Deadly Night: Jenni and Katie's Untold Tale: A Short Story From the As The World Dies Universe (As The World Dies Untold Tales Book 4) (3 page)

Tossing the crowbar to the ground, Jenni pulled the Beretta from her waistband. “So we deal with them.”

“We don’t have enough ammunition, and we can’t fight all of them by hand. We need to head to higher ground and hold on until the rest of our people arrive.”

Katie scrambled onto the step under the passenger door of the semi-truck. The passenger door was locked. Using the mirrors and door handle as rungs, Katie managed to climb onto the hood. Jenni followed close behind.

“Hello?” Katie called out, staring into the cab. In the moonlight, she saw that there was a curtain behind the empty seats. The floor was filled with food wrappers, drink bottles, and toy trucks. The air stank of vomit, urine, dirty diapers, and sweat. “We’re here to help you. Hello?”

The curtain drew back in one corner, and the barrel of a weapon appeared.

Katie froze just as Jenni clambered up behind her.

“Who are you?” a woman’s voice asked, shaking with fear.

“My name is Katie. The woman with me is Jenni,” Katie replied, her voice surprisingly calm despite her wildly beating heart. “We’re from a survivor encampment called the fort. It’s just a few blocks from here. You almost reached us.”

“The fort?” The curtain drew back a little more. Katie barely caught the gleam of eyes in the gloom. “Like the military?”

“A few of us are, but mostly just regular Texan folk.”

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Jenni said adamantly. “We’re here to help you, and there are a lot of zombies coming.”

“We’re waiting for Alan and Rob,” the woman said, clearly unsure and afraid. Her voice was trembling, and she coughed when she finished speaking.

“Do you know what direction they went in?” Jenni asked, trading troubled glances with Katie.

“Toward the gas station,” came the answer.

Katie suppressed the urge to moan in frustration. The men had headed away from the fort and toward the more infected area of town. They clearly had not realized salvation had been close.

“I’m going to check in with our people, okay? We’re trying to help you.” Dragging the walkie-talkie off her belt, Katie noted the cracked case. She’d landed on it. That’s why her fall had hurt so much. Her hip was still aching. Twisting the knobs, she tried to get it to work, but it remained silent.

The moans of the dead were steadily increasing. They were drawn to the flashlight and the sound of human voices.  Katie now regretted Jenni’s attempt to light the area. What was taking their people so long to arrive?

“Is the baby okay?” Jenni crouched at Katie’s side, her fingers gripping the frame of the window as she peered into the cab.

“She’s got a fever,” was the reluctant reply. “We were looking for medicine when we ran out of gas.”

Jenni shifted her weight, preparing to climb inside, but the woman’s hand with the gun extended out from beyond the curtain.

“Stay back! I mean it!”

“I promise you, we’re not going to hurt you.” Katie quietly reloaded her rifle as she spoke. “We’re going to protect you until our people arrive.”

“Stay back,” the woman ordered. “Please, just stay back.”

The wave of zombies descending on the truck was growing ever closer. “We should make a run for the fort,” Katie said as gently as she could. “The zombies are almost here.”

“I’m not leaving until Alan and Rob get back,” came the fierce response.

“I’m scared,” a child’s voice whispered.

Katie saw Jenni tense and immediately restrained her with one hand. Jenni’s wild-eyed look was upsetting. Katie shook her head at Jenni. “It’s not them,” she whispered, then witnessed Jenni regaining her senses. Her friend’s shoulders slumped, and she focused on the zombies reaching the intersection.

“It’s okay. I promise,” the woman answered the little one.

“Julie, is Daddy back?”

“No, not yet.”

At last Katie had a name. “Julie, how are the kids? Can they run?”

There was a long pause, then the woman pushed aside the curtain. She was a tiny young woman with big brown eyes and messy brown hair. A baby under a year old was clinging to her breast, and a little boy was burrowed into her side. The gun was still held aloft, aiming at Katie.

