“Who...who are you?” she managed to ask.
A low chuckle was followed by a sharp pain as he flicked the knife against her earlobe. “I think you know.”
“I don’t know you.”
Another low laugh followed by a second cut to her cheek, this one much deeper. “Don’t lie to me. I hate liars. Tell me who I am.”
“Ke Tau,” she answered with a wince of pain.
“That’s better. Tell me what’s your name?”
“Lisa.”
“Now Lisa, we’re going to play a game. If you play along, I’ll spare your life. I might even let you keep your pretty face. How’s that?”
Lisa swallowed at the menace in his voice and cast her eyes around for anyone who could help her. There was no one, however. They were all too busy defending the walls. She decided to play for time. “Go on.”
“If you don’t play along, I’ll take you to a quiet corner, cut your tongue out so you can’t scream, and then I’ll take you apart like a ragdoll at the seams. First your fingers, then your toes, then your lips and ears.”
Lisa squeezed her eyes shut and sucked in a breath. The sun winked in a final flash of brilliant light before vanishing altogether. Now the darkness held sway. This can’t be happening. No, no, no.
“Your eyes will go last, but only so you can watch every single thing I do to you. And there are lots more I can do.” As if to emphasize his words, he licked the side of her face. “Mmm, you taste good. Maybe, I'll keep you. Would you like that?”
She shuddered.
He chuckled at her reaction. “Do you understand now what happens if you refuse to play?”
“I understand.”
“Good. Here’s what we do. I’m going to pretend you didn’t kill two of my men the other day and steal away with Michael and my playthings. Then you’re going to pretend I’m a good guy and take me to where your women and children are hiding.”
“What? No!”
He sighed. “You disappoint me, Lisa. Trust me when I say you don’t want to disappoint me.”
“I won’t show you, no matter what you do to me.”
“Why not?” he asked. “I won’t hurt them, I swear. I just want some leverage.”
“Leverage?”
“Don’t you understand, you stupid woman? Your people have won. I lost. If I want to get out of here, I’ll need something to bargain with.”
“Hostages.”
“Precisely.” He pressed the knife against her neck, right where the artery throbbed in time to the beat of her heart. “So tell me where the women and children are before I cut your pretty throat wide open and let you bleed out like a stuck pig.”
Lisa thought of doing as he said and imagined him getting his hands on little Megan and Anne. Mark and Jenny. The babies. Then she thought of him killing her, even torturing her. She looked up at the stars, a thick carpet of silver lights that twinkled beside their proud mama, the moon. Death wouldn't be so bad. Maybe I could become a star, who knows. “No.”
“What?”
“I said no.”
“You’re willing to die for them?”
“I am.”
He made a disgusted noise in the back of his throat. “Fine. I’ve wasted enough time on you already.”
His arms tightened as he prepared to drag the blade across her neck, and Lisa closed her eyes. This is it.
Suddenly, Ke Tau stiffened. A garbled cry escaped his lips, and he leaned on her with all his weight as his knees buckled. Acting on instinct, Lisa folded her legs while simultaneously shoving his arms up. She slipped out of his hold and staggered away before turning to watch him.
Ke Tau stared at her while his mouth worked soundlessly. He dropped his knife onto the ground and reached up as if to swat a fly on his back. Then he collapsed face first onto the dust.
Behind him stood a figure, short and slender, with wide eyes and ghostly white skin. Lisa blinked and wondered for a moment if she was facing a ghost. Am I dead? Did Ke Tau kill me?
The figure stepped forward, and a glimmer of moonlight fell across her face. It was a familiar face, one now wide-eyed with shock and horror.
“Ruby?” Lisa said. “Is that you?”
“It’s me.”
Lisa looked from Ke Tau’s body to the girl and noticed the hatchet buried in his back. The handle stuck up into the air with the head lodged between his shoulder blades. “You killed him.”
Ruby nodded, and a tremor tore through her body. “I did it for Lonny.”
“Oh, sweetie. Come here.” Lisa opened her arms as Ruby began to cry. “It’s okay. You did the right thing.”
