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

by Ryan, Matt

  They stayed back and peered out into the clearing, beyond the last trees. There was a square building, the size of a grocery store, in the middle of the field. An asphalt road led up to its front door.

  “Look, on the roof,” Harris whispered.

  Poly squinted and then saw it, a gun poking over the wall. The gun moved and a black helmet appeared. She looked along the whole roof and began to count the men, hiding behind various obstructions. If she saw this many men, how many were hiding out of sight? How many were in the building?

  Slumping against the tree, she asked, “How can we ever get in there? Maybe Lucas is right, and we should go to Vegas or something.”

  “If we don’t show up here, they’ll swarm those ones as well.”

  “How are we going to get through that army?” Poly pointed to the building.

  “I have a plan,” Harris said, smiling. “Let’s get back to the car.”

  “What’s the plan?” Poly whispered, walking behind Harris.

  “I will tell everyone when we are back at the car,” Harris said. “I need to think it through first.”

  Poly huffed and climbed down a rock hill. Harris extended his hand and helped her jump down the last section.

  “You know, Poly, Travis told me you beat him in a duel over me,” Harris said.

  Poly felt embarrassed about it. “Oh, well, I couldn’t let you just die.” She thought of Travis’s face when they mentioned Harris. “And I really think he wanted to kill you.”

  Harris smiled. “That he does.” He stared into her eyes. “But really, not many would do that for another.”

  Poly felt the stab wound on her arm, still tender. “You would have done it for me.”

  “Would I?” Harris asked.

  Poly touched her neck and scowled at Harris. She punched him hard in the shoulder and he raised a questioning eyebrow at her. “That’s for sticking a bomb in my neck.”

  He laughed, rubbing his shoulder. “I would have never done it, but you always need a backup plan.”

  She kicked him in the leg. He watched it come at him and didn’t try to avoid it. “And that’s for trading Joey away.” She felt the anger building in her and remembered all the things Harris had done.

  “It was the only way to save the rest of you. I don’t think he’s in any danger with them, he’s a valuable asset.”

  “It doesn’t make it better, we should have fought that guy.”

  “Maybe with Almadon, but without her, we had no chance of getting through his tech.”

  They walked in silence for a bit, reflecting on those they lost.

  “Your brother’s a jerk,” Poly said. “How could you be related?”

  “We don’t choose our family.”

  Poly shook her head and felt the steel on her hip. She hated the smug look on Max’s face as he took Joey. She’d find him one day and make him pay. She couldn’t look at Harris right now . . . there were just too many similarities to Max’s face.

  Walking out of the forest and into the backyards of the houses, Hank ran up to them.

  “Thank God, you’re okay,” he said to Poly as they approached the car.

  She gave him a questioning look. “You don’t think I can handle myself?”

  “It’s not that. What if one of those hordes came at you?” Hank said.

  “What did you find?” Julie said, stepping out of the car.

  “It’s as we thought, they’re holed up around a building, heavily guarded,” Harris said.

  “Don’t worry he’s got a ‘secret plan,’” Poly said sarcastically, with air quotes. Some residues of anger obviously remained.

  Harris gave her a sideways look. “They out number us, out gun us, and have a fortified building. It will be difficult to breach.”

  Lucas slapped the hood of the SUV. “Just get me in shooting range and I can kill them one at a time.”

  “You’ll have your chance,” Harris said, he glanced back at the forest. “I want you guys to take positions at the tree line, Poly can take you there.”

  “What are you going to do?” Poly asked.

  “Rolling thunder.”

  “I HAVE A MOTORCYCLE, I’M sure you heard it when I arrived. I can use it to round up every zom—grinner in a mile radius and shove them down the throat of that building and everyone in it.” Harris looked toward the front of the house.

  Poly looked at a smiling Lucas. It was the greatest, craziest plan she’d ever heard. Hank laughed and gave Lucas a high-five. It was like some sort of sweet justice, sending their creation at them.

  “The only problem is, if the grinners win, we have to fight them then,” Julie said.

