Part 4 (1/2)
”There have been some new developments in the mission.”
Chaz turned and looked out the side window. ”Yeah, about that mission. I've been having some second thoughts, and I'm not so sure I'm the right guy for the job.”
”That would be unfortunate, Colonel. I'm not sure you're objectively considering the circ.u.mstances. After you've heard what I have to say, you may change your mind.”
Chaz shrugged. ”Go on.”
”It would seem there's a potential lead on your old girlfriend Christa.”
Chaz rolled his eyes.
Rabban continued, ”One of our body disposal s.h.i.+ps disappeared in the Gulf of Mexico. It missed its appointed delivery in New Orleans, and the search crews haven't had any luck finding it. The crews did some digging into satellite surveillance pictures from the area and found some rather disturbing images.” Rabban pa.s.sed a folder of pictures to Chaz and continued, ”You'll notice some of the images from a few days ago show four people on deck. The crew manifest only lists three individuals working that s.h.i.+p. One human captain, and two zombie workers. We identified the two zombies on board through bio scanning of the images; the fat guy is the captain. The fourth person looks like a young girl. Her face doesn't match any in our database, but time-phased images of what Christa would look like now match.”
”There are probably thousands of kids that would match that description. Why would you even suggest it could be her?”
”Notice anything in common with all those pictures?”
Chaz flipped through, giving them all a closer look. ”The girl seems to have no interaction with the rest of the crew. They all talk or interact with each other, except for the girl. It's like they're totally ignoring her. Like she's not even there. Maybe they don't like her.”
Rabban pulled at his bottom lip. ”The guy running that boat is Captain Willie Molinere. Bit of a hard-luck case. He's not fond of people in general, but he does have a rap sheet for hara.s.sing young girls. Usually just waitresses and strippers. Not likely he'd miss our friend here. At the very least there should be some pictures of him giving her dirty looks from behind. Instead, it's like he doesn't even know she's there.”
Chaz looked more closely at the pictures. ”You're right. She's standing right next to him. How can he not see her? She's looking at him, but he's more concerned with the other two.”
”Exactly. There's something different about her. We don't know what, but if it's Christa we've got a really big problem.”
Rabban pa.s.sed the final picture to Chaz. It showed a gutted Captain Willie sprawled over the deck, with the girl and one of the zombies yelling at each other.
”If this is what we think it is, if one of those zombies killed Willie, their controller, then we have the makings of a major disaster on our hands. Really major. It's apocalyptic, warmongering, riots in the streets, government toppling s.h.i.+t. We haven't had a zombie attack in six years. Not since the war ended. This entire country's economic growth and development is based on a master-slave relations.h.i.+p with these doped-up zombies. The guy on the rescue team that was looking for this boat and his entire department that found this image for us are now in double confinement in that prison you just left. This is serious stuff. We cannot let this get out. We need the people and the zombies that were on that boat, and we need them now.”
Chaz s.h.i.+fted in his seat. ”Maybe you need more than just a couple of guys tracking this down.”
Rabban ran his fingers through his hair. ”You heard what I just said, right? n.o.body else can know about this. If it were up to me, you'd be doing this solo without your sidekick Alex. The regent agreed to you taking him because he has a history with the girl. She thinks he could be helpful once you find her, but he's a liability in my mind.”
Chaz sighed as Rabban opened the door. ”There's no time for indecision here, Colonel. We'll need a progress report in twenty-four hours, and every six hours after that.” As Rabban stepped out of the car he said to the driver, ”Move your a.s.s, son. That man's on a mission and he needs to get home.”
Reunited.
Chaz waited all alone for his old friend in the conference room of the military wing at Fort Knox. I'm not sure how to break this to him exactly. I know he's going to be unsure at first, but I owe it to him to help him out of this mess. There's no way I can just leave that kid all alone sweeping floors for the rest of his life. He needs to get out and do some good. He's a fighter and a survivor who's just run into a tough spot. I'm sure that once he gets a chance to prove to himself what he's capable of he'll come back around.
Chaz heard a knock, and the door to the conference room opened. Matt held open the door as Alex followed him in.
Alex smiled upon seeing him. ”Hey, Chaz, where you been? Haven't seen you for a few days.”
