Dying Days [Book 9] Read online

  The sun was coming up and she turned her face to the warmth and smiled. After so many hours trapped in pitch black with so many bodies pressed against her, it was beautiful to be up here.

  The gap she’d climbed through might not be big enough for most of them.

  Definitely not for the wide hips on my sister, she thought with a grin.

  The roof was flat with a short three-brick wall surrounding it. Enough to stop a bottle rolling off the roof but nothing more. Someone had placed two plastic beach chairs on the roof with a large umbrella. All of it was shredded from the weather.

  A glance over the side of the building made her shudder. As far as she could see, hundreds of zombies were crowded around the building. All pushing, trying to get inside.

  Carlie was hoping to see other survivors on the rooftops of nearby buildings.

  There were none.

  “I’m coming up,” April said.

  “If you can get your big butt through the gap.”

  “What? I didn’t hear you,” April said.

  “I said I love you.”

  “I’m sure you said something about my ass.”

  Carlie walked the perimeter to make sure they were truly surrounded, hoping there would be an area the zombies couldn’t get into or a roof close enough to climb to.

  No such luck.

  The fence on the back of the property had been reinforced with a cement block wall, which in better days had been used to patrol everything on the other side of Main Street.

  Now it was in danger of being toppled by the sheer weight of zombies.

  More disturbing, she saw three men with rifles watching her from the third level of the parking garage a block away.

  Carlie ducked down.

  April popped her head up through the hole in the roof.

  “Keep your head down. We’re being watched by assholes with guns,” Carlie said.

  “What’s the expression? Out of the frying pan and into the fire? It seems appropriate.” April pulled herself up and flipped onto her back. “The sun feels good.”

  “How’d you fit through the hole?” Carlie asked, crawling up to her sister and grinning.

  “Fuck off. I’ve lost weight. The apocalypse will do that, you know.”

  Carlie kissed April on the cheek and went to the gash in the roof. “We have a problem up here.”

  “I think we have a bigger one down here,” her mother said, putting up a hand, standing on the ceiling joints. “The door sounds like it will fall any second.”

  “Come up but go to the far end and stay down. Guys with guns,” Carlie said.

  As soon as her mother was up, Carlie put down her hand. “Hurry up.”

  April joined her at the hole.

  “If we can get everyone to the far end, we’ll have a fighting chance of not getting shot. They know we’re here and when they see how many of us there are they’ll fire.” April smiled as she helped her father onto the roof. “The air conditioning units will give us some cover.”

  The zombies were definitely inside now. Carlie could hear a scuffle down below. She gripped the side of the hole and tried to look down into the darkness.

  “Be careful. It’s going to fall in,” April said.

  Carlie smiled and began pulling at the roof. Part of it crumbled in her hands. The breach had been rained on or heated up from the sun for so long it was falling apart.

  “We need to widen it so light can get to them and maybe more than one person can climb up,” Carlie said. “Help me.”

  April started pounding on the roof, yanking chunks of it and tossing it aside.

  “Need some help?” Their father got the other side and a rotting wooden board broke in half.

  “Let’s go,” Carlie yelled into the room. She could see a few people in the back who were pressed against the wall. “Two at a time.”

  “Go. We’ll hold them back,” Profit yelled. Carlie couldn’t see him but she could hear the scuffling.

  Another person was lifted into the gap and climbed onto the ceiling beam and quickly lifted to the roof.

  It was taking too long. Carlie wanted to climb back down and make sure everyone else got to safety but she knew it would be a stupid move.

  The sun was already beating down on everyone on the roof, the glare bouncing off every metallic or white surface. The roof itself was hot on their feet and it was only going to get hotter as the day progressed.

  Carlie hoped the day would progress without anyone else dying.

  An older woman was helped up into the hole by Bernie.

  Carlie pointed at the others huddled near the large unit.

  The woman nodded but stood instead of crawling or even stooping.

  “Get down,” Carlie yelled.

  The woman turned and the bullet ripped through her throat.

  “Fuck,” Carlie yelled and slammed her hands on the hot roof. She wanted to stand and give the bastards the finger but knew the next shot would be in her chest.

  Another woman came up and Carlie sighed. “Please keep your head down and crawl to the others.”

  “Obviously,” the woman said with a scowl, about to make another sarcastic comment when she saw the dead woman a foot away. “Oh. Crawl? You got it.”

  As the woman moved across the roof and Carlie hoped the assholes wouldn’t take another shot at anyone, she glanced into the hole.

  She could see glimpses of Bernie and Profit but no one else except the zombies.

  Profit had a cracked piece of wood, using it to keep the monsters at bay as Bernie kicked and punched next to him.

  “Get up here,” Carlie yelled.

  “We can’t. If one of us stops to lift the other, we’re dead. Get them to safety,” Bernie yelled back.

  Carlie glanced around on the roof before sighing and looking back in the hole.

