“Where’s the signal flag?” I asked Cody.
“It’s in front of a library about a block away,” he answered as we walked down the road.
The sun was beginning to get lower in the sky, causing the trees that lined the road to cast long shadows. There was a cool breeze that blew leaves across the road.
“Why’s it so far away?”
“If someone were curious as to why there was a flag flying and came to inspect it, they still wouldn’t stumble upon the supplies. There’s nobody around here except for Garner, so we really don’t have to worry about that though.”
I mumbled, acknowledging what Cody had said. There were a few moments of silence as we walked. I found it a bit awkward, so I decided to try and break the silence. “Sorry if I kinda lost it back there,” I said. I wasn’t sorry that I’d done it, of course; I needed to teach Ulysses a lesson. Still, I was afraid it might’ve painted me the wrong way in Cody’s eyes, and I actually didn’t mind him.
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” he said. “It’s stressful out here, and Ulysses can be a lot to handle. I’m glad someone finally decided to put him in his place. I know you’ve been through a lot out here. I definitely don’t want to diminish that or think I’ve been through worse or am better than you or some shit.”
I nodded my head. “Thanks, man. And I’m not saying you haven’t been through a lot. I mean, I barely know you, so I don’t know what your worst is. I’m just saying…” I paused for a moment.“I actually don’t know what I’m trying to say, really. Just thanks for understanding, I guess.”
“No problem.”
We continued to walk, except this time the silence wasn’t awkward.
We turned the corner. I could see the library. The flag post was in front, its top flapping in the wind, hitting the pole. It caused a pinging noise that echoed down the empty street. The noise made me feel uneasy. It cut through the ambience like a siren. I hoped no zombies decided to come and investigate the noise.
We reached the flag post, and Cody began to dig in his backpack. He pulled out a blue and white flag, and began tying it to the post.
“What’s with the colors?” I asked as I watched Cody.
“Helps it blend into the sky, so you’ll only notice it if you’re looking for it. At least that’s what they say. They’re just paranoid about somebody finding the bunker, so they take dumb precautions like this.” Cody began to pull on the rope, and the flag climbed up the pole, flapping in the wind. It reached the top, and Cody tied it off.
I gave the flag an exaggerated salute, which got a laugh from Cody.
“Come on,” he said as he put his backpack on. “Let’s get out of—”
A scream ripped through the air, interrupting Cody. The scream sounded like it came from a child.
My hair stood on end as I searched for where the screams were coming from.
“It sounds like it’s coming from that way,” Cody said, pointing toward the direction we came from.
Both of us took off running, our guns ready.
Chapter Forty-One
Miles
I ran toward the child, each scream causing more adrenaline to pump through my body. I cut through the yard of a house, climbed on top of an overturned trash can, and jumped over the wooden fence. I ran through the backyard, clambered up the back fence, and landed in a small alleyway.
I looked to my left and heard screams coming from that direction. I ran down the alley right as Cody landed behind me. He was right on my feet, as ready to take on whatever was at the end as I was.
I reached the end, and to my right, I saw a young boy standing in the middle of the road, his clothes and face dirtied. He stood there screaming, and when I looked to my left, I saw just what he was screaming at.
A Xenomortis was a few hundred feet away, charging right at him. A horde of zombies shuffled a few yards behind the creature.
I bolted as fast as I could for the boy. It was a race against the Xenomortis to see who could reach him first. I looked to my left, and the creature was a little bit faster than me, so it was gaining fast. I pushed myself into overdrive and reached the boy just in time. I grabbed him without stopping and threw him over my shoulder.
The Xenomortis ran right by, unable to stop itself in time. I looked behind me and watched Cody run by the Xenomortis as it slowed itself down and turned around, putting us back into its sights.
I ran up the steps and onto the porch of a two-story white house. I kicked the door open, and ran inside, the boy still screaming.
