Dying Days 6 (21 page)

The pair got to the outer ring of ramps and headed up, watching for signs of trouble.

It was eerie not seeing another person roaming the vast building. Where were the rest of the living? Maybe they were being penned in like cattle underneath the stadium. It made sense. The zombie wasn’t going to let them roam free and try to herd them like cats. Rounded up like steer.

Bernie smiled at her own cliché metaphors running through her head. It felt like something to do besides jump at every dark corner or sound.

Something in the distance caught her eye and she stopped.

Even though it was night time, there was still moonlight and she could see to the river. There was movement down there, among the ruins and the weeds.

More than likely zombies, but what if it was people trying to escape or hide
? Bernie remembered hiding in the trunk of that car and how scared she was. She imagined all of the people still alive right now and trying to find a safe place to hide from the zombies, which probably outnumbered the living by a thousand to one. Hell, maybe even a quarter of a million to one.

“You still with me? You’re not planning to jump, are you?” Tosha asked close to her ear, startling Bernie.

“I’m fine,” Bernie lied and turned away, knowing everyone down below was already dead.

“Hopefully this zombie bitch is so arrogant she doesn’t have any guards posted in the skyboxes or upper level. She thinks her crazy powers will keep her safe,” Tosha said.

“She’s probably right.”

Tosha laughed and patted Bernie on the shoulder. “Yeah, you get it. We’re truly fucked. If we stay, she’s going to rip us to pieces. If we leave, she’ll hunt us down and rip us to pieces. We may as well fight her and die with our boots on.”

“Die with our boots on?” Bernie asked.

“I guess you’re not much of an Iron Maiden fan. Oh well. No one is perfect,” Tosha said and began moving up the ramp.

Bernie got next to her, keeping a few feet of space between them and hugging either side so they didn’t make an easy target if someone was watching.

Why wasn’t anyone watching?

Tosha was trying to act casual, like none of this was bothering her, but Bernie knew better. She could see the look of fear on the redhead’s face when she thought Bernie wasn’t looking.

Bernie wanted to ask her more about her sister but decided there would be time to once they got out of this mess. If they didn’t live through it, her dead sister wouldn’t be an issue, anyway.

They were at the topmost level of the stadium. Bernie felt like she could reach out and touch the stars if she wanted to. They stood back in the tunnel.

“I’ll go and check it out,” Tosha said.

Bernie saw the glowing red eyes before anything else. Tosha took a step but Bernie grabbed her arm.

“Holy shit,” Tosha said and raised her weapon.

“Don’t bother. I come in peace,” Darlene said and stepped out of the shadows.

“Your eyes… they were…” Bernie was unable to finish her thought. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt Darlene was different but actually seeing something physical was scary.

Darlene smiled and stared at Tosha.

“Put down the gun before you accidentally shoot me. You’ll alert Eve and we’ll all be dead,” Darlene said. She turned to Bernie, who looked away. At least her eyes weren’t bright red anymore. “Bernie. I want to apologize for lying to you the first time we met. I should’ve been truthful. You being here means something bad happened to your group. I feel like maybe it’s my fault.”

“People are dying all the time. Let’s get over this friendly bullshit and figure out how to kill this Eve chick,” Tosha said.

“Innocent people might get in the way,” Bernie said.

“Collateral damage. I’m fine with killing everyone as long as we can destroy the zombie and get the fuck out of this stadium. I’ve always hated sports,” Tosha said. “A stadium is a great place to hold a concert, though.”

Darlene took a step towards Tosha, who took her own step back.

“Something is coming. I can feel it. Eve has called everyone to the field,” Darlene said.

“How do you know this?” Tosha asked.

Darlene grinned. “She’s not the only zombie around here. I battled her through the body of an innocent person awhile ago.”

“I’m guessing you lost or we wouldn’t be talking about Eve except in past tense,” Tosha said.

Darlene stopped smiling. “I learned a few things about her.”

“Like why she doesn’t have guards set all throughout the stadium?” Bernie asked.

Darlene nodded. “She doesn’t trust them. She intimidates the humans and rules by fear. We can save them. All of them.”

“If we kill the zombie, another will find the survivors and enslave them all over again,” Tosha said.

“I have a plan. I need both of you to help. When we kill Eve, they’ll be led back to Daytona Beach. The Lich Lord will take care of them for me,” Darlene said.

“You want to kill a zombie so you can lead them to another zombie to fuck with? That plan sucks, if we’re being honest,” Tosha said.

“I agree with Tosha. We’d be marching them a hundred miles to their death. They may as well stay and die here,” Bernie said.

Darlene looked angry. “Nothing bad will happen to them in Daytona Beach. I call the shots. No one else. You’ll see.”

“I notice you didn’t say anything about you going to Daytona Beach,” Tosha said.

“I need to find my baby,” Darlene said.

“What if I want to come with you?” Tosha asked. She’d beaten Bernie to the question.

“You’ll both slow me down. The zombies ignore me unless they’re smart, which ironically makes them stupid because I can crush most of them without even trying. Once they’ve evolved as much as Eve has they are truly dangerous. They’d use you against me. I can even control zombies to scare off any survivors who might try something foolish and get in my way. No, I need you to help the survivors to safety. I will talk to The Lich Lord when the time is right and he will take them in with open arms. No harm will come to them,” Darlene said.

“I guess you have it all figured out,” Bernie said.

