The Zombie Chronicles - Book 2 (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Page 4

  Seizing the opportunity, I swung the axe down with immense force into the skull of a zombie who stood directly in front of me. Clutching the axe handle for dear life, I kicked him with everything I had, prying loose the axe from the split skull, sending the monster tumbling backward, down the stairs. It was something of a domino effect, for his lifeless body collided with others behind him and then into other infected further down the stairs. Soon, most were writhing in a grotesque, squirming pile at the foot of the stairwell.

  Claire tried to open the closest doors. “They’re all locked!”

  “Run!” Lucas shouted.

  I could hear the zombies clawing their way back up the stairs and the shuffling of their feet stumbling along the hallway corridor. My brain screamed for me to go faster, but I was at the tail end of the group and could only go as fast as the person in front of me. The awful moans and growls got closer by the second.

  After what seemed like an eternity, we finally turned the corner, and I slammed the door on the hissing zombies. I was the last to hurl myself back into the unfinished room and fumbled with the lock. With a trembling breath, I leaned against the shuddering doorframe and tried to produce enough resistance from that side to keep them from pushing in if they somehow managed, with their klutzy, skinless hands, to break the flimsy lock.

  Jackie pushed against the door, panting hard as she tried to catch her breath. “Wh-what…what’re we…gonna do? We need to think of something else.”

  Claire grabbed a board off the floor. “For starters, fetch some hammers and nails and let’s start barricading this door!”

  “I like the way you think, girl,” Lucas said, picking up a hammer.

  The pounding of nails echoed throughout the room as we all worked together and boarded up the door with plywood. We knew it wouldn’t keep them out for long, but at least it would give us some time to think of a Plan B.

  As the door shook, I gripped my axe tightly, watching the knob wobble and turn. Crap! I knew what loomed behind that door, and it wasn’t doing my nerves any favors. “We gotta get out of here!”

  “No kidding,” Nick said.

  I shot him a glare, then shook it off. I went to the window and gazed out, staring at the open window on the second floor in the barn next door. “Guys, I have an idea!”

  “What?” Claire asked.

  I darted over to a long, wide board, about two by twenty, and struggled to pick up one dusty end. It seemed sturdy enough to hold our weight.

  Lucas rushed over. “What’re we thinking here?”

  I pointed out the window. “We could use this to make a sort of bridge and climb over to the barn. There might be a vehicle inside—an ATV, a motorcycle, or even a freaking lawnmower. Plus, I bet there’re tools too—pitchforks and axes and all kinds of other stuff.”

  Nick grasped the board and turned it over as if he were testing it. “You’re right, if we can actually get over there.”

  “That thing’ll never hold all of our weight,” Jackie said. “It’s too thin!”

  Lucas’s lips pressed into grim lines. “Looks like we just became tight-rope walkers. What other options do we have?”

  “But it’s gonna break,” Jackie repeated.

  Lucas shook his head. “Not if we go one at a time.”

  Claire grabbed his arm. “I barely made it across the balance beam in gym class, and that didn’t come with an army of bloodthirsty cannibals.”

  “We have no other choice,” I explained.

  She bit her lip as she stared down at the zombies roaming the yard.

  “It’s not that far,” Nick assured her. “Let’s slide the board across to the other window.”

  Lucas squinted. “It’s gotta be a good fifteen feet.”

  He and Nick took the front of the long board, the girls took the back, and I took the middle.

  “You sure it’s long enough?” Jackie asked, heaving a terrified sigh.

  “I dunno,” I said, “but it’s pretty darn heavy.” Drops of sweat rolled down my back as we scooted it out the window. I was just as uneasy as she was about it, but I couldn’t let that show.

  After multiple attempts, one of which nearly lost our plank to the hungry mob below, we were able to maneuver and slide the other end into the barn window. It was one crazy plan, and I could only hope it would work. If even one person lost their balance, I’d never be able to live with myself.

