Z Chronicles (Book 4): The Final Chapter

by White, A. L.

  Moving like a ninja in a videogame, she left the house and halted, causing Perseus to ram into her and throwing Virginia off balance. She kneeled and cupped his muzzle with her hands. “You have to stay here, boy, and keep Charlie and Jermaine safe.”

  Perseus pushed forward, moving Virginia backward.

  “Inside now, Perseus!” Virginia ordered.

  Perseus stopped and sat down defiant.

  Virginia furrowed her brow and pointed toward the open door.

  Perseus turned with his tail between his legs and entered the house.

  Virginia started to leave then returned to shut the door to ensure the pup stayed and because of the flash memory of the open gate so long ago.

  Chapter 16

  Stu pointed to an approaching old farm. “Pull in there, and we’ll leave the trucks there. We can go on foot the rest of the way.”

  Lance Ditka, the driver, swung the SUV onto the gravel road leading to the farmhouse and stopped next to the barn.

  “It’ll be dark soon.”

  Stu looked skyward. “We got a good hour or so.”

  Stu had decided a few miles back how they would enter the town. It would’ve been easier to drive as close as possible to the town and then find a spot. Most of the crew he had brought wanted to do just that—ten large men armed to the teeth to capture one teenage girl. To them, his cautious nature was a big joke. Unfortunately for Ditka and the others, he was in charge and had Marius’s backing. So, instead of driving in like they were landing on the beaches of Omaha, they were sneaking in through the woods.

  Marius had people among the survivors watching and learning. The community knew where the threats lay and who was a bigger threat than others. At top of that list sat a teenage girl with two dogs. Just to make that list deemed one a bad ass not to be taken lightly. To be on the top of that list … well, Stu didn’t want to even think about that right now.

  They crossed a creek just as the woods thinned ahead of them. Stu motioned to Ditka and another man. “Ditka, take a guy with you and scout straight ahead of us. Jonsey, take one and head west into the town.” Stu thought for a moment. “Keep out of sight. I don’t want any surprises.”

  Both men grabbed a companion and left.

  Stu watched them vanish from view and sat with his back resting on the steep bank. They were out of sight here, with the wind still blowing in the best direction. They would smell anything coming before they could see it.

  Easier, yes, both for them and to let Lori’s sister know they were there. Instead, he would cut across the farm fields and the woods. Out of sight and out of mind worked best for Stu. The extra senses of being a hybrid helped them move quicker. They could hear things normals couldn’t, smell things farther off if it was downwind, like today.

  A few minutes later, the man who had left with Ditka returned. “Think you need to see this, Stu.”

  Stu nodded and motioned for the rest of the crew to move out. He was led to a street on the outskirts of town that dead ended against the woods.

  “Hell of a battle took place here,” Ditka said, pointing.

  Stu stepped onto the parking lot’s blacktop. It was hard to count the corpses. A strange mix of mutants and zombies were jumbled together. There wasn’t much question as to who had been here. The only question he needed answered was if she had been alone or not. Contrary to Marius’ and Lori’s belief that the others were not like Virginia, Stu wasn’t so sure.

  “More going up the street too.”

  “Any fit Virginia’s description?”

  “Lots of blood from what I think were new people. Maybe some halflings thrown in too, along with mutants.”

  Halflings were what the community had called what Lori called 2.0s. Stu didn’t have much use for them. They were an evolutionary step higher than the first zombies—smarter, faster, and just as dangerous to humans and new people.

  “Should we have the men gather the bodies and burn them?”

  “No. Leave them as you found them. Don’t touch anything or it’ll give us away. Have the men take cover and keep a watch for them. I think she’ll come back out.”

  Chapter 17

  Moving through the shadows, Virginia crossed the bridge and paused in the middle of the intersection. Thinking of Zeus, a lump formed in her throat and her lips quivered. Virginia told herself that she wouldn’t deal with this tonight. Part of her wanted to return to where he had made his last stand. The rest of her knew that would be a bad idea to see him like that tonight. She had no way of knowing how much or if anything was left on the pavement.

