by Jake Bible
"Shit," Audrey says.
There's a far-off boom and we all jump. Hard not to.
"Steph," I say. "Took them long enough to move her body."
"I hope she took out a bunch of those Doyle assholes," Marcie says.
It's good that the grenades I set finally went off. But it's bad because the sound gets the kid Zs even more active and dust starts falling from the ceiling as the tunnel begins to creak and pull at its bolts.
"Here," Froggy Girl says as she shoves open a door in the back wall. "There's another alley behind this building."
We run for it as the tunnel gives way. The bolts pop, pop, pop and half the ceiling just lets go, sending the bright orange tubes falling to the ground. The kid Zs groan and hiss at us as they try to get free of their tunnel, but Froggy Girl was right, they're all jammed up inside there. But they're loud enough, along with the noise the crashing tunnel made, to bring Zs to the front doors.
It's the sound of Z hands slapping at boards that echo in my ears as we get through the back door and into a storeroom. No Zs here, just lots of boxes and some old sleeping bags where someone had bedded down at one point. Froggy Girl leads us to a last door with a dead exit sign hanging by a couple wires over it. She pushes the heavy bar in the middle and sunlight streams into the dark storeroom.
We get outside and stop. Engines. Close engines.
"Up against the wall," Audrey says just as two Humvees go driving by the mouth of the alley.
We flatten up against the wall. I have to yank Froggy Girl with me because she just stands there, her head cocked.
"Those were Humvees, right?" she asks.
"Yep," I say.
"Doyles don't have Humvees," she says. "They have panel trucks, pickup trucks and Jeeps. No Humvees."
"Are you shitting me?" Audrey snaps and stares at the mouth of the alley. "Did those assholes jack our rides?"
The engines get loud again and the two Humvees come back into view as they reverse up the street. One of them must have seen us before we got up against the wall. At least Audrey's question is answered.
Those are our Humvees.
"God dammit!" Audrey yells and starts to pull her rifle from her back.
"Those are ours," Antoinette says, putting a hand on Audrey's arm. "We shoot them up and we don't have a way back to the Stronghold."
"Not cross country," Marcie says. "We'll have to use roads which means twice as long to travel with crazies and scavengers waiting to ambush us."
"God dammit!" Audrey shouts again. Men are yelling and getting out of the Humvees as she whirls on Froggy Girl. "Where can we go from here?"
"We can't," Froggy Girl replies. "That's the only way out."
We look down the alley at the blocked mouth. Doyles are coming at us with rifles raised.
"Shit, shit, shit," Audrey says. "Back inside?"
"Don't have much of a choice," Marcie says.
"We could try to shoot it out," Antoinette suggests.
"El?" Audrey asks me.
I look up and see how the light is changing. The sun is going to set soon. No fun running and fighting Zs or Doyles at night. But if we go back inside then we're trapped.
"El!" Audrey snaps.
"We stand and fight," I say. "See how that goes. If we don't make no ground then we go back inside and barricade the door. Wait until morning to make another move."
"Shit," Audrey says. "Get the Barrett ready."
Shots ring out and we hit the ground. I pull my .45s and fire at the Doyles coming at us. They scatter to the sides of the alley, hiding behind piles of old trash and a couple dumpsters down by the mouth. We don't have shit to hide behind except tossed out old play equipment and that shit is plastic. Plastic don't stop bullets worth a crap.
Antoinette is getting the Barrett off my pack as I keep firing. Audrey and Marcie join in while Froggy Girl just lies flat on the ground, her hands over her ears.
"My turn," Antoinette says as she sets the Barrett onto its bipod and flips up the scope's covers. "Dumpster."
That's all she says as she pulls back the bolt, takes a deep breath, and fires. A hole the size of my fist opens in the dumpster and a man screams. Only the one scream. You get hit by one of those .50 caliber slugs and you don't do much more than scream once and then fucking die.
There's some shouting and a couple Doyles lean out from behind their cover and open fire on us. We return the fire and they duck back fast. We may not have cover, but we have accuracy. One of the men cries out as he takes a bullet to the leg. Might have been my bullet, might have been Marcie's or Audrey's. Wasn't Antoinette's or the leg would be nothing but mist.
