She charged. Halfway to the zombies, she felt her adrenaline hit. The world around her slowed as her vision became crystal clear. She swung the crowbar as hard as she could at the head of the first zombie. The impact traveled all the way up her arm, stunning her with its power, but then the zombie was falling, teeth shattered. Her next swing caught the zombie across the temple, sending it to its knees. She struck it again, the skull splintering as it crashed to the ground. The third zombie grabbed her hoodie, its teeth blackened and terrifying. She shoved the crowbar up through its neck and felt bone and muscles give way. Letting go of the weapon, the creature fell at her feet. Lenore yanked the crowbar out of its head.
Ken was shrieking, but she couldn’t pay attention to him just yet. Slamming the metal bar down on the zombie heads, she felt their skulls shattering and their brains mashing into nothing. Twisting around, she saw the horde was much closer.
Terrifyingly, Ken was holding off a zombie using the cat carrier as a shield. Cher hissed furiously.
Lenore ran up behind the zombie and rammed the end of the crowbar into its skull. Yanking the crowbar out of the thing’s head, Lenore shoved the zombie over with her other arm. Grabbing Ken’s hand, they ran.
Her lungs were on fire and her legs felt like lead, but Lenore broke into a sprint. The stich in her side was even worse now and she fought the pain. Her ragged breath mingled with Ken’s.
“Where’s the gun?” Ken shouted.
Lenore didn’t know. At some point she must have dropped it. She couldn’t remember.
“Just run,” she rasped.
The sound of the crowd of zombies tore at her nerves. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, but all she did was run.
“No, no, no,” Ken sobbed as three zombies stepped out into the road. They were fairly intact, one woman with long blond hair, and two men. The blood on their bodies and faces looked very fresh. The bald man howled and broke into a run.
Shoving Ken behind her, Lenore brought the crowbar up, ready to fight.
“Try it, fucker!” she screamed.
A bus roared around the curve. Lenore barely registered it before it had barreled into the three zombies. The undead were pitched over the side of the road and into the trees like broken dolls.
The door opened. A woman with black hair wearing a red sweater jumped out. “Hurry!”
Lenore dropped the crowbar and ran. Ken’s footsteps were a reassuring sound behind her. Leaping into the short bus, Lenore saw a female driver with lots of frizzy red hair staring out the windshield at the zombie crowd.
“Move to the back,” a big white guy with a pleasant round face ordered.
Stumbling a little, Lenore dragged herself along the seats. A very cute black guy wearing a tracksuit and pristine white trainers grinned at her as he hopped over the rows on his way to the front. Falling into a seat, Lenore gasped in a deep breath of fresh air. Of course, Ken sat right next to her even though the bus was nearly empty. He set Cher on his lap and hugged the carrier close.
“Ed, what do we do?” the woman in the red sweater shouted.
Lenore could see that the crowd was nearly upon them. A scrawny older white guy with a hunting jacket on followed the black man out of the bus.
“Kill ‘em, Jenni,” Ed answered. “Can’t have them heading to the fort.”
The big round guy and the redheaded woman both grabbed their weapons and exited the bus.
“Why can’t we just go?” Ken wailed.
Their rescuers opened fire. The sound of gunshots sent Cher into another hissing fit as Lenore flinched. She watched through the bus window as the group systematically killed the zombies that had been pursuing them. Their shots were clean and on target. Each bullet ripped through the heads of the undead, gore and blood spouting up into the air before the creatures collapsed. Soon the zombies lay in heaps all over the road. The rescuers walked carefully among them, making sure that each one was dead. At last, satisfied, they returned to the bus.
The first one onto the bus was the pretty girl with the black hair. Her checks were flushed with excitement and her eyes were sparkling. Her grin was almost disturbing in its glee.
“We took care of those fuckers,” the woman said.
The rest of the crew climbed on board. The driver with the red hair shut the door and slowly pulled the bus around.
“We can’t thank you enough,” Ken exclaimed. “Oh my God! I thought we were goners!”
“Thank you for getting us,” Lenore said, trying to breathe normally again.
The red sweater woman slid into the seat in front of them and reached out to grip each of their hands for a second. “I’m so glad we found you in time. I’m Jenni, with an i. I’m so happy to meet you.”
“I’m Ken and this is my bestest girlfriend in the whole wide world, Lenore.” Ken slung his arm around Lenore’s shoulders and she harrumphed at him.
“Hi, Lenore and Ken. I have my own bestest friend in the whole wide world back at home. Her name is Katie.” Jenni’s face softened at the mention of her friend and her smile grew sweeter. “I know how important best friends are. Anyway, here in the bus that’s Ed, Bill, Felix, and Katarina. We’re from the fort in Ashley Oaks.”
“A real fort?” Lenore asked, raising her eyebrows.
“We call it that, but it’s really just a construction site that we built a wall around. But its home,” Jenni said, shrugging. “And it’s your home now, too.” She peered into the carrier at Cher and let the cat sniff at her fingers.
Lenore unexpectedly felt tears in eyes at the thought of being safe again. She turned her head and stared out the window at the trees streaming past. Ken snuggled into her side, grinning impishly. It was good to see him acting and looking normal, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.
“Girl, you were like Wonder Woman out there,” Ken said to Lenore. “Jenni with an i, you should have totally seen her smacking the hell out of zombies with a crowbar. She was like Xena on their asses.”
Jenni grinned. “Really? That’s fucking awesome! I have an ax that I like to use sometimes. We need zombie killers. Those fuckers keep showing up. ”
“I ain’t using no damn crowbar no more. Or a gun,” Lenore grumbled. She embraced her surliness, letting it fill her up. It felt good.
