“Glad to see you survived,” Lisa said genuinely, but without a smile. Too many were lost that day to show any form of happiness.
“Yeah, we got a call about ten minutes ago telling us to crawl into something and hide with the doors locked. The van worked pretty good; I don’t think they even knew we were here. There’s only twelve of us; did any of the others make it?”
“I don’t know, I just got here. Who are you?”
“I’m Jerome. What in the hell were those things?”
“I don’t know that either, Jerome,” Lisa replied as she watched Tonka paw at the side luggage bin on the semi-tractor. It opened and a woman rolled out onto the ground, looking as if she had been trapped in a sauna, but at least she was alive.
“Look, I don’t know what your plan is, Jerome, but I think the safest bet is to get back to Hot Springs as quick as possible. In order to do that, we need to start a convoy and collect people and trucks as we go. I don’t know what kind of damage those things did or how many of them there are or when they will be back, but our survival is back at the compound.”
“Yeah, I haven’t been to the compound yet. I just joined your group yesterday, but if there is food and showers, then I am all for it.”
“Good; let’s move toward the hospital and collect more of us before we head back. Fall in behind me,” Lisa said, getting a nod from Jerome. She couldn’t escape the thought that Jerome was as good as the proverbial dead man walking because he just met her. Everyone she got involved with died. They would eagerly jump on her band wagon and, inevitably, die.
The hospital was devoid of people other than red stains and small chunks of anatomy left over from the initial onslaught. A few zombies slowly staggered around, appearing as if they were also in shock from the recently departed creatures. They recovered quickly though and had to be put down with a few well-placed shots. Some of the living started to come out of hiding upon hearing the shots, but not enough to drive all of the trucks—and Mitch, who was supposed to be heading up the operation, was not among them.
So many lost seemed to be the only thing running through her mind. Her stomach was a hollow pit and her chest hurt as if she had been crying all day … yet she hadn’t; not one tear, not yet …
Her SAT phone was out of juice so she was unable to get a hold of Krupp; she prayed that he still lived. Trucks and larger vehicles seemed to hold up against the new horde, but smaller cars and compacts were torn to hell and covered with the blood of those who sought to use them as a refuge. More and more semis were left behind as fewer and fewer survivors came out to join in.
Lisa couldn’t help but wonder if they were afraid to join her because she was cursed. The only thing surrounding her, it seemed, was death. She began to accept the fact that everyone she ever knew was dead and she felt that it was somehow her fault. She knew she didn’t cause the epidemic; in fact, she did everything she could to save people, but she had killed the living more than once and she had a feeling she would again.
Who the fuck do I think I am?
Lisa had never been prone to inner turmoil or guilt. She always trusted that her intentions were good and her actions would coincide with the policies that were put before her. But things had changed; the world had changed, and the rules were being made up as they went along. Rules made up and enacted by her. She had become the world’s greatest horror—judge, jury, and executioner all wrapped up in one little unraveling package. She knew something in her mind had skipped a beat. She was no longer the woman she was this morning—or even just an hour ago—and there was nothing she could do about it. It may not make her crazy or unstable, but it might be affecting her judgment; she didn’t know for sure. All she knew was there was an overwhelming feeling of dread that crept inside and she didn’t know if she could shake it. Every living soul that she saw now seemed so precious that she wondered if she could continue to sacrifice the one for the good of the many.
*
Mustafa had fared much better than some of the others and actually held a battle behind a phalanx of armored personnel carriers mixed with a tank. Hundreds of the new infected lay dead and dying from the blasts of three M2s set on top of the barricade.
The battle had been sudden and fierce as they tried to overwhelm the defenders, but it didn’t start with the attack. Instead, it started early in the morning when men and women alike started to change. They would fall to the ground with belly cramps, their temperature sky rocketing until they convulsed and spit bile mixed with blood. After fifteen or twenty minutes, they would fall into a comatose state for an undetermined amount of time. When they woke, they awoke hungry.
