The Beginning of the End (Book2): Road to Damnation (14 page)

“Clear!” Daniels
shouted.

“It’s clear back
here too,” Bunker called out.

Daniels was right, the
fountain was still running, which meant this whole grid had power. He
checked the coolers. They were still cool.

“What are you doing?”
Bunker asked.

“I’m going out to
let the others know it’s clear.”

Outside, Destiny was
leaning against the tree with one arm around the kids and the other
clutching her little P32.

“Hey,” Daniels
called out.

Destiny spun around
pointing the small gun at him.

“Whoa, be careful
with that thing.”

“Sorry,” she
apologized.

“It’s all right. I
came to let you know it’s all clear inside, and the coolers are
still on so the food is fresh.”

The three headed for
the door. As Destiny pulled the door open, Daniels produced a hand
from behind his back. He was holding a piece of Chocolate Oreo
cheesecake, “I thought you could use this.”

She took the cheesecake
from his hand, “It’s too bad you’re married, honey. Because I’d
make an honest man out of you.” The two laughed, as they walked
through the door.

Sidara pulled the
Humvee over on the main road outside the grocery store parking lot.
The lined blacktop spaces were empty except for an old blue rust
bucket parked in the handicap spot closest to the doors.

“Do you think
someone’s in there?” Sage asked from the back seat of the Humvee.

Judging from the
mismatched front fender, bald tires, and plentiful amount of
fist-sized rust holes, Sidara assumed the vehicle broke down and was
left in the lot. She’d be willing to bet the owner got sick and
never retrieved it.

“No,” Sidara
answered, “it looks like it’s been there a while.”

She let up on the brake
and inched her way into the parking lot, taking the spot farthest
from the building.

“Oh, come on. The lot
is empty. Park next to the building.” Luther complained from the
passenger seat.

“Now, Luther, it’s
not going to hurt you a bit to walk across the lot. I’m sure Sidara
has a perfectly good reason for parking here, and I would be willing
to bet it’s because we don’t want to announce our presence by
driving this thing right up to the front door. Now if I remember
correctly, my son told you he was going to leave you in a hole on the
side of the highway. So maybe you should stop complaining, enjoy the
walk, and be happy to be alive.” Mom explained.

Sidara smirked as she
watched Luther scowling as he got out of the vehicle, afraid to say
anything to the woman.

“See girls, sometimes
you have to let men know they don’t have a choice in the matter.”

Sidara got out and
walked around the back of the Humvee. Jen and Sage joined her as she
popped the back open, “Choose your weapons ladies.”

Sage was elated to see
the HK again while Jen took one of the AR-15s. She continued fumbling
around trying to move Charger’s fat butt until she found another
one of the grenades, “Are you going to sleep in there all day, you
silly dog?”

Charger lifted her
floppy-eared head and yawned.

“Why don’t you get
out and stretch your legs, lazy,” Jen suggested.

After a lackadaisical
stretch and shake, Charger crawled down to the pavement and curled up
by the Humvee tire, where she fell back asleep.

“The easy life of a
dog,” Jen said as she as she clipped the grenade to her belt.

“Are you expecting a
party?” Sidara asked, pointing at the grenade.

“I hope not, but
after seeing the damage it inflicted at the ferry dock, it couldn’t
hurt.”

Sidara stuck her head
out from around the cargo area. Luther was still standing in front of
the Humvee pouting.

“Do you need anything
out of here?”

“Nope,” Luther
whined, “I’m just going for a walk.”

Sidara reached up and
slammed the cargo door of the Humvee closed.

“He didn’t need
anything?” Jen asked.

“Just a bigger set of
balls. Did you have any of those back there?” Sidara chuckled, as
she racked her weapon and moved toward the building.

Luther felt a tug on
his arm and followed as Sidara switched gears into soldier mode. Sage
and Jen joined them as Sidara led them around the corner of the
building. They held fast as Sidara scoped out the main entrance. She
looked back at the group and gave them a series of simple hand
instructions while she mouthed, “Stay tight to the building. Once
we go through the main doors, Jen, you take the right, Luther, you
take the left, I’ll take straight ahead, and Sage, you watch our
backs.”

