Dying Days [Book 9] Read online

  Another dozen spilled out from other gaps in the buildings and she smiled. She’d been set up. A large show of force wasn’t to shake the survivors from their hiding spots. It was to make sure she saw the threat and came to put it down.

  “Are there going to be more of you? It doesn’t seem like a fair fight until you have at least fifty on your side.” Darlene knew she’d have to use a lot of energy against so many. They probably couldn’t hurt her but they’d force her to fight back with too much of her power.

  Which is exactly what her son wanted.

  They were spreading out and wary of her. She could feel their excitement. Sense their superiority, as if they thought it a foregone conclusion she was going to be defeated.

  Sheer numbers weren’t going to be enough to bring her down but they didn’t understand it.

  “You actually think you can beat me? That’s cute,” Darlene said and twisted her wrist.

  Two zombies’ heads were ripped from their bodies.

  She liked doing that. No chance of anyone coming back to fight another day.

  Every newer zombie she dropped but didn’t finish off would eventually heal and grow smarter the more time passed. They’d all eventually become intelligent again.

  Darlene wondered what would happen if that happened.

  Would they all start to fight? Enslave the human race, or what was left of it, and battle anew? The world would plunge into the Dark Ages again. Worse.

  The world is a vampire.

  Darlene remembered that song lyric from a popular song over twenty years ago. When she was a younger woman. When she was alive.

  The zombies spread out, some of them getting behind her on the beach.

  Apparently ripping the heads off of two of their brethren hadn’t deterred them.

  She knew she’d have to expend energy to take them all out quickly. Darlene had a sneaking suspicion they couldn’t hurt her if they tried but she didn’t want to find out.

  If she lost her head, she might die.

  “I was going to say something really clever and snarky but I’m done with today already. I’ve had better days,” Darlene said.

  “What you just said was you trying to be clever and snarky.” A zombie stepped forward and cracked his knuckles. “You were that ugly chick who thought guys would like you better if you were tough and were one of the guys. Right?”

  Darlene shook her head and smiled. “You’re the typical guy in the bar trying to pick me up because you think I’m ugly and would be an easy blowjob in the back seat of your daddy’s pickup truck. What you don’t ever understand is you’re not a good-looking guy. Sorry, dude, but it’s the harsh reality. You’re the guy an ugly chick with no self-esteem would go home with at the end of the night because she hates going home.” She smiled. “The next morning does she take the Walk of Shame up your grandparents basement steps or is there a side door leading to the driveway?”

  He charged and she sliced her hand in the air. His head bounced once on the sand.

  Darlene raced forward and kicked his head down the beach with a laugh.

  She spun, hand extended, and half of the zombies lost their heads.

  The others dropped to the ground, dodging the invisible blade of her power.

  Darlene went to work jumping into the air and landing on their heads, crushing them into the sand. She moved twice as fast as the zombies, moving in and out of their prone bodies.

  Two zombies stood and she used her invisible blade attack again. Two more heads on the sand.

  “This is a move I just thought up,” Darlene said and dropped to one knee.

  As the zombies, now at her level, tried to rise, she cut off their heads and spun on the beach.

  The pack of zombies was dead. Again.

  She stood, glad no blood or gore had gotten on her clothes.

  Darlene sensed someone trying to be quiet, coming up behind her.

  She waited until he was twenty feet away before turning with a smile she hoped wasn’t pleasant. If he’d been watching for more than a few minutes, he knew who she was and what she was capable of.

  “Ahh. Just the woman I was looking for.” The man was obviously a smarter zombie but not with the group she’d just dispatched.

  “Were you looking for me specifically?” Darlene asked. “Or just any woman to put you down?”

  He laughed. “I was sent by your son to destroy you. My name is Mister Borden and…”

  Darlene put up her hand. “I don’t care what your name is. I don’t even care my son sent you to be a pest. Let’s just get this over with.”

  She was getting tired of having to fight every step of the way, all the while her son growing stronger as he sent more obstacles into her path to weaken his mother.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  April was leading the group on the beach. No one had taken a vote or asked if she wanted to. After what had happened on the roof of the bar, she supposed they wanted her to lead them to safety.

  Was there such a thing?

  Including the four Hand family members, there were nine in their group.

  Nine out of thousands who’d been living in The Promised Land at one time.

  April watched the waves as a zombie’s head appeared in the distance, the tide pushing it back and forth. Even if it managed to steady itself and get onto firmer ground they’d be miles away.

  In the distance she could see dark dots. Figures on the beach. April had no doubt they were zombies but the beach was wide enough they could simply walk faster and get away.

  Despite them being heavily armed, they all knew not to shoot unless they absolutely had to. Firing a gun would call not only every zombie in the area but anyone else with a weapon looking for them.

  “Maybe we should stop at one of these houses. Hide until it’s dark again,” her father said.

  April glanced at her father and saw he was having a hard time walking. He was holding his side. She stopped walking and stared.

  “Holy shit, dad. Are you bleeding?”

  He nodded and moved his hand. “I was cut during one of the attacks last night.”

