Dying Days 6

by Armand Rosamilia

  Dying Days 6

  Armand Rosamilia

  Edited by Jenny Adams

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without expressed written consent of the author and/or artists

  This book is a work of fiction. Names characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living, dead or undead, is entirely coincidental.

  Dying Days 6 copyright 2016 by Armand Rosamilia

  Cover copyright 2016 by Jack Wallen

  First printing June 2016

  armandrosamilia@gmail.com

  http://dyingdayszombie.com

  There are many people to thank, too many to name… but I’ll name a few who directly helped make this sixth installment come to (undead) life:

  Pheebz Jackson, Mimzie Hand, Lucille Grabow Bransfield, Patricia Statham and Karen Dziegel

  Shelly, who keeps me in line and keeps this train rollin’

  The readers who’ve made Dying Days what it is today… here’s to the future!

  The Dying Days series from Armand Rosamilia

  Highway To Hell

  Dying Days

  Dying Days 2

  Still Dying: Select Scenes From Dying Days

  Still Dying 2

  Dying Days 3

  Dying Days: Origins

  Highway To Hell 2

  Dying Days: Origins 2

  Dying Days 3

  Dying Days 4

  Dying Days 5

  Dying Days 6

  Dying Days 7

  Dying Days 6

  Prologue

  Her name had been Eve, which she thought fitting.

  She loved watching football as a kid with her dad in Upstate New York. Dad was a Giants fan so she’d begun rooting for the rival Jets. Now, she wished she hadn’t been such a bad daughter.

  “I need her to shut up,” Eve said quietly to the terrified man in chains.

  The woman had been screaming for hours. At first Eve thought it amusing. How long could someone yell when they were slowly tortured?

  Too long.

  “Should we take her off the table?” the man in chains asked.

  Eve moved with lightning speed and slapped the man across the face, driving his nose into his skull and killing him. Eve smiled and licked the trace of blood on her hand.

  She no longer needed the blood or the violence but it came with the power. She needed more power. As a teen she'd read a book about Countess Bathory and thought it was very cool. Now Eve wanted to be the new Bathory. She needed a new subject to do her bidding now, too.

  “Unchain this dead man and get his pitiful body out of my stadium,” Eve said.

  Two servants ran and did her bidding as quickly as possible, never making eye contact.

  Eve pointed at the woman, stretched on the table on the sideline below.

  “I grow weary of her screams. If she isn’t going to tell what I need to know, hang her in the parking lot with the others,” Eve said.

  Humans were so problematic but necessary right now. As much as she wished she could wipe them off the face of her earth, she needed them as she grew in power. She needed them to keep others away from this stadium, and rebuild it in her image.

  The markings of the football team formerly housed here were now gone, a pile of broken teal, black and gold standards and banners either burned or piled on the practice field away from this spot. Eve didn’t want to see another jaguar or dumb football slogan, although the giant screens needed to be fixed and the markings taken from them at some point. She’d already lost three humans climbing to the top of the stadium without finishing the job.

  Through the tunnel, she could see two small eyes watching. It was the little girl, so inquisitive and curious despite her mother’s fear that Eve would eat her.

  “Come, little one,” Eve called out from across the stadium. She smiled and motioned with her hands.

  The girl got six steps before her mother ran out and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, steering her back.

  “Let her go,” Eve yelled.

  The woman took another step back, ignoring the command.

  “I will not say it again,” she said. Eve was moving, already down the steps and onto the field.

  The mother stopped, back rigid as she stood between Eve and her precious daughter, not looking back.

  Eve lightly pushed the woman away, not even bothering to look at her. She wasn’t important. The mother was just another female to birth more children who would someday grow to help build an empire.

  “What’s your name?” Eve asked, bending down and smiling.

  “Are you a monster?” the little girl, maybe six years old, asked.

  Eve laughed. “Is that what your mother’s been telling you?”

  “No, ma'am,” the mother answered quickly. “I just… we need to get back inside. It is your law we don’t come out unless you call for us.”

  “Maybe I did call for her. You didn’t tell me your name, honey,” Eve said. She smiled at the little girl again.

  “Amber,” she said.

  She laughed. “Amber is a fat girl name.” She had such pretty red hair.

  The mother opened her mouth to say something really stupid but wisely turned away without a sound.

  Eve put her hand out. “Come, Amber, we have much to discuss.”

  The woman tried to step between her daughter and Eve again.

  “You’re dismissed,” Eve said.

  “My daughter…”

  “No harm will come to the child. I just want to talk to someone so innocent for awhile. I grow so bored with adults who think they know what I want them to say.” Eve looked down at Amber. She was a skinny little thing. Unlike anyone she’d ever known named Amber. Including her own sister, Amber.

