I jumped when the door to the courtroom opened, and I fumbled for my gun. When I realized it was Quinn, I took a deep breath and continued to examine the files. My eyes felt like sandpaper, and it was hard for me to focus. I didn’t look up when he kissed the top of my head.
“What are you doing?”
“We had a visit from Florida. We’re trying to figure out who squealed.”
Quinn knelt next to me and turned the chair so I faced him. “Who came from Florida?”
“One of Olivia’s bodyguards and two other men I didn’t recognize.”
“What did they say?”
“They wanted to know why Liet hadn’t sent the supplies.”
Quinn stood and thought for a moment. “This is exactly why I wanted to attack both places at the same time. Now it’ll be impossible to get supplies in.”
“What’s done is done. We have to figure out what we’re going to do.”
He stared at the pile of folders. “Why are you looking through the files?”
“I’m looking for someone.”
“Who?”
“The woman who attacked me in Liet’s office.”
“Why?”
“Because she might be the person who escaped. If I know who she is and where she lives, then I can check to see if she’s there.”
Quinn leaned on the desk and lifted a few files, but didn’t study them too hard. “What if it wasn’t her?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but was interrupted when the door slammed open. Quinn and I turned to look at Pam, who approached the bench with a grim look on her face.
“I think I might have our culprit.” She waved a folder in the air before slamming it down onto the desk. “All the soldiers are accounted for, except for one. Ben.”
I opened the folder and stared at the picture. It took my exhausted brain a few minutes before I recognized the man. I stared at Quinn.
“I guess he really didn’t like being handcuffed to the steering wheel.”
“You sure about this?” I asked.
Pam nodded. “Things got crazy when the workers attacked, but according to witnesses, he disappeared right after the first shot was fired. Some of the other soldiers cursed him for being a coward, but now we know where he was going.”
My forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Why Ben? What ties did he have with The Families?” I flipped open the folder, but the only information in there was his transfer sheet.
Pam shrugged. “Who knows? It’s possible he didn’t have any ties at all. He was smart enough to get out when the gettin’ was good.”
I set the folder down and buried my face in my hand. I sat like that for a few minutes, then raised my head. “We have to find out what they know. We need to get some spies into Florida.”
“How do you expect to do that?” Pam questioned.
Frustration squeezed my chest, and I slammed my fist onto the desk. “I don’t know, but we’d better figure something out. Bill and Kyle made it down there. We can get someone else in.”
Quinn placed a hand on my shoulder. “Even if we get someone in, how are they going to communicate with us?”
“CB radio, telegraph, carrier pigeon. I don’t care. Just make it happen.”
Quinn held his hands up in defense. “All right. We’ll figure something out. Right now, though, I think you need to head to bed. You’ve been awake for a long time, and I don’t think you’re thinking too clearly.”
I stared at him and the heat rose to my face. I opened my mouth to speak, thought better of it, and stood from the chair. I stared at Pam and Quinn for a moment before heading upstairs.
After I closed the door, I leaned against it for support. My head spun and I felt nauseous. It wasn’t supposed to be this difficult. After North Platte fell, it was supposed to be a quick overthrow of The Families. No one would get hurt and everyone would be thankful for the freedom. All we were trying to do was make the nation a better place to live. We needed to get rid of the zombies.
My head ached, so I decided to take a shower and lay down. I stepped into the bathroom and then turned on the water. The heat massaged the back of my head, and I tried not to think about anything. We’d been lucky that North Platte fell so quickly. The people sent to work there had done something to piss The Families off. They were probably decent people, but their ideas didn’t mesh with their rulers. It wasn’t hard to convince them to retaliate because they had nothing to lose. Those who still lived in Florida had everything to lose. They didn’t know what it was like outside the state, they only knew what The Families told them. I realized we’d run into more Pearls than we would Tanyas, and that made our campaign that much harder.
Plus, we were a threat to The Families, whose control was based on fear. Once that fear was gone, they were done. They wouldn’t like that, and that was why they’d sent the scouts. They needed to know for sure what they were up against. Sending back a truck would be a nice gesture, but it’d only buy us time. Eventually, we’d have to face the army of Florida.
I stepped out of the shower and dried off. I pulled on a pair of sweats and a tank top, then headed for bed. Quinn sat on the edge and smiled feebly at me as I took a seat next to him. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and buried my face in his chest. His warm breath on the top of my head comforted me.
“It was stressful enough when we had to worry about zombie attacks. Now we have to worry about the living, too. What are we going to tell the workers of North Platte?”
“They knew what they were getting into when they revolted.”
I took a deep breath. “What are we going to do?”
Quinn sighed and pulled me closer. “The only thing we can do is prepare for war.”
DEATH TO THE UNDEAD
By Pembroke Sinclair
CHAPTER 1
“Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
God, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that cliché. Dad was particularly fond of it when I had issues with homework or a dilemma in my personal life. I knew what his point was. He was telling me to be patient, to let things progress the way they were supposed to. But, I wasn’t good at that. I never had a lot of patience. I imagined my Dad reiterating the cliché after the North Platte takeover, wondering what he would think of what I’d done. What we’d done. We liberated Nebraska, but we still had a long road ahead of us. I knew Rome wasn’t built in a day, but I was pretty sure the zombies could destroy it in one.
