Gunshots?
Curious, but not surprising. There were a lot of those creepies prowling around downstairs. It didn’t matter, really. He’d be out of here by virtue of his new friends soon. Any minute now. Any minute and they’d move onto bigger things. He looked past the city’s skyline to the horizon, searching for the chopper, and smiled.
He addressed the two silent prisoners, blowing blue smoke into the summer sky.
“Just you wait,” he chuckled. “Soon we’ll have Neighbors all over the world.”
Chapter 36
- Separation Policy
Separation Policy
Little Jack clung to Deb’s neck and pressed his face into the crook of her shoulder. Bella ran along holding Deb’s hand, just behind Jesse and Kahn. They had silently woken the children before dawn and worked their way on foot to the underpass that brought them to the Alamodome. Approaching from the southeast, they moved quickly and quietly to avoid the dead.
By the time they approached the eastern lot, the sun was once again high in the cloudless sky. Kahn’s head throbbed in the heat as they jogged along carrying only a carbine and a hatchet each. He caught Bella’s expression of terror as the first walkers came into view. The crowd of them was pressing against the building still, and any stragglers were walking to join the clamor growling and pounding on any exposed surface. The three adults and two kids stayed quiet and attracted no attention against a long-abandoned SUV at the edge of the lot.
“Okay,” Jesse whispered. “The loading bay is this way. We get inside and figure out the layout somewhere safe. Then we hunt them down and find our people.”
“If we get separated, head to LOSTOP to meet up with Lars,” Kahn reiterated the plan they had discussed before the few hours of sleep they each stole. “If I understand this guy, he won’t give us a second chance. If something happens, you run. Promise.” The two other adults nodded in agreement.
“Where are we? I’m scared,” Bella said, voice shaking.
“Oh, honey,” Deb said, stroking the child’s face before gripping her chin. “You’re safe. No matter what, you’ll be with people who care about you. Don’t worry, we’re taking care of you and your brother.” The former airman pressed her lips together in a thin smile. Bella nodded and took Deb’s hand.
“We need to move,” Kahn said, watching the children. Little Jack hadn’t detached from Deb all morning. Kahn couldn’t help but think of his Daniel when looking at the Wither kids. The kids he was about to use as chips for bargain for Daisy’s life, if she was still alive. And what if she’s not? Well, if she’s not. No reason for a trade, Kahn thought as he watched them cling to Deb. No reason at all.
“Stay close, stay quiet,” Jesse stepped around the SUV and moved steadily across the hot asphalt. The fast walk reminded Kahn of his escape from LOSTOP while the dead were streaming into the broken fence there. This time, the dead were all around and there was no fence to protect him and the others. There was nowhere to hide. If they didn’t make it to the basement-level entry there would be no escaping. Kahn could hear the creatures moaning and growling as he crested the small slope in the parking area. Jesse briefly rested alongside another abandoned car, just long enough to get his bearings before taking off again.
A group of three dead creatures were stumbling toward the clamor of the hungry crowd of corpses surrounding the Alamodome. One must have heard the stomping footsteps of the living and turned fully toward Jesse in a smooth motion. The three adults came to a full stop as the other two creatures, following the first, shifted direction and fell into a loose arrow-shaped formation. Deb crouched down, holding Jack and putting her arm around Bella, as the figures got within biting distance. The leader was a muscular male in a sleeveless shirt that had turned as gray as the creature’s flesh. It reached forward to Jesse and bared its yellow teeth with a growl. Jesse put one foot forward and swung his hatchet in a wide uppercut into the figure’s chin. The head snapped up and blood flew into the air as the walking corpse fell backwards to the ground.
The second and third could have been twins. Both were dark-haired and clean shaven, wearing a set of stained coveralls. Each had a name embroidered into the cloth. The creature labeled Tyler went directly toward Kahn as he stepped forward to attack and in a matter of seconds the thing was wrestling with the hatchet-wielding Assyrian. The second one, Barrett according to the dirty coveralls, hissed and lunged at Jesse before he could fully recover the big swing that took down the first.
