Dex

by Claflin, Stacy

  “Right there.”

  Chapter 25

  The room spun around Dex. “What?”

  “Out there.” Lucy again pointed out the window.

  Dex raced across the room and looked for himself. Wanderers meandered around the walkway. They hadn’t yet discovered the fence, but that was only a matter of time. “We have a problem.”

  Radley and Laiken dropped their weapons and hurried over.

  “We have to hurry,” Radley said. “There’s no time for sharpening the knives now. I’m going to check the ammo in the guns.”

  Dex pulled out his pistol. “Got anything for this?”

  She arched a brow. “I didn’t know you had a gun.”

  He stood taller. “And I didn’t know you had grenades.”

  “Guys!” Laiken glared at them. “Focus.”

  “Right.” Radley shook her head and pulled her hair into a ponytail. “Yeah, we probably have ammo that’ll work for your gun.”

  Dex gestured toward Lucy. “And she has a revolver if you have anything for that.”

  “She’s packing, too?”

  “I’m not one to take chances.”

  Radley took a deep breath. “I’m glad to hear that. I’ll be right back.” She returned to the garage.

  Dex turned to Lucy. “Are you okay?”

  “Bad zombies.”

  “I know.” He rested his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll kick their butts, though.”

  She drew her eyebrows together. “Kick their butts?”

  “It’s an expression. We’re not literally going to kick their butts. Don’t do that, okay?”

  “Okay.” She threw him a confused glance.

  “I just mean that we’ll beat them. We’ll win.”

  “Oh.”

  He squeezed her shoulder before returning to the box of arrows.

  “You can light a candle if you want,” Laiken said.

  “That won’t draw the attention of the wanderers outside?”

  “Shouldn’t. If the overhead lights worked, that’d probably be a different story.” Laiken turned to Lucy. “If those zombies get closer to the fence, let me know right away.”

  “Let you know.”

  Dex went into the kitchen, lit a candle, and headed back to the arrows, placing the candle on the little table in front of the couch. No springs dug into him.

  He pulled out a handful and spread them over the table. Most were in good working shape, but quite a few were worthless. Several of them were ones he’d made. Dex would recognize his own craftsmanship anywhere.

  His stomach twisted. Had the group been following him, like he’d worried before? Or was it just a coincidence? Depending on where and when they’d gone on their various supply runs, it was possible their paths had crossed several times.

  He studied Laiken from the corner of his eye. The other man studied a brush-axe, holding it into the beam of his flashlight. Then he turned to Dex. “Want to try this?”

  Maybe Dex was just being paranoid about them being out to get him. There was no indication that they were cold-blooded killers or cannibals. He cleared his throat. “I’ll stick with the bow.”

  “Whatever you think’ll work best.” Laiken turned back to his axe.

  Lucy spun around. “Bad zombies.”

  “Yes,” Dex agreed. “They’re—”

  “Fence!” Lucy clutched her hands together.

  “They’re at the fence?” Dex exclaimed.

  She nodded. “Now.”

  Laiken jumped up and ran toward the garage, grumbling.

  Dex ran over to Lucy. Sure enough, a couple of the frothing creatures were scratching at the fence. If they’d managed to break down the enormous one at Silverly, it would be nothing for them to destroy the one surrounding the house.

  His heart raced so fast he had a hard time thinking straight. He pulled Lucy over to the pile of weapons. “Pick some.”

  “I have knife. Gun.”

  “We’re all going to need more.”

  “Where?”

  “That pile.” Dex gestured toward the weapons.

  “No. Where I put them?” She held out the pocket in her gown which had no more room.

  “Oh, that’s what you mean. That hospital jacket is in our room. And I saw clothes hanging in the closet. We’ll get you something with lots of pockets.”

  “Okay.” She knelt and picked up a katana and swung it, slicing through the air.

  Dex jumped out of the way. “Good pick. Just be careful with that thing.”

