They inch forward, Eric and Johnny with them. Several of the dead lay facedown. Using my foot, I turn them over so we can get a good look at them.
There’s a fat boy, a skinny boy, and another kid covered with acne. The rest of the dead are all girls. I count eight altogether.
My eyes sweep to the dead soldier nailed to the door. He’s older, with gray stubble and the beginnings of wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. A veteran of probably more than one war, and yet someone got the drop on him.
“I don’t see Ryan or the others,” Carter says.
“You think they did this?” Jenna whispers.
“They mutilated those zombies in the Depot,” Eric says.
While I agree that mutilating zombies takes a special person, I don’t think that necessarily means they’re the ones who killed all these kids. For one thing, these kids look like they were killed with two shots, one in the head and one in the chest. Average college kids aren’t such good shots.
“We should go.” Jenna glances in the direction of the fence, at the thin rods of iron that separate us from a field of zombies.
I itch to go into the building, to hunt down whoever murdered these kids. But even I have to admit that would be a colossally stupid idea. I knew things could be bad, but I hadn’t expected to find so many dead. Something tells me this wasn’t the work of one or two college kids. There’s someone else hurting people. Could it be men of Granjero or Mr. Rosario? Just the thought makes my blood pressure boil.
“Let’s go back,” I murmur. I have one gun and five living kids with me. If there are armed people inside, we don’t need to be going in there.
“Wait.” Jenna takes a few steps away from us. “I want to take him down.” She gestures to the soldier nailed to the door. “It’s messed up.”
“No,” Carter says. “There’s nothing we can do for him.”
“I agree with Carter,” Johnny says. “Evidence suggests we should get the fuck out of here.”
Jenna’s eyes blaze. I don’t know what it is, but something about the hanging body has her more worked up than the bodies on the ground. I can see by the stubborn set of her jaw that she isn’t going to budge on this.
“Let’s make it fast.” I gesture to her, striding toward the door.
I’ve taken only two steps when a shot rings out. The ground in front of me sends up a puff of cement from the impact of the bullet.
“Stop right there, motherfuckers.” The voice echoes through the open courtyard.
I freeze, palm sweaty around the handle of the gun. A chorus of moans rises from beyond the fence line.
“What are you doing here?” the voice calls.
“Can you keep your voice down?” I whisper-shout. “You’re upsetting the natives.” I scan the building, searching for the owner of the voice.
“Answer the question!”
A cluster of zombies bumps up against the fence. Jenna and Carter clutch each other, while Johnny, Reed, and Eric gather behind them. They all cast nervous looks in the direction of the fence.
“We found two dead girls in the library,” I say, voice shaking with rage and fear. Is this the asshole who murdered those girls? Cold sweat drenches my back. My hands tremble from the force of the adrenaline hammering through my body. “They lived in College Creek. Do you know anything about that?”
Silence stretches. My breathing is loud in my ears, rasping in and out through my nose.
I spot movement on a second-story balcony only fifty yards from where we stand. A man is crouched behind a barbecue, some sort of machine gun balanced across the top of it. All I can see of him is a forehead, eyes, and brownish-gray crew cut.
When he finally speaks, his question surprises me. “What were the girls wearing?”
“I couldn’t tell you,” I reply. “There was too much blood. We came here to see if there was anyone else in trouble.” I gesture to the bodies with my screwdriver hand. “I think we’re too late.”
Another long pause. Then the soft scrape of the machine gun as it’s lifted from the barbecue. A man in military fatigues stands, revealing himself on the balcony. He’s too far away for me to see the details of his face, but from this distance, I’d gauge him to be in his late forties or early fifties.
“We were both too late,” he replies. “The fuckers who did this got away.”
The fury in his voice settles me. It is not the fury of a man who murders young men and women. It’s a fury that resonates inside me, echoes my own thoughts and feelings.
“Tell me who did this,” I grind out. I’ll kill them with my bare hands if I have to. Anything to keep Carter and the kids safe.
