Using the bricks as a distraction, I started counting them. I gave up at number eighty-seven as the dark thoughts crept back in. I’d lost count of how many people I’d killed. When had it become easy to shoot a living person? Maybe this was why John had stopped me with Byron. He knew it was a slippery slope. At first it was people who had deserved it, but then what happened when the area of ‘deserving it’ went from black and white to grey? Would I eventually end up killing someone I shouldn’t?
I stood up and kicked over the chair I had just vacated. This was painful to think about. I decided to go for a stroll as most people would be tucked away in their condos by now. Maybe that would help distract me better than counting had. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep right now anyways. I felt wired, like I had slept too much the day before and thus couldn’t sleep tonight. I used to do that in university. Sleep from midnight till noon and then that night was hell to try to sleep.
Everything on the street was quiet except for the few sounds of bugs. After a few more paces, my ears picked up on something that wasn’t the noise of crickets, but sounded like banging doors. I followed the noise up to the back portion of the clubhouse, which was where the kitchen was housed. Taking my gun from my waistband, I inched up close to the window. After what happened with Wyatt, I was never going to go unarmed in here again. I’d learned my lesson—never let your guard down, ever.
Someone was rooting around in the cupboards with a flashlight. The beam bounced to the window and I ducked down to avoid whoever it was seeing me. Staying crouched, I snuck around to the back door which was wide open. I crossed the threshold and stood still to listen. Judging from the rustling, they were off to the left. I took a deep breath and rounded the counter.
“Hold still!” I yelled.
The figure dropped their bag and it crashed to the floor. Tin cans rolled out and smacked the bottom of the counters. They were trying to steal our food. The flashlight pointed right at me.
“Bailey?” It was Lucas.
I didn’t lower my gun. For all I knew, he had a weapon too. “What are you doing, Lucas?”
He didn’t respond right away, but instead reached down for his bag.
“Uh-uh,” I said. “We didn’t invite you hear so you could steal from us.”
He straightened back up without his sack. “I’m not stayin’. I just need a little food to get me started.”
“You got somewhere to go back to?” I asked.
“No,” he said with a hint of venom. “I just ain’t stayin’ here.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t belong here.”
I lowered my gun, but still kept it in hand. “Why do you think that? Everyone’s been pretty welcoming to you guys.”
Even with just the flashlight, I could see the smirk on his face. “Yeah, it’s kinda creepy. Ain’t no people this nice in the apocalypse.”
“I … agree, but now that Wyatt and his goons are going to be out of the picture, this place is going to get a lot better,” I said. It was funny how much Lucas sounded like me when I’d first arrived in Hargrove.
“Whatever. Keep your food.” Lucas rushed past me to the back door but I grabbed onto his arm.
He ripped his arm out of my grip and turned to scowl at me. Even through his shirt fabric, I could feel the gnarled scar tissue from the infected bites.
“Don’t do that again,” he grated through his clenched teeth.
I held up my hands. “I won’t. I just think you should stay, that’s all.”
“Yeah? Why’s that?” he challenged.
“You said it yourself, you don’t have anywhere else to go. It’s a death sentence out there when you’re by yourself.”
He took a few steps so that he was right in front of me so I could see the elevator eyes he was giving me. “That the only reason?”
He was trying to be lewd to throw me off. I poked his chest with my finger. “Please, when has being a dick ever actually kept people out? It never works for me.”
His head knocked back. “You a therapist or somethin’? Or do you just enjoy goin’ ‘round spewin’ advice?”
“I’m very far from being prepared to deal with other people’s issues. I can barely handle my own shit, but I just happen to do the same thing as you.”
We stood staring each other down for so long that I thought we’d be there until the sun came up. I was getting tired of the intense silence so I finally spoke up.
“I’m going to level with you. Me asking you to stay is for purely selfish reasons. Right now we need as many competent people as we can get. Could you stay for just a little while longer until the unrest settles?”
He looked around the kitchen as if searching for a reason to say no, then let out a huge sigh. “Fine, but it’s only temporary. And you have to let me take a few things when I do leave.”
“Sounds fair.” I held out my empty hand and we shook on it. “Now put that stuff back.” I pointed to the sack lying on the floor. I helped him to make it quicker and then made sure he left the clubhouse kitchen.
Lucas nodded at me and took off for the condo he had been assigned. I had no idea if he would keep his word, but I hoped he did. I put my Beretta back into my waistband and headed back towards my condo to try and turn in for the night. I didn’t want to deal with anymore crap today, especially after my existential crisis. But of course the universe had other plans for me. When I got back, I found Ethan sitting on the steps.
He had a lantern beside him and when he looked up, I could see the pain in his eyes. I debated running away, but that would be a stupid move. I knew we would have to eventually hash this out—I just didn’t want to do it right now.
“I really don’t want to do this right now, Ethan.” I scowled. I tried to get past him but he blocked my way.
“Please, Bailey,” he begged. “I need you to know how sorry I am.”
“There, you’ve said it, now move.”
He took a deep breath. “Not until we talk this through.”
I shocked both of us when I shoved him backwards. His arms flailed but he didn’t fall or move out of my way.
