Outbreak: Brave New World (29 page)

“Okay, wait here.” Frannie said after waiting a few more minutes. “Keep an eye out.” She slid carefully down the hill on her butt, trying to keep her M4 pointed at the sniper in case he moved. The man had been a chubby bearded guy dressed in what looked to be civilian cammies and hunting boots. She noticed that Frays’ shot had struck the man high center mass, just below where his scruffy jowls met his shoulders. There was little doubt
in her mind that he was dead. The M855 round had obviously yawed inside him leaving an exit wound almost the size of her hand that looked like raw hamburger between his shoulder blades.

Frannie swallowed hard and poked the man’s wound with the muzzle of her weapon
. The woman patted down the body, searching it for weapons or possible booby traps then steeled herself. She grabbed the corpse’s shoulder and rolled it onto its back, flinching involuntarily. Rodriguez relaxed a little a half second after she realized the corpse did not explode in her face.

She patted the corpse down
again and rifled through its pockets, searching for anything that might tell them a little more about why the guy had attacked them. Rodriguez found a fistful of loose cartridges that she guessed went with the rifle, a wallet (she helped herself to the fifty some odd dollars in small bills inside, reasoning that the man would not need them any more), some hard candy and a plastic baggie of what she hoped was beef jerky or something which she tossed into the lake (she had seen enough bad horror movies to not trust meat found in a crazy bastard’s pockets)…and something that made her eyes light up. There was about three quarters of a pack of cheap cigarettes and a Bic lighter in the dead man’s jacket pocket.

Lacey hissed at Rodriguez, trying to get her attention. “Rodriguez, let me down there.” he said quietly when she looked up at him. She nodded and collected their loot and picked up the rifle then climbed back up the hill. Adam scooted past her and broke out his demo kit once he reached the body. “Got somethin’ for ya you son of a bitch.” the Marine
muttered with a savage grin, pulling out the quarter brick of plastic explosive and some other things out of his kit.

Rodriguez looked quizzically at the man as he climbed back up the hill towards her.
Lacey looked entirely too happy about something. “What did you do?” she asked. Frannie glanced from Adam’s face down the hill to the body and back again “Did you find anything else?”

“Nope.” Lacey said, still grinning. “C’mon, let’s get away from here. Far, far away.”
There was something about the way he spoke that made Frannie really think it was a good idea to do as the man said. They made their way back to the house and gave the signal then kept their backs to the door, waiting for Carl to open the door.

“Okay, Lacey.” Rodriguez said as she looked around, wondering if there was going to be anyone or anything following after them. “What did you do down there? I saw you doing stuff with your kit.”

“I gave the bastard a George Carlin funeral.” he said as he watched his area. He could sense Frannie looking at him.
Adam rolled his eyes wishing that Frannie was a little bit better read. “George Carlin said he wanted to be blown up after he died. I figure if any of his buddies come looking or if he draws any of those things, they’ll get blasted to bits.”

Rodriguez shuddered. “Well, thanks for the warning anyway.” she said quietly. There was something about body bombs that had always stru
ck her as particularly horrible like it was somehow in the same ballpark as necrophilia or something. “How much C4 and stuff do you have left? We should set up a couple booby traps or something around here.”

“Well, I think I’ve got about eight or ten ounces of C4.” Adam said as he poked around in his kit. He frowned and continued searching. “I’d really suggest that we use a couple more of your flashbangs or something. We’ve got kids here.”

Carl opened the door and let them in, his eyes growing wide at the sight of the rifle slung over Frannie’s shoulder. “What’s that?” he asked as he took the weapon off of the woman’s shoulder and worked the action. A spent case flung out of the rifle’s chamber and landed somewhere on the floor. “Nice!” It looked to be a Winchester Model 70 chambered in .30-06 and in pretty good shape. The bluing was a little scuffed in places and there was a gouge in the wooden stock, but that was about it.

