Ultimate Undead Collection: The Zombie Apocalypse Best Sellers Boxed Set (10 Books)

by Joe McKinney

  “We’ve got about twenty miles until the Palisades Parkway,” James says.

  The only sounds are Penny and Ana’s sniffles. There’s nothing I can say to make it better. Maria’s all they’ve got left besides each other, and I know exactly how that feels.

  The van slows as we come up on the George Washington Bridge. The highway beyond our exit is blocked. When we make our way down the ramp, we’re stopped at the intersection.

  What looks like a kid in an Army uniform shines a light into the car. “Sir, the bridge to New York is closed. Where are you headed?”

  “We know, we’re heading to the Palisades,” Nelly replies.

  “Sir, that road is closed. All civilians need to go home and stay there. A curfew is in effect in New Jersey.”

  “Well, seeing as how we’re from New York, we need to go somewhere else. We don’t have anywhere to go in the area. We’re heading upstate to our house.”

  The soldier nods. “Sir, we have temporary quarters for anyone traveling through. Make a left, head up that road about a mile, and you’ll see big tents and an office building. All persons without valid local identification are required to go there until morning.”

  Swell, I think. They’re forcing us into a government corral. Now I sound just like my dad and his friend John, our closest neighbor up at the house.

  “C’mon,” Nelly argues. “We do have a place to go. We’re trying to get there right now. I’m sure y’all could use the room to house someone who doesn’t have somewhere to go.”

  “Sir, those are my orders.” He motions to an older man who’s been talking on the radio. “These folks say they’re heading upstate. They don’t want to head to the temporary quarters.”

  The man, who’s not much more than a kid, says, “You have to go while the curfew’s in effect. Besides, roads are only for official vehicles right now. You won’t get far.” He runs his hand over his crew cut and smiles apologetically. “Sorry I can’t help you out. We’re getting a lot of sick around here. They’re not taking any chances. Turn left and head down. Can’t miss it.”

  Nelly sighs and puts the van into drive.

  Chapter 20

  A few tents surround a two-story, suburban office building. The road beyond is blockaded with Road Closed signs. An older soldier with a beard flags us into a parking lot and then gruffly demands the keys to the van. We all gape at him.

  “Our keys?” James asks. “Are you nuts?”

  “I give you a tag, I give your van a tag, and you give me the keys. You get the keys back when you leave,” he says, like we’ve somehow missed the point.

  “You’re basically taking our vehicle away,” James argues. “You can’t just demand our property.”

  The big man sighs, like he’s heard this from every driver of every car in the lot. “Listen, the keys are hanging in that tent right there.” He points to a tent at the lot entrance. “We need them in case we have to move things around. Think of it as the U.S. Army running a valet service.”

  Nelly reluctantly hands over the keys. The soldier nods his thanks and points us in the direction of the building. Four soldiers stand at the entrance. Thankfully, they don’t demand to search our bags.

  “Do you know when we’ll be able to leave?” Peter asks one. He’s got on his Important Voice, but the soldier only shrugs and motions for us to follow him inside.

  The lobby narrows to a carpeted hallway lined with doors. We’re led through one, into a large unfinished space. A dozen people sleep under army-issue blankets in cots against one wall. Chairs are grouped in the front of the room.

  I swing off my pack and sit down. People eat at the folding tables that fill the back. A woman at one holds a little curly-haired boy on her lap. Next to her a kindergarten-aged girl swings her legs and chatters away while she eats a plate of cookies. For her, at least so far, this is an adventure that involves unlimited cookies, and that’s all she needs to know. The woman smiles fondly at her. Above the table she seems calm, but on the floor her feet are restless. Underneath the glare of the fluorescents I can see her cheeks wobble with the effort of keeping that smile on, of not giving into the panic.

  Against the far wall stand a few more tables loaded down with food. My stomach growls loudly enough to turn Nelly’s head in the chair next to me.

