Dying To Live & Fighting To Live-Book One and Book Two (Zombie Overload Series) (5 page)

While Dad still has
the zombie in a headlock, Will raises his arm and I see light flash
on something metal. I realize he had taken one of the long bladed
knives with him. My dad releases the zombie and immediately Will's
arm makes a sharp right to left (he's left-handed) motion. He slices
halfway through it's neck. One more time and it's head comes
completely off and slams to the ground. The rest of the body stands
for a few seconds then follows the head.

I scream at them to
hurry up. We still have zombies coming for us. Will motions my dad to
go on and then helps his nephew, who is very much in shock, to the
passenger side of the car. Kim is in the driver's seat and we can all
hear the cries and screams of Wes's fiance, kids, and mother become
even more frantic, I'm sure from seeing the damage of his arm
up-close.

Will runs back to
our van and jumps in. He grabs one of the many rags from work he
always forgets sticking in his back pocket, which seem to always find
their way to my van, and wipes off the blade. He rolls down the
window, tosses the rag out, and then rolls the window back up. Taking
a deep breath, he looks at me and my heart breaks with the pain I see
in his eyes. I look back, judge how much time we have before the
zombies get here (not a hell of a lot), and reach for him. I hold him
tight for a few seconds, tell him I love him. He squeezes me back and
we release each other reluctantly. He turns back to the front and
puts the van in gear, speeding up to catch up to the other vehicles.

I
settle back in my seat, my mind replaying over and over what had just
happened. Now what? Is a bite the only thing that can turn them or
can other zombie-made wounds do it, too?
Does
a
bite even turn them? Or do they have to actually die before they
turn? Is Wes's family safe with him? And if not, what the hell are we
supposed to do about it? I hardly think they will let us leave him on
the side of the road. I know they won't let us kill him, either, tho
I doubt any of us could. I mean, he IS still alive! But what if he
kills his babies? His own mother? His fiance? Hmmm. I wonder if they
would be open to tying him to the luggage racks on top of one of the
vans?
WHAT?
You
got a better idea?

I pass my idea on to
Will and he's looking at me kinda funny.

"What? You got
a better idea?" I ask.

"Well, no, but
DAMN! That's harsh. Do you think my sister or his old lady,"
(meaning his fiance), "will go for it?"

"If they love
those kids they better!" I tell him.

"You're right.
I'll call them now"

"Umm, maybe
this is something you should talk to them in person about?"

"Yeah.
Probably." He sighs.

We are now on the
interstate, heading towards Springfield. It's dark and there are few
cars moving and no cars abandoned. Everyone is starting to relax a
little. Everyone is exhausted. It's almost 11 o'clock and I’m
pretty sure we are all missing our beds by now.

Suddenly,
I hear the sound of a package being opened. I turn and look in the
back and see Bo with a bag in one hand and a handful of chips heading
towards his mouth with the other. Ashton has his whole upper body in
the trash bag searching for a goody all his own. I realize then just
how hungry I am and surely Will must be too, considering he worked
all day and his last meal, lunch, was at ten o'clock this morning. I
ask Will if he thinks it's safe to stop long enough to feed everyone
and check on Wes. (Plus, I gotta PEE! Yeah, I went there. Look, we
aren’t in some damn movie where toilets are only to stand on
and hide
.)
Anyway, he
says he thinks it'll be ok so I call everyone to let them know the
plan.

We take the off ramp
that leads to the town his brother lives in and pull onto the wide
shoulder that semis use regularly, usually for quick naps. We all
take a long hard look around and decide it's safe to get out of our
vehicles. I call everyone over to our van and start pulling out the
ham, cheese, and bread. Mom and I put the sandwiches together and
pass them out while dad starts organizing his van. He and my husband
are both anal about organized and clean vehicles.

I finish handing out
sandwiches to all but Will's nephew, Will's sister, and Will himself.
I look around and find Will talking to his sister down the ramp
behind us. I can't hear what's being said, although I can guess, but
I can definitely see how upset she is. Finally, she wraps her arms
around her brother's waist and sobs, but nods her head in defeat. I
watch them walk back towards us for a couple seconds, then turn back
to the van and pull out the medical supplies Will got from the
school. Taking out a roll of gauze, disinfectant, and tape I fall in
behind Will and his sister as they walk past.

Reaching
the car where Will's nephew is still sitting, looking bad, I hand the
supplies to Kim who then hands the stuff to Will. I look around and
wonder where Wes's fiance, Peg, is. Why wasn't she here with him?
Taking care of him. Being his
fiance
?
I finally see her sitting on the slope from the shoulder to the field
below. Her back to us,
to
him
.
Her damn cell phone against her ear and....
laughing
!
I never did like that bitch. Nope. Never. And who the hell's she
talking to and laughing with? What the hell is there to laugh
about
?

My
attention is brought back to the car when a cry of pain breaks
through the night. I take in Wes's flushed face, head dripping with
sweat, his entire body shaking. I can't see the bite since Will had
already begun covering it, but I
can
see
all the blood soaking through the bandage faster than Will can wrap
it. I will admit it, I wish my husband wasn’t anywhere near
Wes. If that makes me sound like a heartless bitch, so be it. But if
his nephew
does
turn,
Will is definitely on the menu.

