they take shelter from the infected and store their supplies. If we can find these locations, then that will be the first step toward defeating them.”

I sat back in my chair and let the weight of what they were asking me to do sink in. Warm sunshine filtered in through the tall windows and framed the mayor as she sat at her desk, waiting.

“So let me see if I have this straight. Since some of the people in the Legion are from around here, or at least within a couple of days’ walk, if someone from Hollow Rock or Bruceton tried to infiltrate them, then there’s a good chance they would eventually be recognized. Good so far?”

The mayor nodded.

“Right. So what you need is someone who isn’t from around here. Someone with enough of a Southern accent to blend in. Someone who wouldn’t be suspected of being a spy from Hollow Rock. Someone with paramilitary training. Am I tracking here?”

She nodded again. “That’s right.”

“Told you he catches on quick,” Steve said.

I shook my head, wondering, not for the first time, how I always ended up getting myself into these messes. I turned to look at Steve. “I’m not making any promises, but I’ll give it a try. If you can teach me what I need to know, I’ll do it. But I’m reserving the right to back out if I don’t feel ready for it.”

I turned back to the mayor. “And that’s a take-it-or-leave-it offer.”

Mayor Stone smiled again, and this time, the warmth seemed genuine. “Fair enough.”

Steve reached over and patted me on the shoulder. “Good to have you on board. Now, there’s something else we wanted to talk to you about.”

Of course there is. Why wouldn’t there be
?

“And that is?”

The mayor said, “I understand that other than teaching two classes a day to the militia, you don’t have anything else occupying your time.”

“Well, there is guard duty.”

She crossed her hands on the desk in front of her and leaned forward. “I think guard duty is a waste of your talents, wouldn’t you agree?”

Uh-oh
.

“That depends on what you have in mind.”

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and leaned back in her seat. Her talent for making the slightest movement seem alluring was quite a thing to behold.

“The infected have become a serious problem.”

I stared at her for a second, and then I laughed. Loudly. The mayor frowned, the corners of her mouth pinning down against her chin.

“Is something funny?”

“Oh no, nothing at all, mayor. Being that civilization is destroyed, and ninety-nine percent of the world is dead, and there are about three hundred million flesh-eating ghouls out there, then yes, I would venture to say that the infected have indeed become a bit of a problem.”

Her warm brown eyes had gone hard and cold. “This is not a joke, Mr. Riordan,” she said flatly. “We’ve lost six people in the last month.”

That wiped the grin off my face. I held up a mollifying hand. “I know mayor, I heard about it. It’s a tragic loss, and one that this town can ill afford, but what does that have to do with me?”

“Captain McCray says that you are exceptionally good at fighting the infected.”

I looked over at him. “Does he now?”

“I saw you come up with some impressive ideas back in North Carolina,” he said. “And Sarah told me about the swarm you fought outside of Morganton. You have to admit, you’ve got a talent for dealing with the walkers.”

“Yeah, I don’t know about that.”

“I do.” Steve leaned closer. “Listen, instead of having you stand around all day doing nothing on guard duty, why don’t you work with your friend Tom to come up with better ways to defend against the infected? Don’t sit there and tell me you don’t have any ideas rattling around.”

Again, he was right. I did have a few ideas I wanted to try out. I just hadn’t said anything because I didn’t think anyone would listen. And hell, at the very least, it would get me out of boring-ass guard duty.

“How much manpower and resources are you willing to commit to this?” I asked, looking at the mayor.

“As much as you need, within reason.”

I nodded. “Okay. Let me talk to Tom, and we’ll take a look around and see what we can come up with.”

“Put together an action plan, and have it on my desk in three days,” she said.

I frowned, not particularly caring for her high-handed tone, addressing me like an employee.

“I’ll need a week. Maybe more, then I’ll let you know something.”

She looked me in the eye for a moment, not quite glaring, and I stared icily back. If she wanted me to do this for her, then I would do it my way, not hers. Tension hung between us as she weighed what to say next. Finally, she gave a slow nod and leaned forward to plant her elbows on the desk and rest her chin on her hands. 

“One thing you haven’t asked me yet,” she said.

“What’s that?”

“What’s in this for you?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know what you think about me as a person, but I’m not doing this because I want anything from you. I can get by on my own, with or without this town. I want to help because there are good people living here, and they’re in danger. I’m not going to stand idly by and let the Legion rape and pillage this place. One way or another, we need to shut those sons of bitches down.”

The mayor sat back and arched one well-plucked eyebrow, breaking into a smile.

“Well. Aren’t you just full of surprises?”

*****

The rest of the day saw me running around town trying to track down the skilled trades I would need to begin working on the town’s defenses. Tom was, as always, glad to throw his
toolbelt into the mix. He had traveled to Tennessee with us from Morganton and, in addition to being an all-around solid guy, he was one of the most talented craftsmen I had ever known.