The Barrett barks again and another Doyle screams. Just the once.
Two Doyles jump out from their hides and run at us, yelling and shouting while they fire their rifles. Shit. Doyles is suicidal. They fall fast under our fire, but it gives the others time to regroup and come at us too. Antoinette turns a Doyle's chest into mulch, which makes the others pause, but it's easy as shit to see how things are gonna go.
Bullets ring out around us and I take some concrete chips to my cheek.
"Inside," Audrey orders. "If reinforcements come, we'll be overrun."
"Idiots ain't afraid to die," Marcie says as she puts down two more.
"I'd rather not," Antoinette says, her cheek resting against the Barrett's stock. She fires again and one of the dumpsters lurches out into the alley. She fires three more times, using the force of the slugs to move the dumpster so it blocks the alley mouth. "Go!"
I grab Froggy Girl and drag her to the playground's back door. I pull it open and shove her inside then step back out and provide cover fire for the other sisters. Marcie is first up and over to me. She takes up my place and I eject the magazines from my .45s so I can slap in fresh ones.
I have a fresh magazine in one, but don't have the other loaded before I see Froggy Girl jump back from the door that goes from the storeroom out into the playground. She tries to slam the door closed, but Z hands are reaching through the gap and blocking her.
"Shit!" I yell and run over to her. I jam my .45 into the gap and fire until it's empty. "Move!"
Froggy Girl falls back on her ass and I slam the door closed. It shakes and rattles in the frame as the Zs shove against it.
"They broke in through the front!" I yell over my shoulder as Marcie and Audrey hurry into the storeroom. There's another bang from the Barrett then Antoinette joins us. "Did you hear me?"
"We heard you," Audrey says as she slams the back door closed and makes sure it's locked tight. "Doesn't matter now. Two more trucks pulled up. That alley is full of Doyles."
"Dead Doyles," Antoinette says, setting the Barrett down, careful not to touch the smoking hot barrel.
"Still plenty of live ones," Audrey says.
We all turn and look at the door to the playground. It ain't gonna hold long. The back door to the alley is made of heavy-duty metal so folks couldn't break in back when that was a worry pre-Z. But the door inside, the one to the playground, is just wood. And it's shitty wood.
I look around and see a ladder off in the corner.
"Roof," I say. "Only chance."
Audrey nods in agreement and races over to the ladder. The storeroom is a couple stories high since it's the same height as the big room where the playground is. It takes Audrey a lot longer to climb the ladder than we'd like, but she gets up there and shoves on the hatch in the ceiling. It doesn't move for a few seconds, long enough for the door to the playground to splinter and crack.
"Audrey," Antoinette warns.
"I fucking know," Audrey says and shoves harder. The hatch pops free and goes flying out onto the roof.
Stupid design. It should have hinges.
Audrey puts her head up through the hatch then yells and pulls a pistol from her belt. She fires as a Z shows its face. The body tumbles past her and splats on the floor at the base of the ladder. Audrey holds the pistol on the hatch for a couple more seconds then qui
ckly climbs through and rolls out of sight.
"Clear!" she calls.
The door to the playground splits down the middle and none of us hesitate. We run for the ladder and start to climb. Antoinette is last as she grabs the Barrett up, ignoring the hot barrel, and throws the strap over her shoulders so it's braced against her back.
I climb halfway up the ladder then hook an arm in the rungs and swing my body out flat against the wall so the others can get by. I fire down at the Zs that rush at Antoinette, giving her enough space to get a few rungs up and out of reach. It ain't easy climbing a ladder with a full pack and a Barrett on your back. I've been there.
"Thanks," Antoinette says as she passes me on the ladder.
I drop a couple more Zs just to trip the others up then swing back onto the ladder and follow Antoinette up onto the roof.
When I'm up there, Audrey shoves the hatch top back on and closes it tight. No way to lock it, but it don't matter. Anyone opens that hatch and tries to come through, they'll get a couple bullets to the face.
