Zommunist Invasion Box Set | Books 1-3

by Picott, Camille

  “Did you guys hear that?” From the other side of the semi-circle, Tate straightened.

  Leo strained his ears. All he could hear was the whine of the cicadas in a nearby tree.

  “I just hear the bugs,” Anton said.

  “I think it’s a car.” Tate took off, sprinting for the overlook that provided them with a view of the country road that snaked below Pole Mountain.

  Shit. Leo took off after him. He took the long way, dashing into the house to get the binoculars.

  By the time he got to the overlook, which was nothing more than a small field of boulders perched on the side of Pole Mountain, everyone else was there. They watched as several cars drove down the long dirt road that led away from the Craig farmhouse.

  Tate snatched the binoculars from Leo. “God dammit,” he roared. “Those fuckers have Mom and Dad.” He flung the binoculars to the ground and let loose a wordless scream of frustration. “Fuck! I tried to warn him. The idiot wouldn’t listen.”

  It was a measure of the situation that Nonna did not react to Tate’s use of foul language.

  Tate stormed off. Anton and Bruce followed him back to the house.

  Leo picked up the binoculars. They were scratched on one side but thankfully intact. He raised them to his eyes.

  The sight below made him want to vomit. There were three jeeps down there, all of them crammed with Soviets.

  In the middle jeep sat Mr. and Mrs. Craig, distinct in their dirty farm coveralls.

  The Soviets had come for them. Leo felt sick. He was too far away to do anything about it. Even if they grabbed the truck, the Russians would be long gone by the time they got to the bottom of Pole Mountain.

  Tate stormed back out of the cabin. On his heels were Anton and Bruce. Tate looked like he was planning to singlehandedly take on the Russian army. He was loaded down with machine guns and bombs.

  “I’m going to get Mom and Dad,” he growled.

  “Me and Bruce are going with him,” Anton said. The two former varsity football players were similarly loaded down with firearms.

  Leo’s mouth tightened. This wasn’t good. He needed these guys for the Luma mission.

  What would he do if that was his family down there? He sure as hell wouldn’t give a flying fuck about the Luma Bridge.

  Leo felt his heart constrict with empathy for his friend, but he tamped it down. Empathy didn’t apply to war. They had to think strategically, like Cassie did. Like when she pointed out they had to blow up the busses filled with families of invaders.

  He put a hand on Tate’s shoulder. “Tate, there’s nothing you can do for them.”

  Tate shook him off angrily. “They’re my parents, Leo. What would you do if that were your dad down there with the KGB? What if it were Anton or Lena?”

  “You don’t know where they’re being taken.” Leo was surprised by how level his voice was. “Even if by some miracle you find them, what can you do? They’ll be under Soviet lock and key. At best, it will be a suicide mission. At worst, you’ll get yourself captured. The best thing you can do is honor their sacrifice and carry out our next mission. Luma Bridge is our priority.”

  “Leo, you’re being a complete ass,” Anton said angrily. “Those are his parents—”

  Leo rounded on him. “Dad sacrificed himself so Dal and Lena could escape from Rossi. He did what had to be done.” He gave Tate and Anton hard looks. He hated himself for his next words, but they had to be said. “This is war. Sacrifices must be made.”

  Tate went rigid with fury. “Fuck you, Leo.”

  Leo met him glare for glare. “I’m sorry about your parents, man. I really am. But I won’t let you throw yourself away on a pointless mission.”

  “You won’t let me? Since when are you the boss of me, Leo Cecchino?” Tate stormed off around the back of the cabin, swearing as he went.

  “I don’t even know you right now,” Anton said. He stormed off after Tate.

  Bruce hung back. “This fucking sucks.” His face was a mixture of frustration and resignation.

  Lena took a step after Anton and Tate, but Leo put an arm out to stop her. “Let them cool off.”

  She pursed her lips and nodded reluctantly. Leo caught Spill and Griggs looking at him. To his surprise, they gave him nods of respect. Irony turned his mouth sour.

  “Everyone inside,” Leo said. “We need to pack for Luma. The priority is weapons and food.”

