The Passenger (Surviving the Dead) (17 page)

“What’s he doing?”

“Right now, nothin’. He’s up on top of the cliff just sittin’ and starin’. Sumbitch looks about half dead hisself.”

“Copy. Keep eyes on him, but stay out of sight. Keep me updated. Over.”

“Will do, boss. Echo One out.”

Davis raised an eyebrow. “News?”

“My scouts are following the man responsible for what happened in Broken Bridge. He seems to have stopped for the moment.”

“Good. The governor
needs to hear this. Let’s go.”

He led them to a door near the center of the walkway and knocked gently. A female voice spoke from inside. “Come on in Sheriff.”

Davis opened the door and motioned to Ethan and Zeb. “Just you two. The rest of you wait here.”

Cole and Ethan exchanged a short glance. The big gunner gave
his squad leader a slight nod, then stepped back and leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

“Don’t worry. I ain’t going nowhere
.”

By his expression and h
is tone, Cole made it clear he was being polite for the moment. But if he heard anything in the governor’s office he didn’t like, things were going to get ugly. The guards detected the big man’s hostility, and backed off just a bit, hands close to their weapons. Michael and Hedges read the situation, and decided to go wait in the lobby.

Ethan and Zeb stepped into the office, followed by Davis and two of his men. The door shut behind them, and a plump little old woman with a cloud of curly gray hair and thick bifocals perched on her nose stood up from behind a modest desk.

“Sheriff Austin, what a wonderful surprise!” She stepped around the desk and approached Zeb with her arms out. The old lawman smiled and gave her a warm hug.

“Good to see you too, Margaret.”

She stepped back and turned to Ethan, one hand outstretched. “And who’s our new friend here?”

Ethan shook her hand and smiled. “Staff Sergeant Ethan Thompson, First Reconnaissance Expeditionary.”

“Ah, the famous First Recon, also known as The Wreckers. Your unit’s reputation precedes you.”

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Call me Margaret. Or Governor Warren, if you want to be formal about it. I don’t care much either way.
Zebulon gets to call me Margie, but that’s only because he’s so darned handsome.”

She
swatted Zeb on the arm, shuffled back behind her desk with a chuckle, and motioned Ethan and Zeb toward a pair of chairs. As they sat down, Ethan was acutely aware of the presence of Sheriff Davis and his men standing behind him. Taking a breath, he forced himself to relax.

“Now Zeb
, as nice as it is to see you again, I’m going to go ahead and say you’re not here on a social call.” She crossed her hands in front of her and leaned forward.

“I’m afraid not.”

He gave her the rundown of what happened to Broken Bridge, the other towns that had gone dark, and Ethan’s men finding and following the man responsible. By the time he was done, Governor Warren’s shoulders slumped and her watery blue eyes glistened with unshed tears. She stayed silent for a few long minutes, staring into nowhere. Finally, she seemed to gather herself, cleared her throat, and sat up straight.

“
What happened to our neighbors is a tragedy, Zeb. One we cannot allow to go unpunished.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

She shifted her gaze to Ethan. The pleasant light that had been in her eyes earlier was gone, replaced by simmering anger and a shrewd, calculating intelligence. Ethan began to understand why the hardened people of Steel City looked to this diminutive, motherly old woman for leadership. “So your men are watching this Ragman as we speak, correct?”

He nodded. “That’s right ma’am.”

“And your scout thinks he’s preparing to stop?”

“Yes ma’am.”

She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Well, that gives us options. We could just have your men kill the son of a bitch, but that still leaves the question of the horde. If it’s as big as you say it is, then it most likely comprises a significant portion of the infected in our area. If we can destroy them all, it’ll go a long way toward making life safer for this town and the people we trade with.”

“We
could wait until he falls asleep,” Davis said. “If he corrals the horde, it’ll make it easy to destroy them. Sergeant Thompson could have his scouts apprehend the suspect and bring him back to stand trial. Then my people could move in and deal with the infected.”

The gov
ernor glanced up skeptically. She reminded Ethan of a schoolteacher addressing an unruly child. “Sheriff, have you ever fought a horde that large before?”

It was a long instant before he answered. “No ma’am.”

“So how can you be sure your people could handle it without taking casualties, especially considering it will be dark outside in less than an hour?”

Another pause. “There’s no way to be sure, but my people know the risks, ma’am.
They’ll do whatever it takes to protect this town.”

“I’m sure they would, Sheriff. I’m not calling into question their courage or their capabilities. Nor yours for that matter. But I don’t like dealing with unknowns when it’s possible
to stack the odds in my favor. Furthermore, I don’t like my constituents risking their lives unnecessarily.”

Davis struggled for something to say for a few seconds,
but then Zeb spoke up. “You look like you got a plan rattling around in that head o’ yours, Margie. What’re you thinking?”

She shifted her attention, letting Davis off the hook.
“Well, let’s first look at what we can verify. We know, or at least strongly suspect, that this murderer used a LAW rocket to destroy the gate at Broken Bridge, correct?” She tilted her head toward Ethan.

“I can’t say with a hundred-
percent certainty, but I’m pretty sure.”

“Right. And judging by the path he’s taking, it’s a safe bet he’s headed our way. If he is, and if he has access to more such weapons, he’ll most certainly use them against us in much the same manner as he did Broken Bridge.
Furthermore, as we speak, this Ragman is less than five miles from our gates. The only reasonable conclusion we can draw from this is that he plans to rest before launching his assault on our town. We could simply launch a pre-emptive attack, but that leaves too many variables on the table. I don’t like variables.”

