Faster.
The stampede started up again, but this time in reverse. Jen leaned against the door, keeping her concentration. The echo of pounding steps faded.
Putting her eye to the peephole, she squinted. “It’s clear.”
Zeke took her arm. “Let me go first.”
She stepped back. He unlocked the dead bolt and eased the door open. Sticking his head into the corridor, he looked left, then right. “They’re gone all right.” He stepped into the corridor. Jen and Wayne followed. Mercy and Josh stayed in the room.
Scenes flashed in Jen’s mind as if she were looking through multiple cameras in sequence. A view of the stairway as she moved down it behind a wave of zombies. Another in the street where she could see the hotel from a block away.
Am I communicating with that many?
She rushed back into the room and looked out the window. A hundred zombies crowded the street around the hotel, their heads angled up and all eyes staring at her. A chill shot up her spine.
Beyond the attentive zombie crowd, the other undead wandered aimlessly. She squeezed her eyes shut.
Everyone stop.
“Oh my God,” Mercy’s voice came from beside her.
Jen glanced at her. Mercy’s eyes were wide and she held a hand over her mouth. Wayne leaned forward staring out the window, while Josh wedged in beside him, his unblinking camera aimed at the street.
Zeke stood at Jen’s side, a smile on his lips. “Guess you can control more than a few.” He gestured out the window.
Jen looked down into the group of upturned zombie faces.
“Oh my God is right,” she said. “There’s three or four hundred of them now.”
“Give them another command,” Wayne said. “Make sure this isn’t a fluke.”
Jen swallowed. “OK.” Everyone sit.
As if they’d practiced it, every one of her damn zombies sat at the same time.
“Like soldiers moving in formation,” Wayne said.
Wayne’s pocket vibrated and a standard ringtone blared from it.
Jen raised an eyebrow. “Expecting a call?”
He shook his head, then opened it and held it out. Zeke looked at it and frowned. “Blocked number?”
Wayne pressed the speaker button. “Hello?”
“Put Jen on.”
Howell? Heat rose in Jen’s face. “I’m glad you called, asshole. I’m going to kill you, then make you my fucking zombie slave. You’ll never rest.”
“Are you done?” Howell asked. “You don’t have much time.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” she said.
“Surrender to me,” he said. “Give me the video camera and all of the recordings. Do both of those things and your friends can all go free.”
“Kiss my ass,” she said.
Mumbling came from the speaker. Who’s he talking to? Jen strained to hear the conversation, but couldn’t make it out.
“We’d rather you work with us,” Howell said, “but if you won’t, you’ll be eliminated. What do you—”
“Fuck you!” Jen snatched the phone from Wayne and flung it against the wall, where it split into three pieces.
“I guess he has your answer,” Zeke said.
Jen stormed to the hallway. “Enough screwing around. Let’s get to the news station and expose those assholes.”
She stopped at the top of the stairs and checked her pistol’s load, then holstered it. Adjusting the tomahawk sheath on her belt, she leaned over the railing and scanned the stairs below. “All clear down there.”
“I’ll go first,” Zeke said.
Jen blocked him with her arm. “No. I’m the last one they’d attack. Until we know how much control I have with that big a group, I should be in front.”
Zeke pursed his lips and stepped aside. Jen took the steps to the next floor and peered over the rail again. “Still good.”
She took the following flight quickly and paused. Zeke was right behind her, Mercy and Josh a little behind him, and Wayne came down the stairs in the rear.
“No stopping till we hit the first floor.” Jen kept a steady pace down the remaining stairs, reaching the first floor in minutes.
She opened the door to the empty lobby, which had floor-to-ceiling glass windows and double glass doors. The zombies still sat, their heads turned and eyes staring at her as she entered the lobby.
“This is freaking creepy,” Zeke said.
Mercy hugged herself and hid behind Josh. Wayne’s mouth hung slightly open.
Jen swallowed. Stand.
The zombies rose to their feet and watched her with impassive faces.
“Jen,” Zeke said. “Can you do me a favor and tell us what you’re telling them so we know if they do something different?”
“Good idea,” Wayne said.
“Sure,” Jen said. “I’m going to tell them to move away from the door.”
The crowd of zombies shuffled back from the door.
Jen looked at the others. “I used verbal commands at CDC Headquarters, but not on so many. Looks like it works as long as they can hear me.”
She grasped the door handle. “I’ll wave you out once I feel it’s safe.”
Zeke pulled his katana and positioned himself next to the door. Wayne took the other side. “We’ll be there if you need us.”
She smiled. “I know.”
Jen pulled the door open and walked into the sea of zombies.
18
None of the zombies moved. Other than Jen’s own pulse pounding in her ears, there was no sound.
“Make more room for my friends.”
The zombies pushed back, not taking their eyes off her.
She stepped back inside the building. Zeke let out his breath in a rush.
“Worried?” she asked.
“Always.”
Wayne nodded at the zombies. “They seemed to obey you.”
“They did.” She gazed at the zombies. “I think we’re safe, but be ready just in case. We’ll go in the same order as we did on the stairs.”
Mercy shivered.
“You going to be OK?” Jen asked. “We need you two. Not only to get the video uploaded, but to give us directions to the studio.”
