-Immune 15-
Treachery of the Dead
I didn’t know how long I had been
out. I woke up maybe twice before and through blurry eyes could see the good
doctor as he put another rag to my mouth and then I would fade out again. The
second time I straddled the realm between unconsciousness and rational thought
I kept my eyes closed so as to not be put under again. I felt my hands were
bound behind my back and my feet were also bound and attached to my wrists
loosely with a length of rope. I could hear the doctor’s voice, Ridgewell that
jerk, speaking with another man of more authority.
“How long before we can get back to
Arlington?” He asked.
“Our supplies are dangerously low,
Ridgewell. We don’t even have enough fuel to drive these trucks back up North.
We’d be lucky to even make South Carolina.” The other man said.
“Well haven’t your men procured any
provisions from the last town? They seemed willing to help the National Guard,
like most would.”
“Could have, but that town was
overrun with the bastards. Besides, there was nothing left to scavenge anyway.
That town belonged to the dead.” National Guard, I thought. I didn’t think
there were any more organizations left. Or they could just be men pretending to
be the National Guard to inspire hope and cooperation from any survivors they
came across.
“Look, doc, I sent Lieutenant Welles
and the chopper out to scout for any signs of survivors. Where there’s
survivors there has to be food, water, or fuel. At least a little of it. Once
we make contact, we’ll trade weapons for supplies, so don’t get your panties in
a twist. You just watch your charge there. Make sure she stays out until we get
to Arlington.” There were some shuffling sounds as if he was placing a map on a
table.
“Listen, Coronel Marsh, you’re a man
of honor. I’m not too comfortable taking Ms. Summers back to him. I’m not sure
what he’s going to do but it can’t be good for her. I’d like a chance to study
her on my own before I turn her over or at least to make sure she won’t be hurt
by him. Do you think we can make a slight detour in…”
“Look son, I understand your
concern, I really do, but he has big plans for her. He says there could be a
cure and that’s good for what’s left of the world in my opinion.”
“Even if that cure could cost
Summers her life?” Ridgwell asked.
“Yes.” Coronel Marsh stated coldly.
Up until now I was thinking he would be my best chance of inside help; now that
plan is shot to hell. The sound of a radio stopped any further conversation.
“Yeah, Welles, go ahead.”
“Yes, sir, we found a town not far
from your current position. It’s got a pretty sizable gate, armed guard and
people in the streets. It looks secure enough. Here’s the coordinates.” Welles
on the radio read off numbers that I didn’t understand.
“That should be here. Not too far.
We can’t send a Humvee and burn gas, set the chopper down in a field and make
contact with them. Give them the same story that we’re a National Guard camp
needing fuel, food, and water and that we have weapons we can trade. Radio me
back with their answer.” Marsh ended the call.
“You probably outnumber them; why
not just take what you need?” Ridgewell asked.
“Because I’m not a bastard.” Marsh
answered sternly.
It felt like hours that I lay on
that hard floor pretending to be unconscious. I didn’t want to make my move too
soon and not be able to get away. Already I couldn’t feel my arms and legs and
I could try to run only to have my limbs fail me. I was even able to sleep a
little since I was keeping my eyes closed but the sound of rapid gunfire woke
me up and I forgot my rouse allowing my eyes to pop open.
I was in the back of a wide truck
that had a table on one side; probably their mobile command center. The bullets
hit the truck and shattered the windshield. The back door swung open and light
flooded in momentarily blinding me. It was Doctor Ridgewell with concern on his
face.
“I have to get you out of here.” He
untied my arms and my legs all the while the gunfire didn’t stop. As soon as I
had my hands free I gave him a strong right hook and knocked him against the
truck but I wasn’t fast enough, another man stepped out from the side of the
truck and the butt of a rifle made contact with my face. I didn’t have time to
feel the pain as the darkness, my old friend, met me again.
I was getting tired of being knocked
out lately. I woke up and the light of day faded from what I could see through
the haphazardly boarded up window. I was tied again only this time I was
sitting on a cold stone floor with my torso wrapped with rope and my hands tied
in front of me.
“You’re awake.” That British accent
again coming from behind me and I realized that Ridgewell was tied up too, to
me.
“Damn.” Was all I could say.
“You can say that again.” He said
“Damn you. You kidnapped me…” He cut
me off.
“Shhh. They don’t know that. I told
them you were my assistant.”
“Who exactly are ‘them’?” I asked
him pissed off.
“The people who took us. He said
they found our pilot Welles crashed in the woods and he told them where to find
us. He even had a white flag. Then, I don’t know who shot first but there were
bullets flying from them. I told them I was medical doctor and you were my
assistant and that we were in the area trying to locate the girl who is
immune.”
“I don’t follow.” I was really
confused. Maybe that guy hit me harder that I thought.
“They know about you. But only your
name, they don’t know what you look like. They probably heard more rumors like
those men you came across. They’re looking for you. I told them that we were
working on a way to find a cure using you, or Vanessa Summers anyway, and that
we would be invaluable if she’s found.” Ridgewell had devised this plan to save
their lives or else the unknown assailants would have killed them too. That
still didn’t endear me to him.
