The Dead Years (Volume 7)

  The Dead Years

  Volume 7

  Jeff Olah

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2013 by Jeff Olah

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, locations and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, events or locales is merely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  Published by Jeff Olah

  Dedication

  This and all future Volumes of The Dead Years are dedicated to YOU the reader.

  Thank you for the continued support.

  Your words of encouragement mean EVERYTHING to me.

  YOU are the reason I write.

  *** Be sure to sign up for My “New Releases” Newsletter (Click or visit JeffOlah.com). I promise to only hit your inbox when I have a new release or a gift for you! (You’ll also be the first to get your eyes on my new Post-Apocalyptic Thriller RATH when it’s released in early 2014).

  Contents

  Contents

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Contents

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  What’s Next?

  1

  A single flake of snow fell to the ground, coming to rest in the river of blood slowly pooling around his size eleven boots. The velvety red fluid pulsated from the massive head wound, as his target lay face down in the colorful underbrush of the cabin’s exterior. As he inhaled, the cool air tasted of scorched gunpowder and held a twinge of apprehension. Lower altitudes near the slowly moving creek were home to more pine trees than he could count. Sporadic bursts of wind forced through the lower branches whispered at his back as he turned to check the area for any stray Feeders. Using his weapon to remove the coagulated mess from his jacket and pants, he grinned and moved away from the man he killed only moments ago.

  Heading for the rear door the two men had exited less than five minutes before, he noticed movement in the trees at the far side of the creek and knew better than to drag this out. Taking a deep breath he pulled open the door to three noticeably surprised individuals. Even before the large man had a chance to reach for his weapon, Randy fired a round into each one of his tree trunk like thighs, sending him backward to the floor, a hobbled mess. Before turning to the Major, who hadn’t yet said a word, Randy moved to the smaller of the two men at the opposite end of the cabin and retrieved both weapons.

  He pulled the startled young man in close and sat him in the chair next to his tortured comrade. The young man swallowed hard and began to speak, although Randy stopped him before a single syllable crossed his lips. “Hey… look at me,” Randy said grabbing him by the top of the head. “Your friend here is going to be dead in the next few minutes and if you don’t want to share the same fate, you’ll stay seated and keep your mouth shut… until I’m ready for you.”

  “KILL THEM… KILL THEM BOTH!” Major Daniels shouted.

  The beast of a man now reduced to a cursing and spitting heap, unable to stand, pushed himself into the corner and grabbing the leg of the table tried to pull it close. Using one hand to right himself against the rear wall of the cabin, he used the other to slowly slide the table, oblivious to Randy moving in his direction. “You’re all dead, each and every one of you. He’s coming back and you’re going to beg him to end your life.”

  Figuring he must have hit a major artery when he leveled this man, Randy knew there wasn’t much time till he bled out and slipped into unconsciousness. Turning to Major Daniels, he nodded to the rear of the cabin behind him as Mason appeared, leaning against the door frame. Randy pointed to the beast cowering behind the table and looked to Mason. “You look like crap buddy. This one here... is he the guy that did that to you? How about we give you two a little time alone, maybe he can explain himself?”

  Hobbling through the door and into the cabin, Mason nodded to Randy and moved to Major Daniels. He slowly slid in behind and began removing the ropes binding his father-in-laws hands and legs together. The pain shooting through Mason’s arms and out through his fingers hampered his progress as each knot was more difficult to unravel than the one before. Perspiration carried blood from the Major’s face down his neck and into this collar as Mason finished freeing him. The two stood and moved in behind Randy.

  Lunging forward, Major Daniels reached out for one of the weapons as Randy swiped it away and stepped back. The beast in the corner still cowering and loosing blood at an alarming rate was now flush and beginning to breathe harder with each passing second. Major Daniels made another attempt to finish off the man who’d beaten him for the better part of the morning as Randy begrudgingly pulled him away. “Wait, let’s get what we need from him first.”

  Coming out of the rage induced fog that controlled his every reaction of the last few hours, the Major turned to Randy with a half-cocked smile. “Randy Stiig… It’s been quite a few years and if I’m being honest, you look like ten miles of bad highway.”

  His surprise unmistakable, Mason interrupted. “Wait… you two...”

  “No time for a long drawn out reunion; we’ve got a group of Feeders headed this way,” Randy said. “We need to scoot.”

  Turning to Mason, Randy handed him one of two nine millimeter pistols and walked to the corner. The table was not quite as heavy as it looked and he gripped the corner and flipped it out of the way and into the smaller man still seated to his left. “What’s your name big boy?”

  “Yeah sure,” said the behemoth. “Like you said, I’ll be dead in a few minutes. You’re better off just killing me.”

