Dead: Siege & Survival (37 page)

Around midday, the rattle and distinct growl of a diesel engine echoed across the landscape. A big snowplow eventually came in to view. It exited the country club and turned left! That was the best news Kevin had gotten all day. It was moving away from Newark…away from Willa’s outfit…away from Aleah and the others!

Kevin watched the plow head off sending a wall of snow and ice crashing aside like a giant wave. The handful of vehicles fell in behind and headed away, the sounds of tire chains rattling like an army of Dickensian ghosts. He’d waited this long, and his body hurt from the cold. His mind was frazzled from the zombie infant just a few feet away pawing in endless futility at the sliding glass door. Yet now was not the time to be careless.

He had been vigilant. Valarie would be hard to miss. He had seen no sign of either one of his friends during the evac. He should have an answer one way or the other in a very short while. Still, he had to be patient. This could be a trap.

Certainly the major would expect him to return for his people. He was certain that, despite the fact that they had only specified Willa surrender to them, the major had certain designs on
him
. He had gathered that much in their brief meeting.

What seemed like an eternity passed. Having no way to accurately gauge time, Kevin homed in on a single zombie in the distance that struggled along the side of the snow-covered highway. By the time it passed the entrance to the country club, he had to figure that at least an hour had gone by.

During that time, he had felt comfortable enough to move around a bit and stretch. He finally succumbed to the desire to open that sliding glass door and end that infant for good. Afterwards, he rummaged through the house to find a few things he knew he would need later.

No longer able to wait, Kevin crept out and made his way to the entrance of the country club. All the movement from earlier made it pretty easy once he reached the actual highway. He stopped at the light post and looked up at the zombie dangling by its feet. Willa’s otherwise perfect flesh had a bullet hole in one thigh, and one bite on the right arm. That was all it had taken. At least that was what he thought until he looked closer. There was a nasty scar on her left shoulder that could only be a healed bite. She’d been immune!

With a single shot from his crossbow, Kevin put an end to Willa. He untied the rope that had been used to hoist and suspend her and eased the body to the ground. It took him a few minutes, but eventually he discovered a small bump with what had to be a needle mark in the center.

“I’ll bet the major was pissed when you didn’t show any sign of infection from being bitten,” Kevin said with a sad laugh.

He wished he had the time to take care of her body with a bit more respect, but time was something he didn’t have to spare at the moment. He folded her arms across her chest and shut her eyes. That would have to do.

Jogging up the entry road that led to the where the country club building used to stand, Kevin began to notice a few single stragglers milling about. He hadn’t recalled seeing any zombies enter the opening, so that meant that either the wall had been breached…or, and this was a bit more chilling, Major Beers had a few zombies in her arsenal and had chosen to leave them behind for some reason.

He oriented on the general direction of the storage shed that had housed Shari and Valarie. He just hoped that they were still there. As he approached a small ridge, expecting to see the shed not too far away once he reached the top, he heard a peculiar thumping sound.
They’re alive!
he thought as he bounded through the snow.

When he finally crested that hill, he skidded to a halt. A dozen or so zombies had the shed surrounded and they were banging on the sides. He counted his bolts: seven. That would not be enough by half. He really only had one option.

Moving as close as he deemed necessary, Kevin cupped his hands to his mouth. “Shari!” he called.

There was a moment where it felt as if the world had come to a halt. That span of three or four heartbeats where he waited and watched every set of undead eyes turn his direction seemed like forever.

“Kevin?” a voice called back.

Several of the zombies that had started to turn his way and come after the newest stimulus seemed to pause, almost as if they had a moment of uncertainty. Then, a few actually continued their turn and headed his way, while the rest returned to their pounding.

“I am going to get you out of there, but I need you to do me a favor.”

“Name it! Just hurry and get us out of here.”

“I need you two to bang on the walls and try to keep the zombies’ attention.”

There was a pause, and Kevin hoped that he wasn’t going to have to explain this as more of the zombies had abandoned the shed for this new thing that kept getting their attention. Then he heard it, a loud clang of what sounded like something metal being used to beat on the interior of the shed.

