The Dead Series (Book 2): Dead Is All You Get Page 10

  I found the sofa and sank into it, groaning from the pain. Holly unbuttoned my shirt and gasped at the massive red and purple bruising emanating from my abdomen.

  “Oh, Dave, what did they do to you?”

  “Taught me a lesson, apparently.”

  Warnick stood in front of me. “Pederman wants to see you. I’ll tell him it can wait.”

  “No,” I said. “I’ll see him.”

  “You sure?”

  “I’m coming with you,” Holly said, looking at Warnick.

  We met Pederman in one of the conference rooms. He didn’t look happy to see the three of us.

  “I thought this was going to be a private meeting,” he said.

  “This concerns me too,” Holly said.

  Pederman sighed, rubbed the back of his neck and looked at me with a mixture of sympathy and disappointment. “I see they roughed you up.” He glanced down at what I guessed was a report. “Dave, why didn’t you tell me about the murder investigation?”

  “Because I was never charged with anything. I didn’t think you needed to know.”

  “Does this mean he’ll lose his job?” Holly said.

  Pederman sank into a chair and sighed. “Well, the background check never turned up anything, so I think you’re fine. But, dammit, I need you to be honest with me. Any other secrets I should know about?”

  “I’m a recovering alcoholic.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence as Pederman digested this. Holly squeezed my hand. Finally, Pederman said, “You wouldn’t be the first.”

  “Mr. Pederman,” I said. “How involved is Black Dragon with the mayor?”

  “Well, originally he was the one who gave us the contract to restore order.”

  “Is he involved in the day-to-day?”

  “No. But I have to file a report once a week. Why?”

  “Don’t you think it’s strange that he didn’t let the police handle this? I mean, they brought me to his house.”

  “It is unusual.”

  “Are you going to let us continue investigating Evie’s death?” Warnick said.

  “I’m thinking the police should handle it.”

  “Something tells me they would bury it,” I said.

  Pederman turned to Warnick for confirmation.

  Warnick cleared his throat. “We know it was Creasy who called the cops. In fact, he probably called the mayor directly. That’s why they grabbed Dave.”

  “And it was the cops who beat him up,” Holly said.

  Pederman threw the report across the room. “I hate this political bullshit!” Then to Warnick, “How many men do you need to continue this?”

  “This unit should be enough—including Springer.”

  “Look, I’ll give you more time, but I expect some concrete results. We have other priorities. We have to get this town ready to turn over to civilian control, asap.”

  Pederman stopped me at the door on my way out. “How bad did they hurt you?”

  “I’ll live,” I said.

  We sat under a tree outside our trailer—Holly, Griffin, Warnick, Springer and me. My abdomen was throbbing—the ibuprofen hadn’t kicked in yet.

  “The mayor belted me in the mouth,” I said. “Then he threatened me.”

  “Was that before or after the cop worked you over?” Springer said.

  “Before.”

  Warnick got to his feet and began pacing. “So, are we to assume the mayor’s involved with Robbin-Sear?”

  “Why not?” Holly said. “It could be something as simple as money.”

  I touched my lip and winced. “Well, he did warn me to stop the investigation.”

  “What if we do the opposite?” Springer said. “Find out everything we can about the operation.”

  I looked at Warnick and Springer. I didn’t want to tell them, but I had to. “I’m going to stop.”

  “Dude, you can’t,” Springer said.

  As much as I hated the mayor, I was scared that he could actually do what he promised—get me out of the picture and assault Holly. It made me sick and I wanted no part of it. I had no plans to tell her what he’d said but I would do my best to keep her away from him.

  “Look, this guy may be a sleaze, but he’s dangerous. And he’s got the cops working for him. He could ruin Holly and me. I can’t take that chance.” I put my arm around my wife.

  “You sure this is what you want?” Warnick said.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m out too,” Holly said.

  I got to my feet slowly. “You guys do what you want. But the mayor’s warning applies to you too.”

