Rudy held the ladder steady. Alex carefully placed a foot on the rungs. Then another. One, two, three more steps, and he was safely on the adjacent rooftop. He spread his hands and smiled. “Easier'n shuckin' corn in a henhouse.”
Harbaugh stepped up next. He walked out onto the ladder, took two steps, then stopped. For a moment he teetered, windmilling his arms and leaning. He recovered and leaned forward, letting his momentum carry his feet forward until he reached the far rooftop. He breathed a sigh of relief and wiped clammy sweat from his forehead. Rachael followed behind him, nimbly hopping across the ladder with her purse slung over her shoulder. Sinder followed her and crossed without incident.
Lila Montez stood at the foot of the ladder. She clutched the meat cleaver in one hand and a shopping bag in the other while she stared down at the churning mob below. The dead glared back up at her.
“Oh, God, I can't do this,” she moaned, stepping back and shaking.
“It's easy, Lila,” said Josh. He stepped up beside her and took the shopping bag from her hand. “Just hold onto my hand, then it's two steps until Alex has you on the other side.”
Lila placed one foot tentatively on the ladder. Josh held her hand. She stepped out over the gap, trembling so hard that the ladder shook.
“You've got this, Lila,” said Rudy. “Just put one foot in front of the other.”
“Nice and easy now.” Alex stretched out his hand. “Nothin' to it. You just hold the kid's hand, and once you get halfway over, you grab mine. Easier'n fallin' off a . . . um, easy as pie.”
Lila took a deep breath. She steeled herself and stepped out onto the ladder, holding Josh's hand for support. After two shaky steps, she let go of Josh's hand. Another step, and another. She looked down. “Oh, God.” Lila trembled and swayed, shaking violently. “I can't. I just . . .”
“Stay with us.” Rachael strained to reach out to her.
One of Lila's feet slipped off the rung. She screamed and dropped. Her knees banged against the rungs as she fell forward. One leg dangled down over the ladder. The meat cleaver tumbled and disappeared into the crowd below.
A zombie jumped and snatched her shoe off her foot. Lila screamed again and pulled her leg up. She pressed her face against the cold steel rungs, sobbed, and hugged the ladder with her eyes shut tight. “I can't. I can't.”
“You've got this,” said Emily. “You can do it.”
“I can't,” Lila cried.
“Don't gimme that shit,” said Alex. “Hey, goddammit, look at me. I said look at me. Look me in the eyes.”
Lila hesitantly opened her eyes and looked at the vampire hunter.
“You're gonna do this,” he said. “You're just gonna crawl, okay? Reach your hands out as far as you can.” She did. “Now grab the ladder and pull yourself toward me.” Again, she followed Alex's instructions. She slid a few more inches toward the safety of the far rooftop. “Good. That's good. Now do it again.” Once more, she reached her hands out and dragged herself forward. Below her, zombies shuffled and groaned, straining upwards to reach her. Lila reached out and slid, reached out and slid, reached out and slid.
And then she was close enough. Alex got down on his hands and knees and reached out. He took her by the wrists and pulled her the remaining few feet, holding her steady until she was safely on the other side. She collapsed onto the rooftop, buried her face in her hands, and sobbed. “I'm sorry. I just . . . I just couldn't do it.”
“Don't you worry none,” said Alex.
“Don't worry about it, Lila,” said Rudy, across the gap. “It's nothing to be ashamed of. Let's all just take a deep breath.” He stepped out onto the ladder. “It could have happened to any one of—shit.”
Rudy's foot slipped off the rung.
His leg slipped into the gap between rungs and fell through all the way up to his crotch. He grunted in pain as the ladder slammed into his groin. He overbalanced and the ladder twisted to the left. Rudy fell along with it, scrambling madly to hold onto the ladder with his leg twisted up in the rungs. His pickaxe handle fell down into the writhing mass below.
Alex and Josh dove for the ladder and fought to keep it level.
Rudy hung by his hands from the underside of the ladder, one knee hooked around the rungs of the ladder, the other dangling into space.
“Hold on, Rudy. Jesus.” Harbaugh stretched out over the gap and tried to reach a hand out to his friend.
