Z-Burbia 7: Sisters of the Apocalypse (6 page)

"Fine," Steph says and yanks Froggy Girl up off her ass. The girl whimpers when Steph smacks her arm, but she doesn't try to run or anything. Steph looks at me and Antoinette. "Grab a shotgun and go through their pockets for shells. We may need as much firepower as we can get."

"Don't bother," Froggy Girl says. "They're all empty. We haven't had ammo for over a year."

"Let me guess, the Doyles took it all?" Steph asks.

"Yes," Froggy Girl says. "And they took all the ammunition-making gear from the gun shops. They make all their own bullets."

I laugh. What else am I going to do? It's funny to find out you had nothing to worry about even though you were never worried about nothing anyway. Funny. I guess that's why Inez Two was going to try to smack me with her shotgun instead of putting it to my head and pulling the trigger. No boom boom left.

"Which way?" Steph asks and gives Froggy Girl a shove.

"Back into the river," Froggy Girl says. "It'll be safer down there. We'll be fine once we're in the tunnels, but we're dead if we stay out in the open."

"You're dead, not us," Steph says.

Audrey comes running up to us and she don't look happy.

"Marcie says we have two teams of eight coming from the east and the west," Audrey reports. "Heavily armed. M-16s and M-4s. Not ARs, but military. A couple tactical shotguns. Everyone has a nine on their hip or a .45. Tight formations and disciplined. They have training."

"Probably National Guard or Reserves," Steph says. "Maybe old police, but with M-4s, I'd say there are at least a few soldiers in the mix."

"National Guard?" Antoinette scoffs. "We can take down SpecOps. The Guard won't be a problem."

"Two teams of eight converging on us from different directions is the problem," Steph says. "Bad numbers and bad position. We follow this chick into the tunnels and track down the kids. Then we slip out of here and say goodbye to this shit town."

"Take me with you," Froggy Girl pleads. She's holding her arm and blood is pouring from between her fingers, but she ain't crying. "You killed all my family. I have nothing left here."

Steph sighs and shakes her head. She ain't a fan of Froggy Girl.

"Here," I say and tear her shirt open. "Antoinette?"

Antoinette comes over and takes a look. She's got medical skills. We all do, sort of, but she has a way with gunshot wounds. She grabs Froggy Girl's arm and turns it this way and that.

"Through and through," Antoinette says. "Audrey?"

Audrey fishes out a shotgun shell from her belt and cracks it open. Before Froggy Girl can fight, Audrey pours the black powder into the gunshot wound while Antoinette pulls out a lighter.

"Gonna hurt," Antoinette says and lights the powder, cauterizing the exit wound which was the nasty one. She packs some gauze in the entry wound and winds a roll of tape around Froggy Girl's arm. "That'll keep you from slowly bleeding out. I'll clean it and do it up right when we stop."

"Are you gonna take me with you if I help?" Froggy Girl asks, her eyes full of tears. Her bottom lip is all chewed up and bleeding. She bit the shit out of it when that powder went off. "I won't help if you leave me here."

"Then we kill you," Steph says.

"Steph," Antoinette says. "Come on."

"You prove you're not a waste of resources," Steph says, "and if you don't slow us down, then we'll think about it. Pull your weight, make good on your promise, and you have a chance. It's a small chance, got it?"

"Got it," Froggy Girl says.

"Ladies, we need to get the fuck out of here now," Marcie says as she comes jogging up to us with the Barrett in hand. That is one gorgeous gun. "We have sixty seconds before these Doyles reach us."

She tosses me my pack when she gets close. I hug her tight because I have my blades back. Yay, blades!

"Get off me," Marcie laughs as she pushes me away. "You wanna carry the Barrett? This thing is a heavy bitch." She eyes my shoulder. "Never mind. That doesn't look good."

"I'm fine," I say and take the .50 caliber rifle from her. "Where are the Humvees?"

"We hid them in a garage about two blocks from here," Marcie says. "The Zs thinned out a lot after we lost track of you. I think this girl is right about the Doyles having them trained."

"Shit fuck," I grumble.

"What's your name?" Steph asks Froggy Girl as she motions for us to get moving.

"Inez," Froggy Girl replies.

