The Hunger (Book 2): Consumed (11 page)

The .44 sat between the bucket seats.  Lance wanted to reach for it, but he knew what would happen if he did.  He opened the door and eased out of the seat, keeping his hands in front of his chest.

“Do you know Ralph?”  Lance let his eyes roam around the road, searching for anyone else who might be hiding in the underbrush.  He didn’t see anyone.

“Yeah, I know him.”

Cass came around the back of the car and stood shoulder to shoulder with Lance.  “We need to find our friends.  Do you know where he might be taking them?”

“I already told you—they’re as good as gone.”

“Let’s just relax here.  I’m Lance and this is Cass.”  Lance nodded at the pistol.  “Can you lower that thing?  We aren’t a threat to you.”

The man considered them for a few seconds before letting it hang by his side.  His finger never left the trigger.  “Nathaniel.”

“How do you know Ralph?” Lance asked.  “Not to be offensive, but you look kind of similar to him.”

“We used to run in the same circles.”

“What circles?”

Nathaniel’s eyes darted to the house at the top of the driveway.  “Gun shows, hunting trips, whatever.”

Lance looked over his shoulder and saw the curtains shift in the front window again.

“Look, we don’t have a lot of time for chitchat here,” Cass said.  “Do you know where he is or not?”

“Yeah, I know.  But if you go to his place, you’re going to get killed.  The man ain’t right.”

“No shit,” Lance said.  “We figured that out when he murdered all the survivors in Pittsburgh.”

“Then you oughtta know enough to stay the hell away.  Crazy bastard is putting together an army.  You ain’t getting your friends back.  They’re probably dead by now.”

“If he’s so nuts, I can’t understand why people are following him.”

“Why did anyone follow Hitler or Khan?  When people are scared, they latch onto anything they think will keep ‘em safe.  Right now, that’s Ralph.  He’s got a compound full of guns, ammo, and food.  Son of a bitch has been preparing for something like this his entire life.  Shit, he still has power over there.”

Lance’s stomach tightened as the man spoke.  His description of Ralph left little to the imagination.  They already knew the man was a monster, but hearing that he’d been waiting for civilization to collapse added to his mystique.

“Told you,” Cass said to Lance.  She looked back at Nathaniel.  “How does he have power?”

“They found a shit ton of natural gas on his property a couple of years back.  He’s got generators and all kinds of stuff over there.”  He kicked at the dirt by the road, cursing under his breath.  “Listen to me, Larry—”

“Lance.”

“Shut the fuck up and listen.  I’m what people called crazy, OK?  I hoarded gold and reloaded my ammunition.  I’ve hunted for most of my meat since I were a boy.  My place is stocked with canned goods and salted meats and everything else I thought might be important if the government ever went the way of the dinosaurs.”

“I guess no one is calling you crazy now,” Lance said.

“No, they ain’t.  But they
did
.  And compared to me, Ralph is a fucking loon.  He didn’t just prepare for the worst to happen—he
wanted
it all to go down.  People been saying for decades that he was making bombs and planning on taking shit out.  Thought he was gonna start a new American Revolution, you get what I’m saying?  I’ve got lots of guns, but he’s got a goddamn
arsenal
.  He’ll kill anyone who stands in his way, and probably a whole lotta those who don’t.”

Lance could only shake his head.  Of all the people who could have survived the infection, someone like Ralph was a nightmare.  He had supplies and years of preparation on his side.  Lance had a hot lady friend with an axe.

And Ralph had followers now.

That scared him more than anything else.

How many of them were believers?  How many thought the insanity that he must be spewing was true?  Of course, Lance hadn’t been around him in the restaurant long enough to hear what Ralph was telling his followers, but he assumed it to be insane.  How else could you convince a man to drive a boatful of daywalkers into a safe zone?

He remembered the bizarre lesson Ralph had tried to teach the teenager in the restaurant.  Pure madness.

“Do you know who this Tony guy is?” Lance asked.  He desperately wanted to get back on the road to find Eifort and Brown, but learning as much as they could about what they were about to walk into felt prudent.

Nathaniel’s eyes widened.  “He’s still alive?”

“What?” Cass’ brow wrinkled.  “Why would you ask that?”

“He shot a man when this first broke out.  The cops showed up and he shot two of them as well.  Goddamn feds came out and took him to an outpost the military set up in the city.”

