Ella gently nestled her baby inside the tote.
“Put your hands around my neck. I’ll hold onto you with one hand,” Zac said quickly.
Ella hesitated. She frowned at Justin from across the room as if unsure.
Justin nodded with pleading eyes.
“Love you,” she mouthed.
“Love you,” Justin mouthed back.
Zac and Ella disappeared out the window. Dean peered down. Remarkably, Ella held on, although he didn’t know how. Justin gave Dean a look of now what? The door shoved Justin several inches forward. Dean joined him, and they closed the gap.
“Dude, make a run for the ladder.”
“Now hold on a minute. You’ve got a son—”
“I’m jumping out the window right behind you.”
“Three stories? Naw, you’ll break every bone in your body. You climb down first. You’re faster than me,” Dean reasoned. “I’ll give you a five-second head start.”
They shared a solemn man-to-man silence. The kind that said thank you for being a good friend, and for always being there. And, if we make it through this one, there’s going to be one humdinger of a celebration.
“Better skedaddle,” Dean said.
“See ya—” Justin darted to the window. The door lurched opened a good eight inches. Hands clawed through the opening. Howling heads shoved through. A few more inches and the dead-heads would be all over him.
When Justin’s head disappeared below the other side of the window, Dean started the countdown. The first ugly sucker squeezed through the opening. Dean grabbed the Glock from his holster, popping off two rounds in its head. It screeched at him until it collapsed to the floor.
Dean sprinted to the window. The cabinet crashed to the floor behind him. Bottles rolled to his feet. He hopped over the window ledge. His feet missed the first few rungs of the ladder, but his hands fought for a sturdy grip. Something clawed at his hands. He looked up, inches away from a snarling dead-head. The sucker dove for him. Dean managed to swing out of its path. Another one dove out. He lost his grip. He slid down the rest of the way with dead-heads pinwheeling to the ground around him. He landed flat on his buttocks, smackdab next to Justin . . . surrounded by dead-heads.
Justin fired into the horde. Dean unholstered his Glock again and joined in. Justin finally found his feet with a crazed-eye expression that scared the living daylights out of Dean. The kid went ballistic in a series of karate-like moves, keeping the horde at bay. Dean understood. Justin was a father; it had a way of changing things.
Luther and Zac fired rounds and swung their melee weapons. A dead-head crumpled at Dean’s feet. He gave good Ol’ Luther a nod of appreciation. Dean snapped into action and nailed the dead-head on Zac’s six. Adrenaline took over, though his old bones would probably feel it soon enough. He disposed of as many dead-heads as he could until his gun clicked empty.
“Out of ammo,” Dean yawped.
Luther tossed him a mag like clockwork. Dean slapped it into place. He inched his way to the camper shell to check on the girls. He spotted Ella and the baby lying in the camper and grabbed a tire iron from the bed for good measure. He shut the door. There was no sign of Scarlett and Twila. Sure hope they’re in the cab.
“Zac!” Luther shouted. “After you take care of those, start the truck.”
“When I do, all of you hustle into the camper,” Zac shouted back.
“Holy shit!” It was Justin’s calling card for trouble.
A prickling sensation gave Dean the “gee-willies.” He turned around to a hella-horde trooping in single-file formation. Zac wasn’t kidding! The horde broke rank. The X-strain platoon took off in a dead run. Directly for them. The faster ones collided into the slower ones. They piled on top of one another, squabbling with one another. They snapped and pecked and squawked like territorial velociraptors in a pissing contest.
It bought them a few seconds. Zac started the pickup about the same time the three of them hurdled into the camper. Zac tore off in the pickup like a bat out of hell. Dean fell flat on his ass again. “Out of ammo,” Dean mouthed to Luther. Luther shoved a green duffle bag to him.
The horde finally realized their catch was getting away. By the time they reloaded, the army horde was inches from the rear bumper. Those bastards were fast. The ones within a few feet lunged for the pickup. Most missed. But the ones clinging on to the bumper—it took several rounds to their skulls to convince them otherwise.
Dean, Luther, and Justin kneeled at the camper’s back door. Luther tossed grenades while he and Justin picked off the tailgaters. The pickup lurched into second gear. “Naw, where’d they come from?” Dean pointed to another horde flanking them from the west.
He had never seen so many dead-heads. They must have escaped Zoat. With that many volatile creatures in one place, he figured it had only been a matter of time. The pickup shifted easily into the next gear. They finally outpaced the horde. Which led Dean to his next worry: Enforcers.