"Spread out and report," Audrey says.
We each take a side of the building and look down below. My side is the alley and I see a whole ton of Doyles running to the back door. They have rifles aimed and look like they are debating who's going in first as one of them pries at the door with a crowbar. A couple of them get to arguing, but finally one yanks open the door and opens fire without even looking inside.
Fire all he wants, one rifle at close range against a horde of Zs don't mean shit. He's buried in Zs before the other Doyles know what's going on. But they're survivors, so they figure it out fast. Every one of them starts shooting while they back away from the door. But, damn, if the Zs don't keep coming.
"Three trucks on the north side," Antoinette says as she comes up next to me.
"Nothing on the west side, but no way down either," Marcie says, joining us.
We watch the Doyles flee back down the alley and back to the Humvees.
"One truck on the south side," Audrey says. "Long-haul semi. I only see a driver and a passenger. Got a heavy wedge welded to the front. But it's way down the street, just watching the Zs pour inside this building from the front."
"They use that to smash through hordes," Froggy Girl says.
"Yeah, I figured," Audrey replies. "But they aren't smashing through the one below. Probably letting as many as possible get inside before they make their move."
"Burn us out?" Marcie asks.
"That's what I'd do," Audrey replies.
"They're gonna burn the building?" Froggy Girl asks.
"If they have any brains in their heads at all," Audrey responds. "We've shown them we can hack our way through a horde of Zs. We've also tipped our hand that we have a Barrett .50 caliber. With all the Zs already in the building, they'd be the stupidest crazies in the world if they try to come in for us. Toss some diesel around the sides of the building and light a match. Poof."
"Poof," I echo.
"Oh," Froggy Girl says. She plops down on her ass. "That's no good."
"No, it ain't," Audrey says. "But we have some time until they light the place up. They're still running scared from the horde."
"They'll draw as many away as possible so they have more room to move," Marcie says.
"Yeah. They'll set up vantage points on all sides so they know we don't get away," Antoinette adds.
"Maybe an hour?" I ask.
"Maybe an hour," Audrey says. "Probably less."
"Thirty minutes," I say and take my pack off.
"Reload and do a quick inventory," Audrey says. "We'll need to move fast which means we need to move light. Ditch the packs and only take what you can comfortably carry while running your asses off."
"Wait, what?" Froggy Girl says, confused as shit. "We're running? How? We're up on a roof."
"We'll figure that out," Audrey says.
"We always do," Marcie adds.
"Yep," Antoinette agrees.
"You women are crazy," Froggy Girl says.
"True dat," I say and smile at her. "Make yourself useful and go watch what the Doyles is doing. If they start moving towards the building, you give a holler."
Froggy Girl just sits there and stares at me.
"Or, I could throw you over the edge and let the Doyles and Zs fight over your broken body," I say. "That sound fun?"
She gets her ass up and creeps over to the north edge.
"We're gonna have to ditch her at some point," Audrey whispers low enough for only us to hear.
"That sucks," Marcie replies, but doesn't argue.
"Maybe she'll pull her weight," Antoinette suggests.
"Maybe," I say. "But, probably not with how fast we'll need to move. We're sisters. She's not."
Antoinette nods.
"You okay with that?" Audrey asks me.
I look over at Froggy Girl as she sneaks a peek at the street below. She ducks her head back fast then takes a second look. Her entire body is shaking from fear.
Yeah, we're going to have to leave her behind at some point. Ain't no way a girl shaking like that can keep up with us. Still…
"No, I ain't good with that," I say. "We find a way to take her with."
"Why the change of heart?" Antoinette asks.
"No change," I say and shrug. "Just don't want to be like a Doyle."
"I get that," Antoinette says.
"We'll see," Audrey says.
She's right. We will see.
Chapter Nine
We're stripped to the essentials. Water, a little food, med kits, knives, long blades, rifles, pistols, as much ammo as we can stuff into our belt pouches, and a couple other things we'll need. I have the Barrett with me. Audrey offered to carry it, but I really don't mind. I like the weight of it strapped to my back and I don't have a rifle like the other sisters, just my two .45s.
