There were over a dozen zombies lying on the ground around the camp. Most of them had come from the direction of the river, but a few were from the forest to the west.
Three more zombies broke through the tree line. Robson saw them and let off five quick shots, the bullets punching ragged little holes in the zombies’ flesh until they went down and he stopped firing.
The Humvees the sergeant had mentioned were parked in the middle of the camp, near the fire pit. There were only two of them, but they were bigger than I’d expected. One was painted in the standard browns and greens of a military vehicle. The other was black, complete with tinted windows and spinning silver hubcaps. It wouldn’t have looked out of place on the set of a rap video, apart from the tattered flesh hanging from its grill. One of the first soldiers I’d seen stood near the vehicles, and Vantage and Robson joined her.
The sergeant pointed toward the black Hummer. “Get inside.”
“I really don’t need rescuing.”
“You don’t have a say in the matter. Get in the vehicle.” She was smiling, but the tone of her voice made it clear I wasn’t going to be allowed to refuse.
The sergeant shouted at the soldiers, directing them to fan out and watch the perimeter. She gave the impression she wasn’t paying any attention to me, but that was misleading. She was careful to keep me in the periphery of her vision as I moved toward the Hummer.
The vehicle’s back door was slightly ajar, and I was about to pull it open when Davis ran around the corner of the lodge. I froze. She was carrying my snare. I touched the leather case through my jacket, drawing comfort from it.
“Sergeant Campbell!” she called.
Campbell directed Robson toward a group of zombies that were making their way down the road into the camp then turned to Davis.
I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but after a few seconds Campbell looked across at me. She said something to Davis and took the snare. Davis walked back toward the clearing behind the lodge. Campbell looked at the snare then leaned it against the side of the Humvee. Then she removed her pistol from its holster and walked over to me.
“I’ll give you one chance to explain what my team just found.”
Chapter 41
Incoming
I struggled to find the words that would satisfy Campbell. “I… I don’t know…”
“Wrong answer.” She raised her pistol. “Turn around, and put your hands on the vehicle.”
“But…”
Campbell flicked the gun. “I won’t ask again.”
I turned and placed my hands against the Humvee. She pulled my knife from its sheath then called Vantage over.
“Check him.”
Vantage patted me down and found the case. He pulled it out of my jacket and passed it to Campbell. She opened it, and I caught the familiar glint of silver. I thought I was going to vomit. She closed the box and threw it into the front of the Humvee.
“Put your hands behind your back.”
I did as I was told. Campbell slipped a circle of plastic around my wrists and pulled it tight. She spun me around and pushed me against the Hummer. “Stay with him. If he moves, shoot him in the head.”
Vantage nodded and raised his gun until it was pointing at my face. The look in his eyes showed me he didn’t need to be told twice.
Gunfire erupted off to our left. Campbell swore. She pressed her finger against the headset in her ear. “Everyone fall back to the vehicles. I repeat, fall back. We’re getting out of here.”
“Errm… Sergeant,” I said.
When Campbell looked at me I nodded toward the road leading into the camp. Five more zombies were moving toward us, and I could see more, dozens more, outlined among the trees. Campbell ran to the front of the Humvee and retrieved an automatic rifle. She raised it to her shoulder and fired.
Three soldiers ran out of the lodge. They hesitated slightly when they saw the zombies then raised their guns and started firing.
I’ll give him credit, Vantage wasn’t distracted by the battle raging around him. He kept his gun trained on me. I’m not sure he even blinked.
“I don’t want to tell you how to do your job,” I said. “But it looks like your friends could do with some help.”
Vantage didn’t reply. Behind him, one of the soldiers pulled a grenade from his belt and threw it at the clump of zombies coming down the road. It rolled into the middle of them and exploded. Chunks of flesh flew through the air, hitting the trees and scattering across the ground. More zombies staggered out of the forest, replacing the ones taken out by the grenade.
Gunfire echoed across the camp.
Someone screamed.
I raised my eyebrows. “If that’s a swarm, there’s a good chance we aren’t getting out of here alive.”
This time, doubt flickered across Vantage’s face.
I twisted, showing him my bound wrists. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You try something, and I’ll take you down.”
“Understood.”
Vantage backed away then turned to face the oncoming zombies. He fired, his teeth clenched as the weapon in his hands bucked and the creatures fell. There was another explosion. It came from the far side of the camp this time and was followed by more gunfire.
Campbell shouted orders over the noise, directing her team to form a perimeter around the vehicles.
I moved my hands, searching for a piece of metal sharp enough to cut through the plastic around my wrists. The door was the best I could manage. I leaned against it and ran the restraint up and down its edge.
More explosions, this time accompanied by the sound of splintering wood. One of the lodge’s windows exploded, scattering debris across the ground.
A soldier stumbled out of the lodge, his face twisted in fear. He backed down the walkway, firing into the building as he went. His gun swung from side to side, the shots scattering wildly. I couldn’t tell whether he was hitting anything, but I could see the lumbering shape of a zombie advancing toward him out of the lodge.
