Jake's Law: A Zombie Novel (30 page)

He ducked back inside
the doorway as a zombie stumbled down the walkway toward him. When it drew even with the doorway, it paused to sniff the air. Jake raised the crossbow and waited. If he cocked it, the hiss of CO2 from the automatic cocking mechanism would alert the zombie. The zombie turned in a half circle, sniffing the air, and then continued down the walkway. Jake caught a whiff of the sickly odor rising from his clothing. The stench of decay on his pants and shirt had confused it.

The mall was a vast cavern of walkways, courtyards, stores, kiosks, and corridors. Searching the entire mall in the dark could take hours, and he knew he didn’t have that long.
He chose a direction at random, and moved southeast along the walkway past a telecommunications store, a looted jewelry store, and a restaurant reeking of rotten food. As he turned the corner at
Forever 21
, he heard the wailing and groaning of many zombies further down the mall and knew that his destination lay in that direction. The creatures were gathering there for a reason – Jessica. He stopped to consult Reed’s crude map. The shot came unexpectedly, striking the glass behind him, shattering it, followed by a peal of raucous laughter.
Levi
. He ducked behind the railing. The shot had been close but not too close. Levi had intended his first shot to miss as the initial salvo of their game of nerves.

“Your lady friend is at the east end of the mall, Blakely
,” Levi yelled. “Better find her fast.”

At least I chose the right direction
. Jake searched the darkness across the mall for Levi but could see nothing. He was too well hidden in the shadows. For the bullet to strike where it had, the shot would have had to originate from the upper level. The gift card store or the coffee shop offered the best angle. Jake chose the coffee shop and fired two quick rounds from the shotgun, and then raced down the walkway toward Jessica. The discharge of the shotgun thundered in the cavernous space, rattling storefront windows and echoing back and forth down the twisting corridors until it finally rumbled silent. Glass exploded from the front of the coffee shop as Levi returned fire. Jake dove to the ground and slid on the rain-slicked tile floor headfirst through the open doorway of a tuxedo shop, sending a rack of ties and belts tumbling in all directions. He slammed into the corner of a wooden counter with his shoulder, dropping the shotgun. It skidded deeper into the store, disappearing into the yawning darkness within. Before he could recover it, a zombie rounded the corner and grabbed his right foot. He kicked the creature in the head with the other foot until it released him, but it lunged again. He pulled his knife from his belt and drove the blade into the top of the creature’s head, twisting the handle until it went limp when the blade severed its hindbrain. It fell across his legs. He kicked it away with disgust.

As he got to his feet, a
nother zombie, this time a more agile Runner, appeared from the store next door. Jake cocked the crossbow and fired. At 300 feet per second, the twenty-inch bolt passed straight through the creature’s head and imbedded in the wall behind it. The Runner took one more step forward before crashing into and over the railing. It landed with a sickening thud on the tiled courtyard below, its blood mixing with the puddles of water. Jake leaned over the railing to see the crowd of zombies rushing to investigate the sound. A second shot from Levi struck the railing inches from his hand. Levi was through playing games. Now, he meant business.

Th
e battle had become a game of hide-and-seek. Keeping low, he continued east along the walkway. Twice, he stopped to kill zombies that came at him, using his crossbow. He now had three bolts remaining. Simple math told him that three didn’t go into dozens of zombies enough times to matter. It was time to change his tactics.

Knowing Levi could place a bullet in his back at any moment from the shadows, Jake stood to expose himself, reversed directions, and ran at full speed back the way he had come. Shots followed him, shattering windows and chipping brick behind him. He reached a crosswalk over the lower courtyard, raced across it, and hurdled down the stairs opposite three at a time. He didn’t stop until he was safely ensconced behind a kiosk selling cell phones. His bold move had taken Levi by surprise. Levi was now on the upper level where he would have to expose himself to shoot down at him, and he didn’t think Levi was that stupid. He had bought a few more precious minutes in which to search for Jessica.

