Dead America | Book 1 | Lowcountry [Part 1]

by Slaton, Derek

  He understood what she was getting at and put a hand on Cam’s shoulder. “Hold up a second,” he said. “This isn’t right.”

  He stood up at the back of the boat and let out a loud whistle to get everyone’s attention. “Okay, everyone, listen up!” he bellowed. “Those things on the island running around, their bites are infectious. Those injured people are going to turn into those things soon. If you’re smart, you’ll get off this island and get someplace safe.”

  After a brief moment of silence, somebody yelled out from the grass, “Blow it out your ass, Frankenstein!”

  A smattering of laughter rippled through the hotel guests, and Dante parked his ass, turning to Cam and motioning for him to go.

  “Told you they wouldn’t listen to us,” he said apologetically.

  Dante shrugged. “Well, my conscience is clear,” he replied, “which is all I really care about.” He glanced at Bailey, who gave him a thankful smile for doing the right thing.

  Cam pulled the boat out onto the water, leaving the ignorant hotel guests on their own.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Cam guided the boat onto shore, which was more rock than sand. Dante got out and helped pull it up a bit more as the others jumped down to land. When they were all ready, Lily took the lead.

  “It should be just through the woods up here,” she said, and headed through some dense brush.

  They came through the other side to a small lot. There were a dozen cars, but also a few zombies. Dante saw movement and grabbed Lily, pulling her back behind cover. She glared at him for a moment, but then saw what he’d focused on, and realized he’d just saved her ass.

  She gave him a pat on the arm to silently thank him.

  The group watched the zombies milling about. A few of them wore hotel outfits like the three employees hiding in the brush. Dante waved for the group to follow him back a bit so they could talk quietly.

  “Friends of yours?” he whispered.

  Lily shook her head. “Not really, we just know them in passing,” she said.

  “Second shift coming in,” Cam added.

  “Which car is yours?’ Dante asked.

  Lily motioned vaguely. “The sporty yellow one at the far end of the lot, sitting by itself so nobody scratches it up.”

  “God, are we all going to fit in that thing?” Cam moaned.

  She smirked. “You may have to sit in Phillip’s lap,” she teased, “but knowing him, he’ll probably like it.”

  Dane held up his hand. “Does your car have a sunroof?” he asked.

  “Yeah, why?” she replied, brow furrowing in confusion.

  “Because we don’t have weapons,” he explained, “which means we’re going to have to get creative.”

  Bailey swallowed hard. “Dante,” she warned.

  “It is amazing that you just met my sister this morning, and already you have that concerned tone down just like her,” he muttered, chuckling. “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

  “So how do you want to do this?” Lily asked.

  Dante held up his hands, motioning as he spoke. “I’m going to come out running and get on top of a car, pulling all those things my way,” he explained. “As I’m doing that, I want the rest of you to stay in the bushes and get to your car. When you get piled in, open up the sunroof and come pick me up. Just make sure you get close enough for me to make the jump.”

  “I can handle that,” Lily replied, with a firm nod.

  “Here goes nothing,” Dante said with a sigh, and got in position. He waited for the others to work their way around and took a few deep breaths.

  He knew this was far from his best idea. But they had to get out, get safe, and figure out how to get Grace back. He sprinted out from cover, running towards the first car he saw, a large family sedan that looked like it could fit half a dozen people comfortably.

  He jumped up on the trunk, and then effortlessly hopped up onto the roof. He smacked the hood a few times, letting out some whistles and yells, gaining the attention of every zombie in the parking lot.

  “Yeah! Come and get me!” he bellowed.

  As he kept them occupied, Lily led the others through the dense brush to her car. She quickly unlocked the door, and the others piled into the back seat so that Dante would have a place to land. It was tight, but they managed to fit.

  As soon as she started up the car, some of the zombies headed her way. Dante was concerned for a moment, but it subsided as he saw the car moving, his companions safely inside.

