Z-Risen (Book 2): Outcasts (19 page)

16:20 hours approximate

Location: Trailer Park - Undead Central

Joel made a bunch of hand signals at Roz. She lifted her hands in the air in the universal “what the fuck are you talking about” gesture. I mimed shooting at
McQuinn’s men and she gave me the A-Okay signal.

“See how much easier that is?”

“If she’d have paid attention when I taught the signals, she would have gotten it,” Joel said.

“Was she paying attention to something else?” Anna asked pointedly.

I snorted.

“On three,” Joel said.

I counted down then popped up.

“Hey
McQuinn, suck on this,” I said and opened up with the Mossberg.

The gun boomed in my hands as I laid down heavy fire on him and his men. They dove for cover, which meant kissing the grass. Roz poked around the corner and opened fire. She was shooting left handed and hit a whole lot of air, but to the guys on the receiving end it was probably terrifying.

Joel and Anna broke from cover and ran toward the camper we’d investigated earlier, even though that wasn’t their goal.

One of the car doors opened and someone returned fire. I did the smart thing and ducked behind the truck, then made myself small behind a wheel.

Then a couple of other jackwads opened up with assault weapons.

Roz dashed around to the other side of the RV when bullets ripped into metal and fiberglass near her position. She popped out and emptied her gun.

Rounds flew. Metal screamed. Guns boomed. It was the single most terrifying experience of my life and I’d seen some shit. I’d been chased by shufflers, stuck in a house with Z’s, and faced down Monster Ken and his idiot protégé. Nothing had prepared me for having ten guns leveled in my direction and fired at me. Not even the hotel had been this crazy.

The sound of an engine trying to fire up told me that Joel and Anna had reached their destination. It turned over one more time but all the starter did was grind. Well that was just fucking great.

Another try and the engine started with a backfire, then roared to life as they gunned it. Grass and gravel flew as the ambulance shot forward. Anna was probably behind the wheel.

Poor Joel.

The ambulance pulled around a large black RV, and then the sound of wheels biting into grass ensued. The tires spun until they caught on the soaked ground. I rammed a couple of shells into the Mossberg and did something stupid. I moved to the front of the truck and used the hood for cover as I popped up and unloaded. I was aiming at anyone dumb enough to move, but all I hit was metal. Still, it did the job of making them drop behind cover.

McQuinn
had taken cover near the fence. I could see the side of his head, so I shifted the barrel and shot a blast in that direction. He flopped toward the ground but was back up in a heartbeat.

As I dropped behind the truck something stung the side of my head. I slid to the ground and reached
for my ear. My fingers came back covered in blood. Then the pain came as I realized I’d been shot.

A line of fire cut across the side of my head as my nerves woke up to tell me what the blood was showing me. I probed desperately and then realized I’d been grazed.

Fuck this. The next shot might finish the job. But what was I supposed to do? Run? They’d cut me down in seconds.

As if they sensed my predicament, the
jackwads subjected the truck to a number of hits. I crawled behind a wheel and tried again to make my big frame small.

Some of the residents didn’t take too kindly to strangers shooting at the camp. Gun barrels appeared from windows, and within a few seconds, gunfire was returned.

I wanted to dig a fucking hole and hide in it.

Taking a couple of deep breaths, I popped up again and fired at one of the cars. Buckshot peppered the side and left little holes. A man who had been hanging out of an open window ducked back inside.

Blood dribbled down the side of my head and onto my shirt. I brushed at the wound with my arm but that made it hurt more. Fine, I’d just go ahead and bleed all over the damn place.

The ambulance roared as it backed up.
Twenty-five feet, then fifteen.

One of
McQuinn’s cars moved to the west side of the fence to flank us. I took a breath and wondered how long I’d last if I hid under the truck.

I loaded the last five rounds into the Mossberg and leaned it against the side of the truck. I tugged out the .45 and checked the breach. One ready. I lifted the gun and carefully aimed at the new threat. The first blast blew off part of their side view mirror. The next punched through the driver side window and exited through the windshield.

