Battlefield Z Omnibus, Vol. 1 [Books 1-9]

by Lowry, Chris

  Brian stood up and put a hand on my chest.

  “Hey,” he cooed. “It's us.”

  I breathed in. And out. In. Out. The red receded. I could hear a sound in my ears that sounded like ocean waves crashing on a shore and realized it was my blood pounding through my veins.

  Breathe in. Breathe out.

  I lifted my foot off Jamal's hand and settled back onto the floor.

  “Never. Do. That.”

  He nodded and nursed his bruised fingertips.

  “Hannah,” I started and stopped. I could still feel the blood, the rage bubbling and took a few more breaths.

  They watched me, this group I called my second family. Peg's eyes saucer wide with fear, Brian's sympathetic gaze searching my face for what would happen next. Harriet refusing to look directly at me, shame perhaps making her lower her eyes. Taking my worst fear and twisting it, like a dagger into a man who had rescued her daughter twice now. Anna's look steady and sure, gleaming in the glow of the flickering flame.

  “Hannah asked to stay behind. She has a plan. I trusted her.”

  “You don't know her,” Harriet muttered, still not looking fully at me. “She's just a kid.”

  “She asked me to trust her,” it was all the explanation I planned to give. “We're meeting at the front gate tomorrow at sunset.”

  That seemed to brighten her up a bit, all of them. We just had to make it through the night and we were secure in a stone building, wire stretched across the doors and windows to keep out Z.

  Tomorrow would stretch long as we waited, but I planned to look around for a vehicle to use once we got Hannah back. She could go with her mother, Brian and Peg could go find a fort, Jamal could hang with whoever, and Anna would probably throw in with me again. I planned to put the pedal to the metal and hightail it to Arkansas in one day and find out what happened.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  We made it through the night without incident. There was a lone Z moan we heard through darkness, perhaps from the road but it didn't come near the dark bank building and disappeared after several minutes.

  I slept with my back against the wall in the corner of the vault, rifle across my knee and couldn't convince Anna to be anywhere other than by my side. She stretched out beside me and used my leg as a pillow.

  The next morning, we rationed out the soup in three cans and kept the rest for later. I knew we still had supplies a half a day away, but I wasn't sure when we would get to them so it made sense to go through what we had slowly.

  Plus I was getting tired of tomato soup.

  “It's a long time until sunset,” Harriet said when I walked out of the vault.

  She still hadn't apologized for punching me.

  “Which way is town?” I asked Jamal.

  “I'll show you.”

  Anna slunk out of the vault and stretched like a cat. She checked her shotgun safety and waited by the door after slurping down her half of a can.

  “What do you want us to do?” Brian asked.

  He wanted to come with, I could tell. He was practically vibrating.

  “We can all go,” I told him. “We're looking for transportation back. We can't all fit in Jamal's car.”

  I didn't tell them I was probably going to go off on my own again.

  We walked a half a mile up the road following Jamal's direction and he led us into what had been a town. It was stripped clean and bare, though we only had his word for that at first.

  “Byron told us to take it all,” he said in a halting voice. “We took the food, weapons we could find, everything up to the school.”

  “Why is it so big?” Brian asked.

  He was right. The little town was too small for such a large campus, but Jamal knew the answer.

  “They closed down the old schools when they built this one and bussed us in from all over the county.”

  And that made sense enough, and settled the great debate on why such a tiny berg had a campus built for one thousand.

  I had Jamal take us to the residential part of town a few blocks off the main street, past the empty businesses killed off by progress, and the now empty tiny shops killed off by the aftermath of the Z.

  “You looking for anything in particular,” the boy asked.

  “A ride.”

  He nodded.

  “Like mine or big enough for all of us.”

  “All,” I lied.

  I really wanted two rides, but a van with nine seats would do. Or one of the larger SUV's they built now, built for teams of people or large families even though the size of an American clan has shrunk to just four people. Sometimes three.

  I caught the thought and chuckled in my chest.

  Now the average size family was one or zero.

  The cars here were nicer than the houses, old structures built in the fifties and abandoned as the town kept shifting and the old citizens died out. The new families could afford the home, but not the remodel and the houses withered in time and under weather.

  Brian found a giant Ford Explorer next to a long church van. There was little debate on which one to take, but the gas tanks made the decision for us. The SUV had a half tank, the church van almost empty.

  Brian gave a little victory punch to the air and beat on the door so we could look for keys. There were no Z inside, no food in the pantry or cabinets, muddy boot prints on the floor, some child sized and Jamal nodded.

  “That's them, or was us,” he said in a fit of confusion.

  I understood what he meant.

  Peg took the key outside and cranked up the vehicle with a throaty grumble. Harriet followed her out.

  “She's sorry, you know,” Brian attempted to play peacemaker.

  “She should say it,” Anna shot back.

  “We're all on the same side,” I said and let it go. I wished I could forget the tinder eye as easy as I could the argument.

