S.W. Tanpepper's GAMELAND, Season One Omnibus (12 page)

“
Be right down, J,” he whisper-shouts.

I stand in the coolness of the porch overhang and wait. It's already warm. The temperature is supposed to peak at just under a hundred today, and humidity is high. Just another average August day in Greenwich, and the thought of slipping into that cool water actually takes the edge off the fear gnawing at my gut.

The door creaks open and Kelly slips out. He gently closes it behind him, acting as if the soft click of the latch is as loud as a gunshot. I give him a questioning look and he exhales through his pursed lips. He gives me a quick shake of the head. I notice dark circles under his eyes.

When we get to the sidewalk, I ask, “You couldn't sleep either?”

“
It's Kyle,” he says. “He's finally sleeping now, but he had another rough night last night.”

I nod. Kyle's had a tough go of it. He had kidney failure when he was barely two and almost died. He managed to get a new one, but he's always sick. He often has these spells where he spikes a fever and screams as if he's in terrible pain. Nobody knows why. The only thing that makes it stop is exhaustion. But he's a light sleeper and even the slightest disruption can rouse him, starting it all over again.

I can see the strain of this most recent episode on Kelly's face.

“
Are you sure you want to do this?” I ask. “I'll stay home with you instead of going. They don't need us.”

He turns to me, but the look on his face isn't one of relief. Instead, he shakes his head and says. “No, I'm going.” Then he adds, “Someone's got to pay the bills.” I know what he's referring to, just not what he means. It's such a random thing that all I can do is simply dismiss it, chalking it up to his fatigue.

The financial strain on the Corbens has been almost unbearable for them. Kelly's dad works two jobs and his mom stays home to care for Kyle. Kelly has offered to start working a part time job—he's also hinted that maybe he should go work for ArcWare after graduating—but his parents are adamant about him going to college.

He hoists his backpack onto his shoulders and together we head over to Micah's.

“
What'd you bring?” I ask.

“
Lunch. Water. A few…other things.”

I nod. “Me, too.” But his pack looks much heavier than mine and I wonder what ‘other things' means.

He sees me looking over. His eyes soften and he says, “It's a surprise.”

“
A picnic in zombieland? How romantic.”

He laughs. “Not exactly.”

Micah, Ash and Reggie are already waiting for us when we arrive, a few minutes after seven. I throw my pack into the trunk along with the rest of the gear: a couple other backpacks and a pair of large duffles.

“'
Bout time you guys showed up. Thought you were going to back out.”

Reggie gives Kelly a long, meaningful glance, waiting for him to reply. But Kelly doesn't respond. He opens the back door of Micah's car and slides in. I notice he's still got his backpack tucked under his arms.

“
Not much of a morning person, is he?”

I roll my eyes and tell him to cut Kel some slack, that Kyle had a rough night. Reggie's aware of the deets—they all do—and he immediately backs off. I'm glad. It just feels like so much of my effort is being spent on pretending everything's fine between everyone to have to pile the Corbens' situation on top of the mix.

I push in next to Kelly. He's got his Link out and is scrolling through it. I peek over his shoulder and see the ArcWare logo flash by.

“
Go back,” I say.

“
What?”

“
What was that?”

“
Nothing. Just dumping a bunch of old messages.”

“
Are you applying for a job at ArcWare?”

“
I said it was junk, Jessie.”

“
Can we go, folks?” Micah says, calling over to Reg. “We need to take advantage of the outgoing current. It'll switch directions around ten. I don't want to be fighting it.”

Ash and Reg pile into the car. Once more I'm relegated to the middle of the back seat, but it's just a short drive out to the edge of town, so I don't mind. We're meeting Jake behind his uncle's store. From there, we'll head down to Manhattan.

When we arrive, Micah slowly drives around in back, where we see Jake's van with its door popped open. All the windows of the whitewashed building are barred and there's spotlights shining everywhere, even though the sun's up.

