“Stop fighting, or I will cut her throat,” Jim spat. He dug his knife into my throat to make his point and I hissed at the sharp pain there. Jude immediately stilled. Jessica laughed again. She stood up and walked over to Jude to run a hand up and down his chest. I stiffened, feeling an unreasonable amount of rage rush through my body.
“Ah, so that wasn’t all a show … you do have a thing going on with Melody,” she said gleefully. “That makes this so much more fun.” My hands balled into a fist at my sides and Jude mirrored the action. I almost smiled.
“You will fight or she will die, either by my hand or by the undead ripping her to pieces,” Jim spoke against my temple and then placed a small lick there. Jude strained forward before catching himself. I shuddered.
“I’ll fight,” Jude said. His body was calm, but his eyes … his eyes were another story. Jessica nodded to the men holding Jude. They led him to the edge of the bus. I watched as one of them jumped down to the hood of the first semi. One of the guards shoved Hosea and he scrambled not to fall off of the top of the truck and into the nest of hungry zombies below. I closed my eyes as Jude was similarly shoved. He landed easily on the hood of the truck and the followed behind Hosea as he made his way to the top of the two truck trailers. One of the guards took Hosea all the way to the end of the second trailer and then handed him a knife before jumping down to the hood of the truck at the other side of the circle. Jude was also given a knife and left alone at his end of the trailer.
I stood at the edge of the arena, looking out at the two men, each grasping a knife, each standing on the roof of their truck trailer. Then, a shot landed near Jude’s feet … just a warning that he could be shot at any time if he chose not to play their little game. Jude glanced back at me for one second, but seeing me at the edge of the truck’s roof with Jim’s arm around my neck and the zombies below, thrashing wildly to get at us was enough. Jude began running.
And my heart stopped.
Jude and Hosea met each other in the middle, both swinging their knives and trying to avoid the slashing of their opponent’s steel. Jude ducked as Hosea slashed his knife out high, aiming for his face. Hosea’s leg caught Jude behind the knees and the earth tilted as Jude rolled close enough to the edge of the trailer to cause the undead to writhe and moan at the promise of a fresh meal. I bucked against the restraints of Jim’s arms, only to realize how close we were to the edge of the pit. If I did pull myself free, I would likely end up plummeting off of the trailer and right into the welcoming hands of dozens and dozens of zombies.
“Looks like Jude underestimated his opponent,” Jessica said with her eyes still on the fight. “That’s so like a soldier,” she spat. I turned my eyes back to the fight going on just in time to see Hosea’s blade slice across Jude’s stomach. I cried out as Jessica stood there and smiled.
“Why are you doing this? What happened to the girl I used to know?” I asked as Jude stumbled to the side and drove Hosea back several feet.
“The girl you knew is dead,” she said calmly. “The army made sure of that.” I shook my head, unable to take that as the truth.
“You may wish the girl you once were was dead, but I know better. She’s there somewhere hiding in the recesses of your conscience. This person you’ve become isn’t you, Jess,” I said, my voice pleading, begging for her to acknowledge the truth. She turned her face to me and I shrunk back from the force of her gaze.
“Jessica is dead. Germain is who I am now.” Her voice whipped across my skin, raising goose bumps along my arms. I opened my mouth to argue, but the crowds began cheering loudly, drawing my attention back to Jude. He was blocking Hosea’s attack. Just as Hosea plunged forward, Jude moved to the side at the last second and pulled his knife across Hosea’s stomach. Blood blossomed on Hosea’s white shirt as he stumbled, lost his footing, and began teetering over the edge of the trailer. It all happened so fast and yet it seemed like it all happened in slow motion at the same time. Jude leapt forward, reaching for Hosea, grabbing for his arm with his blood-covered hand, only to have Hosea’s hand slip right through his as he plunged into the middle of the zombie mosh pit. The crowd seemed to hold its breath for an extra-long second before they once again erupted into applause, cheers, and whoops of delight. Hosea’s screams were lost in the noise.