  The soldier who brought us here motions at the tables. “There’s plenty of food. Someone will fill you in soon.”

  Chapter 21

  “Do you have another cigarette?” I ask James. “I’m sorry I’m grubbing. It’s not like you can just run to the store or something.”

  We stand outside the building, having just feasted on bagels and cold cut platters. There were fruit baskets, which was pretty surreal, like we were at some corporate symposium on our lunch break.

  “I grabbed what was left of my carton at the office,” he replies, and hands me one with his lighter. “I’ve got plenty.”

  I light it and sigh. I could get used to this again.

  “I’ll take one, too,” Nelly says. He looks like the Marlboro Man with the butt hanging out of the corner of his mouth.

  “How long has it been?” James asks.

  “Five years,” Nelly says. He sinks back against the building as he exhales and closes his eyes. “How can they still be this good after so long?”

  “Isn’t it evil?” I ask, as the smoke hits my lungs.

  “And awesome,” James responds, clearly having none of the guilt Nelly and I have.

  My laugh is cut short by Peter, who comes out of the front door of the building and makes a beeline for us. “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he asks me, with a look of distaste at the cigarette.

  I’m thankful I have it. If it doesn’t keep me calm while talking to Peter, I can always put it out in his eye.

  We walk away a bit, and when he stops I stop and wait for him to speak.

  He shakes his head. “I can’t believe you’re smoking.”

  “Is that what you wanted to say? Because, yes, I think I can have a cigarette right now without feeling too guilty about it.”

  “Whatever, Cassie. That’s not what I wanted to say.” His dark eyes flash and his lips thin. “I think I’ll go my own way now. Thanks for helping me leave the city, but I’ll figure it out from here.”

  I know it has to be hard being here with my friends, but it’s just like him to pick on me about smoking because he’s annoyed. Maybe he wants me to beg him to stay. Not happening.

  “Fine,” I say. “Good luck.”

  He looks at me coldly and shrugs. “You, too.”

  He turns on his heel. Now I feel guilty. Someone has to be the mature one here; we’re both acting like babies.

  “Peter.” He turns around, but his face gives nothing away. I take a deep drag and crush out what’s left of my cigarette on the side of the building. “Come on, this is silly. You can’t go off by yourself. Just because we…well, we can still be friends, no?”

  He shrugs. I am not going to beg him.

  “So, we’ll all stick together for now?” I ask.

  “We’ll see how it goes, but I don’t think so. I’m sure I’ll be safe here until I can get back to the city.”

  He holds his head high and waves his hand back at the building. He might just as easily be telling me he’ll be staying at the Plaza until the decorator’s finished with his apartment. I watch him walk away, amazed at how easily he believes this new reality conforms to any of the old rules. Nelly and James look at me curiously as I make my way back to them and carefully relight my crushed-out cigarette.

  “What was that about?” asks Nelly.

  “I broke up with Peter at the house, before we left.”

  “Really?” Nelly asks. They’re both trying not to smile. “Great timing, as usual.”

  “Oh, be quiet. I just couldn’t take him anymore. He’s saying he’s going to go his own way from here. And now I feel guilty about that, so I asked him to stay with us, and he said that he’d have to check his cale
ndar.”

  A soldier with a friendly snub-nosed face strolls up. “Everything okay over here?” We nod. “I’m Sergeant Grafton.”

  We introduce ourselves.

  “When do you think we’ll be able to head upstate?” Nelly asks.

  Grafton contemplates the question. His round face and pink cheeks remind me of a grownup version of the little boy on his mama’s lap inside.

  “Probably in the morning. We’re not hearing anything but bad news, so I can’t make any promises. In fact, there’s an armory over in Teaneck where the two majors went for a briefing. We’ve lost contact. We sent out a team to find them.” He looks like he thinks he’s said too much and puts his hands out in a calming gesture. “Now, we can hold the building if we have to. Until help comes.”

  If help comes is left unsaid. But I know we all thought it.

