Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies IV:
Hunters
Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies IV:
Hunters
Scott M. Baker
Also by Scott M. Baker
Novels
Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies
Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies: Escape
Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies III: Firestorm
Shattered World I: Paris
Shattered World II: Russia
Shattered World III: China
Shattered World IV: Japan
The Vampire Hunters
Vampyrnomicon
Dominion
Rotter World
Rotter Nation
Rotter Apocalypse
Yeitso
Novellas
Nazi Ghouls From Space
Twilight of the Living Dead
This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things During the Zombie Apocalypse
Anthologies
Cruise of the Living Dead and other Stories
Incident on Ironstone Lane and Other Horror Stories
A Schattenseite Book
Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies IV: Hunters
by Scott M. Baker.
Copyright © 2020. All Rights Reserved.
Kindle Edition
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any electronic system, or transmitted in form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the authors.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art © Christian Bentulan
To my niece Kiera and my nephew Stevie.
I love you guys like you were my own children.
Table of Contents
Half-Title
Title Page
Also by Scott M. Baker
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
A Preview of Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies B: Desperate Mission
A Thank You to My Readers
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter One
“Can we take a break?” Sheri leaned against a tree. She slipped off the Red Sox baseball cap and ran her palm across her forehead, wiping away the sweat. “We’ve been walking for hours.”
“Nut up,” replied David. “It’s only been ninety minutes since our last break.”
“That’s still a long time.”
Tina grunted in frustration. “Why did we have to bring the prom queen along?”
“Because nobody gets left behind.” Brad snapped, quickly ending the argument. The three had been at each other’s throats for weeks. If they kept bickering, Brad might throw himself into a pack of deaders so he wouldn’t have to listen to them. It would be quicker and less painful.
“Take five.”
David and Tina groaned, quieting down when John flashed them an angry glare. They wandered off to get away from the group for a few minutes. Sheri mouthed “Thank you.” She slid down the tree into a crouch, opened a bottle of water, and took a long drink. Brad strolled over to a fallen log, sat down, and sighed. He didn’t know how much more of this he could take.
The group had been together since the outbreak began. They were students at Endicott College north of Salem, Massachusetts. Everyone else on campus had been locals and left to be with their loved ones. Brad and several students from out of state assumed it would all be over soon so they opted to shelter in place. How long could the civil unrest last? Between the food in their dorms and what they had scavenged from the cafeteria, they had enough supplies to last for weeks. It would not be enough. As the realization dawned on them they were not dealing with rioters but the living dead, and that none of them would be going home in the near future, the group moved to the second floor of their dorm, filled the stairwells with furniture to prevent the deaders from reaching them, and hunkered down to wait it out.
At that time, there were twenty-nine of them.
They had holed up for two weeks before the deaders occupying the campus stumbled across them by accident. The next five weeks devolved into a siege that ended when a freshman named Randy cracked under the pressure and cleared out a stairwell trying to escape, inadvertently letting the deaders in. The dorm became a slaughterhouse. Only eleven students escaped and headed north.
For some reason, the survivors had turned to Brad for leadership, probably because he was the only senior classman among them. He led the survivors toward what hopefully would be the relative safety of Canada which, at the time, seemed the best option. Three and a half years of college had not prepared him for what they faced out here, and experience came at a high cost. By the time he had figured out how to avoid a deader horde and survive an attack, too many of his group had become casualties. Of those who set out from Endicott, four had been killed by deaders, one died from the elements, and one had taken her own life to spare herself from this nightmare. Their deaths had taught Brad to avoid main roads and travel through the woods. The going had been slow, but it kept them safe. It also kept them cold, tired, and hungry.
John came over and sat beside Brad, taking Brad’s hand in his own and squeezing gently. “You okay?”
“Yes,” Brad lied. Then he thought better of it. “Not really. I don’t know how much longer I can go on.”
John chuckled.
“What’s so funny?”
“You’ve said that every week for the past two months, then you pick yourself up and keep going. None of us would have made it this far without you.”
“Tell that to Jesse, Sandy, Kevin, and the others.”
“They lasted as long as they did because of you. It’s not your fault they’re dead. This brave, new, fucked up world killed them.”
“That’s easy for you—”
John placed two fingers on Brad’s lips. “You’ve done a great job. None of us would be following you if we didn’t trust you.”
Brad winked. “You’d still be here, I hope.”
“I would, but I’m biased.” John leaned in and kissed Brad. “Time to move out.”
They joined Sheri.
“Break time’s over,” said Brad.
