The Renegades 2 Aftermath (A Post Apocalyptic Zombie Thriller) Page 11

  I turned around. “You knew this was coming?”

  “Look, believe it or not, it was under control at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah.”

  “The Dugway? What the hell is that?”

  “A military facility that tests biological and chemical weapons.”

  I stared, unable to comprehend what I was hearing.

  “Are you telling me we created this?”

  “It was a mistake,” he shot back as if sensing that he was somehow to blame.

  I scoffed at his response. “Yeah, I kind of figured that much. What is it?”

  “I’m no scientist. But I’m certain it was something to do with a biological weapon the military was working on.”

  I shook my head. “So if it was under control, how did it get out?”

  “That’s the part I don’t know.”

  “What the fuck do you know?” I replied, frustrated by his lack of clarity.

  “Settle down.”

  “Settle down? I lost my father, my friend, and so have they! Settle down?” I raised my voice, scowling at the only person I could direct my anger toward. The only one who represented government, even if he played no role in the creation of the virus.

  “Listen, all I can tell you is what I learned from a scientist before he died. Spores were prematurely shipped out to eighty-eight labs in the U.S. and seven other countries. Who authorized it? Not even they knew. It was major fuckup.”

  “A fuckup?” I laughed. “Holy shit!” I ran a hand through my hair, trying to grab hold of the enormity of the situation. This wasn’t just about a few cities, or a town being infected. We were looking at an outbreak that had gone global.

  “Once they realized what it did to the human body.” He paused and swallowed hard. “The CDC and Salt Lake City Laboratories began work on a possible cure. A search for an anti-virus was underway. They believed they had it.

  Along with the president was a group of scientists who were going to return the sample to NORAD so that further tests could be run. Until that point, as far as we knew, the threat was minimal. It had been contained. How the infected escaped is still a mystery to us. Everything happened so fast. When all hell broke loose in the city, the first priority was the safety of the president. Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t have been a problem. We usually had the support of local police to escort us, but this wasn’t normal. They had their hands filled, as did we. It was total chaos. As the dead started attacking, things spiraled out of control fast.”

  “Not that it matters, but the president, where is he?”

  Garret’s eyes dropped. “I’m not… exactly sure. Dead, maybe.”

  It felt like the world around me was caving in.

  “Unbelievable,” I said, pacing back and forth.

  He let out a sigh, squeezed his eyes shut as if trying to recall. “Initially we were all together, we remained inside the hotel waiting for a team to come in and extract him.”

  “And if they can’t?”

  “Everything is already planned and mitigated in the event of his death or inability to perform his duties.”

  “A transfer of power to the vice president and then the next idiot, though that wouldn’t happen if there was no one alive to transfer it to, would it?” I muttered.

  “Right, and as far as we knew others were still alive. But then things got even worse. We soon got word that Hill Air Force Base was overrun, and Air Force One had been destroyed. Those that had managed to get out in time said they would send someone to extract the president. No one came. We were on our own. Myself, six others from the Secret Service, two scientists, and his daughter, Kat.”

  “Forgive me while I shed a tear,” I said shaking my head.

  Garret ran a hand over his tired face.

  “Anyway, as the days went by it just got worse. No one showed up. The hotel was on lockdown to prevent the dead for getting in, and yet they still managed to find entry. When the power went down, we knew we had to get out. Three of the agents escorted the scientists out first. We made it to the stairwell before we were forced back into the room. Only one of them returned. A scientist. His leg had been bitten.”

  He paused trying to compose himself. I could see the fear in his eyes as he recalled what had led up to this moment.

  He continued. “Behind the door we could hear the sound of the dead trying to get in. I’ll never forget it. It was so loud. It wouldn’t stop. At one point I just covered my ears. Then survival instincts kicked in and we moved the president to the roof using a fire escape. Over a period of two days we remained there exposed to the elements until the real animals arrived.”

  “Real animals?”

  “The gang you saw last night. They had spotted us from another building. Initially they had pretended to be hotel workers. We couldn’t see them on the other side of the door. They said they would die if we didn’t open. What were we meant to do? I didn’t want to open. The president made the call in the end. Big mistake. They outnumbered us the moment we opened it.”

  “You blame yourself for it?”

  He fixed his gaze on me. “Not once has the president been hurt under my watch.”

  “So how did you get away?”

  He was about to tell me when Jess joined us.

  “There you are. I was wondering where you’d gone. Dax and the others are up.”

  “We’ll be there in a moment.”

  Jess nodded, her eyes darting between the two of us.

  “Is Kat okay?” Garret asked.

  “Yeah. Still shaken up, but as well as can be.”

  Jess could tell she had interrupted our conversation. She gestured that she was leaving and then disappeared back down the steps. Garret looked out across the city, shaking his head.

  “Even with the best military in the world and we still lost control.”

  I prompted him to continue. “You were saying?”

  He glanced at me, squinting as if trying to regain his train of thought. “They stopped to siphon gas, we took advantage of the moment, overpowered the two watching over us. I grabbed Kat and we bolted. We lost another guy trying to escape.”