"Froggy Girl," I say. "That's what I've been calling her in my head. No way I'm calling her Inez. They was all called Inez. Fucking crazies."

"Okay,
Froggy Girl
," Steph says. "Are you ready to earn your keep?"

"Yes," Froggy Girl replies and starts walking to the edge of the culvert and the "river." "Follow me. Stay close. You have flares?"

"We have flares," Audrey says.

"We'll need them once we're in the tunnels," Froggy Girl says. "Get them ready so you ain't trying to strike them in the dark."

"Oh, we're good in the dark," I say.

"Yes, right, okay," Froggy Girl says and gives me a scared little grin.

Then she hops into the river and we follow just as we hear the sound of men's voices.

Chapter Six

Getting into the tunnels is no problem. I could have led us back into them without a problem. But once we get to that six-point intersection thingy, that's when it gets tricky.

"Why so many tunnels?" I ask. "This town is too small for sewers like this."

"Storm drains," Froggy Girl says. "This area gets flash floods. It all runs down from the other towns and hits us. They built this last century to stop the town from getting flooded all the time. Only need it a couple times a year, but when we do I'm glad these are here."

"But you live down here," I say. "You don't get flooded?"

"We live far enough away," Froggy Girl says and shrugs.

"Like Inez? In that basement?" I ask.

"That's not a home," Froggy Girl says. "That's a hiding place in case one of us gets cut off from the rest. It's safe there. The Doyles don't try to get in because of the Zs outside that door."

"Speaking of," Antoinette says and pulls her machete from her pack. She points at one of the tunnels. "Hear that? At least twenty heading this way."

"Can't be," Froggy Girl says. "There's never that many down here."

I see where Antoinette is pointing. "I know why," I say. "They got through that door. There was a lot of them and even metal ain't gonna hold out that many Zs forever."

"Oh," Froggy Girl says. Her shoulders slump. "That's too bad. I liked to go to that place sometimes to be alone."

"You didn't eat the beans, did you?" I ask.

"What does that mean?" Steph asks.

"Nothing," I say.

"We standing and fighting or just moving on?" Audrey asks, her own machete out too.

I pull my blades, very happy they are back in my hands, and look at Steph. We're all happy to let her make the final call.

"We go this way," Froggy Girl says, pointing to a tunnel opposite of where the Zs are coming from.

There's a loud hiss and growl and three Zs come sprinting out of the tunnel right at us. Fast ones. Stupid, fast Zs.

Audrey slashes one across the neck and it keeps running for a couple of feet before its head tumbles right off. She drops to a knee and slashes at a second one, slicing its legs in half. Before it can fall to the ground, she takes its head off and shoves the body away from her

The third one heads my way and I duck as it dives at me. I shove my shoulder up into its guts, sending it flipping over my back. Its arm gets caught in the Barrett's straps and I fall right on my ass. Right on top of the Z. The thing grabs me and tries to bite my arm, but I flip my blade around and give the Z the old reverse thrust to the forehead move. The fucker dies fast.

"We cool?" Steph asks as I get to my feet.

"Cool," Audrey says.

"Cool," I say.

"Wow," Froggy Girl says. "That was incredible. The Doyles don't even move that fast."

"How the hell did any of you live this long?" Steph asks, but it ain't really a question. She shakes her head and lights a flare as she steps into the other tunnel. "This way, right?"

"Yeah," Froggy Girl says. She hurries up next to Steph and points down the tunnel. "Two miles this way. That's where the kids are. But we have to be careful halfway, alright?"

"Alright," Steph says. "Why do we have to be careful?"

"Because a mile in and we'll be right underneath the Doyles' camp," Froggy Girl says. "They sometimes keep guards by the storm drains to listen for us. We usually only send the Inezes in black this way. If they hear us, they'll grab us for some Doyle fun."

"I doubt it's fun," Steph says. "You hear that, sisters? A mile in and we go silent. Not a clatter or clank. Make sure your gear is taped down before we get there."

"I'll do you," Marcie says to me as she pulls a roll of duct tape from her pack. "You do me next."

"Deal," I say as we get walking.

