Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies | Book 4 | Hunters

by Baker, Scott M.

  Chris listened. No more gunfire came from the woods.

  “I’m sure they’ll be back soon.” Chris hoped he was not telling the kids a lie.

  From its hiding place, the sheriff’s deputy Beta watched Alpha attack the female human on this side of the fence. It left the safety of the woods to help its leader.

  Alissa dropped the Mossberg and slammed her head backwards, her skull catching Alpha in the face and preventing it from biting her. The blow broke its nose and loosened two teeth, the deader unmindful of the pain. She continued the pummeling, praying she wouldn’t accidentally cut herself on its teeth.

  Nathan crawled backed under the fence. He moved around to Alpha’s rear and yanked the deader off Alissa. It turned and went after him. Nathan drove the palm of his hand into its face, hoping to disorient it. Rather than stagger away, as Nathan had predicted, Alpha knocked the human’s arm out of the way and lunged, knocking Nathan over. He fell back onto the grass with enough force that it momentarily knocked the wind out of him. Alpha bent over to bite Nathan, taking him out of the battle.

  Before Alpha could do so, Alissa wrapped her left arm around Alpha’s neck, the inside of her elbow against its Adam’s apple, the upper and lower arms tightening on its arteries. It thrashed around, trying to shake her off. Alissa had used the tactic out of instinct, forgetting that such a move would not render the living dead unconscious. Alissa realized that if she let go now, the deader would more than likely kill her.

  The sheriff’s deputy Beta, seeing its opportunity with both humans distracted, rushed forward.

  Rebecca stood on the other side of the fence, her weapon raised, waiting for the chance to fire on the deader attacking Alissa and Nathan without risking killing her friends. She spotted movement out of the corner of her eye and saw a second deader rushing toward Nathan, who remained stunned. Spinning the weapon in its direction, she fired. The first round missed. The second two tore into its chest, ripping out chunks of flesh and shredding organs. The sheriff’s deputy Beta faltered but continued, determined to feed. Rebecca steadied her aim and pulled the trigger. The weapon clicked. She had used the last of her ammunition.

  The gunfire had snapped Nathan back to reality. The Beta was only a few yards away about to pounce. Sliding his Sig Sauer out of its holster, he had time for only one shot. Nathan pulled the trigger. The round caught the deader underneath the jaw, ripping its way up and through its head, destroying the limbic system in the process. The sheriff’s deputy Beta collapsed, falling onto the ground beside Nathan.

  Miriam crawled under the fence and picked up Alissa’s Mossberg. Circling around to in front of her friend, she rammed the stock into the deader’s face, careful not to slip and hit Alissa instead.

  “Don’t worry about me,” said Alissa. “Bash it harder.”

  Alissa lowered her head as Miriam rammed the Mossberg into Alpha’s face again, knocking out several teeth.

  A long-forgotten emotion filled Alpha – fear. This should not be happening. It was the leader. Its pack had overpowered every human they had encountered. The concept of defeat had never entered its primitive mind. Yet it knew, like a cornered animal about to die, that its only chance of survival was to fight back ferociously. When the weapon smashed into its face for the third time, Alpha growled and attacked Miriam, dragging Alissa with it.

  Alissa tried to hold it back and stumbled in the process. When she glanced down to regain her footing, she saw her hunting knife strapped to her leg. She had forgotten about it in the middle of the carnage. Sliding it from its sheath, she stepped to the side, exposing the deader’s neck, and plunged the blade into the gap where the spine connects with the skull.

  For Alpha, everything went blank when the knife penetrated its brain. The insatiable hunger. The skills of the hunt. The current battle. Only a brief image flashed through its mind of a female and a male child, humans that had once been dear to it and brought it comfort. The memory ended when Alissa twisted the knife, churning the blade through its limbic system and ending its existence. When she withdrew the knife, Alpha’s body slid to the dirt in front of her.

  Alissa and the others scanned the area around them, searching for more deaders. They did not see or hear anything for several seconds.

  “Is it really over?” asked Miriam.

