Today, the plaza was crawling with Soviets. Cassie estimated there were at least twenty of them. Vehicles surrounded the plaza. Most of them were regular cars, no doubt hot wired and stolen like the truck they were in.
They had used delivery trucks to block three of the entrances into the plaza, leaving only one way in and out by vehicle. Cassie caught glimpses of zombies on the other side of the delivery trucks. Their barks pierced the morning air, but they didn’t breach the perimeter.
Besides the regular vehicles, there were also two military-green jeeps with the star, sickle, and hammer spray painted on the side. Standing outside the jeeps were two soldiers armed with dart guns. Tall cartridges extended several inches from the top of the gun. Several open wooden crates sat on the ground, cartridges of red darts stacked neatly inside.
There were at least two hundred Americans in the square, maybe more. It looked like a lot of people, but Cassie remembered that Hillsberg was a town of four thousand. That meant there were either a lot of people good at hiding, or a lot of dead people and zombies.
The prisoners were huddled near the center of the plaza, all of them terrified and dirty and cowering. The Soviets planned to infect every last one of them with the virus.
The situation hit Cassie with the force of a meteor. She realized the Gordon Gambit really had worked. They were in the eye of the storm. There were people to rescue and nezhit virus to destroy. This is where they needed to be to make a difference.
Nearby, Tate snarled, “We’re going to get those fuckers.”
“Hell yeah,” Jennifer murmured. “We are going to snipe their asses.”
They were herded out of the truck and into the mass of people in the plaza. Soviets patrolled the perimeter, keeping their machine guns trained on the crowd. Cassie and the others stayed in a tight group, all of them clustered around Leo.
“Groups of two,” Leo said. “Tate, you’re with me. Anton and Bruce. Jennifer and Cassie.”
“We need a rendezvous,” Cassie whispered. “You know, in case we get separated.”
“Soviet jeeps,” Leo said. “One of those will be our ride out of town. Remember the plan. After we attack, our priority is to take out the those crates of virus and kill these fucking Soviet assholes. Then grab every weapon you can carry and haul ass to one of those jeeps. We get out of town and back to the cabin.”
Beside her, Jennifer squeezed Cassie’s hand. “I’m damn proud of you for being out here on the front lines.”
Cassie wished she felt pride. All she felt was terror. She gripped her sister so hard she felt her knuckles crack.
The sisters were assigned to the north side of the plaza. As she and Jennifer moved away from the others, it did not pass her notice that Leo had assigned them to the side with the least amount of danger. There were only five soldiers on this side.
“Chauvinist,” Jennifer muttered. “He put us over here to try and protect us.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” Cassie was glad they only had five soldiers to contend with. They were about to attack Russians, for crying out loud. “Two against five is really bad odds, Jen.” Of everyone in the group, we have the least amount of experience with guns. It all made perfect sense to Cassie.
Jennifer actually rolled her eyes, but at least she stopped talking crap about Leo.
Cassie eyed the soldiers. “They’re spread out. It’s going to be hard to take them all out.”
“Not when we can get our hands on their machine guns,” Jennifer replied.
Cassie saw the move in a flash of insight. “Forks,” she said.
Jennifer, who had spent years hearing all about chess, instantly understood the reference. “Which pieces?”
Forks was a chess tactic. It involved using one piece to attack two enemy pieces at the same time. With her and Jennifer working in tandem, this would be just like a good old-fashioned chess play.
“Those two standing together on the corner,” Cassie said. “We hit them with our bombs.”
Jennifer’s eyes flashed in approval. “Once we kill them, we grab their guns and shoot the others before they get to us.”
“Exactly.” Cassie frowned. “Assuming our first strike is successful. What if—”
“Now isn’t the time to overthink things, Cas. It’s a good plan. Everything will change anyway once things start blowing up. We’re just going to have to improvise. We—”
Jennifer stiffened. Cassie followed her gaze. A Soviet strolled in their direction, staring at her sister. Cassie did not miss the way his eye flicked up and down Jennifer’s body. This was a common occurrence even before the Russian invasion.
