Deadly Night: Jenni and Katie's Untold Tale: A Short Story From the As The World Dies Universe (As The World Dies Untold Tales Book 4)

by Rhiannon Frater

  “Fuckin’ great,” Shane groused. “Gawddammit.”

  “Keep it down,” Jenni ordered. “We don’t want them coming this way.”

  “I say we keep heading to the gas station,” Juan said. “But get off this street and head to the next one. It’s only a few blocks long and doesn’t connect up to a road heading out of town.”

  “It’s also more likely to be infested because it’s closer to the school that got overrun,” Curtis pointed out.

  “Or we could take the reasonable option and head back to the fort now,” Shane said.

  “It’s going to be hell getting back inside if the herd swarms the wall,” Curtis agreed.

  Juan tilted his head back and exhaled. “We can try to get over the section by city hall. Take a different route back. The zombies will be concentrated near the gate.”

  “I say we head back now,” Curtis said. “We can’t risk staying out here.”

  “We promised we would find those men,” Jenni protested, taking a sharp step toward Curtis.

  “Katie got the woman and the kids in the truck,” Shane said.

  “It’s over,” Curtis replied. “We head back.”

  “No, we can’t!” Jenni poked Curtis’s chest.

  “Loca, calm down,” Juan said, pulling her back toward him.

  “No, we promised.”

  The shrieks from the undead grew in volume, and Jenni’s protests died on her lips. Freezing in place, the small group stared at each other in fear. Curtis again dared to peer out at the road. Instantly, he ducked back, pressing his back to the wall. A quick shake of his head silenced all questions. Motioning with his hand, he indicated they should move to the darkened area near the door. Shane instantly obeyed. Juan followed and tugged Jenni against him. His rough, calloused fingers pressed against her hips, keeping her close.

  The pounding footsteps resonated along the street. Jenni fought to keep her breath steady. It was difficult when her respiration sounded obscenely loud to her own ears. Fingers flexing around the Beretta and crowbar, she readied herself to fight.

  The small pack of runners raced past the store front, their ungodly shrieks filling Jenni with terror. For a second, she flashed on Lloyd and Mikey chasing after the battered white truck on the morning Katie had rescued her. Shivering, she closed her eyes to abolish the image.

  “Six,” Shane counted in a lowered voice.

  Jenni exhaled. “We can take them.”

  Curtis shushed Jenni and Shane, then dared to glance at the road. Leaning toward the group, he whispered, “Slow ones only a few blocks down.”

  The smack of the runners’ feet against road incited the need to kill inside Jenni. They were getting away. She started toward the sidewalk.

  Juan maintained his hold on her. “Hold up, Loca. I say we let them keep running. Who knows what they’re chasing? Probably shadows and moonlight. Let them run.”

  “I say we head back to the fort,” Shane insisted.

  “I agree. It’s getting dicey out here, and we don’t got any fallback positions out this far,” Curtis said, bobbing his head in agreement.

  “But what about those men?” Jenni stared at the group incredulously. “We said we’d find them and take them to the fort.”

  “That crazy bitch and the kids are back at the fort, where we should be, so I say we did our good deed,” Shane retorted. “Let’s call it a night.”

  “Juan, we can’t go back.”

  “Yeah, we can, Jenni. Runners change everything. How many more might be heading this way?” Juan gently brushed her cheek with his fingertips, but she ducked away from him.

  “I don’t break my word.” Jenni started forward, but Juan again dragged her back.

  Bending over, he whispered in her ear, “You can’t save everyone, but save us right now.”

  Spearing him with an angry look, Jenni shrugged his hand off her. “Fine.”

  The three men visibly relaxed, and Jenni realized just how fearful they’d been that she’d run off. Letting the disgust she felt at their refusal to help her radiate out of her gaze, she checked the road herself. There were slow moving zombies several blocks away, and the runners had vanished into the night.

  Jenni slipped out of the entrance and rushed around the corner onto a street that bypassed the fort. Juan and the others followed in her wake. They all moved as quietly as possible and stuck to the shadows. At each alleyway, they hesitated, checked for zombies, then hurried onward.

