The Deadland Chronicles (Book 3): The Endless Dead, page 25
part #3 of The Deadland Chronicles Series
She knew she couldn’t admire her pose for long and stepped out of the way. Two seconds after she moved, Mason landed with a slight grunt, and he was able to stay on two feet. Not that he bragged about it or compared.
He cleared a spot for Donovan, who landed two seconds later. He wasn’t as graceful as Mason, but remained upright, albeit with some wobbling.
“Let’s go,” Jo said as she took the first steps away from the building. The grass was tall and tugged at her short legs, making her think of wading through the ocean waves. Once they got a few feet out, they discovered that the patrols had either cut down or beat a path through the grass, making it an easier passage.
“Hey!” A voice shouted from behind them. “Where are you going?”
The statement was as much of a challenge as it was a question.
Another voice said, “Do you see that?”
They crossed a path and then passed under a small copse of trees. After that, they rushed onto the asphalt of a parking lot, moving freely.
“Hey, hey,” the first voice shouted. “You’d better come back inside.” There was a brief pause. “Do it now.”
Jo felt a nervous tingling between her shoulder blades as she contemplated the idea that someone inside might shoot them. Then she thought the idea was far-fetched, so she put it in the back of her mind. It was persistent, though, and continued to whisper away until she made it beside a three-story building. She knew once they crossed the threshold of the corner of this building, they would be out of view.
Just to be safe, she ducked down to make less of a target. The last few seconds before they made it around the corner were anxious ones, but they passed by intact and free of bullets.
She guided the trio through a small grouping of abandoned cars, then made an oblique cut across the parking lot to give them a better view onto the open area in front of the dormitory. Once there, they could see seventy or eighty zombies milling about outside the dorm. A few of them had ventured into the recessed doorways on the side of the building. It looked as if a few windows had been broken, but the building seemed mostly intact.
The mob of zombies shifted, creating a view into the center of the group. A lone zombie moved among the herd, looking more fluid than most of the other deaders. It roamed for a moment, seemingly with purpose, then stopped in place. A moment after that, it reached down, picked something off the ground, and tossed it at a wide bank of windows on the front of the dormitory.
Even at the distance they were away, Jo, Donovan, and Mason heard the breaking glass, but that wasn’t what bothered them. Not at all.
“Did you see that?” Mason asked.
“Yes,” Donovan replied, but his voice seemed breathy and weak.
“Wait,” Jo said. “I know I saw what it did, but I need to know, did that zombie just toss a rock through a window?’”
“Yes,” Donovan said again.
The pack of undead shifted, and the rock-throwing zombie disappeared in their midst as if he were being swallowed up.
“Have you ever seen one do that before?” Mason asked.
“Uh-uh,” Jo replied, slowly shaking her head back and forth.
They watched the herd of the undead as they milled about, moving along the front of the dormitory. Another outburst of breaking glass echoed from the dormitory, and the sound caused Jo to jump.
“What does this mean?” Donovan said.
“One of Eli’s men said he thought he saw a single zombie leading the herd as it came into the city,” Jo said. “It sounded sort of crazy.”
Donovan closed his eyes for a moment and sucked in a deep breath. When he opened them, he said, “I’m not buying this. There’s no way a zombie can do what that one did.”
“Then, do you think there’s a human walking in there among all the deaders?” Jo said. “How much sense does that make?”
Donovan lowered his gaze and said, “It just can’t be. They don’t work this way.”
Jo stepped closer to Donovan and put a hand on his shoulder. “Listen, when I was back with my other group, we were attacked by a man who controlled zombies. We didn’t think that was possible -- until we had to. Frankly, the idea of a smart zombie scares the shit out of me, but it could be happening.”
“And it doesn’t look like all of them are acting that way,” Mason said as he stared intently into the crowd of the undead in the distance. “I only see the one.”
“The only real way to find out what is going on is to get closer,” Jo said. She pointed across the parking lot to a two-story building that stood between them and the dormitory. “I say we use that building as a blind to get closer.”
“What are we going to do even if we get close?” Donovan asked. “There’s got to be eighty of them and only three of us.”
Jo had to do her own gut-check, which took a couple seconds, then she said, “The least we can do is get their attention. Maybe draw them away.”
“And then they’re after us,” Mason said. “Sounds like my idea of fun.”
“If you have a better idea, then let’s hear it,” Jo said, but there was no challenge in her statement. She was open to any ideas other than retreat, but when it came down to it, their options were few. Time was working against them and their friends in the dormitory. To compound the situation, there was always a possibility that Eli might send out a team to bring them back in. Being paranoid, he could fear that Jo’s little posse might draw the herd back to the walls of the Sanctum.
Neither of the men said anything.
“So, we move forward,” Jo said, and she started in motion, hoping the men followed.
It took a long three seconds, but they started in motion toward the backside of the building across the walkway from the dormitory. They maintained a watchful eye on the zombies as they approached, wondering just what they would do if the zombies turned and came at them.
