Friendly Chat
Kahwihta sat on the floor of the server building and tried not to worry about the others as she watched the monitor feed. A building full of zombies was normally something they tried their best to avoid. Especially when one of the zombies was the size of a truck. “Amazing,” she said, despite herself, leaning forward. “Can you pause that?”
“What?” Vinnie asked, startled. She wondered if he’d forgotten she was there, despite her status as hostage. He was so used to being alone that he jumped reflexively every time she spoke. It would have been funny, if he hadn’t been armed.
“The big one – can you play it back?”
“Why?” He studied her with suspicion.
She indicated the notebook sitting beside her. “I want to make some notes. I’ve never seen one like that. I thought at first he was a brute–”
“A what?”
Kahwihta mimed being bloated. “A brute. The big ones.”
He frowned. “Oh. Yeah, there’s one of those in there too. Caesar Campanella.” He gestured to her notebook. “You writing a book or something?”
“I study zombies.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Why not?” There was a sudden flash of silent gunshots on the screen. She saw someone fall, and felt her heart seize in her chest. Careful not to show any concern, she asked, “How are they doing?”
“They’re still alive,” Vinnie said, watching the screens.
“You’re surprised?” Kahwihta asked. She stroked Attila’s head. He was a tough dog, but a bullet in the side was enough to slow anyone down. She probed the edges of the wound, feeling for the bullet. Attila whimpered, and she paused to soothe him. Sayers could have killed him, she knew, but hadn’t. Maybe she wasn’t all bad.
“A bit. Most died about now. Want me to put him out of his misery?”
She looked up. Vinnie had the revolver aimed loosely at Attila. “No,” she said, with as much calm as she could muster. “Thank you for the offer, but once I get the bullet out, he’ll be fine.”
Vinnie leaned back in his chair, watching her. “You a vet or something?”
“Or something.”
Vinnie grinned. “I like animals myself. Sal, though… Sal hated ’em.”
“Then I’m glad he’s dead.”
“Oof. Cold one, ain’t you?” Vinnie looked back at the screens. “Not that anybody will miss him. He was a pain in my posterior before all of this happened, and he only got worse.”
“Then why work for him?” Kahwihta probed the wound. The bullet was close to the surface – it had only been a glancing hit, thankfully. “Is there a first aid kit in here anywhere?”
“You going to waste a first aid kit on a dog?”
“Do you waste time cleaning your pistol?”
Vinnie frowned. “What’s that got to do with anything?”
She sighed in frustration. “He’s my pistol. You don’t throw away a perfectly good gun just because it’s dinged up.”
Vinnie shook his head and reached into the desk drawer. “Here,” he said, tossing her a green plastic box with a red cross stamped on it. “With my compliments.”
She caught the box and set it down. “Thank you.” She could feel him watching her as she set to work. “You didn’t answer my question. Why work with someone like Bonaro?”
Vinnie laughed. “Making conversation now?”
“Call it curiosity.”
He scratched his neck. “Sal and my dad, they were peas in a pod. Old school gangsters. Me, I’m new school all the way. I got me a business degree, I’m a registered CPA, hell, I can even officiate weddings.”
She peered up at him. “Weddings?”
Vinnie nodded, clearly amused by her befuddlement. “I’m a one-stop shop. Had to be. Those old school guys, they didn’t miss a trick, but they weren’t what you call modern thinkers. They put their money into guns, into drugs. Me, I wanted to invest in emerging markets. Cutting edge pharmaceuticals, cryptocurrencies, that sort of thing. I needed the university sheepskin and the four-dollar words to convince them I knew what I was talking about. Not that it always worked, mind.”
“I can see where that might have been frustrating,” she said, her tone neutral. He wanted to talk. She’d been the same way, after her time in the wilderness.
Vinnie nodded. “Truth is, I was planning to put a bullet in Sal the same week this all went down. He was getting a bit… loose, if you understand me. But then – zombies. Figured loose was fine, so long as he was alive and useful.”
“And after you decided to come down from the mountain?”
