Dying Days 8 Read online

  She positioned herself so she could take down two at a time. It wasn’t as if she’d tire from the stroke but it would still take a long time to make a dent in their ranks.

  Darlene didn’t know why she was bothering. There were a few thousand zombies standing in perfect formation. Even if she cut down two per second, it would take her months to destroy all of them.

  If she used her powers to toss a few fireballs or rip the ground under their feet apart, she knew her son would interfere.

  Would that be a bad thing?

  She knew she would have to face him. Why do it on his terms?

  Darlene could force the issue and take him out now, before anyone else was hurt.

  But could she actually defeat him?

  Darlene conjured a flaming orb in the air before her and decided to see.

  I wouldn’t do that. You know how long it takes to get them to stand so nicely in line? It was her son, speaking up now that she was going to do something potentially hurtful to his plans.

  “I’m done playing by your rules,” Darlene said and unleashed the orb, which tore straight across in a line and through dozens of zombie heads and shoulders, setting them aflame before finally sputtering out two hundred feet down the line, destroying a big group of the zombies.

  You’re going to force my hand.

  Darlene created another orb, this one twice as big, and smiled. “You know where I am, son. I think it boils down to I didn’t hug you enough. Although, in all fairness to me, you were stolen before I had time to show you love and attention. I’m sure if your father was still around he’d agree.”

  Her son chuckled in her head. Speaking of dear old dad… I’m giving you one more chance to walk away. You can’t wipe out an entire army and, even if you could, I’d just replace them with thousands more. The world is filled with several billion zombies. Billions. Go back to your mortal friends at The Promised Land and help them rebuild the walls and fool themselves into thinking they’ll be tall and high enough.

  Darlene held back throwing the orb.

  “What about your dad?” Darlene asked.

  Walk away. Leave these poor souls to their silent rotting. Let them stay mindless but moving. They’re more my toys than your enemy at this point.

  “Tell me about John.”

  Things are going to happen for a reason. None of this matters in the grand scheme of things, mother. You’ll try many things but, in the end, it is going to be the end. Enjoy this while you can.

  “Fuck you. The last thing I’m going to do to you, right before I cut off your fucking head, is take you over my knee and spank you, you little shit,” Darlene said and raised her hand, growing the orb to double in size.

  Please be careful. You don’t want to accidentally incinerate your husband… or were you even legally married? Am I a bastard, mother? Is that why I’m so angry all the time?

  “Where is he?” Darlene was furious now. Had her son made his own father into a pawn in this game or was he bluffing?

  John was dead. Gone.

  He’s dead but not forgotten. Want to see if I’m bluffing?

  Darlene needed to do something with the flaming globe. It would either continue to grow until it was out of her control or she’d need to put it out and waste all this energy for nothing.

  “He’s your father,” Darlene said.

  I fail to see the point of your sentence. After all, you’re my dear mother and yet I can’t wait to crush you. Do you think I loved daddy more? Is that where your anger comes from?

  “Face me…”

  You really don’t want that, mother. I can smell your fear, even from this distance. You want me to go away but I won’t. You know why?

  Darlene refused to be baited into asking him.

  I’ll pretend you asked. You’re really not going to win any mother of the year awards at this rate.

  The orb was getting bigger and sparks began to shoot off a few feet away, scorching the ground where it touched. It was becoming white hot.

  I won’t go away because I have a mission. What if I told you God himself gave me this quest?

  “I’d say you were full of shit,” Darlene said.

  I very well might be. Maybe my megalomania has finally crippled my thinking. Maybe I have a God Complex. Maybe I just hate Florida weather and want to see the world covered in ice.

  Darlene thought she detected a snicker as he said ice.

  Mother… that looks really hot. Unleash it and destroy most of my standing army in one shot. It will be impressive. Until I show you what you don’t want to see. I’m not bluffing.

  “Tell me what you’re planning,” Darlene said.

