The Preston Six Collection: (Book 1, 2 and 3)

by Ryan, Matt

  Julie looked at the man in the window and back to her Panavice. Poly tried to blink the logic into the situation.

  “Yeah, we’re in Ryjack,” Julie said and lowered her Panavice, as if she was the final say in the matter.

  “He sent us here to die,” Hank said.

  Sorry, such a waste. Travis’s last words echoed in her head.

  “Where are we exactly? Can you find another master stone?” Lucas asked.

  “Yes.” Julie’s fingers danced on the screen. “But it’s a thousand miles to the south in what looks like southern Florida.”

  “Oh, that’s just great,” Lucas said and kicked another desk.

  Julie jerked back. “Can you stop that?”

  The business man threw himself against the store front windows and created a nasty black smear across the glass.

  “Is there a back door?”

  “No,” Julie said looking at her Panavice. “This place is built like a fortress, that glass is three inches thick and the rest of this building has several feet of concrete.”

  “Guess they didn’t want anyone getting in here,” Hank said.

  “Or out,” Julie said. “Those vault doors only opened from the outside.”

  “Well, can you get that slider open?” Hank said pointing at the front door to the bank.

  Julie raised an eyebrow and walked closer to the door. The business man followed her and clawed at the glass between them.

  “Get ready, Lucas,” Julie said.

  Lucas cocked an arrow on his bow and stretched it back, nodding to Julie. Poly clasped a throwing knife at her thigh.

  The glass slid and the sounds of the businessman’s yells flooded in. Lucas let the arrow go and it flew through the open slider and into the thing’s head. It fell backward onto the sidewalk.

  Lucas held the bow in front of his face, smiling. “This bow is incredible.” He flung the bow over his shoulder and walked to the zombie on the sidewalk to retrieve his arrow.

  The warm sun hit Poly’s face and she tried to hold her breath from the smell of the thing on the sidewalk. She looked back at the sign, Kepper’s Bank. “I think we should seal it back up,” Poly said.

  “Done,” Julie said and she heard the vaults clicking closed and saw the front slider close next to the body that lay in front of it.

  Stores lined the sides of the street, cars parked along the curbs had broken windows, and some with charred remains still in their seats. Poly tried not to look into those cars.

  “Where to?” Lucas huffed out and pulled on his new bow.

  “I guess this way.” Julie pointed ahead while staring at her Panavice.

  Poly kept to the rear and turned her head every few seconds to check behind her. At any second, she expected a wave of those things to come crashing at them. She touched the steel at her thigh.

  With each small shop she passed, she peered into the windows, expecting something to move. They passed the last store, a coffee shop, and walked into a large parking lot. A huge building with Cost Plus written on the side sat in the middle. Cars filled the parking lot with many parked in order while some were left crashed into other cars.

  She heard the groan first and stopped, then they all did. Ahead, at the steel rollup doors of the Cost Plus a group of zombies stood.

  “Guys, up ahead.” Poly pointed.

  “Yeah, I see them,” Lucas whispered. He eyed the zombies, but they stayed next to the store, not noticing the newcomers. They all moved next to a blue van.

  “We could get some supplies here,” Hank said.

  “Yeah, ‘cause searching for supplies has been a great road for us in the past,” Julie said.

  She was right, they searched for food in Ferrell’s town and nearly died.

  “The whole thing has probably been looted anyways,” Hank said.

  “I don’t think so.” Julie squinted at the entrance to the store. “There are bullet holes around the door and it looks like someone tried to burn the door down. I think it’s possible these zombies have kept everyone out.”

  “We can take out those things and Julie can use her magic device to open that door and bam, we’re in,” Lucas said.

  Julie rolled her eyes.

  It was always surprising when Lucas came up with a plan, even a simple one. Poly stowed the throwing knives and pulled out the sword Travis had given her. She hated to admit how amazing it felt in her hands. Given the chance, she would like to see Travis and his pretty face at the end of it.

  “I don’t like this,” Hank said.

  “And with good reason.” Julie crossed her arms. “I don’t think it’s worth the risk.”

