End of the Line (Book 2): Stuck in the Middle

by Lara Frater

  “They’re both young ones,” I said to Mike. “And it’s too much of a coincidence that they both young and naked.”

  “Greenport is by the water,” Gwen suggested. “Maybe they were swimming.”

  “One yeah but two. I ain’t seen a single young zombie on this island. And now we see two together. Besides they’re dry. They ain’t been in the water. Either she came over here on her own and got bit, then bit her friend.”

  “Or someone bought them here,” Gwen said, her voice low.

  “I think we should leave,” Mike said. “This seems bad.”

  “Yeah.” So much for a day at the beach.

  Gwen let the kids know they should start drying off. I was still damp, so I wrapped the towel around myself. Gwen was drying off Brie and gathering up stuff. Mike had already started the car but he walked around with the rifle out. I was kind of ticked ‘cause this was the first time I been to the beach this whole summer and it sucked.

  I headed back to the van. Charlie and Andy were already in the back seat. They looked terrified.

  “You boys alright?”

  Neither of them said anything. Charlie’s teeth were chattering but I don’t think it was the cold.

  “You’ll be okay,” I said, touching Charlie’s shoulder.

  Then I heard a voice scream over the radio.

  “Tanya!” it sounded like Manny. “Tanya, Mike, please come in. It’s an emergency!”

  The radio was in the driver’s seat. Mike got to it before I did.

  “Manny,” he said, concern filled his voice. “What’s going on?”

  “It’s bad. Oh god it’s bad.” My heart dropped. New zombies here. What if there’s a bunch more at the farm?

  “Don’t panic, what’s happening?”

  “Some men came with guns. We have wounded. We have dead.”

  Mike put the radio down and looked at me. “Everyone get in the van now!”

  Gwen and I hustled the kids to the van leaving a bunch of stuff behind. We could get it later. I didn’t care. All I could think of was Manny’s last sentence. We have dead. And since it wasn’t Jim on the radio, I felt dread in my stomach.

  “How many dead?” Mike asked.

  “I don’t know. Just come back. The men are gone. I gotta help the wounded.” Then the radio went dead.

  Mike looked at me. “What should we do?”

  “You heard the man. We have to get back there, but first drop Gwen and the kids off with Steven.”

  We weren’t far from Steven’s house. It was along the road that ran parallel to the beaches. He could have taken any house he wanted, but he kept his townhouse.

  The car ride was excruciating. Probably for all of us. Hannah, Dena and Simon were still at the house. I knew something happened to Jim. He would have been on the radio. There was no way I could lead or even go on without him. I swallowed hard realizing that Grace would have stopped a shooting. She had to be down as well.

  I knew exactly who did this, Joel. He must have learned Keith was a carrier. Had Joel just been fucking with us all along while trying to find Keith? I felt sick. I promised Keith I would protect him.

  But why did Joel have to kill my people to take out one guy? I should have gone with my gut but there was no way I could have predicted this.

  We pulled in front of Steven’s house. With my window open, I heard the clicking of his typewriter going strong. I got out of the car before it even rolled to a stop and ran to his door. I banged hard on it.

  “Steven!” I yelled. The typing stopped. A moment later the upstairs window flew open.

  Steven stood there looking at me. He wore shorts and a white undershirt. I could see his white skin and green veins sticking out. I was still wearing my wet shorts, a pair of flip-flops and rolled up tee.

  “What’s going on?” He asked, his voice concerned.

  “Trouble at the farm. Can Gwen and the kids stay with you?”

  “For how long?”

  “It won’t be more than overnight.”

  “What kind of trouble? Is it Joel?”

  “I don’t know—“ But I did. “Please, Steven.” He vanished from the window. Gwen, Mike and the kids got out of the car and joined me by the door. Gwen held Brie’s hand. Normally chatty, Brie hadn’t said a word since seeing the zombies on the beach. No crying or anything. Was she worried she was going to lose yet another parent? A moment later the door opened. Steven looked at me with wild eyes.

  “It’s Joel, isn’t it?”

  “I think so—It’s a long story. We got to get back. I’ll fill you in, I promise.”

