The Common Cold (Book 2): A Zombie Chronicle-Cabin Fever (17 page)

“Does anyone have a pocket torch?” she asked.

Chuck delved into his pocket. “Never leave home without it,”
he smiled.

Using it carefully she inspected his eyes and their response
to light. If only she had escaped with her medical kit; she begrudged leaving
it behind, it had seen her through many years of work and thousands of
patients. Looking carefully into Bill’s eyes it didn’t appear that either of
the retinas had detached or had any capillary damage. No other physical damage
was obvious and he appeared to be producing adequate tears to irrigate the eyeball.

“I think the best we can do is to leave your eyes uncovered
this evening, and perhaps wear sunglasses during the day for a while,
especially with all that snow around. Rest as much as possible and I think you
will get your sight back completely. I can see no obvious damage.”

Bill
grinned
the grin of the
reprieved and grabbed her hand. “Thank you so much, Doc. You have no idea what
this means to me. You really don’t.”

“Just be sure to keep them moist as they recover. Don’t try
flying just yet, it will reduce your blink rate and your eyes will get dry. If
anyone has some unopened saline eye drops, you could use them during the day or
when you feel tired. And by the way, my name is Kimberley, not doc.”

“Sure thing, Kimberley.”
He sighed
in relief and began to look around the room at the people he had mostly only
heard speak up to now. Damn there were a lot of them in one place.
And some good looking women as well.

*

Mike and Danny made their way quickly across the open,
snow-dug ground towards the cabin to which Cliff and Angela had retreated away
from the rest of the group. Arriving on the small porch, Mike rapped on the
door. It was opened quickly and the sergeant stood in the doorway barring their
way.

“Yes?” Cliff said, not moving.

“Can we come in?” Mike asked, trying to hide his irritation
at this crew member.

“Why?”

“We need to talk.”

“Why?”

“Stop it, Cliff. Until we know for sure there’s nothing left
for us to go back to I’m still your commander in the air and on the ground.”

Cliff’s back stiffened and he stood aside, allowing them
inside. The pair looked around the small cabin. It was warm and it smelled like
someone had been cooking. Angela came out of one of the rooms and just stared
passively.

“What do you want to talk about? Sir,” the sergeant asked,
sarcasm dripping from the last word like bile.

“I’d like to know why you’ve cut yourself off from the rest
of the group. You must have seen what went on earlier, it’s not like you rushed
to lend a hand and help us out.” Cliff said nothing, so Mike continued. “I’ve
not known you long but this behaviour doesn’t seem very much like I would have expected.
Is it because I shot your wife?” Mike was clearly provoking the sergeant to get
an emotional response, thinking a jolt might bring him back to life. A dangerous
game, Danny thought noticing Cliff stiffen at the confession, any emotion he
might have once had in his eyes disappearing in a flash.

“It was you,” he whispered. Not a question but a statement
of fact. Danny surreptitiously lowered his rifle to point it at the sergeant;
he didn’t like the change coming over the soldier.

“Yes it was. And you know why I did it, don’t you.” Cliff
remained still and unresponsive. “Say it, Sergeant.”

Slouching in defeat and without another word Cliff turned
around and disappeared into a room off to the side, closing the door quietly behind
him. Mike went to follow him but was brought up short by Angela. She was
wearing a low cut top and it revealed a small, simple wooden cross hanging
around her neck on a piece of string. Maybe she did believe, Danny thought.

“Don’t. Can’t you see he doesn’t want to talk to you?” Her
eyes were blank, her intentions hard to read. The only thing Mike saw was a
slight and sly movement of her mouth, as if she had just won something.

“Angela,” Mike began, breathing deeply trying to keep his
anger in check. “With all due respect, keep out of it. I am his commanding
officer and you have no say in this.”

“I think both you and I know different, Captain,” she
replied, spitting out the last word.

“Tell me something, did you live near Rob and Sandy? No-one
seems to know where you’re from. You just appeared.”

“Of course I’m from near them.”

“What was your address?”

“That’s really none of your business. I don’t have to talk
to you.”

“You don’t have to but you’re under our protection and
eating our food. I think you owe us a little courtesy, don’t you?”

“I’m with Cliff right now; that should be enough for you.”

“I don’t think he’s with you,” Mike retorted.

“Mike,” Danny said.

“What?” he
asked,
irritated at being
interrupted.

“Look at her left hand.”

Mike looked and caught the glint of something shiny.
A knife.
He drew his pistol and pointed it at her.

“Put it down,” he
said,
his voice
hard.

