Dying To Live & Fighting To Live-Book One and Book Two (Zombie Overload Series) (20 page)

In the hall, I see
my boys and Will, who's carrying Grace, checking out rooms. I follow
them and finally they choose a room big enough for us, with a
bathroom attached just like Greg's room. I pull Will aside and ask
him to please have the boys shower. He laughs and says he will
because they stink. I hate to tell Will this, but he doesn’t
smell any better. I doubt any of us do. I go back downstairs and
search through our truck, looking for the soap, shampoo, and
conditioner I had packed so long ago.
Really?
Was it only a
day ago?
Seems like we've been on the road for months.
I
also grab the bag with our toothbrushes and paste. As I turn to head
back to the stairs, I see my mom leaning inside the back of her
Hummer, and I walk over.

"Hey, Mom."

She whips around and
screams. I jump ten feet and scream. And then we look at each other
and laugh.

"Don't sneak up
on me, Canada. Bout gave me a heart attack."

"I'm sorry,
Mom. Thought you heard me. Need any help?"

"No. I think
I’ve got it all. Just want to get a shower. I believe I'm going
to enjoy it." She says. She grabs an outfit for Kaleb and I
mentally slap my forehead.
DUH!
I run back to our truck and
grab an outfit for Grace, her shampoo and baby soap, lotion, and baby
powder. Finally, I return upstairs and place everything on a table
that's been pushed against a wall. I show Will where everything is
and I help lay out the bedding. Will places Grace on the makeshift
bed and she seems to love that. She kicks her legs and waves her
arms, giggling. We smile at her and then Will pulls me into his arms.
Kissing me, he holds me tighter.

"Promise you'll
come back safe?" He asks me.

"I promise I
will do everything I can to come back safe." I tell him.

He gives me a look.
"That's not what I asked. Promise me."

So what can I do but
give him a possible empty promise? He and I both know it may not
happen. Not that I will just lay down and let myself get killed. But
it's not just the undead I have to worry about now. Unless they've
figured out how to shoot, we've got at least one still alive, and
with a loose trigger finger.
Am I scared?
Uh, YEAH!
Frikken' terrified!
But at the same time, a weary calm is
burrowing inside of me. Maybe I'm more confident in myself, or, maybe
knowing Jake will be there is the cause. Or, maybe I'm just too damn
tired. Or, all three.

I see Jake standing
in the doorway, so I give Will one more kiss and squeeze him tightly
to me. I gently push him away, then walk over to the boys. Giving
each one a hug and kiss, I tell them I love them. Stooping, I wiggle
Grace's raised fist and smile at her. Turning toward the door, I walk
silently to Jake. I don't look back. If I do, the dam that is holding
back the tears will break and then I won't be able to do this.
Instead, I focus on what we are about to do and I feel the calmness
come back over me like a warm blanket on a cold night. Comforting.

Jake leads me down
the stairs and we walk to his Hummer. I get in the driver's seat
(not
going to screw around playing musical chairs this time)
while he
walks over to unlock and open the door. My dad suddenly appears
beside the truck, walking toward Jake. He says a few words to Jake,
then shakes Jake's hand and salutes me.
(Little backwards, eh,
Dad?)
He's going to lock up after we leave. So, door's opening,
Jake's looking around, Jake's running to the truck, and then we are
off. I stop outside the door, keeping watch until Dad gets the doors
shut and locked. Jake nods at me and tells me he didn't even think of
that.
Shocking!
I hope he gets his shit together before we
go inside the armory.
He turns his head back to me.

"I'm good."
he tells me.

Holy shit!
Did I say that out loud?
I give him a slight laugh, turn my
head, and roll my eyes.
Well, this is it.
I let off the brake
and push the gas. I back the Hummer up to the back armory door. From
this position, I can see the building my family is in. I see nothing
and no one moving around the outside of the building, thank God! I
look at the door in my side mirror nervously.
Ah hell!
I think
Jake is, too! I stare at him with an expression of 'are you kidding
me'.He looks over at me, turns back, and then whips his head back to
me.

