Dead America The Northwest Invasion | Book 7 | Dead America: Seattle [Part 5]

by Slaton, Derek

  DEAD AMERICA

  THE NORTHWEST INVASION

  BOOK 7

  SEATTLE PART 5

  BY DEREK SLATON

  © 2020

  CHAPTER ONE

  Day Zero +25

  “Watch that window, watch that window!” the wounded soldier screamed, and began to fire his pistol as fast as he could with his good arm. His left dangled to the side, an angry bite sound at the bicep. His heart pounded, spreading the sickness through him faster and faster.

  His panic fire didn’t do much to stem the tide, as the entire front window of the big box store had been shattered, crushed under the pressure of hundreds of zombies now pouring into the building. Several of his teammates pressed shopping carts against the horde in an attempt to hold them back.

  “We need more guns on the line!” he yelled, but it fell on deaf ears. Nobody could do anything but react, try to survive.

  Private Janey Watts ducked down behind a register, completely overwhelmed, clutching her rifle with white knuckles. Gunfire erupted from every direction of the store as her unit was totally overwhelmed by zombies. Glass shattered on the other side, and dozens more creatures poured in, swallowing a couple of troops who had stood their ground to try to stem the tide.

  “Oh god they’re in the aisles!” somebody screamed from the back of the store, and several shots rang out, followed by agonized screams.

  Watts blinked rapidly, her breath catching in her throat at the terror in the man’s voice as he succumbed to death.

  “Watch the flank!” somebody yelled from her right, much closer. “They’re coming around the other side!”

  Sustained fire followed, but soon stopped. Watts zoned out, her mind having a hard time processing everything that was happening. They were going to die here. She was going to get eaten alive by undead monsters. She could already feel them tearing at her flesh, ripping her meat from her bones and smacking their lips at the taste of her blood.

  “Watts!” somebody cried, shaking her from her reverie. “To your feet, soldier!”

  She tried to shake her fear, getting to her feet on trembling legs. Four soldiers struggled against the carts as the horde pushed against them, and a ghoul managed to grab a hold of an arm, pulling it in for a snack.

  Blood splattered across the carts as the man screamed, jerking back, his leg tangling in the carts as he fell to the ground. He tried to flip himself over, but the zombies overwhelmed him within seconds.

  “Let’s get out of here!” somebody cried, and the other three cart soldiers broke rank, moving away from the window.

  The wounded soldier with the dead arm barked orders, reloading his handgun and firing again, hitting several creatures at point blank range. A few of the zombies on the pile peeled off, moving towards a new target. He kicked one in the chest, sending it tumbling to the ground. This gave him enough of an opening to point his gun at his fallen comrade and shoot him in the head.

  Watts watched in horror. Watching someone she’d just spoken to hours before be put down like a dog, to avoid being reanimated as an even more brutal undead corpse… she clutched her assault rifle tightly, unable to raise it as if her arms were made of lead. Her only defense was to remain motionless in the shadows, hoping that the ghouls would pass by.

  A few did just that, wandering further into the store, but one caught a glimpse of a fresh meal and turned towards her, mouth opening. Watts screamed as the decrepit ghoul in tattered sweat pants staggered towards her. She froze, unable to fight, unable to do anything, and then the zombie’s head exploded, sending rotted brain matter everywhere.

  She stayed still, stunned, blinking at the now unmoving corpse.

  “If you want to live, you have to fight!” the wounded soldier barked, and she looked up at him as he raised his handgun and fired a few more times. He glanced back at her, and then turned, slamming his gun on the register counter and grabbing her by the shirt collar.

  He jerked her forward, grabbing the barrel of her assault rifle and aiming it towards the mass of zombies less than ten yards from them.

  “Either you pull that trigger, or we both die right now!” he yelled.

  Watts stared at him, terrified, noticing that he wasn’t picking up his gun to fight anymore. His arm was covered in blood, hanging dead, the bite wound starting to coagulate. He was dead no matter what, which put her dire situation into perspective.

  She finally raised her gun, squeezing the trigger and putting a single round into a zombie near the shopping carts. It ripped through the ghoul’s chest, sending it stumbling back over the other bodies.

  “There you go!” the soldier said, waving to her. “Now come on, let’s get to the back.”

  He picked up his gun and fired a few more times towards the window, the zombies struggling to move past the mass that had clustered over the dead soldier to feast.

  He led her down the checkout line, deeper into the store. Watts raised her assault rifle, steeled herself, and followed. It was large, a giant grocery plus department store. Outside of the light coming from the few skylights and the front windows, it was very dim inside, making it difficult to see very far.

  The two ran parallel with the front of the building, trying to make it to a cross aisle. As they went, there was yelling and gunfire coming from various points in the store, but it was far less than it had been just a few minutes prior.

  The soldier led Watts to the first cross aisle, which led to the back of the store. As they came around the corner of the shelving unit, the soldier ducked back behind cover, grabbing her and pulling her to safety.

  They peered around the edge, seeing a feeding frenzy in the center about fifteen yards down. There were a dozen or so ghouls hunched over a body, tearing and ripping and chewing.

