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  "Toby." She stretched her hand out in search of him. He was locked in a wire dog cage on the other side of the room and was sick. He'd been coughing and sneezing ever since they reached Hailey's End and his illness was getting progressively worse as time went by. Now, after what she thought was at least a day in this hell, he'd finally calmed down. He wasn't coughing anymore, and his wheezing breath had quieted. "Toby, how are you feeling?"

  His shallow intake of air sounded like it was coming in and out of a straw. He tried to speak, but it was too difficult and all that escaped his throat was a deeper gasp. His cage rattled as her fingernails clawed at its bars.

  "Toby, you don't have to talk if you can't. Just reach out and touch my hand. Please, baby. Just touch Mommy's hand."

  The cage clanked as he moved to accommodate her. His thin fingers reached out of the bars and searched for hers. They locked fingertips and she pulled harder against the chain until it nearly cut off her ability to breath.

  His fingers were so cold.

  She had to move back when she ran out of breath and her fingers slid away from his. Gwen adjusted the leather collar around her throat to provide relief from the pressure. "We'll be fine, Toby. Just stay strong." She shivered in the dank basement and wrapped her arms over her breasts. The cops had stripped her down to her underwear and threatened to rape her repeatedly, but their leader insisted they wait until someone brought back condoms. He mentioned something about STDs possibly interfering with an anti-viral that they were experimenting with, and he didn't want to risk contamination.

  "We'll be okay," she told herself. "We just need to stay strong. We'll get through this."

  There were footsteps on the floor above and dust fell down on her as the wood creaked. She scooted away, against the cold stone wall that scraped against her bare back. There were multiple people walking around upstairs and they were headed to the door that led to the basement. Gwen trembled as she waited for the sound of the door at the top of the stairs to open. When it did, she tried her best not to whimper.

  Flickering lantern light illuminated the basement as Courtland descended the wooden stairs. Gwen took the opportunity to look at her son, on the other side of the nearly barren room, in the wire dog cage that had been padlocked shut. He was curled up, with a painter's drop cloth wrapped around him to stay warm. Still, he trembled beneath it.

  "This is where we keep the entertainment." Courtland held out his hand in Gwen's direction as if she were an offering. Two men that Gwen had never seen accompanied him. One of them was monstrously large and had to duck down to avoid hitting his head on the beams above. The other man was much older and thinner, with thick silver hair that was slicked back.

  "Damn," said the thin, Mexican man as he stared lasciviously at Gwen. "Not bad." He glanced over at Toby. "Is there a dog in that cage?"

  "No," said Courtland. "That's her son."

  "Jesus, dude." The large man chortled as if amused by the brutality of the scene. "That's fucked up."

  Courtland glanced at Toby and then at Gwen. "Yeah, I guess." He shrugged and started to walk away. "The kid keeps shitting himself, so I didn't want him in my lab. He's infected, and she knows that if she doesn't do as we ask, we'll let him turn. Isn't that right, Gwen?" He looked down at her and smiled as she looked away and refused to answer. "If she plays nice, we'll give her boy a shot of Seventy-Seven. If not, we'll let him turn."

  Courtland started to head back up the stairs as the two other men stayed behind and stared at Gwen. She took the opportunity to mouth the words, 'Help me.'

  The big man laughed and unbuckled his belt. "Yeah, sure thing, sweetheart. I'll help you out real nice."

  "Are you coming?" asked Courtland from the stairs.

  "I will be." The big man grabbed Gwen's ankle and pulled her to him. "Give me a minute to get some of this. It's been a long time, Courtland."

  "Let her go."

  Gwen pulled her leg out of his grip and crawled away from the big man. He looked up at his leader in frustration and scowled as he looked back at Gwen. "Why? What are we keeping her for if we can't fuck her?"

  "We need to be careful about spreading any viruses. At least until we can replicate the Seventy-Seven antibodies." He started back up the stairs, expecting the others to follow.