  “His name is Anton, and you don’t need him,” the smaller man to Randy’s left said. “My name is Travis and I’ll help you.”

  Without turning to face him, Randy used the blunt end of the pistol against the back of Travis’s head to command silence. “I’ll get to you in a minute; right now your friend is going to talk.” Moving closer and kneeling over Anton, Randy shoved the barrel deep into his mouth, knocking loose one of his front teeth in the process. Calmly, Randy continued, “I’m going to ask you three simple questions and for each one you don’t answer, I going to take apart one of your appendages.” Sliding the weapon back out of his mouth, Randy was met with a smattering of mucus and blood as Anton spit out the contents of his mouth and cursed him.

  Wiping the mess from his face and still crouched over the monstrosity of a man, Randy narrowed his focus. “I know you were under orders to detain Major Daniels and extract information, but I know that’s not everything. What else did you come for?”

  Anton leaned in and a smiled started across his face as he began to laugh. He stared right through Randy and didn’t blink as the others curiously looked on.

  Obviously frustrated and out of time, Randy struck him repeatedly with the pistol and with each blow Anton rocked backward and continued to laugh that much harder.

  Travis interrupted, “I’ll tell you everything, I know just as much as he does. He’s not even…”

  Turning form his current target, Randy said, “Mason, keep him quiet.”

  Kicking the leg out from under the chair, Mason watched as Travis toppled to the floor. With only a few feet between them, Anton shifted his weight and grabbed at the smaller man only to be met by Randy intercep
ting his forearm and pulling it toward him. The two men struggled as Randy forced Anton’s hand to the blood soaked wood floor.

  Without warning, Mason came in from behind and before Anton had time to react, he dropped the barrel of his nine millimeter pistol onto Anton’s wrist and fired, almost separating his hand from the rest of his arm. Sprayed with blood and sections of splintered bone, Randy scooted backward as Mason stepped in.

  “MASON, WE NEED THIS GUY!” Randy shouted.

  “No we don’t, the kid here probably has just as much information and he’s ready to talk. Take care of it.”

  Turning to Major Daniels, Mason motioned in the direction of the half-conscious behemoth, bleeding out in the corner. “Help me out here.” Mason and his father-in-law each gripped a pant leg and dragged Anton the length of the cabin as he used his final words to warn Travis what Goodwin was going to do to him when he arrived. Pulling him through the doorway and out into the brush, they laid him against the large spruce nearest the cabin. Mason used the rope from the cabin to tie Anton to his final destination.

  “Major, can you let Randy know that we need to leave right now. Take the boy or leave him, but we need to go.”

  Heading back to the cabin, he stopped. Without turning, Major Daniels said, “Mason, I’m glad you came here for me, and… please start calling me Richard.”

  2

  The halls of Blackmore had been eerily quiet since Mason followed Frank out into the forest. The only movement came from the many rooms filled with Feeders occasionally fighting for release. Even though these monsters were locked down and of no concern, Eleanor still flinched with every passing glimpse. With her daughter finally asleep in the dimly lit, makeshift bedroom, she made her way back to Tessa. The Cage held the same stillness as the rest of the facility, save for the clicking of the keyboard as Tessa poured her findings into the laptop.

  It had been a few hours since Justin had shown any new signs of recovery and as his grandmother, she needed to know. Upon entering the room, Eleanor waited for Tessa to finish what she was currently working through. “Is there anything new? Is there something we have to hope for?”

  “Eleanor, how are you holding up? How are the girls?”

  “I’m sorry… I just… I need something, some good news. My daughter is hanging by a thread and I’d love to give her something to hold onto. When she wakes up and reality rushes back in, I just want to…”

  “Eleanor, I know. I want the same thing,” Tessa said. “Your family is like my family now. We all want the same thing.”

  “Thank you sweet Tessa, you have been wonderful. We would be lost here without you.”

  Turning away from the counter and meeting Eleanor just behind the table Justin lay motionless on, Tessa reached out for her hand. She looked to the clock in the corner of the room, slowly searching for the right words. “Not a lot has happened since April left, although what has taken place within just the last hour points to some positive signs.” A tear ran down Eleanor’s face and her upper lip began to quiver as Tessa continued, “Even though he has been less responsive physically, it appears that mentally he’s possibly taken a step forward.”

  Eleanor furrowed her brow and dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “What do you mean, is he awake, did Randy’s blood help?”

