Dead America | Book 1 | Lowcountry [Part 1]

by Slaton, Derek

  Despite his strength, he was having a hard time holding the thing down. For a corpse it was strong as a bucking bronco.

  “Hurry up and brain this thing!” he yelled, and Troy finally reached the rack of bats.

  Two more zombies tore around the corner at the top of the aisle towards the main part of the store, and rushed towards them.

  The banker’s eyes widened, and he stood there for a second with his armload of bats. “Sorry man!” he finally cried, and then turned tail, running back towards the break room.

  Dante let out a frustrated growl, looking at the two zombies rushing for him. They were gaining ground quickly, and he knew he wouldn’t have time to escape. He pushed off of the zombie’s head, giving him an extra second to grab a bright pink baseball bat from the rack.

  He whipped around and brought it down vertically, smashing in the top of the ghoul’s head as it scrambled to its feet. It collapsed on the ground in a heap, and he turned towards the other two that were within ten yards now.

  He darted forward, leaping into the air and delivering a flying knee strike to the lead zombie’s chest, sending it crashing to the linoleum. As he landed on his feet, he immediately swung, cracking in the skull of the second zombie.

  The fallen ghoul managed to get back to its feet quickly, turning around just in time for Dante to use the bat like a lance, smashing it into its face. The bones in the zombie’s face shattered with a crunch, its nose completely flattened, and it staggered back a few steps. It moaned and lunged towards him, but he gave it another quick jab to the face.

  This time as the zombie tripped backwards, he hit it in the face a third time and then wound up, smacking down on the top of its head.

  With the three corpses unmoving on the floor, Dante looked back towards the top of the aisle, seeing no other immediate threat. He rushed to the back wall, heart hammering as he paused at each aisle, looking down to check for enemies. With the amount of noise he'd made, he couldn’t get sloppy now.

  The first few aisles were still empty, as was the one that had had the feasting zombies in it. Even the corpse they'd been feeding on was gone. When he reached the break room hallway, he peered around the corner at the sound of moaning and banging. Two creatures stood outside the door, which was still open a crack, pounding on it with their bloody hands.

  Dante looked both ways, making sure there wasn’t anything else waiting to ambush him. When he saw it was clear, he headed for the door, gripping the gaudy baseball bat tightly.

  The first zombie didn’t see him coming, and he caved in the top of its head from behind. The second one tried to turn, but its arm was caught in between the door and the frame, so it was unable to launch an attack.

  The hallway was wide enough that Dante was able to swing the bat normally, the impact forceful enough to crack the creature’s skull and snap its neck. Its arm caught in the door with such force that the body just laid there limp, the head slumped to one side.

  “Grace,” Dante said.

  The door flung open, and he stepped over the body. June shoved the dead creature away and slammed the door, throwing the deadbolt and pressing her back up against it.

  “Oh my god, are you okay?!” Grace cried, rushing over to him.

  Dante’s eyes narrowed. “I’m fine,” he said flatly, staring at Troy in the corner.

  The banker looked ferociously terrified, though seemingly trying to hide to save his macho-man attitude, not wanting to show weakness.

  Dante threw the pink aluminum bat on the floor with such force that the clang echoed loudly in the small room. He stalked over to Troy, not blinking, not breaking eye contact. He stopped six inches away, but didn’t reach out to even lay a finger on him.

  “You should know this,” he said, voice calm and collected, but injected with venom. “I have broken men in half who have done far less to me than what you just did. As fate would have it, I happen to need you right now.” He cocked his head. “However, and you listen to this good, if you pull anything even remotely close to what you just did, I won’t have a need for you anymore. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  Troy clenched his teeth tightly, and just gave a jerky nod in response.

  “What happened out there?” Connor asked, brow furrowing.

  Dante continued to stare at Troy, making sure that the man knew he wasn’t fucking around. When he was convinced, he gave him a slight nod to remind him who was in charge, and then turned back to the rest of the group.

  “What happened, is we got the bats and took down a few zombies,” he declared.

  Connor shook his head. “No, I mean what happ—”

  “That’s the only thing that matters,” Dante cut in firmly.

  “Question is,” June piped up, swiping her palms together as she moved away from the door, “now that we got weapons, what in the hell do we do now? I mean, I would say y’all could come over to our place, but I’m not sure our little trailer is going to offer much protection from those things.”

  Bailey shook her head, wringing her hands. “I need to get home to my family,” she said shakily. “My mother is home alone with my two younger sisters. They’ve got to be scared out of their minds right now.”

  “Where are they?” Dante asked.

  She chewed her lip. “They’re in Beaufort.”

  “Beaufort?!” Connor howled, shaking his head. “Hell girl, that’s like thirty miles away, and it’s pretty big too, so there’s probably gonna be a ton of those suckers running around! Gonna be a madhouse!”

  Bailey stepped forward, pressing her palms together. “But the marine base is there,” she insisted. “They’ve gotta be holding things together, don’t they?”

  “Shit, with as quickly as this stuff is spreading,” Connor replied, “I’m not sure anybody is going to be able to get a handle on it.”