It only took a couple of occurrences before everyone with the symptoms were subdued before they had a chance to come around. Then to the horror of everyone—including the man who issued the order—they were exterminated.
Mustafa didn’t understand what was happening in the world, and he knew that his chances of someday meeting the Creator were gone as soon as this world took a shit. By his own hand, his grandbabies moved on to the next world, the blood of his son staining the carpet on which he walked. Ending their thirty years of love in a heap, the aged body of his own wife had fallen on his child and grandchildren; also by his hand. His only weapon had been an ornamental cavalry sword from his retirement. He wouldn’t have thought of using it, had he not knocked it off the wall while fighting off his pregnant daughter-in-law. Just a week ago, his life had gone from being greater than he ever imagined it could be to a living hell. A hell where he was forced to commit atrocities beyond imagination upon those he loved like nothing else in this world.
He would join them in death—he should join them in death, but the act of suicide was not in him. The act and lust for some type of revenge, however, was.
When the new infected arrived, his acts were just an extension of what he had been doing all along. He didn’t care if they were alive or dead; they were a threat so they had to die.
Mustafa felt there would be a special place for him in hell, but he just didn’t give a fuck anymore. He knew he would die soon, and he longed for that moment when his eyes glazed over and his chest heaved its last breath. He would go down fighting for those who still lived and when he went to hell, he would continue his fight.
There is no better place to kill the devil than in his own home.
*
“I can’t believe you, Ed. She says you’re in charge and then tells you what to do from a distance. What is her damn problem?” Lu whined.
“It’s not like that, Lu; she gave me valuable intel. Something is coming our way and it’s bad,” Krupp said as he headed for the truck he used as a command center. He knew that if what was coming was like what they had to deal with in the triage area, it was going to be bad. Those closest to the blast area, where more than a quarter million undead were blown into a fine mist, started coughing up blood and convulsing, displaying the same symptoms Mustafa had reported. They handled them the same way—there was no other choice.
“Everybody take cover until further notice. Find a building with no windows, like the armory or a security area like the storage lockers, and go on lockdown,” Tasha’s voice rang out on the radio everywhere. People scrambled for shelter while screams in the distance and the sound of running feet approaching signaled the arrival of the new threat.
“Why aren’t we going back to the trailer?” Lu asked Krupp.
“Haven’t you been listening? We have to go on lockdown somewhere secure. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. These new things are tearing off doors on small cars, blasting through all kind of windows, and running at breakneck speeds.”
“It doesn’t really matter what it is, Ed; she speaks and you jump,” Lu said petulantly.
Ed heard her, but blew her off; it was more of the same from Lu all the time. If she wasn’t bitching about Lisa, then it was someone else who commanded Ed’s attention for any length of time. Ed was much more concerned with what was happening down the stre
et, namely between him and the armory, than he was about her pettiness.
“Come on, Lu; we gotta move!” Ed said, grabbing her by the upper arm to help her along as he pulled a 1911 from his holster.
“I can’t run in these shoes! Slow down for … what the hell is that?” Lu exclaimed, wide-eyed as she saw two men chase down a third and start tearing him apart.
“It’s what Lisa warned us about.”
“You call that a warning?” Lu replied, truly unhappy with that bitch not being able to do anything to her standards.
“God damn it, Lu! You’re going to get us all killed for a set of fucking heels. Crawl up on my back and get your gun out. Try not to shoot it near my ear. If you fall, you’re on your own, so hang on and don’t choke me.”
“Just hurry up and get us out of here, Ed,” she said once she was on his back.
He felt her elbows dig into his collar bone as she chambered a round. She didn’t wrap her arms around his neck; instead, she relied on hooking them over his shoulders as being enough. She aimed in front of him, toward one of the two who had taken down the man in the distance. It saw them and turned, surprising them both. A female, it shrieked at them before charging. Wild-eyed and hands poised as claws, she rushed, heedless of the gun.