  Steven held the door open to let Gwen and the kids inside. Gwen touched my shoulder before she went in and Charlie hugged me. I watched them disappear behind the door.

  “Thank you. This means a lot.”

  “I hope everything is okay.”

  He was wrong.

  Manny stood at the front door of the manor house. No one was in the fields. Mike pulled the van in front of the door and got out as soon as the engine stopped. He didn’t even shut the door. I heard it dinging in the background, but all I cared about were my people.

  Mike immediately went to him. “Hannah? Dena? Simon?”

  “Hannah is fine,” Manny said. Manny looked dishevel, sweaty and brown skin looked paler than usual. His eyes looked sad and his voice shaky. His clothes, khakis and a yellow t-shirt were stained with blood. “Dena’s okay but shaken up.”

  “Simon?” I asked.

  Manny didn’t say anything. I knew, so did Mike.

  “They killed my fucking kid?” Mike said. He looked so mad I thought he was gonna deck Manny. I think Manny did too because he flinched and took a step back. But Mike didn’t. Instead he balled his fists, clenching both of them tightly. Mike had gotten pissed off, at me, at Dena, at Annemarie, before but he looked ready to explode. His face turned red in anger.

  “They shot up the cantina. Fifteen people were inside, eight are dead, three are wounded, three, they missed. Dena was one of them. They missed Eric and Frannie because they were cleaning up in the back and hid when they heard the shots.”

  “I know I ain’t educated, but that’s 14.” I swallowed hard. Joel had killed eight of my people for no reason.

  “Grace is missing.”

  “What?”

  “I don’t know where she is. Dena said they came in shooting. She hid under the table. She didn’t see Grace after. She ran out when they were gone and rung the bell. Lucy went after them on Euclid. Felix took the car,” Manny’s voice was so shaky, he almost couldn’t get the words out. Grace had named the male horse Euclid and I think she liked him more than people.

  “Who’s dead,” I said, preparing myself for the worse. “And who’s wounded?”

  “The dead are Simon, George, Joe, Ann, Joyce, Oliver, Carol, and Felicia—“ He paused, his voice became calm but I could still hear a shakiness. “Felicia was shot in the head execution style. Everyone else was just in the way. Someone wanted to make sure she was dead. We left the dead in the cantina. I covered them. I’m so sorry Tanya. I wished I could have--”

  “The wounded?” I interrupted to keep him on track.

  “Jim, Stan and Dave. Dave’s pretty bad off. Hannah doesn’t think he’ll make it. Jim got hit in the shoulder and Stan in the leg.”

  I was surprised to not hear Keith’s name among the dead or wounded. I figured Joel did all this to get Keith. “And Keith, is he okay?” I said. I put Jim, Dave, Grace and the dead out of my head, I would deal with that in a moment.

  Manny looked at me strangely. “Keith is fine, Ricky told everyone in the fields to go in their rooms and lock their door. Keith was one of them.”

  Then I knew. I thought that Joel attacked us because he knew about Keith, but he wasn’t the target. Joel wanted Grace.

  I don’t know why. I knew he wanted to recruit her but I don’t know why he kidnapped her. It ain’t like we have something to give for ransom. Unless maybe he wanted to exchange her for Keith
but that seemed stupid. Joel would have shot up the place until he found him.

  Or maybe he wanted her for saying no to him.

  “I’m so sorry, Tanya,” Manny repeated. “I—“ his voice trailed off. “I was patrolling—by the time I got there it was too late— “ He paused again. “It’s like a fucking war in there.”

  The infirmary smelled like blood and antiseptic. One night when I was 16, my friend Sharelle got shot by some drunk assholes she badmouthed. Sharelle always had a big mouth. I wondered if she was still alive. She was pretty tough. We went to an unlicensed doctor whose office smelled like this.

  Jim was lying on a cot. His left shoulder was bandaged and his eyes were closed. Eric sat next to him. I touched his shoulder but he pulled away. I knew Manny and Jim had gone out on some dates but haven’t started a relationship. Jim said he wanted to be single for a while, free from Eric and St. Cameron.

