Dangerous Days: Boxed Set (A Zombie Apocalypse Survival Thriller Books 1-4)

by Baileigh Higgins

  Three men had made it over the wall while Carlito and Michael fought, and she went after them. The weeks of hard work and training now paid off as her body turned into a killing machine.

  Dropping to the inner grounds, she stormed the nearest and stabbed him in the stomach with her spear. The cold breeze swirled around her face and lifted tendrils of red hair off her shoulders to blow around like strands of blood. It matched the crimson spatters that covered her skin.

  Abe had followed her and was wrestling with a second, while the third crouched on the ground where he’d dropped. She caught a brief glimpse of his scarred face and blind eye. Ke Tau.

  He flashed her an awful grin before sprinting toward the buildings. She shucked her gun and ran after him. Fleeting glimpses of his dark hair and slender form teased her as they weaved through the buildings. He was fast, and she struggled to keep up with him. The next moment, he vanished.

  Lisa stumbled to a halt, and her chest heaved for oxygen. Her breathing sounded loud in the still air, and the light was rapidly fading as the sun set on the horizon.

  She turned in a slow circle, her ears pricked for the slightest noise. A whisper of sound caused her to whirl, but she saw nothing. Suddenly, an arm closed around her throat, and a knife’s cold edge pricked her tender skin. “Are you looking for me?”

  Lisa gasped, and icy terror flooded her veins. Her muscles froze in place as the blade pressed deeper into her neck, cutting the soft flesh with its razor sharpness. A lean body as hard as iron pressed against hers, and a musty scent washed over her nostrils. The stink of sweat, tobacco, and old blood.

  “Who…who are you?” she managed to ask.

  A low chuckle was followed by a sharp pain as he flicked the knife against her earlobe. “I think you know.”

  “I don’t know you.”

  Another low laugh was followed by a second cut to her cheek, this one much deeper. “Don’t lie to me. I hate liars. Tell me who I am.”

  “Ke Tau,” she answered with a wince of pain.

  “That’s better. What’s your name?”

  “Lisa.”

  “Now Lisa, we’re going to play a game. If you go along with it, I’ll spare your life. I might even let you keep your pretty face.”

  Lisa swallowed at the menace in his voice and cast around for help. There was none to be had, no one to save her. They were all busy defending the walls. She was on her own. “Go on.”

  “If you don’t do as I say, I’ll take you apart like a rag doll at the seams. First your fingers, then your toes…do you get where I’m going with this?”

  Lisa squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a breath. The sun winked in a final flash of brilliant light before vanishing altogether. Now the darkness held sway. This can’t be happening. No, no, no.

  “Your eyes will go last, but only so you can watch every single thing I do to you. Understand?”

  She shuddered and nodded.

  He chuckled at her reaction. “Good. Now show me where your women and children are hiding.”

  “What? No!”

  He sighed. “You disappoint me, Lisa. Trust me when I say you don’t want to disappoint me.”

  She remained silent.

  “Show me,” he said with a growl as he cut into her face.

  “I won’t show you, no matter what you do to me,” she replied, steeling herself against the pain he’d cause at her refusal.

  “Why not?” he asked. “I won’t hurt them, I swear. I just want some leverage.”

  “Leverage?”

  “Don’t you understand, you stupid woman? Your people have won. I’ve lost. Even my own people deserted me. If I want to get out of here, I’ll need something to bargain with.”

  “Hostages.”

  “Precisely.” He pressed the knife against her neck, right where the artery throbbed in time to the beat of her heart. “So tell me where the women and children are before I cut your pretty throat wide open and let you bleed out like a pig.”

  Lisa imagined him getting his hands on little Meghan and Anne. Mark and Jenny. The babies. Never.

  Not even if it meant her death. She looked up at the stars, a thick carpet of silver lights that twinkled in the cobalt heavens. Death wouldn’t be so bad. By rights, I should have died a long time ago.

  “Tell me,” he repeated.

  “No.”

  “What?”

  “I said no.”

  “You’re willing to die for them?”

  “I am.”

