The Dark Trilogy (33 page)

“
Didn’t he shoot a man who had a rifle pointed at your head, Jeff? The very same rifle we found in your van?”

Michael paused as Jeff open his eyes and focused on him. There was a look of sickly sweet concern on Michael’s face, but Jeff could see the satisfaction hidden beneath it.

Before he could respond, Michael moved toward George.

“
And didn’t he take care of one of the infected for you?” George stiffened as Michael placed a hand on his shoulder. “Didn’t he take a stick …” He looked at Jason, “It was a stick, wasn’t it?” Michael turned back to George before the boy could respond. “He took a stick and beat one of those things to death with it.” He was whispering now as he carefully enunciated each word. “He beat it to death while you watched.”

Michael lingered in front of George for a few more moments. Jeff could see that his friend was reliving what had happened back when he had escaped from the high school gymnasium with Jason. Before, there had been anger or perhaps embarrassment written on George’s face. Now it looked more like regret.

Satisfied, Michael slid away from George and faced Jeff.

“
So tell me, gentlemen. Please enlighten me. Why on earth should I refuse the boy a chance to go back out there with us when he can clearly take care of himself?” He stared at Jeff. “Maybe even better than the two of you can.”

Frank snickered behind them, mumbling “You got that right” as he moved toward Jason. Grabbing the kid by the shoulder, he squeezed it, shaking him in an excessive show of camaraderie. Jeff looked on, the contempt in his eyes for the fat man hard to hide.

Gritting his teeth, Jeff forced his eyes away from Frank. He knew what he had to do. He glared at Michael, took a deep breath, and let it out in a slow hiss.

“
Be that as it may, he’s still a boy. He’s not going. I won’t allow it.”

For a moment, Michael looked shocked. As he digested Jeff’s comment, his expression morphed into something closer to anger. Any trace of the smug smile he had before was gone.

“
So you think you have that kind of authority?”

The words were made of gravel, rough and raspy. Michael was holding his rage in check, but looked anxious to unleash it. Jeff swallowed hard as he stiffened his resolve and replied.

“
I do. When it comes to my people, I sure as hell do. Not you or anyone else in this camp other than me, George, and Megan gets to decide what happens to that kid. He was our responsibility when we got here, and he will be when we leave.”

There was ice in Michael’s eyes as his lip curled into a snarl. “Oh, so you’re planning on leaving now, huh?”

“
No, we plan on staying.”

They both looked at George. His voice was a surprise, an oddity in the conversation from which it had been absent for so long. His interjection was like a small explosion that startled the two other men.

Neither spoke as they stared at him. George moved between them and faced Michael. “We plan on staying. But if we do, you’ll have to respect our wishes.”

Michael’s lip quivered in surprise. His anger was diluted with confusion. “I thought you wanted to find your family, George? I thought you wanted to run off and leave us all behind.” His words dripped with meaning.

George moved closer to Michael, and Jeff stepped back involuntarily. He was no longer a part of the conversation.

“
I’ll stay. I’ll go with you on this scavenger hunt or whatever you’re calling it. I’ll do whatever needs to be done. But the boy stays in the camp.” He moved to within six inches of Michael, his eyes narrowing to pinpoints as he glared at the man who was the same height, but fifty pounds lighter.

“
Let me make this perfectly clear. If you try to take the boy with us, I’m leaving. I’ll walk right out of here. Your men can shoot me in the back, but otherwise, fuck you.” He bumped the other man’s chest with his own. “But before I go, I’ll snap your neck and toss you outside for those monsters to eat. I swear to God no one will be able to tear me off of you before you die.”

Jeff watched, his eyes growing wider with every word. Michael’s expression never changed, but his body went rigid with tension. George turned and stalked off.

“
But what about your family, George? Won’t they be lonely without you?”

George froze, and Jeff could see the murderous look on his face. Apparently so did Ben, who tipped his hat up off of his eyes and watched the proceedings with much greater interest.

George walked back toward Michael, and Ben leaned forward in his chair, ready to spring to his feet. Jeff took a step back and noticed Frank getting out of the way as well. George stopped a few feet from Michael. His fists were clenched as air hissed between his teeth. His fair complexion had turned crimson, and he looked like a volcano about to erupt.

Michael stood relaxed, motionless, but Jeff could see the fear the leader was carefully trying to hide. He had not expected George to respond to the snide comment and was fighting to look nonplussed in the face of the thickly muscled man standing before him.

George’s color gradually returned to normal, and the throbbing vein on his forehead settled. The hissing of his breath stopped, but the look of raw hatred for Michael remained on his face.

“
Don’t ever speak about my family again. Ever.”

George turned and marched off. Michael continued to stare at him as he walked away, his shoulders slumping in relief even as he tried to maintain a nonchalant air.

When he had composed himself, Michael looked around the camp again. “Fifteen minutes, people! Get your shit together and let’s get rolling!” He was already moving back toward his RV before he was done speaking. He slipped past Cindy and opened the door, slamming it shut behind him. She lingered outside for a moment, her eyes filled with malignant glee, as if she had enjoyed the argument immensely. Jeff watched as she turned and followed her boyfriend inside.

His eyes fell on Jason. The boy looked stunned by what had happened. When the twelve year old saw Jeff staring at him with anger in his eyes, Jason took off running across the courtyard. He reached their RV and fumbled with the door for a moment before charging inside, slamming it shut behind him.

Megan stood up as Jason ran by, calling to him, but he ignored her. She followed him to the RV door, banging on it at first and then trying to open it. When she realized it was locked, she went back to pounding on it. Jeff watched as Lydia stood up and walked over to her, taking the emaciated woman by the shoulders and whispering in her ear. Carefully, Lydia pulled Megan back toward the fire pit.

