The Last Outbreak (Book 3): Desperation Read online

  He wasn’t sure it was a good idea; however, the man with the beard wasn’t armed, and had yet to give off anything resembling aggression. Turning to Griffin, Ethan raised an eyebrow and said, “You good with this?”

  As Griffin had yet to remove his weapon, he simply removed his right hand from his belt and folded his arms. “Yeah, I’m good.”

  “Alright then,” the bearded man said. “Let’s jump straight into it, shall we? I’ll let you ask me the first question, but only one. And then I get to ask you a question. It’ll be like a give and take kinda thing. That work for you?”

  The bearded man was smart. He was steering the conversation from his end. He knew that once he had them believing he was in control, that they’d subconsciously be more inclined to find favor with him, that the chances of an altercation would be drastically reduced.

  Ethan offered a slight grin. “Sure thing old-timer, but I do have to tell you that neither one of us is looking to disrespect you or your city.”

  “Well, thank you boys, that’s sure a relief.” The bearded man kicked his right foot back and rested it against the bumper of his late model sedan. “Anyhow, my name is Gil Walker. I am the mayor of this fine town. How about y’all?”

  “Our names?” Ethan asked.

  “Sure, let’s get started with that.”

  The more the bearded man—who finally revealed himself as Gil Walker—spoke, the more Ethan was conflicted. On one hand, he had to have been the most sarcastic human he’d ever met, or the most unusual. He was betting it was both. On the other hand, Gil, or Mayor Walker, also dripped with copious amounts of southern charisma. But either way, Ethan was fascinated by the contradiction that was the bearded fifty-something man.

  “My name is Ethan Runner and my friend here is Griffin Ford.”

  “Good to meet you two. Now I’m assuming I know the first question you’re fixin’ to ask, but just in case it’s not, I’ll give you the option to ask it yourself.”

  “We obviously know where the rest of the residents of Green Valley are, but what we don’t know is how?”

  “Those are my friends out there, my family. I have two boys and a wife that I’ll never have the pleasure of speaking to ever again. Their voices fade with every single day that passes. The question you’d like to have answered is how I was able to get them in there? How after the infection ripped apart my town, was I able to get every single resident of Green Valley into that empty reservoir?”

  “Mayor Walker—”

  “It’s just Gil now I have no one to serve. Once this town comes back you can refer to me as the mayor, but for now I’m just Gil.”

  “Gil, we mean no disrespect, especially toward your friends and family. It’s just that it’s only been nine days and what you’ve accomplished here is unbelievable.”

  “Son, I had absolutely nothing at all to do with what happened out at this reservoir. And not every resident is here. A few took a more aggressive route to the afterlife.”

  “We’re sorry.”

  “Ain’t nothin’ to be sorry for. I’m sure by the looks of you two that you’ve seen your share of destruction over the last week?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Anyhow, what happened here in Green Valley is really very simple. Nothing too far-fetched. We had heard on the news what was going on out there, and figured it was just something that would pass. But, I’ll be damned if that delivery driver from Colorado didn’t bring that thing here.”

  “Nine days ago?”

  “Yep. That kid had parked his truck over at Sammy’s and was in the men’s room when Jimmy Franklin went to check on him. The boy had been in there for over twenty minutes, just bangin’ on the inside of the door like he’d lost his mind. And when Jimmy let that young man out—covered in blood, hairline to toenail—he never had a chance.”

  “So, who brought the infected up here, put them in the reservoir?”

  “After Jimmy and the kid, that thing spread around here pretty quickly. No one knew what to do. We’d never seen anything like it, people were losing their damn minds. Tammy Harris called the CDC, but they were having troubles of their own. Told us to stay away from the people that were infected.”

  Gil paused and looked into the sky, listening to the groans and growls of his family, friends, and his neighbors. “Eventually, less than thirty of us remained. A handful were lucky enough to get to their cars and trucks, hightail it out of town. A few others headed back to their homes to end it on their own terms. And then real early the second morning, Tommy Greenwald drove up Main Street, left his truck in the middle of the street, and started walking toward the reservoir.”

