She knew there wasn't anything heavy enough on the roof to make a difference but all four of them couldn't waste time with the last part of the line now. They'd only be panicked and in the way if they had nothing left to do but watch her work.
Tosha ignored them as they scurried away to do what she'd asked them to.
The last sheet was tied to the line and Tosha pulled at it, making sure it was tightly secured to the hatch. The only way to test it was to go down the line and hope for the best.
Mathyu was standing on the lip of the roof facing Tosha, who jumped when her sister appeared.
"What did I tell about doing that shit?" Tosha asked her twin. She turned to see the family now staring at her. Tosha pointed at the hatch as it shook violently, knocking things on top of it around. "He's coming. Hurry up."
There just wasn't enough to keep the hatch closed for long.
Tosha gripped the makeshift rope in her hands and stood on the edge of the building, afraid to look down. If there was a zombie or three below, she might hesitate. She'd rather fall on one and take her chances than face this pissed off bastard about to reach their position.
Mathyu cocked her head slightly to the right. Tosha didn't remember her ever doing it before and it pissed Tosha off.
"Don't you fucking judge me. You're dead. You can't do that anymore. You lost that privilege when you left me," Tosha said and gave her sister the finger.
The family was busy trying to stand on the hatch as it came up a foot or more with each punch from the zombie.
Tosha prayed these blankets and towels would hold her weight as she put a foot down onto the wall and the rope went taut.
The little girl turned and stared at Tosha when she saw the rope tighten beneath her.
Tosha had to look away, down at her hands, when the little girl began to cry.
"Not my problem. I'm just passing through. If they really want to escape, they'll be right behind me," Tosha said under her breath.
She began scaling down the wall. When she looked back, just before her head sunk lower than the lip, her sister was gone but the little girl was still staring as the hatch opened.
Chapter Nineteen
Eve stopped running her fingers through Amber’s red hair and cocked her head. Something was wrong and it was nearby. Someone of great importance was getting too close for comfort.
She’d been wasting time, knowing the baby everyone sought was in Jacksonville. Eve had assumed it would be drawn towards her and she could control it, but now she wasn’t so sure.
Another complication had entered the city as well, and Eve knew who it was.
The Zombie Killer was here.
Eve sighed and went back to giving attention to cute little Amber. What would be would be, right? She'd learned, with her new focus and increased powers, she could control most things but not all of them.
She couldn't see the future. She could only try to manipulate people to do her bidding, but even that wasn't foolproof. A complication like The Zombie Killer was a major roadblock for what she wanted to do.
Eve had goals like everyone else. They were constantly changing, rearranging and reformulating in her head but they were constant. She needed the evolving plans to go along with her rapidly superior mindset.
She needed to figure out a way to eliminate The Zombie Killer, collect the baby and better understand her role in this brave new world she'd helped to create.
Eve found it interesting the baby wasn't with his mother, too. She figured by now they'd be reunited and forge a stellar bond and become the biggest threat to her kind.
The ultimate goal would be to find them one at a time and use them against the other if possible.
"They've returned," one of the men said nearby, his voice catching as he approached a few steps. He wisely stopped when Eve looked in his direction and the runner who'd relayed the news was sprinting across the field to get back to the tunnels and out of harm's way.
Eve grinned and raised her hand, jerking her pinkie and watching as she gave a subtle push to the runner, who fell head-first into the ruined grass field and skidded a couple of feet before stopping. It was all she could do not to laugh. Little things in life were still worth living for, she decided. After all, weren't these humans here for her amusement?
Amber looked up and saw her mother walking towards the tent and stiffened.
"Do you want to go to her?" Eve asked.
Amber nodded her head slowly, her body shaking.
Eve had explained to Amber while her birth mother was gone how this would work from now on: Eve would be called mommy and shown respect. If Amber did this, the other woman could live, and be comfortable.
Eve gripped Amber by the arm and gave it a squeeze, hoping it would leave the tiniest of bruises. She pushed Amber away. "Go to her. Hug her. She loves you."
Amber took off like a shot, slamming into her smiling mother. The two hugged while the man Eve had also sent out came over, doing his best not to make eye contact, and put the items he'd collected onto the table under the tent.
"Is everything alright, Del?" Eve asked.
"How did you know... uh, yes, everything is fine. We found a daycare and took what we could carry," Del said.
"You found this daycare all by yourself?"
Del nodded but was staring at the table. "Yes. We wandered around and found a few things."
"How fortunate. The chance of you finding anything in this city is likely a thousand to one odds. Yet... you easily found the one place items you needed were still intact," Eve said.
Del shrugged, trying to appear casual, but his body language and thoughts betrayed him.
"Is there anything left? If there is, tomorrow at first light you and another man can go and get the rest. How does that sound?" Eve stared at Del, smiling because the ground was more interesting to Del right now.
"Whatever you wish," Del said.
Amber's birth mother was slowly leading the little girl away, towards the tunnel.