Jeff looked at George, who was sitting by himself at one of the tables, his head in his hands. Walking over, he noticed that Ben had his hat back down over his eyes, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He looked over at Frank as well. He was taking a swig out of a silver flask, and when he saw Jeff staring, he gave him a nasty grin.

George spoke first when Jeff reached him.

“
Don’t worry about me, Jeff. Jason’s safe; that’s all that matters.” George raised his head. His voice was hollow and his eyes glassy. He looked almost frail, despite his stocky frame.

“
I’m sorry, George. I tried …” Jeff’s voice drifted off as George shook his head and rubbed his eyes. His shoulders began to shake, and Jeff timidly moved forward, thinking his friend was crying.

George moved his hands away and, to Jeff’s relief, revealed that he was not crying, just breathing heavily. “I know, Jeff. Don’t worry about it.”

George stared out past the walls, his eyes distant.

“
You know, for nearly six weeks, I cowered in that church with Jason. We never did anything together but hide away from the world. I was so focused on getting to my family that I completely forgot about him … about what was going through his mind.” Jeff jumped as George slammed a meaty fist on the table. “I didn’t give a shit about him.”

“
You did what you had to do, George. You took care of the boy when there was no one else to do it.”

George waved Jeff’s excuses away. “No, I didn’t. I took care of myself, and Jason was along for the ride.” His shoulders slumped. “But I can make up for that now. I can do right by Jason, even if he doesn’t want me to.”

Jeff felt helpless. He didn’t know what to say as George piled the guilt onto himself.

“
I will get to my family, Jeff.”

George looked up, his jaw set with determination.

“
It might not be right away, but it will happen. No one—not Michael or a million plague victims—is going to stop me.” He stood up without another word and left.

Jeff was still watching George walk away when a hand gently touched his shoulder from behind. He turned to see Megan standing there, her face still wet with tears.

When she saw the expression on Jeff’s face, Megan pulled him close and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and felt the warm wetness of her tears saturate his shirt.

“
It’ll be okay. I promise it’ll be okay,” she whispered.

Jeff nuzzled the top of her head and nodded, squeezing her tight. As she repeated the words, he wondered whether Megan was trying to convince him or herself. As they stood holding one another, he realized it made no difference.

Chapter 11

The plan was simple.

Ben would scout ahead on foot and use his walkie-talkie to stay in touch. Michael had the other and would be driving the minivan. Ben would report with a series of beeps on the talkie indicating whether it was safe to hit the road. Other than that, they would maintain radio silence.

As they sat in the van, Jeff saw nothing threatening wandering through the trees. As he looked at the RVs, he wondered how the group had managed to get the five bus-sized vehicles into the clearing without creating a stir. His eyes wandered over to the heavy machinery sitting dormant outside the protective circle of motor coaches. Teddy had mentioned that their gas tanks were bone dry, but they only knew that because they had tried to siphon off the fuel. Besides, starting them up would have notified every slug in a ten-mile radius of their location.

The trees creating a wall around the area were thicker to the south, where the new subdivision was supposed to have expanded, had construction gotten underway. Jeff squinted and guessed the trees probably stretched for a least half a mile back.

The van felt like a sauna as everyone waited for Ben’s signal. The keys were in the ignition, but the vehicle had not been started, so there was no air conditioning. Michael insisted on doing nothing to draw attention before absolutely necessary, so there was little for everyone to do but twiddle their thumbs and try not to sweat to death in the cramped quarters.

Jeff was jammed between George and Teddy, huge circles of wetness on his armpits and chest. He gripped his baseball bat in both fists, the tip resting on the floor. Michael had given him his bat back and had the audacity to act as if he were being magnanimous as he did. George, on the other hand, had been given nothing with which to defend himself. If they got into trouble, he would be forced to use his bare hands.

Jeff had argued that he and George should get their rifles back, and Michael had almost laughed at the request. “Prove your worth to me today and then maybe I’ll consider giving them back to you down the road” had been his response. The weapons were to remain in the camp, and Cindy would be in charge of them while they were gone.

The heat was potent, and though Michael had the front windows rolled down, there was no airflow. Just a bunch of sweaty men turning the van into an oven.

Jeff let his mind wander as they waited, and it drifted back to Megan. It had been hard for her to let him and George leave, especially with Jason still locked in their RV not speaking to anyone. Jeff was nervous about leaving her there with that crazy bitch Cindy in charge, but Lydia reassured him and George that she would watch out for both Megan and Jason and keep Cindy away from them. It didn’t make him feel much better, but he thanked her anyway.

Jeff glanced over at George. The look on his friend’s face made him nervous. The pain of what Michael had forced the family man to agree with was fresh in George’s eyes. Jeff patted him on the shoulder, and George looked at him. He was still bitter, but as he stared at Jeff, he managed a small smile.

After what seemed like forever, the walkie-talkie started chirping. Jeff wondered if it was Morse code Ben was sending over or some other code he and Michael had come up with. Whatever it was, it did not take long for Michael to translate.

“
Okay, gents, the coast is clear up to the road. Let’s move.”

Michael turned the key in the ignition, and the van roared to life, shattering the quiet surrounding them. Jeff cringed as he realized how loud the minivan sounded in the dead silence of the world.

They turned away from the circle of RVs. Jeff glanced back as they moved down the rutted path. Soon the trees hid the camp, and it disappeared behind the canopy. He thought again about Megan and Jason and could only hope they remained safely tucked away while he and George went on the salvage run.

Before he knew it, they were at the cars lining the roadway. Jeff nearly laughed as he looked at how they were arranged in a perfect funnel to trap a victim. He rolled his eyes, wondering how he could have missed that the day before when they had been captured by Michael and the others so easily.