Will crouches down
in front of Wes so that they are eye to eye.....damn, Will! Would you
like me to slap a couple pieces of bread on each side of your head
for him? Jesus! He's telling Wes what we had discussed earlier, him
being tied to the top of one of the vans, and why. I expected a "hell
no!" or "are you freakin' nuts?' or "kiss my ass!"
even. But he just nods and says, "I think that would be best."

Will helps him out
of the car and leads him toward the vans. We all decide on mom and
dad's van so we can keep an eye on him from our position in the back.
I run to our van and dig out one of the boys sleeping bags, a thin
blanket, and a small but thick pillow and take back. I hand the items
to Will after he assists his nephew to the top of the van. He helps
him get in the sleeping bag, then wraps the thin blanket loosely one
time around his head to protect his face, yet still allowing him to
breathe. After placing the pillow under his head, Will reaches down
for the rope my dad is holding up to him. After tying him to the
luggage rack and satisfied Wes is secure, he climbs back down.

Kim calls out to Peg
and asks her if she wants to talk to Wes before we get back on the
road. Considering she didn’t want to before he was tied up, why
would she now? And nope. She doesn't. She waves her future
mother-in-law off with one hand and continues her call. I see Kim's
body start tightening up and I know shit is gonna get good....bad. I
meant bad. Really I did!

Kim flies down that
slope faster than I believed was possible for someone her age and
snatches that little bitch by the hair. Pulling it straight up, Peg
has no choice but to stand. She doesn't even have time to start a one
syllable word before her face is being pounded over and over by her
fiance's mother's fists. She drops to the ground completely
unconscious. Her future mother-in-law walks away, leaving her right
where she fell.

Kim walks over to
the van, climbs up next to her son and admits in a trembling voice
what she did and how sorry she is. What he said to her made all of
us, well the conscious ones anyway, gasp.

"Leave
her. Just go. You're the one who will protect my kids. She won't. She
never took care of them before, and she hasn’t since this
started. She's never cared about them
or
me."

She
tells him she's not leaving her
(why
not?)
but
she would still protect her grandbabies
and
her
son. So Dad and Will go pick Peg up, carry her up the slope, and
shove her in the car. She's still out. I'm biting my lip to keep from
laughing over her reaction when she wakes up and realizes she's stuck
in a very small space with the woman who just knocked her ass out!

The rest of us
finish our business (you know what that means for me!) and load back
up in our vehicles. I ask Will if he wants to go check on his brother
and he firmly says "Nope" and I know to let it go.

So now we are
pulling back onto the interstate, worrying about what waits for us in
the Capital City.

To be
continued.......

Special thanks to my
husband and older son, who read each chapter and drove me crazy until
I finished the next. Thank you to my youngest for keeping me humble.
Thank you all for your suggestions and help. I love you, all.

________________________

Many, MANY thanks
to Trisha Wilko for the amazing photo on the cover of this book and
for the ones to come. You are beautiful, even when you are on
zombie-mode. Love you, my friend and fellow Walking Dead freak!

Book Two In The
Zombie Overload Series

C.M. Wright

All Rights Reserved

Cover copyright © 2012 by
Trisha Wilko

Cover Model Trisha Wilko

This is a work of fiction. Any
resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or
locales is purely coincidental. The author has taken great liberties
with locales including the creation of fictional towns. Some large
cities and their names, streets, highways, and interstate names are
true and as close to accurate, as possible. Any mistakes are entirely
the fault of the author.

Product names, brands, and other
trademarks referred to within this book are the property of their
respective trademark holders. Unless otherwise specified, no
association between the author and any trademark holder is expressed
or implied. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as
affecting the validity of any trademark, registered trademark, or
service mark.

Reproduction in whole or part of
this publication without express written consent is strictly
prohibited. The author greatly appreciates you for taking the time to
read their work.

To
my mother, who wasn't afraid to point out my mistakes in the first
book. I appreciate that, and I love you.

As we get closer to
Springfield, I can't help but wish we had the time to take a nap. If
this were a movie, we would be awake for days and then attacked by a
couple hundred zombies while being all super-strong and focused.
Damn
movies.

But we are
not
in a movie and we
are
tired. And Springfield is a big city.
Not a good combination, especially if the activity on Interstate 72
outside Springfield is any indication of what we have to look forward
to.
This sucks.

Cars, trucks, semis.
Make, model, color. Pick one. It's probably here. The closer we get,
the worse it gets. A few minutes ago we only had to slow down and,
with little effort, make our way around a few vehicles. Now, not so
much. There's no going faster than 15-20 miles per hour. And that's
when it's at its best.
And I complained about the traffic during
rush hour.
PUH' LEEZ!

It's so dark out and
the abandoned or wrecked vehicle's headlights shining beams all over
the place made it eerie as hell. Some of the headlights are pointing
to the sky as if they are trying to signal Batman. S
orry, but
Batman's not going to save our asses from this!

Occasionally, I see
a dark shape pass in front of one of the beams. The Undead. I can
hear them. I think I can even smell them.

Will slows the van
down, then stops. I look to the front of us and realize Dad isn't
moving, either. I can't see Kim's car since she's ahead of Dad, but I
assume she's stopped, as well.