Z-Risen (Book 2): Outcasts (6 page)

I looked around and found his piece on the floor. I handed it over. Kelly did a quick inspection, and then leaned out of the window and fired two rounds.

That’s when the shuffler hit the car.

He must have been in the mass of Z’s, because I didn’t even see him until he was on the trunk. He held on as Sails slowed to maneuver around the fresh hell that had arrived from the road. This mass wasn’t as big as the one we’d left behind, but there was no way we could just plow through them.

The shuffler howled at me, so I howled back. He was an ugly fucker with lank hair that hung just above his eyes. There was that look of something…intelligence? Anger? It seemed to nestle there in his gaze, and I saw, for the second time, the hint of green, like he had some kind of dye in his eyes.

“Gun!” I yelled.

Sails handed back her big .357. I took the handgun, lifted it, and then fired. The explosion
in the little vehicle was like the soundtrack to the end of the world.

The shuffler fell away, but he’d moved as I’d lifted the piece and aimed. I slammed the gun into the rear window, near the bullet hole; most of the safety glass fell into the car.

I sank back into the seat as Sails found an open spot of road. The only problem? We were headed away from Fortress Mark II.

###

08:20 hours approximate

Location: Clairemont, CA - Undead Central

The wind tore into the car as Sails pushed the vehicle up to speed.

“We’ll hit the freeway and then double back around the outskirts of the city. Go the way we came in, yeah?” Joel spoke to me and Sails, his eyes darting around.

“Sounds like a plan.” My voice sounded weird, like I was talking through a gag.

My ears rang like a bitch from all the gunplay; shooting at the shuffler had nearly made me deaf.

Just when I thought we were home free, the car came to a screeching halt. Joel and I were both thrown into the seats in front of us with a few healthy howls and curses. I got my arm up, but still managed to kiss leather.

“Christ on a crutch, Sails!” Joel was wide-eyed.

“Wow, gee. I must really suck at this driving shit. Now shut up and look!” Sails sounded like she wanted to rip our heads off. I peered forward and saw why.

I exhaled a long, slow, weary breath, then swore. Joel looked through the cracked front window and joined me. Great. We’d gone from one fuckening to another in the space of two minutes – and this one left us completely exposed.

Ahead lay a sea of dead.

They’d taken to the roads like a parade of the damned. Moaning, lurching, covered in filth and blood. Missing arms, ears, lips, and cheeks. Damaged bodies, torn skin, mangled limbs. They had the telltale white eyes; most swiveled to take us in.

“How the hell do we get back to Fortress, now?” I wondered out loud.

“We may have to go through them,” Sails said.

“That’s not much of a plan,” Joel responded. Can’t say I disagreed.

So our choices came down to either going back, or going around them.

“Fuck it.” Anna punched the car into reverse and backed down the ramp, then flipped around and drove until she found a bit of shoulder that wasn’t covered in bodies, busted cars, or the remnants of looted supplies. She slammed the car to a halt, and this time I was ready. I got my hand up to stop my forward momentum, but before I could, she gunned the engine and shot down a side alley.

J
oel tried his throat mic again. This time he got through.

After speaking in a low voice for a minute, he shot
Sails a look of fear.

“What’s wrong?” Sails looked puzzled.

“Fortress. We need to get back now.”

“Dammit! How many Z’s?”

“A few, but there’s another problem. Some locals came by and wanted to look around. Sounded like they had eyes on the HUMVEE.”

“How many?” I asked.

“A couple, but there may be more on the way. That vehicle is prime property.”

“There’s plenty of cars to go around,” I said.

“Yeah but how many are armed and armored? With enough ammo, you could go just about anywhere.”

“Haul ass, Sails.” I gripped the back of her seat.

“If you say that one more time, Jackson Creed, I’m going to pull this car over and shove my gun down your throat.”

“I love it when you talk dirty.” I grinned.

She responded by slamming on her brakes hard enough for me to nearly end up in the front seat.

A pair of Z’s were
right ahead of us, blocking the street like they were out for an afternoon stroll. Sails moved around them. They reached for the car, but Joel kicked the door open and knocked one of them to the ground. We maneuvered beyond them and were on the move again.

