The Renegades (Book 4): Colony (8 page)

S
he flipped
through more of the pages but they were empty. It was almost like someone had attempted to start a journal and had only managed to spit out a few words. We pressed on. Down below it was hot and humid, like rummaging through a garbage dump in the height of summer.

Izzy tried her best to keep Hannah calm but it was hard. You could see the grief and utter despair in her face. I could relate to it. The only thing she had been spared was seeing her father ripped apart. The images of my own dad came back to me. Forever burned inside my mind.

“Dude, there better not be alligators down here.” Baja kept a safe distance from the center line that was rushing with water.

“Are you smoking crack?” Elijah asked.

“No, I’m serious, there’s supposed to be alligators and shit down here.”

“Dude, all that weed has fried your brain cells. Those are urban legends.”

“Whatever, when it bites your dick off, don’t come whining to me as I’ll just laugh my head off.”

I snorted. Baja really didn’t have an off switch.

“Any idea where we are going?” Izzy asked.

“Oh yeah, yeah, it’s just a few miles down this way, then we’ll hang a left and take a sharp right. How the fuck should I know? Do I look like I live in the sewers?” Ben replied.

“What is your problem?” she snapped.

Ben just shook his head. These two were starting to get along like a house on fire. It was to be expected. We were a tight unit but that only meant we knew how to grind on each other’s nerves. It was the small things. It could be as small as the way someone chewed, or snored. At first you would just let it slide, then in time it was like fingernails going down a chalkboard. You just wanted to beat them over the head.

I
’m not exactly
sure how long we were down in those sewers but it seemed like forever. Our feet were soaked in the urine and sewage of New York. If we smelled bad when we rolled into Wright-Patterson, we must have smelled like a sweet summer’s dream compared to now.

By the time we crawled out of there it must have been mid-afternoon. A blazing sun beat down on us, giving me a severely sweaty ass crack and a disgruntled mood. We came up for air to look for any landmarks that could give us an indication of where we were. But that would have been too damn easy.
Oh no, just go ahead and fuck it all up … why don’t you!
I mumbled to myself as I gazed at signs that were twisted up or crumpled under concrete.

None of us wanted to come up. Not because we wanted to stay a minute longer down in that dank, smelly ass tunnel system but above it was even worse. Z’s were everywhere. It wasn’t our city anymore. It was theirs.

We made a decision to find the closest building with a fire escape and head up. At least if we could get some height, we could see where we were.

Hell, we were barely out of that sewer five minutes when the streets started filling up with crawlers. It was like a race as they dashed down alleys looking for their next feast. Some of them bounced over dumpsters like rabbits. We turned into a street only to find more Z’s stumbling forward moaning and gnashing their teeth. They moved hard and fast towards us.

Baja was the first to fire a round. We all followed suit, racing down the alley firing forward and backwards as Ben led the way toward a black fire escape that snaked the wall. We shoved Hannah up and I went to give Jess a hand but she pushed me back.

“I can handle myself.”

These females were feisty but that was new. The entire apocalypse had a way of bringing both the best and worst out of a person. Fear became anger as we found ourselves constantly engaging with them. The heat of battle intensified as one by one we ascended the stairwell only to find some of them climbing.

“You’ve got to be shitting me?” Elijah muttered.

“No fucking way.”

I was unloading bullet after bullet into their heads. At one point I shoved my boot through the neck of one of them while shooting another. You soon learned to multi-task in this new world. The remaining crowd of flesh-eaters below scraped at the wall with their fingers. At least not all of them were mutated. No one would have survived if they were.

I stumbled back from the edge. Each of us checked ourselves for bite marks. You’d think that we would know if we were bitten but when your adrenaline is rushing and your heart is smashing against your chest wall while you stab a Z in the head… It wouldn’t have surprised me if someone got grazed by teeth and didn’t know. It had become routine. Run, check for bites, check ammo, hide, and run some more. Our daily life was one big marathon run.

I felt like Forrest Gump being chased by the undead across America.

Run, Run, Run!
It had become a mantra, a way of living.

Ben was looking over the edge. He walked across to each side of the building and shielded his eyes from the glare of the sun. A cold winter wind nipped at our faces. All across the city smoke rose and fires burned while buildings lay in rubble.

“I think it’s that way.”

He pointed towards Central Park. A vast ocean of trees could be seen.

“Now are you sure? Because I really don’t want to have to get back down there again,” Jess said.

