“Nerit, it looks like we got two guys and one gal up on that roof.”
“Only three?” Arnold gasped. “Out of all the people that left, there’s only three?”
“That’s all I saw. They don’t look like they’re in good condition. They may have been up there for a few days. The one young blond guy looks pretty burnt up.”
Nerit frowned, the lines in her face deepening with concern. “That sounds like Kurt, Ed’s younger son.”
Juan’s body was literally vibrating with his barely contained anxiety. “What about the girl? What did she look like?”
“Maybe my age. Long, dark hair.”
“Belinda for sure,” Monica said with relief.
“Thank God,” Juan whispered.
Nerit gave Juan a piercing look. “So we’re saving Belinda and Kurt for certain. Tell me what the second man looks like.”
“A middle-aged guy, receding hairline, brown hair, maybe a little bit pudgy in the middle, and fair enough that he looks like a tomato right now,” Emma answered Nerit with a wince.
Juan glanced at Nerit. “Sounds like that new city guy that went with them. I can’t remember his name though.”
“Ted,” Arnold said. “Ted Buck from Fort Worth. He was a lawyer or something like that.”
Nerit brushed her chin-length hair behind one ear while peering out the window toward their destination. “I was hoping all of our regulars had survived. It may be a little bit more difficult dealing with somebody who wasn’t fully integrated into the Fort. I guess in the end it doesn’t matter who he is as long as he follows instructions. Did you spot any obstacles preventing us from pulling up to the building?”
“Other than the Durango and a bunch of zombies, there’s some picnic tables close enough to make it hard to turn around. They’re hidden by the zombies crowding the area.”
“Duly noted,” Arnold said.
“If we can get close enough on the right side, Nerit, I’m certain we can get the survivors onto the top of the bus. My only concern is that they look pretty weak, so I don’t think they’ll be able to do it on their own,” Emma went on.
This news did not go over well with those around her. The people from the Fort couldn’t have believed this would be easy. There were a lot of zombies between the bus and the survivors.
“That makes things harder,” Monica muttered. “I hate roof rescues.”
“I mean, we could always go back and get more people to help us. Right, Nerit?”
“Calling for reinforcements is not an option, Emma.”
Monica made an irritated sound from where she was perched on the back of a nearby bench. “Nerit, there’s a whole lot of them and not many of us. We could use some backup. Roof rescues suck. Jenni was good at them, but she’s not here.”
“The road is too narrow. There’s not enough room for maneuvering as it is, and we’re not putting any more people at risk. We came up here to see why Ed was pointing to this hill. Now we know the herd came through and Ed’s group didn’t make it to safety.” Nerit made a point of looking everyone directly in the eye one by one. “We have to handle this ourselves, so I need to know everyone is on board with this rescue. If not, we can leave right now. Travis gave me full discretion on this mission, but I want to hear your thoughts before I decide whether we proceed or not.”
Juan took a sharp step toward Nerit. “You can’t be serious? Those are our people out there! Of course we have to rescue them! We don’t have another choice! No way we can turn back now!”
Nerit shook her head. “No, they’re not our people anymore, Juan. They abandoned us. Remember? They left because they didn’t trust us to stick to the plan to defend the Fort against the herd. Now the Fort is still standing and most of the people who left with Ed are dead. So technically, they’re not our people, Juan, even if they were once our friends.”
“How the fuck can you say that?” Juan exclaimed.
Monica let out a noise of disbelief. “Nerit, you’re fucking with us, right? These people stood with us through tough times.”
“But not when it counted, right?” Arnold met Monica’s furious gaze steadily. “When we needed them to stand against the herd and defend the Fort’s walls, they vamoosed. They found a bullshit reason to leave because they were afraid to stand with their friends. I liked Ed, but he did us dirty.”
“Arnold, I’m not saying they’re perfect. Yeah, they turned chicken shit, but we can’t turn our backs on them.” Monica slid off the bench and leaned toward Arnold. “Look me in the eye and tell me you haven’t done stupid shit since the zombies started chomping people.”
“We all do stupid shit, Monica. But I can say I never abandoned my friends. We don’t owe them a damn thing, so we better consider our odds of surviving if we try to rescue them.” Arnold gestured toward the zombies. “This is gonna be a tough one.”
“That’s Belinda out there! My childhood friend! And you’re telling me to let her die!” Juan shouted.
“Juan, keep your voice down, or we’re going to have more problems than we have right now,” Nerit said in a commanding tone that shut down all protests from the upset man.
The silence that followed was uncomfortable. From the grim expressions surrounding Emma, it was clear that everyone was on edge. The tension in the small bus was only growing as each second ticked by.
It was difficult for Emma to find her voice in the face of such high emotions, but her life was on the line too. “Look, I know I’m new here, but every life is valuable. I tried, but couldn’t save anyone in my town. I kept hoping I would find people alive, but everyone was dead by the time I found them. So the fact that I’m standing here among the living is blowing my mind. You don’t know what it’s like to not see another living face for over a year. If humanity is going to have a rat’s ass chance of survival, we have to save everyone we can. I don’t know the people out there, but I’m willing to put my life on the line for them.”
