The crying was coming from the kitchen. With my gun drawn, I walked into the giant room but didn’t see anybody. I only heard the baby crying. My eyes focused on the bundle wrapped up on the table.
Jackie scooped up the baby and stared down at it. She frowned and ran her hands along its back, shutting off a black switch. “It’s just a stupid doll!”
Nick and I exchanged confused glances. It made absolutely no sense, and the whole thing was beyond freaky. Shivers shot up my spine again, for the umpteenth time that day. Babies crying in dark neighborhoods full of zombies is the stuff of nightmares, and I really just wanted to wake up.
“What is going on?” one of the men said, as if he’d read my mind.
The door slammed all of the sudden, trapping us inside, and my gaze shot in that direction. Nick and I rushed to see who it was. I could hear the distinct sound of hammering, and when I tried to jerk the door open, it wouldn’t budge. Someone had locked us in. Shuffling ensued, and I heard thumping like a stampede of elephants.
“Zombies!” somebody yelled.
“They’re coming in through the basement!” somebody shouted.
When I glanced back in the kitchen, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Mindless eating machines were flooding in, viciously attacking anyone within an arm’s reach of them. It looked like a butcher shop, with blood, guts, and gore everywhere. Gunshots rang out, and men and women screamed in pure agony. I was mortified, my heart racing. I wanted to help, but I was no match for that many undead, and we were sorely outnumbered. I knew if I intervened, I’d only get myself killed.
From out of some dark corner, a zombie lurched at me. I kicked the front of its deteriorated knee with my steel-toed boot. When my boot toe snapped, the zombie fell sideways. Another ghoul grabbed me from behind. I struck its elbow repeatedly until its rotting arm fell off.
Jackie screamed as a cannibal corpse pinned her up against the wall. It tried to sink its teeth into her face, but she somehow grabbed its throat and kicked it, sending it flying.
“Upstairs!” Nick shouted, gripping Jackie’s hand.
“We have to find a way out!” I said, rushing into the master bedroom.
Jackie locked the door behind us. “That won’t hold them off long.”
I rushed to the window and pulled the curtains aside. More zombies than I could count littered the lawn. I bit my lip hard, knowing there was no way we could take on that size of an army. “Nick! They’re everywhere.”
“Stay right here!” he said, then ran out of the room like a man on a mission.
“What’s he doing?” Jackie said.
“Looking for a better way out.”
She laid her head on my shoulder as the wails of the undead, gunshots, and the pained moans of the dying drifted up to where we were. I’d never heard anything so horrible as all that guttural, pathetic moaning and groaning.
“Where’s Nick?” Jackie asked frantically.
“Just give him a second. He knows what he’s doing,” I said, though I wasn’t so sure about it myself, because he’d been gone longer than I expected.
We both pointed our weapons at the bedroom door, just in case one of those humanoid creatures made it up the stairs. The gun shook in my trembling hands. The floor creaked under the weight of approaching footsteps, and my mind and heart raced wildly.
Suddenly, Nick rushed back in, his eyes wide. “The place is completely surrounded.”
“We can create a distraction,” I said.
“No time.” Nick locked the bedroom door and slid the wooden dresser in front of it, then he opened a window. “They can’t climb. I say we shimmy to the roof.” He patted Jackie on the shoulder. “How are you with parkour?” She cocked a brow and he continued. “That’s a military obstacle course.”
She let out a trembling breath. “Um, I’m not much of a roof-hopper,” she admitted.
“Trust me, you’ll love it,” he said.
She slid her flashlight deep into her pocket, then put her gun in her holster. “Okay. I’m game. Let’s do this.”
Without another second to waste, we hurried outside and clambered to the top of the roof. Intermittent flashes of lightning brightened the dark sky. Thunder cracked as rain fell. I was hanging on tight to the shingles when I suddenly heard scratching behind me. I suddenly felt as if I’d swallowed a bowling ball, or at least a decent-sized cantaloupe. I whipped out my gun and got in position to blow the zombie away.
“Don’t shoot!” a guy said. “It’s just us—Mike, Sam, Jack, and Larry.”
