“Why are we running? They’re soldiers,” Emily cried.
“Soldiers who just killed Andrew,” Vanessa said.
“It was an accident. You heard them,” Emily replied.
“Doesn’t mean they won’t do it again to cover their tracks, Em. Better safe than sorry,” Chas said, eyeing their shrinking figures through the back window. After a short run, the soldiers stumbled to a stop, realizing too late that they had a truck as well.
“I don’t believe they’d hurt us on purpose,” Emily said. “We’re not infected. Andrew was an accident.”
“I know, Emily, and I’m sure they’re perfectly good people, but is it worth taking a chance over? And even if they don’t hurt us, what if they insist on us going to the evacuation center? I still need to check my house. So do you.”
Emily sighed. “I guess you’re right, but…what about Andrew? We can’t just leave him like that. He was one of us.”
Emily had voiced what the rest of them were feeling but hadn’t wanted to say out loud. As if saying it made it more real, and now that Emily had said it, it was real for the first time.
Tears began to leak from Emily’s eyes. “We shouldn’t have left him.”
Vanessa, clearly struggling to hold back her own tears, reached over to give her friend a hug. “He was one of us, Em, but there’s nothing we can do for him now. He’s gone.”
Chas sniffed. “I can’t believe that all of that just happened. It’s so surreal.”
“It’s such a freak accident,” Dean agreed, “but his parents. That was no accident. I mean, they were infected, but they weren’t zombies yet. They were still people. Real people.”
“It’s horrible,” Chas said, still unable to process the whole thing. Her heart felt like lead, and she wondered how they were supposed to carry on as if nothing had happened. No, not as if nothing had happened. Just in spite of everything that’s happened. We have to be strong if we want to live.
After a moment of silence, Emily asked. “Is my house next?”
“If you still want to go there,” Chas said, giving her the chance to back out. After the horror of Andrew’s house, they were all dreading what lay ahead.
“No, I need to go. Just to make sure that my…that my family got away,” Emily said.
As Emily gave Dean directions to her home, Chas couldn’t help but wonder if they’d be too late again. What if all we find is another set of bodies?
Chapter 14
The way to Emily’s house was much further from the fair than either Vanessa or Andrew’s homes had been. Both stayed near the city center, though not in it. Emily lived on the other side of town, closer to Chas and the countryside. This meant that they either had to cut through the middle of town, or they had to take the long way around via back roads and streets.
“What do you girls think?” Dean asked. “I’m just the driver.”
“I think we should take the long way around,” Chas said. “It’ll be much safer. Less traffic, fewer accidents, and fewer zombies.”
“But it will take forever,” Vanessa said. “Cutting through the city center is a lot faster.”
“I’ll leave it up to Emily to decide this time,” Chas said. “It’s her trip.”
Emily thought about it. “Well, faster means nothing if you don’t get there at all. We’ve had enough action for the night as far as I’m concerned, and I never want to see another zombie for as long as I live.”
“Backroads it is,” Dean confirmed. “I can’t say you won’t see any zombies, however, and we might run across more soldiers.”
Dean was right. For the first few miles, things were quiet. Chas and the rest learned not to look outside and to avoid the sight of burning corpses and dead animals. It was an ugly sight, and none of them wanted to see their beloved Red Rock reduced to such a state. It might be a small, backwater town to some, but to them, it was home, and now it was being destroyed.
Chas stared at her hands most of the way, thinking about Andrew and the way he’d died. It was something she’d never forget. A terrible loss. She also remembered the look on Justin’s face after he realized he’d killed a kid. An ordinary child. It’d seemed like the guilt would eat him alive. Poor guy.
“Hey, girls, look alive,” Dean said, drawing her from her morbid thoughts.
Chas looked up. “What is it?”
“It looks like a barricade of some sort. It’s blocking the way,” Dean said.
Chas leaned forward, then scrambled over Emily and into the empty seat next to Dean. He’d slowed to a stop, and the truck’s headlights lit up a barrier made of barbed wire and wooden beams. An army truck stood the side, but there were no people around. It appeared to be abandoned.
