by K. M. Raya
I make a run for it, for some reason needing to get to him as fast as possible. Several zoms step in my path, but two of their heads explode in front of me, spraying me with brain matter. I look around frantically, and I make eye contact with Wyatt as he lowers his sniper rifle. I nod in thanks but keep on going. The need to get to Alex is getting stronger. A bad feeling churns in my gut.
I hear glass break, and several men yelling as I reach the truck. Rounding the front of it, I see Alex on the ground, grappling with the driver. He’s got the man in a headlock, but the driver is flailing his pistol around wildly, he's having trouble turning it around to find his target. Alex isn’t letting up. As I make it to him, I go to reach out and help, but a hard kick to the back sends me sprawling forward and rolling. I shriek, white hot pain shooting up my spine.
My palms hit the ground, and I barely move fast enough to brace myself, saving my mask from slamming on the packed dirt and potentially breaking. I lost my machete, and I know there’s no hope of finding it in all these bodies. A weight settles on my back before I can roll over, and my arms are pulled behind my body, jerking so hard I feel like they’re being yanked from the socket.
“That’s right, you fucking whore...” The man’s voice is muffled through his mask, but he sounds on the younger side. I roll over, using all of my strength in my hips, forcing him to fall to the side, but he’s still got a good grip. He catches his balance and straddles my hips, pushing me into the blood and mud. “Stop fighting me, you're just gonna make it worse when Mac gets ahold of you!”
“Fuck you!” I spit, landing a solid punch to the side of his face.
He shakes his head, growling with fury and he elbows me in the ribcage. “Oh, honey, there’ll be plenty of time for that.” My stomach rolls.
“Helana!” comes a deep, frantic voice from close by. I don’t have time to look around because this trapper fucker’s too heavy. I can’t lift my body enough to get him off. His fingers are creeping around my throat. Alex calls out again, “Helana!”
The guy’s hands are tightening around my throat, and it’s already hard to breathe with this mask on. I can’t move my torso, and we’re sinking into the mud. There’s fog all around us, and I can still hear my friends shooting and fighting on the other side of this truck, but all I can focus on is the trapper holding me down. Anger surges through me. This isn’t how I’m gonna go down. Not today, not by this jackass.
Bringing my fist up as fast as I can manage, I swing at him, landing a punch to the side of his head. It doesn’t do enough damage, so I swing again, this time a little harder, hitting him in the ear. His hands loosen, and it gives me momentum to push. The guy falls to the side as I swing my body up and over him until I’m the one straddling him. I don’t let up. I just keep punching him, over and over again. My fists rain down on him in a fury until blood starts to splatter over my mask.
I feel a presence come up behind me fast, so without thinking about it, I yank the pistol from the guy’s waistband, swiveling my torso until I’m facing the trapper behind me. I pull the trigger three times in quick succession, each hitting him somewhere in his face. The man drops instantly, and when he moves out of the way, I see Alex kneeling there, blood all over his mask, but looking like he’s still relatively okay.
His eyes are bouncing between the man on the ground and the gun in my hands. He looks like he can’t believe what he just saw. I don’t have time right now, though, the man under me is starting to stir. Stuffing the gun in my waistband, I land another punch to the man’s face, but this time, his mask goes flying off and rolling into the mud. His watery eyes go wide, uncomprehending as the fog begins to invade his nose. I can see the moment it takes effect. His body loses a little of the fight, and his eyes grow milky. The process takes less than fifteen seconds.
Suddenly, the man snarls, but the sound that rumbles out of his mouth is guttural, and inhuman. His movements are slow and clumsy as I just hold him there. His humanity drains away right in front of me, sucking his soul away until all that remains is hunger and rot. I should feel bad about what I did. I should feel like a monster. But I recognize this jackass. He’s one of the men who dragged me to the pits that day. One of the two who threw me into that horde to die like I was nothing. I don’t feel even a sliver of pity for this insect. So I just reach back around, grabbing the pistol, before placing it dead center on his forehead as I pull the trigger with a wide smile.
