The Zombie Chronicles - Book 6 - Revelation (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) Page 7

  Outside, Bart opened the back of the truck and started herding the wide-eyed, petrified survivors inside.

  Another line of zombies staggered toward us. Taking a deep breath, I reloaded and mowed them down in seconds. A loud moan made me jump. From the left, a zombie on fire walked toward me, blazing as it moved, its foul stench intensified by the fact that it was frying. I shot it in the head, and it crumbled to the ground as flames consumed it.

  A new stench, a different sort of putrid smell, attacked my nostrils, and I turned to see where it was coming from. Something horrible caught my eye: one of Steven’s friends, scorched and still twitching. I wasn’t sure if he’d gotten caught in the path of the flamethrowers or if burning debris or a zombie inferno had fallen on him, but there was nothing worse than the sight of a warrior’s burnt corpse lying on the grass next to me. Again, nausea churned in the pit of my stomach.

  Rachel, Claire, and I ran toward the Land Rover.

  It seemed as if the zombies were multiplying, and I let out a trembling breath as I got back into the truck.

  “Rachel!” Steven yelled. He then shot me a quick nod, and his eyes said it all; it was his way of thanking me for keeping her alive.

  The Land Rover was quickly being surrounded by the incoming mob, and my breath quickened. The armored truck ahead of us quickly turned them into road kill, and any that happened to escape collision, I killed with my gun, unleashed all my bullets as I swished my hands back and forth, the gun vibrating in my hands and thundering in the air. The truck zigzagged and jerked as we ran over bodies, crunching bones. There was another jerk as the vehicle swung to the left, throwing me and Claire, who were sitting on the edge, out of the vehicle.

  I moaned as pain shot across my left side when I landed. When I opened my eyes, I saw stars, and then I heard gunshots and moans. I tried to focus because I knew I had to. I sucked in a quick breath and staggered to my feet as my heart started beating again. “Where’d they go?” I asked, not spotting the Land Rover anywhere.

  “Get up!” Claire shouted. “They left us, Dean. You’ve gotta get up and fight!”

  My raw anger and adrenaline surged. I’d lost my semiautomatic, but I still had my pistol. I was fighting for my life, and I had to give it everything I had; otherwise, I would not survive. I’d gone down for a minute, but I wouldn’t stay down. I’d get right back up and keep fighting. A zombie with torn skin and no hair on its rotting scalp shambled toward me. Its lips had been ripped from its mouth, revealing yellow teeth. It stretched out its arms for me, and I squeezed off a shot that landed straight between its cloudy white eyes. Another zombie moaned, and I was sure it was signaling the rest of the mob that a snack was near.

  “I’m out of ammo!” Claire screamed. “Just used my last magazine.”

  A green, dead hand suddenly lashed out, and jaws bit into my upper thigh. Pain exploded in my arm as two more zombies bit my arm. I whipped out my handgun and fired off two shots, taking down the beasts that were trying to make a meal of my biceps. Another one approached, followed by at least a dozen more. The closet one snapped its jaws like a wild animal, and I could feel the intensity of its white-eyed stare. Raw fear gripped me, making my stomach churn; I knew they’d never stop coming. The herd was breaking through the fire, and I knew we had to get away fast. I pulled the trigger again and again, spraying a burst of bullets, and the undead corpses sank to the ground.

  Chapter 11

  I continued firing shot after shot, until my gun clicked empty. I gasped, and every muscle in my body tensed, my brain screaming that I should flee the scene. Still, I refused to run without Claire. I turned to find her, and my eyes bulged at the sight before me. Four zombies had pounced on her and knocked her to the ground. My heart thundered as they attacked her viciously, chewing on her arms and legs like dogs on a rawhide. Claire reached for a knife and stabbed one zombie right through its eye, and I clenched my teeth and quickly rammed the butt of my gun into another zombie and then another. When I glanced over at Claire, she was stomping on a zombie’s skull.