  Springer laughed. “He ain’t got nothing on me. What do you say, Warnick? Do we go on?”

  “No, let’s let it lie,” he said. “For now.”

  Holly and I sat on the small sofa in our trailer. My eyes were closed and I could feel her small, delicate hand stroking my hair. Griffin walked in with Greta. When she saw me, she came over and gave me a hug.

  “Ow! Easy …”

  “Are you hurt?” she said.

  “I’m better. Everything’s been cleared up.”

  “I was really worried. Do you want me to stick around?”

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “Um, would it be okay if I meet Fabian in the cafeteria?”

  “You’re asking our permission?” I said.

  “It’s fine,” Holly said. “Don’t be too long.”

  “I won’t. Come on, Greta.”

  The dog pricked up her ears and trotted after Griffin. The girl seemed happy. I smiled as she went out the door.

  “Am I doing the right thing?” I said.

  “I don’t know.”

  “I feel like I’m letting Warnick down. I mean, I was the one who wanted to get to the truth. But I don’t want to lose you. Or Griffin. Or the baby.”

  “You won’t.”

  I closed my eyes again and leaned back, my entire being in turmoil. Holly rested her head on my chest. “What do you do when you don’t know what the right thing is?” I said.

  “You pray.”

  “It’s been so long.”

  “Hang on.” She got up and went over to our bed. When she returned, she was holding her Rosary. “Time to bring out the big guns,” she said.

  TWO YELLOW SCHOOL BUSES pulled into the command center parking lot carrying the survivors from the Arkon building, whom we’d rescued only weeks earlier, as well as the soldiers protecting them. While Warnick and Springer handled the paperwork, Holly, Griffin and I helped get people off the vehicles and into orderly lines for their medical exams. When Fabian showed up to assist, I gave him the guy nod.

  Nina Zimmer stepped off one of the buses with her daughter, Evan. She seemed happy and, when she saw us, hurried over to give us hugs.

  “Welcome to civilization,” I said.

  “It’s so great to see you guys!”

  “Evan!” Holly said. “Can I hold her?”

  “Here you go,” Nina said. “My arms are so tired.”

  “We’ve already got a trailer set up for you and the baby,” I said.

  Nina took in her surroundings. “This place looks amazing.”

  “Yeah,” Holly said. “With amazing showers.”

  The women laughed as I walked Nina towards an MMU. We waited while they examined her and the baby. Then I grabbed Nina’s few belongings and led everyone to her trailer. Holly insisted on carrying Evan.

  “So what’s life like on the other side of town?” I said.

  “Not so good. We lost Ed Riley.”

  “That old skinny guy with the huge Adam’s apple?”

  “I think his heart gave out.”

  “I’m really sorry,” Holly said.

  “Everyone else is doing fine, but a few have been sick. There’s a woman—I forget her name—who has diabetes. They took her directly to the hospital. She might lose her foot.”

  “Oh, sorry,” I said. “And Evan?”

  Nina smiled as she took the little girl fr
om Holly. “Somehow she’s managing through all this. I think she put on weight.”

  “Awesome,” Holly said. “Well, here we are.”

  Nina looked at her trailer and tears streamed from her eyes. Holly squeezed her shoulder and opened the door. “Home sweet home.”

  “Thank you,” Nina said. “For everything. Dave, if you hadn’t shown up in that parking lot …”

  “All part of the service,” I said. “Why don’t you get some rest? There’s food and fresh water in the fridge and baby formula in the cupboard. We need to get back.” She kissed my cheek and went inside.

  “I think she’s sweet on you, bub,” Holly said as we walked away.

  “Don’t start with me.”

  After lunch, Warnick came by the trailer to give us our new assignments, which were to go out into the neighborhoods, search the houses and clear the area of draggers. If we found human survivors, we were to bring them to the command center for testing.

  “I want to come with you guys,” Griffin said to Holly.

  “I know, sweetie. It’s not allowed.”

  “But I’m good.”

