Outbreak: Boston (45 page)

There was
this shiny new silver Toyota Tundra pickup left just sitting there on the side of the road. Amy walked up and looked at the truck as if she were admiring a work of art in a museum. “Lacey, how much of that C4 do you have left? I got an idea.” she said in a low, almost regretful voice.

It took a little searching, but the two of them found some cylinders of propane on the back porch of an empty house and tossed them in the bed of the truck. Amy went to their Humvee and rooted around in the vehicle’s tool kit until she found the tire iron. Lacey stood near the Tundra’s gas tank, waiting nervously with his demo kit held in sweaty hands.

“Ready, buddy?” Amy asked as she readied the tire iron and prepared to swing it. “One…two…THREE!” Frays launched herself at the truck and smashed out the driver’s side window as Lacey took out a hunk of plastic explosive and a radio detonator. The truck’s alarm blared as the two of them went to work: Lacey popped the gas tank door open, unscrewed the gas cap and replaced it with the gob of C4 while Frays smashed open the steering column then pried open the ignition and hotwired the vehicle.

“I’m ready!” Lacey shouted as he backed away from the vehicle. Amy wedged a stick against the truck’s gas pedal and used a piece of 550 cord to tie its steering wheel in place. At the bottom of the hill, Lacey could s
ee a couple of the figures looking at them and start slumping up the hill after them. “Hurry up, Frays!”

Amy reached in and put the pickup’s engine in gear, sending it rolling down the hill. The figures swarmed the truck and chased after it as it crawled along until it hit an SUV and stopped. Dozens and dozens of creatures swarmed the truck until it looked like a bunch of ants trying to devour a beetle. Frays glanced at Lacey and nodded.

Even though the truck was almost a quarter mile away, Frays could feel the blast in her chest when Lacey triggered the plastic explosive. There was a big, cherubic smile on the man’s face as the truck exploded. “Holy shit!” Lacey said
excitedly as he watched the cloud of smoke drift skyward. The cylinders of gas were thrown from the bed of the truck then several of them shot out like rockets in all directions. Lacey and Frays stood there laughing like they were watching a Fourth of July fireworks display while Rodriguez whistled and clapped from beneath a tree nearby. “Did you fuckin’ see that? That was fuckin’ amazing!”

Amy stood with her hands on her hips surveying their handiwork. “Gotta say, it’s a lot more satisfying being on this side of a car bomb.” she said and tapped the man’s arm as she hurried over to another car. “C’mon, man. Let’s do one more.”
Beneath them the vehicle their first car bomb struck burst into flames and caught a number of the creatures around the burning hulks on fire.

Once the second vehicle borne improvised explosive device had been successfully deployed, Frays helped Rodriguez get back in the
Humvee. “Let me see your pills, Frannie.” Amy whispered and held out her hand. Rodriguez frowned and dug the pale brown vial out of a pouch on her vest and slipped it into her friend’s palm. “Don’t worry. I’ll get your stuff and we’ll be right back.”

“My stuff?” Frannie whispered, the corners of her mouth curling up as she got settled into the truck seat. “You make it sound like you’re scoring dope for me or something.” Amy smile
d as she closed the door for Rodriguez and climbed behind the wheel. She spared a glance at Lacey and started off down the road towards the drugstore.

“Ready?” Frays asked as she brought the truck to a halt. “Okay. Five minutes. Look for a pregnancy test. I’ve got something else to find, but it shouldn’t take long.” She looked at her friend in the back seat. “Stay in the truck, Frannie. We’ll be right back. Those things shouldn’t be able to get in here you’ll be safe as houses, alright?”

The two of them were out of the truck in a flash and headed towards the storefront, their weapons at the ready. The car bombs had blown out all the heavy plate glass display windows, turning them into deadly shrapnel and shredding everything just inside the pharmacy. Lacey picked up a brick and smashed in the head of an infected lying on the floor squirming like a maggot towards them. The bombs had severed the creature’s arms and cut the thing in half just above the waist. He did not really want to know where the rest of the thing was.

