The Gates of Byzantium (The Babylon Series, Book 2) Read online

  He had to admit, even a half-finished room at the Kilbrew Hotel and Resorts looked better than anything Harold Campbell had put together in his finished facility in Starch. It was certainly a step up from the basements they had been sheltering in during the trip here.

  The floor had lush carpeting and a fan dangled from the ceiling. Not that they were going to need a working fan any time soon. The room was already cold, even though he had just turned on the air conditioner a few minutes ago. The bed was a queen, with fluffy pillows and a large blanket waiting for them. There was just a bit of dust, which meant everything had been prepared days—possibly weeks—ago.

  Lara made a beeline for the bathroom, rubbing slightly at her left shoulder.

  “How’s the shoulder?” he asked.

  “It’s itchy,” she said, making a face. “I’m doing my best not to scratch it, but it’s really hard. But you wouldn’t know anything about that, Mister I’ve-never-been-shot.”

  She disappeared into the bathroom, where he heard the sink faucet turning on and the squeak of plumbing not put to use until now coming alive. Then a second later, Lara shouting, “Yes!” followed by water pouring into the sink bowl.

  “Found working plumbing?” he called over.

  “What was that Gaby said?” she called from the bathroom. “Hallelujah!”

  Will leaned the M4A1 and Remington against a comfortable-looking armchair in a corner next to a mini-fridge. He opened the fridge out of curiosity, found it empty. The fridge wasn’t plugged in, so he plugged it in and heard the small engine start up instantly. Satisfied that the outlets were working, he pulled the plug free.

  Will walked across the room to the patio window and slid it open. He stepped out into the unfinished patio—really, just a half-circular concrete shape—and the heat immediately tried to reclaim him. He squinted in the sunlight and looked to his left, where he heard another window sliding open before Danny stepped out onto his own unfinished patio.

  “Nice, a room with a view,” Danny said.

  They looked across at about thirty meters of empty, undeveloped land and the wall of trees sprouting up on the other side. The grass in the middle was already up to five inches in some spots.

  “Too much green, though,” Danny said. “I like my view a little more blue-ish.”

  “How’s the mini-fridge in your room?”

  “Wanting. I did find an uneaten mint in a corner. You?”

  “Someone must have stolen our mint.”

  “Bummer for you.”

  “So what do you think?”

  “About all this paradise?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It’s paradise.” Danny paused, then added, “It’s damn perfect. Sandy beaches, blue water, air conditioning, and working plumbing. What’s not to like?”

  “Yeah,” Will said.

  They didn’t have to say anything else, because it wasn’t necessary. He knew Danny was thinking the same thing.

  It’s too perfect.

  “Stay frosty,” Will said.

  “I’m so frosty I can barely feel my fingers,” Danny said.

  Will went back into the room, sliding the patio door shut behind him and feeling the cool breeze right away, thanks to a pair of vents along the ceiling. Will stood under one of them for a moment.

  Lara came out of the bathroom with a big smile, her freshly washed face still glistening. She toweled down her wet hair and he was surprised to see her just wearing panties and a lacy white bra, gauze tape covering up part of her left arm. “Bathroom definitely works. Haven’t used the shower yet, but it looks like it works, too. Won’t that be something? Two showers a day? How long has it been since we had working plumbing?”

  “Since we left the facility.”

  “It feels longer.” She walked over to the bed and sat down. “I’m going to need to change my bandages. You’re going to have to help.”

  “Sure.”

  “This place…” She ran the towel over her wet hair. “It’s safe, right? They’ve been here for eight months, and the ghouls haven’t attacked. They were right. It really is the sanctuary they promised.”

  “It sounds that way.”

  “But you don’t really believe it yet. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Eight months, Will,” she said. “Eight months. And you saw how everyone is. They’re not afraid. I’ve seen fear, and these people…they don’t look afraid. At all.”