“How do I know this? How do I know
that these people aren’t trying to rescue me from you and those men? You’re the
one who drugged me; you’re the one who kidnapped me. You entered that prison
and knew exactly what you were going to do. You drugged me and tied me up, why
the hell should I trust you?” And I was just about to tell him to kiss my ass
when a man walked in the room.
He was tall and handsome in a rugged
sort of way with a confident strut. He wore a vest that was probably bullet
proof which added to his authoritative feel. I was at the point now where very
little information was best. Ridgewell obviously didn’t tell them I was
Summers, the girl they were looking for; allegedy, but I didn’t know if that
was for the better or the worse. It would all depend on the pretty boy here.
“Assistant, you’re awake? What’s
your name?” He asked me and I didn’t hesitate.
“Tina. My name is Tina.” The name on
the bracelet shown just beneath the bounds on my wrists and the man glanced at
it.
“Tina. Forgive the precautions but
we don’t normally invite hostiles into our town.”
“I’m not hostile.”
“No, you weren’t one of the ones
shooting at us. I understand that you’re looking for someone, the same someone
I’m looking for. Perhaps we can help each other. Our town here is safe from
biters, we have food, water, even electricity. You’re safe here.” He voice was
pleasant enough.
“I don’t feel safe being tied up.”
He looked back at one of the 3 armed men that entered with him and he stepped
forward to cut us free. Another man caught my eye in the background because he
had a makeshift metal appendage where a hand should be.
“So, can we help each other? We can
offer food, shelter while you can offer your…services.” He explained again. “Do
you know where she is? Do you have any clues?”
“We were searching the nearby area,
our map has the coordinates of our pervious search girds. We haven’t found
anything yet.” Ridgewell spoke up and he sounded convincing.
“Yes, I saw that. But do you have
any more information on her like what does she look like, her age, things like
that so my men can help with the search?”
“Sorry, no.” Ridgewell denied. He
seems pretty adamant on not helping and I didn’t really know who to trust.
“Tina?” He stood in front of me.
“No, I don’t know anything more.” I
could have been shooting myself in the foot especially if Ridgewell was the bag
guy and this man wasn’t. I was thankful that the long sleeves covered the bite
marks on my arms; that would have been a dead giveaway.
“Okay, well Merle here is going to
show you to your room. Get some rest and I’ll see you in the morning. Welcome
to Woodbury.” He started to walk out.
“And you are?” I asked him.
“They just call me The
Governor.” He left and the one called
Merle with the metal hand escorted us out of the room and into another.
“I’m sure you two will find these
accommodations quite comfortable.” Merle said with a leer and a deep southern
drawl as he closed the door. I heard the lock engaged from the outside and
immediately walked to the nearest window to find them nailed shut. Looking out
even in the dark of night, I could see that the streets were clean. No bodies
or other signs of the world ending. Only a few guards walked by probably on
patrol out on the street while anyone else was most likely inside.
Merle, I’ve heard talk of him
before. I know he’s Daryl’s brother and that he wasn’t exactly the nicest guy.
Should I get back to the prison in one piece, I’ll still make it a point to
tell Daryl where he can find his brother.
“If we’re supposed to be guest, why
are we locked in?” Ridgwell made a point and I told him so. “You know you can
call me Julian.” He sat on one of the twin beds absentmindedly rubbing his
wrist where they were bound.
“Okay, Julian, what now?” I sat on
the other and a feeling of pure exhaustion hit me hard. All I wanted to do was
sleep and forget this day had ever happened.
“We sleep then tomorrow, well…we’ll
see.” If Julian said anything after that, I didn’t hear it. As soon as my head
hit the pillow, it was all she wrote.
The next day started pleasant
enough. We were invited under guard to have breakfast with this governor and
I’m sure he’s just using this as an opportunity to drill us for more
information.
“How’d you sleep?” He asked as he
drank his tea.
“Good, I was more tired than I
realized.” I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. It was forced pleasantries that
filled the silence that may have unnerved me. The Governor said something about
Milton, the quite man with the glasses, working on something we may be
interested in.
“Milton here is our resident
scientist. He’s been working on what makes the biters for a while now. Perhaps
you can trade notes or something.” We ate the rest of our breakfast in silence.
“What about Welles? The pilot? I believe you
said you found him alive in the wreckage, may we see him?” Julian asked.
“I’m sorry, but he died earlier this
morning.” Milton finally spoke up.
“Just give this place a chance; we
have everything you could ever need here. We even have people, survivors like
yourselves that have found a place here. You should go out and meet them then
later you can report to Milton and get started. Doctor, I took a look at your
search grids, I’ll have my men continue where you left off.” Governor finished
up his breakfast.
“You know, you never really told us
what happened back on the road.” I spoke.
“Yes I did. They fired on me and my
men. I had to act fast to protect them, you understand. There is always someone
out there who wants what you have.”
With that we were ushered out into the
day. Woodbury seemed peaceful enough with its clean streets and roaming
children but the armed guards and enigmatic Governor told a different story. As
I looked around the gated community I saw one face that I was both pleased and unnerved
to see, Andrea.
To be
continued…
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