“And they brought company,” added Alissa.
Three hundred feet behind the pick-up, over a hundred deaders rounded the corner of the science center and swarmed toward the wharf.
Chapter Nineteen
“Fuck me,” mumbled Nathan.
“I think they’d rather eat you.” Alissa raised the Glock into firing position. “Let’s make sure they choke on their meal.”
Steve had enough common sense to swing the Ford around and park it so its rear fender sat inches from the squad car and the front extended over the entranceway to the wharf. It would not stop the deaders, but it might slow them down enough for them all to escape.
The Ford had barely come to a stop when the passenger door opened and a middle-aged woman with long brunette hair jumped out. As Steve slid across the seat, she opened the rear.
“Hurry up,” she ordered.
Two children jumped out, a boy approximately eight years old and a girl in her early teens. The mother shoved them towards the wharf. Behind her bossy exterior, Alissa could see terror in the mother’s eyes. Steve stepped up to Nathan.
“Sorry I’m late. We almost—”
“No time for that now, buddy. Start the boat. We’ll hold them off as long as we can.”
Steve followed his family down the wharf as the first of the deaders reached the Ford and thumped into the rear fender.
Alissa recognized it as the asshole who tried to turn her away last night at the blockade. She felt sorry for it. It tried to get at them but could not climb over the rear bed. Other deaders piled up behind it, reaching for the food and snarling. One female deader in fleece pajamas and a bathrobe climbed onto the trunk of the squad car and crawled across. Alissa moved closer. When it looked up and growled, she put a round through its face, blowing off the top of its head from the eyes up. The lower part of its head opened its mouth and snapped its teeth at her.
“I thought head shots were supposed to kill these things,” said Alissa as she loaded her last magazine.
Nathan stepped up beside her and fired a second round into the gaping wound, exploding the remainder of its head outward. “Double tap. It works every time.”
The pile of deaders grew denser, becoming ten to fifteen bodies deep and extending out to the sides. Those that made it to the front fenders of the two vehicles fell off the parking lot onto the rocky beach, rose back to their feet, and attacked the entranceway to the wharf. It was too high off the ground for them to crawl up. Nathan and Alissa backed away to get out of reach of their hands. The deaders followed them along the sides until they disappeared beneath the surface.
The growing numbers concerned Alissa. None of the deaders could get past the two vehicles, but their combined weight pushed against them, moving them several inches every few seconds.
“We’re not going to get out of here alive, are we?”
“Keep the faith,” Nathan answered, although his tone did not reflect the same confidence his words did.
The mass pushed the squad car forward a few inches. A thin deader in a jogging outfit squeezed through the narrow gap and, with a ferocious hiss, charged. Nathan aimed and fired off a single round that struck it in the upper jaw. Its mouth blew apart, pieces of flesh-covered jawbone spraying out to the side. The deader collapsed and slid along the wharf for several feet. Other deaders were already trying to push through the gap, their weight moving the squad car further forward. They had seconds left to live.
Behind them, the engine to Ocean Escape roared to life, revving several times. Steve yelled out, “We’re ready.”
The squad car moved a foot forward and a stream of deaders flowed through the gap, each bearing down on Alissa and Nathan. The two ran for the cabin cruiser, Nathan bringing up the rear, gunning down the closest deaders.
Steve’s wife stood on the rear deck, undoing the mooring lines. She waved them on. “Move it. Move it. Move it.”
Alissa jumped off the wharf onto the boat, followed a second later by Nathan. As he landed, a dead hand reached up from the water between the wharf and the boat, clasping his ankle. Nathan crashed onto the deck, his weapon flying out of his hand and sliding inside the cabin cruiser. The deader crawled up his leg.
“Let’s get out of here!” the wife yelled.
