Dying Days 7

by Armand Rosamilia

  “Maybe we’ll die together,” Darlene said.

  She moved all of her energy to a weak shield near her upper body, hoping, if he had anything left, he’d try for a headshot.

  Darlene was right.

  The Lich Lord cupped his hands and a very weak red spark appeared, glowing faintly.

  Darlene took a second to look for the sword, hoping it was closer to her than The Lich Lord. It was. She didn’t know if they’d have a scramble for it. She didn’t know if she had the energy to win, either.

  The blast hit her shield and ruined it but she was untouched.

  The Lich Lord sighed. He was still on his knees and looked like he was going to fall back any second. His power was fully expended. Destroying The Promised Land had taken its toll.

  Darlene walked right up to The Lich Lord, who didn’t make a move.

  “This is the end,” she whispered.

  The Lich Lord was weak. She could see it in his eyes. She felt sorry for the man behind the monster, the one she’d begun to know. He’d been slowly dropping his guard and she’d felt like they could’ve eventually worked together with no strings attached.

  Maybe even become friends and helped one another to build The Promised Land into something amazing. The perfect nirvana for survivors.

  A brave new world.

  Now it was all gone. Once again the calm before the storm had passed and Darlene was left to make hard decisions and lose another small piece of her humanity.

  “Finish me,” The Lich Lord said. His eyes were pleading. There were no more games and no last-ditch efforts to stop her. He’d lost and bowed his head to a superior opponent.

  Darlene, bleeding and weak herself, called the zombie blade to her hand.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “Don’t be. I made my play. I let my emotions get the best of me. It would’ve happened sooner or later. Just promise me one thing… you don’t let your son destroy the world,” The Lich Lord said.

  “I promise.”

  Darlene swung the sword and cut The Lich Lord’s head off.

  She collapsed on the bridge and closed her eyes.

  Chapter Thirty Six

  Bernie and a group of armed men and women were waiting on A1A when April and Tosha approached. They numbered less than two dozen but April was glad to see her parents and sister were among them.

  “Where is The Lich Lord?” Tosha asked.

  “He went crazy. Someone tried to kill him. He burned half of The Promised Land. Destroyed the bridges. He’s on a rampage,” Mr. Hand said. “We need to get on a boat or take our chances in the river.”

  “You think you can swim across the river with everything going on?” his wife asked.

  He shook his head.

  “We need to gather everyone we can. Find out where The Lich Lord is. Make sure the fires are put out. The walls are still intact. No one is looting or fighting among themselves. We need to get control of The Promised Land by whatever means necessary,” Tosha said.

  April hugged her family.

  “The last place we saw The Lich Lord going was at the bridges. He destroyed all of them,” Bernie said. “We think.”

  Tosha threw her hands in the air. “He did or he didn’t?”

  Bernie pointed west. “The last bridge was where he was headed. No one’s seen him come back. We were headed in this direction to see if we could escape or if he’d knocked out the bridge. The boats were another option.”

  “He didn’t make it as far as the boats. I do know that. We saw them once we left the restaurant,” April said.

  “I’m going to the bridge. Everyone else needs to start spreading the word this is over. Even if it isn’t. We need to gather and figure out just how bad it is,” Tosha said.

  “I’m going with you,” April said.

  “No,” Tosha and her parents and sister all said at the same time.

  “Then I’ll go on my own.” April started walking. “I can take care of myself.”

  “I’m too tired to argue,” Tosha said.

  “It looks like Terry and Mitch and the people they run with started this. They might all be dead. I didn’t see all the bodies, though,” Bernie said.

  “Thanks to April the Girl Scout, Terry is tied up at the restaurant where he tried to kill and then rape me. I guess you heard my ex-boyfriend Mitch was the shooter,” Tosha said.

  Bernie nodded. “Are we going after him?”

  “One thing at a time. We need to get everyone on the same page. Maybe call a meeting like they used to do on Main Street. Figure out a way to get The Promised Land back together again. We need to do it before zombies catch a sniff of a breach in our defenses. We still have a few thousand zombies at the mall, too. This would be the perfect time for them to start moving in our direction,” Tosha said.

  Mimzie was staring at April, who turned away. She was going to do what needed to be done.

  “Let’s go. We’ll need everyone to help spread the word,” Bernie said and touched Mimzie’s arm. “These people know you and your family. We need to stop the riots and the looting if it’s going on.”

  “They better not be in my store,” Mister Hand said. “They’ll see the junkyard dog unleashed.”

  Tosha was already on the move and April ran to catch up.

  Everything was happening so fast. April tried to remain calm but it was no use. She was on the verge of panicking.

  “You did well back there,” Tosha said.

  “When I didn’t let you kill Terry?”

