The fort was far away from her old house and old life. She loved it, but she was terribly afraid that they could lose it all.
If Nerit was right, this would be a decisive day for all of them. It would be a day none of them would forget one way or the other.
Jenni lowered her head and sighed. Her baby’s tiny fingers seemed oddly closer today … .
3.
Ten, Nine, Eight
When the Hummer drew up to the old hunting store, it was immediately obvious the bandits had not only returned, but had also broken into the store. Decaying bodies littered the street. A van with its tires blown out and all the windows shattered listed to one side of the street.
“Nerit’s handiwork,” Travis decided, remembering the old woman’s story of the death of her husband and the revenge she’d taken. “Move with extreme caution,” he said into the CB.
“Understood,” came the answer over a crackle of static.
Katie stopped in front of the store and Travis scanned their surroundings. The bandits had gone nuts in the town. All the windows of the buildings on the main street were shattered. Merchandise from the grocery store littered the street. The bars on one of the windows of Toombs Hunting Store were twisted and bent out of their frame. Travis imagined that the damage had been done by the bandits, who perhaps had used a chain and a truck to yank on the strong barricade.
The body of a woman was tied to a lamppost in front of the grocery.
No.
A zombie woman was tied to the lamppost. She had been mostly eaten, but her eyes were moving, watching them; her mouth opened and closed on slender sinews.
“I really hate these guys.” Katie shuddered with disgust.
“Yeah,” Travis agreed grimly.
Turning off the engine, Katie drew her rifle onto her lap. “Ready?”
Travis gave her a quick nod. He took Nerit’s keys from his pocket, climbed out of the H2, and moved toward the store’s front door. The people from the minivan followed, guns drawn, looking alert. As Travis moved past the gaping hole that had once been the window of the hunting store, a face appeared, snarling and growling. Travis jerked away and aimed his gun.
“Wait! Don’t kill it yet!” Katie stared intently at the zombie’s face with its long, scraggly hair and beard. “One of their own, I think. He fits the description of the bandits.” She drew her revolver and shot it point-blank in the face.
“You’re scary sometimes,” Travis said with surprise and admiration. He peered into the store, his gun raised to cover the interior. “Hello! Hey, zombies! Hey, come here!”
Katie stood behind him, giving him cover. Nothing stirred inside.
“Let’s go in.” Travis went to the front door and unlocked it. Bob and Lenore stood guard. Lenore held her hunting bow and stared somberly at the zombie woman tied to the lamppost. She drew back the string, then let the arrow fly. The shaft punched the zombie woman’s eye and deep into her brain, silencing her growls.
Lenore shrugged. “No point in leaving her like that.”
Pushing the door open, Travis waited to see if any more of the dead lurked inside. Katie walked past him and into the store. Travis entered after her. Bob was behind Travis. He was sweating profusely and his face was glistening. Travis was worried about him. Bob had been rescued in the last few weeks and had yet to prove himself to the other survivors. This trip was his first big chance. Travis hoped that Nerit’s training would pay off.
They made a sweep of the first floor, checking behind every counter, table, and display rack. Most of the merchandise had been scattered across the floor by the bandits. As Katie passed one pile of canvas bags, she pointed out how someone had urinated and defecated on the pile.
“They’re animals,” she grunted.
“Let’s find the vault.” Travis tried to ignore the stench and kept moving.
To his relief, the big old bank vault was still locked. Fresh, shiny scratches and dents on the massive door showed that the bandits had tried to get into it, but it had remained impervious.
“Okay, this is a good sign.” Travis took the combination out of his pocket and twirled the knob, his brow burrowed with concentration.
Katie glanced toward the stairwell that led up to Nerit and Ralph’s apartment. “This place had felt so safe in those first horrible days. Now it’s been desecrated. I wish I could walk up those stairs and find Nerit and Ralph in the kitchen, sipping coffee and eating cheesecake.”
“I’m sorry, Katie.”
“It’s what it is,” she answered with a shrug.
