Live Another Day

by Baileigh Higgins

  She shook her head. “No, I don’t. This isn’t like Ke Tau. He always tries to get inside. He rarely attacks from the front.”

  If I was Ke Tau, what would I do?

  He blocked out the noise around him and the frantic movements of the men and women fighting for their homes. The sun now hovered above the edge of the earth, its last light illuminating the struggle occurring beneath its rays. A chill breeze stirred the hair on his head and cooled the fire of combat burning within him. His mind cleared.

  He always tries to get inside. A flash of insight hit him, and he ran along the wall toward the other side of camp. A diversion. I’d create a diversion then attack where least expected.

  “Mpho, Lisa, Abe, follow me,” he cried to those nearest him. His feet carried him along the side of camp and toward the back where the place was most exposed. They ran past more incoming attacks, repelled by Max, Logan, Martin, and their team. Ronnie and Lenka likewise were dealing out death on an impressive scale to both the dead and the living alike.

  The further away he ran, the quieter it grew until it felt like a world removed. The shouting, explosions, and gunfire grew distant, becoming pure background noise. The walls here were deserted, with only Ben and Sean stationed at the back. Ke Tau’s diversion had done the trick, drawing all the others to the front.

  Michael spotted the figures of Ben and Sean and hoped he was in time. But even as he ran, a dark head appeared above the wall by Ben’s feet followed by two hands and arms clambering over the edge. “Ben, watch out!”

  Michael waved his arms, but Ben just stared at him with a perplexed frown. The head and torso of a man emerged behind him and rose to its feet on long legs. White teeth set in coppery skin grinned at Michael over Ben’s shoulder. Carlito.

  “Behind you, Ben. Behind you,” Michael screamed at the top of his lungs. His legs pumped, but it felt to him like he moved in slow motion.

  Comprehension dawned on Ben’s face, and he began to turn. Carlito slid his foot long blade into Ben’s chest with one swift motion. It went in as smoothly as a hot knife through butter, and the point pierced the older man’s heart. Instant death followed as the organ ceased to beat, and warm blood spilled from Ben’s lips.

  Carlito flung him aside like a rag doll and backhanded the stuttering Sean with such force that the boy flew off the wall. He landed with a hollow thud inside the compound where he lay unmoving with his limbs splayed in doll-like fashion.

  Rage bubbled up inside Michael, and he threw himself at Carlito. “Today, you die!”

  “We shall see.”

  Michael thrust his spear at Carlito’s abdomen, but the man stepped aside with effortless grace. He evaded two more stabs with equal ease before swiping sideways with his weapon. The point raked across Michael’s stomach and drew blood. A backhanded thrust cut across his bicep and another blow nearly impaled him through the neck.

  Hurt and bleeding, Michael lashed out with his foot and caught Carlito a glancing blow on the knee. The man was as swift as a snake, though, and stabbed downward into Michael’s thigh. The blade left a deep cut along the inner flesh, and more blood spattered on the ground.

  Michael staggered back, and the two paused to consider each other. Behind Michael, Mpho gasped when she saw who it was. Carlito laughed when he recognized her. “There you are, my sweet little dove. Come to greet me, have you?”

  “Drop dead, Carlito,” she said.

  “Not today, my love. Tonight, you’ll warm my bed again, and I shall have my fill of you. Tomorrow…tomorrow I’ll feed you to the zombies.”

  Carlito’s words cut through the anger clouding Michael’s mind and brought about a clear state of mind. The man was quick and strong. Clever too. He was a tough opponent to beat, but not impossible.

  “The only bed she’ll be warming tonight is mine,” Michael taunted. “You couldn’t please a real woman if you tried.”

  Carlito’s face flushed with angry blood. “We’ll see.”

  Mpho caught on and added. “It’s true. I’ve seen the size of your little worm, Carlito, and it’s nothing to be proud of.”

  “You bitch,” Carlito growled.

  Michael chuckled. “See? You could never satisfy her as I do.”