“Oh, he’d have been first against the wall, once everything was under control. Guys like Sal, they’re always looking for an edge, for opportunity. Never happy with what they have. Like our pal Westlake.” He glanced back at the monitors. “Not that I ever trusted Westlake, mind. Never trust a thief – my father taught me that.”
“Good advice,” Kahwihta said, more to keep him talking than because she agreed. It was clear Vinnie was starved for conversation, or more likely, an audience. He was the sort of guy who needed to show off how smart he was, how dangerous. Hiding up here alone must have been like slow death, with no one but Carl and his men to perform for.
“Smart man, my father.” He paused and looked around. “He’s the one who had most of this installed, you know. Foresight – that’s how the Bonaro have survived all these years. The foresight of others. That’s why they’re still in the game, when the rest of the families cashed out. He knew, my old man – he knew there’d come a day when this would be our refuge. And theirs, though they never would have admitted it.”
“And now you’re going to share it with us.” She finished cleaning Attila’s wound, and began to probe it with a pair of tweezers. Attila whimpered and tried to move, but she held him still with one hand. “He’d be proud of you.”
Vinnie laughed. “My old man would shoot me if he thought that’s what I was doing. Luckily, I ain’t that stupid.”
Kahwihta, who’d been expecting something like that, nodded. “I figured.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not an idiot, Mr Spinoza. And my people know better than to trust the promises of white men in fancy suits.” She raised an eyebrow at him. “In the end, you’re always looking to screw over the other party. It’s just how you are.”
Vinnie blinked, as if trying to figure out whether that was an insult or a compliment. He settled on the latter and nodded. “Yeah. Fish got to swim, tiger got to eat – and gangsters got to get their share. Dog’s bleeding again, by the way.”
“I know.” She gave the tweezers a twist, and the bullet popped loose with a wet sound. Attila shuddered and thumped his tail. She studied the bullet for a moment and then dropped it into the kit. “I’ll deal with it momentarily.”
“You don’t flinch, do you?” Vinnie said, in mild admiration. “Tough broad like you, I might have a use for. If you were looking for employment.” He paused. “Tell me about zombies.”
“What do you want to know?”
He grinned. “Depends. How much do you know?”
“I know a lot.”
He made a florid gesture. “Impress me.”
She began to clean out Attila’s wound. “I can calculate the time between a bite and possible turning, to within a few minutes.”
“Oh yeah?” He indicated the screen. “How about your pal there? Looks like he got bit. How long has he got?”
She turned to the screens; her eyes widened. “Hutch?”
“I don’t learn names,” Vinnie said. “How long?” He was teasing her. Testing her. Wanting to hurt her, she thought. He had a sadistic streak to go with everything else. “I figure he’s got – what? – a few minutes?”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
“Whether he turns at all. Some people don’t.”
“Maybe he’s one of the lucky ones, huh?”
“Maybe.” She kept her head down so that he couldn’t see her face. She wanted to cry but didn’t. It wasn’t going to do anyone any good. “Hutch is in good health. He’s got no pre-existing conditions, and the wound is superficial. It’ll take a few hours before he starts to feel ill. After that, it’s up to his immune system and luck. He might fight it off. I did, after all.”
“You what?”
Kahwihta pulled down the collar of her jacket, revealing the old bite mark on her shoulder. Vinnie stared at it for a moment, then shook his head. “OK. Care to make a wager on it?” he asked.
Now she did look at him. “No.” She pulled her jacket back up.
He sat back, a cruel smile on his face. “No need to give me that look. I was joking.”
Carl chose that moment to interrupt. He came in without asking permission, and from the look on his face, Vinnie wasn’t pleased. “What do you want?”
“To talk,” Carl said. He glanced at Kahwihta, but otherwise ignored her. “About this deal you made with Westlake. I think you should have spoken to me first.”
“We already talked about this,” Vinnie said. He set his revolver on the desk. Carl glanced at it, but didn’t seem bothered. Maybe he figured Vinnie wouldn’t shoot him.
“Yeah, but I got new concerns.” Carl grabbed a chair and sat down. “I wanted to double-check on a few things, make sure we were still on the same page.”
