Part 29 (1/2)
”I just think there's another way,” David said, exasperated.
”No, it has to be me,” Dejah said. ”Evelyn hasn't come back. That means either Bal Shem let her go or she's still up there being eaten. Or they killed her. We all know she told him what she knew about me. It's only a matter of time until he comes for me...at least to verify her story anyway. At least this way we have the advantage and we can be prepared to act.”
Dejah sat cross-legged in the circle of people, David at her right. Dr. Robbins and others willing to fight for their freedom sat side by side around the gathering. In all, they'd managed to pool about a dozen people from the motley crew in the barn, including a college-aged young man, the other solider named Abbott who'd been in their original group, a girl in her late twenties, named Torri, and a few others. Even Thomas had come around. Dejah wished he hadn't. She wasn't willing to let him redeem himself in her eyes. She knew it was selfish and stupid. Even in the midst of their last stand, she was thinking of a future with David. The bigger a.s.shole Thomas made of himself, the easier it would be for her to ... to what?
To move on.
Thomas was shaking his head at Dejah. ”It shouldn't be you.”
”Who should it be, Thomas? Are you volunteering?” Dejah asked.
Thomas set his jaw. His nostrils flared. It was a look she'd seen a million times. It was that look. In the past, it had been followed by his leaving for the night. Now, he sat before them, stewing in rage and disgust, a selfish desire to save his own skin the only keeping him from verbally las.h.i.+ng her.
Private Brooks had been quiet throughout the discussion, but now spoke.
”Here's my idea: Dejah asks the guards to take her to Bal Shem. If we're right, he's already heard of her from Evelyn and he'll be curious at least. While this is going on, someone causes a distraction. Now, there are three loose planks of wood at the back of the barn. We jimmy those off, and while Torri here is causing our distraction, David and Dr. Robbins slip through the loose boards and make a run for the old barn behind Bal Shem's clinic trailer.” He reached into his front pocket, removing a silver whistle on a chain. ”Dejah, you should keep this whistle. It'll be up to you to somehow keep Bal Shem occupied for the break-in. The main thing is that he doesn't have a chance to look outside and recognize what's going to happen, and he'll be distracted when David and Robbins come in the back. When it seems like the best time for them to come in - whatever's going on - blow the whistle. That will be the cue for David and Robbins to break into the trailer, and for the rest of us to launch our distraction.”
”Must be a pretty loud G.o.dd.a.m.n whistle,” Robbins said skeptically.
”It is. We were using them on patrol around H-Systems.”
”Why David and the doctor?” Thomas said, anger in his voice.
David's face went scarlet. An ugly countenance of threat overcame him and he leaned toward Thomas, clearly, finally, having reached the end of his patience with the man. ”Look here, you-”
The doctor raised his hand to calm both of them. ”Let's not get into personal issues, okay? We really don't have time and it doesn't matter at this point. This might be our only chance for freedom. Now, Dejah wants her daughter back, and we want the h.e.l.l out of here. This plan might just kill two birds with one stone.”
”Or kill all of us,” an elderly lady in a flowered s.h.i.+rt said. ”Have you stopped to think what happens if this plan fails?”
”I imagine things won't be very good,” Brooks said.
”That's an understatement,” she snapped.
”Well, we've got to do something,” said Torri. ”Things sure won't be very good if we stay here and wait for the next big flesh feast, either.”
G.o.d bless you, Dejah thought. We can't talk about failure anymore. She and Torri traded smiles.
Robbins brought them back to the issue at hand. ”As to your question, Thomas, I'm going because I have the serum to inject Bal Shem. They obey him; they listen to him. If we can get Bal Shem cured, he might call off the others or at least draw their attention while the rest of us get away. David's going because he has military training, he's strong, and I'll need help getting to Bal Shem. If one of us goes down, the other one will have to inject the b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”
”So, we're basing this plan on the guess that he might be able to call off the infected? Isn't he the terrorist that blew up the f.u.c.king plane that started all of this?” Thomas said. The old woman and another man beside her grumbled to each other in whispers.
”I think if we can inject the serum, then hold him hostage to his own shop of horrors, he'll do what we d.a.m.n well tell him to do,” Robbins said.
”Do you have a better plan?” Abbott asked Thomas.
An elderly man from the back of the crowd chimed in. ”If we have this serum, why not inject the guards outside this barn? Then, when they come to or begin to get better or whatever, we can negotiate with them, or sneak away. Surely anyone recovering from the infection would want to get away as badly as we do.”
Brooks nodded. ”We could, but then we're still posed with the problem of all the other zombies in the camp coming after us if they learn of our escape. If we get Bal Shem cured, he can control the whole camp, corral them or command them to set us free.”
