The Beginning of the End (Book2): Road to Damnation (5 page)

Sophie drove the jeep
across the median and parked next to the Humvee while I was talking
to Chevy. Cowboy was unloading the brown boxes filled with the serum
and stacking them in the Humvee.

“Be careful with
that,” Sophie ordered.

Cowboy carefully set
the box in the back and gave the brim of his Stetson a light tug,
“Don’t you worry ma’am. I want this cure to make it to Atlanta
as much as you do. It’s as safe as a school boy in a monastery.”

Sophie was about to say
something sarcastic when I walked over and saved Cowboy.

“I need to steal your
jeep for a little while,” I said.

“That’s fine with
me,” Sophie said, “I planned on leaving it here on the side of
the road and riding with you.”

“Where are you going,
hoss?”

“You mean where are
we going?”

“Okay then. Where are
we going, hoss?”

“We’ve got a quick
side mission. Between Kane’s weapons and the ones we had, we’re
doing pretty well, but I’d like to get a few more. We’re also
going to need as much ammo as we can carry. Let’s not forget about
food. Escaping death and having your head almost blown off brings out
a man’s appetite. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”

The thought of food
made Cowboy lick his lips.

“The malls right
there. I think the two of us and Luther should head over there and
grab as many supplies as we can carry. Everyone will be starving
soon, and these October nights are going to start getting cold. We
need to be prepared. I don’t want to defeat hordes of zombies only
to fall asleep and die of hypothermia.”

Cowboy went off to find
Luther while I checked each Glock. Both magazines needed to be topped
off, and I still needed to find my Ronin Swords.

Cowboy was at the back
of the Humvee a few seconds later with Luther. He dug around and
pulled out a box of .40 caliber rounds. He tossed the box to me,
“There you go, hoss. That’s enough to fill your mags. I’ll grab
a couple of M4s for us, that is if you want me to give him a rifle.”

“Yeah, that’s a
good point. Can I trust him?”

“Well…. Luther is
pretty much a pussy,” Cowboy said, smiling and nudging Luther’s
arm, “so, if you’re going to make him go with us, we’re gonna
have to give him a gun.

Besides, there’s
nowhere for him to go. We’re all he has now. He’ll be as loyal as
an old coon dog.”

“I’ll tell you
what, Cowboy. Grab an M4 for yourself, and grab Luther that AK-47
that Tommy was carrying around. Do I need to remind you, Luther, that
you’re carrying around a dead man’s gun? I’m sure I don’t
have to tell you, if you cross me, you’ll be the second dead man to
carry that gun today. If we understand each other, we can leave.”

“You can trust me,
boss. I promise I won’t cross you.”

Sophie handed me the
jeep keys, and I admired the MU key chain for a second before shoving
it in my pocket.

After a few minutes of
rummaging around, I found my swords on the ground next to our wrecked
Humvee. They were still in the X-sheath. Named as such, because while
being worn, they crossed, creating an X behind your head. Not only
were they a formidable weapon, but they were also as cool as shit. By
the time I made it back to the jeep, Cowboy and Luther were in it
waiting for me. We only had two hours, so we had to get a move on.

I dug into my pants and
pulled my phone from my back pocket to check the time, “Shit, my
phone’s dead.”

Sitting behind the
wheel of the jeep I glanced at Cowboy, “Don’t let me forget to
grab a phone cord with a car charger. My phone is dead, and that’s
the only way I can talk to my dad.”

“You got it, hoss,”
he said without hesitation.

“I’ve got one at
home,” Luther said.

Cowboy looked over the
seat at Luther, “Don’t you live in Massena, Luther?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So isn’t Massena
seventy miles away?” I asked.

“Yeah, so.”

Cowboy gave Luther a
light slap on the side of the head, “What are you, stupid? You
expect us to drive seventy miles out of our way when the mall is
right there?”

“Bad idea?” Luther
asked.

“Yeah, bad idea,” I
answered.

I threw the Jeep into
drive and took off, tires spinning toward the mall. Four minutes
later we were pulling into the Gander Mountain parking lot. I backed
right up to the sliding glass doors stopping before the bollard. I
had a feeling we’d be leaving in a hurry. We all got out and met
outside the sliding glass door entrance. I felt my hand tremble as I
rubbed my trigger finger along the grip of the Glock.

