Running With The Horde (Book 2): Delusions of Monsters (12 page)

              “Look, Agent Naffziger, I have had a long day and an even longer evening, as you are well aware. If you must know I will going to my assistant’s house. We have a morning briefing to plan. I imagine it will take most of the night.”

              “I see, sir,” Kurt replied with a knowing look. “I will have the car brought around and we will get you over to Ms. Leland’s place in a jiffy. Shall I let the First Lady know you’ll be leaving?”

              “I would suggest not fucking with me tonight, Kurt. I am really not in the mood. Unless your ambitions have always been for a permanent posting at the governor’s mansion in Alaska.”

              Kurt paled under the President’s glare, “Of course not, sir, my apologies, I was just trying to be helpful.”

              “My ass you were, now get that fucking car already,” Muddy said. He grabbed his coat and stormed out of the office trying not to smile and break character. Phase one of his plan was working, build a credible alibi. Adultery for a sitting president was almost an expectation. This would be like taking candy from a baby.

The Present

We were in a caravan of two vehicles moving through the streets like a funeral procession. Packed into a battered Lumina and an almost new Dodge Ram truck with no topper. Tessa drove while I navigated; Mark and the boys were huddled in the backseat. Everyone else was in the truck right behind us. Lanskey and Randolph in the cab with the rest of the crew shivering in the truck bed including Steven who as very pissed. I could tell he was starting to get jealous of Tessa’s growing fascination with me.

              The route to the old bakery had been planned with stealth in mind. We went left out of Chelsea’s parking lot down to Broadway, then a right on 2
nd
Street, which we stayed on until just a block shy of Hennepin Avenue. There we parked and did our best to hide the only two working vehicles we had been fortunate enough to find in the automotive graveyard the city had become. I kept the road clear of the undead but this wasn’t our main concern. We drove with the lights off and had to stop twice. Once to avoid detection from an overhead helicopter and the other time because the Lumina got stuck in a snowdrift. Even the boys were grumpy by the time we had hidden the cars.

              We set out on foot trudging through a miserably thick blanket of nature’s finest anger inducer still at least four blocks from our destination. This time Wilson and Lanskey took point while Randolph and one of his men guarded us from behind. The rest of us formed a tight cluster of idiocy as we scrambled down the sidewalks staying as close to the storefronts as possible. All but a few of the windows were smashed in. The snow was brutal and none of us were prepared for it wearing only the clothes we scavenged from houses near the bar. A garment was either ill fighting or insufficient for the season and sometimes both. With our feet, hands and faces losing sensation at an alarming pace, our group was hustling toward a destination no one but me believed truly existed. I was happy they trusted me and was really hoping that mysterious cellar was still there. A lot can happen over the course of nearly ten decades.

              I closed my eyes and listened as we moved through the snow. The only sound was the wind and the not so gentle sweep of our feet. After finishing with Eva I had dispersed the hordes of zombies milling around the riverbank and around the city. I did this partly to give the bridge guards something to else to worry about but mostly because I didn’t think I could concentrate enough to keep them out of our hair while we searched for the building with the possible tunnel.

Perhaps with the zombies out of sight the people in the city wouldn’t feel the need to utilize whatever technology was being used to keep them at bay. I had received a taste of it when Captain Morgan first turned it on during our car ride to the bridge and it had left me instantly nauseous. I couldn’t imagine what it did to the undead and I certainly wasn’t interested in a second dose. As we drew closer to Lourdes Place, another cluster of upscale apartment housing set over diners and boutiques, I heard a commotion and saw Wilson throw his fist up in the air indicating we should freeze and we did.

              The rumble of an engine, maybe more than one, could be heard along with someone yelling into a bullhorn.

              “George McCloud! We have you surrounded, continued delay in your surrender will only result in harsher punishment for you and those that are colluding with you.”

              Well this was news to me. I glanced around in frightened dismay as did my comrades but we didn’t see anybody. I looked to Wilson and Lanskey but they were quietly yapping at each other trying to figure things out. Wilson must have felt my eyes on him because he held up his hand up indicating I should wait. This dismissal irritated me, I had been fighting insurgents in the desert since before these pinheads were figuring out what to do with their first boners. Wait, what?