The city was new to us, but the center of town was still at our backs. From there, it was easy enough to triangulate the hotel’s location. Sails drove over a couple of cross streets and ended up finding the freeway we’d come in on. Then it was just a matter of pulling off and retracing our tracks.

As if Markus sensed us talking about him, the sound of a really big gun spoke in the distance. It rumbled over the car, followed a moment later by a second shot.

“That’s probably Markus.” Joel did not look happy.

Sails sat behind the wheel and gripped it tight.

“This is not good. We don’t want a blood bath, but can we even assist?”

“We’re low on ammo and we have a car full of supplies,” Joel replied.

“We can’t just abandon them,” I said.

“We ain’t abandoning anybody. I just mean, we can’t let our supplies fall into the other guys’ hands. We worked too hard for them.”

“Yeah, well, most of the food was already here. I hope Donny survives, so I can punch his lights out. We could be sitting in a hotel room right now, eating canned green beans and catching up on sleep,” I said.

“Probably wouldn’t stop the locals,” Joel replied.

“
Coulda, shoulda, woulda. Let’s get motivated, people. We gotta make a decision,” Sails said.

“Pull up a block away. I’ll scout.” Joel went over his gear, checked his rifle, and adjusted his combat armor.

I sat in the back and felt like punching stuff. With the Z’s there was always that sense of dread, like we were in constant danger. But Z’s were slow and you could take them out if you were careful. Fighting other survivors was a different matter. They planned and strategized just like us. When the bullets started flying, it would be a clusterfuck – a big old cluster, and one of us would probably end up shot.

But there was no way they were getting Roz and Christy, not to mention our armored transport.

Anna Sails pulled away from the curb. The car made a weird thumping noise as she pushed it up to about fifteen miles an hour.

“Stop.” I had a sinking feeling.

“Flat?” Joel looked over his shoulder.

“Might be something worse.” I said.

“We’re in the middle of the zombie fucking apocalypse, as you like to say. We don’t have time to swing by a repair shop,” Joel said. “Abandon ship and find a new ride.”

“No time. Let’s just go. All this bullshit and our friends have their
asses hanging in the air. Fuck the car if it gets us there,” Sails said.

She pushed the Chevy up to a little over twenty-five, but the ominous thumping got worse and worse. Sails had to take a left at the next intersection and then maneuver around a pair of stalled pick up trucks. I used the time to feel around under the front seats until I located the box of shells Donny had handed me on the way out of Fortress Mark II. I reloaded the Mossberg and then filled the rails with rounds. Then I stuffed as many as I could into my front pockets.

I handed Sails her M&P R8.

The next street was totally clogged with stranded cars. Sails let out a grunt of frustration and moved to an alley that was remarkably empty—except for a dumpster that had been left in the middle.

“Fuck that.” She moved on.

Could have been a trap. Who knows? She was driving, and I trusted her judgment.  Not that I’d tell her that.

The next cross-street was also clogged, but Sails eased up onto the sidewalk and then back down to the road. Each time we went up or down, I worried that the car would just stop, the transaxle cracked.

We were a block from the hotel before we saw familiar landmarks. Joel motioned for Anna to stop.

“Keep your head down, and if you run into trouble, drive away, but keep an eye out. Joel and I will check out the situation at the hotel.”

“The fuck you leaving me in the car for? Cause I’m a woman?”

“Nah, I got Creed for that role.” Joel said and winked at her.

“If you want Joel to sit up here and help with the get away then be my guest. I know you’re capable, Anna,” I said.

“Well, all you had to do was ask nicely.” She wore a little sarcastic grimace.

“I’ll give the all-clear when things are safe. If someone starts shooting, you gun it and roll up on
them while firing into the air. That should spook them, maybe give us an advantage,” Joel said.

“How about if I shoot at them?” I asked.

“As long as you don’t hit me” Joel replied.

I lumbered out of the car and wondered why in the hell he wanted me along.

Sails grabbed my wrist as I moved away from the car. She pulled, so I leaned in.

