Rise of the Necrotics (Book 7): Into The Woods

by Bates, Bradford

  “You’re not much help now, but at least you’ll be able to run,” Holly snickered.

  Man, I’d heard of tough love, but she could dish it out with the best of them. Snatching the pill from her hand I popped it in my mouth and sucked it down dry. At least if I got shot now I wouldn’t feel it. It’s too bad this wasn’t a video game. I’d probably earn bonus points for shooting people with blurry vision.

  “At least tell me you found us a ride so I don’t have to put the,” pausing I lifted my hands in the air and made quotation marks, “you’d be able to run,” I brought my hands down, “part to the test.”

  “So demanding,” Holly simpered. “I thought we’d set up your little diversion and then take their truck.

  “Well, it is conveniently parked right by the exit. If everyone falls for the distraction it should give me enough time to get it running.”

  “No need.” Holly grinned, pulling a set of keys from her pocket and jingling them slightly. “Someone was kind enough to leave these on the dash.”

  “Then let’s start a fire and get the hell out of here.”

  It didn’t take us too long to find a woodpile leaning against a house just outside the center of town. One thing that was nice about Camp Verde is once you got off the main drag there was some space between the houses. If anything was bothering me, it was the lack of people. Had they all been evacuated, was the militia all that was left?

  The one thing I hadn’t expected was for the town to feel empty. There wasn’t even a face peering out from a window. At least there hadn’t been when I was looking. If nothing else, we knew this house was empty. I kicked in the door, and we searched the entire place. We might have needed a distraction, but the last thing we wanted was to burn an unsuspecting family alive when we started our little surprise. Hope they had insurance, because this house was going up in flames.

  I tossed my remaining smoke bombs inside of the house on the way out of the front door. The jam was splintered from where I had kicked it in, so the door wouldn’t close. It would have to do. Bounding down the front steps, I saw Holly toss my bottle of lighter fluid away and pull a pack of matches from her pocket. She deftly pulled one match free and used it to light the rest of the book before tossing it on the wood pile.

  “Time to go.” Holly’s eyes glittered in the flames before she turned and started running back toward the truck.

  She was right. The wood leaning against the house was starting to burn the siding sending dark smoke into the air. Forcing myself to stop watching the flames, I put my legs in gear and took off after Holly. All we had to do now was hope our luck held out long enough to get our gear and make it out of town.

  Watching Holly run was like watching an artist create. She flitted from building to building like a leaf on the wind. I followed without question, trusting that she wouldn’t lead us astray. She moved with no wasted motion or energy. Each step, each breath seemed like it was planned before it happened. On the flipside my breath was coming in ragged gasps, and my legs were still slightly clumsy.

  Every time I blundered into something or crashed into the side of a building where Holly had come to rest she gave me a withering glare. Her eyes seemed to wonder if I had any training at all. I wanted to defend myself, but there was nothing left to say. Beside her I was as wobbly as a newborn foal. If she gave me any shit I was going to blame the pill she’d given me. Frankly, it was her own damn fault. I’d warned her after all.

  Holly kept moving, but the silence we’d been enjoying was now being drowned out by the shouts of the militia as they realized something was wrong. An arm bumped into my chest, and again I was surprised by just how strong she was. I mean, I knew women could be strong. Fuck, there were probably a million of them that could outwork me on a daily basis, but Holly was strong in a way I hadn’t experienced before. The arm kept me from moving. It might as well have been made out of iron.

  A group of five men with automatic rifles ran past us less than a house away. My chest burned as I held my breath. Not that they would have heard me as they sprinted past. Still, there was something about sneaking around that made you want to hold your breath. Don’t ask me why. It was just something one did when they were afraid of being caught.

  Holly’s arm fell away, and I wanted to grab it and put the limb back across my chest. It might have been sappy, or maybe it was the drugs, but I missed her touch the second it was gone. Before I could dwell on it any longer Holly was running again. That woman was going to be the death of me if we didn’t make it to Flagstaff soon.

  My chest heaved as I tried to suck in enough oxygen to not hit the ground next to the truck. Holly smiled at me, her face sweaty and flushed. She looked beautiful despite the dirt and grime, or maybe even because of it. Was she glowing? Oh man, I was done for. The influence of the pills I’d taken was roaring through my system, and everything felt a little foggy. Did I ask Holly if she was shiny or was that all in my head?