  Tears swelled in Virginia’s eyes, so she pushed through the intersection. Sadness turned to rage with each step; muscles tensed like coils ready to spring, and her eyes locked onto the pavement, looking for signs. It wasn’t long before she found what she had been looking for. The herd moved through anything and tracked a lot along with them. Crossing the road were clumps of dirt and plants strewn all over. The last thing Virginia had seen from the back of the truck was the herd moving behind the houses across the street. She had a good idea they would head toward the farms instead of the woods.

  Glancing over her shoulder, Virginia paused and listened. Nothing moved nearby, so she continued down the street. An alley lay ahead Virginia could follow out of town. If it led the way she imagined, she would come out at the edge of the cornfield. She had times in life when she had wished she were alone and then times like now when she wished the lads were with her. A tear streaked Virginia’s cheek at the thought of Zeus.

  The side of her head felt like it had exploded. An eruption of warm liquid streamed into Virginia’s ear as consciousness faded quickly. The world spun, and her legs softened before her head hit the pavement.

  “Bam! Doesn’t look like a fucking killer now, does she?”

  “Oh, Dean. What have you gone and done now?”

  Dean Nickle kneeled and flipped Virginia onto her stomach. He pulled a zip tie from his backpack and fastened it around Virginia’s wrists as tight as he could. “You see any sign of them dogs?” Dean asked, climbing to his feet.

  “No. Stu will have our asses for this.”

  “For what? We did what we were sent here to do, is all.”

  Keith Wilson followed orders. He wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer or the toughest soldier at the community. He did, however, understand the importance of doing what he was told when told. People like Dean and him were spokes in a wheel. Wheels didn’t work very effectively without the spokes doing their job.

  Dean hoisted Virginia like a sack of potatoes and threw her over his shoulder. “Let’s get back to Stu. Watch for them damn dogs, Keith.”

  ***

  A cheer rose as Dean and Keith entered the makeshift command area. Stu snapped his head around and shushed the men. Dean stood in front of him with a shit-eating grin, leaning a little so Virginia would slide off his shoulder and crashed to the ground.

  “I said to shadow her,” Stu stated.

  Dean shrugged. “I know what you said, but the opportunity presented itself, so I took it.”

  “The others?”

  “No sign of them or the dogs. Maybe they left her here.”

  Stu shook his head and fought the urge to put a bullet between Dean’s eyes. Countless times he had tried to explain to Marius and the council how this was happening more frequently. The guard, soldiers, police force, or whatever they wanted to call themselves were too loose and acting on their own more and more. Stu raised the butt of his rifle and smashed it into Dean’s jaw.

  The force drove the larger man to his knees. Reaching for his side arm, Dean rose with fire in his eyes.

  Stu lowered the rifle until the barrel was fixed on the bridge of Dean’s nose and pressed like he was trying to shove it through the man’s skull. Stu could feel the eyes glued to him. He mentally perused the list of names and faces of who could be trusted and who would use this for their own advancement.

  “We have rules from the council that we
follow, gentlemen,” Stu said as he flipped off the safety. “Rules that support the laws we’ve all agreed to live by.”

  “Perhaps we should split into a few groups and find Pippa?” Ditka asked. “Stu?”

  Stu nodded. “Zip tie this piece of shit and throw the girl and him in the back of one of the trucks. Send them to Marius while we find the rest of ’em.”

  Two took Dean into custody, removing his weapons. Once he was in the back of the truck, they checked on Virginia. She was breathing—shallow but breathing. If she made the three-hour drive back, a doctor would have a look at her.

  Stu watched the black SUV pull toward the main road. He gave Ditka orders on how to divide the rest of the team. Tired of pussyfooting around, Stu decided to just drive down Main Street in force and meet them head on. He knew from Pippa’s reports they had hunkered down in a house just on the other side of the river. Stu would bet everything on it being near the bridge.

