Fred had the collar on his duster turned up, and his hat was pulled down low. She could hardly see his face, but he did not appear the slightest bit cold. After a minute, he walked over to the east wall, standing at least ten feet back, and held the binoculars to his eyes. She kept watch while he methodically scanned. After he finished, he handed her the binoculars.
“I’m only seeing one thing we might need to check out, but you look things over yourself,” he said in a voice barely above a whisper. “Make sure I didn’t miss anything.”
Nikki took the binoculars and repeated the same process of scanning. After five full minutes, she handed them back.
“I don’t see anything. What were you talking about?” she asked.
Instead of answering her directly, he changed the subject. “Do you know what a PACE plan is?”
“Pace?”
“Yeah, it’s an acronym. Have you ever heard of it?” he asked.
“Um, no, I don’t think so. What is it?”
“It’s an SOP you create for communications. PACE stands for primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency. You asked earlier about my communications. Back before, our primary communication was normally something like a telephone. Mount Weather has their telephone system up and running, so that’s how they talk to the surrounding communities. The QRF and emergency functions generally use the radio. We don’t have access to a working phone, so our alternate form of communication is also the radio.”
“Alright, that makes sense,” she said.
“Now, for each category, there is a subcategory. Using a type of code rather than speaking plainly would be a subcategory.”
“What about that thing you were doing with the microphone earlier. Would that be a subcategory?”
Fred thought a moment before answering. “Yeah, I suppose.”
“I knew it. You were communicating with somebody else in code,” she exclaimed.
“Yep. I was. I’m not going to tell you who it was or what we were communicating. Not now, anyway. Maybe one day.”
“I take it this PACE stuff is something important,” Nikki said.
“If you’re working with a group of people, yes. If you’re going to be a lone wolf, not so much.” He reached up, took his hat off, and scratched his head before putting it back on. What he said next took her by surprise.
“There’s a lot to learn. You seem to have a good head on your shoulders, so I suppose I could teach you some of it.”
A whirlwind of emotions went through her mind. The only person who had ever complimented her was her old boyfriend. She wanted to express her appreciation, but instead, she felt tears forming and turned away.
“Thanks,” she muttered.
“Don’t thank me yet. I won’t be easy on you.” Fred put his backpack on and adjusted the straps. “Let’s go.”
Nikki followed him down the ramps to the street before speaking. “Where are we going?”
“I saw movement over at a hotel a couple of blocks from here. Let’s go check it out.”
Fred led her two blocks east and stopped behind some derelict cars. He pointed at a hotel down the street.
“Look in the lobby doors,” he whispered.
She did so and watched for several seconds before she spotted movement. The glass doors were under a canopy, allowing customers to be shielded from inclement weather when they checked in or checked out. It amazed Nikki that the glass in the doors was still intact. Almost all glass doors and windows were broken out these days. Although they were dirty and it was dark inside, she could see part of the lobby. Visibility was limited due to the rain, but after a few seconds of staring, she spotted movement.
“Zeds or humans?” she whispered.
“Only one way to find out,” Fred replied. “Let’s take a walk over there.”
“Really?” she asked.
Fred answered by yanking a glove off and getting the suppressed Ruger out of his jacket pocket. Nikki reached under her poncho and did the same and they began walking. They worked their way between cars, fallen utility poles, and other debris. The rain fell steadily, and Nikki’s exposed arm was quickly becoming numb. Fred led them to the end of the hotel, where they cautiously peered into every ground floor window before walking by them. They eventually made it to a car in the lot which blocked their view to the lobby doors. Fred signaled Nikki to crouch down.
“I’m thinking it’s zeds. There aren’t any guards posted and I don’t smell any smoke. Wait here and I’ll check it out.”
“Oh, hell no. I’m going with you,” Nikki retorted.
Fred said nothing and instead motioned for her to follow. Nikki, mindful of her Mount Weather lessons regarding sectors of fire and flagging, walked behind and to the left of him. He came in from the side and slowly moved his way toward the front lobby. Fred stopped at the side of the double doors and made a hasty peek.
The doors would normally slide open when activated by motion sensors. Now they were motionless. Dirty, but unbroken. Fred put his fingers into the gap and forced the doors apart. He stepped in and to the side, gun at the ready. Nikki was right behind him. There were six zeds, three men, three women, cowering in the back corner of the lobby. They were a pitiful looking sextet. Their faces were deeply scarred, and their clothes nothing more than rags. But even with the scarring Nikki could see something in their expressions.
“They’re afraid,” she realized.
“Yep.”
“I’ve never seen that before. That’s weird. Are we going to kill them?”
Fred stared at them a long minute. He could see that two of them had missing fingers. Probably as a result of frostbite. One of them seemed to have compensated by wrapping rags around his hands. He thought back to the three female zeds he found in the barn. For some reason he had tried to help them but ended up putting bullets in their heads. Mercy killings, he’d later say. He turned and
