Free V Plague (Book 11): Merciless by Dirk Patton

Igor finished dressing and placing weapons on his body.  When he was ready, he took another quick look around the expansive bedroom to make sure he wasn’t forgetting anything.  Seeing nothing he needed, he went downstairs and shared a bottle of water with Dog while peering into the backyard.
    They both needed to relieve themselves before getting on the road, and he wanted to make sure the big cat wasn’t hanging around waiting for an easy meal.  The moon hadn’t set, and he was able to clearly see all of the tracks in the snow.  Most of them were either his or Dog’s, but there was one set that came in from the forest to the spot where the blood had dripped.  So the animal hadn’t been frightened enough to prevent it from returning during the night.
    Igor opened the door and Dog pushed through ahead of him, nose up and sampling the air.  He remained quiet and a moment later trotted out into the yard to take care of his business.  A few minutes later they were in the garage and Igor gave the UTV a final check, then started the engine to warm it up.
    Double checking the location of his spare weapons and ammunition, he waved Dog into the passenger seat.  Releasing the lock, he raised the rolling door and backed out of the garage.  The cold was biting, a breeze blowing from the north making it feel even colder, but in true Russian fashion, Igor ignored the weather.
    Driving with the lights off, he navigated the narrow streets in the upscale neighborhood.  He had thought about following the trail through the forest the SEALs had used when they’d picked up him and Colonel Crawford, but had opted to stay on the pavement.  Sam had told him the conflict between American and Russian forces had escalated, and the Russians were no longer patrolling the area.  So he’d decided to take the easier route.
    They passed several large mansions, sitting on snow covered lawns.  There was no movement, for which Igor was grateful.  He was tired of fighting the infected.  Didn’t want to eat into his supply of ammunition.  But there were none to be seen.  Nothing but dark, empty houses and abandoned cars. 
    Several years ago, Russian intelligence had heard a rumor that terrorists were trying to obtain contaminated material from the Chernobyl disaster site for use in a radiological bomb.  Igor had been on the Spetsnaz team that was sent to Pripyat, the town that housed the workers and their families for the massive nuclear power plant.
    Pripyat had been evacuated in a matter of hours when the plant’s operators realized they weren’t going to be able to prevent a meltdown.  50,000 people loaded into trucks and buses and taken to safety.  Nothing left behind other than a ghost town, still full of every possession that couldn’t be carried during the emergency evacuation.
    It had been a sobering mission for all of the men of the Spetsnaz squad.  One of them swore he heard the voices of children crying for their parents who didn’t make it out of the reactor facility.  They didn’t find any evidence to support the rumor of terrorists in the area.
    Now, as Igor drove through the empty American suburb, he couldn’t help but think about the ghost town of Pripyat.  Fighting against the gooseflesh that crawled up his back, he stepped on the brakes when a faint scream reached his ears.  Dog was staring down a side road, ears at full mast and nose twitching.  Together, they sat and watched for a few moments, waiting to see if the sound would repeat.
    It didn’t, but just before Igor stepped on the throttle, a large form flowed across the street they were watching.  The moon still provided a small amount of light and he recognized the shape of the big cat that had visited his house.  Dog growled as Igor pressed on the gas.  The animal was hunting, and he didn’t want it to decide they looked like a good breakfast.
    They reached the Interstate in only a few minutes.  Igor drove for another hour, the sun peeking over