Dead Friends Series (Book 2): Dead Friends Running

by Carlisle, Natalie

  The same kind I saw Zac and Margeaux with yesterday.

  “I know,” Missy gasped beside me, “Can you believe it?”

  We both looked at each other, than back over our shoulders the moment another round fired. I was pretty certain she hadn’t made the same connection.

  The man was gaining on us, especially on the men that were falling behind us.

  Out of the seven shots I heard, I only counted four bullet holes. All near the vicinity of the sternum. Dark blood seeped out the split cotton material but it didn’t stall him very long.

  This guy was fast, even with a pole lodged into his eyeball.

  It was hard to make out any actual facial features at this speed and because his face was kind of a mess. His nose was smashed inward, bruised and swollen. His lips ringed in crimson but split and puffed. His right cheek bone concaved in, creating a crater.

  Whoever he was, he had suffered one hell of a beating and was still going. Pissed, hungry, and after us.

  We had to figure out some sort of plan, because this just shooting thing wasn’t working.

  But no sooner than I tried thinking of something, I saw Tony trip and fall, tumbling over in a hard somersault. His body hit the ground, the gun firing. I heard a scream and stopped stone cold.

  The scream was Tony’s.

  I heard Lewis curse, saw him glance back and forth between the guy and Tony, then curse again, tossing his own gun to the ground and darting over to his friend, where a fresh puddle of blood was starting to form around him.

  He caught us just standing there from the corner of his eye, and instantly he was yelling at us to keep running again, as he dropped to his knees quickly, grunting in effort to pick Tony up and toss him over his shoulder.

  His legs buckled as he struggled to stand, and seconds later they both went crashing back to the ground.

  Another curse reached us.

  This was a continuous thing.

  “We have to help them,” I urged to Missy. “Or we have to stop him. We can’t just stand here.”

  “So shoot the Asshole,” she demanded. “Right in his knee caps, see if that slows the bastard down.”

  “I’ll try,” I mumbled, running forward. “Lewis, watch out.”

  I saw him flinch, and dive over Tony’s back.

  Locating my target, I raised my hand, counted out three slow breathes to keep my focus and fired.

  The shot rang out, the man lunged forward and an almost simultaneous cry followed.

  I watched as his left leg kinked awkwardly under his weight, and he teetered, at a lopsided run, but I didn’t waste another beat. Already focusing on the right knee, I counted two breathes only this time and pulled the trigger again.

  My aim was a little off, this time lounging into his thigh because of the way his body tilted. I exhaled, shifted the position of my arm and fired almost immediately because he was right there beside them. My third shot hit him directly in the knee cap. I held my breath, watching. He took another step toward them, yowling, but completely buckled, falling forward from his momentum and weakened stance.

  Lewis rolled himself and Tony away just as the guy fell onto his stomach, arms slicing through air wildly and angrily.

  He hit the terrain hard.

  The end of the hiking stick met the ground first, and I couldn’t bear to watch as his full weight came down on it.

  When I reopened my eyes, his body was limp, and the hiking stick was now sticking out the back side of his head.

  I wanted to be sick.

  Missy was jogging up behind me. “Oh, shit. It actually worked.”

  Lewis was pushing off the ground, onto his knees, staring wide eyed at the guy motionless beside him. Then his eyes slowly peered up at me, completely shocked. All traces of his anger gone. “Damn, Dee.”

  I half-cringed again. “Is he dead?” My finger lingered anxiously over the trigger, half expecting him to suddenly jump up and lunge.

  “I’d put money on it,” Lewis said, just as Tony started groaning, snagging his attention. “But kick him to be certain if you want.”

  I stared down at the body, seeing no ounce of movement from his back, indicating any breathing. However I remembered the last time one of those zombie girls had her hand on my foot. I wasn’t kicking him.

  Pulling my eyes away, I glanced at Tony. “How bad is it?”

  Lewis was accessing the damage of Tony’s wound, but Tony is the one that answered. “I’m fine,” he grunted.

  Typical guy answer, I thought.

