Cassie nodded. She was scared shitless, but determined to fight. Jennifer flicked open her Zippo. She and Cassie touched their fuses to the flame.
They jumped apart as soon as the flames sparked to life. Jennifer took two giant strides forward, winding her arm back. Then she flung as hard as she could, aiming at the soldiers on the corner.
Her bomb hadn’t even hit the grass when an explosion went up behind them. A truck with two Soviets inside went up in flames on the west side of the plaza. Anton and Bruce had struck.
Cassie threw her bomb just as everything around her erupted into chaos. She snatched a second bomb out of her pocket, along with her Zippo.
“Cover me,” Jennifer yelled. She took off at a run, beelining for soldiers on the corner. The first one was down, killed by the blast of her bomb. The second one dodged to one side as Cassie’s bomb exploded. He’d been thrown several feet, but he was still alive.
“Jennifer, what the hell?” Cassie screamed after her. “Jen!”
Jennifer ignored her, homing in on the machine gun resting in the hands of the dead Russian. In her periphery, Cassie saw the other Russian sit up. He raised his weapon.
Jennifer never slowed. “Cover me, Cas!” she shrieked.
Chapter 20
Sisters
AS JENNIFER RACED AWAY, Cassie absorbed the scene the way she did when analyzing a chessboard. She saw everything: The screaming people; the dead Russian with the weapon on the street corner; and the very-much-alive Russian, who was recovering from the shock of Cassie’s ill-flung bomb.
The Soviet wiped dirt from his eyes and raised his gun, his sights on Jennifer.
Cassie did the only thing she could think of. She touched the second bomb in her hand to the Zippo. As it sparked to life, she charged the Russian. She screamed wordlessly, hoping to draw his attention.
It worked. He jerked, the barrel of his gun moving in her direction.
Cassie threw the bomb and dove to the ground. The explosive landed next to the Russian and detonated.
Cassie was too close. The blast hit her, sending a wave of heat, dirt, and grass spraying across her body. She lay there, momentarily stunned.
Gunfire chattered all around her. “Cassie!” A foot connected with her ribcage. It was Jennifer, standing over her with a Russian machine gun. With her perfect curls, perfect figure, and a face smeared with blood, she looked like the star of a Hollywood action movie.
“Get up!” Jennifer screamed, once again shoving her foot into Cassie’s ribs.
The kick was enough to jar her back to her senses. She clambered to her feet. Jennifer grabbed her by the arm.
“The gun,” Jennifer snapped. “Get the gun!” She shoved Cassie in the direction of the second dead Russian, simultaneously opening fire on a Soviet as he popped up behind one of the convertibles. “Go!”
Cassie sucked in a breath and ran. She screamed as bullets tore up the grass behind her.
“Take that, asshole!” Jennifer shrieked. Her bullets tore up the front windshield of the convertible.
Cassie snatched the machine gun. The strap caught around the dead soldier. Shit! She shoved at the body with her foot, rolling him over to free the strap.
The weapon came free. She stumbled back, turning in time to see Jennifer sprint away as the Russian behind the convertible returned fire.
Fingers shaking, Cassie dropped the machine gun across her chest. She snatched a third bomb out of her pocket, lit the fuse, and threw it at the convertible.
She didn’t wait to see what happened. Instead, she took off after her sister.
For the first time in her life, she was glad to be tall. It made it possible for her to track Jennifer through the crowd. She ran to the southeast side of the plaza, toward the crates of the nezhit virus still sitting on the sidewalk.
More explosions went up around the plaza. Gunfire was everywhere. The Russians with the virus attacked, sending red darts flying indiscriminately into the crowd.
Jennifer dropped down behind a body. It was an American. The guy probably weighed three hundred pounds when he was alive. He’d been shot in the back.
Cassie caught up to Jennifer and dropped down beside her, also taking cover behind the murdered American. They were no more than twenty feet from the wooden crates with the deadly darts.
Jennifer lay on her stomach, propping the barrel of her machine gun on the dead guy’s thigh. She aimed at the Russians with the virus and opened fire. She got off no more than ten shots before her gun clicked empty.
