Human Extinction Level Loss (Book 1): Nicole's Odyssey (22 page)

Billy was silent, only shook his head as he continued to scan the houses on either side. In the back, Paul was beside himself with stressed anticipation.

“Are you sure this is the right town, Billy?!  I mean if you’re wrong-”

Nicole cut him off. “Paul, he’s trying.  Give him a chance,” she said. 

Paul slumped back in his seat.  Nicole turned down one street and started up the next. 

“This is the third neighborhood we’ve tried, Billy. Does anything look-” 

Billy jumped forward.  “There!  I remember that was hanging on the porch!” He cried.

Billy pointed at a house that looked like every other.  Hanging on the porch was a hummingbird wind-chime, tinkling softly in the breeze.

Thirty-One

Nicole did not slow down.  She drove the GTO past the house. 

“Hey! Where are you going?!” Paul cried. 

Nicole drove down the street and around the corner.  She parked the car and shut off the engine.  Paul continued to stare at her. 

“Billy said that was the house back there!  We need to go get my daughter!”

Paul continued to yell at Nicole.  Nicole spoke in soft but firm tones. 

“I understand, Paul, but if we just barge in there, he will know we are coming.  He could… hurt Jordan before we ever get a chance to get to her.  The element of surprise is our best weapon right now, which is why we are going to go back on foot and look around first.” 

Paul fought his emotions and let Nicole’s words seep in.  He nodded in agreement. 

Nicole smiled.  “Good man.  Alright, let's go,” she said. 

They all exited the car, cutting through yards, and quietly made their way to Mullney’s house.

Upon reaching the yard behind Mullney’s, they crouched in the bushes and scanned the yard. 

“You say he drove a white van, Billy?” Nicole asked. 

Billy nodded. 

“I don’t see it anywhere.  Could be he ditched it, or we caught a break and he locked up Jordan and went for supplies or something.  Driving through the neighborhood, we all saw Walkers so let's not forget them,” Nicole said and slung her rifle across her back. 

“I go first, the rest cover.  Those that are over, cover those coming,” she instructed, then scaled the chain link fence and dropped into a crouch on the other side. 

She took up a ready position behind some boxes of junk and signaled the others.  Walt and Sam helped Paul up and over the fence, then got themselves over.  When they were all in the yard,  they moved towards the house. 

All was quiet, and they could see no movement at any of the windows.  Resorting to hand gestures, Nicole signaled Walt and Sam to go down one side of the house while she, Paul, and Billy would take the other side.  Walking in a crouch they stopped at each window and peered inside.  There was no sign of anyone.  They all met up around the front and came up on the porch. 

“Anyone know how to pick a lock?” Nicole asked. 

Everyone shook their heads.  Growing frustrated, Paul went over to the door and, with the butt of his rifle smashed out a pane of glass by the door.  He reached around and unlocked the door, which slid open on squeaky hinges. 

Nicole shrugged.  “He’s gonna know we’re here in a minute anyway,” she said. 

Paul went in and the rest followed him.  The front room was sparsely filled with old furniture.  Yellowing shades hung in the windows, rolled half way up.  Boxes of junk were strewn around the room.  Dirty clothes and dishes lay piled about. 

Billy crossed the wood floor and it creaked under his feet.  He approached a door just off the kitchen and stared at it.  Nicole approached and put her hand on his shoulder.  He looked up into her face.  She nodded and squeezed his shoulder.  Without speaking, she pulled a pistol from her shoulder holster, clicked off the safety, and handed it to Billy.  Billy looked at her for a second then took the gun. 

With a hand gesture, Nicole signaled to Walt to stay upstairs and keep a lookout.  She motioned to the others to follow her as she slowly opened the door leading down to the basement.

