Z-Boat (Book 3): Z-End

by Robb, Suzanne

  Each gunshot echoed around the buildings, attracting more ghouls. Ally inched them closer to the entrance, but not so close as to give away its location. She slashed at a meaty arm reaching for her, and as it fell to the ground, the undeterred zombie continued to lunge at her with its stump. The other arm hung at its side, attached by a few threads of an old business coat.

  Kicking out the thing's knee, she swung her knife at the top of its skull. The blade slipped on the slick surface of the bone, sliding back at her. She cursed when she felt it nick her forearm. Getting herself back under control, she stared down at the monster as he struggled to move toward her. She raised her boot over its head and stomped; all she accomplished this time was removing what was left of the oily skin. It looked up at her, flesh shredded, ooze escaping from multiple spots, and snapped its teeth.

  "You've spent enough time playing with this one. Let's go," Daniel said, putting a bullet through its eye.

  Ally glanced around the area. Over four dozen zombies littered the ground. Kevin and another man were holding Noah up, and all eyes were on her. She moved to the side of the building and removed a small panel, going through the entrance procedure. When the small hole was sealed they made their way down the hall. In three minutes there were inside the installation and safe, Noah on his way to the examination room.

  Joseph walked up to them, and his superior smile irritated her more than usual.

  "What the hell happened out there, Lane? Noah's hurt, Mr. Flynn is not with you, and you bring in a group of…I don't know what. Mercenaries?"

  Ally cleared her throat, but Daniel jumped in. "Sir, my name is Daniel Paige. You extended an invitation to my men and me. We came across Ms. Lane and her group while they were under attack. We assisted and then followed her back. When we arrived there was a horde waiting. Noah was injured during the fight, but it's no fault of Ally's."

  Joseph raised an eyebrow. Ally knew the direct speak would elicit a response from the former Firm leader.

  "You sound like you've been professionally trained, good. We need that around here. As you can see, we've been relying on less than stellar people for protection and scavenging."

  Ally walked away, not wanting Joseph to remember he'd ordered her to a holding cell, which she obviously wasn't in. Kevin caught up with her and offered a pouch of disinfectant. Grabbing it she wondered how Noah was doing. He was one of the few people she trusted in this damn place.

  Outside the door to the make-shift treatment room she took a breath, forced a neutral expression on her face, and pushed on the handle.

  Dr. Miller pulled a syringe out of Noah's arm and placed it on the table next to him. He looked at Ally and Kevin shaking his head.

  "Are you sure?" she managed to get out.

  "Yes."

  Ally moved closer and saw the round chunk of skin missing from Noah's arm. He must have been bitten by one of the bastards, they were the only ones strong enough to rip through that much cloth and skin in one go.

  Placing a hand on her friend's clammy forehead, she said her goodbyes. Kevin did the same. When they were finished, Dr. Miller walked them to the door.

  "I should be the one to do it," Ally said.

  "No, he was your friend. I've arranged for someone else to take care of it. When it's over, we can see about placing him in the pit."

  Ally wanted to argue, but she was relieved at not being the one who put Noah down. Over the course of the last few months she'd ended the lives of so many infected. Each night when she closed her eyes their faces haunted her.

  "Might have to wait on that;," she said when she found her voice. "We ran into one of the largest hordes I've seen in months. I thought they were slowing down or moving on, but now I'm not sure."

  Dr. Miller's eyes lit up. "Interesting. Were they working together? Did they seem to have a leader? What did they –"

  "I have no idea, they were just there…waiting for us. Like they knew we'd be coming back."

  Dr. Miller put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. We can talk about this later. I need to run some tests right now."

  Ally closed the door behind her and looked at Kevin. "He seem off to you?"

  He shrugged. "No more than usual. I've never been a fan. All those samples of infected blood…what does he want with them? What sort of tests is he running? It's not like he's going to find a cure."