  He gazes into the distance. “We don’t know if they were overrun by Lexers, but lack of radio communication is troubling.”

  “Lexers?” asks James.

  “Yeah, you know, like the LX in Bornavirus LX? The Army is unofficially calling them Lexers.”

  “Can you tell us how many they think are infected?” I ask. “They aren’t releasing new numbers.”

  The Sergeant snorts and anger passes over his features. “That’s been a bone of contention around here. They were trying to keep us from contacting family, so we couldn’t spread the word. That lasted ten minutes.” He blows air from his nose. “They think that ten to fifteen percent of New York City will be infected by dawn. The major cities in the Midwest are at sixty percent. The rest are hiding out in their homes.

  “I shouldn’t be telling you this, but right now they’re focusing on the smaller places, the ones that don’t have a lot of infected. Hoping they can build up Safe Zones and leave the cities until they can clear them of Lexers. I don’t see any point in keeping the information from civilians.”

  He shrugs, but the look on his face says he knows more than he’s telling us. He’s warning us that this isn’t under control, without saying as much. He has no idea we already know.

  “It’s the best plan they’ve got so far. Now, look around here.” He points to the building. “Not much in terms of defense, but we do have the Palisades right at our back, so there are no worries about defending in four directions. Fences are going up as we speak.”

  “Palisades. You mean the Parkway is right behind us?” I ask. It’s useful information.

  Grafton hooks a thumb at the trees behind the tent. “Yeah, head back, maybe a thousand feet, eight foot fence, you’ll be at the Parkway.”

  James nods quickly and tries to look disinterested.

  Grafton’s radio squawks. “I gotta go.”

  Chapter 22

  We’re back in the waiting room. Peter sits in a separate grouping of chairs, but Ana’s followed him and they talk quietly. I’m too tired and tense to do anything but sit here. Nelly sifts through the supplies in his pack. He finds a deck of cards in a side pocket and holds them up to me. Dad believed that boredom could kill you, too.

  “Eh?” he asks.

  I could use something to take my mind off of things.

  “Sure,” I say. “Spit?” Nelly and I have an ongoing battle in that game.

  He pulls the cards out of the box just as Grafton enters the room and raises his voice. “We have word that there may be infected heading this way. Please stay where you are and keep your belongings nearby in case we have to evacuate.”

  The woman with the kids chooses the cot farthest from the windows and door. She covers them with a blanket and cradles them to her.

  We grab our packs and sling them onto our shoulders. In the frenzy no one notices when we leave the room and head to the lobby. Humvees and jeeps are parked around the perimeter of the parking area out front, just inside the newly-erected fence. They’re circling the wagons.

  Bright lights, the kind you see on nighttime construction sites, are set facing out. About thirty soldiers take up positions outside. A soldier in the lobby tries to herd us back down the hall. I’m not too keen on heading to where I can’t see what’s going on. Neither is Nelly, and we follow as he ducks into the first door in the hallway.

  The soldier leans in. “We need you to head to the back,” he orders.

  Nelly turns around after nodding approvingly that the windows face the parking lot. “Grafton said it was okay. Go ask.” He’s betting he won’t do it.

  The soldier backs down. “Okay.”

  Five soldiers file in and take position at the windows. We’re in the waiting room of a mortgage company. There are stuffed chairs upholstered in that ugly pattern favored for its ability to mask any stain. One of the soldiers switches off the lamps on the scattered tables.

  The lights outside provide more than enough to see by. We huddle at the back of the room. I sit on the floor, backpack in front of me, hands under my thighs.

  Nelly sits next to me. “Take your gun out, just in case.”

  I pull it out. It gives my hand something to do. The others sit behind us on chairs. Penny murmurs to James.

  James leans forward. “Penny doesn’t think she can use her gun. Should I give it to Peter?”

  Nelly twists his head back. “Pete,” he calls softly. I’m surprised he followed us down here, but I’m glad too.

