Learning To Live (Zombie Overload Series) (11 page)

At
the house, the undead are moving around freely, some trying to get
inside the house, others surrounding the barn-beating and banging on
it. That tells me a couple things. Number one, they haven't been able
to get inside yet. Number two, at least one person is in the barn.
What it
doesn't
tell me-is if anyone has been killed, bitten,
turned,
whatever
.

I
pull up next to Jake's truck and lean out as far as I can, opening
the back door. Raising it up, I leave the bottom half shut and then
crawl out of my window and into the other truck. The undead start
coming after me, which I expected, but what can I do?

Grabbing
the weapons, I hand over a shotgun, three handguns, a rifle, and ammo
for all. The first zombie reaches us and comes for me-and even though
there isn't a lot of room between vehicles-it's enough for a skinny
dude like this one. I scoot as far back as I can, the back of the
seat pressing into my spine. He has long arms but the height of the
truck makes it difficult for him to reach me-just barely. Loading a
handgun, I lift it and fire. His head jerks back and then slams hard
on the other truck as his body goes down.

Will
moves to the driver's seat and pulls the truck up so that I can shoot
my share of the zombies without the truck blocking me. I'm looking
straight at the horde now. Letting the others keep them back, I take
the time to load as many of the guns as I can.

Finished,
I start taking them down.
Where the hell are all these things
coming from?
I watch as the window on the driver's side of the
other truck opens and the barrel of the shotgun sticks out. Turning
quickly, I see several coming from that direction.

I
decide the others can handle the ones in the back fairly well on
their own and crawl into the front seat. I'm relieved to find the
keys lying on the floorboard. I start the truck, roll the window
down, and pull myself up and out the window, sitting on the frame. I
start with the handgun, but have the shotgun propped next to me on
the seat, leaning against the steering wheel so it's easy to get to.

I
help the other shooter-
can't tell who it is and don't really care
at this point-
and eventually we thin the crowd on this side. Now,
it's just one or two at a time and I yell out to the other person,
asking if they've got this. I hear Bianca's voice call out with a
"Yep", so I go back and reload the guns, stash a few more
loaded handguns inside my fatigues, and shove handfuls of bullets in
every other available pocket. I go back to the driver's window and
yell over to Bianca that I'm getting out and to cover me. She calls
back an uncertain "Ok" and I get out.

Slowly
creeping my way to the front of the truck, I take a look around,
trying to decide the best way to get to the barn. I wait for a few of
the wandering zombies to head to the guys on the other side of the
truck, and then take off at a run to the garden close to the barn.
Between the garden and the barn is a pile of junk, which is where I
hide.

I
take out the three zombies banging on that side of the barn and then
run over, flattening-as much as I can, anyway-against the outer wall.
I decide to head toward the back first since I already know what's
waiting in the front. Taking a quick peek around the corner, I would
guess maybe twenty are back there. I reload my first handgun and pull
out a second handgun.

Making
sure I can quickly and easily get to at least one more gun, I take a
quick peek to make sure none of them have moved closer and then I
step out, facing them. I take down the closest five and throw myself
back against the wall. I reload, since I have a little time, then
turn back again. Should have peeked first.

The
female is on me within seconds, her long slender fingers wrapped
around my throat. Her body slams into mine and we fall, the force of
the ground and my back meeting causes every breath I had stored to
whoosh out. Her fingers tighten and, above me, her mouth widens. Foul
breath blasts my face and I instinctively try to turn away.

I
see another zombie, a big brute of one, over her shoulder and panic
sets in. My attention snaps back to the bitch on top of me when I see
something wiggling halfway out of a deep cut on her face. In horror,
I watch as a fat, juicy maggot falls free and lands on my cheek.

HOLY
SHIT!
I buck and twist, trying to remove her. But her fingers
tighten and blood rushes in my ears.

I
can now see the man looming over her and I send up my last prayer. I
know it's over for me now.

But
what happens next leaves me so disoriented and confused that it takes
a moment for me to react. The man grabs the woman and throws her off
me! As she goes, her nails dig into my throat, taking deep strips of
my flesh with her.

Finally
able to think again, I raise the gun and point it at the man. But he
doesn't attack. He just looks at me, and then walks away, toward the
end of the property.
What. The. Flippin'. HELL?

I
twist my upper body and watch him go until a hand grabs my foot and I
whip around, putting a bullet in the next undead's head. I see the
woman coming back for me but I'm ready for her this time. Filled with
rage at the pain that bitch caused my throat, I feel great
satisfaction when I slam that bullet deep in her brain.

Getting
to my feet and bracing my hand on the barn until I regain my
bearings, I watch as the other zombies come for me. Sucking in a deep
breath, I raise both guns and start shooting. I don't do too bad with
my left hand. Missed a couple times but, all in all, not too shabby.
Throwing down the now empty gun in my right hand, I pull out another
fully loaded gun and continue shooting. Finally, they are all down.

I
see another zombie stagger around the corner from the other end,
which sends a spark of fear shooting through me, realizing that one
or more could have come up behind me this whole time and I wasn't
even paying attention
behind
me! I turn and check, and it's
clear. I peek around the corner and see none coming for me but plenty
are heading to the trucks. I reload my guns fast and put the one I'd
thrown on the ground back in my pocket.

I
walk toward the zombie that had been curious over the commotion and
wandered back here. As I get closer, his grunts, moans, and actions
get faster and more intense, but I walk right up to him, pull the
trigger, and keep going even as he's crumbling to the ground. Getting
to the end of the back wall, I again peek quickly around the corner.
Four. I can handle that-but first, I take out the one trying to get
into the chicken coop.
No chicken for you, Punk!