I recognized the men from our group and let out a sigh of relief. Nick motioned for them to be quiet, and they scampered over next to us.
“What was that?” one asked.
Nick motioned for him to shut up. There would be plenty of time for talking and reminiscing about that bitter nostalgia later; for the time being, our focus had to be on surviving and getting out of there.
More scratching caught my attention, and I figured a few more men had made it out. My breath caught when my gaze focused on green skin and eerily familiar white eyes. Aiming carefully, I shot the thing straight in the forehead, sending it plummeting off the roof to land in a slimy heap of rotted flesh and broken bones on the ground. I felt a temporary surge pride and victory, but that didn’t last long. The wailing dead were maneuvering through the window and climbing onto the roof, slowly approaching. Are my eyes deceiving me? I thought and almost hoped. How is this even possible?
A zombie jumped on Jack and they tumbled down the sloping roof, crashing to the wet ground where a group of zombies had gathered. Jack screamed and screamed as they fell to their knees and pounced on him like a pack of hungry wolves devouring his flesh.
Mike aimed his gun at Jack and shot him to ease his suffering. His screams immediately ceased.
“Jump to the next roof,” Nick ordered, pushing Jackie in front of him.
Before I could even say a word, she hopped across to the other house, followed by two of the other men. As I crawled over to the edge, something grabbed my foot. I flailed and kicked the zombie’s head so hard that it let go of my foot, and then I fired three consecutive shots into the zombies shuffling toward me. Other zombies grabbed Mike, who was next to me. I reached for his hand as they tried to drag him off. I’d never seen anybody so frightened.
“Help me!” Mike shouted.
One zombie sank its teeth deep into Mike’s leg and ripped off a chunk of skin. Shots rattled from the other roof and buzzed past my ear as Mike’s friends tried to help. Nick kicked at the zombie’s head with his steel-toed boot, and the thing finally lost its grip, slipped, and fell to the ground.
Nick helped Mike to the edge. “Can you jump?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
Two more zombies yanked at my leg. Squeezing the trigger, I fired straight into one’s forehead. Nick pulled out his knife and pierced the other one’s skull. I felt the grip on my leg loosen, but before I was free and clear, yet another one pounced on me. We rolled down the roof, and it grabbed the collar of my shirt. We fought and tumbled down the roof a few more feet.
As it lunged toward me, Nick shot it. It latched onto me as it fell backward. I broke away but lost my balance and felt myself slipping off the roof. My gun flew out of my hand. Everything was wet and slippery but I managed to cling to the edge of the roof with every bit of strength I had. My legs flailed as zombies below howled for my blood. My stomach knotted. I was hanging on by my fingertips.
“Dean!” Jackie shouted hysterically. “Hang on!”
I gasped. Water dripped down my face as the rain came down a little harder now. My fingers were cramping, but I didn’t dare let go.
“Hang on,” Nick yelled. “Don’t let go.”
I tried to pull myself up when my brother reached down and helped to pull me up.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Sucking in deep breaths, I nodded.
Nick patted me on the back. “Good. Let’s get to the other roof!”
&nb
sp; Glancing down, I saw my gun near the edge. I swiftly picked it up and put it back in my holster, thankful it hadn’t rolled off the roof. Thunder boomed and lightning flashed. As my heart pumped fiercely, I jumped across to the other side as fast as I could. I gasped between breaths as I waited for Nick and swallowed against the dryness in my throat. I noticed Mike’s leg was bleeding badly. He’d made it…but he had been bitten. I just hoped the others hadn’t been compromised or scratched with a fatal fingernail, and I prayed to God I hadn’t been either.
Jackie gripped my hand. “Nick made it. Let’s go!”
We jumped across two more houses, but I noticed the things were following us down below.
“I’ve got an idea,” Larry said. “I’ll jump to the next house and get their attention. They’ll think you’re with me. Meanwhile, y’all sneak inside one of these houses and go out the back door. You can get back to the nursing home and tell the others what you saw here.”
“I’ll do it,” Nick said. “I’ll be the diversion.”
