A Darker Shade of Dead

by Bianca D’Arc

  “Where are they coming from?” Matt wanted to know. He asked the question aloud, inviting Sandra’s input.

  “Looks like a break in the kudzu vines over there. There’s got to be something behind it. Maybe a structure of some kind where they hide out during the day?”

  “Or maybe a cave. There are a few in this area.” Matt kept aiming and firing even as he sorted through the puzzle.

  He paused only to reload. Sandra took one carefully placed shot for every three or four of his. That was good. She was making her shots count. She hit what she aimed at. She just did it at a much slower pace than he and the rest of his men. Matt had plenty of spare ammunition in his combat vest. When Sandra finally finished the clip that had been in the pistol, he tossed her a few spares.

  She was in retreat from the suspected cave entrance, as were they all. It took some time for the darts to work, and the creatures kept advancing until they disintegrated midstep. But someone had to get closer, to be certain none escaped the suspected cave.

  Matt signaled for most of the team to move forward in a flanking maneuver. They’d take the fight to the zombies instead of waiting to be overrun. If they could overtake them at the bottleneck, they stood a better chance of controlling the battle and getting them all with little fuss.

  “Sandra, stay back here with Sam and Rodriguez. Keep count of the zombie kills as best you can and try to make sure none of them slip away, but don’t move away from Sam. Stay safe.”

  “Where are you going?” Panic flared in her eyes.

  “We’re going to try to stem the flow. Once they’re out of wherever they’ve been hiding, it gets too far out of control. If we can get them at the entrance, we can control the action.” He saw understanding dawn in her eyes.

  “Be careful, Matt.”

  “You too, sweetheart. Stay with Sam and retreat with him if necessary.” He kissed her quick before he left with the rest of the combat team.

  Simon was across from Matt as they approached the point where the zombies were coming from simultaneously. They’d sent some of the men down the center as decoys, to lead the creatures away from the real angle of attack—either side of the exit point. It was an orchestrated play to gain time and a little distance from the zombies who’d been darted and needed time to fall. It also brought Matt and Simon closer to the fresh reinforcements that kept coming through the curtain of vines.

  “We’ve got to get to the source and make sure we have them all,” Matt said over the radio that connected him with the combat team.

  “Where’d they get so many? Intel never reported these kinds of numbers,” Simon groused.

  “Look at them. They’re newly made. Civilians, most of them. From the way they’re dressed, it looks like Rodriguez was trolling a bar for new recruits.”

  Indeed, the women matched the descriptions of the missing persons reports—they were young and wearing jeans or short skirts. Their high heels were mostly gone, and their little colorful shirts were torn and bloodstained. Makeup was long melted and smeared, and jewelry sparkled from what was left of ears and fingers in a drunken, disturbing display.

  The men were wearing civilian clothing but many looked like off-duty soldiers. A few others had biker tattoos and clothing that was now tattered and stained. Their hands were bloody and scratched, their faces gnawed away in some cases. It looked like many of the men had put up a good fight, but the contagion had taken them in the end.

  “There’s a popular road house not far away. It has a large, dark parking lot,” Simon mused. “It’d be easy pickings to get the customers as they stumble out on their way home.”

  “Especially if someone was able to control the zombies they sent out to do the deed. Rodriguez’s so-called improvement on the contagion allowed him to give simple orders.”

  “Like, ‘don’t let anyone out of the parking lot alive’?” Simon asked in a grim tone.

  “Or like, ‘build me an army,’” Matt agreed as they moved into position. “Rodriguez was gearing up for war. He probably made most of this little army last night. There ought to be a lot of missing persons reports today and for the next few days as people don’t show up where they’re supposed to be. You can’t kill this many folks without someone noticing.”

  The team was almost ready to begin the next phase of the maneuver. By waiting to fire until Simon and Matt were in perfect position, they’d avoided drawing the zombies’ attention. The plan was to let the rest of the team handle the zombies already out in the forest while Matt and Simon took positions to get them as they emerged from the vines. Eventually, the soldiers could contain the monsters in the bottleneck—or so they hoped.

  However it worked out, all these poor creatures had to be dealt with. A speedy end was preferable, but the team would end it however it had to. None of this zombie army could be allowed to escape.

  The soldiers set up the flanking maneuver and Matt gave the signal when they were in position. He and Simon opened fire at the same time, the rest of the team closing the gap in a pincer maneuver that cut off the fresh zombies from the ones they’d already darted, leading the doomed creatures away so they could disintegrate away from the new field of battle. They’d essentially cleared the deck to begin the battle again—this time on their own terms.

  The men who herded the darted creatures away would keep them occupied until the last was a pile of goo on the forest floor. Meanwhile, Matt and Simon would be the first line of defense, sending already darted zombies on their way to the herders. Like shooting fish in a barrel.

  After several minutes and a few clips of darts, Sam Archer approached Matt from the side.

  “Where’s Sandra?” Sam was supposed to be watching over her and Rodriguez.

  “John showed up and took over so I could bring you fresh supplies,” Sam explained.

  Matt didn’t spare the time to look at Sam, but he could hear the telltale metal tinkle of ammunition clips.

