“Fabi, she’s gone. If we try to carry her body out, it’ll slow us down. It’s not worth the risk.”
Fabi broke down in a fresh bout of tears while Peter pleaded with his eyes for Bones to get her moving.
“We can’t just leave her here like this!”
Bones gently urged her along. “We’ll send the authorities back for her body after we get out of here safely.”
They set out again but this time it was Maddock who halted after a short distance.
“Now what’s up?” Bones asked.
“Hold on, one minute.” Maddock moved to the bank of cages on the far wall and released the dozens of zombii corralled inside before running back to the group.
“Let them cover our trail.”
Chapter 44
“We may encounter some resistance when we go through here,” Peter warned.
“Resistance is my specialty.” Bones held his firearm in the ready position, and Willis followed suit. Maddock asked the scientist what sort of resistance they could expect.
“Living and not-so-living, but it’s Avila’s guards who haven’t yet gotten the memo that worry me the most. There may not be time to explain things to them, and they’re more of a shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later bunch. I’ll try to let them know, but first let’s get you guys out of here so they won’t be so nervous.”
They emerged from the lab complex into the actual mansion, leaving the door wide open. Distant shouting echoed, but other than that they saw no one inside the main living area of the house, a sprawling, high-ceilinged great room furnished with oriental rugs and ornate furniture. The scientist waved them on, jogging across the space with the three former SEALs and Fabi in tow. Except that, as they moved, it became apparent that Fabi wasn’t really in tow, she easily kept pace with Maddock and the rest of them, running neck and neck with the scientist.
Bones caught up with her as they reached the opposite side of the room and turned into an arched hallway. “You feeling better, Fabi? Looks like you have more energy.”
She eyed him with a smile and nodded. “I do feel better. Much better. Bones, what was that stuff you injected me with? Was it the experimental switch serum?” Her voice was edged with tension, with the unspoken fear that maybe Bones had managed to find some untested lab sample, and that it would wear off soon.
But he shook his head with an infectious smile. “Nope. Just good ol’ sassafras.”
“What?” They had to pause the conversation while they ran down the hall and exited to an entrance room that led outside.
“You know, the plant sassafras. I noticed on the way through the lab, in the grow room part, that they had some, because my grandmother, a Cherokee Indian, used to use the stuff all the time for all kinds of ailments. She and her new age freaky friends still believe it can cleanse the blood and fight cancer. I’ve seen it work sometimes. So I ground it up with some saline solution and injected you with it. You know, figured there wasn’t anything to lose.”
He made eye contact with her as she drew him near. “And everything to gain.” Their lips met until Willis yelled at them to get a room and the scientist shouted something unintelligible. Then Maddock fired a shot into the yard outside and Bones separated from Fabi, drawing his weapon.
“Don’t let this go to your head, Bones but it’s good to know you’re good for something other than killing people. That being said, right now I need you to focus on killing people until we can clear a path down to the Sea Foam.”
“Aye aye, Captain.” Bones joined Maddock at the door leading out to the expansive backyard. The two of them crouched on either side of the doorway, reaching out to pepper the yard with rounds when they spotted muzzle flashes. Before long the opposition had been silenced, and Peter gripped Maddock by the shoulder.
“This is where we part ways.” He pointed across the lawn to a rock-lined footpath leading through a landscaped area toward the ocean. “Take that path there until you get to a cliff viewing area, then take the stairs down to the dock.”
Maddock extended a hand. “Thanks for your help, Peter. May your future employment decisions be made with more care.”
The man nodded, pumped Maddock’s hand and disappeared back into the house, where a cadre of zombii was involved in some kind of fracas with another one of Avila’s men. Maddock led his friends through the yard, where they could hear vehicles arriving somewhere on the other side of the house. Maddock didn’t know if they were Avila’s reinforcements, local law enforcement or what, but he decided it was time for them to go, regardless.
The ragtag group made their way down the wooden stairway that zigzagged across the hillside until they came out on a rocky beach. A wooden walkway led to a pier, beyond which the Sea Foam still lay at anchor. They walked out onto the pier, and a short swim later, climbed aboard the boat.
Maddock started the engines and as they rumbled to life, Bones hauled in the anchor, a huge grin on his face as the sun began to set behind him. He paused in his anchor duties to look back toward the cockpit. “You know, Maddock, I have to admit. I think I may have found my true calling with this treasure hunting thing.”
“I’m glad, Bones. But finish with the anchor so we can get out of here before someone decides they need us to answer a few questions.”
Bones nodded and got back to his task while Willis took a seat in the cockpit. “So what happens now? Besides me patching up that shoulder, that is.” He indicated the blood spot on Maddock’s shoulder and opened a first aid kit.
Maddock took out a silver real he’d recovered from the fateful dive.
Willis eyed the coin with a sparkle in his eyes. “Hey, Maddock, you know what that coin’s good for?”
He shot Willis a questioning look.
“A trip to Key West. Remember? You said if we found treasure, we’d stop in on the way back.”
“That’s right!” Bones backed Willis up from the bow.
“Seriously, though,” Willis said, preparing to sew up Maddock’s shoulder wound. “What’s next, after that?”
Maddock smiled as he flipped the real over in his fingers, his eyes taking on a faraway look.
“Maybe we take another run at that treasure.”
Works by David Wood
Dourado
Cibola
Quest
Icefall
Buccaneer
Atlantis
Ark
Freedom
Hell Ship
Splashdown
Dead Ice
Liberty
Electra
Amber
Justice
Treasure of the Dead
Oracle
Changeling
Primitive
The Book of Bones
Into the Woods
Arena of Souls
The Zombie-Driven Life
You Suck
Callsign: Queen (with Jeremy Robinson)
Destiny (with Sean Ellis)
Dark Rite (with Alan Baxter)
Primordial (with Alan Baxter- forthcoming)
David Wood writing as David Debord
The Silver Serpent
Keeper of the Mists
The Gates of Iron
The Impostor Prince (with Ryan A. Span)
About the Author