Using benches, planters, and other kiosks as cover, he crossed the courtyard until he was beneath the upper walkway. As he crossed in front of a perfume shop, the overpowering sickly-sweet miasma of comingled perfumes rose from broken bottles beneath his feet and brought tears to his eyes. In the silence, he could hear the faint ticking of numerous watches from a nearby watch repair kiosk, their batteries still functioning and beyond that, the soft scuffling of zombie feet. A sharper sound above him caused him to freeze. The sound was not repeated, ruling out a zombie crashing around. Levi was above him waiting for him to expose himself again. If he still had his shotgun, he would have been tempted to race out and empty it at the walkway in hopes of killing his adversary, but this was not simply about two men trying to kill one another. Another life was at stake, Jessica, and her life was more important than revenge.

The area of the courtyard in front of Macy’s was a sea of zombies
, illuminated by a thin sliver of moonlight entering through a broken skylight. They milled about on both levels in great numbers, raising a loud group moan. When he saw Jessica, her face pale in the moonlight, his heart thundered in rage. She was trussed up like an animal sacrifice on the stairs. The barricades at each end of the stairwell were flimsy and beginning to give under the combined weight of starving zombies. Her movements were frantic, as she tried to free herself. He knew any move he made toward her would reveal him to Levi. That was Levi’s demented plan – toy with him before killing him. Even the automatic shotgun wouldn’t have cleared a hole through the massed zombies. What could he do with a pistol, a knife, and three remaining crossbow bolts?

He needed some way to draw the zombies away from Jessica, create a distraction that might also fool Levi. Seeing the big ears of Mickey Mouse on a sign at the Disney Store gave him an idea. Inside the store, he searched for the items he needed for his diversion. After finding them, he crept back down to the mall courtyard and around a corner to prepare his surprise. He set his armload of foot-tall Buzz Lightyear action figures on the floor around him. Working quickly, he activated their lights and pressed their gauntlets to activate the toys’ laser sound effects. Then he taped down the talk button with electrical tap and scattered them across the courtyard behind him, as he raced back toward Jessica. Multiple Buzz Lightyear voices filled the mall, and the laser lights and sound effects drew the zombies’ attention. He waited behind a wall as a phalanx of the creatures filed past him to investigate.

To his horror, he saw that t
he upper barricade protecting Jessica was beginning to topple. He used his remaining three crossbow bolts to kill the creatures nearest it. Jessica saw them fall dead and increased her attempt to free herself.

“Nice try, Blakely,” Levi called out from above him. “But you’ll never make it.”

Levi was probably right, but he had to try. He pulled out his .45, took a deep breath, and fired three quick rounds into the walkway directly above him. He tossed the useless crossbow in one direction and made a mad dash for the stairs.

* * * *

Jessica watched in horror, as the zombies tore at the flimsy barricade with the vigor of the starving. Dozens of the creatures surrounded her, close enough to smell their stench. She knew it would not be long before the barrier fell, and she would die in a most gruesome manner. She didn’t see Levi again after he left her, but she knew he was somewhere within the darkened mall lying in wait for Jake. In spite of her certain grisly death, she hoped Jake wouldn’t come for her.

The first report of gunfire echoed down the mall courtyard, followed by Levi’s insane laughter, attracting the attention of some of the zombies.
Jake!
He had come for her. In spite of her earlier wish to the contrary, she was relieved and grateful that he had come. A handful of the creatures shuffled toward the sound, but most remained gathered around her. She feared Jake was dead until she heard twin shots from his shotgun. She smiled. A few more rifle shots a short while later proved Jake was still alive and getting closer. Then, ten minutes passed in silence. She began to worry that something had happened to him. To her surprise, and then amusement, the familiar sound of a dozen Buzz Lightyear’s voices brought a smile to her face. He was drawing the creatures away from her. Now, most of the creatures abandoned their vigil and moved toward the flashing lights and sound. Her smile faded as a window shutter toppled from the upper barricade and skidded down the stairs. Not all of the creatures were fooled. Some preferred the food closest at hand.
Not long now
, she thought.