I also enlisted the aid of a couple of stonemasons, a mechanic, a guy who ran a quasi-functional machine shop, and a few other guys for general labor. One thing you could always count on around here, if there was payment involved, be it food or trade items, there was no shortage of people looking for work.

Once all the necessary deals were hammered out, and all the necessary hands shaken, I stopped by Gabe’s place to have a word with him. The mayor asked me to brief him on our conversation but had also warned me not to tell anyone else. For now, the plan had to remain in the dark.

Gabe made tea when I arrived, and we sat down at the little table in the kitchen. After recounting what happened at the mayor’s office, I sat quietly for a moment to see how he would react. I could tell by the tightness in his shoulders that he was not happy.

“This is insane, Eric. It’s a fucking suicide mission.” His fingers tightened around the cup in his hand, and I began to fear for the little porcelain vessel.

“You have to admit,” I said. “I’m a good candidate for the job. No one around here knows me.”

The big man stood up, nearly tipping over his chair as he began to pace around the kitchen.

“This is complete bullshit, Eric. She didn’t pick you because you’re new in town. She picked you because she thinks you’re fucking expendable.”

“Listen, Gabe-”

“If she thinks I’m going to let her get away with this, she is fucking stupid. Tomorrow morning I’m going down to her office and-”

“I accepted the assignment.”

He stopped. It was the second time I had ever seen him taken completely off-guard.

“You did what?”

“You heard me.”

Gabe sat back down in his chair and carefully folded his hands on the table. He took a few deep breaths before speaking again.

“Why would you go and do a stupid thing like that?”

“Who else is going to do it?”

His calloused palm hit the table like a gunshot, rattling the silverware. “Anyone! Fucking anyone could do it. Or better yet, nobody. Did you even bother to ask her why we need a spy in the first place? There are other ways to find those bastards. Hell, if the Army can give us air support, they’re as good as dead. It’s just a matter of time.”

“Gabe, would you calm down?”

“Fuck that. You need to start getting worked up.”

“Why are you so upset about this?”

“Because you’re the only goddamn family I got left and I don’t want anything to happen to you!”

Gabe was standing up by the time he finished, the powerful resonance of his voice eliciting a high, ringing echo from the kitchen sink. We stared at each other quietly for a moment, all the years of shared hardship filling the space between us. Slowly, a tired smile crossed my face.

“Gabe, I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me. Maybe we should hug, or something.”

Gabe glared for another moment, and then sank back down into his chair. The tide of his anger receded, washing back and fading into the slump of his shoulders. He ran a hand over his tattered face.

“How the hell did we get ourselves into this mess?”

“Wasn’t the straightest of roads.”

Gabe laughed bitterly. “Ain’t that the goddamn truth.”

I took a sip of my tea and thought about the mayor’s offer. I thought about the wall around this town and how painfully fragile it looked from the landing of a guard tower. I thought about Allison, and the militia, and how far away Colorado now seemed, like a distant dream. I wondered how everything had gotten so complicated.

“My bottle of Knob Creek still in the cupboard?”

Gabe nodded. “Spare a little for me while you’re at it.”

I did as he asked, pouring a couple of fingers of amber liquid into a set of heavy glass tumblers before sitting back down at the table. We sipped our whiskey quietly for a few moments, enjoying the warm burn in the chilly room.

“I don’t suppose they revealed to you the details of this great plan of theirs, did they?” Gabe asked.

“No. Said they’d give me the details after we finish training the militia.”

“Which is to say, they don’t trust you.”

I shrugged. “Can’t say I blame them. The stakes are pretty high in this game.”

Gabe tossed back the rest of his whiskey and reached for the bottle. He didn’t grimace.

“Let me tell you something about war, old friend.” He filled his glass and picked it up, looking at me over the top of it.

“War is not a game.”

*****

Allison’s bicycle was chained to the porch railing when I got home. It was late, and I had stopped after two drinks so that I wouldn’t be wasted when I walked through the door. The walk home from Gabe’s place was only a quarter-mile, but with the sun tucked behind the horizon, it was plenty far enough for me to get chilled under my thin canvas jacket. I would have to break out the Gore-Tex pretty soon.

The smell of wood smoke drifted to me through the boughs of graceful old oak trees scattered throughout the yard. After such a long day, warming myself in front of the fireplace was high on my list of priorities. So was bathing. And making love to Allison. Not necessarily in that order.

I left my muddy boots on the porch and stepped through the front door. Allison squatted in front of the fireplace stirring a pot of stew. She was wearing a light gray sweater, tight black leggings that clung to her like a second skin, and she had tied her hair back in a single braid that ended just north of her lower back. I’d never seen a woman look so adorable.