Vinnie looked nervous, though he was trying hard not to show it. Carl, on the other hand, looked cool and collected. Kahwihta tried to shrink into herself and escape the notice of both men. “Why wouldn’t we be?” Vinnie said.
Carl sat back, causing the chair to creak. “See, I know you, Vinnie. I know how your crooked little mind works. We could get a good thing going here, if you’re smart. That’s the only reason the others and I are still here. But now you’re doling out shares to people we don’t even know – not to mention Westlake.”
“I told you, I just needed to keep him sweet,” Vinnie began. Carl gestured sharply.
“I don’t care what you needed. I care that he killed my brother.”
Kahwihta looked up at that. Carl caught her glance and mimed shooting her. He chuckled as she looked away. “I don’t care what you promised him – he’s dead. Minute he steps out of there, whatever his condition, I’m putting a round through his head.”
“And I agreed,” Vinnie said, forcefully. “None of them are coming out of there alive.” He sat back. “So long as they kill Sal first, there won’t be any problems.”
“You’re assuming they can.”
“They can,” Kahwihta said.
Carl sneered at her. “I don’t recall asking you.”
She met his gaze squarely. “They can and will.”
Carl made to speak, but Vinnie interrupted him. “You heard her. Besides, the minute I open those doors, my toys will be there to greet them – and whatever else tries to get out. That includes Westlake.”
“What about her?”
Vinnie glanced sidelong at Kahwihta. “I haven’t decided yet.”
Carl grunted. He fingered his gun. “She’s one of Westlake’s friends.”
Vinnie laughed. “You know Westlake doesn’t have friends.” He scratched his cheek and peered at her. “But she does. Lots of them. The sort of people we might be able to use once we’ve got access to the Villa again.”
“What do you mean?” Carl asked.
Vinnie smiled. “The future, Carl. Sal wanted to be king. But me, I’m more a president sort of guy. How would you feel about being vice-president?”
Carl nodded slowly, clearly thinking it over. “Yeah. I can get behind that.”
“Good. First order of business – figure out who’s essential. I’m not having a bunch of mouths to feed up here, not unless they can be useful. You’re in charge of that. Think you can handle it?”
Carl smiled. “I think so.” He paused. “What about Sayers?”
Vinnie paused. “I leave that up to you.” He turned back to the screens. Carl hesitated, then left. Kahwihta cleared her throat.
“You can’t trust him.”
Vinnie glanced at her. “Hey, tell me something I don’t know. But a guy has to work with what he’s got, you know?”
“You have better tools available.” Kahwihta finished cleaning Attila’s wound and reached for her coat. Vinnie stiffened, and she said, “Just getting a needle and thread. The medical tape won’t be enough for this.”
“Go on. But slow.”
She reached into the pocket of her coat and found her sewing kit. She also found her icepick. But no need to let him see that, not yet. She pulled out the sewing kit, showed it to Vinnie, and went to work. Attila whimpered again, but not much. It wasn’t the first time she’d sewed him back up. The first time had been when a black bear had used him as a chew toy. This was nowhere near as bad as that had been. As she worked, she said, “You mentioned something about employment?”
Vinnie was watching her work with a glazed expression on his face. “Yeah, yeah. Figure when all this is cleared up, I’m going to need people who can help me keep things running smooth, you know. Your useful types – doctors, that sort of thing.”
“I’m a college student.”
He waved her answer aside. “But you clearly know your shit. And that’s what I’m talking about. Takes all types to make a community work, you know?”
All in a flash, it came to her. Vinnie wasn’t just lonely – he was scared. For all his bravado, he was simply another survivor, trying to make the best of a bad situation. Only he didn’t have any friends to help him, only restless underlings. She almost felt sorry for him.
She sat back on her heels and slid her sewing kit back into her coat. Her fingers lingered on the hilt of the icepick. She was only going to get one chance at it – best to make it a good one. “No, we can’t have that, can we?” She paused, watching the monitors.
She could see Sayers, standing on the quay alongside Carl. And something else. Something in the water. Many somethings. She smiled. “Though you may not have to worry about it. It seems you have uninvited guests.”
Vinnie turned to the monitors, a question on his lips.
She snatched the icepick free and lunged.