Zommunist Invasion Box Set | Books 1-3

by Picott, Camille

  Of everyone in the cabin, only Dal and Lena looked like they got it. Oh, and Jennifer. She looked smug. Damn her. She’d known before he could admit it to himself.

  Nonna was the first to break the silence. “Leo, I expect you to behave like a gentleman under this roof. Your parents didn’t raise you to manhandle a young lady at the breakfast table.”

  His parents hadn’t taught him to lead his friends into battle against Russian invaders, either. But all he said was, “It won’t happen again, Nonna.”

  He did not remove his arm from Cassie’s shoulders. Somewhere in the last thirty seconds, she had leaned into his side. He liked her there. He ignored his grandmother’s disapproving look and helped himself to four pancakes. He didn’t plan to ever let go of Cassie, no matter how many disapproving looks he got from his grandmother.

  Talk resumed as everyone recovered from their shock. Amanda threw pointed looks in Cassie’s direction, trying to ask a dozen questions with various facial expressions. Cassie just blushed and ate her pancakes.

  Toward the end of the meal, Leo caught Tate’s eye. “I’m going to see your parents,” he said. A strong cup of coffee was doing a fair job of combating his headache. “Are you coming with me?”

  Tate froze like a deer in headlights. Leo wasn’t sure if it was the grappa hangover or the grief that made his eyes red.

  “Today?” Tate looked down at his plate.

  Nonna smacked him on the back of his head. “Tate Craig, you will go see your parents today.”

  Tate shifted in his chair. It was obvious he didn’t want to go. Leo didn’t blame him. He didn’t want to go, either.

  Sometimes, you had to do stuff you didn’t want to do. Life was shitty like that.

  “Alright,” Tate said. “Let’s go.”

  Leo turned to Cassie. “I have to go. Chess game when I get back?”

  Her eyes were shining when she looked at him. “Yeah.”

  He kissed her cheek. “See you in a few hours.” He looked at Tate. “Grab your rifle. Let’s go.”

  Jennifer rose from the table. “I’m going. Someone should be there for Mrs. Craig.”

  Leo was not in the mood to argue with her. He couldn’t imagine why she wanted to go. Mrs. Craig would have Tate and her husband. No one else was stupid enough to volunteer for this mission.

  “Fine. Whatever,” he said to her. “Grab a gun.” With one last look at Cassie, he strode from the cabin.

  24

  Bases

  Cassie stood on the porch, watching as Leo, Jennifer, and Tate rode away down Pole Mountain on the horses. She’d barely slept at all last night. Her brain was still looping on all the kisses they’d shared beneath the stars. She could still hardly believe it had happened. Leo Cecchino had kissed her. Called her beautiful. Her.

  I like everything about you, Cassie.

  Amanda was on her in less than five seconds flat.

  “You and Leo Cecchino?” she hissed. “When did that happen? Why didn’t you tell me? When—”

  “Oh, my God.” Stephenson bustled out of the cabin. “Cassie Miola, you’ve been holding back from us.”

  “I wasn’t hiding anything,” Cassie said quickly. “I just thought he liked playing chess. I thought …” She had thought a guy like Leo could never be into her. That’s what her mother would have told her.

  Maybe her mom’s view of the world was skewed. This had never occurred to Cassie before. Just because her mom thought being a tall woman was a detriment didn’t mean everyone else felt the same way. Why had it taken Cassie so long to figure this out?

  “You thought the crush was one sided,” Amanda said.

  “Yeah. I mean, he’s Leo, you know?”

  “The quarterback and the chess geek.” Stephenson let loose a wistful sigh. “It’s the stuff movies are made of.”

  “And he was crushing on you the whole time.” Amanda let out an equally wistful sigh. “It’s so romantic.” She turned sharp eyes on Cassie. “I want to know everything. Did you let him get to second base?”

  Stephenson smacked her on the shoulder. “We’re talking about Leo here, Amanda. Of course Cassie let him get to second base. Maybe even third. She’s not an idiot.” His eyes narrowed as Cassie blushed. “Home base?”