  The soldier leaned into Watts and whispered, “We have to fight through them. At least enough to get by.”

  “What about another aisle?” she whispered back.

  He shook his head. “We had forty men when we came in here,” he said quietly, and pointed up. “Listen. Do you hear much gunfire or screams? Or anything?”

  Watts strained her ears, only hearing a single sustained gunfire coming from the other side of the store. She swallowed hard, knowing that their situation had gone from dire to desperate. She nodded jerkily.

  “Good,” the soldier replied, “come on. We’re going to make it.”

  They came around the corner, guns aimed at the zombie buffet. They inched forwards, ready to open fire as soon as the ghouls noticed them. A few aisles down, moans erupted from the right, and the wounded soldier whipped in that direction, quickly squeezing the trigger a few times while backing up.

  Two zombies in military fatigues came tearing towards them, sprinting. His panic fire hit the lead one in the torso several times, and one managed to find a forehead, dropping the second one.

  The lead runner reached him with a shriek, latching onto his shoulder. He let out a bloodcurdling scream before putting the barrel of his gun against its head, pulling the trigger at point blank range.

  He slumped to one knee, handgun clattering to the floor as he pressed his good hand against the fresh wound. He pulled it back and stared at his slimy crimson palm, letting out a frustrated yell.

  Before he could get up, Watts opened fire on the feeding pile. Some of them had broken off from the noise, heading for the wounded soldier. Her shots were off target, mostly hitting them in the chest, but it was enough to force them to stagger back a bit. She rushed over to her fallen comrade, grabbing him under the arm and pulling him u
p.

  “Come on, we’re good, we’re good!” she urged, and he nodded, even managing a slight smile.

  They raced down the aisle to the left, moving away from the lumbering group now giving chase. As they approached the far end, which led to the outer wall of the store, several more ghouls staggered around the corner, one of which was in military gear.

  At the sight of a potential runner, both Watts and the sounded soldier raised their weapons and fired, concentrating their attention on the fresh corpse. Several direct hits exploded its head in a spectacular fashion, enraging the other three zombies next to it.

  The duo moved toward, getting within a few yards to maximize their aim before pulling the trigger. Within seconds, the path was clear.

  They reached the aisle on the outer edge of the store, with a relatively clear path to the back, only a few zombies staggering about. They moved at a quick pace, with Watts aiming downrange while the wounded soldier cleared each aisle as they passed.

  She focused, taking better care in her aim before firing, hitting the next two targets in the head.

  “There you go,” the wounded soldier said shakily, “let your training take over.”

  She nodded, her confidence building with each step.

  When they reached twenty yards of the back wall, they took each aisle carefully, clearing it. The final three were free of zombies, but the back wall was a mess. They ducked behind cover, using the final shelving unit, and looked out at the dozen creatures, half of which were in military gear.

  The ghouls were fighting over scraps of a corpse on the floor, blocking the double doors to the loading dock behind them.

  Watts glanced behind them, seeing that their followers were still about thirty yards back, giving them a few moments to figure out their plan.

  “How do we do this?” she whispered.

  The wounded soldier dropped the mag in his handgun and struggled to reload it with one hand. Watts grabbed the gun and helped him out, handing it back when it was fresh.

  “Thanks,” he gasped.

  She nodded firmly. “Sure thing.”

  “It’s far too narrow for us to fight our way through,” the soldier said quietly, “we’re going to have to go around.”

  Watts pursed her lips. “What about those runners, though?” she asked. “There’s too many of them by the door.”

  He looked again and then faced her. “How fast are you?”

  “I’m not going to win any medals,” she admitted, “but I wouldn’t finish dead last, either.”

  “Okay, this is what we’re doing,” the soldier said, wincing as he raised his gun. “I’m going to start shooting and pull them this way. We go down this aisle and sneak into the back before they can circle around.”

  Watts was a little concerned about the plan, but nodded, as it was the best they could come up with in the next sixty seconds, which was all the time they would have. The soldier rounded the corner, aiming his gun at the horde.

  “Go, now!” he yelled.

  Watts took off as he opened fire, shooting five times almost blindly into the pack, unconcerned with headshots. Within seconds, the runners in the group pushed past the slow ones, making a beeline for him.

  Watts looked back over her shoulder, watching her companion follow her as quickly as he could, wincing with pain as he pumped his bite-infested arms.

  She reached the end of the aisle, doing a quick sweep in either direction. As she looked to the right towards the front of the store, there was a group of zombies, one of which wore military fatigues. It let out a scream and ran for her.

  Watts raised her assault rifle and began firing, pulling the trigger as fast as she could. The bullets ripped into the torso of the running ghoul, doing little to slow it down. She adjusted her aim higher, hitting it in the throat just before it tackled her.

  She tumbled to the ground; her rifle crushed against her. She pushed up with it, acting as a barrier between her face and the gnashing teeth above. She strained to keep the zombie away, snapping within a hair of her face.

  As she struggled, several shots came out of the aisle, hitting the creature in the back. This distracted the zombie momentarily, and it whipped over to look at the new threat. The wounded soldier fired into its face, dropping it on top of Watts.

