Life After The Undead (Book 2): Death to the Undead (68 page)

“You!”
he
hissed.
“Why
don’t
you
teens ever die?”
He
moved to
get
into an
attacking
position, but Quinn
was
there faster,
driving
his boot into
Liet’s
stomach.

He
doubled over in
pain,
the
air
flowing
out of him in
with a sssss sound.
Liet
reached
for
Quinn’s
pants, but
Quinn
stepped
back,
just
out of
reach,
and
slammed the
rifle
butt into his
head
again.
Liet’s
eyes
rolled in
his
head,
but he still didn’t lose
consciousness.
He
was hurt,
though.
It
was obvious. He
grabbed
for Quinn again, but
his hand
flailed
in the
air,
to the
right
of where Quinn
actually
stood. He
couldn’t see
straight.

I
wasn’t
sure
where
I
should be. I
wanted
to be
next
to Quinn, the
blade
of my
arm
sword
at
Liet’s
neck, but
what
if
someone
heard him and
came
through
the
door?
Who would
watch
our
backs? I
moved so
I
blocked the
door.
Someone
could
still
get
through,
but
I
would slow
them down.
Quinn
kicked
Liet
in the
stomach
again.
As
he
curled
into the
fetal position, Quinn took
off
his
belt
in
one
swift motion.
He
rolled
Liet
onto his
stomach
with
another
kick.
Placing
his
knee between
Liet’s
shoulder
blades,
Quinn pulled
Liet’s
arms
behind
him.
Liet
bucked
and
struggled.

“You’re always
in the
wrong
place
at
the
wrong
time,”
Quinn
commented.
He
tightened
his
belt.

Liet
flinched.
“You’re
just
lucky.
If
you
fought
me
in a
fair
fight,
you’d
go
down.”

Quinn
chuckled.
“You
mean
like
Krista
did?
From
what
I
hear,
that
was
a
fair
fight,
and
a
girl
kicked
your
butt.”
He
dug
his
knee deeper
into
Liet’s
spine
and
brought
his mouth down
to his
ear. “And
you
will
pay
for
shooting
me.”

Liet
attempted
to
chuckle,
but it
came
out more
like
a
grunty
wheeze.

Quinn
smacked
him in the
back
of the
head.
He
stood
from
Liet’s
back
and
grabbed
the belt around his
wrist. “Get
up.”

Liet
didn’t have
a
choice. If
he
didn’t want his
shoulders
pulled out of their
sockets,
he had to get to his
feet.
He
stared
at
me.
His
eyes
burned
with
hatred. Blood
dripped
down
the side
of
his
head
where
Quinn hit him,
and
he
had
a
hard
time
catching
his
breath.
I
smiled.

“This
is
an
awfully
familiar
scene,”
I
commented.

He
narrowed
his
eyes. I’m
sure
he
wished
he
could
shoot
lasers
out of
them.

“Krista,
on
my
mark,
I
want
you
to open the
door.”

I
nodded.

Quinn
forced
Liet
up the
stairs.
Liet
tried to
fight,
but every
time he
got
out
of
hand,
Quinn
lifted
his
arms
up. Plus, the
rifle
was
at
the
back
of
his
head.
Liet
knew
better
than
to
tempt
Quinn. They
made
it to the
top of the
stairs, just a
few
feet
from the
door,
and
Quinn nodded. I
pulled
the door
open,
and
Quinn pushed
Liet
through.
I
could
barely
see
over
their
shoulders,
but
five
soldiers
stood in the
hallway,
along
with the
bodyguard. What did
Pearl
say
his
name
was?
Mark? Mitch?
It
didn’t
matter.

“What’s
going
on here?”
His
hands
were
out to his
sides,
palms
down.
He
was
signaling
the soldiers to
keep
their
weapons
lowered.

“Drop
your
weapons.
All of
you!”
Quinn
barked.

“Or
what?”
The
bodyguard’s
tone was
calm,
almost
amused. “You
think
Liet
is a
bargaining
chip?
You think
we
won’t
shoot him to take
you
out?”

I
knew they
would.
Liet
was
expendable,
just like
the
rest
of us.
In
North
Platte,
he
had
power because
no
one
else
wanted
it.
In
Florida,
he
was
just a
General
who
lost his
army.
Besides, the
bodyguard
killed
innocent
people
without
batting
an
eye.
He’d
gladly
take
out an
ex-con.

Without
thinking,
I
pushed Quinn
and
Liet
out of
the
way.
I
raised
my
gun
and
lined
up the
sights.
The
bang
echoed
through
the
staircase.
The
bodyguard
jerked
backward
but
didn’t
go
down. Shock
covered
his
face.
He
stared
at
me,
mouth
agape,
then slowly
focused his
gaze
on his
shoulder.
Blood oozed
through
his shirt, his
arm
went
limp.
Color
drained
out of
his
face,
and
he
staggered
a
bit.

“You
might
not see
Liet
as
a
bargaining
tool, but
what
about
your
own
life?”
My
voice
was
even, calm.
It
scared
me
a
little.

The
soldiers
glanced
nervously
at
the
bodyguard
and
Liet.
They
could’ve
taken us down, they
could’ve
swarmed
us, but not without me
taking
out three
of
them
first.
Quinn
could
probably
take
out the
others. Of
course,
I
based that on
my
ability
to
take
out zombies. I
wasn’t
completely
sure
how
I
would do
against
an
opponent
who shot
back.
Still,
could
they
risk
it? Should
they?
I
sensed the questions running
through
their
minds.
Muted
crashes
and
screams
came
from
the other room.