  He made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. “Fine. I’ve wasted enough time on you already.”

  His arms tightened as he prepared to drag the blade across her throat, and Lisa closed her eyes. This is it.

  Suddenly, Ke Tau stiffened. A garbled cry escaped his lips, and he leaned on her with all his weight as his knees buckled. Acting on instinct, Lisa folded her legs while simultaneously shoving his arms up. She slipped out of his hold and staggered away before turning to watch him.

  Ke Tau stared at her while his mouth worked soundlessly. He dropped his knife to the ground and reached up as if to swat a fly on his back. After a second, he collapsed face first into the dust.

  Behind him stood a figure, short and slender, with wide eyes and ghostly white skin. Lisa blinked and wondered for a moment if she was facing a ghost. Am I dead? Did Ke Tau kill me?

  The figure stepped forward, and a glimmer of moonlight fell across her face. It was a familiar face, one now wide-eyed with shock and horror.

  “Ruby?” Lisa said. “Is that you?”

  The figure nodded.

  Lisa looked from Ke Tau’s body to the girl and noticed the hatchet buried in his back. The handle stuck up into the air with the head lodged between his shoulder blades. “You killed him.”

  “I did it for Lonny,” Ruby said, her voice shaking.

  “It’s okay.” Lisa opened her arms as Ruby began to cry.

  The girl pressed her face to Lisa’s shoulder. “He was going to kill you.”

  “Yes, he was.”

  “He was a horrible man.”

  “An evil man,” Lisa agreed, though her heart ached for Ruby. It was not easy to kill another human being, no matter how cruel or brutal he was.

  She ushered Ruby back to the schoolroom, her eyes casting about for danger the entire way. She wasn’t sure what was happening. Whether more of Ke Tau’s men were roaming the grounds or whether the undead had gotten in through the breach. She found Michelle, Tumi, and Erica pacing up and down, and they pounced on her with worried cries.

  “What’s going on out there?” Erica asked, a hint of panic in her voice. “Is it true? Are the dead inside?”

  “Thembiso and Peter told us about the breach before they left to warn the infirmary,” Michelle added.

  “I don’t know. I’ll go find out,” Lisa said. “In the meantime, lock the door and stay on your guard.”

  “We will,” Erica said, her face frightened, but Lisa noticed the determined way she held her gun.

  “You too Ruby. Don’t run away again.”

  “Okay,” Ruby replied in a small voice.

  “She insisted on leaving,” Michelle said. “She wanted to go to the infirmary to be with Lonny.”

  “We refused to let her go, but when Peter and Thembiso arrived, she slipped outside before we could stop her,” Erica added.

  “Well, I guess it’s a good thing she did,” Lisa replied. Or I’d be dead right now. “I’ll be back soon. Be careful.”

  Lisa left the warmth of the schoolroom and stepped outside only to bump into a hulking shape. She gasped and lifted her gun to shoot, but a familiar voice caused her to pause.

  “Relax, it’s only me.”

  “Michael?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where did you come from?”

  “I’ve been searching the grounds, flushing out rats.”

  “Rats?”

  His teeth gleamed in the moonlight. “Ke Tau’s men, the ones who got in.”

&
nbsp; “Did you get them all?” she asked as he directed her toward the main gate.

  “I think so, but a final sweep would be best.”

  “What about the breach?”

  “Max and the others managed to keep out the undead until Joseph shored up the gap with the excavator.

  Lisa sagged with relief. “Thank, God.”

  “You can say that again.”

  “Carlito?”

  “He’s dead.”

  “What about Hiran?”

  “I haven’t seen hide nor hair of the jackal.” Michael walked for a few steps in silence. “Ke Tau. Was that you?”

  “No, not me.” She shook her head in amazement. “Ruby did it.”

  “Ruby?” He stopped in shocked surprise before he burst out laughing. “Now isn’t that what you’d call poetic justice?”

  The bright floodlights that lit the gates came into view, and they met a tired but exultant Max. The area was a hive of activity as people bustled around. Corpses littered the ground, and the stink of decomposed bodies hung in the air. The excavator stood next to a big hole, and a mound of raw earth stopped up the gap in the wall.

