Zombie Rush 2 (15 page)

“Get out of here, Skit. Watch the hall and shoot anyone but Krupp or Tonka.”

Cat pulled out the last needle and what Lisa had feared would happen in the other room happened. Her bowels released and her body screamed with raw pain.

“Oh my god,” Cat said. “Ewww, that is really disgusting.” The girl unintentionally started to gag. She looked at Lisa, eyes watering, and said, “It doesn’t usually smell that bad.”

“When bowels release, it’s usually a full vacate, Cat. Those are the worst. Now help me.”

Cat helped her from her clothes before she turned the shower on and went out to find something for the pain.

***

Krupp opened the door that Tonka indicated, rushing up the stairs to the next level. The trained police dog would have proceeded cautiously if the doctor had been doing anything other than trying to create distance between him and them. They hit the second floor when he realized Cat was with him.

“Go back, Cat. We don’t know how many are here. Tonka has my back,” he said to his daughter. She gave a nod and headed quickly back down the stairs.

Krupp opened the door that Tonka was scratching at. It opened on to the second floor, which seemed to be abandoned and contained more rooms. The last thing he wanted to do was clear a bunch of unknown rooms without another shooter. This was the type of situation that could get him killed, and he approached it slower, his rifle up and pointing down the hallway, ears tuned behind him.

The hall was dark with splashes of light coming in from the occasional open office door. He was going to have to check them all or trust in Tonka’s instincts. Tonka was halfway down the hall and slowed in front of a closed door. Shots rang out and splinters of wood flew out above the K9’s head, causing him to lie flat but stay on the chase. Krupp ran, not slowing to execute his front kick, which landed just right of the handle, sending the door flying in. He rolled to the right when he saw the muzzle flash from a double barrel shotgun and pellets peppered the wall behind him.

He rolled back in front of the door with his rifle ready and saw the strings to the trigger that suggested it was booby-trapped. He entered cautiously, not seeing a window or a door. But he did see a small entry into another part of the room. It was dark and smelled of menace and hate—the gloom beyond that of a darkened room. Tonka stayed back from the entrance and Krupp called out.

“You’re trapped; just throw down your weapon and come out. I’ll make sure that you are treated fairly.”

“Ha! You didn’t have much of a reputation for that back in the normal world, Krupp. How could an apocalypse change you into the kind man who gives someone a break?”

“So you know me; that’s good. Then you also know that I am a fair man, and you’ll get a square deal.”

“I know nothing of the sort, Officer Ed. I know all of you fuckers. It was my business to know you. If you knew how often I wished there was more in Hot Springs other than the parody of the Keystone Cops, you would be enraged. You’re a putz, Krupp. A first-class, grade-A, number-one putz.”

Krupp knew that he was being baited but he could help his ire from rising.
He wants me to show myself, but why? It has to be more than simply to shoot me.”
He had to get him to talk more and see if he could lead him into making a mistake.

“Come on, Doc; you got nowhere to go, so just give it up.”

“Ha ha, you fucking idiot. I am already gone,” Web said, and Krupp noticed that his voice sounded different, as though he was speaking through a long tube. He had to risk it. He turned on the TAC light on the barrel of his M4 and slid around the corner. Nothing but dark emptiness met his light, with the exception of a picture that seemed to glow from where hung on the wall. He stepped closer and noticed a sulfur-type smell and the picture seemed to glow brighter. His next step was stopped by Tonka latching on to his belt and dragging him back away from the picture. That was when he noticed that it was not a picture but a hole with ducting leading down and the glow was … He turned and dove just as the blast occurred. The ducting acting like the barrel of a large gun as nails, chain, and other debris flew toward him. He covered up and looked for Tonka who was already around the corner.

He crept toward the hole in the wall slowly, the glow now gone. Looking down into the dark emptiness, he knew that Web had made his escape and was now literally underground in the parking garage. Shots rang out from below, forcing Krupp and Tonka to leave off the chase. Krupp keyed his mic as he moved down the stairs.

“Art, this is Ed. Do you copy?”

“This is Art, go ahead,” Benson said after a few moments.

“We have her down at the cosmetic surgery center. She’s in rough shape and is going to need a lift. Over.”

“Is she bit? Over.”

“Nope, just a little ragged around the edges. Over.”

