Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place

by Char Robinson

  Charlie looked around frantically, but knew inside that it was hopeless. He decided that he wouldn’t go down without a fight though, and started shooting even faster, reloading without so much as a thought to what he was doing. Then, although it barely registered, he thought he could hear something above the roar of guns. He stared at the sudden appearance of light, and realized he was hearing the engine of a vehicle that was bearing down on them. He watched in amazement as a pickup came roaring through the mass of zombies, throwing many of them into the air or knocking them out of the way. As the pickup barreled past them, Charlie couldn’t help but grin. In the bed of the pickup was Sean, who was waving and whooping.

  “The cavalry is here folks, time to do some damage!” Sean yelled as he jumped down. There was another man Charlie didn’t recognize with him and he handed Sean something big. Charlie grinned again as he heard a sudden whooshing/roaring sound and the flamethrower in Sean’s hands sprung to life.

  “Dad, look!” Jenny yelled as she pointed past the zombies.

  Charlie raised his head and saw Scott with another man – each had a flamethrower and were doing major damage from behind.

  Still shooting, Charlie gave Jenny a quick glance. “I think we’re going to make it through this, the boys are here!”

  “Thank God!” she said as she reloaded and took out a zombie that was within three feet of her. “Didn’t think we could last much longer!”

  Charlie nodded, watching in amazement as zombies went up in flames. They writhed, twitched, and squealed as they danced and whirled around, many of them catching others on fire as they came into contact. Sean worked his way around the left side while Scott went right.

  “Be careful not to hit Scott!” Charlie yelled at those firing. The last thing he wanted was for friendly fire to take a friend of his out.

  He was running low on ammunition, but it no longer seemed to matter. Several zombies were lurching off; the fight seemed to be gone from them. Sean, Scott and their friend showed no mercy, they chased them down until only a few stragglers were left.

  As Charlie lowered his gun and watched, the gunfire sputtered slowly to a stop. Before he knew it, the only noise he heard was the sizzling sound of burning, stinking zombie flesh.

  Scott ran over to Charlie and clapped him on the back. “Looks like we got here just in time!”

  Charlie chuckled wearily and hugged him. “Just,” he said. Stepping back he eyed the young man before him. “I’m glad you got here when you did.”

  “Me too,” Jenny replied.

  “Oh, let me introduce you,” Charlie said quickly. “This is my daughter Jenny – Jenny, this is Scott.”

  As the two made their acquaintance, Charlie saw Dexter hurrying toward them.

  “Hey, Charlie – we found Gordon and got the keys!” He held them out and jangled them for good measure. “Man, that was some fight, wasn’t it?”

  Charlie calmly looked at Dexter for a moment before replying. “Yeah, it was.”

  Before even Charlie knew what he was doing, he punched Dexter square on the jaw as hard as he could, knocking him to the ground.

  “You’re lucky Sean and Scott showed when they did, or we’d all be dead you asshole!”

  As Dexter rubbed his jaw in amazement, Charlie put his arm around his daughter. Followed by Scott and several others, they headed for their trucks, leaving Dexter where he lay.

  Chapter 23

  Mick sat on one of the couches in the living room, his hair still wet from the quick shower he’d been allowed to take, his eyes never leaving Bill’s pacing figure. Bill had let the women go about their business with a warning that anything funny would result in more dead men. The men and boys were now in the living and dining rooms, all eyes glaring at Bill, although he seemed unaware of the intense hatred radiating from them. Two of his men were with him watching Mick and the others, but most were now stationed on the balcony and roof. Mick also knew more were stationed in back; they were all ready and waiting for the real military to show. Bill was wondering out loud where they were since they’d been spotted earlier headed their way. Mick secretly hoped they’d spotted Bill’s men and vehicles and were planning what to do; he hated to think that they’d walk into the ambush planned for them.

  A sudden shout from the balcony halted Bill in mid-stride. He eyed one of his men and nodded his head in the direction of the balcony. “See what’s going on,” he directed. With a nod the soldier strode over to the sliding door and stepped through. The remaining guard shifted his gun, his eyes narrowing at the group as though challenging them to move. No one did and Mick knew that they all felt the time was not right – yet.

  The soldier returned and whispered something in Bill’s ear. He grinned, whispered back and the soldier hurried back out to the balcony. He turned and eyed his captives. “Well fellas, looks like we might have some fun soon, I want all of the men to line up and we’re going downstairs. If anyone tries something stupid they will be shot immediately.” Without waiting for a reply, he spun on his heel. The other soldier had returned and was now pointing his gun at Mick and the others.

  “You heard the man,” he said in a rough, gravelly voice. “Line up in front of the door.”

  With one more quick glance at Bill, Mick stood first and walked to the door, with the others quickly following. One of the soldiers brushed past them and pushed the door open, going down backward first and motioning Mick to follow. “Go slow, and don’t follow too close,” he cautioned as he pointed his gun at Mick. “We’re going all the way down so don’t stop.”