Rudy scrambled to get back on the top of the ladder, but his leg was hooked around the rung. He slipped again. His knee made an audible snap. He screamed and pulled himself up, trying to get his leg untangled.
Alex dashed out onto the ladder. “Just hang on!” He reached down and grabbed Rudy's wrist. With Alex's help, Rudy hugged the bottom of the ladder. The ladder sagged dangerously.
“I can't get my leg loose like this!”
“Just hold on! We'll get this worked out.”
“Maybe if I . . .” Rudy hung low and hooked his right leg around the ladder for support while he tried to free his left. His arms shook from the strain, but he pulled himself up a few precious inches and took enough pressure off his knee to get his leg untangled from the rungs of the ladder.
“Shit.” His hand slipped. Then the other. Rudy hung upside down from the ladder by his knees.
A zombie jumped and grabbed his wrist. The ladder bounced. Rudy screamed as the creature bit his fingers off. More joined in, jumping and grabbing, tearing his shirt. They hooked their fingers around his chin, dug into his eyes and mouth.
Alex dove and lay prone on the ladder. He held desperately to Rudy's pant leg, but it was no use. The zombies held Rudy's arms while they devoured his face. His muffled screams continued until his legs slipped off the ladder. He hung in space, suspended only by Alex's desperate grip on the fabric of his pant leg. Rudy's head disappeared into the ravenous crush below.
“It's too late, man,” Buck called out. “He's gone. Just let him go.”
With a cry of despair, Alex released Rudy's pant leg. Rudy disappeared into the sea of undead. They closed in around him. His screams trailed off until the only noise was the ravenous wet sounds of feeding zombies.
Alex climbed shakily off of the ladder and lay down, panting, on the gravel roof. “Jesus Christ.”
On the roof of the diner, Josh stood at the edge of the building, unable to look away. Tears streamed down his face.
Emily screamed, over and over, her hands shaking in front of her mouth. Josh touched her on the shoulder and she turned away from the carnage, hugging him and sobbing.
Rachael sat down hard on the roof. She lit a trembling cigarette and stared off into the distance.
Tom pushed Buck angrily. “You've got the fucking shotgun. Why didn't you do something?” Buck pushed back harder, and Tom stumbled. “Fuck you, man. Fuck you. It's a shotgun. I'd be just as likely to hit Rudy as anything. And I've got three shells left. There's about a hundred of those fucking . . . things . . . down there. What could I have done, huh? What would you want me to do? Rudy'd still be dead, and I'd be out of bullets. So don't you fucking push me, man. Didn't see you breaking your neck to help out.”
“Okay, Jesus Christ,” Harbaugh yelled across the gap. “Like we don't have enough problems. It's nobody's fault.”
Buck leveled an accusing finger at Tom. “Tell this asshole to keep his fuckin' hands off me, then.”
“Look, we're all on edge here. But this isn't going to solve anything. Tom, just back off. We're all doing the best we can here. We've got to keep it together and keep moving.”
“Why?” said Lila. She sat on the rooftop, her legs crossed like a child. “What's the point? It's the end of the world. We're all going to die.”
“She might have a point,” said Sinder. “How can we fight the wrath of the Lord? If we really want to save ourselves, we should be throwing ourselves to our knees and begging His mercy for our sins.”
Rachael said, “I don't see you getting down on your knees, Dan.”
&n
bsp; Sinder sniffed. “I don't need to. I put my faith in the Lord a long time ago. I eagerly await His judgment.”
Alex turned to face him, angry for the first time. “Then why don't y'all just kneel down here and pray the zombies away? The rest of us have shit to do.”
Rachael walked over next to Lila. After a moment's hesitation, she sat next to her. “We can do this.” She put an arm around the woman's shoulders.
“But why is this happening?” she cried. “Why is this happening to us?”
Sinder opened his mouth to answer her.
“Dan,” said Rachael, “one more word about God's will, and so help me, I'm gonna push you off the roof.”
Josh looked out across the gap. Tears had carved channels through the dust on his face. “I don't know about you guys,” he said, “but I'll be goddamned if I'm going to die in Prosperity, Nevada.”
Across the gap, Rachael said, “A-fucking-men to that.” She took another drag on her cigarette.
