This Would Be Paradise (Book 2) (5 page)

“Trust me. Once you lay down on your stomach in a prone position, these devices will make it much easier.”

Just as he kneeled to set the rifle down, Karla yelled, “Sick ones!”

I guess that was the end of the lesson today.

Tim shot up and looked around. Karla was right; the infected were congregating. Some were heading right for the shredded netting, while others were stumbling into the parking lot. For a small town, this place sure had a lot of infected. Maybe having so many survivors in one place drew them in like hungry dogs.

“Time to put your new skills to the test,” Tim said as he handed me back my preferred weapon, the AR-15, with a fully loaded magazine.

I hefted the semiautomatic rifle as Roy and Karla ran to us, drawing their weapons.

“We need to clear the parking lot,” Tim ordered as he hoisted the gun bag over his shoulder.

For such a skinny guy, he could carry a lot of weight while still having perfect aim. He let out a burst of gunfire and the two infected reaching for the truck dropped. The rest were well into the distance. Tim jerked his head toward one infected that was unsuccessfully wading through the overgrown bushes.

Well, I guess that one was mine. I aimed for the torso, not trusting myself to hit it in the head from here. The muzzle lifted slightly and the infected flopped down face first into the bushes. Thick, discolored blood ran down the green foliage, leaving a greasy trail behind. I hadn’t meant to hit the thing in the head, but that was what I’d done.

“Wish I learned that quickly.” Roy sounded impressed.

“That makes two of us,” Tim said, not trying to be funny.

Roy shot him an offended look.

We ran to the trucks, wasting no time as we jumped in and peeled out of the parking lot that had become an infected meet-and-greet.

Roy clipped one of the infected on our way out, spinning it like a top, and it dropped to the hard tarmac.

“Shit!”

Tim was hanging out the passenger window again, shooting while Karla drove. I had to admit: he was rather good.

“You think you’re ready to do that?” Roy asked, only half joking.

“I’ll go with a hell no.” With my luck, I’d fall out and break something.

“We can’t bring the sick ones back with us.” Roy gripped the wheel, knuckles going white, his forehead crinkled.

“I could probably do some damage if you stopped near the infected,” I suggested.

“But Tim is still moving,” Roy argued.

“So? Do you want to help or not? We’re not doing any good trailing behind them, unless your plan is to play a game of hit and run with the infected!” I suppressed the laughter that was threatening.

His lips formed a hard line, but he stopped the truck. Infected were roaming all over this road. We must have intercepted them on their way to the golf range. I hit the button and my window rolled down. I leaned out so I was sitting on the edge, my gun and elbows resting on the roof. I let out a few rounds, taking out the closest ones. Having a flat surface to prop the gun on helped with my aim and controlled the recoil.

One of the infected I shot flew back so hard, its feet lifted off the ground. This gun definitely had some power. Roy had rolled down his own window too and was shooting at the ones on his side. His aim wasn’t horrible, but he was wasting half the bullets he fired. Once everything was still and quiet around us, I crawled back into the cabin.

“Shit. Tim’s gone,” Roy muttered.

“Whatever, we’ll catch up.” I motioned for him to go.

Dead infected lined the street from Tim’s drive-by shooting, so we followed the fallen. We took a right, seeing that Karla had stopped the truck and Tim was shooting every shambling body he could spot. The majority of the infected were grouped together, as if travelling in a pack. Roy pulled up a few meters away and jumped out to help. I propped myself out the window and on the roof again, liking the stability of the position.

My finger tired from continuously pulling the trigger, but the AR-15 was easier to control than the M4 by a wide berth. I stopped counting the downed infected after ten. This gun was killer, in all sense of the word, and I’d become infinitely more dangerous with it. It was kind of intoxicating.

My ears rang with the echoes of automatic gunfire long after we’d stopped shooting. Tim looked back at us.

“All right, let’s head back,” he yelled across the distance.

I stuffed myself back into the cabin. The barrel was hot to the touch, so I set the rifle down—muzzle first of course, even though I knew I’d used all thirty rounds. We drove the rest of the way in silence until we were parked back in the lot behind the apartment.

“That was some good shooting,” Roy said.

“Thanks,” I said, shrugging it off.

“Were you ever a team captain or anything?” Roy asked out of the blue.

I knocked my head back. “Ah, no?”

