The Zombie Uprising Series: Books One Through Five

by M. A. Robbins

  “Somewhere else?” Mercy said. “We saw your helicopter land and hoped we could catch a ride with you. Our van’s acting up and this isn’t a good time to break down.”

  “No,” Jen said. “They stay here.”

  Howell moved in next to Jen. “Why take the risk?” he whispered. “They’re not armed and won’t be of much help.”

  Jen looked at Mercy. “Excuse us a minute.” She led Howell and Zeke into the room and closed the door.

  “Even if I can get Butler to hold off any further attacks,” she said, “we still have the conspiracy to deal with. What better way to bring it to light than through the media? If we can tell our story and have them document us stopping the attacks, we can get the people on our side.”

  Howell rubbed his chin. “Might work, but is it worth the risk of having to protect the newspeople as well?”

  “I think so,” Zeke said.

  Good old Zeke.

  Howell shrugged. “OK.”

  Jen returned to the hall. “We expect that horde to hit town soon. You’ll be safe in this room.”

  Mercy squinted her eyes. “You’re not leaving?”

  “It’s part of that long story,” Jen said, “but I can’t.”

  “Why would we need to get in that room to be safe?” Josh asked. “There aren’t any zombies in the building, and the outside doors are closed. The zombies will just run by unless we bring attention to ourselves.”

  “Not quite,” Jen said. “There’s one zombie controlling them all, and he’s coming to see me.”

  “One zombie’s in charge?” Mercy asked.

  “Maybe you should start that interview now,” Zeke said. “Go in the room. I’ll be out here and let you know when the horde arrives.”

  Jen nodded. “Guess there’s no better time than the present.” She entered the bedroom and turned on the light. “Let’s get started.”

  Forty minutes later, Jen’s stomach tingled. She put up a hand. “Have to cut off the interview.”

  “Why?” Mercy asked. “There’s so much more to ask you.”

  Jen stood. “Remember how I told you I can sense leaders?”

  Mercy nodded. “You sense one now?”

  “Yeah.” Jen opened the door and stepped into the corridor. Zeke stood at the window in the opposite room.

  “See anything?” she asked.

  “No.” He pressed his face to the window and tried to see down the street.

  The tingling sensation ran up Jen’s spine to the base of her neck and radiated down her left side. She went to her room’s window and peered at the street below. Nothing’s changed.

  Her gaze rose up the building across the street and stopped. A zombie, its deep yellow eyes staring at her, stood in a window two floors lower.

  “Got one,” she said. “Leader.”

  Howell rushed to her side. “Where?”

  She pointed. “Two floors down and one to the right.”

  “Bet it’s a scout. Won’t be long for the others.”

  Movement in her peripheral vision caught Jen’s attention. She peered down the street. A black wave washed toward them. Holy shit.

  She stepped back from the window. “It’s showtime. They’re here.”

  Howell ran into the hallway. “Everyone at your position.” He pointed at Mercy and Josh. “You two get in the room and shut the door.”

  Mercy scowled, then whispered something to Josh. She led him into the room.

  Jen reached the hallway as the tingling intensified, numbing her whole side. She leaned against the wall and her body spasmed. Falling to the carpeted floor, she let out a gasp.

  The movie projector in her mind flicked on and she found herself in the midst of the horde again, running down a street with buildings lining either side and then stopping in front of the hotel. The horde encircled it.

  “I know where you are,” Butler’s voice echoed in her head.

  I’m ready.

  “I will send up two of mine.”

  Two of yours?

  “Two of mine. Leaders, as you call them.”

  What about you?

  “There are others with you. Mine will make sure it’s safe for me.”

  Let me go so I can prepare.

  Jen’s eyes popped open. Zeke was on one knee by her side, rubbing her back. “What did he say?”

  Jen put a hand out. Zeke stood and grasped it, then pulled her to her feet.

  “He’s sending two leaders ahead to make sure it’s safe,” she said. “Go tell Wayne to let them through if they come up that way.”

  “Got it.” Zeke ran toward the far stairs.