  “Yeah, you are,” I said. “Stay here and make sure the new arrivals have everything they need.”

  “Fine.” I could hear the disappointment in her voice. If it had been up to me, I would have taken Griffin along. She was an important member of the team, and I missed having her with us.

  “You’re coming with, right?” Holly said to Warnick.

  “It’ll be you two, Springer and me.”

  “As per usual,” I said.

  “There are some areas we haven’t gotten to. We’re not sure what we’re going to find. It might be dangerous.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” I said to Holly.

  “I may be pregnant,” she said, “but I’m still better than you.”

  Griffin laughed. “Ouch.”

  “Shut up,” I said.

  We put on body armor and helmets and drove a Humvee across town to a residential neighborhood near the 5 freeway. I hadn’t been this close to the edge of town for a long time and didn’t know what to expect. When we stopped at the entrance to a cul de sac, I saw the barriers set up at the freeway exits and entrances. LMTVs were parked along both sides, and soldiers with sniper rifles stood guard nearby to make sure that no one got in or out. A Black Dragon helicopter did a low flyover, its passengers also armed.

  As we surveyed the street looking for signs of life, a police cruiser drove by slowly. My stomach twisted into a knot. I checked out the driver. He didn’t recognize me, and a few seconds later he sped away.

  “So are we doing a house-to-house or what?” I said.

  Warnick checked his weapon. “Exactly. Looks like our guys were by here before.”

  “How can you tell?” Holly said.

  Springer pointed his AR-15 at a stop sign, which was partially covered by a sticker with the familiar Black Dragon logo. I glanced around and saw those same stickers on a few of the houses’ front doors.

  “We can skip this street and go on to the next one,” Warnick said.

  “So are these searches random?” Holly said.

  “They are, but we mark them off as we go. Pederman has maps of the entire town. Every day we turn in our report and he updates them.”

  “What if squatters move in after we’ve been here?” I said.

  “I suppose eventually we could make a second pass. But right now, there are too many other streets we haven’t hit.”

  We left our vehicle and walked over one street. We didn’t see a sticker on the stop sign and decided to enter the street. Another sign read DEAD END.

  “Fitting,” I said.

  Holly jabbed me in the ribs. “Where’s that positive attitude, homey?”

  We approached the first residence, a small ranch house with fading tan paint and a crabgrass lawn that looked like it hadn’t been watered in months. A chain link fence ran the length of the property, with a gate attached to the house. As we approached, we heard whimpering, then frantic barking.

  Behind the gate a hungry-looking mixed-breed dog jumped up and pressed his paws against the fence, barking and whining. He was thin—I could see his ribs—but he seemed friendly.

  “Hi, boy,” Holly said, approaching the dog.

  Warnick stepped in ahead of her. “Holly, leave him alone.” As she backed away, he raised his weapon and took aim.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Our orders are to eliminate all dogs.”

  She stood in front of Warnick, a scowl on her face. “You are not shooting that dog.”

  Warnick lowered his weapon. “You don’t get it. If another unit finds him, they will shoot him.”

  “Does that mean you’re going to shoot Greta?”

  “She doesn’t have rabies. And besides, she’s one of ours.”

  “Well, why can’t this dog be tested?”

  “Because we don’t have the resources. Please, Holly, step out of the way.”

  “Holly,” I said, “what if he tests negative? Who will care for him?”

  “Way it is, Holly,” Springer said. “We can shoot the animal or someone else will. Either way, he’s dead.”

  “You guys are all crazy.” She strode purposefully towards the next house.

  I went after her. We stood on the porch, silent. A single gunshot tore the air and the dog yiped once. Then everything went quiet.

  “Would you have done it?” Holly said.

  “What? Shoot the dog? Yeah, if I was ordered to. You?”

  She looked away. “I don’t know. What other shit jobs are we gonna have to do?”

  I pulled gently on her ponytail. “Doesn’t look like there’s anyone in this one,” I said.

