Alaskan Undead Apocalypse (Book 4): Resolution (20 page)

“Jerry’s probably right. We shouldn’t waste
time and sunlight.” Noticing a mug in Danny’s hand, Neil asked,
“Whatchya got there?”

“Oh, here. Emma thought you might like this.
It’s real coffee.” Danny added, “I’m not supposed to tell you where
the water came from though.”

Neil eagerly took the very warm coffee mug
and peered into the dark, hot liquid. The strong aroma caused his
taste buds to tingle and the hair on his arms and neck to stand on
end. He took a sip, letting the strong drink burn his tongue. The
caffeine lit up his senses in an instant, chasing away whatever
sleep still lingered. It didn’t really matter to him from where the
water had come when he felt like that after one sip.

Taking a longer drink from his mug, Neil
pulled aside the strip of newspaper to expose a section of glass
and looked again into the street. It was still snowing, much of
which was starting to accumulate in ankle deep piles around the
mostly motionless undead standing in the storm. There were more
than twenty gathered outside by then. They filled the air with
their otherworldly moaning, calling out to every zombie in the area
to join them.

Danny lingered for a moment longer not
saying anything. Neil picked up on the boy’s hesitation and asked,
“Wanna know what’s going on?”

Danny started to nod and then shrugged his
shoulders. Neil gave Danny the short version of their plan. Danny
was the only one to have asked about the window on the back door.
Neil assigned Danny the task of covering it with paper. Jules and
Nikki supervised and helped him by handing strips of tape at the
appointed times.

Feet pounding a steady rhythm on pavement.
Breathing coming in shallow, labored gasps. Eyes widening with fear
following each desperate step.

Emma couldn’t believe she had volunteered to
be one of the “rabbits.” What was she thinking? Jerry could have
done it and had done it in the past. Why did she volunteer? The
answer eluded her.

Honestly, Emma didn’t have time to consider
her poor judgment at the moment. She had to concentrate on running
and staying alive. It was her job to make certain no zeke could
come at them from the right side. Neil was responsible for the
left.

It was like trying to hold back water with
only your hand. The things approached from both sides, agitated and
driven by hunger. They came in pairs and groups, their wretched
jaws snapping aggressively, chewing the air as they neared.

The two of them ran as long as they could
without using their firearms. The plan all along was to use their
guns, sparingly, but Neil wanted them closer to the ferry office
before they did.

He thought that if they used their guns too
early, they could burn through too much ammunition and also land
themselves in a trap with too many coming at them from every
direction. If they could keep the zekes only coming at them from
three sides, Neil and Emma could fairly easily make it back to the
office.

Neil looked over his shoulder as he ran and
was astonished at the number of the things trailing the two of
them. The creatures were no longer capable of running, but their
pace was more than walking. They moved with a grave purpose,
following Neil’s and Emma’s every move.

Emma said nearly breathlessly, “Neil, in
front of us.”

Neil turned and saw that they were heading
directly into a tightening cul de sac. The opening in front of them
was slowly closing like an unforgiving mouth. “Nowwwww!” he
shouted.

Emma, still running, raised her assault
rifle and fired. The bullets struck flesh and bone, punching holes
through chests, arms, necks and heads. Not all of the bullets fired
found their targets. Emma was finding it hard to steady the rifle
and its kick due to her pace. Regardless of whether her shooting
was bringing down many of the undead, she was successful in driving
back the gathering throng in front of her.

Neil had chosen to use a pistol instead of
taking another of their assault rifles. His shots were more
controlled and paced, though not every one of his bullets found
their marks either. The imposing, modern-looking forty-five caliber
pistol sent powerful shockwaves through his arms with each of its
metallic barks.

In front of them, acting like a dam against
the flood, jutted the rear end of a car. Neil needn’t say anything.
The two of them leapt first onto the bumper, then onto the car’s
trunk, and next the roof, which crumpled loudly with their combined
weight. They hurried across the hood of the car and finally jumped
clear of harm and but nowhere near away from danger.