  “I think so.” Alissa drew in a deep breath. “We made it.”

  “Thank God,” said Rebecca.

  “Not everyone did.” Nathan stood and extended his right hand, the palm up, exposing a teeth marks above the wrist. “I was bit when I struck the deader in the face.”

  “No!” Alissa raced over to Nathan and examined his hand. Its teeth had penetrated the skin and bit deep into the tissue. This wasn’t a scratch with a chance he might survive. This wound was a death sentence.

  “No.” This time Alissa sobbed the word and pulled Nathan close to her, holding him tight.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chris paced back and forth outside the cabin, watching for any surviving deaders while waiting for the others to return. Only ten minutes had elapsed, but it seemed like hours. Shithead stayed with him, alert to the tension and eyeing his master every few seconds. The kids were inside. After checking the cabin for deaders, which there were none still alive, Chris had told them to stay in their parents’ room until he came for them.

  Shithead growled. A moment later, Chris heard something approaching through the trees. He readied to open fire, thankful to see Alissa and the others emerge from the tree line. His hopes collapsed when he saw the despair on her face. He asked one simple question.

  “Who?”

  Nathan forced a smile and showed him the bite on his hand. “Me.”

  “Shit,” Chris mumbled.

  “Excuse me.” Alissa took Nathan’s good hand. “I have to get him inside and tend to the wound.”

  “You know that’s not going to work,” said Nathan.

  “I can at least try,” she snapped and led him toward the cabin.

  Miriam ran up to Chris and took his hands. Her voice quivered. “Kiera and Stevie… are they…?”

  “They’re fine. Both are waiting in your room with Connie and Archer.”

  “What about Diana and Brian?” asked Steve.

  “They didn’t make it.”

  “Dear God.” Miriam bowed her head and uttered a silent prayer. “We should get inside.”

  “Let me warn you, it’s a slaughterhouse in there.”

  “I don’t care. I need to see my kids.”

  The kids heard their parents and met them at the door. Miriam dropped to her knees and held them tight. Connie stayed in the background, grieving over the loss of her own family. Miriam released her children and waved the young girl over. Connie rushed into her arms and sobbed on Miriam’s shoulder. The rest of the family closed in and joined in a group hug for their new member.

  Chris moved away from the reunion and headed upstairs to Rebecca’s room, which had been unscathed in the carnage. Nathan lay on the bed and Alissa examined the wound. She rose from the bed and headed for the door.

  “Stay with him. I’ll get the first aid kit.”

  Nathan clasped her hand. “That won’t do any good.”

  “You don’t know that.” Alissa broke his grip and raced out of the room.

  Chris strolled over to the bed. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. It was bound to happen to one of us eventually. I’m glad it didn’t happen to Alissa or one of the kids.”

  “Yeah.” Chris struggled for the right words. “So, how do you want to do this?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Do you want one of us to take you out or do you prefer to do it yourself?”

  “I can’t take my own life. I don’t want to go to Hell.”

  “Under the circumstances. I think God will forgive you.”

  “I’d rather not take any chances.” Nathan forced a chuckle. “Tie my hands to the bed and, when the time comes, I want you to kill
me. Please don’t make Alissa do it. I don’t want her to have to make that decision.”

  “You have my promise, buddy.” Chris stepped forward and the two men shook hands. Chris patted Nathan’s hand and squeezed.

  Alissa came back into the room with a first aid kit and sat on the bed beside Nathan. She went through the motions of cleaning and bandaging Nathan’s wound, clearly trying to avoid the inevitable.

  PREVIEW OF NURSE ALISSA VS. THE ZOMBIES V: DESPERATE MISSION

  3 March

  This cabin will never be the same again – and I’m not talking just physically.

