you keep screwing around with me.” Michelle laughed and plunged a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth.
Benji fished a cigarette from his jacket pocket and lit up.
Michelle waved angrily at the cloud of secondhand smoke. “I thought you didn’t have any of those left.”
“So did I,” Benji replied. “I had some luck last night and won nearly a full pack off that redneck you work with.”
“Jenkins? How the hell did you end up playing cards with him?”
“Don’t know. He just decided to join the game last night at Mike’s. Had a run of bad luck and kept going like he couldn’t stand to lose to the little queer guy.”
“Don’t fuck around with him, Benji, I mean it. The guy’s on the edge.”
He waved a hand dismissively. “He’s harmless. It’s your damn boss that gives me the creeps. That guy not only redefines the term
“Warren’s okay.”
“How would you know, sis?” Benji grinned. “I haven’t met anyone in this convoy who knows anything about the man other than he was some kind of elite soldier or something. So is there something you’d like to share with me, or…?”
Michelle shrugged. “He’s okay, Benji. He’s the kind of guy you trust. That’s all I know.”
“Better you than me, I guess.” Benji set down his already empty bowl. “It’s going to be a busy day, sis. They just finished making the announcement that we’re moving out.”
“Shit.” Michelle laughed. “I was just beginning to break in the patch of dirt I’ve been sleeping on.”
After the announcement that the convoy was moving out and people began to pack, Mike saw Gerald storming across the camp towards him. He wished he could avoid the man, but the camp simply wasn’t that big.
“We’re not ready,” Gerald told him. “I got one truck half torn apart that we’re still trying to fix, at least four cars need work on their tires, and there’s—”
Mike cut him off. “Look, Gerald, I’m sorry. I didn’t ask for all this anymore than you did, but we have to move and we have to move now. Staying is too great a risk. We’ll leave the truck if we have to. Just do the best you can.”
“Just give me one more day,” Gerald pleaded. “We can’t keep leaving vehicles behind. Pretty soon we’re not going to have room for everyone if we do.”
“What do you want me to do, Gerald? I know you’re working your ass off—we all are—but if we don’t reach the base, and soon, we may never make it.”
Gerald sighed, knowing he’d lost the argument. “All right. But please tell me we’re not moving far. Some of the cars can’t handle much more yet.”
Mike shook his head. “We’re just headed up the road to Jones Creek, far enough to buy us some time and get closer to Warren’s next raid.”
“Can I go with them this time?” Gerald asked. “Those guys don’t know crap about what parts we need to keep going in the long run. I swear they must never read the lists I give to Warren.”
“Gerald…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m too important and all that crap. You’d think the apocalypse would’ve spared more than one engineer, eh?”
“Oh, I think one’s quite enough if they’re all like you, Gerald.”
He let Mike’s remark slide and changed the subject. “Guess I better go give Warren’s jeeps a once-over before his team heads out, huh?”
“I think that would be a good idea.”
Mike smiled as the engineer hurried off, leaving him alone with his thoughts. The man could be a damn pain in the ass, but Mike needed him—the whole convoy did—so there was no choice but to endure his constant whining about the state of their equipment. Besides, he was right: everything was falling quickly into disrepair.
“Good luck,” Mike said as Warren slid into the passenger seat of one of the convoy’s three military jeeps.
“You too,” Warren said. He glanced at the madhouse around them, people loading up the last of their things and making sure nothing was left behind for the rats to find. He didn’t like leaving the main group with less than half of its trained defenders, but he had no choice if they were to survive long term.
Raising his hand over his head, Warren gave the rest of his team the signal to roll out. His driver, Matt, fired up the jeep’s engine and led the others onto the road towards Greensburg.
“Let’s hope they make it back,” Benji said, walking up to Mike.
“Warren always comes back.” Mike placed an arm around the younger man’s shoulder. Though many in the convoy didn’t approve of their relationship, Mike had stopped trying to hide it. Some secrets couldn’t be kept in such close quarters. “Let’s get to the command vehicle and get this show on the road.”
Two
Warren flicked the lighter, taking a deep drag off what might be his last cigarette as the sun sank in the sky. He stood on the hilltop above Greensburg, looking into the remains of the town, and Michelle and Matt stood at his side. Behind them, the three combat jeeps were parked in a row; Jenkins and Daniel leaned against one, inspecting their weapons.
Scott had gone ahead on foot to recon the outskirts of the town and should have been back by now. The team hadn’t seen or heard any signs of trouble from below, but Warren could feel tension in the air, the fear and dread that gripped soldiers just before the shooting started. “How long?” he asked.
“He’s been gone nearly two hours,” Michelle said, and Warren grunted in reply.
“We got a plan, chief?” Jenkins taunted him from behind.
“How about you drink a nice tall glass of shut the fuck up?” Matt said, quoting one of his favorite films.
Jenkins pushed away from the jeep and stood up straight, his cheeks red with anger.
“Enough,” Warren said. “My guts tell me there’s a demon behind Scott being late. Maybe more than one.”
The others fell silent. Even Jenkins settled back against the side of a jeep, keeping his mouth shut for once.
“Scott’s never late,” Warren continued. “He’s too damn good for the dead or the vermin to take him down without him getting off a couple shots.”
“Where does that leave us?” Matt asked, looking to Warren for direction.
“We’re going into Greensburg and we’re going to take what we need, demons or not.” Warren tossed his smoke aside and walked past Matt to the jeeps.
“Whoa, hold up!” Daniel cut in. The hulking mass of muscle that he was, he still managed to sound like a frightened child. “Didn’t you just say there may be demons down there?”
Warren climbed into the driver seat of the closest jeep and turned its key, revving the engine. Only then did he speak. “We have to get those supplies or everyone in the convoy is dead, not just us.”
“You heard the man,” Michelle barked. “Daniel, you can ride with me and Jenkins. I don’t want you stuck alone with Scott gone.”
The big man scrambled over to join them as Warren peeled out down the hill, barely giving Matt time to hop in the jeep.
The road into Greensburg was filled with abandoned cars. There was no sign of the dead—even the true dead. It was odd not to see picked-over skeletons littering the street. Clearly the rats had swept through this area some time ago.
The wreckage filling the roadway forced the team to slow down so much that Warren almost wished he’d brought the tank to clear a path. As the team finally rolled into town, the dying sunlight vanished from the sky, and night fell over them.
