“Okay.” She shrugged. “Colton?”
“Right here.” He grabbed his rifle. “Mychal, keep watch from the window. Call out a warning if you see anything.”
They joined Bill and his small group outside the gas station, allowing the dogs to join them. Chalice prayed they’d find gas with no incident. Her hands still shook from Mark’s death, and she feared she wouldn’t be able to hit her target.
“I’ll stay back and keep watch from the top of the motor home,” Sarah said. “I don’t like the boy having to take watch by himself.”
Bill nodded. “Good idea. You’ll be able to see up and down the freeway from there.”
Chalice stepped in front of the dark garage and listened. Nothing sounded. She glanced at Lady who sat next to her, searching for signs of alarm. Lady glanced up, tail wagging. “I think it’s clear or at least the immediate area is.”
“We’ll check out the inside for anything of value while you two fill up the tanks.” Fred joined her and sent Colton back with Bill and Hightower. “I figured it’s always good to mix things up, don’t you? That way, there’s always someone looking out for their friends.”
The man made her skin crawl. She hadn’t forgotten him watching her dress. “I’d rather search with Colton.” She turned to leave.
Fred grabbed her arm. “I don’t think so. That’s a right pretty little sister you’ve got, if you get my meaning.”
Chalice got his meaning just fine. If she had an axe in her hand, she’d show him what her meaning was. Instead, she lifted her chin, snapped her fingers for Lady to scout ahead, and stepped into the garage.
If the man meant to rape her, well, then he was in for one hell of a surprise. Chalice wouldn’t go down easy. She’d leave plenty of marks behind.
Once they entered into what would have once been someone’s office, she glanced around for something in which to defend herself. She’d never get her gun pulled in time. Not with Fred as heavily armed as she was.
Although she expected his attack, it still stunned her. Fred whipped her around to face him and pressed her against an office desk. He bent her backward, his mouth searching for hers. His breath smelled foul. Even after a month how hard was it to find a toothbrush?
She tried to knee him in the crotch. He anticipated her move and slapped her. Her head whipped back. Grabbing a handful of her hair, he pulled her closer.
Lady barked from the doorway, giving Chalice the opportunity she needed. While her dog latched onto Fred’s arm and shook like a shark at a feeding frenzy, Chalice raced to the next room.
Very little light came through the dirty window of a storage room. In the far corner sat a large dog crate: one big enough for a Great Dane or a human with thick wire woven together to form the sides.
Growls alerted Chalice to the fact that she wasn’t alone. She raced for the crate and dove inside, getting the latch hooked just as two zombies staggered into the room.
They moved amazingly fast for dead people. Chalice cowered.
The zombies rocked the crate, sliming her with saliva. Their groans ripped at her soul. Tears poured down her face. She would die in a cage like an animal. She wanted to scream for help, but by doing so would put everyone else in jeopardy. Mr. Whitetower might even think he owed her something for saving his and Sadie’s life, and put himself in unnecessary danger.
Instead, she put her arms over her head, curled into a ball, and prayed the zombies would go away. They tore at her clothing, trying to latch their fingers onto anything that would pull her close enough for them to bite. Thank goodness, the wires were too close for their mouths.
Fred screamed from the other room. The two undead terrorizing Chalice turned and shuffled away. Soon, gunshots rang out. Yet, Chalice remained where she was, safe in her cage, away from the carnage.
Lady appeared at one side of the cage and licked her through the wire.
“You’re okay.” Chalice noticed an open wound on her dog’s hip. “Dogs are immune to the virus, right, old girl?” She hoped so. She couldn’t bear to lose a single member of her family.
Shots were fired in more rapid succession until finally quieting. The quiet seemed louder than the echo of guns in a steel garage.
“Chalice!” Colton’s voice rang out.
“I’m here.” She fumbled for the latch on her cage.
Colton thundered toward her. “Are you okay?” He helped her with the latch and pulled her out and against his chest. “I thought we’d lost you. My heart stopped.” He cupped her face, resting his forehead against hers. “Don’t scare me like that again. I don’t want to go on without you.”
“I found you a cage for your pet zombie.” She stepped back and grinned. “It kept out two really big ones, so I think it’s sturdy enough.”
“You’re one crazy freak, you know that?” Colton lowered his head and kissed her, driving all thought and reason out the door.
His kiss might not have been her first, but it was the first that left her breathless and her body tingling. She didn’t care that he was covered with zombie blood or that her shirt was ripped and her hair wet with sweat.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed closer, returning his kiss as if it were the last one she’d ever receive. Who knew? Maybe it would be. They weren’t guaranteed the next breath. Not in this world.
Her legs weakened, and her heart fluttered. Who knew a kiss could be so hot?
“Seriously? We’re running for our lives and you two are making out?” Mychal stood in the doorway and frowned. “I’ve seen everything now.” He whirled and stomped away.
Colton laughed and stepped back, keeping his hands on Chalice’s shoulders. “Us kissing was the most memorable thing he’s seen?”
Face hot, stomach still dancing, Chalice headed for the open garage door. She sidestepped dead zombies and halted in surprise.
Fred leaned against the truck. Blood dripped down his arm and from another spot on his neck. Two fingers were missing from his left hand.
Chalice pulled a pistol from her waistband and marched up to hold the barrel against his crotch. “You tried to rape me.”
“What? No.” He shook his head. “You came on to me, you little whore.”
