Rise of the Undead Box Set | Books 1-3 | Apocalypse Z

by Higgins, Baileigh

  “I see.” Dylan leaned back, deep in thought. She filed away the information for future reference. What worried her the most was what they’d find at their destination. “Do you really believe Fort Detrick still stands? What if the same happened to them as at Fort Knox?”

  “I don’t know, but if there’s any chance at all, I need to take it,” Tara said.

  “And if they are still standing, we can warn them,” Saul added. “They should know the dangers.”

  “I guess so,” Dylan admitted, though she was still skeptical. Even if the Fort was running, Tara’s plan couldn’t possibly work. How does she plan to come up with a vaccine, mass-produce it, and get it out to all the remaining survivors?

  Dylan dismissed the thought and redirected her attention back to the countryside that flashed past her window. She needed to know the route since she planned on going back for Alex and Amy. They needed her more than Tara did. She’s got Saul, an ex-military, special forces, GI Joe on her side.

  Besides, if things were as bad as Tara said, they might not be safe where they were. Not that Dylan had a clue where to take them if that was the case. Where could you hide from a horde of zombies? Unless Tara’s plan did work out. Maybe Fort Detrick was still operational and could be saved if warned.

  “Maybe, maybe, maybe,” Dylan muttered with growing frustration.

  “What’s that?” Tara asked.

  “Nothing,” Dylan snapped. “How far is it still?”

  “We’re almost at Charleston,” Tara replied. “From there, it’s another three hundred miles give or take. We’ll be there before nightfall.”

  “If everything goes to plan,” Dylan said with a grunt. “Which it never does.”

  “I’m just trying to be optimistic,” Tara said, a defensive note in her voice.

  “Well, stop. There’s nothing to be optimistic about, alright?” Dylan said. She could feel the anger rising in her chest, becoming stronger with each passing second.

  “What’s your problem?” Tara asked.

  “You’re my problem. I shouldn’t be here. I should be back at the safe house, relaxing with my friends.”

  “You volunteered, Dylan.”

  “Yeah, I know, and I’m regretting it more with every second that passes.”

  “Don’t you understand what I’m trying to do here?” Tara said, twisting around in her seat. “What I’m trying to accomplish?”

  “I do understand, and I think you’re an idiot. You’ll never be able to save the world, no matter how much your conscience bothers you,” Dylan said. “You’ll have to find some other way to atone for your sins.”

  Tara gasped. “How dare you? Are you saying this is my fault? That I could’ve stopped the apocalypse, and I didn’t? That is so unfair.”

  Dylan shrugged. “You said it, not me. You’re the one who feels guilty. The problem is, you’re going to kill all of us in the process.”

  Tara gaped at Dylan, her mouth working. “You’re a bitch, you know that?”

  “Oh, yeah? Well, you’re a—”

  “That’s enough. Both of you. Tara, sit down,” Saul said.

  “But she started it,” Tara protested while Dylan shot her a mutinous glare.

  “Yes, she started it, but she’s right. You do feel guilty, and you did ask all of us to join you on a suicide mission.”

  “Saul!” Tara exclaimed, her expression shocked.

  Dylan smirked in the backseat, feeling vindicated until Saul turned on her.

  “And you, Dylan. You did volunteer, so stop bitching and suck it up. Are you a whiner or a fighter?” Saul asked with raised eyebrows.

  Dylan looked away, a twinge of guilt stirring in her chest. “I’m a fighter.”

  “Then act like it.”

  “Fine,” she mumbled.

  “As for the anger, keep it under control. We cannot afford another episode on this trip,” Saul said.

  Dylan looked at him, her curiosity tweaked. “How do you do it?”

  “I think of something I love.”

  Dylan frowned. “That’s it?”

  “Pretty much. Now shut up and pay attention. There’s a roadblock up ahead,” Saul said.

  Dylan leaned forward. “Where?”

  “Right there,” Saul said, pointing to a knot of cars tangled together in a knot. “We’ve reached the edge of Charleston, and I don’t think this will be quite as easy as either Louisville or the other cities.”

  “What do we do?” Tara asked.

