The Beginning of the End (Book2): Road to Damnation (13 page)

I thought about it for
a second. I guess it didn’t. I decided not to give him the pleasure
of a response. Instead, I moved onto the more obvious question, “What
the hell are we doing here?”

“I wanted to take one
last ride on the Sasquatch,” he coaxed.

I wasn’t about to
bite, and after watching Herman, I had the urge to relieve myself
too.

“Are you going to
fill me in, or are we going to play this game all day?”

“All right, I’m
sorry. It was a long drive, and Herman slept the whole time. The
reason we’re here is because I know this place like the back of my
hand. We used to spend the summers in Lake George, and I got to work
here a few days a week during the summer months. I was a security
guard, which is funny because I tried to steal everything I could get
my hands on. My primary duties comprised of walking around with a
broom and dustpan picking up cigarette butts.

Classified as security
staff, I got to go to all of the places in the park that no one else
had access to.”

I was listening, but
couldn’t see where he was going with this. He was boring me, and I
still had to pee.

Thurman paused, “I
can tell by the look on your face you want me to get to the point.”

I stood there silently,
waiting for the genius to continue.

“Okay, so I had
access to the entire park. The guy that owns this place is some kind
of Billionaire. I’m talking mega rich. I always heard rumors he
owned the biggest mansion on Lake George and even part of the lake
itself. What most people didn’t know about, was his incredible car
collection. Only a select few had seen it. But one day, I discovered
something only those fortunate ones had seen. The exotic car
collection and he kept them all here. Out of sight of wandering eyes
where no one could see them. I stumbled across it by accident one
day. I was driving around the park in the security cart, which was
just a golf cart with a red light on the top and a badge decal on the
side. Bored one day, I thought I’d do a little exploring in the
old, closed off portion of the park. Back in the 1970s, they called
it Ghost Town. You could still see the old remnants of the attraction
when you rode the Desperado Plunge. It was a dozen or so buildings
covered in faded red and yellow paint. Running through the center of
the makeshift town was a set of abandoned railroad tracks. Part of
the old Haunted Train ride. I was tired and looking for a good place
to take a quick nap and get out of the summer sun for a while. In the
distance, I could see the tracks led into an imitation cave
structure. I pulled in to take my nap and curiosity got the best of
me. I had to see where the cave ended up since it was closed down
before I was born. Twenty feet in the cave and I couldn’t see a
thing. I was driving blind. I flipped on my red security light and
traveled along the serpentine tracks lined with remnants of haunted
displays. I don’t have to tell you how creepy that was. When I
emerged, I had no idea where I was, but was staring at a humongous
warehouse. I mean this place was immense, at least thirty feet high
and as long as three football fields. I tried the doors, but the
place was locked up as tight as a drum. I had a good view through one
of the windows, however. The building was lined from wall to wall
with cars. Everything from Lamborghini’s to Model Ts.”

I raised up an open
palm to stop him from talking, “Wait, wait, wait. So you’re
telling me we’re here because you want to upgrade your Ferrari to a
Lambo?”

“No, are you kidding?
I couldn’t get my brother inside one of those things. But I
wouldn’t mind taking one for a drive. Besides all the sports and
antique cars, he had an assortment of trucks. He even had a couple of
Humvees in there if I remember correctly. Not the military ones like
you have, but the ones they sold to private citizens before the
company went belly up. I’m betting they’re still in there. Herman
and I can ditch the Ferrari and steal one of the Hummers. Then we’ll
have more room to spread out, and you guys can ditch the Jeep and
join us.”

I hated to admit it,
that was a pretty good idea, but I wasn’t about to let Thurman know
that.

“I guess that’s not
the worst idea,” I said, “let’s pop open the main gate to the
park and give everyone a chance to hit the head and freshen up.
Running water would be nice right now. I’d like to wash up. When
we’re done, we’ll split up into a couple of groups. One group can
grab the Humvee while the other finds a pharmacy. This place does
have a pharmacy for guests, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” Thurman
said, “but it’s only got things like Band-Aids, sunscreen, and
antacids. What are you looking for?”