“So that’s why they were in Pittsburgh?” Lance asked.

“I guess.  Ralph went to get him back, I suspect.  Tony is a goddamn psychopath.  And he’ll do
anything
that Ralph tells him to do.  You see him, I suggest you haul ass in the other direction.  He buys Ralph’s bullshit, hook, line, and sinker.”

“How do you know all of this?” Cass asked.

Nathaniel sighed.  “Cause they live right down the road.”

A barrage of distant gunfire rang through the trees, punctuating Nathaniel’s statement.

Lance prayed those shots weren’t meant for Brown and Eifort.  If they were killed while he stood beside the road and talked to Nathaniel, he’d never forgive himself.

Cass grabbed his forearm, giving it a slight squeeze.  “We need to go.”

They climbed back into their car.  Nathaniel leaned over, resting his forearms on Lance’s door.

“Yinz can’t win against ‘em.  Ralph is gonna execute anyone who doesn’t kneel down when he walks by.”

“If he knows that you hate him so much, how come you’re still alive?” Lance asked as he turned the Corvette on.

“They came for me yesterday.  A few of his goons.  Tony wasn’t with ‘em.  The wife and I hid in my bunker while those fucks ransacked my house.”

“So they think you’re dead?”

“Yah.  I think so.”

Lance put the car in gear.  “How do we get to Ralph’s Palace of Love?”

Nathaniel cocked his head, eyebrows arching.  “What?”

“Ignore him,” Cass said.  “He’s a dumbass.”

“City folks is still weird, I see.”  Nathaniel pointed down the road to their left.  “Go about a mile down that ways and stop when you see a pine tree on the right.  The entrance to Ralph’s driveway is hidden behind some bushes across from that.  I wouldn’t go that way though.  He’s got cameras and gates blocking the path.”

Lance winced at the directions.  It was common for people in western PA to give directions using landmarks instead of road names.  The area was called Pennsyltucky for a reason.

How the hell were they supposed to spot a pine tree in the middle of the woods?

“Thanks, Nathaniel.  Keep your head down, will you?”  Lance backed into the road, aiming the front end in the proper direction.

“When they get yinz, make sure you don’t tell ‘em I’m still alive.”  Nathaniel gave them a half-salute before stepping away from the car.  “And like I told ya, your friends is probably already dead.”

“If Ralph is half as smart as you say, he won’t kill them. One is a doctor and he won’t do a damn thing for them if they hurt the other.”  Lance took his foot off the brake.

“Wait, what?”  Nathaniel grabbed at the door.  “He’s a doctor?”

Lance looked at Nathaniel, his patience growing thin.  “Yeah. Why?”

“It’s my nephew, he’s sick.  We need a doc in the worst way.”

“Well, Ralph has him, so—”

“Lance?” A small, female voice came from the driveway behind them.  “Lance!”

Cass and Lance twisted around, looking into the passenger-side mirror.  A short, young, brown-haired woman jogged down the driveway, her arms waving over her head as she tried to get their attention.

“Do you know her?” Cass asked.

“Holy shit,” Lance muttered to himself, unable to believe who he was staring at.  “That’s Ashlee.”

––––––––

“L
ance!”  Ashlee ran around the back of the car.

Cass turned back to him.  “Jesus Christ, do you know
everyone
?  Who is she?”

“I can’t believe it’s her.”

“You can’t believe it’s who?”

“A girl I helped escape Pittsburgh.  She had a newborn with her.”

“Lance!”  Ashlee reached through the open window and wrapped her arms around his neck.  She squeezed him so hard that he felt the blood flow to his head slow.

He tapped her arm.  “OK, I give up!  Loosen up a bit.”

“Sorry!” Ashlee released him and backed out of the window.  She beamed at him as he shut the Vette off and stepped out of it.  “You made it!  I was afraid that those monsters had got you.”

“Nope, I’m still kicking.”  Lance gave her another hug before holding her at arm’s length and taking her appearance in.

Her clothes were clean and didn’t look as though she’d been through the hell that Lance and his friends had.  Only her eyes hinted at anything being wrong—they were red with dark circles under them.

“I can’t believe you remembered the address I gave you.”

“What?  You gave out my address?”  Nathaniel grunted from beside them.  “Holy shit, girl.  How many other people have you told where I live?”

“Oh, stop, Uncle Nate.  I only told Lance because he saved me back at the hospital.  I owed him.”  Ashlee rolled her eyes with an extreme exaggeration, which reminded Lance of just how young she was.

