shook her head. She answered, “I don’t have a clue. That’s her specialty, but if I know Nicole, she’ll find a way. Or die trying.”
“So, what, we just stay put in here for now?” Howard asked, peering out the windows of the sealed car. Several of the rat bite victims were shivering as if in the throes of violent epileptic seizures.
“It’s the safest place, probably,” Sandy said. “But she said something else, something important.”
“What the hell now?” Howard asked, not taking his eyes from the palsied shaking of the dozen or so people still alive on the tracks.
One of them stopped vibrating and arched his back. It was a small man with dozens of two-inch wounds on his body. Blood was seeping from several bites, but when he raised his face, he looked as if he were grinning. His teeth gleamed in the red light.
“Too many damned teeth,” Howard said aloud, rubbing his smooth chin.
“Oh no, it’s starting already,” Sandy said, looking out at the wounded people. Most of them had stopped convulsing, and they were kneeling or crawling on all fours.
“What?” Sylvia asked. “What’s starting?”
“Nicole told me the news is saying the rats are carrying some new strain of the virus, that it’s transferred by bites or scratches. Blood-borne.”
“Are you telling us that all those people who weren’t killed out there are going to turn into freaking werewolves?” Craig asked.
Sandy nodded.
And she heard the first howl from down the tunnel.
Chapter 17
1:10 p.m.
“I’m going in after her,” Nicole said. “And there’s nothing you can say to stop me.”
“You’ll be AWOL when your country needs you the most,” Taylor Burns reminded her, sitting on the edge of her hotel bed. “You could get called on any time to take position and put your sniper skills to work. You know how important this is.”
“Nowhere near as important as that woman is to me. As for going AWOL, I’ll head in and get out as soon as I can. If I’m not here when your superiors give you the phone call to action, then I could give a shit less. That’s my woman in there. She could be killed at any minute. Any time I spend here arguing with you is just prolonging my little Snake Plissken rescue mission.”
“Nice analogy,” he said with a grin. General Burns, like Nicole, was a huge action movie fan, and Escape from New York was one of his favorites. “But how are you going to infiltrate the city?”
She started to protest, her brow wrinkling in an angry-face.
He held his hands up in front of himself. “I’m just asking. Don’t get defensive.”
“I’ll have to find a way. Get a boat. I can swim. The river’s not that far.”
“You’ll find a way?”
“Yes, goddamn it!”
“Love will provide.”
“You make it sound sappy and stupid.”
“Well, Nicole, that’s because it is sappy and stupid. What you need is a plan.”
“And I suppose you’ve got one handy?”
“Maybe I do.”
Her eyebrows went up in surprise. “You aiming to help me, General? Because, that’s what it sounded like.”
“Listen,” he said, leaning forward, elbows on knees, his eyes still on her as she practically burst with fear and anticipation. “I have nobody, no family, no girlfriend, no real friends to speak of, even. I’ve always been married to the military, and believe me, that’s how the military likes it. No emotional ties, no relationship troubles, nobody to come first. Well, we’ve worked together a long time now. Side by side, partners in our planning. We’re just two soldiers struggling in the trenches against a common enemy.”
Nicole looked out the window, saw a Scorpion jet zoom over the river and launch another missile into a boathouse and a dock. She said, “I’m wasting time here. I need to get to—”
“Give me another minute,” he said, and when she opened her mouth, he commanded, “That’s a goddamned order.”
She closed her mouth, and her teeth clacked
“So, what, we just stay put in here for now?” Howard asked, peering out the windows of the sealed car. Several of the rat bite victims were shivering as if in the throes of violent epileptic seizures.
“It’s the safest place, probably,” Sandy said. “But she said something else, something important.”
“What the hell now?” Howard asked, not taking his eyes from the palsied shaking of the dozen or so people still alive on the tracks.
One of them stopped vibrating and arched his back. It was a small man with dozens of two-inch wounds on his body. Blood was seeping from several bites, but when he raised his face, he looked as if he were grinning. His teeth gleamed in the red light.
“Too many damned teeth,” Howard said aloud, rubbing his smooth chin.
“Oh no, it’s starting already,” Sandy said, looking out at the wounded people. Most of them had stopped convulsing, and they were kneeling or crawling on all fours.
“What?” Sylvia asked. “What’s starting?”
“Nicole told me the news is saying the rats are carrying some new strain of the virus, that it’s transferred by bites or scratches. Blood-borne.”
“Are you telling us that all those people who weren’t killed out there are going to turn into freaking werewolves?” Craig asked.
Sandy nodded.
And she heard the first howl from down the tunnel.
Chapter 17
1:10 p.m.
“I’m going in after her,” Nicole said. “And there’s nothing you can say to stop me.”
“You’ll be AWOL when your country needs you the most,” Taylor Burns reminded her, sitting on the edge of her hotel bed. “You could get called on any time to take position and put your sniper skills to work. You know how important this is.”
“Nowhere near as important as that woman is to me. As for going AWOL, I’ll head in and get out as soon as I can. If I’m not here when your superiors give you the phone call to action, then I could give a shit less. That’s my woman in there. She could be killed at any minute. Any time I spend here arguing with you is just prolonging my little Snake Plissken rescue mission.”
“Nice analogy,” he said with a grin. General Burns, like Nicole, was a huge action movie fan, and Escape from New York was one of his favorites. “But how are you going to infiltrate the city?”
She started to protest, her brow wrinkling in an angry-face.
He held his hands up in front of himself. “I’m just asking. Don’t get defensive.”
“I’ll have to find a way. Get a boat. I can swim. The river’s not that far.”
“You’ll find a way?”
“Yes, goddamn it!”
“Love will provide.”
“You make it sound sappy and stupid.”
“Well, Nicole, that’s because it is sappy and stupid. What you need is a plan.”
“And I suppose you’ve got one handy?”
“Maybe I do.”
Her eyebrows went up in surprise. “You aiming to help me, General? Because, that’s what it sounded like.”
“Listen,” he said, leaning forward, elbows on knees, his eyes still on her as she practically burst with fear and anticipation. “I have nobody, no family, no girlfriend, no real friends to speak of, even. I’ve always been married to the military, and believe me, that’s how the military likes it. No emotional ties, no relationship troubles, nobody to come first. Well, we’ve worked together a long time now. Side by side, partners in our planning. We’re just two soldiers struggling in the trenches against a common enemy.”
Nicole looked out the window, saw a Scorpion jet zoom over the river and launch another missile into a boathouse and a dock. She said, “I’m wasting time here. I need to get to—”
“Give me another minute,” he said, and when she opened her mouth, he commanded, “That’s a goddamned order.”
She closed her mouth, and her teeth clacked
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