LZR-1143 (Book 4): Desolation
Page 43
Her hand, still, somehow, so soft, clenched around my own. Then, beneath me, her body went limp.
And around me, the world went cold.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Her mother's eyes...
The noise of the convoy had faded into the chaos, the remaining dead following the larger, more attractive targets.
Rhi and Ethan were down with us now, dispatching the lingering dead quietly, in the hopes that the herd—now numbering slightly over a hundred—would not turn from their slow ambulation away from the mill.
Bodies and blood surrounded us. Everywhere I looked, the marks of destruction and death adorned the landscape. Body parts, blood spatter, dead bodies. Writhing forms, without arms or legs.
And underneath my hand, the still form of the woman I loved.
The silence was deafening.
Had I been present, I would have heard Ky’s weeping next to me, her tears splashing against the driveway.
Had I been present, I would have heard my sobs, felt the coldness creeping into me from my extremities, felt the world closing in.
But I was numb and absent. It couldn’t be possible. I stared at her form, the single bullet hole that had ended everything. I still held my hand against it, as if that single act of applying pressure was everything. As if my hand in place was forestalling the inevitable.
And perhaps it was. Perhaps it was keeping me from accepting what was.
Kate’s eyes were closed, now, and she looked peaceful.
Nothing about this was right. How could she die? How, with the power of our cursed immunity coursing through our veins, could it be endured? Death was not for us, I wanted to shout.
Rhi’s voice shattered my darkness.
“Incoming!” her voice was urgent but as quiet as she could make it without calling more creatures to us.
I ignored her, uncaring.
“They’re human,” said Ethan, trying to get my attention. “Probably part of that convoy.” He strode forward, still limping on his bad leg, rifle held high.
I spared a glance for the newest arrivals and paused, mind suddenly whirling and confused.
Two people walked carefully up the bloodied driveway, picking their way across the battlefield of undead. Both held their hands up, carefully approaching.
The first was a large man, nearly six and a half feet tall if I had to wager a guess. His head was shaved, likely to conceal the pattern baldness on the very top. He was well-muscled, but older—maybe in his mid-forties—and it showed. On the upper left hand side of his dark blue shirt, the tarnished remains of a badge sat proudly, glimmering in the faint light.
But he caught my attention for a mere moment.
It was the young woman with him, whose face looked both worried and relieved as she approached. Likely as she took in the other young woman, as distraught as she was, and understanding that people were safe here.
I couldn’t put my finger on it, but I was drawn to her face. As if it were familiar. As if I knew this girl, somehow.
“That’s far enough,” said Ethan, as the two approached, now both within ten feet of where we sat clustered around the rear of the Grinder. “What’s your business here? You part of that convoy?”
Ky wiped her eyes and dropped down from the Grinder, looking at both and shaking her head.
“No, I don’t recognize her, and him…well, he wouldn’t have survived that group.”
“We followed the sound of gunfire. We knew it had to be human, and we were running on fumes, heading out of Vancouver. Well, what was left of it anyway.” The man spoke slowly, but carefully, as if aware that he would need to justify their arrival somehow.
But it was the girl’s reaction that I just happened to be watching, as she scanned the scene while the man was speaking.
As Ky moved from the Grinder, the newly arrived young woman’s eyes casually swept the machine, taking in the death and destruction around it with a horrified grimace, and then passing by Kate’s body.
Suddenly, her eyes swept back, her face dissolving into a mix of surprise, fear, and despair.
That’s how I knew her, I realized.
I wanted to laugh and cry and shake my fist at the heavens. There was nothing good or just in this world.
Not anymore.
I didn’t know this girl.
I recognized her.
Because she had her mother’s eyes.
###
Note from the author:
If you made it this far, you either liked the book, or you really don’t like to give up on a project. Either way, thanks for reading!
If you enjoyed the work, it would mean the world to me if you took the time to leave a short review. Authors make their living from good reviews. Without them, we truly do wither and die.
Also, if you’re interested in knowing when the next book is released, visit my website, www.bryanjameswrites.com our Facebook page, our Twitter feed, or drop me a line at LZR1143@gmail.com, and you’ll have the inside track on the next release.
Thanks for reading, and remember: we all think we’re going to be the ones to survive the apocalypse.
Statistically, most of us are wrong.
So, as you’re hoarding MRE’s and ammunition, just know that your loser neighbor and the hippie down the road thank you for your efforts. ‘Cause odds are? They’re the ones that will pull through, and they’ll enjoy the fruits of your labor while they’re watching your DVDs on your couch.
My plan? Go first. Avoid the rush.
Who needs the hassle, anyway?
Table of Contents
Dedication and Title
Dedication and Title
Dedication and Title
Chapter One - We got no troubles, life is the bubbles, under the sea ...
Chapter Two - You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here ...
Chapter Three - Sometimes, it just doesn't pay to get out of bed...
Chapter Four - New day, same stupid shit...
Chapter Five - I just go for the breakfast buffet...
Chapter Six - Oh Canada! With glowing hearts we see thee rise...
Chapter Seven - Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful ship...
Chapter Eight - Out of the frying pan, into the fire...
Chapter Nine - Scattered to the wind...
Chapter Ten - New friends, new adventures...
Chapter Eleven - The sorority from hell...
Chapter Twelve - Tit for tat...
Chapter Thirteen - Zombies, zombies, everywhere...
Chapter Fourteen - Great escapes and bad ideas...
Chapter Fifteen - Want some cheese with that whine...?
Chapter Sixteen - Claustrophobia isn't just a state of mind...
Chapter Seventeen - I'm just lookin' for some dam bait...
Chapter Eighteen - Greetings, salutations, and goodbyes...
Chapter Nineteen - I kissed a girl just to try it...
Chapter Twenty - Exit, stage right. No, your other right...
Chapter Twenty-One - If not now, then when...?
Chapter Twenty-Two - Things that make you go ... boom ...
Chapter Twenty-Three - On the road again ...
Chapter Twenty-Four - Got wood ...?
Chapter Twenty-Five - Shelter in place ...
Chapter Twenty-Six - The best laid schemes o' Mice an' Men ...
Chapter Twenty-Seven - Parting is such sweet sorrow ...
Chapter Twenty-Eight - Ya see me rollin', ya hatin' ...
Chapter Twenty-Nine - Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war ...
Chapter Thirty - Her mother's eyes...
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