“Shit!” Jennifer rolled sideways, grabbing an extra magazine she’d shoved into the waistline of her pants.
Cassie hadn’t even thought to grab an extra magazine. Well, it’s not like bullets could destroy darts filled with virus. It was time for bombs.
She’d shoved no less than three sachets into her underwear. She was too scared to feel self conscious about shoving her hands down the front of her pants. Flicking open the Zippo, she started lobbing bombs in the direction of the crates. When she finished with those, she grabbed the two she’d hidden in her bra and threw those for good measure.
By the time she’d finished, Jennifer had reloaded. Cassie risked a peek over the dead body they hid behind.
“You got them, Cas,” Jennifer cried. “You got the crates!”
Sure enough, the crates were in pieces. All that remained were splinters and several black holes in the dirt. Ruined pieces of red plastic scattered across the ground. Cassie couldn’t help the grin that split her face.
Her triumph was short lived. There was still one Russian with a dart gun. He chased down the family she and Jennifer had stood beside when the battle began. Several darts pierced the back of a little girl. She couldn’t be more than eight years old. When her mom tried to defend her, she got a dart in the chest.
Cassie acted without thought. She rolled to her feet and sprinted forward. She kept the barrel of her gun low, not wanting to hit the fleeing family. She pressed the butt against her hip, just like Lena had shown her. Bullets cut across the calves of the Russian soldier as she fired. He dropped with a cry.
Jennifer raced past her, screaming in fury. She pelted the downed soldier with bullets, shooting him in the chest. To Cassie’s horror, she stopped over the body and snatched up the dart gun.
“What the hell, Jen? Don’t touch that!”
Whatever Jennifer was about to say was lost in another explosion. Cassie crouched down while Jennifer smashed the dart gun with her foot.
Cassie spotted Leo and Tate hauling ass toward a Jeep with three Russians inside. Both guys had multiple machine guns around their necks. They fired fearlessly at the enemy, taking cover behind a large redwood tree when the Soviets returned fire.
“That’s our ride out of here,” Jennifer said. “Come on, we have to help the guys.”
She sprinted away. Cassie ran after her. Her long legs made it possible for her to keep up with her faster, stronger sister.
They took cover behind a large bush growing near the center of the plaza. Jennifer peeked around it.
“Leo and Tate are drawing their attention. Come on, we can get in close and take them out.”
“But—Jen!”
Cassie broke off as her sister slipped out from behind the bush. No way could she let Jennifer go out there alone. Cassie hustled after her.
They slipped through the chaos. There were dead bodies everywhere, but there were also a lot of people still alive. They ran for freedom, pouring out of the plaza in small groups.
Near the edge of the plaza were several metal newspaper boxes. Jennifer led them to the boxes and dropped down.
The jeep and the Russians were just on the other side, no more than ten feet away. And though Leo and Tate had managed to take out two of them, the driver was still alive. Even worse, three more Soviets had joined the shoot out. The three newcomers stood in front of the jeep, firing at anything and everything that moved.
“No bombs,” Jennifer said. “That Jeep is ours
. We take them out while Leo and Tate have their attention.”
The next five moves came to Cassie in a rush.
a) Run like hell and take cover behind the truck parked next to the jeep.
b) Sneak around the back of jeep and shoot the Soviet driver in the back.
c) Pull out the dead driver.
d) Run over the three Soviets in front of the jeep and rescue all her friends.
e) Pray to God her sister could figure out her plan, because there wasn’t time to explain it.
While Jennifer popped up over the newspaper box and opened fire, Cassie made a run for it.
Chapter 21
Snipers
LEO GLIMPSED CASSIE slip out around the metal newspaper stand and make her way toward the Russians and their jeep. What the fuck was she doing? Why wasn’t Jennifer stopping her? Why—?
Jennifer screamed as bullets peppered the newspaper bin. She threw herself to the ground and began crawling to the redwood tree where Leo and Tate had taken refuge.
“Cover Jennifer,” Leo barked. He stuck his arm around the tree and fired in the direction of the jeep, hoping to God he didn’t accidentally hit Cassie.