  “Those men on that building were level five, I saw one level six. We’ll be lucky if they’re all killed.”

  Poly frowned, she didn’t understand the level system, but she remembered that Simon had a R7 on his chest and Max with an R8. If Harris implied they were dangerous, Poly didn’t want to question it.

  “Okay, let’s do this. Get in your position and wait for the sound of my motorcycle. If all goes well, they’ll all kill each other.”

  “We should get moving,” Poly said.

  “Just remember to stay clear of them, until they’re all dead. No reason to take shots until you have to.” Harris eyed Lucas. Lucas adjusted his bow and turned away. “Before I go, I want to teach each of you the code to earth.”

  Harris spent the next ten minutes showing them the codes on a rock he found. Once he was satisfied, he tossed the rock to the ground. “Good luck,” he said as he walked to the motorcycle, disappearing around the house.

  Poly counted the knives on her hip and turned to face the forest. She knew the way and started walking to it. Hank, Lucas, and Julie followed along with her quick pace.

  “You think we’ll finally be able to get home?” Hank gazed ahead with a look of wonder.

  “Home is a pit stop, I want to get Joey back,” Poly said, clenching her fist. She was tired of them talking more about getting home, than getting Joey back.

  Hank looked to the ground, with his hands in his pockets, and kicked a rock. “I want to get Joey back as much as anyone.”

  Poly cringed, feeling a “but” coming.

  “But how are we going to take on Marcus? He has armies and defenses we can’t even comprehend.”

  Poly gritted her teeth. She hated hearing it from Hank. She figured he would be the one to stand with her when it came to the tough decision about what to do next. She guessed Julie would argue against it and Lucas would go along with the consensus. Now she had to convince Hank and the thought of it made her mad.

  “Harris did it once, we can too. We have to. I won’t leave him with Marcus, being drained away.” Poly squeezed her dagger. “I can’t even imagine what they are doing to him right now. . . .”

  Hank didn’t say anything for quite some time as they walked to the forest edge. Finally, he broke the silence. “Where you go, I go.”

  She relaxed a bit, it was all she needed to hear from him.

  The motorcycle thundered to life and echoed through the backyards. Poly looked back, Julie and Lucas walked closely, talking to each other. She’d work on Julie first, if she got behind the idea, Lucas would fall in line.

  Poly stepped into the leaf-ridden floor of the forest and traced her trail back to the spot where Harris mentioned. The whole time walking, she heard the motorcycle, sometimes faintly and others much closer.

  “This is where we wait,” Poly said.

  The sounds of the motorcycle hadn’t gone unnoticed, as Poly looked at the roof line. They stood in plain sight with binoculars, looking in the direction of the street, slithering its way through the trees.

  “You think he found any?” Julie whispered.

  “I’m sure there’s no shortage of grinners,” Poly said.

  She pictured Harris riding around the town, collecting grinners with each street traveled and each store passed—Pied Piper of Ryjack. He would be coming, bringing with him, He
ll. She couldn’t wait to see it. The looks on their faces as a horde of grinners piled against their building.

  “He must be close,” Hank said. The motorcycle sound grew louder.

  Poly pulled out her sword, staring at the street. Lucas held his bow out, placing an arrow in his hand. Hank picked up a large stick and held it like a staff. Julie held her Panavice, looked at them and stuffed it in her pocket.

  “Next stop, I’m getting a slingshot or something,” Julie said.

  Poly laughed and turned her attention back to the road and the motorcycle sound. The top of the building swarmed with activity. The men in black shirts ran around the edge of the roof, looking for anything.

  “We should get down,” Lucas said.

  Poly agreed, a keen eye might spot a group sitting beyond the tree line. She watched the men on the roof as she lowered her body to the ground and moved sideways to get behind a tree. A man with binoculars pointed in their direction.

  “Crap,” Poly said. “We’ve been spotted.” She slapped her thigh in anger.

  Another man pointed toward them. She watched him hold his Panavice to his mouth. The motorcycle sound filled the forest, she awaited its appearance. It had to be seconds away.