  Why would I do that? This way will be so much more fun. I can’t wait to see the look on your face when I destroy the world.

  Darlene had about three seconds to defuse the orb or let it loose.

  I’ve given you two clues, mother. I’m sure you’re smart enough to figure it out all on your own. The best part? There’s nothing you can do about it.

  Darlene collapsed the orb in on itself and felt very tired.

  I knew you’d come to your senses. I’d like to think, somewhere inside my superior brain, a little part of your morality and intelligence snuck in. But don’t worry; I won’t use it to do good things. The bad guy isn’t going to suddenly see the wrongs he’s done and try to right them at the eleventh hour. How boring would that be, right?

  “The next time we meet I will finish you,” Darlene said.

  The next time we meet I’m going to kill you, mother.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “What the fuck are you looking at?” Jada asked, suddenly in Mitch’s face with her knife touching his chest. “You never seen a woman with a scar before?”

  Mitch knew opening his mouth would get him gutted.

  “Enough with the flirting, you two. It’s time to move,” Tosha yelled.

  Mitch nodded at Tosha when Jada turned away.

  He wasn’t sure if the annoyed look on Tosha’s face was due to jealousy because another woman was paying attention to him or she was pissed because Jada was so aggressive.

  Or Mitch was just being an arrogant jerk who thought Tosha really cared whether he died or not. He knew in his heart she couldn’t care less whether he lived or died.

  The bus was packed and Mitch didn’t recognize most of the faces. They’d made sure to take an equal amount of survivors from each group so no one was dominating.

  Except those loyal to Tosha, of course.

  Mitch took a seat in the back of the bus, as far away from Jada as possible. The woman had a few screws loose.

  The guy sitting across the aisle from Mitch was looking around like he was up to something bad and/or stupid. Mitch didn’t want any trouble and stood to get up as the bus started moving.

  “Hey, Mitch, we need to talk,” the guy said.

  “Do I know you?”

  The guy nodded emphatically, glancing at the people at the front. “I was part of Terry’s group.”

  “Then we have nothing to talk about,” Mitch said and went to walk away.

  The guy grabbed his wrist.

  “Let me go or I’ll break your nose,” Mitch said.

  “No, listen. Don’t make a scene. We really need to talk about what happened and what still needs to happen,” the guy said. “I’m Wes.”

  “I don’t care who you are. Stay away from me. It’s over. We screwed up and nearly killed everyone. I’m done,” Mitch said.

  Wes smiled and shook his head. “You’re still in this, brother. Remember that.”

  Mitch leaned closer to the man. “Tell Terry and whoever else is still alive I will kick their asses if they talk to me again. Especially you.”

  The man snickered and looked away.

  Tosha was staring at Mitch.

  Mitch took a seat and stared out the window, praying she wasn’t going to come back and find out what was going on. Mitch would sell this guy out in a second, if he had to save his own ass. T
here was no loyalty to Terry’s group. They’d sold him out and he’d been stupid enough to get his hands dirty.

  The vehicle stopped and everyone piled out onto the hot pavement of the mall parking lot.

  “I can honestly say I’ve never been to the mall more times than when the world got fucked,” Tosha said. She was staring at the line of zombies on the far end.

  “What are we doing here?” Wes asked.

  Tosha looked at him like she was about to punch him in the face.

  She turned towards Mitch and smiled. “We’re going to see if we can find a way to destroy them, block them from advancing or piss them off enough to kill us,” Tosha said. “Mitch and Mr. Questions can come with me. Everyone else: go through the mall again. We’re looking for barriers. Counters. Store displays. Walls, if you can pry them down.”

  Tosha pointed at a spot just behind the bus. “We’re going to knock down the trees. Make a natural barrier and filter them into the road.”

  “Then what?” Wes asked.

  “Don’t you ever just feel like shutting the fuck up and listening when a pretty girl is talking?” Tosha asked. She pointed at Mitch. “Since you two seem to know each other, I’ll leave it to you to explain how working with me is gonna go. Teach your friend to shut the fuck up and do as he’s told or this will be his last trek outside Main Street.”