  The deader attack yesterday tore this place apart. Both the front and kitchen doors were ripped out of their jambs by the horde. Chris and Steve remounted them last night, but it was a jury-rigged effort. The hinges are fragile. The doors don’t open and close properly and are unable to withstand anything pushing on them. The windows in front were shot out by machine gun fire and the twin glass doors leading out to the deck were shattered by the deaders. Thankfully, Paul had stored pre-cut plywood in the shed to cover them. Chris and Steve are planning on a run to a hardware store in the next few days to pick up replacement for the ones that are broken. Even so, nothing will repair all the bullet holes, hundreds of them. Most of them are along the porch where Chris gunned down the horde trying to get inside with the .50 caliber. There are quite a few on the interior walls from the battle inside the cabin. Those will also serve as a constant reminder of just how unsafe this world is.

  Plus, there are hundreds of corpses inside and outside the cabin, all but two of them deaders. Chris and Steve dug two graves near the tree line for Diana and Brian and gave them a proper burial last night. They wanted to dig a third one for Nathan but I refused. Nathan will be gone soon enough. Digging his grave beforehand seems morbid. They’re working now on removing and disposing of the deaders, and then will help Miriam and Rebecca clean and disinfect the place. Even so, none of us will ever erase the images of the carnage that took place here and the gory aftermath.

  My room is a battle zone. Chris won’t let me go in there until they’re restored it to order, which I don’t mind. I’ve been sitting in Nathan’s room all night with him, a Colt in my lap. Ready to put him out of his misery once he turns.

  The cabin has lost all meaning to me. I used to view it as a safe haven, the place I had escaped to in order to avoid the nightmare enveloping the rest of the world. How fucking naïve. Now it’s just a location to hide out in, a place to stay until we’re killed or forced to run. Chris has been trying to reassure me that everything will be fine, that this was a fluke that will never be repeated. I’m not sure if he believes that. I don’t. Our sanctuary was violated once and I’m stuck with the realization that it could, and probably will, happen again.

  The violation of our sanctuary was also a violation of my sense of security. I no longer feel confident that we’ll survive this apocalypse.

  The worst part is sitting her waiting to mercy Nathan, my best friend and my lover, the man who saved my life on more than one occasion. I’m no stranger to death, even before this whole nightmare began. I’ve watched many patients die in the ER. I even watched my mother pass away from cancer and my father die of loneliness several months later. This is different. I never had an emotional bond with my patients and was helpless to do anything to help my parents. Sure, I helped that old man in the hospital die, left many others to their fate, and killed people when that gang attacked us. That was different. This is the first time that I’ll be taking the life of someone I care for. It hurts. The idea leaves me cold and dead inside.

  I hate to say this, but I wish Nathan would hurry up and turn so I can end his suffering and get this over with.

  * * *

  “Grab his arms,” Chris ordered Steve.

  The two men lifted the deader off the kitchen floor and carried it through the living area and off to the side where they piled it on top of the funeral pyre Chris had set up last night. He had found in the storage shed several pallets that Paul had loaded supplies on, placed them on the ground, and doused them with kerosene. The two men had stacked the corpses on top of the pallets ten layers deep, each layer doused with more kerosene and with firewood laid between them. They would light it later tonight when the dark would conceal the smoke from anyone, or anything, nearby. He had picked the side of the compound to protect the cabin and hopefully keep the flames from being seen along the road.

  “That takes care of those inside and some from the porch.” Steve paused to catch his breath. “What about the hundreds outside?”

  “We’ll worry about those later.”

  “Are you planning on burning those as well?”

  “I doubt we have enough gasoline and wood to take care of them all. Those in the woods we’ll leave for now. The rest we’ll drag over here to get them away from the cabin.” Chris swatted away the bloated flied and wasps that hovered over the dead and strayed toward him. “We’re going to have to find a pick-up truck and haul them away. Once that’s done, we can get what we need to repair the cabin.”

  “A lot easier said than done.”

  “Yeah.” Chris stared at the cabin where Alissa kept a death watch over Nathan. “But I’d rather do this than what Alissa has to go through.”

  * * *

  A gentle knock sounded on the bedroom door. Alissa snapped awake, realizing she had dozed off. The notebook and pen fell out of her lap. She grabbed the Colt, ready to shoot Nathan, but he lay in bed, still asleep.

  The knock came again and Miriam asked, “Can I come in?”

