by J. R. Rain
He began clicking for news of the area, but froze when he heard the dragging footsteps pass by. As long as I’m quiet. He fought anxiety. But he’d learned a hell of a lot, even from Carter and Mendoza, about how they handled the infected ones. For the time being, he was safe.
The military news was much more informative than the local media. He still had his classified status. He entered his code. Cole thought he was prepared for anything. Nevertheless, he was shocked at the words on the screen.
This was indeed turning into a worldwide pandemic. With chaos everywhere, airports and many government buildings had closed down. Especially in Third World countries. The White House was on lockdown. That made sense. The President of the United States could take no chances. He was in touch with other countries, but couldn’t afford to give aid. All National Guard troops were deployed here in the US, trying to get a grip on the infected. From what the Agent in Black read, it seemed like a losing battle.
He rubbed his eyes. He’d waited all his life for something like this to happen. He had envisioned himself a real hero, taking command, control, and being recognized for it. He was no fool, though. He knew the chances of a recovery from something of this magnitude, and it was next to zero. He knew the world would never be the same again. The world, as he and everyone else on the planet had once known it, had gone bye-bye. How many others realized this? Not many. Not yet.
He was alone. He realized it, and accepted it. He could deal with it.
He did have another agenda. Crazy people never think they’re crazy. Cole didn’t see anything wrong with getting his revenge on the two Navy lieutenants commanders who had so easily outsmarted and humiliated him. They obviously didn’t know who they were dealing with. No one treated him that way. No one.
Cole had no way of knowing who was with them at the observatory, nor did he really care. He didn’t know what condition the place was in, but it was a pretty good choice for refuge.
It was dark; he would wait until morning. He could stay in the office tonight. He would use the time to map out his plan. Didn’t Joe Carter have a teenaged niece? He smiled to himself. By the time he was through with them, they would be kissing his shoes. His Converse, no less. He laughed to himself, but ever so quietly.
Chapter Thirty-seven
I was on my feet in an instant.
“Where are they?” It was dark but the moon gave us a little light.
Carla jerked her head to the south hallway. I heard them moving slowly in our direction. Them, as in the crazies.
Carla pointed in the direction of the offices. “We can lock ourselves in until they leave,” she whispered.
I didn’t like it. I was still thinking of my brother and his friend. She was right, though. If we got in there and stayed quiet, the zombies would move on. Then, come dawn, we could formulate a new plan.
If I could only put a sign on the door for my brother...
But first things first. Get Anna and Jared to safety.
I nodded to Carla. The undead were coming closer. There was no time for anything but to get to safety.
I was up and soon kneeling next to Anna, with Carla by Jared. We tried to wake them quietly, but Anna cried out as soon as she woke up.
“Shh,” I hissed. “Come with me.”
“What...why?” And then she heard them and gasped. Apparently, the zombies had heard her, too.
I could see them now, about twenty feet away. Dragging their feet, head hanging. They moved in, coming straight for us.
We all had guns. My baby girl ran with her own, swinging it recklessly. Lord help us all. We took off down the dark hallway for the office. Once inside, we locked the door. Now, it was completely dark. Somehow, our movements sounded louder in the darkness. Anna was breathing hard. Could they hear her? I didn’t know.
Then Carla, bless her, turned on her flashlight. Cops always have a good one. So did I, but I’d left it out there. Should have thought of that, dammit.
We could hear them coming, shuffling and snapping their jaws. Jesus, why did they do that? Probably, they didn’t know what the hell they were doing. Mindless. I had nearly been mindless, too. I had nearly been one of them.
We were all frozen, not daring to move. When one of them scratched at the door, Anna flinched and knocked over a set of files on the desk.
Shit.
It was enough for them. More scratching, moans, snarls. I could hear their jaws snapping shut, over and over again. They pushed on the door, actually rattling it.
I thought they would give up and leave, but they didn’t. The door’s hinges rocked a little. This seemed to make them more aggressive, even though it wasn’t us who made that sound.
It was a little crowded in the office, just one desk. It was the only thing I could think of to barricade the door. I motioned to Jared to help me. Carla gave us light; Anna backed into a corner.
We tried to make it quick. In one sweep, I shoved everything on the desk to the floor. Carla had to jump out of the way. Then we pushed the desk on its side and up against the door. Jared and I leaned our backs into the door, holding it closed.
Anna slid down the wall to sit where the desk had been. Carla held her stance, her gun still drawn. “Now, absolute quiet,” she ordered softly.
We did our best to comply. These zombies were more aggressive. Weren’t they supposed to just move on? That’s the way it was in the movies, right?
It took all of Jared’s and my muscle to keep the door and barricade still. Eventually, mercifully, they did leave.
When we were sure they were out of earshot, Carla said, “Sorry, guys. I have to save these batteries.” She shut off her flashlight and we were in utter darkness once again. “Who knows how long we will be in here?” came her voice from the blackness. “We’ve got to have light in case of emergencies.”