  He nodded. Will didn’t take his eyes off her. The way her hair fell over her shoulders and the soft blue flicker of her eyes when she moved her head. He had never seen her happier, and he wanted desperately to keep her this way.

  “What?” she said, finally looking over at him.

  “Hmm?”

  “You’re staring.”

  “Am I?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m just reminded of how beautiful you are.”

  “I’m already out of my pants, mister. You don’t have to work that hard.”

  He smiled, and she returned it.

  Lara put the towel down and leaned back suggestively on the bed. “Come here,” she said, patting the bed next to her. “Come to momma.”

  “Sexy.”

  She laughed. “Oh, shut up and get over here.”

  “What about your arm?”

  “I only need one good arm. Now come here before I change my mind and go take a nice, hot shower instead.”

  He went.

  CHAPTER 24

  BLAINE

  IT WAS AROUND five o’clock, with nightfall about three hours away, when they finished eating in the food court. Mason and Gerry were gone, checking on noises they had heard coming from the south side of the city. They kept in radio contact, but it would be a while before the two returned, even using a couple of ATVs. Lenny, the only one left at the mall who they had to worry about, was doing his rounds outside, something he did every day before nightfall, according to Maddie.

  That left Blaine and Sandra time to talk to Maddie and Bobby in the Sortys employee lounge. Or just Maddie, since Bobby couldn’t say a word and stood guard at the door, looking over at them occasionally.

  “Tomorrow, I’ll wake up early and come get you like I’m supposed to,” Maddie said. “I’ll give you my handgun, and Sandra can use Bobby’s. We’ll stick with the rifles.”

  “How many magazines do you have for the handguns?” Blaine asked.

  “Two. Counting the one already in the gun. So that gives you a total of thirty rounds each.”

  “You can’t get more weapons?” Sandra asked. “I know there are four of us against three of them, but still, I’d feel better if we had more firepower on our side.”

  “It’s not gonna happen. Believe me, I’ve tried. Mason keeps everything inside the jail in the security room, and he has the only key.”

  “What happens if you use up your ammo?” Blaine asked.

  “We don’t,” Maddie said. “I swear, the guy used to be a tight-ass CPA or something before all of this. He counts every bullet we have. He won’t even let us do target practice—that’s why most of these assholes can’t shoot the broad side of a barn.”

  “That doesn’t sound very smart,” Sandra said.

  “He says it’s also to keep us from exposing ourselves in case someone’s coming through the city. Which I guess makes sense. He likes to say that surprise is his friend.”

  Blaine thought about how Mason snuck up on them outside Cavender’s.

  He’s got a point there.

  “Except for Gerry,” Maddie said.

  “What about Gerry?” Blaine asked.

  “Gerry is Mason’s little bitch. They argue like a married couple, but at the end of the day, Gerry is the only person Mason trusts. So Gerry gets all the ammo he can carry.”

  “How many magazines do you think they have on them now?” Sandra asked. “Can’t be many. How much do those belts of theirs hold?”

  “A half dozen, maybe. They get p
retty heavy once you start loading them up.”

  “Maybe we’ll get lucky and they’ll decide not to burden themselves with too many magazines tomorrow,” Blaine said.

  Maddie grinned wryly at him. “Sure, there’s always that.”

  “You wouldn’t know it to look at him, but he’s the optimist in this relationship,” Sandra smiled.

  Blaine glanced at Bobby. “Can he shoot?”

  “A little,” Maddie said.

  “What about Mason and Gerry?”

  “Honestly, I don’t know. Whenever we’ve gotten into scraps with people, I was always at the mall and they were out there.”

  “Because he trusts Gerry and not you,” Sandra said.

  “Pretty much, yeah.”

  “How well can you shoot?”

  “I’ve been hunting with my dad since I was a kid, like I said, but that’s with hunting rifles. Assault rifles aren’t the same thing. Plus, it’s different when someone’s shooting back at you, you know? I don’t know how I’d be in an actual gunfight, to tell you the truth. Too bad you two aren’t ex-Special Forces or something—then we’d give you our rifles.”