Chapter 47
The Stand-Off
A rock smashed through a panel of glass in the front windows, and glass spewed into the room. Molly dodged the rock as it bounced by her leg, but a piece of jagged glass glanced off her calf, and she lost her balance. After a slight stumble and she caught herself before she fell.
Still, Henry asked, “Are you okay?” He stood twenty feet away, peeking through a narrow break in the drapes.
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Molly said as she checked her pants leg with her free hand. The piece of glass had made a small cut in her jeans, and a slight trickle of blood came from the tear.
“But you’re bleeding,” Henry said.
“It’s nothing,” she said, “just a little cut.” She wiped the blood off her hand onto her pants, then said, “I can tell you one thing, if that asshole throws another rock through the window, I’m going to start blasting away.” She waved her arm across the floor, which was covered with broken glass, then held her pistol in the air.
“You’re not doing that,” Del said. “He’s the only one that’s a threat. You start shooting, and every one of those deaders is going to want inside. If that smart one finds a way to open a door, we’re totally screwed.”
Molly shot Del a scowl, but it was clear she got the message because she dropped her arm to her side.
“What is our end game here?” Doc Wilson asked.
“As long as we’re inside and they don’t have a way in, we’re okay,” Del said.
“But how long can we keep this up?” Doc Wilson asked. “The old people we’ve stationed at the other entrances are only going to be able to stay alert and awake for so long.”
“I don’t think we have a lot of options here,” Del said. “They’re all up front now, so it’s a hurry up and wait game now.”
“Maybe we can get more stuff to block the other doors,” Henry said. “Lowell has some ideas and--”
Another rock smashed into a window panel right next to him, and he jumped back, doing his best to dodge the broken glass flying into the room. “Dammit!” The rock bounced across the floor and ended up rolling under a couch on the other side of the room.
“You okay?” Del asked.
“Yeah,” Henry said as he cautiously approached the window.
“That guy sure has an arm,” Doc Wilson said as he walked toward where the rock disappeared. He searched around on the floor until he retrieved the rock, which turned out to really be a hunk of concrete with irregular dimensions. It was bigger and heavier than he expected, and he had to use both hands to hold it aloft.
He came back toward the front of the room, still carrying the rock.
“Look at this thing,” he said as he held it up in the air. His arms shook slightly from the strain. “This is a big chunk of concrete.”
“What are you saying, Doc?” Del asked.
“It would take a considerable amount of strength to toss this through the windows,” Doc Wilson said, still marveling at the hunk of concrete’s size. “He tossed these one-handed, like a baseball player, right?”
“Yeah,” Del said, sounding a little annoyed. “What’s your point?”
“There is something really extraordinary going on here. If you watch a shot putter, he has to really work to toss the shot put as far as this guy is tossing these rocks and stones. And he practically broke that couch into pieces with his bare hands.” Doc Wilson looked up from the concrete and said, “Not only is this one smart, but he’s also very, very strong.”
“We do have guns,” Del said as he waggled his rifle in the air.
“Still, we have to keep that in mind if we get close to him,” Doc Wilson said.
“We’ll have to make sure we never get up all that up close and personal with him,” Del said.
“I just hope we have a say in that,” Doc Wilson said as he knelt and set the hunk of concrete on the floor.
As he started to stand, the sound of gunshots carried their way, and none of them could resist taking a look out the windows from their vantage points.
“Hell yeah,” Molly said, followed with a loud whooping cry. “About fucking time for the cavalry to arrive.”
Chapter 48
Attacking the Flank
Jo was the first to fire. At the distance she was away, it was almost impossible to get a headshot unless they went with a full-on sniper approach. She knew that could be a failing proposition in the long run. Besides, they just wanted to pull the zombies away from the dormitory. Of course, that made them the new targets of the zombie’s attention.
They decided to spread out, taking up different positions before attempting any type of attack. Jo had the left corner of the building across the walkway from the dormitory. Mason had the right corner, and Donovan was situated behind a car in the parking lot positioned between two buildings.
The plan was for Jo to fire, then Donovan, and finally Mason. What they would do after that largely depended on the zombies. If, as they suspected, the zombies re-directed their attention on to the shooters, Jo, Donovan, and Mason would continue to fire spaced out volleys. They would withdraw while firing, hoping to pull the deaders away from the dormitory.
There was a wild card in there that they hadn’t expected.
Jo’s bullets slammed into the backs of the zombies, driving them forward into their undead brethren. This knocked some of them to the ground, while others flailed their arms in the air to stay upright. The few unlucky ones to take bullets to the head went down and did not get back up.
The ones left standing made exaggeratedly slow turns toward her as bullets flew into their midst. As always, they paid the bullets no heed. The mere thought of imminent death from gunshots did not bother them at all. They were all about the food.
And the food was across the way, making loud noises. Loud noises were like the Siren’s song for the undead.
Jo let up, and a wisp of smoke drifted off the barrel of her rifle as she assessed the herd. Her shots had opened a narrow gap through the bodies of the undead, and she spotted a lone zombie standing at the back of the crowd. It was stock-still, and, from what she could tell, it was glaring right at her. There was something in this one’s body language that was off. Unlike the others, it wasn’t advancing on her.
