Dying Days 5 Read online

  Once Jeff was gone she could relax and worry about the meaningful things like growing the community. Expanding the walls and buildings. Planting crops and creating a central warehouse for their supplies.

  Scotty could take over for Jeff, or maybe Juan or Claude. Vee was sad. So many great allies and men had died because of Jeff. Mitchell was also a good guy. Jeff had a pile of bodies in his bar, and the rot of them was beginning to annoy Vee more than anything.

  All four of them, as well as Lola, would get a proper burial, their names remembered with a plaque or something. They would not be forgotten, and in years to come, when this compound became a thriving city again, Vee would tell stories of their courage and dedication.

  But first she needed to kill Jeff.

  Shooting someone in cold blood had never felt more right, and Vee was ready to do what she had to do to survive. And it wasn't only for her, it was for all survivors. She kept talking herself into not chickening out and pulling the trigger when the door opened.

  Scotty walked over to Vee and he looked scared, or worried, or both.

  "Can we talk about this, please? I think you're making a big mistake," Scotty said.

  "Weren't you in the military?" Vee asked.

  He looked back at Taylor, who was sitting on the bar watching the door with weapon in hand. "I was in the Navy for about two weeks. Boot camp."

  Vee snorted. "No wonder."

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "It means, if you had been actually in the Navy and saw combat or got to shoot at people or whatever it is you do in the Navy, you wouldn't be such a..."

  "Say it," Scotty said.

  "You wouldn't be such a pussy."

  Taylor laughed.

  "I'm still human. I still care about what's happening around me. And I think we're all going to be judged when we finally die," Scotty said and pointed at the ceiling.

  "Do you believe in God?" Vee asked.

  Scotty nodded. "If you'd asked me a month ago, I might've given you a funny answer or talked my way around an answer. But I do believe we are all still alive for a reason. Even Jeff. He's in our world to set the bar for cruelty. His actions dictate what is wrong, and we can adjust accordingly."

  "You're getting all preachy and philosophical on me," Vee said.

  "I'm trying to maintain my sanity. I don't want to end up like Jeff, putting my own needs in front of everyone else," Scotty said.

  Now Vee was pissed. She felt her face flush red with anger. "You think you're better than me? Huh? You think you are so... so..." Vee was losing it but she couldn't help herself. She was tired, she'd been hurt, and she was mad at Jeff and everyone else right now and she couldn't help it. Nothing made any sense anymore except her anger.

  Scotty put up his hands. "That's not what I'm saying. I just don't want you or me or Taylor to make a stupid decision we're going to regret."

  Before Vee could respond they heard the door handle jiggle.

  Taylor slipped off the bar and aimed her gun.

  Vee shook her head. "I get the first shot. If there's anything left of him, he's all yours. Got it?"

  "Got it," Taylor said quietly.

  "Please don't do this," Scotty said.

  "Don't get in my way because I am pulling the trigger. Jeff did really bad things to me and now it is payback," Vee said, knowing she was going to cry if she thought of his dirty hands all over her body. He'd violated her.

  The door opened slowly, the faint glow of the streetlight silhouetting his body.

  Scotty's voice in Vee's head... don't do this and end up like Jeff.

  Her own voice, strong and insistent... he'd forced himself on you. He deserved to die.

  Vee pulled the trigger and watched in slow motion as it tore into Jeff's face, blood spraying into the air.

  A return shot from someone behind Jeff, striking Scotty in the neck and covering Vee with his blood.

  People screaming and another shot fired.

  A woman Vee recognized, hands up, was walking inside. Gun aimed at the ceiling.

  Taylor running to Scotty, who was losing so much blood. So much blood.

  Vee lowered her weapon and looked at Jeff, dead on the ground.

  Only... it wasn't Jeff. It was another man.

  "Where is Jeff?" Vee mumbled.

  "I killed him," the woman said. She was walking towards Vee. "You killed my John."

  Vee started to cry. "I thought it was Jeff. It was supposed to be Jeff. He was coming back to finish us off. He was coming back so I could kill him."

  Taylor looked at Vee from the ground, cradling a lifeless Scotty. "He's dead because of you."

  "It was an accident. It was supposed to be Jeff," Vee screamed. She lifted the gun in her hand. She was going to end her life. She'd killed innocent people. She'd murdered someone coming to rescue her. All this time Jeff was already dead, the slate cleaned. The healing could've begun if she'd only listened to Scotty.

  Vee looked down at his lifeless corpse and dead eyes. She'd pulled the trigger on his death as well.

  Vee got the gun at chest height when she felt the searing pain of the bullet ripping through her forehead before she felt nothing.

  Epilogue

  The zombie stood in the middle of the road smiling.

  "I need to pass," she said.

  "Where do you think you're headed?"

  "North. I'm on a mission and need to find someone. You're in my way," she said.

  The zombie raised his arms. "I'm afraid this is now a toll road. I will need payment before you can pass, ma'am."

  "I don't have time for your games," she said and pulled out her weapon. "I'm going to count to three and then you either move or I shoot you."

  "You realize you're surrounded, right?"