Steve revved the engine. The propeller dug into the deader’s lower body, tearing apart its groin. What would be agony for a human barely phased it. It continued pulling itself up Nathan’s legs until the propeller blades wrapped around its colon, unwinding the organ. When nothing remained of its insides, the intestines pulled taut, yanking the deader back. However, it still held onto Nathan, dragging him across the deck. Nathan grabbed the bolted chairs on the rear deck. The deader released its grip and disappeared into the water.
Five more deaders ran down the wharf and jumped for the departing boat. Two missed and fell in the cove, sinking beneath the surface. A third bounced off the back deck and ricocheted into the water. The last two landed on the boat. One deader in a bloodied Nahant Police Department uniform dropped to its knees and bent over to bite Nathan’s neck. Nathan shoved his forearm under its chin, preventing it from reaching him. The second deader, the teenage girl they tried to rescue earlier, paused, uncertain which prey to go after. Inside the cabin, the two children screamed on seeing the threat. The teenage deader charged them.
Alissa stepped in front of it and raised the Glock, but the thing was too close. It shoved Alissa into the cabin, slamming her against the back of the kitchen bench, knocking the wind out of her. The Glock slid from her hand and fell to the deck. Alissa placed her right palm under its chin and pushed back, holding its head in place. The teenage deader continued lunging, snapping at her extended fingers, and weakening Alissa’s grip. The deader closed its mouth around where her pinky met her hand and bit down.
Alissa yelped, expecting to feel teeth dig into flesh, signing her death certificate. Instead, its teeth dug into the bandages, not being strong enough to break skin.
Out of the corner of her eye, Alissa noticed Steve’s wife rushing in from the right holding a fire extinguisher like a battering ram. She drove the base into the deader’s face. She continued the assault, ramming the extinguisher repeatedly. On the fourth time, the front of its skull fractured and its face caved in. The deader staggered backward, releasing its grip on Alissa.
“Help your friend. I’ve got this.”
Alissa circled behind Steve’s wife as she swung the extinguisher around, holding it like a bat and beating the teenage deader over the head. Alissa did not waste time searching for the Glock. Instead, she rushed across the deck and kicked the police deader in the head. The blow did not faze it.
“Here.”
Steve’s daughter rushed up, holding the Glock by the barrel, and presented it to Alissa.
Alissa took the firearm. “Go back with the others.”
As the girl ran into the cabin, Alissa placed the Glock against the top of the deader’s head and wrapped her finger around the trigger but did not fire for fear of wounding Nathan.
“Do it,” ordered Nathan. “I can’t hold it back much longer.”
Alissa fired off a single round into the top of the deader’s head. Its skull exploded outward, covering the deck, Nathan, and Alissa in blood and brain matter. Nathan raised his right leg, placed his foot against its chest, and kicked. The corpse dropped off the stern and sank beneath the surface. Alissa helped Nathan up.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Were either of you bitten?” The question came from Steve’s wife who stood by the entrance to the cabin. She held Nathan’s firearm in her left hand, though she kept it by her side, the barrel pointing to the deck. Steve sat at the driver’s control off to the left, watching how events played out.
“No,” Nathan answered.
“Are you sure?”
“You don’t believe us?” asked Alissa.
“I saw that thing bite your hand.” She gripped the handle of the fi
rearm.
Nathan glanced over at Alissa. “Is that true?”
“Y-yes,” she stuttered. “It didn’t break skin. It got me on the bandages.”
“Let me see,” ordered Steve’s wife.
Nathan turned to Alissa. “We’d do the same if one of them might have been bitten.”
Resigned to giving in, Alissa crouched down, placed the Glock on the deck, and approached Steve’s wife. When Alissa held out her right hand, the woman examined it carefully, turning Alissa’s hand over several times. Blood stained the bandages, but it couldn’t be determined if it came from a wound or from battle.
“Can you take off the bandages?” Her tone became less harsh. “Please.”
Alissa complied, a part of her terrified at what she might find. As the last of the gauze came off, she studied her hand as closely as Steve’s wife. A few indentations from the deader’s teeth left marks on the skin, but none of them had broken through. Both women sighed in relief.
