The Zombie Chronicles - Book 2 (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Read online

  Jackie rolled down the window and shouted up, “If we can get the keys, I know how to drive this thing!”

  That was one getaway vehicle that never would have crossed my mind, but it would allow us to drive right over the zombies, like a farmer harvesting grain and corn.

  Claire waved to me. “Have Lucas or Nick dangle you down. Get the keys and we’re home free!”

  “Wait!” Lucas said. “You don’t even know if there’s gas in that thing.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “What if it doesn’t even work? I’d hate to be stuck down there. Maybe we should just pull the girls up here and figure out another plan.”

  “Let’s see if the harvester works,” Nick said. “If it doesn’t, we’ll move on to Plan B.”

  “Plan B? Aren’t we on Plan J or K by now?” I said.

  Lucas clapped my shoulder. “Your brother’s right. Let’s see if it even runs.”

  My brother motioned me over to the far wall. “This is lined up exactly where the keys are hanging.” He grabbed the axe from me and started chopping away.

  “Who’s going down?” Lucas asked.

  I met his gaze. “Me. I’m the lightest.”

  “Uh, okay,” Nick hesitantly agreed, ever his little brother’s keeper. “Lucas and I will hold on to your feet.”

  I swallowed hard, and though I felt nervous, I nodded. “Just don’t let go.”

  My brother rolled his eyes. “Have some faith in me, will ya?”

  When Nick and Lucas dropped me into the hole through the ceiling by my legs, my ankles hurt like crazy. Blood rushed to my head. I was sure I was gonna have a heart attack as they lowered me down. Though I reached out as far as I could, I still couldn’t touch the keys. “Lower!” I shouted.

  I glanced into the harvester. Jackie and Claire had rolled down the window and were firing at every zombie around me. Nick and Lucas lowered me a bit more, but instead of getting anywhere, I was clobbered on the head by some dead goon’s fist. I screamed and flailed my arms at them, but they kept trying to grab me. Lucas and Nick swung me by the legs, using the momentum to maneuver me closer to the key hook, like a human pendulum. Suddenly, my head collided hard with a zombie’s skull. The guy must have been seven feet tall. Lucky for me, my bone head knocked him down. My fingers curled around the key ring, and I snatched it off the wall.

  “Got ‘em!” I shouted. “Pull me up!”

  “Awesome!” Lucas said.

  As they slowly pulled me back up, the seven-foot zombie got back up, grabbed a fistful of hair on each side of my head, and started to pull my face toward his. His chattering mouth, dripping greenish bile, was just about to bite down over my nose, so I jabbed a key deep into his eye. He fell to the ground, shrieking, with several strands of my hair still clutched in his rotting fists. As I was hauled upward, the girls cheered, and I gave them two thumbs-up while clinging to the keys. It took a minute for me to comprehend that I’d just been hanging upside down like a bull in an abattoir. I had no idea what had possessed me to volunteer for such a thing.

  Lucas slapped me on the back. “Man, that was gutsy!”

  I held up the keys, dizziness washing over me. “Let’s just figure out a way to get to the harvester with the girls.” Dropping to my knees, I glanced around.

  Nick grabbed the keys from me.

  “Hey!” I said.

  “There’s no reason for you to go down there again if that harvester won’t even start up,” he said. “I’ll go check it out. Just cover me.”

  Lucas dropped a pile of dead rats at my feet. “Look what I found.”

  “What the heck?” I asked, disgusted.

  “Check this out!”

  He grabbed one by the tail and threw it down on the other side of the room. Straightaway, the zombies ran over and started fighting over the rodent. Lucas threw more while Nick fired a few shots. All the zombies swarming by the harvester door dropped one by one as I squeezed off one headshot after another. Nick jumped down into the room as Lucas and I shot any zombie that dared to get within a three-foot radius of him.

  Jackie and Claire covered him as well, then opened the door. I sighed in relief when I saw Nick rush inside, glad that his crazy plan hadn’t gotten him killed—and that it might have just saved all of our lives.