  Ally walked toward the main room. She needed to check on Sean and sort out the events of the day. When they'd brought in Dr. Miller, she knew he was an odd one, for sure. At the time, they'd written it off as stress and inability to deal with what was happening. He'd claimed he would find a cure, and that belief drove him. It kept him from doing something stupid, but his actions a few moments ago made her wonder if he'd slipped onto the mad scientist track.

  "Ally, are you even listening to me?" Kevin's hand on her arm stopped her, out of instinct she grabbed it and twisted until he hissed in pain. "What the hell?"

  "Kevin? What are you doing?" She released her hold on him, backing up, more than shocked and a little ashamed at what she'd done.

  "I've been talking to you the last minute. You just stopped walking. What's going on?"

  "Nothing," she said, rubbing the spot on her arm she'd hurt earlier; how did she forget about it? She should have had Dr. Miller look at it. So close to being infected. So close to being put out of her misery.

  "I need to go. You should get some rest."

  "Ally…"

  She ignored him. The small pouch of powder from earlier crinkled in her pocket and she rubbed the remains into her wound. Daniel seemed competent, more than capable of taking care of the people here. He also didn't strike her as the type to put up with Joseph's bullshit. Turning a corner out of Kevin's sight, she slumped against a wall.

  "Goddammit." She banged her head. The day had turned into a total catastrophe. Flynn was dead, on a suicide mission she should have spotted. Noah was dead; her fault because the crews she took out relied on her. And Kevin…he almost died. The memory of the zombie on him made her cringe. What if Joseph was right about her? Maybe she was incompetent.

  Heavy footsteps echoed in the narrow hallway, she knew who they belonged to immediately. "Victor, what do you want? I'm really not in the mood."

  "Lane, I heard what happened. Two good people are dead because of you. I hope you're happy."

  A growl erupted from her throat and she shot forward, grabbing the man around the waist. They tumbled to the ground, and when he hit the hard surface a pained noise escaped him. His arms wrapped around her neck, trapping her. She used her hands to deliver several short shots to his torso. It only took a moment for him to give her an opening. He attempted to hold her in place with one hand and use the other to jam his thumb in her eye.

  "Someone needs to teach you a lesson, bitch."

  "Well, it sure as hell ain't going to be you."

  The pain was excruciating, but she'd expected it. Who did he think he was dealing with? Did he forget who trained her? She grabbed his hand and pulled the thumb back until she heard a popping sound as it dislocated. Victor howled in pain, and she pushed her advantage. A hard knee to the groin and an elbow to the jaw knocked him out.

  Straightening her clothes, she stood and stepped over the unconscious man. Some people needed to learn the hard way, over and over again.

  Kevin rounded the corner out of breath. He took one look at Victor, then turned pleading eyes on her. "Ally, please talk to me. I can help."

  "I'm fine."

  "The hell you are. I don't know what's going on with you, but I'll listen. Please, I don't want to lose you."

  Ally hated these conversations. She was no good at them. Kevin deserved an explanation, but how could she tell him sleep was elusive because of nightmares. Would he understand what she'd been through on the Betty Loo? The submarine she'd called home for years was also the place where this life of hell started for her. She knew the downfall of the Firms and the following chaos was not her fault, but she could hav
e worked harder to warn people. So many things she should have done differently.

  "Kevin, it's not a good time. Maybe later?"

  He knelt beside Victor, checking his pulse. "Fine, but we are talking about this."

  Chapter Eight

  Ally entered the main room before dinner. She found Ben with ease. Walking over to him, she saw Sean wave and motioned for him to wait by holding up a finger.

  "Ally, sorry to hear about Noah. He was a good guy."

  "Yeah, he was. Did you hear about our new guests, as well?"

  Ben nodded, his eyes scanning the crowd. Ally wondered what Flynn's friends were going to do when they found out what happened.

  Blame me, of course.

  "A bit. I figured I'd get more accurate information from you, and maybe the reason why you knocked Victor on his ass…not that he didn't deserve it."