  “Hey,” I stammered.

  “Why don’t we just get you in the truck, so you can sit down.” Holly put an arm around my waist and guided me toward the passenger side of the truck.

  “I think that’s a good idea.”

  Holly opened the passenger side door and helped me inside. Slumping onto the seat, I tried to stay awake. There was something I needed to tell her, something we needed to do.

  “I’m going to go and get the rest of our gear.”

  That was it, the thing I needed to tell her. It was like she knew me. My thoughts were her thoughts. I smiled up at her and felt a trickle of drool leak from the corner of my mouth. Not exactly sexy, but I was too high to care.

  “Try not to move, ok?” Holly closed the door, and I watched her run for a moment before closing my eyes.

  Not moving wasn’t going to be a problem. My arms felt like jello and must have weighed three hundred pounds for all the effort it took to lift them up. Apparently, the third pill was the charm if you didn’t want to feel a thing and you happened to be somewhere you could sleep for a week without being disturbed. We weren’t safe yet, and fighting against the influence of the drugs was getting harder by the second.

  A face appeared in the driver’s side window. Thank God, Holly was back, and we were going to make a clean getaway. I tried to sit up straighter so I wouldn’t look like such a slob, but all I managed to do was wedge myself against the door and let out a grunt as something dug into my ribs.

  My stomach twisted as the driver’s side door flew open. A man with a beard poked his head into the truck. How long had I been asleep? Had Holly become a man? I heard they could do that now. I was just trying to wrap my head around what might be happening when the man’s expression turned from an O of surprise to murderous rage.

  My right hand clawed at my hip where the Desert Eagle was holstered. I knew what I needed to do, but my fingers wouldn’t close on the clasp.

  “Who the fuck are you?” the man shouted, clearly shocked at finding someone sleeping inside of the truck.

  My thoughts might have been swimming, but I just needed to buy enough time for Holly to get back. “Did you know your truck is parked here illegally?” The clasp finally came off the holster and my fingers curled around the cool metal. The real question was, could I make the shot. There was a good chance I’d just end up shooting the truck or myself, and I didn’t like either of those scenarios.

  “Get out of my ride, asshole, or I’m going to fill you with holes.” He started reaching behind his back for his own gun.

  My arm came up, and the Desert Eagle roared to life. The gun snapped back, and my hand flew into the window behind me cracking it. My sight swam into focus as adrenaline pumped through my veins like a rocket ship searching for orbit. The man’s chest had exploded outward when the bullet tore through it. Now he was lying on the ground clutching at the wound as if he could put himself back together. His face contorted with pain and a gurgle escaped his lips.

  A thump sounded from the back of the truck, and Holly’
s face appeared at the door. “I can’t leave you alone for five minutes, can I?” She pulled the keys from her pocket, and the truck started up on the first try.

  “What can I say, I have a knack for finding trouble.”

  “Or staying alive.”

  “Well, that too.” I settled back into the seat, my eyes already drifting closed. Holly plucked the gun from my lap and put it on the dash.

  “Get some sleep Max, the hard part’s done.” She looked over at me with concern etched into her features.

  “I think I might just take you up on that offer.” I closed my eyes and fell asleep to the hum of the truck’s tires on the asphalt.

  ALSO BY BRADFORD BATES

  Ascendancy Legacy

  The Arena

  Jar of Souls

  Guardian of the Grove

  Demon Stone

  The Rising Darkness

  Redemption

  Ascendancy Origins

  Rise of the Fallen

  Butcher of the Bay

  Night of the Demon

  The Bozley Green Chronicles

  Possessed

  The Galactic Outlaws

  Forced Compliance

  Genetic Purge

  Smuggler’s Legacy

  The Black Citadel

  Fortune Hunters

  Star Talon

  Lost Signal

  A Galactic Outlaws Story

  The Marchenko Incident

  Smuggler for Hire

  Origin Ice

  The Forgotten System

  Reapers of Justice

  Shadow of the Empire

  Standalone Titles

  Rise of the Necrotics

  Crimson Stars

  http://www.bradfordbates.com/books/

  https://www.facebook.com/bradfordbatesauthor/

  https://twitter.com/Freetheblizz

  If you enjoyed the book please consider leaving a review. Reviews are the lifeblood of independent authors. They allow us to secure advertising, and help new readers find our books.