  She shrugged. "I've been outnumbered before. It won't be the last time, either. Nothing is going to stand in my way. I am on a journey that doesn't include you. Step aside because everything is going to fall in my path."

  "What are you, a poet? Poetry is stupid," the zombie said. "I'm going to count to three and you will put down your gun. I promise I won't let the others rip you apart. I'll kill you quickly and painlessly. Fair?"

  "One," she said.

  The zombie put up a hand. "No, you're not getting it. I'm going to count. One."

  A horde of zombies began shambling from the tree line on either side of her. The sound of zombies coming up behind her on the road and the sight of more behind him greeted her, but she didn't flinch. There was no time for it.

  "Two," she said.

  The zombie laughed and held up two fingers. "Two."

  She fired, the bullet punching through his right eye and dropping him.

  "Three," she yelled and began taking grenades out of her backpack, pulling pins, and tossing them. She had her pockets filled with ammo and the will to kill every zombie between this spot and her destination to the north.

  And nothing was going to stop The Zombie Killer.

  FIRST LOOK

  A rough draft preview of the upcoming

  Dying Days 6

  Summer 2016

  Dying Days 6

  Armand Rosamilia

  Prologue

  Her name had been Eve, which she thought fitting.

  She loved watching football as a kid with her dad in Upstate New York. Dad was a Giants fan so she’d begun rooting for the rival Jets. Now, she wished she hadn’t been such a bad daughter.

  “I need her to shut up,” Eve said quietly to the terrified man in chains.

  The woman had been screaming for hours. At first Eve thought it amusing. How long could someone yell when they were slowly tortured?

  Too long.

  “Should we take her off the table?” the man in chains asked.

  Eve moved with lightning speed and slapped the man across the face, driving his nose into his skull and killing him. Eve smiled and licked the trace of blood on her hand.

  She no longer needed the blood or the violence but it came
with the power. She needed more power. As a teen she'd read a book about Countess Bathory and thought it was very cool. Now Eve wanted to be the new Bathory. She needed a new subject to do her bidding now, too.

  “Unchain this dead man and get his pitiful body out of my stadium,” Eve said.

  Two servants ran and did her bidding as quickly as possible, never making eye contact.

  Eve pointed at the woman, stretched on the table on the sideline below.

  “I grow weary of her screams. If she isn’t going to tell what I need to know, hang her in the parking lot with the others,” Eve said.

  Humans were so problematic but necessary right now. As much as she wished she could wipe them off the face of her earth, she needed them as she grew in power. She needed them to keep others away from this stadium, and rebuild it in her image.

  The markings of the football team formerly housed here were now gone, a pile of broken teal, black and gold standards and banners either burned or piled on the practice field away from this spot. Eve didn’t want to see another jaguar or dumb football slogan, although the giant screens needed to be fixed and the markings taken from them at some point. She’d lost three humans climbing to the top of the stadium already without finishing the job.

  Through the tunnel she could see two small eyes watching. It was the little girl, so inquisitive and curious despite its mother’s fear Eve would eat her.

  “Come, little one,” Eve called out from across the stadium. She smiled and motioned with her hands.

  The girl got six steps before her mother ran out and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders, steering her back.

  “Let her go,” Eve yelled.

  The woman took another step back, ignoring the command.

  “I will not say it again,” she said. Eve was moving, already down the steps and onto the field.

  The mother stopped, back rigid as she stood between Eve and her precious daughter, not looking back.

  Eve lightly pushed the woman away, not even bothering to look at her. She wasn’t important. The mother was just another female to birth more children who would someday grow to help build an empire.

  “What’s your name?” Eve asked, bending down and smiling.

  “Are you a monster?” the little girl, maybe six years old, asked.

  Eve laughed. “Is that what your mother’s been telling you?”

  “No, ma'am,” the mother answered quickly. “I just… we need to get back inside. It is your law we don’t come out unless you call for us.”

  “Maybe I did call for her. You didn’t tell me your name, honey,” Eve said. She smiled at the little girl again.

  “Amber,” she said.

  She laughed. “Amber is a fat girl name.” She had such pretty red hair.

  The mother opened her mouth to say something really stupid but wisely turned away without a sound.

  Eve put his hand out. “Come, Amber, we have much to discuss.”

  The woman tried to step between her daughter and Eve again.

  “You’re dismissed,” Eve said.

  “My daughter…”

  “No harm will come to the child. I just want to talk to someone so innocent for awhile. I grow so bored with adults who think they know what I want them to say.” Eve looked down at Amber. She was a skinny little thing. Unlike anyone she’d ever known named Amber. Including her own sister, Amber.

  When the woman didn’t immediately back down, Eve grinned and leaned forward. The mother stared into her gray eyes, frightened but her maternal instinct overpowering reason and survival.

  “Don’t let me slice your throat in front of your daughter. You cannot win this battle. The only thing you can do is put your trust in a monster like me and pray to your God I don’t do anything bad to your precious child,” Eve said. She patted Amber on the head and pointed. “Go run across the field as quickly as you can. I’ll wait for you on the other side."

