The Dead Series (Book 2): Dead Is All You Get (8 page)

“What’s for lunch?
Well, I’m gonna tell you.”

The small TV in the kitchenette blasted
The Lazy Man’s Lunch
throughout the trailer. I was already dressed and buttoning my shirt. Holly stood in the tiny bathroom putting her hair up as Greta sat in the doorway watching her. Every couple of minutes Holly called over her shoulder.

“Griffin, come on, get up,” she said. “It’s almost nine.”

Connie McBride was the hottest thing going on the Food Network. The show, hosted by the burly, Red Sox-loving ex-maintenance worker from Boston with the permanent five o’clock shadow, appealed to every talentless hungry male who was not only desperate for a meal but bone cheap.

“So whadda we got here?” he said, rummaging through the kitchen cabinets on the show’s set. “Triscuits … Tabasco … McCormick Paprika … Ooh! Kraft Grated Parmesan!” He set these on the counter and stuck his head comically inside the refrigerator. “Oscar Mayer hot dogs!”

Quickly he laid out a dozen crackers on a plate, cut up the dogs and delicately placed a slice on each cracker. Then he sprinkled the whole business with cheese, shook on some Tabasco and microwaved the plate for twenty seconds. When it was done he dropped a sprig of parsley on the plate, turned to the camera for his close-up and delivered his trademark line.

“And there’s your lunch.”

“Holly, do you have any bars?” I said.

She came towards me, checking her cell phone. “Nope.”

“No Internet and no cell service. So how are we getting television?”

“I don’t think they can block the airwaves.”

“No, but they can censor them.”

“Griffin, for cryin’ out loud.”

Holly whispered something to Greta. The dog bounded over to Griffin’s bed and threw her paws on top of her, licking her face.

“Ew! Greta!”

“Mission accomplished,” Holly said. “Dave, do these pants make me look fat?”

I totally dodged the question. “How did you get the dog to do that?”

“She’s a girl. So naturally we’re on the same page. That, and the fact that Ram taught me all the right German commands.”

“Yeah? Which command was that?”

“Voraus!”

“I hope you’re not planning on using those on me.”

“Just one.
Braver Hund!
”

“What does that mean?”

“Good dog,” she said, and beat it out the door before I could grab her.

The guard at the administration building said nothing as we passed through the front entrance, wearing our new uniforms. Once inside, we went directly to the principal’s office, where we found Pederman with another man I didn’t recognize. The stranger was in his fifties, with thinning grey hair, corn-fed jowls that were too red and a bulbous nose dotted with burst blood vessels. Judging by his waistband size, I guessed he liked his beer.

The man stepped forward and shook our hands. “Walt Freeman,” he said.

“In case you didn’t know, Walt is deputy mayor.”

“The mayor wasn’t available?” I said.

Walt shook his head. “He’s far too busy with the reconstruction. I’m handling all of the depositions.”

After the pleasantries, Pederman said, “Let’s get started.”

Inside the conference room, an attractive young woman with reddish-brown hair, huge brown eyes and red lips sat at the table in front of a laptop. She was on the pudgy side but in a way that made men hungry.

“That’s Becky,” Walt said. “She’s here to take notes.” He held up a hand. “Fat fingers.”

As we took seats, Walt hefted a clear plastic file storage box from the floor and set it on the table. He reached in and, flipping through the files, grabbed one, opened it and spread out a number of typed pages on the table. “I think you know that Mr. Warnick and Mr. Springer have already given depositions,” he said to Holly and me. “Please don’t take this the wrong way. We’re really just fact finding. With so many … uh … dead from the … the unpleasantness, we’re trying to collect as much information as we can.”

Unpleasantness, I repeated in my head. I thought of my former boss, Fred Lumpkin, and how I’d blasted his head to bits with a cop’s .44. Yeah, that was pretty unpleasant.

Walt continued. “Since you’re married, we’re combining your depositions into one file, if that’s okay. When did you first encounter what we’re now calling ‘the sickness’? Dave?”

“You mean, when did I first notice it?”

“No. When did you personally come in contact with a person or persons who exhibited symptoms?”

“The jimmies, you mean. The night of July fifth.”

“That’s pretty specific.”

“I’ll never forget that date. It was the night my friend Jim Stanley came to see me. I’m pretty sure he was already infected.”

It took better than two hours for Walt to depose Holly and me. We told him everything—how we’d left the area for Mt. Shasta. How Holly and her mother had vanished, and I’d met up with Ben and Aaron Marino and Irwin Landry. How we’d returned to Tres Marias and moved to Ram Chakravarthy’s compound, eventually to be joined by Warnick, Chavez and the other soldiers. And how we’d left that place with Greta, the only guard dog left alive.

In a way, it was freeing to get it all out. To talk about how the Red Militia had tried to use Griffin and her brother Kyle against us. And how they’d destroyed our compound. How Holly and Griffin had escaped an ambush and I’d been taken prisoner with Warnick and the others, forced by Chavez and his men to compete in a death match with draggers in a dilapidated ice rink.