“Not all of it. We need to figure out how to kill Eve,” Tosha said.

Chapter Thirty

Bri woke, in darkness, and she had a clear second before the pain in her face nearly knocked her out again. She touched her face. Her nose might be broken. Her lip was split and she tasted blood. At least two teeth were loose and would come out soon. She might also have a black eye.

What had hit her?

Bri sat up and shuddered. She remembered Darlene knocking her down and pummeling her before she could react.

Where was Darlene now?

Bri used her hands to feel around in the darkness. It felt like cardboard and debris on the ground but she couldn’t be sure. She sat up and tried to clear her head.

Why hadn’t Darlene killed her?

I would’ve killed me
, Bri thought.
In a heartbeat. I stole the fucking woman’s baby and ran away, leading her into this shit-hole
.

Bri felt like she was on borrowed time and needed to get up and get out.

She stood, shuffling her feet so she didn’t stumble and fall, feeling around the cold walls. She felt a door and it moved as she pushed at it.

Bri managed to push it open a crack  and saw a large metal object was blocking her in. It was dark outside. She must’ve been out for at least an hour. Maybe more. Had it been getting dark when she’d run into Darlene?

She pushed against the obstruction and it scraped loudly against the floor.

Bri panicked. What if someone heard it and came to investigate? She didn’t even really know where she was.

She remembered being a little girl and her mother yelling at her whenever she got hurt. Mom would put a Band-Aid on the cut and after a few days, when it was healed, Bri would be afraid to peel it off. It was going to hurt. It was the same routine: the arguing, the begging, the pleading until her mother would grab a greasy end of it and yank it off in one swift move.

It never hurt as badly as Bri thought it was going to.

Bri ran against the door with all of her might and pushed the object out of the way. The noise it made was crazy loud but only for a few seconds.

By the time the sound had echoed down the hall and faded away, Bri was free.

She was inside the stadium.

Bri crept down the nearest tunnel to the field but it was dark. She didn’t see movement in the stadium and didn’t want to move around out there exposed. She knew from her experience with Hayden a zombie could see in the dark.

Instead, she decided to leave the stadium. Darlene was most likely in here somewhere and was more than likely still pissed. Bri couldn’t blame her.

It would make more sense to go back to the building downtown and wait for Hayden to return with the baby. Maybe he was already there and worried sick about her.

Bri knew she wasn’t fooling herself. Hayden was long gone and she didn’t need his magical zombie powers to know it. She’d messed up and lost the love of her life.

She went out of the stadium and to the gate but, as she approached, she saw the many zombies on the other side. When they saw her, they came at her, hitting the fence and reaching out.

Bri saw so many silhouettes on the other side. There was no escape from the stadium. She knew even if she took an hour to circle the fences she’d be surrounded. Even if she saw a gap it was too dark to move. She could twist an ankle or a prone zombie could reach up and snag her leg. There was too much debris and trash she could trip over and get hurt.

Bri looked back up at the ramps and knew there was only one way to go: up. If she could find a safe spot to hide until daybreak, maybe she’d see an opening in the zombies.

Before Darlene found her again and tortured her for information about the baby.

The baby she’d lost.

I am fucked
, Bri thought.

She went up the ramp, taking her time and watching for an attack. If anyone had heard the scraping of the metal shelving that had been pressed against the door, they were now waiting for Bri to approach or following behind.

There was nothing that could be done about it now. Bri needed to keep moving and deal with any outcome.

But she had no idea where to go and what to do.

Bri decided the room she’d been trapped in might be her best spot to wait out the night. She turned and took a few steps when she saw the three figures approaching.

She thought it was a group of the inhabitants of the stadium at first and she was spinning bullshit excuses in her head why she was sneaking around when she got a good look at the three.

The main one approaching was Darlene.

Darlene who was going to kill her. Bri had no doubt this wasn’t going to end well.

“Hello, Bri. It took you longer than I thought to get out of the room. Welcome to our little group,” Darlene said with a smile. “You remember Tosha from the diner? The day you stole my baby. This is Bernie. I don’t think you’ve offended her with your actions yet. I’ll deal with you kidnapping and more than likely losing my baby after we kill the zombie. Are you in or out?”

Tosha put her hand on her weapon but Bri knew Darlene wasn’t going to let her ruin the moment. Darlene would kill Bri when the time came.

“I’m in. Let’s go kill a fucking zombie,” Bri said.

Chapter Thirty-One

Darlene felt like she’d gotten the band back together, for better or for worse.

Bernie, Tosha and Bri were scared of her but they knew without Darlene they weren’t getting out of the stadium alive.

“What’s the plan?” Tosha asked. She was always so impatient.

Darlene stared at the pretty redhead. She was tough. She’d probably been pretty damn tough before all of this started. The zombie fallout had made her even harder. Definitely someone you wanted on your side in this upcoming fight.

Bernie? Darlene wasn’t so sure about. She still held on to her innocence. She wanted to believe this was all going to end soon and go back to normal. There was no such thing as normal. The woman could be handy and Darlene envied her for retaining a sense of her morals and her beliefs even with everything going on.

Bri was going to be dealt with at a later time. Darlene wouldn’t play nicely, either. She would rummage around in Bri’s head and pick out all of the information she needed to find her son. If the girl was left as a vegetable walking corpse, so be it. She owed the little bitch nothing. Only severe and traumatic pain before she was done.