The Outbreak Chronicles Book One Survival Ties

Chapter 23

Drew was smiling as he held my hand and led me to the front of the resort. He wouldn't tell me where we were going, and only that he had to show me something I would love. At the front desk an older man was waiting for Drew.

"Ross, what can I help you with?" Drew asked him as we approached.

"I was out doing all the normal maintenance. When I noticed that by the front entrance there's a few of those.... things." Ross told Drew as he played with his hat in his hands. "I wasn't sure what to do about them so I came to find you."

"You did right Ross. I'll get some people together and we'll take care of it." Drew said and Ross nodded and walked back out the door to return to work.

"Looks like we are going to have to put that surprise on hold for a few." Drew told me and I caught the look in his eyes.

"What are you thinking?" I asked him.

"You're going to think I am crazy, but I think I have an idea." Drew responded as he led me in a new direction.

"What?" I asked him.

"Under the hospital there's a basement with big cages that are very secure. We used them for animals when they got sick or new animals as they came in. We wanted to make sure they were healthy before adding them to the farm." Drew started saying.

"Ok, what does this have to do with anything?" I asked him not quite following where he was going with this.

"We should try to catch the Red Eyes outside and lock them down there." Drew answered and I got why he was thinking I would say this was crazy.

"Why would we do that?" I asked him as we kept walking.

"It's a giant store room down there. The shelves and everything could almost be similar to what we will find in stores for supply runs. There's even an observation room we used to use to watch the animals that can see the whole basement." Drew was almost running he was so excited. "We could use the Red Eyes to practice. Hannah can take notes about what everyone does from the observation room."

"Ok, I'm getting how this could work. Where are we going?" I asked as we rounded another corner almost running into Evan and Aaron.

"We need your help." Drew told them. "There are Red Eyes by the entrance I want to catch them and put them in cages in the basement under the hospital. We can use them to practice with."

"You sure you want to do that?" Aaron asked him.

"Yes, can you think of a more realistic way to practice together and learn how the Red Eyes hunt?" Drew asked and Aaron just looked at him for a minute.

"If we are going to do this we are going to muzzle them so no one gets bit in this practice." Aaron said and Drew looked like a kid on Christmas morning. I wondered if he got this look every time an idea he had started to fall into place.

"Where do you want us to practice with them?" Evan asked.

"The basement, it was set up to be a store room. It has an observation room that we used to watch animals we had in the cages. Now we can use it as a way to practice what we may face in a real store on a supply run." Drew told him and Evan nodded.

"Ok do you think we can do this, or do we need the others?" He asked and Drew looked at the three of us.

"I think the four of us can do this, we just have to be careful." He answered and we were off again.

Drew led us to where there was a truck parked that had a trailer on it, that looked like a giant cage. It was obvious this is what they used to cart the sick animals to the hospital. Drew hopped into the front and I followed him, both Aaron and Evan climbed into the bed of the truck. Aaron hit the roof a couple times when they were settled and we made our way to the front entrance. We could see the three Red Eyes as we got closer; they were right in front of the entrance. Drew pulled the truck over. He started to back up maneuvering the trailer to be as close to the entrance as he could get it.