Chapter ☣ 24
Alex
I’m trying to make sense of what I just saw. It’s chaos all around us, and I can barely see fifty feet in front of me. The trapper’s floodlights are the only illumination in the night, and the shadows of the zoms create an eerie kaleidoscope effect that has my head spinning.
My mouth hangs open under my mask as the scene plays out in almost slow motion. A second ago, Helana was being choked to death by that trapper, but then in the blink of an eye, she turned the tables and shot two of them dead in less than sixty seconds. Both headshots. Both with finesse and practice. I fucking knew something was odd about this girl. I knew there was something more to her story. Living through the end of days doesn’t automatically turn a person into a killing machine.That’s just not how things work in the real world.
Hell’s skills obviously come from years of specialized training, making me wonder if she’s ex military. It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the notion, given the fact that she’s so small and so beautiful it hurts. I don’t know what the fuck to think anymore, but shooting like that is something special, and I hate myself because in the midst of all this death, my heart is pumping wildly for a completely different reason. I can’t seem to take my eyes off of her. She’s like a blonde warrior straight out of every male’s fantasies. Even covered in blood with her face obscured with that gas mask, she’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
I go to stand, needing to get to her before this Mac guy finds her. These trappers mean business. The crazy fucks are still driving around in circles, trying to confuse us. Just like Hell told us in the beginning, they thrive off of games, and they win by cheap tactics like using warehouse fires and unleashing their own hordes. It’s pathetic.
Rushing over towards Helana, she’s rifling through the man's pockets, collecting his daggers, bullets and any spare weapons he might have stashed on him. Smart thinking. The screech of tires on muddy asphalt fills my ears, and as if in slow motion, I turn to where a trapper truck skids sideways with a man in a ridiculous cowboy hat hanging out the window. He’s holding a rifle in his hands, and that rifle is pointing right at me. I don’t even know if he sees Helana yet, but I’d like to keep it that way if possible.
As the truck steadies itself, I reach for my own gun, but everything happens too fast. Hell whips around at the sound of the screeching tires, first looking at me, and then to the man hanging out the window. Her eyes go wide, filled with more terror than I’ve ever seen in them before. It fills me with dread. I know without a doubt that I’m going to be dead in the next few seconds. I hear nothing at this moment. Just the pumping of my own blood through my veins. I see nothing but Helana, blonde hair ethereal and wild around her head, and rivulets of dark blood dripping from the strands.
I barely notice that she’s up and running. She’s coming towards me at full speed, and it takes a second too long for me to figure out what’s going on. The truck is ten feet away, and I’m ready for the bullet, but it never comes. Fast as a whip, Helana pushes me out of the way with her body so hard that I stumble to the ground as I hear the shot go off. It rings in my ears and makes my vision double. I hear a scream and a thud… it’s hard to make sense of what’s happening.
Shaking my head, my vision comes back into focus, just in time to see Helana tumble to the ground a ways away now, clutching her shoulder. She rolls, eyes tight shut, and I can see blood pouring through her fingers. No… Helana, no! I chant in my head. This can’t be happening. I’m frantic, up and running towards the woman who just
took a bullet for me. It isn’t possible. This isn't how she dies. Not if I have any say in it.
I can see Dante in my peripheral, appearing through the fog with his med bag. His eyes are wild and he’s dropped all his weapons. I don’t know where the others are except for Missy, who appears a second later on the back of a three wheeler. We’re all too late, though. In the seconds it takes to get anywhere near her, the man with the cowboy hat jumps out the door and lands next to Hell.
I scream at the top of my lungs, “Get the fuck away from her!” But he doesn't care. He doesn’t even acknowledge me. He scoops her up in his arms and tosses her in the truck, following up right after. Pulling my gun out, I shoot multiple shots into the truck tires, but the rubber is just too thick, and I can’t take the chance of aiming higher and accidentally shooting Helana.
