Rise of the Undead (Book 4): Apocalypse Z

by Higgins, Baileigh

  Dylan resisted his pleas, tightening her hold on the woman’s neck. Just a few more seconds.

  “Dylan! Let go of Nurse Phyllis, this instant,” a sharp voice said, cutting through the fog in Dylan’s brain.

  Dylan blinked twice before abruptly letting go of the nurse. The woman collapsed against the wall and clutched at her bruised neck with both hands. She sucked in huge gulps of air while a concerned Ethan rushed over.

  “I’m so sorry, Nurse Phyllis. Please, let me help you,” he said in soothing tones.

  The woman nodded, casting a terrified look over her shoulder. Her voice was rough when she spoke, like gravel grating on concrete. “Th…thank you, Doctor. Just keep that woman away from me. She’s a monster.”

  Ethan flashed Dylan a dark look. “Never fear. She won’t bother you again, I swear it.”

  Placing one arm around her shoulder, he led her away.

  “Oh, please. I didn’t hurt her that much,” Dylan muttered under her breath.

  Nick gaped at her. “Seriously?”

  “She’s exaggerating.”

  “You nearly killed her!”

  “No, I didn’t. She’s perfectly fine.”

  Nick threw his hands in the air. “That’s it. I’m done. I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.”

  Dylan frowned. “I’m sorry, but she’s the one that⁠—”

  “She’s the one that what?” Ethan interrupted. “Tried to do her job?”

  “She wouldn’t let me talk to Alex,” Dylan said.

  “Of course not. Look at him,” Ethan cried. “He’s dying, and you’re standing here wasting precious time.”

  Ethan stormed toward the door, but Dylan stopped him. “Please, I’m begging you. Just a few seconds. That’s all I ask.”

  “He’s unconscious,” Ethan pointed out.

  “It doesn’t matter. He’ll hear me, I know it.”

  “Fine, go ahead. But after that, I want you to stay the hell out of my way. Got that?” Ethan said, his expression thunderous. “And keep your hands off my staff.”

  “Got it,” Dylan said as she ducked into the room.

  She made her way through the chaos until she reached Alex’s side. There she hesitated for a moment. He looked so much worse than even a few minutes before. His lips were tinged blue, and his skin was clammy. The heart monitor beeped erratically, evidence of the strain his heart was under.

  Aware that time was running out, she bent down and whispered into his ear. Afterward, she straightened up and exited the room, hopeful that her words would have the desired effect.

  When she passed by Ethan, she paused for a moment. “I’m sorry. I am. I didn’t mean to hurt —”

  “Just get out,” he interrupted. “I’ve got a life to save, no thanks to you.”

  Dylan flinched beneath his icy gaze, but she didn’t argue. “I understand.”

  After a last look at Alex, she burst through the doors and threw herself into Nick’s arms.

  He caught her up and held her close. “Did you say what you wanted to say?”

  “I did. I just hope he heard me.”

  “I’m sure he did,” Nick said, smoothing one hand over her hair.

  “What if he doesn’t make it?” she said.

  “He’ll be fine, sweetheart. You’ll see. Alex is strong.”

  “I know, but what if he isn’t?” Dylan asked. “What do I tell Amy? I can’t do that to her. She’s already lost both her parents.”

  Nick sighed. “There’s nothing we can do about it now except wait, sweetheart. Wait and trust that he’ll pull through.”

  Dylan nodded. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Come on. Let’s grab some coffee and let Ethan do his thing. It’s going to be a long night,” Nick said.

  “Night?” Dylan asked, glancing at her watch. “It’s past four in the morning.”

  “I know, and I’ve got a feeling sleep is still a long way off,” Nick replied. “We need to find out how King and his men got in and how they got out.”

  Dylan nodded, her expression hardening. “And when we do, we’ll make them pay for what they’ve done.”

  Chapter 9 - Alex

  In the distance, Alex was aware of voices talking, always talking. Sometimes to each other, sometimes to him. That was Saul saying, “I’m going after them.”

  After who?