  Lewis’ expression said otherwise.

  “He needs a doctor.”

  Tony exhaled, gripped his side and tried shimming himself into an upright position. Lewis noticed and quickly assisted him, but Tony pushed his hand off of him.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “You were shot,” Lewis prompted incredulous.

  “No,” Tony said through clenched teeth. “I shot myself.”

  Sweat dribbled down the side of his face, and his eyes were heavily lidded. A muscle popped in his jaw no doubt from the pain and frustration, as he carefully rolled up the corner of his blood-soaked shirt.

  “You were still shot.”

  Grimacing, Tony stared down at his side for a moment, before lowering the corner of the fabric back down onto his waist. “Just a flesh wound, Lewis. Like I said, I’ll be fine.”

  And as if to end this conversation, Tony tightened his grip around his wound again and turned his torso, placing his other hand onto the ground to push himself up onto his legs.

  As he stood, all color drained from his face and he teetered slightly. “Give me my gun please,” he said, through gritted teeth. “Anyone.”

  The three of us exchanged looks.

  “Or I’ll get it myself.” Tony started to walk, but Lewis stopped him, steadying him.

  “I’ll get it, man.” Lewis paused, deliberating. “Just, just take it easy, alright.”

  Nodding, Tony exhaled this time through his nose, trying to act like he wasn’t hurting though the pain was clearly visible to us.

  Trying not to stare, I lowered my back to the guy to check on him. Still no movement.

  A minute, two tops, Lewis was back, handing Tony his gun. He calmly took it, thanked him, and then casually looked over at me and Missy with a twisted grin on his face. “You might want to cover your ears.”

  “Huh?” I said, in the same exact moment Tony pulled the trigger.

  I jumped, startled, not expecting him to blast another bullet through the dead guy.

  “Was that necessary?” Missy barked, holding her ears like the sound really bothered her.

  Tony shrugged, and then tapped the end of his rifle against the body a couple times. “Just double checking, ya know?”

  And regardless of the absurdity, we all curiously and anxiously waited for a response.

  To our relief, the man did not move. At all.

  “Okay,” Tony prompted, wincing as he stepped backward. “I guess we finally know how to kill them.”

  “They thought Buck was dead,” Missy retorted, still annoyed, but she had lowered her hands back to her sides.

  “Did he get shot in the head?”

  “Yes.” Her blue eyes narrowed. “In fact, he did.”

  “Front or back?”

  “Does it matter?”

  “Front,” I cut in, seeing how every time Tony responded, he made a face. I shot Missy a look like give him a break.

  “Well, if that hiking stick is any indication, front doesn’t matter. Plus I’m pretty sure Buck has a metal plate in his head.”

  “Seriously?” I looked over at Lewis for verification. He was scrunching his brow as if deep in thought.

  “You know what, bro,” he said, ignored me, “I think you are right. I vaguely remember him talking about it one day at the diner. From that accident when he was seventeen, right?”

  “Yeah,” Tony nodded. “That could be a good reason he didn’t die when he was shot. Bullet might not hav
e penetrated entirely to the back of the head because of it.”

  “But don’t we not want to kill them?” I know that sounded contradicting considering I just technically killed the guy. Well, not really. I shot out his knees, the hiking stick killed the guy. I mentally shook my head. Self-defense, I reminded myself.

  “Well of course,” Lewis agreed. “But life or death situations are different.” His blue eyes sought my face. “It’s them or us, Dee. I mean, if we could reason with them it would be a different story.”

  “Then how do you plan to catch Buck? I mean, he’s just as hungry and dangerous as that guy was.”

  There was a moment of silence besides Tony’s hard breathing, as if the guys hadn’t really thought that part through yet.

  Awesome. Good plan.

  “We shoot him in the knee caps?” Lewis finally offered, considering. “It obviously takes them down, if that guy is any indication. We can use the rope to tie him up after.”

  “The knee caps,” Tony said, shaking his head, bemused. “What made you ever think of shooting the knee caps?”

