Whatever It Takes (7 page)

Percival rode in the passenger seat while Karl drove. Sarah cradled Evan’s head in the backseat.

“That could be a very old message from the start of the outbreak.” Karl pulled into the parking lot of the gun shop. The front windows were boarded up and the security gate was drawn in front of the smashed glass front doors. “Looks like someone might be home.”

“They have power still. Otherwise the message wouldn’t still be going out.” Percival climbed out of the car. “Sarah, stay here and watch over Evan, please.”

She nodded and just smoothed some of the boy’s hair.

“If they had the generator hooked up to just the radio—“ Karl was cut off by Percival.

“Part of my job on campus was to listen to the techheads blather. Hell, I had them help me justify raids on the local gas pumps initially and to convince the council to let me take a group further out.” Percival checked the ammunition in his pistol. It was a full ten round magazine. “Unless they have a miracle generator, someone’s been feedin’ it fuel at least up ‘til a week ago. It’s just simple logistics, Karl.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to go running to these guys,” Karl said. “Humans are sometimes worse than the zombies.”

“Like the kid in the backseat? He was good, and we didn’t know him until we found him out here. Or Roy Joy? He’s a little off his rocker, but a good guy.”

“We’re not discussing this right now.” Karl walked to the front of the gun store. He reached through the shattered glass and tugged the protective gate one way, then the other.

To Percival’s surprise, it opened.

“Owner, or whoever was holed up here, probably thought that people wouldn’t look too closely and that the zombies wouldn’t bash to the side.” Karl worked the gate open slowly, then stepped through.

Percival clicked his flashlight on and followed Karl into the building. He panned his flashlight around in the opposite direction Karl was sweeping his light.

The room was partially looted. Most of the long arms were gone, and both of the display cases were smashed open. There was a good amount of debris scattered across the floor, ranging from the shattered glass of the displays to paper and discarded ammunition boxes.

“It would seem someone else beat us here.” Percival slowly walked further into the shop. He panned his light back and forth as he moved.

“Probably, but I doubt they took everything. If they had, why bother working to close the gate from outside?” Karl walked in the opposite direction of Percival.

“Here’s hoping they didn’t take everything of value.” Percival moved around a large rotating display. “We’ve got a backroom here.”

“Have a look. There’s a lot of debris behind the counter, I’m going to do some sifting. Scream if you need me.”

Percival let out a sigh and moved around another smashed display case that served as a counter. He walked to the door and raised his pistol and flashlight. He took a step forward and kicked the door, hard, right next to the doorknob. The door popped easily open, slamming into the wall as Percival swept his flashlight’s beam around the room.

It was clearly an office for the manager of the shop, and it looked as though the looting had stopped in the main room. A desk bisected the room, with a chair positioned behind it and a computer on the corner. A handful of paperwork was still scattered across the top as though business had just frozen in place. A second door was directly across from the one Percival had kicked in.

“Office,” Percival shouted. He moved around to the backside of the desk and began to rifle through the drawers. He came across a key ring full of keys. He shrugged, stuffed the keys into his pocket, and left the desk behind. He walked up to the second door and aimed his flashlight.

He kicked the door, and his foot thudded solidly against the metal. He’d left a footprint of grime, but done nothing to the door. With a grunt, Percival kicked the door a second time. His second effort had the same result as the first, and left his foot a little sore. He let out a frustrated yell that brought Karl running to the office door.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just fine. This door is simply not opening,” Percival said. “Find anything?”

Karl was silent for a moment.

Percival felt as though the older man were drilling holes into his back just by staring so hard.

“You’re not okay.”

“No, I’m not. Did you find anything?” Percival tucked his flashlight away into his pocket, fingers brushing past keys. Those would likely help get the damned door open.

“A box of 9mm.” Karl pointed his flashlight at the other door. “We should talk again.”

“No, we shouldn’t. Evan’s probably going to die.”

“Yeah, he probably will. But you don’t even know if he’s injured yet. We’ve not taken the time to check him out. Stop dwelling on it, his injury isn’t even remotely your fault.” Karl moved so he could cover Percival.

“It’s my job to get people home safe.” Percival went through the keys, trying each of the larger keys that looked like they would fit the door.

“Shit happens, Percival. Your job is to lead us to acquiring stuff to make sure the guys at home don’t starve or worse.” Karl sounded angry. “Worry about the dead after the living.”

“Right. Whatever.” Percival wasn’t feeling better after this little motivational talk with Karl. He knew that the man’s heart was in the right place, but didn’t feel much companionship in the way he opted to express himself.

A key fit and twisted in the lock. Percival felt the bolt slide back and was thankful for the reprieve. “New topic. Locked door, likely untouched by other looters. What do you think’s behind it?”

“Just get your damned light out again.”

Percival rolled his eyes and withdrew the keys. He stuffed them back into his pocket and took his flashlight out. He held his gun out and twisted the doorknob with his flashlight hand. He pushed the door open and brought his flashlight up.

It was more than they could hope for. The room was caked in a layer of dust, with gun lockers arranged around the room. Most of them held only ammunition, and some seemed to have been left open since the building was abandoned by the owner. The owner had been kind enough to leave a single locker stocked and locked with weaponry.

Percival holstered his pistol and walked straight across the small room to the gun locker with guns still in it. He grinned and began trying keys until one opened it. “Excellent.”

“Wow. What an awesome find. Is that an M-4?” Karl reached into the locker and lifted the carbine from its perch. “It’ll be difficult to come across ammo for this thing. Be worth it, I think.”

Percival took a shotgun out of the case. He unfolded the stock and smiled. “Now Sarah won’t be the only one with a shotty.”

“Let’s loot it all. We’ve got the car to transport it, and ammunition and arms are always useful.” Karl put the carbine back and unloaded the rest of the locker into his duffel bag.