  A humming sound filled the air, and my eyes widened. Yes! The harvester works! Before the zombies rushed in, Jackie and Claire had removed the rotating paddles and elevated the deck blade a few feet. The girls were smart, and that was another thing I liked about them. The teeth on the machine looked exactly like the giant teeth on a Megaladon shark, two rows moving back and forth like scissors.

  Nick rolled down the window and waved us over to him.

  Lucas and I threw down every dead rat we could find as a temporary distraction; it worked well. While the zombies were distracted by their rodent treats, we jumped down. The others nailed any zombie that got too close, enabling Lucas and I to rush over and squeeze into the harvester cab. A wave of relief washed through me. Nothing made me happier than seeing Jackie’s face.

  Claire leaned over and locked the door, and then Jackie put the machine into drive. We jerked into motion, and soon were lumbering forward.

  “Thanks for saving our butts,” I said over the whirring machine.

  “So I saved you this time? I like hearing a guy say that,” Jackie said.

  The army of the undead rushed toward us as the thrasher whirred to life. Blood, bone, and chunks of flesh flew to every corner of the barn as the machine pushed forward toward the smashed doors. Once we were outside, I couldn’t believe how many more zombies were there. We were in the middle of nowhere, and I had no idea where they all were coming from.

  Jackie dropped the hammer, and soon the machine roared forward, plowing right through them, shredding their bodies like wet newspaper. I hoped the blades wouldn’t clog; if they did, we’d be in big trouble.

  I looked out the back window. It was amazing to me that zombies with missing or crushed limbs still managed to limp or crawl away, even though they were mangled beyond recognition. One of the zombies was nothing more than a torso, a head, and an arm only to the elbow, yet it still managed to drag itself along with nothing more than a single stump of shredded flesh. I shuddered and turned away, but then a flash of red caught my eye.

  “Stop!” I said. “There’s the gas can we dropped when the zombies first ambushed us.”

  Lucas glanced around. “It looks pretty clear.”

  “Let’s get it then,” Nick said. “We don’t wanna have to stop anytime soon.”

  “I totally agree.” Jackie stopped the harvester. “We’re not gonna be able to squeeze this big monster between the barn and the store. One of us is going to have to make a run for it.”

  She was right: The buildings were too close together. I scanned the area and saw that the gas can was only about fifty feet away. Opening the door, I jumped out before Nick or Lucas could stop me. There weren’t many zombies around, and I was thankful for that; most of them were in the barn, still devouring rats or looking for us. My heart was racing as my mind replayed that awful moment when we’d first been ambushed in that exact same spot. I shuddered and picked up the can, knowing we desperately needed that gas. If we got one thing out of that nightmare, I hoped we could leave triumphantly with our gleaming red prize in hand.

  Everyone clapped and cheered as I sprinted back and climbed into the machine. As we drove around the store and back to our pick-up truck in the driveway, I sat up straight, watching anxiously. There were more stray zombies there, but nothing we couldn’t handle.

  Jackie turned off the harvester. “Let’s make a quick dash to the truck—to freedom.”

  Lucas whipped out the keys. “I’ll start it up while you guys jump in the back.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” I said, climbing down from the farm machine. I pulled out my axe and started swinging at every deadhead that even looked at us funny.

  We all rushed inside the back of the pick-up t
ruck. Lucas put the pedal to the metal, and with a squeal of spinning tires, we were soon speeding out of the driveway, sending a spray of dirt and rocks into the air behind us.

  I pounded on the glass and was relieved to see Val sleeping in the front seat.

  “Hey,” she said in a groggy voice when she slowly opened the window between us. She looked very pale and confused, but still hopeful, and she was wearing a faint smile.

  I turned and smiled at her. She was still alive and breathing and I couldn’t have been happier. For a moment, I’d thought I might never see my sister again, even though she’d slept through the whole horrible thing.

  Val began to cough and sputter, but once she regained her breath, she whispered, “How long was I asleep? Did I miss anything?”

  Lucas chuckled.

  “Kind of,” I said, “but don’t worry. We took care of it, and everything’s going to be fine.”

  Jackie smirked at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Soon, we were all rolling with laughter as the barn slowly faded into the distance.