  They clomped up the steps of the cabin, a grim air hanging over everyone. They were nearly all inside when the whinny of a horse cut through the clearing.

  Leo jerked around in time to see Stealth and Thunder burst out of the trees. Anton and Tate leaned low across the horses, riding like hell for the road.

  “Anton!” Leo bellowed.

  His little brother never looked up. He was gone in the blink of an eye, disappearing with Tate down the steep road that led away from Pole Mountain. Leo felt all the oxygen leave his body. He gripped the porch railing to keep himself upright.

  “Anton,” Lena screamed, racing out of the cabin.

  Dal grabbed her. She struggled in his arms, but he held her right. “They’re gone, Lena.”

  “We have to stop them!” Tears ran down Lena’s face.

  The sight of his sister’s devastated face nearly bent Leo in two. He shoved it down and faced her.

  “Anton and Tate made their decision,” he said flatly.

  “We have to stop them,” Lena repeated.

  “We’ll never catch them. They have the fastest of the horses.” The stocky old mare would never be able to catch the stallions. Even if she could, what then? Short of shooting Tate and Anton, there was nothing Leo could do to stop them. “They made their choice.”

  He turned back to the cabin, forcing thoughts of Anton and Tate from his mind. Nonna briefly met his gaze as he marched inside. Her eyes were pinched with grief, but he saw steel in the set of her jaw.

  “I’ll warm up the leftover stew,” was all she said.

  Leo stood in front of the bookcase as everyone shuffled quietly back into the cabin. Leo waited for them all to gather around him.

  “The mission is still on,” he said. “We leave for Luma at dusk. Spill. Griggs. Show us what you brought with you from the plane crash. We need to assess our weapons and figure out what we’re taking to the bridge.”

  Spill and Griggs wordlessly grabbed their packs and opened them up in front of the fireplace. When they glanced up at Leo, he saw something different in their eyes. They didn’t look at him with reluctant acceptance. They looked at him the way his players used to look look at him on the football field; they looked at him with the silent expectation for him to lead. Everyone here did.

  Is this what it took to win respect in war time? A person had to turn his back on family and friends to be a true leader?

  Leo didn’t like the person he was becoming, but was helpless to stop it.

  32

  Road to Westville

  Cassie stood in a tight circle with Amanda and Stephenson on the cabin porch. To the west, the sun sat low in the sky. It was almost time to leave for Luma.

  “Stay close to Leo,” Stephenson said. “He’ll protect you.”

  “Remember our shooting lessons,” Amanda said. “When the time comes, don’t hesitate to pull the trigger.”

  “Look out for snapping turtles in the river,” Stephenson said. “I got bitten by one of those things once. It sucked big time.”

  “Make sure you get out of the water before you exit Nick’s Cove. Otherwise, you could get swept out to the ocean,” Amanda said. “There are jellyfish out there. And sharks. And the riptide, you know?”

  “Luma Bridge is probably crawling with Soviets.” Stephenson shivered. “Let the soldiers go first. You should stay at the back of the group.”

  “Guys.” Cassie held up her hands to forestall any more advice. “I promise I’ll be careful.” She gave them both smiles, her throat suddenly tight. “Thanks for caring.”

  “
Of course we care!” Amanda grabbed her in a hug. Stephenson joined them, the three of then standing together.

  “Remember that tournament in Santa Clara when we had to go up against those snobby kids from that fancy private school?” Amanda asked.

  “Yeah.” Stephenson grinned. “One girl cornered Cassie in the bathroom and tried to intimidate her by talking crap to her face.”

  “Cassie kicked her ass on the chessboard.” Amanda beamed at her through misty eyes.

  Cassie smiled at the memory, tears pricking her eyes. The days of high school and chess tournaments felt like a million miles ago. Why did her friends act like she was saying goodbye forever?

  “I’ll only be gone for a few days,” she said, doing her best to comfort them. “Probably two days. Three at the most.”

  “Luma just seems so far away,” Amanda whispered. “It feels like you’re going to another planet.”