Ruby pressed her face to Lisa’s shoulder. “He was going to kill you.”
“Yes, he was.” Lisa smoothed a hand over Ruby’s soft hair.
“He would’ve killed us too if he found us,” she mumbled.
“He would’ve, yes.”
“He was a bad man.”
“An evil man,” Lisa agreed, though her heart ached for Ruby. It was not easy to kill a human being, no matter how cruel or brutal.
She continued to hold Ruby while leading her away from the body and back to the schoolroom. There she found a worried-looking Michelle, Tumi, and Erica.
“Ruby insisted on leaving,” Michelle said. “She wouldn’t listen to me at all.”
“She kept saying someone needed her, over and over again,” Erica said.
“Very strange,” Tumi agreed.
“Well, she’s safe now, and she was right about one thing. Someone did need her.”
Lisa cupped Ruby’s face in her palms. “Will you be all right here for a while? I need to help out on the wall, but I’ll be back soon.”
Ruby managed a shaky smile. “I’ll be okay.”
“Good. I’ll see you soon then. Lock behind me, it's dangerous out there.”
“Will do.”
As Lisa turned to leave, Ruby touched her hand. “Oh, and Lisa?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not sorry I did it.”
Lisa left the warmth of the schoolroom and stepped outside only to bump into a hulking shape. She gasped, and her hand flew to her side for her gun. A hand gripped hers, and a voice soothed her fears.
“Relax, Lisa, it’s only me.”
“Michael?”
“Yeah.”
“Where did you come from?”
“I’ve been searching the grounds, checking on everyone and flushing out rats.”
“Rats?”
His teeth gleamed in a smile. “Ke Tau’s men, the ones who got in.”
“Did you get them all?” she asked as he directed her toward the main gate.
“I think so, but a last thorough sweep would be best.”
“Good idea. I guess Carlito bit the dust then?”
“He did.” Michael walked for a few steps in silence. “I see someone did for Ke Tau. Was it you?”
“No, not me.” She shook her head in amazement. “It was Ruby.”
“Ruby?” He stopped in shocked surprise then burst out laughing. “Now isn’t that what I call poetic justice?”
“What about Hiran?”
Michael shook his head. “I haven’t seen so much as a hair on his head. He’s clever, though. Like a fox. He’d run at the first sign of trouble.”
“I hope he never comes back.” Lisa rubbed her arms as a sudden chill overcame her.
“If he does, I’ll kill him.”
The bright floodlights that lit the gates came into view, and they met a tired but exultant Max. The area was a hive of activity as people bustled around.
“What’s going on?” Lisa asked.
“We won, plain and simple.”
“Yeah?” While Lisa understood what he was saying, the words didn’t feel real to her yet. Guess it’s a delayed reaction.
“We killed all the undead, and Ke tau’s men have pulled back. Those that survived, at least.” Max grinned. “We’ll take a team tomorrow to smoke him and the last of his men out and re
scue Rebecca and her people.”
“I’d like to go with you and so would Mpho,” Michael replied.
“Fine by me.”
“You don’t have to worry about Ke Tau, though. His corpse is over there.”Michael jerked his head in Ke Tau’s direction.
“You got him?” Max asked.
“Nope. Ruby did.”
“Ruby?” Max’s face registered the same surprise Michael’s had initially. “My God.”
“You’re telling me.”
Max shook his head. “Martin is out sweeping the grounds and clearing away any bodies, though we’ll stick inside until daylight. He’ll take care of it.”
“Good,” Michael said. “What about casualties on our side?”
Max’s face darkened. “There’s a few. They’re all in the infirmary. I’m still waiting on a final report from Jonathan.”
Lisa sensed Max was reluctant to discuss it and was putting the issue off. She couldn’t blame him. They’d just won a significant battle. The death or injury of someone near and dear was the last thing anyone wanted to think about.
“I’m posting a guard at the schoolroom and another at the clinic. The rest of us will sleep in the common room tonight, except for rotating four-man teams on the walls. Food and water will be distributed, but I want no one wandering about on their own in case of trouble,” Max continued.
