“I’m not through with these clowns.” Tobias said as he taunted the undead. “Hey sis, grab my machete and let me spike a few of these things. I’m not done shopping yet.”
“Doesn’t count as battle kills.” Swan said as she gathered her wolves and started for the back entrance.
There was no response. He spun and looked for Analise.
“Where’s my sister?” He asked.
Everyone stopped their preparations and looked at Daisy who was looking back at them. She was sniffing the air. She was looking for her cub, too.
“Where’s my sister?” Tobias roared.
“She didn’t make it.” Kodiak answered. “She was on the far side of the store, in the shoe department. We need to get out of here, she must have went out the back door in the warehouse.”
“We’ll find her.” Harper said. “She’s probably wondering what’s taking us so long.”
Tobias slammed his axe into the shelves full of yard gnomes and raged. “Open the gate!”
“Don’t be an idiot.” Swan said. “We can’t go through them. There’s too many. We’ll check the back exit.”
“What if she’s not there?” Tobias yelled. “What if she’s somewhere inside?”
His mind wasn’t working right, he couldn’t think. He’d never been without her and didn’t know what he would do if she was gone.
If she was bit.
If she was at the back of the horde with blackened eyes and screaming for his blood.
“If she’s not there, Vanessa and Ziggy will draw them off through the front and we’ll check every inch of this store. We’ll find her brother. I swear it.” Kodiak said through gritted teeth. “She’s too smart to get bit, you know this.”
“That’s right.” Harper said. “She’s found a spot to hide or she’s made it outside. We’re wasting time. Time she doesn’t have. We’ve gotta move.”
“Then let’s go.” Tobias said, sprung up into his saddle and headed for the exit doors.
21
Analise
Analise slammed against the double doors to the warehouse part of the store and bounced off of them. They were blocked from the other side. She caught her balance and swung wildly with the lug wrench, implanted it in the head of a man in coveralls. He went down but others were right behind him. More were coming straight down the aisle at her, and a few more from the other side. They were following the keens of the undead who had cornered their prey and were about to eat. Analise drew her machetes, threw her back against the doors and didn’t think about the odds. They were coming and she was ready. The first of the undead launched himself, black eyes wide, arms reaching, mouth hungry. She swung both blades with all the force she could muster and split his head into three pieces. She stepped aside and let his momentum splash their contents all over the wall. Two women dove for her, slammed her hard and forced the air from her chest. Yellowing teeth snapped at her face but found leather from her bracers. She slammed the heavy handle of the machete against the side of her head and felt the other one trying to burrow into her belly. Her boiled leather cuirass stopped the teeth but jagged fingernails raked at the binding and searched for skin. Another man jumped from the top of the shelves, mouth wide and screaming and suddenly she found herself falling backward. The doors flew open and she landed on her back. A man was there and swinging a thick bicycle chain. Analise fought to keep the undead away from her face, her most vulnerable spot. The rest of her was protected with leather unless they got lucky and tore into weak spots at the joints. The man roared and the chain ripped into the undead flesh. Bones broke and chunks of heads disintegrated into a black and yellow bloody mist. More were coming, they heard the desperate sounds of battle over the shrieking and keening at the gate.
“Go!” the man yelled and tore the thing biting at her leg off and shoved it away. “GO!”
Analise rolled to her knees and scrambled into the darkness. She’d lost her machetes in the melee.
“Follow me!” The man shouted and grabbed her hand, pulled her into the black of the warehouse. They undead came screaming after them but he dodged through obstacles and jerked her through ropes strung between shelves.
“Careful.” He whispered after they’d made a few lefts and rights down different rows. “You have to follow the path, I set booby traps.”
The rain beat down on the tin roof drowning out their quiet sounds. Behind them they heard the snarls and cries of the undead, the crashing and clattering of things being pulled off shelves by trip wires. Heavy things from the sounds of it. Dumbbells and microwaves. They climbed up two levels at a dead-end aisle, over to the next and dropped down. Her eyes were adjusting to the blackness and she could make out shapes.
“Thanks, mister.” Analise whispered. “I’m glad you were there, I thought I was a goner.”
Steven didn’t answer, he wasn’t sure why he risked everything to help a stranger. He could have been killed. He led her deeper through the maze and towards the back door. Now he’d have to run again. If she told anyone about him, they’d come hunting. From the office he’d seen her running for the rear exit and acted immediately. He didn’t think. He tore out the door and flew down the metal staircase, his feet barely touching the steps. He had pushed a riding lawnmower against the doors to jam them closed since the front of the store was wide open. He didn’t want any uninvited guests wandering around while he was sleeping on the managers’ couch. She wouldn’t be able to get through. She’d be torn apart. He didn’t know how he moved so fast, acted so quickly or tossed the mower aside like it weighed nothing. He had caused the death of one girl; he wasn’t going to be the reason another was killed. He tore open the doors as he reached for his gun but grabbed an empty holster. It was on the desk upstairs; he’d been cleaning it when he’d heard the kids come in. Somehow he’d got her out and hadn’t gotten bit. At least he didn’t think he had, he’d have to check. Everything happened so fast.