  “I told her to,” Missy responded defensively. “The idea just kind of popped in my head. I remember when Dee blew out her knee sophomore year in track and couldn’t walk for a few months, figured if we took out both knees how would he be able to?”

  Lewis seemed impressed. “You really are a smart girl, aren’t you?”

  Missy rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

  “You know,” I said, cutting in. “That hiking stick was one of theirs. Well, the hikers we were looking for. I recognize it.”

  By the surprise on all three of their faces, I realized I was right in thinking Missy hadn’t put two and two together.

  “Therefore if one of them used it on this guy, that means two things. They know about the infected and there’s a chance they are still alive but probably long gone from this area now. I doubt they’d hang around here.”

  “So—” Missy said, rocking back on her heels. “Are we just uh, going to stand here and wait for Hallmark and Buck to come to us then or are we turning around, and going to start looking for them all elsewhere now? Because if you guys plan to just wait around here, I’m sitting down.”

  At the mention of Jason, my heart started to race. God, I couldn’t believe we were just wasting more time. We had to get going, now.

  I peered over at Tony, at the blood covering his hand and seeping through his fingers as he held his side, he was paling more each second. Sweating more. Wincing more.

  That could be Jason.

  He could be shot.

  He could be dying.

  He could be dead.

  Oh god, no.

  The sound of Lewis’ voice snapped me out of my silent panic attack. “No, we got to, like Dee said,” he added, lowering the straps of his backpack off his shoulders. “The hikers are probably long gone and there’s no sign of anyone else here. So once we at least toss a bandage on you, Tony, we got to bounce. We are wasting time.”

  Tony looked as if he was about to object actually.

  “Look, you won’t go to a doctor, so at least humor me, will ya? You might need use of both hands at some point.”

  Sadly, that seemed to convince him.

  Lewis unzipped his pack, pulling out the first aid kit that was supposed to be meant for Jason. And though I knew Tony needed it, I couldn’t help but note with apprehension and frustration how much we used of the kit already. On Anubis. Now Tony. Would we even have supplies left by the time we found Jason?

  “Guys,” Lewis said, taking out the kit, dispersing a wad of white gauze. “About Jason—there’s something I need to tell you.”

  Reaching over he handed Tony the gauze, gesturing for him to apply it to his wound. “With pressure,” he urged, before digging back into the kit, grabbing bandage and unraveling it. “It’s about that voicemail.”

  “The one from Jacob?” I immediately replied, my attention being spiked since the moment I heard my boyfriend’s name. “What about it?” I could actually feel my anxiety escalating.

  He paused, with the roll of cotton tape in his hands. He proceeded cautiously. “I haven’t been completely honest with you. I wasn’t sure how you’d react, so I just downplayed the whole truth.”

  “Downplayed? What? What does that even mean?” My impatience and worry were both evident in my cracking voice. “Do you know what’s wrong with Jason? Is it really serious?”

  To my annoyance, he didn’t answer me. Not right away. First he went about wrapping Tony’s abdomen three times. Then he secured the cotton in place with medical tape. All the while I had to remind myself not to be pissed at Tony for shooting himself in the first place. I wished he would just say it already.

  It wasn’t until he was officially zippering his backpack up again, and hadn’t said another word, that I lost my control. “Just tell us,” I blurted. “Come on. You got Tony bandaged already.”

  “Yeah, what aren’t you telling us about Hallmark?” Missy added. “Stop stalling. For crying out loud you are the one that brought it up.”

  How could a person with a conscience start a conversation like that and then just leave someone hanging without an explanation, especially when he knows I’m dating the guy he’s referring to?

  Lewis cleared his throat, lifting the bag onto his shoulders. “Okay, so he’s not just injured. It’s worse. Much worse. Guys—Jason thinks he’s got the virus and he keeps blacking out. That’s why I was rushing us, but if he’s already that advanced, it’s probably too late to save him. We need to accept there’s a chance we’ll have to shoot him too.”

