The Demented Z (Book 3): Contagion (6 page)

The hill was less than thirty yards away, but it felt like a
mile sprinting through the deep snow.  
They hit the incline at full sprint and kept charging up the steep
terrain. The growls were incentive
enough to keep moving forward. Hannah
was the first to reach the top and without hesitation she spun around with her
rifle out. She began rhythmically
squeezing the trigger, dropping the nearest infected.
  Had anyone been paying close enough attention
they would have seen she was smiling.  
Not just a grin, but the smile of a mom seeing her newborn’s first
smile. This is what she lived for.

Tom, on the other hand, was pissed.
  Everything had been going smoothly until the
trio of trouble had shown up. How any of
them had survived this long was a mystery.  
He pushed the thoughts out of his mind as he reached the top of the hill
next to Hannah. Raising both MAC9s, he
spun around to see roughly twenty infected racing after them.
  Most wore military fatigues, but several wore
civilian clothing. They were rapidly
gaining on April. Her face was flush
with panic as she struggled through the deep snow.
  Axel was midway up the hill and showed no
concern for her well-being. Hank and
Bear were just ahead of him.

Hannah’s brutal gunfire was dropping demented one by one,
but there were too many for her alone.  
The distance made for a difficult shot with the short barrel of a MAC9,
so Tom holstered them and grabbed the bow off his belt clips.
  He had been making shots like these his whole
life and muscle memory quickly took over.  
His forearms were taught as he drew back.
  In the distance he could see a pair of
demented reaching out for April, their hands nearly on her.
  He took a steadying breath as his draw hand
came in right next to his ear. In his
head he made a rapid adjustment for distance and elevation drop, and then let
the arrow fly. He knew it would be true
the second it was loose.

The arrow streaked past April and slammed into one of the
two demented that was right behind her.  
At nearly the same instant one of Hannah’s bullets caught her other
follower, toppling him over backwards in the snow.

Tom had a second arrow notched.
  He drew back and sighted on another infected.

Hank made the top of the hill about ten yards further along
the ridge. He had his rifle out as he
spun around to begin firing. The large
.308 thundered. He quickly worked the
bolt, racking another round in the chamber.  
Never looking at Tom he shouted, “What’s the plan boss?”

“We stand.” Tom
shouted back.

Bear joined the fight with his AR15.
  With plenty of firepower raining down on the
infected, Tom spun around and moved to the other side of the ridge.
  A quick sweep of the fence line made him feel
safer that there would be no infected sneaking up on them.
  “Clear behind.”

“Loading.”
  Hannah shouted.

Axel and April had gained the top of the hill; both of them
huddled next to Hannah. Axel had his
shotgun out and ready, but held back, saving ammo in case anything got close.

After a few more seconds, all that lay at the base of the
hill were dead bodies surrounded by crimson snow.
  There were shrieks and loud bangs from nearby
buildings, but no movement. The acrid
smell of cordite hung thick in the air.

“Clear.” Bear said.

Tom looked over at April.  
She was crouched down in the snow, shaking uncontrollably.
  Hannah bent over next to her, whispering in
her ear.

“Not the best morning I’ve had.”
  Hank grumbled.
  “Now what?”

Tom looked at the tall central building.
  “We get in there.”

There was a sickening
crunch-gurgle
as Bear continued to plunge his giant knife into skulls, making sure they were
down for good. Even after hearing it for
several minutes now, Tom shuddered with each finishing blow.
  Tom pulled his last arrow free and wiped it
in the snow. Standing back up, he saw
Axel just a few feet away watching him.

Tom wanted to have a conversation with him and maybe now was
the time. “What’s your deal?
  The woman…April?”

Axel looked down at his feet, and then off in the
distance. “Wife and
daughter. We needed help and saw
you pass us on the road.”

“Come on, you’re not a family.”

“We’re just tryin’ to survive like
everyone else.” Axel responded with a
touch of anger in his voice.

“I think the two of you need to take the road back out of
here. Follow it and you will come to a
compound…tell them we sent you.”

“We tried there before winter hit.”

“Try again. Tell
Miles that Hannah sent you.”

“No.” Axel said.
  “We’re staying with you.”
  After that he turned and walked away, ending
the conversation.

Tom watched him walk between bodies.
  He was frustrated and didn’t trust the man,
but would let it be for now. Bear and
Hannah stood next to the supply building.  
They were shoulder to shoulder looking in the window.
  He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but
they kept shaking their heads and shrugging their shoulders.