  The large man stared at Gwen and bit his bottom lip as he reached out to grab her leg again. "Come on, Court. I ain't got no diseases. I'm clean."

  "No." Courtland's normally mild tone was now strong and commanding. "Wait until someone brings rubbers. Then you can do whatever you want to her. But until then, you play by my rules."

  "But Court, I haven't fucked a girl since I got thrown in the can. Can't you cut me a break here?"

  "This is the last time I'll warn you, Jason. You play by my rules. Understand?"

  Jason slapped his palm against the concrete floor in frustration and stood up. He stared down at Gwen as he massaged his penis through the front of his slacks. "I'll be back, sweetie."

  * * *

  "Are we doing this tonight?" asked Levon as he settled into the passenger seat of the military vehicle that the paramedics brought. He and Billy had forced the two paramedics in the dock house to disrobe and stole two pistols and the black armor suits they wore. Now they were loading into the massive, armored vehicle driven by their young hostage.

  The vehicle was a marvel of technology and was befitted with a dazzling array of switches, lights, buttons, and gauges that looked more suited for an airplane than a land based vehicle. However, it was built for functionality instead of comfort, as evidenced by the plastic seats.

  Billy sat in the large rear seat and peered over the center console as he watched their driver fiddle with various controls. There was a large rear area, like a truck bed, that was separated by a short wall. It had benches on either side and a multitude of medical machines that twinkled to life when they first opened the door. Billy gazed at the myriad displays as he answered Levon. "I think we'll have to. I want to get Kim back as soon as possible." He adjusted the cuffs that still clung to his wrists. They'd managed to find a pair of clippers to snip the chain, but they didn't have time to try and pry off the cuffs entirely.

  "Agreed," said Levon. "But I'm pretty fucking tired, dude. I've been up for a long ass time."

  "Yeah, me too."

  Levon tried to close his door, but it wouldn't budge. The door rose away from the vehicle in a sideways, forward motion like some sort of European sports car, but he couldn't get it to move. "How the hell do you close this thing?"

  "Hold on." The driver flipped a switch on the armrest and the door sprang to life. "Watch your fingers." A hydraulic pump spit out a hiss of air as the door slid down and then moved in to seal shut.

  "God damn," said Levon as he glanced at Billy in boyish delight. "This is like the Batmobile."

  "Where are we headed?"

  "First off," said Billy as he settled back into his seat, "let's go up to that pharmacy. I want to grab some caffeine pills to keep us going."

  The driver flipped a red switch on the dash and the motor rumbled to life. The entire vehicle raised several inches and then a burst of air escaped the vents. Levon was suspicious of the sudden gaseous eruption, but their driver explained that the vehicle was pressurized and sealed to prevent any exposure to outside elements.

  Billy marveled at the technological monstrosity, and then he turned his attention to his suit of armor. It was tailored for the man he'd stolen it from, but it still fit fairly well. The majority of it was made of a tightly conforming fabric, thicker than spandex but similar in feel, and there were multiple metal plates sewn into it throughout. It was comfortable, and breathed surprisingly well, although the clunky armor plating made sitting an exercise in adjustment. There were three helmets in the back seat that no one chose to wear. They were demonic looking pieces of armor, befitted with tubes that stretched from the mouthpiece to the rear of the helmet where it appeared they could plug into a breathing apparatus. It was an eerie
piece of machinery that would be terrifying to encounter on an enemy. He wondered how many civilians in the city had been startled to see men in these suits moving through the streets with guns blaring. It must have been a nightmarish vision. He'd never seen anything similar to the helmet, or the armored truck, and he wondered what part of the military employed these.

  The vehicle moved in reverse as the driver turned it around. It was too large to make for an easy three point turn and they bounced over the curb on either side of the street as they went. The shocks of the vehicle kept it remarkably stable as it moved and Billy wished they were headed off road somewhere instead of through the city. He'd always loved driving ATVs and dirt bikes around the rural area away from the city, and this massive truck would be the ultimate toy to test the limits of.

  "What's your name?" Levon asked the driver.