              Forgetting this troubling and wayward Tegan thought for a moment, I dashed ahead to their position. They both looked at me like I was their kid brother invading the tree fort. “Hey, guys. What’s going on?” I asked.

              Wilson sighed and shushed me with a finger. “We think they have people trapped in one of the apartments. Obviously, they think it’s you,” he whispered.

              “What are we going to do?”

              “Can you, uh, see what we’re dealing with, I mean numbers wise?” Lanskey asked.

              “Nope, I sent them away to keep things safer for us so none of my folk are wandering about unfortunately.”

              “Ugh, that was fucking stupid, you should’ve told us. Okay, Plan B then, Wilson and I will go scout it out while the rest of you hide. Pick somewhere close and hunker down, we’ll come to you. If we don’t show in 30 minutes, assume the worst and go without us.”

              “Okay, sounds good,” I was very comfortable with that plan yet there was a part of me itching to go with them.

              They scooted off and I turned to find Randolph right behind me. “I heard. Let’s move out,” he said gruffly. Gathering the frightened and freezing group, we retreated a block north to the nearest building, doing our best to not be seen from the lookouts on the Hennepin Avenue Bridge.

That building turned out to be a rather macabre looking funeral home but beggars can’t be choosers. The door was locked but Steven quickly jimmied it. He turned to give us all a leer as if to say he had his uses. Randolph rolled his eyes at me as we moved inside.

Tessa and Steven left to investigate the building while the rest of the group hunkered down in twos and threes around a tastefully appointed grieving room that had clearly not been scavenged or touched since the Sickness. One of Randolph’s guys, named Kevin, lit a small lantern which he placed on a dusty end table bathing the parlor room in soft light. This didn’t seem like the smartest idea but I didn’t say anything. Instead I scooted a big soft chair around so I could look out one of the windows. The plush armrests made me feel safe and warm in spite of the chill in the room. It was oddly comforting to know that even after the zombie apocalypse some places were considered sacredly creepy enough not to be touched by the living.

As we waited for Wilson and Lanskey to report back in I started thinking about what I’d heard shouted at some hapless sucker hiding out for his life and probably scared shitless in the building around the corner. It seemed to me that the bad guys couldn’t have had the building surrounded. Either we would have noticed such an array of force or they would’ve noticed us, probably both. Which meant whoever was using that bullhorn was bluffing. Most likely he was stalling, waiting for reinforcements to come from inside the city so they
could
surround the building. The soldiers most have arrived only shortly before we did. This meant if we moved quickly enough we had two choices; try to save whoever was stuck in that building or use them as a distraction to get to our destination on the riverfront.

The minutes ticked away in slow motion. If there had been a clock in the room I would’ve smashed it. The situation was getting to me. I was torn. Every minute we delayed made it less and less likely I would ever get to my father and find Daisy and our unborn child again. On the other hand healthy people were scarce these days. I felt an obligation to help them if they needed it.

I felt a presence and was startled once again to find Randolph hovering over my shoulder. “I know what you’re thinking,” he said.

“No you don’t and you’ve gotta stop doing that,” I said.

“Sneaking up on you?” he asked.

“Yeah, I find it disturbing.”

“You should talk. Anyway, it’s just something I do, you’ll get used to it. And yes I do know that you’re thinking we should try to rescue those people.”

Was I that transparent? I raised my eyebrows at him in anticipation of his inevitable feedback that we should just stick to the plan.

“The smart play would be to use this distraction and hightail it to the river but I agree, we should try to help them if possible.”

“Really, why?” I said in genuine surprise.

“Aside from it being the morally correct choice?” he asked in mock indignation. I nodded and he continued. “We have 11 people in our group, among them are two small children and their father so really they are just dead weight. Whoever is in that building are survivors and we could use them. In fact, we need them desperately if we are gonna have any chance once we get into the city.”

I couldn’t argue with his logic but Daisy was weighing on me. The safety of Sam and Jacob was weighing on me. We needed to get into the city soon. “We can’t do anything until Wilson and Lanskey get back,” I said.