  “What’s going on?” Lisa asked.

  “We won, plain and simple.”

  “We did?” While Lisa understood what he was saying, the words didn’t feel real to her yet. Guess it’s a delayed reaction.

  “We killed all the undead, and Ke tau’s men have pulled back. Those that survived, at least.” Max grinned. “We’ll take a team tomorrow to smoke him and the last of his men out.”

  “I’d like to go with you, and so would Mpho,” Michael replied.

  “Fine by me.”

  “You don’t have to worry about Ke Tau, though. His corpse is over there.” Michael jerked his head in Ke Tau’s direction.

  “You got him?” Max asked.

  “Nope. Ruby did.”

  “Ruby?” Max’s face registered the same surprise Michael’s had initially. “My God.”

  “You’re telling me,” Michael said. “What about casualties on our side?”

  Max’s face darkened. “There’s a few. They’re all in the infirmary. I’m still waiting on a final report from Jonathan.”

  Lisa sensed Max was reluctant to discuss it and was putting the issue off. She couldn’t blame him. They’d just won a significant battle. The death or injury of someone near and dear was the last thing anyone wanted to think about.

  “I’m posting a guard at the schoolroom and another at the clinic. The rest of us will sleep in the common room tonight, except for rotating four-man teams on the walls. Food and water will be distributed, but I want no one wandering about on their own in case of trouble,” Max continued.

  “I’ll get Mpho and meet up with you later,” Michael said.

  “Make sure to stop by the clinic. You’re bleeding all over the place,” Lisa said.

  He chuckled and nodded before vanishing into the night.

  “I’ll go check on Lonny if you don’t mind,” Lisa said, turning back to Max. “After that, I’ll stick with Ruby. She’ll want news of her brother, and she could use a friend right now.”

  “Okay. See you in the morning then,” Max replied. “Oh, and Lisa? Would you mind showing these three where the common room is? They’ve come a long way and could use the rest.”

  He indicated two teen girls and a slightly older guy, all of whom had arrived with Logan’s party. They looked battle weary, and she smiled to show her appreciation for their help in defending her home. “Sure, no problem. This way.”

  The trio trooped along beside her in silence until one spoke up. “Hi, I’m Nadia. Lisa, is it?”

  “That’s right. Nice to meet you.” Lisa looked Nadia over from beneath her lashes and approved. She looks tough enough.

  “I hope you haven’t lost too many people tonight,” Nadia continued in sympathetic tones.

  The other girl snorted and threw Nadia a nasty look. “Yeah, right. As if you care whether people die or not.”

  “Donya,” the boy growled. “Enough.”

  Lisa looked from one to the other, puzzled by the undertow of hostility. “You are?”

  “I’m Caleb, and this is Donya. You must excuse them. They have a history.”

  Nadia looked pained at his explanation, and a hint of real sorrow shimmered in her gaze. “You’ll understand soon enough.”

  Lisa shrugged. “None of my business, I’m sure.”

  Their route took them past a few cottages, and Lisa explained about the layout as they walked. The lights from the wall faded away, but the infirmary appeared ahead, brightly lit from within.

  Lisa led the way past it and toward the dining room when she spotted a figure lurching toward them. The hair on the back of her neck prickled, and she froze in her tracks. Infected, inside? How?

  She reached for her knife, but the zombie surprised her by breaking into a swift run. She had just enough time to jump aside. It’s a fresh one!

  The infected collided with Caleb who threw up his arms to ward it off. Before it could bite him, Donya gripped it by its shirt and flung it aside. She pushed the thing in the direction of Nadia, who stumbled back with a cry of surprise.

  Lisa gaped at the unfolding spectacle. Did she do that on purpose?

  Caleb recovered fast and tackled the zombie by its feet. It fell, but regained its feet with shocking speed and turned. Its diseased eyes fell upon Donya first, and it lunged at her.

  “Oh, shit,” Lisa cried.

  Donya grabbed the thing by its throat and pushed it away from her with what strength she possessed. It snapped at her face, spraying spittle with each snarl.

