Zombies had breached the delivery trucks and were pouring into the plaza. The plaza was complete chaos. A jeep full of Russians was headed straight for them. He and Tate crouched down in the backseat, taking aim at the jeep speeding toward them.
“Is now a good time to mention that I don’t have my driver’s license?” Cassie squealed, shifting the jeep into drive. It lurched forward, the back tires spraying dirt and grass.
“What the fuck?” Tate bellowed. “You mean you can’t drive?”
“She took Driver’s Ed,” Jennifer screamed back at him.
Leo bit his tongue and threw all his concentration into shooting Soviets.
The jeep accelerated across the plaza to the bus stop. Bruce and Anton were atop the plexiglass awning.
“Over here!” Bruce waved to the them. “Over here!”
Cassie was forced to slow as a surge of American prisoners thundered by in front of the vehicle. Leo shot out the front tire of the pursuing jeep. That slowed them down, but it didn’t stop them. The Soviets leapt out of the jeep and kept coming, firing at them as they ran.
“Cassie, go!” Leo shouted.
There were still too many people. Cassie jerked the wheel to the right, attempting to swing wide around the people. She clipped a tree, snapping off Jennifer’s sideview mirror.
“Dammit,” she cried.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jennifer said. “Keep driving.”
Cassie broke free around the back of the crowd and rushed to where Bruce and Anton waited. Leo counted no less than seven Soviet bodies around the guys.
“Who’s the man?” Anton crowed triumph. He leaned down to pick up a tidy pile of weapons he’d collected on top of the bus stop. Bruce did the same.
“How did you kill so many?” Jennifer asked as the boys dumped the weapons into the back.
“Turns out a bus stop gives you a hell of a view,” Anton replied.
“It was like shooting fish in a barrel,” Bruce said.
Their smugness was wiped away when Leo said, “Get down!” He raised his machine gun, firing over their heads at more oncoming Russians.
“Get us out of here!” Jennifer said.
Cassie threw the clutch into drive and gunned it. The jeep flew off the curb, jostling them around.
“You just passed your driver’s test with flying colors,” Jennifer said. “Take that street over there. It’s the fastest way back to the horses.”
“Wait, you don’t have your license?” Anton asked. “Who the hell gave you the car keys?”
“She’s doing fine,” Leo said, even though it freaked him the fuck out to have Cassie driving.
No one else said anything, leaving Cassie to concentrate on her job. She drove them away from the plaza.
Leo looked back once. The plaza was in disarray. There were dead everywhere, both American and Russian. Zombies flooded the scene. The remaining Russians were attempting to regroup. The Americans were fleeing, disappearing into the streets and alleyways around the plaza.
“Should we feel guilty for all those dead people?” Cassie’s voice was small over the hum of the engine.
“Do you feel guilty for killing Russians?” Leo asked. His mind replayed the vision of her shooting the Soviet in the jeep. She hadn’t hesitated when it came time to pull the trigger.
Her eyes flicked up, briefly meeting his in the rearview mirror. “No,” she said flatly. There was an edge to her voice Leo had never heard before.
“You should feel good knowing we saved as many as we could,” Jennifer said. “That’s what matters. The Russians were going to infect every last one of them. They were slated to die regardless of what we did.”
“Damn straight,” Anton echoed. “We saved a lot of people today.”
Cassie nodded, but didn’t say anything. It was clear she’d wanted to save everyone.
Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, Leo also felt guilt flaring to life in his chest. A good friend had died today because of him. Jim Craig was gone forever.
“Stop here,” Anton said. They were back in the subdivision, not even to the edge of town yet.
“But—” Cassie began.
“Just stop.”
Cassie glanced at Leo in the rearview mirror. When he nodded to her, she pulled to a stop.
Anton jumped out of the jeep, pulling the can of orange spray paint out of his jacket pocket.
“I can’t believe you brought that,” Jennifer said.
