Spiteful (The Infected Book 3) (8 page)

Spirit’s tongue hung out of her mouth in a doggy grin. This dog was laughing at me.

“Come on, Spirit, please.” I said.

To my surprise she brought the stick to me and dropped it at my feet. I couldn’t believe it was as simple as saying please. Picking up the stick, I tossed it and she shot off after it again.

This time I just said “Can I have the stick, please, Spirit?”

She trotted up and dropped the stick at my feet. I smiled and crouched down to ruffle her hair and she gave me a lick on the face.

“Okay, Spirit, let’s have some fun.” I said and got another lick.

For the next two hours I threw the stick and rolled around on the floor with her. When I thought she would come when called we set off back to our room. Spirit walked along beside me and we took the lift down to the fourth floor. Heading down the hallway I saw Chris talking with Tessa.

“You okay, Marc?” he asked.

I stopped and said “I’ve been giving Spirit some exercise.”

Chris knelt down in front of Spirit and said “So we finally have a name for you!” Spirit licked him from his chin to his hairline.

Standing up he laughed and said “So how are you?”

“I’m fine. Not exactly happy about it but I know where you’re all coming from.” I said.

Tessa said “I feel the same way, Marc, but we need to think about everyone we have here and how best to keep them safe.”

“I know. We’ll sort out what we are going to do in the morning. I need to get some sleep so can we talk about it then?” I asked.

“Sure.” Chris said.

I continued down to my door and opened it for Spirit to go inside and followed her. The room was dark so I reached over a flicked the light switch.

“Can you turn that fucking light off?” Amy said from the bed.

“Okay.” I said smiling.

Turning the light off. I slowly made my way round to the bed and only stubbed my toe a couple of times. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I took my clothes off and slid under the sheets. Amy wiggled across and cuddled into me. Her warm body pressed in close as she cuddled in.

“Where did you go?” She asked, resting her head on my chest.

“I needed to think about what we have to do. Jake helped me do that. Then I went and gave Spirit some exercise.” I said.

“Spirit?” she asked.

“Yeah, I gave dog a name. She seems to like it.” I said, watching the lighter shade in the darkness move toward the bed and lie down on my side. Dropping my hand over the side I stroked Spirit's side. I could feel a rumble and a low growl coming from her.

“It’s about time she had a name. For some reason just calling her dog didn’t feel right and Spirit suits her.”

“It sure does. I spoke with Ruby earlier and that is one sharp old woman.” I said trying to skirt around the subject that I knew she wanted to talk about.

“What did she say?” Amy asked.

“All she said was that she would help us out.” I said.

“That’s good.” She said sleepily.

We lay there for a while just holding each other. The heat coming from her body was slowly sending me off to sleep. I felt my eyes slowly closing and thanked her for not making an issue of our prisoner problem. I smiled into the darkness and fell asleep.

Chapter Eleven

You know, I am beginning to hate the fact that every time I wake up after sleeping with Amy in one form or another she has disappeared in the morning. I did find a female on the bed next to me, though. Spirit had decided to climb up and keep me company. So when I woke up her fur was right in my face.

“Aww, come on, Spirit, get out of my face.” I said, pushing her away from me.

There was a soft woof and she jumped down from the bed. Sitting up, I looked around and wondered when Amy had left. Was it this morning or late during the night? I would have to ask her the next time we were in bed together. Climbing out of bed I went and had a shower before putting on some black BDU’s and my tactical harness and rifle. I wanted to get some practice in on the range today in preparation for tonight. Heading to the range I saw a lot more activity in the bunker today than I did yesterday. People were moving around the hallways with brushes and carrying bags and other items. Shaking my head, I entered the range and saw Chris and Mike firing at the targets.

“Morning, gents.” I shouted out loud.

They both stopped and made their rifles safe and turned to look at me.

“Hey, Marc.” Chris said.

“Do either of you know what’s happening outside?” I asked.

“You mean out in the hallways?” Mike asked.

“Yeah!”