“I’m so sorry for acting like that.”
“No hard feelings. You’re only protecting your family.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” The woman hugged Alissa and sniffed back her tears. When she broke the embrace, she held out her hand. “By the way, I’m Miriam.”
“Alissa.”
“These are our children, Kiera and Little Stevie.”
Kiera nodded. Stevie smiled and waved enthusiastically.
“I appreciate you letting us stay with you in New Hampshire.”
“It’s the least I can do,” said Alissa. “You saved our lives.”
“And just in time.” Nathan pointed to port.
Steve had steered the cabin cruiser along the coast of Nahant about two hundred feet from shore. By the time the battle with the deaders had ended, they had rounded the isolated southern bend and were making their way up the east shore where the death throes of the island played out in gruesome details. All along the coast, humans made desperate attempts at survival. Most ran until they reached a beach or a rocky cliff. Some stopped trying to escape, hugging each other as they waited for death or prayed in their last few moments. Their deaths were brutal but quick. Others fought until the end, using whatever they could find to defend themselves, a gallant yet useless effort that only prolonged the pain. Some ran into the ocean and swam to safety, though she doubted if more than a handful would make it back to the mainland. Even if they did, more deaders would be waiting. Some of those on the rocky cliffs took a chance and dived into the waters below. Almost all were killed or wounded on the stone-strewn coast. Those killed outright were the lucky ones. Deaders followed the flow of jumpers into the surf, those not disabled in the fall crawling over to the wounded and feeding. The screams of the dying could be heard this far out.
The smarter ones made their way to rocky outcrops along the shore. Approximately thirty men, women, and children had climbed the low cliffs of Castle Rock, which extended two hundred feet into the ocean. Deaders packed the base of the cliffs, preventing the humans from escaping. The survivors stood on the edge of the outcrop, waving and shouting to attract the cabin cruiser’s attention, which Steve ignored. As the boat passed by, the yelling changed to curses and insults.
“Mom,” asked Stevie. “Why don’t we save them?”
“Because they’re all infected,” Nathan lied. “They haven’t turned yet.”
“So, they’re going to die anyways?”
“Yes, honey.” Miriam wrapped her arm around the boy and hugged him close.
“I guess it’s okay then.”
Farther up the coast, a few survivors had swum out to a pair of rock formations protruding from the water two hundred feet from shore called the Spouting Horns. They attempted to wave them down with no success. Two young men dived off the rocks and swam toward the cabin cruiser. Steve steered right and increased speed, pulling away from the two men.
“Are they also infected, mom?”
“Yes.” Miriam fought back the tears.
Nathan picked up the travel bag with the canned goods and brought it over to the children. “Hey, guys. Why don’t we go below and put the food away? Kiera, could you bring the cat with you?”
“Can we play with him?”
“Of course,” said Alissa. “As long as you keep him in one of the cabins.”
“Really?” Kiera’s eyes brightened.
“Of course.”
“What’s his name?”
“Archer.”
Kiera frowned. “That’s not a good name for a cat.”
Nathan urged the kids along. “You can give him a nickname later.”
The three headed below, with the kids arguing over who would get to pet Archer first. Miriam followed. Alissa took a moment to search for the two men who had been trying to swim out to them but could no longer spot them in the choppy water. She closed her eyes and said a silent prayer for everyone on Nahant, trying not to think of how many more people she could have saved but did not.
Steve leaned back in the driver’s chair. “Melissa.”
“It’s Alissa.”
“Sorry. I’m horrible with names.”
“That’s okay.” She joined him. “What do you need?”
“Directions.”
Alissa looked back to Nahant with all its surviving inhabitants running to their deaths. She turned away.
“Where do we go now?” asked Steve.
“Any place but here.”
“No arguments.”
Steve increased speed on the cabin cruiser and headed north.
