Generation Dead (Book 3): Beyond The Gates

by Joseph Talluto

  “Starting to make the lodge back home seem like a shack,” he said.

  “These people sure knew how to live back then,” Kayla said.

  “Help yourself, babe,” I said to Julia. “Pick one and it”s yours.”

  Julia shrugged. “Not enough forest for me.”

  I laughed. “Daddy’s girl all right.”

  Rounding a bend, we came into view of the Teton Springs Lodge and Spa. The building was massive, three stories tall with dozens of rooms’ balconies looking out over the mountains. I pulled up into the main area, noting the lack of any cars in the parking lot whatsoever. Putting a critical eye to this place, it wouldn’t have served well as a zombie defense fort, seeing as there were hundreds of windows and doors at ground level. Anyone staying in here would have to block off the ground floor and hope for the best.

  The front door was open, and we walked in without incident. The main lobby was huge, with massive beams holding up the roof two stories above. A fireplace dominated the west wall, and a granite counter greeted us on the right side. The entire place was decorated in a western outdoor theme, and it was a minute before I realized that we were being stared at by two men standing over at the counter.

  They were about thirty years old, and the family resemblance was too strong for them to be anything other than brothers. They had dark hair and dark eyes, and looked like they might have spent their entire lives up in these hills.

  One of them reached over and did something behind the counter as we walked up, and the other smiled as he greeted us.

  “Well, howdy! Don’t see many visitors this time of year. Did you all come up from Wilson?” His smile was warm and reached his eyes as he glanced over us all. I noticed he took in my size and Jake’s, dismissing us as not being related. That happened all the time.

  Jake nodded. “Just this morning. We’re passing through, trying to see if some of our relatives on the other side of the mountain might have managed to live through the Upheaval.”

  “Well, I don’t know about that, we never seem to get any visitors coming from the West. I’m Josh, and this is my brother Hank.” Josh pointed to Hank who smiled in greeting. Hank’s eyes lingered on our guns and knives, but I was used to that.

  “Pleasure. I’m Jake and this is Aaron. The ladies here are our wives Kayla and Julia,” Jake said. “Any place around here we might pick up some supplies and possibly fuel?”

  Josh pondered for a moment. “Not much for supplies, unless you don’t mind jerked venison and jerked elk. Water we have plenty of, but fuel is something you’d have to go into Victor for.”

  Jake nodded. “Fair enough. How much for the jerky?”

  Hank spoke up. “Your wives will do nicely as payment.”

  I looked over at him as the room went silent. “Come again?”

  Hank shook his head. “I didn’t stutter, and you ain’t deaf. But you are in the way.” Hank raised his hand, and I barely saw the gun in his hand before I saw it flame at the muzzle. Something struck a wicked blow to my head, and I went down hard. The last thing I heard was screaming before everything went black.

  Chapter 33

  “You sure he’s dead?”

  “Lookit the blood, stupid. Headshots bleed like that. He’s dead.”

  “Ugh. Bastard’s big enough.”

  “That’s why I shot him first. Big boy like thissun take a lot of punishment before they go down. And I didn’t want to be nursin’ no wounds when I’m working one of them blondes.”

  “I hear that. They sure can fight, though. That tall one kicked the hell out of pa.”

  “I want the little one. She has some sweet curves on her.”

  I could barely hear the conversation as I was dragged somewhere. A small, rational part of my mind kept me from trying to move, and just play dead. My head hurt like hell, and my neck felt like it had crusted blood all over it, but if these fools thought I was dead, then I was going to play it that way. It was the only advantage I had. I had to keep from moving when I heard then talking about Kayla and Julia.

  “That other guy, did ma get him?”

  Jake!

  “She got him; he’s trussed up and going nowhere. We’ll have some fun with him when we get done with the wimmin’.”

  “If pa don’t git there first, the randy ol’ goat.”

  I didn’t have much time. With Jake out of the way and the girls in trouble, I had to move and quickly. I was about to explode when I was suddenly dumped on the ground.

