Chapter 44

 

Even as Shorty was asking, “Whatcha got, Indy?” Steve-O and Riker were busy ripping away a long swath of the invasive flora.

Hearing this, Steve-O stopped what he was doing, turned to face Shorty, and said, “We found a garage door.”

Riker said nothing. He was tearing furiously, hand over hand, and throwing the shredded leaves and broken lengths of vine over his shoulder.

Meanwhile, Lia had stalked off to the far edge of the road and was busy pulling a section of vines away from the wall. The vines were in shadow and looked much greener than the rest.

“These are fake,” she called. “Some kind of plastic. Like the decorations you put in a fish tank.” She grunted and pushed the vines aside. “There’s something behind here.”

All heads turned in Lia’s direction.

She said, “I think I just found a Judas door.”

Shorty said, “Is it inset into a roll-up deal? Or a vault door?”

“The former,” Lia said. “It’s sturdy, though. Probably thick steel or some kind of exotic metal. I’m no expert, but it sure doesn’t look like it’s bombproof.”

“Neither is this,” Riker said. “They weren’t on the blueprints. Makes me think the vault door is beyond this. Which I suspect is hiding a motor pool of sorts.”

Lia bellied up to the door. She ran her hand around the barely perceptible seam. It came away covered with dust and spider webs and husks of dead bugs. “This door hasn’t been opened in a long while.”

Everyone formed up around the woman.

Riker said, “Don’t move,” and knelt by Lia’s feet. He gasped as he did so. After wiping sweat beads from his forehead, he inspected the ground around Lia’s trail runners. “Show me your sole,” he demanded.

Looking to Steve-O for affirmation, Shorty said, “I’ll take things Satan says for five hundred, Alex.”

Steve-O said, “Jeopardy?”

“Bingo,” Benny replied. “Shorty, it would seem, is full of jokes today.”

“Better than being a sourpuss all the time,” Shorty sneered. Softening his tone, he added, “I’m high on life, Benji. Might want to try lightening up.”

Riker ignored the quip and the responses to it. He got it. People had their own ways of dealing with this new normal. And Shorty’s coping mechanism was humor. Albeit poorly timed and usually inappropriate. Riker, on the other hand, chose to just tackle life one day at a time. At night, before closing his eyes, he thanked whoever was up there for seeing him through the day unscathed. Upon waking, before knocking out his mandatory pushups, he asked said entity for a repeat. Nothing less, nothing more. If more happened, and it was all good, he considered it icing on the cake. The only question he occasionally asked of this whoever was why he and those around him had been chosen to live while millions had died and come back as zombies. The answer never came.

Lia felt Riker release his hold on her ankle. “What are you doing?” she asked.

Riker said, “Comparing the pattern on your Nikes to the prints on the ground. They’re all you. Tara never made it here.” He rose. “We need to go back, but not the way we came.”

Shorty said, “We’re not going to explore Lazarus?”

Riker was already on the move, AR unslung, its deadly end leading the way. Over his shoulder, he called, “After we find Tara. Come on, damn it. We’re burning daylight.”

 

***

 

Riker saw the mountain bike before anyone else. It was on its side in the middle of the road with only its wheels and handlebars visible. Most of the bike’s frame and its seat and pedals were obscured by the strip of tall grass splitting the road in two.

To his left was the beginning of an unimproved trail. No doubt it would spit them out at Trinity House. The seam in the bushes looked nearly identical to how they initially found the one across from Trinity’s rear wall. If someone had come through here today, they’d taken great care to conceal their passage and had likely been scratched to hell upon emerging on the other side.

To Riker’s right the road was crowded in on by mature trees and some kind of low scrub that liked to grab at clothing and was quick to cut any exposed skin its inch-long spikes came into contact with.

Thinking he might have inadvertently led them all into a trap, Riker made a fist and raised it high for all to see.

Shorty read the signal first. He stopped at once, restrained Steve-O with one arm, then trained his shotgun on the forest to his immediate right.

Lia and Benny had been talking to one another and nearly ran into Steve-O.

The transgression drew a steely glare from Shorty, who had taken a knee and was in the process of having Steve-O do the same.

After a few long seconds spent looking and listening for anything out of the ordinary, Riker decided it was safe for him to go ahead and take a closer look at the bike. As he rose, he showed Shorty his palm and mouthed, “Wait here.”

Riker crept forward until he was standing over the black high-dollar mountain bike. It was only when he saw the bike in its entirety that he realized he’d seen it before, and he knew unequivocally who was behind Tara’s disappearance.

After inspecting the ground all around the bike, he fished his multi-tool from a pocket, flipped out its short blade, and gently probed the grass under the frame tubes. When he failed to detect any wires connected to the bike, or metal objects hidden in the grass underneath it, he took a deep breath and stood the bike up. Balancing the bike on its knobby tires, he noticed something taped to the downtube. Closer inspection revealed a plastic sandwich bag. It contained a folded square of paper. A note.

Benny said, “What is it?”

Riker held the baggie up. “Demands, no doubt.”

Lia asked, “Is the bike Tara’s?”

Riker shook his head.

“I’ve seen it somewhere before,” Shorty said. He paused for a beat, watching Riker open the bag. Finally, he went on, saying: “The nephew was riding it when he first came to my dock to ask about a ferry ride across state lines.” He shook his head wildly side-to-side. “Shorty, Shorty, Shorty. Look what you fucking did, you greedy bastard.”