  Alex thought he should know, but the effort of remembering was too much. Instead, he wanted to give in to the growing numbness inside him. It felt like he floated on a cloud, and all his fears were as nothing. It was a nice feeling. Maybe dying isn’t so bad, after all?

  Hands tugged at his limbs, and he was lifted into the air. A cold wind enveloped his body and swirled around him. Then it was gone. He heard the slam of car doors as Nick said, “I’ll try to be as careful as I can, but it’ll be a bumpy ride.”

  “Just hurry,” Dylan replied before wrapping up his shivering form in thick blankets. She threw her arms around him as well and held him close. The entire time she whispered reassurances to him, a monologue of nonsense words that meant nothing and everything.

  They’d come a long way since the first time they met. First, she’d contemplated stealing his car and abandoning him and Amy to their fate. Then she helped to save his life. Not long after that, she’d tried to eat him. Fun times.

  “Please, don’t die,” she pleaded, and he wished he could answer her. But the warmth felt so good, and he felt himself slipping away again. He didn’t want to fight anymore. Living was hard. Too hard.

  “We’re almost at the hospital,” Dylan whispered, but he ignored her. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

  I’m done.

  Sorry, Dylan.

  Alex drifted into a deep pool of darkness, his body as weightless as his mind. Or did he have a body? Maybe it was just his consciousness that swam in this never-ending sea of nothingness. For a moment, he wondered if he was dead, but somehow he didn’t think so. It feels like limbo. Like an in-between place. Does something like that even exist?

  Above his head, occasional flashes of light caught his attention, and he honed in on them with laser focus. After a while, he realized what they were. Memories. He reached out and plucked a couple from the sky with both hands.

  There was the time he fell off his bike and broke his arm. That had hurt, but not as much as the day Charlie, his golden retriever, died. He’d loved that dog, and it broke his heart when the vet put him down. Cancer, they said. Inoperable.

  With a frown, Alex released the lights and watched them float away. They weren’t the kind of memories he wanted to dwell on. He snatched up a few more and studied each of them in turn before moving on to the next ones.

  It felt like he was reliving his life in bits and pieces. The time he taught Amy how to swim, and their last Christmas together as a family. His eighteenth birthday, and his first day in the army. It all blended into one big tapestry of life sown with emotions, feelings, and experiences. Everything that made up a human being. These strange thoughts gave him pause. Am I hallucinating? Or am I stuck inside my head?

  The brain was a beautiful thing. Or, so his science teacher used to tell him. The most complex organ in the body, it produced every thought, action, memory, feeling, and experience a human being ever had. Weighing in at roughly three pounds, it contained a hundred billion neurons, each connected to ten thousand other neurons. Well, I guess my teacher was right.

  A bright blue orb caught his attention, and he reached for it. It was the last conversation he’d had with his mother. The one in which he swore to watch over Amy. He’d meant it too, and he’d tried his best to protect her until now.

  Now she was the prisoner of King. A cold, callous man who’d kill her as soon as she ceased to be of value to him. Tara too. There was nothing he could do about it, however. He was dying. It was up to others now.

  Guilt filled his mind.

  It seeped into his memories, and they flared to life in a sea of emerald green. Each on
e of them contained Amy, and they swirled in the air around him until her face became his universe.

  There she was right after she was born. Pink and bald. Tiny. He’d been jealous until his mother explained that he was now a big brother and that it was his job to protect her. There were nights spent under the stars, camping around a fire and sharing ghost stories. Times at school when she’d been picked on by other kids for being such a small little thing. That is until he taught her how to throw a proper punch. They’d left her alone after she broke the biggest bully’s nose.

  Crying is for sissies.

  How many times had he told her that, and she’d done him proud. She’d grown up to be tough and smart — a real fighter. But I won’t be there to see her get married or have kids of her own. I’m going to miss all of it.

  Bitter regret pushed back the numbness that had seeped into his muscles. And what if King kills her? What then? I promised to protect her.

  Suddenly, Dylan was there, her voice echoing inside his head. “Alex. Please, listen to me. You have to fight. You mustn’t give up.”