PREVIEW OF NURSE ALISSA VS. THE ZOMBIES: ESCAPE
Chapter One
Alissa Madison stood on the stern deck of the cabin cruiser, watching Nahant slowly recede into the distance. In the past thirty-six hours, she had escaped from a deader-ravaged Boston, made her way home through a society falling apart, and now had to evacuate her home when the outbreak spread this far. Fortunately, the combination of distance and the encroaching darkness prevented her from witnessing the death throes of her hometown. Even the screams and cries for help from the islanders had faded, although she wasn’t certain if that was because they were too far away to hear them or because everyone had been slaughtered.
A warm, gentle hand touched her shoulder. Miriam, whose husband Steve owned the cabin cruiser, stood behind Alissa. “Is everything okay?”
Will it ever be? Instead of speaking her mind, Alissa muttered, “Yes.”
“Steve wants to meet for a few minutes. After that, I’ll take you below so you can clean up.”
“I appreciate it.”
“It’s the least I can do. My family is alive because of you and Nathan.”
Alissa said nothing as she followed Miriam inside. Nathan stood by the steering compartment with Steve, who sat behind the wheel, guiding the ship. Both men had their attention glued to the radio broadcast coming through the console speaker.
“We have confirmed our earlier report that New Hampshire and Vermont have closed their southern borders to all traffic. The governors of both states have ordered state and local police, as well as their respective National Guards, to shut down all roads and highways from Massachusetts and New York to prevent the spread of the violence north. According to one State Police representative in Salem, New Hampshire, the use of deadly force has been approved. No one has officially commented on the rumors that the violence has been caused by a highly infectious disease, but one New Hampshire public health worker noted, off the record, that they cannot afford to let rabies spread into the forests because it would be almost impossible to contain. According to unsubstantiated reports we have received, Maine will also seal off their borders within the hour. Stay tuned to this station for further updates.”
“My God,” Miriam gasped. “It’s insane out there.”
“I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse,” Nathan replied.
Steve shook his head in frustration. “We need to get to New Hampshire as soon
as possible before they start closing down the waterways.”
“Where are the kids?” asked Miriam.
“I sent them downstairs so we could talk in private.” Nathan turned to Alissa. “I told them they could play with your cat as long as they weren’t rough with him. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Archer is an attention hog. He’ll enjoy it.”
“Good.” Steve paused. “I know we’ve all been through a lot, but I wanted to plan out tomorrow.”
“I thought we were heading for Alissa’s cabin?” asked Nathan.
“I don’t know where it is.”
“It’s near North Conway, New Hampshire, not too far from I-93.” Alissa thought for a moment. “Sorry, I can’t remember the address.”
“I don’t need that. I need to know the town so I can plot a course.”
“Are we heading there now?” Nathan asked.
“It’ll be too dangerous to travel at night under these conditions. I plan on anchoring ten miles offshore. We’ll head north in the morning.”
Miriam grew concerned. “Will we be safe overnight?”
“We should be. Just in case, we’ll post a guard. I’ll take the first watch until nine. Miriam will go on watch until midnight. Nathan and Alissa can do the next two shifts, and I’ll relieve you at six and get us ready to head out. Does that sound fair?”
Everyone agreed.
“Good. Nathan, any chance Miriam and I could borrow one of the weapons you brought on board in case we need to defend ourselves.”
“Of course. Any preference?”
“Bring me whatever you can spare as long as it can blast apart the deaders.”
“Miriam?”
“I want one.” She became embarrassed. “I’ve never shot one before. What do you recommend?”
Steve and Nathan looked at each other and simultaneously said, “Shotgun.”
A spark of excitement lit up Miriam’s eyes. “Really?”
Steve chuckled. “My wife’s becoming a bad ass.”
Miriam leaned over and kissed him. “I thought I already was.”
Nurse Alissa (Book 1): Nurse Alissa vs. the Zombies Page 12
