Generation Dead Book 2: What You Fear (20 page)

I signaled to Kayla to take the two on the left and I was going to take the two on the right.  After
that, I was going to pour rifle fire into the two towers and hoped the ricochets would kill the men inside.  How I was going to open the gate was still a mystery, but I was running out of options and night.

Just as we raised our rifles and sighted our targets, a voice spoke up behind me.

“I wouldn’t do that just yet.” 

Chapter 44

I spun around and tried to see who spoke to me, but there was nothing but darkness.  The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

“Who are you?” I whispered.  “Show yourself!”

A shadow detached itself from a nearby tree and moved closer. 
Its smile was kind of lopsided and roguish, like its owner was constantly amused by life.  He was armed to the teeth, though, with a rifle, a couple of small satchels, a handgun, and likely a few knives.  The handle of what looked like a sword poked out over his shoulder.

The shadow smiled at Kayla.  “Hey, baby girl.  Your mom’s worried about you.”

Kayla jumped into the shadow’s arms.  “Daddy! I’m so glad to see you!  I’m so sorry for making you worry, but Ben has Jake and Julia and…”

Uncle Duncan quieted his daughter with a raised hand.  “I
know, sweetheart.  President Jackson called us the minute you left his house.  Your Uncle Tommy is around here somewhere.  He was sent to do a little scouting and to stir up things a mite.”

Something clicked in my mind.  “Sent?  Who sent him?  President Jackson?  How did he know about this place?” I asked.

Uncle Duncan smiled.  “Actually, one of those guys did.” He pointed down the road where two figures were walking up in the darkness.  I could barely make them out in the gloom, but as they got closer, I was able to pick out certain things in the darkness. The men were large, one taller than the other, but the shorter one was more massive.  They walked with the casual ease of a predator, taking in everything and extremely confident in their ability to handle just about anything.  One of the men had a couple of handles sticking out over his shoulders, while the other had a single handle.  Both carried rifles, and both were armed with handguns.  Each had a knife at his belt and another attached to the strap of the backpacks they were carrying. 

When the
y reached the point where they might be seen by the guards, the two men silently slipped into the brush by the sidewalk and made their way over to where we waited with Uncle Duncan.

As the men approached us, I slung my rifle around to my back and reached out to the taller of the two men.  He wrapped me up in a fierce hug, holding me tight for a long moment.

After a minute, he held me at arm’s length.  “What the hell do you get yourself into this time, Aaron?”  He asked.

I shrugged.  “Just one mess after another, Dad.  Sorry.”

My Uncle Charlie stepped up to me.  “My daughter is in there?”

I looked at him in the dark, and to tell the
truth, I was more than a little intimidated.  “She is.  I think she’s okay, but I don’t know.  I don’t know much,” I said.

Uncle Charlie looked at me then looked at my dad.  My father nodded and they both stepped out of the brush.  I was about to say something about being seen, but then I realized no one was going to see them.  All of the guards had vanished,
presumably to go to the east side to watch the three houses that had suddenly caught on fire.

My dad stepped out
of the shadows and looked over the gate.  All I could see was that it was big and impressive.  I don’t think my father saw it the same way.

“Duncan!  I need something to knock on this door with
,” my dad said.

Uncle Duncan smiled and pulled one of the satchels off of his shoulder.  He made some adjustments to the side as he walked over to where my father was standing.  Taking the bag by the strap, he swung it hard and flung it over to the gate.  It hit the big iron doors and fell to the ground.

“I’d back up, if I was you,” he said to my dad as he walked quickly away.

My father and Uncle Charlie stepped to the side of the wall, out of line from th
e charge.  A few seconds later, the night was lit up a second time as the satchel charge blew, blasting the doors apart and sending them sailing backwards. The guard posts by the gate were affected as well, as the explosion ripped into their foundations and sent one of them crashing to the ground.  The other was still upright, but the windows were blown away.

The two men didn’t waste any time.  They rushed to the towers and after checking one guard, they found he was dead.  The other guard was still alive, and very much conscious as Uncle Charlie dragged him into the clear.

My dad was very direct with the man.  “My name is John Talon.  This is Charlie James. This is a really big gun. I want my son and his daughter.  Where are they?”  My dad was kneeling on the man’s chest, holding his old stainless 1911 to the man’s sweating forehead.  Uncle Charlie had drawn one of his tomahawks, and was staring at the man with such malevolence it was a wonder the man didn’t have a heart attack on general principles.

“Th
...They’re in the l-l-lab.  Basement f-f-floor.”  The guard couldn’t keep his eyes off Charlie, who helped the man’s fear by smiling evilly.

My dad stood up.  “Get lost.  I see you, I kill you.”

The guard scrambled to his feet and shuffled off into the gloom.  When he was near the edge of trees, he shouted out. “Ben’s ready for you!  He’s going to enjoy killing…”

Whatever the man was going to say was lost as he crumpled to the ground.  Another figure had stepped out of the darkness and had dropped the man with a
brutal smack to the back of his head.  I was surprised and relieved when my Uncle Tommy joined the fray.

“
Hey, Aaron.  Might want to close your mouth before you get bugs in it,” he said as he stepped over to us.  “Like my distraction, John?”

“Love it.  But they’re ready for us now. Let’s get in
. You and Duncan take the high road, Charlie and I will take the low.  Aaron, you and Kayla take the middle and get inside.  Find Jake and Julia.  If it’s not one of us, put it down.  Clear?” 

My dad was all business, but I could see the tension in him.  If anything, Uncle Charlie was worse.  That man was practically vibrating with energy. 

“Go!”

