by Chelsea Luna
Dean fumbled with the manhole cover, but he couldn’t close it. Swarms of zombies surrounded the opening. Dean cursed, left the hole open and climbed down the ladder.
Rachel stared up at the opening. The bright Nevada sunlight darkened as zombies crowded the open circle.
Dean jumped from the middle rung. "Run!"
Rachel let Nicky and Finn go first. She ran side by side with Cage and Adam, splashing through the murky water. Dean was on their heels. Behind him, the zombies dropped from the street, falling violently down the hole. A constant thump and splash filled the tunnel as they plummeted into the sewer. As soon as a zombie hit the ground, he staggered to his feet.
"Shit," Adam said. "Hurry!"
Rachel counted ten zombies already chasing after them as more continued to fall. Was the whole horde coming? She splashed in the ankle-deep water. Nicky and Finn led the way as the snarling, splashing and thumping of the zombies tumbling down the sewer echoed through the confined space.
Bulbs in wire cages barely lit the tunnel. The sewer merged off in the darkness to pitch-black side tunnels, but they ran straight ahead. Hopefully, this passageway would lead them under Camp Freedom Two and not into a dead end.
"How much longer?" Rachel yelled.
"We should be close." Nicky glanced over his shoulder, but his eyes wandered behind Rachel to the horde on their heels. "Holy—"
“Don’t look,” Rachel said. “Just run!”
Rachel breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth praying no one tripped over something in the ankle-deep water. They were almost there.
"I see something," Adam yelled.
Twenty yards ahead stood a circular grated opening. Two men dressed in military uniforms held open the crisscrossed iron door.
One man’s curses boomed off the metal walls. "What in the hell? You brought the whole damn horde down here!"
"It was an accident," Nicky screamed.
"This grate doesn’t lock, you idiot!" the man yelled. "I told you this was a terrible idea, Deerhorn. I'm out of here." The man turned on his heels and disappeared down the dark tunnel.
Deerhorn licked his lips. His face paled as he took in the number of zombies filling the tunnel behind them. He backpedaled into a puddle of murky water.
Nicky and Finn crossed the grate's threshold.
"What do you mean it doesn't lock?" Cage yelled.
Deerhorn scrambled to his feet. "There's no way to lock the door! The zombies are going to get inside."
"Where did that guy go? What's down there?" Rachel pointed to the tunnel to where Deerhorn's friend had fled. She pumped her arms harder—the zombies were gaining on them.
"There’s an exit back there,” Deerhorn said.
“Hurry!” Finn screamed.
A hand grazed Rachel’s back. The zombie’s claw ripped through her shirt.
“Rachel!” Adam yelled.
She pivoted and swung the bat, connecting the fat part of the aluminum against the creature's skull. As soon as the zombie went down, another one closed the gap.
Rachel, Adam and Cage reached the grate. A handful of zombies slipped in behind them before Deerhorn slammed the grate closed.
A bald Asian zombie flew on Rachel, but she kicked him back. The creature snarled, revealing a row of blackened teeth. Ice-blue eyes locked onto Rachel, but before she could move, Adam hit the creature with his pipe.
The zombie crumpled to the ground.
“You okay?” Adam breathed.
“Still breathing.” Rachel crushed another zombie with her bat.
Finn and Deerhorn moved deeper into the tunnel. Two deadheads converged on Nicky while he held the grate closed with his boot, but Cage and Adam smashed their heads in.
“Watch your fingers!” Adam swung again.
“How else am I supposed to hold this piece of crap closed?” Nicky yelled. “My boot is slipping!”
Zombies pushed against the grate. Arms, legs and teeth shoved through the holes. The deadheads would bust through the door with their sheer numbers.
"Take off your belts!" Rachel screamed.
"What?" Nicky had the toe of his boot hooked through the grate. Zombies reached through, but Finn used Nicky's axe to chop off any hands that broke the plane and got too close to Nicky.
“If one of these jerks bites my toes, I’m going to be pissed!” Nicky screamed.
“We need to lock that door!” Adam kicked a zombie in the gut and brought his pipe down over the creature’s head.
