earlier to search out any wandering souls together, to watch each others’ backs as they fed—and thus fulfill their insatiable appetites. Feeding, Dr. Stetson assumed, would also aid their thinking, and thus their planning.
Yes, feeding.
Feeding.
Flesh.
The Agent in Black was still in what Stetson called the mindless state , but he would soon come out of it. Stetson needed the Agent on his side for his plans.
But the best-laid plans, Stetson knew, often went awry. He’d had a bad feeling about Mike wanting to join them, but Joe would hear none of it. Army buddies were for life and all of that.
Well, Stetson hadn’t trusted Mike from the get-go.
Something was up. Stetson just hadn’t been able to put his finger on it.
Not yet, anyway.
So far, Stetson had controlled his urge to feed, but he couldn’t hold out for much longer. And his thoughts were becoming a little fuzzy. What was he going to do with Agent Cole again? It took him a moment to remember. Yes, back to the base.
So hungry.
Starving.
What was he waiting for? For Joe Carter to return. But why? Why should he, Stetson, wait when he was so goddamn hungry...and where the hell was Carter anyway?
He snarled. He tried to stop himself. But his mouth had started to open and close, open and close, as if he were chewing on something. What was he waiting for? He slammed down his fist on the coffee table, breaking a leg, and causing it to lean down.
Maybe if I eat, I’ll be able to think better, Stetson reasoned. Yes. I have to eat.
His jaws opened and snapped shut.
What was he waiting for?
He couldn’t remember.
The last semi-coherent thought he had was to eat from a handful of people. Just a bite here and there. That way, the disease would spread faster and he could make new friends.
Stetson had no way of knowing that he didn’t have that much time left for sanity. So, he went out the sliding glass door and into the night to find food.
Living food.
* * *
The next morning, Agent Cole felt much better.
He could think clearly. He was now strong enough to wrestle his way out of his bonds. He was hungry, but he wanted to wait for Stetson to return before he made any move.
Cole had no way of knowing that Joe and Mike were coming for him with a plan to cure him. Joe and Mike had decided to be ready for anything, and packed heat accordingly. So, Cole was seated on the couch, flipping through the TV channels when they let themselves in, guns drawn.
Among other things, Cole was a trained killer, but Lieutenants Carter and Mendoza were aware of this. They had the element of surprise on their side. They moved quickly and aimed at Cole’s head.
“On your knees,” Mendoza ordered.
Cole complied. “Do you mind telling me what the hell you’re doing?”
As before, Joe and Mike had agreed to speak as little as possible.
“ Yeah,” Joe answered. “We do mind. Where’s Stetson?”
“ I don’t know,” Cole answered truthfully enough. “I was better this morning, but he wasn’t here. I had to free myself. I’ve been waiting for him, or for you, to come back.”
“ Lie down now,” Mike told him.
“ Look,” Cole said as he did as he was told. He could fight, but so could these two. And both had guns trained on him. “What are you doing? We had a plan.”
Joe kept his gun on Cole as Mike scouted out the small cottage. He soon returned. “Stetson’s gone.”
“I told you he was gone,” Cole snapped.
Mike looked at Joe, silently questioning. Joe shrugged and nodded. Cole was starting to get a bad feeling about this. He barely had time to register that neither man had any red in their eyes whatsoever when Joe Carter ordered him to put his head down.
Immediately, Cole felt Carter’s heavy boot on his neck. At the same time, Mendoza yanked one of Cole’s hands into a hand-cuff, then the other. As soon as he was cuffed from behind, a blindfold was tied around his eyes.
Cole knew he was in trouble now. He didn’t know what would
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