Fear claws at me. If I lose Ben, it will ruin me. He has to be alive. He has to be.
We burst around the side of an RV—and there they are. Ben, Ash, and Eric, all three of them in the center of the fort. They’re tied to wooden stakes around an old-fashioned stone well, struggling to free themselves as the battle rages around us.
A zombie canters out of the smoke, white eyes rolling.
I act on instinct. My zom bat comes up, smashing through the forehead with one succinct blow.
Two more zombies appear, hissing as they lunge for me and Reed. I swing my club, smashing in the face of the first. Reed takes out the second one with a knife through the nose.
“Kate! Kate, behind you!” Ben’s voice breaks through the confusion. “Kate!”
I spin around just in time to see a familiar face appear out of the gloom. A sneering mouth, dirty blond dreadlocks, and a shirt that says There’s no cure for being a cunt.
Jeanie. Rage ignites in my bloodstream.
She has a gun in her hand, but she doesn’t notice me through the shifting smoke. This is the bitch who took me and Frederico captive for no good reason. She attacked Alvarez and Fort Ross. Now the bitch has my boyfriend. She has to die.
I dive straight for her legs, swinging the zom bat. There is a satisfying crunch of bone as my weapon connects.
Jeanie cries out, her leg crumpling under the blow. Her gun goes off, but the shot goes high. I take a second swing with my zom bat and knock the weapon from her hand.
If life were a movie, we’d engage in some sort of verbal repartee. I’d remind her of who I was, she would insult my family, and I’d toss back another well-timed insult.
Frankly, I don’t have time for that shit. I don’t care if Jeanie remembers me or not. I don’t need to have the last word. I just need the bitch to die.
As soon as she hits the ground, I strike again.
I whack her ruthlessly across the face. The crack of bone registers in my senses. I hit her again. Blood sprays everywhere. I hit her a third time, just to make sure the job is finished once and for all.
“Jeanie!”
Another familiar voice hits me just as a bullet grazes my left arm. Pain shoots through me, sucking all the breath from my lungs. The shock loosens the fingers around my gun. It clunks to the ground.
“Kate!” Ben’s bellow cuts through the pain. A glance in his direction shows me his eyes wide with fear.
I swing back around in time to see Mr. Rosario hustling in my direction. Her large hips roll, her long cotton dress ruffling with her gait.
“You hurt my Jeanie!” Spittle flies from her mouth as she charges me.
I jump to my feet, tightening my grip on the zom bat. My left arm throbs, but I ignore it.
I glare at Rosario. She’s next to die, even if she doesn’t know it yet. I don’t care if I have to die to get the job done. I’m not leaving her on this planet one second longer than necessary.
She levels the gun in my direction as she runs. “You killed my Jeanie!”
My hand tightens around the zom bat that still drips with Jeanie’s blood. “Good riddance.” I lunge for my fallen gun, trying to get to it before Rosario fires again.
Several things happen at the same time.
Caleb barrels into me, sending me in a tumble across the ground just as Rosario fires her gun.
Caleb lands heavily on top of me. He springs to his feet and hauls me up.
A second shot goes off.
By the time I regain my feet, Rosario is dead. Alvarez stands over her, eyes blazing with retribution. As I watch, he fires his gun once more into her head. Then he turns to Jeanie’s body and does the same thing.
Our eyes meet across the carnage. He nods, then turns and disappears back into the melee.
A battle between the two factions has solidified. Alvarez’s people fight with the weapons they hid before the takeover—chunks of wood, wrenches, hammers, and rocks. I see one man jam a long metal pipe into the face of his attacker. Some of Alvarez’s people have even managed to get their hands on firearms.
Rosario’s people fight back, but they’re outnumbered. Zombies are everywhere, keeping everyone off balance. Even with superior fire powers, it’s impossible for Rosario’s people to get the upper hand.
“Get our people,” Reed shouts, running forward to head off two zombies who come in our direction.
Caleb and I don’t need to be told twice. We race to where our people are staked to poles like Salem witches.