  "Clyde."

  "You look a little young to be a paramedic," said Billy.

  "I was training for my B-Cert when the outbreak started."

  "I don't know what that means."

  "Basic certification." He looked over his shoulder at Billy as they drove up MLK. "I always thought I'd be stationed in some hospital in the Middle East or something. Never thought I'd be cruising down streets in the States, doing this sort of shit."

  "You and me both," said Levon as he stared out the window at something they were passing.

  "The pharmacy is just up here on the left." Billy pointed out the tinted front window. As he did, he saw something in the sky above. "Is that a helicopter?"

  Clyde looked up and saw it as well. "It's an evac. Probably headed for the dock to pick up Chris and Tony, and your girls."

  "You know what," said Billy. "Let's skip the pharmacy. Just keep going. I don't want to have any more run-ins with your crew."

  "Speaking of which," Levon pointed at the various lights on the dash. "I bet there's some sort of LoJack on this thing." He glanced back at Billy. "They'll be able to track us down quick."

  "We just have to make it east of Becken Bridge," said Billy. "We won't need to be in this thing for too long." He pointed at a street ahead. "Take a left on 23rd."

  "You guys know the train yard is out that way, don't you?" Clyde looked at them as if they were making an obvious mistake.

  "What does that mean? What's up with the train yard?" asked Levon.

  "Alpha Squad was taking people to the train yards for transport out of the city, but there was a riot at the one outside of Becken Bridge. People went running out over the bridge just before they bombed it. Since then, they've had that area locked off."

  "I was there," said Billy quietly from the back seat.

  "At the yard?" asked Levon.

  "No. I was under the bridge when people started jumping off. Then they bombed it. We were right next to it when it blew."

  "Damn," said Levon. "You never told me that."

  Clyde carefully turned the corner and started to drive along 23rd Avenue, away from the area of the street that had been fenced off to house walkers. "They had one side of the bridge blocked off when the riot started. People ran over the bridge thinking they could escape onto Devonshire Cape, but then they were shot on the other side. After the bridges started getting bombed, folks decided to jump over the edge. Worst thing I've ever seen."

  "You were there too?" asked Billy.

  Clyde nodded and stayed quietly contemplative as they kept moving down the street. Levon grumbled and crossed his arms. "Fucked up, man. This whole situation is straight up fucked." He pointed at Clyde with an accusatory gesture. "How can you still be on their side after all this shit? When are you going to open your eyes?"

  "Open my eyes to what? What exactly am I supposed to see?"

  Levon became aggitated as he began to explain his theories. "First off, they called you guys in before the disease even started. Second, they had prison camps built all around the city that were sitting empty until this shit went down. Third, they had thousands of plastic coffins waiting to be carted in."

  "Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Clyde defensively. "Those are all easily explained. The military has a backup plan for all sorts of terrorist plots. All that stuff you named off is just an example of how they were prepared for all possible scenarios. None of that proves there's some sort of conspiracy here."

  Levon waved his hands and sat up in his seat. "Dude, I'm just getting started! Fourth, the electricity went out all over the place. Unless I'm mistaken, there's no fucking zombie engineers running around sabotaging the power grid. And then what about the cell towers? Or the fucking satellites? How'd the zombies take that shit out?" Clyde tried to offer an explanation, but Levon was already moving on to his next point. "Fifth, you guys planned for the zombies to die off. Instead of killing them, you fenced them up because you knew they died after a few days from decomposition. How the fuck did you guys know that? Sixth, all the local news stations switched over to a New York feed, like you guys were trying to hide what was happening everywhere else."

  "What are you trying to say?" asked Clyde. "Why in the hell would we want to unleash a zombie apocalypse on the world? What possible reason would we have to do that?"

  "I don't know," said Levon. "Why'd they invent AIDs?"

  Clyde groaned and rolled his eyes at Levon's comment. "Come on, man. Don't get started on that shit. Next you'll try and tell me 9-11 was an inside job. I'm not going to debate wacko conspiracy bullshit."

