Dying Days 5 Read Free

tonight when she spoke to him. She needed to calm her nerves, because Jeff wasn’t going to try to stop any of this madness.
     
    *   *   *   *   *
     
    “You wanted to see me?”
    Jeff turned to see Claude, looking old and worthless, standing in the doorway of the former bar. He simply nodded toward the seat across from him. Jeff poured himself the last of the vodka and pulled the shot glass close to him, grinning as Claude watched it move. Fucking drunken bastard , Jeff thought.
    “I have a job for you,” Jeff said. When Claude didn’t sit down, he pointed at the chair again and nodded when Claude did as he was told. I’ll eventually whip every one of these fucking cowboys into shape , Jeff thought. Every last one of them . “You bored yet counting zombies?”
    Claude didn’t reply.
    “I have a busload of new recruits stashed at the parking garage under lock and key. We’re keeping them out of the compound until we’re sure no one is infected.”
    “How many?”
    Jeff shrugged. “I don’t know and I don’t care. Not my problem. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing, which is hunt for our enemies and lead the scavenger team. Vee will keep running the inside and being a bitch. You’ve been promoted to refugee coordinator.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “It means The Lich Lord is going out at night and bringing in people by the dozens. He has Bryan driving the bus for him,” Jeff said.
    “I was wondering where Bryan went off to. I just figured you took care of him…”
    Jeff met Claude’s eyes and smiled when he saw the fear in the older man. Good. He still knew his place, despite his snide remarks.
    “Bryan is still a valuable asset to our survival. As long as he remains so, he’ll live. Same with everyone else, right? The Lich Lord wants loyalty. Fealty, as he keeps calling it. He’s surrounding himself with people who can see long-term. Without him as our protector, we’re all just a zombie away from death. I’ve seen him hop the wall and return hours later covered in the blood of other zombies.”
    “How do you know it isn’t the blood of the innocent and the living?”
    “There’s no such thing as innocent. Those boring people died quickly and went to Heaven or whatever you believe in. We’re the outcasts and the rebels and the scum left on earth. I’m here to make the most of it. You should, too. Stop fighting it. Get in line. Take what is being offered to you.” Jeff pointed a finger. “Out there, we’re meat. You think The Lich Lord is the only one of his kind? Hardly. He’s told me… things. You ever hear the expression the enemy of my enemy is a friend? The Lich Lord may be dangerous but he’s protecting us from his kind. And all he asks is us to fight for him. Find more of the living and enforce his laws and stay alive. I don’t think it’s a bad tradeoff.”
    “Why are you telling me this?” Claude asked, eyes darting to the shot glass every few seconds.
    “Because he’s questioning your loyalty,” Jeff lied.
    Claude shook his head. “No way. I’m doing everything I’ve been told to do. Without question. When you told me last week to round up the family hiding under the Dunlawton Bridge, I did it. I brought them to the Ocean Center and left them. Didn’t I?”
    Jeff nodded. “And he sees flashes of brilliance in you. But you need to step up and do a great job with this next assignment. If so much as one infected person walks onto Main Street and attacks someone and spreads the disease, he’ll know it was you who failed. You don’t want that and neither do I. I’d rather you did a great job and added some really strong men and some fertile women to the compound. Do you understand what I’m saying? We need men to build and expand and we need women to keep the human race going.”
    “What about old people?”
    Jeff shook his head. “They’ll eat the food and need to be cared for. We don’t have time for that. The elders will be led to the rear