“Ten-four. Base out,” Art finished, after he checked the GPS locater on Krupp’s tactical vest.

Krupp found Skit engaged with three zombies down on the lower level and had to admit, he was impressed with the way the ex-drug dealer was attacking the undead with a hunk of rebar. He only carried a revolver, so he wasn’t able to reload and resort to more base means of elimination. He also hadn’t heard any shots and figured Skit was conserving his ammo for when he needed it. Krupp took one out over his left shoulder and another trying to work its way right. Skit pulled his sidearm and blasted through the doorway out to the street, giving them some space.

“Reload,” Krupp said to Skit, and continued firing as Skit slapped another speed load home.

“We gotta block that door closed!” Skit shouted.

“After you!” Krupp yelled and smiled at the same time before his rifle started spitting out three-round bursts.

Skit ducked under his rifle and rushed to the cabinet next to the door after seeing that all in the entry were immobilized. He yanked a couple of bodies into the building and slid the heavy cabinet in front of the door. He pushed a sofa from the waiting room behind it, and then piled anything that wasn’t bolted down on top of it. Meanwhile, a mass of past-humans piled against the windows.

***

Lisa wanted to weep as they dragged her to a vehicle outside the back door, but she wouldn’t. No one would see her cry or despair over her encounter with the doctor. In a way, she asked for it, wanted it; it simply came too soon. It caught her by surprise, before she had time to prepare. That would not happen again.

Chapter Twelve

Ready Set

“How ya feelin’?” Skit asked once he was allowed to see her.

“Like a half-eaten happy meal,” she said, smiling despite the morbidity of it all. “Naw, pretty good, actually. The doctor said that the prosthetic and spacers he put in were done very professionally. She didn’t see the sense in messing with them.”

“Cool … I guess. Well, cool that is, unless he put a transmitter in you like he did Sedge’s collar.”

“Fuck you, Skit. God dammit, I’m trying to deal with shit here as it is and you have to throw that in my face. Jesus Christ.”

“For an atheist, you sure do use the Lord’s name in vain a lot.” Skit was no longer offended by her propensity for swearing and simply accepted that it was who she was.

“It’s a gift,” Lisa replied.

“So when are you going to be ready to go get this bastard?”

“Not for a while, Skit. Best to let him stew for a while. Let him know that he was beaten and of no consequence.”

“Beaten? What the hell are you talking about? He was eating you, Rey.”

“I know that better than anyone, Skit. But after I puked on him and Krupp was breaking through the door, I saw his face. Not his mock face, Skit; I saw his real face and all of the hate and rage he has buried behind the facade. He’s frustrated and desperate because we’ve found him out. What he did to me was retaliation, and he wasn’t even allowed to finish that. No, he’s expecting us to come after him, and that’s where we would fuck it up. By ignoring him for a while, we’ll frustrate him and then he’ll make mistakes.”

“Got it all figured out, don’t you?”

“To a point, yes.” Lisa shifted her gaze as a young woman showed up at her door. “Hi, Ally.”

“You’ve seen him, haven’t you?” Ally asked, meekly. Lisa couldn’t read if it was fear or something more calculated.

“I’ve seen him, Ally; up close and personal.”

“You can’t kill him, you know.”

“Everyone can be killed, Ally. It’s simply a matter of when and how.”

“His life is mine;
I
will kill him. And my uncle—when I find him—will help. This is a family matter. He killed my mother, and I want him.”

“Who’s your uncle, Ally?” Lisa asked, trying to distract the girl from her line of questioning.

“Chief Tanner.”

“Tanner? You mean my boss, Chief Tanner?”

Ally stared back at Lisa, having read between the lines. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”

“I’m sorry, honey, but yes … he’s dead.”

“How?”

“How does anyone die these days?”

“I don’t know; ask my mom.”

“Okay, I deserved that. He was overwhelmed with a group of cops and soldiers on the bridge. Two witnesses saw him die. He’s not … one of them because of his own gun.”

“Well, I guess that’s something.” The girl hung her head, feeling very much alone. Then Krupp walked in the room.

“Ally, is that you?”

Ally looked up; her countenance melted and she wrapped her arms around the cop who wasn’t present when she was admitted to the hospital.

“He’s dead, Krupp. Uncle Tanner is dead.”

