The Beginning of the End (Book2): Road to Damnation (3 page)

The Corporal looked
back at him, “Listen, Bunker. You can call me, Corporal, you can
call me Corp. Hell, you can even call me, Daniels, but please don’t
call me dude.”

“Sorry, Corp. I
didn’t think it mattered. Which way do you want to go?”

Without answering
Daniels moved toward a row of windows at the end of the hall.

The two were in awe as
they peered across the New York City skyline.

“This place is huge,
Corp. Do you have any idea where we are?”

“I’m as lost as you
are, Bunker. Just a few hours ago, we were crossing 5th Avenue, where
Cooper got us stuck in traffic. When those things attacked the car,
and we got out to run, I got turned around. I thought they had us
until we turned into the alley. If the back door of this building
wasn’t open, we’d all be dead now. Thank God it was unlocked. I
hadn’t even caught my breath when the dead inside of the building
started chasing us. I’m still pretty confused about everything
that’s happened. So since we’re on the subject, let me make sure
I’ve got this right. Those things trying to kill us were Zombies,
right? You were standing next to me, do you even remember any of
this, Bunker?”

Bunker shrugged his
shoulders.

“I’m done talking,”
Daniels said, “let’s just find a way out of here. There’s a
door at the end of the hall we haven’t tried yet.”

Beyond the door was
another hall lined with offices on one side and windows on the other.
Bunker walked halfway down the hall and stared out the window.

“Do you see something
you recognize, Bunker?”

“How would I
recognize anything, I’ve only been to the City once before, we were
picking up a friend. I didn’t know my buddy had jacked the car a
day earlier.”

“You’ve only been
to the city once in your life, and got arrested for riding in a
stolen car?” Daniels asked.

“Yeah, why would I
come here? It’s too scary. I swore I’d never come back.”

Daniels sized up the
tattooed giant standing next to him, “Too scary? Uh-huh.”

“You know what I
mean.” Bunker said, a little offended.

“No, I don’t,”
Daniels said in a sarcastic tone.

Bunker didn’t say
anything as they continued their searched through the maze of
offices, bathrooms, and kitchenettes.

Daniels suggested they
move downstairs and try a lower level. The next floor was much of the
same thing except for the lack of zombies. There was nothing but
empty offices and windows. With no exits to be found, they made the
decision to go down to the bottom floor.

Daniels maneuvered his
way through the cement stairwell as Bunker followed. The winding
stairs ended at a single, windowless steel door.

Daniels put his ear to
the door trying to listen over Bunker’s heavy breathing.

The room beyond the
door gave way to a myriad of voices and moans. Daniels reached for
the brass door handle and gave it a slight turn. To his surprise, it
was unlocked. He looked back at Bunker, “Finally, a little luck,
it’s unlocked. Let’s figure out where the hell we are.”

Daniels swung open the
door, assaulted with the smell of death. He slammed the door closed
wedged his back against it without saying a word.

Bunker watched as
Daniels’ face turned white as a ghost.

“What is it, Corp?”
Bunker asked.

Daniels closed his eyes
as his chin dropped to his chest. He was shaking his head and
breathing too fast, “They’re all dead.”

Bunker reached for the
door handle, and Daniels slapped it away.

Stunned, Bunker asked,
“What did you do that for? I want to see how many of those things
are out there?”

“No you don’t.”
Daniels pleaded, now protecting the door with his body.

“Why not?”

Daniels put both hands
on Bunker’s oversized shoulders. He looked nervous, like a man
about to jump out of an airplane for the first time. “I’m not
going to let you open that door, Bunker. Trust me, there’s nothing
out there except zombies, and lots of them. Let’s just go back to
the room and come up with a better plan.”

Daniels released
Bunker’s shoulders and headed up the stairwell. Bunker stood there
watching Daniels, wondering why he wouldn’t tell him where they
were, “If you won’t let me look, will you at least tell me where
we are?”

Daniels paused in
between steps. He turned back slow, his face still white as a ghost,
“We’re in Grand Central Station. The other side of that door is
the main terminal, and it’s rush hour. You don’t want to go out
there, Bunker. They’re dead. They’re all dead.”

