When they were all crouched behind the limo, Ike laid out a plan.
“I’ll take Darlene, Marybeth and Jerry. We’ll go in and stay to the left. John, David and Jill you go in and stay right. Brewski, you keep Shelly and Angela out of the bullshit. We’ll try to clear Europa first so you can take them in there.”
“Copy,” Brewski acknowledged.
“Weapons?” Ike asked.
They all held up their weapons and Ike nodded. “Okay, rock and roll.”
There was a strange quiet in the covered entry. They split off according to
Ike’s direction. Without taking his eyes from the courtyard, Ike backed up to the door of Europa. It was unlocked.
“I’ll be right back,” he said to Darlene.
He went inside Europa and made sure it was clear, then came out and signaled to Brewski to bring Angela and Shelly.
“She can lay in one of the booths,” Ike said.
“Got it,” Brewski acknowledged.
Ike rejoined Darlene outside.
“Just in time,” she said, indicating the four zombies approaching.
“Let’s bring it to them, try to keep them away from Europa,” he said.
Ike and Darlene led the charge and they met the zombies on the grass of the courtyard. Ike dispatched the first one with his sledge hammer, Darlene decapitated one with her pipe but Marybeth and Jerry were not so lucky. Ike turned to see them both on the ground being bitten by the other two zombies. Their screams echoed across the courtyard, attracting the attention of the rest of the hoard. Ike and Darlene quickly took care of the zombies. Jerry and Marybeth were now bitten and struggling to their feet, death in their eyes.
“Damn it,” Ike said as he swung the sledge hammer at Jerry’s head. Darlene took care of Marybeth with her pipe.
John, David and Jill joined them as zombies moved in. They were outnumbered almost three to one. Ike took out his .45 and emptied the first clip, killing four. John used all of his remaining arrows killing another four and David’s machete killed three more. Jill swung her rolling pin with ferocity, shattering the skull of two.
Shelly
From Europa, Brewski watched the skirmish.
“I don’t like these odds,” he said.
“Get out there and help,” Shelly said. “We’ll be okay.”
Brewski looked at Shelly with questioning eyes.
“Go!” Shelly yelled.
“Lock the door behind me,” he said as he threw the door open and was gone.
“What’s going on out there?” Angela asked.
“They’re all fighting; there must be twenty-five zombies. Marybeth and Jerry are dead,” Shelly said.
“Oh, no, not Marybeth. She was so full of life.”
“I know, but try not to think about it.”
“What happens if they come in here?”
“Try not to think about that either.”
Angela started crying and Shelly scolded her.
“No, no, no,” she said. “Just stop that. We’re going to be fine.”
“I wouldn’t care so much if I weren’t pregnant,” Angela sobbed. “What kind of world am I bringing this child into?”
“A world where he’s alive, now stop crying. I’m going to look in the kitchen for a weapon.”
Angela nodded and Shelly went to the kitchen. The first thing she found was a mop. She removed the mop head and swung the handle.
“I guess this’ll work,” she said, until she spotted the meat cleaver on the cutting board.
As she dug it out from the cutting board, she heard Angela call out.
“Shelly, you forgot to lock the door!”
Running into the dining room, she saw four zombies pushing their way through the door. They were temporarily wedged in the opening and Shelly almost grinned at the slapstick-looking comedy of it. She handed the mop handle to Angela.
“Swing this at anything that isn’t me,” she said.
“I can’t,” Angela said, dropping the stick to the floor. “I just can’t do it.”
“Angela, pick that up. This is not just about you; this is about your baby.”
Angela tried to ignore the command but Shelly pointed a stern finger at the mop-handle. Angela bent to pick it up and let out a cry.
Shelly looked down to see Angela clutching her belly and writhing in pain.
“Dear Jesus, not now,” Shelly muttered with a quick glance at the door where the zombies were still wedged.
She knelt next to Angela.
“Angela,” she said, not knowing what else to say.
Angela’s eyes, along with her screams, told the story. The screams also fueled the efforts of the zombies in the doorway to squeeze through the opening.
“Shelly, please don’t let them kill me,” Angela begged.
“I’ll do my best,” Shelly said.
Angela grabbed Shelly’s wrist as Shelly moved to stand up.
“No,” she said. “I don’t want to die like that.”
Their eyes locked and Shelly stole a quick glance at the door, then back to Angela.
“Please,” Angela begged.
One of the zombies squeezed through the door and stumbled to the floor. Two others shuffled through and walked over him on their way to the two women.
“Shelly, pleeeeze,” Angela begged.
Shelly knelt next to Angela and said a silent prayer.
Angela rolled over onto her belly and cried.
“Lord, forgive me,” Shelly said as she drove the meat cleaver into Angela’s skull.
Angela’s body went limp immediately.
Shelly felt a hand on her shoulder, and then another grabbed her hair. She spun around and drove the cleaver into the thigh of a zombie. It fell to the floor, but the other one collapsed onto Shelly and dug its teeth into her face.
The last thing Shelly was aware of was the thick puddle of blood pouring from the fractured skull of Angela next to her.
