Maybe. Or they could all die. No one would be left but Grandma, and she was in her sixties. How would she go on without her family?
It wasn’t exactly that he thought the trip to the research facility was a suicide mission, only that he feared Chalice would be the one left behind should one of them succumb to the danger. If so, he stayed with her. There was absolutely no way he would leave her. If she turned, he’d kill them both. He’d rather be with her in death than without her in life.
She opened her eyes and smiled. “What are you doing?”
“Watching you sleep.”
“Silly man.” She held out her hand. “Hold me until morning?”
He’d like nothing more. He slid under the sheet with her.
She rested her head in the crook of his shoulder. “You’re worried.”
“A bit.”
She chuckled. “At least you’re honest.”
“No sense in lying.” He tightened his arms around her, not wanting to be anywhere else. “I was wandering the mall the other day—”
“For lack of anything better to do?” Her laugh vibrated through his chest.
“I’m just going to say it.” He struggled to a sitting position. “When we get back from the facility—”
“Honesty, remember? If we get back.”
“When, we get back … Chalice Hart, will you marry me? I know we don’t have a church—”
Her teeth flashed white. “There’s a church down the road. We can use that one.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Of course it is.” She leaned on her knees and kissed him. “We’ll pledge ourselves in front of the entire group. We don’t need a preacher. If we find one, we’ll renew our vows then.”
“Sounds like the perfect plan.” He dug in his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box. “I hope it’s okay that I took this. Money doesn’t mean anything anymore anyway.” He opened it, revealing a two-carat princess cut diamond ring. “It’s the prettiest one in what I think is your size.”
“It’s perfect.” Tears ran down her cheeks as she held out her left hand.
The ring slipped on her finger as if made for it. Chalice sniffed and wrapped her arms around Colton’s neck. “This gives me hope.”
Marianne cleared her throat beside the bed. “What are you doing here, young man?”
“Proposing to your daughter.” Colton grinned. “I plan on spending the night with her in my arms. If that upsets you, feel free to use my bed on the other side of the store.”
She raised her eyebrows. “I guess you still can’t do much with me within hearing distance.”
“I just plan on holding her,” he said. “And maybe some heavy kissing. We’ve waited this long, another few weeks won’t matter.” He waved his hand in a shooing motion before kissing Chalice again.
10
Chalice climbed into the passenger seat of the Hummer. Mom and Mychal sat in the back. In the Ford, Amos drove with Rachel and Eric riding shotgun. They’d decided to leave the dogs behind to help warn those in the mall against intruders. They were as ready as they could to be.
Colton reached over and grabbed her hand. “Ready to save the world?”
“Yes.” She gave him a shaky smile. “I’m ready to walk outside those concrete malls without running into those.” She motioned her head to where two of the undead shuffled down the highway.
“Even if Rachel finds the antidote the scientists were working on, all it will do is make people immune to the virus and bites,” Mom said. “It won’t do much good if a person is over run and torn to pieces.”
“Thanks for the encouragement.” Chalice reached for her seatbelt, then left it unbuckled. Those days, seeing another driver on the road was rare. Mom was right, though. There was no way of getting rid of those things until their bodies gave into decay. Another year, maybe? They’d survived that long, the survivors could do it for a while longer.
She turned her hand, watching the morning light glint off the diamonds on her ring. The ring gave her hope that all might turn out well.
Colton gave her a reassuring smile, then steered the vehicle toward the main road. Since Rachel knew the way, they’d agreed that this time, the Hummer would bring up the rear.
Five miles from the mall, they stopped and stared at a military convoy. The trucks looked as if a child had tossed them to and fro with no care how they landed. Milling around the overturned and smashed vehicles was a crowd of undead numbering around fifty, many of them in military uniform.
Chalice grabbed the walkie-talkie from the dashboard. “Is there another way?”
“Yes,” Rachel answered. “But, it will add a day to our trip.”
“I say we take the long way around.” Colton leaned forward to look more closely out the window. “If we don’t have to tackle a herd that large, I say we save our energy.”
“We’re going around,” Chalice said into the walkie-talkie.
They backed up and turned around as the first of the undead spotted them and shuffled in their direction. Two sprinters raced toward them, but with the windows up and the scouting group speeding in the opposite direction, they posed little threat.
“I’d still like to know how the virus mutated to produce those things.” Colton relaxed his grip on the steering wheel.
Chalice shrugged. “Maybe something at the facility will provide an answer.” She unrolled her window once the threat of smelling the decay of zombies was over. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to the sickly sweet odor of rotten flesh or the cloying metallic scent of blood.
As the sun began its descent, Amos stopped the Ford in front of another road block. The walkie-talkie on the dashboard beeped.
“I’m here,” Chalice said.
“If we all work at putting those discarded vehicles in a circle, and pull ours inside,” he said. “We would have warning if anything came near and might actually get a good night’s sleep.”
Colton nodded.