  “Mount up, gentlemen,” Stu ordered. “Keep your head on a swivel, and don’t take any chances. We got the target, if you need to put the rest down.”

  Stu climbed into the truck, put down his window and ordered the rest to lower theirs. He retrieved an old AC/DC compact disc from the glovebox, inserted it into the stereo and searched for the right song. Finding “Highway to Hell,” Stu kicked up the sound and motioned for Ditka to drive.

  “They’ll hear us coming,” Ditka said.

  “Counting on it. Let’s go.”

  Ditka floored it, and the convoy sped across the bridge.

  Halfway across, Stu pointed at a figure in the middle of the road. “We found Pippa.”

  Ditka stopped the SUV just shy of hitting Pippa. Everyone jumped out and took up defensive positions.

  Jermain and Charlie exited the house with weapons drawn.

  “Hold on, guys. They are friendlies,” Pippa stated, motioning for them to lower their weapons.

  Stu raised a hand then slowly lowered it.

  His men redirected their weapons toward the ground.

  He moved his to the low-ready position and stared at Charlie and Jermaine.

  “Where’s Virginia?” Charlie asked.

  “On her way back to our community where she’ll be reunited with her sister, Lori.”

  Charlie lowered the shotgun and shook his head. It was hard to believe Virginia would go without letting either him or Jermaine know.

  “Are you buying this?” Jermaine asked, keeping his voice low. “She wouldn’t say anything to us and leave the dog?”

  “Normally, I wouldn’t. Zeus is dead and no sign of Lori, I don’t know what to think, man.”

  “I’m not buying any of it. She wouldn’t just ditch us. That’s not our Virginia.”

  “What do you want to do? Should we get into a gunfight today? If that’s what you want to do, say the word, and let’s get this done with.”

  Jermaine spied the men facing them. Their eyes told a story he didn’t like. They were on edge, waiting to explode. One wrong move and Jermaine had no doubt the first to die would be him and Charlie.

  “My men have taken the girl Virginia to meet her sister Lori, as I’ve said earlier,” Stu stated. “We’d like to invite you fellas to come with us as well.”

  Pippa pleaded with her eyes to Charlie. “They have the electricity and water running again there. It’s like the old days before the apocalypse.”

  “You’re with them?” Jermaine shook his fist at Pippa.

  “The council sent me here to locate and verify that you weren’t a danger to the community,” Pippa replied.

  Stu handed his weapon to Ditka and moved next to Pippa. “We had to know if it was safe to bring you guys back. Lori said there wouldn’t be any issues, but we needed to be sure.”

  Jermaine shook his head and eyed Charlie.

  “We need to get going, if you guys are coming with us. There was an unfortunate accident between your Virginia and one of my men. I’d like to be there so she knows that person will be punished.”

  After Stu promised to brief Charlie and Jermaine during the drive, both men agreed to go.

  Chapter 18

  Todd couldn’t contain his excitement as he turned the corner and saw the old truck parked along the road. Being alone was frightening; he didn’t like being out here all alone and scared. He could still hear Tressa’s voice when he needed to. It wasn’t the same; she wasn’t here with him, making the scary stuff disappear. It was just him, and it made him so afraid he hadn’t left the station wagon since driving off the farm.

  Stopping by the truck, Todd went to blow the horn and then remembered loud noises brought the monsters. Sweat poured down Todd’s neck, and he fidgeted with the window handle. His eyes darted everywhere, looking for signs of Virginia, Charlie, Jermaine, or the puppies. He wanted to leave the car and look for them but didn’t know where to start. What if the creatures had got them, like Tressa? What if he left the car, and they got him too? Todd’s brain wasn’t capable of processing this much information at once. The more he tried, the more frustrated and afraid he grew. Fidgeting with the handle turned into rolling the window up and down repeatedly.

  Then he did it without even thinking.

  Smashing both hands onto the horn, he squeezed so hard his knuckles whitened. Todd didn’t know how to tell time; five minutes could be an hour or a week to him. He wasn’t sure if he had laid on the horn, so Todd didn’t stop until a vision of the creatures passed in his brain. H searched the outside of the car for signs of movement.