  “They all followed him?”

  “Yes, most did. They followed him around the back, to where there is no slope. Started dropping in there faster than you could count. Rolled around for a bit and then somehow got back on their feet. There were at least forty the first run out. Then more were drawn to the sound and eventually every single infected townsperson found their way into that pit. And since they can’t climb, that’s where they’ve been ever since.”

  Griffin looked back at the graduated incline and then again at Gil. “Why are you still—”

  Gil stopped him. “My question, where y’all from?”

  Ethan smiled. He could see that Gil had softened a bit, but was still keeping his distance. “Mainly Colorado, but we’re headed to the coast.”

  With a small break in the conversation, Griffin persisted. “Gil, why are you still here? Why haven’t you left?”

  “I don’t rightly have anywhere else to go. And anyway, when they come back, someone’s got to be here. To show them where to find everyone.”

  “When who comes back?”

  Gil had forgotten that it was his turn to ask a question. Either that or he simply didn’t have another question to ask. He looked like he’d lost his place. Like this conversation was scripted and he’d run out of lines. So instead of allowing the awkwardness continue, he answered.

  “The military. They came through on the evening of the first day. Said they’d be back with vaccinations within a week or two. Told us to stay put.”

  “And?”

  “And, I’ve been alone here for the last seven days. Tommy was the last to go, he went out to check the reservoir and never came back. Saw him in there a few days later. Must have fallen in with the others.”

  Ethan squinted through the morning sun. “Gil, I don’t know how to tell you this, but I don’t think the military or anyone else for that matter is coming back. I think we’re all on our own at this point.”

  “Ethan, right?”

  “Yes sir.”

  “How’d you and your group get here from Colorado?”

  “Interstate Seventy.”

  “Notice anything odd?”

  “Yeah, that sign for Green Valley. It was spray painted. Said, Infection free?”

  “Don’t know who did that. Been there since the second day, maybe someone’s idea of a joke. You all notice anything else?”

  “No vehicles on the road. Just a whole lot pushed off to the shoulder.”

  “That’s our military, they did that. It’s clear all the way out to the coast. They’re coming back. And when they do, my people will be here.”

  Smart, charismatic, and even compassionate, Gil Walker, the bearded former mayor, was a good man. But he was also delusional. The people he’d lived with, laughed with, and loved were gone. And they weren’t coming back, at least not in the way he was hoping.

  Ethan looked back at the dirt and gravel slope and turning back to Gil said, “Where are you staying?”

  “Young man, I think you know the answer to that. You and your friend came by looking in through the front door yesterday. My old office is the only place I know where the memories of my two boys and my dear Ellie aren’t hanging in every corner.”

  “You lock those doors at night?”

  Gil breathed out hard through his nose. He looked to be a patient man, but Ethan
sensed the man in the white Stetson may no longer be comfortable with the direction the conversation was moving.

  “Yes son, the offices of City Hall are locked down tight every night.” He glared back at Ethan. “You never can tell who may come wandering in off the interstate.”

  “That’s probably not the only thing you should be concerned about. You do know this reservoir won’t hold them back forever.”

  “You all are free to go, just the same way you drove in. No one is holding you here. And if you’re thinking about going anywhere near my family or friends, you’d better reconsider. I don’t care what you believe or what you’ve heard, but they will fix this. Maybe not now, but in time everything will be put back the way it was meant to be. Until then, we don’t need your help.”

  “Again, we didn’t come here looking for trouble. We turned off the interstate just looking for a place to rest, maybe find something to eat. This is your town and we intend on leaving it just the way we found it.”

  “Tonight?”

  Griffin brought his right hand up to his hip and rested his thumb in his pocket. “Are you asking us to leave, or is this something else? Maybe I’m reading this wrong.”