I stood in the guard tower, overlooking the field. My body pressed against the railing. Corpses still littered the ground, but there weren’t as many as when I first came to North Platte. The crews had done a great job of cleaning up, though there was little they could do about the atrocious smell.
The sun sank beneath the horizon, casting hues of orange, pink, and purple onto the silhouettes of the undead. A bullet was chambered into a gun behind me. Quinn had been sitting in a chair behind me in the tower the whole time.
“Quinn, what happened to your parents?” I turned so I faced him.
Quinn rested the butt of his gun on the deck and wrapped his arms around the barrel. He sighed. “My mom died about seven years ago from cancer. I don’t know what happened to my dad.”
I furrowed my brow. “What do you mean?”
“Well, when we heard about the first zombie attacks, Dad wanted to help. Most of the neighbors lived within a few miles, so it didn’t take too long for him to move them onto the ranch. One morning, he and a few of the others decided to venture a little farther, see who else might need some help, and he never came back.”
My stomach felt queasy. I averted my gaze to the floor, then glanced back at Quinn. “Did you go look for him?”
Quinn shook his head. “He told me not to. He said no matter what happens, I was to stay at the ranch and take care of the people.”
“Yeah, but you must have been curious what happened to him.”
Quinn nodded and stood from his chair. “Of course, but I did as I was told.” He shoulde
red the rifle and lined up his sights. He fired.
I moved so I stood next to him. “Do you think he’s out there somewhere?”
Quinn glanced at me. “Probably. But I doubt he’s anything like I remember.”
“Doesn’t that make you sad?”
He returned his attention to the sight. “Every day. But there’s nothing I can do to change it now.” He fired another round.
I slumped against the rail. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I averted my gaze back to the field. I rubbed my sore shoulder. A breeze picked up, bringing a chill and the smoke from the funeral pyre. I wrinkled my nose.
“We need to do something about that.”
Quinn straightened. “Like what?”
I shrugged the good shoulder. “I don’t know. Maybe we could put a building around it. It might help contain some of the smoke and smell.”
Quinn nodded. “You should suggest it at the next meeting.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but the sound of footsteps on the stairs interrupted me. It was Pam. She still wore her old guard uniform, a relic from Liet’s reign, but it was obvious whose side she was on. Thank goodness she was on our side. She trained me; I knew how tough and skilled she was. It would’ve been a battle to take her down.
“Krista,” Pam said. “There’s someone who needs to see you.”
I pushed myself away from the rail. “Who?”
Pam motioned toward the courthouse. “I think it’s best if you just head over there.”
I looked at Quinn, who shrugged, then the three of us headed to the courthouse.
My stomach fluttered as I pushed opened the door. Visions of Mrs. Johnson’s bodyguard flooded my mind, and I didn’t think I could stand another visit like that. I held my breath as I stepped into the room. The person stood at the end of the room, her head down as she chewed on her thumb nail. Excitement rose in my chest and relief loosened my shoulders. A smile crossed my lips. I held out my good arm and hurried across the room. Normally, I wasn’t one for hugs, but anyone besides guards from Florida in the office was a welcome relief.
“Tanya! What are you doing here?”
Tanya looked up. She balled her hand into a fist and swung it over her head. I flinched, and the blow hit me on the bicep. Tanya lunged forward, flailing her arms. I crouched and covered my head. I didn’t know what else to do. I was so shocked, I froze. I couldn’t react. Several more hits landed on my back and head before someone pulled Tanya away.
“How could you?” Tanya yelled. “How could you?” She kicked and caught me on the knee.
Pain radiated through my leg, and I rubbed at the minor injury. Anger replaced the shock. Who did she think she was coming into my courtroom and attacking me?
“What are you talking about?” I tried to keep my emotions in check, common sense told me I needed to know what was going on.
“Don’t play dumb with me! You know what you did.” She jerked her arms out of Quinn and Pam’s grasp.
Really? Was she mad that we liberated Nebraska before we helped Florida? I didn’t think it was a big deal, but I guess it upset her.
“I’m sorry, Tanya. We had to move quickly. We had to set the people of North Platte free.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not talking about the attack.”
I stared at her for a moment. “Then what are you talking about?”
“You sent zombies down in the truck of supplies! You figured if you couldn’t overthrow The Families, you’d overrun the state with the undead!” Tanya yelled, then attempted to attack again. Pam and Quinn restrained her and stared at me.
I picked myself off the floor, staring at Tanya wide eyed. Zombies in the truck? What? When? Why would I have done that? I hate those things! I would have to get pretty close to put those in the truck, and I wasn’t willing to do that. But someone must have. Who would be stupid and conniving enough to do that?
“Tanya, honestly, I have no idea what you are talking about. Maybe you should fill us in on some details.”
