Zombified (Book 2): Shady Oaks (11 page)

Brooke patted Jimmy's hand and jumped up. "Sure, now that I know Jimmy is feeling better, I'd be glad to."

Mick gave her a quick hug. "Okay Missy, go in the back and Jake will get you started."

"Going!" she said with a giggle and a small wave.

They both watched until she disappeared behind the plastic curtain. Mick turned to Jimmy.

"I see you have some water; Jake said to take two of those. Do you need anything else before I head outside?"

"No, I'm good."

Mick gave him a grin. "Well, take it easy and when we finish loading the supplies we'll be back to help you get out to the truck."

Jimmy nodded and began removing the tablets from their foil pack. Mick hurried over to the entrance and grabbed his bag. He quickly pulled out his flashlight and turned it on as he rushed outside, he was eager to touch base with his sons. He didn't like being stuck in Malcolm's camp when everyone in Shady Oaks was in danger. Once again he felt guilty for sneaking off with Charlie.

"Uh oh," he said softly, slowing down as the beam from his flashlight caught the worried looks on Sean's and Scott's faces. Jenny was standing next to them and her expression mirrored theirs. Mick sighed. Whatever news they had obviously wasn't good and he felt his heart sink down to his shoes.

****

He began to draw them back, they were becoming too scattered as they chased their very elusive prey. He felt a sense of urgency and tightened his focus and control. Slowly, they began to respond. He closed his eyes and waited. They gathered around him and when their minds quieted, he opened his eyes. He threw out an image to keep them centered on him and as he went forward, they obediently fell in behind.

He was learning, so as they continued on their journey he occasionally threw them an image of feeding, which kept them moving ever closer to the town below.

Chapter 16

"Where is Dexter?" Judith hissed impatiently. She cautiously peered over the window sill. After several seconds, she slowly sat back down and fiddled with the dial on her walkie.

Cindy watched her friend for a moment then closed her eyes, her thoughts drifting toward Mick and what he might be doing at that moment. She knew she should be angry with him, but his heart was in the right place and he was only trying to help.

Both women immediately tensed when they heard the wooden stairs leading up to their floor creak. Cindy let out a sigh of relief when, even in the darkness, she recognized the bulky shape of Dexter as he stepped onto the landing. He carried a flashlight and it briefly flickered on each woman's face. He turned it off and strode over to Judith's window to look outside.

“
We have at least four suspicious vehicles in various places around town,” he said softly while still peering out the window. In the full darkness it was nearly impossible to see anything since they didn't have the luxury of street lights for the time being. “We have them covered and so far nothing is moving, except for the men you saw earlier.”

“
We don't know where they went,” Cindy said as she stood up and stretched. “My best guess is they're hiding somewhere on this side of the street in one of the buildings further down.”

“
Well, I'm going back down where my men are waiting. We'll flush them out, so don't you two worry. Sit tight and I'll send someone up to let you know when it's safe to come down.”

Cindy frowned. They all knew how large and well trained the Connor Group was, and it seemed to her that Dexter was taking the situation far too lightly.

“
Please be careful, sounds like they're just scouting the area. We have no idea where their main force is located. For all we know these vehicles could be diversions.”

“
True, I've taken that into consideration. We should be able to handle anything they throw at us now that everyone's in position. They've lost their advantage and that should make them think twice about attacking or at least get them to rethink their plan, which will give us even more time to strengthen our defenses, such as they are.”

Cindy digested Dexter's remarks for a moment before nodding slowly in agreement. “I'm hoping they decide it's not worth the fight and move on out.”

“
Okay, I'm out of here for now,” Dexter said with a grunt as he pushed himself away from the window and headed back toward the stairs. “If you see anything, let us know.”

“
Will do,” said Judith. She was still straining to see out the window and didn't turn to watch him leave. She glanced at Cindy. “I hope this whole situation can be resolved peacefully.”

Cindy was about to respond in the affirmative when they both jumped at the sound of rapid arms fire close by. She cast a baleful glance at her friend as someone below in the street returned fire.

“
Well, don't think that's gonna happen,” she murmured grimly, her eyes full of fear. She gripped her gun tightly and took a deep breath to steady herself. Once again she wished Mick were at her side.