“You know how you set Ruby in charge of keeping the bunker running?” Mike said.

I nodded.

“Well, she had this big meeting with everyone last night and there is a rota now set up and everyone has a job to do.” Mike said.

“That’s why there are people cleaning and carrying stuff left, right and centre.” I said.

To tell the truth, I didn’t think that she would have any of this sorted by now.

“The best news is they have taken over part of the dining room and made it into a school for the little kids.” He said, smiling.

“Who the hell is teaching them?” I asked.

“One of our survivors was a teacher and she is over the moon to be teaching again. In fact, you know her, she was the wife of the bloke that got infected back at the school.” He said.

I remembered that day and there were times during the day when my mind would stray back to the moment when I helped him die.

“I remember.” I said quietly.

I moved to the range and placed my rifle on the bench in front of me. It was then that I realized that David and Tessa weren’t in the range with us.

“Where is Tessa, Amy and David?” I asked.

“David is having a little me time with Jennie. Amy and Tessa are doing a little unarmed combat in the gym. I thought it best if Mike spend some more time on his shooting rather than unarmed combat.” Chris said.

“Fair enough.” I said, raising the rifle and racking the bolt and fired off a few shots before seeing my spread.

As usual, all my shots were on target; a little widely spaced but on target. I needed to get on the range more. My shooting was starting to become sloppy and that would be dangerous outside. I ran through my stoppage drills and even did some crouched shots. Checking my rounds I ran through my last magazine on full auto and ripped the target from its holder. Placing the rifle back on the bench I leaned out and saw Chris leaning against the wall watching Mike shoot.

“You’re not getting any better, Marc!” He shouted above the sound of Mikes shots.

“And you, mate, can get fucked!” I shouted back, laughing. Nothing like a little man to man shooting weapons.

Pulling out my cleaning kit I stripped and cleaned my rifle before I left Mike and Chris to their practice. Hanging my rifle on my harness I headed to the gym. Opening the door I heard a grunt and then something hitting the mats on the floor. Looking up, I saw Amy helping Tessa up off the floor. They were both in black BDU’s but were only wearing the trousers and a black T-shirt. I leaned against the wall as Amy pointed out throwing techniques to Tessa. I watched as they faced each other and Tessa managed to flip Amy over her hip and onto the mats. I started to clap as Amy was trying to get up off the floor. They both looked up and smiled. I stood as Amy crossed over the mats with Tessa following her.

“How are you doing this morning?” Tessa asked.

“Not too bad. How are you two doing?” I asked them.

“I’ve been giving Tessa a few pointers. She was a little worried about an infected grabbing hold of her whilst we are out tonight.” Amy said.

“It’s good to be prepared for anything.” I said.

“What have you done to prepare?” Tessa asked.

“Spent some time on the range with your dad and Chris.” I said.

“Is that all?” Amy said, smiling.

I shrugged and just smiled back.

“So when are we leaving?” Tessa asked.

“Probably after supper. I don’t want to leave until after that.” I said.

Amy looked at me and asked “So what are you going to be doing between now and then?”

“I haven’t got a clue. But I might have a nap.” I said.

“A nap. What are you, eighty years old?” Tessa laughed.

“Funny.” I said, turning to leave.

Amy grabbed my arm and stopped me. I turned round and she leaned in for a small kiss.

“I’ll catch up with you later.” She said smiling.

Tessa and Amy then turned and headed back on the mats both whispering and giggling like two school girls. I just smiled and walked out into the hallway and headed for the lifts. Coming out of the lift on the fourth floor I headed to my room. I opened the door and there was Spirit sitting waiting for me. I scratched between her ears as I walked past and over to the bed. I lay down and closed my eyes. Feeling a weight land on the bed beside me I opened one eye and saw Spirit beside me. The funny thing was, she was in between me and the door and I had the feeling she was on guard duty. Closing my eyes I drifted off until a low growl beside me woke me up. Opening my eyes I could see the door to my room open, but there was no one else but Spirit and me in the room. I sat up and looked round everything was as I left it and just thought maybe I hadn’t closed my door properly. Either way, there was nothing to be concerned about.