  “Just another town.” Cassie tried to make her voice perky. “Just pretend I’m away at a championship tournament you guys didn’t qualify for.”

  That cleared out the tears. Two sets of eyes narrowed at her.

  “You wish,” Amanda said.

  “There wasn’t a single championship tournament all three of us didn’t quality for,” Stephenson said. His voice lowered. “But you were always the best player, Cassie.”

  “Time to go, Cas.” Leo came up behind her and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry to break up the goodbye party.” His eyes were sincere as he spoke.

  “Just—bring her back in one piece, okay?” Amanda said.

  Leo gave them a solemn nod. “I will.”

  His words warmed Cassie. She leaned into him as he slid an arm around her. Stephenson and Amanda swooned at the sight.

  Together, Leo and Cassie filed down the porch steps. Jennifer, Bruce, Spill, and Griggs waited for them, each of them already on a bike.

  “Did you remember the dry bag?” Nonna asked Leo. “The bombs can’t get wet.”

  “All the bombs are in the dry bag.” Leo tugged the strap of his backpack for emphasis. He had his hunting rifle, Soviet machine gun, and a .22. From the looks of him, there was no mistake that he was going to war.

  “See you soon, Leo,” Dal said. He and Leo exchanged brotherly slaps on the back.

  Lena threw her arms around Leo’s waist. “Be safe out there.”

  “You, too.” Leo broke away and grabbed his bike. He was ready to move.

  Cassie straddled her bike, feet resting on the pedals. With one last wave at her friends, she rode away down Pole Mountain. Spreading out around her were Leo, Jennifer, Bruce, Spill, and Griggs. It was up to the six of them to destroy the bridge and eliminate the Russian colonists.

  “No big deal,” Cassie muttered to herself. “All in a day’s work.”

  She wore a heavy backpack. Besides water and some food supplies, it was crammed with extra munitions magazines and a first aid kit. A Soviet machine gun hung around her neck. Leo had also outfitted her with a long knife and a 9mm.

  Once they hit the main road, Leo led them west along the narrow country lane. Cassie glanced in the direction of the Craigs, where a few cattle could be seen grazing. The family farmhouse looked lonely and sad in the distance.

  They pedaled in silence and soon entered the more heavily wooded area of Westville. Redwoods, bay trees, and pines grew on either side of the road. Bats flitted through the dusky light.

  “That was pretty radical when you trumped Leo with chess queen trivia and convinced him to let us be part of the mission,” Jennifer said. “He’d have sidelined you for sure. He would have tried to sideline me.”

  “I wasn’t trying to trump him,” Cassie replied. “He just wants to protect us, but we all have to do our part.”

  “You’re right about that.” Jennifer grimaced as a bat swooped past her face. “God, I hate bats.”

  “You shouldn’t hate bats. They’re important pollinators.”

  Jennifer shook her head. “They’re creepy.”

  “They’re cute. They’re sort of like tiny cats with wings.”

  “More like icky mice with wings.”

  “We’ll just have to agree to disagree,” Cassie said.

  We’ll just have to agree to disagree. From a not-so-distant past, Cassie heard her mom’s voice.

  Cassie had been standing in the bathroom pulling her hair into its customary ponytail, attempting to tame the frizz with liberal amounts of Aquanet.

  You should really do more with your hair, her mother complained. It’s so plain all the time.

  It’s fine, Mom, Jennifer said, bumping their mom out of the way as she joined Cassie in the bathroom.

  Cassie will never get a boyfriend looking like that.

  We’ll just have to agree to disagree, Mom, Jennifer said.

  “Mom is a bitter person,” Jennifer murmured, obviously recalling the same memory as Cassie.

  “Is, or was?” Cassie asked.

  Jennifer sighed. “I don’t know.” Then, more to herself, “She’d probably have a heart attack if she knew you were with Leo.”

  That made Cassie smile. Not the part about about their mom having a heart attack. The part about Cassie being with Leo. She was secretly starting to think of him as her boyfriend, though she hadn’t been brave enough to say it out loud to him yet.

