Shooter swallowed hard and tried to lick his lips. “I left him. He’s crazy as hell and…” He looked up at Hatcher, his eyes welling. “My partner got ate on the way here.”
Hatcher raised a brow. “Who was your partner?”
“Big guy we called Sinner. I don’t know what his real name was.” Shooter sniffed and wiped at his nose. “He mighta spent some time behind bars, but he was a good guy.”
Hatcher glanced over Shooter’s shoulder and to the line of trees. “I don’t suppose one of your people are in the treeline about to open fire, are they?”
Shooter shook his head. “No sir.” He sniffled again. “We doped Simon and split.” He seemed to get a far away look in his eyes. “Sinner had been shot…we tried to take our bikes but the ride tore open his stitches and…” He swallowed hard and looked away.
“He bleed out on ya?”
Shooter shrugged. “I dunno. I really don’t.” He looked up at Hatcher and his soul was laid bare. “I went back for the car. When I came back…” his voice trailed off. “There was so much blood.”
The sentry nodded at Hatcher. “He looks like he’s going into shock.”
Hatcher blew his breath out hard and nodded toward the inside. “Get him to Vicky. I want him checked out thoroughly. Then we’ll vet him.”
Wally and the sentry escorted the little man inside and Hatcher continued to stare across the open land to the line of trees. “Come at me you sick fuck.”
Roger appeared at his side. “I hear one of Simon’s men jumped ship?”
Hatcher nodded then turned back to the compound. “One of the men we let go from the warehouse. He said that the bigger guy was eaten on their way here.”
“Wow.” Roger shook his head. “That isn’t an easy thing to deal with.”
“If it’s true.” Hatcher turned at the hallway and marched toward Vicky’s station. “At this point, I wouldn’t put anything past Simon. Including sending one of his people inside to scope our strengths and weaknesses.”
“Or the guy just switched sides,” Roger offered. Hatcher turned and looked at him. “I’m just saying, sometimes when it quacks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s just a duck.”
“I need to be sure.” He opened the door to Vicky’s office. Just inside the exam room the little man was seated on a table, his mouth open as Vicky probed with a wooden stick. “He clear?”
She turned and gave him a stupid look. “He just walked in. I’ll clear him once I’ve examined him.”
“I have questions.”
The little man nodded. “I’ll tell you anything.”
“Where’s Simon holed up at?”
The little man nodded and pointed. “There’s a housing addition on the edge of town. It sits at the top of the hill and overlooks the whole area. Gated place. He’s in the far back at the end of a cul-de-sac.”
“You could show us how to get there?”
The little man nodded. “I can take you right to him.”
Hatcher shook his head. “You can show us on a map. I’m not taking you out there to your own turf.”
The little man opened his mouth to argue then quickly shut it. “Anything you want, sir.”
“Don’t ‘sir’ me. You came at my people with intent to do harm. I’m not sure I’m willing to take the risk with you.”
The little man swallowed hard and nodded. “I’ll go if you say so, but I can’t go back to Simon.” He shook his head harder. “He’d kill me deader than dog shit.”
Hatcher turned to Roger. “Find me a map of the city.” Roger turned and disappeared then Hatcher looked to Wally. “Tell the boys to arm up, if they aren’t on sentry duty. We’re hunting for assholes.”
Wally broke into a toothy grin. “Sir, yes, sir.”
“I have no idea what you’re even talking about, Dr. Broussard.” Captain Proctor studied the man as if he were daft. “Are you certain these things even exist?”
Dr. Broussard nodded slowly. “Dr. Chaplain mentioned a general…I believe his name was Vickers?”
“Colonel Vickers is on the command ship with the president.” Captain Proctor crossed his arms and eyed him cautiously. “What would he have to do with any of this?”
“From what I was told, he is more than familiar with the generators. He used them to lull the Zeds into a…more docile state.”
Captain Proctor sighed heavily. “You want me to contact the command ship and ask Colonel Vickers about a portable stereo that can be used to lull the Zeds?” He shook his head. “I’m still not following you.”
Broussard sighed heavily. “I’ve read Vivian’s reports. I’ve seen the videos of the infected and they are attracted to the generators.” He lowered his voice and tried to remain calm while he explained. “Our resources here on the ocean are quite limited.”
“You can say that again.”
“So you can understand how if we could devise a method that would reduce the amount of ‘cure’ we have to produce…” he trailed off, letting his words sink in. “Imagine how quickly we could bring this to an end if we could attract the infected to one area in each town…dose them while they’re gathered in clusters then move on to the next town.”
Captain Proctor nodded slowly. “Now that makes sense.” He inhaled deeply and gave the researcher a knowing look. “I’ll try to get in touch with Vickers. If there are any of those generators, we’ll see what we can do about setting them up beforehand.”
“Captain, if they could be reproduced…we could strike numerous towns at once. Imagine treating all of New York City in a single day rather than over a period of months?”
Captain Proctor nodded. “I’ll talk with Vickers and see if we can develop a way to reproduce the machines. If not the machines, perhaps just the sound they create. Any makeshift ideas that could actually make this go faster, I’m all for.”
Broussard nodded, sighing with relief. “Thank you, Captain.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” He turned to leave, “I’m not even
