Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (25 page)

I
let the information
soak
in for
a
moment.
I
guessed
if
anyone wanted
us out of
the
way,
it would be
him. He
was
the
only
one
who knew
we
were
in town,
and
he
was
the only
one
who
knew
where
we
were
staying.
We
didn’t
tell
him that
was
our
plan,
but apparently
he
had
spies
everywhere.
Plus,
we’d
stayed
there
before.
It
was
logical. But
why
would
he
want
us dead?
Why
wouldn’t
he
just let us
go?
He
made
it very
clear
he
could
get
along
without us, so
why
not live
and
let
live?

“Why?”
I
was
pretty
sure
I
already
knew
the
answer,
but
I
wanted
validation.
I
wanted
to hear it out loud
from
someone
else.

“He
blames
us.”
Quinn
scanned
the horizon. “I
bet
he
thinks
we’re
going
to
bring
death to him
and
his
friends.”
He
turned
his
gaze
back
on me.
“We’re
the
only
ones
who know where
he
is.
If
we’re
dead, we
can’t
show
anyone else
his
hideout.”

“So
he’s
trying
to
protect
those
people.”

He
spit.
“Yup.”

I
shook
my
head.
“I
guess
he
doesn’t
realize
we’re
not
trying
to
harm
him.
If
we
wanted to,
why
would we
bother
warning
him about the
helicopters?”

“People
don’t
think logically
in stressful situations.
You know
that.
He’s
just
trying
to cover
all
his
bases.”

I
holstered
my
gun
and
placed
my
hand
on
my
hip.
“So
now
what?
What do
you
think
he’ll
do if he
knows
were
still alive?”

Quinn
sighed.
“I
don’t
know.
But
I
think it’s
best
we
get
out of here
as
soon
as
possible.
He
might
not
leave
it up to the
zombies to finish us
off.”
He
looked
at
me, his
eyebrows
raised.
“And
both of
us know what
kind of
weapons
he’s
carrying.”

“Yeah. Let’s
head out.”

We
headed
over to the
side of
the building
and
surveyed
the
scene.
On the
bright
side,
there
was
a
ladder
that led to the
street.
It
wasn’t
going
to be
easy,
but at
least
I
could
make
it down with one
hand. Zombies
streamed
in
through
the front
door,
and
the alley
where
the
truck
was
parked
was
full
of
undead.
There
was no
way
we
were
going
to
get to the
truck
unnoticed.

“What
now?”

“We
need
a
diversion. Something
to
draw
them to
the
other
side
of the
building.”

“Like what?
Live
bait
is out of the
question.
They’ll
spot
you
before
you
even
make
it to the
ground,
and we
now know
they
can
climb
ladders.
If
they
get
up
here,
we’re dead.
We
have
nowhere
else
to
go.”

Quinn hurried
to the
other
side of
the building
and
glanced
over the edge.
It
seemed so hopeless.
If
only
I
had the
full
use
of
my
arm, it would make
things
a
lot
easier.
Quinn took long
strides
back
to
me.

“There’s
another
roof
over
there,
about
half
way
down the
building.”
He
pointed
toward
the
edge. “I
can
shimmy
down a
pipe
and
make
my
way
to the
street.
From there,
I’ll
draw them
away,
and
you
can
pick me up
when
you
get
the
truck
started.”

I
opened
my
mouth to protest, to tell him
there
was
no
way
I
could
drive
a
stick
shift with
my
arm
in a
sling,
but
I
never
got
the
chance.
A boom tore
through
the
sky.
I
felt
a
deep pressure
on
my
chest, like
someone
was
shoving
me,
and
I
was
thrown onto
my
back.
Everything
went
black.
I
came
to a
few
seconds
later.
Every
part
of
my
body
ached,
my
shoulder
felt
like
it
was
in a
vice.
I
opened
my
eyes
and
stared
at
the
sky.
A plume of
black
smoke
blotted out the
serene
blue. I
didn’t have
to
look.
I
knew what
happened.
They
blew up the
semi. They
really
didn’t
want
us to
leave.
I
tried to push
myself
up
on
my
elbow,
but
my
body
wouldn’t
comply.
I
lay
back
down
and placed
my
hand on
my
forehead.
Why
was
everyone trying
to kill us?

CHAPTER
8

“The
building
is on
fire!”
Quinn
pulled
me up by
my
shoulders. He
yelled,
his
face
was
red
and
his mouth
was
wide,
but
I
barely
heard
him.
“We
have
to get out of
here!”