“How’s Paulie and Frays?” Adam asked as he replaced the bars on the door and locked the deadbolts. “Everybody okay?” The man pushed past the two of them and walked quickly down the hall, scooping up his daughter without breaking stride. He saw that his boy was still zonked out on the couch so he turned quickly and poked his head into the bedroom. Frays was still pr
etty much where he had left her curled up on the bed and staring at the wall. He frowned and sat down at the dining room table holding his daughter.

“What are we going to do about Frays?” he asked nobody in particular. Adam had to wonder what the others thought. The water was off and they needed a new p
ump. She probably knew how to replace it but it could not be that hard, could it? And well, it did not look like the woman was in any shape to feed or care for herself very well… He did not look forward to trying to wipe Amy’s ass for her.

They sat around the table, looking at each other. “I dunno, man.” Frannie said quietly. She shook her head and kind of wanted to choke the ever loving shit out of whoever had made her friend work at the
guardhouse at Hanscomb Air Force Base. They did not know each other before she and the others had filled out her squad’s numbers but Frannie had a feeling that whatever was currently fucking Frays’ mind up had something to do with what went on there.

Amy lay on the bed, her arms wrapped around her chest
and gently rocking herself. She could kind of hear the others talking in the dining room but she could not quite follow the conversation. Discordant thoughts and images kept flashing around in her head… She kept seeing Paulie standing there screaming, his eyes wide as he gawped at his ruined hand but he…turned into another little boy she did not know. The stifling heat of a gas mask sweating in her MOPP gear… Frays was barely aware of the tears running down her cheeks again. There was something wrong but she did not know what it was and there was no way to fix it and there was this grinding throbbing pain behind her eyes and would not stop…

Somebody came in the room but Frays could not bring herself to turn her head to see who it was. Freddie jumped up on the bed and scowled at the woman. He liked the new people, especially the little ones that played with him. The one on the bed
in front of him was okay but she seemed to be scared all the time for some reason. The dog’s little brain tried to figure out why she did not seem to be scared now or trying to get away like she always had before. She also smelled kind of off, like she was sick or something. Freddie looked at the woman with raised eyebrows, his head cocked curiously to one side as he stood there wagging his tail.

The dog carefully picked his way over to get a closer look at the woman’s face. He licked her
cheek and tasted salt, like the water that people made from their eyes sometimes. Freddie wagged his tail and stuck his tongue out a little hoping that maybe she would want to play or maybe pet him. He liked being petted with playtime coming in a close second followed by food time. Of course, these were all interchangeable depending on which time it was exactly: petting, playtime or food. He wondered absently when it was going to be food time again. There was people food on the thing next to the place where people slept but he ignored it. Only bad dogs ate people food and Freddie always tried to not be a bad dog. After all, bad dogs made people say mean things and did not get petting or playtime. Besides Freddie liked the new people and he did not want to make them mad at him.

The little people gave petting all the time and so did the nice lady with the funny face. The nice men saved him from being hungry and gave him food time. The nice man in the funny clothes gave him
a bath time too. He did not like bath time that much but he did smell better so it was okay. Plus the little people made those funny noises and played with him. They were all nice and he liked them even though he missed his old people. They were nice too. Freddie wondered absently if People Daddy and People Mommy were going to come get him soon.

People
Daddy had taken him for a car ride after People Mommy and Little Boy and Little Girl had made scratching noises and fighting sounds. People Daddy had blood on him and smelled scary. People Daddy had a big ‘owwie’ on his arm and was bleeding. Freddie vaguely remembered being surprised when People Daddy said they were going bye-bye after he had been a bad dog and peed on the carpet.

After a few moments, when playtime or ear scratches did not appear imminent, the dog
curled up on the bed next to the nice lady and pressed up against her torso. He was surprised and happy when she put an arm around his neck and gently started gently rubbing his furry belly, his tail slapping against the mattress a few times. He settled in for a nice nap with the nice lady person, a little doggy smile on his face.

