Apocalypse Aftermath (48 page)

“I told you sir.” Austin said, his professional face in place.

“So you did.” Tyler sighed.  “Well, why don’t we see about getting the vehicles positioned as we discussed to give us some cover around the building.”

“That was probably Sieber.  He was a sniper; he could do the kind of shooting Lori’s describing.
  And she’s damn lucky she got him if it was.  That guy was scary good with a rifle.”

“That’s speculation.”

Austin’s voice was dangerously patient.  “Who else would target this facility?  And if Sieber was out there, that means Eckert is too.”

“Who’s Eckert?” Jessica asked loudly, pitching her voice to carry in a firm tone.

Eyes swung to her.  Jessica ignored everyone to focus on Austin.  He gazed at her for a long moment, then suddenly looked very tired.  Just around the eyes, but it was there.  “Matt Eckert.  One of the guys who split Saturday night.  He and Ken Sieber were tight buddies.”

Jessica stared at him.  Before she’d gotten to Dennis’ house Saturday night, she’d been told there had been some sort of group schism among the people Tyler had gathered there.  A lot of them, many with the exa
ct same kind of training and career Austin possessed, had departed to strike out on their own.  Something about disagreeing with Tyler’s leadership or plans.

If there were a bunch of people with Austin’s skillset outside now, but lacking the better parts of his personality . . .

“Two men.” Tyler said calmly.  “Now one.”

“Eckert is well respected and had a lot of support among everyone who bailed.” Austin said in a tone that wasn’t quite accusing.  “It was more than two men who shot up the town earlier.  Odds are
it’s everyone who struck out on their own, and probably any others they were able to get in touch with.  Eckert held them together as a group, which makes sense.”

“Again, speculation.”

Jessica limped straight for Austin, feeling but ignoring Candice at her side as the girl scrambled to stay with her mother, and also ignoring Tyler as she went past.  “You’re telling me there’s a group of guys with military training out there getting ready to attack the building?” she demanded, only whispering because she was trying not to give Tyler an in on her question.

“Very probably.” Austin told her.

Jessica gazed at him for two seconds that felt like hours, then shook her head.  Her thoughts were clear with a cold clarity that shocked her, but she was too busy thinking about what was about to happen here to barely even notice.  She was
not
getting into a pitched battle over a stupid building when there were thousands of empty ones in any direction that didn’t have anyone willing to fight over them.

“That’s it then.”
she said simply, quietly.  A pained look twisted behind Austin’s eyes, but she rode right over it before he could speak.  “Candice and I are leaving.  Now.”  She had Candice and her purse, and that’s all she needed.  There wasn’t anything up in the room she had to go get, even if there was time.

“They might be willing to negotiate.” Austin said
, equally quietly.

“Is Tyler?” she demanded.  Before he could answer, she turned to look at Tyler
and raised her voice some.  “Why don’t you make a deal with them.  Safety in numbers.  There’s plenty of room in here for a lot of people.  I don’t care how dangerous they think they are, I’ll bet they’d have a use for more hands to help carry the workload.”

“Assuming it is
them,
” Tyler said in a tone touched with anger, “based on their actions so far I seriously doubt they’re going to be interested in discussions.”

“You mean obeying and letting you call the shots.”
Jessica thought.  “Right.” she turned back to Austin.  “What’s your decision.”

“I’ve never run out on anyone before.” Austin said unhappily.

“You’re not.  You’re retreating to fight another day.  This is a lost cause.”

“What’s the problem?” Tyler asked.

“I’m leaving.” Jessica replied without looking at him, keeping her eyes on Austin as she leaned her cane against her legs and pulled the Taurus out.  Keeping it pointed at the floor, she got the slide racked back to load the first bullet and put the safety back on before jamming it back into the holster.

“What?” Dennis exclaimed.

“Decide.” she told Austin quietly as she reached behind her and pulled the Shield out to load it too.  “In five seconds Candice and I are out that door and we’ll take our chances.  They’ve got to be better than staying here at ground zero.”

“Jessica, you can’t be serious.” Dennis said as he surged up next to her.  “Think about what you’re doing.”

“I am Dennis.” she said, glancing at him briefly as she returned the Shield to the holster at her back and grasped her cane again.  “You should too.”

“Mrs. Talbot, your decisions are yours to make, but I can’t allow you to take one of our
vehicles.  Especially now.”

“You can’t leave on foot.” Dennis said urgently.  “You can barely walk.”

“I’m fine.  We’ve already been on foot amid zombies once; I can do it again.  Anything is better than staying here and getting shot.” she said as she shifted her gaze back to Austin, and completely ignored Tyler and his almost snide statement about the SUVs.  She held Austin’s eyes for several moments, then felt something twist inside her as he simply gazed back.  She’d really thought . . . it didn’t matter.

“Come on Candice.” she said far more calmly than she felt.  “Good luck Dennis.  Thank you for everything.”

She turned for the lobby doors.  Her first limping step felt heavy and hard as she started to ponder what she was going to do, but before she could take the second Austin’s voice took hold of the weight within her and lifted.

“Okay.”

Jessica looked over her shoulder at him, relieved but steeling herself with all her might to not assume too much.  “Okay?”

“Okay.” he repeated, nodding to her.  “Mr. Morris, it’s been real, but I hereby tender my resignation
. Effective immediately.”

“Carter you—” Vanessa began.

“Mr. Carter.” Tyler said loudly, stepping over his wife’s voice.  “Please think about what you’re doing.”

“I did.” Austin told him.  “When you were willing to let a mother and child walk out of here on foot without a word of protest.”

“If that’s your decision, then I’d appreciate it if you’d divest yourself of the Eagle property on your person before you leave.”