  We had our transportation easy enough so there was no excuse to keep looking. When it came time, I'd just have to take Jamal's car. We went back to the bank to pass the afternoon, skipping lunch and rationing soup for dinner later on when we were all together.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Two kids walked down to the gate, their faces serious in the waning sunlight. The sun hadn't set yet, we were a little early but they must have been watching for us. It drifted over the treetops making the leaves look like they were catching fire.

  "LaRon," said Jamal. "And Donald."

  Both were teens, LaRon the taller of the duo and loping like he was an athlete. Donald walked with precise steps, as if he were counting the paces from the building to the fence.

  "He wants you to come in," said Donald as they reached the gate.

  I glanced over at Jamal.

  "Don't look at me," he whispered. "We don't usually let people in."

  "Is he planning to kill us?"

  LaRon pointed to the roof over his shoulder.

  "Could have done that already."

  I wondered how they knew we were down here. Did Hannah break and tell them. Were we being invited into a slaughter? But the tall kid was right. The shooters up top had a clear shot at each of us, and depending on how many were up there, they might be able to get six of us before we made the safety of the trees.

  Though secretly I suspected I'd be the first one down if they started shooting. Brian next, then Jamal. It's how I would have played it if I were Byron.

  "You can keep your weapons," said Donald. "If it makes you feel better."

  It did make me feel a little better, although we only had the rifle, shotgun and two pistols with two pikes. Not much to worry about if you walk into a room of armed kids.

  Maybe we weren't out gunned to bad though because a lot of the kids had been too young to carry, and others too young to trust with aiming well under pressure. That left about ten maybe a dozen to worry about. Two to one odds.

  Let's hope it wasn't a firefight, but if things went sideways we might stand a chance. If they left a couple of shoote
rs on the roof.

  "You coming? Hannah said to tell you it's an invitation."

  That made my ears perk up. What was her plan?

  I took a tentative step forward. Donald turned and began to lead the way back. I fell in behind him, and the rest followed after me, Harriet almost jostling Anna aside so she could be the second into whatever room we ended up in.

  LaRon closed the gate and brought up the rear.

  Donald led us through the archway and into the rear building. I had been in the hallway yesterday. Same blue lockers, same white walls, same panther mascot. This time we turned into the assembly room instead of the cafeteria.

  Hannah stood on the stage beside Byron. The rest of the children were seated in order by height on the first two rows taking up twenty six seats. Two boys slipped in behind us, rifles slung over their shoulders.

  "Hannah!" Harriet couldn't hold it in and pushed past us.

  Donald reached out to stop her, but Byron shouted.

  "Hold!"

  Donald stepped back as the mother and daughter united at the foot of the stage.

  "Welcome," Byron said and stared directly at me. "You'll be safe here for as long as you choose to stay."

  He was short, and younger than Jamal had said, maybe fourteen if I was being generous. His eyes were bright and intelligent, a shock of hair swept down across his face. He had large hands, and large feet and an overly large head on a stick then body, like a tiny little scarecrow.

  If the kid got the chance to grow into his feet, he'd top six four, I bet, or more.

  "Thank you," I spoke up.

  I motioned Anna onto a row behind the kids, Brian and Peg across from her so that we were divided up, two to each side. I stood.

  "You can tell this isn't a presentation," said Byron. "Nor a performance. But it is a great way to meet. Hannah says I should speak with you."

  "We don't have to say much," I told him. "Just let Hannah and the rest who want to go, and we'll be on our way."

  Byron nodded and paced back and forth on the stage.

  "I see you are under some misconception," he said. "It doesn't surprise me. Jamal didn't quite grasp what I was trying to do here. Hence his departure."

  "What are you trying to do here?"

  "These people, kids you think of them, are free to go at any time. Hannah could leave if she chooses. She tells me she chose not to yesterday."

  I looked at her and she nodded and smiled.

  "That's right."

  "I am very impressed you were able to get in here," said Byron. "I've spent years thinking about this Z War, about what I would do, how I would react, and so far my plan has worked."

  "I was impressed with what you've done," I told him.

  "Thank you," he smiled and for a moment I could see the little boy in him, basking in the praise of an adult. "It makes me glad that you could appreciate it."

  "But I don't condone killing adults."

  "Don't you? Haven't you killed? Hannah has told me of her first rescue, and her second. By her accounts, you have little problem killing anyone that stands between you and what you desire."

  I nodded.

  "We are alike in that respect," he continued. "When you look at me, you see a little boy, barely a teen, but what if I were to tell you I'm more than that? I'm pretty advanced for my age."

  "I would think you were just bragging, except-" I indicated the kids, the auditorium and school beyond.

  "Exactly. I think you understand. It's not enough for me to tell you what I am like, but for you to hear about it and know it to be true. I suspect we think alike."

  He was thinking differently from me at the moment because I couldn't see where the conversation was going. I was keyed up, trying to watch the boy at the back of the room to make sure that rifle stayed on the sling, watching Hannah to see what she was trying to tell me with her look, and her eyes. Hoping Anna or Brian was watching the kid at my back.

  "I told you that I was impressed with you. The time I spent on protecting this place, I never considered a double distraction against a small enemy force.”

  “We're not your enemies.”