The wooden stairs creaked under foot as Nicole led the way down.  It was dark but the light from the open door illuminated the stairs and spilled out onto the floor at the base.  Nicole took point and descended.  Paul, Sam, and Billy sidestepped down behind her, keeping their guns at the ready.  When she reached the bottom, Nicole trained the red laser into the black silence.  They advanced into the basement, when suddenly, the room was basked in light.  Nicole, Sam, and Paul all spun and pointed their rifles at Billy, who stood motionless by a light-switch against the wall.  Nicole breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Billy and everyone turned back to survey the room.  Billy came up and stood by Nicole as they stared at an empty chain link cage, in which was a pillow and some blankets, but no Jordan. 

“He would have kept her in there,” Billy said, pointing at the cage. 

Paul came up to the cage and clung to it.  He began to cry as he shook the cage in anger.  Billy came up beside him. 

“She’s not dead, Mr. Baxter.  He… won’t for a long time,” Billy said. 

Paul did not seem to hear him as he clung to the cage and wept, before turning and shuffling back up the stairs.  Sam and Nicole turned and followed Paul up as Billy stood silently staring at the cage. 

Upstairs he could hear the others talking in hushed tones about what they should do next.  Billy turned and started for the stairs when something moved on the floor.  Between Billy and the stairs, a section of the floor covered by a throw rug raised up and Billy froze.  Peering up at him from a crawlspace was Dermot Mullney.  Billy was about to cry out when Mullney signaled him to silence with his right hand.  In his left arm he clutched Jordan around the neck.  Billy watched in horror as Mullney pulled a large knife and placed it on Jordan’s throat.  Mullney began to whisper to Billy. 

“Now, now, Billy.  Make a peep, you’ll surely weep.  It’s you I want, Billy, so I’ll make you a deal.  You’re life for hers.  You come back to me, I send the precious girl on her way.” 

Mullney’s words came out as a slithering rasp.  Billy stepped forward. 

“Yes, take me.  Just let her go,” Billy pleaded. 

As Billy approached the trap-door, Mullney hissed at him. 

“Not now, you stupid cuss!  Get them away, then come back to me.  When I got you, they get her.  Tonight.  Do it tonight,” Mullney whispered. 

Billy stared at Mullney then looked over at Jordan.  Tears filled her eyes and she shook in abject fear.  Billy tried to calm her with his eyes before looking back into Mullney’s. 

“Please don’t hurt her.  I’ll come back, I promise,” Billy said. 

Mullney stifled a maniacal laugh.  “See you Billy, tonight.  A deal’s a deal, I get my Billy back,” Mullney said as he lowered the door closed. 

Billy looked to the stairs as he heard someone racing down.  Nicole poked her head down and looked at Billy. 

“We’ve got to go, Billy.  We got walkers coming!” 

Billy started for the stairs as Nicole raced back up.  He gave a final look at the carpet on the floor before retreating up the stairs.

Thirty-Two

“They’re surrounding us!  We’ve got to go now!” 

Nicole screamed at Paul as Billy came to the top of the stairs. 

“But Jordan… what about my Jordan?!” Paul cried. 

Billy came up to Paul. 

“If Mullney ain’t here, it’s cause he stopped somewhere to get something or saw us and is gonna come back after we’re gone, Mr. Baxter.  This is where he does his business.  He told me there was no other place for it,” Billy said. 

Paul looked down at Billy then back up to Nicole. 

“We come back then, right?  When he thinks we’ve gone, we come back!” Paul said. 

Nicole nodded at Paul.  “We come back, Paul, just as soon as we can.  But if we don’t get out now, we aren’t ever going to, okay?” she said. 

As if to emphasize her point, a walker slammed his head through a window and hissed and clicked its teeth.  Walt and Sam each fired two rounds into its head.  It went limp and hung in the glass, a shard slicing deep into its neck as the weight of its wasted body pressed down. 

“There’s more where that came from, we’ve got to go!” Walt shouted. 

His words woke Paul from his torment and he nodded his head.  Nicole breathed a sigh and took his shoulder, directing him to the back of the house. 

Peering out the windows, they saw three walkers and two shufflers in the back yard advancing on the house.  Nicole grabbed the door knob on the back door and looked at the others. 