“This is the man who got you out of the city?”  Nathaniel’s face softened as he looked at Lance.  “I guess I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

He extended a hand to Lance, which he promptly shook.

“I hate to break up this little reunion, but we still have to go after our friends.”  Cass stood by her door, lips pursed.

Ashlee’s head rocked back as she looked at Cass.  She whispered to Lance. “Who’s she?  Why does she dress like that?”

“She’s a pain in my ass.  God only knows why she’s dressed like that.”  Lance could practically feel the daggers flying into his back from Cass’ eyes.  “Where’s the little man?  Teddy?”

Ashlee’s face fell.  “He’s inside.”

“That’s who’s sick.”  Nathaniel stuffed his hands in his pockets.  “He got ill a few days ago and I’ll be damned if I know what’s wrong with him.”

More gunfire came from somewhere in the woods.

Lance peered up the driveway at the trailer, thinking about the ill infant inside.

As if I don’t have enough on my mind right now
, he thought.

“That’s why I stopped you when you said your friend is a doctor.  We could use the help.”

“You just got done telling us that our friends are dead, and now you’re saying that we need to rescue them and bring them back here.  Nice.”  Cass crossed her arms over chest.  “Considering you had a gun pointed at us about three minutes ago, I’d say that’s a rather large request.”

“She isn’t very nice,” Ashlee whispered.

“I’m awful sorry about that.  I can’t be too careful nowadays though, you know?”  Nathaniel’s shoulders dropped.  “I’m just doin’ the best I can to protect my family.  Between those damn things running around at night and Ralph breaking into my house during the day, it ain’t easy.”

Lance gave the camouflaged man a short nod.  “I understand.”  He turned back to Ashlee.  “What’s wrong with Teddy?”

“He won’t stop crying!  He cries and cries until he turns red in the face.  No matter what I do, I can’t get him to stop for hours at a time.  We can’t get any sleep because of it.”

The woods grew eerily silent as the gunfire subsided.  Lance stared at the trees before them.

“We’re going to get our friends and then we’ll bring Doc Brown back here to check on Teddy.  OK?”

Ashlee wiped a tear from her cheek.  “Why do you keep helping me?”

“Because you need it.”  Lance gave her a small hug before turning around and getting back into the Corvette.  “We’ll be back before you know it.”

“I’ll come with you.”  Nathaniel leaned into the window.  “Yinz are going to need all the help you can get to break into that place.  I weren’t lyin’ when I said he’s got a goddamn arsenal over there.”

“What about your heart?  You can’t go running around in the—”

Nathaniel cut her off with a wave of his hand.  “My heart’s fine.”

Lance knew they could use Nathaniel’s help.  He was a grizzled man who clearly had a lot of experience with firearms and hunting.  He could be invaluable to them as they tried to find Brown and Eifort.

But if the man had a heart condition, what would they do if he had an attack in the middle of the woods?  Could they risk taking him along?

Cass cleared her throat beside him.  “You need to stay here with the girl and her baby.  We can take care of ourselves.”

“You don’t know the lay of the land.  I could—”

“She’s right.”  Lance turned the car on.  “You should stay here and protect your family.”

“You think I’ll slow you down.”

Lance didn’t see a point in lying to the man, so he stayed quiet.

Nathaniel grunted.  “Hell, I probably would at this point.  Listen, you need to go in through the woods.  Ralph had cameras set up there, but I don’t know how much they’re paying attention to them.  If I had to guess, they aren’t even turned on right now so they can save the wear and tear on the generators.  But the driveway ain’t safe.  I know for a fact he’s got some men guarding it.”

“Thanks,” Cass said.  “We’ll avoid the main way in.”  She put her hand on Lance’s forearm.  “We need to go. 
Now
.”

“Please be careful,” Ashlee said.  She leaned in and kissed Lance on the cheek.  “And thanks.  You’re amazing.”

Lance felt his face heat with a blush.  He wasn’t sure anyone had ever said anything like that to him before.  “We’ll be back.”

“Don’t let them catch you—they’re sadists.”  Nathaniel stepped back and put his arm around Ashlee, holding her tight against him.

Lance took a deep breath and started the Vette forward.  The pressure upon them kept rising. Every hour of the day added another level of stress.  Now they had a sick baby to worry about.