  “Oh I know that now,” he said, still pacing. “Poor choice of words. Hannah has opened my eyes to a world of possibilities.”

  He stopped then and gazed at her with the puppy dog look of a kid in love. I've heard it called moon eyes, but I'd never actually seen it before, but his pupils popped open and he started at her like a dog looking at it's owner. Smitten.

  “Hannah?” Harriet asked from where she stood beside her.

  “It's okay Mom.”

  “Hannah tells me you're keen on building a fort,” Byron looked at Brian. “She's told me a lot about each of you. We practically stayed up all night talking. But I especially liked what she had to say about you.”

  Shoot him, a little voice inside me was screaming. The kid was a genius, sure, but most likely insane. I could get off two or three shots before the others reacted, which might buy us enough time to get the rest, especially if Brian and Anna jumped in to back me up.

  I saw how it would go down in my head. A shot at Byron's head the next time he paused to turn. Swing around to the kid across the room and get him. Drop to my knees and hope the one behind me was still fumbling with his rifle and nail him. The noise would startle the kids into screaming, creating more chaos and confusion.

  That might buy me one or two more shots.

  “We want to go with you,” Byron said and I stopped planning to kill him. “So I propose an alliance.”

  Hannah beamed at me, Byron smiled and stepped down beside her. Their hands fumbled for each other and grasped together.

  “Will you ally with us?” asked Byron.

  The rest of the kids turned to look at me, and I could feel Brian, Peg and the rest watching me as well.

  “You want to come with us?”

  “We're almost out of food here,” the kid explained. “The cafeteria was set up for short term, not long and we've cleaned out the town. It wasn't very big to begin with, and we're all growing kids after all. In my planning, I didn't account for rationing.”

  He bowed his head.

  “We're safe from the zombies but we're trapped in here and would starve unless we can find more food.”

  “But you destroyed my house,” said Brian.

  “I didn't,” said Byron. “They did.”

  He nodded into the audience but we couldn't tell who he had singled out.

  “Sometimes kids are hard to control, and all it takes is one action to start the ball rolling. I tell you that in warning so you know what to expect and how to handle it.”

  “An alliance.” I rolled it over in my mouth and let it sit there for a minute.

  “Everybody wins,” Hannah piped in. “Nobody dies.”

  I could see that’s what she really wanted, what she was doing to protect the younger kids. Somehow she had ferreted out their problem and talked their little dictator into a solution.

  I knew from history not many people survived an alliance with a dictator, but we could cross the gorge when we got there. I still planned to race off to Arkansas once this was over, but maybe I would have to delay to get them settled in a new place.

  “You did a good job selecting your location,” said Byron. “You've got an eye for forts.”

  Brian nodded thanks.

  “Aren't all your plans made for here?”

  Byron nodded.

  “The majority of them, which is why I need your help.”

  I could still shoot him. Still take the kids. Probably have none of my group get shot. It meant I wouldn't have to worry about watching my back or keeping my throat covered at night.

  But nobody dies.

  There had been a lot of death so far. And they were just kids.

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?” he grinned.

  I nodded.

  “Alright!” he did a fist pump. The others joined in with small claps and cheers. “When do we get
started?”

  “It's dark outside, so first light.”

  “But we're out of food,” one of the six years old said in a nasally voice.

  That's what Hannah knew that I didn't. They had used all of their supplies and they were hungry. The kids weren't quiet because they were disciplined, they were low energy for lack of food.

  I nodded and gave her a wink. Harriet pulled her close and hugged her, then shook Byron's hand as Hannah introduced them.

  “This a good decision?” Brian stepped to my shoulder.

  I watched Jamal who worked hard to keep his face expressionless. I wouldn't want to be playing poker against him at that exact moment cause I couldn't read what he was thinking. I made a note to pull him aside and get his take on it.

  Was that why they kicked out older kids? To make the food supply last longer? And what adults did they kill. I was going to find out more.

  For now, we had an alliance. And over two dozen hungry children.

  I slipped the knapsack off my shoulder and parcelled out the last of our soup supplies.

  “We'll have to share this tonight,” I told them. “But we know where a big supply is tomorrow.”

  They almost cheered again.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Trouble,” a voice on walkie talkie interrupted their meal, if you could call it that. One of the kids next to Byron unclipped a yellow sports radio from his belt and pressed the button.

  “Go.”

  “Out front, a lot of trucks, Jeeps. I can't make out any details.”

  Byron glanced at me.

  “Are you expecting trouble?”

  “I was expecting it in here,” I told him.

  “Your call.”

  I stood up and checked my rifle, then glanced at Brian and Anna.

  “Stay here till we find out what it is.”

  “I'm coming with you,” said Jamal.

  Byron directed LaRon and Donald to back him up.

  Anna did the math in her head and didn't like the way the odds stacked up.

  “I'll come too.”

  If they planned to take me out, drawing me away from the group with a ruse was a good way to do it. Get me outside, three on one and work a little magic to the back of my head. I nodded to Anna and she fell in step behind Byron's two men, shotgun at the ready.