Warren and Sun Mei ducked into the building 10k and Doc were in. Crap. I made my way inside to see them all sitting down talking.
"I dunno what's in them. Doctor Merch gave them to me to keep them safe."10k lied.
"Really?" Warren pressed.
"I dunno. Umm. Well, she was giving Murphy some booster shots to keep him from turning more zombie. Maybe that's what's in them. Maybe they're for Murphy." 10k said bouncing his leg up and down. I made my presence apparent when my hand rested on his bouncing leg calming him down. He looked at me with worry in his eyes. I gave a reassuring smile and kissed his cheek.
"Maybe it's the original vaccine. Small doses might act as a booster shot of some kind. Slow down his deterioration." Sun Mei suggested and 10k nodded his head too eagerly.
"Or it might also be whatever cocktail of Murphy blood they're giving the blends," Warren said. Nobody said anything and 10k just nodded along. "Okay." She added. They both walked out of the room and left the three of us alone. 10k pulled me into his lap and hugged me.
"It's going to be okay" I whispered into his hair rubbing his back.
"Fear no more. Guaranteed. Fear no more. There is a way. Follow me. Fear no more. Fear no more." Murphy's voice rang out on a loudspeaker.
"Somebody want to tell me what the hell that is?" Warren asked as the voice continued.
"Sounds like the blue dude himself," Doc said.
"Murphy is advertising?" Addy asked.
"I told you. He's insane."10k spoke up resting his hand around me on my hip.
"If he has thousands of doses of vaccine, all he needs are live bodies." Sun Mei said.
"You heard the man. Come on. Does this thing run?" Warren asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Hector said. We got into the car and drove off. We were following the sounds of Murphy's annoying voice until we caught up to the truck. Apparently someone got to it before us because there were red handprints all over it and the word fear spray-painted on the back.
"This Escorpion is starting to piss me off," Hector said raising his pistol held hand, shooting the loudspeaker.
"Who the hell are these guys?" Addy asked.
"This man was shot in the heart, not the head. But he didn't turn." Sun Mei said pointing to his back.
"He's a blend. Look at the other side of his face." 10k said. She pulled the head up and it was the father of the little girl. I closed my eyes and turned away.
"So when blends die, they don't turn," Warren said putting to dots together.
"Yeah. And zombies ignore you like you're one of them." I added.
"Maybe Murphy's onto something," Doc said.
"He's just trying to help people," 10k said.
"Huh?" Addy chirped.
"Become blends," 10k added quickly.
"There's more too. He's planning some kind of expedition." I said taking the heat off of 10k. He needs to be more careful.
"An expedition to where?" Warren asked.
"Springfield, Illinois," I said.
"Springfield? We've been to Springfield." Addy said.
"What's in Springfield? Yeah, besides crazy Lincoln zombies?" Doc asked.
"Lucy." Warren and Addy said at the same time.
"Who's Lucy?" Hector asked.
"Murphy's daughter," 10k said.
"Murphy has a child? Do you know what this means? She could have inherited his immunity." Sun Mei said.
"We got to get to Lucy before Murphy does. Let's get some grub and make a plan." Warren ordered. We all got back into the car and drove off.
"You know, crickets are 121 calories. All protein." Sun Mei said as Warren cooked crickets on a hubcap.
"Oh. That's barbecue." Warren laughed as she dropped some on the ground accidentally.
"Remember when we could eat meat?" Doc asked reminiscing.
"I used to barbecue all the time. Carne asada, pico de gallo. You don't even want to know, man." Hector said.
"You know, if you close your eyes, it tastes just like... crickets," Doc said crunching the insect in his mouth.
"Cricket de Gallo," Warren said passing them around. I shuttered and grabbed a handful and ate them quickly trying not to think too much about it. 10k rubbed my leg and just relaxed me.
"Okay. So the way I see it, we got to split up." Warren said standing up.
"Oh, man. I hate when we split up." Doc whined. I agreed.
"I get it. But we've got to stop Murphy and his blend army before they get too strong. And we got to find Lucy before the rest of the world finds out about her. All right? Let's hit it. Get your head in it." Warren said.
"She's with a family just outside Springfield. There's railroad tracks, and it said Old Route 57. She's in the woods on a farm right here." 10k explained as he drew a map on the paper Warren handed him.
"All right. Doc and Addy, you guys go after Lucy. The rest of us will continue on to Spokane, and we'll do whatever we can to stop Murphy." She ordered.
"And when we find Lucy?" Doc asked.
"Keep her safe. Contact us by radio." Warren said.
"We'll monitor the HAM frequencies for you." Sun Mei added.
"What are we gonna do when we get to Spokane?" Hector asked.
"We're gonna give him a good old fashioned spanking," Warren said.
"Right on." Hector agreed.
"Let's load up and move out," Warren said.
"10K, why don't you help me make sure that fire's out," Doc said pulling him away from the group. We said our goodbyes to Doc and Addy as they got in the Murphy truck. We pulled away going in opposite directions.
---
"So that's Spokane, huh?" Warren asked as we pulled up to a hill and looked out. "Perfect." She muttered.
"Murphy's compound is there. In the Museum of Progress. Under the clock tower." 10k explained.
"How fortified is it?" Hector asked.
"10K?" I nudged his arm. What's up with him?
"Sorry, what?" He said.
"How fortified is the compound?" Warren repeated.
"It's got two fences and... and a zombie moat. So only a blend can get in." 10k explained.
"All right. So we got about an hour of daylight. We wait until nightfall. Do some reconnaissance. See exactly what we're working with." Warren said. She glanced over to 10k. "Are you okay?"
"I'm just hungry. I'm gonna get some... crickets." 10k said then walked away. I saw Warren nod and followed them to 10k looking for his injections.
"Looking for these?" Warren asked holding the injections in her hands. 10k hit her palm and caught them in the air before turning and running away. Hector caught him and Sun Mei held me back so I couldn't help him.
"Where you going? 10K!" Warren yelled.
"He's bit! He's bit!" Hector yelled when he ripped 10k's shirt neck off, leaving Murphy's bite exposed.
"10K, let me help you!" Warren yelled after 10k ran away. Sun Mei pushed my body into the car's truck and Warren stood in front of me.
"Spill" She ordered. My jaw clenched and I looked around before sighing.
"In California, when we were taken to the submarine to be looked at, Murphy had other plans. He bit Dr. Merch, four guards, the captain, and... 10k." I said looking at the three adults hovering over me. "Murphy brought us here and lost the captain and three guards along the way," I said telling them everything about our trip. Hector and I went to go look for 10k but I went straight to Murphy. I needed this to end.