  “We’re trapped. There’s nowhere to go and even if we had a ladder it would put us on the ground with a thousand zombies,” Carlie said.

  Profit swung the wood and Carlie watched it slip out of his hand.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Jada snapped the man’s neck and dragged him deeper into the building. She’d need to find another location soon since this one was filling quickly with bodies.

  Another zombie had wandered in through one of the gaps in the broken wall behind her. With a sigh she dropped the body she was moving, pulled and shoved her knife into the zombie’s head in one fluid motion, and pulled it out as the zombie fell.

  Another body to move, she thought. She needed the middle of each room clear so if she had to retreat she’d have a path to escape.

  Unfortunately she had no plans other than stab-kill-hide-repeat.

  Trying to cross back across the river was suicide.

  Heading in another direction meant a wall of zombies.

  Staying in a building would get her trapped and killed.

  She wondered briefly if Profit was still alive. He’d have a witty answer to the perplexing question: what the fuck do I do next to stay alive?

  At least it was light out. She’d survived the night, which was likely a rare thing. She couldn’t imagine many others still alive.

  Jada was on her own, which is how she’d begun this journey anyway.

  She ducked down as two armed men walked past the broken window, only five feet from where she stood. If either had turned in her direction, she would’ve been caught.

  They were being quiet, stalking prey.

  Jada could really use their rifles and whatever else they carried.

  The knife she carried was great in hand-to-hand combat but it wasn’t weighted for throwing. As long as she could get the jump on her enemy, she had an above average chance of killing them, but two armed men was going to be tough.

  She didn’t have a choice.

  Jada shadowed their movements inside the building, keeping down and making sure they weren’t trying to circle back if they’d seen her.

  They were busy watching the street.
r />   Both men were nearly shoulder to shoulder, which created another problem. It would be better if there was some space between them so she could take one down before the other had a clue what was going on.

  All she could do was watch them as they moved away from her, taking their sweet time walking down the street.

  She wanted their guns. Whatever else they had on their persons.

  Jada decided the dead she’d put down in this building weren’t going anywhere.

  Following seemed to be the smartest and most dangerous move at this point.

  Once they got a few buildings away, she took a step outside the safety of the building, making sure no one else was in the area.

  Jada ducked back inside and held her breath.

  A man with a machete and an Army jacket covered in dried blood was just outside.

  Had she been seen?

  She got into her fighting stance, ready to spring from a lower position and stab him in the gut if he took a step inside.

  He went past the open door, not even looking in her direction.

  This guy was stalking the other two.

  The hunters had become the hunted.

  As he moved past, Jada knew she had an easy route to get behind him and slit his throat before he could react. The machete would come in handy, too.

  She let him go.

  Once he’d gotten as far as the two men had previously, she began following.

  With any luck the three would kill each other and she could pick up the pieces, which now included a machete as well as the rifles.

  As long as zombies didn’t swarm them or her, she’d be fine.

  Jada gave them a bigger lead since she could hear them moving, even though the trio was trying to be quiet.

  Four blocks west she came to a major intersection. A destroyed fast food restaurant on the corner was the only building even remotely intact. The other three corners, which had once been a gas station, a pharmacy and an office building, were leveled. Only the tilting signs remained.

  The two men were now heading north down the middle of the road.

  Jada didn’t see the guy with the machete and stopped short. The last thing she wanted was him to get behind her.

  Too late.

  She shook her head, cursing herself for being so arrogant as to think these men weren’t as skilled as she was.

  Jada put up her hands at the sound of the man approaching and turned slowly.

  “Woah. You’re a chick.” The guy with the machete was staring. “What happened to your face?”

  Jada touched her scar. “My cat was mad at me for hugging the dog.”

  He looked confused but held the machete in his hand like he knew how to use it. Jada was hoping he held it like a sword. It would be easier to disarm it.

  “Why are you following those two losers?” Jada asked.

  His eyes narrowed. “They killed my family.”

  Jada put her hands down and frowned. “They killed my husband.”

  “Seriously?”

  She nodded, trying to look pathetic enough he wouldn’t see her as a threat. “I’ve been following them for a few blocks. I was hiding. They were trying to find me. I was about to attack when I saw you.”

  “Attack with what?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe jump one and take his rifle and shoot his friend. I’m not really sure. I just want revenge.”

  “How do I know I can trust you?”

  “You don’t. Same as I don’t know if I can really trust you. There is one thing I do know, though: the two bastards that killed people we loved are getting away.” Jada glanced over her shoulder. “This might be my last chance to catch them. I’d hate for a zombie to do it. That doesn’t seem like revenge to me.”

  She looked at the man and he lowered the machete but still held it ready to strike.

  “Then we work together but you stay away from me. Since you don’t have a weapon you’re going to be the bait. We catch up to them and you make noise so they come after you. Run and I’ll kill one of them, take his gun and shoot his friend. How does that sound?” He looked past her. She could see he was worried they’d get too far.