She stood up and walked toward a table in the far corner of the room. On top of it was a
hand-drawn map depicting Steel City and the surrounding area. She motioned for everyone to join her, and when they had gathered around, she pointed at a series of interconnecting straight lines that represented the inner and outer wall.

“A LAW rocket is a powerfu
l weapon, but judging by the damage it did in Broken Bridge, it’s nothing we couldn’t repair in a day’s time. That’s one of the many benefits of building our defenses with shipping containers: they’re modular. We can move them wherever we need to. We can set up a decoy at the main gate, let him in with his horde, and close the trap behind them once they’re inside. The inner wall will act as containment. But all of this will be predicated upon the Ragman believing that once he’s through the outer gate, the inner gate won’t be much of a defense. So we’ll wait until nightfall, and then very quietly switch out the inner gate with a few loaded containers. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

“Reall
y?” Ethan asked, surprised. “I mean, shipping containers are pretty heavy even when they’re empty. The ones at the wall are full of dirt and stuff, right? How do you move them?”

The governor smiled. “Forklifts.”

“Forklifts?”

“Yes, Sergeant
. Forklifts. Propane powered ones. We have quite a few at our disposal, as well as an adequate supply of fuel. Very handy machines.”

Should have thought of that. This used to be a distribution center, after all.
“Right. Got it.”

“Here’s what we
’ll do,” Governor Warren continued, “Sergeant Thompson, I’ll need you to stay in contact with your men and keep us all appraised of what the Ragman is doing, as well as the position of his horde. If I had to bet on it, I’d say he’s going to rest for a while, then leave the horde at some point to case the town’s defenses, assuming he hasn’t done so already. If your men can stay on his trail and report his activities to us, we’ll be able to prepare accordingly.”

“We can do that.”

“Very good. Sheriff Davis, I want you to carry on business as usual, but spread the word among your deputies about what’s going on. Quietly, if you please. We don’t want to start a panic.”

“Yes ma’am,” he said.

“Zebulon, our town’s hospitality is open to you, as always. Feel free to make yourself at home. You and your men can take a room at the guard barracks if you like. If it’s not too much trouble, though, I may need to deputize you gentlemen when the time comes to prepare for the attack. Crowd control and such. Would you be willing to help with that?”

“Of course, Margie. Whatever you need.”

“All right then. Sergeant Thompson, you can use the office next door to coordinate your efforts. There’s fresh water there, and a washbowl. I can have some food brought up if you need it.”

“I
’d appreciate that. To be honest, I could use a bite to eat.”

“I’
ll see to it then.” She turned and faced the room, determination set on her small, wrinkly face.

“We have work to do, gentlemen. Let’
s get it done.”

*****

As it turned out, the little government building had electricity.

Ethan hadn’t seen them walking in, but the entire south-facing side of the roof was covered in solar panels.
When he mentioned to Governor Warren that the batteries on his communications equipment were beginning to run low, she directed him to a recharging station on the first floor. He connected his handset, updated his location and mission log on the ruggedized tablet, and then powered up the wideband transmitter.

His first order of business was to radio FOB Harkin. The usual indifferent private was gone this time, replaced by a much more businesslike sergeant. In just a few minutes, Colonel Lanning came on the line.

“Good to hear from you, Echo Lead. I was beginning to worry.”

“We’re doing fine, sir. I’m in Steel City as we speak.”

“Any luck finding that horde?”

“Yes sir. Not only did we locate it, we got ahead of it, and I’ve got two scouts monitoring
its movement as we speak.”

“Out-fucking-standing
. Did your scouts find the piece of shit leading ‘em around?”

“Affirmative. They have him under surveillance
as well.”

“Surveillance? Why isn’t he dead, or at least apprehended?”

Ethan related Governor Warren’s plan to trap both the Ragman and his horde by using the walls of Steel City as a cage. After he finished, Lanning was silent for a few seconds.

“That’s a hell of a dangerous plan. Does the governor know what a LAW can do?”

“Yes sir, she’s aware,” Ethan replied. “She says she’s willing to risk it, and she says her people can fix the damage in a few hours. I’m not crazy about the idea, but I have to admit she has a point. The more infected we kill, the safer life will be going forward for the people living here.”

“What about collateral damage? How’s she going to keep her own people from getting killed?”

“That I’m not so sure of. The local sheriff is spreading the word among his men about what’s going on. I think they plan to lock the place down at nightfall and move everyone into the inner perimeter. It’s what I would do, anyway.”

“Either way
, it’s on her if things go pear-shaped. What does she have you doing?”

“For now, I’m staying in touch with the scouts and keeping Warren in the loop.
If I can, I’ll try to coordinate things once the horde arrives, which will probably be sometime tomorrow after dark. I’ve got the best comms gear in town, and I don’t think the governor will have a problem with letting the Army handle the dangerous stuff.”

“I imagine not. Is there anyth
ing I can do from my end?”

“Actually, there is. Do you have access to any night vision equipment?”

“I had a feeling you were going to ask for that. You have any idea how hard it is to requisition that stuff?”

“Yes sir, I do. But we’re talking about hundreds of civilian live
s here. All I need is a couple of night vision scopes.”

Lanning sighed.
“I think I can handle that. What about the infected, though? If this bat-shit crazy plan works, how are you going to kill them all?”

“
I’m
not doing shit. That part is up to the governor. But if you could spare some guys from the 82
nd
to help out, it would go a long way toward repairing these people’s opinions of the military. Know what I mean?”