  Lost in rage, Carlito stepped forward and thrust at Michael’s head. It was an ambitious move, one which left his side exposed. Michael ducked and pushed the point of his spear between Carlito’s ribs angled upward. The long weapon sank to the hilt, and crimson blood spurted from the wound.

  Fixed in place, Carlito hung until his eyes glazed over and a thin stream of spit drooled from his lips. A long exhale was followed by silence as he slackened into death.

  With a flip of his hand, Michael tossed the corpse over the side where two zombies shuffled past. They descended on the still warm body like locusts, ripping apart the bloody flesh with relish.

  Mpho hurried to his side. “You’re hurt.”

  He shook his head. “I’m fine.”

  Further along the wall, more of Ke Tau’s men had breached the camp and were now inside. One was down with a bullet hole in his gut. Abe was engaged in a scuffle with another, while Lisa streaked across the grounds after a fleeing figure. Elise crouched over the body of Ben while Sean lay motionless on the ground.

  Michael grabbed Mpho by the arm. “Go back and get reinforcements. They’re inside the grounds. Tell Max.”

  “What about you?” She reached for him. “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “I’ll be okay, now go.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “I won’t go.”

  He paused for a single breath and looked at her. With tender fingers, he gripped her chin and placed a kiss upon her lips. She was startled into silence and gazed at him with wide eyes. “Mpho, I need you to do as I say, for all our sakes. For the women and children down there, for our freedom, for us. Do you understand?”

  She didn’t answer.

  He stepped closer. “Do you understand?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “I will see you soon, I promise.”

  “I will hold you to that,” she replied before slipping away.

  He watched her go with relief then turned around. Two men were in the process of climbing over the wall, and he gutted the first with his spear. The point went into the man’s open mouth and down his gullet. He fell away with a garbled scream, taking the spear with him. The second he shot with his handgun, pulling it out in one smooth motion.

  A quick glance up and down the wall showed no more of Ke Tau’s men. Their window of opportunity was closing in any case as more undead leached away from the front gates and moved around the camp.

  He dropped down and hurried toward Elise. She sat huddled over Ben and held his hand while she crooned. “Oh, Ben. Why you? You can’t be dead. You can’t be.”

  Michael pried her away from the body and turned her to face him. “Elise, listen to me. Ben is gone. I know he was your friend, but he’s dead.”

  “I know,” she sobbed, her eyes red and watery.

  “But Sean isn’t dead, and he needs your help. Got it?”

  Her brow furrowed. “Sean?”

  “Yes, Sean. Erica’s husband. Henriette’s father. He’s lying over there, and he’s hurt. He needs your help.”

  Her face cleared, and she straightened her shoulders. “Of course. I’ll do my best.”

  He grunted with satisfaction. “Good. Can I leave you here with him? Will you be okay?”

  “Yes, yes,” she replied with brisk decisiveness. “I’ll be fine. Now go.”

  Satisfied that she was herself once more, Michael turned inward toward the camp. Several of Ke Tau’s men
had made it inside and now posed a threat to everyone there.

  Warm blood trickled from his various wounds, but the worst was the cut in his thigh. He tore a strip of cloth from his shirt and tied it around with quick jerks to form a bandage. Next, he gripped his gun with his right and his knife with his left. Time to go hunting.

  Chapter 21 - Lisa

  Lisa lost herself up on the wall. With a spear in her hand and an enemy in front of her, she lost all the fears, insecurities, anger, and discontent that made up her ordinary life. No longer was she Lisa, the victim, or Lisa, the raped girl, or even Lisa, the tough girl. She was just her, and nothing else mattered.

  One by one, the undead fell beneath her spear. The weeks of hard work and training now paid off as her body turned into a killing machine. The cold breeze swirled around her face and lifted tendrils of red hair off her face to blow around like strands of blood. It matched the crimson spatters that covered her skin.

  When Ke Tau’s men came, she fell to her knees and whipped out her handgun. She fired off one systematic shot after the other until the gun clicked on empty.