Jennifer hugged Cassie, doing her best to look terrified and cowed. Her cheek mashed against Cassie’s breast.
It was a reminder that Cassie was just a hair under six feet tall. Even though they were prisoners with armed soldiers all around them, she was jolted back to a time before war and apocalypse.
Be glad you’re not an ape like your sister. She’d overheard their mom say that to Jennifer when they’d been on their way out to shop for Jennifer’s homecoming dress. They don’t make dresses for girls like her.
Ironically enough, Cassie had inherited her height from their mother. Their mom was five-foot-ten. She’d always gone to great lengths to find cute flats so she wouldn’t appear taller than their dad, who was just under six foot.
There’s nothing wrong with being tall, Mom. Cassie looks like a goddess.
Jennifer had always been there for her, no matter what.
At least something good would come from her superior height. Cassie bowed her head and hunched, cocooning herself around Jennifer and shielding her from the eyes of the Russian. She hoped they looked like scared girls. Cassie wondered what their mom would think if she were here.
“Is he gone yet?” Jennifer whispered.
“Yeah, he’s talking to another soldier now.”
“Where are the others?”
Cassie was forced to straighten her knees in order to see over the crowd. “Leo and Tate are in position. Anton and Bruce are almost there.”
“Come on. We can’t make them wait for us.” Jennifer grabbed her hand and moved through the crowd, creeping steadily to the north side of the plaza.
They stopped beside a large, marvelously intact family. Two parents and six kids, ranging from high school to elementary school. Looking at them made Cassie desperate to succeed.
“Can you see Leo?” Jennifer asked.
“Yeah. He just gave us a nod.”
Jennifer once again huddled up against Cassie, using the small space between their bodies to pull out a bomb and Zippo lighter. To most people, it would look like a simple lavender sachet.
Cassie pulled out a bomb of her own. Her hands shook. Her heart pounded painfully in her chest, making it hard to breathe.
Jennifer looked up at her. “This is a good plan. It’s unexpected. Let’s show these assholes what happens when they mess with America.”
Cassie nodded. She was scared shitless, but determined to fight. Jennifer flicked open her Zippo. She and Cassie touched their fuses to the flame.
They jumped apart as soon as the flames sparked to life. Jennifer took two giant strides forward, winding her arm back. Then she flung as hard as she could, aiming at the soldiers on the corner.
Her bomb hadn’t even hit the grass when an explosion went up behind them. A truck with two Soviets inside went up in flames on the west side of the plaza. Anton and Bruce had struck.
Cassie threw her bomb just as everything around her erupted into chaos. She snatched a second bomb out of her pocket, along with her Zippo.
“Cover me,” Jennifer yelled. She took off at a run, beelining for soldiers on the corner. The first one was down, killed by the blast of her bomb. The second one dodged to one side as Cassie’s bomb exploded. He’d been thrown several feet, but he was still alive.
“Jennifer, what the hell?” Cassie screamed after her. “Jen!”
Jennifer igno
red her, homing in on the machine gun resting in the hands of the dead Russian. In her periphery, Cassie saw the other Russian sit up. He raised his weapon.
Jennifer never slowed. “Cover me, Cas!” she shrieked.
20
Sisters
As Jennifer raced away, Cassie absorbed the scene the way she did when analyzing a chessboard. She saw everything: The screaming people; the dead Russian with the weapon on the street corner; and the very-much-alive Russian, who was recovering from the shock of Cassie’s ill-flung bomb.
The Soviet wiped dirt from his eyes and raised his gun, his sights on Jennifer.
Cassie did the only thing she could think of. She touched the second bomb in her hand to the Zippo. As it sparked to life, she charged the Russian. She screamed wordlessly, hoping to draw his attention.
It worked. He jerked, the barrel of his gun moving in her direction.
Cassie threw the bomb and dove to the ground. The explosive landed next to the Russian and detonated.
Cassie was too close. The blast hit her, sending a wave of heat, dirt, and grass spraying across her body. She lay there, momentarily stunned.
