Generation Z (Book 1): Generation Z

by Peter Meredith

  In the next ten minutes they stripped the boat of everything that wasn’t needed. Every door in the lower cabins was tossed overboard, as were sheets, carpets, mattresses, clothes that weren’t being worn, food and even water. An old engine that was now more or less a hunk of rust was hauled out of the compartment by Jillybean alone, using an ingenious concoction of levers and winches.

  The little kitchenette was dismantled piece by piece until not even a fork was left. Then the bathroom was torn apart with only the toilet remaining. The last useless thing left onboard was Kim. They had worked all around her until she was all that was left.

  She watched them with dull but knowing eyes. “Am I going to make it?”

  Jillybean looked away. Her impossibly large eyes filled with tears. “Possibly,” was all she would say.

  “What are the odds?” Kim asked.

  Jenn was the only other person in the cabin. “You’ll make it and really, what do you weigh? A hundred pounds? And what’s the bed? Another hundred? That won’t make any difference, right Jillybean?”

  But Jillybean was no longer there. “Without her, we no longer need the floor, do we? That’s going to be another hundred pounds right there.”

  “Don’t be silly,” Jenn said with a laugh that was out of place and screamed of terror. “Of course, we need…”

  “If you can’t handle this, go on deck,” Jillybean ordered, kneeling next to Kim. “As usual, I have to clean up the messes.” The sound of her knife sliding from its sheath was the same sound a snake made sliding across carpet.

  Jenn dropped down next to Jillybean and touched her hesitantly on the arm. “I-I was just out there, and you know what? They weren’t gaining on us. We’re going to make it home before them. I swear it.”

  “I believe you,” she said. “Mike is a great sailor and we will win. Jillybean has worked out all the factors, but I believed you mentioned living on a hilltop.” Jenn was hit by reality; it was like a knife in the guts. Their lead over the Corsairs was measured in minutes. They were never going to get Kim up the hill in time. She would have to be left behind.

  “It’s okay, Kim,” Eve said, smiling at her. “Eve knows what to do. She always knows what to do.” Before Jenn could even think to stop her, Eve leaned over Kim and slid her knife quickly and effortlessly between the woman’s ribs. She jerked and her mouth came open in an O.

  She died nodding her head, whispering, “Iss ah right.”

  “Get her out of here,” Eve said, wiping the blade on the woman’s sheet. When Jenn hesitated, Eve growled, “Maybe you should throw yourself overboard if you aren’t going to be any help.” She wrapped the corpse in the sheet and began dragging her through the empty cabin to the stairs.

  There was no way Jenn could stand hearing Kim’s head thumping up each step and she ran to help. Once on deck Eve didn’t utter any words of loss or prayer. She simply dumped the body. Jenn couldn’t look. Eve only snorted as she pushed past, heading back down to tear out the floor.

  No one said anything. In fact, the silence on the boat went on and on with the only sound being Eve screaming in fury as she destroyed the flooring. “I’m the only one who cares enough to do the right thing! And who gets called a monster? Eve! It’s always Eve and never precious Jillybean.” Muttering to herself, she brought the pieces of flooring up chunk by chunk and heaved them overboard.

  Eventually, Stu pointed ahead of them where the land stabbed out across their course. “I think that’s the Point Reyes lighthouse. We’re almost home.”

  Mike looked back at the Corsairs. They were two miles back and holding steady. “What? Are we just going to lead them back home?”

  Eve had snuck up during the short conversation and startled them by laughing, “You don’t have any choice! The only people who can sail like you are the Guardians and they’re too goody-goody to ever think about stealing a boat. The Corsairs know exactly where we’re going. So, your choices are heading to Alcatraz, where they’ll burn your ships at the docks, throw a cordon around the island and starve you guys out, or the hilltop where you might have a very small chance to live.”

  Chapter 35

  Jenn Lockhart

  “A small chance?” Stu asked. “How small?”

  She shrugged. “I guess that depends on whether your people can fight. Can they?”

  Stu shook his head and Jenn was right there with him. In her opinion, compared to Stu and Mike, the few men left on the hilltop were barely men; they were the weak and the cowardly, though they talked big enough. Still, they would defend their home if they were forced to.

