Zombies Ever After: Sirens of the Zombie Apocalypse, Book 6

by E. E. Isherwood

  They walked into the night.

  4

  By the time they had eyes on the Whitaker Building, dawn was in full bloom. Victoria huddled with Sparks at the edge of a large parking lot, while his team set up. No one had spotted any additional shooters.

  “This place is going to be crawling with students, soon. We need to make it happen.”

  She didn't doubt him, but she wondered what “it” was going to be. The man had barely said two words to her since they began, so she knew better than to ask him to reveal what he was planning. She wondered if he knew. Now that she saw the building in the light of day, she remembered how big it was. It would be a complicated operation to storm it and kill every zombie inside.

  Minutes hurtled by. A student appeared out of nowhere and made it all the way to the front door of the building before anyone noticed her. The girl seemed to try the handle of the door, peer inside, then pause like she didn't know what to do.

  “Shouldn't we be up there? Telling people to steer clear?”

  Sparks seemed to think on it. Victoria thought he was going to answer, but when she turned to him, he was looking elsewhere.

  “I think we need to warn everyone,” she said with finality.

  Eventually, the girl moved on. Victoria released the breath she didn't know she was holding, as the brightly-dressed student fell out of view.

  Sparks remained noncommittal.

  She figured it was another ten minutes before he spoke.

  “Ah, there you are,” he said to someone behind her.

  Terry and Jill ran up carrying a large blue container between them.

  “This thing is so heavy, I thought I was going to bust a nut,” Terry said quietly.

  “Me, too,” Jill said with a laugh.

  “You guys ready?” Sparks asked them.

  They agreed, but Victoria became instantly worried. “Wait a second. You're going to start a fire?”

  “You got a problem with that? You said those zombies were a huge threat. These buildings are ancient. We start a little fire in a front room, and the whole thing will burn. I'm sure of it.”

  “Um, yeah, that's probably true. But my friend is on the top floor. He won't survive if you burn the place to the ground.”

  “Look, Vee, I appreciate you calling this to our attention, but our alternatives are pretty thin. We can either go in shooting, and maybe kill them all, and maybe lose some of us,” he swept his pointer finger to their small group, “or we can light a little fire and enjoy the sight of burning zombies from the comfort of far away.”

  “That's what I choose,” said Terry happily.

  Victoria smacked her forehead. “I should have done this myself.” She knew it was foolish to say, but it was her first thought.

  “Our priority is protecting the camp, not your sissy scientist. And besides,” Sparks continued, “there are men who want to shoot us hiding somewhere nearby. It will take a few seconds to toss the fuel and run. It could take hours to clear a building that size. We could get ambushed at any point along the way. What do you think has better odds for my people?”

  The demeanor of the trio around her was enough to dissuade her from continuing her line of reasoning. They were right; she was sad to admit. She wondered if she could go and get other helpers from elsewhere in the camp, but there was no time to be picky.

  “Will you give me a few minutes to try to warn him? He's watching on security cameras. I can get a message to him.”

  Sparks tossed the butt of a Newport. He had the half-empty pack in his hands to grab another. “Makes no difference to me. Unless I'm missing something, the zombies are good and locked on the inside. As long as no one comes along with a key, we can afford to wait. And watch.”

  “I'm going over that way,” she pointed to one of the dorms behind her. “They have a tunnel that goes underneath this parking lot. I know that tunnel is on the cameras.”

  “We'll cover you as long as we can,” Sparks added.

  “Thanks.” She stood up to go, weapon in hand, but felt she needed to say something more. “I'm, uh, really sorry I got your people shot, sir. But I think saving this one scientist may make up for that. I think he can save us. Save our families.”

  Sparks took a long drag. “My family is already dead. But thanks for trying to make things right.”

  Victoria turned and ran for the dorm. She couldn't bear the pain of the man.

