Dead Air (Book One of The Dead Series) (32 page)

Steve could hear a long string of gunfire come over the phone from Heather
’s end, so he waited for it to stop before asking loudly, "What happened to the National Guard? I thought they had the dome secured."

"At sundown they went out on patrol to enforce the curfew and only left a few troops behind. When the dead started coming up from the drains, they had their hands full and couldn't get back in time. They called us to help but it was too late. I came down all the way from Clearwater
, but it was just too damned late." Heathers voice started to break.

"I'm sorry," Steve said softly.

Heather sniffed and laughed slightly, "I'm sure you don't need two hysterical chicks on your hands, so I'll pull my shit together."

"I couldn't find Ginny," Steve said faintly.

After a moment, Heather said, "Now I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. She took off with her friends to go party in Tampa.
”

"I hate to tell you this," Heather said, hesitating before going on, "but Tampa is in even worse shape. Ybor City was one of the hardest hit
." Ybor City was the clubbing hot spot where you went to party in Tampa. "It's on fire," she added.

"Which part?" Steve asked as he ran a list of the bars
Ginny frequented through his head, hoping she might be in a safe section.

"All of it," Heather said
, cutting him off in mid thought.

The sounds of more gunfire erupted through the phone, causing Heather to say hurriedly, "We're pulling out. We're getting our ass kicked all over the county so we're gonna regroup. They're trying to get a headcount of all the deputies
, so I have to go."

"Come to the station," Steve said. "You'll be safe here."

"I can't," Heather replied. "They need me here."

Steve wanted to argue that he had already lost one person he cared about but remained silent. To voice his fears that Ginny was gone would make it too much like a fact.

"Promise me that if it gets too bad you'll come," he said.

"Steve
I’ll –."

"Promise,"
he cut her off.

"I promise," Heather said. With the way things were going
though, she didn't think she'd be alive to keep that promise but felt she had to say it. She wanted to cut and run to be with Steve but couldn't do it. Not until she was sure the situation had collapsed completely. Although it seemed a harsh way of thinking, and Heather was sorry for Steve that Ginny had disappeared, with her out of the way, she now had a chance with him. Guilt tinged her thoughts but she couldn't help the way she felt.

"I'll be here waiting," Steve said.

"Listen, I've got to go," Heather said. "We're pulling back to the band shell at Janus Landing, over by the pier. I'll call you later."

They exchanged goodbyes and disconnected.

Steve put his phone away and gathered up his pack and makeshift luggage. Heading across the second floor walkway, he heard excited shouts coming from the guardsmen on the street and then gunfire.

Hurriedly, he punched in the security code for the door and slipped inside. He hoped that if the soldiers got into it with the
zombies out in front of the building, that they didn't shoot out the glass front of the foyer. That would put a serious cramp in his plans.

He
passed the elevator and took the stairs, because he didn't like the idea of the doors automatically opening on the unknown. Finally reaching twelve, he cautiously stepped out into the hall and looked around before moving to the main corridor that stretched the length of the building. Peeking around the corner toward where KLAM had its offices, he saw the National Guard soldier who had been posted there leaning back in an office chair with a styrofoam coffee cup in his hand and his automatic rifle propped against the wall next to him.

Not wanting to get shot
, he called out, "It's Steve Wendell. I'm going to the station."

"Yeah
, they radioed up that you were here. C'mon, it's safe," the Guardsman replied nonchalantly.

Just seeing and hearing the soldier at ease helped
ease Steve's state of mind. He had known it was just a matter of time before the guard on duty at the door relaxed. He felt safer with the extra gun guarding the door and wanted to remain on good terms with the soldiers, but he wanted them to be keeping people out, not keeping him locked in.

"You okay? You need anything?" Steve asked as he approached
, noting the man's nametag he added, "Mister Pontran."

"
Naw, I'm good, sir. Meat was just out here." He held up his coffee cup to show that he was being taken care of.

Unlocking the door, Steve said, "If you need anything
at all just give me a yell."

"Will do, sir," Pontran said.

When Steve entered the reception area, he was amazed at the greeting he received. Mary, Meat, Jonny G, Brain and Tick-Tock were all there. Behind them he could see two people he didn't recognize and assumed they were guests of the staff.

Mary spoke first, "Where the hell have you been? It's almost five."

"Trying to get Ginny," he replied.

Looking past him, Mary asked, "Where is she?"

"Tampa," Steve answered pointedly. This shut Mary up.

Going into his office
, he dumped his belongings on the couch and turned to see his people assembled outside the door.

"So
, what do we do now?" Meat asked.

"Stay on the air and keep giving out information" Steve replied
and then asked, "What's our status?"

From the back of the group
, Jonny G took over. "I've been sending out a list of evacuation areas and safe zones every ten minutes since the shit hit the fan. Got 'em sent to us over the fax by the local Guard at the dome."

"Tropicana's gone now
, so take it off the list," Steve informed him.

The group looked shocked at this
, but before he was deluged by questions, he started giving out orders.

"Mary and Meat go on at five as scheduled. You'll do a live call in show. Find out what's going on out there
," Steve ordered and then called out, "Jonny G?"

The intern popped his head in his door.

