Only The Dead Don't Die (Book 3): Last State

by Popovich, A. D.

  “She goes into this sorta meditative trance sometimes. It’s weird, but she has special, uh, gifts.”

  “Gifts?” Justin rolled his eyes.

  Ella rolled her eyes back. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed? Since the Super Summer flu, a lot of us have peculiar abilities,” she said vaguely. “Ya know, like an intense feeling something is about to happen. Remember Father Jacob? He actually did know things.”

  “Father Frown-face freaked me out.” Justin knew what she meant. Dean and Luther had mentioned it too. But Justin wasn’t ready to acknowledge it—he just went with it. He had that with computers. Binary code downloads visited his dreams all the time. Even when he wasn’t dreaming. And then there was the awesome way he visualized maps or scenes in his mind as if they were holograms. Ye-ah, weird things were the new norm.

  “Twila sees things sometimes. Communicates with—” Ella stopped.

  “Ye-ah, I get it. And Scarlett must be gifted, too,” Justin realized.

  “Shari, the lady who runs the lodge, has been teaching us the power of our super-consciousness through meditation. Did you know crystals have special powers? She’s teaching me herbology and midwife stuff. Anyway, what took you so long to find me?” Ella finally asked.

  “You’re the one who’s supposed to be in Boom Town,” he snarked back.

  “How did you expect me to cross Zoat. Luckily, I found Scarlett. I’m serious. How’d you find me?”

  “Where do I start? Do you want to know about my escape from Last State or the smugglers or my visit with Dean and Luther—or, or the crazy Voodoo lady?” he rambled. Thinking about it, it was a wonder he had made it there.

  “Ew, Voodoo? And smugglers?” Her beautiful brown eyes widened. “Oh, how are Dean and Luther? Did you tell them we’re going to live with them?”

  Justin didn’t want to burst her bubble. Her exuberance lifted him to another level. “How’s the baby?” He caressed her belly.

  “Mijo’s feeling great since Scarlett brought me the tea. But I’m almost out.” Ella sat down heavily on the chair. “Wait, didn’t you see Scarlett and Shari at the lodge?”

  Justin ignored her and rummaged through his pack for the tea. “Dean and Luther had another mysterious delivery. Someone we don’t know wants our baby to live.” He handed the plastic container to her.

  Ella snatched it. “For real? Sometimes I think Father Jacob’s spirit guide is helping me.”

  “That’s cray-cray.” Justin smirked. “Must be your skitzoid hormones.”

  She girly-slugged him in the arm. “So, now what?”

  “Why not go right out the front door tomorrow morning while they’re sleeping?” He eyed the wall of blue plastic tubs.

  “Justin, there’s too many. They’re inside. And,” she faltered. “They learned to climb. I’ve been sitting in this chair for two days barely getting any sleep just waiting for hands to push through the gaps between the tubs. Scarlett’s extra gun is out of bullets. I’ve been shoving them off the ladder with the bat. Then, I wait for the next one,” she said with a long vocal yawn. “Now that you’re here, mijo can finally have the tea.”

  Shit. He had been in such a hurry to get there, he hadn’t zoomed in on the cabin before he had left. It must have been petrifying for her. He stared out the window and fiddled with his pack. He dreaded telling her Plan B was climbing out the window tomorrow at dawn. It was his last resort.

  Ella’s foot tapped the floor. “Justin, you do have a plan. Right?”

  “Like do you think I’d come here all willy-nilly with no P-O-A?” Oops, she hated it when he made up names. “Plan of Action,” he added, scuffing the floor with his sneakers.

  “So, what is it?” Her eyes widened in anticipation.

  His eyes drifted to the window.

  “Oh—My—God!”

  He shrugged, waiting for Ella to tell him off again in Spanish.

  “Really, you want me to climb out the window and down a rope. With all those Zs! Did you forget I’m eight months pregnant?”

  Had it been eight months already? He had lost track. This time he flopped on the floor, totally drained. He didn’t want to fight. It was a super-bad idea.

  “With Twila,” Ella continued rambling, followed by more Spanish. “We just have to wait for Scarlett. She’ll know what to do. She always does,” Ella huffed.

  “Uh, I don’t think Scarlett will be saving us. There was no sign of her at the lodge. No sign of the other woman either.”