Everything was eerily quiet for several minutes when directly below them, they heard glass breaking as the door to the hardware store was kicked open. Without speaking, both women quietly readied their weapons as they listened to what sounded like several people moving around and talking below.

Cindy felt her heart race as they both focused all their attention on the stairs. Please don't let them come up here, she prayed silently. She wasn't sure when it came right down to it that she could actually take another person's life, or even be able to pull the trigger, and she didn't want to find out.

“
Please,” she whispered under her breath when she heard footsteps approaching the stairs. More gunfire erupted below.

“
Please,” she whispered again as she brought up her gun with shaking hands and took aim in the direction of the stairs.

“
Please.”

****

“
Let's go inside the tent so we can talk to everyone,” Scott said. He gave his father a troubled look as they followed Sean and Jenny inside. Within moments they were all assembled. Their serious demeanor scared Mick more than anything and he was sure what they had to say wasn't going to ease his fears.

“
Right before we got to Charlie's truck we ran into Captain Sears, they were regrouping and planning to head into Shady Oaks to take on Malcolm's men. They went with us to the truck and on the way he told us that right in the middle of fighting the zombies, they all seemed to disappear into the forest.”

“
Yep,” Sean interjected with a nod. “One minute they were almost overrun and the next – not a zombie in sight. No one has any idea where they went or where they're headed.”

“
Anyway,” Scott continued with a glance at his brother. “They were regrouping when we ran into them, they should be on their way to Shady Oaks by now to help out. Captain Sears told us he'd sent a few scouts ahead to assess the situation and it doesn't look good. They reported that Malcolm's men have taken up positions outside of Shady Oaks and they watched a few vehicles beginning to infiltrate and put men on the ground.”

Mick rubbed the scar on his cheek nervously. “So are you saying the attack has begun?”

Scott nodded grimly. “Sounds like it. We're hoping everyone in Shady Oaks was ready for them and can hold them off until the troops get there. We really need to get everything and everyone loaded up so we can get down there to help out.”

“
Well, let's get to it then,” Charlie said as he got up from the stool he'd been sitting on.

Without another word everyone got busy and within ten minutes they had all the supplies piled into the back of both trucks. Charlie, Jenny, and Jake were sandwiched in between boxes, with more boxes on their laps in the big truck. Brooke waited outside Charlie's truck as Mick and Sean carefully helped Jimmy into the back seat. Scott already had the truck running and in gear.

Mick turned to Brooke. “Hop in,” he said with a grin as he held a hand out to her. Returning the grin she took his hand, but suddenly jerked back and away with a shriek.

Mick watched in surprise as she fell to the ground and began to scoot backward, still shrieking. She was looking down at her feet and as his gaze followed hers, he froze in place and felt his mouth go dry.

Like a dog reluctant to give up a favorite bone, somehow one of the collared zombies from the meadow was loose, and now dug its filthy and ragged claws into her ankle. The wretched and naked creature, which was once a woman, was trying to pull itself up her leg to bite her, jaws snapping rapidly.

Mick stared in horror and before he could react, Sean calmly stepped over and grabbing it by the collar, jerked it off his sister and flung it toward the front of the truck.

Mick hurried over to help Brooke and grimaced when he saw her left ankle. There were several long and deep scratches running almost up to her knee, and he knew from the experience they had with the former mayor of Shady Oaks, that this injury could be a death sentence.

He was barely aware of Sean walking over to get something from Scott. As he crouched down next to a sobbing and shaking Brooke, he saw Sean flip the zombie over as it was trying to crawl away and pin it to the ground. He drove the metal spike in his hand right through the its bald and rotting skull. As he pulled the spike out, he leaned forward and frowned.

Sean motioned for his brother. “You gotta see this,” he said with a shake of his head. Scott jumped out of the truck and together the brothers took a good look. After a brief discussion, Scott walked back to the truck and reaching in, turned off the ignition.

“
I think we should take her back inside so I can get a good look at those scratches,” Jake said in Mick's ear.