  On the run, she checked her sides as best she could. Short Guy could be anywhere. Behind any derelict car. Behind any tree. Up in any window. She pushed it back and ran forward.

  The front doors were unlocked, as expected. A couple of students stood in the foyer, munching on the energy bars they'll all been given. They looked as miserable as she felt. The early light of dawn reminded her of her sleep deprivation.

  “Hiya,” she said with all the cheer she could muster. Their eyes were drawn to her rifle, and her earlier sadness morphed into anger. They recoiled at the sight of the gun, as if she were carrying a little demon with her. This far into the disaster she figured it had to be obvious to everyone still alive that guns were their only true salvation.

  Or spears, rebar, shovels, or…

  She could list a lot of zombie-killing tools, but none were as efficient and safe to the user as the gun.

  They'd spent too much time on campus, under the protection of people with guns, to recognize things had changed.

  She thought about the incongruity for as long as it took her to go down the stairs to the tunnel system. Only when she was at the bottom did it strike her she had no light source.

  5

  The tunnels were almost pitch black. Fortunately, planners had anticipated just such an event by placing small opaque windows on the ceiling that let in some of the light from above. The morning was still very young, however, so not much light made it down. It wasn't solid darkness, at least.

  The rifle fortified her resolve as she shuffled along the tunnel. She had an irrational fear there were steps ahead of her, though the thought of putting steps in such a confined and dark area almost made her laugh.

  In the light of day the tunnels never seemed very long, but now…

  She took many minutes to walk the distance she covered in seconds when she ran across the parking lot above her. Various side tunnels joined hers, though her destination was directly ahead. When she thought she'd certainly gotten to the end, she did see the end another twenty or thirty feet ahead of her. The gate, which Hayes had said he locked, was there. But it had been partially opened.

  Oh no.

  She felt the weight of zombies behind her. Could they have gotten by her in the darkness? Were they in other tunnels? Suddenly, the thought of going on didn't seem so smart.

  While she considered what to do, a form came out of a dark corner. She raised the rifle so she had a good bead on it.

  But it didn't lunge at her. It appeared lost.

  The form was someone she recognized from the experimental group from the day before, and from the video feed tonight. The teen girl wore a darling red sundress. It was a type of clothing unheard of out in the world anymore, so here in the safety of the campus, it got her noticed.

  But as she came into focus, her beauty was gone. Her ashen gray skin was terribly mangled on the side of her head and face. Her neck carried the telltale signs of massive trauma—a zombie had recently infected her. And here she was, in the sights of Victoria's rifle, doing nothing.

  Her finger hovered on the trigger. She wanted to pull it. She was certain she was going to pull it.

  After I see what she does. Then I kill her.

  The zombie had to have noticed her. It was getting lighter every minute, and the two girls were now only a handful of feet from each other. The girl in the red dress turned and faced Victoria—she stared at her, or in her direction, for a long minute. She sniffed the air. She cocked her head. It was as if Victoria was invisible.

  She paid attention to as many details as she could. The girl
had to be something special. A new kind of zombie, as Liam would undoubtedly say. But what would he call her?

  After several minutes, the girl turned and walked into the metal gate. It seemed to readjust.

  Is she blind?

  It would explain everything. A blind zombie would depend on other senses to find food.

  But it hadn't done very well using those senses. Victoria had made sounds and had to smell like something. Besides the perfume still lingering on her clothes, she'd been sweating like crazy since she began her escape from the zombies, then from the pair of NIS jerks.

  Blind, and deaf?

  That seemed closer to the truth.

  She chanced moving closer to the zombie. The blood on the girl's neck glistened. As more light filtered down from above, the more ruined the girl appeared. From one side she almost appeared normal—save the grayish skin—and from the other, she was a horror movie. Yet, Victoria could imagine her mostly as a normal girl caught up in the events of the night, the same as her. Only one girl was under restraint, while the other was free to escape the calamity. A blind and deaf person would have had a very rough time in the Zombie Apocalypse…

  It sobered her thoughts.

