As the brothers they were, the rest knew to leave Shaw alone and let him work this out. Priest just put a reassuring hand on Shaw’s shoulder and that’s all that needed to be said.
They encountered a few more groups of the infected. Those they could go around and those they had to dispatch. They arrived at the dealership, took a few laps around, but with no infected present, they got out.
Shaw and Priest looked for a straightforward way in, while the rest of the team pulled security. None of the doors were open, so Shaw used his expertise as an expert in the fine art of breaching to gain access. Most doors couldn’t resist the Jeremiah Shaw charm and they all opened, eventually. Shaw and Priest cleared the dealership building and went to look for the keys.
Doc’s voice came over the squad comms, “I used to be a car detailer back in the day. The keys are usually in some safe that has a screen on it. You have to put in a car code and a salesman’s code to access the keys. I bet Shin could have those keys in no time…” he trailed off. There was a pause before Doc came back on, “Shit, sorry, guys. I -I,”
Priest cut him off, “It’s ok Doc. We can’t act like Shin never existed. Shit like that is how we keep his memory alive. And yeah, he would have those bastards in a minute.” Priest chuckled. “Big Daddy Shaw will have to go old school on it.”
“Shit yeah,” he replied. A couple minutes later they located something that fit Doc’s description. Shaw backed up and put one .50 cal round in the vault lock and the safe opened. In the safe were multiple rows of keys, which were labeled by make, model and style. Sedans, trucks and SUV’s were all laid out in their respective rows.
There was also a row of keys near the bottom that caught Priest’s eye. The label read “Special Orders” and Priest cocked his head with curiosity. He kneeled down and picked up the key fobs one at a time to read them aloud. “2020 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, Rock Ridge Special Custom.”
Shaw’s eyes got gigantic, “Aw fuck yeah!”
Priest laughed, “I guess that is one specially outfitted vehicle.”
“You bet your ass it is. Four-wheel drive beast!” Shaw said excitedly.
Priest continued to look, and he found another one similar to the first.
“Grab it. Grab it!” Shaw was like a kid in a candy store. He hadn’t seen Shaw this excited in a while. They ran out of the dealership and into the parking lot and walked over to where the Jeeps were parked. Priest pushed a button on the first key fob. A vehicle chirped over to their left and the Team turned as Shaw let out a gasp.
There sat a royal blue 4 door Jeep Wrangler. It had a four-inch lift kit, oversized off-road tires and LED light bars. Huge steel reinforced front and rear bumpers with brush guards were mounted on the front and rear of the Jeep. Steel side steps and armor reinforcement on the rear quarter panels graced each side. A snorkel system was mounted, coming out of the side of the hood. “Fuck yeah!” Shaw shouted. He snatched the key fob from Priest’s hand and took off running for the vehicle.
Webb sauntered up beside Priest. “Shit, what is he, sixteen again?”
Priest laughed, “Looks like it.” He handed the other fob to Webb. “Here you go.”
Webb took the fob and hit the button. A similarly outfitted Jeep chirped, which was a few vehicles down from the first one. Webb tossed the fob to Doc and walked over to the black Jeep that had just chirped. They all piled in to the Jeeps by team and drove around to the parts door.
“Let’s see if there are extra fuel tanks, sky jacks, or anything else helpful to keep these bad boys maintained,” Priest said. They found a few items that would be helpful and took off back to the tower at the airport. They took another route as to not pass the daycare center again. It was too much for the team to take the first time, much less revisit.
As the team made their way back, they turned left onto Braden Street and saw a few infected in the street. They stopped and saw the team instantly, screamed and came running for them. Shaw looked over at Priest with a shit-eating grin.
“Go ahead,” he chided. Shaw punched it and took off toward the infected. They kept right on coming.
Within 25 yards, Shaw yelled, “Ramming speed,” and then hit all three infected. Their heads bounced off the top bar of the brush guard, smashing into what looked like broken eggshells. Brains, skull fragments and blood littered the hood as the three disappeared from view. Only a couple dings and crunch sounds were heard from underneath the Jeep as the infected bounced off the skid plate.
Shaw laughed, but Priest just shook his head, grinning. They arrived back at the tower, and everyone was impressed with the new modes of transportation.
The welcoming back was a strange one, because of the team usually being composed of a group of guys. Lia came out and gave Priest a hug and kiss.
Priest looked at her, “I guess you don’t give a shit what anyone thinks anymore.”
“Never did, just had to scope you out.” Inspired by Lia’s lack of giving a shit, Allison came out to Shaw with the same welcome, followed by Izzy.
Izzy hesitated in front of Webb for a second, then decided “Aw fuck it” and laid one on him. He didn’t seem to be put off by it, and his arms wrapping around her was all that needed to be said. Doc and Neville bitched about their situation and Caulfield was in the tower, so he had no idea if he needed to bitch.
Neville straightened up and looked at Doc, “Hey don’t worry. We will get to this CDC facility and there will be some hot scientists.”
That got a reaction from Izzy, “Hey what do you mean?” Neville tried to recover, “I-I-I didn’t mean you. I mean, you are hot too. Not that I’m looking or anything. Cap, I wasn’t looking, I mean she is special.” Izzy released Neville from his self-manufactured foot in mouth syndrome.
“Aw, you are so nice.” Izzy planted a kiss on Neville’s cheek. Even though he was mixed, he blushed just as hard as anyone and it showed. Izzy walked back over to Webb.
“I think you are special too,” Doc whined. She gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed, even though he was supposed to be a lady’s man from the Bronx. That just encouraged Allison and Lia to do the same. Both Doc and Neville blushed after each kiss.
“It was kind of pathetic, but let them have a little fun,” Webb thought.