The guy in saturated gym shorts and a tank top bounces to his feet just as quickly as I do. I spring into the air and kick him again, going back to my old ninja ways. One foot lands on his chest, using him to propel myself towards the sword in the ground. It knocks him backwards down the hill as I land a couple feet from Felecia’s katana.
I can hear the other one closing in, his hungry groans are practically in my ear when my fingers wrap around the sweaty handle. I spin around, removing his head in one backhanded swipe. Felecia tosses his falling body out of her path in order to run to my side.
We go back to back as I hand her the sword.
The one she caught in her baseball slide is back to his feet. Well, sort of, he doesn’t actually have any feet but he’s standing there as if he does, balancing on his maimed ankles.
Gym Shorts is on his feet again, he actually has feet, and he’s running straight for me, probably a little pissed about the double dropkicks he was on the receiving end of.
Felecia’s back leaves mine in order to behead the hobbling ankle walker. With no other choice, I’m forced to kick Gym Shorts once again. He stumbles back but I’m quite certain he’s as determined not to fall as I am to not let him eat me.
He hisses, saliva flying from his mouth like those spitter dinosaurs in the first Jurassic Park movie. Fine, Dilophosaurus, and shut up, I’m a bit of a closeted dinosaur nerd which, oddly enough, chicks do not find attractive. I don’t know, I’m confused by it too.
Felecia’s back presses against mine once again. She passes the sword around her side and I grab it a millisecond before Gym Shorts runs into a fourth boot from heavyweight champion Noah Britton. And it’s a damn good thing too because he darts to the side in order to avoid the kick he knows is coming.
This son of a bitch just faked me out. Not that it matters anymore, his body collapses in a headless heap while I pass Felecia’s sword back to her. And there goes his head down the hill.
“Shit, here they come. Run!”
I know what that means. They’ve made it through the house.
We break into a sprint down the hill. Now that my eyes have adjusted, I can make out the thin patch of woods at the far end of the yard. My body is beyond drained but a newfound hope guides me forward, pushing me on. We have each other. It’s all we’ve needed from the very beginning. We just fought off four of them with one sword. Together, we’re unstoppable. And together is right where we belong.
“Noah, the boat!”
It’s not there. I knew he took it. A large part of me was hoping he would die before he had a chance to leave the shore. That he’d bleed out or get attacked and not be able to defend himself with his shattered ankle.
But no, that’s Shane, paddling out into the lake, away from the floating bodies. They’re just lying there, motionless, waiting to get washed ashore. The rest of them are splashing their way through the shallow end, so close I can see their beady little eyes glowing in the moonlight.
Doug!
Before I can reach down to retrieve his sword, he pounces from the darkness.
CHAPTER 4
I’m able to grab what remains of my friend, mid-lunge, and slam him into the tree he died against. His yellow eyes show no sign of recognition. If he knows who I am, he doesn’t know how to show it. Is he in there? Is some small part of him watching this all unfold in a comatose state, no control over his body? Is he regretting the fact that he’s trying to kill me but can’t stop himself?
This was almost Felecia. And seeing Doug come after me, so vicious and desperate, I know, I would have sacrificed myself for Felecia to feed. I would have done it. The thought terrifies me because we came so close to death back there, so close that we both questioned if it’d already happened.
He snarls and screeches, slamming his jaw shut, trying to reach me. Frothy saliva dribbles down his face like he’s foaming at the mouth, relentless in his attack. He’s no stronger than he was when he was alive, but with no inhibitions to hold him back, no lousy endurance that would normally make him quit by now, he just keeps coming. Every thrust more forceful than the last.
“Noah, duck,” Felecia commands, having seen enough.
“No, don’t! Leave him.”
“We can’t bring him back sweetie.” She rubs my shoulder gently, much gentler than she should considering my infected friend is currently trying to bite my head off and an island of corpses are running down the hill towards us at full speed. Not to mention the ones wading through shallow water. “He’s gone Noah. You saw what saltwater does to them. There’s no bringing him back.”
