Dying Days 8 Read online

  Terry flopped down onto some marsh grass and sighed. He was hidden from the women, which was a good thing because he didn’t want to move right now.

  Would it be so wrong to take a quick nap? Terry really didn’t care because that was exactly what his plan was.

  He hoped he didn’t snore. Sometimes, when he was really tired, he snored loudly.

  The breeze blowing through the grass and the sound of the river would mask anything. He hoped.

  What’s the game plan now? Just run away and put The Promised Land in the rearview mirror? See if there are other settlements out there? Terry decided worrying and planning right now wasn’t going to help him sleep so he tried to force his brain to shut the fuck up and take five.

  Terry opened his eyes when he heard something approaching, expecting it to be a bird or some small animal.

  It was a boy, maybe six, and he looked angry.

  The rifle in his hand was steady and aimed at Terry’s head.

  “Hey… hey, buddy. I’m Terry. Don’t shoot.”

  An older man joined the boy, blocking the sun from Terry.

  “What do we have here? Looks like a water rat. Let me see your hands, mister. Lukas will shoot you if you twitch wrong. He’s been bagging squirrel and geese for months. Best shot you will ever see,” the man said.

  “I believe you,” Terry said and put his hands up. “I’m cool, Lukas. A little wet and hungry but cool. Just trying to get by.”

  “We’re all trying to get by,” the man said. “My son is going to check your pockets while I cover. No funny stuff, got it?”

  “I don’t have anything. I just swam across the river. Two women are trying to kill me. All I want is to get away before they see us. They’re armed and dangerous,” Terry said.

  “We’ll worry about hags once we make sure you’re not the one armed and dangerous,” the man said.

  “I’m Terry.”

  “You already said that.” The man moved to his left so he still had a perfect shot at Terry’s head while Lukas went through his empty pockets.

  “Just trying to make conversation while Lukas does what he’s doing,” Terry said. He really didn’t want this to end badly or for the women to either see where he was or get into a shooting match with these two. As much as he didn’t really care about the women, he didn’t want to see them taken out by these two.

  “Stop talking. You’re giving me a headache,” the man said.

  “Pa, he’s got nothing. Maybe he’s hiding it in his bung-hole like that man said they sometimes do,” Lukas said.

  Terry shook his head. “There’s nothing weird in there.”

  “Relax. Even if you filled your ass with bags of peanut M&Ms I’m not looking and wouldn’t eat them, either.” The man lifted his weapon up but Lukas went back to pointing his at Terry’s head.

  “I don’t want a problem with the women so if we could get out of here, or better yet, let me go my own way, I’d be mighty grateful,” Terry said.

  The man looked across the river. “We could use some women.”

  “Not these women,” Terry said quickly. “They’re a nasty lot. Independent. Not good cooks. They’re sisters with bad genes.”

  “Their jeans are bad? Like they don’t fit?” Lukas asked.

  “Don’t talk to the prisoner, son,” the man said, still trying to see where April and Carlie were.

  Terry had no great affection for either woman but he didn’t want this weird guy and his creepy little son getting their hands on them.

  “If I’m your prisoner, don’t you think you should secure me first? Take me back to wherever it is you need to take me? There’s an entire encampment on the other side, you know. Not just the two bitches. Lots of men with lots of guns. I barely got out alive. By now I’m sure they’ve left to get reinforcements. They’ll shoot first and ask questions later,” Terry said.

  “What do you want to do, Pa?” Lukas asked, finger on the trigger. By the look in his eyes, there would be no hesitation if his old man told him to kill Terry.

  The man did one more sweeping gaze across the river before shaking his head. “Let’s get going. Stand up, mister. Slowly. Hands on your head. If you sneeze, we’ll kill you and leave you for the wild things.”

  Terry thought the wild things already had him.

  Chapter Eight

  Tosha found a spot underneath what was left of the bridge and closed her eyes.

  “Shouldn’t we get across the river before dark? We can launch the boat a few blocks north. They’ll never see us,” Mitch said.