We told them about the civilians we’d saved and how I was later taken prisoner by the Red Militia when I’d gone out searching for Holly and Griffin, who eventually made it to safety. And how we’d defeated the nailheads and together made our way back to our new compound—the Arkon Building.

Finally, we told them how we’d attacked the Red Militia at the high school and rescued Griffin. How Ormand Ferry had died at the hands of draggers.

“How many would you say you killed?” Walt said to me. “Like-uh-said, we’re simply fact finding.”

“No idea. But most were no longer human.”

“Holly?”

“Same. They attack in hordes, you know.”

“Yeah. Well, I think we pretty much have everything we need. Appreciate your cooperation.”

Walt began putting the papers back into the storage box as Becky slipped her laptop into a black leather case. Everyone got up. I stood directly in front of him. He was slightly shorter than me, and I could smell a mixture of cologne and sweaty shoe leather. “Where is this information going?” I said.

“Good question. It will be placed in an archive, along with everything else we’re collecting—papers, audio recordings, video, so on and so forth. If any government agency needs access, we can provide it. Nice meeting you both.”

He and the assistant left the room quickly. I realized I was exhausted.

“You both did great,” Pederman said. “Let’s break for lunch. We’ll finish up with HR after.”

“Sounds good,” I said. My head hurt. I desperately wanted a drink.

After lunch, Holly and I returned to the principal’s office. Pederman chatted with a woman who appeared to be in her fifties and who I assumed he had brought down from San Francisco. She wore a grey suit and black high-heel shoes, her brown hair pulled back in a short ponytail.

“Ah, here they are,” Pederman said. “Miriam, this is Dave and Holly Pulaski.”

“Hi,” the woman said, extending her hand. “I’m Miriam Cantrell. Let’s go to the conference room so I can go over everything with you and answer any questions you may have. Are you excited?”

“Are you kidding?” Holly said, smiling.

“Hmm,” Miriam said, looking Holly over as we walked. “Honestly, Kelly.”

Pederman looked surprised. “What did I do?”

“You gave this poor girl a man’s shirt. Oh, my gosh, and the pants!” Then to Holly, “Don’t worry. I anticipated this and brought along a half a dozen women’s uniforms. Size zero, right?”

“Right.” Holly turned red from the attention.

It took a little over two hours to complete the paperwork and go through all of the salary and benefits information. When we were finished, Miriam thanked us and excused herself, explaining that she needed to return to San Francisco. I wondered how people like Pederman and Miriam came and went, since the quarantine was still in place.

“How are things up there?” I said. “I mean, is it safe?”

She examined her own shoes and smiled at us. “We haven’t seen any signs of the virus. The quarantine is working. Now, who’s taking me back?”

“One of my guys will drive you,” Pederman said. “Let me walk you out.”

Miriam extended her hand to Holly and me. “Nice meeting you both. I’ll leave the uniforms in Kelly’s office.”

“Wow, did you see how she was dressed?” Holly said when we were alone.

“What do you mean?”

“Burberry suit. Manolo Blahnik shoes.”

“I have no idea what you just said.”

“She’s paid very well, Dave.”

“Oh.”

As we sat reading through our copies of the documents, Holly took my hand. “I’m scared.”

“What? Why?”

But I knew why. I had already told her what Warnick had said about Evie being interrogated by the mayor. It scared me too.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s a feeling I have. It’s like, I want us to have a life. To be able to make a life for our baby. But I’m worried about what’s happening. And it’s bigger than Evie. You asked me about my little woman. I lied when I said she wasn’t telling me anything. She is. She’s saying that something very creepy is going on here.”

“Then why are we doing this?”

“Because it’s better than the alternative, which is to be thrown out on the street. We’ve already lived that kind of life. I don’t want to go back to it. Especially not with Griffin and the baby.”

“All right,” I said. “Let’s promise that we’ll do what we have to, but we won’t give up trying to find out what happened.”

“Promise.”

Pederman returned, carrying two black hard-shell cases. “Welcome aboard, guys. You are officially entitled to your Black Dragon-issue weapons.”

He set the cases down on the conference table and opened one of them, revealing a brand new Glock 17 pistol, speed loader and two magazines already loaded with ammo. Adrenalin surged in my blood and I had to breathe deeply before reaching for the weapon.

“You can go see the quartermaster to pick up your holsters and extra ammo. Holly, this weapon is a little larger than you’re probably used to, but I think you’ll come to appreciate its firepower.”

“Great,” she said, opening her case and removing the weapon. “This is gonna sound weird, but it’s beautiful.”

“Let me just say again how pleased I am to have you two on the team.”

We stood and shook hands.

“Mr. Pederman,” I said, “I’m curious about people coming and going. I mean, with the quarantine.”

“We have to get permission from the mayor, but we are allowed to make trips outside when warranted.”

“What about people coming in?”

“Again, special arrangements need to be made. I’m late for another meeting. See you both soon. Again, congratulations.”

When Pederman left, Holly and I took each other’s hands. “I never thought a gun would get me excited,” she said.

“Careful. You’re married, remember?”

“As Chuck would have it.”

Mrs. Malaprop was back.