  Jen stumbled to D-Day’s stairs. Howell stood next to the biker, talking, but rushed out to help Jen. “What’s the news?”

  Jen leaned against the stairway doorframe. “Butler’s close. He’s sending up two leaders first.”

  D-Day scratched his chin. “Smart move. Make sure we’re not just waiting for them to show their faces and start blasting away.”

  A door opened somewhere below. D-Day leaned over the railing and peered down. “Someone’s coming.”

  Howell pressed a hand against Jen’s back. “You should get in the hallway by your room door, just in case.”

  Jen nodded. She took a deep breath. The tingling remained, but her balance had returned. She walked down the hall. Zeke rushed to her and together they waited.

  Footsteps echoed up the stairwell. D-Day pointed his M4 downward and Howell moved next to him and did the same.

  “What’s taking them so long?” Zeke asked. “They could run up those stairs in a minute.”

  “Butler doesn’t want to spook us,” Jen said.

  D-Day and Howell backed into the hallway, their guns pointing at two zombies taking easy steps through the door. One, a tall woman with an Afro, had no visible wounds. The other, a teen with a peach fuzz mustache, had a gaping hole in his chest.

  “Let them come to me,” Jen said. “You two stay there.”

  D-Day pressed against the wall as the zombies shambled by. Howell stayed his ground and the teen moved behind the tall woman to pass him.

  The zombies stopped in front of Jen, their yellow eyes practically glowing.

  “Tell him it’s safe,” she said.

  Neither of the zombies moved nor made a sound.

  “Butler’s coming,” Wayne yelled.

  16

  Jen waved Wayne over. “Come here with me.”

  Wayne sprinted down the hallway and stood by her side opposite Zeke.

  Jen’s whole body was abuzz when Butler entered the hallway. He strode down the corridor like a king in a parade. His eyes never rested, moving from Jen to one of the other humans and back again. No one but Jen seemed to notice the air crackling with electricity as Butler stopped five feet in front of her. His two zombie scouts bookended him, their backs to the wall and arms at their sides like soldiers at attention.

  A rustle from behind caught Jen’s attention. Zeke had a two-handed grip on his katana, its blade perched over his shoulder. D-Day, Wayne, and Howell aimed down the barrel of their pistols at the undead colonel.

  She caught movement from the corner of her eye. The door to her room opened and Josh stood in the doorframe with his unblinking camera taking in the scene. Mercy stood at his side, her mouth slightly open and her chin trembling.

  “Lower your weapons,” Jen said. Howell and D-Day lowered their firearms. Wayne hesitated for a moment, then did likewise. But Zeke didn’t move. Jen put a hand on his arm. “Please, Zeke.”

  He broke his glare at Butler and looked at her, his expression shifting from one of hatred to concern. “Trust me,” she said.

  Zeke sheathed the katana, but didn’t change his stance, his muscles taut and ready to spring into action.

  “Come. To. Me.” Butler spoke slowly, almost painfully, in a voice that sounded like wheels crunching on gravel.

  The hair on the back of her neck stiffened. Jen took a step toward Butler, losing herself in the yellow de
pths of his gaze.

  He reached out, and her hand went toward his as if it had a mind of its own. This is going to hurt.

  Their hands clasped in a firm grip. A calmness flowed from Jen’s hand and over her body. She closed her eyes and the movie began. No. More than a movie. Like virtual reality.

  There she was, standing on the rooftop in Spokane, the thup, thup of the helicopter echoing behind her. A gunshot. The searing pain. Stumbling. Pitching off the roof’s edge. The impact on the car. The darkness.

  Then light. Awareness. The feeling of other infected souls. Of Butler doing what he’d done most of his adult life. Taking command. Directing his troops.

  “You can do this, too,” his voice echoed through her head. “Join me and we can root out those who caused the death of the earth.”

  Hundreds of thousands of zombies swarmed Fairchild AFB, pouring through the opening in the wall and flooding every building, every street.

  I can control a few, but not an army.