After he stops, we all tumble out but leave the car doors open, as if we're afraid of making any noise, setting off any alarms. Micah whistles and Jake slips out the heavily-screened metal door of the store. It bangs shut, making us all jump.

“
Uncle Joe's at an auction up in Albany,” he shouts down at us, grinning. “There's nobody here.” He draws us around to the van and shows us the booty he's gotten for us. “We'll divvy it up when we get there.”

Looking at the hodge-podge of equipment, I suddenly realize how little planning we've actually done for this trip. Other than the diving part, that is, and figuring out when to go and come back. And even that now seems pitifully inadequate. For such a dangerous proposition, you'd think we'd be better prepared. It's like we're all in denial. It's been such a surprise how easy everything has happened so far, relatively speaking, that nobody wants to tempt fate by questioning our good fortune.

But now I take the opportunity to bring up the possibility of encountering zombies. I know the others don't believe there'll be any, but still. “Shouldn't we bring weapons?” I ask. “You know…just in case.”

Reggie wraps his arm around my shoulder and says, “You're a black belt, aren't you? Isn't that considered a lethal weapon?”

Kelly rolls his eyes, but I have to give him credit for not freaking out about Reggie's arm. It seems he can only be jealous of one guy at a time, and right now Jake gets the honors.

Jake holds up a bandolier and pulls a sick-looking knife out of a sheath. “We'll each get one of these.” Then he pulls a couple of longer blades from one of the packs. “I've also got a couple machetes, if anyone wants one.” He runs his thumb along the edge so we can see that they're not very sharp.

I shudder, and both Ashley and Kelly shuffle uneasily next to me.

Micah steps forward. “We won't need them. They're just going to be extra weight and get in the way. Besides, we'll only be there a few hours. Four tops. We get in, take some pics for proof that we were there, do a little exploring, pick up a couple small souvenirs and…” He pauses and looks at each one of us. I can smell alcohol on his breath, but he appears to be perfectly sober. “Remember, we need to leave there by three o'clock at the absolute latest.”

“
The Colonel,” I say, sighing. “Yeah, I know.”

“
Actually, I was going to say because of the currents.”

“
And the curfew,” Kelly reminds us.

“
Who's the Colonel?” Jake asks.

“
My drill sergeant grandfather. He's got it in his mind that I have to be home every night for dinner. He runs the house like he's still a general and we're his Omegas.”

Jake frowns in confusion. I wave it off. “It's a long story.”

“
Bottom line,” Micah says, trying hard to get us back on track, “we're not there to take heads. Right, Reg?”

“
Aw, why not?” he pouts. “I was all itching to kick some Undead booty!”

“
There aren't any, remember?” Micah says. “But in the unlikely event that we do see any, I'm pretty sure they'll be so worn down and slow that you could sneeze on them and they'd fall over.”

“
Speaking of sneezing,” Kelly says, turning to me, “did you remember to bring your inhaler?”

“
You're as bad as Grandpa,” I say, but when I pat my pockets I realize it's not there. I remember taking it out right after breakfast for the first of my three daily puffs, but then…

Then Mom and her creepy new boyfriend happened. I must've left it on the counter.

I wince, waffle for a moment, then shake my head. “Can we make a quick detour at the house?” I ask.

Micah's face sours.

“
I already missed two doses yesterday, plus this morning's.”

He checks the time on his Link and grumbles. “We're already running late. Why do you even need that thing? I don't think I've ever seen you have an asthma attack.”

“
It's not for asthma,” Kelly says. He sounds like he's had to explain this a thousand times.

“
Then what the hell is it for?” Reggie asks. “Vitamins?”

“
I just need it, all right?” I snap. “Please. It'll be quick.”

Micah sighs. “I'll run Jessie and Kel over to her house. We'll catch up with the rest of you guys at the parking garage. You can start getting the equipment ready for everyone. If we leave now, we should only be about fifteen minutes behind you.”