  “Unless they have people watching, which they surely do unless they’re stupid. At this point, anyone still alive is a smart motherfucker. No way are they not watching to see what we do. The only move is to shut up, get a quick nap, and slip across when it’s dark. Now shut up so I can sleep,” Tosha said.

  “Aren’t you worried I’ll kill you?” Mitch asked.

  “Not at all. I’m afraid you’ll try to take a peek at my great tits or to see what color my thong is, but you’re not going to do anything stupider than that,” Tosha said.

  “Maybe I’ll surprise you.”

  Tosha shook her head. “Unfortunately for you, Mitch, you’re a gentleman. You have a really fucked up moral code and you actually thought killing The Lich Lord was going to be a good thing. You’re a soldier. A follower. The muscle in the group. Not a bad guy. Also not a leader.”

  “What does that have to do with me peeking at your thong?”

  “More than you think.” Tosha rolled slightly to her side and yanked down her pants an inch or two. “I’m not wearing a thong or any undies. Now stop thinking about it.”

  “Now I’m thinking about you not wearing anything under those tight jeans,” Mitch said.

  “I can’t say I blame you. I’m sure you remember how awesome my ass is. Now take first watch. I need a couple of hours of my power nap or I’m cranky. If anything moves, don’t shoot it. Watch it. Wake me. Can you handle that order?” Tosha asked.

  Mitch didn’t answer and Tosha didn’t want to open her eyes because she knew he’d want to keep talking. She thought she heard him wander off before she forced herself to stop thinking and get some sleep.

  “Tosha,” Mitch whispered in her ear. She didn’t move other than to open one eye and smile. She’d been awake for a few minutes already but didn’t want to let him know just yet.

  “You need to get up. I let you sleep as long as I could but this is…” Mitch held out the binoculars. “Just take a look.”

  Tosha could already see despite the darkness there were way too many headlights for the group they’d encountered today. When she took a look, she frowned.

  “Where did all these other people come from?” Tosha asked.

  “They started showing up about thirty minutes ago. Right down the main road but Profit’s group kept them away from the bridge. I think we’re going to have a confrontation soon,” Mitch said.

  “Sweet. Let’s get in the boat. We’ll both row. With all this shit going on, no one is going to be watching the river. We don’t have to sneak. Let’s get across before the real fun begins,” Tosha said. She let Mitch help her up and they pulled the boat out from behind some debris.

  “I think we need to alert Bernie and everyone,” Mitch said.

  Tosha laughed. “You think they don’t have eyes or ears? They can see something is going on. The first thing Bernie will ask is why I wasn’t in the middle of the action.”

  “I don’t think it’s safe,” Mitch said.

  “I don’t remember fucking asking you. Row the boat and shut up. They might not be paying attention but they’ll hear your voice carrying over the water.” Tosha turned and got low in the boat. “And don’t stare at my ass.”

  “It’s too dark to see it.”

  “But you looked. Right?”

  Mitch chuckled. “Of course.”

  “Just want to keep you on your toes and always guessing,” Tosha said. She doubted she’d ever hook back
up with Mitch but she didn’t want to burn that bridge just yet, especially when actual living and breathing men were getting harder and harder to find.

  They got to the other side and paddled right to the boat launch. Tosha stepped out and pulled the boat to the side.

  Tosha motioned for Mitch to stay close to her as she began to move.

  The lights were bright at the intersection of where the main road coming east ran into the north-south Beach Street.

  This was worse than Tosha had thought.

  Not only had the zombies cleared out for Profit’s group but it looked like another dozen other groups as well. Small groups of walkers and huge lines of vehicles.

  “Is that a tank?” Mitch asked.

  Tosha could only nod.

  There were quite a few men and women yelling but so far no one had opened fire.

  If this got out of hand, she was sure the fireworks from the safety of The Promised Land would be much safer than a few feet away, behind a bush.

  “I’m guessing five different factions,” Mitch said.

