Revelations - 02 (47 page)

I turned and walked away. Something was chewing at the back of my mind. Like when you leave the house and try to remember if you turned off all the burners on the stove, shut off the coffee pot, or locked the door. Only…different.



“Coming’ out of the woods!” Brad Peters called from the lookout tower atop the park ranger’s building that was slowly becoming a huge communal home. Brad was one of Fiona’s people. He’d been some sort of corporate lawyer. Mid-forties. Used to run marathons…for fun! “They’re ours!”

I climbed out of the trench We were really making good progress here. We had almost a quarter of the giant circle done. What I saw sent a chill. Barry and Susan were limping out of the woods. Nobody else. And both of them were covered in dirt, muck, and blood. Neither had a pack. They were alone.

“Fuck,” I whispered as I started across the field. Whether it was nerves or something else, I don’t know, but I couldn’t stop wiping my hands on my pants. The closer I got, the drier my mouth was becoming. I heard shouts coming from behind me. Word was spreading too fast.

By the time I was halfway across the field, my worst assumptions were confirmed. Both were bandaged up. That meant some of that blood was their own. The question was, were those injuries from something innocuous…or was it from the biting and scratching of the undead?

“Stay back!” Barry warned, raising his hands. Susan stopped beside him, leaning on his shoulder for support. I didn’t need to ask, I already saw it in their eyes. Both of them were as good as dead.

“What happened?” I finally forced myself to say. My hand had already gone to my holster. I didn’t draw my weapon, but that would only take a second.

“Ran into some trouble,” Barry wheezed. At this point, I couldn’t tell which of them was holding the other one upright. “It was dark, so we couldn’t see them until they were on us. Lee and Jason had been arguing. Curtis had to separate ‘em twice, and I warned them that all the noise was a bad idea. Whether it was the noise, or just bad luck…there’s no way to be sure, but they came thick. Curtis went under a heap of them. Immunity doesn’t mean shit when you’re pulled apart. Oh…and what was left of his upper half was pulling itself through the brush so make what you will of that. Then—”

“Barry!” Randi’s voice shrieked.

I heard a commotion behind me and turned to see Ian, Billy, Jamie, and Aaron restraining the woman. It took all of them, and I wasn’t certain how long they would prevail.

“Sugar,” Barry’s voice changed. It had a tone and quality I’d never heard before. “Be still, baby. All that carryin’ on ain’t gonna do no good.”

“You listen to me Randi Patrice Jenkins,” Barry said. Tears were trickling freely down his face. “I ain’t got long to talk, so don’t interrupt. I want you to know that I love you. I’ve loved you since the first day I saw you. You have been the greatest thing that ever happened to me. Being with you these years…I…I love you, baby. You take care of these folks …they’re gonna need you.”

“B-B-Barry,” Randi managed through a series of heart-wrenching sobs. “I can’t go on doin’ this alone. I need you.”

“No,” Barry shook his head, “that’s where you got it backwards. It’s always been me that needed you. I was just lucky enough to have you.”

Susan had remained silent during all of this. Slowly, she slid to the ground, coming to rest beside Barry. She was propped against his legs, her legs curled underneath, her chin down. Teresa was suddenly at my side with a long, sharp poker. She and the boys had made several similar weapons using the long pine branches that they’d shaved the bark off of, then attached metal tips that were beaten and sharpened to wicked points. So far, we had a dozen, and they wanted to make a hundred.

“Here.” Teresa handed me the weapon.

I looked down at it, then held out my hand. She gave it over; I swear the thing seemed to weigh a ton. When I turned back to Barry and Susan, her head had risen.

“Barry,” I whispered, “step away.”

Susan’s eyes widened a bit as she looked at me. If the damned things actually see that is. In any case, her white-filmed eyes now amplified the blackness running through them. Her mouth opened, and a mewling gurgle sounded as blood-thickened drool cascaded down her chin. Hands reached out for me until Barry moved. Then, her head jerked around suddenly. She lunged, but missed, sprawling face down on the ground.

I moved in and stepped over her, both arms above my head as I clutched the weapon with a white-knuckled grip that was a mixture of anger, fear, and frustration. As the uncoordinated body at my feet struggled to roll over, I took a deep breath, and drove the steel-tipped spear through the temple, pinning it to the ground.

“Them two boys might be trouble for you,” Barry whispered low enough so nobody else could hear. “Their fight separated ‘em from the rest of us when all them zombies showed up. If they got bit and turned…”

“They might come back here,” I finished his sentence.

“And bring a bunch of trouble with ‘em.”

Damn
.

Barry turned and began walking towards the trees. His steps were shaky and he staggered like a wino. I hurried to his side and threw his arm over my shoulder. “Where are you going?”

“The woods,” Barry answered. “Unless you wanna jam somethin’ through my head in front of Randi.”

“Barry!” I heard the woman wailing behind us. He stopped and I helped him turn back to face the crowd of anguished onlookers. “We’ve said our farewells, now go inside and let me tend to my business. I’ll see you in Heaven, Randi.”

We turned back and headed into the woods. I could still hear the crying and protests from Barry’s wife. I let Barry lead, and we walked for a good ten minutes before he pointed to a fallen tree. I eased him down to the ground and he leaned back against it with a sigh that turned into painful sounding coughs.