  Mitch gave Wes a dirty look.

  Wes smiled at Mitch and followed Tosha across the parking lot to the line of zombies.

  Mitch followed, watching for any sign of movement. He didn’t like being this close to hundreds, maybe thousands, of zombies.

  “I think we can drive a wedge right through the middle of them. See how many we can kill. We’ll need to concentrate our firepower in three directions at once so we don’t waste ammo. I’ll take the middle and Mitch the right.” Tosha turned to Wes and sneered. “That means you get the left.”

  “I figured that,” Wes said.

  “They’re a few rows deep so let’s see how far back we can get,” Tosha said. “My sister used to love playing video games. I’m sure, wherever she is right now, she’s got her headset on and she’s jumping up and down screaming at the idiots in her group for not being fast enough. This is like a video game. Let’s see who can get the most kills. That means headshots only.”

  Tosha stopped and turned in a full circle, looking around like she was in trouble.

  “What’s the matter?” Mitch asked.

  Tosha waved her hands at him to back off and shut up.

  “What’s she doing? Is she finally losing it?” Wes asked.

  Mitch put a finger to his lips and got his other hand ready to punch Wes in the face, with the goal of either knocking him out or at least breaking his nose.

  Tosha laughed. “Fuck that. You know what I’m going to do. Neither you nor your son can stop me, either. Let the chips fall where they may.”

  “Seriously… is she insane?” Wes asked.

  Mitch was about to answer but he didn’t know what Tosha was doing, or if she had gone insane. Finally. After all this shit.

  Tosha smiled. “Do I dare?”

  “I’m not joking… who is she talking to?” Wes asked.

  Tosha stopped smiling and stared at Wes.

  Wes looked away.

  “I need you to do something important for us. Can you do that, Mister Questions?” Tosha asked.

  “It depends on what it is,” Wes said.

  Mitch shook his head. He knew Tosha wasn’t looking for that lame answer.

  “I’ll rephrase it,” Tosha said and took a step forward, smashing Wes in the side of his head with her fist. It wasn’t that it was a powerful blow that made Wes reel but the shock of the attack. “I’m looking for a simple yes.”

  “Yes. Holy shit, yes. You’ve lost your mind,” Wes said. He cowered when she raised her hand again. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Go over there and kill a zombie.”

  “Why can’t I just shoot one from here?” Wes asked.

  Tosha smiled. “Where’s the sport in that?”

  “I guess if I refuse you’ll smack me again?”

  Tosha shook her head and pulled her pistol. “I’ll shoot you in the kneecap and leave you for whenever they decide to start moving again.”

  “I don’t see the point in this,” Wes said.

  “I’m testing a theory. Just humor me. If you do well, I’ll make sure you get any job you want this week. Even hanging out and doing nothing. How does that sound?” Tosha asked.

  Wes looked like he was thinking. Mitch knew Tosha wasn’t going to give him much time before she really did shoot out his kneecap.

  “All I have to do is kill one of them? Any one of them?” Wes asked.

  Tosha nodded. She handed him a knife. “Jab this in his eye and see if he moves.”

  “He’ll kill me.”

  “No, he won’t. They’re slow. I don’t want you to grind it into his skull. Just make sure he goes down. The spark leaves his eyes. The good one you don’t poke out, anyway. Then bring me back my knife and you’ll get out of work. I’ll even throw in a six-pack of warm Miller Light I’ve been hiding,” Tosha said.

  Mitch thought he should stop this. Talk some sense into Tosha. Why would she try this? Who had she been talking to? Her invisible friend? This was getting even weirder by the minute.

  Wes jogged across the parking lot and got to within a couple of feet of the front row of zombies.

  “They stink,” he shouted.

  “Then it might be a good idea to do it and get away from them,” Mitch said.

