Death City: A Post-Apocalyptic Adventure (Dark Resistance Book 1)

by Stephanie Mylchreest

  “Who is shooting at us?” asked Zuzana, an edge of hysteria in her voice.

  “It might be the people we had a run-in with earlier,” replied Harper. She winced as she remembered the flames wrapping themselves around the man’s body, the screams, and the smell of burning hair. She sought out Lukas’ face under the car. “Lukas, we should make a run for it. Can you carry Tomas?”

  Lukas’ face appeared next to Tomas. “Yes. Are we running to the trees beyond the road?”

  “Yes,” said Harper. “There’s barbed wire. You’ll have to lift Tomas and Erik over the fence.

  “Now?”

  “On three. Zuzana, Eva, are you ready?” Zuzana nodded and Eva pushed herself to her feet, staying low. Harper counted loudly and then put her arm around Eva and helped her to her feet. Zuzana wrapped her arm around Eva’s other side and they began running to the edge of the road.

  Lukas ran past them with Tomas under one arm. Erik ran along behind them, his ears flapping up and down with every step. Harper tore her eyes from them once they reached the barbed-wire fence and the trees beyond without incident. “We have to be faster,” yelled Harper.

  The fence was only fifty feet away, but they made slow progress, Eva dragging herself between Harper and Zuzana. There was another loud boom. “Run!” yelled Harper, but it was too late. She felt the bullet strike Eva, felt the force of it knock her forward. Zuzana started to scream. “Don’t stop,” pleaded Harper. Somehow, they continued forward. Harper didn’t dare look at Eva.

  They stepped off the road and continued through the high grass until they reached the fence. Harper looked at the two women, took in the bloom of red blossoming at Eva’s stomach, Zuzana’s tear-stained face. There was another boom and Harper pulled them both to the ground. There was a loud crack overhead and from behind her, she felt a wet nose thrust under her shirt. She looked back and a tan, furry face and large brown eyes stared back at her woefully.

  “I’ll go first,” she whispered to Zuzana. “Once I’m on the other side, I want you to stand up and help Eva up, I’ll haul her over the fence, then you follow. Understand?” Zuzana nodded.

  Harper pushed herself to a crouch and grabbed Erik. She stood in one fluid movement and deposited the dog over the fence, before leaping over herself. She felt her jeans and skin tear on the jagged barbs, but there was no time to be careful.

  “Quick, Zuzana,” she urged. Zuzana stood and pulled her sister up. Eva was almost totally non-responsive, but Zuzana leaned her against the fence and Harper grabbed her under her arms and pulled her over. She felt Eva snag on the barbed wire but she had no choice other than to pull harder, until she fell heavily to the ground, Eva on top of her.

  Harper looked up to see Zuzana climbing over the fence. There was another boom, closer this time, and Zuzana dove for the ground. They scrambled to the trees, dragging Eva with them, until they were several yards into the spruce forest. Harper raised her head and could see the Beetle, the driver’s door still open and her backpack on the ground where she left it. Then she saw a woman with dark hair run to the car and take cover on the other side. It was Natália.

  “We have to get out of here,” she hissed urgently to Zuzana. “Where are Lukas and Tomas?” At the sound of the boy’s name, Erik barked. “Shush boy, we’ll find them. Zuzana, let’s carry Eva deeper into the forest.”

  “We cannot move her,” said Zuzana, tears streaming down her face. She had pulled Eva into her lap, and Harper could see her deathly pallor, the gaping, bloody hole in her abdomen where the bullet had exited.

  “We don’t have a choice. If we don’t move her, we all die.”

  Zuzana sobbed once, loudly, before getting to her feet and lifting Eva up. Harper took Eva under her other arm, and they began to move through the forest.

  The spruce trees became thicker the farther away from the road they moved. “Where are we going?” asked Zuzana, casting desperate looks behind her.

  “We need to get away from those people. I don’t know where we are going, but we need to keep moving for now.”

  “But how will we find the others? What will we do with Eva?” Zuzana looked at her sister and choked back a sob.

