I think I just killed a friend. In addition to blowing any advantage that I might have had to launch a surprise attack.
Chapter 26: Mike’s Diary--Crushed
Life in this new world sucks. Today, I lost the love of my life for no reason. I was checking the perimeter with my binoculars when, as usual, Lita attacked. As usual, her attack was successful and I ended up on my back. Lita pulled her knife, part of our game. I was hoping she’d come lay on top of me. Instead, she faked a strike at my exposed throat, and I laughed, just as her head exploded, showering me with gore.
I immediately knew she was dead. No time to think or react. A fuzzy buzzing sound in my head my only response. I guess that’s what they call being in shock.
I had seen the muzzle flash. Ian was on his way back in and came running when he heard the shot. I pointed to where the shot had come from, under an old fuel truck across the street. I think we may have brought the truck there months ago while we were looting the armory. Anyway, the shot had come from there.
Ian lined up a shot and started covering fire with his AR 15. I ran to a low concrete wall in the parking lot and starting pouring some shots in with my .338. I heard some yelling from over there, but I could not make out what they were saying. Nor did I care. They’d just shot and killed Lita, whoever they were. They had to die.
I signaled to Ian to grab a hand-fired rocket, and he went to get one while I kept them pinned down. They weren’t firing back, which was weird. Maybe we’d hit them, maybe they were out of ammo.
I felt blind rage. The only good thing in my life, Lita, taken from me. Why?
Ian fired the rocket, which was a miss. We carefully approached the shooter, who pinned us down but then stopped shooting.
Chapter 27: Jack’s Journey—Payback
Something was wrong. I’d saved Mike, with a perfect shot even, but his reaction was all wrong. Mike was now trying to kill me. Firing accurate kill shots and rockets at me. Now I knew what I’d done. Killed someone that Mike cared about, maybe loved.
There are moments in your life when your priorities become crystal clear. It’s one thing to have a drunken, or stoned, conversation about who you would save, your wife or your kids. Or your father or your mother. It’s another to know. I realized, right then, that if it came down to Kate or Mike, I’d pick Kate. I also realized that Mike was about to kill me, which I think is a mitigating circumstance. Anyway, I quickly decided that I would try not to be killed by Mike, not to kill Mike, but do my best to see Kate again before I died. A shitty plan, but the best I could come up with at the time.
When you see a rocket attack in the movies, it seems to move almost in slow motion. In real life, it starts slow and ends fast. I watched a rocket come right at me, pass right next to my right side, glance off Micah’s left leg, ricochet off the left, and explode about fifty feet away when it hit a tree. Micah didn’t even go down, but I think it busted his leg. He started sobbing silently as he dropped in slow motion to the ground.
I could see Mike and another guy, a big bastard, coming after us. I fired a few rounds close to them to slow them down while I set up Micah on the ground.
“We only have a few seconds. When they get close, keep your hands in the air and don’t fight them. They might hurt you but they won’t kill you. They need to know what you know. As long as you don’t tell them, they’ll keep you alive. I’ll be back for you, but I have to go now.”
Micah gave me a sad but trusting look, then passed out.
I ran.
Chapter 28: Mike’s Journal—Cold Rage
It took me about two seconds when we reached the shooter to realize two things. First, this guy was not the shooter. He seemed like a helpless idiot and was clearly not in charge of anything. He had a busted leg, femur I think, and was holding a shotgun, which was not the weapon that took out Lita. He was sobbing and sniveling uncontrollably.
Second, I somehow immediately knew that my father was involved with this. Perhaps this was the attack I’d been expecting. If so, he’d fucked it up beyond repair. Instead of a surprise attack or a recon session, he’d blown his cover. And would soon be killed by Ian and me.
This was confirmed when the idiot began to talk to “Jack.” He was delirious. “Don’t worry, Jack, I’ll pull your tooth. I’ll take care of you, Jack.”
This confirmed it. My father had destroyed any hope of rescuing me and mom, and had killed Lita as well. What a joke.
