Page 33 of Desiderium
“Yup.”
“You rescue Cole and Aly, then meet up with me…waythe fuck over there,” I point more emphatically to the far side of the lake, flittering my fingers after, “and then speed off into the sunset?”
He points to me. “Bingo.”
“Wrong-o, chief.” I twirl my hands around each other. “We’re gonna need to flip that and reverse it. Missy Elliot style. Sorry to break it to you, but it’s gotta be me,” I correct him.
It’s a rare occurrence. I nevercorrect him.Ever.But he and I both know he’s just trying to be a selfless leader and take the burden onto himself. And, deep down, he knows I’m right when it comes to this. I know our run times. He does too. I ran track in high school and, when I joined the MarineCorps, always did exceptionally well on my personal fitness tests. At this point, it’s a no brainer.
Jax sighs at my correction, leaning forward to try and refute my statement but I keep to my argument. “I’m the fastest. Let’s face it, I can outrun any of you, even at your best, any day of the week. The zombies aren’tthatfast but we still want to send our best runner against them, right?”
It takes a moment, but Jax reluctantly nods. Defeatedly. Cole does too. Aly just looks terrified for us. I hate that we need to do this and to have her feel this way, but we have no other choice. If we don’t get those supplies, we’d have to start off completely fresh. And with Cole’s condition, I don’t think we can take any chances. Those supplies are our only option whether we like it or not.
“Ok, then.” I say, rubbing my hands together, trying to hype myself up for this kamikaze mission from Hell. “Let’s get this shitshow on the road. Anyone have any flares or some other bullshit hiding up their ass that I can use to draw the bastards away from here?”
Our hopeful gazes pass between us as we inventory the extremely limited items on each of our bodies. My shoulders deflate a little, noting the few guns and small bit of ammo we have left.
Jax lifts his hand, placatingly, at my subtle reaction. He knows we’re not in the best shape to be tackling this mission as we are, but he also knows, as well as the rest of us, there’s no choice. And with lack of choice, there’s only one option left—adapt and overcome.
“I think your best bet in this situation is to just be loud as fuck. Shoot off a few rounds, yell, scream, bitch at them. Throw some rocks at them. Light some shit on fire if you have to. Then, once you’re clear and there’s an opening for me, I’ll start my part.”
Is he fucking serious, right now? Am I being Punked? Throw somerocksat them…? Well, isn’t this just a fucked-up bundle of fun? I suddenly feel like Charlie Brown at Halloween—everyone else has the good stuff butI’ve got a rock.
I internally roll my eyes but it does absolutely nothing to stop the impending chaos. We gotta do this, and nothing can be done until I go through with my part. I take a deep breath, steadying myself for what’s to come. Ain’t no sense in holding back now. I put a smile on my face and get to it.
“Well, alrighty then. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy, eh boys?”
This is insane…
Fucking insane...
We’re all gonna die.
Chapter Seventeen
Jax
“Ok, just remember the plan and execute it. We’ve got this.”
We wade in the water just off the running trail, a short distance down from the estate. Instead of rushing the beach as if we were in World War One like we originally intended, Hawk is going to come at them from the side and draw their attention. That way, they’re unlikely to surround him at any given point.
We make our way out of the water while Hawk checks his magazines, counting how many bullets he has left as he goes. Hopefully, it’s enough to see him through safely. I’m already blaming myself if anything happens to him.
“Yeah, I got it. Johnson’s is the green place, right?” he asks without turning around.
“That’s right. Best way to find it from the road is by the fish shaped mailbox out front and the giant willow tree on the side of the house.”
He takes in the information, filing it away as he crouches down, double knotting his boots and tightening his holsters. When he’s satisfied, he stands back up, bouncing a little on his toes.
“Ok.” He nods before twisting his neck back and forth, swinging his arms around, readying himself for the run of his life. After a minute or so, he flashes his eyebrows. “Meet you on the flip side, brother.” Stepping closer, we give each other a quick hug and pat on the back and then he’s off.
I watch as he runs down the pathway towards where the house used to be but lose sight of him in the dense tree cover. He knows what he has to do and he’s always been good at anything he does. And, whether I want to admit it or not, Hawk is right. Heisthe fastest. And regardless of if I want to put him in danger or not, he’s the best choice of us to do this.
Doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it, though.
“Alright, time to get my ass in gear.” I walk back into the lake until it’s up to my neck again and then swim further out until I can see the property in its entirety. For now, I need to wait here until the horde moves towards Hawk’s distraction, whatever it may end up being. He’s resourceful, so whatever he thinks of will surely be effective.
As soon as I spot Hawk, however, I shake my head in amusement. The fucker’s off to the side of the property doing Michael Jackson’sThrillerdance. He’s clapping and stomping all over the place but, since he’s kept to a safedistance from the main group, very few of the infected are phased by his awful dance moves.
