The Hunt Chronicles (Book 2): Revelation (28 page)

“So, you think you staved off the virus a second time, only quicker?” she asked.

I nodded.  “Yeah.  It felt the same.  I thought for sure I was going to change into a zombie, but nothing happened the next day.  When I was bit the night we fled Ace Hardware, I felt it again, but it was even weaker than the second time.”

“And now?  Do you feel sick at all?  Excluding, of course, the physical damage you received.”  She seemed to be getting excited.

I shook my head.  “No, not at all.”

“Hmmm,” she raised her finger to her lips.  “It appears your immune system is fighting off the M Virus and M Supercells.  Not only that, but your system seems to be getting stronger.  I will need to run some labs, of course, but this could be the key we need.”

“That’s good, right?” I asked, grinning.

“Yes.  Thank you, Christian.”  Doctor Tripp stood to leave, but paused and turned around.  “Where are you from?  I mean your family?”

“I was a military brat.  I came from all over,” I replied.

“I was thinking more of your heritage,” she corrected.

“Oh…  Umm, I’m not sure, really.  My mom was a mutt.  My dad was an only child, as was his grandfather.  I think his side is English and French.”

She nodded, still thinking.  “Thank you again, Christian.  We have a lot of work ahead of us.”  Doctor Tripp turned and left the infirmary.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I said aloud.

“It means you’re probably going with us to Hoover Dam,” Pitman answered.

I sank into my bed and rolled over, facing the wall.

“That’s a long ways off,” I told him.

“Yes… it is,” he returned.

***

The next day, Rich said I could go see Boomer.  I was off the IV, but he still wanted to keep an eye on me.  One hour was all I was given, and Karina was my escort.

“He’ll be so happy to see you,” Karina told me as we walked to my shack.  “He’s doing so much better, too.  He’s already up and moving around.  Rich gave him some drugs yesterday to keep him still.  He said something about Boomer ripping his stitches or something.”

She continued to babble as we marched through the camp.  Normally, this got on my nerves, but that day, I was happy to hear it.  The little squirt saved my life.  I would have easily traded my sanity for her relentless mouth.

I noticed people around the camp looked at me differently.  There were a lot of greetings, smiles, nods, as if The Awakening had never happened.  Or that the nightmarish lives we lived were close to being over.  How wrong they were.  But, I guess it was good for morale to see some sort of hope.

I bumped into Jenna and received, shockingly, a long kiss on the cheek.  Her eyes seemed about to flow with tears when she scampered away.  It was an odd feeling.

Boomer greeted me with more energy than he should have used.  He leapt up on me, licking my face and whining with excitement.  His fur had been shaven in a few spots, and stitch lines covered mangled skin.

“So, why did they wait until Boomer returned to come rescue me?” I asked Karina who was petting Boomers tail.  The canine’s head was nestled firmly on my lap as I played with his pointy ears.

“That doctor… Tripp I think.  That doctor said that if Boomer was back, it could mean that either you were dead or on the run.  Fish gave the Captain an ultimatum, and half the camp backed him.  The Captain finally agreed to send in everyone.  Well, everyone except me.  I volunteered, but—”

“I get it,” I cut her off and then changed the subject.  “I wonder why Boomer isn’t in more pain.  He looks pretty bad.”

“Rich said it looks worse than it is.  Also, he said something about dogs having a high tolerance for pain.”  Karina stood up.  “We better get back.  We don’t want to make Rich mad.”

“I think I’m going to make him mad, anyways,” I grinned.  “Boomer’s coming back with me.  He can sleep on the end of my bed in the infirmary.  Thank you for taking care of him.”

Karina smiled.  “Of course!  He’s like a brother to me.”

I smiled back, but it soon fell.  Karina was like a little sister to me.  That made me think of my real sister, Trinity.  If she was still alive, she was all alone.  I thought I would never know if she had survived.

“Are you okay?”  Karina asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I lied.