He caught a glimpse of her slinking around the jeep. His heart nearly burst from his chest when he saw her shoot a Russian in the back. She opened the driver’s side door and pulled out the dead driver. In a split second, he understood her plan.
“Be careful, Cas,” Leo muttered.
Jennifer also seemed to understand Cassie’s plan. When she was ten feet from the redwood tree, she jumped to her feet and fired as she ran. She aimed indiscriminately in the direction of the Russians. Her sole purpose was to draw their attention from Cassie.
Return fire followed her. She dashed behind the tree and joined Tate and Leo, gasping for breath.
“What the hell was that?” Leo demanded. “You could have been killed! Why did you let Cassie go out there on her own?”
Jennifer was breathless from her sprint, but she still had enough energy to scowl at Leo. “She’s getting the jeep. We have to keep the Russians’ attention on us.” To emphasize this statement, she stuck her arm out from behind the tree and sprayed bullets, purposely aiming low so as not to accidentally hit Cassie.
The blare of a horn cut through the din, followed by the revving of an engine. Leo smiled in satisfaction as he leaned around the tree in time to see Cassie behind the wheel of the jeep. She plowed the vehicle into the back of the three Russians.
“Woah.” Tate blinked, gaping in astonishment. “Cassie?”
“Damn straight that’s Cassie.” Jennifer beamed as Cassie never let up on the accelerator. She drove straight toward them, slamming on the breaks only when she reached the redwood tree.
“Boys,” Jennifer said, “here’s your ticket out of here. You’re welcome. My sister is radical.”
The three of them scrambled for the open jeep. Leo headed for the shotgun seat, but Jennifer beat him to it by vaulting onto the hood and jumping over the windshield.
Leo jumped into the back, heaving the body of a dead Soviet out of the seat. “Drive!” he cried. “Get Anton and Bruce. They’re at the bus stop.”
Zombies had breached the delivery trucks and were pouring into the plaza. The plaza was complete chaos. A jeep full of Russians was headed straight for them. He and Tate crouched down in the backseat, taking aim at the jeep speeding toward them.
“Is now a good time to mention that I don’t have my driver’s license?” Cassie squealed, shifting the jeep into drive. It lurched forward, the back tires spraying dirt and grass.
“What the fuck?” Tate bellowed. “You mean you can’t drive?”
“She took Driver’s Ed,” Jennifer screamed back at him.
Leo bit his tongue and threw all his concentration into shooting Soviets.
The jeep accelerated across the plaza to the bus stop. Bruce and Anton were atop the plexiglass awning.
“Over here!” Bruce waved to the them. “Over here!”
Cassie was forced to slow as a surge of American prisoners thundered by in front of the vehicle. Leo shot out the front tire of the pursuing jeep. That slowed them down, but it didn’t stop them. The Soviets leapt out of the jeep and kept coming, firing at them as they ran.
“Cassie, go!” Leo shouted.
There were still too many people. Cassie jerked the wheel to the right, attempting to swing wide around the people. She clipped a tree, snapping off Jennifer’s sideview mirror.
“Dammit,” she cried.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jennifer said. “Keep driving.”
Cassie broke free around the back of the crowd and rushed to where Bruce and Anton waited. Leo counted no less than seven Soviet bodies around the guys.
“Who’s the man?” Anton crowed triumph. He leaned down to pick up a tidy pile of weapons he’d collected on top of the bus stop. Bruce did the same.
“How did you kill so many?” Jennifer asked as the boys dumped the weapons into the back.
“Turns out a bus stop gives you a hell of a view,” Anton replied.
“It was like shooting fish in a barrel,” Bruce said.
Their smugness was wiped away when Leo said, “Get down!” He raised his machine gun, firing over their heads at more oncoming Russians.
“Get us out of here!” Jennifer said.
Cassie threw the clutch into drive and gunned it. The jeep flew off the curb, jostling them around.
“You just passed your driver’s test with flying colors,” Jennifer said. “Take that street over there. It’s the fastest way back to the horses.”