  “Not going to work. I want to kill one of them, too. I want to see the look in his eyes.”

  “Fine. I’ll wound the first one with the machete. Slice his Achilles. Knock him out. You can revive him and do whatever you want. Can we go now?”

  Jada nodded and made sure she was far enough away from the man and his machete as they started to move.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Cutting down the zombies with just her inhuman strength in her hands was taking too long. She knew it was what her son wanted, too.

  Even though the zombies couldn’t see her, thinking Darlene one of their own, they were still in her way and trying to kill the humans.

  The humans trying to kill her people she wasn’t too worried about except to stop them from antagonizing the situation.

  Darlene was impatient. She was a few blocks away and could run down the street, knocking zombies over as she moved. The problem was so many survivors were hiding in houses in the area, a few stragglers still alive. If she used her powers to assess the situation, she was afraid she’d drain herself too quickly.

  As much as she wanted to believe she understood what she was capable of and the few limitations, Darlene didn’t want to waste anything until she knew when her son was going to make his move.

  She knew it was coming soon.

  While it would be easy to simply ignore the zombies and walk calmly down the middle of the road or jog to Main Street, she knew every zombie left she’d eventually have to deal with.

  Each monster was a potential death of a survivor.

  Add in the living hanging back in hiding and shooting anything that moved and you had quite a mess.

  The gate to Main Street had been thrown open and a steady stream of zombies was entering.

  Darlene pushed through, knocking down a few and stepping on their heads to make sure they stayed down.

  She could sense the survivors.

  The last stand for The Promised Land was happening on the roof of a bar on Main Street. She could see the building leaning precariously to the right, about to collapse onto the street and toss the group on the roof to the ground.

  Even if the fall didn’t kill them the hundreds of zombies would.

  Darlene had had enough of pussyfooting in this fight. It was about time she cleared the playing field and let the living get a breather.

  She’d been so worried about her own stamina and power reserve she’d lost sight of the simple fact if she was too careful she’d have no one left to save.

  Darlene planted her feet and raised her hands, stopping slightly for effect.

  She unleashed a small stream of yellow energy from the tips of her fingers, adding colors as she concentrated.

  Whatever zombie was touched by the rays, no matter if it was the green or the purple or the blue, would begin to smolder and implode.

  Dozens of zombies were seized in the energy streams, smoked briefly and then fell to the ground, most of their rotting bodies destroyed.

  You’re making a mistake. So impatient, mother. I was hoping this would be a fair fight when I came for you. Now… you’ve let your emotions for the humans sap your power. This will almost be anticlimactic for me now.

  “Stop talking and face me, you little shit,” Darlene said through clenched teeth.

  Darlene didn’t wait for him to appear. He was trying to slow her down so more humans would die.

  The energy streams stopped, rolling down the street and cutting through zombies as they slowly dissipated.

  Darlene rushed to the building, sending another short wave of energy around it so, as she helped the survivors, nothing could harm them.

  Instead of wasting time floating up to the roof and helping one or two at a time, Darlene envisioned a hand gripping the group in a protective glove and lowering them to the ground.

  She was g
lad she’d been thinking of protecting them because as soon as they were raised off the roof together and began floating down, a rain of shots bounced harmlessly off her force field.

  Once the people were on the ground and behind the protective wall she’d raised, she turned in the direction of the shooters.

  “Stay right here. I’ll return in a few seconds,” Darlene said and took off running.

  The shooters were gathering their gear and trying to run but it was no use.

  She was quicker. Stronger. Pissed.

  No one escaped her wrath.

  Six men, all heavily armed and wearing protective gear, had no chance against Darlene.

  She made quick work of them, not wanting to waste any more energy than she had to.

  Just because she’d saved the handful of people from danger didn’t mean they were safe.

  Far from it.

  Zombies were still inside the bar, threatening to topple it as they began to bust through the flimsy walls and through gaps in the structure to get at the survivors.

  Darlene could take them a few blocks away and find a place for them to ride this out.

  If a place like that existed.

  “Where’s Bernie and Profit?” A small woman pointed at the building. “They never made it out. They’re still inside. We have to rescue them.”

  Darlene put up her hands. “Stay inside the circle. It will protect you. I’ll get them.”

  It looked like the woman was going to disobey. Darlene didn’t have time to argue with someone who thought they were helping.

  Darlene raised the energy field higher and made it glow and shoot light sparkles for effect.

  “I said stay put. I think by now you’d know I can handle it myself. You’ll only get in my way,” Darlene said and turned to the building.

  She didn’t need to be so rude to the woman but there wasn’t any time.

  It’s what she kept telling herself.

  She didn’t feel a connection with the survivors on a personal level. They were just like the zombies: something Darlene had been before.

  Darlene couldn’t use much power or the barrier keeping them safe would drop, so she began punching her way through the zombies as they spilled out the side door. As usual, they ignored her. She stopped punching and started tossing them aside so she could get through, knowing it would take too long to destroy all of them.