She did so and Chase bashed in the skull of a yellow eyed Dr. Stlls with Don’s softball bat as he rose up behind Jennifer.
Janice hit the elevator button and the door opened up. She, Jennifer and Chase got inside.
“Come on,” Janice said to Donna.
“What about Don?” she asked.
“What about him?” Chase replied.
Before Donna could answer Don burst through the door and hustled onto the elevator. Donna and the baby joined them and Janice hit the button for the bottom floor.
As they headed down Don started to say something, but before he could Chase told him, “Save it.”
“I’m sorry,” Don said, “I . . .”
“Save it,” Chase repeated and this time Don shut his mouth.
They all turned their attention to the lights above the door counting down the floors. The elevator made it to three before the lights went out and they came to a stop.
***
The EDZRT was also watching the elevator countdown and saw the lights go dark.
“Could it have run out of gas?” Derrick asked.
“I don’t think so.” Fat said.
“Do we have more gas?” Lita asked.
“Nope.”
“I’ll check it out,” Derrick said and he hustled to the basement.
He spotted the old lady draped over the generator licking the blood Derrick had left on the cap. While leaning over the generator she must have turned it off. Derrick aimed his rifle, but pictured his bullet going through her and into the generator. He put the gun on his shoulder and drew his blade bat.
The old lady was so busy lapping up the blood she never knew he was there. He bashed in her head and pulled her away from the generator. Derrick slapped the red button he saw Fat push and the generator fired back up.
***
“Well this is not good.” Janice said.
“We’re screwed,” Don said.
Donna just started crying louder, saying “He’s not breathing anymore," between sobs.
Chase and Jennifer found each other in the dark and held hands.
“You know what is weird,’ she said quietly to Chase.
“I know of plenty of weird things. But which one are you talking about?”
“This is the first Sunday in a while I did not get up and think about killing myself.”
Before Chase could answer the lights came back on and the elevator started to move.
“If we make it out of here alive I’d like to hear the rest of the story.”
Jennifer nodded and the elevator hit the bottom floor. The door opened to a trio of teenagers dressed in a mix of police gear and homemade armor holding automatic weapons.
A very petite young woman pointed at the open back doors of an armored vehicle and said, “Get in.”
They did so, and the three kids piled in behind them, the last one in closed the door.
“Let's hit the road Dwayne,” the one they knew by voice to be Derrick said.
Dwayne pulled into the street and realized they had waited too long. The only reason they had not been swarmed was the blood deprived yellow eyed bastards were to busy tripping over each other and had bottled necked a bit at the corner. The road was just as crowded the other way. Random zombies were breaking from the pack and approaching the carrier. It would not be long before they were surrounded.
“Go Dwayne,” Derrick said looking in the window.
“Roads blocked,” Dwayne said.
“We can’t stay here.”
“Good point,” Dwayne said, “Let’s see what this puppy can do.”
Dwayne slammed it into reverse, backed up and turned until they were facing the back wall. He gunned the engine and shoved the carrier into gear. The carrier burst through the walls sending plaster, glass and wood flying as they plowed through the building.
The road on the other side of the apartments was not zombie free but they were not thick enough to stop the carrier as they rumbled towards the 7-11.
Chapter 8
Day 7: 7-11
“I’m the Fat Kid, my friends call me Fat, you can call me Mr. Fat kid, except you,” he said looking at Jennifer, “you can call me anytime.”
“Is that your idea of a pick up line?” Lita asked as they pulled into the parking lot of Jimmy's store.
“What's wrong with it?”
“If you want to die a virgin? Nothing.”
“It’s not that bad,” Jennifer said putting her head on Chases shoulder, “but I’m taken.”
“The good ones always are,” Fat said.
Derrick opened the doors, said “You guys stay put.”
He and the other young members of the EDZRT got out and took positions. They heard footsteps on the roof as one of the kids got on top as a lookout. Don watched the driver, by far the oldest of the bunch, though still well shy of thirty, negotiate with an old guy carrying a shotgun. After a short talk they came around to the back.
“You guys have the cash?” the oldest EDZRT member asked.
They had made Don in charge of the money, which they had put together at the penthouse. Dr. Stills had originally been the choice of the group, but Don had insisted, since most of the cash involved was his. Turned out to be a good decision, in the rush to get into the elevator after the Cubs fan they may have left it behind. If it weren’t for Donna they would have left Don behind too.
Derrick came to the door, “It’s going to take awhile. We have to siphon it from the storage tank.”
“Do you want help?” Chase asked, pointing at Jennifer, he said, “She is an excellent shot.”
“Area’s clear, for the moment, and if the horde we left at his place come this way we don’t have enough bullets anyway, so sit tight.”
“Speaking of hordes,” the girl of the roof said, “we might want to hurry this up.”
“Can we close the door?” Janice asked, “I’d feel better.”
Derrick thought about for a second, "Sure, don’t lock it though, we may need to get in fast.”
“No problem,” Janice said.
Jennifer looked at Chase, “I suppose this is as good of time as any to tell you what I was talking about.”
“It’s up to you, we’ve only known each other a week.”
“Not a normal week, and the way things are I may never get another chance.”
Chase nodded.
Jennifer looked at Donna who was pacing while gently rocking Don Jr.
“I’m guessing everyone has noticed how cold I’ve been to the baby.”
“Hard not to,” Janice said.
“I was pregnant once,” Jennifer said. She started to say more but stopped.
“You lost the baby?” Janice asked.
“Yes.”
Chase hugged her, “Makes sense.”