“Well, now that’s a bit of a surprise,” Jim said. “Hosea was one of our best knife fighters.” I shook my head, trying to clear the buzzing there. Jude was heading back across the tops of the semis, his eyes on me and Jim with a look of such calm and clarity that it was a hundred times more terrifying than his rage. As he reached the end of the semi, a guard was there waiting for Jude to hand over his knife. His eyes met mine. His hand clenched around the hilt of the knife that he possessed. The guard visibly stiffened and raised his gun. Jude threw the knife at the guard’s feet with a sneer.
“That was a bit anticlimactic,” Jessica said as Jude joined us. “I guess it’s a good thing I have more fun planned for you both now isn’t it?” Jude watched as Jessica took her seat once again and then nodded to a soldier still on the hood of the semi that Jude had just fought on. He ran across the bridge and continued back toward the shipping and receiving terminal until I lost sight of him. “Now that we’ve seen what Uncle Sam’s finest can do, let’s see what the offspring of Uncle Sam’s finest can handle.” Jessica smiled over at me, her eyes narrowed and pleased with herself. Jude shouted out and only a gun to my head stopped him from morphing Hulk-style and kicking someone’s face in. Jim gave me a slimy kiss at my temple before pushing me forward into the waiting arms of another armed guard.
I was prepared for the push when it came, but landing on a metal roof without sliding right off the side was not as easy as it seemed, even with well-tread combat boots on. Still, the moaning and gurgling of a mob of undead was motivation enough for me to keep my wits about me as I found my footing and climbed to the trailer of the semi. The guard behind me tossed me the knife that Jude had just got finished with, the blood still fresh on the blade. I picked it up, wiping it off on my pants. Despite the situation, a sense of calm and rightness descended upon me. I turned and smiled at the guard. His eyes widened fractionally and his hand tightened around the gun he carried. He should have been worried. I was pissed and I was feeling quite ready to tear someone apart with my bare hands. He had just handed me my weapon of choice and … I knew how to use it—very, very well.
Movement out of my peripheral vision alerted me to the newest surprise that Jessica Germain had in store for me. I watched as the guard that left earlier led a rag tag group of men and one woman along the tops of the semis on the other side of the circle from Jessica, Jim, and Jude. I squinted in the sunlight, wondering if Jessica planned to make me fight all of them. Then, I finally realized something. These were the soldiers that Jessica had been holding captive. She was going to make me fight the soldiers we’d come to free. How perfectly ironic.
One of the guards pushed an older guy forward and just by the way his eyes raked over the guard and he held himself, I knew he was probably the highest ranking soldier of the bunch. They shoved him until he landed on the top of the semi with a thud. I clenched my jaw and held myself as rigid as possible. Where was Tex and his big distraction when I needed it? I couldn’t fight this soldier—an innocent man. I couldn’t. I turned and glanced back at Jude, noting the look of disgust on his face. He met my gaze and I knew what he was trying to tell me, but I didn’t know if I could do what he would want me to. Even what my dad would have wanted me to. Survive. No matter the cost. Just survive. But what was the point of survival if you lost yourself in the process? I turned my head and met Jessica’s gaze. Nothing in her face said she was even human anymore. If I only had my rifle ….
I turned back in time to see the soldier standing on the semi across from me. He held an identical blade to my own. I watched as a myriad of emotions crossed his face. Horror, hate for his captors, disgust for the situation, and … determination. I would’ve ex
pected no less. My arm came up quickly. Automatically. And I watched the eyes of the soldier widen and then clear as I stood there and gave him the perfect salute. Respect. I heard the shot. I guess I expected it—expected it to land near my feet like it had with Jude. However, I didn’t expect the explosion of pain to tear through my left arm. In a haze, I heard Jude bellowing in rage and saw the soldier move forward before a shot stopped him short of coming near me. I glanced over at my arm and raised my right hand with the blade still in it, hovering over the bloody wound on my bicep. Besides the moaning and gurgling of the undead in the arena, everything seemed eerily quiet.