They both turned at his approach.

“What’s up?” Tom
asked.

Hannah glanced over her shoulder and said, “Just wondering
where he got it. Takes
about a week for symptoms to hit.  
Had to have got it at the compound.”

“He didn’t seem sick, but his eyes…he definitely had
it.” Tom said.

Bear shrugged his shoulders.  
“Hind sight…he seemed off a bit.”

Tom swept his eyes over the bodies lying all around
them. “You two mind doing a sweep of the
perimeter fence? Make sure there are no
holes other than the one we made. Most
of these bodies look like military from here…maybe the others are family or something.
  I just want to be sure that all we have to
worry about is what’s inside the buildings.”

“Yeah, we got this.”  
Hannah said while patting Bear on the shoulder.
  “Let’s roll big guy.”

Tom watched the two of them make their way toward the
hill. He was impressed with Hannah.
  She was smart, determined, and a great
shot. He thought back to what she had
said about shooting her dad. He couldn’t
even imagine having to deal with something like that.
  She seemed to take it in stride…or hid it
inside.

Tom looked in at Logan’s body.
  The body still leaned against the shelving in
a sitting position. Absently, Tom rested
a hand on one of his MAC9s and looked in at the AR15 lying across Logan’s
legs. Next to him sat the crossbow that
was clipped to his belt ring. Not
feeling happy with the short barreled guns and the awkwardness of having a full
bow strapped across his lower back, the two weapons lying in plain sight were
tempting. Tom had no idea how Logan had
gotten infected and really didn’t want to risk touching his items or getting
any closer than he needed to.
Man…backpack full of gear too
.
  He thought to himself as he turned away.
    

Hank came striding up to Tom.
  With a thumb pointing over his shoulder he
said, “I’m gonna check the crash hawks.
  Maybe we won’t have to hit the building.”

“Good idea.” He
watched as Hank started to walk away.  
“Stay sharp.”

“You know me boss.”

Tom gazed around, unable to shake the creepy feeling the
military base gave him. In the distance
beyond the buildings he could see Hannah and Bear making their way along the
ridge of the hill, sweeping the fence.  
April and Axel stood off to the side.  
They both leaned on one of the buildings and stared down at their feet.
  Axel’s lips moved as he talked, but the words
faded across the distance.

Tom climbed back to the top of the hill where he could
survey the base and keep an eye on everyone.  
He spun in a slow circling checking all around.
  The woods were silent and still.
  Other than the members of his group, there
was no movement around the buildings.  
The breeze of yesterday had faded, leaving Old Glory hanging still.
  From the higher vantage point he could see
all the trampled snow that surrounded the storage building they spent the night
in. It was difficult to tell for sure,
but it looked like the horde had come from somewhere on the other side of the
tall central building. He didn’t see any
tracks coming from the choppers or main gate.

April slowly walked up the hill toward him.
  Her head remained down, watching the snow at
her feet. As she neared Tom she looked
up. Her face was streaked with tears and
her eyes still glistened from crying.

“You okay?” Tom
asked.

She wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
  “Yeah…you know…girl cry.”
  She said with a half-smile.

Tom stood looking over the base, waiting for her to hit him
with the reason for her little visit. It
only took a few seconds.

“I don’t want to leave you guys.
  We can help out however.”
  She said.

So this is why she was
up here
. Axel probably had a talk
with her and sent her up to do his pleading.  
“Answer me straight up. I know
Axel is not your dad…does he treat you right?”

She stood, alternating her gaze between the horizon and her
feet. “I would be long dead if not for
him.”

“That’s not what I’m asking.”

Another long hesitation and then she looked directly at
Tom. “I can do whatever to keep us
here.” She reached a hand out toward
Tom.

He grabbed her wrist before it made it to his chest.
  Her young eyes dropped.
  Tom was fairly certain of what she referred
to and knew that was why Axel kept her around.  
“Don’t.”

She pulled her hand away.  
“Please let us stay.” After a
quick glance back toward Axel, who still leaned against the building watching
them, she said, “I need to stay.”
“Let’s worry about that later.   For now
stick with us, pull your weight, and…and you need to know we’re not the safest
group to hang with. We’re likely going
in there.” He said while pointing to the
tall central building.
“Last night…this morning, possibly just a glimpse.”

“I know. You don’t
know what we’ve been through.” Was all
she said before slowly walking back down the hill.

Tom felt for the girl.  
She thought she had only one thing to offer those around her.
  Axel probably made sure of that.