“No!” I said, thinking it was the stupidest idea I’d ever heard. We’d been through far too much for my brother to sacrifice himself to those things just so we could run away like cowards and leave him behind. I would not allow him to be bait.
“Go with them, Dean. I’ll be fine.” He looked at me with fire in his eyes, and I knew he was dead set on going through with it, no matter what I said by way of objection and protest. “It’s a great idea, but you know Larry won’t be able to pull it off as well as I can. I’ve been fighting these undead freaks for a long time. I know how to run and hide from them. Larry’s a brave man, but that’s no reason for us to let him die. I need to do this.”
“I can do it,” Larry said, sounding annoyed.
“Have you ever fought a zombie one on one, real up close and personal?” Nick whispered.
“Just now in the kitchen.”
“That’s my point. Please, Larry. I’m counting on you to get my brother and the others back safely.”
“No, Nick!” Jackie said. “I won’t let you sacrifice yourself like this.”
“Sacrifice? Girl, I’ve got no intention of dying today, and if you think I do, you don’t know me very well,” Nick said. “I’ve been through far worse than this.” He nudged her forward. “Now go on and get Dean back safe.”
She nodded, and gently pulled on my arm.
Nevertheless, I refused to budge. “No, Nick. If you’re gonna lead those things on a wild goose chase, I’m going with you.”
“You’ll only slow me down,” he said, then shoved me away. “Now go…and don’t you dare follow me!”
I shouted for him to stop, but my voice was drowned out by a huge clap of thunder. He jumped to the next roof, yelling like a madman to lure the zombies over so we could escape. I sucked in a deep breath, wondering if it’d be the last time I’d ever see my brother alive. He was so stubborn, but there was nothing I or anyone else could do to change that.
Jackie motioned me to the back of the house, where Larry had slid a window open and was already inside. He stuck his head out, motioning for us to come down. I clambered down and jumped in and landed, much to my relief, on a bed with a lot of bounce to it. The room was dark and cold and smelled like vomit and rotting flesh. When Jackie shined her flashlight around, I gasped in horror. I stared into the green face of a zombie with its right eye hanging from its socket. My heart was beating a million miles a minute. I scrambled back as rotting arms reached for me. I kicked its chest as Mike smashed its head in with an iron on the dresser. I shot Mike a nod of thanks and he motioned me to keep moving.
With my gun drawn and my senses on full alert, I swung my flashlight beam in front of me as I walked through the musty dimness. I could hear zombies moaning and shuffling around in the bedrooms. One lurched from the left and Mike tossed his knife into the zombie’s head. It crashed at my feet and I jumped over it.
Jackie pointed to the stairs, and I climbed slowly down them, gun drawn. They were about five feet wide and rickety, creaking and crackling with every step I took. A foul stench lingered in the air, and I had the odd feeling that we were being watched. I dismissed it as my imagination, as I was quite the nervous wreck. I knew our best bet was to find the back door—and fast.
I surveyed the flooded house before I took one step further. Jackie shined her flashlight around. “See anything?”
“Nope,” said.
“I don’t either,” Mike said, suddenly taking the lead.
“All right then,” Larry whispered. “Let’s move it.”
We tried the front door but it had been boarded it up from the inside. It was obvious someone had once tried to make a stand here against the zombies in this house. It would take too much time to tear off the boards. Our best bet was to find the back door…and I hoped it wasn’t boarded up either.
My boots sloshed through knee deep water when a noise rustled in the living room, my heart began hammering so hard that I thought it might burst out of my chest. When I heard a small moan, I knew what was waiting for us in the darkness. The greenish-gray thing jumped out from my right, and my flashlight beam caught his white, milky eyes and ripped skin. I launched a kidney-smashing side kick and the zombie dropped at my feet. I finished it off and smashed its skull with my boot.
I tensed as garbled moaning sounds echoed in the air. There was more than one. My scowl deepened. Out of the corners of the darkness, more zombies appeared from out of nowhere. A few flashlight beams swung around the room but everything was dimly lit. With snapping, biting jaws, one suddenly lurched forward. Its trademark taste for human flesh was apparent as it swung its rotting arms at me. I gripped my gun tighter and fired away as bullets tore into the zombie, slamming its undead body into the lake of water at our feet. Gun shots rang out as Larry, Mike, and Sam fought the onslaught of dead coming at us. I looked for Jackie but I didn’t see her anywhere. My heart lurched.