"Stop. Where do you think you're going with Amber?" Eve smiled. She had to give the woman points for trying. If she thought she'd casually walk away and Eve would forget about Amber, she was sadly mistaken.
The woman turned, putting herself between her daughter and Eve. Her lips were trembling but no words escaped. She looked like she was going to cry.
"Amber stays with me," Eve said. She raised a hand and swept it in the direction of the table. "She has all of these fine toys to play with. In fact... you're going to do something for me."
Eve walked around the table. There were only a few toys and some clothes. Not nearly enough but it would be a good start. She decided she needed to do something big and bold today. The little girl had given her an idea, and Eve didn't want all of this to come crashing down because humans were so damn weak.
She looked up at the skyboxes in the stadium.
"I want you to leave Amber with me for right now. I'm not asking. That is an order, one your life depends on." Eve turned back to the woman before glancing at the man she'd gone on the mission with. "Has this man violated you?"
The woman shook her head.
Eve read her thoughts. It was true. This man, Del, had protected some of the women and children.
"Excellent. The two of you will go into the tunnel and gather every woman and boy under the age of fourteen and lead them onto the field. If I see any other man besides Del with them, I will rip them to pieces. Is that understood?" Eve asked.
"I... I don't understand..." the woman said. She was starting to get on Eve's nerves and making her second guess her plan, which was going to help her.
"It's not for you to understand. It's for you to obey. I'm going to relocate the women and children so they aren't in harm's way," Eve said.
"My wife and daughter are with me," Del said. "I can protect them."
Eve shook her head. "No, you can't. Only I can. When men feel weak and powerless, they attack those even weaker. They are frustrated they cannot be manly and
lead. They are beginning to take it out on the powerless. I will not have needless deaths and pain because some men cannot control their lust and urges. Do as I say and know you will be protecting them."
Del hesitated for a second and Eve thought she was going to have to eliminate the man and use him as a lesson for the others, but then he turned and jogged back to the tunnel. Eve scanned his mind and smiled when he was already figuring out how to get all of the women and children out without a fight.
"Go and help him," Eve said to the woman. She bent down and smiled at Amber, holding out her hand.
"Let's go and play with some toys for awhile. What would you like for dinner?"
Amber pulled away from her mother, who looked shocked the girl would simply walk away from her.
It made Eve smile.
"Can you cook?" Eve asked the woman.
"Yes."
"Good. I think we'll stop feeding everyone the swill we find on the side of the road. I'm putting you in charge of setting up a cooking station in the end zone. We'll need some tables and chairs for everyone, too. I think the men are going to need to build up their strength now that I've eliminated the focus of the women. They'll need something to do. Rebuilding the stadium will take on a new priority, and the women will need to clean and cook," Eve said.
"Why are you suddenly being nice to us?" the woman asked.
"You don't think I was always being nice?" Eve asked.
The woman wisely kept her mouth shut and Eve didn't need to read her thoughts to know the real answer.
"I need all of you alive. I need men and women to have normal relations and make babies. Children that will someday form the basis of my empire. Babies born out of violence and rape are not the answer. Child-bearing women are going to be held in reverence from now on. I'm going to build private housing in the skyboxes above for the women. You'll be fed well and taken care of. No more hiding in the bowels of the stadium," Eve said.
"And in return?" the woman asked.
Eve grinned. "In return for your safety, you'll begin giving me what I want: more children. Amber will lead the way for a New World Order."
Chapter Twenty
The river below looked so peaceful. If Bernie focused on the flowing water and ignored the smoking buildings on either side of the river or the sunken cargo ship, she could imagine a simpler time.
She was halfway across the bridge but had to stop and take a break. She was exhausted, her nerves frayed and every sound startled her. She wondered if she was suffering from PTSD or just having a nervous breakdown. This was all too much for her.
Something splashed in the water below but when she looked all she saw was flowing water. Was she now hearing things? She needed to rest but she had no idea where.
The bridge took her to the downtown area, the area her group had skirted a week ago because it was probably filled with zombies. Most big cities were packed with them, yet here she was.
About to walk right into the biggest city in the continental United States and a horde of zombies.
Bernie wondered if Darlene was also in Jacksonville, and what she'd do if she saw Bernie.
A metallic clank behind Bernie turned her around in time to see three zombies, entrails dragging behind their ravaged bodies, heading in her direction.
She could probably run around the trio and escape, although she could see a few more moving in sight up the bridge now. She wondered if she'd made a noise they were drawn to or she just happened to be in their migratory path.
"Not that it matters, right?" Bernie decided to take them out because she didn't want them at her back, and she had some aggression and frustration to work out.
A tire iron she'd found in the weeds a few miles back now came in handy as she slammed the closest zombie in the face and watched it split the skull like a knife through butter, the brain sliding to the side before slipping to the ground.
One of the zombies had an empty holster and Bernie wondered where the gun had been dropped. It could be on the other side of the bridge or a hundred miles away.