Ella moaned. Justin was beside her in seconds. Dean wondered how the newborn was taking the gunfire.
“Something’s wrong with mijo,” Ella whimpered. “Oh My God, I forgot the tea.”
Dean’s heart felt like it had been flattened by a steam shovel.
“It’s okay.” Justin fiddled with his pack. The pack he had snatched from the dresser as he had left the third-floor bedroom. “I grabbed the tea when we were in the kitchen,” Justin said.
Ella gave him a dreamy-eyed look. “My hero.”
“Water?” Justin asked.
Luther handed him a bottle from his pack. Justin poured a smidgen of the powdery tea into his palm and mixed it with a splash of water. He dipped a finger into the mixture and then put it into the baby’s mouth.
“Look, he’s sucking my finger,” Justin exclaimed. The young couple were in their own world.
“How’s your precious gift?” Dean scooted to them.
“O-M-G, that’s it! Gift of God, Mateo.” She looked deep into Justin’s eyes. Dean sensed the profound love radiating between her and Justin. “Mateo Luke Angel meet your daddy, Justin Luke Chen.” Ella’s smile couldn’t possibly beam any brighter.
“I was thinking The Rock or, or—Jet Li.” Justin smiled back at Ella. “Mateo Luke Angel is uber-awesome.”
Dean was astounded that despite the craziness of the last several hours, Justin had thought to grab the tea. The young man was going to make a great father if they could get out of this mess. Twila slapped on the cab’s rear window, demanding attention.
“How’s it looking out there?” Dean asked Luther.
“We’re good.” Luther nodded.
Dean scooted to the window, giving Justin and Ella privacy to enjoy their bundle of joy. The rear window slid open. “Hi, Grandpa Dean. The blanket ride was so fun!” Twila exclaimed.
“How’s your mama?” Dean asked. He peered into the window. Scarlett sat in the passenger seat.
“Good,” Scarlett called out. “How’s Ella?”
“I’m pleased to say Mama, Daddy, and baby are doing fine,” Dean announced. As long as that tea really works. How could he doubt it?
“Where we headed?” Dean asked.
Zac kept his eyes front and center as the pickup barreled along. “Stanwyck’s ranch. About a two-hour drive.”
“Yay, I’ll tell Onyx to meet us there,” Twila chirped.
“How well do you know this fella?” Dean probed.
“Let’s just say old man Stanwyck owes me. Bigtime. I brought an entire wagon train of his family here last year. He’ll hide us until I can come up with a way to get us out of Last State.”
“And what about Enforcers and drones?” Dean inquired.
“Chances are, security will be so busy with the horde outbreak, they won’t have time to stop every Zhett trying to escape. That’s what I’m counting on. I’ll stop in a few miles. You need to change places with Scarlett and Twila.”
“Sure thing,” Dean said. Zac had chipped him as a La
st State citizen.
“Everyone, try to hold it down back there,” Zac said. “Things could get hairy.”
“Will do,” Dean answered on behalf of everyone in the back.
Dean scooted to Luther next, who sat next to the camper’s open door and panned the plains through the M4 scope. Something seemed to be eating away at Luther. He couldn’t blame him. They had been through an awful lot.
“We made it through another day,” Dean touted, attempting to find out what was nagging him.
“Yup, we did. But Mindy and the baby didn’t.” Luther’s statement cut through the bone.
“Damn it all to Hell,” Dean husked. Mindy had been holed-up in the room across the hall. He had asked her to join them in the beginning. She hadn’t, of course. His gut flipped-flopped at his reprehensible negligence; it was another unforgivable mark on his guilty conscience. “There’s no way—” Dean started.
Luther clapped Dean’s shoulder. “I know you did what you could. It’s just tough luck. That’s all. We can’t save everyone,” Luther garbled back.
Dean exhaled heavily. The army of dead-heads disappeared into the new dawn’s horizon. He vexed over what Luther had said. “Tough luck.” Nonetheless, the powers that be had seen fit to reunite him with his post-pandemic friends. That Zac fellow sure seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. And they had somehow managed to save a newborn to boot. Now that’s a true bona fide miracle. Perhaps it was the only thing making this wretched life worth living.
A single tear drifted down his cheek.
Their Saga Continues . . .
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Only The Dead Don't Die (Book 3): Last State Page 36