  “We go around,” Saul said. “But first, we refuel and take a quick break.”

  “Good idea,” Dylan said, grabbing her spear. “I’ll check the area.”

  “Be careful. We don’t know what we’re up against here,” Saul admonished.

  Dylan rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I can handle myself.”

  She climbed out of the Humvee and walked around it, taking a set of binoculars with her. The road behind them was deserted, as was the countryside all around. She spotted a few houses in the distance. Country homes set on a low rolling hill. The kind rich people lived in with wide verandas, ornate pillars, and green lawns. “I wonder what it feels like to live in a place like that?”

  Tara looked in the direction of the homes. “Like you’re the Queen of your castle, I’d imagine.”

  Dylan laughed. “Sounds about right. And now they’re undead King’s and Queen’s.”

  Tara handed them each a bottle of water and a packet of trail mix. Dylan downed her water in one go but tucked the food into her pocket to snack on later.

  Once he’d eaten, Saul set about refueling the Humvee from the jerry cans they’d brought with them. At barely twelve miles a gallon, the army truck was a real gas guzzler. By the time he was finished filling the tank, most of their reserves were gone.

  Dylan eyed the empty cans. “How about I check those cars for gas? We could use it for the trip ahead.”

  “It’s risky. What if there are infected?” Saul asked.

  “It’s either that, or we stop at a gas station. That means a town which means people. Much riskier, in my opinion.”

  “I’ll go,” Saul said, hefting his rifle. “You stay here.”

  “No, thanks. I offered, so I’m going,” Dylan said. Without waiting for a reply, she set off down the road.

  “Dylan, wait,” Saul shouted.

  She ignored him, focusing on the roadblock instead. Saul rubbed her up the wrong way. They were both fighters but in different ways. He thrived on authority, order, and structure — the giving and receiving of commands. There was a place for everything, a niche for everyone, and a hierarchy as old as time.

  She was a rebel. She hated institutions and resented being told what to do or how to act. She longed for freedom, although she recognized that freedom came with certain responsibilities. I’m not a criminal, after all.

  It was no wonder they didn’t get along.

  Dylan drew closer to the jumble of crashed cars and examined the area through the binoculars. There didn’t appear to be anyone around, neither inside nor outside the vehicles. There was ample room for the Humvee to go around the accident site, but they needed fuel badly.

  She closed the remaining distance and climbed onto the nearest hood and scanned the place. There were several good candidates for gas siphoning, and she turned to wave at Saul. Suddenly, two hands gripped her ankles, and her legs were swept out from underneath her.

  With a surprised yelp, Dylan crashed onto the car. Her chin took the brunt of the fall, and her teeth clipped together. Pain shot through her tongue and the taste of blood filled her mouth.

  The same hands that gripped her ankles yanked her off the hood. The tar rushed up to meet her, and she barely had time to shield her face. With a thud, she landed face-down, the breath leaving her lungs in a rush.

  Before she could move, a single gunshot rang out, and a heavy weight collapsed on top of her. Pushed to the ground, Dylan fought to get her knees underneath her body. She gagged when the scent of rot hit he
r nostrils. “Holy shit, what is that?”

  She heaved upward, and the corpse of an infected landed next to her. It was a young boy around ten years old. A neat bullet hole in his forehead leaked a trickle of black blood. His face had smoothed out in death, no longer enraged or hungry. Just young and innocent. Reddish-brown curls framed his face, and his sightless eyes stared up at the blue sky above.

  Dylan scrambled to her feet. Within seconds, her stomach convulsed, and the meager contents came up in a rush. It splashed onto the tar, a mixture of water and bile, and she coughed several times. The sight of the dead child was a shock to her system, and it took a minute before she could compose herself.

  Tara rushed over and gripped Dylan’s arm. “Are you okay? Did he bite you?”

  “No, he didn’t get the chance. What happened?” Dylan said, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Her hands were trembling when she picked up her spear, and she tried to calm her shattered nerves.

  “Saul happened. You owe him your life,” Tara said, escorting Dylan back to the Humvee.

  Dylan groaned. “Great. Now I get to hear, I told you so, over and over again.”