"I'm good.
Really
. You ready?" He asks.

"Am
I
ready?
ME
? I need
YOU
to be ready, damn it! Your the
Sergeant Major who's acting like a damn cadet. What the hell is wrong
with you?" I shout at him.

"There's
nothing wrong with cadets." He shouts back.

"What?"
I'm confused. "I never said there was anything wrong with
cadets. What I said was I don't need
YOU
acting like one."
We are definitely in a shouting match now.

"I'm not acting
like a '
damn
cadet
', but even if I were, they are still
better trained than
you
are."

"Well, no shit,
dumbass! I'm not in the frikken military and I don't want to be!
You're all freaking
NUTS
!" I punch his big beefed-up arm.

"Hit me again
and see what happens." He shouts at me. So, I hit him again. And
again. And again.

Next thing I know,
Jake has his arms around me and his huge hands are clasping my hands
behind my back. He sticks his face right up against mine, breathing
hard with anger. My eyes are wide and my mouth is hanging open. I
can't believe he just did that! Like I really hurt the big baby! He
stares lightening bolts into my eyes, anger making it seem as if they
are glowing.

In a growling, low
voice he says to me, "I told you not to hit me again."

Trembling, I do my
best to keep my mouth shut. I've never been very good at that.
"Actually, Jake, you said 'hit me again and see what happens'."

I hold my breath,
afraid of what he's going to do next. He leans even closer to me and
my already wide eyes stretch wider. And then, he laughs! A loud
booming laugh that scares the shit out of me more than his anger did.
I am totally convinced he's lost it. He releases me and sits back on
his side of the truck, still laughing uncontrollably. Tears streaming
down his face. I slowly bring my arms back to the front of my body
and rub my wrists, which are aching from the pain of his grip. I
scoot as far away from him as I can, my back against the window,
keeping my eyes on him.
I'm scared to death!
This isn't the
big, bad, but sweet and caring (to me anyway), Jake I know. This dude
has totally lost his effin mind!

At least a full two
minutes pass before the big muscular fool stops laughing. I'm still
pressed against the side window, staring at him, watching him. I
wonder if I have any chance of getting those guns away from him.
Probably not.
Then I decide he's going to be in front of me at
ALL
times. He wipes his eyes with his huge hand and takes
several deep breaths. He turns his head toward me and then his body.
OH MY GOD!
He's scooting closer. I press back harder against
the door. He scoots even closer. He's looking at me like a predator
getting ready to attack his prey.
Oh, shit!
I really didn't
need THAT image!
He's right in front of me now and I panic. I
start kicking and swinging my fist at anything I can reach. He
laughs, wraps my legs with one arm, and grabs both wrists with one
hand, and pulls me down flat on the seat. I screech and try to buck
him off me but he barely moves. Finally, I just give up. Breathing
hard and gasping, I lay my head back against the seat, looking at him
and waiting for his next move.

"You done?"
He asks me.

"Apparently."
I choke out.

"I'm not going
to hurt you, damn it!"
Uh, could have fooled me!
I watch
as he leans toward me.
What the hell is he doing?
I squeeze my
eyes shut tight, and my body tenses up, waiting for whatever he plans
to do next. Then I feel his lips on mine and for a second I relax,
relieved he's not killing me, and then my eyes fly open. I jerk my
head to the side and push against him. Now I'm pissed.

"What the hell
do you think you're doing? Are you nuts? I'm frikken married!
Remember Will? You met him. Saved his damn life. Father of my kids?
Yeah, that's him! Back of, Jackass!"
Oh my god!
I am so
furious.
Damn jerk!
I grab my handgun and check that it's
loaded. Slapping the clip back in place, I throw my door open and get
out.....with major attitude. Slamming the door as hard as I can, I
then stomp up to the door. I stop and listen and hear the undead just
beyond the door. Jake is getting out of the truck but I'm so angry, I
don't even care if he's ready. I'm ready to kill something. I grab
the handle, and just as I hear Jake shout, "NO", I throw
the door open, take a few quick steps back, and shoot each one in the
head as they fill the doorway. After the sixth, they stop coming.