“We go on my mark.  When we hit the yard, we form a line, shoulder to shoulder.  Shoot what’s in front of you, don’t worry about your left and right.  Something gets in your way, double tap to the brain housing unit, got it,” Nicole said as she tapped the side of her head. 

Everyone nodded and Nicole got ready.  Nicole turned the knob and threw open the door, just as more of the Dead shattered windows from the front of the house.  She charged out, rifle pressed firmly against her shoulder and put two rounds in a shuffler at the base of the steps, off the porch.  She raised her foot and kicked it away, as the others came out after her. 

They formed their line and moved into the yard.  As the Dead advanced, they fell to the disciplined shots of the group.  When the yard was clear, they ran to the fence.  Nicole took up a rear-guard position. 

“Up and over, double time, now.  Same as before, those that’s over guard those that’s coming,” she said. 

Walt climbed the fence and landed on the other side and took up position.  As the others went over, Three walkers came into the yard.  Nicole dropped two while Sam and Walt each double tapped the third.  When everyone was over, Sam stuck his fingers through the fence and tapped Nicole on the shoulder.  She slung her rifle and climbed the fence,  just as six more walkers entered the yard.  She landed soft and took off at a run after the others.

Nicole hit the gas and swerved the big car around two shufflers in the center of the road. 

“We’ll stop just outside of town and let things clear out.  Billy!  You sure he won’t kill her anytime soon, right?!” Nicole asked. 

Billy looked out the side window.  “He won’t kill her,” he said. 

Nicole breathed a sigh as she tore around a corner and ran over the head of a crawler. 

As they got out of the neighborhood and back on the highway, things cleared out.  Paul wrung his hands and stared out the passenger window. 

“It’s getting dark.  I say we go back, get our stuff and settle in for the night.  At dawn, we make our play and get Jordan back,” Nicole said. 

Everyone was silent as the GTO roared back down the highway.

They made camp just outside of Lake City.  No one spoke as they ate a quick meal. 

“I’ll take the watch.  Try and get some sleep.  We need to be sharp tomorrow,” Nicole said. 

Paul did not argue, he flopped down on his sleeping bag and lay unmoving.  His mind was in torment.  Somewhere his Jordan was with a killer, scared and alone.  He did not even try to close his eyes or to sleep, his mind not letting him rest, only serving up fresh versions of the singular nightmare of losing his daughter. 

Several hours later, the night hung like a shroud.  A half moon provided the only light as Billy slipped from his sleeping bag and crept away.  Across from where he was sleeping, Paul watched him go.  He did not rise to see where he was going, he was only glad he was gone.  Paul turned and bit down hard, trying not to wish the worst for Billy.

An hour later, Billy hid behind a line of bushes two houses down from Mullney’s.  He stared into the night and saw that there were still a few walkers meandering around, but that most had wandered off.  Seeing a clear shot, Billy ran over to the house and up the steps.  A shuffler on the porch caught wind of him, but not before Billy threw open the door and ran inside, slamming the door behind him.  The shuffler bumped against the door and began to groan and paw at it.

Billy turned and went to the basement door.  He pulled it open and descended, closing the door behind him. 

In the basement, Mullney waited.  As Billy came down the stairs, Mullney began to get excited.  He grabbed Billy and wrapped him in a hug.  Billy looked past him, to Jordan , who pressed herself against the chain-link.  Billy pulled free and went to her. 

“You have to let me take her back, Mr. Mullney.  It’s not safe out there,” Billy said without turning to face him. 

Mullney turned and went to his workbench. 

“Yeah, I don’t know, Billy.  That don’t seem like a good deal for ol’ Derm.  I let you take her, what’s to stop you from not coming back to me?” Mullney said. 

“I came this time, I’ll come the next, like I promised.  There are walkers-”

Mullney cut him off. “NO!  You ain’t getting away from Derm the worm ever again, no sir.  ‘Sides, I kinda like her.  She’s soft and pretty.  She’ll squish real nice when the time comes,” Mullney said. 

Billy turned, tears welling up in his eyes. 

“But you promised!  You said-”