  Lily did a few cycles around the lot, trying to peel off a few of the ghouls from where Dante was so she could get close enough for him to make a jump. Finally, on the third pass, she drove in, stopping about six feet from the other car.

  He stepped back as far as he could, took a step and leapt, landing flat on his stomach on the roof of Lily’s bright yellow car. The wind knocked out of him, he gasped for air, but managed to scrabble his way into the passenger seat, head first.

  Once he was inside, Lily punched the gas, kicking up gravel into the faces of the zombies as she left them behind. She sped down the lot, finally hitting pavement before making the turnoff to the main highway.

  She looked both ways, seeing that the way out of town was clear. No mercenaries in sight.

  Dante finally managed to get himself situated in the passenger seat and regain his breath.

  “You gonna make it there, cowboy?” Lily asked, grinning.

  He nodded as he fastened his seatbelt. “Yeah, just a little winded,” he huffed. “Your roof packs quite a punch.”

  She chuckled, petting the steering wheel. “Yeah, my baby is tough,” she cooed.

  They drove out of Bluffton, and there were signs of struggle everywhere. Abandoned blood-stained cars, zombies running through the neighborhoods. As they slowed down to make their way through a wreck, Dante spotted a dozen zombies clustered around a house.

  In the window, a middle-aged man sat, cradling a shotgun. He waved to Dante, who waved back with a sad smile. As much as he wanted to help him, he knew he didn’t have the means to.

  Instead, the group did the only thing they could do. Get to safety in Tillman and figure out what to do next.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  The group drove through Tillman, South Carolina, which was exactly as described. Lily stopped at the stop sign, just to point out that she wasn’t exaggerating.

  “Told you,” she declared, “one stop sign. There’s the gas station slash restaurant slash emergency clinic on the right. And that’s about it.”

  Dante raised an eyebrow. “Emergency clinic?”

  “Don’t let the name fool you,” Lily drawled, rolling her eyes. “It’s just a toothless sixty-year-old named Gator who gives you a shot of whiskey and a bandaid. If you’re pretty, he’ll even give your boo-boo a kiss.”

  Dante touched his face. “Finally, something going my way today.”

  The group chuckled at his self-deprecating humor.

  They drove a mile up the road, making the turn into the lot of a rundown single story brick home. There was a broken-down car on blocks on the far end of the lot, and various car parts scattered about. As she put the car in park, her cousin burst out of the house brandishing an AK-47. He was short but jacked, with a black mullet and insane eyes.

  Lily honked her horn and stuck her head out the window. “Put that thing down, Ace,” she drawled, “nobody is here to rob you.”

  “Lil? Is that you?” he asked, squinting at her as he let his guard down. “What in the hell are you doing here?”

  She got out of the car and put her hands on her hips. “What the fuck do you think I’m doing here?” she scoffed. “The whole world has gone crazy, and you’re all the family I got nearby. Of course I’m coming here.”

  “And you felt like you needed to bring you friends,” he replied dryly, rolling his eyes. “Even better.”

  She pointed a finger at him. “Hey, when you and your dumbass friends got high and needed a place to crash, where d
id they do it at?” she demanded.

  Ace wrinkled his nose, lowering his gaze petulantly. “At your place,” he admitted.

  “And when you and your daddy threw that molotov cocktail at the police car,” Lily continued, “whose basement did you hide in?”

  He toed the dirt beneath his feet like a toddler. “Yours,” he muttered.

  “Goddamn right,” she replied, raising her chin. “Now show some hospitality!”

  Ace strolled up to the group, staying focused on his cousin and then moving down the line of her companions standing with her.

  “To you, absolutely, but what the hell am I supposed to do with a couple of hotel losers…” He paused in front of Bailey, and gave her a wink. “Okay, you’re cute, I can work with that,” he continued, and then stopped in front of Dante, eyes widening. “And holy fuck…” He trailed off, staring intently at the bigger man’s face.

  “Ace!” Lily snapped at her cousin’s ignorance.

  “I mean, Jesus Christ, what the fuck happened to you?” Ace drawled, eyes wide. “Did you lose a fight with a belt sander?” He chuckled to himself.