“I was only cutting some meat. See,” she said pointing at
the table with the knife. Her voice was brittle and hard, uncaring of his
authority. Off to her side was the evidence that she had indeed been cutting up
food, there was a small amount of cubed meat on a tray. They stared at each
other like cats squaring off to fight, neither one giving an inch. After a
moment Mike felt a little foolish that he had been drawn by her into the
stand-off; but then he caught sight of what appeared to be amateur, blue prison
tattoos on her outstretched arm. The words in the design were unintelligible,
probably made with sewing needles and ink by a roomie. There also appeared to
be old needle track marks trailing down from the crook of her elbow.

“Where did you do time?” Mike asked casually, changing the
mood in the room immediately.

“Centennial,” she replied, almost proud.

“The only facility I’m aware of down there is a psychiatric
unit. Oh,” as realisation dawned. She smiled, self-satisfied.

“I’ve done my time. The Lord saved me.” she said, almost
simpering.

“Really,” Mike replied, wondering if the ‘saving’ mentioned included
the opening of the prison hospital gates in the last few days. “So what were
you doing in Castle Rock?”

“I was just travelling through, on my way home.”

Mike’s suspicions appeared to have grounds against this
woman. The thought of leaving Cliff and his little daughter in her care
frightened him but he was still unsure of what to do for the best. The easiest
thing might be to pop one in her forehead, but that wouldn’t exactly engender
trust in Cliff.

“Cliff,” Mike called his sergeant. “Can you come out here?”

With the sound of shuffling of feet Cliff appeared at the
door to his room. “May I see your daughter, please?” he asked. Cliff no longer
looked all man; the wind had left his sails. He just stared blankly at Mike,
spent of all emotion. “May I see your daughter? Please?”

“She has nothing to do with you,” Angela interjected,
speaking for the sergeant. “You killed her mother, remember? May the Lord have
mercy on your
soul.
”

Mike sighed. “Look Cliff,” he said, ignoring Angela the
mouthpiece. “While you’re up here, everyone is of concern to me.”

As he spoke a little girl, still dressed in the same bloody
clothes she wore when rescued twenty four hours earlier, appeared and wrapped
her arms around her father’s leg, holding on tightly. Her face was dirty and
suggested she had not been cleaned since coming up here to safety.

“Hello. Beverley, isn’t it?” Mike
asked,
his voice gentle. A nod of the head proved Laurie to have been right earlier
when discussing her name. “Are you hungry?
Thirsty?”
The child just buried her face into the material of Cliff’s trouser leg.

“We’re
doin
’ just fine,” Angela
said, a brittle edge to her voice.

“Then why is Beverley still wearing bloody clothes?” Danny
asked. “You know she might get infected from them if she has a cut or even if
she gets any into her mouth. She already sucks her thumb. See.”

Everyone looked at the little girl and saw her hand go to
her mouth.

“We have no children’s clothes,” Angela spoke defensively, her
stress strongly apparent through the tone of her response. She had begun
fingering the cross around her neck.

“We have some she can use, I’m sure,” Danny replied, his
voice soft, trying to keep in check his own emotions. “Why don’t you come over
and see if any fit?” he asked the little girl, hoping Cliff would take the
chance to react for the sake of his child and return to the fold of the rest of
the survivors.

Angela stood in their way, Cliff doing nothing to stop her
from controlling the situation. “Why can’t you bring some over?” Angela had
taken to playing with the knife, flicking it expertly yet unconsciously over
and over in her hand. In that one action Danny knew the woman had to die. She was
a liability to them all. He would have bet a year’s pay Angela hadn’t been
signed out of the facility in Centennial, instead using the opportunity the
current crisis had provided to walk free.

“Very well,” Mike replied. “We will be back shortly.”

Danny and Mike backed out of the cabin slowly, not turning
their backs on Angela.

“May the Lord be with you,” she called after them. It
sounded like a sarcastic afterthought rather than a true wish.

“Shouldn’t we have insisted that Cliff and Beverley come
back with us?” Danny asked, a little confused by their retreat.

“No,” Mike replied. “Cliff needs to make that decision for
himself or he’ll always resent us. Anyway, I’ve seen a look like that before.
Angela is about one argument away from blowing up.” Looking like he was
struggling with a decision to say more, he made a decision and continued to
explain. “There was this soldier in Camp Bastion, a young officer. He’d been in
Afghanistan for about three months. He and his platoon went out on patrol one
day and only he made it back. And even that was a near-run thing. His men had
been blown to bits right in front of him. He was covered in their gore. It
seems this was the last straw for him and he went into meltdown. Last time I
saw him he had that same look in his eyes; he wasn’t seeing me, he was seeing
something else. He was playing with his gun; it was like he was contemplating
whether he should shoot me or himself. A couple of his mates saw him doing this
and he was disarmed and sent home on medical leave. He’s still in that
psychiatric facility today.
Probably.”