He ignored her and kept on walking to the next building. That was the beauty of New York. So many of the buildings were sandwiched together tightly. Those that weren’t were easy enough to cross using the wires or pipes that snaked along the tops of the roofs.

Now I would like to say that the trek to the hotel was an easy one. It wasn’t. It was tough. We were constantly battling Z’s, then climbing more buildings. By the time we reached our destination, I felt like fucking Spiderman. I was about ready to give up. I just wanted to lie down and rest. That’s all that I could think. The only thing, or person that was driving me on, was Hannah. A young girl!

To think that the survival of the human race now relied on a few unique individuals seemed absurd. How many were there?

Eventually we had to hit the ground. Not all of the buildings had been leveled by military bombs. Once we hit 57
^th
Street we found ourselves facing a wall of metal. They had blocked off several of the streets with the same corrugated steel they wrapped around large work sites to keep out the general public. We didn’t even make it a mile from their front gate when a truck came out to meet us. In the back were six men, each of them armed to the teeth with assault rifles

“You are either dumb, or dumb. Now which one is it?”

“We are here to see Vinny Carlone.”

“Isn’t everyone. State your business?”

“His father is dead. We have his sister.”

Their eyes fell on Hannah.

He radioed back while keeping an eye on us. The others were out of their truck, keeping watch for Z’s. A group of them were heading in our direction. I was beginning to get a little antsy. The guy on the radio seemed to find it amusing.

“What’s his father’s name?”

“Chuck, he said Vinny could help us find the Coalition.”

The man’s eyes widened. He whispered into the mic.

“I guess this is your lucky day. Come on in.”

We double-timed it away from the crowd of Z’s that were converging on the area. As they drove us back through the gates, the sounds of snarling and moaning became less.

“
L
eave
your weapons at the door.”

We glanced at a Chinese guy who had a gun on us. “Been there, done that. The last time we did that we wound up in a porn shop wielding dildos. It’s not going to happen, my friend,” I muttered.

“It’s not a choice. Vinny doesn’t see anyone with a weapon.”

I looked at Ben and we all shook our heads. There was no way we were going in without our weapons yet there were already far more of them than us. It didn’t matter whether we kept hold of them or not, they could drop us right where we stood.

Ben was the first one to place his weapon on the floor. Reluctantly the rest of us did the same. The Chinese guy along with a few of their men walked around us and pulled out the machetes and tossed those down. He stared at me with a smirk on his face.

“You can’t be too careful.”

They led us into a towering hotel that was fifty-two stories high. Above us was a gorgeous glass window, designed to perfection. Everything about the structure spoke of glamor and money. Marble floors, lights that once probably looked stunning when there was power. Despite the state of the city this place had fared well. It was gleaming. It wasn’t like anyone could get near the hotel. Beyond the metal walls were over one hundred guards fully armed. Inside the lobby there were even more. It was known to cost fifty thousand dollars a night for the Ty Warner Penthouse. The hotel featured four glass balconies with a 360-degree view of the city from the fifty-second floor. The décor was elegant and snooty. At one time it must have only catered to the rich and famous. Art Deco lamps lined the walls. There was blond wood, stone sculpture, and limestone pillars that rose up thirty feet high. We passed by a backlit onyx ceiling and small acacia trees.

It took us a while to reach the penthouse suite but when we did, the sight that greeted us was a surprise. I had imagined, and I think the others did too, that he would resemble the Godfather. He wasn’t your typical mobster, with a belly that stuck out from eating one too many pasta dishes. Instead, we were greeted by what looked like a transvestite. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

“Darlings, how wonderful. I do love to have new guests.”

He wore a wig, makeup, and a gown that revealed female underwear. He would have given J. Edgar Hoover’s cross-dressing antics a run for the money. We all looked at each other as though we were watching an episode of
Queer Eye
. Now don’t get me wrong, I had no problem with men’s or women’s choice of sexuality. Hell, if someone wanted to ride around on horses naked like Lady Godiva that was cool with me. What mattered more to me were the choices they made. Did they give a shit about society or suck it dry?

I could hear Baja stifling a chuckle. I prayed that he didn’t open his mouth. I knew he must have had a million things going through his mind right then, none of which I was sure was going to help us. We were already walking on eggshells.

Could this man have really struck fear into the hearts of New York business? Perhaps the apocalypse had drawn him out of the closet. It was hard to tell but man, it was some funny shit to see.

“Now what do we have here?”

He pranced up and down, checking us out and grinning from ear to ear. He stopped at Elijah and put his finger under Elijah’s chin.