“I can’t do it.”
“I know. That’s why you have me. I can put him out of his misery. Noah, they’re coming, fast, we can’t stay here.”
I grab the shell of my friend by the neckline of his shirt and toss him into the lake. I know he’s gone. But killing him, it ends a chapter I’m not ready to end. I realize I can’t bring him back, but I can’t let him go either.
This morning, we didn’t think there was a way to stop someone from turning once they’d been infected, despite the fact that I’d done it when this all began. I guess what I’m trying to say is, we don’t know what we’ll know tomorrow. What I do know is, I’m not ready to see him die. Not yet.
Felecia’s holding Doug’s sword out to me when I turn around, the one he held onto. The one that saved my life when my legs wouldn’t carry us any further. She flashes the tiniest of smiles when I take it from her delicate fingers. So strong yet vulnerable. She understands.
“Noah, look. I think that’s a dock. Come on.”
I take her hand and let her lead me away from a life I’ve been forced to say goodbye to before I was ready. It’s not just Doug I’m leaving behind, it’s Shane as well. And Paul. I know he was involved. The way he’s been acting lately, cracking under the pressure. I know his dad expects a lot out of him but in all honesty, Paul could handle it. He just chose not to.
He wanted to rebel.
He can blame it on what he thinks went down between me and his girlfriend but it was more than that. He knew what he’d done was something there’s no coming back from. He’s been off since the night it happened.
Kristen? Did she know too. Is that why she broke up with Shane? It only lasted a week but she refused to speak to him. Is that why? Did she know? Because if she did, how can I ever look at her the same again? And that’s if she pulls through.
I’m saying goodbye to Darius. My parents, because let’s face it, if Dad survives, our strained relationship has suffered damage it can’t come back from. I feel like I’m saying goodbye to Tyrone as well because you know as well as I do, his chances of survival are slim to none. Jenny’s already gone. That was my circle, my life. And as if that’s not enough, Neil and I are finally on the same page and we’re leaving him and his brother behind because what the hell are we supposed to do, fight off an entire island? Everything has fallen apart.
Why do I feel like I’m running towards something greater? Felecia’s hand wrapped around mine, it makes it easy to leave everything else in the past. And the guilt I feel over it is soothed by her touch. This feels right.
And I think I know why. This would have been happening right now whether the outbreak hit our school Tuesday morning or not. She would have taken my hand, tonight, at prom, and led me away from everything. And I would have let her. No one would have understood. They’d have called me crazy. They’d have said I was an idiot and that she had me under her spell, that I was making a huge mistake. And I would have believed the lie. But I would have done it anyway and I would have been making the best decision of my life.
We hold onto what we know, not because it’s right for us, but because it’s what we know. And I know that I would have let go of all of them to be with her.
Are those gunshots? They are. Someone’s still alive on the island, shooting. Scott? No, no his gun fell in the lake. Are there other survivors here? Those are two distinctly different guns.
It doesn’t matter, w
e’re not sticking around to find out. I can hear them tripping and falling behind us, trampling over each other as we hop across rocks shimmering under the light of the moon.
All those hunting trips have finally paid off, jumping from one rock to the next in order to cross streams, climbing around boulder fields. What I want to know is, how is Felecia doing this so effortlessly, even hunched over, clutching her ribs? Every graceful leap leaves me in awe of the girl I’d follow to the ends of the earth no matter the circumstances.
She hops onto the dock with ease, stopping abruptly before my feet meet the wooden planks. The whitecaps in the water aren’t caused by the wind, they’re bodies, slowly making their way towards the shore. There are so many of them, they’re touching, practically on top of one another. The lake’s surface, from here to the beach we almost died on, is a minefield of floating corpses. There’s no way we can paddle through them, they’ll capsize us in a matter of seconds.