  “Todd, honey, you need to drive the car now,” Tressa said.

  “Tressa, there’s Charlie’s truck.”

  “Todd, drive the car now, honey. You need to leave this place.”

  Todd knew Tressa wasn’t here with him. He knew he couldn’t see her, just hear her voice. It didn’t make sense to him, but he didn’t care. He slid the gearshift until it stopped on the D and eased the old wagon forward. The bridge scared him, but he kept going. He gasped in relief on the other side when he was firmly on solid ground again.

  For reasons Todd couldn’t understand, he stopped in the middle of an intersection and looked left. Corpses littered the road halfway down. Todd wanted to push the gas pedal and just keep going. Something inside his head told him that he needed to see it. He, Todd, would have to go down that street and confirm Virginia and the puppies weren’t there. Tears streamed down Todd’s cheeks as he turned the steering wheel.

  “Tressa, I don’t want to see this.”

  He pushed the gas pedal until the wagon creeped toward the bodies.

  “I’m going down the street, Tressa. Should I turn around?”

  Again, Tressa didn’t answer.

  Todd drove over a few bodies until he felt a need to stop. Heart pounding so fast he thought it would burst from his chest, Todd put the car in Park and rested his hand on the door handle. His eyes widened with fear while sights of creatures raced through head.

  Click!

  Todd opened the door and forced himself from the car in one fluid motion. His body shivered with fear, and he wanted nothing more than to jump back into the car and leave this place now. He had no way of knowing what it was, even less of a way to tell anyone how he felt.

  He drew himself up and stepped forward. Careful to not trip on a corpse, he kept going forward. Something beckoned him, pulling him ahead. Then he heard it, slight at first but it grew louder—moaning from across the street. Todd rushed forward as all fear drained from him. The closer he got to the house, the louder the moaning. By the wooden porch, it was at the highest volume.

  Todd dove onto the ground and looked under the stairs. “There you are, boy!” He crawled forward, trying to reach the figure plastered against the house.

  Zeus raised his bloody head and whined as he tried to crawl toward Todd.

  Todd pulled him from under the porch, cradled the lad against his chest and walked back to the car. “The creatures got Tressa, so I’ll have to drive us, Zeus.”

 
Chapter 19

  Katrina cleaned the blood from the side of Virginia’s head. The girl’s breathing was shallow, and Katrina was sure she had a concussion. She wished she could say this was the exception, but this was becoming the norm. Marius and the council needed to bring the security guys to heel and just do their job without adding to it. Satisfied that Virginia would live, Katrina left the holding cell to meet with Marius. He had sent for Katrina the second he discovered Virginia had been hurt.

  “Well?” Marius asked.

  “She’ll live but will have one hell of a headache when she wakes up.”

  “How long do you think she’ll be out?”

  “Hour, maybe two. I gave her something for pain, but nothing too strong.”

  “Good, good. I don’t want Lori to know she’s here until we’ve talked to her.”

  Katrina laughed and smiled at Marius. “You haven’t left here since she came in, have you?”

  “Haven’t had a chance to leave. I wanted to hear from you about her condition.”

  “Lori must know her sister is here. A crowd is outside calling for her execution.”

  “How do they even know she’s here or who she is?”

  “How could they not know? You, the council, and your security force keep lists of people who’ve killed our kind. You share them like they’re a pro football teams stats.”

  “Virginia was on the top of that list.”

  “Exactly, and they want justice.”

  “That’s not up to me or them. That’s the council’s decision.”

  Katrina knew Marius would have a lot in the decision, just like he always had before. “You know how I have to give higher and higher doses of the meds to stop the transition?”

  Marius nodded.

  “I’ve been giving Lori a placebo since the third day.”

  “She doesn’t need the meds?”

  “No, she doesn’t, while the rest of us are needing higher doses. You might want to think about that when you’re deciding her sister’s fate.”