Dead Series (Book 2): A Little More Dead: Gunfire & Sunshine (12 page)

Nine, eight,
seven…

Jay’s hand worked
faster on his big black dick, chest rising and falling as he stared at Wendy in
a trance-like state. “Now, pull them panties to the side and let me see how wet
you are for me.”

Wendy sniffled, teeth
chattering.

“Do it or I’ll
kill your friends with a knife, one at a time!”

“Alright!” she
snapped, painting her breasts with tears. “Alright.” Sitting up a little
straighter, she tried composing herself and reached down between her shaking
legs.

Jay worked his
cock.

Marv laughed.

Sophia’s fingers dropped.

Six, five, four…

Paul readied
himself for whatever was about to happen, if anything. He prayed something
would because this had to stop and stop right now. Time was up.

Wendy pinched the
lacey material hiding between her legs, eyes searching the room for something
that wasn’t there. Something to get them out of this mess.

Three, two, one…

A door slammed
shut upstairs, making everyone jump. This time Paul moved much faster. Marvin turned
back around just in time to catch a fist to the jaw that buckled his legs and
dropped him to the floor like a bag of wet cement. Curtis was quick to follow
Paul’s lead, darting across the room and tackling Jay to the ground. But Jay
was big and naked and slippery. He got up and sent Curtis crashing into the
sofa table with their weapons. For a big man, Jay was surprisingly quick in his
stocking feet. He reached for the M4 leaning against the armchair, fingertips
stopping just inches from the cold metal. Barely moving a muscle, he slowly
looked up and over his shoulder. Paul smiled, pointing Marvin’s rifle at the big
man’s face. “Hey, girlfriend.”

Chapter
Eleven

T
he sun broke through
a passing cloud, casting the two men’s shadows across the brown front yard. From
the porch, Paul couldn’t hear what Jay and Marvin were saying to each other and
didn’t care. Thanks to some rope they found in the garage, they weren’t going
anywhere. Paul watched them shift on their knees in the sunshine, ears still
ringing from the blow to his head. He released an exasperated breath. All the millions
of good people who died out there and these two douche-bags somehow slipped
through the cracks. It wasn’t right and maybe God called his children home and
this
is what He left behind.

The unholy.

The undead.

The unforgiven.

He blinked the
thought away, the Beretta back where it belonged on his right leg and the M4 in
his hands. The weapon was lighter than the shotgun and he almost felt whole
again.

“That’s a lot of
gun for a city slicker like you, Paul.”

His gaze drifted
to Curtis and thinned. “First of all, I got this. Second of all, you’re from
Kansas City, which is bigger than Des Moines, so you calling me a city slicker
makes no sense.”

“Damn big-timer,
you don’t have to yell.”

“I’m not yelling.”
Paul jerked his chin to the tactical shotgun lying on the porch swing. “You can
have that one.”

Curtis traded his
twelve-gauge for it. “Where’d you get this thing anyway?” he asked, inspecting
the weight. “You kill a cop or something?”

“No,” Paul
replied, staring at Jay’s head through the M4’s scope. “He was already dead.” Squeezing
the trigger and holding it, he fired off a string of shots that made Jay and
Marvin jump like the clumps of dead grass around them. The weapon jackhammered
against his shoulder and felt good. He could just imagine the damage this thing
could do against the undead. It was a serious break that easily could’ve gone
the other way. Letting off the trigger before wasting anymore ammo, he lowered
the weapon and watched the men scream with an easy smile shaping his lips.

Stephanie returned
to pacing the shaded porch. “We can’t do this.”

“Oh honey,” Wendy said,
fully clothed again and clutching a whiskey and Coke she dug out from the truck
bed. “This is Texas; we can do whatever we damn well please.”

“Let’s just tie them
to a tree and let the stragglers get them.”

Curtis looked at
his sister as if she were out of her mind. “And let that big ass dude turn into
one of those things? Fuck that; he’d eat everyone.”

“Or get loose
before they even came around,” Wendy added. “And then rape the next person that
comes along.”

“We have to do it
ourselves,” Paul muttered, hands sweaty against the M4.

Stephanie stopped
pacing and tilted her head to one side. “No, we don’t, Paul. If we do that,
we’ll be just as bad as they are.”

“How do you figure?”

“Because we’re not
murders, Curtis! That’s how.”

“Paul’s right,”
Wendy said dully. “They made their decision and now they have to deal with the
consequences.” She sipped her drink, glaring at the two men in the yard.

“Look,” Paul
started, “we are the police now. We’re also the judge, jury and executioner.
There is nobody else and if we let them go, they’ll only turn around and do
this to someone else. Is that what you want, Stephanie? For somebody else to
get hurt?”