  “They can shoot,” Stu said, “but we don’t have much in the way of ammo.”

  “It won’t be enough,” Jenn said, her eyes flicking towards Eve. “We’re going to need help and a real plan.” Eve started to protest but Jenn shook her head. “We need her! Mike, as good of a boat captain as you are, you’re not the best on land. Stu, you’re hurt and I’m just me. I’m nothing. We need Jillybean.”

  Eve began laughing so hard that her face went bright red, then in mid-laugh, as though a switch was thrown, she turned mean. “Jenn, you’re an idiot. Jillybean may think you’re cute and sweet, but the truth is, you’re an idiot. Don’t you know why I’m even here? It’s because poor Jillybean’s fragile mind can’t handle any of this. You know she’s broken, right? You know she’s weak and yet you want her over me?”

  “Yes, I do. You…you’re evil.”

  “You take that back,” Eve said, her voice quiet and full of menace. “I’m going to give you one chance, and one chance only, to take that back.”

  Jenn swallowed hard before standing straight and squaring her shoulders. “No. We need Jillybean. You said it yourself that she killed thousands of people. You said she killed the Azael and they were warriors. The only person you killed was Kim and if you ask me, that was an act of cowardice.”

  Eve smiled and there was so much hatred in that smile than even Mike leaned back. “Do you really think she’s the only person I’ve killed? If so you’re more of an idiot than I thought. I killed a dozen people before I was six years old and that included a bounty hunter, and trust me, he was a badass. I’ve killed more…”

  “Stop it,” Stu said, sharply. She turned and if she thought the cold look in her eyes would affect him, she was wrong. Jenn could tell that he honestly liked Jillybean and she liked him as well. When Jillybean was herself she was sweet, though a bit condescending. Unfortunately, she was also terribly vulnerable—and Eve was how she protected herself.

  “Stop what?” Eve demanded. “Do you want me to stop being honest?”

  Stu kept his face neutral as he said, “I like honesty. Can you honestly tell me what seven times nine is?” She blinked at the question. It had caught her off-guard, but then the cold smile was back. Before she could say anything, he followed the question up with, “How about nine times twelve?”

  Her white teeth, looking sharp, showed as she spat out, “That’s not going to work. Even if it did, I’d be right back. She can’t handle the stress. She…”

  “Thirteen times fourteen.”

  Now, her eyes glazed over for a half-second before she was able to control them again. “Stop!” she screeched so loudly that the word echoed back from the beach.

  Stu didn’t stop. “Seventeen times seventeen. Twelve times twelve. Forty-one times eight.”

  Jenn was lost in the numbers, not knowing what they were talking about.

  Eve’s eyes lost focus with every question until Jillybean finally answered in her normal, soft voice. “328. Forty-one times eight is 328.” She ran a shaking hand across her eyes. “I killed…I killed Kim, didn’t I?” Stu nodded and Jenn tried to explain and make excuses, but Jillybean only shook her head and gazed back at the Corsair fleet that was strung out in long lines. The setting sun caught her just right, casting half her face in shadow, perfectly capturing her dual nature.

  “I can’t do anything about Kim now.” She let out a long breath and asked “
That sure is a lot of boats. How many are after us?”

  Stu was quick to answer, “Eighty-two. There’s probably an average of about fifteen men per boat, which means we’re probably facing twelve hundred men.”

  “Against seventy?” Jillybean asked. “Isn’t that how many people you said were on the hilltop?” When Stu nodded, Jillybean let out a bark of laughter. “Maybe you would have been better off with Eve.” She ran a hand through her thicket of brown hair. “Okay, tell me what sort of assets you have.”

  They had M4s and hunting rifles for each person, but only about a thousand rounds. They had an equal number of crossbow bolts and arrows. When Stu explained this her smile was one of disbelief. “So, you’re saying we can’t miss with even one shot. Are your people good shots? No? Ooookay. Tell me about the wall.”

  “It’s a cast-iron gate that we’ve put plywood over,” Stu said. She gave him a look that said: And? “And there are spears in front. We don’t have flamethrowers or bombs or machine guns. We try to keep out of the way and live our lives.”