  Every little noise they made echoed about them. Jenni tried to run on her tip-toes, but her boots still slapped loudly against the red brick road. The sound of gunfire nearby was hopefully diverting the attention of the dead. As she crossed an intersection, Jenni glimpsed the shambling crowd on the parallel street moving in the direction of the fort wall.

  Juan cursed under his breath. “That new wall better fuckin’ hold.”

  The runner erupted out of the abandoned lot behind a string of stores that faced the fort. It was a huge man with powerful arms, and it was on them in seconds. Shrieking, it lunged at Juan. Jenni gasped, but Juan was quick and ducked out of the way while swinging his ax at the zombie’s head. He missed and hit the creature’s shoulder. The zombie tried to seize Juan again, the movement wrenching the ax handle from Juan’s hands.

  “Shit,” Juan gasped, ducking away.

  Realizing the crowbar was useless against someone so much bigger and stronger than her, Jenni raised the Beretta and fired off a shot. The zombie darted toward Shane, the bullet missing. Shane skittered out of the zombie’s way, trying to get distance. Curtis darted behind the zombie and fired at the zombie’s head. Again, the runner was so fast, the bullet punched into its back, not its head.

  “Someone fuckin’ kill it!” Shane shouted while continuing to dodge and scamper out of the grip of the zombie.

  Jenni fired again, missing.

  Shane howled at her in rage. “Bitch, you almost hit me!”

  The runner continued to pursue Shane toward the fort wall. In his haste, Shane stumbled but managed to catch himself before the huge creature grabbed him. Jenni sprinted after the zombie, again attempting to get a good shot. The creature’s movements were jerky and so random that it was impossible.

  The sentry on the wall started shouting, but Jenni couldn’t discern his words. On the other side of the fort came a fresh volley of gunfire, distracting Jenni. The pickup from the fort sat in the middle of the road. The doors were open, and it was abandoned. Hopefully that meant Katie and the others were safely inside.

  “Someone fuckin’ kill it!” Shane shouted.

  The zombie managed to grab the hem of Shane’s jacket, and the man barely squirmed out of it in time. Jerking the empty jacket toward his mouth, the zombie shrieked in frustration. Shane ran along the edge of the wall toward a ladder the guard on duty was lowering.

  Finally finding a clear shot, Curtis, Jenni, and Juan fired at the same time. The marauding zombie tumbled to the ground, its head pulverized. Gasping for breath, Jenni glanced toward the truck half a block away from their location. The area around it was littered with the bodies of zombies. Most of the herd was up against the wall, reaching for the armed people killing them with makeshift spears and firearms.

  Patting her shorts, Jenni realized she only had one spare clip left.

  “Get to the ladder,” Curtis shouted, running ahead of Jenni and Juan.

  “Jenni, c’mon. Before they notice us,” Juan said, gesturing toward the rowdy crowd at the other end of the block.

  “I made a promise,” Jenni said, then turned and darted in the opposite direction.

  “Jenni, no!”

  Not paying any heed to those yelling at her, Jenni ran toward the truck.

  Chapter 7

  -Minutes Earlier-

  Katie braced herself as Travis obeyed her order to “go” and swung the truck around. The slap of the runner’s hand against the passenger window startled her. Out of the corner of her eye was the rabid, snarling face of a zombi
e. The wounds on his face were fresh and still bleeding. Katie glanced at Julie, worried that the man was one of her friends, but the traumatized woman remained mute as she stared at the zombies swarming around the vehicle.

  The pickup accelerated, leaving the undead man and the other runners behind.

  “They’re keeping pace,” Bill exclaimed.

  Katie glanced into the side mirror to see the runners in unwavering pursuit. The interior of the truck stank of rotting flesh, blood, refuse, and vomit, and it took all her willpower not to roll the windows down.

  This was the reality of the new world.

  It was ugly and rank.

  The pack of runners managed to keep pace with the truck for about a half block, then started to drop behind. The illuminated fort ahead was a comforting sight, but the runners were not that far behind.

  “Go faster,” Julie yelled at Travis over the sobbing of the children.

