You and Me against the World: The Creepers Saga Book 1 (25 page)

“Yes, that would be great,” Thorn said.

Thorn and Devin were discussing plans for their departure, and he didn’t want to be diverted by this lonely old man.

“Maybe we can sit down one night after dinner,” Thorn offered, and he and Devin continued to walk.

“Wait, wait, just hold on and I’ll walk with you.”

The old doctor kept coming.

Devin wanted their planned departure kept a secret. He couldn’t nail it, but he still had his suspicions. Although Thorn no longer felt the creepy vibe of the first night, he trusted Devin’s instincts and agreed.

“I’m sorry, Dr. Scott, but this just isn’t a good time.”

The man looked dejected and stopped walking.

“But seriously, tonight after dinner,” Thorn added.

“I could show you one,” Dr. Scott said in a whisper.

“Excuse me,” Thorn said. “You could show me what?”

“The infected—well, actually I could show you several. I have them in my lab. Most fascinating.” The smile returned.

“You have a lab?”

“Yes, yes, of course.”

“And you keep infecteds there?”

Dr. Scott put his finger to his lips and then gave them a conspirator’s smile.

“Come on, I’ll show you,” he said and walked away.

“So why not come with us?” Adam asked.

He was helping wash the lunch plates and wondering how anyone expected Dani to do all the dishes on her own.

“Oh, I couldn’t do that,” she said and looked down at the soapy water.

“Why not? I mean, don’t you want to be with younger people?”

“You mean with you, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, with me.”

“I hardly know you,” she said and looked into his eyes.

He turned away for a moment, her beauty and her intense gray eyes made him nervous but in a very good way.

“I know, but it’s the end of the world, Dani. The rules are different,” Adam said.

“Brother Bartholomew says the state of the world shouldn’t change how we behave.”

“Yeah, from his big office, while everyone else does the work.”

“Ssssh,” she said and looked around. “Adam, don’t make those kinds of comments.”

“I’m not afraid of your uncle or his henchmen, Dani.”

“Then do it for me, okay?”

“Fine. I’ll do it for a kiss.”

She blushed and turned away.

“Don’t ask that, Adam.”

“One kiss, Dani, that’s all. If it’s not the best you’ve ever had, I’ll stop bothering you to come with us.”

“You could stay here … with me,” she said and looked at him again, and he melted.

“Oh, Dani, I wish I could.”

“Why can’t you? We could be happy. It could be a safe life here.”

“I know we’d be happy, but my friends need me. You should come with us.”

“I-I can’t.”

“Then how about that kiss?”

“I’m scared, Adam.”

“Sacred? Of what? Your uncle?”

Her head dropped, and she was silent.

“Okay. If you don’t want to, I’m not gonna beg, Dani.”

He turned and started to walk away, but she grabbed his arm.

“Don’t, please.” She shook with fear.

“Dani, what the hell are you so afraid of?”

“I’m different than other girls, Adam.”

“Yeah, that’s why I like you.”

He brushed her hair from her face.

“No, really different, and I’m afraid what will happen if we kiss.”

“Jeez, Dani, I’m not gonna try and rape you.”

“I’m not afraid for me. I’m afraid for you and your friends.”

“Dani, you aren’t making any sense,” he said, but a little warning went off in his head and his stomach flipped because since their first night at the fort, a part of him knew there was something dangerous here.

“I know,” she said, and then she leaned in and kissed him.

Something changed halfway through the kiss. Adam didn’t know what it was exactly, but he felt it just the same.

He broke the kiss and looked at her. The girl that stared back at him was not the shy beautiful Dani. She had a little smirk on her face, and he would have sworn her eye color had changed to a shade of blue.

“Hello, darlin’,” she said and flipped her hair with a quick snap of her head.

“Dani?” It was a dumb question.

“No, darlin’, sweet little Dani isn’t home right now. I’m Kira, and you and your friends are fucked.”

Nick had his own reservations about Fort New Hope. The place had an odd vibe. The people, for all their pleasantness, seemed a little strained. Nick had worked as a waiter for a while. He was familiar with “game faces” and of having to be all smiles on the job regardless of the stress of an upcoming exam or a head-splitting hangover. It felt like the folks here were just that: actors playing a role. He was determined to look behind the curtain. Backstage was the best place to see the real faces of the actors. In the restaurant, he often watched smiles fade to misery as wait staff entered the kitchen. His own smile had been among them on more than one occasion.

