Zommunist Invasion Box Set | Books 1-3

by Picott, Camille

  She blocked out her mother’s voice. Now wasn’t the time to worry about how she looked.

  “I’m so sorry,” Jennifer said through her tears. “I’m so sorry I didn’t make it to Amanda’s house to pick you up. I tried, I swear I tried, but there were Russians everywhere.”

  “That’s okay. You sent your knight in shining armor to get me.” During the ride back to the Cecchino cabin, Cassie had come to the conclusion that Leo and Jennifer would be back together soon. It only made sense. Leo and Jennifer had always made sense.

  Jennifer shook her head and cast a brief scowl in Leo’s direction. “I wanted to be the one to rescue you.”

  Leo rolled his eyes as he dismounted his horse. “Are you really going to pick a fight over this? She’s here, isn’t she?”

  Jennifer huffed and returned Leo’s eye roll. “Yes.”

  “Yes you’re going to pick a fight with me, or yes you’re grateful I got Cassie for you?”

  “Both.”

  Leo barked a laugh. He looked genuinely amused.

  Jennifer flashed a grin at him. “Thanks, Leo.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Cassie’s eyes flicked back and forth. This exchange between them was different from anything she’d ever seen. It was … friendly. That was the only word she could come up with.

  Jennifer held Cassie at arm’s length, looking at her from head to toe. “Well, you’re covered in blood and dirty as hell, but you’re in one piece. What happened to your arm?”

  “She had that before we got there,” Leo said.

  Cassie rubbed at the long cut on her forearm. “I don’t know where I got this. We had to escape through the attic of Amanda’s house.”

  Dal rode out of the trees. Behind them, pushing their bikes and looking miserable, were Amanda and Stephenson.

  The other residents of the Cecchino cabin boiled outside. Cassie saw Lena and Anton, Leo’s younger twin siblings. Lena ran straight into Dal’s arms, kissing him like she hadn’t seen him in ten years. Now that was a surprise. Cassie hadn’t known they were together.

  Also among the cabin residents were a few guys she recognized. The brothers form the Craig cattle farm, whom she knew only by sight. There was Bruce, another varsity football jock like Anton, and a tiny old woman. Cassie deduced this was Nonna Cecchino.

  There was a hardness to the group. It was the same thing she’d noticed in Leo. She saw it most in Anton and Bruce. A few days ago, those two guys had been the epitome of cocky football jocks. Now they gazed out at the world with set jaws and hard eyes. It looked like they’d been to hell and had lived to tell the tale.

  “There’s something we need to discuss.” Leo’s voice cut across the clearing. “We saw something on the way back from the Nielsons’.”

  It was impossible to miss his immediate effect. Everyone straightened expectantly, their eyes on Leo. If Cassie had any question as to who was in charge, it had just been answered. Leo was the king of this chessboard.

  “We can talk inside,” Nonna said. “I made minestrone for dinner. It’s still warm.”

  Jennifer linked her arm through Cassie’s and led her up the stairs to the Cecchino cabin.

  “Do you know anything about Mom and Dad?” Cassie asked.

  Jennifer shook her head. “I don’t know, Cas. I’m sorry. I got cut off from Bastopol in the initial invasion. Bruce, too. The town was overrun. Neither of us knows if our parents are okay.”

  It was the same for Stephenson. He’d spent over two hours trying to call his parents at the start of the invasion. All he’d gotten was a busy signal.

  Cassie swallowed and nodded. What else had she expected? They were in the middle of a war, after all.

  They reached the top of the stairs. Cassie had heard of the Cecchino cabin, but this was the first time she’d seen it. The inside was cozy with over-sized leather sofas and knotty-pine walls. To one side was a wood-burning stove. On the opposite side was a narrow kitchen with windows looking out over the trees.

  Jennifer led Cassie over to the wood-burning stove, which was currently dormant. They sat together on the hearth while everyone else grabbed various seats. Only Leo remained standing, pacing while he addressed them.

  “There are two new developments,” he said. “First of all, there may be a new strain of zombie out there.” Leo described the zombie they’d encountered.