He’d thrown me for a loop with his random question.

“You just seem good at taking the lead, that’s all.”

He exited the vehicle without another word, leaving me to think about what he’d said. I’d never seen myself as a leader, especially with John taking the forefront of our rag-tag group.

When I got back inside the building, I handed the cooled rifle back to Tim and he returned it to the guarded storage room.

“After we get something to eat, Karla and I will go back to road patrol to make sure there aren’t any more hordes in the distance,” Tim said. “Bernice, I need you to take roof duty, and José, you need to keep a keen eye on the street for packs of sick ones.”

José nodded. “Will do.”

Bernice was in her forties, and she was very good with the sniper rifle. She grabbed the weapon from the lockup and headed up the stairs.

Everyone broke apart like football players from a team huddle. Tim stopped long enough to pull me aside.

“You did pretty good out there. Can I trust you to keep an eye out while I’m gone?”

“What about Roy?”

Tim’s jaw shifted. “Roy’s a nice guy, but he’s not really made for leadership.”

“And I am?” I asked, a shade shocked.

“You’re getting there.” He walked away, leaving me with my mouth hanging open.

When he came back, I’d have to tell him to stop making me do stuff without asking first; it was annoying. The chains of responsibility weighed on me, and I wouldn’t feel right about leaving today while the others were gone. I balled my hand into a fist, wanting to punch a wall. I always wondered why people did that; frustration was the answer. Tim had no right; I should leave to spite him. But the anxious faces of the others stopped me and my shoulders slumped.

“What took so long?” Chloe demanded as she walked up to me, arms crossed.

I turned to her, reining in my anger. “Fieldtrip.”

“Are we gonna stay again?” she asked.

“Looks like it. You okay with that?”

“If we have to. I kinda like it here. But we have to find Ethan though.”

I placed my hand on her head and decided to change the subject. “So did Mac say what was for supper?”

“Dunno. Me and Amanda were playin’ cat’s cradle. I’m not very good at it.”

“Well keep at it. I’m going to find Mac.”

I was glad—and kind of relieved—that Chloe had someone to keep her entertained besides me. I hadn’t been very good company in the last while.

I set off down the hall, searching for Mac. I needed someone to vent to and Roy probably wouldn’t appreciate what Tim had said. Plus, I liked Mac; he was easy to get along with. I found him in the apartment they used as the kitchen.

I sniffed the air. “Smells good.”

The aroma was a welcome reprieve from the burning stench from earlier.

“It’s meatloaf surprise.” He waved at the oven like a magician’s assistant.

“Where’d you get the meat from?” I asked suspiciously.

A grin spread across his face. “That’s the surprise!”

He better be joking
.

My thoughts must have shown on my face, because he laughed. “I’m just kidding. It’s not really meatloaf. It’s more like a casserole. Karla found a deer wandering around two days ago.”

“Deer? In a casserole?” I couldn’t hide my skepticism.

“Just you wait.” He winked. “So what brings you to my kitchen?”

I sat down on the stool by the breakfast bar facing Mac.

“Tim volunteered me to watch the apartment building.”

Mac looked serious for a second. “Never really liked him. Quiet military guys scare me. They should be loud and banging their fists on their chest.”

He mimed being a gorilla and I chuckled.

“He is sneaky,” I admitted.

“Ah, you see it too. He kind of has a roundabout way of making you feel like it’s your duty to stay here.”

“Exactly. He said Roy wasn’t really made to be a leader.”

I picked up a bottle with masking tape around it. The label read, “Secret Ingredient.” I shook it and it sounded like sand rattling around.

“I made my own spice concoction,” Mac said proudly. “I was a chef before this all happened. You can take the fancy kitchen from the chef but not the chef from the kitchen.” He took the bottle from me as if afraid I’d drop it. “And Roy’s been through a lot. I don’t blame him for not being the best leader.”

My ears perked up at that. Maybe Mac could finally tell me the story.

“Is it because of what happened to his wife and daughter?” I asked.

Mac’s mouth fell open. “He told you about them?”

“No, but it wasn’t hard to put together. Tell me.”

Mac sighed. “I’m a terrible gossip. He told you about the attack, right?”

I nodded, remembering Roy’s tale from when we first arrived here.