Since his friend’s death, Nick had become the de facto transportation engineer, so his presence in the garage would not raise suspicions. An innocent walk through the maintenance garage was the ideal excuse for his mission. They had moved all three of their vehicles inside the garage during their first week at the Fort. Two of the residents were mechanics, although the old guy, George, was at least eighty and had been retired for almost twenty years. The mechanic duo had promised to fix the van’s radiator and to inspect and oil change the two SUVs.

In the garage, he saw that the van and the Escalade were gone. The Tahoe sat alone in the center of the garage, and the old man’s legs poked out from beneath it.

“Hey,” Nick called. He tried to keep the panic from his voice.

George slid out from beneath the SUV on his mechanic’s dolly. When he saw Nick, he smiled and waved.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Nicolas. How are you?”

“I’m fine, George. Where are the other two vehicles?”

George looked around as if he expected to see them there in the garage.

“Oh, yes, well, Captain Bob and Brother Paul took them.”

“Took them where?”

“I think they said a test drive.”

“A test drive? Why would they do that?”

“I don’t know, son. I just work here,” George answered, and his voice contained a dejected note.

Nick went to the Tahoe’s cargo area and looked through the open hatch. All of the weapons and ammunition were gone. All they had now were the personal weapons they kept in their rooms.

“Where is all of our stuff?”

“Yes, that, well, one of Brother Bartholomew’s men came by to collect it. He said that the Brother wanted it all kept safe in the weapons depot.”

“Shit,” Nick said under his breath.

“But Captain Bob and Brother Paul should be back in a few minutes. I’m sure you could ask them about your stuff.”

“Wait, I thought the other mechanic was Jones or something.”

“It is. Brother Jonesy, a very nice fellow. He’s at lunch, which is why I got to finish this Tahoe. When he gets back, he says we need to load it with them boxes so it’s ready to go.”

George pointed to a stack of boxes in the corner.

The boxes were filled with about three days’ worth of food and water. It didn’t make sense. Take the weapons and then replace them with supplies.

“Thanks, George,” Nick said and jogged toward the door. Something was definitely wrong, and he needed to warn the others.

Devin and Thorn followed Dr. Scott down a set of stairs and into a damp access tunnel. The underground tunnel went on for two hundred feet before they came to a steel door that Dr. Scott unlocked with a key he kept in his pocket.

“We’re outside the Fort,” Thorn said.

“Yes, and I hear a generator,” Devin added.

“Yes, I need to have power. You’ll understand in a moment,” Dr. Scott said.

The door opened to a large room that had been converted into a lab. There were three large stainless steel tables in the room’s center. Scientific instruments covered two of the tables. The middle one was an autopsy table. On a small corner desk sat an operational computer. Data streamed across the screen. At the far end of the room was another door.

“So this is my lab, Dr. Thorn,” Dr. Scott beamed. “My work here is instrumental to our new world. I have learned so much.”

“I’m very interested in your findings, Doctor,” Thorn played along. “It’s interesting that the Fort is without power and yet you have a full lab and a computer.”

“Well, as you know, the Fort does have some power for cooking and hot water, and of course, Brother Bartholomew insists on air conditioning for his private residence.”

The doctor winked as if they shared a little office conspiracy over the water cooler.

“True. So tell us, what you have learned so far?” Thorn asked.

“For one, the infected are not dead as many thought. In fact, they are quite miraculous in their function. My tests indicate that their metabolism has actually slowed down but in a manner that does not have a dramatic impact on their bodies. Well, except for their brains, of course—seems the insanity is a nasty little by-product.”

“Yes,” Devin said, “the fact that they want to eat us is a problem.”

Dr. Scott ignored the sarcasm.

“It’s the heat they want,” he said.

“The heat?”

“Yes, the metabolism process has many benefits, but they become very cold and stiff. This is why they don’t like the night. Like a reptile, they depend on the sun to regulate body temperature.”

“So,” Thorn asked, “why are we their preferred menu item?”

“Physiologically, we are warm-blooded and we provide protein.”

“So why don’t they just eat deer or something?” Devin asked.

“That I haven’t figured out yet. It may be related to brain function. This new breed appears to have at least some psychological dimension to their behavior that goes beyond the common mammal.”

“You think they have maintained some form of higher reasoning?” Thorn thought about the Creepers’ homing beacons.