For a moment, the four survivors left on the diner roof stared at the ladder. “Shit,” said Tom.
Josh stepped forward, his backpack casually slung over one shoulder. He took a deep breath and put one foot on the rungs. Then another. And another. Below him, the writhing mass of zombies swarmed over what remained of Rudy. The snap of bones and wrench of cartilage carried above the moans of the undead. Josh reached the opposite rooftop and hopped down. He turned around and held his hand out. “We can do this.”
Emily stepped up next. She crossed easily, taking Josh's offered hand as she stepped down off the ladder. Next came Buck, then Tom.
“Now we're talkin'.” Alex and Buck pulled the ladder across the gap and onto the roof. “Why don't we just get to this saloon y'all keep talkin' about. I know I could use a drink.”
“He's right,” said Harbaugh. He was deathly pale, bathed in sweat. He wiped his face with his handkerchief. “It happened. We can't change that now. We've got to keep going. So everybody, just keep low and stay quiet. If we're lucky, the zombies won't even know we moved.”
“Or maybe they're full,” said Rachael. They all stared at her. “Sorry,” she added, with a shrug. “Too soon.”
They crouched low and marched across the roof in single file, Buck and Josh carrying the ladder between the two of them.
On the other side of another small alley was Annie's Saloon. The two-story building rose above them, the second-story windows nearly level with the roof of the adjacent building. The saloon was unfinished wood, bleached and warped by the desert sun. It could have been a set piece in a John Wayne movie, and it looked strangely out of place on the Mayberry-esque Main Street.
Alex leaned over and peeked down into the alley. It was empty. He turned back and gave a silent thumbs-up. Harbaugh, Alex, and Buck quietly maneuvered the ladder across the gap. They set the ladder's feet onto the narrow windowsill.
“Anybody mind if I go first again?” Alex whispered. Nobody responded. He stepped onto the ladder and carefully walked to the other end. He crouched, sat astride the ladder, and eased the window latch open with the blade of his pocket knife. The sliding window stuck in the dry, old tracks and banged loudly when Alex lifted it open. He winced and froze, his boots dangling off the ladder. After a few heartbeats, no zombies arrived. Alex gently pushed the window up the rest of the way, brushed the delicate curtains aside, and swung his legs into the room.
While Buck held the other end, Alex silently lifted the ladder and pulled it across until it was more securely in the window. Lila Montez started on her hands and knees this time. She shook with fear, but she made it through the window. They each crossed the narrow gap until everyone was inside the saloon.
The room was small and dusty, with a narrow bed and a dresser. The flower print wallpaper was a hundred years out of date. Floorboards creaked beneath their feet.
“This is one of the only original buildings on this side of town, from before the fire,” said Harbaugh. “These rooms are where the ladies of the night would conduct business.”
Emily glanced at the bed and made a face.
“Can we stop whispering now?” whispered Josh.
“Let's not push our luck,” Harbaugh responded. “Why don't we go find Annie.”
“I just hope we don't give this old girl a heart attack,” said Alex. He grasped the doorknob and pulled open the door—
—and walked right into the muzzle of a double-barreled shotgun.
Chapter Seven
The shotgun in Alex's face was as old as the hills themselves, older even than the knobby hands clutching it. The barrel, beneath a patina of rust, was finely engraved and filigreed. The wooden stock, deeply polished by time, glowed in the light from the window.
Holding the shotgun was an old woman. Her face was etched and lined, darkened and hardened by the desert sun, but the eyes that squinted at Alex were clear blue and bright. Her white hair was parted down the middle and pulled into a single loose braid that fell down her back. She wore blue jeans and a button-up work shirt. Despite her slender bearing, her grip on the shotgun was rock-steady—both hammers pulled back, one bony finger resting on each of the gun's two triggers.
The woman scowled. “Stranger, you've got about three seconds to tell me who you are and what in the sam-hell you're doing in my bar.”
Alex stepped back with his hands raised. Despite the gaping twin barrels jammed in his face, he grinned stupidly. He said, “Darlin, you keep talkin' like that, and I'm gonna fall in love.”
