Uhhhhhunnn huhhh hunnn…
“Penny?” Sheppard’s voice was now was very small and far away, as if he was intentionally leading the creatures away from her. His words faded as he called out one last time. “Run!”
Still standing in darkness, Miller was torn. She had the other women to think about. She had a mission to complete. Sheppard was telling her to take them and try to get away, and she’d be a fool not to comply, but she couldn’t just leave him, not after all they’d been through together. The lights flickered again. Miller motioned for Judy and Christa to stay quiet and out of the way.
Pale light. Darkness. Pale light. Miller searched frantically for some way to keep the dark corridor illuminated. Judy and Christa were huddled together against the wall. Judy had gone somewhere behind her eyes and Christa seemed to be frightened and defeated. Lankford was nowhere to be seen. Karl was somewhere out there and in danger, and Miller was on her own. She made an executive decision.
“I’m coming to get you, Karl!” Miller didn’t even bother to try to get Judy and Christa to follow her lead. She’d let them make their own choices. They would back her or they wouldn’t. Hell, Miller still expected Judy to shoot her in the back of the head given half a chance. Christa was an adult. She would understand. Karl Sheppard had saved Miller many times and his life was in danger. If she left Sheppard behind, if she became less than human, what was the point of survival? Rightly or wrongly, something had to be done to help him out.
Miller entered the darkened corridor, with only the flickering emergency lights from the stairwell just behind her to illuminate the darkness. She held her weapon tightly, in both hands.
“Where are you, Karl?”
There was no response, no sound now, not even the grunt of a zombie. The flickering light gave the eeriness a strobe effect, like a haunted fun house in late October. Miller did not appreciate the irony. Her breathing was loud in her ears. She swallowed and forced herself to move. She put her foot forward and hit something soft yet solid. Human flesh, perhaps? A dead body?
“Karl?” Miller bent down and sniffed. The thing didn’t reek of decomp, so she reached out and touched it. Whatever it was, it was wet and sticky. She felt around with her fingers. She yanked her hand away. It was a head, a face torn from the shoulders by something with immense strength, or perhaps a very sharp weapon. And then she reached out again and felt the buzz-cut hair. Her stomach lurched. Neil.
The door behind her slammed noisily, cutting off the light. Miller felt the trap spring. She spun around. “Judy! Christa! Open that Goddamned door!”
Something grabbed Miller, strong hands that dragged her backwards.
Miller was scared and angry and panicked. She not really up for playing grab ass games in the dark. She drew a hunting knife from her belt and stabbed the person who had grabbed her. She got him somewhere precious. She tried to get a sense of his size and position.
“Fuuuuuck!” It was a tall man, definitely wider than Sheppard. That’s all Miller needed to know. She twisted the knife as she drew it out. Then she shoved the man over backwards. Miller could hear him hit the floor with a thud. He hissed in pain and writhed around in the darkness, mostly likely clutching himself in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding. He was off the board for the moment.
“Anyone else want a piece of me?” Miller held her rifle high and aimed it into the darkness. She knew from experience that a little gunfire could go a long way toward lighting up a dark room. For a moment, she wondered if this wasn’t one of Rolf’s fucking little tests, and perhaps he just wasn’t here to explain it to her. She wanted to find Sheppard, kill Charlotte Williams, get Scratch, and run away to the mountains to hide for the rest of her natural life. Penelope J. Miller was done with war. She was tired of the killing and constant fear and imminent death. But she couldn’t run, not yet. Sheppard and Scratch were out there in the dark and in danger.
The overhead lights did not flicker back on. Miller set the selector switch to burst and fired three shots.
Pop-pop-pop!
In the instant that she had to register her surroundings, Miller saw that the entire corridor was littered with zombie parts. She caught sight of torn torsos, arms, legs. No other heads that she could spot. Only Neil’s. She decided to move forward rather than argue with Judy and Christa, who had decided their own fate when they left her behind. She changed the selector switch and fired one more round at the ceiling.
Pop!