He liked the nice lady person even if she did not give petting or playtime or food time.
The dog somehow got the feeling that she was like People Mommy who took care of his other people. Freddie remembered when People Mommy would take him to the big building where the little ones would pet him and talk to him from the things with the paper in them. Sometimes they would throw the ball too. The dog wondered if the nice lady person was going to talk to him from anything or not. Maybe she would throw a ball with him? It did not seem like it because she was quiet and looked like she was having naptime. The dog sighed heavily and was just starting to get to sleep when the door opened.

Rodriguez smirked and chuckled under her breath when she went
in to check on Frays. Freddie was lying up on the bed with her friend and amazingly Amy was not shitting herself.
Wow, this must be bad…
Frannie thought as she walked over, got hold of Freddie’s collar and pulled the dog off of the mattress. “C’mon, Freddie.” she said softly, still smiling at the dog. “Get down off the bed, boy.” If Frays snapped out of it the last thing she probably needed would be to be face to face with the mutt even though she suspected that Freddie’s heart was in the right place.

She checked Frays’ pulse and respiration just to make sure everything was okay. Her heart rate was a little high but her breathing was slow and regular. “Hey, Frays. Sorry Freddie got in here.” Frannie said conversationally as she checked her frien
d out. “Look…you just knock this off, alright? You’re okay so stop shammin’.”

Frannie sighed when Frays just blinked at her. She eyed the bowl of chowder on the table next to the bed. Rodriguez scowled at the thought of feeding her friend like she was some damn baby.
On the other hand, she and Lacey had spent weeks waiting on her hand and foot while she recuperated from her gunshot wound. Frays had even helped her wipe her ass when she had to shit, so she really should not complain too much. “Are you gonna make me spoon feed you?” she asked. Frannie smiled a little bit as she rolled Amy onto her back and propped her head up on the pillows. “Alright, but you’re seriously gonna owe me one.”

Thankfully Amy would swallow the chowder when Rodriguez spo
oned it into her mouth. Somehow it made Frannie a little sad to do it because she could guess that if Frays was in her right mind she would the whole thing incredibly embarrassing. She finished feeding Frays and frowned at the woman then forced a smile and clapped her friend on the shoulder. “Now I’m gonna have to do your dishes too? Jeez…” Frannie joked as she stood up and wiped a little of the goopy soup off of Frays’ chin before taking the bowl back out to the sink.

Amy pulled her knees to her chest and hugged her legs, numb save for the warmth in her belly from the food. She dozed fitfully
and woke a few moments later when she heard somebody else come in the room. Becca climbed up on the bed and laid down with her, the little girl snuggling up until Amy’s chin rested on top of her head. Frays jumped up off of the bed a few moments later and curled up in the corner next to the dresser, hiding her face in her hands and absolutely bawling her eyes out.

Lacey burst into the room and looked from Frays to his daughter and back again. “What happened?” he asked, confused as to what exactly he was seeing. Carl and Rodriguez were behind him. Adam picked up his daughter and set her on the floor by the door.

“I wanted to see Amy.” Becca said carefully, her little chest rising and falling as if she were about to start crying too. “I gived her a hug to make her betterer then she went all sad.” Lacey was grateful when Rodriguez picked up Becca and took her into the living room.

Lacey sat down on the corner of the bed a few feet away from Frays. A wave of helplessness crashed on him. Amy was crying so hard that her entire body was shaking and he could not think of
what was wrong let alone any way to make it better. Adam wracked his brains searching the depths of his semester and a half spent as a Psychology major at Bunker Hill Community College trying to think of something… He reached out and caught her hands, holding them tight. “Frays…Frays, what’s wrong?” he asked, hoping that she was going to actually answer him. Adam’s heart sank when Frays looked up at him for a second.

“Oh, God…
” Amy sobbed a look of utter horror on her face, the woman’s eyes wide and the color of pickled beets from crying. “I-I killed a little kid, man. I killed a little kid. I…killed!” Frays’ hands squeezed his so tightly that it started to hurt. “OhGodohGodohGod…”