“Good idea.” Chalice opened her door. “Mom, stay here and honk if you see any of those things coming.”
She headed to a Toyota Corolla. The door hung open, the driver’s seat covered with dried blood. Grimacing, Chalice plucked off a shriveled piece of something from the steering wheel then leaned inside the car to put it into neutral.
Mychal positioned himself by the trunk. “This is going to take an hour at least to move all these.”
“We only need to move the ones on this side to get our cars in.” She shoved against the door, turning the wheel to maneuver the car into place.
“Nope. Amos said he wants all the cars circled to touch bumpers. That way, nothing can get in.”
Chalice grunted. Yes, it was going to take a while. By the time they’d finished, every inch of her body ached, and her stomach grumbled. Supper was way past due.
Mom exited the Hummer and set up a small Coleman stove. “It’s soup tonight. Hope you don’t mind, but it’s easy and fast.”
“I’m not picky,” Chalice said. “Not anymore.”
“I’m so proud of you.” Mom’s eyes glistened. “The girl you once were was more concerned with the latest hairstyle, then learning survival skills.”
“I got it from you. If you hadn’t kept the root cellar stocked and taught me to shoot, we’d all be dead now.”
Which reminded her of Hanna. Her heart grew heavy. She’d worked so hard to keep her family together, and failed. Sweet Hanna, who cared for everything, even the undead, believing they could someday be saved, had lost her life at the hands of the living.
One of the undead strained to squeeze between two cars. Chalice grasped her knife and put it out of its misery before it alerted more of its kind. Gore covered her hand. She grabbed a rag from the back of the Hummer to wipe her skin. Circled cars or not, she would insist on a guard. If too many of those things found them, leaving in the morning would be difficult. They’d be sitting ducks.
As she stared into the trees lining the road, Mom handed her a mug of
chicken noodle soup and three crackers. A zombie apocalypse was the best diet Chalice had ever been on. Until they’d moved into the mall, her clothes had hung on her.
A scream sounded.
She jerked and set her supper on the hood of a car. The cry for help came again. She met Colton’s gaze, grabbed her sword, and slid over the hood of a Ford Escort.
Colton and Mychal joined her, swords and knives in hand as the three of them raced into the woods.
*
“Stay together,” Colton warned, as they stepped into the shadows.
They followed him into a small clearing. Three people, two men and a woman, stood in a tight circle, fighting off five of the undead. Several of the zombies, and the body of a woman, lay at their feet. Colton’s group surged forward, plunging their knives into the skulls of the monsters. When the undead lay in a heap at their feet, the other three sagged to their knees.
“Thanks,” one of the men, an older gentleman in stained overalls, said. “We couldn’t hold out much longer.”
“You seemed to be doing pretty well.” Colton leaned over and wiped his knife on a clean spot on one of the zombie’s clothing. “We’re camped out on the highway. We’ve some food and water, if you’re interested.” He didn’t normally offer right away, but these three had shown they could fight. None of them carried a gun, only knives and axes.
“Oh, we’re interested.” He held out his hand. “I’m John Dillow. This is my wife Casey, and my brother, David. We were run off our land by a swarm of these things three days ago. Didn’t have time to gather much.”
Colton nodded. “We’re on a mission to the place where this all started. It will be dangerous, quite possibly suicidal. If you’re willing to take your chances, you can come with us, or not. Pick an unclaimed vehicle from the road, and choose your course.”
The three glanced at each other. “We’ll come,” John said. “We’ve no other plans.”
Colton led them back to the circle and let Marianne get them fed. Once they were out of his hands, he went to Amos and informed him of the new members.
“Wow. They fought off all them zombies by themselves?” He shook his head. “We can sure use folks like them on this trip.”
“They wouldn’t have lasted much longer, but they showed courage and strength. I’ll keep first watch tonight. If we all take two hours, we should get plenty of rest.”
“Will do.” Amos unrolled a sleeping bag in the bed of the truck. “I’ll take second watch.” He climbed inside. Seconds later, the truck bed seemed to vibrate with his snores.
Colton laughed. The man would attract anything with ears. Still, unless the living were around, their barricade should hold. He climbed on top of a battered school bus and settled down for his two hour shift.
A cloudless sky and a full moon lit up the area well enough for him to see up and down the highway. Any unseen threat could only come from the woods.
He picked at a crusty substance on the leg of his leather pants. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been clean for more than three days at a time. With water scarce, they couldn’t afford a lot for bathing, and expired deodorant only went so far.
He glanced at the sky. By this time tomorrow, they’d be nearing the government facility. While he tried keeping a brave face around the others, going to where hell started scared him spitless. Hazmat suit or not, there were plenty of dangers that could arise and put an end to them all.
Rachel had better be right about her assumptions. Having the fate of the world rely on one man’s blood was a gamble. Eric couldn’t be everywhere, but at least he was with them.