Peering ahead, Miller finally spotted some people clustered together way down at the end of the long corridor. One of them was likely to be Sheppard. Perhaps he’d been taken prisoner.
“What do you say we stop fucking around and you jackasses just turn on the damn lights?”
“Lower your weapon and you will get your wish.” Miller sagged. It was a familiar voice, a woman’s voice. She hadn’t been on one of the planes. She hadn’t been killed after all. She’d stayed behind for some reason, perhaps to capture Sheppard.
It was Charlotte Williams.
Miller aimed the rifle at the floor but she didn’t drop it. “Okay, it’s down. I kept my end of the bargain. Now it’s your turn.”
Someone called from the other end of the hall. “Penny?” Sheppard’s pained voice. “You should have run when I said.”
“You know I suck at taking orders, Karl.” Miller took some deep breaths and waited. She tried to peer into the darkness, but it was too complete for her eyes to properly adjust. “Okay, Doc. I get the point. Spare me the long monologue. You’re going to hurt my friend if I don’t drop my rifle.”
Williams said, “Exactly.”
Miller nodded in the dark. She knelt down slowly and placed the rifle on the floor. Her finger moved the selector back to burst before she took her hand away. She hoped that Williams, who might be wearing NV goggles, wouldn’t notice that she’d placed it on the top of her boot. She had no idea if she could pull off the trick she had in mind, but she would find out in a moment. It had all finally come down to this one play. Miller said a silent prayer for her friends and told Scratch goodbye for the last time, just in case. A strange calm passed through her. All in all, dying didn’t seem so bad, as long as you didn’t have to come back.
The lights came up, not all at once, just one or two over her head. The other end of the corridor remained shadowy, though there was now enough light for Miller to see their positions. Miller blinked her vision clear. She stood with her hands loosely at her side, palms open and facing out. She presented no threat.
Charlotte Williams was there and still wearing that same dark grey suit. A thug in NV goggles stood next to her. He held a knife to Sheppard’s throat. The three of them stood maybe twelve to fifteen feet away. They were plenty close enough for what Miller had in mind, if she got the chance. She’d only need a split second for the move. The stairwell behind her remained silent. If Christa or Judy were coming they probably would have emerged by now. Miller set her feet.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” Williams wagged a finger in her direction.
Miller’s heart sank. “Wouldn’t what?”
Williams smiled. It was the smile Miller expected to find on a waxen corpse, though Williams was very much alive. Her dead soul showed on her features. “Whatever you are planning right now, Sheriff. You must understand that this situation is atypical, because you two are much more valuable to me dead than alive. Now put your hands on your head. One of my men will escort you over here.”
“Didn’t I just get through telling you that I suck at taking orders?”
Time slowed down. Miller lifted her boot perfectly and leaned to her left, thus throwing the rifle into the air before her. She snatched it cleanly out of the air, brought the barrel around in one smooth motion, and fired a burst at Williams. Miller could see at least one round find its mark. A hole appeared in Williams’ suit coat and one perfect red flower blossomed there. She staggered backwards and fell to her knees with a wan, puzzled expression on her face. Time stretch
ed again and it was as if Miller had forever to choose her second target.
Catching on just in time, Sheppard sagged at the knees. A heartbeat later, Miller zeroed in on Sheppard’s captor. She squeezed the trigger and held it down, sending a stream of bullets precisely at head level toward the NV-goggled man. The man dropped down immediately, and Sheppard went with him. Miller couldn’t see if she had hit either one of them. She kept the rifle at her shoulder, just like she had been trained in the police academy, and moved forward. She stepped carefully, easing through the body parts and gore. Her boots made small sucking sounds in the sticky blood. Another explosion went off outside and the world settled down.
“Karl? Are you all right?”
There was no answer. Not now, not after all this…
Miller’s heart hammered in her chest. “Karl? Did I get Williams?”
She was able to take two more steps before it happened.
A bullet struck her.