"Belts off!" Rachel unhooked Adam’s belt.
He looked at her with wide eyes. "You're brilliant!"
Nicky unlatched his belt while lying on the ground. "Rachel, now is not the time to get frisky—"
"Take off your stupid belt!” Rachel yelled.
“A thousand things are going through my mind right now."
"We're using the belts to the lock the doors, you idiot."
"Oh," Nicky said. "Great idea!"
Rachel pulled Adam's belt from his pant loops. Hopefully, this would work….
Cage held the door closed with Nicky. A zombie dropped to the ground and pressed its blackened lips against the grate. Its tongue and teeth smashed against the hole, trying to bite Cage’s fingers.
“Careful, Cage!” Rachel yelled.
Madness filled its puss-caked eyes. Cage shoved his tire iron through the hole and into the zombie’s head in an explosion of blood and tissue.
The growing group of zombies slammed against the grate. Adam, Nicky and Cage held the bars, but there were too many of them—the final thrust opened the grate.
The zombies were getting in.
~ ~ ~
Adam cursed.
Dean killed the last two zombies that snuck in behind them, but they couldn’t hold the grate closed. Too many of them were pushing against the bars. Adam, Nicky and Cage held the grate while Rachel tried to secure the belts.
Rachel wrapped the belt around the bars, but a zombie swiped at her before she could hook it. Rachel fell on her butt and Adam's belt tumbled to the ground.
“Rachel!” Adam smashed his pipe against the creature’s head.
Finn hacked off the zombie’s hand, but dozens of gnarled fingers pushed through the grate holes.
“Did it get you?” Adam was at Rachel’s side.
“No, I’m okay,” she said. “I dropped the belt.”
Cage hooked Nicky's belt through the bars. "We need the other one, too! Hurry!"
Rachel crawled toward the discarded belt, but Dean picked it up before she could get there. He fastened it around the bars, but a zombie’s arm shoved through—blackened fingernails dug into Dean's forearm. Bloody scratches raked across his skin.
Finn screamed.
"Dammit!" Deerhorn twirled in a circle. "He's infected! We’re all going to die in this tunnel!"
Nicky chopped the zombie’s hand with his axe. "Chill out."
Dean clasped the belt and stumbled back, holding his bloody forearm against his body.
A mob of zombies crowded the grate as more fell from the manhole. The two belts threatened to snap as the pressure against the grate increased.
~ ~ ~
Crap.
Nicky helped Dean to his feet. The big guy’s arm was dripping blood like a leaky faucet. He wobbled back on his heels, but Nicky steadied him. A glean of sweat covered Dean's face—he was infected—which meant he was as good as dead.
Dean blinked. “I locked the grate."
“Good job, dude.” Nicky patted him on the back. “You bought us some time.”
“Let’s go,” Adam said.
They raced down the tunnel. It curved to the right and ended at a metal door. Rachel yanked the handle, but it wouldn’t budge.
"What's wrong?" Cage slipped his arm around Dean to help support his weight.
"It's locked." Rachel tugged the door again.
“Let Adam try,” Finn said.
“Dude,” Nicky said. “Way to hurt my confidence.”
“Stop the crazy talk.”
Adam pulled, but the door wouldn't budge. "That asshole friend of yours locked us out."
"What?" Deerhorn struggled with the handle. "No, no, no."
"Can we break it down?" Nicky raised his axe. Screw this door.
"No," Deerhorn said. "It's reinforced metal. It leads to one of the underground vaults in the casino, but we're using it as a lab now. If Phil locked it, there's no way to get in without the access card."
"That you don't have." Nicky kicked the door. How long would it take for him to break in? George Clooney hacked into the vault in Oceans Eleven. If George could do it, then—
"No, Phil took the access key and the walkie-talkie with him."
"What are we going to do?" Cage pounded on the door.
Dean could barely hold up his head. His eyes were glassy and his face was flushed.
Nicky groaned. "We should've killed those cannibals and took their campsite." He watched the blood drip down Dean's arm and puddle at his feet. They couldn’t stop the bleeding.
“I’m going to turn soon,” Dean whispered.