  “We’ll find them,” replied Harper, although the hopelessness of the situation was rapidly becoming apparent. She fought down her rising panic and kept going. Farther through the trees, there was another road. They reached it, and Harper could see some buildings and a grassy clearing beyond. “We can take shelter over there and assess Eva,” she suggested.

  They crossed the road, Erik trotting at their feet, and Harper read the sign by a driveway leading to a large building. “Bio Bazén. What does that mean?”

  “It is a swimming pool,” replied Zuzana, looking over her shoulder. They hurried up the driveway, passed a small red hut with a sign advertising langoše, and reached the main building beside the pool.

  “Quick, over here,” said Harper, pointing to the side of the building. They moved behind the building, their backs pressed against the brick wall so they were between the tall spruce forest on one side, and the building on the other. They were out of sight from the road, so Harper gently let Eva down to the ground. Erik sniffed her hair and lay by her side protectively.

  “Wait here for one moment,” said Harper. “I need to see if Lukas and Tomas are around.” Erik barked again. “Good boy, quiet now. Keep him quiet, Zuzana.” Harper didn’t wait for her reply and crept to the corner of the building. “Lukas,” she whispered loudly. “Lukas!” She waited a moment and heard nothing but the sound of the wind shaking the branches of the trees behind her.

  Suddenly, two rapid booms ripped through the air. The shots were loud and close by. There was a flurry of wings and loud, startled squawking, as several birds flew into the air, wheeling in the sky above. Harper held her breath, listening for any sign of someone approaching, but there was silence.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Harper turned and raced back to Eva and Zuzana. Erik was standing, sniffing the ground and twisting his head back and forth as though searching for something.

  “What was that?” asked Zuzana, who was now sitting on the ground. She had turned Eva on her back, Eva’s head in her lap.

  “Gun shots, but I don’t think they followed us. I hope Joe and Sara haven’t come back. Oh fuck!” Harper could barely breathe. “How is Eva?” Harper raked her eyes over Eva and felt physically sick. There was a large, bloody stain on Eva’s clothes, her shirt was ripped, and her flesh torn and bleeding. Her eyes were closed and her hands were clutching her abdomen.

  Zuzana looked up at Harper, her eyes red, tears on her cheeks. “She is still bleeding. She is so pale. Her pulse feels weak. I don’t know if she will make it.” Harper bent down and put her fingers next to the bandages around Eva’s wrists, feeling for a pulse. She finally felt something, a flutter, barely stronger than a butterfly’s wing.

  Harper wiped her forehead with the back of her arm and took a step backwards, overwhelmed by the enormity of yet another death. “I don’t know what to say,” Harper finally mumbled through her tears. “I wish we could do something.”

  “She will be happy to die,” said Zuzana in a strange, deadpan voice. She wiped her hands on her yellow dress, leaving a long, red stain of her sister’s blood. “It is what she wants. She watched her children die, she watched this plague take them from her arms. She has nothing to live for now.” Zuzana stroked her sister’s hair and whispered something in Slovak. Then she looked up at Harper. “Once she goes, I have nothing left either. I have no children, no husband. Nothing. My city has burned. I am alone.”

  “You have me,” said Harper, her voice breaking. “We’ll find the others. We all have each other. None of us are alone.”

  Zuzana began to quietly sob. She stroked her sister’s face until her hands slipped from her stomach and fell motionless to her sides. They lapsed into a brief silence, a moment of respect for a woman Harper barely knew, who had suffered the greatest of tragedies, powerless
, watching her own children die.

  “What do we do with her?” asked Zuzana into the quiet. “I can’t just leave her here.”

  Harper looked around. The forest surrounded them on three sides, and the brick wall of the main building connected to the pool was behind them. “Let’s take her inside. She’ll be safe from scavengers, and then we can try to find the others.”

  Zuzana leaned down and kissed her sister on the forehead. Then she stood and lifted Eva under her arms. Harper took her feet and together, Erik trotting along beside them, they carried Eva around the building. “There’s a door there, a few meters farther ahead,” said Harper.

  Zuzana nodded stoically. She paused outside the door and placed her sister gently on the ground. Then, she pushed the door open and held it with her foot as she picked up Eva again.