Sure enough, the zombies where now all kinds of confused. Or at least that is how they appeared as they would turn one way and then the other. A few continued toward him, and for Kevin, that was perfect.

It took him almost no time to drop the zombies that had chosen to pursue the visible prey. He retrieved each bolt and then circled the shed to find where the zombies were thinnest. One side only had a pair. He moved in slow and took them both down. Systematically, he worked his way around the shed and only twice had to actually stop to deal with a zombie that had been brought by the noise.

Finally he was able to rush to the door of the shed. He pulled the hammer from his belt that he’d scavenged from the icky-baby house. It took a bit more than he had expected, but eventually he managed to bust off one of the door handles that the chain had been run through to keep Shari and Valarie locked inside.

He barely had the door open when two figures from the darkness rushed out and tackled him to the ground. Kevin looked up to see Valarie’s ear-to-ear grin just before she planted a wet kiss on his mouth. Shari seemed content to simply bury her head in his chest and squeeze him until he had to physically pry her off.

He climbed to his feet and helped both of them up. That was when the newest problem arose. Both girl’s had been stripped of their shoes and socks.

“We are going to have to run through quite a bit of snow,” Kevin said. “Your feet are going to hurt, but we will get you shoes as soon as possible.”

“What about this?” Shari held up her left hand which also caused Valarie’s right hand to join it in the air.

“Cuffs are not that complicated,” Kevin said. Although something in his gut told him that this might be worse than the lack of shoes. “As soon as we get across the street to those houses, I will find something and get those off of you.”

The girls had already begun the dance from one foot to the other. Standing around and talking any longer was a waste of time.

The trio took off across the snowy ground. Kevin glanced back more than once to make sure they were still behind him because it was so quiet. To both girls’ credit, they were plowing ahead. Even Valarie was unusually silent.

As they reached the entry gate, Kevin skidded to a halt. Coming from all directions were singles and small clusters of the undead. They had finally arrived in response to the dinner bell that had been sounded by Major Beers and her people pulling out.

As he scanned the area for the best possible route, he heard a cry from behind him. He turned just as Shari and Valarie tumbled to the ground in a heap. There was a moment where he searched frantically for the hidden zombie that would emerge from the tangle, but to his relief, no such thing occurred.

He reached down to help pull them to their feet. Shari yelped and collapsed, once again pulling Valarie down as well.

“My leg,” Shari hissed through clenched teeth.

Kevin looked around to see how much time they had before the leading edge of the zombie wave would hit. He still had a few minutes. Pulling up her pant leg, he couldn’t help but wince at what he saw. A few inches below the knee, the leg was bent at an angle that it should most definitely not.

“That bad?” Shari managed through the tears that welled up in her eyes.

“Nothing we can’t handle,” Kevin insisted.

He looked around at everything for a second and then directed Valarie to move just a bit so he could scoop the former pop star up in his arms.

“Stay right here at my side, Valarie,” he instructed. They resumed their trek, eventually reaching the first houses.

Kevin passed several before turning up the driveway of one that had an open garage door that revealed a big open space. Once inside, he set Shari down on a sturdy looking tool bench that was mounted to the wall and then shut the rollup door.

“I am going inside for a few minutes. I will be back, but you two just stay quiet. Hopefully none of them saw us duck in here.”

Kevin headed into the house that he already knew from previous excursions to be empty. He bounded up the stairs and went for the closets. It took him a few minutes, but eventually he found several pairs of socks, and some shoes that looked like they might fit, and a couple of coats. He’d even found a pair of boots that were closer to his size. He just hoped that he had time to change into them.

As he reached the landing, he got his answer. The dull slap of a dead hand on the front door sounded louder than any shotgun blast in his ears. It was quickly joined by others.

As he returned to the garage, he found Shari holding Valarie and stroking her hair. “Shh, everything will be okay,” she kept repeating.

Kevin had seen some shadows at a few of the windows. Everything was definitely
not
going to be okay. He tossed the shoes and socks to the pair. “Get this stuff on, we can’t stay here for long.”

He turned back inside and headed to the bathroom. It took longer than he would have liked—several more sets of hands were now banging of various parts of the house—but he eventually found a bobby pin. Rushing back, he was relieved to see that Valarie had her shoes on. Shari, however, did not.