The gunshots are drawing closer, accompanied by the sound of insatiable hunger. Whoever’s shooting is leading a mass of undead humanity directly towards the dock. There’s even more of them than the group already in pursuit of us. How many people were on this island?
“This one’s got a motor,” she shouts, unraveling the rope from the post before I’ve even fully climbed my way onto the dock.
More gunshots. Do these idiots really think guns are going to save them? Have they not encountered the infected yet?
A bullet tears through the wooden post beside Felecia, shooting splinters into the air. Followed by a second shot before she can even register what’s going on.
They’re shooting at us. Do they not know humans when they see them? We’re not infected!
Felecia leaps into the motorboat as they let off a few more shots in our direction. I can’t cross the wooden planks, I’ll be exposed. I can’t hide behind this rock with my feet in the water for much longer, the group that’s been on us since the cabin can’t be more than thirty seconds behind me.
“Felecia, are you alright?”
“I’m okay. I’m in the boat.”
“See if you can get it started, I’m coming under.”
I duck down and slink beneath the dock, waves from the approaching bodies lapping against me. All I can do is feel my way over the rocks, the rays of light passing through the floorboards not nearly enough to make anything visible.
“That’s our boat,” a man shouts, shooting again. “Get the fuck off my boat!”
“Kenny, it’s a chick. Stop shooting.”
Their heavy footsteps slow to a halt as they reach the dock, too winded to have gone any further if they had to.
“Well would you look at this. Who the hell are you sweetheart, and where have they been hiding you? You Ellen’s daughter, the one who supposedly died?” I don’t like this guy. Something feels off. Kenny, is that what the other one called him? Whoever he is, I’m getting really bad vibes right now.
“I’m just trying to get off the island,” Felecia says in a helpless, quivering voice that sounds nothing like hers. She said I, not we. They have no idea I’m under here.
“My island,” he corrects with an authority that conjures up Joseph Buckley flashbacks. “And we leave together. Your mommy been hiding you from us?”
“I told you that bitch was lying. I told you. We shoulda checked the attic.”
“Girl, you pull that string one more time, I’m shooting your damn hand off.”
“Kenny, come on, we gotta go. They’re almost here.”
“Oh we’re going. You, put your little princess sword on the dock,” he says, tapping his foot. “I cannot believe she gave us the fat daughter while she was hiding this. Make me fuck the ugly sister. She must not know who I–”
His words end in an agonizing wail the second my blade enters his foot through the bottom of his shoe. I had to wait for him to step on just the right crack. A toe wouldn’t do, I wanted a heel. And judging by the resistance as I drive the sword up as high as I possibly can, I’d say I got one.
He tries to pull away but my blade is wedged too deep in his leg, it must be all the way up to his kneecap. They’ve got no clue what’s happening. I can hear his friend looking around in a panic, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. All he sees is Creepy Kenny screaming in pain for no apparent reason.
“My leg, my leg,” he squeals as if that’ll clear up the confusion.
The engine. Felecia’s got the boat running. And not a moment too soon. Two infects just realized their feet touch and they’re quickly wading their way towards me.
I yank the sword free and reposition myself under Kenny’s equally creepy partner. Whatever they were doing on this island, it sounds less than ethical. So I don’t feel an ounce of remorse when the sidekick drops to one knee to check on the inexplicable pain in his friend’s leg.
I don’t know what I’m aiming for but his shadow blocks out the moonlight shining through the floorboards. I shove my blade through the crack until the cross guard bangs against the wood.
He lets out a cry that makes Creepy Kenny’s sound pitiful in comparison. I got him, that much is clear. But where?
“Son of a bitch, my ass!” And I think I just got my answer. “It’s a trap. Fucking shoot her!”
Felecia leaps out of the boat as I remove my sword from his rectum a fraction of a second before they begin letting off rounds. I can’t see her, she must have jumped behind the boat to use it as a shield.
Oh you’ve got to be kidding me. One of them shoots through the dock. He knows I’m under here. And I’m not alone.
