“My family hasn’t eaten in days and we’ve not had anything to drink since yesterday morning. My family have peed themselves because you won’t let us out to go to the bathroom.”
“After that’s taken care of, we’ll stop for a short break.”
The man said nothing. Dickson met his gaze. “Why aren’t you moving?”
“I’m not going anywhere until my family gets—”
Dickson removed a Colt 1911 from his shoulder holster, placed the barrel against the man’s face, and fired. The round ripped off the top of his head. His family gasped but did nothing, staring in shock at the upright body. It teetered a moment before collapsing, the wound gushing blood onto the pavement. The young girl held her older brother, averting her eyes away from the scene, wailing. The woman rushed forward and knelt by the body of her husband, caressing his chest and sobbing.
“No, Bobby. No.”
Dickson reholstered the Colt. “Mrs. Taylor, I hope you were listening to the instructions I gave your husband. I don’t like repeating myself.”
“You didn’t have to kill him, you fucking bastard!” she screamed, spittle and snot flying from her lips.
Dickson grabbed Diana by the ponytail, yanked her away from her husband, and slammed her against the side of the pick-up. Before she could respond, Dickson shoved his right knee between her legs, pushing them aside, and pressed his body against hers. He still clutched the ponytail in his hand. Leaning close, he whispered in her ear.
“You don’t want a recurrence of your first night with us, do you?”
Her hands covered her groin and she mumbled, “No.”
“And you don’t want the same thing to happen to your daughter, do you?”
Diana shot her head up, her eyes pleading. “Please don’t.”
“Then what is it I need you to do?”
“Y-you need me to check the ambulances out back for supplies.”
“And?”
Diana tried to think. Dickson yanked on her ponytail, causing her to gasp.
“And?”
“And you want me to check inside the building.”
“Good girl.” Dickson let go of the ponytail and lightly patted her cheek. He stepped away. Diana slid down the side of the pick-up and cried.
“Jim, go with her and provide cover.”
“Why me?” protested Stratman. “I need to go take a shit.”
“Fine, let Billy do it.”
Stratman moved up beside Diana and urged her to come with him. She had her head bowed, sobbing into her hand, and didn’t see him. He reached down and gently touched her shoulder. Diana slapped his hand out of the way. Stratman clutched her jacket and dragged her to her feet, ripping the fabric in the process. Shoving her in front of him, Stratman placed his hand on her back and pushed.
“Hurry up, bitch.”
The two children called out and went to follow their mother. Elaine placed herself in front of them. “You stay here and don’t give me any trouble. Got it?”
The teenager hugged his younger sister and protected her, but backed off, leaning against the tailgate.
Dickson smiled. Everything was under control here. He’d let the others handle things for the next few hours. For now, he would grab some lunch and maybe take a nap before they hit the road again.
A Thank You to My Readers
I want to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has become a huge fan of Nurse Alissa.
Alissa’s adventures will continue, as will all lucky enough to throw their lot in with her. Yes, you’ll see much more of Archer and Shithead. For those intrigued by the underlying sexual tension developing, now’s a good time to choose Team Nathan or Team Chris. Just don’t get too attached to any of the characters. The worse is yet to come for Alissa and the others.
Acknowledgments
Writing is very solitary and lonely. Getting a book published, on the other hand, is a complicated process involving many people, all of whom deserve to be recognized.
A major thanks goes out to my beta readers: Tammy Michelle Mayberry, Michael Atkinson, Pammy Troupe, Tom Williamson, Marla Dewitt, Dan Uebel, Norma Seitz, Roseann Powell, and Cari Laffrenier Thompson. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Lisa Holland Mastandrea who reviewed the final draft before publication and caught those damnable spelling/grammar errors that always remain so well hidden during the editing and revision stages.
Christian Bentulan designed the cover art for this novel as well as Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies. I love Christian’s work. His covers reach out and grab the reader’s attention. I also love how Archer appears in each one.
You would not be holding this series book were it not for my dear friend and colleague Alina Ionescu. I hadn’t written a zombie series since Rotter Apocalypse was published in 2015. Alina is a major fan of my stories and kept urging me to go back to writing about the living dead. With some gentle shoving in the right direction and a few well-placed ideas, over the course of a long week on the road I came up with the concept of the Alissa series. If you like this series, be sure to thank Alina.
Finally, a major debt of thanks goes to my family, human and furry. I wrote, edited, and released this novel during the COVID-19 lockdown because I had so much time on my hands. Being home all the time had its downsides. This has been the best two months of the dogs’ lives because they think I quit my job and stayed home all day to be with them, and they want to spend every minute with me. The cats, on the other hand, are more pissed off that I’m around all the time, especially Archer whose naps are disturbed by my typing. (Yes, Alissa’s Archer is taken directly from my own cat Archer, especially his asshattery.) It’s hard to maintain my writing discipline, but I couldn’t do this without their love and support.
Author’s Bio
Scott M. Baker was born and raised in Everett, Massachusetts and spent twenty-three years in northern Virginia working for the Central Intelligence Agency. Scott is now retired and lives outside of Concord, New Hampshire along with his wife and stepdaughter. He has written Nurse Alissa vs the Zombies, the first in a multi-book series focusing on a young woman learning how to survive in a world overrun by the living dead; Shattered World I: Paris and Shattered World II: Russia, the first two books in his five-book young adult fantasy series; The Vampire Hunters trilogy, about humans fighting the undead in Washington D.C.; Rotter World, Rotter Nation, and Rotter Apocalypse, his post-apocalyptic zombie saga; Yeitso, his homage to the giant monster movies of the 1950s that he loved watching as a kid; as well as a several zombie-themed novellas and anthologies.
Please check out Scott’s social media accounts for the latest information on future books, upcoming events, and other fun stuff.
Blog: https://scottmbakerauthor.blogspot.com/
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/groups/397749347486177/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vampire_hunters
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scottmbakerwriter/
Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies (Book 2): Escape Page 15