Seeds Of Hunger

Chapter 18: Alternate Plans

Carter saw the station after what felt like an eternity. Since leaving the dollar store, they had traveled a few hours and had made it to the station just shy of seven in the morning. The group was exhausted but they were all in high spirits. Casey and Carter hoped that Chief Ramirez was still in there, alive. They continued down first street and came into contact with a few infected since they arrived back to familiar ground. The boom of Pastor Cornaddo's rifle echoed through the streets as they shot the infected lunging at them.

"Runner!" Jameson shouted as he shot at the limber infected. They all concentrated their fire on the Runner and it fell in a hailstorm of bullets.

"That was much easier this time around." Casey noticed, reloading his rifle.

"We have God on our side my friend. There is nothing we can't do." Pastor set a hand on Casey's shoulder and winked. Carter led them to the front of the station, through the sea of patrol cars and up the steps to the station door. They slugged their way through the dead bodies and found themselves at the Chief's office. The door opened and Chief Ramirez was sitting in his chair, his Glock leveled at his door before he realized who they were.

"Mirado? Jack? Is it really you?" Chief Ramirez almost broke into tears as they embraced, friend to friend. "What the hell happened to you all. You look like you've been through hell and back."

"Chief Ramirez, you already met Anton. This here is Pastor Miguel Cornnado.  He joined us in our little adventure." Casey introduced the Pastor who shook hands with Ramirez.

"It is good to see you in good health, sir. God smiles on us this day that he brought us back to you safe." Pastor Cornnado said, releasing the Chief's hand.

"Amen, Pastor. Now Carter, did you do it? Did you kill the plants?" Ramirez asked Carter who filled him on what had happened since they left the second time. Carter told Chief Ramirez of the Carnegie Institute and the destruction of the plants, the mutated variants of the infected they've seen so far, the President's plan of nuclear detonation, and how they found Pastor Cornnado.

"Madre de Dios..." Pastor said in Spanish. They hadn't told him about the plants. "Plants are the cause of this plague? How is that possible?" Pastor Cornnado asked the group.

"Trust me. I didn't believe it either. But after seeing the research they were conducting I believe it now. The plants are destroyed. That's good enough for me." Jameson said, as he slung his rifle around his shoulder.

"I found a diary of sorts that detailed what happened when they started getting the parasites. A researcher said that some plants were sent into the freezer and killed and the rest of the plants died due to improper care. The source of the parasites are dead; but we are still dealing with the aftermath of the initial infection. If the President does nuke the city we need to get out of here ASAP." Casey finished. They all agreed on that one.

"How will we leave the city? You don't think we can just walk out do you?" Jameson asked, folding his arms across his chest. "There are millions of zombies out in the city. The longer we stay anywhere, the more show up. If we're going to do anything, we need to do it now. Chief Ramirez, how's your leg?"

"I can put a little pressure on it. I don't know if its actually broke, a fracture of some kind, but I can walk somewhat." Ramirez said, standing up from his chair. Carter noticed the slight wince as he did so.

Jameson nodded, "Good. I say we get our shit and leave. Pardon the language Pastor."

"I agree with your statement my friend. You summed it up quite nicely." Pastor laughed. They all had a short laugh to bleed off some stress. Despite the circumstances , Carter was the happiest he had been since the infection hit.