“Are you bit?” he asked, suddenly concerned about her turning.
“No, I don’t think so. My armor is thick.”
“Okay.” He said. “A few more turns and we’ll be at the back door.”
“What about you?” she asked. “You okay.”
The man wasn’t wearing any kind of armor, just a plain red T-shirt.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He said a little moodily.
Now that the adrenaline was wearing off he asked himself again why he’d risked everything for a stranger. It wasn’t like him to act like a hero. Maybe the scales were even now, maybe he couldn’t stop running but at least his conscience would ease a little.
“When you go out, take a left.” He said. “Your friends are down at the end, by the garden center.”
“What about you?” Analise asked forcing her nerves to calm.
She was breathing hard but the panic was subsiding. Adrenaline still coursed through her veins but she was already relaxing. She pulled her backup dagger from its sheath and felt a little better with the weapon in her hand.
During training Donny had told them something he’d read from a great Sensei. Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered. Those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. It was hard advice to follow, to swallow all fear.
Steven took a minute to listen at the door before replying but it was difficult to hear anything over the pounding rain.
“I’m going to get my gear.” He finally said. “They’ll never make it through the maze before I get back upstairs. Go on, get out of here.”
“Thanks again, mister.” She said as she pushed open the door leading to the alley that ran behind the store.
Dumpsters, unused shelving units and ratty smoke break chairs lined the back walls of the various businesses. The other side was heavily wooded and bales of cardboard from the compactor were stacked along the curb waiting to be picked up and hauled off to the recycling center.
A waterlogged undead thing turned at the sound of her voice and jumped the twenty feet between them in
two leaps. Analise saw it and reacted but not fast enough. She tried to slam the door closed again but lost her grip on the rain slicked handle. The thing shrieked and crashed into the edge of it in the middle of a leap. She thought she heard a collar bone break but it didn’t slow, it sprang at her as she backpedaled into the store. The bearded man ran back to help but she plunged her dagger into the top of its forehead when the thing jumped for her neck. He reached for the door but its legs blocked the opening and others were sprinting down the rain-soaked alley straight for them. He panicked and started slamming the door against the twitching legs as Analise tried to drag it out of the way. There were keens and crashes behind him as a shelf toppled and he heard the hunger cry of the zombies coming fast. They had bypassed his maze, had plowed right through it.
“We’ve got to get out!” Analise yelled over the din of screams, booming thunder and the torrential downpour pounding on the roof.
Steven glanced over his shoulder, saw the horde tearing though the tumbled boxes and shelves and shoved the door wide open. He’d take his chances with the two or three in the alley.
The door slammed open, bounced off its hinges and into the undead as they started streaming out. They ran, him towards his truck hidden behind one of the industrial buildings, her toward her tribe. They weren’t thinking, the panic was back and in full force. Most of them were coming after her. She couldn’t outrun them, they were too fast. She couldn’t outsmart them, there was nothing clever she could do in the alley. She couldn’t hide, they were only a few feet behind her. She pumped her arms, ran as hard as she could and looked for a ladder up to the roof. Maybe, if she was lucky, she could swing up and out of their reach but she didn’t see one. The rain was coming down harder and she heard the rush of running water through the woods behind the soaking bales of cardboard. She darted up a bale, jumped higher to the next and hoped it would slow them down. One grabbed her backpack and she let it slip from her shoulders. She could smell its rancid stench, hear its clacking teeth as it bit at her. The horde only fought over the pack for a few seconds but that was long enough. She jumped from the top bale, nearly twelve-foot-high, and into the woods. She landed hard and her ankle bent wrong. The tightly buckled boots were the only thing that saved it from breaking.
She bit back the cry of pain, let herself fall and rolled to her feet. It hurt but she didn’t let it slow her. She dove into the woods, slapped wet branches out of her face and tried to make a big arc towards the end of the strip mall. Back to the where they would be making their escape. Back to the tribe. Together they would get away and if they had to kill them all one by one so they could get back inside to get Daisy, they’d do it. Together they were strong.
The undead were coming fast, if they broke bones diving off the top of the bales it didn’t seem to slow them down. They reached for her, she didn’t have time to plan anything, any slick moves, and she ran for her life. She ran to stay away from their grasping fingers. She pushed herself harder, ignored the stabbing pain every time her right foot hit the soggy ground. The branches clawed at her wildly flowing hair and the grunts and cries of the undead seemed to surround her. She dodged the trees, ducked under low branches and poured every last ounce of strength she had into a final sprint. She could see a river, swollen and muddy just ahead and knew it was the only way out. Something stinking, cold and slimy grabbed at her arm and she swung the dagger at it. The rain poured off the undead face as she plunged the blade into its eye. It quivered and let go but another slammed into her, drove her into the muddy ground. She was so close, only yards away from the safety of the water and she tried to roll towards it while fighting off the thing gnashing at her. Another one piled on then was just as quickly torn away. The bearded man was back and ripping them off her with his bare, bloody hands. He kicked at one with its filthy mouth clamped on her arm. She heard the jaw bone break and one of its eyes popped from the impact as the side of its head caved in. He snatched her to her feet and pointed at the water. Thunder boomed and lightning danced across the sky. Another one was coming, dragging itself through the underbrush, its broken legs useless. Its black eyes never left her as it crawled through the mud. They heard more, heard their screams of hunger and she grabbed his hand to pull him to the water.