“Jackie!” I yelled, my voice frantic.
“Over here,” she said from the kitchen.
I shot a few more zombies, then waded through the water and headed in her direction.
“We’re trapped!” she said. “The back door’s boarded up. And so are all the windows.” She had a fire poker and was prying off the boards one by one.
“Get us out of here,” I said. “We’ll hold off the zombies.”
“Sounds like a plan.” She heaved a grunt as another board dropped to the ground.
I raised my gun and trained it on the spot where I saw more zombies flooding in from another room in the large house.
“Dean, behind you!” Larry yelled.
I spun around as a zombie stumbled toward me. I fired when I realized I didn’t have any more bullets. As I took a few steps back, something slammed into the back of my legs. I tripped over a foot stool, and crashed backward into the water. Taking full advantage of the situation, the zombie pounced on me and lowered its mouth to my neck. My stomach clenched. I thrashed and wrestled the thing. As it attempted to take a bite, I stuffed the butt of my gun deep into its mouth. Then with both feet, I kicked the zombie dead center in the chest with everything I had and sent it flying flat on its back. Scrambling up, I grabbed a huge antique chandelier that had crashed down during the gun battle. Lifting it high over my head, I smashed the zombie’s skull. It lay motionless.
Dead, raspy moans made me cringe as zombies stumbled down the stairs. Grabbing my gun, I reloaded…then fired away until I killed every single one of those undead freaks.
Mike grabbed a huge framed mirror off the wall and slammed it over three zombies staggering toward him. Then Sam and Larry delivered the fatal blows.
I could see Mike smirking in the dim light. “What?” he asked me. “I was out of ammo.”
I gripped my gun and shot him a half smile. Mike was a cool guy. Even Nick and Lucas liked him. I hoped he stayed with us on our journey and didn’t leave at the next safe city. We could totally use someone like Mike on our team.
“I t
hink we got them all,” Larry said.
“We cleaned house!” Sam yelled.
I slowly put my gun down and glanced around at all the dead zombies floating in the water.
Jackie raced in. “I got the back door open. Let’s go!”
“Whooo hoooo!” Larry shouted.
Just as we were getting ready to leave, a zombie lurched for Mike, sinking his teeth into the man’s neck so deeply that he couldn’t even scream. I shot the zombie, and it fell backward.
“Mike!” I said.
He moaned as I shined the flashlight down on his face. A giant chunk of his neck was missing, and he was losing blood fast, crimson rivers at a time.
Sam held his head up out of the water.
Jackie ripped off a couch cover and applied pressure, but it seemed to do no good.
He looked up at her with a pained stare. “Just…kill…me. I don’t want to…I-I don’t want to be one of them.”
“No! Even if you become a zombie, we can give you the cure.”
“How would you ever get me back? If I die, I’ll turn immediately. I’d rip you to pieces first.”
“We’re not leaving anyone behind,” I said.
“Shoot me,” he begged.
I was nothing like my brother in that regard, for there was no way I could shoot the guy, especially when I knew there was a chance to save his life. Garbled moans and shuffling from upstairs made me cringe, and I knew there wasn’t much time. A chill swept through me. “More zombies,” I whispered. “Let’s get him out of here!”
Mike met my gaze. “Remember what I told you on the roof when we did that shift together?”
I swallowed hard. “You told me to never lose hope.”
“We going to get you out of here,” I said.
“I don’t want to feel the pain like Jack did,” Mike said. “I don’t want to be eaten alive! Shoot me! Nobody should have to die the way Jack did.”
Without warning, Larry cocked his gun and aimed at Mike’s head.
“No!” Jackie screamed.
“Larry, don’t do it!” I shouted.
“Do it, man...please,” Mike pleaded in a choking, breathless, blood-spitting whisper.
The Zombie Chronicles - Book 4 - Poisonous Serum (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Page 11