Mercy gave her a nervous nod. “Ready.”
Josh lowered the camera. “Let’s do it.”
“Which way do we go?” Jen asked.
“Left,” Mercy said, “to Southeast 6th Avenue. It’s the first road we’ll hit. Then take a right and we’ll follow that road across the interstate and then two blocks farther.”
Jen pushed the door open and stepped outside. Zeke took position at her side, his katana at the ready.
Not a zombie moved.
“Come on,” Josh said. He put an arm around Mercy and half led, half pulled her out the door. Wayne followed, his eyes scanning the undead.
Jen turned to her left. “We will be walking this way. When we do, you will surround us and remove any undead from our path. You will ensure we’re safe.”
“Not exactly talkative, are they?” Zeke said.
“Nice and slow,” Jen said, “let’s walk to the street.”
The zombies in front of her turned and shuffled forward. They moved away from the building’s entrance, and members of her personal horde filled in on the building side. Jen got on her tiptoes and peered over them. As she’d commanded, the lead zombies pushed through the wandering undead.
“It’s working,” she said. “There seem to be enough of our zombies between us and the others that they don’t know we’re here.”
They crossed the parking lot and stopped in the middle of Southeast 6th Avenue. Jen turned to Mercy.
“What street’s next?” she asked.
Although no longer pressed into Josh, Mercy hadn’t strayed far from his side. Josh, for his part, had his camera back out and recording.
“South Kansas Avenue,” Mercy said. “Then a left. The station is the third door on the right.”
“Walk
three blocks to South Kansas Avenue then turn left and walk a hundred feet and stop,” Jen said.
The horde shuffled forward.
“This is working well,” she said. “We’re the first people in history to have a zombie escort.”
Zeke put a hand up. “Do you hear that?”
“What?” Jen asked.
Wayne looked to the sky. “Plane. We need to get away from the hotel.”
“Run,” Jen yelled.
The horde surged forward, and Jen picked up her pace.
The rumbling grew louder.
“Not just one plane,” Wayne said.
A vision played in Jen’s mind. She was running at the edge of the horde as it ran into a large group of undead. Her zombies began dropping away as they were blocked from moving forward.
Jen pulled her tomahawk. “Get ready to fight. We’re losing some of our cover.”
The top four floors of the hotel exploded behind them, the blast waves knocking Jen to the pavement. She pushed herself up on her elbows and watched as another strike hit the flaming building.
Howell.
She scrambled to her feet. The shock wave had knocked down every zombie and human in a two-block radius. She grabbed Zeke’s hand and pulled. “We’ve got to find shelter.”
Zombies stirred. She reached out with her mind. Reassemble around us.
A dozen zombies stumbled to her side.
“Shit. I lost control of most of them.” Jen pointed past a gas station to a two-story building with a brick facade. “Run.”
Other zombies staggered to their feet and turned toward Jen. The zombies she controlled knocked over those in front as Jen jumped over undead bodies. She glanced behind her. Zeke engaged two zombies attacking from the side, beheading them in two swift strokes. Wayne barreled shoulder-first through a group of three zombies, knocking them down like a raging bull.
A zombie swiped at Mercy, and Josh swung the camera, connecting with its jaw. It dropped, but three more rushed them.
“With me.” Jen spun and rushed one of the zombies attacking the news crew. She planted the tomahawk’s point into its temple and pushed it to the side. Zeke appeared and kicked one zombie back and slashed at another. His katana wedged in its skull, but it didn’t die.
Jen slammed it in the back of the head and split the skull. The zombie fell, almost taking the katana with it.
Her escort of a dozen zombies fought off a growing number of the undead, but two of them had already fallen.
“We’ve got to get to that building,” Jen yelled. “Zombies, lead the way.”
The remaining escort dashed toward the building, knocking attackers to the side. Two more of the escort went down.
Another sound caught Jen’s attention. A number of thup thups echoed off the buildings.
“Helicopters,” she screamed. “We can’t let them spot us.”
Wayne put an arm around Mercy and led her away as he swung his club in a sweeping arc to clear one side. Zeke kept the zombies on the other side at bay.
They rushed to the building, the zombie escort reaching it first.
“Clear them away from the door,” Jen yelled.
Her undead troops pushed back the few zombies in front of the entrance. None were within ten feet when Jen reached the tall glass door.
She pulled on the metal bar and the door swung open. She turned to wave the others in and froze.
Two Blackhawks and four Apaches flew into sight from behind a tall building. They hovered over the burning hotel.
“Get in now,” Jen screamed.
Josh flew through the door with Wayne and Mercy right behind him.
Where the hell’s Zeke?
Twenty yards away, a score of zombies closed in on Zeke, blocking him from reaching safety.
19
Zeke’s katana glistened in the sunlight as he whirled and sliced, parried and slashed. But as soon as he struck a zombie down, another took its place.
Jen pointed at Zeke. “Go help him.”
Four of her zombie escort remained, and they dashed toward Zeke. Each of them engaged one of the undead. Jen drew her pistol and took out four more in rapid succession.
Their efforts created a hole in the zombie lines.