“Don’t wait till my eyes open back up,” Barry finally managed after wiping dark blood from his mouth.

“What?”

“I said don’t wait for my eyes to open back up before you do it. I don’t want to spend one second as one of those soulless abominations.” Barry looked up at me with those hideous eyes.

“Shoulda known better than to volunteer to go with those two idiots,” Barry wheezed. “Thought I could help keep the peace. Thought it was time somebody other than you put his ass on the line.”

“What in the hell are you talkin’ about?”

“I’m talking about how you seem to think you have to do it all. How you think you have to make every run, pick every work crew,” Barry explained. “You have it in your head that you need to run this show, and every time things go wrong…you take it on your shoulders like it was your own shortcomings made it happen. Thing is, it’s like sports. The coach can call the plays, but the team has to execute them. It ain’t the coach striking out, missing free-throws, or dropping passes.”

“Will you cut it with the self-pity,” Barry snapped. “You stepped up to be the leader. You’ll make mistakes. Don’t make ‘em twice in a row. That’s the best you can hope for these days. You’re the leader, be a man and accept that when you screw up, there will be casualties. However, without a leader, the chances of survival of this group goes down fast.” He coughed and was silent for a moment.

“I may not’ve said it,” he finally spoke again, his voice noticeably weaker, “but I don’t think Randi and I would be alive today without you. Same goes for the rest of ‘em. Well…ex-cept for Teresa. I do believe that young lady will out-survive cockroaches out of pure stubbornness.” He coughed in the middle of chuckling and I could see blood spraying from his lips with the spittle.

“I need you to be the man I believe you to be,” Barry continued after a few slow tears rolled down his cheeks that seemed to be graying before my eyes. “I need to know my Randi will be okay. I need you to promise—” He began to choke, eyes widening. I leaned down, but he brought his hands up, warding me off.

“Barry,” I said, trying not to cry. “I can’t—”

“Promise to watch my…” his eyes went wide for a second, then, he went slack. His whole body slumped down as a final exhale escaped his lips.

“Dammit!” I cursed, drawing my blade. Stepping forward, I plunged the blade into his temple. His hand twitched, but I think it was just one of those post-death contractions.

Liar
.

I sat down, my back against a tree, facing Barry Jenkins. The handle of my knife jutted obscenely from his head. Another promise. How many had I given since all this began? I’d lost track.

I just needed to rest for a bit. I needed to clear my head. Only, there wasn’t time. With Lee and Jason out there in who knows what sort of condition, the group was in danger. And it was my fault. Dr. Zahn had protested, told me it was a bad idea. I hadn’t listened. Maybe secretly I hoped that Jason would kill Lee. Perhaps I wanted Lee to go out there and not make it back. I lacked the guts to do anything, so I’d put him in a situation where it could happen while I kept my hands clean. Only, this time, it’d cost more than I bargained for. I would have to face Randi Jenkins every day for the rest of my life. I—

Something rustled in the woods off to my left. I scrambled forward and retrieved my knife. There it was again. Closer. I watched a tall cluster of ferns shake, then, out stepped Lee Jones.

He was a mess.

His dead eyes locked onto me and he began to stumble my way, his one remaining arm reaching out, fingers seeming to point accusatorily at me. Two more stepped out on Lee’s heels. Barry’s fears had been justified; Lee Jones was one of the walking dead and he’d led his brethren to us. Three more came through the ferns. I stood, and saw my worst nightmare coming true.

They
were coming, and there were lots of them. I clapped my hands together after wiping the blade of my knife clean on my pants leg. Heads turned my direction. Lots and lots of them.

“Come to
papi
you fucks!” I snarled and began moving in a slow arc away from the direction of the campground.

Like rats to the Pied Piper, they followed. My responsibility to keep the others safe felt like a ten-ton weight on each shoulder. I simply could not make any more promises. However, I would do my best one more time to keep the others safe.

Through the woods, I stomped. Making as much noise as possible. Occasionally I would taunt my undead parade of stinking, moaning zombies. There was no way I was going to fail all those who counted on me. Every so often I climbed up on a stump or fallen tree.
Yes,
I thought,
follow your leader
. It looked like the herd had taken the bait. Several hours later, as the sun began to set, they continued to follow.



It’s been three days. I thought I could shake ‘em when I got to town. Unfortunately, walking for over forty-eight hours—almost non-stop—must’ve messed with my perception a bit too much. I made it into town and was
certain
I’d given that mob the slip. Maybe I did and maybe Lee knew right where I was heading.

I can hear them pounding on the walls and doors. I can hear them in the hallway. I did manage to make it into the same storage room where Ian and Billy camped. I’m pretty sure the last of my luck has been used up…there was an unopened box in one corner. A case of bottled water. No food, but I got water.

I’ve kept my promises for as long as I can. I’ve tried to take care of everybody for as long as I can. Hearing them outside my door is almost therapeutic. If they’re out there…that means they didn’t swarm the camp. Now it is simply a question of what lasts longer: the water, the door, or my sanity.

The book that started it all!

Introducing our new cover of the first book in the series

Dead: The Ugly Beginning