There was a flash of movement just out of the corner of
Tom’s eye. He turned toward it, but it
was gone…
maybe just an aberration
.
  It was just beyond the back of the main
building. He scanned the area looking
for the others, figuring it was probably Hank or Hannah.
  It only took a second to narrow out
Hank. He was sauntering back from the
choppers, peering in various windows along the way.

Tom raised a hand over his head trying to get Hank’s
attention, but he was too focused on the buildings’ interiors to notice.
  Axel noticed the gesture and popped up off
the wall looking at Tom quizzically.
   Tom didn’t want to get everyone riled up.
  He wasn’t even sure if he really saw
anything, so rather than motion to Axel, he kept checking around for the
others.

He spotted them on the ridgeline near where he had cut
through the fence. The two of them
limply held their guns pointed at the ground as they made their way back.
  No concern in their faces.
 
I must
have imagined it. Swear I saw something.

Hank said, “What’s up boss?” as he approached, nearly
causing Tom to jump.

Tom gathered himself a bit.  
“Find anything?”

“Negative in the choppers.”
  He glanced over his shoulder, “Buildings are
interesting. Most are empty bunks, but a
couple have the windows all boarded up…you can hear ‘em
inside…infected”

Tom decided to tell him.  
“I think I saw movement.”

“Where at?”
  Hank said looking around.

“Just out of the corner of my eye, but
back behind the main.”

Hank looked at the tall building.

Tom slowly scanned the surrounding buildings.
  “Just keep your eyes open.”

Hank nodded his head while looking over the base.

“Let’s get in that building so we can get out of here.”

******

“Please Miles.  
Charles and I work hard…we…we can’t survive out there.”
  The older woman said while grasping her hands
together in front of her chest, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Miles was glad nobody else was around to see this.
  She was an embarrassment.
  He loathed her for bugging him and acting
like his decisions weren’t for the best.  
He leaned forward in his chair, slowly rubbing a thumb around the small
circular handle that would open his slender desk drawer.
  Inside waited a gun and a
knife. The only tough part would
be deciding which to use.

“What can we do?  
Cleaning, cooking, whatever…”

“You are aware that there is nothing I can do, both the
community and the council have decided.”  
With unimaginable will power, he pulled his thumb from the knob and
said, “Think of it like an opportunity.  
You saw the list. There will be
others with you to help out.”

“Mitchel, Jimmy, Rochelle, the rest of them – none of them
do anything.”

“Precisely.”
  He turned toward a door behind him.
  “Charlie, come grab Shelly.”

“No! We won’t
go.” She shouted.
  With surprising quickness she stood and
charged the desk.

Startled, Miles tried to rapidly stand, but his feet got
caught up in the chair legs, causing him and the chair to topple to the
floor. “Charles, Charles!”

Shelly used her forearm to shove everything off the
desk. A glass mug shattered when it hit
the floor, sending shards pinging off the wall.

Charlie came rushing in from the back door, surprise on his
face as he saw Miles on the floor and Shelly starting to move around the
desk. He took a couple quick steps,
blocking her path.

Shelly reached out to push him out of the way.
  “We’re staying!”
  She said while struggling against Charlie’s
grasp. “Don’t make me
go…please…please…” Tears were streaming
down her face as she crumpled to the floor.

Miles was just getting to his feet, rapidly patting at his
clothes and swiping at unseen dirt. “Get
her out of my sight…and the rest of them.”  
His face was red with rage as he spit out the words.

Charlie shuffled Shelly out through the front door.
  Once they were gone Miles went to the desk
and unlocked the bottom drawer. He eased
a thin black necklace from deep within the drawer, held it between his thumb
and pointer finger and slowly rolled the string back and forth under his
nose.
Soon, just wait a little longer
.  
He told himself.

He quickly dropped the necklace below the desk when a
bearded man pushed the front door open.  
“Sorry to interrupt.” The man said when he saw Miles working to put
something back in the desk.

“That is quite all right.”

“I wouldn’t have come in if it wasn’t important.”

“Proceed.”

“Both of the Nicholsons just
turned.”

“Contained?”

“Yeah, they were in their shanty.
  Trent heard them and took care of both.”
  The bearded man said with a thumb pointing
over his shoulder.

“Okay, same procedure, keep quiet and get the bodies burned
with the others.”

The man nodded his head and slipped back out the front door.

Miles cracked a slim grin as he watched the door slowly
close.