  Amanda’s jaw fell open. “Home base?” she squealed.

  Cassie thought she might die of embarassment. The worst part was that she didn’t even know what all the different bases meant. It’s not like they covered that stuff in sex ed.

  “Guys, we just watched the stars,” she said.

  Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. They had stargazed for a few minutes. Well, at least sixty seconds.

  The majority of the time had been spent making out. And while she had zero experience with a guy before last night—her prom kiss with Stephenson did not count—she knew what an erection was. (That, at least, had been covered in sex ed.) Leo had been hard the entire time she’d straddled his lap. If she’d had any doubts about his attraction to her, that lump in his pants had erased them.

  “Liar.” Stephenson pointed at her neck. “You have a hickey.”

  Cassie smacked her hand over her neck as though slapping a mosquito. Did she really have a hickey? She hadn’t through to check. Leo had spent quite a bit of time sucking on her neck.

  “There’s one on that side, too!” Amanda hissed. She pointed an accusing finger.

  Cassie slapped a hand over the other side of her neck. She struggled to find words under the penetrating gazes of her friends.

  “Enough gossiping.” Nonna bustled out onto the deck. “Amanda, Lena and Dal need you. They’re going out to make another broadcast. People need to know what happened in Hillsberg yesterday. Cassie and Stephenson, I need you two to organize the supplies downstairs. Bruce and Anton are going to check out some neighboring farms. If they’re uninhabited, they’ll be bringing back supplies. We need to make sure there’s room.”

  Cassie had never, ever been so relieved to have a homework assignment. “Okay, Nonna.” She bustled away down the steps.

  Stephenson joined her in the storage room under the cabin. He still walked with a slight limp due to the bandage over his missing toe, though this steps were surprisingly spry this morning.

  “Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook, Cassie Miola,” he said.

  She gave him her best glare, even though she wanted to shrivel from embarassment. “No.”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s private, Jeff.” She used his first name to drive home the point.

  He tilted his head at her. “Fine. Be like that. Jerk.”

  “Yep, that’s me. I’m a jerk.” Cassie practically dove into a box full of dried beans and lentils.

  “I just have to point out one thing.” Stephenson planted himself in front of her, hands on his hips.

  “What’s that?”

  “Leo wanted to make sure everyone knows he’s into you. That little show at the breakfast table? He was letting you know he wasn’t just messing around with you last night because you’re a warm body.” He sighed, eyes distant behind his glasses. “The guy is a catch. I hope you know that.”

  Cassie wondered once again if Stephenson liked girls. She knew he really tried at it, but seeing his expression now brought the question to the surface. She resisted the urge to ask him.

  “Of course I know he’s a catch.” She’d known it for years, long before she’d become reacquainted with him. “He’s a good person.”

  “So are you, though.” Stephenson’s face softened. “I’m glad he noticed. You deserve a great guy.” He turned away and walked off to stare down at an assorted case of Rice-A-Roni. “Do you think we should alphabetize everything?”

  “That’s a good idea. It will make everything easier to find. We should make an inventory, too. You know, so Nonna can see everything we have at a glance.”

  Stephenson wrinkled his nose in amusement. “This is what happens when you put the chess club in charge of supplies. We’re going to o
rganize the crap out of this room.”

  “Heck, yeah.” Cassie grinned at him.

  They got to it. Cassie immersed herself in the project, losing herself in blissful memories of Leo’s kisses.

  25

  Crash

  Leo thought losing Jim had been an all-time low point in his life. He hadn’t thought it could get worse.

  He’d been wrong. Dead fucking wrong.

  Mrs. Craig was on the ground, screaming with grief. Mr. Craig wasn’t in a much better state. Sobs of sorrow broke from the big man’s chest as he gathered his wife into his arms. Tate stood helplessly over his parents, tears streaming down his cheeks.

  Jennifer had been standing beside Leo until now. She broke away and put her arms around Mrs. Craig. The older woman hugged her and cried. Leo now understood exactly why Jennifer had come. Somehow, she’d known Mrs. Craig would need another woman to lean on.

