“No!!” McKenzie screamed.
We watched in horror as the zombies were eating McKenzie alive. He screamed and cried in agony as they violently tore out his flesh to feed on his intestines. McKenzie’s face was pressed against the glass with his mouth fixed in an open state and his eyes open. Some of his blood sprayed on the glass.
“Oh my God . . . oh my God! No! No! No! NO!!” Kate screamed.
Seeing this had us trembling and we could smell the blood and hear all the feeding sounds from here. It was the worst sound I’ve ever heard. Ellen’s grip on me tightened and my hands were shaking as a chill went up my spine. We were both panting to catch our breaths.
“NO!! No . . . McKenzie, no,” Kate wept.
“Oh shit . . . holy shit,” Molly spoke.
Helga threw a chair against the wall, breaking it, “Fuck!!”
“Oh fuck no. Jesus no,” Carrie added.
“Oh god. Oh shit,” Danny uttered, with his eyes wide open.
After a long moment of dreadful silence, Kate looked at me.
“Why didn’t you save him?!” Kate cried.
We all turned to her.
“What?” Ellen asked.
“Why did you let him die?!” Kate screamed.
Ellen looked at her confused and so did I.
Danny started, “We didn’t let him die, we tried to save him—”
“You lost your grip!” Kate accused.
Our eyes widened.
“What?” Carrie asked, as Ellen and I got up.
“Excuse me?” Danny asked, squinting his eyes.
“Kate, he didn’t lose his grip on purpose. Nobody did. We tried to save him,” Ellen said as she approached her.
“Don’t fucking touch me!” Kate screamed, while slapping Ellen’s hand.
“Okay Campbell, you seriously need to get your shit together, before you go off the fucking rails,” Carrie said.
“What the fuck did you say?!”
Then our argument was interrupted by some loud banging. The banging sound was of a crowbar on a metal rail coming from inside the building. We went through the second doors to see five teen bandits at the stairs looking intensely at us – including Greg. Chase was there, too.
The girls and I had our swords ready while Helga had her pistol out. I was inclined to use either my pistol or my rifle, but I only had one mag left for my Ruger and only fifteen rounds left in the rifle. Also, this was too easy. They’re out in the open and they know we have guns. They have a trap waiting for us. I stopped my friends before they walked any further. They looked at me and I shook my head. They knew right away what I was thinking.
Greg started, “You’ve made a real mess of things. I told you . . . if you didn’t give us your shit, things would get bloody. I gave you a choice, either give us your shit and we let you live and let your guys go free or we kill all of you and we take your shit. Now—”
“I see more of your guys dead than ours . . . so that must mean we’re winning,” Danny stated clearly.
Greg chuckled, “Can you guys believe the cajones of these pricks?”
“At least, we’re not sick in the head like you psycho fucks,” Molly stated.
Greg turned to her as she continued.
“The chained-up zombies, the hanging bodies, the heads on pikes, what the fuck is wrong with you freaks?”
“What? Nothing a good scarecrow won’t hurt . . . I mean, except for the people who lost their heads. Besides, those bitches deserved it. They wouldn’t give us their shit,” Greg answered.
“And the scores? You guys keeping score of everyone you kill? Is it a game to you?” Carrie asked.
“Actually yeah, it is. It’s all a game and you win it by staying alive,” the scar face teen said.
“You are seriously fucked up. All of you are,” I said.
Greg laughed again saying, “Like I said, guys. Cajones.”
Greg reached into a big plastic bucket and pulled out three decapitated heads.
“Huh? Where’s that cocky attitude of yours now? I would’ve let them go, but no. You had to be assholes and resist.”
Kate’s eyes widened and exclaimed, “Josh?! Caleb?! No! Nick!”
“Now, we’re gonna kill you and take your shit,” a scar-faced bandit stated, as Greg tossed the heads down the stairs and they rolled to the bottom floor.
Kate stared at the heads in shock and disbelief while reaching her hand to the heads. She shut her eyes tight while clenching her hand into a fist. She opened her eyes wide with anger as her gritted teeth showed.
