Impact (31 page)

My heart thundered. “I can’t! I won’t.”

“Yes, you will!”

My jaw dropped when he handed me a gun. I instantly knew one thing. I might not be a psychology major like Kirk claimed to be, but I knew him for his famous ‘tests’. I’d bet anything it wasn’t loaded. He wanted to see if I’d shoot him or turn on his men. He knew I wouldn’t kill my brother and girlfriend. Why else would he give me a gun? Another thought occurred to me. He had tried to bait me with that line about, ‘please do the honors’. He was trying to bait me into shooting him. Because he wanted to see if I was loyal.

“Shoot him!” Nick yelled.

Yeah, if I would’ve tried that, we’d all be dead. The gun would have no bullets and I would’ve failed Kirk’s test miserably. He would’ve found me
unworthy
, then shot all of us dead on the spot.

I lowered the gun. “I can’t kill the only person that’s ever cared about me.”

“Don’t let him brainwash you!” Kate said.

I slowly handed Kirk back the gun. “I just want you to take me back to Oxford and make me the champion you promised I could be.”

Kirk seemed to completely fall for it and shot me a huge smile. “Nothing would make me prouder, son.”

I passed his stupid test with flying colors. Now that he trusted me, I could beg him to let the others go.

“I believe you,” he said. “But you still have to pay for your sins.”

“You know I’m loyal to you until the very end. I’ll give you everything I have, but you’ve got to let my friends and my brother go.”

“Blood Fest paid for your first failed escape, and now you need something to pay for your betrayal to me when you left with Jim.”

“Take me back and make me pay. Whip me! Starve me! Beat me! Throw me in jail and let me rot. I’ll take whatever you throw at me, but please let the others go.”

His gaze narrowed. “The matter has been settled then.”

“Then we have a deal?” I asked.

“You have to learn that I call all the shots, not you.”

“Please, Kirk, I’m begging you.”

Ignoring me, Kirk peered at his men. “Lucas dies first. I don’t like people who lie and betray me. Then kill Jackie and Asia next. I hate escaped convicts. Then off the brother. Then the redhead. Then the dog.” He pointed to the window of the RV. “That little yappy. And save the blonde. She’s coming with us.”

“No!” I shouted in an outrage.

Two men dragged Lucas over to him, brainwashed souls who would be loyal to the madman till the end. It was all too reminiscent of Z, and I just wanted the man dead. 

Kirk put the gun to his temple. “Any last words,
Tony
?”

Lucas just shot him the coldest look I’d ever seen.

“Say goodbye, traitor,” Kirk said.

“No!” I shouted. I ran toward him, but three men held me back as I desperately fought to get free.

Just as Kirk started to pull the trigger, his head swung back, and blood began to gush from a hole in his forehead. He fell, as cold and dead as the concrete he landed on. His men gasped, horrified.

When another shot rang out, I took cover behind a pole. Another of Kirk’s guys fell to the ground with a bullet hole in the head. I was glad someone was helping us, but I had no idea where the shooter was. I could only assume it was someone from Fairport, and I couldn’t have been more grateful that they were giving us an opportunity to fight our way out.

“Sniper!” Ned yelled, pointing his weapon. “I’ll take him out.”

Kirk’s men returned fire, but I managed to knock the gun away from one of them and kick him down to the pavement. In no time, half of Kirk’s men were down, but the bullets kept flying.

“They’re not worth dying for!” a blond man shouted. “I couldn’t care less if they leave. Just let ‘em go!”

The others seemed to agree and jumped in a Jeep they had parked down the street. They made their retreat in a heartbeat, not even bothering to collect their dead leader or buddies from the street. Nick, me, and Lucas began delivering headshots into the dead bodies, just to make sure nobody reanimated to cause havoc inside Fairport.

I stared down at Kirk’s lifeless body. His reign of terror was now officially over. There was no denying the famous saying, live by the sword, die by the sword. He killed people violently, and now he suffered the exact same fate.

