PRIME (12 page)

Simon shrugged. “I just don’t want to be in the way.”

“You’re not in the way.” A half-smile formed on Dodge’s lips. “You’re one of the bravest scrabs I got on my side. Twice now I’ve watched you stand up to Matt, and I like that. I don’t know where this insecurity is coming from, but I need you to shove it out your ass and come with me. Okay?”

Simon hesitated only a moment. “Okay.” Simon stood, dropping the book on the chair. If Dodge had that much faith in him, then he would do his best to be worthy.

Dodge led the way back through the library and out into the hall. From there they moved to the front door, shoving out into the early twilight. The evening was crisper than Simon expected. He shivered in his long sleeved t-shirt. It was strange to be out after dark for the first time since it all began. The base felt bigger and emptier than before. The wind seemed to move differently than it did during the day, and the stars above seemed to go on forever. Simon had forgotten how small he felt when he looked at them.

Outside the walls he could hear the shuffling of the zombies. The ground was dry and their feet scraped on the hard packed earth as they moved aimlessly in circles. Each waited for a crack or an opening to appear which would allow them to make their way inside. Simon worried for a moment that Dodge was right; perhaps some of the zombies out there were actually plotting a way to break through. He pushed that thought aside, finding it too hard to deal with at the moment. In the distance, Simon could see boys silhouetted against the night as they watched the things shambling below. They had bigger guns than before.

Dodge pushed open the door to the first townhouse in a long row. The entryway was warm; the night wind couldn’t penetrate the walls, and it wasn’t cold enough for the chill to work its way inside. They entered a small hallway and crossed to the living room. Dozens of candles flickered around the room, casting barely enough light to see by. Four faces turned to them as they entered. Simon was glad to see three of them. Zeke, Tech, and Tessa smiled up at him.

“Hey.” Dodge sat on an empty couch. Simon glanced at the group before sitting beside Dodge. “Simon, do you know Tommy?”

“No.” Simon shook his head. He recognized Tommy though; he was one of Matt’s crew. Simon thought he was the one Matt punched that morning, which explained why he was with Dodge.

“He has an interesting idea for where we could be safe,” Dodge said. Across from Simon, Zeke pulled the remainder of a blunt from his pocket. “Not right now,” Dodge ordered. Zeke looked confused, but put the blunt away.

“Whatever you say, boss.” Zeke leaned back on the couch, unfazed.

“Where do you think we should go?” Tessa asked, bringing everyone back on task before anything else could be said. Tommy looked at Dodge, as if he needed permission to speak.

“Go on.” Dodge nodded to Tommy.

“Yeah, alright, well,” Tommy started. Under his blond hair, the tips of his ears turned red, apparently from being the center of attention. He was fourteen or so, tall and gangly like most boys that age. “I’ve been doing some exploring around, lookin’ for food or anything interesting really. I was in one of the labs in the hospital building, and I noticed a doorway behind this bookshelf. So I pulled away the bookshelf and took a look. I didn’t open it or nothing, but I was tellin’ Dodge that if the door was hidden behind the bookshelf, then probably it was something special. Like maybe the secret labs or whatever.” Tommy smiled proudly.

“Now I like the principle of the idea,” Dodge began. Tommy’s face fell. “But for all we know it could just be an old closet. If it is something else, then Tommy might have just saved our asses.” Tommy smiled even wider at the praise.

“What if there is a mess of zombies behind there?” Tech asked, not one to let any detail slide unnoticed. He pushed his glasses up his nose. “We might be opening the door to Hell.”

“Princess has a point,” Zeke said with a nod.

Tech scowled at Zeke. “Princess?”

Zeke shrugged and grinned.

Simon shook his head. “But if there were a bunch, we should be able to hear them through the door. Shouldn’t we?” He glanced at Dodge.

Dodge nodded. “Should, unless that door’s as thick as I’m hoping it is. I’m thinking if it was hidden, then it might also be extra strong and meant to keep people out. Of course, like I said, it could just be a closet.”

“But you think it’s something else?” Tessa leaned forward, elbows on her knees and hands clasped, as she waited for Dodge’s response.

“I think so,” he finally said. “I’ve been through that whole hospital and through other parts of this base. I think it was more than any of you knew.”

“It’s a medical base,” Tech insisted. “I mean, I remember my folks bringing me here when I was sick.”

“Okay, so it’s a medical base and that’s it,” Dodge said. “Tell me why there’s such a stockpile of guns then?”

“It’s a conspiracy,” Zeke said, smiling. “I knew it.” Zeke held his hand up to Simon, looking for a high five. Simon gave him a look and shook his head. Dodge smiled at that. Zeke shrugged and lowered his hand.

“I doubt it’s as exciting as that,” Dodge said. “But there’s a huge weapon room tucked away in a back room at the rec center.”

“At the rec center?” Tessa’s face paled. “Where anyone could just stumble onto them?”

“No,” Dodge assured her. “You get to it through a false door in the back of the closet in the guys changing room. I locked the closet as soon as I found the weapons.”

“How many weapons are we talking here?” Tech leaned forward curiously.

“Enough to arm everyone here at least three or four times over,” Dodge said. “Also enough ammo to keep us going non-stop for a week or more.”

“Wow,” Tommy said, wide-eyed.

“Yeah.” Dodge bit his lip, eyes shifting like he wasn’t sure if he should continue. “The other room back there is where I’ve been getting the burn.”

