“No, worse. Without lighting any candles or lanterns, start loading up.”
What could be worse than zombies? She knelt to roll up her bag. “I need to know what’s going on.”
His eyes glittered from the moonlight through the window. “Apparently, we were followed from that house today. Bill thinks there might be armed men out there ready to take our supplies by force.”
“Then why don’t we take their attention off of us?” Once her bag was rolled and tied, she shook Hanna awake, instructed her as to what to do, and told her to get the other children around. They’d spoken of what would need to be done if they ever needed to leave in a hurry. Chalice had faith the kids would do exactly what they needed to.
“You have an idea?” Colton followed her as she moved around the room.
“It’s risky. We’d have to wait until we actually knew for sure that there is a danger, but yes, I have a plan.” She smoothed her hair back into a ponytail. “Don’t I always?”
“Let me get Bill, and we’ll discuss it.” Colton stepped to the screen door on the front porch and whispered for Bill to come inside.
Chalice wasn’t sure when they’d all started deferring to the older man’s leadership, but she was glad the responsibility was off her shoulders. With the four adults making decisions, she’d offer advice, then wait to be told what to do. Within minutes, everyone had gathered in the dark dining room, even the four children. They huddled on one of the long benches.
“What’s your idea, little gal?” Bill propped one foot on a chair, and waited.
Chalice licked her lips, suddenly wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. Now that she was ready to speak the idea out loud, it sounded stupid and ridiculously dangerous. “We don’t even know if these people are dangerous. They haven’t tried to contact us, have they? Is it possible we’re being paranoid?”
Colton and Bill looked at each other. “Well, no,” Bill said.
“But they turned off their flashlight when they knew we were watching them,” Mychal pointed out. “That looks suspicious.”
“I’m not saying they aren’t bad.” Chalice crossed her arms. “But why leave here where we have a well and a garden, if we don’t have to? Yeah, we have bottled water and canned food, but do we want to dig into it if we don’t have to?”
“Is this your idea, sweetie?” Grandma placed a hand on Chalice’s shoulder. “Because, it isn’t a very good one.”
Chalice sighed. “No, this isn’t my idea.” Holy Crap. “My idea is…if, and it’s a big if, the guys make an aggressive move, then we give them something to concentrate on besides us.”
“Like?” Colton tilted his head.
“We sit tight and let the gunfire attract the zombies.”
10
“You mean to offer the other survivors as zombie food?” Colton couldn’t believe she’d come up with such a barbaric, but possibly brilliant, idea.
“Without zombies to distract them, whoever our wood-wandering people are, they’ll pick us off like ducks at a shooting gallery. This way, while they’re fighting for their lives, we put the kids in the truck and leave.”
“And pray we don’t get eaten! There’s still plenty of us to attract attention.” Mychal shook his head. “You really don’t want to leave here, do you?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t. There’re a lot of wonderful memories here.” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “But, I know we’ll have to eventually.”
Eventually would be in a few hours if Colton’s gut instinct was correct. “Could we at least load everything in the trucks while it’s dark? If nothing happens by morning, then we’ll take the bed stuff back out when it’s time for bed.”
“I’m okay with that.” She marched to the living room and grabbed an armload of sleeping bags. “The big truck is already a pantry. It might as well be a closet, too.” With those words she left through the front door, letting it slam shut behind her.
If not for the danger of letting in unwanted visitors, he’d suggest they prop it open, but since zombies didn’t seem to know how to open doors, it was better left closed. He glanced around the room. “Guess we’d better help her. Just in case.”
“Crazy plan.” Bill hefted a lawn and leaf bag full of clothes. “Why would anyone in their right mind want those undead freaks wandering around? On purpose. Sure, they might go after those other guys, but once they catch a glimpse of us, some of them will turn our way.”
“Guess that’s a chance we’ll have to take. If we’re fast, we should still make it to the trucks before the zombies catch wind of us.” Colton grabbed some stuff. “I’ll take this outside, then stand guard. I don’t think anyone should be out there alone.”
Arms empty, Chalice sat on the porch swing, rifle in her lap, and stared across the pasture. “I’ve seen more activity,” she told him. “More lights flickering. Once in a while, when the wind is just right, I think I hear voices. I’ve resigned myself to the fact that sometime today, we’ll have company.”
Colton placed his armload in the trailer, then sat beside her, laying his arm across the back of the swing. “It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
“What? Us leaving?”
“That, and someone trying to take our supplies.” He glanced at the truck, dark in the shadow of the tree. In today’s world, it contained a fortune in food, water, ammo, liquor, and cigarettes. If undead weren’t focused on eating off their faces, Colton and the others could set up someplace and live like royalty. “After all the things we found today, it was even more of a sure thing. With that big truck, the Hummer, and Bill’s truck, we’re a regular convoy. Not exactly hard to spot.”
“Soon, there won’t be enough people left alive to worry about.”
He pulled her closer, laying her head on his shoulder. “We’ll find a safe place, Chalice. Have faith.”
