The Zombie Chronicles - Book 5 - Undead Nightmare (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) (31 page)

“Can you develop a cure for her or not?”

“I’d like to try and fix the missing base with another DNA sequence.”

“You’re saying you can manipulate it to fix the damage at the base, at this abasic site?”

“I can try. It would be an experiment, and I’d need to take samples from a sister or her mother.”

“Hmm. Well, at this point, we don’t have much to lose. The other scientists don’t believe she can be cured. I think they just want to keep her around to run tests, and I’m afraid she’s becoming…expendable.” His compassionate eyes met mine straight on. “Don’t worry, Dean. We won’t let that happen.”

“Can you use DNA from Claire, her biological cousin? They took blood, hair, and skin samples from her.”

“That might work,” Jonathon said, as if he hadn’t thought of it before. “I’ll get to work on it right away.” He stood to walk out the door.

“Jonathon…” I said before he left.

“Yes?”

“Thank you.”

“No, Dean. Thank
you
. You brought us a cure, some hope for at least some, and you saved my son’s life more than once. If anyone deserves gratitude around here, it is you and your friends.”

As Jonathon walked out the door, Nick and Lucas came in. I’d never seen my brother so happy, and his blue eyes were sparkling as he grinned widely. The last time I’d seen him so happy was back on the island with Darla, Mom, Dad, and Grams.

The door creaked open behind them, and little Ben walked in.

I smiled. “Hey, kiddo. We’re having a grown-up meeting here. Can we play later?”

“But I’m scared, Dean,” he said.

“Don’t be. You’re completely safe here. The monsters can’t get in, remember?” I told him, smiling.

“Are you sure? ‘Cause they’re coming.” He pointed out the window.

I looked at Lucas, then Nick, then walked over to the window and moved the curtain out of the way to peer through it. “Zombies,” I said, and my jaw dropped.

Nick and Lucas stared out in horror. “Hordes of ‘em,” my brother said.

“All right. Who rang the freaking dinner bell?” Lucas nearly screamed.

“It’s the bad lady,” Ben said. “She won’t go back to sleep. They need to stop the bad lady from calling the monsters.”

I gasped. “The drugs aren’t working to sedate Jackie! They’ll kill her!”

My brother rushed out the door and through the corridor with Lucas and me right behind him. We stopped at the front door to survey the scene, and I about fainted when I saw the two scientists in the middle of the street, being held hostage by Sam, Larry, and the rest of the gang.

“They didn’t make it to Jackie,” Lucas whispered. “That means she’s alive.”

“Those jerks are here for the vials,” Nick said. “Don’t the idiots know they’re gonna get everybody killed?”

I stared out the window. “How did they find us? We didn’t tell anyone where we were going. Only our small group knew, and I told everyone not to say a word.”

“Well, clearly, somebody’s been eavesdropping or flapping their lips,” Lucas said.

“What took them so long to find us?” I asked.

“Maybe they had to fight through the zombies like we did,” Nick said. “Anything can happen out there.”

Larry trained his gun on one of the scientists. “Somebody better open this door, or I’m gonna shoot this fella right between his beady eyes. Open it now!”

A shudder tore through my body. “We can’t let them in, Nick. They’re worse than the zombies.”

Shots fired as more zombies started to flood the area; Jackie was calling for them with her secret zombie whistle, complicating things all the more.

“We’ve gotta get outta here,” Nick said. “We can’t let them steal the vials again.”

“The vials are in the jail cell with Claire,” I reminded him quietly. “They’re safe in there, I think.”

Lucas nodded. “He’s right, man. These crazy idiots got no clue their precious meds are locked up next to Queen of the Zombies.”

A man with bushy blond hair approached. “There’s nowhere to run! They’ve got the building surrounded, and they’re armed and dangerous.” He gasped for air, breathless with fear. “Who are they, and what do they want? Maybe I should try and reason with them.”

“You can’t,” I said. “Jonathon tried that, and they threw him off a bridge. They’re after the cure, and they’ll stop at nothing to get it.”