And then the soldier’s foot caught the edge of the walkway, and he went down. Bullets sprayed across the side of the building as he fell. The zombie lunged forward and landed on top of the soldier before he could get his weapon pointing in the right direction. The zombie clamped down on the soldier’s throat, cutting off his screams.
Too late, Campbell rounded the corner of the Humvee and opened fire. Bullets tore through the zombie’s shoulder then his skull. As the zombie fell away, she fired one more shot. The bullet hit the soldier in the side of the head.
Campbell turned, firing past me toward the road.
“Sergeant!” I said. “I can help.” I half turned my back on her and wiggled my hands to remind her she’d handicapped me. “Please.”
She hesitated, and a zombie staggered around the corner of the Humvee. One arm was missing, its shoulder a ragged mess of blood and gristle.
“Look out!” I said.
She turned and swung the butt of her rifle. It caught the zombie in the side of the head and knocked him to the ground. She slammed the heel of her boot into his skull. There was a hollow crack as it shattered.
Campbell raised her gun and fired at something out of my view then ran to me. She removed my knife from her belt and cut the plastic ties from around my wrists. After a slight pause, she gave me the knife.
“Do you know how to use a gun?”
I nodded, hoping I looked confident.
“Good,” she said and handed me her pistol.
Vantage appeared. He saw me holding the gun, and I half raised my hands, trying to show him I wasn’t a threat before he shot me.
He glared at me and then said, “Robson’s down and out.”
Campbell clenched her teeth and pressed a hand against her headset. “Davis? Come in, Davis?”
Vantage pointed. “There!”
Davis was just backing into view around the side of the lodge. She was holding her rifle at her hip and firing short burs
ts at targets we couldn’t see.
“Davis!” said Campbell.
Still firing, Davis turned. There was a metallic clang and then a deafening thump. The side of the lodge was torn apart as the generator exploded. Wood and dirt and fire rained down on the camp. Davis screamed and clutched her face, blood pouring from a gash in her cheek. Vantage ran to her side and slipped an arm under her shoulder, guiding her back to the Humvee.
“Hold them off!” said Campbell, and she climbed into the vehicle’s cab.
The road was a mass of zombies. I raised the pistol and fired off a couple of shots. One of them went down; another staggered backward. With so many of them crowded into one place, it was hard to miss.
Fire spread through the lodge, the flames eagerly swallowing up the dry wood. Smoke drifted across the camp, hindering visibility.
The Humvee’s engine roared to life, adding more noise and smoke to the scene. I fired again, hitting another zombie in the chest. There was a flash and the sound of gunfire from within the Humvee. Campbell screamed in anger and pain.
A pause.
Another shot rang out, and blood splashed against the driver’s window.
“No!” said Vantage. He slipped his arm from beneath Davis’s shoulder and ran around the front of the Humvee, firing as he went.
Still holding her hand to her cheek, Davis fired at the zombies swarming down the road. Following her lead, I raised the pistol and fired. Again and again, I pulled the trigger, the pistol jerking in my hand until I heard the dull click of an empty clip. I don’t know if I hit anything.
Davis had switched to single shots. She was down on one knee, picking off the zombies with finely placed rounds. Vantage was nowhere to be seen.
Find the case, whispered the shadow.
My eyes were streaming, and I could barely see. A zombie broke through the wall of smoke from the direction of the lodge. His back was on fire, creating a yellow aura around him. I shouted to Davis, and she turned and fired. The bullet hit him in the chest, knocking him over. Her rifle clicked empty. The burning zombie got back to its feet and staggered toward us. Davis threw her weapon away in frustration.
“Come on!” I said and moved around to the side of the Humvee.
Vantage was lying on the ground about twenty feet away, four zombies clustered around him. He was facing me, dull eyes staring lifelessly into mine as the creatures tore into his stomach. The corpse of a zombie lay on the ground nearby, a single bullet wound in his head.
Davis joined me. Her skin was pale, and her neck was awash with blood from the wound in her cheek.
“What now?” she said.
The shadow flashed a parade of images in my mind—me pushing Davis toward the pack of zombies. Her screaming in agony as she was torn apart by the swarm, the distraction giving me time to escape.
“Hold on.”
The Humvee’s window had been blown out. Blood and broken glass was splashed around the inside. I pulled open the door, and Campbell’s body tumbled to the ground. Davis cried out. The back of Campbell’s skull was missing where she’d taken her own life—her response to the ragged bite mark on her arm.
Another zombie lay motionless across the passenger seat where it had clambered in through the open door. There was no sign of my case.
Clenching my teeth, I leaned inside and pushed the zombie out of the way. Its head lolled sideways. Instinctively, I pulled back, away from its snapping jaws, but the side of the creature’s face was missing, and it was dead. I caught a glimpse of brown in the footwell. My case had fallen off the seat and slid almost out of sight.
I checked over my shoulder. The smoke was making it hard to see what was going on, but I could hear the moans of the zombies above the crackle and pop of the burning lodge. My head pounding, I climbed into the Humvee and reached for the case.
Gunfire exploded somewhere off to my left, and I slipped. I fell forward. In other circumstances the sight of my legs flailing around in midair as I tried to right myself might have been funny. All I could think of was how tempting I would look to the zombies out there in the smoke.