Bernie spun and dropped the second zombie with little effort, the tire iron a good weapon in her hands. It didn't draw attention but did the job.
A few feet away another zombie came into view and Bernie stretched and set her feet, letting it come to her. She felt like she had all the time in the world right now and maybe she did. She wasn't in a rush to do anything other than survive. If Darlene or anyone else was in the city, she'd eventually find them, or they'd find her.
She heard a noise behind her and turned to see two zombies bobbing in and out of the cars on the bridge. Quite a few were following behind and she knew she couldn't use that way to retreat now. Not that it mattered because she was only going towards Jacksonville.
"Shit," Bernie said when she turned back to see a wall of zombies coming up the bridge, their heads appearing as they slowly moved.
She went back to the side and stood on the railing to get a better view, holding onto the thick ropes of the bridge so the wind didn't knock her into the water.
Bernie was in trouble.
She hadn't seen so many zombies approaching but she'd been too busy daydreaming as she looked at the water below.
If there was a gap in either direction, she'd need to take it.
There wasn't.
A tire iron and her wits weren’t going to get her through more than a few of the zombies before their numbers overwhelmed her.
She needed to go on the offensive so she rushed the lead zombie she'd been toying with and bashed its head in with two strikes, pushing the body in front of her. With any luck she could knock down enough of them to trip up their friends.
It didn't look promising for an escape but Bernie focused on the next zombie coming at her, swinging and connecting with a blow to the head. It knocked the zombie down but not out and before Bernie could hit it again another was in her face. She took it down but she was breathing heavy and her hands were shaking. She was going to have a panic attack and die.
"Come on. Let's do this," Bernie shouted, trying to motivate herself and show the zombies who was boss. She needed to prove she could do this.
With each blow, Bernie jumped back or to either side, trying to strike at the lead zombies without letting any of them get around her. It was hard work, but she was able to move forward about twenty feet, where two cars had been in an accident months ago. They acted like a natural funnel for the bulk of the zombies, though too many were still coming around either side.
If Bernie could keep them at bay maybe she'd have a chance to eventually clear a path. There couldn't be an infinite amount of zombies... could there?
A zombie got too close for comfort and Bernie pushed it away. Her arm was tiring and she was sweating from the heat and the fight. One wrong move and the tire iron might slip from her fingers and then she'd be lost.
Bernie jumped up onto the hood of the car and then the roof, hoping to catch her breath. Hands tried to pull her down and she stomped on a few fingers but it didn't deter the zombies.
"Holy shit," Bernie said when she looked down both sides of the bridge. The few extra feet higher up she was had shown her what she didn't want to see: zombies as far as the eye could see in both directions.
There were many zombies crowding on the bridge. She saw, every now and then, a zombie getting pushed against the sides and falling off into the water below.
A zombie got a hold on her shoe and Bernie struggled to get free, falling onto her ass but luckily staying on the roof of the car. She was face to face with so many zombies she began swinging wildly, connecting but not doing much damage from a prone position.
She tried to stand but couldn't break free of the zombie's grip and another touched her other foot. They were struggling to get onto the car and some had flip-flopped onto the hood and trunk.
The car began to shake with the sheer numbers of unwashed bodies being pushed against it.
Bernie managed to shake a foot loose and swung around,
landing upright on one knee. She used the tire iron to bash the hand holding her other leg half a dozen times until the bones in the wrist shattered and finally let go.
She stood on wobbly feet, bending at the waist to hit zombies as they crawled up the hood and trunk. Bernie figured she had a few minutes before one or more got to the roof, or the zombies shook the car with such force she fell off.
Bernie danced on the roof as hands tried to get her, keeping her balance like she was riding the waves on a surfboard.
Her blows were becoming more lethargic and infrequent at a time when she needed to get a burst of energy and get out of this situation.
Am I going to die this way? After everything I've been through? No one will even know I existed. I'll be ripped apart and then join this horde, wandering around Florida looking for someone else to add to our ranks, Bernie thought.
She looked down at a female zombie, teeth chattering in anger and ruined hands trying to grab at Bernie.
"Do you even know what you're doing or what you are now?" Bernie asked, knowing, even if the woman could hear the question, she couldn't respond.
Bernie swung the tire iron, slamming the zombie in her face.
She pulled back and the tire iron slipped, banging onto the roof of the car.
Bernie dove for it but the tire iron fell off the side and was lost forever.
She began kicking the zombies on the hood of the car, managing to push them off or at least to one side to block the others.
Bernie was going to die unless she got off this bridge.
"I'd rather fall to my death than become a zombie," she yelled before running off the car, punching and kicking anything in her way.
She felt a zombie grabbing at her shirt and she ripped the front of it, losing the shirt as she made it to the side of the bridge.
Bernie prayed there was a God and he wasn't going to let her die as she jumped off the bridge and into the river below.
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