  Bailey swallowed hard, hugging her arms across her chest, and then burst into tears.

  June pursed her lips and walked over to the young woman, putting an arm around her shoulders. “God dammit Connor, cut that shit out,” she snapped, and then turned to Bailey. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the marines are getting your mom and sisters right now. It’s gonna be okay.”

  Bailey nodded, sobs subsiding a little as she let the other woman comfort her.

  Dante took a deep breath. “I promise we’ll get to your family, but right now we need to get someplace safe,” he explained. “Thirty miles into a populated area is going to be tough, and staying here certainly isn’t an option. If enough of those things realize we’re in here, we’ll never get out of this room.”

  “So where can we go?” Grace asked, brow furrowing.

  Troy cleared his throat, stepping away from the corner and raising his chin. “You people can do whatever you want,” he declared, “but I’m going back to Hilton Head Island.”

  Dante and his sister shared a glance, surprised that the asshole had actually had a good idea.

  “One bridge on and off the island,” Grace mused, “should be easily defended.”

  He cocked his head. “You assume that the interior of the island would be clear.”

  “Oh, I would wager every dime of my considerable fortune that it is,” Troy said, crossing his arms, “or it soon will be.”

  “Yeah?” June asked, stifling a cough. “What makes you so damn sure?”

  “Two words,” Troy replied, holding up two fingers. “Theo fucking Atkinson.”

  There was a moment of silence as everyone thought over the name.

  June dissolved into a fit of coughs, wheezing under her breath, “That was three words…”

  “Who in the holy hell is Theo,” Connor began, and raised his hand into air quotes, “fucking Atkinson?”

  Grace put a hand to her forehead. “Wait… I know that name,” she said, staring at the ceiling to try to remember. “Why do I know that name?”

  Everyone thought for another moment, and then finally it clicked for Dante, and he shook his head.

  “
That’s the mercenary guy, isn’t it?” he asked slowly, not impressed.

  Grace gasped, finally remembering. “That motherfucker is evil as hell!” she cried. “Do you have any idea how many of his mercenaries from QXR Group have committed war crimes while getting paid by our tax dollars, no less? I’ve protested a couple of times outside one of his offices in Seattle. Dude is a prick and a half!”

  “I couldn’t care less about supposed war crimes in third world shit holes,” Troy replied with a shrug. “What I do care about is that his boys kick all kinds of ass, so I can guaran-damn-tee they got that bridge blocked off and have that island under control.”

  Grace looked helplessly at Dante, who was innately and begrudgingly accepting the plan as the most logical option.

  “Dante,” she pleaded, pressing her palms together.

  He sighed, running his hands over his head. “I know, I know,” he groaned. “I’m not exactly thrilled with this plan either. But if this stuff is widespread, it might be our only hope of riding this out.”

  She shook her head, lowering her hands and clenching her fists at her side.

  “So how do we know this Theo dude is on the island?” June asked, finally clearing her throat.

  Troy jutted out his chin. “Because I was teeing off on the sixteenth hole when he was flying into the island airport,” he explained. “Big ole bitch of a plane. Forget private jets, he was traveling like he was about to invade a small country.”

  “Guess that’s good enough,” June replied dryly.

  Connor raised his palms. “Having a destination is fine and all, but how in the hell are we getting there?” he demanded. “Weather might be nice, but not sure this is a great day to be going on a five-mile hike.”

  “We would say you could ride with us,” June added, wrinkling her nose, “but our car is kinda trashed.”

  Her husband nodded. “Plus the starter goes out half the time,” he explained, “and with our luck, it would definitely go out when we’re fleeing zombies… or whatever the hell those things are.”

  The group turned to Troy, and he shrugged.

  “High end sports car,” he replied, “so I can fit one.”

  Grace rolled her eyes. “Least surprising revelation of the day.”

  “So just by looking at me, you know I like the finer things in life?” he asked, shooting her a smug smile.

  June held up a hand. “No, it means one look at you, and we know you have a pecker the size of a lil’ smokie.”

  Troy growled, but Dante stepped forward, speaking loudly to get things back on track.

  “Bailey, what about you?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “A friend dropped me off,” she replied quietly. “My mother needed the car today.”

  “Well, I guess that leaves us, then,” Dante said with a shrug. “We have a sedan. It’s going to be a tight fit, but we can all get in.”

  Troy sneered. “So what’s the plan, hotshot?” he asked.

  Dante took a deep breath and paced a bit, thinking. “Does the vestibule at the front of the store lock without a key?” he asked.

  “Yes, there is a bolt switch that you can hit at the bottom of the doors,” Bailey replied, brow furrowing. “Why?”

  “Because we don’t know what the outside is going to look like,” he explained. “If we can get into the vestibule and lock it down, we can catch our breath for a minute before going out.”

  She nodded, catching his drift. “The interior doors lock from both sides, and the doors to the outside obviously only lock from the inside,” she said. “The interior door locks are hidden, so you have to feel along the base for a pop out switch. If you go straight along the panel, straight down from the handle, you can’t miss it.”