My fingers grazed the edge of the case. I just about managed to drag it out from beneath the seat. Black blood was smeared across the lid, but otherwise, it looked intact. I hurriedly pushed myself back out of the Humvee. Davis watched me put the case into my jacket pocket, the look on her face a mix of anger and amazement.
“That way,” I said, pointing between the two nearest cabins.
The path seemed clear, at least for now. Davis nodded and ran.
I slipped my knife into my belt and grabbed my snare.
Chapter 42
Blood and Smoke
We sprinted through the smoke.
Halfway to the cabin, I tripped over a soldier’s corpse, Robson maybe. I stumbled and almost dropped the snare.
A shape rose up in front of me—a massive man in a military uniform with a ragged hole in the center of his chest. Bizarrely, the only thought that went through my mind was that I couldn’t see how he’d have fit in a Humvee.
Then the shadow took over, and I swung the snare. The blade I’d bolted to the end of the pole slashed across the man’s throat. Slicing it open released a wave of black tar. He grabbed at me, but he was slow, and I ducked beneath the attack. I jabbed the snare forward. The blade sank into the man’s cheek. I felt it hit bone, yanked it back, and then jabbed it at his face again. It pierced his eye.
The zombie roared. I attacked again, but this time he knocked the snare away. The pole was long and unwieldy, and I struggled to get it back under control as the giant man closed on me. Then he slammed his fist into the side of my head.
I fell sideways, my head ringing from the blow. The zombie came at me. I tried to swing the snare toward him again, but he was too close. The pole hit him in the leg, but he didn’t react or slow his approach. I dropped the snare and pushed myself backward, desperately trying to get out of his path.
He took a few steps then collapsed onto his knees. The damage I’d done was finally having an effect. Then his hand clamped around my calf. I yelled out as he dragged himself toward me, his clawlike fingers sinking into my flesh. I fumbled with my knife, and it almost slipped from my fingers.
There was a blur of brown, and a booted foot slammed into the zombie’s head. It snapped left, and he let out a moan. Davis kicked again. The zombie’s grip around my calf loosened, and I pulled myself free.
The massive zombie reached for Davis. I lunged at him and drove my knife into the top of his skull. Still refusing to die, he swung an elbow at me. It connected with the corner of my eye. Stars burst across my vision. I fell back and began kicking, desperate to block any attacks coming my way, but he’d finally stopped moving. Thick black blood poured from around the edges of the knife still embedded in his skull.
Davis gripped my arm and pulled. “Come on!”
Another explosion roared from somewhere behind us, the vehicles or more of the lodge going up in flames.
I forced myself to my feet, and we ran, weaving between the cabins and into the forest. There was no trail, and we had to push our way through the undergrowth. Brambles tugged at our clothes and skin. Progress was slow and noisy.
Davis’s shoulder was soaked in blood, and she held her arm limply at her side. She was breathing heavily, and her forehead was drenched with sweat. The cut in her cheek was still bleeding, albeit slower now.
I pointed to our right where a pair of zombies were pushing their way through the forest. We crouched, both ready to run if we needed to, but they were moving away from us, toward the noise and excitement of the camp.
When the zombies were out of sight, we started moving again, sporadic gunfire and the screams of the dying echoing through the forest around us.
Chapter 43
A Way to Live
We pushed on until we found a narrow trail. It wound through the forest, heading south. There was no sign of any zombies. Davis’s breathing came in ragged gasps. Several ti
mes she stumbled, tripping over her own feet.
The trail broke through a ring of trees into a small clearing. A stream, almost completely dry, ran through its center. Davis stumbled forward and dropped to her knees. She pressed her hand against her injured shoulder, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
“Aargh!” she said, her vehemence making me flinch.
“We’ll rest for a few minutes.”
Davis shook her head.
“You need to rest. We both do.”
Davis shifted position until she was sitting down. Still clutching her shoulder, she shook her head again. “You’re going to leave me here.”
“No, I’m—”
Davis removed her hand. A ragged lump of flesh had been torn away from her shoulder, revealing the muscle and bone beneath it. Blood still pulsed from the wound, but the edges were already turning black.
“I… I’m sorry.”
Davis let out a little snort. “So am I.” Grimacing, she said. “You should go now.”
“Don’t you want me to…”
She swallowed. “No. I think I’d like to stay here awhile.”
I felt a pang of unexpected emotion, sympathy maybe.
There was nothing I could say that wouldn’t sound hollow. Instead, I nodded, my lips pressed tight. We sat in silence for a few minutes while I struggled to think of something to say, but it was Davis who finally spoke, her voice barely audible. “You should go. Please.”
I looked around at the clearing. It was pretty. Secluded. She wouldn’t be disturbed.
I offered her my hand, and she shook it. “Thank you,” I said. “For saving my life.”
“It’s my job.”
I smiled slightly and stood.
Davis lay back on the ground and stared up at the sky. I waited, trying one last time to think of the right words to say. Then I turned and walked toward the forest.
Serial Killer Z: Volume One Page 27