  “You are stronger than you know. I could feel your strength over the distances. You retain your humanity, and that makes you far more powerful than me. The ability is there. All you need to do is tap into it and we will be unstoppable.”

  I won’t wipe out the human race to kill a few. I have a better way to stop them. A way for the people to see them for what they are.

  “Then let us try your way. We shall—”

  An explosion boomed through her mind and wrenched Jen back to reality. Her eyes popped open. Her arm was still outstretched, but Butler lay on the floor with half his skull missing. His zombie bodyguards screeched, their voices like nails across a chalkboard.

  Disoriented, Jen stumbled backward from the scene before her. Someone grasped her arm, steadying her.

  “Jen,” Zeke said.

  A hand went to her cheek and gently turned her head to the other side. Wayne, his eyebrows raised and his eyes searching hers, said, “You’ll be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Jen blinked as two more shots rang out and the screeching cut off. D-Day raised his M4 and aimed it behind Jen.

  “Put it down,” Howell said, “or I’ll pull this trigger again.”

  Jen turned to face the barrel of Howell’s gun ten feet away. She hyperventilated and her knees gave out. Zeke and Wayne held her up.

  “Do you want Jen to die?” Howell asked.

  D-Day laid his rifle on the floor.

  “All your weapons. All of you.”

  D-Day dropped his pistol, then pulled the pistol from Wayne’s holster and the one from Zeke’s and tossed them to the floor.

  Howell nodded and focused back on Jen.

  “Why?” she said. “We were just about to get what we came for.”

  Howell pursed his lips, his gaze slipping from Jen to Zeke and back again. “This is part of what I came for.”

  Like slipping gears, Jen couldn’t grasp what he’d said for a moment. She just repeated back to him, “What you came for?”

  “He was the enemy.” Howell adjusted his grip. “In war, you kill the enemy.”

  “It’s not that simple.” Enough strength returned to Jen’s legs that she shook off Zeke and Wayne. “I was going to get him to pull the horde back. I was going to save lives. Who the hell knows what’ll happen now.”

  “That’s the second thing I came for,” Howell said. “You. You’ll come back with me. You’ll control the horde.”

  Jen stared at him.

  “Oh, come on,” Howell said. “We know what you can do. I watched the security tapes from the CDC.”

  “We?” Jen said. “You’re with them? The conspirators?”

  “Patriots,” he said. “We’re in the most dangerous situation the world has ever known. It will take order and discipline to overcome it.”

  Heat flowed up Jen’s neck and settled in her face. “You fucking asshole. You’re the shitheads that caused the situation.”

  “Enough.” He pulled a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket. “Come toward me. The helicopter’s waiting.”

  “I’m not going with you.”

  He scowled. “I have to either bring you back to help control the horde for us, or eliminate you so you can’t use it against us.”

  Goosebumps shot down Jen’s spine. Is this real? Is he going to kill me?

  D-Day sprung at Howell. The sergeant swung the barrel toward him, fired, and turned the gun back around to cover the others.

  Jen gasped.

  D-Day staggered, reaching out for Howell, and dropped to his knees. Jen took a step toward him.

  “Stay back,” Howell growled.

  Jen pulled her pistol and shot at Howell without aiming. The round went wide. Howell returned fire and sprinted for the stairway.

  Wayne dove for his gun. Jen lined up her sights on Howell’s back, but he disappeared up the stairs.

  “D-Day,” she cried out. She knelt next to the biker’s outstretched body and rolled him over. His glassy eyes stared at the ceiling.

  Wayne rushed past Jen as she dropped her gun and cradled D-Day’s head in her arms. Tears welled in her eyes.

  Wayne hit the stairs, taking them two at a time, climbing out of sight in seconds. Gunfire echoed from the stairway and helicopter’s engine roared over the shots.

  Zeke grabbed his pistol and hauled ass to the stairs. Wayne met him at the entrance. “He’s gone,” he said.

  “Shit,” Zeke yelled.

  “I should’ve listened to him instead of blowing him off,” Jen sobbed.

  “What?” Wayne put an arm around her. “Hey, it’s not your fault.”

