Apocalypse Z (A Zombie Novel) (22 page)

More came out from the buildings and gathered in the street in front of them. Mark, Lisa, and Jeff fired at them, dropping one with each shot, but the numbers continued to grow. Some more came up from behind them. Tami swung wildly breaking ribs and arms. Jet severed arms, hands, and legs with every swing. Sheryl stabbed and cut each one that came close enough.

Amy hit one and broke its leg, while another came up and grabbed her arm. She screamed as it jerked her into the air. Sheryl ran over, grabbed hold of her pack, and managed to break its grip as she pulled Amy back. Another reached in and grabbed Amy by the throat and lifted her off the ground. Sheryl pulled again, but Amy’s pack slid off her back.

Jet ran in and was able to slice its arm off as it tried to bite into the top of Amy’s head. When it dropped her, Amy hit the ground hard and went down. Jet delivered another strike, and severed its head. Four more ran up to them. One reached around Amy and picked her up. Lisa turned around just in time to see it. She took aim, but it held Amy in front like a shield.

Amy screamed and reached out for someone’s hand as she kicked and struggled to get free. Lisa ran toward them as the zombie squeezed her, and she heard a couple of snaps. Amy’s body jerked as two ribs broke through the skin and tore a hole in her shirt. Blood began to pour down her side and legs, and onto the street.

Amy coughed and a small amount of blood shot out over her lips. Her mouth moved as if she was pleading for help, as the zombies had a tug-of-war with her body. Within seconds, there were the sounds of snaps, pops, and wet rips as her arms and legs were broken and torn from her body, one at a time.

Her skin stretched as far as it could and snapped back as it tore. They surrounded her and ripped her abdomen and chest open with their hands, then pulled the organs from her body and began eating them.

Lisa and Dedee started shooting and continued firing on them until there weren’t any left standing. They turned to see the number of zombies to the front had started to dwindle. They ran up next to Jeff and Mark and began firing forward. Slowly, they started walking toward the gauntlet of zombies ahead of them. When there were no more zombies left to shoot at, they started to run down the street.

They ran another block and a half before ducking into an auto body shop. Mark opened Amy’s pack and had everyone put some of the stuff into theirs. While they watched through the front window, more zombies walked by. They refilled their empty magazines and got ready for another fight. Mark looked around the shop and saw several cars being worked on. There were tools, fenders, scrap metal, and a couple of torches. Lisa saw an evil grin stretch across his face.

Lisa sighed as she said, “Oh shit! I know that look, Mark. Just what do you have in mind now?”

“Were gonna have a little party. I need to get as many of those rot-bags in here as I can.”

“Are you nuts? I hope you don’t expect me to hold the door for them.”

“No way! I’ll prop it open.”

He set a candle from Amy’s pack on the front counter and used her lighter. Once he lit the candle, he moved to the back and peeked out the back. “Okay, I’ll need everyone back here.” He gestured to the door.

He took a set of oxygen acetylene tanks and rolled them outside. After he cut the ends of the hoses with his knife, he set the ends inside. He ran over and propped the front door open. Jet stepped out and yelled, “Hey, maggot brains! Can’t catch this!” She did a little dance, wiggling her hips. She and Mark ran back inside. When they started coming in, they waited for a minute, then ran out the back door and closed it.

They could hear the zombies inside moaning and hissing as they hit the door, trying to get through. When it sounded like the building was nearly full, he looked at Lisa and asked, “Care to do the honors?” and gestured to the tanks.

She smiled and opened the valve all the way. The hiss could be heard through the door and they all ran as fast as they could. They had only gotten two blocks, when they heard a loud explosion. The ground shook violently, and they all nearly fell, as a giant fireball rose up into the sky. They heard some secondary explosions; then Mark said, “Love that barbequed zombie.”

They started to walk again and Mark felt his felt leg tighten. He had to stop and draw in a deep breath. They hadn’t gone far, when Lisa noticed he wasn’t next to her. When she looked, she saw him back where they stopped running. He was leaning forward with his hands on his knees and breathing hard. She said, “Wait.” She ran back to him. She asked, “Is it your leg again?”

He nodded as he straightened up and replied, “Yeah, its cramping up on me.”