“I’ll get Mpho and see you at the common room,” Michael said before vanishing into the night.
“And I’ll go check on Lonny if you don’t mind,” Lisa said. “After that, I’ll stick with Ruby. She’ll want news of her brother.”
“Perfect. See you in the morning then,” Max replied. “Oh, and Lisa? Would you mind showing these three where the common room is? They’ve come a long way.”
He indicated two teen girls and a slightly older guy, all of whom came in with Logan and Martin’s party. They looked battle weary, and she smiled to show her gratitude for their help in defending her home. “Sure, no problem.”
Chapter 22 - Logan
In the aftermath of the battle, Logan joined Martin as they swept the grounds for signs of either Ke Tau’s men or infected. It had been a long day, filled with excitement aplenty, but he didn’t think he could sleep and wanted to keep busy.
They walked in silence at first, flanked on either side by Jed and Josh. With slow care, they combed both the walls and grounds, even checking inside all of the buildings, no matter how small.
They found nothing except a few bodies, all of them from the enemy. These they dumped over the walls to be dealt with in the morning. After Michael sent Mpho to alert them to the breach, Max and several others had rushed over to stop the gap. Ke Tau’s men had fallen like dead leaves in a high wind before their assault.
Afterward, they’d escorted a shocked Elise to the infirmary along with the injured Sean, and Ben’s body. That had saddened Logan no end. Both to say goodbye to Ben and to see Elise in such a state.
“So Bloemfontein,” Martin said, distracting him from his morbid thoughts. “What did you guys think of that?”
“I don’t know,” Logan admitted.
He thought back to earlier that day. It now felt like an eternity ago instead of just a few hours. They’d broken camp and set off with the full intention of bypassing Bloemfontein if the highways proved impossible to navigate. None of them were keen on getting trapped between a quarter of a million zombies, after all.
But instead of clogged streets filled with crashed car wrecks and undead, they encountered cleared highways with no signs of infected. Any cars had been pulled over to the side where they stood in neat rows. No zombies wandered about, and they saw several sites where mass graves had been dug. All had a cross with a biblical message on it commending the poor lost souls to the grave and the hereafter.
More than that, they’d come across something that was meant as a safe house. The small building was both clean and supplied with food, medicine, and water. There were even blankets. A message on the wall had told them to take what they needed and leave what they didn’t while a map provided directions to a sanctuary. They left everything the way it was except the map. That they took.
Finally, on the way out of town, they’d seen a giant billboard announcing that a safe haven was nearby and to follow the directions. It had all come as a considerable surprise to Logan who hadn’t seen anything like that before in all his travels.
“We have to tell Max,” Martin said.
“Of course,” Logan replied. “It’s a big deal.”
“We should send a group there to check it out,” Josh suggested.
“Maybe,” Martin said. “But in the meantime, we’ve got plenty to do here.”
They finished the rest of their sweep in silence, and Logan paused to take his leave. “I’m going to the infirmary. Check you guys later.”
He made his way there and stepped into a space bustling with activity. The air was warm and the people brisk. In the rush, he spotted Julianne’s blonde hair and blue eyes and called her closer. “Hi, Julianne. How’s Breytenbach?”
She pulled him aside and smiled. “He’s doing all right. Jonathan gave him something for his heart, and he’s resting now.”
“His heart?” Logan wondered if he’d heard wrong.
“Yes, it came as quite a shock to me also. He’s been keeping it a secret all this time.” She shook her head with a sad smile.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right. He had a rough few days which taxed his heart, but Jonathan said as long as he takes it easy from now on and looks after himself, he’ll be fine.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
“Do you know what happened to him in Hennenman? And Mike? He hasn’t said much himself,” she asked.
“Not really. I heard there was a gas explosion. Mike got the worst of it, and they were stuck there for most of the night and following day. We found them on the road on the way here and patched Mike up with what we had in the truck.”