My eyes meet those of the soldier across the distance. He gives a small shake of his head. “I don’t know where they went,” he says, “but I intend to hunt them down. Every last one of them.”
“I can help.”
He barks a laugh. “Get out of here. Stay out of sight and watch your backs.”
“Tell me who did this.”
“Soldiers. Stay away from anyone in military uniform. If you meet them, it’ll be too late for you.”
39
Gift
JENNA
Something fundamental changes in us after College Creek. Every one of us throws ourselves into fortifying Creekside. We dismantle bookshelves and nail planks over every window on the first floor. Carter and Eric pull together enough scraps to build a real door for the front entry, complete with a security bar to hold it in place. No more flimsy swinging glass doors for us.
The Xbox hasn’t been turned on once. Eric, Reed, and Johnny make a trip to the Depot to retrieve several solar panels. We finally have a working washing machine. We still have to fill it with water from the creek, but that’s a small price to pay for clean clothes.
Carter and I do indeed venture out into the pile of bodies to search for keys to other dorm rooms. Shockingly, we manage to find three for Creekside. All our food and supplies are now behind locked doors.
Lila and Eric have teamed up on the hydroponics project. She’s buried herself in the library books while Eric hooks grow lights up to the solar panels. A trip to a neighboring dorm produced the grow lights. Reed had known a few guys who grew pot in their closets.
I think there’s something going on between Eric and Lila. Even when they’re not working on the hydroponics project, they spend a lot of time together. They still argue and bicker over just about everything, but it has a good-natured edge to it.
All this progress and preparation hasn’t done anything to lift the pall that hangs over our group. Gone is the friendly banter. It feels like we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.
At least things between Carter and I have returned to normal. I feel like I can handle anything the world throws at me if we’re together.
“Will you help me get water for the washing machine?” I ask him. I’m dying to get out of our somber dorm room, even if it’s only for a trip to the creek and back. Besides that, I have a surprise for him.
“Sure, babe,” he says. “Let’s go.”
Outside, the air is clean and fresh from a recent rainfall. Out here, under the trees, I can almost imagine we don’t live in a world of death and monsters. All this should make me feel more relaxed, but I can’t shake the feeling of a looming threat.
When we reach the creek, I reach into the back pocket of my pants and pull out a folded piece of paper. “Here, I drew this for you.”
Carter unfolds it, eyes taking in the graphite lines that outline the shape of a beer label. The word “obstacle” is drawn in angular script. A runner leaps over what looks like a track hurdle. Upon closer inspection, the hurdle reveals itself to be made from bones and body parts.
“It’s perfect,” he breathes.
“We can still have Ultra Brew,” I tell him. “Maybe it won’t be what we planned, but it’s still ours.” I step closer to him. “I feel complete when I’m with you, Carter. With or without our brewery. I’m sorry I ever made you feel
differently.”
“Babe.” He draws me against his chest. “We’re past that now. It was just a misunderstanding.”
“I know. But I’m still sorry I hurt you.”
He cups my face in his hands and kisses me. “It’s behind us.” He looks down, studying my face. “I want to try something. Will you close your eyes?”
“Okay.” I lower my lids, even though standing in the forest with my eyes closed is far from my comfort zone.
We stand there in silence, me with my eyes closed and Carter with his thumbs caressing my cheeks.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispers.
My eyes snap open.
His thumbs never stop moving over my cheeks. “Those words are meant to be a compliment, babe. That’s it. You’re beautiful. I’ve decided I’m going to say it whenever I feel like it. You’re going to have to learn to deal with it.”
I lower my gaze. “It’s just my stupid childhood baggage.”
“I know. I’m going to help you get past it, starting today. You’re beautiful, Jenna, inside and out. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
The emotion of the moment is almost too much to bear. It’s like a giant boulder sitting on my chest. I have to say something to dislodge it before I end up in tears. “You’re just feeling mushy because I shaved my armpits.”