Three steps into the
move Luther tugged at Sidara’s MOLLE vest. She held her position,
and turned back to Luther, “What?”

“How can I take the
left without a gun?” he asked.

Sidara pulled the .44
Magnum from the back of her belt, “Here take this and I want it
back when we’re finished here.”

Luther spun the black
cylinder confirming the weapon was loaded. He nodded, and they were
on the move again. The group slowly crept toward the main door with
their orders in hand.

Sidara imagined they
would all execute their jobs with the precision of a Navy Seal Team.
Anyone watching would have seen something quite different, possibly a
combination of Monty Python and The Three Stooges acting out a war
scene. As ugly as it was, it was their way, and so far they’d been
lucky.

They had made it inside
the grocery store with no resistance. The power was off here too,
again leaving the lingering aroma of festering heifer.

“Holy shit. It stinks
in here.” Luther complained.

“Breath through your
mouth,” Sidara suggested, “this place is full of rotten food.
Luther, you come with me. Sage and Jen, you guys, hit the pharmacy.
The signs say it’s in the back. We’re going to find Two-guns’
phone cord.”

Jen and Sage
disappeared heading for the back of the store.

“Come on Luther, it
looks like there is an electronic section over there.”

Luther followed but
wasn’t happy. He didn’t know how he got stuck with Sidara. She
was bossy and thought she knew everything. The last thing he needed
in this world was a woman who was always telling him what to do and
thinking she was always right.

Sidara slowed as she
approached the aisle end cap. She peeked around and up the aisle, “I
was right. All the phone accessories are up here.”

“It figures,”
Luther mumbled under his breath.

They searched through
rows of chargers until they found one that was compatible with Ty’s
phone. Luther saw it and yanked it off the display peg, “Here it
is,” he said handing it to Sidara.

She ripped the plastic
packaging open and examined the cord, “Close, that fits the phone,
but we need one with a car charger adapter.”

“How about this?”
Luther smiled, holding up a universal adapter, “You just stick your
cord into this part, then plug it into the car lighter.”

Sidara slid the end of
the cord into the adapter. It was a perfect fit.

“Luther, I could kiss
you right now.”

He felt his face flush
before the sound of gunfire in the back of the store interrupted
them.

“Jen and Sage!”
Sidara screamed as she took off running toward the sound. Luther
reacted even faster, yanking the Magnum from his belt while
simultaneously cocking the hammer.

His long thin legs gave
him a beanpole appearance, but the advantage of speed. He turned into
the next aisle seconds ahead of Sidara. More shots rang out, this
time from Luther’s .44 Magnum.

There was no mistaking
the hollow sound of the hand cannon.

The store employees
must have taken shelter in the back of the store and fallen ill
there.

They staggered and
moaned, still wearing the store’s red smocks. The dead were in
search of the next meal. The rotting employee’s had the girls
cornered by the beer cooler. The women were firing their weapons at
the group of flesh eaters. Sage was clutching an orange pharmacy bag
that looked like it was filled full of meds while attempting to shoot
her rifle one handed.

Luther knew she had
found the antibiotics Chevy needed and was protecting them with her
life.

Jen spun the barrel of
her rifle around and dropped the store Manager. Black blood sprayed
the wall behind him.

Dispatching the Manager
gave them the few precious seconds, they needed to get clear of the
horde.

“This way!” Luther
shouted, as he capped off a few more rounds and led the women through
the back emergency exit.

Outside of the building
was clear of threats. They looked back as the mass of dead filtered
out behind them. Luther yanked the AR-15 from Jen’s hands and told
her to run.

“Head for the
Humvee,” he ordered.

Sidara slowed to a jog
and turned back screaming for Luther to run. She covered her head
when she saw him dumping AR rounds into the store’s thousand-gallon
propane tank.