“Parker has a fever, too. We all got sick and are still recovering.”

“No one has a bite, right?” Jenni said abruptly.

“No. No. We got sick after we got past San Antonio. We thought it was food poisoning, but we all ran fevers. It has to be the flu.” Julie’s hand was violently shaking, but the fierce look in her eyes indicated that she would not be lowering the gun any time soon.

“Katie! Jenni!”

“Juan!” Jenni shouted. “We’re up here!”

Running down the street from the fort was a group of men and women. Their flashlights bobbed in the night. It was just in time. The first wave of zombies entered the intersection and screeched as they spotted Jenni and Katie atop the hood of the truck.

Chapter 4

Jenni was relieved when she heard Juan’s voice. Though she was ready to take on the zombie herd descending on them, she was glad for the backup. Hearing the voice of the little boy hiding in the truck had unnerved her. She wasn’t usually this sensitive, but after her nightmares about Benji and Mikey, she felt mentally fragile.

The first of the zombies reached the truck, and Jenni steadied herself on the hood and opened fire. The grisly creatures didn’t even try to duck away. They had no sense of self-preservation and died as bullets tore through their skulls and pulverized what was left of their rotting brains.

Kneeling at her side, Katie was a deadly shot with the rifle. During one of their late night talks, Katie had told Jenni how her father, a former Marine and police chief, had taught her to shoot and defend herself. Maybe Jenni had been foolish to worry about her best friend, because it was clear that Katie could handle herself. But Jenni didn’t know how not to worry about Katie and Jenni’s stepson, Jason. They were her only family left.

Pounding on the truck, the zombies attempted to reach the women that were systematically killing them. Rage fueled Jenni, and she welcomed it like a lover. Reloading, she glanced toward the speedily approaching people from the fort. The clawing hands of the zombies slapped against the metal of the truck, rocking it. Jenni immediately grabbed onto the window frame and swung her legs partway into the cab, trying to stabilize herself. Katie recognized the situation was growing more precarious and climbed into the cab.

“You shouldn’t have shot your guns,” Julie exclaimed. She was on her knees on the bed in the back, the children shoved behind her. Parker was holding the baby. “Now they know we’re here!”

“They heard the baby and were already on their way,” Jenni snapped. “You’re lucky we got here before they did.”

The reek of the dead overpowered the scent of sickness in the cab. Jenni held onto the rocking truck and attempted to fire down at the zombies. She realized it was a bad idea and grunted with frustration.

The people from the fort reached the outskirts of the zombies. Aware of the danger of firing weapons in close proximity to the other humans, blades flashed in the night and makeshift spears were driven into the rotting corpses. Jenni spotted Juan’s familiar cowboy hat, plus his tall muscular frame made him stand out among the others. Swinging an ax, he cleaved heads from necks and chopped legs out from under the zombies.

An undead creature attempted to grab Juan from behind, but its head erupted in a spout of blood. Jenni gasped before catching sight of Nerit standing further up the road. The former IDF sniper was flanked by two other people as she killed the zombies with ruthless accuracy from afar.

A zombie clambered onto the piled bodies of his dead comrades and attempted to crawl onto the hood. Jenni kicked it in the face with her boot heel, knocking it back.

The cluster of undead was being cut down faster now that the fort fighters had arrived, but Jenni wasn’t satisfied to be out of the fray. She kicked another zombie out of her way, then scrambled down. Skirting along the outer edge, she fired at the zombie heads, feeling pleasure as each one fell before her.

In only a few minutes, the area was cleared. Jenni found her discarded crowbar and helped ensure all of the zombies were dead. A quick thrust into the head was all it took.

“
Loca
,” Juan said, reaching her. His thick West Texan accent drawled out the word in a way that made her want to do nasty things to him. “What the fuck are you doing out here?”

“Zombies needed killing. What are
you
doing out here?”

“My
loca
girlfriend needed rescuing,” he retorted.