“What are you looking for, anyway?” the Marine asked as the two of them crept through the darkened store, their boots crunching on the occasional piece of glass. The grid had probably been down for some time, at least long enough to drain the power on the store alarm’s emergency power. It was eerily quiet a dozen
feet or so inside the store.

“I’ve got to get something. Never you mind what.” Frays said in a harsh whisper. She frowned as she flashed her illuminator at the signs on the ends of the rows of shelves. “It’s none of your business.”

Lacey shook his head and frowned. “There’s where the pregnancy tests would be.” he said as he ducked into the feminine hygiene section. “C’mon, let’s get your shit and get out of here. Remember what happened the last time.” He grabbed the first test he could find and jammed the cardboard box between his harness and torso.

Frays shot the man a hard cold look, her breath suddenly catching up in her throat. “Just a minute. Let’s hit up the pharmacy.” Lacey grumbled but followed after her as she worked her way through the store. She frowned again and thought quickly. “
Rodriguez needs more antibiotics.”

They came to the pharmacist’s desk at the back of the store and Frays hopped over the counter. “I’ll just be a second here.” she said quietly and gave the man a quick little smile. “
Keep an eye out.” With that Amy disappeared into the area behind the desk. She tried the door and found it locked so Frays had a go at kicking it in. After a couple tries she stood there frowning at the door, her foot throbbing in her boot.
Sergeant Emery always made it look so easy.
Amy thought then tapped the wall next to the door.

The door might have been steel reinforced and secured with two deadbolts and a padlock, but the wall next to it was just sheetrock.
She kicked a couple holes at first then ripped out a huge section of the wall, more than enough for her to climb through. Frays dug Rodriguez’s pill bottle out of her pocket then went from shelf to shelf trying to find the right drug. She found some penicillin, which she would show Lacey on the way out.

A hand closed on her shoulder, sending Frays’ heart into her throat. She reached across the hand and twisted it off her as she spun on her heel, pinned the person’s arm behind their back and rammed them
face first up against the shelves. It was not until right then that she realized who it was. “Jeez, Lacey!” Amy grumbled as she let the man go. “What the heck, man? I coulda broken your arm!”

“Well I didn’t
think I’d be sneaking up on The Hole in the Wall Gang.” Adam said crossly as he rolled his shoulder. He motioned towards the hole she had broken in the wall. “You were taking too long so I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Amy smiled and shook her head before going back to looking through the giant plastic bottles on the shelf. “I’m fine, Lacey.” she said, squinting at the tiny writing on a bottle in the gloom. “I’ll be right there.
It’s taking longer than I thought.”

“C’mon!” Lacey said urgently as he moved a couple steps closer to Frays. “We don’t have time for this. We have to get going.” He started looking at the bottles of pills near him, dropping some on the floor. “What are you looking for?”

Amy frowned and considered handing him Rodriguez’s pill bottle. “It’s not your problem, Lacey.” Frays said as she picked up another bottle and tried to read the label. “I told you. Go outside. I’ll be right there. Just relax.”

“Why aren’t you telling me what you’re looking for?” Adam asked, scowling at the young woman in the semi-dark. “What’s wrong?”

Frays let out an exasperated groan. “Look, Lacey.” she said, her voice involuntarily becoming a little louder than she liked. Amy paused a second to collect herself then continued on. “I don’t feel right talking about it, okay? I keep telling you that it it’s not your problem, so stop pushing and just trust me okay?”

Lacey turned and stalked out of the storeroom, shaking his head angrily. Frays turned back to the shelves and continued checking the collection of pills until she eventually found what she was looking for. Amy refilled the vial Rodriguez had given her and
slipped the bigger bottle into her cargo pocket. “C’mon, Marine.” she said quietly as she climbed through the hole in the wall “Let’s get the heck out of here.”

The two of them stopped just inside the storefront and stared. A half dressed woman stood
next to the truck pounding on the side of the Humvee, her blotchy pale skin speckled with blackish liquid and the fact that half her scalp was hanging off made it pretty clear that she was not healthy. Lacey and Frays looked at each other for a moment. “Don’t sweat it, boss.” the Marine said quietly as he looked around on the ground. He picked up a shattered bit of masonry and started across the parking lot towards their truck. “I’ll handle this.”