Lu fired, catching the woman in the shoulder, and Ed smiled. Lu may be a manipulating bitch, but she looked incredible in a set of heels and was also a hell of a shot. In her current situation, draped over his back as they ran, she shouldn’t have been able to hit her at all from a half block away. Instead, she hit it with what should have been a stopping blow to a normal human, but it kept coming. They were positioned for a head-on collision that would not turn out well for Lu and Ed. Lu fired again and hit the chest but that only slowed the woman slightly. Ed brought his sidearm up and slowed to steady his aim, causing Lu’s shot to go high. His forty-five caliber roared as half of the woman’s head turned into a mist, and she finally fell dead.
More of the vile things were starting to fill the streets, attacking anything that moved. A large man fell on a collie, trying to break its legs and bite it all at once, but the collie tucked tail and scooted away. There was no telling which was faster as he zigzagged after the dog that tried desperately to get away. It was the unfortunate couple that made a dash for the armory directly in front of the huge cannibal that saved the dog’s life. He tackled both in a massive bear hug, brought them to the ground then started tearing massive chunks of flesh off of them, ignoring the punches and kicks from the couple. Two more joined in, causing Lu’s stomach to turn.
Fifty yards away was the front of the armory, where several men with guns were trying to keep the creatures at bay. Ed could see the men already pulling back in. He shouted and one of them turned his way and started to lay down covering fire. Lu fired three quick shots to their left before she dropped her magazine and slid another into place while lining up on another that was too far away yet.
Ed didn’t worry about her or the shots that whizzed by as the men by the door tried to take out those behind him. It was the hard slapping of feet directly behind that spelled their doom. He tried to give an extra boost to his speed, but Krupp was more of a bulldozer than a sprinter.
Lu screamed as the thing behind grabbed her hard, throwing all three of them off balance. Krupp fell forward, giving Lu a buck over top of him and pushing her a little closer to the door. The creature was latched onto his back and was striking with teeth and nails in an attempt to get through his leather coat. His fingers dug in, causing Krupp to wonder if they could actually break through and into the flesh. His body started to shudder as the beast worked up into a frenetic pace. Ed spun and caught a part of its head with his 1911, but it didn’t slow the monster and more were coming. It buried its face into Krupp’s stomach, still not breaking through the coat, but he could feel the buttons getting stretched.
He pulled the trigger the second the barrel lined up with the shoulder of the creature. The large-caliber bullet forced the beast’s head up for Krupp’s next shot. He rolled out from under the dead attacker and followed after Lu, who was being pulled through the door. One of the men lifted his rifle up to shoot behind Krupp again, but Ed waved him off, choosing to turn in the last few steps and enter the door backwards so he could clear the trail as he went.
They slammed the door shut then heard the bodies on the other side pile up against it. Lu came over and threw herself into Ed’s arms, almost forcing him to catch her.
“Oh my … that was so close,” she said dramatically while leaning in for a kiss, which Ed instinctively pulled away from. He didn’t mind the cold nights when she curled up next to him and offered to comfort him, but public displays of affection were not in him. He never liked seeing it nor being a part of it.
He looked toward the ceiling and kept his hands on her upper arms to keep her just far enough away to not be offensive while his thoughts wandered elsewhere. Were these zombies? Obviously they had to be connected, but these are previously unaffected people who are now turning into … what? Two shots in the chest with a forty-five would kill them, but not a nine mm?!
Krupp paused as the sting slowly settled into his lower back where a love handle would be in easier times. By the way his shirt rode, he could tell that he was not only bitten but had had a chunk taken out of him and probably consumed. He looked at one of the men who had kept the door open for him and recognized him as one whom they had picked up in Benton.
“I’ve been bit,” Krupp said emotionless.
“That sucks … do you want to do it now or wait? I mean, we owe you that since you came right out and told us,” Lester replied. He had spent days on the run with Dean and his boy; he knew what to do when someone was bitten.
