Last Stand (The Survivalist Book 7) (33 page)

As soon as Bowie spotted Mason, he rose and came over to stand beside him. He walked with a noticeable limp, as he avoided putting weight on one of his front legs.

Mason squatted down next to him.

“You okay, boy?” he said, petting under his chin.

The dog lifted his head and licked Mason’s face. His breath smelled of blood, but Mason made no effort to push him away. Blood of the enemy was something to be honored, not shunned.

He took a few minutes to carefully examine Bowie for injuries. One leg was swollen at the elbow, but it didn’t appear to be broken. He also had a few tender spots along his ribs, but again, nothing felt fractured. In the end, Mason concluded that, like the cut on his forearm, the dog’s battle wounds would heal on their own.

“Don’t worry,” he said, standing up. “We’ll take it slow from here on. Now, let’s go see how the others are faring.”

General Carr, Mason, and Bowie stood on the dock, watching as more than a dozen Blackhawk helicopters buzzed overhead. Jack Fry had been lifted back into his chair and was doing his best to pick pieces of rotten cabbage from his clothes. One of Carr’s eyes had swollen shut, and blood stained his lips and teeth, but even so, he seemed in remarkably good spirits.

“I sure hope they’re friendly,” Mason said, looking up at the helicopters.

“Given that we’re still alive, I’d say they must be.”

Mason’s and General Carr’s radios both sounded at once.

“Listen up. This is General Reed. A contingent of heavily armed Marines is currently breaching the bunker. Anyone who does not want to be shot on sight should lay down their arms and surrender immediately.”

Mason looked to Carr. “Do you know him?”

Carr smiled, looking up at the sky.

“He’s one of the good guys.” He placed the radio to his mouth. “Chappie, you old fool, this is Kent Carr. What the hell took you so long?”

“We had a little mop-up out here to take care of. I hope we’re not late to the party.”

“No, sir, you’re right on time. Marshal Raines and I will meet you and your team at the West Tunnel Entrance.”

“Roger that. See you in five.”

Carr eyed the makeshift bandage on Mason’s forearm.

“What do you say we leave some of the fighting to them?”

He nodded. “You go on. Bowie and I will get President Glass and Leila from the sewers and meet you at the blast door. I’m sure they’re ready for a breath of fresh air.”

Carr slapped Mason on the shoulder.

“I think this thing’s finally winding down. Who would have thought we’d still be standing, aye, Marshal?”

Mason smiled but said nothing. He had learned a long time ago never to call a fight over until all the bodies had been counted.

Chapter 20  

The sound of seven hundred infected men and women talking, burping, and shuffling their feet filled the train. Tanner and Samantha stood in the driver’s booth, looking lengthwise down the long row of cars. Issa was there too, after having explained that their customs required that any woman without children fight beside her mate.

Samantha rested her hands on the controls.

“Tell me when we’re ready.”

Tanner turned to Issa. “You don’t have to do this.”

She moved closer, pressing her body against his.

“I go where you go.”

Tanner felt his heart begin to race, and he swallowed the lump that seemed to form in his throat every time she got too close.

“All right then, go let everyone know that we’re about to get underway. Those who aren’t onboard in the next sixty seconds will have to walk.”

She kissed him and hurried away.

As soon as she disappeared, Samantha said, “Do you think she’ll like living with us in the mountains?”

“Who said she’s living with us?”

“Of course she’s living with us. You can’t very well leave your wife behind.”

“We’re not married. Besides, she’s not going to want to come with me once Jarvis’s juice wears off.”

“I don’t know about that. Issa acts like she’s drinken a magic love potion.”

“Drinken?”

“Drunk? Drank maybe? Whatever. The point is, she’s really into you.”

“Today, maybe. But women have been known to change their minds, especially when it comes to how they feel about me.”

“I could see that. You are kind of…” She hunted for the word. “Primitive.”

“What, like a caveman?”

“Exactly!” she said with a warm smile. “You’re big, and hairy, and smelly. Some women don’t like that sort of thing.” He was about to protest, when she quickly added, “The good news is that Issa doesn’t seem to mind at all.”

“Lucky me.”

“So don’t run her off, okay?”

“Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. Maybe because you think she’ll get in the way of us.”

He looked over at Samantha. “You worried about that?”

“Not really. Are you?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Don’t be. I think she’s just looking for a family. And we have room for one more, right?”

He grunted.

“Besides,” she added, “you’d have trouble finding anyone else that pretty.”

“You have noticed that she’s infected, right? Black eyes, scars, and all that?”

Samantha turned to him with an amused look on her face.

“Are you saying you don’t think she’s pretty?”

Tanner said nothing.

“Because I’ve seen how you look at her.”

“Oh? And how do I look at her?”

“Like she’s a bucket of fried chicken.”

