"Not where your troops will be," Mark said.
Howell stood and stepped to a map of the city next to the whiteboard. "This morning we'll be hitting the northeast section of the city. This afternoon it'll be the western section."
Jen looked at the western section on the map. "What do you think, Mark? We take the west this morning, before they go in and clean it out?"
Mark frowned and inspected the map. He pointed to the northeast. "If the hordes are coming from Seattle and Portland, they'll hit the west first, so I think that's a good call."
Howell folded his arms. "You'll be out there all alone. We'll have no troops in that area until this afternoon, so you'll be stuck in the middle of a ton of zombies and have no immediate backup."
Jen smiled. "Just what I wanted to hear."
7
Crouching, Jen crept to the north end of the rooftop. The thumping of helicopter rotor blades faded in the distance.
A facade on the front of the building rose three feet above the roof's edge and helped her keep a low profile from the thirty or so zombies wandering aimlessly on the railroad tracks twenty yards ahead.
Mark and Zeke took positions on either side of her. "Looks like they didn't take notice of the Blackhawk," Mark said. "How can that be? Damn thing should be drawing every walking corpse within a couple of miles."
Jen shook her head. The undead were still changing. Evolving. "It's like there's something new with them every day."
Zeke tapped her on the shoulder. "I'll check for rooftop entries."
"Good idea," she said. "No surprises. Why don't you also walk the perimeter of the roof and see what we have on all sides? With the way they're acting, we may need all the notice we can get if they attack."
Zeke nodded and stalked off. Muted gunfire came from the northeast. "Guess the roundup has started," Mark said.
Jen grunted. Hopefully, the noise from the roundup would draw any huge hordes away.
She looked down the tracks to the left. A group of nine zombies lumbered in their direction, with one in the lead and the others spread out behind it.
She tapped Mark on the shoulder and nodded toward the incoming zombies. "They're still using formations."
He nodded. "Like geese. Do you notice something else?"
"No," Jen said. "What's that?"
"Listen."
Jen lowered her chin and concentrated on sounds. Other than the distant gunfire and her own breathing, it was pretty quiet. "Not much to hear."
"Exactly," Mark said. "We're close enough to those zombies straight ahead to hear their growling, but there's nothing."
Shit. She listened for any sound from them, but there was still nothing. "That sucks. When they stopped screeching, that took away our main warning system. Even then, we could hear their growling if they were close enough."
Mark wiped a hand down his face. "Now they'll be ninjas, like Zeke."
Zeke slid next to Mark. "There's no ninja like me."
"What'd you find, Grasshopper?" Jen asked.
"Pretty light for zombies. Anywhere from two on one side to five on another." He pointed to the door on the roof. "One point of entry, unless they start scaling walls or flying helicopters."
"Don't laugh," Jen said. "The way they're going, that might be coming."
Mark scoffed. "That's a bit much. I can see them evolving some instinctual practices, but real thinking? Their brains died."
Jen watched the zombie group in the V formation getting closer. "Who knows what that virus does to the brain?"
Mark's eyebrows rose, but he said nothing.
Zeke pointed to the zombies in formation. "The guy leading them has no visible wounds. Kind of looks like my grandpa at his funeral."
Jen studied the leader, an older man in a dirtied suit. Looks like he wasn't bitten. Need to remember that for Cartwright.
Zeke shifted the rifle strapped to his back. "Is this all we're gonna do? Camp up here? Pretty boring, if you ask me."
The kid was right. So far all they'd seen was passive behavior. The information was good, but they'd need to see more of the aggressive, predatory behavior to see if and how it had changed.
"Zeke," she said, "let's stir some shit up, but quietly." She jumped to her feet and waved. Zeke stood next to her, jumping up and down, holding back laughter.
The milling zombies turned as one and streaked straight for them. They hit the rail on the side of the bridge, flipped over, and landed on the street below. A few lay still, but the rest pulled themselves up and hobbled out of sight.
