“You were afraid? Imagine how she felt, stuck in a horde of fucking Infected!” Nick screamed into Josh’s face. The veins in Nick’s forehead throbbed, and his skin flushed.
“I’m sorry,” Josh whined, tears streaming down his face.
“Let’s go.” Nick grasped Josh by the back of his neck and pushed him toward Kate and Phoenix.
“We’re taking him back with us?” Kate asked. The same doubt colored Phoenix’s expression.
“We should leave him out here to die? Give him the same fate as his sister?” Nick questioned, looking back and forth betweenPhoenix and Kate. Phoenix seemed to relent while Kate nodded, agreeing with Nick’s proposition for the coward.
Nick shook his head. “We have to be better than that. An eye for an eye leaves the living outnumbered. Besides, I’m sure we can put him to good use cleaning toilets or something.”
Chapter 18
The group spent some time in the town, scavenging for what supplies they could find. While the trip was meant to be longer, Nick cut it short as the sound of Josh’s sniveling began to drive him insane.
When they arrived back at Fort Vanguard, Josh started the intake process. Marcus was busy preparing to mobilize, so the task was passed on to the others working the administration building.
Nick wished that Josh would fail to prove he could be a citizen in good standing. Maybe those in charge of the resident intake would discover something problematic about his past or an illness they could not risk among their constituents.
Nevertheless, Josh had no genetic flaws. Nothing came about in the process that blocked him from sharing the same space as him and Kate. Fort Vanguard turned away the physically unfit, not those plagued with cowardice.
Marcus had an entire looting expedition planned; Nick was certain it was another military installation, though the confrontation between Kate and Norman had distracted himfrom remembering the details. Marcus was hopeful they would find everything from food to weapons and even medical supplies. Yara worked out the logistics, as usual. She assigned people from Fort Vanguard who would accompany Marcus and decide what vehicles and supplies would be taken.
Norman’s refusals to go on the mission were vehement. He was not a dense man. Nick and Kate had made it clear that their plans for him were ominous. Marcus brushed it off as Norman being difficult, assuming he would relent at the last moment.
Marcus was skeptical about having Kate along. The level of danger surrounding the location was undetermined, and while he did not say as much, it was clear that he was uncertain what skills or expertise Kate could lend to the venture. None of that mattered to Nick. He would not leave Kate behind with Norman. Nick remained adamant that she go, so Marcus allowed it.
When the day came to mobilize, Norman suddenly came down with some unknown illness. He would not be joining the looting crew.
Nick and Kate stood outside of a Humvee after the last of the gear had been loaded. Yara insisted the group take enough ammo to level out a firefight, but not so much that it would put a deficit in the fort’s stock if it were to be commandeered. Along with rifles and ammo cans, medical supplies and sustenance were packed into the vehicles.
Kate bit her bottom lip, and her brows were pinched in distress.
“Don’t worry. I know what you’re thinking about. It’s going to work out.” Nick tugged at Kate’s shoulder, then took his place inside the vehicle. Kate scooted in beside him, and the Humvee rumbled through the fort.
A group of Marines guarding the front opened the gates, and the vehicle rolled through. Kate looked out the window, watching the landscape race by, passing vacant buildings andenvironments frozen in time. A feeling of loss tugged at her heart, though it felt disingenuous. Humanity lost a world that Kate was not allowed to be a part of, and she felt guilty for feeling justified by its decline. She would have taken freedom in any other form. The fact that it materialized through a fatal disease that killed off millions was unfortunate. Kate often needed to remind herself that it was not her fault.
The looting adventure promised to be bountiful, and Kate was looking forward to bringing valuable items back to the fort. The feelings were overshadowed by her disappointment that Norman did not join them.
Nick slid his hand into hers, delivering her back into the present and out of the confines of her thoughts. He was calm, collected, and composed. Kate even thought she saw the hint of a smirk in his expression. How could he not be even the slightest bit stressed over Norman’s absence?
The vehicle bounced across the bridge and distracted Kate from everything inside the Humvee. They were driving across the bay. The water beneath them was azure. Kate imagined stepping up onto the concrete barrier and balancing on the wall.She envisioned the freefall, wind rushing past her before colliding with the ice-cold water and letting the bay swallow her whole. Just another body claimed by a world torn to shreds.
Chapter 19
The Humvee pulled off the road and drove into the woods. The driver navigated in between trees and around rocks, driving as if caught in slow motion to avoid a collision. They parked behind a bush, and the occupants made a note of where the vehicle rested to ensure an easy route back.
The airfield was a quarter mile through the woods. Driving straight into it would have alerted anyone within, living or undead, to their presence, so parking just outside was the best course of action. As the group exited the vehicle, the rest of the convoy pulled in behind them. Marcus emerged from one of the Humvees and directed everyone into assigned groups. Once order was attained, they moved in on their destination.
A team of snipers lined the edge of the trees, peering through their scopes across the expanse of the airfield. Kate stood in the forest, rapt in the silence that consumed the atmosphere. Each moment spent outdoors felt like the world was holding its breath, and when it was ready to exhale, only a song of death would emanate from its mouth. Kate awaited gunfire or laughter, screams or shrieks. None came.
Walking out in the open across the spread of asphalt was a death wish. The group moved through the trees, skirting the edge of the airfield until they reached the back of a building. Sunlight glinted off of the metal structure’s rounded roof; the first in a row of several just like it.
The snipers inspected the area, confirmed it safe, and the rest moved in. Nick and Kate took to searching the first metal building with Marcus and several others. The rest of the party split between the other two storage structures.
Nick assisted with prying open crates, removing munitions and tools from within, and passing them along to other members in the group. They had an assembly line formation: one would hand off items, one would carry them outside, and another would store them in a place just outside the fence. Upon departure, the items would be gathered and walked to the vehicles.
While mostly spectating, Kate handed a few items off to be taken outside. She stayed close to Nick, eyeing each item found with curiosity.
