Fractured Hearts (Shattered Lives, Book Three) (41 page)

The crew moored the smaller ship as it settled at the docks. Traveling with them was a cargo ship, carrying vehicles and other long-term survival supplies.

The journey was long and dangerous through the swells of the ocean. Walking out of the captain’s quarters, Roger made his way out to the upper deck and took in the morning air. With a devious smirk, he stretched his arms high in the early dawn. He swiveled around on the heels of his boots, taking in the sites of the port. There were a few boats and ships about, but there was no life to be seen or heard.

“Sir?”

Roger turned to face Niles. “Yes?”

“What’s the agenda this fine morning?”

“To teach someone a lesson in obedience,” he said with a chuckle.

Niles smiled. “Sounds wonderful.”

“I’m hoping to get to him before anyone else does, so let’s get this show on the road. We’ll do this in rounds, throwing wave after wave at them. Flush them out and force them to give up. I want them to come to me. Beg at my feet. I have all the time in the world and a bounty of supplies at my disposal.” He motioned his hand toward the cargo ship.

“I will go ready the injections.” Niles walked away from Roger’s side, and they walked down into the galley. “How many?” he asked as he started unloading the metal protective cases from the coolers.

A ripple of excitement ran through Roger’s body. “We have plenty to spare. An even three dozen should be great fun,” he murmured as he popped the latches open on the first case. He held up the rack of vials filled with the potent virus. “I can’t fucking wait,” he said in menacing tone.

“How do you want to do this?” Niles asked as he unpacked the syringes.

Roger popped the latches on a different case and held up another serum. “This… We will start with this.” His grin was unmistakably evil. “All those bleeders get tranquilized. Then you and the rest of the crew will load them on the trucks from the cargo ship, drive toward the coordinates from the tracking devices, and leave them to do what they do best.”

“Won’t they hear us coming?”

“I’m not concerned. If they hear you, have fun. But whatever you do, bring Liam to me…alive.
He is mine.
”

“And you feel this will flush them out?”

“You need to stop questioning me,” Roger growled. “But, luckily for you, I’m in a splendid mood right now. To answer your question, on the off chance it doesn’t flush them out, I will go in myself and get that whiny little bastard,” he said with a snarl. Niles readied the tranquilizers for the recruits down in the cells in the bowels of the ship. “Well, you keep working on this. I’m going to go have my morning pick-me-up. Let me know when you are ready.” He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “This will be great fun.” He chuckled and headed off to his quarters to enjoy Anne once more.

We had quite the bounty of vegetables coming up in our indoor garden. It was time to transplant. There was a large crowd to keep fed and it was amazing to finally have fresh food to eat.

Cora and Elaina had started the seeds during the winter and had been planting them in cycles so we would have food coming up on a consistent basis. Soon, they would start more seeds indoors to get the crops started for the summer season.

While outdoors, we kept our eyes open for any animals that were edible. Frankly, they were
all
edible if we could get them. Gunther and I had set up a few traps around the edge of the woods. Occasionally, we hit the jackpot and trapped more than just vermin. Every now and then, a deer would cross our path. It was always a feast around the firepit, with moans and groans of full bellies.

Cora was working in the garden with Kate, Silas, and Josie, pulling out all the plants that were finished producing. Quinn was sitting on a bench, nursing Grey, who was about a month-and-a-half old. She kept a careful eye on Callie while her mother was busy supporting our food efforts.

Gunther, Chris, Jake, and I were all working in the town center, cleaning up after a few storms with high winds blew through the area. Thomas was on guard duty, watching the surroundings.

Lurking in the distance, James casted glances at Quinn when he could, admiring her. Fucking creeper. I hoped Gunther wouldn’t catch him because all hell would break loose.

“How’s the little one doing?” I asked while we pulled down the rest of what was left of the awning over the porch of the small storefront.

Speaking proudly, he said, “He’s doing really well. Eating like a champ, the little chunk. She’s an amazing mother. I’m honored to share this with her.”

I smiled and glanced at my wife, hoping to be able to see Elaina as a mother someday. Unsure what kind of father I would be, I liked to think I would do okay.

“I’m glad to hear it,” I said.

Pulling me aside, Gunther asked, “Can I be honest?” He pushed his hand through his hair.

“Absolutely.”

“This feels awkward, but I’ve got to talk to someone. And you are about the only one I feel I can.”

“Go for it, mate.”

“There’s something wrong with Quinn.”

I looked over at her. She seemed fine to me. “How so?”

“She cries…but only in our room. She gets mad at me when I can’t console Grey or if I’m not doing stuff exactly how it should be done. I’m not saying, like, fierce. She’s just sad and angry all the time.”

Peeking around him, Quinn was all smiles, bouncing Grey around, showing him to Callie. “I wouldn’t have guessed by looking at her.”

“She hides it well when she’s out of our room, but I’m really fucking worried. She won’t let me get near her. Every time I try to kiss or touch her, she gets angry and shoves me away. I’m dying here. It’s been so long for us. She started refusing me about two months before he was born. She said it was uncomfortable, which I understand, but I’m dying to get back into her.”