“Move.”
“No.”
Then I punched him in the shoulder. He grunted, but didn’t do anything. He kept his arms dead at his sides.
“I will make you move,” I threatened.
“I’ll willingly move if you just hear me out.”
“There’s nothing to hear, Ethan! You sold me out!”
He winced at my words. It was more of a reaction than when I had hit him.
“I had no idea, I thought they were good guys!” he finally said back.
“Fuck you. I told you they were bad people, but you didn’t listen! And it wasn’t your secret to share. Go absolve your guilt somewhere else.” I stabbed my finger into his chest.
His hand wrapped around mine gently, but I yanked it free.
“Bailey, I’m sorry.”
I was about to yell some more when I picked up the heavy scent of smoke.
“You smell that?” I asked, taking a step away from the stoop. Ethan stuck his nose in the air and sniffed.
“Somethin’s burnin’.”
We rushed into the street. One of the condos near the front was engulfed in flames and a bunch of smaller fires littered the area by the gate.
“Go find Henry and the others!” I yelled at him, already sprinting for John’s condo.
Chapter 15
We weren’t equipped to deal with a large scale fire. This would burn Hargrove to the ground. And those bunches of smaller fires had me worried that it wasn’t an accident. I was almost at John’s condo when a loud crash echoed from the front. I turned in time to see the front gate explode with sparks flying into the night. A truck came barreling through. The guards began shooting at the encroaching truck as it skidded to a stop. Men burst from the back and began shooting at our guards.
My heart stopped as I ducked when the gunfire erupted. This would draw people into the street, righ
t into the danger. I ripped my Beretta from my waistband and ran the rest of the distance to John’s condo. The door flew open before I could reach it. John ran through with an M-16, ready for action.
“Don’t shoot,” I said while ducking further.
“Bailey? What’s happenin’? Is that smoke?” John asked in a rush.
“We’re under attack!” I yelled.
Chloe and Zoe chose that moment to appear outside.
“What’s goin’ on?” Chloe asked, sleepily.
“Zoe, take her back inside and hide!” John ordered, and they fled back into the house.
“What do we do?” I asked.
It would only be a matter of time before they made it this far into Hargrove. More automated gunfire bounced off the walls and echoed down the streets. People were already emerging from their homes. I waved at the closest ones, silently telling them to go back inside.
“We need to get to the armory before they do,” John said.
Together, we kept close to the front of the condos and avoided being out in the open as we made our way to the building we used for the armory. My hands were shaking from the adrenaline rushing through my system. I wasn’t prepared for something like this. No one in this town was. It was going to be a slaughter if the invaders didn’t stop. Not to mention the big gaping hole they’d left in their wake where the infected could now get in.
Had Ethan gotten to Henry and the others? Oh God, what if I had just sent him to his death? I was mad at him, but I didn’t want him dead. The gunfire stopped for the moment. I could hear a male bark orders that sounded like he was telling them to fan out. John pulled out a ring of keys and quietly inserted one into the deadbolt. Slowly, he turned it until we heard the deadbolt retract and we scurried inside, immediately shutting the door behind us.
“We gotta get as much guns and ammo out as we can,” John said, leading the way to the back bedroom being used as an armory.
The front door handle rattled and John grabbed my arm yanking me to the side, using the hallway to cover us. He took off his hat and peered around the corner. I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath until I had to take a deep breath to avoid passing out. It was different when it was just me that I was accountable for. Now I was worrying about everyone else. I couldn’t stand to lose another friend.
“Ethan?” John hissed.
I relaxed a measure. I hadn’t sent him to his death after all. Ethan joined us in the back along with Henry and his new wife.
“You had the same idea too, huh?” Henry said.
“Yeah, we need to make sure they don’t get our weapons. You see how many were out there?” John asked.
Ethan shook his head. “Just saw the ones that came out of the truck. ‘Bout five that I could see.”
More gunfire sounded from outside and we all heard the screams. I swallowed over the sound of my heartbeat thrashing in my ears. They were getting closer.
“Open the door!” I yelled.
John used another key on his ring and opened the armory. There wasn’t much left as our supplies had been dwindling. Especially after Wyatt no longer could sell people off to the mercenaries. Everyone got to work grabbing as much as they could. There were a few gun bags that we stuffed to the brim. I tried to lift one, but it was pretty damn heavy.
“I got that.” Ethan swung the bag onto his shoulder with a grunt.
I knew now was not the time to argue. In this case, his strength outweighed by stubbornness. Instead, I grabbed a smaller bag and packed it will as many ammo boxes as I could and shouldered a loaded AR15. Now that I could actually use.
Something came crashing through the front window, shattering the glass. We all ducked, expecting to be under fire, but instead a slow smoke began to fill the condo. It was so strong that my eyes and throat started to burn. John used the butt of the automatic rifle he was holding and smashed out the back window.
“Get out, now!” he yelled, then broke into a coughing fit.
We tossed our bags out into the backyard and then dove through one by one. John was the last to come through. Once his feet hit the ground, he hunched over and continued to cough.
“What the hell was that?” I asked, my own lungs having finished spasming.
“Tear gas,” John croaked out.