Brewski
Brewski ran to join the group. He took out three zombies with his golf club immediately and moved to help Jill with two more. Ike and Darlene were back to back working against several zombies. John dropped his cross bow and took the crowbar from dead Jerry’s hand. He and David advanced to take care of more zombies coming from the front.
Brewski took up a position near Ike.
After dropping a zombie with his five-iron, he turned to Ike.
“Hey, aren’t you glad you came looking for me?” he said.
“I’ll answer that when we get back to my boat, after I kick your ass for taking off in the first place.”
Ike drove his sledge hammer into the chest of a zombie, knocking it to the ground and Brewski finished with the five-iron.
“If we get back to your boat, I’ll even let you kick my ass,” Brewski said.
Despite their victories, they were still outnumbered. He was about to suggest they retreat into the shelter of a building to regroup when he saw four people sprinting toward them. He recognized the blonde from their previous battles inside the village, which now seemed like a lifetime ago. The man with her was leading the charge. They were joined by two other men and they were all approaching like kamikazes.
With the additional four people, all swinging wooden chair legs, the odds were much better and the fight turned in their favor almost immediately.
“Today is not the day to die!!” the leader of the kamikazes screamed.
Bethany
Bethany slid the Harley into the courtyard and came close to losing her balance, steering clear of a zombie turning toward her. She couldn't ride and use the baseball bat at the same time, but she was finally back in European Village, so she decided to ditch the bike and fight.
There weren't many zombies loose but the ones close noticed her and began shuffling in her general direction. There was a commotion to her left, up near Europa, and she hoped someone else was still alive here and killing zombies. It was tough to see with so many zombies coming out of the woodwork now
.
Bethany charged the two closest zombies and beat them down with the bat. She made her way to the left, striking and easily dodging the single undead.
"Wait up," she heard Stew yell from behind her. "We need to set up a perimeter before they get behind us."
Bethany attacked another zombie, bashing its head in. "There are people over there. We need to go to them."
"They might be looters, or worse." Stew ran up next to Bethany.
"They are breathing, and that makes them better than 99% of what's moving in the courtyard. I say we go and make some friends. I left quite a few people behind, and I'm not going to do it again."
"I didn't know you felt so strongly about this place," Gerri said.
"I really don't, but this was the last safe haven I was at. Plus, I found some hidden alcohol. I'm guessing whoever is still around are the stragglers who didn't get out or new faces who've wandered in."
Stew looked around. "All three main entrances are breached, and it will take way too much time and manpower to fortify them. This is a dead end for us. We need to gather any remaining supplies and find our way north."
"I'm going to help them," Bethany said. "You can do whatever you want to do. I'm not stopping either of you. But I'm also not going to start being selfish when someone could use my help."
"Stew, I agree. Let's go help them."
Stew shook his head but didn't say a word. After a few seconds of staring at his wife and Bethany, he swung his katana in an arc. "Fine, but at the first sign of trouble or something not right we bolt for the exit and head for the hills. Got it?"
Bethany started running when she saw there were definitely living people fighting off zombies, clearing a path into the courtyard. There were six zombies between her and them, and she started swinging for the fences with the baseball bat. Gerri joined her to her left, closer to the building, with her bat, and Stew moved ahead of her slightly and into the open area, making sure nothing got behind them or came in at an angle.
Bethany recognized several of the people fighting on the other side as she drew closer. "I know them," she yelled to Stew.
"I'm still not going to hug anyone," he said in return, slashing a zombie's head off. "But it will make this easier to figure out the next step."
The zombies between them and the other group were killed and Bethany smiled. "Hey, guys." She was about to comment about how relieved she was to see them again when Ike, the big burly biker dude, threw up his hands and his sledgehammer.
"My fucking bike!" he yelled. Ike started moving to it. "Who put my fucking bike down like that?"
Stew stepped in front of Ike with his katana held low but at the ready. "Don't take another step or you'll lose a leg."
"Talk to me like that again and you'll lose more than a leg, pal." Ike hefted the sledgehammer onto his shoulder and set his feet. "That's my Harley behind you. I would have no problem going right through you and your tiny sword if I have to, but I'm hoping you aren't as stupid as you look."
Gerri stepped closer to Stew. "Honey, let him pass. It's not your motorcycle, anyway."
"I like her," Ike said and casually pointed a thumb at Gerri. "She's obviously the brains of the operation."
Stew swung the katana but then stood down. "You military?"
"Navy SEAL."
Stew nodded and moved away. "Are you in charge?"
Ike shrugged and relaxed, putting the sledgehammer down to his side. "We've all just recently re-introduced ourselves. It looks like not many of us truly escaped the siege of European Village. We're all back for another round of punishment." He pointed at his Harley. "But I still have a bone to pick with whoever didn't bother to put my bike up on the kickstand. If you scratched my custom paintjob…"
"My bad," Bethany said. "I was in a bit of a hurry, what with zombies chasing me."
"Never an excuse." Ike winked at her. "I say we clear the compound while we still can and get something to block up the exits."
"There's no way we'll be able to do it," Stew said. "And we're still surrounded."