  Chapter 10

  Lucas had been driving for a few hours when he slammed on the brakes.

  “Check it out!” Jackie said, pointing.

  After recovering from whiplash, I turned to look and gasped. Zombies were blocking the road in front of us for what seemed like miles. Biting my lip, I glanced at my brother. “No way are we getting through that roadblock, big bro.” I hoped he wouldn’t ask Lucas to attempt to plow through, because there was no way we would stand a chance, racing through that vast sea of undead.

  “Turn around!” Claire yelled, banging on the window to get Lucas’s attention. “I don’t want to fight those herds for the umpteenth time.”

  “You ain’t gotta tell me twice!” Lucas yanked the gearshift into reverse, and the truck shot backward. He peered out the rear window as the tires screeched. “That lucky Tahoe must’ve gotten past here before these bags of bones arrived.”

  “The jerk,” Jackie said.

  As the Jeep raced down the dirt road, Claire stared at a roadmap that was whipping around in the wind. “I say we go east, then loop back around.”

  Jackie shook her head. “No way. That’ll take us two or three days out of the way.”

  “An it’ll give Tahoe a huge jump ahead of us,” Nick said.

  “We don’t have that kind of time,” Lucas protested through the open glass window, shaking his head.

  “Then what do we do?” Jackie’s lips pressed into grim lines. “No way are we getting past that herd.”

  Val stuck her head out the window. “Tahoe’s signal is still. Dusk is approaching, so he must be stopping for the night.”

  “We should too,” Jackie said. “Not the entire night—just for a few hours until this army passes. You know they don’t stay anywhere for long. They’ll be gone in no time, looking for food.”

  “She’s right,” I said. “It’s better to wait it out a few hours rather than going three days out of our way.”

  “How about we hole up at that gym we saw about a few miles back?” Jackie asked. “It’s isolated and on a flat plain with no trees. It’d be perfect.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” I said.

  “I like it,” Lucas said, impressed.

  “Good. Then turn the truck around.”

  Nick met my gaze, sensing my fear—not of zombies, but for our sister. “We’ll catch Tahoe. I promise.”

  I nodded. We’d sleep for a few hours, and hopefully, the zombies would be gone by then so we could pass. I was confident they’d leave. With no known food source, since we intended to stay out of their sight and smell, their hunger would drive them on. We took a vote, and we all decided that was the best course of action.

  I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally pulled into the parking lot of Joe’s Fitness and Beyond. “Looks like a small gym,” I said.

  “Good. We’ll be able to secure it in no time,” Nick said. “Hey, Dean, I need you to watch Val. The rest of us will be right back.”

  I rolled my eyes. I hated when my brother acted like the big man on campus and told me what to do. Jackie stayed behind with me, though, which made it tolerable to be on baby-sitting duty.

  After a few minutes, we were starting to get worried, but Nick finally motioned that the coast was clear.

  I scooped Val up from the back seat. She looked worse, if that was possible, with green flesh peeling off her face and arms in thick layers.

  When Jackie and I went inside, I could hear the sound of punching bags bouncing on their chains as I opened the door. I laughed when I saw Claire, doing her best Rocky Balboa impression.

  “Harder!” Lucas said. “Punch it like you mean it.”

  Nick chimed in, “Use your anger. Focus on it. Give it everything you can feel.”

  She rammed the bag, and both guys cheered her on.

  The gym was far bigger than it looked from the outside. A boxing ring sat at one end, and mirrors hung on the opposite wall for shadowboxing. Five heavy bags hung from the ceiling.

  Lucas walked over and handed Jackie a pair of boxing gloves. He had a sparring mitt and was ready to roll. “Let’s see how hard you can hit me.”

  “Don’t cry when I pound you,” Jackie said.

  “Love the attitude, little lady. You’re gonna need it if you wanna stay alive.”

  “Lucas, c’mon,” I said.

  Jackie met my gaze. “No, it’s okay. I want to learn how to fight. Next time, I want to make sure I have your back.”

  “Hey,” Lucas yelled over the sound of the punching bag, “did you lock the door behind you?”