Lucas explained to Nick about Kirk’s little tests. He picked up the gun from Kirk’s pocket that I’d been given. Sure enough, there were
no
bullets. I’d sure won that poker hand.

I gazed up at the building where the shots had come from.

When the sniper came into view, she smiled.

“Val!”

“This is the second time I’ve had to save your butts like this!” she yelled down. “Remember when I first met Nick, back at that glass house in the forest?”

“Yep,” I said. 

I remembered clearly. We would have been dead after the helicopter crash if she hadn’t destroyed the zombies that almost killed us. 

She jumped off the roof of the four story building and landed on top of the RV like some kind of superhero.

“Val?” I said. “What are you doing here? Please tell me you’ve changed your mind.”

She grinned widely. “I read Nick’s beautiful, heart touching letter.”

I looked at Nick, stumped. “What did you write? And what was that key for?”

“The note was pretty emotional, especially coming from him,” she said, voice wavering. “He really poured his heart into it. It made me cry like a baby. The key was to a gassed-up Porsche. Those things go 100 miles per hour, so he told me to hightail it out of town and catch up with you guys. When I saw you were in trouble, I knew I had to step in.”

“You’re coming with us?” Claire asked, excitement flooding her voice.

Val grinned. “You bet! How can I not?” She pointed at the guys on the ground. “See? Look what happens when I’m not around. You need me. These brothers of mine can’t do anything right, not without their big sister.”

“Definitely,” Asia said, laughing. “I’m so glad you’re coming.”

She scrambled off the RV. “Listen, I know it’s not going to be a cake walk. But you gotta fight for the kind of life you want. And I want a life with all of you guys in it.”

“Absolutely!” Kate squealed, smiling from ear to ear. 

Asia ran over and hugged Val, followed by the rest of us. I’d never been happier. Our sister was going with us, and that instantly lifted everyone’s spirits.

“Well, I guess the gang’s all here,” Nick said, ecstatic.

Kate smiled. “We’re just one big, happy family in this mad world.”

“And I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Asia said.

“Me neither,” Claire chimed in.

Val was our beacon of hope, maybe a sign form the universe that we were all going to survive. We were going back home to Ohio. We had quite the journey in front of us, but we were ready. More importantly, we were together and cared about each other, and that was one thing the zombies and psychopaths could never rip apart. 

My heart still ached for the people I’d lost over the last few weeks, the guys I’d met in Kirk’s insane town and even for Jim. I didn’t know all of them well, but they had touched me in a way I would never forget. They were victims of the evil that had tainted our world, the death and decay and desperation that had twisted the minds of people like Kirk. Two had been killed in the zombie minefield, and I saw three others shot in a lonely jail cell, in cold blood. Eva’s life was snuffed out by a man she had naïvely trusted, and a sniper had nailed Jim, after we made up in a roundabout way. Even Kirk’s life had come to an end, but I couldn’t really grieve for him when he had spilled so much blood for no reason. What he did to people was something only a psychopath would do in a world with no order or government.

Lucas pressed on the gas, and we took off. I was a little emotional about leaving Fairport behind us, but when Jackie squeezed my hand, that was all I needed. I was just happy we were all alive and breathing. I’d learned so many things during the zombie apocalypse, but the most important was the value of family and friends, people who would cover each other, no matter what. Together, we were the dream team, and it was our combined courage, strength, friendship, and endurance that would help us through a world that had lost its mind, a world that we hoped to save with the cure we’d risked our lives to find. Together, we would fight to the bitter end.

“You all right?” Jackie asked, looking over at me.

“I am now,” I said, smiling at her and knowing that nothing would stop us. “We’re going to get our world back, Jackie.”

“I know...and the best part is that we’ll all do it together.”

To be continued...

Note from author:
I can’t thank you guys enough. Without your love and support, I could have never continued this journey. You
truly
are my inspiration.

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