As The World Dies Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3]

by Frater, Rhiannon

“Shit,” Juan’s voice rasped through the speaker.

  “Zombie kids. I hate them,” Shane muttered.

  Nerit and the others moved down the hallway in silence, leaving the mother and her two children to rest in peace a little longer.

  Jenni was leading Ned, Felix, and Chuck along the second-floor hallway, guns drawn. Ned illuminated their way with a large flashlight. The interior of the hotel was dark, musty, and terrifying. They could see the other teams moving in and out of rooms farther down the hall.

  Whoever had designed the renovations had been determined to maintain the hotel’s old-world charm. The doors were unlocked not by card keys, but with regular keys. Chuck carried their set in his meaty hand. He looked very nervous as sweat poured down his face.

  The team rigidly followed Mike’s strategy for clearing a room. Jenni and Felix would keep watch up and down the hall while Ned aimed the flashlight at the room’s door so Chuck could unlock it. Then Chuck would fling open the door while Jenni and Felix aimed straight into the room, ready to fire at anything that stirred. If nothing immediately popped out, they would move slowly into the room. They would check the bathroom and the closets and look under the beds. Felix would rip away the bedding and Jenni would squat down to make sure there was nothing lurking under the old-fashioned four-poster beds.

  They’d worked through four rooms, and Jenni could feel her teammates growing tense. She herself felt an increasing sense of dread. Maybe it was the darkness that filled the hallway, the cloying stench of death that seemed to hang in the musty air, or the way the world outside seemed so far away as the storm boomed overhead.

  The fifth door loomed before them. Chuck wiped his brow with his hand and said to Jenni, “Anyone else just wanna quit and go back?”

  Jenni laughed. “Ever since we came in.”

  Chuck bent over and unlocked the door.

  Felix made a little noise in his throat.

  “What is it?” Chuck looked at him nervously.

  “It smells worse here,” Felix answered.

  Jenni sniffed the air and flinched. “Shit. It does. Get ready, everyone.”

  Chuck flung open the door.

  Nothing stirred inside.

  Cautiously, they moved into the room. The space under the bed was clear. The wardrobe was empty. The closed bathroom door loomed before them, taunting and terrifying.

  The stench was so bad, their eyes were watering.

  “I hope I don’t get this room,” Chuck muttered, and flung the bathroom door open.

  The room was empty. Nothing confronted them except a toilet, with a tidy little white strip of paper across it, and an empty clawed tub.

  “Where the fuck is that smell coming from?” Ned wondered.

  Jenni looked toward the open hallway door, then back into the bathroom. “We’re missing something.”

  The zombie stepped out from behind the door and bit into Ned’s cheek before anyone could react. Ned screamed in horror and pain and staggered under the dead woman’s grip. Jenni raised her gun immediately and shot both of them in quick succession.

  “No,” Chuck gasped.

  “That was fucked up,” Felix said, and wiped his brow. “Shit!”

  Jenni was breathing hard, staring at the bodies. Lifting her walkie-talkie, she said, “Make sure to check behind the fucking doors. One was hiding there and got Ned.”

  There was silence; then Nerit’s voice said, “Understood.”

  Jenni waved at Chuck and Felix. “Let’s go.”

  As they moved out, she picked up the flashlight that had fallen from Ned’s slack fingers.

  Katie stood near the stairwell, shivering. They had been in view of the other teams on occasion throughout the inspection of the second floor, but it had been nerve racking. She and her team found nothing in the rooms they had cleared. There had been one loss on the second floor—and it had been on Jenni’s team. That terrified Katie. She did not even want to consider the possibility of losing her best friend.

  Jenni, Chuck, and Felix now drew near, with Nerit and her group close behind. Jenni looked very pale, and there was a dark expression on her face.

  “You okay?” Katie asked.

  “No,” Jenni answered. “This isn’t fun.”

  To a stranger, that might have seemed like a bizarre answer, but Katie knew that Jenni usually enjoyed killing zombies. The losses had been high today, a terrible reminder of the insanity and fear of the first days of the zombie plague. Katie was sure that Jenni was thinking of her lost children. She knew she was thinking of Lydia.