The other group stopped, its leader staring at the rail the first bunch fell over.
Holy shit! Is it thinking?
It turned its head toward Jen, regarding her with yellow eyes. Damn. He's giving me the creeps. It sprinted back the way it had come, the others in the group staying in formation.
Jen's mouth hung open and she turned to Mark. "Did you see that? Freaking thing gave me goosebumps."
He swallowed. "Yeah. It's like it learned not to do what the others had."
"Now we've got smart zombie leaders?" Jen said. "What the hell's next?"
Something ran into the inside of the rooftop door. Zeke drew his katana.
Jen and Mark walked toward him. "That's a pretty heavy looking door," Mark said. "One zombie isn't coming through there."
The pounding became more rapid and intense. "That's not just one," Zeke said. "The numbers are going up."
Jen looked around the roof. "Having one entry point is great because you only have to defend one point, but it sucks when you need more escape routes."
"Zeke," Mark said. "Are there other buildings nearby? Anywhere we can escape to?"
The door shuddered from another attack. Zeke pointed to the south side. "One there, but the roof's got a ton of air vents and shit on it, so it would be hard to land there without hitting something." He jerked a thumb to the east. "That one has only one or two. That'd be the best bet."
The doorframe let out a loud crack.
"East side it is." Jen sprinted to that section of the roof. She and Mark peered down as Zeke arrived. The other rooftop was at least a floor lower than the one they stood on. It had no lip on the edge and just a few pipes and vents sticking up.
"Damn," Jen said. "That's a freaking mile across."
Another crack came from the doorframe, and a corner of it pushed out.
Mark took her by her shoulders. "We can jump it." He looked at Zeke, then back at Jen. "Just remember, go into a roll when you hit the roof. It'll dissipate the energy."
"That's true," Zeke said. "It's a sacred ninja technique."
Jen squinted at him. "You do make me wonder sometimes."
Mark handed Jen his rifle and ran back to the center of the roof. "I'll go first. Show you how to do it. Toss the rifles to me, then make your jumps. Just don't hesitate to come. One at a time."
He sprinted toward the roof's edge, pushed off with a foot and sailed through the air. He landed on a shoulder and rolled a couple of times. He jumped up and ran back to the edge. "Toss the rifles."
Jen heaved his M4 across the alley. He caught it and laid it down. She did the same with hers, then Zeke threw his. Mark took the rifles to the middle of the roof and waved at them. "Come on."
Jen and Zeke ran back to the center where Mark had started. "You go first," Jen said.
"Oh, no," Zeke said. "I know what I'm doing. I can make it easy, no worries. But someone needs to stay on this side when you jump, in case something happens and you need help."
Jen took a deep breath. "Yeah. OK."
Mark yelled, "What are you waiting for?"
Jen crouched in a runner's stance. You've got it. You've done long jumps before; it's no different. Except the six-story death drop.
The door burst open and zombies poured onto the roof.
"We both go," Jen yelled. "Now."
A zombie cop streaked for them. Zeke took off and Jen followed. Her pulse pounded in her ears and all she heard above it
was her ragged breath and thumping footsteps close behind her.
Zeke made the edge and leapt, his arms windmilling as he soared through the air. He dropped out of sight. Did he make it?
The footsteps were almost on her. Shit shit shit shit shit.
Five feet from the edge, the other roof came into view. A hand grazed her back. She concentrated on the roof's edge. Somewhere a gunshot boomed. Something heavy hit the roof behind her.
Jen jumped into nothingness.
8
The gaping chasm loomed below as she sailed through the air. Too slow, I'm moving too slow. Images and sounds assaulted her senses. The blast of a gun. Zeke rolling across the roof and bouncing to his feet. The beat of footsteps on the roof behind her. Mark aiming his rifle at her. Zeke's laugh as he rushed forward, waving his katana over his head. The edge of the roof barreling up to meet her.
Not going to make it.