  “I can’t go too fast. We’re nearing the fort.” Travis gripped the steering wheel tightly and intently watched the road.

  “Travis, we need more space between us and them. Once we stop, they’ll be on us in seconds,” Katie said calmly but urgently.

  “I can’t risk a hard stop with Katarina and Felix in the back,” Travis reminded her.

  “Shit,” Katie groused, realizing he was right.

  “We’ll have to fight our way into the fort,” Bill decided. “Got no other choice.”

  Katie acknowledged this truth with a nod of her head. “Okay, this is what we’ll do. Julie, the second we stop, get out. We’ll cover you. Get you and the kids to the ladder. Travis, you help her. Bill, you, me, Felix, and Katarina will have to cover them.”

  “I can help cover,” Travis offered, but he didn’t sound very certain. He was still learning how to shoot a gun and didn’t have the best aim.

  “No, just get them over the wall.” Katie understood his need to help, but he was a risk to the group. “She’ll need help with the little ones.”

  Travis appeared about to protest, but one glance at her grave expression silenced him. “Fine.”

  Bill tugged the small pane open in the rear window and shouted the plan to Katarina and Felix.

  Watching the side mirror, Katie shivered. The pickup’s rear truck lights illuminated the pursuing dead, granting them an even more inhuman appearance in the red glow. Travis attempted to put a little more speed into their escape, but Katie wasn’t sure it was actually going to help. The dead didn’t feel pain or fear. The zombies would relentlessly pursue the living to their own destruction.

  Reaching the final block, Travis was forced to gradually decelerate the vehicle. When he turned the corner instead of pulling up to the gate, the people on the wall scrambled to relocate the ladders they had already placed near the entrance to where Travis was parking the vehicle.

  After rolling to a stop, Travis killed the engine and leaped out of the truck, abandoning it. Katie followed suit and jerked the rear passenger door open. Grabbing Julie’s arm, she hustled the woman around the front of the pickup as Travis collected Parker from Bill. On the wall, the ladders were handed along a chain of people lining the rickety wood walkways set against the interior perimeter.

  As Travis claimed Julie from Katie’s care, he lightly touched Katie’s hand, and she impulsively gripped his fingers for a split second.

  “Be careful,” Travis urged.

  With a half-smile, Katie answered, “Always.”

  Travis nodded once, then escorted Julie to the lowering ladders.

  Katie hurried to the back of the truck to join the others already taking cover behind it. She unslung her rifle from her shoulder and aimed toward the intersection illuminated by the spotlights on the wall. It was difficult not to check on Travis, and a swift peek revealed he was having some difficulty pushing the sickly woman up the ladder while holding Parker on his hip.

  “Just cripple them, slow them down,” Katarina ordered, pulling Katie’s attention to her. “Don’t waste ammo trying to get a headshot. We’re just buying us time.”

  A second later, the zombies sprinted into the spotlights.

  A barrage erupted overhead as the people in the fort opened fire.

  Bullets pummeled and shredded the first line of runners, but the others following flowed past the dead in a rush. Screeching, the runners hurled themselves at the people behind the truck. The acrid smell of weapon fire carried on the breeze.

  Again, Katie checked on the progress of the woman and children they were rescuing. Julie was nearing the top of the wall with Travis close behind. One of the construction workers leaned over and tried to claim the baby from Julie, but she resisted. Parker clung to Travis, his big dark eyes staring in terror over Travis’ shoulder at the onslaught of the undead.

  Redirecting her focus, Katie pulled the trigger as one of the quickest zombies reached the back of the pickup and tried to scramble over the back. She wasn’t sure if she hit it or someone else, but the back of its head blew out and it vanished from sight.

  “Time to go, Katie,” Bill said, shoving her toward the ladder.

  “You go,” she answered. He was bigger and slower than her.

  “Ladies first,” Bill insisted.

  “Bill, get your butt up there,” Katarina barked at him. “You’re gonna be slower than us.”

  With a small grunt and nervous look at the zombies, Bill obeyed.

  The redhead kept firing. Zombies fell beneath her sure shots, but more were closing fast. Gunfire had crippled many, and they crawled along the ground toward the humans with terrifying resolve.