  “We’ll be fine, there’s only a few over there.”

  “Whatever, I guess we’ll just get someone bit again. . . .” Julie said and stared at Lucas’s leg where he had been bitten.

  “I’ll take out four to five. Poly, you do your knife thing once my last arrow has flown. Hank, you take care of them if they get close.”

  The crowded cars left little room for swinging a sword and as they got closer to the pack, Poly walked sideways to fit between them. She slid her sword back into its sheath on her back. The ten or so zombies hadn’t noticed them yet. Fifty feet away Lucas stopped and held up his hand. He took out his bow in a slow manner, trying to be quiet, or maybe just putting some flair to it.

  Lucas pulled an arrow from his quiver on his back and sent it flying into the head of a man in a tattered jogging suit. The zombies stumbled around, smelling the air and then one spotted them. Its face contorted with a mixture of rage and longing, its black grin spreading wide. The zombie group stumbled toward them, making their way around the cars. Lucas fired his four other arrows and dropped four more.

  Poly pulled out her three throwing knives from her side pocket. She picked the closest three as they staggered by the cars. She landed three head shots. One fell in between the cars and the other two slammed against the top of a white car, their arms dangling off the edge. Poly looked away, even though they would have killed her given a chance, she felt bad killing something.

  Two more zombies stepped toward her and she pulled out her sword. Compry had showed her how to use a two-handed sword, but she was much more skilled with single-handed ones. One of them staggered toward Hank. The other rounded the car next to her, in one motion she sliced through its head. She stood in front of the crumpled body in shock as she looked at the sword in her hand.

  There had been almost no resistance. No blade could be that sharp.

  The black blood on the tip of the sword fell to the asphalt. She shook the sword and the rest of the blood dropped from it. She brought it close to her face, but it was perfectly clean. What kind of blade did Travis give her? And why would he gift it to her when he’d sent them to die? Maybe it was to give them a fighting chance.

  Hank picked up a two by four and smashed it over the head of the zombie. Poly searched around for anymore, but they were all dead.

  “See? Piece of cake.” Lucas stowed his bow and did a little shuffle-ball-chain on the asphalt.

  Poly retrieved her throwing knives as Lucas collected his arrows. They gathered at the sliding steel door covering the front of the store. Many score marks and bullet holes filled the door, but it didn’t look like anyone had ever breached it.

  “Can you open it?” Poly asked.

  Julie gave her a sideways look. “If I can open bank vaults, I think I can open a garage door like this.”

  A bad feeling built in Poly. Something felt wrong. Why were the zombies trying to get in? The door came to life and clanked as it rolled up. Hank walked first toward the door.

  “Freeze!” a man’s voice said.

  Poly stopped and instinctively raised her hands up and stared at the end of the man’s gun.

  POLY STOOD BEHIND HANK, WHO held his hands high at the man’s request for them to freeze. Hank looked back at Poly and shrugged his shoulders. Poly tilted her head to get a better look into the store. A small room made for the e
ntry way, Poly saw the broken glass doors a few feet in front of them. Beyond that, the expanse of a big box store with high ceilings and endless metal shelves.

  “We just want a few supplies and we’ll be on our way, we don’t mean any harm,” Lucas said.

  “How did you open that door?” The man said crouched behind a steel table.

  “Come out in the open and I can show you,” Lucas said.

  A man walked from behind a steel table. Poly measured the distance, too far for her knives, but plenty close for Lucas to get a shot.

  “Keep that bow on your back and step into the building,” the man said.

  “It could be a trap,” Julie whispered.

  “I think we can handle this,” Lucas whispered. “Okay, we’re coming in.”

  Poly followed behind Lucas and walked into Cost Plus. Aisles of TV’s, computers, and all other kinds of electronics filled the store next to the door. The rows of merchandise stretched as far as she could see.

  The man walked around the steel table pointing a shaky handgun at them. Poly stared at him and slid a knife into her hand. She couldn’t beat a bullet, but she could make sure this man fell with her if he tried anything.

  As he walked closer, his gaze darted to each of them and he rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand that held the gun. The older man lowered the gun and looked at Lucas.

