Jared slammed the reinforced door shut as
Carlie made it through and collapsed on the floor next to the others. They lay
there panting and unable to move, their dripping blades forming small puddles
around them. Jared dragged his body up the wall and pressed his sweaty head
back against the concrete. Carlie gave him a sideways glance and saw him
rolling his eyes at her. In between breaths, he garbled out the words. “I
fucking hate Alaska,” he said. “I think I’ll stick with being stranded in the
tropics if given the choice again.” Then he let out a throaty cackle.
Carlie felt like her body was in the
clutches of a large snake, as if her ribs were compressing. With the insanity
of the battle and blood, sharp metal, and bullets painting their narrow world
in the hallway, she thought she was going to cry. Instead, she started
laughing. Matias joined in, lying on his side on the cold concrete while he
giggled like a boy. Eliza just looked at the three of them with wide eyes and
shook her head, muttering, “That’s messed up.”
Carlie stood up, resting her hands on her
soiled legs, trying to catch her breath in between howling, unsure if the tears
rolling down her cheeks were from joy or fear. After a few minutes, she arched
up, listening to the faint pounding on the vault-like door as creatures vainly
tried to gain entrance.
“Alright, let’s use what little arm
strength we have and get the hell out of here,” she said, motioning to the
ladder as she resheathed her ruby-red knife.
Chapter 46
The flight back to Fort Lewis was uneventful
and everyone slept in their seats, immune to the jarring from the unrelenting
turbulence along the west coast of British Columbia. Upon returning, Duncan
handed off the KAD97 vial to Pavel, who immediately set to work in the main lab
in D-Wing. The second vial containing the skin sample was placed in the lab’s
refrigerated containment unit for later examination.
Lavine met with Duncan and his men in
medical while Carlie waited outside, viewing the exchange between the two men
through a window in the hallway. After much gesticulation and many red-faced
remarks by Duncan and his men, Carlie was unsure of Lavine’s reaction as he
kept his back to her the entire time. The man remained still with his feet firmly
planted while he occasionally shook his head, but little was revealed from his
body language.
Upon leaving the room, the sec-def whisked
by Carlie, merely nodding at her and mumbling, “Fine job up there.”
****
Two days later, Carlie stood on the roof
of B-Wing at Fort Lewis, scanning the dark clouds forming to the east of the
snow-capped contours of Mt. Rainier. A thick band of precipitation was moving
in on the region and the bonechilling breeze was stabbing through her thick
coat. She heard footsteps on the asphalt surface behind her and turned to see
Eliza walking up alongside her. The young woman pushed back her ruffled parka
hood and blew a dark lock of hair off her face.
“There’ve been a few reports from our
border outposts along Idaho and Oregon about large herds of the undead moving
through towns by the thousands,” said Carlie, pulling her black wool cap
further down over her pale ears.
Eliza’s gaze shifted around the landscape
in the distance and then she looked out at the eastern horizon that still held
a few daggers of orange from the setting sun behind them. “That’s the region I
came from. There was some talk about a group out of the Walla Walla
penitentiary. Some bad dudes who were corralling zombies and using them to
clear out entire regions.”
“Does Duncan know about that?”
“Yes, I told him after I arrived here. Not
sure what came of it though.”
“He’s thorough. Just the same, I’ll give
him a reminder.”
Eliza let out a long exhale, her wispy
breath spiraling upward a foot and then being erased by a sudden breeze. “So do
you really have faith in this man Pavel that he can turn things around?”
“Not sure we’re at the point in the human
population right now where we can turn things back in our favor overnight but
with an antidote in our hands, he can provide the means of stopping the virus.”
“Six months is a long time to keep our
fingers crossed, hoping he can formulate something.”
“This place seems pretty secure and a good
base of operations for now. We’ll ride out the winter, focus on training more
recruits, and assist with any regional missions for procuring supplies. I, for
one, will relish not living out of a backpack and sleeping on the ground.”
“Yeah, that’d be nice. As long as you can
stay warm and dry and have a full belly each day then life is pretty good.”
“You don’t need much to stay alive but
those few things are damn precious, aren’t they?”
“What about Lavine—how did he react when
you and Duncan presented the information about his potential involvement at the
Annoric lab?”
“He didn’t flinch, not a facial tremor or
a nervous twitch to indicate that he was involved. He suggested that Duncan and
I personally head up an investigation to get to the bottom of the matter. I
can’t tell what to make of him.”
“He’s had years of experience stonewalling
congressional investigations. His poker face is well-earned.” Eliza shook her
head and smirked. “My father didn’t like him, at least towards the end. He
never cared to talk much about politics when we were together but when he did,
it was usually to vent about Lavine. I don’t trust the man.”
“Well, someone or some group was behind
that research at Annoric. Looks like our problems aren’t just about the masses
of undead clogging the streets of the world.”
Carlie pulled her gaze away from the
clouds and looked at Eliza. “I never could have imagined a day when we’d be
standing in a blustery wind in Washington having a conversation about such
things, did you?”
“You mean you didn’t wake up this morning
and think, ‘What will I do today to fight off post-apocalyptic boredom?’”
Carlie emitted a partial grin and then
looked at Eliza and grew solemn. “You have done well to come so far these many
months when so many have been after your hide. Your father would be proud—I’m proud.”
The corner of Eliza’s lips quivered for a
second, revealing a slight grin. “Yeah, well, you know that saying by Socrates
don’t you?”
“I’m a little rusty on my Greek.”
“‘If I can see far it’s because I’ve stood
on the shoulders of giants.’”
Carlie arched her back and scrunched her
nose. “Not my shoulders—I’m feeling like a creaky old lady these days with all
of my injuries.”
“Oh, you Secret Service types are all the
same. You just can’t take a compliment—you always have to be so cool and
collected.”
“Wait a minute—first you compliment me
then you insult me. Is that how it’s gonna be? Have you been spending time with
Jared?”
Eliza laughed and smacked her on the arm.
“Let’s go downstairs. The others are gathering for a terrific dinner of tuna
and cheese flakes along with canned pudding and I told them you’d foot the
bill.”
“Mmm—can’t wait. I might have to start
with dessert first.” Carlie looked at the darkening horizon and forced herself
to pull away from the approaching stormfront. They walked side by side along
the rain-freckled roof to the stairwell, the drizzle increasing with each step.
Carlie thrust her chilled hands in her coat pockets and felt the rush of wind
over her neck.
Time to rest for a while. Time to be with close friends and
remember what it is like to live again.
That’s all that really matters
now.
Thank
you for your interest in this book. Volume Four in the
Carlie Simmons
Post-Apocalyptic Series
will be available soon. If you would like to
receive updates on future releases or want information on survival tips, please
sign up for my email notices at
[email protected]
or by visiting
http://www.jtsawyer.com
About the Author
JT Sawyer is the pen name for Tony Nester.
Tony is a fulltime survival instructor and the author of numerous non-fiction
books and DVDs on survival. His training school is the primary provider for the
Military Special Operations community and he has served as a consultant for the
NTSB, FAA, Travel Channel, New York Times, Outside Magazine, and the film
Into
the Wild.
For more information, visit apathways.com.
Post-Apocalyptic Fiction by JT Sawyer
Non-Fiction
Survival Books
by Tony Nester:
Survival
Gear You Can Live With
A
Vehicle Survival Kit You Can Live With
When
the Grid Goes Down: Disaster Gear and Survival Preparations for Making Your
Home Self-Reliant
The
Modern Hunter-Gatherer: A Practical Guide to Living Off the Land