  “Six to my eyes. That small group to the right. Did you count them?”

  “No. They look tough, though. If they start shooting, I’m betting they’ll take out a lot of people, despite only being maybe two dozen strong,” Mitch said.

  Tosha couldn’t argue with the assessment. The problem to her was everyone standing around, looking angry and ready to start fighting, was a veteran of this shit by now.

  Only the strong had survived.

  Even the weak people with the best of luck, the rabbit’s feet shoved up their asses, had taken the fall by now. Luck only lasted for so long before the best of the best rose to the top of the heap.

  “What do we do if they start firing? Retreat or join the battle?” Mitch asked.

  Tosha thought about it. Her gut reaction was jumping up and firing, killing until everyone was dead. Maybe even her and Mitch.

  “We wait and we watch. We move back to the boat and cover our asses. If anyone comes near us, we kill them. Otherwise, there’s no point in getting involved. This isn’t our dispute. The best case would be they all kill each other and The Promised Land is safe. Worst case is they all join forces and lay siege to what little we have right now,” she said.

  Tosha saw Profit, walking into the middle of the killing field between the groups. He had his hands up and a smile on his face.

  “I’m Profit. I got here first so I got the nice vacation spot near the river. Great fishing and chicks in bikinis. This paradise is big enough for all of us, I think. The hot redhead across the river might disagree but I think the worst thing we can do is fight among ourselves. It feels like we’re being herded like sheep by the zombies. I think we just need to talk. I’m willing to put down my weapon and meet the leaders so we can come to an understanding. What do you say?”

  Tosha stood from where she and Mitch had been crouching.

  Mitch grabbed her leg. “What are you doing?”

  “I think I’ll invite myself to this party. Plus, he called me hot. I won’t fuck him because I think Bernie will, but it’s nice to know I have options,” Tosha said. She looked down at Mitch’s fingers on her thigh. “I’d move whatever fingers you want to keep. Stay here and cover me. I’m going in.”

  Tosha stood and took two steps before she saw who had joined the party ahead of her.

  Chapter Nine

  She knew it was risky revealing herself to all of these armed warriors but she didn’t think she had a choice. The mood was electric and deadly and if she didn’t try to defuse the situation there would be bloodshed, which was exactly what her son was looking for.

  “I am Darlene Bobich.”

  Profit laughed. “You’re the Zombie Killer,” he said. “We’ve heard stories about you from people all over the South. How many you’ve killed since this began. The greatest shooter that ever lived. You’re eight feet tall with iron for blood. No fear. No use for hesitation.” He lifted the weapon in his hand and aimed it at her. “Then you became a zombie yourself. Am I correct?”

  “Yes, in a nutshell.” Darlene could see quite a few people taking steps back and aiming their weapons at her. She hoped this didn’t go south. The worst thing would be having to destroy all of these survivors, which might be what her son had set her up to do.

  Now she felt horrible. Had she walked right into a trap? There might be only one way out of this and it wouldn’t end well for anyone.

  “Then we kill you and another zombie dies,” a tall well-built man, in all black wearing sunglasses despite the darkness, said.

  Darlene shook her head and put up a shield to deflect bullets, hoping she could get them to go harmlessly to the ground instead of back at the shooter and kill everyone.

  “Kill her. Why not? Fuck the fact she’s saved every one of you fuckers,” Tosha said, as she walked into the circle and took a spot a few feet from Darlene.

  “Who the fuck is she?” Sunglasses asked.

  Profit laughed. “This is the redhead I was talking about.”

  “You said hot redhead. I heard you,” Tosha said.

  “Can we stick to the important stuff right now?” Darlene asked.

  Tosha grinned. “I am. Anyway, let’s all take a second to think about what’s going on, shall we? The zombies have formed a wall maybe twenty or thirty deep. Blocking our exit to the west. Yet, they part and let you all in without so much as a second look. Why do you think that is?”

