Deadlocked 7 (16 page)

“How?”

“Because she kissed me once, and it was the best moment of my whole life.”

They kissed again and then Zack took her head in his hands and looked into her tear filled eyes. “Now you get out there and be with Annie. Remind her that she comes from a family of fighters, and that no amount of bumps, bruises, or cancer is going to do her, or you, in. Got it?”

“What about the evacuation? I need to help with…”

“No. You need to be with Annie. Let me take care of everything else. Okay, Captain.”

She nodded, her tears slick between her cheeks and his big palms. “Thank you.”

He was about to open the door for her when he saw a glint of metal in the debris on the stairs above them. “Hold up,” he said as he walked past her. “Well look what we’ve got here.”

“David’s crutch,” said Laura as she smiled. “He was worried that he’d lost it.”

“I’ll let his Nana give it to him,” said Zack as he handed the crutch to Laura before they left the stairwell.

Seven months after the apocalypse

Billy is keeping a lookout as Reagan and Hero search the facility.

Billy saw the headlights from his vantage in the apartment. There were three vehicles crossing the bridge a few blocks away, headed to the building that Reagan and Hero were inspecting.

“Clyde, we’ve got trouble.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Clyde as he took the binoculars from Billy to look out at the street below.

“There,” Billy pointed to the vehicles. “It looks like they’re headed for the base.”

“Shit, they look like Humvees.”

“Military?” asked Billy.

“I’d bet.”

“We’ve got to get down there,” said Billy.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Clyde looked at the two young black boys that he’d brought up when he came back. “You guys stay here. If something goes wrong, just stay here and stay quiet. Understood?”

They nodded, frightened and silent.

“Grab Hero’s bag,” said Billy.

Clyde looked down at the duffle bag filled with pipe bombs. “What for?”

“What do you mean what for?” asked Billy. “We’re going to have to blow these fuckers to hell and back if we’re going to get our buds out alive.”

Clyde gulped and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” He was wide eyed as he shook his head. “I hate this shit. I was meant to put people back together again, not blow them apart.”

“Putting them back together is the tough part,” said Billy. “Blowing them to bits is easy.”

They headed out of the apartment, into the black hallway. “Maybe for you.”

“Trick is to just not think about it,” said Billy.

They made their way down the stairs, running their hands along the walls to make sure they knew where they were going in the dark. Only a few beams of moonlight made it into the dark hall through cracks in the wall.

“How can you not think about it?” asked Clyde.

“What’s there to think about?” asked Billy. “These are the fuckers responsible for the apocalypse. They deserve a few bombs up their asses.”

Billy felt the corner of the wall that led to the staircase and rounded it slowly. Clyde bumped into him from behind and apologized as they continued on, nearly blind.

“Don’t tell me you feel sorry killing these fuckers
,” said Billy.

Clyde staggered on the steps and fell into the back of Billy, nearly toppling them both over. “Fuck,” said Clyde. “Sorry, man. I can’t see a damn thing in here.”

“Just keep your hand on my shoulder,” said Billy. “I know the way.”

They made their way through another hall. “This isn’t the way I came up,” said Clyde.

“This way’s quicker,” said Billy. “So, do you feel sorry for these guys?”

“Who? The soldiers we’re planning on blowing up?”

“Yeah,” said Billy.

“Well, sure, I guess so. Shouldn’t I? They’re human beings after all.”

“Barely,” said Billy. “Just think of them as zombies then. Fuck these guys. They’ve got it coming.”

Clyde was quiet for a moment, then sounded annoyed. “But they’re not zombies, man. They’re probably just kids our age
. They might not even know why all this went down. I didn’t know anything.”

They were nearing an exit and it was bright enough that Clyde was able to see. He didn’t need to hold onto Billy’s shoulder anymore.

Billy stopped and turned to stare at Clyde. “Do I need to do this alone?”

“What?” asked Clyde. “No. Why?”

“You’re talking like you’re not willing to do what needs to be done here. Our friends just walked into a trap out there, and they need us to get them out of it. If that means killing a couple fuckers that deserve to be killed, then so be it.”

“I’m fine,” said Clyde. “I’ll do what we have to do. I just think it’s worth remembering that these are human beings we’re slaughtering, and not zombies.”

Billy turned and walked to the entrance. He pointed to the other side of the hall where he expected Clyde to move. “Whatever, man. Just don’t get in the way.”

*   *   *

August 24
th
, 20 years after the apocalypse

Billy is outside of the church, heading up the impending evacuation.

Billy saw Kayla walk around the side of the church. He was outside instructing the Rollers to start detaching the barricades so the caravan could move out. “Kayla, I need your help.”

She looked dazed, and moved slowly. At first glance, he hadn’t noticed the blood that covered her shirt. She put her hand against the side of one of the tankers to steady herself. Kayla was middle-aged, with dark black hair and a lithe build. She was one of the lieutenants that pushed for the Rollers to set up a colony, and was constantly at odds with Billy. He still respected her, however, and was stunned when he saw that she was hurt.

“What happened?” He tried to rush to her aid, but his back was already in pain and he had to support himself against one of the trucks. “Someone help Kayla!”

“I’m okay,” she said and continued to walk toward Billy. “This isn’t my blood.” Her eyes were filled with tears, but she wiped them away, smearing blood on her cheek.

“What happened?” asked Billy as Kayla got closer.

“It’s Dustin,” she said. “He got hit when the helicopter was shooting at us. He was hit in the head. Billy, Dustin’s dead.”

“Oh God,” said Billy. Dustin was another lieutenant of the Rollers, and was Arthur’s partner.

Kayla stood before Billy, soaked in Dustin’s blood, and put her hand on his shoulder. “I’ll fight.”