I shook my head, trying to snap out of my shock and pain. I moved around slowly until I faced Germain, not the least bit surprised to see her standing there with a gun pointed in my direction. I stared at her, watching her face until she lowered her gun and sat back down into her chair like nothing had happened. Like she hadn’t just shot her best friend. I nodded at her and made a promise with that nod. She was mine. She had to die … and I was going to be the one to make it happen. She smiled after a moment and nodded back. Jude was face down on the trailer with three guys holding him down and Jim’s eyes were wide and unblinking as if what had just happened had even shocked him. Well, la-tee-fucking-da … that was only one of us.
I turned back around and grabbed the edge of my shirt and cut through the edge, ripping away a large piece of fabric. I wrapped the fabric around my wound and tied it tightly, hissing through gritted teeth and wishing away the gray spots that danced before my eyes. The wound wasn’t as bad as it seemed. I was pretty sure the bullet had gone straight through. When I faced the soldier I saw his look … that he was going to refuse to fight me, to put on the show they wanted. I met his gaze and jerked my head once to the side. Germain would put a bullet through his head. I was sure of it. I held my knife out and began walking forward. He hesitated only a moment before jogging forward to meet me. The crowd around us went crazy and I was glad for the noise. I met the soldier at the end of my truck trailer and immediately struck out, catching his arm with the tip of my blade. His eyes widened.
“Sir,” I gasped out as I leaned in and pretended to grab him by the arm and hold off his attack, blade-to-blade. “I’m trying to get you and your men out of here.” I grunted as he elbowed me in the stomach. I fell back on my butt with a thud. He was good at this. I scrambled back to my feet just in time to miss his forward lunge. This time, though, he knocked me off my feet and I found myself on the receiving end of a soldier’s strength straddling me, with his knife pressing down.
“If you have to kill me,” he gasped out through clenched teeth, “do it. Just try to get my men out of here.” I nodded once and pushed up and tried to dislodge his body from mine. I was strong, but not strong enough. The soldier staggered off of me anyway. I quickly regained my feet, as did the soldier. We were both weak, him from being held captive and me from my wound. We were both already breathing hard. Blood was beginning to soak through the wrapping on my arm. I raised my knife and the soldier smiled a very small, understanding smile. He was ready. I gulped back my tears and hesitation and leapt forward. The soldier didn’t try to dodge my attack. But, just as my arm slashed forward, a series of explosions nearby rocked me off of my feet. Tex.
I STOOD UP, MY EARS ringing, unable to hear what was going on around me, but I could see … I could see the utter chaos surrounding me along with sheer devastation. I grasped ahold of the soldier’s arm standing near me and pulled him in close.
“That’s our cue, Sir,” I shouted. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” The soldier smiled hugely at me and nodded. We turned to face where his men were, but the semi that led back to his men was mangled and dislodged from its normal spot. There was no way we could go back that way. I couldn’t see through the cloud of black smoke to where Jude would have been and I felt fear; sharp and bitter. I knew he would want me to go on with the mission. I had to believe he was okay and we would meet up in a few minutes. Another explosion rocked us back down to our knees and the smell of burning, undead flesh permeated the air all around us. We both stumbled to our feet and I saw the only way we were going to be able to get out … we had to jump into the zombie horde. The last blast had punched a hole right in the middle of the undead. We only had a small window of time to take advantage of it. I pointed the spot out to the soldier and he nodded. He waved his arms to one of his guys and then waved them back toward the shipping area.
I could see the man trying to round up his group, to keep them moving, but in the panic of the grenades going off and zombies running free, people were panicking and trying to get back to the sanctuary of the base. That made them do stupid things. They were knocking others off of the trailers and into the arms of the undead in their frenzy to get to safety. I saw regular people, armed guards, and even a few of the soldier’s people fall off of the side of the trailers. We were helpless to do anything about it.