I was about to kill the idiot when Ian stopped me.
“This bloke is harmless, and we might be able to use him. He can’t move. Let’s leave him here and find the shooter. Take his weapons. Move! Do it now!”
As usual, Ian was right. We headed out after the “shooter,” who I knew was my Dad. I had no idea what to do with him, or to him, if and when we found him.
It was actually pretty easy. Jack ran about two or three blocks and set up an ambush. But when, in my rage, I ran right into it, he called out to me instead of shooting.
“Mike, it’s me. I’m sorry about that girl. I thought she was going to kill you. I didn’t know.”
“Fuck you,” I screamed. “I will kill you, asshole.”
Ian calmed me down. “Think a bit here, Mike. He’s here to rescue your Mom. Maybe we should hear him out. We are on the same side, after all.”
“OK, but I want to hurt him.”
“Maybe later. First we talk.”
“Dad, come on out. Let’s talk.”
He walked around the corner, his M4 pointed at the ground, while Ian and I covered him. We dropped our muzzles as well. We all put our guns down.
As my father neared me, my rage only grew. A tiny part of me was glad to see him, but I could not get over that he’d killed Lita. So, to his surprise, as he went to hug me, I head butted him, popping his nose wide open. To his credit, he immediately responded with a kick to my nuts, which I was able to avoid, catching it on my thigh—which promptly when numb.
“Stay out of this, Ian. Do not shoot,” I called.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world, lad. No worries.”
I circled my Dad, and he circled me. We each pulled our knives, but dropped them. Somehow we decided to have this out as a fistfight only, without killing each other. I knew that he wouldn’t kill me, anyway, except to save my Mom. I decided to do the same.
I’d learned a lot from Ian, but Jack was a pretty good fighter for an old fat guy. No longer that fat, but hey. As I came in, rather than moving side to side he came right in, and gave me a head butt. I kneed him in right in the thigh and I could tell it hurt. We were even.
We stood toe to toe and exchanged a flurry of blows. Some hit, some missed, but we whaled the tar out of each other. I surprised Jack with a leg sweep and brought him down. He whipped out this extendable baton and, as I went for a head stomp with my boot, whacked me in the knee. I also went down but got on him and started to strangle him. He started to strangle me back, then just went limp, looking up into my eyes. Released his hands. He decided to let me make the call. I did, and it was to kill him, but Ian choked me out before I could.
When I came to, Ian and Jack were sitting on a couple of chairs, talking calmly. Ian helped me up, and helped me into a chair. As my head cleared, I could tell they were talking about working together to storm the Armory and rescue Mom.
I jumped in. “Why don’t we get Uncle Jim and some guys to help? That’s still a pretty big group down there, and they are dug in. How can we get in and out alive?”
“You have a point, but I think we have to go now. That place is a tinder keg with Mariana’s baby competing with Joumana’s. The lid could come off at any time. They both hate your mother. If anything starts, either one could kill her at any time. We have to go now.”
“Mariana has a baby? Jesus Christ, she’s just a kid!” replied Jack. “And she’s a zombie, I think. Who the hell is the father?”
We looked at each other while he figured it out.
“Jesus. Santos. That fucker. He must t
hink that the kid is the second coming. And I assume this other kid is also his? All we need is two crazy zombie bitches fighting over succession and this will be a total cluster fuck. We have to go right now.”
So that’s what we did.
Chapter 29: Santos—Succession Plan
“It is time. I will father a child with the bitch Kate, and show it to Jack. Show him that she has become my whore. Jack will live as my slave. Then I will kill Kate and take my baby, raise it to kill Jack.” Santos shouted this to Marianna and Joumana as they lay with him in his bed.
Santos forced them, and all of the other Inner Core, to submit to him. He’d done so since Marianna was twelve. He raped Joumana once he knew he could control her through Marianna. Marianna would not stop him, and even helped him rape the others, even though she hated each of her rivals with icy cold hate. It was impossible for her to deny Santos anything.