  “Mommy’s alive!” Twila shouted, scaring the “crapola” out of him.

  “Honey, how are you feeling?” Ella rushed to the frail-looking girl. “Are you hungry?”

  “Starving,” Twila exclaimed.

  “I brought this.” Justin laid out the food.

  Twila frowned. “Don’t you know I’m a vegetarian.”

  Ella cut several slices of bread. “Where is your mommy?” Ella asked gently, handing her the bread.

  Twila’s eyes flashed of fear. “A dark and scary place. They think she can heal them. But I’m the only one. It’s why I’m here.”

  That was weird. Twila was odd. Or insane. Ella didn’t seem worried by her outburst.

  “I am not crazy.” Twila pouted with a silly cross-eyed grimace.

  “Of course, you’re not. He’s the loco one.” Ella pointed to Justin.

  Justin laughed off the girl’s weird ESP.

  “Mommy’s alive. Shari’s not,” Twila said in a drone-like faraway voice.

  “There she goes again,” Ella said, catching the girl before she fainted to the floor.

  “You sure she’s okay?” Justin wasn’t so sure. Twila gave him the willies sometimes.

  “When Twila passes out, she’s actually going into a meditational state to protect us.”

  Ella had gone delusional on him. Things had gone from bad to worse. “Whatever.” He paced the room while Ella settled Twila on the pile of blankets.

  “How do you think Twila survived this whole time?” Ella grilled, not giving him a chance to respond. “She was on her own before Scarlett found her. She doesn’t remember anything. She blanked it out. You must believe that part. It worked for me. I don’t think I ever would have survived. Trying to comprehend everything that happened. How it happened. And why. It was too much.”

  Justin treasured those days at the hotel in Vacaville, even though Ella had refused to speak for months.

  “Oh Justin, how are we going to save mijo? I can’t lose another son. I don’t think I can handle it . . . again, no matter how much I love you. It would kill my soul.” And the tears gushed.

  He braved back his own tears. He was the man. He couldn’t breakdown, not when they depended on him to save them. All he wanted to do was comfort her and alleviate her fears. He fumbled in his pocket for the Archangel Michael pendant. He dangled it in front of her like a magical pendulum.

  Her smile caught the stream of tears. Suddenly, she was happy. Ella held it against her chest. “That’s it. We pray to Archangel Michael!” She hugged him.

  “He should have helped you by now.” Justin hadn’t meant his pessimism to slip out. He regretted it instantly.

  Ella whispered a string of saints. She gave him a searing lash of disdain through fluttering lashes. “Justin, I don’t care what you believe in. Religion isn’t as important as I used to think. But, you must always—believe in something!”

  He believed more than ever. Only, he didn’t know what exactly it was he believed in. Mainly, good could overcome evil. And life without Ella wasn’t worth living. So, he had to try harder, he scolded himself.

  “The Silver Lady said some events are inevitable unless we change our way of thinking. Some things we can change, and some things are out of our control,” Ella said in a surprisingly calm voice. “Because believe this! I’m supposed to have babies, and you’re supposed to protect me. Love me. And keep me sane in this ungodly world.”

  “Silver Lady? You mean Shari.” He didn’t know what the heck she wa
s talking about.

  “Duh, Shari’s real. The Silver Lady is a spirit guide.”

  Ye-ah, that really explains it. He wanted to scream. Instead, he said, “You know I’ll get us out of here.” A flash of recognition ignited from within. Justin didn’t understand what was going on. But, something huge was transforming Earth; humans were fighting for their last chance.

  Ella drank her tea. They spooned on the cot. He drifted in and out of sleep to Ella’s gentle breathing. Time vanished. It was just him and Ella, waltzing across epochs of cosmic dust. Lifetime after lifetime. And then, a blue tub crashed onto the floor.

  He grabbed the bat in time to send the overzealous Z careening to the cabin’s lower level. He put the tub back in its spot. While Ella was lost in sleep, he refilled the tub with books. It was batter up for him until dawn. He had better come up with a way to up his game.

  Chapter 30

  Dean Wormer checked his Rolex. It was four thirty in the a.m. No sign of the Ravers. Maybe Zac had gotten it wrong. Pumped on lousy instant coffee, he rushed up the gate tower’s steps. He hadn’t had any sleep and was just as punchy as he was uptight.

