The Living and the Dead Read online

  “This is getting to be preposterous,” Brent said.

  “Yeah, it doesn’t always make sense to us, but it is the truth. Whether it is the devil, some evil damned thing, or Hitler’s grandmother come back from the dead. It is running some sort of behind the scenes show, pulling the puppet strings on this commander, wanting him to kill Jason. Kara and I talked about this. This whole zombie apocalypse has brought on a new dark age. A lot of bad mojo and evil shit. The world has become a huge chess board between the forces of good and evil. Jason is the key.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Brent said.

  “You don’t have to. Something is going to happen soon, and it’s going to change everything.”

  “But you haven’t even made a call,” Linda said.

  “I know, but it’s my best guess that all I have to do is turn the phone on and somebody is going to come running.”

  “Your friends?” Linda asked.

  “I sort of doubt it.”

  “If they are going to kill Jason when they get here, then why is this a good idea?” Brother Ed asked.

  “Because those fuckers have my woman and I don’t know how much time I have before they do something terrible to her. She’s carrying my child.”

  “What?” Brother Ed asked, but it came out more like a statement.

  “It happens, Ed. It’s called procreation. People have been doing it for years.”

  “You shouldn’t have brought her with us, then,” he said.

  “Well, I did. So deal with it.”

  Brent stood up and seethed with rage. “I don’t need to hear about your soap operas. It sounds like the call you’re about to make is going to bring nothing but bad news down on us. You could get us all killed,” Brent said.

  “We’re all dead anyway,” I said. “Marlow will only keep any of us around for so long. You know it. I know it. It’s inevitable. I’m just either short-cutting the process or, maybe, giving us our only chance.”

  “So, are you going to make a call?” Naveen asked

  “I sort of already did when I turned it on, but I’ll dial anyway,” I said. I pressed the last called button and pushed the phone to my ear. It took a few seconds, but miles away, a phone began to ring. This went on for nearly thirty seconds and a new sense of dread started to seep into me. Where the hell was Aaron?

  “Who are you calling?” Linda asked, but you could hear the fear in her voice.

  “My friend,” I replied.

  “Why isn’t he answering?” Brother Ed asked.

  “I don’t know,” I said and hit the end call button. “He could have the phone off or he could be away from the phone. The battery could be dead. It’s probably off because it can be tracked just like this one. Like I said, it probably doesn’t matter.”

  “I think you’re putting us all at risk,” Brent said.

  “It’s way past that,” I said. “Anything is better than this shit.”

  Chapter 15

  Inside The Manor

  Madison wavered, trying to figure out which way to go. Mr. Schultz has said that this Colonel Kilgore was not to be trusted, but he didn’t seem all that bad. Maybe a little intense. Maybe even crazy, but there was an inner strength emanating from the man that was hard to deny. It was like a magnet, pulling her in.

  She started to talk, but from outside the door, she heard feet rushing towards the room. Both she and Kilgore turned their attention toward the door and she could see a sense of dread fall over him.

  The door burst open and a red-faced, somewhat pudgy soldier sprung into the room, panting from a long run. He had an expression halfway between excitement and fear.

  “Colonel Kilgore, we have the sat-phone,” he said between heaving breaths.

  Kilgore’s head tilted, and it reminded her of a dog hearing words it could never understand.

  The soldier took in several deep breaths and said, “The sat-phone you had us looking for. It’s on and it staying on. We have a lock on its location.”

  It was Kilgore’s time to waffle. He looked back to Madison as if he were looking to her for some sort of cue. Maybe to draw some strength from her. To look for some desperate possibility of escape.

  But she was just a little girl and was not even his little girl. His little girl was long dead. Taken down by the undead along with his wife while he was trying to hold things together at the base. He didn’t know they were gone for four days. By then, things were moving too fast to slow down and mourn. It all got stuffed down deep inside in a little dark lock box that he rarely opened.

  For a moment, he looked back to Madison, his grip tightening on her arms, as if he let go he might never be able to come back to something important. Something essential.

  A voice sounded in the back of his mind and it said, “Find Jason Carter!”

  His grip intensified and his eyes closed, wincing from the searing pain in his skull. Madison yelped in pain and he immediately released her as his eyes snapped open. A look of fear passed across his face and he reached out to her again, but she took a step back as he slowly stood up, looking shaky doing it. The fear was back in his face.

  “It’s okay,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

  “Sir, do you want me to get a chopper ready?” the red-faced soldier asked.

  Kilgore spun around and shot the soldier a withering stare. The soldier acted as if he had been struck and stumbled back a step.

  Kilgore looked at Madison, then back to the soldier, wobbling a little, looking off balance. He rotated back and forth between them one more time, tugging at his shirt and patted it back in place. The expression on his face looked like one of bitter resignation.

  “Yes, get a chopper ready,” Kilgore said.

  “Sir, we only have the old Huey,” the soldier said reluctantly. Since they had lost one chopper and a pilot had gone AWOL with the other one, they were stuck with an older model Iroquois. It had none of the advanced features of the ones they had lost. It was slow and rickety in comparison, but Kilgore had insisted it be loaded with weapons pod modifications. On the front left side was a 20mm cannon pod. Each side was outfitted for door gunners, complete with an m60 machine gun.

