The vehicle appears in the distance, approaching with a metallic scream, and crushes the first line of sawhorses before rolling to a sudden stop in front of the second.
Rod waves, his heart pounding against his ribs.
The turret turns rapidly, aligning the cannon barrel with the Stryker. Five shooters in a motley collection of military uniforms fan out from behind, taking cover and aiming their weapons at his men.
“Hold fire, Hellraisers,” Rod says into his headset.
“Any idea who they are?” Dr. Price says.
“I believe we’re about to find that out.”
The hatch opens and a large man appears. “Who’s in charge here?” his deep voice booms across the roadblocks.
Rod takes off his mask and pulls his hood down.
“I’m Sergeant Hector Rodriguez, Fifth Stryker Cavalry Regiment. And you would be?”
“Sergeant Toby Wilson, Eighth Infantry Division, Fifth Brigade—the Iron Horse.”
Rod grunts with respect. From what he heard, elements of Fifth Brigade fought hard all over Pennsylvania in the first days of the Wildfire epidemic, and were destroyed piecemeal. If Wilson is from that unit, he and his crew are among its few survivors.
“Where’s your original dismounts?” he asks, referring to Wilson’s infantry squad.
“Dead just like all the rest. We’re militia now.”
“Well, Sergeant Wilson, it’s an honor, but I’m going to have to ask that you exit my area of operations. If you want to pass through, you’ve got my blessing.”
“No can do, Sergeant. This is important. I need you to tell me about your operation.”
“What the hell?” Rod mutters, then calls back, “Go fuck yourself, Sergeant! Is that enough information for you?”
He hears his boys laughing at their positions. Wilson’s shooters continue to scurry to new cover, fanning out further on his flanks. Preparing for a fight. Soon, they will have him flanked on the left, where he’s weak. He doubts they know about Arnold looking down on them with his machine gun.
The situation is deteriorating fast.
“I ain’t playing with you, Sergeant,” Wilson says. “This is important. I’m going to ask one more time. What are you doing here?”
“I’m telling you for the last time: It’s none of your goddamn business, Sergeant.”
The next few seconds appear to stretch as nobody speaks or moves. Rod has a sense of everyone lining up iron sights on a human target, settling in for the order to fire.
“Sergeant,” Dr. Price says.
“If I were you, I’d get down, Doc,” Fielding says, kneeling behind cover.
“He’s right,” Rod says. “Get your ass down.”
“We’re looking for a man!” the scientist cries, rushing forward.
“Jesus,” Rod groans. “Get down before you get shot!”
Price ignores him, running toward the distant Bradley and shouting: “We’re looking for the man who brought the Wildfire Agent into Camp Defiance! We believe he is coming this way! We want to bring him to a special facility because we believe his blood may hold a cure to Wildfire! Come on, we’re all on the same side!”
Wilson whistles and Rod tenses, raising his shotgun and aiming it center mass at the figure sitting in the open hatch of the armored personnel carrier.
To his surprise, Wilson’s shooters pop up from their concealed positions, weapons lowered.
“Good call, Doc,” Rod says absently, blowing air out his cheeks and lowering his shotgun. He watches Wilson jump down from the Bradley and march toward him unarmed. A woman exits the back of the Bradley and joins him. Rod gives the order to stand down.
“I want you back to observing the road, Eyes. Out.”
Rod steps out from behind the row of sawhorses, and jogs to meet Wilson and the woman.
“Looks like we’re on the same side, Sergeant Wilson,” he says, extending his hand.
“Sorry to step on your op,” the large man says, taking it.
“Hate to see what would have happened if we weren’t on the same side.”
“That’s a topic best avoided, don’t you think?”
“Agreed,” Rod grins. “And you can call me Rod.”
“Rod it is. I’m Toby. The guys call me Sarge. This is Wendy, my gunner.”
“Pleasure to meet you, Ma’am.”
“Likewise,” she says.
Rod blinks as he shakes her hand, feeling his cheeks burn. Wendy smiles wryly in response.
“Anything we can do to help, Rod?” Wilson asks him. “We appear to have the same mission.”
“Let me be clear about something, Toby. Our orders are to bring the man in if we can. We are going to do everything we can to make this happen. If we can’t, well, then I’m afraid we’ll have to put him down. Those orders are not open to discussion or compromise.”
“Understood,” Wilson says with a nod.
“In that case I will take you up on your offer of help,” Rod says. “I could use your vehicle a hundred meters behind us and to the left, in front of the strip mall there, with your shooters deployed around it, out of sight, but accessible, and everyone in gas masks if you’ve got them. Provide rear security, and act as reserve.”
“Happy to do it.”
“What do you know about the man?” the scientist asks them.
“His name is Ray Young,” Wendy says. “We came across his trail yesterday, and we’ve been tracking him. Lost him somewhere after Mechanicsburg.”
“Why were you tracking him?” Fielding wants to know.
“He infected Camp Defiance,” Wilson answers. “We figured he uses spores. And if he’s using spores, it’s something we haven’t seen before, something unique. We thought we might be able to get him to where some scientists could take a look at him. Maybe come up with a cure.”
“That’s why we’re here too,” Dr. Price says.
“Smart thinking,” says Rod.
“Not me,” Wilson says with a grin. “We got a smart aleck kid named Todd on our team.”
“So what are we dealing with here, Sergeant?” Rod says. “Do you know the extent of his influence over the Infected?”
Wilson and Wendy exchange a glance.
“We had to shoot our way through two towns,” Wilson tells him. “The Infected attacked us, with weapons. Some of them had
“Fascinating,” Dr. Price says.
“I was thinking,
“After Mechanicsburg, we stopped being attacked, so our guess he went to ground between there and Spring Lake, probably up in Milford, which is around a ten-minute drive off the road.”
“The man is close, then,” Rod says, nodding. “Assuming he’s still coming east.”
As if to confirm his assumption, Arnold’s voice buzzes in his ear.
Dr. Price