Travis yanked open the vault. Inside were weapons and boxes of ammo. “We’re in business,” Travis declared. “Let’s get this stuff loaded up.”
Katie’s hand suddenly gripped his arm. “Travis, I heard a noise upstairs.”
“Okay, let’s check it out. Bob, you and Felix get the stuff into the van. Lenore and Ken can cover the road.”
Bob hustled forward. “Gotcha.”
Moving slowly, cautiously, and as quietly as possible, Katie and Travis climbed the stairs into Nerit and Ralph’s old apartment. The stench of death filled his nostrils when they reached the landing, and he paused in shock.
The apartment had been destroyed. The furniture had been smashed and the pieces tossed into corners. Mementos, photos, and personal possessions were strewn about. Some of the photos were deliberately defaced. Porn magazines were mixed in with the debris.
“They’re animals,” Katie gasped.
Travis felt a chill sweep over him. If those monsters ever got hold of Katie …
He couldn’t bear the thought.
The dining room held the source of the noise Katie had heard.
A woman lay spread-eagled on the floor, naked. Her wrists and ankles were shackled to huge spikes that had been driven into the floor. Her mouth was duct-taped shut. The silver tape went around her head so many times, only her eyes were visible.
There was a nasty zombie bite on her shoulder. Her undead state explained her condition. She was trying to growl and was thrashing about. What looked like a tongue lay on the floor nearby. Travis had a feeling it was hers.
She had been brutally raped more than once. That much was clear. Travis backed out, found a sheet on the floor in the hall, came back, and threw it over the zombie’s body. It was too much to bear to see her like that. Then he raised his gun and put her out of her misery.
“Why do I have a feeling the rapes took place before and after her death?” Katie’s expression was grim.
Travis sadly shook his head. He used the walkie-talkie to explain the shot and tell the others to keep working.
Katie stepped cautiously into the kitchen, which was also a mess. “They built a meth lab in here.”
“Damn. These guys are fucked up.”
“Running around, strung out on meth, while zombies eat the living … What a nightmare.”
Together, Travis and Katie swept the rest of the apartment, finding it in utter shambles. The bandits had used photographs as toilet paper before throwing them against the bathroom wall. It looked like they had squatted in the hunting store for some time.
“The bedroom,” Katie said in a pained voice, pointing to a door that was ajar. “We should look in there.”
Hesitantly, Travis reached out and pushed open the door. Ralph’s remains lay in a jumble in a corner, looking as if someone had ripped the quilt off the bed with the body still in it. Cigarettes, drug paraphernalia, and beer bottles littered the bed. The only relief was seeing that Ralph was still very truly dead. Travis moved to the corpse’s side and drew the blanket over its decomposing features.
“I hate these guys, maybe even more than the zombies,” Katie gasped. Tears filled her eyes.
“Let’s go,” Travis said in a tortured voice. “Let’s get these bastards.”
They hurried downstairs and helped load the rest of the boxes into the van.
“We’re being watched,” Lenore said around twenty minutes later. “I’ve seen th
e glint of glass three times through those trees over there. I’m sure it’s binoculars.”
“Nerit was right.” Travis continued to work as if nothing were wrong. “Call it in, Ken.”
The younger man nodded, then casually climbed into the van and pretended to do something other than use the radio to call the fort.
Lenore raised her hunting bow and dropped a zombie just coming around a far corner. “So I guess this is it.”
“Can’t be sure yet, but my money is on yes.” Travis wiped his brow before lifting another box.
Katie shoved more ammunition boxes into the back of the Hummer. “I say we go now.”
Felix heaved in a huge box. “I’m with her. Let’s roll.”
Ken slid back out of the van. Walking calmly to pick up a box, he said, “The scary old woman says we keep to the plan. No deviations.”
“How many do you think there are?” Travis looked toward Lenore.
“I’ve seen at least one set of binoculars. I’m guessing one vehicle; otherwise, more guys would be staring at us.”
“Good point.” Katie slammed the door to the Hummer shut. “Is the van ready?”