  “See anything?” Dean asked the men on duty, who all wore flak jackets. He figured it was the least he could do for the men stuck on the front lines. He wore one as well after Luther’s non-stop pestering. He had only agreed if Luther obliged as well.

  “Nothing, boss,” Higgins said.

  Dean panned the western horizon, wishing he had a pair of those nifty night vision goggles. The nippy April crescent moon offered a breathtaking view of the Milky Way. The high-desert showed no signs of life.

  “Peters, you there?” Dean whispered into the radio.

  “At the south end, making my rounds,” Peters responded.

  “You and Lopez, meet me at the southeast end of Zoat as soon as you can,” Dean said.

  “I’ll hunt down Lopez and meet you there in five,” Peters said.

  “Fellas, if you see any lights on the horizon, so much as a damn firefly, give me a shout out. I’ll be ’round back.” Dean hustled down the stairs. The reeling in his gut told him something was amiss.

  It was time to tell his two most trusted men, Peters and Lopez, about the tunnel. First, Dean stopped by the bakery for the care package the town’s women had put together for the mother and child. Zac was leaving before dawn, and Dean wanted to catch him before they left for Last State.

  Dean exited the fort through the removable panel in the property’s rear easement, adjacent to Zoat. Phew. It stunk like a cesspool back there. Zoat most likely thrived with a mess of deadly bacteria. Out of the corner of his eye, a faint blinking red light caught his attention. He hid in the shadow of the embankment, still as a deer caught in the headlights. A second drone buzzed by. Odd.

  Of all times, his radio broke the silence. “Higgins here. We’re seeing all sorts of lights in the western sky. And they’re closing in on us. Fast!”

  The tunnel’s entrance opened, and Luther appeared. He must have heard the radio. After Luther had retrofitted the tunnel with a false wall, Dean had asked Luther to hang out with Zac to keep the young mother and child safe. In all actuality, it was Dean’s way of keeping his friend out of harm’s way.

  Dean held his finger to his lips while the other hand pointed in the direction of the drones. He didn’t dare talk. Justin had advised some drones were equipped with audio. Dean spotted Lopez and Peters in his periphery. Dean raised his hand, warning them to halt.

  The entire sky lit up like the Fourth of July! The attack’s on! Dean found himself flying through the air. He landed about four feet away from the tunnel, covered in layers of sheet metal. Paralysis took over. The ringing in his ears rendered him deaf. Is this how it finally ends?

  Don’t be a fool, he chastised. He wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet. He still had plenty of things to cross off his to-do list. He tried to move his hands, balling them into fists. His hands and arms were fine. But he couldn’t move his legs. He realized he was pinned to the ground. The ringing in his ears drifted to the background, enough to hear the heavy artillery hadn’t stopped.

  Next thing he knew, Luther was beside him, helping him to his feet. Luther was an ominous sight to behold with his skull and roses shirt hanging under his flak jacket. Those skulls seemed to come to life, laughing in Dean’s face, taunting “You’re next!” It was a hallucination of sorts, most likely a side effect from his near concussion. Luther and his ostentatious Hawaiian shirt fetish.

  As they scrambled to the tunnel, remnants of the care package littered the ground. So much for that. They entered the tunnel to find Zac frantically tearing down the tunnel’s false dead-end. Wait, Dean tried to say. We’ve got to get everyone inside. But his vocal cords weren’t cooperating. Dean grasped at his throat, trying to talk. He spat out the dirt gritting his mouth. Luther put a canteen to his lips. Good Ol’ Luther, he couldn’t have asked for a better friend.

  Peters and Lopez crawled in cut up to hell, blood dripping down their faces. It had Dean checking his body for injuries. He patted himself down, shocked at his bloodied hands. He had taken a hit. The flak vest had taken the brunt of it based on the gouge on the right side of his chest. He would be feeling it once the adrenaline wore off.

  “We’ve—” Dean tried to talk again. “We’ve got to get everyone in the tunnel.” It came out as a raspy whine.

  Screeching roars raced overhead, so loud they heard it from inside the tunnel. A cacophony of explosions sent the walls crumbling with clumps of dirt. By the lantern’s yellowish light, the men’s eyes darted from one another as if expecting the tunnel to cave in on top of them.