Both Neil and Emma spun around and fired off
the remaining rounds in their weapons. These bursts were less
controlled and more random. It felt good though. Watching the
bullets literally barrel their way through the crowd was grimly
satisfying.

Both guns clicking on empty, Neil and Emma
once again sprinted away from mob. The two of them reloaded their
weapons on the run in case a similar measure was needed. With the
ferry office getting closer and closer, Neil doubted they would
need to use their guns again but it paid to be prepared for
anything these days.

There were six more of the creatures
standing in the road outside the office, a gruesome greeting party.
Beyond the ghouls, Neil spied Danielle standing on the opposite of
the fence gate. Excited to see Emma and Neil, Danielle waved
desperately.

Neil shouted, “Opennnnnnnnn
ittttttttt!!!”

Danielle forced herself to walk over to the
gate latch. On the way, she stumbled on a rock and fell into the
fence. It wasn’t much of a fall, but it was enough for her to
rattle the metal fence links. And the sound the fence made wasn’t
much to hear, but it was enough to be heard by one of the six
ghouls nearest to her.

In her haste, Danielle didn’t see the zombie
that was making its way toward her. The lumbering beast stagger
stepped its way in her direction, its rotting jaw clicking and
cracking as it opened and closed. A steady, nearly unbroken rusty
hinge of a groan spilled from its gnashing maw. The moan carved
into the air with all the subtlety of a buzz saw but Danielle
didn’t see it. She was too focused on her task to notice anything
around her.

Lifting the latch and throwing open the
gate, Danielle finally noticed the creeping beast. She screamed an
earsplitting wail, attracting the other five undead toward her as
well. She tried to run but found her legs unwilling to budge. She
was as stuck to the ground as a tree.

Danielle, her feet planted and unmovable,
could no longer find her voice to scream any easier than she could
find the will to flee. Crying was the only thing she was able to
do. The tears came fast and hard, producing chest-seizing,
fear-filled sobs.

Its cloudy eyes wide with rage, the creature
moved quicker. Its moan became a bone-chilling, raspy growl and its
arms raised hungrily toward her.

Danielle closed her eyes and awaited the
inevitable. She thought of her family...her father and mother, her
ancient grandfather, and finally her brother. She hoped their kind
memories would greet her in the gloom. Maybe she would find help in
getting through the coming pain. She tried to see their faces but
all she saw was the gray face of relentless death when her eyes
closed.

She heard a crack but was unable to
recognize it for anything other than a sudden, foreign noise. When
she felt her shoulder get tugged fiercely, she gritted her teeth
and prayed that it would be over quickly. Then there was another
sound and more tugging. She was being pulled away. Was it a voice
she was hearing? Danielle was stupefied.

Finding the courage, Danielle finally opened
her eyes and saw that the fiend closest to her was no longer on its
feet; it was lying on the ground in a heap just inside the open
gate. The ghoul’s head was partially collapsed on one side and a
jellied pool of dark fluids had formed beside it.

Looking around in wonder, Danielle saw Jess
next to her. The blonde woman was holding her pistol, a black
automatic, extended in her right hand. The sleek firearm’s barrel
was still trailing a faint line of thin smoke. Jess pulled on
Danielle, this time grabbing onto the younger woman’s coat more
forcefully. With a firm grip on Danielle, both physically and
metaphorically, Jess led the two of them away. Danielle allowed
herself to be pushed and pulled according to Jess’ desires.

Before they had taken more than two steps
though, another of the demons started to make its way through the
gate. A wiry, thin arm followed a claw of a hand. When its head
emerged, looking not much more than a set of chomping teeth and
deep-set eyes, Jess decided she’d had enough.

Forcing Danielle further ahead toward the
open door with Danny standing in it, Jess stopped, raised her
pistol again and fired, shouting, “I’m through taking shit from
youuuu! From all of you!” When she had stopped, her voice was
rising to a shrill pitch. Her bullets tore away bony fingers,
shattered a clavicle, bore themselves into the creature’s brittle
sternum, and finally punched holes in its skull.