“Miscarriage?” Don asked.
“Yes.”
“I know it probably sounds hollow, but your not the first, Donna had one too, but we were able to try again and eventually we had Don Jr. I mean unless the Doctors told you. . .”
“They didn’t.”
Don nodded, and Chase hugged her tighter.
From outside they heard voices shouting “Hurry up,” and “They’re coming.”
“It's worse though,” Jennifer said, “I did not so much lose the baby as I killed it.”
No one knew what to say.
Jennifer continued, “I killed the father too.”
“What do you mean?” Don asked.
“I shouldn’t have been driving, I was exhausted, the road was icy, and he did not want to go, but I insisted we go down to Colorado Springs for my brothers birthday. He had a few drinks, it was a party after all, so I drove home. I fell asleep and crashed the car. He didn’t make it and neither did our baby. I should have died too. I deserved to die, it was my fault, but they paid for it.”
Jennifer started to cry. Chase wanted to tell her it was okay, but instead he just held her.
She pulled away and stood up, �
�I don’t see how you can want to be with me now that you know.”
“It was an accident,” Chase said.
Jennifer was about to say something when Donna who was by the door now said, “He’s moving. Don Jr. is still alive.”
“Thank god,” Don said, just before Donna started screaming.
The blood from Donna’s chest quickly soaked the baby’s blanket as the somehow toothless Don Jr. tore into her flesh with his suddenly strong little fingers. Donna pushed him away and held him up giving everyone a view of Don Jr. his eyes a bright yellow and his mouth covered in his mother's blood.
“No,” Don yelled as he moved to them.
“Our baby,” Donna said starting to cry again.
The baby wiggled far more vigorously than a newborn should be able too and Donna dropped him. Everyone just watched as the undead baby kicked it legs and licked the blood off his face.
Don finally moved to pick him up, but Chase stopped him, saying, “It’s not your baby anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Don said.
“I mean your baby is dead, this is something else now, We need to kill it.”
“No, I won’t let you. . .”
“He’s right,” Janice said.
Don stepped away. Chased stepped forward and raised his bat. Before he could swing Jennifer grabbed him.
***
Jimmy stepped into the road and saw the mass of dead walking towards his store. He looked over and saw Dwayne finishing up filling the carrier with diesel.
“I think I’ve changed my mind,” he said, “I’d like to come with you.”
Dwayne nodded, “Cost you.”
The owner smiled, “I have cash.”
“Prefer some bottled water, and maybe a couple six packs of your best IPA for later.”
“Deal.”
“We need to hurry though,” Dwayne added as they jogged back to the store.
They heard shots as they came out with all the bags of water Dwayne could carry and a twelve pack of Oscar Blues Beer. Lita was on the roof firing while Fat had stepped into the street and taken out a few slow movers getting close with his battle axe/sledgehammer.
Derrick emptied his clip down the street into the approaching horde and then moved to the back doors, saying, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
He yanked the handle but the door stayed closed.
***
“I can’t be part of killing another baby,” Jennifer said.
“It’s not a baby anymore.”
Jennifer shook her head, “I don’t want you to do it. I couldn’t see you the same if I watch you kill him.”
“Look away,” he told her.
Janice stepped forward, “I’ll do it.” she said brandishing the crowbar.
Chase and Jennifer stepped aside.
Don turned from his baby, to Donna who sprung forward and buried her teeth into his neck. Don pushed her away sending her into the door. She hit the latch and locked it as she pushed off to attack her husband again.
Jennifer grabbed her gun and pulled the trigger looking to get Donna first, but she had no more bullets.
Janice was staring in horror as Donna bit repeatedly into her husband. She did not notice the spry newborn roll into her ankles and dig his fingers into her skin until she felt the pain.
***
Derrick banged on the door while Lita, and Fat fired into the horde. Dwayne got in the cab and fired up the engine, yelling for everyone to get inside the carrier.
“We can’t,” Derrick screamed as he continued to pound on the door. Fat’s rifle had gone dry and his pistols were going fast. Lita had already drawn her smaller version of the bat blade.
***
Janice dropped the crowbar and tried to get Don Jr. off her ankle. With her balance affected by the baby on her leg she pitched forward slamming her head into the steel wall.
Chase saw Donna turn her yellow eyes his way. He jabbed forward crushing her face with the end of the bat, driving her back into her bleeding husband. It was not a killing blow but it gave him the room to put a home run swing upside the side of her head.
“You killed my wife,” Don said as the blood poured from his many wounds.
Chase did not wait for him to turn, he put the same swing into Don and added another to be sure.
He heard the knocking on the door and the yelling outside. He moved forward and unlocked the door.
The first thing Derrick said when the door flung open was “What the Hell is that.”
Chase looked back to see Don Jr. at his feet, before he could react Jennifer brought the sharp end of the crowbar down into the undead babies skull.
Jennifer left the crowbar stuck in Don Jr’s crushed head and sat down. Janice sat up and looked at her with yellow eyes. Before she could make a move Fat shot her in the head with one of his pistols. Dwayne hit the gas before they had closed the doors. They dumped the bodies as the carrier left the horde behind. They shut doors and sat back as Dwayne drove them out of downtown.
“We’re going to be okay,” Chase said, “We will get to Red Rocks and they will get us to safety.”
Jennifer put her head on his shoulder and cried. She wanted to believe him.
DEAD SECTOR: DENVER…
Story continues with Book Two.
Available autumn of 2016
Dead Sector (Book 2): Denver Page 5