Riker had unfolded the sheet of paper and was reading the message scribbled on it. “It was my idea,” he shot, eyes still flicking over the words. “I take sole responsibility. It was a shitty move to undercut those people. But in that moment, I only cared about getting Tara and Steve-O off that dock. Staying out in front of the rolling lockdown was more important than anything. Making enemies was a risk I was willing to take. Getting stuck behind the iron curtain they were throwing up would have been a death sentence.”

While Riker was talking, the others had crowded around him.

Steve-O put a hand on Riker’s shoulder. “It’s all right, Lee. Your heart was in the right place.”

In a low voice, Benny asked, “What do they want?”

Riker met his friend’s gaze. “Me. They want me to ride the bike downhill. I’m supposed to come alone.”

Lia broke an uncomfortable silence. “Or what?”

Pinching away a tear, Riker said, “Think the worst and multiply it by a thousand. I’m not going to read it again. Makes my stomach turn. Especially since my sister is no stranger to her own body being violated.”

Lia crossed her arms and looked away.

Thinking of Rose in the house, all alone with Vern, Benny took his radio from a pocket. “I’m doing a check-in.”

Riker said, “Ask Rose what she sees on the monitor.” He checked his watch. “It’s going to be dark in less than an hour. Full dark in two or three.” He handed the AR to Lia then loosened his belt and removed the Randall and holster containing the Sig Legion.

Finished checking in with Rose, Benny said, “The biters have made it to the gate and are hanging around. There’s only three. Other than that, she’s seen nothing else to cause alarm.”

Riker nodded toward the overgrown trail leading to the rear of Trinity House. “You’re going to make a lot of noise breaking through the thicket. Which means you’ll be in the same boat as Tara and will have to deal with the zombies when you reach the gate.” He handed over the Sig and knife, then dug out the keys to the perimeter wall door. “Have Steve-O tackle the locks. While he works to get the locks thrown, the rest of you need to have your guns out and your heads on a swivel.”

Having composed herself, Lia said, “You’re going in completely unarmed?”

“One of their rules,” Riker said soberly.

Lia made a face. “Their? Plural? There’s two of them?”

Benny said, “Weren’t there three at the docks?”

Riker nodded. “There may be more by now.” In his mind’s eye, he saw the pickup with the caveman decal. Then a memory was triggered. “I should have known they’d be a problem. Now I remember seeing New Mexico plates on their truck.”

Benny said, “How in the hell did they find you?”

“Looks like I’m about to find out.”

Lia said, “You can’t go like a lamb to slaughter. Maybe some of us can tail you from a distance. Or Steve-O can shadow you with the drone.”

Riker shook his head. “I have no choice. Tobias wants his pound of flesh. It’s either coming from me or Tara. My decision led up to this.” He pinched the back of his neck. Rubbed it vigorously. The headache, plus all the accompanying stabs of pain brought on by high stress, was back.

Riker had Lia watch the road as he pulled Benny aside. Out of earshot of the others, he said, “The property and house belongs to you and Steve-O if, God forbid, me and Tara don’t make it back.”

Benny tried to protest.

Silencing the man with a raised hand, Riker went on, saying: “Shorty may be a bit coarse, but he has integrity. He does what he says he is going to do. Work with him. Try to get along.”

“What about the helicopter pilot?”

“Wade’s solid. Take him at his word.” Riker pointed toward the clearing. “You need to get those solar path-lights strung up in the trees around the clearing. Get them as high as you can. All of them. I’m pretty sure they will have taken on enough of a charge before sundown to power them through the night.”

“You want them mounted to the bigger trees on the periphery?”

Riker nodded. “If you can, put on some headlamps and take the chainsaw to the ones I marked.”

“We’re talking about tonight?”

“They need to be up as soon as possible,” Riker stressed. Then, tone all business, he said, “Treat Steve-O like an equal. Like a grown ass man. Give him a gun. I think he’s ready.”

Riker singled out Shorty. “You and Benny need to work together while I’m gone. If I don’t return—”

Shorty shushed Riker and gestured for the note. Note in hand, Shorty said, “You’re coming back, Lee.” Shorty’s eyes flicked rapidly back and forth, and his lips moved as he read the note. “They want you to take a radio. Good! Gives me an idea.” He shared his thoughts, then reached into his back pocket and took out his wallet. From the wallet, he retrieved a manila envelope and gave it to Riker. It was no bigger than a pack of gum and contained something rigid. “Instructions are inside,” Shorty said. “I always carry one of these. Started doing it back in my smuggling days.”

Riker said, “I’m supposed to bring the radio and nothing else.”

“So you hide it.”

“Where?”

Steve-O had been looking on. He said, “In your bionic leg, Lee.”

“Good thinking,” Riker said. They’ll search it first thing was what he really thought.

“In your Salomon,” Benny suggested. “Slip it under the insole?”

Shorty said, “There’s always the prison pocket.”

Riker’s head took on a slight tilt. “Prison pocket?”

“Keister it,” Shorty said, keeping a straight face. “Conceal it in your anus.”

Obviously listening in, Lia said, “That’s gross.”

Raising his arms in mock surrender, Riker said, “I’ll figure something. Just not that.” He dragged Steve-O over and hugged the man. Before letting go, he whispered something that made Steve-O smile. Riker did the same to Benny, patting his back as they parted. With that out of the way, he threw a leg over the bike and, without another word or glance over his shoulder, pushed off and put his feet on the pedals.