CHAPTER 5
I can’t get to Felecia. They’ve got themselves positioned between me and the boat. And with this asshole shooting from above, I have no choice but to throw myself towards the incoming pack of infected island dwellers racing through the waist deep water.
The closest one throws herself at me, arms spread wide, mouth open, ready to sink her teeth into me.
At the last possible second, I leap out of the way, not intentionally but because she’s so close I have no other option. The last thing I should be doing is diving deeper into the lake where the bodies float around like killer lily pads. But I’m kind of outta choices here.
She slams face first into the uninvited guests who crashed my under the dock party. There’s too many to fight. Coming from every direction. They’ve reached the dock. I can feel it shaking as I pull myself up one of the wooden columns like it’s a giant stripper pole.
The gunshots divert from me towards the quickly approaching zombies. I’m able to climb up and break free of the hands grabbing at my ankles. This is way too close for comfort.
I spring to my feet in time to see them swarm the creepy sidekick I violated with the sword. His gun can’t help him now. It slides over the edge when one of them latches onto his arm. Five turn into eight before I’m vertical. His screams are reduced to garbled groans as they tear through his face.
Kenny pushes himself to his feet. I think he’s trying to jump onto the boat but his injured leg gives out on him. He crashes to his knees, propping himself up against the post, knowing this is it for him.
He spots me, ten feet down the dock. There’s a recognition in his eyes, not because he knows me, but because he knows what I did. He knows damn well the sword in my hand is the one that traveled up his ankle, through his calf, scraping the bone of his kneecap. He knows I’m the reason he’s not going to make it.
He raises the gun, malice in his eyes. There’s nowhere for me to hide. I’m out in the open. He knows he’s dying, and he’s taking me with him. My only option is to jump into the zombie infested water but even then, I can’t outrun a bullet.
Doug!
Zombie Doug lunges over his group of new friends busy ripping the sidekick limb from limb. He latches onto Creepy Kenny’s back like a homicidal koala and sinks his teeth into the perverted bastard’s neck. His gun hits the dock before he has a chance to pull the trigger. They crash and roll once befo
re sailing over the edge, half of his neck wedged in Doug’s mouth. His helpless cries are suffocated by the water. Go Zombie Doug!
“Noah,” Felecia screams. “Noah, where are you?”
Her voice, it’s coming from the boat, she must have climbed back on. I grab the gun because, I don’t know why, it just seems like a good idea, and leap over the edge before the pack finish feeding.
“Go, go, go,” I shout before I’ve even hit the boat. It’s large enough for maybe four people and apparently these freeloaders are taking that to heart.
I crash land on the front of the motorized rowboat just as it starts moving. The collision damn near tips us over, followed by another violent jolt. They jumped right along with me. One of them is clinging to the side of the boat. The second one is sailing through the air in the ugliest, most ungraceful long jump ever but, holy shit he’s gonna make it.
There’s no way I’ll be able to get to my feet in time. I don’t even know who I’d swing at if I could, the one currently climbing aboard with his head and arms draped over the edge or the flying son of a bitch about to crash land and tip this whole thing over.
The gun.
I raise the weapon that would have claimed my life had I not spared Doug’s, pulling the trigger three times. The second two catch the flying monkey in the face. His body contorts in the air from the impact and he crashes, back first into the side of the boat, directly on top of his partner in crime. The collision spins us around but doesn’t–
His fucking head is in the boat! He decapitated his partner when he crashed into him. The way he had his neck positioned, trying to pull himself in, the collision severed his damn head. His arms are still draped over the side.
Felecia gives it some gas and we pull away before the next batch of airborne zombies hit the water in an awkward heap of twisted limbs. The little engine roars as we speed away from the droves of walking corpses launching themselves off the dock in a desperate attempt to reach us. But we’re speeding off into the center of the lake, away from the horde of floating bodies.
Blood Type Infected (Book 4): Betrayal of Hope Page 3