  “Please close the door, a horde could come by at any second,” the man said. Some of the anger gone from his voice. “None of you are bit, right?” He lingered on Lucas mostly.

  “No, we’re clean.”

  Julie used her Panavice and the door closed.

  Poly watched the man staring at Julie, shocked at what she had in her hand.

  “That thing can control power?” he pointed at Julie.

  “Sort of,” Julie said.

  The man wiped his mouth with his gun hand. “I haven’t seen other people in. . . .” He looked behind him. “Well, probably ten years.” He paused. “Where did you get something like that? Are there others out there?” He pointed his gun toward the door.

  “Yes, there is,” Poly said.

  The man turned his attention to Poly. She felt uncomfortable under his stare and dirty smile, so she crossed her arms.

  “Oh, I’m sorry if I stare, we don’t see many women, except for our book collection here. To see one, well. . . .” He looked the ceiling, wiping his mouth. “It’s better than any book.”

  “What’s your name?” Hank asked walking in between Poly and the man.

  “Carl,” he said.

  “Hello, Carl, this is Poly, Julie, Lucas, and I’m Hank.”

  “Poly, like the bird,” Carl said and smiled at the ceiling. “Poly, want a cracker? I have many crackers.”

  “Can you put that gun down, Carl?” Lucas said.

  Carl looked at the gun and laughed. “This thing hasn’t had bullets in twenty years,” he said and stuffed it in the front of his pants. Poly let out a long breath and let her tense muscles ease. This man was either crazy or an idiot, she planned on treating him as crazy and kept a throwing knife in her palm.

  “We’ll just grab some water and food, and be on our way,” Lucas said.

  “Oh no, you have to stay the night. The horde always roams here at night, not safe ‘til morning,” Carl said. “Let me give you the tour.” He extended his arms out and looked around the store. He waved for them to follow.

  Stay the night, with Carl? Hell no. Poly stayed in the back for the tour and kept searching for any movement in the neighboring aisles. Carl said “our” collection, as in plural. There were other people, somewhere in there. Either that, or they had another Ferrell situation on their hands.

  “I don’t want to stay here,” Julie whispered to Poly.

  “I don’t either.”

  TV boxes, stacked high, formed a hallway into the first part of the store. After the hallway of boxes, an aisle with a Home Goods sign still hung at the end of the steel structure. The shelves were empty and boxes spread out on the floor in no order, like an earthquake had shook everything to the ground and no one ever cared to put them back.

  As they passed the home goods aisle, she got a smell of urine and a musty smell of mold. She had almost forgotten about what Lucas called the Perfume of Ryjack. Her nose wiggled and she opened her mouth. Did she want that in her mouth? She breathed through her nose, there was no escaping it.

  The automotive aisles had an equally ransacked and disheveled look. Then an aisle of kids’ toys, many of which looked to be organized, unlike the previous aisles. Action figures stood in different poses and sat in remote-control cars. Bikes lay against the walls and girls’ dolls sat in pink plastic convertible cars. Carl turned down that aisle, walked past the toys, and pushed one of the bikes to the side.

  “Sorry for the mess,” he said and laughed. Not a normal laugh, but a squeal of a laugh that sent chills down Poly’s arms. Was someone here with the man? Did he store people like them somewhere, luring them in with the wonder of the Cost Plus?

  “Where we going, Carl?” Lucas asked.

  “To the family room,” Carl said never looking back.

  At the end of the aisle, the center of the store opened up. There were no tall metal structures, just piles of clothes and miscellaneous boxes stacked about six feet high. Poly tiptoed in an attempt to see over. Carl led them past a row of plastic Christmas trees to a large, cleared area with couches and beds arranged.

  Poly looked around Hank’s body to see a small face pop up from the bed. She froze, unable to blink. He did have people with him.

  “This is my family.” He looked to the ceiling. “Well . . . what’s left of it.”

  “Carl, who are these people?” A woman emerged from the side of the make-shift house they had created. Dressed in jeans and a Christmas sweater, she strode to Carl’s arms.