Some little voice in the back of her head said this one meant trouble. She whipped her rifle back to target it, but by the time she tried to sight it in her crosshairs, it had disappeared from view, merging into the crowd of zombies. She only saw the faces of the undead herd, all of them looking directly at her. They all looked hungry.
Five seconds later, shots rang out from Jo’s right, and as planned, Donovan was taking his turn at the crowd of the undead. His bullets ripped into them, sending bone and blood spraying into the air, splattered onto the zombies further back in the crowd. Much like Jo’s results, some fell, some staggered, and a few went down for good, but most switched their attention from Jo to Donovan. If you were Donovan, you’d be worried, but it was all a part of their plan - divide and conquer.
At least they hoped it worked that way, but few plans ever did.
The zombies did split up, but most headed in Donovan’s direction because he had just made the last set of loud noises. Zombies were like that. He who spoke last got the lion’s share of their attention.
Still, Jo had a decent number headed her way. The plan was for her to hold off on her next attack to give Mason a chance to deliver his special attack.
The seconds ticked by, and two sets of zombies headed toward Jo and Donovan. Jo couldn’t help but notice that a disturbing number of them held back, though, grouping around something closer to the dormitory. That wasn’t a part of the plan, and it sent a nervous tingle of apprehension up her spine.
She checked out of the corner of her eye and saw Mason give the pre-planned signal that he was about to start his attack. She hoped Donovan was paying attention, but since she had little or no control over it, she surrendered to that. She retreated around the corner of the building but peeked because she had to see what came next.
Mason was completely out of view, but about ten seconds into her vigil, she saw a small object fly through the air, looking like an over-large rock. It landed in the midst of the group of zombies headed her way.
Common sense took precedence over curiosity, and she pulled her head back from the corner and started a countdown in her had. She made it from ten to six when an explosion sounded in front of the building. The noise rolled like a mild thunderclap her way, and it was followed by a concussive wave of energy. Small pieces of dust and debris wafted around the corner, but it settled quickly.
She knew it was safe to look again and stuck her head around the corner. What she saw both astonished and disappointed her. The zombies that had been heading her way, lay strewn about the street looking as if someone had dropped a bomb in the center of their group - which is what had happened. Mason tossed the first grenade in an almost pinpoint fashion among them.
More than a half dozen of the deaders were just parts and pieces now with limbs blown off and chunks of their torsos littering the walkway. A few tried to walk forward, but the grenade had dealt terrible damage to their legs. Instead, they staggered and fell. Another set shambled around in a daze, their brains scrambled by the concussive force of the blast.
But too many of them stood away from the attack, huddled around something that held them closer to the dormitory. This was not a part of the plan.
She looked to the right just in time to see Mason toss the second hand grenade into the midst of the group headed in Donovan’s direction. The explosion came four seconds later, and it was like being in a war zone. The blast tossed zombies closest to its epicenter into the air like they were rag dolls. Just like the first explosion, not only bodies flew into the air, but so did arms, legs, and hunks of bloody flesh.
The cloud of smoke coming from the explosion obscured much of what happened for the next few seconds, but Jo saw a forearm and hand fly out of the cloud. It tumbled in the air for a good twenty feet before it plopped down on the asphalt like a butcher tossing out a piece of meat. It skidded along for a few feet, leaving a bloody trail making Jo thinking of a snail and came to a stop on the sidewalk.
Also, like the first grenade, this one left close to ten zombies lying dead on the ground. A few more stumbled and staggered about, essential parts of their bodies damaged beyond operation.
When most of the smoke cloud drifted away, she saw way too many zombies still standing in a tight group in front of the dormitory. The plan was for the grenades to take out more. Then the three of them were supposed to follow that initial attack with a sniper-style attack. As they commenced a slow retreat, they would pick off zombies, pulling them away from the dormitory.
They knew no matter if Eli hadn’t sanctioned their commando attack or not, he would direct his people to take out any zombies approaching the walls. That was in his and the Sanctum’s best interest. Whether they would shoot at Jo, Donovan, and Mason was still a matter up to debate.
None of this mattered because the zombies just weren’t cooperating, and Jo could not understand why. They didn’t shy away from bullets or grenades or just about anything. Open flames were the only thing that she had seen them actually retreat from, and that wasn’t always the case.
Why aren’t you playing by the fucking rules, she thought as the anger rose within her.
What they did next made her even angrier and even a little scared.
The zombie mob began shuffling away from the front of the dormitory and toward the farthest corner. That meant they were probably moving around to the back of the building. Sure, she, Donovan, and Mason could improvise, but the further the zombies got from the walls, the less the chance of diminishing their numbers. If they couldn’t whittle the group down enough, their people out of the dormitory would still be trapped inside.
In fact, chasing the zombies increased the chances that one or all of the trio could be killed, but she saw no other course of action. They would have to follow the zombies and press their attack.