It was evident from the look of approval on Nerit’s face that Emma had said exactly what she wanted to hear. Emma had the impression she had passed some sort of test.
“She’s right,” Monica declared, glaring at Arnold. “They may have bailed on us, but I’m not ready to bail on them.”
“Besides, don’t you have mad driving skills, Arnold?” Monica lifted an eyebrow.
“Fine. But if they run away again, I ain’t stopping them.”
“Then we’re all agreed. We save them.” Nerit patted Juan on the shoulder and he visibly relaxed. Bending over the driver, she said, “Arnold, let the Fort know our status.”
While Arnold relayed the information, Juan leaned against the windows, straining to see the people on the roof.
“You’re good people, Em,” Juan whispered.
“Thanks, Juan.”
His approval did mean something to her. He was the first person she had met when she’d arrived on the outskirts of the Fort and she felt an affinity to him for the losses he’d experienced.
Nerit straightened after the conversation over the radio ended. “The Fort is standing by for further updates. Now we need to plan our rescue. Arnold, I need you to park the bus as close to that building as possible, but away from the Durango. How close can you get us without risking the bus?”
“The picnic tables are right there,” Emma said, gesturing.
Arnold leaned forward, resting his arms on the steering wheel, and peered out the windshield, a frown on his face. Giving the area a long, scrutinizing look, he remained silent for nearly a minute.
“Nerit, I can get us close,” Arnold started with clear trepidation in his manner, “but the second we’re near that building, we’re going to be swarmed. This bus has been souped-up to deal with zombies, but it has limitations. There’s no telling how many of those fuckers are in the trees. We get enough of them hemming us in and we’re not going anywhere.”
“So we move fast,” Nerit replied. “Emma, you volunteered to be up on top, but if you’re having second thou
ghts let me know now.”
“I can do it. I’m stronger than I look and have plenty of experience scaling buildings, trees, vehicles, you name it. I basically had to learn parkour to survive this last year.”
Nerit grinned. “All right. Arnold, you pull up to the building with Emma already on top and the rest of us in position to pick off the zombies when they attempt to swarm us. We thin out the numbers while Emma gets our survivors on board. As soon as they’re secure, we leave.”
Arnold scrunched his face. “Nerit, I might not be able to turn around, so I'll have to back out of here. Which means I could potentially drive off the hillside.”
“I trust you not to do that,” Nerit said, patting his shoulder.
“You can do this, Arnold. I have seen you do some crazy ass driving,” Monica said.
“Arnold, you’re the best driver the Fort has. We all know this,” Juan added. “You said you can parallel park a tank.”
Arnold frowned. “I did not say a tank.”
“I’m sure Nerit wouldn’t ask you to do something she didn’t think you could do,” Emma added encouragingly.
“I truly appreciate y’all trying to build up my confidence, and it’s working. Let’s do this!”
Emma moved up the aisle to where the hatch was located. Craning her head, she stared at the blue sky through the opening. As she had done a hundred times before, she pictured exactly what she needed to do in the next few minutes. It was like playing a short film in her mind over and over again until she memorized every action. It was this ritual that had kept her alive throughout the last sixteen months.
“Are you sure you got this?” Juan asked.
“I know what to do.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’ve been doing this type of thing since the zombie apocalypse started. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
Juan appeared doubtful, but he nodded. “Maybe I should take your place.”
Nerit stepped toward Juan and gestured toward a nearby window. It had a heavy metal grating over it with an opening that would allow a weapon to be aimed through it. “I need you there taking out every goddamn zombie you can.” She hooked a thumb at the roof. “I need someone lightweight and fast up there.”
“Nerit, Emma says some of them are in bad condition. I can be of help to save them,” Juan protested.
The older woman took him by the hand and lifted her chin to stare into his green eyes. “You’re too emotional. Too connected to what’s happening. I need you to take out all your anger and fear on the zombies.”
Juan exhaled in obvious frustration, ready to protest.
“Juan, I may look skinny, but I’m pretty spry. I know what I’m capable of. I can get your friends back on this bus safely as long as you’re giving me cover.”
There was no way in hell Emma wanted him on the roof with her. Juan was obviously carrying way too much emotional baggage where Belinda was concerned. Nerit knew him much better than Emma did, and it was evident she also believed he was too caught up in his need to be a hero to risk him taking point.
“Em, just promise me that you’ll bring her back to me. I can’t lose someone else.”
“I promise, Juan, I will do my best.”
Nerit yanked on Juan’s shirt to get his attention. “I need to know you’re good with this plan.”
“I’m good. I’ll do my part.”
Swiveling about on her heel, Nerit walked back to Arnold’s side. “All right, Arnold. Time to save our friends.”
20
People Are Assholes
As soon as the bus shifted gears and rumbled toward the outdoor restrooms, Emma started to have grave second thoughts about the plan. She’d promised Juan she could handle the rescue and she didn’t want to let him down.
The short bus rambled along the gravel drive at a steady pace toward the parking area and the restrooms. Once in the line of sight of the undead, the bus would be swarmed and the situation would become even more perilous and unpredictable. She wished that Arnold would speed up so they could get this over with as soon as possible, but slow and steady was the best way to go about it. With so many zombies in the area, it would be easy to make a miscalculation when traveling at a higher speed, which would put the team in a bad spot.