  “Yes. Cooler heads prevailed. Well, your head. Thank you. I can’t help myself when it comes to doing the dirty work. I was born to do it, I guess. I’m a bad person,” Tosha said.

  “You’re too hard on yourself.”

  “No. I’m really a bad person. Pretty fucked up. I spent most of this zombie apocalypse talking to my dead sister. Someday I’ll tell you the hysterical story of killing a lesbian in St. Augustine and never admitting to it. I’m a real peach,” Tosha said.

  April and Tosha walked over the bridge, still relatively intact. They could see the smoke and the damage to the road but it would hold.

  Tosha stopped first.

  April saw what she was looking at: a headless Lich Lord and a prone Darlene next to him.

  Both women rushed to Darlene.

  “Is she alive?” April asked.

  “Actually, no. She’s a zombie. She’s technically dead,” Tosha said.

  “You know what I mean.”

  Tosha put her hand on Darlene’s chest and sighed. “Shit. She doesn’t have a heartbeat but she probably hasn’t in months, right? She doesn’t need to breathe. How do I know she’s alive or dead?”

  Darlene’s eyes fluttered. “I’m fine. Just let me sleep for awhile. I can finally sleep. I wish I could dream.”

  Tosha helped Darlene to a sitting position. She walked over and picked up the sword from the ground, swinging it twice.

  “You killed him with this?” Tosha asked.

  Darlene managed a nod.

  “Is it like a zombie killer?”

  Darlene opened both eyes and tried to stand. “Put it down.”

  Tosha laughed. “Why? Scared? I thought you were super powerful, bitch?”

  “I can still kill you,” Darlene said. “You’re making a big mistake. You need me alive and you know it.”

  “You’re not alive. I think we established that shit. No breath. No heartbeat,” Tosha said. She raised the blade over her head.

  April put her weapon against Tosha’s head. “Drop it. My gun is definitely loaded and I will definitely kill you.”

  Tosha didn’t move.

  April didn’t want to kill her but she would if she had to. She didn’t know Darlene all that well but knew she was still needed if they wanted to survive. They needed a zombie on their side.

  “Relax. I was just fucking with her. That’s the relationship Darlene and I have,” Tosha said and dropped the sword.

  Darlene stood and shook
her head. “We have a much bigger problem coming down the road and not a lot of time to prepare for it.”

  Epilogue

  He stood on the top of the building, hanging onto the same antenna his mother had previously. He could see her trail. Wherever she went. They were tied together, like an umbilical cord. He thought it fitting.

  She was hurt. Depleted. His mother had fought bravely against an opponent she actually liked and didn’t want to kill. Yet… in order to save the humans, she had done what needed to be done.

  All for naught.

  She was trying to save a dying race. A species that had worn out its welcome on the planet, a planet it had tried to destroy so many times already.

  His goal was to exterminate the human race once and for all. It wasn’t about ruling an inferior people. It wasn’t about preserving anything.

  It was about total annihilation, even when he knew it meant destroying himself. It was worth it. How many could say they’d blown up a planet?

  He’d store as much power as possible and use it to crush this world. Once and for all. Decisively. He just hoped his mother was the last to go as it all burned around them.

  His zombie assassins were waiting below. He’d been able to create fifty of them while in the north. They’d accompanied him on the journey south, killing humans as they went. Scorching the earth as they moved.

  The ranks of the zombies would be bloated soon enough. He’d put the call out far and wide for reinforcements. By first light, they would be ten thousand strong.

  Nothing could stop them. He’d destroy The Promised Land with sheer numbers. The Lich Lord had done most of the work for him.

  Knocking down walls. Killing men with guns. Creating chaos they’d never recover from.

  He’d wait until nightfall to march into the dead city and burn it to the ground, until nothing remained.

  Nothing but his enslaved mother, who would accompany his reign of terror across the globe.

  He smiled.

  His soldiers awaited his every command.

  He glided down to the ground and gathered his assassins to him, marveling at how quickly their tortured brains had adapted to the killing machines they now were.

  All semblance of humanity had been stripped from them.

  He turned to the lead assassin, the one he’d created first.

  “What is your name?” he asked.

  The zombie didn’t answer.

  “Was your name Hayden?”

  No answer.

  It had been. It was no more.

  “Go underground again. Lead your men to somewhere safe but close. As soon as darkness covers the land, we strike and we strike hard. Understood?”

  The zombie assassin, formerly known as Hayden, nodded slightly and saluted with his sword arms.

  Armand Rosamilia is a New Jersey boy currently living in sunny Florida, where he writes when he's not sleeping.

  He's written over 100 stories that are currently available, including a few different series.

  he also loves to talk in third person... because he's really that cool.

  You can find him at http://armandrosamilia.com for not only his latest releases but interviews and guest posts with other authors he likes!

  and e-mail him to talk about zombies, baseball and Metal:

  armandrosamilia@gmail.com