I hold a flare while Marcie follows me and tapes down anything on me or my pack that's loose. She even tapes the Barrett to my pack so it doesn't rattle. Audrey is doing the same to Antoinette while Antoinette holds the flare. Froggy Girl keeps looking back at us, her eyes wide with some emotion I can't make out in the red light of the flares.

"Here," I say and toss her a roll of duct tape. "You do Steph. Do it right, Froggy Girl. You do it wrong and it could get us into a fight we don't want to be in."

"I'll do it right," she replies. "I don't want us to get killed."

"I said get us into a fight, not get us killed," I say. "Pay attention. Doyles ain't gonna take us down."

She nods, but the look she gives me I do recognize. She don't believe me. She still thinks these Doyles are hot shit. They ain't. I haven't met one, but I can say they ain't as hot as my sisters. Hells yeah to the sister heat.

All strapped down and walking in the middle of the tunnel, since there's no stream in this one, and it only takes us about ten minutes to make it a mile. We let the flares go dead so we aren't spotted by any guards and move as quiet as mice. Or rats. We're in a sewer, so we're rats. Although, Froggy Girl says it's a storm drain tunnel, but that's just a fancy sewer for rain water, right? Right.

There are cracks of light from somewhere, so the tunnel ain't all dark. One foot in front of the other, careful steps, is how we go. All it takes is a twig snap, and if there are guards, they'll know someone's down here. Shit echoes in empty tunnels.

The cracks of light are coming from an alcove on our left side. Steph steps to it and lifts her carbine. She has a nice M-4 that's tricked out. The great thing about the Stronghold being in Boulder is we have a few military bases within driving distance to pillage. Yeah, other folks had the same idea, but not many of them made it very far inside. Too many Zs stuck behind those chain-link fences.

But us? Yeah, we can get in and out without a problem. That means tricked out M-4s and a fine Barrett. I don't have an M-4, it's not my style. I do have a nice Sig Sauer P220 Combat .45 with a threaded barrel. I lied. I have two, one on each hip. I usually don't get them out of my pack because my blades work better with Zs. Less noise.

But we aren't just dealing with Zs now, so my babies are on my hips and ready to shoot some Doyles if those asshole shitfuckers get in my way. Or get in any of my sisters' way. Just talking about my .45s makes me want to get them out and shoot somebody. Where the Doyles at?

"Door," Steph whispers as she eases past the alcove. "Shut, but not sealed well."

"Stairs," Froggy Girl says. Her voice is so quiet I almost don't hear her. "They lead up to the Doyles' camp."

"Where's that?" Audrey asks.

"Up above us," Froggy Girl says.

"No shit," Steph says. "But where is the camp? In a store? In an apartment complex? On the street? Where?"

"Sports complex," Froggy Girl replies. "Indoor soccer fields and basketball courts. That kind of place. I used to play soccer there when I was real little. You know, before…"

"You know any of the Doyles?" Steph asks once we are all past the alcove. "You're from around here. Are they from around here too?"

"Some of them," Froggy Girl answers then shuts right up.

She doesn't want to talk about if she knows any of the Doyles. We all see that right quick. Steph wants to push her, but Marcie gives her a look and she stays quiet. Froggy Girl is already spooked to shit, ain't no need to make her more spooked.

"How much farther?" Audrey asks.

"Another mile," Froggy Girl says. "The kids are hiding in the courthouse. There's an access door down here."

"Courthouse? Good place to hide," Audrey says. "Easy to secure and always has good visibility for the sighted ones on the rest of the town. Nice choice."

"The kids ain't dumb," I say. "They fight Zs while blind. Nearly trapped us when we first got to Denver."

"That was a few years ago," Antoinette says. "They're even better now."

"Who are they?" Froggy Girl asks. "Why do you want these kids?"

"It's not about the kids," Steph says. "It's about the guy they follow. He's a slimy bastard called Kramer. He's all we care about."

"Bad dude," Marcie says. "Really bad dude that needs to die."

"Die hard," Audrey says.

"I like that movie," Froggy Girl says. "My dad used to watch it every year. You know. Before…"

"Before the Zs came and ate everyone," I say. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. We get it. That's how the world is now. No more before."

