go left. Luck was with her and they came to an open doorway with concrete steps leading down.
'Dark.' Stewart said, pointing her light down the stairs.
'Max said the place was empty. So I guess this feeling of unease is just nerves?' Bill said, flicking his light over the walls and floor ahead of them.
'Dark and man don't mix well together.' Ruben added, as he turned on his own small light back on.
The three headed down the stairs and found a sign with directions on it, one arrow pointed towards a 'Gym and Locker Room', the other arrow said, 'Shooting Range'. Stewart hardly paused before heading towards the shooting range. There were two doors at the end of the corridor; both had small rectangular squares that ran parallel to the door frame just above the latch. Stewart shined her light into the area directly ahead of her and took a quick look.
'That's the range, it's built out underground, it must extend beyond the walls of the building. Pretty nice really, for a headquarters built out in the middle of nowhere. So that must mean this other door is the armory.'
Stewart went to try the latch, expecting it to be locked, but the handle gave easily, and she gently pushed it open. Inside was what looked like a workshop, with heavy benches, vises and tools for servicing firearms neatly stacked on shelves around the perimeter of the room. Directly across from the door they had come in was another open door, this one was made out of a fine mesh of metal, backed by iron bars.
'Looks like someone beat us to it. Maybe they left us some ammo?' said Stewart as she moved forward cautiously.
'Why would the police have assault rifle ammunition?' asked Bill.
'After all the civilian shootings, are you kidding me? Every department has a few assault rifles around. Hell, even a few of our cars in Denver had military grade assault rifles. The only difference is the rifles civilians have, even law enforcement, fire.223 ammo. The rifles Draper gave us are the real deal, they are chambered for 5.56mm ammunition. But for those of you who were asleep during Draper's mission briefings, he told us we can safely fire.223 ammo out of them. So maybe, they'll have bullets we can use.' Stewart stepped into the open doorway of the armory and said, 'It looks pretty cleaned out…wait, hey, pay dirt! C'mon Bill, let's put your muscles to use, I think I found us a few reloads!'
Bill joined Stewart in the armory and like her, he saw the empty gun racks hanging on the walls. There were, however, a few boxes of ammunition on the shelves to the right side of the door. Stewart was holding open a military ammo box, one of three that was still on the floor beneath the lowest shelf. The box had a piece of duct tape over the side of the olive drab color, the tape had'.223–840' written on it in black marker.
'It's our caliber! Grab an end would you?' Stewart asked.
Bill bent down and brushed her hands away from the other side, he picked the box up and stood easily. 'I can get it. You and Ruben just light the place up so I don't trip over anything. Are we going to take it all?'
'We burned through a lot back at the hotel. I think we should take two boxes of it and leave the third tucked under here, so we can get to it if we need to later.' Stewart said.
'Fine by me. Are you sure we can fire this stuff?'
'There will be some loss of accuracy, you won't notice, but I might miss a few shots once in a while.' Stewart said with a faint smile on her face.
'Thanks. I'll just fire twice to make sure I hit the target.'
'You don't already?'
'There is no winning with you, is there?' asked Bill.
'Talking is a competitive sport.'
'It shouldn't always be.'
'Oh, I am not that bad.' said Stewart, 'Can you help me with this other one, or do you want me to double you up so I can keep a better lookout?'
'Double me up, they aren't that heavy.'
'I know, I just like having my hands free. Even if the building is empty.'
'You ladies ready to go yet?' called Ruben from the workroom.
'Yeah, let's roll.' Stewart said, leading the way.
The three made their way back outside. Max was sitting cross legged in the back of the truck with his eyes closed. Without looking he said, 'Did you find what we need?'
'What are you doing? Taking up meditation?' Bill asked.
Max blushed, 'No, but Aubrey said I might try expanding my 'talent' by exercising it a little more, trying to build it up, instead of just using it as it is.'
Stewart stared at him for a moment. Max was facing them, but his eyes were still closed. 'Is it working?'
Slowly Max turned his face towards her, his eyes remained closed, 'Yeah, I think she might have something there.'
'Open your damned eyes! It is too freaky talking to you like that.' Stewart said.
Max cracked open one eye, 'Sure thing. Zombies coming, but slowly, through the woods, they're about a mile away.'
'Shit. I thought your girl said the way would be clear.' said Stewart.
'I think by 'way', she meant the highway. We're off of that path by more than a little.'
Stewart handed Ruben and Bill each a set of keys, and kept two for herself, 'Let's get these checked.' After a moment she turned back to Max, 'How is our boy there?'
Max reached out and put his hand on Javier. He pressed down on him again, harder, 'What the fuck?'
'What?'
'He's, he's hard!'
'Gross Max, check at his neck instead, feel for a pulse.' Stewart quipped.
Max blushed again for the second time in as many minutes, getting a laugh out of the others. 'Not there! I felt his stomach, it's like a rock.' Max moved his hand up to the young man's neck, 'His neck is stiff too. No, not stiff; hard as a fucking rock.'
'What?' Bill said, climbing into the back of the truck on the other side of Javier. Both men put their hands on Javier and pressed his body, which was as hard as a rock.
'What the hell? Could it be internal bleeding, Stewart?' asked Bill.
'How should I know? Bleeding inside his neck? No, I don't think so. Plus he isn't swollen at all, just…I dunno, dense? Max can you zombie-vision him and see if he is still alive?'
Concentrating for a moment, Max nodded, 'He is fine, he looks…good Lord! His body is changing as I look at it. His leg, it's, like white, like everything he has, all his energy, it's there working.'
'Good. Leave him. Bill, let's check these cars, whatever happened to us, happened to Javier too, he'll be fine. Probably.' Stewart said.
Bill gave Ruben a sideways glance, 'What about you, Ruben, can you tell us anything about Javier.'
Ruben returned his gaze and said levelly, 'I think he'll be fine, if we can get him back to Iowa. Are we going to wait here until those zombies get here or what?'
The three of them soon found all four state trooper vehicles, they all looked good and started without any difficulty at all. Each of them drove one of the cars over to the broken down pickup truck and parked it.
'I took the better of the two, but they both looked good. You guys didn't do too bad either. How are they on fuel?' asked Stewart.
'About a quarter tank.' Ruben said.
'Same here. I thought they would fuel them up at the end of the shift?' Bill asked.
Stewart shrugged her shoulders and said, 'Don't look at me I was a city cop, not a state trooper. My tank is hovering at about half.'
'Okay then, let's go see about fueling them up. Are we taking all three?' Bill asked.
'I think so. I can ride alone, we'll put Max and Ruben in one and you and Javier in the other.'
'You get a car to yourself?' Bill shrugged his shoulder, 'Okay, I guess.'
'I'll drive point, so if the shit hits the fan we won't risk the entire group.'
They manhandled Javier into Bill's car, putting him at an awkward angle in the back seat. The man's body didn't bend at all, he was as stiff as a sailor in a whorehouse after six months at sea and that made positioning