Gunfire chattered all around her. “Cassie!” A foot connected with her ribcage. It was Jennifer, standing over her with a Russian machine gun. With her perfect curls, perfect figure, and a face smeared with blood, she looked like the star of a Hollywood action movie.
“Get up!” Jennifer screamed, once again shoving her foot into Cassie’s ribs.
The kick was enough to jar her back to her senses. She clambered to her feet. Jennifer grabbed her by the arm.
“The gun,” Jennifer snapped. “Get the gun!” She shoved Cassie in the direction of the second dead Russian, simultaneously opening fire on a Soviet as he popped up behind one of the convertibles. “Go!”
Cassie sucked in a breath and ran. She screamed as bullets tore up the grass behind her.
“Take that, asshole!” Jennifer shrieked. Her bullets tore up the front windshield of the convertible.
Cassie snatched the machine gun. The strap caught around the dead soldier. Shit! She shoved at the body with her foot, rolling him over to free the strap.
The weapon came free. She stumbled back, turning in time to see Jennifer sprint away as the Russian behind the convertible returned fire.
Fingers shaking, Cassie dropped the machine gun across her chest. She snatched a third bomb out of her pocket, lit the fuse, and threw it at the convertible.
She didn’t wait to see what happened. Instead, she took off after her sister.
For the first time in her life, she was glad to be tall. It made it possible for her to track Jennifer through the crowd. She ran to the southeast side of the plaza, toward the crates of the nezhit virus still sitting on the sidewalk.
More explosions went up around the plaza. Gunfire was everywhere. The Russians with the virus attacked, sending red darts flying indiscriminately into the crowd.
Jennifer dropped down behind a body. It was an American. The guy probably weighed three hundred pounds when he was alive. He’d been shot in the back.
Cassie caught up to Jennifer and dropped down beside her, also taking cover behind the murdered American. They were no more than twenty feet from the wooden crates with the deadly darts.
Jennifer lay on her stomach, propping the barrel of her machine gun on the dead guy’s thigh. She aimed at the Russians with the virus and opened fire. She got off no more than ten shots before her gun clicked empty.
“Shit!” Jennifer rolled sideways, grabbing an extra magazine she’d shoved into the waistline of her pants.
Cassie hadn’t even thought to grab an extra magazine. Well, it’s not like bullets could destroy darts filled with virus. It was time for bombs.
She’d shoved no less than three sachets into her underwear. She was too scared to feel self conscious about shoving her hands down the front of her pants. Flicking open the Zippo, she started lobbing bombs in the direction of the crates. When she finished with those, she grabbed the two she’d hidden in her bra and threw those for good measure.
By the time she’d finished, Jennifer had reloaded. Cassie risked a peek over the dead body they hid behind.
“You got them, Cas,” Jennifer cried. “You got the crates!”
Sure enough, the crates were in pieces. All that remained were splinters and several black holes in the dirt. Ruined pieces of red plastic scattered across the ground. Cassie couldn’t help the grin that split her face.
Her triumph was short lived. There was still one Russian with a dart gun. He chased down the family she and Jennifer had stood beside when the battle began. Several darts pierced the back of a little girl. She couldn’t be more than eight years old. When her mom tried to defend her, she got a dart in the chest.
Cassie acted without thought. She rolled to her feet and sprinted forward. She kept the barrel of her gun low, not wanting to hit the fleeing family. She pressed the butt against her hip, just like Lena had shown her. Bullets cut across the calves of the Russian soldier as she fired. He dropped with a cry.
Jennifer raced past her, screaming in fury. She pelted the downed soldier with bullets, shooting him in the chest. To Cassie’s horror, she stopped over the body and snatched up the dart gun.
“What the hell, Jen? Don’t touch that!”
Whatever Jennifer was about to say was lost in another explosion. Cassie crouched down while Jennifer smashed the dart gun with her foot.
Cassie spotted Leo and Tate hauling ass toward a Jeep with three Russians inside. Both guys had multiple machine guns around their necks. They fired fearlessly at the enemy, taking cover behind a large redwood tree when the Soviets returned fire.