I ran up the stairs in front of me two at a time, Cody right behind. I heard a loud banging noise behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw the Xenomortis had taken out the side of the doorframe, knocking it out of balance a little. Those few precious seconds were just what I needed to reach the top of the stairs, and run down the hallway.
Cody ran past me, and as he ran, pulled out his pistol and shot out the window at the end of the hallway. He reached it well before I did and knocked the rest of the glass out. He climbed out onto the first floor roof, turned around, and put his arms out. I handed him the boy, and Cody pulled him on the roof, throwing him over his shoulders.
I turned and saw the Xenomortis reach the top of the stairs. Our eyes met, and he began running right for me.
“Miles!” Cody shouted.
I turned and climbed out the window onto the roof. Cody leaned past me and threw something through the window. I heard it clatter in the hallway.
He took off running across the slanted roof, and I followed. A loud explosion went off behind me, and the whole roof shook.
We reached the end of the roof, and I looked over the edge. We were only on the roof of the first floor, so it wasn’t that far of a drop. “I’ll climb down, and you hand him to me,” I said. The boy had stopped screaming, but now he was sobbing.
Cody nodded, and I grabbed the edge of the roof, and dropped down. I landed on my feet, and reached my hands up, signaling for Cody to hand the boy down.
There was a crashing sound from up there, and Cody turned to see what it was. “Shit!” he shouted. “It just busted through the window!”
“Give me the boy!” I shouted, my heart pumping a million miles an hour.
He handed the boy to me, and as soon as I had him in my hands, Cody jumped to the ground. He hit the ground and rolled before springing to his feet.
I turned to run, but the Xenomortis jumped off the roof, flying over my head. It landing right in front of Cody.
The Xenomortis stumbled as it hit the ground, which was Cody’s opportunity to take the creature out. But he didn’t. He just stood there. He didn’t know what to do.
“Under the neck!” I shouted as I pulled out my pistol. I ran toward the Xenomortis, who was now getting up.
Cody didn’t understand what I was telling him.
“Shoot under the neck!” I yelled as I ran past him toward the creature. It looked like I was going to have to take this one out on my own.
The Xenomortis stood on its feet and lunged for me. I slid underneath it, the air leaving my lungs as I hit the ground.
I scrambled up and saw Cody was running around the side of the house with the boy, leaving me to deal with the Xenomortis. I didn’t have time to worry about that, but I was glad he was getting the boy out of there.
The Xenomortis got up from the ground and lunged for me again. I jumped to the side, but its hard, scaly skin clipped my side. I fell to the ground, the force of the blow knocking me down.
The Xenomortis was on top of me in a second. I tried to knock it off me, but it was too strong. It had me pinned, but I could still maneuver my right hand. The hand with my pistol.
Its face was next to mine, and it was about to bite into me. I put the barrel of my gun against its neck and began unloading into its soft spot. The bullets tore through its brain, and it slumped on top of me.
I was covered in blood and brains. I tried to push the Xenomortis off me, but it was too heavy.
/> The sounds of moaning reached my ears. I poked my head over the side of the Xenomortis, straining to see what was going on. The zombies that followed the Xenomortis found their way through the house. They had knocked open the screen door that led into the backyard and were now flooding in.
And I couldn’t get the damn Xenomortis off me.
Chapter Forty-Two
Miles
My right hand and the pistol it held were stuck between me and the Xenomortis. My assault rifle was digging into my chest as well, unreachable. The Xenomortis covered the right side of my body almost completely. I tried to wiggle out on the left, but the weight of the creature on top of me made that impossible. I swung my left hand around, trying to grab anything I could to help pull myself out. There wasn’t a single thing for me to grab on to.
The moaning got closer and closer, and my options weren’t looking good. I couldn’t reach any of my weapons, and the Xenomortis really had me pinned down.
I reached down and pulled one of the grenades from my vest. I brought the pin up to my teeth, pulled it out, and tossed the grenade over the side of the Xenomortis, praying it landed in the middle of the zombies.
