Toxic (78 page)

His face malicious and his first clenched, Dan took a look at the well and then looked at the Reverend, who agreed with the man's words. There was no other way to get out of the concrete cage. He also recognized the owner's genius.

"This guy must have been clever and filthy rich to be able to build this sort of hideout."

"Where does the tunnel lead?" Dan asked.

"It probably goes directly to the moat, in my opinion," the former builder shared.

"I see no other option than following them."

T
he loyal lieutenant led by example. He took off his vest and in his t-shirt, the white color of which had long disappeared, he disappeared into the hole, armed with an automatic pistol.

At the bottom, he crouched down and with the help of his flashlight, tried to spot the opening.

"It must be further down," he said. "Josh, you're coming with me."

"OK, boss."

In less than two minutes, the both of them were crawling. The beam of the flashlight revealed the evidence of the fugitives' passage. Dan smiled. He had them.

The terrible ordeal of waiting, with anxiety and incertitude, lasted several minutes. It was too much. More than they could handle in their state. Then the rope of their salvation appeared, their link towards freedom far from this swamp, they all hoped at least. Alison's sweet face then appeared. She seemed safe and sound.

"What happened up there?"

"There was a zombie, but it's OK, I dealt with it."

Bruce and Masters looked at her. How had she done it?

"Is it going to hold?" Alva said, worried.

The colonel tested its firmness by pulling on the rope with all his strength.

"I think it will do."

He raised his head, but the girl had already disappeared. What was she up to? It was time to be sure.

"I'll go up first. Then Alva, and Dewei. Bruce, you bring up the rear."

The marine handed him his 45. "Just in case."

Bruce nodded.

Climbing with the force of his arms, Masters realized that he had lost weight. He felt light compared with his memories of this exercise, which he was never very good at.

My ex-wife would have liked this
, he told himself.

The crevices offered foot holes, which made his climb easier and very quickly, he reached the top. He hauled himself with the help of his elbows and in an agile movement, got on his feet. In front of him, the spectacle left him speechless.

Alison was not far from an L-D, which she had wrapped around the trunk. The zombie fought to get away. The rope had made a notch in its flesh and only its spinal cord kept it against the bloodstained bark.

"It came from behind the tree. I didn't have any other way."

The soldier put a hand on her shoulder.

"You did a great job."

He explored the undergrowth looking for a branch and then came back to the L-D. The creature's jaw clanked and its guttural grunts doubled until he finished it, hitting it with all his strength. The improvised club burst the creature's skull and it collapsed forward. Alison looked away.

The singer's dusty hair popped up over the edge. Alison ran to help Alva. Masters came as backup.

"Fuck," the diva moaned. "I thought we would never get out of there."

"Are you OK?" the colonel asked her , scrutinizing her eyes.

"Frankly, do I look like I'm OK? I'm in withdrawal, God dammit! I need a hit or I'm going to lose it."

Suddenly, they heard Bruce yell "Stop! Or I'll shoot!"

That little bastard, Dan thought, recognizing him.

The one who they left behind when they went to fight. He remembered him perfectly. That son of a bitch had a 45 pointed at him. At his side, Josh had also raised his arms. His AK was hanging from his shoulder, but he wasn't fast enough to grab it before the guy could shoot.

The situation became clear to him as he watched the Asian climb up the rope. His prey was escaping, and it was out of the question to let it happen. For the time being, he needed to gain time. He raised his hands in turn. He felt the reassuring metal of his colt against his kidneys.

"Stay where you are!"

Three people appeared at the top of the wall, Dan counted. He recognized the brunette with the sexy curves, the one that Hans liked, and of course, the marine who fucked him over. The little troop was complete.

"Easy now," he said, taking one step towards the young man. "Calm down."

The barrel of the 45 shook. "If you come any closer, I'll shoot."

Dan stayed put. "OK."

He realized that no other members of the group had weapons. Otherwise, they would have be pointing them at him from up high to cover their pal, a safe position that would let them shoot them down like rabbits.

"When the young guy throws the gun to the soldier," he mumbled, "we shoot."

Josh nodded slowly. They kept their eyes on the Asian, who had just slid. His shoulder hit the bricks and he let out a hoarse scream.

The young guy turned around to encourage his friend, who was having difficulties. Dan's forehead wrinkled in the wait for an opportunity, but it didn't appear. The Asian got back his concentration right away.

"You think you're going to get away like that?" Dan tried. "We have men all around the area. You have no chance. If you surrender, they might let you live. I'm sure it wasn't you who killed my men on the road."

The gun's barrel shook.

"I know who killed them," Dan continued. "And it's him I want."

"Don't listen to him," Masters blared.

"Well then! The man who killed my friends. One hell of a job, the work of a marine, bro... That's what you say between niggers, isn't that right?"

Bruce got angry.

"Shut up! If your moron friends had left Alva alone, none of this would have happened."

"Really?"

"It would have gone bad anyway," the colonel added. "I remember you had no problem shooting at me at the camp."

He wasn't wrong, of course, Dan told himself. The plan was to liquidate them or to offer them as a sacrifice, depending on the Reverend's wishes.

The Asian joined his companions, putting the last member of the group in an uncomfortable position.

"Shoot them!" the brunette yelled. "If you throw us the gun, they'll be on you. If you climb with it, you can't defend yourself."

The starlet had summed up the situation well and had presented the right answer, but the little asshole didn't have the balls. His guts weren't tricking him. Good thing she didn't have the gun, Dan told himself.

