by Kate L. Mary
“Now, tell me about the people in the third group, the one not as heavily guarded.”
“It’s mostly kids,” I said. “We taught them to shoot, to defend themselves, but we can’t expect them to kill people, Landon. Can we?”
“What if it’s a choice between killing or being killed? What would you have them do then?”
He was right and I hated it. Even worse, it was like the full reality of this new world was hitting me for the first time.
“We’ll do our best to shelter them from it, but you and I both know we might fail.” His voice was gentle, soothing, but firm as well. “Now, what about the others?”
“Cliff won’t go down without a fight. He’s getting up there in years and he has a lot of pain, but he’s tough. I saw him take out more than one zombie on the road.” I thought about the others, trying my best to focus on the living instead of the men I was very certain were now dead. “There’s Marjorie. She’s good with a gun. Used to hunt when she was younger. She was even the Miami County Game Warden for a while.”
“Okay, that’s good,” Landon said. “Who else?”
“Hector was in that group and he’ll be an asset. He’s not as old as he looks, or he acts younger than his age, I’m not sure which, but he can kick some ass. Then there’s Dolly. She’s old, but she can shoot.”
I thought about my seventy-year-old neighbor. She didn’t always have the easiest time getting around, but in the beginning when we were faced with hoards, all we’d had to do was prop her in a chair with a gun and she’d had no problem putting a bullet through a zombie’s head. The idea of putting her in danger didn’t sit well with me, but Landon was right, if we had a choice between killing these men or allowing them to kill us, none of these people would back down from a fight. We’d been through too much.
“That’s it, though. The rest are kids or too feeble.”
“I’m surprised they didn’t shoot the really old people already,” he said, almost to himself.
I stiffened and my heart beat faster. He was right. Sooner or later these men would realize how much work it was to keep some of our people alive and do away with them. What their end goal was, I didn’t have a clue, but they’d want things to go as smoothly as possible, and that would mean getting rid of some baggage.
“We have to move. Fast,” I hissed.
“We will, but first we need to figure out how to get inside that RV,” Landon said. “That’s our number one priority. Any allies are better than none, and even if we have to prop Dolly up behind a rock she can at least fire off a couple shots and distract the men so we can get some other people free. The more the better.”
“Even if they’re not heavily guarding that RV, they’re still going to be keeping an eye on it.”
“Which is why we need a distraction.” Landon got to his feet. “How many horses do you have?”
“Seven.” I stood as well.
“And the other animals?” he asked.
“We have dozens of chickens, a few pigs, some goats and cows.”
“The chickens would be the biggest distraction, but they’ll also be a hell of a lot harder for us to catch after all this is over.” He paused and thought it through. “The horses will have to do.”
“You want to set the horses free?”
“Yup.” Landon started moving, heading to the front of the stable. “Hopefully it’s enough of a distraction to give us time to get into the RV.”
He paused at the side of the stable, staying low so he was in the shadows, and turned to face me. “You should go now.”
“Wait, what?” Thinking he was telling me to run, I shook my head. “I won’t leave you.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Landon grasped my hands in his. “You get to the RVs before I set the horses free, that way you’re in position and ready when those assholes head back here to wrangle the animals.”
I couldn’t argue because it was a good plan. Running through the valley, even in the darkness, would be too risky once the horses were set free, but I still didn’t like the idea of leaving him behind.
“What about you?”
“I’ll let the horses out then head to the other side of the RV park, closer to where one of the other groups are being held. That way we have a better chance of surrounding them. Make sense?”
“Yes,” I said, but still didn’t move.
“We’re going to be okay,” Landon said. “I swear it.”
“Okay.” This time, my voice came out firmer. “Just promise you’ll be careful.”
“It took me eight months and I had to cross almost the entire country to get to you, I’m not going to die now.”
Before I could say anything else, he pulled me against him. Our Kevlar vests slammed together as we kissed, making impossible for a real embrace, but it didn’t matter. From Landon, I would take anything I could get.
When he pulled away, he gave me a little shove toward the RVs. “Go. And be careful.”
“I will,” I said before taking off through the darkness.
My heart was pounding by the time I reached the RVs, not only from exertion, but also from the anticipation of what was going to happen next. It was late, but a good number of the men were still up and being more rowdy than they should have been considering it could draw a horde our way. Hopefully, they would notice the horses fast and hurry to secure them. If they wanted to take our settlement for the convenience of the location and all the work we’d put in, they would want to keep the horses where they were.
I dropped to the ground and tossed my backpack under the RV before pulling myself after it, but movement was difficult thanks to the Kevlar vest. To make matters worse, the grass here had died from lack of sun and the dirt was soft beneath my hands, giving me little to no traction. It wasn’t quite mud, but it was damp enough that it clung to my skin and clothes, making me feel twice as weighed down.
