900 Miles (Book 2): 900 Minutes (10 page)

Nodding over to a man who was holding a CB, Gordon said two simple but horrifying words
,“
Move in
.
”

The man echoed the phrase into the radio, and before Kyle or I could do anything about it, we had seven armed men rushing out the door to the roof behind us. I heard the crunching of their feet racing along the pebble-filled rooftop before I had time to react.

Kyle was up on his feet in an instant, but it was too late.

They had us.

Chapter 10

The still warm blood from Mr. Mulle
t’
s wound soaked into my pant leg, a sure sign that his life was much too quickly dripping onto the concrete below. Kneeling before Gordon, along with Kyle, Jarvis, and Rodgers, I found my mind racing at the thought of what came next.

Looking around for the backpack that Jarvis had filled with the meds, I found it resting in a pile along with our weapons. It was fairly full. I knew Jarvis was
n’
t kidding when he said h
e’
d hit the mother lode.

Drawing my attention back to the man in front of me, I found Gordon sharing his biggest smile with us. However, he did
n’
t say a single word at first. Instead, he walked over to the man holding the CB. I could hear a request to signal their ride slip through his lips, calling it back to our location at the school.

The wind picked up a bit, and from time to time, I would hear some of Gordo
n’
s soldiers get spun-up at the chance to kill another approaching Z. They reveled in every kill. I ca
n’
t say I blamed them. After all, I did
n’
t mind bashing a few Z heads. But not even the exaggerated weapon
s’
fire bouncing off the walls of the school could pull my mind from the myriad of questions plaguing my mind. As we sat in silence, I could
n’
t help but wonder why the hell these maniacs were keeping us alive. Why would Gordon have lured us her
e…
and who the hell helped him from the inside?

“
Thirty minute
s‘
til the
y’
re here? Well now, that gives us time to have a little fun
,”
I heard Gordon say in a deep, sensationalized voice, loud enough so we could hear it. 

The rhythmic click of the cane got louder as Gordon stepped back over toward his captives. He finally stopped right in front of us, but behind Mr. Mullet, still held face down by that giant hulk of a man. Up close, the Hulk looked as dumb as he was big. His face was near expressionless, with larger than what I would consider human eyebrows, and a slight dumbfounded smirk that seemed to be permanently painted across his face.

Raising his cane into the air, Gordon finally spoke
.“
So, gentlemen, we have a little spare time ahead of us while we wait for our ride. This presents us with an interesting opportunity
.
”

His men were gathering around us now, grinning ear-to-ear along with Gordon. They followed his every movement, listening to each syllable.

“I’
ve got the perfect idea
,”
he pronounced. After nodding over toward a few of his men, they circled around our little group and prodded us to our feet. At gunpoint, they marched the lot of us over toward the side of the school where I remembered seeing the playground from the rooftop.

As we turned the corner, I immediately noticed that the former children's stomping ground held all the normal playthings. A set of swings led up to a pole attached to a large rolling slide set in the middle. Surrounding it were a few benches, now covered in dark red blood that had come from the creatures killing the fat man. Gordo
n’
s team had taken them out as we approached. The playground had a pirate theme, and there was a torn black flag displaying a skull and crossbones. It reminded me of the broken-down playground where w
e’
d found Leonard, or Michael as he first introduced himself to us, in that first week of the apocalypse.

I have heard the term innocence lost.
I’
m not sure I can believe in loss without gain. However, what I am absolutely sure about is that what we were getting ready to experience felt a whole hell of a lot more like innocence torn away.

It was
n’
t the slide or the swings that Gordon led us to. It was the prominently oversized monkey bars set in the shape of a large dome sitting just to the right of them. The dome was made up of bars painted red, white, and blue, and it had small chips of rust spread across its cage-like structure. It reminded me of a spider web in the shape of an upside down bowl.

My heart was beating out of my chest as we approached the structure. Kyle marched next to me. I saw him looking around shrewdly, clearly trying to find a way out of this mess. The Three Amigos were standing next to each other, and the Hulk was dragging Mr. Mullet along across the grass, the life nearly drained from his body. 

“
This will be where w
e’
ll have our little competition
,”
Gordon said as he pointed toward the dome of bars
.“
Yes, this will be perfect
!”
he continued, looking back at us as if looking for some sort of approval.

“
OK, here is what
I’
d like to do. First, I want the three of you to crawl into there
,”
he said, pointing his cane over toward the Three Amigos.

The Amigo with the gash went wide-eyed and let out a slur of words in Spanish.
I’
ll never know exactly what he said, but clearly, it was some serious shit. Not even when Gordo
n’
s crew raised their guns at the Three Amigo
s’
chests did they take a step forward. They clearly had no intention of willingly entering that pseudo cag
e…
until one of Gordo
n’
s men lunged forward and stuck a knife through the arm of one of the Amigos. That seemed to clear things up for them.

When the Three Amigos crawled under the bars and entered the cage, it was immediately clear just how little space the three of them had in there. They were short but still had to duck down. There was elbowroom for them, but it was tight.