  “And the president?”

  “He was in a different vehicle. There was no way we could have got to him.”

  “Where were they taking you?”

  “I heard them say something about Temple Square.”

  I blew out my cheeks, registering it.

  Garret must have noticed. “You know what’s there?”

  “Tongan Crips. We met up with one of their rival gangs. They had told us they had taken it over.”

  Garret nodded. “I heard them talking about someone who went by the name Domino.”

  “Their leader,” I replied.

  Garret tossed a stone over the edge and watched it drop.

  “Why didn’t you just leave the city?” I asked.

  “Because that’s not my mission. My job is to make sure the president is safely returned.”

  “Kind of late for that, isn’t it?”

  “Until I know any different, he’s still alive.”

  “Even if he is, and you could get him out, where would you take him?”

  “NORAD. That’s where they’ll be.”

  “Who?”

  “Government. Scientists.”

  “And if he’s dead?” I asked

  “Dead or alive. It doesn’t matter, at least to society. But what he’s carrying — that’s important.”

  “Which is?”

  “The cure.”

  My eyes grew wide.

  “There’s really a cure for this shit?” Dax’s voice came from behind us.

  I glanced over my shoulder to see him walking towards us.

  Garret directed his answer to him. “If the scientist from the CDC was right — yeah. They had created a sample that tested positive for destroying the virus.”

  “Well, you can kiss that goodbye. If he had it on him, the Crips have it now.”

  “No. It’s a storage devi
ce embedded in the president. They wouldn’t know.”

  “I don’t believe you,” I said. “Why would they inject a sample into the president? His job is to stay alive, not to be placed at risk. After the screw-up they had with those spores, hell, the Secret Service wouldn’t have allowed it, let alone him.”

  “We didn’t allow it. And they didn’t inject it. He did.”

  “What?” Dax asked with a look of complete disbelief.

  “The moment things started to spiral out of control. Before we lost the last scientist, it was given to him. He wasn’t prepared to let it fall into the wrong hands. He chose to inject the small device into the corner of his hip.”

  “And that’s not dangerous?”

  “No, the test sample is contained within a fully sealed titanium device.”

  “Ok, but why inject it? If it’s just a sample, it would be useless to anyone.”

  “Can you imagine what that would be worth in the wrong hands?”

  “You think that anyone cares about money?” I paused. “News flash, Garret! There’s no one left to pay for it. And money is obsolete.”

  “You’re not seeing the bigger picture here. It’s leverage. Besides, not everyone has died. They have things in place for the continuation of government. Four hundred are at NORAD, and that doesn’t take into account all the other places in the USA and around the world that would be used for the continuation of life. That sample is the most valuable asset on the planet right now, and I’m not leaving without it.”

  I squeezed the bridge of my nose before I broke into a rant.

  “You’re telling me the only known possible cure that exists for this complete fuckup that was started by our own government, is inside the president of the United States? Who could be, maybe, might be… dead? Walking the streets as one of those things. Or hell, worse — holed up among two hundred Crips! And you want to go in and get him?”

  Garret paused a beat. “Yeah, that’s about the extent of it.”

  I stared back at him, studying his face before I begun to shake my head. “You’re out of your fucking mind.”

  Garret narrowed his eyes.

  “Garret, it can’t be done,” Dax said.

  He stared blankly back at us.

  I threw up my hands and began walking away. “Fuck no, we are not getting involved.”

  “We’re talking about the only cure for a global epidemic,” Garret replied.

  I came charging back. “And I’m talking about our survival.”

  “There won’t be any survival if we don’t get that sample,” he spat back.

  For a moment I thought about shoving him off the roof. I don’t know why I was directing my anger at him. Maybe I just needed to vent.

  “Why not just go to the CDC and get another? I mean they must have had more, right?” Dax asked.

  “Maybe.”

  “Johnny?” Dax asked.

  I screwed my face up. “Hell, no. We are already up shit creek without a paddle.”

  With that I walked away, left the roof, and joined the others down below.

  * * *

  Jess immediately could tell something wasn’t right. She approached me but I just shrugged it off and kept my distance. That last thing I needed now was to rehash the shit I had just heard.

  I had been eager to save Millie and Caitlin back in Castle Rock. To be someone who might change the outcome for another. This wasn’t Castle Rock. It wasn’t my call. It wasn’t our place to risk our lives. Besides, what had come from all of our help? They had got to live a few more days. A few more fucking days! I wasn’t sure what I was angry with, the dead that shuffled on the streets, or the ones that had created them? They were both equally responsible for death. Yet the dead just acted on mindless instinct. The living should have known better. Creating biological weapons to kill other humans. When would we ever learn that no amount of killing led to peace? I could feel something break inside me. The thought of the military invading another country. All their macho bullshit. I couldn’t blame the soldiers. They were only doing their duty. But so were those who they fought against. Back and forth. One war after the next. To what gain? A few more years of peace? Before more death? Before the assholes in Washington villainized a new target? Created a new war on terror? Had this been another one of their sick games? Playing with human life like Russian roulette. Except this time the bullet had killed us.