  “A mutant zombie?” Anton scowled. “This is just what we need. Are you sure?”

  “Can’t say for sure,” Leo replied. “But he was different from every other zombie we’ve seen.”

  “They aren’t supposed to start dying off for another few days,” Lena said. “I heard the Russians say seven to ten days.”

  “You can’t assume the nezhit virus will effect everyone in the same way,” Stephenson said, speaking up for the first time. “There are always outliers.”

  Amanda squirmed beside him and raised her hand.

  “Go ahead,” Leo said to her.

  “What if there’s a secondary mutation taking place in some of our people?”

  “Secondary mutation?” Leo nodded thoughtfully at her. “Break that down for us.”

  “You guys said the nezhit virus eventually kills its victims. I think that’s what happened to the dead pack we saw with the mutant. But the mutant zombie … what if, instead of killing him, the nezhit virus mutated and created the mutant we saw?”

  “Maybe it didn’t mutate,” Stephenson said. “Maybe there was something different about the mutant before he was infected. Maybe there was something in his DNA structure that reacted differently to the virus.”

  “You see that with everyday diseases,” Amanda agreed. “Just take cancer. It doesn’t behave the same way in everybody. It attacks different organs. Sometimes it can be treated, sometimes it can’t.”

  The room went uncomfortably quiet. Cassie couldn’t help but look at Leo and his siblings. They’d lost their mother to cancer.

  “It’s a good theory,” Leo said. “Maybe what we saw was an anomaly, maybe not.”

  “What’s the second development?” Nonna asked.

  “The Russians are rounding up people and taking them to central locations to be infected.”

  Cassie, startled, looked to Jennifer for confirmation.

  “It’s why I couldn’t come and get you,” Jennifer said. “We attacked a group we stumbled across on our way to the Nielsons’. Anton and I stayed behind to round up weapons and get them back to the cabin.”

  “You attacked Russians?” Cassie was certain there was something wrong with her ears.

  “There’s a lot more,” Jennifer replied. “I’ll fill you in later.”

  Cassie reasoned they must be running low on the zombie virus. Otherwise, they would just arm every soldier and send them out to terrorize and infect people. They wouldn’t bother rounding up people and bringing them to a central location.

  “Did you take an inventory of the weapons you brought back?” Leo asked.

  “Right here.” Nonna held up a slip of binder paper. “Twenty-four machine guns and one crate of ammo clips.”

  “Good haul,” Leo said. “We’re going to need every weapon.”

  “What for?” Cassie asked.

  “We can’t assume that was the only Soviet patrol sent out to infect citizens,” Leo said. “We need to warn people, and we need to be there to protect them.” His gaze shifted to Dal. “We need to get the radio antenna set up. The people need to know about this.”

  Stephenson raised a tentative hand.

  Leo raised a brow at him. “Yes?”

  “That’s a bad idea,” Stephenson said. “The Russians can track a broadcast.”

  “We’ll keep it short,” Dal said. “Under sixty seconds. That won’t give them enough time to track us.”

  “Yeah, if you only make one broadcast,” Stephenson replied. “That tactic will only work for so long.” He chewed his bottom lip. “What if we hooked the antenna up to a car? You know, like a mobile news st
ation. That way you never broadcast from the same place twice.”

  A gap of silence followed this idea. Everyone looked at Stephenson as though just seeing him for the first time.

  Anton let out a long whistle. “That’s a damn good idea. Can you set that up on our old pick-up?”

  Stephenson flushed at the compliment. “Yeah, I can. Electronics are kind of my thing.”

  “The chess club is taking the Snipers to the next level.” Jennifer beamed proudly at Cassie, even though she hadn’t done a thing.

  “Snipers?” Amanda asked. “Who are the Snipers? I’m not a Sniper.”

  “You are now,” Jennifer said. “We call ourselves the Snipers. We’re resistance fighters. We’re fighting the Russians.”