“They may have a cure inside,” Nicky said. “There might still be a chance.”
“There’s no cure. You have to kill me, Nicky.” Dean winced as the virus coursed through his body. “I don’t want to turn.”
“Dude, don’t throw in the towel yet.” Nicky’s words were hollow. Dean had less than twenty minutes. His eyes had already fogged over and soon they would turn cold, icy blue.
Rachel slammed her hand against the door. She ran back around the corner toward the grate.
"Where are you going?" Adam ran after her.
Rachel’s hand glided over the tunnel's worn wall. When she came in view of the zombies, their snarls amplified.
"Rach?" Nicky asked. "What are you doing? Don’t tell me you've finally lost it. We might need your ninja skills in about five minutes."
Rachel groped the walls.
A loud snap vibrated through the tunnel. Nicky didn't need to look to know one of the belts had snapped. Zombies pushed over each other as they smashed against the bars. There was only one belt holding the door closed.
“Here!” Rachel scratched her fingernails into the wall. “Here!”
Nicky raced to Rachel's side. "Is that a—?"
"Door." Rachel dug at the dirt crusted over the opening. “Half a door.”
Nicky kissed Rachel’s forehead. "You are my hero!"
Adam and Nicky used the edges of their pipes to break through the grime. They uncovered a latch at the bottom corner of the opening.
Adam grabbed the handle. "Help me, Nicky. On three."
"We don't have three seconds," Nicky said.
The final belt hung by its last threads. The zombies would bust through the grate any minute now.
"Hurry!" Finn screamed.
Dean’s sweaty skin paled. "Keep back. I can feel myself turning." He stumbled toward the grate like he was drunk. "I'll hold the bars as long as I can. Go!"
Adam and Nicky heaved the handle and the door groaned open. It was a small tunnel—they'd have to crawl in the dark.
"Where does it go?" Rachel asked.
"Doesn't matter," Nicky said. "We have to go. We’re running on borrowed time. The belt is about to break."
Dean stumbled to the grate and sank to his knees. He held the bars together with his hulk-sized arms. A lump formed in Nicky’s throat—he didn't even know the dude and he was sacrificing for them.
Fingernails and teeth pushed through the grates and took chunks out of Dean.
He groaned.
The final belt snapped and Dean’s arm muscles flexed. He was the only thing keeping the zombies from rushing the tunnel. A flurry of nails and teeth assaulted his exposed flesh.
Dean’s arms trembled as the pressure against the grate mounted.
"Go!" Adam yelled. "In the hole! Cage, bring up the rear!"
"Yeah, go, go, go!" Cage said.
Adam crawled into the tunnel. Rachel pushed Finn in and Deerhorn followed on his heels.
Dean’s arms shook. Blood from dozens of bites and scratches freely flowed from the giant-sized accountant.
“Come on!” Rachel disappeared down the hole.
"Go," Cage said to Nicky.
Nicky dropped to his knees and ducked into the small space. An inch of sludge covered the ground, and raw sewage penetrated his nostrils.
Cage slipped in behind him. A crash reverberated through the metal walls.
"Oh, shit!" Nicky screamed. "The grate’s open! Crawl faster! Go, go, go!"
Nicky raced on all fours in the darkness. Zombies flooded the larger tunnel. How many were there?
“They’re coming.” Cage stopped. "Listen, Nicky. I need you to take care of them.”
Nicky glanced over his shoulder. "What?"
Cage rolled to a sitting position and stretched out his legs. A stick of dynamite casually dangled from his hand.
"Where in the hell did you get that?" Nicky could no longer see the others—it was only Cage and him.
"I took it from the RV. Figured it would come in handy."
"Dude, you’ve been running around with dynamite?"
The tunnel went darker as the first zombie crawled in after them. Growling and snarling amplified in the small space.
“If this is because of Lindsay,” Nicky said, “I should’ve protected her. It’s my fault. Don’t do this, dude.”
“This isn’t about Lindsay.”
“Then what?”
"We are single-handedly leading a horde of zombies into the last standing safe zone in America," Cage said. "We're going to kill hundreds of innocent people."
"You want to blow the tunnel?"