Kahn spun, grabbing at both of the attacker’s undead wrists and dropping the hatchet onto the ground. His voice cried out in an angry roar as he pushed Tyler around, keeping the snapping jaws away. The momentum of the spin made the pressure on the figure’s rotting wrist pull against Kahn’s grip, stripping the gray flesh from mid-forearm to the tips of its fingers. Kahn dropped the loose skin in disgust, now hanging like a glove half-removed from the left hand, and the creature lost balance by tripping over its own ankles. It fell, and Kahn quickly grabbed at his weapon and brought the sharp spike into the dead skull.
As Barrett lunged into Jesse, the long-haired leader stepped aside and allowed the uncoordinated corpse to bite at him. It stumbled around in a loose circle, continuing to reach and bite at him as Jesse stepped back again. A few additional steps came before Jesse stumbled over the leg of the fallen uppercutted biter, lying supine on the black ground, as he watched the threat ahead.
The face of the one Jesse had struck with the hatchet had split from the center of its chin to the forehead. Split-Face rose up and grabbed Jesse’s ankle, still trying to instinctively bite even though bottom jaw was in two pieces and unhinged from the top. The loose remains flopped in the air as a wet gurgle sounded from the creature’s dead lungs. The skull strained against the deep vertical cut. Dead flesh pushed and pulsed against the split bone, separating the two halves of the face and draining blackened blood onto the gray shirt.
Jesse yelped as he realized the one on the ground was still somehow alive and tried to swing his ax into the damaged face. The strike caught the righthand jaw fragment and sent teeth and bone across the parking lot. Unfazed, it came forward and took Jesse’s boot into its mouth, scraping top teeth over the thick leather but unable to get any leverage with the broken bottom half. The few seconds it took for Jesse to become distracted were enough for Barrett to catch up with the living prey, and now Jesse struggled with both as he fell to his knees.
Bella appeared at Jesse’s side and Barrett took a swipe at the small human, missing only because Jesse was using the short handle of the hatchet to prevent it from moving. She came forward, jumping onto the split-faced monster on the ground, and took ahold of the seam splitting the nose. The girl pulled, ripping the damaged skull away and destroying the eye and half-nose on the biter’s left side. It released Jesse and grabbed Bella’s clothing, trapping the girl. She hesitated only long enough for the wet noise to emit from the undead throat before reaching into the broken face with both small hands. The skull bulged as all ten of her fingers disappeared into the open cavity and felt for the soft mush of the brain. She squeezed it, smashing the gray matter between her knuckles, just as Jesse slammed the hatchet into the top of Barrett’s skull. Both dead creatures dropped, leaving the living panting and covered in blood.
“Fuck, girl,” Jesse barked. “You’re one tough bitch.” Bella straightened, pulling her hands out of the skull cavity and wiping them on her jeans.
“We need to go, now!” Deb yelled, grabbing the ten-year-old’s slime-covered hand. Jesse and Kahn rushed behind as they noticed what Deb had.
Several dozen of the undead were making a path straight for the small crew.
The roll-up gate was visible now, and they had a clear path to it. Jesse picked Bella up as they sprinted for the entryway and Kahn ran to the lead, shoving a shambling corpse that collapsed to the ground momentarily before scrambling back up and joining the group that gave chase.
Twenty feet from the door, two bloated bodies ex
ited the dark building. Deb yelled “fuck” as Kahn dashed ahead, swinging for the cranium on his left. The blow from the sharp tool sliced the cap off the top of the fat corpse’s skull and it skittered across the loading dock as the dead thing fell to the ground. The second one got ahold of Kahn’s shirt and thrust forward to bite, but Jesse struck it down.
POP! POP! POP!
Gunshots echoed around the overhang to the loading dock, making Kahn and Jesse jump and each reach for the carbines slung on their backs. Bella was kneeling with her hands firmly over her brother’s ears as Deb continued to take aim and fire upon the approaching horde.