Mick nodded and together they helped Brooke up and hurried her inside. Jenny followed with a flashlight and grabbed a nearby lantern. She handed it to Mick, who placed it on the stool Charlie sat on earlier.

Mick knew the fear in his daughter's face mirrored his own and he took a deep breath to steady himself. He gave her a small, but what he hoped was an encouraging smile as he helped her to sit down on the cot.

“
Don't worry,” he said as he smoothed her hair back from her face. Jenny handed her a box of tissue and patted her hand before heading outside. “Jake will get those scratches cleaned up and you'll be fine.”

“
I wish Mom was here,” Brooke said in a scared, little-girl voice.

Mick winced. Cindy would probably never forgive him for this, and he deserved whatever wrath she threw his way, but he wished she was with them, too.

Jake thoroughly cleaned the scratches and after applying a thick salve of antibiotic ointment, wrapped gauze around the wounds. Jenny returned with Jimmy and helped him sit next to Brooke. Jake stood and faced Mick.

“
Let's talk,” he said with a nod of his head toward the entrance. Mick followed him outside. Jake walked about fifty feet and stopped. Turning toward Mick, he frowned.

“
I'm not going to mince words, we don't have time for that,” he said in a low voice. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “Brooke is probably infected from the scratches and we both know what can happen.”

Mick didn't want to hear what Jake was saying, but he nodded bleakly.

Jake continued, now looking down at the ground and dragging the toe of his tennis shoe in the dirt. “We do have an option, though.” He looked up at Mick again, then glanced past him and nodded.

Mick turned to see his sons approaching, concern etched on both their faces.

“
I was about to explain to your dad what options we may have in regard to helping Brooke. I believe that Malcolm's scientists and doctors finally perfected a cure for this disease and I do believe I have a few vials of that cure. However, I can't be sure it will work because I'm certain they had no time to run tests. If we do nothing, Brooke will die and turn, we all know that. What I want to suggest is that we don't put her in a coma like they did with Connor, but to sedate her instead to relax her and slow her system down, which should buy her more time until we're absolutely certain we have an effective cure. We have everything we need right here to do what needs to be done.”

Mick thought over what Jake told them. He felt more hopeful than before, at least there was a good chance Brooke could be saved.

“
Brooke is young and healthy and although nothing is for certain, I'm very optimistic about a very favorable outcome if we indeed do have the cure.”

“
I can see the sense in everything you're saying,” Mick said slowly. He felt sick to his stomach. “I'm not sure it's such a good idea to stay here though, what if the zombies come back? Or Malcolm? I'm sure they were planning on returning for all of this, there's no way he'd abandon everything now that he's so close to getting his son back.”

“
With everything that's going on down at Shady Oaks, this is probably the safest place to be right now,” Scott said. He waved his flashlight around where they were standing. “Sean and I will stand watch. Those tethered zombies had their vocal chords cut so they couldn't make noise and there's no telling how many more may be loose and crawling around. We'll have the trucks ready to go at a moment's notice, too.”

“
The sooner we get started, the better it will be for Brooke,” Jake interjected. He looked at Mick. “Well, what do you say?”

Mick bit the bottom of his lip before nodding. “Guess we'd better get back in there and explain to her what needs to happen.”

With a heavy heart, Mick led the way back in to the tent, his mind racing on how he was going to explain everything to his very scared daughter.

****

They were on their way, finally. Although stronger than most of them it still took all his concentration, such as it was, to corral the others. When thirst was their driving force, it was sometimes difficult to get through to them.

There were times when he had trouble himself staying focused as the thirst in him became stronger. He didn't know how long it had been since the fluids were delivered intravenously through an artery in his neck, all he knew was that his thirst was slowly increasing, which in turn weakened his ability to control the others. He knew what they needed and in his muddled mind, he remembered where they had a good chance of finding satisfaction.

If he could keep them together long enough, they would soon come to a place where all of them could find relief, even if temporary, from the raging thirst inside.

He shared this image with the others, which spurred them eagerly toward their destination. Along the way, they picked up stragglers wandering aimlessly through the woods, slowly increasing their numbers. Almost three hundred strong, they steadily drew closer to their destination.