  “Just in time, lieutenant. I’m nearly out of ammo,” Matt reported, never taking his eyes off the creatures that kept pouring out of the small opening in the dense vines.

  “I’ve got it covered, sir.” He refilled one of the side pockets on Matt’s vest with fresh clips even as Matt continued to fire.

  “Trade places?” Matt nodded and dropped back so Sam could take his place.

  So far, the plan was working pretty well. None of the zombies were getting past the choke point without being darted. From there it took some creative running by the other members of the team to lead the zombies away to where they could fall apart minutes later.

  The vines were getting trampled the more creatures that came out of the small opening in the dense leaves. As the tenacious kudzu collapsed under the weight of so many shuffling feet, Matt could see the mouth of a cave clearly. It wasn’t a large opening, thankfully, and allowed only one creature out at a time. But the cave beyond must be pretty large if the sheer number of zombies emerging was any indication.

  The place didn’t smell great. The air wafting from the cave entrance reeked strongly of both bat guano and death. The zombies didn’t smell too good as their flesh aged. These were of relatively new vintage, but so many of them in one place didn’t make for pleasantly scented air. The presence of what had to be a few hundred bats only added to the lovely aroma.

  “Smells like shit down here,” Sam observed as they tightened the noose.

  “No kidding.” Matt had fallen back to a support position and was observing their progress.

  The plan was working well. Now if they could just run out of zombies before they completely ran out of ammunition.

  Suddenly static came over his earpiece as if someone was trying to report in but was stopped mid-transmission. Over the partially open mic he could hear some faint grunting noises. Sounds of a struggle. Matt’s head swiveled as he accounted for all the members of his team. And Sandra. Where was she?

  Shit.

  “Hold this position. I’m going to see what’s going on. Don’t
let any of them get past you.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.” Sam didn’t even nod as he continued to fire in rapid sequence at the emerging zombies. He knew his job.

  Matt headed through the dense woods at a fast, silent pace. Not only was Sandra not where he expected her to be. Neither was Rodriguez.

  Matt stumbled over something soft. A leg. John Petit lay on the ground, the back of his head covered in blood. A bloody tree branch lay nearby. Someone had hit him pretty good, but Matt had no time to check how bad at the moment.

  “Man down,” he reported over the headset. “John is down. Rodriguez and Sandra are missing. In pursuit.”

  Not even a second later, the blast of a conventional gunshot echoed through the night.

  “Sandra!” Matt took off at a run toward the denser forest from where the shot had come.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Matt broke into a small clearing and skidded to a halt. There was Sandra—his beautiful Sandra—standing over Rodriguez, a smoking gun in her hand. John’s SIG Sauer, if Matt wasn’t mistaken.

  Rodriguez rolled around on the forest floor at her feet, clutching his arm to his chest and spouting profanities in Sandra’s general direction. She had shot the bastard. Rodriguez wasn’t going anywhere.

  “Damn, you’re beautiful.” The words slipped out as Matt noted the determined grimace on her gorgeous face.

  She looked up at his words, meeting his gaze with clear relief.

  “He jumped John and tried to get away.”

  “So I surmised.” Matt fingered the mic and reported back to the rest of the team. “Rodriguez is down. Sandra shot him in the arm.”

  “Way to go, doc,” Sam replied over the radio. Matt could hear the pinging whiz of darts being fired in the background before the connection closed. His team had his back. His and Sandra’s, too.

  The cave emptied out shortly thereafter, and the last of the zombies turned to goo a few minutes later. Leaving Simon behind to watch for more possible activity, Sam, Matt, and Sandra helped Rodriguez and John limp back to base through the woods. John was a little worse for wear, but luckily Rodriguez hadn’t managed to hit him that hard.

  Of course the accelerated healing that was a by-product of John’s immunity helped considerably. By the time they were back inside their secure building, John was almost good as new, though nothing would ease the embarrassment of being bested by a fat scientist. Matt had no doubt that John was going to take some ribbing from the guys when this was all over. For now, he took charge of the prisoner, marching Rodriguez to the secure area they’d set up for just that purpose.

  “Now, doctor, we’ll continue our little discussion, shall we?” Matt heard John say to Rodriguez as they went down the hall.

  Matt trusted John to get the job done right. He was CIA, after all. He’d probably forgotten more about interrogation than Matt had ever known. Matt would join them…later. He would give John a chance to wear the man down first, then Matt would come in when Rodriguez was ready to talk.

  Judging by his obstinacy to this point, Matt figured he had a couple hours to kill. At least. Which meshed nicely with his plans.

  “Don’t you want to question him?” Sandra looked after the men disappearing down the hall.

  “I do,” Matt smiled at her. “But not now.” He moved closer to her. “Right now I have something much more important on my mind.” His arm stole around her waist, drawing her closer.

  “But don’t we have to move fast on this?”

  “Oh, I intend to move very fast.” He almost laughed but managed to contain his amusement.

  The simple fact was that something momentous happened out there in the woods, and he found it impossible to let the most incredible moment of his life go by uncommemorated. If he had more time, he’d spend a few days locked in a hotel suite with the love of his life. As it was, they had only a few minutes—an hour at most—before he had to act on their shared mission. It was late at night. He could steal a few minutes, but not many. Still, some was better than none. The team had their orders and knew how to carry on in his absence.

