Christoph smirked. “You do know she’s a lesbian, right?”
“Well, that would explain a few things in bed.”
“Zara wants you to pay for Lyssa’s attack. It was vile,” Christoph said.
“I’m not arguing the point. It was.”
The family hadn’t just been killed. They’d been propped into obscene poses together against the wall. Above their heads, a message had been written in their blood, too.
Have fun fucking my boyfriend Randy you fucking bitch you’re both fucking dead.
Of course, Randy found out about it after the punch that broke his nose.
“You know where she is?” Christoph asked.
Randy nodded. “I can take a party there but I need to speak with her first. Promise me I can talk with her.”
Christoph sighed and looked across the rooftops of the other buildings in the area. Randy didn’t know if the old man was stalling or looking for something.
“What would you do if you were in my shoes?” Christoph asked.
“I’d let me go and straighten this out.”
Christoph shook his head. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
“Soul of a woman was created below,” Randy said.
Christoph grinned. “Led Zep. Nice.”
“Please let me go,” Randy said. “She’s pissed at me. I guess she thinks I cheated on her, but she told me to leave.”
“You lied to me about knowing where she was.”
Randy looked away. “I had to. If I told you, maybe you’d go after her and more people would die. I was hoping she had disappeared or stayed in her little world and forgot about me and this warehouse.”
“I can’t let you go alone. I’m not sure you should go at all. If I put it to a vote, everyone would want to kill you. You’ve led her to us,” Christoph said.
“Bullshit. She was killing you long before I got to Harrisburg. You pissed off the crazy bitch and I had nothing to do with it. I might’ve added fuel to the fire but it was Zara who kidnapped me. I didn’t come here of my own free will, but, now that I’m here, I want to make the most of it,” Randy said.
“Do you really think you can get her to leave us alone? We can’t afford to lose anyone else. I thought the zombies were the real problem,” Christoph said.
Randy nodded. “I can get her to stop.”
“And if she tells you she won’t? She doesn’t seem like the kind of woman who will roll over, from what you’ve said. What if she doesn’t want to stop killing us?”
“Then we cross that bridge when we get to it,” Randy said, knowing he might very well be the one to force her to stop with a bullet. He didn’t want to do it but Lyssa might not be giving out choices this week.
“Right now you have an even bigger problem,” Christoph said. He began coughing into his hand.
Randy turned. Zara was making her way across the roof with her two goons in tow. Holly was grinning as she watched Zara approach Randy.
“Let me get this straight: this cowardly bitch knows where she is and forgot to tell us?” Zara asked but, before anyone could answer, her handgun was out and pressed against Randy’s head.
“Put the gun down,” Christoph said between coughs.
“I can’t think of a good reason to right now.” Zara pushed the gun, forcing Randy to bend his body. Was she really crazy enough to pull the trigger? Were all women left the craziest of the crazies?
Randy was sweating. “I’m trying to help.”
“But you weren’t trying to help when you got here,” Zara said.
“I was forced to come here, by you, remember? I didn’t want this. She was going to stop hunting you,” Randy lied. He had nothing to lose but his life at this point and needed to talk his way out of this. “She was going to leave. Head back to Iowa or wherever it was she came from. Then you took me and she must’ve seen it. I thought she was long gone.”
Zara’s hand was shaking and it looked like she was going to cry. She began rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet, the gun tapping against Randy’s temple.
“They were my family. The last remnants of my life before this. I was a nurse. Did you know that?” Zara was crying now.
“Then you swore an oath to protect people,” Randy said, hoping it wasn’t just doctors who had to do that. He needed to plead with Zara to put the gun down without getting too cheesy and pissing her off.
“I am protecting people… the people in this warehouse. Not an outsider like you. Your girlfriend needs to die. Plain and simple. You either get out of the way or a stray bullet ends up in you. Understand me?” Zara wiped her eyes with her free hand and Randy knew she was turning her sadness into anger, the pain glazing over her eyes. She was going to kill him.
“I want to be one of these people. I like it here. I like you, despite holding a gun to my head. I like Holly. This is where I belong. We can never live in peace unless I go and talk to Lyssa and convince her to leave us alone. She and I were never boyfriend and girlfriend. I only knew her a few weeks and hung out twice, maybe. Nothing real at all,” Randy said.
“I don’t trust you,” Zara said.
Christoph slowly moved up his hand. “Zara, put the gun down. Randy is not the enemy. We can’t go around executing people. This isn’t the way and you know it.”
“I’m going to kill this traitor,” Zara said quietly.
Randy wanted to move, dodge to his left and strike at Zara. Knock the gun away and punch her in the face. Maybe drop her off the roof if he had to. Do something. Instead, he just stared into her hating eyes.
The first indication something had changed was the confused look from Zara as she slowly turned her head to her left.
“Don’t move another muscle. I will pull this trigger without a second thought, bitch. Put the gun in the air and pass it back. Real slow. I am not playing. Don’t try me,” Holly said. She had a handgun jammed against Zara’s head.
