The Dead Series (Book 1): Tell Me When I'm Dead (22 page)

My mind wandered. Glimpses of the night before flickered in my head like an old movie. I saw myself driving without a destination, filled with anger over feeling betrayed by Holly and the others. Somehow I ended up at Jim’s house. I hadn’t consciously thought of the beer, but I’m sure my unconscious knew what it was doing.

That’s the thing with alcoholics. All we need is an excuse. We’re sad. We’re happy. We’re angry. We’re bored. In my case, I was empty.

Ben poured out the coffee, and I managed to keep it down. After a minute, my head began to clear. I remembered something and yanked open one of the drawers, where I found an economy-size bottle of ibuprofen. Good ol’ Jim. I swallowed four of them.

“I suppose you guys have made up your minds.”

“Yeah,” Ben said. “We’re staying.”

“I figured.”

“Look, it’s the best way,” Aaron said.

So, after my dramatic exit, I still had a choice to make. Pack my stuff, get on the road and hope that I could stay sober long enough to find somewhere safer than Tres Marias. Or grow a new set and stick with my friends. Though I hadn’t decided, I agreed to go back with them and talk it over with Landry.

Ben didn’t think I was in any shape to drive myself back, so Aaron took the truck and I rode with Ben in the motor home.

“I know things aren’t good with you and Holly,” he said once we were on the road. “But seriously. All of us need to survive this thing.”

“Once she finds out what I did, she won’t want me around.”

“Why don’t you give her a chance?”

At the motel, we found one of the undead limping towards the buildings. It was dressed as a forest ranger. One of its feet was missing.

“I can’t deal with this,” I said.

“Never mind.”

Ben stopped the motor home and grabbed his shotgun. Then he got out, pumped the gun once and took the creature’s head off in one blast. Wiping his mouth, he got back in and rolled over the body.

“Nice work,” I said.

As we parked, I saw Holly and Landry watching us from the balcony. I staggered up the stairs, determined to get this over with. When I looked at Holly, I saw by her face that she knew what had happened.

“Glad you’re safe,” she said, covering her nose and mouth from the smell.

I watched her go back into our room and draw the curtains.

“So what’s it going to be, Dave?” Landry said.

“The truth is, I’m afraid to be on my own.”

“Good. Why don’t you get cleaned up so we can plan how to get through this thing.”

I never told them the real reason I chose to remain. It was for Holly. And though I knew my being there wouldn’t change her feelings towards me, I felt compelled to stay. If I wasn’t going to die alone in a pool of beer, at least I could try to protect her. A shower and a change of clothes would be a good start.

It wasn’t an easy decision for us, and it didn’t help that while standing on the balcony we saw one of the undead wandering into view. Landry spotted it first—a man who looked to be around fifty, wearing a Black Dragon uniform and weaponless. It kept twitching its head like a mosquito had gotten into its brain.

It headed for the motel office, its right hand bloodied and missing fingers. I knew Ram was in there. What I didn’t know was whether he had a gun.

We observed the creature for a few more seconds to make sure it wasn’t someone still alive and disoriented. Landry made his decision and fired a round through the creature’s cheek. Its jaw half-off, it kept going as if not much had happened. I looked at Landry as he took aim again. This time, the bullet ripped through the thing’s temple and it went down.

Holly was still inside our room. I was glad she hadn’t seen that. But the sound of the shots brought her outside. She peered over the balcony and stared at the body.

“Was it …”

“Already dead,” I said.

We waited on the balcony in case there were others. We needed somewhere else to meet in order to plan as a group. I wanted to check on Ram, so I suggested the motel office.

After loading our vehicles, we convened in the office. As usual, Ram was behind the desk working on the computer.

“What can I do for you?” he said, as if there weren’t a dead soldier with half his head blown off lying outside on the asphalt.

“We need to talk awhile, then we’ll be gone,” I said.

I expected him to name a price, but he bobbed his head and went back to working. We stood near the front door with our weapons ready.

“I didn’t expect any of you to agree with me,” Holly said.

“We talked it over, and it’s the practical thing to do,” Landry said, looking at me. “Most of us know this area. If we get on the road, we’ll be in unfamiliar surroundings and we could make some bad mistakes. The thing is, though, we have to plan carefully.”

“I can help there,” Ben said. “I’m a project manager. Planning and executing are what I do. I don’t pretend to know anything about military operations, but I think I can be of use.”

“The immediate goal,” Landry said, “is to find a place that’s big enough for us and that we can secure. Also, it has to be practical enough for when the power and water run out. Something as basic as a working toilet will become precious in time.”

I happened to glance at Ram and saw that he’d been listening to our conversation. He stared at us.

“What?” I said.

“You come to my house. I have everything you need.”

“What do you mean?” Landry said.

“Everything. I have everything.”

“You’re not staying here?” I said.

“What do you think I’ve been doing over here?” he said, pointing to the laptop. “Playing video games? No.” He came around from behind the front desk and joined us. “For weeks I am researching everything, watching the news. And I know that what I have invested in will save us.”