Chaz got up to pull out a chair and motioned to Alex to have a seat. Matt nodded at Chaz and gave him a smile. ”Nice to see you up and about again. Try not to overdo things too much. Your right leg still looks a bit stiff. You're still doing the exercises I gave you, right?”
Rubbing his leg, Chaz answered, ”Yes, sir, Doc. Every day just like you taught me.”
Matt smiled and walked towards the door. ”It's a good thing you're doing here, Colonel. Just hope it's nothing too strenuous for either of you.”
Matt left, and Alex took the seat next to Chaz.
”What's he talking about, Colonel?”
Rubbing his stubbly face, Chaz replied, ”Well, Alex, there's this little thing I need to do, and I was hoping you could help me out. It could get a bit strenuous, but I figure it would be good for the both of us to get out and stretch our legs some.”
”I don't know, Colonel. I'm pretty busy these days. One of the guys on our staff got transferred out the other day, and we're all picking up extra s.h.i.+fts. I don't think the general would let me go too far. Do we have to leave the fort? He's been pretty adamant about keeping me here for as long as he can.”
”You don't need to worry too much about the general on this one. I've kind of gone over his head for this exercise. He'd be glad to let you go for a while, and I'm sure your department can find someone else to pick up the slack.”
Alex's right eye started twitching off and on. ”I don't know, Colonel. I'm getting pretty used to the work here, and it's not such a bad place. As long as I keep my distance from the general I have some pretty good days.”
Chaz pulled his chair closer to Alex and looked him in the eye.
”We need to find Christa, son. I think she's in some trouble and could use our help. I know what happened the last time we tried helping her, but this is different. It looks like she may have gotten tangled up with some really nasty folks and could be in over her head.”
Alex didn't say anything, but started rubbing his right eye.
”Alex, I know what happened when we were all last together. I know it may seem like she left us in a bad spot, and things didn't go well for either of us after that. Especially for you. I know that. Matt told me what happened with your dad and everything. That stuff never should have happened to you. To anyone. Certainly, you shouldn't have had to go through it alone. If it makes you feel any better, I believe Christa was trying to protect us. I think she knew what they had in mind for her, and she knew we'd get dragged into it pretty good if she stayed with us.”
Alex looked up. ”I got dragged into things pretty good even without her!”
Chaz leaned back to listen. ”Do you really think she did me a favor? She destroyed my entire life. I have no family. I have no friends. I have no life. All I have is the work I do here. I know it's not much being a stinking janitor, but someone has to keep the place clean. So, why not me?”
Chaz nodded. ”You can ask her that when we find her. You deserve to get some answers, and she's the only one that can tell you why she did what she did. I could be totally wrong, but I think she'll tell you. You two always had a connection. You looked out for each other and me when we fought our way here. I'd never have made it without you two. You owe it to yourself to at least ask her.”
Alex got up and paced around the room for a few minutes. Chaz didn't say anything. Alex's eye twitch got worse, but the walking seemed to calm him down. Eventually he came back and sat down next to Chaz.
”I'll go,” he said. ”I'll do it.”
Chaz nodded his approval. ”Great. That's good. It'll be good for the both of us to get out of here for a while. It's been too long.”
Alex got up and started to head for the door. ”I'll just tell my boss they'll need someone else to fill in for me for a while.”
”Right, that's a good idea. I should start prepping things as well.”
Just before Alex headed out the door, he turned and said, ”You know, Chaz, I really haven't missed her. Not at all. I've never felt alone all these years, because she always been here.” He raised his index finger to his head. ”She talks to me all the time. Christa does.”
Three Zombies and A Dinghy.
The dingy was making good time across the Gulf. Luckily the weather held, and the storm didn't start until they were nearing Gulf Sh.o.r.es just south of Mobile Bay. It was dark, and there wasn't much traffic, so they weren't likely to be noticed. The trip had been pretty quiet amongst the three of them until Andreas broke the silence.
”I remember you being inside my head, but not being able to do anything about it. You were distant, and you weren't making any sense. How did you do that?”
”I've had the ability to hear all of you ever since I matured. Mutating is what the scientists called it. I used to be a zombie, but then I developed certain abilities ... like being able to talk to you inside your head, and hear what was going on in yours.”
”That's pretty crazy. Do you know what I'm thinking now?”
”No. Thank goodness.”