Calvin found a spot behind the counter and plonked down on the floor, back against the wall. “I’ll take every minute I can get.”
CHAPTER THREE
Mateo drove Bryan and Michael towards the Bridge of the Gods. The SUV was silent, tense, everybody focused on the task at hand. The headlights pierced through the darkness as they drove along the interstate next to the water, providing a little ambient light. As they approached the exit, Bryan leaned forward from the backseat.
“This has got to be it,” he said. He pointed to the water, and the metallic bridge shimmered in the distance in the moonlight.
Mateo nodded. “Now we just have to hope this Fingers fella is here.”
“Almost afraid to ask how he earned that nickname,” Michael said, earning a few light chuckles despite the somber mood of the car.
Mateo swerved lightly as a few zombies wandered onto the exit ramp from the woods. He hit the brakes.
“Clear ‘em out,” he said.
Bryan furrowed his brow. “Why?” he asked, shrugging his lean shoulders. “Just keep driving.”
“We’re gonna have our hands full as it is,” Mateo replied. “Do you really want things sneaking up on us?”
Michael shook his head and looked at his friend before shrugging. The duo got out of the vehicle reluctantly, surveying the two zombies that looked badly damaged, the forest having taken its toll on them. They grabbed baseball bats out of the trunk and casually walked over, each smacking down a ghoul and returning to the vehicle unharmed.
“Happy?” Bryan drawled as he slid into the backseat.
Mateo pursed his lips, ignoring the man’s sarcastic tone. He popped the vehicle back into gear and drove towards the meeting spot. As they crept through the tiny town, they looked down side streets, seeing movement on the far end.
“You want us to take care of them, too?” Michael asked, a touch of ice in his voice.
Mateo shook his head. “Let’s see what Fingers has to say before we start clearing out the whole town.”
They drove a couple more blocks before finding the hotel. It was a large five story building, with a few zombies in the parking lot. Bryan leaned forward again, tapping Mateo on the shoulder and pointing to a small restaurant on the other side of the street.
A man stood by the entrance, waving at them, and they realized he was missing a finger and a half.
“Going to go out on a limb and assume that’s Fingers,” Bryan quipped.
Mateo drove over, and they got out, carrying their weapons.
Fingers frowned at the trio. “This all you got?”
“All that could be spared,” Mateo admitted, “they’re really scrambling to get people ready to move.”
He shook his head before motioning for them to follow him inside. “Well, it is what it is,” he said with a sigh. “Come on, let me show you what I got.”
They walked into the darkened restaurant, the only light coming from an industrial grade flashlight on a table near the back, away from the windows. As they walked, Michael stumbled over a corpse on the ground.
“Oh yeah,” Fingers said, with a little laugh, “sorry, watch your step. Had to do a little handiwork to get this place secure.”
They navigated to the back of the restaurant where there was a table set up. There were a few bombs, two large and one that would fit in the palm of a hand. There was also a hand-drawn map on the back of a kid’s placemat, showing the hotel, bridge and immediate area.
“Have a seat,” Fingers invited, spreading his arms. “We need to run through this quick.” When they complied, he held up the map. “As I’m sure you saw on the way in, we have a potential shitstorm on our hands. We gotta clear out at least the bottom floor of the hotel and secure the doors. We also have a couple hundred of those fuckers roaming the streets that we need to deal with, too.”
Bryan crossed his arms and leaned his elbows on the table. “Man, why are we worrying about the hotel when this place is clear?”
“Because there’s too much glass,” Fingers replied impatiently, “the back door is completely gone, and the hotel across the street is wide open, so it would just be a constant stream of those things that we’d have to deal with one way or another. Not to mention, if they are bringing six busloads of people here, it would get pretty cramped in here.” He cocked his head. “Now are you gonna let me finish, or do you want to keep offering up ideas that are far beyond your pay grade?”
Bryan clamped his mouth shut and lowered his gaze.
“Good,” Fingers said, and leaned on his palms. “Now, as I was saying. We have multiple problems and not a lot of time or resources to deal with them.” He picked up one of the large bombs from the table, a pipe bomb that had been wrapped with a generous amount of nuts and bolts. “Now, I got six of these bad boys, which is how we’re going to clear out street level. Which one of you boys is the fastest runner?”
Bryan and Michael both immediately pointed at Mateo, the only athletic-looking one of the bunch.
He shook his head. “Fuck,” he muttered. “Okay, what do you need?”
“We got two streets where the bulk of them are,” Fingers explained. “You get to run down, distract them, and bring them up to me.”
Mateo nodded. “And where are you going to be?”
“On top of the building at the end of the street,” Fingers said. “When they get close, I’m gonna detonate the bombs right over their heads. The blast should go a long way towards luring them out.”
Mateo pursed his lips. “And what about the rest?”
Fingers glanced at the holsters on either side of the man’s torso. “Here’s hoping you’re good with those,” he said, inclining his head to the blades.
Bryan and Michael snickered and exchanged a fist bump, and Fingers eyed them with a