Dark clouds rolled in
from the south. I watched as brilliant streaks of lightning
illuminated the threatening sky. An unseasonably warm gentle breeze
brushed against my face. The fetid smell was gone now, and the only
thing that remained was the decaying aroma of fallen leaves. A
reminder that old man winter was on his way.

Any other time in my
life, the thought of winter would excite me, skiing Whiteface
Mountain, snowmobiling through the Adirondacks, and the endless
search for that trophy buck. Maybe even plucking a few holes in the
ice in hopes of getting enough perch for a weekend fish fry. But now,
with the power outages increasing, and all those simple luxuries we
took for granted disappearing, life would become more difficult.

In this new world,
people would starve and freeze to death. And as an added threat,
let’s not forget to mention millions of dead were trying to eat us.

Dead, I kept going over
it in my mind. The dead are trying to eat us. How could this happen?
It wasn’t for me to say why, and I guess it doesn’t matter now.
It’s time to be strong, a leader, and face these problems. It
wasn’t my fault that any of this had happened, but I had the means
to make it right again with Sophie’s serum. We could fix the
world’s biggest problem, the Dead, or for a lack of a better
word………Zombies.

Across the median,
empty faces watched while I conversed with Sophie. Questions still
ran through my head like; was this attractive older woman really the
world’s hope and was the cure real? I prayed both were true because
I had just bet my life on them.

Nevertheless, It was
now my job to get them to Atlanta. The fate of the world fell right
into my lap whether I liked it or not. I told myself, I could do it
and to be strong, knowing it was the best chance for my family. A
sense of pride and confidence came over me. It was time to do this
thing and get moving, “Sophie, come with me. There’s no time to
spare.”

I held Sophie’s hand
and led her across the median where the questioning faces of my
friends watched and waited for words of comfort, which they expected
to come from me.

The light chattering
amongst my new found friends quieted as I prepared my soapbox next to
Kane’s Humvee. Chevy stood with mom, picking at his gunshot wound,
looking for any sympathy she’d give him. The rest of the group was
arming themselves and stopped to listen.

I cleared my throat,
which caught Chevy’s attention. He looked up from his wound already
smiling. He mouthed something to my mom, and they smiled and headed
toward me, “What are you doing? Trying to get a date with the new
chick, Two-gun?” Chevy chuckled.

I couldn’t believe he
said that with Sophie standing right next to me. I felt my face flush
and realized I was still holding her hand. I released it and snapped
at Chevy, “You’re such a dick.”

Chevy giggled as he
reached for the door handle of the Humvee, “Before you start, I’ve
got a present for you, buddy.”

Chevy climbed onto the
running board reaching into the center console. He emerged, beaming
ear to ear, “I found your two guns, Two-gun,” he said holding up
my leather holster.

He handed me the
holster looking for forgiveness.

I had forgotten how
heavy the two-gun rig was when it wasn’t belted around my waist.
The smell of the leather’s mink oil tickled my senses as I raised
it to my nose drawing in the familiar perfume.

Securing the holster
around my waist, I felt a surge of power return to me.

With my Glocks back and
my new found confidence, I knew I could do this.

“Where did you find
them?” I asked.

“Where do you think I
found them? In the back of this rig. One of Kane’s henchmen must
have found them and threw them in there for himself.”

I ran my thumbs along
the spines of the Glock’s textured grips as I spoke, “Thanks,
Chev. You don’t know how much I missed these things.”

Chevy moved in and gave
me the man hug with the back pat combo, “No problem, Two-gun,” he
whispered in my ear before finishing the hug, “I think you better
give them the plan. They’ve been waiting here a while now.”

I was so excited about
my guns; I hadn’t noticed the group huddled around us. Through
them, I saw Kate’s dead body lying there undisturbed, except for a
Yankee’s jacket, which someone had used to cover her face. Seeing
her motionless body made my stomach quiver. I half expected to see
her move, but she didn’t.

I nodded to each of the
lost faces in the group until I found Cowboy. He was in the back with
his arm around Sage. Tears had washed away any remnants of days old
mascara.

“Cowboy, you seem to
know these Humvee rigs pretty well?” I said pointing my thumb at
the Humvee.