  “Do you hear me?” she said before she had time to talk herself out of it.

  “Ah,” she said much quieter. “You do hear me.”

  The girl turned her way.

  She moved sideways as fast as she could, making sure she held tight to her weapon. Her finger was next to the trigger. Ready.

  As she feared, the zombie turned to where she moved. It had seen her, after all.

  It could both see and hear her, yet didn't attack.

  The zombie snapped her jaw—clacking her teeth loudly. She seemed to lose interest in Victoria and turned back toward the gate, and the research building from which she came.

  “I don't know what's going on here,” she whispered to herself.

  But she knew.

  No. That's impossible.

  Hayes said as much. Showed it to her on the screen.

  No. It can't be. That would mean…

  The zombie jumped and barked in a high-pitched chirp. She nearly dropped her gun.

  A man came down the steps of the research building firing a rifle over and over into the red dress girl. It only seemed to anger her. She exploded from her standing position and charged the man. Shot after shot went into the girl, some of which exited her back as Victoria watched in stone-like terror.

  The man's rifle clicked loudly. He was out of ammo. Instead of reloading on the fly, he continued toward the girl with purpose. That's when he saw Victoria near the gate.

  “Just a minute, my dear. I'll be with you.”

  It was Short Guy. He had a bandanna over his ruined right eye.

  The red dress zombie was perforated, but her head was intact. Zombies can be put down in many different ways, though the head is always a requirement to take it out of action completely. However, that doesn't mean it can magically move and attack even after the rest of its body is destroyed. Her leg appeared shattered, her arms didn't work, and the holes in her backside were soaking the rest of her dress in blood. She barely made it to Short Guy, and it took him one solid crack with his rifle stock to put her down for good.

  He kept coming toward her.

  “Now it's your turn, you little bitch.”

  6

  “I don't think so.” She raised her rifle.

  He stopped in his tracks. In the dim light, it was hard to read his face. The anger was there but also surprise. With a swallow, he seemed to try a new tact.

  “There's going to be a wave of zombies coming down behind me. Then they'll take you to Hell, where you belong.” His empty rifle fell to the floor.

  “I don't think you understand who goes to Hell,” she said sadly.

  Would Hell be anything like this night?

  She forced herself into the moment. Having philosophical debates over her feelings would not help keep her alive. Only the gun in her hand was doing that, now.

  “Well, you'd better arrest me so we can both get out of here. They're coming.”

  “Why? Why would you let them out?” She took a step back as she spoke. He took a step forward.

  “Easy. Rid the world of the filth out there in the camp. A few zombies get loose. Poof. Problem solved,” he laughed.

  “What's so funny about that? You can't just go around killing that many people for no reason.”

  He looked at her with the same eyes she'd seen in that Colorado forest. “Sweet thighs, you have no idea what's going on, do you? You probably think this is gonna pass. We're all gonna survive and then rebuild. Am I right?” He laughed sarcastically. “We haven't even gotten to the real in-your-face killing, yet.”

  She took another step back. She was close to the gate. He continued to slowly move forward. Her gun remained trained on him, but it didn't seem to evoke the same fear she'd have felt had their positions been reversed.

  “I can see by your eyes you don't get it. Why would you? This is a rebirth. A renewal. Of mankind.”

  “With zombies?” she croaked. Screams echoed in the tunnel. They came from behind Short Guy, up in the building. Distant gunfire cracked up there, too.

  “The zombies were God's will. A test. We're passing that test, by the by.”

  “Don't move another foot,” she said with her rifle pointed at his chest.

  “You think I'm afraid of you?” He wasn't stepping toward her with haste, but he wasn't slowing down. “I eat girls like you for breakfast.”

  “I will shoot you.” She knew she would, but she didn't want to. She had another idea in mind for him. But it would take time…

  Not sure if it was worth it, she took a chance and fired the gun. She expected a loud bang, but it was only a dainty snap. She wasn't aiming at Short Guy. She only wanted to scare him.