“Are you kidding me? Of course I brought it. Those assholes need to know who they’re messing with.” Anton shook the can and painted the word Snipers across the middle of the road in orange paint.
“It would be more impactful if it were back at the plaza,” Jennifer said.
Anton snorted. “Who cares where it is? They’re going to come looking for us. They’ll find it.”
No one argued with that.
22
Forever
Leo didn’t know how to feel.
They’d pulled off a victory against the Russians today. They’d been outnumbered and out-gunned. The odds had been stacked against them. Yet with a solid plan from Cassie, they’d managed to kill Russians, disrupt their plan, free prisoners, destroy a large stash of nezhit virus, and make off with a sizable supply of weapons.
They’d done it all and only lost one man.
If today had been a football game, it would have been considered a major victory. Losing Jim might be the equivalent of fumbling the ball or an interception that led to a touchdown by the opposition.
But Jim wasn’t a fumbled ball or an interception. Jim was a person. A human being.
A friend.
The cabin had dissolved into something that was a mix between a wake and a celebration. When they’d returned from Hillsberg with their weapons cache and the tale of their ballsy attack, Nonna pulled out all the stops. With the help of Stephenson and Amanda, she’d whipped up a feast that consisted of homemade gnocchi with a hearty venison sauce.
“This is a great victory against the Soviet bastards,” Nonna had declared. “Jim died a noble death defending his country.”
Leo appreciated the meal. He really did. But he could barely taste it. He kept seeing Jim’s busted head and the blood seeping across the floor. The enormity of the loss kept washing over him.
Jim was the first who had died directly because of a decision Leo made. Jim had followed him into battle and now, because of that, he would never come home.
Had this all been a mistake? He wasn’t even old enough to buy alcohol, yet here he was, leading people—many of them technically teenagers—into battle like he was a four-star general. What the fuck had he been thinking? Who did he think he was?
He slumped on the couch, watching Anton and Tate recount tales from the day. Tate ruthlessly shared the story of his brother jumping in front of the mutant zombie to save the rest of them. Anton shared the story of how he and Bruce had climbed on top of the bus stop and sniped Russians from the high ground. Stephenson, Amanda, Dal, Lena, and Nonna hung on every word, savoring the replay.
Leo just felt sick. From his position on the sofa, he watched Cassie out of the corner of his eye. She had retreated to her perch on the hearth after the meal. The box with her travel chessboard was in front of her, but she wasn’t playing. She held a black knight in her hand, turning the piece over and over between her fingers.
As Anton and Bruce reenacted the bus stop battle scene, Leo kept seeing the moment when Cassie snuck around the jeep and ambushed the Soviet driver. She could have died. He could have lost her, just the way he lost Jim. The thought made him want to break things.
Nonna clapped her hands, getting everyone’s attention. “Jim’s name must join the wall of Not Forgotten,” she declared, picking up a tray with shot glasses and a bottle of grappa. “Outside, everyone.”
“Come on, brother.” Dal clasped Leo’s forearm and pried him off the couch. He thumped Leo on the shoulder. “You did good today.”
Leo jus
t nodded. He followed everyone outside. The moon was out, shining brilliantly above Pole Mountain.
They had started a shrine in memory of friends and loved ones they’d lost in this war. It was nothing more than a carving of names on the back wall of the cabin, but it had become a sacred space. Above the names were the words Not Forgotten.
Anton turned on a lantern as they filed into the clearing, the light illuminating the carved names. Their father’s was among the list, along with two of Anton’s varsity football friends.
Tate handed a knife to Leo. “You do the honors, man. Jim would want it that way.” There was a wild edge to Tate’s eyes, like he balanced on a knife’s edge.
Mouth dry, Leo took the knife. Jim was a hero. He deserved to be celebrated for that. Even if Leo didn’t feel worthy of honoring him.
He was tall enough to reach the open space beneath the names. His friends and family members stood in a loose semi-circle around him, silent as he carved James Craig into the wood.
