“Good, stay on this frequency. I want you to report back to me when you get there.”
“Will do sir. Over.”
Lieutenant Price shut the radio off. “I hope that's the last time I have to talk to that man. Tell me something Captain. Why are we going to get this guy if you're not planning on taking him to the General?”
“Dr. Parks is the guy that created the virus that did all this. From what I was told he's also the son of a bitch that spread the disease all over the world. They've got him working on a cure.”
“He's working on a cure?”
“That's what I want to find out. If he is working on a cure then we'll take him to the General. If not, I'll be damned if they get their hands on him. The CIA let him start this plague. There's no telling what they have in mind for him next.”
“It's going to take us a few hours to get there. Why don't all of you try to get some rest. I'll wake you when we get close.”
I took off my head set and made my way back to the crew compartment where Sergeant Adams and Corporal Flowers were waiting. I had to shout over the roar of the rotors to be heard. I let them know what was going on and told them we should try to get some rest. I had a feeling things were going to get very interesting when we found Dr. Parks. I sat next to Lily and strapped myself in.
Chapter 13
Al headed straight for the truck when we left the house. Cindy ran after him and climbed into the passenger seat. They sat talking for a minute and then drove off. Rick and Gina looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders and headed for the Hummer.
“What happened in there?” Gina asked.
“They were all dead. Dillon had already turned and the others probably weren't far behind. We had to shoot all those little kids.”
“Are you okay?”
“No, I'm not. Could you get the radio for me? I need to talk to Al.”
“I'll get it.” Rick climbed in the front of the Hummer and brought me the radio.
“Al, what the hell's up?”
“He can't talk right now.” It was Cindy on the radio. “Al's a little upset and we're getting ready to drive through this bunch of zombies. He says don't come this way. There's too many. We'll meet you up on the highway. Over.”
“Will the truck make it through? How many are there? Over.”
“Al says we'll make it. There's lots of them on the road. It looks like they're all the way back to the ramp we'll use to get back on the highway. Steve, I'm really scared. Over.”
“I'm going to get on the highway and drive back to the on ramp. We'll be within site. Hang in there. Over.”
“We better get moving.”
The three of us got into the Hummer and headed away from the farmhouse. The fire was going pretty good by then. I looked in my rear view mirror as I drove away and could have sworn I saw something moving in the house.
“Somebody's still alive in there.”
I turned the Hummer around and drove back to the house. The whole place was on fire. Windows had started busting out. Flames were working their way up the exterior by this time. Looking in the door, you could see the whole floor was engulfed in flames.
“Honey, what do you think you saw?”
“I don't think I saw anything. I know I saw someone walk past the door.”
“It was just the flames. There is no way somebody could be alive in all that.”
Just then I saw movement again. One of the kids stumbled out the door. I think it was little Cindy. It was too small to be any of the other kids. I couldn't be entirely sure though because the whole body was on fire. It looked in our direction and ran towards the Hummer.
Rick still had his rifle in his hands and he pointed it out the window. “What should I do?” He shouted.
“You better start shooting.” I said.
Rick opened fire and of course, missed five times. I was too shocked to do anything. I heard Gina's door open and she got out of the vehicle. She walked around to the front of the Hummer and shot the little zombie in the head with her pistol. She came back around to her side of the Hummer, got in, looked at Rick and said, “You really need to learn how to shoot that thing.” She reached over, tapped me on the shoulder, and said my name. When I didn't respond, she started shaking me. “Al needs us, Steve. Let's go.”
That brought me out of it. I turned the Hummer back around and hurried out of there. This time I didn't look back. We crossed the median and headed down the highway. It wasn't long before we came to the U-Haul. The truck was stopped on the access road. They were surrounded by zombies. I got the radio and called Al.
“What can we do?”
“Took you long enough.” He came back.
“There was a problem back at the farm house. Looks like you're stuck.”
“You have an eye for the obvious, my friend. There's too many of them. Try to draw their attention. If I can get moving again, I might be able to make it through.”
“Alright. Give us a minute. Over.”
“Gina, you want to slide over here and drive? Rick, I want you to start shooting the ones behind the truck. Be careful. Don't hit the U-Haul. It's full of propane. Honey, start honking the horn and yelling out the window. I'm going to get out and shoot the zombies that cross over to our side.”
I took an assault rifle, grabbed a bag of magazines and got out of the Hummer. Gina got into the driver's seat, started honking the horn and yelling out her window. That was all it took. The zombies surrounding the U-Haul looked our way and started heading in our direction. It was eerie the way they all turned their heads in unison and began the slow methodical shuffle toward me. Rick opened fire on the zombies behind the truck and I began shooting the ones crossing into the median.
Al got the truck moving again and was able to get about a quarter mile down the road before getting bogged down again. Rick and I weren't having any problems stopping the zombies from crossing to our side of the road. There were too many bodies in front of the truck for Al to be able to break free. And there was the added problem of the horde becoming aware of the fine meal waiting for them up on the highway. They were crossing the median in growing numbers. Soon we'd both be trapped. I went to the window of the Hummer and had Gina hand me the radio.