The driver hit the side window and shattered the safety glass. I aimed at him and fired. Missed.

The ambulance roared back until it hit the fence. The sound of rending metal reached me. I didn’t look. Instead, I steadied my aim. One thing I’d learned from Joel was that in the face of these
kind of odds it was a good idea to make yourself as much of a thorn as possible, so I laid down more fire.

One of the RV inhabitants caught on to what I was doing and fired on the flanking vehicle as well. The barrel was long and dark and probably belonged to a hunter. The sound of the gun’s explosion was deafening even as others fired here and there. A pause, and then it fired again. The round punched
into the side of the vehicle. The passenger rolled out while the driver ducked down.

A barrel appeared over the hood, and it was aimed in my direction.

I shot until I was dry, then slid another mag in with shaking hands. Any second now and one of those rounds was bound to find me. And this time, it wouldn’t just graze me.

The ambulance’s siren howled over the noise of gunfire, buying me a short respite.

I aimed again, shot at the door, then shifted to the left and fired in the direction of the car’s passenger. The hunting rifle boomed again, and that must have spooked them, because they didn’t return fire right away.

Even if I were able to run without pain, I’d never make it around the side of the RV that would offer shelter. I could try for the door but there was no telling if they’d even let me in.

Gunfire peppered the side of the truck again so I ducked back down.

The ambulance had done a job on the fence and on the Z’s around that section. The chain link was down, but the vehicle was half-stuck, unable to move forward.

Shufflers howled and raged toward the ambulance. It backed up a few feet to crush more of the fence into a group of Z’s, and that must have provided enough traction because it suddenly shot forward.

They’d accomplished the first part of the mission. But now our solution was likely to bite us in the ass. Z’s poured in, and
they were led by a small army of shufflers.

###

16:30 hours approximate

Location: Trailer Park - Undead Central

“Stay down!” A man called to me from an RV.

I looked up to nod but he was already gone.

The flanking car’s occupants opened up on my position and I had no choice but to drop low and hide under the truck. Now I was exposed if anyone caught wind of my big frame. Not to mention the fact that if they managed to hit the gas tank, there was a real chance of a fire and I was not looking forward to running from flames only to get shot in the ass.

I slammed another magazine into the .45 – my last – and said a quick prayer. I wasn’t one to ask God for help, but what the hell. I was probably going to die in the next few minutes, so it couldn’t hurt. My dad used to say that, if the rapture happened, he was going to be a begging-for-forgiveness fool. Before that, everything was fair game. Thanks for the advice, Pops.

The RV came alive with the sounds of a large diesel engine turning over and the stutter of pistons firing under the hood. Wheels bit at the wet ground, and then it was moving. It picked up speed as it approached the fence, then swerved to the left as the driver aimed for a section between posts. I guess they’d decided that this location was fucked and it was time to retreat.

The
jackwads fired on the RV, so I used the opportunity to lean out from cover and take very careful aim.

My target wasn’t much older than me. He wore a beat up camouflage jacket and sunglasses.

I exhaled and pulled the trigger.

The gun bucked in my hands and the guy, surprised, spun to the side and dropped his rifle. He tried to stand up, hands going to his upper body. He stared down at his chest. A second later he slumped to the ground.

The RV hit the fence and swerved again to swipe the car. As the RV struck, the car’s hood was smashed and the body of the vehicle was ripped to the side. The RV came up to speed again and roared toward the road. A few men took shots but they hit the back and sides of the big vehicle.

The RV spun to the right, nearly lost control, then corrected its course and headed for open road.

The ambulance had moved slowly to draw the Z’s after them. The back door popped open and gunfire echoed from the rear. A shuffler took a pair of blasts but was back on its feet in no time.

The rest charged the ambulance in a rush.

With siren wailing, it revved up and hit the gate. Lights exploded and the front of the ambulance crumpled as it plowed through the chain link and into a car that was blocking the way.

The ambulance spun the car to the side but came to a screeching halt.

Shufflers and Z’s poured into the camp.