"Out there we're going to get mauled. It's our only chance. We've stayed here for a long time and, until the last couple of days, we were safe," Tiki said.
"Listen to you… three days ago you were trying to incite a riot and get us to St. Augustine," Crista said.
"I still intend to get back to St. Augustine, but for right now our best bet is to keep the zombies out of this joint and then collect as much ammo, supplies and food as we can and come up with a real game plan. One that doesn't involve blindly facing a zombie horde step by step." Ike went to his bike and propped it up, checking out the side that was on the pavement. "I'll need to polish her, but she's still in good shape."
Bethany thought it was a solid plan. "Then we need to finish off the stragglers and go find something to block the entryways with. I'll head across to the other side."
Stew and Gerri said they'd follow her.
"I'm staying right here and I'll see if I can find some wood. How did you get here?" Ike asked Stew.
"We drove. There's a car just outside."
"Sweet. Maybe we can wedge it into the entrance," Darlene said. "I'll help you here."
Tiki pointed at the Europa entrance. "I'm going back over there.”
“While you’re there,” Brewski said, “take a look inside Europa. There’s a pregnant woman and a tall blonde in there. Names are Shelly and Angela.
Tiki nodded.
“Shelly and Angela, got it. Come with me,” he said to Crista.
Ambroz and Cesar joined him.
Bethany nodded as John and Brewski stayed with Ike and Darlene.
Stew was already cutting across the courtyard with his katana, destroying zombies as he moved.
Tiki
Tiki and Crista sprinted across the compound toward Europa with Ambroz and Cesar right behind them.
They skidded to a stop when three zombies emerged from the restaurant, their faces covered with fresh blood and gore.
“Step right up, folks,” Tiki said. “You’re the next contestant on How Does This Chair Leg Taste.”
He swung his leg at the first zombie. The zombie recoiled at the blow to the head and kept advancing.
Crista killed the second zombie by driving her chair leg into its eye.
“You better start working out,” she said to Tiki, who was still swinging at the zombie.
“Funny,” he said. “When we’re done here, I’ll show you how much stamina I have.”
He turned away from the zombie he had just killed to see Ambroz and Cesar pummeling the third zombie.
“Hey, guys,” he said. “I think it’s dead.”
The two men each added a final blow for good measure.
“I hate to say this,” Tiki said, “but I don’t have a lot of good vibrations about these two women.”
They walked slowly to the entrance and poked their heads into the door.
“Oh shit,” Crista said.
“Damn,” Tiki said. “I don’t want to be the one to tell Ike and Brewski about this.”
They stepped outside into the courtyard and looked through the entrance.
“Is that…” Cesar said, pointing toward the horizon where dozens of zombies were shuffling toward the complex.
“Son of a bitch,” Tiki said. “We need to barricade this entrance.”
“With what?” Cesar asked.
They looked around at the bare courtyard.
“Inside,” Crista said, with a thumb toward Europa. “There’s tables and stuff.”
The group looked to Ambroz, silently asking for permission. He didn’t hesitate.
“If it will help. I’ll open the double doors to make it easier.”
Inside, they worked around the mutilated corpses of Shelly and Angela. Cesar threw-up when he saw Angela’s belly torn open and the remains of her unborn child. Ambroz began dragging tables toward the door. Tiki and Crista joined forces, ripping booths apart and bringing them outside.
&n
bsp; “Come on, Cesar, let’s get it together,” Tiki said. “We need a little help here.”
Cesar pulled himself together and lent a hand.
With an eye on the horizon as they worked, they removed every last table, chair and piece of equipment from Europa and built the barricade at the entrance.
When it was finished, Tiki ran up the stairs and popped his head out of the hatch to check on the advancing horde.
“They’re still a couple hundred yards away,” he said when he came back down. “And when they get here, this will stop them, I think.”
Crista pointed across the compound toward LaPiazza.
“
I think we should get down there and help those guys,” she said.
They followed her point and saw Stew, Gerri and Bethany fighting more zombies at the other entrance.
Tiki waved his chair leg in the air and let out a shriek, then started running.
“Valhalla, I am coming,” he shouted.
Stew
Stew, Gerri and Bethany made their way across the compound toward LaPiazza.
Stew’s katana left several zombies headless while Bethany and Gerri took out others with their bats.
“If we can get that entrance barricaded, we’ll be in decent shape,” he said. “But I’m still not convinced we should stay here.”
“One thing at a time, Stew,” Gerri said.
“Yes, dear.”
Standing outside LaPiazza, they looked around for something to repair the breached barricade with. Bethany pointed toward Europa.
“Look at those guys,” she said. “They’re using tables and stuff from Europa.”
“Good idea,” Stew said. “Let’s go.”
He kicked the door to LaPiazza and they entered the once thriving restaurant.
“Looks like it was a nice place,” Gerri said.
“It was fantastic,” Bethany said. “Continental cuisine, awesome wine list and…”
Stew and Gerri waited for her to finish.
“What is it, dear?” Gerri prodded.
Bethany pointed to a booth in the corner.
Dying Days Ultimate Box Set 1 Page 45
