Run from the Dead: Book 5: A Zombie Apocalypse, page 17
“Get here, you fucking bitch.” As soon as he’d pulled her close enough, he punched her in the face, making her slump back.
Tess stood. “Get off her!”
A gun was pointed at her by the soldier who had taken the kick to the face. “Sit the fuck down.” Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Tess’s heart pounded in her ears, and her chest rose and fell in rapid succession. She had to calm herself if they wanted any chance of getting out of this. They had guns on them, and right now there was nothing they could do about it.
“Tess, sit down, love. We need to be smart here,” Anna whispered.
Tess backed up and took a seat on the truck bed again. But she couldn’t stop staring at Frankie. She squirmed on the wooden boards, hands still tied behind her back, not even able to hold her broken face.
“Frankie, you ok, babe?” Tess asked.
Frankie groaned and rolled towards Tess. “Argh… erm, I think so. Fucking hurts, though. I can feel the blood running out of my nose. Does it look bad?” Her voice came out pained.
“You are bleeding, yeah, but you’re still drop dead gorgeous, so stop whining, bitch.” Tess tried for humour, but couldn’t quite manage a laugh.
“Ha, too damn right.” Frankie swallowed. “Fuck, it even hurts to talk.”
“Then maybe you should shut up.” Tess laughed through the few tears that had found their way down her face again, then sniffed. Frankie was alright, and that’s what mattered most.
“You try getting punched in the face. We wouldn’t hear the end of it.”
“You should sit up, Frankie. Let the blood drain away better so it doesn’t clog your throat,” Anna suggested.
“Ok, ok.” Frankie rolled and pushed herself up with a groan.
“Well done for kicking that ugly bastard in the face,” said Anna through gritted teeth.
“The dickwads fucking grabbed me.”
“Yeah, I know— Shit, is that Rob?” She sat up straighter, eyes bulging as she tried to move towards the end of the truck.
There was a loud thud and something hit the ground. Then Rob’s lifeless body was chucked into the back.
“Rob?” Anna choked out, trying to get close to him.
“Stay where you are or get the same,” one soldier threatened.
The other two rolled him onto his stomach, then pulled his arms behind his back, tying his wrists together. Tess had been trying to work out if Rob was still alive, but when they did that to him, she realised he must be.
Two of the soldiers climbed into the back of the truck and shoved Rob’s unconscious body farther inside. “Move!” He glared at Anna, and she shuffled back a little.
Then the truck started up and moved. Before Tess knew it, the streets she had lived in for the last few years disappeared behind the fabric covering over the truck bed. The people she cared for, hurt, and traumatised, were back there too, along with her nan. Would she ever return to see them all, or would this be it for her and the others inside the truck?
She moved her eyes over Anna—who sat as close to Rob as she could, looking both worried and furious—then over Frankie, who still had blood trickling down her face and her eyebrows scrunched together, as if she wanted to have another go at the soldiers. Then finally, Tess looked at Liz, her birth mother; the woman who she didn’t know well, because she never wanted to. Because she hated what she represented. Because she meant the end of Tess’s family as she knew it. And here she was, facing death having never had the chance to get to know her properly. She wasn’t even sure if she was still angry at her. Everything she had told her made sense, and it seemed all of them tried to do what was best.
Tess let her gaze fall to the floor of the truck and stared at one of the wooden planks, already stained with old blood. She swallowed and realised they were probably heading for the same fate as the people they had been trying to liberate. Great fearless leader she had turned out to be. Fucking loser, more like.
Tess took several deep breaths, trying to clear her mind. This wasn’t her. She didn’t do the whole self-pity thing. Or did she? Maybe her toughness was just a façade she’d created to kid herself. Whatever! It doesn’t fucking matter, anyway. We’re trapped. They took our weapons, and we probably don’t stand a chance at surviving now.
Images of her friends and people she called family came to mind, and the urge to cry again came on strong. She’d already cried far more this day than she had any other. And when she looked around her, not one of the others was crying. She was surrounded by strong people. No, scratch that… strong women. And they gave her strength by being there.
Rob groaned and twisted a little, opening his eyes as Anna hovered close.
“Rob? Are you ok?” Anna tried to get closer, but it was impossible with the two soldiers in the back with them.
“Mm, yeah, I think so.”
“We can always knock you out again if you try anything.” One guard laughed and looked at his buddy.
“Yeah, stay down and we won’t need to. Open your mouth too much and we might do it, anyway. Or we could always do other things to keep you compliant.” He grinned, showing dirty teeth that made Tess want to vomit.
Anna barely glanced at the two men. She smiled at Rob and rolled her eyes, as if they were a nuisance and nothing more.
Anna, Rob, and Marcus had mentioned things and people they’d had to battle previously, which made Tess wonder exactly how much they had been through in order for them to be so complacent. If they weren’t panicking, maybe there was a little hope. Even Frankie and Liz didn’t look too fazed.
Shit, these people had already been through so much when I asked them for help. Tess shook her head at herself and closed her eyes, wishing it all away. Would the others even know where they were to be taken, or was it a given?