Panic shot through me
when a cold rifle barrel touched my elbow. “Shit,” I thought.
Maybe giving Luther a rifle was a bad idea. I’m not lying when I
tell you I felt a sense of relief when I heard Cowboy’s voice.

“I thought you might
want a rifle, Two-gun, so I grabbed you an M4. Those swords are great
for close quarters, but trust me, if the shit hits the fan, you’re
gonna need a rifle.”

I felt the adrenaline
dissipate, and took the M4, “Thanks, Cowboy.”

He was right, the
swords were great for close combat, but at a distance they were
useless. It was the same with the Glocks. They were only accurate for
up to twenty feet, and that’s if I had time to aim. Any further
than that and I’d never get in a headshot.

I slung the M4, racked
a 5.56 round, and flipped the safety to fire. Cowboy handed me a few
extra loaded mags, and we were ready to go. I wasn’t sure what we
were walking in to.

“Okay, here’s the
plan, guys. Cowboy, open the back of the jeep and head right for the
gun counter. Ammo first. .40 cal, 9mm, 5.56, 2.23, and some slugs for
the shotguns.”

“What about my gun?”
Luther interrupted. “I’m gonna need ammo too.”

I looked down at
Luther’s rifle, “That’s right, I forgot. You’ve got that
Russian piece of shit. Cowboy, you better grab some 7.62 for Luther
too. Cowboy let me make myself clear. You need to get everything
they’ve got. I don’t know when we’ll have an opportunity like
this again.”

“You got it, hoss,”
he agreed.

“Luther, you and I
are headed to Target. Our mission is food, anything that doesn’t go
bad. We need boxed and canned goods. Oh, water too, as much as we can
carry. We have to assume everything not in a bottle is contaminated.
Cowboy, you’ve got fifteen minutes to load up. Then bring the jeep
around to the other side of the mall. We’ll be waiting at the
Target entrance with shopping carts full of food, so don’t be
late.”

After throwing out
orders like a Civil War General in the middle of a battle, I spun
around and charged forward smacking my face against the sliding glass
doors. I had expected them to slide open, but they were locked.

“I think they’re
closed.” Luther chuckled.

My first thought was to
shoot Luther right in his foot for laughing at me, but a moment later
when the anger passed, I had to laugh too.

If the power were out
here, the doors wouldn’t slide automatically. I thought I might be
able to use the barrel of my M4 to pry them open. That didn’t work…
they must be locked. I considered pulling my Glock out and shooting a
round through the glass, but that would alert any zombies in the area
to our location. I wanted to get in and out of this place without it
turning into an epic gun battle.

“Here, try this,
Two-gun,” Cowboy said.

He was holding out
Chevy’s SOG Tomahawk.

“Where the hell did
you find that?” I asked.

“I left it under the
seat of the Humvee.”

“The wrecked Humvee?”
I asked confused.

Cowboy was at a loss
for words, “Ah…yesterday…when I took it off Chevy. You know, in
the car dealership.”

I felt the blood
rushing to my face. Cowboy put up both palms and stepped back, “Whoa,
whoa, Ty. Don’t get upset. It was back when I was with Kane. We had
orders to kill you, but I couldn’t do that. We just hit you with
the tranquilizer darts remember? I’m sorry, brother. That was when
I didn’t know you. Now we’re all friends and on the same side.
Besides, if you’re going to get mad at anyone, get mad at Luther he
wanted to kill you inside of the dealership.”

“What! No, I didn’t.
What are you talking about?” Luther shrieked.

“Ha, ha, ha.”
Cowboy chuckled, “I’m just fuckin’ with you Luther-man.”

I snatched the tomahawk
from Cowboy’s hand. “We’ll talk about this later, Cowboy.”

I brought back my arm
prepared to smash the glass with the awe side of the tomahawk. I
paused for a moment and thought. Smashing the glass on this door
would be almost as loud as shooting it with my Glock. I thought for a
second and opted to make a second attempt at prying the doors open.
To my surprise, they popped right open. The blade fit right in
between the doors giving me better leverage than the M4.

“Well done,” Luther
said.

Cowboy cut him down
without hesitation, “Ass kisser.”

I slid the doors apart,
and stale air slapped me in the face.

“There was something
rotten in Demark.”