The dynamite’s fuse was less than a foot long. Cage would have to be extremely close to the detonation. Then it dawned on Nicky—this was a suicide mission.
"I'll be all right."
"You're not sacrificing yourself for us," Nicky said.
Cage slipped off his backpack. "I'm doing it to protect the hundreds of innocent people up there. If I don’t, they’re all going to die. We put them in danger by coming down here. I’ll blow the tunnel and close up the hole so the zombies can’t get through.” He extended his hand to Nicky.
Nicky hesitated—it was the right move, but he didn’t want Cage to sacrifice himself. He saw the conviction in Cage's eyes. He was ready to die. Ready to sacrifice. Nicky shook his hand. "I'll look after them."
"I know you will," Cage said. "Now, go. You’re running out of time."
“I…uh,” he stuttered. “I’m glad we met, dude.”
“I love you, too, Nicky.”
Nicky threw his arms around Cage. “Love you, man.”
“Now, go,” Cage said. “Quickly.”
Nicky crawled on his hands and knees through the sludge. The tunnel shook as the zombies piled into the hole.
Nicky glanced over his shoulder.
Cage struck the match. The small amount of light illuminated the zombies already on him.
Nicky turned and crawled until the explosion rocked the tunnel.
Chapter Twenty-One
Adam helped Rachel climb out of the tunnel and into the cellar room. Boxes were stacked on top of shelves and fluorescent lighting hung from the ceiling.
Finn and Deerhorn were behind him when the explosion hit. A thunderous boom shook the room. Adam and Rachel slammed against the ground.
"Nicky! Cage!" Rachel scrambled to her feet.
Adam joined her at the tunnel entrance. "What was that?"
"I don't know." Rachel stuck her head into the darkness. "Where are they? What happened?"
Deerhorn looked in the hole. "It sounded like a grenade or—"
"Dynamite," Finn finished. "Like the dynamite from the RV."
Rachel whirled around. "They blew the tunnel?" She turned back. "Nicky! Cage!"
Adam bent down. "I'll go in and
see if I can find them."
"The tunnel isn't stable," Deerhorn said. "And if it didn't fill up, those things will be crawling through any minute. I wouldn’t go in there if I were you."
"My friends are in there." Adam crouched to reenter the hole, but when he did, he heard a noise. "Something's coming."
Rachel gripped her bat. He did the same with his pipe.
The thumping grew louder. Nicky's shaggy head popped out from the tunnel. He was covered with dirt and grime. Adam helped him to his feet.
"You all right?" Adam asked.
"Yeah." Nicky sighed. "The tunnel is closed up. Those zombies can't get through."
Rachel leaned in. "Where's Cage?"
Nicky's eyes fell to the ground. He shook his head.
Rachel’s damp eyelashes fluttered. "Nicky, where is Cage?"
Nicky swallowed. "He's gone, Rachel. I’m sorry."
Her face fell and, with it, her entire body. Adam seized her before she hit the ground. Her jaw quivered and tears poured, but she didn't say a word. Adam scooped her up, his heart breaking as she shook with tears.
Nicky turned away from Rachel, but Adam saw the tears in his eyes, too. Lindsay had just died yesterday.
And now Cage was gone, too.
~ ~ ~
Adam supported Rachel and followed Deerhorn, Nicky and Finn up the stairs and into an industrial-looking tunnel with fluorescent lighting and smooth cement ceilings and floors. The hallway inclined to a second unlocked metal door with elevators behind it. They all crowded into one and Deerhorn hit the top-floor button.
The elevator opened to an extremely bright light. Two Army men with semiautomatic weapons pointed their guns at them.
Deerhorn raised his arms and glanced over his shoulder at Adam. "It’s okay. Put your hands in the air. There’s a twenty-four-hour quarantine before they can allow you into the camp."
Adam raised his hands. The men confiscated their weapons and ushered them down a narrow corridor filled with rooms on each side of the hallway. The doors had circular porthole windows, but Adam didn't bother to look inside.
The guards led them, including Deerhorn, into a twelve-by-twelve room with a toilet, sink and two cots—it looked like a jail cell.