I hold the gun out
for another few minutes, just in case, then turn my head slowly to
Jake. He takes a step back and looks as if he thinks I'm about to
shoot him next. Instead, I bring the gun up in front of my mouth, and
blow a hard breath of air on the end of the barrel. Yeah. I'm that
type of badass.
Don't mess with me!
Jake grins and gives me a
nod. I nod back.
Yeah.
We're ok.

I reload my clip and
slam it back in place. Checking to make sure my knife is still in
it's sheath, I follow Jake inside. Neither one of us sees the figure
standing in the upstairs window of the other building. Watching us.

Jake and I get in our
butt-to-back position and we start clearing rooms. This time, we
can't just pass the closed ones. Someone alive is in here, and ready
to kill. The first floor was empty. Jake, Will, and Dad had killed
ten from the other building, I killed six at the back door. Nine
left.

Jake stops and listens at the
door to the stairs. I'm still watching behind us when I feel a tap on
my shoulder. I jump ten feet in the air, then whip around ready to
kill Jake. He's grinning but, holding a finger up to his lips,
telling me to be quiet. I give him a 'go to hell' look and he grins
wider.

He points to the door, letting me
know someone is behind it. I mouth "undead?" to him and he
nods. I mouth again, "how many?" and he holds up one, then
two, then three fingers, then shrugs.
Ok.
So he doesn't
know.
Great.

I hold up my gun and move to the
opposite wall directly across from the door. Jake gives me a look
that asks if I'm ready and I nod. He throws the door open and
immediately I see an undead. I let it move a little more into the
doorway so that his body will stop the door from closing all the way,
and then I fire. We had put the silencers back on, since we knew we
had at least one shooter in the building, and I am so very, very
grateful, as my head is pounding. Another one appears and just as I
shoot, he falls over the first zombie, causing my bullet to slam into
the metal stair's handrail with a very loud clank.

My head whips toward Jake as fear
washes over me. After he puts a bullet in the zombie's head, he grabs
my hand and pulls me behind him, against the wall. We stay this way
for several minutes, just listening. Finally, he leads us to the
stairs, taking each step slowly, quietly, cautiously.

We reach the top and Jake listens
at the door again. We move to the far corner, away from the door.

Whispering, Jake says, "I
hear movement, moaning, and grunting, so we know what that means. I
just don't understand why, if the guy that shot at us has a weapon
and obviously bullets, he hasn't killed these things."

I whisper back to him, "Well,
I can't answer that question. Doesn't make any sense to me, either.
Funny how he will try to kill us but not them."

"Yeah. Listen, don't take
any chances and never let your guard down. Right now, the zombies are
the least of our worries. At least they are predictable. Alright. You
ready?"
Nope.
Sure ain't!
But I nod anyway.

We go back to the door and I grab
Jake's shirt and hold up a finger, telling him to wait. I pull out a
full clip, slide it into place, and nod that I'm ready....now. He
turns to the door and I back up to the wall next to the stairs and
directly in front of the door. Jake stands to the back of the door,
so when it opens he will be protected. Pulling out his knife and
swinging his rifle around so that he can get to it fast if need be,
he opens the door, pulling it back against him.

And then the action begins.

I
let them get inside the stairwell, way to close for my comfort, and
then shoot. They practically fall at my feet, which makes me nervous
as hell, in case I hadn't killed them. I keep waiting for teeth to
clamp on my leg. But I can't do anything about it as they keep
coming. I kill five total, which leaves two unaccountable for. We
know one is alive, or at least
was
alive
just a short time ago. Now to just find them and stay alive
ourselves.