Jesse grabbed both kids and yelled at Deb to move. She took three more shots until the magazine emptied and she turned to follow the rest into the building. Kahn was already pulling on the door as Jesse not-very-gently tossed the kids onto the concrete floor and joined him, pulling against the bent frame. The rollers were still on the track on either side but the outer bend of metal gate was preventing smooth motion to the ground. Deb threw her rifle on the ground and leapt to grab the edge of the door. With her weight and the two men pulling, the door scraped its way down the track to the ground. Kahn dove at the catch as Jesse snapped the opposite side with his foot. The edge of the metal snapped into place just as the first of the dead slammed into the now-closed door.
“Get the loading dock, too,” Deb said, hunched over and breathing heavily. Jesse rushed over to throw the garage door down, latching it before the dead outside could repeat last night’s performance and make it on top of the deck.
The underground loading area was pitch dark and huge. Beyond the receiving area where they stood, there were rows and rows of racks to hold pallets of supplies for the stadium. The sound of their breathing, and a gentle whine from three-year-old Jack, was the only thing that greeted them in the darkness.
“Come on, we have to find a way upstairs,” Jesse said, leading the way down the rows of racks. There were several abandoned and long-dead forklifts here, stacks of black plastic pallets, and a receiving office with the windows shattered and papers scattered across the floor. Kahn peered in curiously, wondering what it must have been like here when the outbreak happened. Thousands of people lived downtown, and thousands more commuted for work. Thinking how lucky he was living on the outskirts of the county only led him to remember what happened with the Neighbors and his family, and he shook the thought away.
“Look, steps.” Deb pointed to a set of double red doors they could see through the mostly-empty racks. They were next to an inoperable freight elevator with a layer of dust in front. They could see black tire tracks on the floor from the fleet of vehicles that had escaped the night before. The Neighbors must have used this as their motor pool, Kahn thought. Their eyes were getting used to the darkness so they easily skirted around a pallet jack and a few empty fuel drums to carefully open the doors. They led into a wide stairwell leading up from the basement.
It was hot. The air was stagnant in the stairwell and the three adults struggled up the first flight. Opening the door to the next floor brought a relief of cool air and they hurriedly entered. The five of them scrambled into a narrow hallway with closed office doors on either side and a double-door at the opposite end. As they took in their new surroundings, the stairwell door closed with a bang and left them in silence.
But it wasn’t silent on this floor, not really. There were low sounds. Murmurs of conversation and a stifled cough coming from the other set of doors. Kahn crept forward and was followed by the others. He pushed the double door open and was greeted with streaks of yellow light in a wide-open chamber. Narrow windows illuminated the room and Jesse, Deb, and Kahn gaped in shock.
There were rows and rows of cages here, fashioned from pre-built sections of chain-link fence welded together. The Neighbors had built a makeshift detention center for the women and children they collected. It seemed like hundreds of people were locked up and huddled together in small groups. There were ten women in a cage to the right, cowering away from the new visitors in the farthest corner they could reach. There were no openings to each enclosure, the Neighbors had welded the corners after the prisoners were inside. The stench was overpowering, each group provided with the barest of essentials and a bucket to relieve themselves. Many were overflowing and there was no food or water visible. Flies buzzed in the stagnant air.
“They’re penned up, like animals,” Deb said, not hiding the disgust in her voice.
“These people are monsters,” Jesse whispered. They walked forward down the hall created by the chain-link jail and found a T-intersection. To the left were a group of children, some smaller than Jack.
“They keep the kids separate from their mothers,” Deb whispered now, gripping the nearest children’s cage and rattling the metal. “We need to get them out of here.”
“Look!” Jesse pointed to the right down the other straight hallway. A figure was sitting, not inside a cage, with a handcuff connecting one wrist to the nearest fence.
There, bundled in a dingy white robe and leaning forward onto her knees, was the Burned Woman.