Jenni was glad his green eyes were in the shadow of the brim of his cowboy hat. She was certain he was furious with her, but she was too flushed with the pleasure of their victory to take it seriously. Despite the blood and sweat dotting her skin, she hugged him.

“Ugh!” Juan said with distaste. “You smell like zombie.”

“Only an excuse for a sexy shower later,” Jenni teased.

“Shit, girl. You’re so good at making me not be mad at you.”

“All right, children. Enough playing around,” Nerit’s voice called out. “We need to get our survivors back to the fort before more of that herd arrives.” The older woman stood nearby in jeans and a heavy denim jacket. Her yellowed silver hair was twisted into a braid that hung over one shoulder. “We’ve got more on the way.”

“I’m not leaving,” Julie’s voice rang out. “Not without Alan and Rob.”

Katie jumped off the hood of the truck and landed near the remains of several zombies. Approaching Nerit, Katie reloaded her rifle as she walked. “There’s a woman and two small children up there. They’re all sick with the flu. I suspect she’s feverish and a bit...out of it.”

“Are you sure it’s the flu and not a bite?” Nerit asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Can’t be sure without examining them, but I had the flu a few months ago, too.  Remember? With all the corpses walking around, there are plenty of viruses and bacteria in the air.” Katie sighed with frustration. “The woman is refusing to budge.”

“The zombies are coming.” Nerit gestured toward the truck with her head. The baby was crying again. “That child is going to bring them all into town. Get enough zombies up against that truck, and they’re going to get in.”

“We can’t let those kids die, Nerit.” Jenni slapped a fresh clip into the Beretta. “She’s not going to go to the fort without her friends, so we need to find them.”

Nerit’s face was completely devoid of emotion. “Just because we want to save everyone doesn’t mean we should put ourselves at risk to do so.”

“Volunteer only,” Katie said promptly. “Only those who want to help.”

“And you’re going to volunteer.” It was a statement, not a question. Nerit cocked her head and regarded the two women pensively.

“Absolutely,” Jenni said.

“
Loca
...”

“Shut up, Juan. You volunteer, too.”

“That’s not how volunteering works,” Juan groused, but Jenni knew he would come with her.

Appearing somewhat troubled, Nerit said, “Katie, the herd that’s coming will overrun this area. We need to get behind the wall and make a solid plan for dealing with the zombies. They are our primary concern.”

“We can’t leave the kids,” Jenni insisted, growing frustrated with Nerit. She knew the older woman was pragmatic, but Jenni wasn’t about to abandon children. Not again.

“Let me at least try to talk her into going with us,” Katie said, giving Jenni a warning look.

Jenni pouted but knew Katie was probably right for the job. Jenni’s inclination would be to grab the kids, and things would go to hell pretty fast. Besides, she was still in the mood to kill zombies.

“Fine. We’re going after those two guys,” Jenni said firmly.

Looking quite frustrated, Nerit said, “You’re risking your lives for strangers who are ill and resisting our help. Is it worth it?”

Jenni was already nodding her head when Katie said, “Yes.”

Lifting her walkie-talkie to her mouth, Nerit said, “Peggy, what’s the ETA on the herd?”

“Mike estimates twenty minutes from the edge of the herd to where you are right now. The head count is around a hundred zombies.” Peggy’s voice sounded very scared. Peggy never left the fort. She was too afraid.

Nerit lowered the walkie-talkie. “Katie, you got about ten minutes to get them out of there and to the fort. I’ll send out one of the vehicles, but we’re not reopening the gates. You’ll have to come up over the wall by ladder. Am I clear?”

Katie nodded. “Perfectly.”

“And if she refuses, you have to leave them behind,” Nerit finished.

Jenni knew Katie’s savior complex very well. There was no way Katie would leave the woman and two children behind.

“And as for you,” Nerit said taking a firm grasp of Jenni’s arm, “you’ve got to find those men and get them back to the fort before that herd gets here. I know you can handle yourself, but no craziness.”