  He turned her toward his new office. He had to lead her through a large, open office area in which many of the noncombat members of the team had desks. Only a few were occupied at this time of night, and he didn’t do more than nod in the direction of the workers as they watched him pass. His office was in sight. It had an old-fashioned, padded leather wing chair, no windows, and most important, a working lock on the heavy oak door.

  Matt opened the door and hastily did a quick check of the room. Empty. He shut the door and backed her up against it. One hand reached down and flipped the lock with a satisfying click.

  “Why did we come here, Matt?” Her pretty green eyes searched around the small room, puzzled but excited.

  “It was the closest place I knew we could be alone.”

  Her gaze shot back to his. “What have you got in mind?”

  “Something we’re both going to remember for a long time.” He kept his voice pitched low, mindful of the people working just beyond his office door. The fact that there was a slight chance the outsiders might hear something through the thick walls only added to the thrill of the moment.

  “Really?” Her expression said so much more than her words. She seemed both amused and turned on. A good combination, as far as he was concerned.

  “Oh, yeah. You’re going to make me a very happy man in a few minutes.” He couldn’t resist injecting humor into the experience. He felt sort of giddy, which wasn’t something he experienced often in his life. In fact, he couldn’t ever remember feeling this way before.

  “Very sure of yourself, aren’t you?” she teased.

  “That I am, ma’am,” he agreed, smiling down at her. “And happier than I’ve been in a long time. Because of you.” He felt his heart melt at the soft expression that overtook her beautiful face. “The only thing that would make me happier is if you agree to be my wife.”

  “What?”

  “Marry me, Sandy. I want you in my life—permanently.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, I know I wasn’t quite truthful with you before. I want you to know I’ll never lie to you again, even by omission.” She looked pained at the memory of what had gone before. “Are you really sure, Matt?”

  “As sure as I am about anything nowadays. I love you and I want you to be my wife and my partner, for as long as we have left.”

  “I want that, too.” Happiness filled him at her soft answer. “I love you, Matt.”

  She jumped upward a few inches, stretching to kiss him. He helped, bending his neck to meet her halfway. This was a kiss of honesty and pure, unadulterated love. A kiss of commitment and a kiss for the future.

  When he pulled back, he was breathing hard. A kiss that had started as a sweet declaration of love had turned to steamy passion. He wanted to claim her in the most basic way, to make her his own.

  “Matt?” Her eyes were deliciously dazed. Oh, yeah, this woman matched him in every possible way. She was as eager as he was, if that look on her face was any indication.

  “I thought we needed a moment to savor.” He stroked her cheek. “It’s not every day I ask a woman to marry me, you know. In fact, I’ve never done it before.”

  “Never?” The fog over her senses seemed to lift a little. “I’m flattered.” Her teasing tone was countered by the enchantment in her eyes.

  “And I’m grateful. Grateful I found you.” He placed a kiss on her cheek. “Grateful you’re the amazing woman you are.” Another kiss just grazed her mouth. “And grateful you said yes when I asked you to be mine forever.”

  He kissed her more deeply this time, prolonging the contact as he rid her of her clothes. She helped, her smaller fingers making short work of buttons and zippers. Her clothing dropped around her in a circular pile of fabric pooling at her feet. She didn’t seem to mind. Her nimble fingers then helped him out of his outer gear and stripped off his shirt.

  Before she could go any further, he lift
ed his head away from her ravenous kiss. She was delightfully bare, standing facing him. Her delicate skin was flushed a delightful shade of pink and her eyes were dazed.

  “You’re so beautiful.” He stroked her hair back from her face.

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m glad you’re nearsighted.”

  He laughed at her unexpected humor. “There’s nothing wrong with my eyes. My vision is twenty-twenty, and you’re the most attractive woman I’ve ever beheld.” He could tell she was uncomfortable with the compliment. “Why don’t you believe me?”

  “I have a mirror, Matt.” She ducked her head, still blushing despite her grin. He’d work on that. She didn’t believe in her own beauty, which was something he’d have the pleasure of convincing her about for the rest of their lives.

  “I don’t know what you see when you look in that mirror of yours, but to me, you’re the most beautiful woman in the world. You always have been. From the first moment I saw you, you took my breath away, Sandra, and I’ve been in a tail-spin ever since.”

  The expression on his face when he said those words made her heart clench. She really was what he wanted. She could tell. She felt the same way about him. Only she’d never expected to be so blessed to have his love in return.

  “Is this real, Matt?” She stroked his chest with one hand, wanting to feel his skin, to know he was really there and that this wasn’t just some kind of dream.

  “If it isn’t, I don’t want to wake up.” His smile filled her world.

  He bent and picked her up, one muscular arm under her knees, the other around her back. He was so strong. She’d never been carried like this before, and it was incredibly romantic. He sat in the massive, leather wing chair, with her on his lap. Her bare bottom came in contact with the worn canvas of his pants, and the tactile sensation made a little thrill race up her spine.