“We need to move up.” I climbed on the running board and held on to the mirror.
“Al, we'll never make it this way. Can you cross the median?”
“Yeah, there's a gravel access road a few hundred yards ahead. I can cross there.”
“Pull up baby and turn this thing around. Rick slide over. Same thing. You take the back I'll get the front.”
“You got it boss,” Rick said.
Gina got us turned around and we started back in.
The undead began crossing the median in droves. Rick kept up pretty damn good for someone that couldn't hit shit earlier in the day. I think the reason he'd had trouble back at the farm was his reluctance to shoot a little kid. That was something he would have to get past. Occasionally, a zombie would break away from the group, running full speed at us. Each time, either Rick or I was able to stop them from getting to the Hummer. Rick was going to be fine. He just needed to quit thinking of the zombies as people. You couldn't afford the luxury of seeing them as a little kid, a woman, or as anything other than what they were. Monsters. Maybe Al needed to get his head on straight too.
The truck broke free and Al made it to the access road. He turned onto the highway and headed our way. I got into the Hummer but continued shooting at the zombies coming at us. Cindy and Al pulled up next to us in the truck, slowed for a second, then pulled away. Cindy was in the process of rolling her down window to say something but didn't get the chance. The son of a bitch could have at least stopped to say thanks. I know it was hard shooting those kids. Hell, I had to shoot just as many as he did. He was the one that hadn't ended Cindy. He could have got somebody killed like that.
We didn't make much headway the rest of the day. Cars were stranded everywhere along the highway. Accidents were every few miles. We'd make a little progress and have to stop and winch apart a group of cars piled up in the middle of the road. Al stood guard while Rick and I dealt with the obstacle. It was unnerving. I'd be hooking the winch up to a car and Al would fire on an approaching zombie. After this went on for a while, I got used to hearing shots ring out from behind me. I would just continue with what I was doing and not even look up. For the most part, the zombies coming down the road toward us were slow moving and not much of a threat. Then there would be one of the fast moving zombies that would come running at us out of nowhere. A few got a little too close for comfort. It was a good thing Al was there to take care of them. If it would have been Rick or me on lookout, somebody probably would have gotten bit. It never ceased to amaze me, the way Al could hit a moving target. One would jump up from behind an obstruction, come running at us faster than I'd ever seen a living person move, and Al would blow its brains out with one shot. After five hours on the road, we were hot and tired and ready to call it a day.
“Hey guys, Al wants to find a place to spend the night.” Cindy said over the radio. “There's an exit up ahead. Let's pull over.”
“I've had enough too. Let's find a Holiday Inn.” Gina said.
“Alright then. Tell them to go ahead and get off here then.” I said.
“Okay, Cindy, we're done in too. Any time you're ready.”
There was a gas station at the end of the exit ramp so we decided to gas up before finding a place to spend the night. Al climbed into the back of the truck and came out with the hand pump. I got the tools and removed the access cover to one of the underground holding tanks. We took a vote and Al and I stuck Rick with pumping duties. He ran the hose down into the storage tank and started filling the U-Haul. Gina and Cindy stood guard on one side of the vehicles while Al and I took the other. I wanted a chance to talk with Al alone about what had happened at the farmhouse and I hoped this was it.
“Al, tell me what happened back at Calvin's.”
“They didn't listen to us and they all got turned into zombies.”
“That's not what I'm talking about.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“After you drove off, one of the kids came from the burning house. I'm pretty sure it was little Cindy. She was burned to hell but I'm pretty sure it was her.”
“We must have missed one.”
“I didn't miss shit. I shot everyone in that upstairs room. Dead, wounded, zombie, adult, little kid, I shot them all.”
“So you're saying I missed her.”
“I'm not saying anything. I'm asking you. What happened?”
“Okay, then I missed one. Is that what you want me to say?”
“You're too good to have missed her. I've been watching you kill zombies for days now. You don't miss a thing. Did you not shoot her on purpose?”
Al stood looking at me for a few seconds, then turned and walked away. “She must have been downstairs.” He said with his back to me. “Rick you about done?”
“That's bullshit and you know it. We both cleared the downstairs.”
“Let it go.”
I helped Rick finish gassing up the Hummer. Then we all got into the vehicles to leave. Al pulled the truck up to the doors of the gas station and got out.
“What now?” Gina asked.
“I have no idea.”
Al looked around for a second. I assumed he didn't find what he was looking for because he pulled his pistol and used it to break out the glass to the entrance door. He finished clearing the glass from the door then went into the station. A few minutes later, Al came back through the door carrying two cases of beer. He went to the back of the truck opened the lift gate and put the beer in back. Before closing the gate, he reached back in, grabbed a six pack held it up and looked at us in the Hummer. I guess he was offering us a beer. The three of us shook our heads no. Al shrugged his shoulders and headed for the cab of the U-Haul, climbed in and drove away.
“This is going to be one fucked up night.” Gina said.