  I was beginning to lose hope. Did it really matter if we did anything for others, if we would end up dead later?

  Baja strolled over.

  “You want breakfast?” he said, munching on something that looked like a turd.

  “Nah.”

  “Think I can have yours?”

  “Go ahead, man,” I replied. “I’ve lost my appetite.”

  FLIP A COIN

  According to Garret, the Disease Control and Prevention Center was fourteen minutes away on an ordinary day, and that was if you had a vehicle. We didn’t. It was thirty by foot. To say that I was feeling a little deflated by my conversation with him would have been putting it mildly. Dax gathered the others together after breakfast to get their vote. We had already planned on going over to the CDC but that was before I found out there were no safe zones. Now it all seemed so meaningless. I could barely process what Garret had told me. I watched from a distance as the others came to the reality of our predicament. Izzy glanced at Jess. Baja made a joke of it and Specs seemed lost in thought, then again he always looked that way. Ralphie was the only one other than my brother who thought it made sense.

  “Listen, we can stay here, or try to find some place to survive and live out the rest of our days, or we can be involved in getting the president back.”

  I know he meant well, but Ralphie was a bit of an oddball. On the surface he didn’t resemble the William Wallace, let me give you a motivational speech, type of guy. More like the fella who asked if you wanted to super-size that meal. And if you did, tough shit because he had already eaten it. He wore round glasses, and some might have said he looked as though he had worked his way through his fair share of Happy Meals. Not that it mattered, we all had our vices. Mine had been cigarettes. I had been trying to kick the habit since I was twelve. When asked how I got started, I would tell people that I picked up butts that people tossed down at the bus stop, just so I could gross them out. The truth was, Specs nabbed them from his old man.

  Anyway back to our Tony Robbins wannabe.

  “This could be it, guys. Our chance to shine. To be all we can be.”

  Okay, he was starting to sound like a bloody infomercial for the army. And he may have convinced everyone if… Baja hadn’t tossed a half-eaten weiner at his forehead.

  “Alright, enough of that shit,” Baja interrupted. “Let me cut to the chase. What our dear friend here is trying to say through the drivel that is coming out his mouth is this. If we don’t go find this cure that is hidden in the president’s ass—”

  “Uh… it’s not,” Garret cut him off.

  “What? Not what?” Baja snapped back.

  “It’s not in his ass, it’s in his hip.”

  “Hip, ass it’s all a little to near to the hole for my liking. Anyway, as I was saying before I was rudely interrupted by a member of the secret society…”

  “It’s Secret Service.”

  “Yeah, about that. Don’t you think it’s kind of dumb that you call yourselves the Secret Service? I mean, I know about you. Pretty much most of the United States does. It’s not exactly a secret. You might wanna rethink the name, bud. Just a thought.” He paused.

  “Um, I’ll keep that in mind.” Garret looked at the others and rubbed his head as if wondering if the medications we had given him for pain were actually mind-altering drugs.

  “Where was I? Oh yeah, now, we either go up against two hundred Crips and rescue the president, or we can head over to the CDC and see if we can find another sample of the cure, and the president can go fuck himself. I vote, the president goes fuck himself. Who’s
with me?”

  He pumped the air with his fist.

  “Hey, that’s my father you’re talking about,” Kat piped up.

  “Whoa, whoa, darlin’. No need to shoot the messenger. I’m just saying. I mean let’s face it. If he had actually done his job, we probably wouldn’t be in this mess.”

  I couldn’t argue with that. Her nostrils flared. At this point I would have usually intervened but Izzy did it.

  “Baja, go take a nap,” Izzy pushed him aside and stepped up on this chair that Ralphie had been using to give his Winston Churchill speech. She looked around at us, peered over at me. I had sat by the window, occasionally glancing over.

  “There’s no point blaming anyone here. What’s done is done. So, I don’t think anyone needs to be told what to do. We go to the CDC, see what we can find. Worst-case scenario there’s nothing and we move on, or…” she paused and looked at Kat. “We offer our help.”

  I let out a stifled laugh. It was loud enough that Izzy heard.

  “Do you have something to add, Johnny?”

  “I just think it’s absurd. Why should we risk our lives for someone who for all we know could be dead?”

  “Uh, because he has the cure.”

  “You presume he has the cure. No offense…” I looked at Garret. “But we don’t know that for sure.”

  “I told you he does,” Garret replied.

  “You might be convinced — we’re not!” I said. “And we have met our fair share of people who lie.”

  He lifted his hands. “What possible reason could I have to lie?”

  “Uh, let me think. You have a so-called perfect track record of protecting the president. Maybe your ego has been battered a little. Then there is of course the glaring fact that you have his daughter with you.”

  Kat stood up and walked over to me. “Forget that he’s the president. If it was your father, would you leave him?”

  I stared at her for a moment. Her steely blue eyes bore into me, waiting for an answer.