I tried to squeeze myself beneath the Xenomortis even tighter. The grenade went off, sending a small shockwave out. My ears rang, and everything sounded muffled and far away. I heard the grenade shrapnel hit the Xenomortis’s dead body and bounce off, hopefully sending them back into the crowd of zombies.
There weren’t as many moans, but there were still a couple. I’d bought myself some time, but being eaten by a zombie was still an option. I tried harder than ever get free. I began to shout and groan as I tried to fight against the weight of the creature. I couldn’t reach my other grenades, so I either had to get out from beneath the it or die trying.
“No,” I said to myself through gritted teeth. I wasn’t going to die beneath the body of a Xenomortis. That was not how I was going to go out.
My mind raced as I grabbed tufts of grass and tried pulling myself out. I ripped the grass up, as it was unable to hold my weight.
The few zombies that were left got closer and closer.
“No!”
Gunshots rang out, and I heard bodies hitting the ground.
My heart leapt with joy. The Xenomortis was lifted off me. Trevor stood above me, offering his hand to help me up. I grabbed it and stood up. I leaned over on my knees and breathed in long breaths.
Cody handed me a bottle of water, and I gulped it down. My whole body shook, and I felt light-headed. That was a close one, and it almost didn’t go my way.
“Holy shit,” Victor said as he looked around the backyard.
Pieces of zombies were spread everywhere. My grenade had taken a lot of them out. Not to mention the Xenomortis that I’d killed.
“You good?” Trevor said. He leaned down next to me and put a hand on my shoulder.
I nodded my head. I couldn’t speak as my breathing got heavier and heavier. My chest constricted, and my mind raced. I lowered myself to the ground and sat. I needed to take a moment to process what had just happened. How close I came. The adrenaline was wearing off, and the terror of the situation started to creep in.
“Yeah, it’s okay. Just take a minute,” Trevor said.
Cody examined the scene, holding the hand of the boy we’d saved. “Dude, what you did was so badass.”
I didn’t pay attention to what he was saying. All my attention was on the little boy we’d saved. He was only five or six, and he was looking right at me.
“Y-you okay?” I asked, my voice shaking.
The boy nodded. Streaks from tears marked his dirty face.
I nodded back at him. “Good.”
“Thank you,” he said in a small voice.
I smirked. “No problem.”
*
Trevor talked to Ben—the boy we’d saved—as I gathered my bearings. I hadn’t been paying much attention to what they were saying, as I was focusing on getting my own head under control.
“You catch that?” Trevor asked me when I joined the group. They were standing over by the side of the house, a few yards away from where I had been sitting.
“No,” I said. “What’s the plan?”
“Ben’s from Garner. Says a group of people they’ve never seen before came and took some of the people who live there. Said they’d keep them unless they started playing by their rules—giving them livestock, things from their gardens, stuff like that.”
I felt my stomach turn as I felt anger begin to simmer within me. I took a deep breath. I needed to calm down, or else I’d pass out. “Roves,” I said. “It was the Roves that came, wasn’t it.”
Ben nodded his head. “That’s what they were called,” he said in his young, innocent voice.
“Aren’t these the people you were telling us about, Miles?” Trevor asked.
I nodded my head. “They pretty much own Dallas. They’re the ones who took my home. Can’t believe you guys have never heard of them.”
“We don’t get out much,” Trevor said with a smirk. “Don’t go very far when we do.”
“Looks like we don’t have to go very far anymore,” Victor said.
“True. I don’t like that they’re this close,” Trevor said.
“Don’t forget they know about the G—Ronoss,” I said, shooting a look to Ben, making sure he didn’t realize that I almost admitted to the Genari being around still. “They were probably out looking for him and stumbled upon Garner.”
Trevor scoffed and hit his knee. “Ronoss. That son of a bitch. We never should’ve allowed them to get out. I always said it was too risky.”
“We can talk back at home. We need to get out of here so we can get Ben back to Garner,” Ulysses said.
“We’re taking him home?” I asked, flashing Ben a smile.