He chuckles, once again folding me against his chest. “You got me. Once you got rid of the armpit hair, you went from hot to steaming hot.”
“You’re pretty hot yourself, Carter Stephenson.”
He raises a teasing eyebrow. “Even without the beard?”
“You are, hands down, the hottest boyfriend I’ve ever had. Although, I think I like you beardless most of all. I don’t have to worry about a zombie grabbing your face.”
“I guess that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“It’s definitely a good thing. I like you with your face.”
We stand together beside the creek, just holding each other. When we finally fill the water tote and head back to Creekside, I realize I’m even more in love with Carter than ever before.
“I promised to help your mom take apart some desks,” I tell him. Now that we’ve managed to find enough furniture to board up all the windows on the first floor of Creekside, Kate has moved onto a new project. “She wants to try building a garden bed for Eric and Lila.”
“I’ll help you guys,” Carter says.
“Don’t you have plans to—?”
Seven people step around the side of the building to intercept us. Four of them are dressed in military fatigues; the other three are college boys. I recognize them as the College Creek kids we ran into at the Depot on our beer run. Ryan, Adam, and Henry were their names.
“There you are,” says Ryan, leveling a gun at us with a smirk. “You guys don’t live in Pepperwood.”
“No, we don’t,” Carter says, voice flat.
“I’m hurt you didn’t trust us,” Ryan says. “We are, after all, schoolmates.”
“If that really means anything to you, lower your gun,” I reply.
Ryan’s smile curls as he studies me. The look makes my skin crawl.
He doesn’t lower his gun.
40
Tithe
KATE
I sit in a living room on the third floor, a hammer in one hand and a screwdriver in the other. In front of me are two desks. I need to figure out a way to take them apart and reassemble them into a growing bed for Lila and Eric’s hydroponics nursery.
“I could really use a saw,” I mutter, staring down at the desks. I already tried using the screwdriver to separate the back from the shelves. All I managed to do was bend the screwdriver.
A scream, followed by a shout and a gunshot, brings my head whipping up.
I mentally trace the sound. It doesn’t take a genius to deduce it came from downstairs. I’m on top of our living room.
I fly down to the second floor. Every instinct screams at me to rip open the stairwell door and rush to our apartment.
I don’t. Instead, I press my ear against the door, listening. One voice carries, loud and commanding, but I can’t make out the words.
I crack the door. The hallway is empty; the door to our apartment stands wide open.
I inch my way down the hall, hefting the knife I always carry.
“Now, assholes,” booms a voice. “Fill our boxes or we take this pretty little honey right now in front of all of you.”
“No!” Lila’s voice is shrill with panic. “Let me go!”
A chill seeps through my body. This is not good.
I think of the guns stashed under the sofa. If we survive the next few minutes, I make a silent vow to wear one at all times.
I scuttle down the hallway and peek around the open doorway. I expect to see Mr. Rosario’s homeless vagabonds. Instead, I see four soldiers and three college boys, all of them with guns raised. Not a single one looks older than twenty-one or twenty-two. The college boys look even younger.
Carter, Jenna, Johnny, Reed, and Eric are in the kitchen, yanking open cupboards and pulling out precious food. They load the food into several large plastic totes on the kitchen table. Lila is pinned to the floor by one of the soldiers, a gun to the back of her neck.
“That’s right,” says the boy pinning Lila. “Load ‘em up. Make sure you throw in those bottles of booze. We don’t care if they’re mostly empty. Do we, boys?”
Chuckles bubble up from the rest of the armed boys. Several of them let their eyes wander freely over Jenna as she stands on her toes to pull food off a top shelf.
“Hey, Ryan,” Jenna says, “is this how you repay us for giving you a keg of beer?”
Ryan. I remember that name. This is one of the College Creek boys they met at the Depot.