Rich was not happy when he caught me walking back with Boomer, but after some pleading, he submitted to my demands.  He did note that if Boomer peed on the floor, he would neuter him.  I think Boomer got the message.

I walked into the infirmary just before sunset and saw Major Dobson standing near Pitman’s bed.  He spun and I noticed Pitman had an M4 rifle in his hand and a pistol lying on the small table next to his bed.

Dobson turned and smiled at me.  His limp from his sprained ankle was barely apparent as he approached me.

“How are you feeling, Christian?” he asked.

“Umm, good.  I’m healing pretty well, I think,” I responded and patted the end of my bed with my hand.  Boomer jumped to the bed and curled up on the blanket.  “What’s going on?”  I was eyeing Pitman’s rifle as I spoke, and then glanced up at Dobson.

“Sergeant Pitman is your new shadow.  Doctor Tripp needs you alive, and Pitman’s duty is to make sure you stay alive.”   Dobson said evenly.

“Does the Captain know about this?” I asked.  “I mean, don’t get me wrong.  I like the idea of having my own secret service agent, but…”

“The Captain knows,” Dobson said quickly.  “He wasn’t too happy about it, but Colonel Forester agrees.  Doctor Tripp’s and your safety are priority.”

He glanced over at Pitman, who nodded.  “Don’t worry sir, I got him.”

“Very well.  Good night, gentlemen.”  On that, Dobson turned and walked out of the infirmary.

“So… what are you protecting me from?” I asked Pitman as I prepared for bed.

Pitman glanced up at me as he leaned the M4 rifle against his bed, and chuckled.  It was an odd, scary laugh.  “Heh, zombies, scabs, humans… yourself if need be.  Everything.  You don’t leave this building without me from now on, got it?”

“You sound less like a bodyguard and more like a babysitter,” I scoffed and chased a few pills with some water.

“Tomato, tomahto,” he mused.  “Just try not to give me the slip.  I’d hate to cuff you while your wrist is still healing.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I sighed as I rolled over in my bed.  Boomer moved up next to me and nuzzled into my chest.

I had a feeling there was a lot of talk going on about me.  I suddenly felt helpless.  What were they going to do with me?  I didn’t have a clue. 

***

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back for you,” a voice said into my ear. 

The grogginess that came with Rich’s cocktail of pain pills and antibiotics was terrible.  It took me time to focus through the fog every time I woke up.  Someone had just whispered something in my ear, and I couldn’t muster the energy to roll over.

By the time my eyes finally focused, the room was empty, except for Pitman who was reading a book.

“Did you just say something to me?”  I asked, yawning.

“Naw.  A few people have been in here to see you, but they left before lunch time.”

“Lunch time?”  I winced.  “What time is it?”

“About one o’clock.  You’ve been passed out, Christian.”  Pitman sat up.  He looked a lot better.  His grey, sickly complexion was now gone, replaced by his natural dark brown color.  His beard was gone as well as a new sharp haircut.

“Who?” I said, looking around for Boomer.  The canine was lying on the floor next to my bed.

“Fish came in earlier.  Then that girl Jenna came to see how you were doing.  Some teenage brat that wouldn’t shut up stopped by to let your dog out.  And that police officer, Cecil, just left about twenty minutes ago.”

The drugs had my timetable all screwed up.  It felt like someone had just whispered in my ear, yet Pitman said the last one here was Cecil, and that was almost a half an hour before I woke up.

“Is something going on?”  I asked curiously.  Pitman was dressed in freshly cleaned Battle Dress.  He had an ammo vest lying near his bed and his pistol was holstered onto a web belt.

He stood up.  “Yup.  One of your hunter teams went missing.  They’re sending out a search and rescue party.”

I shot up off the bed, almost falling over from lightheadedness.  “Who is missing?”

Pitman shrugged.  “Don’t know the names of the people that went missing.  I think Specialist Gardner was one of them.  I remember him.  But the rest?  No clue.  The rescue party just left.”

I scanned around the room.  “Where’s my gun?”