Wyatt’s here too now, and together we slam into the side of the truck, banging on the side of it, screaming at the men to let her go, but I know it’s no use. They came for her and now that they have her… No, I can’t even think of it. But it’s too late. The truck’s engine roars to life once again and they take off. Dirt and dust and debris flies into the air behind them as Wyatt, Dante and I chase after it. Missy’s going faster since she has the three wheeler, but she’ll never catch up.
The truck that took Hell starts blaring its horn. Over and over again despite the fact that the noise is causing what remains of the zoms to turn on their heels and head right for them. One of the trucks lays on its side, lights still on, but otherwise motionless. Through the fog I spot an arm hanging out the window, and the other trucks don’t even bother to pull over and check on their comrades. I feel a splinter of satisfaction that my people were able to at least take out two of their small groups, but it’s still not enough. They have Helana, and it’s clear she was the one they came here for in the first place.
My stomach cramps up and my eyes sting as I watch their tail lights fade into the fog. The others are running over, and Missy has circled her vehicle around, headed my way. I’m on my knees now, with my hands in my hair, hating myself for letting it happen. For not being fast enough. It’s my fault. That bullet was meant for me… She saved my life. After the way I’ve treated her like garbage. After not trusting her, and threatening her. After kissing her… After lying through my teeth and telling her it meant nothing. That kiss haunts me still.
Missy leaps off the quad without even stopping it. The thing continues to roll until it slams into the side of the building, but the furious woman doesn’t care. I stand up quickly as she approaches, but her fists meet my chest. “What the fuck did you do?!” she screams at me. Her voice is desperate and choked. “What the fuck did you do, Alex?!”
Wyatt rushes over, grabbing Missy’s hands as he attempts to pull her off of me, but she just fights him. “You mother fucker!’ she yells, green eyes blazing with fury. “You let them take her to save your stupid, sorry ass! She cared about you and you just handed her over to the trappers like a fucking coward!”
Cared about me? What does she mean cared about me? Helana loathed me at best. Unless she knows something I don't...
“Missy, enough!” snaps Wyatt. He’s still trying to calm her down, but she just shrugs him off. She’s a slippery little thing. “You need to calm down, this isn’t helping Helana.”
She spins on him, shoving him, though he’s too large to move an inch. “And how would you know anything about helping her, huh? Seems to be the only thing you jackasses are good at is leaving her behind to save yourselves!”
“Hold the fuck up, that’s not fair,” he snaps back.
“Missy…” comes a softer voice as Nina walks out of the fog. She’s still slightly limping, but she looks so much better than the nearly dead girl she was before. She hurries over to Missy, throwing her arms around her girlfriend. I can see Missy’s shoulders shaking. “Calm down, she’s still alive, right?” She pulls back, hands on Missy’s shoulders. “Hell is alive, and that’s what matters.”
“She won't be for long,” she sniffles. “You know what Mac will do to her. It won't be like last time.”
“What did this Mac guy do to you guys?” asks Dante. We all face him. He’s covered from head to toe in zom blood, and his chest is heaving as his eyes still stare off into the direction the trucks disappeared. “We’re done with the secrets. What happened with you and the trappers?”
Ret moves to the center of the group. “Now's not the time, we need to get on the road and go after her before they do something to her. We don’t have time to sit around telling stories. Let's get the car and you can fill us in on the way.”
A howling breaks up our little powwow. A deep, somber howl. The click clack of claws on concrete carry through the remainder of moans still left in the parking lot, and soon, Anubis comes into view. His face is a mess of blood and gore, but I can tell the blood isn’t his. Nina runs over to the massive animal, kneeling down and throwing her arms around his neck. “It’s okay, baby boy, we’re gonna get you mama back…” she coos. Anubis whines before pulling out of her arms and sniffing the ground, growling every few seconds before staring off in the direction of the tire tracks.