  A sickening choir of grunts and groans echoed in the air. A zombie came at me, hobbling because its left ankle was turned at an unnatural angle. Its leg was merely a bone, devoid of skin and muscle, but it managed to amble along on its broken foot, moving in my direction. At the same time, another one joined in on the pursuit. That one was missing its stomach and had been gutted like a ravenous bear had devoured it. I smashed one on the head with the butt of my gun, and it flew down into the grass. I hit the other in the mouth, shattering its decaying teeth.

  I’d taken down enough of them for us to get through. I yanked Claire’s hand, and we ran faster than the wind—or at least it felt that way. When the adrenaline kicked in, I ran like an Olympic track star, faster than I’d ever run before, yelling for Claire to keep up.

  After fifty more feet. I leapt forward. I fixed my gaze on my destination and threw my body into a whole other gear. Run faster, Dean. Faster! Thirty feet? Ugh. Why does it feel like three times that? There was no time to look back, but I had to take a peek over my shoulder to see how close the zombies were. I gasped, then pumped my legs even harder when I saw the horde coming our way. Adrenaline gushed through my body with each pound of my feet on the pavement. “C’mon, Claire!” I encouraged.

  Twenty-five more feet…just fifteen more… My lungs wheezed with the effort, and rivers of sweat poured down my face. Just ten more feet…five more…three more. Almost there! Just another foot and…

  Gasping for breath, I crossed the line and tumbled to the ground. Claire collapsed next to me, panting loudly. Long, dead moans echoed in the air, a menacing sound I hated more than any in the entire world. Hundreds of zombies stopped dead in their tracks at the invisible barrier. I wasn’t exactly sure what repelled them, but I was thankful for it. I stared up at the torn, tattered freaks snapping their jaws in the air and reaching out their arms, as if we were long-lost friends they wanted to embrace. Claire and I looked at each other in complete awe. Scrambling to my feet, I held out a hand and helped her up.

  Claire exhaled sharply and placed her palm on her chest to calm her racing heart as she bent forward to rest against a tree trunk. “They just…stopped,” she said, “dead in their tracks.”

  “Punny,” I said, mustering a smile.

  “I’m not trying to be funny,” she said, still gasping.

  I ran a hand through my hair, still not believing we’d survived. “Are you okay?”

  She rubbed her arm where the zombies had tried to bite through the shark suit. “They didn’t get me. How about you?”

  “I was bitten about four times.”

  Her eyes widened, and she held my gaze. “Dean!”

  “If Jaws can’t get through this thing, neither can they, right?”

  “Right,” she said, releasing a relieved breath. “Where’d they get you?” she asked.

  “Legs and arms.”

  She examined my ripped sleeve. “There’s no sign of blood.”

  I put my arm around her shoulder. “Let’s get outta here. The herd’s right over there, and I don’t want to press our luck.”

  We started walking away from the swarming crowd as the haunting moans of death sliced through the air. I glanced over my shoulder and could see hundreds, if not thousands of them behind us. It was as if some invisible hand was holding them back.

  “Why did those idiots leave us?” Claire asked. “I’m gonna kill them!”

  My blood boiled. “Not if I do first.”

  The whirring sound of a vehicle engine echoed in the distance. I peered closer and noticed that it was the Land Rover, and I wondered if they were finally coming back for us. As it approached, I saw familiar faces. They pulled up next to us, and Steven motioned us in.

  Anger flooded through me. I’d never been left out to dry like that, and I was none too happy about it. I never would have left them behind.

  “We begged Ralph to go back,” Rachel said, “but he wouldn’t.”

/>   Ralph was a thin guy, and I knew I could easily take him on. I was ready, willing, and able to beat him into the next week for deserting us, leaving us to fend for ourselves.

  “Look, buddy, I know you’re pissed,” Ralph said, obviously knowing the scowl on my face, “but I’m not about to risk my life for somebody I don’t know. If we’d have gone back, the Land Rover would’ve been swarmed. I’ve got a wife and two kids to think about, you know.”

  I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to make such a statement. I clenched my fist and inhaled deeply. “I barely know Charlie, and I don’t know a soul in that house, yet Claire and I risked our lives to help all of them.”

  Ralph shrugged. “Well, what can I say? I’m not some big hero like you,” he retorted. “I only help my own.”

  “It’s a shame your friend died back there instead of you,” Claire said coldly.