  A man she didn’t know, shouted at her from within the grounds and tossed up a fresh clip. She tossed him a grin and a quick salute before turning back to the fight. She went through two more clips that way.

  At some point, she heard Michael call for help. She trusted his judgment so followed him and Mpho without question. Together with Abe and Elise, they ran toward the back, and there Michael’s suspicions turned out to be true.

  Stuck behind him and Mpho, Lisa watched in horror as a man crawled onto the wall and killed Ben. Ben, who’d always been kind and fair to her, Ben, who’d treated her like an equal and not a glass doll about to shatter. I’m sorry, Ben.

  She watched as Sean was flung aside like a rag doll and also when Michael challenged the man he called Carlito. That clicked a few things into place for her. Carlito was one of the men who’d tortured Lonny and tried to raped Ruby. Wherever Carlito was, Ke Tau was sure to be nearby. Hiran too.

  Two more men made it over the wall while Carlito and Michael fought, and she prepared to go after them. Before she could do that though, a distraught Elise pushed past her and ran toward Ben’s body.

  Lisa cursed underneath her breath as her gaze jumped between the vulnerable Elise and the two men. She pulled out her gun and aimed at the nearest, a middle-aged man with greying hair and a paunch. She punched a bullet right through his gut. His companion ducked at the sound of the shot before sprinting deeper into camp. She caught a brief glimpse of his scarred face and blind eye. Ke Tau.

  More of Ke Tau’s men crawled over the wall, and one went after the unseeing Elise with a knife. Lisa was spared from going to her rescue when Abe ran up and jumped him. With Michael still engaged with Carlito, Lisa made her decision.

  She swung her body off the wall and hit the dirt with both feet running. With her gun held at the ready, she headed in the direction the gang leader had run. Fleeting glimpses of his dark hair and slender body teased her as they weaved through the buildings, and she strived to close the gap.

  Then…he just disappeared.

  Lisa stumbled to a halt, and her chest heaved as her lungs sought oxygen. Her breathing sounded loud in the still air, and the light was rapidly fading as the sun bid the day farewell.

  Lisa turned in a circle, ears pricked for the slightest sound. There it was. A whisper of pebbles shifting on the sand. She turned but saw nothing. Again the merest hint of noise. A faint crackle. She whirled. Still nothing.

  Suddenly, an arm closed around her throat from behind, and a knife’s cold edge pricked her tender skin. “Are you looking for me?”

  Lisa gasped, and icy terror flooded her veins. Her muscles froze in place as the blade pressed deeper into her neck, cutting the soft flesh with its razor sharpness. A lean body as hard as iron pressed against hers, and a musty scent washed over her nostrils. The stink of sweat, tobacco, and old blood.

  “Who…who are you?” she managed to ask.

  A low chuckle was followed by a sharp pain as he flicked the knife against her earlobe. “I think you know.”

  “I don’t know you.”

  Another low laugh followed by a second cut to her cheek, this one much deeper. “Don’t lie to me. I hate liars. Tell me who I am.”

  “Ke Tau,” she answered with a wince of pain.

  “That’s better. Tell me what’s your name?”

  “Lisa.”

  “Now Lisa, we’re going to play a game. If you play along, I’ll spare your life. I might even let you keep your pretty face. How’s that?”

  Lisa swallowed at the menace in his voice and cast her eyes around for anyone who could help her. There was no one, however. They were all too busy defending the walls. She decided to play for time. “Go on.”

  “If you don’t play along, I’ll take you to a quiet corner, cut your tongue out so you can’t scream, and then I’ll take you apart like a ragdoll at the seams. First your fingers, then your toes, then your lips and ears.”

  Lisa squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a breath. The sun winked in a final flash of brilliant light before vanishing altogether. Now the darkness held sway. This can’t be happening. No, no, no.

  “Your eyes will go last, but only so you can watch every single thing I do to you. And there are lots more I can do.” As if to emphasize his words, he licked the side of her face. “Mmm, you taste good. Maybe, I’ll keep you. Would you like that?”

