As The World Dies | Book 4 | After Siege

by Frater, Rhiannon

  “Em, you're pragmatic as fuck. I can see now how you wiped out your entire town.”

  Emma wasn’t sure it was a compliment.

  “Juan, I can’t allow myself to consider dying. It’ll freak me out, gum up the gears in my head, and slow my reflexes. I just concentrate on the job. I do what I need to do. I stay focused. I just don’t consider death an option.”

  Emma was lying a little. Her last night in the trailer, death had been on her mind. She’d planned an exit, but when she dreamed about the woman with the long, dark hair and black eyes who told her about the Fort, she’d decided to give life one more shot. Now she was determined to hold onto her new life and see where it took her. Which evidently was on dangerous missions to find out what a ghost had been pointing at. Life was weird.

  Staring at her, Juan searched her expression. What for, she wasn’t sure, but he appeared to find what he was looking for and nodded. “I hear ya and will do, fearless zombie killer.”

  Rolling her eyes, Emma laughed. “I’m not going to live that title down, am I?”

  “Nope.”

  The bus downshifted.

  Emma glanced out the window to see a steep and narrow road turning off from the one they were traveling on. It sliced through a thick bramble of undergrowth and closely clustered juniper trees.

  “This is it,” Juan said breathlessly, sliding to his feet and leaning his forearm against the window to observe their ascent. The fear and anticipation in his eyes only reinforced how much Belinda meant to him. Despite what Rune said, Emma knew she had to keep Juan squarely in friend territory. His clenched fist resting against the window was shaking, and not from the bumps in the road.

  “Look at all the dead fuckers!” Monica exclaimed from where she was perched at the back of the bus. “Whoa!”

  Limbs, entrails, and other meaty parts of zombie bodies were strewn along the sides of the road. There were tire treads clearly visible on a partially-smashed head.

  Juan was fighting to keep his breathing even, but his excitement was evident. “Someone took ‘em out with their vehicle.”

  Monica stared at the destroyed corpses as the bus passed by. “Those bodies are mush, run over by something really heavy. Ed's people took Durangos. It must be them.”

  At the front of the bus, Nerit stood holding onto a pole to keep upright, also scrutinizing the area. “It's starting to look like we might be on a rescue mission.”

  “Or maybe Ed just wants us to know where they died,” Arnold offered. “So we can bury them.”

  “There's someone alive on that hill and we all know it!” Juan clearly wasn't going to listen to any other theories on why Ed had directed them to the hill.

  “We're about to find out the truth,” Nerit replied. “But it's looking like a promising possibility.”

  As Arnold turned the short bus onto the narrower roadway, Emma noticed that a huge swath of foliage was trampled flat not too far from the intersection.

  “That’s where the herd came through,” Juan said, pointing.

  “Ed and the others must have nearly run into them,” Monica decided. “That’s why they took the turn.”

  “To a dead end,” Juan grumbled.

  “If you’re desperate, you do stupid shit,” Emma said. “If I saw that zombie horde coming at me, I’d shit myself.”

  Monica gave Emma a grim look. “Trust me, I almost did when Bette and I played Pied Piper to try to redirect the horde.”

  “Okay, that's a story I want to hear,” Emma said.

  “Over drinks tonight,” Monica promised.

  Emma studied the area as the bus rolled through, contemplating the possible path of a pursuing herd. “No downed trees and scrub here.”

  “Maybe they weren't followed up the road. They could be safe up there,” Juan said hopefully.

  Emma hated to be the voice of reason. “Then why haven't they come to the Fort?”

  “Maybe their vehicle broke down, or ran out of gas. Maybe they weren't sure about coming back to the Fort after they decided to leave in the first place.”

  “All possibilities, but we shouldn’t get our hopes up too high,” Nerit said reasonably.

  “We don’t give up hope until we know for sure what happened,” Monica said.

  “Amen, cuz.”

  Emma turned away from Juan's hopeful face and looked out the window at the passing scenery. A zombie impaled on a broken tree branch flailed weakly as the bus climbed past it. It had probably been knocked off the road by a fleeing vehicle. No matter how hopeful the cousins were about saving their friends, one thing was certain.