  “I think it may be too soon to attribute any changes to the things we have done here today. Justin hasn’t progressed in a way that we’ve yet seen. He’s different and that to me is all the hope I need. While I’m not under the illusion he’ll be walking out of this room today, I am hopeful we can continue to make some progress and learn things about this virus that will help him and benefit the rest of us. He is as much our saving grace as we are his.”

  “OK…” Eleanor said. “What has changed about him, how can you even tell?”

  Tessa leaned in and pulled back Justin’s left eyelid and whispered. “Watch his eye as I speak.” She ratcheted up the volume in her voice to just below shouting. “Justin… we are here for you, your mother… your father and the rest of your family.” With each new word, Justin’s eyes tracked the sound and darted from side to side, finally resting with the sound of Tessa’s voice fading.

  Her hand over her mouth, Eleanor waited for the movement in Justin’s eyes to cease before she returned her attention to Tessa. “Can he hear us, is that a good sign?”

  Tessa waited as she released his eyelid and watched as it fluttered closed. She motioned in the direction of the door and they made their way into the hall. Opening the door, Tessa waited for Eleanor to pass, then closed and locked the only room in the building with an individual security keypad. “All I can tell so far is that he has become responsive to auditory stimulus. Earlier, this wasn’t the case and I have to imagine that this points to something positive, even if we don’t fully understand it. I just need more time with him.”

  Moving her focus to the locked door and back to Tessa, Eleanor smiled. “Is it ok if I let April know what you’ve found here…when she wakes up? It will do wonders for her to hear a bit of good news for once. They’ve had the worst two weeks that you can possibly imagine.”

  “Sure,” Tessa said. “I’ve locked the door and need to get some rest if I’m going to do this family any good. If something changes, please alert me, although I think it may be best if we all let Justin alone until I have more time with him.” Tessa leaned in, hugged Eleanor and walked off down the darkened hallway.

  With the others attempting to rest, Eleanor made her way back to the Command Center and was startled to see Savannah at the main computer looking intently as it switched from one camera to the next. “I thought you’d be resting,” Eleanor said.

  “I woke up and just sorta had a weird feeling,” Savannah said. “Now I can’t find Randy… Have you seen him?”

  “I haven’t, although he couldn’t have gone too far.”

  . . .

  Her body completely exhausted, April slept soundly as pictures of the horror they’d experienced over the last fourteen days flashed through her mind, without completely focusing on any one event. Without reason, the images progressed beyond the day of the infection and stopped at Mason’s apartment building where he’d spent ninety days apart from her.

  Sitting in the parking lot for over thirty minutes, April talked herself in and out of going in to see him multiple times. With the front windows down, she felt the cool fall breeze against her face as she watched a soccer ball slowly roll through the grass and come to a stop two cars away. An unseen bird sang in the distance, only disturbed by the rhythmic trance of the wind whipping through the courtyard and into the massive oak trees standing guard over the park a block away.

  Finally building up the courage, April sealed both windows, pulled the key from the ignition and made the long walk up to the building, not making eye contact with anyone as she went into the building and up the elevator. As the door opened to his floor, April was startled at the disrepair of the building and began to tear up. Turning into the corridor, she noticed the sign advising her that Mason’s apartment would be to the right. Carefully making her way down the hall, she kept her eyes bolted to the floor and only turned to look when she heard what sounded like her husband’s voice coming from the apartment just before his.

  Reaching his apartment, April peered in through the already open door and after calling out for him, realized he wasn’t there. She prayed that the apartment she heard his voice coming from didn’t belong to a woman. Aside from being devastated at the thought of him even sharing one moment with another woman, she didn’t want to be caught here, desperately searching for him. Tucking the card she’d brought for him back into her bag, she turned to head back to the elevator before the neighbor’s door opened and she froze.

  To her surprise the man who exited the apartment, a rugged sort with a weeks’ worth of wear on his faded jeans and wrinkled t-shirt smiled, offering her his hand. “You must be April; Mason couldn’t have described you better.” He was closely followed by
her husband, whose reaction wasn’t quite the same.

  “April... What are you doing here?” Mason said.

  Her face instantly turned red as she searched for the words, “I… I just stopped by to…”

  Still smiling, although a tad confused, Mason’s new friend stepped back and motioned for her to follow. He pushed Mason back into the apartment and asked her in. “I apologize; my name is Randy. Please come in. Would you like something to drink?”

  Mason stepped around Randy and asked her to follow him into the hall before pausing at the doorway. “Randy, give us a few minutes.”

  “Sure.”

  Unable to find the words for what she was feeling, April shook her head and simply said, “What… what were you guys doing?”

  “Randy’s ex-military and he was just showing me his gun collection,” Mason said as he opened the door to his apartment. He moved aside and let April enter, before following her in and closing the door.