Jen tucked her head and slammed into the rooftop inches from the edge. She tumbled forward a few revolutions and ended up flat on her back with her arms and legs splayed. Zeke stood over her. "You OK?" he yelled over the crack of another gunshot.
Jen took a deep breath and waited for the pain to come. She flexed her hands and bent her legs, but they seemed fine. Even her back wasn't complaining. "Looks like I got lucky."
Zeke stepped past her, swinging the katana. A head rolled by. Zombies streamed over the edge of the hotel roof and most disappeared in the gap. A few leapt for the roof and missed, all except the one that Zeke had taken care of before it could do any damage.
She placed her hands flat on the roof and pushed. Mark reached for her right hand. "We can't stay here." He pulled and she rose to her feet.
Another zombie made it across, and Zeke dispatched it before it could gather itself.
Stuck in the middle of a zombie-infested city with no transportation. Got to get out of this shit and get to Atlanta where it's safe.
The deluge of zombies ended. Zeke kept his katana at the ready. "Why do you want to move? This position's pretty easy to defend."
"They know we're here," Mark said. "We're supposed to be observing, not engaging."
Jen cracked her neck. "I agree with Mark, but not because the zombies that ran off the roof know that we're here. I'm more concerned with how many zombies that we haven't seen know we're here."
"Come again?" Mark asked.
"How the hell did all those zombies know we were there? We made no noise. When we waved at the zombies on the tracks, there were no others in sight. So why would they rush the roof in a big group so suddenly?"
"That zombie that led the others," Zeke said. "It was like he spotted us and let the others know."
Mark put his hands on his hips. "Come on. You're not saying that they're communicating with each other, are you? They didn't even shriek like they used to."
"I agree with Zeke," Jen said. "I know it sounds insane, but how many times in the past few weeks have we thought something couldn't happen, only to find out the impossible had become routine?"
She sighed. "We can talk about that later. We need to get to somewhere safe. Another rooftop. They're probably on their way up here now."
She went to the building door, turned the handle, and pushed it in. Stairs led down fifteen feet to another door. A zombie girl darted out from beneath the stairs and rushed Jen. She jumped backward out of the doorway and pulled the door closed with a loud click.
The zombie banged on the door.
A confused look crossed Zeke's face. "It's only one zombie. Why didn't you kill it?"
"I got sloppy and wasn't ready." She drew her axe.
The door clicked and opened into the building. Jen's heart skipped a beat. What the hell?
The zombie girl stood inside the doorway, her hand still on the door handle.
"What the fuck?" Mark said.
The zombie leapt for Jen, who slammed the axe into the base of its skull. Zeke finished it off with one slash.
"We're out of time." Jen hurried down the stairs and rushed into the hallway. She strained to pick up any sound beyond the rustling of Mark and Zeke behind her.
Pushing the door beneath an Exit sign, she entered the stairwell. Zeke eased the door closed and Jen held up a hand. She closed her eyes and listened.
"Nothing obvious," she whispered. "We can't get trapped in a stairwell, so whatever we run into, we fight through."
Mark stepped in front of her. "I go first and Zeke takes the rear."
She opened her mouth to argue, but remembered how she'd insisted that Doc stay in the middle of the group in Anchorage. "OK."
Mark kept his rifle pointed down the stairs as he took the steps at double time. Stopping at every floor, they listened for a few seconds, then continued.
When they reached the bottom of the stairwell, Mark pushed the door open, and they stepped into a coffee shop.
Undisturbed, everything lay in its place. Jen pointed to the front door, which had a picture window next to it. "Let's get on that street and the hell out of here. If those zombies were able to let others know we're here, it shouldn't be long before they show up."
Mark knelt next to the window and looked up and down the road. "Nothing I can see, but my angles aren't good here." He turned to Jen. "We need a rooftop that's not far away so we can signal the helicopter when it comes for pickup."
Jen bit her lip. "But it has to be far enough away so anything on this rooftop or the hotel's can't see us."
Mark looked at her and sighed. There was something different in his expression.