  I can’t.

  It hurts too much.

  “I’m going after Amy and Tara. I’m going to save them, but you’d better be alive when we get back. Do you hear me? Or, I swear, I’ll journey to the afterlife only to drag your sorry ass right back here.”

  If Alex could’ve laughed, he would have. Oh, Dylan. Always the fighter.

  “Live, Alex. Your sister needs you.”

  As suddenly as she was there, Dylan was gone, and Alex was left with a choice.

  Do I give up?

  Or do I fight?

  Life is pain…

  But I’ll take it.

  For Amy’s sake.

  Raw agony flared in his chest. It spread throughout his body, setting each limb on fire. His breath gurgled in his lungs, and he gasped for oxygen. His eyes flared open in time to see Ethan push a needle into his arm.

  “Ethan?” he rasped.

  “Don’t worry, Alex. You’re going into surgery now. Just try to relax. You’re in good hands,” Ethan said.

  Alex nodded.

  This time, when the darkness came, he knew it was just temporary.

  Chapter 10 - Saul

  Saul roared down the road leading to the infirmary with little regard for the icy roads or the speed limit. When he reached the front entrance, he slammed on the brakes and spun the wheel to the side. The truck performed a wild turn to the left, tilting onto its side. To onlookers, it looked like it was about to flip, and for a brief moment, all hung in suspense. Somehow, the vehicle settled back onto all four wheels and shuddered to a stop right in front of the hospital doors.

  With a slam of the door, Saul jumped out and marched up the steps. At the entrance, he was greeted by Dylan. She eyed him with a frown before running one hand across her hair. In the other, she gripped her gloves and beanie. Her jacket lay forgotten on a chair in the waiting room. With the sun well into the sky, it wasn’t nearly as cold as during the night.

  “You’re in a mood,” she remarked.

  “Aren’t we all?” he answered in brisk tones.

  “I suppose so, yeah, but you almost flipped that truck right into me. You’d have squashed me like a bug.”

  “I know what I’m doing,” he replied with a flick of his hand. “How’s Alex?”

  Dylan’s face fell. “We don’t know yet. He’s been in surgery for almost five hours now.”

  “Good. That means he’s still alive,” Saul said. “Where’s Nick?”

  “Getting his tenth cup of coffee,” Dylan said, throwing a look over her shoulder. “Oh, look. You’re in luck. Here he comes.”

  Nick arrived a few seconds later with two cups in his hands. He offered Dylan one, but she shook her head. “I’ve had enough. Besides, I think Saul could use a hit of caffeine.”

  “Here you go,” Nick said, extending one hand.

  Saul sighed, and for the first time since Tara was taken, he allowed weariness to settle onto his shoulders. He took the cup, downing the hot brew in one gulp before tossing it into the nearest trash can. “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” Nick said, taking a sip of his brew. “You look like you need it. Do you have any news about Tara and Amy?”

  Saul swallowed as the bitter tinge of defeat coated his tongue. “I was out all night searching for them, but I found nothing. Neither did the other scouting parties that I sent out. There’s simply no sign of them.”

  “That means King made a run for it,” Dylan remarked. “It’s what I would’ve done.”

  Nick nodded. “Wherever he’s holed up, it’ll be close enough for him to reach us without too much hassle, but far enough to make it difficult for us to find him. Any thoughts on how to find the bastard?”

  Saul nodded. “I do. Follow me.” He turned on his heel and walked back toward his truck. Opening the passenger door, he removed a map which he spread out onto the hood of his vehicle.

  He pointed at a dot. “This is Fort Detrick. To track him down, I think we should mark all of the likely places King would choose for a hundred-mile radius.”

  Nick whistled. “That’s a tall order, Saul, like searching for a needle in a haystack.”

  “Not exactly,” Saul replied. “Such a place would be carefully chosen. King is not a reckless man, nor is he stupid. It would have to be defensible, off the beaten track, well-fortified, and close to supplies. He’d also need men.”

  “So, what then? Prisons, supply depots, that kind of thing?” Nick mused.