  Wes plunged the knife into the face of a zombie at an angle, the blade going through the eye socket and ripping out of the side of the face.

  The zombie didn’t move but didn’t go down.

  “Puncture the brain, you idiot,” Tosha yelled.

  Wes yanked the blade out, turned his head, threw up, and jabbed the other eye. It went straight in this time and the zombie buckled, falling to the ground with the knife protruding from its face.

  He turned to leave and Tosha pointed. “My knife.”

  Wes turned back and stepped on the zombie’s body, pulling the knife from the face.

  “I can’t wait to do nothing all week and get drunk,” Wes said.

  Wes got one step before his smile turned to confusion and he looked down at the edge of the blade sticking out of his lower abdominal area.

  Mitch was shocked and couldn’t react.

  Wes fell to the ground and a zombie, with wicked-looking swords for arms, covered in armored plating on its arms and legs, stared across the parking lot.

  Tosha sighed. “Fine. You were right. I fucked up. What do you want me to say?”

  “Who are you talking to?” Mitch asked. He had recovered and lifted his weapon to fire.

  “Don’t,” Tosha said and put up her arm. “Watch.”

  The zombie kicked the knife a few feet in the parking lot before turning and going back behind the lines.

  Tosha turned to Mitch. “Darlene warned me not to fuck with them.”

  “Then why did you?” Mitch asked.

  “I hate being told what to do. Let’s help everyone else build this barrier before it gets too dark.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  No one knew Mister Borden was a fucking zombie?

  Terry smiled at a few people as he passed them, wandering down the aisles of the store. The orange metal racks, which used to hold screws and nails, lawnmowers and sheets of wood, now housed several hundred people.

  He marveled at the small groups that had formed in each set of racks, like a village unto themselves.

  The bottom floor had boxes of supplies, as well as piles of clothing, which no one seemed to touch. This was an honor system. A metal ladder led to the second tier, which had an open blanket to cover the opening. There was a couch and a reading lamp, as well as some lawn cushions scattered.

  Above, in two levels, were more piles of cushions and a lot of blankets.
Rugs were hooked up. At night, they’d be pulled down so everyone could sleep.

  Last night Terry had slept outside in the cage but the door had remained open.

  Mister Borden had promised Terry his own space as soon as he woke. Terry knew Borden wasn’t going to sleep and would probably watch him, so Terry was good. He had stayed in the cage and slept. There had been a nice cool breeze last night and only the sunlight had stirred him, as well as a full bladder.

  Breakfast had been set up, just inside the store, as a buffet, and Terry got in line and nodded his head and took a huge pile of scrambled eggs and enough grits to feed a family of four.

  Terry saw the pity looks on people as he passed them, finding a table to sit at.

  They think I’m some wretch they saved. Like I haven’t had hot food in months. My clothes were ragged and still wet. I look like shit. They have no idea I’ve been living just as nice as they have, Terry thought. He knew he was going to take advantage and eat as much as he wanted. Not because he missed it but because he liked eating food.

  “Terry? Are you Terry?” a plump blonde woman asked as he rounded a corner.

  “It’s the name my momma gave me,” he said.

  She smiled. Terry could see she had been beautiful in her younger days. You could always tell by looking at a woman’s face whether or not she’d always looked this haggard.

  Plus, she had very large jugs and he was a boob man through and through. He’d play nice with her, even though she might be a few years older and a little rounder than he liked, but he wanted to get laid.

  “Follow me, sir. Mister Borden has made sure you have a real place to sleep tonight.” She turned and started walking away. Terry looked at her ass but it was too big, even for him. He imagined her walking naked and the cottage cheese of her ass flapping in the breeze.

  He’d still fuck her, though.

  She turned and frowned when his eyes went from her ass to her face.

  “Mister Borden wanted me to ask if you had any allergies or anything we needed to be monitoring. Many new arrivals have the flu or they’re malnourished,” she said.