“Last box here,” Bob answered.
“Then we go,” Travis said, and moved to the passenger door of the Hummer. “Felix, keep to the plan and don’t panic.”
“Dude, I have more experience out here than you do,” Felix griped.
Travis shrugged. “Yeah, but I gotta sound like the condescending leader. It’s my job.”
Felix slightly laughed and climbed into the van. This time Lenore and Ken climbed into the backseat of the Hummer.
Katie turned on the Hummer and began to U-turn slowly. For a second, Travis, too, saw the glint of glass up in the tree line. Silently, he prayed that they would survive whatever came next.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
1.
Seven, Six, Five
Jenni rubbed her trembling hands together and glanced out the window toward the dead town of Emorton. She could see zombies milling around in the street, aimless without human prey to chase. They were far enough away that the zombies did not see or hear them, but the miniature outlines of their forms still made her stomach clench. It was in Emorton that Katie and Jenni had almost been overrun by zombies while on their way to rescue Jason.
“We’re getting close.” Bill looked tired and a little anxious. She knew he had been up many nights, talking and planning with Nerit and Travis. “We’ll deal with this and keep to the initial plan unless things change.”
She pulled her long dark hair up into a knot on top of her head. “I’m really sick and tired of these fuckers scaring us shitless.”
“Truer words were never spoken.” Bill chortled, but there was something off in the sound.
Jenni finished with her hair and studied him curiously. “You got a bad feeling?”
“Woke up with it in my gut,” Bill admitted. “You, too, huh?”
“Yeah. Things feel off.” She thought of the long, sweet kisses she had shared with Juan before she left. It was as if they were sharing their last kisses. The thought of him made her stomach twist a little more. She missed him and wanted to crawl into bed with him and feel his warm, strong arms around her.
“We’re coming up on it,” Ed announced.
Jenni steadied herself, holding on to the back of her seat. Her rifle held tightly in one hand, she looked ahead intently.
They were rescuing what remained of a family—a woman and her three teenagers: one boy and two girls. The grandmother had died of a bite and the kids had had to put her zombified remains down. Until recently, they had been living off their grandmother’s preserves, but were now out of food.
The family’s truck was broken down. They had tried to walk to the neighbors’ in search of supplies, but were chased back by zombies. The rescue team expected to find at least half a dozen zombies in the area.
The narrow dirt road unwound to reveal the trailer tucked in a clearing back from the road. The manufactured home had had at least two additions built onto it. All the windows appeared to be boarded up, but the front door was hanging from its hinges. The muddied driveway revealed tire tracks. A group of zombies was gathered beneath a tree, growling and clawing at the trunk.
“This isn’t good,” Bill said.
“Damn,” Jenni said.
Behind Jenni, her teammates had gotten to their feet and were releasing the safeties on their weapons.
“Jenni, go up top,” Bill said just as a half dozen zombies turned and rushed the bus.
Climbing onto the back of the seat, Jenni shoved open the hatch in the top of the bus. Bill helped her get onto the roof. Hot, grainy wind greeted her as she took a seat on the scorching metal roof. Bill handed up her rifle as the bus slowed.
The zombies were closing fast, screeching, growling, clawed hands outstretched. They were more inhuman looking than ever. The elements definitely were having an impact on them. Their skin was dark gray, their hair matted and wild, their faces shrunken. The ones that were nearly whole were still startlingly fast.
Jenni took down the one at the front of the pack. Its momentum carried it into the side of the bus, which it hit with a wet sound. She fired at another zombie. It tumbled to the ground in a jumble of filthy skirts and lace.
Ah, damn, Jenni thought as the image registered. It was a bride.
Jenni wiped the thought away. She took aim at another zombie, this one a male. It reached the bus and banged on the driver’s window. Startled, Ed jerked the wheel, and the bus swerved sharply. Jenni pitched to one side, losing her shot. Her long braid unfurled as she gripped the edge of the roof. Her rifle tumbled away, but the strap over her shoulder kept it from falling off. Staring down, she saw a zombie gazing back up at her. Horrified, she knew what was about to happen.