Zara must’ve known Holly wasn’t playing around because she handed over the weapon immediately and stepped back when Holly got between Zara and Randy.
“This isn’t over,” Zara said quietly, staring only at Randy.
“It is done, Zara. Go and cool off before you split our ranks in two,” Christoph said.
“I’ll go with him to see his old girlfriend,” Holly said.
Christoph was staring at Randy and a flicker of a grin crossed his lips.
Randy knew the old man could see how uncomfortable he was right now. Randy couldn’t imagine Lyssa and Holly going to toe to toe and him in the middle.
Chapter Sixteen
The music was loud and woke Randy up. He rolled over and searched for a light in the darkness of the room, confused as to where he was.
The door opened and Holly stepped inside with a flashlight.
“Your girlfriend is fucking with us,” Holly said.
“I thought you were my girlfriend.”
“I don’t even like you. Get dressed. We were breached and a stream of zombies is in the compound. I can’t wait to meet Lyssa,” Holly said.
It had been nearly two weeks since the confrontation on the roof and Christoph hadn’t made a decision about Randy and Holly leaving to talk to Lyssa.
Zara had taken a large group out to scavenge in Harrisburg and encountered nothing but zombies. There had been no Lyssa sightings. Randy hoped she’d killed Zara’s zombie family and moved on or was staying in her haven outside of town.
Now Randy knew it was all wishful thinking.
“Why is the music on and so loud?” Randy yelled.
“Bitch broke in and turned on the PA system, which was never unhooked from the generators. There are speakers in the yard and its calling every zombie in town to us. She’s good,” Holly said.
It was a Celine Dion song. Randy wished it wasn’t because it would be his musical earworm for the next year, and, since he couldn’t turn on the radio and the music he owned was in the car the redhead stole, he was at its mercy.
&n
bsp; “Can’t someone turn it off?” Randy asked as he got dressed.
“They think she’s locked herself inside the main office but I know she’s long gone. Why would she stay? She was able to sneak right in.” Holly led Randy to a room down the hall. “I’m giving you a rifle. I’m going to trust you not to do anything stupid with it.”
Randy nodded.
The pair was running into the main part of the warehouse, joining everyone else.
Christoph was yelling at everyone but his words were lost in the sheer volume of the music.
Randy looked up at the office just as Zara, with her two goons close behind, kicked in the door and fired two shots. The music went out.
“Clear,” Zara yelled as she turned to everyone.
Randy knew Lyssa hadn’t been inside because Zara would’ve paraded her dead body out for him to see after shooting her. She’d shot the PA system.
“We’re under attack and you’re all worried about loud music,” Christoph yelled; his voice hoarse from shouting. “Go. Defend the compound.”
Randy followed Holly out and he could hear the gunshots. They rounded the corner of the building to see half a dozen people shooting dozens of zombies shambling across the side parking lot. The fence had been ripped apart in two spots and the gap was huge.
More zombies, drawn at first to the music and now the shooting, were coming from all sides. Some were pressed against the fences but they were slowly being pushed to the breach, by sheer numbers, and entering.
Holly turned to Randy. “You do know Zara is going to kill you when this is all over, right?”
“I had nothing to do with it,” Randy said. He knew it didn’t matter to Zara. He was the ultimate scapegoat in this. He’d led Lyssa right to them, even though it wasn’t really the case, and somehow he’d betrayed everyone.
From the looks he was getting, he knew Zara wasn’t the only person who thought so, either. Once the shooting stopped and the fence was closed, he’d be taken out by a firing squad or an old fashioned lynching. No matter what, Randy wasn’t going to survive.
“You have two choices: try to slip out in the confusion and never come back, or put a bullet in Zara’s head before she kills you,” Holly said.
“Even if I kill Zara, I’m still going to be murdered by everyone else,” Randy said.
Holly shrugged. “It will be the satisfaction you killed her before she could kill you. If you run away, everyone will come after you once the dust clears. You’ll definitely look guilty.”
“Maybe I can talk to Christoph,” Randy said. The old man wasn’t a bad guy, but his power was waning like his physical strength. This breach could be the excuse for Zara to not only kill Randy but take out Christoph and become their leader.
Lyssa had really fucked him this time.
“What about you?” Randy asked.
“What about me? I’m staying no matter what happens. I like safety in numbers. If you escape, so be it. I won’t help you but I won’t stand in your way,” Holly said.
“And, if I stay, you won’t stop them from killing me.”
Holly shook her head. “Nothing personal, but I’m in this for me. I just hope they’ll let me fuck you one more time so I can get pregnant.”
She wasn’t kidding and Randy wondered again if every woman left had a screw loose. He turned and watched as the zombies advanced.
This was the crossroads for him. Step up and be a man, and stand shoulder to shoulder with his fellow survivors against the zombies and hope he is heroic enough some would vouch for him to live…
Randy checked the rifle to make sure it was loaded. Even after all this time, weapons were still foreign to him and he preferred not to fight if possible.
Holly nodded at Randy before setting her own weapon and joining the line of fighters, who were trying to keep the zombies at bay. As each zombie was shot and dropped to the ground, two more took its place.