  John jumped out of the truck. “Listen, lady—”

  Claire punched him in the gut, then rammed her knee into his groin, making it evident that Nick’s hand-to-hand combat lessons had most certainly paid off.

  Moaning, her opponent crouched, then dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. “You’re a jerk!” she yelled. “If you ever do that to me again, I’ll put a bullet in your head.” She looked up at Steven and glared, daring him to say a word about it.

  He swallowed hard. “There was nothing I could do. John agreed with Ralph, and when we demanded that they go back, they held us at gunpoint. It took a while, but Rachel and I finally convinced them to come back.”

  “You’re lucky I even came back for you!” Ralph yelled.

  That was enough to fuel my temper as anger pumped through my veins. I pulled him out of the truck, and Rachel screamed when I violently slammed him to the ground.

  “Back off, you little punk!” he shouted.

  “Unlike you, I don’t run away. Now get up!” I ordered. “Get up and fight like a man, you piece of trash.” As he got back up, I assumed a fighting stance and clenched my teeth.

  He threw his head back and laughed. “Kid, you need to calm down, before I remove your spine with my bare hands.” When he saw that I wasn’t going to flee from his challenge, he sprang up and lurched for me.

  He threw a punch, and pain exploded across my lip as blood dripped. His ring had nailed me. My curled fingers were a punching tool, not to be messed with. I’d tapped into a primal rage I didn’t know I even possessed, and I planned to use that energy to knock Ralph out with one blow.

  Without hesitation, I charged toward him. My first punch hit his chin, unleashing bare-knuckle fury. He staggered back, and I went straight for his gut. He doubled over and gasped, his eyes bulging with rage. Clearly, the man couldn’t care less that Claire and I had nearly been torn apart by zombies. He staggered back and tried to regain his footing, but I had knocked the wind out of him, and he was gasping for breath.

  Ralph straightened, then took lurching steps toward me, shouting curses. I launched my fist, and he ducked, just in time to nail me harshly in the ribs. Pain shot across my stomach, and all the air rushed out of my lungs. He went for another shot, but I kicked him in the gut, slamming him into the door of the truck. He came at me again, and I threw four punches that connected with his jaw. He swung again, and I threw another solid shot at his jaw. When he backed up to try to catch his breath, I threw him an uppercut that knocked him out for the count. He crashed in the grass in a trembling heap.

  Claire reached in Ralph’s pocket and grabbed the keys to the truck, then hopped in the driver seat and started the vehicle. “Get in, Dean! Let’s go.”

  “You can’t!” Rachel yelled.

  “Watch me!” Claire shouted.

  I hopped into the other side, and the tires spun in the dirt as we took off.

  “You can’t leave them,” Rachel said.

  “Why not? They didn’t seem to have any problem leaving us,” she said, maneuvering onto the street.

  It was a different side of Claire than I was used to seeing . My mind flashed back to when she’d begged for Tahoe’s life. She had refused to leave him, even after the stunts he’d pulled with us, but post-apocalyptic life was clearly wearing on her.

  “She has a point,” Steven said. “They deserve it.”

  Claire gripped the steering wheel and pressed the gas to the floor, and we sped down the street. Steven gave us directions to the house where Bart had taken the survivors; thankfully, it was in the safe zone. Claire pulled into the driveway of a house with the armored car parked in front of it, and we hopped out.

  A man came out and greeted us, with tears streaming down his cheek. “Thank you, Steven. You saved our lives and even gave us a place to live. I-I thought we were dead—my wife, my children, all of us. You risked your lives to save us, and I couldn’t be more thankful.”

  “I’d invite you to stay with us, but Rachel’s dad won’t allow anyone new into the apartment building.”

  “I know. That’s okay. You’ve done more than enough already.” He hugged each and every one of us, and his gratefulness made the whole mission worth it.

  I nudged Steven’s arm. “Listen, I need to see the scientist.”

  Steven nodded. “Where’s Charlie?”

  “I’ll send him out,” a woman said.

  Steven and Rachel went inside, and Claire and I just waited on the porch. We didn’t know anyone anyway. A few minutes passed before Charlie came out. I hadn’t spoken to him much, but I recognized him immediately.