Sliding off the other side of the bed so that I didn’t have to push Spirit out of the way I got up, went into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. Walking back into the room I headed over and closed the door. Sitting down in the chair I lifted my rifle onto the table and stripped it. I know I had already cleaned it after my time on the range, but I wanted to make sure everything was working as it should. It didn’t take me long to have it stripped and then reassembled.

Once I had finished with my rifle I headed over to the kitchenette and grabbed two bottles of water out of the cupboard. One I opened and poured into a small bowl for Spirit and the other I opened and drank. Spirit jumped down from the bed and padded her way over the bowl and had drank it dry before I could finish the bottle in my hand. Pouring the last of my water into her bowl she drank that as well. I stretched out and did a few limbering exercises.

Picking up my gear, I headed for the door and Spirit followed me.

“Spirit, there is no way you’re coming tonight.” I said to her.

She just sat by the door with a look on her face that said ‘How are you going to stop me?’

Opening the door, she shot past me so fast all I saw was her tail disappear through the gap.

“Fine, but if you get yourself killed don’t come crying to me.” I shouted in the hallway.

Chris opened the door to his room and stuck his head out.

“What?” He said, all bleary eyed.

“Bloody dog wants to come with us tonight.” I said.

“Eh?” He said looking up the hallway toward Spirit.

“Nothing, mate, just go back to sleep.” I said.

He closed his door and I headed after my pigheaded dog. She was sitting looking at the lifts waiting for me. I pressed the button and waited. Spirit took advantage of my dangling hand to give it a lick.

“No use apologizing now.” I said, looking down at her.

She just whined and licked my fingers.

The doors opened and Tom stepped out.

“Oh, hey, Marc.” He said.

“Hi, Tom, how are things?” I said, as the lift doors closed.

“Not bad. Did Amy tell you that Rosa and I are back together?” He asked.

“Rosa did mention something the other day.” I said.

“Yeah, she has turned over a new leaf. She’s even helping out in the kitchen with Jennie.” He said, bending down to give Spirit a rub between her ears.

“I didn’t know about the kitchen, but it's good news.” I said.

“She still has the odd hissy fit, but she has started to realize that she can’t have everything she wants. Anyway, going for a shower before supper. I’ll catch you later.” He said, standing and walking off down the hallway.

I pressed the button again and took the lift up to the first floor. I headed for the dining room and headed for the counter and poured myself a coffee from the flasks and headed over to one of the tables. Sitting down, Spirit crept underneath and lay down at my feet. I fished out the map we had been using the night before and sat studying it. A shadow fell across the table and I looked up. Maddie, David’s daughter stood looking down.

“Hi, Maddie, what can I do for you?” I asked.

“Is my dad going with you tonight?” She asked.

“As far as I am aware. Why?” I said.

“Can you please look after him?” She asked.

“Of course I’ll look after him. I’ll tell you what, I’ll even have someone special help look after him.” I said.

She looked at me like I was touched and I smiled.

“Spirit!” I said.

My shadow appeared from under the table and sat with her tail wagging and stupid grin on her face. Maddie gasped.

“Maddie, meet Spirit, and, Spirit, meet Maddie.” I said.

Maddie crouched down and stroked Spirit on the head. Spirit raised her head and gave Maddie’s face a clean with her tongue. Maddie fell backwards, giggling. Which gave Spirit the opening to give Maddie a thorough cleaning. I sat smiling as Maddie lost the battle and just ended up getting a ton of dog slobber on her.

When I thought that was enough I said “Okay, Spirit, that’s enough.”

Spirit turned to look at me and gave a low woof before lying down under the table.

“I'll have Spirit help keep an eye on your dad, okay?” I said.

Climbing off the floor, Maddie smiled and said “Yes.”

She headed back to the kitchen where I saw Jennie standing at the hatch. She smiled and waved. Smiling, I gave her a wave in return before going back to looking at the map.