My
body
didn’t
want
to
cooperate.
Every
jerk
and
tug
he
gave
me to
get
me
to
my
feet
was
like
needles
being
stabbed
through
my
flesh.
I
was
more
than
convinced
my
ears were permanently
damaged.
The
ringing
was
replaced
with soft
static,
like
how
you
hear
underwater.
They
even
felt like
they
were
flooded
with
liquid. I
touched
one
and
examined
my
fingertip,
convinced
I
would
see
blood.
To
my
surprise,
there
wasn’t
any.

Quinn
succeeded
in
getting
me
moving,
and
I
followed
him to the
other side of
the
building.
I
was
aware
of the
danger.
I
knew
what
would happen
if we
stayed
on
the
roof. But
I
couldn’t
convince
my
muscles
of
the
emergency.
My
feet
were
heavy.
It
felt
like
they
were
sticking
to the
roof,
and
I
consciously
had
to
will them to
keep
moving.
I
made
it to the
edge and
collapsed,
catching
myself
before
careening
over the
side.
There
was
another
roof
about
half way
down, but
I
was
sure
something
would
have
broken in the
fall.
Quinn
tossed
our
bags
over
the
side. A
puff
of
dust
rose.
I
waited
for
the
whump,
but didn’t
hear
anything.
I
was just
thankful there
wasn’t
anything fragile
in
there,
though
I
doubted
all
of
the
bottled
waters
made
it out
unscathed.

I
looked
at
Quinn.
He
fastened
a
nylon
rope around
his
waist.
It
was one
we
always
kept
in our
bag
for
emergencies,
but
I
didn’t
think it
was
thick
enough
to
actually
do
any
good.
It
could
have
tied
our
bags
up into
a
tree
if
need
be, but other
than
that, it
seemed
almost
worthless.
I
knew
what
he
planned.
There
was
no
way
I
could
shimmy
down a
pipe
to the
roof.
My
arm
wouldn’t
allow
it. I
just didn’t think the
plan
would
work.
He
approached
and
laced
the
rope around
my
waist.

“I’m
going
to
lower
you
down,”
he
said.

Well, it
was
pretty
close
to
what
he
said.
I
couldn’t
really
hear him.

“Are
you
sure
the rope
will hold?”

He
shrugged.
“I
hope
so.
If
not, it’s not that
far
of a
fall.”

I
glanced
over the
edge again.
It
may
not have
been
deadly
if
I
fell, but
I
still didn’t
want
to
experience
it. I
had
enough
pain
to deal with,
I
didn’t want to
add
more.
I
crossed
my
mental
fingers, hoping
the rope
would
hold.

“You
ready?”

I
sat on the
edge
and
swung
my
legs
over.
“No,
but
do
I
have
another choice?”

He
took up the
slack
in
the
rope and
I
slid
my
butt of
the
building. There was
a
small
jerk
as
I
was suspended
in the
air
and
he
caught
my
weight.
He
slowly
let the
slack
out, and
I
bobbed
toward
the
second
roof. I
kept
an
eye
on him
and
the
landing
and made
sure
I
didn’t
bounce
off
the side of
the
building.
My
jaw
was
sore
from
clenching
it,
adding
to the
pain
that
already
flowed
through
my
body.
An
eternity
later,
my
feet
touched
the solid
surface.
I
waved
with
my
good
hand to
let
him know
I
was
down.
He
nodded,
then
grabbed
the
drainpipe and
slid down.

I
glanced
over the
side
toward the
street.
A few
zombies
milled
around,
but they
weren’t paying
attention
to us.
If
anything,
they’d
be
drawn
to the
explosion.
At
least
I
hoped
so. We
still
weren’t
sure
how they
tracked
people.
In
any
case,
we’d
be
able
to make
it down, then
we’d
have
to run like
mad. God,
I
hoped
my
body
would
allow
me
to do
that.
Quinn stood next to
me
and
took up
the
slack
in the
rope.

“Where
are
we
going
once
we’re
down?”
I
asked.

“Back
to the
mall.”

I
might not
have
been able
to
hear
very
well, but
I
couldn’t
mistake
the
anger
in his
voice.
I
assumed he
wanted
to
find
Duncan and put him
through
the same
death
he
attempted
to put
us
through.
I
know that’s
what
I
wanted
. I
wanted
him to
suffer,
hear
him
scream,
and
see
him
eaten
bit
by
bit.
How
dare
he
put us
through
this
when
all
we
wanted
to
do
was
make
sure
he
was
safe.
He
deserved
a
horrific death, and
I
wanted
to be the
one
who
gave
it to him.
It
wasn’t the
nicest
thought,
I
know.
My
hatred
for
Duncan
at
that
moment
rivaled
my
loathing
for
Liet.
Forget
compassion.
It was
hard to
care
about how the history
books were going
to
tell
your
story
when
you
had
to shimmy
down a building
to save
your
life.