When he was done, Nonna passed around the shot glasses. Leo held up his glass and forced himself to speak.
“To Jim,” he said hoarsely.
“To Jim,” everyone echoed.
After that, everyone who had known Jim went around the circle and shared a story.
“I’ll never forget the first time I saw Jim make a Craig fireball,” Anton said. “He used a bottle of vodka he’d stolen from a hotel mini bar. I was in junior high. Leo took me to a post-game party when he was a sophomore. I almost pissed myself when Jim sprayed the vodka out of his mouth and lit it on fire.”
Laughter went around the circle. Nonna poured a second round of grappa. Leo downed his shot, feeling the burn all the way down his esophagus.
Tate stepped forward. “Jim said something to me before we rode out this morning. He said, ‘Tate, we have to stop these guys. It doesn’t matter what we have to do so long as the job gets done.’ ” Tate paused a moment to knuckle his eyes. When he looked up, rage and grief painted every line of his face. “We need to remember that. The Russian bastards need to die no matter what.”
“I’ll drink to that.” Nonna poured another round of shots.
Leo retreated into the shadows, unable to find his voice. Grief and guilt threatened to choke him.
He was going to have to tell Mr. and Mrs. Craig what had happened to their son. He was going to have to look them in the eye and tell them he’d gotten Jim killed. The thought almost made him empty his stomach onto the pine needles at his feet.
Finally, it was over. Leo turned his back on the others as they filed out of the clearing. He needed some time alone.
Jennifer’s voice reached his ears. “Stay here. Make sure he’s okay.”
Her words ignited his temper. He spun around, ready to snap her head off.
But Jennifer was gone. Everyone was gone.
Everyone, except for Cassie. She stood beneath the carved names, her eyes wide with sadness.
Leo’s eyes strayed to the words: Not Forgotten.
And then the names below those words:
Giuseppe Cecchino
Adam McCarthy
Lars Guerra
James Craig
Jennifer’s words floated through his mind: We could all be dead tomorrow.
Seeing Cassie beneath that string of names was too much for Leo. In her dark clothes, she was like an exclamation mark at the end of a really fucked-up joke. He couldn’t take it. Why the hell had he been wasting the precious time they had together?
He strode across the clearing and didn’t stop until he was a mere inch away from her. She was flat against the wall. He pressed his hands against the wood on either side of her. His breath came a little too hard and a little too fast as he looked her straight in the eye.
“I like you, Cassie. I like you a lot.”
She stopped breathing. Leo was too consumed with his own emotions to take stock of what this might mean.
He plowed on. “If things were normal, I’d take you to the movies or ask you out to dinner. You know that little Italian restaurant in downtown Bastopol? I think you’d like it. Actually, no, I wouldn’t take you there. The last time I went there, the waiter was a dick to my dad. What about the beach? I could take you to the beach. We could have a picnic and spend the afternoon there. Would you go to the beach with me?”
She swallowed, her eyes huge. “I’d love to go to the beach with you, Leo, but …”
That last word nearly sent him into a tail slide. Had he been misreading things between them? He’d been certain she liked him as much as he liked her.
“But, what?” he asked, more roughly than he meant to.
“What about my sister?”
Oh. Apparently, Cassie hadn’t been the recipient of the same ambush as Leo. Damn Jennifer. She was pissing him off on a daily basis.
He did his best to keep his voice level when he answered. “Jennifer said she’d stab me in the heart with one of her stilettos if I hurt you.”
He saw the moment when his words lodged in Cassie’s brain. It shouldn’t have been possible for her eyes to grow any wider, but they did.
“Cassie Miola,” he said huskily, “will you go to the beach with me when this fucking Russian shit show is over?”
She nodded. “Yes. Of course. I’d go anywhere with you, Leo.”
He crushed her up against the wall and kissed her.
He’d daydreamed about this moment. He’d imagined tenderness, affection, and even passion.
