Escape (13 page)

“I’ll talk to him. This must be a misunderstanding. He must’ve mistaken Charlie for—“

“I wouldn’t trust him, Sandy. I know this man. The way things are right now, there’s a good chance he’ll shoot you the way he did to Charlie. You’d better stay put and let me handle this.”

Dan turned his attention back to the front gate. The lumberyard was graveyard silent. Nothing moved, nothing in sight. Still, he could sense that the man was lurking within the building, maybe even waiting to line up another shot.

He’d already killed one of his comrades. It would be foolish to think he wouldn’t kill anyone else if he had the means. Dan lowered the window to a crack and yelled out of the opening.

“Reginald? I know you’re in there. This is Dan Lowery with the St. Matthews Police Department.”

The yard was silent.

“I’m not here to arrest you, but you have something of ours that we need back. Give us the car and we’ll be on our way.”

A few seconds of silence passed. Finally, a response rang through the yard.

“Bullshit.”

Dan tensed at the words, but did his best to remain cool.

“I’m telling the truth,” he called out.

“I know exactly what you’re looking for, you pig cocksucker. I’ve seen what you have in the car.” Reginald paused. “And there’s no way I’m giving it up. You think I want to die like everybody else?”

“Throw all of your weapons and open the gates. We’ll talk about it.”

Laughter filled the lumberyard, echoing off the gates and drifting out to the car. Dan bit his lip. He needed another opening, an advantage.

“I have my daughter with me, Reginald. She’s only eleven years old. I’m not looking for trouble. I just want our vehicle and our things.”

“Not happening. The food is ours now.”

“How long do you think that food will last you, anyway? A few weeks at most? I can tell you where to get more.”

“If you don’t need it, then why did you come here?”

“Because there are things in that car that I can’t replace. Open up, Reginald.”

There was a long pause. Dan looked back at the girls. Both of them were staring at him intently, their eyes round and hopeful.

When he glanced back over the dash, he saw a figure emerge from the shack and throw a weapon in the dirt. It was Reginald, and he was dressed in the same attire they’d seen him in hours earlier: a black jean jacket, dark jeans, and boots. He’d left his gun in the dirt by the shack.

When he reached the fence, he fiddled with a padlock in the center, then hung it on one of the links and swung open the gates.

“All right. Come on in inside,” he said. “Maybe we can make a deal.”

The man stood about twenty feet from the car with his arms raised. Charlie’s lifeless body lay on the ground next to him.

“Stay put,” Dan told the girls.

In spite of the man’s words, he still didn’t trust him. It was possible Reginald had another weapon on him.

Dan rolled the driver’s side window back up and felt for the door handle. Then he opened the door and propped his gun through the crack.

“Keep your hands in the air,” he called out.

Reginald remained in place, obedient. Dan swung his feet onto the asphalt and slowly exited the vehicle, keeping his pistol trained in front of him. As he advanced, he heard the man chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” Dan asked.

“It’s just ironic. Even at the end of the world, some things never change.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Doesn’t this feel like déjà vu, Officer Lowery? This isn’t the first time we’ve been in this situation, you and I. We’ve got a lot of history together.”

“All I’m looking for is my car.”

“How many times have we done this dance? Three?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Sure you do. You were the one responsible for sending me to prison for the first time. Back in 2008.”

“I was just doing my job.”

“And I appreciate it. I learned a lot while I was locked up, and I have you to thank for it. In a lot of ways, you’re the reason I’m still alive.”

Dan’s eyes wandered to Charlie’s body, and he shook his head. Had the man lost his mind?

“You’re delusional, Reginald.”

“No, I’m not. But I’m a lot smarter now that I was then.”

Without another word, Reginald whistled into the air. Dan furrowed his brow, still unsure of the man’s intentions.

A second later he understood.

Three men with guns had appeared from behind the red shack. They crept through the dirt, advancing toward the fence, and trained their rifles at Dan and the vehicle.

Reginald turned and smiled. “Got you this time, pig.”

Dan lay facedown in the shack, his mouth tasting dirt and grime. He’d been stripped of his weapon, and his hands and feet were bound. The girls were tied up next to him.

Quinn was whimpering. She’d originally been screaming, but the men had placed a gag in her mouth to silence her. The sound of his daughter struggling made him sick to his stomach.

“It’s OK, honey,” he said, his words were shaky and uncertain.

For the last ten minutes he’d been struggling with his bindings, attempting to wriggle free, but the ropes had held firm. Dan was hopelessly contained.

The shack that they were being kept in was small—no more than fifteen feet wide and fifteen feet across. The walls were made of natural oak; the interior was little more than a frame. Aside from the three of them, there was nothing else in the room that Dan could see, nothing that could offer them assistance.

He turned to his left to face Sandy. Her face was streaked with tears. Even though she’d begged and protested, her former comrades had insisted on tying her up, insisting that she could no longer be trusted.

“Any idea where they went?”

She shook her head.

On the way in, Dan had gotten a better view of the lumberyard. Just past the guard shack was a large warehouse where most of the lumber was stored, beyond it a rectangular structure with gray vinyl siding. He assumed the group was holing up in the latter building.

Even though Reginald had kept them alive, Dan was hesitant to believe they’d be kept that way. After what Reginald had done to Charlie, it was obvious he’d snapped.

The only thing he needed Dan for now was information.

Dan opened his mouth to ask Sandy another question, but before he could, footsteps sounded from outside. The men were returning. He turned his head away from Sandy and focused at the wall in front of him. The men hadn’t injured them yet.

The last thing he needed was to give them an excuse.