When Tess lifted her head a little while later, her mouth opened as she looked up at the massive structure of the stadium through the window into the cabin. The truck turned towards a massive set of gates before being ushered through a second set.
There were military personnel dotted everywhere—mostly men, from what she could see, but every one of them added up to a far greater number than she had ever considered. Women were clearly a part of the once army, too, as she could see several about dressed in the same gear. There was no way her team could have attacked this place. They wouldn’t have got close enough to start.
I’m a fucking idiot.
Chapter 35
The truck rolled to a stop, and Rob tried to twist to see out the back. He had been lying on his side with his hands tied behind his back and a sickening throb in his skull. His face pressed against the rough floorboards. Why the fuck do I always end up unconscious?
Anna leant towards him. “Can you sit up?”
“I’ll try.” He shifted his weight onto his back and used his hands against the bed of the truck to push up.
Rob grunted with the effort, the tie wraps digging into his flesh and the effects of the head whack slowing him down. He wondered about a concussion, but it wasn’t something he could do anything about, so he’d have to push past it.
Anna flashed him a brief smile, then let it drop when she was yanked to her feet as they pulled on her arms behind her back. “Get up.” The soldier grunted at her, then almost threw her off the back to another guy standing on the ground. “The rest of you get up as well.”
Tess, Frankie, and Liz all glanced at each, then pushed themselves up and filtered off, having to jump off the end of the truck. Liz stumbled when she did, but was dragged upright straight after. The soldiers weren’t giving them a second to get themselves in a position to attack. They were all over them, which meant fighting back was off the cards for the time being.
“Come on, dickhead.” A rough hand grabbed Rob’s arm and yanked him backwards, making him cry out in sickening pain. The angle had nearly dislocated his arm. That didn’t stop the guy, though. He dragged Rob straight back and off the end of the truck. His hip and shoulder hit the concrete, and he groaned in even more pain.
“Ok, I’ve fucking got it. You see me as a threat, so wanna give me a good kicking whilst I’m tied up.” Rob rolled onto his back and looked up at the guy. “I’d be pissing my pants as well if I was looking down at me. And do you know what? You fucking should be.” He growled the last words.
The soldier’s face exploded with rage; red spread upwards and veins bulged from his forehead. He swung out his leg and stamped onto Rob’s stomach, making him double up as all air was pushed from his lungs. He gasped for oxygen, vaguely aware of Anna shouting nearby. Then a fist connected with his face, splitting his lip and whipping his head to the side. The punch was a decent one, but he’d had worse in the past. Still, pain radiated through his mouth and head. Maybe it had been a mistake to rile up the big man, but he wanted to get a point across: his people weren’t to be messed with.
The man leant down and shouted in Rob’s face, “Shut your stupid mouth and get up.”
Rob lifted his eyes to the man for a second, then rolled to his side with a great deal of difficulty. Pain tore through most of his body and head as he pushed up from the ground. He wavered a little when he finally stood, but he remained upright. He managed a smile for Anna, who looked about ready to kill, but she remained rooted to the spot. It was a look that gave him goosebumps. He’d seen it before, and he fucking loved it.
Someone shoved him hard in the back. “That way.”
He moved forwards and glanced behind him to see Anna, Frankie, Liz, and Tess all lined up behind him. They were in front of the stadium, where several huge, tents had been set up over what was formerly the car park. Supplies and vehicles were piled high along one side of the compound, and when Rob twisted to see farther, he saw more tents as well as containers and small, fenced-in areas. They looked like human-sized cages, and that would not surprise him in the slightest, knowing the bastards they were dealing with.
The smell of cooking mingled with the stink of shit. There was a lot of movement out in the open, considering they were amid a zombie apocalypse, but for whatever reason, these once soldiers had found ways of keeping the dead at a safe distance.
Rob thought back to Marcus. It seemed he had received the message loud and clear: stay back and then come after us. But seeing the operation here was making Rob rethink everything. This place was far better structured than he’d thought. He’d based his ideas on assumptions gathered from the smaller school bases.
This place was not like those in the slightest. And when they were marched into a central tent and lined up in front of a man sat behind a desk, Rob ground his teeth. He knew this man from his days in the army… and he fucking despised him.
It was the guy he’d been discharged over, and now here he was, sat right in front of him again. It wasn’t just his own fate this time, though. He had the women alongside him to think about, and that scared the hell out of him.
The jackass looked up from his desk—and paperwork, of all things—and did a double take on Rob. He let a smile stretch across his nasty face and pressed his fingertips together as if some stupid villain from a movie. Dickhead.
“Well, well, well… Robert!”
Rob stared down at the man but felt Anna’s face beside him whip around in shock.
“Collins,” Rob greeted the man.
“To what do we owe the pleasure of your fine company?” He raised his eyebrows.
“Thought I’d pop in. Catch up a little.” Rob shrugged like he didn’t give a shit; it was only the tic in his jaw that would’ve given him away. He was tied up in front of the man who had belittled him at every opportunity whilst Rob’s mother was dying.
“Of course.” Collins stood and moved around the table to stand in front of Rob. “You wanting back in? We’ve got a sweet little set up here.” Collins’s pocked face was far too close for Rob’s liking. His breath smelled of stale coffee and cigarettes, and the way his tongue flicked around inside his mouth spoke of his pleasure in seeing Rob like this.