So Mike thought the same as Danny. The girl was an escapee,
and Danny had thoughtfully brought her here in the second truck. Shit.

“Wish I’d run her over instead of stopping,” Danny said out
loud, but to himself.

“Amen, Danny.” Mike smiled. “Everyone’s allowed one mistake.”

Arriving back at Tom’s cabin, Janet put together a clothes
package for Beverley. From the brief glimpse Janet had of Beverley, she
believed that the child was only a little smaller than Penny so there was
plenty to choose from. Rejecting the entreaties of the women that one of them should
accompany Mike and Danny back to Cliff’s cabin to try their luck, the two went
back, knocked on the door and handed the bundle to Cliff, who just took them
and went back inside.

“There’s nothing more we can do for now,” Mike said as they
returned. “I’d kill the bitch and end this right now but it wouldn’t help our
situation with Cliff. It might even make things worse. So we’ll just have to
wait and see for now.”

“And watch the bitch like a hawk.”

“You said it.”

The next morning was a beautiful one; there wasn’t a cloud
in the sky and thankfully it hadn’t snowed again in the night. The view from
the helicopters would be amazing; they’d be able to see for miles.

“While we’re out there, do you want to check out the
shopping mall again? You
know,
the one with the help
sign painted on it?” BB asked Mike as several of the survivors sat around in a
group eating MRE’s, courtesy of Chuck.

“You mean Cherry Creek Shopping
Center
?”

“I think that’s what it was called, yeah.”

“We can do. I don’t think there’s anyone there but we can
have a look-see if you like.”

“I think I’d like someone to do the same for me if the
situation was reversed.”

“Know what you mean. Yeah, we can do that first. We’re not
landing though. If there’s anyone there we’ll winch ’
em
up.”

“Understood.”

“I’ll come with you, I can ride shotgun,” Danny offered.

“Me too,” Rob added.

“Great,” Mike answered. “We’ll need bodies on the ground to
get the fencing together as quickly as possible. The longer we’re on the ground
the more likely we are to attract attention.”

“The area is fenced off, so you should be safe,” Laurie
said.

“What about the employees in the target buildings? They
could easily be a problem for us.”

“Oh, yes. I hadn’t thought.” Laurie looked embarrassed.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to correct you,” Mike said quickly. “I’m
just a cynical old bastard. I’ve always been a little on the glass half empty
side. To that end I always expect trouble.” He smiled at her.

“That’s alright; my desk job didn’t really equip me for all
this,” she conceded.

“I presume all this stuff was supposed to be positioned to
disaster zones by helicopter?” BB asked, considering their needs to make this a
success. “Will there be any lifting harnesses there that we can use?”

“Oh, yes,” Laurie replied, enthusiastic about her specialist
subject once more. “These kits were designed for airlift as they were expected
to be moved to remote areas or deployed quickly at least.”

“That’s pretty cool, Laurie,” Danny agreed. “Sounds like
we’ll have this all wrapped up by lunch time.”

“It might just be that simple,” Mike conceded. “We’ll need
two non-pilot crew members on each chopper. We don’t want too many because of
weight considerations; I want to bring back as much as possible on each trip.
Danny and Rob have already volunteered. I’ll volunteer you, Zoë; we need a
winch specialist.
You alright with that?”
She nodded
so he continued with the planning. “I’m assuming Cliff won’t be with us. So I want
one other and strength is a necessity.”

Chuck raised his hand. He was a pretty obvious choice
really. Poor old Bill was not yet an option and Joshua was built like a sparrow.
“I’ll be that man if you like,” he said, more self-deprecating than usual, solo
living being more Chuck’s style; he was happy to be part of such a decent group
of people but he had taken to sitting quietly on his own, content in his own
company; large groups and organisation was more change than he had experienced
in many years and so he held back, his loner status challenged.

“I’d like to come too,” Joshua said. “I would like to check
out the electrical supplies, I guess they’ll have some. I have to work out how
we alarm the fence.” His wife pulled at his sleeve, not amused at him
volunteering.
“Ethel, honey.
I have to do this,” he
admonished gently.

“Sure,” she replied, sighing. “I get it, just be careful.
I’m not ready to lose you just yet.”

“You won’t, darling.”