  When Amber began to run, crossing the football field, Eve turned back to the mother.

  “Are you not fed?”

  “Ma'am?”

  Eve raised her hands. “Do I not protect you from the zombies? Do I not get you food and drink, a bed to sleep in, and entertainment? Am I a bad ruler?”

  The mother shook her head quickly.

  “Then it makes me curious why you don’t trust me with Amber. Have I ever touched one of the children or said something inappropriate? Have you heard rumors from others in your group?”

  “No.” The woman stared at Eve and she could see she was trying to keep her thoughts as hidden as she could, even though it wasn’t working.

  “You’re worried about me hurting her. You should be more worried about yourself, especially if you can’t offer me what I want,” Eve said. “If I were you, I’d take this time alone and realize it’s a gift. Go back and find a mate, because barren females aren’t anything more than zombie bait.”

  Eve was about to threaten her further when the images in her mind startled her.

  She turned back to see Amber standing on the other sideline.

  “Amber, I want you to run around the field. Play. Have fun. I’ll be right back. I’m going to talk with your mother and then you and I will eat M&M’s and drink soda,” Eve said.

  She turned back to the mother and put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Take me to the men who are forcing themselves on the women. These men will be dealt with severely so this doesn’t happen again,” she said.

  The mother shook her head. “No. Please don’t do anything. I can handle it.”

  Eve looked at Amber as she started running. “Eventually, once you’re all broken, they’ll start on the children. This is what men do. This is why I am here now. To cull the herd so we can find only the ones worth living.” She grabbed the woman roughly by the chin. “I am not asking you to tell me. I will eviscerate you in front of the flock to prove a point, do you understand? I am not your friend. I am not going to rip these men apart brutally because I love my followers and want to show them justice. I am doing it because you are my property and every dead woman means one less baby for me. I need a population to continue my work. Take me to them.”

  She nodded her head slowly.

  Eve grinned. She hadn’t had to kill anyone and make an example in too many weeks.

  The Chosen One was coming right to him, drawn to the power, and she needed to stay sharp.

  Chapter 1

  Darlene Bobich stopped at the intersection of I-95 and Route 295 and cocked her head, listening for trouble. She had no idea which way to go to find her child.

  A zombie walked by her without a dead glance and Darlene didn’t feel like wasting the energy to kill it. Her bloodlust had been sated miles ago, and now she was just tired.

  She watched another zombie shuffle by, missing his left arm and still covered in fresh blood. This man had died not too long ago judging by the lack of rot on his body and his clothing dirty but not yet in shreds.

  This poor bastard survived this long, only to have his luck run out, Darlene thought. He might be one of the last to turn into a smarter zombie if he was allowed to live, but more than likely he’d be butchered by either a survivor or a smart zombie who didn’t want the eventual opponent. The world was becoming less and less populated by zombies as they evolved and slaughtered their own kind.

  Darlene walked to the side of the road and sat down on the grass, away from the hot pavement. She watched for snakes in the tall weeds. The zombies no longer felt her presence thanks to the mix of her already superior blood with The Lich Lord’s.

  She didn’t know what she was but for right now she’d take it. She needed to find her baby and understand why Bri had taken him before Darlene put a bullet in the little bitch’s head.

  My son.

  She just wanted to hold him in her arms and listen to him cry and laugh. She’d already named him John Murphy III, and she’d call him Junior. At first she’d been reluctant to choose a name but after John had been killed Darlene knew
life was too short to worry.

  A female zombie, the left side of her face caved in but still intact, wandered in her direction. She was headed right at Darlene. Even though they were technically no longer a threat, Darlene still felt a panic attack coming on when one of them seemed to stare with those dead eyes.

  Darlene stood and stabbed her with a knife, slicing through the wrecked forehead and watching the glimmer fade from her stare.

  She’d since given up on killing every zombie but a few here and there wouldn’t hurt.

  The intelligent ones were the problem, and they were around more and more. She needed to figure out what signs the zombies gave off right before they smartened up. If she could work it out she might be able to eliminate them before they get their memories back and were able to think like a once-human.

  Now that she was back on her feet she decided to keep heading north. She’d keep moving and find her baby, like a needle in a haystack. Bri and Junior could be anywhere right now.

  At this once-busy intersection, with all the off-ramps and roads merging, the abandoned cars were nearly piled on top of one another. It stunk to high Heaven under the closest underpass, where a half-burnt pile of bodies was being torn open by a pack of turkey vultures, grown overstuffed with all the roadkill for them to eat.

  By the smell of the bodies and the stray wafts of smoke coming from the pyre, it was obvious this had been done within the last twelve hours or so.

  Darlene steered clear and kept her eyes open. Above her, on the overpass, she could see a few wandering zombies but nothing else.

  A slight breeze turned the hot putrid air in her direction and she covered her mouth and nose with a hand. She wondered if smart zombies were affected by the stink. They didn’t need to eat or sleep or defecate. They just existed without anything holding them back.

  Darlene could feel the blood flowing through her and her senses were definitely heightened but she was still hungry right now. She guessed she was a hybrid, but had no idea where she fit into the new world.