Jen waved Zeke over. “Come on.”
Zeke sprinted for the door. Jen glanced at the helicopters. Two Apaches headed toward them as the others flew to the east. Zeke streaked through the door. Jen pulled it closed and engaged the dead bolt. A dozen zombies slammed into it.
“Away from the windows.” She herded the others through a waiting area and into a hallway.
The Apaches flew closer until they sounded like they were directly over the building. Jen closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. Nothing. “I’m not connecting with any zombies.”
A brief buzz came from outside. Jen peeked out a window. Dozens of zombies lay shredded in the road. Another buzz and another group of zombies dropped.
“Shit. They’re taking out the horde,” Jen said.
“What’s wrong with that?” Mercy asked. “Sounds like a good thing to me.”
Jen backed into the hallway, keeping her eyes on the carnage in the street. “Now that Butler’s not here to control the horde and coordinate their attacks, they’re sitting ducks for the army.” She turned to Mercy. “And until we can broadcast your video, that’s not good for us. They may just be able to sweep the zombies back.”
“Which means they could march in here at any time,” Zeke said. He darted down the hallway.
“Where are you going?” Wayne called out.
“We need a way out of here,” Zeke said.
Jen ran after Zeke. “Good idea. If they’re distracted out front, we might get out the back.”
Open doors lined the hallway, all of them offices. Jen ducked into one at the end of the corridor. She rushed to the window and pulled the blinds up, exposing an alleyway. “Perfect.”
She popped the latch, lifted the window, and stuck her head out. Clear at one end, the alleyway was blocked at the other by a middle-aged zombie leaning against the wall. It streaked toward her, but slowed a few yards away. Staring into her eyes, it stopped and tilted its head, then turned and stumbled back the way it had come.
Jen closed the window and joined the others in the hallway.
“What’d you find?” she asked.
“There’s another door, but a ton of zombies right outside it,” Zeke said. “How about you?”
“I’ve got a window that opens into an alley. Perfect cover to get us to South Kansas Avenue.”
“Why don’t we just wait here?” Mercy asked.
“Because the army will send more helicopters, and soon,” Jen said. “Once they’ve cleared the streets, the troops will move in. We don’t have much time to get to the studio and get your shit uploaded.”
Jen moved in front of Mercy. “Look at me.”
Mercy’s gaze met hers.
“You’re the key to this. We need you.”
Mercy pursed her lips, then nodded. “Let’s go.”
“Now you’re talking,” Zeke said.
Jen led them to the alley window and opened it. She hopped through it just as another burst of gunfire spat from above, then helped Mercy through.
Zeke hopped out and crowded Jen from behind. Mercy pushed past him. “I’ll show you the way.”
Putting a hand across Mercy’s chest, Jen said, “Hold up. I go first.”
She strode down the alley until she stood face-to-face with the middle-aged zombie. “Out of my way.”
The zombie moved to the side.
“Looks like I’m getting some control back. Hang on for a second.” She closed her eyes and reached out. One connection, six, fourteen, twenty-three, thirty-eight.
Jen saw the alley entry from the street side. Fifty or so zombies gathered in the road and one of the Apaches floated into view.
She opened her eyes. “Get ready to run your asses off. Mercy, where’s that door we’re looking f
or?”
“Third on the right.”
Jen peered around the corner. The third doorway was a pair of heavy-looking solid wood doors. Look like they could withstand some force.
“I’ve got almost two dozen zombies under command,” she said. “I’m going to send them orders to clear the way to that door. When I tell you, get your asses to the third set of doors. Two big wooden ones. Get inside. Don’t stop for shit.” She eyed Zeke. “No stopping to fight.”
Zeke bounced on the balls of his feet. “OK. OK. Let’s get going.”
Jen took another look into the street. Clear the way from the alley to the big wooden doors down the street.
The zombies under her control rammed the other zombies, knocking them clear of the route.
Jen took a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
She dashed onto the street, her eyes glued on the news station doors. She glanced at the others. All were right behind her.
Only twenty more yards.
A flash of red and yellow blinded Jen. A giant hand picked her up and flung her onto the asphalt. She lay in a stupor. Something warm and wet trickled down her cheek.
What the hell?
20
Ears ringing, Jen pushed herself up on her elbows. A blaze raged not far up the street.
She coughed, rolled over, and managed to get up on all fours.
What the hell happened?
“Jen,” Wayne said. “Come on. Get up.”
He staggered to his feet and shuffled to her. Grasping her shirt, he pulled. Jen stood and nearly fell over, but Wayne’s grip prevented it.
“I feel like I just woke up on New Year’s morning,” she said.
Zeke stumbled to her side. “What was that?”
Wayne pointed to a building up the street fully engulfed in flames.
A block in the other direction, zombies rose to their feet. Jen shook her head to clear cobwebs and pointed at the rising zombies. “My head’s screwed up right now. Can’t control myself, much less any more zombies.”
Zeke took her hand. “Come on, I’ll get you in the building.”
“What about Mercy and Josh?” Jen asked. “We need them.”
Wayne turned around. “I see them. I’ll get them in. You just go.”
The Zombie Uprising Series: Books One Through Five Page 66