Chapter 45

Just one word and the four of them were through the broken gate.  Uncle Duncan and Uncle Tommy went through with their guns up, ready to fire at anything that moved.  Dad and Uncle Charlie swept through the gate on the left side, separating and drawing their weapons with practiced ease.  Kayla and I seemed to
stumble along, bringing up the rear, but in truth, we were moving as fast as the others were.

I started towards the building when there was a large metallic crash behind us.  I spun around and saw another gate had fallen down, closing off the main entrance. 
The lights that illuminated the yard and the space around the yard suddenly went dark, forcing our eyes to adjust quickly to the sudden gloom.

A voice came out of the building, somewhere on the second floor, laughing with barely suppressed glee. I thought I was only going to snare the one son, now I have the other and the father as well.  And as an added bonus, I have another father and his daughter as well
,” the disembodied voice cackled.  “And what a delight she will be, I assure you!”

My Uncle Charlie said nothing.  He just raised his twin tomahawks over his head and beat them together three times.  The ringing steel echoed off of the building and sang out over the homes and the canal.  He lowered them and stood with them by his sides, his head down
as if he was praying.

My father explained this behavior to me once.  It was Charlie’s way of signaling that this fight was to the end, either his or his enemy’s.  No quarter would be asked or given, and there would be no holding back whatsoever.  Uncle Charlie had just told everyone in that building were dead men.

Ben seemed unaffected, however.  In the ensuing silence, he called out. “Allow me to greet you properly, John Talon.  Let’s see if you’re still the killer you were after all these years!”

The piles of debris which made up the walls of the yard weren’t really piles of garbage.  The flotsam and jetsam of civilization had been attached to hidden walls which swung upward, revealing dark recesses within. Inside those
areas, little lights danced and swayed.  Only they weren’t little lights. They were the glowing eyes of dozens of zombies suddenly freed from their prisons.  It was a pretty simple thing to deduce they hadn’t been fed in a while.  The purpose of the yard was suddenly clear.  It wasn’t for protection.  It was for feeding.

I reacted instinctively
, pulling my falchion from its scabbard and preparing to deal with as many zombies as I could.  I pulled my tomahawk from its sheath and held it in my left hand.  I wanted to be able to kill with both hands swinging.

My father’s voice cut through the moans that were coming out of the containers as the zombies shuffled forward, their glowing, unblinking eyes fixated on their targets.

“Aaron!  Take the center!  Go now!”  He yelled.

I understood immediately.  He wanted me to get into the building while the group inside might be distracted with the spectacle outside.  It would keep them off balance and might gain me some time to find my brother and Julia.  He also didn’t want to announce what I was doing, either.

Uncle Tommy and Uncle Duncan began firing, and I noticed they concentrated their fire near the building, clearing a path for Kayla and me.  I looked back at Kayla and nodded towards the building, and I was relieved to see she understood as well. 

Chapter 46

We bolted for the glass front of the old school, jumping over dead bodies and gaining the door.  I brought the pommel of the sword up and cracked the glass in one blow.  Using my boot, I kicked a large picture window in, crashing glass all over the ground.  Kayla was right behind me as we went through, and I quickly put away my sword and axe, replacing them with my M1A.  I wasn’t going to waste time crossing blades with anyone. I was just going to blast them to hell.

The hallways were dark and the only light was coming from the rear of the building where the homes were on fire.  I could hear steady firing from the front where my father and uncles were, which was a good thing, since it told me someone was alive and fighting.  I needed to make the most of the time I had and find Jake and Julia quickly.

“Where do we go, Aaron?” Kayla asked, working the charging handle on her rifle and chambering a round.

I got my bearings quickly.  Since we were in school, there was going to be a few hallways and a lot of rooms.  I guessed that the upstairs would be devoted to Ben and his activities
. He seemed to have the ego for it.  On this floor would be some general living areas and supply rooms.  I thought the interrogation rooms and holding cells would be where there would be no chance for escape, which meant downstairs.

“We need to find a way downstairs.  If Julia and Jake are here, chances are they’re being held somewhere below
,” I said, walking forward.

“What if Ben took Julia upstairs to his quarters?”

I didn’t want to think about that. “Let’s get moving and hope we can eliminate possibles.” I didn’t mention the obvious. That I wanted to eliminate Ben as well.

We moved down the hall, heading
south, if my sense of direction was still working.  We didn’t encounter anyone, and I thought that was fairly odd.  I was wired as hell, and if something didn’t come out and play, I was going to start shooting just for giggles.

At the end of the hall, the route took a sharp left turn, and I walked wide, crouching low and trying to be a small of a target as possible.  Kayla went to the edge of the corner and when I cleared the
outside, she cleared the inside.  If anything was unfriendly, it was dead.

That hallway was clear as well, and this was getting downright spooky.  Ben went to the trouble of keeping zombies stored for intruders, yet once we were
inside, we were free to move around the place?  It didn’t make sense at all and I said as much to Kayla.

“Something’s not right here.  There should be guards or traps and what else.  These rooms were occupied recently and now they’re just empty.” I pointed to the room next to me and
it was obvious someone had used it for a personal space.

“Well, maybe they’re all downstairs
,” Kayla said.  “The nearest stairwell is over there.” She pointed to a corner where a set of stairs peeked out at us around a half-closed door.

We crept over and I
carefully moved down in the dark.  I didn’t want to use my flashlight because I had this little phobia about making myself into a target for enemy shooters.  At the bottom of the stairs was a set of doors, and a quick check proved they were locked.  Likely, there was a crash bar on the other side, but we weren’t getting through this way any time soon.  I tried to see through the small window, but it was no use.  I might as well have kept my eyes closed for all I could see.