I rush toward Ben. His face looks terrible. It’s swollen, bruised, and covered with dried blood.
“You’re the hottest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” he says by way of greeting.
I pull out my knife to slice away his ropes. “You scared the shit out of me.”
He shrugs out of the ropes. When he steps in my direction, I notice him favoring his right leg.
“You scared the shit out of me,” I repeat, straightening my spine as he bears down on me.
“I’m sorry.” He grabs me in a fierce hug, strong arms lifting me off the ground as he kisses me.
Relief floods my body. I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him back, barely noticing the pain left by the bullet. Ben is alive and in one piece. I cling to him. I don’t care if we’re both covered with dirt and blood. I’ll never let him go.
37
RV
ERIC
There’s a battle raging in Fort Ross. The walls are burning, zombies are everywhere, and Rosario’s and Alvarez’s people are engaged in what I’m pretty sure is a good old-fashioned brawl.
And in the middle of all this is a kiss fest. Ben and Kate on the right, Ash and Caleb on the left.
“Hello? Guys?” I say. “Is anyone going to cut me free?”
The two couples break apart. Kate cuts me free, gathering me and Ash in a quick hug.
“Got your back, bro.” Reed produces a pair of glasses. “Lucky for you, some undead out there had a pair. He said you could borrow them.”
“Thanks.” I slide them on. The world leaps into focus. The prescription is stronger than mine, but all things considered, that’s a small concern.
A woman with a nail-studded tennis racket races past us. She and a teenage girl charge after a man with scraggly hair and a wispy goatee. The woman swings her racket like a bat, connecting with the side of the man’s head. He drops with the cry as nails puncture his temple.
The teenage girl darts in with a chunk of wood. She raises it over her head and brings it down. The woman with the tennis racket joins her. Together, they make short work of Rosario’s man before darting off in search of their next prey.
Damn. Alvarez has some badass ladies around here.
Reed slaps me on the back. Pain ripples across my shoulder.
“Ouch. Careful, dude.”
Reed ignores me, wrapping me in a quick bear hug. “Thanks for not dying, dude. Nice to have you not dead.”
Ignoring the physical discomfort, I return Reed’s back slap and glance past him to the battle raging around us. “Come on. We have to help.”
I glance at the nearly dead man still tied to the pole. I want to cut him down, but he looks close to turning.
“Sorry, bro. I’ll come back and check on you when all this shit is over.”
“Leave me,” he slurs. “I’m dead anyway.”
Kate, Caleb, Ash, and Ben are already heading into the fray. Reed and I rush after them. The knot of battle is concentrated right inside the gates, a mash of humans and zombies.
Thanks to the new glasses, I can make out the details of the fight. People fight with guns, knives, rocks, screwdrivers, and bare hands.
What I zero in on is the contingent of zombies pouring through the open shattered fort wall. There are already at least thirty of the monsters inside, but there’s a huge swell of them racing straight toward the fort.
“Shit,” Reed says. “Kate’s zombie train. They followed us here. We have to block them from getting inside.”
/>
“Motorhome. Come on.”
We veer right, heading toward the nearest motorhome. It’s an older model, tan with the dark brown W on the side. It looks like a relic from the seventies.
My body protests with every step I take. I lock away the pain like Kate taught me to do. I can focus on it later. When Rosario and all her fuckheads are dead.
Reed pulls out his gun, pausing just outside the door. He hands me one of his knives.
I take his blade and grip the door handle. I yank it open.
Nothing.
I peer around the door—and come face to face with an armed man.
I jump back as a shot is fired. The heat of it sears over my head.
“Right side,” I yell at Reed. “He’s on the right!”
Another shot is fired. I crouch. Reed sticks his gun into the camper and fires until the gun clicks empty.
“Dammit,” he mutters. “I wanted to save a few bullets.”
“Didn’t Ben teach you to count your rounds?”
“I forgot! It’s hard to remember everything, you know?”
We peer around the door, ready to leap back at any sign of life from Rosario’s man.
