Run from the Dead: Book 5: A Zombie Apocalypse, page 24
He bumped over two more soldiers kitted all in green, then caught sight of the arse end of the bus up in the air, the front having landed in the river. But that meant Dean had a chance. If he was conscious, he could make his way to the back of the bus and hopefully one of their team would help him.
Then he saw them—Marcus and the others running behind the cover of one of the army’s own trucks, before two of them sprinted even further along to more cover. Grenades arced towards clusters of soldiers, making Ollie wonder if these people were even real military personnel. They must have recruited civilians who didn’t have a clue in combat situations, because these fools were running for their lives. Only a handful stood their ground and fired off the odd burst of bullets.
The stadium and ground beneath them rocked some more as the grenades hit their targets. Ollie tried to see where it would be best to hunt for their people, but he honestly didn’t have a clue where they might be held. They could even be over at the cricket ground, for all he knew.
Unless… Could they be inside the stadium?
Ollie shook his head as he concentrated on taking out the only cover the people in green had left. He swiped the side of the truck into the large metal bins. They rocked dangerously, like they might tip over, which had the desired effect in that every one of the hiders ran.
Marcus and the others were waiting for them, not with bullets, but with various blunt and sharpened weapons that flattened anyone they came into contact with. Blood sprayed and bodies collapsed when they were assaulted in a surprise attack.
They’d survived the first wave of attacking the place and already taken out a good handful of the soldiers. He knew there’d be plenty more out there somewhere, but for the time being, they’d made a great start.
He checked for any more movement, but could see only his own people. My people? Huh. He turned the large steering wheel and moved it closer to where the others had headed. They gathered around the bus as Marcus and Daz went inside for Dean.
Ollie badly wanted to jump out of the truck but didn’t trust they were safe, so he stayed in the driver’s seat, blocking the others from view, and watched for any more soldiers. In less than a minute, Dean was carried out between Marcus and Daz. There was a lot of blood.
They lifted him into the back of the truck, then everyone climbed aboard. There were distinctly more weapons in their hands now. More firearms, and hopefully that meant more bullets as well. Because they might need them when they ran into the rest of the army.
Ollie turned to see Marcus climbing up into the front next to him. Blood oozed from his forehead and more covered the front of his shirt at his shoulder.
“Are you shot?” Ollie asked.
“Yeah, but it went straight through. I’m ok. Dean has been shot, as well, but he’s not looking too good.” His voice sounded hoarse with pain as he wrapped a long piece of material around his shoulder and under his arm.
“Fuck. Everyone else, ok?” Ollie put the truck into gear and moved it away, watching the outskirts of the car park for any soldiers returning from the outside world.
“A few scratches and so on, but mostly ok. I think Daz might have a broken hand, but he won’t let me look.”
Ollie nodded, because that was all he could do. He was actually amazed they had all made it alive so far, even though Dean wasn’t so hot. But they had plenty more to do yet, so he pushed the truck around the edge of the stadium and squeezed it between the tents and metal fencing that they used as cages.
“See anything?” Ollie asked.
Marcus shook his head. “I don’t think anyone is around.”
Ollie forced out a loud breath. “Then that means they have everyone inside there.” He pointed to his right at the massive stadium that loomed over them.
Marcus sat up straight. “Inside the stadium? Why would they—”
Ollie raised his eyebrows.
“Shit. They’ve got them to fight the dead.”
“Yeah, Marcus. They probably do.” Ollie scanned the area around them, then braked. “We need to get in there. And we can’t use this truck anymore. We’ll be far more exposed, and there’s a chance they’re already… you know.”
Marcus shook his head. “No. If they’re in there, then they’re still fighting.”
Ollie nodded, hoping he was right. “Then we need to go in fighting as well.”
Marcus ground his teeth. “Yes, we do. We have grenades and more guns now.”
“So, we go in and give ’em hell?”
“Exactly.”