Miller gasped as the round tore through her ass cheek. It knocked her legs out from under her, and drove her down onto the floor. Her rifle fired wildly as she fell. Despite the silly location, the pain was the most intense feeling she had ever experienced. Miller grunted with shock but refused to let go of her weapon. She’d need that rifle. She held it high over her head and aimed backward, toward whoever had fired that shot, back in the direction of the stairwell door. She rolled over carefully and stayed flat on her face with the weapon aimed. Her behind complained as if burned by a red hot iron.
The son of a bitch who she had stabbed in the leg was now just standing there, hopping around on one foot, with a pistol in his hand. She’d missed him but had come close enough because he was nervous as a long-tailed cat. He had totally lost his concentration. He tried to limp off into the shadows. Miller pointed her rifle at him and squeezed the trigger once more. She heard a small clicking sound.
The weapon was empty.
Scowling, the man spun around. He hopped towards Miller to finish her off. He couldn’t balance correctly and fire from that big a distance. He’d gotten lucky to hit her at all. The man called out. “Dr. Williams? Are you all right?”
Again, there was no answer. Miller felt a small sense of satisfaction. Williams was probably injured. She hoped the bitch was dead.
The wounded man hopped closer. He stood over Miller and looked down. Blood dripped down his leg and on his final hop forward he splattered some onto her face. The man’s eyes were seething with hatred.
“It’s over,” Miller said through clenched teeth. “Walk away.”
“Can’t do that, lady, but if my boss is dead anyway, I sure as hell don’t need to be hauling your sorry ass all over base.” He pointed the gun at her face, milking the moment. He was enjoying her fear. “This is for stabbing me in the leg.”
Miller involuntarily closed her eyes. She had always thought she would die with her eyes open, but apparently in the end it was too much to have to watch the round coming for her face. She rapidly searched her memories. She felt satisfied with her life. She wondered if Terrill Lee would meet her.
The gunshot was loud and boomed through the rest of the building. There in the dark and painful silence, Miller actually thought she was dead until the man fell directly on top of her. She looked up, and saw that what was left of his face was laying on the floor right next to hers like he’d meant to give her a kiss. Part of his skull was missing. Miller gagged. She pulled back, repulsed. Her butt shrieked in protest.
Footsteps came closer, and Miller braced herself for whatever fresh hell life might bring. She wanted this to end. Her buttock and leg felt like they were on fire, she was exhausted, and she could hardly catch a breath.
The man’s dead body was rolled off of her. Miller opened her eyes again. She looked up at the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Well, he was kind of ugly and beautiful at the same time. He was badass and handsome and smiling. He stood in the dim light like some Greek God in denim and leather.
“Hey, Pretty Penny.” Scratch went down on one knee and pushed the hair out of her eyes. “I’m back.”
“Scratch?”
“Sorry to be a minute late. We thought we’d killed the bitch with a drone.”
Miller grimaced. “You men get mushy at the strangest times.” She tried to push herself up, but didn’t have the strength. Pain was draining her energy. Her muscles were trembling.
Scratch put his hands under her armpits and pulled. Another set of hands, just as strong, joined in and lifted. Miller felt dazed and wondered if Sheppard had survived. She turned to the other helper. Her mouth dropped open. “Jimmy?”
Jimmy just nodded, somehow both serious and cocky. He looked so much like Scratch her heart ached.
“Where’s Karl?” Scratch asked, his eyes peering into the darkness.
“Over there somewhere,” she said. “Williams captured him. I got her but he was standing awful close.” Her voice broke. “Hope I didn’t hit him, too.”
Scratch stood and walked in the direction Miller had pointed. Miller leaned on Jimmy. Scratch called back from the shadows down the hall. “Nope. He’s not over here. But you’re right, Williams is dead as black and white TV.” He turned to look back at Miller. He shook his head. “How did you pull this one off, Annie Oakley? Damn, that must have been one hell of a shot.”
“We have to find Karl,” Miller insisted needlessly. “We have to. We can’t just leave him behind.”