Angel’s cry drifted through the window, then Grandma’s murmurs, soothing her. Chalice shifted under his arm. “A baby shouldn’t have to grow up like this. She won’t even be able to run in the yard without an armed guard.”
“We’ll find a place.” He wished he knew how to reassure her. Most of the time, he felt as if all they’d live to do was run. Then, at other times, he knew there was a place they could start a new life. There had to be. Otherwise, why hadn’t God just wiped out the entire earth? Why leave a few to fight to the death? The plague might have been released by meteors, but it was man’s desire to dominate that created it in the first place. Maybe it was Noah’s Ark all over again and only the chosen would survive.
*
Three dark figures appeared over a hill across the road. Chalice could tell they weren’t zombies because of their hunched over, quick moving, forms. “Here they come.” She stood.
Colton peered around the house. “Four more coming up from the back. Let’s get in the house.”
They backed up and locked the door. “Company’s coming,” Chalice announced. “They decided not to wait for breakfast. Visitors in the front and the back.”
Bill leaped up from the table and grabbed his rifle. “Don’t shoot until they’re close enough to see the whites of their eyes. We’re safe in here for a while. When the men get close, start firing. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m hoping there’s a group of zombies shuffling nearby to hear the noise.”
Chalice agreed. If there weren’t enough zombies to distract seven armed men, then her plan had no chance of succeeding.
“Hanna, you and the other kids get down. Mychal and Eddy, take your positions along with everyone else. If we all remember our training, every window or door will be covered.” Bill said, heading for the back door with Sarah, leaving Chalice and Colton to cover the two front windows.
George moved to a dining room window, pulled up a chair, and propped a rifle on the windowsill. “I still got a finger to pull the trigger.”
Chalice’s heart lodged in her throat. For the first time in her life, she was actually going to have to shoot at another human
being. Not a zombie, but a living, breathing, thinking person. One that hadn’t been bitten. And, she’d come up with the plan to rid the world of a few more survivors. She closed her eyes, suddenly sick to her stomach. “I can’t do this.”
“Yes, you can.” Colton glanced at her.
“We should have left hours ago.”
“Then, we’d be trapped in the cars and possibly surrounded.”
“We’re surrounded now.” Her hands shook.
“Stop it. You had a good idea, now deal with it. This is a lot better than being trapped in a car and being shot at.”
“Okay.” She took a deep breath and refocused her attention outside. A heavyset man in jeans and a Kevlar vest paced around the chicken truck. If he tried to open the door…he did. She squeezed the trigger, putting a bullet through his hand. “Ooops.”
Gunfire erupted from outside. The man she’d shot dove under the truck.
“Hold your fire!” Bill held up his hand. “Don’t shoot unless you’re in immediate danger. Wait and see whether we have more company.” He grinned. “The undead variety.”
After fifteen minutes, the gunshots from outside had stopped and the man Chalice shot climbed from under the truck and sprinted around the side of the house. Silence echoed, broken only by the occasional whimper of Angel.
“We need something else to attract attention. Something big and loud.” Chalice eyed the large truck. “The horn on that thing would be perfect.”
“I know what you’re thinking, and the answer is no.” Colton stepped between her and the door. “I’ll go. I’m faster. You’re the best shot I know. There isn’t a better person I want covering me.”
“What if it doesn’t work? Then you risked…”
“Hold on. Look.” George got their attention and motioned his head toward the woods. “We’ve got plenty of non-breathers coming to say hello. Bad news is…there’s more of them then there are bad guys. A lot more. We’re going to have to get out quick before they finish with the others.”
Vomit rose in Chalice’s throat. There were so many zombies, at first she thought the trees were moving. Then, a solid wall of shuffling undead moved toward the house. She didn’t think the outside men had noticed them yet, since they didn’t start shooting again. “Maybe we should go now, before they get all the way there.” She opened the front door. “Hey, you guys! Zombies coming your way.”
Curses filled the air mere seconds before gunfire erupted again. Adrenaline burned through Chalice’s veins. “Grandma, get the kids. Everyone knows where they are supposed to go. Hurry, before the zombies are here.” She couldn’t watch another of their group get ripped to shreds. She glanced back out the door. “Mychal and Eddy, cover them from the porch.”
The horde was maybe fifty feet away. Thank goodness they didn’t seem capable of running. They didn’t need to. They dominated by sheer numbers.
While the others ran to where they were supposed to go, Chalice and Colton stood guard on the porch with Mychal and Eddy. By the time the zombies were twenty feet away, everyone else was inside their vehicles. Bill honked and yelled for them to hurry. She cast a glance at Colton then dashed down the steps, making a beeline for the passenger side of the Hummer.
She careened to a stop and whipped her rifle up. Ducked down beside the passenger door was a young man maybe a year or two older than herself. “Make a move and I’ll blow your head off.”
He straightened and held his hands over his head. “Don’t shoot. I’m unarmed.”
“Then what are you doing here?” Where the hell was Colton?
“Look, girl, the zombies are coming, and we’re out in the open.” He peeked over his shoulder. “Mind if we continue this conversation inside the truck?”