  Dena who was sitting on a cot, her shorts and tee shirt covered in blood, saw her father and ran to him sobbing. Nothing like death to end a feud. Hannah, who was also covered in blood, gave a shot to Dave then walked to Mike.

  Mike embraced his wife tightly, staining his clothes with blood. Mike and Hannah were the only stable couple here and happily taken on the responsibility of looking after the kids including the two new ones Charlie and Andy. They had Simon less than a year but I knew they adored him.

  I went over to Dave. Olive sat at the edge of his bed with her head over her paw. First time I’d ever seen her sad.

  Dave looked terrible, he had an IV but he was bandaged and bleeding in several places. Hannah managed to tear herself away to talk to me.

  “I gave him morphine,” she explained. “He’s not in any pain.” I was glad about that. In our previous lives, Dave would have thought I was beneath human and I would have thought he was a racist scumbag. We fought a lot, but still he shared my bed and my friendship.

  I pulled a chair and sat beside him. He didn’t look good. He was even whiter than normal and it look like he took three bullets, one in the gut, one in the left side, the other in the shoulder.

  I took his hand. He opened his eyes.

  “Oh shit,” he said, weakly. “I’m a goner.”

  “Nah, you’ll be fine,” I said.

  “I know already. Hannah’s not a surgeon and I’m bleeding inside. The gut one tore me all up. I’m not in pain, Morphine is wonderful.”

  “There’s always hope or a miracle.”

  He laughed then started coughing. He put his hand to his mouth and came away with blood. “You want a drink?” I asked. I never told anyone that Dave used to be a drunk.

  “For a change I don’t. Going to meet god clean and sober. Thank you for keeping my secret.”

  “Okay.”

  “Give Olive to Henry,” he said, he put his hand. Olive got up and licked it. He gave her a few pets. “When all this dies down, tell Hannah to look her over. Damn bastard kicked her. They wanted Grace, that’s it. She fainted and the masked gunmen came in, just shooting. They hit Ann. She was next to me. She’s dead, isn’t she?” He didn’t give me a chance to respond. “I tried to get them but I can’t hit a damn thing. They were armed to the teeth. They shot at whatever moved.”

  “Fainted? What was wrong?”

  “I don’t know. When she fell forward, they came in.” He began coughing really hard. He grabbed my hand tightly.

  “Please keep looking for my daughter.”

  “I will,” I wanted to let Dave talk about anything he wanted but I really needed to know what happened in that room.

  “Tell her I was wrong and I love her.”

  “Got it.”

  “When Father Vic comes tell him to give me a prayer. You find those bastards and kill them—“

  “Promise.” And that was true. “Dave, tell me more about them.”

  Instead of saying anything, his head rolled back and he stopped breathing.

  “Dave?” I said, but I knew he was dead. “Dave!” I said his name louder, hoping my voice would will him back to life. I didn’t cry because I couldn’t let my people see me weak. I felt hands on my shoulder. I turned around to see Manny. He gave me his hand to help me up. I didn’t take them, I stood on my own.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go outside.”

  “Not yet.” I walked over to Jim. He was up but his eyes looked unfocused.

  “Hannah gave him morphine too,” he explained. “More than Dave. Hannah had to get the bullet out, and that was more painful than Dave’s wounds. He was lucky—He was sitting close to Grace. He wasn’t in the line of fire. They had a machine gun or something, lots of bullets, lots of rounds—“ he paused. “The cantina got ripped to shreds.”

  I was enraged so much I shook. The idea that Joel caused pain and death to my people made me pissed. I was wrong before when I told Mike I had to look out for everyone. I was upset and mad about those who died, but Dave and Jim were my family.

  I looked at him, I looked at Eric. Jim was going to have some choices to make. I did notice something, ever since Jim started dating Manny, even though he said it wasn’t serious, he moved his wedding ring to his right ring finger. He never did that with Eric.

  I sat next to him, took his hand, he opened his eyes, slightly but they were dilated.

  “Manny?” Eric got up and made a loud scraping sound when he pulled his chair out. He stormed out of the room, slamming the door when he left. Not my problem. He could have fixed it with Jim when he had the chance.

  “Nah, it’s Tanya, you’re gonna be alright. Manny’s right next to me.”