Tanya snarled. “The truck showed up a few weeks ago, with Mrs. Johnson’s bodyguard behind the wheel. He said it had come from North Platte, and I assumed it had another shipment of guns. As usual, I was going to wait until night to collect the weapons. My father took the vehicle to the storage yard, like he always did. I was done working at the coffee shop, so I decided to see what you guys sent. I stood at the chain link fence, watching the guys work, when I heard my father scream from the trailer. The others ran to see what was going on, and a zombie lurched out of the vehicle. They ran.”
Tanya continued her story, and I pictured the whole scenario in my mind. She was a bit lacking on details, so I filled in the blanks with my own imagination. It wasn’t hard, especially when you’ve seen as many zombies as I have. There were three creatures, buried under crates.
Two men, newly turned with just the slightest hint of yellowed skin. Their clothes were dirty but not yet torn. The third, a woman, she had been a zombie for a while. Her stringy blonde hair was knotted, caked in mud, and falling out of her head, only wisps remained on the bottom and right side. Her clothes had almost completely decayed, tatters of a floral print dress clung to her, the bones exposed in her chest and legs. Her gray, wrinkled skin looked like leather. They hid in the shadows, hard to see, and for some reason, they didn’t moan like the others when food was near. The workers didn’t know they were there and had unloaded almost the entire truck. They were almost finished when the attack started. Tanya ran through the gate, making her way to the back of the truck, just in time to see her father beating one of the creatures with a tire iron. The third one was still pinned behind a crate. Her breath caught as she watched the creature’s mouth snap for her dad. Her dad panted with exhaustion. He leaned against the side of the truck for support.
Blood, brain matter, and bits of skull were everywhere, and the smell was overpowering. Tanya was about to climb in, find out if her dad was all right, but he told her to stop. He collapsed onto the floor, sliding down the wall. He cradled his hand. The zombie had bitten him.
Tanya set her jaw. “The other one that got out of the truck attacked several of the workers before it was put down. I don’t know how many of them got bit, but within a few days, we had an epidemic on our hands. They got it under control, but thirty people got infected.”
Pam and Quinn released her, and she pointed a finger in my direction.
“You just couldn’t wait, could you? You just had to make all of us pay.”
My throat felt tight and a knot developed in my stomach. I swallowed hard. “What happened to your dad?”
Tanya snarled, “Instead of waiting for the plague to take its toll, he took care of himself.”
I lowered my gaze to the floor. My stomach lurched, bile rose into my throat. I took several deep breaths, but the feeling never abated.
“I’m sorry, Tanya.” I looked into her face. “I really, truly am. But I did not put zombies in the back of the truck. Why would I harm the people I’m trying to help?”
Tanya shook her head and opened her mouth to speak.
“Think about it,” Quinn interrupted her. “The Families were afraid of losing control. They knew about the rebellion here in North Platte, and they knew the people would soon hear about it. They had to do something to ensure the people wouldn’t revolt, so they planted zombies.”
Tanya stared at him for a moment, letting the information sink in. “Maybe,” she spoke softly.
I stepped closer to her. “Tanya, please, you have to believe us, we would never do anything like that. Smuggle guns to kill the regime, yeah, but we wouldn’t infect Florida with zombies.”
Tanya took a deep breath. “Maybe.”
“Didn’t Bill and Kyle tell you what was going on?” Quinn asked.
Tanya faced him. “They did.”
“What happened to them?”
She took a deep breath and averted her gaze to the floor. “After the attack and my dad’s suicide, guards, um, did random hou
se searches and they were arrested.”
Pam’s, Quinn’s, and my eyes grew wide. “What?” Quinn glanced from Tanya to me.
“Arrested? Why?”
“They were outsiders,” she responded. “I guess they felt they were a threat to The Families and Florida.”
“Did they find out about the guns?” I stammered out the question.
Tanya looked at me. “No. Those are still safe.”
“How did you get here?” Pam chimed in.
“After everything calmed down, I took the boat Bill and Kyle came in on and found their vehicle in Texas. I made my way up here to you.”
“Do you know what happened to them?” Worry coated Quinn’s eyes.
“I’m sure they’re not dead. I’m sure The Families kept them for interrogation.”
Quinn rubbed his hand over his mouth, staring at me. “What are we going to do? Everything is ruined. I told you we had to attack simultaneously.”
Confusion and anger coursed through my body. “It’s a moot point now. We’ll figure it out. It’ll be fine.”
What did he expect me to do? I couldn’t change the past.
The room was silent for a long moment. The group glanced at each other out of the corners’ of their eyes, then averted their gazes to the floor. My head spun.
When we first took over North Platte and found out there had been a spy, I felt like I was losing control then, but after Tanya arrived, I knew I lost my grip. An all-out attack on Florida was out of the question. They would know what was coming. Plus, we were grossly outnumbered by Floridian soldiers. Despite the tragic nature of the event, a zombie attack wasn’t a half bad idea. It would keep the soldiers busy long enough for our people to get in and take control. There would be some collateral damage, but in the long run, it would lead to the liberation of the people of Florida.
Life After The Undead Omnibus [Books 1-2] Page 25