“It's okay, Annie.” Harbaugh stepped between them, gently redirecting the shotgun with his fingers. “He's with us.” Annie de-cocked the shotgun and tucked the weapon under her arm. She cast another scathing glance at Alex. “Well, Jesus Christ, you fellas ever think about just knocking on the door?”
“Didn't mean to startle you, ma'am.” Alex touched the brim of his hat. “I'm Alex. Things are a mite weird out there. We was stuck in the diner, so we thought we'd come over here.”
Looking over the crowd of people in the room, Annie said, “Didn't Rudy come along with you?”
After a moment, Harbaugh shook his head bitterly. “Rudy isn't coming.”
Annie made a face. “Ah, damn. He was a good man.” She sighed. “Goddamned zombies.”
Harbaugh's jaw dropped. “How'd you know—”
“James Harbaugh, you're a bright man, but sometimes you're dumber than dog shit. There's a bunch of dead folks walking the streets and eating people. What the hell else could they be? Don't you watch TV?”
Buck laughed out loud. “The lady has a point.”
Annie scowled again and turned toward the door. “Well, Christ, y'all might as well come downstairs, instead of milling around here like a bunch of lost sheep.”
***
The bedroom door opened up onto an interior balcony that skirted one wall of the old saloon. Down below, hurricane lanterns and candles bathed the room in a dim orange light. At one end of the saloon, there was a mahogany bar with a shiny brass step-rail and a dozen wooden bar stools; a scattering of round, wooden tables with chairs; an old pool table with orange felt, a stained-glass lamp hanging over it; a piano; a jukebox. Over the back bar mirror, a taxidermied moose head wearing Wayfarer sunglasses looked out over the room. The wooden shutters on the front windows were tightly shut.
“Gol-damn, would you look at this place.” Alex gawked as he followed Annie down the stairs. “Just like a real Old West saloon.”
Annie scowled. “That's because it is a real Old West saloon, idiot. Whores and sawdust on the floor and everything. Place was built in 1867. After the big fire, this was the only building left standing on this side of town.”
The survivors took seats around the room at the tables or the bar. Josh sat down on the piano bench. He ran his fingers lightly over the keys but didn't play a note.
Alex said, “Ma'am, you got a real nice place here. If it was an ordinary day, I'd stop here and have a drink. Matter of fact, that's half the reason I came to town.”
“That's right.” Alex stepped up and tapped his hand on the bar. “I was gonna have a drink right here at this spot, right where Elvis Presley did in 1954.”
Annie laughed out loud. “That's about the most damned fool reason for coming to this God-forsaken shithole that I can possibly think of. I remember that night, though. He was a nice young man. Not hard on the eyes, either.” She laughed. “Had all the young ladies aflutter. Between the three of 'em, those boys didn't have two nickels to rub together. I wound up buyin' 'em a tank of gas so's they could get to Vegas.”
“That,” said Alex, leaning toward Annie, “is absolutely fascinating.”
Tom took a seat at the bar and said, “If you don't mind me asking, you said that was half the reason you came to town. What was the other half?”
Alex answered, “Honestly, I thought there might be some vampires here.”
Annie said, “Good God almighty, now there's vampires, too?”
“Our new friend here is a vampire hunter,” said Harbaugh, with another eye-roll.
“So, you found any vampires, or just zombies?” asked Annie.
“Just the zombies, ma'am.” Alex recounted the story he'd heard from Cooper, about an old woman coming back from the dead.
“Oh, yeah,” said Harbaugh. “Janice. That was about the weirdest damned thing I ever heard of. Come to think of it, probably a sign of things to come.”
“That's what I was thinkin'. Come all this way thinkin' I was huntin' a vampire, but turns out it was likely a zombie. I reckon life's funny like that. Just another piece of the puzzle, though. I mean, why in hell did just one old lady turn two weeks ago, and why ain't there been any more in the meantime? And anyway, where the hell did she go?”
Harbaugh eased onto a bar stool. He was pale and trembled slightly. “All good questions. I wish I had answers for you.”
Buck said, “I always thought she just fell down an old mine shaft. There's enough of them around here.”
“Or maybe she was abducted,” said Tom. Nobody answered him.
Alex Rains, Vampire Hunter (Book 2): Hell Night Page 8