Santos had fathered Joumana’s baby. He had fathered Mariana’s baby. Now he would rape Kate and have another baby. He didn’t care about any of them. Whichever killed the others would become his successor.
Chapter 30: Jack’s Journey—Final Push
Once we decided to go in, we only had a few minutes to plan. Mike explained to me that Kate was probably with Santos and told me about where she’d be.
“Ian and I need to go kill Mariana and her baby, and the other babies. That thing is evil. If we let it go, this will never end. You go get Mom and we’ll take care of the rest.”
Mike stared me in the eye while he ordered me what to do. We had unfinished business. Maybe business that would never be finished.
There was no time to discuss it. We loaded up and headed into the Armory.
Fortunately, no one in the Armory had any idea of the attack. Mike and Ian were in charge of security that day. A good portion of the humans and many shamblers were off pillaging in St. Albans. Most of the wolves and brains were locked down in their chambers. It was just the dregs and the leaders left to fight us.
We silently descended down many, many levels. I was amazed at how deep this thing went. Finally, we met some resistance when a human challenged us. Ian told him it was OK, then stabbed the guy in the heart. It was so quick and so silent. Made me realize what a beginner I really was. After that, we were clear all the way down until this redneck saw the three of us, carrying guns, and tried to give an alarm.
“Marvel, you ass, it’s just us.” whispered Mike, motioning Marvel to come closer. As he did, Mike dropped him with a left to the solar plexus, a right to the snout, and a knee to the jaw.
“We’re here, Dad. This is the level.” hissed Mike. “You go that way, to Santos’ compound. The nursery is over there,” he gestured.
I ran down one dark and filthy hallway. Mike and Ian ran down another.
Chapter 31: Kate’s Diary—Showdown
Joumana hated me. She’d always hated me, but it had gotten far worse after I’d tried to burn her baby. She came into my cell, moving quickly. I figured I was dead. Even a bite or scratch from her and I’d be finished. Even without that advantage, she was bigger, stronger, and meaner than me. I squared up, awaiting her charge.
Instead of attacking, she pulled up short, pulling a small piece of metal from a leather satchel she carried around her neck. It was a fragment of razor blade with tape around three sides.
“Take it,” she hissed at me. “Santos is coming to rape you. You will have his baby. Kill him. If you don’t, I will kill you and your baby. My child will rule, not yours.”
“Put it down on that table,” I replied, thinking she’d shank me if I got close enough.
“You are not so stupid, human,” she spat. “I would enjoy killing you. Just not now. Take the blade and fight. Kill Santos or I’ll kill you.”
I noticed movement in my peripheral vision, then heard a gasp from the doorway. Mariana had seen Joumana hand me the razor blade. I quickly took it, and placed it awkwardly under my tongue to conceal it. Mariana shrieked at Joumana, a soundless bellow of rage and betrayal. Joumana raced from the room, with Mariana hot on her heels.
I stayed where I was, waiting for Santos. Those two bitches could kill each other for all I cared. I just wanted to kill Santos.
He arrived, all right, but he was ready for me. He brought two of his henchmen, and also Sadie and Bonnie. It was a full house in there. I guess Santos wanted witnesses when he raped me.
These two guys were bad news. One was a skinhead, named Dale Lehman. The other was some type of ex-military guy named Darius. They’d been around, but Santos had kept them away from me for the most part. I think he was jealous or something.
I knew Bonnie was on my side, but I wasn’t sure about Sadie. I hoped she’d help. We were sort of friends. But who knew? In fact, now that I thought about it, I wasn’t really sure that even Bonnie would risk her life to save me. “It is what it is” is the thought that kept running through my head. “Just do your job.” That job was to kill Santos.
After they came into the room, I saw Luis in the doorway. He was reeling, badly injured, and still covered in blood. Moving had reopened his wounds. The others didn’t see him. I hoped he was another ally, but who knew. This was happening so fast. No time to think and no real options.
I needed Santos close, so I took off my top and my bra and held my arms out for him, smiling as best I could while holding a fucking razor blade in my mouth.