“We don’t have time to screw around,” Kevin snapped as he strode across the garage.

“I can’t do it, Kevin,” Shari said in a barely audible whisper.

“Fine, then I will.” He bent to grab the socks, but her hand stopped him.

“I can’t walk.”

“Then I will carry you,” he insisted.

“You can’t,” Shari said with a shake of her head.

“I carried Matt, and you don’t weigh anything close to what he does.”

“You did it on solid ground. Out there it is all snow and ice. And if you fall and get hurt…” Her voice trailed off at the end as she glanced down at her injured leg. “Valarie is going to need you.”

“And your sister is going to need you,” Kevin argued.

“She will be okay,” Shari waved a hand. “She has all of you…most importantly, as long as she is with you she has a chance to survive.”

“We have to at least try!”

“You almost fell twice just getting me here,” Shari pointed out. “And those things are gathering outside. That means a fight just to have a shot at escaping.”

“But you have to at least try.”

“I did…and I can’t.”

“I refuse—”

“We don’t have time for this,” Shari snapped, cutting Kevin off. “You need to grab Valarie and run…now!”

Kevin glanced at Valarie. She was watching the entire exchange with a blank expression on her face.

“What do you think?” Kevin asked, not knowing what to expect.

“Shari promised to keep the bad ghosts away,” Valarie said with a smile. “She said that if she stays here, she can keep them all trapped in this house forever.”

Kevin shot a look Shari’s way. She gave the briefest of smiles. “Go, Kevin. And take Valarie away from here.”

Kevin sighed. In just the past minute the banging had increased. The garage door was starting to rattle in its frame. It wouldn’t last much longer. Almost on cue, the sound of breaking glass could be heard from somewhere within the house. Taking a deep breath, he went to work on the handcuff around Valarie’s wrist. With a few deft moves, there was an audible click. Valarie was free.

“I just need one thing,” Shari grabbed Kevin’s arm. “Don’t let me be eaten by those things. I don’t want to die that way.”

“Valarie, go wait in the kitchen,” Kevin said, his eyes never leaving Shari’s.

The girl took two steps, but then turned back and grabbed Shari in a hug. The two whispered something in each other’s ears, and then Valarie left the garage.

“Try to make it not hurt so much,” Shari said as the tears spilled down her cheeks.

“I…I…” Kevin had no words.

“I’m scared,” Shari managed as Kevin moved behind her and brought one arm around her neck.

“Me too,” Kevin whispered back.

It took less than twenty seconds for Shari to lose consciousness. Kevin imagined that he could have been quicker if he’d ever actually practiced using a “sleeper” hold. Shari slumped into his arms and began to slide off the workbench. He laid her on the floor and then drew his crossbow. The bolt punched through the forehead and Shari’s body spasmed twice and was still.

The idea of retrieving that bolt never crossed his mind as he exited the garage. He took Valarie by the hand and went to the back door. He saw a few shapes milling about, but this was definitely going to be the easiest way back to his friends.

“Come on,” Kevin managed around the lump in his throat. Together, they slipped out the door, across the yard, and over the fence.

17

Vignettes XXX

Aaheru entered the dining room and scanned the faces of all those who sat awaiting his arrival. With the exception of that pair of women he had just left in his stateroom and the one man placed on guard at his door, all of his people were assembled. He’d demanded that the ship be stopped and that even the men caring for the engines be present.

His eyes sought one person in particular. When he spotted Ahi, he was momentarily baffled. He had given the man free reign to assign everybody on board with another to prevent anybody from being alone. He thought that Ahi would take that situation and use it to his advantage. While he had not officially made all of his selections as to which of the women would be among his wives, he had felt a bit magnanimous in allowing his trusted advisor with whomever he chose. Ahmes was the only woman off limits and he would have no problem allowing Ahi his first choice. Besides, if she was ever summoned by her pharaoh, then both she and Ahi would certainly see that as an honor. Yet, Ahi had a young man beside him. In fact, it was that one boy who had been banished after being bitten but returned days later without having changed. Perhaps they would talk later and he would clarify the liberties that he had implied to the man.