  “Saul isn’t like that. Now come on. Drop the attitude.”

  As they neared the truck, Saul climbed down from the roof, his R4 rifle slung across his chest. Without saying a word, he picked up two jerry cans and a length of hose. “Tara, could you bring more cans, please?”

  “Of course,” Tara replied.

  Dylan stared at him, her mouth dry. Finally, she said, “Thanks for saving my life. I owe you one.”

  “You don’t owe me anything, but next time, be more careful. Better yet, listen to me when I tell you not to rush into things.”

  “Fair enough, but can you stop being such a dick about it? You’re not in the army anymore, and I’m not one of your soldiers,” Dylan replied.

  “Maybe not, but I have a lot more experience than you. If you had any sense at all, you’d let me handle these things,” Saul said.

  “And sit back like a pampered Princess? You can’t coddle us, Saul. We need to learn to survive on our own. You won’t always be around to protect us,” Dylan said, hot blood rushing to her cheeks.

  “It’s my job!” Saul burst out, his eyes narrowed as he stalked toward her. “I took an oath. Don’t you get it?”

  “I didn’t ask you to!” Dylan shouted back.

  “That’s enough,” Tara cried, stepping in between Dylan and Saul. She raised a hand to each, palm out. “Calm down, both of you. Do you want to get us all killed?”

  Saul closed his eyes for a brief moment, and his expression smoothed out. He stepped back, arms hanging loosely by his side. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  It took Dylan a minute longer to gain control of her anger, but finally, she said, “I’m sorry as well. I don’t know what came over me.”

  Tara placed both hands on her hips, her voice stern when she spoke. “Listen up, you two. The fighting stops here and now. No more sarcasm, sniping, or rude remarks. Saul, I get that you feel the need to protect us, but we also need to learn how to protect ourselves. Instead of trying to do everything for us, rather teach us. Deal?”

  Saul nodded. “Deal.”

  “Dylan, I know you don’t believe in this mission, and you don’t want to be here. But tell me something. Isn’t it better to take a shot at something important, than do nothing at all?”

  Dylan sighed. “It’s better to take a shot at it.”

  “That’s right, and while you’re at it, get rid of that chip on your shoulder. Listen to Saul. he knows more than you do, and you might learn a thing or two.”

  “Yeah, okay. I’ll try to relax.”

  “As for me, get me to Fort Detrick so I can do my damn job. You might think it’s a long shot, but the cure that’s flowing through your veins was my invention. If it wasn’t for me, you might be the one lying over there with a bullet between your eyes.”

  Dylan raised both hands in a gesture of defeat. “Fine, you’ve got me there. I’m sorry I was such a bitch. It’s just tough leaving Alex and Amy behind, and even harder to deal with these mood swings. Sometimes, I don’t even feel like myself anymore.”

  Tara’s shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry about that. I wish the cure could’ve done more for you, but it’s not foolproof. What I can do is try to save what’s left of humanity. It’s too late for that little boy over there, but I could help dozens more.”

  Dylan looked in the direction of the zombie child, and her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. “I’ll help you. I swear it.”

  “Thank you,” Tara said with a faint smile. “Can we stop being enemies now and start acting like a team?”

  “I can do that,” Dylan said. “As long as you’ve got my back, I’ve got yours.”

  “I’m in,” Saul said, picking up the jerry cans once more. “Dylan, can you stand guard while Tara and I fill these?”

  “Sure thing,” Dylan said with a grin, twirling her spear with a deft twist of the hands. “I’ll make sure nothing creeps up on you.”

  Ten minutes later, they were back on the road, and for the first time, Dylan felt glad to be there.

  Chapter 15 - Tara

  With their issues out in the open and dealt with, the atmosphere inside the Humvee improved. Tara found herself able to relax for the first time that day, and she even looked forward to the rest of the trip in Saul and Dylan’s company.

  That thought didn’t last very long.

  Saul navigated the first roadblock into Charleston with ease. He maneuvered the army vehicle around it without any problems. It was built for off-roading, after all, and its superior suspension and big wheels made short work of the obstacles in their way.