“Wait, you don’t have your license?” Anton asked. “Who the hell gave you the car keys?”
“She’s doing fine,” Leo said, even though it freaked him the fuck out to have Cassie driving.
No one else said anything, leaving Cassie to concentrate on her job. She drove them away from the plaza.
Leo looked back once. The plaza was in disarray. There were dead everywhere, both American and Russian. Zombies flooded the scene. The remaining Russians were attempting to regroup. The Americans were fleeing, disappearing into the streets and alleyways around the plaza.
“Should we feel guilty for all those dead people?” Cassie’s voice was small over the hum of the engine.
“Do you feel guilty for killing Russians?” Leo asked. His mind replayed the vision of her shooting the Soviet in the jeep. She hadn’t hesitated when it came time to pull the trigger.
Her eyes flicked up, briefly meeting his in the rearview mirror. “No,” she said flatly. There was an edge to her voice Leo had never heard before.
“You should feel good knowing we saved as many as we could,” Jennifer said. “That’s what matters. The Russians were going to infect every last one of them. They were slated to die regardless of what we did.”
“Damn straight,” Anton echoed. “We saved a lot of people today.”
Cassie nodded, but didn’t say anything. It was clear she’d wanted to save everyone.
Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, Leo also felt guilt flaring to life in his chest. A good friend had died today because of him. Jim Craig was gone forever.
“Stop here,” Anton said. They were back in the subdivision, not even to the edge of town yet.
“But—” Cassie began.
“Just stop.”
Cassie glanced at Leo in the rearview mirror. When he nodded to her, she pulled to a stop.
Anton jumped out of the jeep, pulling the can of orange spray paint out of his jacket pocket.
“I can’t believe you brought that,” Jennifer said.
“Are you kidding me? Of course I brought it. Those assholes need to know who they’re messing with.” Anton shook the can and painted the word Snipers across the middle of the road in orange paint.
“It would be more impactful if it were back at the plaza,” Jennifer said.
Anton snorted. “Who cares where it is? They’re going to come looking for us. They’l
l find it.”
No one argued with that.
Chapter 22
Forever
LEO DIDN’T KNOW HOW to feel.
They’d pulled off a victory against the Russians today. They’d been outnumbered and out-gunned. The odds had been stacked against them. Yet with a solid plan from Cassie, they’d managed to kill Russians, disrupt their plan, free prisoners, destroy a large stash of nezhit virus, and make off with a sizable supply of weapons.
They’d done it all and only lost one man.
If today had been a football game, it would have been considered a major victory. Losing Jim might be the equivalent of fumbling the ball or an interception that led to a touchdown by the opposition.
But Jim wasn’t a fumbled ball or an interception. Jim was a person. A human being.
A friend.
The cabin had dissolved into something that was a mix between a wake and a celebration. When they’d returned from Hillsberg with their weapons cache and the tale of their ballsy attack, Nonna pulled out all the stops. With the help of Stephenson and Amanda, she’d whipped up a feast that consisted of homemade gnocchi with a hearty venison sauce.
“This is a great victory against the Soviet bastards,” Nonna had declared. “Jim died a noble death defending his country.”
Leo appreciated the meal. He really did. But he could barely taste it. He kept seeing Jim’s busted head and the blood seeping across the floor. The enormity of the loss kept washing over him.
Jim was the first who had died directly because of a decision Leo made. Jim had followed him into battle and now, because of that, he would never come home.
Had this all been a mistake? He wasn’t even old enough to buy alcohol, yet here he was, leading people—many of them technically teenagers—into battle like he was a four-star general. What the fuck had he been thinking? Who did he think he was?
He slumped on the couch, watching Anton and Tate recount tales from the day. Tate ruthlessly shared the story of his brother jumping in front of the mutant zombie to save the rest of them. Anton shared the story of how he and Bruce had climbed on top of the bus stop and sniped Russians from the high ground. Stephenson, Amanda, Dal, Lena, and Nonna hung on every word, savoring the replay.
Zommunist Invasion | Book 2 | Snipers Page 12