He's afraid. He could deal with an enemy that he knows. But if I'm right, then how much more don't we know about the zombies?
Mark pushed the door open and stepped onto the sidewalk. Jen crowded behind him. The street stood deserted.
They crept to the right, staying against the building, and surveyed the streets when they reached a convenience store on the corner. Not a damn thing.
"Where the hell are they all?" Jen asked.
Mark shook his head. "Not seeing any makes me more nervous than seeing a few."
Zeke pointed across the street. "There. That office building. Five stories and taller than any of the buildings on the block."
"Good," Jen said. "Need to get off the streets."
Zeke touched her arm. His eyes squinted and he cocked his head. "Listen," he whispered.
Jen froze and concentrated. Something in the distance. Soft, but getting louder fast. Reminded her of a cattle stampede in an old Western. Shit. "Horde."
She grabbed the convenience store's door handle and pulled, but it didn't budge. Mark yanked on the other door with the same result.
The stampede grew louder, the sound bouncing off the buildings.
"I can't even tell what direction it's coming from," Jen said. Heart pumping a mile a minute, she looked around for cover.
"No time to think about it," Mark said. "We have to make a break for the office building."
Her mouth dry, Jen nodded.
Mark gestured for them to follow, then streaked across the road and into a small parking lot next to the office building.
The thundering footsteps seemed to come from everywhere, building to a crescendo about to burst like a swollen dam.
Jen raced after Mark, with Zeke zipping past her.
Mark ducked in between two trucks and Jen dove in with him. He had taken a knee and gestured for Jen and Zeke to do the same.
Vibrations from the stampede traveled through the asphalt. A flash of movement caught Jen's eye and she looked out into the parking lot. A flood of zombies rushed by.
Her stomach fluttering and taking shallow breaths, she froze. Don't give them a reason to look this way.
The stampede seemed to never end. She had a fleeting thought that they were running circles around them and she was seeing the same zombies over and over. But the number began to trickle down. A few minutes later, the stragglers passed, their footsteps fading in the distance.
Mark put h
is hand out. Jen nodded. She wasn't moving anytime soon.
When another two minutes went by, she gave Mark a thumbs-up. He nodded, and she peered over the back of a truck.
Quiet. No movement. "I think we're OK," she whispered.
"I wonder where they were going," Zeke said.
Mark licked his lips. "They headed in the direction of the hotel."
"Oh, shit," Jen said. "We would've been overrun."
Mark straightened. "Let's get in the office building and out of sight."
They raced into the building, piling into the lobby.
"Wait," Jen said. She clicked the door's deadbolt into place. "Let's see if they're smart enough to pick a lock."
"We should clear the building and check all the doors and ground floor windows," Mark said.
"I'll take the second floor," Zeke said.
Jen frowned. "Maybe we should just stick together."
Zeke pulled his katana and gave it a practice swing. "This has been a boring mission. Betty and I could use a little fun."
Jen glanced at Mark. Can you believe this guy?
Mark gave her a slight shrug. "We'll meet you at the stairway on the second floor."
A half hour later, they pushed open the door to the roof and stepped into the sunlight. Jen ducked and positioned herself at the southern edge. Not a zombie in sight. Good.
Mark waved her over. "We need to stay out of sight."
"This mission's shit," Zeke said. "Not one damn zombie in the building."
Jen sat down next to the ninja. "It's a good thing. How many zombies were in that horde that rumbled by us earlier? Think you could kill all of them?"
Zeke smiled. "Dunno, but it'd be a lot of fun to try."
Mark shook his head and sat on the roof, his back against the door.
Two hours later, Jen was about to doze off when Zeke said, "Listen."
The thumping of helicopter rotors came closer, and Jen scrambled to her feet. "Where's it coming from?"
Zeke pointed south. "There."
The tiny helicopter grew larger and louder as it approached. It hovered a couple of blocks away. "They're over the hotel," Zeke said. "We need to get their attention.
Zombie Uprising Series (Book 3): The Citadel Page 4