  Her sudden action did appear to startle the NIS agent, but not for very long.

  She wanted to close the gate on him, but the diversion didn't work. He was only twenty feet from her. They both seemed to size up the situation and came to wildly opposite conclusions.

  Short Guy charged her.

  Victoria steadied herself, then pulled the trigger several times as fast as she could.

  The sound from the gun reminded her of the guns she'd used with Liam, back in the early days. The little pistols they'd used had .22 caliber ammunition, which was easy to carry in big bricks, but required precise aim to do any good against zombies.

  Round after round went into Short Guy's chest, but he marched on with a wicked smile on his face.

  Is this a BB gun?

  He was very close when she lifted the gun and aimed for his head. BB gun or not, it should hurt anyone to get shot in the face.

  She got off one final shot before he was on top of her. He yelled loudly as he grasped her and pulled her to the floor. The gun, useless though it was, clattered away loudly in the empty tunnel.

  Short Guy was in pain. His voice was labored, and the epitome of angry.

  “I'm going to kill you if it's the last thing I do,” he shouted, almost in her ear.

  His grip was vise-like. In moments he had her pinned to the ground, though he struggled to right himself on top of her. He seemed to pause to catch his breath while he lay heavily over her chest.

  He giggled maniacally.

  “Maybe I'll make you pay twice,” he said with a raspy whisper. His hand searched her waist. Its intent was obvious.

  She squirmed desperately against him. Afraid of what she would see in his eyes when he finally had her in a helpless position. What that hand signified.

  The gun was far away. She'd lost the screwdriver. She'd—

  The screwdriver!

  Maybe he kept it? It was the sort of thing someone would do if they wanted revenge. And these guys were all about revenge...

  Short Guy continued to struggle while lying flat on her chest. She continued to resist, but fought him with her arms...sh
e struck him on his hip and tried to hit his back. She managed to land a terribly weak blow on something solid.

  “Enough of this,” he said madly.

  Victoria had her head turned away from him, while she struggled to reach for his last weapon. She didn't see the strike coming. Short Guy banged his head against hers, which was a double hit because hers was already on the hard floor.

  Her vision blurred as he finally got the energy he needed to push himself up to straddle her properly. Between the pain in her head and the tears welling in her eyes, she could barely see him. He was a specter hovering above her.

  Though loathe to admit it, she was dreadfully scared. He'd gained the leverage needed. It was the signal her death was on the way...and whatever else he was going to do to her prior to that. Her strength flagged.

  When she met his eyes, she closed hers for a long few seconds to clear them. When she opened them, she screamed in horror.

  “What? Never seen a guy with no eyes?” he cackled. “Oh, you're gonna pay. Once for each eye.”

  She pushed back with all her remaining strength, grasping at his backside.

  Then she let her head fall back to the concrete. She was spent.

  “She said you were fighters. You and that doofus and his Grandma. But you're just stupid kids. Stupid f—”

  She plunged the screwdriver into Short Guy's left ear with everything she had. When she didn't think it would go in any further, she pushed some more.

  Short guy seemed to pause. Almost like he waited to see if that was the best she had. Like he did when he didn't care that she shot him multiple times.

  She panicked, and let go of a deep sob.

  It's not working!

  She wondered if she'd missed his brain and only wounded him. There was no hope of surprising him a second time.

  But Short Guy was definitely hurt.

  “Oh.” A long pause. “Oh. Oww.”

  He fell to her chest again. She might end up dying from being smothered…

  He spoke into her armpit. “You don't have a chance, you know. None of you do. If it ain't these zombies, it will be others. We've planned this to the last body, and you have no idea where the zombies are coming from.”

  Thinking back to the red dressed zombie, and her strange reaction at their meeting, Victoria had more than enough research in her pocket to respond.