What if one of their group were bitten at the facility? How could the antibody that Eric carried in his veins help them? Would a direct blood transfer work?
Colton wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his chin, turning his head when Chalice climbed up beside him. “Hey.”
“Hey, yourself. You look deep in thought.” She scooted next to him, the warmth from her body seeping through the leather he wore. “Having second thoughts?”
He entwined his fingers with hers. “Not about marrying you.”
She smiled. “Our futile quest to save humanity, then.”
“And to rid the world of those things.” He motioned his head to where an undead in a football letter jacket emerge from the woods. “Once upon a time, that could be me. Not dead, but living. You’d be wearing my jacket.”
“We would most likely never have met. I miss that old motor home I first drove.”
He laughed. “Do you want to rid ourselves of the football player, or should I?”
“Let him go. He’ll moan and groan and move on when we do. If the rest of the football team arrive, then we’ll take care of them.” She rested her head on his shoulder. “I don’t want to go in that place. Let Rachel go in. She had a hand in starting all of this in the first place.”
“True, but she’s one of us now. She’s pulled her weight and deserves our help.” He couldn’t help but agree with Chalice. While he admired Rachel’s strength and spirit, there was still a piece of him that hated her for her part in the world’s downfall.
He closed his eyes and listened to Chalice’s breathing. She’d fallen asleep on his shoulder. Ten undead football players could scratch at the cars, and he wouldn’t move. Not as long as he could stay out of their reach, and it wasn’t likely they could reach the top of the school bus.
As the moon rose higher in the sky, the football player strained to reach him, and Chalice’s soft breathing soothed him, Colton closed his eyes and tried not to think about tomorrow.
The facility and all the nightmares it contained waited. For good or ill, the building held what hope mankind had left.
The End
A NEW BEGINNING
(The Zombie Awakening, Book 6)
By Cynthia Melton
Copyright 2014
Written by: Cynthia Melton
Published by: Winged Publications
Cover Design: 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.
No part of this book may be copied or distributed without the author’s consent.
The Zombie Awakening Series
The Darkening
No Sanctuary
The Long Road
Reinfection
The Bad Come Forth
A New Beginning
1
Chalice stared at the block building that had once spanned several city blocks. Instead, it lay as a pile of rubble, bones left in a graveyard, forgotten by those who once lived and worked there. The research facility had taken a direct hit from a meteor and released the experimental virus that changed the world. It couldn’t have been a big meteor since the building hadn’t been obliterated, but it had been enough to unleash a terror greater than anything the world had ever experienced.
Dressed in a hazmat suit and mask, Chalice pushed open the door to the Hummer and stepped outside. When was the last time the living had set foot on that ground? Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any living or undead roaming the area, giving further impression that she’d set foot on an alien planet.
Colton grabbed her arm. “Let Rachel go first,” he said, his voice deepened by his mask.
She stepped aside and watched as Rachel Moore, one of the scientists who had created the monster virus, approached the destroyed building. Rachel circled a large pile of bricks, then stepped back and put her hands on her hips. She seemed to study the area a bit more, before heading in another direction. Finally, she waved the others over.
“We’ll have to move these blocks,” she said. “The entrance to the basement is buried. Be careful not to tear your suits. If you do, you’ve signed your death warrant.”
Eric King, the only one of their group immune to the virus and unaffected by bit
es from the undead by some amazing trick of fate, stepped forward. “Let me do most of the work. The rest of you can help with the ones too heavy for me to lift. There isn’t as much of a risk to me.” He lifted a brick and tossed it to the side.
Chalice leaned against the Hummer. It would take all day if only one person moved the rubble. She glanced up, her attention caught by a speck in the sky. “Is that a helicopter?”
“Looks like it.” Colton squinted. “I think we should take cover.”
They all ducked behind the rubble. Chalice hoped the white suits would blend with the large bricks of the facility. If those in the helicopter were unfriendly, they’d be in danger and no closer to finding a cure.
The aircraft circled, dipping low over the vehicles, before rising and disappearing in the clouds. Chalice pushed to her feet. “We’d better get a move on. They’ll be back.”
She started tossing bricks to the side, taking care not to brush against them or snag her suit on sharp pieces of metal. The others joined her. The air filled with dust and the sound of concrete slamming against each other.
“I’m in.” Rachel scurried down a ladder, the others quickly following.
Cages lined a corridor, their bars twisted beyond repair. Blood and gore streaked walls painted a medicinal green. At the end of a long hall, an iron door with a sign saying “Authorized Personnel” only, stood seemingly unscathed.
Rachel punched in a series of numbers on a small box next to the door. “No one goes in but me. There are bound to be busted vials if the safe was damaged. If the safe is intact, I’ll yell for you.”
Chalice met Colton’s stunned gaze. They all knew the trip here would be dangerous, but actually being there and seeing the stickers of quarantine on the walls, made it that much more real.
The Zombie Awakening (Complete 6 Volume Series, plus prologue) Page 34