“You want to kill us?” Kate asked.
She shoved her way through the group, grabbed Ellen’s Glock 19, and marched up to the bandits.
“Kate!” Ellen reached out.
I noticed one of the bandits was holding onto a rope. My eye followed it to a lever on a door to our left. Another bandit had his knife hovering over a rope and I saw that was attached to an old refrigerator in some sort of snare trap. I looked to the ground and saw a loop of rope on the ground.
“I’m gonna fucking kill you!” Kate yelled, before firing.
Kate and Ellen were standing in the middle of the loop! I wasn’t the only one that noticed – Carrie and Molly saw it. They both drew their sidearms. Kate fired her gun at the bandits, but the bandits ducked behind cover.
“Chase! Do it!” Greg ordered.
“No way! You’re crazy Greg! I’m not doing this!” Chase yelled.
Chase tried to make a run for it down the hall, and Greg shot at him. His first two shots missed, but his third hit him as he cried out in pain. Greg ran to the side to cut the rope and the refrigerator dropped, causing the snare rope to grab Kate and Ellen. They fell on their sides and were pulled up to the ceiling and the snare held them by their ankle's upside down. The scar face bandit pulled another rope that pulled the lever to open the door to our left, which was a room filled with zombies.
“Oh shit,” I uttered.
Danny grunted angrily, “Motherfucker!”
Carrie and Molly shot at the bandits, but they were already behind cover from around the corner upstairs, so they drew their fire toward the zombies. We ran down the hall to get some distance between us, but these zombies were fast as they chased us.
“Kill those bastards, Mitch! I’m gonna find Chase,” Greg said, to the scar-faced teen.
“Get him, Greg! Kill that fucking weasel!” Mitch replied.
I killed five zombies using the last bullets in my Ruger. I burst through a classroom with Carrie and Molly. Danny and Helga went down the hall into another classroom. I took several deep breaths to get my rage on. It’s just like you said Grim – my back is against the wall and we’re outnumbered. Gotta get mean to fight harder.
Together we fought the zombies, slicing their heads, stabbing their faces, or shooting them. I stabbed a zombie in the face and when my blade was too stuck in the skull, I kicked the knee of another zombie, grabbed it, and smashed its face in with the corner of a table – I pulled back and smashed it even harder with a loud angry grunt. Carrie did the same, only she stomped the zombie’s face in with her boot. Molly chopped off the zombie’s leg and used the door to break the zombie’s skull in – she repeatedly slammed the door against the zombie’s skull until it was completely caved in. We all had a wild look in our eyes.
A big zombie walked in, had to be six-four, well over two hundred pounds – big boy. Carrie grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall and I grabbed a desk. I rammed the desk into the zombie and used it to pin the zombie against the wall. Carrie used the extinguisher to bash its face in. Blood and brains splattered all over the wall and a little bit on our hands – I let go of the desk and both the zombie and desk slumped down to the floor leaving a big bloody mess. Carrie turned and swung hard at another zombie coming at us. The zombie fell flat on its back and then Carrie smashed its skull – some of its blood got on her face.
“School’s out, fuckface,” Carrie said, tossing the fire extinguisher.
/> “Is that all of them?” Molly asked.
I started, “For us, yeah, but we—”
Then we heard Kate and Ellen screaming down the hall. We looked from the side of the hallway to see they had fallen, and the bandits had them pinned down. Two bandits were holding Kate’s arms and legs with the lead bandit standing on top of her with a shotgun. The other two bandits had Ellen pinned down, face down, with her arms locked behind her back next to Kate.
“This is it. This is how it ends for you, bitch,” Mitch said, pumping his shotgun.
“Get the fuck off of me!” Kate screamed.
“What? You said you were gonna kill us. Now the shoe is on the other foot. We’re gonna kill you and then your little friend here and then all your other little friends are gonna die too.”
“No! Don’t! Please stop,” Ellen pleaded.
Mitch leaned in close to say, “Oh honey, ‘please’ is for people too nice to survive shit like this.”