  “Sure.”

  Miriam entered holding a cup of coffee and a plate with a sandwich. “I thought you might want these. You skipped breakfast this morning.”

  “Thanks.” Alissa did not feel like eating, but coffee sure sounded good.

  Miriam placed the cup and plate on the dresser. Alissa picked up the cup and took a long sip. “Thanks. I needed that. I started dozing off.”

  “You need to get your sleep.”

  “I will when…” Alissa let her words trail off.

  “How’s Nathan doing?”

  Alissa glanced over at the bed. Nathan lay in a restless slumber. His hands and feet had been tied to the bed frame so he couldn’t move. His breathing was steady though a bit belabored. Half an hour ago, he had been tossing his head and mumbling, but had quieted down after a few minutes.

  “He’s not doing well. His wound is becoming infected and he’s running a fever of one hundred and two degrees. I’ve given him anti-biotics, but those will take a few days to work.”

  “I’m surprised he hasn’t turned yet.” Miriam regretted her words. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound so callous.”

  “It’s okay. I am, too.” According to everything she had witnessed in Boston, those infected reanimated quickly. By all accounts, Nathan should have turned within an hour of being bitten by the deader, at most. Instead, he lingered in this damnable limbo.

  “Do you think he’s immune?”

  “No, unfortunately,” Alissa remembered Dr. Edwards from Mass General on the first day of the outbreak. He had been bitten but didn’t turn. Dr. Edwards had showed no symptoms of infection and bled out rather than succumb to the virus. If Nathan was immune, he should be conscious.

  “I wish there was something we could do for Nathan.”

  “Maybe there is.” Alissa felt a glimmer of hope well up inside of her. “Where’s Steve?”

  “Helping Chris remove the bodies from the cabin.”

  “Here.” Alissa stood and handed Miriam the Colt. “Stay here and let me know if Nathan… if there’s any change in his condition.”

  Alissa ran out of the bedroom and headed downstairs.

  A Thank You to My Readers

  I like to think of myself as a storyteller. I’ve been writing short stories as far back as I can remember, but it was Darren McGavin as The Night Stalker’s Carl Kolchak that inspired me to be become a full-time writer. Writing and working
for the CIA have been two of the most fulfilling things I’ve done with my life. The best part is having people who read my books, enjoy them, and want more. I’m extremely fortunate and grateful that I have a fanbase that devours my novels like zombies eating human flesh. You keep reading and I’ll keep writing.

  If you liked Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies IV: Hunters, please post a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. It doesn’t have to be long—just a rating and a sentence or two about why you enjoyed it. The more reviews the Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies series receives, the more opportunity other readers have of discovering the book.

  The Nurse Alissa saga will continue. Books five and six are being written and plotted now. Alissa and her group will be teaming up with the military for a bit, which means plenty of deader action and some highly unique ways to kill off the living dead. After that, the (few?) survivors might go on a road trip. New Mexico sounds fun.

  A second series, which is post-apocalyptic but without zombies, is in pre-production (i.e. I’m researching and plotting out the concept). Expect the first book in that series sometime in early 2021 – that is, if we make it through 2020.

  Acknowledgments

  Writing is solitary and lonely. Getting a book published, on the other hand, is a complicated process involving many people, all of whom deserve to be recognized.

  A major thanks goes out to my beta readers who have been with me from book one: Tammy Michelle Mayberry, Michael Atkinson, Pammy Troupe, Tom Williamson, Marla Dewitt, Dan Uebel, Norma Seitz, Roseann Powell, Doc Fried, Paul Semke, and Cari Laffrenier Thompson. They point out grammatical/spelling errors, plot flaws, inconsistencies (like the time I killed a character, brought him back to life a few chapters later, and then killed him again), and offer their opinion on whether they like the story. I would be lost without them.

  Christian Bentulan designed the cover art for Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies IV: Hunters as well as the other books in the saga. I love Christian’s work. His covers reach out and grab the reader’s attention as well as foreshadow what is to come. Plus, Archer appears on each cover, which he appreciates.