Tanner rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t keep from chuckling.

“For you, I’m pretty sure that’s love.” Samantha made a little smooching sound with her lips.

“Just focus on driving the train, Dr. Ruth,” he growled.

She turned to study the controls, and when she did, Tanner walked over to the door and leaned his head out for a breath of air. All this talk about love and magic potions was giving him a headache.

Their first stop was at a railway junction. A set of tracks split off to the left, disappearing down another long dark tunnel. It was the first such turnoff they had seen, and Tanner thought there was a good chance that it led to Mount Weather. Grabbing his shotgun, he hopped down from the train and went ahead to inspect the junction. Issa and Samantha stayed behind, watching him through the conductor’s window.

He stepped out from the shine of the train’s headlights and strode a few yards down the tunnel. There was a lifelessness to it, like an appendage that had died and was slowly withering away. He clicked on his flashlight and swept it across the walls. A green and white sign read
Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center, 53.2 mi
.

They had found the right tunnel. Now all he had to do was figure out how to get the train to make the turn.

Tanner wheeled around and returned to the railway junction. He was about as close to being an expert on trains as he was to being a neurosurgeon. Fortunately, everything had been built with simplicity in mind. The designers undoubtedly appreciated that in the case of a true national emergency, novices would be required to operate the train system. In this case, the mechanism to switch in a linked pair of tapering rails involved doing nothing more than squeezing a release handle and pushing forward a long lever arm.

As he did so, the rails made a slight squeaking sound, followed by a metallic
clunk
.

He walked the curved tracks a couple of times, making sure that he understood how the train would move. Everything seemed right. Once he was satisfied, he returned to the train and climbed aboard.

Samantha said, “Did you change the tracks?”

“Yep.”

“Are you sure? Because if we pass it, I’ll have to go all the way to the other end of the train to back up.” She looked at the army of infected milling about in the cars behind her. “And I really don’t want to do that.”

“The tracks are switched. Just give it some juice.”

“All right. Here goes.” She eased the controller handle down, and the train began to inch forward. As it came to the turn, the driver’s car began to angle left. A few seconds later, they were through. She waited until all eleven cars had cleared the turn before speeding back up. “Woot! Woot!” she said, pretending to pull an invisible whistle. “Next stop, Mount Weather.”

Tanner rested his shoulder against a metal storage locker built into the wall of the train. He took a long moment to study Samantha and Issa. Neither of them noticed his attention. Samantha was busy driving the train, and Issa leaned out through the door to ensure that the tracks remained clear. It occurred to Tanner that the two had only one thing in common, him. While Samantha had always felt like a responsibility, a calling even, Issa was something different. She brought emotions to him that he hadn’t felt in a very long time. Whether or not it was the kind of romantic love that Samantha kidded him about, he couldn’t say. All he knew for sure was that he didn’t want to see anything bad happen to either of them. And that necessitated a conversation.

“Sam. Issa.”

They both turned.

“When we get to Mount Weather, I need for you two to hang back and stay by the train.”

They immediately started to protest.

“Hear me out,” he said, raising his hands. “If things go as planned, this whole thing’s going to turn into a blood bath. People who did nothing more than get up this morning are going to have their brains bashed in. I don’t want either of you to be a part of that.”

“I’ve seen worse,” argued Issa. “There’s no reason to leave me behind.”

“Of course, there is. I need for you to watch over Sam.”

“I don’t need watching over!”

“Oh really? So you want to be all alone down here in the tunnels?”

“I’m not saying that I
want
to,” she said, losing some of her steam, “only that I could.”

He looked from Samantha to Issa, and then back to Samantha.

“This makes sense, and you both know it. I’ll go and take care of Pike and return when it’s done.”

“And if you don’t come back?” asked Samantha.

“Then you’ll come in and rescue me. Same as always.”

She mumbled something about him being unfair, but her heart really wasn’t in it.

“We’re in agreement then?” he said.

Issa and Samantha looked at one another, then without so much as a nod, returned to what they were doing.

Tanner let out a quiet breath, thankful that it hadn’t been any worse.

Signs on the tunnel walls counted down the distance to Mount Weather in ten-mile increments, 30 miles… 20 miles… 10 miles. As they got closer, the countdown changed to individual mile markers. And when they were about a half-mile out, Tanner had Samantha bring the train to a stop.

“Are you sure about this?”

“I’m sure that we’re not going to surprise anyone rolling in on a train.”

Korn stepped into the driver’s car. When he spoke, his voice was deep, and he sounded a bit like an Indian chief.

“What plan?”

Tanner said, “A couple of us will go ahead to see what’s what. The rest will stay behind until we figure out a way to get the gate open.”

Korn nodded. “I go.”

“I thought you might.” Tanner turned to Samantha and Issa. “I’ll be back when it’s done.”