They all had their backs turned, and the one holding Kate’s arms couldn’t see past the shotgun bandit. At first, I grabbed my pistol, but then I realized I ran out of bullets. So, I tried to grab my Marlin rifle, but for some reason, the sling got stuck and I couldn’t get it out. I didn’t have time, so I ran up with my sword in my hands quietly.
Mitch bandit pointed the shotgun at Kate’s face and started, “Smile and wait for the—”
I yelled angrily as I swung my sword. Mitch heard me and turned his head around. I swung with all my might at his head, but I was a little low. The blade went clean through the same as the zombies. However, when I looked up, I saw I didn’t hit his head – I hit his neck. For a few seconds, he stood there devoid of any moment until his head fell off and landed on Kate’s chest with his eyes still open. Blood spurted out of his throat and some out his head on Kate. Everyone’s eyes widened in shock, especially Kate. She screamed and tried to get away from the head. The bandit fell to the side dead and the other bandits were freaked out as well. For a moment I felt light-headed.
“Mitch! Holy shit!” the blonde bandit cried.
“You son of bitch!” another bandit yelled.
He came at me with a machete. He swung at my head, but I ducked and spun around to slice at his gut and then I stabbed him in the neck to his brain. I pulled the blade out hard and some of the blood whipped where I swung my sword. Molly and Carrie caught up and attacked the other teen bandits. Molly downward sliced at his chest and then stabbed upward into his gut before stabbing his eye after he fell. Carrie kicked her bandit in the nuts and then swung into his shoulder. He screamed in pain as he fell when Carrie pulled her sword out and then stabbed his temple. Ellen grabbed her sword and stabbed the last bandit in the back so deep the blade came out of his chest. It was so intense and happened so fast. Everyone was out of breath, panting with our eyes wide open. I just realized some of the bandit’s blood was on my face. I felt light-headed again, my heart was beating, and my hands were shaking a little – I just cut a guy’s head off with a sword. I glanced at Kate and she was looking at me wide-eyed like I was a wild animal out of its cage.
Then Molly's eyes widened with realization and exclaimed, “Oh shit! Danny! Helga!”
“Oh fuck! That’s right!” Carrie said.
Molly was the first to sprint down the hall with Carrie and I following behind me. We searched every dark classroom until we found them. They were in what looked like a history classroom surrounded by dead zombies. They were both standing in the middle of the classroom looking extremely pensive. Danny had his hand over his shoulder and Helga had her hand over her side – they were both bleeding.
“Danny? Helga?” Carrie spoke.
They looked at us and then back at their wounds. When they moved their hands, it was our worst fears . . . they got bit.
“No . . . no, no, no, no,” Molly uttered.
Carrie was so stunned that she dropped her sword. Danny and Helga were taking deep breaths. Helga’s hand was trembling. Then Danny walked up to her and held her hand. They both looked at each other for a long moment, before Helga cried while hugging Danny. Danny held her tight as he silently wept. They fell to their knees while hugging and sat there for the longest time. No one said anything.
I broke the silence, “Helga . . . Danny.”
“We know . . . we know,” Danny said.
Danny pulled out his pistol and pulled out the magazine.
“One bullet left . . . that’s all we need,” Danny said.
“Wha? Wait!” Carrie called.
“It’s okay, Carrie . . . it’s okay. We won’t turn,” Helga said.
“We’re glad we were able to help,” Danny said.
“You did more than help. You made the difference. We’re alive because of you two,” Molly said.
Danny and Helga pulled out their dog tags and tossed them to me.
“Give them to our parents,” Danny said.
I nodded, “I will.”
“Tell my mom and dad I’m sorry.”
“Me, too. Tell my folks I love them,” Helga said.
“We will,” Carrie said.
Then they looked at each other one last time and hugged each with their heads close together.
“You ready?” Danny asked.