“What?” asked Billy, confused by what she’d said.

“I’ll fight with you. I know we’ve been pushing for a colony, but now I can see that’s never going to happen. You were right. We were wrong. You should be the captain again. I’ll support you.” Her words were stilted as she tried not to weep. “And after what happened to Kim, I don’t think Laura’s up for the job anymore.”

“You’re wrong,” said Billy. “I think Laura’s the only person that can lead us out of this mess.”

Kayla was caught off guard by what Billy had said and looked up at him in confusion.

“We didn’t get attacked because Laura stopped us from attacking the bases,” said Billy. “I know, because we never actually stopped.”

“I don’t understand,” said Kayla.

Billy was ashamed, but knew he had to admit what he’d done. He owed it to Laura to let the others know that the recent attacks weren’t her fault. “A group of us decided to ignore her orders. We’ve been working with members of The Department
to keep putting pressure on the…”

“Are you serious?” asked Kayla. She took a step back from Billy, as if suddenly both afraid and disgusted by him.

“Yes,” said Billy.

One of the nearby trucks started. Its frame rattled, interrupting Kayla before she could respond. Then the horde outside of their camp responded to the truck, bellowing as if
purposefully trying to end the conversation.

“I’m sorry,” said Billy.

Kayla stared at him, her eyes revealing a mix of disappointment and anger. She seemed ready to say something, but then shook her head and took another step back.

“Kayla, I’m sorry.” He tried to reach out to her, but she pulled her hand away. He stumbled but was able to catch his balance with his crutch. “I’m sorry.”

“What happened to you?” she asked. “You weren’t always like this.”

“I’ve never wanted anything but to keep the Rollers safe,”
said Billy.

“Bullshit,” said Kayla. “All you ever wanted was revenge. That’s al
l it’s ever been about for you. That’s why you kept going back to Nederland after what happened there. That’s why you’ve never been able to forget Reagan. You’re fed by hate, and revenge. It’s warped you into a fucking monster.”

“Kayla wait,” said Billy. “Laura’s got my full support now. I promise.”

“It might be too late for that now,” said Kayla as she looked around them at the destruction that the Rollers had lived through. “It’s already too late for some of us. It’s already too late for Dustin, and Dante, and Kim.”

Abe approached, and Kayla looked at him in detest, familiar with how he always sided with Billy. She left them behind and headed for the church.

“What was all that about?” asked Abe.

Billy didn’t look at the big man and instead stared at the pavement. “Dustin’s dead.”

“Aw fuck,” said Abe as he shook his head. “Dusty, Kim, and Dante all at once. Fucking hell, brother. The Rollers are going to need you to step up. They’re going to want to get the guy who did this. Whoever the mother fucker was on those speakers is going to get a hell of a wakeup call from us.”

“No he’s not,” said Billy. He looked up at Abe and scowled at how ridiculous his friend was being. “You’ve got to be kidding. Look around. Look what these people are capable of. We
’re outmatched, Abe. I think we always have been.”

“Tell me you’re not serious, man,” said Abe.

“They built this trap around our camp. These Greys were stored under this town, they had spike strips, they’ve got a fucking squadron of helicopters after us. This Jerald guy hooked up cameras and speakers out here just to fuck with us.”

Abe didn’t respond, dumbfounded as Billy continued. It was as if Abe was being scolded for not coming to the realization of their hopeless situation sooner.

“We’ve got a good group here, but they can’t stand up to someone like this.” Billy reached out to put his hand on Abe’s shoulder. “Abe, we’ve got no choice but to try and disappear.”

“Fuck that,” said Abe. “We need to fight back.
Is it true what everyone’s saying? That this was retaliation because Hero dropped some bombs into a military base under the old airport?”

“It’s possible. Why?”

“Because if so, then we know where this asshole’s base is,” said Abe. “We need to get out there and finish this.”

“This wasn’t retaliation.”

“How do you figure? Are you saying this was just a coincidence?” Abe was obstinate and playing the part that Billy would’ve happily played just hours earlier.

“This guy’s been planning this for months, or even
years,” said Billy. “I get the sense he could’ve killed us any time he wanted.”

“I don’t die easy,” said Abe.

Billy looked back in the direction of the fire that was consuming the eastern half of town. “Kim was ten times tougher than either of us, and you saw what happened to her.”

“We’ve got trouble,” said Victor from above. He was on top of the tanker truck beside them, keeping watch on the horde that had
rushed out to search for Kim’s remains. “The fire’s pushing the Greys this way.”

“Are there more than we can handle?” asked Billy.

“Not now,” said Victor. “But these things just keep crawling out of the buildings, man. I have no clue how many of them are still hiding down there.”

Billy looked at Abe and pointed at the church. “I need you to get in there and help with the evacuation. We’re going to load up the trucks with the survivors from Vineyard first. Keep all the Rollers on the ground. We’re going to escort the caravan west and try to find a route through the town.”

“Why not just load everyone up?” asked Abe.

“Because they had spike strips out on the road by the plains. I’d bet there’s more out west too. We need to make sure the caravan has a straight shot out of here. Go. Get the wounded out first.”

Abe was about to head into the church, but he stopped and turned back around to face Billy. “I thought you were a fighter. If you’re not going to stand up for us, then I’ll do it. I’ll go alone if I have to.”

“Don’t argue with me about this now,” said Billy. “Just get in the church and tell them that we’
re headed out.”

Billy watched Abe leave, and then fell backward to support himself against the truck. He’d been trying to stand tall beside Abe, but his back was torturing him. The pain was crippling and he dropped to his knees
as he clenched his teeth.