  Sunglasses dropped his weapon to his side. “We’ve been attacked from the Ohio Valley until we hit about an hour up the road. Herded in this direction. I see it now. Any time we tried to turn in another direction or make a stand we were hit hard by the zombies. Coordinated attacks. Walls of the dead. We’re fucked.”

  “I’m sure each and every group has the same story, no matter what part of the country you came from. The rest of the world is gone, as far as I know. Nothing but zombies. Entire cities overrun and towns razed to the ground. There might be some pockets of resistance but I have a feeling the zombies are weeding them out one by one and sending them here,” Darlene said.

  “Why?” Tosha asked.

  “I don’t know,” Darlene admitted. “I do know fighting each other is what they want. Maybe they’ve grown stronger, smarter and bored. They want to see the last survivors fighting it out for their own amusement.”

  Darlene didn’t know if everyone was on the same page based on some of the looks they were giving each other. She didn’t want this to devolve into a fight or some macho chest-thumping.

  Tosha, you need to offer them a safe haven in The Promised Land. If they don’t see there’s a place for them to go that can be defended, they’ll start in-fighting. I believe it’s what my son wants. He’s doing this for his own amusement, Darlene said to Tosha in her head.

  She could see the redhead was confused at first but she recovered quickly and put her hands in the air. “I’m not here to fight. I’m not going to kill anyone still breathing. There aren’t enough of us left. I have food and electricity and hot water over the bridge. I say we join together and make a stand. We’ve fought the zombies and we have driven them back but we lost too many people.”

  Profit smiled. “My, how quickly your mood changes when you have so many armed people pointing many weapons at your precious fortress.”

  “My mood changed because it’s the right thing to do. I thought you were an isolated group. Maybe marauders. Assholes. Now I see everyone’s been pushed in our direction and we all need to take advantage of strength in numbers,” Tosha said. “It’s up to you. I’m not going to fight with anyone. If you try to take what we have, we’ll fight tooth and nail and too many of us will die. Then the zombies will march on the few survivors and the human race will be gone.”

  “She’s right. We need to stick together,” Darlene said.

  “We? You’re a zombie,” a bald woman said from another group. “I’m not taking orders from a fucking dead woman. Nothing personal.”


  “None taken,” Darlene said. “I’m not going to be around. My job is to make sure the zombies don’t attack and, if they do, I can let you know so you have time to defend.”

  “I heard The Promised Land was ruled by a zombie king. Are you his queen?” Sunglasses asked.

  “No. I killed The Lich Lord when he destroyed most of The Promised Land. Tosha can vouch for that. She helped me do it,” Darlene said.

  Tosha nodded. “I’ve known Darlene since before she was turned. She’s always been a fighter. Always had my back. Nothing has changed except now she has crazy fucking powers we have on our side to combat the bad zombies. The ones who can think and plan. Each day more and more mindless zombies become aware and seek to kill us. I think it’s a great thing we have one on our side of the river. She’s saved us countless times.”

  “I hope you can come to your senses and help Tosha and the survivors rebuild it,” Darlene said. She was starting to see being here was only going to incite a few people with an agenda. “I’ll be leaving now. Work this out for the sake of humanity. Please.”

  Profit took a few steps towards Darlene and she made sure her shield was up. She didn’t want a confrontation, especially with one of their leaders.

  Darlene scanned his thoughts and relaxed. He understood what was at stake.

  Profit turned slowly in a circle, pointing at the other heads of groups as he did. “I want to live. Survive. Fuck. Eat. Sleep. Normal shit. Who gives a fuck if Darlene is a zombie now? She’s clearly got our sixes. The hot redhead vouches for her. She’s also offered us shelter. Food. Water. We can fuck without having to look over our shoulder. Wouldn’t that be nice? I don’t know about any of you but I’m going. I want a hot shower tonight.”

  “I’m going to head to the bridge. Let them know you’re coming. Give me thirty minutes to get word to everyone so there are no surprises and they know you’re coming. We have plenty of food and places to crash tonight. In the morning, we can all sit down and figure out what we’ll do going forward,” Tosha said.