  “That will have to do,” Kilgore said. “Make sure it has a full complement of ammo. Who’s available to fly?”

  “We only have Soto, sir,” the soldier replied.

  “He’ll have to do,” Kilgore said. “If I had to, I could pilot it.” He paused and looked around to the two soldiers standing behind Madison. “You make sure she is kept safe.” He took a step in their direction. “Do you understand me?”

  The two soldiers snapped to attention and said, “Yes, sir,” in unison.

  Kilgore turned his attention to Madison and said, “I’ll be back soon and everything will be alright. I’ll take care of everything.”

  She saw the scary look back in his eyes again. That crazy fire behind them. She didn’t say anything but just nodded.

  Kilgore pivoted away from her and started off in a purposeful and rigid gait toward the red-faced soldier who looked about to combust from nervous energy. He stepped backward, anticipating Kilgore’s exit and pushed the door fully open, moving out of the doorway as Kilgore breezed by him without looking back. The soldier let the door shut, as he followed.

  Their footsteps echoed in the hallway, but they slowly dissipated, leaving Madison in the room with the two soldiers.

  “What the fuck,” one of them said to the other one.

  “What do we do with her?” the other one asked.

  “Keep her safe, I guess.”

  “How do we do that?” the second one asked.

  “I say we give her over to the people here. They’re safe. She’ll be safe.”

  Neither one of them added, “for now.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” the second soldier said and they both knew they were wiping their hands of her. “Come with us kid.”

  One floor above them, Corporal Gary Kinsler jogged along
a dark hallway, racing against time. Colonel Kilgore had ordered that the generators be shut down at night to conserve fuel. Kinsler knew how desperate the situation really was. Fuel for the helicopters, jeeps, trucks, and for the generators was running at dangerously low levels. With all the efforts being directed at finding Jason Carter and keeping the people on lock-down, little effort was being made for foraging for fuel or food. From his estimation, they had a week of both left. Maybe less. He had no idea what would happen when they ran out, but he doubted it would be an issue after tonight. Deep down, he could feel something bad was going to happen.

  Besides, he had bigger fish to fry. Mainly, he knew he had to get to Jo before Lodwick did. His logical mind told him to just leave, right then and there, but another voice told him to get to Jo. He just couldn’t let Lodwick do something to her if he could do something about it. No, not on his watch, even though he knew his watch was ending.

  Kilgore had set a strict curfew for the people of the Manor. No one was allowed out of their rooms after the sun went down. Not all of them obeyed all the time, but most did. The few that were caught out were put in total lockdown and starved for a day. With the way Kilgore had been acting, it could have been worse.

  He neared a corner and slowed. Just as he turned it, a dark figure stepped out of the shadows holding a rifle, “Hold it right there!” the figure shouted.

  Kinsler skidded to a stop and instinctively put his hands in the air.

  “Corporal Kinsler?” the figure asked.

  “Beltran, is that you?” Kinsler asked.

  “Yeah, sir,” the figure said and popped on a flashlight, giving his face an eerie underglow.

  “I’m looking for a woman’s room...Jo’s her name,” Kinsler said.

  “It’s right here,” Beltran said motioning to the door behind his back. “Corporal Lodwick sent me to guard it. He said he was on his way up in a couple minutes.”

  “And she’s in there?” Kinsler asked.

  “Yes, I checked.”

  “Okay, I’ll get her,” Kinsler said.

  “But Corporal Lodwick said she wasn’t supposed to go anywhere. He said his orders came from the Colonel.”

  “I’m aware of that,” Kinsler responded. “The Colonel changed his mind and told me to get her just after Lodwick left the room.”

  “Okay, sir, whatever,” Beltran said and gave way to Kinsler.

  Kinsler moved by the soldier and pulled his sidearm out as he got to the door. He looked back at Beltran who was leaning against the wall, relaxed but aware. Kinsler rapped his knuckles on the door and waited. In his head, he felt some sort of clock ticking down to a deadline he couldn’t predict. He only knew that he had a minute or two at best. He also questioned his sanity because the best play would have been to run hard and run fast, but there he was -- waiting.

  A couple moments later, Jo’s face appeared in the crack between the wall and the partially open door.

  “Yes?” she asked, looking wide awake.

  “The Colonel would like to see you,” he said.

  “About what?” she asked.

  “He didn’t say,” Kinsler said, “but it doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”

  “It’s late, can’t it wait until morning?”

  “No, ma’am, it can’t.”

  She closed her eyes, exhaled loudly, and said, “Give me one minute.”

  “No, let’s go now,” Kinsler said, taking a moment to glance down the hall.

  “I just need my boots,” she said.

  It was his turn to sigh. “Okay, just do it fast.”

  She left the door partially open but disappeared from view. Kinsler felt valuable seconds ticking away. Lodwick could come upstairs at any moment and Kinsler had no idea what he would do in a showdown with Lodwick. There was no doubt that Lodwick would be bringing a few soldiers with him. That was his way. Never go alone as a bully when you could always take along some back-up.