“He’ll be safe with us, Ethel. I’m not about to take any
risks with anyone,” Mike said, hoping he wasn’t promising more than he could
deliver to the old gal. “Sure you can come, Joshua, I hadn’t considered that
aspect.”

“What about securing the cabins?” Bill interjected. “I don’t
think you should do the shopping mall until you’ve completed the primary objective
of today, the fencing. It only takes one chopper anyway. You’re just adding
risk to the mission. As long as the major part of the group is away it adds to
the risk back here. I can see better since I’ve been using the eye drops, so I
can hold a gun and shoot. Can anyone else left behind shoot worth a damn? Sorry
ladies but the situation hasn’t changed since our last indelicate equality discussion
took place. Just
sayin
’ it as it is.”

“
There’s
me, Bill,” Tom interjected.
“I’ll be here.”

“Women can shoot too, you old goat,” Zoë countered, not as
forcefully as she once would have. His misogyny, whilst alive and still kicking
would have to take a backseat from hereon in; his dependence upon ‘mere’ women
and girls for his protection was absolute, at least for now. The female of the
species were categorically part of the defence force, whatever he wanted.

“I can shoot, can’t I BB?” Kimberley spoke for the first
time.

“Oh, yeah.
You sure can.” He smiled
at her. “You’ve got the .357 haven’t you?”

“And a few 38’s as well,” she smiled back.

“I’ve been shooting once,” Janet stepped forward. “I’m sure
I can hit something if someone will give me a gun.”

“That’s two, Bill,” Zoë chastised him light-heartedly.

“I’ve fired a pistol,” Stacey offered.

“Hey, Bill. Looks like you’re seriously outnumbered.” Zoë
was grinning widely at Bill’s discomfort.

“Okay, okay. I get it,” he said, holding up his hands in
surrender. “Looks like we will be just fine, Mike.”

“Sure does,” Mike replied, amused at his erstwhile
co-pilot’s discomfort. “I like
your
thinking regarding
the mall though, Bill. We’ll do it if we get the time, BB. Sorry.”

“No, you’re right,” BB agreed. “No point risking several
lives to try and rescue people that might not even
be
alive
in there.”

*

With everyone aware of their own responsibilities the flight
crews went to their helicopters. Before boarding, Danny went over to Janet and
pulled her aside.

“Listen, love,” he whispered. “You need to keep an eye out
for Cliff, but more worryingly, Angela.”

“She’s that bad?” she replied, a worried look on her face.

“Yes. Both Mike and I think she broke out of a mental health
facility and made her way to Castle Rock where we picked her up. Also Cliff was
behaving really strangely earlier. At one point he looked like he might just
kill Mike - Mike told him it was he who killed Cliff’s wife. But then he just
seemed to deflate. But that Angela woman, she’s something else. She seems to
hold sway over Cliff somehow. It might just be infatuation, or it might be some
religious thrall; I think Cliff is quite a religious man. I don’t really know. One
thing I do know is that she’s been a druggie, if she still isn’t.”

“Really?
Does that mean the
religion thing is a sham? Or perhaps she has seen the light, as they say.”

“She makes out that she is religious, but I can’t tell. To
hear her speak she’d make the Pope
look
agnostic.”

“So what do you want me to do?”

“Well, talk to Laurie and Sandy will you? I don’t want you
guys surprised while we’re away. Perhaps talk to Bill as well, but just be
careful, I don’t know how well disposed he is either to Cliff or religion.”

“I’ll do that.” She noticed Zoë signalling to them. “Anyway,
they’re waiting for you I think. Love you.”

“And you,” he said squeezing her hand and kissed her gently.
“See you soon.” With that he ran to the waiting chopper; it was Mike’s; BB’s
was already in the air, carrying Rob and Chuck away and down, out of the
mountains. As soon as Danny jumped aboard Mike took off and followed BB towards
their target. Danny waved at his wife as she disappeared from view.

“I hope this stuff is where Laurie said it would be,” Danny
said over the intercom, voicing what the others had only thought up to now.

“Only one way to find out,” Mike replied. “There are
probably other places to get it if this one is empty. One way or another we’ll
get this done.”

“Sure will,” Zoë agreed. They sat in silence for the rest of
the short journey, Joshua clenching the edges of his seat in what appeared to
be a rictus of terror. Danny looked at him quizzically but he just shook his
head, wanting to be left alone. Poor sod, Danny thought, he’s terrified of being
on the helicopter. What a shame, he thought, not being able to conceive of how
a person could possibly be scared by this joy ride.