The kiss wasn’t any of those things. It was raw, deep, and desperate. His hands were everywhere at once, moving under her shirt. He pushed his tongue into her mouth. She tasted so goddamn good.
He pulled out her ponytail scrunchy and crumpled her soft hair in his hands. He’d been wanting to touch her hair for days. She melded against him as he sucked on her neck and bit at her ear. His erection was so hard he thought the fly on his jeans might snap open.
Leo forced himself to stop before he lost complete control. Based on the conversations they’d had over the chessboard, he didn’t think Cassie had ever had a boyfriend before. He didn’t want her first time to be in the dirt on the backside of his family cabin. She deserved better.
It took every shred of willpower to hold himself back. Emotions raged within him. He wanted her so badly. He wanted to escape this shitty war and be with her. In an effort to control himself, he pressed his forehead against her shoulder. He clenched her black knight pendant in one fist.
Grief forced its way up. It was like a speeding freight train in his chest. He could hardly breathe.
Cassie pulled him into her. She covered his cheek and neck with kisses as he cried. He held onto her as though his life depended on it.
He wasn’t sure how long she supported him. Five minutes, maybe. It felt like five hours. When he finally lifted his face to look at her, she kissed his nose. He saw understanding in her eyes as she caressed his neck with her fingertips.
He smoothed curls back from her face, loving the fact that he could look her straight in the eye without bending over. “You’re so goddamn beautiful.” He liked being able to tell her exactly what he thought about her. “And smart. I like how smart you are. I like everything about you, Cassie.”
A radiant smile lit her face. “I like everything about you, too.” She leaned in and kissed him.
This was the kiss he’d dreamed about. Soft and tender and full of passion. He could die right now and be happy.
When they finally broke apart, Leo saw something new in her eyes. It was the future shining out at him, so bright and brilliant and took his breath away.
No one had ever looked at him the way she was looking at him right now. There had been plenty of girls over the years who had flirted with him, but not a single one of them was like Cassie.
“Do you—?” He swallowed to wet his dry throat. “Do you want to look at the stars with me? I know a good lookout spot. It’s not the beach, but—”
“Yes.” Cassie threaded her fing
ers through his. “Yes, I’d love to look at the stars with you.”
He drew her close and kissed the top of her head. As he led her away to the overlook where they could see the stars, he felt a little less broken because of her.
23
Breakfast
Leo woke up the next morning with a splitting headache. As his eyes cracked open, his first thought was that maybe those last two shots of grappa before bed had been a bad idea. His second thought was that those two shots had been the only thing that kept him from barging into the girls’ bunk room last night for one last kiss from Cassie.
His third thought was that he had to go see Mr. and Mrs. Craig today.
The duty was like a boulder on his back. Still, it had to be done. The mission had been his idea. Jim had followed him into battle. It was Leo’s responsibility to bear the news of his death. He would see this through.
He dragged himself to the breakfast table. Cassie was already there, pouring syrup over a pancake. This sight of her made his morning a little less shitty. He beelined in her direction and sat down next to her.
“Good morning,” he said.
She gave him a bright smile. “Hi, Leo, how are—”
He took her face between her hands and kissed her on the mouth.
You could have heard a pin drop.
Leo didn’t give a fuck. He could be dead by tomorrow. Shit, he could be dead by the end of today. He wanted everyone to know how he felt about Cassie.
Most importantly, he wanted Cassie to know how he felt. She was important to him. He wanted her to know last night hadn’t just been a fit of grief.
When he pulled away, her face was bright red. Leo barely noticed. He couldn’t see much past her radiant smile. She snaked her arms around his waist and quickly hugged him before turning back to her pancake. He put an arm around her shoulders and stared down anyone and everyone gawking at them.
He wasn’t sure who looked more shocked. Anton and Bruce, or Amanda and Stephenson. All four of their jaws were on the table.
Zommunist Invasion Box Set | Books 1-3 Page 37
