Dying Days 6 (14 page)

"I need something to tie together," Tosha said and yanked the tent down, pulling her knife and slicing large strips, which she hoped would hold together.

The zombie was still banging on the hatch and the weight was slowly shaking off and moving. Within a few minutes he'd be up on the roof and Tosha hoped she'd be long gone or at least have a good enough lead.

"If you want to live and protect your little girl, I suggest you find every shirt, towel, rope and piece of cloth to tie together and help us escape down the side of the building," Tosha said.

The wife looked like she was going to protest but her husband jumped in, pulling a bundle of blankets from a box.

"Will these work?" he asked with fear in his eyes as the zombie began punching the hatch harder.

"It will have to. Tie the ends together. We'll need at least twenty feet to get down. Wrap the towels to the middle so we have something to grip on the way down and to make it stronger," Tosha said, making it up as she went along. Right now they were running out of time.

They worked in silence and all four got into the rhythm of tying everything together.

Tosha walked with the end of the makeshift rope to the only place on the roof nearby she could see to tie off on, even though she was hesitant.

"What are you doing?" the wife asked.

The bitch asked too many questions. Tosha shot her a nasty look before getting to work: tying the end onto the metal bar on top of the hatch. It would have to do. She walked the blankets and towels to the nearest side of the roof.

"We're still a few feet short. Let's hurry up," Farley said, thinking he was being helpful by stating the obvious.

The hatch shook with a loud bang. Tosha was grateful the angle from below was all wrong and, even with the zombie's strength, he was having a hard time getting enough leverage to open the hatch, but he'd get it soon enough.

"Is there anything else heavy we can put on the hatch?" Tosha asked.

"No. There were lots of clothing racks downstairs but I never got around to getting them to the roof," Farley said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

It was a matter of life and death right now. Anything they could use to keep the zombie at bay was going to be helpful.

Tosha tied another sheet to the end of the line and judged she might need a couple more before it would be long enough to get her within six feet of the ground, where she could drop down and land without breaking anything. She hoped. She also hoped it would hold her weight.

"I'll finish this. Grab everything you can find on the roof and put it on the hatch. That means all of your food and junk you thought was so important," Tosha said.

When the family stopped and stared at Tosha, she got pissed.

"Don't you want to live, you stupid fucks? Do as I say or we're all going to die." Tosha went back to work, tying the next sheet as quickly as possible and praying it would work.

She knew there wasn't anything heavy enough on the roof to make a difference but all four of them couldn't waste time with the last part of the line now. They'd only be panicked and in the way if they had nothing left to do but watch her work.

Tosha ignored them as they scurried away to do what she'd asked them to.

The last sheet was tied to the line and Tosha pulled at it, making sure it was tightly secured to the hatch. The only way to test it was to go down the line and hope for the best.

Mathyu was standing on the lip of the roof facing Tosha, who jumped when her sister appeared.

"What did I tell about doing that shit?" Tosha asked her twin. She turned to see the family now staring at her. Tosha pointed at the hatch as it shook violently, knocking things on top of it around. "He's coming. Hurry up."

There just wasn't enough to keep the hatch closed for long.

Tosha gripped the makeshift rope in her hands and stood on the edge of the building, afraid to look down. If there was a zombie or three below, she might hesitate. She'd rather fall on one and take her chances than face this pissed off bastard about to reach their position.

Mathyu cocked her head slightly to the right. Tosha didn't remember her ever doing it before and it pissed Tosha off.

"Don't you fucking judge me. You're dead. You can't do that anymore. You lost that privilege when you left me," Tosha said and gave her sister the finger.

The family was busy trying to stand on the hatch as it came up a foot or more with each punch from the zombie.

Tosha prayed these blankets and towels would hold her weight as she put a foot down onto the wall and the rope went taut.

The little girl turned and stared at Tosha when she saw the rope tighten beneath her.

Tosha had to look away, down at her hands, when the little girl began to cry.

"Not my problem. I'm just passing through. If they really want to escape, they'll be right behind me," Tosha said under her breath.

She began scaling down the wall. When she looked back, just before her head sunk lower than the lip, her sister was gone but the little girl was still staring as the hatch opened.

Chapter Nineteen

Eve stopped running her fingers through Amber’s red hair and cocked her head. Something was wrong and it was nearby. Someone of great importance was getting too close for comfort.

She’d been wasting time, knowing the baby everyone sought was in Jacksonville. Eve had assumed it would be drawn towards her and she could control it, but now she wasn’t so sure.

Another complication had entered the city as well, and Eve knew who it was.

The Zombie Killer was here.

Eve sighed and went back to giving attention to cute little Amber. What would be would be, right? She'd learned, with her new focus and increased powers, she could control most things but not all of them.