“Of course,” Cody said, ruffling Ben’s hair. “Can’t send him all the way to Garner on his own.”
“How’d you get all the way out here in the first place?” I asked him.
“He got away from the Roves,” Trevor said. “He was one of the ones they took and was small enough to slip away without them noticing.”
Suspicion rose from within me. Grown men and women couldn’t escape the Roves, much less a young child. Then again, I guessed that being a young child did have an advantage. If they used handcuffs on him, they probably weren’t able to get them on him tight enough. It started to make a little more sense, and I began to accept that it must’ve been what happened.
Still, I stayed on my guard. Regardless of whether or not the Roves let Ben go for some reason, if they were starting to mess with Garner, I had a feeling things were going to get even more complicated.
Chapter Forty-Three
Daniel
Despite Ron and Mike’s protests, Daniel continued on the road toward Jefferson Memorial. They believed that they should follow the Roves, but Daniel knew that they were long gone. They’d sped off in a truck, so there was no way they’d be able to catch up to them in time.
No, they’d continued on to Jefferson Memorial. It was the only place they knew the Roves were for sure. Plus, Daniel hoped to find any sign of Miles. Jefferson was the only place Daniel knew Miles had gone. That is, if Miles even made it there.
Daniel didn’t want to think about that, though. Sure, he and Miles had their differences, but they’d still been through a lot together. Daniel would always have his back. He had even more respect for him now that he knew what it was like leading a team out into the wild. That level of stress wasn’t something Daniel was comfortable with. He was more used to negotiating or mediating between two parties. Political stress, not life-or-death, zombies-trying-to-kill-you stress.
Daniel looked forward to the day when he could be back behind Jefferson Memorial’s Wall, making sure the place ran smoothly. He’d leave the fighting to Miles. Of course, he just had to find Miles first.
“How much farther?” Mike asked.
“Not much,” Daniel replie
d.
“Then we gotta walk all the way back once we’re done?” Ron groaned.
“Unless you learn how to fly,” Daniel said.
Mike and Ron chuckled, despite their sour moods. “There’s hope for you yet, Daniel,” Ron said.
Daniel wasn’t so sure about that, but he just smiled in response and kept on walking.
“What’s the plan once we get there?” Mike asked.
“We’ll keep our distance but just watch the place from every way we can. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a glimpse of how many people they got in there. If they’ve got a blindspot, we’ll be able to get up close and try and listen through the Wall.”
“Sounds good to us,” Ron said.
“Yeah, I guess. I’d just hate to get captured or something,” Mike said.
“Well, of course. Nobody’s saying you do,” Ron replied, rolling his eyes.
“No, I know, I’m just saying—”
“—Guys,” Daniel said, interrupting them. “Let’s just walk in silence, okay? We’re getting close. Don’t want to have to deal with any zombies on top of everything else.”
They continued walking in silence. They walked past a sign that read Meridian, One Mile.
“Just one more mile, so stay sharp,” Daniel said.
After a bit more walking, Daniel and his group reached the edge of town. Daniel breathed in the fresh Meridian air. He knew there was no difference in the air here and the air somewhere like Riven, but still, he enjoying breathing this air more. This air felt like home, and Daniel couldn’t help but smile.
They walked through town, making sure to stay on edge. They didn’t want someone—or something—sneaking up on them. They also didn’t want to make their presence known, so that meant shooting at any attackers was a last resort. Daniel made sure to reiterate that if they were very quiet, they wouldn’t have anything to worry about. He had a feeling that might be difficult for Mike and Ron, but they were doing well so far, so Daniel hoped for the best.
Up ahead, Daniel saw a car lot. He smiled. That was the car lot he and the rest of the group stayed the night in the night they escaped Jefferson Memorial. That seemed like forever ago to him, but it really wasn’t that long at all. Daniel had been through so much in just those few days, it was almost overwhelming to him.
Retaliation: The Mortis Desolation, Book Two Page 12