She
tugged on the ropes but they wouldn’t yield. Her wrists were bloody from her earlier attempts, but not slick enough to force them through Levi’s tight knots. A few minutes later, the rest of the barricade came crashing down the stairs. She tried to scream through the gag. One zombie took two steps down the stairs, and then fell with an arrow protruding from its head.
Jake
. The two remaining creatures suffered similar fates. She heard Levi’s voice taunting Jake from across the courtyard. Jake replied by firing three shots and running toward her. She tried to warn him back, but couldn’t. He raced by the foot of the stairs, tossing his knife onto the landing as he passed. She pounced on the knife to keep it from falling off the edge of the landing. He fired three more rapid shots in Levi’s direction and disappeared behind the staircase.

“Come out now or I’ll kill her,” Levi shouted.

He stood in the shadows, but she could see the
brim of his Stetson and the barrel of his rifle pointed at her glinting in the moonlight. Shifting as little as possible, she positioned her body until she could reach the knife with her hands. Her bonds were so tight that she could barely grasp it.

“If I come out, you’ll just kill us both,” Jake replied.

“Drop your gun, step out where I can see you, and we’ll finish this man to man with knives.”

She pushed until the hilt
of the knife wedged against her stomach, and then moved the rope over the sharp blade. The knife kept flipping over, but she wriggled it back into position each time and continued to saw at her bonds.

“Throw out your rifle first
,” Jake called out.

She started at the clatter of a rifle skidding across the tiled floor.
She hadn’t believed Levi’s offer, but he had thrown out his weapon. He still might have another weapon.

“I’m coming down,” Levi yelled.

Fool
, she wanted to yell at Jake.
Don’t trust him
.
You don’t have your knife and I can’t give it back to you.

Jake
’s pistol followed Levi’s rifle onto the floor. He was going to take Levi at his word and meet him weaponless.

“What about the shotgun?” Levi asked.

“I lost it in the tuxedo shop upstairs. I think it’s in the cummerbund section if you want it. Let’s do this.”

Jake stepped out from behind the staircase
, his empty hands held out in front of him. He looked up at her and smiled encouragingly. Levi walked around the walkway until he was standing above her at the head of the stairs, and then took the steps one at a time. When he reached her, he paused, glared down at her, and continued. He didn’t see the knife beneath her. When he had passed, she continued to work on the rope. Slowly, the knife was parting the tough nylon of the rope. As the rope loosened, she forced her hands apart to break it, biting back on a scream as the circulation returned to her wrists. Then she removed the gag.

“Don’t do it, Jake,” she yelled. He didn’t reply. His gaze was fixed on Levi. “Here,” she said and tossed him the knife. He caught it with one hand. Levi stopped moving until he saw that it was only a knife.

“Run,” Jake called out to her. “Go to the upper level. Exit through Dillard’s. Head west along the river until you reach the ATV. Go home. Reed’s hurt. He needs you. I’ll join you later.”

She couldn’t believe what he was saying.
He was sending her away. “No. I can help.”

“No. This is between me and him.”

Rage rose in her. The image of his body on top of her clouded her vision. “After what he did to me,” she screamed. “I want to kill him.”

Levi looked up at her with a sneer. “You can wait and watch your man die,
and then I’ll take real good care of you.”

“Like you did Hawk,” she shot at him.

His face clouded for a moment. “She forgot where her loyalties lay.”

“Go,” Jake repeated.

He walked to the middle of the courtyard and crouched with his knife pointed towards Levi. Levi moved to meet him, stopping a few yards away. The two circled one another warily, each feeling the other out. She retreated to the upper level, staring back at the two adversaries the entire time. She wasn’t leaving. She couldn’t leave Jake alone. Most of all, she couldn’t leave without knowing that Levi was dead. She wanted to see his dead body on the ground. She hugged the shadows inside a doorway and watched.