He’s dead on the floor, a widening pool of blood spreading across the faded linoleum.
“Good shot, dude.”
“What can I say?” Reed replies. “I’m a fucking badass. Come on.”
I slam the door behind us and lock it, just in case one of Rosario’s men tries to get in. My feet squelch in the fresh blood. I grab onto the kitchen table to keep from sliding.
The inside of the RV is as retro as the outside. It has the same décor it was built with fifty years ago. Wood paneled floor and walls. Orange-and-pea-green plaid upholstery. There’s even a macramé wall hanging over the kitchen table.
“Knife,” Reed says. “Give it to me.”
I knife the dead guy in the temple, then pass the bloody blade to Reed. He wipes it on his pants and plops into the driver’s seat. Before I think to ask what he’s doing, he rams the blade into the ignition.
“Dude! What the hell?”
“This is a trick Kate told me about. She learned it from her friend on the way to Arcata. These older vehicles are easy to steal.” Reed turns the knife handle, grinning over his shoulder at me as the RV sputters to life. “A screwdriver or knife in the ignition works just as well as a key. Now buckle up.” Reed throws the motorhome into drive. “We’ve got people to run over and zombies to block.”
I pick up the dead guy’s weapon and join Reed in the front. From the vantage point of the RV, I spot Kate and Ben in the fray. Kate has a bandage around one arm. She has the tape player out, herding a large group of zombies away from Alvarez’s people. Ben backs her up, a gun in each hand. He shoots anything that tries to attack them.
“Mama Bear is clearing out the dead.” Reed grins. “Alvarez isn’t the only one with badass women at his disposal.”
The motor home rolls forward, lurching and sputtering. Reed aims it right at a group of Rosario’s men that open fire on a group of Alvarez’s people.
I roll down the window, taking aim with my borrowed gun.
“Shit.” I fire just as the motorhome hits a pothole. The shot goes wide. “Avoid the potholes if you can.”
“You’re the sniper. Snipe something and quit complaining.”
The RV picks up speed, chewing its way across the hard-packed dirt. I fire again. A man drops. I then take aim again. Another one of Rosario’s assholes falls to the ground.
Reed plows right into two remaining goons. One of them hits the windshield and smashes the glass. The other is catapulted through the air and lands on top of a zombie. Before he can recover, the zombie clamps onto him and bites down on his shoulder.
“Four for four,” Reed crows.
He maneuvers the RV around a bigger, larger motorhome. This is a new Winnebago, a sleek gray one with chrome wheels.
The fire has spread to the north side of the fort. The redwood beams crackle with flames. The zombie horde is closing in, no more than two hundred feet away. Reed pulls the vehicle in front of the opening just as a burning timber crashes across the front hood.
“Please wait until the bus has come to a complete stop,” Reed says, mimicking the monotone voice of an airplane safety video. Without changing tone, he adds, “Then get your pretty white ass out of the RV before it catches on fire.”
I don’t have to be told twice. The passenger side door is right next to the fire. I crawl out after Reed, exiting on the driver’s side.
The battle is fading. Alvarez’s people are gaining ground, chasing after Rosario’s men as they flee.
Kate has managed to herd a big group of zombies on the southern side of the fort. Using the alpha zom recording, she drives them toward the opening Alvarez blew in the wall. Ben, as always, has her back.
I spot the tennis player and her teenage sidekick nearby as they beat another man to death with their weapons. The woman’s face is spattered with blood and her hand is badly burned, but that doesn’t stop her.
A man stands near the well with a pump and a giant fire hose, shouting for help. A knot of people has gathered there. They roll out the hose. Caleb and Ash are among them. Caleb carries the front of the hose, hustling toward the wall.
“Come on,” I say, yanking on Reed’s shirt. “They need help putting out the fire.”
We dodge through the battlefield, taking out a few zombies as we stumble across them. Reed reaches the line before me, grabbing a big section of the hose.
I draw up short as I spot a zombie materialize from behind a tent. It lumbers southward, drawn to the alpha recording. Its trajectory carries it straight toward Ben.
