Panicked, he tried to finish. His gaze swept over the terrain around him searching for a sign of danger. Despite his terror, he managed to get his jeans zipped and leaned over to grab the shears.
Then he heard it.
An engine.
Darting around the bush, he headed back toward the truck. His heartbeat raced, but his footsteps felt sluggish. Danny and Troy clambered over the tailgate and ran for the cab. Corina, to his surprise, remained where she was standing, the pistol in her hand.
“Sam! Sam! Come back!” she screamed into the wind.
Then Josh saw who was approaching, and his face went numb with dread.
A motorbike braked hard behind the pickup and Chad jumped off. Without hesitation, he pounded across the asphalt and tackled Josh.
Chapter 6
Josh managed to guard his face with his forearms when Chad tackled him. Air whooshed out of his lungs as the older boy slammed him into the searing hot asphalt, leaving Josh gasping for air. Gravel shredded the skin on his elbows and grated his back through his T-shirt.
Pressing one knee into Josh’s chest, Chad howled in victory. “Thought you could ditch me, shorty? Leave me behind?”
“Get off him!” Corina screamed. “Get off!”
Unable to answer as he gasped for air, Josh curled his body into a ball while Chad beat on him with closed fists. Most of the hits were to his legs and shoulders, but each blow hurt.
“I’m in charge! I’m the leader! You and your stupid friends better wise up!”
Josh almost laughed. Chad sounded like the corny villains in video games, but the rage in his eyes and the violence of his blows was nothing to laugh about. Chad wanted to hurt him. Josh rolled onto his stomach to try to crawl away, but the teenage boy was bigger than Josh and loomed over him. Blows rained down on his back. Corina’s screams filled the air, sharp and desperate.
Chad ignored her. His focus was completely on Josh. “I’m in charge! I’m in charge!”
Running footsteps pounded on the road. Lifting his chin, Josh saw Troy and Danny rushing to his aide.
“Get off him!” Troy shouted.
“Don’t interfere, shorties, or I’ll knock your teeth out.”
“Bite me!” Troy launched himself through the air and landed on Chad. The force of impact knocked Chad off of Josh, and Troy rode him to the ground.
Danny joined the battle, fists flying.
Josh finally managed to get air into his burning lungs. Rolling onto his knees, he caught a sharp kick to his side. The pain and tears blinded him. Gasping, Josh crawled out of range of the battle. The two smaller boys were on top of Chad, hitting him with closed fists and kicking as hard as they could. They’d managed to knock him off balance, and he struggled under their weight. One of his blows landed, blood erupting from Danny’s nose.
Head throbbing from where his head had impacted with the road, Josh struggled to his feet. Corina’s screams filled the air, but it was hard to make out words over the ringing in his ears.
A few feet from him his two friends struggled with the much bigger teenager. Troy’s dark fingers tangled in Chad’s blonde hair, and he struck at the older boy’s face with his other fist with grim determination. His legs were locked on Chad’s torso, his knees digging into the teenager’s skinny frame.
Danny was caught in Chad’s grip, his fingers clawing at the boney hand clutching his throat. His eyes were bulging and his face was turning a dark red.
“Let them go!” Corina shouted. “You’re killing him!”
Josh dove back into the fray. He grabbed Danny about the waist and jerked him free of Chad’s grip. Staggering away, Danny gagged and fell to his knees.
The teenager instantly directed his attention to Troy, but the smaller boy wasn’t about to relent even when Chad pummeled his ribs.
“Breathe, Danny, breathe,” Josh said, rubbing his friend’s back, unsure what to do.
Sam appeared out of the bushes, tripping over the weeds as he tried to hold onto the shovel and the waist of his jeans. In his haste, he’d left himself unzipped. The thick denim drooped around his legs, tripping him. He sprawled onto the road, the shovel clattering loudly as it skidded across the hot asphalt.
“The shovel!” Sam cried out.
“Get it,” Danny wheezed to Josh.
Instantly, Chad scrambled for the shovel. Troy clung to his torso, fingers digging at his face. The older boy tried to pry him off, but Troy refused to let go. Their struggle slowed Chad enough to give Josh a head start.