  Blaine smiled. “We’re not, but those guys that came through earlier? The ones that killed Dirk?”

  “What about them?”

  “Two of them were Special Forces. Army Rangers.”

  Maddie smirked at him. “So you do know them.”

  “They saved my life. Too bad Mason didn’t try to take them on, because he’d have gotten his ass handed to him and saved us the trouble.”

  “They’re headed to Song Island, too,” Sandra said. “We’re going to be joining up with them.”

  That seemed to alarm Maddie.

  She’s afraid of what they’ll think when they learn she used to wear a hazmat suit.

  “They don’t have to know,” Blaine said.

  Maddie looked at him, then over at Sandra, who nodded, too. “They don’t have to know,” Sandra said.

  Maddie relaxed, then glanced at her watch. “It’s going to get dark in a few hours.” She looked over at Sandra. “Mason would shit a brick if he found out, but I stashed away some boxes of bottled water to take showers with every now and then. If you want…”

  “God, yes,” Sandra said, before Maddie even finished.

  Blaine discreetly sniffed the air around him and couldn’t disagree. He wondered if there were enough bottles for him, too, but decided to save the question for later, possibly after all the killing was done.

  *

  HE WALKED THROUGH the mall with Maddie, the gas mask tapping against his hip. Bobby walked slowly behind them, quiet as a mouse. The mall didn’t just look cavernous, it felt it too, the sounds of their footsteps against the floor tiles echoing up and down the building.

  “What happens at night?” he asked.

  “You mean when the ghouls come out?”

  “Yeah.”

  “We stay out of their way. In our rooms. Sometimes Mason comes out to talk to them.”

  “To the blue-eyed ghoul.”

  “Yeah. You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

  “No.”

  She looked quickly over at him. “So you believe me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I saw one, too.”

  “Is this you trying to be funny? Because if it is, I’m not laughing.”

  “No, this is me being serious. I saw one myself a few days ago before we came here.”

  Maddie looked relieved. “At first I thought I might have just imagined it. Mason says it comes and talks to him often, but I only saw it the one time with my own eyes, and that was months ago.”

  “What was it doing the time you saw it?”

  “It was just standing there, talking to Mason.”

  “You heard it talk?”

  “I think so.”

  “You’re not sure.”

  She shook her head. “It wasn’t like I was right next to them. But I could hear Mason talking to her. It. Whatever.”

  “It’s hard to tell with them, but I think the one I saw used to be a woman, too.”

  “For a moment, I thought it was a human woman, but then I realized it was a ghoul. I’d never seen one like that before, and I never saw it again after that.”

  She shrugged, and Blaine let it go.

  “So you just stay out of their way,” he said.

  “Yeah. We’re just the day crew, is how Mason puts it. We stay out of their way, and they ignore us even if we’re caught outside. As long as we’re wearing these suits and gas masks. I don’t know how they know, but I guess they recognize the suit or something.”

  “Maybe they’re told.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “By the blue-eyed ghoul.”

  “Maybe. I don’t know. I try not to think too much about it. Knowing those things are out there is bad enough. I don’t want to start thinking about what else is out there.” She shivered. “God, just thinking about—”

  She was interrupted by a loud gunshot that seemed to explode across the silent mall.

  They both turned back toward the Sortys department store.

  Sandra.

  *

  HE FOUND SANDRA in the women’s section of Sortys, sitting on the floor with her back against one of the clothing racks, holding a Glock in her hand and staring at a dead body crumpled on the floor in front of her.

  Sandra looked up at him, her face plastered with shock. “He tried to…” she said, but didn’t finish. She didn’t have to. He knew what had happened as soon as he saw the look in her eyes.

  Blaine kneeled down next to her and she fell into his arms. He held her, taking the gun away just to be safe.