  “What?” Cassie looked at Leo in confusion. She’d been on horseback with him for over two hours. He’d never said anything about them being a resistance fighter. “What do you mean, we’re fighting Russians?”

  “She means we aren’t standing by with our thumbs up our asses while the fucking Soviets try to take over our country,” Jim Craig said. He didn’t even flinch when Nonna slapped him on the back of head.

  Cassie let this sink in. Resistance fighters. The idea made her want to grab her chessboard.

  “It’s settled,” Leo said. “Stephenson, tomorrow you and Dal will get the antenna set up on my dad’s truck. Cassie and Amanda, you help them. The people need to know about the round-up and possible nezhit mutation. The rest of us are going to the Craigs’.”

  This statement made Tate and Jim straighten expectantly.

  “You think my parents can help us?” Tate asked.

  “We know for certain the invaders are rounding up citizens with the intent of infecting them,” Leo replied. “We need to figure out when and where the next attack is planned. Your parents might have information that could be useful. They might know something about the mutant zombies, too.”

  “Tomorrow, Leo takes a team to the Craigs’ house,” Nonna said. “Let’s figure out what those Russian bastards are up to.”

  The room dissolved into movement. Anton and the other football players went downstairs to get Russian machine guns. Nonna went into the kitchen to ladel up minestrone for everyone. Dal, Leo, and Lena grabbed Stephenson and took him to look at the antenna they had apparently acquired from Guy’s Electronic Superstore in Bastopol.

  Cassie felt like she was being swept up in a tornado. She jumped when Jennifer put an arm around her.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Cas. You’ll be safe here at the cabin.”

  Cassie didn’t reply. Jennifer had long ago taken it upon herself to look after Cassie, especially when their mom rode her about her tomboy looks.

  Those sneakers look like boy shoes, Cassie. How are you ever going to get a boyfriend dressing like that?

  You shouldn’t wear stripes, Cassie. You don’t need to look any taller.

  You should get some highlights in your hair, Cassie. You’d look prettier that way.

  Jennifer was always there to catch her in those awful moments.

  Mom doesn’t know anything about fashion. Vans are totally in.

  Supermodels are all tall, you know.

  Hair dye just gives you split ends. Trust me, it’s overrated.

  This situation really wasn’t any different. But Jennifer couldn’t protect Cassie from their materialistic mother anymore than she could protect her from a Russian bullet. Cassie loved her for trying, though.

  Nope, if Cassie was part of a Russian resistance, she was going to have to step up. It didn’t matter if all she wanted to do was bury herself in a chessboard. She was going to have to contribute.

  She was just going to have to figure out how.

  9

  Chessboard

  Leo had just fallen asleep on the sofa when someone switched the light on. He suppressed a groan, blinking gritty eyes. He’d been awake long after everyone else had fallen asleep, his mind awhirl with Soviet invaders and mutant zombies. The snoring didn’t help, either. A bunk room with five other guys wasn’t exactly a quiet place, which is why he’d moved to the living room couch.

  He rolled over and found Cassie sitting on the brick hearth. In her hands was a small, rectangular box.

  She hadn’t noticed him on the sofa. He watched her profile, tracing the line of her nose and cheekbone with his eyes. He admitted to himself that he felt drawn to her. There was something about her that ignited a spark inside him.

  She opened the box and began pulling out small figurines. It took Leo a moment to realize she was setting up a miniature chessboard.

  “Cassie?”

  She jumped in surprise, turning around as he sat up. Her eyes widened as she realized he’d been asleep on the sofa.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was out here. I’ll turn the light off.” She reached for the switch.

  “No, it’s okay.” Leo ran a hand through his shaggy hair, pushing it out of his eyes. “I came out here to get away from the snoring.”

  “Me, too.”

  Amusement creased his brow. “There’s snoring in your room? Who?”

  She stared at him, momentarily thrown off balance. “Not sure.”

  She was lying. This also amused him. Whoever was snoring, Cassie wasn’t going to rat them out. It was most likely his grandmother.