  “Bitten?” an old woman asked, covering her mouth.

  Mister Hand shook his head and pulled up his shirt. “I’d like to say it was a heroic injury but, in the chaos of trying to get up the stairs in the bar, I fell against the jagged counter where we’d been stripping off pieces to fight with. I got sliced but it isn’t deep.”

  “You need stitches,” Mimzie said. She ripped off a sleeve of her shirt.

  “Unless there’s a hospital close still open and taking walk-ins, I think the group needs to keep moving. It’s a long walk to the stilt houses but you’ll be safe there,” Mister Hand said.

  “You’re talking like you aren’t coming,” Carlie said.

  Mister Hand shook his head. “There’s no way I’m going to make it.”

  “It’s a small cut.” April looked closer. She could see it was already infected. Without any medicine and the unsanitary conditions they were always in, her father had no chance of getting better. Could a simple slice kill him?

  “I’ll cover your back. Kill anything coming out of the water or down the beach. Just go.” Mister Hand was staring at the houses still standing. “That one has a deck on top. I can sit up there. Maybe they have a grill. A couple of hot dogs and a cold adult beverage would be nice as I watch the world move around me.”

  “We’re not leaving you,” April said.

  “You don’t really have a choice.” Her father sighed and wiped the blood off his hand onto his shirt. “Get out of here.”

  “I’m staying with you,” her mother said.

  Mister Hand shook his head. “I’m not going to lead everyone to their death. You can escape. Go to the stilt houses and hide. This all might blow over soon. Everything will be back to normal. Then I want one of you to bring me Chinese food and a slice of chocolate cake.”

  “You’re coming with us to the Chinese buffet.” April noticed several
zombies walking out of the surf. They’d catch up in a few minutes unless they moved. “We can figure this out later.”

  Her father shook his head. She could see he was in pain.

  April didn’t know what to do.

  She had a responsibility to save these people. All of them.

  “We need to do something,” Carlie said.

  The zombies were getting closer.

  April looked to the houses on the beach. Most were in ruins but a couple still looked relatively intact. She had no clue if someone was already squatting inside and had a rifle aimed at their heads.

  Her father groaned and closed his eyes.

  “Let’s get to the houses and find one we can hide in. We’ll figure out the rest later. He’s in no shape to walk and I’m not leaving my father.” April stared at the others that were not family. “The rest of you are free to go. The stilt houses will offer better protection. I understand if you want to keep going.”

  “The stilt houses make the most sense,” the old woman said. “Nothing personal but those houses are exposed. There’re too many zombies still in the area. You’ll be trapped.”

  April sighed. They didn’t have time to argue.

  “Then go. Good luck. I’m taking my husband to shelter, even if it isn’t the best right now. He’ll die on the way to the stilt houses,” Mimzie said.

  Carlie grabbed her father’s arm and helped her mother begin to walk Mister Hand to the nearest house.

  April watched as the rest of their group shuffled back and forth but didn’t follow or move away.

  “You can’t stay here, staring at each other on the beach.” April waved at them. “Come with us. We’ll be safe.”

  The old woman shook her head. “I say we all go to the stilt houses.”

  “I have to go with my family. We’ll catch up if you’re dead set on going.”

  The man next to the old woman, who April didn’t know by name, raised his rifle and pointed it at April. “We’ll need your weapons.”

  April sighed. “Just go. Please. My family has been hurt enough.”

  “Bullshit. Your family is still together. I lost everyone. Do you even care? No. You walk around here like you own the place. Why? Because your family is still alive.” The man licked his lips and aimed at April’s head.

  “We don’t have to do this. Just go to the stilt houses. We’ll meet you.” April knew she couldn’t run away. Her hope was stalling long enough so they could get her father to safety.

  She wasn’t going to hand over her weapons.

  The old woman raised her weapon and so did the other three people with them, but they looked unsure.

  “We don’t want to do this. The zombies are creeping up on us. We need to be smart,” April said. She raised her weapon and pointed at the original guy. “I don’t want to hurt you and you don’t want to hurt me. Let’s be reasonable.”

  “You talk too much.” The guy took a step forward. “I’m going to kill you and take your shit. I’ve had enough.”

  The old woman stepped up next to the man. “Maybe we let her go. She helped us to get out of The Promised Land.”

  “If we don’t kill her and her family, they’ll come looking for us.”

  April shook her head. “Just go. We all just want to live. There’s no reason for this.” She put her weapon at her side. “I’m not going to kill another person who’s breathing unless I have to.”

  “I don’t have a choice,” the man said.

  April hoped her family had gotten to the house without looking back. She knew her sister would try to intervene and be executed as well.

  The woman next to the man put her weapon to his left temple and pulled the trigger.

  He dropped to the sand.

  “Get with your family. If I ever do see you again, I’ll have to kill you. Nothing personal but this is every man or woman for themselves.” The old woman lowered her gun as did the rest of the group. “Good luck to you and your kin.”