  “Help,” she cried.

  Even as Lisa sprang forward to help, she knew she was too far away. The infected wriggled loose from Donya’s hands and went in for the kill, but Nadia got there first and thrust her naked arm between its teeth as an offering.

  It bit down on the tantalizing flesh. Blood sprayed, Nadia screamed, and Caleb yelled, but they were all eclipsed by the whirlwind that blew past her and wrenched the dead man away from its meal. Logan.

  He tossed the infected to the ground and whipped his rifle from his back, roaring his fury. With one foot on the thing’s chest, he lined up the barrel and pulled the trigger. The infected’s skull exploded into a million fragments. Then he gathered up the injured Nadia and ran to the infirmary.

  Lisa trailed behind him, sorrow for the poor girl filling her. Jonathan and Lange rushed forward to help, though their expressions mirrored hers. Nadia would die; they all knew it. So when Logan announced the girl was immune, they couldn’t believe it, and neither could she.

  She wasn’t the only one. Julianne gripped her arm and said, “Lisa, fetch Max. Now.”

  “What?” Her eyes never left the bleeding Nadia, fixed on the gruesome wound on her arm.

  “Max needs to know about this, Lisa. Get him.”

  “O…okay.” She turned away and stepped into the night, her mind going in circles. Immune. Nadia was immune. What did that mean for them? Could Dr. Lange use her to make a cure? A vaccine? Suddenly the future seemed filled with possibilities.

  Chapter 23 - Logan

  In the aftermath of the battle, Logan joined Martin as they swept the grounds for signs of either Ke Tau’s men or infected. It had been a long day, filled with excitement aplenty, but he didn’t think he could sleep and wanted to keep busy.

  They walked in silence at first, flanked on either side by Jed and Josh. With slow care, they combed both the walls and grounds, even checking inside all of the buildings, no matter how innocuous. They found nothing except a few bodies, all of them from the enemy. These they dumped over the walls to be dealt with in the morning.

  “So Bloemfontein,” Martin said. “What did you guys think of that?”

  “I don’t know,” Logan admitted.

  He thought back to earlier that day. It now felt like an eternity had passed instead of just a few hours. They’d broken camp and set off with the ful
l intention of bypassing Bloemfontein if the highways proved impossible to navigate. None of them were keen on getting trapped between a quarter of a million zombies, after all.

  But instead of clogged streets filled with crashed car wrecks and wandering undead, they encountered cleared highways with no signs of infected. All the cars were pulled over to the side where they stood in neat rows. No zombies walked about, and they encountered numerous sites where mass graves had been dug. All bore a cross with a biblical message on it commending the poor lost souls to the hereafter.

  Along the way, they stumbled across a place meant to be a safe house. The small building was both clean and supplied with food, medicine, and water. There were even blankets. A message on the wall told them to take what they needed and leave what they didn’t while a map provided directions to a nearby sanctuary. They left everything the way it was except the map. That they took.

  Finally, on the way out of town, they’d seen a giant billboard announcing that a safe haven was nearby and to follow the directions. It had all come as a considerable surprise to Logan who’d never seen anything like it before in his travels.

  “We have to tell Max,” Martin said.

  “Of course,” Logan replied. “It’s a big deal.”

  “We should send a group there to check it out,” Josh suggested.

  “Maybe,” Martin said. “But in the meantime, we’ve got plenty to do here.”

  They finished the rest of their sweep in silence, and Logan paused to take his leave. “I’m going to the infirmary. Check you guys later.”

  He made his way there and stepped into a space bustling with activity. The air was warm and the people brisk. In the rush, he spotted Julianne’s blonde hair and blue eyes and called her closer. “Hi, Julianne. How’s Breytenbach?”

  She pulled him aside and smiled. “He’s doing all right. Jonathan gave him something for his heart, and he’s resting now.”

  “His heart?” Logan wondered if he’d heard wrong.

  “Yes, it came as quite a shock to me also. He’s been keeping it a secret all this time.” She shook her head with a sad smile.