I stopped when I reached the other side. One fire was still going and there were a few men gathered around it, Max included. They were drinking and laughing like they didn’t have a care in the world. Maybe they didn’t. Maybe this was what they did to survive. Find settlements and take over, use the resources and people until they didn’t need them anymore and then move on—after killing everyone, of course. They were the vultures of this new world, and even though my stomach rolled at the thought of killing a living, breathing person, I would be doing everyone still alive a favor. People like this didn’t deserve the air they used, let alone what few resources we had left.
I heard the beat of hooves before the men did. They were too focused on their conversation, which I wasn’t close enough to hear. Unfortunately. It would have been nice to get an idea of what they were planning.
With my breath held, I waited for them to realize something had changed. It took longer than it should have, and when they started moving, I realized why. The morons were drunk.
Good.
One of the men ran to a nearby RV and pounded on the door. “We got a problem!”
He stumbled back when the door was thrown open, nearly falling on his ass but somehow managing to stay upright. A man stepped out and I recognized him from the road. He’d been the first man out of the cars and was the one who’d shot Bill and Devon. If I had to guess, I’d say he was the leader.
He already had his gun out and ready when he looked the clearing over, and the sneer on his face intensified when he got a look at his men. “Are you morons drunk again?”
“Just blowing off some steam.” I tensed at the sound of Max’s voice. He was on the other side of the fire and out of sight, but knew it was him.
The leader let out a sound that almost sounded like a growl. “Bunch of morons.” He turned on the man who’d banged on his door. “What’s wrong?”
“Sounds like horses,” the man said.
The leader took a step toward him. “Sounds like it? You mean you haven’t checked it out yet?”
“I was checking to see what you wanted us to do.�
�
“I want you do your job,” the leader said. “Which means checking out anything that seems suspicious. And if it is the damn horses, get them. They’re part of the reason we came here.”
So I’d been right. Max had told them about our setup and they’d decided to take advantage of our hard work.
I pulled my gun.
No way was I going to let them ruin everything we’d worked hard to build.
“You heard me,” the leader snarled, his focus now on the other men standing around. “Go check it out!”
The men scrambled off, practically tripping over their own feet.
When he was alone, the leader let out a deep breath. “Bunch of useless assholes.”
He picked up an open bottle and sniffed it, making a face that told me he wasn’t much of a drinker himself. When he tipped it upside down, the liquid splashed against the rocks surrounding the fire, and the flames intensified, shooting into the air. They also caught on the liquid that had fallen on the rocks and spread over to the grass, making the leader swear and kick dirt over them.
When he was sure the fire was under control, he tossed the bottle aside and turned his back to the fire.
I held my breath and waited. I needed him to go after the others, but I wasn’t sure if he would. If he was the type of person who thought a job could only be done right if he was there, he’d go see what his men were doing. But if he was the type of man who left the hard work to others, he’d stick around. Hopefully, he was the first one.
A neigh echoed through the night, followed by a man cursing up a storm, and the leader shook his head. “I miss the days when I didn’t have to be surrounded by incompetence,” he muttered to himself as he started walking, heading between the RVs and toward his men.
Once he was out of sight, I scrambled out from under the RV as fast as the Kevlar vest would allow me, pulling my bag out behind me. The clearing was empty and silent, but the sound of the men struggling to catch the horses echoed through the night air. It wouldn’t take long for them to wrangle the horses, even drunk and incompetent, because the animals were tame and used to people.
I needed to act fast.
I only took one quick look around before pulling the door to the RV open and slipping inside. It was too dark to see anything, but I heard the shuffle of people moving around at my approach.
“Who’s there?”
Cliff’s scratchy voice was distinctive enough that I didn’t need to see him to know who’d asked the question.
“Shhh.” I moved forward slowly, running my hand along the wall in an attempt to ground myself. “It’s April. Landon and I need your help if we’re going to stop these men.”
“April,” Cliff said in relief.
A shadow moved through the darkness and then he was in front of me, grabbing my hand between his own bound hands. His skin was rough and dry, weathered from his many years on this earth, but his grip firm.
“Those assholes—”
“Language,” Dolly hissed from somewhere deeper in the RV.
“Screw your idea of propriety, Dolly,” Cliff said. “We have a real problem on our hands.”
“It’s okay,” I broke in before the two could start arguing. “We got the weapons from town. We need you.”
“I’m here,” Cliff said.
“Me too,” Hector said from behind me.
“Marjorie and Dolly?” More movement followed. “Are you ready for this?”
“Not sure if my old bones are,” Dolly said, “but I’ll do my best.”
“Give me a gun and let me loose,” Marjorie growled.
“Good.”
When discussing the plan with Landon, these four had seemed like our only hope, even it the hope had been slim. Hearing the determination in their voices, though, told me they might be more of an asset than I’d thought.
“Are the windows covered?” I asked. “I’m going to turn on a flashlight.”
“I’m on it,” one of the kids said.
There was movement in the darkness and a moment later someone said, “All good.”
“Okay.” I flipped my flashlight on but kept it low and partially covered by a dishtowel I grabbed off the counter. “Let’s get ready.”
The first thing I did was cut Cliff and Hector loose. Then, while they got busy untying everyone else, I unloaded the guns. The RV was cramped and I was already hot, and with every move I as more certain the Kevlar vest was trying to suffocate me. The problem was, it was way too big.