Running for the shovel, his lungs burned from lack of air, but Josh knew if Chad grabbed the shovel first it was going to be bad news for all of them.
“Josh, get it! Get it!” Corina shouted from the truck bed.
The older boy raced Josh, Troy still clinging to his back trying to slow him down. Somewhere nearby Danny was still gagging while Dulce cried out in Spanish. Above the fray Corina kept screaming for Chad to stop. Grunting with frustration, Sam fought with his clothing, his face red from embarrassment. Sam’s unzipped jeans rode down his heavy thighs, tangling his legs and making it difficult for him to get to his feet.
Chad ignored Sam’s plight, which only proved to Josh just how dangerous the situation was becoming. It was very unlike the teenager to not take every opportunity to mock the chubby boy.
Unable to free himself, Sam yelled, “Shoot him, Corina!”
“Troy’s in the way!” Josh shouted back.
“The gun doesn’t have bullets, idiot!” Chad snarled.
“Get the shovel, Josh!” Corina yelled.
Josh was almost to the tool when Chad grabbed his T-shirt and jerked him nearly off his feet. Josh fell backward into Chad, tripping him and sending all three boys sprawling onto the hot road. Chad delivered a brutal blow to the middle of Troy’s chest with his elbow, and kicked at Josh while rolling onto his side. A second later, he reached out with one long arm and grabbed the shovel handle.
Defeated, Josh grabbed Troy under his arms to drag him to the truck and away from Chad. Troy wheezed, pressing his hands to his chest, but managed to stand. Corina still stood in the back of the pickup bed, her eyes wide with terror. The gun was in one hand, but she had it pointed downward. Dulce kneeled beside Danny, hugging her cousin close. Josh shot a quick look at the driver’s door to see it was open.
The harsh clatter of the blade being pounded against the road drew Josh’s attention and he swung. Chad advanced on Sam, beating the blade against the asphalt, forcing the boy off the road and into the bushes.
“Did you want to hit me with this, fatty? Huh, fatty?” Chad taunted.
“Leave him alone,” Josh ordered.
Whipping about, Chad set the shovelhead against the ground and smirked. “Come stop me.”
“We’ll all stop you,” Troy snarled. He rubbed his chest, clearly in pain from the hard blow.
“You look pretty busted up, shorty,” Chad taunted.
Dulce swore in Spanish while pulling her cousin to his feet. Ugly red marks were forming on Danny’s throat. Together, they joined Josh and Troy in staring down Chad.
With a wild grin, Chad feigned charging them with the shovel poised to slash at them. The kids gasped and scattered. Laughing, the older boy swung about in a circle, the shovel handle in his tight grip, and the tool extended outward like a giant propeller. The momentum almost knocked him off balance, and he caught himself with his newfound weapon.
“Corina, shoot him!” Sam yelled, his fearful face covered in sweat and dirt.
Corina’s hands were empty at her side. Breathing heavily, she didn’t answer.
“Corina? Where’s the gun?” Josh asked her.
Without answering, Corina lifted her hand and pointed.
Josh spun about to gaze up the road. A vehicle was approaching. Blue and red lights flashed.
“What’s that?” Troy gasped. “What’s that?”
“Police!” Sam exclaimed, lifting his hands in triumph over his head. “We’re saved!”
>
Chad darted toward the front of the pickup. “I’m out of here losers!”
As he passed Dulce, she took a sharp step forward and shoved Chad completely off his feet. He fell hard on his side, the shovel skittering away from him. She growled a word in Spanish that was sure to be an insult. Chad scrambled onto his feet, but it was too late. Dulce grabbed the shovel and took a defensive stance next to her cousin.
“Back off!” she ordered.
“Yeah! Punk,” Troy added.
The big black SUV with the emblem of the Texas Highway Patrol on the side glided to a stop a few feet from the kids, and the driver’s door opened. A woman appeared. She wore a uniform with a name tag that read Ortega. Her brown skin was beaded with sweat and her dark hair was pulled back from her face in a tight bun. She wore dark sunglasses that made her very imposing.
“It’s the police! It’s the police!” Sam finally got his jeans zipped up and darted over to Josh’s side. “We’re saved!”
