Paul and I take our spots on assigned rooftops lining Main Street. He heads to the old pharmacy, positioned at the edge of the town. I circle around back to the alley and climb the ladder left by the others to the flat roof over the cinema. Erwin’s men and women are up here, crouched and ready. They’re the best shooters according to the skills assessments the General hobbled together from his growing army.
I pass a woman named Margaret and sit with my back against an air conditioning unit. “Everything go okay?” she asks, unaware of the real purpose of my scouting trip.
“They should be here soon—maybe fifteen minutes.” If the intel Cole gave me is accurate. Truth be told, my mind is reeling from everything he told me during our hour together. Not just the Hybrid stuff or his choices, although that’s a tough nut to swallow, but what came after, the request about Alex. I have a difficult decision to make.
I close my eyes to clear my head but just run through his revelations again and again.
“Alexandra is up north, in the small town of Catlettsburg, Kentucky, where Jane had access to a second, small compound on the Ohio River,” Cole said on the bridge.
“Another PharmaCorp?”
“No,” he shook his head. “It’s a little town set aside by her former partner who didn’t have the same ideas about the future of society as Jane did. From the documents Jane left behind it seems like it could be a good place to settle down. Unfortunately, my sister knows where they are and the infection in her brain makes her do crazy things. She’s obsessed with tracking Jane down and finishing what she started at The Fort.”
I frown. “Then why is she down here? Why spend months fighting a bunch of farmers and housewives?”
“Dr. Ramsey and I had finally come up with some solid research on how the E-TR virus takes over a human’s body. After the parasite digs into the hosts brain it spreads, triggering the need to attack others and spread the virus. Chloe’s brain does the same thing but on a different cognitive level. Her mind and body are consumed with the same need to conquer and multiply but she does it with her army.”
I must have looked confused. I felt confused, and when I didn’t react right away he continued. “Chloe will take over every inch of the South. There’s no stopping her. No reasoning—trust me—I’ve tried. I think that part of her brain stem is fried. Once she overpowers Erwin’s Army and every other survivor she collects along the way, she’ll convert them into Hybrids and head north.”
“And she’ll do the same up there.”
“Town by town, city by city. Once the Midwest is taken, she’ll go for the coasts.”
“And the people up there? Do they have the vaccine?”
“From what I understand, the inoculation rate is minimal once you cross the Tennessee state line.”
What Cole was telling me was that Chloe planned on expanding her Hybrid Army across the entire country. “You want me to find Alex so that she can be ready so that—”
“They can be prepared to fight. If not, we’re screwed. I don’t see a way back from a fight like that.”
I rub my eyes, blinking at the sliver of sunrise to the east. Cole and I parted a short time after that and I met up with Paul down the road.
A bird calls somewhere nearby. Once—then twice—and I get to my knees and mimic the sound back.
“They’re here?” Margaret asks. She clutches a rifle in her hands. I think she used to work as a waitress. Now, in her camouflaged uniform, she looks like an eager solider on her first mission.
“Good luck, Margaret,” I tell her. I already know this will be my last battle fought for Erwin, at least for now. I tip the nozzle of my gun over the edge of the building and watch for the first Hybrids to appear in the scope. It may be my last, but I also plan on going out with a bang.
*
In the shower I lean against the cool tile wall and let the water wash the grime off my body. There’s no soap that will clean off the residue of murder. Even though the Hybrids are dangerous, technically they are still human, and their blood flows red like my own. We had little choice but to slaughter them as they rode into Dublin.
The water is cold but I’m used to it and he helps me stay awake. I’m too distracted to care much anyway. I watch the water--now clean--swirl around the drain, and contemplate the conversation ahead. It’s enough to keep me in here even longer but an impatient cough from outside the stall encourages me to finish up. I step out, towel wrapped around my hips, and pass Davis, who has been waiting.
“Did you save me any hot water?” he asks with a sarcastic grin.
“Steaming.”
I move to the sink and pick through the small case I carry, deciding to clean up my beard before hitting the road. I’ve decided I’m leaving ASAP. I just have to take care of a few things first.
“So how was the meeting?” Davis asks, voice echoing off the cement block walls.
“Informative.”
“Anything you can share?”
I stare at my face in the mirror. God I look like shit. Crow’s feet tug at the corner of my eyes and purple bags prove how little sleep I actually get. “I have a decision to make. Well, I’ve made it. I’ll give you and the rest of the team the same choice.”