She got under his arm to help support some of his weight and they started walking. He fought every time he had to bring that leg forward and it took a lot of strength to keep moving. They had only covered another block, when more zombies came out into the street.

Jet ran toward them and went for some simple severing of the legs. She managed to take out two of them and Sheryl took out a third one by running the small blade into its groin area and lifting up. Its insides slithered out and coiled up on the ground at its feet. The zombie tried to take another step, but became entangled in its own intestines and fell to the pavement, face-first, with a mushy thwack.

Tami hit the fourth one upside the head. Its neck snapped and its head fell to the side and sat on its right shoulder. Mark felt his leg tighten even more and he had to start dragging it. He said to Lisa, “You need to leave me here and come back after you get the RV.”

She pursed her lips and said to him, “Like hell I will! You better get your ass moving!”

“Believe me, I want to, really I do. But my leg isn’t cooperating.”

Jeff had an idea and said, “Hang on a second, bro.” He ran back down the street and went into a business. A minute later, he reappeared with a red appliance dolly. “Here, get on this.”

Mark looked at him like he was crazy. “Are you flippin’ serious? I’ll look ridicules on that.”

Lisa smirked, but insisted. “You better get your ass on it, we’re running out of time before this area is infested again.”

Mark shook his head, but he got on it. Jeff leaned him back and started to push it at a slow jog down the street. As the zombies appeared, they fired at them. Though most had been taken out by the explosion, there were still quite a few stragglers walking about. When they got to the rental place, they went around to the back gate just like Mitch had told them.

They saw the latch could easily be opened with a good solid kick, but it now had a chain running around the frame with a new heavy-duty lock on it. Jeff held it in his hand and said, “Our pistols ain’t going to be able to shoot this lock off. It’s all about up and over on this one.”

Mark looked at the three strands of barbed wire running along the top that angled out. He didn’t know how he was even going to get to the top, let alone go over the wire. They all stared at it for a while and thought, then Jeff said, “I have an idea. Mark, give me the strap from your rifle.”

They both dug in their packs and removed the straps from the rifles. Jeff climbed up the outside of the fence a few feet before he said, “Sheryl, Lisa, I need for you to push and keep me against the fence.” They did, and Jeff went to work. He placed the straps around the barbed wire about four feet apart and pulled them tightly together.

Dedee folded one of the blankets twice and then handed it to him. He carefully set it over the barbed wire to act as a barrier. Then he leaned into it and had Lisa run the straps through the chain link below and pull them as tight as she could, then tie them off.

Jeff cautiously reached over and pulled himself up. Starting with this right leg, he threw it over and used his foot to balance himself on the top bar while he brought his left leg over. Slowly, he lowered his right leg and climbed down the other side. He said with a smile, “Okay, bro, you’re next.”

Mark started to climb, but his left leg was more dead weight than help. Suddenly, he felt two hands on his butt, pushing him up, and then he felt them squeeze. He asked, “Lisa? Is that you?”

He could detect a smile on her face as she said, “I’m just trying to help you over.” He heard Sheryl and Tami giggling. With Lisa and Jeff’s help, Mark was able to make it over the fence. Jet tossed her sword over to Jeff and she went next. Dedee followed, but when she was halfway over, a few zombies appeared on the outside of the fence. When Mark pointed this out, she got nervous. She lost her balance and almost fell back over.

When Tami started to climb over, she mentioned there were also zombies on the inside. Jet turned to see a faster moving one coming their way, so she started toward it. Mark drew his pistol and kept it pointed through the fence for cover against the ones outside. As Tami’s feet hit the ground, Mark fired and dropped two. Sheryl tried to hurry, but it only slowed her down when she swung her legs over the top.

When Lisa started to climb, she stopped and said, “What the hell?” Mark and Jeff both looked behind them. They saw a zombie running away and Jet was chasing it. Just as she caught up to it, she swung her sword and severed the spinal cord. As it lay on the ground, she thrust her sword into its head and twisted it. Mark fired two more shots at the ones outside the fence and told Lisa to hurry over. In no time at all, she had gone over the fence and stood on the inside.

When Jet returned, Mark couldn’t help but ask, “What was that all about?”