“Looks like the National Guard set it up,” Dean said. “But they’re gone now.”
“I wonder why?” Chas said. “Did something happen to them?”
“Either way, we’ll have to remove the barrier, or go back, and that will add at least twenty minutes to the trip assuming we don’t run into anything else,” Dean added.
“Crap. That’s bad news. I guess we can try and clear a way through. I don’t see any zombies around,” Chas said.
“I agree. Let’s go,” Dean said, flashing the butcher’s knife Chas had given him way back at Vanessa’s house. “I’ve still got this for protection.”
“Me too,” Vanessa said, showing the knife stuck in her belt. “And I’ve got my bat.”
“Emily, I want you to stay in the car. Press the horn if you see anything coming, okay? Be our lookout,” Chas said.
Emily nodded. “Okay, sure.”
Chas got out of the car with a shiver of apprehension. It felt so much safer inside the truck than out in the open, exposed. But if there was one thing Grumps had taught her, it was to face her fears. Because if she didn’t, they’d end up ruling her life.
“Face your fears, Chasity,” she whispered under her breath. “You can do this.”
Together with Dean and Vanessa, she walked to the barricade and looked around. The area seemed deserted. The army truck was empty, and so was the road. The houses further up the street was dark, their doors and windows shut. Not a single thing moved except for the leaves in the trees above their heads, swaying in the light breeze.
Dean stared at the barrier before stripping off his denim jacket. “I’ll pull this out of the way while you two keep watch.”
Chas and Vanessa nodded and moved to the side to give him space, looking on as he wrapped his jacket around the barbed wire before pulling the first half aside. The wooden posts scraped along the tar, raising the hairs on the back of Chas’ neck.
She shivered again and looked around, wondering what had happened to the soldiers who set up the barricade. Did they get called away? Or even worse…become zombies.
A whisper of sound reached her ears a moment before the truck’s horn blasted away. Chas whipped around in time to see a zombie in uniform running straight at her. He bared his teeth in an evil grin and stretched out his hands to grab her.
Chas took a strong stand with her legs, reared back with her bat and let rip the moment he was close enough. The wooden bar whistled through the air and made contact with the infected’s skull moments later. A dull pop sounded as the zombie soldier’s head caved in, and he fell backward while his feet kept going forward. With a weird somersault move, he crashed to the ground to lie unmoving on his back.
Dean whistled, straightening up from his crouch. “Holy cow, but you got him good, girl.”
Chas blushed, not used to compliments from handsome boys. “Thanks.”
The truck’s horn blared again, loudly and frantically.
“Watch out,” Vanessa cried, yanking Chas out of the way.
Chas fell to the ground but quickly jumped back up again and spotted another infected attack an off-balance Vanessa. This one was a woman, her hair scraped back in a severe bun, and her uniform stained with blood.
The zombie lady grabbed Vanessa’s jacket by the collar, and she do
ve in for the kill, her teeth closing on Vanessa’s throat. Vanessa batted at the woman with little effect, crying out with pain as the woman bit down hard.
“No!” Chas screamed, launching herself forward.
She grabbed the woman and wrenched her away from Vanessa, throwing her to the ground. With all her might, she raised her bat and smashed it into the woman’s snarling face. At the same time, hot tears began to pour down her cheeks as she realized that her friend was as good as dead now. Infected. Doomed to become a zombie.
The bat came down again and again until the woman was no longer recognizable and the wooden bat broke apart in her hands.
“Hey, hey, cool it. She’s dead,” Dean said, taking her arms and pinning them to her side. “Calm down, Chas. Vanessa needs you.”
“Vanessa,” Chas cried.
She brushed past Dean and hurried to her friend who stood with both hands pressed to her neck, her face twisted with pain. Chas slowed, dreading the sight of the blood that must surely be pumping from the wound, but to her surprise, there was nothing.
Chas reached out a tentative hand. “Vanessa?”
Vanessa raised her blue eyes to meet Chas’ worried gaze. She grunted. “I’m okay. The strips of material held up, can you believe it?”