The creature was hurtled backward and
tumbled into another of them starting to come through the gate.
Jess didn’t wait for them to become untangled. She pushed Danielle
through the door and Danny slammed it shut.

In the meantime, Neil and Emma had also
gotten within striking distance of the gate entrance. Neil shot
another of the original half dozen; the other three had already
rounded the corner into the lot and were out of sight.

Neil and Emma heard another, recognizable
gunshot. It was Jerry. They could only hope he was shooting the
targets still in front of them. If everything worked according to
plan, Jerry would be shooting any errant zekes that wandered into
the lot in front of the two of them. They had to trust in the
plan.

There was another shot just as they got
through the gate, and Neil saw another of the creatures in front of
them as its head came apart. Emma eliminated the final zombie
unceremoniously with a pull of a trigger. Having been shot from
behind, the monster was knocked forward onto its face, grating
roughly across both gravel and pavement.

Neil shouted, “Dannnnnnnyyyyyy! Open the
doooooorrrrrrrrr!”

Dutifully, Danny cracked open the door just
wide enough to verify that it was indeed Neil calling to be let
into the building. When he confirmed it was, Danny opened the door
wider and welcomed in the two adults.

The second he shut the door Danny could hear
the grunts, moans, and howls of the undead in the lot outside. His
chest filled with the sound triggering the unfortunately familiar
nausea.

“They’re out back,” the boy said. “A bunch
of ‘em. I think the plan is working.”

Neil looked at the closed door and its small
window. “Now we just have to hope they don’t find a way in.”

Jerry slid the bolt on his rifle, peered
through the scope, and fired again. His heart rate was rising and
his breathing was starting to quicken as his excitement built. He
was making enough racket to attract all of them to his position and
it was working.

As one, the cadaverous mob turned their
attention to the source of the shooting and moved in that
direction. The vast majority of the creatures trailing Neil and
Emma had already gotten into the lot though a few stragglers
continued to enter. The mass of decomposing bodies, more than fifty
of the fiends in all, was surging away from the ferry office
building to find their way into the far corner of the lot. Their
progress led by their chorus of stomach-turning moans, the
creatures yearned for the promise of flesh.

Jerry couldn’t remember how many he had shot
up to that point. He was usually better about keeping track of the
load in his rifle, but with William standing next to him and
watching their backs he didn’t feel nearly as pressured. William
was armed with Allen’s shotgun and was keeping a steady and
revolving eye on the limited approaches behind and around them. So
far, they only seemed to have been noticed by those abominations
already in the lot.

They needed to wait a few more moments
before they could move back to the ferry office. They were to go to
the back door of the building where someone was supposed to be
watching for them.

Jerry fired again and then again, watching
through his scope as two more brittle, ossified skulls burst like
overripe melons. “Reloading,” he said calmly. “We still good?”

William nodded, his comfort level decreasing
with each passing second. “Yeah, we’re good. Nothing around.”

William wondered how they were going to get
back to Shotgun Cove without access to a vehicle. There were many
cars and trucks available on the streets and in the parking lots of
Whittier, but they couldn’t be sure if any would have keys in the
ignitions or even gas in their tanks. It was a crapshoot for all of
them going that route. They couldn’t take any unnecessary chances,
especially with the kids with them. He didn’t want to put any of
them in danger and was certain that fellow Neil didn’t want to do
that either.

They could walk, but it was a hell of a long
way away. It would be even longer with their fully stuffed
backpacks and other bags filled with supplies. Besides, if they
were spotted and followed by any of those things, he would be
putting his friends in peril and that wasn’t fair. They didn’t
deserve that.

No, it was quite apparent that they needed a
vehicle to get them back to the Cove. He thought maybe they could
find one closer to them if they looked in different places. Instead
of looking toward all the packed cars over toward the tourist end
of town, maybe they could find a car or a truck over toward the
commercial docks on the other side of the ferry dock. He looked
that way, straining to see anything. The empty shipping containers,
handful of dormant buildings, and other odds and ends didn’t hold
much promise for them. William did spot a couple of vehicles but
neither looked to have been driven for an age.