  “Let’s go,” Nerit said, and led the way.

  The other teams would be going up the staircase on the other side of the hotel. Nerit moved easily up the stairs, showing no sign of her age. Katie felt immense affection and respect for the Israeli woman. She seemed so in control of herself, much more than Katie was.

  The stairwell was painted a boring white. The banisters and steps were made of a dark wood; vases of dead flowers adorned metal small tables on the landings. The survivors’ footsteps echoed as they climbed. Katie cringed inwardly at the sound.

  “This is scary as shit,” Chuck muttered. He had fallen behind everyone else, his bland features looking doughy and pale.

  Jenni glared at him with an annoyed expression on her face. “Don’t be such a wimp,” she said sharply.

  “Look, we have no fucking clue what’s going to happen next,” Chuck said “Who is going to die next?”

  “Bad thing to say,” Roger snapped. “In horror movies, bad shit always happens after someone says something like that.”

  “Like what?” Chuck shot back.

  The zombie dropped down from above. It ricocheted off the banister, but managed to grab Chuck’s shirt as he let out a startled gasp. The zombie rebounded off the banister sideways; its momentum dragging Chuck over the rail. Both figures plummeted nearly three stories to the bottom of the stairwell. Everything happened so fast, no one had a chance to grab Chuck.

  “Fuck!” Jenni screamed.

  Katie and Jenni raced down the stairs with the others close behind. On the bottom floor, they found the zombie and Chuck. The zombie, a male, had landed headfirst; its skull split open, spilling curdled brains. Chuck lay nearby, his head twisted about in an unnatural angle. Both were completely stone cold dead.

  “I told him,” Roger grumbled.

  “Fucking stupid way to go out,” Shane said with a shrug.

  “I think we found one of the plumbers,” Travis said, pointing to the name of the plumbing company on the zombie’s tattered shirt.

  Jenni stared down at Chuck’s body. “I hate today.”

  They kept going. They had to. Too much time and energy had been invested and too many lives lost to give up on taking the hotel. They were now more cautious, more terrified, and more determined, but they were still in hell.

  “I feel like I’m next,” Jenni muttered as she joined Curtis’s group. Seeing three of her teammates go down so quickly had made her feel very vulnerable. Felix had joined Katie’s group, and Jenni missed him.

  Rooms were searched diligently, then the doors were closed and locked. Large blue checkmarks on the doors indicated which rooms had been cleared. Room by room, floor by floor, the hotel was scoured. Jenni moved with graceful ease behind Curtis and his team, watching every shadow. They were now on the fifth floor, and there had been no sign of zombies since the one that had killed Chuck.

  Jenni was feeling claustrophobic and hemmed in by both the building and by the cap on her head, which was hot and heavy. She wished it were over, wished she could abandon this mission. It was eating at her, making her feel weak and helpless. Their little world had felt so safe until now. The walls around the construction site and city hall had given them a sense of security. Their fort barely took up a one-block radius, and it was cramped but at least livable. She knew they needed the hotel, but right now, she hated it.

  Anger was building up within her. She had actually felt safe and happy for the
last few weeks. Her relationship with Juan was still evolving, but it was good. He was not quite the knight in shining armor she imagined, but he was sweet and made her laugh. She wanted to bask in his love and forget the past. Forget Lloyd, forget the dead children she had failed, forget the beatings, forget the pain … She just wanted peace in this little fortified construction site in this small town. She was beginning to hate this opulent hotel and its apparent false dreams.

  “Fifth floor clear,” Bill’s voice said over the walkie-talkie. He was on the other side of the hotel.

  Jenni and Curtis eyed each other, and then peered down the hallway with all its blue checkmarks on the doors.

  “It would be nice if it kept going this way,” Curtis said.

  Jenni smacked him. “Don’t say shit like that!”

  “Jinx,” said Jimmy, rubbing his bald head. “Don’t jinx us.”

  “Shit, sorry,” Curtis mumbled.

  Katie, Travis, Felix, and Roger came around the corner. All four looked just as harried as Jenni felt. Katie gave Jenni a little smile and squeezed her arm affectionately and Jenni smiled. It was good to at least have friends in this world.