Santos grinned. He actually thought I like him. He must have thought I wanted to be raped. As he took off his pants, I saw his undersized junk and had to try not to laugh. How had he ever fathered anything with that? But, I kept my welcoming look going and Santos came to me.
Chapter 32: Mike’s Journal—Bloodbath
Ian beat me to Mariana’s chamber, next to the nursery. Joumana got there first, grabbing Mariana’s baby. Grasping it by the heels, she swung its head towards the floor, intending to smash it in. In the millisecond before contact, Mariana leapt into the room, somehow intercepting the baby mid-swing. She grabbed the baby from Joumana and flung it into a different crib.
Ian and I watched as this “baby” started to attack the one in the crib, biting and scratching at it. The victim fought back, but to no avail, as Mariana’s baby savagely tore its head from its neck and sucked the reeking filth that passed for blood in its body. This thing was only a few days old.
Joumana went to a different crib protect her own child, but Mariana leapt upon her back, grabbing Joumana’s long hair and pulling her head back impossibly far. She twisted Joumana’s head all the way around, and savagely gnawed on her face and throat. Mariana beat Joumana’s head to a pulp, then grasped Joumana’s baby and used it as a club, pulping both the child’s head and Joumana’s into a fine, greasy paste that sprayed the entire room.
I was very lucky that Ian was with me, because I was so revolted by the entire thing that I simply gawked. Mariana flung the corpse of Joumana’s baby at me, striking me in the face with it and rocking my head back. Luckily I had my mouth closed and my shatterproof glasses on. She was right behind it, coming at me with some type of blade she’d picked up.
I had no idea that she even had a sword, let alone that she’d attack me like a banshee. Her protective mother-blood was up, and she was a horrible sight, shrieking audibly and blasting the room with her telepathic energy. I simply could not raise my gun. I was in some type of fugue.
It was only reflex, not conscious effort, that made me fall back and keep her swing from cutting my head off, but she sliced deeply into my cheek from my jaw line all the way to my eye. It burned with a hot coldness. It felt like it might match Ian’s dueling scar. I lay on my back, waiting for the end, as Mariana raised the blade for a final cut. I’d dreamed of killing this evil bitch, and now she was going to end me.
When I went down, though, Ian was finally able to get a shot. He was carrying a Mossberg 12 gauge pump loaded with 000 buck. It was the one he’d taken off Jack’s idiot friend. He quickly pumped 4 shots into Mariana but his angle was bad and
he could not get a good headshot. He was able to sever her sword arm though, and both the sword and the arm fell to the floor. The buckshot blew other large chunks of Mariana off, including her jaw and a bunch of her teeth, but she kept coming.
Mariana shrieked and raced at Ian, trying to scratch him with her left hand and its filthy claws. He missed with his fifth and last shot , turned the Mossberg around and butted Mariana between the eyes with it, buying a half- second. I had come out of my fugue a bit, but had no shot. I tossed Ian my Beretta and, after dodging a few of her claw swipes, he was able to drop Mariana with three well-placed headshots. One in each eye, one right in between.
“Back to Mom,” I screamed. Or thought I screamed. My entire face was opened up, pumping blood. Ian later told me he had no idea what I’d said, since I only blew blood, spit, teeth and air out the side of my face, but he also knew we had to get back and save Kate. He stuck my Beretta back in my belt, reloaded his Mossberg, threw me over his shoulder, and we headed to Santos’ compound.
In the excitement, we forgot all about Mariana’s spawn and the rest of the zombie babies. Call it the fog of war. Bad call, though.
Chapter 33: Kate’s Diary—An Unpleasant Encounter
Santos approached, actually trying to kiss me. What kind of fucking sicko thinks that a rape victim would kiss them? I turned my head and brought my hand to my mouth, removing the razor blade as he paddled at my breasts with his ice cold little boy hands. This kid had a lot to learn, but I hoped that he’d never have the chance.
Zombie Dawn II: A Zombie Apocalypse Sequel Page 6