Randy could see Zara leading a group of six to the left of the breach, firing at everything in their path. The last two members of the team were carrying tools and dragging a large piece of chain-link fencing.
The line of fighters must’ve picked up on the plan because they began firing on that side, trying to thin the zombies down to manageable numbers.
Randy lifted the rifle and took aim. He shot and killed a zombie no more than six feet in front of where Zara was walking.
He looked through the sight to see Zara up close, her face set in a grim mask of anger as she cut through the zombies in her way. She stopped and let the rest of her group pass her while she reloaded her rifle.
Randy watched Zara, the cross-hairs on her face.
The tiniest bit of pressure on the trigger would end Zara. The shot would be lost in the cacophony of sound from the firing all around him, and no one would know it was Randy who’d done it.
The group was too close to the action now. Anyone standing on this side could’ve had a stray bullet kill her. A bad shot and it would be done and who could say who pulled the trigger? It wasn’t like they had anyone to test for where the bullet came from. No one could set up a forensics lab and point a finger at Randy.
He’d play dumb. He was firing like everyone else, in the direction of everyone else.
Zara was part of the problem in this new world. She needed to die, even if it meant longer for the fence to be repaired.
Already, the team had gotten to the fence and was firing at the zombies on the other side to clear it. The men with the new fence were unrolling it, attaching one end to the nearest pole. They might be able to do it.
Zara was on the move, stepping into the gap and firing until she ran out of ammo. She used the rifle as a club now, keeping the zombies back.
Randy put the rifle down to his side.
It would be so easy to lift it and fire, he thought.
He turned to see Holly staring at him. She looked pissed.
“I’m sorry. I can’t do it,” Randy yelled. He dropped the rifle on the ground and ran away like he always did, wondering if Holly would shoot him in the back for being such a chicken.
Chapter Seventeen
It had been a long two days dodging zombies and two vehicles driving slowly down the highway. Randy didn’t know if it was Zara or anyone from the warehouse and he wasn’t going to chance a look and get caught.
He’d gone the wrong way when he’d gotten into the area but finally located the gate to the development. It was simple to scale the wall, although, he didn’t know how easy the rest of this was going to be.
If Lyssa was here, she’d probably kill him before they could talk. She was even more of a wild card than he’d thought.
What could he even say to her? I know you tried to kill me and everyone else at the warehouse. Please stop?
Randy kept to the overgrown lawns, watching as he got closer to the home she stayed in. If he saw any sign of movement, he could drop to his stomach in the weeds.
If Lyssa had stayed behind to assess the damage she caused or was holed up in one of her hideaways until she could attack again, he didn’t care right now. He was really hoping she hadn’t abandoned this safe haven and there was food and water to eat and drink.
In the last two days, Lyssa might’ve already killed everyone in the warehouse. What if the zombie breach was never fixed? All of those people were now undead.
Randy stopped as the house came into sight. What if Lyssa wanted to kill Randy now? If it came down to a firefight between the two or he was in a position to kill her first, he didn’t think he could do it. No way. He’d proven how much of a chicken-shit he already was and he wasn’t going to change. No epiphany for Randy and no changing stripes on this cowardly tiger. Randy laughed at the stupid analogy in his head.
He decided a frontal assault would get a bullet between the eyes, so he went to the neighbor’s property and through the backyard.
Two snakes greeted him and Randy almost screamed like a little girl. Without the annoyance of people, the wildlife was ta
king back their land.
Randy remembered seeing a movie about the apocalypse years ago, where a guy was wandering through New York City and there was tall weeds and maybe even corn growing. A lion was chasing gazelles like it was a normal thing in Times Square.
I imagine it really is in Times Square right now, Randy thought. The world was a different place and it didn’t take that long to get here, either.
Even if every zombie rotted away to dust, the damage had been done. People would go on killing other people for their shit, until only one lonely bastard was left with a pile of worthless garbage to sit on. King of the Shit.
Randy crawled through the grass in Lyssa’s yard, watching for snakes and anything else nasty. When he got about halfway across, he stopped and waited.
The sounds of birds and bugs greeted him. He still remembered the normal sounds of his own neighborhood: old men mowing lawns, young kids playing kickball, music playing in garages as cars were washed, and calls for lunch and dinner from moms on the front porch. He missed his life. His videogames and his stuff.
Nothing moved inside the house, but only a couple of the blinds were up where he could see. The kitchen and maybe the laundry room, he thought. He didn’t remember. He was more interested in the food and the sex when he was here last. And not in that order.
Taking a chance he’d expose his position and lose surprise if she was inside, Randy ran across the yard and up to the back door.
The back door was locked, which he figured it would be. He checked under the pots and near the chairs for a spare key. Every house had one, right?
His mother had hidden the key under the planter on the side of the garage.
Randy hadn’t thought about his mom in quite awhile. He remembered one of the last conversations he’d had with her before the world turned upside down. She was yelling at him about how dirty his room was and he’d have to do his own laundry from now on. He was in his twenties and needed to get a job and do something other than play videogames and drink beer.
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