  Mick nodded and as the man went down, he slowly followed. As they descended, Mick wondered why they wanted all the men downstairs. Fortunately it was getting dark outside; he hoped the military would wait until then to attempt anything. If they could handle the men outside, Mick believed they could do something on the inside; after all they outnumbered Bill’s men three to one and they all knew how to use a gun. As they passed the floor where the children were, he could hear them singing, apparently Cindy and the others were trying to keep them happy and occupied. At that moment Mick felt desperate, he wanted to tear these men apart with his bare hands. He felt a deep wave of despair over what had befallen his best friend and he vowed once again to do everything in his power to stop Bill and his group of mercenaries.

  ****

  Cindy was standing in the children’s room when she heard footsteps outside. She waited for them to fade before slowly easing the door open. She caught a glimpse of Mick as he went down, followed by everyone else. Bill and one of the soldiers were last in the line. She quietly closed the door, frowning. Why were they all going downstairs? She hoped Mick wouldn’t have to see Dave still on the floor and that these people had enough decency left to have moved him.

  She hurried over to the closest bedroom where Sarah and Denise were sitting with Lilly. They’d given her a sedative and she was lying on her bed with a damp cloth over her eyes. They were sitting by the bed on folding chairs and looked up when Cindy came in.

  “How is she?” Cindy whispered. “Is she sleeping?”

  Sarah met Cindy at the door. “Don’t think she’s really sleeping,” she whispered back. “Think she’s more in shock than anything else.”

  Unable to think clearly, Cindy just shook her head as she gazed at her daughter-in-law. Since Denise was there, she motioned Sarah to join her outside. Together they exited the room; Sarah shut the door softly behind her. As Cindy filled her in on what she’d just seen, she suddenly had an idea. A dangerous idea.

  Chapter 24

  Charlie led the way back with Scott and his group following. Several men stayed behind to clean up the mess; the bodies would be burned then moved to another area for burial. Once they all exited their vehicles, Scott introduced everyone and they engaged in some chit-chat for a few minutes. Finally, Sean walked over to Charlie and asked to use the radio. Charlie could have smacked himself for not thinking of it himself, he was certain Mick and Cindy was worried about t
he boys, as well the two newcomers' families.

  “Dad!” Jenny called from behind. He turned to see her trotting toward him. “I am going with a group over to the post office to get those medical supplies. Dex gave me the keys.”

  Charlie nodded. “Ok, but be careful. Did you get more ammo?”

  “Yep,” Jenny replied. “Already reloaded too. Be back in a few.”

  “Ok, see you soon,” he said as he stepped through the threshold behind Sean. He noticed that Sean had already spotted the radio and was sitting down.

  “I’ll be right back,” he said as he patted Sean on the shoulder. “Going to check on everyone.”

  Sean nodded without replying, so Charlie set off to see what was going on. He sniffed the air as he neared the first lower floor apartment, someone was definitely cooking dinner and it smelled delicious. The door was ajar and he knocked softly.

  “Come in,” Judith Vaughn sang out. “Unless you’re a zombie then I think for your sake you’d better keep on going.”

  “No zombie, just Charlie.”

  “Oh! Come on in!”

  He walked into the apartment and saw Judith standing in the kitchen area. Steam rose from a large metal pot. “Whatcha making?” He asked as he sniffed the air again. “Smells like spaghetti.”

  “Good nose,” Judith said with a grin. She opened the oven door and placed two large cookie sheets with rolls on them inside. Straightening up, she gave him a grin and used her pinkie to push a stray strand of wavy blond hair off her forehead. Her cornflower blue eyes sparkled, Charlie was sure they were the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen. After he’d first met her, he asked Jenny about her and liked what Jenny had told him; he definitely wanted to know her better. Judith had been widowed for 5 years and had done a fine job so far with Travis. He hoped he wouldn’t come across as being pushy and certainly didn’t want to tread on anyone’s toes.

  “I’m hoping everyone will be hungry when they get back,” she said as she laid a pot holder on the counter and gazed at Charlie. “Unless they all lost their appetite with what had to be done.”

  Remembering the day they had to dispose of all the bodies at Hudson Place Charlie replied, “I think I can say from prior experience that you will have a bunch of hungry folks on your hands very shortly.” He eyed everything once again. “Need a hand? I can make a mean salad, or so I’ve been told.”

  Judith chuckled. “Sure, you’re on.”

  As Charlie was rolling up his sleeves to get to work, Sean appeared in the doorway. “Glad I found you, we need to talk, it‘s important.”

  With a slight sigh and an apologetic look toward Judith, Charlie rolled his sleeve back down. “No problem, be right there.” He shrugged his shoulders as he glanced at Judith. “Sorry, I’ll try to hurry.”

  She smiled at him and nodded. “No problem, thanks for offering to help, I do appreciate it.”

  Charlie was already to the door and waved as he exited. Sean was waiting right outside the door, fidgeting. “I think we have a problem at Hudson Place,” he said as they walked together down the hall.

  “How so?”