  Dante stared him down, speaking confidently. “No Ace, I just made the mistake of going down on your sister the other night,” he drawled. “Next time you see her, can you tell her to shave? Because as you can see she really leaves a mark. I mean, I would say you’d see for yourself the next time you fuck her, but you strike me as the type to just pump and dump rather than showing one iota of interest in getting your partner off, you inbred, sister-fucking, backwoods mullet-wearing hillbilly.”

  The silence was so thick, nobody moved an inch. Lily stared at the two men, face pale.

  And then Ace burst out laughing, leaning over and slapping his thighs. “Holy fucking shit, I fucking love this dude!” he bellowed and pointed at his cousin. “Lily, you gotta marry this guy, I need to be related to him. That was fucking gold, man!” He threw an arm around Dante’s shoulders, leading him back towards the house. “Come on, let’s get you a beer, it looks like you could use one.”

  Dante looked back at Lily, bewildered, and she laughed, giving him a thumbs up.

  “Rest of you come on too,” Ace continued over his shoulder, “there’s something you need to see.”

  The group hustled into the house, which was just as much of a crap heap as the outside.

  “Y’all excuse the mess,” Ace called. “If you don’t like it, feel free to sleep on the lawn!” He plopped himself down on the couch and smacked the grimy cushions.

  “What do you want to show us?” Lily asked, taking a seat next to him. The rest of the group took their seats, Bailey perching half on the arm of the couch, looking more than a little uncomfortable at a large stain in the last empty spot.

  “Just give me a second,” Ace replied, pulling up the DVR. He scrolled through a bunch of his recordings, all clearly porn he’d ordered from pay-per-view.

  Lily groaned, shielding her eyes. “Ace, really?” she groaned.

  “Don’t judge,” he said brightly, “internet’s been down this week.” He clicked through several programs, stopping on a wrestling show.

  Lily furrowed her brow, opening her mouth.

  “Just shut your pie hole and watch,” Ace said, flapping a hand at her.

  The intro to the program started, but about forty-five seconds into it, the news came on. It was channel twelve in Bluffton. The female anchor with the big hair was there, along with a snappy-dressed male co-anchor.

  “This shit came on in the middle of the night,” Ace gushed, “totally saw this in the morning and freaked out!”

  Lily shushed him, leaning over and poking the volume button to turn it up.

  “Our top story, reports of rioting in Charleston and Savannah are coming in,” the female anchor was saying. “It appears to be in different parts of both cities, and we have a camera crew on location in north Savannah. Lets go to them now.”

  The feed changed, showing a young female reporter standing in the street. A fire raged behind her, and there were silhouettes of people running amok in the background.

  “As you can see, the situation here is getting tense,” the reporter began, motioning over her shoulder. “Several people are rampaging for no apparent reason, and one local restaurant is currently ablaze. On our way here, we saw several other places like this, and—” She stopped short, looking off screen, and somebody screamed right close to the camera, likely the cameraman himself.

  The view turned as the camera tipped over, hitting the ground and showing their feet. The reporter shrieked and ran towards the fire, several sets of feet chasing after her. The feed turned back to the newsroom.

  “Well, let’s hope she’s okay,” the female anchor continued, as if nothing terrifying were happening, “and we’ll check back in with her later. Now let’s go up to Charleston.”

  Ace hit pause on the DVR. The room was silent, everyone dealing with the idea that this issue was spreading around the region, not just near them.

  “Man, Charleston and Savannah,” Cam finally said, scrubbing his hands down his face. “We’re not going to be able to get away from this, are we?”

  Phillip took a deep breath. “I mean, this stuff can’t be everywhere, can it?” he asked shrilly.

  Dante and Bailey shared a concerned look, both thinking about what the mercenary had said about A-type blood. Before he could speak up, however, Ace leaned forward, hitting fast forward on the newscast.