“Jared...” Anna said, and there was a little movement. He went over her to her and I heard him whisper quietly to her that everything would be okay. A good kid. Tough kid. Glad we had him on our side.
Carl found my hand and held on. Her hand was sweating; so was mine.
“My brother’s coming,” I said. “I can feel it.”
“Call him.”
“Cell’s not working, you know that.”
“It wasn’t working, but maybe now it is.”
Still holding her hand with my right—I was reluctant to release it—I took my cell out with my left and looked at it. “It’s got a bar or two.”
“Try it.”
I did and, amazingly, Joe picked up.
“Joey!” It took all my restraint to keep my voice to an exited whisper. “Where are you?”
“On my way, bro,” he answered. “Figured you were at the observatory. I’m halfway up the hill. Am I right?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “But listen, Joe, it’s not safe here. We’re barricaded in, and locked up—”
The line went dead.
“Shit. Fucking hell.”
“Quiet, baby,” said Carla, gripping my hand tighter. And hearing her own term of endearment settled me down.
Had my brother heard my warning? I didn’t know, but he would be here in less than ten minutes. I had to figure out a way to get him in. God only knew what was going on outside, but it sure as hell wasn’t safe in here, either.
Chapter Thirty-eight
“Jack? Jack, are you there?”
The call dropped. Crap.
“What?” Mike asked.
“He’s trapped in the observatory, and the crazies are there. That’s all I heard before I lost him.” Joe was on fire now. Joe, who was driving, hit the gas harder. “We need a plan now. I bet they’ve locked themselves in.”
“Who’s with him?” Mike asked.
“I don’t know. I hope Anna is, and her boyfriend, probably. Honestly, I don’t know.”
“Okay,” Mike said. “Pull over, dude.”
“Pull over? Are you crazy?”
“Listen,” Mike took a tone of authority. “Pull over fo
r just a second. If we’re going in there, we need to be prepared. That means armed. If the crazies are there, we can’t waste time getting ammo out of the back. We need to move in with guns firing.”
Made sense. A ton of sense. Joe stopped the car in the middle of the street and they jumped out. Went to work.
“Lock and load.”
Trained as they were, it took less than five minutes to lock and load everything they could carry.
They continued on to the observatory.
Chapter Thirty-nine
“So, he knows you’re here,” Carla offered.
“Yeah, but I didn’t get a chance to tell him everything. If I know him, he’ll burst in like Yosemite Sam, guns blasting. He doesn’t know what he’s walking into.”
“Daddy,” Anna said. “If he’s going to be here in a few minutes, we need to cover him. Make sure he’s okay, you know?”
Carla wasn’t having any of this. She switched on her flashlight again, and I could see she was angry. “Jack, we have no idea how many of them are out there. It’s suicide to leave this room right now.”
“And it would be murder to leave my brother out there.”
I knew Carla was thinking of protecting all of us, but I’d be damned if I was going to leave my kid brother outside. I had to let him in. And Mike, too, if he was with Joey.
“I’m with you, Dad.” Anna was firm. “Family is family. What about the democratic vote?”
Carla fumed. Jared was quiet as usual.
“All right,” I said. “Whoever wants to go outside and get my brother, raise their hands.”
Carla was the only one who didn’t, but she was resigned to stay with the consensus.
“Fine,” she said. “This is how we’ll do it. “It’s the safest way. My way.”
We removed the desk as quietly as we could and listened for movement outside the office. Nothing. I was to go first, with the keys for the front door. Jared behind me, then Anna, and Carla in back covering us all. We had to be quiet, and hope that Joe was wise enough to be as well.
I crept through the hallways, staying low in a combat crawl. Finally, I got to the front to wait for Joe and Mike and be ready to cover them.
I waited at the main entrance, ready to unlock the door. Soon, I saw headlights through the thick fog, then an official-looking SUV pull up to the steps.
Thank God. I could just barely see two people in the car. Mike was with him. That was better. As I’d predicted, they got out bearing arms. Armed to the hilt. They searched the premises. Of course, there were zombies roaming around. Within close proximity, they took down about seven.
They couldn’t have known. They couldn’t possibly have known that the shots would stir those inside.
I unlocked the door, hands shaking. I could hear them coming from all around within the large building, but I couldn’t see them.
Carla started firing, and then Jared did, too. Joe and Mike sprinted up the stairs. I let them in and relocked the door.
Anna screamed at that moment and another shot fired.
Joe and Mike were armed, but it was dark and they didn’t know where everyone was. They didn’t want to fire at the wrong person.
There was no time for polite greetings. “Follow me.” I now trotted down the dark hallway. “It’s us, Carla.” I tried not to speak too loudly. “Me, Joe, and Mike.”
Anna ran to Carla’s side, and Jared followed. We were right behind them but the zombies somehow got between Anna and Carla.
There were dozens of them. Where had they come from? The place must not be secured, I thought from the back of my mind as I tried to rally around them to get to Anna. She was backing herself into a corner, the worst thing she could have done.
Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She fired her last shot and in the dim light, I saw her trying to reload, her hands shaking.
