Dead Surge (20 page)

Going in, it was clear this place had been empty for a while, and its layout was completely different from the other. In this place, you stepped up to an elevated platform that went around the entire building. There was a backstage area, which was walled off, and then a balcony that went around the upper part of the building. Small café-style tables and chairs lined the balcony, and they was a small bar area directly above where we were standing.

Hanging from the balcony, with varying implements used for the deed, were seven corpses. They were all women, and by the looks of them, they had been pretty when they were alive. However, for whatever reason, either someone had killed them or they decided to end it all together, they were hanging motionless over the bar where they had probably worked together

I tapped the others on the shoulders and we made our way back out. That bar was their tomb, and we were disturbing them. I didn’t need any more ghosts on my ass right now.

Heading back to Sarah, I filled them in on the buildings, and the women agreed we should leave the Whitebreast Inn alone. We parked the Truck near the front of the building and the van near the back. Inside, Charlie and Rebecca took over the VIP room, while Sarah and I claimed the loft. Tommy grabbed the sofa in the manager’s office, and Duncan decided he was going to stay in the van and monitor the radio for any developments.

Up in the loft, I stretched out on the floor and used my backpack as a pillow. Sarah took her time taking off her weapons, and somehow she made that look good.

“Hey you,” I said quietly.

“Hey yourself,” she said back. Settling down next to me, Sarah snuggled in close and asked. “Do you think Jake and Aaron are okay?”

I felt guilty that I hadn’t really thought about the two of them in a while, but I nodded. “They’re fine. Probably driving Mike nuts by now.”

“When do you think we’ll be back?”

“I figure three days at the most. The army should be on its way, and will hit the border by the day after tomorrow. We just need to stay ahead of the zombies and we should be okay.”

Sarah changed topics. “How do you think they’re getting around without anyone seeing them?”

I shrugged slightly. “Wish to hell I knew. We may know more if Osceola gets hit. Hopefully, they will be able to knock them back then track their movements so we can set up a trap. Get some sleep.”

Sarah lifted her head up. “You’re tired?”

I pulled her close. “Not that tired.”

Chapter 42

In the morning, I woke up stiff and sore. I hadn’t slept on a floor in a long time, and my back was reminding me that I wasn’t as young as I used to be. Add to the fact that, Sarah and I might have gotten a bit aggressive last night, my elbows and knees were banged up as well.

I stretched out the kinks in my back and moved over to my gear. I took out a bottle of water and put a little on a small towel to wash the sleep off of me. As I rubbed down my face and arms, I looked at the scars I had accumulated over the years. Some I wore with honor, like the scar I got from Thorton. Others I would just as soon forget, like the one I got across my hand from a training exercise gone very wrong.

Sarah stirred and the sunlight from the window fell across her head and shoulders, illuminating her bare back and arms. She brought her legs up and the blanket pulled away, revealing a landscape of smooth skin and curves.

I was extremely tempted to head back under the blanket for a really good morning when I glanced out the window. A slight movement caught my eye, and I stepped closer to the glass, looking out at the quiet town.

“Holy fucking shit.” The words were out of my mouth before I realized it, and it caused Sarah to turn again, this time covering herself.

“What’s up? Good morning, by the way.” Sarah stretched luxuriously, all the way to her little toes sticking out of bottom of the blanket. I nearly forgot what was outside.

I pulled away from the window and moved quickly to our gear. I started putting my clothes on when Sarah rolled over again, laying on her stomach. Her bare bottom peeked out at me from behind her head, and her elbows propping her head and shoulders up emphasized her breasts.

“Why are you getting dressed? I was hoping to get a little more of what we had last night.” Sarah pouted and I damn near relented.

“Would love to, just as soon as the hundreds of little zombies outside our door pass us by,” I whispered.

Sarah’s eyes got wide and she jumped to her feet, giving me heart palpitations as parts of her bounced very nicely. She dressed as quickly as I did, and in a minute, we were back to our dangerous selves. We crept over to the window and looking carefully out, we surveyed the scene before us.

Dozens of zombie children moved along the street, stepping quickly past the strip club and heading up Sigler Street. There was a long procession of the deadly little things and they were moving quickly. I couldn’t see what was leading them, there were too many for that, but they walked along the road in nearly single file fashion, one child after another. It was as if they were moving from classroom to classroom in an elementary building.

“Do you think they know we’re here?” Sarah asked, fingering her supply of magazines.

“Don’t know, doubt it, though.” I looked at their line of travel, cursing the luck that put us on the west side of the building. If we could see out the east, we could see the leader, if there was one, and where they were actually going.

I watched for a bit, and then gave Sarah a quick kiss. “I’m going down to warn the rest. I hope to hell Duncan came in from the van last night.”

“Oh, God.”

I hurried down the stairs as quietly as I could and raced for the dance floor. If those little things knew we were here, they would be on us like no one’s business. In the manager’s office, I roused Tommy and let him know what was going on. His sleepy answers turned to whispered curses as he struggled to get himself up.