  “I got hold of Brooke,” Sean said in a low voice. “She said she couldn’t talk long, but that something bad had happened, she wasn’t sure what yet. Said Mom and some of the others had been crying and that Dad looked like he was about to hurl. Oh, and a whole group of people arrived there, supposedly they’re going to help protect them against some people from a mercenary group of thugs called the Connor Group, whatever that is. These people want us for some kind of experimental cure. Brooke overheard most of this from Mom, so I‘m not absolutely sure how accurate it is, but it still sounds bad no matter how you dice it.”

  Charlie scratched his chin thoughtfully. “So what you’re probably thinking is that we need to high tail it back to Hudson Place and bring as much help as we can get with us?”

  “I don’t like the idea of doing that, but I don’t see any other choice, do you? I don’t want to take a chance that something is going down and we stand by here and do nothing.”

  “Got to agree,” Charlie said, biting his lower lip. “Ok, let me talk to Dexter, you talk to your brother, Jacob, and Mark and let’s see if we can get a move on within the hour.”

  ****

  Cindy assembled all the women except Brooke and Kendra, who were watching the children and Lindsey who was staying with Lilly, in their bathroom. In a hurried whisper, she quickly outlined her idea and together they all decided to act on it.

  “They’re so cocky they left only one guard up here, he’s over by the ammo room,” Cindy said with a dry chuckle and smiled at Denise. “You sure you can do this?”

  Denise nodded soberly, her eyes glittering with anger. “Oh I’m sure all right; nothing will give me more pleasure.”

  “Well, be careful and do it how we talked about, ok? We‘ll be right around the corner.”

  “Let’s get this over with,” Denise said curtly as she pushed off the wall she’d been leaning on. The rest of the women followed her out.

  Once they were all in position, Cindy gave Denise a nod, pursing her lips in concern at her daughter-in-law’s retreating back until she turned the corner and could no longer be seen. At least they would be able to hear and listen for Denise‘s cue.

  “Hey there.” Cindy heard Denise say.

  The solider/mercenary grunted in reply. Not a good start Cindy thought to herself pensively. Unconsciously she clasped her hands together.

  “My name’s Denise, I’ve been trapped in this hell hole for far too long and it‘s nice to see a real man around for a change, but don’t tell my friends I said that, ok?” Denise remarked in a low, breathy voice. “So I told you my name, do you have one?”

  “Jessie,” came the short reply.

  “Oh, what a nice name!” Denise fairly crooned. “Nice to meet you, Jesse. So what are you doing here all by yourself?”

  For the next 10 minutes, Denise slowly drew Jesse out until they were chatting like old friends. Suddenly, Cindy heard her snap her fingers. Not able to contain herself anymore, she craned her neck slowly around the corner where she could see that Denise was now standing right next to the soldier.

  “Oh drat! I’m supposed to find someone to help get the ham radio up and running, know anything about them? Bill wants to have a talk with the guys in Shady Oaks.”

  When Jesse replied in the affirmative, Denise put her hand slowly on his shoulder and gave him a dazzling smile. Cindy rolled her eyes when she saw Jesse give her a weak-in-the-knees smile back. Oh brother, Cindy thought, she’s got him eating out of her hand.

  “Oh that’s wonderful!” Denise gushed. “It’s right over here in this room.” She slid her hand down and gently pulled on Jesse’s sleeve. He hesitated for only a moment before giving in and following her.

  Cindy shook her head in amazement and ducked back around the corner. She looked at the others, put a finger to her lips, and then mouthed “get ready” at them. They all nodded and everyone tensed, ready to spring to action. Cindy glanced down at the hammer in Sarah’s hand, hoping she’d have the nerve to use it. When she glanced up at Sarah’s face, she found Sarah looking back at her and she nodded forcefully as though she knew exactly what Cindy was thinking. They stood still as statues until they heard Denise open the door to the small room housing the radio.

  “Its right here,” they heard her say faintly. She was already in the room. “See what you think.”

  That was the phrase they were waiting for. Silently they all turned the corner in single file, allowing Sarah to take the lead. Cindy could see Jesse sitting in front of the radio, Denise bending over him off to his left. Sarah strode through the door and seemingly without hesitation, she raised the hammer and brought it down right on top of his head. As they figured, it only seemed to stun him. Before he could react, Cindy and Meagan scurried forward and wrapped a thick rope around his midsection. Megan tied it off and soon as she finished Cindy took a bandana out of her pocket and stuffed i
t in the shocked soldier’s mouth. Blood was now running down the side of his face and his eyes looked definitely hazy, but Cindy knew he’d be fine with time; Sarah simply hadn’t hit him that hard. Soon as they were finished, they all left the room, leaving Denise to lock it behind them.

  “Let’s get those weapons and ammo,” Megan said in a loud whisper. As a group they rushed over to the door and within seconds they were all inside grabbing everything they were sure they’d need.

  Although it only took them a few minutes to gather everything, it seemed to Cindy that it took far too long. “Let’s go!” she finally whispered frantically. She was so afraid they were going to be caught. She rushed out the door and headed back to the bathroom, not even looking behind her to see if everyone was following. Fortunately, everyone was and they soon got busy organizing what they had.