“No!” she screamed
as the concussion of the exploding tank knocked her off her feet. She
lay there, head pounding, and the wind knocked out of her. The smell
of burnt hair was trapped in her nostrils. When she tried to move, a
lightning shot of pain ran from her ears to the middle of her back.
She reached for her ears to protect them from the sound. With her
ears covered, she realized the high-pitched ringing was coming from
inside her head, and her hands weren’t helping a bit. Not doing any
good, she pulled them away and they were covered with blood. She felt
herself slip into unconsciousness.

Sidara had no idea how
long she’d been out when something startled her out of a dream
state. She opened her eyes and found three men standing over her.
They were all on fire. Their blackened skin dripped searing fat onto
her chest. As they neared, she could see their swirling blue corneas
through the flames. She felt the burning heat of their fiery bodies
and lifted a hand to stop them. She tried to scream for help, but it
was too late. She fell unconscious again.

Fifteen minutes earlier
Chevy and I were following Thurman into the old imitation train
tunnel. The weeds and saplings were so overgrown it made the entrance
invisible. If we didn’t know it was there, we would have walked
right by it.

My brain kept telling
me not to go into this tunnel for many reasons. The biggest was if
Thurman decided he wanted us dead so he could steal all of our
supplies, this place would give him the perfect opportunity to kill
Chevy and me. It had to be pitch black in there and for all we knew,
he could have spent hours hiding out in there learning every turn and
secret passageway. Let’s not forget the possibility that a hundred
zombies could be in there hanging out waiting for lunch. As it turns
out, I wasn’t the only person with these concerns.

It didn’t take long
for Chevy to give us his opinion when he saw how dark it was inside.

“I’m not going into
that fucking tunnel,” Chevy ranted, “how the hell do you know
what’s in there? And how do I know, you don’t want to get us in
there so you can shoot us in the back?”

And there it was.

Our plan of hanging
back and keeping an eye on Thurman just turned into a full-fledged
confrontation, and it looked like I was going to be playing referee.

“What are you talking
about, Chevy?” Thurman said with a surprised look on his face.

“I’ll tell you.
You’re just like the guy that tried to kill us this morning. A
fucking psycho, and I’ve had my fill of psychos for the day.”

Thurman stood there
with his mouth wide open and had no idea what Chevy was talking
about.

“Why would I hurt any
of you?”

Chevy continued to goad
Thurman, looking for the opportunity to start a physical altercation,
“Because you’re as crazy as your brother. I saw what you did to
that little girl today. You smashed her face in, with the butt of
your rifle. I understand she was dead, or a zombie, or whatever the
hell we’re calling them now, but what kind of sadistic person does
that?”

Thurman stepped forward
into Chevy bumping chests, “What did you call my brother?” he
engaged.

I thought to myself,
“Oh, shit,” Chevy was looking for a fight.

“You heard what I
called him you fu…”

I stepped in between
them. I had to do something, and it was now or never.

“Whoa, whoa.” I
interrupted.

It’s not that I
didn’t agree with Chevy, but even in this screwed up world, Thurman
had the right to explain himself before Chevy kicked his ass.

“You guys both need
to take a step back from each other so we can work this out. Chevy,
you calm down and let me talk. Thurman, you take a step back and
listen to me.”

It took me by surprise
when they both did what I asked them.

“First of all, what
the hell is wrong with you two guys? We’re here to get a car. We
have no idea what’s going on with Luther and the girls, so if it’s
all the same to you, I’d like to get this fixed as fast as
possible. Thurman, I don’t know what was going on with the little
girl, but it was screwed up. To the point, it’s had us all on edge
since we saw it. Since then we’ve been trying to figure out a way
to ditch you and Herman. I mean the whole thing was pretty crazy; to
kill a little girl like that, but then to make things worse, you
dropped a round in the teddy bear’s skull. Dude, what the hell?”

Looking at Thurman, I
could tell all the fight had gone out of him. I watched as a single
tear formed on the edge of Thurman’s eye.

He let out a long sigh
and began to tell his story, “I’m sorry I lied to you both.”

“What was the lie?”
Chevy asked.

“About my mom. Those
things didn’t kill her… I did.”

“What? You killed
your mom? You fricken psycho!” Chevy badgered.