“I can’t swim!” he yelled over the driving rain.
“I can!” she yelled back and kept pulling. “I’ll help you!”
He shook his head and pointed to a wound in his shoulder that was pouring blood. The rain washed it away so fast she hadn’t noticed it against the red of his t-shirt.
“I only came back to make sure you got away.” He shouted over the thunder. “Tell them it was an accident! Tell them I was a good man and tell them I’m sorry.”
“Tell who? I don’t know your name!” Analise yelled as he pushed her towards the river. “What’s your name?”
If he said, she didn’t hear. He shoved her hard then turned to kill as many of the undead as he could before they ripped him apart.
She plunged into a raging current that threatened to overflow its banks and went deep. She swam for the surface as the force of the flooded river gripped her and whisked her downstream. She fought for air and kept getting shoved below the choppy surface. Branches and logs slammed into her, pummeled her from every direction.
Analise was a strong swimmer but the current was relentless and her new boots were dragging her down. She tried to find bottom and kick off towards shore but there was nothing but turmoil and watery chaos. Something snagged in her hair and pulled her downstream. She didn’t know if it was a grasping hand or an errant tree branch and fought it, tried to bash it with her fists. Something hit her in the head and she saw stars, gasped and sucked half a lungful of water. The coughing came and she fought for the surface. She was going to suck in more water, she had no choice, and she was out of air.
She broke the surface and instantly felt a stabbing pain in her shoulder as a sharp branch on a massive log impaled her. She couldn’t even cry out from the gash in her skin, she was coughing too hard, trying to clear the water from her lungs. She pushed away from the branch that stabbed her, wrapped her arms around the log and held on. The rains came down harder and she didn’t have a survival plan. She didn’t think about getting back to the tribe or the ache in her arm or the throbbing of her ankle. Her chest hurt from coughing so hard her vision turned black and she was so tired. The shore looked miles away and she didn’t have the strength to swim to it. She held on, tried to keep her head above water and rode the log down the raging river.
22
Tobias
Tobias stared at the river in front of them. The current was chaotic and was filled with branches, garbage and colorful plastic toys snatched from backyards. He watched as it dashed against the submerged rocks and threw up froths of white spray.
“It’s too swift, Tobias. Don’t do it.” Vanessa cautioned as Ziggy danced around, ever watchful for more of the stinking creatures. It was almost full dark now, a dangerous time to be outside.
The pale boy ignored her. Daisy let out a sorrowful moan. Her cub was missing and there was no more scent to follow. It ended at the banks of the muddy river.
They had checked the alley first but there was no sign of her so they spent the next hour clearing the store. Tobias and Harper went back inside to kill as many as they could through the steel gate while Vanessa and Kodiak quietly set up kill boxes with shopping carts. They split the attention of the horde and slowly whittled down their numbers while Donny started searching the store. He didn’t find her and the rest of them looked for her in the crowd of undead as they killed their way through them. The work was exhausting, it was worse than chopping wood because the wood didn’t fight back and try to kill you. They checked the bodies again but there wasn’t a white-haired girl with pale blue eyes and tattoo covered skin. With flashlights they double checked the chaos in the warehouse. They found her machetes at the entrance and zombies they hadn’t killed. The storage area was in shambles. The
undead had torn through it, knocked over shelves and the back door was standing open. They found more undead and knew she’d lived to make it this far. Daisy caught the smell of her backpack and they found it in the mud behind a stack of cardboard bales.
The tribe called her name and spread out to search for any signs of her. She might have climbed a tree. She might be safe and sound but surrounded. The zombies that had chased her through the store and into the woods came screaming for them. Tobias was still in a rage, slid off the back of Popsicle and met them head on. He needed to kill, to spend his fury, to destroy the things that had taken his sister. There were only a handful of them and he dove in, drove his axe in to faces with powerful double-handed swings. The polar bear fought beside him but it was over almost before it started. The rains had tapered off for a while but they were starting up again, streaking the gore and blood that splashed the pale boy’s armor.
They followed the back trail and came to the edge of the river, already well over its banks and steadily rising. Another undead thing hissed and dragged its way towards them. It hadn’t been dead for long, the skin was barely mottled but it had been chewed up by a horde. It was wearing the tattered remains of a red shirt and its intestines were caught on a tree root. Most of its legs had been chewed away and it struggled towards them on gnawed arms. Its black eyes shone in its bearded face as it bit the air, hungering for their fresh blood. Donny plunged a spear through its head and joined the others at the edge of the river.
“She went in here.” Tobias said. “She hasn’t been bit; she was still trying to get away from them. She’s a good swimmer, she’s ok, but she may be on the other side.”
“We’ll find her.” Swan said. “She’s probably downstream a little way.”
“I’ll search the other shoreline.” Tobias said and swung up into the saddle.
The Feral Children [A Zombie Road Tale] Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 67