  She struggled to shove the unmoving corpse on top of her, smearing blood all over herself in the process.

  “Move move move!” the soldier barked as he turned, firing down the aisle at the runners still in pursuit of them.

  Watts thrashed, finally managing to free herself from the weight of the ghoul, and leapt to her feet. She tore for the double doors and into the back loading dock, realizing too late that she’d forgotten her rifle in her panic.

  The wounded soldier broke from his firing position, running after her with the zombies still in hot pursuit. Watts rushed through the door, looking around and noting the back area was mostly clear with only a half dozen slow-movers near the back wall.

  Her companion burst in through the double doors, quickly followed by a couple of runners. One of them grabbed his bad arm, jerking him back towards the door. It sunk its teeth into his hand, claiming a couple of fingers.

  The soldier screamed in pain before shooting the munching monster in the face. The other one tackled him, sending him to the ground, giving it a chance to bite into his chest. He fired several shots at point blank range, killing it.

  “Oh god,” Watts groaned as she rushed over, “come on, we’re almost there.” She grabbed him by the collar, pulling him towards the small office at the back, about ten yards away. S she pulled, another runner burst in and the soldier fired a few more shots, missing the head badly.

  The zombie sprinted for them, but Watts managed to pull her companion inside the office, slamming the door shut just before the runner smacked into it.

  There was a single large window inside with the blinds shut, and another window on the door. She stood up, looking the dead soldier in the eyes, seeing nothing resembling human left in their milky depths. As it banged on the door, desperate to get in to eat her, she closed the blinds, shielding them from the outside.

  The wounded soldier let out a cough, rolling to spit blood onto the linoleum. Watts knelt and helped him sit up, leaning him against the wood-panelled wall. She sat down on the floor, across from the lone desk, as the runner continued to slam against the other side.

  “Well…” the soldier said hoarsely, “it’s not the comfiest spot I’ve ever taken a woman to.” He coughed. “But it will keep you safe.”

  Watts blinked rapidly, her chest tightening. “I… I can’t thank you enough.” She swallowed hard. “And I… I feel so ashamed to say this, but I don’t even know your name.”

  He cracked a smile, coughing a little more, the life quickly leaving his pallid face. “It’s Larry,” he said weakly. “And if it’s any consolation, I didn’t know your name until yesterday. That was only because another soldier was talking about how good your ass looked and pointed you out.”

  They shared a small laugh, and her cheeks pinked a bit.

  “Well Larry,” Watts said, lacing and unlacing her fingers in front of her, “it’s good to know I made an impression on you.”

  He managed a weak smirk. “Your ass did look good,” he admitted, “I’m just saying.”

  They laughed again, but Watts’ quickly dissolved into tears as the weight of her situation came crashing down on her all at once.

  “Hey now,” Larry said, “save those tears. Don’t you dare waste them on me. I’m just a grunt doing what a grunt does.” He coughed again. “Knew this going in.” He paused. “Granted, I thought it would be an IED or an ambush that got me, not zombies. But it is what it is.”

  She took a deep breath to compose herself, wanting to honor his last wish. She could easily see that the life was seeping out of him quickly, the blood pool beneath him growing larger. She drew her handgun slowly, setting it in her lap, her lips pressed into a thin line.

&
nbsp; She didn’t want to have to do this. But she knew she had to. He wouldn’t want to be a zombie, and she didn’t need another runner in here with her. The thought of putting a bullet in this man’s brain made her stomach tighten. He’d saved her life, and how was she going to repay him? By shooting him like a dog? Her mouth went dry.

  Larry held up his good hand. “No, put that away,” he rasped. “It was my dumb ass that got bit, I’ll handle it.”

  “But…” Watts trailed off, chewing her lip. Part of her was relieved, because she didn’t want to have to do it. But to make the man take his own life? That felt so callous.

  “Stop,” he said. “Only thing I want you to focus on is surviving. We radioed in our position before things went to shit, so somebody should be here in a couple of hours for you.”

  She lowered her gaze. “And if they’re not?”

  “Then do me proud by surviving any way you can,” he replied.

  She looked at him, steeling her gaze. “You have my promise, Larry,” she said as firmly as she could muster.

  He forced a smile and then waved his hand for her to look away. “It’s about that time,” he said, “and I don’t think you’re going to want to see this.”

  She nodded jerkily. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  “Anytime,” he said.

  She turned her head away, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the muzzle flash light up the side of the small room. The deafening BOOM was like a nail in a coffin, followed by the clatter of metal as the gun hit the floor.

  The sound seemed to echo inside of her head, and it was as if she couldn’t control her eyes, turning back to look at him. Normal dead bodies looked so peaceful in sleep. Maybe if he wasn’t covered in gory wounds and blood, he would have looked peaceful. His eyes were closed, but the carnage was sickening.

  Several more zombies joined the runner at the door and window, the pounding growing louder and louder.

  Watts curled her legs up to her chest, letting the tears flow as she stared at her dead friend. She hoped he’d found peace, away from the pain, away from the exhaustion of fighting a losing battle and then using his last moments to save her life.