Randolph nodded but before we could talk further Tessa came stomping in from the backroom carrying a case of granola bars. Just seeing the box made my mouth water. I couldn’t remember ever being so hungry. Steven was right behind her, toting a case of Sprite with a big grin on his face.

“Merry Christmas, children!” Tessa shrilled. She seemed genuinely happy and altogether too loud.

“It’s Christmas again already?” Jacob yelled as he and Sam scrambled over to her.

“No, you little asshole,” she said as she passed him a bar. “It’s a figure of speech.”

“I dun know wat tha is,” Jacob said as he powered through the granola bar, crumbs spewing out of his mouth onto Tessa’s shoes.

“That’s because you’re a stupid little kid,” Tessa replied as she moved past him.

“Hey, Tessa, lok a me,” Jacob mumbled.

She turned to look and found him staring at her with his mouth open full of chewed food. In spite of herself she smiled and turned to resume her task.

Steven stepped up to Jacob and handed him a soda, “Here, kid, wash that shit down.”

The whole exchange made me laugh a little bit. I was beginning to think Tessa was more bark than bite which was both a good and a bad thing. Good because it made her seem like a better person but bad because I needed people who would do terrible things if necessary. I hoped she was a little of both. Mark must have drawn the same conclusion I had because he hadn’t said anything during the cursing and name calling. He just sat on the shag carpeted floor leaning back against the couch, waiting for his granola bar.

Everyone was eating, drinking and chatting with relative unmerited glee like we were having a nice family gathering instead freezing our nuts off waiting to die in a zombie nightmare.

“Alright that’s it. Y’all need to shut the fuck up and goddammit, Gallegan, kill that fucking light!” Randolph hissed.

Kevin Gallegan hopped up in obedience and the room went dark aside from moonlight pouring in from the windows.

“This isn’t a fucking picnic. I know y’all are hungry but unless you were hoping to die tonight we need to get our game faces back on and I mean now.”

He moved off to brood in a dark corner of the room. I wasn’t sure what set him off or why he’d waited so long before laying the law down. I guessed it was because he felt the group needed a few minutes to decompress. The only sounds in the room at this point were the occasional belch from the soda and some meek chewing.

The silence didn’t last as the sound of a loud engine revved up the block toward our position. Randolph, Steven and I were first to the window, elbowing each other for position. It was a miracle nobody’s gun discharged by accident.

“George! What the fuck, man, back up. Let me do my job. Cover the door. Steven shag your stupid ass to the other window. Everyone else hunker down and get ready to shoot. Gallegan, you take Cove and Hawkey out the back and check our six. We may need to exit that way in hurry,” Randolph said all of this in a tense whisper.

For the second time in five minutes Randolph had pulled our collective head out of our ass and everyone moved into position. I heard Kevin acknowledge his order and the three of them disappeared down the hallway toward the back in silence. Mark took Sam and Jacob to the back of the room and got behind a large closed casket. The boys laid on the floor while the adults took aim with their automatic rifles. I wasted an additional thought on the casket none of us had bothered to look in or even notice. It was empty. It had to be empty. I was sure it was empty.

The vehicle, and it was just one, skidded to a halt right in front of the funeral home entrance. I was behind a chair aiming at the door, my finger on the trigger. I checked again for zombies but still there was nothing. I had a moment to wonder if I hadn’t made a huge mistake sending them all away. Then I heard a voice softly calling my name.

“George, are you guys in there?”

I looked at Randolph but he was staring out the window. “Lanskey, is that you?” he called.

“Yes, it’s us, dick smoke, open the door,” Lanskey called back.

“Are you alone?”

“No, goddammit, open the fucking door!”

Randolph began sending indecipherable hand singles to me and Steven. We both stared at him in confusion and I could hear a quiet argument from the other side of the door possibly even a child softly whimpering. That was enough for me. “We don’t have time for this,” I said.

I took three large steps and had the deadbolt open on the door in a flash. I felt Steven to my right aiming at the door. I looked to my left to find Randolph glaring at me. Then he swore and gave me a hurry up signal with his finger before moving behind me, gun at the ready.