  Zombies were definitely up on the hill.

  The question was just how many were there.

  18

  Keep Calm

  “Emma!” Nerit called out, waving her toward the front of the bus.

  Grabbing her rifle, Emma immediately joined her. “How can I help?”

  “You spent a lot of time scouting through dangerous areas, right?”

  “Yeah, I did.”

  “What’s your assessment of the situation?”

  “The main horde didn’t follow Ed’s people up to the picnic area. They might have been able to turn off the road without being spotted by the zombies. There’d be more damage to the terrain if they had been seen and followed,” Emma explained. “That being said, I am certain that there will be zombies up there to deal with because of that zombie impaled on a tree back there.”

  Nerit looked impressed with her evaluation. “We never did clear this area of town. There wasn’t anything worth salvaging out this way. There could have been zombies up here all that time.”

  “There’s also the possibility of zombies climbing up from a different direction we can’t see from the road.”

  Nerit nodded. “I agree.”

  “That’s not a comforting thought,” Arnold muttered under his breath.

  Emma struggled to keep on her feet. The road was cracked from disuse. Grass and other plants pushed up from underneath the broken asphalt. A few more corpses, old and rotted, littered the road. They were clearly not Ed’s people, but dispatched zombies. The bus ambled around a curve, revealing a clear view of the hotel and the Fort around it. It was a pretty sight, the green hills framing the hotel with its windows glimmering with morning sunlight.

  “Hold up,” Nerit ordered.

  Arnold immediately obeyed, the engine idling as Juan and Monica joined the group at the front of the bus. Nerit opened the side door and dropped out next to a body lying at the edge of the asphalt. It was face-down with the back of its balding head blown out. Nerit kicked the corpse over, revealing the dead man’s face. A bullet hole punctured the wrinkled forehead and a bite was visible on the sagging skin of his neck.

  “Ed,” Monica whispered.

  Juan punched the ceiling with a fist and swore in Spanish.

  The noise startled Emma and she shot him a disapproving look. He acted far more on edge than yesterday.

  “This doesn’t mean they’re all dead,” he said defensively to Emma, misreading her expression.

  “Someone had to have shot him,” she agreed.

  “Right, Em. Right.” Juan nodded vigorously, clearly grasping onto a tiny shred of hope.

  Climbing back onto the bus, Nerit clucked her tongue with annoyance. “Dammit, Ed. You shouldn’t have left, you stupid old fool.”

  Arnold shut the doors. “That confirms that Rune saw his ghost, doesn’t it? So we’re on the right track.”

  “Yes, we are.” Nerit frowned, her hands settling onto her narrow hips.

  “Bullet to the head,” Monica noted. “Was he a zombie?”

  Nerit glanced at Ed through the glass panels in the door. “He doesn’t look like he turned. The bullet wound isn’t self-inflicted since there aren’t any weapons on him.”

  “Then it was a mercy kill,” Arnold said. Nerit studied their surroundings with a critical eye. “Which means we have at least one survivor. Ed probably stuck with the group to help
them get to safety, but he must have been close enough to turning before they reached their destination that he was put down.”

  “Or he lied about getting bit, huh?” Arnold rolled his eyes. “People who do that are shit.”

  “Ed wouldn’t have done that. He was an asshole, but he was a noble asshole,” Monica said.

  “Who abandoned us,” Arnold shot back. “When we needed him most.”

  “Monica is right,” Nerit interjected. “Ed would’ve have told his people he had a bite. He was probably close to turning and a liability. Someone gave him an out. Someone who might still be alive.”

  Juan vehemently nodded. “So Belinda and the others might be up there waiting for rescue. Can we go now?”

  “Not yet. I don’t like the way this feels,” Nerit admitted. “Too many unknowns.”

  Juan gripped the section of the pole above Emma’s hand. “If Belinda and the others are up there, we have to help them!”