  Peter tears his gaze away from the windows. “Yeah?”

  “Can you shoot a gun?” Nelly mimes shooting a pistol.

  “Um, I never have. How hard can it be?”

  “Well, shooting is easy. Aiming’s the hard part,” Nelly says with a grim smile.

  Peter’s eyes narrow, but Nelly wasn’t making fun of him and he knows it. “I wouldn’t mind having it. Any pointers?”

  Nelly kneels and gives him an informal two-minute introduction to handguns. Once Peter can sight and hold the gun properly, the lesson is over. The only other thing that would help would be target practice, and we hope for none of that.

  Grafton pokes his head in the door. “Ready?” he asks the soldiers. “We have word they’re about a half klick away, headed this way, most likely. Lights are going off, just in case that draws them.”

  “Ready, Sarge,” replies a young Latino soldier. The others nod.

  “Remember, head shots,” Grafton says.

  The soldier who spoke looks at his compatriots. “If I get bitten, man, take me out. No waiting, even if I’m still alive.”

  A dark-skinned soldier gives him a playful palm to the back of the head. “Rodriguez, I’ve been waiting for the chance to shoot you. I volunteer.”

  All the guys laugh, and Rodriguez cuffs his buddy with a smile. “I’ll be sure to get you too, Park.”

  They all grin. It’s the last thing I see before the lights outside shut off and plunge the room into darkness. A small light comes on by the window. Grafton’s features are dark as he nears us. His jaw is tight, but he smiles and glances into the shadows, where we’ve lowered our guns. Nelly’s shotgun is parked under the chair behind him.

  “You have weapons?” he asks. Nelly nods reluctantly. “Well, we’re supposed to confiscate them, but I’m not doing that.”

  I relax. I have my doubts we’re getting the van back, but this gun isn’t going anywhere.

  “You might need them. We’ve seen the footage, and Lexers aren’t easily fought. They just don’t stop,” he says with something like wonder then looks out the window.

  “There’s a good chance we can hold them off. If it looks like we can’t beat them the best thing to do is run, if you can find a clear exit. Or head upstairs to the men on the roof. I’ve been told they’re able to crawl up staircases eventually, but they can’t open doors unless they can break them down. The door frames here are metal. It would take a lot to get through them. That one group in Chicago held them off for a week. We could do that, no problem.”

  His voice is a mumble; I think he might be talking to himself now.

  “Maybe the Middle East would’ve been better. At
least that enemy is human.”

  And I guess he knows the truth about the infection, or has figured it out.

  “Okay, I’ve got to get back out with my men.” He nods once before leaving.

  Chapter 23

  My mouth is stuck closed, and the water I sip does nothing. I strain my eyes and imagine things moving in the dark: a mass of infected like the ones who attacked the looters. Except I’m not safe on my roof right now, with months of food to eat and access to stored water below me. All we’ve got is what’s on our backs. We have two places to go: the Palisades and the upper floor of this building. The Lexers may not be able to make it up, but if there’s no water, all those people will be dead in a week, if not days, trapped up there.

  After what seems like forever, one of the radios carries a warning. “We have approximately one hundred Lexers heading our way. ETA of two minutes. Be ready, boys.”

  The soldiers stand at attention. A figure advances out of the gloom and nears the fence. It’s followed by another and another. The outside lights blaze to life, and I gasp at the sight.

  The main road is full of infected, of Lexers. They stumble their way over the grass and into the lot. The guns and soldiers make no impression on them, except to draw them closer.

  Shots ring out. A man with no lower jaw falls after the top of his head is blown off. A woman wearing a bright purple wrap dress drops to the ground with a well-placed shot. A little boy, who can’t be more than nine, limps to the fence. His mouth hangs open and his baseball cap has slid down over one eye, giving him a rakish look. His parents must be so worried about him. His parents might have been the ones who did this to him, I realize, and my mouth goes even drier.