Lacey crept up on the truck and stopped a few paces from the vehicle. He whistled and shouted “Hey! Ugly!” The creature turned slowly, just in time to catch the brick Adam threw at it with its face and fell against the truck with a thump. Lacey closed the distance, picked up the brick again and smashed the zombie’s
head in with two or three sharp blows. He jumped when a shot rang out and looked around. Another zombie lay at the back of the truck with half its head missing.

Frays crossed the parking lot and clapped Lacey on the shoulder. “C’mon, buddy.” she said as she ran around the other side of the truck. “Let’s get going. If we’re lucky we’ll be there by dinnertime!”

Adam spared a glance at Rodriguez in the back seat as they pulled away and shook his head. “Jeez, would you look at that?” he asked in disbelief as he turned around. Frays glanced in the back seat and laughed quietly. Frannie lay snoring quietly with one arm wrapped around her M4, the other dangling off to the side. “She can apparently sleep through anything!”

They drove on through the afternoon, occasionally taking shortcuts across open country or driving along the side of the road where it was blocked with accidents or stalled cars. Amy looked at the man sitting next to her in the Humvee. She opened and closed her mouth a couple times and sighed then stretched a kink out of her neck.
“Lacey, look…” Frays began then frowned, cleared her throat and looked at the floor of the truck. “We have to be ready for whatever we find when we get there. I really hope that everybody’s there and safe, but…”

Adam swallowed hard. “I know.” he said quietly then reached out and took Amy’s hand and squeezed it. Frays looked at the man out of the corner of her eye and tried to give him a reassuring smile. He looked like he was going to be sick.

They were quiet for most of the ride. Rodriguez dozed in the back seat most of the time, waking only to stretch and ask where they were. Frays drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as they drove and shook her head every time her friend stirred in her sleep. Amy had to wonder if Frannie had been rooting around in the medical bag while the two of them had been in the drugstore. She made a mental note to check Rodriguez’s leg as soon as they got the house cleared and secured.

Lacey shifted nervously in his seat as he kept watch out of his side of the vehicle. “So…when were you planning on taking the test?” he asked as he tried to get a good look at Frays’ face out of the corner of his eye.

“As soon as I get a chance.” she said quietly, giving the man a warning glance and nodding towards Rodriguez snoring away behind them. “God, I don’t know what’s going to happen. I really hope its just stress messing everything up.”

“Will your parents freak?” Rodriguez asked as she shifted around a little. The woman stretched and sat up as much as her restrained position would allow then rubbed the scar
s on her neck. “I mean, what are we gonna be walking into here?”

Amy was quiet for a long time. “I dunno.” she said at last and twisted her head, the young woman’s neck making an audible popping noise that sounded to Lacey like milk being poured on a bowl of Rice Crispies. He became inexplicably hungry for a second. “Let’s worry about that when we come to it.”

A little later they saw signs for a gas station and truck stop coming up. “Crap. We’re going to have to stop for gas.” Amy announced as she glanced at the fuel gauge. She eased the Humvee into the parking lot of gas station a mile and a half down the road and killed the engine. Thankfully there was around a dozen semitrailers parked next to a garishly colored building that looked like a diner with a convenience store built onto it.

The three of them looked around uneasily as Frays and Lacey opened their doors. “Okay. Lacey, pull security.” Amy said as she grabbed her M4 and threw the sling over her head “I’m going to drain some of the gas out of one of those trucks. Rodriguez…make sure that back seat doesn’t get away.”

Amy grabbed the gas cans and the hose off of the truck then went to the nearest big rig. It took a little work, but in a couple minutes she managed to get the fuel running into one of the cans. When the first can was full Frays switched the hose over to the empty one then carried the full can over to the Humvee while Lacey kept an eye out. This took about twenty minutes or so, but they managed to not only top off their vehicle but come up with a couple five gallon gas cans full of diesel fuel.