  She shuddered.

  He chuckled at her reaction. “Do you understand now what happens if you refuse to play?”

  “I understand.”

  “Good. Here’s what we do. I’m going to pretend you didn’t kill two of my men the other day and steal away with Michael and my playthings. Then you’re going to pretend I’m a good guy and take me to where your women and children are hiding.”

  “What? No!”

  He sighed. “You disappoint me, Lisa. Trust me when I say you don’t want to disappoint me.”

  “I won’t show you, no matter what you do to me.”

  “Why not?” he asked. “I won’t hurt them, I swear. I just want some leverage.”

  “Leverage?”

  “Don’t you understand, you stupid woman? Your people have won. I lost. If I want to get out of here, I’ll need something to bargain with.”

  “Hostages.”

  “Precisely.” He pressed the knife against her neck, right where the artery throbbed in time to the beat of her heart. “So tell me where the women and children are before I cut your pretty throat wide open and let you bleed out like a stuck pig.”

  Lisa thought of doing as he said and imagined him getting his hands on little Megan and Anne. Mark and Jenny. The babies. Then she thought of him killing her, even torturing her. She looked up at the stars, a thick carpet of silver lights that twinkled beside their proud mama, the moon. Death wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe I could become a star, who knows. “No.”

  “What?”

  “I said no.”

  “You’re willing to die for them?”

  “I am.”

  He made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. “Fine. I’ve wasted enough time on you already.”

  His arms tightened as he prepared to drag the blade across her neck, and Lisa closed her eyes. This is it.

  Suddenly, Ke Tau stiffened. A garbled cry escaped his lips, and he leaned on her with all his weight as his knees buckled. Acting on instinct, Lisa folded her legs while simultaneously shoving his arms up. She slipped out of his hold and staggered away before turning to watch him.

  Ke Tau stared at her while his mouth worked soundlessly. He dropped his knife onto the ground and reached up as if to swat a fly on his back.
Then he collapsed face first onto the dust.

  Behind him stood a figure, short and slender, with wide eyes and ghostly white skin. Lisa blinked and wondered for a moment if she was facing a ghost. Am I dead? Did Ke Tau kill me?

  The figure stepped forward, and a glimmer of moonlight fell across her face. It was a familiar face, one now wide-eyed with shock and horror.

  “Ruby?” Lisa said. “Is that you?”

  “It’s me.”

  Lisa looked from Ke Tau’s body to the girl and noticed the hatchet buried in his back. The handle stuck up into the air with the head lodged between his shoulder blades. “You killed him.”

  Ruby nodded, and a tremor tore through her body. “I did it for Lonny.”

  “Oh, sweetie. Come here.” Lisa opened her arms as Ruby began to cry. “It’s okay. You did the right thing.”

  Ruby pressed her face to Lisa’s shoulder. “He was going to kill you.”

  “Yes, he was.” Lisa smoothed a hand over Ruby’s soft hair.

  “He would’ve killed us too if he found us,” she mumbled.

  “He would’ve, yes.”

  “He was a bad man.”

  “An evil man,” Lisa agreed, though her heart ached for Ruby. It was not easy to kill a human being, no matter how cruel or brutal.

  She continued to hold Ruby while leading her away from the body and back to the schoolroom. There she found a worried-looking Michelle, Tumi, and Erica.

  “Ruby insisted on leaving,” Michelle said. “She wouldn’t listen to me at all.”

  “She kept saying someone needed her, over and over again,” Erica said.

  “Very strange,” Tumi agreed.

  “Well, she’s safe now, and she was right about one thing. Someone did need her.”

  Lisa cupped Ruby’s face in her palms. “Will you be all right here for a while? I need to help out on the wall, but I’ll be back soon.”

  Ruby managed a shaky smile. “I’ll be okay.”

  “Good. I’ll see you soon then. Lock behind me, it’s dangerous out there.”