  Emma could feel the heat radiating off his body and his breath brushing over the top of her head. The uncomfortable response of her body was a reminder of just how long it had been since she’d been with a man. She focused all her attention on Nerit, who gave Juan a withering stare.

  “We’re not turning back, Juan,” Nerit said. “But you need to consider the worst, while hoping for the best.”

  “I can’t accept the worst. I have to save Belinda.”

  Monica sighed, frustrated with her cousin. “Juan, we don’t know who is alive up there. Belinda might not have made it this far.”

  “Until I see her body, there’s a chance to save her.”

  Emma winced, his words reminding her of the deep denial she’d experienced the first few days after the apocalypse started. She hadn’t considered the possibility that Billy was dead until it was evident he couldn’t feasibly be alive.

  The thick juniper trees swayed in the wind, creaking loudly. The shadows beneath the leafy canopy didn’t give birth to zombies. The bus had been stationary for a few minutes without being attacked.

  “Zombies aren’t coming for us,” she noted.

  Nerit nodded. “A good sign that the area isn’t as infested as we feared.”

  Juan breathed out in relief. “Maybe this will be easier than we thought.”

  Nerit clucked her tongue at him. “No, no. Never say that. Never jinx the mission.”

  Monica punched his arm. “Pendejo.”

  “I may be a noob, but even I know that,” Emma drawled.

  “Sorry. I’m fuckin’ going nuts here. I just want to get up there and find out what or who Ed was pointing at.”

  “We all do, cuz,” Monica said, clapping him on the shoulder.

  Realizing everyone was staring at him with concerned looks, Juan relaxed his shoulders and averted his eyes in an apparent attempt to look calmer. “I’m ready when y’all are.”

  “Arnold, drive on,” Nerit said.

  The short bus rumbled up the road and past a sign that said “Lookout Point.”

  Nerit gestured to Emma to get her attention. “When we disembark, stay close to me. You’re my partner, watch my back. Monica and Juan will veer right. We’re going left. Arnold will provide cover from the bus.”

  “I’m also your comic relief and getaway driver,” Arnold said jovially.

  Nerit’s lips set into a grim line. “This isn’t a bank robbery.”

  “If some of Ed’s people are alive, we’re stealing humans from zombies. That counts, right?”

  Nerit speared him with a sharp look, but Arnold grinned. It was a forced expression, his eyes not matching his broad smile. They all had coping mechanisms to endure the apocalypse.

  Another sharp turn and they were on a narrower road lined with tall grasses. Mexican Hat wildflowers dotted the terrain. The yellow petals clustered at the base of their spikey center were ruffled by the summer breeze. It would have been a pretty sight except for the scene just beyond the flowers.

  A Dodge Durango, riddled with bullets, slathered in zombie guts, and sporting a rear flat tire, had crashed into the concrete building housing the restrooms. Chucks of cement were strewn across the roof and hood. Most of the windows were broken and blood stained the glass. There didn’t appear to be anyone inside. Even more worrisome, a number of the undead milled around the vehicle. Most were weathered by time and the elements, but a few among them looked freshly dead.

  “Stop,” Nerit ordered

  Arnold brought the bus to a hard stop.

  “What do we do? Leave? Back up? There’s no one alive in that Durango for sure,” Arnold whispered.

  “We can’t just leave without checking it out!” Juan protested.

  “Keep your head on straight, Juan.”

  He wilted under Nerit’s stern look. “Yes, ma’am. It’s just that after everyone we lost, if I can’t rescue-”

  “This isn’t about your need to be a savior. This is about rescuing any possible survivors up there. I need you to focus. Monica is your partner on this mission and I won’t have you putting her life at risk because you’re-”

  “I get it, Nerit!”

  “Do you?”

  “Yeah.” Juan met her gaze defiantly. “I’m good. I won’t let my cousin down.”

  “Good, because if you did, and I turned zombie, I’d eat you.” Monica nudged him with her elbow. “I got your back, so have mine.”

  “I’m fine. Really.” Juan folded his arms across his chest and directed his gaze away from Nerit to watch the zombies milling outside the Durango. Lips pressed tightly together, he was clearly waiting for Nerit to continue.