“What do we have here?” the officer asked.
“Kids,” Sam answered helpfully.
“Yeah. I see that. But where are your parents? Are you on your own?”
The passenger door swung open and a familiar face appeared. The tall man with the beer belly and curly blonde hair looked like an older version of his son. “Sam!”
“Dad!” Sam scampered into the arms of his father. “Dad! Dad! You saved us!”
A smile flicked across the lips of Ortega, then she turned her attention to the kids again. They were dirty, their clothes in disarray, and bruised and bleeding from their battle. She glanced at the shovel clutched in Dulce’s grip, and Chad’s defiant battered face.
“What’s going on?”
“These kids were trying to steal my truck from me!” Chad exclaimed.
Chapter 7
Beside Josh, Troy rolled eyes. “Here we go...”
Dulce swore angrily at Chad in Spanish, her dark eyes fierce. Chad scoffed in response. Ortega replied in Dulce’s native tongue with just a hint of a Texas twang. Dulce looked surprised before nodding and launching into what Josh assumed was an explanation.
“What’s she saying?” Chad poked Danny in the arm.
Danny ducked away. “I’m not telling you.”
Glaring at Chad, Troy said, “Probably the truth.”
“I’m the innocent one here! Y’all are being mean to me!”
Corina laughed bitterly, holding up her wrists. “Yeah, right.”
Sputtering, Chad wailed, “You started it!”
Pointing a finger at Chad, Ortega said, “You’ll get your turn. Be quiet.”
It was a relief when Chad actually obeyed.
Though Josh was listening to, but not understanding, Dulce’s conversation with the officer, his attention was really focused on Sam’s reunion with his father. Sam happily sobbed into his father’s chest, his entire body shaking with emotion. The sheriff was crying too, wiping away tears from his sunburned cheeks. Though happy for his friend, a part of Josh was agonizingly jealous. He’d found his father only to lose him again, and to be reunited with his family, he’d have to find a way out of this latest snarl in his quest. The arrival of the two law enforcement officers had saved the kids from Chad’s latest attack, but it was sure to complicate Josh’s plans.
With a triumphant smirk in Chad’s direction, Dulce finished.
“What she’d say?” Chad demanded again.
Giving Chad a stern look, the officer said, “These kids say that you’re the one trying to steal their pickup.”
“Well, they’re lying!” Chad lifted his battered and swollen chin defensively.
Ortega gave him a disbelieving look. “So you’re going to tell me that all these kids rode up on that motorcycle and attempted to steal your truck?”
Chad sputtered. “It was mine! They took it and I was getting it back!”
“According to Dulce, they took the truck and left you behind after you locked them out of the house.” Ortega set her hands on her hips, drawing attention to the holster at her side. Josh saw Chad’s gaze flick to the gun, and was relieved when the older boy visibly gulped with nervousness. “So why did you follow them? To steal their truck and then what? Were you were going to abandon these kids out here?”
Chad rubbed his chapped, bruised lips together, then shook his head. “No.”
“No?”
“I followed them because I wanted to be with them. I want to be friends. Corina and I are almost boyfriend and girlfriend, and I—”
“Don’t lie,” Corina snapped.
Ortega’s eyes flicked back and forth between Chad and Corina. Her mouth hardened into a tight line of disapproval.
“Daisy, we need to go!” Sam’s dad called out. “The horde will be here soon!”
“Horde?” Josh and Troy gasped at the same time.
Daisy Ortega lifted her eyes to study the trees on the far hill. “Yeah. You’re right. We’ll handle this in town.”
“Zombies are coming?” Sam looked around in a panic.
“Yeah, which is why we need to go,” his dad answered.
“Where are we going?” Josh asked, his stomach a knot of dread. Though the idea of being somewhere safe was appealing, it meant being delayed in his journey to San Angelo. Or worse yet, stopped from continuing altogether.
“Pious. It’s right up the road,” the sheriff said.
“And it’s safe? How can you protect a whole town?” Troy asked skeptically.
“It’s a very small town,” Daisy answered. “Okay, you three with me in the SUV. Nathan, can you take the pickup?”
“You got it. Sam, c’mon.”