“Let’s go!” I shouted and pulled roughly on the soldier’s sleeve to get him to tear his eyes away from the horrible scene. He snapped back to reality and we both jumped from the roof of the truck and into the pits of hell. We ran full out and even being hurt, the adrenaline was pumping and the promise of freedom pushed us on. A lot of zombies had been clamoring near the edge of the trailers, waiting for helpless victims to fall into their laps. However, we still had to fight tooth and nail for every few feet that we advanced. My wound was just a dull, throbbing pain in the back of my mind as I struck out time after time and ran my blade into the skull of as many zombies as were unlucky enough to get in my path. The older soldier beside me was holding his own, taking down nearly as many zombies as I was. Shots echoed all around us and mass hysteria ruled.
We were within thirty feet of the shipping and receiving area when I tripped. I landed hard, my chin rebounding off of pavement hard enough to make me wonder if I broke my jaw. When I tried to stand, I realized that I hadn’t tripped over anything. Instead, I’d been grabbed by a zombie that had been blown in half. The upper half of the almost-incapacitated zombie had a death grip on my booted foot and was pulling itself up my body, looking for a soft spot to sink its grotesque teeth into.
I began kicking with all my strength, but I couldn’t dislodge the zombie leech. Another zombie stumbled upon us and decided to get in on the action. With a scream of terror, I kicked the zombie holding onto my leg in the face until its head snapped back and cracked at such an angle that it twisted around and dangled from its neck. The second zombie was on top of me before I could blink and I held it off by sheer strength and a fist to its throat. I could feel my left arm weakening, my strength draining as my open wound began taking its toll. Just as my arm wavered dangerously, a bullet entered the right side of the zombie’s skull and exited its left side, expelling a large portion of brain matter and bits of bone in the process. I shoved the body off of myself with the very last bit of strength I possessed. When a hand reached out to help me up, I took it and allowed myself to be pulled off of the ground. I found myself looking into a pair of familiar brown eyes. I cried out in sheer relief and threw myself into Jude’s arms.
“Let’s get these people to safety, huh?” he murmured against my hair. I nodded and turned back toward the shipping area. The soldier handed me my blade and as I took it, I found a pair of eyes in the crowd near the place we were all headed fastened on me. Tex, his eyes guarded, a little bit hurt, but mostly … understanding. He nodded to me before turning back and barking orders out to some of the soldiers we were there to help. We made it to our destination and the chaos of people killing, people dying, zombies running about freely, and everyone trying to get back to safety made my head spin.
“Melody. I have a truck ready for you at the front of the factory. You’re going to have to hurry though.” He tossed me a gun and I tucked into the back of my pants.
“Thank you, Tex. We owe you big time.”
“I plan on holding you to that debt,” he said with a grin.
&
nbsp; “Captain Parsons! Thank goodness.” A young, female soldier hollered out as she joined us.
“How many?” The Captain asked without preamble. The young woman’s face fell when she answered.
“Four, Sir. Michaelson, James, Torres, and Astor. We are fourteen now, Sir.” She stepped back and let the Captain have a second to digest.
“We need to move,” Tex interjected. There would be time to reflect and mourn later. We had to get out of there quickly. Tex turned to Jude. “What about Germain?” he asked. Jude’s eyes met mine as he answered.
“I didn’t see what happened to her in the chaos and smoke. I did make sure Jim wouldn’t be bothering us ever again though,” he said hollowly. I closed my eyes. Should I go back and search for Germain? Or should I just get the hell out of dodge? When I opened my eyes and found all the people I’d come to save watching me ... I knew I had to deal with Germain later. I needed to make sure these people would be okay. That was the most important thing.
“Let’s blow this popsicle stand,” I said with a nod.
We all ran toward the one place no one else was headed … back to the front of the factory, where only a tall, barb-wire-topped fence stood between us and an open, zombie-infested city.
A running eighteen wheeler was waiting for us when we reached the front of the factory. A few of the soldiers with us immediately began loading up in the back. In front of the semi sat an army tank outfitted with high powered machine guns. Jude whistled between his teeth as he took it in.
State of Decay (Omnibus (Parts 1-4)) Page 14