Zombie Mountain(14)

“All the more reason for you to come with me tomorrow,” said Jack. “I’ll be with you the whole time. We’ll see what there is to see. You never know, maybe they left in the face of danger.” As he spoke the words, he couldn’t imagine the boy’s parents leaving without at least trying to get a hold of him. “And you can help me with some of the zoo animals. I have no clue who else is there anymore. I haven’t heard from Brice lately, but maybe he’s still around.”



* * *



The next morning, the guys decided that Jack and Jared would check the animal traps while Mike and Joe would set the new door in place to hold Anna during this, the worst phase of her infection. Neither Jack nor Jared spoke as they exited the building.

Carla was up next. First, she emptied Anna’s temporary room, an office, of all its supplies: staplers, papers, the one chair, the calendar on the wall. Anna was left with nothing. She wouldn’t need anything. But they all had witnessed the damage that could be done with something as small as even a paperclip. Or a nail on a beam.

Mike and Joe carried out the desk, leaving the room completely bare. Anna had become less and less coherent, and increasingly susceptible to sounds. She took a swing at her uncle as he tried to give her one last hug. Carla pulled him away.

Then they closed the door and secured it with a huge wooden beam.

Anna was left to express her rage in total darkness.





Chapter Eight



During the drive from the observatory to the zoo, Jack attempted to kill the quiet with bits of conversation with Jared. “Would you like to know the best thing to use in getting rid of that stench?” Indeed, the smell of rotten meat seemed to permeate the air everywhere.

“Oh, yeah?” Jared stared out the window; he wasn’t really listening.

“Yeah. Perhaps you already know, since we use it all the time. But most folks don’t know about lava rocks.”

“I guess not.”

“Not quite sure how it works, but you put a few of those rocks outside and they’ll get rid of any scent. Pretty cool. Doesn’t hurt the animals either.”

“Right,” Jared answered. “We’re gonna need a lot of those.”

Jack chuckled, finding himself growing to really like this kid. They soon reached the zoo’s employee entrance, left open, and parked in Jack’s usual spot. He cut the motor, but neither one exited the vehicle yet. Instead, they listened... all was still and quiet.

“Look, Jared, Anna’s going to be all right,” said Jack, finally. “She’s strong. She’s got you, and me, and the rest. We won’t let her down.”

Jared sat motionless, but Jack could tell he was listening. “And your parents, you know... they might be all right. Maybe it’s a communication issue.”

“Maybe,” was all he offered in response.

“Seriously. Cell phones are down, everyone is scattered around. They have no idea where you are. I’m sure if they did...”

“They didn’t care, Jack. Not before all this and certainly not now. Truth is, I haven’t talked to them in about a month.”

Jack studied him, struggling to comprehend such a thing, even though he realized the world was full of neglected kids. Jared’s life had been fairly invisible. As long as he passed his home-school tests, that was all that mattered, apparently. The notion that Jared loved a different part of Anna than most dad’s fear—and that he might actually love Anna’s family, too—dawned on Jack clearly for the first time.

He put a hand on Jared’s shoulder, and the young man let it stay there. “We’ll try to find out, son. If we don’t find them, you’ve got family right here.”

Jared nodded and wiped away a tear. Jack patted his shoulder again, then reached behind the seat for their rifles. Jack also produced two pistols with silencers attached. “We’ll use these when we can,” he advised. “We don’t want to make any more sound than we have to.”

Jack was surprised when the kid knew how to load the ammo clip and checked the scope to make sure it was ready. How many brains had the kid already blown apart? he wondered. Too many for someone that young...or old.

“Come on, son, let’s see what we can get done today.”





Chapter Nine



Cole took Julie’s hand just as she was about to come out of their hiding place. He pulled her close to him.

“Don’t disappoint me,” he said, his voice cold.

Julie couldn’t see his eyes behind the dark shades. But she wondered again how she could have been so easily fooled. He’d been nice enough at first. She didn’t forget—he’d reminded her more than once—that he’d saved her life back there at the base.