  Jillybean looked stunned. “Plywood and a cast-iron gate. Against the dead. Really? The dead must not be much of a menace on your hilltop.”

  “They were getting bad just before we left,” Mike said, easing the wheel to port, the sun glinting in his long hair as he cut the Saber eastward. The Golden Gate Bridge was just visible on the horizon. It would be dark by the time they crossed beneath it. “A big horde had come out of nowhere about nine days ago.”

  “And displaced all the ‘regulars’ in the surrounding lands, causing a big stir. Yes, I’ve seen that happen. It’s rarely a good thing.”

  Mike smirked. “Rarely? How about never?”

  “I would advise against using absolutes,” Jillybean suggested, “because in this case it doesn’t apply. Tell him, Jenn.”

  At first, she had a Tell him, what? look on her face, then she blinked. She was being tested once more. “Ummmm, it’s because, oh right. We’re going to use the dead like Jillybean did back at the Corsair place. They’ll be our army.”

  “Exactly,” Jillybean said. “It’ll be easy as pie. We light fires to attract the dead. Little fires that only burn for a few minutes, but each set closer and closer to the hilltop. If we can time it right, the Corsairs will be trapped between us and the dead. Is that what you were visualizing Jenn?”

  Jenn shrugged. “I guess,” she lied. She hadn’t visualized anything but a cartoon army of giants under Jillybean’s absolute command.

  “You guess?” Mike asked. “Let’s say we can attract the dead, how the hell are we going to get rid of them? And will they show up on time? The Corsairs could overrun the complex in minutes. Have you thought about that?”

  “I have,” Jillybean replied. “Unfortunately, I don’t have answers for you. We have no assets and no chance at survival unless we take chances. Our only other choice is to beach the Saber, leave Stu to his fate and run for our lives. Is that what you’d like to do?”

  Mike ground his teeth. Jillybean gave him a sympathetic look. “It gets worse. Your job will be to drag Stu up to your complex. You’ll use a sail as a sort of stretcher. Jenn and I will be in charge of the fires.”

  “That’s the plan?” He didn’t wait for an answer and surprised Jenn by grabbing her hand and dragging her down into the empty space beneath the deck where it was dark and smelled of old blood. “You can’t do this.” He stood very close and when she looked up they were almost nose to nose. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “Do we have another choice?” she asked. “I’m too small to drag Stu. Even with Jillybean’s help, I don’t think we could do it. Besides, we’ll probably need fires from two directions. She’ll have to take the east side…”

  He grabbed her with desperate hands. “Jenn, no. It’s too dangerous. We’ll think of something. Okay? We’ll think of something and…and …you’ll be safe. That’s what’s important.”

  Mike was almost in tears and yet she laughed, feeling a crazy happiness. “I’ll never be safe,” she told him. “I’m going to die. Maybe not tonight or tomorrow, but I will and I don’t want to die like this. Afraid. I’ve been more afraid of the Coven than I have been of the dead! But not anymore.”

  She pulled him down to her and kissed him with savage passion, holding him so close that it was almost as if she wanted to pull his heart into hers and join them.

  After a moment he kissed her back with equal hunger. Still, he broke away first, his face twisted by fate and love. He held her at arm’s-length. “That’s why I can’t let you sacrifice yourself. I’ll light the fires. You…you…figure out a way to get Stu to the top of the hill.”

  “And if I can’t? Do I shove him in some closet or leave him on the street? I won’t. Stu is like a brother to me and you will respect that! Get him up the hill.” She shoved him away and went up on deck where Stu and Jillybean were sitting together staring at her. Mike came up moments later, looking as though he had been kicked square in the groin once again.

  He spent an hour desperately trying to come up with a better plan and it was sixty minutes of wasted time. They turned into the bay and now that they faced a headwind, the Corsairs slowly gained on them.

  Tension built and soon a new problem arose. Jillybean began to come unglued. Stu tried to help by asking her to explain her theories on zombie migratory patterns. As she spoke her fingers twisted around themselves and she kept looking back over her shoulder at the Corsairs. “It’ll be alright. I won’t let them get you,” he said and Jenn was sure he meant it, but lame as he was, there was no way he’d be able to keep that promise.