“Whoa,” Pitman raised his hands.  “You’re not going anywhere, Christian.”

“Those are my friends!” I countered.

Pitman slowly approached me, “First, you are in no condition to leave the wire.  Second, even if you were, I wouldn’t let you.”

“I’m fine,” I countered.

“That still doesn’t get you past my second point.”  He was now face to face with me.  His head seemed about twice the size of mine and his body twice as wide.

Boomer didn’t like Pitman’s proximity to me and stood up.  A rumble in his chest drew Pitman’s attention.

“Tell your dog to back down, Christian.”

I hesitated, but complied.  I had a feeling Pitman could tear Boomer to pieces if he wanted to.  I didn’t know much about Pararescue.  Fish had told me they were Air Force Special Operations.  Even if Pitman wasn’t SF, he was still a brick house.

I put my hand on Boomer’s head.  “Boomer, back!” I hissed.

Boomer slowly backed down.  He gave a last second growl, as if to say ‘I’m still watching you, bud’.

“Can I at least have my gun?” I appealed.

“I guess,” Pitman sighed, and then pointed over at Rich’s desk.  “Cecil put it in there.  It was on your gear, but Cecil thought it was a bad idea to have a gun lying around with children in the camp.”

I walked over to the desk and pulled the drawer open.  It wasn’t my Glock.  It was Chad’s chrome .45.

“This was Chad’s gun,” I corrected.  “Not mine.”  I picked it up and walked back over to my bed.  After slumping down, I pulled the magazine and saw that it was still fully loaded.

“That was your friend that you lost the other day, right?” Pitman asked.

“Yeah…” I said quietly.  “I found his gun…”

My voice trailed off, remembering where I found his pistol.  It was behind the X-Ray chair. 

Something wasn’t right. 

Cecil said Chad’s gun was still on his body when he reanimated as a zombie.  Supposedly, Chad walked out of the building with it still on him.

Why would Cecil lie?
I thought. 
And if Chad had been attacked by zombies, and Cecil put him down, how would his .45 have gotten into the X-Ray room with Cecil anyway?  Maybe he shot Chad in the X-Ray room?  But if he did that, why weren’t the zombies that were attacking him still in there?  And I was sure Cecil would have permanently put Chad down with a small sledge or something else if he were locked in the room with his dead body.

Things weren’t adding up for me.

“Sorry man,” Pitman said, walking over to his bed.  “Didn’t mean to bring up your friend’s death.”

“That’s not it…” I said, moving over to a pile of clothes at the foot of my bed.  I rummaged through the pockets of my old jeans and pulled out Chad’s cell phone.

“Pitman,” I turned around.  “We have to go to Chad’s bunk.”

Pitman eyed me.  He wasn’t sure what I was thinking, and hell, I wasn’t either at the time.  But something was wrong, and I had to figure out what it was.

“It’s not going hurt for us to walk across camp, is it?” I continued to plead.

After a moment, he agreed.  “I guess not.  Just don’t wig out on me or anything.  You look pretty upset.”

I was upset.  I wasn’t sure why yet, but dots were starting to connect in my head.  It was just fuzzy and I couldn’t see the complete picture yet.

Pitman, Boomer and I left the infirmary and headed to one of the large sleeping areas.

“Where are you going, Christian?” A familiar, annoying voice asked from behind.

“Don’t worry about it, Karina,” I said, walking briskly in front of Pitman.

She continued to follow us.  “Did you hear Gardner, Bret and Jean are missing?”

“Yeah,” I answered halfheartedly.  I was trying to concentrate on the mystery of Chad’s death, or what was soon becoming a mystery to me.  Karina was fogging up those thoughts.

“Fish took a group to go look for them,” she continued.

“I know.  Karina, I’m kinda busy,” I said, glancing back at her.

Karina smiled.  “Okay.  I’ll help!”

I sighed and turned, continuing my march to the Runner’s barracks.

I barged through the door and was surprised to see the room empty.  It was cramped, but still housed ten people.

“Where is everyone?” I said aloud.