  The next barrier wasn’t so easy to pass.

  Not long after they got back onto the road, they reached a bridge, and their real troubles began. The lanes in and out were filled with cars standing bumper to bumper, and there was no way around it.

  “What now?” Tara asked as her anxiety meter shot through the roof.

  Saul studied the bridge through narrowed eyes. “We can’t move so many cars, and we can’t bypass it. We need to cross this bridge.”

  “So, what do we do?”

  “We go through it. Hold on to your seatbelts,” Saul said, jamming his foot onto the gas.

  “What?” Tara managed to squeak before they hit the first cars.

  The Humvee rammed into the gap between the two vehicles and pushed them aside. Metal scraped on metal, and Tara winced at the high-pitched sound. It sounded like nails dragging across a chalkboard, and she quickly covered her ears.

  Saul never let up, barging through the middle like a bull through a china shop. Windows were smashed, doors buckled, bodywork crushed, and lights broken. Tara even looked up in time to see a pink scooter disappear beneath them. At one point, the Humvee’s front tire lifted and rode over the hood of a Mini Cooper, leaving behind a mangled wreck.

  Many of the vehicles held trapped infected, and Tara tried to ignore their snarling faces as they drove past. A few more wandered around between the cars and attacked them the moment they had the chance. These fell victim to the wheels, and black blood sprayed onto the windshield.

  “Ugh, that’s disgusting,” Tara said as she held on for dear life.

  Dylan likewise clung to her seat, muttering, “Fucking zombies,” over and over again. At last, they reached the end of the bridge, and Saul slowed to a stop.

  “Is it over?” Tara asked, twisting around in her seat to survey the damage behind them. A path of destruction filled with corpses, broken glass, and crumpled metal filled the bridge.

  “Not yet. We still have to go through Charleston,” Saul replied with a grim look.

  “Can’t you stick to the outskirts as you did with the other places?” Dylan asked.

  “No, not this time. We’re in for it now. I want everyone to stay alert and keep an eye out for zombies and troublemakers.”

  “Alright,” Tara replied,
not looking forward to what they might find in the city center.

  “Got it,” Dylan said, sinking back into her seat.

  Saul took the plunge, and they headed deeper into Charleston. It wasn’t long before they hit another barrier, this one the remnants of a police barricade. The Humvee was able to push through, but after that, they hit a series of utterly impassable roadblocks. Each time, Saul had to reverse and take an alternate route until it felt like they were lost in a concrete maze.

  Dylan, quiet up until that moment, leaned forward and said, “Is it just me, or does it feel like we’re being herded?”

  “What do you mean?” Tara asked.

  “Think about it,” Dylan said. “Each one of these detours is leading us deeper into Charleston instead of out of it.”

  “You think so?”

  “And another thing. Where are all the zombies?” Dylan pointed out. “It seems awfully quiet around here, and I’ve yet to see any bodies.”

  “You’ve got a point,” Saul said. “But I don’t see any other way. Just keep your guns ready in case of trouble. If it comes to that, we’ll fight our way through.”

  Dylan shrugged and pulled out her Glock. “If you say so.”

  He drove further until they reached a t-junction. Several cars blocked the road to the left while the right was wide open.

  Saul hesitated, idling the engine. “This looks⁠—”

  “Suspicious as hell? Yeah, you’re absolutely right,” Dylan said. “I vote we go back. This is just too convenient to be a coincidence.”

  “We can’t. It’ll take hours to work around this mess, and we’ll have to spend the night out in the open,” Saul said.

  “That’s better than walking into a trap,” Dylan said. “Then, we’ll never get to Fort Detrick.”

  “If there is a trap, which I doubt,” Tara replied. “I say we push onward.”

  Dylan shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Saul? What do you think?” Tara asked.

  “I say we go on, but be prepared for anything.”

  Tara pulled her shotgun from its holster. “I’m ready.”

  Saul took the turn, and they drove through the streets at a steady pace. Neither too slow nor too fast. Tara scanned every building, alleyway, and car for signs of trouble, but saw nothing out of the ordinary.