  “Are we supposed to go in?”

  I could hear the sadness in her voice, but it seemed she’d pulled herself together. We both knew Warnick was right. Even if we did save the dog, it would wind up in a shelter where it would be put down anyway. I don’t want to say we did it a favor, but we might have reduced its suffering a little.

  Holly tried the front door. It was unlocked. I glanced back—Warnick and Springer had crossed to the house opposite us and were on their way in. I nodded to Holly and we entered, our weapons raised.

  The house was dusty and unkempt, with worn furniture and peeling paint. It might have been a bank repo that no one had gotten around to renovating for an auction. We didn’t see any blood, and the house was quiet as we cautiously moved from room to room. At the rear of the house was a baby’s room—the only one that was freshly painted.

  A blonde wood crib with the tags on it stood in a corner, matching dresser and changing table next to it. A used rocking chair sat in another corner. A Sesame Street mobile lay on the floor next to a toolbox. On the floor next to a pile of new, unopened toys was a stuffed bear splattered with blood.

  Holly sucked down a sob. I didn’t know what to say, so I held her hand. After seeing that room, it was hard for her to enter the other houses, but she did it anyway. What we found was mostly the same—lives abandoned, the ghosts of families watching helplessly as looters cleaned them out. Eventually, the looters would be dead, too. And their ghosts could join the victims. They might still be there.

  We never did find anything on that godforsaken street.

  We drove a mile down the road to Royal Ranch Market, where Holly and I and a former group of survivors had come to stock up on supplies when the outbreak first happened. As we pulled into the parking lot, I thought about Landry, Ben and his son Aaron—all dead. And I wondered what had happened to the family who owned the store.

  The parking lot was clean, the boards we’d put up over the windows to repair the damage from looters still in place. We parked and went to the front door, which was locked. I peered through a crack in the boards—the lights were off and the place looked deserted.

  A crash echoed from inside—metal hitting concrete. I struggled to see through the window. Something moved in the
shadows—an animal or maybe a person crawling. I couldn’t tell for sure.

  “So do we go in or …” I said. “It could be a raccoon.”

  Warnick moved in closer. “Or a survivor.”

  Springer pointed his index finger at the building like a gun and pretended to fire. “Or a dragger.”

  Holly started walking. “One way to find out, gentlemen.”

  “Aren’t we going to take a vote?” I said, hurrying after her.

  Drawing our weapons, we walked briskly to the rear of the one-story building, searching for another way in. The back faced a weed patch with trash scattered here and there. As we walked the length of the whitewashed wall, we passed a blood spray stain a few feet wide.

  The only door was up a short flight of stairs next to the loading dock. It was locked, too.

  “Springer, can you pick that lock?” Warnick said.

  “In my dreams.”

  “I don’t want to shoot it off. Let’s try the roof.”

  A metal ladder bolted to the wall led to a gravel roof. One by one we climbed up. Missing patches of gravel exposed ripped, dried-up tarpaper. Leaves and other debris were strewn everywhere. But the view was good—I spotted a few pockets of draggers off in the distance, wandering the streets. We’d have to get to them later.

  Springer found a galvanized hatch in the middle of the roof. The hasp was missing a lock. Warnick pulled the hatch open and peered inside.

  “Anything?” I said.

  “It’s pretty dark.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flashlight, clicking it on and pointing it down the hatch as we crouched around him.

  “How far down is it, do you think?” I said. “My leg’s still not a hundred percent.”

  Springer stood. “I can get down there. I’ll open the front door and let you guys in.”

  “You sure?” I said.

  He gave me one of his wiseass Springer smiles and climbed into the hole.

  “Careful,” Holly said.

  We waited to make sure Springer made it in without a problem. Peering down, he got his bearings and let himself drop. A thump echoed up.

  “What happened?” Warnick said.

  “Fell on my ass.”

  “Rookie.”

  A beam of light appeared in the darkness—Springer’s flashlight. “I think the back door will be easier,” he said.