“You mean the base had it locked up?” Tessa asked. “But it’s illegal.” She blushed as soon as she said this, realizing how naive it made her sound.

“And naughty,” Zeke added, grinning at Tessa. “Nobody tell Santa Claus or we’ll all get coal for Christmas. Wait, I think Christmas was canceled due to zombies, my bad.” Tessa hit him with a pillow.

“Knock it off.” Dodge grinned. “I think it served a less sinister purpose than the guns. You know how people were always saying that it helped the sick? Like people with cancer or whatever?”

“Yeah.” Simon nodded eagerly. “My dad did cancer research here.”

“I figure it was here for that.” Dodge shrugged. “Or who knows, maybe the docs here had a real drug problem. It’s not really important.”

“Yeah, a better question is why all the weapons if all they were doing was cancer research?” Tessa looked at Dodge, a strand of red hair falling out of her hair band. She tucked it behind her ear.

“Your girlfriend is pretty smart,” Dodge teased Simon.

Simon blushed and glanced at Tessa. He looked away quickly when he saw she was still watching Dodge. The words hadn’t moved her at all. Did she really just think of him as a kid? Panic fluttered through him, and all of a sudden the pleasure of holding her hand at the funeral felt worrying.

Dodge continued. “There’s no need for that many weapons to research cancer. It’s a military base, so I expected it to have weapons on hand, but I wasn’t expecting anything that vast. As for what they were doing, it beats the hell outta me.” Dodge shrugged.

“You think we’ll find what they were doing behind that door,” Simon guessed.

“That’d be it.”

Zeke grinned. “Sounds pretty twisted. When we heading down there?”

“I think,” Dodge paused, as if realizing he was losing his commanding tone. “I mean, we will go down tomorrow.”

“I’m in,” Zeke said.

“You guys better believe you aren’t leaving me behind,” Tessa warned dangerously.

“Um, can I come too?” Tommy asked quietly.

“Everyone here is coming.” Dodge grinned and clapped Tommy on the shoulder. “That’s why I called you all here. Well except you Tessa,” he said with a smile.

“He tried to get Zeke alone, but I knew he was up to something.” Tessa smiled proudly.

Dodge nodded and looked around the room, sizing them up. “No one else hears about this until we know what’s going on. We clear?” Everyone nodded.

“Good.” Dodge nodded back. “Try to get some sleep. There are enough beds here for everyone. I have to go check on the watch, but then I’ll be sleeping too.”

Dodge left the apartment. It took a few minutes for the others to get moving, but soon they filed up the staircase and began to explore the rooms. There was a master bedroom with a huge bed, and then two smaller rooms. One of the smaller rooms had a set of bunk beds with colorful rails and blankets that could have been used in a circus tent. The other room had a single bed and a futon that folded out into a double bed.

Tech and Tommy were elected to the bunk beds while Zeke took the single bed in the other room. Simon and Tessa stood awkwardly a moment before the futon. Zeke and Tech had unfolded it for them and scrounged up a couple pillows and a blanket. Simon glanced sideways at Tessa to see her biting her lip. One of them could sleep on the couch, but the sinking feeling in his gut told Simon that if he suggested it, he would end up down there. He couldn’t handle the idea of sleeping alone down there. Finally, he took a deep breath.

“We could both sleep here, right?” he asked quickly. His words almost blurred together.

“Of course,” Tessa agreed even more quickly. “It’s totally big enough.”

“Yeah,” Simon said with a nod and a huge smile.

“Just lay down already,” Zeke called from the bed. “Anyone wanna smoke?”

“No.” Tessa wrinkled her nose at the suggestion.

Soon the room was hung in smoke as Zeke took two hits and stubbed the blunt out again. As he did, Simon and Tessa settled uneasily onto the futon. They both lay stiff as boards, careful not to touch.

“That’s some good stuff.” Zeke coughed, and then laughed at himself.

“Why do you smoke that?” Tessa asked.

“’Cause it feels right,” Zeke said. Simon saw him shrug in the pale moonlight. “When everyone else here started to, I figured what the hell, I’d try it. It was the first thing I did that reminded me of before, you know?”

“Yeah,” Tessa said, her tone wistful. “I felt that way when I ate tater tots.” Simon and Zeke laughed loudly. Zeke practically rolled off his bed in amusement. “What?” Tessa grinned.

“Tater tots?” Simon turned on his side and propped himself up to face her. “That was the first thing to feel familiar?”

“Yes,” Tessa insisted. Zeke chuckled again on the bed. “Whatever, like it makes any more sense for Zeke to remember burn.”

“True.” Simon shrugged. “Zeke was a burn out I guess.”

“I so was,” Zeke agreed languidly. He rolled on his stomach and let his arm hang over the bed as he talked with them. “Maybe that’s why I didn’t die from the virus. Burn saves the day!”

Simon rolled his eyes, laughing. “You must’ve eaten a ton of tater tots is all,” Simon said, still smiling. It seemed to him like the longest he had ever smiled.

“Well what was it for you?” Tessa asked, not teasing, but truly curious.

“Sitting on the rock outside the wall.” Simon turned to lie on his back. “I don’t know why. I just wandered out there and climbed on the rock and I felt. . .” he struggled to find the words.

“Normal?” Tessa asked quietly.

“Normal,” Zeke agreed with a slight nod.