“What material?” Chas frowned with confusion until it dawned on her. “Oh, right. The stuff we wrapped around ourselves back at your house. I clean forgot about that. It actually worked?”
“It did,” Vanessa said, removing her hands from her throat. “It hurts like hell, and I’ll be bruised for days, but she didn’t get me, and that’s all that counts.”
Chas examined the cloth with minute detail, relieved to see only a damp patch and a few teeth indentations. The material was intact.
“Oh, thank goodness. I was sure we’d lost you,” Chas said with a relieved smile.
“Good to know you’ll miss me that much,” Vanessa said with a faint smile.
“She’s not the only one,” Dean said with a gruff voice. “I’d miss you too.”
Vanessa turned beetroot red as she shot him a shy look. “Thanks.”
Chas ran her hand across her face but hissed when a sharp pain shot up her arm. “Ouch.”
“What’s wrong?” Vanessa asked.
Chas flexed her wrist slowly, wincing at each fresh stab of agony. “I hurt my hand pretty badly, I think.”
“I’m not surprised. You beat the hell out of that poor zombie,” Vanessa said, examining Chas’ wrist. “It looks a bit swollen already.”
She turned and waved at Emily who still watched it all from the cab with a worried look, giving her a thumb’s up. “We’re okay!”
Emily flashed back a broad smile.
“I think you should wait with Emily while Dean and I finish up here,” Vanessa said.
Chas hesitated, but her hand was pretty sore, and she doubted she’d be of much use during an attack anyway. “All right, but hurry up. There might be more around, and I couldn’t stand losing anyone else tonight.”
“Gotcha. Now, run along.”
Chas dashed back to the truck and jumped in, joining a stressed-out Emily. “Don’t worry, Em. Vanessa is fine. The zombie couldn’t bite through her wrappings.”
“What about you?”
“I’m good. I just hurt my hand bashing that woman’s head in.”
Emily nodded, but her face remained strained as she watched Dean drag aside the last part of the barrier, followed by the two bodies. Vanessa stood on high alert the entire time, her slim body as erect as a sentinel. When they were finished, they jogged back, and this time, Chas let Vanessa sit beside Dean. She thought it was only right, after all, seeing as they liked each other.
Vanessa fished in her pockets and came up with a bandage which she handed to Emily. “Here. Wrap up Chas’ wrist, will you? I think she sprained it.”
“Sure thing,” Emily said, her smile indicating that she was glad to be of use again. With great care, she wrapped up Chas’ wrist. Not too lose, not too tight. “There you go.”
“Thanks,” Chas said, leaning back in her seat with a sigh of relief.
Vanessa passed over a few painkillers and a bottle of water next, followed by snacks and drinks for everyone while Dean navigated the streets once more. Dean devoured a chocolate bar and soda with gusto, his ever-present smile never fading. Every now and then, he shot Vanessa a look that would make her blush all over again while she chewed on a packet of dried nuts and sipped on a bottle of water. Emily contented herself with a packet of potato chips and orange juice, curling her body up in the corner of the seat.
Chas drank her pain medicine with water and ate a few pieces of dried fruit before laying her head down on the seat. Every bone in her body ached, and she was more tired than she cared to admit, but at least, they were all together again, and no one was seriously hurt.
Outside, the world slipped past their windows, and she allowed herself to forget about the zombies for a while. She felt safe once more, tucked inside the truck’s cab with all her friends around her. When the meds kicked in, her eyelids drooped, and she yawned. “Wake me up if something happens, Vanessa.”
“Sure thing, Chas. Grab some shuteye. I’m still okay for now. So’s Dean.”
Chas’ eyes drifted shut, and Emily’s faint snores sounded in her ears, growing more distant by the second as blessed sleep claimed her tired mind.
Chapter 15
A light shake pulled Chas from her deep sleep, and she groaned. “Huh? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. We’re here, that’s all, sleepyhead,” Vanessa said in a low whisper.
“Where’s here?” Chas asked, pushing herself upright on the leather seat.