“Shh,” Ethan whispered.
I didn’t have time to react to Ethan’s command before two of the armed mercenaries rounded the corner. I scooped up my AR15 and flicked the selector switch to fire. John was much faster than me and let out a burst of bullets, knocking down the two mercenaries.
“We need to move,” John commanded.
We grabbed our haul and ran through the connected backyards to get to John and Ethan’s condo. More gunfire erupted from the streets in front of the condos. I could see the muzzle flashes as we passed between condos. Were they just picking off people as they saw them? That’s what they had done back at the apartments. Not one person had been left alive. I refused to allow that to happen. I wanted to stop running and just start shooting at any one of the mercenaries I could find. But I wasn’t Rambo; that would just get me dead. We needed a plan of attack.
We rounded the condo and burst through the front door. Henry and his wife kept going down the condos, trying to hand out as many weapons as they could. I wished them luck and slipped inside behind the others.
“It’s us,” John boomed. After a second, Zoe and Chloe appeared around the corner. Chloe ran up to Ethan and hugged him.
“What’s going on?” Zoe asked, her eyes wild.
“Take this,” John said, handing a shotgun to Zoe. She grabbed it and pumped the fore end, chambering a round. I was a little impressed. Even I didn’t know how to use a shotgun. Her secret redneck history was clearly coming in handy.
“The mercenaries have busted through the front gate and are shooting people in the streets. They started a bunch of fires as well,” I answered.
“How do you know they’re the mercenaries?” Zoe asked.
That was a fair question; I’d just assumed it was them because it matched the other horrible things they had done.
“Doesn’t matter who it is. Gear up, cause we gotta take ‘em out,” John said as he pocketed an extra magazine for his gun.
I rooted through my ammo bag and passed out the ones I thought would match. Turns out I had given the wrong ammo to Ethan for his rifle, so I let him check the bag himself. Zoe picked up a box of shotgun slugs and stuffed a bunch in her pockets. This looked very much like we were about to go to war.
Ethan kneeled in front of Chloe and handed her—butt first—a small revolver. “This is not a toy. Remember all the times I took you shootin’? I need you to use everythin’ I taught you if one of those men come anywhere near you.”
With her face serious, Chloe nodded and took the gun from him. She popped out the cylinder and checked that there was a round in each chamber. The situation had never been bad enough before that we had handed her a loaded gun. Again, I couldn’t believe I was about to do this, but I sent out a small, silent prayer. Please let us live through this.
“All right, Zoe and Chloe, you’re goin’ to stay here tucked away and if anyone you don’t recognize comes through that door, you shoot ‘em. You understand?” John looked them both in the eyes until they nodded, then whirled on us. “Ethan and Bailey, we gotta avoid bein’ spotted for as long as we can. We still got some guns to pass out so first stop is to get Roy and Amanda and bring ‘em over here. You got that?”
Both Ethan and I nodded. I felt very much like a solider at the moment. I’d feel a little bit better if I was wearing a bullet-proof vest, though.
We gathered our bags, making sure they weren’t so heavy that we couldn’t move easily. With our weapons armed and at the ready, we left the condo one by one, John taking the lead. I gave one last look back at Chloe and Zoe before shutting the door behind me and walking into a battlefield.
Chapter 16
Dead bodies lined the streets. All that I could see
were causalities of Hargrove and not any of the mercenaries. I could hear screams coming from inside one of the nearby condos and then more flashes of gunfire.
“Move!”
Keeping low, we bolted across the street to my condo. The fire that had engulfed the condo by the front gate was now spreading to the one next to it. The blaze was so great that it was like a midnight sun, lighting up the front half of the cul-de-sac.
“Shit,” John whispered.
I drew my eyes away from the intense flames and shifted them to my condo. The front door had been bashed in. I gripped my AR15 tighter and ran in, briefly registering John telling me to stop. There were heavy footsteps in one of the back rooms. I tiptoed to the edge of the living room, using the wall to flatten my back against. I took a shaky breath and waited until I could hear the person better. It sounded like they were opening and closing doors. Probably looking for hiding survivors to shoot. Were Amanda and Roy already dead? Or were they still in here somewhere?
John and Ethan flattened against the wall beside me. I didn’t bother to look at them as there would no doubt be a couple of angry expressions waiting for me. Whoever was in there opened one of the drawers in my dresser. I knew it was mine because it rubbed and made a cringe worthy squealing sound every time I opened it.
I rushed around the corner and burst into my room. The man was caught off guard as he fumbled to lift his gun. Unlucky for him, I had mine ready. I let off two rounds, both landing in his chest. The man flew back, knocking into the dresser and almost toppling it over. I quickly ran to the other side of the bed and kicked away the gun he was toting. He was coughing profusely. The light shining through my window illuminated the blood dribbling down his lips with every breath.
I hadn’t killed him instantly with my shots.
“Who are you guys?” I asked, suppressing the urge to shoot him right then and there.
He coughed and tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace. “Fuck you.”
“Fuck me? You just invaded our town and killed innocent people. So no, fuck you!” I growled, putting a bullet in his head.
This Would Be Paradise (Book 3) Page 10