Sheri groaned. She placed the Red Sox cap back on her head, pulling her ponytail through the opening over the back straps.
“Where’s Tina and David?” asked John.
Sheri shrugged as she stood, then pointed to an area where the woods were less dense. “They headed in that direction. I assumed they were looking for a place to do it.”
“Shit,” mumbled Brad.
John tried to lighten the mood. “At least they’ve gotten down the repopulate the world part.”
Tina emerged from the woods and whistled. Once she caught their attention, she motioned for them to follow, which they did. When they caught up with her, Brad asked, “Is there a problem?
”
“Everything’s fine.”
“Where’s David?”
“There.” Tina pointed in front of them.
A field one hundred acres square stretched before them, two-thirds of it having been enclosed by a wooden fence. A stable sat inside the fence on the opposite side of the enclosure and, just beyond it, a farmhouse. A dozen horses grazed outside the stable, keeping wary eyes on the seven predators reaching across the fence, their hands futilely clutching for the food.
“What’s going on?” asked John.
“As far as I can tell,” answered David, “those deaders stumbled across the corral and tried to feed off the horses. The farmer went to stop them and was turned.”
“Why do you think that?”
“The horses are in great shape. They’re well fed and hydrated, which means someone has been taking care of them until recently.” David gestured toward a freshly reanimated deader in the center of the pack. “More than likely him.”
“So?” Sheri asked in a snarky tone. “How does this involve us?”
“Those horses mean we don’t have to walk anymore.”
“Oh?” Sheri suddenly showed interest.
Brad faced her and grinned. “Now we ride in style.”
“Once we get rid of those things,” said David, referring to the deaders.
“Let’s do this.” John led the way to the fence.
Tina whistled to catch the attention of the living dead. They turned as one toward the new source of food. Six of them moaned and staggered in their direction. The farmer, only recently having been turned, snarled and rushed them, closing the distance rapidly.
“I got this,” said Brad as he positioned himself in front of Tina. He brandished the baseball bat he carried. Tina stayed ten feet to his rear, ready to help if necessary.
Brad waited until the deader had come closer and timed his strike carefully. Once within range, he swung the bat, his upper body turning to add additional energy. It connected with the farmer’s head, caving in the left side of its skull. The farmer spun to the right and stumbled but did not go down. As it turned to face its prey, Brad swung the bat again, this time connecting with the deader’s neck. It collapsed into the grass and spasmed. Tina stepped up, positioned the three-foot-long crowbar above its head, and plunged the straight claw through its left eye, churning the metal around to scramble its brain. The deader’s body went limp.
Sheri crossed herself. “Peace be with you. Go with God.”
The rest confronted the other deaders, spreading out in a line abreast to present scattered targets. Weeks of experience came in handy. Brad struck down two more with his bat. Tina drove the crowbar through the eye of a third, again churning it around until the deader collapsed. John lifted his axe and brought it down through the head of the fourth, cleaving it open until the blade reached its jaw. David used his machete to decapitate the fifth. Sheri moved in against the last deader, a teenage woman in a soiled high school t-shirt. Clutching its collar in her gloved hand, she drove her bowie knife up and into the left side of its neck, puncturing the brain stem, then twisted. The deader slid off the blade into the grass. As the others approached the corral, Sheri stayed behind to give the same last rites to each corpse as she had done with the farmer.
The horses eyed the newcomers cautiously. One of them, a tan American Trotter, made its way over to the fence, sensing these people posed no threat. Tina held out her hand. The horse drew closer, sniffing her palm. Tina placed her hand on the side of its nose and gently rubbed.
“You’re a friendly girl.”
The horse playfully nibbled at her hand.
Thirty minutes later, the group had settled in the farmer’s house, after searching it for deaders or survivors, finding neither. John returned from checking the stable.
“There are four more horses inside. They’re a bit skittish but healthy.”
“What about saddles?” asked David.
“There’s one for each horse, so we won’t have to ride bareback.”
“God be praised,” Sheri replied.
“Then it’s settled,” said Brad. “We’ll stay here for the night. Tomorrow we’ll take five of the horses and head out.”
“What about the others?” asked Tina.
“We’ll give them all the hay we can find and leave the corral gate open. That way they’ll have a fighting chance.”
“Thank you.”
David came down from upstairs. “There are two bedrooms. One has a king size bed, the other a double.”
“Excellent. The girls can share the bigger bed and you can take the double. John and I will take the sofa and recliner.”
“I hope this place has hot water,” said Sheri. “I could use a nice shower.”
“We all could,” added Tina.
