Caldera 9: From The Ashes Read online

  “I’ll check the rear doors.” Simon pushed on the sliding glass but it was solid. A quick examination told him that this was not normal glass. It appeared tempered and triple-paned. “Whoever lived here didn’t want unexpected visitors.”

  “Hey.” She waved him to the garage. “Check this out.”

  He worked his way through the yard and stepped into the gloom of the garage. Although the doors had large windows, the trees in front of the house had the interior more than just gloomy. “Mercedes, baby.” She wagged her eyebrows at him.

  Simon walked to the far end of the three car garage and pulled a tarp from another car. “Ooh…Ferrari.” He gave her a disappointed look. “Sorry, baby. Not a Porsche.”

  She sighed animatedly. “I suppose I’ll survive.”

  She turned and reached for the door leading into the house. “Guess who didn’t lock the door?” She smiled at him.

  “And we have entry.” Simon dropped the tarp and followed her into the house. As he shut the door behind them, they both let out a low whistle.

  “Jackpot.”

  25

  “This is the best you could find?” Hatcher asked as he stared at the remains of the local lockup.

  Wally shrugged. “It looks like it was hit hard.”

  Hank propped his elbows on the counter and leaned forward. “I can imagine that they tried to pick up and process the first handful of infected.” He gave Hatcher a knowing look. “Once they were brought here, it spread like wildfire.”

  Hatcher groaned and peered past the front doors. “Then we dump ‘em.” He stepped onto the sidewalk and stared at their pickup, the two men tied to either side of the bed. The only thing keeping them from chewing their own arms off were the pillow cases over their faces.

  “Where do you propose we do that?” Wally asked.

  Hatcher looked down the road and sighed. “As far from town as we can. Maybe towards Albuquerque.”

  Hank sighed as he pushed off the counter. “No time like the present.” He walked past the other two men and climbed into the truck. “Load up, fellers. We’re burning daylight.”

  Hatcher climbed into the passenger side and Wally climbed into the back to restrain the men if they should begin to get rowdy.

  “Go slow and easy.” Hatcher stared through the windshield. “If we have many Zulus moving about, I don’t want to run them down.” He glanced at Hank. “Don’t stop unless they purposely try to flag us down.”

  “You got it boss.” He put the truck into gear. “We are the express line.”

  The truck pulled out onto the road and Hank navigated the dead cars, maneuvering between the lanes as he drove farther away from downtown. “You planning on dumping them both at the same spot?”

  Hatcher shook his head. “The thought occurred to me but I’m in no mood to watch men fight to the death.” He stared out at the remains of Rio Rancho. “This isn’t Rome.”

  “How far apart do you want to release them?”

  Hatcher shrugged. “Far enough that if they see each other they’d be wiped out by the time they met up.”

  Hank chuckled. “Looking at them going at it, we might not have enough gas for that.”

  “Just do your best.”

  As they drove through a residential area, Wally pounded on the side of the truck. Hatcher leaned over and spotted him through the open rear window. “What’s up?”

  Wally crawled toward the window and pointed back the way they came. “I just spotted people.”

  Hatcher glanced in the direction he pointed. “Were they trying to get your attention?”

  Wally shook his head. “They looked like they were trying to duck away. Like they didn’t want to be seen.”

  Hatcher gave him a thumbs up. “Then leave ‘em be. We haven’t had the best of luck dealing with cured Zulus.”

  Wally opened his mouth to say something then quickly closed it. He gave Hatcher a quick nod then crawled back to the rear of the bed.

  “How many you reckon there might be?” Hank asked.

  Hatcher blew his breath out hard and shook his head. “I have no idea. Hopefully enough that we can actually rebuilt some of what we lost.”

  Hank suddenly perked up. “I heard that Roger is talking about getting his own place.”

  “Where’d you hear that? You shouldn’t believe every rumor you hear.”