  It was crushing to watch the grief unfold before him. This was battle carnage of a different type. He wanted this day to be over. He wanted this damn war to be over.

  The worst part was knowing that, if given the choice, he’d run the Gordon Gambit again. It had been the right call. They’d delivered a major blow to the Soviets and saved a lot of people. Losing one man had been a small price to pay.

  Is this what happened to people in war? Did they all just turn into a statistic? A measure of loss versus gain?

  Unable to take it any longer, Leo looked away from the Craig family. As he did, a plume of dust caught his eye.

  A jolt went through him. What the hell? The plume of dust was close. Really close. It was the sort of plume spewed up by a car on a dirt road.

  “We have company,” Leo barked. “Tate, Jennifer, grab the horses. Mr. and Mrs. Craig, I don’t mean any disrespect, but you have to look busy.”

  Tate helped his mother to her feet while Leo and Jennifer ran to the horses.

  “Hide in the barn,” Mr. Craig called. “They never go in there. Loretta, come on, honey. We have to act normal. Tate, son, get your ass to the barn.”

  Leo and his friends hightailed it into the barn with the horses. Inside were pigs and chickens. They led the horses inside and closed the doors just as a jeep drove onto the hard-packed circle in front of the Craig farmhouse. It was close enough that Leo could see the Soviet uniforms.

  “Russians,” Tate breathed. “What are they doing here? This isn’t a scheduled pick-up day.”

  “Maybe they came early?” Jennifer suggested.

  Leo didn’t reply. He didn’t have a good feeling about this.

  Mr. and Mrs. Craig had disappeared into the milk barn behind the farmhouse. To the Soviets, it would look like they were going about the daily chores required to keep a dairy farm running.

  Leo heard them clomp up the front steps and enter the farmhouse. Shortly after came the sound of breaking porcelain.

  Leo, Tate, and Jennifer waited in tense silence, listening. More sounds came from inside the house. It sounded like the Russians were knocking over furniture and ransacking the house.

  “Leo.” Tate’s voice was tense. “I won’t let them hurt my parents.”

  “Not on our watch,” Leo agreed. “Hold tight, Tate. Let’s not give ourselves away if we don’t have to.”

  Mouth tight, Tate nodded.

  A cast iron pan was thrown out the back window, sending glass shards arcing into the morning air.

  Mr. and Mrs. Craig came out of the milk barn at the same time the Russians descended the back porch steps. The couple had dried their eyes and had assumed the role of shocked homeowners.

  “What’s going on here?” Mr. Craig demanded. “What are you doing to our home?”

  “We fulfilled your tithe demands yesterday,” Mrs. Craig said.

  A Russian marched toward the couple. Using the butt of his machine gun, he delivered a fierce blow to Mr. Craig’s forehead. Mrs. Craig screamed and caught her husband as he staggered back.

  “Not yet.” Leo put a restraining hand on Tate.

  “No fucking way, Leo.” Tate’s muscles were knotted under Leo’s arms. “I won’t stand by and watch this shit.”

  Leo raised his rifle and aimed through a large knothole in the barn doors. He sighted on the Russian closest to the Craigs.

  “I won’t let anything happen to your parents,” he repeated.

  “Um, Leo?” Jennifer peered through a crack in the barn door. “The fat Russian has a blue and red patch on his uniform. He’s KGB. That’s their symbol.”

  Leo’s blood ran cold. He poised his finger on the trigger, ready to shoot. He could just make out the colorful patch Jennifer had described.

  “There was an attack on our troops in Hillsberg yesterday morning,” said the KGB agent. His accent was thick, but his English was clear. “What do you know about it?”

  “Nothing!” Mrs. Craig cried. “Hillsberg is miles from here. Why should we know anything about what goes on there?”

  “Do you know of a group called the Snipers?” asked the Soviet.

  “We—we know they attacked the trucks carrying our boys,” Mr. Craig said. “We’ve just heard them on the radio once or twice. Rabble rousers.”

  “They knew about our operation in Hillsberg. Someone tipped them off. There are very few people who could do this.”

  “What are you talking about?” Mrs. Craig cried. “How would we know anything about your operations?”