  “It smells terrible,” said Harper, her voice dropping to a whisper as they walked into the large room. It was a restaurant, and the pandemic had struck in the middle of the evening meal. There were plates of food set out on tables. People dead in their chairs; face down on the table, or lying on the ground. There was a waitress on the ground close to them, a black circular tray a few inches from her hand, spilled glasses where they had tumbled as she died. The scent of death, of rot and decay, was everywhere.

  Harper dragged her eyes from the macabre scene and looked at the wide expanse of glass that ran along the other side of the building. Through it she could see a large swimming pool, which was an unusual green color. Algae was growing in the water, beginning to coat the once clean, blue tiles, shining ladders, and the plastic grid of the overflow. Bodies, pale in the sunlight, floated like discarded inflatables. On one side of the pool was a row of red umbrellas, and behind them, a tall, dense forest.

  “Let’s put her over here,” suggested Harper. She pointed her head at a low, empty sofa overlooking the swimming pool.

  They placed Eva on the sofa and stepped back. A chill settled in Harper’s stomach. She should have felt more, but the unrelenting deaths had numbed her. “It’s like she’s sleeping,” she finally said, taking Zuzana’s hand in hers. The two women stood shoulder-to-shoulder, drawing comfort from the touch of the other.

  “I can only pray that she is with her children, now.”

  “I’ll pray for that, too.”

  “Thank you.” Zuzana squeezed Harper’s hand tightly. They remained staring at Eva for a few moments more.

  “My boyfriend died yesterday, back at the train station.”

  “I am sorry,” said Zuzana.

  “None of this makes any sense. Why do some of us live, and some of us die?”

  “More of us have died, than lived,” replied Zuzana.

  Harper was about to reply when there was a loud boom from outside. They both ducked involuntarily and slid behind the sofa. “That was another gunshot. Where is Erik?” whispered Harper.

  The two women scanned the restaurant until they spotted the dog eating something on the floor twenty feet away. Harper hissed at the dog to, “Come here!” and he looked up and quickly padded over. Harper pulled the dog on to her lap. “Be quiet, boy,” she whispered, placing one hand on his head.

  They sat in silence for a few moments, barely daring to breathe. Harper could feel her heart pounding and she took Zuzana’s hand once more. She looked up and saw Eva’s hair hanging down the side of the sofa. “I can’t hear anything, I’m going to take a look.”

  “Be careful,” said Zuzana.

  Harper slid Erik on to the ground and twisted around, squatting below the sofa. Then she slowly raised her head and looked at the pool area beyond, searching for movement or any sign of someone in the immediate vicinity. “I don’t see anyone,” she whispered. “We should leave. We can’t stay here. They could be here any moment.”

  “Where do we go?” asked Zuzana.

  “Let’s go outside the way we came. We can try to double back closer to the road to find the others.” Zuzana nodded and they stood, carefully surveying the pool once more. Harper went first with Erik at her heels, and Zuzana walked behind her. They exited through the door and crept along the brick wall until they reached the corner of the building.

  Harper leaned out first. The area was deserted. “Let’s go deeper into the forest, and then we can make our way back to the road.”

  “I think we should go around the building and across the pool area rather than deeper in the forest,” said Zuzana, her eyes still red from crying. “It will be quicker, because the ground in the forest is steep and hard to trek through.”

  “But there’s no cover,” said Harper, surprised by Zuzana’s suggestion. Her every instinct told her to hide.

  “We can stay by the side of the building.” Zuzana’s face was worn, exhausted. “I just want to find the others and get away from the madmen shooting at us.”

  Harper ignored the thoughts telling her to go deeper into the forest, get somewhere dark and safe. “Okay,” she finally said. “Keep a look out for the others. This will be quicker, and they might need our help.”

  They moved out from behind the wall and pressed themselves against the rough brick wall. The water in the pool beyond glinted in the sunlight, and the reflected light was blinding. Harper closed her eyes for a moment, turning her head away. As she continued along the wall, Erik padded beside her, his tan head bobbing up and down and his ears flopping with every step.