  Hank stared straight through the windshield. “I heard it from Rog. I went by to check on him and he was telling Candy about a couple of places he spotted.” He glanced at Hatcher who appeared to be sulking in the seat. “I was just wondering what it would take to get the power back up.”

  “You mean, like to the whole town?”

  Hank shrugged. “Well, yeah. I mean we could work our way around town and shut off the houses that nobody is using.”

  Hatcher stared at him open mouthed. “Do you have any idea how many people lived here?”

  Hank shook his head. “I’m not from around here, remember.”

  Hatcher smiled. “That might be tougher than you think then.” He fought the urge to laugh. “There were about a hundred thousand people here before the world shit itself.”

  Hank’s eyes widened. “Oh.” He shot Hatcher a grin. “So maybe we just find more solar panels?”

  Hatcher nodded slowly, his eyes still scanning the area. “That would probably be easier. Besides, I’d have no idea how to turn the power back on.”

  “Yeah. Me neither.” Hank slowed the truck and pulled to the side. “Is this close enough?”

  Hatcher glanced to the rear and saw Wally staring back at him. “What do you think?”

  “I wouldn’t want to walk back.”

  Hatcher nodded. “Let’s let one loose here. We can dump the other somewhere else.”

  He opened the door of the truck and walked to rear, opening the tailgate. Wally dragged one of the hooded men to the rear of the truck and they lifted him to the ground. He began to growl and snarl, struggling as they untied his hands.

  Wally snatched the hood from his head and jumped into the rear of the truck again. Hatcher slammed the tailgate shut and climbed back into the cab while the man fought with the rope around his ankles. “Go. There’s no telling how long it will take him to get loose.”

  Hank goosed the accelerator and turned down a side street. “How far on this one?”

  Hatcher shrugged. “Maybe a couple miles. See if you can find a desolate area for him. Something away from houses, just in case somebody goes home.”

  Hank nodded. “I know just the place.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  He gave Hatcher a broad smile. “Our old warehouse.”

  Andre sat up, trying to catch his breath. “Oh my…”

  “I know.” Carol continued to breathe hard. “I’m so pissed we waited.” She rolled to her side and gave him a seductive grin. “Can you imagine? We could have been doing this the whole time!”

  Andre chuckled as he fought with his clothing. “That was so…”

  “Incredible.”

  He nodded. “I was about to say sudden, but we’ll go with incredible.” He looked down at her and couldn’t help but smile. “We should hurry back.”

  “No….” she groaned, reaching for his shirt. She tossed it aside and tried to pull him back. “Let’s stay here a while.”

  He glanced behind them and shook his head. “I’m afraid my escort is only so patient.” He glanced at his watch and held out a hand for her. “Besides, we were supposed to make ourselves available.”

  She whined as she rolled over and reached for her own clothes. “It isn’t fair.”

  Broussard gave her a knowing smile. “Well, consider this…we were the ones who ‘saved the world,’ right? Perhaps they’ll give us the opportunity to pick out where we’d like to live.”

  Her eyes widened and she became excited. “Close to a lab? Maybe the university?”

  Broussard shrugged. “I have a feeling that whatever we want, they’ll gladly give.” T
he door to the tiny room rattled in its frame and Broussard snapped his head around. “What?”

  The guard’s voice came through the seam. “Hustle up. We’re wanted back at the ship.”

  “Aww,” Carol whined. “Do we have to go back onboard?”

  “I don’t know. I was just told to find you two and return you.” His voice lowered slightly. “Just…wrap it up and let’s go.”

  Broussard pulled open the door as he tugged his shirt on. “We’re almost ready.”

  The guard gave him a surprised look. “I didn’t mean to stop what you were doing, just…you know. Step on it.”

  “We were done,” Andre said absently. He glanced up at the guard and smiled. “It had been a while for both of us.”

  The guard raised a brow. “I don’t judge, doc.” He fought the urge to glance inside the room as he pulled the door shut.

  Carol appeared a moment later, buttoning her blouse. “Did they say what the rush was about?”