  “Good God Almighty!” Luther clamored. “What just happened?”

  Krasinski ducked into the cave. “It’s World War III out there. Boom Town’s leveled.”

  Zac peered out the tunnel. “That’s what I was afraid of. Last State bombers. They obliterated the Ravers along with Boom Town.”

  Dean grappled with Zac’s statement. It wasn’t possible. Was Last State that heartless?

  “Why didn’t they just go after the Ravers?” Luther thundered.

  Zac packed up his gear and said, “My guess, drones spotted the pending attack. They must have received the order to shut it down.” He strapped on his pack.

  “But why?” Peters asked.

  Zac’s boyish charm had been replaced with a tight-lipped frown. “Their eye in the sky probably reported the Raver’s artillery capabilities. It’s a risk Last State can’t afford. One near miss could bust open Zoat.” Zac took a swig from his canteen. “I’m outta here.”

  “No, no, no, no, no. Hold on a goddamn minute,” Dean struggled to say, automatically tapping on the worthless badge pinned to his collar. He was still the sheriff, like it or not. “We have to save as many of our people as we can.”

  Krasinski butted in. “I’m here to tell you by the love of God, all that’s left is a bunch of dismembered Zs.”

  “I didn’t think of that. Every person they just slaughtered is turning zombie on us!” Luther aimed his gun toward the tunnel’s mouth.

  Zac turned to Krasinski. “Anyone see you come in here?”

  “Like I said, no one’s left,” Krasinski said.

  Dean had never trusted Krasinski. Nothing but a slimy bastard. “Krasinski would rat out his mother for filet mignon,” Dean groused back.

  Zac, Luther, Peters, and Lopez aimed their weapons at Krasinski.

  “By the way, what are you doing here?” Zac started in. “Did anyone tell him about the tunnel?”

  “Easy now. I heard Dean tell Peters and Lopez to meet him at the back.” Krasinski seemed taken aback by their confrontation. “I thought you might need help.”

  The thrumming rush of helicopters interrupted them.

  Luther quickly covered the tunnel’s entrance.

  “That would be Last State, checking out the collateral damage. Tidying up the loose ends. Like us!” Zac uncocked his 9mm. “If any of yo
u go out there, they’ll shoot to kill. Better join me, pronto. But, if you do. You play by my rules.” Zac eyed each one of them.

  Luther turned to Dean. “It’s your call.”

  “Looks to me like we don’t have much of a choice.” Dean conceded to their grim reality.

  “What about Krasinski?” Zac pried.

  Dean wasn’t sorry for his brash statement, but they had to get the ball rolling. “I apologize for the misunderstanding,” Dean offered half-heartedly.

  “No hard feelings,” Krasinski answered with a twitchy smile.

  “If they put boots on the ground, they’ll find the tunnel. Time to haul ass,” Zac belted, already heading east through the tunnel with the mother and child.

  “And then what?” Peters asked.

  “You can live in the Zhetto. We’ll figure out the details if we make it out of here alive.” Zac’s statement was as chilling as the tunnel’s crumbling walls.

  Luther helped Dean to his feet. “Suddenly, Texas is looking damn good,” Luther rumbled.

  The men scrambled down the tunnel, following Zac. This certainly wasn’t how I expected things to pan out. If he had stayed at the gate tower five minutes longer, he would have been caught up in the crossfire. Fate sure had a way of interfering with his best-laid plans. Dean ripped off the flimsy star-shaped piece of tin. He let it fall discreetly to the ground.

  Chapter 31

  Kerplunk . . . There goes another one. Justin Chen stared out the loft’s window at the zombie-tinseled tree. Zs dangled over the tree’s lower limbs, lost in zombie-slumberland, twitching erratically. Did Zs dream of eating people or being human again?

  Yesterday, Ella had freaked when the Zs had decided to roost in the trees. They hadn’t exactly climbed. They had just sort of piled on top of one another until the ones on top of the heap had thought to grab the lower branches. Most had plunged to the ground. A few had learned to slump over the limbs. Several had learned from those and so on. They would probably fall when they woke up. And start the madness all over again. As long as they didn’t find a rope. Visions of Zs swinging into the window invaded his thoughts. Shut up. Sometimes his imagination was too much for him.