One of the college kids—presumably Ryan—leers at Jenna. “You’re lucky we were feeling neighborly that night,” he replies. “We could have taken both kegs and then some.” What he means by and then some is clear by the way he looks Jenna up and down. It makes me want to scratch the kid’s eyeballs out.
“You lied to us,” Ryan continues. “You said you lived in Pepperwood. Imagine our surprise when we went there for a visit. All we found is a bunch of undead fuckers.”
“You weren’t easy to find,” says the boy pinning Lila to the ground. “It wasn’t until one of you idiots thought it was a good idea to smoke pot on the roof that we found you.” His grin is feral. “Thank God for idiots.”
I am going to kill Eric. Or Reed. Maybe both of them for good measure. Which dumb fuck thought it was a good idea to get high on the roof?
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what’s going on. We’re being robbed at gunpoint. And if we don’t give these guys what they want, they’ll take Lila instead.
Could these be the people who raped those girls and murdered the College Creek kids? The old soldier had told us to be on the lookout for other soldiers. He hadn’t said anything about a combined group of students and soldiers.
“Maybe I’ll take your friend here, just so you don’t forget who’s in charge,” continues the young soldier. He pulls Lila up by the hips and grinds himself against her. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
Lila whimpers. I want to be sick.
“Let her go.” Eric balls his fists and glares at the soldier boy with Lila. “We’re getting you your supplies. You don’t have to hurt her.”
“Who’s in charge here, motherfucker?” the soldier demands.
“I only meant—”
Ryan strides forward, shoving the barrel of his gun in Eric’s nose. “You’re not being useful. We have no need of people who aren’t useful.”
I sense the situation careening out of control. Taking a deep breath, I stride into the room and assume my best mom voice.
“I think everyone can put their guns down. Right fucking now,” I say. Terror pounds through me, but I march right into the midst of the commotion and plant myself in the middle of the room.
Hands on my hips, I glare down at the kid pinning Lila. His baby face is covered with acne. His nametag reads Johnson.
“We’ll fill your boxes.” I gesture to the large crates sitting on the kitchen table. Carter, Jenna, Reed, Eric, and Johnny scurry to fill them. “You’re scaring my friend. Please let her up. There’s no need to terrorize her. None of us is going to fight you.”
“Damn right you’re not going to fight us.” The boy sneers at me. “Brandy is our favorite. It’ll earn you extra points if you remember that.”
“Will you please let my friend up? You can see we’re complying.”
The boy’s eyes narrow. For a moment, I fear he’s going to hurt Lila just to prove a point.
“Sir, it would be a gesture of goodwill to let up the girl.” Another soldier steps forward. The badge on his uniform reads Roberts. His handsome dark face reveals nothing as he faces off with Johnson. “They are complying with our demands.”
“Whose side are you on?” Ryan asks.
Roberts tilts his head at Ryan. “Our side. We want tithers, remember? These guys won’t be tithers if we hurt them.”
Tithers. I have a sinking feeling I know what that means.
“Whatever,” Johnson says. “This bitch is annoying me anyway. She’ll change her tune once she gets to know me.” He leans forward, raking his tongue along the back of her neck. When Lila chokes on a sob, he laughs. Only then does he rise and remove the gun from the back of her head.
As soon as she’s freed, Lila scrambles to a far corner and huddles in a tight ball. Johnson watches her, a leer on his face. Ryan looks disgusted. Roberts’ eyes flick to mine for a split second. I sense he’s trying to tell me something, but I don’t know what.
I hold out my hand, speaking loudly to draw Johnson’s attention away from Lila. “My name is Kate. And you are?”
The kid hesitates, then extends his hand. “Private First Class Johnson.” He shakes my hand.
I consider trying to negotiate some of our food back, then decide against it. The most important thing is to get this group out of here. We can figure out the food situation later. At least they haven’t found our real stash in the room across the hall.
Undead Ultra Box Set | Books 1-4 Page 53