  When the woman didn’t immediately back down, Eve grinned and leaned forward. The mother stared into her gray eyes, frightened but her maternal instinct overpowering reason and survival.

  “Don’t let me slice your throat in front of your daughter. You cannot win this battle. The only thing you can do is put your trust in a monster like me and pray to your God I don’t do anything bad to your precious child,” Eve said. She patted Amber on the head and pointed. “Go run across the field as quickly as you can. I’ll wait for you on the other side."

  When Amber began to run, crossing the football field, Eve turned back to the mother.

  “Are you not fed?”

  “Ma'am?”

  Eve raised her hands. “Do I not protect you from the zombies? Do I not get you food and drink, a bed to sleep in, and entertainment? Am I a bad ruler?”

  The mother shook her head quickly.

  “Then it makes me curious why you don’t trust me with Amber. Have I ever touched one of the children or said something inappropriate? Have you heard rumors from others in your group?”

  “No.” The woman stared at Eve and she could see she was trying to keep her thoughts as hidden as she could, even though it wasn’t working.

  “You’re worried about me hurting her. You should be more worried about yourself, especially if you can’t offer me what I want,” Eve said. “If I were you, I’d take this time alone and realize it’s a gift. Go back and find a mate, because barren females aren’t anything more than zombie bait.”

  Eve was about to threaten her further when the images in her mind startled her.

  She turned back to see Amber standing on the other sideline.

  “Amber, I want you to run around the field. Play. Have fun. I’ll be right back. I’m going to talk with your mother and then you and I wil
l eat M&M’s and drink soda,” Eve said.

  She turned back to the mother and put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Take me to the men who are forcing themselves on the women. These men will be dealt with severely so this doesn’t happen again,” she said.

  The mother shook her head. “No. Please don’t do anything. I can handle it.”

  Eve looked at Amber as she started running. “Eventually, once you’re all broken, they’ll start on the children. This is what men do. This is why I am here now. To cull the herd so we can find only the ones worth living.” She grabbed the woman roughly by the chin. “I am not asking you to tell me. I will eviscerate you in front of the flock to prove a point, do you understand? I am not your friend. I am not going to rip these men apart brutally because I love my followers and want to show them justice. I am doing it because you are my property and every dead woman means one less baby for me. I need a population to continue my work. Take me to them.”

  She nodded her head slowly.

  Eve grinned. She hadn’t had to kill anyone and make an example in too many weeks.

  The Chosen One was coming right to her, drawn to the power, and she needed to stay sharp.

  Chapter One

  Darlene Bobich stopped at the intersection of I-95 and Route 295 and cocked her head, listening for trouble. She had no idea which way to go to find her child.

  A zombie walked by her without a dead glance and Darlene didn’t feel like wasting the energy to kill it. Her bloodlust had been sated miles ago, and now she was just tired.

  She watched another zombie shuffle by, missing his left arm and still covered in fresh blood. This man had died not too long ago judging by the lack of rot on his body and his clothing dirty but not yet in shreds.

  This poor bastard survived this long, only to have his luck run out, Darlene thought. He might be one of the last to turn into a smarter zombie if he was allowed to live, but more than likely he’d be butchered by either a survivor or a smart zombie who didn’t want the eventual opponent. The world was becoming less and less populated by zombies as they evolved and slaughtered their own kind.

  Darlene walked to the side of the road and sat down on the grass, away from the hot pavement. She watched for snakes in the tall weeds. The zombies no longer felt her presence thanks to the mix of her already superior blood with The Lich Lord’s.

  She didn’t know what she was but for right now she’d take it. She needed to find her baby and understand why Bri had taken him before Darlene put a bullet in the little bitch’s head.

  My son.

  She just wanted to hold him in her arms and listen to him cry and laugh. She’d already named him John Murphy III, and she’d call him Junior. At first she’d been reluctant to choose a name but after John had been killed Darlene knew life was too short to worry.

  A female zombie, the left side of her face caved in but still intact, wandered in her direction. She was headed right at Darlene. Even though they were technically no longer a threat, Darlene still felt a panic attack coming on when one of them seemed to stare with those dead eyes.

  Darlene stood and stabbed her with a knife; slicing through the wrecked forehead and watching the glimmer fade from her stare.

  She’d since given up on killing every zombie but a few here and there wouldn’t hurt.

  The intelligent ones were the problem, and they were around more and more. She needed to figure out what signs the zombies gave off right before they smartened up. If she could work it out, she might be able to eliminate them before they got their memories back and were able to think like a once-human.

  Now that she was back on her feet she decided to keep heading north. She’d keep moving and find her baby, like a needle in a haystack. Bri and Junior could be anywhere right now.

  At this once-busy intersection, with all the off-ramps and roads merging, the abandoned cars were nearly piled on top of one another. It stunk to high Heaven under the closest underpass, where a half-burnt pile of bodies was being torn open by a pack of turkey vultures, overstuffed with all the road kill for them to eat.