“Before we met you,
Chevy got hit with a rifle round. It was a superficial wound, but Mom
thinks he should take a course of antibiotics.”

Thurman shook his head,
“You’re not going to find anything like that here. We need to go
down the street, there’s a supermarket, and they’ve got a
pharmacy in the back. We’ll be able to find antibiotics there.”

“I’ll round up the
troops and give them the plan. Bathroom, Humvee, and the
supermarket.”

* * *

Fifteen minutes later
we were all finishing up in the bathrooms. Daylight was running out,
and we still had a lot to do before we tried to find a place to
sleep. I sat on the bench next to the bronze statue known as
‘Porcellino.' The original sat in Florence, Italy while replicas
scattered throughout various countries around the world. I always
felt I had a special connection with Porcellino because I had spent
time with the original statue in Italy. I ran my finger along the
boar’s smooth tusk when Sidara joined me.

“What the hell is
this thing?”

“It’s a mean pig
with tusks,” I sassed.

“I can see that,”
she laughed. Then her face took on a serious tone, “What are we
doing about our resident psycho problem?”

I looked over both
shoulders to make sure he wasn’t within earshot, “I don’t know.
Do you have any suggestions?”

“Bash his brains in
with the butt of a rifle?” Sidara said, half kidding.

“If we did that,
Sidara, we’d be no better than he is. Let’s play it cool, and
we’ll keep a close eye on him. In the meantime, I have a more
immediate problem. We’ve only got a few hours of daylight left, and
we need to grab the second Humvee and make it to the pharmacy to get
Chevy’s meds.”

Sidara tilted her head
and looked into the air deep in thought. A few seconds later, she
made a suggestion, “Why don’t you take Chevy and the psycho. The
three of you can get the new Hummer. Sophie needs to find a laptop to
complete the code sequencing on the ZMapp. She can take the Jeep with
Cowboy. I’ll take everyone else, and we’ll head to the pharmacy.
After you guys get the Hummer, meet us there. I’ll tell Cowboy and
Sophie to do the same. Then we can move the supplies from the Jeep
into the new Humvee and leave from there with two vehicles instead of
three. Will you pass on a message for me?”

“Sure, what is it?”
I asked.

“Let the psycho know
if he tries any funny business, we’ll smoke Batman.”

“Really?” I asked
surprised.

“No, I couldn’t
hurt that big dummy. But he doesn’t need to know that,” she said.

I hated the thought of
splitting up, but it would save a lot of time. There was still
another problem with the plan, “What about Luther?” I questioned.

“What about him? He’s
not going to do anything. He’s a follower, and he couldn’t make
it without us. Besides, if he starts any shit, I’ll shoot him
before he has a chance to hurt anyone. He’s already afraid of me.”
Sidara bragged.

I couldn’t disagree
with that.

“All right, if you
think you can handle it, that’s what we’ll do. Get your group
together. You need to be out of here in five. I almost forgot. Grab
me a phone charger while you’re there. My phone is dead, and I’m
waiting for a response from Dad.”

Daniels motioned for
Bunker to join him in the front of the group. He took a knee next to
Daniels who was still surveying the park, “What do you think,
Corp?”

“I don’t know about
you, but I’m starving. Destiny tells me the solarium across the way
has cheesecake that’s to die for. Let’s hope no one will have to
do that.” Daniels was just about punned, but he couldn’t seem to
help it.

“We need to cross the
park to get there.”

“That doesn’t seem
that difficult,” Bunker said, scanning the flat grassy park, “we’ll
cut straight across.”

“Yeah, we could,”
Daniels agreed, “but we’d be in clear view of everyone and
everything. I’d hate to be in the middle of that open courtyard if
a sniper is hanging out behind one of those windows.”

Enormous structures
surrounded the park and each building was the home to hundreds of
windows. “If there was someone up there with a sniper rifle, what
makes you think they’d want to hurt us?” Bunker asked.

“Maybe they wouldn’t.
But we know some of these zombies can run and run fast. I’d hate to
be taken out because some sharpshooter is up there thinking he’s
doing his civic duty by taking us out.”

Bunker thought about it
for a moment, “Yeah, that’s a good point. What if we take the
long way around the outside of the park? We can head over there under
the trees and cut by the carousel.”