"Grab some sleep," Audrey says.
"Sleep? You said they'd try and burn us out within an hour," Froggy Girl says, all shocked and shit.
"Yeah, I did," Audrey says. "So we sleep until then."
"How can you sleep?" Froggy Girl asks, looking from one of us to the next.
"Easy," I shrug and lie down on the hot-ass roof, what's left of my pack tucked under my head. "You close your eyes and sleep happens."
The others laugh and do the same as I close my eyes and let sleep happen.
Internal clock says I get about twenty-five minutes of shut eye before the Doyles come for us. But when I open my eyes, the sun has set and it's nothing but dark sky and twinkly stars above me. I ain't happy with my internal clock.
"What we got?" Audrey asks, stretching next to me as I get up and crack my back.
"They're using the alley," Antoinette says. "Easier to control that way and there's still lots of Zs inside and out front. I think they figure we'll try to escape that way when the building really catches."
"They're predictable, at least," Marcie says, still lying on the roof, her legs outstretched. "That works in our favor."
"Don't assume," Audrey snaps.
It's funny how much she sounds like Steph now. Being in charge, even though she's technically not in charge, makes a sister get all tough and snappy. I've mentioned it to Greta and she says it's the stress. I just think the sisters like to get their butch on when they take charge. It's fun. Sisters like fun.
"We doing it their way or our way?" I ask.
"What do you think?" Audrey replies, all happy smile and killer grin. "When do we ever do it someone else's way?"
"When we've got a Froggy Girl," I say.
"What?" Froggy Girl asks. She's huddled against the north edge of the roof, her knees tucked to her chin. "What about me?"
"We have to do some things that aren't easy for normal folks," I say. "We're gonna have to climb down the wall fast and kill a bunch of Doyles before they know they're already dead. Easy for us, pretty much impossible for you."
The smell of smoke hits us, but it's blown away by the breeze fast so we al
l know the flames aren't nearly at the get the fuck out of here level yet. Close, but not yet.
"Are you gonna leave me?" Froggy Girl asks. She hugs her knees tighter. "You can. It's okay. All the Inezes are dead. I got nowhere to go."
"You can come to the Stronghold with us," I say.
"El," Audrey warns. "We have a mission."
"I know," I say. "I was being kind. That's a thing, right? Being kind? Charlie says I should try it. I'm trying it."
"Charlie says a lot of things," Marcie says. "He also stays back in the Stronghold while we go out into the wasteland and hunt for Kramer. Easy for him to talk."
"Trouble with the boyfriend?" Antoinette asks.
"Shut up," Marcie says. "I'm just saying it's easy for Charlie to be kind while he's behind that huge wall he's finishing. Out here we have to break heads and gut people. That's how it is."
"Oh," Froggy Girl says. "You gonna gut me?"
"Jesus," Audrey sighs. She moves fast and kneels down in front of Froggy Girl, making the girl jump a little. "You can come with us. That's not a problem. But we can't save you anymore. You keep up or you fall behind. That's the deal. No more hand holding."
"You haven't been holding my hand," Froggy Girl says. "I led you to the courthouse, remember?"
"Where our sister got killed," Audrey snarls.
Froggy Girl yips and scoots her ass right against the small wall that rims the roof.
"You haven't helped us at all," Audrey continues. "You've gotten us into more trouble with every suggestion. The courthouse, this building. What's next? You gonna just make it quick and put a gun to our heads?"
"She can't put one gun to all of our heads," I say.
"You know what I mean, El," Audrey snaps.
"Just saying," I reply. "Leave her be. She makes it or she don't. No need to torture the girl."
"I'll make it," Froggy Girl says.
"You think so?" Audrey asks. "El? Give her one of your pistols."
"What?" I ask, my turn to snap. "No way. I need my pistols."
"You have the Barrett," Antoinette says.
"Shut up," I reply. "I need my pistols."
"She's gonna need something," Audrey says as she stands up. "And you have the Barrett."