  “Sixth floor may be a hot spot,” Bill’s voice said over the static. “Remember that from the roster.”

  “Roger that,” Curtis answered as the two teams started upward.

  The last person in Curtis’s group, the short, skinny man named Davey, took off his hat and ran a hand over his blond hair. “Anyone else thinking this was a bad idea?”

  Jenni, aware of the origins of the plans to take the hotel, glanced back at Travis. “Nah, we need this building. Right, Travis?”

  “We’re expanding our little world,” Travis agreed.

  Katie scrutinized the stairwell. “Doing what we gotta.”

  Davey frowned. “Well, damnit, this new world is a pain in my ass.”

  And with that, they continued upward.

  The clatter of their heels against the stairs seemed incredibly loud, and they all pressed close to the wall as they climbed. Chuck’s death had taught them a lesson.

  On the sixth floor, the teams split up again, heading in different directions. Moving toward the first door, Jenni felt her stomach tightening. Just four more floors and it would be over.

  Jenni hesitated at a window, staring over the rooftops toward the hills, which were soaked by the torrential rain. The storm was moving quickly, sunlight flashing out from gaps in the gray cloud cover to wash over the green landscape like spotlights. The sight was so beautiful that her breath caught in her throat. Looking down, she could see into the construction site. From above, it looked small and vulnerable. With a sigh, she hurried to catch up with the rest of her crew.

  “Same routine as before,” Curtis said.

  Jenni unlocked the door. “Ready?”

  When everyone gave the thumbs-up, she flung open the door and was rewarded with a sharp thud as the door hit the wall with a resounding smack. No zombie hiding there.

  Most of the rooms they’d entered had been dark, curtains closed. In this one, the curtains were open, and pale sunlight streamed in, illuminating the room. This room was much bigger and more opulent than those below. It even had a balcony that Jenni spotted through the closed French doors. Cautiously, she stepped in. Davey followed directly behind her.

  Jenni advanced slowly toward the bed, squatted down and pulled the comforter sharply off it.

  Nothing below the bed.

  Behind them, Curtis and Jimmy entered the room.

  Jenni moved very cautiously toward the open door to the bathroom and peered in. Everything gleamed and sparkled inside the bathroom, but there was no sign of anything dead.

  “Clear?” Curtis looked nervously around the room.

  “Wardrobe,” Jenni answered.

  Davey approached the large piece of furniture. His slender frame crouched slightly as he reached out and took hold of its handle. Jenni moved closer, her gun aimed at the wardrobe.

  “I don’t think you should—,” Jimmy said.

  “What?” Davey paused, but his hand put enough pressure on the lever to release the latch. There was a click.

  The doors exploded outward, knocking Davey to the floor and tossing Jenni onto the bed. Her gun flew out of her hand, hit the floor, and skittered under a chair in the corner. The largest zombie Jenni had ever seen rushed out, stepped on Davey, and rushed toward Jimmy and Curtis.

  Jenni rolled off the bed as fast as she could, heading for her gun as another form, mostly eaten, slithered out of the wardrobe.

  “Davey!” she screamed.

  He climbed to his knees only to be confronted by the grisly creature. Enough strips of flesh hung off its bones for Jenni to identify the thing as female. It lunged forward and bit deep into Davey’s cheek.

  Curtis shot the other zombie in the head, but the giant male just kept barreling forward.

  “It’s Bubba Wilkins! He has a metal plate in his head!” Jimmy shouted.

  “Shit!” Curtis yelled.

  Jimmy turned and shoved Curtis out of the hotel room. The door slammed shut behind them.

  Jenni stood in shock, breathing heavily. Only the bed stood between her and the two zombies.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  1.

  Waiting Is Hell

  Jason sat on the floor of the Dollar Store with his arms around his German shepherd’s neck. Jack woofed lightly as another peal of thunder broke overhead and the lights flickered briefly.

  “It’s coming down hard out there now,” someone nearby said.

  Jason tried to fight back his fear. He wanted to rush into the hotel after his stepmom and make sure she was okay. The hours were ticking away, and the storm was gnawing on his nerves. He knew that it would take some time to make sure the hotel was zombie free, but Jason couldn’t stand how the minutes were creeping by.