There were three voices in earshot, and Dan instantly recognized one of them as Reginald’s.

“We’ll keep them in there until we get what we want.”

“I don’t like this one bit, Reginald. Why don’t we just send them on their way?”

“The cop has information that can keep us safe.”

“What if somebody’s looking for him?”

“We’re in the middle of a goddamn apocalypse. Don’t worry about it.”

The voices hushed as the footsteps grew closer. Dan heard the creak of a door, and then the three men were inside with them. He kept his eyes glued to the wall. A second later he felt a sharp pain in his side; someone had kicked his ribs. The blow knocked the wind out of him, and he coughed and spat on the floor.

He heard the floorboards creak, and then he saw the bridge of Reginald’s nose as he leaned down beside him.

“How’s it going down there, Dan? It doesn’t feel so good when the shoe’s on the other foot, does it?”

The other men in the room chuckled. Dan craned his neck, but could make out only several blurry figures. His gaze wandered back to Reginald. The man sneered at him, eyes dark and penetrating.

“I’ve told the group all about you. It’s obvious you have something to do with this—the food in your car proves it. Everyone agreed that we should do what’s necessary to protect ourselves.”

“I have nothing to do with the infection, Reginald.”

“Funny, that’s not what you said before.”

The other men in the room murmured.

“What are you talking about?”

Reginald continued.

“I know you’re behind this. You’re going to tell us how to survive this thing, and I’m going to take every measure I can to get you to talk.”

“I have nothing to do with this. I’m a goddamn police officer, for Christ’s sake. Do these men know about your past, Reginald? Do they know what kind of man you are? You just killed one of your own in cold blood!”

He strained his head again, wishing he could make eye contact with the men behind him. He tried rolling over, but Reginald held him down.

“We’ve all made mistakes. I’ve told these men that. Shooting Charlie was an accident. I saw a strange car and a hooded man at the gate that I didn’t recognize. I acted on instinct. I feel bad about what happened, but all I can do is move forward.”

“You knew exactly who he was. You’re a goddamn murderer.”

“And what does that make you, Dan? You’re responsible for the deaths of thousands of people, and you’re putting our entire group in danger by being here. You’re going to tell us what we need to know, and then we’re going to make sure that you can’t hurt anyone else.”

Quinn cried out, but her words died in the gag. Dan looked over at her. His heart was pounding, and he was fighting from welling up.

“I’m going to make you a deal, Dan. You tell us what we need to know—
everything
—and we’ll let your daughter live.”

Clearly the man was manipulating the situation, and he’d convinced his comrades that Dan was a threat.

Dan kept his eyes locked on his daughter’s, refusing to look at the man. After everything that they’d been through, everything they’d survived, he couldn’t help but feel that this was the end of the line.

With his hands and feet bound, there was nothing he could do to save himself, no action he could take to remedy the situation. All he could do was to try and save his daughter.

Reginald glared at him, still waiting for an answer. Finally Dan responded.

“Deal.”

17

D
r. Steadman dashed between the examination rooms, Meredith on his heels. Despite putting some distance between themselves and the front entrance, Meredith could still hear the incessant pounding of hands on the wood, and the sounds kept her nerves on edge.

The doctor began to hand her equipment, and she took it with open arms, glad she’d been able to spur him into action. After searching through several drawers and cabinets, the man pulled out a black leather bag and handed it to her.

“Dump everything in here,” he said.

She complied, filling the bag with the sutures, needles, and bandages. When the bag was full, the doctor took it from her and slung it over his arm.

“We need to get out of here. There’s an entrance on the side of the building; hopefully we can sneak outside. Provided those things haven’t surrounded the building, of course.”

Meredith nodded. Before proceeding, the doctor looked her in the eye.

“I was afraid, Meredith. I thought I was the only one left. I’m so glad you showed up.”

“Me too.”

“Thank you for coming; I’m not sure what I would’ve done otherwise.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Now let’s get out of here. We need to get to John. Depending on how much blood he’s lost, he might be in trouble. Follow me.”

Meredith retrieved the rifle from the ground and followed him as he made his way out of the examination room. The doctor led her down a back hallway, then into a supply room filled with prescription samples and equipment. She’d been in the office several times, but never back this far.

At the other end of the room was a door with several latches. It looked like it hadn’t been used in a while. The doctor groped at a metal chain at the top, preparing to slide it out of the lock.

“Ready?” he asked.

She swallowed and held up the rifle. “Yep. I’ll lead the way.”

“I’m going to leave it open a few inches—that way if things get bad we’ll have a way back in.”

Meredith nodded. The doctor unlocked the door and swung it open. A wide sliver of daylight crept through the crack, illuminating the floor. Before she knew it Meredith was outside, her feet pounding the pavement.

The closest building was about fifty feet away, buffered by a row of neatly trimmed hedges. In front of her was a paved parking lot leading to the front. The creatures had started to trickle around the building toward them. She hoisted her gun under arm, mentally counting the bullets. If she recalled correctly, there were only a few rounds left.

Once the bullets were gone, things would get even worse.

The doctor ran behind her, his breath coming in spurts. Several times she glanced back, certain that he’d be yanked away by one of the creatures, but each time he was still there, unharmed.

Within seconds they’d covered the ground between the side of the building and the front—about twenty feet or so, and they were approaching the edge of the wall. Meredith could see the tail end of the pickup, and she felt her heart pounding in her chest.

Had the things gotten to John?

She’d locked the doors and closed the windows before exiting, and he’d barely been conscious. Were the creatures attracted to movement? If so, there was a good chance he was safe; at the same time, everything about the infected was unknown.