Peering out of the Perspex side window Danny watched as they
flew over the frozen reservoir and onwards over the peaks of the Rockies before
descending towards the plains and Denver. After a few minutes he could see
their destination off to the right; a large open field with a spiral road that
led to a collection of buildings at its centre. Off to one side stood a set of
utilitarian industrial buildings, constructed of corrugated metal walls and
roofing with almost no windows. Everything looked intact at first glance but
there were definitely signs of movement on the ground. As they hovered over the
buildings they could see lone people wandering around the larger, enclosed
grounds. Fortunately there was chain link fencing around the target buildings,
securing the contents from marauding forces, or whatever the original builders
may have anticipated. Within the fenced-off enclosure there was easily enough
room for a couple of helicopters to put down, probably the intention of the
design.

“Mike, this is BB. Can you hear me?”

“Yes, buddy. Go ahead.”

“I will put down and secure the area. We’ll make sure there’s
been no breach of the wire, there’s a lot of them things wandering around
outside the perimeter. Once we’re clear you can put down too.”

“Roger. I’ll move away so as not to attract them, over.”

“Good idea.
Out.”

Brad brought his ’copter into wind and put down gently.
Immediately Rob and Chuck leapt out, guns at the ready. BB stayed behind at the
controls just in case. The two men made a single circuit of the main building
but found no-one and no holes in the fence. Arriving back at the front, they
gave the thumbs up to BB. Together they walked warily towards the light blue
wicket door at the front. Rob pulled at it but to no avail, it was locked.
Chuck waved him away, aimed one of his pistols at the lock and fired a couple
of well-aimed shots, the second shot knocking the tongue of the lock out of the
cavity in the jamb. The door swung open slightly.

Adopting wary stances they stepped inside the building.

*

Rob stepped into the darkness first, closely followed by
Chuck. Waiting for their eyes to adjust to the relative darkness, Rob finally
found a light switch off to one side. Flicking it nothing happened.

“Damn. No power.” He switched on his wind-up torch and the
powerful LED lights lit up the immediate area, the strong beam penetrating deep
into the building.

They were standing in front of a vast assembly area
surrounded by banks of shelving stacked high with emergency goods.

“Oh my God,” Chuck sighed, his jaw a little slack at the
sight. “I didn’t need to collect all my survival stuff over the years. The
government has been doing it for me all along.” He switched on his torch and
together they began to search the building for hostiles. Rob whistled low as he
realised just how much survival materiel was in front of him. Suddenly he
stiffened and stood still, trying to identify what had made his skin crawl.

“There’s something in here,” Rob said quietly. “I can feel
it watching us.”

“I think you’re right.” Chuck crouched, ready to defend
himself if and when it attacked. Rob was holding his rifle up to his shoulder,
sighting along the barrel while holding the torch under it, illuminating his
way forward.

“It’s above us,” Rob said, standing stock-still again. Chuck
didn’t move.

“Where?”

“On the shelves above us and to the
right.”

“Okay. Let’s make our way back to the open area, see if we
can’t flush this bastard out into the open.”

Slowly they reversed back to the assembly area, not turning
around lest they gave cause to whatever it was to attack their retreating
forms. Back in the open and clear of the shelves, Rob finally aimed his torch
upwards. Two eyes reflected green in the torchlight. And then another pair, and
another.

“Jesus,” Rob hissed, the sight sending a shiver down his
spine. Chuck shone his torch along the rest of the upper shelving and spotted
another two pairs of eyes off to their left.

“What the fuck are they?” Chuck asked, semi-rhetorically,
not actually expecting an answer.

“Cheetahs,” Rob whispered. “We need reinforcements. Back out
of the door, we’ll come back with the others.”

“Don’t need telling twice. I ain’t dying for this stuff.”
Chuck’s voice was filled with genuine fright, something Rob didn’t think the
older man capable of; he’d heard how easily Chuck saw to those two bandits down
in Bolder.

Outside the door they pulled it closed. Next moment there
was a terrific crash as one of the creatures threw itself against the inside of
the door. Fortunately it opened inwards and so held against the onslaught.
Silence descended again, both Rob and Chuck had levelled their pieces at the
door but with no more noise, their tension eased a little.

“Go tell BB to call the others in. If we don’t get these
bastards we may as well go home.”

Without replying Chuck raced to the chopper. With one eye on
the door, Rob watched as the other helicopter changed from a hover and began
flying towards them. At least the landing area was safe to land in for now.
Below where the helo had been stationed about half a mile away, the Infected
had begun to collect, dozens of them looking upwards at it. The beat of the
blades were doing it again. No doubt they would eventually follow it over to
this enclosure.