Chapter 52
The taste of the vomit lined Tess’s throat, and she breathed out the smell constantly. She desperately needed a drink. The soldiers had provided weapons, but they clearly hadn’t intended on them surviving and needing refreshments. A good teeth brushing wouldn’t go amiss, either.
She glanced down at Rob, trying not to look at his bloody stump. He needed water and food soon too. God, antibiotics and painkillers as well. Tess lifted her eyes and found Anna slumped on the ground, held in Frankie’s arms.
Only a minute or two had ticked by since the last of the dead were killed, but it felt like a lifetime as she looked around, wondering when the next set would storm their way in. If they had to face another assault like the last one, or worse, she wasn’t sure they were going to make it. Anna may well be out of action, and they fucking needed her. She silently willed the fury she had witnessed in the woman and prayed they’d get a little while longer before the next hoard came through.
Images flashed through her mind of pressing the red-hot blade to Rob’s severed arm. The smell was unbearable, and his scream would stay with her forever, of that she was certain. But he hadn’t turned. Not yet, anyway.
Tess twisted to look up at the stands and the boxes hidden behind glass. She stared for a moment, then frowned. Frantic reflections moved past the glass. Then a bullet shattered the wide expanse that covered the front of the box, and scrabbling, fighting bodies flew outwards into the stands.
In the next second, a boom ricocheted around the stadium and more gunfire from beyond erupted. Loud, revving vehicles sounded over the gunshots. Everything was happening at once.
“What the fuck?” Frankie swung her head away from Anna.
Liz stood up as well, leaving Rob to lie back on the ground. “That sounded like a grenade.” She picked up her sword and watched the boxes. “Are they fighting the soldiers?”
Sumi lifted her two machetes from the ground. “Yeah, I think they are.”
Morgan’s eyes widened as she stared up at the mayhem unfolding. “We need to get up there now! We need to help.”
Tess looked at Liz, who nodded, but Frankie twisted back to look at Anna. “I’ll stay down here and get Rob somewhere safer with Anna.”
“Ok.”
Frankie crouched next to Anna. “Anna, we need to move Rob. Like now.”
Anna nodded, then pushed herself up on wobbly legs with Frankie’s help. They moved over to Rob, and Tess turned to face the fight ensuing up above.
“You all ready?”
Everyone nodded, then followed Tess as she led the march over to the stands and up towards the boxes. Her leg hurt from when one of the dead had grabbed her, and her forearm and palm bled after a fall during the fighting.
She glanced back at the others, all sporting similar bloodied heads and hands. But each one of them picked up the pace when she did to help with the fight they came here to have. Anna and Frankie had Rob upright and moved him behind them too.
Screams and fighting grew in volume as they neared, and Tess ran ahead to attack a soldier about to kill a prisoner. He held down a man dressed in scraps of clothing and pressed down with his automatic weapon, holding the bulk of the gun against that man’s throat.
Tess didn’t try to get the soldier’s attention for a one-on-one fight. She wasn’t about to give any of them a chance to fight back. She swung her axe, striking his back with a thud that made her insides churn.
The soldier sucked in a breath and bolted upright, releasing the man underneath him. The prisoner ripped the gun from his hands and then swung it at the face of the soldier, sending him tumbling over the seats behind him.
“Thank you.” The gruff voice was directed at Tess, but she was already moving towards the others fighting the soldiers.
Bullets pinged off the seats around them as they charged up the steps, but their feet never slowed. Liz moved towards a group fighting several soldiers at once and slashed at the first green-cladded figure she came across before doing the same to the next one, who was trying to strangle a woman.
Sumi and Morgan stayed close to Tess as they moved inside the box, climbing through the shattered window. Groups of prisoners kicked several soldiers to their deaths, and the door to the box was wide open, revealing more people fighting in the hallway.
Tess glanced around, trying to see anyone she knew, but no one stood out yet. Then a woman’s scream echoed from the halls beyond the door. She was certain it was Jezza’s mum, Amanda; she’d heard that woman scream at her naughty little boy too many times not to know it.