Felix, the handsome black guy, grinned at her. “So what are you going to use then?”
“Got a hunting bow? Or a crossbow?” Lenore asked. “Cause I got awards at church camp for archery.”
“I think we can find you something,” the big man named Bill assured her.
“That’ll suit me just fine,” Lenore decided.
As the bus sped down the country road toward their new home, Lenore deepened her scowl as inwardly she felt herself relax. Ken’s fingers wrapped around her hand, and she flicked her gaze toward him.
“You were right,” Ken said, smiling his wide, annoying smile. “We made it.”
“You ain’t never gonna die on my watch, asshole,” Lenore promised him.
“You love me,” Ken said, touched.
Lenore rolled her eyes. “You’re family. I don’t leave family behind.”
Jenni smiled sweetly at her, her dark eyes sparkling. “Then you’re going to fit in just fine at the fort.”
To her surprise and Ken’s, Lenore smiled back at Jenni.
The bus rolled past the “Welcome to Ashley Oaks” sign and toward the fort. Soaring above the trees, a water tower rose against the morning sky.
“Hey,” Jenni said, pointing to what looked like a makeshift tent made out of blue tarp. “Does it look like someone is up there?”
“Going to rescue someone else?” Ken asked, peering up at the looming tower.
Jenni reloaded her weapons as the bus pulled up alongside the trees lining the area around the tower. Zombies were gathered at the base of the ladder that led upward.
“It’s what we do,” Jenni answered with a wink.
Bill and Felix helped Jenni up through a hatch in the roof as a figure appeared o
n the walkway of the water tower above.
Ken laid his head on Lenore’s shoulder and she rested her cheek against his hair.
“We made it,” Ken whispered.
Lenore nodded solemnly as she watched the rescue of two more people. She knew that the morning had been filled with miracles and she was grateful. Maybe Grandma was right when she said God opened doors when you least expected it. She was probably up in heaven right now smiling down at them. Maybe it was even her prayers that had brought them this far.
When the bus finally arrived at the fort, Lenore watched the terribly-thin rescued couple and their little dog disembark together. It could have gone so much worse than it had for her and Ken. She was grateful to finally be safe. Stepping out into her new home, she raised her eyes to the tall hotel rising above the fort.
“We’ll be taking that over soon,” a voice said near her.
Turning, Lenore saw a handsome white man with curly dark hair smiling at them. “My name is Travis. Welcome to the fort.”
Lenore reached out to shake his hand, but a surge of emotion overwhelmed her and instead she threw her arms around him. “Thank you.”
Travis held her close, like a father or a brother would, and said, “You’re home now, hon.”
Weeping, Lenore knew it was true. Ken rested his head on her shoulder and snuggled into her. They had made it at last. After all the loss and all the pain, they were safe. And she would fight for her new family and home until the day she died.
Epilogue
The truck slowly drew up to the RV, the engine hot and growling beneath the hood. Tito slid out of the driver’s side door, shotgun at the ready. The RV’s sides were smeared in blood and gore and the door was listing open.
“Ken? Lenore? Grandma?” he called out, though he knew it was futile.
A moan called out from inside the RV.
Tito watched the empty doorway warily, fearing what he would see. A zombie stumbled to the door, peering out at him. Its gnarled form was not familiar. It was not one of his friends.
Tito fired.
The zombie’s head snapped back and it fell out of sight.
“Tito?” his wife’s worried voice called out.
“Gimme a sec,” he answered.
Esmeralda sat in the front seat holding onto their youngest. His older boy sat in the backseat holding a second shotgun.
Tito swiftly moved into the RV, sweeping his gaze over the interior. No other zombies emerged from the corners of the small living space. He quickly searched for any sign of his friends. If they had died inside, he would deliver them from their undead state. If they were mere corpses, he would burn them out of respect. Though all their clothes remained, there was no sign of his three friends. He considered going to check their campsite, but he knew it was fruitless. They would have only fled if zombies had invaded.
Stepping into the sunlight, he studied the surrounding area. Nothing stirred in the shadows of the trees.
“Are they there?” Esmeralda called out.
“No, baby,” Tito said with a sigh. “They’re not.”
Swinging back into the truck, he slammed his door shut. Setting the shotgun next to him, he looked into his wife’s dark eyes.
“You can’t feel guilty,” she said in a tender voice.
“I promised them I’d come back,” Tito answered. His wife knew him too well. Guilt was eating him up.
“You did your best for them and for us,” she reminded him.
He looked into the eyes of his children and knew she was right. “I just wish...” Shrugging, he drove onto the road. “We got a long way to go if we want to make it to Marfa by tomorrow morning.”
“Daddy, is Grandpa going to be in Marfa?” Carlitos asked from the back seat.
“Along with a whole lot of other people. We’ll be safe there,” Tito answered, shifting gears. “There is nothing out here for us anymore.”
The truck sped down the road, away from the RV, away from the Hill Country.
And the little town with a fort hidden in its heart.
About the Author
Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of the As the World Dies trilogy (The First Days, Fighting to Survive, Siege,) and the author of three other books: the vampire novels Pretty When She Dies and The Tale of the Vampire Bride and the young-adult zombie novel The Living Dead Boy and the Zombie Hunters. Inspired to independently produce her work from the urging of her fans, she published The First Days in late 2008 and quickly gathered a cult following. She won the Dead Letter Award back-to-back for both The First Days and Fighting to Survive, the former of which the Harrisburg Book Examiner called ‘one of the best zombie books of the decade.’ Tor is reissuing all three As the World Dies novels. You may contact her by sending an email to [email protected] or visit her online at rhiannonfrater.com. You can find out more about the As the World Dies trilogy and world by visiting astheworlddies.com.
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