“
How is Jake going to get through the checkpoints?”

Jake points to the back bumper. “It's got interstate tags for commerce. Uncle Joe uses the van when he does deliveries.”

“
Okay then,” Reggie says. “Are we good?”

“
I just need to lock up,” Jake answers. He reaches for Kelly's backpack. “Want me to take that?”

Kelly swings it out of his reach. “I got it.”

He doesn't notice the curious look Jake gives Reggie, but I do, and it makes me wonder once again why Kelly's being so defensive. But Micah tells us to hurry up and get in and even before I've got the back door closed, he's spraying gravel.

Looking back, I see Ash and Reg climb into the van while Jake heads up the steps to lock the shop.

‡

“Finally!”
Reggie yells at us as we drive into the parking structure. His voice booms through it, sounding eerily hollow.

I had pinged the others to let them know we were going to be later than we'd expected because Grandpa decided to give us the fifth degree and the guards were hassling us.

Apparently the guards also hassled Jake. They'd torn the van apart, searching it. But they found nothing, and finally accepted his explanation that the equipment was for the store.

Kel and I tumble from the car. “Is it too late to go?”

Micah walks over from the rail. He shakes his head. “The tide's still going out. We should be okay.”

“
The direction of the current will change in about an hour,” Jake says, checking his Link. “If we don't leave now, we'll be swimming against it.”

This snaps us all to attention.

Ash comes over and hands us our wetsuits. “I've been watching for the cop,” she says. “Same as the other day: there's just one on patrol.” She looks at Reggie, who tilts his head at her and gives it a quick shake.

He says, “It looks like they're on the same sixty-minute schedule. He comes, hangs around for about ten minutes, then leaves. His last check was twenty six minutes ago, so…” He checks his Link. “We've got about twenty minutes to get suited up, grab our gear and get under water before he returns.”

“
I still think that's odd,” Kelly says. “Why patrol? And why with such regularity? They might as well announce to the world, ‘If you want to do something illegal here, you got about thirty or forty minute window to do it in.'”

“
Bureaucracy,” I say. But something about it troubles me too.

Ashley opens her mouth to speak.

“
Enough jibber-jabber,” Reggie quickly says. “We need to hurry to make our window. Otherwise we'll have to wait till tomorrow.”

Jake has already arranged the gear. Luckily, I've thought to wear my swimsuit under my sweats. The guys did too, but Ashley hesitates. Then she shrugs and strips off her shorts and tee shirt, right down to her undies.

Jake stares openmouthed until Reggie slaps him upside the head. “Give the girl some privacy.”

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Kelly smile.

I go over and block the boys' view.

“
I can't believe you forgot your swimsuit, Ash.” A part of me wants to believe it was an honest mistake, but I can't help wondering if she did it on purpose, like she's hoping she won't have to go. She pretends embarrassment, but then doesn't even try to be discrete.

“
Well, you forgot your inhaler,” she counters. I snap my mouth shut. Her actions haven't put the trip at risk. Mine have.

After the suits, we don our knife belts and hoist the waterproof backpacks onto our backs. Each one contains a pair of oxygen rebreather cartridges, light sticks, food and water and any other stuff we've brought. An extra cartridge is Velcroed onto our weight belt, along with a flashlight and another light stick. Each flashlight is attached to us on a short tether, so if we drop it, we won't lose it.

Kelly's off to one side, his back to us, transferring what he brought into the sack he's been assigned. I want to go over and see what he's brought, but I know he'll be upset if I do. He already told me once it's a surprise, and I don't want to ruin whatever it might be. Every once in a while, he gets a little romantic streak in him. Doing something special on LI would definitely give us something to remember.

Jake finishes getting geared up before the rest of us. He passes around our goggles and masks, attaching the cartridges as he goes. “Kelly?” he says, tapping him on the shoulder. Kelly spins around as he stands, his eyes flashing. “Number three, right?”