  “I’ll go do it now,” I said, lying Val on a green tumbling mat. I hurried back and locked up, then quickly returned to find Jackie and Lucas throwing punches at each other—and this time, not of the verbal variety.

  “Okay, so how do I knock someone out cold?” Jackie asked her new sensei.

  “Aim for the throat,” Lucas said. “When they see the punch coming, they’ll automatically drop their head, bringing their chin in line with your fist.”

  “I can do that.”

  Lucas held up his hands. “Good. If you wanna piss someone off real bad, hit ‘em hard in the nose.”

  “What if I just want to get away quick?”

  “Hit ‘em in the throat, right by the carotid artery. These strikes will knock the wind out of your opponent, allowing you a much easier escape from a bad situation. If you can’t reach this point of contact, go for the sternum or the kidneys.”

  “What if I’m knocked to the ground?”

  “Strike the middle of the inner or outer thigh. It’s not as vulnerable of an area, but these pressure points are very sensitive. If you hit hard enough, they can surprise an opponent and drop him to the ground right next to you, giving you time to get up.”

  Jackie shot me a look. “Your friend knows a lot!”

  I smiled. “He’s the best.” When my brother yelled out my name, I spun around. “What?”

  “Get over here and let’s see what you got,” he said, standing in the boxing ring, sporting a pair of red gloves.

  I wasn’t in the mood, but I didn’t want to look like a wimp in front of Jackie and Claire. I crawled in through the ropes and yanked some gloves on. Nick shot me a cocky smile as he danced around the ring, the jerk. I knew he was only trying to impress Claire, or maybe he was just blowing off steam over the Tahoe thing. I shuffled toward him as he put his dukes up.

  As I approached, he gave me one of his ridiculous, cocky smiles, egging me on. “You can’t win if you don’t punch,” he taunted.

  I dropped my shoulder to wind up for the first blow.

  Nick smiled. “The sign of a true beginner.”

  Anger bubbled up inside me. Maybe everything was hitting me at once. I don’t know. I only know that I hated how my brother bossed me around. So what if he’s been fighting zombies for months now? I can too, now that I’m eighteen. I’ll enlist in the army too. I w
ould have loved to see my brother’s face if I’d have told him that. Nick thought he was all that, and I was ready to bring him down a notch or two, ready to wrangle that self-proclaimed alpha dog and show him who was boss.

  As I ran at him to throw a fist, the idiot smacked me in the jaw. My head jerked back, but I managed to get my footing, then eyeballed him, putting him off guard. I put my whole body into it, threw another punch, and missed, giving him the chance to drop a right-hander against my left cheek. Boy, did it burn and throb! Before I knew what hit me, he came at me with a southpaw, followed by the left seconds later. How the heck did he learn that? I wondered. But he didn’t stop there. Next, he popped me in the nose, and then, in the fraction of a second, he hit me in the gut.

  “You see that?” Nick said. “An untrained opponent knows nothing about breathing right when taking a hit.”

  I doubled over, unable to reply.

  “So…one shot to the stomach could be more effective than a shot to the face,” he continued.

  “C’mon, Dean!” said Lucas. “I’ve taught you better than that.”

  “Also, never forget about the hand that’s not doing the punching,” Nick said. “Beginners tend to forget that. One hand is supposed to be guarding while the other is punching, especially while throwing the jab with the left hand. You have to make a conscious effort to keep your hands up where they’re supposed to be.”

  I threw another punch and missed—again. Crap! It was so humiliating. Red-faced, I set my teeth and aimed again, but my fist just shot into thin air, and I slipped on my butt.

  “Don’t throw all your energy into one punch. It’s all about jabs.”

  My face was burning hot, not so much from the impact of my brother’s hard blows, but from the humiliation of him winning. On top of that, the thought of those zombies biting our sister made my blood boil. I was mad at Nick, mad at everything. Then, a growl escaped from deep within my chest, like that of a wild animal. I let my hand fly with a sharp jab to the side of Nick’s head. I enjoyed it and hit him again, first with the left, then right paw. It felt exhilarating. I didn’t know I had it in me, but bad tempers must have run in our family. It was in our DNA.