  Katie checked again. Travis was over the wall, and Bill was halfway up. The second ladder was free.

  “Who’s next?” she asked over the sound of gunfire.

  A mass of zombies surged into the fort lights.

  “All of us,” Katarina replied.

  Katie ran to the first ladder while Felix started up after Bill. Katarina fired a few more times, then climbed after Katie.

  The ladder wobbled beneath their bodies, but a flood of adrenaline pushed Katie faster. As she neared the top, Travis and Mike, another construction worker, leaned down, grabbed her hands and pulled her up. As soon as Katie’s feet were under her, she leaped onto the sentry platform.

  Bill and Felix arrived at the top of the wall almost at the same time, clutching at the same rungs. Losing his balance, Bill tumbled off the top, falling onto the pile of dirt below the sentry platform. At least he had fallen into safety and not into the street where the zombies waited. Felix wobbled but stayed upright and turned to help Katarina.

  Katarina was dragged onto wall just as the runners reached the area below her feet. Travis kicked a ladder over while Felix knocked over the other one. Most zombies couldn’t climb, but runners were cleverer than the average slow zombie. Screeching, the runners leaped and clawed at the barrier but were unable to reach the people above them.

  “Where did all the runners come from?” Nerit seemed to appear out of nowhere to stand next to Katie.

  The sound of gunfire made it difficult to hear.

  “They must have been mixed in with the others, then sprang into action when they saw us,” Katie answered, slinging her rifle across her shoulders.

  “Fresh kills.” Nerit frowned. “From where?”

  A fragile voice spoke up. It was Julie. She stood close by, clutching the baby and holding the hand of the little boy. “There are other survivors on the roads. We’ve seen a few caravans overrun by zombies before.”

  “Maybe a group was trying to reach us and got swarmed,” Travis suggested. He stepped next to Katie, his arm brushing against hers.

  Such a simple touch sent Katie’s blood racing. Annoyed with her reaction, she shifted her weight onto her other leg to avoid contact.

  “Bill, can you take our guests to Peggy and Yolanda to get sorted out?” Nerit asked as the big lawman lumbered up to the platform. There was a heavy weight in Nerit’s eyes, and Katie knew that Julie and the children
would be thoroughly checked for bites.

  “Yes, ma’am. Julie, would you mind coming with me?” Bill extended his hand.

  Julie warily regarded everyone around her but also took the time to look at the small shanty and tent town set up in the large walled enclosure. A group of people, which included children, stood near the stairs leading into the rear entrance of city hall, watching the commotion along the wall.

  “No one will hurt you,” Katie assured her.

  At last, Julie nodded and followed Bill.

  “I didn’t think she would come,” Nerit said to Katie after Julie and Bill were out of hearing range.

  “Honestly, I wasn’t too sure either.”

  The screech of the zombies and grunts of exertion made by the humans as they killed the undead made her flesh crawl. Katie’s arms and back ached, but she was glad to have a moment of respite from the fray.

  Travis stepped to the edge of the platform and looked over at the zombies below. “They’re piling up along the wall.”

  Mike pointed to several long poles with pitchforks attached to the ends resting against the platform. “We’ll shove the bodies away. Time to put those to use.”

  “We need to kill the runners, then concentrate on the slow ones,” Nerit decided. Turning toward the people fighting along the wall, she called out, “Guns for the runners only! Kill the slow ones with spears! Conserve ammunition!”

  Nerit’s voice carried over the noise, much to Katie’s surprise. The older woman was a force to be reckoned with.

  “Hey! Hey!” a guard further down the wall shouted. “We got the other group coming in on foot!”

  In the pool of light cast by the construction lights, Katie saw Jenni, Juan, Curtis, and the asshole named Shane fighting with a massive runner. The zombie was quick, terrifying, and fierce in its pursuit of Shane. Though Katie hated the jerk, she found herself gasping as he barely eluded being caught by the zombie by shedding his jacket.

  At last, Curtis, Juan, and Jenni were able to kill the creature in a volley of gunfire. Relief filled Katie as she watched Shane scramble up a lowered ladder, and the others followed.