“Well, I’m glad.” Julianne laid a soft hand on his arm. “Jonathan said his injuries aren’t too bad, just painful.”
“What about everyone else?”
“Lonny is better, and Nombali’s doing fine. The bullet passed right through, and Lenka’s with her right now.”
“Lenka?” Logan frowned. “The Lenka? Big Lenka?”
“Oh, yes. The one and only. He’s got quite a thing for Nombali, you know.” Julianne laughed. “You’ve been gone awhile. It’ll take time to catch up.”
“I know. You and Breytenbach, Max and Kirstin, and who’s that Michael guy? He’s quite the fighter.”
“That he is.” Julianne shook her head, and sadness filled her eyes. “It’s too bad about Ben, though. That’s a real loss for us. And you’ve heard about Joanna?”
Logan nodded, his mood turned somber.
“Perhaps, it’s better. Ben never really recovered after...you know.”
“After Angie,” Logan said. “I guess it was hard for him.”
“It was. At least, Sean is okay, and Elise is recovering from the shock.”
“It will take time, but we always rebuild,” he said.
“Julianne?” a deep voice interrupted. “Who are you talking to?”
“It’s Logan,” Julianne replied.
“Well, bring him in.”
Julianne led Logan behind a curtain where he found a pale but otherwise healthy-looking Breytenbach lying in bed. “How are you?”
“I’m good. Don’t need to be here; I can tell you that,” Breytenbach said with a gruff look in Jonathan’s direction. “The doc’s just overreacting.”
Logan chuckled. “If you say so. Do what he says anyway.”
Julianne shook her head and sidled closer until Breytenbach pulled her down next to him on the bed. “I’ll tell you one thing, though. I don’t mind using this as an excuse to take it easy for a while. I’m tired of fighting.”
Logan nodded. “I get that. I'm tired of running. Why don�
�t you let Ronnie take over from you for a bit?”
Breytenbach nodded. “That’s not a bad idea. Besides, the team could use some fresh blood. Lisa’s a mean one. She’ll fit right in.”
“Christo,” Julianne admonished with a pump in the ribs.
“I mean it in the best possible way, love.” Breytenbach shot Logan a sharp look. “You seem all better. Did you find what you were looking for?”
“In a way.” Logan laughed. “It came in the form of a rebellious teen called Nadia.”
“Nadia?” Julianne asked with a frown.
“Nothing like that,” Logan hastened to reassure her. “She’s just a friend. We saved each other.”
“I see,” Julianne replied. “I’d like to meet her.”
“I’ll bring her over as soon as I can,” he said. “But I’d better get going now. Max needs me.”
“See you soon, Logan. It was good seeing you,” Breytenbach said.
Logan prepared to leave, but a shrill scream froze him in place. He bounded for the exit and followed the sounds of a struggle. There, not far from the clinic, a girl struggled against a snarling figure that snapped at air.
Zombie.
The girl whom he now saw was Donya, had it by the throat and was barely holding it at bay. The next moment, the thing slipped from her grasp and was about to bite down on her face when Nadia barrelled in from the side. Without hesitating, she pushed her arm into its mouth.
Logan went cold as the infected sank its teeth into her flesh and ripped a chunk right out. Blood spurted, and Nadia screamed in agony. With a yell of fury, Logan launched himself at the zombie with his bare hands extended.
He ripped the thing away from Nadia and threw it to the ground. With one swift move, he pulled his rifle from his back and shot it through the head. With its brains splattered all over the field, he looked at it.
It was a fresh corpse with a bullet wound to the chest that had bled a lot and bite mark on the shoulder. One of Ke Tau's. Bitten before he got shot.
Dismissing the zombie, he turned toward the bleeding Nadia and gathered her into his arms.“I need a doctor right now!”
Jonathan rushed over, followed by Dr. Lange, and he quickly assessed the bite wound. He looked up at Logan with resignation. “I can make her as comfortable as possible, but you know what this means. She’s infected, and in time, she’ll turn.”
Live Another Day (Dangerous Days - Zombie Apocalypse Book 4) Page 17