The RV that had just made a rear exit was followed by an older truck towing a camper
. It hit a small rise and I thought the camper would fly off, but it settled. The driver spun the wheel to the right and was on the road.

With chaos all around, I decided it was now or never.

I rose to my feet and peeked over the front of the truck.

The ambulance backed up a few feet and then wheels spun as it got stuck again. Do something! I wanted to shout at Joel and Anna. They were only a few yards from the men with guns, and it wouldn’t take the
jackwads long to fill the cabin with lead. I shot at a man closing in on the truck, and then the first shuffler arrived.

He leapt into the air and landed on a man dressed in a thick leather jacket, driving him to the ground.

McQuinn himself stalked toward the fight, ripped the shuffler off the man, and then shot the enraged Z in the face.

The sound of Joel’s AR was unmistakable in the riot. He fired at some men and they kissed the ground.

The ambulance shifted into reverse and then backed up with spinning tires. It hit a shuffler and crushed him, but the vehicle couldn’t move forward.

Bullets peppered the cab and I caught a glimpse of Anna dropping to her side. The driver’s side window exploded in a puff of safety glass.

I tossed the empty Mossberg to the side and drew my .45 again. The handgun was running on empty, but I had some rounds in my pocket. Dropping to the ground, I reloaded the magazine with shaking hands.

I dug my wrench out from under the truck.

The Z’s bypassed the RV’s and were more interested in the fresh meat behind the line of cars. The fence provided a stopping point for many of them, but the shufflers were smarter and took to the downed gate, spreading out in their hunt for victims.

“Fall back, regroup at the rally point!”
McQuinn called as he ran for a car.

The son of a bitch was still out in the open and trying to give orders when the ambulance started to wail. Now he wasn’t so damned cocky, not with a hundred Z’s closing in on his ass.

I moved to the rear of the truck and aimed at McQuinn. I tried to lead with the barrel, but when I fired my last few rounds, I knew I’d missed.

A pair of Z’s closed on me.

“I don’t have time for this,” I growled.

I took the first one with a swing of my wrench, connecting with the side of his head. I knocked the other to the ground and stomped his putrid head with my good foot.

Roz poked her head out and shot a Z, hitting it in the chest. She grabbed Christy and hauled her in my direction.

Christy looked terrified, but at least she had a gun – the little Sig that Anna had taken care of for a while.

The girls reached me, huffing and puffing, and Christy threw herself at me. I hugged her close, then let go and flattened a Z that had taken an interest in us. The man fell and didn’t get back up. Christy stepped back as a Z closed on her. She looked terrified but she stopped in her tracks, took a wide stance, lifted the gun, and shot the woman in the head from ten feet away. She fired again for good measure but the Z was already falling.

“What do we do?” Roz asked.

“Get in the camper and go. I’m going back for Anna and Joel,” I said and pointed at the crushed ambulance.

“You can’t do that! There’s a hundred Z’s headed this way. You won’t even get close.”

“I have to try.”

Christy looked up at me and she shook her head. Her eyes were filling with tears. “Don’t leave us, Jackson.”

The kid was right. I didn’t stand a chance, yet every bone in my body wanted to do something dumb. Something brave. I wanted to wade into the mess of Z’s, swinging left and right until I’d cleared a path.

Frosty growled low and the hair on her back stood up like a Mohawk. She bared her teeth and took a step away from us.

I spun around just in time to catch the shuffler as it leapt off the camper. A second one followed behind.

I fell back, swinging as I went and missing by a mile. The first shuffler hit the ground and was back in the air before I could think about getting into some kind of a fighting stance.

I got lucky and pushed it away as it tried to sail into me. His momentum carried him in the side of the truck I’d been hiding behind.

Christy shrieked and tried to aim the pistol, but she wouldn’t shoot. I knew what the problem was. Roz and I were in the line of fire.

The shuffler darted one way, then went in the other direction as Christy tried to compensate with the gun. It was almost on her when I reached the little fucker and grabbed his leg, jerking backward. He flopped flat to the ground so I picked him up by what was left of his waistband and lifted him into the air.