She couldn't see the future. She could only try to manipulate people to do her bidding, but even that wasn't foolproof. A complication like The Zombie Killer was a major roadblock for what she wanted to do.

Eve had goals like everyone else. They were constantly changing, rearranging and reformulating in her head but they were constant. She needed the evolving plans to go along with her rapidly superior mindset.

She needed to figure out a way to eliminate The Zombie Killer, collect the baby and better understand her role in this brave new world she'd helped to create.

Eve found it interesting the baby wasn't with his mother, too. She figured by now they'd be reunited and forge a stellar bond and become the biggest threat to her kind.

The ultimate goal would be to find them one at a time and use them against the other if possible.

"They've returned," one of the men said nearby, his voice catching as he approached a few steps. He wisely stopped when Eve looked in his direction and the runner who'd relayed the news was sprinting across the field to get back to the tunnels and out of harm's way.

Eve grinned and raised her hand, jerking her pinkie and watching as she gave a subtle push to the runner, who fell head-first into the ruined grass field and skidded a couple of feet before stopping. It was all she could do not to laugh. Little things in life were still worth living for, she decided. After all, weren't these humans here for her amusement?

Amber looked up and saw her mother walking towards the tent and stiffened.

"Do you want to go to her?" Eve asked.

Amber nodded her head slowly, her body shaking.

Eve had explained to Amber while her birth mother was gone how this would work from now on: Eve would be called mommy and shown respect. If Amber did this, the other woman could live, and be comfortable.

Eve gripped Amber by the arm and gave it a squeeze, hoping it would leave the tiniest of bruises. She pushed Amber away. "Go to her. Hug her. She loves you."

Amber took off like a shot, slamming into her smiling mother. The two hugged while the man Eve had also sent out came over, doing his best not to make eye contact, and put the items he'd collected onto the table under the tent.

"Is everything alright, Del?" Eve asked.

"How did you know... uh, yes, everything is fine. We found a daycare and took what we could carry," Del said.

"You found this daycare all by yourself?"

Del nodded but was staring at the table. "Yes. We wandered around and found a few things."

"How fortunate. The chance of you finding anything in this city is likely a thousand to one odds. Yet... you easily found the one place items you needed were still intact," Eve said.

Del shrugged, trying to appear casual, but his body language and thoughts betrayed him.

"Is there anything left? If there is, tomorrow at first light you and another man can go and get the rest. How does that sound?" Eve stared at Del, smiling because the ground was more interesting to Del right now.

"Whatever you wish," Del said.

Amber's birth mother was slowly leading the little girl away, towards the tunnel.

"Stop. Where do you think you're going with Amber?" Eve smiled. She had to give the woman points for trying. If she thought she'd casually walk away and Eve would forget about Amber, she was sadly mistaken.

The woman turned, putting herself between her daughter and Eve. Her lips were trembling but no words escaped. She looked like she was going to cry.

"Amber stays with me," Eve said. She raised a hand and swept it in the direction of the table. "She has all of these fine toys to play with. In fact... you're going to do something for me."

Eve walked around the table. There were only a few toys and some clothes. Not nearly enough but it would be a good start. She decided she needed to do something big and bold today. The little girl had given her an idea, and Eve didn't want all of this to come crashing down because humans were so damn weak.

She looked up at the skyboxes in the stadium.

"I want you to leave Amber with me for right now. I'm not asking. That is an order, one your life depends on." Eve turned back to the woman before glancing at the man she'd gone on the mission with. "Has this man violated you?"

The woman shook her head.

Eve read her thoughts. It was true. This man, Del, had protected some of the women and children.

"Excellent. The two of you will go into the tunnel and gather every woman and boy under the age of fourteen and lead them onto the field. If I see any other man besides Del with them, I will rip them to pieces. Is that understood?" Eve asked.

"I... I don't understand..." the woman said. She was starting to get on Eve's nerves and making her second guess her plan, which was going to help her.

"It's not for you to understand. It's for you to obey. I'm going to relocate the women and children so they aren't in harm's way," Eve said.

"My wife and daughter are with me," Del said. "I can protect them."

Eve shook her head. "No, you can't. Only I can. When men feel weak and powerless, they attack those even weaker. They are frustrated they cannot be manly and lead. They are beginning to take it out on the powerless. I will not have needless deaths and pain because some men cannot control their lust and urges. Do as I say and know you will be protecting them."

Del hesitated for a second and Eve thought she was going to have to eliminate the man and use him as a lesson for the others, but then he turned and jogged back to the tunnel. Eve scanned his mind and smiled when he was already figuring out how to get all of the women and children out without a fight.

"Go and help him," Eve said to the woman. She bent down and smiled at Amber, holding out her hand.

"Let's go and play with some toys for awhile. What would you like for dinner?"

Amber pulled away from her mother, who looked shocked the girl would simply walk away from her.