*

Karl and Percival carried three loads of ammunition and weaponry out to the car before returning the gun shop to the way they’d found it. The only difference: Percival took the keys to the back storeroom with him. If they were lucky, the remaining ammunition would remain undisturbed until they needed it in the future.

Percival climbed into the passenger seat of the car. He turned around to look at Sarah and Evan.

“Seems like you guys got a good haul from this place.” Sarah was still stroking Evan’s hair. She’d taken time to clean the youth’s face up some and hadn’t even looked up when she spoke.

“Yeah. We shouldn’t have to worry about ammunition for awhile. How’s he doing?” Percival looked from Evan to Sarah.

“I think he’s got a fever, but no wounds above his neck. The layers of clothing we wear makes it hard to check his core without stripping him down. His clothes are pretty torn up though.” Sarah looked up at Percival.

“We’ll do that at the safe-house.”

“What’re we going to do if he’s—“

“Ask him when he comes to. There’s not much else we can do before he turns if he’s been infected.” Percival turned to face forward as Karl got into the car. “We’ll also talk with Andrina and Roy Joy about the message and what to do about it.”

“It’s dangerous.” Karl started the car. “We shouldn’t go anywhere near the depot.”

“Need a better reason than that. If they can help us secure the campus…” Percival trailed off. In his opinion, if the military was willing to help him out, all the better.

“They’re likely just armed fanatics.” Karl backed the car away from the gun shop and pulled out onto the street.

“We’ll talk about it with everyone.” Percival looked over his shoulder at Sarah and Evan. “Almost everyone.”

*

Percival carried Evan with Roy Joy’s help. Together they carried him to the first apartment in the building. Evan shook slightly as he was laid on the bed.

“Jimbob did warn you,” Roy Joy muttered quietly. “He said the dealership wasn’t safe.”

Percival shook his head and unzipped Evan’s jacket. “I don’t want to hear it right now. You get to tell me about the stalkers later.”

Roy Joy shrugged. “I don’t want to talk about it. Jimbob didn’t mention much.”

“Help me lift him.” Percival pulled Evan up to a sitting position. “Then you get to tell me what Betty Sue has to say about them. They’re different, something the rest of us have never seen before.”

“No.” Roy Joy held Evan up.

“That wasn’t a question.” Percival pulled Evan’s jacket off, careful not to bend the youth’s arms in a strange way. Percival stripped Evan from the waist up, pulling two layers of bloodied clothing off and dumping them on the floor.

“No. I don’t want to. I don’t know anything.”

“Lay him back.” Percival helped Roy Joy lower Evan back on the bed. “We’re talking about the stalkers, regardless. Go get Sarah.”

Roy Joy stood with a huff and stormed out of the room.

Percival sighed and looked back to Evan. He took up a rag, and started to clean his young friend.

“Is it bad?” Sarah stood in the doorway to the bedroom.

“It’s not good.” Percival had sponged off the majority of the blood off of Evan by the time Sarah arrived. “Not all of this is the stalker’s.”

“Most of it ain’t, is it?” Sarah moved and sat on the edge of the bed by Evan. She dropped a first aid kit next to Percival.

“No… I don’t think so. It didn’t take long for that thing to really tear into Evan. Even if he survives all this, there’s likely no way he’ll manage to come out uninfected.” Percival finished wiping off the last of Evan’s wounds. “He was a good kid.”

“Yeah, he is.” Sarah answered. She took Evan’s hand and held it. “He’ll pull through.”

Percival wished he could believe her words. He took the first aid kit and opened it. He started taking supplies out and applying them to Evan’s wounds. Percival was no medic, or even properly trained, but when most doctors and nurses died in the initial outbreak a person learned quickly how to compensate. Percival applied the bandages, pressing and securing the adhesive.

“Help me sit him up and wrap these around him.” Percival slipped an arm around Evan’s back and pulled him up with Sarah’s help.

“Here, I’ll get them started.” Sarah picked a roll of bandages from the kit and started wrapping them around Evan’s torso. She passed them to Percival. “It’s not your fault, you know.”

“Why do people keep telling me that?”

“Because it’s obvious you’re blaming yourself.” Sarah sighed softly.

It didn’t take long to finish wrapping Evan’s torso and the pair did so in silence. Once they’d finished, Percival took care to tuck the youth into the bed. He wanted the kid to be comfortable, even if his wounds might make such an effort impossible.

Percival met Sarah at the door.

“Karl wants to put off talking about the radio message until later. Roy Joy wants to put off talking about the stalkers indefinitely.” Sarah slipped an arm around Percival’s waist.

“Need to drop these off… somewhere.” Percival held up the handfuls of Evan’s blood caked clothing. “I’ll meet you with the others in the center area. Make sure everyone’s there, okay?”

Sarah nodded and let her fingers trail over Percival’s shoulder. “I’ll do that. Don’t take too long, okay?”

Percival nodded. “Five minutes, tops.”

Sarah smiled at him. The smile looked sad, but Percival was grateful to have seen it. She nodded again and walked off.

He sighed, watching her go. He left the apartment and carried the clothes to the next one. He walked straight to the bathroom and threw the clothes into the tub. He turned and stared at himself in the mirror. The dim light drifting from the windows in the living room made him look dead, and strained.

Just like so many corpses he’d put down; except he was still breathing. He turned away. Evan would likely look the same, except without breathing, in the near future.

Percival let out a frustrated yell, and slugged the wall. His knuckles left small indentations in the drywall. He punched the wall again, and a third time. His fourth punch left a small hole and split open one of his knuckles. Percival sighed and let his head thump against the wall. Two people who depended on him were dead or dying in as many days. He didn’t like it, and didn’t know how to deal with it.