“We’re leaving now, so get your shit. I'll get the car,” I tell the others. “We’re getting Helana back if we have to kill every last one of those motherfuckers.” It’s not a suggestion. We’re going after her before those crazy hillbillies hurt her.
The others look at me in shock, but I don’t care what they think. The woman who threw herself in front of a bullet for me needs my help, and I refuse to stand around like a jackass instead of coming for her. I have a sudden craving for carnage.
Dante steps forward, “Agreed, but first, I have a plan.”
Chapter ☣ 25
Hell
You never really get used to the sounds they make. There’s nothing quite like it, especially when you’re backed into a corner, knowing any chance of escape is impossible.
Right now is when you start praying to any god you believe in. It's when you know without a doubt that these are your final moments. For me, it’s the moment my mind flickers through all the possible things I could have done to avoid this particular death. If I only turned left instead of right. If I’d killed that man five seconds earlier... If I’d had a granola bar for breakfast instead of chocolate. I spend this whole time agonizing over it.
And then come the faces of the ones I’m leaving behind. The ones who will never know what happened to me because of my own childish decisions. There’s no way they’ll ever find me or inevitably what’s left of my body. Their faces flash before my eyes repeatedly with a sort of haunting quality. I should have made more of my time with my new family.
Wyatt, with that rugged, deep voice and hugs that make me feel safe. Dante, with those suave smiles and scorching touch. Ret, with her kind heart and a secret she thinks I don’t know about… and there’s Alex, too. As much as he’s pushed my buttons and tried to push me away, he’s done a hell of a job pulling me in too. Maybe I’m a sucker for an unattainable bad boy or a tortured soul, but I can’t deny that I want him. I want him badly, and I’ll never have the chance to try and heal his heart from his past. I’ll never have the chance to tell him that I understand his pain, and that I forgive him for every nasty word or scathing glare. I forgive him for it all. I just want another chance. As much as I tried to fight it, that’s what that ragtag band of brothers became… my family.
And my girls. My best friends… my sisters. We’ve bled for each other and fought side by side for five long years and it’ll still never be enough. I hope that they continue on without me and head for daddy’s ranch. I know my brothers will keep them safe… The notion is almost laughable. Those girls don’t need any man to keep them safe, they do a hell of a job themselves. But I’d feel much better knowing all the ones I love the most will be together. They know the way. I know they’ll get there without me.
The moans of the
dead are getting louder, and this windowless room lets the sound bounce around to the point where I can no longer tell which direction it's coming from had I not seen for myself. The darkness is thick, and the smell of rot is pungent as my hands frantically search the cement floor for anything to defend myself. I’m panicking now. The only light comes from the sliver of a window near the ceiling, coating everything in a dismal grey haze. I need a weapon, but there’s nothing here. I need something… a shard of glass, a stick… a feakin toothpick would be preferable at this point. Makes me nostalgic for the time Mac provided me with that butter knife. But there’s nothing. And I knew that. There’s nothing but the sound of gnashing teeth, ripping flesh and crunching bones to accompany the chorus of moans.
I don’t have a clue where I am. When Mac threw me into the trapper truck, I was blindfolded, gagged and thrown into the back seat face down. We drove for less than two hours, but the twists and turns were enough to make my stomach roll. When the blindfold was finally ripped off, I found myself in a dark cement room that smells like dirt and blood. That’s when the panic set in. And to make matters worse, those fuckers kept the gag in my mouth. Mac may have even mumbled something about not wanting to ‘hear this bitch cry’ or something to that effect, but I could barely pay attention to his words while a cage full of zoms stared back at me from across the tiny space.
Twelve feet of space separates me from around ten of them, all pressed up against a wall of fencing. Their grabby hands stick through the chain link, and some of them appear to be chewing on the metal, sometimes even prying the rotten teeth right out of their mouths. They're so desperate to get to me that they’ll mutilate their own body to find their meal. I’ve been here for an hour already, and the tears have already dried up, and I just sit against the wall, staring into the milky eyes that look on sightlessly in my direction.