“What?” Cowboy
asked.

“Nothing. I was just
thinking back to an English Lit class I flunked out of. I think we
may not be the only ones at the mall today.”

Luther stepped forward
and got a whiff of the foul air, “I think you’re right. I smell
zombies.”

Cowboy racked his M4
behind me as I stepped inside. Not seeing any danger, I glanced back
at him, “Fifteen minutes, and don’t be late.”

Corporal Daniels had
one thing on his mind, and that was getting back home to Jennifer,
Ty, and Chevy. As worried as he was about them, he still felt an
overwhelming responsibility to take care of the people standing
around him. Bunker and Cooper were grown men, they could take care of
themselves. Come to think of it, Destiny looked like she’d spent
her entire life on the streets. She was probably better off than
Bunker and Cooper.

Then there was Cecilia.
All Daniels knew about her was that she was very scared, and she was
always clinging to the young man in the room, trying to support him.
Daniels hadn’t heard a word come out of his mouth since they’d
gotten here. Not even a whimper.

“Hey, what’s your
name, pal?”

“Who me?” the young
man asked, pointing a finger to his chest.

“I’m Kaden.”

“Well, Kaden. How did
you end up here?” Daniels asked.

“I ran… I ran away
from her.”

“Whom did you run
away from?” Cooper asked.

“My mom,” he said
wiping a tear from his eye.

“Were the two of you
going somewhere on the trains?” asked Daniels.

Kaden shook his head,
“No, she works here. She’s a soldier in the National Guard. Her
job is to walk around Grand Central Station with other soldiers.
They’ve been doing it since 9/11. She said if any bad stuff goes
down, she’s there to stop it. I come in sometimes to visit her, and
this morning I came because school was canceled. Bored and hungry at
home I decided I wanted a glazed donut and a cup of hot chocolate
from the cafe. Whenever I come to visit her, she buys me one. This
morning when I walked in the main terminal, people were all running
around and screaming. My mom was hunched over some lady, and she
was…was… eating her face. I called out to her, and she chased me
up the Northwest Passage. You know, the door by the elevators?
Anyway, she was covered in blood, and something happened to her eyes.
They were spinning blue. I thought that was weird because they’re
usually dark brown. I ran away as fast as I could, but she still
caught me. She was trying to bite my legs. Then a soldier I’d never
seen before shot her in the head, and she died. After he shot her, he
told me to come to him, but I ran away. That’s when I found Ceci.
That’s what Cecilia told me to call her. She told me we needed to
hide out until things were safe. We found this empty room and then
you guys showed up a few minutes later.”

Daniels paused for a
moment, “You said this all happened in the Northwest Passage?”

“Yes. Why?” Kaden
asked.

“That gives me an
idea,” Daniels said aloud, “Destiny can you get Bunker and me to
the Northwest Passage?”

“Now, honey. Hadn’t
you been listenin’ to what I’ve been tellin’ ya. I said, and
allow me to reiterate, I know this place like the back of my ass. The
stairs you be lookin’ for ain’t but two or three minutes from
here. Why you so hot and heavy about them stairs anyway?”

“Because, Destiny my
love, there’s a soldier in that stairwell armed with an M4 and I’ll
be willing to bet she’s armed with a sidearm too. If we have any
chance of getting out of this building alive, we’ll need to find
those weapons first. Do you feel like going on a little field trip,
Destiny?”

“Well, Corporal sexy,
you know I do.”

Daniels didn’t need
to see his cheeks to know he was blushing. He gave Kaden a few pats
on the head, “You may have just saved our lives, pal. You stay here
with Cecilia, and we’ll be back in ten minutes. Then I will get us
out of here. All of us.”

Daniels extended a
hand, helping Destiny off the floor, while asking Bunker, “You feel
like going for a walk?”

“Hell, Corp. You know
I do.”

The power must have
been out in the mall for days. The deeper we went, the worse the
smell got. Not to mention, the unseasonably warm October days had
left the inside of this place hovering above ninety degrees. It was
like a greenhouse in here with the decorative glass roof structures
letting in the sun and trapping the heat.

All the stores security
metal gates were pulled down and locked. Judging from the looks of
it, the place closed down weeks ago. This would create a problem. I
still had Chevy’s tomahawk, but that wasn’t going to help if
Target’s metal gate was down.