The Zombie Chronicles - Book 2 (Apocalypse Infection Unleashed Series) (7 page)

Finally, I reached the end and jumped in
to the barn window.
The zombies trying to get to Nick, who was still crossing the plank, shoved the board with their bodies as they struggled to reach him. Nick must’ve felt the board about to drop from the house window, because he shifted from slow-motion tightrope walker to a full running leap off the end of the board. Just as his feet left the board, it tumbled from the window, careening into the screaming mob below. With his arms out, his body seemed to sail through the air until he collided with the barn window frame, clutching with all his strength. Before we could reach down to pull him up, he hoisted himself into the window with one mighty push.

Claire and Jackie le
d us inside. I couldn’t have been happier, even though I knew we weren’t out of the zombie-infested woods just yet. I pulled out my axe and was grateful I was able to bring it safely over without losing it or—even worse—cutting myself during that little risqué circus act.

“
Let’s figure out where we are,” Nick said.

“
We’re
above the stalls, in a hayloft,” Jackie said.

Her voice sounded like heaven. I rushed over, and she wrapped her arms around me as I squeezed her body tightly against my own.

“
All right.
I’m gonna make a second sweep,” Lucas said, slapping my back. “C’mon.”

I glanced down to make sure it was safe. I didn’t see anything, so I clambered down the hayloft ladder. Beams of sunlight filtered in through the high
windows and shone on my face.
The barn was pretty much a giant room with a
high roof and arched entrances at each end, but there wasn’t anything we could really use—no equipment, no supplies, and no tools.
“This place has been stripped down to the bare bones.”

“
Just
our luck,” Nick said, rasping in a low breath.

Claire squeezed his hand. “It may look hopeless, but I’m not giving up—not after all we’ve gone through to get here.”

He pulled her close. “None of us here are quitters.”

“
I don’t wanna die, Nick. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

Jackie slipped her hand into Claire’s and squeezed it in assurance. “We’ve survived this long, and we’re not gonna let anything stop us now.”

The barn doors shook violently, and
zombies began pounding on the wooden walls, making a terrible racket.

“
Let’s go take a look in the back,” Claire said, her voice wavering. “There has to be something around here.”

“
There’s nothing but useless farm machines. A John Deere’s of no use without keys,” Lucas said.

“
Farm machines?” Jackie asked. “I used to help out on my grandparents’ farm.” She tugged Claire’s arm. “Let’s go check it out.”

“
No!” yelled Nick. “You shouldn’t separate from us. We should all stick together.”

They ignored Nick, except to turn and roll their eyes at him, then disappeared into the back.

“
Just let them go,” Lucas said. “The place is clear, and maybe she can figure a way to get one of those machines working. While they’re gone, we need to figure out a plan!”

“
Fine,” Nick conceded, blowing out a breath. “What about some kind of distraction?”

“
Like what?” I asked.

Suddenly, the barn doors splintered open, and daylight flooded the dimly lit barn. My jaw dropped as dozens of zombies surged forward.

Chapter
9

Like a stampede of wild, rabies-infected bulls, the zombies came barging through the broken barn doors.

My stomach lurched, and I froze for a moment, then turned and yelled to the girls, “Jackie! Claire! Quick! Hide. The barn has been breached!”

My brother grabbed my arm and dragged me along. “Let’s go! Back upstairs.”

I followed him back up the wooden ladder that led to the loft. Nick pulled the ladder up so the zombies wouldn’t be able to follow us. There were so many of the dead things stumbling around below. I screamed for the girls again but they didn’t answer, and a chill ran down my spine at the thought that maybe that was because they couldn’t. The zombies were flooding inside by the minute.
Crap
! I knew if we didn’t do something soon, the girls wouldn’t stand a chance.

“
Nick!” I said, holding up the axe. “Let’s find out what room they’re in. We can chop through the floor of the loft and lift them up!”

Nick and Lucas nodded, and we bolted to the other side of the barn. We all screamed for the girls through the cracks, trying to be louder than the growls and moans of the monsters below.

“
We’re down here!” Jackie finally yelled.

My heart leapt at the sound of her voice, and I estimated where she was. Gripping the axe handle tightly, I chopped at the floor as Nick and Lucas began ripping a hole in the wooden floorboards.

“
I can see them!” Nick shouted.

I kept chopping, trying to make a hole big enough for them to squeeze through.

Lucas knelt down. “They’re hiding out in a combine harvester
.”

I could see them through the driving cab of the giant farm machine, used to harvest grain crops in the fields.
Thank goodness!
We still had a chance to save them. Relief flooded through me, and they were okay, for the time being. I swung the axe harder into the floor to make the opening even bigger.

Nick pulled on my arm.
“Stop.”

“
What?” I asked.

“
They’re pointing to keys, to the harvester.”