  “Hate to burst your bubble there bubba,” he drawled, “but we’re all kinds of fucked here.” He hit play on the newsroom again.

  “And now we have some dramatic footage coming in from Austin, Texas,” the female anchor continued, “where it appears as though some sort of major bomb has gone off.”

  The live feed showed huge plumes of smoke coming from downtown, filling the night sky with the glow of flames. The anchor’s voice came through overtop of the video, “We don’t have all the details, but when we do, we will bring them to you. And now—”

  There was a commotion and the feed came back to the newsroom, both anchors looking off screen with panic in their eyes.

  “Oh god, oh god!” she screamed, throwing up her hands, and a zombie practically flew at her, tackling her to the floor. The male anchor scrambled away, but his screams soon filled the space.

  “I think we get the point, Ace,” Lily muttered.

  He quickly turned the TV off. “So yeah,” he said, leaning back and scratching his head. “This stuff is everywhere.”

  “It’s worse than that,” Dante piped up.

  Ace gaped at him. “How in the hell can it be worse than that?!” he demanded.

  “We don’t have proof,” Dante admitted, raising his palms, “just going off of what one of those mercenaries said on the bridge today. The virus targets anyone with the A-blood type. So if you have A-type blood, you turn into one of those things.”

  There was a long pause, and then Phillip asked hoarsely, “How many people have that?”

  “Little less than half the population,” Ace replied. When everyone turned to stare at him in shock, he shrugged sheepishly. “What? They covered it in Basic when I went through it.”

  Bailey blinked at him. “You’re military?” she asked.

  “Kind of…” he trailed off, tilting his hand back and forth in the air. “Dislocated my hip and destroyed my knee six months out of Basic during a training jump.” He slapped his leg for effect. “Military decided it was cheaper for them to cut their losses than keep pouring money into me. So I was discharged. But still, that information stuck.”

  Lily put a hand to her forehead. “Holy fuck,” she breathed, “forty percent of the country are going to become those things?”

  “More, when you factor in bites turning them,” Dante added.

  Ace shook his head. “This shit is going to get real ugly real fast if that’s the case,” he said.

  “Do me a favor,” Dante said, inclining his head towards the TV, “turn it onto
the live feed for channel twelve, will you?”

  The redneck raised an eyebrow. “Why?” he asked. “It's just dead air.”

  “Just humor me, please,” Dante replied.

  Ace shrugged and changed the channel, which still showed an empty studio. “See, nothing,” he said.

  “Check the bottom of the screen,” Dante prompted, and the group, minus Bailey, leaned in to read it.

  “Well I’ll be damned,” Ace breathed. “I guess I should pay closer attention to things.”

  Dante cocked his head. “We could use some help going to go get her,” he said.

  “Whoa now,” the redneck drawled, raising his hands. “You’re cool and all, and I’m a-okay with you crashing at my pad as long as you need to, but there ain’t no way in hell my happy ass is willingly going out there.”

  Dante crossed his arms. “She might have information on what is going on,” he insisted, “and about Theo Atkinson.”

  “Who the fuck is that?” Ace asked.

  “The leader of the mercenary group on the island,” Dante explained, clenching a fist. “His men kidnapped my sister Grace, and another one of our friends, Troy.”

  The redneck shook his head slowly, spreading his arms. “Man, I’m sorry for your loss and all,” he said, eyes sincere, “but I really don’t see how going into Beaufort is gonna help things.”

  Dante glanced at Bailey, and she sat up straight, eyes widening into pleading orbs, pressing her palms together.

  “But my mother and sisters are in Beaufort,” she said, “really close to the station. If you could help us out, I would be awful happy about it.”hThe redneck withered a bit and then looked at his cousin.

  Lily put up her hands. “Don't look at me,” she drawled, “you’re the one trying to puss out in front of a pretty girl.”

  Ace sighed. “Okay, fine, we’ll go into Beaufort,” he said petulantly. “But we ain’t going today. It’s going to be dark soon, and this doesn’t seem like the kind of situation we want to be caught outside in without the sun.”