Helga looked scared as she held Danny and he did, too. Helga nodded and Danny pointed his gun at the side of his head. He pulled the trigger and in one moment, they were both gone. As soon as the gun went off, Carrie and Molly looked away and I held them. Seeing this was bringing back memories . . . back in Denver. It was like seeing the mute girl all over again. Molly tried not to cry and Carrie had tears running down her face. I didn’t know what to do other than hold them close. Two tears rolled down my cheek. They were gone. I felt nothing but guilt for questioning their commitment – they were just tired of all the blood and death. It’s just too much . . . all this killing and death.
****
River
We finally found them. We found our missing kids. They were trapped in a high school surrounded by zombies while fighting armed bandits. There was a shit load of zombies outside and the storm was on top of us. Our window was closing. Captain Noir came along and brought ten men to help us. Clark and Cody both got their assault rifles ready and I got on top to man the M240 Bravo. Captain Noir was taking the lead on a Browning M2 machine gun. We started firing at the zombies that were bunched up together – they were easier to pick off. Cody called out to anyone on the radio to see if anyone would respond. He was able to get a hold of Ashley and she told us they were holed up in the building next to the main building. Corporal Wade had to drive circles every time I had to reload, but after ten minutes of shooting, we were able to thin them out.
“We’ll deal with the rest of the zombies! Go! Help the others inside!” Captain Noir ordered.
Corporal Wade drove around to get us close to the building. We got out and started shooting at any zombies that came at us as we made our way to the building. We stacked up by the entrance and entered, scanning the rooms.
We heard gunshots coming from down the hall. We rushed to get there. When we got in, we found Ashley and the others fighting off bandits in the cafeteria. Ashley was using a Marlin 336 lever-action rifle while the others were down to their pistols. They were hunched down behind cafeteria tables, desks, and other junk that was put together for cover while the bandits were in the kitchen shooting from both the doorway and the open window.
“Friendly! Friendly!” I called from behind.
Ashley and Sarah were the first to spin around with their guns ready.
“River? Holy shit! How did you find us?!” Ashley asked.
I quickly hugged her and Sarah. I got close to the doorway and started firing – I was able to kill two and wound a third.
“We tracked you down. Where are the others?” I asked.
“Patch and Jess are at the gym. Sonny, Molly, and my sister are in the main building. There’s a way to get there through that door, but these fuckers are in
the way!” Ashley answered.
“There’s no end to these dicks!” Warren said.
“Just keep firing!” Scarlet replied, firing her sidearm.
“These goddamn sons of bitches,” Shaun growled, reloading.
“Captain Noir, this is Corporal Wade. We found some of the recruits. Be advised, there’s some in the gym. I say again, there’s Black Shadows in the gym. Over,” Corporal Wade said on his radio.
“Roger that,” Captain Noir responded.
I looked over at the kitchen and saw the door Ashley was talking about – it was literally right next to the kitchen. I pulled out a flash bang and signaled my brothers to get ready to give me some cover fire. When they started firing, I threw the flash bang into the kitchen and when it went off, we charged to the kitchen. Clark threw a frag grenade in there and when it blew, we heard screaming after the explosion. Corporal Wade and I went in to finish off any bandits inside. There were seven inside and three of them were missing limbs while the others were disorientated – we put them all down before making our way to the main building. As we made our way down the hallway, we were ambushed by more bandits. They came at us from both sides of the hallway from classrooms and were trying to get to our rifles. The bandit I was dealing with was a tough asshole about my age and height. He tried to headbutt my face, but missed my face and hit my forehead – hurt like a bitch. I gave an angry look before headbutting his face, grabbing the back of his head and slamming it against the lockers. I hit his face against the lockers before I did a shoulder throw on him and put three bullets in his skull – I shot two other bandits that were on Shaun and Warren. Cody’s bandit had him pressed against the wall until Cody, pulled his sidearm and shot the bandit in the gut three times before shooting him in the face. Clark stabbed his bandit in the stomach, then placed his leg behind the bandit and pulled his other arm to bring the bandit down before stabbing him in the throat. Corporal Wade punched one bandit hard in the face, then grabbed his head and smashed it hard against the lockers several times before snapping his neck.
The Dark Days Series | Book 2 | Sanctuary Page 35