I went to the VIP area and as I approached, I heard Rebecca giggle. I shook my head, realizing my friend was doing what I wish I could do at this moment. Guess they just got up earlier than Sarah did and I did.

I tried to knock discreetly on the wall, but it was hard since everything was covered in carpet. I tried whispering, but I couldn’t get past the noises that were coming from the room. Finally, I had to resort to direct methods, so I took a magazine from my holder and tossed it into the room, hoping to get lucky.

“Ow! What the hell?” Charlie said.

Apparently, I got luckier than I thought. I stepped back from the curtain just as it was pulled aside. A very angry and very naked Charlie James swept the curtain back and glared out at me, holding my magazine. A red spot was forming on his forehead. A glance at my attire and he changed his expression.

“Thanks.” We never broke eye contact during the exchange, and I grinned after Charlie drew the curtain back across the threshold. That will be one we never talk about. I thought.

Back at the loft, Sarah was watching the procession of zombies streaming past the building. We didn’t know where they were going, but this was a big break. Up until now, we had been guessing where they were and trying to predict where they were going to strike next. Suddenly, they were right in front of us, and we could easily track them and guide the army to a point where they could be decimated.

I understood what she meant. If he stumbled out of that van while the zombies were mobbing past, they’d be on him before he even knew they were there. The only reassurance we had for his survival was the fact Duncan was an old campaigner, and wouldn’t likely make such a rookie mistake. Sure, he was a goof, but he was as solid as they come and there was no quit in the man.

Charlie and Rebecca silently came up to the loft, and Sarah and I made room for them to see out the window. When Rebecca looked at me, her cheeks colored slightly, and Sarah picked up on it right away. She pulled me away to look into our packs and confronted me with our backs turned to Charlie and Rebecca.

“There’s just something so wrong about this,” he whispered, watching the zombie kids go by. Since a lot of them were relatively new, they looked almost normal. The thing that gave them away, however, was the dark red circles around their eyes. That and the bloodstains on their shirts and chins. The older ones, the ones that must have come from the school, were the very white ones. These had older, thinner clothing and lankier hair. I thought it strange that they weren’t grey like the old ones we encountered now and then.

The line thinned out and the last zombie walked away towards the east, around the building and out of our sight. We all breathed a sigh of relief, only to replace it with a gasp of surprise when Duncan opened the side of the van, the one facing the retreating zombies.

“John! Wake up! Osceola is under attack!” Duncan looked at the line of zombies that had suddenly stopped to turn and look at him. In a lower voice, we could hear Duncan say, “Aaannnd… so are we.”

Chapter 43

Duncan spun around and dove into the van, slamming the door shut just as five little zombies crashed against it. They bounced off and backed away, circling the van as others came back to investigate. They kept their distance, which was very weird, but none of this fit anything we knew. Right now, it looked like they knew the van could keep them out, but they weren’t going anywhere, so they could wait for the meal in the box to get hungry or careless.

We couldn’t wait for the zombies to win. “Tommy, get on the roof! Charlie, see if you can get to the truck out front and get to our heavier guns. They don’t know we’re here, so let’s keep that element of surprise. Rebecca, you and Sarah stay here until Charlie and I get back with the guns. Find your best targets and keep an eye in their behavior.”

“What are we looking for?” Sarah asked, peering out at the zombies that had begun to circle the van and slowly move around it. They were clicking their teeth together as they walked, some kind of sign they had spotted their prey and had run it to ground.

“Anything that gives us a clue to their behavior. Are they pack animals of a type, are they capable of some form of communication? Do they have any way of recognizing danger? What kind of intelligence do they have? Can they solve problems? Something, anything.” I ran down the stairs without waiting for an answer and caught up to Charlie.

We stood by the front door and looked out carefully through the windows. Thanks to the heavily tinted glass, we could see out much better than they could see in. Way off to the east, we could see a convergence of zombies that watched while the others circled the van. In the far back of the pack, I could see a taller female standing and watching. She seemed to turn her head to the left and right, almost as if she were sniffing the air. She opened her mouth, but I couldn’t tell if she made a noise. All I knew was five little zombies detached from the group and started to trot over to where the van was. We watched them pass by, and then the group turned and disappeared into the brush. They looked like they were heading south, but from where we were that was impossible to confirm.

“Did you see that?” Charlie asked quietly.

“I did,” I said, pulling my pistol from my belt. “They can communicate and they have a leader.”

“What the hell, John?” Charlie seemed almost in a panic. “How do we fight this? How do we go up against an enemy that’s never going to tire, can figure a way around our defenses, is faster than anything we’ve seen, and can coordinate attacks?”

“Wish we had a choice, my friend, but the good news is we know they can die, and they run from a fight they can’t win.” I put a hand on the door, but Charlie stopped me.

“What if they don’t run this time? Remember they kept coming when we put up a fight at the silos and I got bitten,” Charlie said.

I thought about everything we had done, and how hard we had tried to put the world back on the right track. I thought about my sons and what they meant to me and what I was willing to do for them. The cold fire began to build, and I looked hard at Charlie.