Raising his hands as if to placate Les, the man did as ordered, rising and stepping aside. “Seat’s all yours, lady,” he said to the woman. “Chivalry and all that shit.”
Murmuring a thank you, she sank into the seat gratefully.
Satisfied, Les got back into the driver’s seat, activating the personal shielding to keep the disgruntled man or anyone else from attacking him from behind. This was one school bus amenity of which he heartily approved. He activated the on-bus com. “Settle down, folks. We’ve outrun the infected for now. As soon as I find a likely spot we’ll pull over and get ourselves sorted out. For now count yourself lucky we made it out in one piece.”
He heard murmurs behind him but didn’t give a damn. How in the seven hells did he manage to get himself into these situations? The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for all these people. Checking his driver controls he found the com link to other Rosewater school buses and called Ethan in the bus behind. “How’s it going? You doing okay?”
Ethan sounded shaken. “The last bus didn’t make it.”
“Yeah, I saw.” What was there to say, really? They were living through an apocalypse and had to be grateful for each escape they made. “Passengers behaving?”
“Pretty much in shock. Like me. Lotta crying going on.”
Les couldn’t do anything about the mental state of the group, other than keep himself on an even keel. “Map shows a rest area about an hour from here. I’m going to pull over there and we’ll get ourselves organized. See if there’s anything to scrounge at the stores. We should be able to get a few more solid hours of driving in before nightfall afterward.”
“Going to this Glastine place?” Ethan asked.
“Those were my orders.” Les regarded what the woman who saved him had told him as orders he’d do his damnedest to follow.
“Roger.”
Ethan was a good man, as far as the roadies on Lally’s crew. Les wished the third bus had made it to safety but once the infected swarmed you, you were done for. Even if he’d had men and weapons at his disposal, they wouldn’t have been enough to stem the tide of what had flowed into the Fafield’s receiving yard.
As the miles ticked away, he thought about Lally. And especially the way she’d forced the bitten dancer and the other guy to leave the bus, all the while knowing she herself was going to turn. He had no idea if all her bracelets had been hiding a bite or a bad scratch but either way she’d been as much of a liability as those poor suckers. From here on out he was going to be a lot more cautious and suspicious of everyone as a matter of survival.
That’s what the dumb ‘warlord’ of Rosewater should have done. He should have had Lally and the others on the damn bus checked thoroughly for bites or scratches but he’d been dazzled by the show Lally was putting on just for him and in the end his laxness had cost him everything. And screwed all these poor people too.
Les took another glance at his passengers. The toddler was sleeping now, cuddled up to the woman in the seat behind him. He didn’t think she was the child’s mother but it was pretty selfless of her to rescue a kid. He hoped there hadn’t been other children at the compound and the idea saddened him so he gave his full attention to the road, disengaging the AI and taking the controls.
Chapter Four
When he rolled into the rest stop, the place was a mess, with abandoned cars in the lot, broken windows, the doors gaping open, bloodstains on the pavement…Modern day ground vehicles didn’t require any type of refueling but humans hadn’t evolved beyond the need to stretch their legs, use the facilities and have a snack or a meal. He also wanted to get his two bus convoy more organized, to feel in control of the situation he’d been thrust into. Accordingly he kept the doors closed and called Ethan. “Keep your people on board until I’ve checked the place out.”
“Roger. Need help?”
“Nah, I got a couple of armed guys over here.” Rising, he faced the passengers. “I need a few volunteers to go with me to check the place out for infected. I can see a couple of the creatures trapped in their cars already so there may be more.” He pointed at three men carrying blast rifles. “You, you and you. Now.”
Two of them came forward without demur but the third got in his face. “Who put you in charge?”
“The woman who told me there was a bus to escape on, right before the infected broke into that shabby ass compound,” he said, holding his projectile gun at his side. “You don’t like it, you can leave.” He waved his gun at the now open door, where the other two men stood outside on the pavement beside the bus, weapons ready.
The malcontent muttered a curse under his breath but descended the stairs to join the others. Les eyed his remaining passengers. He pointed to the woman in seat one. “You’re in charge till I get back.”
She didn’t argue or seem reluctant to step in. “I’m not sure I can drive a bus.”
“Hopefully you won’t have to. Don’t let anyone out. Close the door behind me.” He showed her the control and left the bus.
With his squad of draftees, he cleared the buildings, which consisted of a gift and snack shop, a restaurant and a small stockroom. There were a couple of big groundtrucks parked off to the side of the huge parking lot and he eyed them but left them alone. They found one infected trapped in the stockroom and shot him, leaving him where he fell, in a pool of black ichor.
“I want a guard on the road in each direction,” Les said as he and his helpers emerged from the store, which had been looted at some point. “You and you. You see anything moving our way, come running.”
The duo nodded and moved off as ordered. He hoped he’d gotten himself a couple of good guys to work with but his trust level was low. Returning to the bus, the grumbler at his heels, he signaled for the woman to open the doors and when she did he stepped inside. “It’s a mess but all clear. We’re going to have a meeting in front of the buses and then we’ll take half an hour here before we set out again.” He picked up the com and reiterated his message to Ethan.
“Everybody out but stay beside the bus,” he said when he was done briefing his fellow driver.
When they were all assembled and Ethan had brought his group of passengers to join them, Les stood on the bottom step so everyone could see him and he could keep an eye on the small crowd. “I’m Les McDaniel and this is Ethan Cole. I was told to take these buses to a place further north called Glastine, where there’s supposed to be a big government-run refugee camp. I don’t know anything more about it. Anyone who doesn’t want to end up there can leave now.”
He watched a few people whispering to each other and wasn’t surprised when the man who‘d complained about helping to clear the facility stepped away, followed by a few others.