“I ought to shoot you as a diversion.” But she couldn’t. Not someone who was unarmed. “Get in. Lady, watch him.”
The dog eyed the young man, growling low in her throat. “Uh, will she bite?”
“If I tell her to.” She poked him in the back with the rifle barrel.
“Chalice, get in!” Colton pushed open her door. “Look, dude. Either we shoot you or you get in.”
The zombies were within three feet. Chalice slid onto the seat and pulled the door closed. “Now.”
The boy eyed Lady one more time. “I’ll take my chances out here.” He closed the door and sprinted for the house.
“Idiot.” Colton turned the ignition just as the first wave of zombies crashed against the hood.
The three younger girls in the back screamed. Trinity’s shrill squeal pierced Chalice’s ear. Lady’s barking added to the din until Chalice’s ears rang from the sound.
“Get on the floor as much as possible,” she told the kids as she hit the door locks. Sure, zombies couldn’t open doors but the action made her feel safer. For a second. Until the Hummer started rocking from the sheer force of the zombies powering past.
Gunfire still erupted.
Bill honked the transport horn. A few of the undead turned toward him, but most continued toward the house and the rapidly fleeing strangers.
Colton pressed the gas pedal, sending the Hummer hurtling through already mangled, deteriorating bodies until they reach the road where the other two vehicles waited. Feathers flew from the few chickens caged inside the transport. They floated on the air, suspended for a moment before being ground into the dirt. With another honk of his horn, Bill led them away from one of Chalice’s favorite places in the world.
She prayed the stupid boy inside the house would survive, but odds were against him. There was no safe sanctuary left on earth.
The End
THE LONG ROAD
Book 3 in the Zombie Awakening Series
By Cynthia Melton
Copyright 2013
Written and Published by: Cynthia Hickey
Cover Art: Cynthia Hickey
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Acknowledgements
To my loving, supportive husband who, like me,
Loves anything zombie, and to my son, Mychal
Who is a better hero in real life than he is in the book.
Table of Contents
chapter 1
chapter 2
chapter 3
chapter 4
chapter 5
chapter 6
chapter 7
chapter 8
chapter 9
chapter 10
chapter 11
1
Chalice Hart buried the axe into the head of the nearest zombie, then pulled a Samurai sword from its sheath and beheaded another one. Her brother, Mychal, fought beside her, a sword in each hand, his crossbow hanging across his back. They hacked away at the overwhelming amount of moaning, stinking, undead as they worked on rescuing Colton Morgan who’d managed to back himself into a corner with another teenager of the group, Eddy.
The surrounding trees and bushes were splattered with thick, dark blood. The air stunk of undead and sweat. Flies buzzed around the heads of the living and the dead until Chalice wanted to scream.
Bill and Sarah fired their weapons from the top of the chicken transport truck turned mobile home for a passel of kids. Chalice prayed their aim stayed true, and she didn’t end up with a bullet in the back of her head. Occasionally, a scream from one of the younger children pierced the air.
Originally scoffing at the idea of wearing full leather while battling zombies, Chalice was now glad they’d stopped at the motorcycle clothing outlet store last week. More than one non-breather had tried to take a bite out of her only to find themselves unable to rip away a mouthful of flesh before she could bash their head in. Black leather pants and high-collared jackets made the survivors look like some kind of post-apocalyptic gang.
“Would be nice if y’all would hurry!” Colton plunged a knife t
hrough the eye socket of an old man.
“Trying!.” Chalice beheaded another and swerved to avoid as much of the noxious overspray as possible. Already her fighting armor ran slick with zombie blood. Perspiration glued the leather to her skin.
A barrage of bullets started spinning zombies in every direction. Chalice grabbed Mychal’s arm and pulled him behind the safety of a thick oak tree.
Colton cried out and fell, then struggled to his feet and followed Eddy into the trees.
“Who is it?” Mychal plastered his back against the trunk, his chest heaving from the battle.
“I don’t know.” She prayed they were good guys and that Colton wasn’t badly injured. They’d all learned along the road that not every survivor they happened upon was actually on their side. Most wanted the truck full of supplies they dragged along with them. Supplies that were rapidly depleting as winter approached. Especially formula for Angel.
She peered around the tree. Five men in military fatigues, carrying assault rifles, mowed down the undead as if they were nothing more than overgrown weeds. Chalice closed her eyes and released a heavy sigh. For the moment, they were saved. Only time would tell whether they wanted to be.
“You can come out now,” One of the men called. “We’re a group living out of a mall in Oklahoma City. You’ll be coming with us now.”
“Excuse me?” Chalice put her sword back in its sheath and put a hand on the pistol at her waist. “We’re headed west to the coast.”
“No, you’re coming with us.” He waved a hand and the other four men who trained their weapons on the others in Chalice’s group. “This can be peaceful or not. Your choice.”
They’d never win a battle against heavily armed survivalists. Chalice moved her hand away her weapon. “We have children and elderly with us.”
“That’s perfect. We’re trying to rebuild this country. Children are a valuable asset.” He marched toward the chicken truck. “Anyone over childbearing years aren’t. They’ll be left behind.”
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