  She clutched it with both hands and marched back over to the window.

  “I don’t suppose they’ve left?” Dex asked, knowing they hadn’t. He could wish.

  “More at fence.”

  “Where are those guys with the bullets?” Dex exclaimed. The fact that they had all gone into the garage worried him. What could they be plotting?

  He picked out a fistful of arrows he’d made, stuck them in his quiver, and stormed over to the garage door. He’d take them all out if he needed to.

  Zianna turned to him as soon as he stepped inside. “We’ve got the launcher set. You two ready?”

  “Ready as we’re gonna be. Those things are working on the fence now.”

  “Are they inside?” Radley exclaimed. “The fence, I mean.”

  “Not yet, but it won’t be long if they keep this up.”

  Laiken reached under one side of the launcher. “Zianna and I are going to take this upstairs. Radley’s going to help you guys with the guns. Hold the door open for us.”

  Zianna grabbed the other underside of the launcher and they hefted it up.

  “Sure you don’t want me to help instead?” Dex asked.

  “I can do this,” Zianna snapped. “Just get the door, new guy.”

  Dex glared at her but opened the door and let them by. They struggled to get it to the stairs, and then headed up.

  “Should I help them?” Dex asked.

  Radley shook her head, getting her ponytail in her face. “Zianna’s already in a bad mood. Let’s get as many of those guns loaded as we can.”

  Back in the living room, Lucy remained by the window. She turned to them. “Bad zombies close.”

  Radley ran over and looked outside. “We’d better hurry.”

  Dex picked up a rifle from the pile and loaded it with a magazine. He then loaded the remaining guns in the pile. There were still dozens of boxes of bullets.

  Maybe they actually stood a chance against the creatures.

  Lucy screamed.

  Dex grabbed the rifle and ran over. “What?”

  She pointed outside. The rabid wanderers had busted out two boards. Any more, and they’d be in the yard.

  Chapter 26

  An explosion sounded outside and the sky lit up for a brief moment.

  “That’s some grenade,” Dex mumbled. He’d seen a few grenades in his time, but they hadn’t been like that.

  Radley came over. “Good. They got the launcher working. And yeah, we found a huge load of those things. They’re perfect for big groups of zombies.”

  “Inside!” Lucy banged on the window. “In yard!”

  Dex moved for a closer look, and sure enough wanderers were squeezing through a hole in the fence. They weren’t piling in, at least.

  He ran over to the door, opened it, and shot an arrow at the closest monster. It hit the thing in the chest, and it didn’t seem to notice. Dex aimed for its temple. The arrow sailed through the air, right for it. Then the wanderer ducked its head.

  Dex’s mouth dropped. Had that been a coincidence or had it moved out of the way on purpose? Was that even possible?

  He turned to Lucy. “Bring over the box of arrows!”

  She ran over and dragged it to Dex.

  He shot arrows in rapid-fire succession, aiming as best he could at that speed. Lucy shot her gun. She took down the nearest creature.

  Another explosion sounded, lighting up the area just outside the yard. The porch shook.

&
nbsp; More monsters squeezed through the fence’s opening. Dex continued with the arrows, grabbing them from the box as he needed. Next to him, both Lucy and Radley shot off guns.

  Dex’s ears rang so loudly he couldn’t hear anything else. At least he could still see the brutes. They fell, littering the yard and spraying yellow liquid and white froth everywhere.

  The garden was essentially destroyed. As long as everyone walked away with their lives, they could figure something out for food. Maybe even raid Silverly. Surely, enough monsters had escaped—there were at least a couple dozen on the ground and more outside the fence. Plenty more had probably continued along the main path and were now lost in the woods.

  Rabid zombies and vaccinated ones were now out in the wild, mixing with the normal ones. What would happen with that?

  Dex grabbed another handful of arrows. He needed to make sure he and everyone inside lived to find out.

  Boom!

  The porch shook again.

  “How many grenades do they have?” Dex asked.