It was too dangerous to fire. They were all in front of her, and I couldn’t risk missing them and hitting her. I drew my hunting knife and charged them.
Mike and Jared were taking down those near Carla. Joe moved with me. He also had a knife and we split skulls right and left, trying to get to my daughter. She did reload finally, and her aim was true. She took down six more. My little girl, the zombie killer.
It was close, but not enough. Every time I thought I was getting closer to Anna, I felt a presence behind me and I had to take down another one. I did use my gun then, knowing Joe was on my left and the rest were further away. The floor was slippery with blood and grey matter.
Anna was outnumbered, even with my brother and me doing our best. She was backed up against a window, the moonlight shining down on her. She was out of bullets now. She used the butt of her gun to try to fend them off. I had but an instant to be proud of her, but no time to really think. I had to get to her now.
Right now.
“Cover me!” I shouted to my brother. I dove in, gun in one hand and knife in the other. All I wanted to do was get between my precious daughter and these fuckers. I would take the hit. I didn’t care. Just save her.
I made it. Within a couple of minutes, I killed about nine of them. I got to the last zombie that separated me and my daughter. I would get this one and reach my daughter.
Anna was out of energy, sobbing, and blindly hitting at anything that came near her.
Together, and with Joe’s help, we took them down. I almost couldn’t believe it when there were no more zombies left to kill.
Chapter Forty
Anna was brave; I had to give her credit for that. She had used real muscle to fight off these suckers. If she hadn’t been in shape, we wouldn’t have made it.
“I’m so proud of you.” I tried to hold her but she pushed me away. She simply gazed at all the death, the blood and guts and brains that surrounded us. She began shivering.
The rest joined us.
Joe took in Anna’s state. “She’s in shock. We need to lay her down and keep her warm.”
Jared didn’t hesitate. He ran to the center of the great hall, and sprinted back with a couple of jackets. We wrapped them around my daughter. We brought her into the office and barricaded the door once again.
She lay with her head on Jared’s lap. He kept feeding her sips of water until she stopped shaking.
The office was now crowded. It was warm from all of our bodies, but we kept still, recovering from a battle I never would have dreamed of.
Some of us must have slept. I know I dozed fitfully. It didn’t seem like so much time had passed, but finally, I could see a little light coming in from under the door.
Carla always had a plan. “Jack,” she whispered.
“Yeah? You still mad at me?”
She gave a small laugh. “No, of course not. You were right. I was just frightened.”
I took her hand. “What were you going to say?”
“Well, that...I know this might not be the best time...but if it’s safe, and now that we have back up,” referring to Mike and Joe, “We really need to get those bodies out of here. It’s going to start smelling.”
I hadn’t even thought of that.
“She’s right,” Joe agreed. “There’s a small door where you and Anna were fighting last night. We could just pick them up and throw them out that door.”
I didn’t know Anna had awakened.
“I don’t want them in here,” she said bitterly. “I’ll be happy if I never see one of them again. And we have to get our food and stuff.”
We all pitched in. After careful searching, we found the place empty except for the zombie bodies. Carla covered us all. We propped open the door to find a small walkway with a fifty-foot drop to a slope on the hill. Good enough.
The men, Jared included, heaved the bodies up and out the door and let them fall. It was a dirty business.
For the most part, Anna watched. Then her eyes fell onto one of the bodies. One of them wore a backpack, with what looked like a computer hanging out.
“I’m going to get that,” she said.
“I wish you wouldn’t,” I told her. But she gingerly made her way through the heaps of dead zombies to reach it.
I should have been watching her. We all should have. We were focused on our cleanup work, and Anna wanted that laptop.
She kneeled down and reached for it—
And that’s when a hand shot out and grabbed her leg. She screamed and let go of the backpack. She tried to kick loose, but fell to the ground.
If I had gotten to her a second sooner, I would have made it. But I didn’t.
She shrieked just as the zombie bit into her ear. In pain and terror, blood running down her ear and neck, she cried out, “Daddy!”
“You motherfucker!!” I plunged my knife into his skull and he fell to the ground. He was dead, but I was too late.
Anna had been bitten.
To be concluded in:
Zombie Mountain
Return to the Table of Contents
ZOMBIE MOUNTAIN
by
J.R. RAIN
ELIZABETH BASQUE
The Walking Plague Trilogy #3
Zombie Mountain
Published by J.R. Rain
Copyright © 2014 by J.R. Rain and Elizabeth Basque
All rights reserved.
Dedication
The authors dedicate this book to Danny Mountebank, the first confirmed victim of the zombie outbreak of ’72.
Zombie Mountain
Chapter One
Blood trickled down her neck, and the thick walls echoed her shrieks as Jack snatched his daughter up. She put her arms around his neck, sobbing.
He picked his way, holding her tightly in his arms as he moved through the mass of bodies and the blood-slimed floor. Everyone understood what had just taken place—she been infected by a zombie bite. So far, Jared, her young boyfriend, was the only one who dared to go to her side.