"I appreciate you covering for Tripod on the midnight shift but I still need you. Suck down some coffee and get on the phone. Start calling all the aid stations, hospitals, evacuation areas and anywhere else you can think of where people would go in this crisis and find out their status. When you get it, send it to Meat, so he can read it on the air."

Turning to Meat he said, "Do
n’t send out anymore locations until they're verified by Jonny G." Glancing at his watch, he added, "You've got seven minutes till air time so move."

Mary opened her mouth but Steve cut her off by saying loudly, "Move."

They moved.

"Brain," he called out.

"Right here, Steve." The fat man appeared in the doorway.

"Boost the signal strength. I want to reach as many people as possible."

"The FCC -," Brain started to say.

"Probably doesn't exist anymore," Steve finished.

At the thought of this, a devious look crossed Brain’s face.

"Don't say that to Mary though,"
he added. "Or every other word out of her mouth will be motherfucker."

With a smile
, Brain left to do his boss's bidding. Steve then turned his attention to Tick-Tock. "I need you to come with me," he said.

"Where are we going?"

"Down to the mechanical room. The janitor has a set of master keys in his office and I need them."

Suddenly noticing that Tick-Tock was clothed in faded
, tiger-stripe jungle fatigues, combat boots and had a pistol strapped at his waist in a holster attached to a web belt, he asked, "What did you do, join the Marines again?"

Tick-Tock smiled and said, "It's my cos
tume man."

Steve looked at him oddly.

"Did you forget?" Tick-Tock asked. "It's October 31
st
, man. It’s Halloween."

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Clearwater, Florida:

Steve could still smell the stink of burned gun power and bodies on him, so he changed into fresh clothes while Tick-Tock waited in the reception area. Coming out of his office, he heard Meat, through the speakers set in the ceiling, finish a recap of the night's events and then ask people to call in and let the Clearwater St. Petersburg area know what was going on.

Steve held up his hand to Tick-Tock and said, "Hold on. I want to hear this."

The first caller was a young woman who seemed hesitant to speak but Mary prompted her into telling her story.

The woman said, "Well
, I got up this morning and went out to make coffee and my boyfriend was still in bed. You know, just lying there. So, when I came back, the door was cracked open a bit and I snuck up on it cause I was gonna rush in and – well, you know."

"A little morning meat," Meat suggested.

The woman giggled nervously and said, "Well, you know. But anyway, I look through the crack in the door and I see the most disgusting thing."

"What?" Mary asked in a way that made Steve imagine she was sitting on the edge of her seat.

Sounding like she was almost in tears, the caller said, "He was picking his nose and eating it. I mean, how can I ever French kiss him again without thinking about that?"

Tick-Tock laughed out loud at the inanity of
the woman's call.

Steve shook his head sadly and said, "The world is full of idiots. The
zombies deserve it. Maybe if they eat all the morons first, it might be a better place, but they'll need a big appetite."

Tick-Tock agreed, "All that's happening
, been happening, in the world and this chick's freaked out over her old man eating a booger. I think she's in for a rude surprise when she steps out to get the morning paper."

The next caller came on
and talked about the massacre at Tropicana Field. This prompted Meat to explain that KLAM wasn't broadcasting any more locations of safe areas until they had been verified. He then listed three schools, one in Largo and two in St. Pete, that were still functioning as relief centers. He also went on to say that Jonny G was expanding the list he was compiling to include Pasco County to the North and Hillsborough to the East.

"That’s more like it
," Steve stated proudly.

"Jonny G
took a little initiative,” Tick-Tock commented.

They listened for
a few more minutes before Steve said, "Come on. I need those keys."

Steve let them into the mechanical room through a door next to the elevators in the foyer. Entering cautiously with pistols drawn, the two men went to a small office where Steve opened a cabinet revealing rows of keys hung on hooks.

"Maintenance guy told me about these one day when I was down here checking on the generator," Steve explained. ''The company that manages the building uses him to keep current with the people who are leasing offices, so he's got keys to everything."

"He jus
t told you about this?" Tick-Tock asked.

"
I got him talking about his job and he told me all about it. Guy must’ve been bored off his ass because I couldn't get him to shut up. He ended up taking me on a tour of the whole building from top to bottom. Now I’m glad he did it."

Tick-Tock went back out of the office and looked the generator over."Seems impressive
," he commented.

Steve joined him, holding up a small key rin
g, he said, "Masters." Looking at the equipment Tick-Tock was studying, he told him, “I had Brain rewire this to power the whole twelfth floor. If we're here for the long haul, we can take over some of the other offices to use as living space. Plus, the A/C works."

''You put some thought into this
," Tick-Tock commented.

"
Hopefully enough," Steve answered. Turning to go, he said, "Come on, I want to check out a few things."

Going back into the foyer, Steve went to the double entry doors and looked out. The
Guardsman must have quelled the disturbance he had heard earlier as they stood idly near the MRAP, smoking cigarettes and talking.

Quietly
, Steve said, "When the time comes to lock down we have to make sure those guys are gone or in here with us. We can't lock them out or they'll bust in and then the foyer will be open." Turning, he pointed to the roll down security gate covering the entrance to the Galleria, “And, if we can't get through the foyer, we can't get in there. The only other entrance is from the outside." Heading in that direction he said, "Let’s go take a look."

Finding the correct key, Steve inserted it and raised the gate high enough to allow them to duck under. Once through, he lowered it again.