  By the smell of the bodies and the stray wafts of smoke coming from the pyre, it was obvious this had been done within the last twelve hours or so.

  Darlene steered clear and kept her eyes open. Above her, on the overpass, she could see a few wandering zombies but nothing else.

  A slight breeze turned the hot putrid air in her direction and she covered her mouth and nose with a hand. She wondered if smart zombies were affected by the stink. They didn’t need to eat or sleep or defecate. They just existed without anything holding them back.

  Darlene could feel the blood flowing through her and her senses were definitely heightened but she was still hungry right now. She guessed she was a hybrid, but had no idea where she fit into the new world.

  The Lich Lord seemed to think she was important enough to let her go without a fight, and would welcome her back with open arms if she found her baby and needed a refuge.

  Darlene didn’t know how far she could trust The Lich Lord, but in a pinch she would have to test it.

  Right now north was the only way to go, and Junior was the only focus she needed.

  Past the smoldering bodies, she saw a cluster of zombies, bumping into one another and moving off to the side of the highway.

  Keep going. Nothing to see, Darlene thought, but she walked slowly in the direction of the zombie mob, knowing it wasn’t going to be good.

  She was right.

  The zombies were actually slamming into one another in their quest to get the last scrap of meat off what might’ve been a woman before she’d died.

  At least four zombies were pulling strips of flesh from what remained of her leg, and a dozen more were trying to get around them to taste the human flesh.

  Darlene sighed.

  They were fighting over the scraps. Did they not know they’d survive and turn into something even more powerful? Of course not. They were rotting away to nothing, on the brink of being unable to continue. Yet… if left unchecked, every one of these zombies would someday gain their intelligence and cunning back and be a threat.

  The human race will never survive, Darlene thought. She didn’t know if they were meant to, either. The Lich Lord had talked about the evolution of man into zombie and beyond, and she was starting to think he was right. They were more akin to vampire once they fully turned, which was still odd to her. What was next? Werewolves and mummies? Elves and trolls?

  None of the zombies paid her much thought, engrossed in their meal.

  One of the zombies pushed his way through and managed to get a grip on the leg, stiff-arming his way from the group, who followed.

  Darlene knew he was turning by his actions. He was showing symptoms of intelligence, now heading away from the group with his prize.

  He looked back at the following mob and then Darlene, catching her eye. He knew she was alive and he hesitated.

  Darlene pulled her Desert Eagle and fired, striking him in the face.

  The leg dropped to the ground, where it was wrestled by two zombies, another two trying to grab it.

  If I find Junior and manage to hide, what then? In time there will be millions of smart zombies looking for every last human alive, and what chance will we have? Darlene didn’t like the odds of surviving.

  “One thing at a time,” she whispered. She’d rather die with her baby than alone on this bloody highway. Darlene turned and began walking.

  She walked half a mile and stopped. Up ahead, coming at her, down the center of the road, were six people. Living, breathing people.

  They noticed her a second later, all stopping and raising weapons.

  Darlene put up her hands and kept walking slowly towards them to get away from the zombie group behind her. If they got too close, they’d be attacked. She didn’t know if they were actually friend or foe just yet.

  They also approached. Darlene sized them up quickly.

  Two women and four men. Only
one of the women and one of the men had rifles, and, by the way they were carrying them, she knew they were out of ammo. They carried them too loose like they’d use them as clubs if it came down to it.

  Everyone looked dirty, underfed and scared.

  She wondered how they’d survived this long and where they were headed.

  One of the men, at least a head taller than Darlene, with a thick brown beard and unruly hair, put up his hand. He had a rusting axe draped over his shoulder.

  “Hello,” Darlene said. She stopped fifty feet from the group. She still had her Desert Eagle in hand.

  “Did you fire a weapon?” he asked.

  Darlene put her hands down, keeping the gun at her side, and nodded. “Back there is a shitload of zombies. One got too close for comfort.”

  “Put down your weapon,” he said.

  Darlene shook her head. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll hold onto it. I don’t want any trouble. I’m just heading north. I’d like to keep going, if you don’t mind.”

  “It got really bad downtown,” the woman with the rifle said.

  Darlene shot a thumb over her shoulder. “It isn’t nice back the way I came, either.”

  The man turned and gave the woman a withering look before turning back to Darlene.

  “Drop the weapon and your backpack and empty your pockets,” he said.

  Darlene smiled. “Again… no. This won’t end well for any of us if you keep giving me commands.”

  “We have two rifles aimed at your head,” he said.

  Darlene raised the Desert Eagle. “And I have one aimed at your face. What’s your point?”

  He didn’t look happy.

  “You go your way and I’ll go mine,” Darlene said. “I have no beef with the living.”