Cole retrieved the suitcase from the SUV. A suitcase nuke. Or, more accurately, a nuclear warhead housed within a steel case lined with protective padding in case of radiation.
Like that’s going to matter soon, he thought, while wheeling the case carefully in front of him.
Only 60 pounds, but it packed a wallop. The explosion would be about half what it was at Hiroshima, or 6 megatons. And it didn’t take much to set this baby off either. A coded detonator, and a small explosion that literally rammed the two uranium tubes together.
And that’d be all she wrote for this nightmare. At least in L.A.
He was doing his job. Nothing more, nothing less. Just as others like him, around the world, were doing their jobs, too. To contain this nightmare. To save this sorry world from itself. And if he could take out the two Carter boys with the crazies, well, all the better. And if he could actually watch them suffer, too, even better still.
He had a little plan for that. A plan with front row seats to watch them suffer.
The arrogant pricks.
For now, though, he searched for the perfect spot for the bomb, until he sheepishly realized it wouldn’t really matter where he put it. The stadium would be gone whether he threw it in the bathroom or shoved it under a seat.
Still, he needed it out of the way and to keep it dry. Mostly, he needed to keep it safe from prying eyes.
And from the crazies.
* * *
Hours passed.
Cole returned, and seemed pleased with himself. Carla ignored the asshole as best she could, while trying not to give away the fact that Anna was, in fact, quite coherent. Carla also knew Anna’s coherency would last only for so long, before she devolved into a....
She couldn’t think about, and so she refused to.
Cole left again, keeping Carla chained. She felt so tired and began to fall asleep. Exhaustion became to hard to resist.
* * *
Anna crouched in the corner. Waiting.
Staying still was agony. She held the pen that Carla had told her about, a pen she had fished from Carla’s jeans, which had been a challenge since both of their hands were either cuffed or tied. But she had gotten it, and now she held the ballpoint pen tightly in the palm of her hand, thinking of all the places that were vulnerable on Cole’s body. She knew what she would do, but she had to wait for the right moment.
Think of something else....
Anna distracted herself by running through all of the constellations in her mind. First alphabetically, then chronologically. She fought her urge to get up, get out. She felt wonderfully powerful, and had never struggled so hard in her life to remain calm. She pictured her father, and remembered Jared. They were good men. She allowed herself to think of Jared... naked.
Anna had carefully loosened the knot that held the pillowcase around her, a short while earlier. Then, she made herself wait. Patience wasn’t her strongest virtue, and she reminded herself repeatedly what was at stake. Her life. Her father’s. Jared’s. Her uncle, Mike and Carla. She had to wait until the perfect moment.
She was in the middle of naming the stars in Latin when Cole suddenly returned.
Carla awoke with a slight moan.
“The time has come,” he announced.
“What time?” asked Carla, disoriented for a moment. Then Anna heard her jerking herself upright.
“You have a choice. Are you my girl?”
“What the hell does that mean?” asked, Carla, sounding confused.
“Choose, or I will choose for you.”
“What are you planning, asshole?”
He laughed. “That’s the fun of it. You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Okay... I’m your girl,” Carla affirmed. “Take me, do what you will. But you’re not going to win.”
Anna heard him take her cuffs off the file cabinet, then snap them on again, likely behind Carla’s back. She didn’t hear anything more except the door opening and then locking from the outside.
Chapter Twenty-two
Mike froze when the stadium lights turned on.
Julie cried out in surprise when the music roared. He thought he might’ve heard both Jack and Joe shout over the radio, but the radio’s light dimmed by the time he noticed it. Neither one responded to his calls.
The wild rock music had a huge effect on the zombies. They had been fairly quiet, but now the noise and thudding drums and bass made them enraged. Julie clung to Mike, terrified.
He had to use a few bullets to get a few of the fuckers out of the way to get to the top edge of the stairs leading down to the field.
He was surprised by what he saw: Carla on top of the SUV, as bait. Jack and Brice were running toward her from left field, and Joe and Jared from the right. All of them were fighting their way through the incited undead.
They were out of time. Previous plans down the drain.