Jake tried to protest, but he couldn’t speak. He fought against the hand he couldn’t see. Blood rushed painfully through his head, which grew lighter by the second.
Then something cold and utterly gross filled his mouth, which was covered by a large hand.
“Well played, kid,” Kenny said, “but the Pride of Life will not be denied its due.”
*****
Cynthia surveyed every room she crossed, which were all well reinforced. The spoils she found were worth the effort, though. The kitchen was well-stocked, their shower rooms were packed with clothes, and the restaurant looked like what she imagined one of those four-star joints might look like. These people even had some kind of café with lots of gourmet coffees. And they had basements. No, tunnels. This place had everything Kenny could ever want.
Things got even better when she found their power plant. The turbine was massive and moved by zombies chasing pigs. It was perfect. After all, Pat already tried the Juice and failed. Letting a few of the local dead out should’ve done the trick. Then Kenny would have to accept her. Love her.
*****
Ben cursed his big fat mouth on his way back to the new jail he was constructing. He wondered whether or not sticking up for that little bastard was even worth it when he dropped the stack of rebar he would weld into a cell door. He may never have wanted kids, but he still couldn’t bring himself to kill one—even with banishment, and even if the little brat in question tried to start a revolt. They’re young; they’re supposed to push boundaries. That was how they learned. Lord knows he did as a kid. Now he was paying the price for standing up for life, something that corpse claimed to do. Was he going to be the jailer, too? Damn that! He was a plumber; the one who made clean water for the camp possible. He deserved better.
Screaming, the painful kind from the freezer. He snatched a rebar from the pile and slowly approached the door. The small meat locker grew eerily silent as he grasped the screwdriver he’d stuck into the door latch. He deepened his breathing to psyche himself up. Banging startled him as he heard muffled cries for help.
He snatched the door open and reared his rebar when Jake rushed him.
“What the—”
Jake bit into his neck. He screamed from the white-hot agony as he tried to push his young attacker away when something from the freezer—
CHAPTER 25
FIGHT OR FLIGHT
Somebody outside shrieked like they were getting eaten.
“What the hell?” Isaac muttered as everyone else in Assembly looked back at the main exit.
Cody pointed at Hashim. “Get to the armory. Hand out weapons to whomever—”
Isaac flinched. “Armory?”
Ignoring him, Cody finished telling Hashim what to do. “Use your best judgment on who. Isaac, Craig, Bob, with us.”
“Rachelle,” Didi said to her lackey while following Cody to the exit, “get the kids and the teachers into the tunnels. Look out for them.”
“But I want to—” Rachelle tried to say.
“Just do it. They need a defender.”
The kid huffed and nodded.
Isaac followed Cody and Didi out of the theater and across the street, but he didn’t know what good he would be empty-handed.
Didi grabbed her sword. “I’ll go.”
Cody blocked her arm before she could take her blade out. “We’ve got this. Watch the camp for me, just in case.”
Didi looked worried but stayed outside with Bob and Craig. “Fine, but if you die, I’m going to shove an NSU in your head and kick your ass.”
Cody grinned at her and patted her shoulder. “At least I won’t feel it.” Then he went in.
“Isaac,” Didi said, then drew her lower left pistol and tossed it to him. He had to step forward to catch it. “Keep him safe.”
Though surprised, Isaac nodded to her. He aimed into the wrecked shop and followed the crazy medic inside, sneaking through a row of bare shelves.
Grunting made him stop. He glanced over the shelf and saw nothing. Then he watched Cody move up from one hiding place to another, all the way to the end of another aisle.
Isaac reached the end of his own aisle, where some face-muncher chowed down on a pile of bloody dreadlocks. It didn’t take long to figure who was eating who. He backed up and accidently knocked over a set of shelves.
The dead creep looked up and growled at him.
Isaac prepared to take out Zombie Jake when its head busted open like a Gallagher watermelon. What was left collapsed over Ben’s corpse.