  More men joined in the men looking in their direction, pointing. A shot fired, hitting the tree next to Poly. She fell to the ground, hugging the dirt. The building door opened and men with large padding on their bodies, marched out, pointing their guns at them. Another shot hit the dirt next to her.

  “Come on, Harris,” Poly whispered.

  She let go of her sword and placed three throwing knives in her hand, they were too far away to throw, but when they got within a hundred feet she planned on hitting them one by one.

  She looked to her left, Lucas stood against the tree with an arrow cocked, his arm resting on the tree. The three men walked toward them with guns raised. Poly moved behind the tree more and that’s when they opened fire on them.

  The motorcycle sound was muffled under the automatic gunfire raining on them. Poly put her face in the dirt and heard the bullets hit the trees and rocks around them. The bullets stopped and the roar of the motorcycle echoed through the forest. It had to be right there. Poly lifted her head to make out the men across the field. They pointed at the street winding out of the forest. Harris popped in and out of view as he crept toward them. He pressed his chest against the gas tank and held both guns out in front of him. Ten feet behind him, a wall of grinners reached for him.

  Harris tucked his body to one side of the motorcycle, shielding himself as he approached the building. The men on the roof and the few that had been shooting at them turned their fire onto the horde. They fell around Harris as he sped up and kept his straight path toward the building. Shots hit the motorcycle, sending sparks around Harris.

  Poly’s heart pounded in her chest, there was no way they were missing him. Was it a suicide mission the whole time? She gripped a handful of dead leaves, fighting her urge to run into the fray to save him. She turned to Lucas, he shook his head.

  Harris launched the motorcycle toward the door of the building as he jumped off and let it ghost into the door, crashing and breaking it open. His momentum slid him along the ground as gunshots popped puffs of dirt around him. He hit the side of the building and ran along the edge, hugging his body against the wall, leaving a smear of blood as he did. He disappeared around the corner.

  She hadn’t looked at the grinner horde in its entirety, until that moment. She gasped at the mass of them staggering to the building. Many fell under the automatic gunfire, but many made it to the building and its open door. They flooded into the door under heavy machine gun fire. Her gaze followed the path of grinners leading down the road. It looked as if a grinner stadium had let out.

  “You seeing this?” Lucas clapped excitedly.

  With mouth open, she watched the men in black fire into the horde, stepping back in formation. They no longer looked in their direction. The men on the roof fired into the crowd, but it did little to stop them from flooding into the building. A man on the roof threw a canister and it exploded in a fire ball, sending grinners flying into the air. Some got up, on fire, and ran into the building. She looked away as a wave of grinners fell on the men that were once coming for them. She heard their screams over the gunfire.

  Smoke started to trickle from the open door, and after a minute, it bellowed out. The muffled sound of gunfire in the building came out of the door, as grinners piled into it. On the roof, a man kicked open the door, turned, shot grinners behind the door and slammed it closed. Poly could make out the R7 on his chest—a seven? Great. His long, bleach-blond hair dangled just past his shoulders.

  The seven grabbed a man by the shirt and shook him, pointing in Poly’s direction. Poly watched as the rank seven threw the man over the wall and took his rifle. He pointed it at Poly and she rolled toward Lucas. The bullet hit the ground where she had been laying. She kept rolling, bullets hitting the ground, until she rolled into Julie, behind Lucas and the tree.

  “It’s a seven up there,” Poly said breathing hard.

  “He looks pissed,” Lucas said, and the tree next to his face exploded out from a bullet. Moving behind the tree, he brushed the bark off his face.

  Poly lay in the thick, dead leaves, unable to move in either direction without exposing herself. She looked at her feet and saw Hank lying on the ground behind her. Lucas stood against the tree with his bow in hand.

  “We’re pinned,” Julie said.

  “I see flames, the building is on fire,” Lucas said.

  Good, let them all burn. She heard a growl close by, a grinner ran at her. The knife left her hand and struck the woman in a jogging suit in the eye, and she fell to the ground. Another came up behind it and Lucas fired an arrow into its head.

  Poly moved and a bullet hit close to her shoulder.

