The Independents (43 page)

Bishop scratched his head.
“How did you get out?”

Sarah Beth laughed, “There
’s
an emergency release on the inside. The door
used to accidently
close on us all the time
.
”

Bishop smiled at the girl and looked at the freezer door latch. The girl stood with her hands on her hips and watched him
move
around. “You’re not from around here
,
are ya? You
have no idea
what you did tonight
,
do you?”

Bishop shrugged his shoulders, and turned to face her.
“No, what did I do tonight?”

She snorted and pointed her finger, “You killed four of the Ghoulish is what you did. That’s what we call them anyway. Nobody
messes with
the Ghouls. When they find those bodies, there will be dozens of them looking for whoever hurt their buddies.”

Bishop didn’t react to the girl
’
s comment as she expected. She put her hands back on her hips and observed, “I don’t think you’re scared of the Ghouls. You don’t strike me as being afraid of much.”

Bishop smiled at the girl, “You would be surprised at what frightens me
,
young lady. Now, I have a friend with a car not far away. He’s hiding right now, but I need to get into the stadium.”

Sarah Beth gave Bishop a questioning look, “Why the stadium? There’s nothing in there – believe me. I’ve been all through it.”

“I’m not looking for food. What were you doing out and about if the Ghoulish are so dangerous?”

The girl looked down at the floor and hesitated, finally deciding it didn’t make any difference anymore, “I go to the park and climb the trees. I eat the bird eggs.”

Bishop smiled at her embarrassment. “Young lady, you have nothing to be ashamed of. As a matter of fact, I’m impressed.”

“There’re not bad
once you get used to them. Beat
s giving yourself up to the Ghouli
sh and being a sex slave to their masters. I’m not going to be able to go out for days now after you killed them.”

Bishop reached in a pouch and pulled out a small bag of jerky. He pulled out two big pieces and gave them to the girl.
She looked suspiciously at him.
“What do you want for these?”

Bishop laughed.
“You are a little young for me
.
Sarah. Besides, my wife is an excellent shot. Those are on the house. By the way, I think you killed
as many
of the Ghoulish
as
I did.”

The girl eagerly started eatin
g the jerky and rolled her eyes.
“You have no idea how long it’s been since I had any meat. Oh my god
,
this is good. I had to kill those guys, they saw my face.”

Bishop walked out of the store and into the building lobby. He checked up and down both streets with the night vision but didn’t see any movement. He keyed his
mic
and transmitted, “David, you still doing okay out there
,
bud?”

“Yeah, I’m bored though. It’s been very quiet. How much longer?”

“I don’t know
,
buddy. Hang in there. I should figure this out in a bit. Stay frosty.”

“Stay what? I didn’t understand that last?”

“Never mind that - Just stay alert is all I meant.”

Click. Click.

Bishop went back to see Sarah Beth was finishing the last of the jerky.
His tone got serious.
“I need a route to bring up a car. My friend is out there and getting nervous.
Come out here for a minute
, please
.”

Bishop led
her out into the lobby of the building where there was a map of Alpha in a glass
case. Careful to turn on the red filter first, he then flipped on his flashlight
.
He shined the light on the map and pointed to where David was hiding with Bones. Sarah studied the map for a minute and then traced a route with her finger, “This would be the clearest way
. There’s not much out there
but houses
,
and most of those people died in the poison cloud. The students looted that area early on
,
and I don’t think anyone goes over there anymore.”

Bishop studied t
he map carefully before arriving at a decision.
“I’
m going out to get him. You can stay here or go with me, it’s up to you.”

Sarah Beth thought about that for a minute and then proclaimed, “I’m with you.
”

Bishop keyed his microphone. “David, get ready. A
new friend
and I
are on the way.”

Click. Click.

They arrived at the garage
where
David was hiding
after
a
20-minute
trek
.
Sarah Beth wore her hood and stayed back in the shado
ws
,
k
eeping a lookout. She had chosen
the route well
,
and in a short
time,
they were pulling Bones up to a swing arm gate leading to the underground
parking at the stadium. David stopped the Humvee
and seemed to be waiting on the gate’s arm to rise.
Bishop grinned and walked over.
“What are you doing?”

“Ummm, I don’t know, I guess I thought you would raise the arm.”

Bishop laughed, “Drive through. I don’t think it’s going to hurt the paint much.”

David gave Bones some gas
,
and the heavy vehicle snapped the wooden arm right off. As David drove through the gate, Sarah
Beth appeared at Bishop’s side.
“I found a good place to hide the car.
Come ‘on
;
I’ll show you.”