  “It’s that stupid ceremony, isn’t it?”

  The guard shrugged. “You know as much as I do at this point.” He waved them on. “All I know is, they sounded excited over the radio.”

  Carol giggled as she slipped in next to Andre. “They aren’t the only ones.”

  Simon froze and stared as the truck drove by while Lana ducked behind the car. The box she was carrying fell to the pavement and she gave him a wide eyed, panicked stare.

  Simon shook his head, holding a finger to his mouth as the truck continued on. The black man sitting in the back looked vaguely familiar to him but he couldn’t place from where.

  After the truck continued on without stopping he waved her over. “I don’t think they saw us.”

  “Or if they did, they didn’t care.” She gave him a worried look. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t hear the thing coming.”

  “It’s okay.” He wrapped his good arm around her protectively and led her into the garage. “We can unload the rest later.”

  “There’s just the two boxes.” She pulled away and held up her finger. “I’ll be right back and I promise, I’ll look and listen for traffic.”

  He opened his mouth to argue but she ran out to the road and picked up the dropped box. A moment later he heard the rear door of the car close and she reappeared with the boxes stacked on each other.

  “I wish you would have waited.”

  She set the boxes down in the garage and gave him a tight lipped smile. “But now it’s done. We can close the gate and forget about them.”

  She jogged back to the gate blocking the driveway and triggered the mechanical stop. With a quick tug she rolled the iron gate back across the cement until it latched and locked. “All done.”

  He watched her trot back to the house and pick up one of the boxes. “I wish I could help you with those.”

  “It’s not that bad.” She carried the box into the kitchen and set it on the counter. “Between the two houses, we should have enough food for a while.”

  “We’ll still need water.” Simon stared at the bottled water stacked in the dining room. “That’s okay for drinking, but we’ll need more for washing and flushing.”

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we have to.” She fell into the overstuffed leather couch and propped her feet on the coffee table. “Now, we rest, collect our wits and figure out what kind of rolling house we want.” She waved him over. “Bring the first aid kit. We need to replace your wrap.”

  Simon sat next to her, handing her the first aid kit. “You still want to look for a mobile home?”

  “An RV. Yeah. Something we can stock up and have standing by in case we need to hit the road.” She unwrapped his arm and sat back, her nose wrinkling.

  “What’s wrong.”

  She gave him a worried look. “It smells horrible.” She turned him slightly so that they could use the light from the window. “I think the infection is getting worse, not better.”

  Simon sighed. “I need a strong antibiotic.”

  She reached for the alcohol and gave him a sad face. “I’m sorry, baby. This is going to hurt.” She swallowed. “A lot.”

  Simon sighed as he sat back and turned his arm toward her. “I wish I had something to bite into.”

  She glanced around the room then picked up an old magazine. She rolled it up and handed it to him. “Try not to bite through the Architectural Digest. There might be some cool ideas in there for our dream home.”

  Simon clamped the magazine in his jaws and squeezed his eyes shut.

  The fire that shot up his arm and into neck was almost as bad as the fire that shot down his arm and into his fingers. He screamed as his teeth sank in the glossy paper.

  As she emptied the bottle into the wound, Simon fell back, his eyes rolling up into his head. She started to panic until she realized that he had only swooned and hadn’t blacked out. “I’m sorry, baby,” she cooed as she blew on the wound.

  She quickly applied an alcohol soaked pad then wrapped it with more gauze. She tore open a new ACE bandage and began to wrap the arm as Simon whimpered into the pillow. “Fuck me, that hurts.”

  “I’ll tear apart the house and find you some antibiotic.” She finished wrapping the stretchy fabric then clamped it with the metal fasteners. “I’ll go look now.”

  Simon fell back and took deep breaths. “If you can’t find any, you know what that means.”

  She stuck her head out of the bathroom and shook her head. “We ain’t cutting off your arm.”

  He sat up and stared at her. “I was gonna say we’d have to find a pharmacy.” He swallowed hard and stared at her as she made a surprised face.