  He was sucking in deep breaths as droplets of sweat dripped down his face. “Dean,” he managed to squeak out.

  “Are you okay?” Claire asked.

  He shook his head.

  A woman with short, brown, curly hair came out and wrapped her arm around him.

  “That’s his wife,” Claire whispered to me.

  The woman looked at me. “How can I help you?”

  “I really need to know what happened to Jackie,” I said.

  “Please,” Claire begged. “We have to know.”

  Charlie panted between breaths in a full-blown panic attack.

  “He can’t talk right now,” the woman said. “He can barely breathe.”

  “But we desperately need answers,” Claire said.

  “When he gets like this, he needs a minute to rest,” she said. “He’ll be able to talk to you soon, after he calms down.” She then led Charlie back into the house and locked the door.

  “Guess we’ll come back later,” Claire said.

  “Yeah. Charlie seems like a real basket-case,” I responded. “He’s not in any condition to tell us anything.”

  “We’ll give him some time to recover, but I’m not just going to give up on this.”

  “Me neither, Claire. We’ll get our answers, one way or another.”

  Chapter 12

  I washed off in a basin of water and stripped out of my shark suit. I ran my hands over my skin where the zombies had tried to bite me. No bites had broken through, but there were several purplish-green bruises on my arms and legs. I swallowed hard with the realization that without the suit, I would be zombified. What if a bite had landed on my hand or neck or face? I shuddered at the thought.

  I changed into some clothes that Claire had found in one of the dressers. They were a size too big, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t fond of the tiger-striped shirt, but it felt good to be cleaned up a bit.

  Sparkles followed Claire to her bed and cuddled up next to her. I said goodnight to Claire, sank into the warm covers, and dozed off for a long, well-deserved, much-needed nap.

  * * *

  When I woke up, I heard voices in the living room, and I went out to greet the others and to make sure my brother and sister were okay.

  Val took off her coat and wrinkled her brow at the sight of my animal-print shirt. “Whoa, tiger. Shouldn’t you be out there hunting a gazelle?”

  “Ha-ha,” I said. “It’s not like I have much choice. It was this or some loud Hawaiian shirt.”


  Nick kicked off his boots. “I hope you aren’t ticked off that we went without you.”

  “I’m not,” I said, turning so he wouldn’t see the cuts on my face.

  “Good,” Val said, flopping down on the couch. “I didn’t know what kind of fights might break once we got back to the homestead. I figured there’d be major mayhem.”

  “I’ve learned to accept the fact that you love to sneak out behind my back,” I said.

  She sipped on a bottle of water. “Dean, we had absolutely no say in the matter. Max doesn’t want you and Claire on active duty yet.”

  I glanced around. “Where’s Lucas?”

  “On patrol,” she said. After Nick went into the bathroom, she walked over to me. “Your lip is busted.” She then touched the bruise on my jaw. “You were in a fight! I noticed earlier, but I didn’t wanna get Nick all worked up. What happened?”

  “Nothing. Just a brawl with a knucklehead.”

  “Dean, you shouldn’t start fights here. We have to try to get along with these people,” she said. “And how are you gonna hide your face from Nick?”

  “I’ll tell him tomorrow. I’m tired, and I’m not in the mood for one of his lectures tonight. I’m going back to sleep. My body is beat, and I’m exhausted.”

  “So…what happened?”

  “I pulled the jerk out of his truck and demanded that he fight me, and he did. In the end, I whipped his butt.”

  Val shook her head and clicked her tongue the same way my mother always did when I did something unbelievably stupid. “You’ve gotta watch that temper of yours.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Anger management. I get it…but it gets worse.”

  She met my gaze. “How much worse?”

  “Claire stole the guy’s truck and left him and his buddy.”

  “What!?” she whispered so Nick wouldn’t hear.

  “We ditched some jerks,” I said nonchalantly and shrugged.

  Val’s jaw dropped. “You involved Claire in this?” She shook her head. “I don’t believe this. Can’t we leave you alone for a second?”

  “Oh, but I’m not even to the really bad part yet.”