“You know I do,
partner. What do you need?”

“I need you to make
sure she’s tip top. Gas, oil, air, and whatever else these things
take. Make sure she’s ready to roll in ten minutes.”

“You got it, hoss.”
Cowboy said as he went for the driver’s seat.

I moved my eyes among
the crowd again, almost at once finding the first friend I’d made
since the apocalypse. She smiled when our eyes met.

“Sidara, I need you
to take inventory. Guns, ammo, food, blankets, and see if you can
find a first aid kit. My mom needs medical supplies to patch up
Chevy’s scratch.”

“Hey!” Chevy
laughed.

I glanced at Chevy
raising my eyebrow, “We can only hope the band-aid she puts on
there, will shut you up for a while. If anyone else has any problems
or ideas come to me and make it quick, I want to be out of here
soon.”

It wasn’t the pep
talk I had in mind, but that would have to wait for now. We needed to
get moving. I was about to take a look at our inventory when I felt
Sophie tug at my arm, “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Sophie, your job is
the most important. Consider yourself my new best friend. I want you
to be my shadow until I get you to Atlanta, understand?”

Sophie responded with a
half-ass salute and a, “Yes, sir.”

Cowboy’s head was
still under the hood of the Humvee when I started looking through the
vehicle’s outer compartments.

Cowboy peeked out from
the side of the hood and asked, “What are you looking for, hoss?”

I slammed the metal
compartment door closed and sighed, “I was looking for a shovel to
bury Kate with before we leave.”

Cowboy slid his hat off
his head and held it over his heart, his southern manners showing
respect to Kate, “Entrenching tool, Ty.”

“What?” I asked
wondering what the hell he was talking about.

Cowboy placed the
Stetson back on his head, and positioned it back on his brow, “You’re
looking for the entrenching tool. It’s a small Army shovel with a
folding blade. It’s in the same compartment, but on the other side
of the vehicle.”

Cowboy disappeared back
under the hood while I moved around the Humvee and searched the other
compartment. It was right where he said it was. I guess he did know
this vehicle well.

I unfolded the spade as
I walked to the far side of the wrecked Humvee where I found Sidara
taunting Luther.

“I’m gonna let them
bite you. Then I’m gonna leave you tied up to the back of the
Humvee until you rot and fall off. How do you like that, you
murderer?”

Luther cried while he
pleaded, “Please don’t do that. I swear it was all Kane. I had to
do what he told me, or he would have killed me. Please let me go, I’m
sorry!”

When Luther’s
pleading slowed, and Sidara had her fill, she asked me, “What do
you want to do with him?”

“Cut him down,” I
said.

Without question,
Sidara reached in her MOLLE vest, pulled out the REAPER knife, and
cut Luther free.

With his restraints
gone, Luther fell to the ground with a thump, lying on his back like
a scared dog. He had wet himself. Sidara bent over and pushed the tip
of the blade into his neck hard enough to cut the skin, “You make
one false move, and you’re dead. Do you understand, you kidnapping
slime?”

Luther lie there
shaking with fear, “Yes, yes. I’m sorry.”

Sidara got up and
walked by me, not before giving me a wink and a smile. She apparently
enjoyed frightening Luther, like he had done to her and the other
girls.

I threw the shovel on
the ground next to Luther and ordered him, “Pick it up and start
digging some graves.”

Tears began to flow,
and he was screaming again, “Please no. I’ll do anything. I’m
sorry. Please don’t kill me.”

I kicked the shovel
closer to him, “It’s not for you, dumbass. It’s for Kate and
your friends. Your friend killed her so you can dig the graves.”

Luther picked up the
shovel and started digging from a kneeling position. I watched while
he worked for a few minutes, and then I sensed something coming up on
me. I spun around while pulling my Glock and pointed at the figure
behind me.

“Whoa. Whoa, hoss.
It’s just me. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you.” Cowboy stood
there with his hands up in the air. Grease from the engine left a
black streak across his cheek.

A little embarrassed, I
holstered my Glock and gave Cowboy an apologetic look.

Cowboy let out a
nervous chuckle and lowered his hands.