Gripping the back of the seat in front of her she planted her feet wide to prevent being jostled about. Staring straight ahead through the windshield, she witnessed the moment the zombies heard the bus. In unison their heads swiveled toward the approaching vehicle and their voices rose in one stomach-churning wail. It was the sound that haunted her nightmares every time she closed her eyes to sleep.
Since the first day when the zombies became a part of the world and started the slow disintegration of civilization, Emma’s brain had done a splendid job of creating coping mechanisms. The sound of their wails became white noise while their mottled, dissected bodies blurred into gray figures. They would remain that way until she had to concentrate on individual ones to kill.
Around her, the faces of the rest of the team were grim and resolved. She was adapting to working with an organized group and trusting them was difficult. Her grandfather had taught her to hunt when she was ten. Their history enabled them to work seamlessly together after the first day of the rising when the zombies had stopped being myth and became reality. They understood each other’s frame of mind and actions when facing the undead. Emma didn’t know those seated around her. Juan had competently had her back yesterday when they’d rescued Macy, but he was frazzled, too invested in Belinda’s survival. Nerit was the only one on the bus she was certain could handle any threat for she had the bearing of an ancient warrior. That was the only reason that Emma had any sort of confidence in their rescue plan. If Nerit believed the team could pull off the rescue, Emma would trust her judgment.
The bus bounced over some dips in the uneven terrain, jostling the passengers. Zombies attempting to headlong charge its front bumper were swatted away by the deer guard, their broken bodies careening into the brush. Arnold was true to his boast and deftly maneuvered through the thicker clumps of zombies while evading the hidden picnic tables to pull alongside the building on the opposite side from the crashed Durango.
As planned, Emma rapidly scrambled up through the open hatch, her gloved hands reaching for the nearest handholds. She hauled herself onto the roof, the metal scorching her fingers, and quickly secured herself with the harness. It took a few seconds to get accustomed to the belay device that would control the mountain climbing rope attached to the bus. It made her a little nervous to be so dependent on the equipment. It would instantly tighten if she fell, hopefully keeping her out of the grasp of the dead.
The zombies swarmed the bus and the all too familiar sound of hands beating against the metal filled the air. The first gunshot cracking through the air startled Emma. For a long time, no one other than her had fired a gun in her vicinity. It was yet another thing she needed to get used to.
She rapidly scrutinized the situation that confronted her, and recognized that this rescue was going to be a little bit more difficult than anticipated. Arnold could not pull up flush to the building, leaving a three-foot gap between the sloping edge of the top of the bus and the corrugated metal roof of the building. The space between the bus and the building filled up with the dead. Emma briefly glanced down and shivered at the sight of the murky eyes gazing up at her. Blotting out their presence, she planted her feet on the section where the bus roof started to curve and tested her line. It was taut and secure, ready to hold her weight.
Dehydrated, gravely burned by the sun, and weak, the three survivors gingerly crawled toward her. The woman, Belinda, was helped along by Kurt, the younger blond man. The dark-haired middle-aged man, whose name was Ted, Emma recalled, reached the edge of the building first. His face and neck were red and blistered from his days in the sun and sweat glistened on the tip of his hooked nose. Shaking violently, he climbed to his feet, stepped to the edge and looked down.
“Ted, my name is Emma. I’m here to save you, but you gotta listen to me. First, you need to not look down. You need to concentrate on making it safely to where I am standing. Don’t get distracted.”
The man was unsteady on his feet, and clearly terrified. “No, absolutely not! You can’t expect us to jump in our condition! You need to pull up closer to the building!”
“That’s not an option. We can’t get that close.”
The continuous gunfire made it a little difficult to hear, but it was the incessant cries of the undead that was most distracting. Ted’s gaze remained riveted to the decayed faces squeezed into the gap below.
Ted shook his head. “You can’t expect us to jump! We can’t do that!”
Their situation had been more precarious than Emma had realized. The roof had not been constructed to hold so much weight and it protested loudly, the metal and wood creaking beneath him.
Kurt and Belinda edged forward, each step they took tentative. It was evident that Belinda was in the worst shape. Blisters had popped on her shoulders and forehead, oozing pus and blood. Though she had a darker olive complexion, the sun had done its damage. The blond haired man identified as Kurt was beet red. All three were probably severely dehydrated. Emma considered calling out for Juan, but thought better of it. He was too emotionally attached to the situation.
“How do we get across?” Belinda asked over the cries of the dead.
Emma had wanted them to jump across the three-foot expanse, but now understood that was not a possibility without help. With a sigh, she accepted she was going to have to put herself at risk to save them. Giving herself enough slack, she planted one foot firmly on the roof of the bus and kicked out to set the other on the roof. She was muscular and physically fit, yet she could still feel the strain in her thigh muscles. The rubber soles on her boots helped her maintain a steady stance while the harness around her waist gave her the semblance of being secure. If she slipped, the belay device would lock and keep her from falling too far.
As The World Dies | Book 4 | After Siege Page 16