  Radley’s mouth moved, but he couldn’t hear what she said over the ringing in his ears. Apparently nothing other than the grenades were loud enough for him to hear.

  The three of them continued shooting bullets and arrows at the monsters.

  One wanderer stepped up onto the porch. Dex’s heart pounded even harder. If one found its way up, others would follow suit.

  He reached into the box for more arrows, but found none. His stomach dropped. The box was empty already? He felt around. Two were pressed against the side, but that was it. He’d gone through all of them so quickly?

  By the time he had one of the arrows into place, the wanderer had already fallen.

  Lucy ran inside and picked up a different gun and Radley continued firing the one in her hand.

  Dex aimed his weapon at a monster coming in through the fence. It broke another plank, making the hole bigger until an entire section of the fence burst. A flood of monsters piled inside the yard.

  The arrow sailed through the air and hit the creature directly in the temple. It went down and more wanderers came in, stepping on the other one.

  He aimed the last one at the nearest monster, threw his bow over his shoulder, and pulled out the rifle he’d loaded earlier.

  Boom!

  As the scene behind the fence lit up, body parts flew through the air.

  Another part of the fence broke. One plank fell to the ground. Several bony, loose-fleshed hands reached through the opening.

  Dex fired the rifle, going through the entire magazine of bullets faster than he’d hoped. He tossed aside that weapon and found the pistol he’d taken from the doctors, shooting that until it was empty.

  The monsters broke another board and now came in through the second entrance. They walked through the garden, stepping on the food that remained and smashing it to nothing.

  Dex blew through all the guns on him. He ran inside for more. The pile of weapons was down to barely anything. Mostly down to various knives. He picked another pistol and a revolver and loaded them with what few bullets he could find.

  Once he returned to the door, more than a couple dozen wanderers had filled the yard. One by one, they went down as Lucy and Radley shot at them.

  Boom!

  If only they could load the grenades faster upstairs. Dex, Lucy, and Radley were going to run out of ammo before taking down all of the zombies.

  He emptied his revolver first. Just as he finished, Lucy ran back inside. Dex grimaced, knowing she wouldn’t find what she was looking for. There were no more bullets. Only knives.

  Radley turned to him and said something, but he still couldn’t hear a thing other than the random grenade exploding.

  Dex turned back to the yard and emptied the pistol. The wanderers stepped over each other. Some were fighting. More came in through the two openings in the fence.

  One headed toward the porch. It moved around the one that had tried coming up before.

  Lucy threw a knife at the monster. It landed right in the thing’s temple. The zombie fell to the ground. But not before a handful of the other creatures turned and followed.

  They struggled up the couple of steps, some tripping and falling over the stairs and each other.

  Radley and Lucy chucked knives at the creatures. Dex found a couple in his pocket he didn’t care about and aimed them at wanderer’s temples. He wasn’t going to throw his dad’s blade unless someone’s life was on the line—and they were growing close.

  He ran back to the ‘pile,’ which was now only a few small knives, and scooped them up. Back at the porch, several zombies had made their way up the stairs.

  They were only feet from the door.

  Boom!

  “Step back!” Dex hoped Lucy and Radley could hear him. He could barely hear himself. The ringing needed to stop.

  He threw the remaining knives and then slammed the door.

  “What now?” Radley exclaimed.

  Dex wasn’t sure if he heard her or only managed to read her lips. The incessant ringing was no better. He rubbed his ears. “Blockade the door!”

  He pulled a large cabinet toward the entrance. Lucy and Radley raced over to the other side and pushed. The furniture was heavy and solid, making it all the more challenging to move over the carpeting. But between the three of them, they pushed it in front of the door.

  Lucy ran over to the window. Her mouth moved and she waved her hands.

  Dex hurried over. Outside, the porch was filled with wanderers. Most of them were struggling to reach the door. The ones already there were pounding and scratching on it.

  Radley came over. “We better block these windows.” It sounded like a whisper, but at least Dex had heard her.