Brad turned to John, “Check out the kitchen for food. Hopefully, there’s something for a good meal. I’ll make sure the doors are secured.”
Everyone set off about their business, looking forward to the first comfortable night since leaving Endicott.
Chapter Two
Miriam held Brian’s hand, raising his arm off the bed. Alissa placed onto the mattress a makeshift splint she had constructed out of a piece of cardboard cut and folded into a three-sided, L-shaped brace lined with towels. Once in place, Miriam lowered his arm. The limb rested snugly inside. Alissa packed the rest of the splint with towels and secured it to Brian’s arm with a generous amount of roller gauze and adhesive tape. When finished, she put the remaining medical supplies back into the first aid kit.
“Thanks for helping,” said Alissa.
“No problem.” Miriam used a facecloth to wipe the boy’s forehead. “What’s next?”
“We let him sleep.”
“Do you want me to stay?”
“I’ll check in on him later.” Alissa closed the kit’s lid. “Besides, I’m sure Diana will want to be with him.”
The two women exited Nathan’s bedroom, which had been turned into Brian’s recovery room. Diana jumped up from the sofa and met them at the bottom of the stairs.
“How’s Brian?”
“He’s fine.” Alissa placed a comforting hand on Diana’s. “He’s asleep right now. I gave him some extra morphine for the pain.”
“Is it that bad?”
“He will be for a while. The break was severe, but Rebecca did a good job setting it. I used Crazy Glue on the breaks, sewed up the wound, and set it in a splint.”
“Will he be…?” Diana could not bring herself to complete the sentence.
“Crippled? No. But he may have limited mobility in it.”
Diana closed her eyes. “Thank God.”
Connie joined them. “Can I see my brother?”
“Of course. He’ll want you there when he wakes up.” Alissa crouched. “He’s going to need a lot of help the next few weeks until I can take off the splint. Can I count on you?”
“Me?” Connie beamed. “Of course.”
“Good. Why don’t you go sit with him?”
“Okay.” Connie ran upstairs.
Diana followed, pausing to hug Alissa. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Alissa headed into the kitchen to pour herself and Miriam a cup of coffee, sweetened with a shot of rum. Diana and her kids, as well as Rebecca, were the newcomers to the group, having been saved during a gunfight with a gang of assholes that had ambushed her people in North Conway, hoping to take over her cabin. Alissa’s people had lucked out three times yesterday: defeating the gang with no losses among themselves, saving those imprisoned, and surviving the forest fire that had raged around them.
Bringing the two cups of coffee back into the dining room, Alissa placed one in front of Miriam and sat opposite her friend, taking a long swig from her mug.
“That’s good.”
Miriam tasted her coffee. “You could have added a little more rum.”
Steve, who sat at the end of the table, grinned. “You could have broug
ht me a cup of coffee.”
“You’re not crippled,” Miriam replied.
Steve exaggeratedly gestured to his leg wounded a few weeks ago when he accidentally dropped an axe on it.
Too tired to stop their bickering, Alissa avoided it by asking Stephen, “Where’s Rebecca?”
“She’s taking a nap in the kids’ room.”
“Did you find out anything about them?”
“Diana and her family had sheltered in place at their home but had to abandon it when deaders overran the neighborhood. They escaped in the family Hummer and did well for themselves until they were captured by that gang about a month ago. Diana and her husband would go into stores and search for supplies, hunting out any deaders. Dickson’s gang used her every night for sex.”
“Were the kids…?”
“No one sexually or physically abused them. They were ransom to make sure Diana and her husband obeyed. The boy got his arm broke in a confrontation with the deaders.”
“What about Diana’s husband?”
“The gang leader shot him a week ago when he mouthed off to him. From what her and Rebecca told me, that guy was a real asshole.”
“That’s for sure.” Alissa flashed back to the fight in the hotel office when Dickson had ordered Nathan executed and shot his own girlfriend in the ensuing battle. “What about Rebecca?”
“Pretty much the same story. Her and her boyfriend survived on their own until they ran into the gang about a week ago. Only in Rebecca’s case, her boyfriend allowed her to be passed around the gang like a joint at a frat party so he could be part of the crew.”
“What happened to him?”
“She knocked him out during the fight with the deaders and escaped with Diana’s family. He died in the propane explosion outside of Lowe’s.”
“She never mentioned him to us.”
Steve shrugged. “I guess by that time he was dead to her.”
Alissa could not begin to imagine what Diana and Rebecca, as well as the kids, had gone through. Their experiences made her appreciate how well off the rest of them were.
Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies | Book 4 | Hunters Page 1