She shrugged as she said, “I dunno, it came running at me, hissed, and the next thing I know, it’s running away. I figured what the hell, so I chased it down and killed it.”

Mark said, “Okay, seeing a zombie die always brightens my day.”

They began looking over the RVs and selected a nice larger one, with room for everybody. Lisa and Jeff broke into the office and found a bunch of keys on a board. They brought them out and found the set that belonged to the RV they selected, and then put the board back into the office.

Mark went right for the back and stretched out on the bed. He suggested they pull around and fill everything up before they left, so they did. With the tank and the generator full, they pulled up to the front gate. Jeff figured the only way out was to ram it, because it was locked just like the one in back.

Lisa told Jeff to back into it so he wouldn’t tear up the radiator and headlights. Jeff flipped it around, and with a running start, ripped right through it.

XVI

Mark lay on the bed in the back. Looking up front, he saw Jet talking to Jeff as he drove. Lisa was busy talking to Tami, Sheryl, and Dedee. Mark watched for a little while, then got up and went over to sit next to Lisa. Sheryl looked across the small table and asked Mark, “Is your leg still bothering you?”

“A little, but it is feeling better now.”

Lisa ran her hand over his thigh and smiled. “I think you’re pushing too hard, maybe if you took it a little slower, it wouldn’t be as bad.”

Sheryl agreed. “I think she’s right. Maybe when we get to the cabin, you could do just a short, slow jog everyday and build up from there.”

He nodded and said, “When we get to the cabin, I will. Right now, I’m only doing what I need to do. Those damned zombies aren’t giving me much of a choice, ya know?”

Sheryl glanced between Lisa and Mark before speaking. “I know, but there is one thing that concerns me. If there are still small fragments in your leg, they’re not anchored. They’re free to move around and could work their way toward your artery. If that happens, they could rub against it and maybe even cut into it, causing bleeding. You could literally bleed to death internally, and there’s nothing Tami or I could do to stop it.”

Hearing those words, Lisa felt her stomach knotting up. She turned to Mark with a worried look on her face and set her hand on his arm. He put his hand on hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze as he said, “There are a lot of ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’ in there that I’m not worried about right now. I promise you, I’ll be careful, and that you’re gonna be stuck with me for a very long time.” He gave her a smile.

He noticed Tami hadn’t said much since they left the town, so he asked her, “What’s on your mind?”

She stared at the tabletop as she answered. “I’m thinking about Amy.” She looked up. “We were there walking down the street. She was so excited and telling me about some of the things she wanted to do once we got to the cabin. Then a few seconds later, we were surrounded by those things and they were tearing her to pieces right in front of me.”

That only reminded Mark of what he had already lost. No matter how hard he tried to put it behind, there were constant reminders tapping him on the shoulder. He looked around and knew everyone there had to have at least half a dozen stories of loss.

Jet looked out at the trees and rocks as they drove through the hills. In the towns and cities, it was violence and chaos. Out here, things were quiet and peaceful. She said to Jeff, “I can’t believe she’s gone. We are so close, and now she’s gone. Amy, Todd, her parents, an entire family, completely erased. I mean think about it, all of us here are like the only surviving members of our families. Aunts, uncles, cousins, parents… They’re all gone, except for us.”

Jeff sighed and said, “I don’t remember any of them, except for my brother. I guess this memory loss thing has some advantages. I mean, how can you miss someone you don’t know?”

Sheryl knelt behind Jeff and asked, “Why don’t you take a break and let me drive for a while?”

He glanced at her. “Have you ever driven one of these before?” She shook her head. As he stopped, he said, “Just keep it slow and don’t make any sudden turns and you’ll be fine.”

Mark had Jeff lay down for a while so he would be alert enough to drive through the night. Tami and Dedee checked out the propane stove and heated some of the food they had. It had been a while since anyone had hot food and it helped raised everyone’s spirits a little.

After sundown, Jeff took the wheel again. Sheryl, Tami, and Dedee went to the back to lie down. Mark stretched out on the small couch and Lisa lay down next to him. Jet sat up front with Jeff, and the gentle curves of the mountain roads slowly rocked her to sleep. She slept for several hours before Jeff woke her up.