  She let a small grin out. "Victor said the wrong thing at the wrong time. As for Daniel, he and his guys are well equipped. If what he said is true, they have quality training. He told me they have supplies, but I didn't see any."

  "Uh huh, and?"

  "I don't know, something doesn't feel right."

  "You know I got your back on this, and I've learned to trust your instincts. But there's something I need to talk to you about."

  Ally glanced up at the big man, surprised. He wasn't known for being a conversationalist.

  "What?"

  "What's with the pills?"

  Ally opened her mouth to respond but Ben shook his large head and stared with dark eyes that froze her.

  "Sean came to me with some of them, wanting to know what they were for. I told him you were sick."

  "Shit, I sent him to my room to sleep last night. I didn't even think…" She felt his warm hand on her shoulder and almost buckled under the emotional strain.

  "It's okay, I understand. We're living in the End Times, shit happens. No one can sleep, and when they do, they wish they didn't. However, there is a boy and a young man who would be lost if something happened to you. So for their sake, deal with it."

  "Jesus Christ, give me some credit. Some of them are extra meds in case Sean gets sick."

  "Better be."

  She knew the discussion was over. Part of her wanted to be mad at Ben, but the more rational side argued that he was looking out for her. A small sigh escaped as she went to find Sean.

  She ate most of her meal, giving what was left to the boy. Her appetite hadn't picked up, but during the fight earlier she realized how much weight she'd lost. She mentally slapped herself. All her lecturing to others about taking care of themselves and she was letting herself waste away.

  Sean smiled. "Feeling better?"

  "Yeah."

  "Good. I was worried when Ben told me you were sick."

  "I'll be fine. You don't need to worry about me."

  "Kevin worries, too, ya know."

  Ally smiled. "I know he does."

  "I like him…I think he likes you, too"

  Ally glanced away for a moment. "I think I like him."

  Sean grinned. "Good."

  Reaching across the table, she moved a bit of hair out of his eyes and for a moment she saw Noah. The chair beside her scraped against the floor and she turned to see Daniel, a grin on his face.

  "This your boy?"

  "What do you want?"

  Daniel raised his hands, eyes wide." Just making conversation, sorry. I do like a woman who gets straight to the point. Sexy."

  "Sean, why don't you go find Ben. I need to talk to him."

  The boy left, the set of his shoulders and stomping feet made it clear he was not happy about it.

  "What do you want? Aren't you going to be giving some big speech about how the people here are better off travelling with you because you have some grand plan?"

  Daniel leaned back in the chair and put his feet on the table. "When you say it like that, it sounds bad. You've got the wrong idea about me. I've been on the radio for months. Tracking down survivors, but every time I find a location, it's been vacated or the occupants are dead and the place looted, but..."

  "But what?"

  "When we look over the bodies, we find young and old, few people in the middle. I thought it was weird."

  Ally pushed her chair back so she could look at his profile. "That's quite a coincidence."

  He grinned at her, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Hardly. It's bad enough we have to fight the undead, but to think a group of our own is killing people is pretty horrendous."

  Ally waited, knowing he had more to share.

  "I thought it was you at first. We've been watching you for over a week. You handled yourself well when your truck broke down a few days ago."

  Ally felt like kicking his teeth in. They could have helped; instead they waited to see if what...she would die? He continued to smile at her with a half-grin which infuriated her even more.

  "Thanks for not helping. I'll keep that in mind when you're telling me I can trust you."

  "If you're expecting an apology, you're going to be waiting quite some time. The last group me and my guys stopped to help tried to kill us. The ones they caught, they ate."

  Shock must have shown on her face because he lost the grin and nodded.

  "There's crazy shit going on out there, while you've been down here…safe." He waved his hands indicating the large space they were in. "You have no idea, or at least don't remember what it's like to live out there. It's hell, pure and simple."