Shit, he’s busy fighting off one of Rosario’s assholes. They both appear to be out of bullets. That zombie is going to run right into them while they try to punch each other to death.
“Ben!” Kate cries. “Look out!”
Hearing her voice ignites something inside me. Kate already lost one love. I know how much I still hurt over the loss of Lila, and I was only with her for a few months. I refuse to let some undead fuck hurt Kate.
I raise the gun I stole off the body in the RV. Not as good as a rifle, but it will do. I grit my teeth, set my stance, and fire.
“Eric!” Reed’s voice pounds at me. “Eric, dude, look out!”
The first bullet clips the zombie, sending him sideways.
Fuck. I rack, chamber another round, and fire.
“Eric! Get down, man!”
The second bullet blows straight through the zombie’s head. It drops a mere foot away from Ben as the old man stabs Rosario’s goon in the chest with what looks like a half-crumpled tin can.
Pain rips through me.
“Eric!”
38
End
KATE
Like a slow-motion film clip, I see the bullet strike Eric in the chest. Blood explodes outward from his body.
He falls.
“No!” I drop the tape player. “Eric!” I sprint across the fort compound. “Eric!”
It’s one of Rosario’s men. He clawed his way free from a pile of bodies. No one saw him.
And he’s just shot Eric.
The tennis player rounds the pile of bodies, lips pulled back in a snarl. She clubs Rosario’s sniper in the head with her nail-studded tennis racket. A teenage girl wielding a large piece of wood whacks him from the other side.
Eric doesn’t move.
“No!” I close the distance, skidding across the dirt to Eric’s side. “Eric, no!”
Not another one. I can’t lose another one of my kids. I can’t.
I press my hands over his chest. Blood pumps out between my fingers. One lens of his glasses is completely obscured with it.
“Eric,” I sob, watching his eye film over. “No-no-no-no-no!”
He rests his hand over mine. “It’s okay,” he whispers. “Lila says I’m not a con anymore. And she just called me an ass wipe.”
/> “Eric, don’t you dare die on me! Don’t you dare!”
“Worth it,” he whispers. “It was worth it. Tom and Lila are here, Mom.”
“Tom?” I shriek. “Who the fuck is Tom? Eric, god dammit, stay with me!”
Everyone comes in a rush of color. Ash, Caleb, and Reed—they’re all here. The only one not here is Ben, but that’s because he’s taken up the tape player and is driving back the zombies.
“Do something!” I shout at Ash. “Help him!”
“There’s nothing I can do, Mamita,” she whispers. “It’s a chest wound.”
“Bullshit,” I scream at her. “Do something!”
“It’s okay,” Eric rasps. “It’s okay, Mom.”
His eyes glaze over. The hand on top of mine falls away, thumping softly to the ground.
I lean over, burying my face in his shoulder as I sob.
Reed drops to the ground beside us. I raise my face to look into his ashen one.
“I was out of bullets,” he says numbly. “I was out of bullets, Mama. I couldn’t save him.” Tears leak down his face. “I was too far away.” Reed lets out a long, agonized groan. He pulls at his hair, more tears gushing from his eyes.
Gripping Eric’s body in my arms, I watch my other son’s heart break open.
39
Angel
JESSIE
I kneel in the dirt, tennis racket still gripped in one hand. The top is dented, misshapen, and coated with gore. Two-thirds of the nails are gone. Most of the strings have been burned away. The tape that wrapped the handle is charred. So is my hand. I feel the pain from a distance.
I rise from the earth, staring down at the body of Joe Dirt.
He’s the last of the assholes who raped me. With Bella’s help, I got them all except for Homer Simpson. Homer would have been mine, but Alvarez got to him first. He stabbed the asshole four times in the chest. I’m okay with that.
My heart beats in my chest. Satisfaction burns in my blood. All those ideologists who preach turning the other cheek can go fuck themselves. This is the best I’ve felt in months. Revenge is a dish best served. Period.
Fort Dead Page 21