“Nah, think I’d rather be on my way, if you don’t mind. Prefer the peaceful life.”
“Fucking liar.” The guy who had kicked Rob in the stomach stood beside him. “He and his merry men are the tossers who’ve been taking down our outposts. We burnt their tower block down, though, drawing them out into the open.” He nodded as he spoke, pleased with himself.
“Ah… You guys have been making a bit of a mess, haven’t you?” Collins tutted, then moved down the line, standing in front of Anna next. “But I kind of see why if you have a harem such as this… very pretty indeed.” He looked Anna up and down, then let his eyes roam over the others before side eyeing Rob again. “You willing to share your friends here?”
“I don’t share. You know that, Collins. So, we’ll be on our way, ok?”
Collins laughed, quietly at first, then louder as he moved farther down the line. He licked his lips. “You’re funny, Rob. Always have been. But you and I both know you won’t be going anywhere.”
“But I thought we were friends, Collins. Comrades from days gone past.”
He turned his head towards Rob and glared at him with all pretences of fun gone. “You’re a stupid little punk, Rob, and I’d rather not see you again, to be honest. But you’re here and well… we may as well have a little fun at your expense. The soldiers do like their fun.”
Rob fought not to leap at the man and headbutt the smirk from his face. He had witnessed the coward using his influence and power to his advantage too many times in the army before he was discharged, and it still needled at him that Collins had got away with so many of the awful things he’d done.
Instead, Rob tried to feign boredom. The man standing there was more interested in causing pain and suffering than anything else, so to show fear would be the thing he desired the most. And there was no way in hell Rob was going to give that to him.
“Let’s see what we can come up with, shall we?” He moved back in front of Rob and stared into his eyes. The gleeful darkness behind them made Rob’s spine tingle.
Chapter 36
Tess, Anna, Liz, and Frankie were marched across the car park once again but towards what could only be described as massive cages. Two shapes hunched in the far corners and when the gates were opened, no one looked up. They kept their heads down and their faces hidden behind long, lank hair.
The guard pushed them all inside, then slammed the gate behind them. Anna pushed to the front. “Are you not taking our wrist ties off?”
The soldiers turned and walked away without another word. They mumbled something to each other, but Tess couldn’t hear anything once they were too far away.
“Fuck. It’s alright, I don’t really like feeling my fingers, anyway.” Anna huffed, then twisted to see the others. “Everyone alright?” She glanced between them all, then finished on Tess. “Tess?”
Tess nodded, but didn’t speak. She didn’t trust her voice or her words. She didn’t feel that great and didn’t want to drag the others down when they all appeared to be dealing well with this.
“Why have they left the ties on?” Frankie asked. “I mean, we’re in this cage thing. It’s not like we’re going anywhere, is it? And there’s a guard there staring right at us.”
One of the women in the cage’s corner lifted her head and scrutinised everyone. Tess locked eyes with her.
“They don’t usually station a guard outside this pen.” The monotone voice had everyone turning to look at her. Through the filth coating her face and exposed arms, a young Asian woman with large brown eyes and dirty, long black hair stared back at them all. “Are you the ones they were looking for?”
Anna and Tess shared a look. “Which ones?” Anna asked.
“The ones killing the soldiers. I heard some of them talking.”
Tess closed her eyes for a moment; they were probably already screwed. These guys were onto what they had been doing, so there was no way they’d let up for even a millisecond to allow her people to escape.
“Erm… yeah. I guess so.” Anna twisted her face to her shoulder and rubbed her cheek against it. “Do you know where they’d take the men? My partner is here, too, but they haven’t put him in here with us.”
“They usually put us all in together. They don’t separate men and women.”
Tess frowned. For the size of the place, there weren’t many people in cages. “Why are there so few people in here?”
“This is where they keep you when you become useless.”
Liz stepped closer to the woman and crouched in front of her. “Useless?”
The woman sighed. “Yeah. We’re too much trouble to be useful anymore, so they’ll put us in there soon.” She flicked her head up towards the stadium.
Everyone turned to look up at the stadium’s high walls and colourful roof. Tess opened her mouth to speak, but Frankie moved forward, almost shoulder-barging Anna. “In there? What do you mean? What’s in there? Why is that a thing?”
The woman looked up at the stadium as well. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
“Of course I want to know, that’s why I asked you… Hey, tell me what the fuck is in there!” Frankie’s voice rose in volume, making the young woman curl in on herself.
“Hey, Frankie, calm down, babe. Let me try.” Tess moved closer to the woman and crouched next to Liz, who shared a look with her then shrugged before moving out of the way. “I’m Tess. What’s your name?” She resisted wrinkling her nose as the young woman’s stench reached her.
The woman eyed Tess, then sighed again. “Sumiko.”
“Sumiko. How long have you been here?”
“Since the beginning. We were told it was safe here. Well, over there at the cricket ground.”
“And it’s not,” Tess stated.
“Nope.”
“Sumiko, we’d like to get out of here. But we need to know as much as you know about this place first. Could you help us?”