###
Colton threw a punch to the man’s jaw, snapping Fred’s head back. No one talked about Chalice that way, much less lay hands on her. “You’re bit.” He jumped back, his hand going for his gun.
“Her dog bit me.”
“Lady latched on to your arm then came to me a few minutes later.” Chalice narrowed her eyes. “You screamed and attracted the zombies to you, then fired your weapon.”
“That’s right.” Colton stepped to her side. “We ran in when we heard your gunfire,You were on the floor with a zombie on top of you. We could clean the blood off to tell for sure. I’ve studied enough medical books to be able to tell a human bite from a dog’s.” He was tempted to keep Fred as his experiment, but preferred someone smaller and weaker. Besides, he didn’t want the reminder of what the man tried to do to Chalice.
He also needed to form a mask of some sort so the zombie couldn’t bite anyone. He couldn’t do that while the person could still reason. And, as much as he’d like to cut off the man’s hands for touching Chalice, he couldn’t do that to someone he knew. No matter how rotten the person was. But, they could still use the cage.
“I suggest we put Fred in the dog crate in the storage room. If he doesn’t turn in a few days, we release him. If he does turn, we put a bullet through his skull.” Colton glanced from Bill to Chalice.
Bill nodded. “Sounds like a fair idea.” He sighed and leaned against the bumper of the truck, keeping his rifle aimed at Fred’s gut. “A little over a month ago, the world went dark. I have little hope of things getting better. Maybe the sun will come out again once the dust settles or maybe something darker will descend upon us. Either way, I aim to keep kicking until there’s no breath left in me. I expect others to do the same.
“Fred,”
Bill sighed. “You’ve got a choice. If you were bit, I can shoot you now and keep you from the nightmare of turning into one of those things or you can stick to your story of not being bitten and live in a cage for a few days and then die. Which is it?”
Fred took off running for the woods. Bill raised his rifle and fired. “A darn shame to have to kill a survivor. Sure wish I had a cigarette.”
“We’ve got some we planned for barter. I’ll get you a pack.” Mychal stepped into the motor home and returned a few seconds later with a pack of smokes in his hand. “I’m glad you shot him, Mr. Colman, especially with what Chalice said. If you hadn’t, he might’ve gone after one of the younger girls next time. It isn’t right for a man like that to keep walking this earth no matter how much everything has gone to hell.”
Bill clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re a wise boy.” He looked at Colton. “Now, where? Vehicles are as full of gas as we could get them.”
“I’ll take Mychal with me to get the crate, and we’ll keep heading toward Colorado Springs, I guess.”
“You plan on putting a zombie in that crate?” Bill scratched his head. “And there’s nowhere to put the crate but in the back of my truck.”
“Yes, sir, I do.” Colton explained his theory.
“I think I can help you with your experiment. I locked a little girl in the bathroom. She looks newly turned. I couldn’t bring myself to shoot her. Guess I could pull out her teeth and cut off her hands instead. Still seems barbaric, though.”
“I just want to know whether there’s hope or if this is our life for what’s left of it.” Colton motioned for Mychal to follow him. He caressed Chalice’s cheek on his way past and winked. Her cheeks turned pink, and he grinned.
###
“Let’s rearrange the back of the truck,” Sarah told Chalice. “I don’t want any of that dead filth getting on our supplies.” She peered in Chalice’s face. “You all right after Fred’s shenanigans?”
“I’m fine. I got away, thanks to Lady.” Which reminded her she needed to tend to the dog’s wound. “If you don’t mind doing the truck yourself, my savior has a bite to tend to.”
Sarah froze. “Tell me your talking about the dog and not one of the others.”
“The dog.” She glanced to where Lady lay beside the motor home, Buddy licking her wounds. The dog could do as could of a job as she could. Maybe Colton would give her some antibiotics when he returned.
At the mention of him, her heart did its funny somersault thing. She wasn’t sure how wise it was to get romantically involved with someone considering the state of the world, but now it was too late to change her mind. Colton owned her heart, plain and simple, even after such a short time.
By the time Sarah and Chalice had stacked the supplies against the inside far wall of the truck, the men returned with the dog crate and a snarling zombie around the age of ten. Mr. Hightower stood guard by the motor home and refused to let any of the kids come watch.
The zombie beat at the wire sides of the cage with bloody stumps. Black drool ran down her chin. Chalice didn’t know what they’d had to do in order to hold her down and pull her teeth. Bile rose in her throat, and she turned away.
Instead of watching the scene behind her, she stared at a sky which seemed to brighten with each day. Surely, God would clear the dust from the meteors out of the sky and send the sun in all its glory.
Otherwise, where was the hope, the reason for going on? Chalice glanced at the motor home where Hanna, Junior, and Sissy peeked out. There was no sign of Sadie. She probably grieved for her lost love.
Chalice transferred her attention to Mychal, Colton, and the others. There was her hope. A handful of survivors who were quickly becoming her family.
She’d die for any of them and was aware it might come to exactly that. Taking a deep breath, she rubbed the scars on her forearm. Marks that reminded her of her mother’s sacrifice. She climbed into the motor home, ready for the rest of their adventure.
The End
Stay tuned for THE ROAD AHEAD
Book Two in The Zombie Awakening series
Coming in 2013
SEE OTHER BOOKS BYCynthia Melton aka Cynthia Hickey
www.cynthiahickey.com
The Darkening (A Zombie Awakening) Page 7