  Chapter 8

  Walking the plank never sounds like a good idea, but walking across one in midair to get to a barn window seemed absolutely insane. Really, we had no choice, and at least there were no pirates involved.

  “Since this was my idea, I’ll go first to see if it works,” I said sullenly.

  “No, Dean!” my overprotective big brother said. “Absolutely not. I’ll go first.”

  Lucas threw up his arms in exasperation. “No. If the board breaks, I won’t have your brother watching you get torn into shreds.”

  Nick pointed his finger in Lucas’s face and was about to say something, when Jackie interrupted. “Then I’ll go first,” she spat. “Besides, I’m more acrobatic than any of you guys.”

  I loved her attitude and her bravery and gripped her hand tightly.

  “Listen, Jackie,” Lucas said. “I admire your newfound courage, but you don’t know how to secure the perimeter over there. I do.”

  She crossed her arms. “Fine. You go first, but I’m going second, and Claire is going third. Dean is fourth. Nick, you can come over last, since you’re the protector. I know that’s the way you’d want it.”

  Nick nodded.

  The door began to rattle and shake violently, until I was sure it was going to pop right off its rusty hinges. I began to question how well we’d sealed it. My heart pounded against my ribs as I grabbed more boards and started hammering.

  Lucas stepped up onto the plank.

  “Be careful!” I yelled. I wanted so much to watch to make sure he got across okay, but I had to keep the zombies out, so I just kept hammering away like a madman.

  “He made it!” Claire said after a few tense moments, her voice brimming with excitement.

  I let out a long breath that I could have sworn I’d been holding the entire time, then grabbed another handful of nails, hammering them one at a time in rapid succession.

  “Okay. He’s securing the perimeter now,” Nick said.

  After a minute passed, Jackie began to pace. “Where is he? I hope he’s okay.”

  “Don’t worry,” Nick said. “Lucas and I have been through much worse.”

  I began to wonder what could have been worse, but then I shook the thought from my head. It wasn’t the time for questions—especially those I didn’t really want to know the answers to.

  “All clear!” I heard Lucas’s voice echo from outside. “C’mon over!”

  “I’m coming,” Jackie said as she crawled out the window.

  “You can do it. Just don’t look down!” I yelled as I continued to hammer and pound.

  “Please be super careful,” Claire said.

  I was nailing the last available board in place when I heard Nick yell out that she was safe. I let out a massive sigh of relief and let the rest of the nails tumble from my hand as I stepped over to the window.

  Claire slowly and awkwardly stepped up onto the board, then out between the windows. She moved at a painfully slow pace, taking baby steps forward and trying not to look below her. A sudden gust of wind sent her hair flying, and suddenly Claire was waving her arms around madly, trying to regain her balance, even as the board wavered with her sudden movements. Halfway across, another massive gust of wind sent Claire teetering to the left, then right. She took a quick step forward to balance herself again and slipped off the board.

  We all screamed in terror at the exact same moment.

  Luckily enough, she caught hold of one side of the plank with both hands and managed to hold on to it as the zombies, just feet below, surged and howled for her blood. The board bucked, twi
sted, and bounced, threatening to drop her to the waiting mouths below. She screamed and kicked her legs as nearly every zombie in the yard began reaching up to claw and grab at her legs, like they thought she was manna from above.

  Lucas jumped on the other end of the plank in an attempt to steady it with his weight.

  Instinctively, I began to crawl out the window to help her when my brother grabbed my arm.

  “Your weight on that board isn’t gonna help her one bit. It might break with two of you on there,” he wisely warned.

  I yanked my arm away. “But she needs help!”

  “Yeah, well that kind of help is gonna get you both killed!” Nick yelled. “If she can’t get back up, I’ll go. Just give her a sec.”

  As Lucas scurried out the barn window, Nick yelled for him to stop.

  Claire grabbed the board with her fingertips and with immense difficulty, managed to pull herself up, into a sitting position.

  I could see the bloodstains on the wood, and I knew her hand had to be practically raw. “Start crawling!” I shouted.