Jessica’s mouth dropped open a little as she looked at Tyler, whose face was graven with resolve. 
The
nerve
.  Austin’s reaction surprised her though.

“I’m owed three week’s pay as of yesterday.” he laughed, clearly amused, though Jessica didn’t see anything funny about the situation.  “And two of vacation and personal time.  Take it out of that, it’ll more than cover it.  Good luck Tyler.”

He turned to Jessica.  “Let’s go.”

“Jessica.” Dennis pleaded.

“Goodbye Dennis.” she said before she limped through the doors.  Candice was all but clinging to her right side, but Jessica kept walking.  Austin paced her on the left a step away.  When they were out from beneath the drive-through she spoke again.  “Thank you.”

“You’re right.”
Austin said as he walked next to her.

“I know.”

“Sorry I left you hanging there for a second.”

“You had me worried.”

“We’re not out of it yet.” he said.

She glanced at him briefly, then blinked when she saw he was holding his
MP5 over his head like he was trying to use it as a cover against a non-existent rain.  He was gripping the weapon by the barrel, where it would take him at least a few moments to shift his grip down to where the trigger was.  “What do you mean?”

“I mean if it’s Eckert or any of the others, they’re probably close.  We need to get through their cordon without making them think we’re a threat.”

“Any suggestions?”

“Try to act harmless.” he replied.

“I’ll do my best.”

“I know.”

“Mom?” Candice asked.

Jessica glanced down at her daughter, almost afraid to look at her, but Candice’s expression was fairly calm without a little tension visible.  “What is it sweetie?”

“Should I start watching for zombies for you, like before?”

Jessica smiled as a half-hysterical wave of relief washed over her.  “Yes, that’d be very helpful.”

“Okay.”

Jessica considered for a few moments, then glanced at Austin.  “You up for another task?”

“My plate’s kinda full at the moment.” he answered, but he grinned when he looked at her.

“Candice, I figured out your new emergency rule.”

“What is it?” the girl asked.

“Stick with Austin.  You hear me?”

“Yes.  I will.”

Austin’s face flashed into surprise, then he smiled slightly and gave her a subtle nod.  She returned a look of as much gratefulness and hope as she could muster, but said nothing further.  They went straight up the paved road to the gate, without incident.  Austin used his right hand to slide the gate aside on its little roller wheels so they could slip out, then pulled it shut behind them.

When Jessica made to keep going up the road, Austin gestured to the parked pickup.  “Hang on a second.”

She stopped while he opened the driver’s door and looked inside, then gestured at the passenger door.  “Billy left the keys in it.  Get in.”

“Get in.” Jessica repeated to Candice, limping over to the vehicle’s right side.  The door creaked as she pulled it open, and Candice scrambled up and over to the middle of the bench seat without being told.  Jessica frowned a little at the dried blood she saw on the driver’s side of the seat, but Austin ignored the mess as he moved the seat back and got in behind the steering wheel.  Jessica shrugged and hitched herself up before swiveling her legs in.  Her knee was still wrapped up and regardless she wasn’t ready to bend it unnecessarily.

“Especially right now.”
she thought silently as she closed the door.

The engine turned over and caught when Austin tried the key, and he backed away from the tree line slightly before putting
the truck into drive and heading north.  She expected him to floor it, but instead he kept the speed even lower than he’d driven during most of the long trip down from Atlanta.  The truck was barely rolling along at ten miles per hour, and after a few moments the yellow flashing hitting the surrounding trees caused her to realize he’d turned the hazard lights on.

She looked around.  The trees were thick and pretty close to the road, which suddenly made her nervous.  She’d already learned the night made the scary that much more of a nightmare, but now she contemplated what
trained
monsters could do out among them in the dark.

And it was pretty dark.  The moon wasn’t full anymore, and was still below the tree tops this early in the evening.  The shadows cast by it as it filtered through the upstretched vegetation were twisted and unpredictable, eerily lit by the steady blink of the truck’s hazards.  Gray, yellow, black
; gray, yellow, black.  Over and over.

After two minutes of creeping along the road, just as she was starting to think she might breathe a little easier, she saw a couple of vehicle sized shapes parked on the road ahead.  She opened her mouth, but Austin had already spotted them.

“Fuck.” he swore.  “Okay, here’s where it gets interesting.” he said as he hit the knob on the dash that killed the headlights.  They died, leaving only the steady blink of the emergency flashers.  Then he honked the horn a few times.

“What are you doing?”

“Negotiating.” he told her as he honked the horn three more times.

“Are we in trouble?” Candice asked, peering over the dash.

“Maybe.” Jessica said, reading Austin’s body language.

“Stay in the car.” he said as they drew closer without apparent incident.  He honked the horn a few times, then glanced at her.  “But they’re probably going to be nervous and want to check things out.  Try to do what they say while I see about getting us out of this.”

Jessica wanted to ask what he thought the odds were, but stopped herself.  She settled for a tight nod.  The tension built as they continued creeping forward.  She saw shapes – humanoid shapes carrying rifles and other weapons – standing around the vehicles on the road.  Most were behind them, like they were ready to take cover.

Austin pulled to within forty feet and stopped.  He rolled the window down and put his head outside just enough to shout without his voice bouncing around in the cab.  “I’m
coming out.  Let’s talk.”

“Come ahead then.” a male voice called back.

“Remember, act harmless.” Austin said in a low voice before reaching out through the window and working his door latch from the outside.  He stepped out slowly with his hands raised out from his sides, moving slowly and deliberately.

“Carter, what’s Morris sent you to say?” the same voice asked as Austin moved up to the front bumper of the truck.