“I know that, sweetie, I know. He died fighting though, and that means a lot for someone like him,” Krupp replied as he patted her on the back. She pulled back and looked up at him.

“But Mom is dead and Dad is dead, and I have no one except—”

“Except me and Cat. Cat is here and would love to know you’re alive. Remember all the good times we had on the boat?”

“Cat’s here?” She looked at Krupp and blinked the tears from her eyes. “I love Cat. She was my best friend during summer breaks.”

A shrill scream cut through the moment, and they turned to see Cat running full speed toward them with her arms wide and a broad smile on her face. The joy exuding from Krupp’s daughter was infectious and everybody smiled when the two girls met and clasped each other in a warm embrace. Ally was a few years younger but they were close enough in age to be summer friends since Krupp and her uncle, Tanner, were so close. Ally started to cry, but it was hard to tell if the tears were from pain or relief at not being alone. She pulled away from Cat while wiping away her tears.

“Cat, you have to teach me how to shoot like you do.”

“Okay, Ally, no problem, but it will have to be when I get back from Little Rock.”

Lisa saw the tightening around Krupp’s mouth that said he didn’t want his daughter going to Little Rock.

“Sorry, Cat, but I need you to stay here,” Lisa said, breaking into the conversation.

“But you need shooters with you,” Cat said, trying to make it not sound like a whine.

“No, I need
operators
with me there. I need you here, covering the ramparts and training civilians how to shoot. I don’t have anyone of your skill level who can do it, so I need you to stay here.”

“No, I’m going to Little Rock. There’s a lot to do there, and I’ll be a help to you.”

“It wasn’t a request, Cat. If you’re going to be a part of this then you have to follow instructions. We have to look at the bigger picture and that is stabilizing Hot Springs, and to do that I need you here.”

“But—”

“The discussion is over. I know that pisses you off, but it’s the way it’s going down. Do not defy me on this,” Lisa said, holding the young woman’s gaze for several moments to let her know how serious she was. “I’m not your father and I won’t play those games.”

“Okay, Lisa. I’ll stay.”

“
Lisa
is okay in here, but anywhere else, you will refer to me as Lieutenant Reynolds or simply Lieutenant. You’re no longer a kid hanging on your dad’s coat strings. You’re an adult and a full-fledged member of this Army with leadership responsibilities. You’re on the council and a firearms trainer. Childhood is over. Welcome to the Army.” Lisa said it firmly, but Cat saw between the words and realized that what she always wanted had just come to pass. She was no longer a reflection of her intimidating father. She was now her own entity. Adulthood was forced down her throat, and she kind of warmed to it.

“Yes, Lieutenant. I’ll get started right away.”

“Good, first order of business is getting Ally rigged up; take care of that, will you?”

“Wait, I’m not in the Army,” Ally protested.

“Reinstatement of the draft was yesterday; sorry you missed it. Welcome to the Army, Private Tanner.”

After some head shaking, both girls left the room and disappeared down the hall.

“You sure know how to make friends, don’t you?” Skit said, and Lisa smiled.

“Go check on the dogs, will ya, Skit? I need to talk to Krupp here for a couple of minutes.”

“No problem; I don’t like hospitals, anyway.”

“I have to admit, that guy surprised me,” Krupp said as he watched Skit walk away. “The way he fought in that clinic to keep you safe was impressive. I have no doubt that he would have died before he let those Z’s get to you.”

“Yeah, he surprised me too. Kind of funny when you consider that a couple of days ago, I was going to shoot him. When I was in that apartment and shot his buddy, Jonah, I thought he was nothing but a strung-out junky looking for his next high. I never would have guessed that he didn’t do drugs and had standards that might even border on morals.”

“Nope, me either. He was lucky it was you. I probably would have shot him just because I could have,” Krupp said as he came up close to her bedside.

Lisa reached out and gently held his hand between her fingers, and his brows knit together in confusion. She didn’t know why she did it; she wasn’t all that attracted to him … or was she? Her memory flashed to how many times she had looked at his ass or how his picture on the wall at the station always seemed to catch her eye. Could she …?

“I need you to know how much I appreciate that you came for me today, Ed. I mean just a short time ago, I thought you wanted to kill me—or at least get rid of me, but when you came through that door in a rage … There was no one else I wanted to see.”