“‘Invested in’?”

“You come,” he said. “Come and see Ram’s fortress.”

I liked the sound of that word.

“How far?” Ben said. He sounded suspicious.

“A few miles. We go now.”

Ram ran back and grabbed a pump-action shotgun from behind the desk. We turned towards the windows and saw that more undead had wandered onto motel property.

“What’s the plan?” I said.

“We need to get our vehicles,” Landry said. “That’s our objective.”

The creatures hadn’t yet seen us. As they milled around outside, a squirrel made the mistake of crossing their path. One of them snatched it with surprising speed and bit its head off.

“So we shoot our way out?” I said.

“We have to be careful,” Landry said. “We don’t know how many there are. And above all else, we can’t get bitten.”

“I go first,” Ram said. “This is my motel.”

“Okay. Have you got a car?”

“Of course.”

Landry looked at the rest of us. “How are we fixed, gun-wise?”

We raised our weapons. Landry had a rifle. Ben had his shotgun, and Aaron had a handgun and his hunting knife. I had my shotgun and axe.

“What about me?” Holly said. She looked terrified.

I reached over, took Aaron’s handgun and gave him my Kel-Tec. Then I placed the handgun in Holly’s right hand.

“Do you think you can handle this?” I said. She nodded. I made sure the safety was off. “Aim for the head.”

“What about you?”

“I’m fine with your mom’s axe.” Though I was terrified, all I was focused on was protecting Holly.

Ram moved towards the door, his shotgun raised. He looked like he knew what he was doing. He glanced back at us, and we moved closer to cover him.

“Ready?” Landry said.

“Ready,” he said, and pushed the door open.

It all happened fast. As soon as Ram stepped outside, the creatures shrieked. Ram blasted away and kept moving forward. The rest of us came out and took positions, choosing our targets and firing. I went after an out-of-shape scoutmaster, hacking his grasping hands off so he couldn’t latch on to anyone. Then I went for the head.

“Watch out for the blood,” Landry said.

Because I didn’t have a gun, I had to concentrate on what was in front of me. I heard Holly scream. I looked back to find her firing at an oncoming creature, first hitting it in the chest, then in the face. She kicked ass.

“Yeah!” she said as the thing fell at her feet.

We had to shoot and chop our way out to get to our vehicles, leaving twenty or so of the undead on the asphalt. God help me, it was beginning to feel routine.

Our slow three-vehicle caravan headed up a deserted private road next to the magnificent forest. As I followed Ram’s black Land Rover, I kept looking over at Holly.

“You okay?”

She bit her lip and looked straight ahead. The handgun was in her lap, with the safety on. “No.”

The house was located on a hill. From there we had an amazing view of the town and surrounding forest. I didn’t know anything about security. But in conversations with Ram later, I learned that the property was protected by an induced-pulse electric fence, the same kind used for correctional facilities. Surrounding the fence in front was a series of retractable steel bollards, which prevented vehicles from crashing through and reaching the buildings.

Inside the fence was a series of poles with video cameras and lights mounted high. Ram clicked a remote. The bollards lowered into the ground, and the gates opened. The driveway was massive and easily accommodated our vehicles.

Several buildings stood on the property, all made of cement. Though somewhat attractive and modern, they were practical. The main building, which I assumed was the house, had narrow, dark windows that looked thick. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they were made of bulletproof glass.

“Glad you stayed with us?” Holly said.

“Look, I’m sorry about—”

“Let’s hope this guy doesn’t have a wet bar.”

As we got out of our vehicles, six German shepherds rushed towards us from the side of the main building. I thought we would be torn to pieces and yelled at Holly to get back into the truck. Ram yelled at them in in German.

“Nein! Bleib! Setz!”

They stopped instantly, sat in a straight line and awaited further instructions.

“Whoa,” Aaron said.

“Trained in Germany,” Ram said.

“Unbelievable,” Landry said, catching his breath. “How long have you been planning this?”

“Five years.”

“But you couldn’t have known about the outbreak,” Aaron said.

“No, but I knew that something like this would happen. It is the fate of every great civilization. Think of the undead as another Mongol invasion.”

He let us in through the front door and turned off the alarm. Inside, the house looked comfortable and warm, with Oriental rugs and rooms graced with expensive English furniture.

Ram locked the front door and took us on a tour of the house. There were six bedrooms, each with a bathroom, desk and laptop computer. He had installed wireless throughout the house, powered by a satellite dish. A huge laundry room was located at the end of the hallway. We saw a game room, den and library, which contained not only books but also a dozen eReaders of various types. Everything was on one story.

Then Ram led us downstairs to the basement. It was the size of the entire house—which we learned was around five thousand square feet—and was sealed off by a four-inch-thick steel door. Landry’s eyes grew wide as we discovered racks and racks of nonperishable food and bottled water. It was enough to last months.