Chapter 37
- Licensed
Licensed
“She’s awake,” Kahn said, crouched with Jesse on the concrete floor. The handcuff still hung from the Burned Woman’s narrow wrist but he had broken it free from the cage with the butt of his rifle. Now, he watched her damaged features as dim light came back into her black eyes.
“Missus,” Jesse said softly, using Reverend Green’s preferred address for the woman. “Are you able to walk?” Deb had kept the children away, resting in the corner opposite their entry staircase, just in case the Burned Woman was injured. But Jesse had carefully looked over the scarred body and found nothing that concerned him.
“Where’s Daisy?” Kahn interjected. The woman looked from Jesse to Kahn. The fluidity of her facial features was more clear now than before, in the courtyard. Kahn studied her closely: gaping holes where her nose and eyelids should have been, paper thin flesh, and a criss-cross of scars from the burns covered every inch of her body.
But she regarded him with recognition that was almost reverent. Kahn couldn’t stand her diseased look. It was worse than those dead things outside. He grabbed her shoulders and shook the thin body violently.
“Where is she?” Her skin and muscle felt wrong. Loose. Like she had turned to jelly beneath the fragile surface. He released the thin woman without having broken her gaze.
Jesse shoved him back. “What’s your problem, man?”
“She came here with Daisy. Why won’t she tell us where to find h--”
“Halwende,” she spoke, almost in a whisper. Both men froze, waiting for more. When it didn’t come, Kahn’s face twisted into fury.
“How do you know me? Why do you know my name? Tell me where Daisy is!” He slapped her, once, and her head snapped to the side. Kahn recoiled, ashamed at himself and appalled by the feel of her skin. It felt as if taut plastic was stretched over bone. Even with his quick strike, he could feel the burn damage. When she turned back and resumed her stare, Kahn saw a small trickle of blood from one of the open nostrils. Jesse shoved Kahn again, harder this time, and the man fell onto his back.
“What’s your fucking problem, man? Stay away from her!”
“I’m sorry, I--I just-- she’s not answering. We don’t even know if they brought her here with Daisy,” Kahn said. “I won’t do it again. Just answer me!” Jesse stood with his hand extended toward Kahn, creating a buffer between the Assyrian and the injured woman on the ground.
“Come on, Missus, we should get you out of here,” he said.
“Yes,” the Burned Woman spoke, softly, so Jesse and Kahn had to lean in to hear the words. Her speech slurred from the mutilated lips, so they each listened closely to every careful word. “They brought us here by helicopter. They were not the Neighbors but they are helping each other. Collusion between two malevolent forces at work.”
“The people here, in the Alamod
ome, are these the Neighbors?” Kahn asked after a pause. The woman nodded and a drop of blood fell to her gown. The bright red drop stained her, proved her humanity, and Kahn was drawn to it. She wasn’t a deity, she was flesh and blood. How does she know my name? Not now, he thought, not while she’s talking.
“Are they gone?” Jesse added. She shook her head.
“No, we were taken by the others. Reverend Green, myself, and the woman you seek. The leader, the man who burns, he made arrangements with the others in the helicopter to return once the Neighbors made arrangements to evacuate. They kept the other two on the roof, but they were disgusted by me and locked me here. The man on the roof, he has some guards and weapons. He leaves no place intact when he leaves. He is the one who burns. He is Llewelyn.”
“Llewelyn is here? He’s on the roof? We need to get to him,” Kahn exclaimed.
“Hal, you told Deb no revenge killings. We get in, find our people, and get out. No more risk. No more death.”
“You heard her, we just need to get up there to trade. The kids for our people. That’s it. That’s it, I promise,” said Kahn sincerely. Jesse frowned, glancing over at Deb and the kids. They were huddled together away from the cages, talking in low voices. After a minute studying them, he nodded.
“It is not safe here,” the Burned Woman said, deliberately enunciating the syllables through damaged teeth and lips. “We must leave.”
“We will, after we get our people. Let’s go,” Kahn stepped forward to assist the woman in standing and was stopped by Jesse.
Nation Undead (Book 2): Collusion Page 25