  “That seven has us in his scope,” Lucas said.

  “Julie, see if he has a shield, something you can hack.”

  Julie’s face lit up and she pulled her Panavice out of her pocket. Her eye’s narrowed, fingers flying across the screen.

  “Yep, he has a shield,” Julie said.

  “Can you hack it?” Poly asked.

  “Yes, it’s similar to Simon’s.”

  A pair of grinners spotted them and ran in their direction.

  “I’ll get the left,” Lucas said. He shot an arrow and she flicked her hand, sending the knife into the man’s pajamas.

  “The roof’s on fire, that seven is about to go down.” Lucas’s voice raised in excitement. “Wait, he’s firing into the grinners below him—he just threw his gun down.”

  Poly crawled next to Lucas’s feet, peering over the root in front of her, she saw the top of the building. She took in a quick breath at the sight. The MM men huddled into a corner of the roof that wasn’t on fire, shooting down into the grinners below. She felt for the men; burned or dinner, were their choices.

  Seven grabbed a man by the back of his pants and tossed him over the wall into the grinners below. He moved to the next man and did the same, the last man turned and fired at him, Poly heard the ricochet off his body shield. The seven grabbed the man by his shirt and threw him over the wall.

  The grinners piled on the fresh meat, fighting for a feeding spot. Seven jumped off the wall, landing on the head of a grinner, smashing it into the ground.

  He pulled out two hand guns from his side and fired into the grinners in front of him, killing ten, but more swarmed. Poly made eye contact with him and he raised his gun at her, but a grinner grabbed his arm, biting it. The seven shot it in the head. Poly expected his arm to be torn, but it didn’t have a mark on it. More grinners surrounded him and he knelt down, letting them pile on him.

  “What’s he doing?” Lucas asked.

  “Julie, get that shield down!” She’d seen Simon do the same thing to their parents.

  “Trying, one more minute,” Julie said, never looking away from her screen. />
  Poly stared at the pile of grinners on top of the seven. She thought about when their parents piled on Simon.

  An explosion boomed under the grinner pile. The grinners on top of the seven flew in all directions, some in pieces. The blond-haired man stood, and looked at Poly with a smirk. More grinners moved toward him, but he shot them and kept moving in their direction.

  “Julie?” Poly said. He was close enough for Poly to see the cold determination on the man’s face. He wasn’t going to stop until they were all dead.

  “Almost. . . .” Julie said. Sweat beaded on her forehead. “There, it’s down,” Julie said looking up.

  Seven still walked toward them, he fired into the closest grinners. Poly heard the click of his gun, out of bullets. He tossed the gun on the ground.

  “Lucas, hit him,” Poly said.

  Lucas pulled his bow back and the arrow flew at Seven. He moved his torso and dodged the arrow. Lucas shot again and he ducked under the arrow. A grinner jumped on Seven’s back and bit the back of his neck.

  Shock covered his face. He leaned forward and tossed the thing on his back to the ground. He pulled out a knife and stabbed it in the head. He reached back, touched his neck and looked at his bloody hand. His face filled with rage and fear, as he turned his attention to the grinners surrounding him.

  He swung his knife at a woman lunging at his face. He sliced through the grinners as they reached for purchase on his body. Poly shook her head, the man had skill, but he couldn’t kill them all. Grinner’s bodies piled around him as he swung his blade madly. Two grinners replaced each grinner he killed. The ones that were gorging on the fallen had left their meals for a fresh, active one.

  “You got a shot?” Poly asked.

  “Yeah, but man, it doesn’t feel right,” Lucas said, holding his bow low with arrow in hand. She knew how he felt, she felt the same kind of pity for the man. He raised his bow, pulled the string back and let it go. The bow vibrated with a twang. Poly watched with a heavy heart as the arrow flew toward Seven.

  He must have heard the twang and ducked right before it struck him. The distraction was enough time for a grinner to fall on him, biting his arm. He stabbed at it, but they locked onto him as more joined in. He stumbled backward and made eye contact with Poly for a second before falling on his back as the grinners piled on him.