  “That’ far enough. The wolves will get him tonight.”

  “That they will.”

  I lay quietly for a moment, listening to the receding footsteps. I waited another full minute before I slowly opened my eyes. Thankfully, I was under a tree and the sunlight was not so fierce. My head throbbed painfully and I explored my wound with gentle fingers. The bullet had entered at an angle into my scalp, apparently travelled around my skull under the skin, and then exited the back. It was a miracle I was alive. The wounds looked like I had been shot in the head, and I had lost enough blood to make me dizzy. But I had to get up and get moving, and laying here wasn’t helping anyone.

  Painfully, I rolled onto my stomach and got to my knees. My body worked just fine, but the head was all over the place. I checked my pockets and found that those two bastards had taken my gun, my knife, and my spare magazines. My hawk was still in the Jeep, so there was a chance I could get a weapon if I could get back there before they went exploring. Based on their conversation, they were focused on one thing.

  I did have a bandanna, which I wrapped my head in. At the very least, it would keep the bleeding to a minimum. What I wouldn’t give for an aspirin right now.

  I looked back at the lodge and saw that they had dumped me at the tree line. Just a few steps back, and I was invisible. I followed the trees, figuring on circling around to the parking lot and getting to the Jeep.

  My figuring took a hit when I had to stop every fifteen feet and support myself against a tree while my head swam and the world spun. If that happened in a fight, I was dead. I know I had to have a concussion at least, if not a cracked skull. All I knew was there were four people that were going to die in this place today. Maybe five, but I was going to take them with me.

  I reached the outside of the parking lot and looked things over. Tall grass grew right up to the edge of the lot, and then it was open to the Jeep. It didn’t look like anyone had made it to the vehicle yet. If I had to guess, they probably didn’t think it was as important as dealing with their prisoners.

  I ducked low and ran to the Jeep, pausing as I knelt beside the tire. My head was pounding again, and my vision was a little blurry, but I had to keep going. I gently opened the driver’s door and slipped inside. I didn’t have time to grab a rifle and ammo, and besides, shooting a high-powered gun inside a building was a disaster waiting to happen. I grabbed my tomahawk and a spare knife.

  I was going hunting, and this would either be a rescue or a reckoning.

  Chapter 34

  I moved away from the Jeep and crept towards the lodge. I needed to get inside and do it undetected. I moved along the wall, keeping out of sight of the windows and doors. When I reached the far corner, I tried the hall door and found it was locked. I didn’t have Jake’s skills with locks, so I moved down the side towards the other end, keeping out of sight and listening for any signs of discovery. I knew my aim would be off if I had to throw the ‘hawk, but I could probably make a center mass hit if I had to.

  The other end of the lodge took me way longer than I wanted to get there, but it paid off when the door opened silently. I slipped inside and got my bearings, letting my eyes adjust to the interior. I moved down the hallway, listening at each room for a clue as to where the girls and Jake were.

  I avoided the main lobby since I figured someone would still be there, but I suddenly heard thumping above me. I went back to the door I came in and followed the flight of stairs to the next level. Looking into the hallway, I could see th
ree men standing outside a room. I recognized the two brothers, but the third was a new one. He was a massive man, easily over six ad half feet tall, with broad shoulders and huge hands. His arms looked like they had been trees at one point, and his legs were straining at the jeans he wore. Tackling this guy in full health would have been tricky and impossible with the way my head felt. One punch to the noggin, and I’d be out.

  “The bitch cut me, pa! Kill her!” one of the boys whined, holding his arm.

  The father smacked the son in the head, sending him sprawling. “Serves you right, you dumbass. You didn’t search her boots. Now she’s ready to kill us all for what you did to that other man. Leave her be. When she’s hungry enough, she’ll lose the knife. She ain’t going anywhere. Where’s the other one?”

  “She’s next door. Hank tried to get hold of her, but she whacked him with a lamp. She’s using it like a spear, nearly took my head off. Think her man was the one he shot,” Josh said.

  I was elated. The girls were still alive and very much kicking. I needed to find Jake and quickly.