  Ally clasped her hands behind her neck, thinking. Daniel rubbed her the wrong way, but lately it was shocking when someone didn't annoy her.

  "I get it, life sucks. It still doesn't explain these tidbits of information you're giving me. What's your plan?"

  "I'm glad you asked," he said as he brought his feet down and sat forward. "I want to take as many people as possible and head west. The desert climate is wreaking havoc on the weak zombies. The tough ones are still there, but at least the numbers are manageable."

  "We heard that from a friend in Phoenix."

  "I know. We talked to Jerry as well, but not recently. And New York is gone. Susan was able to send out an emergency signal, but…"

  Ally stood so fast she knocked over her chair. Susan couldn't be gone. They were going to talk in a few days. She'd lost Noah and that idiot Flynn today…that was enough death. Her hands shook as she backed away from the table.

  "No, Susan's fine. I talked with her."

  She turned and headed for the radio room. Larry sat at the desk, a bored expression on his face. Ally grabbed the notebook, pretending Daniel wasn't standing behind her, probably with a smug smile. Several entries were made, bits of conversation here and there, but nothing from Susan.

  "We have nothing recorded. You're wrong," Ally said.

  "Huh? What?" Larry said, concern and a bit of fear in his eyes.

  "Not you, Larry. I'm talking to Mr. Paige. He thinks Susan is dead."

  Daniel grabbed the logbook from behind her, flipping through the pages until he hit a section from the afternoon of the day prior. With no trace of a smile he set the book down and pointed to a single line.

  "You probably didn't get the full message. All the shielding in here has to limit your range and signal strength. But as you can see, if you fill in the blanks…"

  Ally cleared her throat and did as he said. Susan had sent out a distress signal. Their perimeter was compromised by a member of their group. Setting the notebook down, she moved to the coffee stand, more for something to do than anything else.

  "I'm sorry."

  "So you want to head west. How do you plan on moving people? Protecting them? Providing food? We have almost four thousand here."

  Daniel pulled a map down from the wall and spread it out on an old center console. Using a marker, he circled their location in DC and then San Francisco, Phoenix, and Chicago. He drew a line from DC to Chicago, then to Phoenix.

  She waited for him to do more, but after a minute nothing happened.
"Okay, you made some marks on a map. That shit's hardly a plan."

  "You value information. So do I. Do you really think I'm going to put all my cards on the table? Your boss, Joseph, is cracking up, but you already know that. I have no intention of putting people in danger, and when you show me a little trust, I'll return the favor."

  Ally laughed, a real one. "Are you being serious? Trust? Look around you. We've shown you every card we have. You know our location, that we have no food or weapons, and for lack of a more expressive word, we're desperate."

  Indecision flickered across his face, and she realized he must have assumed they were holding out on him, or still thought they were. She took him by the arm and led him out of the room.

  "You want trust? I'll give it to you, all of it."

  For the next three hours Ally showed Daniel every nook and cranny of their safe haven. She left no door locked or dark corner unlit. He didn't say much, other than a few comments about their defenses. Questions about how they'd survived so long. At the end of the tour, she brought him back to the radio room.

  "There you go. You've seen it all. Everything. Now tell me your goddamn plan. I'm putting a lot of trust in you. I have no idea if you're the one who attacked those other places. I'm the one taking the risk here, with a lot of other people's lives."

  Daniel scratched at his stubble. Larry looked at the two of them, scrunching his face in confusion. Ally realized she wasn't going to like what the new arrival had to say.

  Chapter Nine

  Joseph chose that moment to walk in. "Mr. Paige, what the hell are you doing talking to her? I told you to only discuss your plans with me. We can't afford to let any others...manipulate you." Joseph led Daniel to one of the corners of the room and whispered in his ear.

  Ally took a deep breath and wondered what time it was. The hours dragged by slower and slower each day. With a glance at Larry, she knew it was far past the time she came in to take over for him. Grabbing the logbook, she sat and glared at him. He took the hint and left.