“That’s our ride out of here,” Jennifer said. “Come on, we have to help the guys.”
She sprinted away. Cassie ran after her. Her long legs made it possible for her to keep up with her faster, stronger sister.
They took cover behind a large bush growing near the center of the plaza. Jennifer peeked around it.
“Leo and Tate are drawing their attention. Come on, we can get in close and take them out.”
“But—Jen!”
Cassie broke off as her sister slipped out from behind the bush. No way could she let Jennifer go out there alone. Cassie hustled after her.
They slipped through the chaos. There were dead bodies everywhere, but there were also a lot of people still alive. They ran for freedom, pouring out of the plaza in small groups.
Near the edge of the plaza were several metal newspaper boxes. Jennifer led them to the boxes and dropped down.
The jeep and the Russians were just on the other side, no more than ten feet away. And though Leo and Tate had managed to take out two of them, the driver was still alive. Even worse, three more Soviets had joined the shoot out. The three newcomers stood in front of the jeep, firing at anything and everything that moved.
“No bombs,” Jennifer said. “That Jeep is ours. We take them out while Leo and Tate have their attention.”
The next five moves came to Cassie in a rush.
a) Run like hell and take cover behind the truck parked next to the jeep.
b) Sneak around the back of jeep and shoot the Soviet driver in the back.
c) Pull out the dead driver.
d) Run over the three Soviets in front of the jeep and rescue all her friends.
e) Pray to God her sister could figure out her plan, because there wasn’t time to explain it.
While Jennifer popped up over the newspaper box and opened fire, Cassie made a run for it.
21
Snipers
Leo glimpsed Cassie slip out around the metal newspaper stand and make her way toward the Russians and their jeep. What the fuck was she doing? Why wasn’t Jennifer stopping her? Why—?
Jennifer screamed as bullets peppered the newspaper bin. She threw herself to the ground and began crawling to the redwood tree where Leo and Tate had taken refuge.
“Cover Jennifer,
” Leo barked. He stuck his arm around the tree and fired in the direction of the jeep, hoping to God he didn’t accidentally hit Cassie.
He caught a glimpse of her slinking around the jeep. His heart nearly burst from his chest when he saw her shoot a Russian in the back. She opened the driver’s side door and pulled out the dead driver. In a split second, he understood her plan.
“Be careful, Cas,” Leo muttered.
Jennifer also seemed to understand Cassie’s plan. When she was ten feet from the redwood tree, she jumped to her feet and fired as she ran. She aimed indiscriminately in the direction of the Russians. Her sole purpose was to draw their attention from Cassie.
Return fire followed her. She dashed behind the tree and joined Tate and Leo, gasping for breath.
“What the hell was that?” Leo demanded. “You could have been killed! Why did you let Cassie go out there on her own?”
Jennifer was breathless from her sprint, but she still had enough energy to scowl at Leo. “She’s getting the jeep. We have to keep the Russians’ attention on us.” To emphasize this statement, she stuck her arm out from behind the tree and sprayed bullets, purposely aiming low so as not to accidentally hit Cassie.
The blare of a horn cut through the din, followed by the revving of an engine. Leo smiled in satisfaction as he leaned around the tree in time to see Cassie behind the wheel of the jeep. She plowed the vehicle into the back of the three Russians.
“Woah.” Tate blinked, gaping in astonishment. “Cassie?”
“Damn straight that’s Cassie.” Jennifer beamed as Cassie never let up on the accelerator. She drove straight toward them, slamming on the breaks only when she reached the redwood tree.
“Boys,” Jennifer said, “here’s your ticket out of here. You’re welcome. My sister is radical.”
The three of them scrambled for the open jeep. Leo headed for the shotgun seat, but Jennifer beat him to it by vaulting onto the hood and jumping over the windshield.
Leo jumped into the back, heaving the body of a dead Soviet out of the seat. “Drive!” he cried. “Get Anton and Bruce. They’re at the bus stop.”
Zommunist Invasion Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 36