  “Ma took the other guy, you know how she is,” Hank said.

  The father grunted. “Well, she can have her fun. Just like the rest. Let’s go.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that at all, and I had to make a decision as I watched the trio retreat down the hall. Do I rescue Jake, and leave the girls here for later, or do I get the girls and go for Jake?

  I figured I was here, I may as well get them first. I was about to leave the stairs when I saw Hank sneaking back along the hallway. He was holding a long pole, probably figuring to use it on Kayla. That wasn’t going to happen.

  He fiddled with the door and swung it open, stepping inside. I moved along the hallway, stopping once to let me head stop spinning. This wound sucked. As I paused, I heard a clack and a gasp, and then something hit the floor. I was out of time.

  At the door I could hear Hank taunting Kayla.

  “Not so tough without your knife, huh? You’re gonna bleed for me. You’re gonna cry my name as you die, you hear me?” Hank’s voice was a hoarse whisper of anger.

  I cocked my tomahawk and stepped into the room. Kayla was on her stomach on the floor with Hank lying on her back. He had a handful of her hair in his hand and was pulling her head back. She was grasping at the hand that held her own knife to her throat, kicking frantically with her feet.

  “I hear you,” I snarled, swinging my axe. Hank had one second to look surprised before the broad head slammed down. My head wound must have affected my aim, because I missed his head and cut deep into the back of his neck.

  Hank went immediately limp, and I rolled him off Kayla. I saw the look of shock on her face when she saw me, then the look of relief.

  “Aaron! We thought you were dead! Oh, my God!” She grabbed me and hugged me tight, tearing up and crying.

  Suddenly she straightened. “Jake! We have to get Jake! Oh my God! Julia!”

  I held up my hands. “We’ll get them all, and we’ll clean this house out as well.”

  “Are you okay?” she asked, bringing up a hand to my wound.

  “I’m not dead, so anything is better. Although I do have a bitch of a headache,” I admitted.

  “Let’s get Julia,” Kayla said.

  As she moved, Hank let out a small whimper. I looked down and saw that I hadn’t killed the son of a bitch after all. My axe had severed his spine, but left him alive. I really was off today.

  “What about him?” I asked.

  Kayla looked down. “Oh. Right.” She retrieved her knife and stabbed Hank in the throat. His eyes opened wide as blood filled his throat and lungs. In a minute, he was dead, suffocated on his blood.

  We went to the room next door and tried to open it. A loud bang came from the door as something heavy landed against it. I guess Julia was letting everyone know that coming into that room was going to be costly. Kayla went back to Hank’s body and retrieved the keys. In a second, we had the door open. Kayla went in first, and disarmed Julia. I went in after, making sure the noise hadn’t brought anyone else up.

  Inside, Kayla was hugging Julia, and when I walked in, Kayla let Julia go.

  “Turn around, honey,” she said.

  Julia turned, and when she saw me her hands flew to her mouth, her eyes filling with sudden tears. In a leap she was in my arms, holding me tighter than she ever had before.

  “Aaron! Oh my God! You’re alive!” Julia buried her head in my shoulder and cried huge sobs of relief. “You’re not dead. You’re here. You’re not dead.” Julia kept repeating.

  I held her close, trying to be strong, but the tears came out of my eyes as well. I had never come so close to losing everything.

  Julia raised her tearful face to mine, and I saw the look of concern as she looked over my wound. It looked worse than it really was, but it still hurt like hell.

  “I’m all right, just a little light headed, that’s all. I paid the man who gave it to me, so that’s settled,” I said.

  Julia looked back at Kayla. “Hank’s dead. Aaron paralyzed him, and I finished him,” Kayla said.

  Julia nodded. “Good. You okay to get Jake?” she asked me.

  “No choice. I have to be. Do you know where he is?” I asked.

  Julia shook her head. They talked about their mother and a place they called the cellar, but I don’t know where that is.”

  “Maybe the basement,” I said. “If I can catch Josh, I’ll make him talk,” I said.

