Page 85

“Shit!” Priest yelled. “That was fucking uncalled for. Your dingy never measured up to my cabin cruiser.”

Brody started towards Priest again, but Thomas stopped him.

“I apologize, Mr. Priest. My friend, Mr. Brody here, is not as cordial as myself. He is a little more direct, and I must admit, I don’t have the stomach for this kind of stuff. You know, we can skip all of this if you would just agree to allow us access to the facility.”

“Well, I would love to have you over for tea, but our neighbors are extremely judgmental and I just don’t have the patience to get into it with them again.” Priest showed a bloody smile.

Thomas was laughing and shaking his head, “Mr. Priest, I really enjoy your company. Unfortunately, I don’t think you will be in the same frame of mind after your “quality” time with Mr. Brody.”

“That is a shame,” Priest retorted.

Brody walked up and pulled a large hunting knife from its sheath. He put it on a nearby table and walked over to Priest. Grabbing the collar of Priest’s t-shirt, he ripped it in two. He scanned Priest’s body and looked back at Thomas. With Priest’s heightened adrenaline level, the multiple scars all over his body were radiating a sickly redness. Thomas showed an instance of shock but quickly tried to hide it.

“Well, Mr. Priest. You have had some troubles in your lifetime, I see. Had a rough go of it?”

“Yeah, rough childhood. Fell off a few jungle gyms back when I was a kid,” Priest responded.

“Oh goodness, Mr. Priest. Such a character, even though you’re facing undue torment. I must go now, because like I said before, I can’t stomach this kind of thing. We’ll talk later.”

Thomas walked away, stopped and turned back towards Priest, “Maybe.” He turned back around and left the room.

Priest shifted his eyes to Brody, who had picked up the knife again and stood there looking at him.

Priest looked down at his scars, then raised his head with an evil, bloody grin. “Bring it bitch!”

CHAPTER 40

“Where the fuck is he?” Shaw yelled as he went berserk.

“We don’t know, Shaw, calm down.” Webb was trying to reason with him. In the last few hours, they had lost communications with Priest, and the infected were making their way toward the facility. Doc had just come back from a surveillance run, and he couldn’t find any sign of Priest or his bike. They cut his search short because of the progress the horde had already made.

“We got to go out and find him! Are you sure you looked? Probably didn’t know what the fuck you were doing out there,” Shaw spat. Doc’s mouth stuck open as he looked down and then walked away.

Webb looked over at Doc with empathy, but needed to address Shaw first.

Webb reached out, “Stay with me, brother. We’ll find him, I promise. You know I wouldn’t leave anyone out there, least of which, Priest. I need you to stay focused.”

Shaw huffed, but Webb could see him visibly come down a few notches. Shaw was showing the most emotion Webb had ever seen from him, except for the rage he unleashed in battle. Webb knew Shaw and Priest were tight, like brothers, and that Shaw would take the fact Priest was missing the hardest. Webb saw the rage in Shaw’s eyes dissipate, but not the determination.

“Sorry, Cap. I’m good. I’m good to go.” Shaw said with a slight bit of embarrassment showing on his face. He looked over and saw Doc walking away down the hall.

Shaw called after him, and Doc stopped and turned around. Shaw thought about how he lashed out at Doc for no reason, and tears formed in his

eyes. He reached out and grabbed Doc in a bear hug.

“I’m sorry, brother. I didn’t mean it. I know you did all you could out there. I have been too hard on you lately, and I am sorry.”

Doc said nothing.

“Are we cool?” There was silence. “It would mean a lot if I had your forgiveness, so I can move on and concentrate on the mission ahead.”

Silence.

“Come on, Doc, I said I was sorry. I….”

A small voice interrupted Shaw.

“I – I would answer… if… if….I….could….breathe.” Doc squeaked out.