The second shuffler hit me from behind and drove us to the ground.

I rolled to the side and wasn’t gentle with my knees and feet as I fought them off. I connected with something soft, then drove my elbow back into the other shuffler’s face. Frosty darted in, grabbed a shuffler’s foot, and shook. The shuffler kicked back and Frosty let go with a whimper.

Roz waded into the fray and pulled a shuffler off me. She tried to shoot it in the head but missed when it darted forward and took her legs out from under her. Roz fell forward and landed on top of the shuffler. The gun sounded between them, and for a second I thought she’d shot herself.

Roz rolled to the side and I realized she’d hit the shuffler with another round. Instead of giving up the fight, it was more enraged.

My shuffler came at me again. She was slight, but not much smaller than Anna. I hauled off to punch her, but she was around my guard in a heartbeat and going for my face.

Her breath was rancid, reeking of rotted meat. As she closed in I saw, for the third time, something Joel and I had tried to deny. It was there in her eyes, some hint of intelligence hidden behind a light green glow. There was no mistaking it this time. Her eyes were not natural, not by a long shot.

I got my hand around her throat and held her up, but she drove her knees into my gut, almost bouncing up and down. My blood and skin were inches away and she wanted a taste.

Frosty dove in again, bit the shuffler in the leg, and jerked her whole body back. I used my sudden advantage.

The wrench came around in an arc as I gave up my guard. I hit her across the shoulder. I lowered the
wrench and then shifted her head to the left. What little strength I had left went into the swing.

I hit her across the head so hard that part of it caved in. The shuffler shuddered, and then whatever had been driving her on gave up the ghost as she flopped, lifeless, across my body.

I had nothing left. I was exhausted, beat down, bleeding, and now I was covered by a damn shuffler.

Christy screamed again and fired but I couldn’t tell where she was
firing from. I rolled to my side and tried to find my breath but it wasn’t there. The ground swam before my eyes as exhaustion hit me like a brick wall.

“No time for this shit,” I muttered and heaved myself to my feet.

Roz kicked the second shuffler in the head and Christy darted in. She pointed the little sig and fired. The bullet hit the shuffler in the side of the neck and ripped away skin and sinew. The shuffler wasn’t down, though, and looked like it was ready to leap again.

I lifted the wrench in both hands and then fell on her, the massive metal bar cracking across her back. I put everything I had into it and the shuffler let out something like a squeal as its spine was shattered.

She hit the ground and squirmed around us, so Christy shot her again. This time her aim was true and the shuffler was still.

“We need to go!”

Roz grabbed my hand and pulled. I staggered after her and looked back toward the ambulance. Something had gone wrong because it was no longer trying to move. I stopped in my tracks. A rush of Z’s moved in on the cars.

I decided that I’d use the hole the first RV had left in the fence and circle back around for Anna and Joel. No way I was leaving them behind.

Gunfire erupted around the ambulance. Anna popped up and fired at someone. They fired back from the safety of their car. Anna slumped to the side again.

I remember yelling her name, screaming as she fell. I remember breaking Roz’s grip on my hand and trying to reach Anna. Christy yelled at me but I didn’t hear her. All I heard was Anna’s voice in my head. I heard the things we’d talked about this morning. I heard her telling me I was an idiot for getting mixed up with her.

Roz slapped me so hard it rocked my head to the side.

“We. Need. To. Go.”

“Not without Anna. I have to save her.”

“No, Jackson, you have to help save Christy.”

She was right. I had to save Christy. I had to get them out of here.

We managed to pile into the truck. I barely remember Roz starting it. Christy tried to press the Sig Sauer into my hand but I just s
tared at it dumbly. The path ahead was filled with Z’s. Roz wove around packs and ran over those who were in the way. The truck bounced up and down as she gunned it.

I rolled down the window to get a look at the ambulance, convinced that we’d spin around and go back for them.

Then it exploded.

I lowered my head.

That’s when the shakes kicked in.