  “Let’s go, please?” Kayla said, bouncing out of the room.

  I couldn’t blame her. I wanted to find Jake as well.

  Chapter 35

  We moved down the hallway, with Kayla taking point. I was still not in great shape, but I was feeling better. We figured the girls would take care of whatever came down the hall, with me providing backup as needed. At the end of the hall, we crept as we approached a balcony that overlooked the lobby. Voices below us carried upward.

  “Hank should be back here by now. What the hell is he doing?”

  I recognized the voice of the father. He didn’t sound happy.

  Josh’s voice drifted up. “He wanted to get that bitch that cut him. Took a rod with him to fix her good.”

  Kayla’s eyes narrowed, but she kept silent.

  “Well, he better get back here. Your ma’s about to go to work on the other one. You know she likes an audience. Better go git him. I’ll meet you down there.

  I rolled over to the wall and stood, waving the girls back. If he came up the stairs, I needed to take him down silently.

  I heard footsteps on the stairs and Josh came around the corner. My left arm grabbed him by the back of the neck while my right stuck the point of my knife at the place where his Adam’s apple rested.

  I looked into his eyes and whispered quietly. “You’ll die slowly if you scream.”

  Julia pounced on him, ripping his belt off and using it to tie his hands behind his back. Kayla cut a strip from his shirt and a small piece off his jeans. She stuffed the jean piece in his mouth, and then gagged him with the shirt.

  I turned him around and whispered in his ear, holding his shoulder and placing the tip of my knife on the back of his neck.

  “You lead the way. Tilt your head in the direction you want to go. Try to escape, and I’ll shove this knife through your neck. If you’re lucky, you’ll just wind up paralyzed like your brother,” I said.

  Josh moaned quietly at the mention of Hank’s fate, but quieted when I pricked him with the knife. Part of me wished I had a blade with some zombie gunk on it. It would be fitting to lock this crew into a room with one of them infected.

  We followed Josh down the stairs and into the lobby. I would have felt better with a gun, and asked my prisoner where my stuff was. He indicated a side room, and Julia darted in. She came out with my sidearm, my grandfather’s knife, and all the other toys we had taken from us. I was looking forward to giving Jake his knives back and letting him loose.

  We w
alked to the back of the lodge and Josh indicated a stairwell door. Kayla opened it, and the smell that came out was coppery and foul. Right away I knew a lot of blood had been spilled down there. If I had a choice, I’d have opted to just burn this place to the ground, but Jake was still unaccounted for, and for that reason alone, this place was still standing.

  I gave Julia my extra knife and placed the barrel of my gun on Josh’s neck. This told him two things. I was very serious about my threats, and he wouldn’t survive a bullet to the neck at point blank range.

  We stepped down the stairs, keeping Josh in front of us. The stairwell ended in a hallway that went in two directions. Dim bulbs lit the way, telling me a generator was humming somewhere. “Where’s Jake?” I asked. Josh’s head pointed south. I handed my gun to Julia and walked that way, leading with my tomahawk. If I encountered the father or mother, I wanted it to hurt. I was mad enough at this point that I forgot my pain.

  I passed room after room, and after glancing into one, I didn’t need to see another. Chains and handcuffs hung from the walls, and in several there were dark stains on the floors. I reached the end of the hallways and opened the last door.

  Handcuffed to the wall in a spread-eagled fashion was my brother. His eyes, which were full of fury when the door opened, went wide when he saw me.

  “Holy shit! Aaron! You’re alive. Where’s the girls?” Jake asked, watching as I freed him from his bonds. The keys we had taken from Hank had a handcuff key on them, and it worked just fine down here.

  “They’re down the hall. We’ve got Josh, Hank is dead. Here.” I gave Jake his knives, and he slipped them into their sheaths almost reverently. I could see the gears working in his head calculating how much pain he was going to inflict on those who assaulted his family.

  Jake walked out of the cell and headed back the way I had come. “I have a few things to tell you about our hosts, Aaron,” Jake said. But we need to hurry.”