  Jackie and Lucas cheered her on from the barn window, as Nick and I just kept shouting for her to crawl forward and not to look down. She slowly scooted across and finally reached the other end of the board, where she collapsed into Jackie’s arms.

  “You’re next,” Nick said, staring into my eyes with absolute seriousness.

  I slipped the axe through my belt, handle first, then crawled out of the window onto the plank, then slowly rose to a stand. The sound of cracking wood echoed from behind me as the zombies began to break through the door. No flipping way! My jaw dropped as the bottom half of the door splintered apart and the zombies began crawling through it, swarming into the room. We had to get over to the barn fast. My heart thundered as I tried to move quickly, without falling. “C’mon, Nick! We both gotta go now!”

  “It’ll never hold all that weight.”

  “Chance it!” I yelled.

  “No! You go on and get across. I’m right behind you.”

  He fired a few shots, and I hoped he wasn’t going to play martyr. “I’m not moving a muscle till you are standing on this board with me!” I demanded.

  “Fine!” he said, knowing I could be just as stubborn as he was.

  I let out a breath as he crawled out the window and fired off a few more shots. I knew he needed to give me a head start so the weight would be evenly distributed. That was our only chance of the board not breaking.

  “Don’t look at me,” Nick shouted. “Focus on your steps.”

  I put one foot on the plank, lifted the other, and then had to trust the narrow board to support all my weight. Don’t look down. Don’t look down. I scooted three feet using baby steps, and then I forgot my own advice: I looked down. I forced myself to ignore what I saw; there were now dozens of mutilated hands and faces all thrashing around violently, just waiting for their free meal to fall from the sky above. When I thought about what could happen if I fell, I started to hyperventilate. My breathing became shallow, and I struggled to catch my breath. Okay, time to move. I took a couple quick, deep breaths, until I was able to think again. Moving as quickly as I could with such poor balance, I worked on keeping my feet moving, one in front of the other, to some imaginary beat in my mind.

  With my balance about to give out, I tried to regain control by using my hips and keeping my arms out straight, but it just didn’t seem to help. I can do this. I can do this. I’ll pretend I’m only three feet off the ground.

  I hadn’t even reached the middle when a gust of wind hit me in the back. It was as if I was being pushed by an invisible bully. I looked at the finish line, only a few feet in front of me, and continued forward. My foot suddenly caught on something, nearly sending me toppling into the sea of zombies below. What was that? Everyone else had managed to cross over without difficulties, with the exception of Claire. Holding my breath, I looked down. Nails? I hadn’t seen them when we’d picked up the board. Why couldn’t they have been pounded in from this side? I complained in my head, furious that I had to pick my feet up to get over them. Another gust filled my shirt like a sail, and I waited for the cruel draft to die out. One foot was over, and the second foot followed. The wood wobbled, and a bead of sweat rolled down my face. I had to play it cool, fighting the urge to just sprint over. One slip and… I glanced over my shoulder. Nick was right behind me, just out of the reach of the zombie intruders who were flailing their hands out the window.

  Finally, I reached the end and jumped into the barn window. The zombies trying to get to Nick, who was still crossing the plank, shoved the board with their bodies as they struggled to reach him. Nick must’ve felt the board about to drop from the house window, because he shifted from slow-motion tightrope walker to a full running leap off the end of the board. Just as his feet left the board, it tumbled from the window, careening into the screaming mob below. With his arms out, his body seemed to sail through the air until he collided with the barn window frame, clutching with all his strength. Before we could reach down to pull him up, he hoisted himself into the window with one mighty push.

  Claire and Jackie led us inside. I couldn’t have been happier, even though I knew we weren’t out of the zombie-infested woods just yet. I pulled out my axe and was grateful I was able to bring it safely over without losing it or—even worse—cutting myself during that little risqué circus act.

  “Let’s figure out where we are,” Nick said.

  “We’re above the stalls, in a hayloft,” Jackie said.