  The two girls were far enough behind the boys that Cassie thought it was safe to talk. “He said you threatened to stab him in the heart with one of your high heels.”

  “I did.” Jennifer smiled as though recalling a fond memory. “I could tell he liked you right away. I was trying to get him to do something about it.”

  “Why doesn’t it bother you?”

  “That you guys like each other? Why should it? You’re my sister. He’s my friend. I love you both. You deserve to be happy.”

  Cassie absorbed her words. “Thanks, Jen.”

  “No prob. Besides, I always knew you had a crush on him. You used to follow him around the house with your tongue hanging out of your mouth when we were dating.”

  “Did not!”

  “Did too.”

  Cassie felt her face grow warm. Maybe she had been a little obvious in her infatuation back then. Well, could anyone really blame her? Leo was awesome.

  “Just do me a favor, okay?” Jennifer said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Don’t get pregnant.”

  “Jen, we haven’t—we aren’t—”

  “I’m not prying. It’s none of my business and you don’t need my permission. Just promise me you’ll use protection, okay?”

  “Okay.” Cassie fell silent. This was embarrassing to talk about, even with her big sister.

  They reached the outskirts of Westville. A scattering of homes, motels, and restaurants sprang up on either side of the road.

  There were bodies everywhere.

  Cassie squinted into the gloom. It was getting hard to see beneath the trees, but she was able to detect evidence of nezhit infection on the closest corpses.

  How many days had it been since the invasion began? Cassie had lost count. It felt like years, but it had probably been a little over a week. Enough time for the zombies to start dying off.

  “It’s happening like the Russians said it would,” Jennifer said quietly.

  The smell was ungodly. Cassie was torn between breathing through her nose or through her mouth. She should have thought to bring a bandana.

  The farther they advanced into the tiny riverside town, the more corpses they saw. There were dead lying in the doorways of buildings. They dotted the road, creating an obstacle course for their bikes. Crows and vultures had already moved in. They hopped among the bodies, pecking at the infected flesh.

  “Do you think the birds can get infected?” Jennifer whispered.

  God, Cassie hoped not. “Most viruses don’t cross between species.”

  “Most?”

  “Most.”

  Jennifer pedaled faster. Cassie kept up with h
er. They soon caught up with the guys.

  “Those fuckheads did a good job of wiping out this community,” Griggs said.

  “They did,” Leo agreed.

  “The Russian bastards need to die.” Bruce’s eyes had acquired a dangerous glint ever since Anton had ridden off with Tate. Cassie did not envy any Russian who came up against him.

  “How do you think they plan to dispose of all the bodies?” Spill asked. “They have four busses full of people on their way here. They’re going to need the clear the bodies out.”

  “Not our problem,” Leo said. “Yet.”

  Cassie knew what he meant. If they survived—if their country emerged intact from this war—there would be thousands of dead to dispose of.

  Her mind flashed back to pictures she’d seen of Auschwitz in her history book, of the giant crematoriums where the Jews were burned. Was that what waited in the future for America, except for zombies corpses instead of Jewish ones? It wasn’t so different, Cassie realized. Both were murdered innocents. They’d just died from different means.

  Something loud clanged off to their left. Cassie’s head swiveled as she scanned the land that darkened around her. Something was out there.

  “Move faster,” Leo ordered. “We need to get out of sight.”

  Cassie leaned into her handle bars, pedaling as fast as she could. Rancid air flowed over her. She was sweating from both exertion and fear.

  Another crash sounded from their left, though farther behind them this time. A second later came a growl.

  Cassie looked behind over her shoulder in time to see a mutant leap out of undergrowth. It looked like a female. Her chest was distended with corded muscle that had torn her shirt. Her right arm was grossly deformed, the muscles swollen to three times their normal size.

  The mutant’s eyes glowed in the dark like an animal’s. She fixed her gaze on the bikers and charged down the road in their direction. She flowed through the night like a shadow, her limbs barely making a sound as they struck the pavement. She ran on all fours like an animal. Her lopsided muscle mass barely slowed her down.