Dulce handed over the keys to the sheriff with a surrendering sigh.
Josh followed in Daisy’s wake since he was one of the three she’d ordered to the SUV. Corina grabbed her heavy tote bag from the back of the pickup and walked past Chad, her spine straight, not even looking at him as she walked with Troy.
“Let’s go, Sam,” Nathan instructed.
“I don’t want to ride with him,” Sam complained. “He’s mean. He tried to kill me.”
“Shut up, fa—” Chad cut himself off, looking nervously at the sheriff.
“You ride in the back,” Nathan commanded. “The rest of you kids into the cab.”
When Daisy opened the door to the backseat, cold air washed out over the kids. The air conditioning in the pickup hadn’t been the best, and Josh was relieved to escape the heat. The cool air felt good on his overheated skin. He slid onto the bench with Troy climbing in behind him. Corina took the passenger seat while Daisy walked around the front of the vehicle to the driver’s side with her hand resting near her weapon. From the way she kept looking about, it was clear that she was aware of approaching danger. Once she was behind the wheel, Daisy slammed her door shut and shifted gears.
“Seat belts on?”
The three kids answered positively.
“Okay. Quick rules. You do not get out of this vehicle until I tell you to. No matter what. We’ve got a zombie horde passing through the area, and I want you kids to stay safe. I will handle the situation.”
“Josh killed some zombies,” Troy said in his friend’s defense.
“Oh?” Daisy glanced over her shoulder at Josh. “Impressive.”
“I had to,” Josh said, shrugging.
Daisy smiled sadly. “Yeah. I hear ya.”
The pickup ahead started forward and the SUV followed.
“So... this Chad kid. Dulce told me her side of the story. What’s yours?” Daisy tapped Corina’s forearm lightly just above her bruised wrist.
“He’s a jerk. He tagged along with us when we got separated from our evacuation convoy. He kept trying to take over, boss us around. Almost got us killed.” Corina’s voice was empty of emotion, which made it even worse to hear her add. “He hurt me.”
“I thought so,” Daisy said with a sad sigh.
“He wanted me to stay with him in the farm house where we got the pick
up. We needed supplies, so I distracted him by talking to him in the living room. Josh and Troy sneaked into the kitchen to grab food. He made it really clear that he wanted me to stay and be his girlfriend. When I resisted, he grabbed me.” Corina held up her wrists. “Josh and I fought him while Troy got away with the food. We made it out to the truck and took off. Chad followed. Twice. He won’t give up.”
“He’s crazy,” Troy added. “And mean. He’s super-mean to Sam because he’s fat. Kept sayin’ Sam was going to get eaten. Sam showed him though. He killed a zombie!”
“Really?” Daisy sounded impressed.
“Yeah. With a shovel. He’s tougher than he looks. That’s why Josh made him one of the Zombie Hunters. That’s our club,” Troy explained.
“I’m not sure if Nathan will be glad to hear that or not.” Daisy glanced over her shoulder at Josh. “And you? You’re the leader of the Zombie Hunters, right?”
“Yeah. I guess,” Josh said, a little nervous about the whole situation.
“He’s our leader. He kills zombies. And he gets us out of bad situations.” Troy leaned forward, eager to share.
“Josh has kept us alive since we got separated. He’s smart. He knows all about zombies.”
Corina’s words heated Josh’s cheeks.
“So Josh, Dulce says your dad was in charge of the evacuation convoy going from Austin to San Angelo.”
“Kinda. The Army got called back to San Antonio. He took over, but then this big horde of zombies showed up, and the convoy got split up,” Josh replied.
“So that’s where you were headed?”
Josh didn’t like the usage of the past tense. “That’s where we are going.”
“I see.”
“Do you know about the airlift in San Angelo?” Corina asked.
“Yeah. We do. It’s where all the city people are being evacuated to.”
“Only city people?” Troy gave Josh a worried look.
“The cities are overrun and the government is evacuating everyone before the military starts firebombing. People in small towns have been ordered to board up, arm themselves, and defend against the zombies. Which is what Pious is doing.”
The Living Dead Boy (Book 3): Journey Across Zombie Texas Page 4