“Well, his youngest daughter was shot dead during the attack. We had to watch him carry her outside and bury her. He wouldn’t let anyone help. He dug her grave in the empty lot beside this building. He visits her every morning.” Pain laced Mac’s words.

I could only imagine how hard that would have been for him. Poor Roy. His poor little girl.

“And his wife?” I probed.

“She was taken.” Mac’s words hung in the air.

“By the gang?”

“Yeah. They took her and one other guy that night.” Mac looked around the apartment as if checking for eavesdroppers. “I think they took her for a reason.”

Dread settled in my stomach. Mac had said the gang hadn’t only taken women, but it was still suspicious. A shiver trickled down my spine like melting ice as I was reminded of when I’d gotten locked up in the police station. The only woman, separated from the others.

I leaned in as much as I could without falling off of the stool. “What do you mean?”

“The guy they took had been bitten numerous times by sick ones. He was immune as you could get. Roy’s wife, Irene, once told me she survived an attack.”

I almost fell off the stool. There were others like me? My hand itched to move to my side where the infected had scratched me, but I forced it to remain still. Now I’d have to hide the scratches for a different reason. What would the kidnappers want with immune people? They were just thugs; they couldn’t do anything about the infection. The ice in my spine returned.

“What do you think they need them for?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.

“Who knows? It’s just a theory, anyway, to make sense of a senseless situation.”

“Did anyone look for them afterward?”

“Roy threw himself into it, but eventually put that on hold because he still has one daughter to keep it together for. Tim also canvassed around, but he didn’t find any leads.”

“How’s dinner coming along?”

We jumped at the sudden intrusion. It was Elaine, who narrowed her eyes at us. She walked over and held out her hand.

“Roy asked me to bring this to you.” In her hand was a tensor bandage for my elbow.

I took it from her. “Thank you.”

Elaine looked pointedly at my arm. “Let me see your elbow first.”

I maneuvered so she could examine it. She gripped my wrist and forearm firmly and bent the sore joint. At least it wasn’t swollen. I winced when she fully extended it.

“You may have a cracked bone, but I can’t tell for sure without an x-ray. Make sure you wear this brace and don’t hyperextend it. I have some anti-inflammatories in my office to help with the pain and stiffness. Come and grab some later.”

“Thanks again,” I said as I slipped on the tight bandage.

The pressure already seemed to help with the pain.

“You’re welcome and don’t forget,” she said. “It looks like we could use you at a hundred percent.”

Whatever she meant by that. It looked like Tim wasn’t the only one trying to recruit me.

“Supper should be ready in twenty minutes,” Mac stated, not to be left out.

“Good. people are getting hungry.” Elaine turned on her heels and walked out.

Mac rolled his eyes at me, and I grinned. I liked this guy.

Dinner had actually taken closer to forty minutes for Mac to finish. He had to add just the right amount of seasonings at just the right time. I told him no one really cared about how much dill he used, they would inhale his food either way, and he looked as if I’d slapped him with his own spatula.

True to his word, the casserole was delicious, and I was a true believer. After supper, Chloe and I played charades against Roy and Amanda. We all face palmed when Roy failed at mimicking a baby. He just rolled on the ground and Amanda had no idea what the hell he was doing. We eventually gained an audience as people laughed at the things we were doing and added new ideas to the hat. It was kind of fun.

Our audience chimed in with guesses at what Roy was doing. Currently, he was trying to mime Harry Potter to Amanda and was pointing to his forehead and then jerking his hand forward like he was using a fly swatter. Amanda sat there with a confused look on her face while people yelled in the background.

“Headache? Tylenol?”

“Teacher?”

“Psychic?”

At least the last one was closer.

The timer buzzed and he threw his hands in the air. “Harry Potter!”

Amanda shook her head. “Dad, that was terrible.”

Chloe giggled from her spot on the couch beside me and even I had to laugh. He was terrible at this.

“All right, I’m done.” Roy huffed and plopped down on one of the chairs.

At this point, everyone had returned, except for Tim. Karla clutched her walkie-talkie while she sat in the corner. Bernice had left her post on the roof. It was too dark out for her eyes to see, even with a lantern. José had joined us as well, but his eyes always drifted back to the front hallway. Mac had formed his own team with one of the older ladies and taken center stage. He was miming a pirate, but the lady didn’t get it.