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Once the extra weapons and ammo were secured in the closest house to the children’s park where they’d landed the boat, Mitch took the lead.

  They’d seen neither zombies nor the living as they’d approached but it didn’t mean they were alone.

  Zombies weren’t very stealthy and didn’t lie in wait unless they were of the smart variety.

  Mitch hoped that wasn’t the case.

  The riverbank behind them had a few stray zombies who’d been following their progress and he knew more would pull themselves out of the river.

  “We need to get moving before we’re surrounded,” Tosha said.

  Mitch stopped walking. He turned to Tosha and smiled. “What does it look like we’re doing?”

  Tosha shrugged. “Sorry. Just jumpy today. As usual. I’m not sure I want to go back to The Promised Land and only find our formerly alive friends who now want to bite us.”

  Mitch nodded. He understood. They’d been so busy the last few hours trying to survive but now it was time to see what had happened on this side of the river.

  Even though they’d barely had enough sleep and were both hungry and exhausted, Mitch didn’t want to suggest they lay low and find somewhere to crash for a few hours.

  By the time they recovered, it might be too late.

  There was a collapsed building in the middle of the park. Shredded tents and temporary shelters littered the area around it. At one point, this might’ve been a base camp for survivors.

  Mitch looked up at the ruined bridge. It jutted a few feet into the air. Pieces were scattered on the beach but the bulk of it had been destroyed by The Lich Lord, the rest underwater.

  They made their way to the tents, careful not to step on anything littering the ground. Bodies and bones, bleached by the sun, were scattered everywhere.

  The building had been a two-story. Mitch pointed at the side of it. “The zombies didn’t do this. Look at the markings. Someone hit it with a detonation device. They tried to blow it up.”

  Inside they saw charred bodies through the gap in the wall.

  Mitch was about to speak when he heard something. By the look on her face, Tosha heard it, too.

  A car engine.

  They dove into the building, trying to get as far into it as possible without being unable to stand and fight if they had to. The bodies had been left to rot a long time ago but Mitch could still smell the faint trace of rotting meat and the stench from the fire lingered.

  By the added sounds it wasn’t just a vehicle, it was a lot of people walking and making no effort to conceal that they were.

  Tosha was leaning against Mitch. She leaned closer. “Fuck getting captured. Save a bullet for each of us. I’m not playing anymore. You with me?”

  Mitch nodded but he didn’t know if he could do it.

  What if they were set upon and had no escape? They’d put their backs against the wall. Unless they could shoot their way out against what sounded like a dozen enemies, they’d be shot or captured. This wasn’t the best place to hide but it was better than being caught out in the open.

  Mitch shifted so he could see out of a broken window.

  It was two cars, both pickup trucks, and three dozen men with various weapons following behind. They were spread out across the road, no two men less than three feet apart.

  Mitch knew they might not be wearing military garb but they were all trained by the way they moved and watched.

  The caravan was heading south, on the road parallel to the river, towards the collapsed bridge.

  They were moving at a good clip and, even though they were spread out, they weren’t close to the building.

  Quite a few of them were aiming weapons and watching as they passed.

  Mitch watched them move out of his line of sight. He counted to twenty before exiting the building slowly, waiting for an attack.

  He could hear them down the road.

  Tosha came out, hugging the building.

  “We wait fifteen
minutes before we keep moving. I want them well ahead of us,” Mitch said.

  Tosha grinned. “We got fifteen minutes to kill. You wanna have sex?”

  Mitch stared at her, knowing she was messing with him.

  Tosha laughed. “I’m messing with you. Stop being so pathetic.”

  “You’re the one who keeps bringing up us having sex. I haven’t mentioned it once.” Mitch turned away and took a few steps, scanning the area for stragglers or anyone doubling back. While he didn’t think they’d been seen, you never wanted to take a chance.

  “I’m sure there’s someone out there for you, Mitch. She might be a walking corpse but at least you can’t get her pregnant. Win-Win. Right?”

  “I take back everything nice I ever said about you.”

  Tosha laughed. “I’m getting my second or tenth wind. The little break was what I needed. At some point soon, I’ll need to take a power nap and wash my face.”

  Mitch nodded but kept moving, listening for a car engine or anyone moving. There were no zombies in the immediate area and the park was raised enough from the beach the zombies on the sand couldn’t get to them.

  Tosha moved a few feet away from Mitch and kept pace as they walked slowly, taking turns looking over their shoulder for pursuers.

  Mitch didn’t think the group knew they existed but he couldn’t take any chances.

  The street ahead was blocked.

  Mitch and Tosha had to go around the collapsed building before them, the third and fourth floors spread across the street blocking the path except a thin walkway over rotting furniture.

  “I don’t like this,” Mitch whispered to Tosha. “This would be the easiest place to kill someone. The chokepoint is too convenient. Someone took the time to clear it.”

  Just past the rubble was a clear road but several cars were parked at angles. This was no random street. It was a killing field.

  “We stop here. Maybe, if we don’t see anyone, we double back and look for another route to The Promised Land.” Mitch didn’t like this one bit.