  “Son, you can call it whatever you want, but I don’t think I’m too comfortable sharing the streets of Green Valley with you and your group. This doesn’t have to get ugly. Hell, you don’t even have to clean up after yourselves. I’ll handle that once you all crack on, and as a show of goodwill, I’ll leave you to spend the rest of the day getting rested for your trip. Somehow I think you all are going to need it.”

  The bearded former mayor paused. His face tightening as he pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes. “I’ll give y’all till sundown.”

  39

  Emma stood in the hall waiting as Cedric ran through his plan. She’d tucked her phone into her dirty orange backpack and slipped it over her shoulder. Nervously tapping her foot on the navy blue commercial-grade carpeting, she waited as Tom, Veronica, and Patrick joined her outside the door.

  Unable to completely focus on what Cedric was saying as he stood in the threshold, Emma’s mind was elsewhere. She was only able to read the first few lines of Ethan’s text before moving out of the suite and now it was all she could think about.

  “Okay,” Cedric began, “I’m going down through the south stairwell to the garage. That’s where I’ll let Blake and his men find me.”

  Emma’s head was spinning. She’d only been catching every second or third word, but the phase “I’ll Let Blake and his men find me” stuck out as odd. Why would they find him? Was he going to be hiding or was there something in Cedric’s previous statement that she’d missed?

  “Let them find you?” Emma asked. “Where are you going?”

  “We are going to get you back to your car and out of this area, but not just yet. For now, we’re going to hide you.”

  “Tom and I?”

  “Yes, but let me back up. We don’t have much time, so I’ll get through this quick. You and Tom will go with Patrick to the twelfth floor. We have another suite there that has some supplies, enough for a few days. Leave the door open and stay away from the windows. If you need to use the bathroom, you’ll have to crawl, same thing when you get there, crawl to the back corner and there you’ll remain out of sight. Do not go to any of the other suites or leave the twelfth floor. Veronica or I will come for you in the next day or two.”

  “What do we do for the next two days?”

  “I don’t care. Sleep, talk, whatever, anything but being seen. Blake will have his men watching for the next few days. Once I feel he’s let up, we’ll come get you.”

  Emma felt her heart beginning to race. “And then what?”

  “Emma, I know this isn’t ideal or even what you want to hear, but I think you and Tom will be much safer away from this place. Blake is hell-bent on keeping certain things the way they are, and if he truly believes the both of you have left, he’ll go back to simply harassing me about the number of Feeders that are clogging his end of town.”

  “So, Tom and I have to be ready to move on in the next two days, maybe sooner?”

  “Yes, but you won’t be on your own.” Cedric glanced at his wife. “I’ll help get you to your vehicle. We’ll have to do it at night, and it won’t be pretty, but I promise to do whatever I can to get you out safely.”

  “What about you? What if Blake finds out you helped us? I mean it’s not going to be hard to put two and two together. You really think he’ll believe that you didn’t just let us go?”

  “No, not if I give him a reason to think I tried to keep you here.”

  Tom stepped forward. “What exactly does that mean?”

  “I have a plan that may just help the both of us. All you two need to do is stay out of sight for the next two days. We have a fourth radio that Blake doesn’t know about. I’ll give it to you, but you’ll only be able to turn it on at night to keep the battery from draining.”

  “We obviously can’t contact you, so what good is it?”

  “You’ll be able to listen to any conversations I have with Veronica or Patrick. Anything goes really wrong and I’ll contact you directly.”

  Locking eyes with Cedric, Emma said, “Okay, stay low, move to the corner of the suite, and only crawling from the suite to the restroom? Radio goes on at sundown and then off at sunrise. Anything else?”

  “Yeah, when we call, be ready to go. Which means make sure your bags are packed at all times.”

  “Will do.”