“Aren’t you delicious.”

Baja couldn’t hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing.

“And what do we have here… oh I do love me some cocoa butter.”

That sent Elijah into a fit, of course Baja didn’t find it amusing in the least. He backed up slightly, placing his hands behind him on his rear end.

“And you must be, my sister.”

Hannah’s eyes widened like she was seeing the clown from that Stephen King horror flick. Vinny must have picked up on it.

“Oh honey, don’t you worry. You are in good hands. But for your sake…” he turned around and called out to someone. “Michael dear, bring me my gown.”

Another man emerged from a room wearing nothing more than a pair of white underpants. If that wasn’t odd enough, he was also wearing black dress shoes, black socks, and sock holder-uppers.

Baja leaned over to me and whispered, “We really should have held on to those nipple clamps. They might have made a nice gift for these two.”

I stifled a chuckle.

Vinny held out his arms while the bald, and frankly odd-looking fellow helped him into his gown. Vinny tied it off and then gestured for us to join him in the living area. The room had cathedral ceilings and lacquered walls with mother of pearl embedded in them. A four-foot-high chandelier. The furniture was all cream in color. Leather couches and chairs. Glass tables and wraparound balconies that provided a stunning view of Central Park and the remains of the Big Apple.

“Can I get you a drink? Water, beer, vodka perhaps?”

He held up a bottle of vodka.

“I’ll have some of that,” Jess said, stepping forward.

Now I fully expected Baja to lead the way, not Jess. But she tossed that vodka back like it was a glass of water. Izzy followed suit. What had happened to these two in the time we were gone?

“Please take a seat.”

Vinny lay back in a cream-colored chair, lighting a cigarette and blowing a smoke ring into the air. A few of the guards stood at the door keeping a close eye on us.

He gave a wry smile as he looked us over, then his eyes fell on me. We began to update him on how we came to meet his father. He was curious to know why we had sought him out. We were about to tell him about our search for the Coalition when the doors burst open. A young man covered in dirt was shoved down onto the floor; his hands bound behind him.

“Please, Vinny, I didn’t tell them.”

Vinny looked at me and got this mischievous look in his eye. He got up and walked over to the man. We couldn’t figure out what the argument or disagreement was over but in that moment we realized why people feared him. It didn’t matter that he was dressed like a woman or he pranced around like he had drunk one too many cocktails. No, without even saying a word he walked over, withdrew what looked like an envelope opener from a side table, and proceeded to slice the man’s throat in front of us. Blood gushed to the floor, creating a small pool that kept widening. He wiped the knife on the dead man’s clothes before giving a flick of his hand to have the guards remove the body.

I watched them slide his lifeless corpse out the door. A huge crimson smear was left behind on the stone floor. Vinny didn’t bat an eye, he returned to his seat, picked up his cigarette again.

“Now where were we?”

Oh he was crazy. I was certain of that.

Though I had to wonder if he did this just to make sure that we knew who we were dealing with. A little example of what he would do if anyone crossed him. If he did this now, what had he done before the apocalypse?

“Chuck. I mean, your father said you can help us find the Coalition.”

“And what do you want with them?”

He must have seen the hesitation in our faces as he continued. “You don’t even know, do you?” His eyes flitted over to Hannah. “Darlin’, what is your name?”

It struck me as odd that he wouldn’t know his own sister’s name.

“Hannah,” she muttered.

“Come over here, Hannah.”

She looked at Izzy as if wanting to see if it was okay.

“It’s okay, I don’t bite.”

She motioned for her to go. Hannah went over. Vinny shifted forward in his seat. My pulse was racing a little. After witnessing him slash that man’s throat, it left all of us a little nervous about what he would do next. He looked her up and down, then pulled up her sleeves to reveal the bites.

“Just as I thought.”

He looked at us. “You know the Coalition can’t help you or her for that matter.”

“What makes you an expert on them?” Elijah said.

“I was the one who started the Coalition.”

“You are no longer with them?”

He took a cherry from his cocktail and sucked on the end of it before stirring his drink. “Let’s say we had a little falling-out.”

“The same kind of falling-out you had with your father?” I asked.

His eyes narrowed, I must have hit a sore point as he didn’t reply. I regretted saying it immediately.

“Do you know where they are?” Ben asked.

“Of course. Here, there, everywhere.”

“What do you mean?”

“They don’t stay in one spot. They move around. You don’t find them. They find you.”

“Well, we found them the other night,” I said.

“How did that work out for you?”