”Also,” Robbins added, ”There is an indication that the serum does not work on everyone. Eighteen out of the 20 people tested recovered from the infection. Two of them remained sick with the virus.”
”So,” the old man retorted, ”What's to guarantee it'll work on him?”
”No guarantee,” Robbins said.
”I still think it's our best chance for success,” Brooks said. ”If it works, we've got a h.e.l.luva lot better chance of getting out alive than if we all just run for it and die in a zombie fox hunt.”
The crowd was silent as the realization settled over them. It seemed there was a general consensus that there was no foolproof plan, and they had to settle for this. Which was still better than nothing.
Abbott turned to Robbins. ”Me and Brooks, we'll handle the disturbance to draw the zombies away from the trailer while you go for Bal Shem.”
”Good,” Robbins said.
”Who wants to go work on the loose boards?” David asked the group. Faces stared back at him. They looked scared.
The college-aged man raised his hand. ”I'll get working on it right now.” He got up, and left the circle. ”I'll help,” said Torri, and followed him into the back of the barn.
”Okay. Once we know those boards are removable, we'll get this plan in action,” said Robbins. ”I'll get the syringes ready. Brooks, Abbott form a group and plan for the disturbance, and try to arm as many people as possible with makes.h.i.+ft weapons. There's going to be a big risk when you leave the barn, but the larger your group, the better off you'll be for a while. When Dejah blows that whistle, all h.e.l.l needs to break loose to draw the infected away from the trailer so we can get in there and inject Bal Shem. As soon as we get the girl and Dejah free of the trailer, then we'll draw the zombies' attention back to Bal Shem's trailer again, force him to give the order for them to set us free, or at the very least try to draw them as a crowd away from you all.” Robbins stood, and out of habit, brushed his dirty pants. Then he looked up at them and smiled.
”Sharp, doc. Looking good.” David grinned.
”Let's rock,” said Abbott.
The boards were loose. Robbins with his bag of syringes and David, armed with a small knife someone had managed to keep, were ready and positioned. Brooks and Abbott armed as many people who were willing to fight with improvised weapons, most of which consisted of boards with protruding rusty nails. There were a few sharpened wood handles from rakes and a.s.sorted farm tools found beneath floorboards or between hay bales. One man came up with a s.h.i.+rt-tied bag with empty food cans filled with dirt for weight. Another used the sharp lids from the tin cans and fas.h.i.+oned a rudimentary ax.
Brooks and Abbott used an old system of rope and wood pulleys to hoist a bale of hay over the door. After Dejah was taken and escorted to meet Bal Shem, they figured only one or two guards would be left at the barn. Brooks would take a swing at the nearest one. When the infected jumped him, a.s.suming they did, another man would let the hoisted bale fall. The key was trying to keep Brooks from being killed or hauled away to be eaten. While the commotion was going on, a group of people would form a wall to block the back section of the barn from view while Robbins and David slipped out. Behind them, Torri and the other young man would return the boards and use some hay to conceal the exit.
It all sounded good in theory. G.o.d help them carry it off.
Dejah pushed the barn door open a crack. Immediately three infected guards lurched toward her.
”I need to speak with Bal Shem.”
”Go inside. Stay.”
”I'm the mother of the child who heals the eaten people,” Dejah said. She waited, her heart beating hard against her ribs. What if it isn't Selah in there? What if all of this is for nothing? But then she knew that, for everyone else, it wasn't about Selah, it was about getting out of this h.e.l.lhole. Shame burned her cheeks. She was as selfish as she'd accused Thomas of being, but she prayed that it was Selah in there, only because it meant she was alive and there was a chance for them. And if it wasn't if by some insane twist of fate it was some other child she would follow through anyway, and save that child as if it was her own.
The infected guards grunted between each other uncertainly before one shoved open the door. Two guards came into the barn; the third took Dejah by the arm and escorted her outside onto the path.
Everyone tried to relax. Tried to breathe easy. But it felt like everyone was holding a collective breath.
Dejah and her escort were out of earshot on their way to the trailers at the far end of camp.
Brooks snapped into action. Before the infected guards closed the doors, he lunged from the shadows and punched the nearest guard in the gut.
The infected man doubled over, gasping, and then Brooks unleashed a barrage of punis.h.i.+ng blows worthy of a champion kickboxer. The other guard lumbered into the fray, but Brooks backed up in time for the hay bale to drop onto them. While Abbott and a few other men jumped the guards now struggling beneath the fallen bale, Robbins and David slipped through the hole made by the loosened slats in the back of the barn. They splashed out into a rut of mud and ran, dodging for cover from tree to tree until they reached the dilapidated barn behind the trailer.