Blood still trickled off the sharpened edges of Tess’s axe as she ran for the doorway. As soon as she was out there, the dim corridors made it difficult to see, but a fighting group not far away stood out to her.
She stormed straight over, only just realising Frankie was close to her back. But the younger girl quickly turned and fought someone who chased after them. Bullets pinged all around the corridor as more booms echoed all around them.
Rapid movements in the dark up ahead made Tess charge. Amanda and a man at her side were fighting a soldier as he kept trying to bring his gun around to shoot them. The soldier kicked at the man’s knee, and he went down, leaving Amanda there to fight with him.
But before he could do another thing, Tess shouted: “Amanda, duck!”
Amanda dropped to the ground in a flash as Tess’s axe whirled through the air towards the soldier’s face. The blade opened up the front of his head and embedded in his brain and skull so far it jammed into the wall behind him. His gun clattered to the ground, signalling the death of a soldier, and Amanda immediately bent to pick it up before scooping up the man next to her.
Tess jimmied the axe out of the wall and the pulverised head of the soldier before turning to look for Frankie, but she was already killing another soldier a little down the hall.
“Frankie, stay close,” Tess called.
Frankie slashed at another soldier, who collapsed in a heap on the ground nearby, then nodded at Tess.
Former prisoners ran along the corridor, looking for a way out or for more soldiers to enact revenge upon. Screams and cries for help echoed from elsewhere in the building, as did gunshots and explosions from beyond the walls of the stadium.
“What the fuck is going on out there?” Amanda asked, gun held across her chest. The man next to her was another of Tess’s people, and she breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of him: Matt, the guy from the top floor. She hadn’t known him as well as Amanda, but she was happy to see him alive.
“God knows. But we can use the mayhem to get out of here. Where’s everyone else?”
Matt shook his head. “Alan and Peter were killed straight away when they fought back.”
“We know. We found them,” Tess said, face stony.
Amanda watched the corridor around them. “We lost the others. I haven’t a clue what happened to them.”
Frankie caught Tess’s eye. “Were they women?”
Tess’s heart dropped. “Fuck. Yeah.”
Liz entered the hallway from the spectators’ box and headed over to them. “There are no soldiers left in there. They’ve killed the lot of ’em.”
Tess looked across at Liz, who was now wearing a filthy, too-big hoody. “Anna and Rob?”
“Making their way up here now. They’ll be here in a minute. Sumi and Morgan are helping them.”
Tess nodded and swallowed, not knowing what on earth to do next.
Amanda moved to Tess’s side. “You’re here to fight, right? You came for us?”
Tess smiled at the certainty the woman held. “Yeah, we came for you.”
Amanda smiled back. “Then we’ve gotta see this through. We need to free every person they ever took. And we need to kill every single one of the soldiers.”
“They have guns.” Liz narrowed her eyes, as if not quite fearing the weapons as she said the words.
Matt spoke up. “We have their guns now, and since we’ve checked, there’s hardly any ammo, so I don’t think they’ll be able to fight for long.”
Anna and Rob moved through the door behind Liz with Sumi and Morgan close at their backs. Tess took in the couple and saw both of them looking furious as hell. If they were on their feet and looking for a fight, then she would make sure she was too.
“Ok, let’s go flush out these fucking rats, shall we?”
Chapter 53
The main entrance to the stadium loomed in front of them as Ollie parked the truck. He snatched the gun Marcus passed him, as well as his crowbar, and jumped from the cab. He had half a clip of bullets and wasn’t fully sure how to use the gun but knew enough to point and pull the trigger. If that didn’t work, he always had the blunt force of the crowbar.
Marcus rounded the truck and shouted into the back, “Daz, get in the driver’s seat and move this truck away with Dean in the back. Be ready to come get us.”
Daz groaned but jumped from the back, holding on to his broken hand. He moved over to the driver’s-side door and climbed in awkwardly.