Ignoring the inconvenience of it, I passed a gun and knife to Cliff, Hector, Dolly, and Marjorie before pausing to look around at the kids. They ranged from age five to twelve, and in the semi-darkness of the RV, they looked twice as vulnerable as I’d ever seen them.
“Trevor,” I said to the oldest of the kids, a twelve-year-old boy who’d dragged his younger sister from their house and to safety when their parents turned. “I need you to be in charge. Understand?”
He nodded, his eyes wide and serious.
“All the kids need to stay away from the door, as far back in the RV as possible. Okay?”
He nodded again.
“You need to stand guard.” I didn’t pause before passing him the final gun. “Understand? You need to make sure everyone stays safe.”
Beside him, Cliff frowned but didn’t argue with the plan.
“Can you do it?” I asked.
“I can do it,” Trevor said firmly.
“Good.” I stood. “Now we’re going out there so we can do everything in our power to make sure you never need to use that.”
Chapter 14
I cracked the door and waited, holding my breath and praying the men hadn’t managed to get the horses back in the stables. In front of me, the clearing was still empty, and even better, the distant sound of cursing echoed through the night air.
The coast was clear.
“Follow me,” I whispered as I pushed the door open the rest of the way.
My gun was up and ready, but just like I’d thought, there was no one in sight, making it easy for the five of us to slip between the RVs and duck into the shadows.
“What’s the plan?” Cliff asked.
We weren’t crouching, mostly because both he and Dolly had knee problems, and I felt out in the open and exposed even though we were at the far end of the settlement. There was only one RV to my left—the one the kids used for school—and the one to my right was empty. There was no real reason for the men to come this way, but I was still anxious to get under one of the other RVs and out of sight.
First, though, we needed a plan.
“We need to split up.” I twisted and groaned when the Kevlar vest shifted. “Dolly, you stay here in the shadows.” There was a rather big grill only a few feet away, which Hector and I were able to move to block Dolly from sight. “When I open fire, you follow my lead. Got it?”
Dolly, who suddenly reminded me less of a busybody neighbor and more of a woman with a major vendetta, held her pistol up and nodded. “My knees may be failing me, but my eyes are better than a twenty-year-olds.”
“Lucky for us,” I said, turning to Marjorie. “You think you can make it up the hill?
“No problem.”
“Good. You do the same thing. Hide out and when I fire, start shooting.”
We decided Cliff would hide on the other side of the classroom trailer while Hector was going to make his way up the hill with Marjorie, only continue to the other side so they were spread out.
After they took off, I helped Cliff into position. My heart was pounding and I was busy straining my ears, listening for any sounds that might indicate the men were on their way back. The cursing had died off, telling me they had probably caught the horses, but so far there were no other sounds.
“You be careful,” I told Cliff.
He knelt out of sight, hidden by a pile of wood someone had dragged in with the intention of building a porch, and in the process dropped his gun.
“I’ll get it,�
� I said.
When I knelt, the vest poked me in the neck, once again making me seem like it was trying to kill me.
“That’s it.” I tossed my gun aside and ripped the vest off, throwing it to the ground. “I can’t take that thing anymore.
“You sure that’s a good idea?”
“If I can’t move in it I don’t know how I’m going to be able to get off a good shot,” I said. “So, yeah. I’m sure.”
“Whatever you think best.”
“What I think right now is that I better get moving.”
“Be careful, April.”
“I will,” I said, taking a step back. “And you better be careful, too.”
“I’m not ready to die yet.”
Despite the tension, I couldn’t help smiling as I dashed off, heading past Dolly where I once again climbed under the RV.
I pulled myself across the dirt, keeping low so my back didn’t scrape against the bottom of the RV, not stopping until I’d reached the end. I could now hear the pounding of footsteps in the distance as the men headed back, and I waited for a moment, trying to get an idea of how close they were to my hiding spot. They didn’t sound nearby, but I couldn’t find them in the darkness. I also knew I couldn’t wait long. I needed to get into position as soon as possible.
Taking a deep breath to prepare myself, I pulled myself from my hiding spot and scurried across the open space between the two RVs. Once I’d reached the next one, I dove under and scrambled forward until I was once again concealed, more thankful than ever that I’d ditched the Kevlar vest. Then I started crawling again, pulling myself forward while the sound of the men talking grew closer and louder, their words becoming more clear.
“Someone let those horses out and I want to know who,” a man—the leader, I assumed—said.
“Who? Ain’t nobody here,” another replied.
“Somebody probably came back from a hunting party and realized something was up,” Max said. “April, maybe one of the others. I don’t know, but Pat is right, someone let those horses out.”
So the leader’s name was Pat.
It wasn’t a surprise that they’d figured out our plan so quickly, even a moron could play connect the dots, but it still made my heart pound because I didn’t know where Landon was or if he was in danger. If they caught me they’d let me live, but they’d put a bullet in his head right away and I knew it.