"True dat, sister," Steph says. "Now double time it, ladies. I want to have these kids bagged and tagged so we can get to the Humvees before dark. I have no plans to stay in this shit town one more night."

"We keep saying that, yet we've been here more than one night already," Audrey says.

"That's because Elsbeth got herself lost," Antoinette says, but she's grinning so I don't have to kick the shit out of her. Sisters like to joke.

"I ain't lost," I say. "I'm right here with you bitches. And it wasn't my fault we had to stay over last night. "

"Sounds like it was the Doyles' fault," Steph says." My guess is they sent all those Zs to trap us in that apartment building."

"That means they know we're here," Marcie says. "That's not good."

"No, it's not," Steph agrees. "Maybe we should triple time it."

We all groan because triple time is pretty much running and running in a dark tunnel that smells like moldy underwear ain't no fun.

Takes us like five minutes to reach the basement door to the courthouse. Froggy Girl looks like she's going to puke. So she pukes. It's bright red. That's easy to see even down here in the tunnel.

"Hold up," Antoinette says once Froggy Girl is done with the puking. "What's wrong with you? Why are you puking blood?"

"Not blood," Froggy Girl says. "Candy. I ate some candy this morning. I'd been saving it for a special day and wanted to eat it all before any of the other Inezes took it from me."

"Special day? What special day?" Steph asks. She's busy standing over Audrey as she checks the access door for booby traps. "What's so special about today?"

"It's my birthday," Froggy Girl says. "I'm seventeen."

"Jesus shit," Steph says. "You're only seventeen?"

"Happy birthday," Antoinette says. "Should we sing—?"

"No," Audrey growls as she stands up and gives the access door a shove.

We all jump back, even Froggy Girl, and wait for an explosion or poison darts or a shotgun blast. Nothing. The kids didn't set anything. That's good. Means they don't expect to be found.

"They could have been in too much of a hurry," Audrey says like she's reading my mind.

We all nod because we're pretty much thinking the same thing.

"Why were they in a hurry?" Marcie asks. "Were they being chased?"

"Stay tight and watch all angles," Steph says, her M-4 up to her shoulder. She sights through the scope and takes point. "No time to be sloppy, ladies. We do this by the numbers, sweep the building floor by floor, room by room. I want every closet searched and desk drawer opened."

"There's nothing in the desks," Froggy Girl says. "We've been through them all. Not even paper. We used that all up to burn."

"Good for you," Steph says and steps inside the courthouse.

It's only a few feet before we hit the rear access stairs. Metal stairs that ring out and vibrate as we walk up them. Even going slow they still make noise. Steph grumbles, but we don't stop. No point in stopping. If the kids are listening then they already know we're coming. The blind ones do. The deaf ones are probably staring out a window or something.

We hit the first door and Steph kicks it open. She steps through, still on point, while Audrey follows and takes the right with Marcie behind her taking left. Antoinette is next and is sweeping her rifle back and forth, while I give Froggy Girl a shove and bring up the rear. No way I'm letting an Inez stay behind me. That's how you get yourself killed.

"Which way?" Steph asks once we're certain the hallway we've stepped into is clear.

"What?" Froggy Girl asks.

"Which way are the kids?" Steph asks.

"I don't know," Froggy Girl says. "I just know they came here. You said you were going to search for them."

"We are, but it would be nicer if you knew where they were at," Steph says.

Froggy Girl shrugs.

Steph points at Audrey and then at a door to our right. Audrey moves fast and kicks open the door then hurries in and calls out, "Clear."

Marcie takes the left door and Antoinette moves ahead to the next left door while Steph takes the next right door. I keep my eye, and one of my .45s, on Froggy Girl. I don't think she's fucking with us, but she's a crazy Inez.

We clear the rooms in the hallway and move to another one then another one. It takes us an hour to clear the bottom floor. It's just an old basement with rooms filled with empty filing cabinets and shit. Froggy Girl was right, no paper anywhere.

We move up to the next floor, which is the first floor, and find Hell. It used to be Hell. Bloodstains everywhere, covering most of the wood floor. On the walls, on the doors, even on the ceiling. Half the doors have been broken apart and the other half are hanging by a hinge. Some folks tried to make a stand on the first floor and failed like suckers.