Affliction Z: Abandoned Hope (Post Apocalyptic Thriller)
Page 25
“You ready?” he said.
“No,” she pleaded. “Let us go. Why are you doing this?”
He took a step back and kicked dirt and leaves at her and Jenny. “No one gets out of here. On top of that, she’s grown into a pest. Won’t leave me alone. Her daddy hates her. He ain’t gonna miss her being gone from here. Ain’t no one gonna.”
“She trusted you,” Addison said through her tears.
“And you trusted her.” He spat over her head. “Guess you’re both dumb bitches.”
Anger scratched its way through Addison’s core. Her muscles tightened. She clenched her fist. She glared at the guy.
He laughed at her, then said, “Stomach or face?”
She let Jenny slowly slide off her thighs, freeing her arms.
“Come on now,” the guy said. “You gotta pick or it’ll be hitter’s choice.”
Addison exploded upward, driving her fist into the flesh under his chin, and her knee into his groin. Both struck at the same time. The guy let out a loud exhale and bowed forward. She struck again with her knee, this time hitting him in the face. He stumbled to the ground. She turned around and attempted to pull Jenny to her feet. The woman moaned.
“Come on, Jenny,” Addison said. “We need to go.”
“I’m gonna kill you,” the guy said.
By the time Addison turned around, he had a hold of her ankle. With a yank, he dropped her to her knees. He shoved her in the back, sending her face first to the forest floor. Twigs poked at her face and neck. She felt blood stream down her cheek. The guy crawled up her back, punching as he went. She kept her muscles tight, but found it difficult to maintain. Each blow felt harder than the last.
The guy jerked at her shirt and turned her over. Her hips stopped halfway. He sat down on top of them, pinning her to the ground. He lifted his right arm and brought it down into her stomach. Every drop of air rushed out of her body. She struggled to stay focused on him. Fireworks exploded in front of her eyes. He lifted his arm again. She swung wildly and caught him on his shoulder and his chest. It had little effect.
“I’m gonna hit you until you die.” He twisted his body back to the right, jerked forward and swung his hand over in a high arc.
Addison heard three quick pops. They came from behind. The man straddling her froze and then fell to the side. Blood leaked out of three holes in his forehead. She pushed his leg off hers and rolled away from the body.
Jenny rolled over on her side. Her eyes rolled back in her head. She smacked her lips together a couple times, groaning as she did so. “What the hell just happened?”
“I’m not sure,” Addison said, trying to hide the fear that though they’d gotten rid of one menace, another one lurked.
And this one had a gun.
***
Sean moved forward, using the trees for cover. Close enough to see that the women were now alone, he called out, “Everyone okay?”
“Yes,” one of them said, followed by the other chastising the first for speaking.
Sean stepped out from the shadows. “It’s okay, I’m not here to hurt you. My name’s Sean Ryder.”
“Are you Emma’s dad?” one of them asked.
“I am,” Sean said.
“Oh, thank God. I’m Addison and this is Jenny. Can you help us get out of here?”
Sean started to answer. Something caught his attention. He glanced to his right. Something shuffled in the distance.
“Shit,” he said. “We need to get going. Addison, come on. Help her up.”
“Wait,” Addison said. “Are you going to take us with you?”
“Yes. Now hurry before they get to us.”
“What? Those things?”
“The gunshots alerted them we were here. But the blood is drawing them in. And both of you are bleeding. We need to create some distance between those things and us. Now.”
“How? They’ll keep coming, won’t they?” Addison asked.
“Follow me. Stay close. If you fall, yell out.”
Sean led them through the woods to the ATV. He instructed the women to get in the back seat. They followed his orders. He called for Emma and Barbara, who had hid nearby. The pair emerged from the darkness and ran to him.
“Addison,” Emma said, releasing herself from her father’s grasp and moving toward the woman. “What happened to you? Are you okay?”
Addison nodded.
“She’s fine, Em,” Sean said. “Everyone get in. We’ve got to get out of here now.”
He waited until everyone was seated. Emma sat in back with the two women, and Barbara sat in front with Sean. Marley took the middle seat again. Sean fired up the ATV. He figured he’d stay as true to south as he could throughout the night, taking it slow and only stopping if everyone needed him to.
Sean felt guilt over not returning to the camp and warning them of the impending horde of afflicted nearby. They should be able to take care of themselves, he thought. After all, why else were they out there in the open, exposed like that? The further he drove, the less guilty he felt.
Hours passed. Somehow he managed to remain awake. He came to a familiar road and took a path through the woods that paralleled it. When the sun came up, he stopped and fired up the GPS. He was surprised to see that they were close to Danville, Virginia. He calculated that they’d completed around ten percent of the trip already.
Sean glanced at the four sleeping women. He was responsible for them now. All of them.
He returned to his map and the GPS. There was no more danger of the men following them, so he decided to leave it on.
“Good morning, Dad.”
He looked at his daughter and smiled.
“Got any coffee?” she asked.
“When did you start drinking that stuff?”
She smiled. “I’m kidding.”
“I know.”
“Where are we going?”
“Charleston, South Carolina.”