“We’ll see about that. They can’t have it,” the scientist said.

Nick cocked his gun. “My thoughts exactly,” he said.

Lucas looked at Nick and me. “Those freaks must breed like rabbits. There are twice as many as there were before,” he said.

“Right,” Nick agreed. “They musta hooked up with another gang. That means they’ve got plenty of manpower and weapons.”

I gripped my gun tighter. “We can’t let them get in here.” I turned to the scientist. “Warn your men, and gather every weapon you can get your hands on. We have to keep them out.”

As soon as he turned to leave, Nick and Lucas started discussing military tactics.

“What about Jackie?” I said. “We need to quiet her down somehow so the zombies quit coming.”

“The sedatives aren’t working anymore,” Lucas said. “They were on there way in there to try a bullet instead, so I guess we have Sam and Larry’s army to thank for stopping that.”

Nick glanced out the window. “No, let her keep calling them.”

“Are you crazy, Nick?” I asked. “There are already hundreds of them coming from everywhere, and—”

“No, he’s right, Dean,” Lucas said. “In a way, Jackie’s helping us by inadvertently calling in reinforcements. The zombies don’t mind gettin’ a little plaid flannel in their teeth, right? If it wasn’t for the zombies, Larry and his crew woulda busted in here already.”

Struggling not to panic, I cocked my gun. When I looked out the glass door and saw a zombie pounding on it, I gasped. It wouldn’t have been so bad or unusual, but this one was rigged up as a suicide-bomber, with explosives strapped and buckled on its rotting torso. I grabbed Nick’s shoulder, my heart pounding. “Look! They’re trying to use the zombies to blow the wall!” Sweat poured down my forehead, and I clenched my teeth as a sick feeling nestled in the pit of my stomach.

“Back door!” Nick shouted. “Now!”

Lucas grabbed my arm. “Run!”

Chapter 27

Adrenaline surged through me as my life flashed before my eyes. We raced down the corridor, and, in one blinding flash, a loud
boom
exploded behind us, shattering glass and demolishing concrete. It was a small enough explosion, just enough to blast through without damaging anything inside; they didn’t want to accidentally destroy the vials. Larry’s ragtag army could’ve shot their way in, but they didn’t see the need; it was easy enough to terrify the scientists into compliance. They didn’t know where the vials were, and they needed to keep someone alive to tell them.

A second explosion from the other side of the building startled me, and footsteps crunching over glass broke into a trot. I felt my hands trembling on my weapon that was glued to my hip. “They’re coming,” I said, my voice ending in a gasp.

“Run!” Lucas said again, shouting above the mayhem.

The first bullets ripped through the air and buzzed past my head. Chunks of plaster and cement flew all around me. Even in all the skirmishes and close calls we’d been through, I’d never been shot at before. Rivulets of sweat covered my back as Lucas dragged me behind a column. I reached for my gun, and panic flooded over me as the group of men strode toward us. We were sadly outnumbered, but I set my jaw and raised my chin a notch, ready to shoot my way out of there if necessary.

The shuffling moved closer, heavy footsteps marching like a cadence on a military base. Nick seemed fearless, aiming his gun with precision, not the least bit unnerved by all the gunfire coming our way.

Lucas turned to Nick and touched his arm, then whispered through clenched teeth, “We gotta get Dean outta here! He’s not combat-ready, man.”

Bullets flew from both directions. My stomach clenched as a muscular man ran toward us like some menacing bad guy in a bad action movie, rifles slung over both shoulders and a machinegun in his right hand. He pointed one of his guns at us, spraying dozens of bullets in our direction. I couldn’t believe we weren’t hit, but in the next second, Nick and Lucas started firing. Breathing hard, I flattened myself against the pillar and peeked out around it, only to see dozens of bullets splitting the air as the attackers rushed forward. I took aim but froze. Even though I was holding my weapon with both hands, the barrel wavered. I took a deep breath.
Focus, Dean. Just aim and shoot.
My first shot missed, but I positioned the gun again and let out another shot, followed by two more.