The zombie grabbed her hair and pulled.
She managed to hook her feet on the edge of the hatch and clung desperately to the edge of the roof.
“Goddammit, Ed!” Bill shouted inside the bus.
Jenni pushed herself back from the side of the bus; the pain from her hair made her gasp. Gripping the braid, she tried hard to wrestle free, but the zombie was holding tight. She heard a window slide open beneath her, then a shout, followed by two gunshots. The pull on her hair vanished. Grabbing her rifle, she steadied herself as the bus came to a stop. She took aim at the other zombies heading toward them.
Gunfire from within the bus chorused with her shots. One by one, the zombies fell. Nearby, a few persistent ones kept jumping up and down, reaching toward the branches of the tree. Now that the bus was close enough, Jenni could see an emaciated young woman and a boy hardly older than Jason clinging to the trunk and branches.
Jenni efficiently took out the zombies at the base of the tree. “We need to move fast,” she said, leaning over to speak to Bill. With a start, she noticed blood splattered all over the interior. Then she saw the body of a woman—a newcomer whose name Jenni kept forgetting—slumped over a seat. She had been shot in the head. It took Jenni another moment to realize that the woman’s hand was freshly bitten.
“She was trying to shoot the one that had your hair. She had pulled the window down to get a clear shot and it bit her.” Bill met Jenni’s eyes as he answered her unspoken question.
Jenni blinked back tears. “We need to get the kids out of the tree.”
Ed pulled the bus close to the tree, trying not to get cornered up against the trailer or the forest. The boy scrambled out onto a branch.
“Jump down!” Jenni ordered, waving to him.
“They got my sister and mom!”
“The zombies?”
“No, some guys! They came and kicked in our door and grabbed my mom and sister. I was in the back room with Annie and we went out through the window.”
“Jump!”
The boy motioned to his sister, who shook her head, clinging desperately to the trunk of the tree.
“Annie, c’mon,” the boy said.
&n
bsp; She violently shook her head again. “Daniel, I’m scared!”
“Jump, now,” Jenni ordered.
“Annie, please come with me,” Daniel insisted.
The girl once more shook her head, terror in her eyes.
Jenni fastened her gaze on the girl and felt sick to her stomach. Was this the way she looked when Katie had first seen her, shell-shocked and dazed? If so, too damn bad. “Annie, get your fuckin’ ass down here now! Otherwise, you’re gonna have to sit in that damn tree until the zombies figure out how to climb or you pass out and fall. Now, if you want to die that way, be my guest, but I am taking your brother and we’re getting the hell outta here.”
Trembling, Annie sluggishly crawled out onto the thick limb until she reached her brother. With infinite care, Daniel helped lower her to the top of the bus, then dropped down beside her.
Jenni nearly retched at the utter reek of them. “Daniel, the men who came here … Why did they leave you in the tree?”
The girl disappeared through the hatch into the bus as Bill gently helped her down.
The boy rubbed his nose with a shaking hand. “I don’t know. They kept trying to get us down, saying all sorts of sick shit. But we kept climbing higher. I knew we couldn’t make a run for it with the zombies around. Anyway, they were even telling me stuff … about … you know … doing me in the …” The boy took a breath. “Anyway, one of the guys—one of the ones in the truck—started yelling about a gun store and they all just went crazy. They told me and Annie that they would come back for us later if the zombies didn’t get us first.”
“Bill, did you hear?”
“I heard, Jenni. It’s working,” Bill answered, gazing at them through the hatch.
Jenni and Daniel scooted down into the bus just as Ed slammed the back door shut. The woman who had tried to save her now lay with the zombies on the cold, muddy ground.
“Son, how many trucks?” Bill asked.
“Three,” Daniel answered. “Those guys were really fucking scary.”
His sister sat in a seat nearby, wrapped in a light blanket and shaking uncontrollably. “Daniel, we have to get our mom and sister.”
As The World Dies Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3] Page 61