  He pulled the curtains over the window.

  “That’s not going to do anything.” Radley scowled.

  “At least they can’t see in.” Dex glanced around for anything they could move in front of it. Nothing in there. He peeked into the kitchen. “What about the fridge?”

  Radley said something that Dex couldn’t hear and hurried past him to the kitchen. Between the three of them, they managed to move the antique unit toward the big picture window, inch by inch.

  Sweat ran into Dex’s eyes but he didn’t let that slow him down. The refrigerator didn’t cover the entire window, but it would have to do.

  “What now?” Lucy asked.

  He heard her clearly. The ringing in his ears was down to a dull but manageable noise.

  Dex looked around. “Let’s see if we can sneak out back. We don’t want to be trapped inside if they get in.”

  Radley’s eyes widened. “We can’t leave Laiken and Zianna!”

  “Then you’d better get them!” Dex motioned for Lucy to follow him.

  She glanced back and forth between Dex and Radley, then nodded to Dex.

  He glared at Radley. “We have to get out of here. They want in, and once they do, our chances of survival are low—especially with that many of them!”

  “I’ll get them.”

  Crash!

  Crack!

  Dex reached for his father’s seventeen-inch blade. The sounds of shattering glass had come from the direction of the sliding glass door in the back. The very one he’d planned on using for escape.

  Chapter 27

  “Upstairs!” Radley raced for the staircase.

  Lucy turned to Dex.

  He nodded. It wasn’t ideal—he didn’t want anyone to have to jump from a second story window—but there was no other choice since the monsters had the house surrounded. They would have to find a way to keep them downstairs.

  The three of them raced upstairs. Radley ran to the room where the others were launching the grenades.

  Dex turned to Lucy. “We need to block the stairs.”

  She grabbed his arm, pulled him into the bedroom they’d rested in, and tugged on an armoire.

  Dex stared at the wardrobe. If its wood was as sturdy as the cabinet downstairs,
it would probably work. He hoped.

  Together, they pulled until they got it into the hallway. It wasn’t quite as heavy as the cabinet, but it was solid and sturdy. Beads of sweat broke out along his arms and across his back as they struggled to move the furniture.

  Snap!

  Hiss!

  Snarl!

  The wanderers were inside.

  But they hadn’t made it to the stairs yet.

  “Go get Radley,” Dex whispered. No need to draw any unnecessary attention to them. The creatures were dumb enough that they might not see the staircase at all.

  Yet it would only take one to discover it.

  Then they’d all clamor their way up.

  Lucy left and returned with Radley. The three of them moved the armoire in front of the stairs. Then they each dragged smaller furniture in front of it. By the time they were done, they’d pushed desks, beds, and shelves up against it.

  It wasn’t foolproof, but it was all they had, and it should at least keep the monsters at bay for a while. Maybe even long enough for them to leave. Not that it was likely. Once a hungry wanderer was set on something, only death would keep it from trying to get it.

  Hopefully these monsters weren’t hungry.

  Zianna came out into the hallway. “We’ve gone through all the grenades.”

  Dex’s stomach twisted in knots. “Anything else we can launch?”

  “Nothing that’ll explode.”

  Laiken came in. “There are probably a hundred zombies out in the yard.”

  Dex scowled. “They’re inside, too. No idea how many.”

  “What about the weapons?”

  Lucy held up a couple knives.

  “The bullets are gone?” Zianna exclaimed.

  “Yep.” Dex readjusted his currently-useless bow over his shoulder. “Just blades and whatever you two have on you.”

  Zianna held up a pistol. “I’ve got this and a rifle in my room. Maybe twenty bullets.”

  Dex groaned. “And there are hundreds of wanderers?”

  “I said probably a hundred.” Laiken cleared his throat. “And I’ve got maybe thirty bullets.”

  “So enough to take out half the ones outside?” Dex asked. “Not counting the ones downstairs.”