Another round of gunfire ripped by, and I somehow dodged it and hid behind the pillar, taking a quick breath to calm my nerves. I didn’t want to shoot any human, but that thought was quickly dismissed as I concentrated on saving not only my own life, but Nick’s and Lucas’s lives as well. My grip on the gun tightened, and I rolled out and shot four more guards before taking cover. They returned fire, unleashing all their fury.

“Go!” Lucas shouted. “I’ll hold ‘em off.” He drew his gun and started firing, leaving us no time for argument.

Suddenly, the gunfire stopped, and our attackers let out an unforgettable chorus of hellish, almost girly screams. Through the fog of smoke, my breath quickened as I watched zombies making a meal out of them.

Nick seized the moment and grabbed my arm. “C’mon! This way!”

We made a few turns and ran down another corridor.

Nick opened a door to a shorter hallway that led to a staircase. He squeezed my shoulder. “Go on and get outta here.”

“But what about you?”

“I’ve gotta go back for Lucas. He’s gonna need backup. I need you to warn the others, Dean. The scientist might’ve warned them about the gunmen, but I’m sure they don’t know about zombies breaching the perimeter.”

Anxiety paralyzed me for a quick second as I realized Nick would be down there without me, but someone had to tell the others what was going on. I refused to let the zombies have the advantage, so I decided to play messenger. “Got it. Be careful out there, Nick.”

He clapped my shoulder. “No worries, little bro. We’ll catch up with ya soon.”

I raced up the stairs, down the corridor, and to the bunker. Choking sobs, shrill screams, and frightened cries rippled all around me.

“There’s an army out there with guns!” a brunette screamed. “How are we supposed to fight them? They shot Tom right in the middle of the street.”

Fear and panic settled in my stomach as reality set in; they’d killed the hostage after all, and I had no doubt that they’d kill us in a heartbeat—one at a time until somebody told them where the vials were. The second we handed the cure over, it’d all be over, and I refused to let that happen.
We have to get these people out of here.

“We heard an explosion!” a thin guy shouted. “What’s going on? I thought Jonathon said this place is secure.”

“It is…or it was, from
zombies
. Let me fill you in,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm in spite of my overwhelming fear. “Those gunmen blew through the wall with explosives, and now the zombies are getting in.”

“What do we do?” a woman asked, tears streaming down her face.

“All we can do is fight. We fight with everything we have,” I shouted.

Bullets cut through the air, shattering windows.

“Get down!” I yelled.

“Oh my gosh!” a woman shouted. “They’re gonna kill us all. Why are they here? What do they want?”

Panic ensued. People screamed, shouted, and cried as they made a mad scramble for cover. That gang wanted the cure, and the zombies wanted anyone they could grab. Ironically, my hybrid sister was working to our advantage, because the zombies were getting rid of some of our enemies for us. Larry had clearly never expected so many zombies to come stumbling in on them, and as far as I knew, they had no idea Jackie had turned into a hybrid with a silent zombie whistle.

Some of the women tried to barricade the room with chairs, and others pushed beds toward the door.

“No!” I yelled. “Don’t trap yourselves in. Zombies will break through, and you’ll just be pinned in a corner.”

A frantic woman set down a chair. “Then what do you suggest we do, if you’re such an expert?”

“Fight, like I said. It’s our only chance. Grab anything you can use as a weapon, from guns to bats, and hit the zombies in the head, as hard as you can. We have to get out of here, or they’ll make a meal of us,” I shouted, slipping into the trench coat filled with ammo.

A woman pulled a little girl close. “He’s right, people. If we stay here, we’ll die. We have to fight through them and get out so we can run.”

Another woman spun in my direction. “How do we get out of here without getting killed?”

“Is there any other way out besides the back and front doors?” I asked.

A blonde rushed over to her bag and whipped out a flashlight. “If we can get to the basement, there’s a tunnel that connects to the sister lab across the street.” She held a crying child in her arms.