SurvivorZ: Grave Harbor

39

DENISE

Denise scrutinized the passing zombie from head to toe and then compared him to the man sitting next to her. "Looks like a dead ringer to me."

Mike snickered. With a shake of his head, he replied, "Lloyd was right about your puns."

The reminder of her boyfriend deflated some of her good cheer. Lloyd was back in Harvard, waiting for test results from Doctor Bradshaw. Everyone wanted an explanation for how he managed to survive Beacon Street. The fact that the doctor's tests were taking so long was the main reason she accepted this side mission with Mike. As Lloyd so politely put it, she was driving everyone crazy, including him.

"It's not a perfect match," Mike considered, "but he's roughly my same size and build. Once we toss him in the fire, they shouldn't be able to tell the difference."

"It's your call," Denise said.

The blaze he set on Ellery Street had started to spread to the neighboring tenements. With all the bombings today, rising smoke from the burning buildings only added to the haze suspended over Boston.

Mike and Donna's scheduled return to Mystic was due within the hour. Once they failed to show up this time, search teams would eventually track them down here. They couldn't carry radio handsets due to the danger of someone outside their group listening in, so instead Mystic limited their people to specific areas in which to hunt. Losing one of their own made them more diligent about rescuing any stranded teammates before it got dark. They'd find their missing van shortly.

That didn't leave them much time to cover their tracks. If Mystic were to learn that both members of the party didn't perish here, suspicion would fall on their remaining spies still operating undercover at the facility. The colonel couldn't have that; not if he hoped to broker a peaceful union between the two groups.

Drawn by the flames and the recent activity in the area, a handful of zombies wandered the streets. Mike stirred them up with his arrival in the van, which he parked in the same spot as before. To help lure them away, Denise parked her Humvee a little ways down the street. She held down the horn for a minute, making sure she had a curious crowd heading her way. Then, courtesy of a healthy coat of Z-Off, she simply walked past them to meet up with Mike in his ride.

After thinking forever about it, Mike finally nodded. "We're probably not going to find a better candidate than this guy. He should be close enough to fit the bill."

"That reminds me." She held out her hand. "Wallet?"

With a hint of reluctance, Mike pulled his wallet from his back pocket and dropped it into her palm. She supposed it must have felt strange to dispose of the keepsake. The days of having any use for credit cards and driver's licenses were behind them, yet most people – herself included – still clung to all of their old identification. Shedding it was a symbolic gesture. It meant accepting that your former life was gone forever. She wasn't sure she could let go of the person she once was as easily.

"Is there anything in here..?" she inquired softly.

"Anything I want to keep?" He shook his head. "No photos. No memories worth holding onto. I managed to destroy everything that was good in my life long before the rest of the world caught up to me."

"Lloyd told me about your girlfriend," she admitted. "I'm sorry."

"I hope she's still out there, surviving with someone she cares about. I know that's not likely, but..."

"Hope is good," Denise affirmed. "Hope will keep us going when everything else is lost."

"Yeah, well..." He stared out the window. "Right now, the only thing I'm hopeful for is that this plan works."