  "Facts are facts, man. You can pretend like this shit was all an accident, but I know better. This was planned."

  "All right," Billy interrupted the conversation. "Let's focus on the task at hand here. Should we steer clear of Becken Bridge and try to find a different way out of the city?"

  "The bulk of the troops went to the next depot," said Clyde. "We might not run into anyone out there. Unless they're still transporting other stuff."

  "Why the fuck should we trust you?" asked Levon. "You're probably driving us right into their hands."

  Clyde looked at them both and shrugged. "I understand if you don't trust me, but even if I don't believe in all the conspiracy bullshit, I still think what you guys are trying to do is honorable. I'm on your side here."

  "Yeah right." Levon looked out his window and waved his hand back at Clyde dismissively.

  "I saw the zombies walking around under the water," said Clyde as if admitting to a sin. "I didn't even think about it at the time. When I was stationed at the Devonshire Depot, we saw the fucking things walking around off the shore. They had to set up guards along the banks to blow the heads off of any walkers that made it to the shore. They didn't have a fence on the water, so they had to keep those things from getting in. Alpha was moved out to the Becken Depot not long after that."

  "So you know there's no point in trying to contain this if they don't drown."

  "Yeah. I never even thought about the implications of that until now." Clyde focused on the road ahead as he explained his conflict. "When you and Chris were talking about the zombies under water, it hit me. If they can survive under water, then what reason do we have to blow the bridges and try to contain the disease?"

  "Exactly." Levon turned to look at Clyde with his hands held out and a look of exasperation on his face. "Why were you giving me shit before if you agree with me? This is all a big conspiracy, just like I was trying to tell you."

  "I don't know if I agree with that. I don't know if it's a conspiracy or if the military just doesn't know what the fuck it's doing. Either way, I don't see the harm in sending the two of you off to try and save a little girl's life. If the zombies are walking around under the water, it's silly to think keeping the two of you here can help stop the disease from spreading."

  "Well, thanks," said Billy. "I'm glad you're on our side."

  "Besides, we've been instructed to kill any police officers we see. Those guys that took your little girl are a big priority for us. The rumor is that they're part of the terrorist cell that released the disease."

  "No kidding?" The re
velation piqued Levon's interest. "The cops did it?"

  "They're not real cops. All of the real cops were pulled out of the city right before this all went down. They were sent to a seminar or something and then the fake cops came in." Clyde flicked one of the switches on the dash and the lights on top of the vehicle began to spin. Alternating flashes of blue and red illuminated the empty shopping area to their left and right as they continued to move down 23rd Avenue. The side of the road was piled with trashed cars that had been pushed out of the way for the military vehicles to be able to move through. Billy glanced out the side window as the lights revealed the hauntingly desolate shopping area. "They got fake uniforms and started infecting people with needles and razors. People trust the police, and the terrorists used that against us."

  "Shit," Levon chuckled at Clyde's assessment. "You obviously didn't grow up where I did. If a cop was on fire in my neighborhood, we wouldn't piss on him to put him out. Fuck the police."

  "Did they have rings with needles on them?" asked Billy.

  Levon understood why his friend was curious and became suddenly concerned. "Fucking shit, man. That's what that thing was for?"

  "What?" asked Clyde.

  "We ran into a cop up in the city earlier," said Levon. "He had a ring with a needle tape to it and I pricked my finger on it. Son of a bitch! Do you think I got infected?"

  Billy shrugged and pointed at Clyde. "According to these guys, we're infected already anyway. Not to mention we've had that fucking zombie goo all over us from those coffins." He rubbed his arms, which were still irritated by the gelatinous puss that had covered them on their trip through the plastic coffin graveyard. "I'm glad we ended up jumping in the water for a bit. That nasty shit was starting to burn my skin."

  "Yeah, mine too."

  "You guys got covered in lye?" asked Clyde as he looked at them both.

  Levon shrugged. "We got covered in zombie juice, from those coffins."