“Too much information, mate,” I said and we both laughed. “In all seriousness, have you talked to Cora? She’s the resident expert on all this baby stuff.”

“I haven’t yet. Quinn would be mortified if she knew I told
you
.”

“It may be different when it comes to Cora. I won’t say anything to anyone, but I suggest you talk to her. She may have a few–”

A gunshot rang out. We both jumped off of the porch.

“Go get the kids inside,” I ordered. “I’ll go check it out.”

Gunther ran over to Quinn. “Inside…now!” he yelled. “Chain the door after everyone gets in.” Quinn held Grey close and picked up Callie. Gunther ran to where Cora was. “Cora! Inside!” She grabbed Kate, and Josie grabbed Silas. They sprinted to the door.

I hauled ass to Thomas, who was a short way down the street. “What’s going on?” An undead lay in a heap on the ground.

“I don’t know if he was the only one,” Thomas muttered.

“Cover me.”

I pulled out my hunting knife and we walked the area. Gunther caught up to us after he had pushed everyone to safety. Another one staggered out of the woods. I charged it and plunged the knife through its skull, but a distinctive snarling sound was coming from the woods.

“Holy fuck…,” I whispered. A mob of staggering undeads came into sight as they pressed forward. “Back inside! Now!”

We ran in the door just before Quinn put the chain on. Gunther and I sprinted down to the weapons room and grabbed axes. Thomas waited for us in the doorway.

“Reload, Thomas. Use them wisely, though. We are far too low to waste any.” Gunther and I ran back down the hallway.

“Gunther!” Quinn yelled. He stopped and turned, seeing her standing in the doorway of their room, bouncing little Grey. “I love you.” With a quick embrace and a kiss on Grey’s forehead, he followed me out.

Josie waited at the side door, armed with a handgun. Gunther touched her shoulder as he ran out.

Full of nerves, Elaina watched from the window in the cafeteria, working her thumbnail right down to the quick. One of these days, she was going to chew the whole damn thing off.

Henry and Gunther worked like two machines—slaying the undeads one after another, but they kept coming. An endless onslaught. The street was littered with body parts, blood, and guts.

Ever since Henry’s last bender, he had really been working hard with heavy bag training and lifting weights. Gunther made it a mission to get Henry into the same shape he was in. His muscled frame was now raw power, kicking ass and taking names.

“Oh god. There are so many,” Quinn whimpered behind Elaina.

“I’m going to go out and help. I don’t want them to get overrun.”

“Grab a couple of the others,” Quinn said.

Looking around, she saw Chris and Jake. “Come on, you two. Let’s go get ready.”

Elaina took them down to the weapons room. She decided to grab another handgun, and Chris and Jake both picked out metal baseball bats. They sprinted back down the hallway toward the door. Josie opened it for them and they ran out into the war zone.

Unable to hold back her tears, Quinn cried while watching the horror outside the window. She was trying to hold it together and bounce Grey, who was crying right along with her.

Then the unthinkable happened. Gunther slipped and hit the gore-slickened pavement, bringing an undead down on top of him. She screamed, which made Grey cry harder.

“Shh…baby boy,” she soothed in between her tears, watching the struggle.

I swear there were hundreds of the gory buggers. Okay, maybe it was just a couple dozen, but it felt like there were so many more because of their size. They were all bulky, like they guzzled protein shakes and weight trained until they turned. It was the oddest sight. They all had on black track pants and black t-shirts with no visible bite wounds. It made me wonder what the fuck was going on.

Why the sudden reprise of masses of undeads?

It hit Gunther and me at the same. “Are you thinking what I am?” I whispered.

“Holy fucking Christ. He created an army to flush us out,” Gunther muttered.

“This is–”

“Let’s just do this,” Gunther growled. We nodded at each other and began the slaughtering.

As the last few swarmed around us, three gunshots rang out at close range.

“What the fuck?!” I yelled as I spun around. There was my wife, aiming her handgun out in front of her, Chris and Jake flanking her. “What the fuck are you doing?! Get back inside!”

“Hello, dear husband of mine. Did you miss that I just saved you?” Elaina said sweetly.

“Henry!” Thomas yelled.

Gunther was on the ground, fighting one off. I ran to him and yanked off the mushy, blood slut that was working hard to bite him. Pulling out my handgun, I blew her brains out, then helped Gunther to his feet.

All of us stood around, looking at the carnage. We were exhausted, but I started directing the clean-up effort of the rotten, gory corpses. Our fingers were sinking right into the flesh and the bodies were pulling apart. After a while, Jake was vomiting from it all, so I had Chris take him inside. No sense in torturing the poor bloke.

Gunther and I stared at the true deads lying in the tree line and ditch. Thomas and Elaina were watching for more to stumble out.

“Mate, this is bad news,” I muttered as I wiped my hand on my cargoes.

“Such a sick fuck. Who knows how many he has lined up and at the ready.”