“No problem, Lisa. The fucker is a creep, and I can’t wait until we get our hands on him.” He gave her hand a quick squeeze before he eased it away.

“Sorry, I’m just feeling really alone right now. Kind of strange since I have more people in my life now than I ever have before.”

“Not many friends, huh?”

“Nope, never have. I guess I’m a little hard to deal with. Hell, my parents couldn’t even tolerate me much past my seventeenth birthday.”

“Huh, who would have thought?” Krupp said, sarcastically and let it hang until they both burst out laughing. Neither knew why it was funny, but the thought of looking to Krupp for sympathy and it being her seeking it seemed to strike both of them wrong.

“Look, I don’t know if you can consider the people around as friends, but they do have your back. Sometimes we just gotta take what we can get,” he said, and then looked over his shoulder before he continued. “Thanks for keeping Cat here. I wouldn’t be operating at optimum with having to watch out for her all the time.”

“What are you talking about, Ed? You’re staying too.”

“Fuck you.”

“No, fuck you. I need you here.” She almost laughed when his face dropped, not quite knowing what to say.

“I’m just fucking with you. You’re leading the operation, and I am on the sidelines for when you need me.”

“I think that would be best.”

“Yeah, me too. Plus, it gives me the freedom to do what I want, like get caught by cannibal doctors and shit. You know that I am going to stick my nose in anytime I want, right?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Hey,” he hesitated, “I brought you something but …”

“But what? Give it here. Being short in the friend department has left me way behind on the gifting end too.”

“Well, it is not really a gift. It’s yours, and I just thought that you might want it.”

“Is that my …”

“Yep.”

“Wow, you cleaned it.”

“Yeah, it was pretty gross with a lot of the cooked meat still on it.”

She could tell he was nervous about saying a lot of this, but it was what it was and she couldn’t deny that.

“If you don’t want it, I will get rid of it for you. Bury it or something …”

“No, no … I think this needs to stay with me. Thank you.” She turned her rib over in her hands.

“There is one more thing that I want to talk to you about,” Krupp started warily.

“What is it, Ed?”

“Ernie.”

“Ernie? What about Ernie?”

“I want him.”

“Why?” Her tone was droll, not knowing why anyone could want Ernie.

“I knew his family, and he is just a hot-headed kid. I get that and know how to deal with it. If we just leave him out in the wind it could turn bad on us.”

“He’s yours,” she said without a second thought.

Krupp smiled, gave her a mock salute, and left, leaving Lisa to face the fears that had been recently cut into her.

***

“Are you sure that you’re ready for this?” Skit asked as she approached him gingerly while he stood next to the Chrysler that they started out in.

“Yeah. Why aren’t we taking my truck?”

“It has been requisitioned for the cause and is out with a crew clearing buildings.”

“Fucking A, no gratitude.”

“Yeah, others would call it justice.”

“Fuck you, Skit. Get in the car,” she said, and he smiled. “Oh and Skit, thanks for coming to get me yesterday.”

“No problem, Rey. Anytime.”

“I heard how hard you fought. Krupp was even impressed—well, as much as Krupp can be impressed,” Lisa said as they drove out of the gate, the ground currently free other than isolated groups of zombies around the edges being dealt with. A few pockets were also up by the wall but rebar wielding people were systematically cleaning them out. They had already had two waves of close to ten thousand and smaller groups of two to three thousand on multiple occasions. The smaller populations of Hot Springs, Piney, and other communities could more than triple that number, but the larger masses could be done for the most part. If they kept up the segregating and distractions, it could be manageable. Hopefully zombies didn’t migrate.

Lisa and Skit were amazed by the number of vehicles lined up for the venture. People who just three days ago were bankers or construction workers were now dressed in sturdy clothes with steel-toed boots and homemade sheaths filled with rebar, bats, or machetes. Rifles slung over a shoulder and handguns on hips or in a chest holster, they were going to war, but it was a war that no one ever expected them to have to fight. It could have been considered a Biblical army, with the exception of the lack of horsemen …

The dead walking was from the storybooks, yet now it was the reality, and people adjusted quickly, considering the enormity of the change. Lisa wondered about it. Was it because people were that resilient? Or was it because they got a leg up by joining a group? Were people always morally corrupt and desirous of such extreme acts of brutality performed in the name of survival, or was it something else? Something more innate and true?