“Emily’s house, duh,” Vanessa replied with a light laugh. “We made it, silly. The National Guard cleared most of the streets of Red Rock, so it was smooth sailing all the way. Until this last bit, anyway.”
“Last bit? What do you mean?” Chas asked, blinking her eyelids to clear them of the sleep-induced fog that blurred her vision.
“Well, I don’t think the soldiers have gotten this far yet. There aren’t any bodies, no burnt ones anyway, and that means…”
“Oh, no. I know exactly what that means,” Chas said as she smoothed her hair back into its customary ponytail. “Zombies.”
“Yup. We haven’t seen any so far, but that doesn’t mean they’re not around here somewhere,” Vanessa said.
“Maybe we’re lucky and they’re off chasing something else,” Dean said.
Chas snorted. “Luck? What’s that?”
“We haven’t done too badly,” Vanessa said. “We’ve made it this far, haven’t we?”
Except for Andrew, was Chas’ unspoken thought, but she didn’t mention it out loud to the others. Nobody needed a Nervous Nellie in the group.
Emily was silent, her body shivering with suppressed excitement and her eyes fixed on her parents’ house. The windows were dark, but that was to be expected with the power off. The doors were shut, the gates closed, and a car was parked neatly in the driveway. Not a single thing stirred within or without.
Chas took a few sips of water from her nearly empty bottle to refresh herself and splashed some in her face for good measure. “So, what are we looking at?”
“We haven’t seen anyone move around yet. Nothing. It looks deserted, but the car’s still there, and I don’t see any signs of foul play,” Vanessa said.
She looked around, checking out the surrounding houses and street. Dark shadows lined the road and filled the gaps between hedges and beneath trees. The darkness was a living thing, breathing in and out with the breeze that whipped through the branches.
Emily’s house looked equally uninviting, but Chas knew they had no choice but to check it out, especially since the National Guard hadn’t made it this far. “Okay, the area is clear for now. I propose we go in, look for Emily’s parents, and leave as soon as possible.”
“Agreed,” Vanessa said.
“We should stick together too. Who knows what’s waiting inside?” Chas said. “Emily? Are you up for this?”
Emily nodded. “I am.”
“Right. Let’s go. Bring your flashlights but wait until we’re inside before you use them.”
Chas climbed out of the truck and made her way to the front, following Dean who took the lead this time. Together, they slipped through the small garden gate and approached the front door on silent feet with Vanessa and Emily sticking close behind them.
Their feet brushed across the rich lawn with its rich green grass and banks of lavender planted in beddings filled their nostrils with its signature flowery scent. If it wasn’t for the lack of porch and street lights and the ominous silence, it could almost have been an ordinary night.
But it wasn’t an ordinary night, and Chas knew that nothing would ever be the same again. Never again would she be able to look into the shadows without wondering what they hid.
They reached the porch and climbed up the steps, checking all around them for any signs of trouble. Dean tried the handle. It was unlocked, and he gave a slight turn and push of the bronze knob. The hinges creaked, and he raised his bat in readiness as the door swung wide open.
A shadow moved inside the foyer, and Chas’s heart jumped into her throat as she pulled out her knife, gripping it with sweaty palms. Zombie!
“Emily? Is that you?” a whispered voice said from within.
“Mom?” Emily asked over Chas’ shoulder. “It’s me!”
The shadow rushed forward, brushing past Dean who stepped aside with a slight shrug and a smile. Chas, likewise, made way for Emily’s mom to reach her daughter and sweep her up into a big hug. Vanessa switched on her flashlight, and its feeble light lit up the little room, illuminating their surrounds.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay, sweetie. I’ve been so worried,” Emily’s mom said. “We’ve been waiting all night for you to show up, hoping you’d be safe.”
“Emily, my dear,” another deeper voice exclaimed. Emily’s father. He stood watching from a short distance away with a shotgun in his hands, cocked and ready to shoot. “I was hoping it was you. We watched you through the windows.”
Gen Z Boxed Set Page 8