“What’s there?”
“Our one shot at freedom.”
Chapter 46
The bright sunlight knifed through Turk’s closed eyelids. He brought his hand to his face, blinked a few times, and glanced around. The events of the previous day raced through his mind. He became aware of where he was, and why. An intense pain wracked his stomach and chest.
Sarah lay on the floor next to him. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, shaking it gently.
“Wake up,” he said.
“Where are we?” she asked.
“In a shed, near my compound.”
She sat up, stretched her arms and shifted so she faced him. “You ready to go out there?”
“No,” he said. “But I’m going to. I don’t know what I’m going to find. You can stay in here if you want.”
“I’m coming with you,” she said.
She opened the shed door. The cool morning air rushed in and kicked up layers of dust and dirt. Turk watched the fallout float through the penetrating rays of the sun. The wind carried the scent of a burned out camp fire. He knew it was more than that, though.
He spotted a flashlight on a shelf. It could come in handy later. He grabbed it and tested it. It worked. He pulled Sarah back and scanned the area in front of them before stepping outside. “Okay, Sarah, it’s clear. Come on out.”
They walked toward the patch of scorched earth. The rain had put out the fire. Turk headed toward the primary hatch. He pulled back the hidden door and saw that everything on this side of the hatch had been seared. The panel next to the tunnel door had melted away. The controls were damaged. He looked back at Sarah.
“I’m gonna see if I can open it.” He lowered himself into the hole and tried the door. It cracked open. This was a bad sign. The only way it would do that is if the fire had either originated from or reached inside the bunker. It was a failsafe so that occupants could escape.
Sarah dropped down next to him.
He glanced back at her, but said nothing. They walked through the tunnel in sile
nce. Turk feared what he would find inside the bunker. He wanted their trek underground to never end. It had to, though, and it did when he reached the door. He found it unlocked as well. He pushed it open. The living area and kitchen were scorched. A quick assessment told him that the ventilation system and all the cabling had been damaged. The fire traveled between the bunker and the field through the lines he had run to the security cameras and the conduit that housed them.
They moved through the bunker, room by room. He found people in their beds, on a couch, on the floor. They were all permanently asleep. In five minutes, he accounted for everyone but his wife and daughter.
They returned to the central area. Turk stopped in front of his bedroom door. He took a deep breath and pushed it open. He braced himself in case he found his Elena and Layla dead in bed.
The room was empty.
“Where are they?” Sarah asked.
“Follow me.”
Turk led her through the room to the second tunnel. His wife was the only other person that knew about it. She must have known about the fire, seen the smoke, and used tunnel to get out. Only problem was, he didn’t see any evidence that the ground hatch had been disturbed when they’d walked past it.
Turk pulled the door open and jogged down the hall. The door at the other end was open. He called out. “Elana. Layla.”
There was no response.
He kept running. Two figures became visible. Turk called out again.
“Daddy!”
He ran faster. Sarah fell behind. He didn’t stop.
When he reached the door his heart leapt and fell at the same time. Layla sat next to her mother’s body. Next to them was a single rebreather. Elana had brought it along and left it for Layla to use. She sacrificed her life for her daughter’s.
Turk dropped to his knees. He hugged Layla.
“She won’t wake up,” Layla said.
Turk moved the girl out of the way. He reached for his wife, placing his hand on her neck. She felt warm. “Come on, Elana. Come on, let that heart beat.” There was nothing to indicate it did. He repositioned his hand and leaned forward until his cheek pressed against her nose. He felt a slight thump against his finger. He adjusted his hand again to rule out his own pulse being the source. He felt it again. Then he felt her warm breath hitting his face.
“Turk,” she whispered.
He leaned back, smiling.
“Here,” Sarah said, handing him the oxygen tank. “Give her some of that.”
Turk administered the oxygen while cradling his wife in his arms. The oxygen pumped into her lungs. Her color returned and soon she sat up on her own.
“How’re you feeling?” he asked her.
“Bad,” she said. “They’re all gone, aren’t they?”
Turk nodded.
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “What do we do now? Can we stay here?”
Turk shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t care right now, either. I thought I had lost you two.”
“I won’t let you lose us, Turk.” She looked toward Sarah. “Who’s this?”
“Her name’s Sarah. She’s gonna join us now.”
Elana extended her hand toward the younger woman. “Welcome to my home.”
Turk couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of the statement. He settled himself, and said, “You guys stay here while I go lock that other hatch. That’ll keep us somewhat safe while we figure out whether or not we can stay here any longer.”
He left the women, venturing back through the tunnel and the compound. There was no way they could stay, he realized that. All systems were gone, and without ventilation, they’d die of asphyxiation sooner or later. A product of their own respiratory systems. That news could wait a few hours. For now, a family would relish in being reunited, and a stranger would have a new place to call home.
And Turk would rest for a bit before gathering them and starting on their journey to the harbor.
Affliction Z continues in Book 3. Anticipated release date: Winter, 2014.
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Mitch Tanner #2 - Coming November, 2013
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Table of Contents
Quick Links
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Other Books by L.T. Ryan
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