  “We should look at police stations and gun shops too,” Saul added.

  “That still leaves you with a vast amount of places to search,” Nick pointed out.

  “We could start close to the base and move outward in ever-widening circles. That way, we won’t miss anything, and we might pick up a clue or two as to their whereabouts.”

  “What about manpower? We’re short on people as it is,” Nick said.

  “We’ll ask for volunteers from the civilian raiding parties. A few of them should be willing to help out,” Dylan said, stepping forward. “Besides, I won’t rest until we find them, and neither will Saul.”

  “I’ll help out as well,” Nick said.

  “No,” Dylan said. “You should stay. This place needs a leader to keep it running smoothly and zombie-free.”

  “Really? I can’t get away for even one day?”

  Dylan shook her head. “Thousands of people rely on you. All of them need to be fed, housed, clothed, and protected. Plus, summer is coming, and with it, the infected. There is still so much to be done here before we can call ourselves safe.”

  “Fine,” Nick grumbled. “I’ll stay, but I don’t like sending you out there alone.”

  “It’s for the best,” Dylan said. “Besides, I won’t be alone. I’ve got Saul.”

  Nick sighed. “I suppose, but you’ll need reliable vehicles and fuel. You can get that at the reserve center over there. The major set it up as a fall-back in case we got overrun.” He pointed at a spot not far from the fort. “You should find stores of weapons, ammunition, and food too.”

  “Why didn’t you tell us about this place before?” Saul asked with a frown.

  “It was supposed to be a secret, a kind of safe house in case something happened here,” Nick said. “But now, I’ll organize a couple of parties to go there and strip the place to the bone. We’ll need those supplies.”

  “Is it guarded?”

  “In the beginning, but when we ran short of capable hands the major pulled them back.”

  “What if King had the same idea?” Saul asked. “What if he’s already been there?”

  “I didn’t think of that,” Nick admitted.

  “You should have. One doesn’t leave a place like that unguarded. It’s a gold mine,” Saul said, anger flaring in his breast. Do I have to think for everybody?

  “I’ll arrange for a couple of teams straight away,” Nick said. “We can go with them as soon as you’re ready
.”

  “Fine, but there’s more you should know,” Saul said. “Perez and two other soldiers are missing.”

  “Missing?” Nick asked.

  “I knew it!” Dylan exclaimed, stamping her foot. “That traitorous asshole.”

  “What do you mean?” Nick asked, confusion washing across his face.

  “Don’t you remember Perez? He was on King’s team when we cleared the lab of zombies. He’s a crack shot and an excellent fighter,” Dylan explained.

  Nick’s expression cleared. “I remember him. After King and Bannock disappeared, we questioned him, but he swore he had nothing to do with their escape. We questioned all of those close to King, and they came up clean.”

  “He obviously lied. I always knew he was King’s man,” Dylan said, her cheeks turning fiery red. “I felt it in my gut.”

  “I agree with Dylan. I think Perez and the other two were waiting for King’s return. They helped him kidnap the girls, and ran away with him afterward,” Saul said.

  Nick’s face hardened. “If that’s the case, they are all traitors and deserve to die.”

  “Agreed,” Dylan said with a sharp nod.

  “There’s more,” Saul said.

  “More?” Nick asked. “Can this day get any worse?”

  “Don’t say that,” Dylan remonstrated. “You’ll jinx it.”

  “Sorry,” Nick muttered, turning back to Saul. “Lay it on me.”

  “They must’ve had help getting in and out of the gates. Neither Perez nor the other two were on guard duty. That means more traitors,” Saul said, pulling out another map from beneath the one of the county. He pointed at a red dot with several red lines running from it. “See that? That’s the house. Radiating outward are all the roads that King could’ve taken. Each one leads to a specific gate.”

  Nick nodded, his expression thoughtful. “Did you pick up any tire tracks?”

  “There were two sets in front of the house, but I lost them almost immediately after that. There’s too much traffic on the roads,” Saul said. “As for the guards, none of them know anything.”

  “They’re lying, of course,” Dylan said.