"You're going to go back to the tunnel."

The young man waved his gun.

"Go! Faster."

"God dammit Bruce, shoot them!"

With his stooge, Dan took several steps back, wondering what the young guy had in mind. Then his position, which was already delicate, became complicated all of a sudden. Broken faces appeared around the bend of the moat. Their arrival gave Bruce an escape route. The psychological pressure changed sides.

"In the tunnel, if you want to live."

His jaws tense, Dan knew that he was right. He swore, refusing to let go of the chance for revenge. To activate the maneuver, the young guy fired a warning shot. The bullet hit the rocks just behind him. Josh obeyed and went straight to the opening without asking questions. Wimp, Dan thought.

"Come on, boss! The voracious are coming closer."

In a certain way, he told himself, it was like when two cars are facing one another: the most determined driver, the one who doesn't move off of the path, wins the match.

"Boss!"

Dan didn't move. He remained staring at the young man. He ignored the litany of living dead and the noise of the putrid water, which they stirred up while moving.

It's just you and me, my little one. And the voracious
, he thought.

"You can go with your friend while there's still time," Bruce added.

"You're really fucked, man. If you shoot, you'll warn my companions. You can keep your life if you give me the gun. That's the deal that I'm offering you."

The reply was dead on.

"Come back, Bruce," Masters yelled at him. "We need to get out of here."

His tone of voice betrayed his helplessness. Dan shook his head and addressed the biologist.

"If you go back to them, we'll no longer have any agreement."

"Go fuck yourself! You follow me and I'll shoot you. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Dan didn't move. He didn't take his eyes off of Bruce.

"Dammit, Boss!"

He ignored Josh's pleading yells. In any case, it was already too late. The voracious were barely a few meters away from the entrance to the tunnel. He would never manage to get inside in time. His man understood this, and tried to put the grating back in place to barricade himself in.

The young guy made his decision then. He didn't have any other choice. He threw the gun to his friends. That was the signal he had been waiting for. Dan started to move forward. In the water, it was hard progress. The liquid blocked his movement to the point that he felt like he was staying in one place. However, he managed to cover a dozen meters before the marine put the gun on him and commanded him to stop. The young guy was already half-way there. He was climbing surprisingly quickly, like a cockroach, Dan thought with a sardonic smile.

"Do you think you're clever?" the soldier yelled at him. "The guy gave you a chance, and now you're going to die in a shit hole."

The zombies were wandering along, wading in the water a short distance away. Dan preferred to disregard that fact and focused on the dancing rope, the goal to reach. He could clearly hear the grunts and wheezing, and he didn't need much imagination to visualize the voracious in rags even without the skin on their bones. The brunette's voice pierced through the macabre melody.

"Fuck! Two guys are coming here!"

There were two shots and a burst of AK fire. The big black guy and the brunette left quickly, most likely to get the girl and the Asian to a safe place.

Dan smiled, aware of having barely escaped.

The one called Bruce started moving like an earthworm twisting itself around a twig. He reached the top of the wall before disappearing out of sight. New shots resounded. Dan felt the presence close, a nauseating and cold breath on his neck. He thrashed about, taking long strides towards the rope, the only way out. His efforts allowed him to get a bit of a lead on the zombies. Josh tried to shoot down living dead from his position. Creatures, interested by the ruckus, paid attention to him.

"Well played."

Dan grabbed the rope with all of his strength, listening to the shots from the machine guns. They weren't going to get away like that. Oh no.

Luckily, Masters told himself, the volleys from the automatic weapons weren't well-aimed. The two guys shot at random, showering the undergrowth. Bruce, Alva, Alison and Dewei bolted without turning around, following his orders. He was the last of the group, protecting their rear.

Under the shade of a shrub, the colonel got his bearings with respect to the bridge that he could see in the distance, between the bushes. He gave himself a moment to evaluate the situation. One of the two individuals was wearing a monk's habit and had white hair. The Reverend? In any case, only those two were running from the villa. Add that to the two men in the moat and that made four enemies in total.

Masters smiled. It was a small troop.

He moved away, keeping under cover as to not get hit by a stray bullet. After fifty meters of straight running, he came to a parking lot facing a structure made out of wooden beams, which rested on a wooden frame on wheels. His friends gazed in surprise at the device, which was straight out of a medieval history book.

"A catapult?"

Bruce clenched his fists. He pointed to the basket.

"This is how they sent the L-Ds over the moat and the fence."

The idea seemed surreal, but right, if they could trust the bits of flesh stuck to the beams.

"These guys are on our heels. On foot, it'll be hard to get away from them. So, let's not waste time."

The group got back on their way. The biologist, in the lead, followed the curves of a trail, perhaps a former road or sidewalk.

Awoken by the change in intensity of the speedboat's motor, Hector opened his eyes. With his hand as a visor, he tried to spot the coast. The brightness and reflections forced him to squint. The men started to prepare to disembark. Jon, who had left the helm to one of his accomplices, approached him with a cup of coffee.

The Colombian accepted that dirty water.

"We're going to pass hurricane cove, but we are entering in Biscayne Bay. There are a lot of shallow bottoms, but the channel is passable."

"Ah," Hector said. "Where are we mooring?"

"Turkey Point."

The name told him something. He groped around in his memory and when the memory came back to him, he opened his eyes wide.

"
Madre de Dios
, you're crazy..."

"The aliens avoid flying over these sites and with their network of fences and walls, they're out of the reach of the living dead."