  “Alright, Blake will call again, probably within the next few minutes, and when he does, it will be time to go. You and Tom will follow Patrick and Veronica, and I will head toward the garage. Veronica will stop in the stairwell and respond to Blake’s call telling him that I’d taken the both of you to the garage.”

  “For what?”

  “To hand you over to him. But when he arrives, he’ll see that the two of you had gotten the better of me and are nowhere to be found. He may question it and he may not, but I haven’t given him any reason to believe that I’d help the two of you.”

  “You think Blake is going to buy that somehow we overpowered you, or that we—”

  “I have a feeling that he will.”

  Her thoughts now bouncing between her brother and just how the next few days were going to play out, Emma tried to focus on the instructions Cedric was giving his wife and his son.

  “Veronica, when Blake calls again, tell him that I took them down to the garage. He’ll think we’re at the north end as usual. Tell him I left without the radio because I was rushed, but do not tell him anything else. If he keeps asking questions, just tell him that you don’t know anything.”

  Veronica turned up the volume on the two-way radio and slipped it into her front pocket. “Okay.”

  Turning to his son, he said, “Patrick…”

  The lanky sixteen year old, who stood nearly as a tall as his father, tried to look brave. “Yeah dad?”

  “Just need you to get them to the suite on the twelfth floor. Stop out in the hall and make sure they crawl in. I don’t want Blake’s men to see them or you.”

  Patrick quickly nodded. “Come straight back?”

  “Yes, wait for me and your mother here.”

  “Okay dad.”

  Emma waited for the father and son to finish. She then moved into the doorway and wrapped her arms around Cedric. She hugged him tight and whispered into his ear, “You are a good man, thank you.”

  “Emma, thank you as well.”

  She began to cry. “Why on earth would you be thanking me?”

  “Because you trusted me to help you, and because you’ve made me understand that there are still some good people left in this world.”

  Tom also exchanged good-byes with the family of three and then shook Cedric’s hand. “See you in a few days?”

  “You will.”

  “Good luck with Blake. I hope he buys it.”

  “Oh he will, the black eye
you’ve given me is going to seal the deal.”

  “Black eye?”

  Cedric placed his radio on the floor, moved to the center of the threshold, and gripped the door handle. Leaning forward, he closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and pulled back hard. The outer edge of the door struck him vertically across the left eye, causing instant swelling. As he turned back, Veronica and Emma held their hands over their mouths.

  “That black eye, it should be nice and ripe by the time I get to the garage.”

  40

  They walked the nearly two-mile route back from the reservoir in silence. They hadn’t discussed the ultimatum given to their group by the bearded former mayor. They also hadn’t spoken about the fact that at any minute, the better part of almost a thousand bloodthirsty corpses may come stumbling back through town with only one focus. But reaching the parking lot and having long ago lost track of Mr. Gil Walker, Ethan stopped.

  “We can’t stay until sundown. I think we should get on the road now, even if we have to sleep in the truck on the road somewhere.”

  Glancing back the way they’d come, Griffin held his hand over his eyes, blocking the early morning sun. “Yeah, maybe. But how much have you slept in the last three days?”

  “Enough to know that this place isn’t safe, that every second we wait is another chance for Gil to change his mind, or for those walls to fall. I can’t think of a single reason to stay here another minute.”

  “What about Mayor Walker? We just leaving him here? You know what’s going to happen to him if we do, where he’ll end up?”

  “He’s not going anywhere, and I have a feeling he’d take offense to us even suggesting that he leave this town. Plus, we’ve already got our hands full.”

  Looking back toward the hotel, and their SUV parked up against the front doors, Ethan put his hand on Griffin’s shoulder. “Let’s go tell the others.”

  Greeted on the patio, again by Shannon, Ethan waited as Griffin moved through the doors. He took her arm and pulled her into him. Letting his right hand drift to her back, Ethan felt the curves of her petite frame gliding under his palm. Tilting his head to the right, he looked into her eyes and waited for her to do the same.