  It was full dark as they swept past the bell announcing the entrance to Pelican Harbor. Mike had Jenn cut away the jib as they slid right down the length of the dock without slowing. The Saber seemed to scream as the paint was ripped from her side.

  “Hold on,” Mike said without a hint of panic in his voice. As always when he was at the helm, he was a cool operator, completely unruffled. The deck ended at the seawall and if they had hit it, the bow would have been stove in. They fetched up ten feet shy of it as the Saber ground against the rocky bottom of the harbor. They were thrown forward; the boat immediately began to list as water gushed in from a gaping wound in her keel.

  Mike looked as though it was his child that was dying. “Let’s go!” Stu whispered, trying to climb off the boat.

  Jillybean, her pack filled with medical supplies, scrambled up onto the dock and with Jenn’s help pulled him up and laid him on the silk jib. Mike came up last and started gathering the edges of the sail. “We’ll meet you at the top,” he said.

  His mouth hung open as if he wanted to say more, but when he didn’t, Jenn said, “Okay, be careful.” He nodded in reply.

  “What the hell kind of goodbye was that?” Jillybean demanded. Unexpectedly she shoved Jenn right into Mike’s arms. “Make it count, Magoo.”

  They had no time for awkwardness or fumbling words. They kissed softly as valuable seconds ticked away until Stu cleared his throat. “It’s time.”

  “I’ll meet you up there,” Mike said. “Don’t die.”

  She wanted to cling to him. “Let them go, Jenn,” Jillybean said, pulling her away and pointing at the black ships filling the harbor.

  Mike whispered a goodbye, took the ends of the sail that Stu was bundled in and hauled him away.

  With a sigh that hurt her heart, Jenn watched them go. When the night hid them, she said, “I know where we can get oil.”

  It wasn’t Jillybean she led through the lower part of the town, it was Sadie. She walked fearlessly along while Jenn went in a crouch, heading for the building where her luck had taken a terrible change for the worse two weeks before. The Jiffy Lube was exactly how she had left it. The only thing that seemed to have changed was the crow-pecked corpse of the first zombie she had ever killed. It seemed deflated and no longer remotely as fearsome as it had been.

  Sadie stepped around it and hurried into the one open bay of the Jiffy Lube,
shining her flashlight around. “This is perfect. Look they even have sawdust to clean spills.” She had the light pointed at a bin, but Jenn only gave it a quick glance. The flashlight was completely freaking her out, and for good reason.

  A low groan from down the road was that reason. Sadie turned the light off and the two froze, wasting minutes as a huge shadow crossed in front of the Jiffy Lube. Sadie carried only her laser pointer, while Jenn had her M4. She kept an eye on the beast through the scope until it was out of sight.

  When it was gone, they hunted down garbage bags and began filling them with sawdust. Jenn was just setting aside one of the bags when a new and different groan could be heard all through the town and probably up to the top of the hill. One of the old docks had taken the weight of a sixty-foot sailboat against it and had let out a protesting scream. The Corsairs were landing.

  “Hurry!” Sadie hissed. They shoveled the sawdust in as fast as they could. Next, they went to a nasty drum that had oil spilled all down its sides. Sadie produced a screwdriver and pried the lid off. Both girls stepped back, gagging as the air fairly shimmered with a harsh chemical smell.

  Sadie pulled her shirt over her nose and advanced. “We need a scoop or something to hold the oil.”

  “What about using fresh oil?” Jenn asked, pointing to a rack that was filled with 10W30.

  “That’s even better!” Sadie said, slamming the lid back down. “Grab as much as you can carry.” Sadie was already loaded down and could only carry four quarts. Jenn grabbed six of them and shoved them on top of the sawdust.

  She was about to leave when she had an idea. Taking a handful of sawdust, she poured it on the floor and smoothed it out. Jabbing her thumb down, she said, “This is where we are.” Jenn drew a quick series of hills. “If you go up the hill to the top of the ridge, you’ll run into a four-lane highway. There’s nothing past it. Build your fires along it and you’ll get maximum exposure. Head west; the complex will be on your right after a half mile. I’ll meet you there.”