She flustered and looked away. “If we’re confident in the cure, then it shouldn’t be an issue.” She turned back and stared at him.
“You are suggesting that we…” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “That we deliberately expose a member of our staff to the very virus that decimated the human race?”
She nodded slowly. “Yes. I am.”
Broussard sighed, his head shaking at her. “I cannot believe—”
“If it were anybody else, then no. But this is Kevin we’re talking about.” She pulled Broussard aside and glared at him. “It’s not exactly like he’s a productive member of our staff. I still don’t know why the Navy put him with us.”
Broussard glared at her. “Some might wonder the same of you, Dr. Chaplain.”
She stepped back and stared at him in shock. “I’ve helped you every step of the way during the—”
He held a hand up to stop her. “Of course you have. And I’m not suggesting that you are not a valuable asset.” He took a deep breath and his features softened. “I am simply stating that others might make that argument.”
“So what do we do?” She crossed her arms again and gave him an accusing stare.
Broussard shook his head. “There is no ethical next step without an infected subject.”
“Then it’s time to be unethical.” She pushed away from the wall and headed toward the lab.
“Where are you going?”
She turned and gave him a knowing glance. “To get Kevin something to drink.” She raised a brow at him. “Unless you intend to stop me.”
Broussard opened his mouth, then quickly shut it. He shook his head slightly. “Be cautious.”
Simon ran his finger across the map then turned to stare at the yellow page he’d ripped from the phone book. “It should be right up here.” He pointed ahead and to the left.
Shooter slowed the car and turned into the parking lot. “Not very big, is it?”
Simon opened the door and stepped out, his eyes scanning the chain link fence that ran along the back of the building. “Where the fuck are all the tanks and shit?” He trotted to the fence and peered through it. “Just a handful of fucking Humvees.” He slapped at the chain link and resisted the urge to scream.
“Wait, you thought there’d be tanks here?” Sinner asked.
Simon nodded. “I remember as a kid…we’d drive by this place and they had a shit ton of Jeeps and howitzers and…” He cursed again then kicked at the fence. “They should have tanks here. Big fucking tanks.”
Sinner leaned against the fence and sighed. “If they had anything like that, they would have used them as a deterrent the minute the governor activated the units.” He glanced down the road and shook his head. “There’s no telling where their equipment got left.”
Simon pushed off of the fence and marched toward the car. “Then we do the next best thing.”
“What’s that?” Shooter asked.
“We make our own.” He fell into the car and slammed the door shut. “Load up.”
Sinner slid into the backseat again and eyed Simon. “What’s that look like?”
Simon tapped on the roof as his mind raced. “We need something big enough to take out their walls. Something that can go over or through their fences. Something that moves fast enough that they can’t respond or if they do, it will be too late.”
Sinner shook his head. “A train?”
Shooter grinned. “Your semi idea, ain’t it?”
Simon nodded. “We fix up a semi and drive it right up their asses.”
Sinner leaned to the side and eyed the man. “Fix up how?”
“We armor that bitch up. Make it so’s their bullets aren’t a threat.” He turned and gave him an evil smile. “Maybe we mount some machine guns to it.”
Sinner smiled. “You got any of those lying around?”
Simon shook his head. “Then we come up with a different idea.”
Shooter pushed the start button then paused. “Fire.”
Both men turned and looked at him strangely. “What?”
Shooter nodded slowly. “Fire.” He turned and met Simon’s gaze. “Not fire power, but actual fire. We find a gas tanker and turn it into a giant rolling Molotov cocktail.”
Simon rubbed at his chin as he considered the idea. “We could certainly use the gas more than as a bomb.”
Shooter nodded. “But if you wanted to make a mess…I mean like, kill ‘em all and let god sort ‘em out type of mess, then that would be the way.”
Sinner nodded slowly. “Yeah, and you wouldn’t even have to be behind the wheel.”
Simon turned and stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“We line it up when they aren’t looking, rig the throttle, tie off the steering wheel, light the fuse, pop the clutch and…boom. No more Cagers.”
Simon grinned wildly. “I like that idea.” He nodded to Shooter. “We could sit in the bushes and snipe them as they come running out.”
Shooter smiled back. “Just like they did to us.”
“Home, James.” Simon pointed toward the road. “We got some plans to make.”
Trevor whistled as he drove slowly through the narrow city streets. At every accident scene or potential blockage in the road, he peered well past the carnage and looked for Ragers. He knew that they could use such bottlenecks to stage ambushes.
“I really hate to clump you in with them Crazies, but your people sure are sneaky sumbitches.” He slowed the RV and piloted through the wrecked cars. When he cleared the accident scene he slowly increased speed again. “They’re wily; I’ll give them that.”
Out of curiosity, he switched on the radio and hit the scan button. The radio cycled through its limited range twice before he turned it off. “I was just hoping, ya know. Even if it was an old emergency broadcast recording, that would mean that somewhere there was still power.”
He sighed and settled back in the seat. “I know the world will never be back to the
