DiMassi's pistol was tucked in the waist of Ramsey's tailored slacks.
Ramsey clutched his own pistol in a liver-spotted hand, pointing it directly at DiMassi's chest.
'I assure you, Mr. DiMassi, that I am not crazy. I'm just trying to save us.'
'Begging your pardon, sir, but then why do you have that gun pointed at me?'
'Bates is drunk on power,' Ramsey said, his voice calm and assured.
'He's attempting a coup, and he's involved Dr. Stern and Forrest as well. Think about it, Dimassi. We are about to come under attack. Does this seem like the most opportune time to arrest me?'
DiMassi agreed that it seemed odd.
'They've killed Dr. Maynard and poor Kilker, because both of them tried to warn me of their plans.'
'But are we really going to be attacked, sir?'
'Look out the window,' Ramsey told him. 'Go ahead. Look and see for yourself.'
DiMassi pressed his face against the glass and looked down upon the city. The streets were blazed with thousands of pinpoints of light.
Ant-sized vehicles and miniscule zombies surrounded the building, and more were on the way. Barricades had been constructed, sealing off the block. As he watched, the creatures began to set the neighboring buildings on fire.
'Holy shit,' DiMassi breathed. 'There must be thousands of them!'
'Indeed,' Ramsey nodded. 'Now do you see? Bates is out of control, and you've been tricked into following along with him.'
'Okay,' DiMassi nodded, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene unfolding far below. 'I believe you. Hell, I always did. Used to watch you on TV, had stock in your company.'
Ramsey smiled, and lowered his gun.
'The question,' DiMassi continued, 'is what are we going to do about it?'
'We must flee,' Ramsey said. 'We can't remain here any longer.'
'But, I thought the building could-'
'This tower can take anything those creatures throw at it. But that is not my concern. There is simply no way Bates will let either of us live now. He's absolutely mad. He may very well be in league with the zombies. It pains me to say this, but our only chance for survival-indeed, humanity's only chance, is to flee immediately.'
'But to where? Quinn and I have been all over. The fucking zombies are everywhere.'
'Leave that to me.'
'We should stop off and grab one of those M-60's. Happiness is a belt-fed weapon, after all. If we're going on foot, we'll need a lot more firepower.'
'We're not traveling by foot. There was a subway tunnel under construction beneath this building, but sadly, it was never completed.
And obviously, we can't go out into the streets.'
'The helicopter?' DiMassi looked up, as if he could see it through the ceiling.
'The helicopter. How far can it fly?'
'Depends on how much fuel is in it. Quinn and the Canuck were the last ones to take it out. I don't know if they refueled.'
'Could we make it as far as the Haverstraw marina?'
'Up near Brackard's Point? Sure-even on fumes. But the airstrip in Brackard's Point is overrun.'
'But you could land us near the marina, yes?'
'Yeah. Not much there. Blue-collar folks' boats, mostly.'
'You'd be surprised.' Ramsey winked. 'I keep one there myself, away from the media's prying eyes.'
'Why not just steal a boat here in the city? Maybe one of those armored Harbor Patrol boats or something?'
'You've seen the situation below. Do you really think our enemies wouldn't have anticipated that, and taken the appropriate counter-measures?'
'I guess not.'
'You will fly us to Haverstraw, and from there, we shall begin the second leg of our journey.'
'We gonna go to an island?'
'Something like that.' Ramsey's smile faded. 'I have many strongholds.
One is directly beneath this building, far below the tunnels and sewers and pipes and layers of fiber optic cables. But I fear we'd never reach it, especially not as a group.'
'A group?' DiMassi glanced around, verifying that it was just the two of them.
'We'll need others, of course. A woman, at the very least, for breeding.
Two of them, if possible. We have to keep the human race alive.'
DiMassi nodded in agreement, half listening. He watched the burning buildings below, watched the zombies as they swarmed around the skyscraper. His mind was still on the boat, wondering how dangerous a journey on the open water would be. Then he looked back outside and decided it couldn't be as perilous as staying here.