Scarlett, Craig, and Tina followed Ollie and Marcus as they headed to the main entrance of one of the most famous buildings in the world. They each carried the guns of the army and looked as ready as Ollie did to kill some more arseholes.
They reached the entrance as shadows moved in the darkness inside. Ollie and Marcus moved to one side of the doorway and the other three took cover at the other side. Scurrying feet drew nearer. Ollie readied his weapon and pointed it at the dark shapes until Tess came into view and he released the breath he had been holding.
“Tess!” Ollie shouted and jumped out from the side of the building. Ollie quickly ran over to her and picked her up, swinging her around in his arms. He was just so damn happy to see her.
“What the fuck? Put me down, dickhead,” Tess sputtered from his chest she was pressed against. Ollie dropped her to the floor and grinned. “And stop fucking grinning. I’m not your girlfriend, you know?” Her frown took over her face, but she was still so damn beautiful.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” He rolled his eyes. “But you will be one day.” He winked at her scowl.
“Ollie, leave me alone.” She smacked him on the arm, still frowning, but with one side of her mouth lifting a little. She looked behind him. “Where’re the other soldiers out there?”
Marcus moved closer. “I think most of them are dead. It’ll be the zombies that we’ll have a problem with soon enough, though. Fuck, Rob… Fuck!” The last word came out breathy as he took Rob’s weight against his own. “How… I mean…” For how big and tough Marcus was, he sounded about ready to cry. But when Ollie clocked Rob’s stump held close to his body and the state of his face, he felt emotion well up inside himself too.
Ollie looked away and clenched his teeth. What the fucking hell went on in there?
Tess hugged her friends behind Ollie, then turned to everyone again. “Look, we need to get everyone out of here. If we’re sure the soldiers have all been dealt with, we need to split into two teams and scour the grounds for people to help. I’m not leaving without everyone who needs it.”
“Got it,” Tina answered.
“I’ll go with them,” Frankie said and moved off with Tina, Craig, Matt, Amanda and Scarlett.
“I’ll get Rob to the truck, then catch up with you,” Marcus said as he half carried his friend out of the door. Anna followed, then stopped to look at Tess and Liz, mouth open.
Tess placed a hand on Anna’s arm and looked into her eyes. “Anna, stay with Rob. He needs you now. And if any soldiers come, or the dead, you can take care of ’em.”
Anna swallowed, staring after Rob and Marcus, her usual ferocity and colour having drained from her face. It looked more like she was the one missing a hand than Rob.
“Go, Anna. We’ll catch up with you soon.”
Anna nodded, then jogged to catch up with the men.
Tess looked at Ollie. “So, what happened out here?”
“We ran a load of the soldiers down.” Ollie shrugged. “What happened in there?”
Tess looked away for a moment before meeting Liz’s eyes. “They tried to kill us with the dead.”
Ollie snorted. “And let me guess… they didn’t realise who they were dealing with?”
Tess appeared to almost smile, but a look of regret found its way onto her face instead, reminding Ollie of Rob. Most of them were scratched up from the fight of their lives, but it was nothing compared to what had happened to him.
A couple of women rounded the corner next—one holding two machetes, the other a spear—followed by a load of the other people, who all looked about ready to drop.
“Sumi, Morgan. I was wondering where you two had got to,” said Tess, nodding her head to each woman in turn.
Sumi answered, “There are no more soldiers inside. We checked everywhere we could.”
“And these are everyone you were held captive with?”
Morgan nodded. “Yeah. But there are more.”
Tess nodded. “We thought so. That’s why we’ve sent some people to look around the outside of the stadium. We were about to go as well.”
“Good.” Morgan sagged a little. “Those outside are more likely to be the children and unwell people. They need help too.”
“Of course, Morgan. We won’t leave anyone behind.” Tess rested her hand on Morgan’s shoulder.
“But how do we get everyone away from here?” Ollie scratched at his beard. “Are there more army trucks here? Or buses, or something?”