  “We spend all day and half the night working the farm,” Mr. Craig said. “We’re doing the work of five people to keep your troops fed.”

  “Are you spying for the Snipers?” asked the Russian. “Are you hiding them somewhere in your house?”

  “We’re not hiding anyone,” Mrs Craig said. “I swear, it’s just me and my husband.”

  “Could your sons be Snipers?”

  “Our sons are dead,” Mr. Craig said. “They were killed when the Snipers attacked those trucks.”

  The KGB agent considered the Craigs. Leo felt his blood run cold. He suddenly knew the Craigs were about to die. He rested his crosshairs on the head of the KGB agent, ready to fire.

  The rumble of an engine sounded in the distance.

  The entire scene before them shifted.

  The Russians pivoted toward the sound, every last one of them on high alert. Leo couldn’t see past them, but they now pointed their guns skyward. They all talked at once, never taking their eyes from the sky.

  A plane, Leo realized. That was the sound. There was a plane in the sky.

  Based on the alarm he saw in the Russians, he guessed the plane was unexpected. Which could only mean one thing: it was American.

  The Russians abruptly scattered, disappearing around to the front of the house. The Craigs were left and forgotten.

  Leo eased open the barn door in time to see a single plane in the sky. It was a small fighter plane flying straight toward them.

  From the front of the house, a rocket flew into the air. A trail of fire stained the sky. It hit the first of the American fighter planes. The impact sent a ripple across Leo’s skin. The hair on his arm stood on end.

  “No,” Jennifer whispered.

  Seconds later, a rumble went through the earth. The leaves vibrated on a nearby lemon tree. The dirt shivered beneath Leo’s feet.

  The crash was close.

  “Wait,” Leo said. “Look.” He raised a hand and pointed.

  Trailing out of the smoke of the explosion were three parachutes.

  American soldiers. They were here, and they were suspended in the sky for all the world to see. Their plane was in pieces on the ground. There was at least one group of Russians gunning for them, possibly more.

  Leo turned to the others. “We have to help them.”

  Right as he spoke, tires squealed on gravel. The tail end of the Soviet jeep disappeared up the dirt road as they drove away from the Craig house.

  Leo ducked back into the barn and threw himself onto Stealth. There wasn’t much time. All they had was home-field
advantage. They could cut through the farmland and maybe, just maybe, get to the American soldiers first.

  He burst out of the barn on his horse. Jennifer was right behind him on Thunder, the big bay.

  “I’m not going,” Tate said. “I won’t leave my parents.”

  Leo nodded. In Tate’s position, he wouldn’t leave, either. “Get them back to the cabin. We’ll meet you there.” He kicked Stealth in the ribcage and galloped away from the Craig farmhouse. Jennifer was right beside him, bent over the neck of her horse with a look of pure determination on her face.

  26

  Rescue

  Leo and Jennifer tore through the Craig’s pastureland. On the edge of the property was an apple orchard. They galloped between the trees, keeping one eye on the sky. The American soldiers had nearly reached the ground.

  The wind carried one of the soldiers too far north. From what Leo knew of the surrounding land and roads, the poor bastard was on an intercept course with the Russian jeep. Poor bastard. He hoped the guy was well armed.

  There were two other parachutes. These had caught a southern wind and dropped down in the direction of the feed store on the outskirts of Westville. It was only a few miles away.

  For the sake of time, Leo cut through the orchard and hit the two-lane country road that led directly to the feed store. It was risky, but he rationalized they could get off the road if they heard any vehicles. It was the fastest way to get to the feed store.

  They passed a few houses on the way. They were spaced few and far between out here in the country. It was quiet, no sign of life anywhere. It was easy to imagine West County hadn’t been invaded by the Soviets.

  Until he saw the dead bodies. Four of them lay on the side of the road, the stench strong enough to make him gag. Vultures crouched over the carcasses, pulling out strings of meat. The sight of infected skin told Leo they were dead zombies.

  Five minutes later, the feed store came into view. The barn doors were locked and barred. Several bags of kibble were strewn across the driveway. There were bullets holes across the side wall.