“Creed. Stay sharp out there, and don’t do anything fucking stupid.”

“Fucking Stupid is my middle name.”

Sails smirked.

“Make it back and maybe I’ll let you hold my hand and take me to a movie.”

“I’d like to take you to…”

“Creed, let’s move. You’re in the Marines now, bitch,” Joel said and moved out.

“Yeah. You too, Anna…
be safe.” Then I patted her hand like she was a two-year old or something. Fucking brilliant.

###

08:25 hours approximate

Location: Clairemont, CA - Undead Central

“Why didn’t you take Anna?”

“Because you and I’ve been a team for the last two weeks. I don’t have time to train a new guy. Or girl. Besides, I don’t trust the mercs,” Joel said as we huffed it toward the hotel.

Joel picked his way around a series of low shrubs, then faded from tree to tree as the gate came into view. Since the pair of gunshots, it’d been mercifully quiet. Joel triggered his throat
mic a few times but he didn’t hear a response. What the hell was Markus doing up there?

“Sails
is cool. I think she might like me. Don’t say anything.”

“What are you, in high school?” Joel laughed.

“No, I mean she’s cool to me. I’d like to get to know her.”

We dashed behind a bus stop and Joel poked his head around the corner.

“Clear.” He moved inside the little shelter.

I wished a bus
was on the way to carry us to anywhere that didn’t host a shitload of Z’s.

“Just don’t think with your dick, Creed. There’s enough going down without having to get attached. Next thing you know, you’re going to worry about a girl every five minutes.”

“Oh yeah, so if Roz decided to go her own way, what would you have to say to that?” I asked.

“That’s low, Creed.” Joel barely hid a half smile.

“What the fuck ever. Let’s go get your girl.”

“Roz isn’t my girl.”

“Right.”

Joel moved out with me close behind. He double-timed it toward the remains of a fast food restaurant. My ankle screamed in protest, but I kept up. I leaned against the building to catch my breath. All of the windows had been broken out and someone had sprayed a name on the brick wall. “Looking for Ellen Bates. Fred and Mary are at the La Jolla refugee center.”

“So what’s our play?” I asked.

“We’re blind, and that’s not good. Markus could be down, and that’s even worse. You cover my back. If anyone gets close, give
them a warning. If they show a weapon, shoot them.”

“Wait. I’ve never shot anyone before.”

“The hell you talking about, squid? You’ve killed dozens of Z’s.”

“Those weren’t people. They were problems.”

“These guys are about to be a problem. Do you really want to let them get to Roz and Christy?”

“No.”

“There’s your pep talk. Now let’s take care of business.” He abruptly moved ahead.

I limped after.

###

08:35 hours approximate

Location: Clairemont, CA - Undead Central

We kept the sun to our backs as we picked our way over the flat terrain. Old strip malls and more than one apartment complex provided enough cover for us. I kept the Mossberg pointed away from Joel as I covered his six. My eyes went where the gun barrel went. My hands were tense on the gun as I kept it steady against my shoulder. I would have been in a crouch as I moved, but shuffling on my busted ankle wasn’t making that part easy.

Joel was silent as he faded from doorway to doorway, from car to car. He moved and motioned after he’d swept the area with his eyes. By the time I reached his location, he was already on the move again.

The hotel was in sight.

We found an overturned suburban to take cover behind. Joel peeked around the back of the big vehicle, and then ducked back around and crouched next to me.

“There’s a couple of cars in front of the gate. I can see three people.”

“So what do we do?”

“Fuck.” 

“You’re not my type,” I said.

Joel snorted, then looked thoughtful.

“If this was Afghanistan we’d go in hot. Shoot, scoot, and cover. Problem is, we don’t know these guys’ intentions.”

“We’re both dressed for battle. How about this?” I laid out the plan.

Joel thought about it for a minute.

“It’s not bad. There is one problem.”

“Yeah. I might get my ass shot off.”

“That’s it.”

I grinned as wide as possible and wondered where in the hell my sudden bravado had come from. Then I strolled out from behind cover and walked toward what might be a firing squad.