  Emma didn’t know Juan well, so it was hard to tell if he really was okay. Watching him flex his hands and roll his shoulders, she had quite a bit of sympathy for him. She knew what it was like to want to be a savior. Hopefully, he wouldn’t have to become executioner to his turned loved one.

  Nerit waited a minute, allowing the tension to die down, before turning to Monica. “What’s your assessment?”

  “There are about fifty zombies,” Monica said, her fingers fiddling with her holster strap. “If someone was alive in that Durango, they’d be swarming it.”

  “But they are gathered around the building,” Emma pointed out.

  “Which is suspicious,” Nerit said with a nod.

  Staring at the scene, something caught Emma’s eye. She climbed onto a seat and peered through the metal grating welded to the window frame. She lifted her hand to shade her eyes so she could study the scene. So far, they hadn’t been spotted. The wind was carrying both sound and scent in the opposite direction of the dead. Also, the bus was far enough away from the zombies to not be noticed. Squinting, Emma stared at the building and crashed Durango. There wasn’t a sign of life anywhere. She started to look away when something caught her eye again, but she wasn’t sure what it was exactly.

  “See something?” Monica was at her elbow, straining to look.

  “Movement, I think. Or maybe it’s the trees behind the building, but...” Emma glimpsed it again. “There!”

  A hand, straining upward, was visible on top of the roof of the restrooms for just a second before disappearing again.

  “We have a survivor,” Emma announced. “On the roof of the building.”

  Nerit raised her sniper rifle, peered through the sight, and waited. A minute later, she lowered it and nodded. “You’re right.”

  “Can you tell who it is?” Juan asked, his lips trembling.

  “No,” Nerit replied.

  Somehow, Emma knew she was lying to keep Juan calm.

  “But we’re going to save them one way or the other,” Nerit promised. “Here’s the plan...”

  19

  Are Traitors Worth It?

  Emma shoved the hatch to the roof upward. It swung open with a creak. Bright sunlight flooded through the opening and a hot breeze swirled over her upturned face. Feet braced on the backs of the seat benches, she maintained her grip on the rope attached to the handle and gently lowered the door ont
o the roof. Once it was lying flat, she gripped the edges of the hatch and hoisted herself up. The fingerless leather gloves she wore protected her palms, but her fingertips burned against the hot metal roof. She raised her body only high enough to gaze over the top of the bus. Muscles straining, she memorized where the handholds were placed, along with the safety harness attached to a ring bolted to the roof.

  Strong hands suddenly gripped her hips, holding her up and giving her arms some relief. Since she’d told Juan she could handle the assignment without any help, Emma was annoyed. She wanted to prove herself to the people of the Fort. Tales of her zombie killing exploits were rapidly spreading, and she wanted to live up to expectations. It was important to show everyone, especially Nerit, that she could work with a team to rescue others.

  “I’m climbing up now,” she informed those waiting below.

  Hoisting herself onto the hot surface, she quickly grabbed the nearest strap, slid across the roof, got to her knees, and lifted the binoculars Nerit had handed her earlier. Focusing on the figures trapped on top of the restrooms, Emma ignored the undead scrabbling at the small structure. She never paid any attention to zombies unless they were her target. It was too disturbing to see their desiccated faces and wonder what sort of person they had been when alive.

  The magnified view told a very sad story. A woman and two men were trapped on top of the building. They were laying flush against the roof, keeping away from the edges. Badly sunburned by the harsh sunlight, the trio used their clothing to protect their reddened skin from the heat radiating off the corrugated metal roof. Emma panned over the surrounding area in an attempt to spot anything that could prevent the bus from moving into a rescue position other than the crashed Durango lodged in one corner. The picnic tables were close enough to the restrooms to make a quick getaway difficult. Arnold wouldn’t have an easy time turning around.

  Skidding backward, Emma edged her way through the hatch until she could drop down into the aisle below. The rest of the crew was waiting for her expectantly. Juan looked the most aggravated, gnawing at his disfigured thumb. His green eyes settled on her, undoubtedly nervous for her report on his friends.