“No, honey, no … it’s … it’s just a scratch from when you fell,” Lu said, begging for it to be true.
“I wish that were the case, but it’s a bite. I need you to clean it up a bit, if you would,” Krupp asked.
“Sure, honey, let me take a look,” Lu replied.
“I’ll find a first aid kit. A long time ago I was a medic; I might be able to help out some,” Les added and headed into the other room.
“Okay, but then you have to stay with me until this is done, okay, Les? I mean you gotta be able to pull the trigger when it’s time.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way, buddy,” Les replied seriously.
Chapter 13
Couch
He heard the flaming cocktails crash through the windows in the level below. The apartment started to fill up with smoke almost immediately, and Dean could feel Web’s eyes scoping the building for movement, his high-powered rifle eager for blood.
The apartment was empty, not a lick of furniture or cabinets that he could use to break through one of the two windows. The old-style, single-hung, single-pane windows set in thick wooden frames were going to take a lot of effort for Dean to jump through. They were large enough to crawl through when opened, but Web would have a clear shot and a lot of time to take it. He headed back to the door to check the hallway in the hope that the Zs decided to move on due to the smoke. The slight bulge in the door from the bodies pressed against it told him that the window was the only option. He scanned for an old laundry chute or dumbwaiter like they would have in a cheesy mystery novel, but there wasn’t one; there never was one in real life. He had to get through one of those windows and hope the two-story fall to the pavement didn’t kill him.
He ran to the west window and started kicking on the center cross piece, pleased that the wood hadn’t weathered well and broke out easily. He worked while keeping the brick between him and where he assumed Web was hiding. Bullets ricocheted off of the opposite window jamb, telling him that he was right as to his location. Unfortunately, it also proved how good Web was with a rifle as a hot round skipped off the top of his shin.
“Fuck! Goddammit that hurts!” Dean stomped his foot and tried to walk it off before finally pulling out a bandanna and binding it over the wo
und just tight enough to slow the bleeding and keep anything infectious out. In a rage, he rushed toward the other window, assuming that it was in the same condition as the last. Like a practiced javelin thrower, Dean launched Shaaka toward the upper pane of the window. Its large head smashed through the single-pane glass just before Dean’s large body crashed through the cross piece and bottom pane, taking Web by surprise by having him focused on the other window that he had broken out before.
Dean felt a hastily fired shot hit him in the shoulder, which threw off his landing, causing him to land on his back on top of a Hyundai. He rolled onto the sidewalk and felt the heat from the burning building as it intensified, singeing the right side of his face, his unshaven beard curling into ash.
Zombies wandered down the street, attracted to the flames and the sound of his landing, leaving him no option except to run, even though Web was waiting for that moment. There were cars parked that offered some cover, but those spaces were filling up with zombies and he had to get away from the burning building. He scanned across the street; it was dangerous, but it would get him out of Web’s line of sight. The Zs themselves were his best bet for cover so he grabbed Shaaka from where it had fallen beside him and removed the buckler, keeping it in his strong arm.
It felt as though the bullet had passed completely through his shoulder, which bled badly and hurt like hell. The whole concept of the little pissant doctor getting the upper hand on him pissed Dean off. He was in a tight spot but he would make it. He had to make it because Web needed to die. Dean made a promise to the only person who was worth a shit in this world and he was more than proud to call that person son.
With his wounded arm, he began to hit Shaaka’s spear portion on the side of the Hyundai while keeping his buckler ready. Zombies came around the front and back of the car in a solid mass and Dean rushed out low and fast, deflecting the Zs as he ran and effectively using them as a shield wall while using the buckler to cover his head. Web started to clear out the zombies, trying to get a shot at Dean, but Dean followed the flow and stayed behind the fleshy barrier until he could sprint as fast as his damaged shin would allow.
Zombie Rush 4: Zombie Rush Page 11