  “Jenny, this is Poly, Hank, Julie, and Lucas. Did I get those right?” He laughed.

  Jenny scanned each of them, nervous but curious enough to stare. “Hello,” she said. She looked about the same age as Carl, with long dark hair tied at the back.

  “And these are my two kids, Peter and Mary,” Carl said.

  A girl, maybe sixteen sat on the edge of the bed. And then a boy stood up from behind a brown leather couch, he might have been fourteen.

  “You all live here?” Julie asked.

  Carl laughed his squealing laugh. “Of course, the kids were born here.”

  Poly’s stomach hurt and she glanced at the kids’ faces. They knew nothing but Cost Plus and the monsters outside. What kind of person did that create? The kids stared at her with open wonder bouncing on their expression. Were they the first people they had ever seen, besides their parents?

  “Do you ever leave?” Julie asked.

  “Sure, we go to the roof. We even grow some plants up there.” Carl looked to the ceiling.

  “You going to hurt us?” Mary asked. She pushed back her black matted, dirty hair. Poly’s heart went out to the girl just a bit younger than her. She wanted to go grab the girl, comb her hair, and go pick out some fantastic clothes. There were probably some Twilight books around the store, they could read to each other and argue about Edward and Jacob.

  “No, dear, they aren’t going to hurt us.” Carl looked at them with an uncomfortable smile.

  Poly had no idea why he would think of such a thing from a group of people with weapons. Did he not think he had a choice in letting them in? Maybe he believed showing his family would win sympathy? Well . . . it worked. She sympathized.

  “We really must be getting on our way, we have a long road ahead,” Lucas said.

  “Going outside at night is pure suicide, young man. I couldn’t under good conscious let you out. No, no, no. Here, you can take some of the mattresses over there. Oh and there are some sheets in aisle thirty-two.”

  Mary kept her eyes on Lucas as he shook his head. She licked her lips and adjusted her clothes. Carl ignored Lucas and darted behind the couch an
d pulled a mattress off the tower of mattresses stacked up.

  The thought of sleeping on their mattresses made Poly gag. From the faint smell of urine, she suspected one of them was a bed wetter. And where did they bathe?

  “I think we can handle ourselves outside,” Lucas said.

  A loud noise, like metal rattling, came from the direction they entered the store. Poly had a knife in her hand in a split second. Carl watched her, the noise didn’t even give him a jump.

  “They’re early tonight, you probably stirred ‘em up,” Carl said and looked at the ground. “There’s no getting out of here tonight. No way, no how. That’s them pounding on the front door.”

  “There has to be a way.” Lucas scanned the building.

  “Go to the roof if you like, see for yourself.” Carl never looked up. “Pete can take you.”

  Pete’s eyes lit up.

  “Uh sure, the ladder is over here.” Pete ran to the edge of the clothes pile before turning around. “Well, come on.” He excitedly waved his hands.

  Poly eyed Lucas who shrugged his shoulders and walked toward Pete. As they walked away, Poly looked back to see Jenny and Mary talking. Jenny was pulling at her hair and tugging on her shirt. She grabbed Jenny’s hand and hurried away.

  They followed Pete to the corner of the store. A steel ladder led up to the ceiling, about thirty feet up. Pete touched the metal rung on the ladder. “It’s up here.” Pete went up the ladder like a monkey and looked down at them. “Come on.”

  Poly looked up to the top of the ladder and the hatch at the top. “Fine, but I’m not letting that door close.”

  Hank climbed the ladder first, followed by Julie. Poly started to climb next and Lucas put his hand on her shoulder.

  “I’m going to stay down here,” he nodded in the direction of the family.

  “You want me to stay here with you?”

  “Nah, from this angle, they don’t have a chance.”

  “Be careful.”

  In the corner of the store, the ladder gave a good spot to make a stand, open views from each angle. Poly nodded and placed her hand on the cold steel rung. Looking up, she saw the door at the top had been opened and Julie was stepping through. She climbed up the ladder and poked her head through the opening. Potted plants were spread over the roof. She stepped on the gravel roof and touched the nearby orange tree.