Zombified (Book 1): Hudson Place (17 page)

“
I’m kind of nervous with him leading though,” Darrell replied as he wiped his hands on the front of his jeans. “Sometimes he doesn’t stop to think and that’s dangerous.”

“
I know,” Charlie agreed. “But we’ve been over the plan three times and he shouldn’t go off halfcocked, he knows what to do.”

“
Hey, here comes Jenny.”

Charlie frowned when he saw his daughter striding across the yard with a shotgun slung over her shoulder. Seeing the look on his face, she held up a hand.

“
Don’t start, Dad,” she said defensively as she stopped in front of him. “I’m needed and I’m going.”

“
The hell you are,” Charlie growled as he frowned at her. “You have no idea how dangerous this is going to be and I won’t chance you getting hurt or even worse, killed,” he said bluntly.

Jenny blinked with surprise and took a step back. “Hold on a minute,” she said firmly with a shake of her head. “Just because I’m your daughter doesn’t mean you can make me stay here. Think about it, I’m a good shot and I can help.”

“
I don’t want you out there, we need you here to guard the place,” Charlie said as his expression softened. “Sorry to snap at you, but it’s just as important that you stay here,” he implored with a pleading look in his eyes.

She gave him a small grin, although her eyes remained hard. “Nice try, but it’s not gonna work. I’m going and that’s all I’m going to say about it. Now either accept it or
you
can stay here.”

Charlie’s mouth opened in amazement. Like it or not, he couldn’t help but admire her determination. As she tilted her head in defiance and glared at him down her nose, he threw his hands in the air.

“
All right, you win,” he acquiesced. “But on one condition.” At her nod, he continued. “Stay by me at all times and do exactly what I say, ok?”

She continued to stare at him for a moment as though considering, then gave him a dazzling smile. “Agreed! Now was that so hard?” she said teasingly as she stepped forward to give him a hug.

He patted her back and muttered, “You just played me, didn’t you?”

Stepping back, Jenny smiled and said, “Of course, isn’t that what daughters do?”

With that, she whirled away and marched off toward the SUV. At the sound of a chuckle, Charlie gave Darrell a withering glance.

“
Not one word,” he warned with a shake of a finger.

“
My lips are sealed,” Darrell said with a straight face and as Charlie stalked away, the sound of Darrell’s muffled laughter followed him all the way inside.

Chapter 17

Mick struggled to remain nonchalant, but it was hard after what Dave told him. When Cindy started to badger him about what was wrong, he tried to shrug it off and managed to convince her that he was worried about the boys, especially since they were having trouble getting to Shady Oaks. That seemed to satisfy her and she went off in search of Brooke, who had been spending more and more time alone with Jimmy lately. He hated to lie to her, but in his heart he knew there was no way he could burden her with what he knew.

The worst part was that there was absolutely nothing he could do for now but wait. He and Dave were planning to talk to Bill later that night when everyone was asleep, hopefully he would have some good news to pass along, but Mick doubted it.

Looking at his watch, he realized he had ten minutes before his shift on the balcony began and he was almost relieved, at least it would give him something to do to pass the time. Although they hadn’t seen many of the undead dragging along, it didn’t mean they weren’t out there so they had to stay vigilant. If they couldn’t be seen, they could certainly be heard in the dead of night. He figured there were probably thousands of them out there. They sound like an army at times, Mick thought uneasily as he headed upstairs. A very nasty and dangerous army that howled, shrieked, moaned, and groaned at all hours. He was thankful that most of them had learned to stay away, but if they ever decided to mass at Hudson Place they might have a real problem. Their sheer numbers could result in a breach somewhere and Mick shuddered at the thought. Between the undead and the military, he wondered if he could hold it together.

Mick could hear laughter as he approached the door to the upper floor and despite his gloomy thoughts, he couldn’t help a small grin. As he stepped through the door, he paused for a moment to watch the kids as they clustered around the homemade ice cream Lilly was scooping out into bowls and handing to each child.

“
Want some?” Lilly asked as she glanced up from the task at hand.

Mick shook his head. “Maybe later, it’s my turn on the balcony. Save some for me?”

“
Sure thing, there’s going to be plenty left over, just check the freezer when you’re done,” Lilly said as she turned her attention back to dishing out ice cream to the clamoring children.

Mick stepped through the sliding doors and walked over to the railing where Dave was standing. He glanced at the street below. All seemed quiet and the street was empty.

“
Absolutely nothing going on,” Dave said as he continued to look down the street. He fidgeted with the binoculars around his neck. “Been like this so much lately I almost think it’s a waste of time for us to be watching so much. Looks like a storm’s coming though.”

Mick glanced around and nodded as he saw the dark sky off to the west. “I see it. But if we didn’t keep watch, we might miss any survivors out there,” Mick pointed out. “And we don’t want that to happen.”

“
True,” Dave said with a sigh as he removed the binoculars and handed them to Dave. He pinched the bridge of his nose then rubbed his eyes. “But I’m beginning to wonder how many people are actually alive down there.”

Mick clapped his friend reassuringly on the shoulder. “I’m sure there’s some, after all people keep finding their way here.” He slipped the binocular strap around his neck and held his hand out for the 9mm Glock Dave had been holding.

“
I guess you’re right. Sometimes it gets a bit discouraging.”