  “What time did Corporal Lodwick say he was coming up?” Kinsler asked Beltran.

  “Soon,” Beltran responded. “You want me to call down?”

  “No, there’s no need. I’ll have her out the door and down to the Colonel in no time.”

  The door opened fully and Jo stepped out into the hallway wearing jeans, heavy work boots, and a fatigue jacket over a flannel shirt.

  She noticed him looking at her and said, “Hey, it’s cold in here.”

  “Okay, let’s go,” Kinsler said, then turned to Beltran. “Can you patrol down the way I came? I want to make sure everyone is locked down tonight. Check the rooms on the first floor, too.”

  “Yes, sir,” Beltran said and headed off down the hall.

  Kinsler waved his sidearm to indicate that Jo was to start moving ahead of him down the hall. She complied, but she didn’t like that he had his weapon out and that she had her back to him. Because he had the gun, and she had none meant that she was at losing end of the power dynamic, so she complied because she had little other choice

  They moved down the dark hallway, passing several doors. The Manor’s residents were inside, supposedly asleep.

  They made it another twenty yards when he said, “Go left.”

  “But the stairwell down is to the right,” she said.

  “I know, just do what I’m saying.”

  They both knew who held all the cards, and she did as she was told. They went left down a hallway with almost no light and Jo slowed as to not trip over anything. They passed several more rooms, but these were empty. Most of the Manor’s people were up toward the front of the complex just before the main building. It kept them concentrated in one area and made them easier to manage.

  Jo didn’t like it at all that she was being taken further and further away from people. Things happened to women in the dark when they were powerless. Still, she went because she had little other choice. If things went south, she’d do what she could because she knew what was happening in the sub-basement and wanted to keep this night as quiet as possible. No reason to cause a ruckus and get all the soldiers on alert. She didn’t know for sure what kind of trouble she could cause since he had a gun, but she’d do what she could if it came to that.

  They moved deeper into the complex and were about to enter the back service building when Kinsler said, “There’s a stairway coming up on the right. Take that and head down.”

  “Where are you taking me?” Jo said, stopping in the hallway.

  “You’ll find out when we get there. Just keep going.” He motioned emphatically toward the stairway door, a dim glint reflecting off the barrel of his gun.

  She pushed the door open, and they headed down the nearly pitch black stairwell. She wondered if she should make a break for it in the dark, but he snapped on a mini-flashlight and played the light on the steps ahead of her. So much for a getaway, she thought.

  Their footfalls echoed loudly in the empty stairwell, making Jo think of a mausoleum. That made her think of the dead which made her think of the undead which was unsettling considering what Russell and Maggie were up to.

  “Should we go onto the first floor or continue down?” she asked. She knew going down into the basement would be a real problem.”

  “No, let’s go out into the first floor,” he said.

  She led the way, his flashlight making it easier to descend. They reached the landing and Jo pushed her way into another long hallway with an intersecting corridor just twenty feet to their left. Kinsler followed her out, but snapped off the flashlight which she thought was odd and a little unsettling.

  “Hold on a second,” he said in a hushed tone.

  She stopped in place. Off in the distance, voices could be heard, along with footsteps. They were muffled by distance, but they were still easily within earshot.

  He put a finger up to his lip for her to be silent which she found very strange. Then he held out his hand towards her with his palm open in a gesture that told her to stay where she was. He slid by her, moving stealthily toward the intersecting
corridor. He slowed and came to a stop just before he reached the corridor. She watched as he slowly peeked around the corner.

  Something was definitely up and it couldn’t lead to any good. Why else would he be so careful? And who was he hiding from?

  She slowly crouched down and slid her hand into her boot and retrieved a small piece of rebar, its end broken off to a jagged but somewhat sharpened point. She palmed it in such a way that it wasn’t obvious and crept forward, toward Kinsler’s back. He was so concentrated on what was going on down the other corridor and out of her view that he didn’t hear her coming.

  When she made it to within ten feet of him, she let the piece of rebar slide into her hand and readied herself to make a jab at his backside. The way he was bent forward, she thought she could do some real damage to his right kidney before he turned around.

  She hit the five feet mark and was about to make her lunge when he jerked his head back and whipped around to see what she was about to do.

  “Get the fuck back” he hissed out, pointing the gun at her face. “Get back now.”

  She immediately took three steps back but held onto the rebar.

  “Drop the knife,” he said, still keeping his voice low.

  “It’s not a knife,” she said, whispering, too, to match his tone.

  “Whatever the hell it is, drop it. And do it quietly.”

  She put out her hands, letting the piece of rebar fall, but stuck out her foot at the same time, letting her boot blunt the impact. The piece of rebar bounced off her boot and onto the floor.

  He took a half-step back and took the quickest of peeks around the corner and then returned his focus on her, looking a little more relaxed.

  “Why did you bring me back here?” she asked. “Are you going to rape me?

  “What?!” he said. “I’m trying to save your life.”

  “What?”

  Chapter 16

  In the Woods

  Schultzy positioned himself next to an old sturdy oak tree, using it as cover, only peeking out from time-to-time. They could have night vision scopes, so he knew he had to be careful.