Cody ran past the dead and checked the freezer. “Kenny’s gone. Head back.”
Isaac ran back outside and ended up startling Bob and Craig. He counted himself lucky they didn’t shoot him down.
“What happened?” Didi asked as she stepped past her two Panel members.
“I happened,” Kenny said from down the street, standing with that smug grin like he owned the whole damn block. At his feet lay the ropes he’d somehow cut off his wrists.
Didi drew two pistols and marched toward the arrogant motherfucker. “Now, I happen.”
Kenny gave a brief, smartass laughed. “You may want to rethink that, ma’am.”
Suddenly, a whole lot of white people appeared, aiming guns from doorways and rooftops in every building south and east of the theater. There had to be well over fifty; maybe a hundred.
More guns popped out from doors and roofs, this time from Plaza de Vida and all aimed at Kenny’s people. The whole thing looked like an old western standoff, and his black-tolerating camp was gravely outnumbered.
Isaac smartly ran inside the meat market with Cody, aiming his pistol at the nearest paleface belonging to Kenny while waiting for the first shot.
Didi stopped right in front of Kenny and stuck her eager barrels on his forehead.
The fucker didn’t even flinch. He just shook his head with a condescending grin. “I love your spirit. If things were different, I really would’ve enjoyed it.”
“I would’ve had a lot of fun riding you, too, cowboy, but it’s so not in the cards anymore.”
“Nobody else has to get killed, here. We’ve both said and done some regrettable things, but we all want the same things. Maybe we can call a truce; find a way to work together.”
“We don’t work with murderers,” Cody shouted. “He killed Jake, who ate Ben.”
Didi cocked her pistols without ever looking back. “Well, that just ate all.”
Kenny briefly laughed as he grasped his belt buckle like some kind of champion. “You don’t stand a chance, darlin’. You’re hopelessly outnumbered, and I’ve got a lot more guns.”
A long silence followed, and a lot of eager eyes rested on Didi. Then, she un-cocked her pistols, holstered them, and rested her hands on her belt. Isaac couldn’t see her giving up, as pissed as she was, so he wondered what the hell was going through that dead head of hers.
Kenny snickered. “Surrender usually involves dropping your weapons.”
“Don’t mistake me saving my bullets for surrender,” Didi said.
Kenny’s eyebrows flew up. “Well, then, what do you think you can do to me? Pray, tell.”
“Maybe it’s my old porn mentality, but I prefer to show.”
Explosions rocked the streets, blasting several invaders to pieces, showering everyone on the surface with rubble, and putting Kenny on his ass. Some guys on the rooftops got knocked off their feet, but they got up and started shooting.
Naturally, Isaac and everyone in Camp Didi shot back, and it was on. The dead chick stood over Kenny like none of it was happening.
Gunfire forced Isaac to duck into the store before he could see what happened next. He shot back at whatever he could, managing to cap a couple of guys trying to stop Bob and Craig from going back into the theater.
Someone with a machine gun started shredding the doorway. Isaac clicked empty, but Cody shot the guy down along with some other dude trying to come up on the market. Isaac reloaded and took out two mo
re assholes behind them. Three of their buddies took cover across the street.
“I feel like I’m back in the ‘hood,” Isaac said. “This what war was like for you, Soldier?”
Cody grinned. “All I ever saw downrange was the inside of an office.”
Isaac shook his head and laughed as he continued shooting.
*****
Didi watched Kenny stumble to his feet, both of them ignoring all the gunfire. The shrapnel from her surprise welcome mats only grazed his flesh, but she reveled in the fear and confusion in his eyes.
He tried to grab her, but she tripped him. He tried to punch her, but she evaded, grateful Cody taught her how to read the fuzzy body movements. She eventually grabbed his wrist, twisted his arm, and flung him into a nearby yard. He got up and tried to ram her with that gargantuan shoulder. She curled into a ball and let the big sucker trip over her. When he started to get up, she kicked him back down. She moved to grab him, but he came up swinging. Seeing that coming, she grabbed his wrist again and flung him into a nearby wall. A few shots bounced around her—maybe in her, for all she could tell—but she only cared about punishing the bastard that caused all this.