  Across the room, the girl he had a crush on gave him a slight smile. Michelle was sitting with her younger brother and her father, who had a secure hold on both his kids. His eyes were closed, but Jason could see his lips moving. Jason knew Michelle’s father lived in terror of losing the remnants of his family and was pretty sure the man was praying.

  “Here you go, Jason,” Rosie, Juan’s mother, said as she handed him a sandwich and small bag of chips from a basket she had slung over one arm.

  “Thanks, Rosie. Have you heard anything?”

  Shaking her head, Rosie handed Jason a plastic bag full of kibble. “Nothing yet. I’m sure it’s going to be okay,” she lied.

  Jason could tell by her eyes and expression that something bad had happened inside the hotel. “Rosie, tell me, is it my mom? Is she okay?”

  Hesitating, Rosie leaned over and ruffled his hair. “When I saw my son, he said your mom is fine.”

  “But someone else isn’t?” Jason persisted in his questioning, ignoring Jack as the dog helped himself to the kibble.

  Biting her bottom lip, Rosie shook her head before moving on to pass out more sandwiches.

  Frowning, Jason took a bite out of his Velveeta cheese sandwich. Turning his gaze toward the front of the store, he saw Peggy talking animatedly to the mayor. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Yolanda holding Cody, rocking him as he slept.

  “Do you know what’s going on?”

  Yolanda shook her head. “Not yet. Peggy is trying to find out.”

  Steven Mann joined the mayor and Peggy. Blanche Mann stood behind him, peeling the bread crust off her sandwich. Around Jason, people were beginning to notice the gathering at the front of the store. The mayor raised the walkie-talkie to his mouth and started to speak, turning his back to the room. Jason picked up the bottle of lukewarm water he had been nursing all morning and took a long sip. He could feel his stomach coiling into a tight knot, and he pulled Jack closer to him.

  “What’s going on?” an older man called out. Others echoed him.

  Jason saw Steven Mann realize he had an audience. Steven spoke again, this time loudly enough to be hear
d by everyone in the store. “I didn’t keep track of little details like that! The manager must have approved it! How the hell was I supposed to know?”

  “Besides, Peggy should have known about it,” Blanche added angrily. “It’s not Steven’s fault.”

  “Oh, hell no! Tobias would have handled that as city manager and he didn’t tell me jack shit!” Peggy said defensively.

  “What is happening? I want to know!” Old Man Watson shouted over the growing din.

  The mayor looked somber as he turned around to face the store full of frightened people. “They are making good time through the hotel and have cleared most of it. But there have been some deaths. There was a breakfast meeting of some sort taking place that first day, so there were a lot more zombies than we anticipated in the building.”

  “Who is it? Who died?” a woman cried out. “Tell me it wasn’t Davey!”

  “As soon as I know the names of those who gave their lives, I will come talk to the loved ones. I promise,” the mayor declared.

  Swallowing hard, Jason buried his face against Jack’s neck. “It won’t be Mom. It won’t be,” he whispered. “It can’t be.”

  The survivors of the fort fell silent as the mayor slowly walked over to where Belinda sat with her friend Gretchen. Mike’s girlfriend shook her head adamantly, tears already flowing down her face. The mayor tenderly reached out to comfort her, and Belinda screamed as the storm sounded again overhead.

  2.

  Dance with Death

  “This is how you die,” she heard Lloyd say. “I may not have gotten you, but he will.”

  Jenni stood very still. The large zombie was banging on the door. It hadn’t noticed her yet; it was still trying to get to Jimmy and Curtis.

  Davey sobbed in pain as the female zombie ate his face. The munching and slurping noises were horrible. Jenni wanted to scream at Davey, to tell him to shoot the creature, but she couldn’t speak, didn’t dare speak.

  Moving as slowly and silently as she could, she squatted down so she could reach under the chair for her gun. Her breath was so loud and harsh in her ears that she was sure the male zombie would hear her, but he just kept pounding on the door. Her heart thudded in time with the meaty fists banging against the door. Her skin felt slick and cold.