“She’s bleeding pretty bad, Scratch.” Jimmy had knelt down to inspect Miller’s wound. She didn’t care that he was examining her butt. She just wished she had a couple of pain pills and a shot of Scotch to wash them down. If the bullet was still in there, it wouldn’t be fun taking the sucker out. She hoped it had gone clean through the fatty tissue. Sure felt that way. Maybe she’d gotten lucky again.
“We’ll look for Karl, I promise, but we have to find a medical kit first, Penny. We need to keep that wound clean and bandage it properly.”
“But…”
He was right, and Miller knew it. Going any further into that building would mean starting yet another combat mission while wounded. She’d hold the men back, and be helpless if left behind. If still alive, Sheppard was a big boy and would know they’d be searching for him shortly. Scratch reached down and swept her up in his powerful arms. Miller felt like she was flying. She got dizzy. She began to drift in and out of consciousness.
“How did you find me?”
“There weren’t many buildings left standing, for one thing. We came to look. We followed the bloody footsteps,” Scratch carried her into the now empty stairwell. “Now hush. Everything’s going to be okay. I’ve got you.”
Miller smiled. “I sure hope so. We gave up too much for this not to have a happy ending.”
“Now who’s getting all mushy?”
Miller put her arm around his neck, pulled him in close, and kissed him. It was the nicest kiss she had ever had. Embarrassed, Jimmy studied the bland stairway wall. Miller broke off the kiss. She looked back at the dark corridor but still saw no sign of Karl Sheppard. He’d find a way to pick up their trail and join the others. She did not want to consider the alternative.
The door closed behind them.
Chapter Twenty-Six
0 hour, 30 minutes to Stage Three (11:30pm)
The makeshift bandage had stopped the bleeding, but Miller’s ass still felt like someone had shoved a red-hot poker through it from side to side. She was amazed one wound to her padded nether regions could hurt that much. Carrying her, Scratch stepped out onto the next level. The lights were staying on and she could see clearly. The battle seemed over. Someone had managed to take charge again and get things running properly.
Jimmy held the stairwell door open, and Scratch brought her into the corridor on the first floor. To her surprise, a small group of people cheered. McDivitt and Christa were there, as was a vacant-eyed Judy, and two new girls Jimmy introduced as Anna Lee and Sunita. Judy looked almost bored. She was a true
sociopath. Miller hoped they’d never have to work together again. She made a note to warn Christa that someone like that could never be trusted.
Miller smiled, despite the pain, when she saw that Little Lex was there too. There was a delivery entrance on the first floor, and behind the kid Miller saw some open doors and some kind of concrete ramp leading outside. She could see a clear sky and stars beyond the steadily rising smoke. Emergency trucks were spraying the worst of the fires. The night beyond the war zone seemed surprisingly calm and quiet.
Miller wanted to know how Scratch had stumbled across Jimmy and his brother. She wanted to hear everything that had happened to her man. She felt glad that they had been able to rescue two new girls. Too many people had died. The human race needed a chance to start over. Life had been hellish for far too long. Perhaps with Williams dead and her operation shattered, the plague could finally be eliminated. The government would have a long way to go to pull that off, of course. It might even fail in the end. She tried not to think about that possibility.
“Well done, Sheriff Miller.”
Miller turned at the sound of a new male voice. She stiffened with anger. It was Crespi. He sat down on the floor nearby. He crossed his legs as if unaware he was ruining a thousand-dollar business suit. He had a bandage and blood on his right arm. There was a story there, she was sure.
“You’re a little late to this party, ain’t ya, Miguel?” Miller glared at Scratch but he just shrugged. Apparently he wanted her to hear Crespi out.
“I think, all things considered, that my timing is actually quite good,” Crespi said. “I worked hard on the planning stage. If you don’t want a fully stocked and staffed ambulance, ready to take the wounded to a hospital, this can go either way.”
“Listen, you…”
“Penny,” warned Scratch. “Be nice for a minute. You’re gonna need this ride.”
“What about the others?” Miller demanded, looking around. “We can’t all fit into one ambulance.”
“Trust me. I have arranged transportation for them as well.”
The Hungry (Book 6): The Rule of Three (The Sheriff Penny Miller Zombie Series) Page 30