I squinted. Keys dangled on a large hook on the wall.
I checked out the zombies. Dozens, possibly more, were circling the large room.
At the sight of them, I knew there was no way we could just slip down there and nab those keys.

Jackie rolled down the window and shouted up, “If we can get the keys, I know how to drive this thing!”

That was one getaway vehicle that never would have crossed my mind, but it would allow us to drive right over the zombies, like a
farmer harvesting grain and corn.

Claire waved to me. “Have Lucas or Nick dangle you down. Get the keys and we’re home free!”

“
Wait!” Lucas said. “You don’t even know if there’s gas in that thing.”

“
Yeah,” I said. “What if it doesn’t even work? I’d hate to be stuck down there. Maybe we should just pull the girls up here and figure out another plan.”

“
Let’s see if the harvester works,” Nick said. “If it doesn’t, we’ll move on to Plan B.”

“
Plan B? Aren’t we on Plan J or K by now?” I said.

Lucas clapped my shoulder. “Your brother’s right. Let’s see if it even runs.”

My brother motioned me over to the far wall.
“This is lined up exactly where the keys are hanging.” He grabbed the axe from me and started chopping away.

“
Who’s going down?” Lucas asked.

I met his gaze. “Me. I’m the lightest.”

“
Uh, okay,”
Nick hesitantly agreed, ever his little brother’s keeper. “Lucas and I will hold on to your feet.”

I swallowed hard, and though I felt nervous, I nodded. “Just don’t let go.”

My brother rolled his eyes. “Have some faith in me, will ya?”

When Nick and Lucas dropped me into the hole through the ceiling by my legs, my ankles hurt like crazy. Blood rushed to my head. I was sure I was gonna have a heart attack as they lowered me down. Though I reached out as far as I could, I still couldn’t touch the keys. “Lower!” I shouted.

I glanced into the harvester. Jackie and Claire had rolled down the window and were firing at every zombie around me. Nick and Lucas lowered me a bit more, but instead of getting anywhere, I was clobbered on the head by some dead goon’s fist. I screamed and flailed my arms at them, but they kept trying to grab me. Lucas and Nick swung me by the legs, using the momentum to maneuver me closer to the key hook, like a human pendulum. Suddenly, my head collided hard with a zombie’s skull. The guy must have been seven feet tall. Lucky for me, my bone head knocked him down. My fingers curled around the key ring, and I snatched it off the wall.

“
Got ‘em!”
I shouted. “Pull me up!”

“
Awesome!” Lucas said.

As they slowly pulled me back up, the seven-foot zombie got back up, grabbed a fistful of hair on each side of my head, and started to pull my face toward his. His chattering mouth, dripping greenish bile, was just about to bite down over my nose, so I jabbed a key deep into his eye. He fell to the ground, shrieking, with several strands of my hair still clutched in his rotting fists. As I was hauled upward, the girls cheered, and I gave them two thumbs-up while clinging to the keys. It took a minute for me to comprehend that I’d just been hanging upside down like a bull in an abattoir. I had no idea what had possessed me to volunteer for such a thing.

Lucas slapped me on the back.
“Man, that was gutsy!”

I held up the keys, dizziness washing over me. “Let’s just figure out a way to get to the harvester with the girls.” Dropping to my knees, I glanced around.

Nick grabbed the keys from me.

“
Hey!” I said.

“
There’s no reason for you to go down there again if that harvester won’t even start up,” he said. “I’ll go check it out. Just cover me.”

Lucas dropped a pile of dead rats at my feet. “Look what I found.”

“
What the heck?” I asked, disgusted.

“
Check this out!”

He grabbed one by the tail and threw it down on the other side of the room. Straightaway, the zombies ran over and started fighting over the rodent. Lucas threw more while Nick fired a few shots. All the zombies swarming by the harvester door dropped one by one as I squeezed off one headshot after another.
Nick jumped down into the room as Lucas and I shot any zombie that dared to get within a three-foot radius of him.

Jackie and Claire covered him as well, then opened the door. I sighed in relief when I saw Nick rush inside, glad that his crazy plan hadn’t gotten him killed—and that it might have just saved all of our lives.

A
humming sound filled the air, and my eyes widened.
Yes! The harvester works!
Before the zombies rushed in, Jackie and Claire had
removed the rotating paddles and elevated the deck blade a few feet. The girls were smart, and that was another thing I liked about them. The teeth on the machine looked exactly like the giant teeth on a Megaladon
shark,
two rows moving back and forth like scissors.

Nick rolled down the window and
waved us over to him.

Lucas and I threw down every dead rat we could find as a temporary distraction; it worked well. While the zombies were distracted by their rodent treats,
we jumped down. The others nailed any zombie that got too close, enabling Lucas and I to rush over and squeeze into the harvester cab. A wave of relief washed through me. Nothing made me happier than seeing Jackie’s face.

Claire leaned over and locked the door, and then Jackie put the machine into drive. We jerked into motion, and soon were lumbering forward.