I
finish off the four others, plus the three more that come around the
corner. Quick peek behind me, and I take out the two back there.
Moving toward the front, I look around the yard, relieved to only see
maybe fifteen to twenty left. Well, that I can see anyway. Edging to
the end of the side wall, I peek around toward the front and it's
covered with zombies.

Hearing
the sound of engines running, I catch the motion of the trucks moving
toward the barn. They stop in front and I see Will and Bianca in the
windows of one, and Jake in the window of the other, guns raised and
then firing. I take a look around and make a run for the opposite
side of Jake's truck. Jerking the back passenger door open, I fly
over to the opposite side and roll down the window. Bracing my elbows
on the window frame, I join in.

"Do
something that stupid again and I'll just kill you myself, save the
zombies the trouble," Jake growls at me over the bangs of the
guns.

"Screw
you, Jake. We aren't going to live through this without taking
chances. These aren't soldiers from other countries, these are
frikken zombies who don't know wartime protocol. They aren't afraid
of us or weapons, and I'll be damned if I'm going to just passively
watch as my family is killed. Don't get all pissed at me because I
have bigger balls than you do," I growl back.

"Well,
that's kinda your fault that my balls aren't near as big as they used
to be, now isn't it?" he snaps at me.

I
chuckle and say, "Well, stop thinking with your balls and keep
them in your pants. Problem solved. Now shut up, I'm busy." I
turn my full attention back to shooting.

Although
I can still hear him mumbling insults at me, I just grin bigger at
each one, up until the last of his barely heard words. I pause with
my finger on the trigger when I swear he says-"just trying to
look out for the one I love and she doesn't appreciate it"-but I
had
to have heard wrong. I give a quick shake of my head and
go back to shooting.

Finally,
the ones at the barn are down for good and we circle the house,
taking out the stubborn ones, then we drive around the property-where
we can-and finish them off. There are some places we just can't get
to in the trucks but will check out later, although we keep a close
eye on those areas.

Jake
drives us to the barn and we get out. He bangs on the barn door and
calls out to whoever is inside. It takes a few minutes, but then the
barn door slowly starts to open. My brother, Ryder, shows his face
and with relief, pushes the door open further. I see my dad, Kurt,
Ricky, Andy, Bo, and even Greg standing together behind Ryder.

I
rush in and hug them all, but hold on longest to Bo. He wraps his
arms around me tight and I love every second of it. Everyone is
talking all at once and then suddenly the noise and chatter stops.
Bo's arms tighten even more and
my god
does it hurt my already
damaged body!

I
hear him gasp and make a noise deep in his throat. I loosen his arms
and turn my head, expecting trouble but all I see is Bianca, the boy,
and Will. Confused, I look around at the others and everyone is
pretty much in the same state as Bo.

Will!
Oh damn! I forgot he's supposed to be dead!
Suddenly, Bo's
arms are gone from around me and I feel cold and empty without them,
but watching him run to his dad and fling himself at him brings more
warmth than I have ever known. Tears blind me and my heart aches with
happiness.

I
walk over to them and hug them both. The rest of my family comes
closer, surrounding us. I let go of my family and take a few steps
back. Will and Bo end their embrace but keep an arm around each
other. Will accepts handshakes, back slaps, and hugs from the other
guys and they fire questions at him until I remind them we have other
people to check on.

We
all move out of the barn and head to the house, keeping our eyes
open. I see a couple undead coming from the main driveway and Bianca
and I walk toward them, shooting as we get closer. Joining back up
with the group, we line up on the porch while Kurt bangs on the door,
telling everyone to let us in, it's safe now.
I wouldn't have gone
so far as to say it was "safe" exactly, but that's just me!

Finally,
Mom opens the door and we all file inside. Hugs all around and then
we go through the same thing all over again with Will. Ash takes a
flying leap in his arms and I have to put both hands on Will's back
to keep him from falling over. Ash and Will both start crying and,
again, my eyes fill with tears.

As
I look around at everyone else, I see they either have watery eyes,
are outright sobbing, or are coughing and clearing their throats. I
laugh at all of them, happy to be back with my family. Very,
very
happy to have my husband back, my own little family whole again.

Mom
doctors the gashes on my throat and
holy hell, does it burn
! I
wish I could kill that bitch again! Sara makes a big screaming fuss
about how I should be tied up and gagged like she had to be. My
brother, Andy, just walks over and puts her gag back on. She glares
her hatred at me, and I grin real big back at her.

I
go back outside on the porch and Bianca, Will, Jake, Dad, Kurt, and
all my brothers join me. We see undead trickling up the long driveway
and I let out a sigh.
Damn it.
Well, who needs rest anyway?

Leaving
the porch, I go to Jake's truck and fill my pockets back up with
ammo, then give everyone else a gun who doesn't already have one,
handing out ammo to the ones who do.

The
ones who had stayed behind when we left to get Bianca tell me they
ran out of ammo but the zombies just kept coming. They couldn't get
to Jake's truck to get more and I feel a moment of irritation at Jake
for not taking at least some of the weapons and ammo inside. I shrug
it off-although reluctantly-since there's nothing I can do about it
now, anyway. I leave the back of his truck open in case we need to
get to it quickly, and walk toward the zombies.

Some
of our group stay on the road beside or behind me while others move
through the trees, looking for any undead that may be lurking inside.
We hear guns firing from within the woods. Those of us on the dirt
drive walk and shoot, getting closer to the broken gate.

When
we reach the gate, some of the men lift it and we all take a look at
it, deciding if it can be fixed-at least long enough until we can
replace it. Will thinks rope and chains may hold it until we can get
something better, so Ricky and Kurt jog back up the driveway to get
some.