  Dante stopped pacing, listening intently. “Good to know,” he replied with a nod. “Since you know what you are looking for when we get in there, that’s all I want you to focus on. Troy and I will handle any of those things that are inside that area. The rest of you, find locks and flick ‘em shut. Everybody good with that?” he asked, and everybody nodded. “Then grab a bat, because it’s time to get out of here.”

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Dante looked out the window of the break room, confirming that the hallway was clear. There were no zombies in the aisle directly ahead of them.

  “Troy, I want you to take the rear,” he instructed. “Everybody else, file in.”

  The group got into position, with Grace right behind him, the redneck couple behind her, and Bailey in front of Troy. Dante threw open the door, bat in hand, and led them down the hallway, carefully and quietly stepping over the corpses still laying there.

  They inched their way up to the corner, and he poked his head out, looking both ways. The coast was clear along the back of the store. He led them all the way up the aisle, stopping at the top to peek around.

  The main aisle that ran horizontally across the store was just to the left of them. The front aisle was a good fifty or sixty yards to the right, with a whole lot of housewares aisles in between. There would be no easy way for them to cut through the middle of the store, so they’d have to risk going up the main front aisle.

  Dante looked further down the left side, seeing a handful of creatures along the outer wall, a good sixty yards from them. He motioned to the group that it was time to move.

  He led them out, darting across the open area and taking some semblance of cover against a large shelving unit as they worked their way up towards the front of the store. Dante approached a break in the structure, leading down a small aisle.

  He peeked around the corner and found himself staring at the back of a zombie’s head, not more than an arm’s length away. He reacted on instinct, grabbing it by the back dollar, spinning it around, and slamming its face into the ground. As it thrashed, Grace quickly used the top of her bat to cave its head in with several quick blows.

  The brother and sister shared a relieved look, eyes wide at how close that had been. The rest of the group held their collective breath, listening intently for any noise.

  There was moaning coming from a few side aisles down, where some of the things had caught on to their position. Dante and Grace quickly slid back behind cover, and he peered down the row.

  Three zombies emerged, jerking their heads around in an attempt to figure out where the food was. After several tense moments, two of them wandered back down where they’d come from, but one remained, about ten yards away. Dante held up a finger to let the group know that there was still one ghoul there and then waved for them to follow.

  He led them across the opening, moving quickly and quietly. As Connor stepped over the corpse, he was more concerned with the zombie ahead, and his foot caught the dead one’s wrist. As he shook it free, the watch adorning its wrist blinked on the ground.

  The tiny noise was enough to catch the attention of the zombie, and it turned, moaned, and ran towards him. June threw up her hands, but he shoved her aside, out of harm’s way. He tried to lift the bat to strike, but the creature hit him too quickly, tackling him and driving them both into the grocery section across the main aisle.

  They hit the floor hard, and the ghoul latched onto his cheek, ripping it clean off. He screamed in pain, and June shrieked his name, lunging towards him.

  Troy caught her waist and shoved her after Grace. “He’s gone, move!” he yelled, giving her another shove. The other two zombies that had deserted were back, and he spotted them as they closed in. “Fuck,” he muttered.

  Bailey raised her bat, but she could barely hold it steady, eyes wide with fear. In a split second decision, Troy grabbed her and pulled her away from the opening, heading in the opposite direction of the other three in the group.

  “Bailey!” Grace shrieked, but Troy dragged her to safety, moving down the center main aisle and vanishing around the corner.

  The two zombies rushed out for food, and Dante grabbed June and jerked her after him and his sister. In a matter of seconds, the two creatures spotted t
heir buddy feasting on Connor, who twitched on the floor, whimpering and losing life fast with each bite and tear.

  June clamped her hands over her mouth, tears streaming down her face, but not making a noise.

  Dante motioned that they needed to keep moving, so Grace grabbed the heartbroken woman’s arm and pulled her along after them. June shook her off and readied her bat, giving a firm nod.

  The trio moved up the side aisle, running parallel with the aisle running to the front of the store. There were signs of struggle and death, various housewares scattered about the ground, resting in pools of fresh blood.

  Dante worked the group up to the front, stopping them at the top of an aisle just off to the side of the front registers. Past those, about twenty yards away, was the vestibule, which had a few zombies in it. There were four ghouls also scattered about the checkout line, with a few more milling about in the clothing section directly across from the registers.

  The vestibule itself was small, with four doors on the exterior leading to four interior doors straight ahead. Two on the smaller interior wall were for people to exit after completing their purchases. Dante studied everything thoroughly before whispering to his companions.

  “We’re going for the side doors,” he said quietly. “I’ll take out the two zombies inside, you two get it locked up.”

  Grace gave him a thumbs up, and he looked back out, taking a deep breath, ready to make his move. Before he could step out, however, his sister grabbed his arm, stopping him. He spun around and saw she was holding up a solid metal garlic press. He furrowed his brow, not understanding what she wanted him to do with it.

  She leaned in and whispered, “Throw it into the clothing section. It might draw some of the ones away from the register.”

  He nodded, impressed with her idea, and took the handheld press. He reared back and then flung it as hard as he could over the shelving. A few seconds later, there was a loud clang as it bounced off one of the metal display racks.