  “I thought about going outside,” Cassie said. “You know, to play chess under the stars. But there are, like, bears and stuff out there. You know. Mountain lions and coyotes and other things. Probably zombies. I saw at least fifty-six places where predators could hide around the cabin. I’ve heard raccoons can have rabies.” She rubbed at her arms.

  It took all his willpower not to chuckle, making a mental notes that Cassie wasn’t an outdoors type. That was okay. He could understand how the woods could be intimidating to someone who hadn’t grown up with them.

  She was staring at him and absently running her hands through her hair. It was a lighter shade than Jennifer’s, but no less pretty.

  “I got fifty percent of my mom’s hair,” Cassie said. “That’s the curly part. The other half—the straight half—is from my dad. That’s why it always looks like this. You know, not quite straight but not quite curly, either.” Her hands got tangled in the long strands that fell past her shoulders.

  Leo thought her hair looked nice. He almost said so, but stopped himself. No matter what he thought about Cassie’s hair, she was still Jennifer’s little sister.

  “I could really use a rubber band. And some Aquanet.”

  Well, he couldn’t help her out on the Aquanet, but he was pretty sure there were rubber bands in the kitchen. He got up and rifled through the draws until he found one. Cassie blinked at him in surprise when he handed her one.

  “Thank you.”

  “Sure.”

  She wadded her hair into a bun and secured it with the rubber band. Stray wisps framed her face.

  He really should try to get some sleep—they had a big day ahead of them with their mission to the Craig farm—but he found himself wanting to hang out with Cassie. Leo racked his brain for something to say.

  “Is that your chessboard?” He gestured to the small playing board on the hearth.

  “Yeah. I brought it with me from Amanda’s.”

  “You remembered to pack a chessboard while you were running for your life from zombies?”

  “I like chess.”

  “Obviously. Were you planning to play?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can I play a game with you?”

  She blinked and looked away, arranging the pieces on the boards. “Russians invaded America and deployed a zombie virus,” she muttered. “That’s not any weirder than the varsity football captain hanging out with the chess nerd, is it?”

  He wasn’t sure she’d realized she’d spoken aloud until he saw the flush crawl up her cheeks.

  “I’m just an apple farmer, Cassie.”

  She sno
rted. “Sure you are. Have you ever played chess before?”

  “My dad used to play with us sometimes when we were kids. What do you call the castle pieces again?”

  “Rooks.”

  “Right. And the horses?”

  Cassie drew in a long breath, her eyes locked on his face. “This just might be the weirdest moment of my life. And that’s saying something, because less than twenty-four hours ago I plotted out an obstacle course for zombies.”

  He was beginning to understand she talked a lot when she was nervous. He made her nervous, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

  “You did what?” he asked.

  “I made an obstacle course for zombies. It’s the only reason I made it alive out of Amanda’s house.”

  “What did you use for the obstacle course?”

  “Furniture and stuff. The door chain.” She shook herself, returning her attention to the chessboard. Her finger stabbed at the various pieces. “Knight. Bishop. Pawn. Rook. King. Queen.”

  “Remind me what they all do.” It had probably been a decade since Leo had touched a chessboard, but Cassie didn’t need to know that.

  She tapped the different pieces as she gave him a quick rundown of what each piece could do. “The rooks can only move horizontally or vertically. The bishops can only move diagonally.”

  “It’s coming back to me now,” he said when she finished.

  She stared at him. “You know I’m going to cream you?”

  He raised a brow. He’d designed some pretty damn good football moves in his time. How different could this be? “You think so?”

  “Positive. Are you sure you want to play? Jennifer always said you had a competitive streak.”

  She had him there. He leaned forward. “Give it all you got, Cassie Miola.”

  She beat him in less than five minutes on the first game.

  “You won? Already?” He frowned at the board.

  “Mmm-hmm.” The triumphant grin she gave him was mesmerizing. It was clear she liked winning.

  Leo liked to win, too. Although he didn’t particularly mind losing to Cassie. He realized he was staring and shifted his gaze back to the chessboard.

  She swept up the pieces and restored the board. “Do you want to play again?”