  Jim didn’t respond. He didn’t look like he had any idea where he was. At least he asked for Manny and not Cam. Manny took his hand.

  “Jim, I’m here—“

  Jim didn’t respond. Instead he closed his eyes. Manny sat in Eric’s chair. I looked into his face. He cared for Jim more than Eric ever did.

  “Let him rest,” Hannah said. “I’ll keep an eye on him. Annemarie can help.”

  “I need Annemarie, and Mike. Ask Carol for help,” then I realized Carol was dead. “Ask Paul to help.” Hannah looked into my eyes. She was gonna say something but stopped.

  “Mike, Manny, Annemarie, let’s go to the comm room.”

  We left the infirmary and went to the living room. As we entered, the door opened and Lucy came in looking sweaty, pale, and out of breath.

  “Tanya!” It took her a few moments to catch her breath. Mike and I helped her to the couch. After a few seconds she could talk. “I followed them as far as I could on Euclid. I don’t think they saw me. I lost them—I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry. What can you tell me?” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.

  “It was Joel, that SUV he always uses. They wore masks but I knew.”

  Lucy looked around, with the exception of Grace, every single shooter was here. She looked back at me. “What’s going on?”

  I stood up. “We’re forming a posse. We are going to get Grace back and kill those motherfuckers.”

  Part 4

  All Points North

  Chapter 20

  Grace

  I preferred the late lunch. Sometimes I ate outside but today the brutal heat and the fans in the cantina kept me inside. In Costking, I did not like eating with the others. A luxury I did not have here. The open space and no gates to keep the zombies out meant safety in numbers.

  I was surprised to see him still in the room, staring at me. Usually when I come in, he would walk out. Even on KP duty such as today, he would take a break when I appeared. Go into the back and avoid me.

  I’ve surprised he stayed when Frannie left. I thought she was over her crush on Joel after his appalling behavior in Harbor Heights. I don’t want Joel. She can have him.

  He stared at me for a good minute until he finally left. I didn’t say a word.

  I planned to eat quickly and take a nap. I also thought about riding to the beach and taking a quick dip. It was a good two or three miles b
ut Euclid would be up to the challenge. I loved that horse, he was a fine animal. He reminded me of the horses I left behind at our estate. I unlocked the stables but there was nothing I could do to keep them fed. I only hoped they were smart enough to run. I think they were. Horses were smarter than people when it came to danger.

  I ate quickly, finishing my plate of tuna salad. I put a ton of salt on to make it half-way edible. I don’t care what Eric thinks of me, I missed his mother at mealtimes and I did her a favor.

  A few minutes after I finished, my eyes felt heavy, followed by wooziness. My head began to swim and my vision blurred. I tried to chalk it up to too much heat and work in the field until I couldn’t keep my head up. I fell forward nearly hitting the tuna salad in front of me. That would have been messy. I heard gasps, the movement of chairs, Jim was at the closest table. I heard his voice call out my name. I heard the doors open with a bang. No one came to my aid. All I heard was screaming and the sound of bullets, but it almost seemed like a dream. I wanted to reach for my rifle, but I couldn’t move my arms. I heard bodies falling. I felt no pain. I felt arms around me when the wooziness turned to black.

  When I woke up, I didn’t know where I was, only I lost my clothes and felt a man on top of me, raping me. Not the best way to wake up. The room, dimly lit had one light working in the massive chandelier above me. His weight was on me so it was hard to move or breath. The man didn’t notice my eyes were opened, because his were shut as he grunted.

  I knew who he was, one of Joel’s men, Bill. He came around with Joel and had gone on that hunt of Harbor Heights, but he didn’t make much of an impression other than an ugly scar on his cheek. My suspicions were correct about how I perceived Joel. A cold hearted killer just like me. The day I met him I knew he was bad news but I kept my mouth shut for Tanya’s sake.

  I heard the sound of the door opening, then a voice.

  “Hey, get off of her,” the man said but he didn’t seem like he cared nor did he attempt to get Bill off me. The voice didn’t belong to Joel.

  Bill didn’t listen. He grunted, moaned and finished. He got off me and stood up.