  “You shoot my boyfriend, and I’ll shoot you,” I said, mentally trying to stop the sudden onslaught of horrifying thoughts and gut-wrenching dread with anger. I will not cry right now. I will not cry.

  I refused to believe it.

  Jason was not infected. I saw him. He didn’t have any bites. There was no way he could advance that fast even if he was bitten after that. Or could he? A small voice inside my head doubted.

  I adjusted my grip on the gun in my left hand. No. It wasn’t possible. There was no way. “I mean it Lewis. I don’t give a shit what Jacob said. Do you understand me? If you shoot Jason, you’ll be sorry. Now let’s stop standing around, and let’s fucking go.”

  I didn’t wait for them to reply.

  29

  “Dee—”

  “I don’t want to talk about it, Missy.” I had been screaming Jason’s name so loud, so frequent I was started to lose my voice. I couldn’t even tell you how far we were walking, where we were. It’s like I had tunnel vision.

  “No, I just meant maybe you should cool it a bit with the yelling.”

  I flashed my eyes at her, my expression annoyed.

  She put her palms up. “Okay, do whatever makes this easier for you.”

  “He’s not infected,” I retorted, my voice raw. I could tell she didn’t believe me. I could tell none of them believed me. I didn’t really care. Turning my attention back to the woods, I started screaming his name again.

  I caught a brief exchange going on between Tony and Lewis. I knew they were talking about me.

  “Is she going to be okay?” It was Tony. “She’s not going into shock, right?”

  “I think she’s reacting normal given the circumstances.” Lewis. “I just hope she realizes soon she’s in denial.”

  I continued to walk, ignoring all of them. It wasn’t too long after that I saw pavement through the clearing. Stalling, I realized we made it back to the road already. Wow. The second time around was much faster.

  “Come on,” Lewis said, pulling his keys out of his pocket. “We will try the west side of the mountain.” Leading the way, we followed him to his car and silently, I jumped into the back seat, and waited. I waited for life to be fair again, to be normal again. I waited for me to wake up and realize this was all just some nightmare, some cruel joke.

  But with each passing mile, with the hot summer wind blowing t
hrough the window across my face, with the gun resting on my lap and my right hand in a sling, and staring down at all the bruises and scratches on my body, the mud on my shoes, the icee stain on my shorts, I realized it was real.

  All this was real. Again.

  And there was a very good chance I was losing Spencer and Jason today.

  I shut my eyes, but a tear or two may have leaked out the corners anyway.

  Why did I ever come back to this godforsaken town?

  The Jeep slowed to a stop.

  “Problem?” I heard Missy ask. This time she was sitting beside me in the back seat. Tony had claimed shot gun. But before he answered, my eyes caught on the flashing lights. Leaning away from the window, I peered between Tony and Lewis to get a better view. There were two cop cars barricading the road. I only saw one Trooper though and he was staring directly at our vehicle, waving us forward.

  Except we were suddenly going backward.

  “What are you doing?” I prompted, realizing Lewis had thrown his Jeep into reverse. Through the windshield I saw the Trooper instantly grab the radio on his shoulder and talk into it, his words rushed.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Lewis said, deliberating. Peering over his shoulder, his arm on the passenger seat, he continued to drive in reverse. “Shut up so I can think.”

  “We need the cops, you dumbass,” I retaliated, instantly annoyed again. No one had common sense anymore, I swear.

  “Yeah, well, I’m not just going to go to a cop with a car full of guns, darling.”

  I heard the sirens as we backed around a curve in the road.

  “Well, now we are being chased, moron,” Missy complained, chiming in. “Don’t think that made the situation any better.”

  Lewis just pressed harder on the accelerator. “Shit.”

  Tony and I were both looking forward, but I couldn’t really see over Lewis’ big head.

  “I have an idea.” Tony. “You aren’t going to like it though.”

  He exhaled, his voice pained. “Crash your car.”

  “What?” All three of us said in unison. Last thing I wanted to do right now was get in a car accident. I hurt enough.

  “Crash your car and get out. Take everything with you. I’ll stay behind.”