“I didn’t say to
let them go. I said to tie them up.”

Paul watched the
men shift on their knees as they whispered back and forth. “That’s the same
thing as murder. Different solution, same result.”

Curtis stormed
past him, bringing the tactical shotgun to his shoulder. “Fuck this, let’s just
do it already and get the hell out of here.”

Paul grabbed his
arm. “I’m the one who brought us here; this is on me.”

Curtis stared at
him for a few quiet seconds before stepping aside.

Down the front
steps on heavy legs, the two men nervously snapped their heads in Paul’s
direction.

Jay was the first
to start pleading his case with his hands tied behind his back and sweat popping
out over his bald head. “Hey Paul,” he said, wisely using Paul’s name to
establish human contact. “We’re real sorry, man. We fucked up but we weren’t
going to do anything. I swear to God, man.”

“You had your dick
out!” Curtis exclaimed.

“Where’d you come
from?”

Jay stared blankly
at Paul, chest heaving for air. “Dallas.”

“No, I mean just
now.”

He looked to the
left. “A couple houses over. We saw you coming down the road and...” He stopped
to shake his head. “We fucked up. I’m sorry, Paul.”

Paul let his gaze
wander to the trees stretching to the west. “Where’s your car?”

“It conked out two
miles back so we took some ATVs we found at the house.” Jay swapped a nervous
look with Marvin. “Came through the woods.”

“Sneaky,” Curtis
muttered, keeping the shotgun on them.

Paul gestured with
the M4. “You got any more ammo for this?”

Jay nodded rapidly.
“There’s a satchel strapped to on one of the ATV’s.”

“Where?”

He jerked his
chin. “Bout twenty yards into the tree line.” Jay tried to smile but the fear
in his eyes prevented that from happening, which gave Paul a glimmer of
satisfaction. “Look, you seem like good folks and if you just let us go we
promise never to do anything like this again. Never.” His eyes went to Wendy. “Sabrina’s
right; it’s us against them now and I’m really sorry, Sabrina.”

Wendy laughed
sharply and swirled her drink.

“We learned our
lesson,” Marvin added, a pleading look floating in his watery eyes. “We’re just
scared to death with everything that’s happening out there and not thinking
clearly.”

“No,” Paul said,
handing Stephanie the M4 and unleashing the Beretta from its canvas holster.
“You were trying to take advantage of a horrible situation like dirt bags will
do during a tragedy and now it’s time to pay the price.”

Jay vehemently
shook his head, wide eyes locked on the matte black gun in Paul’s right hand.
“That’s not true. We just slipped up.”

“Bullshit!” Paul
spit back.

“Hey man, we at
least deserve a trial or something!”

He laughed. “This
is your trial, asshole!”

“But we didn’t
even do anything!”

“You kidnapped us,
and were two seconds from raping me!”

“But I didn’t!” Jay
exchanged a desperate look with Marvin. “We were just foolin around, huh Marv?”

Marvin rapidly
nodded. “Just foolin around. Swear to God. Just foolin around.”

Paul stepped
closer and pointed the gun at Marvin’s face. “You mean foolin around like this?
Because this seems a lot like the kind of foolin around you’re referring to.”
He tried to keep the gun from shaking in his hand but it was hard. Sweat rolled
into his eyes and his blood raced. This was nothing like shooting a stiff and,
deep down, he didn’t know if he could kill another human being, no matter how
vile that person may be. Conjuring up all the hate and anger lurking in his
heart, he let the ones he lost flicker through his mind in a gruesome
slideshow. Even Troy, who saved Paul’s life before losing his own rescuing a
woman he’d never met. Paul set his jaw. Out of all those good people, these two
assholes somehow survived and it pissed him off to no end.

Bullshit.

That’s what it
was.

Plain and simple.

“Please Paul,”
Marvin cried, turning on the water works. “I don’t want to die! I really don’t.”

“Then you
should’ve thought twice about coming after my people because look at you now.”

Snot ran from
Marvin’s nose in clear streams. Tears streaked his cheeks. “I’m sorry, man. I
really am.”

Paul swallowed
dryly, the sun hot on his face. He spread his legs and tensed, holding Marvin’s
weepy gaze with everything he had. He owed him that much. “I know you are, Marvin,”
he whispered, squeezing the trigger and blowing a hole out the back of his
head.

Stephanie shrieked
and Marvin fell back onto the grass with a soft bounce.

“Oh shit! Oh
shit!” Jay staggered to his feet and tried to run with his hands tied behind
his back.

Curtis pushed him
with the shotgun and Jay fell to his side with a grunt.

“Fuck you, Paul,”
he yelled, realizing the time for making his case had passed. “Who made you
sheriff anyway?”