“That was the
direction I was leaning toward. I just wanted to make sure someone
else was onboard with the plan. There’s an added hitch, though…”

“What’s that?”
Bunker asked.

“See the solarium
across the way? Use the EOTech scope on your M4 and tell me what you
see.”

Bunker lifted the rifle
and scanned the large solarium windows. As he did, he counted out
loud, “One, two, three. Yup, I see three of them.”

“Three?” Daniels
lifted his rifle and peered through his scope, “Shit. You’re
right. I only saw one the first time. If there are three in there
now, there’s no telling how many more will be in there when we
burst through the front door.”

Bunker moved from his
knee back onto his ass. He sat on the littered sidewalk and looked at
his new group of friends. Kaden had his arms around Ceci, who was
looking worse than ever, and Destiny was painting a layer of clear
coat onto her perfectly manicured nails. “I guess we’re going
through the solarium door first without backup. I wish your rookie
were still here.” Bunker sighed.

“You’re not the
only one.”

Daniels called out to
the group, “Everyone up. We’re going to head around the outside
of the park and make a run for the solarium. I want everyone moving
fast. When we get there, you three hunker down around that tree next
to the carousel. Bunker and I are going in through the front door to
take out the threats. You guys stay by the tree until we tell you
it’s safe. If everyone is ready, we’ll go.”

“Hang on, sugar
britches. I gotta put my polish away.” Destiny fastened the top of
the polish and dropped it into her purse. Minding not to mess up her
nails. “Ok, baby. I’m ready.”

Daniels paused, “You
do understand we’re in the middle of a zombie outbreak, don’t
you?”

“Honey, if I get
turned into one of them things, I’m gonna make being a zombie look
good.”

“I bet you will,”
Daniels laughed, “Okay if everyone is ready now…Destiny?”

“Yep. I’m ready,
sugar.”

“Then let’s go.”

The group broke into a
slow run around the park. Daniels and Bunker took the lead with their
rifles raised, scanning the area. Destiny headed up the rear, looking
at her nails, speed walking behind the pack.

Daniels paused next to
the carousel tree and was quickly joined by Bunker. The kids were a
few steps behind, and Destiny was only halfway across the park still
looking at her nails.

Behind her, Daniels
caught a glimpse of a runner. He was coming up on Destiny in a hurry
and she had no idea he was there. She looked up long enough to see
Daniels pointing his rifle in her direction. Destiny crossed her arms
over her face and turned her head away, expecting to be shot. She
heard the high-velocity rifle round wiz by her head and fell to the
ground. Daniels struck the runner in the head, killing it. The
momentum of his body carried him, tumbling over Destiny. It wasn’t
until then she realized Daniels had saved her life. She got back on
her feet and sprinted the rest of the way to the group. The only
proper thing to do was to thank Daniels for saving her life. So she
did it the only way she knew how, “You fucked up my nails, sugar.”

Daniels grabbed her
hand and examined it, “I guess I did,” he smiled, “I’m happy
you could make it to the party.”

“I’m glad too.”
Destiny said, smiling back.

“Okay, let’s get
our heads back in the game here. Bunker and I will go in and clear
the solarium. Destiny, you keep a look out from behind and make sure
no more of those things come running up on you while we’re inside.”

“You got it.”
Destiny said. A dose of reality had changed her tune, even if it
would only last for a short time.

Daniels and Bunker
stayed low using the huge cement flowerbeds for cover. They crawled
up the stairs to the main entrance. Daniels reached up and gave the
door handle a half of a turn, “It’s unlocked,” he whispered,
“We go in on three,” They got up on their feet, and Bunker
counted.

“One, two, three.”

Daniels burst through
the door first and was engaged by the female he had seen through the
scope the first time. His rifle rang out two thundering claps. The
girl dropped to the floor. Moans coming from the kitchen area grew
louder. The sound ended when it turned the corner, and the .223 round
killed him. There was, at least, one more that they knew about.
Daniels advanced into the dining area where an armless zombie was
standing. He didn’t approach, didn’t make a sound. He fell
forward as the round exited the back of his skull.