She drew her sword and placed the tip against his beefy throat, delighting in how much wider his eyes got. She wanted to laugh like a villain at seeing his Adam’s apple dance against her blade. “Still want my sword, cowboy?” she dared.
“We both know that’s my sister’s sword,” he said like he still had power. “I will get it back if I have to pry it from your cold, dead hand.”
She skipped the obvious opening he left, not wanting to tip her hand too soon. “Well, good luck, because you’ll have to after how your brother-in-law treated me.”
Kenny’s eyes darkened, fear giving way to rage. He smacked her blade away before she could see it coming, but at least she was fast enough to duck his oncoming fist.
*****
Rachelle’s hand trembled around her revolver, but not from fear. The dirt walls barely masked the gunfire up top, and the longer she waited, the more she worried for her friends. She desperately wanted to race outside and lend a hand, but Didi needed her to protect the children.
Then again, there wasn’t much she could do for them anyway. They all cowered around Jerri, Paula, and Clarissa, who each held a crying baby. Megan held one of the triplets, the only one who wasn’t wailing. If only the other sniveling kids were as brave.
“I should be out there,” Rachelle said.
“Are you crazy?” Paula snapped. “You’ll get killed out there.”
She moved to tear the priss’ head off, but Jerri stepped in her way. “We need you, in case someone finds their way down here.”
Rachelle flashed her revolver at Jerri. “Six bullets won’t do much to stop them if they do.”
“It won’t do much good up there, either,” Clarissa said while bouncing her screaming kid.
“It’ll do a whole lot better up there than down here. I’m going.”
The grown-ups yelled at Rachelle as she ran toward the Day Shift Bay exit.
As soon as she stepped outside, the volume tripled and hurt her ears. She spotted a few people shooting from rooftops into the compound, but the closest—most deafening—came from right above her. Fortunately, that came from Tito Orozco. Unfortunately, the man from the Sunny Skies got shot off the roof and fell into the Courtyard right in front of her. She couldn’t do anything for him, or four of the Night Shift guards who had also bought it.
She heard something crackle between gunshots, alerting her to a wiry looking young man sneaking over the east wall with a lit stick of dynamite. She took careful aim and shot the guy square in the head. The body flopped to the ground and exploded a few seconds later, blasting a small hole in the wooden wall. She cursed her stupidity and rushed toward the opening, shooting two more guys creeping through it on her way.
“I thought you were with the kids,” Bob shouted over a rifle from the theater rooftop.
She shot another dude coming through the new hole. “I couldn’t stay. Where’s Didi?”
“In the street somewhere,” he pointed southeast while reloading his rifle. “Cody and Isaac are holed up in the old meat market.”
As soon as she slipped through the hole and hit the ground, bullets cracked wood all around her. She popped up and sprinted toward the meat market, firing off her last two shots at whatever she saw. She dove into the door just as her lungs were about to explode, and almost got her head blown off by Isaac.
“You scared me, girl,” he bitched.
“Sue me,” she said as she scooted near Cody. “Got any more bullets? I’m out.”
“Have at it,” Cody said as he pulled and tossed her a small white box from his jacket.
Several gunshots sparked around the door, which made Rachelle drop the box and spill bullets all over the floor. While reaching for them, she noticed someone running up to their doorway, emptying his Mach-10 at them. When that guy finally clicked empty, so did Isaac; Cody was shooting elsewhere as if he didn’t notice. She hastily loaded her revolver and fired it just as Mister Mach finished reloading. The guy went down before he could unload on her.
Isaac gawked at her like she’d hopped up a building. Then, he smiled. “Stone cold, kid.”
She smiled at his praise, but her joy quickly vanished when she saw Cody.