  “The gunshots seem to have been coming from the road,” said Harper in a whisper. “If we get to the strip of forest between us and the road, we’ll be able get a good look at what’s going on. Please be ready to run.”

  They were midway along the building when Harper paused. She listened carefully for any sign of the others. Erik looked up at her curiously. “It’s okay, boy,” she said to him. “We’ll find Tomas.”

  “Did you hear that?” whispered Zuzana.

  Harper dropped to the ground and froze. Zuzana dropped a moment later. “I don’t hear anything,” said Harper after a beat. The wind was blowing lightly, the smell of smoke lingering in the air. Harper heard the forest creak and rustle, summer insects clicking and buzzing, but nothing else. She shook her head.

  “I thought I heard a stick break.”

  “I don’t hear anything. Let’s keep going,” said Harper. She stood and they continued along the wall. They got to the next corner of the building and surveyed the area. The pool was one-hundred feet away to their left. The highway was directly in front of them, but not visible, with a car park and pine forest between them. There was no sign of anyone alive.

  “We’ll have to run for it,” said Harper. Her heart was pounding like crazy. Every instinct was drawing her back toward the darkness of the forest. “Now!” She said.

  The two women began to sprint across the car park, Erik running between them. They were halfway across the space when Natália stepped into view. She stood in the forest, a smile on her face and a black revolver in her hands.

  “Get down!” screamed Harper. “Get down!”

  She grabbed Zuzana’s hand and pulled her behind a red sedan. Zuzana was screaming and completely non-responsive as Harper begged her to be quiet. Harper drew back her hand and slapped Zuzana once on the cheek, feeling the painful sting on her palm. Zuzana stopped, her mouth open, and stared at Harper.

  “There is no use hiding,” said Natália, her voice getting louder as she approached them. “I am coming for you. It is time for me to get revenge for my brother’s death.”

  Harper knew there was no way out of this. But she wasn’t ready to give up. Not yet. Her face was inches from Zuzana’s. “When I say to run, you run. Side to side in a zigzag. Don’t stop. Don’t look back. Don’t wait for me.” Zuzana nodded. Harper could see the fear in her eyes. “You can do this. We can do this. Now, run!”

  Harper sprang up, seeing the flash of Zuzana’s yellow dress from the corner of her eye. “Come, boy,” yelled Harper. She forced her legs to pump, her arms like pistons at her side. She heard a boom behind her, and a
crack that seemed to practically slice the air next to her ear. She leaned right and, after a few steps, the other way. Boom! The air cracked again. It was so close, and the forest was so far. She was never going to make it.

  A few more steps and she rounded the building. For the moment, she was out of sight and out of range of the rifle. She looked at the forest and realized she’d never make it in time before Natália rounded the corner. But the pool was just a few steps away.

  She ran onto the small concrete walkway that bridged the biological filter that ringed the pool, and dived into the water. It was cold, and clear, and as she held herself underwater and turned to face the sun above, she saw bodies floating on the surface. Harper held her breath and kicked smoothly to the closest body.

  A few seconds later, she emerged directly underneath a pale, bloated corpse. She floated on her back, the body on top of her, head to toe with the heavyset corpse. She allowed her mouth and nose to break the surface of the water between the woman’s calves and took a deep breath—she was still alive.

  The boom of the gun when it came was muffled. Harper couldn’t tell if Natália was firing at her, or Zuzana. Or Erik. All she could do was lay there underneath the dead woman, and hope Natália wouldn’t see her.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Harper counted as she lay submerged in the water, desperately trying to keep her demons at bay. The flashback seemed to slice across her reality. One minute she was in the pool, the next she was six years old, her father holding her down in the bathtub as punishment for some offence taken by her mother. She resisted the urge to scream, to thrash out of his hands.

  He’s not here. He’s not here. You’re safe.

  Her face was pressed against the dead woman’s legs, her lips and the tip of her nose just above the surface of the water. She reached one-hundred and had not heard any more gunshots. She counted to one-hundred again, slower this time, all the while fighting to stay motionless and beating off her suppressed memories. Mercifully, she reached one-hundred and dropped lower in the water.