  “That’s what I meant.” She smiled at him then disappeared.

  He continued to stare at where she’d been and shook his head. Under his breath he muttered, “We’re gonna have to work on our communication skills.”

  26

  Hatcher stepped out of the truck and walked back into the compound. Roger sat in his office drinking coffee and Hatcher had to do a double take. “What are you doing out of bed?”

  Roger smiled at him. “Vic gave me my walking papers.” He pointed to the sling wrapped around his arm and tied behind his neck. “This is supposed to keep me from moving it too much and maybe opening the wounds again.” He stood from the chair and reached for the coffee pot. “As long as I don’t spring a leak, I’m cleared for limited duty.”

  Hatcher raised a brow as Roger poured him a cup of coffee. “And Candy is okay with this?”

  Roger shrugged slightly, wincing at his shoulder. “She said that if it would help me to heal faster, she was okay with it.” He put the pot back and took his seat again. “I’ve been going over the damages from the attack and the fires.” He shook his head slowly. “I can’t believe I missed the fires.”

  “You were a little busy bleeding all over the triage.” Hatcher sat at his desk and reached for the paperwork Roger had. “How far have they come on the repairs?”

  “Security cameras are back up and running. Will had to replace a couple of them.”

  Hatcher looked up, surprised. “Where’d he find replacements?”

  Roger pointed to the monitors. “He readjusted two of them to cover a wider area and moved some others. We still have full perimeter coverage, but we’re physically down two.”

  “Okay,” Hatcher groaned. “We’ll make do with what we have.” He glanced at Roger. “At least, until we move from here.”

  Roger nodded absently then looked up. “We’re moving?”

  Hatcher leaned back in his chair and eyed his friend carefully. “If you’re moving out, others will want to as well.”

  “I was just bouncing ideas around.”

  Hatcher grinned at him knowingly. “That’s why you were talking to Candy about it?”

  “How could you possibly…” Roger’s face fell. “Hank. I forgot that he walked in on us.”

  “It’s okay. I knew you were serious about it when you told me.” Hatcher shrugged. “I’m glad you
told me first before somebody else did.”

  “I was just bouncing the idea off of Candy.” He sat forward, lowering his voice. “The idea of raising a kid here? I mean, yeah, it might be nice for them to have other kids to play with, but this isn’t my idea of a home. Not a permanent one, anyway.”

  “You don’t have to explain to me, pal. I understand completely.” He sipped his coffee. “What did Candy say?”

  Roger shrugged again. “She said that once I was healed up, we could look around.” He grinned at Hatcher. “But she wants to make sure that it’s secure.”

  “Makes sense.” He leaned back in his chair again and nodded to Roger. “What do you think about maybe all of us finding a subdivision or something? Make it a community.” Roger raised his brows. “I may have spoken to Will about it and he may have said that most of our resources could be reutilized.”

  “So make our own little town within the city?”

  Hatcher nodded. “Kind of. I’m thinking maybe we could set up a central area for Vicky to do her thing. Maybe we find a place with enough ground that we could either all start our own gardens or maybe set up a community greenhouse like we have here.”

  Roger nodded. “And a place for the kids to get together and play. Or maybe even go to school.”

  Hatcher nodded. “That’s the idea, anyway.”

  Roger slowly smiled. “That sounds cool.” He glanced out of the office window and shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong, Hatch. This place was a godsend. And it still is. I just…”

  “I know. It’s not really a home.”

  Roger chuckled. “It could be.” He shook his head as he imagined his perfect place. “It’s just not what I envisioned when I thought of having a family.” He swallowed hard and looked away. “Again.”

  “I understand. Believe me.” Hatcher sighed. “If I hadn’t been afraid of being rejected…”

  “What?” Roger asked.

  Hatcher shrugged. “I was just remembering someone. There was a special lady for me once. We were coworkers and I never got the nerve to ask her and…”