Mick leaned closer to his friend. “So we’re going to try and contact Bill later, right?” he said in a low voice. Dave gave him a quick glance and nodded. “So maybe we’ll have a better picture of what’s going on – I don’t want to rush things if we don’t have to.”

“
Agreed,” Dave said softly as he looked over his shoulder toward the doors. “I don’t want to move everyone out until we absolutely have to. We have such a good setup here that I hate to lose this place.”

As Mick started to reply, Cindy came through the doors. “Hi guys,” she said with a grin as she walked over to Mick and slipped an arm around his waist. “Thought I’d come out here to keep Mick company for awhile.”

“
I could use the company,” Mick said with a warm smile, drawing her closer and giving her a squeeze.

“
Well, then I’m going to go check on some things,” Dave said with a quick smile. “See you two love birds later.”

“
There’s ice cream in there,” Mick called after Dave, who waved a hand in response as he closed the doors behind him.

Cindy looked up into her husband’s eyes, her smile fading. “Let’s sit down and talk, ok?”

Mick frowned slightly as she led him over to the chairs and they both took a seat. The look on her face told him that she had more on her mind than simply keeping him company.

Cindy stared directly into his eyes. “Ok, no more hedging. I want the truth and I want it now. What’s going on?”

Staring back at her, Mick realized he couldn’t hide the truth from her any longer and told her everything he knew.

****

“
What is this?” Dave whispered fiercely, glancing from Mick to Cindy, and back to Mick again. Dave was shocked when Mick appeared with Cindy behind him. “This was supposed to be between just the two of us for the time being!”

Mick shrugged helplessly before Cindy shouldered her way in front of him and hissed. “You should know better than to keep something like this from all of us. Besides, I’ve been married to him long enough to know when something’s not right and I made him tell me.”

Dave’s shoulders slumped in a defeated gesture. “Ok, I understand that – but even Lilly doesn’t know!”

“
Well, I think it’s time you tell her,” Cindy said as she stepped back.

Dave groaned when he saw Lilly standing behind them in the shadows. “Lil,” he began, holding his hand out to her. She came forward slowly with a questioning look on her face. “I would have told you – I would have told all of you,” he said in a sorrowful voice. “But I was hoping I could manage this myself and not worry anyone.” The sad expression on his face caused Lilly to smile at him sympathetically.

“
You’re always trying to do the right thing, but sometimes it’s not the best thing,” she said soothingly as Dave gave her a grateful smile. “We want to help and it’s time to let us do that.”

Dave nodded vigorously, still looking at his wife. “Ok, no more secrets. Did they fill you in on what’s been happening?”

“
Somewhat,” Lilly said as she looked around the basement. “So where is this secret room?”

“
Over here,” Dave said as he drew Lilly along with him to the wall and grinned at the look of amazement on her face as he opened the door. “You look just like Mick did when he saw this,” he said lightly as he stepped inside and turned on the lights. After the others followed him in, he checked his watch. “Ok, it’s time to contact Bill.”

Dave hurried to the computer and sat down, everyone silently gathered around behind him. He brought up a message program unfamiliar to Mick and as they watched, Dave quickly typed.

“
Now we wait,” he said, leaning back in the chair. They didn’t have to wait long, only a few seconds passed before Dave got a reply.

“
It’s Bill,” he said in a low voice while typing a reply.

Dave and Bill corresponded rapidly. Mick winced when he saw what Bill had to say and quickly glanced at Cindy who had covered her mouth with one slender hand.

“
This is not good,” Lilly said quietly.

“
No, not good at all,” Dave replied slowly as he glanced up at his wife. “Not good at all.”

Dave finished his conversation, logged off, and turned to face them. “Well, what do we do now?”

“
We start packing,” Mick said with resignation in his voice. He hoped that Bill would have good news for them and he was trying to wrap his mind around what he’d just read. “We don’t have much time, do we?”

“
No, we don’t,” Dave agreed with a shake of his head. He stood up and faced them. “At least we know it’s not the military we have to fear, but people who were working with the military.”

Despite what they had just learned, Mick was relieved the military wasn’t involved, in fact from what Bill told them, they were trying desperately to save as many people as they could. “So these are mercenaries that are out of control, if I understand what he was saying correctly.”

“
Yes, that’s what I gathered,” Dave confirmed. “At first he thought it was the military, but he says they’ve been to his place and have helped his group out a lot. They’re going to try and stop this gang of thugs, he says they call themselves the “Connor Group” and that they’re nothing but a bunch of scientists and ex-military types who’ve banded together and decided to run things their own way.”

“
Yeah, we gathered that,” Lilly said in a strained voice. “So Bill wants us to evacuate as soon as we can?”

Dave sighed heavily. “That’s what he says. They want us to leave and they’re going to send a small contingent of soldiers here to help us and to “welcome” this group when they get here. They’re hoping they can stop them before they do any more damage.”

“
So from what Bill said, we have anywhere from about three to ten days to accomplish this?” Mick asked. “That means the folks in Shady Oaks better get a move on and that we need to help them.”

“
We also need to let everyone know what’s going on,” Cindy said as she gave Dave a firm look.

Dave ran a hand through his hair before replying. “Agreed, we need to have a meeting first thing in the morning and tell everyone here what’s going on. Then we need to get hold of Charlie and spread the word.”