*****
Didi heard Rachelle screaming and glanced back for just an instant. Before she could do anything else, she was on the ground. She pulled her pistols and aimed up, but Kenny was already running down the street. She fired off a few shots, but the big man grew blurrier as he fled and she didn’t want to waste any more ammo. The blob that was Kenny did something on his way out of town, and the gunfire stopped.
Didi picked herself up and ran into the meat market. There, she faced her worst nightmare.
CHAPTER 26
DAMAGE
Gilda flushed with fear as she watched Craig and Isaac lug Cody onto a hospital bed. The man fought to stay conscious, sharply exhaling and grunting as his life oozed from his gut. She went through her triage procedures on autopilot, thankfully finding no other wounds. Now she had to perform abdominal surgery on a potentially life-threatening wound in austere conditions. Even after forty years of observation and two years of experience, she prayed she didn’t screw up.
Pepe entered, covered in soot. She told him to wash up and don a set of scrubs, then had Craig and Isaac move out of the way. She asked how many more were dead or wounded, but Craig’s only answer was to inform her of the seven dead. The wailing outside answered her other question. She said a quick prayer for them and the souls of the plumber, the farmer, the Power worker, and the three brave night shift workers. And Jake, God rest his miserable soul.
Pepe appeared at her side, all prepped and attentive with only a hint of apprehension in his eyes. She had him fetch the instrument table. When he returned with it, she identified each surgical instrument as a number for him, then had him bring the box of gauze from the desk. He quickly complied. She directed him to open three packages, use it all to cover the wound, and apply pressure. Her intern was jittery, but he moved quickly and precisely. Though she was terrified, she had a sliver of hope.
She ran for the medicine shelves and found the red-taped bottle she sought. She unwrapped a clean syringe and loaded it up on her way back to the operating table. “I’d give my right arm for an anesthesiologist right now.”
“Didi’s outside the door,” Pepe said. “Should I get her?”
“She’s fine right where she is, and I don’t have time to train those two,” Gilda said with a nod toward Craig and Isaac. Then, she injected her patient. “I need two and seven.”
Pepe quickly snatched up the scalpel and forceps from the tray and handed them to her.
Gilda looked squarely into her patient’s eyes, breathing as evenly as possible despite her heart pounding in her chest. “Cody, do you feel pain anywhere other than the wound?”
; Cody frowned, then quickly shook his head. His breathing was steady but shallow. He was preparing himself.
“Okay, you have no exit wound, so I’m going to have to remove the bullet. If we’re lucky, it’ll be near the wound. Lidocaine is the best I have for the pain, so I need you to hold on. Are you ready?”
Cody quickly nodded and shut his eyes tightly.
She said another silent prayer and placed her instruments above the wound. “Move the gauze, but keep it under the wound to catch the flow,” she told Pepe, which he did. She exhaled any remaining tension. “Here goes.”
Suddenly, the lights went out.
Gilda froze as everyone else glanced around, including Pepe. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Let’s go check it out,” Craig told Isaac, and the two rushed out the door.
Gilda snapped her intern’s attention back to his work and used the light coming from the doorway to proceed with hers. With her forceps at the ready, she made her first incision.
*****
A muffled scream echoed over the mild grunts of the wounded in the Courtyard. Craig and Isaac ran from the Clinic and into the back door of the kitchen like they were on a mission.
Rachelle couldn’t do anything more for Otis Campbell’s wounded arm than the wrap she applied, so she headed for the Clinic to see what was up.
At the base of the ramp, Didi stared inside the trailer like a statue, her clothes all ripped up. Shards of her tanned flesh peeked through her torn gloves. Those still eyes were full with fear, that concealed face cringing at each of Cody’s grunts and screams. The Death Doll looked like she wanted to cry.
Rachelle joined Didi and looked inside the Clinic. She watched as Gilda dug around in Cody’s gut while Pepe held a big bandage against him. She crossed herself and said a quick prayer. Then she placed a hand on Didi’s shoulder. “He might like it if you held his hand.”
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