  Her voice sounded like heaven. I rushed over, and she wrapped her arms around me as I squeezed her body tightly against my own.

  “All right. I’m gonna make a second sweep,” Lucas said, slapping my back. “C’mon.”

  I glanced down to make sure it was safe. I didn’t see anything, so I clambered down the hayloft ladder. Beams of sunlight filtered in through the high windows and shone on my face. The barn was pretty much a giant room with a high roof and arched entrances at each end, but there wasn’t anything we could really use—no equipment, no supplies, and no tools. “This place has been stripped down to the bare bones.”

  “Just our luck,” Nick said, rasping in a low breath.

  Claire squeezed his hand. “It may look hopeless, but I’m not giving up—not after all we’ve gone through to get here.”

  He pulled her close. “None of us here are quitters.”

  “I don’t wanna die, Nick. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

  Jackie slipped her hand into Claire’s and squeezed it in assurance. “We’ve survived this long, and we’re not gonna let anything stop us now.”

  The barn doors shook violently, and zombies began pounding on the wooden walls, making a terrible racket.

  “Let’s go take a look in the back,” Claire said, her voice wavering. “There has to be something around here.”

  “There’s nothing but useless farm machines. A John Deere’s of no use without keys,” Lucas said.

  “Farm machines?” Jackie asked. “I used to help out on my grandparents’ farm.” She tugged Claire’s arm. “Let’s go check it out.”

  “No!” yelled Nick. “You shouldn’t separate from us. We should all stick together.”

  They ignored Nick, except to turn and roll their eyes at him, then disappeared into the back.

  “Just let them go,” Lucas said. “The place is clear, and maybe she can figure a way to get one of those machines working. While they’re gone, we need to figure out a plan!”

  “Fine,” Nick conceded, blowing out a breath. “What about some kind of distraction?”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  Suddenly, the barn doors splintered open, and daylight flooded the dimly lit barn. My jaw dropped as dozens of zombies surged forward.

  Chapter 9

  Like a stampede of wild, rabies-infected bulls, the zombies came barging through the broken barn doors.

  My stomach lurched, and I froze for a moment, then turned and yelled to t
he girls, “Jackie! Claire! Quick! Hide. The barn has been breached!”

  My brother grabbed my arm and dragged me along. “Let’s go! Back upstairs.”

  I followed him back up the wooden ladder that led to the loft. Nick pulled the ladder up so the zombies wouldn’t be able to follow us. There were so many of the dead things stumbling around below. I screamed for the girls again but they didn’t answer, and a chill ran down my spine at the thought that maybe that was because they couldn’t. The zombies were flooding inside by the minute. Crap! I knew if we didn’t do something soon, the girls wouldn’t stand a chance.

  “Nick!” I said, holding up the axe. “Let’s find out what room they’re in. We can chop through the floor of the loft and lift them up!”

  Nick and Lucas nodded, and we bolted to the other side of the barn. We all screamed for the girls through the cracks, trying to be louder than the growls and moans of the monsters below.

  “We’re down here!” Jackie finally yelled.

  My heart leapt at the sound of her voice, and I estimated where she was. Gripping the axe handle tightly, I chopped at the floor as Nick and Lucas began ripping a hole in the wooden floorboards.

  “I can see them!” Nick shouted.

  I kept chopping, trying to make a hole big enough for them to squeeze through.

  Lucas knelt down. “They’re hiding out in a combine harvester.”

  I could see them through the driving cab of the giant farm machine, used to harvest grain crops in the fields. Thank goodness! We still had a chance to save them. Relief flooded through me, and they were okay, for the time being. I swung the axe harder into the floor to make the opening even bigger.

  Nick pulled on my arm. “Stop.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “They’re pointing to keys, to the harvester.”

  I squinted. Keys dangled on a large hook on the wall. I checked out the zombies. Dozens, possibly more, were circling the large room. At the sight of them, I knew there was no way we could just slip down there and nab those keys.