  Zeke stood next to her and drew his katana. “I’ll take care of D-Day. Make sure he doesn’t turn.”

  Jen shook her head and pressed the end of her barrel against D-Day’s temple. “My fault. My responsibility.”

  D-Day’s eyes snapped open.

  Jen squeezed the trigger.

  17

  Jen staggered backward, dropping her pistol. Wayne took her into his arms and she buried her face into his chest. Her shoulders shook as she cried.

  Stonefaced, Zeke went into the room and peered out a window. “The horde’s dispersing.”

  Mercy stepped into the hallway, her face pale and eyes wide. She gestured to Josh. “Turn it off.”

  He lowered the video camera.

  D-Day was doing fine with his friends in Atlanta and I had to get him caught back up in all my shit. Dad and Doc, they had no choice, but D-Day did, and he chose to help me. And I basically told him to fuck off.

  “What are we going to do?” Zeke asked. “How are we going to get that bastard?”

  Wayne rubbed Jen’s back. Mercy’s attention was glued to D-Day’s body as if she expected him to rise again. Josh’s hand trembled as he fiddled with his camera settings.

  What are we going to do? Good question. “We’ve got to get that video uploaded. Where’s the best place to do that?”

  “Local news station,” Mercy said. “There’s one not far from here.”

  “Define not far,” Jen said.

  “Three blocks west and a block south.”

  A bang echoed from the nearby stairway and dozens of feet pounded up the stairs. Jen’s heart skipped a beat. “What the hell?”

  Zeke raced to the stairs and peered down. “Zombies. Filling the stairs and coming this way.”

  Shit.

  Another bang came from the opposite stairwell. “Sounds like they’re coming in that way, too,” Wayne said.

  Jen pushed Mercy toward her room. “Everyone in here.”

  She closed the door and slid the deadbolt closed. Wayne and Zeke stood by the bed with their pistols out and ready. Josh and Mercy huddled in the far corner. And still Josh has that damn camera going.

  Jen took position next to Zeke. She closed her eyes.

  No tingling. No leaders. Can I control the drones?

  She let her mind relax and reached out.

  The stampede of feet reached their floor and rumbled p
ast.

  Something hit their door. It rattled.

  Clear the floor.

  Another hit on the door. Then another.

  Jen’s heart hammered her chest. She opened her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled. Slow your breathing.

  Fists beat on the door and on the walls. They didn’t have much time.

  Jen approached the door and placed her palms against it.

  “What are you doing?” Zeke asked.

  She ignored him and concentrated. Stop.

  The pounding picked up. I did this in Atlanta. Why can’t I do it now? Butler said I could.

  The door cracked. She imagined the zombies nearest the door and pictured them in her mind.

  Stop!

  The pounding on the door stopped. Other movement in the corridor continued.

  Mercy’s trembling voice came from behind her. “What’s happening?”

  “I’ve got control of some of them,” Jen said. “Just the ones that were pounding on the door, but that’s a start.”

  “That’s good enough for now,” Wayne said, “but you know we have to get out of this building and fast.”

  “Why?” Zeke asked. “We’re safe here as long as the zombies can’t get in.”

  “What do you think Howell is telling the army right now?” Wayne said. “With the horde in disarray, they’re going to attack, and that means bombing. And where do you think Howell will tell them to hit first?”

  “Shit,” Zeke said. “Right here. To take Jen out.”

  Jen reached out with her mind. She could feel the zombies she controlled, almost as if she had a physical connection to each of them. Pushing out, she added another connection. Then another.

  Clear the floor.

  Feet shuffled in the hallway. Jen slid the peephole cover over and peered out of it. A space of a few feet had cleared in front of the door. The zombies she controlled pressed against the larger horde.

  “I’m making progress,” she said.

  How many are outside the door? How many can I control?

  Squeezing her eyes closed, she pushed with her mind and added another few zombies. Then something snapped in her mind as if a restraint had broken. She felt...full.

  Leave the building.

  The floor vibrated with the rumbling of footsteps fading away down the hall.