“That is better, okay, I know a few things about what is happening in Chicago.”
“So do we, it has been overrun by flesh eating zombies!” Katie said, “You gotta 'bout thirty seconds to start talking icing out of your cake hole buddy!”
"What?" asked Kaleb, not understanding, the he said, “Wait! I know where your helicopter went, the one that dropped you off. And I know why it won't be coming back.”
That stopped the two special forces soldiers.
“What?” asked Randy, the first to recover.
“The helicopter, the one that dropped you off this morning, you and your other teams. I know what happened to it. You're stuck here, I know that, I've been playing hide and seek with guys like you for the last week. Your helicopter puts you down on a tall building at dawn and comes and collects you a couple hours after that. Only today it never came back.”
“Maybe the mission is different this time?”
The zombie smiled and shook it's head, all the twitching it had been doing before had stopped, “Uh-uh. It ain't coming back for you. It got shot down.”
“By who?”
“The zombie running this place. His name is Harry, he brought some soldier's back. They manned some of the anti-aircraft defenses that were put in place after the terrorist attacks. You know, to protect the buildings and everything.”
“Yeah, we know.” Both of them knew that the defenses Kaleb was talking about were supposed to be in military hands today too, it had been one of the missions the marines were handed yesterday.
“Harry, he took them over and when you got dropped off, he shot the aircraft down.”
“Fuck.” Randy said.
“Don't believe it.” Katie warned.
“No, it makes sense. I've been on the radio with them, they have been dodging me every time I asked for a pickup. It makes sense.”
“Don't talk in front of it like this! For all we know it is able to communicate with others of its own kind from where it is now.” turning on Kaleb, Katie asked, “Can you? Can you do some sort of zombie telepathy?”
The zombie seemed reluctant to say anything until Katie threatened it with her gun once more. “Yeah, yeah, okay I can do some of that. A little. Pictures more than words.”
“Prove it.”
“What? How?”
“Tell one to come here. Now.”
“It doesn't work like….well maybe…”
“What do you mean?”
“I can't tell zombies tougher than me what to do, only new zombies or stupid ones. Like these guys here that you killed.”
“Yeah, so? Call one of them.”
“Okay. Gimme a couple of minutes.”
Katie knelt by Kaleb and pressed her gun to his head, “And Kaleb?”
“Yes?” he nodded as his body stiffened in fear.
“Only call one.”
“Got it. No problem.”
The trio waited in silence for a few minutes before Kaleb spoke again, “I got one, it is going to come through the door, the loading door there.”
Both of them backed away from the door, then Randy said, “Okay, bring it in.”
The door slid open slowly and a young girl stepped into the hallway, no other zombies were visible as the door swung back and forth after she entered.
“Fuck. Now what?” Randy asked.
“We kill them both and report what we found to headquarters, let them deal with the information.”
“No!” yelled Kaleb, “I can still help you!”
Randy paused and said, “Yeah, how?”
“I know where some of your friends landed.”
“Tell us.” Katie said menacingly.
“No. I mean, I will, but you have to let me go. I will go into the storeroom and yell it to you there, then you won't see me again.” The girl dressed in an oversized Chicago Bears nightgown turned her head sideways and stared at Katie intently.
“Yeah, right. Kaleb if we let you go you'll just be back here with more of your friends looking for us.” said Randy, pulling the clip out of his gun and starting to reload it.
“No, I mean, even if I came back, you will be gone by then.”
“Why is she looking at me like that?”
“I don't fucking know, I only called her here…” Kaleb began. He was interrupted as the girl opened her mouth and spoke.
Her voice was that of any child, high pitched and full of innocence, “I am trying to decide what part of you to eat first.”
Katie's gun swung onto the girl, but it was too late the child dove away to the left, putting Randy between the two of them. Randy struggled to get the clip back into his gun as the girl caught his arm and twirled him about into the wall. “Kill her!” the girl yelled at Kaleb, who was already moving. Katie moved the pistol down to fire on the janitor when her legs were knocked out from under her by his rolling body.
Randy's hand slammed into the wall with enough force to break the skin over his knuckles, his gun fell from his numbed fingers to land by his side. He immediately slammed the hand with the clip into the little girl's face, trying to impale her head on it. The girl's head snapped back and she gave away beneath his hand, avoiding most of the force from the blow. When she was near the ground he brought his foot around to sweep her feet out from under her, the girl stumbled and fell on the floor and Randy came down hard on her back, forcing her to the ground, with his head near hers.
Katie fell forward over Kaleb and the man rolled until he was on his stomach and then pushed himself upwards in a move that defied the laws of gravity. Katie, however still had a gun, she didn't need to get to her feet to shoot either, instead she caught herself with her hands, then rolled over onto her back. As soon as Kaleb regained his feet he was hit in the side of the head by a single shot from her pistol, this time when he dropped he didn't get back up.
The girl flailed backwards with one elbow catching Randy in the head and knocking him momentarily off balance. She took advantage of the situation to spin around beneath him, then planted a short blow into his groin when the opportunity presented itself. Randy let out a moan and started to fall sideways, but it was merely a feint to get his hands on his pistol. The clip had been lost in the quick fight, but he grabbed the gun nonetheless. The zombie girl tried to push his leg up off of her, then, when that failed she put her mouth down to his thigh and bit down. Screaming Randy tried to get off of the girl, as he moved she came with him, her mouth attached to his inner thigh like a vise. Bringing his gun around he put it to the top of her head and pulled the trigger. The bullet slammed through her head and exited messily out of the side of her neck, instantly her jaws relaxed, dropping off of his leg a moment later.
Katie was on her knees in the hallway, staring at Randy. “I always keep one in the chamber, even when I reload.” he said. Katie didn't reply. At first Randy thought she was concerned about his bleeding leg, then he noticed the blood splatter against her camo suit, looking closer he saw the small hole in at the center of the blood splatter, right above her stomach.
“You shot me.” Katie said, before tumbling sideways onto the floor.
Chapter 31
Max arrived in Osceola the morning after the military men had come to collect him from Bill's house. Stewart was by his side and the two were now dressed in military fatigues. The military authorities had not given Max a choice, they had drafted him using the emergency legislation that the state of Iowa had enacted and taken him away from his crying children after giving him only a short opportunity to say goodbye.
The men were polite, but firm in their insistence that Max go with them. It was only after Stewart had taken one of his handlers aside that they agreed to let her come with Max as a 'body guard', the man she had proven her skills on wasn't permanently damaged. It was four thirty in the morning, according to Max's watch, and the train was already loaded up and almost ready to go. They were waiting for one more squad of men before they left, on board the train there were already two squads led by Colonel Leroy Draper, a tall, fit African American who was not happy to have Max along, but he had been briefed on the plan and had even added a few details to it himself. It was Draper who waited with Max, Stewart, and another soldier outside the train. Draper was older than Max expected, the man had to be close to his own age. Despite the age difference he looked much more fit than Max. 'He is built like a brick shithouse,' Max thought, sizing the other man up. As near as Max could tell he was the highest ranking soldier he had met so far.