The Hulk slid the near-lifeless body of Mr. Mullet under the bars and into the dome as well, and then gave the dog-wrangling collar a shake, unhooking it from his neck. Looking back at Gordon for approval, he then pulled one of the knives that had been confiscated from the Amigos from a small bag.

Gordon nodded as the Hulk took the knife and squeezed it, along with one giant arm, in through the bars. Kyle tried to step forward, letting out a yell in protest just as the Hulk lifted the knife up and drove it down into the center of Mr. Mulle
t’
s back. Mr. Mullet did
n’
t make a sound.
I’
m not sure if he was already dead, or just did
n’
t have the energy left to fight.

The Hulk, then stood, leaving the knife protruding from Mr. Mulle
t’
s back, puncturing what I imagined was his heart. Towering over Kyle, who had been held back by a few of Gordo
n’
s men, the Hul
k’
s face remained unchanged as he sidestepped him. I got the sense that he really did
n’
t have an understanding of what h
e’
d just done.

The ignorant bliss of a giant.

Gordon then raised his voice in the most magnificent tone he could pull off while looking at the terrified faces of the Three Amigos
.“
There are three of you, one knife, and a creature that is getting ready to spring to life
.”
Pausing for effec
t
…
“
The last man standing will be set free
.
”

Grabbing the bars above them, the Three Amigos swung their heads from side to side, looking at each other. None of them said a word as their eyes landed on the knife. Aside from the rising and lowering of their chests, not one of them move
d
…

That is until Mr. Mullet started to twitch wildly on the ground. Just before the Amigo that had been stabbed in the arm dove forward to pull the knife out, I heard him cry out in Spanish. To me, it looked like they were trying to kill the creature, up until the point where I heard a scream as one of the Amig
o’
s legs took a set of teeth into its flesh.

Instantly all three of them dove down into the mix, all fighting to kill the creature, twisted together in that upside down bowl of human spaghetti. I cringed as the low grumble of the Amigo that had been bitten turned into a primordial scream. Its blood-red eyes locked on its former brothers.

I watched one arm shoot up from the pile and start swinging wildly with the knife, bringing it down into the mix and stabbing anything that moved. There was no stopping it. At that point, it was to the deat
h…
and they all knew it.

Gordon motioned us over as if he had a secret to tell us. His men nudged Jarvis, Kyle, Rodgers, and me over to him. Screams and banging against the metal bars were deafening right before us, but still Gordon chose this moment to explain why he was here.

“
I want Avalon back
,”
he started out with a bold statement
.“
But you probably already knew that. Do
n’
t you see, Jarvis, you took it from me, and I do
n’
t like it when my friends do
n’
t play nice in the sandbox
.
”

Remaining silent, I could
n’
t help but look over Gordo
n’
s shoulder to see the battle to the death just feet from where we stood.

“
However, I do
n’
t want to just roll in, tearing the place down if I do
n’
t have to.
I’
d hate to have to eradicate the entire population there. After all, w
e’
ll need those people to get Avalon up and running the way it was supposed to be. Every society needs the worker bees
.
”

An ear-piercing scream in Spanish rang out as a gush of blood flowed out across the sand.

“
Jarvis, this is where you and your good friends here come into play. Like I said earlier, you have a unique opportunity to save all of them. Before you respond to any of this, I want it to be clear that I have my army massing as we speak. Be assured, we are going to take Avalon with or without your help
.
”

The knife clanged against the metal bars loudly. I still could
n’
t make out who was winning, or if there were going to be a winner at all.

“
Why Avalon, you may be asking? I probably have my own digs at this point, right? Well, yes, this is true. However, Avalon has something that I do
n’t—
the underground bunker. I trust that you have come across the mega-hordes at this point
?
”

My attention was pulled to Gordo
n’
s gleaming eyes at the mention of a mega-horde. I hung on his next words, having no idea what the hell he was talking about.

“
Ohh,
I’
ll take your silence and the looks on your faces as a no. As
I’
m sure you know, these damn creatures are pack animals. Over time, wha
t’
s happened is that small packs pull together, forming large packs. Large packs formed together creating larger packs. So on and so forth. You get the pic
t
…”

Another scream from that playground of dead was so crazed that it pulled all of our attention toward the fight. One of the Amigos was trying to escape from the cage. The Z inside was grabbing at his leg while one of Gordo
n’
s men pushed him back in with the blunt side of the spear that Jarvis had been carrying earlier.

I took the chance to look back and forth from Jarvis to Kyle. With the smell of blood in the air, and Gordo
n’
s madness playing out all around us, the tension was mounting. While he tried to hide it, I could see it in Jarvi
s’
s eyes. He was truly scared.

Looking back from the monkey bars with that same now irritating smile, Gordon continued
.“
There are three of what we affectionately refer to as mega-hordes that my people have been tracking. They are tens of thousands of creatures large, and are working their way across the southeast decimating anything in their path. Miles wide, they take down buildings, bust through fences, walls, whatever is in their path
.
”

Pausing, once again, to relish in the fear on our faces and to look back at the battle to the death behind him, Gordon finally continued
.“
If you haven't connected the dots just yet, let me help you out, my friends. As
I’
m sure you can imagine, this makes Avalo
n’
s underground walls a hell of a hot commodit
y…
and I want it back
.
”