  He glanced at the body, which was lying on its stomach. Without having to see the man’s face, he knew it was Lenny, with blood pooling underneath him. Lenny’s hip holster was empty.

  Maddie and Bobby arrived a few seconds later, both out of breath.

  Maddie looked at Sandra, then at Blaine, before taking in Lenny. “Shit. This is going to complicate things.”

  “We’ll deal with it,” Blaine said. He looked around the area. “Where’s his rifle? Wasn’t he carrying a rifle?”

  “Yeah, an M4. All military stuff. Mason took about a dozen of them from a surplus shop nearby.”

  “So where is it now?”

  “It has to be around here somewhere. Bobby, spread out, look for Lenny’s rifle.”

  They searched around the clothing racks, and when they couldn’t find it, spread out farther.

  Blaine turned his attention back to Sandra. Her eyes drifting over to Lenny’s body. She looked calm, but there was an alertness, a barely controlled energy about her that he recognized as adrenaline.

  “Where did he put his rifle, Sandra?”

  “I didn’t see it.” He couldn’t detect any quivering in her voice. “Just the gun.” Her eyes went to the Glock in his hand. “I just saw the handgun.”

  “How did you get it?”

  “While he was on top of me…”

  “Okay… Okay.”

  He heard Maddie and Bobby walking back behind him. He looked over and caught Maddie’s eyes.

  She shook her head. “I can’t find it. He must have put it somewhere else before he…” She stopped and said instead, “I can’t find it.”

  “At least we have another gun now,” Blaine said.

  “This changes everything. We can’t wait until morning now. You realize that, right?”

  “Yeah. How long before they come back?”

  “I don’t know—” Maddie began to say, when their radios squawked, cutting her off.

  They heard Mason’s voice: “We’re on our way back. ETA thirty minutes.”

  Everyone stood still, including Bobby, who didn’t look like he was breathing at all.

  Seconds went by, before they heard Mason’s voice through the radio again: “Anyone there?”

  Maddie unclipped her radio and pressed the tra
nsmit lever: “Roger that. Thirty minutes.”

  “What’s going on over there? What took you so long to answer?”

  “Sorry, I had my hands full,” Maddie said, exchanging a look with Blaine.

  He nodded, letting her know she was doing a good job. That seemed to help.

  “Where’s Lenny?” Mason asked through the radio.

  “He’s in the bathroom,” Maddie said. “You want me to fish him out?”

  “Tell him we’re coming back in thirty minutes. Mason out.”

  “Roger that.” Maddie ran her hand over her face and gave Blaine a look that barely concealed her nervousness. “Thirty minutes. They must be on the other side of town. If he didn’t hear the gunshot, they were probably on their ATVs at the time. Otherwise, he would be hauling ass over here.”

  Maddie crouched next to Lenny’s body. She turned it over with some effort. He was skinny, but a lot heavier than he looked. Blaine saw a bullet hole in his chest. Maddie grabbed a spare magazine clipped to Lenny’s belt and tossed it over to Blaine.

  “How are we going to do this?” Blaine asked.

  “I don’t know,” Maddie said. “This kind of throws my plan out of whack. We don’t have the element of surprise anymore.”

  “Maybe we still do.”

  “How you figure?”

  “They don’t know Lenny’s dead, and they still don’t know what we’re planning. They’re going to walk through that door blind, expecting everything to be just the way they left it.”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “What if everything is?”

  “I’m listening…”

  *

  THEY HEARD THE ATVs coming from a distance, the loud motors making a ruckus against the stillness of the city. Two Yamahas, yellow and black, appeared out of the parking lot and rode up the sidewalk, stopping in front of the doors into Sortys. The men climbed off and pushed their way inside, their rifles slung over their backs.

  He was hiding behind a clothing rack lined with Nike sportswear, just close enough to the front doors to see both men as they entered, but far enough away not to be noticed. Or at least, he hoped he couldn’t be noticed.