David followed along
as
Bishop and Sarah walked through the first level of the underground garage. She had picked an empty spot between two of the college
’
s maintenance vans. Someone would have to walk right past the area to see Bones.
Sarah Beth ran off to scout ahead while David got out of the car and stretched his legs. “Who’s our new friend?”

Bishop said, “Oh, just some pesky girl I ran into. She was having boyfriend issues
,
and I helped her out. She’s cool.”

David tilted his head but didn’t press.
“Oh.”

Before long, Sarah
Beth
was back and waved for them to follow
.
The threesome moved to a
concrete
staircase and climbed to the
field level.
When they emerged
into the open
air
, Bishop stopped and looked at the football field. In perfectly straight lines, partially hidden by the now overgrown grass, were band instruments and bones. He gave Sarah a
questioning look. “The band was practicing Sunday morning when the plant exploded. They all died right out there in perfect formation.”

Bishop shook his head
,
and the group continued to another section
of the facility. They descended
another set of stairs and stopped. Bishop listened for several
minutes before they entered the under section that had a
sign on the door, “HOME Locker R
oom.”

As the
y
entered the locker room, Bishop’s heart sank. The place had already been searched and looted. Locker doors were open
,
and their contents scattered all over the floor. Mostly clothing, uniforms, pads, ace
wraps,
and shoes. Very big shoes
,
Bishop noted. As they walked through the rather extensive facility, Bishop
entered
the empty shower
room
and looked around for some shampoo – there was none. David and Sarah
Beth
bent over now and then to pick up an item, but always seem to dismiss it and throw it back down.

Bishop picked up an
overturned chair and took a seat. He was tired, hurting, and disappointed.
They had come all this way for nothing. To make matters worse, they
had to get out and back to Mera
ton. Bishop was shining the flas
hlight randomly on the debris that covered
the floor, trying to find something of use to make him feel at least a little bit better. A small sign caught his eye
,
and he reached down to pick it up. It said “TRAINER.” It was one of those small plackets normally found on a door. He moved a few steps
,
and there
,
behind an open locker and a pile of junk
,
was a door he had missed on the first pass. He q
uickly cleared the way and discovered
the door was locked. There were pry marks where someone had attempted to bust the lock, but the door was steel and had
two
separate
deadbolt
s.
That would make sense if they had any type of medications in there.

Bishop looked around for something useful for breaking through the door
,
but couldn’t find anything. He thought about it for a litt
le bit and then turned to David.
“Do you know where the tire jack is on Bones?”

David nodded, “Why?”

Bisho
p said, “You two go out to the Humvee
.
Bring the jack and the lug wrench
…
and hurry.”

Sarah and David returned a few minutes later
,
carrying the tools and bringing bad news. Sarah, in a frightened voice, reported, “The Ghoulish must have found the bodies. There are motorcycles and people all over the place.”

Bishop thought about that for a
second
and told David to go stand guard by the entrance. “Shoot anybody that comes down those stairs. Ask questions later.” David nodded and headed off.

Bishop had Sarah hold his light and propped the tire jack against the door. He took
the tire iron, and after instructing
Sarah to hold her ears, swung and hit the door about
thigh
high as hard as he could. The impact dented the steel significantly.
A
second
,
and then a third blow soon followed.
He
took the jack and wedged it against the indentation. It took him a few attempts to get the angle right, but eventually he had the base of the jack against the concrete floor and the head wedged in the indentation. He started
pumping
.

At first, he didn’t think he was going to do anything but bend the metal door. The jack was designed to lift 8,000 pounds of Hummer
,
so the tire could be changed. Bishop hoped that would be enough force to break down the door. As the jack extended, he heard a
metallic
groan and then the metal frame at the top of the doorway began to buckle.
He adjusted the jack slightly and then pumped again, raising the head into the now quite large dent. A final
grating
of metal
sounded, followed
by
a sudden pop
,
and the frame holding the steel deadbolt locks gave way. Bishop moved the jack aside and pulled the door outwards.

He shined the flashlight inside and
immediately
realized they had hit the jackpot. In the corner was a metal cart containing
a fully intact ultra
sound machine. The room was lined with small shelves stocked with everything from bandages to medications.
Bishop quickly recognized
two large duffle bags normally used to haul the bulky pads and helmets for the team. He told Sarah Beth to start filling one with any medical supplies she could find. He took the other and began gently packing the critical machine.

The
y
filled
three of the five
-
foot long bags
.
Sarah went to get David so he could help them carry the
loot
back to Bones.

When the teenagers returned, David admitted his concern.
“I hear people
moving around constantly
out there.
The place is buzzing like
somebody kicked a hornet’s nest.”

Sarah gave Bishop a look clearly intended to say,
“
I told you so
.”