“I did when everyone
else disappeared and you decided to commit a felony instead of helping your
neighbor.” Paul fought back the tears building in his eyes, his shadow falling
over Jay like the darkness over his heart. Pointing the Beretta at the man’s
twisted face, he cocked the hammer back with his thumb and resisted looking at
Marvin’s lifeless body.

Jay trembled from
head to foot while a wet spot grew in his pants. He tried sounding brave but
his voice came out as little more than a whimper. “I’ll see you in Hell,
asshole.”

The ghost of a
grin curled the corners of Paul’s lips. “You tell the Devil I’m coming for him
next.”

“No, wait!”

A loud blast
silenced Jay’s protests. His body jolted with the bullet passing through his
skull and brain and into the lawn. Then he was still, the wet spot in his jeans
the only part of him continuing to move.

Paul released an
angry cry and dropped to his knees, forcing himself to look at what he’d done.
What he’d become.

“Fuck you for
making me do that! Fuck both of you!” Resting his forehead on the grass, he pushed
against the pain. He never imagined killing another person before and damn
these two cocksuckers for pushing his hand! Even in the face of the evil they
were up against, people still couldn’t come together to help one another out and
it crippled Paul’s spirit. Like they didn’t have enough to worry about
alfuckinready! A hand landed on his back before he heard Wendy’s soft voice.

“You did the right
thing.”

“Get away from
me!” he cried in a guttural voice that made her jump back like he’d changed
form into something hideous. Something deadly.

And he had.

Chapter
Twelve

T
he last thing Paul
wanted to do was spend another night in this house. But by the time he –
somewhat – had his shit together dusk was falling fast and it was too late to
go anywhere else. Too dangerous to breathe, let alone travel at night. After he
and Curtis hauled Jay and Marvin into the bed of the pickup, they drove a mile
down the road and dumped the bodies in a ditch so Paul didn’t have to look at
what he’d done. Then they gathered up the satchel of ammo from the ATVs in the
woods, thinking they heard something every thirty to sixty seconds. The rounds
weren’t much, but enough to get them out of a jam or two.

Back inside the
house, Paul sat slumped in the same armchair he did when Sophia was slipping
through his fingers like sand. Drinking a glass of whiskey, he blurred the couch
into a fuzzy blob like he’d never left this place at all, like he was caught in
a time trap. He kept seeing Sophia’s sunken eyes fall shut, kept feeling her
clammy skin against his, hearing her voice get weaker.

Don’t leave me.

Yet he had.

Like the selfish
little prick he was.

Paul brought the
fancy rocks glass to his lips and knocked back a swallow, his throat already
numb to the slow burn of the alcohol.

“We need
handcuffs.”

His puffy eyes
found Curtis seated in a matching arm chair on the other side of the fireplace.
How long he’d been there, Paul didn’t know.

“Just in case we
run into anymore assholes. Not always going to have rope lying around to tie
them up with.”

“Creeps,” Wendy
muttered again, gathering her honey-colored hair into a ponytail and staring
out the French doors overlooking the back deck. “You’d think after something
horrible like this infection took out the entire world that every survivor left
would band together to fight it, not make it worse.”

Paul appreciated
her attempt at making him feel better about what he’d done but wished she’d
shut the fuck up just the same. This wasn’t a movie where Tom Cruise killed a
bad guy with a flick of his wrist and felt zero remorse. This was real. He just
took two human lives, two people who had mothers and fathers, brothers and
sisters. Maybe even kids. He remembered how he felt after shooting that first
zombie inside his home and he remembered the horror of discovering the poor
woman was pregnant. It took everything he had to keep moving back then and that
gunshot still haunted his hand. Flexing his fingers, he longed for the days
when killing a spider was the extent of his viscous nature. Paul was afraid to
look in a mirror and see what he’d become. This world turned everyone into
killers, including him.

Sitting on the end
of the couch that didn’t have Sophia’s dried blood all over it, Stephanie stared
at the whiskey swirling in her glass and spoke in a hushed voice. “How did that
door slam shut upstairs?”

Wendy turned from
the French doors. “The windows are all closed. I checked.”

Stephanie leaned
back and crossed her legs, letting a combat boot dangle in the air. “I just
find the timing of it all a little…strange.”

“Yeah, no shit,”
Curtis agreed. “I mean, what’re the odds that would happen right then? Right at
the perfect time to make a move.” His eyes shifted to Paul. “And you reacted so
fast it was almost like you knew it was coming.”

Paul noticed Wendy
staring at him with a knowing look branded into her face so he poured more
whiskey into his glass before going out onto the front porch and sinking into
the swing, a thousand different thoughts bartering for a piece of his time.